《New Game+》


 Chapter 1 - The Tide Of Death

    The United Nations Army had initiated a desperate mission to save Earth.


    All their enemies had left Earth and was driven back. But it was then they realized that an armada was waiting in the skies above. With such great enemies, the army sent their elite teams on a crazy mission that would most likely lead to their deaths.


    The main force would fight, but another small force were tasked another mission.


    Inside a strange dropship with a sharp beak at its front, several of the most powerful humans that Earth created were there.


    They had a power that breached the norm.


    The leader stood up and prepped his team.


    "Commander Ivan, Fish, Suarez and Epic. Get ready." The leader announced.


    The main force began to sh with the thousands of alien ships that they had.


    The leader nced at it and frowned.


    "Those traitors. They''d proudly pilot an alien ship than die for Earth!" The man raged.


    The battle began and through various powers that couldn''t beprehended, the dropship of this small team, and a few several others made it''s way to one of thergest alien ship.


    "The Balmung is up ahead. We crash through. Fish, you pilot the ship and fight. But remember the mission."


    "Yes, General." The pilot nodded and she piloted the dropship to crash onto the location which she was assigned to send it to.


    The ear-piercing crash was the signal for their rushed entry. As the dropship''s door opened, eight soldiers broke through the wreckage of the crash. The metal suits that each wore could withstand the mes of a methrower being directed at them and could even block most bullets and armor-piercing rounds. Yet death after this mission was the best they all could hope for.


    Commander Ivan was the first to exit through the steel cage and st the panicking soldiers nearby.


    "Let''s do it, men!" He cried as the remaining soldiers followed on the assault.


    The thick armor and bulletproof helmets were all that they had left to count on as the brave soldiers of the Gryphon Squadron engaged the enemy soldiers. Clothed in his trademark red suit, Commander Ivan continued to direct orders towards his men at the same time shooting at any signs of life other than them.


    "General, where to?" Ivan asked.


    The General he addressed was checking on a hologram screen being projected at his arms.


    "Zera''s pings confirmed that the locations of the Star Chamber are where we thought it would be. We continue towards thispartment''s Star Chamber." The General wore a simple suit that would mistake him for a soldier. The only difference was a pair of thin rods protruding at the back.


    "Suarez, any word from the other team?"


    "Three teams have reported sessful entry and are Oscar Mike to the targets." Suarez wore a thin blue crystal ring on his head. This ring appeared like an ordinary headband if viewed from afar. A twinkling glow was seen in this ring as Suarez gave a concentrated look. The light subsided as he exited that state of concentration.


    "Let''s move, Commander." The General spoke.


    The Gryphon Squadron dashed onwards, blitzing and shooting whatever soldier they could find. A st ultimately hindered their sprint.


    Several gunshots erupted from the other side of the hall.


    "Back!" Ivan ordered.


    A series of explosions arrived, and the team hurried to find anything that may shield them from the torrential rain of bullets. Their armors would be pierced through, and only the alien metal that made up the ship could withstand the gunshots. Ivan and the team sent their volley of bullets towards the enemy.


    The two groups began shooting at each other, and soon, several stomping sounds could be heard approaching them.


    "Suarez. Any word on the other teams?" the General called as he heard the strange sounds.


    "Phoenix and Chimera Squadrons reporting sessful reconfigurations and are on their way to otherpartments! Minotaur and Cerberus have yet to make an entry." A soldier reported.


    "Then we don''t have time for this." The General''s suit detached severalyers of what consisted of his armor. As thest pieces of steel fell, it revealed the dark synthetic clothing that the General wore. Attached above his elbows and on his heels were small turbine-like objects. The General pulled the pair of rods that were protruding on the detached armor, and a couple of transparent crystal des was unsheathed.


    The General immediately wore a blue ring over his head, simr to the one Suarez wore. The ring emitted a faint blue light. The two circles on Suarez and the General''s head glowed a soft red and returned to its usual blue.


    "Proceed as nned. I''ll divert the enemies. If we split up here, it will increase the chance of thepartmental disconnection in this sector. We don''t have much time. This is an order, Ivan." The General ordered as he dashed forward towards the opening, and bullets rained on. Yet despite the barrage, none of the shots hit.


    The speed of this lone soldier who dove at the fray of bullets surpassed the rate a normal human being could aplish. The transparent des which looked like crystals were shed towards the soldiers shooting at him.


    But the crystal des weren''t in any way hindered by the metal armor that the soldiers wore. The blood of these men continued to spill as the General dashed from one soldier to the next, leaving only the dead behind. The fearful stomping sounds that Ivan heard also stopped as the General zoomed pass the room.


    Another group of enemy soldiers halted from their march as they could hear the silencing of theirrades. The soldiers then went into position and aimed their weapons at the nearby door, which led to the other side.


    Was one of them among the groups that infiltrated this ship? The sounds of chaos and gunfire on the other side of the room suddenly stopped. Did their friends manage to kill the intruders? Or did an Inhuman manage to enter this ship?


    The victor was unclear. Wary of the approaching enemies, their sights locked in on the possible gap that the door would create as it opens. And the soldiers were ready to pull the trigger at the slightest of movements.


    BOOM!


    The door suddenly exploded, and bodies of dead soldiers started bursting out through the door. The soldiers began shooting randomly at the piles of debris that were flying around.


    "AGGHH!"


    The other soldiers could only see a blur race by theirrade, which left theirrade split in half with his upper torso flying out towards another soldier.


    "It''s Death Tide! Death Tide is on this ship! Repeat! Death Tide is on this ship!" This was thest transmission the soldier sent before his entire arm was sliced off. His legs no longer supported him as they too were sliced off.


    BOOM!


    Explosions rang left and right as the ster battles over Earth intensified. The tremors felt by the passengers of the Balmung grew worse as more bullet shaped dropships rammed the differentpartments.


    General Death Tide immediately sent a mental message to Suarez. "Suarez. I moved towards a differentpartment. Proceed as nned. The enemy should be focused on killing me. Proceed with caution. I''ll meet up with Chimera Squadron."


    The blue light on the ring grew brighter, and Death Tide received a mental response.


    "Roger. No soldier on sight, Sir! After your rampage, most of the enemy soldiers started dashing off to your tform. As you said, General, you are the priority kill.." Suarezughed.


    Death Tide sent a mental confirmation and went on with his massacre. The speed of his dash exceeded the speed of sound. His body was generating a powerful energy fluctuation and radiation that would have been lethal to anyone without hazmat suits.


    Yet even in this dangerous power, his suit remained stable and unphazed.


    The Four Force elerator was a propelling jet system designed to allow nimble, fast, and flexible maneuvers to its wearers. Two were worn directly above the elbows, and two above the heel. These four small cylindrical tubes emitted a strong st force that would propel the user onwards to its direction.


    The FFA, though incapable of long-term flight, allows its users quick and speedy maneuvers enabling one to pass through the harshest forms of obstacles. The speed was so fast that at maximum, the FFA could allow movements beyond the speed of sound.


    The only drawback of this godly weapon was the immense requirements for wearing the FFA. In the entirety of the U.N Army, only 13 individuals were allowed to wear them. The requirements involved having a body capable of dealing with physical stress. This meant that the wearer''s body should be strong enough to withstand the immense pressure and stress that apanies the humanly impossible movements. The second requirement was even more impossible than the first.


    A gun was aimed at Death Tide. After seeing how this nimble lone soldier evaded all iing bullets, the gunman decided to shoot at a closer range. Death Tide was still busy dismembering several soldiers and did not see the encroaching enemy.


    Without hesitation, the trigger was pulled.


    Bang!


    As the bullet exited the barrel of the gun and as the soundwaves vibrated out. Possessing abilities that far exceeded human capacity, sight, vision, hearing, and even smell for an inhuman hero like the Death Tide, this attack was extremely trivial. Milliseconds meant nothing and the Death Tide immediately reacted and evaded the bullet ording to the position he heard the shot, and the faint vibrations he felt. Unlike ordinary humans, the General had a superior hearing, which allowed him to listen to things immediately. It was as if his ears were more than 20 meters from his current position. And this was the most trivial nature of his senses. The very triggering of the gun was "felt" by this General. He didn''t need to "see" where his shooter was. Seeker gave a quick spin to evade the bullet, and upon the execution of the full circle, Seeker shed.


    The gunshot hadn''t even echoed throughout the room, and the gunman was already sliced into two halves.


    The second requirement of the FFA?


    It involved the greatest weapon that Earth mysteriously acquired and learned to create. This power was never seen before and appeared with such mystery. Some believed that it was the evolution of humans, others believe that it was something that they acquired as they fought the aliens, but regardless of how this power came, it gave them amazing powers that allowed them to fight the aliens and send them fleeing to space to reorganize.


    At a minimum, An Unlocking of at least 48% of the brain. A simple task for an elite soldier like Death Tide.. Regarding his current Unlocking, General Seeker, the "Death Tide" Carlean, had a recorded reach of up to 74% brain Unlocking.

 Chapter 2 - Full Divide

    The mission that the squadrons had was of great importance. In fact, the main force was a mere diversion that was sent to hide the real mission.


    Each squadrons were to forcibly board the Balmung on specific locations.


    A single partment" of the Balmung would be asrge as a football stadium. And the number ofpartments that the Balmung had was over 30. Yet despite therge size and how eachpartment was a maze that lead to other chambers, Death Tide was easily dashing and killing as if he knew the precise location of his enemies and where he was going.


    The vibrations and sounds around him quickly allowed him to make a mental map of where he was going.


    The soldiers were in a panic. The speed of Death Tide was unmatched. Even before the soldiers of the nextpartment became ready for the threat, Death Tide would already dive right in and kill everyone. It was as if he was a passing wind that brought death. Their thick metal armors were nothing in front of this de that Death Tide had.


    As his killing spree continued, Death Tide had finally reached thepartment he was searching for. Sector 19 was the targetpartment for the Chimera Squadron. Gunshots and explosions resounded as the battle ensued. But this time, the soldiers expecting Death Tide were ready.


    Dozens of soldiers barricaded themselves and took a position on the hallways of thepartment. They were waiting for any moving object to appear before them. They no longer valued the threat of the foreign squadron, which had been moving in thispartment. A more significant threat approached.


    But their wariness was useless. All they ever saw was a blur. Before they even heard the loud sounds of a jet throttling towards them, half of them were already dead.


    rms were heard in the halls of Sector 19. The soldiers had to ensure that Death Tide and Chimera Squadron would not meet.


    All soldiers were instructed to stay alive and do their best to kill Seeker. Following these conflicting instructions, the soldiers ignored the squadron currently holed up in the Star Chamber and focused and the fast and deadly sh that left halved body parts on its wake.


    An expressionless woman with ck hair stood over the dead bodies of the soldiers in the Star Chamber. She wore no armor like the other soldiers but wore a suit simr to General Carlean. A blue ring also glowed asionally as Zera emotionlessly continued to move forward, shooting at the corridors at just the right time to kill the appearing soldiers.


    The Chimera Squadron''snding was a disaster. The chamber theynded on had several soldiers waiting, and they had a very strategic location where they could easily defend.


    Zera and another female soldier reached their positions and started to guard the entrance while the rest scrambled to begin their mission.


    "Is he here yet?" a soldier asked as he started reconfiguring the settings of the control panel in one of the machines.


    "Based on the enemy''s screams, I''d say he should be here in a few minutes at most. Hanson, please tend to your wounds." Zera still disyed no emotion even as sheforted the wounded soldier.


    The Commander in charge of their squad continued to pump the remaining liquid extract into the storage tanks.


    "What was the sess rate of this operation?" a female soldier asked. Her gun was steady, but the finger that was holding the trigger was shaking noticeably.


    No one responded to the question asked.


    A shadow was seen on the edge of the corridor, causing her hand to grip tightly with her hand, barely pulling the trigger.


    "Hold your fire. I think it''s the General." Zera coldly remarked.


    "Keep your cool, Hansen. It''s me." The voice spoke from the corridor.


    Hansen sighed in relief as her hands started to tremble non-stop. She dropped her guard, and tears were slowly streaming from her eyes.


    Seeker entered the room and patted Hansen''s shoulder. The original synthetic suit was now full of blood stters and his right arm was red with blood. Yet none of those was Seeker''s.


    "Good work Hansen." Seeker looked at the remaining team and frowned.


    "You sure had it rough. The enemy''s numbers should have withered down. When I started moving independently they focused on trying to kill me. Report, Commander."


    "Sir. We''ve sessfully adjusted this binding system. That''s onepartment down and one more to go." After making thest adjustments the Commander immediately retrieved his gun and waited for orders.


    "Zera, what should the enemy''s next movements be based on the probabilities?" The General asked immediately.


    "Assuming they know of your identity which is about 97 percent, I would either iste thispartment from the other sectors or maximize my forces to eliminate you. Looking at the state of thispartment I''d say they''re going for thetter."


    "Just as I thought." The General concluded.


    "Commander Jim, I will lead the way. We have to make it look like we''re headed for the main bridge. Take your forces and follow my path. Once you configure the nextpartment hole upon any room and wait for evacuation. I''ll continue towards the center. You guys should meet less resistance if I leave a blood trail. The more we can reconfigure, the higher the chances our mission seeds. You should have more than enough to adjust at least one more, right?" Not waiting for the team''s response Seeker immediately charged out. Commander Jim and his team immediately set out to follow the general.


    Zera''s blue light flickered.


    "I hope this won''t be thest time we see each other Zeek." Despite being an android and having a more weaker standingpared to the soldiers, this being could call General Seeker by is nickname. This is something that no one ever does anymore.


    The General smiled as he heard this. A calm smile could be seen on his face as he was charging off into the next rooms. "You know, for a pile of circuits, you weren''t half bad as well Zera."


    The main bridge of the Balmung no longer cared at the battles over the Earth''s atmosphere. Everyone''s attention was on their ship''s live video feeds. Despite the various reports about the many soldiersmandeering the different rooms in variouspartments of the Balmung, All eyes were focused on what only appeared to be a passing blur and the dead soldiers that were left behind.


    "We''ve confirmed it. General Seeker Carlean of the U.N Army. It''s really him, Sir." a soldier on the bridge reported.


    "Looks like the UN is really risking a lot. Compartmentalize sectors 7, 16 and 18. Have all the soldiers in sectors 9 to 12 converge on Carlean''s position." The Captain immediately ordered.


    "Sir! Several drop-ships with the same bullet-like hull are approaching!" Another soldier cried to the Captain.


    "Huh." The Captain scoffed.


    "So they n to take control of our ship. Seems practical. They are undermanned and dwindling in numbers. They take this ship and do a kamikaze style attack to another Orbital ship." The Captain murmured as he turned to the many video feeds and focused on the ones which showed Carlean.


    "Once a majority of the soldiers in sectors nine to twelve are at Carlean''s sector initiate Full Divide! We must not let any more soldiers board the Balmung!" the Captain thundered.


    "Sir, Sectors 26 and 32 have all reported opposition. Our forces are on retreat towards the bridge."


    "Have all forces of that sector retreat to the bridge. I want the Full Divide to be ready in the next minute! Carlean is after us. They n to take control of this ship. The blueprints of the Balmung have beenpromised." The Captain concluded coldly. Despite his calmposure, the Captain could not help but shudder at the sight of Seeker dashing from one camera to another.


    The battle continued in the variouspartments of the Balmung. The lone soldier Carlean couldn''t be stopped.


    Zera''spany continued to pass through the halls. As Carlean predicted, there were no more enemies on their path. All the nonbatant personnel had already evacuated. Then the tremors began.


    "This is it. The divide has begun! The bait worked!" Commander Jim grinned.


    "Let''s not make the General''s actions fall in vain. Let''splete the configuration to thispartment." Zera responded coldly.


    The ster war that urred over the Earth''s atmosphere took a sudden change of flow. In the center of the battle was arge spherical spaceship. It was about seven kilometers in diameter and could even be mistaken for a miniature moon. Several ships which were initially on the offense took a sudden turn and started defending this Gigas ss Orbiter known as the Balmung.


    The approaching dropships with bullet-shaped bows flew with immense speed. Guarding them was an escort of the U.N Army''s Ster-capable Jets, the Spirits.


    The ster battle did little to slow the dropships as it seemed that these dropship pilots didn''t fear death. The Balmung then executed Full Divide.


    The Balmung started to disassemble. Thepartments which were of different shapes and sizes appeared to be getting detached. As the dividing urred, a miniature star-like energy could be found on what was once the center of the Balmung. The various parts and pieces of the Balmung were connected by electric-like dark blue energy and maintained the positions of each block as if they weres orbiting a star. Despite what appeared to be a chaotic rotation, none of the blocks collided with each other as each rotated.


    Inside of the floatingpartment that was once Sector 9, Seeker Carlean stood amidst the dead soldiers. With the blue ring glowing in steady blue, Seeker continued to send mental signals and suddenly zoomed out of sight as he evaded and hid from the different gunshots.


    The number was just too many to handle. Yet despite the hopeless situation of being cornered to a small room, there was a smile in Seeker''s face. He then sent a mentalmand to all squads.


    "Full Divide Confirmed.. Begin operation."

 Chapter 3 - Mission Star Killer

    The ster wars intensified in space. The Full Divide allowed evasive maneuvers for thepartments minimizing the number of dropships that could prate the differentpartments.


    "Have the fleet focus on defending the Balmung." The captain ordered. Soon he stared in frustration at the one monitor where most of the crew drew their attention to.


    The thin frame of Seeker Carlean stood confidently amidst the dead bodies and burning metals.


    Seeker Carlean''s right arm was fractured. Thest battle''s final seconds ended in what looked like a blur with Carlean on the winning end. The blue ring started glowing again.


    "This is it, boys. We are about to find out if our intel''s right, or we die for nothing." Seeker broadcasted his message to all Link-aplished soldiers.


    "Squadrons, in three¡­two¡­one. Initiate!" Seekermanded. All Link-aplished soldiers flipped the switch at the same time.


    At a push of the button, various mechanisms installed on the engines in the differentpartments of the Balmung began to light up. The star energy that held all thepartments together started to tremble.


    "What''s happening?" The Captain panicked.


    The pilots of the Balmung quickly checked all system settings in an attempt to understand the anomaly urring. On thepartments which the different squads managed to reconfigure, the electrical energy which connected thepartment to the star energy slowly turned red in color. Of the thirty-fourpartments, a total of sixteenpartments were configured.


    The tremors that rang out on allpartments started increasing. The movement of the star energy and the orbit of thepartments of the Balmung was now getting out of order. Compartments started to crash into each another at the distortion of the star energy.


    In the Central Sector, Seeker started dashing and running around thepartment trying to keep his bnce. Thepartments were in chaos and all on board the Balmung struggled to keep a good footing.


    "Dropships! Initiate pick up! Squadrons send your pings!" Seekermanded as he dashed towards the nearest window to observe the situation outside.


    Several dropships which seemed to be zooming in confusion then started to dash at specific areas of the Balmung. The dropships prated through the thick metal and then stabilized the hole which it generated. The surviving members of the different squadrons immediately boarded the ships.


    "We did it! And we''re alive!" Suarez rejoiced.


    "Commander, the dropship has arrived. We are about to detach and head back home." A report came in.


    Seeker stood with a grim expression as he saw the state of the star energy.


    "It''s not enough!" Seeker frowned.


    A mental response spoke back. "General, the Star Core is slowly increasing in density and energy. By the looks of it, our mission is a sess."


    "The speed! That''s the problem! The rate of its increase is too slow! If some of thepartments detach themselves from the Star Core our mission will fail!" The General sent back angrily.


    Boom!


    A sudden crash on the centralpartment was felt. A dropship had rammed through thepartment. The bullet-like funnel in its front pierced through the walls but immediately, several panels expanded locking the gaps created from the crash. The pressure in the room immediately stabilized.


    "General! I''m here to pick you up!" A mental message spoke directly to Seeker.


    Seeker was deep in thought at this point. For a human with an Unlocking of 70%, it was rare for him to have paused and thought.


    "General!" The mental message shouted once again.


    "Fish, detach from mypartment. Don''t pick me up." Seeker ordered solemnly.


    "What?" Various mental messages immediately cried in Seekers thoughts.


    "Listen up everyone. Every second counts at this point. If anypartments disconnect themselves from the Star Energy, the mission will fail. My Four Force elerator is designed as a miniature model of Star Energy. In theory, I can detonate the FFA energy in the core if I undo thepression on each of the FFA. The energy would be simr to having an additional fourpartmentspartmentalize. I may even immediately overload the energy. It should cause enough increase in the Star Core to aplish the mission. Every second counts! This is myst order. I can only hold for 30 seconds before I make my jump. Ensure that you are in space at 15 seconds. No questions." Seeker''s tone was firm and decisive.


    No mental messages were sent back to Seeker. A few seconds since thest message the dropship piloted by Fish suddenly detached itself from the centralpartment.


    "Good." Seeker smiled. He was receiving mental messages from all the surviving teams. Gryphon, Chimera, Basilisk, Wyvern, Phoenix and even his own team reported having sessfully boarded the escape dropships which have returned.


    "A General could never ask for such a decisive and trusting team such as you." Seeker sent his message with tears in his eyes.


    "Zeek." Zera sent back.


    "Zera, protect our home." Seeker sent as he dashed towards a door. A mask suddenly covered Seeker''s face as he clicked on a small button near his neck. Oxygen was then released. Once he was a foot away from the door, Seeker stopped. Behind this door was the hole left by the dropship''s pration.


    Seeker banged the hilt of his sword pushing the button of the door. As the door opened, Seeker was sucked in by the immense change of pressure. As he was sucked out into space, he engaged the Four Force elerator and flew towards the Star energy which held all of the Balmung''spartment. Seeker tinkered with his suit and the dark blue st emitted by the Four Force elerator started turning to a shade of red.


    When he made the jump all the dropships were already fleeing from the Balmung. Seeker closed his eyes as he neared the electrical energy. The burst of the Four Force elerator increased to the maximum. And right before Seeker collided with the electrical energy, he smiled.


    "Thank you." A short and simple mental message was sent.


    The moment Seeker collided with the electrical energy holding Sector Nine, he was immediately sucked in towards the core of the energy holding the Balmung''s parts. A miniature red explosion could be seen and the Star energy immediately gave a brighter shade of red.


    The trembling throughout the Balmung''spartments increased. Thepartments started to merge into the star energy as if something was sucking everything towards the center. But before all thepartments could merge in the center...


    BOOM!


    The star energy exploded. A Yellow-green like me rushed out incinerating everything in its path. The shockwave was so immense that the other Gigas ss orbiters nearby were shaken by the shockwave. All the ster capable jets of the UN army pushed their ships speed to the max Mach speed it could manage.


    Because of the sudden shockwave which shook almost all ships only the UN armies were prepared to get away from the massive mes that continued to envelop the space. The Gigas ss orbiters could only sit and watch as the raging ze approached and disintegrated them. Some of the U.N''s Armies Ster-capable ships was also erased from existence. But the losses from this friendly fire was far outweighed by the gain.


    The entire Orbital fleet was wiped out of existence.


    As ster-capable jets of the UN''s surviving fleet returned to Earth''s atmosphere, the whole world was in celebration. They now had achieved peace for the next months or maybe even years toe. Humanity had hope once more. Earth now had more time to prepare and fight for the next battle.


    But no sound of victory was heard in the Myth Squadron dropships returning to Earth. For them, this was a pyrrhic victory. They won the war but lost their General.


    Mission Star Killer, Codenamed: Super Nova, Sessful.


    Victory attributed to the brave sacrifice of the 6-Star General, Ster General Seeker Carlean.

 Chapter 4 - Charles Lindmitt

    Seeker Carlean sat down with eyes that could shut tight at any moment. His teacher was not making the harsh and boring lesson any easier to learn. He stared at the board and tried to force his eyelids to open as wide as it can. How can any normal 16-year-old manage to fight this unassable battle?


    The empowering force of drowsiness was unrelenting.


    The rest of the ss didn''t seem to face this problem. Obviously, they were not caught up by the mysterious powers that have ensnared Seekers mind.


    This was witchcraft.


    Something unearthly was forcing Seeker''s eyes to close and the call of dreams sounded so seductive.


    As his consciousness started fading, Seeker then heard his own voice speaking.


    "Thanks."


    As the voice faded, a vast amount of images now erupted in Seeker''s mind.


    "Ahhhh!" an immense pain awakened Seeker from his drowsy state. He felt as if his brain was expanding and that something was going to explode in his mind.


    Seeker fell from his seat and struggled in pain. Shouting and iling.


    The professor teaching the ss was shocked and immediately rushed to Seeker. The nearby students started panicking at Seeker''s sudden episode.


    "Seeker!" various voices called out to Seeker.


    But Seeker could not hear the voices in the room as the voices in his head were far more powerful and loud.


    Seeker lost all sense of bnce and his awareness started fading. Finally, the immense thrashing started to lessen as Seeker''s consciousness faded off towards his dream.


    ---


    The moment Seeker''s eyes opened he immediately sprang up.


    The sudden awakening shocked the people in the room. Seeker''s mother immediately hugged the panicking Seeker.


    Seeker was gasping for his breath and started looking around the room with a confused face.


    "A hospital?" Seeker asked. His voice was trembling and his body could not stop from shaking.


    "Zeek, you''re in the hospital. It''s ok now. It''s ok." His mom hugged him as tears that were yet to dry continued to pour out from her eyes.


    "What happened Zeek?" His dad was more firm than his Mom. Chris Carlean sat by the bed and gave a worried look towards Seeker. His eyes were filled with relief seeing that his son was alright.


    Seeker didn''t know what to say. He just woke up and couldn''t remember the details of his fainting.


    "I''m not sure. All I remembered was..." Seeker began to murmur. Grace finally parted her hug from Seeker.


    The memories he saw started to change. A vast amount of memories started to jumble up as he pushed to recall the facts. Thest thing he could remember was being in ss struggling to keep his consciousness awake. But thest thing he also remembered was the FFA''s ignition and how it sessfully merged towards the core of the star energy ensuring the sess of his mission.


    Seeker stared at his parents and didn''t know what to say. He looked deeply at his dad and towards his mom. The blue eyes of his dad and the almond eyes of his mom were the only things he stared at.


    Seeker''s panicked expression started to slowly disappear as a confused look began to surface. Then a warm and happy smile emerged. He immediately hugged his parents.


    "I missed you guys." Seeker cried. "I was so scared."


    Chris and Graceforted their poor child and hugged him even tighter. Chris started telling odd jokes to make Seeker more rxed.


    Amidst the odd jokes and heartwarming sentiments, Seeker appeared to have recalled something.


    "Zeek?" Grace asked at Seeker who seemed to have suddenly fallen into a trance.


    "Mom, I''m very tired." Seeker spoke as he looked at his mom and dad.


    Chris and Grace nced at each other.


    "Ok. You need to rest now." Grace gave Seeker a hug and kissed Seeker''s forehead. Seekerid in his bed and seemed to be trying to sleep.


    "Mr. and Mrs. Carlean?" A voice interrupted from beyond the door.


    "It must be the doctor." Chris hurriedly opened the door. A tall man in a long white coat stood there. His gaze was stern. His beard wild. He was like a war hero in a doctor''s outfit.


    "Doctor Lindmitt?!" Grace eximed.


    The name awakened Seeker. He immediately sat up to stare at the unfamiliar doctor.


    Seeker was sure. He was familiar with this doctor that he has never met in his entire life.


    "I''m sorry to disturb you. Doctor t already reviewed the MRI results and asked me to take a look at the patient."


    "No problem at all Doctor!" Grace excitedly agreed.


    "Grace, you know Doctor¡­?"


    "Doctor Lindmitt! He''s been over the news these past few weeks! A celebrity doctor!"


    "Well, I wouldn''t im to be a celebrity doctor." Lindmitt chuckled.


    "I came here and requested to take over in caring for Seeker Carlean. If that''s alright with you, of course. No additional charges will be given for my services. You will still be paying the same fee as you did with Doctor t."


    "The pleasure is ours! Chris, this is the doctor who was all over the news! The famous neurological doctor who managed to cure Alzheimer''s!"


    The news shocked Chris. Seeker, however, stared in even more confusion. How did he already know this?


    "Well, how can we say no to such a generous offer?" Chris smiled.


    "Now that I don''t need to introduce myself, Seeker, I will now be your doctor and I will be sure to put to use a hundred percent of my capabilities-"


    "To ensure that I''ll get back to my 100% right? I''m relieved to be in your hands, Charles." Seeker interrupted.


    Charles Lindmitt was surprised. Grace gave Seeker a peculiar look.


    "Zeek, he''s Doctor Charles. Show some respect!"


    "Haha! It''s alright, Mrs. Grace. Looks like little Zeek here has heard of me. Surprisingly he even knows of my catchphrases!"


    Zeek started to hold his head in agony again. "I''m sorry but I''m very ufortable at how crowded this ce is. My head''s starting to throb again."


    "Alright! Mr. and Mrs. Carlean would you mind if I spend some time with Zeek. I know that it''s gettingte and that Zeek is tired but his case requires a bit of haste on my part. If it''s also alright with you, Zeek."


    "No problem at all, Doctor."


    Grace and Chris immediately left the room leaving the two alone.


    "So¡­ Right on to business then! Seeker, as you already-"


    "Doctor Charles. I''d like to take a little test if you don''t mind. It''s rted to my current state and might even help you on a possible plight you have regarding a neuro-alteration study you might be doing."


    Charles was shocked to hear Seeker''s ims.


    "How did you know about my study? Who-"


    "Rx Charles. I''m just a kid with an intense migraine. However, if what you''ll help me and it proves my assumption then I guess I won''t be an ordinary kid with a migraine."


    Charles stood there wondering what the peculiar teenager was talking about.


    "I''m not sure if I follow. Who are you and-"


    "Charles. Please. I am as confused as you are. I don''t believe what my mind is telling me. But so far, it has proven to be true. How did I know you when I''ve never met you? Why am I so familiar with your expressions, your habits, your favorite catchphrases? Why do I possess knowledge which exceeds what I should have? Help me."


    Seeker wasn''t even looking at Charles but continued massaging his temple. Charles didn''t know how to respond.


    "Alright. Let''s make this simple." Seeker finally decided. He continued to massage his head but gazed straight to Charles. He recalled an important detail in Charles''s future. Knowing his current age, then ''that traumatic event'' must have just happened recently. As a military doctor who served in several tours, a certain event has always gued Charles and had often poured his heart out to Seeker.


    "If it''s you, you might just have gone through it. How about... you flip a coin and have me guess it? It should be easy, right doctor?" Seeker smiled.


    The doctor trembled. Those words were thest thing he heard before his toon was killed. One by one, he was forced to guess and call it right. He called none right. All his fellow toon died. This event was what made Charles obsessed with neuro-alteration and became the foundation forpleting the Unlocking.


    "Flip a coin and catch it. I''ll call what it is the moment itnds. Try to be quick though and not make me know what the result was." Seeker repeated more traumatic words.


    Charles stared in confusion. Bhut he found himself reaching for his pocket. if Seeker knew something about the neuro-alteration project he decided to see what the teen could do. His trauma also made him curious. He rummaged on his pocket and took out a coin. He stared at Seeker waiting for any signal.


    Seeker gave a casual nod as he continued to massage his temples. He didn''t look as interested as he should. Charles flipped the coin and caught the coin with his right hand.


    "Tails." Seeker said casually.


    Charles opened his palm and found the side which disyed the proud Sydian symbol.. This was, of course, the "tails" of the coin.

 Chapter 5 - The Unlocking

    "Am I right?" Seeker inquired. Charles was sure that Seeker wasn''t paying attention to the coin as he seemed to be more concerned of massaging his head. Charles nodded back to confirm.


    "Let''s keep at it until I make a mistake." Seeker smiled and said the inverse traumatic words that Charles heard. Charles was forced to repeat the game until he had called one coin flip, right. All his friends died, and he waster ransomed due to being an important figure in the military.


    Charles and Seeker continued to y the game. Seeker called all coin flips correctly. He was simply ncing at Charles the exact moment he would catch the coin in his palm. The more they did it the more amazed Charles was.


    "Alright. I have to ask. How do you do it?" Charles asked at the eleventh coin flip.


    Seeker finally stopped massaging his head. And gave a sigh.


    "Through a sessful application of your neuro-alteration theory. My brains are stronger than most. I can control the time of how I perceive things. I would estimate that I can turn 10 milliseconds to feel like one second. I could clearly see how the coin wouldnd. Not a magic trick, Doctor. This was pure perception."


    Charles was shocked at those words. This was one of the theoretical results of his study! The brain is capable of being upgraded!


    "Who exactly are you? How did you end up with that migraine? Do you realize what you''ve just said?"


    "Calm down Charles. Oh sorry. Doctor Charles. My memories are used to calling you Charles." Seeker smirked.


    Charles ignored Seeker and continued questioning Seeker andter applied a more aggressive tone as Seeker was ignoring him. In fact, it appeared that Seeker was lost in thoughts.


    "Seeker!" Charles grabbed hold of Seeker. He red angrily at Seeker. There was a kid iming to have the totality of his current life''s work! Has the government been spying on him? Charles lost his patient and calm smile which he would usually present to the public. Now here he was holding and shaking a kid who just suffered an intense migraine that left him in the hospital.


    "Tell me, Doctor. How far has your neuro-alteration research progressed? Now that you discovered the cure for Alzheimer''s you should have at least started on brain regeneration right?''


    "You''ve obviously read my research. You look pretty smart for a kid but you should tell me what I want to know now, you''d better give me a straight answer!" Charles demanded.


    "I haven''t read your works, Doctor. I am very versed at it since you applied this to me." Seeker remarked.


    "What?!"


    "Technically you will apply it to me. I don''t understand how. But I believe I''ve already undergone an Unlocking."


    "Unlocking?"


    Seeker stared at Charles with a surprised expression. This was his first expression other than the tired and annoyed look he once had.


    "Ugh. It''s a term you coined to describe the current capacity a person''s brain can do."


    "A term? What are you talking about?"


    "Unlocking the extent of how a person can use his brain. To be precise, the percentage of its uses."


    "What? You mean that 10% brain using theory? Kid, I''m a neurosurgeon. One of the best this world has to offer. And I know that that 10% brain crap was just some stupid theory used as a plot for an aged old movie."


    Seeker startedughing. This angered Charles even more.


    "Why are youughing?" Charles demanded.


    Seeker tossed an apple towards Charles. Charles instinctively caught it.


    "What is this? An apple a day crap?" The angry Charles was about to toss the apple in the trash when Seeker interrupted him.


    "How much percent of your muscles did you use, Doctor? To be precise, if 100% is the total amount of force your right arm can possibly perform, what was the percentage of force that you used to catch the apple?"


    Charles paused for a bit. He was confused by Seeker''s question.


    "I don''t know. Five percent? I don''t care what-"


    "This is what I meant doctor. Not the percentage of the parts that the brain use, but the percentage of the extent, the effort, if you will, that the brain can use. The whole not using 10 percent of your brain is proven to be false. But the question is, how strong can a brain work?"


    Charles was stunned at this statement. This was something he had been studying and researching on.


    "The brain like any muscle can exert a percentage of its true capability. Think ofputers. Does it always run at its 100%?" Seeker asked casually. He was now on a rxed mood and decided to rest his head on the beds'' pillow.


    "Well¡­ No. Unless you run a program that demands more memory. At most, the RAM, the processors will use minimal power to run these programs."


    "And to go beyond this on an active basis is if you overclock it. The brain as a muscle is also capable of this. It can be forced to work harder. Of course, like any muscle, overworking it could result in a strain. Which is why the body defaults its usage to at least 7-10% like an ordinaryputer. Sooner orter, you will prove this to the world. Pushing the brain''s capacity to work harder is possible. It will exin the phenomenon of why people experience life reviews near their moments of death, tachypsychia, and even those alleged ''out of body experiences.''"


    "I will prove..? What are you getting at?"


    "It looks like your research hasn''t gone this far yet. Then let me point you in the right direction. Tachypsychia, the phenomenon where people im time has slowed down. On what asion do those generally happen?"


    "Life-threatening situations. Other than that, athletes, martial artist or basically anyone doing extreme sports im to have these moments."


    "At that point, the brain functioned beyond its 10% norm. All those whom you mentioned encountered extreme stimnts or reasons which led them to push the percentage of their brain usage. The Life Review, where people im that their life shed before their eyes is another experience caused by their brain functioning beyond the 10% norm. During their life-threatening episodes, they quickly thought about their past. But due to their brain being in overclocked mode, they remembered far too many things that they should have."


    Charles was silent. He was excited. Looks like his research was right!


    "And the OOBE? How can out of body experience fall into the mix of all these?"


    "An overclocked brain heightens the senses. Sound, taste, and smellbined with a heightened sense of touch are easily converted into a totally different way of perceiving the world. At that point, their perception was so strong that they thought their spirit was looking from above. But the truth is the totality of their senses just allowed them to see things perfectly even when their eyes were closed."


    Charles was silent once again. What if this kid does indeed have what he is iming to have?


    "The Unlocking is an interesting thing. You see, by also altering the biological nature of our brain, and provide it with the right chemicals to cool it, to stabilize it, and even increase the strength and durability, the limits of perception, thought and everything else was finally tested."


    "So you have Unlocked¡­ how many percent of your brain?"


    Seeker gazed towards the ceiling contemting the question.


    "I''d guess I''m at the Unbing stage. My unlocking should be around 15-18% based on the symptoms I''m disying."


    "Unbing? What symptoms?"


    "Millisecond perception, Advanced Recall, Heightened senses, Improved Motor Reaction and um¡­ yeah¡­ light migraines."


    "You call your migraines light? You passed out!"


    "I meant now. Me having that episode was caused by a different¡­ erm.. reason. Unless that happens again, I''m confident I won''t be having those fainting episodes anymore." Seeker gave another exasperated look to Charles.


    "What happens beyond this Unbing phase?


    "Above it is the Inhuman Stage. Symptoms include a finer millisecond perception, Advanced Motor Reaction, Inhuman Senses, and Total Recall."


    "So no more migraines?" Charles joked.


    "The brain would be fried if a person maintains Inhuman Unlocking at full capacity for more than 5 minutes. You need a stronger brain to maintain that stage."


    Charles was shocked at Seekers ims.


    "As for the next stages, Ranked Hero and World Champion, we''d have to save it for next time. I wouldn''t want to give all the secrets away to you, doctor. I think telling you what you will soon discover would be detrimental to your potential. It''s best if you find the answers yourself. Again, I''m just pointing you in the right direction." Seeker smirked and started rxing.


    "I think I slept 10 hours yesterday. But at the same time, my memory tells me that I''ve haven''t slept that long in nearly four years.. Funny how things turn out."

 Chapter 6 - A New Game +

    Seeker paced towards his ssroom. Everyone passed by Seeker, not paying heed to this familiar figure. Seeker was a regr student who studied,ughed, yed hooky at times. He made his attempts to pursue some of the hottest girls in school and, of course he got rejected.


    The average of the average. That was Seeker Carlean.


    "Zeek! You alright? What happened?" Lynd Peters ran towards Seeker. He was a tall, tanned young man with jet ck hair. His head was a near-perfect circr shape, and adding to his innocent look, one would mistake him to be rted to trolls. His tall and massive frame adding to his clumsy and slightly awkward movements made his worried dash aical scene.


    "I''m fine. Sheesh. Don''t do that in public! It''s really embarrassing!" Seekerughed, but his heart warmed up, seeing this concerned giant.


    "Well, you should have seen yourself! You looked like one of those demon-possessed people in the movies! Screaming so loud, and your eyes were almost popping out!" As Lynd approached, Seeker could see the tears in his eyes.


    "I''m alright now." Seekerforted.


    "You really had me worried there, Zeek. You were screaming some weird stuff the other day. We thought you really lost it!" Lynd walked at Seeker''s pace, slowly adjusting his long steps.


    "Really? I couldn''t remember much of what I was shouting. I just remembered the pain." Seeker gave a casual smile.


    "Well, I couldn''t remember all of it. I was too busy holding you down and was screaming as well!" Lyndughed.


    "But from what I heard after you were sent to the hospital, you were screaming strange things."


    The pair walked onwards towards the room. Lynd continued to bombard Seeker with questions, and Seeker kept repeating the fact that he remembered nothing. As they entered, an apuse was made. There, gathered in the room, were Seeker''s ssmates.


    "You''re alive!"


    "Is the demon out?" Several joked.


    Seeker gave a gratefulugh. He never thought he''d have fun moments like these once again.


    The senior ss that Seeker was assigned was not a high ranking ss. Their school grouped students ording to their academic performances and grades per year level. Though Seeker''s ss wasn''t as dreadful as the "Regrs" ranked sses, the "Rising" rank was not as prestigious as the "Royal" rank.


    Devoid of extreme talents and extreme dullness, life was carefree andfortable in the Rising rank. Students of this ss had no outlying students who were smart and so it was dull. Everyone epted their grades and would always perform for the sake of passing. From school ys, performances, and studies, their culture was a very happy-go-lucky group.


    "Congrattions on recovering, Zeek!" Meryl pped as she paced towards Seeker. Meryl''s long braided hair swung as she walked towards him and gave Seeker a meaningful hug. After which she began to scan him trying to find any defects or surgical scars. Meryl was a bright girl with an innocent smile. She had a well-rounded face and white skin. She smiled as she looked with worried eyes to her dear friend.


    "I''m fine, Meryl." Seeker yfully patted her braided head.


    "Fine? Some of us thought a demon possessed you! Some of the Christians in ss even started shouting, ''get out of him, demon!''" Merylughed as she replied.


    "You started screaming and iling and even shouted something about being on fire! Was a demon trying to drag you to hell?" Meryl grumpily argued.


    Seekerughed.


    "No such incident! I promise you. Anyways I''m d I''m back with you guys." Seeker stared dearly at his two friends. Lynd and Meryl were his two best friends. Lynd was his awkwardpatriot who would always be there no matter what. Meryl, his beloved little-older sister who would scold them of their stupidity but still join in, to either help them get out of trouble or asionally give them more problems because of her sarcastic and often selfish desires.


    The ss was now bombarding Seeker with many questions. Seeker casually addressed all concerns from his ssmates. As he talked with them, tears would unexpectedly gather in his eyes. Meryl stared at Lynd in the wonder of what was happening. Seekerter sat down at his seat as the bell rang. Meryl and Lynd sat next to Seeker. As the teacher went in, life in the Rising 3-B ss began.


    The ss paid the usual nomittal attitude it had. Seeker was, however, still lost in thoughts.


    "I can''t believe that I would be here once more." The emotions started surging, and Seeker''s eyes were tearing up once more. He confirmed his existence, his memory, and other unbelievable thingsst night. He isn''t dreaming. He isn''t dead. He is alive, back to his Junior Years at the West Phil-Pangea High.


    The emotions that he felt were of both joy and relief. He could be with his friends, talk with his parents, and enjoy the fact that the remaining three-fourths of the Earth is habitable and not a heaping wastnd or a metal graveyard.


    It felt like an impossible dream.


    "Seek?" Meryl called out.


    "Hmm?"


    "You Ok? Are you crying?" Meryl noticed the teary-eyed Seeker.


    "I''m ok, Meryl. It''s just that ever since the attack, my heads been throbbing a bit every now and then."


    "Oh my! You sure it''s alright to go to school? What if the attack happens again?"


    Lynd gave an rmed stare at Meryl and Seeker.


    "Mr. Carlean!" The teacher suddenly barked.


    Ms. Cipril called out. Alean Cipril was fiery hot, and the white woman who, despite her very alluring beauty, was still single. Her strict military upbringing, paired with the fact that her father took her wherever he was assigned, made Alean''s career a very diverse one.


    Seeker knew far more than the rest and an instant hatred and loathing filled Seeker''s heart knowing what this Alean would soon do.


    "It is not an excuse for you to idle around in my ss even if you had a little headache episode. If you wish to fake another panic attack, do so in another ss because if you do it again, I will throw you out!"


    The ss was silent. Even though Meryl and Lynd wanted to pound this General''s daughters with smart rebuttals, they knew not to awaken this beast.


    Seeker merely stared at the teacher. His eyes could not hide the immense hatred he felt towards this wretched beast clothed in womanly splendor. Seeker, however, chose to give a wry smile and nodded to the teacher.


    Alean went back to her lessons ignoring the expression that Seeker had.


    Seeker gripped his fist in anger. It was then that he noticed it.


    "So it already started? I''m now sure that it isn''t a dream. This Unlocking is real. My strength should be twice as strong now thanks to the Neuro-Transcellr phenomenon Charles discovered... or rather will soon discover."


    "Forget about her, Zeek!" Lynd whispered.


    "Wanna go to my ceter? Guess what? I booked an order for our favorite game, and I finally got it! The sequel to Piercing: Edge! Later we will be in the action-packed world of Piercing: Bullet! My game data from Edge is ready to go! I just can''t wait to y a New Game+ on Bullet! Depending on yourpletion rate of the previous game, you would get rewarded with several unlocked skills and even ammunition! This game, we already know what not to waste and what to prepare for. Not to mention, if we managed toplete several secret tasks from Piercing: Edge, we can meet secret characters who will help us with more stuff!"


    "A new game plus, huh?" Seeker smiled.


    "I guess this is what it is. This should make the game easier and possibly a hundred times harder."


    "What?" Lynd was lost in Seeker''s response.


    "As you said, Lynd. We have more unlocked skills than our first game, and we have more ammunition, a lot of time for preparations, and even secret characters to discover. I''m excited too. Let''s y it." Seeker''s smile grew bigger.


    "The New Game+."

 Chapter 7 - The Aragarians

    "Where are you taking us, Zeek?" Meryl had a confused look as Seeker was navigating them into an unknown lot around aplex they have never been to.


    "I told you. We''ll have our own personal hang out space. This ce beats hanging about in the school grounds."


    "But why would your uncle give this to you?" Lynd gave a confused stare.


    The trio arrived at a duplex building. Seeker went up and rang the doorbell and waited.


    "Seeker?" A voice called out. The door opened to reveal a tall brutish, and bearded man who you would never mistake for a doctor.


    "Charles. Nice ce you got here." Seeker smiled at Charles. Only Charles could see the devil behind the grin.


    "Doctor Charles Lindmitt!" Meryl and Lynd chorused.


    "And this must be Meryl and Lynd. I''ve heard about you from my dear nephew."


    "Zeek! You''re rted to him?!" A surprised cry of Lynd voiced over. Seeker gave a quick nod to affirm.


    "Anyways,e inside. I got the ce ready for you." Charles chuckled over the innocence of Seeker''s friends. Who would expect this peculiar unbing human to have such average teenage friends?


    The duplex offered a well-decorated, minimalistic space with a surprisingly spacious area that hosted all the necessary gym equipment for a bodybuilder. There were metal bars andrge boxes of all sizes that were used for parkour or gymnastics.


    A lounge area was seen on the second floor of the building. The party headed over to the second floor, and an array of snacks and drinks awaited them. A high-quality gamingputer was avable with arge screen T.V. used as its monitor. Lynd nearly drooled at the sight of the machines set up. This was a realm that casual gamers like him could never reach.


    "Not bad, Doctor." Seeker gave a smile impressed at the hospitality and preparation made for them.


    "Anything for my dear nephew." Charles mncholically smiled back. What does it take to truly impress this little rascal?


    "I wish to speak with my dear nephew privately. Just the ground rules to this little hideout of yours."


    Charles walked downstairs, and Seeker followed.


    "I hope this is to your liking. This is all the equipment that should be going to MY gym! Because of this, I probably won''t open the gym until the end of the year!"


    "A rich guy like you? I''m sure you have no sponsors or partners to let down." Seeker chuckled.


    "Alright, Seeker. This time I want the truth. I took a look at the file youpiledst night. Adding to what I can see at the various test results of your brain, I''m inclined to believe that you are indeed on that "Unbing" stage. But what I want to know is, who are you exactly? The level of scientific technologies listed on that rough file looked like it was a century ahead in the future! I''ve had my guesses, and all I could think of is that you are an alien stuck on this. I''m prepared to believe anything, so tell me."


    "Looks like the file convinced you." Seeker gave a rxed smile.


    "This makes things easier to exin. So what do you think of the draft I made for the Thought Transmitter?"


    "That was pure science fiction. At least that''s what I would say yesterday. But looking at the other files, you sent me, if the Unlocking is possible, then the Thought Transmitter should also be usible. But what I''m more concerned about is who you are than the inventions you have. Answer that first, and I can trust whatever you say afterward."


    "The reason I asked you about the Thought Transmitter is that it might exin who I am. I am Seeker Carlean. Born and raised in New Pangea town of the Phil-Pangea Inds of the A.U. Nations. Fifteen years of age and all the data you might have gathered from me ought to be true. However, I am also Seeker Carlean of the Thirteenth Brigade, promoted to be General of the Ster Armies. A Six Star general by all ounts and a Ranked Hero based on the Unlocking Level. You see Charles, I am what you might call a Reincarnator."


    "A reincarnator?"


    "One who has lived life to his dying breath, and by some twist of faith, I reincarnated back to my younger years."


    Charles gave a scrutinizing stare to Seeker. "I was ready for alien life forms or a secret America experiment, but that was totally unexpected."


    Seekerughed.


    "I share your sentiments. It''s been two whole days, and I still question whether I am real or not. To rify, I am not exactly a reincarnator, but I inherited the memories of my future self. Five years from now, humanity will answer an age-old question that they have asked for so long. ''Are we alone?'' And the answer is that we are not. Another race of aliens that share the same gic makeup, biological features, and they basically anything that makes us human exist somewhere out there in the stars. They have known our existence for quite some time. But they choose to keep silent and ignore all our calls because they want us to remain ignorant of their life."


    "An alien race that is exactly like humans?"


    "Apparently, we are not the only ''humans'' in this universe."


    "Interesting. Another human race. So they aren''t as different from as we''d once imagined. Well, at least I was partially right. You are involved in some intergctic war." Charles gave an intrigued smile.


    "Yes. We of Earth, fighting the invasion of the Aragarians."


    "So, what exactly do these Aragarians want?"


    "Our. You see, they have lived about a couple of hundred years longer than us on a bigger than ours. Aragar is simr to Earth in terms of itsposition, atmosphere, and so on. They are on the edge of extinction. They have reaped the consequences of their actions. Global Warming in Aragar could have been reaching critical levels. The pollution there might have halved the average lifespan of the weaker or less fortunate members of that race. Some could easily ovee it... but their culture, their system of governance, and their life as a whole are very different than ours. While they have the technology to resolve these issues, they choose not to. They want their race to struggle. So to those who do not have the means, they suffer. Imagine all those environmental warnings that we''ve been talking about."


    "What a strange world. So some of them are looking for a new home?"


    "Either that or a temporary ce to move their residents while some of them execute the ns of terraforming their. So they relocate temporarily while the scientists of their execute the terraforming ns to help return their to a green and livable. Of course, these ns would make them leave their home for an uninhabited ce."


    "So they tried to reach out to us, and we refused to wee their people? Kinda rude of us, don''t you think?"


    "They never asked. If their full poption moves to Earth, then they have another problem."


    "I see. This ain''t big enough for both of us?" Charles realized.


    "Exactly. Besides, they see us like cattle. One has to go. Hence a war will begin in the next five years."


    "Five years? So they''ll be arriving within five years?


    "No. They will arrive at the fifth year of that war. The war that is toe is a world war on our."


    Charles was lost in thoughts.


    "Are you saying that they instigated this war, in order to make us kill each other? And after we fought, they arrived to reap the rewards?"


    "Most likely. They might have even instigated the previous world war. They have people on key political, government, and evenmercial sectors. Who knows how long they''ve been here? The Aragarians were very careful. They did their best to minimize the cost of their actions. They promised some world leaders a ce in their utopia. With their tech, they could have conquered us. But it would have cost them an astronomical amount of resources and a lot of lives. So they made ways for us to be weakened. Divided us, made us go against each other. And then they arrived and conquered."


    "So, we were at the brink of extinction?" Charles gave a grim stare.


    "We were. However, they made a big mistake." Seeker smiled.


    "They underestimated us. They had the technology and the means to kill us, but they weren''t willing to spend the cost to reach that goal. They ordered the many nations that allied with them to kill us. But that gave us time. At a turning point, they decided to step in. They had the numbers, they were united, they were many. But that was exactly why they lost."


    "I don''t follow."


    "Earthling desperation ushered in a new era for us. When several nations betrayed humanity and us, who remained, faced extinction, a technology that they couldn''t imagine was opened right in our eyes. And you have been looking at that technology all night Doc."


    "The Unlocking!"


    "Exactly. At the brink of extinction, humans unlocked thest chains that bound their limitations. The Unlocking made men of renown. We had warriors that could dive in a war zone and halve the enemy army before dying. We raised Heroes that won nations back to humanity. And we had World Champions that managed to save the Earth multiple times. It was something that even their technology couldn''t stop."


    Charles gulped a mouthful of saliva. What he was looking at was the future of his works. And it was that very research that saved humanity.


    "It''s funny how you concern yourself of who I am, Charles.. The truth is, my very existence right now of knowing the future is nothingpared to your worth in the future."

 Chapter 8 - The Power Of Advance Recall

    Charles was astounded by Seeker''s im. In his palms was the destiny of humanity. His sess meant the Earth would have a fighting chance. The boy from the future was indeed not as important as him. He would be the man that would change the world and give it weapons to face the enemy.


    Charles sat down on one of the chairs nearby and pondered deeply.


    "I bet this changes your perspective in life, right?" Seekerughed.


    Charles continued to think. Was it all real? Would he be the impetus that would save the future? An uneasy weight fell on his heart. He was someone special in this world. Someone who made it the top of his career. But never did he thought that lives would be at stake.


    "Look, a part of me still doesn''t believe in all this." Charles stared straight into Seeker''s eyes.


    "At times I''m waiting for the camera toe out and surprise me telling me that I''ve been in some sort of reality TV joke show. I still-"


    "Did you bring the gun?" Seeker impatiently interrupted.


    "Yes. I have it in my holster underneath this coat." The surprised doctor disyed the gun hanging in his holster.


    "Right then. If you still don''t believe me, load the gun and shoot me." Seekermanded unemotionally.


    Charles shivered at the thought of what Seeker asked.


    "It''s the only way to know if I''m telling the truth. You brought your own gun, you have real bullets with you, we are standing in a building you own. So no one else could have prepared anything for a prank, a magic trick, or whatever. Everything is now in your control. If I evade your bullets, would it help you believe?"


    Charles didn''t respond. He was surprised at Seeker''s sudden offer.


    "You''re crazy!"


    "It''s the only way, Doc. Now, I already have a blindfold with me. I''ll put it on. You walk around me, oh, and try to be discreet, so I can''t tell where you are. After that, simply announce when you are going to shoot. Move around some more and about after a half a second or so. Shoot me. I will evade all bullets."


    "What?! You will blindfold yourself?! And what do you mean by all bullets? You want me to shoot while you are blindfolded, and you want me to do that several times? Are you insane?" Charles cried in surprise. Even his significant brutish form seemed to shrink in rm at Seeker''s statements.


    "Well, yeah. After all, you missing the shot would be well within the possibilities. If you shoot me once, shame on me. If you shoot me twice, shame on you, right? Just like the old saying."


    "That''s not even close to what the original saying was! Do you think I''m an amateur with guns? And why are you putting on the blindfold?" Charles was now screaming at Seeker, who used Charles''s moment of hysteric raving to put on the blindfold.


    "To prove my point. Heightened senses, remember? My response time is fairly quick. And besides, there is something that I forgot to mention regarding my Unlocking. I am not just Unlocked. But within my mind are the memories of a Ranked Hero. Because of improved recollection, I can remember things far better than most."


    "How does good memory help in dodging bullets?" Charles shouted.


    Seekerfortably stood there with the blindfold on.


    "Muscle memory would be the easiest analogy. The human body can react without thinking. When people start practicing to drive, they begin to have to concentrate. They watch which pedal to push, which gears to switch to and other newbie-like actions. Butter, they begin to do it as if it was natural. In basketball or whatever sports, it''s the same thing. Even simple actions such as dribbling a basketball require concentration. But soon, because of practice, you develop these skills to the point that you do it without thinking. Because of what I am now, I don''t only ''remember'' my memories, but to a certain extent, I remembered how I moved in it. So don''t worry. Point and shoot Doc." Seeker stood calmly.


    "I could kill you!" Charles suddenly shouted.


    Lynd and Meryl, who were surprised at the sudden shouts, were already eavesdropping.


    "Lynd, Meryl. Stay where you are. No matter what happens, don''t interfere." Seeker shouted.


    Charles was surprised. He hadn''t noticed the two kids.


    "This is insane!"


    "This is Unlocking." Seeker boldly dered as he raised his two hands like a prophet unveiling the glorious truth.


    "Trust! Doctor! Trust in your work! Trust in the truth and possibilities of the Unlocking. And most importantly, trust in me!"


    Seeker dered confidently.


    Charles slowly stood up. He now had a severe face.


    He reached for his gun and took a close look at it. He drew it close to his face and started to carefully view the nozzle, the trigger, and even the magazine. This could be the revealer of truth for Charles or the cause of death for the bold boy who stood with his eyes blindfolded.


    Meryl and Lynd stood frozen ever since they saw the gun. The development was too strange.


    Charles slowly walked around Seeker. He immediately took out the silencer that Seeker asked him to bring.


    He immediately attached it to the gun and aimed at Seeker. His hands were shivering. Should he really do this?


    "Doc-"


    Before Meryl could even cry, Seeker shouted as well.


    "Meryl! Don''t interfere! Just watch and be amazed at my death-defying act-" Before Seeker could evenplete the showman deration, Charles made his move.


    "Now!" It wasn''t even half a secondter when he started pulling the trigger.


    The world slowed down in Seeker''s perception. An average bullet travels at the speed of 1700 feet per second. Seeker was only 8 feet away from Charles, and at that range, it would''ve been certain death.


    But even before the trigger was pulled, Seeker already evaded ordingly and immediately removed the blindfold. With his sense, he knew where Charles stood and could even guess where Charles was aiming. The first bullet was fired, and it easily missed. But Charles wasn''t finished. Another shot was made after he aimed at Seeker''s torso.


    Seeker saw where he was aiming and dropped his shoulder a bit. The second bullet was fired. It again failed to hit Seeker. Seeker took his time between these passing moments. He watched the shell casing being ejected out of the cylinder of the gun.


    Charles pulled the trigger again. Another bullet was fired. This time Seeker didn''t move. The bullet simply missed Seeker.


    To Charles, these few seconds passed by quickly. But the perceptions of those in the Unbing stage is different. Things can be perceived as fast or slow. And at Seeker''s level of concentration, a second could feel like 5.


    He saw the next aim of Charles. Estimating trajectory to an Unbing stage user was easy. Adding to that was the profound memories that were somehow maximized by Advance Recall to provide him the muscle memory that he didn''t have.


    Seeker grabbed the cor of his shirt and pulled it sideways. The third bullet was fired. Seeker could see the bullet as it flew.


    "Fast." He thought in those milliseconds.


    The bullet ripped a hole through the shirt that Seeker stretched out. He could feel the pressure and resistance as the bullet passed through. He stared intently at Charles. For a few seconds, he saw Charles not putting pressure on his finger, which was on the trigger.


    Two more seconds passed in Seeker''s view, and it seemed that Charles didn''t n to continue. So he decided to end this state.


    "-ions." Seeker paused a bit. The entire sequence of firing took less than three seconds.


    "That was rude. At least you should have made me finish my sentence before shooting."


    Charles stared in amazement. He quickly approached Seeker with a dumbfounded expression as the bullet hole in his shirt confirmed that the gun he fired was real as with the bullets he used.


    He ran to the back of the room and checked the bullet marks left by his shootout. He found the ces where the bullet prated deep into the wall.


    It wasn''t a magic trick. Everything was real. Despite how crazy things were, it was as Seeker had said.


    "So, I guess I''m going to be a hero." Charles sighed. He couldn''t keep the strength to stand. He slid down as he leaned on the wall.


    Meryl and Lynd stood frozen stiff. The moment they heard the small silenced shots, they knew that something strange has urred.


    "Ok. Now that that''s over with. I''m hungry. Let''s eat!"


    Charles just stared at Seeker. There was a hint of frustration and wonder at Seeker''s unexpected actions.


    "I just shot you four times. And your reaction is that you''re feeling hungry?"


    "My dear Doctor, it''s precisely because I can dodge bullets that I need to eat. These delicacies won''t stay around forever, you know.." Seeker grinned mischievously.

 Chapter 9 - The Reincarnator’s Tale

    "Are you going to eat that?" Seeker asked Charles as the young boy''s hand hovered over the remaining piece of the very greasy back ribs on the table.


    Lynd, Meryl, and Charles sat down, still unable topletely wrap their heads around what happened. Charles was still shocked on what the future may hold for him. Of course, everybody was silent. Not paying attention to Seeker, whofortably had an extravagant meal. Charles gave a somewhat frustrated stare to Seeker while the two remaining teens stared nkly as they were too afraid to ask questions. This Doctor just fired four rounds of live bullets towards their friend, and their friend managed to easily dodge it.


    "Charles? Anyone? Going once. Going twice. Sold to the hungry Seeker Carlean." Seeker didn''t hesitate to grab the remaining piece with his bare hands.


    "When was thest time you ate back ribs?" Charles asked tiredly.


    "Do you mean in this life or the previous one? Because if it''s thetter one, then I guess, seven years?" Seeker took the piece and ate it. It was devoid of all forms of ss or grace. Like a caveman discovering how to eat meat. Seeker''s delight in eating this treat was very obvious.


    "Trust me, guys. Horde and enjoy whatever this world has to offer now. Things are going to be different soon. Well, unless Doctor Lindmitt here can make something beyond the impossibilities that lie in my mind." Seeker happily devoured the meal.


    Charles sighed deeply.


    "So the world as we know it would soone to an end."


    "Yeah. So get your mind loading doctor! You are on the right direction now. This should save a few years in your research. And if you do have time, contact all those names you have in that file. Try to convince them to join your team."


    Charles opened the document that Seekerpiled. The papers contained several suspicious items, such as sketches and drawings of people''s faces. Each name would follow illustrations, text, and what appeared to beplex calctions.


    "I don''t understand most of them. Engineering, physics, mathematics, Astro-science, and whatnot. The only things that interested me are all rted to biology and anything to do with the unlocking."


    "And the thought transmitter? How far do you think we are to have the ability to recreate them?"


    "You mean inventing them. We haven''t invented the thought transmitter yet, Seeker."


    "Oh, right." Seeker embarrassedly scratched his head.


    "It all gets fuzzy, Doc. I don''t know how to exin it. But I feel that I''ve literally lived two lives. And at some point, they just intersected."


    "There is still one thing you haven''t exined to the three of us. How did you end up here?" Charles gave a severe stare at Seeker. This was the most critical question that he had.


    Seeker, however, had a pile of ribs in his mouth. This was more important to him.


    "Actually, can somebody exin everything?" Lynd finally interrupted.


    Seeker took out the piece of bone that he was sucking on.


    "Delish! I wonder if there is a way to raise pigs or chickens and stuff. Maybe I should build a farm somewhere." Seeker gazed in wonder.


    Charles gave up. Seeker was just so into the moment that he didn''t care for anything else.


    "Zeek! What''s going on?" Meryl finally erupted.


    The gun shooting, the whole talk about some worldwide catastrophe, futuristic inventions, these were all the things that weighed upon Meryl and Lynd''s heart.


    Seeker smiled.


    "I''m sorry, Meryl. Anyways, let me exin what''s going on for now. Or rather, would the good Doctor exin it? I doubt they''d believe me if I told them. Why not give the man who tried to kill me the opportunity?"


    Charles stared in exasperation. The tale of Charles caused both Lynd and Meryl to look stupidly. However, not knowing what else to believe, they seemed flustered but still tried to swallow the hard pill as it was within the context of their previous discussions.


    "So basically Zeek''s gone and you''re now future Zeek?"


    "No. I''m still here, Meryl. Simply put, I remember two lives. Mine and my future self. But for the sake of not confusing everyone, let''s say I am the collective equal of both of me. The future me is a bit boring, to be honest. Can''t me him, though. Earth was destroyed, the Inte''s gone, and everyone didn''t have much to do. All that there was, was the battle to survive."


    "Ok. I told them your tale. Now tell me the rest of yours." Charles wasn''t patient anymore. Like a real adult, he worried.


    "Fine. Let me tell you this reincarnator''s tale." Seeker stood up and began his tale.


    "The future is bleak gentlemen. More than half of the Earth will be our enemies soon. The Aragarians are a species simr to humans. Actually, they are a hundred percent human. From their appearance down to their sex organs. Anyway, they first made contact in a very dramatic way. As Charles said, a world war will soon happen. This war would be different than most of the wars we previously encountered. It would be a true world war. Several alliances will be made, but I won''t bore you with the details."


    "I think you should tell us as much as you know Seeker. We need every single information of thising world war so-"


    "The reason that these things are not needed anymore is that I n to change them. It will be a very boring scenario if I have to go through the historical facts, most of which won''t even happen in this timeline. Don''t get me wrong, Doctor. I did note here to save the entire world. Only some of it. The rest could burn for all I care."


    Seeker''s eyes burned with unexinable passion. His hatred for those nations that abandoned their earthly humanity disgusted him.


    The room was silent. Charles felt a chilling sensation in his spine, and even the hairs in his forearms were tingling in fear.


    "Oh. Sorry." Seeker apologized. Suddenly the deathly sensation everyone felt lightened.


    "I really need to keep my feelings in check. You see, the collective me isplicated. I guess you can think of me as having a split personality? Man future me sure had one pitiful life." Seekerughed.


    "Anyways, my point is, most of history will be changed. I won''t burn the rest of the world. Uhhh. Maybe just a tiny portion of it? Of course, we will give them the chance to join us. But moving on, the only important history that you need to know is the African and Russian treaty that will shock the world. Africa would rise as a nation with a formidable military background. It will conquer most of the Caliphates, and our beloved country or group of countries would even take a step down in being a superpower. A string of political events will happen, and eventually, Africa and Russia be one nation."


    "Aren''t they like, several thousand miles away from each other?"


    "Oh, don''t worry. Ten years from now, they wouldn''t be. They''d be neighbors. Anyway, they named the future capital of their city Araga. At the end of the war, they had a big ceremony there. Now, this was a big thing. Their alliance and political move to be one nation led to the end of that world war. And on that day, the world watched as a new era of peace began. Or at least they thought. It was at that moment that the aliens arrived. As it turned out, the aliens were behind the rise of Africa. The president of Africa was actually an Aragarian."


    "What?!" The three shouted together.


    "Think about it. They already look like us and have our exact same biology. So it was easy for them to blend in this world. So there you have it, an entire continent belonging to the Aragarians. The world watched in horror as an alien threat easily conquered two of the biggest superpowers in the future. The ceremony on Aragar was actually an announcement to the world."


    The spine chilling sensation once again filled the room. Seeker had an unusually angry re.


    "The Aragarians only had one thing to say to the whole world.. Surrender to our terms or face extinction."

 Chapter 10 - The Time-Travelling Reincarnator

    The room was quiet. Lynd and Meryl started to look pale. It was difficult to not believe Seeker''s tale as a renowned and respected doctor seemed as pale as them. The chilling sensation soon disappeared.


    "Ugh. Sorry. It seems that I can''t control it easily." Seeker then resumed his usual happy-go-lucky look.


    "You''re the one that''s doing that?" Charles asked in surprise.


    "One of the moreplex things an Unlocked person can do. I can emit different hormones that can cause fear to those nearby. It''s uh¡­ wellplicated. We will discuss that once your research proceeds further."


    "You''re kidding, right?" Lynd found it unbelievable.


    "Aren''t we just scared because of your look?"


    "Ok, then. Let me smile." Seeker smiled a very innocent and sincere smile.


    But that smile caused Lynd''s heart to race faster. The three-faced fear as if they''ve never faced before. And somehow they knew it all came from the smiling kid before them.


    The sensation ended. Meryl started gasping for breath.


    "Sorry that I have to show off a bit. I''m just making sure I be as believable as possible." Seeker paused for the people in the room to regain theirposure.


    "So, the future war with the Aragarians is between us against Russia and Africa?" Charles finally broke the silence.


    "There were other countries in the mix. But again, let''s skip those as we could either kill them or control them." Lynd still cringed at Seeker''s passive thoughts.


    "So to resume, we defeated them when the Unlocking research was implemented on various soldiers. They were on the run. It was then that we''d get a taste of their serious tech. The Aragarians took a different path than the technological advances we had on Earth. While we were busy perfecting the ways of selfies, they managed to figure out a science which waster dubbed as Ster Science or Star Science for short."


    Seeker grabbed a page from Charles''s pile of papers. Andid it on the table.


    Everyone intently studied the paper.


    "To summarize this science, they basically could recreate the energy of a star''s core. And eventually, they were able to improve on it. This allowed them the capacity to do a lot of incredible things, including interster travels, to finally reach our."


    "This tech was shared with the nations that allied with them, and these nations were already developing weapons using ster science. It was thanks to the efforts of many heroes that we were able to acquire these weapons. Our scientist was able to improve on it and used it against them. They were on the run. Literally leaving the was their only option. So we gave chase. And we were in for a surprise. Hidden behind our moon, was the Aragarian''s invading gship. A spaceship so big that we called them Orbitals."


    Seeker took another page in the pile of documents andid it on the table.


    A drawing of a round spaceship was scribbled on the paper.


    "It was then the battle became to our disadvantage. Their technology was just too advanced. A ster battle was something that even our forces could barely manage. The orbital attacks were just terrifying. Soon the remaining nations of the United Nations allianceunched a daring gamble in hopes of destroying the ster forces in space. We called it Mission Starkiller. And my task was codenamed Supernova."


    Seeker smiled. This would have been his most significant contribution to humanity.


    "I believe this would have been my proudest moments. Destroying one of these suckers."


    Seeker sat down and started sketching something on paper.


    "You see an Orbital is a very, very huge ship. The entire world was surprised to see its existence. And the problem was that there were now three of them floating on our space. Star technology allowed this massive spaceship to act as a. It could harness gravity. And in terms of scientific application, it means a lot of things. In fact, it is very possible to live your entire life in an Orbital."


    "So, these Aragrian''s may already be hiding near our?"


    "Most likely. Now to continue..." Seeker quickly dismissed Lynd''s serious question as if it wasn''t necessary.


    "An Orbital is divided into manypartments. It is made this way due to several reasons. Bypartmentalizing each part, it meant stability for the entire ship. If apartment is damaged, they can simply detach thepartment by controlling the gravity of thatpartment. Using star technology, they can make thispartment orbit the ship and repair it."


    Seeker then picked up the paper to show his sketch. Electric-like energy was forming, connecting a portion of the Orbital.


    "Our scientist was able to make interesting technology by mixing star technology and other technology that we have long mastered. Nuclear technology."


    "Why didn''t we use nukes to fight them?" Meryl asked immediately.


    "Why wasn''t it used in the world war?" Charles asked a different question.


    "To answer both, nuclear weapons were disabled even before the world war began. We had techs that could create a smaller form of it, but the grand weapons of mass destruction were already disabled. No doubt something the Aragarian''s instigated. I figure they didn''t want a nuclear war to happen as they still n to inhabit this. However, thebination of the two technologies gave us a pleasant surprise. We were able to create a nuclear star bomb. Something even the Aragarians didn''t expect. My mission was to attack the Balmung. A smaller Orbital created on Earth and was used by many of Earth''s traitors to escape. We got the ns for the ship and made it look like we were trying to take over the ship. We seeded with the deception and the Orbital Initiated Full Divide, whichpartmentalized the entire ship. During that mission, we configured severalpartments to utilize the nuclear- ster tech we developed."


    Seeker continued to sketch and disyed his work to make the image of his exnations better.


    "Now on this mission, thepartments that we manage to configure fell a little off the mark from our estimations. However, I was equipped with this bad boy."


    Seeker took the paper, which had the Four Force elerator.


    "Because of the Unlocking, previously impossible weapons became avable to men. And this was on the pinnacle of that! The Four Force elerator. Utilizing a fusion of nuclear and star energy, this bad boy can allow movements that go past the speed of sound."


    Charles took the paper from Seeker''s hand. He intently scanned the article. Surprise shined in his eyes.


    "I get it. If you who can perceive faster than milliseconds, traveling in the speed of sound is possible!"


    "That''s right. And this particr technology was the reason I died in my mission. You see, the star energy of the Balmung wasn''t overloading fast enough. And I knew the answer that could solve it. I dove straight to the core of the Balmung''s star energy and overloaded my FFA, which should have led to the energy going Supernova. I don''t know how the mission ended obviously or how big the st was. But the thing was, we were prepared to sacrifice half of the Earth if the Supernova would explode beyond our calctions. And that brings us to the present." Seeker concluded.


    "But that doesn''t exin how the new you came to be." Charles immediately responded.


    "Everything that I will speak from here on is pure spection. And I will need you to rify this doctor. At that time, my personal Unlocking was 74.56%. For the benefit of Meryl and Lynd, my current Unlocking is somewhere between 15-18%."


    Lynd and Meryl were surprised. If 15-18 could already dodge bullets, what could someone beyond 70% do?


    Charles was as equally stunned.


    "At that moment of my death, I remembered having the phenomenon of seeing my life shed before my eyes. And that was something miraculous." Seeker smiled.


    "How is it miraculous? People at the normal 10% can go through it, so why would it be amazing if you did it? You have over 70% Unlocked!"


    "It''s precise because I had over 70% unlocked that made it a miracle. It wasn''t just a normal life review. I felt like I literally relived everything I''ve been through! Think about it, a person with 10% unlocking would already have a chance of experiencing a life review, what would happen to someone at 70%? When a regr person undergoes a life-threatening situation, its brain may push itself beyond the 10% norm. It could go from 13-18%. Of the 10 percent, the brain pushes itself and increased 30 percent of its original percentage. Let''s say a guy has a normal 10 brain-effort usage. If they go through a life review, you increase your brain usage by around 30 percent. So, someone would reach 13 percent at a minimum."


    "Wait. I''m confused. How did ten plus thirty be thirteen?"


    "No. What Seeker means, that out of the ten percent brain usage, you increase it by thirty percent. Meaning you add thirty percent of ten."


    "Oh. I''m confused with all the percentages." Lynd shook his head.


    "Yeah. Now, I already had 70%. If you do the math, and I did the minimum, meaning 30% of the 70, what would have been my Unlocking?"


    Charles was silently calcting his brain while Lynd did several finger math tricks to solve the equation.


    "Around 90." Meryl answered.


    "Ny-one if your t on seventy."


    "Right. Thirty percent of seventy is added on me. But that''s a minimum."


    "Eighty percent? How''s that possible?"


    "Well, We don''t fully know the capability of our brain. We can theoretically gauge up to how much strength a man''s muscle can exert. But for the mind... not so much. We simply went along with the whole ten percent thing to make it easy. " Seekerughed.


    "So what happened when you had an 80% increase? That''s like one hundred and twenty!" Meryl eximed.


    "I don''t know the actual percentage.I had a feeling what I got was something nearer to an 80% increase. I reached a realm unreached even by World Champions. I now realize that the highest point of Unlocking wouldn''t be at 100%. Because if human muscles can be trained and can exert strength way beyond its capacity, so can the brain! Haven''t there been people who time and time again broke world records in any feats of strength? So at that time, I probably broke through the 100%."


    "Was it then that you managed to time travel to this point because you went beyond 100%?" Lynd asked with a confused expression.


    "No. Of course not. Now that would be science fiction. There are probably two more factors that made me travel back to this time. One, the Thought Transmitter. Only those of high Unlocking can utilize that. The Aragarian''s could hijack and interpret whatevermunication devices we have. The Thought Transmitter, however, could send thoughts. It was something which even the Aragarian''s couldn''t interpret. The second cause was the overloading of star energy. I theorize that at that moment, when I overloaded the system, it created something that could alter time and space."


    "A ck hole!" Lynd realized immediately.


    "Exactly. A ck hole may have quickly emerged when the star went Supernova. Somehow because of that, I was able to transmit the entirety of my thoughts! You see, you have to think of the person to transmit thoughts. At that moment, when I was dying, I started to think about the days when Earth was at peace, this time. Probably the Thought Transmitter worked together with the generated ck hole and allowed me to send my thoughts back to me now!"


    "That''s sounds impossible. Why would the ck hole know which timeline to send you?" Lynd argued. He has watched several Sci-fi movies and TV series and would intently discuss things with Seeker. Somehow the math didn''t just add up.


    "As I said, I''m specting. But it''s not impossible. It''s improbable. Right now, that''s the best exnation we got."


    "So you sent your memories to your present self? But how did that push you to Unbing?" Charles asked as he perused over the thought transmitter.


    "You forget doctor that I was probably beyond 100% of unlocking. I wasn''t just able to transfer memories, I was able to transfer everything. The massive dump of information pushed my current brain beyond the limits."


    "I see. Some sort of intense shock therapy?"


    "Yes. And that, in turn, gave me an idea of how to increase the number of Unlocked individuals."


    Seeker gave a devilish grin.


    "If things go well, we should have a squadron of Unlocked people by the time the world war begins."

 Chapter 11 - Stage One

    "So now that you know everything about my past let''s now build the future! We have kingdoms to im, people to kill, and an army to build. As for you three, you really don''t have any choice in this matter. This war wille, and billions and billions will die. Your choice is to join me or die." Seeker sat down and started to munch on some fruits that were still left at the table.


    "So, what should I do?" Charles was the first to break the silence.


    "Do what you can, Charles. The faster youplete your study in neuro-alterations, the brighter the hope for a better tomorrow."


    "Looks like I have to cancel a few movies andmercials." Charles sighed. His life of prestige and fame wasn''t so important anymore.


    "Don''t. I need you to make certain trips. Right now, I will be initiating Stage One of my ns. When ying any real-time strategy game, we start by gathering resources, right? That''s going to be our immediate focus. But what I need is not just money, but power and influence to shape this world into a better ce. That requires you to travel and meet certain people. You are already a celebrity anyway. That makes it easier. However, I haven''t decided who to go to first. It really depends on how fast your research progresses. Right now, what I need from you is the free use of this little hideout and 3000 credits. The gang and I will have our hands full."


    "Exactly what are we going to do, Zeek? You might be Unlocked, but the rest of us are only human." Meryl was worried. With Zeek''s new behavior, she now had apprehensions towards the ns of their best friend.


    "Oh don''t worry, Meryl. We won''t be doing anything dangerous. Well, at least not enough that could kill us. Stage One is the safest stage. We just need to get money and aplish a certain level of fame. After all, this is the Age of Distrustful Nations. So we need money to fund our expenses and fame to allow us to cross borders easily. If they were famous, then traveling around the world would be. No more military checks and stuff. Especially when we are entering enemy countries."


    "Let me guess. You are going to publish future famous songs, movies, and books?" Charles inquired with a humored look.


    "No. I respect those artists and would dare not steal their work."


    "So singing then?" Charles guessed once more.


    "What? Do I look like a singer?"


    "I don''t know! Maybe you could alter your voice and use your hormones to attract countless girls!"


    Merylughed at Charles guesses.


    "Nah. I need to be a Ranked Hero to pull that off. If its just one or two people in a room, then Inhuman. But to make a whole crowd love me? Gotta be Ranked, Hero."


    "Wait! It''s possible?!" Meryl asked in surprise.


    "It is. But I need to reach more levels of the Unlocking, and it would be too tiring for me to do that! Not to mention artists have to perform live on an audience to change their emotions and affect them. I can''t do that. Not with our Xenophobic treatment to foreign travels. Plus, I would need to eat a lot to recover." Seekermented.


    "Then why not start a business! With your memories, you easily be rich!" Lynd snapped.


    "Bad idea. It''s too much hassle." Seeker countered without hesitation.


    "Ok. That''s where you have it wrong, Zeek."


    The three friends stared at Charles, who called Seeker, Zeek. Even Seeker found it ufortable that someone was calling his nickname casually.


    "Uh¡­ Too soon?"


    "Way too soon, Charles." Meryl shook her head.


    "You guys call me Charles, and I can''t call him Zeek? Where is the respect in that? I''m a famed neurosurgeon!"


    Even Lynd started to shake his head in disapproval of Charles''s actions.


    Frustrated, Charles ignored the two and talked directly to Seeker.


    "Anyways, I''m into a lot of businesses, and I would rmend you to-"


    "Let me just interrupt you there, Doc. Right now, I need to earn millions. And I need to earn it quickly. Setting up a business takes a lot of time. Not to mention the fact that what I''m aiming for is something that allows me to earn an incredible amount in an almost daily means, a business just won''t cut it! I also don''t want to gather a lot of capital, as it would be noticed by others. Such a fast-growing business like that would create a lot ofpetitions, possible assassinations, and not to mention I could alter history if mypany gets bigger. Plus, if I''m in a business that sessful and huge, the government is sure to watch over me and even take a lot of my taxes. You see, one priority that I need to manage is our team being inconspicuous and not affecting the general timeline."


    "What? So ughtering nations isn''t inconspicuous, but setting up a coffee shop is evil?" Charles mused.


    "I won''t start killing people until the world war, you know? Right now, I must minimize the changes I make in the future. If I start a hugely growing business, then I would create a series of chain reactions that might change the world that I''vee to know. Imagine this scenario... A fast and incrediblepany grows out of the blue. This rising empire would bring unnecessary attention to me and will lead to an infinite amount of unknown variables that could affect the general timeline that I remember. A simple coffee meeting in the future could already create infinitely new possibilities if it didn''t go through. People who were there that shouldn''t have been or people who weren''t there that should have been may already have altered their very fate! A missed coffee shop may mean a missed event or failure to meet a certain person. Who knows how it will affect the future!"


    "How can that be possible? I miss a coffee meeting; I end up a lesbian in the future?" Meryl objected.


    "That''s right!" Charles realized.


    "Are you calling me a lesbian?"


    "No, not that! What Seeker means is that a small act could create ripples of changes in the world. The time you spent on this would be spent on something else, you meet new people, encounter events and whatever. And that is just one coffee meeting! If Seeker built a business that would be sessful on a national level, it would change a lot of things!"


    Meryl and Lynd thought genuinely about Charles''s exnation.


    "Nutterballs. I didn''t know it would be thatplicated. If we think that way, what can we do to make money? Even stealing money would have that same level of impact!"


    "It''s actually easy to aplish that. Take over an organization. Make the CEO a puppet and have him act normally. That way, apart from the future fate of the CEO, no major alterations and changes will happen."


    "I see. That''s brilliant!" Charlesmended.


    "Whichpany are you eyeing?"


    "I don''t know the name. Basically, I''m going to go after the strongest drug and human trafficking organization in the Pangean Nations."


    A condemning look immediately reced Charles'' face. Meryl and Lynd were surprised as well.


    "What?! Are you insane?" Charles was flushed in anger.


    "Why not? The money I earn is kept off the record, meaning it can be spent on a lot of things. It''s normal for cartels to purchase weapons and the like, so no g is raised! But most importantly, it''s actually in connection with specific requirements that I need to prepare for in the uing stages of my n. I need to get connected to the drug cartels in order to shake some trees in their organization. Otherwise, those big bosses won''te out."


    "Oh. Well let''s say you have the best intentions for doing that, how do you intend to do that? You''d be putting everybody at risk if you do that now!"


    "I know. This is why, in preparation to take over that organization, I need to earn enough money to purchase a few weapons, ammunition, and other stuff."


    "And where are you going to get enough funds for that? I thought you weren''t going to ask for money from me?"


    "I never nned on asking any more money from you, Charles. I need to start a career that could generate a lot of money but, at the same time, create minimal changes for the future. Something that will influence a lot of people to spend money, but not enough that would change their overall life."


    "So its prostitution then. I knew it." Meryl facepalmed. "It all makes sense now! It would generate a lot of money and minimize its effects in the timeline."


    "What?" Lynd reacted. Was he about to be a gigolo, or will Seeker carry this heavy burden alone?


    Charles had a hideous expression. Seeker gaped in wonder at Meryl''s deduction. He pondered for a bit.


    "Hmmm. You know, I''ve never thought about that." Seekerughed.


    "But that''s not it."


    Lynd sighed in relief while Meryl wasughing.


    "Then what job could fulfill each criteria, Zeek?"


    "Professional gamers!" Seeker smiled.


    "With that, I can easily ask for payment for streams and donations. Also, you forget the advent of the Gambling Den! That app would be a potential area for us to earn a lot. Regardless, there would virtually be no life-changing ripple effects if I get a lot of money from gamers. I mean, the people who would watch these streams are all avid gamers who spend countless hours behind theputer screen. At most, they probably would have spent their time and money on other games instead of watching me. The ripple effects drastically minimized. And I could get a certain level of fame. Maybe enough to travel around the world. Including enemy countries."


    Lynd and Meryl''s face brightened up. Finally, something that is up to their alley.


    Charles smiled at the ingenious calctions of Seeker.


    "Virtually be no life-changing ripple effects? Pun intended?" Charlesughed.


    "But I''m impressed. Looks like you''re all set for Stage One."


    "Of course! Once I have enough money from my gaming career, I would buy the necessary stuff, meet the key people and kidnap Miss Alean Cipril in order to ckmail her father!"


    It took a few seconds for Seeker''s sentence to sink in before Lynd shouted exasperatedly. "Wait. One of those doesn''t seem to make any sense!"


    "Alean Cipril''s dad, General Harker Cipril, is involved in some drug and human trafficking operations. So we''ll start with him as an entry point to the world of cartels." Seeker casually responded as he started peeling a mango.


    Lynd and Meryl gulped in fear. It looks like they won''t be returning to the fun and monotonous life of a Rising student in their school. They gulped at the thought of their future.


    "All this trouble to shake a big boss out of his nest. Who''s this big boss that you need to take care of?"


    "All in good time, my dear Lynd. The less you know about him, the better. This guy''s extremely dangerous. If I fight him now, I''d definitely die."


    The trio looked at Seeker in surprise. Was there someone on Earth that could kill a man with Unlocking?


    "How? You can dodge bullets!"


    "Yeah? Well, this guy wouldn''t need to dodge anything.. He''s practically bulletproof."

 Chapter 12 - The Game Gambler

    Merylid half-dead on the floor. She could no longer find the strength to even lift herself to help Lynd, who was screaming.


    Lynd was grasping his leg. The pain was unbearable. He started to panic as he nced at the very form of Terror.


    "So this was the price for his allegiance to Seeker." Lynd thought to himself.


    Seeker stood there alone. Unfazed at the harsh enemy that was before them.


    The gym had aplete set of all the needed equipment that could suit the needs of a muscle freak.


    After discussing their ns and bidding farewell to Charles, the three friends immediately pursued the necessary acts in order to begin their journey to richness.


    Calling their parents.


    They were teenagers, after all. They informed their respective parents of theirte return home. Lynd had a peculiar look when he was getting an earful from her mom about how ying games would amount to nothing in the future. If she only knew that their gaming could save the world.


    After a tiring talk of berating condescension from their parents, they started to immediately prepare theptops andputers to stream their game. Seeker then initiated what came to be the harshest time for Meryl and Lynd. The trio started to workout.


    As the two remained paralyzed in agony cursing Seeker and vowing to cut ties with this inhuman drillmaster, Seeker began his next set of exercises.


    Seeker soon ended his routine. He was sweating profusely. His hands were visibly shaking.


    "Ugh. It looks like this is the limit. Luckily I am able to block off the pain thanks to my Unbing instinct. But if I exerted more, I would strain my muscles." Seeker grumbled.


    "I guess I have to give this a rest. Having a level one body sucks!" Seeker sat down to rest.


    Lynd finally was able to ease the pain of his cramps.


    "This will be our routine daily. After school, we''ll continue with an hour of work out then stream a game guide."


    Lynd''s cramps returned. That simple statement that Seeker said was the most terrifying statement he has made so far.


    Meryl wanted to just kill herself now. Why was it that a small, timid, and bookish girl was forced to do pushups, squats, and all forms of exercises that left her body broken? The evil Seeker acted like a drillmaster forcing them to continue. And tomorrow would be another grueling day with this demon-possessed friend of theirs. Oddly enough, Seeker was able to perform a workout that would surpass those who have been training for years!


    "There is an old saying that says that a prophet in his hometown is not a prophet. It means that the familiarity that people have towards him would make them less likely to believe or respect him. Thankfully. I''m not a prophet. In the future, you are both dead. I''m doing you guys a favor so you can live and even have the strength to save your family. So suck it up, guys. We have more things to take care of." Seeker pointed at theptops that were ready to be used.


    Slowly, the dying pair crawled towards their assigned positions.


    "Now, let''s y Piercing: Bullet." Seeker looked excited.


    Lynd was enlightened. Of course! If there were days of peace, then Seeker would have hadpleted Piercing: Bullet with him!


    Threeputers were booted up. Seeker turned on theputer, which he would use to y on. Meryl logged on to Seeker''s ount and prepared the video stream. She moved the detachableputer camera to directly view theputer screen. Another camera was mounted on the side, showing Seeker facing the screen.


    "This is a weird position for the camera Zeek. Shouldn''t it be facing you?" Lyndined.


    "We need it there. I need to show people that I am not cheating. Hence my hand movements and reactions must be shown in real-time. This allows us to have proof that we are actually ying the game."


    "A cheat? Why would people use you of cheating?" Meryl asked in confusion.


    "Microsecond perception and advanced motor coordination, Meryl." Seeker responded with an ''it''s-so-obvious look.''


    "You mean you can y the game at pro-level?" Lynd realized how suitable Seeker is at this game now.


    "That would be an understatement. Adding to my already inherited skills is my memory of this game, ying this now could even make me face two or three pros at once! Do you know how long the three of us yed this game in that past life? We got good at this. Although we never streamed it. You could say we were hidden experts." Seeker smiled. Lynd looked excited. As if he forgot the intense workout he just had.


    "Let''s have a test run to see if I still got it."


    Piercing: Bullet was a third person style, hack and sh video game that became the hallmark game for testing the hands and wrist of gamer''s worldwide. It boasted as one of the most challenging games created in the past decades. But here was Seeker doing what he ims to be a test run.


    Lynd''s eyes were wide open. In a matter of minutes, Seeker already cleared the first boss! What was even more surprising was that his character did not receive any damages or hits from the enemy. As the hack and sh genre evolved, speed became the priority. Game developers aimed to push yer skills to the peak withplicated rules of blocking, evasion, and attacking. This was why Piercing: Edge, the predecessor of Piercing: Bullet, was so sessful. In fact, it was so sessful that it created a new generation of e-sport gamers. It solidified it''s standing as one of the most anticipated e-sport game second only to the great mammoth game, Generals.


    "Looks like we''re good to go. Meryl, tell me if Charles has already loaded the 3000 credits to my ount. And start the stream once the game is rebooted. We''re about to make a lot of money. Let''s hope that this stream would be my one shot to fame! Let''s start! Meryl, start the stream! Lynd, use thatputer for advertising this stream. Be bold. In fact, share the link at Precept Gaming''s official social site. Do the same to the micro-blogging sites. I''ll leave the titles to you. Be creative."


    Having received the link from Meryl, Lynd started sharing the link on all rted gaming sites he knew. The audacious title was sure to get the attention of Piercing fans. Since it was a live stream, its credibility would immediately be confirmed.


    Seeker returned with a brand new set of clothes. He took a quick look at Meryl''s streaming configurations.


    "Add a donation box, enable the Gambling Den, and close the voice feature too. I''ll leave chatting with you. Oh, and I''ll need an extended monitor so I can look at the chat as well."


    Seeker connected another monitor and attached it to Meryl''sputer. Then he immediately positioned himself ready to y the game.


    The live stream began. The audacious title that Lynd used "Miracle No-Hit Piercing: Bullet walkthrough" brought people in to immediately view it. Upon starting, the live stream already catered over 30 curios viewers.


    "Now, I know what you are all thinking." Seeker began, and he stared on the screen.


    "Is this a troll? Well, you are about to find out. First, let me show you how to clear the first stage without getting a single hit."


    And Seeker delivered. The first boss was cleared faster than how he did it on his test run.


    The chat room went wild! The first boss was already a hurdle that many had a hard time defeating. This was Piercing: Bullet! The harshest games that made you die a hundred times before you would get it right. And yet here was a student who took less than 24 hours to master and beat the first boss without even getting a scratch.


    "And that little kiddies are how you kill a boss without getting hit!" Seeker smirked. Lynd and Meryl watched with eyes that wondered who it was before them. This wasn''t their humble and low key friend, Seeker Carlean. Nor was this the nation burning, bullet-dodging friend they just met. What they had now was a natural showman.


    Seeker kept responding to some of the chats as people were amazed at his quick progression. Seeker''s charismatic behavior and yful use of gamerpetitiveness was a hit. More and more people started viewing the stream. Some cheering for Seeker while others were using Seeker of hacking or cheating.


    Lynd continued to advertise on the site. Thements that could be seen on the social media sites attracted more viewers as its credibility was soon verified on the. Meryl was heated up in the chat group arguments as he defended Seeker from his haters. Seeker, on the other hand, just went on with the gamey answering several questions thrown at him.


    "Seeker! We got the 3000 credits from Dr. Charles!" Meryl joyfully reported.


    Seeker smirked. Now it''s time to make some money.


    "How about this. In the next room is a fairly difficult area. I won''t use blocks and only evade. But I''ll defeat all the enemies, including the mini-boss, without getting a single hit. Anyone willing to bet? I''ll set it with a buy-in of 30 credits." Seeker smirked.


    The chat group was in intense discussion. A game that is skill dependent would never be perfect. Even pro-gamers in the Piercing world wouldn''t dare make such a gamble.


    Several people started to throw in their credits in the Gambling Den option. There were now 150 credits on the opposing table.


    "Meryl set the gambling rules to divided exchange and throw 3000 credits in the Den." Seeker smiled.


    Meryl and Lynd had an evil smile on their face. They knew that with Seeker''s powers, a no-hit walkthrough was very possible.


    When the viewers saw that there were now 3000 credits, people scrambled to throw in their share. Right now, there were only five who dared gamble. If they won, the 3000 credit would be divided equally among them.


    The credits on the opposition immediately went to 1620 credits.


    "Close the betting," Seeker ordered. After which he controlled his avatar to immediately rush into the room.


    A lot of cries continued in the chat group. They were just about to throw in their share for the gamble.


    Even though Lynd and Meryl were confident, they couldn''t help but cringe at Seeker''s death-defying acts. He was unable to block and would only evade. But in the end, the miracle happened right before their eyes.


    A lot of viewers were cursing. Several even used Seeker of hacking. The problem was that they could clearly see Seeker ying the game. But because they lost, they immediately made usations of Seeker''s y-calling him a fraud.


    "Ok then. Let me prove to you that this is not a hack. I''ll allow myself to get hit." Seeker went to a nearby enemy and allowed the enemy to hit him. He then started evading as another blow could kill him.


    "As you can see, it''s not hacked." Seeker smiled.


    The game went on strangely as Seeker epted any challenge from the usations of several viewers. Seeker even followed various requests to prove his authenticity as a gamer.


    "Alright. I believe I''ve humored you enough. At this point, I don''t care what you say about my y. I already did many things you guys asked to prove my innocence." Seeker paused and started crunching his fingers.


    "Alright. Next, I''m going to gamble all the credits I have, all 4620 of them. I won''t block; I''ll only evade, but I''ll kill the next boss without getting a single hit. Meryl set buy into 50 credits.." Seekermanded with a look full of arrogance.

 Chapter 13 - A Power Walkthrough

    As the credit on Seeker''s side rose to 4260, people started to join in the bet. It was just too huge of a gamble for Seeker. The reward of those who participated was a shocking amount.


    "Meryl, put a paywall for those joining the room. Set it to 20 credits." Seeker ordered. This stopped the constant flow of viewers. Butter on, the number of viewers started to increase.


    "Alright, guys. The Den is closed! Now let''s see who will win! As you can see, I''m all in." Seeker gave another arrogantugh. Meryl immediately closed the Den at Seeker''s queue.


    Seeker immediately went in to face the boss. A cutscene initiated as Seeker''s avatar went into a warehouse.


    Inside the warehouse stood several soldiers with what appeared to be specialized gear. The team immediately started flying using a jet propelling backpack. The game continued, and the battle then initiated.


    Seeker controlled his avatar to perform in deadly maneuvers of evasion. The viewers were at awe at what they were seeing. Seeker utilized the environment well to hide from the bullets that rained down on the avatar. But when he dove into the open field, he carefully evaded each enemy attack. He would asionally make attacks of his own.


    The main character in Piercing: Bullet was equipped with a long rifle, which he used as a pole in close range. Seeker utilized both close and rangedbat to inflict damage on the several soldiers zooming around the warehouse.


    As Seeker promised, no blocks were used. He evaded every single attack and managed to already kill 5 of the 9 flying soldiers. The chatroom was filled with berserkments of rage, amazement, and curses.


    "He must be pro! He''s definitely pro!" a viewer chatted.


    "I don''t think he''s pro. I don''t know him or recognize his voice."


    "This is definitely a hack! He''s cheating!"


    "Cheating? Right. With everything Zeek did to prove that he''s not? Don''t be a cry baby, you loser." Meryl haughtily countered.


    The Gambling Den was affiliated with various gamingpanies. It would even utilize intense security protocols to ensure that no hackers would win in scenarios such as this. As such, their credibility when a bet involving their systems was at the highest level. No one questioned a bet if it was held in Gambling Den.


    The battle ended just as Meryl and Lynd had expected. Seeker won the bet as he defeated the boss without receiving even a single hit. No one could make anyints. Various viewers who lost in the bet already reported the game to Gambling Den. However, no actions were made to Seeker''s ount.


    After the defeat of the boss, Seeker continued with the walkthrough. Several viewers were hooked at the many secrets that Seeker showed them. Seeker would asionally bribe others for donations, and this allowed him to receive more credits.


    Various viewers would suddenly challenge him to a no-hit challenge or a no-block bet hoping to catch Seeker of the guard. Whenever a challenge would be made, Seeker would immediately agree. Seeker acted reserved by cing only a third of all his credits, causing others to think he wasn''t confident. Of course, Seeker continued to win more using these tricks.


    People grumbled at Seeker''s shameless money-grabbing behavior. He already had over 10,000 credits due to his gambling spree and another 1440 from the entry fee''s, but he would still ask for donations.


    Soon, Seeker finally decided to end the stream.


    "Alright, guys. I''ll leave a poll behind which would decide the future direction of the stream. I could continue with this game andplete it at around 47 hours. I assure you that this is the fastest full walkthrough out there. But as you can see, I am just about 4 hours in. So I''ll be making a poll. Should I continue in this full walkthrough, or do something else? Something no one could confidently create now. A power walkthrough. With this, I canplete the game in 19 hours at most. The choice is yours." Seeker smiled.


    The chat room went wild. Neen hours was a record-breaking time! The world record for the fastestpletion time for Piercing: Edge was 22 hours. Seeker imed he could manage apletion time, which was 3 hours earlier for a game just released. Several viewers who had lost a lot of credits in the bet naturally felt an inclination to believe Seeker when he imed he could challenge a world record.


    "Please share this video, and let''s make history together! My future streams will require a 50 credit buy-in. This is because I will be revealing how to form the strongest weapons early on in the game, and how to exploit boss fights. Even if you are new to this game, it will save you about 10-15 hours'' worth of gamey. Not to mention, you can also take part in the bets and could even dare me any challenges along the way. For tomorrow''s game, I will start an All-In rule, meaning I will dump all my credits for whatever bets you challenge me. Provided it is within reason, of course."


    The chats continued to discuss further. Everyone wanted to see a power walkthrough. Especially when the one ying has yet to receive any damage since he started.


    "So that''s all for tonight, guys. Good night!"


    Without even waiting for any signal from Seeker, Meryl immediately closed the stream.


    "That was amazing, Zeek! We have about 16,000 credits now! That''s enough for a roundtrip all-expense-paid the trip to another country!" Meryl excitedly calcted.


    "Zeek, you should check online. We caused quite a sensation! Even Precept Gaming has released a statement in which they were monitoring your gamey!" Lynd excitedly reported.


    "Things are going as nned." Seeker grinned.


    "Anyways, we should hurry and go home. We have a busy day tomorrow. More important than the stream is that you rest your sore muscles. Put some ice in it or something. Oh, and don''t forget to tell your parents that you''d be going homete starting tomorrow." Seeker started packing.


    "Do we have to do the workout?" Merylined.


    Lynd simply stared at Seeker with a pleading look.


    Seeker frowned and look at them irritably.


    "We have to guys. You know¡­" Seeker was about to say something, but he stopped.


    "What?" Meryl asked.


    "Never mind. Now''s not the right time to convince you." Seeker grumbled.


    "Convince us? With what? We believe you! You don''t have to convince us of anything!"


    "Never mind. Let''s talk again tomorrow." The trioter started packing andter left for home.


    Seeker arrived home and immediately dashed into his parents'' bedroom and hugged his parents tightly.


    Chris and Grace were surprised at how their son started acting more intimately towards them. Grace simply smiled and looked dotingly upon her only son. Seeker smiled and talked casually with them, saying that he was hooked in the new Piercing game.


    Seeker gave an excuse and went to his room. Upon entering, Seeker started calling Charles.


    "Seeker! I''ve seen the stream! I heard you earned a lot of Credits!" Charles eximed as he picked up the phone. Earning 16,000 credits was something he could only earn if he performed surgeries. Yet Seeker managed to earn in a very unconventional way.


    "Yeah. Things are going great. Listen, I recalled that you''re a collector of weapons. Do you have some now?"


    "Oh. So it means this crazy collection of mine managed to reach the future! That''s relieving. Yes. I already served in different tours across enemy countries. I tend to buy whatever swords, axes, and other weapons that are explicit on these nations."


    "Are these weapons sturdy?"


    "If you''re asking me whether or not these weapons can kill a man, then yes." Charles seriously answered. He never thought that these weapons would be used for assassinations.


    Seekerughed.


    "Don''t worry. I''m not nning to kill people with that. Let''s just say it''s going to be part of the training I have in store for all of you."


    "Oh? Don''t take this the wrong way Seeker, you may be faster than me, but in terms of raw strength, I''m definitely better than you. I don''t think I need training on that matter. I have my own routine."


    "It''s not just a physical training session, Charles. It''s more of handling weapons."


    "Then, it that case, I''ll join." The crazed weapon collector immediately agreed.


    "Great. I''ll tell you when to join us. Right now, I need to do a crash course physical workout for the guys and for myself. The weapon training will require us to do some extreme and intense routines. So I need to prepare our muscles."


    "Zeek, are you sure it''s the right thing to bring those two in all of this?"


    There was silence on the other line. Charles waited for Seeker to respond. But then he realized something.


    "Still too soon to call you by your nickname, huh?" Charlesined.


    "Anyways, I don''t think it was wise to get your two friends involved. They''re not mature enough for these kinds of things. They''re still kids. I feel that they''re not serious about this."


    "I noticed. But don''t worry, Charles, I''ll handle that. Talk to youter." Seeker ended the call. He dove back to bed and enjoyed a good night''s sleep.


    The next day, Seeker was standing at the entrance of the school, waiting for his friends to arrive. Meryl arrived first.


    "Looks like you overstrained yourself." Seekerughed.


    Meryl stared angrily at Seeker as she was slowly dragged her legs. She couldn''t walk properly with the intense one-hour workout she experienced.


    "We shouldn''t do anymoreter, Zeek! Can''t you see that I''m a girl? Look at what I got because you treated me like some macho soldier boy!" Meryl was practically angry at Seeker. It was very hard for her tomute to the school as people would be rushing while she would be crawling.


    Soon the two spotted a tall teen walking like he was a zombie on his lower half. His pace was extremely slow.


    Meryl and Seekerughed at the sight of Lynd.


    "Zeek, I don''t think we should do another workoutter. My body is too tired and too sore." Lynd had a pleading look.


    Seekerughed again. Lynd was one of the tallest students in the school. His pleading eyes didn''t suit hisrge stature.


    "Don''t worry, guys. Our workoutter will focus on the upper body." Seeker grinned.


    Meryl and Lynd shivered at what Seeker said.


    "Can''t you give us a rest day? We can''t freakin block the pain as you can, you know!" Meryl angrily chastised. Her timid look was naturally unseen at this moment.


    "Hey, little kiddies!" A maliciousughing and almost mocking voice sounded.


    Seeker and the two turned to witness one of the most feared delinquents in school.


    Cliff Fangwood was the leader of a delinquent group that was rumored to be involved in many shady activities.


    "Hey there, Baby Giant!" Cliff teased Lynd with a mocking tone.


    Though he was not as tall as Lynd, he was still feared by the students in the school. His pitch-ck hair and his rebel image undoubtedly caused many teen girls to fall in attraction. He had a well-built frame that he would showcase to the girls around the school and used it to intimidate others. And of course, there were the brass knuckles that he would always wear. This brass knuckles had tasted the blood of a number of students. No one would dare fight this menace.


    "A little birdy told me that you earned a lot of Creditsst night!" His smile terrified Lynd and Meryl.


    Seeker, however, looked angry.

 Chapter 14 - The Smell Of Fear

    Lynd and Meryl felt terrified. Who would have thought that their inte exposure would draw in the Brass Fist?


    "I have a business proposal for you, Seeker Carlean." Cliffughed.


    Seeker''s angry frowned slowly turned into a happy smile.


    "What a coincidence! Now that I think about it, I have a proposal for you too!" Seeker returned with a smile that was devoid of all fear.


    Cliff was surprised at Seeker''s reaction. He expected shivering, silence, or pleading. But this kid actually looked happy?


    "I think we should find a more secretive ce to discuss this. Do you know of any other ces that are more conducive than the open grounds of school?" Seeker asked innocently.


    "Well, of course! Anything for my business partner! In fact, I know the perfect ce! Let''s go together after school! It would be a shame if my partners would get lost."


    "See youter then. Let''s go." Seeker led his two friends away.


    Cliff ignored Seeker''s nonchnt attitude. He knew that this was the kid who experienced a manic breakdown two days ago.


    Lynd and Meryl tried to match Seeker''s pace. After an intense discussion with the most dangerous person in school, the two tried to walk as fast as they could to get away from Cliff, but their ailing leg prevented them from doing so.


    Students couldn''t help but stare at the odd pace the three walked.


    "Zeek? Do you know what you''re doing?" Lynd worriedly asks.


    "Oh geez, don''t be a baby, Lynd! You''ve seen how Zeek could dodge a bullet! Zeek would be sure to give that Cliff Fangwood something that his fangs couldn''t scratch! Right, Zeek?" Meryl''s confident tone changed to an inquiringly worried voice at the end of the sentence.


    "Don''t worry about him. I just thought of a good way to use him." Seeker smiled.


    Lynd and Meryl were relieved. Things were easier when you''re with a super teen.


    "Anyways, Zeek, what about the workout? I don''t think I could type if we push through with itter on. Can''t we give it a rest?" Merylined once more.


    "No. We need to get you guys used to extreme movements. Otherwise, we can''t dive into phase two of your workouts. Once you guys are ready, I''ll even have Charles join us."


    "Wait. Is Charles going to join us? Have you seen his abs?"


    "No, Meryl. I don''t search for images of his abs." Seeker sardonically replied.


    "I''m just saying, you can''t group Lynd and me with him to do whatever exercises you want." Meryl then blushed.


    "And man, his abs are yummy. Are you going to have abs like him, Zeek?"


    Seeker gave a disgusted look at Meryl.


    "Well, of course, you will! I can''t wait to get my hands on those delightful rocks!" Meryl stared greedily at Seeker.


    "When I signed the contract of our friendship, I was sure that there was no use indicating that I have to reveal my abs to you and have you touch it."


    "I''m adding a use right now!" Meryl joyfully countered.


    "Umm¡­ Yeah. Going back to the workout Zeek." Lynd inquired pleadingly.


    Seeker gave an exasperated sigh.


    "You don''t have a choice, guys. I need to ensure you guys get into the first steps of the Unlocking."


    "Unlock us? Why would you need to unlock us?" Meryl gave a surprised cry.


    "If I can''t unlock you guys, then the future would probably remain as bleak as it was. I can''t do everything by myself, you guys should know that by now." Seeker started getting more and more frustrated.


    "Zeek, Why are you trying to unlock us? It''s not as if we''d be soldiers like you, right?" Lynd asked with a confused expression.


    "You aren''t, but that''s not the point." Seeker waved his hands in anger.


    The two were startled at Seeker''s sudden rage and remained silent.


    "Sorry, Zeek. It''s just that we don''t have the memories that you have. We aren''t soldiers. We''re just some Rising students. You know how capable we are. It would be not right if you demanded more from us." Meryl calmly spoke.


    Seeker remained silent.


    The bell rang, and students started to shuffle towards the ss. Seeker''s pace started to increase as he rushed to ss. But Lynd and Meryl continued with their snail-paced walk.


    The ss carried on as usual. Lynd and Meryl gave a curious stare when Ms. Alean Cipril arrived to teach her usual lesson. Who would have thought that her father would be involved in something terrible as human trafficking? They couldn''t help but wonder if she is involved as well.


    The sses for that day had no unusual urrences. Seeker remained passive in everything while Meryl and Lynd wondered how long they will experience peaceful days like this.


    The sster ended, and the trio walked out of school to meet a group of eight students. Leading the eight was the delinquent that they just met earlier, Cliff Fangwood. The group smiled at a distance. They knew that with the many watchful eyes around, they couldn''t touch Seeker. Cliff casually nodded his head, indicating that Seeker was to follow.


    Seeker merely smiled. Lynd and Meryl were no longer afraid. They knew that if Seeker could disy this confident smile, no harm would befall them. They slowly followed the group of eight.


    Cliff led the gang towards a small park, which was no longer maintained by the city. The park used to have beautiful flowers and was regrly maintained as many visitors would rx at this ce thanks to the serene sounds caused by the nearby river. However, as the water slowly became more and more polluted, fewer people visited the park, and soon, it was abandoned by the government.


    Seeker knew that they would be led here. This was the known hideout for Cliff and his gang.


    "So, Seeker¡­" Cliff began. He stared at Seeker with a haughty expression.


    "Now that you are here, I hope you can enjoy our hospitality." The seven teens who followed Cliff started to stand around Seeker and his group.


    "My business proposal is simple. I want all your Credits. Everything that you earn from your game guide is now mine." Cliff arrogantly demanded.


    "And what do I get in return?" Seeker calmly asked.


    "You don''t get punched by me. You think I''m scared of your mom? So what if she works in this school?" Cliff mocked.


    Seekerughed.


    "That''s a very unfair proposal. Why should I ept?"


    Cliff looked angry.


    "Let me get this into your brain-damaged head. Because I will beat the crap out of you! See this?" Cliff took out the Brass Fist.


    "Do you want to get punched by this? Brass Fist is always looking for some stupid nerd to hit! You should fear me!" Cliff arrogantly clenched his fist with the brass knuckles.


    "Fear you?" Seeker smiled.


    "Do you even know what fear is?" As soon as they heard Seeker, Cliff and his gang felt as if the air itself disappeared. They couldn''t breathe. An unexinable dread started to clutch their hearts.


    "Fear is caused by a number of factors." Seeker calmly walked around Cliff. Cliff started shivering as he saw this.


    Seeker approached one of Cliff''s gang members. The student started to back away in fear at the sight of Seeker approaching.


    "When you see a tiger slowly approach you, your brain interprets that as a threat. That is fear." Seeker smiled as he approached closer. The teen couldn''t even speak or cry out. His fears were escting as Seeker''s steps drew nearer.


    "But how does the brain do that? The answer? Sometimes it deduces what to fear is based on your knowledge. If you don''t know if something is poisonous, you won''t be afraid of eating it." Seeker smiled at the terrorized teen.


    The teen stumbled back. Except for Meryl and Lynd, none of the other students could move. They were scared stiff at the unthreatening sight of Seeker walking.


    "The brain may also instinctively know what to fear. This is because the brain may interpret an unfamiliar object, person, or idea as something to fear."


    Seeker turned around and returned to the center of the circle. Every one of Cliff''s gang tried to back away, but somehow they felt that their body wasn''t responding.


    "Both knowledge and ignorance may lead to fear." Seeker stood in the center and started cking his knuckles.


    At the sound of the unremarkable cracks of Seeker''s knuckles, several of the students flinched.


    "As you can see, fear can also be heightened based on the circumstance and scenarios present. The brain takes into consideration sight, sounds, and senses. This is why the sound of a gunshot is interpreted as a threat, and people panic when they hear that sound."


    After saying this sentence, Seeker immediately dashed towards another student. The poor student couldn''t react at Seeker''s sudden eleration.


    CLAP!


    Seeker pped his hands directly in front of the teen''s face. The shock of Seeker''s sudden movement, paired with the loud p, caused the student to immediately stumble. The student started to convulse as hey on the grassy earth.


    Everyone, including Lynd and Meryl, started to sweat in fear. A mere p caused this person to faint.


    "There is another method to induce fear. And it''s that very method that''s causing you to be intensely frightened right now."


    Seeker slowly approached Cliff.


    "And that method is through smell." Seeker smiled. That smile was etched deep into Cliff''s memories.


    POW!


    A tooth shattering uppercut was delivered, and Cliff stumbled down. The jolt of pain awakened him from his paralyzed state. However, Seeker''s uppercut shook his entire being. His vision was blurry, he tried to stand, but he was too dizzy. Cliff started to crawl, and the moment he finally regained a bit of sense as to where he was and what was happening around, he saw several of his friends on the ground beaten and bleeding. As he gazed upward, he was even more horrified. Seeker was using another teen as a human log and smashed this teen to another.


    Seeker tossed the pummeled body of the teen-log, and then Seeker dashed towards Cliff. A white blur was all that Cliff could see, and then he felt a sudden pain in his face as Seeker smashed his kneecap towards Cliff''s face.


    Cliff stumbled back, facing the sky. He couldn''t move anymore. He gazed at the vast sky and could hear various screams of pain. He had no doubt that those were his friends pleading for their lives. But despite the hysterical screams, Cliff allowed peace to take over.. Slowly his consciousness left him.

 Chapter 15 - Those Afraid Of The Future

    "That was scary." Lynd wiped the sweat off his brow. Seeker did easy work with the remaining paralyzed students. Lynd stared in amazement at Seeker, who was now positioning Cliff to an inclined position.


    "Zeek! Stop! You did enough!" Meryl cried.


    "I''m not going to hurt him, Meryl. I need to wake him up. I still have a business proposal, remember?" Seeker then proceeded to perform an ancient method of awakening a sleeping soul.


    SLAP!


    "Hey, wake up!"


    A ringing p was delivered and awoken Cliff from his stupor.


    Cliff panicked and started to struggle but couldn''t move as Seeker was pressing his hands on him. Seeker lifted his hands once more.


    SLAP!


    "Please don''t kill me!" Cliff cried.


    "Rx. I''m not going to hurt you. I have a business proposal for you, Cliff."


    Meryl and Lynd stared dryly. Wasn''t Seeker going to hurt him? What about the Muay Thai knee strike he just did?


    Cliff was shaking but listened carefully at Seeker.


    "Answer me honestly, do you sell drugs?" Seeker''s asked the leader of the gang.


    Cliff gulped. He slowly nodded his head in confirmation.


    "Great! That makes it easier." Seeker smiled.


    "Where do you get your drugs, and why haven''t the school taken any action to deal with you despite the circting rumors?"


    Cliff was sweating profusely.


    "It''s Mr. Yun! Mr. Yun is my supplier!"


    "Professor Yun." Seeker corrected.


    "What?" Meryl was shocked.


    "Nutterballs! Of all the teachers, it''s that timid International Language professor?"


    "Well, what did you guys expect? Ms. Cipril won''t dirty her hands in doing this. Remember that she is a General''s daughter. If anyone fishes out information about her activities, it will create a riot in the Pangean Nations military."


    "Now, little Cliffy, you will contact Professor Yun and tell him that you just had a contact who ns on purchasing in bulk. You have to get the contact details of his supplier. Do you understand?"


    Cliff stared at Seeker with a confused expression. Seeker then took out a piece of paper in his pocket.


    "I need you to aplish this by the end of this week. Go to this address if you have the information. Oh, and Cliff."


    Seeker then immediately choked Cliff with one hand and carried him high.


    Cliff was gasping for breath. The intense emotions of terror and fear returned.


    "Fail to do so, and I''ll kill you." Seeker threw Cliff down to the ground.


    Cliff was gasping for breath and was crawling away from Seeker.


    "Let''s go." Seeker calmly called out to his two friends as he walked away.


    Seeker didn''t even turn back to take a look at Cliff. Meryl and Lynd, on the other hand, kept turning their heads to observe Seeker and the crawling Cliff.


    "I''m tired. Let''s get something good to eat." Seeker casually mentioned. He led his two friends to the nearby food district and went to the more prestigious shops in the district.


    "Seeker, where are we eating?" Meryl wondered. She was not used to the dishes being served at the area they went to as her allowance could only afford cheap meals.


    "Trust me, guys. I''m doing you a favor. You better list down which dishes you want to eat as most of these may not be avable in the future." Seeker smiled.


    The two silently followed, making Seeker decide which restaurant they were to dine in. Seeker led the two to a ssy buffet restaurant.


    "This looks promising. I could eat all those long-lost dishes." Seeker smiled.


    "We''re eating here?" Lynd asked in shock. He had no experience of dining at such a restaurant.


    "Yeah. Might as well, right? If I want to eat the variety of foods that this world has to offer, this ce is a great ce to start. Western, Eastern, Mediterranean, you name it!" Seeker immediately dove in without waiting for the two.


    Meryl and Lynd looked at each other and followed excitedly.


    Seeker immediately went to gather the delicacies he aimed to devour as soon as their seat was assigned. The two followed ignorantly as they experienced what they felt to be paradise.


    Seeker''s dishes covered the majority of the table. Lynd and Meryl only had less than a fourth of the table for their own.


    "Are you sure you can eat all of that, Zeek?" Meryl asked worriedly.


    "Don''t worry. I need to take in more food. It may not seem much, but I burned a lot of energy earlier. Plus, I need to prepare for the nned activities that I have scheduled." Seeker continued to munch in the various dishes around his seat.


    Meryl stared in wonder at Seeker, who happily devoured the meals before him.


    "You know its times like these that I think the future won''t be as bad as you say it will be." Lynd sighed.


    "How bad is the future?" Meryl asked with a serious expression.


    "Pretty grim. It was very hopeless." Seeker recollected.


    "How? We had people like you, right? I mean, nutterballs Zeek! You mowed those bullies like they were rodents!"


    "A shot at victory? Wrong. What we had was simply the capacity to strike back. That didn''t mean we were winning. So what if we can dodge bullets? Lightspeed weapons, strange biological gases, cloaking technology, advancedputer hacking, and weapons hijacking. Those were the least of our worries."


    "Sounds pretty bad." Meryl looked grim.


    "It''s worse than it sounds. We had problems with almost everything. Food, water, manpower, weapons, you name it. Everything wascking. This is why every small thing we aplish now could vastly change the future."


    "Is that why you''re turning us into Unlocked humans?" Meryl finally had the courage to ask.


    "Obviously. And it won''t end with you." Seeker smiled.


    "Why not start with someone else, Zeek? We can''t do what you do!"


    "Of course you can! If I can do it, you can!" Zeek confidently boasted and started munching over his meals.


    Lynd had an angry re. Meryl also shared a frustrated grunt. Those words were what Seeker would usually say to give them a boost of confidence. However, those words never managed to aplish that.


    "You can! But WE can''t! Here we go again!" Meryl angrily grunted once more.


    Seeker was surprised at the sudden turn of emotions of his friends.


    "What''s wrong with you guys! Of course, you can!"


    "You really don''t know, do you?" Lynd asked with an exasperated expression.


    "Know what?"


    "We aren''t like you! You''re not even supposed to be a Rising! Heck, for all we know, you could even do better than those chummy Royals!"


    "What are you talking about?" Seeker stopped his dining and paid full attention to his friends.


    "Zeek, I''ve known you for about two years. And it didn''t take me long to notice what Lynd, who has been your friend for ages, noticed long ago!"


    "Noticed what?" Seeker stared at Lynd.


    "You''re a genius, Zeek. You always were. You don''t belong in the Rising sses."


    "What are you talking about? My grades were always subpar."


    "Really? Was it? Or did you intentionally do that? You''re always asleep at sses, you always don''t listen, yet if you chose to, you could have aced all those tests. You would even intentionally make a few mistakes in order to get a low grade."


    "Zeek. Let me put it this way." Meryl interrupted before Seeker could even start to defend himself.


    "We''re not on the same level. You have always been ahead of us but chose to slow down for our sakes. And we were always fine with that. Until now. You say we can do it. We can be like you. Unlocked. But that is not true. We were never on the same level. If you push forward and give it your all, we won''t be able to catch up."


    "I can help you-"


    "No, you can''t, Zeek." This time it was Lynd who drew the line.


    "Not this time. You never understood how Meryl and I would do our best but always remain mediocre. We know. We''ve seen it in your eyes all these years. You imed to be mediocre, but we knew you were doing it because you are confident that you could easily surpass everyone. Even the best of the Royals. You never understood what it meant to fail."


    Seeker was silent. Things started to make sense for him. His untapped potential, him being one of the very few people on Earth that could achieve the unlocking, even his capabilities to stand to support the World Champions. He was a genius. He recalled the secrets of his bloodlines and then thought of something else. Was it because of that? Was that his ticket to the Ranked Hero''s realm?


    "Looks like you finally get it, huh? You can''t push us, Zeek. Not this time. Not because we are unwilling. But simply because we can''t. Don''t put us on the same level as you." Meryl harshly spoke and rified their position to Seeker.


    "Especially now. You''re no longer the Zeek we knew. You''re far more powerful and far more amazing. Yet the standards you hold towards us didn''t change. We''d break Zeek. So please don''t burden us."


    Seeker''s eyes suddenly sparked a different light. There was intense raging anger hidden deep in his eyes.


    "You are right. I am no longer the Zeek you knew. That Zeek encountered a world of terror. Those memories did change me, and that''s why I''m trying to change you! But let me ask you two something. Is this why you are afraid of the future?"


    Meryl and Lynd avoided Seeker''s eyes at the question.


    "Why is it that out of all the questions that you have or could ask me, you never once bothered to ask if the two of you are alive in the future?" Seeker red back.


    There was silence. The eyes of Seeker''s two friends grew more and more depressed.


    "We know we died, Zeek." Meryl started to cry.


    "We didn''t ask because we already knew. We can''t live in that kind of world." Lynd continued.


    "What I don''t get is why the two of you don''t want to take any actions to change that future," Seeker responded calmly. But an angry storm was behind his soft voice.


    "We''re not like you. Even if we tried, we would fail." Meryl sobbed started to grow stronger. People around the room were noticing the crying looks in the eyes of two students in this table.


    Lynd chose to remain silent. But tears were also filling his eyes.


    "So, instead of fighting, you simply epted your fate?" Seeker stopped observing the two and turned his attention to one of the dishes in the table.


    Meryl and Lynd couldn''t look Seeker in the eye. They were helpless.


    "You''re not the only ones afraid. Will I be able to protect you two this time? Will I be able to save my family? Will I be able to save her?" Seeker gave a frustratedugh.


    "In this table, the one whose most afraid of the future is me." Seeker paused as he continued to smash open his delicacies.


    "But despite my fear, I was willing to fight. But now, now that even you can''t have confidence in yourself. Then I guess I really won''t be able to protect you." Seeker started to angrily crush open a lobster.


    "If you want to give up, you may."


    Lynd and Meryl silently stared at their tes. Tears continued to gather in their eyes.


    "I''ll let you quit." Seeker finally broke the silence.


    "But only after the power walkthrough. I still need you to help."


    It was a strange moment for Meryl and Lynd. Though Seeker spoke of abandoning them, the intense burden and fear were finally lifted from their hearts. They gazed back at Seeker with an apologetic look. This was who they were. Rising''s to their very blood. And at that moment of intense emotional depression, the weak ones lost the appetite to eat while the strong remained undaunted from the overflowing emotionally stinging pain.


    They gazed at Seeker, who continued to eat. Truly he was as they always knew. A champion amongst weak men. He always has been. And the intense memories that he has inherited only served to make him stronger.


    "But we''ll still do the workouts. At least I could say I tried."


    Meryl and Lynd cringed as they heard that statement.

 Chapter 16 - An Unconventional Power Walkthrough

    The trio traveled to the duplex apartment silently. Seeker had a slightly grumpy aura while the two would only follow their leader with a guilty and almost pleading look.


    They arrived at the duplex, and no words were uttered as they immediately started to prepare for the stream.


    Seeker ignored the pleading looks his friends gave and continued with a harsh upper body work out. Meryl could barely move her arms. Lynd was lying on the floor, not moving. Seeker, on the other hand, continued to do it as if it was nothing. The speed of his workout doubled. He made his reps faster through his perception. After performing several sets that would have made a muscr man kneel in pain, Seeker changed his clothes and started to prepare for the stream. When Meryl and Lynd recovered from their near-death workout, they mounted their assigned positions.


    Seeker nodded to Meryl, who immediately started the stream.


    As the room went online, the number of viewers immediately reached up to 87. And slowly more and more people started to dive in.


    Seeker smiled.


    "Looks like we managed to get a lot of attention." Lyndughed softly. Things were still awkward between them. Meryl even had a mncholic look as she started chatting to the viewers of the stream.


    "Alright, guys! Let''s finally get rolling!" Seeker sat at his chair as the stream started.


    "As many viewers requested this, I mounted a camera on my head, which is overlooking the controllers." Seeker demonstrated.


    The camera was now split into three screens. The stream for the actual game was broadcasted along with two small windows, one showing Seeker and another showing his hands and how he operated the controller.


    "Without further ado, let''s start the new game. The timer starts now!


    The stream began with the new game.


    The protagonist of Piercing: Bullet was seen riding an elevator whistling happily.


    The elevators opened, and the Piercing Agent casually walked out of the elevators, which rmed the guards.


    "Piercing Bullet?"


    "Yeah yeah¡­. I''m here to talk to Hollow. Can you let me in?"


    "I''m sorry, sir. But we can''t-"


    BANG!


    Bullet casually shot the guard with his trademark weapon, the Piercing Custom-made Rifle. The rm went off, and people started rushing out from the rooms and started to shoot at Bullet.


    "Hollow! I''m here for my brother''s gun!" Bullet happily shouted. The game began. Seeker controlled Bullet and started attacking the guards.


    "Now, since we are aiming for a power walkthrough, the first thing that we should do is spend about an hour in this particr stage."


    Seeker continued to attack the various guards utilizing various attack skills andbos. He rarely used his ranged skills but continued to dash and strike the guards using the rifle as a melee weapon.


    The chat room was now flooded with questions.


    "Why?" This was themon question that most viewers asked.


    Seeker kept attacking and attacking as the enemies continued to pour in.


    "Piercing games prioritize skill as the most important trait when ying the game. However, many of Bullet''s skills can only be used once you have reached a certain level of proficiency by using his basic skills. Now the best ce to train for skill points is, in fact, in this very stage!" Seeker smiled as he quickly eliminated the guards.


    More guards would appear as soon as some would die. What was impressive was how Seeker managed to eliminate the unending enemies without taking a single hit!


    "Wait! It''s infinite?" Lynd was shocked to find this development. He yed that but knew for a fact that the enemies stopped spawning after a few kills.


    "Now you may be wondering why the enemies are infinitely spawned. The answer is; it''s not infinite. The game would immediately trigger the spawning of units every 15 seconds until there is a maximum of seven enemies. But what if you managed to kill a lot them before the 15 seconds end?" Seeker smiled as he continued to kill several guards using intense attacks.


    There the viewers were shocked as they witnessed an endless amount of enemies constantly spawning anding through the doors near the elevator.


    "Trying it now! It''s really hard!"


    "I''m trying it too! How does he do that? How can he not get hit?"


    The discussion became more interesting as several viewers tried Seeker''s technique.


    Seeker calmly controlled his avatar and did not lose focus despite the chaotic speeds of his y.


    "The general idea is to farm as much as you can in this stage and move on. This is the fastest ce to farm for skills because we all know that enemy respawns only happen when we reset the game. So I suggest to farm as much as you can in this stage and move on if you''ve farmed enough."


    Seeker casually said not even bothering to read whatever discussions the chat room now had. Those who attempted to apply the trick failed after four or five minutes of ying. However, the trick was proven to be true.


    Nearly an hour has passed in Seeker''s game, and his progress continued to remain in the exact same stage. However, several skills were now unlocked. The speed and intensity of Seeker''s control over his avatar evolved to a speed that many would feel dizzy. In fact, several viewers stopped watching and nned to return after Seeker would end his farming.


    "Alright. Now that the skills are set, let''s go kill the boss. I think I can defeat the boss within twenty seconds." Seeker grinned and immediately zipped through the stage as he moved from room to room and finally reached a door that triggered a cutscene.


    "Ohhhhh, Hallow! Are you home?" Bullet came in the door with a smile on his face.


    "Bullet. You are aware that you''d be a priority target for Piercing if you attack me." Hallow stood wearing his dashingly formal attire.


    "Ah, well, what can I say. I want my brother''s gun that much!" Bullet smiled. The cutscene ended, and the fight immediately began.


    Hallow unveiled his scythe and started to sh quickly. Seeker calmly controlled his avatars to back away and be outside of Hallow''s scythe. At the third strike, Seeker immediately utilized a dashing skill he unlocked to dive right towards Hollow, then an unbreakable chain of attacks followed.


    Dashing, shing upwards, downwards, zipping up and down, the series of attacks surprised all viewers.


    Piercing: Bullet was a game that featured Piercing Agent, Bullet. He held a rifle as the main weapon, so everyone assumed that the gamey would be focused on ranged attacks, unlike its predecessor Piercing: Edge. Seeker did not invest even a single second in using Bullet''s ranged attacks but invested heavily on melee attacks. Most yers would invest as the damage of ranged attack far surpassed the damage of a simple melee attack.


    As the torrent of attacks continued, most of what the viewers could see was a blur. Barely 15 seconds has passed, and a cutscene was revealed.


    Hollow was somersaulting backward and used his scythe to block a gunshot. Hended gracefully and stared angrily at Bullet.


    "Fine. You win. Take this stupid gun. But next time, I''ll fight seriously to kill you."


    Hallow walked over to aplex container nearby. He opened it and angrily took out arge handgun and tossed it over to Bullet.


    "Much obliged. Don''t worry. I won''t go look for you after this. I mean, once it''s out, you''d fight to kill me." Bullet smiled and ran towards the balcony and jumped down. He continued to fall from the skyscraper. The cutscene ended, and Bullet stood on one of the many rooftops of the city.


    The game continued.


    "Wait! The boss fight ended so quickly?!" Several viewers only reacted after the cutscene ended.


    Seeker controlled Bullet to run as several soldiers woulde up to him and fight him. The battles were intensely easier than it was on Seeker''s first ythrough.


    Enemies would just die within five seconds once Seeker began his attacks. He quickly paced up and immediately went to eliminate the bosses. Seeker gained nothing in terms of experience points as this stage acted as a mini-tutorial. Skills attack experience points, however, depended on its proficiency of use. So as long as a skill attack connects with an enemy, experience points could be earned for that particr skill.


    "At this point in the game, it''s quite useless to gather experience points. If you''re skilled enough, just go for the bosses. We need to open the new areas of this game to progress faster." Seeker casually reported.


    "I thought this game would be about ranged attacks?"


    "I thought so too! Piercing Edge was a melee fighter! But Bullet? It''s in his name! It looks like it''s still going to be a melee massacre. I was so wrong."


    "But what about the aerial enemies? How can he defeat those?"


    Themotion in the chat was far from over as various veteran yers started to rethink their game strategy in Piercing: Bullet.


    Noticing themotion, Seeker once again stared at the camera and smiled.


    "As you noticed, I didn''t allocate any points in my range attacks. Now going by this, the bosses on the next stage are either aerial or would position themselves as far as possible from the yer. So I guess it''s about time to bet! I have 20,000 credits. And I''m going to bet it that I can beat each boss in less than two minutes and not get hit from this point until I stop yingter. Thest boss that I will fight tonight will be the Prating Sky bosses on the warehouse. The minimum buy-in of 100 credits."


    Seeker gave his bold deration. Meryl immediately followed as ordered by Seeker and dumped all of his credits in the Gambling Den.


    The discussion on the chat group grew wild. Almost immediately, when the Den was open, the credits immediately flowed in. Initially, there were only seven yers who ced their bets against Seeker, but it slowly increased over time.


    Seeker continued with his ythrough, and like this, two hours passed. Seeker would intentionally allow himself to almost get hit at times, which caused others to dive in and throw their credits in the Den.


    The chat room continued to buzz with activities as more and more viewers willingly gambled their fortune.


    "You idiots! Can''t you see his taking your money? Haven''t you learned anything fromst night''s stream?"


    "Just you wait! An unconventional build like that is sure to fail when he reaches the aerial enemies! You''ll be sorry you didn''t bet against him!" Another viewer responded.


    "Idiot. He obviously has thought everything through. His unconventional ystyle could probably be the standard for all yers in the future! And look! He''s intentionally allowing himself to almost get hit! Can''t you see how he would dy his movements? Look at how he''s handling the controller!"


    Seeker fought another boss, and his attacks weren''t connecting as fast as that particr boss had a small frame and could easily get out of the attack range of Seeker. The fight continued, and once 1 minute and 30 seconds passed, more viewers started to invest their credits in the Den. Sadly they lost.. Seeker immediately made quick work of the boss, and it ended in 1 minute and 51 seconds.

 Chapter 17 - Casual Carlean

    Seeker''s gamey continued for another hour. Andter, people were anticipating yet another challenge. The aerial bosses. Soon Seeker''s travels reached arge military base on the outskirts of the thriving city. Seeker controlled his character to attack the base.


    "Piercing Agent! This is an Impact owned military base. Turn away, or we will attack!"


    A warning was heard, but Seeker paid no heed to this warning and controlled Bullet to continue on towards the base.


    In the middle of the base, the mechanical floor gave way, and several huge man-shaped robots dashed out and zipped towards Seeker with intense speed. Shoulderunchers appeared by the side of these robots, and several missiles were fired.


    Seeker casually used an attacking skill to dash forward, and Seeker would immediately prematurely end the dash with another attack, and once the quick attack would end, Seeker would use the dash skill again. This cycle was expertly delivered and led to a fast-paced movement technique that could do damage. Seeker could now catch up with the dashing robots and would pummel it with a variety of melee attacks. Like this, the mechanical Titans were demolished.


    Seeker slowly approached the base, and a cutscene started.


    A reddish Titan with arge engine in the back appeared and started flying in the air.


    The chat room was cheering! How could Seeker kill this boss as it was in mid-air? This was why several gamblers were confident of their win.


    "Now, herees the painful part." Seeker''s eyes grew serious. Those who ced their bets looked in glee. This was the first time that Seeker had a serious expression.


    The bets slowly increased as some yers who were shocked at Seeker''s expression decided to enter thest minute. Right now, with over 50 people joining in the bet, everyone would receive a share of over 3 times of their 100 credit buy-in.


    "A PIERCING AGENT?" A loud and painful voice echoed out as the Red Titan hovered over, unleashing a series of missiles.


    One of Bullet''s skill was a missile defense system wherein Bullet would use his gun to destroy missiles that are approaching him. However, Seeker made no investment on any ranged skills. Therefore, he had no defenses to stop the missiles. On his previous ythrough, he had those skills with him, which made the battle easier.


    Seeker controlled Bullet to run towards the missiles and started dashing evading the torrent of missiles easily.


    "HOW ABOUT THIS?" The painful voice screamed again.


    Seeker frowned and continued to control Bullet to dash and drew closer and closer to the enemy.


    Two more viewers entered the Den. If this demigod of gamers frowned, then it could mean he was not confident.


    However, Seeker pushed on. Seeker used the dashing attack tounch himself in the air. It was just enough to connect to the hovering Titan. However, Bullet started to fall down and only managed to connect one attack.


    Many who gambled were smiling in amusement. Seeker could not use the quick attack and runch another aerial dash as it was a ground-based attack.


    "DIE YOU PIERCING TRASH!" The painful voice shouted again as itunched a different attack pattern. A salvo of missiles erupted and flew towards Bullet''s position. Seeker used the dashing aerial attack to escape the arriving salvo and as he was in mid-air. The red Titan drew closer to the aerial Bullet and was about tounch an attack.


    Just before the attack couldmence, Seeker used a skill that used the Rifle as a pole and struck the enemy. As the attack connected, Seeker used the attack as a foothold to propel him further upwards, and then Seeker immediately used the aerial dash again.


    Seeker''s avatar zipped through the Red Titan, inflicting small damage. But after Seeker dashed through the Red Titan, Seeker then used the same attack skill, which propelled him upwards once more. Seeker then used another dash. Seeker continued with this cycle in a very precise and fast manner.


    The Red Titan continued to shout painful screams that made Seeker look annoyed. Seeker''s attacks continued. The missiles that the Titanunched were of no use. They continued to travel downwards, and Seeker was always right beside or above the red Titan.


    None of the viewers could type a message as they saw Seeker''s fast and unusual techniques. Seeker zipped to-and-fro until the Red Titan''s hit points shot down below its halfway mark.


    "NOOOOOO! THEN TRY THIS!" the painful voice was heard once again.


    "That''s it! I''ve had enough of this." Seeker stood up and picked up the remote in the corner table and tried to mute the audio. He kept pressing random buttons as the sounds had not died down. As his right hand was doing that, he controlled his avatar using his left hand. Bullet was seen running around, evading the iing missiles. Seeker, however, seemed focus on muting the television.


    Meryl and Lynd had to contain the urge to urinate at the stressful situation that Seeker ced himself in.


    "SEEKER!" Lynd was about to run to grab the controllers.


    "I''ll get the remote! Geez!" Merylined as she stomped off and snatched the remote from Seeker.


    "It''s not that one! It''s this!" Meryl shouted angrily. She took a different remote controller and muted the sounds.


    Seeker sat down once more. He looked very rxed. "I hate that voice. Ugh. Whoever suggested that I y with the volume on is an idiot. Hey Meryl, what are we having for dinner? Here, take my card and order some pizza." Seeker then stood back up and rummaged to his back pocket. His left hand continued to control Bullet in parrying missiles and other attacks.


    "SEEKER!" Lynd shouted again. He wanted to just pinch and crush that frustrating nonchnt face of Seeker. All it took was to receive a single hit from those missiles, and they would be 20,000 credits poorer.


    Seeker finally managed to take out his wallet. He then used the thumb and index fingers of his left hand to pick a credit card out of the card slots while his middle finger continued to move the analog joystick.


    Meryl and Lynd looked very frightened and continued to cringe as their view turned back and forth from Seeker''s controls and the screen. As Seeker took out the card and attempted to give it to Meryl, Meryl dashed angrily at Seeker and took the card. She could hardly contain the urge to dropkick her friend then and there.


    Seeker sat down and rxed at the inclination of his chair. He controlled Bullet to dive in and started his aerialbos, which instantly killed the boss. It took 1 minute and 46 seconds for Seeker to kill this boss. And that included 10 seconds worth of dy since Seeker had to move away from the Titan as he made Bullet run around in circles.


    The chat room was buzzing with chats when Meryl went back to her seat.


    "MAH HEART! MAH KIDNEY!"


    "Oh look! I don''t need to use the toilet anymore."


    "SON OF A!"


    "That''s exactly what I do whenever I''m betting twenty freakin'' thousand credits to do a no-hit walkthrough with a boss-beating time limit of two minutes. Mute the TV and order dinner with one hand while I y with the other!"


    "HAIL THE NEW PIERCING PRODIGY CASUAL CARLEAN!"


    "I''m watching this in the toilet. I''ve been having problems relieving myself due to chronic constipation. But I tell you, my constipation is cured now! Thank you, Casual Carlean!"


    "The doctor didn''t need to defibrite my uncle, who was suffering from cardiac arrest. Watching Casual Carlean proved to be more effective. Thanks, Casual Carlean!"


    Several simrments were made that night, and several of which were featured online. Thister created a mountain of curious viewers who essed Seeker''s streamster on.


    Lynd and Meryl watched in exasperation. It was just as if they''ve just undergone another round of Seeker''s exercise. It was just too much. The standing, the one-handed control, the muting, the wallet. Why the hell did he do that in the middle of the boss fight? Isn''t there a pause button?


    As various thoughts continued to gue Lynd and Meryl, the source of their gue, Seeker was having a very nonchnt time as he happily controlled Bullet to dive towards a group of enemies and instantly made scrap metal of them.


    The game progressed on, and soon, Seeker reached the warehouse where the Prating Sky soldiers reside.


    The cutscene began. A group of soldiers was waiting for Bullet to enter. They jumped up and started to fly. The Elite group of soldiers known as Prating Sky was a mockery of the Piercing name. The soldiers used weapons and ammunition, simr to various Piercing soldiers.


    Prating Sky used specialized guns that fired bullets at an incredibly fast speed. However, just as it was with the slow-moving missiles, Seeker had no problems evading everything. He dashed and dashed around, and once he would be directly below one of the soldiers, Seeker would utilize the same aerialbo to immediately kill the soldier.


    Once everyone saw how easily a soldier died, they knew that Seeker had won the bet. Seeker dashed and went to pursue another soldier. And he instantly killed it with a blur ofbos. Then another soldier died, and then another. As the soldiers slowly perished one by one, there were curses and strange voodoo chants filling the chat logs. Naturally, the source of these messages was the frustrated gamblers who ced their bets.


    None of their chants worked. Seeker managed to defeat thest soldier with ease.


    Seeker smiled and simply stared straight at the camera.


    "Thank you for your generous donations!" Seeker smiled.


    The processing of the Gambling Den immediately initiated, and Seeker was deemed the winner of the bet. Just like that, Seeker earned 4300 credits through the Den.


    "Tomorrow, I will continue my Power Walkthrough same time." Seeker announced.


    There were lots ofints as they wanted Seeker to continue to y. The impossibility disyed by Seeker was a tremendous lesson to many.


    "I''m sorry, guys. I''m still a student. After all, I can''t live off ying games. I mean, how do I sustain myself?" Seeker shamefully asked.


    At this time, Seeker was to earn a total of 10950 credits from people viewing the stream and 5700 credits from the Den.


    Several pained emotions were expressed at Seeker''s very shameful statement.


    "See you tomorrow, guys! Same time! Remember to share this vid! Bye now!"


    Just like that, the stream ended.


    The stream became the most talked about topic amongst gamers that night. Almost every gaming website talked about Seeker''s stream.


    On the twentieth floor of a tall skyscraper, five teens were watching the stream.


    "Impressive." A short teen with thick sses and dark hair spoke. He watched earnestly at how Seeker controlled Bullet to evade and attack. At the same time, he seemed to be counting something, and he continued to mumble numbers under his breath.


    "We should join the stream tomorrow. This will definitely get their attention." The only female of the group spoke. She had pink hair, thin sses, and a very whiteplexion and beauty that would match movie stars. She smiled and started giggling as she saw Seeker stand and started using the remote. The others, however, we''re cringing at what Seeker did.


    Everyone held their breath as they watched Seeker pick his card whilst controlling Bullet with his middle finger.


    "Well, no matter what they offer him, he''d most likely join us. Kris, you should join the stream alone tomorrow. A personal touch from you should be enough." The short teen ordered unaffected by what he saw. He carried on counting under his breath.


    The pink-haired girl smiled and nodded.. Her eyes were full of anticipation.

 Chapter 18 - The Blue And The Yellow

    A huge light beam shed across the city. Several skyscrapers were halved, and the upper half started to copse.


    Several of the UN soldiers were still running as they saw the copsing skyscrapers. Though they were directly under it, they didn''t disy even a hint of fear.


    The soldiers suddenly stopped running and gazed at the falling debris.


    "Commander, we can''t make it there on time!" The soldier screamed. A blue gem embedded on a silver ring started glowing as the soldier screamed.


    Another soldier continued to gaze at the debris of the skyscrapers continued to fall towards them. For some, it was imminent death. But to Inhumans such as themselves, this would simply amount to an obstacle course. Death was the most unlikely result of evading falling buildings.


    "I wished I paid more attention to General Humphreys math lessons." A certain soldier sighed.


    As the debris were 30 meters from the ground, the squad immediately used their Force Boosters and soared towards the debris. What followed next was an expert execution of acrobatic actions paired by the timely ignition of their boosters. They would kick and use the debris as a foothold and dash higher towards the sky as they evaded and dodged the steel beams and broken concrete.


    Suddenly a light shed far on their east side.


    "EVADE!" A soldier cried.


    Arge dark blueish electrical beam sted towards them. Two soldiers were unable to react on time and were engulfed by the beam and incinerated them.


    The wind pressure that followed from the powerful st affected the rising soldiers and disoriented them. Some managed to maintain focus and continued to rise across the debris, but three more sumbed to the disorientation.


    "Will!" A soldier attempted to dive back down to save them, but another soldier tackled him upwards.


    "We can''t! It''s too dangerous!"


    The remaining soldiers continued to rise through the falling debris and finally made it out of the falling half of the skyscraper.


    The soldiersnded on what remains of the upper half, and the soldier who attempted to dive down fell to his knees.


    "No. Not Will!" The soldier started to cry.


    "Get up." Another ordered.


    "Now''s not the time to cry. Will''s not dead. Look! Commander Carlean''s here!"


    The soldier looked up in hope, and true enough, there stood one of the strongest soldiers in the Gryphon Army. Commander Seeker Carlean was using the Four Force elerator to evade even more of the electrical st. He was handling three of the fallen soldiers and was throwing them to safe positions.


    "He can see light speed attacks!"


    "He broke through! He must be on the Surmounting Stage!"


    "We still have hope, team! Come on! We have to head down. On me!" The soldier bravely announced and dashed towards an area where explosions and gunfire continued to hail.


    Seeker was now sting and zipping through the city. He used buildings as footholds and would dash towards another. His speed continually broke through the sound barrier. The electric st managed to aim precisely at Seeker, but Seeker was able to dodge the attack at hairbreadth.


    "I WILL KILL YOU!" Seeker dashed faster. His falling tears would immediately be whipped out of the wind pressure that Seeker continually faced. His heart was heavy. His body was wounded on various ces, but all these pains were no longer something that Seeker paid attention too. He would kill that damned spaceship even if he gave half of his body to entropy.


    On the other side of the battle stood a huge spherical ship. The ship continued to emit electrical energies that would fry anything that touches it. asionally it would concentrate the electrical energy and st it off in a direction. Some smaller electrical st was used to attack various areas where enemy soldiers were detected. A majority of the electrical charges, however, were aimed at the flying and evading Ranked Hero.


    Several missiles managed to hit this spherical ship causing the ship to tremble. But despite the attacks it received, it focused whatever resources and attacks it had to kill the approaching Hero. The damage that this Gargantuan had taken was immense. It was only a miracle that it could continue to utilize its star technology to keep it afloat. On the upper half of this ship was arge hole that prated deep within. The damage it received at that point disabled its electrical shields allowing missiles and rockets to inflict damage towards it.


    Seeker would dash behind buildings, and The intermittent st would carve holes into these buildings. Still, no matter how many times the ship fired, Seeker would evade it.


    As Seeker neared the floating ship, he dashed on top of a building and waited for the ship to shoot him. Seeker down the building as an electrical beam sted through the building in half. Seeker then jumped on the many falling debris and used it as a foothold. He gave one strong dash and shot through the air onto the roof of this spherical ship. The Gargantuan emitted a powerful shockwave of electrical currents that surged around the ship. Arcs of lighting and beams continued to shoot out of it. Almost every side of the ship was emitting these lightning attacks.


    But this didn''t stop Seeker. He continued to force through and evaded the electrical beams and reached the upper portion of the ship. Seeker quickly zipped through and dove down the hole.


    "Checkmate."


    The Captain of the Gargantuan sighed.


    "It looks like we gambled too quickly, boys. See you if there''s an ''other side.''"


    He sat down with a grave expression and tried to ept his death.


    Apart from the people in the Gargantuan''s main bridge, no one else knew of the monster that was now on the ship. Most of the ship''s crew were caught unprepared. It was as if a gentle breeze passed by. A breeze that caused death.


    Men and women and even some young teens and kids onboard the Gargantuan all met the de of the Death Tide. This ship was their way out of Earth. And while they thought themselves invulnerable, they sumbed to death quite quickly.


    A loud sound simr to a loud rocketunching echoed through the hallways of the ship. Masked within this rocketing sound was an angry howl of a man. Once someone would hear this loud shout, it was toote. Blood and gore were all that would be left behind as Seeker dashed.


    Everyone on the bridge was prepared. They had epted their death the moment Seeker dove in. No one could even use the self-destruct sequence as the immense suicidal attack of the enemy Commander has prated deep and even damaged the Star Controller.


    As the crew peacefully sat there, some of them would be halved, some beheaded. The captain stood there, witnessing the death of his crew.


    "What rage." The captain thought. Everyone on the bridge was either halved or dismembered into three or four pieces, but he simply received a stab. He would die. But it would be slow. In his dying moments, he experienced the slowing of time. He saw the hole on his chest and reminisced how his actions led to everyone''s death onboard.


    Seeker reached for the main controls and used it to move the Gargantuan towards the main forces of the African army.


    He controlled the ship and initiated a kamikaze attack on the remaining enemy forces directly under it. The ship continued to emit electrical surges that killed several soldiers and destroyed severalrge humanoid robots.


    BOOM!


    The crashing sound echoed loudly. Several of Earth''s soldiers then started toe out and shot at the survivors of the crash. The soldiers of Earth were cheering. Victory was assured.


    Seeker dashed out of the wreckage andnded in the nearby area where some of the soldiers were cheering. After confirming their victory, he fell down in fatigue. He had several wounds and burnt marks. His synthetic clothing was in tatters.


    Several soldiers immediately ran to Seeker.


    Seeker looked at them and smiled. Tears, however, continued to flow in Seeker''s eyes.


    "Commander." A soldier immediately reached out to help Seeker stand.


    Several soldiers assisted in carrying Seeker. People were cheering. Ranked Hero Seeker Carlean finally managed to eliminate the remaining threats in the sector.


    An echoing sound was heard on the skies above. A small flying object could be noticed as it approached at tremendous speed. As the figure drew near, people started recognizing it.


    "World Champion!" Some of the soldiers eximed excitedly.


    The blurring image immediately locked on towards where Seeker was and zoomed towards the area.


    In a matter of seconds, the small figure was already standing in front of the limping Seeker Carlean. Seeker was being supported by two soldiers.


    The figure was an Asian man of average build and height. He wore a ck synthetic clothing simr to what Seeker wore. He wore a slightlyrger version of the Four Force elerator that Seeker also had. He had a stern face and a pair of red eyes that looked like that of a demon.


    "Report." The manmanded.


    "Commander Seeker Carlean reporting, Sir." Seeker did not even bother to salute. Rather, he had no strength to do so.


    "Carlean? Report. What is the status of your mission? What happened to your General?"


    "General has received tremendous damage and is currently incapacitated."


    "What? The Realm King is incapacitated?" The man quickly observed the surrounding wreckage and realized the intensity of the battle.


    "Gargantuan''s and Titans, huh? How bad is it?"


    "His life is not in danger. But it might take a while for him to recover."


    "That''s both good and bad! We can''t afford an incapacitated World Champion! Where is themanding officer next in line to takemand?"


    Seeker was silent for a few seconds.


    "He is right in front of you, Sir." Seeker answered.


    The man frowned.


    "I see." The man solemnly replied. There was dread and even regret in his voice.


    "Alright. As of this moment, you will stand as the acting General. Make your report General."


    "Yes, Sir." Seeker paused as tears continued to flow down his eyes. He, however, maintained his fierce gaze and serious look.


    "We have seeded in destroying their main Orbital ship and acquired the ns and location of another Gigas ss Orbital scheduled tounch. However, they were expecting us. The Aragarians deployed several Gargantuan and used the Gargantuan that was supposed to flee as bait. They were attempting to ambush us. We managed to destroy all of it. Not even one managed to retreat, but¡­" Seeker paused. He tried to contain his crying and sobbing voice.


    "Commander Indigo and Commander Mikado have fallen in battle."


    The man frowned again. He had expected this but hoped that his expectations were wrong. He turned around and did not respond to Seeker. The surrounding soldiers were shocked to hear Seeker''s sentence. Some even fell on their knees and started crying.


    Seeker gripped his fist in frustration. The synthetic gloves did not hinder the force, which caused his palms to bleed. The tears could no longer be stopped. Seeker, who had the capability to master his own emotions with his Unlocked powers, started to cry.


    The blue gem embedded on the back of the World Champions head started glowing.


    "Head Quarters. Reporting the situation here in South East Asia. Mission Moon Seizer is a sess; however, General Realm King is injured. He may not recover in time for the next mission. Also¡­" the man stared at the crying soldiers around him. He sighed.


    "This mission''s sess is attributed to the brave sacrifices of World Champion, Commander Lynd Indigo and Ranked Hero, Commander Meryl Mikado. I am handing the mantle ofmand of the Realm King''s armies to Surmounting Ranked Hero, Seeker Carlean."


    The man dashed out and flew to the high skies racing towards another battlefield.


    Seeker continued to cry. Even the soldiers around him were tearing up. In the eyes of most soldiers, they were victorious, but as of that moment, only a few soldiers knew about what they lost in this battle. They lost two great leaders that day. Hope became a far fleeting thing only to dream of but never within their grasps.


    Seeker woke up. There were tears in his eyes. He was about to massage his head but remembered that Charles had connected several high-tech probes and wires to his cranium regions.


    "The cons of the Unlocked mind." Seeker sighed as he rubbed his eyes.


    "What an urate nightmare.." Seekerughed bitterly.

 Chapter 19 - Faith Of A Believer

    Seeker continued to lie down as the machines connected to him ran several tests. Seeker started closing his eyes as if he was meditating. After a few minutes, the door opened.


    "Charles." Seeker addressed as his eyes were closed.


    "Sorry for the trouble. We should be done in a few minutes. Meryl and Lynd told me about what happened in the restaurant. You sure you know what you''re doing?"


    Seeker just smiled and nodded.


    "Look, I agree with their point of view. I didn''t know that you guys are from the Rising group. I thought you''d be a Royal."


    "Seems like you guys had a lot to talk about." Seeker smiled.


    "Well yeah¡­ I did warn you that I thought these guys are well¡­ weak, for theck of a better word."


    Seekerughed.


    "You''re wrong." Seeker bitterlyughed. Weak? If they are weak, what was he?


    "Well, I mean, they died in the future, didn''t they?"


    "World Champions died in the future. That doesn''t make them any weaker than me." Seeker sarcastically stared.


    Charles was silent for a moment.


    "Wait. Exactly who would Lynd and Meryl be in the future?"


    Seeker was silent. He gave a deep sigh.


    "Meryl Mikado. Did you notice anything special about her?"


    Charles gave a peculiar look.


    "I don''t know. She seemed timid and brave, I guess?" Charles shrugged.


    "She has a talent at looking at bright things longer than others." Seeker smiled.


    "We would even spend some days at the bright park having a contest at who could stare at the sun the longest. She would always win."


    Charles stood there and wondered.


    "Great! Good for her." Charlesmended with a doubtful expression.


    "Right. A weird talent. We never thought it would amount to anything."


    "Well, probably in some fields of science, it would."


    "What about in warfare?" Seeker grinned.


    "I''m not sure. Unless she could keep her eyes open in front of a shbang and withstand it."


    Seeker smiled.


    "Of course, she can''t. Well, that was until she was unlocked."


    Charles was surprised at Seeker''s revtion.


    "You see, apparently, her tolerance towards light is vastly different from others. And because she was proud of it, she kept developing this useless talent. Once she attained the Unlocking, she transformed it into a weapon of warfare."


    "How can that be used?"


    "Bybining ster and nuclear science, our scientists managed to create a powerful form of the shbang. It could create bright light so immense that nothing could see through it."


    "How is that possible? Won''t some technologies could use different forms of vision to see through this light?"


    "Not when it''s facing the Sun sh. We all know that the sun produces different waves of light. It creates light that can be seen by the naked eye, and light that couldn''t be seen. Thebination of the two technologies created a light that no form of vision could see through. Well, except¡­"


    "Meryl''s eyes." Charles was shocked at the revtion.


    "That''s right. Imagine fighting something you couldn''t even look at. Something that could make everything around a few kilometers as bright as the sun. No technology could see through her. But she would walk and see in it. It won''t even hurt her eyes."


    "You sound as if you admire her greatly."


    "I do. They called me Seeker "the Death Tide" Carlean. Do you know why?"


    Charles shook his head.


    "I managed to cause what appeared to be a tide of dead bodies in one of the major battles on Earth. Stop flinching. It wasn''t that great. People exaggerated it. Picture about thirty to forty human bodies sliced and hacked up and would just roll out of the broken doors and windows of an evacuating spaceship." Seeker grinned.


    "I don''t want to picture that," Charles replied unamused.


    "But you see, I wasn''t known for any special trait or skill. Truth be told, among those who reached Ranked Hero, I wasn''t anyone special. I wouldn''t be able to hold my candle around other Ranked Heroes. People like Meryl, they were different. The moment she debuted her first Ranked Hero battle, her nickname was set. Ranked Hero Meryl Mikado, Empress of the Sun."


    Charles gulped. That timid short girl was actually a weapon of high power.


    "In fact, she was next in line with the highest potentials to be one of the World Champions.


    "How is that possible? Meryl and Lynd were earlier insisting that you are a genius! And she''s actually better than you?!"


    "Yeah, about that. I guess I was surrounded by geniuses that I never considered myself as one. But you see, it''s not about being a genius. In terms of Unlocking, you can''t reach Ranked Hero or higher by sheer knowledge, skill, or talent alone."


    "Then what do you need?"


    "Faith? Basically, the power of a believing mind."


    "What?" Charles looked surprised.


    "I guess we could call it by a terminology you''re more familiar with. The cebo effect."


    "cebo?"


    "Did they tell you about what happened with Cliff?"


    "That drug addict? Yeah. Meryl said you used some strange trick to make them very afraid. It petrified them."


    "You see, that''s interesting. They saw how it affected Cliff and his gang but did not even flinch."


    "Wait. You mean you didn''t intend that? I thought you were only aiming for those delinquents!"


    "I can''t. Or rather, I don''t know how to. To achieve that, I would have to push my brain to activate a certain form of hormones. Ones that could trigger fear. Anyone who would be able to smell it would have been affected."


    "I''ve seen studies and attempts to prove how a certain scent could cause fear that but I didn''t know-"


    CRASH!


    Charles immediately stumbled. He could no longer stand. An empowering fear covered him. Unlike the spine-chilling sensation he once felt, this didn''t even allow him to move or breathe.


    Suddenly the sensation ended. Charles was gasping and slowly stood up.


    He knew what he felt. Scared. He was scared of the teen lying down on a bed with several machines attached to the teen''s brain. How did that happen?


    "Convinced?" Seeker stared with a nonmittal attitude. Charles nodded his head vigorously. He never wanted to feel that way again.


    "And yet, Meryl wasn''t affected by that smell. Disgusting monsters."


    "What?! How? Didn''t she feel the spine-chilling sensation the other day when we were discussing the ns?"


    "Well, I think it was doubt. I mean, they learned of my memories and how I''m a Reincarnator. Maybe they were suspicious of me. But I guess by the next day, they somehow epted me and treated me as a friend once more."


    "How would that be able to make Meryl immune to fear?! I''m an army doctor for Christ''s sake! I should at least have some resistance, but she did because she thought of you as her friend?" Charles demanded. He felt a bit insulted that the overpowering sensation was like a breeze of wind to two teenagers.


    "Frustrating, right? I feel you." Seeker smiled. Finally, someone could share his insecurities with his friends.


    "She believed that I''m her friend. She believed I wouldn''t hurt her no matter what. So when the hormones I released was transmitted into her brain, her brain simply refused to interpret me as a threat."


    "That''s the most absurd thing I''ve ever heard! The brain receives signals, be it from sight, scent, or whatever. And you''re telling me that for Meryl, her their brain simply disregarded those signals like some random piece of note from a suggestion box?" Charlesined.


    "Oh, ye of little faith." Seekerughed.


    "Think about how the cebo effect managed to cure and heal various diseases across the world. It''s a proven fact. The mind can do powerful things. Because the mind controls the entire body. Down to its very cells and DNA."


    "How is that possible?"


    "I don''t know."


    "What? You don''t know?"


    "I really don''t. Those two are special. A simple faith that transformed into a power of will that can convince the mind. Even I can''t do that. It''s actually one of the necessary elements to reach World Champion."


    "So, to Unlock someone, they need the power of believing?"


    "Well, you could reach Inhuman and possibly Ranked Hero without these. But going beyond there, you need it. Take Meryl, for example. She believed, and as was redited to her faith, her brain evolved. It morphed into something that could simply cancel light or limit it to a vast extent. I don''t really get the science, but that''s basically the gist of it. I just can''t do that. I never managed too, even when I knew the theory behind it."


    "So just because she believed that you are his friend with all her heart and soul, she managed to negate a type of fear that could send someone like me to my knees?"


    "Disgusting right. At that time, I poured out enough hormones that could paralyze a veteran soldier, and they just stood like I was a plush teddy bear!" Seekerined.


    "Then why didn''t you tell Meryl about this? This could''ve helped her to be more confident!"


    "Wrong. It wouldn''t clear her fears. It might even hinder her. Think Charles. The power of suggestion is a powerful weapon when ites to inducing cebo, but only if the recipient truly believes it! For Meryl, it wouldn''t help. This is because of my existence. Even you right now, at this very moment, still struggle with disbelief at the facts of my existence. If I told Meryl that she could reach Ranked hero, she''d probably think that I''m lying to motivate her, and it may even hinder the Unlocking."


    Charles couldn''t argue with Seeker''s exnation. Seeker was right.


    "I see. At worst, she may never achieve the Unlocking towards Ranked Hero or World Champion."


    "Exactly." Seeker sighed.


    "You see, I''m in a bit of a dilemma here. I''m not sure how to motivate her without altering her simple faith." Seeker started to rub his forehead in frustration.


    "I miscalcted. I can''t believe that my very existence could alter the course of history this devastatingly." Seekermented.


    "The ripples you make in this continuum are far bigger than we first imagined. Looks like you are right. Missing a simple coffee meeting could change the world as uh¡­ well, as you know it."


    "In any case, I''m very sure that I must never reveal her true capabilities. She must believe on herself through her own methods."


    "Don''t worry. I won''t tell Meryl of her capabilities. What about Lynd? What level of Unlocking did he reach?"


    Seeker smiled.


    "I was blessed to be their friends, you know? I was very proud of them. Most of the battles I fought had them beside me. Lynd was far greater than Meryl and me." Seeker sighed. His heart would ache every time he would remember thest moments of his friends.


    "The World Champions called people like Meryl ''Believers.'' With their innocent and straightforward faith, they had the highest potential to reach World Champion. However, they had a different term for Lynd when he became Ranked Hero. His belief system was so powerful that it didn''t make sense even to those in the World Champion realm."


    "Even World Champions couldn''t understand Lynd?"


    Seeker nodded.


    "He was a prodigy amongst Ranked Heroes. He could even emte skills only World Champions have. And upon reaching World Champion, several scientific breakthroughs about the Unlocking were made. It was as if his Unlocking held the potential on how to break through past the World Champion realm."


    Charles gapped. If he would be the starting science that could bring hope to the world, then Lynd potential held the almighty power to save it.


    "What was he called?"


    "He had many names in his career as a soldier. But amongst World Champion, he was called the Prophet Elijah.. The One Who Prepares the Way."

 Chapter 20 - The Celebrity’s Arrival

    A strange scene urred at school the next day. Even the teachers noticed themotion and wondered why there was a building crowd at the school''s gates.


    It was as if a celebrity arrived.


    Dozens of students, with the majority of the male gender, were huddled up and excitedly talking with someone. Some students were confused as to who was the person standing in the middle of the crowd!


    "It''s a celebrity!" A female student eximed. Her fanatic appearance and reactions had drawn more to gather in the middle.


    Several of the students who saw who arrived all gasped in surprise. Many of the students started to run towards the crowd in an attempt to talk to the arriving celebrity. Others caught in the flow decided to go along despite not knowing who it was that arrived.


    The entire school quickly noticed the ongoingmotions at the gate, causing many to flock in curiosity.


    The startled cry of several males and a few female students confused those nearby. However, the fanatic rush towards the apparent figure made them not voice out their unfamiliarity to this passing figure.


    People even started taking pictures and asked for selfies from the strolling person. Most of the fans were male, with a few fanatic females who seemed in love. This confused the onlookers even more.


    "Get out of the way!" A voice ordered.


    Ted Zycron was one of the more influential Royals in school. His reputation in school was something that not many would attempt to mess with. A Royal with deep pockets and a very arrogant and selfish personality. A pity that he had the strength and smarts to carry this lofty manner. Aside from being the source of victories that the school has, he also hails from an influential family.


    "Regrs and Risings, get away from the celebrity!" He ordered strongly.


    "The arriving celebrity must receive this schools best. So move away now."


    A lot of Rising and Regr students were secretly murdering Ted in their thoughts. But they left this crime enclosed in their imaginations. The crowd slowly parted and gave way to the arrogant parade of the Royals.


    The slow movements made by some of the Rising students made Ted angrier.


    "Get out quickly! You Rising''s don''t need to mingle with the Star. It''s not like any of you will amount to anything anyway!" Ted moved quickly to the middle of the crowd. Soon he was at the center of the parting people.


    Three lone students stood in the center. They were of the Rising group.


    "What are you doing here? Can''t you see the Royals have business with the celebrity who arrived?" Ted angrily chastised.


    "Alright. Sorry for the intrusion." The teen in the middle urged his twopanions to join the crowd in the background of this gathering.


    Ted stood, confused. There was no one left in the center of the circle.


    "Where did the celebrity go?" The confused Ted asked.


    People started tough. No one knew who started the giggling, but it became louder.


    Ted was angered beyond measure. But he tried to contain it as to not embarrass himself from their visitor.


    Ted talked to a nearby Royal student.


    "Where''s the celebrity? I don''t see her!"


    The Royal student shrugged off and was just as confused as him.


    He gazed at the other student standing beside him with a stare that demanded answers.


    The Royal student gulped. This was not the first time that he became the recipient of Ted''s temper res.


    "I don''t know! I don''t see any female celebrity here!" The poor youth cried.


    Theughing grew stronger when they heard the cry of the unfortunate youth. Who told them that it was a female celebrity?


    "Where is she?!" Ted roared!


    There were some who also could not spot any celebrity around. Yet a vast majority of the males in the crowd wereughing.


    Ted red once more at the poor youth. The youth was panicking and searched every inch of his surroundings. He surveyed the location, making sure not to miss any faces. None. There were no celebrities even if he searched through the horizon. Just then, he came to a familiar face. It took him a few seconds, and then it struck him.


    "CASUAL CARLEAN?!" The youth shouted in shock.


    Right in front of theughing Rising students was Seeker Carlean. He was shaking his head in pity towards Ted.


    "You study here?" The youth was unable to hide his surprise and reacted immediately. He was in awe at the gamey of Seeker. He spent the night studying every movement, technique, and timing that this genius presented.


    After the power walkthrough, Seeker''s video was shared online and reached a worldwide trend. Any gamer worth their hit points knew the name Casual Carlean now. The insanely impossible stunts and the entirely urate power walkthrough throttled Seeker''s rise to fame quickly.


    The video was also supported by various trending memes andedic screenshots, which gave people outside the gamingmunity something tough about.


    Gamers were sharing it, pros were sharing it, celebrity gamers and even celebrities who weres fans of the Piercing franchise also shared it. In fact, Precept Gaming released a quick review and an in-depth analysis of Seeker''s gamey. It was concluded even by thepany that his speed and uracy in ying the game would definitely conquer the world record for beating the game. It was not spection. People were already epting it as fact.


    Casual Carlean. It was a domineering name that every serious gamer would talk about.


    "Where is the celebrity?" Ted demanded as he noticed the youth stare in awe at a random Rising student.


    "Bu-but Ted, I think he''s the celebrity!" The poor youth pointed at Seeker.


    "He''s known as Casual Carlean. The current undisputed best handler of Bullet in the Piercing series." The youth was sweating in fear.


    There were a lot of cheers as this youth made thepliment. People started chanting.


    "Casual Carlean! Casual Carlean!"


    Ted realized that Seeker was the person that everyone was chanting as the crowd started to regroup towards Seeker.


    "QUIET!" Ted angrily roared.


    "You''re the one who is causing all this?" Ted red angrily.


    "It would be falsehood to im that my existence in this very locus isn''t the impetus for this congregation''s festivities." Seeker mocked.


    Ted was bing angrier. Seeker was clearly attacking his intelligence. But who could me him? After arrogantly clearing the path, Ted already spoke to the celebrated figure who arrived but immediately shooed him away.


    "Then I order you to stop this! You are causing a disturbance in this school, you Rising Rat!"


    "Probably. But I wonder why? You said that no Rising student could ever amount to anything. I wonder why even some Royals know me. Oh, well." Seeker casually left the scene without even paying any mind to the angered Royal.


    The crowd started to disperse as many immediately left after finding out it was just a game celebrity.


    Ted stood there with angry eyes. But he could not do anything towards Seeker.


    Most Rising and Regr students were happy at the misfortune of Ted. It was rare for someone of his power and arrogance to receive their just desserts like that.


    After that, the ss continued naturally with a full day of learning.


    Ted, however, was very frustrated at his current status. People would secretlyugh when he walked by. He went online and searched what made Seeker Carlean so sessful. As he started to watch the video, a malicious idea surfaced. There was a way to punish Seeker. He turned to the one person who he knew could help him.


    "Miss Cipril. I have something to report, a student of the Rising sses is participating in online gambling. It''s Seeker Carlean." Ted approached the walking teacher.


    The teacher stopped and smiled. It was Alean Cipril. Though she was wearing thin dark-framed sses today and not her usual contact lens, her beauty remained unmatched.


    "Carlean? You mean the son of Detective Carlean? Interesting." She smiled.


    While a dark scheme was being formed, Seeker himself continued to walk around and talked to several students who inquired about his sess.


    "How did you do it, Seeker?" A fan-driven female arrived.


    "Can you teach me how?" She teased.


    Lynd was tongue-tied. This was one of the prettiest Royal in school.


    Seeker simplyughed and casually talked with the girl. Several Royals were lining up to speak to Seeker. When their turn to talk came, they immediately told business to Seeker. They offered a business proposal to let Seeker stream on their site. In contrast, another offered to pay him for advertising a line of business he was starting.


    The Royals were the elite in their school. Many already owned a business.


    Lynd and Meryl were flustered as Seeker would immediately point to the two and instruct the prominent Royal students to¡­


    "Talk to my manager."


    "Oh. Ok then. Miss Meryl and Mister Lynd, right?" A knowledgeable Royal immediately reacted. Some of the Royals around him cursed. They didn''t know the name of Seeker''s two friends. Who would have thought that they would be the key?


    Lynd and Meryl, who have never received attention from such groups of people, were very startled.


    Another Royal approached them.


    "Miss Meryl, I would presume you to be the manager of Seeker Carlean. How about I invite you to coffee to discuss a proposal I have for your stream." This tall, dark, and suave Royal approached Meryl and bent down with flirtatious eyes.


    The woman who was previously conversing with Seeker frowned. She had gone no-where with her talk to Seeker. So she approached Lynd.


    "Haha. You must Lynd, right? You must be as good as Seeker when ying, right? When are you nning to stream your own y?" She teased.


    Meryl and Lynd were panicking. Two people who they considered to be way out of their league were now flirting with them. Meryl was bbering something about Seeker''s schedule while Lynd was simply stuttering and doing his best to not suffer from a sudden panic attack.


    They kept gazing at Seeker, who would just look back and enjoyed the scene of their suffering.


    "Mr. Carlean!" An angry and strict, sweet voice sounded.


    Seeker smiled. He already knew whose voice was this.


    Seeker turned around, and there stood the secret puppet master who controlled all the puppets in school.


    Alean Cipril gazed with a haughty and proud look. Behind her was the Royal, who fell from grace, Ted Zyrcon.


    "I have received certain reports that you are participating in various illegal activities here in school." She smiled sweetly. If only she wasn''t a demon cloth in angelic grace, Seeker might even appreciate that smile.


    "Miss Cipril. I have no clue as to what you are talking about." Seeker casually shrugged.


    The Royals talking to Meryl, and Lynd made excuses and started running. They knew things were going badly for the three.


    "Come with me. We will be meeting with the Principal to discuss your punishment." Alean smiled wickedly. She turned and walked.


    Ted was grinning ear to ear. Meryl and Lynd had an angry look at Ted. They knew he was behind this.


    "That''s what you get for messing with me, Rising Rat!" Ted gloated and followed Alean.


    Lynd and Meryl didn''t know what to do, but then Seeker immediately walked.


    The two were startled and quickly followed Seeker.


    "Zeek." Meryl worriedly whispered.


    "Don''t worry, Meryl. It''s all taken care of. I knew something like this would happen and made the necessary precautions."


    Seeker took out his phone and dialed a number.


    "Oh, You just woke up? Sorry about this, but you need to get here quick. It''s earlier than I anticipated." Without waiting for a reply, Seeker immediately hung up the phone.


    The two wondered at the sudden actions that Seeker made. He, however, disyed no fear as to what was transpiring.. Because of this, they sighed in relief. How can these little dramas be of any obstacle to Seeker?

 Chapter 21 - An Excuse For Gambling

    The group reached the Principals office. A short, tanned man with a thick beard and a rather stylish outfit sat down and stared in surprise at the arriving group. As soon as the Principal noticed Alean, he fidgeted subtly. Seeker, who saw that, frowned slightly. Was there more to this school that what the eyes see?


    "Miss Cipril! How may I help you today?" He asked courteously.


    "Principal Decker, I have received reports from Ted Zyrcon that this student, Seeker Carlean, is engaged in various gambling activities and is promoting this vice in school." Cipril smiled sweetly as she delivered her sentence.


    The Principal was shocked to hear that. However, he knew what the necessary actions he needed to take to please this puppet master.


    "What? Is that true?" He red angrily towards Seeker.


    Before Seeker could even utter a word, the teacher continued.


    "Gambling is among the illegal activities that the school takes a firm stand in! We do not allow, nor do we encourage students to gamble!"


    At this moment, Seeker started to chuckle.


    This was a surprising twist. The Principal was berating Seeker, but Seeker simplyughed.


    "What''s so funny?" The Principal roared angrily.


    "First of all, good afternoon to you, Honored Principal. Secondly, I believe we have not yet heard about the issue! And yet judgment has already been passed. Miss Cipril has just received this report from Teddy here, and she has yet to verify the truth of these ims. So I don''t really know on what grounds I am being charged." Seeker smiled.


    Ted was surprised at Seeker''s calm response. Anger started building up. He hated the nickname, Teddy.


    Alean was just as surprised. She did not expect that timid student who justzed around the room would ever be this bold.


    The Principal was surprised as well. This student clearly held no fear in their current situation.


    "Nonsense! Miss Cipril is one of the most respected teachers that has graced this institute, of course, she would check and verify before bringing this usation towards me!"


    "Alright. Then what is the exact nature of my so-called ''gambling activities?''" Seeker turned to Alean with a smile that matched her deviously angelic smile.


    Alean was flustered and angry at the same time. She only received the report that Seeker was gambling as to what Ted reported.


    "Ted? Would you mind borating on it once more? I might convey it differently." Alean smiled sweetly towards Ted.


    Lynd and Meryl clutched their fist in frustration. It was evident that this was just a random act to entrap Seeker, but the Principal was ignoring it.


    "Principal Decker, I was shocked to discover why people were flocking towards Seeker earlier today. He was apparently the celebrity who caused amotion at the gates. It is because Seeker is a skilled online gambler. This is why he is famous. Worst still, people are praising him. My hope that the school will not be a den of gamblers if students like Seeker are left unchecked."


    Meryl had to contain the urge to shout back at Ted. Even the meek Lynd was silently gripping his hands. A rare look of anger shed in the eyes of Lynd.


    Seeker, who observed everything around him, was smiling. In fact, he was happy.


    He stared back at Ted and shook himself as if he pitied the fool.


    "What an idiot." Seeker voiced out in pity.


    Ted had to control the shaking of his hands. No one had ever called him that to his face.


    "What did you say, you Rising Rat?" Ted angrily cursed.


    "Obviously, you both know nothing of what it is I am doing. Gambling? It was an online stream and was receiving donations from my viewers and fans. Haven''t you heard of the phrase online celebrity? Look it up. I''m sure a Royal and a teacher could easily ess the inte!" Seekerughed.


    Ted and Alean red towards Seeker. This was the first time that Alean lost herposure and revealed her real face. The President gulped as he saw the face of Alean.


    "Seeker! Your behavior is rebellious, and this is a clear act of insubordination!" The Principal raged.


    "Why?" Meryl could no longer remain silent.


    "Seeker is right! No one has even investigated Seeker''s actions! Sure, there was a feature where people could ce bets on, but what he did was after school!" Merylined without giving the Principal and Alean any ounce of respect.


    "Oh, so there is gambling! There you have it, Principal Decker! A im that Seeker is gambling!" Alean immediately responded.


    Meryl paled once she realized what she did.


    "No, it''s not!" Lynd finally shouted.


    Ted, Alean, and Principal Decker were startled at Lynd''s sudden roar. They looked at the tall teen, and a hint of fear emerged in their heart.


    "Seriously?" Aining sigh was heard, but no one paid any attention to it.


    Meryl took the opportunity at this momentary silence.


    "The only betting that took ce involved Seeker challenging the viewers'' demands whether or not he can or cannot fulfill a certain challenge! This is in no way simr to gambling activities that the school bans!"


    "Wait! Don''t Royals host a betting challenge during school ys?" Lynd added.


    "Yes! That''s right! Doesn''t the Summer m event of our school use bet boxes? And aren''t they organized by the Royals?" Meryl challenged Ted.


    "Yeah! How is that allowed and Seeker not allowed?"


    Ted was surprised at the sudden switch.


    "That- That is not- We don''t¡­" Ted started to stutter and could not provide an urate response.


    "That is different!" The Principal frowned.


    "No, it''s not! It''s simr. There''s a contest, for Zeek, there''s a challenge. People bet on which side they think will win! If that is allowed on school, why can''t Seeker do the same online?"


    Ted was quickly rummaging through his phone, hoping to find more things that he could use against Seeker. But then, the Principal came to the rescue.


    "The Summer m bets are used to foster apetitive spirit across the year levels so that they will be further motivated to perform! What Seeker is doing is just in gambling!"


    "That''s right!" Ted finally spoke.


    "We do it so that the entire school can take it seriously! Not to mention that it''s a legitimate school fundraising activity! We give 20 percent of our earnings to the school! Seeker is just gambling!"


    "That is correct. Seeker has no excuse or reason to gamble. Especially when he is gambling the money that his parents clearly gave him to pay for tuition!" The Principal used.


    Meryl was frustrated. Why was the Principal so keen on defending Ted and Alean Cipril? She once believed this Principal to be fair and kind. This was not who he was now. Is their school involved in the dark nature of their homeroom teacher''s secret drug business?


    "MISS! PRINCIPAL DECKER!" Ted shouted in shock.


    The two were startled and turned to Ted.


    "Seeker has earned up to 35,000 Credits in just two days!" The revtion was just too shocking for Ted! No wonder Seeker became an online-celebrity level overnight! He was indeed a capable gamer!


    "WHAT?!" The two chorused.


    Greed filled the eyes of Alean.


    "Looks like your gambling spree has reached a terribly dangerous level."


    "Indeed. Miss Cipril is right. As I suspected, he is even stealing from his parents! Shame on you, Seeker!" The Principal red at Seeker. But a hint of anticipation was left in his eyes.


    "NO! Seeker didn''t get all that through gambling! More than half of that was earned through donations and the paywall on his stream!" Meryl angrily reacted.


    "That''s right! People pay to watch Seeker! That''s why he''s a celebrity!"


    Cipril took the phone from Ted and browsed through the stream.


    Seeker remained silent. He looked as if he was waiting for something. In fact, he had a very detached look as if he did not care what would happen to him. The only things that interested him are the anger that his two friends would disy.


    "Seeker is doing a legitimate act! Hundreds of people in the stream can testify that Seeker was not gambling!" Meryl erupted once more.


    "Seeker is no gambler!" Lynd roared as well.


    The three users suddenly flinched. The Principal took the initiative to step forward, meeting the rage of Lynd.


    "Lies. You three are in line for expulsion." The Principal dered righteously as he approached the angered Lynd.


    "This is a tant breach and a disgrace to the integrity and characters that a student of West Phil-Pangea High should have!"


    "Alright, I''ve had enough of this." Seeker finally spoke.


    "Principal Decker, you said that the ''gambling'' done during the Summer m was allowed because it has a specific purpose or goal to reach correct?"


    "Yes! To foster and build-"


    "So if I have a legitimate reason for doing my said ''gambling,'' then will it also be allowed?" Seeker interrupted with a smile.


    "Legitimate reason? We, your teachers, are the ones responsible for approving and denying legitimate reasons!" The Principal shouted.


    "What if it''s a medical excuse. You allow the use of medical marijuana in this school. So if I have a medical excuse for gambling, will I be allowed?" Seeker smiled once more.


    The Principal and Ted started tough. Even Alean stopped perusing the stream to give a soft chuckle at Seeker''s im.


    "And what authority would provide you with a legitimate medical excuse for gambling?"


    "Not what, but who. And he should be outside." Seeker smiled and pointed out the window.


    Outside the window was a flock of students who were once again forming a fan circle. Principal Decker and Alean frowned and immediately went out of the room to have a closer look.


    They went to the hall outside of the office, and there noticed anothermotion brewing. Themotions that they could see through the parapet of the second-floor hall. They were shocked.


    "Dr. Charles Lindmitt! Marry me!" A disgraced teacher shouted.


    Several other female teachers shouted the same thing.


    The female flock of students also cried simr sentiments. They continued to encircle the famous doctor but received no form of special treatment as the doctor seemed preupied and tried to squeeze through the crowd. In fact, he seemed to be in a hurry. He paid little attention to the cheers, cries, and proposals around him.


    A single, rich, and handsome doctor was in their midst. But more than that, he was even more famous than most stars in their country. In fact, there were rumors that Charles Lindmitt is to receive a title making him equal to National Heroes.


    "Dr. Charles Lindmitt!" Principal Decker eximed.


    Alean had a look of lust in her eyes. Before her very presence was one of the most handsome, rich, and famous bachelors in the entire Pangean Nations. No! Even in the Continent of Asia, very few would stand at the same level as this man!


    "You''d better hurry, Principal Decker. I called him here to discuss my medical condition, which can exempt me from the penalties of your so-called gambling crusade." Seeker stood confidently and started waving towards Charles.


    Principal Decker was about to angrily bash Seeker when shock appeared before his eyes.


    Dr. Charles Lindmitt, to name a few of his credentials, is the leading figure in Neuro-Alteration science, attributed to the discovery and application of the cure for Alzheimer''s disease, a famous model and actor, and a potential National Hero of the Pangean Nations. And despite all of these incredible titles, Dr.. Charles Lindmitt was waving back at Seeker Carlean.

 Chapter 22 - A Simple Method To Resolve Conflicts

    Charles paid no heed to the crowd and raced quickly towards the building where he saw Seeker. Time was of the essence. The screaming crowd tried to follow, and some were even holding on to Charles'' clothes.


    "I''m sorry- would you please¡­" Charlesmented.


    "Students! Teachers, behave yourselves!" A loud shout was heard. The Principal arrived on the first floor and berated the fanatic students.


    The crowd jolted awake as the Principal arrived.


    "Get away from him! He is a distinguished guest of our campus!" The Principal shouted once more.


    The crowd was backing away. But some students and even teachers were ring angrily at the Principal. What a killjoy.


    "Don''t worry, guys. Charles and I would do a quick autograph signing and a meet-and-greetter. Right, Charles?" Seeker announced.


    "Seeker!" The Principal angrily shouted, but before he could continue¡­


    "Right!" Charles confirmed though there was a painful look in his eyes.


    The Principal was startled. He didn''t know how to continue.


    "Alright, everyone. Dr. Charles has to discuss something with the Principal. Please wait for us in a bit." Seeker smiled.


    Seeker immediately went upstairs, and Charles quickly followed.


    The Principal paled in fright. Seeker was serious when he said Charles would give him an excuse! He appeared to be very close to Charles. It even seemed that Seeker could order him around!


    What was going on? He''s THE Charles Lindmitt! Yet he seems to be at the beck and call of a Rising student who they were trying to punish!


    The Principal rushed to follow the two who were on their way back to the office.


    As Seeker and Charles arrived at the Principal''s office, Alean immediately walked forward.


    "Doctor Charles Lindmitt! I am a huge, huge fan of-"


    "Cut the crap! Charles, this teacher is trying to expel Seeker!" Meryl interrupted angrily. After the great oppression, now was their time to reverse the situation.


    Alean was surprised that Charles didn''t mind the casual use of his first name! No famous doctor would! But Meryl could! If looks could kill, Meryl would need to reincarnate a hundred times now.


    Charles immediately frowned. As the Principal was just to walk in the office, Charles quickly addressed him.


    "Mister Principal, I believe that there has been a misunderstanding." Charles said.


    "Misunderstanding? This is not a misunderstanding, Charles! They were trying to kick Seeker out!" There was rage in Lynd''s eyes. The users were surprised at Lynd''s sudden temperament. They even backed away from Lynd unconsciously. Of course, all except Seeker and Meryl.


    Charles stared at Lynd in surprise. He knew what this was. He gazed at Seeker, and Seeker simply had an "I-told-you-so" look.


    The three users were scared. They observed how these three would talk to Charles as if they were close friends!


    "This is really a misunderstanding!" The Principal immediately voiced out in fear.


    "Doctor Charles, I am the Principal of this school, Jonathan Decker. We are here because of the reports of which Seeker has been gambling online, spending thousands of Sydians! As his teacher, we have to take the necessary actions to discipline and instruct him; otherwise, we would have failed as a teacher!" The Principal immediately pleaded.


    "Principal Jonathan. Allow me to exin Zeek''s situation. As you know, Zeek was hospitalized a few days ago. I took over the case and observed that Zeek is actually suffering from a unique neurological disorder. This was why he suddenly suffered from a fainting episode a few days ago. His ailment is something that I believe can push my studies in neuro-alteration to a whole new level. Seeker is my priority patient. You could say that my career is in line with his health."


    The three users were shocked to find out of Seeker''s connection with Charles.


    "However, his ailment is very unique. I had no choice but to put Seeker through an experimental treatment, which is currently in effect. This treatment, however, requires Zeek to frequently produce adrenaline. However, doing physically strenuous activities or any physically stimting means to push his brain to pump adrenaline may further damage his health. So I sought other means for his body to produce it." Charles pointed to Seeker''s thin frame.


    "Still too soon in calling him Zeek, Charles," Merylmented.


    "Anyway¡­" Charles sighed.


    "We realized that gambling would be a good way to constantly let Seeker''s brain¡­" Charles paused and nced over the approving nods of Meryl and Lynd.


    "... to constantly let Seeker''s brain pump adrenaline. It''s a mental exercise, but the excitement and stress he experiences have to be real. So I funded his initial capital for his streaming, which surprisingly turned out to be very popr." Charles summarized.


    "I have deemed Seeker fit for school provided he can constantly produce adrenaline every day. Even now, his progressing recovery has aided my studies greatly."


    The three users stared nkly.


    The thoughts of Alean and Jonathan were in chaos. There was actually a legitimate medical excuse for Seeker to gamble? They could not contest that! He was a world-renowned doctor! Who would go against his ims?


    Ted''s mind was in a state of hysteria. Seeker had the right to gamble thousands of Sydians just like that? And no one should judge or reprimand him? Why don''t you give Seeker an excuse for stealing while you''re at it! Or make him medically approved to be an exhibitionist! Ted cussed in his mind.


    "Honestly, Seeker could asionally attempt to steal and run away from people or run around naked to make his brain pump adrenaline, but I''m sure you wouldn''t like that." Charles joked.


    "WHAT THE HELL? THAT WAS REALLY AN OPTION?" Ted almost growled.


    The thoughts of the three were in a mess now. They thought they could bully this unfortunate group of Rising students but now had to curve to their actions.


    Ted was looking very grim. His intended payback was now in shambles. He stared at the video and realized something.


    "Miss!" He jolted and pointed to the phone.


    Alean almost dropped Ted''s phone due to the surprise, so she immediately gripped it. As she did, she saw the video. There it was, Meryl and Lynd within in view of the camera struggling with the remote and wallet. But it was their attire that gave Alean an enlightening idea.


    Alean smiled. Her quick thinking and being a natural scammer was aiding her. She regained herposure.


    "Doctor Charles, while we can naturally allow Seeker this excuse as per your rmendation, we fear that the school will receive negative feedback from themunity atrge."


    "How is that?" Charles asked. He was starting to get impatient from this troop. It wasn''t difficult for him to piece the puzzle of their aim to discredit Seeker.


    "If Seeker is allowed to continue in his gambling spree, it might raise several parents'' questions. This conflict will soon hit our school as it appears that the school itself is supporting Seeker''s gambling tendencies. After all, we are all well aware of how much Seeker has earned. With Seeker raking up that amount of money, it will naturally invite trouble."


    Charles red impatiently at the teacher.


    "His earnings are due to his skill. I''ve watched the stream from beginning to end. I can assure you that the game and its connectedmunities are not like the ones in casinos which propagate gambling. They all challenge Seeker to pursue a certain task and offers Seeker a prize if Seeker aplishes it."


    "Nevertheless, parents will be concerned. People already know that Seeker studies here. After all, Meryl and Lynd appeared wearing their school uniforms in this video." Alean smiled. He turned the phone disying Meryl and Lynd standing in the frame.


    Lynd and Meryl had grave looks. They could not deny that usation.


    "So, we cannot escape the public''s knowledge and connection to this school. So how about this, we make Seeker''s stream a legitimate fund-raising program for the school. That way, we can provide a justified stand alongside you."


    Seeker looked angry. His casual and uncaring look finally changed.


    "And I presume that I am to return a percentage to the school?"


    "Of course. School rules, Seeker. You are to give 20 percent of whatever you earn in your stream." Alean smiled.


    At the same time, the flustered Principal also smiled.


    "No! Seeker will be earning millions of credit soon, and we are supposed to give you twenty percent?" Meryl erupted in anger once more. This was a robbery. They were attempting to expel Seeker, and now they''re making money out of him!


    "I agree. That sounds like robbery or ckmail." Charles answered gravely.


    "Millions? What an exaggeration. But of course, I''m not the expert here. It will be very beneficial. You could support the school, allow your Alma Mater to be a part of a very anticipating study, and even earn money. Surely that is not a problem!" Alean''s smile grew wider.


    "And if we refuse this proposal and let Doctor Charles appear in my stream independently?" Seeker red.


    "You may do that, but to be on the safe side, we will expel you. As you know, my father, General Cipril, is fairly strict in terms of gambling policies. He may pursue to shut you down. But if you are under my- er- the school''s umbre, he will recognize my allegiance towards your campaign and may even support it." Alean spoke as if she was contemting a dire dilemma.


    "So basically, you will have your father to shut us down if Charles is to appear independently on my streams. But you will allow me to continue with my stream if we make this a school fund-raising program." Seeker was not entertained.


    Jonathan smiled wickedly as well.


    "That is correct. Think of how this may affect the school. If we promote it as a fund-raising program, various institutes may even help you! This is a win-win situation!"


    "This is ckmail!" Charles was even angrier. How could someone like these two be teachers?


    "Doctor Charles, you have to understand. Seeker''s identity is already out. Even right now, the students outside are undoubtedly posting pictures and post online about Seeker. Also, they are already aware of your connection with him. Especially since you have visited this school. If word gets out that gambling can be a cure for whatever Seeker is going through, it would probably be used in the wrong context, and my father may pursue it as well. Ultimately it may damage your own reputation, Seeker''s reputation, and this school''s reputation. Surely you don''t want that, right?"


    It was one thing to ckmail Seeker, but to ckmail a National Hero?


    Seeker sighed.


    "I can''t believe that an Unbing person like me would be outsmarted by you, Miss Cipril." Seeker''s eyes were full of rage.


    "Zeek?" Meryl was surprised at Seeker''s reaction.


    "Sorry, Charles. I underestimated her resourcefulness. We are caught in a corner. But I can''t leave school now. It may seem selfish, but I have ns to make my parents proud through my studies. And you, Miss." Seeker turned to Alean.


    "Genius. You really are a genius. Even I have to admire your control and quick turn of the situation. I thought I had this in the bag. But we would be risking too many things if we would deny your request." Seeker sighed once more.


    "So, does that mean that you ept our proposal?"


    Seeker turned around and paced towards the entrance of the door.


    "Of course not. I can''t afford to waste twenty percent of my money to you guys. You''re insane to think if we agree."


    CLICK.


    Seeker locked the door.


    "Charles, sit down." Seeker said as he drew a chair closer to Charles.


    Charles immediately sat down as Seeker was forcing the chair on his back.


    "What are you doing?" Jonathan stared in confusion.


    "I''m about to do the simplest method on how to resolve conflicts such as these." Seeker smiled.


    Charles, who was sitting down immediately, felt a sudden shock of emotions. Intense fear gripped him. He couldn''t breathe. He couldn''t even stand.


    The three users felt the same strength paralyzing fear. Alean was the first target.


    POW!


    An intense punch was delivered to her stomach. Alean, who already couldn''t breathe, felt as if her stomach blown to bits. Before she could fall down, Seeker grabbed her by the hair and smashed her pretty face to the ground.


    SMASH!


    "If you can''t beat them, pulverize them.." Seeker''s devilish grin appeared once more.

 Chapter 23 - Save-The-World Club

    The sudden attack was swift, decisive, and brutal. Alean Ciprilid unconscious with her face hard-pressed on the floor. Jonathan and Ted wanted to shout, but an unusual terror filled their hearts, causing them to be unable to even breathe, much less shout.


    Seeker smiled and took his time. He slowly walked towards Ted as he was cracking his fist.


    Ted wanted to move, but every step that Seeker tookid an intense burden over his entire body.


    Seeker stood right in front of Ted and stared at him straight in the eye.


    "You know, I''ve always wanted to do this to a Royal. Never got the chance, though." Seeker''s devilish grin grew wider. Who said hopes and dreams could not be achieved? Seeker was about to seed in doing one of the most abominable things he wanted to do in his past life.


    Seeker started with the stomach. His punch dove deep within Ted''s stomach as if it was about to pierce through it.


    Ted vomited a lot of saliva at the immense punch. His consciousness was leaving him. But before his spirit could leave, another smashing sensation vibrated on his jaw.


    Seeker continued with another power hook that spun Ted''s world. A tooth flew out of his mouth. He crashed down to the ground with saliva and blood spilling out of his mouth.


    "Principal Decker." Seeker grinned as he approached thest person who wanted to condemn him.


    Jonathan was shivering and lost his strength to stand. As he was stumbling over in fear, Seeker jumped, grabbed his head, and smashed it on the nearby desk.


    SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!


    The three were now unconscious.


    "That felt good!" Seeker eximed happily as he held on Jonathan''s head.


    Meryl and Lynd were stupefied at the development. Their mouths were wide open.


    Charles was now gasping for air. A mix of emotions filled his heart; the recovering state of his mind from the intense fear that Seeker created, the surprise and confusion of Seeker''s sudden attack, and his frustration on Seeker''s im about Meryl and Lynd.


    "WHAT THE HELL ZEEK?" Meryl cried in surprise.


    Lynd immediately rushed for their beloved homeroom teacher. Her once wless face was smashed on the floor. Blood was oozing out of her mouth. The thin-framed sses were bent in an odd fashion.


    "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Meryl demanded angrily.


    "Taking care of the problem." Seeker grinned as he was smashing the Principal''s face on the surface of the table.


    "Seeker." Charles, he called out. The sudden shock of fear remained as his hands were shivering, but he tried to remain calm.


    "I don''t think that violence is the best way to- STOP SLAMMING YOUR PRINCIPAL''S FACE!" Charles shouted as Seeker seemed to be having fun.


    "Alright, alright! Calm down, will you?" Seeker allowed Jonathan''s body to slide down the table and onto the floor.


    "What the hell happened to ''keep your actions low-key to not change the future?!''"


    "That went down the drain the moment she tried to ckmail me." Seeker shrugged.


    "Do you realize the possible consequences of what you have done?"


    "Rx! Everything''s fine!"


    "That''s what you told mest night, and we almost got ckmailed by your homeroom teacher!" Charlesined.


    "Ok, Ok. So I miscalcted! I know my actions may seem drastic, but I really had no choice. I can''t afford to give them 20 percent of our cash. Besides, everything is within the scope of manageable control!"


    "Zeek, please exin how smashing our Principal''s face on the table is within a scope of manageable control?" Meryl was also flustered. Lynd also had a pleading look to make Seeker exin.


    "Alright. Let me exin. As I said earlier, we really didn''t have a choice. We need to earn as fast as we can. I originally wanted to continue this little game of intrigue and keep it as low-key as possible, but they pushed me over the limit. Have you noticed how Principal Decker was supporting Miss Cipril? It''s a clear indication that General Cipril''s drug connection in this school is very strong."


    "Yeah. The moment we entered his office, Principal Decker would just go and do whatever Miss Cipril would say¡­" Lynd contemted.


    "That''s right. There is something strange about this school. I have a feeling that General Cipril''s not just selling drugs here. I believe that this school is the main base of his drug operation!" Seeker dered solemnly.


    "What?" The three chorused.


    "All things will be made clear soon. For now, we have to interrogate them. So here''s what we need to do. Charles and I will go outside and hold a meet-and-greet. We can gather every student to get to the Auditorium hall. Meryl, stay here and make sure no one gets in aside from us. You have to tie these three and gag them in case they wake up. Lynd, look for Cliff. You two sneak out and get his car, drive here and carry these three to the car discreetly. Have him drive straight to the duplex and wait for us there."


    Lynd''s face was flushed white.


    "Why does it feel like we are trying to get away from murder?" Meryl sighed.


    "Charles, I''ll go out first. There are teachers outside. Let me deal with them. Give me about five minutes.


    "When you say, deal with them, you mean¡­?"


    "Talk with them, Charles. Why would I go out and start beating everyone in school?" Seeker gave a sarcastic stare.


    "Just making sure that we are on the right page." Charles sighed in relief.


    "For now, you guys tie up and gag these three."


    Meryl went straight and used the various duct tapes that were lying around in the office to tie up and gag the three. Lynd and Charles helped her.


    Seeker slowly opened the door and swiftly went out, not giving the outsiders any chance to see what was going on inside.


    There were several teachers waiting. Before any of them got to voice out their concerns, Seeker spoke.


    "Sorry for the excitement, guys. We were so excited about the news that they were stomping and pping inside! As was proposed by Principal Decker, Doctor Charles has agreed to hold several lectures and talks here and will temporarily be an associate teacher in this school!" Seeker announced with great joy.


    There was immediate apuse once the crowd heard that.


    "They are still working over the details, but Principal Decker asked me to inform you to suspend the remaining sses this afternoon. Everyone is to gather in the main auditorium for a quick meet and greet with Doctor Charles! He will also be exining his partnership with this school as well as the experimental studies he is currently handling!" Seeker excitedly announced.


    The teachers apuded once more. No one bothered with the strange sounds they heard earlier and immediately started to rush in order to organize the sudden event.


    Seeker returned inside once the teachers left.


    "Oh yeah. Charles, cancel whatever appointments you have for the next three days. I told everyone you are going to be an associate teacher at this school. Later, give a short talk on how you are helping me recover and ask the school for support. Act under the pretense that we are going to follow Miss Cipril''s suggestion."


    "What! Didn''t you just smash your teacher''s face on the ground because you didn''t want to go with that, and now you want me to announce that we''re going to make it official?"


    "I didn''t want to give them 20% of my earnings. But the benefits they mentioned are tempting. So we''re going with it. Obviously, we won''t be giving them the money." Seeker grinned.


    "Lynd, be careful that no one else will see you. Alright, guys. Time is of the essence. Let''s move out!" Seekermanded.


    There was excitement in the school. A chance to meet and talk to one of the most famous personalities on Earth was something that not even a school as prestigious as theirs could afford. Everyone was rushing to the main auditorium.


    "Cliff." Lynd chased the said student who was walking towards the auditorium.


    The group staggered and stared in fear towards this gentle giant.


    "Wha-what do you want? He said that I have until the end of the week! I''m working on it! Give me more time!" Young Cliff pleaded with his life.


    Lynd gave a depressed smile. Since when did he be a dangerous thug who would kill without batting an eye?


    "Uhhh. Change of ns. I don''t think you need to do that anymore. Anyway, we need to get your car."


    Cliff had a scared expression as he looked with pleading eyes to his gang. His gang dared not help him. There was something they feared more than their leader. The wounds in their body haven''t even healed yet. These painful sores were a fearful reminder of the man Lynd Indigo called ''friend.''


    Cliff slowly walked towards Lynd, indicating his intent to follow Lynd''s orders. After taking a quick detour to the parking lot, the two drove towards the building where the Principal''s office was.


    The two walked upstairs. As they reached the door, Charles had a contemting look and gazed at Cliff as he was staring at the most pitiful person on the.


    "What am I here for?" Cliff asked hesitantly.


    "I feel sorry for you." Lynd shook his head.


    "Wha-what?"


    "I''m sorry, Cliff. Once I open the door, you have no choice but to help us. He will kill you if you back away now." Charles immediately swung the door wide open. There sat three of the schools'' most respected figures; gagged up, wounded, and unconscious. Meryl had a sheet of cloth that she was trying to wrap around Alean.


    "What are you doing?" Lynd reacted.


    "Nothing dangerous, Lynd! Why are you worried? After everything she''s done to us, you''re still holding on your little attraction towards her? Disgusting!"


    While the two friends were bickering with Lynd shouting in the nugatory, Cliff''s brain melted, and he started to feel that everything was wrong in this world. He knew Seeker was a demon, but now he realized that his two friends weren''t any angels either.


    "Oh, man! No! No! No! I don''t want anything to do with this!" Cliff stumbled backward as what he saw terrified him. Great fear filled his heart.


    "He''ll kill you if you back out now. You know too much." Meryl took the initiative and stated the fact.


    Cliff stumbled once more at that statement. He turned around and pleaded with Meryl.


    "Wait, man! I don''t want to be a part of this! Please let me go! Please-"


    "Seeker will kill you if you run. You should have backed out earlier when you had the chance."


    Cliff started sobbing. He wanted toin but knew that these two would only make things more difficult if he did.


    "Now, enough whining. These three are still alive, let''s get them to the car and get out of school while no one''s here to notice it."


    Cliff turned to Lynd. Maybe this gentle giant would pity him and allow him to return to his normal delinquent life.


    "Wee to Seeker''s Save the World Club!" Lynd announced with a pitying smile.

 Chapter 24 - The School’s Secret

    A confident and unmatched figure stood on the stage. His eyes stared softly. As if he was the most tender man alive. But his huge and well-built frame showed power, strength, and might. Adding to this was the medical reputation that caused the world to turn to him.


    He is Doctor Charles Lindmitt. Model, Actor, world-renowned doctor, and a nominated candidate for the Pangean-Nation''s Heroes of Today.


    "As you all know, Seeker Carlean had an intense migraine attack a few days back. I handled the case and discovered a new type of neurological disorder where Seeker''s brain is in constant regeneration and degeneration. It caused quite a panic at the hospital. However, after undergoing an experimental treatment, Seeker''s health started to stabilize. This treatment, however, requires Seeker to constantly produce adrenaline on a daily basis."


    Charles already had the charisma of a superstar, and with the eloquence of a doctor in his speech, it easily drew listeners like moths to a me.


    "As such, dear friends, I have approached Principal Decker and discussed Seeker''s condition. Some of you may be familiar with an online stream that Seeker has been hosting in the past two days. In fact, it has caused quite a sensation. You may remember that Seeker has participated in several transactions that some of you may consider being gambling. I appeal to everyone in this school to see this in a different light." Charles smiled and walked over towards Seeker. They stood on the high stage, which everyone continued to observe with great passion.


    "Seeker is gambling because he needs to pump adrenaline. The excitement, the thrill, the adversity, and the stress of putting money on the line allows this to happen. You may ask, then, why gambling? Are there not other means to aplish such an event? I have concluded that though physically strenuous activities may induce his brain to pump, it may ultimately damage his brain and health. We do not know what possible side effects that may spring out if we pursue this route, especially when he is taking a variety of medication. Also, given Seeker''s small frame, he may not be able to do this on a daily basis."


    Several students who experienced the weakness of Seeker''s thin and small frame smiled wryly. This little frame of his had lifted their bodies and tossed them around as if they were pillows.


    "Of course, I could allow Seeker to run around naked or pilfer items from his ssmates every now and then, but I''m sure many may not enjoy this." Charles grinned.


    The audienceughed and apuded. Somehow a seemingly innocent statement, when delivered by this man, transformed into a memorable punchline.


    "The necessity of his gambling was an experiment that delivered great sess in aiding his recovery as well as my studies." Charles patted Seeker in the shoulder.


    "So I ask everyone not to view his acts as evil. Principal Decker had shown nothing but the best of support when we hammered andid the details on him and on his table. He will support Seeker in his recovery and me with my research. Thank you so much for your understanding and cooperation! Let history be made today!" Charles announced happily.


    The school was ecstatic. People were pping and rejoicing. History was indeed made. The media club made sure to record the entirety of the speech. In fact, they made a lot of money when several news channels arrivedter. Charles met and took pictures with several of his fans, and when all was said and done, Seeker and Charles soon walked out of school.


    The news started to circte online and shocked both the medical and the gaming world. People began to talk about thetest developments in Charles'' neuro-alteration program while the gaming world was surprised to see that Seeker had such a supporter. Even non-gamers started to watch Seeker''s trend. Even while the talk was happening, the photos that the students posted were already flooding the inte.


    While all of this was happening, a group of three students was busy dragging three unconscious bodies through the garage at the back of the duplex.


    "You sure no one saw us?" Meryl asked worriedly.


    "I''m sure. I''ve checked again and again. No one''s in the vicinity. It''s a good thing that this duplex is on the outskirts of the city. Cliff, you did a good job." Lyndmended.


    The third student was sitting down on the couch, drained of all life. It was an adrenaline-pumping hour. They were driving all over the city in an attempt to shake off imaginary pursuers and waiting for nearly an hour outside of Charles'' duplex to make sure the coast was clear. And during this entire time, they kept checking if any of the three were awake or were feigning unconsciousness. Eventually, after much bickering, they finally got the courage to quickly drag the bodies inside.


    The three bodies they dragged were now tied up in a chair with an excessive amount of ropes and duct tapes around them. Their mouths were gagged excessively. Duct tapes over clothes, over duct tapes. It was clear that the three were amateurs to these sorts of things.


    Meryl looked at the three figures. Sheughed. Lynd gave a strange nce at her.


    "Sorry. It''s just, Seeker promised us to keep us out of dangerous situations but look where we are right now! We''ve beaten up and kidnapped three people! Ted, whose father is a major business mogul, Miss Cipril, the daughter of a General who has God knows what kind of connections, and there''s Principal Decker." Meryl sighed.


    "What about Principal Decker?" Cliff interrupted the conversation with a worried look. The reality of the titles that his victims carried scared him.


    "Nothing scary. He''s just a scared Principal caught in the cobwebs of what possibly could be a very scandalous drug trade in the entire history of drug trades." Meryl sighed. She went off to get herself a drink from the refrigerator.


    "What exactly is going on?" Cliff finally demanded.


    "I put through everything you said because you said Seeker would kill me! But it looks like I''m going to die anyway!" Cliff started toin angrily.


    "MMMMHHHHH!!!" A groaning sound was heard. Cliff and Lynd jolted in surprise and turned to find Alean Cipril struggling to break free.


    "Quick! Hit her!" Meryl shouted.


    "What? I can''t do that!" Lynd retorted.


    "Oh, for crying out loud, Lynd! Get over this stupid attraction you have for our damned teacher and smack her! Cliff, you do it!"


    "Hell no! You still haven''t exined to me what exactly is going on!"


    "Just hit her, or I''ll ask Zeek to kill you!" Meryl gave an irritated reply.


    Meryl scoffed, seeing his hesitation, and paced for Alean.


    Alean was squirming in fear.


    "Rx, guys. I''m here." A voice called out, stopping Meryl. Seeker was walking inside the door.


    "Seeker! Thank God you''re here!" Meryl ran and gave Seeker a tight hug.


    "Looks like Miss Cipril is awake. Good afternoon miss!" Seeker grinned.


    "MMMHHHHHHHH! MMMMHHHH!" The struggling teacher tried her best to break free from her bindings, but it was to no avail.


    "Looks like you went a bit overboard in the gagging of these three." Seeker chuckled. Just after chuckling, Seeker suddenly sent a powerful punch to the stomach of Alean.


    "GUH!" Alean gasped underneath the duct tapes.


    "ZEEK!" Lynd couldn''t help but cry.


    Seeker gave a surprising look at Lynd.


    "Even now, Lynd? I thought you''d be over her after everything." Seeker sighed.


    "Fine. I''ll humor you. It looks like I''ll have to exert other methods to make this beloved teacher of our squeal.


    Seeker walked closer and turned to another youth.


    "You two better find a seat." Seeker said as he looked at Cliff and Charles.


    He then walked back and stood in front of Ted. Alean, who was to Ted''s right, was now struggling more intensely.


    "Alright, Miss. This is what''s going to happen if you shout or make any noise." Seeker grinned.


    An empowering wave of fear was once again clutching the hearts of everyone except Meryl and Lynd.


    "It''s happening again!" Cliff eximed. Luckily he was already seated down. He clutched the hand of Charles, who was also clutching back.


    At this moment, Seeker smiled and winked two times towards Meryl and Lynd. After that, he pushed Ted''s head upwards, revealing his neck, and Seeker then did a quick sh on Ted''s neck.


    A bright red liquid sshed on Alean''s face. At that moment, blood was tricking down of Ted''s neck and the de that Seeker held.


    Alean started to struggle and was shouting.


    "OH MY GOD!" Cliff shouted. The two clutched their hands all the tighter. Charles couldn''t believe what he saw.


    "MMMHHHHHH! MMMMHHHH!"


    "Oh. So you still want to shout, huh? Guess I''ll have to kill you too." Seeker smiled and pushed her head backward.


    Alean was struggling to keep her neck covered. At this moment, she gripped the handles of the chair to which she was tied to and bit her own tongue to stop screaming.


    "Very good!" Seeker smiled and patted her head.


    "Lynd, Take Ted''s body out to the back. We can''t have him bleed here. Meryl, start recording."


    Lynd immediately sprung and dragged the body out of sight, and Meryl ran to take a camera and focused it on Alean''s face.


    Seeker used the knife to masterfully slice off the excessive tapes on Alean''s mouth. And he ripped thest piece of duct tapes to reveal Alean''s mouth.


    "Why are you doing this? Please stop!" Alean was trembling in fear.


    "You forced my hand, dear teacher. I would''ve loved to y the innocent and simple Seeker Carlean, but you really got greedy there. Now tell me. Why the school? Don''t y games with me, Miss. I could easily kill you and head over to your father and kill him. We know you are using the school as a front for selling drugs. What I want to know is how and why." Seeker yfully pointed the edge of the bloody knife on Alean''s forehead.


    "It has never been my hobby to dismember stubborn hostages, especially ones that are as beautiful as you." Seeker smiled. The fear in Alean''s heart continued to fester.


    "The school is a perfect cover for selling drugs."


    "Is that''s why you selected this school? A school in Phil-Central would allow easier distribution of drugs across the nation, right?"


    Seeker''s deduction caused everyone to be surprised.


    "Wait! The entire Phil-Pangean nations?" Charles eximed.


    "Of course. Her father''s a General, after all. The General would definitely be using this strategic position to attract buyers from the inds north and south."


    At this moment, Seeker has undone his deathly aura. Alean, however, was still shivering in fear. Having a sharp bloodied knife moving through her skin had already petrified her.


    "Oh, my God! You were right, Zeek!" Lynd eximed.


    "Why a school though?"


    Seeker pressed his de deeper into Alean''s skin. She gripped the chair and closed her eyes.


    "It''s the safest ce for my dad to conduct trades! No federal institution would think that a school would be the hub of the main cartels! Peoplee and go to school, and no one would suspect anything!" Alean finally confessed.


    The room was silent as she exined this. Behind the innocent fa?ade of a growing school with high educational training was a den of illegal drug trades.


    "So it is as I suspected." Seekermended.


    "The student''s be the perfect courier. And some in this school could easily bypass most security. For example, any Royal student." Seeker smiled.


    "Am I correct, Miss?" The de pushed hard at her chest.


    "Yes."


    "Are Ted''s parents among your biggest clients?"


    "Yes." Alean gravely replied.


    Lynd and Meryl stared gravely at each other. Their Alma Mater had such a dark secret.


    "Wait a minute! If the school is a hub for the biggest drug trades in this nation...? Could it also be...?" Charles began as he recalled Seeker''s initial discourse.


    "You finally caught up, Charles. Yes.. It''s also a hub for the biggest human trafficking transactions in the Phil-Pangean nations."

 Chapter 25 - A Deal With The Devil

    Ted was panicking when he woke up. At first, he thought he was bleeding but realized that it was ketchup. He couldn''t move as there was an exaggerated amount of duct tapes tying him, which could easily immobilize three full-grown adults.


    He nced across the kitchen, hoping to find anything which he could use to break free. It was clear that no one knew of his awakening. He struggled to move, but the chair which he was tied to was very stable. No matter how he threw his weight around, the chair won''t move.


    "Are most Royals involved in drug trafficking?" A chillingly familiar voice was heard.


    Ted tried to clutched his bound fist to calm himself down. He couldn''t see Seeker as he was positioned in the corner, out of view of the other people in the other room.


    "Not all. But most of the top Royals are. The status that they carry allows them to move around Phil-Pangea easily without being suspected of anything."


    Alean Cipril was pretty calm now. She no longer panicked or answered in fear as the interrogation continued.


    "How do you get the drugs? It''s hard to fathom how drugs could ever enter this country with its security detail." Charles spoke angrily.


    "I''ve served in the military, and I know how the measures are taken to ensure that no druges in! It''s basically impossible to import drugs into this country!"


    "My dear Charles, remember what Sherlock Holmes would say? ''Eliminate the impossible and all that''s left, however improbable, must be the truth.''" Seeker imitated with a British ent.


    "The reason why I believe the school is the central hub for distributing drugs is that it is the perfect ce with the perfect hideout to develop these drugs." Seeker smiled.


    "But Zeek, I''ve seen the news. The drugs that the government has managed to confiscate are all foreign-made!" Meryl recalled several news reports.


    "Think, Meryl! General Cipril is part of the government! It would be easy for him to make such ims, and the government, along with the masses, will easily believe that these drugs were foreign-made! But let me ask you this, exactly how did they determine that it''s foreign-made?" Seeker smiled.


    "I don''t know. It was very technical when it was exined on TV."


    "Exactly! Most won''t bother to examine it. And people who might want to examine it would have to go against the array of experts that were paid to say it was foreign. Those people left with the guts to study it are weird people who spend their days reading conspiracy theories and the like. And these people are rarely taken seriously."


    "So it really is made in school¡­?" Meryl was dismal. The school that she loved so much had such a background.


    "It''s the perfect cover. In fact, this secret never managed to reach the light even up to the great wars. ming foreigners for bringing drugs into this country served as a convenient im, especially in this era, dubbed the Age of Distrustful Nations. By simply ming foreign or international corporations, the ongoing bandwagon mentality of rage against foreigners easily pushes the General''s secret agenda. Even if General Cipril produces a im that the foreign corporations who are being med could prove wrong, who would the masses believe in; the foreigners who could cause another war or the people in charge of defending this country?"


    Meryl was silent. It really made sense.


    "Who are you?" Alean finally asked.


    "How do you know all this? We were sure that no one could trace things back to me!"


    "I know. Bravo Miss. Bravo." Seeker apuded.


    "Leading the trails back to Professor Yun. Poor guy. He''s your fall guy, correct? You probably have his kids kidnapped or something to that extent. Hence, small-time drug dealers like little Cliffy here would point at the Language Professor interrogated."


    Cliff sat in shock. He knew drugs circted on campus, but the reach was more than what he had expected.


    "Who are you? Are you with the PUI?" Alean had a calm demeanor as she asked.


    Seeker smiled and admired Alean''s courage and adaption to the situation.


    "Let''s just say I had a glimpse of the future and know these things, Miss. So let me check if I''m right. The school, under the great cause of education, would request the very ingredients necessary to make these drugs. Of course, to avoid suspicion, the ingredients are all provided by your loyal partners who coincidentally are the parents of many Royal students."


    Alean nodded helplessly.


    "Woah! So the Royals are all drug pushers?" Lynd was surprised. Was that Royal girl who tried to flirt with him in on all this?"


    "Not all. It would be too suspicious. But I would say most of the prominent ones are." Seeker stared at Alean to confirm. Alean gave another helpless nod.


    "Oh. Lynd, bring Ted back here. He''s awake. And Meryl, Shut the recording. We''ve gotten enough from her confession."


    Alean was surprised. Wasn''t Ted already dead? She stared at the room where Lynd went off to,


    "MMMMHHHHH!" A muffled shout could be heard on the other room. Lynd ran and dragged the bounded Ted back.


    "He''s alive!" Charles was relieved.


    "Of course. I never killed him." Seeker immediately went and punched Ted in the stomach. It looked very rxed. However, Seeker''s fist was reaching deep into Ted''s stomach. Alean felt as if her stomach pained as she recalled Seeker''s harassment.


    "But the blood!" Cliff shouted in surprise.


    Seeker stood and shed the knife and, at the same time, squeezed the sachets of ketchup, which squirted out.


    "It''s a good thing that this particr brand appears very simr to blood." Seeker smiled.


    "YOU TRICKED ME!" Alean shouted in anger.


    "Oh shut up, will you!" Seeker suddenly delivered a powerful p on Alean''s unguarded face. Lynd controlled his urge by clutching his fist.


    The fear, along with the painful p, silenced the teacher once more.


    "We have recorded every detail of our talk. Think of the headlines. ''Heroes of Today'' candidate, Dr. Lindmitt, unmasks Pangean Nations'' biggest drug cartel!" Seeker motioned to form an imaginary banner.


    "If this tape gets out, your father would be finished. The credibility of Charles isn''t something to be underestimated. The media will kill your father, and the government will be forced to investigate it. Not to mention the unknown responses of all the corporations connected to your drug exchange. No matter what, your father''s empire will easily crumble."


    Alean red angrily at Seeker.


    "I''m sure you know that the best course of action is to follow whatever I say."


    "So you''re not going to kill me, nor do you seem to have any intentions of exposing my father. Then what is it that you want?"


    "Oh, goody good response! As expected from the General''s daughter. Your calm bearing proves that you are more than a foot soldier in his schemes. I bet you''re probably one of the big shots in your father''s team. You''re right. I have no intention of exposing your father."


    "Wait. We''re not going to expose them?" Charles asked in surprise.


    "Of course not. I did want too at first, though. Her family has always been a bane to mine. In fact, my dad had several close calls with General Cipril''s goons. That''s probably why you hate me. Right, Miss Cipril?"


    Alean red angrily. There have been asions when Detective Chris Carlean meddled with their operations that it nearly exposed everything. Every time this would happen, Alean would then be tasked to fix it.


    "You see, earlier today I realized that the General was cooking something big when good ol'' Principal Decker here revealed his bias and fear towards Alean. I was sure he was connected." Seeker patted the unconscious Principal.


    "Principal Decker, you do realize that pretending to be unconscious won''t work with me." Seeker whispered on Jonathan''s ear. Thetter could not help but shiver. However, he chose to continue in his exposed fa?ade of pretending to be asleep.


    "You see, when I realized that if Principal Decker himself was involved, then the drug trade in our school wasn''t just an ordinary small-time branch which is used to sell drugs to students. Principal Decker''s adamant reactions and decisiveness to immediately obey Miss Cipril demand with blind faith indicated that they clearly had a boss-subordinate rtionship."


    Alean red angrily towards Jonathan. So he was the one who spilled the beans.


    "So, you had this hunch and decided to pound all three of them?" Meryl asked in sarcasm.


    "Of course not. I was sure of my guess. Miss Cipril''s colorful experience was thest piece that allowed me to deduce their schemes. Let''s review her life story. She has worked around the country, always apanying her father to wherever ind or region he is assigned to. She''s a natural genius who even managed to attain her Master''s Degree at the young age of 24. Yet despite all of these, why did she decide to work as a teacher in our school? She could have worked in the military. But no, she took a very drastic change in upation." Seeker gave a scrutinizing stare at Alean.


    "She had everything. The looks, the brains, the charisma, and capabilities. And once she masterfully countered my own schemes to legitimate my gambling crusade, I was thoroughly convinced that her father wouldn''t leave this talent unused for his empire. She''s definitely a critical piece in his ns."


    "So you figured that my father had something big going on in this school. Bravo. But who are you really? If you''re not PUI, then what are you?"


    "I already told you. A kid who nced into the future." Seeker shrugged casually. After that, Seeker moved with incredible speed and shed the duct tapes and ropes that bounded Alean''s right hand.


    Alean was shivering in fear. The sh was so sudden and so close to her skin that she thought that her hand was halved along with the duct tapes. She immediately yanked her hand free from its bondage to the chair''s armrest and quickly examined it.


    "Monster." Alean gazed in fear. No ordinary human could pull this off. Even the soldiers she trained with did not have the same expert control that Seeker has handling a knife. A regr kitchen knife couldn''t cleanly cut throughyers of duct tape like that. And what was even more amazing, Seeker knew when to stop to leave the skin unscathed.


    She looked in fear at Seeker. The same chilling sensation returned. Her hands were shivering. She knew that Seeker could easily kill her. In fact, Seeker could probably easily handle most of the ''monsters'' that she has met in the course of apanying his father.


    "So, are you ready to listen? I don''t enjoy having a deal with the devil, you know. The effort one must put is too taxing!"


    "What do you want from me?"


    "Not from you, Miss. From your father. I want to make him my money-making puppet!" Seeker grinned evilly.


    Alean was shocked at Seeker''s demand.


    "So you''re not only going to expose them, but you n to actually take control of his empire!?" Cliff couldn''t help but interject now. It was just too absurd. Just when he could calmly rx as he thought that Seeker was some sort of secret police spy sent to shut down a drug cartel, it turned out he was a worse hooligan who was greedier than the General!


    "This is crazy!" Cliff appealed to Charles.


    "Oh, right. That was the n, huh." Charles sighed as he recalled the n.


    "Wha-what?"


    "Brilliant Zeek!" Merylmended. Cliff, however, was getting more frantic.


    "I didn''t expect that we could easily take control of a drug cartel this easily!" Lynd smiled.


    The three were rejoicing. Their ns were quickly moving forward.


    Poor Cliff felt as if his world has ended. He had witnessed a deal made with the devil. But in Cliff''s eyes, the devil was definitely not Alean Cipril.

 Chapter 26 - Programmed Slaves

    Three figures walked out of the car. They had several bandages wrapped around the different sides of their faces.


    "Looks like this is goodbye for now. I won''t say anything other than that if you betray us, your life and everyone around you will suffer." Charles smiled happily. Unlike his flustered and confused expressions earlier, there was now a suave of confidence and even joy.


    The car immediately sped off leaving the three figures on the outskirts of the school grounds.


    "What are we going to do now?" Jonathan sighed. It was a nightmare. Who would''ve thought that their deep dark secret would be easily exposed by a random Rising student?


    Alean frowned and walked towards Ted.


    POW!


    A power punch was delivered and dove deeply in Ted''s stomach. The sudden attack left Ted unprepared to harden his muscles. He fell down and curled down like a ball.


    "That''s for convincing me to mess with Seeker." Alean red at the boy and gave him another quick kick on the face.


    "You two better not do anything idiotic in the next days. Our lives are at stake. My father would put all the me on me if word gets out and the three of us would definitely die."


    "What? Surely the General won''t-"


    Alean quickly kicked Jonathan in the groin. Just like Ted, Jonathan lost the strength to stand and was kneeling as he was covering his genitals.


    "That''s for your poor acting! If not for you, Seeker wouldn''t have deduced everything! You don''t know my father! He''d trade me if he has something to gain! Why did you think I did everything to get where I am now! It''s because I know what my father will do to me if I''m useless!" Alean spoke angrily.


    "Get up!" Alean gave another kick at the two curling men.


    "I''ll talk to my father now. Decker, stop whatever operations we have in school now. Ted, contact all the Royal Reps and inform them that all operations are to be put on hold."


    The two forced themselves to stand up. The most they could manage was a bending stand. They however nodded and each went their own way."


    As the two departed, Alean sighed. She clutched her fist in frustration. Everything was ruined now. Who would die tonight? Will it be Ted or Decker? She could not help but fear even for her own life. She took out her phone and stared at it for a few minutes.


    She took a deep breath and called her father. The phone rang. She prayed to God that her father would not pick up.


    "What is it?" A cold voice sounded from the other end of the phone.


    Alean sighed.


    "We need to talk. Something has happened."


    Back at the duplex, Seeker had just finished eating his dinner. He had his fill from the various delicacies that they ordered in three different restaurants. Of course, a majority of what they ordered was for Seeker.


    Cliff who was ''invited'' to stay for dinner was shocked at how Seeker devoured three different dishes from different restaurants. Lynd sighed in envy. His stomach wasn''t as strong as Seeker. He could only manage one dish. Meryl, on the other hand, had a disgusting look at Seeker''s ungraceful act.


    Cliff had no appetite. He had lived a life of danger. He was always confident on himself but right now someone who could even ckmail and beat up the biggest and most dangerous cartel in their country was right in front of him.


    "What do you want from me?" Cliff weakly asked. He had been asking Seeker this same question again and again but Seeker kept ignoring him and munched on his gourmet.


    "I have a job for you and your gang. I want you to secretly corner and torture the following people." Seeker finally answered and handed Cliff a piece of paper.


    Cliff swallowed a mouthful of his saliva at the much-exaggerated request of his new owner.


    He took the paper and said nothing. He didn''t have the will to even read the paper.


    Meryl took the paper and casually browsed on the names on the list. Lynd was curiously peeking behind Meryl.


    "Zeek, why is everyone here an exchange student?" Meryl wondered.


    "It''s connected to how the school is a hub for human trafficking." Seeker continued to munch an Asian dim sum.


    "Human trafficking? I thought even Alean didn''t know much about her father''s n on that area." Meryl wondered.


    "Yeah, Zeek. That''s the part which I don''t get. Why hide it from her? I mean, Miss Cipril is pretty efficient."


    "Is she pretty efficient? Or just pretty?" Seeker teased.


    Lynd blushed and quickly brushed it off.


    "I''m serious Zeek! Could there be someone else in school with Miss Cipril''s authority andmand?"


    "No. You have to take into ount the General''s personality. You see, he views his daughter as a good chess piece. But at the same time, he fears her greatly. If hermand and authority rise to a level that can pose a threat to him, then he would kill her. A General who is this paranoid and went to great lengths to hide his empire is someone who doesn''t want to share in power."


    "Why would this have anything to do with human trafficking?"


    "Actually, I knew a tiny portion of this from my memories of the future. But after connecting the dots, I realized that I had greatly underestimated the power and reach that this General has. It looks like he would y quite a dangerous role in the future. One reason why the future was bleak was the abundance of traitors who managed to creep its way in our ranks. Butter, we found out that they weren''t just spies. They were ves. It waster revealed that they were a product of a new form of human trafficking."


    "A new form?


    "It''s prettyplicated. As you know, this era hates human trafficking with a vengeance. Countries even copsed when they found out their leaders were involved in this. You might remember the revolutions in One China and India."


    "So?" Lynd asked curiously.


    "Well, this world has an intense need for err- sexualbor. But it''s almost impossible to do so today. So a new form of human trafficking that only a very small percentage of the world knows about was developed. Instead of taking or abducting someone and force them to dobor or sexual acts and leave them with no identity, they took a whole new approach."


    "How?" Meryl interest was now piqued. What other forms of human trafficking could there possibly be?


    "Selling people with identities. Meaning these people have jobs, career and sometimes even a family! This is extremely costly to do but this is also extremely profitable if you do manage it. People as rich as General Cipril are now using people with identity and selling them off as ves. These new ves are almost untraceable."


    "ves with jobs? I can''t imagine that."


    "Alright, let''s take a look at the list. Are there anyone in this list that you particrly find attractive?" Seeker asked Lynd.


    Seeker frowned and turned to Cliff.


    "Umm¡­ You Cliff. I doubt Lynd would have an answer to that unless Miss Cipril is in this list."


    Merylughed while Lynd was cursing.


    Cliff, who was surprised at the sudden question, jolted up and was panicking.


    "Boy, he''s really scared of you huh?" Meryl giggled.


    Seeker smiled but was sighing inside. "You should be scared of me too Meryl, but my pressures doing nothing to you!" Seekerined in his head.


    "This one." Cliff pointed on a name.


    "Ohh! Good pick! Eva Ivanov smart and beautiful!" Meryl smiled. She was good friends with this person.


    "Wait! Zeek! Why is she in this list? And why are you asking Cliff to beat her up?" Meryl angrilyined.


    "I hope I''m wrong. But she''s probably one of these ves. You see, General Cipril is very paranoid. So I calcted that he wouldn''t dare make ves in this country. My guess is that they abduct people from different countries, make the necessary imnts, and use the school''s exchange program to make these ves willingly go here. No one will suspect anything that way."


    "How will they do that? What do you mean make the ves go here willingly?"


    "Let me exin the process of how they do it. They imnt two devices in a person''s body. One imnted near their hearts. This chip can cause a heart attack should the person controlling it wish to."


    The three was surprised at this revtion.


    "The first chip is meant to provide the threat of death. If an imnted ve disobeys the owner, he or she could die at a flip of the button. The second chip is imnted in the brain. And this chip is far more insidious than the first one. This chip is programmed to emit something that induces the brain to release several hormones that make the ve extremely happy. It''s very interesting. At a push of a button, a ve will biologically reach the highest state of happiness possible."


    The three stared in confusion. Why make a ve happy?


    "Think! A''Programmed Servants'' is a ve who would willingly and happily serve his or her owner. This ve would do anything that the owner wishes because it not only keeps them alive but makes them happy. That''s why I selected the most beautiful and handsome exchange students on campus. They are most probable candidates to be ves. It makes no sense for the General to create to create a ve for political reasons or make them a spy! I''m sure the government is not involved in this. So these are probably high-end sex ves. Exclusively yours, exclusively for your bidding. And worst of all, these ves are extremely happy if they serve you." Seeker exined.


    "I see... The owners could marry these Programmed Servants as they make best husbands and wives." Meryl sighed.


    "Of course. The ve would probably be happier if they get married. You see, no matter how dignified a man or woman is if perfect happiness is easily achieved through pleasing, or in this case, sexually pleasing their partners, then they would probably do it to their best. After all, a simple switch and they are in heaven."


    "And everyone in this list could be one of them?" Lynd sat silently and had a disgusted look. Meryl, on the other hand, could not resist but make a pun.


    "So to them, the root word of ''Happiness'' is no longer ''Happy'' but it bes ''piness'' right?" Meryl chuckled.


    Seeker and Lynd stared in shock at how Meryl was reacting. She was a woman after all and she found this funny?


    "Oh don''t give me that look. We have you, Zeek. You''d surely fix this. Still, it sounds like the perfect false religion and the owner bes a false god to these ves. Death and Joy in the hands of this owner. Such a dreadfulbination."


    "So why do you want me to beat up these folks?" Cliff who was silent the entire time suddenly spoke.


    "The reason why I want you to beat them up is to verify which is one of in this list are Programmed ves. One ve would cost millions of Sydians. General Cipril can''t afford to lose these ves now. If they are Programmed ves and you beat them up, General Cipril will immediately ensure that these people are treated with the best treatment. Since I can''t find the trail through Alean, then I''ll find these ves through this method." Seeker grinned with his trademark devilish smile.


    Cliff nodded. Looks like there were dignity and honor in his quest. He took the list back and could not help but gaze at Eva''s name once more. He didn''t know her, but he didn''t like the idea that such a beautiful student to be a sex ve. Then his thoughts drifted to an idea. If he was the owner of Eva then¡­


    Seeker stood up and stretched.


    "Time for the stream guys. Let''s go. I won''t see you out, Cliff." Seeker walked out of the table and paced towards the stairs.


    "I can''t wait to be the owner of these ves! Think of the possibilities!" Seeker shouted with intense anticipation. He was even happily skipping up the stairs like a little joyful girl.


    It took a few seconds for the people remaining to analyze what Seeker had just said.


    "What?!" The three chorused.

 Chapter 27 - Reaper’s Breath

    "What do I need to know about this student?" A tall and dark man stood as he watched a stream through a huge T.V. He was not entertained and had a very stern stare towards his daughter.


    "That is Seeker Carlean. A Rising student in school." Alean stood at the corner of the room. She was trying to hide her shaking hands as she nervously reported.


    General Cipril was a giantpared to the rest of the natives in the Pangean Nations. He stood nearly at 7 feet tall and had arge and sturdy build. His arms were almost twice as massive as most men. He had a ss eye on his left and what appeared to be a burn scar. His temperance was strict and silent.


    "So he''s able to earn quite a bit through his stream. Why do I need to pay attention to him?" General


    "Let me begin with my ns. His earning potential could reach about 10% of our monthly ie if pushed to the limits. That game his ying has about a billion fans. Almost everyone who ys video games knows about that, and he is expected to be a record winner. That garnered my interest. I tried to uh¡­ persuade him to partner up with our school, but his connections are apparently not to be underestimated. I recently discovered that he is connected with Doctor Charles Lindmitt."


    "The Hero-Doctor. I''ll admit that this is a formidable connection but-"


    "General, he isn''t just connected to the Hero-Doctor, but I believe that the Hero-Doctor is his subordinate. Dr. Lindmitt is known for his rare appearances and his crazed focus on his research. But the impression that I got from how they interacted is that Doctor Lindmitt is someone who Seeker can order around."


    The left brow of the General was raised. It was the first time that he was intrigued by this figure.


    "So you tried to take advantage of his background and money-making capabilities. But I take it you failed as you are here now." The General''s tone was very calm but a surging disappointment could be felt.


    "I didn''t just fail. We were talking in the Principal Decker''s office along with Ted Zyrcon. He knocked all three of us unconscious and interrogated us about our operations. He used some strange form of the drug that made us all incredibly afraid. It was a numb-"


    BANG!


    Alean felt the pressure of the bullet pass by her hair. The sudden trigger was shocking, but Alean only frowned.


    "You still aren''t easily scared. Are you telling me that he has a drug that managed to turn you into a pitiful creature? That out of all the things he could have used to force you to confess, he used fear?" The General''s eyes remained calm and rxed as ever.


    "Yes. As I was saying before, you rudely interrupted me. It was no use. The fear made me shiver, and I even confessed a bit when I panicked. After realizing how this fear could easily get Jonathan and Ted to squeal, I took advantage and confessed to some things that we could afford to reveal."


    "Which organization is he working with?" General stood up with an indifferent face and walked towards a small table full of liquors and sses.


    "I don''t know. He acted as if he was working alone."


    "What did you tell him?"


    "I didn''t ''tell'' him anything. He deduced everything. He was merely asking me to confirm his suspicions."


    The General frowned again.


    "How?"


    "He already knew I was involved in selling drugs. He had one of the small-time pushers working for him. Cliff Fangwood, if I remember. He deduced everything from our reactions, my career and even taking into ount your personality. But I do not know exactly how much he knows."


    The General was silently pouring himself wine. He took a sip and walked nearer to Alean.


    "What are his demands?"


    "To meet with you. He has a business proposal."


    "Not Interested. Kill him." The General turned around and started walking when Alean sighed.


    "He was asking for something about the human trafficking operations in this country. He said that you are probably using the school for its main hub as well as the drug operations."


    The General stopped. He turned around and gave an indifferent stare at his daughter. He took another sip and ced the ss on a nearby table.


    The General suddenly moved towards Alean and aimed a powerful straight punch towards her stomach.


    Alean immediately used her two hands to cover her stomach. The punch forced Alean backward. She could barely maintain her bnce, and it felt as if her forearms were fractured from the punch. The General''s eyes suddenly red, and gave Alean a strong right hook to the face.


    POW!


    Alean stumbled back and spat out blood.


    The General continued to re angrily at her daughter.


    "Apologies, General. Seeker has already punched me twice in that area. I could not afford another hit." Alean stood up and wiped off the blood, trickling down her mouth.


    The re subsided. And the General walked and took another sip from the ss.


    "Looks like you''ve caused quite a problem for me." The General remained to look indifferent, but there was some anger in his voice.


    "Now, what to do? The best option is to kill you three. Whatever evidences he has, is only rted to you three. What do you have to say to that suggestion?"


    Alean started to rummage on her purse that she ced on a nearby table.


    "Seeker said that if things start to get out of hand, that I''d open this in front of you." Alean pulled out a small ss tube that was shut tight. The ss tube was empty.


    The General gave a curious stare at the test tube. Alean opened it.


    CRASH!


    The two individuals in the room stumbled as a paralyzing fear filled the room. Alean dropped face front while the General barely managed to keep one leg firmly rooted as he knelt to the ground. The indifferent face disappeared. He now wore a face that could only be disyed in extreme terror.


    Alean was gasping for air but had difficulty in breathing. Soon the paralyzing sensation started to disappear as the two managed to slowly regain control of their bodies.


    Alean was shivering. She was slowly lifting herself up.


    "It wasn''t a drug! It was Seeker! Oh my God! It was Seeker''s breath!" She couldn''t believe it.


    "ALEAN!" Harker shouted angrily. The once indifferent and calm temperament was now reced with an angry and impatient attitude.


    "WHAT HAPPENED?" Harker growled.


    "Seeker! He did that! It was the same drug that I told you about! But that one was more terrifying than the one I felt!" She continued to gasp for breath as she slowly stood up and leaned on the wall.


    "What did he put into that tube?"


    "It was empty! I was sure it was. He took it and blew into that ss and immediately closed it!


    "His breath?"


    The General frowned and slowly walked towards Alean and picked up the ss tube. He stared at it cautiously. He held it close and took a whiff at the insides of the tube.


    The moment Harker inhaled the remaining air that was locked inside the test tube, his mind went nk.


    Harker suddenly gripped tightly, and the ss tube shattered. He almost lost his bnce, but Alean managed to catch him as he fell.


    Harker was gasping for breath. Great fear fell into Alean''s heart. It was the first time he ever saw his father this afraid. She held him up tightly and waited until he could stand on his own.


    Momentster, Harker''s breathing stabilized and he stood up and stared at the ss tube. He wiped the blood on his wounded palm and went to drink all the wine in the ss nearby. It wasn''t enough. He never experienced fear or helplessness of this level in his entire life.


    He walked towards the wine table and started to concoct a drink for himself. His mind, however, was still processing everything that he has experienced. How could that be a teenager''s breath? He was certain that whatever he sniffed was the cause of his fear.


    He kept looking at Alean and took note of her flustered and shocked expression. She was telling the truth. Harker clutched his fist. That was a Reaper''s Breath. The moment he sniffed the breath, he thought he would die.


    What kind of man is this Seeker Carlean? What trickery did he use? Was this a new form of biological warfare? Bad breath, which was so horrible that it could paralyze two individuals who were usually fearless?


    He started drinking and soon managed to calm his shaken form.


    "I''ll agree to the meeting. Get out." The General calmly ordered.


    Alean walked out of the room and sighed as she closed the door.


    "I guess I have to thank Seeker for this." Alean sighed and started to walk home.


    Back at the duplex, Cliff was struggling to control his excitement.


    Seeker earned over 25,000 credits from his viewers alone. There were several factors to why his earnings manage to reach this level. Once news of Seeker and Doctor Lindmitt''s coboration with Seeker came to light, it immediately reached national news. Despite not being a gamer, several people who were interested in Seeker decided to watch the stream and even paid for it.


    Then suddenly, a celebrity gamer joined the stream.


    "Please, Seeker! Am I not good enough? Join us! I''d even let me take me out on a date." This feminine voice chuckled as she spoke teasingly. For the first time, Seeker allowed a third-party to join in through a video call.


    Carrying one of the most famous usernames in the gaming world, LordChokeMeSenpai joined their call.


    Seeker grinned. This was yet another time for him to make easy money from gambling.


    "Tempting offer. Kristine. Can I call you Kristine?" Seeker smiled once more.


    "If you join us, you''d have the chance to call me bae." Kristine smiled.


    The chatroom was exploding. Kristine Sythia was a beauty that could match superstars and models. Her trademark pink hair was a sensation amongst gamers. Among all the existing pro-steamers on Earth, it was without a doubt that Kristine Sythia was the highestpensated. Not only was she beautiful, but her skills in Piercing managed to get her to join the Piercing Battle Arena''s official team, which represented the Pangean Nations, the Covenant of the Strongest.


    In fact, right at the background of Kristine''s video was the Covenant''s official banner. The fact that this world-renowned gamer was flirting with Seeker and seducing him to join the stream spoke miles for Seeker''s true worth.


    The chatroom was in chaos. People were cursing in jealousy, attempting to get Kristine''s attention. No one could call Kristine by her name. Everyone usually referred to her by her famous game handle.


    "That is a very tempting offer. However, Kristine, I might sound arrogant, but I know for a fact that I''m better than you. Too bad the Piercing: Bullet Battle Arena hasn''t been released yet. I can''t prove my worth." Seeker sighed.


    Kristine wasn''t flustered or angry at Seeker''s im. In fact, a part of her believed Seeker''s im.


    "Oh, I know that Zeek. Is it alright to call you Zeek? I heard that that''s what your two friends call you." Kristine smiled.


    "Of course. That sounds even more intimate." Seeker grinned devilishly.


    On a high-techboratory, Charles was cursing at how easy it was for a beautiful girl to call Seeker, ''Zeek.''


    "Look, Zeek, we want you to join our team. Even Danny wants you on our team. Come on. You are a Pangean native. Isn''t it patriotic for you to join and represent your country like that?"


    "As I said, I will only join if I get at least the samepensation that Precision is getting." Seeker smiled.


    "Oh, you were serious? Quite a bold demand Zeek. Even I wouldn''t dare to make that demand." Kristine smiled. But her eyes looked mockingly at Seeker.


    "How about we make a bet Kris." Seeker smiled.


    "Let''s bet that before this Sunday ends, yourpany will be offering me a sry that will either match or surpass Precision''s. I am willing to bet 70,000 credits.." Seeker smiled.

 Chapter 28 - What Just Happened?

    The chat room exploded in surprise. This was a bold gamble. Although Seeker managed to earn a few thousand more credits through gambling with the newbies in the room, 70,000 amounted to almost all of his current earnings.


    Seventy thousand credits were enough money to purchase two new cars. This was not a gamble that you would do. Unlike his previous gambles, Seeker would bet with his solely his skills on the line. Now he was betting something that involved the decision of other people. Who knew how thepany which sponsored the Covenant of the Strongest would react?


    Kristine had a curious look on her face. She was still smiling but her surprise was clearly seen.


    Precision is not only their team leader but he is the best yer in the Covenant of the Strongest. He is a world-renowned yer not only in Piercing but several other games. Because of this, whoever held Precision held a paragon gamer of several famouspetitive games. As such, his price was normally twice as much than other e-sport yers. Even among those who could rival Precision in skill, none of them could rival hispensation.


    "That''s quite a bold gamble." Kristine smiled.


    "And I assume you''ll be threatening us that you will join other teams?" Kristine controlled her face to not reveal the anger inside. This was quite an insult.


    "Well, I can''t promise that I would reserve myself for you. I am sure that by the time this Sunday ends, other international teams will be offering me that same pay. And of course, although I love my country, I can still represent it as an individual. Think about it, Let''s say the team I join in, and will ultimately be the captain of, manages to steal the championship from you guys. It''s a win-win for the country. A Pangean native would still hold the title." Seeker smirked.


    Kristine''s charming and pleasant attitude disappeared. She gazed straight at her screen and watched the casual nces that Seeker gave as he waited for her answer. Of course, despite ncing now and then to Kristine, Seeker has yet to receive one hit from any enemies.


    "You are very confident that they will rush to you."


    "Well, I am pushing my luck. I estimate that I should be able to get an offer me that is at least twice of yours. However, it wouldn''t be a gamble. Doctor Lindmitt said to keep those adrenaline pumping. Having this threat of losing 70,000 credits for the next two days should do the trick." Seeker smiled.


    Kristine frowned. If she was the world''s most popr streamer, at the top of the e-sports paychecks were the best yers of every country. Precision who has sessfully led The Covenant of the Strongest into 3 world championship in Piercing and held several championships on other e-sport games was the highest paid e-sport yer in the world.


    The Prometheus of Games was someone who could visit any country in their world including the enemy countries of the Pangean Nations. And Seeker imed that before four days will pass, he will receive thatpensation.


    Kristine''s eyes went wide. But a devilish smile appeared.


    "So let me get this straight, you want to gamble 70,000 credits that before Sunday ends, you will receive an offer that could reach twice of what I''m being paid at? So something that would match or top Precision''s paycheck?"


    "That''s right."


    "And you won''t join other teams during this period who is unwilling to pay you that same amount."


    "You''re two for two." Seeker nodded once more.


    "Interesting gamble." Kristine smiled a cute smile again.


    "This will be a bet that will span four days. Meryl set it up. Set buy-in to 500 credits."


    Meryl made the necessary configurations and a Gambling Den room was opened. She was not afraid or hesitant. Her blind faith in Seeker caused her to move swiftly as if Seeker was asking her to pass him some ketchup.


    Kristine was the first to wager against Seeker on the Den.


    People were shocked. Seeker was at it again. Betting on himself against the whole world. How will that happen? What could Seeker do that could shake and move people to even offer Seeker such payments! He had the fame, but his reputation was far from the Prometheus of Games.


    "You''re on. Not only will I bet against that, but I want to bet that if you do win, I''ll immediately be your girlfriend. In fact, I''ll treat you to a high ssy date on a hotel of your choosing in any country in the world. A two-night all-expense paid trip." Kristine smirked. Somehow, Seeker''s bold and daring actions made her feel a jolt of attraction towards this Casual Carlean.


    The chat room went wild. Several males were cursing at the obscene luck that Seeker had. A two-night trip with one of the most attracted women in the world? And everything would be paid for by Kristine?


    "What a generous offer Kristine." Seeker smiled. He wasn''t affected by such a tempting offer.


    "You are gambling something which you probably have no chance of winning. Might as well make this a sensational thing. After all, this could easily increase your viewership. Think of it as help from one streamer to another." Kristine smiled cutely.


    "Before I ept that, can I add another use? I would add 10,000 or more credits to my wager depending on my future earnings."


    "Oh? Another use? As long as it''s not anything that will physically harm me, I''m all for it." Kristine smiled.


    The chat room burned with angryments. People were calling Seeker a hacker and was in no way worthy of this. Others were making obscene jokes about how they were willing to pay that amount to get Kristine for two nights.


    Kristine ignored everyone. She knew that she would win this bet. Once Seeker lost, she would prove that his worth was far from his actual estimation. And with that crushing blow and the fact that he would lose more than 70,000 credits, she would then offer Seeker the discussed price that her sponsors asked her to offer.


    Kristine was also sure that since she would ultimately win, she deliberately spiced up the bets to make Seeker greedy. For someone as famous as her, she knew how debauched men could be. She took a sip through a straw and happily drank the milkshake she had nearby herputer. Oh, the sweet taste of victory.


    "The other use is that instead of you going with me on that trip, I''d like Precision to go with me on a two-night all-expense paid trip to any country I want." Seeker casually remarked as he focused on the game.


    Kristine spat out the milkshake and some of it was now running through her nose. The desk was now drenched with the milkshake as Kristine instinctively aimed for it to avoid drenching her belovedputer.


    Charles Lindmitt spat out his coffee as he heard Seeker''s added use. The piles of paper and research notes surrounding him were drenched in his coffee.


    General Harker Cipril spat out his wine as he heard Seeker''s request. The monitor on the front of him was now drenched with expensive wine.


    Alean Cipril spat out the bourbon she drank from a small ss. Her phone was now drenched with the pale yellow drink she had and even the bed sheets that were, wrapped around her legs had spray marks of her drink.


    Meryl and Lynd had a strange look at Seeker. Cliff, on the other hand, had a fearful look. There was the terror that pierced through his heart like never before. Would Seeker soon pierce him with fear on a different and far more terrifying method?


    The chat room suddenly went quiet. No one knew what to say. Viewers around the world felt as if their world stopped.


    On the other room in the building where Kristine was viewing Seeker''s stream. A small teen with thick sses was holding a practice game against two other members of the Covenant. While the three were fighting, Seeker''s stream was ying on a huge screen hung high on the wall.


    Arthur Humphrey continued to mumble random numbers as if he was counting something or several things. Just then Seeker''s revision to Kristine''s offer was broadcasted.


    The three stopped ying. Arthur frowned with a look that surpassed his already rude appearance and stared angrily at the television. Even the random counting he did was stopped.


    His two opponents immediately logged off the game and quietly left the room. If they continued to y they would lose their dignity as Arthur Humphrey would end his training mode and start massacring them leaving them less confident as a pro-yer and even as a human being.


    "I-I''m sorry. You want what?" Kristine felt fear like never before.


    The Covenant of the Strongest was a happy and friendly team in general. They were quite close as a team and even if the team would be dissolved it was unquestionable that their friendship would remain. However, throughout their career, they never dared to do anything that would make Arthur Humphrey angry. It wasn''t because he was strict or impatient as a leader. Despite his cold exterior and somewhat rude looks, he treated his team members with respect and patience. The reason why no member would dare irritate Arthur was simply because they didn''t want to see Arthur angry. Who knew what he could do if ever he got angry.


    Cold beads of sweat started to surface on Kristine''s back. She was willing to be her own body for fun but then Seeker made a hasty change of preference. Some strange teen was professing his love and his preference on the inte. While this would normally have been fun or romantic, in this particr scenario, it wasn''t. Not when Arthur Humphrey''s the recipient of this love. She could already see the headlines. "Arthur Humphrey to spend a two-night romantic getaway with Medical Wonder, Seeker Carlean."


    "Well, you could join us if you like, Kristine."


    The fear in Kristine''s heart took a deeper and scarier dive. At the back of her mind, she just wished for Seeker to shut up.


    "So, is the bet on?"


    Kristine couldn''t answer she was flustered. Just then the door opened. Arthur Humphrey walked in. Kristine was petrified. She dared not moved and simply looked at the approaching person. She slowly slid her chair backward.


    Arthur pushed Kristine''s seat away while dragging another. He sat down right in front of theputer. His gaze was strict and angry.


    "Wow! Arthur Humphrey himself! That''s nice."


    "I appreciate your sentiments but I refuse to take part in such a stupid gamble," Arthur spoke rigidly.


    "Ehh? Ok. It was worth a shot. Then I''m fine with the original conditions. But if you have time, I would love to talk to you." Seeker smiled casually.


    Arthur gazed angrily at Seeker but suddenly he stood up and walked away. Moments after Arthur left the room, Kristine slowly dragged her chair back to face the monitor. She looked as if she saw a ghost.


    Seeker smiled at her as she reentered the screen.


    "Anyways guys, this is all the time I have for you today. Two more sessions and I should be able toplete the entire game. Please join me on my stream tomorrow for more of this action-packed and mind-boggling walkthrough. Also, if you are confident that I will lose, the room remains open! I might increase the bet again tomorrow! So feel free to donate- I mean to bet against me!" Seeker casually remarked and immediately motioned for Meryl to end the stream.


    Just like that, the stream ended. Most of the viewers were caught off-guard from the sudden turn of events and remained in shock at what just happened. Several even went online to ask what just happened. Those who would read the newste at night were befuddled and also asked what just happened. It was chaos. One article spoke of how Dr. Lindmitt partnered with Seeker for a program that could shape Neuro-Alterations. Another article spoke of the gambling and overnight sess of a rising star and another article which talked about how LordChokeMeSenpai, the world''s most sessful streamer ced her own body as a bet. And finally, a news article pertaining to Seeker''s actions started spreading online. It only asked one simple question.


    "What just happened?"

 Chapter 29 - Odds Of The Gamble

    Seeker rxed and rested his eyes.


    "What a very profitable and beneficial day!" Seeker sighed satisfied with his progress for the day.


    His two friends continued to give him a peculiar look.


    Seeker looked back.


    "I''m not gay." Seeker finally spoke.


    "So what was that all about?" Lynd asked suspiciously.


    "Arthur Humphrey''s a potential Ranked Hero. Normally, I nned to keep myself away from those who had the potential to reach Ranked Hero or beyond because of the possible ripple effects that I might cause. This one, however, is different. He''s the same as I am. So I think it would offer no threats but pure benefits. Such is the man called Arthur Humprey."


    "Oh. No wonder you wanted him. I was surprised that you could easily reject Kristine''s offer."


    "Oh trust me, I wouldn''t dare have her right now." Seeker smiled mysteriously.


    "Now that I think about it, you never did tell us if you managed tond a hot one in the future Zeek." Meryl smiled mischievously.


    Seeker''s eyes looked towards the heavens.


    "She''s¡­plicated Meryl." Seeker spoke with a very detached tone.


    Meryl suddenly stopped her teasing. With the future that Seeker had, it wouldn''t be surprising that Seeker would meet and say goodbye to several friends. Meryl even had a very embarrassed look.


    "Uh, Zeek." Lynd spoke as he was rummaging Seeker''s bag.


    "Your phones got like thirty missed calls!"


    "Must be Mom and Dad. It''s not surprising that they''d get word of everything that has been going on."


    "You sure it''s alright? Auntie Grace hates gambling after all." Meryl had a grave look.


    "Rx. I''ll deal with them." Seeker smiled.


    "Cliff, I want you to beat up anyone on that list if you have a chance. Just enough to get them to the hospital. Don''t make it too life-threatening."


    Cliff jolted as Seeker spoke to him.


    "And while you''re beating them, make sure to put on some mask or something and make it look like you''re one of those foreigner haters." Seeker stood up and started walking.


    The group left the duplex immediately. The strange and action-packed night finally ended.


    The next day sses resumed. Seeker and his two friends were now being treated like superstars. They were like a bunch of superstars at school. People would wave and attempt to talk with Seeker.


    Seeker''s rise of prestige was so dramaticpared to before. Not even Royal''s felt that they had the qualifications to meet and talk with Seeker. Their level of connection paledpared the worth of Seeker in both the gaming and the medical world.


    Despite the increase in fame, there were very few girls who attempted to make contact with Seeker.


    Lynd had an exasperated look.


    "Zeek, you got to do something to clear this misunderstanding," Lynd begged.


    "Leave it, Lynd. If anything, it might be better this way. A lot of annoying things would pop up if I were to meet Arthur in any other way." Seeker rejected immediately.


    "Could you properly define annoying?" Meryl asked as she gave a nd look at Seeker.


    "Possible assassinations from professional hitmen or getting abducted by some intelligence agency from enemy countries." Seeker easily responded.


    The two gave a surprised look. How would meeting an e-sport gamer end with such drastic results?


    "Ok. Then it looks like I''ll have to put up with this for a bit." Lynd sighed.


    "How did your parents take the news? My mom and dad were asking me a lot of questions and even asking me if I can invite you and Charles over dinner." Meryl asked Lynd.


    "Basically the same as you. It was annoying. They also asked me if I knew if Seeker was gay." Lynd sighed.


    "What about you Zeek? What did Aunt Grace have to say with your gambling?" Merylughed.


    "Well at first she was mad when I came home. She started yelling, telling me that she doesn''t care about my medication and how gambling is off the table. Dad just had a serious look. No doubt he was angry about the whole Arthur thing." Seeker exined.


    "Then I exined how I needed to meet with Arthur for a secret meeting to discuss the terms of my contract and the future of the Covenant. I told them that I wanted Kristine. So that calmed my dad down."


    "What about Aunt Grace?"


    "She calmed down when I gave the two of them tickets to a 7-day cruise on the Bahamas. In fact, I think she was encouraging me to continue saying that my health is more important than her standards."


    "Typical for Auntie." Merylughed.


    The three met Alean Ciprilter on in ss. Her face showed signs of being hit and the students were panicking and asking her what happened. Lynd and Meryl had a confused look since they while they knew that of the wounds on her face were caused by Seeker''s smash, there were some that were clearly not inflicted by Seeker.


    Seeker seemed to have not found this surprising and continued yawning in ss.


    Alean brushed addressed the asking students saying that it was due to her spars with some of the soldiers under her father''smand. Several male students felt jealous as they daydreamed of wrestling with this hot teacher of theirs.


    The ss eventually came to an end.


    "Seeker, I would like to talk to you for a bit." Alean suddenly asked in a very courteous tone.


    Several of the ss was confused. They knew of Alean''s unexinable hatred towards Seeker and how she would be very biased. But now there was courtesy in her voice. Some even thought it was respected.


    The three remained as the other students shuffled out of the room.


    "Miss Cipril, I think it would be to everyone''s benefit if you acted as if you hated me. Try to do what you usually do. Don''t worry. I won''t make it harder for you on ount of Lynd." Seeker stood with a boorish look.


    Alean nced at Lynd for a moment. Lynd was blushing to the extremes but Alean gave a sweet smile to Lynd.


    "Then thank you." She smiled. Lynd''s heart was pumping faster than the normal heart rate of a man being chased by three werewolves.


    "My father agreed to the meeting. Thank you for that insurance." Alean spoke as she rubbed her chin.


    "This was the only punishment I got from General. Whatever that was, it brought him to his knees." Alean gave another smile. It looked like a smile one would give when encountering true happiness. Lynd''s heart was beating so fast it could''ve caused a heart attack.


    "Must have been a satisfying site for you considering how happy you look recalling that." Seeker chuckled.


    "Also, as a future partner in this business, I would urge you to stay away from Arthur Humphrey." Alean had a serious look on her face.


    "If you''re talking about how dangerous Lennox is, I already know." Seeker shrugged.


    A surprised look shed on Alean''s face.


    "Lennox?" Meryl had a confused look.


    Before Seeker could borate, Alean spoke.


    "Lennox Humphrey. Arthur''s father. The most dangerous mathematician on this. Even my father is afraid of him. So you knew, but you still want to take Arthur on a two-day trip? Are you crazy?" Alean was controlling her urge to shout. There was fear painted across her face. Lynd and Meryl were surprised to see the scared look of this woman.


    A mathematician would leave a General and a drug-lord scared? How?


    "It isn''t a date trip. It''s purely business. I n to strike a deal with Arthur and this is the fastest, easiest, and least suspicious path that I could take. You probably have an idea as to how many eyes are watching that man. Pulling off a publicity stunt like this would quench all doubts and give me the chance to talk to him privately and maybe even get the opportunity to meet Lennox."


    Alean had a look of true horror in her face. If Seeker were attracted to Arthur, it would have been potentially scary. But if Seeker wanted to meet Lennox, then it was terrifying.


    Alean''s horrified face started to calm down. She remembered that in front of her was someone who managed to get her father to his knees without being in the same room.


    "Can you kill him?" Alean suddenly asked. Killing Lennox would give his father and his empire a lot of benefits.


    "Are you stupid? He''s one of the few people on this Earth who can kill me. I have business proposals to offer him. But don''t worry. It will only benefit your father''s kingdom." Seeker walked out of the room.


    The remaining three stood in shock at Seeker''s statement.


    Meryl slowly followed. Lynd was about to leave when Alean called him.


    "Lynd. Wait." She called out softly.


    Lynd was petrified. He slowly turned back to look at Alean.


    Alean gave a warm smile.


    "Who would''ve thought that you''d be able to help me of all people. Thank you." She smiled.


    "Don''t worry. I won''t take advantage of your feelings towards me to make you betray Seeker. I''m not that stupid anyway. But since he didn''t give a directive, could you just tell me who Seeker Carlean is." Alean stared pleadingly.


    Lynd felt as if heaven was touching him. That kind smile, that soft stare. If only time would stop. Lynd smiled but shook his head.


    "He has always been honest in answering you, Miss." Lynd smiled back.


    "He really is a kid who just knows about the future." Lynd turned around and walked out of the room.


    As sses ended, Seeker and his friends went straight to the duplex to host another stream. Seeker earned 30,000 credits on stream views alone. Kristine joined the call again. But instead of a casual viewer, Seeker pushed his skills up another notch.


    "That''s impossible! Counting? That''s how you do it?" Kristine shouted in surprise.


    "That''s how Precision does it. Right? In fact, I think he''s better at it than I am." Seeker shrugged.


    Bullet was facing five different Titan''s this time. Unlike the former Titan''s, this one had what appeared to be an electronic charge that generated around their bodies. As Bullet had next to no ranged attacks, Seeker continued to parry and dodge and would only attack whenever the electronic charge of these robots would disappear after initiating an attack.


    "But that''s impossible! Each of these Titans has different timing and sequence of attack. You''d need a machine to keep track of all of their sequences to tell you when to attack!" Kristineined. But against her statement, Seeker was controlling Bullet with expert control. Evade about three of the Titan''s attack and dash to inflict three or four hits to the surrounding Titans without the electric current and back out.


    The gamble this time was that Seeker wouldplete the boss without getting a single hit. The boss was dubbed undefeatable unless the yers would utilize the environmental advantages to stun and paralyze the Titans. But Seeker imed he could without using the environmental advantages. Seeker was set to win 4700 credits from some unbelieving fools.


    Kristine was angry and in shock at what she could see.


    "I see. So that''s the counting." A detached voice spoke from behind of Kristine.


    She jolted and turned to see Arthur watching.


    "Precision!" Seeker called out happily. His attention no longer was on the screen. But his avatar continued to evade and attack as beautifully as before.


    "Interesting You managed to calcte the counting perfectly for this boss." A rare smile emerged from Arthur''s face. It was very rare for someone of his prestige to be impressed.


    "I''m happy that I''ve impressed you."


    "Indeed. It could be said that your counting skills are on par with mine." Arthur adjusted his sses as he continued to observe Seeker''s counting.


    "Simple enough." Arthur sighed.


    "However, this is not enough to make the teams move to treat you like me." Arthur sneered.


    "Ok. Then why not bet it if you''re so confident? I bet that I can manage a payslip better than yours by Friday. If I win, you go with me and Kristine on this two-night get-away. If I lose then I''ll join your team free of charge. I''m sure you''ve seen my urate counting. If I could team up with you and the Covenant, no one on this could match us." Seeker smiled.


    Arthur frowned at Seeker''s taunt.


    "Unless the great Precision cannot calcte the odds of this bet." Seeker smiled.


    Arthur''s frown turned into an angry re.

 Chapter 30 - Enter The Dragon

    Several military vans were parked in a factory at the outskirts of the city. The military base was miles away from this ce, yet the soldiers guarded this ce as if it was a fortress that guarded several military secrets.


    The high wall surrounding this factory stood at over 10 meters tall. And posted on certain key points of the wall stood several soldiers that guarded it at the dark of the night.


    A car was stealthily parked a few blocks away from this factory.


    A group of teens and one adult stood and were whispering quietly.


    "Are you sure she didn''t see you follow her?" Seeker asked.


    "No. I was sure. She really looked disturbed. So I doubt that she noticed." Cliff responded with a bit of frustration.


    "Because if she did see you, you''d probably get killed tonight." Seekerughed.


    "Are you really going to attack their base?" Meryl looked with a doubtful expression.


    "Yes, Meryl. For the thousand times, yes."


    "But how?" I don''t think they''d let you in."


    "That''s why I asked the good doctor to lend me his stuff." Seeker smiled.


    Lynd got excited.


    "Cool! What is it? Grappling hooks? Hi-tech wall-climbing gears? A hover pad?"


    "I brought a pair of mountain climbing pickaxe." Charles sighed.


    Lynd''s mouth was wide open.


    "What are you going to do with that?" Lynd barely managed to contain his frustration.


    "Scale the wall." Seeker smiled.


    "Now stay here and be good kiddies. I''ll call you when it''s over." Seeker smiled.


    Meryl and Lynd gave a worried look. Seeker insisted that they didn''t need toe but they wouldn''t take no for an answer.


    Seeker started to dash off towards the factory. His sudden movements would bepared to a ninja who knew how to utilize the darkness and was soon out of sight from Meryl and Lynd''s.


    "Amazing. He just disappeared like that." Cliff couldn''t help butment.


    "See? I told you there''s nothing to get all worried about. Seeker could easily handle this situation." Charles gave aforting pat to Meryl.


    "Are you serious? We didn''te here because we were worried you know? We were curious and we wanted to see a good show." Meryl scoffed.


    Seeker finally reached a shaded area near the tall wall. He positioned himself right on the bottom where several guards were stationed on a tform on top of the wall.


    Seeker, observed for the soldier''s line-of-sight. When the soldier moved to observe a different area, Seeker dashed towards the wall.


    Seeker executed a veryplex wall run which pushed him high above the 3-meter mark. He smashed the two pickaxes to cling to the wall. Strangely the pration of the pickaxe was very discreet as it only prated barely an inch from the surface. This however managed to provide Seeker support. Without wasting any time, Seeker kicked his two legs to propel him higher as he unhooked the pickaxes and smashed it once more on a higher area of the wall. Seeker repeated this movement and in just less than 10 seconds, he reached the top of the wall. His pickaxes were now hanging on the edge of the wall. Thankfully, the darkness of the night wouldn''t make the hangings pickaxe visible if viewed from afar.


    Seeker paused for a bit and closed his eyes. He could feel the soldier walking nearer towards his location as the muffled sounds may have attracted him.


    Seeker immediately kicked once more and jumped to reach the top of the wall. Seeker immediately thrust the pickaxe to the surprised soldier''s throat.


    The blunt top of the pickaxe struck the soldiers throat who was now choking. Seeker immediately proceeded to deliver an intense uppercut knocking the soldier unconscious.


    Seeker stealthily dashed towards the stairs leading to the bottom and took note of the building which had several lights lit on.


    Soldiers were caught off guard as Seeker would attack them from their blind spots. Seeker used a variety of tricks to ensure they wouldn''t let out a sound whenever Seeker would attack them.


    Three soldiers were just being pummeled by Seeker when another guard walked in and immediately pulled the gun out of his holster.


    "Idiot. Your safety''s on." Seeker shook his head.


    The soldier immediately turned his gun sideways to check his gun. This one-second gap was enough for Seeker to throw his pickaxe to disarm the solider and deliver a crushing kick on the soldier''s throat.


    Seeker sighed.


    "Why does this trick always work?" Seeker wondered and started to rush on towards the main building.


    Seeker stood right outside the door and closed his eyes.


    "Seven huh?" Seeker sighed once more.


    Seeker immediately opened the door and dashed inside. There were seven soldiers on this area each doing their own thing.


    Seeker was dashing towards the nearest guard but turned his attention to another guard on the other end of the room carrying a gun with a silencer equipped. Seeker threw his pickaxes as if they were boomerangs and started to dash towards the soldier with the silencer.


    The other soldiers hadn''t even noticed Seekere into the room due to the speed that Seeker was moving. Time was very slow in Seeker''s perspective. He reached the soldier, who was still in the process of reaching for his gun holster, and prating punch to the stomach was delivered.


    It was as if the stomach acid was rising up his throat. The soldier was about to vomit whatever spit or food out when another terrifying punch shocked his jaw. He was out for the count.


    The trajectory of the pickaxe flew in a curving motion which evaded several obstacles. The blunt end of the pickaxe smashed towards the heads of two unwary soldiers.


    Seeker immediately reached for the silencer and started to shoot around. He aimed for all the triggers of the guns that the soldiers were currently holding as he was running towards another surprised soldier.


    In less than 10 seconds all the soldiers in the room were defeated with no one managing to shoot a single bullet.


    In a dark room inside the main building, a huge man stood carrying arge whip.


    "Tell me what I need to know, and you can leave." The man ordered.


    Bounded in a chair in front of him was an Asian man who had a lot of burn wounds in his eyes.


    "I don''t know anything! I am blind! Why would you think that I have it?"


    The huge man whipped the blind man. Blood wasing out of the blind man''s teeth.


    "Wrong answer. Blind my ass. You took out those three soldiers right?"


    "I really don''t know! All I heard was somemotion and then you guys suddenly jumped on me! It wasn''t me! I swear!" The blind man pleaded.


    The huge man tore the shirt of the blind man.


    "You know what I''m going to do?" The huge manughed.


    The blind man had a sudden strange expression but immediately tried to look afraid.


    "Mark, tell him what we are going to do with him?"


    "We''re going to dress you up like a cute Barbie doll." A sneering voice returned.


    The huge manughed.


    "That''s right. We''re going to¡­ Wait... what?" The huge man turned and met a strong high kick which dislocated his jaw.


    Before the man could lose his bnce, the assant grabbed his head as a knee strike smashed to his face. The huge men fell down unconscious. Behind the assant, thereid an unconscious soldier that could only be Mark.


    The blind man nervously listened.


    "Who''s there? What''s going on?"


    The blind man kept tossing and turning.


    "Interesting." A causal voice spoke as this figure started to walk around the blind man. Seeker gazed at a peculiar tattoo on the left side of the bounded man''s chest. It was a faint dragon coiling which formed a circle. In the middle of this dragon was a dark red sun.


    "I''m almost sure that that''s the mark of the Dragon. Do you work for him? I don''t remember you." Seeker had met all of the Dragon''s best subordinates. This one wasn''t in his memories.


    "What? I don''t understand?" The blind man answered back as he struggled in fear. He kept following where the voice was calling.


    "Please help me! Get me out of this ce! I was brought here by mistake!" The blind man called out.


    Seeker chuckled.


    "Yeah right. You are." Seeker ignored the helpless cries of the bound man but continued to observe him. After a few seconds Seeker shrugged off the thought of this person being a top warrior in the Dragon''s army.


    "Sorry. I don''t want to put my nose where it doesn''t belong. If you don''t work for him then I must have guessed wrong. I thought you were Mister Meng''s subordinates." Seeker shrugged off as he walked towards the door.


    Just then, Seeker stopped and turned around and pped his hand to block an arm thrust.


    The blind man was no longer bounded and his thick arms were immediately struggling to move. Seeker managed to block the arm just on time. The blind man frowned.


    "Oh. So I was right. This is annoying." Seeker sighed dryly.


    The blind man moved with quick and precise actions as he tried to use his bare hands like a sword and continued several thrusting attacks.


    Seeker would either dodge or parry the attacks and would even use his arms to redirect the attacks.


    "I am not your enemy." Seeker sighed as he kept evading the flurry of thrust.


    As the attacks started to increase with intensity, Seeker suddenly jumped back and stood a few meters away from the blind man. Some parts of Seeker''s clothes were torn. And a very rare sight was seen. Seeker Carlean had a small wound on his right arm.


    The blind man was furious. He used the best of his abilities and could only scratch this young teen.


    "Listen, pal, I''m busy. I don''t have any intentions to blow your cover. Keep this up and I''ll give you a beating so bad that you''d wish you were facing the Dragon instead of me." Seeker spoke angrily.


    The blind man took a readied stance. His enemy was worthy of hi utilizing all his martial prowess on.


    "I do not know who you are, but you must die. You have jeopardized my mission."


    "Taking advantage of your long reach huh?" Seeker sighed once more. This encounter was causing more trouble than he had originally bargained for.


    The blind man ran forward and aimed a punch towards Seeker.


    Seeker concentrated and time started to slow down. A second felt like seven.


    Seeker stared at the approaching arm thrust. He could see the unnatural hardness of the blind man''s fingers.


    The thrust slowly approached Seeker. But just then, Seeker clenched his fist with his middle finger slightly protruding. Three punch were immediately delivered on the forearms of the blind man. The flurry of fists was so fast that the blind man couldn''t see the punches.


    The blind man immediately backed away and was clutching his right arm as if he was in pain.


    "As Meng would always advice. When facing someone with a longer reach, then it''s simple. Aim for his hands." Seeker smiled.


    The blind man frowned and dashed once more. But as he drew closer a crushing sensation gripped his heart. He stopped attacking and immediately knelt down on one leg.


    "I''m sorry. I didn''t realize you are Master''s student." The blind man respectfully answered. His hands and legs were shivering in fear.


    Seeker, who just released his indomitable aura, had a very peculiar look on his face.

 Chapter 31 - A Pill For Hypertension

    Seeker stared in confusion at the immediate change of tone of this blind man. However, what surprised Seeker the more was how this blind man managed to keep his head cool despite the heavy aura Seeker had just released.


    "Umm... Yeah. About that¡­ I''m one of Meng''s¡­ son?" Seeker guessed.


    The shivering blind man shivered all the more. He just attacked his Master''s son!


    "Forgive my presumptuousness! Had I known you would be one of Master''s heir''s, I would not have attacked!" The blind man continued to maintain his respectful tone, but Seeker could see how pale he was of fright.


    "I understand the confusion." Seeker sighed in relief. Thank God this assassin was not very bright.


    "I am one of his prodigal sons. We left father after we finished training. Ugh. You just made me call him father."


    The tension in the air just grew tighter. The blind man was clutching his fist tightly. He was trying to maintain his respectful position despite the heart-gripping sensation.


    "Forgive me." The blind man apologized once more.


    "I wonder how is Mister Meng''s killing intent now?" Seeker asked curiously.


    "About twice as Young Master." The blind man immediately answered.


    Seeker sighed.


    "Damned monster. Anyways, go home. Don''t tell Mister Meng we''d met. It would only make your life more miserable if he asked you to bring me back." Seeker started to walk for the door.


    "As you wish, Young Master." The blind man remained in a respectful position.


    Seeker hesitated to open the door. He thought for a bit and suddenly turned around.


    "What''s your name?"


    "This blind one is called Sting." The blind man respectfully responded. The sensation was gone, but his heart was beating faster than ever. The aura of fear blinded his thinking process. Now that his sense and thoughts were finally getting in order, he was more afraid.


    "I have a prophecy for you, Sting." Seeker sighed.


    "If you remain only as strong as this, you will die in the future. Probably within the next seven years." Seeker spoke harshly.


    Sting had a surprised look but dared not raised his head to face Seeker.


    "Your path is wrong. I believe you relied on your ears to see, correct? It''s a wrong path. It''s very inefficient. Look, I''ll put on these earplugs and cover my eyes. Toss these pickaxes to me with the intent to kill." Seeker threw the two pickaxes on the floor and wrapped his eyes with a ck bandana he carried. He took the pair of earplugs he was wearing earlier and put them on again.


    Sting had a confused look. He was sure that Seeker did cover his eyes and plugged his ears. He hesitantly took the pickaxe. With wary eyes, he gazed at the casual teen who stood before him.


    "Don''t hold back. I order you to attack me. If you fail to impress me, I will kill you." Seeker spoke harshly once more.


    Sting no longer hesitated. This was just like his Master. Sting took out a hidden de that he kept on his shoes. He immediately threw two pickaxes in a curving motion and threw the de discreetly. All of his attacks were aimed to hit an empty area with an intent to graze Seeker''s skin lightly.


    Unlike his expected oue, Seeker casually caught the pickaxes, which weren''t going to hit him and knocked off the de with the pickaxe.


    "You''re very respectful, aren''t you? I like that." Seeker smiled as he took off his blindfold and the earplugs.


    Sting stood in shock at Seeker''s skill.


    "That''s all the time I have for you. Leave this ce. Report that a mysterious attacker raided this ce, which allowed you to escape."


    Seeker then turned to leave.


    Sting was still in dazed with the skill Seeker had disyed. Was it true? Did he follow the wrong path to strength?


    As Seeker opened the door, he turned once more to Sting. A hesitant face surfaced once more.


    "Do you know about out-of-body experiences? Aim to experience those. The key is not to hear it but feel it. Feel the area as if you can see it. Bye now." Seeker waved and walked out.


    Two individuals were viewing Seeker''s stream on a giant monitor.


    "I''m not interested in anything that you have, and the reason why I am not betting against you isn''t fear. But pride. Why would I bet against you and ruin my own prestige by entertaining a monkey?" Arthur''s tone was harsh.


    "Ok. Then let''s change the bet. By your estimations, what is the fastest time a person couldplete Piercing: Edge?" Seeker smiled.


    This surprised Arthur. He didn''t expect this question toe up. He gave a casual nce at Seeker''s character and sneered.


    "Your build is inefficient. With your current progression, it would take you about 18 hours and 35 minutes to give or take. An efficient build that follows my calctions would allow a 15-hourpletion." Arthur smiled. He wasn''t giving room for courtesies anymore. Someone was trampling his reputation. At first, he was amused at Seeker''s skills, but now wasn''t the time to act in humility.


    Everyone viewing the stream was either typing so fast or listening so intently at this conversation. The entire game world was led to believe that a melee-based Edge was the way to go. The masses followed in blindly as they witnessed a game progression faster than they could manage, and soon Seeker''s build was the model build. Precept Gaming hadn''t even had the chance to release a video depicting the glories of rangedbat as it had just been a few days since Seeker''s rise to fame.


    "Correct. This isn''t the fastest way to pass the game. Oh, how I just love to have a dip in that brain of yours." Seeker smiled.


    "But what if I canplete this game under 8 hours while using this exact build?"


    Arthurughed as he heard Seeker''s bold deration.


    "Impossible. There would be no way that you can do that." Arthur sneered.


    "So, you calcte that this build can''tplete the game under eight hours?"


    "Yes. I don''t need to run the numbers. Any idiot would know that by now. The overall animations and cutscenes in this game and the mandatory text sequences would take you over an hour. Much more beating bosses." Arthur scoffed.


    "Then bet with me. If I win, you agree with the meeting. You pay for everything on a two-night romantic getaway. I prove that you are not the best gamer on this Earth and how severelycking your estimations are. If you win, you prove everything that I am trying to disprove, and I will join your team for free." Seeker smiled.


    The eyes of Arthur once again had a fit of zing anger growing within.


    "If I win, you will forever stop gaming. You will also sign a contract to which if you ever y or use your gaming skills to earn, be it directly or indirectly, if you do, you will relinquish everything you own to an establishment or person of my selection!"


    The chatroom was suddenly devoid of activity. Everyone was shocked at Arthur''s demands.


    "Deal!" Seeker smiled and gleefully nodded.


    Kristine had a shocked looked at Seeker''s immediate agreement, and Arthur was frowning.


    "Ladies and gents, I will hold a special stream on Saturday. After all, I did promise to show everyone a power walkthrough with zero hits. So I''ll end this walkthrough on tomorrow''s stream. But by Saturday, I''ll start on an 8-hour special stream. I willplete Piercing: Bullet with an all melee build and prove Precision wrong! Is that a deal, Precision?" Seeker returned the question.


    Arthur stared angrily at Seeker. He gave a small smirk.


    "Deal."


    "Get yourwyers ready. I don''t want to start the stream until I have it on paper. Let''s make this business deal as professional as possible." Seeker returned a smirk.


    "They''ll visit you at school tomorrow." Arthur walked out of the screen. He was not even bothering to give Seeker another look.


    Kristine looked awkwardly at Arthur''s leaving figure and back towards the camera as she remained seated. She immediately disconnected after a bit of pondering.


    The stream continued with Seeker silently ying through the game. No one was interested in talking about Seeker''s walkthrough. Even Seeker''s believers now doubted the sanity of their idol. They knew Seeker made bold gambles that he managed toplete, but now an impossible gamble was set.


    Seeker didn''t answer any questions about his Saturday stream. Heter ended the stream as he usually did, abrupt and anti-climactic. Viewers were disappointed at Seeker''s indifferent reactions. Everyone wanted the day to pass quickly and for Saturday to start.


    The two individuals who were watching had a grim expression on their faces.


    "Why is he doing this? Despite knowing about Lennox, he still has these unknown intentions towards Arthur?" Harker frowned.


    Alean stood by the side and was sighing.


    "Seeker imed it''s a business proposal."


    "Just who is he?" Harker frowned. He wasn''t one to panic or lost his patience. But the fear of knowing and the looming threat that has arrived were starting to get to make him feel the very emotions he hasn''t thought for a long time.


    "General, will Lennox go after Seeker because of this?"


    "No. Unless Arthur''s life is threatened, I doubt Lennox would get involved. If anything, Lennox would want his son to get rapped by some sick teenager. That could send the prodigal son home."


    Alean had a confused look at his father.


    "Then why are you worried about a possible interaction with Lennox?"


    "Do you remember the time I pretended to have been severely wounded?" Harper spoke with an impatient voice.


    "Of course, I did. You were in the middle of a war and right in the middle of one of our biggest deals ever! I had a hard time covering for you." Alean''s tone had no respect as she answered her father''s back. Alean frowned as she recalled that terrifying ordeal.


    "The reason why I did that was because of an invitation from Lennox. When we arrived at his estate on Britain, I was shocked to see who was also invited. Gathered in one roof was the Underworld itself. Everyone who was anyone in the Underworld was there."


    Alean was surprised. He had been in this business for too long to know the names of these underworld criminals. But someone managed to gather them into one house? There were two possible reasons that will bring the Underworld together; extreme profit that would make the heads of these organizations make a personal trip, or fear losing their empire should they anger this man.


    "Lennox prepared quite a banquet for us. When he finally appeared, we finally got our answer to this mysterious invitation." Harker frowned


    "What was it for?


    "He had nothing much to say. No proposals. No deals. He just stood there and stared at everyone and said, ''if anything happens to my son, say goodbye to your empires.''"


    Harker recalled the indifferent look that Lennox gave as he addressed the Underworld. It was as if Satan himself had the authority that could not match this man.


    "That''s it?" Alean was surprised. Could he gather the entire Underworld just to warn them?


    "Alean, if ever you get to where I am, you''d know not to mess with these men! That''s why we''ve always kept an eye for Arthur. And now, that teen you brought over wants Arthur! We could die if Seeker would kill or cause Arthur''s death!"


    CRASH!


    The doors burst open as several men came flying in.


    A figure walked in. He stood with a pair of pickaxes that were used by mountain climbers. He wore casual clothes. Nothing about what he wore could describe his very purpose of visiting this factory.


    "Ohhh. I wouldn''t worry about ol'' Arthur." Seeker greeted happily. He stepped on the unconscious soldiers thaty t on the ground.


    "Seeker!'' Alean cried in surprise.


    "What are you doing here?"


    "High-blood pressure. I need to take my meds.." Seeker chuckled.

 Chapter 32 - Dance With The Dragon

    Harker quickly drew the gun in his holster, but a pickaxe was sent flying into his arms. The pickaxes blunt top smashed Harker''s hand and stopped him from reaching his firearms.


    "The next pickaxe won''t hit you with the blunt end, General." Seeker smiled.


    Harker frowned. He didn''t expect Seeker to have visited tonight.


    "I thought we agreed to meet tomorrow." Harker''s tone was indifferent and t. He took a look at the unconscious soldiers.


    "What can I say? I''m a man of surprises." Seeker giggled.


    "Now let''s get down to business General. As you can see, I can easily kill you." Seeker pointed to his unconscious guards.


    These were soldiers who were the elite in Harker''s mini-army, yet this teen could easily conquer them.


    "But do you know why I went through all the trouble to do this?" Seeker smiled.


    "To make me fear you?" Harker asked with an indifferent expression.


    "Now, why would I do that? Have you noticed that I haven''t killed anyone of your soldiers? What kind of fear would I pass to you if I act all-merciful?"


    Harker nced at the unconscious soldiers. It was true. None of them were dead.


    "Then what?"


    "To prove a point. I don''t need you. I don''t need your help. But, right now, an alliance with you it is the most convenient way to achieve my goal." Seeker smiled.


    "And how can I help you?" Harker walked over and started pouring himself a bottle of whiskey.


    Harker offered a ss to Seeker.


    "No thanks. I''m still under-aged." Seeker smiled.


    "So a seventeen-year-old cane in, beat the crap of all my soldiers, and refuse to drink wine since he is underage. I wonder why is it that all that my hardboiled and striped elites could manage is to scratch you? What kind of world am I living in?"


    "Oh, this wound wasn''t inflicted by one of yours. A blind guy did this."


    Harker and Alean stared at each other.


    "You have a weird sense of humor, Mister Carlean. How can I help you?" The impatient General reiterated.


    "Partner with me. I''ve got a lot of things to do, and it requires quite a bit of funding. Not to mention the needed workforce, hi-tech facilities, and a secret base of operations. Your influence in the government and military would also prove useful." Seeker spoke easily.


    "So, you want me to allocate all of my time and resource for your little projects?" Harker''s raised his eyebrows.


    "Well, not all. I will require you tomit on some tasks, but about 30 percent of your ie would do as for resources." Seeker smiled.


    Harker stood in silence. He honestly expected worse.


    "And what would I gain in this uh¡­ partnership?"


    "I''ll make you the leader of the Pangean Nations." Seeker spoke with confidence.


    Harker sneered.


    "And why would I want to be the leader of this nation? If you haven''t noticed, I thrive in secrecy. Being in that position would only harm my operations."


    "Because the Dragon is nning to conquer your empire. You need all the power and authority you could get to survive." Seeker gave a devilish grin.


    The sneer turned into a sudden shocked look.


    "The-the Dragon?" Harker could not help but stutter.


    "Yes. The Dragon. You might know him as Robertson Meng. The reason I wanted to get chummy with Arthur is to make sure his dad won''t get in between this dance with the Dragon. If Lennox would join me in this battle, then it would assure my victory. Of course, that''s a hopeless cause. So at most, I want Lennox to not meddle in this dance with Meng. Facing one of them is already frustrating enough. If the other decides to join in themotion, then all hope for victory is lost." Seeker gave a depressed sigh.


    Harker clutched his fist in fear. Seeker was talking about the same Dragon that he knew.


    "Oh, and you really don''t have a choice on this matter. Originally, I came here just to make a proposal. But I don''t know if you know about the blind guy that you or your men abducted. Now, this battle is definitely underway."


    "The blind man? Our men caught him in the middle of one of our operations earlier." Harker had a confused look.


    Seeker pointed to his wound.


    "Which blind guy did you think did this? The blind man who your men were interrogating is Sting. One of Meng''s most skilled warriors."


    "WHAT?!" Harker knew of Sting by name. An assassin of deadly repute. Never in Harker''s imagination would that known assassin be a blind man.


    "I don''t know if he was sent here to kill you. That is the most probable cause, though. Luckily I chased him off. This, however, would be to your favor. Now the Dragon thinks that we are not on the same side considering the state in which I left your men in."


    Harker walked over to his desk and sat down. The whiskey was trembling in his hand. Why would Dragon aim to kill him? It didn''t make sense.


    "What could the Dragon possibly want with me?!" Harker shouted at Seeker. His once fearful state was reced with a confused and panicked expression.


    Seeker pointed to Alean.


    "What else, General? That thing in your daughter''s heart." Seeker smiled.


    Harker was shocked silent. The Dragon was one of his primary buyers. But who would have thought that he would yearn for his Programmed ve technology?


    Alean had a confused look at Seeker.


    "What thing?" Alean asked.


    "The Programmed ve chips," Seeker responded tly.


    Alean felt as if her entire body was floating. She stood petrified. She never really could get out of her father''s grasp.


    "Why would the Dragon want my technology?" Harker asked, ignoring his daughter''s surprise.


    "What are the most amazing traits of the Programmed ve chip? Let''s see, it''s nigh untraceable even with the most advanced technologies on earth, it''s impossible to reverse engineer, and the materials used should only be native to the Pangean Nations. Gee. This is a tough one. Why would Dragon want this tech?"


    A more profound sense of terror clutched Harker''s heart. Who would''ve thought that his most frequent buyer had other motives for buying this item?


    "If you want me to answer this very obvious question, then I shall. The way you''ve been using this technology was wasteful because of your cautious nature, General." Seeker walked over and sat down at the chair adjacent to the chair that Harker sat on. Seeker disrespectfully propped his feet op Harker''s desk.


    "If used properly, the Programmed ve could allow its owner to rule the world. Perhaps even be a god. A god who could give them happiness at the flip of a switch. Maybe Dragon wants that." Seeker rxed at the seat''s incline.


    Harker slowly lifted his ss and drank.


    "So, what are you going to do now?"


    "How confident are you in stopping him?" Harker red.


    "Well¡­ For now, he''s probably twice as strong as me physically speaking. The array of my abilities would prove¡­ helpless in front of his. So I don''t think I stand a chance." Seekerughed.


    Harker was brimming with anger. Just when he thought he was saved, Casual Carlean dered that he doesn''t stand a chance towards the Dragon.


    Seeing Harker''s descent to anger made Seekerughed out once more.


    "Rx. I said, ''for now.'' I could quickly get stronger and stand toe-to-toe with him. My main issue is his subordinates. Right now, some could keep me busy. I mean, that blind guy managed to scratch me. That should speak miles for his skills. Your poor soldiers couldn''t even make me flinch."


    Harker sat down and had a very serious expression.


    "Agree to partner with me, and I''ll agree to help you out of this dilemma." Seeker smiled.


    Harker slowly nodded.


    "Great!" Seeker extended his hand.


    Harker slowly reached out and shook it.


    "Now, to prove your sincerity, I''ll need a couple of things. Five million Sydian''s transferred to my ount immediately, the biggest red emerald jewel on your collection, a set of weapons and ammo, military intel on the following items, and a lifetime free pass to all of those Buffet restaurants you own." Seeker handed out a piece of paper. He had a look that anticipated the awaiting dishes.


    Harker gave a re. But somewhere in this re was a trace of confusion.


    Buffet restaurants?


    "Alean. Transfer the ount now. I''ll take a look at your list once you secured my safety from the Dragon." Harker was about to keep the paper in his pocket.


    "Wait. I''ll tell you what to do now. It isn''t thatplicated, honestly." Seekerughed.


    Harker frowned.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Let''s review the facts. Dragon sent an assassin to kill you. But his assassin met a formidable warrior with dashing good looks and a wicked set of pickaxes. So, logically, since his assassin retreated with only managing to scratch this warrior, Dragon would have to act cautiously."


    Harker gave a stupid look at Seeker. He was right. It was simple.


    "His guess would be someone equal to his level must have sent this assassin. Probably Lennox or Eagle or even The Great Common Man."


    "How did you-?" Harker shivered at the mention of Eagle. How did this teen know about so many terrifying personalities? Seeker, however, simply ignored this.


    "After all, who would have the resource or connection to get someone like me, right? Basically, whoever the Dragon thinks is trying to get to you isn''t someone he can casually mess with."


    Harker''s fear was subsiding. He was right. The Dragon has always been a caution man. Trouble like this would definitely be avoided.


    "However, that isn''t enough. Something has to ur on our meeting. The most likely expectation is that you''d wind up dead due to a master assassin." Seeker spoke with a dreadful tone.


    The fear was slowly returning as Harker''s heart started pumping faster again.


    "BUT!" Seeker teased.


    "But what?" Harker followed.


    Seeker grinned confidently. He stood up and started to crack his fists. There was confidence in his look, pride in his posture, dignity in his smile, and terrifying power in his cracking fist.


    Harker slowly leaned forward, awaiting Seeker''s reply. He was at the edge of his seat. He was saved. What did he need to do?


    "I really haven''t thought about it that far." Seeker sighed.


    Harker angrily smashed the table.


    "Quit ying around!" Harker screamed.


    Alean couldn''t help but chuckle at Seeker''s casual remark.


    Seeker gave a loudugh as he saw Harker''s expression.


    "Rx! I''m just teasing you! For a General, you sure are uptight. Oh, wait. Generals are supposed to be this uptight." Seeker nodded in realization.


    "TELL ME!" Harker shouted once more.


    "I already did right from the start!" Seeker smiled.


    "Be a politician. Aim for the presidential seat of Phil-Pangea. And once you do that, aim for the Prime Director of the Pangean Nations! This sudden change of behavior would confuse the Dragon and make him think that you are connected with any of these men. He''ll set out to uncover who it is that is pulling strings behind your show. But since there is none, he''d be wasting a lot of time and resources. And that equals enough time for me to get ready." Seeker smiled.


    Harker stood silently. His hands still remained nted on the table. It was that easy.


    "So, will you carry out your end of the bargain?" Seeker asked once more.


    "I will." Harker resumed his usual indifferent expression.


    "Oh. And one more thing." Seeker immediately snatched a medal pinned on Harker''s shirt.


    Harker''s immediate expression was confusion. But after he realized what had just happened, he panicked. But Seeker rammed the blunt top of his pickaxe to Harker''s throat.


    "Alean will be working for me now. Thank you." Seeker curtly turned back after doing the light thrust. He then tossed the medal over to Alean.


    Alean had a confused look and stared at the medal.


    "What''s this for?" Alean asked in surprise.


    "What do you think?" Seeker smiled.

 Chapter 33 - The Planted Seeds

    Harker was coughing at the sudden strike. He red angrily at Seeker once he recovered from the suffocating experience.


    "I don''t understand." Alean gave an even more confused look. Why was her father so mad? Seeker turned back to Harker, ignoring the odd glimpse of Alean.


    "Oh, and General, the red gemstone, please. This very thing could just save your life."


    Harker red angrily at Seeker. But said nothing. He rubbed his throat as he tried to soothe the pain. Harker immediately opened his desk drawer and slid a part of the board to reveal a secretpartment containing threerge gemstones in a ss container.


    "How did you even find out about these gemstones?" Harker asked candidly as he opened the containers.


    "You have more than one? Call it a lucky guess. I just need the red one." Seeker smiled.


    Arge beautiful crimson red jewel as taken out of the container, and Harker tossed it to Seeker.


    "Thank you, General. See you tomorrow." Seeker turned around to leave.


    "See you tomorrow, Miss." Seeker smiled as he sped off to the exit.


    Only then did Alean realize what Seeker had done. Alean quickly turned and threw the medal back to Seeker''s departing figure. Harker frowned at this action.


    Seeker caught it without looking.


    "It''s better if that''s with you." Alean smiled. Seeker waved back as he walked towards the end of the hallway.


    Seeker slowly disappeared at the turn of the corner.


    A man stood at the roof of an abandoned building near the factory. He noticed four other individuals in the area and seemed to be waiting. If these were the Young Master''s friends, then he''d be dead if he hurt them. He sighed and waited.


    All his life, he feared only three individuals. A terrifying assassin that made his skills look like that of a child, his Master''s disciple, and his Master, the Dragon. Now, however, a fourth personage rose from the shadows that instilled fear in his heart. This person was definitely weaker than his Master or the assassin, but all that Sting could do was a scratch this person. And that was taking into ount that this person never intended to kill him.


    Sting heard an unusual sound at the edge of the factory. He readied his senses to identify the direction of the fleeing figure.


    Sting frowned. The movement of these footsteps outdid even his own techniques. Perhaps only his Master and the assassin could match this person''s foot technique.


    Strangely, this fleeing figure was headed straight to him. Sting sighed in depression. He was about a decade older than this person, but this person''s sensing technique far outssed his.


    "Truly worthy of being Master''s son." Sting smiled. He was sitting in a meditative position but stood up. Before him stood the very figure, he was locking on to.


    "Sting. It''s a good thing you waited for me. Actually, it''s a bad thing. I should kill you. But considering this would make my life so much easier, I guess it''s a good thing." Seeker smiled calmly as he approached the sitting assassin.


    Sting''s calm face suddenly turned to one with horror.


    "How has this one offended Young Master?" He gave a respectful bow immediately.


    "I told you not to follow me, and yet you waited for me here. No doubt to observe my movements. Have you been eavesdropping at my friends?" Seeker smiled.


    A chilling sensation started to build up. Sting knew this was Seeker''s aura.


    "Young Master, please forgive me!" He knew he couldn''t lie his way out of this.


    "Don''t worry. As I said, with the recent turn of events, it looks like this will help me. Is this what you came for?" Seeker held out a bright red gemstone and smiled.


    The Dragon was a collector of bright red gemstones. Could it be that Harker managed to acquire one gemstone that Meng had been looking for and sent Sting to retrieve it? Sting was not only a skilled assassin, but he was a master of concealment. He could have sneaked out of the torture chamber and pilfer the gemstone without alerting anybody.


    Seeker continued to extend and reveal the gemstone. Seconds pass. Andter, a minute has passed, and Sting continued to prostrate himself as Seeker held the bright stone.


    Seeker frowned.


    "Sting? Answer me." Amanding tone came out of the impatient Seeker.


    Sting started to shiver.


    "Young Master, forgive me. I cannot see what that is. So I don''t know what that is." Sting gave an embarrassed and, at the same time, a terrorized plea.


    Seeker''s facepalmed himself.


    Of course, Sting couldn''t tell what this object was! He was blind!


    Seeker had a lifetime worth of memories, training, and teachings from the best and the brightest, and the Unlocking power. Yet all of these still couldn''t cure Seeker of thepses of stupidity he had from time to time.


    "This is a crimson red gemstone. Did Mister Meng send you to steal this?" Seeker continued to ask.


    Sting was shocked and looked excitedly at the gem Seeker held.


    "Young Master, would your grace allow, please bestow that gemstone upon your humble servant."


    "Of course. That way, you would havepleted your mission, and you don''t need to report on my interruption. Report that someone was attacking the factory, which allowed you to sneak in and steal this."


    "Young Master, forgive me. This isn''t a mission. I had known that he had been seeking beautiful gemstones recently. And so I decided that after Ipleted my mission in this country, I''d steal a gemstone and offer it as a gift when I returned. I learned of three gemstones that General Harker had acquired illegally since already stolen gemstones can''t be reported, it would not go against the no-exposure rule that my Master has set."


    Seeker had a confused look after hearing the exnation.


    "Then why were you caught?"


    "I tried to take it by force and knocked out the men, butter more soldiers arrived."


    Seeker raised an eyebrow.


    "How could you have not have heard the arriving soldiers?"


    Sting sighed with an embarrassed look.


    "The location had great acoustics, so I couldn''t hear what was going on outside of the building. When the soldiers came in, I knew that I would need to kill in order to left. So I pretended to be a helpless blind man and steal all the gemstonester." Sting exined.


    "Now that''s just pitiful and embarrassing. And to think that you call yourself an assassin." Seeker shook his head in disappointment.


    Sting sat down silently.


    "Still, that''s one heck of an acoustic setup." Seekermended.


    "Indeed, it was." The frustrated assassin could not help but agree.


    "So you weren''t in some secret mission but out to get your boss a good present, huh?" Seeker gave a frustrated sigh. And here, Seeker thought that Dragon had personally sent the man. And then, it hit Seeker.


    "Wait. All gemstones?" Seeker asked in surprise.


    "Yes."


    "Not just the red one? Or is it a matter of you being blind?"


    "I have heard that Master collects gemstones of all colors." Sting bowed.


    Seeker thought for a bit. This just didn''t make any sense. After a bit of contemtion, Seeker then smiled. The creation of the grand picture surfaced in Seeker''s mind. If Seeker took advantage of this, then he would reap a lot of benefits.


    "I think I know why your boss has been out seeking beautiful gems. Alright. I have a message for your boss. But don''t tell your boss that it came from his son. It would be troublesome if this dear ol'' dad of mine would chase me. Understand?" Seeker immediately released a wave of killing intent.


    "Yes, Young Master!" Sting immediately answered.


    "You are to report everything else to dad ept my identity. Tell dad that an agent working for Lennox needed the other two jewels. Your Master will only need the red one. Also, be sure to inform him that all he needs is a red jewel based on my observations. Craft it in the necessary gold and silver ornaments, and it should suffice." Seeker instructed.


    Sting nodded. He was sighing in his mind. His Master would definitely punish him. Who would have thought that Young Master was a subordinate of Lennox? What if some misunderstanding would ur and cause the Dragon and Lennox to sh? After all, Sting knew his Master was avoiding this at all costs but didn''t really understand why.


    "Young Master, if I may speak. You can take the jewel. Master didn''t need it in the first ce, and I have done this by my own volition."


    "No. It''s you who don''t understand, Sting. What I''m saying is it''s this very jewel that your Master needs. He will definitely praise you soon. He just doesn''t know it yet. Remember, I am your Master''s son. I know what he ns to do with that jewel, So I''m doing you a favor. It will also greatly aid your Master. The only concern is if he will listen. But if he finds out I work for Lennox, he definitely will listen. Also, when the timees, and you will know when that will be, you will tell your Master that it was me who gave you this jewel."


    Sting nodded despite his confusion.


    "Now go. And please don''t try to follow my friends or me. I will found out if you do." Seeker tossed the jewel.


    Sting caught it and bowed once more.


    "As youmand Young Master. Farewell."


    A blur could be seen as Sting started moving with urate ninja-like speed and sneak.


    Seeker smiled as Sting disappeared. He had nted the seeds. When harvest timees, he will reap a lot of benefits. Seeker returned to the car to meet up with his friends.


    "Well? How was it?" Charles spoke as he noticed Seekering out of the darkness.


    "Just call me a master seed-nter." Seeker smiled.


    "Zeek! You got wounded!" Lynd eximed.


    "Rx. It''s not from Harker''s men. This one came from an assassin who was already in the building."


    "An assassin? Who was the target of this assassin?" Meryl worriedly grasped Seeker''s arm.


    "It''s¡­plicated. A big misunderstanding, really. But all these misunderstandings have aided me greatly. Now Harker will obediently listen to me. I didn''t need to make an effort to make him believe my lies." Seekerughed.


    "Sounds like you had a good night." Charles smiled.


    "It is. I don''t need to act subtly on Harker''s Programmed ves with the way things are now. Oh. Right. Here you go, Lynd." Seeker tossed a medal to Lynd.


    Lynd caught it and observed it. He wiped the medal clean and was observing every detail of it.


    "What is this?" Lynd asked.


    "You didn''t press it did you? That''s Alean''s Programmed ve kill switch. One wrong move and Alean would have heart failure." Seeker casually remarked as he sat on the front seat of the car.


    Immense fear jolted Lynd''s calm temperament.


    "WHAT! ZEEK! I PRESSED IT!" Lynd shouted.


    Seekerughed.


    "Just kidding. No need to worry."


    "Zeek! I hate you! I thought this really was the kill switch!"


    "Oh, it really is a kill switch. Harker probably set it to a voicemand, which only he could trigger. Otherwise, a careless press could kill his daughter." Seeker started munching on the burgers that were prepared for Seeker''s post-adventure.


    Lynd''s hand was petrified and didn''t know what to do with the kill switch.


    "Lucky you, Lynd. You now have direct ess to Alean''s heart." Meryl teased in glee.


    "Alright, enough of that. Cliff, any word on your little errand?"


    Cliff always had a weary and alert expression. Listening to the discussions of the three gave him confusion except for one apparent reality. Don''t mess with Seeker Carlean.


    "Yes. They confirmed your suspicions. All eight were sent to one hospital. The Meglon Hospital." Cliff reported.


    "All? Interesting. That raises the possibility that all foreign exchanged students are Programmed ves." Seeker had a devilishly, pleasant smile.


    "What?" Charles was rmed at the number.


    "But-but that''s over a hundred students!" Meryl eximed.


    "Yes. And soon, they will all be mine.." Seeker then gave a creepyugh that a mad, evil viin on TV would do.

 Chapter 34 - To Feel And Hear

    Seeker was whistling a happy tune. He entered the dark halls of an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city. He would shout at times to hear the echoes of the building. He moved out of the halls in into the open field of the building.


    The building was one of Harker''s former drugbs. As suspicions arose to the use of the building, Harker immediately abandoned it. Now all that remains are empty halls and what could only be described as abyrinth of corridors and passages.


    "Nice ce. This will do for today''s activity." Seeker smiled. On his waist was a pair the mountain climber''s pickaxes. Seeker slowly held it.


    Alean stood there with a frowning expression. With just a simple call, she had to organize a field trip that excused Seeker and his gang along with Cliff. Charles also arrived with an almost dead expression.


    "Seeker. I''m at the brink of discovery in my research. Are you sure that this little exercise will help me finish this faster?" Charles frowned. He clearly hadn''t slept muchst night.


    Meryl, Lynd, and Cliff wondered why they were included in this trip.


    "Of course. If anything, it could speed the research twice as fast. For now, please gather and put all the weapons out here." Seeker smiled.


    "The guns or my weapon collection?" Charles asked.


    "Both of them."


    Seeker then started to do several stretching movements. He grasped the mountain climbing pickaxes and began to run towards the wall of the building.


    The same scaling technique was applied, and in less than a minute, Seeker reached the top of the building.


    Everyone stared in shock at Seeker''s fast movements. No one saw how Seeker managed to infiltrate the factoryst night. And now they knew.


    "What are you doing? I need you to get the weapons out now!" Seeker ordered.


    The group below stood for a while and started to move as they shook their heads. They couldn''t believe how easy it was for Seeker to do that.


    Seeker sat down on the roof and gazed at the view of the city. There were other buildings nearby. However, as this was mainly contained industrial buildings used during the Colonist Wars, the buildings were now used mainly as storage for variouspanies. There was virtually no one nearby on this part of the city.


    Seeker sat down and dove deep into his memories. He envisioned the past in his mind.


    "Realm King." Seeker sighed.


    Seeker watched his memory as if he was watching a movie.


    Before Seeker stood the Realm King. He was the World Champion of which Seeker served under for the majority of his tenure as a soldier.


    "50 meters with hearing and 30 with feeling, huh?" The Realm king smiled.


    "This is the best I can do, General." Seeker saluted.


    "It''s not the best. The Inhuman stage could allow users to maximize their senses to the point that you can theoretically reach a hundred meters alone in feeling." The Realm Kingughed.


    Seeker grumbled. What was hepared to a monster?


    "General, isn''t it a bit unreasonable to set your standard on me?"


    "It''s not unreasonable. It''s possible. What is it that the men called me these days?"


    "Omnipresent within two kilometers, Sir," Seeker responded.


    "What do you think I use to reach that?"


    "Hearing?"


    "Feeling, Seeker."


    Seeker gave a shocked look.


    "So you feel the presence of everyone using feeling? But how can you determine their ns and action?"


    "At my stage, I can interpret sounds based on the vibrations into hearing. You see, sounds can be blocked. At some point, no matter how good you are at hearing, you will fail toprehend the meaning of these muffled sounds."


    "You mean to say that you could feel sounds?" Seeker asked in confusion.


    "Yes. Didn''t you listen to Charles'' lecture? He called it Realm Somatotopy. The ability to feel everything within a given area."


    "I know about Realm Somatotopy. Anyone in the Inhuman stage could do that at about 5 meters. But none of them can detect sounds, General. Even Ranked Heroes." Seeker gave a depressed sigh.


    The Realm Kingughed.


    "Well, some Ranked Heroes can." The Realm King teased.


    Seeker just frowned and just gave an impatient look to the Realm King.


    "The trick is to master the Echolocation and master Realm Somatotopy. And then, you need to find a way to connect the echolocation map to the Somatotopic map. Once youbine these two, then you would finally have a chance at bing like me."


    Seeker continued to give an impatient look at the Realm King''s teases.


    "You see, in the end, sounds can be blocked, but its vibrations could still resound. Even if it strikes a wall, it vibrates. If you are sensitive enough, you could feel the vibrations and echoes of sound and interpret it."


    "Interpret vibrations? So... you can understand what people are saying or doing when all that you could hear are vibrations?" Seeker asked again. Seeker then paused and quickly scrutinized the logical correctness of his statement.


    "Didn''t Beethoven did it? He used his sense of touch to feel the vibrations of each key, and heter managed to produce masterpieces. Imagine the possibilities if an Unlocked mind could master this. I wonder what kind of Champion Beethoven would have been if he was alive now." The Realm Kingughed.


    "So, I need to feel the sound and try to find a way to interpret it?" Seeker asked.


    The Realm King gave a happy nod.


    Seeker sighed. This task was hard to reach. They had no time to train.


    "Too bad. I''m not one of those Believers. If I were, it would have been possible, and this talk would have more usefulness."


    "It would. But I''m not too fond of the idea of you being a Believer. You enjoy the climb more than the peak. That is your strength, Seeker. Someday, I''m sure it will prove useful to you."


    Seeker smiled once more, and his consciousness returned him to his present self-standing on the roof.


    He had reached the Surmounting stage of the Ranked Hero then and had the experience to understand how echolocation works and could use Realm Somatotopy at an experienced level. But at the moment that Seeker died, as his Unlocking soared to uncharted levels, for a brief second, he managed to experience the fusion of these two.


    Experience leads to understanding, and understanding to knowledge and knowledge to control.


    "General, I can finally walk on your footsteps. Seeker smiled softly.


    Seeker closed his eyes and focused his senses. He was subtly closing the senses of his smell, his sight, and even his touch. His hearing senses were pushed to the maximum. Using his memories as the foundation, Seeker recalled how his hearing would reach an impressive range of nearly 20 meters.


    He could hear and even make a mental map of what was happening down the building. The sounds mapped out the movements of Cliff, who carried several weapons which Seeker could make out as axes and swords.


    The objects that Lynd was carrying with caution was an assault rifle that was exclusively used by the military. Seeker could make out the design based on the shape of the gun.


    "This is it. Echolocation." Seeker took a deep breath as he struggled to maintain this state.


    Seeker stopped using Echolocation and blocked his sense of hearing.


    He slowly blocked all his senses leaving the sense of touch active.


    "Realm Somatotopy." Seeker started to push his sense of touch to the maximum.


    Seeker could feel everything within 10 meters. asionally some of his friends would enter this range, and Seeker could feel their presence. He knew where they were and what they were doing. He could barely make a mental map. But with the experience of his memories, he could immediately interpret it into a clearer image.


    Seeker ended his state. He gripped his fist in preparation for the merging of these two. He remembered the feeling, but now he would try tobine these two.


    Seeker opened his sense of hearing and sense of touch and pushed both to the maximum.


    It was chaos. Seeker convulsed at the strange sensation he felt. He felt as if he wasn''t in his current position any longer. Unlike the experience of having an out-of-body experience where he could ''see'' the area around him, Seeker felt as if he was everywhere within 10 meters.


    His convulsion almost made Seeker faint. Seeker stopped the merging of these two, and to his horror, he was falling.


    Seeker immediately took the pickaxe he held and smashed it on the wall. Seeker almost reached the ground when he was clinging to it.


    "ZEEK!" Lynd and Meryl cried as they rushed to their friend.


    Seeker let go of the pickaxe and fell to the ground. Hey t on the floor and was gasping for breath. He managed to feel the sensation of the fuse, but his head was now throbbing in pain.


    "What happened?" Charles ran and asked Seeker.


    "Don''t worry, guys." Seeker spoke as he tried to catch his breath.


    "I''m alright. I just did something reckless." Seeker smiled as he tried to sit up.


    His head continued to spin. He could asionally feel the area through his hearing and his touch.


    Seekerid on his back once again. His world was spinning.


    He opened his eyes and gazed tiredly at the clouds.


    It was then he saw it.


    "What the?" Seeker reacted. He continued to fix his eyes on the sky as if trying to find something.


    Everyone around him turned and gazed at the sky at the direction that Seeker was looking for.


    Seeker frowned.


    "Is something wrong?" Charles asked with a worried tone.


    "I can''t see it. But I''m sure it''s there. Alean, give me a sniper rifle." Seekermanded angrily.


    Alean was startled at Seeker''s angry tone and rushed to grab the gun.


    Seeker closed his eyes once more and started to breathe deeply. He rxed his entire body. Soon he managed to stabilize his sensation.


    Seeker stood up and reached for the gun that Alean carried. Seeker took the pickaxe that still hung on the floor. With one hand, he held the rifle, and with the other, he used the same scaling technique. This time, Seeker was hitting for the holes that he already made. Since he didn''t have to strike hard, Seeker was able to manage the rise with only one pickaxe easily.


    Seeker swiftly reached the roof of the building.


    He then positioned himself far into the middle area in case he would convulse again. Seeker continued to keep his eyes open.


    Seeker then aimed the gun high. It didn''t look like he was aiming for anything.


    "What are you doing, Zeek?" Meryl shouted.


    Seeker looked around the area as if he was looking for something. Seeker was shivering. He could barely manage this state.


    "Found ya!" Seeker aimed at an elevated position and fired three bullets at the sky. It was a strange sight for the group below. Seeker didn''t even use the scope.


    Inside a building a few blocks away from where Seeker and his team were, two men were observing Seeker through aputer.


    "What''s he doing?"


    "I don''t know. He seems to be aiming at something."


    "Didn''t He look directly at the drone?"


    "Idiot. Look where he''s aiming!"


    "He''s shooting! Just what is he aiming at?"


    "I don''t know-"


    PENG! PENG! PENG!


    Three bullets pierced through the slightly opened window. One bullet hit through theputer and destroyed it. Another shot through the first soldiers'' left leg while the other pierced through the soldier''s right arm.


    "AHHH!" The first soldier cried in surprise.


    The second showed his tenure as he quickly dashed for cover and grabbed a radio-like device.


    "General! We are under attack! Seeker is shooting at us!" The panicked soldier reported.


    Seeker reached the ground as he used his left hand to hook himself and to disrupt his free fall.


    "Alean. Tell your dad I won''t be so generous next time." Seeker spoke as he walked towards the weapon shack.


    A crashing sound was then heard near their area.


    The group turned near the south side of the building and could now see an object that would blink intermittently to reveal itself.


    "It''s a military-grade drone!" Alean cried in shock.

 Chapter 35 - Forced Unlocking

    The fallen drone had a sophisticated pseudo-cloaking technology made possible through innovative camouging features.


    "Cloaking-level camouge, eh?" Charles shook his head, seeing how the fallen drone would blink from being visible to invisible. He knew drones like these were expensive.


    Alean immediately shuffled to call her father.


    "General-"


    "Thank Seeker for sparing my men''s lives. Ask if we can retrieve the drone." Harker immediately spoke.


    "He can send his men to pick it up after we are finished here. It''s not damaged beyond repair." Seeker responded loudly as if he heard what Harker was saying over the phone.


    "Thank you," Harker responded as he could overhear Seeker''s cold voice.


    "And if you do spy on me again, I won''t be so generous." Seeker angrily spoke.


    Harker was silent on the other line.


    Alean abruptly hung up the phone and stood silently.


    "You managed to see something that is practically invisible!" Charlesmended.


    "I couldn''t ''see.'' It was more of seeing and feeling, I guess. Whatever¡­ that was very unsettling. I better not enter that state with my current level." Seeker sighed.


    "Geez Zeek. You almost died there. Be more careful when you try things like those!" Meryl scolded.


    "I''m sorry. I didn''t expect it would be that bad. Ugh. I can''t believe the Realm King could easily do that without getting all queasy." Seeker frowned. It was almost impossible for him to remain in that state.


    "I guess it''s not that easy to follow on the footsteps of a World Champion. Here I am with all my advantages, and I''m not even sure if I can make it to that realm." Seeker sighed.


    "What are you talking about?" Alean interjected.


    "You''ll find out in a bit." Seeker smiled.


    Everyone had a confused look.


    "Alright, Zeek. I think it''s about time you tell us why we had toe here. The weapons are all in ce. I can''t help but worry about all the military surveince and the weapon we have here." Meryl spoke bluntly.


    "Right now, what we need to do is to Unlock."


    "What do you mean to Unlock?" Lynd had a curious look.


    "You see, in preparation for theing battles, we need two things. First, I need to push my Unlocking further."


    "How? I thought that my research would be the key to improving your Unlocking." Charles asked immediately.


    "You are right. We need your tech to open the Unlocking to everyone. It is almost impossible for people to reach the Unbing stage in their entire life, much less the Inhuman stage. You can''t train to reach that position. But because of my unique circumstance, I can." Seeker asked.


    Cliff and Alean had a confused look at the question but noticing that this hasn''t startled the rest, they kept quiet.


    "So how do you improve your Unlocking?"


    "Constant use. I need to improve my foundation on almost everything. I realized that forcing higher levels of the Unlocking could be detrimental to my overall potential. In the future, what we needed were more Unlocked individuals. We rushed into things. But now, I have the opportunity to hone my skills. So I need to allow myself to use these skills in actual battle constantly."


    "I see. It''s like your rebuilding your foundation." Charles analyzed.


    Seeker nodded. He then went towards the guns and ammo.


    "However, being in this state offers a lot of responsibilities. It means that I have to understand how to use all weapons effectively. After all, I can''t build an army if I don''t know how to train them."


    Seeker immediately took an assault rifle and started to observe every inch of it.


    "The second thing I need; is to experiment how I can stimte the Unlocking without relying on your research, Charles. I believe that people who have been Unlocked before having you rework their brain would allow them to have a higher chance of reaching Ranked Hero." Seeker started selecting from the guns disyed.


    "So you mean to stimte people''s brain too which they can reach beyond the ten percent norm?"


    "Yes. The question is, how do we force a person to reach this state?"


    The group was silently contemting. Alean and Cliff listened intently to their discussion, although they couldn''t make heads or tails of where this discussion was about.


    "Maybe have them fight a lot? Martial artists and athletes have this, right? So why not do what they do?" Lynd suggested.


    "That would take years, though. And the increase is too small. Not to mention, it will only aid in some parts of their perception." Seeker shook his head.


    "What I need is something that will push the brain to an extreme level of stress." Seeker smiled.


    Charles frowned at this suggestion.


    "I got it! What if they encounter life-threatening situations? Didn''t you mention stuff about OOBE and life reviews a result of pushing their brains beyond the ten percent?" Meryl shouted.


    "That is true, but it''s almost impossible to achieve that." Charles countered.


    Meryl frowned.


    "How is it impossible?"


    "Charles is correct. Doing what you suggest is difficult." Seeker said as he removed the silencer from the gun barrel.


    "How is that difficult? We can scare them or something. Let''s just have them face a lot of dangerous situations, and they should have those."


    Charles shook his head.


    "That''s what I''m saying. It isn''t as simple as putting them in a dangerous situation. I served on several tours during my days as an army doctor. I had a lot of close calls, but I never experienced either of those."


    "Then what could cause that?" Lynd asked curiously.


    "It has to be a feeling where they would genuinely think that they would die. If their brains are pushed to that point of mortality, they would probably push their brain beyond the norm." Charles exined.


    "Oh... That sounds reckless. Nutterballs. What could make them think that they are sure to die? We''d have to do something really bad to them to make them think that."


    "It''s not only reckless, but it''s dangerous. Unless we have a way to ensure that no one would die while performing this experiment, then we cannot use that."


    "Oh. So we can''t do that..." Meryl sighed.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    A bullet flew and grazed Lynd''s left cheek,


    A bullet grazed Charles'' left arm.


    And Meryl stumbled in shock when he heard an ear-piercing gunshot right at her ears.


    Before anyone of them could shout, a strange choking sensation stopped them from doing it.


    Everyone looked at the source of the gunshots. And they froze when they saw Seeker.


    He was holding several guns, and a lot of weapons were protruding through a small bag he was wearing. What was scary was that he shot the three with blindfolds on.


    "Actually, we can."


    A terrifying sensation overcame Meryl, and she almost fell to the floor in fear.


    Seeker had an almost demonic grin.


    Everyone was gripped with fear. Lynd saw the wound on his cheek and gazed at Seeker, who was now wearing blindfolds, he felt a spine-chilling sensation.


    Finally, the sensations that he or Meryl never felt were now experienced in a horrifying level.


    "I can create fear as well as imitate a life-threatening situation. I can make it that it would look so believable that the saidb rats will either achieve a state of Unlocking or die from a heart attack." Seekerughed as he ced the silencer back to the handgun.


    "And most importantly, I can also ensure that no one will die in this situation."


    Seeker was slowly approaching Meryl.


    Meryl wanted to shout, but Seeker''s aura was too strong.


    She slowly crawled backward as Seeker approached.


    "I hope none of you will suffer from post-traumatic stress after this. Oh well, it''s a risk I''m willing to take. I don''t need weakness in the uing battles. I''ll count to five. After that, I begin my massacre. Use whatever weapons against me." Seeker ordered as he posed to a stance that was ready to shoot.


    Charles and Alean were the first to scramble towards the weapon.


    "GET UP!" Charles shouted towards Meryl.


    "Five."


    Lynd was petrified and couldn''t move. He turned around to see Cliff limping towards the weapon shack. He was too far from the guns, and that was also too near to the devil incarnate.


    "HELP ME!" Meryl cried hysterically.


    "Four."


    Alean took the gun and, without warning, opened fire. Seeker didn''t even have to move as Alean''s shaking hands couldn''t aim properly.


    "Three."


    A slow-moving Lynd lifted up Meryl. Charles also started to shoot at Seeker.


    Seeker was easily evading the bullets despite being blindfolded. He was using both Echolocation and Realm Somatotopy at the same time. However, he did not merge the two.


    "Two. You got to try harder, guys. I need a more stimting practice." Seeker smiled.


    Lynd and Meryl were struggling to get inside the building.


    Cliff now had a long steel bat but was also rushing for the door.


    "One."


    Alean''s cry was the first thing that Lynd heard. He struggled to move faster. Meryl managed to jolt her mind back in order and managed to get control of her body. She then started running faster. Lynd started running faster as he noticed Meryl''s recovery.


    Several gunshots continued to resound as the pair dashed for the door. Cliff was just about to reach it ahead when a bullet pierced through the ground he was about to step on. The surprise caused Cliff to lose his bnce, and he stumbled and rolled on the dirt.


    Two bullets grazed the legs of Lynd and Meryl, and the sheer fright they felt to the grazing bullet caused them to stumble.


    "Weak. I guess I''ll just kill you." Seeker roared insanely as he shot more rounds across the ce.


    An hourter, Seeker finally removed the blindfold.


    "That was a very helpful exercise. I think I managed to improve my use of both Echolocation and Realm Somatotopy." A carefree tune followed as Seeker happily whistled. He started to return the guns to its proper ce, making sure to check that it was not damaged.


    "Excuse me, Meryl." Seeker spoke in passing as he walked over a hysterically crying Meryl, who was clutching one leg of the table where the guns were ced.


    "Mama¡­ Mama¡­" Meryl continued to sob.


    On the table, the guns were in a mess. Seeker started to slowly arrange it in order. On the right side of the table, Charles was lying t, staring up the skies.


    Seeker had jumped over him and drove arge knife down his face but would stop just in time. However, each time he did that, Charles could feel the wind piercing through. Seeker then continued to stab on him, barely scraping the skin of his neck. The sensation of experiencing the moment of his death over twenty times left him dull and unmoving.


    "You alright, Charles? I figured since you''re the most experienced in this group, I should give you special treatment." Seekerughed.


    Around the corner of the building, Aleany unconscious. She rested quite peacefully. Unlike Charles, who managed to stay conscious, she lost hers on the third time Seeker sted a gun at her face. Seeker''s handling was precise. He would thrust the weapon as close as he can towards Alean''s front and, at thest second, would change the angle of the gun to ensure that Alean wouldn''t get hit.


    Lynd was vomiting at an area beside Alean. When he saw Seeker holding Alean by the hair and was about to shoot at her face, he ran and tried to impale Seeker with arge pike he got from the weapon shack. Seeker used a strange technique and managed to snatch the pike away from Lynd. Lynd thought that Seeker had impaled him twice and shot him in the chest twice. But for some reason, though his chest hurt, he had no wounds.


    Cliff was barely keeping his consciousness. His pants were wet. He thought Seeker shot him at the head, so he remained lifeless, waiting for his death with an empty dder.


    "Alright, guys. Let''s have a fifteen-minute water break. I''ll just reload these guns and repair whatever damage there is to the surrounding weapons, and we will start again." Seeker smiled.


    All who were conscious fainted at Seeker''s deration.

 Chapter 36 - The Taste Of Dying

    Seeker was dripping with sweat. There were several gun holes around the area. Tables were overturned, windows shattered, and many swords, knives, and even axes were scattered throughout the area.


    "I guess we should call it a day. I need to eat a lot of food before we start today''s stream." Seeker finally said as he removed the blindfolds.


    Hispanions weren''t as well of as Seeker was.


    Lynd and Meryly unconscious on the floor. This time Alean was conscious as she was gripping a handgun tightly. She dared not let it go. Though it had been empty for about 10 minutes, the continuous fear just made her grip it and pulled the trigger relentlessly.


    Charles and Cliff were lying directly in front of Seeker. Cliff carried an assault rifle while Charles had a handgun and arge knife on hand. Both of them continued to shiver.


    Seeker hadn''t been using his aura, but after what was 4 hours of continuous fighting, the fear never seemed to leave them.


    Seeker rxed and started to clean up the mess that they had left. The ce clearly looked like it went through a war zone.


    After ten minutes, Alean finally rose and slowly crept towards Seeker. Her steps were very unstable, like a newborn baby who just learned how to walk. Cliff and Charles did not make any effort to move. They justid there as if they knew death was imminent.


    "Who are you?!" Alean cried out. She was turning hysterical. She had quite a lot of dangerous moments considering her job dealt with the military and her father''s business. But those moments were nothing to the four-hour fighting she had just experienced again and again.


    Their training epassed several "sessions." Each session began with a time limit of 10 minutes. But Seeker kept continuously increasing the time after several sessions. Thest sessions were 30 minutes long. Each subsequent session brought more satisfactory results. At first, Lynd and Meryl would just pass out or run away at the first attacks, but they couldter fight back.


    "You should ask Charles when he''s alright." Seeker answered casually as he continued to pick up the weapons.


    Charles slowly stood up and was walking towards Lynd and Meryl. It was his job to check on the psychological and mental states of each other.


    As he approached the two, to his surprise, they were already awake. Lynd just continued to close his eyes to calm himself. Meryl, however, was looking directly at the bright sun. It didn''t seem to bother her.


    "They look alright," Charles concluded. He turned back to Cliff and observed him.


    Cliff just gave a sad nod.


    "Did you manage to see it?" Seeker finally asked.


    "You could have asked that question the first time. I saw it at that moment you tried to stab me. Your de seemed slower. I could think faster, and I was able to recall events that even I have forgotten." Charles spoke.


    "But you could only see it, right? You haven''t developed a way to make your mind move your body. Time has slowed down, but your body can''t keep up. It means you broke through up to the twelfth percent. What we need is 13 in order to be considered at the Unbing. Hopefully, you''d be able to emte it after a few more sessions. Perhaps another set of sessions will allow you to control it. Be here on Sunday."


    "So I get a day off because you have to stream, huh? Lucky me." Charles sighed as he sat down on the ground. His clothes were already a mess, so it didn''t bother him.


    "Why do I need to be here, anyway? Shouldn''t I work on my research?"


    "If you reach the first Unlocked state, then you should progress at least two times faster in your research. The mental state that an Advent Unbing allows you to stay at your mental peak. Regardless if you are sleepy, tired, or bent out of shape, your mind will function as if it was at its optimum state."


    Charles stared in greed. If he could manage that state, then he wouldn''t need to drink all those coffees and could stay awake longer to finish his research!


    "Advent?"


    "Yes. Each stage of the Unlocking is further divided into three ranks. Advent, Proficient, and Surmounting. Advent is at a minimum, 13 percent with a 15 percent max reach. Proficient in at 15 minimum, and 18 maximum. Surmounting requires a minimum of 18 and 23 at max. As you can see, the time you increase in rank is when your maximum bes the minimum. "


    "How far are you at again?" Charles asked.


    "I would guess that I could reach twenty-six at my maximum state. But my minimum should be around ten or eleven." Seeker shrugged.


    "That doesn''t make sense."


    "I know. I guess this is the effect of my memories. I assume that my real state should barely touch the Proficient rank. But Advance Recall seems to be allowing me to reach higher ranks. Truth be told, I don''t know the maximum state I can reach. But if I push myself, I would probably die." Seekerughed.


    "CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL YOU TWO ARE TALKING ABOUT?!" Alean screamed after being ignored for too long.


    Everyone except Seeker jolted at the sudden scream.


    "Charles, I guess it''s time to let these two into what''s been going on. Don''t worry. We can trust Alean. I have the keys to her heart. I''ll talk to my two friends for a bit." Seeker smiled and walked off.


    Charles sighed and motioned for Alean and Cliff to follow him. He decided to change venues as he could tell what Seeker intended based on his serious expressions.


    Seeker approached his two friends, who gave him a curious look. They were still lying down on the ground lifelessly. They seemed to have no intention of moving.


    "So, how were the near-death experiences?" Seeker smiled.


    The two gave an angry gaze at Seeker.


    "You promised that you wouldn''t get us involved in anything dangerous." Lynd breathed in anger.


    "I never promised that. I just told you that you could quit being my helpers." Seeker smiled.


    The two were silent at Seeker''s response.


    Meryl started to cry again.


    "I don''t want this." Meryl sobbed.


    "You don''t want what? The training? Or the fact that you almost died?" Seeker asked again with a smiling expression.


    "Because if it''s the first one, I can stop. If it''s the second one, you will encounter it sooner orter. Things are just going to get downhill from here, Meryl. People will die left and right. Heck, even World Champions died."


    "We have you don''t we?" Meryl argued.


    A strange gripping sensation once again enveloped the two. Seeker''s expression took a drastic turn. Seeker''s angry look caused the two to shudder.


    "You think that just because I''ve gotten a hold of a set of awesome memories that we are all set, right? You''re wrong. Were pressed with time. So far, what we have are weapons and funding. But let me tell you right here and then, that wouldn''t mean anything! You think these weapons can damage the technology the Aragarians will deploy?" Seeker held the rifle in his hands.


    "These were nothing! Their metal is unbreakable, their weapons, unimaginable, and their numbers, uncountable. What can these puny weapons do in the face of their onught?"


    Seeker threw the weapons towards the lying two in anger.


    "What we really need are Unlocked individuals. And we don''t have the time to wait for Charles. We were dying! I died! Me, a Ranked Hero! And you two just want to ride along with my wave and think you''ll be safe? That''s stupid!"


    "I never asked to be a part of this!" Lynd erupted in anger.


    "We aren''t fighters! We told you! We aren''t like you, Royals! If we die, then we die! We''ve long epted it! We are fine with dying!" Lynd shouted.


    SMASH!


    Seeker buried his foot in Lynd''s stomach. He raised his foot, ready to strike again.


    "Then, let me kill you now!" Seeker shouted back.


    Lynd shivered in fear and didn''t even react to the pain. The amount of fear he felt surpassed any of his previous moments during the training. He started to crawl away. The only thing in his mind was to escape Seeker.


    "WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?!"


    Seeker jumped on the path that Lynd was headed and stomped on Lynd''s back. Lynd''s face was buried in the ground.


    Seeker withdrew his aura.


    Lynd couldn''t move as Seeker pressed hard on his foot. Meryl had a shocked expression on her face. She, too, felt the same fear that Seeker gave.


    "You think death is such a simple thing? Look at you. When I tried to kill you, you ran away. It isn''t that easy, Lynd. Dying isn''t an easy escape. If you die, then parents could die, your friends could die. Even Alean could die. Who knows? Meryl might die right in front of you, and you will just gnash your teeth and weep because you are weak." Seeker stomped once more.


    Lynd was struggling to get up, but Seeker''s stomp anchored him.


    "I hope you see Meryl''s brains sttered right in front of you so you would know how it felt for me to see you died the first time!"


    Seeker turned to Meryl, who continued crying.


    "You too. You think that you get a pass at these things right because you''re a small little girl. Well, I hope that excuse would be useful once you carry your mom and dad''s arms and fingers, not knowing what happened to the rest!"


    Seeker jumped over and kicked Meryl in the stomach.


    She clutched her stomach in pain, but her tears were continued pouring like a fountain. Of course, she wasn''t crying about the pain.


    "I already told you of my fears about the future. We aren''t any closer to winning even with all this New Game advantage. Especially now, with the Dragon looming on my horizon. I''m good as dead if I face him on my own. The people under him are as strong as those in the Unbing stage. I might not even make it trying to meet the Dragon!"


    Seeker took Lynd by the hair and threw him towards Meryl.


    "Get up, you worthless giant!"


    Lynd''s eyes were red. Red is anger and in tears. He gazed at Seeker with an angry expression.


    "Why are you angry? I''m supposed to be the one that''s angry! I have to face off with one of the most dangerous criminals this world has produced with his team of assassins and killers, and what do I have? Two weak friends who would rather die. Are you still using your Regr status as an excuse? It doesn''t matter if your Regr, Rising, or Royal! You will all die!"


    Seeker spoke harshly.


    Lynd continued to re while Meryl continued to sob.


    "Maybe now that you''ve gotten a taste of what it feels like to die, you would understand. Dying is not an escape. It is not a release. It doesn''t take away all the worries you had of this world. It actually aplishes the very thing you are worried about. Because you won''t be there to stop it!" Seeker punched Lynd on the face. A strong smack was heard.


    "And those who you leave behind will suffer." Seeker met Lynd''s re. He then grabbed on Lynd''s cor and lifted Lynd towards himself.


    "So is this how you repay my good graces in trying to turn you into warriors? Wishing you were dead? Then if that''s what you want, cut off our friendship, so I wouldn''t care when you die! Make me hate you so much that when you die, I''d smile andugh it off. I''ve suffered enough when I saw you two die! I''d rather kill myself now than see you two die again!" Seeker shouted angrily. Tears were falling from his eyes.


    As Lynd stared at Seeker''s eyes, he could see the pain that his friend felt. This wasn''t Seeker being inconsiderate. This was Seeker being scared.


    Meryl continued to cry at Seeker''s painful remarks. But the sight of the unmovable Seeker crying made her clutch her heart in pain.


    Seeker gazed at Lynd''s softening expression and at Meryl''s controlled hysteria.


    "I need you guys to seed in the Unlocking. I can''t do the next missions alone. Someone has to keep the Dragon''s men busy while I face that monster. Can I count on you?" Seeker asked calmly.


    The two were silent at first. But then Meryl and Lynd slowly nodded.


    Lynd sighed.


    "I''m sorry for being such a useless friend, Zeek. I''ll do my best to meet your expectations." Lynd mumbled softly.


    Meryl simply nodded. If she tried to speak, she would simply just cry and make unintelligible cries.


    Seeker smiled at his two friends. His ns worked. The exposure to fear managed to shake his friends into a good and trainable state. Seeker gave them a moment of silence to get their emotions in order.


    "Have either of you experienced any of those Unlocked sensations during our training?" Seeker asked after a long pause.


    Meryl nodded while Lynd shook his head.


    Seeker gave a peculiar look at Lynd.


    Lynd looked away as he was embarrassed at the oue.


    Seeker just sighed and turned to Meryl.


    "Meryl, you always boasted about how you can tolerate bright light. Has it improved?"


    Meryl gave a curious look. She stared at the sun for a while.


    Seeker continued to observe Meryl.


    Meryl was shocked.


    "It''s strange. The sun''s brightness doesn''t seem to hurt anymore."


    Seeker smiled.. Things were advancing smoothly.

 Chapter 37 - Pangean Politics

    Harker took one look at the surroundings and frowned. He had heard reports that there were sounds of weapons being fired at this area. Thankfully his soldiers managed to contain themotion with ims that it was some practice.


    He immediately spotted his main concern. The drone was ced on the table, and it looked like it didn''t receive much damage from the crash apart from the damaged wing. Harker sighed in relief.


    "Now Harker, let''s get down to business. I''ll ignore your spying attempts and hope that that served as a valuable lesson." Seeker smiled.


    Harker clutched his fist. Thest thing that the drone captured was Seeker firing three rounds of bullets that wounded his men. What was interesting was how Seeker didn''t use the scope of the gun.


    "Now General, on to business. You know about Pangean Politics more than I do. Who''s who in the political arena?" Seeker asked.


    "Every politician in this damned country. That''s why I never meddled with politics. Generals, National Managers, Vice-National Managers. We all know that the Pangean Nations has the most unique government system. Even I wouldn''t know where to start or who to deal with. I was never interested in having that kind of power anyway."


    "Your advantage is your silence in this matter. Given your very conservative nature, no one would expect you, the silent and headstrong General, to aim for the Presidential Seat. So who has the highest chances of being President if President Colestar is voted out?"


    "Hydron of the Indo-Pangean." Harker answered without missing a beat.


    "But it''s impossible. Granted the nature of our country, he needs to hold at least more than half of the Senator in each Pangean Nation in order to have a shot at winning."


    "As I said, your disinterest makes it the most appealing nature. Prove yourself as a man of this Pangean Nation. If you reach a status simr to that of a hero when Colestar gets voted out, you''d probably be nominated by Hydron, should you ept."


    "A hero? War''s like that don''te easily, Seeker."


    "Oh, don''t worry about that. The best way to temporarily halt Dragon''s advances is to start a war. If he sees strange movement within this nation, he will have to think twice before rallying his forces in. Especially if you get deployed on foreignnd to fight the war."


    "But there are no wars." Harker answered again, trying to sound as respectful as he can.


    "I said, don''t worry. I''ll start one. If things go ording to n, then by this time next week, we should be having one."


    There was silence.


    Everyone present continued to stare at Seeker.


    "It''s none of your concern." Seekerughed as he noticed the silence.


    "We''ll just have to y it by ear. I''m not perfectly sure things will go as intended, after all. For now, our main concern is how to get our current President evicted."


    "And how do you propose to do that?"


    "Kidnap all media heads of these three countries. Turn them into Programmed ves. Once we have that, we can kill his image."


    "I don''t get it, Zeek. Why the media heads? Why not kidnap the Senators and leaders directly?"


    "Too risky. If we aim for the media heads, we would be aiming for only five individuals. Going with the senators would take us quite a bit of time and effort. Not to mention the risk of discovery."


    "That''s all? Just the media?" Meryl asked, unsure of the n.


    "The media is the making or the breaking of a nation." Seeker smiled.


    "Regardless of how good or reputable a person character is, it is subject to public opinion. Imagine hearing and reading news about Colestar every day about his mistakes and blunders?"


    "Colestar has an almost impable reputation. He literally is one of the best presidents our countries ever had." Charles voiced out.


    "And yet, because of my ns, he must fall. Doubt, Doctor. That is the main goal for now.


    "How can doubt be helpful?" Harker asked immediately. He expected a far moreplicated n.


    "Doubt is the ultimate feller of leaders, General. Doubt is the most important ingredient to win the country. Right now, the whole country sees Colestar as this great President. But mark my words, he isn''t the first great President to ever be done in by the media and the horrifying effects of doubt."


    "So let''s say we manage to take over these media outlets. What happens then?" Harker listened.


    "The media does its magic. Any news event regarding the President can be switched to have a subtle title or presentation which can damage his character."


    "How?" Meryl asked with a confused expression.


    "Let''s take the current event. The President just denied the ongoing legitive movement concerning to remove the mandatory 13th-month pay and make it optional. Almost every news outlet praised this and gave positive news title."


    "Aren''t they just reporting it as it is?" Lynd asked in confusion.


    "President denies appeals for optional 13th Month Pay. Urgespanies to promote family time for workers." Seeker recited a title.


    "It''s positive news reporting. They shifted the focus on how the President wants to encouragepanies to give properpensation for their workers to have time for their families, especially on the holidays."


    "Right. Because that''s what it is." Meryl nodded.


    "Really? What If I changed the title to; President denies appeals for optional 13th Month Pay, January Resignations at an all-time high? Now I shifted the point of view of this article to show the cons of the article and not its pros." Seeker smiled.


    "But I''m sure the people will see the benefits if they read the whole article!" Meryl argued.


    "If they read it. That''s the beauty of the media. The government, or specifically the President, cannot charge libel against the media. The whole article may contain it, but how many, amongst all readers will read the article? Some will just nce at the title page and create their own interpretation."


    Meryl couldn''t retort after this. She had been doing the same thing after all.


    "The first article title was very positive. In fact, it''s hard to find any negative arguments to counter that. But the second article reveals the ws of the President''s move and does not provide anything positive that readers will have to say. And the worst thing is, both news doesn''t seem to be biased as it appears to just be reporting the truth."


    Meryl remained silent at Seeker''s example.


    "A simple news article like that will make people question the validity of his move. That''s how powerful the media is. It can make something positive look negative or something negative looks positive. Only those with high levels of critical thinking will catch on in this attempt to badmouth the president. But let''s be honest. That''s notmon nowadays."


    Charles gave a light chuckle agreeing with Seeker.


    "And that''s what we''ll have all the media do. If one media outlet does it, it can be buffered by another who presents the positive. But imagine if all media outlets present these subtle negative attacks. And the trick is, they don''t attack the President directly. They attack his regime. If any of those under him or supports him makes a blunder, they capitalize on that. Put it on the headlines and p the President''s name on board even if he really has nothing to do with it."


    "Will that work?"


    "It worked for the previous President. It wasical, really. A problem at the main highway which caused great traffic and dyed thousands of workers. And then they p the President''s name on the report. I mean, what has the President have to do with anything in that? Shouldn''t the news focus on the Traffic and Land Development organizations?"


    "I remember those! But I really hadn''t thought about it like that." Meryl contemted.


    Harker ignored the casual joining of these other teens. For such a serious topic, Seeker took his time to exin it to these youths. But because Seeker valued their input, he just stood quietly. He noticed Alean has been awfully quiet during this entire discussion.


    "The President may or may not address the issue. A little negative presentation of a good news and do it constantly, and you can build up the hate for the President. Once that settles in, it would be your time to shine, General."


    Harker simply nodded.


    "I agree with your estimations. But will ''doubt'' be enough to make the people ride on the hate train?"


    "It will. By making people doubt his character, it will make those who hate him, hate him all the more."


    "Our main concern is how to make the masses hate him then. After all, his current reforms are all quite noble." Charles added.


    "Indeed, it is. But any action, regardless of its noble nature, will always cause reactions. He has been focusing on eliminating three things within the Pangean Nations. Foreign hating culture, the division between the three nations, andstly, poverty. So what do you think would be the possible groups that will rally against him?"


    "Will anyone want to go against those? They are noble causes, after all." Meryl frowned at such a stupid question.


    "Na?ve." Alean finally spoke.


    "Seeker''s right. These three agendas have agitated arge group of people. Indo-Pangea, who has long been the least progressive of the three Pangean nation, hate how they always get the low end of the deal. With Colestar''s attempts in uniting the three nations, the political and rich groups who control Indo-Pangea will undoubtedly be against this. In fact, we are already seeing several politicians in Indo-Pangea who have revealed their disdain in this movement. Seeker, you n to use those groups against Colestar to stir the fire, correct?"


    Seeker nodded.


    "My-Pangea, who had taken the brunt of the damage during the Colonist war, is the most fearful and hateful among the three in regards to foreigners. No doubt, there are active enemies of Colestar in that Nation. And our country, the Phil-Pangea, has the most poverty-stricken area. By increasing wages, businessman in this country may want another president in." Lynd interjected before Alean could speak.


    Everyone was shocked at Lynd''s sudden analysis. They looked at him strangely.


    "Wow. I bet that was what Alean was going to say." Seekerughed.


    "More or less." Alean gave a charming look at Lynd.


    Lynd blushed as he, too, was surprised at his own monologue.


    "We have groups in each country who can fuel the fire that can start the bandwagon of hate. If the media subtly introduces a series of bad news about him, then doubt will surely appear. There will be people who will fight for his cause though and attempt their own counter-reforms to uplift the image of the president."


    "That is the problem. The masses love him." Harker interjected.


    "Wrong. The masses are entertained by him. Only a few love him. Once people see several news reports of poor service, their entertainment will turn to disgust. The masses is an easily controlled group of people. If they see a trend in politics, they follow that. If we control all media outlets in the three Pangean Nations, we can mind-control the masses. Trust in the stupidity and shallowness of the masses, General." Seeker smiled.


    "It''s true." Alean nodded.


    "I''m not convinced." Meryl spoke once more.


    "Having these groups wouldn''t do much, Zeek. I mean, they are the minority."


    "You forget the political opponents of the President. Politics is a game of patience. They have to know when and how to strike. There are only two politicians who are actively pushing their campaign against the President. It does not signify that the President has many allies. It only means that to most of his enemies, it isn''t the right time to strike."


    Harker and Alean smiled at Seeker''s words.


    "How sure are you that the President has many enemies?" Meryl frowned.


    "Na?ve little girl." It was Harker who spoke this time.


    "As long as the concept of ''Self-gain'' exists, any king of this world will always have enemies. These politicians will follow and pursue the path that greatly benefits themselves. Seeker does not mean enemies who hate the President. But enemies who will turn against the President should the right opportunity present itself, giving them more to gain." Harker turned to Seeker andughed.


    "Who would have thought that your maniptive and scheming nature would be as strong as your physical skills...."

 Chapter 38 - The Great Gamble Begins

    Seeker was alone in the apartment for the stream that night. Due to the exhausted appearances of Lynd and Meryl, Seeker agreed to do it alone. Thest stream was barely two hours long when Seekerpleted the game.


    Seeker once again rose to inte fame as he defeated the game in less than 19 hours. It wasn''t far from Arthur''s predicted time. This was already a record which even Precept Gaming had to acknowledge. No one was able to beat the current game at this time. Even among the pros, the estimate was about 22-33 hours excluding the top brass like Precision.


    After the stream, Seeker went home and gave his parents a delightful surprise.


    "Five hundred thousand Sydians?!" Grace cried out in excitement.


    Chris was just looking at the amount of money that Seeker casually handed over as ''pocket money'' for their trip.


    "This is too much Zeek. We could afford the trip of ourselves. No need to give me those¡­" Chris never had this much money in their bank ount.


    "Mom, Dad. Don''t worry. I don''t need this much. I really don''t. I already earn a lot with my online celebrity status. So take the money. You can go on a shopping spree or travel the world or something. I''ll probably be leaving too. After tomorrow I could be on my way to Australia for the Nations of the World E-Sport Meet. Principal Decker was just kind enough to approve about a week-long leave at school." Seeker calmly exined.


    Grace and Chris looked at each other and smiled.


    "You know what, use the money to go elsewhere. I can probably earn enough to pay for whatever we need by the time you get back. If we win the tournament, which I am confident of, I should be able to take home about two hundred to five hundred thousand Sydians." Seekerughed.


    "No, we just can''t. Seeker, you are an adult now. And with this building career of yours, we want you to grow and to learn how to properly manage your funds. And I believe that letting you have a free reign over your money would be a better teacher than having me and your mom manage your funds. Right now, I think a little personal experience with that money can help you grow." Chris instructed.


    "Of course, we appreciate this gesture of having us hold on to your money but it''s better if we discuss your ns now and just give you advice," Grace spoke dearly to the son who he was extremely proud of.


    "Who said anything about giving you all my money? I have more. I even gave Lynd and Meryl the roughly a two hundred thousand so they can send their parents on an all-expense paid vacation." Seeker interrupted.


    The two parents stood silently. It was as if they tried to analyze Seeker''s statement like it was a profound riddle or math problem.


    "You gave your two friends two hundred thousand Sydians?" Grace calmly asked.


    "Two hundred each. So four hundred." Seeker nodded.


    "Seeker. Have you lost your mind?" Grace tried to control her voice.


    "What? No. I did what I felt I should do with my money. Like what you just said." Seeker shrugged.


    "I gave away some of my money to my friends and some to you. Think of it as a thank you to them for helping me. But I will be managing my money from here on."


    "You gave away FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND?" Grace''s tone rose drastically.


    "Yeah. They earned it. They''ve been helping me, you know. Both in advertising and all the technical help. They deserve it."


    "How much money do you have left?" Chris interrupted.


    "Including this five hundred thousand? About 4.5 million give or take. I earned quite a lot with all the advertising and stuff. Meryl and Lynd really outdid themselves. Not to mention I got a lot of investors now who hold me in high regard." Seeker smiled. It helped that his parents weren''t well-versed in gaming jargons.


    "Give us One Million- Two million Sydians." Chris demanded. He was about to demand one million when he felt his wife giving him a strong pinch.


    "Ok. I''ll just withdraw some more tomorrow. Go wild on your trip guys. Love you." Seeker kissed his parent''s goodnight.


    "Typical of mom." Seeker mumbled happily under his breath as he walked back to his room.


    Seeker''s parents took the money and quietly walked towards their room. Howls of demented shouts and excited cries were heard as thete hours passed.


    Seeker was the first to arrive at the apartment the very next day.


    He was already setting up hisputer for the big game.


    Lynd and Meryl arrived together.


    "You guys alright?" Seeker smiled as he looked at the tired eyes of his two assistants.


    Lynd gave an obvious look at Seeker.


    Meryl had a worried one.


    "Are we going to do that trainingter?" Meryl asked sheepishly.


    "A different kind this time. Yesterday I needed to work on my gun skills. Tonight, it''s going to be a closebat bonanza." Seeker smiled.


    Meryl was in tears.


    "So, any signs of improvement?"


    The two shook their heads helplessly.


    Seekerughed.


    "It''s alright. We have a lot of time to prepare. I bet another day or two and you can somehow touch on the basics of pushing your brain to a higher level of Unlocking."


    The two sighed as they heard Seeker.


    "Is there a trick? How does it feel when you try to push your brain harder?" Meryl asked.


    "Yeah, Zeek? What''s the trick? I tried to concentrate so hard that my face turned red but nothing happened."


    Seekerughed as he remembered his ''younger'' days.


    "Are you sure you were concentrating and not contracting all the muscles you can control in your general head area? Were you holding your breath as you tried to contract your muscles?" Seekerughed.


    "I was uh... trying something." Lynd gave n embarrassed response.


    "Don''t worry. The more you experience it, the more you get the hang of it."


    "How sure are you this will work? Was this done on you?" Meryl asked.


    "No of course not. The scenarios of my unlocking involved Charles. Due to the war, we were forced to evacuate this country. I met Charles during the escape and at that time Charles already had developed a serum that was untested. One thing led to another and eventually got exposed to these drugs which pushed my brain straight to the Unbing stage."


    "If that''s how you got unlocked, then how sure are you that this will work?"


    "Because there were records of people getting Unlocked during the war. Some even Unlocked themselves without getting into life-threatening situations."


    "How? We even went through hell and couldn''t do that, then how can others do that?" Meryl had a curious look.


    "I don''t know. Even I can''t evenprehend how some managed to do so." Seeker shrugged.


    The group continued on to prepare for the stream. It was time for Seeker to rule the gaming world.


    Seeker wasn''t lying about the sponsorship. Three international studios purchased the rights to air Seeker''s stream on their channels for a pay-per-view set-up. Aside from that several local cable channels also did the same. It was pure hype. On the Inte, it was known as the Gamble of the Ages.


    It was an arrogant im. Even Precept Gaming has announced that it was virtually impossible toplete the game in less than eight hours. The theoretical minimum would be the previous record that Seeker did. Although Precisions im was even shorter, it still fell within the scope of possibilities that Precept Gaming announced.


    The moment the room opened a gushing number of viewers immediately joined in. The room had over a thousand viewers almost instantly. But despite this number, the room remained quiet. In this room, the list of names of online viewers contained names that any gamer in the world would know.


    The Covenant of the Strongest had theirplete line up logged in for the stream. Competing Piercing e-sport celebrities were also present.


    Git Godlike of the Australian Oceana was also present. This caused the unusual silence in the room. Two of the mostpetitive Piercing teams who were also basically mortal enemies were here.


    "Begin." Amanding message disyed when the room was deathly silent.


    He was also another reason why the room was silent.


    Arthur coldlymanded. It was clear he was here to see the demise of Seeker. Various fans of Seeker didn''t have the heart to even congratte Seeker. They knew that doing so would disy irreverence to Precision.


    "Haha. Chill Arts! Just sit back and enjoy what you paid for!"


    If that message just came from anyone, he would have felt the wrath of fans who was disrespectful from their fans. But the game handle of this person had a simple, yet very domineering name. Cronus, themander of Git Godlike.


    Arthur didn''t even bother to respond and just watched the screen.


    "Hahaha." Seekerughed as he finally broke the silence.


    "My oh my. So much tension in the room. Well, here we are. Is it my ''judgement'' day? Or my day of triumph? Many may have well-remembered that I justpleted Piercing: Bulletst night. But today, I will do it again in a little over seven hours. I see many people here to watch my awesome skills. And also another group who came to see me bury my gaming career. Quite a gamble I''ve ced here and Arthur really made me tie my hands." Seeker smiled.


    "If I fail, I end my career which means I have no way of joining Git Godlike even if they did offer me something. I signed the papers and thewyers have made the necessary preparations to set up this amazing gamble." Seeker took out a piece of paper. It was a legal document which formalized everything.


    "I just hope that Arthur won''t be mad at me for wrecking his prophecies. Now. Let us begin." Seeker immediately started a new game in Piercing: Bullet.


    The same cut sc¨¨ne appeared where Bullet was happily whistling andter started massacring his enemies.


    Seeker didn''t bother to stay too long and immediately went ahead on to the next room to face the boss.


    As Seeker continued to attack and evade, a peculiar trend was seen.


    "He''s still using the melee build but abandoned the skill training?" Arthur frowned. In all his calctions of trying to pass the game at record speed, this was the way to go. Skill and proficiency training was the best way.


    People then noticed it when Seeker was fighting the boss.


    An avnche ofments started to pour out on the room.


    Seeker smiled as he saw this.


    "I understand your surprise friends. But if I want to beat this game at that time, I have no time for skill training. You''ll understand how I willpensate for this." Seeker smiled mysteriously and continued to attack the boss.


    The boss fight took longer than his first ythrough. Without the skills and added damage from the proficiency of the attacks, Seeker spent more than 2 minutes facing the boss. As was already a standard, Seeker had yet to receive one hit.


    Seeker looked like he was casually ying. But his viewers were excited. Almost every attack that Seeker used was skill based. It was killing two birds with one stone. Seeker was slowly building the proficiency levels of his current skill as he progressed in the game.


    Variousments about Seeker''s antics continued. However, most of the pros or well-known figures of the gaming world kept silent. There was nothing new in Seeker''s progression. If anything, he sacrificed quite a bit of time by doing this. This was vastly noticed as Seeker progressed. Every boss fights were longer than usual.


    Arthur didn''t look worried. He gazed straight at the screen and even looked like he expected Seeker to follow this route.


    The game continued to progress and soon, over an hour passed.


    Arthur was now smirking as time passed. The speed of Seeker wasn''t anything special.


    "Now. Some may have noticed that my speed, although it is pretty fast, this won''t be enough for me to pass the entire game to win the bet. But after this boss, I should be able to skip over ten hours of gamey." Seeker smiled.


    Arthur had a shocked expression.

 Chapter 39 - The Two Skills Needed

    The boss battle began. Seeker had already increased proficiency on many skills and the battle proceeded easily. As the boss health''s decreased to zero, the cut-scene appeared. Bullet, who in the middle of fighting a brawny man with bright shining bracelets, suddenly took out onerge handgun. He held that handgun like a tonfa. At the push of a button, a sharp curved de protruded from the rear sight of the handgun and extended at an exaggerated length. Bullet, who held the handgun like a tonfa now had a short de.


    Bullet ran and thrust his rifle first which were then blocked by something that looked like force fields.


    Bullet smiled and rammed the handgun''s de on the force field and pierced through it.


    The brawny man evaded the de but was met with Bullet''s rifle.


    SMASH!


    The brawny man somersaulted backward and gazed angrily at Bullet.


    "You have his weapon?"


    "Why? It''s not cheating. He''s my brother. It''s only natural I get to use it." Bullet smiled. He took a stance which indicated he was ready for another sh.


    "Boring." The brawny man responded and arge force field emitted under his fist. The man was then catapulted to the air and sessfully escaped.


    "Coward." Bulletughed as he took a look at the handgun.


    "Ah screw it. He did give it to me. What''s wrong in using it?"


    The cutscene faded and the game continued.


    Seeker then controlled Bullet to move at a fast speed. Along the way, Seeker would use newbos as he had a new weapon to y around with. A mixture of melee and simple ranged attacks appeared as Bullet was now dual wielding his weapons. One hand carried his trusted Rifle, and another held the unique handgun which could also be used as a de. However, keeping true to his promise, Seeker didn''t add any ranged skill attacks. However, he did asionally use basic ranged normal attacks.


    As Seeker continued to go along on his journey, the chat room was oddly quiet. Everyone was watching intently at what Seeker would do.


    "There are two things that are necessary in order to beat this game at record speed." Seeker began to talk mysteriously.


    The direction which he was traveling was going towards a very familiar base. It was the base which Piercing used as its main area for storing and developing weapons. Because of this, it was heavily guarded. Throughout the majority of the game, this base was a suicide zone for most yers. It was impossible to attack the base. The damage of the enemies in this area was overpowered that for most of the game, one hit was enough to kill Bullet regardless of what armors that Bullet could wear. The entire base used Piercing ammunitions andplex tracking systems that would give headaches to every yer.


    "He''s heading for the Main Base!" A viewer typed immediately as he realized Seeker''s direction.


    Arthur watched as Seeker continued to move. He was frowning. This was pointless. The base contained high-leveled enemies and even if Seeker did manage to kill one, it had an unlimited respawn rate. At this point, there is nothing to do at that base. The base was usually attackedte-game when Bullet''s level would be high enough and missions would bepleted to drastically lower the base''s defense.


    "The first thing that is necessary, is a calm mind that can keep track of the enemy''s attack." Seeker announced as he finally reached the base area. Despite being far from the main entrance, some missiles andser-like attacks were reaching his area. Seeker was able to casually avoid these attacks.


    "This base has a total of 27 active enemies all of which, can kill me in one hit. Each has their own timing and attack pattern." On the far end of the screen, several enemy soldiers with a unique set of clothes were moving to the frontline. Piercing Fans immediately identified them as Pierce Soldiers.


    The soldiers started to shoot at Bullet. The enemy used simple guns but the odd thing was, the bullet attacks had no animations to tell the yers were the attacks where.


    These soldiers were also the reason who no one dared to attack the base. yers would die at these attacks and couldn''t even reach the base.


    Seeker however smiled. His face slowly turned serious. Time began to slow down in his perception.


    "Two more seconds, and that one attacks, that missile should be a low attack. Must evade to the left as the Pierce Agent should attack now." Seeker thought to himself.


    Everyone who watched the screen could only see a blur ofmands as if Seeker was randomly mashing his controller. However, on the screen, Bullet kept dodging the attacks cleanly.


    Arthur gazed in surprise. He dared not blink as to skip even a second of Seeker''s performance.


    On another city, located at the heart of Australia, a group of teens gathered around oneputer to observe Seeker''s performance.


    "IMPOSSIBLE!" A tall and very good-looking Caucasian with blue eyes shouted in surprise.


    "How good is the boss?" A timid Asian woman asked by his side.


    "He''s as fast as I am!" The blue-eyed man responded immediately.


    Seeker''s approach was getting slower and slower. There were moments when Seeker had to retreat a couple of steps back in order to evade the attacks.


    "The main turrets of the base fire two types of attack. One aimed to hit your current location and another to hit the area directly in front of you. The Pierce soldiers all shoot aiming at your current direction. The mortars either hit your current location or the area directly behind you. So you need to be able to count the attacks of all these soldiers. Now the troublesome attacks are the ones that the Pierce soldiers do. They attack almost randomly. Your only cue is to move once you see the gunshot. So the trick is to actually have them in your screens at all time." Seeker narrated as he focused on evading and moving.


    Arthur frowned. He couldn''t have replicated what Seeker was doing. The attacks were too diverse and its conditions too harsh.


    "That is the second requirement is speed, uracy, and control. Since the random attacks of all these Pierce soldierse almost instantly, you need to be able to react immediately and push the right buttons. However, be careful to move in the right direction to avoid the turrets, missiles,sers, and stuff. Evading in the wrong direction can get you killed."


    ''CHEAT! THIS IS DEFINITELY A CHEAT!" A chat appeared breaking the silence of the chat room.


    "Are you an idiot? Can''t you see everything happening real-time? This is pure skill!" a fan defended.


    Seeker''s movement of moving forward and backward took time. Eventually, nearly twenty minutes had passed and Seeker was nearing the actual gates of the base.


    Everyone was hyped at Seeker''s beautiful execution of skills. It was over twenty minutes of pure concentration and expert maneuvering.


    "This was just like Precision and Cronus'' battle back then!" Several chatsparing Seeker''s actions with another well-known event were made. People were continuously excited. Many cringed at the near-deaths of Seeker. If any of these attacksnded, Seeker would immediately die.


    As he drew closer. The attacks of the enemy were getting faster as the turrets and mortar attacks had very little distance to cover. Seeker pushed his Unlocking to the middle of the Proficient rank of the Unbing stage. Time was getting even slower than ever.


    This allowed Seeker to think where to evade as he would calcte the attacks and of the following enemies.


    Seeker controlled Bullet to jump backward and the very moment Bullet''s feet would touch the ground, Seeker immediately pressed the button to make another jump to the left. A gunshot from a Pierce soldier could be seen so Seeker moved sideways and dashed forward as he saw an iing missile.


    All three attacks happened almost instantly. But Seeker managed to evade everything.


    "That''s impossible! How did he know where to jump! He must have definitely cheated somehow!" An angry viewer voiced out. Several were just about to insult this yer but recognized his name and knew he was a pro yer.


    Seeker smiled. He turned to and looked directly at the camera. His focus was not on his screen. Even if it was Arthur, this reckless act of turning away from the screen for a second would mean death.


    "And that''s why you will forever be unable to defeat Arthur." Seeker smiled and turned his gaze back at the screen and easily maneuvered another set of jumping and dashing movements which evaded all attacks.


    "I already told you the two skills needed to aplish this. You say it''s impossible? You are wrong. Two people viewing this stream has these two skills. The first one is Instant Calction."


    The Covenant of the Strongest gasped at Seeker''s mention.


    Arthur frowned. Instant Calction was what he called his precise calcting skills. He could instantly calcte the time, speed, and even memorize the sequence or the enemies A.I at one look. This was what made him a king among many games.


    "How did he know about Instant Calction!" Kristine asked in an rmed voice.


    "Does he have it?" Another pro yer asked the frowning Arthur.


    "Yes. But not''s all he has." Arthur concluded.


    Seeker continued to control Bullet precisely dodging and evading the myriad attacks. People viewing his screen seemed to be getting dizzy at Seeker''s movements.


    "Calcting the attacks, however, is not enough at this case. Thanks to the presence of those five Pierce soldiers, we need Cronus'' skill. Millisecond Reaction." Seeker smirked as he finally passed the area where the mortars and the turrets couldn''t hit him any longer.


    The remaining soldiers along with the Pierce soldiers started attacking Bullet with long and close range attacks. The blurring screen started to move faster.


    Every time Seeker would evade a soldier would already be around him. Seeker would immediately jump to evade. It seemed fast but on Seeker''s perspective, he was carefully looking at his avatar''s body. The moment the foot wouldnd; he would immediately do another jump or dash. Not a millisecond was wasted in Seeker''s movements.


    Cronus stared with mouths agape.


    The Guinness record for the longest Piercing one-on-one fight came from the great Piercing Commando''s event two years ago. Precision and Cronus faced off one-on-one in what seemed like an endless battle. None of each other''s attacks worked. Even at the speeding attacks of Precision, Cronus managed to evade every single attack thanks to his skill which he dubbed as Millisecond Reaction.


    Precision always maintained his distance, far from the reach of Cronus. Precision had the entire map on his mind. A cat and mouse battle whichsted over 2 hours until Cronus slipped up and got done in by Precision''sbo. It waster revealed that Precision''s arm was strained at overstressing himself. Had Cronus manage to hold on, Precision would have lost.


    Cronus'' eyes were focused on Seeker''s hand.


    "Precision has the eyes and can tell the exact second when an attack will hit and the precise angle he needs to take to avoid the hit. I, on the other hand, can react quickly. I can hit the right keys, at the right time to make the right moves. In short, Precision has the eyes, and I have the hands. But Seeker has both." Cronus exined.


    Everyone on Git Godlike gazed in astonishment at Seeker''s control.


    Seeker controlled Bullet to run at the back area of the base. The discussion in the chat room shifted from Seeker''s skill to Seeker''s purpose of raiding the base. The base had nothing for Seeker. He couldn''t enter, he couldn''t fight any bosses.


    Seeker then reached a hangar and started attacking the door of the hangar.


    People were confused. These doors were of no surprise to them. The Piercing series used such doors to hide secret passages or was used to unlock secret weapons.


    Seeker used the handgun and shed at the door and suddenly he paused the game.


    Everyone was confused.


    "Now guys. Pay close attention. Once I''m finished with this I''ll immediately be thrownte game.." Seeker smiled.

 Chapter 40 - The Climax Of The Bet

    The game was paused. Seeker just used the first strike of a four-hitbo basic attack using Edge''s handgun.


    "Alright. Now a little question and answer. In this game, these doors are Piercing-proof and the only way to damage it is to use weapons that deal True Piercing damage. Now, Bullet has no way of doing that but Edge''s weapon can."


    Seeker then unpaused the game and did another sh and paused it again. Seeker then smiled and looked back to the camera.


    "When does the True Piercing damage of Edge''s weapon ur when it is used?" Seeker asked.


    The more knowledgeable yers started typing. But the first to give the answer was Arthur.


    "The first strike. However, that weapon''s True Piercing capabilities is too weak. At this point, it is impossible to destroy that door no matter how hard you try."


    "You''re wrong again Arthur." Seeker mocked. He unpaused the game and did another strike and paused it again.


    "The truth is, it was made with that intention, but this specific game version of Piercing: Bullet has a w." Seeker did his routine of unpausing, striking and pausing. Seeker then pointed at the at an enemy Pierce soldier nearby. The soldier was dressed in its trademark blue uniform but had a thicker set of armor. Veterans of the game knew this was an Anti-Piercing armor.


    "What most don''t know that the way these doors are set up is that it has its own set of hit points. Of course, we never get to see it in-game. So we assume that the way to break this is by using Edge''s upgraded handgun which we getter in the game. However, the truth is it is simr to the other enemies in this base."


    Seeker unpaused the game and did a quick evade from the enemy soldiers attack while attacking the door and paused the game once more.


    "The hint we get is from the other enemies or turrets that this base has. I don''t have the time to show you but the reason why it would be impossible to destroy this base right now is that the True Piercing damage of my current weapon cannot match the regen of the enemies hit points."


    Seeker paused the game once more and did another strike and evaded some attacks from the surrounding enemies and then paused it.


    "The problem is that the hit points of these doors regenerate at a fast speed. Arthur, how do you propose I destroy it?" Seeker smirked.


    Arthurs response immediately was disyed.


    "It''s impossible. The True Piercing attack on that handgun only happens on the first attack. You need to stop attacking for about three seconds in order to do another first attack or it willbo. By the time you finish a set of attacks or wait for three seconds, the door would return to full health."


    "Very precise. As expected of Precision." Seeker did his regr pausing routine.


    "But you made one miscalction. The truth is, the True Piercing attack doesn''t happen on the first attack. But it has a cooldown of three seconds. It''s just a coincidence that the four-hitbo, as well as the wait time, is three seconds." Seeker smiled and did his pausing, unpausing routine.


    Arthur and Kristine were the first to realize it. But it was Cronus who managed to say it.


    "A BUG!" Cronus typed. The viewers were confused.


    "That''s right. You finally caught on. This release version has a bug. The cooldown of three seconds applies even when the game is paused." Seeker did hisst attack and the door broke open.


    Immediately a cut scene urred.


    Bullet was using Edge''s handgun and was about to break the door open when arge de protruded out of the door. Bullet barely dodged it as the attack nearly took out Bullet''s eyes. The hangar was sliced opened as Hollow appeared with his trademark scythe.


    "Bullet! I''m here to get the gun back!"


    "You mean this gun?" Bullet held the gun and switched it to its ranged form and started shooting. The game continued.


    Seeker kept dodging the attacks of Hollow. Worst still was how the surrounding soldiers continued to attack Seeker.


    "This game is full of bugs. But that''s exactly how I''ll win this bet, Arthur." Seekerughed.


    Seeker didn''t attack Hollow but attacked the nearest soldier. Surprisingly the firstbo immediately inflicted damage equal to a quarter of the soldiers'' life!


    "WHAT!?" Arthur screamed in surprise.


    Seeker continued to attack the soldiers and finally killed one. The experience points of killing this enemy caused Seeker''s level to increase by ten!


    "Confused? Think. Thest cutscene showed how Bullet used the handgun of Edge. If you were careful to notice, it wasn''t the old handgun. You see, at this point of the game, you must have the upgraded handgun to open up this area. That''s how the game is supposed to work. So what happens if I don''t have that weapon but a cutscene requires Bullet to force equip that weapon?"


    Seeker then continued on attacking with ranged attacks. Even the range attacks did tremendous damage to the soldier.


    "He got an upgrade! It really is a bug!" A viewer typed out. instantly, an avnche ofments followed.


    Seeker did another kill and managed several level ups immediately. Seeker continued to avoid Hollow but used his weapons to inflict damage on the surrounding soldiers. After 10 minutes of this soldier-killing-spree, Seeker finally focused on attacking Hollow.


    As Seeker had already presented an almost impossible array of skills, the battle didn''t impress its viewers. People were just waiting for Seeker to kill the boss and move on. Seeker''s damage was rtively small. People finally understood why Seeker did a quick power-leveling training.


    The boss died and Seeker managed to unlock newer weapon upgrades and ammunition. Seeker immediately left the base. The exit was faster than the entrance as the turrets were all destroyed.


    "Now that we have this weapon, I now can destroy the main hangar. That should catapult me into somewherete-game now." Seeker smiled.


    Everyone was shocked at Seeker''s casual mention.


    "HE CAN DO IT GUYS! A RECORD OF EIGHT FREAKIN HOURS BY CASUAL CARLEAN!" A crazed fan was the first one to announce.


    With Seeker''s new weapon, he now can kill enemies and inflict damage to bosses. As Seeker said, by destroying the main hangar, Seeker advance in the storyline skipping ten or so hours of gamey. Seeker had just spent barely three hours of gamey and he was already atte-game stage.


    Suddenly, the angry gamblers who realized that they picked on the wrong side of the bet startedining. Seeker ignored the argument and continued to press forward. Since Arthur wasn''tining, he didn''t care.


    Seeker''s progression continued at a fast pace. However, every boss fight was a chore. As Seeker''s skill proficiency was so low, the attack speed was slow and the damage wasn''t very huge. Since Seeker skipped through a lot of the story''s parts, he had limited unlocked skills and his rifle was next to useless. Most of the seeding bosses took nearly an hour of fighting before Seeker would manage to defeat it.


    Soon over six hours has passed and Seeker was approaching the area where thest boss was.


    Seeker''s head was throbbing. Throughout the game, also had been eating a lot of food and would take some pain relievers to minimize the throbbing pain of his head. He knew he had somehow overused his Unlocking when he attacked the base.


    Seeker suddenly paused the game.


    "Um. Lynd. Could you like give me a message? My head hurts." Seeker shyly asked.


    Lynd gave Seeker a peculiar look. He didn''t move or make any indication that he nned to follow Seeker''s orders.


    Seeker then turned to Meryl.


    "Are you serious?"


    "Yes, Meryl. I am. I have been spending thest seven hours ying this game and it required a bit of concentration. So will you massage my head?" Seeker spoke with a sarcastic tone.


    Meryl scoffed and hurriedly positioned herself behind Seeker and started to do the massage. Thankfully, the three of them would habitually massage each other and due to that, the three knew a little bit about massaging. Meryl started to massage and Seeker continued the game.


    Seeker controlled Bullet to enter the final room and a cutscene urred.


    "Nope. I don''t think I can. I overstressed my brain. Instant Calction and Millisecond Reaction really put a number on you. Lynd, could you take over?" Seeker held the controllers straight at Lynd.


    Lynd was dumbfounded.


    "Look, Lynd, If I y, then I''m dead. You know of my condition. I really can''t. You have to y on my behalf. Don''t worry I''ll tutor you." Seeker stood up and allowed Lynd to seat down at his location.


    Meryl was tongue-tied. They were losing time and now Seeker wanted Lynd to take over.


    "Seeker!" Meryl cried.


    "I''m serious Meryl. I still need you to give me a massage. Lynd, take over. We are running out of time. Just do what I do." Seeker arranged his seat and sat down with his seat inclined backward.


    Lynd took the controller. It was clear that his hands were shaking.


    The game continued with Lynd controlling Bullet. The cutscene ended just in time and the battle began.


    The final boss was a small frail man who looked like a teen. He had a very bored expression. Surrounding him were several floating orbs which would either shoot outser beams or created a force field simr to the brawny man with the bracelets.


    Lynd immediately panicked and started evading.


    "Evade to the left. Run off the side. Now continuously jump and dash towards the furthest orb on the left and attack it. Good. Now, stop attacking. Oh. Be careful. One hit and half of your life would be gone. We are severely under-leveled." Seeker was casually instructing Lynd as he received a massage from Meryl who would asionally shriek in terror.


    "Rx Lynd. The gamble didn''t include a no-hit use. You can get hit. Of course, you''d probably die in two or three strikes." Seeker smiled.


    "Oh, that was close. Back off a bit. You''re getting to a bad position. Keep evading and return to the original spot you were when the fight started."


    Lynd was paling in fright. It was almost a miracle that he could control Bullet correctly.


    "Rx Lynd. We''ve been ying Piercing for so long. And you were even better than me at one point. Just follow my directions ok? Meryl, apply more pressure."


    Meryl was angry. She looked like she could just yank Seeker''s head off. It was one thing for him to ask her for a massage during one of the biggest gambles the world has ever seen, but now, handling the controllers over to Lynd.


    "Alright. Let''s start again. Try to keep up with my instructions. We''re a little pressed with time here and we could still lose." Seeker smiled.


    Lynd''s palm was sweating like crazy now.


    Seeker gave a series of instructions, which Lynd continued to follow. He managed to avoid getting hit a single time.


    Meanwhile, the chants and messages seen on the chat rooms were from those who ced their bets against Seeker. They knew if Seeker won this gamble, then people will definitely offer Seeker money double of Arthur''s pay. The only choice was for Seeker to lose this gamble so he can never y again.


    Seeing the prayers of curses and ridicule, Seekerughed.


    "Alright. Lynd, I think you got the basic. Just do what I would do. I''ll stop instructing you. How about ast gamble? Since I''m betting everything onto Lynd, I bet that Lynd can defeat this boss without getting a single hit. I''m betting 100,000 credits for this." Seeker smiled. He walked over to theputer and opened the Gambling Den once more.


    There it was, a Den with 100,000 credits wagered. Without skipping a beat all of those who gambled against Seeker poured in their money. Seeker ced it on a 500 credit buy-in. There were even some who were loyal to Seeker who ced their bets. After all, they didn''t know who this Lynd was.


    Meryl looked worried. She looked at Lynd who also looked worried. But strangely enough, Lynd felt calm despite this strange situation.


    "Wake me up once you beat it, Lynd. Meryl, please continue with the massage.." Seeker sat back down and continued to enjoy Meryl''s massage without any care for the world.

 Chapter 41 - A Message For Arthur

    Lynd couldn''t believe it. He just did the impossible. The battle took a harsher turn but he won. Luckily, he watched Seeker''s stream on the previous boss-fight and remembered all the patterns and attacks that Seeker did. He also remembered the basic attack patterns which the enemy also did. There were several close calls as Lynd would even shout in fear. There were even times when Lynd would pause the game as he was panicking and would resume the game when he calmed down. Seeker was sleeping soundly in all of these. Various cries of anger andints were voiced in the chat room but Meryl was mercilessly berating the haters.


    Luckily, LordChokeMeSenpai came to Meryl''s rescue and defended Lynd on his game.


    Kristine''s constant cheering andmendation for Lynd was enough to push Lynd to pass his limits and concentrate to the extreme. Even when Lynd was almost hysterical in his fear and panic, Seeker provided no help. He was, in fact, sound asleep and was even snoring.


    Thest boss, who had an anticlimactic name of ''Dave'', continued to attack with a variety of patterns that would confuse first-time yers. The majority of the time of this battle was spent in evading. Lynd knew that one hit would kill him and crush Seeker''s career down to the ground. The pressure that Lynd felt was great but he would asionally feel a strange calming sensation and reacted ordingly on the most dangerous moments.


    Lynd was well-aware of the harshness of facing this ''Dave''. Seeker said that in the future, Dave would be ssified as the hardest boss on any game ever made. Its attack patterns were designed to be almost random. This was why the bets made against him rose all the way to 25,000 credits. But Lynd managed to persevere and got Dave''s hit points down to half. It was then that the attack patterns became more intense. More viewers ced their bets at seeing the ruthless attacks. They expected Lynd to slip up and die at these attacks. But Lynd persevered. Slowly he managed to attack Dave andter, the number of his attacks started to increase. Nearly an hourter, the hearts of these gamblers were shredded.


    They wouldn''t have dared to agree to this gamble against Casual Carlean but since it was this stranger was a nobody. Who would have expected that this Lyndiculous man proved to be almost as skilled as Seeker?


    "He could be pro." Cronusmended as Dave''s hit points became critical.


    "Join us, Lynd. Do you forever want to be under Seeker''s wings? Best friends are also the best rivals."


    Cronus offered. Everyone was shocked to see this offer.


    "No way! Lynd would definitely join us!" LordChokeMeSenpai countered. Of course, she didn''t do it because she wanted Lynd to join but because Arthur motioned that she move to take Lynd as well.


    "We don''t know about that Meryl. But this Lynd is also a monster. Pseudo Instant Calction and Pseudo Millisecond Reaction. He has both." Arthur smiled. If honed, Lynd would be another figure that would rule the gaming world.


    "The world isn''t as small as it was after all." Arthur smiled.


    As Dave''s hit points fell to critical, Seeker''s fans were cheering while those who ced their bet against Lynd were cursing.


    The ending is as what Seeker expected. This was no gamble for him.


    News reports of it circted around the globe. The biggest gaming upset that has ever been streamed live concluded with the winning side being a young teen, Seeker Carlean. His official Gaming Handle was set at this victory. Every gamer knew of the name Casual Carlean.


    Precept Gaming was med by many fans. The numerous fans used that Precept Gaming was coborating with Seeker Carlean and was using him as an instrument to promote their game. Right now, Piercing: Bullet broke several world records. Some of the most known records included; a game with the highest recorded bet, the game with the most purchases within one week, the most talked-about game on social media, and several others.


    Precept Gaming released a public statement denying to have any involvement with Seeker Carlean. They denied even knowing of the bug that Seeker Carlean revealed during his stream and that they are immediately working on a patch to fix these errors.


    When asked for a statement regarding Seeker''s victory, Precept Gaming''s President Hisashi Suzuki apuded Seeker''s skill.


    "We at Precept Gaming ept the faults that our game has. If Seeker Carlean was able to take advantage and exploit the bugs that were even unknown to us, then his victory is justified. Seeker''s stream was monitored by our own dedicated servers and we can assure the public that there were no cheats or hacks detected. Much so, on the impressive gamey by that Lynd Indigo."


    While the world erupted in this news, a certain video call was happening to formalize the deals between Seeker and Covenant of the Strongest.


    Seeker was happily tapping his fingers like a drum and had a glee smile on his face.


    "Well?" Seeker smiled.


    "We are willing to offer you two times my pay," Arthur spoke nkly.


    Seeker continued to drum his fingers on the edge of the table as he sat down. Lynd and Meryl could be seen sitting on the back.


    "Not a bad start. I''ll take you up on that offer." Seeker smiled.


    Kristine was surprised.


    "I was expecting you to demand more."


    "Oh. I can. I bet Git Godlike would offer me something close to four times Arthur''s. Not to mention since whoever gets me, gets little ol'' Lynd here. But I''m not greedy." Seeker smiled.


    Arthur had a slightly grave look.


    "So about the trip¡­" Kristine began.


    "We''ll talk about it after the Nations of the World E-Sport Meet. For now, the priority is joining your team and learning to y together as a team." Seeker smiled.


    "Alright." Kristine nodded. A spark of excitement was in her eyes. They were sure to bring home the championship this year.


    "Don''t worry about our travel expenses. We''ll go there on our own." Seeker grinned.


    "That''s good. If convenient, we would like to meet you on Monday."


    "That''s fine. Just send us the full details of our meeting and we''ll be there by Monday." Seeker smiled.


    "Let''s talk more then. The gang and I have a party to celebrate." Seeker waved goodbye.


    The video call immediately ended.


    Kristine sighed. Luckily Seeker didn''t make things hard for her and Arthur.


    "You alright Arthur? I was expecting you to umm... talk."


    Arthur shook his head.


    "He was tapping his fingers¡­"


    "I was curious about that Lynd though. He seemed like a nice kid." Kristine turned and noticed that Arthur''s look was very serious.


    "He was tapping Morse code. He was clearly altering the speed of his taps to make it look normal."


    Kristine was shocked at this. Arthur was a master at many things. Morse code was one of them.


    "You sure? What if he was just tapping yfully? I mean, remember the time you thought you were hearing some code and it turned out to be a baby banging his rattle?"


    "Not this time. I was sure his message was ''Lennox Danger."


    Kristine was shocked at the message.


    Arthur opened theputer and reyed the video call. They recorded it in case any legal discussions would arise amidst the negotiations.


    Arthur listened to the first part of the call.


    "It''s really it. I''m not being crazy this time." Arthur frowned.


    "He knows your father?


    "If he does, he should know the absurdity of what he just said. But the manner in which he said it was too precise. It''s as if everything he did so far, was to get that message to me." Arthur frowned.


    Kristine sat there silently. Her heart was in turmoil.


    "Well at least we know now that he''s not after your body." Kristine smiled.


    Arthur simply shook his head.


    "I''m not sure whether I should be relieved or terrified. If what he just said is true, then the worlds about to change." Arthur copied the file and deleted the one in theputer.


    "Tell our sponsors that Seeker epted and no legal issues were discussed. The fewer people who know about this video, the better." Arthurmanded.


    News of the deal emerged online. Casual Carlean had officially joined the Covenant of the Strongest.


    This news found its way to mainstream media as Seeker became the highest-paid E-sport yer of all times withoutpeting in any arena.


    While the whole world was shaken by this, Seeker and his team continued with the celebratory party. It waste in the afternoon that they dined at Harker''s restaurant and ate to their heart''s content. But this wasn''t the celebration.


    Upon arriving at the abandoned factory, Alean, Charles and a very depressed Cliff awaited the three.


    "Congrattions on getting in the team." Alean greeted Seeker. She then turned and gave Lynd a sweet smile.


    Lynd blushed and nodded.


    "Did you get the weapons?" Seeker immediately asked.


    Alean sighed.


    "It''s inside. But first, I have questions about everything."


    "Of course you have." Seeker smiled.


    "This Unlocking thing. Is that how you did it? Your sudden rise to the top in the gaming world. If it is as Charles says, then if one second felt like five or more, you could easily dominate most sports."


    "Yes. That''s how I do it. Of course, I may have overstrained myself a bit earlier." Seekerughed.


    "Then why are you Unlocking me and Cliff?" Alean asked seriously.


    "Well for you, Lynd likes you. So it''s best to save you. After all, you do have quite a pitiful life growing up under your father. For Cliff, it''s more of a whim I guess? I mean, I need someone to do the dirty work if you and Charles are busy." Seekerughed.


    "Save us?" Alean asked in confusion.


    "These are troubling times Miss. The world will soon change. A war will ur and throw this world into chaos. No doubt you''ve heard of the reports. The secret wars between Africa and Russia." Seeker smiled.


    A grave look surfaced in Alean''s expression.


    "So you know even of that, huh?"


    "Dragon is the least of our problems. Why do you think Dragon''s after your dad''s tech? He''s preparing for it. It''s going to be a world where the unlocking would be your only option in order to survive." Seeker smiled.


    "Now let''s go see that weapon collection." Seeker strode into the main building to find a collection of weapons hanging on various stands andid out on a table.


    Swords, spears, axes, maces, ils. It was an assortment of weapons. It was as if they entered a diators ring.


    "Sweet. Looks like your contacts are very helpful. This collection pales from Charles'' set. Be sure to give Charles some. He''s got a thing for collecting weapons.


    Charles gave a slight smile. He didn''t dislike that suggestion.


    Alean sighed and shook her head.


    "Shall we get on with it then? The faster we get over this the better."


    "Pick a spot and pick your weapons. First, I''ll have one-on-one sessions with each of you. After that, we''ll do what we didst night." Seeker smiled.


    "Cliff. You''re up first." Charles ordered.


    Cliff''s face paled at Charles'' order.


    Charles gave Cliff an ''I''m sorry'' look. He dared not make thedies go first. Nor did he have the courage to order Lynd who is a potential World Champion.


    Cliff walked right in the center. His feet were shaking.


    "Select a weapon, man." Seeker grinned.


    Cliff went and got a spiked club. He was a baseball yer and he was confident of using it as a weapon. He turned to Cliff and had a questioning look.


    "Really? That one? I hope you''re ready." Seeker picked arge halberd. It was sorge that people would assume that no normal teen could carry it. But Seeker picked it up and dashed towards Cliff with an unbelievable speed. He lifted the halberd and just the sight of it made Cliff lose his wits. The halberd that Seeker carried was nearly two meters long with an obscenelyrge ax head.


    Seeker hacked his gigantic weapon downwards on Cliff.


    Cliff was paralyzed as he saw the falling halberd. Everyone watching unconsciously closed their eyes. They didn''t want to see a halved Cliff. It was a grim reminder for them.. Another night of terror was toe.

 Chapter 42 - Meeting The Covenant

    A sudden pressure enveloped Cliff which further increased the weight of his body. However, unlike the previous sensation, this time, Cliff could now somehow control his body. Time slowed down as he stared at the terrifying ax head. Cliff stared at it and turned to look at his puny spiked club. It was like an antpared to the two-meter-long halberd with arge sharp edge. The familiar sensation of fear enveloped him but this time, Cliff knew, somehow he could move.


    He could see it more clearly. In fact, somehow he thought he could see the immediate environment around him. He could see his body standing and Seeker right in front of him who was about to attack him. He has had simr sensations and experiences on the previous sessions, but this time, Cliff felt that he could move.


    Cliff forced his feet up and finally managed to jerk it awake. He took a sidestep and the sharp ax head crashed down on his previous location. The amount of force that Cliff exerted somehow catapulted him as if he exerted all his strength to jump. Cliff crashed on the ground to the side. Sweat was dripping all over Cliff''s body. From the perspective of others, Cliff made a ridiculously fast dodge on thest second of the hit.


    Everyone stood amazed at the sight.


    Cliff clutched his foot as he could feel he somehow sprained his muscles. However, he realized something and a happy smile surface.


    "I did it! I saw it! I could see it!" Cliff shouted excitedly.


    "Not bad. Looks like this training is effective after all." Seeker smiled.


    Cliffid back down in relief. He finally managed to do the impossible.


    "Let''s continue." Seeker said as he dashed towards Cliff with the ax head held up in the sky.


    "WAIT!" Cliff wailed in fright as he saw Seeker not giving him any moment to breathe.


    The session continued for ten more minutes.


    Cliff was trembling in fear as hey t on the back. His sweat spilled forth from his clothes and made the immediate dry pavement beneath him covered in his sweat.


    "Next," Seeker ordered.


    No one took the initiative to step forward.


    "Fine. I''ll choose." Seeker immediately dashed on towards Charles who also ran towards the nearest weapon shack.


    The round robin of repulsion continued until everyone had their session with Seeker. Like Cliff, everyone managed to adapt to the situation and make basic evasive maneuvers. However, an unexpected surprise was seen when it was Lynd''s and Meryl''s turn.


    Alean and Cliff stared in shock at how the two teens managed to easily adapt despite the increasing harshness of Seeker''s training regime.


    Meryl managed to continue evading Seeker''s attack for a full three minutes. It was only when Seeker attacked her with harsher techniques did she finally manage to sumb to the fear. Lynd''s battle was even better. Unlike everyone else, he managed to defend against Seeker''s attack and even had the opportunity to attack. However, he also received the most beatings from Seeker as a result to this.


    Charles was impressed. Future World Champions do have such terrifying potential.


    "Monsters." Charles shook his head as he voiced out unintentionally.


    Alean who heard Charles sigh gave the two a meaningful stare.


    "So that''s why Seeker keeps them." She mumbled to herself and decided to look at these two in a different light.


    Seeker and Lynd continued on with Lynd escaping and doing an asional attack. Suddenly Seeker dove in and abandoned his weapon. His speed increased to a point that although he could see Seeker''s approach, he couldn''t do anything. Seeker ducked down and gave Lynd a strong punch at the stomach and as Lynd bent over on Seeker''s shoulders, Seeker immediately did a shoulder toss. Lynd crashed on Charles and Alean.


    "Now it''s time for the group session." Seeker announced. He walked towards the side and dropped the halberd. He then eyed a magnificent silver broadsword. Seeker smiled before picking it up. He then turned to his friends and started marching towards the group who was still recovering from Lynd''s crash. The sudden change of events gave the group quite a panic as they ran to grab whatever weapons they could manage.


    A scene that can only be exined as a massacre urred. Only in this massacre, no one was dying. They were just being beaten up. Seeker who carried a de that bigger taller than the wielder was a very intimidating scene for the group.


    The night continued with a set of round robin followed by a group session. There were rtively no other improvements other than Lynd and Meryl being able to keep up on the relentless attacks of Seeker.


    While the night of terrors passed by for the group, the world was celebrating the rise of yet another world-famous figure that was birthed in the humble inds of the Phil-Pangea nation.


    Seeker''s stream continued to circte around the world as media groups covered and talked about this phenomenon. It created such a huge impact on the world''s culture that strange trends started. Experts on various fields of sports, arts and other odd jobs would stream themselves getting a massage while instructing a random Joe to perform the very skills that they were good at. The phenomenon was known as "Carleaning."


    The term Lyndiculous found its way to the Inte and became a popr meme. Lyndiculous was used to describe a miraculous event or performance from the most unexpected person. Lynd''s image started to circte around the globe as well. A random stranger who defeated thest boss with severe disadvantages such as weak weapons, low-leveled character, and no prior practice.


    It was Monday and a group of four walked out of the Arrivals bay in the airport. There were several guards who walked in front of them to prevent others from running towards them. Most of the people would scream the name of the adult of the group.


    "Charles! Marry me!" Several berserker cries from crazed fan-girls were made. Others spotted the team right behind them. And recognized them immediately. They have been circting all over the news and. Some of the gamers among the crowd ran immediately and wanted to get a picture of the most famous and highly paid pro-gamer. The Casual Legend, Seeker Carlean had arrived on My-Pangean soil.


    A group of well-dressed professionals awaited their arrival and began to wave. They were the escort service hired to get the group.


    At the very front of the group stood a tall, blonde woman. She was shocked to see Charles Lindmit together with Seeker.


    "Dr. Lindmitt! What a nice surprise! I didn''t know you''d be going together with Seeker!" A tall woman with blonde hair and a very stylish sense of fashion walked forward to shake Charles'' hand.


    "It ast minute decision. So I didn''t bother to announce it." Charles replied with humility.


    "Please don''t worry. We''ll be sure to amodate you with the finest service. We insist! It would be our pleasure to serve a Pangean hero." The woman smiled.


    "Then I guess I''d have to trouble you." Charles smiled.


    "And of course, the Legend himself. It''s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Carlean, Mr. Indigo, and Ms. Mikado." The woman greeted.


    "The pleasure is ours." Seeker stepped forward and shook the hand of the woman.


    "I am Halley Vagrant. The team manager of the Covenant of the Strongest. It''s a pleasure to have you on board."


    "Nice name. I bet people call you the Wandering Comet." Seeker chuckled.


    "Oh not at all." The womanughed.


    "I''ve had other names, but that probably is the best one yet." She smiled.


    "You aren''t rted to Stanley Vagrant of WarFreakz are you?" Seeker asked.


    "Actually, I am. He''s my nephew." She smiled.


    "Huh. Small world." Seeker smiled as he entered the car.


    The trip took them around the many famous sites around the My-Pangean area. Lynd and Meryl stared excitedly as they gazed on the many sites. It was there first time visiting a neighboring country.


    Seeker had a nonchnt attitude but was secretly impressed at the beauty of this country. It looked beautiful considering it wasn''t a wastnd of fallen tanks as he remembered in his memories. The tall buildings would be halved buildings and surroundings would be littered corpses or body parts.


    "Are you a fan of the WarFreakz? With your status, I''m sure you can join them. They would probably be happy to have an Arthur-level yer join them." Halley smiled.


    "Nah. I don''t want to be too busy. I''m doing all these for the fun of it after all. But I do want to meet him. The famed General himself." Seeker smiled.


    "Casual as ever I see." Halleyughed.


    The group eventually arrived at a very tall rotating building with a very entric design.


    "The Gorde Tower. The first My-Pangean building to adopt a Supra-Modern design. Impressive." Seeker smiled as he saw the unique tower.


    "Our office is on the 35th floor. Arthur and his group should be waiting. More than the initial meeting with you, several of them want to have a one-on-one battle with you."


    "I am as well. I am hoping that my friends here can humor them and disy their own talent in the game."


    "Of course! Mr. Indigo made quite an impact!" Halley smiled.


    The group immediately arrived at the 35th floor and the elevators where opened.


    "Nutterballs!" Lynd cried out in excitement.


    The gaming area where the Covenant would practice, study and basically live was an impressive room. It had several bathrooms, state-of-the-artputers, a very high-tech ambiance in the room. The room was even better than most 5-star hotel rooms.


    As the doors towards the office were opened, they were greeted with a group of seven teens. Arthur and Kristine stood at the middle. Surrounding them was the remaining members of the covenant.


    The most good-looking youth stood at the far right. He was Danny. The most famous member of the Covenant and the only one who used his real name as his game-handle. Next to him stood a in-looking man. He was the most silent member of the Covenant, the Range Master, Asterisxx. The official tank of the team stood next to him, a petite woman with a very heavy amount of make-up. She was the famed tiny warrior, MaliciousUnicorn. Thest member of their group was an odd looking youth with buckteeth. His face was as odd as his name. Strawberry_Sit-ups.


    "Ladies and Gentlemen, the newest addition to our team. Seeker ''the Casual'' Carlean." Arthur announced nkly.


    "Wait! Is that Charles Lindmit?" Kristine eximed.


    The members of the Covenant immediately rushed towards Charles excitedly. The petite woman even went to hug Charles intimately as there was unexinable fanaticism on her eyes.


    "Haha. Calm down. I''ll be hanging around here for a long time. Miss Halley, is it possible for me to request a room somewhere near this floor? I do need to keep an eye out for Seeker." Charles was politely trying to get the crazed woman off her sides.


    "No need. Doctor Lindmitt can stay with me." The petite girl gleefully announced.


    "Dara. Please calm down." Kristine frowned.


    "No way. You''re just saying that because you want to be together with Doctor Charles."


    "Oh? Not at all. If anything, I''d rather have Seeker in my room." Kristine gave a soft giggle.


    Lynd was blushing to the extreme.


    "You''re interested in him?" MaliciuosUnicornughed.


    Seeker gave a confused look.


    "Let me tell you something newbie. I made my way up thisdder giving everything I have. I conquered pros after pros until I reached this ce. And now, someone like you could just pop out of nowhere and be a Covenant?"


    "I understand. You reached these heights through your skill. So you look down on me for my method of getting here. Well, don''t worry. Like you, it is also because of my skills. In fact, its skills that far surpass yours." Seeker smiled.


    "What are you saying, newbie?" Dara red.


    "How about a bet? You, and two other members except for Arthur, versus me my friends.." Seekers trademark devilish grin appeared once more.

 Chapter 43 - A Clash With The Covenant

    MaliciousUnicorn gave a very angry frown.


    "Seeker¡­" Meryl quietly tugged Seeker''s shirt.


    "Umm¡­ I think we all got off at the wrong foot." Kristine began.


    "No. It''s clear that some of your members don''t approve of how we got to where we are." Seeker interrupted.


    "Especially Ms. MaliciousUnicorn. I know the entric path I took. And it''s understandable that you won''t respect me because of this. Then allow us to prove you wrong. You pick any members of the Covenant excluding Arthur and we can have a three on three matches." Seeker smiled.


    "I''m in!" Dannyughingly announced.


    Asterisxx raised his hand up high as well.


    "Alright. Then its settled a three on three matches." Dara didn''t even look back as she stormed off to the game room.


    "Arthur¡­" Kristine whispered.


    "Leave it. This is good for the team. It''s also a chance to see how good Seeker and his two friends are."


    Meryl and Lynd was shocked. While everybody was walking in towards their respective rooms, the two stood where they are petrified. They were going to fight the Covenant of the Strongest?


    "Seeker," Charles whispered.


    "Yeah?"


    "Is this a good idea? Can you win if you fight against the three of them?"


    "No. I can''t. I''m fighting actual yers here, not sequenced attacks. Not to mention you did tell me to cut down on my Unlocking at around 15%."


    "Exactly. You already fainted after thest fight. You cannot exceed 15%!"


    "I won''t. Don''t worry."


    "Then why are you challenging them?"


    "Because I''m certain we will win."


    "You just said you can''t handle them!"


    "I just said that we will win." Seeker smirked.


    "Do me a favor and drag those two in the room." Seeker pointed to Lynd and Meryl.


    Charles sighed and went back to give the two paralyzed teens a little push.


    "So what do we bet?" Seeker asked as he entered the lounge room. There was two separate gaming room. No doubt used by the Covenant for a practice match.


    "Credits of course. How about 50,000 credits?" Dara dared.


    "Nah. A little too boring if you ask me. How about this, if we win I get your spot at the 5-on-5 Championship matchup." Seeker smirked.


    Dara red angrily.


    "That way we know the Covenant is sending their best for the 5-on-5 Championship matchup." Seekerughed.


    "What gives you the right to challenge me with that? Not even your sad credits can make up for that position." Dara scoffed.


    Seeker pondered for a bit. Then a devious smile emerged.


    "How about this. I bet 30,000 Credits and if you win, Charles will be your boyfriend for a month. He''ll take you on as many dates as you want in that time period and is required to earnestly respond to you." Seeker smiled.


    "What?!" Charles asked in shock.


    "What?!" Halley shouted in anger.


    "What?!" Danny and Kristine eximed in surprise.


    "What?!" Dara cried in delight.


    "What?" Seeker asked in confusion.


    "Are you serious?!" Dara asked immediately. Clearly, the unreasonable gamble awakened a beast hiding within her petite frame.


    "Of course not! Charles is a respected Doctor! He doesn''t have time to spend with you, little kids!" Halley announced in anger.


    "Charles, Agree to this." Seekermanded.


    "Alright." Charles sighed.


    "What?!" Even Arthur was surprised at Charles sudden surrender. Everyone stared with mouth agape at how Seeker could control Charles.


    "Zeek. This isn''t a good idea." Meryl pleaded.


    "Since we''re putting rtionships on the line, Danny, why not go out with Meryl if we win?" Seeker smiled.


    "Seeing as how Doctor Lindmitt is agreeing, how can I disagree?" Danny gave a carefreeugh.


    "Let''s do it," Meryl announced as she positioned herself on the seat. The colors of her eyes started to have a subtle change in color. Seeker smiled as he noticed the very almost unapparent change. It was no secret to Lynd and Seeker that Meryl had a poster of Danny on her bedroom.


    Lynd gasped at Meryl''s sudden change of character. He was alone. There were tears in his eyes and he looked pleadingly to Seeker.


    "I''ll have Miss Alean take you out on a date if we win, Lynd. I think I can even make her kiss you on the cheeks." Seeker smiled.


    Lynd nodded with determination. There were tears of joy as he hoped for the best in this battle. His Unlocking immediately soared to Unbing Advent.


    Everyone else stood in great surprise at the sudden turned of events.


    Charles was chuckling at the sight of the two friends. Then his chuckled turned to a gulp of fear as he noticed an eerie look from his sides.


    Dara looked at Charles like she was eyeing a cake coated and overflowing with choctes and all the sweetness of life.


    "Let''s go, guys!" Dara announced as she excitedly paced towards the first gaming room.


    "Aren''t you worried? I must warn you Dr. Lindmitt, that Dara is not kidding. She''s a huge fan of yours and I''m afraid this couldplicate your reputation! You shouldn''t have agreed to this!" Halley spoke to Charles with eyes full of worry.


    "Don''t worry. Seeker seems confident that his team would win. I do have a feeling that his two friends would give you a nice surprise." Charles smiled.


    "Look. Even if Seeker could beat the game at record speed, any one of the Covenant could do just about the same. They are worlds apart from these students. I''ve seen Seeker''s stream and when Lynd yed. I know he''s good but only that. They are both nowhere near a pro! It''s different when you fight the A.I and fight against yers!" Halley continued to warn.


    "Let''s just look at how this battle progresses," Charles smirked.


    "Lynd, use a tank build of de. Meryl, use whoever you feel using." Seeker ordered.


    "Oh. So Meryl knows how to y?" Charles asked curiously.


    "You haven''t seen her y?" Halley asked in surprise.


    "Yes. I assumed only Lynd and Seeker knew how to y."


    The worry on Halley''s face grew more.


    "Doctor Charles. You need to talk to Seeker to stop this bet. This is crazy! You''re putting too much at stake here."


    "Seeker knows what he''s doing." Charles sighed.


    The Piercing series was so famous as an RPG that when it released a multiyer online battle arena version, it immediately became the top e-sport that everyone followed.


    The standardpetitive game style was the 5-on-5 deathmatch with the goal of destroying the enemies main supply building. However, its poprity rose as the amazing game features a veryplex set of controls and diverse freedom of control. Due to this, Precept Gaming even released a specialized controller having 12 buttons, a d-pad, and two analog sticks. This veryplex set ofmands allowed yers to control their characters precisely.


    All characters of the Piercing series had specialized weapons, its own ying style. Adding from that was how yers can assign the skills of their selected character to create a build. This ensured that no single character was simr. Even if two yers used one character, its general ying style may be vastly different as yers could tweak the skills of the character itself.


    Lynd selected a character wielding arge broadsword. Meryl selected a female character wielding a pair of Sai which emitted electrical sparks. Seeker used the leading character of Piercing: Edge who carried tworge handguns which could turn into a de.


    The fight began.


    "Let''s kill the two first and focus and Seekerter!" Dara announced.


    Their characters dashed towards the main base of Seeker''s team. And very soon the avatars of the Seeker''s team were on sight.


    "Let''s show these twats what it''s like to mess with pros!" Dara screamed.


    The battle didn''t take long. It was a one-sided massacre. Barely 10 minutes since the game started, Seeker''s team had already won.


    Lynd was unhittable. Not even the fast hands of Asterrisxx worked against Lynd as the harassment of Seeker''s handguns kept him from synching with Danny and Dara. Meryl yed her usual ystyle which Seeker and Lynd were veryfortable with. Meryl kept ambushing and continued with her sneak attack as the three were already busy with Lynd and Seeker''sbo.


    The shes and battles eventually moved towards the base of Dara''s team and eventually, the main supply line was destroyed.


    Halley was tongue-tied in her surprise. He never expected her team to lose so badly against Seeker.


    Seeker stood up from his feet and started flexing.


    "That was easy. Let''s go and have lunch somewhere." Seeker smiled.


    Arthur and Kristine was in their room the entire game. Kristine had a bewildered look on her face while Arthur looked as if he expected this result.


    "Amazing! The three of you are so good!" Kristine eximed.


    "Indeed. I knew Lynd had pseudo Millisecond Reaction, but now I''ve met another one." Arthur stared at Meryl.


    "Looks like bringing Seeker into this team is a good thing. We paid for the price of three." Arthur spoke candidly.


    "I trust, that you will put me on the Champions match." Seeker smiled as he spoke to Arthur.


    "We will need to sort some things out first. I request a private meeting." Arthur announced.


    "I believe that my two friends and the good doctor should join."


    Arthur''s eyebrow raised. But consented.


    "Alright. Kristine, please join us as well. Would you be so kind as to keep everyone out of the room, for now, Miss Halley?" Arthur asked nkly.


    Halley nodded and went out of the room. Arthur closed it and locked it


    "This ce is soundproof. We can talk openly." Arthur immediately spoke with a serious tone.


    "Who are you and what exactly is it that you want?"


    "Down to business I see. Just like my old pal little Arthy." Seekerughed.


    "I''m from the future Arthy. And I bring tidings of terror. Right now, with the way you are, you will die. You need to run back home and train with your old man if you want a shot at surviving." Seeker spoke inly.


    Arthur frowned.


    "This is a waste of time." Arthur turned around and was about to leave the room.


    "You haven''t found your sister yet, have you? I know where she is." Seeker smiled.


    Arthur froze. Suddenly, Arthur immediately dashed towards Seeker. He punched out his hand but his fingers we stiff and straight as if his very arm was a de and wanted to pierce Seeker with it.


    "Rx." Seeker spoke. A massive pressure enveloped the room.


    Kristine dropped to the floor and was gasping for breath.


    Arthur managed to keep his footing though his movements drastically fell down. Seeker casually evaded the thrust and delivered a powerful punch on Arthur''s chest.


    Arthur was sent flying back but managed o remain to stand and immediately adopted a fighting pose.


    "Disgusting monster. I see what you mean, Zeek." Charles spoke jealously. His legs were shaking but he managed to withstand the pressure.


    "Wow. He managed to stand after all that." Meryl admired.


    The fear that gripped Arthur''s heart clenched his throat. But despite the danger, Arthur did his best to turn his head around and check on Kristine.


    "Will you behave now? If you do, I''ll stop this and Kristine will feel better." Seeker smiled.


    Arthur did his best to open his mouth. But to no avail. After a bit of struggling Arthur then nodded his head.


    Immediately the pressure disappeared.


    Kristine and Arthur were now gasping for breath. Kristine couldn''t stand up. She remained on the floor shivering. Arthur, on the other hand, kept breathing until he stabilized his condition.


    Arthur stood and red angrily at Seeker.


    "Nutterballs. Ranked Heroes are awesome. He''s got to be on the Advent rank now!" Lynd admired.


    "No. He''s not yet on the Advent rank." Seeker smiled.


    "How? I had to get used to your pressure and this is Arthur''s first time! How did he manage to remain standing at the full force of your pressure?" Charles spoke angrily.


    "You haven''t met his father." Seekerughed.


    "Anyways Charles, the reason I asked you to join is this Arthur. One of three entrics of the unlocking. Those who broke through by studying and reading books. One of three people allowed to use a Nuke Emitter. Ranked Hero Arthur Humphrey.. The Atomic Thresher."

 Chapter 44 - He Who Treads The Threshing Floor

    Arthur stood on the sandy beach as he gazed at the mountain range. Three Gargantuants could be seen hovering over the mountain range. The array of ships that floated in the sky as well as the enemy soldiers that rode huge mechs by the cliffs of the mountains seemed to blot out the light of the setting sun.


    "You sure about this?" Seeker solemnly spoke.


    "Yes. Thank you for not telling her." Arthur replied with a smile.


    "I''m not used to seeing you smile."


    "This will be thest time. I assure you." Arthur continued smiling.


    Seeker gave a sad nce at Arthur.


    "You know, I never liked you."


    "The pleasure is mine Seeker. It''s funny how you get to love someone because you need them."


    The two silently stared at the army that could be their doom.


    "There''s got to be another way. Your father said that-"


    "My father knows that there is no time. If this army manages to break through then not even three World Champions can pull back the wave without getting killed. It''s still too early. We can''t afford to lose all our Queens."


    "So we sacrifice one Bishop?" Seeker asked slowly.


    "Yes. You and I both know that we stand at the bottom among the Heroes. And of the two of us, only I can pull off this task." Arthur smiled once more.


    "At the bottom? Come on. At least you rank second to the bottom." Seekerughed.


    "Well don''t beat yourself up. I always thought you didn''t belong among the Heroes. But seeing you that day, as you dove fearlessly into the fray risking your own life proved that you were better than me. If it was me, I wouldn''t have done it."


    "Really?" Seeker asked in confusion.


    "Yes. You see on your debut as the Death Tide, there were too many factors in that little dive of yours. I''ve watched the video countless times."


    "Countless? Was the math that hard?"


    "It wasn''t. Over ny percent chance that you''d die. It was a stupid move."


    "I appreciate your calctions." Seekerughed sarcastically.


    "And that''s why I wouldn''t have done it. It''s also the reason why I have confidence in taking this dive. It''s a twenty percent sess rate by the way."


    Seeker''s eyes went wide open.


    "Only twenty percent? Then why are you doing this anyway?"


    "The same reason why you did what you did. You were confident. You were determined. You had to win." Arthur smiled as he recalled Seeker''s attack.


    "Trust me, Zeek. I will seed." A bright smile was disyed on Arthur''s face as he said that.


    Seeker sighed. Tears started to roll down his eyes.


    "What will your precious team think? Their Commander, the Death Tide shedding tears." Arthur mocked.


    Seeker took a deep breath. He calmed down and controlled his emotions.


    "You know; you never did tell me why you used a mace as your weapon." Seeker smiled.


    "The mace seemed to be the most convenient. You see, I don''t want to use a sword or any de. It cuts. I can''t determine the theoretical hit point of an enemy. If I cut off an arm or slice of a part, the calctions I need to make are frustrating." Arthurughed.


    "What do you mean?"


    "It''s another one of my math habits. You see if I cut off a part of a limb, I have to change the theoretical 100% of the enemy."


    "Because it''s no longer attached to the enemy you have to reevaluate the theoretical 100%?"


    "Yes. Hahaha." Arthurughed with a carefree expression. While Seeker had a bewildered look.


    "Don''t tell anyone. You see, unlike the sword that cuts off the parts, the mace damages the enemy I can feel its vibrations and it can tell me how much damage I inflicted. Cutting off a limb or a part causes a lot of potentially unbnced calctions. What if the users dominant arm was the other arm? How does he adjust to the circumstance? In the end, it''s easier for me to deduct the theoretical hit points rather than recalcte the theoretical 100%."


    "But that''s- I mean-you still damaged-" Seeker who could easily memorize and mentally read a 200-word essay within 5 seconds was fumbling in his words.


    "Leave it, Zeek!" Arthurughed once more.


    "It''s just a part of my obsessivepulsive behavior. When I used the sword it was so frustrating and annoying that I almost got hit. I switched to a mace and life was easy."


    Seeker was shaking his head out of disbelief. So this was why the most calctive Hero used the most inefficient of weapons.


    "Sir." A soldier suddenly arrived.


    "They are ready."


    Seeker and Arthur''s expression returned to a solemn one.


    "Get into position Commander. The war will begin on my first attack. Stick to the n." Arthur ordered as he walked out.


    Seeker stared at the departing figure.


    "Tell her I''m sorry," Arthur spoke calmly.


    "Are you?" Seeker asked.


    "Not really. The tears on her eyes wouldn''t be enough to sway me. As long as she can smile long after we win, it would all be worth it." Arthur smiled. The four cylinders attached on his back started to glow.


    The next second he was gone.


    Arthur sped as low as he could go and approached the guarding forces. But before they could even react at the sudden bleep that appeared on their radar, the attack had already begun.


    A mini- nuclear st exploded on the East side of the mountain. The nuclear explosion itself looked contained. As if an invisible barrier prevented it from spreading out. The shockwaves of the st, however, was as strong as ever.


    A battle immediately began. The enemy soldiers started moving and the Three Gargantuants that had long look to be on hibernation started to move towards the army. Several ports were opened and more ships started swarming out of the Gargantuant.


    Huge electric sparks could be seen arcing all over the ship. Then suddenly the arc of lightning danced through the sky zipping through the swarm of flying allies and thundered on the UN Armies base.


    "LIGHT SPEED ATTACKS!" A soldier warned as the three Gargantuants started sending out rains of thunder. It was blindingly fast. Even Inhumans would die without being able to make attempts of evading.


    The swarm of enemies that descended on the U.N Armies arrived near the base and a chaotic battle began. People were dying left and right and the U.N Armies slowly dwindled in numbers.


    Every now and then, a light-speed attack would shoot through the gaps of the battlefield. Though the African forces were as many as a locust swarm, the beams could still zip through the swarm and kill UN soldiers.


    It was a massacre. The UN Armies took a lot of hits and its army was dwindling by the second.


    Several attacks from the Champions and other Ranked Heroes were executed to damage the Gargantuants but it was no avail as they could not zip through the swarm and evade the light-speed attacks.


    Three Gargantuants, when positioned in the right way, could create a gravity field. With this, light speed auto-attacks could be made as it used gravity to map the area and ascertain the possibilities of attacking without causing friendly fire. Anything deemed as an enemy within this zone would automatically be shot at if the system determines that no friendly fire would be incurred. When three Gargantuants would form this formation, it would be something that even a World Champion would not recklessly dive into.


    The light-speed attacks continued to rain down whenever a gap was made in the midst of the swarm. This shower of protection maximized the attacking potentials of the African army with the Aragarian fleet behind them.


    A soldier was using his Force Boosters to retreat when a light-speed attack struck the location in front of him, killing his ally. A huge Titan immediately reached down to cleave the soldier in half. But before the sharp strike reached the soldier was pulled to safety.


    "Commander!" The soldier cried in relief as he was saved from the clutches of the huge Titan.


    Seeker took him by the hand and was zooming to the north side of the battle.


    "We can''t hold on!"


    "Rx. Trust in your General. He''s just about to set the stage." Seeker frowned.


    Immediately after Seeker finished his sentence, several nuclear sts exploded in various areas of the battlefield. The sudden st killed enemies and left several others disoriented by the shockwave. As the ring of explosions began, the enemy troops were thrown into disarray. Chaos ensued as the ships and mechs shuffled to regain their formation. Amidst this chaos was an arising order.


    This order was achieved through the application of various mathematical variables. It took into ount the possible behaviors, reactions, and the very psychology of the enemy. In the midst of the swarm of enemies, a path was made leading to the three Gargantuants.


    The ''path'' which was about four miles long, had a lot of enemy ships and mechs. In fact, it didn''t look like a path. But for Arthur it was.


    The path would exist barely a second long. If there were any more enemies in this path, Arthur would be unable to thread this path. But despite the long length and the short time that this path would remain open, it was enough. Especially since Arthur has Selective Unlocking.


    Unlike all Ranked Heroes who used the Four Force elerator, Arthur used the gear that was granted only to World Champions. The Four Ster Threads. Through Arthur''s amazing calction skills, he could navigate through the skies with speeds that far surpass what the Four Force elerator could provide.


    Arthur looked at the path before him and smiled. Large ships and huge titans stood between him and his destination. It looked impossible, but in Arthur''s eyes, he never felt so sure of his math.


    "Time to start threshing on the Threshing Floor." It was now time for Arthur to attack.


    A reading from the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 41, verse 15.


    "Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff."


    ZOOOOOOM!!


    A sonic boom sted through the path. Mechs of metal and ships of steel stood in front of him, but carved metals and splintered steely before him.


    The Threshing Floor.


    This was Arthur''s most powerful attack. With speeds that only a World Champion could control, Arthur pierced through the swarm of enemies grinding anything along its path to dust.


    The moment Arthur pierced through thest enemy ship, light-speed attacks pierced through his torso. Arge hole could be seen as the light-speed attack ended.


    Without a doubt, Arthur would die.


    Time seemed to stop for Arthur. He looked in disdain towards the three Gargantuants.


    "Hmp! Idiots. We''ve already won." Arthur clutched the Nuke Emitter on his hand and it self-destructed.


    A powerful nuclear explosion shook the three Gargantuants. The explosion was so big that it seemed to cover the entire mountain range. The explosion caused the three ships to move away from each other. Sadly, its hard armor ting resisted the st and did not critically damage the ship. But what Arthur did was enough.


    The World Champions made their move when the Threshing Floor started and even before the mes of the nuclear st could recede, the World Champions pierced through and boarded they''re assigned Gargantuant.


    The rage of the Champions could not be easily quenched during that battle. For in the entire history of the war, there was only one recorded instance that several World Champions manage to win a battle by deliberately sacrificing a Ranked Hero.


    Seeker''s eyes grew red as he saw the powerful st. It was beautiful. Arthur''s artistic side was clearly disyed as the explosion formed what looked like a gold crown in the sky. No doubt, a work of Arthur''s calctions. The UN Armies morale soared.


    "There it is men! Thest gift of your General! The Stephanos! The Victors Crown! We have won! Let us im it!" Seeker roared.


    He clutched his sword and flew towards the enemies with a berserker expression and the army followed.


    Without the support of the Gargantuants the African army was easily subdued.


    Mission Hundred Mountain Hunt Sessful.


    The UN Armies of Asia sessfully eliminated a third of the African forces.. Victory attributed to the brave sacrifice of Ranked Hero, General Arthur Humphrey.

 Chapter 45 - The First Prophet

    Charles sat down and listened as Seeker gave the summary of who he was, what he saw, as well as the future of Arthur. Seeker, who remembered the painful memories of how Arthur died contained his emotions. Seeker made no mention of that battle which he had just unconsciously remembered.


    "What exactly is Selective Unlocking?" Charles finally interrupted at the conclusion of Seeker''s tale.


    "It''s a state wherein the unlock individual managed to increase their Unlocking''s in certain specific areas." Seeker exined.


    Arthur and Kristine were now seated on the couch with hot teas served for them to calm down.


    Arthur had a peculiar look on his face.


    "Let''s take Arthur''s case as an example. Right now, by measuring the capacity of his brain, it definitely can go beyond the normal function, he isn''t Unlocked at all. He probably has about 12 percent of his unlockingplete and wouldn''t even qualify as an Unbing Advent." Seeker sat down in front of Arthur.


    "But this increase in 2 percent is specifically locked in certain areas. I''d say overall Mental fortitude. This means he cannot aplish the usual things an Unlocked mind can. No improvement in sight, hearing, and all the other benefits that generally follow once you Unlock the limits of your brain."


    "What do you mean by mental fortitude?" Meryl asked as she served the remaining teas.


    "Thinking of course. He can analyze data faster than normal people. That is why he has Instant Calction. I can calcte things because of how my perception is faster than a normal person''s perception. Because of that, I have enough time to make the necessary calction. For Arthur, it''s different. He can calcte things almost instantly."


    Arthur was silent. He continued to ponder Seeker''s words.


    Kristine still had a very apprehensive look towards Seeker. She could still recall the deep fear that gripped her heart.


    "Impressive." Charlesmended.


    "And you''re saying that he managed to reach this far just by studying?"


    "Yes. I''m assuming that Lennox managed to do the same. I''m pretty certain Lennox''s unlocking should probably be somewhere in between Unbing Proficient to Inhuman Proficient. Seeing as Arthur''s familiar with the pressure and stress I can release means he has been thoroughly baptized in that."


    Arthur''s eyebrow raised.


    "You mean what my old man can do, is something these Unlocked can do?"


    "No. It''s much moreplicated than that. There will be only a few individuals who could do what you''re your father can do." Seeker shook his head.


    "I thought everyone could do that." Charles reacted.


    "If that were true, then we would have had more chances in fighting the war. Some would only manage to release this scent when they reached Ranked Hero."


    "So there are others who are far worse than my dad?" Arthur asked again.


    "Not really. At most, they would probably be on par with your dad."


    "Then why did you say ''Danger?''"


    "To get your attention of course. Although there are some who can kill Lennox, myself included, it would probably a close fight or a pyrrhic victory. No one wants that. My intentions for saying that was to warn you. You''d probably ignore it if my message to you was simply ''danger.'' So I had to say something as strange as that to make you want to meet me and allow a private conversation."


    "So the reason why you wanted to meet with me isn''t that of my father, but just to give me this message?"


    "Yes. You are a rare case after all. If you do manage to break through to higher ranks, it would hasten the research of Charles. If we could improve the chances of directly creating an Inhuman without sacrificing hundreds. The procedure for creating Unlocked individuals have a high mortality rate after all. But if Charles can improve on it, then the chances of our winning the war may improve." Seeker smiled.


    "Exactly how can his Unlocking help me?" Charles asked immediately. His eyes sparkled with rich desire.


    BEEP!


    Seeker took a look at his phone.


    "Oh. Just in time. Lynd, Meryl please ask Miss Halley to go down with you. Alean has just arrived. Go pick her up." Seeker smiled.


    Lynd hastily walked out the door while Meryl wasughing at Lynd''s sudden disinterest at the current unveiling news.


    "Poor Kristine. And she seemed quite interested in you Lynd. Too bad you already have Miss Alean." Meryl teased on her way out.


    The door closed once again and Seeker''s smile faded into a serious one.


    "Alright. Now that those two are out, I''ll be exining this crucial principle to you Charles and why Arthur is important."


    Charles was surprised at the sudden seriousness of Seeker''s discussion.


    "Are you familiar with the concept of Intuitive versus Sensing?" Seeker asked.


    "Yes. The theory which states the two categories on how people perceives information." Charles nodded.


    "Good. You see, we have identified that there are three types of individuals who can reach World Champion. That stage is so hard, that it was said to be scientifically impossible to do so. Even among those who reached Ranked Hero, there were only a few who showed the potential to actually be a World Champion."


    "Like Lynd." Charles murmured in disgust.


    Arthur''s eyebrows were raised.


    "Interesting." Arthur voiced out. Seeker ignored Arthur''s sudden interest.


    "Generally, most of those who have broken through to World Champion belonged to the Sensing category. But not to say that all who belong in that group had a chance to reach it, rather, among those who managed to reach Ranked Hero, those with the potential to break through all were sensing types."


    "The Believers." Charles realized.


    "Yes. The Unlocking is a mysterious phenomenon. The problem with intuitive types is that they have to ''think'' their way of understanding how to push the unlocking. But you can''t crunch numbers and achieve the Unlocking. How do youmand your cells to alter your very brain? You can''t do that nor can that be taught. So only those with extreme sensing, like those two happy-go-lucky friends of mine can alter their brain naturally. Even I, at the peak of Ranked Hero, couldn''t do that."


    "Because you need to understand ''how'' that happens..." Arthur added.


    "Exactly. Though this seems like a little problem, it''s actually a huge one. Unless one has this ''faith,'' the brain won''t ever change on its own. Thus many of those Unlocked would face a wall when they reach the higher ranks of Inhuman. And those who manage to conquer it are faced with the incredible impossibilities of breaking through Ranked Hero."


    "Is this why Meryl managed to awaken her Unhindered Sight?" Charles asked.


    "Yes. Everyone who reached the World Champion stage had their own ''path'' of growth. Each Champion had things that no other Champion could do. And it was because of this that we believe only those who have those specific ''path'' can reach World Champion."


    "You aren''t seriously listening to this Arthur?" Kristine finally interrupted. She kept quiet during the strange talks that they had but when Arthur started joining in, she felt as if she had to voice out her thoughts.


    "Yes, I am. It makes perfect sense. I''m skeptical about Seeker''s prophecies of the future, just as everyone should. But I do believe the Unlocking. It thoroughly exins the state of my father." Arthur stood up and signaled Kristine to be quiet.


    "This means that my father should fit into the other group of those who reached this so-called World Champion, correct?"


    "Yes. Three people were recorded to have Selective Unlocking. You and your father belong to that group. If we can save your sister, then it''s possible that we would have a forth." Seeker smiled.


    Arthur gave a smile as well. Kristine was shocked when Arthur revealed a smile.


    "Does that mean you will help me save my sister?"


    "Of course. Why wouldn''t we? But we can''t be too hasty. Your sister is caught up with some very troublesome people. At the heart of our enemies to be in fact."


    Arthur frowned.


    "So those Aragarian''s are holding my sister captive?"


    "Yes." Seeker quietly responded.


    Arthur''s face turned angrier.


    "Is my father responsible for my sister''s demise?"


    Seeker simply shook his head.


    "I don''t know. It''s possible that he had a hand to y. He never spoke of it. But what I do know is that when your sister died, your father brought Egypt to her knees, he went on a rampage and massacred over a million people."


    Arthur''s face finally rxed a bit while Charles swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He hoped that Seeker was exaggerating the number.


    "So my suspicions seemed misced."


    "There are forces at work on this that even your father fears Arthur. They are your true enemy. Your father may have a hand at how your sister was taken, but he isn''t your enemy."


    Arthur nodded.


    "Then what do I need to do?"


    "For now, we y along with the immediate events. We have a couple of things to do. I''ll need your help in some matters and Charles needs to run his test on you." Seeker turned to Charles.


    "Let me get this straight, you want me to take a look at Arthur because he''s one of the rare cases where a person with intuitive perception has the potential to reach World Champion?"


    "Yes. On the Sensing side, we have the Believers, on the Intuitive side, are the rare cases of Selective Unlocking such as Arthur here."


    "What about you? Which one are you?"


    "I''m an Intuitive, but I''m not a Prophet."


    "A what?"


    "A Prophet. I don''t have Arthur''s potential. We call them ''Prophets'' since they could teach others while Believers can''t."


    "What do you mean by teaching?"


    "Teach how to Unlock the brain further. Everything that I''ve been doing was actually based on a rough theory that Arthur developed."


    Charles gave Arthur an angry re. So he was the culprit.


    "But what we''ve been doing won''t help when you reach a certain stage. There has to be a scientific exnation and a step by step guide to help others push their unlocking. Believers were basically clueless about how they would teach others. It''s like asking musical advice from a prodigy. They can''t exin it even if they wanted to since these thingse very naturally to them."


    "So that leaves us? The Intuitive types who can exin the very process." Arthur murmured.


    "Yes. Thankfully your dad was one among the Champions. He will be your best teacher. Hopefully, if you break through World Champion and once you develop the road of your ''path'' then maybe more World Champions will appear." Seeker smiled.


    "Why not have my father teach?" Arthur frowned.


    "You see, the problem is that your dad isn''t exactly a Prophet like you who broke through by studying. He is also a part of the third group of World Champions. Being part of that group drastically limited the things your father could teach."


    "The third type that reached World Champion?"


    Seeker gave an exasperated sigh. It gave Charles and Arthur the impression that Seeker was actually depressed.


    "The third group of Unlocked individuals was originally believed to be the only group that could reach the World Champion stage. They rose to that heights just after a few battles when they were unlocked. People who reached the World champion stage without facing any bottlenecks or problems whatsoever."


    "Impossible!" Charles was taken aback. They had just been discussing at length of the impossibilities in reaching World Champion and a set of individuals achieved it easily?


    "Yes. These are people who were born with the very potential, experience, talent, and skill to easily reach World Champion. This group made up all the World Champions until Lynd managed to break through." Seeker gave a depressedugh.


    "Which is to say, the World Champion title was given exclusively to them as it was deemed humanly impossible to reach that stage. The Unlocking allowed them to maximize their almost demonic capabilities. It''s as if they were the Unlocked among Unlocked individuals."


    "So they''re just iparable and vastly more powerful from the rest of humanity?"


    "I don''t consider them humans. Arthur would agree." Seekerughed. Arthur nodded as he thought of his father.


    "When Lynd broke through, we finally realized that ''humans'' could reach an Unlocking that they have. So when we finally had a World Champion who isn''t like them, we changed the term to address this monstrous group. They are the overlords of the Rebellion. We call them.... the Oveers."

 Chapter 46 - A Humbled Seeker Carlean

    It was total humiliation.


    As soon as her team reached Seeker, they were met with Lynd''s tank version of de. Yet despite the slow movements of this build, they could barely attack Lynd as he moved precisely on time using minimal movements to dodge the attacks.


    de used the AOE attacks to disrupt the team from moving forward. Seeker''s yer, Edge, was seen sniping them at a short distance behind de and kept shooting stun attacks. Though it had an 8-second cooldown, every shot would hit them squarely. And Seeker knew who to attack, and when to attack. Dara was the first to fall.


    In fact, every time she would engage the opposing team, a simr scenario would y. She would receive the stun attacks from Seeker, get smacked with all the attacks that de had andstly, Meryl''s agile Piercing: Dagger build would strike at the most critical of moments. Dara was undoubtedly the most useless yer in that battle. Of their team''s total damage percentage, Asterisxx had 67 percent, Danny took the remaining 33 percent. Dara did not manage to do a single attack on Seeker''s team.


    Danny wasughing his head off after the battle. Being humbled by Arthur caused him not to worry about these trivial stats. But beyond this numb sensation to losing, was the most embarrassing stats he has ever seen from the profile of a Pro. A post-battle score of zero percent damage contribution. Danny keptughing at Dara because of this.


    Not even fighting against Arthur would give her this kind of score. This train of thought led Dara to consider one possibility.


    During the battle, she realized that Seeker''s attacks were all timely and on the mark. Meryl''s attacks were terrifying, reckless and executed perfectly that she didn''t even manage to do a single strike. This was how people described LordChokeMeSenpai.


    She argued with Danny and Asterisxx that it wasn''t Seeker, Lynd and Meryl they were fighting, but Seeker, Arthur, and Kristine.


    Edge was yed by Arthur who made precise control and memorized the timing of all attacks and knew when to disrupt them! Meryl was definitely Kristine! And Seeker, being a renowned evasive yer would easily fit into as de!


    Danny and Asterisxx did not agree as there was a clear difference in their ystyle.


    But an innocent sigh drove Dara of the edge when Danny murmured that he had to date Meryl now. It was there that Dara realized that she has lost the bet.


    Her dreams would no longere true. Their date on the Sky Garden, the couples massage room ns she dreamt, the wine, candles, and whips. It was all gone.


    The most frustrating thing to ever experience is to see a giant ray of hope that you thought you would have, only to disappear as the clouds of reality cover these rays of hope.


    This great frustration turned into anger. And so she did the only thing she could do. She took out her phone and used her secret weapon.


    "Dad. I need your help."


    "Dara? What happened?"


    "It''s this newbie that joined our team. He humiliated me and even reced me as the main roster for the 5-on-5 battle!"


    "WHAT?!" The voice in the other line took a sudden angry tone.


    "It''s that Casual Carlean! He managed to trick us all and reced three of the main roster. Even Danny''s off the team!" Darained.


    "Even Danny? No way. The fans will go crazy! And Arthur knows that! Why isn''t he doing anything?"


    "Probably ckmail! Arthur is definitely being used! Daddy do something! My career is on the line!"


    "I''ll see if I can talk with Feltrick. He had his misgivings towards this Seeker person. I''m sure he''ll find a way to kick him out of the team."


    "It''s impossible! Arthur won''t agree to it! I''m sure! He''s even using Doctor Lindmitt to seduce Halley!"


    "Doctor Lindmitt''s there?!" A surprised voice continued.


    "Yes! I have this strange feeling that Seeker has been ckmailing him. And now he''s doing that to Arthur! You have to do something!"


    "I''ll call Feltrick. He should be on his way right now!"


    "Tell him to hurry. That Seeker''s on to something! I''m sure of it!" Dara abruptly ended the call. The anger in her eyes had not disappeared.


    Meanwhile, back in the room, Seeker had just updated their new found ally of the current situation.


    "I see. So you aim to start a Continental war. This could lead to a world war you know." Arthur was deeply pondering the situation.


    "Impressive. What gave you that impression?" Seeker smiled. He expected Arthur to predict this move.


    "War is the only avenue for you to be able to sneak in and meet high-ranking officials. If you''re going to try to meet people like my father, then no doubt you will need to travel to enemy countries. War''s the perfect cover. Also, no doubt that you will use this opportunity to gather more resources and pilfer technology from the various armies across the world."


    "Exactly. Since a world war will soon happen, I''ll just cause one. Besides, whatever I am doing, it has to disrupt the Aragarian''s n. A Continental war should be big enough to surprise the Aragarians. If that could disrupt their ns even by a few months, then it can give us even more advantages.


    "But you''re diverting too much from the original timeline, things won''t go ording to your memories."


    "It''s alright. Those high-ranking people that I need to meet are potential Oveers. Several of the World Champions have often voiced out theirment when these ''peers'' of theirs died during the early stages of the war. If we gain three to four new oveers, then it''s definitely worth the trouble."


    "If these Oveers are anything like my father, then I''d risk that change even for just one addition. However, you caused quite a ruckus with your actions tonight." Arthur stared straight at Seeker.


    "What? Why?" A confused Seeker stared back.


    "Dara. She''s the problem. Your overwhelming victory was too showy. She would never believe that you three fought against them. She probably thinks that Kristine and I yed instead of Meryl and Lynd. Also, considering her loss to a bet that would have fulfilled all her wildest fantasy, she''s bound to do something... immature."


    "Eh? I''m too bored with a little child''s game. I''ll fix it just like I did Alean." Seeker shrugged.


    "Seeker! She''s a child!"


    "You know that it is written, Doc. Spare the rod, spoil the child." Seeker gave a malicious reply.


    "I''m not talking about her. Her father is well affiliated with one of the Board members of ourpany. And that board member''s a scrooge. He was initially against you joining our team considering your demanded sry."


    "Eh? It''s alright. I''ve ckmailed a corrupt General back in Phil-Pangea. I can handle this corporate scrooge."


    "That scrooge is Feltrick Ung-ive. His secret background is the head of an internationally wanted criminal syndicate and weapons dealer. You cannot intimidate him." Arthur spoke inly.


    Seeker frowned.


    Even Charles felt his palms sweat. This background was not something they could easily mess with.


    "I can do my best to water down the trouble. He won''t kick you out of the team, but he''ll do his best to intimidate you. Even my father refuses to cause problems towards his organization as it would lead to quite a troublesome task."


    Seeker was in deep contemtion. So this was an organization that even an Oveer wouldn''t casually mess with?


    "I swear I know that name. Ugh. Alright. I''ll keep it low-key." Seeker sighed.


    A knock was heard.


    "Arthur! Feltrick is here!" Halley spoke with a worried tone.


    Seeker frowned.


    "Speaking of the devil. I''ll deal with him. He will insult you and even resort to physically hurting you. You have to act humble. Don''t even dare to intimidate him, Seeker. He has full authority to kick you out of the team. It will cause too many problems for you and even more so for me." Arthur red.


    "Alright. I promise I won''t intimidate him." Seeker sighed.


    The group went out to see a slightly chubby man with a strict face. He wore a brown tux and had arge walking stick. Surrounding him were his bodyguards. But everyone in that room knew they were Feltrick''s henchmen.


    "So¡­ You are the arrogant one who''s causing problems in my organization." The fat man walked arrogantly towards Seeker.


    Dara''s smile was beaming. This was quite a sight for her eyes.


    "Out of respect to Doctor Charles, I won''t make it difficult for you. Confess to whatever crimes, Seeker. ckmailing Arthur Humphrey and even cheating on your fights to win here. If you confess now, it will be simple. We will announce that you met a freak ident and that you fractured your arm. Outwardly, you will be treated as a part of the Covenant so as not to break our contract. Do we have a deal?" Feltrick''s smile was a wicked one.


    "Mr. Feltrick, with all due respect, Seeker didn''t cheat. I was there in the room and witnessed it. He is as good as the rumors have him to be."


    "Arthur. It''s alright. You don''t have to put up with his nonsense. We can get you out of this contract legally. Think of what your poor father will do if he finds out you are caught in the bad end of this deal." Feltrick gave a ''sincere'' smile.


    DING!


    The elevator opened a happy pair of teens walked out of the door.


    "Hi, guys! We''re back! Alean''s downstairs fixing up Charles room." Meryl walked over. She looked at the fat man and immediately recognized him.


    "Oh my! You''re Mr. Feltrick! I recognized you on the big picture on the lobby! It''s a pleasure, Sir! My name is Meryl!" Meryl happily approached the fat man with a hand extended forward.


    Without warning, Feltrick suddenly threw a strong p towards Meryl.


    Meryl was about to evade the p then she noticed Seeker shaking his head as he gazed straight at Meryl''s eyes. The confused Meryl stopped evading and allowed the p to reach her.


    SMACK!


    Meryl stumbled sideward as the p echoed through the room. Seeker gripped his fist tightly. He had to control it.


    "He''s someone even Lennox wouldn''t touch... He''s someone even Lennox wouldn''t touch..." Seeker chanted under his breath.


    Dara wasughing happily. This made Seeker clench his fist tighter.


    "Don''t think you can fool me with all your acts! " Feltrick screamed angrily. He walked towards Meryl and was about to deliver another kick while she was on the ground when Seeker suddenly appeared at the gap.


    "Mr. Feltrick. There is no need to use violence in resolving this." Seeker spoke righteously.


    Feltrick gave an angry stare at Seeker.


    "You faked your skills, ckmailed our team captain and you''re even trying to turn my team against each other! Get out!" A sharp p was made against but Seeker stood firmly in his spot.


    The p echoed throughout the room. Lynd was gripping his fist in anger. Charles red angrily at this fat man. Daraughed again.


    Seeker, however, stood firmly with his eyes full of surprise.


    Seeker stared deeply into the eyes of Feltrick and an unusual wave of anger surfaced in his face. Everyone could see that Seeker was trying his best to contain his anger.


    "What are you looking at?" Feltrick moved closer, challenging the scornful gaze of Seeker.


    "I''m sorry for the angry stare. It was¡­ instinct." Seeker spoke slowly.


    "To prove my humility, my master always told me, that when I am pped on the right cheek, I should turn the other way to offer my left cheek." Seeker turned and offered his left cheek.


    "My pleasure!" The fat man stepped back and poised to p Seeker. A powerful p was then sent towards Seeker''s face. Therge chubby hands moved with speeds that exceeded his first p.


    Seeker stood firmly determined to meet the velocity of this p.


    SMACK!


    The strong pped echoed once more.


    Seeker stood undaunted from the p. He turned his eyes towards Feltrick''s.


    "What? You want more?" Feltrick angrily readied his p, but before he could throw it, Seeker extended his right arm. A small ss-like de extended from a small stick Seeker carried.


    The next second, Feltrick''s arm was seen flying in the air as Seeker shed mercilessly.


    "Don''t worry Arthur. I won''t intimidate him. I''ll just kill him. Charles, Lynd, Meryl. Kill the guards.." Seeker announced as an overpowering pressure filled the room.

 Chapter 47 - A Night To Remember

    Feltrick was thest one to notice it. He first gave a confused look as he wondered why his p didn''t hit. An odd sound of something falling off made him turn and realized the horror of his situation. It was only then that he realized his arm was cut off. An indescribable terror and a heart-clenching sensation immediately followed.


    Pain crippled him. Feltrick fell down on the ground and started screaming.


    Dara was the next one to react. The amount of dripping blood that started to pour out added to Seeker''s pressure made her vomit.


    Everybody else started falling on the ground as the immense pressure covered the room.


    "DON''T KILL ME! I''ll DO ANYTHING!" Feltrick pleaded as he crawled slowly away from where Seeker stood.


    Before the guards could reach for their guns, they were immediately attacked.


    Charles immediately stole the gun on the holster of the nearest guard and shot the guard on the head.


    BANG!


    A muffled shot resounded and everyone immediately watched in horror as a respected and renowned hero were executing two other guards.


    BANG! BANG!


    Lynd and Meryl also acted by attacking the nearest guards.


    Meryl immediately aimed for the throat and then the groin. Taking advantage of the staggering foe, Meryl used several jujutsu techniques to break the joints of the enemy.


    Lynd was more primitive. Imitating the same stomach-prating punch that he experienced on several asions, Lynd''s mighty punch that made the enemy guard spit out a mouthful of saliva. As the guard bent over in pain, Lynd delivered a powerful knee strike and knocked the guard out.


    An increase of overall strength followed their Unlocking. On thest training sessions, any one of them could carry therge halberd as if it was a simple long sword.


    Everyone in the room except Seeker''s friends shouted in fear. But no one could move due to the immense and heavy sensation that pulled them closer to the ground.


    Lynd and Meryl stood over their respective guards and watched them in order to make sure that they wouldn''t do anything dangerous.


    "I said kill the guards!" Seeker''s cold voice reverberated once more. This caused Lynd and Meryl to shake slightly at Seeker''s voice.


    Unlike his happy-go-lucky smile which he would usually show, there was an unusual harshness around Seeker that even brought fear to Meryl and Lynd.


    "Zeek¡­" Meryl slowly asked.


    "You will be killing more people tonight, Meryl. So show me your resolve!" Seeker demanded.


    What gripped Seeker''s two friends wasn''t the normal fear they felt towards Seeker. It wasn''t intimidation, it wasn''t a fear of having their life threatened. It was a fear that shook their hearts because their minds have suggested something.


    "This isn''t Seeker."


    This simple thought overpowered the fear which tied their morals and their very humanity to uphold certain principles. Almost acting in synch, Meryl and Lynd reached for the gun that these guards had, aimed at their temple, and with fearful hearts and a tearful eye, they pulled the trigger which not only killed the guards in front of them but killed a part of their own soul.


    BANG! BANG!


    The two guards were now dead.


    Lynd and Meryl looked as if they were drained of life. A numbing sensation flooded the two. They did not shake, they did not move, their Unlocking allowed them this fortitude. But they stood there knowing that their morals have forever changed.


    Charles looked with grim eyes towards the two teens. Charles disagreed with the timing but knew this was a trial that these two must face.


    "NO! NO! NO! PLEASE! I''LL DO ANYTHING! HELP! CALL THE POLICE! ARTHUR DO SOMETHING!" Feltrick pleaded to Arthur as Seeker started to draw near towards him.


    "Rx Arthur. There''s a perfectly sound exnation as to why I am killing this scum."


    "And that being?" Arthur demanded.


    "I hate the sound of his heartbeat." Seeker smirked evilly.


    Arthur was enraged and attempted to move towards Seeker. But the pressure increased as he drew closer which almost sent Arthur stumbling down to the ground.


    DING!


    The elevator doors opened and a frowning Alean walked out.


    "Charles. Good to see- oh¡­" Alean then felt the familiar sensation of Seeker''s killing intent. She then noticed the blood and dead soldiers.


    "CIPRIIL!" Feltrick recognized the face of Harker''s daughter.


    "SAVE ME! THIS MAN IS A LUNATIC!" Feltrick crawled towards the Alean.


    Alean sighed and walked pass Feltrick.


    "Here are the lollipops you wanted." Alean handed a pack of lollipop treats to Seeker.


    Even Arthur was stunned at the development.


    "Really now¡­ We''ve barely been here for 5 hours and you''re already causing a mess." Alean sighed.


    Despite theck of limbs and the constant dripping of blood, Feltrick was tongue-tied. Why would the daughter of a renowned General, who held such prominence in the underworld, delivered a pack of lollipops to this young teen?


    "Could you rx a little? This pressure''s quite annoying you know?" Alean insensitively berated.


    Seeker frowned but realized that Alean was right.


    Everyone else on the Covenant could now breath. They stumbled down on the floor and started gasping for breath. Dara continued to shake in fear as she gazed at Seeker and his friends. Even her dreamful gaze at Charles was reced with that of horror.


    "Anyone who attempts to escape will be stabbed." Seeker announced. No one dared move towards the elevator doors. Dara vomited once more. She remained on the floor convulsing in fear.


    "Exactly what is going on anyway?" Alean impatiently asked.


    "I''ll leave the other details to Lynd. You owe him a date and a kiss. For now, let''s deal with the people here, shall we?"


    Alean was shocked at Seeker''s statement. Lynd however, continued to stare at the dead guard he just shot.


    Alean gave a small smirk.


    "Looks like little Lynd is growing up." She sighed.


    "Please¡­ Don''t kill me¡­" Feltrick begged.


    Seeker kicked Feltrick on the face and then pinned his face on the ground.


    "Move and I''ll kill you!" Seeker warned as he stabbed the sword right in front of Feltrick.


    Feltrick was wailing and convulsing but dared not to move or to agitate the angry Seeker.


    "Charles, check his heart."


    Charles had an unusual look but immediately went to feel Feltrick''s chest.


    After a few seconds of checking, Charles frowned then moved immediately to check the right side of Feltrick''s chest.


    "Situs Inversus." Charles immediately announced.


    "Meaning?" Arthur frowned.


    "His heart. It''s not on the left side, but on the right. He has a rare medical condition where his major organs are mirrored. So basically his hearts on the right side and his organs are positioned on its mirrored location. Why is this significant Seeker?" Charles turned questioningly to Seeker.


    "It''s significant because he doesn''t have Sitrus Inversus, Charles." Seeker calmly responded.


    "No. I''m sure he has." Charles countered with a slightly confused expression.


    "He doesn''t," Seeker responded tly.


    The two stared at each other in silence. Then it hit Charles.


    "Aragarian!" Charles eximed.


    Arthur''s eyes went wide open.


    "What did you say?" The pinned Feltrick immediately reacted. A trace of fear in Feltrick''s voice surfaced.


    "Exactly. Aragarians have their heart and organs arranged in the exact mirrored opposite of ours. It will look like Sitrus Inversus. When he pped me, I felt his heartbeat and that''s when I remembered where I''ve heard his name."


    Seeker unceremoniously stabbed the de into Feltrick''s heart. After a few seconds of struggling, Feltrick died.


    The sudden stab surprised everyone. Arthur red at Seeker because of his sudden actions.


    "You used Realm Somatotopy to map out his body when he pped you?" Charles asked immediately as he realized how Seeker knew of the strange anatomy of the person before him.


    Seeker had already exined the theory of Realm Somatotopy to the rest of his team. However, the lessons they''ve had were fruitless. Not even Lynd and Meryl could do the basics of Realm Somatotopy.


    "Since I am limiting my Unlocking as you have prescribed, I could only use it if I were physically connected to him. The ps he did gave the right vibrations for me to feel his whole body."


    "Then why two ps?"


    "I didn''t know he was Aragarian. I was nning on doing what Arthur suggested. But when he pped me, I identally used Realm Somatotopy and there I realized that his heartbeat was on his right side. Of course, he really could just have one of those rare heart disorders. So I asked him to p me again. This time I mapped his entire anatomy and identified the other medical differences between their anatomy and ours."


    "So you weren''t just acting immature in slicing his arm off after that second p." Arthur raised an eyebrow.


    "Don''t put me on your level of impatience, Arthur." Seeker sneered.


    "His name must have been mentioned in passing in one of the reports we''ve had in the future. That''s why his name didn''t ring any bells initially. He was so unimportant in the reports that it didn''t cross my mind. But looks like he yed arger role during the pre-war era."


    "Then why did you kill him? He could have been connected to the group that kidnapped my sister." Arthur demanded.


    "Now is not the time, Arthur. If we manage to connect the dots and find your sister, it will arouse suspicion. Right now, we can all cover this up by making it look like that Harker Cirpril is trying to take over Feltirck''s organization."


    "Is that why you killed him immediately? So I can''t interrogate him?"


    "Yes." Seeker responded coldly.


    "If you want your sister alive you will act in patience. Chasing after her now will lead the Aragarian''s to increase their caution. You could rescue your sister now, but she''ll die in the future."


    Arthur remained silent at Seeker''s exnation.


    "Are these guards Aragarian''s?" Meryl softly inquired as she stared at the dead soldier near her.


    "Probably not. He''s probably the only Aragarian among them here. But we''ll have to kill his family. Their definitely Aragarian. A few of his closest associates should also be as well."


    An ufortable sensation clutched Meryl''s stomach once again. Her hands remained tainted.


    "Arthur, tell us everything you know about Feltrick''s organization. We need to cut off the head of the organization tonight."


    "Are you serious? With just the five of you?"


    "Six. Cliff''s downstairs. Alean has a small group of soldiers too. But don''t underestimate the Unlocking, Arthur. An Unbing is someone who essentially cannot die at the hands of normal humans. The added strengths of perception and reaction allow them to do impossible things. More so for my team. Despite the limited time and training, they are all capable of killing assassins and trained soldiers. This because they perceive time differently. They are three to five times faster than a normal human. That''s how they could match a Covenant in the game."


    Meryl and Lynd had an unsettling look on their faces.


    "Alean, have some of your men detain the Covenant. No news of this must be reported. Also, we''ll need to clean up this ce. We must make it look like Feltrick died on his territory."


    Alean sighed but immediately took her phone to call her father.


    "Tonight will be your first field exam, students. We will split up into three groups to attack the known base of operations of the Filtrick''s organization. Alean, you''re with Lynd. Charles, take Meryl and Arthur with you. I''ll bring Cliff and Kristine with me."


    "This is crazy Zeek," Merylined.


    "We don''t have a choice. This organization must die tonight. The faster we destroy it and scavenge the remains, the more beneficial this will be when the war begins. You know the math Arthur, what do you think?"


    Arthur was silent but sighed in contemtion.


    "Seeker''s right. An organization this massive might have been providing the necessary weapons to start the wars that aim to benefit the Aragarians. We also don''t know where Feltrick used his funds on. He must have been using it to aid Aragarian''s around the world."


    "See? Even Precision understands." Seeker smiled.


    Charles gave a depressedugh while Alean rolled her eyes in annoyance.


    Lynd and Meryl had a conflicted look. They just killed for the first time, and now they were forced to walk the bloodied road.


    That night was a monumental night for the people in the Pangean Nations. The horrors hidden within the darkest depths of their country would be put to light. A criminal syndicate which was tied to several terrorist groups crumbled and its spoilsid out in the open. The world was shocked at the existence of such an organization and that night became a night to be remembered in Pangea.


    But who would have thought that at the epicenter of this disaster which led to the deaths of 214 criminals, were simple teenagers who massacred their way while enjoying watermelon-vored lollipops?

 Chapter 48 - Midnight Massacres

    It was midnight. Several men in white coats were observing the status of the samples on therge room below. Various machines andputers were used to maintain and monitor every sample in the room directly below.


    The main control room overlooked arger room full of ss chambers with kids inside. Each ss chamber listed the age of the boy and each had a ticking timer. Some showed hours, while others already indicated a few days.


    It was clear that those which had more days and hours looked sicklier than the ones with shorter times. Those who exceeded five days were even showing signs of rotting arms and legs.


    "Interesting. Chamber 5-O is clearly resisting the drug." The head scientist looked intently at the disyed status of the boy.


    "That child was taken from the Maldives right?" He asked his subordinates.


    "Yes. Is it because of the radiation levels there?" His assistant suggested.


    "Probably. But we have three other samples which were born there. And none of them have that!"


    "Should we report it to the boss?"


    "It''s the Unlocking." Seeker suddenly interrupted.


    The two scientists were surprised at Seeker presence but lost the capability to scream as their throat were no longer attached to their heads.


    Seeker was drenched in blood. Cliff stood beside him but had a cleaner attire since he used guns.


    Kristine felt as if her stomach continued to clenched at the grotesque disy of murders that these two teens did on the way to this room.


    "Sickening. So this is how they created it." An angry look once again surfaced on Seeker''s face.


    Kristine and Cliff watched silently. Cliff had long observed that Seeker wasn''t his usual yful self. There was a spark of rage on his face. After having spent so long with him, and trained to the death with him, Cliff knew that the Seeker tonight was vastly different from the Seeker before.


    Kristine soon noticed the poor rotting youths on the screen and gasped.


    "The gue of Locust." Seeker started to operate theplexputers before him and observed the status of the children.


    "The gue of Locust?" Kristine wondered.


    "As the war against the Aragarians began, this chemical warfare slowly made its debut. Those affected would slowly decay to the point that most of the person body part would rot. It was a painful and gruesome disease. The enemy used locust to carry and spread this disease across the world. Hence its name, the gue of Locust."


    "How many did it kill?"


    "It couldn''t kill. Rather it was designed not to kill."


    "Why would they develop a drug that couldn''t kill?"


    "Simple. This drug was made to weaken all opposing countries. It weakened our armies in two ways. First, though it couldn''t kill, it greatly weakened our offensive power. As for the second reason, it exins why they chose to test it on children." Seeker asked.


    Cliff suddenly confirmed that what Seeker said was true. He gazed at the several chambers and not one were adults.


    "How cruel¡­" Kristine was shocked. Especially after carefully observing the rotting bodies of the kids as disyed on theputer. They seemed to be constantly crying in pain. Scratching their arms as pus and blood woulde out. Still, despite the wounds, the kids would continue to scratch it drenching their arms with blood.


    "Because of this gue, it forced us to use up a lot of our medical provisions. There were very few fatalities from these diseases. With constant treatment, it would almost be impossible to die. But that was the point." Seeker continued to read various reports on theputer.


    "They were bleeding us dry. We would continually expend our resources to provide medical support¡­" Kristine realized the Aragarian''s plot.


    "But why kids?" Cliff couldn''t help but be shocked at the brutality. It made his guilty heart grew lighter. Perhaps massacring those soldiers wasn''t necessarily a bad thing.


    "Because of their immune system. If the virus manages to cause this decay for a long time without killing these kids, then the drug is sessful. It seems that the development is still in the earlier stages. Over a hundred fatalities ording to this report." Seeker grimly reported.


    "A hundred kids¡­?" Kristine was shocked.


    Cliff stared at the various kids in the chamber.


    "They''re as old as my younger brother.'' Cliff clenched his fist in anger.


    "Cliff, secure this building. Massacre everyone. No exemptions."


    "My pleasure." Cliff walked out angrily. He readied his handguns and dashed off to eliminate everyone in this den of evil.


    "Now do you understand why we have to kill?" Seeker asked Kristine coldly.


    "How did we ever survive this¡­?" Kristine asked as tears fell down her eyes.


    "This gue actually brought more blessings than curses." Seeker smiled.


    "A blessing?"


    "You see, the Unlocking is a very expensive and dangerous procedure. The sess ratio was 1 in 30. But when this gue happened, we could finally identify who had the potential to be Unlocked." Seeker smiled.


    "How?"


    "Do you know that Meryl and Lynd just began their physical training a few days ago?" Seeker smiled.


    "What?" Kristine was confused at the sudden shift of topics.


    "The Unlocking has a tremendous impact on one physical body. For some reason, an Unlocked brain would also ''awaken'' the cells of a person. They have faster regeneration, faster muscle development, and would therefore easily make them physically formidable. That is why, Lynd, Meryl, and Cliff could easily pull off killing enemies bigger and stronger than them even though they only started training a few days ago."


    Seeker selected three chambers from the list and had it disyed on the screen.


    "In other words, those who manage to show significant resistance towards this gue had the mental fortitude and potential to be Unlocked." Seeker smiled as he stared lovingly at the three kids on the screen.


    As these three kids continued toy on their chambers with a helpless and depressed expression, three other kids were showing the exact opposite of this.


    In a mansion at the edge of a hill, on the outskirts of the city, three kids were huddled up in their room as they continued to y on their respective handheld console.


    "These games are awesome! They even beat the games that we had at home!" The youngest was a boy of ten years. He had a happy smile as he continued to control his avatar run across the grassy fields in order to catch more monsters.


    "Yeah. If only we got this much earlier! Just look at all the versions they have out here!" The middle child was a cute girl of 12 years of age and was endowed in what could only be exined as a princess outfit.


    "Papa said that he can make a lot of money if he sells these games back home." The eldest wasid back boy who just reached his teens.


    "Kids!" A shout was heard downstairs.


    "It''s dinner time!'' The mother lovingly cried.


    "Oh great! I wonder what country we get to try today?" The middle child excitedly walked down still holding on to the game console.


    "I wonder if Papa''s home." The youngest followed.


    Several chefs stood at the side as the waiters served the array of dishes from all over the world.


    "Oh! Italian!" The eldest excitedly ran and sat at his usual position.


    "Mom! Can I have Japanese?" The youngest begged.


    "You heard my son." The woman turned to the chefs at the side.


    Suddenly, a small ss cylinder was thrown right in the middle of therge dining hall. An immense pressure paralyzed everyone.


    Meryl coldly walked towards the table. Tears continued to fall from her eyes. Blood dripped down her dress as she walked towards the center. She carried a ss de which was also dripping with blood.


    Everyone could only look in shock at the raging steps of the girl. They couldn''t scream as the deathly piercing pressure made them unable to breathe.


    "Hello. Sorry for dropping in unexpectedly." Charles suddenly greeted.


    "We just had to visit your house after finding your little operation down the mountain. Impressive operation by the way. I counted about 300 organs harvested tonight! I wonder what the monthly quota is." A sweet smile on Charles face appeared but a deep growing rage and disgust hid behind it.


    "Your dad''s home." Meryl then rummaged the white sack she carried and took out Feltrick''s head.


    "I just had to take him along to show you what we''ve done to him after witnessing what you''ve been up to." Meryl was smiling as she ced the head right at the center of the table.


    Everyone else around the house was already killed off by Charles. He silently shot the heads of everyone other than the Aragarians in front of them.


    The middle child had already fainted upon seeing the head of her father. The two others were trembling in fear. The wife could only stare in disbelief.


    "Cruel? Not as cruel as you. We probably look like livestock to you guys." Meryl slowly pressed the de towards the right chest of the eldest child.


    Meryl was not hasty in her push. She slowly and smoothly pressed.


    It was as if it delighted her to feel the de prate through the skin, tissues and finally the heart.


    It took around five long seconds until the sword pierced through the back of the boy. The boy was gasping and struggling at first. But his life slowly dwindled until he couldn''t struggle anymore.


    The trembling mother couldn''t shout in horror but tears were falling down her eyes. She tried to slowly reach for her children but couldn''t.


    Meryl shed off the head of the middle child as it did not please her to slowly kill someone who already fainted. The youngest, however, experienced the same thing his brother did.


    Even Arthur had to turn around when Meryl started to slowly torture the mother.


    "Sorry Arthur. Seeker''s orders." Charles patted Arthur''s back who looked disappointed at the deaths of the family.


    "You alright Meryl?"


    Meryl remained silent. She sat down and stared at the lifeless bodies of the once happy family.


    "Don''t think about the dead. Think of how many we saved." Arthurforted.


    There was silence in the room. Tonight was just a surprise. Seeker was the first to report his findings and now Meryl''s team witnessed a nauseating scene of kids and adults slowly dying as their organs were harvested.


    "Were they reserving this for their own army?" Meryl suddenly broke the silence.


    "No. If Seeker''s story is correct, and they never nned to participate in the war but have us kill each other, then this family was harvesting organs and blood for their own pockets. Feltrick was probably nning on selling these organs towards the allied countries when the war starts." Arthur said coldly.


    "So, his reason for that massacre was so that he can make money during the war?" Meryl started to slowly sob.


    Soon she started to cry.


    The horrors she saw today weighed heavily upon her heart. The guilt of murder no longer remained but was reced with a sense of guilt that she could have saved him.


    A small boy was tied on aplex machine when they arrived. Meryl did her best to reach him, but it was toote. The boy died as the machine drained its blood. Everyone in the building who conducted the harvesting of organs was brutally murdered by Meryl.


    Her anger was not easily satisfied as she saw hundreds of adults and kids in the mix. Charlester calcted that there were over three hundred bodies in that room whose organs were harvested.


    Meryl couldn''t help but remember the clear look that little boy gave her. Her Unlocking made her capture that moment urately. And Meryl could have saved him if she was stronger.


    Meryl sat on the chair with no intention of moving.


    Tonight, she killed plenty. But her enemy clearly massacred more.


    Amidst the silence of the room, Charles phone began to ring.


    Charles quickly answered


    "Zeek?"


    "Charles. Head for Lynd''s location." Seekermanded immediately.


    "Is he alright?" Charles was surprised.


    "No. He went berserk and lost it." Seeker spoke grimly.


    "Was he shot?" Charles immediately signaled everyone to rush out. Meryl awoke from her stupor and immediately followed.


    "Worse. I think he broke through and reached Inhuman!"

 Chapter 49 - The Gentle Giant

    "I couldn''t believe I would hear Lennox''s voice tonight." Alean sighed.


    "Tonight''s clearly a night of surprises. Are you OK?"


    Lynd continued to gaze out the window of the passenger seat.


    "I''m alright. Thanks, Miss."


    "How did you hear what Lennox was doing?"


    "You didn''t hear it? I thought you guys would be done with Sense training." Lynd asked in confusion.


    "Of course not. We haven''t had Sense training yet! Only Surmounting Unbing could do that right? We''ve barely reached the edge of Advent. How could you do that?"


    "I don''t really know." Lynd shrugged.


    Aleanughed happily at Lynd''s response.


    "And a minute ago you were asking if you belong in this world of killers. If you could easily maximize your senses, you ought to be better at being a cold killer than me." Alean smirked.


    Lynd remained silent.


    Alean could now see the port from the top of the mountain where they were driving.


    "That''s the port. They should be on the north side as Lennox indicated." Alean turned serious.


    "I can''t believe I''m driving towards one of the most dangerous organizations on this, with a 17-year-old whose friend with someone from the future." Aleanughed.


    Lynd''s story gave Alean quite a shock. But after everything she''s witnessed, it didn''t take long for her to ept it.


    Alean parked the car a long way from the port and the pair started to quietly move towards the buildings.


    The pair kept on reaching the inner areas of the warehouse. As Seeker instructed, their priority is to kill the head. This person could flee if they caused a ruckus. So the pair decided stealthily infiltrate the warehouse.


    The disy of strength by Alean and Lynd outmatched normal human beings. The slowing of time allowed them to easily execute ninja-like moves of climbing jumping urately through small gaps.


    "Lynd. Be careful. I think I hear voices." Alean whispered as they reached through an empty corridor.


    They carefully observed the halls for any sign of humans.


    "You know, you should show-off a bit more."


    "What?" Lynd gave a confused expression.


    "Your skills. No need to be humble. You have to show people how strong you are. If you managed to almost hit Seeker, then you are probably ahead of me and Charles by a mile."


    Lynd didn''t know what to say and gave a shy smile, avoiding Alean''s stare.


    "Seeker''s just being nice to me." Lynd shyly replied.


    "Really? Your too humble Lynd. That will be a problem." Aleanughed.


    "You should really show off once in a while. That way you''d be able to scare my dad." Alean smiled.


    Lynd had a confused look on his face.


    "Why do I need to scare your dad?"


    "It''s the easiest way to ask for my hand in marriage." Alean chuckled.


    Lynd gave a surprised stare towards Alean. Her smile was so sweet. Her lips, so ripe of moisture. It was intoxicating. Lynd suddenly desired to touch those, even to kiss those. In that brief moment, Lynd could feel time stop.


    Lynd had seen Seeker do it on several asions.


    The area around Lynd then started to act in synch with his own senses.


    He could feel her. The being of Alean who stood not more than a foot in front of her. Lynd''s senses took a full evolution. He could not only feel Alean but his sense of sound took a whole new level of transformation.


    That''s when he heard it. Their cries.


    Lynd awakened from his stupor. He was sure of what he heard.


    "My God! Was that real?" An rmed Lynd spoke out. His voice was loud. As if he wasn''t trying to hide anymore.


    Alean was confused at first but before she could react, Lynd turned around and sprinted across the building.


    His footsteps were loud but the closer he moved towards the source of the sound, the faster he started moving.


    Lynd rushed towards that direction and zoomed towards the hallways. The surprised Alean could only follow.


    A tall man went to the hallways to check on the strange sound he heard. He saw Lynd sprinting and was surprised.


    The sprinting Lynd suddenly elerated faster. He saw Cliff do it once. A sudden jolt and kick that went way beyond the norms of his muscles. Lynd zipped closer almost in an instant and punched the throat of the enemy and took the gun from him.


    Alean did her best to run but her speed wasn''t anywhere near Lynd''s.


    She dared not call out to Lynd for fear that it would call on more guards.


    Lynd continued to run and took a sharp turn on the corner and started shooting.


    Two men who guarded the door were shot in their hands and before they could even react, Lynd gave a strong uppercut to one and punched the throat of another. He kicked the door wide open and saw the horrors.


    Several girls were in the room crying. Some were hung up on chains as blood continued to pour out of their genitals. The youngest in the room looked like they were about 10 years old while the oldest looked about 15. Some were unconscious while others continued to cry as they held on to cover whichever hole the three men used. The conscious ones kept crying in fear and kept pleading to their three captors.


    Three men stood naked while having their way with the little girls. Each man had a girl to which they were intertwined. Continuing the depraved sexual acts on their current girls, they hadn''t even noticed that Lynd already entered the room.


    They wereughing excitedly and one of the naked men started stabbing the girl he was having fun with using an ice pick.


    Realm Somatotopy remained activated. Lynd''s domain invaded the room and hovered over the girls held captive.


    Among those who could use Realm Somatotopy, there have been a few managed to create a new phenomenon of sensation. Through thebination of sight, sound and feel, the viewer would be able to ''feel'' what another one was feeling. Of course, not everyone had this ability. In the entire history of the unlocking, only one managed to aplish this.


    The Gentle Giant. Before he became known as Elijah, this was his title. He would always stand for the cause of the innocent and would avenge the blood of the weak. He was a terror to his enemies, but a benevolent angel to his friends. The Realm King once joked that out of everyone who was unlocked, he pitied the man who would enrage the Gentle Giant.


    Everyone on that port that night was very unlucky. Out of all the people that could have barged in that room that night, the one that entered was this same person.


    Lynd took one look and met the eyes of the little girl who was barely twelve years old. Realm Somatotopy made Lynd feel it. The harsh emotional pain of this girl was unimaginable. Not only was she disgraced beyond measure, but her rapist clearly drove an ice pick like weapon that punctured deep within her chest. She would die within the next few minutes.


    There were several factors that could induce the Unlocking. Fear was only one of them.


    A few minutes ago, Alean''s sudden disy of interest already pushed Lynd''s Unlocking to the edge of Unbing Proficient. But now, a rage so huge and so ferocious erupted and Lynd could actually feel physical pain that weighed heavily on his chest.


    It would have been impossible for Lynd to break through any more given his physiological, and mental state. However, the one thing that Seeker failed to calcte is how he still underestimated Lynd''s potential. Lynd had seen Seeker in a state that went beyond the Unbing. And given the brutal scene before him, this was enough.


    That memory was the only thing that Lynd could think of. The strongest moment that Seeker had ever disyed. Almost instantly, Lynd''s Realm evolved further. His heart was in so much pain as he started to feel the pain of the other girls who were raped and killed within that room.


    Lynd could no longer think straight. He just wanted to kill everybody in this port.


    Lynd''s angry stomp left a huge crack on the marble floor. He zoomed quickly and reached the first man and gave a strong punch with the pistol still in his hand.


    The pistol broke at the sudden punch, the barrel fractured the right rib of the first man before the barrel bent out of shape. The force was so strong that it left a hollow point on the right chest of the man.


    Lynd wasn''t finished. Using the force of the impact, he pushed back and readied himself to deliver another punch. Lynd stomped forward once more and punched the exact same area.


    The chest of the man caved in on the second punch. Lynd confirmed it. The man''s heart was on the right side of the chest.


    The remaining two started to panic at the sudden appearance of Lynd. The man that Lynd just punched was gasping for breath and blood continued to pour out. Lynd managed to punch right through his ribs and beat the man''s heart. He was dying.


    "Please¡­ help¡­." The poor little girl who the punched man was raping voiced out oncest time. Her wounds were too fatal.


    She died.


    The two started to panic and run towards the other room where they kept their guns.


    Lynd stayed on the first room and looked at the little girls around. It dawned on him now, that the girls who he thought were unconscious were actually dead.


    "Girls," Lynd spoke as soft as he can to contain the rage that was bursting forth.


    "Take a deep breath and cover your eyes." Lynd smiled.


    The girls who were unwounded did what Lynd said and took a deep breath as they shut their innocent eyes.


    The two Aragarians rushed out of the small room at the back. They aimed their guns toward Lynd.


    But then a shockingly powerful pressure filled the room.


    Lynd jumped towards the first man and drove the man''s head towards the wall behind him. The man''s head was embedded in the thick pavement behind him.


    The other man could only scream as he witnessed the brains of his friend being painted on the wall.


    Lynd remembered theugh of joy that this man had when he was raping the other poor 10-year-old. The only thing that Lynd wanted was to wipe that smile off his face.


    Lynd angrily swooped his arm grabbing the man by the lips and Lynd pulled.


    The entire skin on the lower jaw was ripped off cleanly.


    "AHHH!" The painful scream of the man vibrated across the building.


    Lynd grabbed the man and mmed him down the floor. Lynd took the enemy by the legs and smashed him on another side of the floor. Lynd kept doing that until bloody pulps are what you could see as the man''s blood was scattered across the room.


    Several men reached the room and were horrified by what they saw. Their three bosses were beaten dead as a madman was smashing one of their bosses around like a hammer.


    Lynd stared at the guards and roared once more.


    The three guards couldn''t aim their guns as a powerful fear paralyzed them.


    Lynd took one man by the arm and smashed him towards another. While still holding on to this man Lynd smashed him to the remaining guard. Lynd went back and forth using the man-made hammer to smash the other two guards.


    The speed of Lynd''s hammering was getting faster and faster as his rage could no longer be contained.


    Eventually, the arm of the man couldn''t handle the stress and his arm was torn off and the remaining dead body flew across the corridor.


    Alean stood in terror at the sides not daring to even talk to Lynd. She quickly took out her phone and dialed.


    Lynd dashed off towards another area and started a killing rampage that was gory as his first. Gunshots were heard but it was clear that they couldn''t kill this rampaging beast.


    "Seeker! Lynd went berserk!" Alean shouted.

 Chapter 50 - The Way

    Seeker was quickly tailing General Indigo as they walked through the piles of rubble around them.


    The battle resulted with their victory. Three of the cities in the South-East Asian regions have been liberated. Soon their attack would finally return to the main Pangean nations.


    The appearance of Ranked Hero''s shocked the enemy. Soon, more and more cities joined in the revolution.


    "So much for Taiwan. You really need to control your attacks, Lynd." Seekerughed.


    Lynd turned at Seeker, he wore an outfit that was simr to him. He gave a confused look at Seeker.


    "Zeek. I thought you told me that you have to address me as General when we are around soldiers." Lyndughed.


    "What? But there is no one around!"


    "Come on! You really need to train more!" Lynd joked.


    Seeker had a confused look.


    "Alight. Enough joking around. Sorry. Colonel Irvana. I assume you''re here to report." Lynd immediately spoke in a serious tone.


    Seeker gave an empty nce at Lynd and suddenly shed the area to his right even utilizing the fast movements of his Four Force elerator.


    DING!


    A metallic sound echoed as a figure appeared blocking Seeker''s attack.


    "Colonel Irvana. Why would the Thief in the Night be sneaking around allies?" Seeker stared with a grim expression.


    A red-haired woman donning the same synthetic outfit appeared resisting Seeker''s des. She was barely in her twenties and had a whiteplexion. Her blue eyes continued to give off a cold look at Seeker.


    "Colonel Carlean and General Indigo. I''m here to deliver my reports." She stared at Seeker with an angry frowned before turning to Lynd and gave a respectful look.


    A bluish glow appeared on Lynd''s Thought Transmitter.


    "Colonel Carlean, please receive the reports. The General has summoned me." Lynd gave Seeker a light tap and then suddenly disappeared with incredible speed.


    "What exactly is the Thief in the Night doing here?" Seeker then removed all formalities as soon as Lynd left.


    "I''m surprised that you are this friendly with the General. Considering you have thisplicated rtionship with-"


    "Just give me the damn report, Irvana." Seeker gave an exasperated sigh.


    "Well, quite honestly there''s nothing much to report other than the casualties of this battle."


    "How many?"


    "None. General Lynd assisted us in today''s battle."


    "So you were really just looking for a reason to fawn after him? Please just ept the fact that he''s already with someone!" Seeker shook his head.


    "This war will kill many. If she dies, I''ll be there to swoop him up."


    "Right... Good luck with that. Tyrant Empress is also after him you know? And with her around, You''d have a better chance at killing a World Champion Advent before you get to Lynd. If that''s all then you should go." Seeker turned around to follow Lynd.


    "Wait. There''s something else. You''re very close to him. Do you know what his Path is?" Irvana asked before Seeker could activate his Four Force elerator.


    "You know its ssified to discuss his Path. Ranked Heroes cannot divulge their paths to another."


    She gave an angry stare at Seeker.


    "Alright fine. I just think that it would be more beneficial for General Indigo to personally train me. Considering he could do what I could." She turned around angrily.


    Seekerughed.


    "Oh. Right. If it''s that, then I have permission to talk about it."


    "If it''s what?" Irvana turned.


    "Issues with insecurity. Did he manage to hide his presence better than you can?"


    Irvana gave a surprised look.


    "He did. He was right next to me and not even my Realm detected him."


    "Don''t get your panties in a knot. Amongst Champions only the Realm King could clearly detect him."


    "What?!" Irvana reacted.


    "How is that possible? All World Champions could easily find me! And only the Realm King can detect Lynd?"


    "It''s simple math really. You walk the path of the wind. When you elerate at high speed, you are almost undetectable. Unseen, unheard and unknown."


    "I know. That''s why I have ranked four ces above you. What''s this got to do with General Indigo''s path?" Irvana voiced out impatiently.


    "Everything. This is the same reason why he''s called the Prophet Elijah. He Who Prepares the Way. He walks several Paths, but then again, he walks one Path. His unlocking is the path of two things. The first is what the Realm King called Incredible Sympathy."


    "Sympathy? How''s that any helpful?"


    "Right. Coming from the woman whose path was formed by hiding herself in different parts of the house so she could hide from her abusive father." Seeker gave a sarcastic smirk.


    Irvana red angrily at Seeker.


    "We all know that all Paths, regardless of their apparently worthless use, would result in incredible things. Colonel Meryl would be a good illustration. The General''s ability to somehow be able to sympathize with another in terms of emotions and feelings is remarkable. At his level now, he can literally feel the way you feel just by looking at you."


    "Wait. You mean¡­ he knows that I like him?" Irvana cried in terror.


    Seekerughed.


    "You''re such a child. You do realize, that the Realm King is here and he likes to tease his disciples right?"


    Irvana almost choked as she forced her breath back down and used her technique. Almost suddenly, she turned invisible.


    Seeker shook his head.


    "Of course Lynd does. But don''t let it bother you. I mean, I''m around him all the time. Imagine how he feels?" Seekerughed.


    Irvana reappeared once again and gave Seeker a strange look.


    "Anyway, the second Path that Lynd has, is as annoying as the first. Observation."


    "What?"


    "Observation. He has a knack for observing things. Back when before we were even Unlocked, he could always beat me after a few rounds of Piercing: Bullet. He could imitate the very skills that I have. It''s as if his mirroring me."


    A crazed look appeared on Irvana as Seeker exined.


    "Looks like you got it. If he can sympathize with your heart and he observes things in a manner that no one else could, what would his path be?" Seeker smiled.


    "The path of Imitation! He could imitate all the paths of Ranked Hero''s!" Irvana''s smile of delight suddenly appeared. Her idtry and lust towards Lynd skyrocketed to World Champion level.


    "Ugh. Sickening." Seeker shook his head.


    "But you''re wrong."


    "He can''t copy a Ranked Hero''s path?"


    "Not just a Ranked Hero. That''s why all the World Champions value him. If he breaks through, then theoretically it would be possible to reverse engineer Lynd''s path and we could just have the ability to produce several Omni Champions. One who walks all the paths to form-"


    "The Way."


    "Exactly. That''s why we call him the Prophet Elijah. The One Who Prepares the Way." Seeker smiled.


    This memory started to fade away as Seeker gripped the steering wheel tighter.


    "I messed up." Seeker voiced out unconsciously.


    Kristine and Cliff continued to wonder why Seeker acted this way.


    Seeker was thoroughly awakened from his recollection of the future as he saw the state of the port.


    Kristine and Cliff stared in shock as they saw the port as if it was a war zone.


    Seeker frowned.


    "I hope Lynd''s alright."


    "Don''t worry. The destruction you are seeing must have been caused by him." Seeker pushed the pedal harder as their car zoomed on.


    Meanwhile, at the center of the war zone, Lynd was moving at speeds that couldn''t be considered human.


    "How''s he doing that?" Meryl asked Charles as they just arrived at the port.


    "I don''t know. He''s moving almost exactly like Seeker!"


    "But how? Seeker said we can''t do that unless-"


    "Unless we have the same physical attribute that Seeker has." Alean immediately cut in as she jumped down towards the area Meryl and Charles were heading to.


    "Alean!" Charles cried.


    "What happened? How did Lynd end up like this?"


    "I don''t know! He suddenly just went crazy! I tried to stop him but he threw me and attacked the soldiers!"


    Another explosion went off and Lynd was seen charging at impossible speeds.


    Three soldiers kept shooting at Lynd but Lynd''s speed was just too much.


    Lynd easily avoided the aim of the soldiers. He could easily map out the area and feel what the soldiers around him were doing through echolocation and his increased perception of time.


    The torrential rain of bullets could do nothing to Lynd.


    "What did Seeker say?" Alean asked Charles.


    "We have to kill everyone first. Seeker will take care of Lynd!"


    Lynd hurled himself towards the location of several armed men. Lynd stomped on the head of one of the enemy effectively breaking the neck of the enemy. The neck was bent in a weird way with the head almost touching the back.


    Lynd thrust his hand towards the neck of another soldier and his fingers pierced right through the neck. He grabbed the enemy by the spine of the neck and used the dead enemy like a shield. The Ker blocked most of the bullets while Lynd evaded the rest.


    Lynd tall figure moved with incredible speed despite hisrge stature and the dead man he carried by the spine.


    Meryl, Alean, and Charles were also moving stealthily around the base. Themotion Lynd caused took all the attention of the soldiers. With that, Meryl, Charles, and Alean sneakily killed soldiers that were shooting at Lynd.


    Suddenly, a car broke through the ports barrier and went straight to the center of the war zone.


    "Cliff, I''ll pin Lynd to the ground. When you see him down, throw Kristine towards us. Kristine, try to calm Lynd down." Seeker ordered.


    "What?!"


    "Just do it. Get ready to jump out of the vehicle and close your eyes for five seconds. Then get ready to throw Kristine."


    The two hadn''t managed to react when Seeker suddenly turned the wheel and stepped off the car.


    The car drifted sideways towards a concrete wall.


    Cliff cursed and immediately grabbed Kristine and exited the spinning vehicle. The two jumped off andnded.


    Seeker finally brought out a sh bang and tossed it right in the middle of the battlefield.


    "MERYL! KILL EVERYONE!" Seeker ordered.


    The sudden entrance of this car took the attention of everybody. And while everyone''s eyes were fixed at the center¡­


    BANG!


    The shbang exploded. Everybody was blinded. Even Charles and Alean were affected by the shing light.


    Lynd was startled at the sudden brightness and could not see.


    Meryl however, took this opportunity and grabbed the gun of a nearby soldier and started shooting all the enemies in the area.


    Seeker approached Lynd and delivered a strong punch. Lynd used his human shield to block it but at thest second, Seeker stomped his foot and threw himself sideways. While in midair, he continued his punch and it smacked Lynd right at the jaw.


    Seeker took the opportunity to exploit Lynd''s groggy state and gave a sweeping kick to make Lynd stumble.


    Lynd tried to regain his bnce as he stumbled backward but was met with Seeker''s elbow strike which pummeled him down to the ground.


    Cliff finally tossed Kristine after opening his eyes.


    Seeker kicked the dead soldier off of Lynd''s hand while punching Lynd right in the chest to keep him down.


    Kristine was flying over and Seeker gracefully caught Kristine to lessen the force of her fall while delivering her right on top of Lynd.


    Seeker then started to pin Lynd''s arms to keep him from hurting Kristine.


    "DO IT!"


    The staggered state of Kristine was awakened by Seeker shout.


    She stared at the angry Lynd and calmly talked to him.


    "Hey, hotshot. It''s ok. It''s just us. You need to calm down. Your friends are here. We''re here to help you. It''s ok."


    Kristine continued to soothe Lynd who was calming down.


    Meryl continued to shoot around the base killing off the remaining blind soldiers.


    Seeker gave a long look at Lynd and frowned.


    "Alean!" Seeker shouted.


    "Tell your dad to get his army ready. We need to invade a nearby military base tomorrow."


    Alean had a numbing feeling at Seeker''s orders.


    "Do it." Seeker emphasized.


    "Why did I ever try to ckmail him?" Alean sighed as she took out her phone.

 Chapter 51 - General Of The Heroes Army

    General Harker was overlooking a very important operation in his secret base.


    Three of the leaders of the strongest media groups in the Pangean Nations were being operated on.


    "I guess this isn''t so bad." Harker sighed.


    "Sir. The operations aremencing." A soldier reported.


    "Also, we have managed to secure a meeting with the remaining two targets."


    "Good. Looks like, with this, we can finally move forward with little problems. We will be ready, Dragon." Harker smiled confidently.


    Suddenly his phone rang.


    "Alean?"


    "General. We''ve just attacked three main bases of operations of Feltrick. You should know him as the head of the My-Pangean criminal syndicate group-"


    "You attacked the Annals?!" Harker felt like his heart was jolted with a Defibritor.


    The Annals was a terrifying group in the Pangean Nations. If Harker ruled the underground of the Phil-Pangean, then the Annals were equal to a tri-nation criminal syndicate. The worst in South-East Asia.


    "You''re crazy! We cannot afford to infuriate him! His organization is too strong! He''s in control with several military factions even on Phil-Pangea!"


    "Rx. We already killed Feltrick. All his known officials are also dead. Whatever remnant remains will be confused and lost. We''ve already cut off the head and we''ve destroyed three of their main base of operations."


    "What?!" Harker eximed.


    "You''ve barely spent a day at My-Pangea! How the hell did you guys kill him?"


    "He came to us. It''s a long story. Listen, General. We''re very busy tonight. There are two more bases of operations that we need to take care off. I called because Seeker asked for you to prepare an army to attack Fort New Birth."


    "Why are we attacking New Birth Fort ?! You''ve already raised hell in Mysia now were attacking Australia?" Harker shouted in anger.


    "Just do it. I will be taking overmand of all military forces loyal to you here. Send a writtenmand to promote me as Major so I can gain approval. We have a lot more to do. Also, y along with whatever you see in the news tomorrow. Seeker already has a n to take advantage of this attack. He said you should be the new President of the Pangean Nations within a few days. Just make sure that your army is ready to attack by 11 pm tomorrow evening."


    Harker was about to shout back when the call disconnected.


    His face looked like he aged a decade.


    Seeker stormed straight to the room where Alean prepared Charles devices.


    Meryl, Charles, and Lynd were still inside as Cliff and Seeker returned.


    "Zeek. Lynd health is stabilized. But his brain activity is off the charts! Even when he''s unconscious it''s still acting crazy!"


    "His wounds were never my concern Doctor."


    "Lynd tore several muscles, broke several bones and you''re saying that you''re not worried?"


    "Yes. An Unlocked person can heal his body to a greater extent. I''m sure you''ve felt it. Your muscles don''t sore as much after our sessions. The increase in the brain will naturally improve the body. You called it the Neuro-transcellr phenomenon. At the Inhuman stage, it is even possible for humans to regrow limbs."


    Charles was tongue tied at this random medical reveal that Seeker gave.


    "Right now, it''s his brain that we should worry about. Once he stepped on the Inhuman stage it''s hard to revert back and his brain cannot take the stress! We need to get a certain cont liquid that is used on modified humans." Seeker announced.


    "Is that why you''re attacking Australia?" Arthur interrupted.


    "Yes. The Australians have yet to unveil their super-soldiers. They have been developing a technology that is aimed at creating super-humans. They''ve seeded to a certain degree but the problem is that the entire body of the soldier would heat up too much. So a cooling liquid was created to counter this."


    "How sure are you that this technology is already developed?" Charles asked immediately.


    "Almost a hundred. This cont was supposed to be one of the first things which they sessfully developed. And right now it''s our only shot. We need this to cool Lynd''s brain."


    "This will cause more ripples than you originally intend." Arthur coldly answered.


    "It''s not a problem. We already have a free ticket to Australia for the Nations of the World E-Sport Meet. This will make it easier. We infiltrate the base and disable the systems before Harker''s attacks starts. We can use today and tomorrows events to start a war with Australia." Seeker smiled.


    "What!" the group chorused. Arthur had a curious expression on his face.


    "Tomorrow is a special day, even in my past life. If we take advantage of theing waves, we can make Harker President, start a war, and dere martialw all in one go." Seeker greedily smiled.


    "Right now, we wait for Alean to do her job and pray that tomorrow will be a good day."


    The night soon ended and shocking news reports circted the globe.


    The news channels around the My-Pangean region all received unanimous tips and the news about the attacks on the five bases of Annals immediately caught media attention.


    Harker watched in gripping tension at the very first news report.


    A news reporter gave a hideous look as he looked directly at the camera.


    "Ladies and Gentleman, we who report the news do so every day and are often numb to the vast abundance of crimes that are being held in this country. But this crime is so different, that the once numb sensations started to feel immense pain. The once dead heart started to beat due to the shocking nature of this news." The man announced solemnly.


    "Feltrick Ung-ive, one of the richest man in the South Asian regions, was unmasked to be the head leading a criminal syndicate which was responsible for the worst known acts of human trafficking that this world has seen. The pictures that we will show all have contents of gore, violence and grave indecency that shouldn''t exist in this time of the world. Viewer discretion is advised."


    The news reporter then started to slowly and dramatically unveil the operations of Feltrick Ung-ive. Viewership to the news on that day skyrocketed. The entire world was shocked


    One of the most inhuman organ trafficking centers was revealed. A total of 336 human beings were having their organs harvested. Less than half of them remained as the others were already harvested.


    "Three hundred and thirty-six in one nightdies and gentlemen. Imagine how many lives were wasted in this sick operation. It is well-known that Feltrick Ung-ive is associated with many of the world''s richest and influentialpanies and medical organizations who are now being suspected of being in coboration with these deals." The reporter heartlessly used.


    "But there is more to this than just organ farming friends. The reason why we have this is all thanks to the brave efforts of General Harker Cipril of the Phil-Pangea." The reporter boldly dered.


    Harker''s mouth went wide open as he heard the reporter announce with fanaticism.


    "Under the orders of General Harker Cipril, a special task force of soldiers attacked several organizations ignoring all the national and internationalws imposed to crush this cruel and wicked criminal syndicate. Harker promoted his very own daughter, now Major Alean Cipril to take charge of the secret attacks against five rumored base of operations of this criminal syndicate, now revealed to be known as the ''Annals.'' The first base revealed the first series of videos but I beg you to listen, friends. It''s far from over."


    A series of photos describing the location of yet another base was shown soon followed by pictures of rotting children who were used as experiments in a base. The reporter was shouting and describing with sheer hate at the brutality of this organization as the video of the children being rescued and escorted was being disyed live on the air.


    "The ages of these children are from ten to fifteen. These are our children, our little angels, our little brothers and sisters and they were all used as experiments."


    The video switched to show Alean Cipril in full military gear.


    "Our mission was to capture the base and ensure the survival of the children. But what we saw drove us to anger. Let the world forgive how we executed and tortured these men who stood to watch and experimented with these children." Alean gave an impassioned speech which gave the reporter a teary-eyed look.


    The video ended and the reporter continued.


    "You will receive nothing but thanks for killing those demons, Major Cipril. But our sad news does not end here folks. More awaits." The reporter nced.


    The news continued to show how Feltrick has managed to create a human-sex trade industry which was secretly at works. Soon, the videos disyed the weapons depot that Feltrick built. Several weapons of mass destruction were found. But of all this news, what gripped the world was thest base that was attacked.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, what you have witnessed is the work of the devil. So much so in regards to thest base that General Harker attacked. My heart is personally crushed because I have an eight-year-old girl. I''ll just show you the videos and pictures." The reporter announced with a fainting expression.


    A series of videos and pictures were revealed showing a group of young girls who were being treated as the reporter announced that they were being used as sex toys by three men who were closely associated to Feltrick. It was with that, that the world cried out in terror and disgust.


    It was only when Alean exined what was happening in the room that the world was jolted awake. The saw the faces and bruised bodies of the girl and also the dead ones who were killed in the depraved ecstasy of the three men.


    Alean Cipril once again appeared on the screen.


    "I personally led the attack in this building. When I entered that room, I was so shocked. One of General''s trusted men, who I will leave unnamed, went to such a rage that he immediately killed those three men in the most brutal harshest form possible." Alean announced.


    "This operation was not sanctioned by the Phil-Pangean government. We only knew that there were human-trafficking operations being performed here and in a sh of moral rage, my father, General Harker Cipril ordered his elite team, to charge in here and save the ones we could save disregarding the military code we vowed ourselves in. He said our vow is to the people!" Alean''s passionate speech caught the hearts of many.


    "But let me tell you this! After what we''ve seen and who we have saved, I am proud that my father did that! I am proud that my father had the guts to stand up when no one else would! I''m d that this country has General Harker Cipril!" Alean announced boldly.


    Harker watched in surprise as the news continued disying several of Harker''s achievements. Time slowly passed and Harker just sat there watching every detail of the news. He knew what Seeker wanted him to do.


    "Sir! A crowd of reporters is outside demanding to have an interview!" A soldier excitedly reported.


    Harker sat down and continued to remain silent as he was contemting his actions.


    BEEP!


    His phone vibrated and he stared at the simple message.


    You''re a hero now. Act cool.


    ¨CSeeker


    Harker got up and wore his uniform.


    He boldly walked out of his mansion and stared at the rushing reporters. But there was something in Harker''s stride that made him lookrger. There was something in his expression that made the reporters silent.


    There was a solemn spark that seemed to mix intensity and moral righteousness in Harker''s eyes.


    The entire crowd was silent but everyone had their microphones on and their cameras taping.


    Harker stood boldly, unafraid of the questions and gazed at the reporters one by one.


    "This is a hero¡­" one reporter unconsciously voiced out when Harker met his gaze.


    "No. The real heroes are my soldiers." Harker slowly responded.


    The crowd was gripped with deep respect.


    "Then who are you?" the reporter unconsciously replied.


    "I¡­" Harker paused and took off his cap for dramatic effect.


    "¡­am the General of the Heroes Army."

 Chapter 52 - An Unexpected Guest

    TheNationsof the World E-Sport meet is an event which is held once a year to host the mostpetitive e-sportpetitions. As online gaming continued to gain highlight, a worldwide onlinepetition easily emerged as E-sports could not be held in the Olympics.


    Piercing: Bullet wasn''t the most popr game in the world. War of the Generals is an online shooter game which took the world by storm. The simple shooter game was so phenomenal that it was estimated that about 62% of the entire world ys this game.


    War of the Generals had several distinct features that made it so different from other shooter games.


    The game was designed to imitate an actual war. If one dies in a game, the yer remains dead until the end of the game. It had the most realistic simtors on using tanks, helicopters and jet nes.


    War of the Generals allowed over 300,000 yers per team. The game was literally an army against another army. And at maximum, six teams were allowed to y an all-out melee or a cooperative alliance.


    Each team would y onrge maps that imitated actual terrains in the real world. The game became so attractive that its vast number of yers led yers of various origins and even non-professionals to have the chance to join the prestigious games even on the NoW.


    The teams are was to assign the very same ranks assigned in an army. Privates who made up the soldiers and a squad would have a Lieutenants, Captains, Majors and eventually a General.


    The game immersion was so great that it was even used in the army to train Generals in creating tactics.


    With support from the government, this game was taken very seriously. Whenever an event as huge as the NoW E-sport meet would be held, some schools would even suspend sses to give way for their armies to form. Students would take turns controlling their soldiers in instances that the war wouldst days. The longest recorded fight for War of the Generals was three weeks long.


    The top teams of this war game werethe America''sand the One China. The reason behind these team''s constant victory isrgely attributed to their number. These three countries could easily employ millions of yers with above average skills in-game. But the best yer was from the humblends of the Pangean Nation. His intellect and strategical skills were so entric and effective that he was primarily the reason why these three nations experienced defeat from the Pangean Nations even when the Pangean Nations was barely half of the enemy nations in terms of number.


    Located in the most prominent city in Australia, arge tower stood towering above every other building.


    A team of five people just checked in on the Stormson Tower. But the paces of these rowdy teenagers garnered respect towards all the staffs of the building. They were the highest ranking members of Team WarFreakz. Because of the amazing skills that this team has disyed, they held on to this prestige and continued to act as the official Generals of every National-level War of the Generalspetition. For thest five years, this team continued to remain unchallenged. In that group, was Halley''s nephew, Stanley Vagrant,monly known for his game handle. "NoMoreSpice!"


    Stanley continued to talk and berate people on the phone as his other team members did. Only their team leader did nothing but silently pace the hall towards their lodging.


    "Boss! The teams under my regions are all ready to go. We''ve exceeded the initial count. My team has an 8000 strong army and-"


    "How many could be considered special forces?"


    "Two hundred and eighteen."


    "Good. Tell them to join a room I''ll create, to listen to the ns." The leader coldly replied.


    "Roger!" Stanley smiled and continued to call on the phone.


    At the second floor, overlooking the lobby was Seeker and Arthur.


    "There he is. Lowengren." Seeker smiled.


    "Is he strong?" Arthur asked.


    "Not really. He couldn''t go over the Inhuman hurdle. But that doesn''t mean he isn''t important. No Inhuman would everpare to the worth of Lowengren." Seeker smiled.


    "He''s that good as a General huh?" Arthur almost smiled.


    "Yes. Although he was immediately overshadowed when World Champions started appearing, no one would doubt his worth during the war. He stood in equal standing with World Champions in terms of respect. His efforts on the initial stages of the wars led to many victories which allowed the United Earth Armies to be formed."


    "I always thought he was good. My father is particrly interested in him more than his father."


    "Well, right now Lowengren''s only of secondary importance. Our mission is to meet and talk that father of his alone."


    "My-Pangean President Albert Hoross. So this is what we need to do in order to kill time before invading Fort New Birth?"


    "This is an important step to ensure that our actions in New Birth won''t leave problems in the future."


    "I take it you''ll be trying to recruit Lowengren?"


    "I''m still thinking about it. I do have ns to have him taken by Harker. After all, he can try out his skills in a real war soon." Seeker smiled.


    "The world falls into disorder because of your schemes. You don''t feel bothered by that?"


    "I''d feel bothered if I give the Aragarian''s more opportunities to grow powerful. We still have more than half of the world to fight against us. As long as I don''t harm the nations that will aid us, I couldn''t care less about the disorders and deaths I cause."


    "Harsh. Fitting for a leader. My father expressed that he would like to meet you. Though I''m not sure why he cannot meet you immediately. I imagined him toe running here if he knew about you." Arthur frowned.


    "Don''t me your dad. He wasn''t as free as you think he was. If I''m not wrong, he must have been killing people as you talked." Seekerughed.


    "What?"


    "Realm Somatotopy remember? Although I couldn''t mimic the Realm King, I could still hear and thereby have a rough understanding of what your father was doing. At the start of the call he probably was bound and was undergoing interrogation but when he picked up the phone and talked to you he started untying himself and proceeded to silently kill his captors." Seekerughed.


    "You''re kidding right?"


    "I''m sure of what I''ve heard. So don''t me him for his apparent apathy at your report. He must have his hands full right now. But enough of that. We got our hands full as well. Look." Seeker pointed to a group of well-dressed businessman.


    "It''s a cover. All of them except the man in the middle has guns. He must be our target. What a doting father. He is the president, yet he secretlyes over to an enemy country just to wish his son good luck." Seekerughed.


    "Zeek. We havemovementhere. There seemed to be a group of suspicious looking janitors arriving in the queue." Charles reported over the inte.


    "Alright. Keep them busy for a while so I can talk to the President. Remember, you cannot kill anyone."


    "Not allowed to kill anyone? That doesn''t sound like the sweet Seeker I know." Aleanughed on the other line.


    "You should have met my past self. He was sweet. Oh, wait. You did and you made his life a living hell. Be d that I''m not getting back at you for that." Seeker smiled.


    "How do you still cause dread to my heart despite being so far away?"


    "Advance sound technique. My very voice could cause fear." Seeker casually remarked.


    "Seriously?"


    "Get in position. We''re moving Arthy." Seeker ordered.


    Seeker and Arthur immediately rode the esctor.


    "Send us to the penthouse," Seeker ordered.


    "Roger sir." A voice responded on the other end of the inte.


    "I wonder if I should start training these soldiers that Alean brought? Nah. Can''t trust them yet." Seeker spoke to himself.


    "Half of the troops would be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder if your training is anything likest night."


    "Was I too rough? Come on Arthy. I know it wasn''t your first time." Seeker perverselyughed.


    "Still, it''s impressive that you easily reached the Unbing Stage, Arthy." Seeker smiled.


    "Thanks for your¡­ help. But I wished you were more gentle with Kristine." Arthur clenched his fist containing the deep rage within.


    "Rx. I needed to be that harsh. Unlike you who have a freakish dad, she needed to be thoroughly baptized in it. She''s not any closer to being unlocked. Although I''m sure I pushed her brain a bitst night." Seeker calmly answered.


    "Who is she to you?" Arthur asked directly.


    "Where is thating from?"


    "You''re from the future, you tell me. I''ve spent a greater half of my life being with her. I know what her road will be if she bes Unlocked."


    "Oh. So that''s where ites from. Emotional Discernment right? She must have been feeling queasy every time I look at her." Seeker took a more serious look.


    "She said she can''t tell what. As if regret, pain, and longing are mixed into one."


    "You can''t tell even after what she exined? Or is it that you don''t want to admit it?" Seeker sneered.


    "She''s my sister. And you know how heavily I weigh upon that." Arthur red at Seeker.


    Seeker paused in silence and stared back at the serious Arthur.


    Seeker finally sighed.


    "She''s mine."


    Arthur froze at that statement.


    "And what does that mean?"


    "What it means Arthur. We''re here."


    The elevator doors opened. Seeker moved out and saw several dead bodies in the hall. These were the same men who guarded the My-Pangean President.


    Slightly ahead of them was a group of soldiers who were forcibly taking the President.


    "Are we toote?" Arthur immediately inquired.


    "Rx. They wouldn''t kill him. Let''s go look for him." Seeker smiled.


    Seeker and Arthur took the guns belonging to the dead guards and continued down to the main door to which was the entrance to the penthouse.


    "Five enemies. Will you do the honors?" Seeker asked Arthur.


    "Fine." Arthur dashed forward and immediately kicked the door open.


    The armed guards were surprised at the sudden entrance of Arthur. At the center of the room was a bound man who Arthur recognized to be the president.


    The enemies wore a padded armor over their chest but it meant nothing to the reborn Arthur.


    The moment Arthur caught sight of the enemies, he immediately unloaded five shots that pierced through the skulls of the enemies.


    "Done. Seeker, the President awaits." Arthur coldly announced.


    Seeker remained unmoving. He continued to gaze back to the elevator shafts to which they came from.


    "Seeker?" Arthur called out once more and turned to check on Seeker.


    Arthur then realized that at the very end of the hall, a figure was walking out of another elevator.


    He was a skinny man. He wore a stylish tuxedo. He looked at Arthur and Seeker and had a disappointed expression. But then he saw the dead soldiers and an impressed smile appeared on his face. Behind him was another person. He looked like a simple businessman and didn''t even have any armor on.


    Seeker was frowning.


    "Everyone, change of ns. Knock all the enemy soldiers out and immediately head towards the penthouse. I need you all here in four minutes. Extraction team, maintain a distance of about two kilometers from this building. Cliff, I need you holding a sniping rifle. Prepare to back me and Arthur up." Seeker immediately ordered.


    Arthur was surprised at Seeker''s orders.


    "I take it that we are in danger with the appearance of these new guests of ours. Who is he?" Arthur aimed his gun at the approaching man.


    "The businessman should be an Aragarian. But it''s his bodyguard that I''m worried about. I didn''t think he''d be here." Dread appeared in Seeker''s eyes as his ss sword immediately extended out.


    "This serious huh? A powerful enemy of the future?" Arthur aimed his gun at the walking man.


    "Worse. Arthur, if anything happens to me, you takemand. That''s not just any random bodyguard." Seeker readied the gun with his left hand.


    "That''s an Oveer."

 Chapter 53 - The Terror Of The Overcomer’s Name

    Arthur''s expression suddenly changed. Another being just like his father stood not far from him. Only this one would definitely try to kill him. The thought alone caused Arthur''s spine to chill.


    The skinny man had a tall frame. As tall as Lynd and had very pale blue eyes. He held a scabbard with a sword that had the handle simr to a curiously small broadsword.


    Seeker fixed his gaze at the monster approaching.


    "Hey there. I take it you guys want to threaten this Pangean President?" Seeker smiled.


    The businessman had a confused stare. He then noticed that his other henchmen are dead.


    "Who are you? What are two kids doing up here?" The businessman frowned.


    "Careful Gary. Those two is the reason why your men are dead. The one with the sses killed them. Entered the room and shot five rounds, one round for each head of your men." The tall man smiled.


    Arthur frowned.


    "And why do you say that? We''re just kids who''re at the wrong ce at the wrong time."


    "I trust my instinct. So mind telling me who you are and how you managed to kill five trained men in what might have been less than a second?" The tall man smiled.


    Arthur was shocked. How did he know the manner of Arthur''s attack?


    "What else can you expect from Lennox''s own flesh and blood?" Seeker interjected.


    The tall man had a surprised look.


    "You''re Arthur? No wonder you looked familiar. And who might you be, my young brave friend?" The tall man turned to Seeker as he was impressed with Seeker''s demeanor.


    "You somehow feel more dangerous than Lennox''s son.


    "Casual Carlean?" The businessman gave a surprising stare as he recognized Seeker.


    "The gamer?" The tall man gave another surprised look.


    "So exactly why is the Covenant here?" The businessman asked with a confused face.


    "We''re here to save the President of course. General Harker sends his regards." Seeker dered immediately.


    The businessman who was called Gary suddenly had an angry expression.


    "That guy again?" Gary roared.


    "Kill them!" He ordered the tall man.


    "Give me a sec, Gary. You''ll be in a lot of trouble if we don''t deal with this situation carefully. Lennox is strong. Even I don''t want to face him." The tall manughed.


    Gary was shocked at this simple sentence. There was someone in this world that he wouldn''t cross?


    "Listen, kids, we just want the President. I suggest you retreat. You are no match for me. I''m doing you a favor. Don''t get in between me and my mission. I''m sure even your father would want you to retreat."


    "What''s his path, Seeker?" Arthur asked seriously.


    "Six Sense." Seeker immediately replied.


    "What does that mean?" Arthur replied coldly.


    "You see a tiger lying down on the ground, in a zoo. Does it scare you?"


    "No."


    "You see a crouching tiger approaching. Ready to pounce on you. Are you scared now?"


    "Of course."


    "Why? And I''m not asking this on a philosophical level."


    "The information I''ve processed has alerted my brain of the impending danger which results in fear, caution and other corresponding emotions that naturally appears in that given scenario."


    "You sound just like your old man." The tall man chuckled.


    "Alright Arty, take that process but imagine your brain being able to process these dangers on a different level. You feel things instinctively. A bomb disguised as a simple toy somehow gets your attention. You feel unexinable fear from it because somehow your senses instinctively warn you that it is dangerous. That''s this guy''s path. Perfect Prediction."


    Arthur''s eyes went wide open.


    "His prediction is so precise, it''s like your father''s calction skill. The only difference is that your father calctes, but this guy knows what to do by instinct. This means-"


    "This is bad. Of all the Oveer''s we actually are faced with someone who can negate all our surprising advantages?" Arthur was deeply worried. A surprise disy of skill won''t be effective.


    Seekerughed.


    "Funny right? We''re really screwed big time."


    "Perfect Prediction, huh?" The tall man stroked his chin.


    "I like the name. You are very informed. And I thought Arthur would be the smart one of you two." The tall manughed.


    "Alright. Before we begin this deadly dance, what''s his World Champion Title, Seeker?" Arthur took a serious stance. He knew that he could die in this battle. But even in thesest moments, Arthur still yearned for knowledge. And at this point, he simply wanted to know the terrifying name of this Oveer.


    "Richie." Seeker replied solemnly.


    Arthur paused for a bit to process the information.


    Did he hear the name correctly? Richie?


    "Who''s Richie?" Arthur asked with a confused expression.


    "That guy over there! Who else?" Seeker gave a why-wasn''t-it-so-obvious reaction as he pointed to the tall man.


    "Richie? That''s his World Champion name? Richie?" Arthur replied angrily.


    "Yes, Arthur! That man''s name is Richie!" Seeker replied with an angrier tone.


    "I didn''t want his name! I wanted the name he is known as!"


    "That''s what he''s really known as!"


    "You''re telling me that whenever the most powerful and cruel men of the underworld need someone to assassinate someone with impossible chances of sess, they open their phone contacts and they dial the number registered under the name Richie?" Arthur expressed in frustration.


    "What can I say? That''s what people call him!"


    "He''s a world-famous assassin! How can he not have a domineering name?!" Arthur demanded.


    "If an assassin is famous, he''s not a very good assassin is he?" Seeker argued.


    "Ahem." Richie gave a cough to interrupt the conversation of the two.


    "I was clearly asking for his Oveer Title! His World Champion name!" Arthur ignored Richie''s attempt.


    "Well, I''m sorry." Seeker gave another angry and sarcastic reply.


    "He really just goes by the name ''Richie!''" Seeker countered.


    "Guys¡­" Richie interrupted once more.


    Seeker and Arthur turned back to Richie.


    "First of all, it''s surprising that you know even my real name. But why the rude response, Arthur?" Richie gave a very displeased reply.


    "It''s not the name. It''s just that with everything I''ve been hearing from him, there''s always a domineering title or name. So when he unveiled your name, it was very anti-climactic and given the very dangerous situation we are in right now, it caught me off guard. I apologize." Arthur gave an apologetic look at Richie.


    Seeker just stared at Arthur with a look whose anger was building.


    "What are you talking about? I''ve mentioned the names Eagle and Hermes and you didn''t bat an eye at those names!"


    "Those names had qualities of being domineering in the first ce! So forgive me for not taking this entire Richie fiasco seriously!"


    "Alright. Enough." Richie interrupted once more.


    "Moving to my second point of interest, I know of Hermes, but I haven''t heard of Eagle. Is he as strong as Hermes or Lennox? The only Eagle I know is that American Pastor, Calvin Luther Eagle."


    "That''s the one. That very same Eagle. You should try and kill him. You''re into one big delightful surprise." Seeker smiled wickedly.


    Richie''s gave a curious expression as his eyes opened wider. It looked like he was excited at the thought of fighting Eagle.


    "Duly noted. I''ll take that advice." Richie paused as if he was waiting for something.


    Arthur''s heart was throbbing. They managed on time. It looks like Seeker has finished delivering his coded message.


    "Thirdly, I know you''ve been wasting my time so you can deliver that Morse code signal to the sniper on the chopper on how to kill me discreetly. So let''s just start the dance since I know of the n already." Richie smiled mischievously.


    Arthur''s face was flustered. Richie could hear the silent taps that Seeker made on the Inte?


    "Dammit, Richie!" Seeker cursed.


    "Alright, Cliff. That was a stupid n. As expected of a freaking Oveer. Maybe I should just order you to shoot me instead to send me to the afterlife painlessly. Ugh! Just fire at will, Cliff." Seeker was about to dash towards Richie when Richie held his hand forward.


    "Hold on. You sure you want to do this? Even with that sniper, I can easily kill you. You seem to like to have understood my skills. Do you know how I feel towards you three?" Richie sneered.


    "Cautious?" Seeker hoped.


    "Unless your Lennox or Hermes, then maybe I''ll be." Richieughed.


    "I don''t feel threatened." Richie unsheathed his sword. It was a broadsword which had a unique design. Its handle followed the typical broadsword, but its de looked more like a katana.


    "I''ll give you one more chance to escape since you two are associated with Lennox and Hermes. But this is you''rest warning. I do have a job to finish after all."


    "Whatever, Richie. Now that I know your name, you don''t seem that scary." Arthur stood bravely.


    "Arthur, support me. I''ll attack him head-on. Keep distance and continue shooting. Cliff, fire at will." Seeker immediately pushed his Unlocking as high as he possibly could. His perception and sense improved as he reached the Inhuman Proficient stage.


    Immediately, Seeker sprinted and fired several rounds as he was running.


    Richie carefully tugged the businessman sideways using the sword sheath he carried when Seeker started dashing. The man was safely pushed towards the inside of the elevator where he was safe from all the gunshots and possible sniping attacks aimed at him.


    Richie then smiled at the array of bullets sent out by Seeker, Arthur, and Cliff.


    With his perception, evading bullets was like a game of dodgeball. His perception was at best, on par with Arthur''s. His movement, however, was a different story.


    Richie swung his sword to redirect and block the array of bullets. His movements were graceful and he smiled in delight at the dance. Finally, a group of friends that made him enjoy the battle.


    Seeker continued to shoot with his left hand while his right hand was holding the sword. The sword was held with his left arm as Seeker extended it overhead in preparation of a powerful sh.


    Cliff had fired several shots but as Seeker drew closer, his concentration pushed to the extremes. He heard the entire discussion and knew what they were facing was a monster. Within the milliseconds in which Seeker was drawing closer and closer towards Richie, Cliff aimed for Seeker''s head and without hesitation, he fired.


    Faithful and reliable Cliff got the message hidden in their odd conversations and shot around, aiming to pierce through Seeker''s head. Cliff had no knowledge of Morse code, however, he understood Seeker''s reference when Seeker expressed a though of Cliff to ''shoot'' Seeker.


    Seeker''s head was already getting lower and lower as the demand of his forward sprint allowed it to naturally happen.


    Arthur understood this n as well. They both made sure to fire the few shots that the very little time they had to corner Richie into receiving Cliff''s shot. If they could wound Richie, this battle would be easier when the rest of their team arrived.


    Seeker blocked the view of Cliff''s fired bullet with his head. As he drew closer Seeker delivered a powerful sh aiming for Richie''s leg. Seeker also fired another round at Richie. Arthur had long anticipated Seeker''s attack and was shot at various locations to pin Richie in this position.


    Like a helpless King who had no other ce to go, Richie stood and had to meet Seeker''s sh and his gunshots.


    The final chess piece was also moving in. Utilizing the highest stable state of Realm Somatotopy that he could manage, Seeker adjusted his head to make sure that the passing bullet would be buried in his thick hair, unseen until thest possible moment.


    The bullet was passing through Seeker''s hair now. Even an Inhuman wouldn''t be able to evade an attack as fast as this bullet that would suddenly appear without warning.


    Richie, after all, was only an Unbing. What chance could he have to evade this attack?


    Sadly, they were facing Richie.


    Richie simply smiled. He didn''t feel any form of threat even in this situation. Somehow, he knew that a surprise attack would appear from an unlikely ce. Knowing that there was such an attack was enough for the Oveer.


    But then, he caught a glimpse at Seeker''s serious gaze.


    Strange.


    Why was Seeker''s gaze as calm as his?

 Chapter 54 - To Overcome An Overcomer

    General Lennox theorized that an average Unlocked individual would be able to evade and initiate high-speed attacks based on two factors; perception and their skill. Themon ratio to an average Unlocked follows that 70% of their total evasive capabilities are based on Perception. The remaining 30% relies on the individual''s skill and techniques.


    The odd-ones-out in this theory, are individuals with Selective Unlocking, like Arthur, who through their unique state can allow improving their reliance on skill to a greater extent.


    Another group who do not apply to this theory, are Oveers. Lennox believes that to be an Oveer, the individual must have at least 50% of their evasive capabilities dependent on skill.


    And amongst all Oveers, there was one who had the highest skill-dependent, evasive capabilities. The more his Perception grew, it would be multiplied by his high skills and technique.


    That Oveer brought terror towards his enemies.


    Gargantuan''s would even gather together and form a gravity field to maximize their light-speed attacks but use this immense firepower only as a defensive measure. It was reckless for them to attack as this Oveer could "dance" in the midst of light-speed attacks.


    Lennox, who constantly shed and sparred with this Oveer, estimated that nearly 80% of this Oveer''s evasive capabilities is based on skill alone.


    Seeker knew of this Oveer''s strength. Simply put, an Unbing Advent Richie, can face an average Inhuman Proficient in battle and evade attacks.


    The hidden bullet zipping through his own hair wasn''t Seeker''s trump card.


    The bullet zoomed quickly towards Richie''s face, but with a simple raise of his de, Richie made the bullet ''slide'' on the de and redirected the trajectory of the bullet. As he was used the de of his sword to redirect the bullet, he was already moving this same sword to sh Seeker.


    Seeker stomped his right foot hard the moment the sniping bullet came into view and evaded the quick sh attack by jumping towards the left. Seeker then used his own sword to stab the nearest door to halt his flight.


    The sword prated through the locking mechanism of the door and pierced through it. Richie was just behind him and was readying an upward sh as abo to his previous downward sh which Seeker had just evaded.


    Seeker stomped his left foot on the wall to stop the force of his jump and with another strong push, Seeker was now jumping upwards and was hurled nearly an inch away from the ceiling. He left his sword to remain lodged through the door. There was no time to retrieve it. However, Seeker was able to recover his bnce from the piercing thrust and his kick made him soar higher.


    This sudden change of direction made Richie miss yet another attack. His rising sh had to redirect some gunfire along the way and these milliseconds allowed Seeker to stay alive.


    But this midair evasion was more than reckless. Seeker was sure to die this time. Cliff and Arthur''s attacks would not be enough to hinder this certain-kill strike.


    Richie readied his de to sh. He wouldn''t need to look back at Seeker. He was confident Seeker would be sliced.


    Seeker turned midair and aimed his gun at Richie. These attacks would mean nothing.


    Just then, the door where the sword was lodged in suddenly burst wide open.


    Strangely, the sword that was once stuck also gave out and flew to the side as the door itself also opened.


    Richie red at the figure that stood behind this suddenly opening door and had one simple thought.


    "That''s one hell of a shotgun."


    Charles had entered this room through the window. But knowing that Richie had an absurd sense of hearing, Charles made a strong jump from the window towards the door. He shoved the shotgun onwards to push the protruding de off the door. And thanks to the powerful thrust that Seeker did to destroy the locking mechanism, the door could easily give way when Charles kicked the door.


    Without missing a single second, Charles opened fire.


    The pellets of the shotgun were zooming in towards Richie. Even Richie wouldn''t be able to evade all of these bullets or use his sword to redirect every single pellet.


    Or so they thought.


    Oveers have that title because they were Oveers. Whatever the challenge, they would ovee. The moment the Richie heard the door opening, he knew he would die if things remained the same. It had been a very long time that he reached this level of danger.


    Richie was so angry. He underestimated his enemies and he would have died. But this raging pride and the desire to live allowed him to reach what Seeker and his friends called the Unbing Proficient stage.


    The sudden increase of his capabilities surprised Richie. He knew what to do if he needed to survive this surrounding barrage of bullets.


    The moment he heard the door opened, Richie had already stepped back instinctively.


    As if acting in synch with Charles'' attack, everyone else were firing gunshots at the same time.


    Richie frowned. Despite his new unlocked potential, he was still in a pinch. The bullets were traveling in a direction which anticipated his moves. Seeker had shot a bullet at his location. If he remained there he would deal with the shotgun pellets and Seeker''s attack.


    Richie jumped headlong towards the iing shotgun pellets. He used his sword and with a rotating sweep, he redirected the bullets that would meet him in the trajectory of his dive. The sweeping attack redirected the bullets and created a small gap which in the middle and allowed him to dive through the shotgun attack unscathed.


    Charles was already backing away to ready his shotgun for another attack. Seeker was preparing his footing to kick the wall and maintain his aerial advantage.


    As hended on the ground he easily dodged the iing bullets that were sent by Arthur and Cliff.


    Richie''s speed was faster than ever. His adaption to his new speed was so disgusting that it made even the midair Seeker feel so frustrated at his own skills.


    Richie swiped thest iing bullet away and was one step closer to killing Charles. Thest step was to deal with Seeker''s second gunshot.


    He turned around to peek at Seeker''s attack readying his sword to swipe the bullet that he expected to be one foot away from him. But as he turned, no bullet could be seen. He quickly observed Seeker and noticed that Seeker''s second shot wasn''t aimed at him, but the door opposite of where Charles entered.


    The shotgun pellets had shot through the middle of the door leaving a circle of bullet holes since Richie redirected the ones in the center of the shot radius. Seeker was executing a back dive as he shot the remaining parts of the door toplete this circle of holes.


    Richie felt a chilling sensation on his spine. This was something new for an Oveer. The smell of fear usually does not affect Oveers. Even Seeker''s full-blown scent would have not been helpful.


    The sensation Richie felt was simply, fear. True fear brought about by worries and uncertainty. His Perfect Prediction had always allowed him to be wary of any dangers. But somehow, when facing these group of kids, Richie felt uncertainty and even confusion. Even on the onset, Perfect Prediction did not work. His instincts kept telling him that these kids wouldn''t be a threat to him.


    And his building fears came through. The circle of bullets had already weakened the integrity of the door and Seeker''s finishing touches were just enough for her to enter.


    SMASH!


    A figure smashed through the circr wreckage. It was a small girl who held a sword and a handgun.


    She was using the hilt of her sword to break through the door and aimed her gun towards Richie.


    She opened fire immediately. Seeker was falling towards the location where his sword was thrown to and Charles continued to keep his distance. Ready to shoot at Seeker''smand.


    Richie stood at the center dodging and shing the attacks, it was then he noticed that the girl who just entered had thrown away her gun and ran towards Richie with a shing attack.


    Richie frowned. It was one thing for these kids to shoot him, but to challenge him in closebat?


    Richieunched himself to meet the girl''s sh. However, Seeker suddenly appeared on his peripheral vision. Seeker was holding his sword with both of his hands. His left hand continued to clutch the gun with his left forefinger on the trigger with the edge of his other fingers clutching the sword handle.


    "A gun-de huh?" Richieughed as he recalled his younger days.


    Seeker shed and pulled the trigger at the same time. Meryl also shed her sword to cut Richie''s head off.


    Arthur stopped his rush and started shooting at Richie''s leg.


    While all of these were happening, Seeker winked signaling Charles to prepare for his attack.


    Richie immediately knew that staying in this position would lead to another shotgun attack.


    Richie used the tip of his sword to push Meryl''s sh upwards allowing him to evade the sh as he jumped back to evade Arthur''s attacks on his legs.


    Richie executed a mid-air twist to evade Seeker''s sh-and-shoot attack. Using the inertia of his thrust which redirected Meryl''s sh, he thrust his sword downwards as he turned towards Seeker.


    Seeker tried to dodge the falling thrust, but he was toote. The thrust shed downwards on Seeker''s chest leaving arge wound. Seeker''s ribs could even be seen.


    Richie was confident that this was enough to make Seeker rtively weaker and unable to fight properly. Richiended and he then set his eyes on Charles who was inside the room.


    He moved carefully avoiding the gunshots and sprinted towards the inside of the room.


    That''s when he noticed it.


    A grenade was happily rolling towards the door of the room''s entrance.


    "Carlean¡­" Richie thought as he deduced that Seeker must have rolled this grenade discretely on the floor when hended. The grenade rolled inside the room and was out of Richie''s sight.


    Seekers rushed attack was to redirect his attention. The rolling sound of the grenade which bumped on the nearbymp and rolled back towards the entrance was not noticed by Richie. Never did Richie expect that this group would willingly put their life on the line by exposing themselves in the radius of a grenade''s explosion. Seeker even deliberately allowed himself to be wounded to make Richie dive onwards and aim for Charles.


    The grenade exploded. But instead of fire and shrapnel, what came out was a bright blinding light. It was a shbang. This was once again, out of Richie''s calction. Why would they blind themselves? It made more sense for them to use a grenade!


    Richie failed to close his eyes and was engulfed in the blinding sensation that the shbang gave.


    Richie had no time to be disoriented. He tried his best to make a decentnding and jumped to the side as a precaution in case his enemies would shoot through the open door.


    As he dove and rolled on the floor, a painful stab was felt like a sword pierced through his right leg while in midair.


    Meryl kept her eyes wide open during the explosion and rushed to stab through the wall and pierced through Richie''s leg on the other side of the wall.


    With his right leg pierced mid-jump, Richie''s immediately used his sword to stop the force of his jump bytching it on Meryl''s sword.


    As the rest of his body fell, Richie used his left hand to hold him up high as the slightest twist in his position could add more wounds to his pierced leg. His right hand was just about to stab through the wall when several gunshots were heard.


    Richie''s right arm was wounded and another bullet pierced through his palms.


    The sword dropped on the floor.


    "Give up, Richie." Arthur ordered.


    Richie continued to use his left arm to keep him up in midair.


    "I can shoot your head anytime and Meryl can slice your leg too."


    "Impressive. Did you calcte my position like your father? Is that girl your long lost sister?"


    "Yes. And no. This is Meryl. She has a unique talent for being unaffected by bright lights."


    Richieughed.


    "That''s new. Oh well. I guess the younger generation has bested the older."


    The door of the elevators opened once more. But instead of Gary the Aragarian, Alean walked out holding Gary''s head.


    "Your boss is dead." She calmly exined as she tossed Gary''s head into the room for Richie to see.


    "Well¡­ I guess I should stop trying to kill you. Lucky you.." Richieughed.

 Chapter 55 - Epilogue Of Act One

    Meryl unceremoniously pulled the sword out of the wall. Richie grunted as he fell down the floor. He struggled and sat upright and stared at everyone who entered the room.


    Charles had already rushed towards Seeker'' to tend to his wounds.


    "So this is why I never felt threatened by you. You kids never wanted to kill me. If anything, I feel that you¡­. value me." Richieughed.


    "Yes. That''s exactly why Perfect Prediction failed you for the first time." Arthur answered coldly.


    "I get it. You value me. And you know my capabilities. Therefore, trying to kill me isn''t really killing me? So I can''t perceive the threat if you guys know that you can''t kill me." Richieughed.


    "Yes. And that''s precisely why we defeated you. Our Commander had to sacrifice himself though." Arthur shook his head.


    "Change of ns guys." Seeker struggled as he slowly walked into the room with Charles assisting him.


    "Seeker? You alright? Your eyes look empty." Alean noticed.


    "I''ve cut off all senses except hearing. My brain overloaded in that fight back there. And I''m about to put myself in a forceda."


    "What?!" The team asked in surprise.


    "He sensed your entries at the windows and made the necessary preparations to make you and Charles enter at the most necessary moments. We neither had any prior ns normunicated with each other yet we somehow managed to beat Richie. Seeker was obviously pushing his Realm Somatotopy to its limits. Your entrance, your very attacks, and how he set the stage of the battle was part of a meticulous n." Arthur exined.


    "Thanks for the documentary Arty." Seeker responded sarcastically. Charles positioned Seeker down on the floor allowing him to be more rxed. Worry appeared in Charles'' eyes. This was exactly the symptoms he saw Lynd had.


    "As you suspect Arty, I might have gone a bit over the Proficient level. Thankfully my brain''s physiology has already been changed which allows me to reach levels higher than what Lynd could reach."


    "So you''ll be alright?"


    "No Meryl. I''ll just leave a few instructions and will force myself into aa. You need to get the cont liquid otherwise my brain will fry if I awaken.


    The team looked grim.


    "Enough of that grim face. I could hear your heart rate changing." Seekerughed.


    "Richie. I bet you have a lot of questions but I won''t answer any of it."


    "Smart." Arthur reacted softly.


    "But you need to answer mine. Who are Gary Corners''s closest associates?"


    "Gary Corners?" Alean gave a curious look.


    "He''s an Aragarian. Seeker felt it when he pushed his Unlocking the moment heid his eyes on Richie." Arthur responded again.


    "I''m a professional, kid. I don''t talk about the people who hire me." Richie smiled.


    "Fine then¡­ Guys, push your unlocking to your highest capacity and get your weapons ready just in case."


    The entire team immediately went on full alert and readied their weapons.


    "Using torture? How pathetic. As if death can make me squeal. You will kill me but don''t think I can''t give you hell even when I''m in this state."


    "This isn''t for them to kill or torture you but to protect me because of what you might do with what I''m about to say next."


    "Oh?" Richie had a curious look.


    "Before I say it, know that I''m extremely frail right now and if your anger causes any¡­ uncanny results I might go into an unwanteda and you''d only have yourself to me for losing it." Seeker spoke strictly.


    Richie''s now had a confused look.


    "I know a way to beat the Tyrant Empress." Seeker spoke loud and clearly. He then braced himself for the pressure.


    Richie sat down looking straight at Seeker. His confused look suddenly turned into an angry re.


    His face didn''t reveal a speck of this anger. But his eyes carried the entirety of his emotion.


    "I''m listening." Richie slowly spoke.


    His voice was like a light breeze of air that paralyzed whoever heard it.


    Arthur copsed as he heard this voice. It was unlike the sensation that Seeker brought.


    His mind went nk. His control over his senses weakened.


    Alean, Charles, and Meryl were barely able to maintain their stand. Their guns and swords were held with shivering hands.


    Seeker seemed like he was struggling with something. But he managed to withstand it.


    "Still the short-tempered Richie, eh? " Seeker tried to bring out a smile.


    "Try to kill Meng the Dragon. He has an ability simr to that of the Tyrant Empress. But his skills are also simr to yours. It''s just a difference in how you apply it." Seeker finally managed to smile as he spoke. Sweat was pouring over his face. Even the wound on his chest didn''t make him fidget, but Richie''s voice prated deep into his hearts and clenched it.


    "Skill?" Richie then asked once more.


    The pressure slowly disappeared. Arthur came back to his senses while the three standing were gasping for air.


    "What? Is it gone? Hmm... So you haven''t mastered it yet. Maybe I shouldn''t have said what I said." Seeker fell into contemtion. Then his expression immediately turned into a mischievous smile.


    "Oh¡­ never mind. That could work too." Seeker had a confusing worried look which then turned into a mischievous smile. Seeker took out his phone and began typing something.


    "Arthur decode this and send this message to Richie in three days time."


    For some odd reason, Richie had an even more confused look. He couldn''t understand what Seeker was typing and due to theck of senses, his Perfect Prediction couldn''t pick up any information.


    "Now, answer my question, Richie." Seeker thenughed.


    "Meng is not an easy guy to find. Even Arty''s father can''t bring him out of his cave." Richie chuckled.


    "Tell him Rosa says ''hi'' and he''ll try to kill you." Seekerughed.


    Richie maintained his deadly gaze. He sat there silently as a few seconds passed.


    "Richie. I only have about 3 minutes left. Tell me who Gary''s associates are."


    "I''ll tell you if I can fight Meng." Richie responded coldly.


    "That''ll work too. Alright, guys. I don''t have much time left. So Arthy, you''re in charge.


    "What?" Meryl suddenly interjected with a surprised expression.


    "Trust me, Meryl. Right now what you need is strategy and I don''t have time to exin things. Arthur, take charge of this team. I trust you can manage the uing battles?"


    "No problem." Arthur nodded.


    "My recovery process might take a bit of time. I''ll try to break through and get a permanent seating in the Surmounting level and this could take weeks. So other than the obvious task, make sure to gather intel so that you can protect the Jews."


    "The Jews?" Charles was bewildered at this order.


    Alean and Meryl looked at each other.


    "I see. Of course. Why didn''t I think of that? Makes sense."


    "What?!" Meryl shouted in frustration.


    "All my earnings from my streams, use it to buy a convertible. It should be just enough. Look for the ones with-"


    "The ones with the best handling." Arthur interrupted.


    "That''s my Arty. Always quick on the uptake. If you''re confident, you can use it on the next battle. Lastly, things haven''t been going exactly as nned." Seeker smirked.


    "Oh. Whatever gave you that idea?" Charles remarked sarcastically. Almost every n they had gone sideways thanks to unexpected situations.


    "My mistake is that I was so fixed on events that I know of, that I never expected those happy revtions to cause things to escte this quickly. But it was all worth it. When I''m out, I''m not sure what could happen. Killing those Aragarian''s might have caused a ripple of events that even I cannot foresee and you might fall into little surprises like when we met Richie here. So I don''t want you guys to make any regrets in the choices you make while I''m out. I can''t protect you all. So right now, I''ll just leave you with these tidings from the future."


    Seeker then faced Alean''s direction.


    "Alean. You better take advantage of this freakin'' chance I''ve given you with Lynd. He might wake up sooner than I will so make the most of every moment. Use seduction if you must."


    "What do I need to do? How will this benefit his Unlocking?"


    "His Unlocking? There''s nothing you can do to help him with that. Just do that to make him happier. Now, Meryl."


    "What? That''s it?" Aleanined.


    "You''ll be in charge of training. I need you to build a special task force. Our special task force. Take only those who you can trust with your life. A few of the Programmed ves should do. Once Lynd is awake train together with him."


    Meryl was surprised.


    "Me?" She voiced out hesitantly.


    "No need to be surprised. Among all of you, Lynd was always first with you tailing a close second. So you''re the best person for the job." Seekermended.


    "Arthur. You''ll be in charge of this group for a bit. So while I''m gone I''ll leave you with an important reminder."


    Arthur listened attentively.


    "You know who the most important people in this team are. But for you, there is someone whom you should consider to be more important than the rest. I do not want you to have any regrets. You''ve had quite a lot in the future. So should the situation arise, protect Meryl at all cost. You don''t know it yet, but you will fall desperately in love with her."


    Everyone was shocked at Seeker''s statement.


    "What?!" Meryl cried in surprise.


    Arthur just wore a frown. He then started to look at Meryl.


    "I don''t feel it yet," Arthur responded.


    "I know. Just trust me in this, Ok Arty? I might have altered the progression of your developing romance but knowing that you should be keeping her alive is important as it may help you reach World Champion. At least now you know what not to risk."


    Seeker then faced Charles.


    "Charles, there''s something you should also know about your future love life. In a world without hope, you will need that love to be stronger. And so because I don''t want you to have any regrets¡­ remember¡­" Seeker began.


    Charles was listening attentively. Romance had never been Charles strong suit. His strings of rtionships left him broken and confused. It was a series of betrayal that led him to his books, to the army and even to his now aplished fame. But out of all the girls in his life, who would it be that would be the remaining joy in a dark world?


    "Protect Ricardo at all cost." With the crucial information passed, Seeker then forced his brain to shut down. Seeker''s eyes which were opened slowly closed as he entered his peaceftose state.


    Charles looked at the feinted Seeker. He did not know what to do. Suddenly the urge to p Seeker awake appeared and he lifted his hands.


    "NO! Charles! Seeker''s already unconscious!" Meryl grappled Charles arm to prevent the downward bitch p.


    "WHO THE HELL IS RICARDO?!" Charles shouted in anger.


    "I see. It all makes sense" Arthur seemed to understand.


    "You know what he means?" Charles turned to Arthur. Arthur has been able to understand Seeker''s minimal instruction. Hope rekindled as Charles begged with his eyes on this ice cold being birthed for information.


    "It makes sense. Your careful attention to your good looks, the modeling jobs you do, your perfectly smooth skin¡­ You havetent homosexual tendencies."


    Agony, confusion, and fear crept into Charles'' heart. Was this his end?


    "Great. I just lost to a prophet of the future, some army Major who is about to get into some major pedophilia, two kids in puberty, and a potentially gay national treasure." Richieughed in the background.


    "That''s why I love life. It''s things like this that makes you want to live for it."


    About an hour after the attack on Stormson Tower, the world was shocked at the events that urred that day. The My-Pangean President was attacked on Australian soil and met the worst kind of opposition. The Australian government revealed it was done by an extremist military group which was tied with several international crime syndicates.


    The Australian Secret Service pulled no stops in revealing their suspicions to stop a possible war between two countries. Gary Corner was one of the possible leaders behind this syndicate and was even connected with Feltrick Ung-ive''s organization.


    President Colestar immediately addressed the nation and believed that it would be a terrible mistake to immediately begin a war.


    "A Continental war is not the answer. We have all seen its dangers and the damage it creates. It leaves families deste, ourndscape changed and the very way of life altered. I urge the masses to not make hasty assumptions and not take any critical actions towards Australia. We must strive for peace and resolve this issue without causing massive deaths on both nations!" President Colestar announced with a grave expression. The entire Pangean Nations watched and observed this broadcast. But then a sudden twist urred.


    All major media station stopped broadcasting the address and started airing an emergency broadcasting from the Military office of Harker Cipril.


    "Citizens of the Pangean Nations! Ie to you now in what is the darkest moment of our history since its founding alliance. I have discovered a malicious plot aimed to take over our nations!" Harker announced with terror in his eyes.


    "Everything which you have witnessed these past days, the horrors of Feltrick Ung-ive''s organization were all linked to Australia. They have been using our country as a harvesting ground and even utilized one of our nations as its main base. This was done to shift international attention if ever their operations would be discovered."


    The world was shocked at the sudden development. The State of the Nation Address of President Colestar was cut short and a new broadcast was ying. The poor President was not aware of this development and failed to realize that the eyes of the world were no longer on him.


    The media reporters present did not even inform the President of what had urred. Station managers imed that their system was hacked. And while many of the most prestigious reporters knew that thepany had intentionally stopped airing the State of the Nation Address, they did nothing to inform the President or other government officials while the speech continued. They simply acted as was ordered of them.


    "Early today, I had received reports of an attempt to kidnap My-Pangean President, Albert Hoross. Luckily, the Heroes Army was able to stop the n. President Hoross who secretly went to Australia to show support to his son who is known as Lowengren were faced with assassins aiming to ckmail him or possibly kill him. The Stormson Tower were infiltrated with various military soldiers as you can see in this clip."


    Suddenly a video clip of the military surrounding the Stormson Tower was shown as several armed forces were entering the building.


    "We managed to save the President who is now with my daughter, Major Alean Cipril. She also confirmed my suspicion. Gary Corner, President of L-Corp has been using hispanies influence to support the human, sex, and organ trafficking operations that are done in the Pangean Nations. Australia wanted to protect him. Too bad. We have his head with us. Enjoy what remains of his body, Australia!" Harker spat in disgust.


    The broadcast continued with most of the Pangean Nation getting enraged at what had been happening.


    Harker then expressed his disgust at how the President is still pushing for peace when one of the Presidents of their nation had just escaped death. This was considered an act of war and should be reciprocated with war. The entire nation was reacting to this sudden news. Many were enraged and urged Harker to attack Australia immediately while others feared for their lives for a possible war that could destroy their very home.


    As the world shattering news continued to broadcast creating forth a wave of unknown reactions, Arthur was already strapped in full military gear and was already exining the n of the attack. They used one of the home appliance factories which secretly belonged to General Cipril. Despite the loud sounds of the military equipment''s being built the none of its surrounding neighbors found it suspicious.


    Arthur stared at the satellite images that were being disyed on arge screen and started to mumble numbers under his breath. Soldiers were moving back and forth in this building. Some carrying weapons, others tinkering with devices and others locked on theirputers. Charles, Meryl, Alean, and Cliff stood in the background awaiting the orders of their newmander.


    "So Act Two begins huh?" Charles sighed as he looked at the detailed maps produced on the screen.


    "Act Two of New Game+. And Chapter One opens with a war." Meryl gave a worried sigh.


    "New Game+? Is this what Seeker called it?" Arthur asked.


    Meryl just nodded at Arthur. She couldn''t maintain eye contact for even a second. Arthur however, had no problems to peer deep into Meryl''s face.


    "You''re not that bad. I guess it''s alright." Arthur mumbled carelessly while Meryl was blushing red.


    "Alright Commander. I''ve told my soldiers that you are the acting leader now. How do you n to act on this?"


    "First, buy me this convertible. I have decided we are ready to use this to attack the military base."


    "Well, you sound as crazy as Seeker. So I guess it''s a relief. " Charlesughed as he saw the image of the convertible in Arthur''sm device.


    "Without Seeker¡­ things are bound to get harder. I hope we all live through whatever hell awaits."


    "We can only hope, Doctor. For now, let''s hope that Seeker''s trust in me was well-ced.. New Game+, Act Two: Arthur''s Acts, begins."

 Chapter 56 - A New Commanding Officer

    x Industries took arge bulk of this block. It was a simple factory but had a dark secret. Harker Cipril used this as a base to hold every kidnapped child that his human trafficking business could manage. But what once was a simple ploy to hide a terrible secret was now transformed into a military base.


    Deep inside therge warehouses of these buildings, weapons, rockets, and ammo were carefully ced in order as soldiers continued to gear up or tinker with new weapons.


    "Have you met the new Colonel? I can''t believe that he''s inmand!" A soldier asked his fellow toon member.


    "You don''t know who Colonel Arthur is? He''s kind of like a star in the gaming world!"


    "Oh! So that''s why looked familiar!"


    "Still¡­ I couldn''t believe that he carried with him such amanding aura."


    "Tell me about it! It felt like I couldn''t breathe!"


    "Enough."


    "Lieutenant!" The two soldiers saluted.


    "I advise you to stop talking about Colonel Arthur. I just saw him questioning several Australian soldiers. He''s far scarier than that. I don''t want any trouble." The Lieutenant could not help but sweat at the memory of what he just witnessed.


    High up on the buildings top floor, several Australian soldiers wereying on the ground. What once was a simple office, was now transformed into a torture chamber. Blood and limbs wereid all around the room. Some of the Australian soldiers had several limbs missing while those with their bodies intact had a very traumatic look in their eyes. and somewhere even whimpering in tears.


    Albert Hoross, the My-Pangean President stood in shock. But his shock wasn''t due to the site of Arthur torturing the soldiers and one particrly stubborn scientist. It was due to the revtion of Australia''s technology.


    Human enhancement programs? EMP Satellite attacks? With these two things, the Pangean Nations do not stand a chance of winning if Australia deres a Continental War.


    New Birth Fort was not just a military base; it was a national treasure. During the previous Continental War, Australia was at itsst leg and was about to be conquered by the then One South Asian army. After several pseudo-nuclear attacks that prated deep in their territory, most of Australia was turned into a heaping wastnd.


    But on itsst retreat, at theirst stand, Australia decided to rename Darwin into New Birth City. A victorious deration even on the brink of extinction. That was the start of their counter-attack. After several key battles, Australia was able to push back the enemies and even began their counter-attack retaking all the way to Sydney.


    At the aftermath of the Continental Wars, New Zend and Papua New Guinea fell into a leaderless state and waster absorbed by Australia. Australia was then considered a superpower and the neighboring countries feared the powers of the nation''s surrounding them and this led to the unification of the three South-East Asian countries which is now known as the Pangean Nations.


    With its new standing as a powerful nation, New Birth Fortter extended its borders and now it was a megalopolis with a huge chunk of its territory part of the city.


    "This is crazy!" President Hoross sighed. He nced at the torturer who didn''t seem afraid of their enemies.


    "Alright. Now let me present to you what I think is our best option. This is only a draft n and I cannot takemand of the entire battalion. Lowengren. You have to take control of this army."


    Sebastian Hoross sat there with a panicking expression. He always had a cold and unweing appearance but the very things that he just witnessed within thest few hours drove him to a very scared and nervous state.


    "What?" Sebastian Hoross looked at the crazy deration of Arthur.


    "This is crazy. Why are you involving my son in this?" Albert Hoross voiced out.


    "Because if there''s any hope for us to leave this country alive, then he has to holdmand. I need to take part in this battle. My team is the only ones capable of killing those modified humans."


    "We had the chance to escape! But the nes and ships you sent didn''t have us aboard!" Albert roared in anger.


    SLAM!


    Arthur mmed arge sledgehammer on the ground. This was the same device used for torturing.


    "I suggest you calm down. Keep in mind that you are not needed back in the country but this is where you are needed, Mr. President." Arthur red. A familiar pressure enveloped the room.


    Cold sweat started to fill Albert''s back.


    "That''s right! I am the President! General Harker falls under my-"


    "General Harker is not themander of this army. Our real General is out cold and right now, I am in charge. General Harker answers to me. And I won''t take no for an answer. War is on the horizon President. So it''s better that we take the first strike rather than have them attack us. You will do the video shoot and Lowengren will be themanding officer of this army." Arthur dered coldly.


    Albert and Sebastian could not even whimper in response as the bloodlust of Arthur made them shiver in ce.


    "Interesting pressure. Strong as Meryl." Alean finally entered the room.


    "Seeker?" Arthur asked.


    "Stable. Meryl''s also started doing one session per squad. Though I cannot say how that will help. I doubt any of them will be unlocked after one session. Also, the training Meryl does is a lot weaker than Seeker''s training. These soldiers can still stand and talk after each session. Seeker''s would leave you in a state of shock." Alean shivered as she recalled Seeker''s training.


    "I''m making them go through that not to Unlock them but to have them experience a bit of hell before they dive into a real one."


    "Why?"


    "The modified humans of Australia could be stronger than Seeker anticipated. Most of your soldiers will die. So they''ll need to experience a little bit of what it means to fight against monsters like these. Steel your heart, Cepril. You yourself might even die."


    "It''s that bad?" Alean frowned.


    "Yes. Seeker''s out of the count so invading and destroying this base will be impossible. We just need to draw the battle out and have someone sneak in while all the ruckus continues."


    "So the army will be the diversion while we sneak in?"


    "No. The army will probably be dead too soon before we manage our objectives. We will be fighting alongside the army. Meryl will be tasked to get the cont."


    "Is that wise?"


    "If all things work out, then everything outside of that base will be more dangerous than the things inside it."


    "Haven''t you just heard their report? Cybeic humans and modified ones? EMP satellite st? No matter what this is a lost battle!" Albert yelled angrily.


    "It is. But it''s a necessary battle. We need to get our General and our strongest man back. Alean, show the President and Lowengren Meryl''s training so that they can get a rough idea of what we can do."


    On the other side of the building, a battalion of soldiers presented themselves with their respective toon. But with all the soldiers standing, there was silence.


    Right in the middle of the wide hall was a room fortified with bulletproof concrete. The soldiers would be thrown into this room and try to wound a small timid Asian girl.


    All the soldiers could see through the video feed was the image of the girl, which then would be followed by a blur of movements leaving all the soldiers down.


    This girl carried a variety of weapons. Some even bigger than herself and would use these humongous weapons to attack and sh the soldiers who tried to use all their tactics to kill the girl. But it was pointless. The girl would easily sneak up on them and demolish their formation followed by what looked like a massacre. It was amazing how no one would be critically wounded or found dead at the heart-clenching attacks this girl would make.


    The next three squads who was in line for a pre-battle training session was walking towards the room. All of them had petrified faces. The previous squads hadn''t even managed to scratch or graze Meryl. And all of them experienced hell inside.


    As the toon entered, Meryl did something totally different. She stood right in the middle of the room exposing herself.


    "I''ll give you ten seconds. Try to kill me." Meryl sweetly announced.


    A heart clutching sensation gripped the soldiers who immediately reacted by reaching for their guns and aiming at Meryl.


    Meryl sighed as the soldiers aimed their guns. Time was slower than ever.


    Unbing Proficient was a totally new sensation for Meryl. Her reactions were more concrete. Her initial response when faced with guns, was to ensure that the nozzle wasn''t aimed at her. But now, she could evade bullets at a more efficient speed.


    She waited for the soldiers to pull the trigger.


    Three of the soldiers managed to reach for their guns and started shooting.


    "My timings getting better." Meryl smiled.


    The moment she saw these soldiers were about to pull the trigger she moved her body immediately. The fast motions that Meryl made, gave the illusion that she was evading the bullets.


    As more and more soldiers managed to start shooting, Meryl started to run around. Each of her strides made her leap several meters. Her speed, paired with her drastic movements allowed her to easily take down all the soldiers while giving them the maximum fear she could do.


    Charles continued to observe Meryl from the camera feeds. Nearby were two pods holding two special bodies.


    Charles had a monitor up which was typing down everything that Charles was saying.


    "Each stage of the Unlocking seems to improve the overall physical capabilities of a person by over a hundred percent from its original form. The effect is extremely fast. Within a day of being Unlocked, the human body seems to be enhanced as well. Muscle density seems to improve as well over time."


    Charles then smashed his right hand with a small hammer.


    SMASH!


    Charles observed his right hand and saw a reddish spot.


    "Third hammer test reveals astonishing results. The third test is dated three days after test two. In that short time, my muscle density has improved once more. I barely felt any pain with this strike. It looks like my overall body can endure up to four times what a normal human being can endure. But training muscles are harder. No wonder Seeker still remained thin even though he eats and workout a lot. No significant muscle gains..."


    Charles gazed back at Meryl''s screen.


    The ten seconds were long over and the soldiers were being tossed and mmed like pieces of ragdolls.


    Meryl shed her sword towards the neck of one soldier. As the de approached, Meryl quickly turned the de so that the blunt side would hit the soldier. The speed was fast that all the soldier could see was a de rushing towards his neck. So when he felt the hit, he could only conclude that the de pierced through his neck.


    The next sensation that he felt was being turned and tossed away like a piece of rag. The soldier fell on the floor and could only think of his home.


    "Goodbye." He cried in his thoughts.


    "Next!" Meryl announced.


    All the soldiers who were down the found themselves alive. They touched the vital parts which they thought Meryl attacked and was confused to find that it wasn''t wounded.


    The team left the room groggy and confused. Others limping while others couldn''t stand and had to be assisted out of the room.


    Albert was tongue-tied with what he saw. Sebastian''s eyes were shining.


    "What was that game? Piercing something? I guess you could say that we can do what the people in that Piercing game can do." Aleanughed as he saw Sebastian''s expression.


    "Of course, Meryl''s probably the strongest among us. Either that or Arthur is."


    Alean smiled but she was tightly clenching her fist. She knew she was at the very bottom in terms of strength in this team.


    "And those two at Doctor Lindmitt''s office?" Sebastian could not help but ask.


    "If any of them wake up, they should be stronger than all of usbined."


    Sebastian could not help but grin. Something sparked within him. He then witnessed Meryl carrying arge halberd and was using it to attack the soldiers. Meryl seemed to be recklessly thrusting the halberd but it would only cut through the clothes. Meryl would then pick up and toss these soldiers.


    A once hopeless battle was now turning into a game that Lowengren was so desperate to y.


    "Who are you? No! What are you? What inhuman creatures are you?" Albert stared in terror at Alean.


    "Not Inhumans. Were just Unbing.." Aleanughed.

 Chapter 57 - The Opening Salvo

    The meeting was finally underway.


    Several soldiers stood by. Sebastian was also among the participants along with a group of teenagers.


    Right at the very center of the room stood Arthur and his team.


    "Ladies and gentleman. Allow me to formally introduce myself and my team. I am Colonel Arthur Humphrey and next inmand is Major Alean Cipril."


    Arthur carried a domineering pressure. The soldiers had already witnessed how this small teen tortured the Australian soldiers to get what he needed. They knew that this wasn''t a normal kid. And with Major Cipril bowing to his every whim, they knew that this was someone they should respect.


    "You are all gathered here so that we can discuss the ns of our attack at New Fort Base."


    A hologram disys of the entire city appeared in the middle.


    "Obviously, one brigade is not enough to conquer this city. Our mission is not to destroy this base but to infiltrate it. There is a key technology that we must retrieve. Once we aplish that, our victory is secured."


    "The problem is, infiltrating this base is extremely hard. The technology that defends it is not to be underestimated. We have received reports that Australia is now capable of creating an EMP satellite attack. Rendering most of our technologies useless."


    "Won''t that also be bad for them Major?" A Lieutenant Colonel inquired.


    "We can''t be too sure. We must attack under the assumption that they have the means to resist it."


    "That is why we will be taking part in this battle. I will also lead the attack along with Major Cipril, Doctor Charles, Cliff Fangwood and of course, Meryl Mikado."


    Meryl and Charles gave a slight nod while Cliff silently stood by observing everyone in the room.


    The soldiers in the room gazed in surprise.


    "This battle is a suicide mission. This is why my team will start the attack. Leading this army will be President Hoross'' own son, Sebastian Hoross or Lowengren as you may know him."


    The soldiers gave a confusing look at the set of teams.


    "Lowengren, what are your ns." Arthur immediately asked seriously.


    The team leaders of Warfreakz was in the room. Each of them had a scared expression.


    "We''ve discussed it in our team." Lowengren began. Sweat continued to pour out on his back. It was his first time talking to such an elite group of warriors.


    "The best way to infiltrate the enemy base is to create a massive distraction that will draw out a bulk of its forces leaving fewer obstacles for your team to face."


    "So an old-fashioned surprise attack?" Charles immediately asked.


    "Well¡­ No. We don''t want that. If we do that, the army will overwhelm us. What we need is to do, is make smaller bits of distractions. This will draw out either the police force or a few soldiers which we can overpower."


    "We maintain a level of discretion in our attacks and slowly build up as they continuously send more forces." Arthur summarized.


    "I see. So by the time they know that it''s an actual battle, they would have already lost too much and we would have established our foothold."


    "That''s right. That''s the first step." Lowengren nodded.


    "Create a distraction that would draw out the police and possibly the military. We also use the chaos to immediately secure key areas of the city. These ces are marked on your individual files." Alean started handing out small digital chips to the Lieutenant Colonels in the room.


    "Distractions? Like what? Fire?" Meryl innocently suggested.


    "Too small. Maybe a bomb threat will do." Charles mumbled.


    "Terrorist attacks?" Cliff immediately remarked.


    "Public shootouts?" Charles joked.


    "As we are deep in the Network of Australia, usingm systems would be dangerous. That is why some of you are tasked with setting up our own Comm Arrays. These must bepleted as soon as possible. Until we can set those up and reconfigure themunication towers within the city, we cannotmunicate with each other." Arthur exined.


    "After youplete your individual task, a ping will be sent out to all your devices which will tell you when you can freely use them systems. Commander Lowengren will then assign you your next task once we set up themunication array."


    "Sir! I question the credentials of our new Commander." A soldier couldn''t help but interject. He knows what Alean and her team could do. But doubt was in the hearts of this new face.


    "He''s the best general we have here. Don''t underestimate his skills just because he has been using it in games. At this point in time, we don''t need a propermander but someone who can think outside the box."


    The soldiers stared at Lowengren and his team. Most of the soldiers knew who Lowengren was. War of the Generals was such a popr game that many in the army actually y the game.


    "Lowengren and his team have been considered the best generals in the War of the Generals. And as you may know, some even use actual army General''s to tutor and guide teams while in other countries, real Generals y the game. Yet of all the names that could easily have reached the top, Lowengren is still considered to be the best in the game. So believe in your Commander. Colonel Arthur and I have also discussed the ns together with Lowengren and I can vouch for his skills."


    The soldier gave a quick look at hismander and immediately nodded.


    "We''re in your hands, Commander."


    "You will receive further specific instructions once them system is set up. Dismissed."


    The soldiers slowly went out of the room and were looking grim as they were to set out what would possibly take away their humanity.


    "Are you sure you want your team to be your assistants in this battle, Lowengren?" Arthur asked as he scanned by each member of the Warfreakz.


    "They''re not ready." Cliff softly spoke.


    "They know my ns better than anyone else''s. If you trust in my skill, then having this hesitant team would still be better than any other soldier in this building."


    "Alright. Let''s get ready for battle. Warfreakz, please follow me upstairs for thest briefing session." Arthur then signaled Meryl to follow as well.


    Meryl followed obediently and went with Lowengren and his team.


    "Where are they going?" Cliff asked as he watched the group walk out the door.


    "What else? Thatst briefing must be a little scare tactic to get the Warfreakz''s hearts in order. I pity them. The soldiers only had to deal with Meryl¡­" Charles shook his head.


    "At least Seeker was gentle with girls. That Arthur really doesn''t show mercy." Alean sighed.


    Cliff then offered a silent prayer to the Warfreakz. Sounds of screams and terror filled the room above as Meryl and Arthur utilized every scare tactic they have. As the session continued, Arthur started reminding the group of Australia''s sin.


    "I hope with this; you realize the weight of the Australian''s crimes. And if they were willing to do that, what more will they do to you? You live in a different world now. If you fail in this mission, you will all die. I can only hope that you won''t experience hell before you die." Arthur strode out the door and threw the pickaxe towards one of the Warfreakz. The pickaxed was pinned on the wall and was not an inch further from this member''s face.


    "Ummm¡­ You better get ready. We''ll be heading out to proceed with the mission." Meryl gave a respectful bow before leaving.


    Meryl and Arthur soon reached the basement where several armored vehicles were parked. As it was in all ces of the factory, soldiers were running around this area and many were configuring and adding more specific configurations to their car.


    "Took you guys long enough." Charles greeted.


    "Is that the car?"


    "Yes. As you ordered, a blue Marex Convertible. The engineers just finished tinkering with it. This could easily go three kilometers in ten seconds." Alean opened the hood.


    "It''s got the speed and the handling you requested. It can zoom in and out and with our perception, we could easily evade mortars and missiles."


    "I''m no expert. But I''m pretty sure that the engine of this car''s pretty mmable." Charles worriedly pointed to the engine.


    "It is. With the nitro device, any stray bullet could set this entire car on fire." Arthur immediately jumped into the car.


    "And we''re using this?" Meryl gave a worried reply.


    "Don''t worry. With the equipment''s I''ve prepared, this car will probably not get a single scratch on it." Arthur then signaled for everyone to jump in.


    "Does everybody understand each of your mission?" Arthur asked.


    "Wait. I haven''t received any yet." Meryl panicked.


    "You''re with me." Arthur pulled Meryl in and then started driving out.


    "Was it you who came up with that crazy n?" Cliff asked.


    "No. I exined what we needed and Lowengren immediately came up with it."


    "What a cruel man." Meryl shook her head.


    "Not cruel. He''s just a gamer. He is approaching this war just as how I hoped he would. A gamer with no morals to bind him. Just victory in mind."


    Meryl had a worried look.


    "What exactly is the n?"


    "I''ll tell youter." Arthur immediately answered before anyone else could.


    Alean and Charles had aplicated look on their faces.


    Arthur drove out of the warehouse and zoomed towards the heart of the city.


    Arthur continued to drive and dropped Alean, Cliff, and Charles in different parts of the city. Meryl continued to look in amazement at the sights of New Birth City.


    She also wondered what it would look like by the time tomorrow arrives.


    New Birth Memorial Park.


    It was one of the biggest tourist spots in the entire nation. It was an outdoor park with lush green trees and shrubs and was a popr pic spot for families to go and enjoy the day. The park was even more popr at night as the light show in that park would continue all evening to the break of dawn. It was because of this that it was a popr ce for concerts to be held at.


    Meryl could not help but admire the park. She looked in pain at the people who were here and was secretly apologizing for the war that they will bring.


    "So what''s the n?" Meryl finally got the nerve to ask. After Seeker''s revtion, Meryl found it extremely awkward to talk to Arthur.


    Arthur kept quiet and took out a pair of the mask and tossed one to Meryl.


    "Wear this." Arthur then parked the car deep in the park''s parking grounds. He then grabbed his suitcase and started walking towards the center of the park.


    The park had a huge crowd at a concert was currently underway. A barrier was set at the entrance where people would pay to enter.


    "We''re the opening salvo. It will be the first distraction that will get the media and the police''s attention." Arthur exined as they neared the concert grounds.


    "But how? You or Lowengren didn''t exin what to do back then."


    "There was no need to. You already discussed the answers."


    Meryl was surprised.


    "What? Which one? I remember us talking about a fire, then a bomb threat, a terrorist act, and Charles even said something about a shootout! Which one of those is the right one?"


    "All of them."


    Meryl gasped in surprise.


    "So what do we do? Start a fire? Or is it a bomb threat?"


    "Lowengren''s already prepared for setting up bomb threats all throughout the city. And Charles and Cliff are out starting fires. But only after our act. If we start one fire after another, the military could get suspicious and send their forces immediately."


    "So what''s our opening act?"


    Arthur then suddenly stopped walking. The security guarding the entrance gave a curious stare at the two masked teens. Arthur opened the suitcase.


    "I kept quiet because I didn''t want to spend my time arguing with you on the way here. But this is the n. If you do not follow my orders, we will lose Seeker and Lynd. So show me your resolve now."


    Arthur took out two sub-machine guns from the suitcase and tossed it to Meryl. Arthur quickly picked up the remaining guns in the case.


    The guards were panicking at the sight of the guns. They started shouting and warning Arthur.


    "Let''s begin."


    With that Arthur immediately unloaded a full magazine of bullets on to the guards at the gate and then suddenly started shooting everyone else in the vicinity.

 Chapter 58 - Death And Distraction

    "Here! We get a good shot here!" The cameraman pointed towards an open area.


    The news reporter hurriedly took his position and the broadcast started.


    "We are here live in New Birth Park to witness one of history''s worst mass shootings. There was over a thousand crowd gathered to witness Algonites first concert when two armed men started a shootout."


    Several gunshots were heard in the distance as the news reporter ducked in surprised.


    "As you can see, the shootout continues as the police have tried to reason with the two armed men. After the death of three policemen, the police have then since used force as the order to kill the two armed men as dozens of civilians were either wounded or killed since thirty minutes ago."


    The news reporter on the main office had a shocked expression at the shootout.


    "That''s just horrible Bill. Any idea on who the shooters are?"


    "The police have yet to identify the two shooters. They have a rtively small build. It is even suspected that one of them is a woman. But as of now, we are all in the dark in who they are."


    "Bill, can you rify the number of dead civilians?"


    "There are about thirty civilians outside the barricade but we know the shooters continued their massacre towards the inside of the concert ground. We can only estimate that more than a hundred were caught in the crossfire."


    "Bill, you mentioned that there were some cops killed during the shootout, are we to assume that these two armed men are experts?"


    "Yes! The shooters are clearly experts at handling the gun. The first officer was killed with a headshot when the armed man shot from a distance of more than 20 meters. We actually positioned ourselves a bit further away in fear of getting shot."


    "How far away are you from the barricade?"


    "The police created a parameter about 50 meters from the entrance while I am about a hundred and twenty meters out from the main barricade which should-"


    A bullet pierced through the head of the reporter and then the camera immediately shut down.


    It was Arthur wearing a different mask. He was hiding in the shade of the dark.


    As the civilians who were huddled at the area panicked and started running away, Arthur immediately unloaded a barrage of bullets on all the media reporters and cameramen.


    Despite using an automatic sub-machine gun, Arthur was able to ensure that every single shot would kill someone or would destroy a camera.


    The police immediately panicked and started running back towards the reporters to shoot Arthur. But Meryl also resurfaced from the barricades and immediately started shooting. Just like Arthur, not a single bullet was wasted.


    All the police officers in the area were killed within a minute.


    After killing all the cops in the area, Meryl and Arthur immediately sprinted shooting the night lights and the CCTV cameras to hide in the shade of darkness.


    Arthur immediately jumped on the convertible and drove away. He took out the mask he was wearing. It was a different mask from the first mask he wore when he started the shooting.


    Meryl jumped on to the seat next to him and removed the mask she was wearing. In her hand was another mask. It was the first mask that Arthur was wearing.


    "Good acting. The cops really believed that they were facing the two of us."


    Arthur had removed his mask and sneaked out after the chaos of the first shootout. Meryl switched from one mask to another in order to make the police believe that they were still facing the two of them. Arthur had actually sneaked out of the barricade during the panicked exodus. He walked over to the media and waited until the opportune time.


    "Why did you wait for the media to arrive before killing them?"


    "We can''t kill the police yet if the media is there. If they get a hold of a single video, the military might send out their forces. It''s better to keep the enemy guessing on how good we are. So I waited for all the media to arrive so I can kill them. That way, no clear video could be used to describe our appearances or how we left the scene."


    Meryl sat quietly. As the seconds passed tears started to fall down her cheeks.


    "We still have more task to do. This won''t be the first time you will be killing innocent lives. Better brace yourself. And you better start changing now." Arthur opened a small bag at the bottom revealing a jacket. Meryl remained unmoved.


    "How do you do it?"


    "The truth is; their lives are expendable. If we want the human race to live on, we should be this brutal. The lives of Lynd and Seeker far outweigh their life."


    "With just that you can easily kill a hundred innocent lives?"


    "One hundred fifteen. Most were over 20''s, some teenagers and a few mid 30''s. I killed all with a headshot. They felt no pain when they left this Earth. That''s about the only thing I can do. And no, that truth is not enough. Those hundred and fifteen souls will haunt me for the rest of my life¡­"


    Meryl was surprised at Arthur''s response.


    Arthur continued to drive with the speed of their car zooming through the city. Arthur looked straight ahead. And his gaze seemed to avoid the faces of every human he would meet on the cold street ahead.


    "How many did you kill?" Arthur finally asked.


    "Twenty-seven civilians, and all fourteen cops." Meryl slowly answered.


    Tears continued to fall as Arthur paused for a while as the traffic light blinked red.


    "I killed twenty of your targets."


    "I know. Don''t think I didn''t notice you giving them a headshot. I didn''t count those twenty on my list." Meryl sobbed.


    Arthur sat there silently and finally turned to Meryl.


    "Much is at stake here. You cannot hesitate. No one who clearly saw us can be allowed to live. When I ask you to kill, you should kill."


    "I know."


    The traffic light went green and Arthur continued to drive off towards their destination. Meryl slowly started wearing the clothes that Arthur offered. It was then she realized where they were heading.


    "The police station!" Meryl realized.


    "Our next act will be here. We just need to wait for the signal."


    "What signal? And why here?"


    "This is police headquarters and is also where the Comm team of the entire Australian Police is based. We take that down, then the cops in the city would have a hard time organizing themselves. What we are waiting for is the next step of our n which will create massive panic. Once a bulk of the forces here move out, we rush in, pretend we need help. Once inside the police station, we discreetly massacre our way to the Comm Office."


    Meryl frowned.


    "You can''t put discreet and massacre in one sentence, Arthur."


    "But we have to."


    Arthur parked the car a few blocks away from the station. They waited in the car and Arthur started browsing through the international news.


    Meryl sat quietly. Her hands were visibly shaking. She kept staring at Arthur who seemed to be acting as if nothing happened.


    "You''re strong." Meryl smiled.


    "Not strong enough." Arthur sighed.


    Meryl then noticed that Arthur was doing his best to stop his hands from shaking.


    "Still, you''re mighty strong." Meryl smiled.


    "Here it is. Looks like it has begun."


    President Hoross appeared on an emergency broadcast channel in the Pangeanworks. He was seated behind a desk in what looked like a small office.


    "People of the Pangean Nations. This is My-Pangean President Albert Hoross. I have just been rescued by Major Cipril''s team and is now on my way back to our country." Albert spoke calmly.


    "I have to address these issues in case anything else would happen to me or my people. Australia has sent several of their best elites to kidnap me. I feared they were going to imnt me with a certain device in order to ckmail me or control me. Regardless of the case, it is clear that Australia has evil intentions towards our country. I plead to all my fellow leaders, protect our country. I may not know what-"


    The broadcast abruptly ended. The screen flickered and went ck almost immediately.


    "What happened?" Meryl asked in confusion.


    "The second act. Wouldn''t it be suspicious if several terrorist rted events were to appear one after another in this city?"


    "Of course. A fire and a bomb threat happening in different ces would cause the government to consider an attack! "


    "That''s why we need to downy the threat. We present a false reason for all this chaos."


    "How?"


    "Just wait for it." Arthur smiled.


    Immediately a broadcast appeared with General Harker sitting down with a grave expression. Unlike his previous broadcasts, Harker was now seated in amand center. Severalputers and high-end devices could be seen in the background.


    "Fellow citizens of the Pangean Nation. I regret to inform you that we lost contact with the ne that Albert Hoross was flying on. Our team is busy investigating the status of the ne. Albert Hoross'' state remains unknown as of now. We cannot say for certain if this attack was caused by Australia. But if so, then that''s thest straw. My army won''t keep quiet." The broadcast immediately ended.


    Meryl was confused all the more after seeing the broadcast.


    "Won''t that make the military all the more suspicious?" Meryl asked in confusion.


    "You''ll see. That''s not the broadcast we are waiting for." Arthurughed wickedly.


    The pair continued to browse through the news. Arthur continued to remain silent about the ns.


    Meryl continued to scour through looking for anything that could cause widespread panic.


    The world itself was falling into chaos. The One World Ambassadors of the different regions were pleading with the Pangean Nations to withhold their ns for war.


    Australia continued to insist that the scandals found in My-Pangean grounds were linked to several powerful organizations and although have its roots in Australia, is not directly connected to the government. The Australian ambassadors even spected that these were all done by a possible third party that wished for the two nations to fight it out.


    News about the mass shootout continued to circte the local news. New Fort City was in a state of alert. The mass killings which killed all the media reporters and the police on-scene led to the dispatch of several military personnel.


    After about an hour of waiting, it finally happened.


    On severalmercial jumbo screens that stood on several prominent parts of the city, the broadcast was hijacked and revealed an angry face. Most gamers recognized the face. It was none other than the General of Warfreakz, Sebastian Hoross.


    "My father came to this nation, bypassing all security protocols because he wanted to support me. Support my stupid game. Before being the president, he was my father. But thanks to that, he''s now dead. Australia, you are to be med. I''ve lost my father and a country has lost its president. But you? You continue to live your life in peace without the care of this world. It''s unfair. So I decided to make this day as memorable for you as it is for me. I''ve ced a bomb somewhere in this city. At least in this way, thousands will mourn just as I have. Good luck finding it."


    The broadcast then ended.


    Meryl looked in shock at the broadcast.


    "I didn''t expect that. Faking the president''s death then making Lowengren a terrorist?"


    "That''s right. That is a probable cause for everything that will happen soon."


    "So after the police in the station scramble out, we go in to kill everyone who remains inside right? But won''t our resurfacing inside a police station still make things look suspicious?"


    "You haven''t figured out why we did everything to ensure no-one could describe our appearance? Alean should be meeting with Cliff after starting a few fires. They will then reveal themselves somewhere near our first shootout and start another mass shooting. This time, in full view of the media."


    "So everyone will think that that''s us!"


    "Right. in the distraction of the bomb threats and the shootouts, we can cripple the headquarters."


    Meryl was stunned silent.


    "A distraction to hide deaths. What a n..." Merylmended.


    "You haven''t seen half of it.." Arthur grinned mischievously.

 Chapter 59 - Convenient Truths

    Right in the corner of New Birth City, was the military base New Birth Fort. It looked like a huge modernized castle which overlooked the city and towered by the seas. New Birth Fort was one of the most sophisticated bases that the world has ever seen.


    During the Continental Wars which nearly destroyed the nation of Australia, New Birth Fort proved to be an unconquerable fort. Its anti-missile, anti-mortar, and anti-ster systems were unquestionable. No jet managed to drop a bomb on this fort, no missile ever prated through its sophisticated system and even the rain of mortar bombardments from the seas could not damage it.


    New Birth City felt safe with this goliath nearby. But tonight, terror and chaos reigned like never before.


    Deep within the confines behind the thick walls of this fort, a tall and ck soldier paced the walls and had an angry look on his face. He wore a ck bulletproof vest and had several men following him.


    All the soldiers who he would pass by would stop and salute. A deep sense of respect filled their eyes.


    The soldier soon reached a room which had tighter security. Several soldiers guarded the entrance and even a military gate pass was required to undo the electrical fields which barred the entrance.


    Unlike others, however, the soldiers guarding this gate immediately turned the electrical field off and gave a respectful salute as the soldier responded and continued to walk towards the main door.


    "General Gand." The soldier saluted as he addressed the man who sat in the middle of the room.


    The room was amand center which acted as the heart and soul of the New Birth Fort. Only the highest ranking officials could enter this room. It was because of the soldier''s special traits and status that he could freely enter this room despite his Lieutenant rank.


    "To what pleasure do I owe the visit from the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy?" The General smiled.


    The General was a man in histe 30''s. He wore a standard Australian General''s outfit but was toozy to button the coat of his jacket to the very top. He looked undignified,zy and even had facial hairs that made him like a slob. Yet despite this appearance, he was one of Australia''s youngest and most terrifying General.


    "Send me out there, General. I feel that something''s up. It wouldn''t be this simple. Not with Lowengren."


    "I know. That little punk''s beaten our country so many times that even when I was secretly ying against him, our country still lost. I already sent out several teams. Don''t worry. I won''t treat him like the other General''s." Gandughed as he kept on scratching the back of his head.


    "Still, with respect, I would like to request to have my toon do a full sweep on the city."


    "Alright. I know when not to argue with the insistent Hero of Helion''s Tragedy." The General gaze azy stretch and sat down on the General''s View.


    "Take whatever you need."


    "Thank you, General." The soldier gave a respectful salute.


    "And Lieutenant Lander¡­ Try to catch Lowengren alive."


    "I understand General."


    The city was now in chaos. The police were scrambling across the city. There was an emergency broadcast which requested that the people were to evacuate malls and all prominent buildings were also asked to ensure their security.


    Various office buildings conducted a quick sweep through the building to ensure that no bomb has been nted in the building.


    The Octagon Square was now a busy ce full of people. The offices of many skyscrapers near the area had to do their security protocols to ensure that the bomb wasn''t nted in their building.


    On the roadside stood several limousines. There were a group of armed men protecting several important persons of the variouspany which towered around the Octagon Square.


    "This is stupid! Why should we evacuate over some threating from an angry neen-year-old?" A tall businessmanined to his guards.


    "We can never be too safe Sir. After all, that''s Lowengren. Who knows what he could do. Despite being a kid, he''s a genius with one of the highest IQ in this world. And he is the son of a Pangean Nation''s president¡­ He could be serious with his threats."


    "If you ask me he''s just bluffing! Where the hell would that kid get a bomb anyway? He''s just making us panic."


    "The security team will confirm if there is a bomb in the building and we can safely return, Sir."


    "Of all the days for this to happen." The man grunted and gripped his fist in anger.


    "I can''t believe Gary''s dead."


    The surrounding bodyguards stood silently. They knew that the moods of their bosses were terrible at the death of their boss''s friend.


    Not too far away from the cars, were water fountains. The water fountain was surrounded with marble tiles which the people usually used as benches. On one of its sides, sat Alean and Cliff.


    "Well? Your reaction seems nice." Alean smirked.


    "Yes, Miss. It''s confirmed. He is associated with Gary Corner." Cliff shook his head still in disbelief.


    "I can''t believe that Arthur''s simple hypothesis would actually be correct. If Gary Corner is associated with that guy, and that guy owns most of the buildings here, then the good thing is that what we are about to do is aimed towards the Aragarian''s or their supporters." Alean did her best to smile.


    Cliff sat silent.


    "I don''t think I''d be able to sleep on the next days. This is just¡­ too many people."


    "I know. Even for me." Alean shook her head.


    "I''ve killed quite a few you know? But they weren''t innocent or helpless. But this will be the first time. It''s funny. I finally am doing something that I know will help the future, and I should be happy. Instead, I''ve never been more uncertain of something in my life."


    "I can go first if you want," Cliff suggested.


    "It''s alright. I should be the one taking care of you guys. You still are my students, after all."


    "I wonder how Meryl felt."


    "I''m sure even Arthur felt this pain. Honestly, you seemed awfully calm for a student who is about to massacre and kill people. What are you thinking at this time?" Aleanughed.


    Cliff sighed.


    "I¡­ I just imagine myself as Seeker. How he would feel, or how I think he feels. I just kind of like- imagine his face. His expressions. How he would look when he''s shooting these guys. I try to imitate that. Somehow it helps. I really think I''m doing something for the future."


    Alean was silent.


    "Well¡­ Our future is doomed to war. So I guess, you can''t say that karma will get to us." Alean then pulled out a mask from her pockets.


    "Get ready."


    A small metallic ball rolled from the ground and went directly to the center of the Octagon Square.


    A bright light sted on the middle which shocked everyone. The sudden st caught every one of guarded and panic ensued.


    People were stumbling down while others were screaming. In the middle of this chaos, Alean sprinted towards the limousines and unloaded a magazine of bullets.


    Upon hearing the gunshots the blinded crowd started panicking and started blindly rushing and stampeding against each other.


    Cliff was already standing on the other end of the square. His guns were aimed at another group of businessmen.


    The bodyguards could only shoot blindly. Many were blinded at the shbang and the remaining few who were able to turn their backs on the bright light were the first to die.


    As the shouts and scream continued, Alean gave a curious look at the main streets which connected to Octagon Square.


    "That was fast." Alean readied her gun as the first set of police officers approached.


    Arthur and Meryl continued to wait and check the news.


    "Strange. Alean and Cliff should be starting now." Arthur frowned as he noticed several cops rushing outside.


    "Did you notice?" Arthur asked.


    "Yes. Those police officers looked more worried than the other officers who rushed out of there." Meryl wondered.


    "Something''s wrong. Even the bomb threat didn''t make them panic."


    "Maybe they found the bomb?"


    "Unlikely. But that''s none of our concern. We''ll take this shot."


    Arthur and Meryl finally entered the police station.


    People were screaming and fighting, demanding things from the police.


    "Wow. I didn''t expect it would be this chaotic."


    "It''s not just because of us. Remember, we have a battalion of soldiers in this city. Lowengren assigned them special tasks for each squad. Most of which involve breaking thew." Arthur smiled.


    "I have to ask. Between him and you, who''s smarter?"


    "I''m smarter, but Lowengren''s wiser." Arthur then strode towards the hallways connected to the deeper parts of the police station.


    As the pair walked deeper into the police station they witnessed moreints and unruly people screaming at the top of their lungs.


    "Shouldn''t we supposed to be massacring are way in by now?"


    "No. Something''s wrong. It would be unwise to proceed with haste and recklessness." Arthur then found the door which led to the restricted section.


    Arthur approached nearby police.


    "I am Arthur Humphrey of the Covenant of the Strongest. I have important information regarding the whereabouts of Lowengren. I will only talk to the highest official present." Arthur spoke softly to which only the officer he spoke to could hear. But there a strict demand in Arthur''s tone.


    The police stared in shock. But the familiar face of Arthur prompted him to act quickly.


    "Follow me."


    The police officer immediately opened the door which led to the restricted area.


    The officer walked in haste and led the pair directly towards themissioner''s office.


    "Commissioner!" the officer barged in without even knocking.


    The Commissioner was in the middle of a heated discussion with several other officers.


    "What now?" The Commissioner roared.


    Arthur quickly closed the door and immediately dashed towards the middle of the table and started beheading people.


    Meryl quickly followed suit and started aiming for the throats and necks of everyone inside. In a manner of seconds, eight officers were dead.


    Arthur carefully positioned thest officer in a nting position before killing the officer with a thrust through the skull.


    "What are we doing here?" Meryl frowned.


    "We just killed the leaders of the police force. This should give us more time to cause chaos. But the main reason why I had him lead us here is that this should be the only room that is not under surveince. Let''s go." Arthur quickly removed the coat of the officer and checked to see if there was any blood on it.


    Arthur walked out of the room while holding Meryl by the hand as if he was an officer who was leading a prisoner or criminal.


    "Make sure not to damage anything in the Comm room," Arthur warned.


    The pair walked towards the Communication''s office without garnering attention from the rest of the officers on the floor.


    Arthur strode in and the exact moment the doors were closed, Meryl and Arthur started killing the officers watching the room.


    Meryl nced at the various screens being disyed in a huge monitor.


    The screens disyed various ces in the city. Some were residential mansions while others were corporate offices. But the one that caught attention is a live stream of the Octagon Square. Alean and Cliff could be seen shooting everyone around the area.


    "I don''t understand." Meryl was confused. Was this why they witnessed panicked police officers who sprinted out of the station earlier? They immediately found out about the shoot-out?


    "I do. That screen over there. That one, and these screens here." Arthur pointed to several parts of the monitor.


    "Those are businesses that are known to be in association with Gary Corner''s and Feltrick Ung-ive. And those are the known residences of the CEO of thesepanies and organizations."


    "What do you¡­?"


    "No wonder Seeker didn''t show any remorse when he nned on attacking Australia. He probably already knew about it."


    "About what?"


    "This country has already sold itself to the Aragarians." Arthur dered.. A hint of joy surfaced on Arthur''s once gloomy eyes.

 Chapter 60 - Concert Of Chaos

    "What do you mean?" Meryl wondered.


    Arthur''s phone started ringing.


    "It''s me. Three Comm Uplinks are up. It should be safe tomunicate for now."


    "Perfect timing, Lowengren! Hypothetically speaking, if you are an alien race who wants to take over this world, and you n to weaken it through making the natives fight each other, how would you do it?" Arthur immediately asked.


    Lowengren was surprised at the sudden question.


    "If it was me, then I''d level the ying field. I''d aid some of the countries and make them strong."


    "Just as I suspected. Anyway, I''m in the Police Comm office. I want you to take note of the following locations and I want you to find a way to attack these ces. Make sure to make it look random."


    Arthur then immediately began listing all the locations that were disyed on the monitors.


    "You got all that?"


    "You''re asking me to attack the most influential and powerful men in this region!" Lowengren frowned.


    "You have to. These guys are in coboration with Gary Corner. Think of them as people who are in the same fold as Feltrick Ung-ive."


    "Then they have to die."


    "These locations were being monitored. The police have been immediately dispatched to Alean''s position the moment they started the shoot-out. It seems the police are protecting these people with high-priority."


    "Then we have a problem. If what you say is true then the military may have been dispatched to Alean''s position. The Hero of Helion''s Tragedy is based here."


    Arthur frowned.


    "Have them retreat. Now that we''re inside the Comm office, their mission is already aplished."


    "On it." Lowengren abruptly ended the call.


    "It is as I suspected. Even Lowengren had the same idea."


    "What did he mean by level the ying field?"


    "Make many nations stronger. If this world has only one or two superpowers, then it would be unlikely for a war to happen because everyone would be afraid to offend them."


    "So they made other nations stronger to take away that fear?"


    "Yes. Seeker knew about this. That''s why he didn''t show any moral dilemma with attacking Australia. Australia is already under Aragarian control. The fact that they are protecting these ces proves it! This nation was doomed to destruction in Seeker''s eyes since the beginning."


    "But isn''t it that our final enemies would be African-Russian union?"


    "It could''ve been any nation. The Aragarian''s divided their resources and sent different spies on different countries to improve it with a limited set of technology. Whoever won this game would be the nation that they would control."


    Suddenly Arthur paused as he realized the urgency of Seeker''smand.


    "Of course! Even Seeker can''t tell which nations belong to the Aragarian''s. And if we attack Australia then the future changes! It''s no wonder Seeker asked me to protect them." Arthur continued to contemte.


    Meryl gave a curious look.


    "Protect who?"


    Arthur then sat down on the chair and started working on theputer. Several of the disyed screens were erged and Arthur started writing down instructions on to a piece of paper.


    "Meryl, go over to these locations. I need you to raid these ces and check if there are activities of human trafficking. Save as many of them as you can." Arthur handed the paper to Meryl. He then took off the coat belonging to one of the dead officers in the room and gave it to Meryl.


    Meryl didn''t argue and simply took the paper and wore the coat.


    "Contact Lowengren and have him send you some of his men to help you with the extraction. Ask Lowengren to hide them somewhere safe. I won''t be there to protect you so be careful."


    "Wow. So romantic." Meryl gave a sarcasticugh.


    "What are you going to do?"


    "I''ll stay here. I''ll be the conductor of this concert."


    "Concert?"


    "The Concert of Chaos." Arthur grinned. Immediately, Arthur started typingmands and orders and sent them out on the various police officers around the city.


    Meryl gave a light smile as she looked at the serious Arthur. She quietly left and gave a long stare at Arthur before closing the door.


    "I guess he''s not that bad." Meryl chuckled and started sprinting out of the room.


    The chaos at the Octagon Square started to escte. The sudden and quick response of the police made Alean and Cliff retreat into one of the buildings nearby.


    "Damn! That was fast!" Cliffined as he crouched over to hide from the view of the windows.


    "It''s like they immediately saw what happened!" Alean cried in frustration.


    "We''re not safe here." Alean then started to sprint further inside and Cliff followed.


    Several gunshots were heard outside as the police noticed the two fleeing further inside the building.


    Several bullets started piercing through the concrete walls and surprised the two.


    "Concrete piercing rounds." Alean frowned.


    BEEP!


    Alean immediately answered.


    "Kind of busy here, Lowengren!"


    "I noticed. Get ready to jump on the eastern window."


    "What? There''s a lot of cops there! They''d shoot us and with that many bullets we''d be dead for sure!"


    "Don''t worry. Charles is already there. I''ve prepared a huge distraction. Use that to escape." Lowengren then ended the call.


    Alean immediately started running for the eastern side.


    The Australian Special Operations Police team finally started moving in. Each officer wore full body armor that could render Alean and Cliff''s guns ineffective.


    The team entered the building tossing smoke grenades and shbangs at the entrance.


    Alean finally reached the eastern side of the building. She dared not peak outside in case people would notice her.


    "What now?" Cliff inquired.


    "Lowengren''s nning something. Get ready to take off your mask and change your disguise."


    Overlooking the northern building near the Octagon Square, therge screen monitor that was held high by the building suddenly turned itself on and the image that appeared was a familiar face.


    Lowengren stood alone in a dark room.


    "Did you really expect me to announce my ns? Idiots! Why would I give you the chance to disarm my bomb? Also, to the two nut jobs is ruining my night¡­ This is my concert and I won''t have you two shooters ruin it! So get ready to run because hell is about to hit you! Australia, remember tonight! Enjoy this Concert of Chaos! For President Albert Hoross!" Lowengren immediately pushed the button of a small device he was holding.


    BOOOM!


    The mall on the opposite end of the building where Alean and Cliff were exploded.


    A series of explosions then followed and devoured everything that was in the mall. The mall was not a prominentmercial building. It was a small-time mall which was only two stories high. And so, there was no evacuation order given to that mall.


    The explosions caused panic and everyone around the mall started screaming. Several bystanders who simply stood in front of the building were burnt to death at the massive explosion. The entire building copsed and all that remained was fire and rubble.


    Alean and Cliff took the opportunity to jump outside of the building as the ring of explosions began. They sprinted off towards an area where the police were most affected and distracted. As they approached the police cars, they noticed Charles holding a miniature rocketuncher.


    Charles fired the rocket towards the open window where Alean and Cliff jumped out off.


    The missile zoomed in.


    Back in the main headquarters, Lowengren was overlooking the monitor of one of his team members.


    "Failure is not an option, Stanley." Lowengren''s cold voice instructed.


    The person manning theputer was navigating the very rocket that Charlesunched. With expert skills, he navigated the missile through the narrow windows and through the doors and corridors and eventually it reached the lobby.


    "What''s that?" An officer screamed as he witnessed the approaching rocket.


    "Perfect." Lowengren gave a satisfied smile and pressed on a detonator.


    The rocket was strapped with several stic explosives and was a world-renowned bomb. A masterpiece found only in the Pangean Nation. Of the Eradicating series, this was known as the Area-Eradicating Bomb.


    Alean and Cliff waited beside Charles right in the middle of the police cars. The police were so distracted that they didn''t notice the three who were crouching near them. And right before any of the officers could take notice, it happened.


    BOOM!


    The building which Alean and Cliff just jumped out of exploded with the same terrifying force which reduced the small mall into a pile of debris. The first level of the building was burned and even the concrete started to deteriorate fast but the Adamant metal frame which held the building resisted the st and continued to hold the building up.


    The three snuck away in the midst of the confusion. The changed appearance of the two and with the fact that people were running around in fear allowed them to easily disappear into the crowd.


    "That was a little too much, don''t you think?" Aleanughed as they finally found a ce to hide.


    "If Lowengren hadn''t acted quickly, you''d probably have a lot in your hands. The Hero of Helion''s Tragedy was on his way. And he was wearing a Torque Series Exoskeleton."


    "That guy''s famous!" Cliff mumbled.


    "You should listen more in ss," Alean grumbled.


    "If he''s wearing that Exoskeleton, then his Armor should be on one of those trucks." Charles shook his head.


    "At the very least, we wouldn''t stand a chance fighting him. Not with these weapons. Looks like our tasks end here." Alean sighed.


    "Don''t worry. You didn''t fail. Arthur''s in position. He should be starting hell soon.."


    The military was finally dispatched. The entire city fell into martialw and soldiers started appearing in almost every corner of the street.


    Lieutenant Lander overlooked the quick action of his toon. Of all the soldiers there, only three wore the same Exoskeleton that he wore thoughnder had a distinct design and manned his trademark Purple suit.


    The Exoskeleton was a 3-meter tall metal armor. It allowed its users to maintain human movements


    "I knew he''d do something out of the box. He really got us." General Gand sighed.


    Lander stared at the video projection disyed on the right arm of the Exoskeleton.


    "I never thought that Lowengren would be this cruel outside of the game."


    "He''s far crueler than you give him credit for. He just lost his father. And if the My-Pangean President was willing to go all the way to an enemy country to watch his son y then you could only imagine how close those two were."


    "What do we know of the attack on the Pangean President?"


    "The My-Pangean President escaped after the fiasco with Gary. There were three nes that escaped this country all of which, sank. We''ve already found the crash sites. No one survived."


    "Whoever''s nning this wants to start a war."


    "We''ll deal with thatter. For now, dealing with Lowengren should be our priority. If he wants death, he''ll aim for residential buildings. He doesn''t seem to have any problem killing innocent lives. However, he could also want to blow up moremercial buildings. Bring Australia down through an economic crisis."


    Lander frowned.


    "Requesting for backup."


    "I already sent them. Work with the police. We need all the help we can get."


    The call ended and Lander immediately called the police through a direct line to the Main Comm Office of the police.


    "This is Lieutenant Lander of the Australian Military. I need all the information you have."


    "The Hero of Helion''s tragedy himself! It''s an honor to talk to you, sir! What information do you need? It''s chaos out there sir. Reports of arson, robberies, and break-ins are piling up around the city."


    "Send me the residential andmercial zones which you haven''t secured yet. The priority is to ensure that no other bomb blows up in this city. I''ll send you the coordinates of our men so that you can fill the gaps. That is all for now."


    "Sir, Yes sir!"


    Lander immediately disconnected the call and sent the GPS tracking of all soldiers in the city.


    On the other end of the call, Arthur could not help but smile.


    "This makes things a lot easier."

 Chapter 61 - Central Police Bomb Squads

    Lowengren walked down the main halls and went into thest functioning room in the building.


    As Lowengren entered, a startled girl immediately stood up from her seat.


    "Kristine?" Lowengren was startled as he identified the girl.


    "Hey there, Sebastian! Arthur must have forgotten to inform you." Kristine answered back. They have always been acquainted with one another and have even shared interviews together. But now Kristine had a wary look in her eyes.


    "You were watching the news?" Lowengren noticed the television and then realized Kristine''s cautious attitude.


    "Don''t look at me like that, Kristine. Arthur nned about half of everything that''s been going on!" Lowengren shook his head.


    "Must be easy for you. I bet the moment you step out this room you would be in full game mode. The cold calcting leader of Warfreakz."


    "It isn''t like I have a split personality! I had to get out of that room to take a break! I''ve already ordered the death of hundreds!" Lowengren''s shouted.


    Kristine was startled at the angry face of Sebastian. He had never shown his angry side to her.


    "I''m sorry. I can''t imagine how it feels. It''s just. Arthur''s out there. And I just can''t imagine that he''s living the life he swore to run away from."


    Lowengren stood there and clench his fist.


    "I''m sorry. Things have been too much for me. You''re right. The moment I walk out that door, I''d get back to my game mode. At least I calmed down after seeing you."


    "Arthur probably didn''t tell you that I tag along so that you wouldn''t see me." Kristine giggled.


    Lowengren was silent.


    "Even if I knew you were here, I probably wouldn''t have gone to see you despite my clear intentions. In fact, I believe, it''s time for me to just cut my losses and stop running after you."


    "Did Arthur threatened you? I''m sorry if he made you feel a little ufortable. He''s like my big brother. So, he does have a tendency to act a little bit overprotective."


    "A little ufortable? Didn''t you hear our screams from the room above? I basically converted to five different religions with Arthur''s mace tricks!" Lowengren vented out in anger. The horrors he experienced a few hours ago continued to leave him shaking every time ites back to memory.


    "Those were your screams?" Kristine questioned but she carried an irritated look.


    "Yes! That was my entire team! And it took nearly an hour to get everybody up back and running?"


    "With what? Arthur''s little tricks! You''ve just had one session and that was with Arthur! I''ve had three of those and it was with that little demon over there! You''ve changed religions? I''ve tried summoning the devil in my mind to keep me away from one of the devils brothers! So don''t you dare have that tone with me when talking about that session I''ve had worst!" Kristine screamed in anger.


    Lowengren was surprised that Kristine went through a simr experience. He then turned to the direction which Kristine pointed at.


    "Is thathim?" Lowengren then slowly approached a huge pop which stood upright. The small ss window in the front revealed a young teen wearing an oxygen mask and was floated amidst a greenish liquid.


    Kristine gazed at the pod. Apart from her memories from Seeker''s nightmares, was the shocking scenes of death she witnessed a few nights ago.


    "Yes. And the pod next to him holds Lynd Indigo."


    "We''ll be moving them. I''m just waiting for the team to enter this room. As per Arthur''s instruction, this would be thest room to clear out."


    "We''re moving?"


    "Just transferring to the basement." Lowengren sighed.


    "I have to get out there. Thanks for the small chat. It really managed to calm my nerves." Lowengren smiled.


    "I''d do a friendly side-hug, but I''m too scared to do it now."


    Kristine and Lowengrenughed.


    "Scared of my big brother?"


    "No. After our session upstairs, he told me to keep my distance from you. Apparently, Seeker''s got a thing for you. And Arthur warned me, that Seeker''s far crazier than he can ever be."


    Kristine was shocked at Lowengrens'' statement and couldn''t help but stare at Seeker''s figure.


    The door immediately opened as several soldiers rushed in.


    "Sir. We are ready to clear this room."


    Lowengren sighed.


    "You know Kristine, it would''ve been so much easier if I did have a split personality. At least I won''t remember everything I''ll be doing tonight."


    Immediately Lowengren turned towards the soldiers and a serious expression appeared. He was back to the cold and distantmander of the Heroes Army.


    "Do it. Kristine. I need you to rify things for me. I want the full story behind Seeker Carlean and this war." Unlike his previous tone, Lowengren was nowmanding Kristine.


    Kristine was startled at the sudden shift.


    "You probably won''t believe it."


    "I''ve seen a petite, Asian girl wipe out an entire brigade of soldiers. I''m prepared to believe anything right now. Let''s go. Tell me along the way." Lowengren walked out of the room. This time, he walked with the dignity of amander.


    In the main entrance of one of the most prominent buildings, the overseeing lieutenant assigned in the area waited outside the building and noticed several police officers rushing towards the building wearing bomb suits.


    "Sir!" The police saluted.


    "What are you doing here? We''ve already finished checking this building."


    "Orders from Central Police. We''ve brought bomb-detecting gear. The Commissioner suspects that a special bomb was used which bypassed all security protocols during the first attack. If Lowengren has ess to Pangean bombs, then anything is possible."


    "I see. Then go ahead. Our forces should be done sweeping the building and will be moving on to the next assigned destination."


    "Affirmative. Team, let''s move."


    The Lieutenant gave a curious look at the smallest officer on the team.


    "Aren''t you a little too young or¡­ too small for this job?"


    The officer just gave a nk stare at the questioning lieutenant.


    "I''m not sure how to respond to that, sir." The officer replied.


    The lieutenant shook his head.


    "Right. I''m sorry for discriminating. Carry on, Miss."


    The team of police officers entered the building and immediately went their own ways upon entering.


    The leader of the team along with the smallest officer went to meet the head of security who was overseeing the exit of the military forces at the lobby.


    "More of you?"


    "Orders from Central. We have orders to check each and every floor of this building, including the restricted areas."


    "Denied. No bomb could have gone to the restricted areas. Under no circumstances-"


    "Gary Corner is dead. Will you forgive Central for being a little too paranoid? A Pangean Eradicating bomb can go down to the size of a cellphone. Are you sure that nothing went through the bags and pockets of anyone who went into that room?" The small officer interrupted.


    The head of security was silent.


    "Alright. I''ll call the boss. Follow me."


    The trio went to meet the CEO of thepany. He wore a ck business suit and had a strict stare.


    "I understand Central''s concern. But that ssified room holds ssified technology. We cannot let you-"


    "Pardon for the interruption Sir, but we really have a lot in our hands. We don''t need to enter the room. Take us to the floor and we''ll use our devices to check the area. Our devices should be able to cover more than 80 percent of the floor." The small officer quickly spoke.


    "Fine." The man immediately responded.


    "Follow me then." The man walked towards the exit and four of his bodyguards immediately followed.


    The group quickly left for the elevator and the CEO immediately used a special key. The elevator moved at the turn of the key.


    The group quickly went out of the elevator and was greeted with arge steel door.


    "This should be a problem. That metal door will block the signal. Could you open the door, Sir? We don''t have to enter the room."


    The man frowned but immediately signaled to one of the bodyguards.


    The bodyguard used a retinal scan and the door immediately opened. Arge stic curtain was immediately seen preventing anyone to view what was inside.


    "I hope that that won''t be a hindrance?" The man spoke in frustration.


    "Not at all, Sir. Thank you." The small officer smiled.


    The two officers immediately dropped their bags and started shuffling through their belongings.


    The small officer immediately stood up with two handguns with silencers on hand.


    Immediately, the four bodyguards and the head of security received a headshot before they even realized what was happening.


    The small officer shot the throat of the CEO. The man fell down and blood poured out as he started struggling. He couldn''t scream as his wound prevented him from doing so.


    The other officer took out a small cylinder rod and tossed it to the small officer.


    The small officer caught it and immediately it expanded and became a ss sword.


    Meryl took off her mask and immediately thrust the sword on the right side of the man''s chest.


    The man squirmed and struggled but as the pool of blood below him started to grow, his struggles slowly turned to peace.


    "Aragarian. So Arthur was right." Meryl frowned.


    "Orders Captain?" The soldier asked.


    "Ummm. Let''s just do as nned, I guess. Make sure no one''s around the basement area and get ready to pick up the folks I rescue. I''ll go in now and see if there are any more enemies." Meryl struggled.


    "You mean we are to secure the extraction point while you eliminate all tangos in that room?"


    "Look, if I knew how to speak military, I wouldn''t have rehearsed everything! Geez, give me a break!" Meryl immediately sprinted towards the room.


    On the wide parking areas of yet another prominentmercialplex, a purple Exoskeleton stood.


    "Sir! The bomb squad from Central has just entered the building."


    Lieutenant Lander nodded as he gazed at the other buildings in the area.


    Suddenly his attention turned to the sky as a rocket zoomed out of an open window of the building which the bomb squad just entered.


    The rocket was aiming for the adjacent building which was the residence of yet another prominent businessmen.


    Immediately, the Australian anti-missile defense system sprang into action.


    Spread out in New Birth City, were tall ck steel post. These post had a small camera-like device attached to its very top. The camera-like device shot a small reddish ray of light which struck the rocket''s warhead.


    BOOM!


    The rocket exploded in mid-air causing no damage.


    "Whoever did that underestimated our city''s anti-rocket capabilities" The soldier boasted.


    "I want a full lockdown of that building. The enemy couldn''t have gotten far." Lieutenant Lander immediately ordered.


    "Sir! We found the bomb squad in the main lobby of the first floor. They appear to have been attacked. They managed to hide from the enemy assault but some of them are wounded."


    "Get them to the paramedics." Lander started to walk towards the mainplex.


    "Sir! Our toon wasn''t able to find anything! The other toons couldn''t find the attacker as well."


    Lander observed the entireplex and was dissecting each end of the building for any escape paths that the assant could have made.


    As he slowly approached the building, it happened.


    Above the Area Eradicating bomb, is a much more potent and powerful explosive. Of the Eradicating series, it was known as the Zone Eradicating bomb.


    BOOM!


    Lander was thrown back from the strong explosion. If he wasn''t wearing his Exoskeleton then he would have been dead.


    Confused and in disarray, Lander slowly stood and witnessed the entireplex falling down on itself.


    The bomb squad was already driving away in the ambnce.


    A bomb squad member gazed at the destion they had just caused.


    "Arming the rocket with a miniature gun to shoot windows open and using the ss elevator shaft as a quick and undetectable route¡­" A soldier voiced out as he shook his head. He has never seen such precise navigation on a controlled rocket. The rocket they fired was near the entrance of the lobby. Yet it reached all the way to the ninth floor.


    "No wonder Warfreakz is considered the best."


    Back in headquarters, Stanley''s hands were covered in sweat.


    "Sir. Per-permission to pee.." Stanley finally squeaked.

 Chapter 62 - Lowengren’s Madness

    "My entire toon is dead," Lander reported.


    "At least you''re alive. You should have noticed by now. With the equipment''s they have, this is more than just an ordinary terrorist attack. How do you think they did it?"


    "The enemy should have easily snuck in and out of the building without being noticed. The only group of people that could do that are the military and the police. So it should be the Central Bomb Squads."


    "Correct. Then you already know your next mission." Gand gave azy reply.


    Deep anger was surfacing in Lander''s eyes.


    "You are now promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Lowengren sure has a lot of weapons."


    "Yes, sir. It''s as if he already had an army here."


    "Maybe that''s how he did it. The Pangean Nations have always been wary of us. What if they''ve been sending immigrants who would travel here to be a part of a secret army?"


    "That would exin the organized attacks and ess of weapons."


    "I''ll send an order to detain all Pangean natives."


    Gand immediately ended the call.


    The military received orders to round up all citizens who have Pangean blood and started raiding residences and using their detailedwork to capture all Pangean natives.


    While the chaos increased, a bus was slowly traveling on its usual route while being escorted by two police cars. One police car led the way while another was on the back of the bus.


    A military blockade was seen on the front and the first police car approached an awaiting soldier.


    "Officer. Who''s on the bus?"


    "Sir! These are the rtives of Mark Haulfed! We were instructed by Central to escort these group to a safe house."


    "Alright. We''ll do a quick check and identify the people-"


    "INCOMING ATTACK!"


    BOOM!


    The police car behind the bus exploded. The bus immediately moved to the left side in an attempt to move through the blockade and the police car in front. As the bus moved out of the way, another rocket was seen approaching. The two officers bailed out of the police car and jumped behind the military convoy as the rocket sted their car.


    Several gunshots were heard and several passengers of the bus were seen to have been shot.


    The driver panicked and elerated.


    "Move! Go! Go! Go!" The soldiermanded and ordered the military to give way to the escaping bus.


    The soldiers immediately guarded the bus ensuring to cover its tail.


    "Find them! HQ! The BOC''s and their rtives are in danger! Enemy attacks have been directed towards them!"


    The bus continued to drive at fast speed.


    "Looks like they bought it." Alean sighed.


    "Lowengren sure knows how to make a n."


    While Alean and Charles talked to the soldier, Cliff, who was the driver of the other police car shouted and immediately detonated the explosives which destroyed the police car at the back.


    At the immediate moment of the explosion, Charles, who feigned to have ducked under the police car during the explosion,unched another miniature rocket at the bottom of the police car. The rocket zoomed below the police car and went under the bus. Stanley''s quick control turned the rocket around after it passed by the bus and the moment the bus moved away, the rocket appeared to have been zooming towards the bus with the intent to hit it.


    The Pangean soldiers hidden inside the bus shot at the dead bodies they''ve recently acquired to make it look like the bus was under attack.


    Alean then turned to look at the other passengers. Many of them had grateful looks while others still had a fearful expression.


    "Who would have thought that Seeker''s strange orders would surface this early? To think that most Aragarian human trafficking operations were targeting the Jews?"


    A purple Exoskeleton was zooming on the skies of Australia. It finally found its destination. It zoomed towards the building and shot several rounds of its Propulsion Rounds and broke the walls of the building.


    "Where is the Commissioner?" Lander demanded at the surprised expression of the officers in the building.


    "The Hero of Helion''s Tragedy?"


    "Where is the Commissioner?" Lander shouted in anger once more.


    "He''s in a meeting Sir! In that office!" The officer pointed.


    Lander dashed towards the room and did not slow down as his Exoskeleton came crashing through the wall.


    He immediately found the Commissioner''s body along with several other high-ranking officers.


    "Commissioner!" The police officer shrieked in horror.


    Lander frowned. Seeing the surprised expressions of all the officers around him, he knew that they were unaware that their Commissioner''s been dead for some time.


    "Where is the Communication''s office?" He demanded.


    The officers jolted at the shout of Lander.


    "Where is it?" Lander shouted once more.


    "Over there!" The officer pointed to another room.


    Lander immediately dashed and came crashing through the wall once more.


    Once again, he witnessed dead bodies around the room. And there standing next to the exit, stood a masked man.


    "The Hero of Helion''s Tragedy himself!" A crazyughed resounded.


    "That voice... Lowengren."


    "How do you like the send-off party of my dad?" Lowengren then gave a manicugh.


    "You''re insane. You''ve killed hundreds for the sake of your revenge!"


    "HE WAS MY FATHER!" Lowengren screamed once more.


    "We didn''t kill him! Stop this now!" Lander extended his metallic arm and several small holes opened up.


    "Go ahead and shoot! Death is what I await after this party! Even my entire team was willing to blow themselves up for this! So go ahead, Hero. Kill me!"


    "You have eight members in your team. If you''ve made them suicide bombers then there should be six more bombs set to blow up in the city. Tell us where the others are. Think of your mother! Do you want her to feel the pain of losing her son? What about your friend''s parents? Stop this now!"


    "HAHAHAHA" Lowengren gave another manicugh.


    "My mother would be proud if she knew what I did! Oh, wasn''t it brilliant, Hero? My best y yet! Father? Did you see it? How I infiltrated the police and used theirmunication devices to get the needed bombs? Did you see how I fooled everyone by mixing my team in their bomb squads? My team did you proud!" Lowengren gave another crazyugh.


    Lander looked at Lowengren and couldn''t help but feel pity. He pitied this deranged kid who fell into depravity because of the loss of his father. Lander clenched his fist and vowed to make whoever is trying to make the two nations start a war.


    Lander lowered his arm.


    "Lowengren! Stop this. If you order your team, they will stop. Kill yourself if you must, but don''t kill your teammates who trusted you and believed in you! Don''t send them down that path!"


    "Shut up! Shut up!" Lowengren gave a berserk cry.


    "Lowengren. Tell us where your other team members are. They don''t have to die. This was all a misunderstanding. We did not attack the ne your father was on. Stop this game!"


    "Game? You want a game? Then let''s y Pok¨¦mon!" Lowengren immediately took out a red and white ball.


    "Go Arceus!" Lowengren tossed the ball which simply fell below and rolled on Lander''s feet. Lowengren then did a derangedugh.


    Lander continued to look at Lowengren in pity.


    "Stop this Lowengren. This has to stop!"


    Suddenly Lowengren''s movement''s changed.


    "You had your chance to kill me. That was stupid of you." Lowengren''s voice suddenly turned serious. A hint of pride could be heard in his voice.


    Lander gave a strange look at the sudden change of Lowengren''s mood.


    "Lowengren! Stop this stupidity! You''re delusional! Look at yourself? The once world-renowned gamer now a crazy kid with a Pok¨¦ball! Tell us where your friends are and stop this madness!"


    "Madness? This isn''t madness, Hero." Lowengren spoke in a calm expression.


    "This was a well-thought-out n. Your hesitation allowed me to live longer. My team will continue to sacrifice themselves and I myself will be the final grand bang. Andstly, Hero. That''s not a Pok¨¦ball. That''s Voltorb." Lowengren pointed.


    "Voltorb?" Lander looked at the Pok¨¦ball.


    Lowengren took this opportunity to jump behind the wall. A faintugh was heard as Lowengren softlymanded.


    "Voltorb¡­ Self-destruct."


    BOOM!


    Lander was caught in the st and was thrown backward. He was once again, thrown into confusion and disarray.


    Lander felt intense difort as a strong whish made his sensation go all haywire. The Exoskeleton, however, was well equipped to prevent such damage. Lander immediately checked the state of the Exoskeleton before moving.


    Lander stood up and was about to ask the surrounding officers for Lowengren''s route but noticed everyone else on was also thrown off from the st.


    Lander cursed in frustration. He immediately dashed out of the building and began looking around for any signs of Lowengren.


    The crowd below were of no use to Lander. None of them saw what had happened after the explosion as they saw a powerful bright light coupled with an intense sound which disoriented them.


    Meanwhile, in the sewers directly under the police station, Arthur finally removed his mask.


    Several soldiers were already waiting for Arthur.


    "Let''s move," Arthur ordered and they started to sprint.


    "Great acting Arthur. You managed to match my voice perfectly." Lowengrenmended. His tone, however, returned to his usual serious voice.


    "Speak for yourself. Still, I can''t believe you''re stupid Pok¨¦ball n worked."


    "An unexpected attack is always the one that deals the most damage," Lowengren smirked.


    "I didn''t expect Lander to react that fast though. My lies should buy us more time but its best to assume they''ll immediately figure it out. Meryl managed to rescue another group of Jews. But I ordered her to make them stay there. I think that that facility would be the perfect hiding spot for all rescued Jews."


    "I see. So that''s where Charles and his team are headed too."


    "Right. We are pressed with time. You all have to save as much as you can while I cause more distractions."


    "I''m sure that''s not hard for you. You should have a lot of tricks up your sleeves."


    Lander finally stopped searching for "Lowengren."


    "General." He finally called.


    "I was watching your mounted camera but it got trashed right after the bomb. Did you catch him?"


    "I''m sorry sir. I was deceived."


    "No. That was pure genius. Feigning insanity and throwing that ball when you lowered your guard. Did you at least see where he went?"


    "He used a shbang to blind everyone outside. No one saw how he escaped."


    "Oh. So Voltorb used sh?"


    "What?"


    "Never mind. I want you to maximize the operations in capturing and detaining all Pangean Natives. Give an alert that all who refuses toply will be shot on sight."


    "But sir, why would we do that? It''s clear that Lowengren''s acting alone with his team. He took control of the Police station and probably managed to acquire the weapons that the police have procured from the recent weapon smuggling operations theypleted!"


    "Wrong. This isn''t a terrorist attack by some crazy kid, Colonel. This is war. He might have fooled you with his antics but that Voltorb wasn''t just an ordinary bomb. That was a Pangean Whish bomb. And if he managed to configure it into a Pok¨¦ball, then they not only have people here but a military headquarters as well."


    Lander was shocked at the General''s statement.


    "Gather all the Pangean-Natives and make it look like we''re trying to search for traitors. ce a bomb at the center of the crowd, blow it up and make it look like its Lowengren''s doing. We can use Lowengren''s anger towards these natives for migrating and betraying their country."


    "We''re killing all those people?"


    "Yes. The enemy soldiers should be Pangean-Natives. With such arge scale spywork established over a long period of time, it''s expected that these spies will only develop rtions with one another. So if we kill arge number of them, then we might draw out some angry enemy soldiers."


    Lander remained silent.


    "Prepare yourself, Colonel. We are about to start a war.. And I don''t want to start this battle with the enemy in control of the flow."

 Chapter 63 - Arthurs Grand Plan

    A total militarymunication andwork ckout was ordered. All devices lost signal to their correspondingworks and even Inte providers were disallowed from providing services.


    The Australian military started raiding homes and offices of any Pangean-born citizens. Anyone who had a record of staying on any of the Pangean nations for more than six months was also detained.


    Several deaths were already being made. Unresponsive citizens were shot on the legs while others who retaliated were killed on spot. All Pangean-owned business was raided and checked.


    All except x Industries. A small explosion urred which tore this building down.


    The fires in x Industries was so great that it was starting to burn the neighboring buildings and homes. The explosion damaged the very foundation of the main warehouse and the building copsed.


    The fire department could not keep up with the number of fires that the city experienced that night. And so, like many other residential andmercial buildings that caught fire that night, the unimportant businesses and residential ces that caught fire were ignored.


    But buried deep under the rubble and burning stones of the fallen x building was arge metal door on the ground. It would take hours to excavate the buildings in order to reach or see this door. This door led to an underground path, which continued deeper until it reachedrge rooms with a lot ofputers, weapons, and soldiers.


    This was the headquarters of the Heroes Army.


    "Sir, themunication ckout has been sanctioned." A young teen reported to a young teen who stood in the center of the room.


    "By the looks of things, they seem to be suspicious of an army. Looks like my lies were ineffective." Lowengren frowned.


    Three media channels were enabled two of which were privately owned and one which was owned by the government.


    A news reporter stood wearing a grave expression.


    "A Severe-Levelmand to have been issued by the G.P.A. If you are of Pangean blood or have stayed in any Pangean nation for more than six months, please proceed at the New Birth Fort Entrance Gate 3. Citizens are warned that nonpliance to thismand gives authorization for the military or police to shoot offenders. The military will also check all residential andmercial buildings owned by Pangean natives.."


    The broadcast announcement continued to be reiterated even as the news of fires and other criminal activities filled the news channels.


    "Shoot on sight? Isn''t that too harsh?" Cliff wondered.


    "Not really. Considering Australia was once on itsst leg. All citizens and even tourist are made aware of the military levelmands. Severe-level allows military officers to kill anyone at any given time."


    "But it feels a little too discriminating."


    "Discriminating? What are you? From the Post-Modern Era?"


    "You really should listen more in school, Cliff." Charlesughed.


    "I''m a Regr! And one of the most notorious in school!" Cliffined.


    "True. But who''d expect that a Regr like you would be Unlocked? Whatever made you want to help Seeker in the first ce? He didn''t threaten you, did he?"


    "Of course he did!" Cliff sighed.


    Charles and Aleanughed.


    Cliff waited for theughter to die down.


    "But I think ever since I met Seeker, I felt curious. What made him strong? I guess that''s what made me stay. I''ve never amounted to anything. I''ve always felt useless. But not anymore. Not when I can save this world." Cliff gave a light smile.


    "It''s kind of difficult to respect or believe you when you''re stepping down on that Aragarian." Aleanughed.


    Cliff was standing with his foot pressed down on an Aragarian''s face pining him to the ground. The Aragarian was tied up and gagged.


    "Hmm¡­" The Aragarian whimpered slowly. Tears kept falling down his face.


    "Ohe on. I just said I would shoot your leg if you made another sound." Cliff immediately shot the leg of the Aragarian.


    "HMMMM! HMMM!" The Aragarian screamed in pain and was struggling.


    "Don''t shout or I''ll hurt you more. Isn''t that what you kept asking thatdy when you were electrifying her to death?" Cliff answered in anger.


    "Why are they like this?" Cliff asked the other two.


    "They came here to rule over us. It''s only natural that they see us as ythings. Creatures for their fun and pleasure." Alean moved closer and stepped on the gunshot wound.


    "HMMM! HMMM!" The Aragarian''s shouted louder.


    "Too bad he''s out of urine. I wanted to see him in a pool of his own making." Charles spoke in distaste.


    "This looks fun." An emotionless response echoed at the back.


    "Arthur!"


    Arthur was entering with a group of soldiers. The soldiers with the trio started greeting the new arrivals.


    "I believe Lowengren ordered you to infiltrate this building to rescue the Jews. However, you decided to massacre everyone in this building." Arthur gazed at the tortured Aragarian that Cliff was stepping on.


    "Well, it all worked out, didn''t it? When I appeared at their doors and asked for help to hide me while the arrest was being made, this Aragarian''s got hungry and immediately called me to his room." Charles asked in a boastful tone.


    "I see. So Lowengren asked you to be a tempting bait to get you to the boss''s room. You destroyed the internalm system from the inside and massacred everyone."


    "Oh stop. You make it sound like I''m a heartless and cruel person. I have always been known for my love of people. That''s what made me a National Treasure of Pangea. Everything I do, I do for the benefit of mankind!" Charlesined. He then turned towards the Aragarian.


    BANG!


    Charles shot another round at the palm of the Aragarian.


    "Sorry. Couldn''t help it. I just don''t like the idea of them using this entiremotion as an excuse for my disappearance. If I weren''t Unlocked I''d probably ended up as one of their torture or sex toys." Charles spoke angrily.


    "Truly, you exhibit the traits of showing love towards people." Arthur mocked sarcastically.


    "Yeah. Well, you know what they would do to me if I allowed them to take me."


    "I doubt they''d allow others to torture you. You''re too good of a material to waste. Unless of course, these clients would be willing to pay top dor for torturing a national treasure. That is quite stimting to think about." Arthur casually remarked.


    Charles gripped his fist in anger. But then he released it and gave a deep sigh.


    "Oh well. I''m d I rescued more Jews. I just wished we arrived earlier to save more. I don''t know what you n to do with this one but I''m d I walked the higher road and didn''t murder him." Charles gave another sigh as he casually shot the toe of the whimpering Aragarian.


    "Hey. We told you to keep quiet. Another peep from you and I''ll shoot another toe." Charles ordered.


    "Why do we need this guy alive anyway?"


    "It''s best that you don''t know the details of the uing mission."


    "Sorry, I''mte!" A fast blur could only be seen and Meryl suddenly appeared next to Arthur.


    "Alright, now that we''re all here, down to business."


    Arthur took out a small device and ced it on the ground. A light and hazy hologram started to appear revealing the map of the city.


    "Alean and Charles, you are to separately attack the buildings here and here. I''ll send a message to indicate when you can start attacking. The military will be too busy to check on these ces so just kill everyone inside and get the Jews out quickly."


    "Finally, a straightforwardmand to kill these monsters." Charles grinned.


    "As for us, we will be entering the Fort through the Third Gate."


    "We''re going to attack the base?" Meryl almost shouted in surprise.


    "No. We just need to get past the gates."


    "How do we get in?" Cliff asked excitedly. He recalled Lowengren''s precise andplex solutions to break through military blockades.


    Charles awaited Arthur''s n with a held breath. He just had witnessed theirplex strategies on how he rescued Alean and Cliff.


    Alean expected a simple yet cruel n. Having noted that a group of normal soldiers did the impossible and killed the entire toon of the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy. What daring and grand n does Arthur have to break through the military gate?


    "Do we use remote-controlled rockets as a distraction?" Cliff asked.


    "Do we blow up moremercial buildings?" Alean waited in expectation.


    "No. Meryl and I just need to walk right in."


    The group remained silent. Everyone gave Arthur a puzzled look.


    "Alright. Let''s move."


    "Wait! That''s it?"


    "Lieutenant Golderon, you''re with our team. Lieutenants, divide your toon''s and follow Alean and Charles." Arthur ordered, ignoring Alean''s puzzled expression.


    The lieutenants hesitated and looked at each other a bit before finally following Arthur''s orders.


    The groups started to move their separate ways with Alean and Charles cursing at the vague orders of Arthur.


    Arthur''s group boarded a military truck which looked like what the Australian''s used. Using this disguise, they managed to get through various blockades and approached the Fort.


    Arge number of people were walking towards the entrance of the gate as military personnel was busy checking and going through security measures. The Pangean natives were held right inside therge open field beyond the walls of the gate.


    Arthur and Meryl walked towards the entrance of the gate. Cliff and the other soldiers held their breath as they watched the two enter the gates through their binocrs.


    "Name?" A soldier asked.


    "Arthur Humphrey."


    "It''s Arthur from the Covenant!" A soldier cried in surprise.


    The soldier had a confused look until some of hispanions whispered something in his ear and another soldier took over the questioning.


    "Arthur Humphrey! Such an honor. And this must be the new member! Casual Carlean''s manager and friend, Meryl Mikado! Big fan of the Covenant! Where are your otherpanions?"


    "We lost them. In fact, we are not sure if they''re alive. We''vee here as ordered by the government hoping that our friends are here." Arthur gave a cold and impatient response.


    "I don''t think any members of the Covenant came in. But don''t worry. I''m sure they''ll be here soon." The soldier immediatelyforted.


    "Can we finish this? I am in a hurry to look for my friends and other acquaintances who may be inside." Arthur demanded.


    The soldier immediately nodded and made the two go inside without further questioning or additional security checks.


    "That''s it?" Meryl asked.


    "What''s it?"


    "The n to get in here. I didn''t expect it to be this dull. I thought when you said we would walk right in, it would be between the corpses of Australian soldiers burning from the fires of our weapons."


    "You''re disappointed?"


    "Kind of. I was expecting a grand n."


    "And that''s why we seeded. Of all the things that our enemies didn''t expect, is that we would be able to walk through these gates without any resistance. We have a legitimate reason for being in this country and an even more legitimate reason to get inside the base. Sometimes the grandest of ns are those covered in simplicity."


    "I guess your right. We got in thanks to the grandeur of simplicity." Meryl giggled.


    "What now?"


    "We wait. There are still too few people in this ce. We need arger crowd so we can easily move around and start our mission."


    "Right! Since we''ve got the time... Why is it that the Aragarians have been targeting the Jews?"


    "It''s a long story."


    "We''ve got time, Arty."


    Arthur gave a curious look at Meryl.


    Merylughed.


    "Sorry. Seeker liked calling you that. I thought I''d just give it a shot."


    Arthur remained silent and finally sighed.


    "No. I guess you should start calling me things you like. It would be weird for a couple to be on a first-name basis. The early I get used to this the better."


    Meryl was surprised at Arthur''s sneak attack and blushed to the extremes. She avoided Arthur''s gaze and started looking for soldiers who could be a threat to two Unbing beings.


    "The Aragarians n to obliterate any forms of hope that the future could give birth to. Doing so will preserve the ideology of this era."


    Meryl initially had a confused expression on her face but she remained silent and attentive.


    "On the other hand, Seeker''s n is to change the ideology of this world."

 Chapter 64 - To Change An Era

    "What do you mean?" Meryl gave a bewildered look at Arthur.


    "Do you think that the entire world could be enved to one perspective or have one simr opinion on a specific matter?"


    "I''m not sure why you''re asking that."


    "Because it''s necessary. The world has always followed a general perspective and lives ording to the philosophies of an era. In fact, we''ve had many of those in our history and right now, we live in the Supra-Modern era. And along with it,es amon perspective in things."


    "I really don''t get why we are talking about ideologies. What''s that have to do with war and an alien race trying to take over this?"


    "Everything. You see, it is in the present ideology of this world that can determine the sess of the Aragarians n. Depending on the worldviews that hold this world, nations may or may not ally with the Aragarians."


    "Ideologies and worldviews can do that?"


    Arthur pointed to the huge walls that towered over New Birth City.


    "If the Aragarians revealed themselves now, would Australia join or oppose the Aragarians?"


    "Of course they would oppose it! It''s an alien race after all! Humanity would unite to fight that!"


    "Really? Look around you. The power that Australia has, came from the Aragarians. You sure they would give this up?"


    Meryl was shocked at Arthur''s statement. She stood silently and gazed at the towering heights.


    She recalled all the horrible actions that the Aragarians were doing in this ce and remembered that they were still being protected by the police and the military.


    "But that won''t make this country fight for an alien race! Why would anyone want to exterminate their own kind?" Meryl argued.


    "The benefits of the majority outweigh the survival of the minority. Isn''t this the main thought in our Supra-modern society? If this was the Post-Modern era, we would have because that era brought was a desire for equality and eptance. But now, our current ideology would drive nations to prioritize themselves rather than their neighbors."


    Meryl remained silent. This has been the state of the world after the Continental War. Nations like Australia, the Americas, and the South-States have always had a xenophobic treatment of any other humans which isn''t from their own race. And then it dawned on Meryl.


    "Wait! Then that means that Continental Wars and the Minority Uprising-"


    "Were probably being controlled by the Aragarians from the background. They are very cautious. They manipted the world to be so wary of each other and broke the unity that once held that. Soon, they''ll instigate another World War which will drive this world to its knees. And before we could even recover, they appear. And to top it all off, they will use the ideologies of this Earth to make nations pursue their own safety and join the Aragarians."


    "If that''s true, then in Zeek''s future, who would oppose them? Why didn''t the world just give up?"


    "The world probably did give up. But something must have changed the minds of some countries. I''m not sure what made these countries fight back. I have a guess as to what, but I''m not too sure yet."


    "So¡­ Seeker wants to use the Jews to change this future?"


    "You''ll need to remember your history to understand," Arthur smirked as he took out his mobile device.


    Arthur searched and opened a link which revealed pictures of ancient wars.


    "Changes in ideologies always happened during great events in the history of the world. Way back since the Ancient period all the way to the Medieval period, Theism was the main ideology. Everyone believed there was a god. And through that era, do you know which nation stood out?"


    "I don''t know. Greek? Rome? Assyria? Babylon?"


    "Those were the most powerful nations. But no. Assyria and Babylon are gone, Rome and Greece have fallen from its original power. I''m talking about the Jews. They continued to exist regardless of the fact that all of those nations you mentioned waged war against them."


    Arthur showed Meryl several websites online detailing the exile of the Jews to Babylon and other events that threatened their existence.


    "So what''s so special about them that the Aragarians got all flustered?"


    "Their existence. Their survival. But most importantly the religion that they brought in. Remember, Theism was the thing during that era. And soon almost all of the known world at that time adopted different forms of this religion especially during the rise of Constantinople."


    "You mean Christianity? Why is this important? Is Jesus really the answer to everything?" Meryl gave a sarcastic remark.


    "It''s important because that''s not how the world views things anymore. Theism had its run and peaked during that time but then, the Renaissance happened. And it shifted the focus from gods to men. What became important was the good of man and not a belief in god."


    Meryl had a slightly impatient expression.


    "First you tell me that the Jews are important because of religion and now it''s important because religion became outdated?"


    Arthur unusually gave a light smile.


    "I didn''t expect that exining things to someone would be this fun... I guess that''s why I fell for you¡­ Humanism, which came out of the Renaissance introduced a new ideology. Rationalism. With the pursuit of man''s greatest good, they found that technology could be the answer. The good of man achieved through science. In fact, we still carry remnants of that belief today. And the pursuit to Rationalize eventually led to Atheism. The very opposite of Theism."


    "Ok? So what? People stopped believing in the God which the Jews introduced. So how can that help us in an intergctic showdown?" Meryl ignored Arthur''s candid statement and hid her blush with an impatient face.


    "Let me finish. Rationalism instilled the idea that newer is better. Science made life easy. And this pursuit of the new gave birth to a world of new possibilities. Out with the old and in with the new. Anything for progress. And you know what that progress brought?"


    "People got smarter?" Meryl hazard a guess.


    Arthur shook his head and presented yet another series of images on his mobile phone. This time it disyed primitive tanks, guns, and other weapons.


    "Modernism. Which brought revolutions and more wars. Because men continued to progress, the old system was deemed obsolete. Revolutions such as the French and American revolutions urred. Communism came and various progressive solutions to governance were also invented. This search for progress led to the first two World Wars. The aftermath of those wars led to the abandoning of Modernism and embracing the Post-Modern era."


    "I remember that in ss. Because people were sick of war and the idea brought by the Nazis in being a superior race, we decided that every system and culture had to be too respected."


    "Exactly. Hitler''s control over men on being the master race gave the world a terrible shock. And so, we stopped pursuing progress on the opinion of each nation and embraced every other views, race, and culture. The idea of a master race was deemed evil. So racial, cultural and sexual discriminations were scorned upon. People who were racist, and who did not value equality for all, became hated. Everyone wanted everyone to ept each other."


    "But those all ended when¡­"


    "Right. The Minority Uprising. That rebellious time led to Supra-modern era. The Aragarians manipted the world to adopt this new ideology. Lastly, they need to disy their power. Make a powerful nation for all to see and offer the choice of joining to a few nations."


    "Why only a few?"


    "The goal of the Aragarians is to make room in this for their people right? So they must push this Earth into a state of war. Offer the alliance to some nations and make them fight the rest."


    "If you can''t beat them¡­ join them¡­" Meryl unconsciously quoted.


    "Then how can the Jews help us?"


    "Because of their religion."


    "I''m confused¡­ Didn''t you just exin that religion is an outdated thing?" Meryl''s frown resurfaced.


    "Yes. That''s why I think Seeker intends to take things back to the era when Theism was the thing. Seeker wants to use the eptance of a worldwide religion to give Earth a better shot at winning."


    "How can Religion help?"


    "Because it has the capability to create fanatics and instill indomitable zeal to the masses of the Earth. Religion, if used properly can turn the tide and perception of this world. It has in the past, and it can in the future."


    "Then why the Jews? I mean, there are a lot of religions out there!"


    "Of all world religions, Christianity and Judaism arguably had the most evidence as grounds for their faith. We tie their faith to actual history, preserved literature and even to the urate prophecies fulfilled in their teachings. I just exined that the Romans, Assyrians, and Babylonians took them into captivity and all the actions of those nations were somehow prophesized forty to a hundred years before it actually happened."


    "I didn''t know that!"


    "That''s because there was a lot of skepticism regarding those prophecies and so, most don''t believe it. But what if something that could endanger the whole world woulde and these sketchy prophecies suddenly be a glimmer of hope?"


    "Like an evil alien race! The Aragarians!"


    "Yes. What if the God of the Jews is real? And what if God will help the Jews and Christians? Wouldn''t humans cling to whatever hope they could find? That''s what Seeker is nning. Turning this small string of hope into a grand rope that will unite this world against the Aragarians."


    "Then that means! The Aragarians had already noticed this!"


    "Yes. They probably studied our history intensively and probably deemed that these two religions had to go because it could be used against them."


    "But why the Jews and not the Christians?"


    "There are too many Christians all over the world and too many countries holding on to that belief. However, Christianity has its roots in Judaism. Their faith both believed in many simr things and some branches of Christianity still hold the Jews as important evidence of their God''s power. After all, the Jews continued to live on despite the many massacres they faced throughout history. So if the Jews are wiped out, the strongest evidence of Christian faith vanishes as well."


    "So if you kill the Jews, you kill Christianity as well." Meryl summarized.


    "Yes. That''s one way to put it. The Book of Revtion holds the strangest prophecies about the Apocalypse. A desperate mind could easily cling to that for hope. However, the book also mentions 144,000 Jews. And since the Aragarians don''t want people to tie an alien invasion as some sort of heavenly prophecy, they take away the Jews. No 144,000, then that book isn''t true."


    "They are going that far to remove hope?" Meryl was horrified at the thought that the Aragarians killed an entire race to simply stop the possibility of religious fanaticism in the future.


    "That far? No. It makes perfect sense. Morale and hope should be extinguished to win a war. And that''s why we need the Jews."


    "So that''s why they used human trafficking operations! Israel fell in 2063 and they were all over the world again!"


    "They already were dispersed even before that. The Jews had always been all over the world due to the many times their country was broken apart and sent into exile. So the Aragarians set up their base of operations all over the Earth to aplish this. All the other benefits, like the experiments, sex trade, were all secondary. The primary purpose had been the extinction of this race."


    Meryl was silent. She couldn''t believe the ns that they were involved in. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.


    "The Jews may have been extinct in Seeker''s future. I''m guessing the surviving humans probably clung to the remnants of Christian faith. But that brought no allies. Seeker knew that if he could change things, it would bring more allies."


    Arthur gazed at the dark skies above. Arthur gave a deep sigh.


    "It''s about time for us to move. Once we start this mission, the war will officially begin."


    Meryl took a deep breath and disyed a serious expression.


    "The Jews can wait. For now, we kill these traitors." Meryl spoke softly.


    The time was 11:32 pm AEST.


    Twenty minutes from that time, a battle which shook the world began.

 Chapter 65 - Go To Pharaoh And Say

    Cliff stood impatiently and gazed at the tall walls that could be seen in a distance. Despite the fact that they were inside the garden of one house, New Birth Fort''s sky-piercing wall could still be seen and seemed to have dwarfed the tall fences and walls of the house. Cliff continued to look at his right arm and would check if the small watch-like device he wore on his right arm would flicker.


    "Sir!" A soldier approached Cliff.


    "The set-up isplete!"


    "For the millionth time, man! You don''t have to call me, Sir." Cliff gave an angry and exasperated response.


    The soldier maintained his serious expression.


    "I can''t sir. Right now, you have an unofficial rank which is equal to that of a Major. So as of this moment, I have to report to you and address you like this." The soldier gave a frank response.


    "Whatever." Cliff sighed.


    "I still don''t get it. We have rockets and missiles, but why do we have to use this junk?" Cliff asked again.


    "New Birth Fort has a system that automatically shoots and destroys iing rockets and missiles, Sir. It will detect anything with a heat signature and shoot it. This was what made it stand against the armies that surrounded it during the war. Mortars, missiles, and other simr weapons are ineffective against this Fort."


    "I still don''t get it. Still, I just need to detonate this 2.4 seconds from itsunch correct?


    "Yes Sir. Colonel Arthur specifically instructed for it to be detonated exactly after 2 seconds and 400 milliseconds any lesser, it would be too far and wouldn''t do much damage. Any longer and the impact might destroy it."


    Cliff took out his mobile device and opened the timer app. He started it and immediately hit the pause button. It was exactly 2.4 seconds.


    "Impressive!" The young Lieutenantplimented.


    "This is nothing. Besides Meryl and Alean can do two decimals. Not to mention that Lynd." Cliffined.


    A small light flickered on the armbands of the soldiers.


    "It''s the signal! Commence Operation Go to Pharaoh and Say!" Golderon transmitted.


    Cliff and his team then went on to their battle positions.


    Several Exoskeletons zooming high on the sky, zooming towards the Gate. One of the Exoskeletons appeared to have been damaged as there were several charred parts on the armor.


    Lander continued to zoom faster and faster.


    "General. I am approaching Gate Three."


    "Arthur from the Covenant of the Strongest is among the crowd. You must get him."


    "I don''t y Piercing games. So I don''t know why this is important."


    "Apparently the BOC''s value him and his dad. They were nning to get him during the Stormson raid but he disappeared. So protecting him is important. Find and get him out of there. Otherwise, we can''tmence the mission."


    "Several of our men may die in the explosion, General." Lander frowned.


    "Probably. But if we want to make this look like Lowengren''s work then some of our men have to die. Anyway, I''ll send the order out. The gates will now be closing. It''s time to start this show. Do your job, soldier."


    "Yes, sir." Lander sighed and started zooming towards the Fort''s entrance.


    Suddenly a voice started to resonate throughout the city.


    "I will not kill my fellow men!" A loud shout was heard.


    Everyone stared at therge monitors on the city but noticed that it was all pitch ck.


    "This government is cruel as it is rotten! It has decided to kill all Pangean Natives and me me for it! It has renounced its morals as a country and pursued wicked ends to achieve their goals! They used the love of a father to deceive and kill him and now they n to use me as a scapegoat for their ns of massacring innocent civilians!"


    The transmission this time did not show a clear image but a dark screen with only audio audible. Gand gave a surprised expression as he heard the opening broadcast.


    "Lowengren!" Gand frowned.


    A video finally appeared. A gagged man was shown. He had a lot of wounds over his body. His legs and arms just looked worthless. As if it was crushed and shot several times.


    "Australia! If you kill my people, then I will also kill this person and his entire family! Keep in mind that he isn''t the only Bringer of Change I kidnapped! My countrymen! They are nning to kill you! Get out of that Fort!"


    Panic ensued as several from the crowd started to rush towards the gate. The soldiers, however, immediately shot anyone who would approach the gate. This caused the crowd to run around in chaos. However, no one could leave the fort as the soldiers kept threatening them.


    "Send a ping to all Bringer of Change." Gand ordered.


    Several lights appeared on the screen along with pictures of the most prominent personality in Australia. Out of the thirteen, only nine were lit up."


    Gand mmed his arm on the desk.


    "How the hell did Lowengren manage to kill four behind our backs?" Gand frowned.


    "Lander! Move quickly. I''m blowing that ce up the moment you get out of the explosion''s range."


    "What! Sir, he has Grekker!" Several of the soldiers next to Gand argued in surprise.


    "Just do as I tell you! Losing one more B.O.C is better than losing all of them! Saving that one is pointless. Send the nearest toons to the respective headquarters of the surviving B.O.C!"


    BOOM!


    Several explosions bombarded the top walls of the Fort.


    "What the?" Gand gave an irritated expression.


    The added explosions caused the soldiers on the Gate to go on full alert.


    Therge crowd started rushing chaotically and more risked their lives to run through the soldiers in their panic.


    BOOM!


    Another series of explosions paraded the upper wall. Several soldiers were immediately killed form the barrage of explosions.


    "How are we not detecting those!?" Gand demanded.


    "We can''t see anything, Sir! It''s as if those rockets don''t have any heat at all!"


    "Let me see that!" Gand rushed towards the monitors which disyed the continuing bombardment of the wall.


    "General!" Landermunicated.


    "Grenades. Their using grenades to cause those explosions. It won''t break through the wall. They seem to be using some device to throw these grenades."


    "Catapults!" Gand realized. He gnashed his teeth in frustration. The once untouchable wall of New Birth Fort, heavily damaged by some night catapult attacks.


    Meanwhile, Cliff enjoyed the fireworks as he stood next to a t metallic object that would hurl the grenades up reaching the high walls.


    "Pretty strong for a small dude." Cliff looked impressed.


    "It''s not just any catapult. It uses maic repulsion technology to throw things. Why didn''t our experts think of this?"


    "Cool! So this dudes an X-Men!"


    "Mao''s not even a part- ugh¡­ never mind." Golderon gave up.


    "Well, I guess we need to move with the next part of the n!" Cliff smiled.


    "Sewer team! You''re up!" Golderon ordered.


    In the dark sewers near the fort, soldiers were awaiting their signal. At Golderon''s orders, they fired arger version of the remote controlled rockets they were using.


    Three rockets fired by three different soldiers in three different locations.


    The rockets zoomed down the sewers until it finally zoomed out the manholes. Each manhole had a vehicle parked right above it hiding its exposed state.


    The rockets swerved with expert precision exiting the manhole and zooming under the car.


    The area where they appeared was already near Gate 3.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Large explosions reverberated throughout the city. The sudden appearance of the rocket from under the car did not allow New Birth Fort''s defense system to protect itself.


    Soldiers were burned up and even the Exoskeleton could not leave undamaged.


    "General! Were under attack! We have confirmed three missile hits near Gate Three!"


    "Where did those rocketse from?"


    "I don''t know! The system only detected it before it hit our base!"


    "General!" Lander once again called out.


    "The rockets aren''ting from the sky! I saw a rocket zooming at an extremely low altitude! It was barely touching the ground! It being controlled! I saw it zoom below cars!"


    "It''s them! Warfreakz! Lowengren lied! They were all alive!"


    Cliff and his team had already switched locations for their next catapult attack. Cliff held the detonator in hand.


    "Alright. I''m ready."


    "Release the packages on my mark¡­" Golderon immediately ordered.


    The toon was divided into three different teams and positioned themselves on three separate locations. Each had a miniature canon ¨Clike object that would throw the grenades towards the Fort.


    Golderon waited for another round of missile attacks to hit another sector of the walls.


    "NOW!"


    The three teamsunched their respective packages together.


    The moment the catapults released their load, Cliff watched his timer.


    When the timer reached 2.4 seconds, Cliff pushed the button.


    BOOM!


    A stronger explosion rocked the different parts of the wall. Severalrge holes could now be seen on the middle of the tall wall.


    "Dammit! That''s an Area- Eradicating bomb!" Gand cursed in anger.


    "Lander! Retreat! I''m blowing up those stupid Pangeans now!"


    Lander stopped his rush and went on a full retreat.


    "Blow that ce up!"


    "Sir! But our men!"


    "DO IT!" Gand gave an angry scream.


    The soldier had no choice but to detonate the bomb.


    Turning back time to a few minutes earlier, during the first volley of grenades that shook the wall, Arthur and Meryl were busy making their own preparations. Mixed in between the third salvo of grenades, were two small metallic cases tossed over by their catapults. Due to themotion as well as the bright explosions and small debris of falling rubble, no one noticed that these small boxes made it over the wall.


    It fell towards therge crowd. But before it reached the ground, Meryl caught it.


    She tossed one small box to Arthur and immediately the two began to work.


    Arthur was wearing a ck bag which he found lying in the middle of the crowd. After pretending to be the owner, Arthur confirmed that these were in fact, the nted explosives.


    Arthur took out from the metallic box a pair of handguns equipped with silencers. He then dashed towards the entrance while Meryl sniped soldiers from within the crowd.


    Their assault was fast and detailed. All shots were headshots. None of the soldiers expected the crowd to be armed and many immediately fell silent without knowing what killed them.


    Then the missile attacks rocked the gates further confusing the soldiers. Arthur''s speed surpassed a normal human being''s speed.


    Several Exoskeletons noticed Arthur and started moving to confront Arthur. But then a terrifying explosion sted a hole on the upper-middle region of the huge wall revealing a hole. The rubbles and sudden confused the soldiers. Using his built up velocity, Arthur then flung bag as far as he can. Immediately Arthur started sprinting backward.


    Arthur''s sprint was extremely fast and he managed to get out of the st range.


    BOOM!


    Therge explosion sted loudly shaking the very ground. The loud rumble sounded and as the dust clears, arge part of the wall was broken down. Soldiers, Exoskeletons and even Tanksy helpless in the aftershock of the explosion.


    The explosion startled everyone. The crowd of Pangean natives looked at therge hole. The st was just as strong as the Area-Eradicating bomb but did not have the same corrosive effects.


    The sudden explosion surprised the soldiers the most. The attacks outside had not shaken them due to the thick and imprable wall. But this explosion happened on the inside. Therge bang did not happen in the middle of the open field as was nned. It happened right at the very entrance of Gate 3.


    The crumbling entrance slowly gave way. The soldiers gazed in shock. In all of their history, this was the first time, their gates were forcefully opened. While the soldiers stared in great shock, the crowd stared at the open gate.


    "RUN MY COUNTRYMEN! GET OUT THERE!"


    A loud shout was once again broadcasted.


    One started to run sprinting out of the Australian death trap. Others followed. Soon the entire crowd was stampeding out of the area.


    Arthur and Meryl went towards the ruins of the Gate entrance. And once they were in position, Arthur held a Comm device on hand and shouted the signal to start the next part of the mission.


    "Let my people go!"

 Chapter 66 - The Light Breaker

    The dust and dirt still hadn''t cleared yet as countless spotlights from the main Fort''s building focused on the broken wall. Arge crowd was rushing outwards.


    Deep in the rushing crowd stood two people. Somehow, people were avoiding them despite the chaotic rush and stampede, none of the rushing people would bump into these two individuals. As if they knew that they should avoid these two.


    On the outside of the wall, the rockets that once paraded the entrance started zooming and hitting other directions. Tanks, Exoskeletons, and the appearance of Armors were busy avoiding these rockets and even the falling grenades.


    Suddenly, a pair of rockets appeared from the dust and rushed just overhead of the rushing crowd.


    Arthur and Meryl stood ready for the passing missile. As it zoomed by, Meryl and Arthur used their extreme perception to immediately unlock the lock which held the package.


    Two cylindrical bluish tubes were received along with a smaller cylindrical object which was their extendable des.


    Back in the mainmand room of the Australian army, Gand was very angry. He was the assigned general to hold the Fort and yet, it was broken through. The implications of their poor defense could make the world see that this Fort wasn''t as impregnable as they once believed.


    "Sir! Multiple toons have reported to being under fire!"


    "Two BOC''s have triggered the rm, Sir! They are being attacked!"


    "There''s another salvo of iing rockets! Some may breach through the entrance!"


    "Fire the Light Breaker!" Gand roared.


    The soldiers in themand room were all shocked.


    "Sir¡­ We don''t have permission-"


    "Permission?! This country is under a full-scale invasion! New Birth Forth has been breached! Are you saying that we need permission to protect our country? Fire it NOW!"


    The soldiers immediately shuffled to active Light Breaker.


    Up in infinite space beyond the Earth''s atmosphere, one of the satellites that continued to circle the Earth has already repositioned itself, aiming for New Birth City. Arge satellite dish on the hull of the satellite started glowing with a reddish hue.


    Suddenly a shockwave was released from the dish and it zoomed down towards the Earth. It was as if the space around it was bending. Several of the satellites which circted nearby suddenly lost all power and some were sent crashing on towards each other while others plummeted down the Earth.


    Back down in New Birth City, the powerful shockwave enveloped the entire city. The city itself began to shake from the sudden st and all electronic devices, gadgets and even wireless signals were lost.


    The once bright city turned dark. All that could be seen were the burning buildings and fires spreading throughout the city. The flying rockets soon died down and tumbled to the ground.


    The remote-controlled rocket which just passed by Meryl lost all forms of power and smashed towards the wall of the building. No explosions followed afterward.


    The attacks that came from all directions ceased almost instantly. The sudden change in the situation resulted in silence. Though they felt a strange force pressing on to them, none were hurt. After a few seconds, chaos returned as the civilians started panicking.


    "Switch to Source Power!" Gand ordered.


    The dead fortress suddenly lit up. Spotlights started appearing one after the other. The tanks, Exoskeletons, and Armors that seemed to have lost power suddenly sprung to life with all its technical capabilities brought back to full power.


    "Trace the source of the attacks and finish them! Use historical heat-tracking to learn the paths of the rockets and trace it back to the source!" Gand ordered.


    On the main road of the city, a toon of soldiers was frantically switching to source power. Several of theirpanions were already dead as three convoys and one tank suddenly exploded due to a surprise attack of grenades, missiles, and nted bombs. The few survivors were then met with a torrent of bullets.


    At the firing of the Light Breaker, the attacks stopped and the soldiers managed to regroup.


    "Move now! Their rockets are ineffective and they have to switch to manual control to use their guns! We kill them before they regroup!" The Captain angrily ordered as he gathered the survivors of his toon and rushed towards the building which was the source of the attacks.


    The team of soldiers did not act slowly and used thermal detectors to locate the enemy easily. Without the thermal jammers, hiding was now pointless.


    This scenario yed on the various locations of the city where a sudden attack against the Australian army urred causing severe death tolls. But after Light Breaker was activated, the attack followed by a total turning of the tide. The rockets which were used to halt soldiers from recklessly diving into the open fields were gone thanks to the EMP attacks.


    All over the city, the Australian''s finally managed to make their first kills. None of the Pangean soldiers they faced survived or even managed to escape.


    The Captain led his team through the stairs. As they reached the floor where the Pangean soldiers were reported to be hiding, he signaled the team and a soldier threw in one maic bomb.


    This bomb "exploded" releasing pulses of electrical arcs which shot at any metallic object the room had. The room became a web of lighting and various mini-explosions sounded out as even the bullets inside the guns started exploding as their gunpowder was heated. Soon, even several grenades exploded.


    The Australian team rushed in and started shooting at any moving enemy.


    "Pseudo-Skeletons!" The Captain growled.


    "To think they''ve had such gear with them!"


    The soldiers in the room wore suits that made them look like robotic astronauts. They had a thick ck ss visor which protected their face and thick heavy metal armors which could prevent even armor piercing rounds.


    However, the maic bomb had stunned all the soldiers in the room and even disarmed them. In such a scenario, the Australian forces, easily shot at them one by one, aiming for the ss visor.


    The thick armor and helmet could not prevent the obvious disy of fear that thest Pangean soldier had as the Captain shot him several times in the face.


    "Open up their helmets and scan their faces. If our intel is right, they should be Pangean natives who are Australian citizens." The Captain coldly ordered.


    The soldiers did asmand and stripped of the helmets and visors which these enemy soldiers wore. "SIR!" An rmed cry was heard and the Captain immediately turned to the crying soldier.


    "This is Nathan! He was serving under Captain Lawsons! He''s not a Pangean native!"


    A shocked look surfaced on the Captain''s face. The soldiers they had just unmasked were all gagged and their arms seemed to have been broken.


    Suddenly, shotsing from the ground below prated through and killed all the soldiers in the room. The floor was made of both concrete and steel yet bullets pierced through it.


    The Captain managed to evade by rushing out but several shots pierced through him maiming his legs.


    The Captain reached for hismunicator but another shot pierced through his heart.


    "Rail guns?" The bewildered Captain stared as he identified the attacks. The attack came from behind the wall.


    The thick should have been able to withstand even armor piercing rounds. But these attacks pierced through it like it was paper.


    The Captain could make out person silhouette as his vision started to fail him. But he could clearly see, the soldier wearing thermal visors as well as a thermal jammer. All of which, shouldn''t be working because of the Light Breaker.


    The silhouette aimed his gun at the Captain and a bluish light became thest sight the Captain beheld.


    The instant massacre of several toons was left unnoticed by the majority. The soldiers in the city had no time to do a roll call as they have their hands full.


    Back in Gate 3, the soldiers were now trying to reorganize and capture the Pangean natives that escaped. However, the series of explosions outside were exploding on very precise locations that allowed the citizens to escape unhindered.


    This cover of fire hindered the ground forces while the flying Exoskeletons had settled on the top of the wall in order to switch to Source Energy. By the time they could lift off, most of them ignored the running civilians as they immediately sought out the enemy in the area.


    Unnoticed to them, all the soldiers inside who stood near the gate and survived the explosions, were now dead.


    "Meryl. You''re up. Get ready." Arthur ordered as he was removing a bloodied de which pierced through an Exoskeleton."


    "Amazing. This sword''s pretty sharp."


    "It''s not sharp. It just applies Eradicating technology." Arthur casually responded.


    "Then why aren''t more of this made?"


    "What can a sword do against guns? Not everyone''s like us Meryl."


    "Oh right¡­"


    "Soldiersing. Move into position."


    A group of soldiers came running inside to check the area and was surprised at the deaths of their fellow men.


    "Search for the enemy! And be on full alert!" Themanding officer shouted as the soldiers from the outside sprinted inside.


    "Sir! We''ve confirmed it! These are Pangean made weapons!" A soldier reported as he stooped down to retrieve the missile which almost blew apart the main doors leading to the main building.


    "Those damned Pangeans!" Another soldier cursed.


    "Rx Corporal. The Light Breaker has been activated. Whatever army they have here should be dead within minutes. Without their tech, they won''t stand a chance."


    "Report! Is the Sector clear?" A voice spoke through the Comm device.


    "Sir, Yes sir! No iing attacks seem to be reaching this area."


    Immediately, therge door behind them started to roll up. The entire metal gate was about two meters thick.


    Arge number of soldiers wearing Exoskeletons and Pseudo-Skeletons marched out.


    "So Evening came huh?" The soldier holding the rocket grumbled.


    "The Morning light wasn''t enough to win this battle. It''s time for the Darkness to have a shot at the enemy. An Eveningmander greeted the grumbling soldier.


    The Morning soldier offered a salute.


    The Eveningmander approached the soldier and took a look at the rocket on the soldier''s hand. It had several dents on its warhead and even some parts of it were badly bent.


    "Pangean Remote rockets? To think that this little thing here could make Australia send the Night."


    "Sir! Look! A Pangean native!" A soldier pointed to the open field.


    Meryl stood at the center of the field. She walked as if she was wounded and limped closer towards the gate.


    "Should we shoot her?" The soldier asked.


    "Don''t be too heartless. Hey little girl! Come here!" The Evening soldier beckoned.


    Meryl sighed.


    "Just as Arthur predicted." She mumbled as she limped closer.


    The soldiers around did nothing to this poor Pangean girl as theirmander had called her out.


    "This should be close enough." Meryl then stopped her approach and stood on the field.


    "Hey, little girl! What are you doing?" The Eveningmander asked.


    "Waiting for the signal!" Meryl shouted back.


    Before the confused look of themander appeared on his face, a series of strange beeps could be heard.


    The soldiers by the gate then searched for the source of the sudden beeps. It wasing from the small rocket in the hands of the Morning soldier.


    BOOM!


    The rocket exploded.


    The sudden explosion created panic as all the surrounding soldiers immediately rushed towards the explosion to check on theirrades.


    As the soldiers approached a loud crackling sound echoed loudly, distorting the soldiers nearby and then a bright light zed forth blinding everyone.


    The light wasn''t just an ordinary sh bang but it was one of Pangean''s special-grade, light-blinding explosives designed to provide longer blinding effects for the enemy. The Ever Bright.


    Meryl easily entered the through the main door and rushed deep into the facility. She was now wearing an Australian soldier''s attire and had several bloodied parts on her body.


    It wasn''t long in her rush inside that she noticed two women and a man blocking her path.


    Meryl slowed down on her pace and walked as if she was limping.


    "Help me... Please." Meryl pleaded with a saddened expression.


    "Meryl, I presume?" The taller woman asked.


    Meryl had a surprised look.


    "Harker''s Programmed ves! I didn''t expect to meet you so soon! Thanks for all your help.." Meryl gave a courteous bow.

 Chapter 67 - The Glass Canon

    The Light Breaker was Australia''s secret weapon. The satellite that wasunched into space was approved by the World Governing Powers as it was dered to be awork jamming device.


    Australia was granted permission forunching this technological marvel due to its unique positioning in South Asia. During the Continental Wars, all of the surrounding nations were Australia''s enemies. North of the Pangean Nations was the group of nations that caused so much devastation to Australia that a deep hatred continued to this day. The South Pacific United was the most aggressive country during the Continental War. And they lead a united front with Pangea, New Zend, and New India against Australia.


    Due to the history of this nation, they appealed to the World Governing Powers tounch several satellites which gave them awork shield. This had the capability of preventingwork, wireless and even radio hacking. The xenophobic nation of Australia however, hid a secret in theirunch. The satellites were capable of more than just providing a jamming signal forwork attacks.


    The rest of the world caught word that Australia has officially activated a Comm ckout. Nomunications of all sorts could get into Australia. This could only mean that Australia is at war.


    The South Pacific United immediately marshaled its forces for a potential attack. President Victor Colestart of Phil-Pangea immediately approved SPU''s entry. But immediately, a political war suddenly emerged.


    Various members of the Pangean Senate across all of its nations agreed with General Harker''s opinion in not granting entry to Pangean soil. President Hyron of Indo-Pangea voted against Colestart''s decision and immediately pleaded for martialw to be in ce in all three Pangean nations and put General Harker as the temporary President of the country.


    The political movements were swiftly decided. The majority voted in favor of Hyron''s suggestion as the masses were in fear of being attacked. Pangea had already lost one of its National Managers and thus, the foreign phobia thatid deep within the roots of this nation sprang out.


    As Harker finally graspedplete and total control over all of Pangean military, he threatened that if the SPU were to march into Pangean territory, he would treat it as an act of war and immediately attack the SPU without mercy.


    The media caught the attention of their interactions as both countriesmunicated via live-video feeds.


    "President Harker! We are only acting in the best interest of both our countries! Australia has always been our enemy after the war and we were always allies!"


    "I will not be deceived!" Dered Harker with intense emotions.


    "Who''s to say that this is all but a plot! Did you not manipted every nation in this region to wage war against Australia during the Continental wars! Whose to say a Nation as deceptive as yourself isn''t nning to do the same tactics?"


    "And should your paranoia turn out to be wrong? What then Harker? Will you allow Australia toe knocking at your doorstep? Are you ready to face the consequences?" The angry president growled at Harker.


    "I trust my men! Leave it to the Heroes Armies to defend thisnd!" Harker immediately disconnected the call.


    When two nations that are at odds with each other need to settle political issues, live video-feeds were the first option in order to ensure no assassinations to take ce. But in all of the video-feeds between nation, no country would be so bold as to disconnect the call prematurely. Even the World Governing Powers considered this act as grounds for waging war due to the many elements and implications that that action represented.


    Harker had a furious look on his face. His entire body was visibly shaking from the intense argument that he just had. He immediately walked down the prepared tform as the media reporters celebrated in Harker''s actions.


    Almost all citizens deemed Harker''s actions asmendable. His arguments made sense. Never was there a time since its conception that the Pangean Nations were so united in spirit and actions.


    The Gate Three of New Birth Fort was in a total mess. The Ever Bright continued to ze out while soldiers prepared for battle.


    The Evening soldiers were now on full alert as they immediately created a perimeter in case other attacks would be made.


    Meanwhile, just near the mounds of the ruble by the Wall, Arthur was lying down on the ground. No soldier noticed him as he was fairly hidden from view.


    Arthur twisted the two bluish tubes together. Slowly, the blueish color started growing.


    "Are you up for using that one?" A voice in the Comm Device inquired.


    "After everything that you''ve seen you still doubt us?" Arthur humored Lowengren with the return question.


    "It''s because of the device you''re using. One of those cost more than a Pangean battleship."


    "Of course it should. Pangean technology isn''t cheap. This thing could power up a city and I''m going to use as a bazooka."


    "Still¡­ that''s too fragile. She practically asked me to deliver the core weapon system without the main armors."


    "As I''ve said¡­ the armor is too heavy for any of us to carry. Rx. I know that a single bullet hole could break this masterpiece. I just need to make sure that I won''t get hit or ce this weapon in apromising position and I''m good." Arthur slowly stood up and mounted the bluish tubes inside the ss cannon.


    "Looks like there are no cracks made from the drop. The Srium Eradicator cannon seems to be working fine."


    Arthur finally attached a small square box which fitted perfectly in the back of the cannon. Arthur carried the canon over his shoulders.


    Arthur took a peak out of the rubble and saw that the soldiers were still on a tight perimeter guarding the entrance while others were waiting for the Ever-Bright to fade. Several Exoskeletons took to the sky and watched for iing rocket attacks.


    Suddenly the entire fortress lit up as sparks of electricity could be seen sting out in an arc.


    "There it is. Australia''s perfect defense. Enigmatic Maic Field."


    Arcs of lightning started zooming out in the immediate outskirts of the building. Shards of metals and other pieces where immediately bolted as the lightning rained down on the nearby buildings. Any metal which was deemed foreign were viciously attacked.


    "And with that, the soldiers rejoice," Arthur smirked.


    The Evening and Morning soldiers were all cheering at the sight. It had been decades since the full potential of the Fort was utilized. And tonight, the Fort reached its true glory.


    Yet in this, Seeker came prepared.


    "ss cannons huh? He''s really confident.."


    Arthur took another look at the area. His vision needed no technological aid. At the dying down of the first Ever Bright, just near it was a round stic ball that was nearly buried on the ground. It was as if someone nted the ball deep in the ground to avoid being seen.


    Arthur pressed a button and another explosion urred.


    The Whish bomb produced a thunderous shockwave and people around it stumbled down. The soldiers reacted to the sound and some were thrown by the shockwave.


    Arthur ran out of the open and started dashing for the exit. Once he neared it, Arthur pointed his ss bazooka towards the area which held the most soldiers.


    A blueser beam shot out of the canon. Arthur led the rays to and it shed through the perimeter of soldiers. The beam swiped by quickly and the soldiers who were hit were immediately halved.


    The Exoskeletons that were hit were knocked back and screams could be heard. Their suit was burning with intense heat from the passingser st.


    Arthur then aimed for another Exoskeleton and fired once more.


    The beam sted at the armor and the Eradicating factors came to work and slowly cooked through the armor and then prated through it.


    Arthur then sprinted out of the gate unleashing a small burst ofser attacks every now and then to the soldiers nearby.


    "Not bad. Two seconds to prate through Exoskeleton armor. I need to try it on an Armor." Arthur smiled as he ran.


    Suddenly a rain of bullets fell behind him as several Exoskeletons started to shoot from the sky. But Arthur had already long anticipated their attacks. His speed suddenly increased as a burst through surprising the flying Exoskeletons.


    Arthur them jumped forwards and turned his body in midair. He faced the skies and shot a quick st towards an Exoskeleton. Arthur continued to spin andnded back on his feet to which he continued his sprint.


    The Exoskeletons zoomed to chase Arthur but Arthur kept adjusting the speed of his sprint. Every now and then, Arthur would jump and manage to hit yet another Exoskeleton.


    The zooming Exoskeleton''s started descending to get a close shot of Arthur.


    "RETREAT" Immediately an order sprang out. The rushing Exoskeletons halted in confusion but followed nheless.


    Gand stared at the screens with his face carrying an extremely angry expression. The state of the Fort would surely bring down his career.


    "They even have an anti-EMF n." Lander frowned. He had long returned back to headquarters at Gand''s orders.


    "Indeed. Our Intel''s beenpromised." Gand frowned.


    "But how?"


    "No time worrying about that. I''ve already secured all ess points within the building to make sure no one enters restricted areas. I called you here to discuss some issues that I feared would bepromised."


    "What are my orders?" Lander asked seriously.


    "We need to find their headquarters. Having organized attacks means they somehow managed to bypass ourwork blocking system and established awork of their own.."


    "Impossible."


    "No. Just unlikely. They must have established a Comm Ry within the city. Find them and that will lead you to their headquarters."


    "I believe my duties lie in protecting this city, Sir. Are you really going to take your best soldier and send him in a reconnaissance mission right in the middle of this war?"


    "Our enemy has yet to reveal the cards up their sleeves. We utilized the best of our Enigmatic Maic technology and still, they have cards up their sleeves. I already deployed something that I''m sure they do not have knowledge about." Gand sat down and gave a strange look at a monitor which disyed several soldiers walking towards the exits.


    "Your mission is just as important, however. These are the areas which seem to be broadcasting a unique signal. Use this signal to trace it back to the source."


    "Yes, sir!" Lander responded and sprinted out immediately.


    "Now to find the rat in this building." Gand then frowned and essed hisputer.


    On the ground level facilities, Meryl was limping alongside three peculiar individuals who were dressed as a scientist.


    "So, um¡­ who are you guys?" Meryl asked innocently.


    The tallest of the three was a woman with very thick sses. She had red ming hair and a very strict posture while she walked.


    "I''m Sonia, this is my sister, Saunia." The shorter woman then waved. She had the same fiery red hair as her taller sister but wore no sses. Unlike her sister, she didn''t have the same strict movements.


    "And this is one of my batch mate, Eric."


    "Charmed." The male scientist fiddled with his phone giving no interest to greet Meryl. He was tall, wore sses with a slim frame and had a darker shade of skin color.


    "Batch mates since college? Nice!"


    "No. She meant we were captured and turned into Programmed ves together." Eric gave a casual response.


    Meryl sighed and continued to follow the ''cheerful'' bunch.


    The group soon passed by several restricted gates and finally entered a heavily confined room.


    "Boss!" a scientist worriedly ran towards Sonia.


    "The wars progressing for the worst! We''ve received orders to check our database to see who has essed thetest technology. General Gand believes there''s a spy among the scientist!"


    "I already know who the traitor is." Sonia gave a nd reply.


    "It was us. Meryl, please kill everyone here." Sonia gave a sweet smile.


    "Eh?" Meryl was surprised at the calm request.

 Chapter 68 - The Opened Path

    The burst of speed that Meryl disyed was astonishing. She zipped and zoomed across the rooms jumping over a ten-meter distance and could decapitate two or three scientists in that leap.


    The scene was horrific even for the three Programmed ves. They knew this small girl to be a secret weapon of Harker, but they never expected such brutality.


    They stared in shock as Meryl finally finished thest of them. A minute barely passed and all thirteen were dead.


    "Amazing¡­" Sonia was stunned.


    "How long have you been working with these scientists?" Meryl ignored their curious expressions.


    Eric gave a confused look at the question.


    "About thirteen years." Eric shrugged.


    "Seriously? You worked with these scientists for thirteen years and you don''t even shed a tear for them?" Meryl uttered in disgust.


    "My dear Meryl, why are you disgusted? What do you expect for people like us?" Sauniaughed.


    "I don''t know! Maybe a bit of concern or even sadness!" Meryl shook her head.


    "Just do what you got to do so that we can get out of here. I can''t believe I have to protect you three." Meryl grumbled.


    Sonia nodded to Eric, who turned and walked over to aputer and started working.


    "You seem a little annoyed at our emotional states." Sauniaughed at Meryl as she approached.


    "Do you even have emotions?"


    Saunia and Soniaughed at Meryl''s disgusted response.


    "The reason why we aren''t in anyways affected by your actions is that our emotions are being ovepped. It''s not that we didn''t feel sad at their deaths. Of course, we are! But right now, were too happy to be sad!"


    Meryl gave a strange look and then soon realized.


    "Wait! Happy? You mean it''s that chip in your head?"


    "Correct. Convenient isn''t it?" Saunia gave a smile.


    BEEP!"


    "Oh, that must be your boss!" Sonia cried excitedly.


    "Hello?" Meryl answered immediately.


    "Have you met them?"


    "Yes. We''re in."


    "Good. Continue with the mission."


    As soon as the call ended, Sonai, Saunai, and Eric suddenly shivered as immense pangs of delights shook their faces.


    The three had maddened faces. Eric continued to tinker with theptop but it was clear that he was experiencing a delirious state. His smile broadened as he continued to work.


    Meryl also noticed Sonia and Saunia''s expressions as they shivered in happiness.


    The state of disgust that Meryl had for these three scientists turned into shock.


    "Just like that?"


    "This is why I love this job! It''s so easy to be happy!" Eric smiled as he rushed to a nearbyputer and started booting it.


    "Harker gave the controls to your leader. We fulfilled the first part of the n. And so he must have flipped our switch." Saunia giggled in delight.


    "But¡­ It''s a lie! You guys aren''t happy! You just think you are!"


    "A lie? That may be true, my dear." Soniaughed in glee.


    "But don''t we all live in a lie? Everyone pursues happiness! And they try to imitate or follow a path which they think can make them happy. Some to work, some to love, some to aplishments. But can those things really make you happy?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "I mean happiness itself is an illusion! Do you mean to say, my dear, that it''s your path that can make you happy? How many of those end their lives at the end as it couldn''t deliver them happiness? You can pity us, my dear, but the truth is, we are better than you!" Sonia''sughed continued to resonate.


    "My happiness is an illusion? That''s stupid!"


    "Of course it''s a lie. What is it that you think will give you happiness??" Sonia asked.


    "Let me do it, Sis." Saunia turned and gave a smiling nce at Meryl.


    "I took the liberty of reading your profile as well as review your sudden rise to fame. At first, I thought it was just cover. After all, how can such an assassin be such a sweet girl? But if what you say is true, then let''s see¡­ You follow the one with the most potential in the ss among your ssmates. Seeker must have always been that diamond in the rough, correct?"


    Meryl frowned at Saunia''s assessment.


    "Oh, don''t give me that look. I may be a ve, Sweetie, but I''ve got several degrees and masters in human behavior. Tell me honestly, you secretly want to be famous right? But you''re not confident enough. So you decided to stick to someone who can be famous. You love looking at the bright light and yearn for it! If you can''t get it, be around someone who has. So your happiness is found in fame. Ironic for someone as timid as you are."


    Meryl was silent.


    "You followed this lie and it corrupted your will. This illusion of happiness directed your paths. This made you choose your friends and even brought you where you are right now. You use us of living a lie and having no will of our own. But how are you any different from us?"


    "These were my choices. I''ve always followed my will. I am the master of my faith! The captain of my soul!" Meryl recited the one poem that struck her in school as boldly as she could.


    Saunia chuckled.


    "Are you really? You are guided by whatever childhood upbringings you have and led by whatever psychology applies to you. The thing that you think will make you happy is a subjective opinion! You are not the master of your faith! Your geography, family, culture, and experiences are the master of your faith! You are a ship tossed and led by the waves and wind around you." Soniaughed in an almost manic manner.


    Meryl was silent. Somewhere in her heart, she realized that what Sonia and Saunia were saying was true. She gazed at the bright light on the ceiling of the room.


    "Is this why I like looking at bright things?" Meryl thought to herself.


    "Don''t you see, child? We far more superior because we can find true, perfect and constant happiness easily!" Sonia grinned.


    "We can be the most generous people who will give our lives for others because we can find perfect happiness in that." Sonia continued with wild gestures.


    "And at the same time, we can massacre millions at your orders because we can find true and perfect happiness in that as well. We are not bound by morality, conscience, egos or psychology! We may not be the Captain of our ships, but we will always be enjoying the cruise!"


    "What about you? What of this fame that you longed for? Is that the answer to happiness? Is that the truth? Who among the two of us are living in a lie and who is living in truth?" Saunia challenged as sheughed.


    Meryl continued to remain silent. Seeker had always had it and he was the only person a simple Rising like her could ever be in touch with. This was why Meryl became friends with Seeker. She always believed that Seeker was bright enough to reach the stage she yearned for.


    "Was this really why I wanted to be friends with him? My will was corrupted?" Meryl thought in anguish.


    And then it struck her. She recalled the moments when Seeker trained her.


    "I don''t get it Zeek! That''s impossible! You mean to say that your little body is stronger than a professional bodybuilder?"


    "Of course it is. Should you realize it, you can then easily do what I do." Seeker yfully stroke therge halberd he held with a single arm.


    "What do you mean by "realize" it? How do I realize myself to that area?" Meryl angrily demanded. If she didn''t figure out Seeker''s riddle, then the halberd session with Seeker would be a thousand times scarier. And she was done with that.


    "It''s kind of hard to exin and exining things won''t help Believers like you. You have to realize this on your own. If I lead you to it, it won''t help you as your will may limit you." Seeker smiled and started attacking.


    "My own will limited me?" Meryl slowly returned from her recollection.


    "That''s it!" Meryl shouted in surprise.


    "My will is limited to my knowledge and experience! What I know, what I believe, why I believe¡­ But is this really the truth? Everything I know about my own body is a limitation set by my own self which affected my will! But what about now? With my Unlocking?" Meryl smiled as she stared at the light.


    "My first true act of free will was to look at that bright light and believe that it wasn''t bright enough to stop me. And that became a reality! I was no longer bound by the naturalsws! The Will of my Eyes surpassed it!"


    Sonia had a confused expression. Meryl seemed to be as happy as she was!


    Meryl gripped her fist and gazed at it. She then closed her eyes.


    "Alright, Zeek. I won''t go after your brightness anymore. I''ll be my own brightness. This too will be my own will. Not pursued by happiness but pursued by my own choice." Meryl took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Slowly an interesting change started to ur.


    The Believers of the future weren''t simply ssified by the quick rate of speed which they manage to push their Unlocking. Seeker Carlean always had the fastest speed and even reached a higher Unlocking than most of his peers. But the one thing that he failed at, was to make his own Path.


    A Believer was someone who not only could climb the stages of the Unlocking but would possess abilities which allowed them to make miracles. These miracles would be enough for them to conquer a nation within four days.


    When the Thief in the Night awakened her path, Italy was defeated within three days. The undetectable stealth and high speeds gave birth to an almost undetectable cloaking capability whichter was used as the foundation of many cloaking techs in the future.


    And in theparison of Paths, the Thief in the Night was vastly inferior to Meryl''s Path.


    Meryl''s own skin which was white, started to turn brighter as a mixture of gold started to slowly cover her skin. Her entire appearance seemed to radiate light. A thinyer of heat started to appear on her skin.


    "Impossible!'' Saunia stared in shock as the golden light enveloped Meryl. She slowly drew closer to Meryl as her curiosity peaked.


    "Don''t touch her!" Sonia cried.


    "Look! That golden glow is heat!"


    "How''s that possible? Creating fire from nothing?"


    "No! We''ve seen this yet we haven''t proven it. Spontaneousbustion. But what she''s doing is on a very controlled level!"


    "Oh my God! You mean it''s true? Spontaneousbustion is possible! But why isn''t she burning up?"


    "I don''t know!"


    "Doctor Sonia! Please report! The camera feeds in your office were all cut!" A soldier buzzed at the door''s entrance.


    "Sweetie, they shouldn''t see us." Sonia alerted Meryl.


    "Even now, you guys are still happy?" Meryl giggled as she opened her eyes.


    "You looked like a changed woman." Sonia smiled.


    "Wow. So beautiful." Saunia admired.


    "Not even my happiness can eclipse my jealousy to your wless and perfect skin." Saunia gazed longingly.


    Even Eric could not help but stare with mouths wide open as he stared at Meryl. Her golden glow and wless skin made her look like a goddess.


    "Thanks. If it wasn''t for our talk, I may have never reached this level. Anyways, I think I''m bright enough to deal with those soldiers. They shouldn''t be able to see you now." Meryl giggled.


    Meryl''s light continued to grow brighter and brighter. The room also started to be warm.


    Meryl finally unlocked the door and opened it. A sudden zing light enveloped the halls blinding the soldiers on the other side of the door. Within seconds, the soldiers were all dead and the mounted cameras on these soldiers were all destroyed.


    "WHEW!" Meryl sighed as the light diminished.


    "I''m so hungry!" Meryl growled inint.


    Meryl Mikado, the Empress of the Sun, has awakened.

 Chapter 69 - Dawn

    It was a massacre. Traps after traps were set before them. nted bombs exploded on several key locations in the middle of battle. Those who barricaded the buildings were surprised with underground rocket attacks which utilized the sewers as an entry point to blow up a building from the inside.


    Then came a chain reaction of exploding bombs detonating like crazy across the city. Some explosions just rose out of the streets, others from unsuspecting trashcans, and some were even attached to cars. All over the city, explosions could be heard.


    "To all surviving toons in Third Quarts, head for LANX Mall!" The flying Evening Exoskeletons broadcasted.


    They heard the sudden announcement and immediately took out a re and ignited it.


    "There! Iing signals from more survivors! Get them in here!" the Captain of the Exoskeletons ordered and pointed to the building.


    Several gunshots erupted from the distance and a rocket zoomed from the ground rising quickly.


    The Captain evaded with grace as the missile swung pass him off into the skies. The Fort''s defense mechanism''s then made quick work of the rocket.


    Several Exoskeleton''s immediately sped towards the source of the rocket.


    "Retreat! Remember our orders. Save the Morning." The Captain slowly spoke.


    The Evening soldiers halted their flight and retreated towards the signal from a Morning survivor. The Morning soldiers were then escorted by the flying troupe who also provided covering fire from the various enemies in the area.


    As the surviving Morning soldiers gathered at LANX mall, the Evening troops continued to scout the perimeter.


    The medics were already ready. Various devices were positioned on the basement levels and the wounded were escorted to be treated.


    Evening came prepared and brought the necessary equipment''s to scan the entire building. The underground paths were blocked and finally, it was activated.


    Several metallic pirs were erected on the four corners of the building and finally, an electric spark started to fill the entire area. Arcs of lightning came forth from the pirs which attacked any unidentified metals on the area.


    "The maic field is up!" A soldier announced.


    The Morning soldiers rejoiced at the sight of it. A miniature maic field was deployed. They were finally safe.


    The appearance of the field caused other soldiers who were wounded in the area to surface and started sparking their res for rescue. A safe haven was finally avable.


    "Captain! The maic field has been set up!" A soldier reported in glee.


    The iing volley of rockets were all blown to bits as an electric field protected the perimeter of the soldiers.


    As the army rushed to gather, a Pangean soldier who spied through a binocr whistled in surprise.


    "A miniature maic field huh?"


    "Not even our grenades could break through it now." A soldier stared worriedly.


    "Don''t worry. Have you ever wondered why we saved our Pure Eradication bombs till now? We just got word from Lowengren. Another daring n. No metal can get through that, but concrete can."


    "Concrete?"


    Golderon pointed to the sky. The soldier stared at the object pointed at and gave a confused look. Golderon then took the cylindrical maic catapult and aimed somewhere.


    "You''ll see," Golderon smirked. He took out the Comm device with his free hand and turned it on.


    "Make Babel fall. Ready."


    "Make Babel fall. Ready." A response immediately came back.


    "Make Babel fall. Ready."


    "Make Babel fall. Ready."


    "Make Babel fall. Ready."


    "Confuse their tongues." Unlike the other responses, thest one came from Lowengren and it was an order.


    Golderon took the mini catapult and aimed towards a nearby skyscraper. Various toon leaders scattered throughout the city did likewise. Some aimed high on the middle portion, while others went for the foundation.


    The Pure Eradicating Bomb was a bomb that didn''t have arge explosive radius. But what itcked in its reach itpensated in terms of its power.


    All throughout the city, near the very buildings where the Australian armies secured and activated a maic field on, the tall skyscrapers nearby suddenly shook as a part of their foundation where eradicated. Some of this sky suddenly had arge hole right in the center. The loss of foothold caused these tall towers to fall. And the crashing concrete''s path ofnding was the very perimeter the Australian''s secured.


    The sight of a falling building left the Australian Evening Captain stunned silent. They could ward of bombs, rockets and even had techs that could deal with bullets. But nothing against tons of concrete falling on top of them.


    The crashing concrete fell on the LANX mall and a cloud of dust emerged from the area.


    The Evening Exoskeletons could be seen flying away from the building, saving whoever they can along the way.


    "Evening. Move out. Leave the Morning survivors alone. We''ll have another team to deal with them. Remain airborne and search for the enemy. Ping their locations and do not attempt to engage until Dawn hase." A broadcast was announced towards all Evening soldiers.


    "Dawn?" The Captain had just barely escaped the crashing building and frowned at the strange order.


    "Captain? That was General Voyager! What did he mean by Dawn?"


    Golderon frowned at the sight of the Evening lights.


    "To the mountains," Golderon ordered over the Comm device.


    On the high reaches of Fort New Birth, arge hangar opened up as another toon of Evening soldiers zoomed out and went on the offensive. Behind them, arge group of shiny silver could be seen slowly forming ranks.


    They stood over eight-feet tall. They looked like a group of golems from the fantasy tales of old. Pure steel meshed to form a giant man. Deep inside the thick armor, they bore the weight of something that weighed nearly a ton.


    Some were slowly walking over several tforms withplex mechanisms that equipped these huge men with the metal gear that their otherpanions wore.


    The men that entered these metal suits had a very huge build. They looked like a mass of muscles with disproportionate heads.


    "Gentlemen." The strict voice of General Gand sounded.


    "We are about to use you for the first time in history. Your enemy will not expect you, they will not know what you are, but you must not underestimate them. Evening has made their attacks but it may take some time before they can exterminate our enemies." Gand gripped his fist as he spoke.


    "But we don''t intend to let this war continue any longer. I want you to go out there and eliminate all of them within the next hour. Evening will support you. So march out and end this darkness! Let these Pangean parasites know that Dawn ising!"


    Therge hangar opened up as the entire top tower of the Fort opened wide allowing the entire city came toe into full view. Gand red in anger as his city looked like a war zone.


    Arge metal tform was rolled out facing the open hangar.


    "Quite a n, General." A thin man walked over towards General Gand.


    "General Voyager. It''s good that you''re here."


    "I''ve takenmand of Evening. Focus on your Dawn soldiers. Still, quite a bold n. I didn''t know Dawn Creations are so resilient that they can be used like this."


    "Of course not. Their armors will be equipped with a small rocket uponunch to nullify thending."


    "Oh. I thought they''d survive the throw."


    "Each one of them is worth billions of Roos. You want to risk damaging them for that?"


    The Dawn soldiers stood on the tform and various mechanic ws started appearing from the ground and equipped the Dawn soldiers with a metallic jetpack. Various sparks then started to appear on the ground as the tform underwent a "charging" phase.


    The Dawn soldiers then wore thest of their equipment. Arge metallic helmet with only a grid of holes in front of their faces to provide them with sight.


    ZOOM!


    Like a rock thrown from a slingshot, the Dawn soldiers who boarded were thrown out of the Fort and into the city.


    The soldiers were thrown likerge rocks from catapults. As the Dawn soldiers freefell into the city, the backpacks then started to give a powerful burst which slowed thending down on top of the air. The soldiers remained midair for a second and then started freefalling again towards the buildings below. The height of their freefall was over thirty feet high.


    Golderon stared in shock as he witnessed it. Towering behemoths started falling one after another in different parts of the city. Many of which were the locations where the other Pangean toons hid.


    A Dawn soldier crashed down the building and kept falling down the floors as its heavy weight was too much for the floor. As it crashed on thest floor, the Dawn soldier slowly moved to stand up.


    This dramatic entry was then met with a volley of bullets as the Pangean soldiers immediately shot at the downed enemy.


    The bullets ricocheted and could not prate the thick steels.


    Electric shots were then fired. The entire armor could be seen lighting up from the electric shots. But all these did nothing to stop the Dawn.


    Suddenly grenadeunchers and eradicating st were fired. The explosions continued as the Pangean soldier carried on with their barrage.


    Amidst the explosions and smoke, the figure finally stood and the thick metals on the monster''s forearms suddenly expanded outwards and revealed several holes. The giant aimed at the Pangean troops.


    BOOM!


    Explosions could be seen from the outsides of the building giving the once confident Golderon a heart-gripping fear.


    Several explosions could then be seen from the outside and then, there was silence.


    Walking out of the rubble remains of this building was the Dawn soldier. None from the Pangean toon survived.


    "toons! Do not engage the full metal soldiers! Retreat!" Golderon shouted using them device. But all that he got back was static.


    The standing Dawn monster suddenly turned over to the direction of Golderon.


    Golderon paled in fright at the sight of the monster locating him through sound. He rushed back to escape as his men followed. A few seconds when they rushed out of the roof, an explosion took ce as the Dawn soldier attacked the building.


    Deep in the underground base, Lowengren sat silently as he continued to hear terrible reportsing in from the different toons all over the city.


    "Tell me what we know." He ordered.


    "The enemy appears to be using modified soldiers equipped with Benteriallyon steel. However, its conductive properties seem to be not working as electrical shocks are ineffective against them."


    "They are immune to most chemical attacks and even whish attacks can only do so much."


    Several of Lowengren''s assistants immediately reported.


    "Sir, the battle is drawing near the Exodus."


    "Unbings," Lowengren ordered.


    "I need a diversion. Some of the modified soldiers have been reported near the Exodus."


    "We''re too far! We''ve just finished the drop!" Charles responded.


    "I can''t help as well! I''m kind of busy here. The crowds moving too slow! I have to use my aura just to get their attention!" Cliff shouted back in frustration.


    "Arthur?" Lowengren asked.


    "I''m on my way." A calm response was heard.


    Zooming at a speed of 140km/h was the silver convertible that Arthur was driving.


    The military paid no heed to this car as they thought he was merely a civilian running around panicking in the midst of war.


    Three Evening Exoskeletons were zooming towards another location with reported Pangean forces.


    Arthur held the canon with one hand and aimed for the flying forces.


    Moving at such a speed, with an enemy zooming in an airborne fashion, it would have been impossible for humans and extremely difficult for Unbings to hit them.


    But not for someone with a Pseudo-Path.


    "I guess it''s time to use Instant Calction." Arthur gave a sigh.


    Three shots with each trigger held down for 0.4 seconds each were made as Arthur drifted to make a sharp right turn.


    Arthur then aimed for the gasoline station ahead.


    The attacks struck the three and the sudden st knocked them off the sky and they fell towards the gasoline station.


    Arthur then shot another quick st once more. Aiming for the underground tank which held the gas.


    BOOM!


    A rare smile of satisfaction surfaced in Arthur''s face.


    "Looks like I can still y Piercing:Edge tonight."

 Chapter 70 - Chaos Order

    Golderon ran across the street as his fellow soldiers sprinted along with him. The airborne enemies continued their pursuit as a stomping sound could be heard from a distance. Suddenly several beams were seen in the sky which sted the three zooming Exoskeletons straight to the ground. Golderon couldn''t see where the enemynded but only saw arge explosion erupting from behind.


    "What was that?" A soldier asked.


    "That was probably the Colonel." Golderon sighed in relief.


    A vehicle then turned from the corner and sped towards the soldiers and took a sudden stop.


    Suddenly several gunshots could be heard and as Golderon turned and witnessed a giant metallic soldier firing reddish rounds of explosive bullets toward them.


    "Take cover!" Golderon cried but it seemed toote.


    Aser st shot through the explosive rounds and it exploded in midair.


    The silver convertible was now seen turning from the corner. It sped fast towards the Dawn soldier.


    The Dawn lifted its arms and took aim but Arthur''s barrage of beams kept on striking the arms of the Dawn soldier inhibiting his aim. Each st drove the Dawn soldier further back.


    As Arthur approached, Arthur sted a long powerful st right in the center of the armor and the Dawn soldiers sted through a building. Arthur kept on sting the enemy as he drove towards the team.


    "I got rid of the air support. But I have to hurry towards the underground area or all the civilians we just rescued will be killed."


    "Colonel, that route should be full of those metal monsters and Exoskeletons!" Golderon eximed.


    "I know. But I need to keep them busy until the Exoduspletes."


    "How can we help?"


    "If you manage to kill one of those Golems, that would be extremely helpful."


    "How do we kill those things? We''d need a canon like yours to be able to kill it!"


    "No. My cannon didn''t kill it. I just damage it. That golem''s still alive. Benteriallyon armor as thick as that should require more than 15 seconds of a concentrated st from my Srium Eradicator. Not to mention their armor has a strange¡­ structure. Srium Eradicator heats up metal and causes a unique eradicating reaction to all metals. My shot should have burnt and whatever circuits or gadgets that are associated in that armor. But my sts didn''t seem to have done that. It''s as if that armor doesn''t have a skeletal frame or a power source.


    "No power source? Then what''s making it move?"


    "The pilot." Arthur shrugged.


    "What?! That''s impossible!"


    "Observe the facts once more, soldier. Every single metal that that soldier is wearing is purely made with Benteriallyon steel. And that metal is highly conductible and easily heatable. Any small shock of electricity or heat could kill the pilot along with any electrical or maic technology it may be using. Why would Australia deploy such a weapon if it has such an obvious weakness?"


    "But¡­ Colonel, that''s over a ton of metal! How can a human bear that weight?!" A soldier countered


    "Calm down, Private. The Colonel''s right. Remember what we saw. That same Golem met the entire barrage of one of our toons. Each of our toons has a Shocker. The pilot would have been fried from one st." Golderon gave a grim look towards the ruins of


    "These are modified, humans. This was exactly why Meryl gave you a session. A pre-taste of the horrors you will face tonight. It would be better to assume that they are immune to shock attacks, burning attacks, and of course if Australia managed to go this far, whish attacks."


    "Then how do we kill it?"


    "I''ve weakened the integrity of the armor. You should be able to disrobe that armor. Try to kill it then. Piercing it with bullets might."


    "How can we take off that armor?"


    "I haven''t seen the armor up close Sargent. So you just have to y it by ear." Arthur shook his head.


    "But here''s my advice, that things quite slow and seem to have limited sight. The best way to kill it would be through close-rangebat."


    "That''s crazy! Who would go near that thing?!" The soldier cried once more.


    "That''s exactly what the Australian''s were thinking when they made these golems. And therein lies its weakness. For your eyes only, Sargent. Additional instructions if you manage to kill that one." Arthur handed Golderon a piece of paper.


    "I can''t afford to waste any more time. Looks like that beast is back on its feet. You guys take care of him. I hope you all survive this."


    Arthur then sped through straight and went right towards the main highway.


    The tongue-tied team looked back at the rubble to which the Dawn sted out off. The slow crunching sound of metal could be heard as the arm of the Dawn soldier was seen climbing up from the hole on the wall that it sted out of.


    "Sa-Sargent¡­" The soldier gave a grim cry.


    Golderon looked at the piece of paper and gripped it.


    "We have our orders, Private. Follow me." Golderon then dashed towards the ruins of the building the Dawn soldier''s sted through from. The hand of the Dawn soldier could be seen reaching upwards to rise from its fallen rubble.


    "We''re going to die!" A soldier squealed as he charged towards the battle.


    "Calm down, dude." Another soldier finally spoke up with a giggle.


    "That things way slowerpared to Master Meryl." The soldier smiled as she recalled their battle with Meryl.


    "She''s right. We''ve faced a speeding devil. We''ve had faced the fastest thing that could kill us. This one''s moving in slow-motionpared to her." Golderon smirked as they approached.


    "Barrage!" Goldenrod ordered as his soldiers unloaded several grenadeunchers at the climbing monster.


    As Arthur took the sharp curve and reached the main road, a warzone presented itself before him.


    The skies looked chaotic as Exoskeletons could be seen zooming to and fro the areas. Buildings were being shot down as some of the poor Pangean toons tried to fight back from the onught brought by the metal monsters aided by the deathly strikes from the sky.


    Arthur even saw several metallic monsters crashing on specified locations within the city. Meteors came crashing on buildings and some on homes. Arthur, who helped Lowengren formte the n, knew that the golems came crashing right on top of where most of the soldiers were assigned.


    Arthur took a deep breath as his perception started to see and think faster. The loud sounds of explosions and screams died out as one second became several.


    The Believers of the future weren''t simply ssified by the quick rate of speed which they manage to push their Unlocking. Seeker Carlean always had the fastest speed and even reached higher Unlocking rank than most of his peers. He was one of the few who reached Surmounting stage of Ranked Hero. But the one thing that he failed at was to make his own Path.


    The Believers were actually identified by the development of a set of strange and unique Skills which either aided in their speed of Unlocking or allowed them to develop super-powers. When a skill or abination of skills reached a certain level of power or usefulness, it would then be ssified as having a "Path."


    Although a single skill could be a Path, the general trend among Believers was that a Path was always a collection of several skills. The best way to identify if an Unlocked have manifested their own Path is if they managed to defeat an enemy country, or a force of equal value, in a single sh and end it within 48 hours.


    But there is always an exception to the rule.


    The Selective Unlocking of Arthur was originally deemed to be ineffective and poor. But the United Nations Army''s was shocked as the wars ragged and found that Arthur Humphrey really lived up to his name. Several battles concluded in victory as the Atomic Thresher manifested his own miracles. These miracles were made possible through his previously looked down upon "Instant Calction".


    It wasn''t technically a Skill. Any Unlocked individual could do Instant Calction in theory but none but his father could everpare to Arthur''s mastery.


    Soon, his status and prestige slowly lived up to his heritage. Being the son of an Oveer, it was expected that Arthur would follow on the footsteps of his father in being his own Oveer or at least reach the World Champion level.


    s, Arthur''s great potential died out just before it ever manifested.


    "So this is my Path? A pathless one? I just have to maintain and improve Instant Calction?" Arthur asked Seeker.


    "I wouldn''t call it Pathless, Arthy. In fact, you never called it that. I always remember you calling it a Path rather than a Pseudo-Path. You would actually constantly correct those who would refer to it as a Pseudo-Path." Seekerughed.


    "That may have been true for the future me. But isn''t it possible that the ''me'' of the future pursued that path in pride as I found myself being overshadowed by other Paths? After all, we both haven''t manifested a Path of our own. If time was a problem then, it would be better for me to improve Instant Calction rather than build a new path. But right now, I have time to figure out or create a new Path."


    "Probably. But creating one''s path isn''t as simple as you think it is. We aren''t Believers. That''s the issue. We don''t have that level of faith they have. And besides, I didn''t get that impression from you."


    "You seem confident of my own opinions even though you aren''t me."


    "You were just that confident! And besides, we wouldn''t have survived as far as we had if it weren''t for you. So trust that your Path is the right one. Just don''t try to do the Threshing Floor. You''d need to be at the Surmounting rank of the Inhuman stage to pull that off. Focus on your calctions for now. And let''s get back to training." Seeker then went to the weapon racked and dropped the massive hammer and picked up a huge two-handed sword.


    "Wouldn''t it be more efficient to start me off with some smaller weapons?" Arthur frowned at Seeker''s selection.


    Arthur continued zooming through high speeds, he took out the ss cannon he held in his hand.


    Arthur''s reflexes have long evolved to a speed that can outmatch his previous calcting skills. With the slowing of time, Arthur now could even think and calcte properly and not make any split-second calction. A single swipe of the Srium Eradicator brought out twelve split second shots. These small bursts of attacks would do very little damage and wouldn''t even be enough to kill an Exoskeleton.


    But what a man like Arthur needed was not pure destructive power but urate and sufficient power.


    An Exoskeleton was shot at the booster, the sudden redirection caused him to collide to another and a chain effect of collisions urred.


    Another Exoskeleton about to fire his weapon was shot by the arm and its new target was the head of his fellow Exoskeleton. The headshot immediately killed the pilot as this soldier went spiraling downwards shooting everywhere and causing all forms of friendly fire and finally crashing down on a Dawn soldier. The impact caused threw the Dawn soldier off the window saving the Pangean soldiers in the building.


    All that was caused by two simple shots. Arthur sent twelve shots in one wave of the cannon. And in a span of ten seconds, he did three waves averaging 10 to 12 shots.


    The chaos he created was urate chaos. idents after idents fell unto the enemy.


    "Get that vehicle!" An Exoskeleton cried after seeing the havoc that the passing convertible did.


    "Soldiers! Heed your Colonel!" Arthur announced as he tried to sound like Lowengren while making aplete 180o turn.


    "It''s Lowengren!" A well-informed Evening eximed.


    "Fight and shoot as much as you can. I''ll be here to support you." Arthur revved his engine and a small smile appeared on his face.


    "Well, whatever. This may or may not be a path, but this is my path. Let''s see... I guess the future me, would have named this path¡­Chaos Order."


    Now equipped with the unique Pseudo-Path known as "Chaos Order", Arthur Arthinar Humphrey, the Atomic Thresher has awakened.

 Chapter 71 - Purpose Behind The Chaos

    The convertible dashed onwards and didplicated turns. His attacks came precisely on time and either bought more time for the Pangean soldiers to escape by the skin of the teeth or cause "idents" to the enemy soldiers.


    Suddenly, Arthur caught a view of severalrge metallic objects hurling down from the high skies.


    Arthur stared at the falling meteors and realized they were the very Golems that he had been fighting.


    "Copycats... Using maic technology tounch those golems and drop them off specifically on top of the targets." Arthur observed.


    "It would be a shame if someone were to alter thending course." Arthur gave a wicked smile underneath the mask.


    As he rode through the cities wreckage and evaded theing attacks from the enemies, Arthur sted the falling Dawn soldiers and hit them right at the boosters.


    The metallic meteors were then sted a second time. Arthur was quick to make sure that all the meteors within the site were hit at least once. A single shot caused the well-positioned Dawn soldiers to spin out of control in mid-air. Their once steady position as they zoomed across the sky now became a whirling, falling sight.


    The redirected metals crashnded on its allies.


    One Dawn soldier was stomping towards the building as it continued its assault. Suddenly arge metallic being crashed right on top of its head.


    The metal dented and blood started to drip out of the helmets of the tworge soldiers.


    Two metallic monsters were immediately killed uponnding.


    The sight of this alerted the Evening soldier.


    "Sir! Reporting a confirmed death of one Dawn soldier!" The Evening broadcasted.


    Gand stood frozen at the sight of it. Two soldiers costing billions each were gone just like that.


    Despite the miracle that he just pulled off, Arthur was not pleased.


    "Just two dead?" Arthur sped around observing the crashednding. The only ones that were killed from his attacks were the two Dawn soldiers that collided head-to-head. The sound of their impact was so loud that those nearby could even feel the walls vibrate. The collision dented the armor to the extreme that the heads of the two were crushed.


    However, the others only seemed hurt from thending. The othersnded on thick concrete, smashed on other Dawn soldiers, and a few fell on the frame of a certain building which copsed on itself after four Dawn soldiers came crashing in.


    The Dawn soldiers slowly stood up but it was clear that they were injured while others sted out from the rubbles of concrete they fell into.


    "What tenacity. The threshold of their resistance from impact and shock is so high." Arthur continued to zoom throughout the highway while continuing its barrage of attacks on the skies and ground. The Dawn soldiers then went to the offense, some going for Arthur, while others attacked the closest Pangean soldiers.


    Arthur kept zooming back and forth to the highway. He kept attacking enemies who could attack and damage him and at the same time kept evading the barrages of bullets he could avoid.


    Sweat was pouring out of Arthur''s forehead because of the mental strain he maintained. Slowly, Arthur''s attacks were bing more and more inefficient as the enemy forces started to regroup and change their tactics.


    The Dawn soldiers then divided into two groups, one was rushing for Arthur and another was going for the remnant Pangean soldiers in the area.


    The attacks were escting and Arthur was now on full retreat leaving the soldiers to fend for themselves.


    Suddenly, Arthur immediately mmed on the breaks and made the car ski through the road and took a 180o turn before stopping.


    "Let''s get this show on the road," Arthur ordered without even looking. Out of the dark rubbles of a nearby building two figures dashed out and jumped on the front passenger seat while another jumped at the back seat.


    Both were carrying an exaggerated amount of weapons.


    Charles carried arge bazooka like object on his shoulder, and a minigun which was usually mounted on helicopters and nes. Alean carried arge, thick tactical shield which she carried with her two hands.


    On their waist and strapped on their backs were additional machine-guns, Shockers, and several grenades of different forms and colors.


    Without missing a beat Arthur sprang out of his seat as Alean took over while handing the shield over to Arthur.


    Alean hit on the pedal and the car elerated faster.


    "Charles, I trust you know how to use those?"


    "Are you kidding me? I''ve had my share of handling these back in the day. And now against super-slow bugs, you could say I''d be unmatched in the human world." Charles then excitedly sent out a barrage of bullets at the flying Exoskeletons. Every single bullet pierced through the helmets of the flying Exoskeletons.


    "Evade!" The captain of the Evening soldiers eximed as his team of Exoskeleton''s started scattering.


    Amidst the chaos of their escape, there was order.


    Arthur fired several sts and struck the fleeing enemies at a timely moment that they started ramming into each other and the entire toon started falling down like bowling pins.


    "Wow. I think that''s a strike." Aleanplimented as she looked at the back mirror. She then continued to zoom straight making quick turns and evasions that even Arthur could not pull off as he was holding arge ss cannon.


    Their return became more daring as Arthur would use his shield to block some of the bullets.


    The group returned back to the heat of the battle and were now helping the remaining Pangean group.


    Alean wore a grim expression and started to drive faster.


    "We''ve got to hurry. We have to give our soldiers a chance to regroup."


    "That would be impossible even for us. The Armor''s are back." Arthur pointed at the sky.


    Up at the heights of the buildings, hovered several man-shaped robots. They looked like arger version of an Exoskeleton. They stood over twenty feet tall and hovered slowly over the buildings. It was as if a Titan from the times of the Roman gods had descended to judge the mortals of the Earth.


    The Armors were like the tanks of modern Australia. It was only piloted by one individual. And this individual would be wearing an Exoskeleton. The technology Australia took was geared into using man-like tanks and weapons for flexibility, movement, and diversity. It was apparent that in the end, it was to help create soldiers like the Dawn but on a more terrifying scale.


    The Armor was used to prioritize the civilian escape in the city. Itsrge size could easily remove stones and bs, break through obstacles and protect plenty of the evacuating Australian citizens. As soon as the attack on the Fort began, New Birth was on full evacuation alert. The Armor''s immediately went out and rescued the civilians as there were several bomb attacks urring everywhere. The priority to protect the civilians never lessened since several attacks and ambushes urred every now and then. This was a strategy that Lowengren employed to get the biggest headaches out of the war zone.


    "Can we handle them?" Charles gave a worried look.


    "Sure. I just need about 20 seconds of concentrated shot to kill one of those. But the problem will be their attacks. If any of their attacks explode within 30 meters, we''re dead."


    "So¡­ this is it? We leave my men to die?"


    "Don''t underestimate your soldiers. Did you actually think, that that little session with Meryl had no effects? We don''t do anything without a reason, Alean. There is a purpose behind the chaos. So trust that even the deaths of your men are still within our calctions." Arthur readied his cannon.


    "For now, focus on keeping these Armor''s distracted. They''ll probably try to lead us into a more uninhabited location before nuking us with their bombardments."


    "So we''re trying in popted ces?"


    "No. Just the opposite. We will go to those areas. I''ll deal with those attacks."


    Meanwhile, while the many battles throughout the city continued to ur, one particr battle was reaching its climax.


    A rocket was fired at the foot of the Dawn soldier. The explosion created a small hole and the Dawn soldier lost its footing and fell forward.


    Golderon and three other soldiers threw a pack of grenades over the Dawn solider with a whole bag sent into the hole on the ground right before the Dawn soldier stumbled on top of it.


    "Johnson! Now!" Golderon screamed.


    The team bombarded their rocket attacks at the pirs of the building. Inside the lobby of this small building were Golderon and the Dawn soldier.


    Golderon sprinted out of the building. The destruction of itsst pirs and the walls that held it up caused the building to copse on itself. At that moment, time seemed slower than usual. Golderon could see the very rocks falling down as he dashed outside of the building.


    Yet time was still not enough for Golderon as he was caught in the falling rubbles at the outskirts of the copsed building.


    "Sargent!" A soldier called out as she sprinted towards Golderon.


    Some of the other soldiers rushed at Golderon and used their guns to send a "shock" through the stone b and freed Golderon out of it.


    "Sir¡­ the others."


    "They''re dead. Just move!" Golderon ordered immediately. The team ran away from the rubble.


    Golderon immediately pushed the button.


    The Dawn soldier was struggling to move deep inside the rubbles and was about to use its weapons to destroy the rubble. But then the explosions urred.


    Surrounding him were several grenades. All sorts were there. Eradicating Light grenades, shock grenades, and a bag of whish grenades. It all went off together.


    The series of explosions caused a strange site as the pile''s rubbles were sted out of its ce.


    Golderon was the first to run towards the wreckage. As the dust fell, the image of the Dawn soldier was revealed.


    It was still struggling to move. Blood could be seen oozing out of its armor.


    "Kill by piercing you. That was Colonel''s lie. He knew from the start that our current weapons could not dent the armor you have. You heard him, didn''t you?" Golderon gazed bravely at the Dawn soldier.


    The surrounding soldiers gave a curious look at their Sargent.


    "A soldier who wears nothing but steel and has no technological support with him. How can it fight with its limited vision? Colonel theorized, it has extreme hearing capabilities. That''s why Evening Exoskeletons which are flight capable apanied it. It would either react through the sounds that his enemies make or from the shouts of the Exoskeletons guiding him."


    The soldiers realized Golderon''s words and gave a curious look at their enemy. So this was why it could withstand whish bombs which were invented to kill the pilots through pressure and whish.


    "So the Colonel thought what could kill a metallic beast such as you. The metal is almost imprable. It can absorb whatever shock and vibrate it away. This served as a way of protecting the pilot from any traumatic shocks and explosions it faces."


    Golderon took out a shock gun and shot a light attack.


    The Dawn soldier started shaking and shaking. But unlike the previous times, it was hit with a full st of the shock gun, it seemed to be in pain.


    "But what if, it can''t vibrate its way out? What if, it was buried in tons and tons of rubble and bombs were ced all around it? It wouldn''t know where to send its vibrate and ultimately, it would crush the pilot. It would rupture the pilot''s blood vessels, burst out so much damage that the organs should be crushed."


    The Dawn solder stumbled back after the shock attack. It could no longer move. Golderon kicked the helmet''s visors out of the way to see therge face of the Dawn soldier.


    "Truth be told; any normal human being would be killed from that. But not a Golem like you. Now that you''ve lost quite a lot of blood¡­ the shock should hurt now right?" Golderon smiled as he returned his Shock-gun back to its holster.


    Golderon immediately grabbed the gun of the soldier nearby and shot the head of the Dawn soldier several times.


    "Let''s move men.. We have a mission toplete."

 Chapter 72 - Brink Of Defeat

    Tenrge and fast objects could be seen flying around the city of New Birth Forth. The Armors relentlessly attacked and used advanced homingsers that shot out of their shoulders. The violet rays would arc from their shoulder and plummet to the designated location. These attacks pierced through concrete and even if their target was behind a building, theser st would just pierce through theser and hit the target.


    But the opposing force which continued to flee from the barrage ofser shots was a simple convertible with three passengers.


    "Take a left turn here" Arthur ordered as he continued to shoot out another barrage from his ss cannon.


    The car swiftly turned. There was less than a second when Arthur ordered Alean to turn, but with Alean''s Unlocking, it was more than enough to make the turn.


    Theser attacks weren''t the only things that would rain upon them. Apanying these Armor''s were Jet-Propelled Exoskeletons which hovered carefully behind the Armors.


    Theirst attack didn''t go so well. A group of J.P.E''s intended to use their fast speed to unload a barrage of bullets and surprise the convertible. But the entire group was easily annihted by the man with the mini-gun on the convertible.


    The chase continued with the Convertible being able to evade all the iing attacks and zoomed across the city.


    "Why aren''t they using their big guns?" Alean couldn''t help but ask.


    "They are taking the better route. I wagered they would want to kill us with all the damage we''ve done. But it looks like Lowengren was right. Human greed is amazing. They are trying to capture us."


    "Capture us?"


    "They think we are the result of a Pangean human modification experiment."


    "So what do we do?" Charles gave a satisfied smile at the news.


    "We should charge back in the city and help my men!" Alean gave an angry reply.


    "I''m sure you''ve noticed this a while back, why did you have us run around in circles?"


    "To create order, Alean. If we charge back in, then we would be in danger of crossing their bottom line and will be forced to eliminate us. We continue in this safe route."


    "My men are dying, Arthur!" Alean screamed in frustration.


    Arthur stood quietly and continued to attack.


    "Arthur!" Alean screamed once more.


    "Fine. Turn right after three blocks."


    Alean stomped on the eleration faster and zoomed further.


    At the sharp turn, a group of J.P.E was seen zoomed right in front of them and were already attacking.


    Alean immediately turned the wheel to evade the barrage of bullets.


    Arthur held up the shield to block most of the bullets while Charles shot at the J.P.E''s.


    Suddenly Arthur spotted a missile zooming in behind the group of J.P.E''s. Arthur frowned and immediately and jumped forward avoiding several bullets and stood at the hood of the car shot at the missile.


    BOOM!


    The missile explosive force generated a powerful shockwave the shook everyone.


    Alean gripped the steering wheel and turned once more to prevent any damage. Charles who stood at the backseat stumbled down while Arthur who didn''t have any good footing was thrown off the car.


    Arthur crashed on the floor and as he stood up and attempted to rush towards the convertible, another missile was rushing right in between Arthur and the convertible.


    "Go!" Arthur ordered.


    Without hesitating, Alean stomped the gas pedal and drove forward as Arthur jumped back and jumped to the window of a nearby building using his shield to break the hard ss.


    The explosion separated Arthur from the two and Armor''s immediately flew right on the burning fires of the explosion to make sure that the division remained.


    Arthur gave one look at Alean and simply nodded.


    Alean drove further away without hesitation while Arthur dropped the shield and ran.


    Back at headquarters, the soldiers overseeing themand and flow of orders couldn''t help but be shocked at Gand''s smart and ruthless calls.


    "Lowengren said his cannon is damaged. He needs to change the battery or something¡­" A man spoke as he listened attentively to the various devices connected to him. He had arge headset on and sat down with his eyes closed as if intensely listening to the audio generated from his headsets.


    "Oh? What a fragile weapon. To break after such an impact? No wonder they gave it to Lowengren."


    "His Comm device just received a response. It looks like they will use one of the cores at their base to rece Lowengren''s cannon core. A team of soldiers just picked up the core and they are to rendezvous at somewhere called the ''First Salvo.''"


    "Of course! What else could power a military base in our city without us detecting it? They brought with them their own power source." Gand realized.


    "Shall we attack Lowengren?"


    "No. That ss cannon''s strong enough to kill a Dawn suit. We need that technology. If we manage to get that and Lowengren then this entire battle will make up for our losses."


    "Roger." The officers saluted.


    "Order the Armor''s to continue the same intensity of attacks. It would be suspicious for Lowengren if he realizes this n if we back off for just one second." Gand continued.


    "Any news on our little rats?" Gand asked through am device.


    "Sir! They''re dead. We''ve confirmed that the intruder managed to infiltrate the base and kidnap the kaster sisters and Eric Dous. We''ve confirmed their DNA and found an unidentified fourth body. We cannot confirm who the intruder is. He''s not on our database."


    "And the bright lights and deaths?"


    "We''ve found traces of several Pangean Ever Bright bombs along with several Eradicating bombs. Video surveince disys the attack which caused their deaths." A video appeared on the screen disyed in front of Gand.


    A small, petite body entered the room and was surprised to see the room full of soldiers who immediately shot at the young teen.


    The teen tried to back off and tossed an Ever Bright but the awkward toss caused it to hit a small hanging sign near the ceiling which caused the bomb to bounce back on the door''s entrance where the teen appeared. The teen attempted to throw another bomb but did not notice that the Ever-Bright was directly below him. The sh appeared and brightened the screen and another explosion was heard.


    "Pitiful. That soldier''s stupidity led to the deaths of our traitor scientist." Gandughed.


    "To think they had such a spy of high positions among our ranks. Lander. Report."


    "General, I''ve managed to track themunications ry all throughout the city. Each Comm rys acted as an amplifier which kept boosting the signals to reach all over the city. "


    "That means destroying somem rys and analyzing the strength of the signal should allow you to pinpoint the epicenter of the signal."


    "Already did, Sir. But I can''t seem to find any points of interest in the zone where their base should be at."


    "Send me a map."


    Immediately a map of the city was disyed showing the eagle-view of the entire city. Gand studied the mapped and switched to satellite view to see the city.


    "Interesting. What a brilliant n. No wonder no one noticed it." Gand smiled.


    "Which point should I attack?"


    "I''ll lead the attack. I want to see this base personally."


    "Lowengren ordered the convertible to rush to lead our forces away from the base." The man with various devices connected to him spoke out.


    "Lander, destroy all the Comm Rys. I''m certain where the enemy hid their base now." Gandughed.


    "Sir, Yes sir."


    "Team, keep Lowengren and that convertible apart. Launch missile attacks if you see any of them headed in the direction of the other.


    "Good Job." Gand patted the Eavesdropper.


    "Good job? With all due respect, General, I simply did what I was built for. Do you thank a screwdriver for its ability to screw?" The man joked.


    Gand gave a goodugh. The soldiers were surprised at the rude response of the Eavesdropper.


    "I know you''re not a soldier, but be more respectful to your officers. I would penalize you but since you guys are may be heroes of this war then I''ll let it slide."


    Gand then started to walk out of the room.


    "Prep my Armor. I''ll handle this personally." Gand strode with a grinning expression.


    Gand utilized several highly ssified technologies for this battle and even brought out the Eavesdroppers.


    The Eavesdroppers are modified humans which applied the same science which created the Dawn soldier''s intensive hearing capabilities. This was the first time the Eavesdroppers were used in war. The Armor''s body was equipped with an intensive audio pickup in order that the recorded sights and sounds that the Armor can transmit back to base if ever it met its demise could be used to pinpoint the location, cause and other information about the battle.


    Using this powerful audio feed, Gand ordered to amplify the sounds and have the Eavesdropper listened and reported the very words spoken by any unfamiliar wavelengths in their database. Since all citizens have DNA records and audio files, isting new sounds was easy. It was because of the Eavesdropper, that Gand learned of Arthur''s conversations which allowed him to set up the ambush.


    Slowly the surviving soldiers were killed one by one by the ambushes that were in store for them.


    Golderon continued to move silently across the buildings. Their progression was quick but careful.


    "It''s time." Golderon suddenly ordered.


    The soldiers gave a grim look to each other before giving a salute and then the squad divided into three groups each headed to a different area.


    "Sargent. Please give this to my wife." A soldier passed on before turning to leave.


    Golderon gave a simple nod and epted the letter. To Golderon, it was a mission, but for the rest of them, it was a suicide mission.


    Twenty minutes ago, Lowengren met with the troop in the underground base.


    "Arthur needs his weapon. Based on what happened to him, we can assume that the enemy has hacked ourm devices. So we cannot use them. Golderon, Amber and Lawnford. Your mission is to protect and hold on to these three containers. Inside is the very same fragile power source of Arthur''s cannon. We couldn''t bring this out immediately since it''s fragile. But now we can."


    Golderon stood quietly. After defeating the Dawn soldier, they sprinted out and gathered as many survivors they could on their way back to base.


    Amber and Lawnford were two soldiers from different toons. Their entire toons were wiped out but they managed to survive. Unlike Golderon who received help from Arthur, their survival was only due to one factor.


    "You three have stepped in the very grounds that the Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Meryl and their bunch has. You are what they refer to as the Unlocked."


    The soldiers gave a surprised exmation. Amber couldn''t help but smile at Lowengren''s exnation.


    "The medicine that you just took were packed nutrients developed by Doctor Lindmitt for the purpose of boosting your state now and providing the necessary nutrients to make it throughout the night. I have no time to exin how you reached that point but since you achieved that you will be assigned with protecting and carrying one of these boxes in case Arthur needs it if his weapon breaks again."


    The three soldiers simply nodded.


    "Golderon, divide your team into three groups. Move to these locations and gather as many survivors as you can." Lowengren then turned to the other soldiers standing by.


    "To the rest of you soldiers, you have but one mission now. Make sure these three live. Die if you must. The enemy has weapons beyond our initialprehension and we are on the brink of defeat. But we must not ept defeat. If you want this war to end in our victory, then these three have to live. Everyone''s life, including those civilians we just rescued, is dependent on our victory."


    The soldiers gave a grim look. Some were visibly shaken. They knew this was a suicide mission. But with everything they''ve seen and learned that the Australian''s were doing and could do to their countrymen, they stood and gave Lowengren a salute.


    "Sir, Yes sir!" Their brave chorus was determined and full of resolve.

 Chapter 73 - Youve Lost, General

    "The Convertible is about to pass here! Get ready to attack!" A soldier announced.


    They have been trying to find a way to attack the convertible. Since the Armors went after Arthur in order to find him, the Convertible was able to do roam more freely facing Dawn soldiers aided with JPE and Exoskeletons.


    But since the army couldn''t blow the car up, they had to resort to wounding or incapacitating. The problem was, the car was too fast to hit, and the mini-gunner was always able to shoot first. Even JPE''s would die at a prepared charge, what more for regr Exoskeletons and soldiers?


    Several soldiers saw the zooming vehicle. They readied their sniper. This maneuver was quite hard. They had to set up several Dawn soldier blockades to lead this convertible here.


    A muffled sound went out.


    The snipper was shot dead.


    Golderon paused and simply gazed at the passing car. He frowned.


    Golderon did a series of signnguages.


    "Colonel''s not here. Let''s move to the next position."


    Along the way, they had ambushed and eliminated several soldiers which they found patrolling the area. Among their kills were two Dawn soldiers which they buried together on a building and killed them using the same method they did to kill the first. Sadly, no survivors from their team could be found.


    The ambushes were fast and effective leaving none alive. Golderon could easily kill a flying Exoskeleton with his new skills. They were able to easily kill and escape without being detected because of the secret path Lowengren had created.


    After the initial attack on the wall, the city was rocked with several explosions and nted bombs. This brought panic and immediately ushered a state of a city-wide evacuation. The Armors were deployed to aid in the evacuation as well as rescuing civilians which were trapped in burning buildings.


    What the entire Australian army didn''t know was the fact that several underground tunnels were also subject to the explosions. Underground train operations all halted due to the explosions and damages. Trains were stopping in between rails and the passengers evacuated. Outside the Fort, the citizens living nearby immediately fled to leave the city.


    The army did not have time to round up the fleeing Pangean natives which escaped from the Fort as the attacks from every side of the Fort began. But what the Australian army didn''t know that the Pangean natives didn''t run amok with the other Australian citizens but escaped through an underground tunnel led by Cliff.


    The subterranean explosions did more than just paralyze the trainwork. It created a new underground path from Gate Three of the New Birth Fort, all the way to arge building owned by a BOC. This created path was directly under the main highway where the most Pangean troops were deployed.


    The cover of war and Arthur''s Chaos Order gave the Pangean citizens the chance they had to escape without being detected.


    Golderon''s squad used this underground tunnel to easily reach the assigned locations.


    Soon the squad finally arrived at the designated spot.


    "Be on guard team. And remember, no one talks." Golderon signaled once more.


    The soldiers nodded and went to different areas of the ruined building and remained on guard.


    Minutes passed as they quietly held their position.


    Golderon sat down quietly and observed his surroundings. He kept a close eye if any sign of movement would appear. To his dismay, it all belonged to several Australian soldiers moving about the area.


    "We can''t fight right now. Not until the Colonel gets the package!" Golderon thought.


    He continued to observe the enemy and hoped for their Colonel to arrive.


    The longer they observed, Golderon somehow got an uneasy feeling.


    If he was a normal person, he wouldn''t be able to notice it. But as someone in the Advent rank of the Unbing stage, it was obvious. The slowing down of time and his increased perception allowed Golderon to take a clearer look at the soldiers and Exoskeletons near their area.


    The movements, the patterns expressions and even the attentiveness that stood out which the enemy soldier tried to hide by ignoring their location. But the unconscious glimpse that these passing soldiers would do, gave it all away.


    "They know we''re here." Golderon realized. Immediately, he fired a re gun to the sky.


    As if acting in full synchrony, Golderon noticed two other red res reaching for the sky. Lawnford and Amber also faced simr circumstances.


    Golderon''s expression paled as he took his gun and started shooting at the enemy.


    The three teams were all discovered.


    On the industrial zone of the city, arge Armor finally reached its destination. A burndown buildings rubble was the only thing of interest in this location.


    Due to this location being on the industrial side of the city, the battles didn''t extend to this area as the mmable materials could cause fires and unnecessary explosions.


    The Armor raised its arm and aimed for the rubble of the building.


    "That won''t be necessary." A voice shouted.


    The Armor took a look at the source of the voice and it was from a teen exiting the piles of rubble. It looked like there was a path inside the rubble.


    "Lowengren?" Gand gave a surprised cry.


    "Then who was that man?" Lander asked immediately. He knew this wasn''t the same person he confronted a while back."


    "A soldier. The idea was to get you to believe that he was me."


    Gand gave augh.


    "Amazing. Even at the brink of defeat you still can surprise me. Regardless¡­ We finally meet. Such an honor to meet a genius. I''ve faced several General''s in my career but none- no one- couldpare to you." Gandughed.


    "You must be General Gand. The entric War Hero of Australia. Quite an entourage. Even the Hero of Hellion''s Tragedy is here. And of course, your new weapons. What do you call them?"


    "Dawn."


    "Oh. So they are going to be part of your actual army? This means, your nation already has the resources for making a new branch of the military?"


    "Yes. Morning, Evening and the Dawn. And if we manage to catch your impostor and his two friends on that convertible, we might be able to form Twilight."


    "Twilight? Sounds gay." Lowengren shrugged.


    Gandughed back.


    "This was quite a good game you yed Lowengren. Albeit this will be thest. You managed to make me use highly ssified weapons of our government."


    "Yes. I''m sure you''ll have a lot of problems dealing with the aftermath of this battle."


    "All that the world will know, is the usage of the Light Breaker. But I''m sure they''ll let it slide considering we faced such a threatening opponent."


    "You really believe that the world will take my involvement on this war so seriously?"


    "Yes! You probably don''t know that I''m not the only General who yed against you."


    "Is that whyst year''s game was so tough? So you did collude with other nations to defeat of me."


    "me yourself. You yed so well that several world-leaders got nervous at a potential general of Pangea and wanted to test your potential."


    Lowengren gave a calm sigh.


    "At least¡­I guess it''s over now..."


    "Don''t worry. We won''t kill you. Your three friends will die in this experiment, but I don''t think we would let go of such a talent as yourself."


    "I appreciate the offer¡­"


    Gandughed.


    "¡­ but I can''t say we would give you the same treatment General." Lowengren gave his ownugh.


    "How cute. Still in the mood to threaten me? Or are you doing that because you n on killing yourself or are you confident that you can escape me with your fast movement and skills like your three friends? Too bad for you, the Armor I''m using is one of a kind. It''s the only one equipped with yet another technology ready for use that can incapacitate you."


    "Colonel told me of this¡­ Is this the technology you developed imitating Richie''s skill?" Lowengren guessed.


    "WHAT?!" Gand reacted. How did he possibly know of that name?


    "What did you call that technology? Our Colonel called it Peals of Thunder. Of course, it is named that way to keep it in continuity with the terms that would be used in the world that our leader intends to make."


    Gand frowned but kept quiet.


    "Whatever. I''ll capture you and kill all the rats you''ve nted in our base! And once we capture you and take your little friends, it won''t matter if other nosy nations will get involved after this battle, we''ll have the technology- oh¡­" Gand then noticed three res up on the sky.


    "SIR!" Them device Lowengren had started to transmit the cries of a panicking soldier.


    "We are under heavy fire! The enemy knows of our locations! All of our teams are under heavy fire! It''s a trap!" Golderon shouted.


    "Impressive. Your soldiers seemed to have discovered our little trap. Those three teams should have people simr to your three soldiers on that convertible, right? Too bad. We''re prepared now. You''ve lost, General Lowengren." Gandughed.


    "Kill them. It would be annoying if the kid with the cannon reaches them. Just don''t blow them up." Gand ordered.


    With that order, a torrent of bullets was fired into the three teams.


    Golderon''s metal case was securely attached on his back. He ensured it wasn''t damaged from the recent attacks and then immediately sprinted out and managed to evade most of the sudden shots fired at them. He gazed at his surroundings and realized that his entire team was wiped out. The sudden rail-attacks must have been prepared to kill them all instantly.


    "I must not let them meet Colonel!" Golderon thought. Without his weapon and the convertible, even the Colonel would be unable to survive.


    Golderon got up and sprinted out evading the bullets. The wounds on his legs were opening up but Golderon bore the pain.


    Suddenly, right in front of him, the wall crumbled as a Dawn soldier broke through. Instead of backing down, Golderon dashed forward and met the Dawn soldier.


    He evaded the wide swings made by the Dawn soldier and used therge frame as a foothold to jump towards the nearby Exoskeleton.


    The Exoskeleton flew higher in an attempt to evade Golderon but Golderon was quicker.


    Golderon held the boosters of the Exoskeleton and disregarding the burning heat of the metal, Golderon forcefully altered the direction of the booster causing the Exoskeleton to spiral out of control in the air.


    At the twirling fall of the Exoskeleton, Golderon jumped out andnded on a nearby building. Without missing a beat, Golderon ran and jumped from the edge of the building on to a small opened window on the other building.


    Golderon fractured his burnt left arm at the fall but kept on running.


    "Lawnford! Amber! Get out of there! Let''s meet at the first salvo for real this time!" Golderon could do nothing but risk using them device. At the very least, this could also alert Arthur and know where to go.


    He continued to sprint towards the underground path they just used.


    "Amber! Lawnford!" Golderon called out again.


    "I think Amber''s dead." Lawnford gave a calm reply.


    "Lawnford! Confirm if you are headed to First Salvo!"


    "Negative, Sir. I can''t move my legs. Damn... these Golem''s look scary up close. Sorry, sir. But your all we''ve got left. Be sure to give the package to the Colonel."


    BANG.


    "LAWNFORD!" Golderon cried.


    Golderon felt as if his stomach was twirling. They had failed. Arthur would not get his weapons and the amount of enemy surrounding him was too much.


    Several rail-attacks pierced through once more. And although Golderon tried his best to evade, he was still hit.


    Golderon could no longer stand. He tried his best to force his legs up but all he could do was kneel.


    Several soldiers were walking in the building he was at.


    "Sir. I''m sorry. I''ve failed." Golderon reported through them device.


    "It''s ok, Sargent," Lowengren responded directly.


    Golderon was rmed. Lowengren wasn''t supposed to use this line otherwise his location would be revealed.


    "You were never meant to seed." Lowengren paused.


    "Still, you''vepleted your mission. You have served your country bravely and with honor. Rest well."


    Lowengren gazed back at Gand.


    "You''ve lost, General Gand.." Lowengren smirked.

 Chapter 74 - Lowengrens Maneuver

    "Attack now!" General Voyagermanded as the team of Exoskeleton''s and JPE started rushing forward.


    As the rest of the Army continued to patrol the area where Arthur was supposed to rendezvous with, Voyager led his elite team to deal with thest two surviving soldiers on the convertible.


    "Sir! We''ve found another survivor from the wreckage. The solider just regained consciousness."


    "Consider yourself lucky to have survived that soldier."


    An Exoskeleton gave a trembling nod as it walked out of the ruined building


    "Begin the attack!"


    Immediately entire toon of Exoskeletons started rushing. Amidst the perfect formation was a clumsy and confused Exoskeleton who seemed to be zooming randomly, trying to keep up.


    Meanwhile, a strange look appeared on Gand''s face.


    "Sir? We have the three cases. The soldier guarding the third case is alive."


    "Keep him. His performance points to him being a modified human. We can use him." Gand replied then turned his attention back to Lowengren.


    "I''ve lost? Tell me how you n to win this battle?" Gand then gave a sarcasticugh.


    Lowengren gave a small smirk.


    "You''re mistaken. We were supposed to lose this battle."


    Lowengren took out his phone and revealed a recorded video.


    Using the Armor''s visual technology, Gand zoomed his view on the video recording.


    Gand was shocked.


    Various recordings of the Dawn experiment were disyed. The very science and reports itself were shown on screen. Then several live video recordings were also disyed on the test being made of the Dawn soldiers.


    "HOW DID YOU GET THAT?" Therge Armor raised its arms and aimed for Lowengren.


    "We''ve had this quite a while back. The rats you mentioned before managed to acquire this and delivered it to me." Lowengren added before Gand could panic.


    "Impossible! We''ve killed those four-"


    "Really? Then why is she here?" Lowengren pointed towards the side.


    The bright lights from the Armor and Exoskeleton''s which were solely aimed at Lowengren immediately moved to the very direction Lowengren pointed at.


    Blinded by the lights, a cute, petite teen wearing a sexy school uniform with short skirts posed with a victory sign. The lights magnified that splendid skin tone of the small girl as if the girl was reflecting the lights back.


    "I can''t believe I have to do this!" Meryl muttered under her breath before immediately dancing in synchronization with a popr song that suddenly yed. The music was heard all around as the nearby monitors and amplifiers yed the very same tone.


    The music was one of the famous k-pop dance music from a very popr group.


    Meryl danced the exact dance routine and moved towards Lowengren at each step.


    For the first time in the history of all wars on Earth, from the first three World Wars to the Continental wars, never has there been a moment such as this on a battlefield.


    Having no prior training or orientation towards such circumstance, no one knew what to do.


    The Evening soldiers didn''t know what to do.


    The two highly-trained Armor capable pilots didn''t know what to do.


    The Hero of Helion''s Tragedy didn''t know what to do.


    General Gand, the entric War Hero of Australia didn''t know what to do.


    Acting as if nothing strange was happening in the middle of the war zone, Lowengren started apuding Meryl who eventually stood next to him.


    "Stop ying around!" Gand shouted as several bluish beams started to gather on his cannon.


    "We gave that video to all the world leaders." Lowengrenughed.


    The bluish st stopped gathering as Gand froze in fear.


    "Impossible! The Light Breaker''s firewall prohibits any outgoing and iingmunications of any sort! You may have managed to connect and create a Comm Ry inside this city, but nothing can go past that firewall! You can''t trick me! Light Breaker blocks radio, Comm arrays, Satellite or linked connection! That''s the very science of the Light Breaker!" Gand shouted in anger. There was fear in his voice and he shouted this to assure himself that the information was safe.


    "That''s why we used the Light Breaker to send the signal. Being the top scientist in your base, they had ess to it in case they need to send their entire research data to another base to preserve that information."


    "WHAT!?" Gand then remembered who the three scientists that the intruder kidnapped were. He didn''t know that these three could ess the Light Breaker. Even among the top brass, those who could freely ess the Light Breaker''s various technologies were ssified so that this weapon could not be abused.


    "General Cipril has received this video hours ago. And after that, he sent it to the various world leaders all over the world. They know all about your technology and with it the heinous crimes you did to aplish that. The Americas, One China, New Great Britain, South Pacific United; they all know about your technology now."


    "Why would you¡­?"


    "You thought we were after your technology. That assumption made you disregard the possibility that we won''t keep that tech for ourselves but broadcast it to the entire world. What do you think will happen if several world powers find a very powerful, and threatening technology in the hands of another? We may have lost this battle, but we will win this war. Even if we won''t be the ones who will be fighting it."


    A grave expression surfaced on Gand''s expression.


    "That''s insane! You''d be bringing down your own country with you!"


    "Oh? Why is that?" Lowengren challenged.


    "Sir, it''s a massacre! We''re under attack!" A soldier reported.


    Gand ignored the pleas and continued to converse with Lowengren. The implications of Lowengren''s words weighed far heavier than the losses of a few men. Lander assumedmand and started responding to the solider, but the soldier was no longer responding.


    The Exoskeleton which wasmunicating to Gand fell on the ground.


    Voyager witnessed the soldier falling and couldn''t do anything. The st burnt most of his armor and disabled the capability for his suit tomunicate.


    Their attacks all went haywire due to the flying Exoskeleton which just joined their ranks. As the attackmenced, this Exoskeleton did a simple spin as he zoomed and unleashed a barrage of attacks. Most of the JPE''s died on that simple spin. After which, it continued zooming towards one of the copsed building and after passing through it, it carried a green cannon which was simr to the one Arthur carried.


    What followed next was a massacre.


    Who would have thought that inside the clumsy moving suit, was Arthur? To top it all off, he had the same ss cannon he used to carry.


    Now donning an Exoskeleton, killing him, was far too difficult. The anti-air systems of New Birth were not programmed to attack allies, and as this Exoskeleton was zooming confidently in the formation, the enemies could not attack for fear of friendly fire. The first to fall from a concentrated st attack was the Armor. After that, Chaos Order easily wiped the remaining members of Voyager''s squad.


    "Arthur?" Alean cried in surprise as he witnessed the sudden crashing of Exoskeletons. She drove towards the enemy and Charles started finishing off the survivors.


    "Good thing you managed to reach this ce without scratching the convertible." Arthurmended as the visor of the helmet opened up.


    "I thought your cannon was damaged?!" Alean stared in disgust.


    "No. It was all a ploy."


    "Most of my soldiers are dead now! If you had that cannon and that Exoskeleton, we could have saved more of my men."


    "I did tell you, Major Cipril. Most of your men won''t survive this battle."


    "What are you nning?! How do we win this battle without our soldiers?!" Alean screamed in anger.


    "We were never supposed to win. Meryl had already broadcasted the video of Australia''s tech. Now all the world knows about the modified humans of Australia along with its other technologies. With that, our victory is assured."


    "What are you talking about?! How does that assure our victory?" Alean demanded angrily. Whatever respect he held towards Arthur were all gone.


    "Calm yourself, Alean. Think about it. Even if we destroyed the Fort, Australia will be at war with Pangea. And if they deployed all of their techs, even if we ally with SPU, we could still lose the war. Also, it would distract Seeker from fulfilling his ns. His aim has always been Australia''s immediate downfall. We''ve proven that Australia is working with the Aragarians. So how do we win this war easily?" Arthur exined.


    "Seeker intended to reveal Australia''s technology to the world. Doing so would entice the entire world to condemn Australia''s inhuman actions and attack it. Of course, the real reason is that the world fears Australia''s technology or would want it for its own. And now that it''s revealed, this nation is doomed for extermination." Arthur exined.


    "He''s right! We are supposed to lose this battle!" Charles shuddered suddenly.


    Alean turned at Charles who seemed enlightened.


    "What?!" Alean immediately turned to Charles.


    "How do we exin to the world if we defeated Australia in this battle? The world would assume that we have our own superior sciences and could even conclude that we also have modified humans! We''d be putting the Pangean Nations on the spotlight! It could even lead a united coalition against us!"


    "Exactly. If we won this battle, we would be putting not only our nation but ourselves at greater risk. And the Unlocking must not be discovered!"


    "But Arthur, the Australian''s can easily reveal us! There were too many witnesses! We''d have to kill the entire army to make sure we aren''t revealed!"


    "Meryl already took care of any video footages. She destroyed the cloud storage systems in the Fort. All that''s left is to kill the entire Australian army."


    "But then, we''d win this battle! And even if we make it look like that we barely won, the very fact that we gave Australia a hard time is already suspicious! The nations will still think we have some powerful technology!" Charles argued."


    "That is the problem, right? The end results of our attack may reveal the Unlocking. Not only that, the Unlocking would be revealed if we leave any survivors, but it will also be revealed if we wiped out the army¡­ What should we do? Or rather, What would Lowengren do? If you''ve been following his career, you''d know what he''d do." Arthur answered vaguely.


    "No! You don''t mean¡­" Alean remembered.


    "Lowengren''s Maneuver!" Gand cried in terror.


    Lowengren''s Maneuver was the iconic tactic Lowengren did to win the battle onst year''s Nations of the World E-Sport Meet. Facing a united attack from several countries, Lowengren used a suicidal nuclear attack that wiped out the armies that were aiming to kill Lowengren in-game. Though Lowengren died very early in the game, the losses that his enemies experienced were too much that Team Warfreakz managed to eliminate two other nations before getting wiped out. This secured Warfreakz spot on the top three and even allowed Lowengren to retain his World Conqueror title.


    Ignoring Gand''s shock, Lowengren, pushed the button.


    The three Srium Cores carried by the three soldiers started shaking.


    Golderon was listening to the entire conversation between Lowengren and Gand. He stared at the box and smiled.


    "At least I''ll die a hero."


    BOOM!


    Threerge greenish explosions covered the city. The green st eradicated everything on its path leveling the city.


    The positions of the three sergeants were urately ced on specific locations that would maximize the radius of the explosion. The st covered three-fourths of the city and a part of the Fort was eradicated in the st.


    Right in the middle of these three explosions, was a small untouched area, barely a kilometer wide. Arthur calmly gazed at the st while Charles and Alean were holding tightly to withstand the shockwave.


    Gand snapped at this moment.


    He didn''t concern himself about Lowengren''s value and raised his cannon to shoot.


    But a bright light surfaced from the very spot Lowengren and the small girl stood and caused Gand''s attack to miss.


    The light disappeared and no traces of the two could be found.


    "You can''t escape me! You may have killed my army, but you have nothing left as well! There''s no way for you to fight back anymore!"


    "No way?" Lowengren''s sarcastic voice was broadcasted.


    "Then let me show you¡­ The Way."

 Chapter 75 - He Who Treads The Narrow Road

    Gand could only look at the fading light in frustration. He thought he was winning and this made him confident. And so, with victory in sight, Gand and Voyager went for gold. They wanted to capture all the modified soldiers as well as their technology.


    Since the enemy soldiers proved to be a handful, they divided the entire army of New Birth Forth, save a few to guard the Fort and trap Arthur''s team. With this, it would be easy to capture the three. But they were wrong.


    As it turned out, they walked right into Lowengren''s n, and now, only a handful of survivors remained. Morning, Evening, and Dawn, done in by the Green Suns.


    "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." Lowengrenughed.


    Gand lifted his cannon in search for Lowengren. He kept shooting several cannon attacks andser attacks on the vicinity where Lowengren and the girl werest seen.


    "LOWENGREN!" Gand screamed angrily.


    Gand''s Armor took to the sky and started bombarding the area with attacks. The Exoskeletons with him flew higher while the other Armor''s continued their barrage. The massive rockets destroyed the rubles and the underground base was revealed.


    "All surviving JPE''s destroy this district in front of me!" Gand ordered in anger.


    Little did they know, that someone was waiting just behind Gand''s squad. At the zing bright lights of Meryl, a Pangean Exoskeleton had zoomed out and positioned itself discreetly behind them.


    The JPE''s soon arrived and unloaded their bombardments.


    BOOM!


    A series of massive explosions shook the ground as the entire block in front of Gand was reduced to rubble.


    Gand gazed with intense anger in his eyes as the rubbles of the buildings copsed from the massive attacks.


    "Such a fool to the end." A mocking voice was transmitted over to Gand''s Armor.


    "LOWENGREN!" Gand exploded in anger. His attack had missed again.


    "JPE''s! Scout the area! I want this entire area cleared! Fire at any human signatures in this entire area!" Gand screamed.


    Gand then turned to Lander and was about to give more orders when he realized it.


    No JPE''s responded.


    As the surviving JPE''s rushed by and dropped their payload, the waiting Exoskeleton, also fired shots.


    His attacks weren''t noticed due to the cover of the loud and huge explosions.


    It''s two hands were equipped with a miniature version of the Srium cannon that Arthur used. With it, it shot down all eighteen JPE''s in a matter of seconds.


    The Exoskeleton was equipped with Superior Imaging, allowing its pilots to zoom in and out with just the movements of their eyes.


    Though the pilot couldn''t fully emte Arthur''s Chaos Order, it could calcte the locations of these jets as well as determine their future locations. Emting Seeker''s Unlocking allowed this pilot to even tap on Seeker''s Advanced Recall. At this moment, the Pilot could easily fight on the same level an Advent Inhuman could.


    With time on his side and a reaction speed which he minimized to match the fastest movements that the Superior Imaging could follow, a simple stroke of both its arms which shot several bursts of green lights massacred the JPE''s.


    After which, it took its time to slowly approach Gand and his squad who was busy observing the sight before them. He stood among the Exoskeletons and then he began his massacre.


    The shots were precise and the close-range allowed him to maximize his turns to immediately kill all the Exoskeletons save for one.


    At the sound of the burst fire, Lander immediately moved to evade. This was a true veteran-hero. The surprise attack did very little to phase it. Lander turned and started shooting at the Exoskeleton which was zooming upwards as it continued firing a long st towards the Armor.


    Lander immediately started attacking the enemy. As his suit started rising in the air, the long st of attacks started sting the Armor. Despite the Exoskeleton''s fast turns, its attack managed to remain on a consistent spot. Though the burst of light was intermittent, there were so many bursts that it would seem like a constant beam hitting the Armors.


    The Armor''s pulled back and started to attack the enemy and Lander himself charged forth. The Armor''s attacks were wide and visible. It was something that the enemy could easily evade.


    Lander knew. It was up to him to defeat this flying foe.


    Before acquiring the title, the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy, Lander was known as the Tasmanian Devil. Named after a Post-Modern era cartoon character known for its tornado-like movements.


    Lander''s whirling blitz was unstoppable and untouchable. None who faced it lived. Each attack was intentionally shot to minimize the possibility of evading the next. This was the skill that made him a hero.


    Lander began his twist and started shooting. Several green sts missed Lander who was now giving chase to this Pangean Exoskeleton.


    Lander''s Exoskeleton was equipped with a specialized mini-gun that could even kill Armor pilots. Such technology was not mass-produced among Exoskeleton''s due to its high costs and only Lander was equipped with it. Any of these bullets could easily pierce through and kill the Pangean Pilot. And under the cover of the night sky, these "Traceless" bullets would be virtually unseen by the naked eye.


    However, what Lander never expected, was that the enemy was able to see these bullets clearly.


    In Seeker''s future, the Earth''s survivors tried to find ways to reproduce the Paths of the Ranked Heroes and World Champions. But it all ended in failure as it would take too many resources and too much time for it to bear any usable results.


    In order to imitate or reproduce a simr path isn''t just about copying the biological changes within the Unlocks physical and neurological traits. To be able to copy it, would mean to be able to emte the person''s brain itself. The imitator has to feel what the imitated feels. The imitator must also think and even believe ording to the level of faith that the imitated has.


    And as no two persons can ever be the same, no two Paths which is exactly the same could ever appear. The ability to have multiple paths was even harder. Believers tend to "believe" in their specific path and therefore cannot believe in another. The Oveers were of a simr vein and there was also a sense of pride that hindered them. To forcefully make a Believer imitate another would result in psychological or mental problems and so this research was discarded despite its potential.


    With the disregard of this study, the possibility to make an ultimate fighter was a far-fetched one as the impossibilities of uniting even two paths were impossible.


    Until he appeared.


    Meryl''s eyesight was unique. No form of darkness or brightness could ever hinder its sight. By being able to emte a part of this path, the Traceless bullets were easily seen especially since a continuous green sh filled the area.


    However, seeing these bullets and being able to evade it, are two different things. Even if he had Arthur''s instant calction and Seeker''s emtion of higher ranks of the Unlocking, he wouldn''t be able to dodge an attack of this level. Lander was just too skilled and experienced in fighting against Exoskeletons.


    But as the bullets drew closer, the Pangean soldier immediately flew directly towards Lander.


    The Pangean Pilot came prepared. After regaining consciousness, he watched several ssified footage brought by the kaster sisters. These recorded Lander''s battle techniques and some footage of his fights. The Pangean pilot even watched bits and parts of Lander''s interviews.


    And since Lander wasn''t even Unlocked, mimicking him was very easy. Such was the absurd skill of this Pangean Pilot.


    Eagle called his Path "The Narrow Road" for only he could walk in it.


    With expert turns and twist, the Pangean Exoskeleton evaded bullets by the millimeters, as it executed a twist simr to Lander''s but far superior.


    He flew directly towards Lander and aimed for Lander''s jetpack. A small burst of green light struck Lander who then lost control of his Exoskeleton and was sent twirling recklessly and crashed on a nearby abandoned building.


    The attack which no man had survived, he easily evaded. The Hero of Helion''s Tragedy was easily defeated as if it was swatting an aged fly on hisst flight.


    The Pangean Exoskeleton thennded on the ground, not wasting any second to continue shooting green beams that killed more and more soldiers.


    Gand panicked and immediately revealed his trump card. His left arm retracted inside and transformed into a cannon slightly different from his right arm.


    A loud and continuous strange sound sted through the air along with a powerful shockwave. Lander, who was at the rubble couldn''t move as his heart was gripped with a painful and paralyzing sensation at hearing this strange sound.


    Gand''s armor was equipped with a noise canceller to prevent him from getting affected. He then switched his right arm to cannon mode and aimed to fire at the enemy.


    "So this is Peal''s of Thunder?" A curious voice spoke through the Exoskeleton''s speakers. Gand couldn''t hear thisment but it was clear based on the movements of the Exoskeleton that he wasn''t affected.


    "Too bad I''m an Inhuman now." The casual and gentle voice was heard before it dashed off to destroy Gand''s Armor.


    Alean stared in shock at Arthur''s exnation.


    "You mean Lynd''s already awake?" Alean was shocked.


    "Yes. Your hypothesis proved correct Doctor." Arthur gave a nod to Charles and then immediately flew towards thest battlefield.


    Alean gave a meaningful look to Charles.


    "It would take time for Lynd or Seeker to adjust if we introduced the cont liquid to Lynd''s body. At most, we could only stabilize their brains before I could develop something that they can use. However, my studies led me to a certain hypothesis. What if instead of the cont liquid, we give them blood from a human who has survived these experiments? Looks like it worked. They probably drained Lynd''s and Seeker''s blood and reced it a Dawn Soldiers blood." Charlesughed.


    Gand''s Armorid in pieces. His body was suffering from various 3rd-degree burns. He couldn''t even move.


    "Monster." Gand stared in disbelief at the Pangean pilot who hovered before him.


    Lowengren figure appeared and stood next to the Armor.


    "Just kill me."


    "Not yet. What would happen to the remaining forces inside the fort if they can''tmunicate to you but detect that your Armor is still up and running? Killing you now would send them in total panic and retreat. If you''re alive, they''d send a rescue team. Such is the honor reserved for the Heroes of Australia." Lowengren smiled.


    Immediately after Lowengren said those words, several lights could be seen flying over the Fort.


    "Why are you doing this? We''ve already lost! Spare my men!" Gand screamed angrily but pleaded at the end.


    "You still don''t get it, do you? No matter how you try to block the signals from outside, satellite imaging can still capture the explosions we did. What will the greedy, technologically hungry countries do if they noticed such a massive explosion that damaged nearly half of your Fort?"


    Gand then realized it.


    "No! You can''t!"


    "There''s surprisingly a lot of JPE''s remaining. Can you handle it? You need to finish them quickly. By Colonel''s estimates, you have about 10 minutes until they arrive."


    The Exoskeleton zoomed immediately.


    "I guess I shouldn''t kill you yet. I''ll let you see the death of yourst forces and how the foreigners you hate so much will raid your fort and steal all your techs." Lowengren shrugged.


    He who walks the Narrow Road walked the impossible Path. Aside from his ability to use multiple Paths, he couldbine it with his other learned paths. Switching from one Path to another was theorized to be impossible as the sh of the different mental and psychological states could result in a mental and psychological implosion.


    But not him. He did not suffer from theorized mental and psychological bacsh of diving into the minds and hearts of several Ranked Heroes and World Champions.


    With all these Paths converging, the remaining forces were all eliminated within 5 minutes.


    What was once believed to be a vast Path of endless possibility, he managed to turn it into a single path.


    He is the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.


    He who treads the Narrow Road, Lynd Indigo, the "Prophet Elijah" has awakened.

 Chapter 76 - The Aftermath

    The Jet known as the Void Traveler reached New Birth Fort and dropped its package. The package it dropped wasn''t a bomb but the Special Commando Unit that existed in the shadows of American history.


    "Amazing. Pangea really did a number huh?" An American soldierughed as hended from his drop.


    "Looks like a suicide attack. Lowengren''s Maneuver. I can''t believe that kid had the balls to pull this off on an actual battlefield." Another soldier whistled as hended.


    "My sons'' pretty good at that game. Does that mean he could be a good general?"


    "Cut the chit-chat. We''ve got work to do. Eliminate any soldier. We only have a 10-minute window." Thendingmander ordered.


    "Sir? I believe that the other nations are arriving." The pilot of the Void Traveler reported as he detected several jets entering the atmosphere.


    "Looks like our timetable just went down to five. Let''s move!" Themander hastily ordered.


    The world was moving to war. Nations were secretly sending their top spies and soldiers to New Birth Fort.


    It all started when Harker received the secret transmission from New Birth Fort and sent it to the top leaders around the world. The various experiments and overview of Australian sciences ended with a video of Harker himself giving a gripping warning.


    "My daughter died in this war. Australia is strong. I do not want their technology. I just want vengeance. My entire army has been disseminated and only a handful of soldiers remained. I have informed other world leaders about this technology that Australia has. In 500 hours, Pangean Standard Time, I will release the information of Australia''s actions to the world. One way or another Australia will burn. Good luck in stealing the data."


    All world leaders who managed to see this video immediately sprang into action.


    Although all nations were secretly performing human modification experiments, the known world condemned it. With the revtion of Australia''s inhumanities, it would only be expected that the Nations would all join together and condemn Australia for its actions.


    Soon Harker once again took to the stage of national television and gave the summary of his "defeat."


    The video feed taken from several of Pangean''s Exoskeletons were shown.


    The battle against the maic technology of the wall, the appearance of an advanced Jet Propelled Exoskeleton, and finally the invulnerablerge golems that seemed immune to bombs and rockets.


    "My soldiers were destined to be defeated. They faced monsters that were the result of human modification. The video they found has been released for the world to see. Lowengren who went on a rampage was granted control over the army at the brink of our defeat and he gave his life to perform a suicide attack using our Srium technology. But they had to do it. They needed to send this message to the world! My army died, now I ask the world how will you respond to this breach of humanity!" Harker angrily screamed.


    "Australia has been secretly trafficking humans all around the world for their experiments. They are your neighbors, your friends, your families! And this isn''t just an organization that is behind kidnappings and human experimentation! Since the world began, has there been a nation who would do this?" Harker spoke with immense anger and the world followed with him.


    What followed next was a series of extremely good acting. Harker''s speech was the very excuse the other nations needed to immediatelyunch an attack.


    New Birth Fort was opened and so the nations sent their very best to steal the data in thisrge fort. Australia was now a country that could easily be exploited. The existence of their sciences was very enticing to the world leaders.


    Since the beginning of the war, Gand had refused aid from the surrounding military bases due to his fear that the attack may happen on other bases. His fear was that a full-scale Pangean invasion would ur and these bases would immediately be attacked. Soon, Gand managed to convince the other General''s as he reported to be on the verge of winning.


    But Gand died. Once the surrounding bases detected threerge explosions in New Birth City, they immediately sent their reinforcements towards New Birth Fort.


    As if it was some wicked coincidence, Harker''s video was unveiled to the world. Australia was shocked that Pangea revealed the videos and immediately worked to disprove its authenticity. But by then, it was toote.


    "The King of Ennd and the Ruling Leaders of New Great Britain hold Australia''s deeds in contempt. Among the people shown on the video, we have confirmed that Australia has been trafficking our citizens into theirnds to further this demonic research. We will hold this as an act of war and will immediately appeal to the World Governing Powers for a deration of war against Australia!"


    Just as the news of King Lordenheign was made, a nearby British fleet that roamed the Pacific, immediately acted and waged war even before the World Governing Powers had approved of the appeal.


    "General Audenvise of the 5th Fleet had immediatelyunched an attack on a military base of Australia. The World Governing Powers had yet to approve of New Great Britain''s deration of war when the fleet had started to engage with the forces of Australia." A reporter gave his report on national T.V.


    "The Ruling Leaders have denied that they ordered the 5th Fleet to attack and maintained that General Audenvise has been acting independently. We have Kate Charity Live on- Wait." The reported immediately gave an rmed expression.


    "This just in, One China''s Pacific fleet has also started to engage Australia''s forces! It appears that One China has also attacked Australia and sank the entire fleet on the South Pacific disregarding the War Treaty of the World Governing Powers!"


    News channels all over the world immediately highlighted the fact that several nations waged war against Australia without appealing to the World Governing Powers for war.


    Several videos were immediately shown as these General''s gave impassioned speeches about how they could not abandon their morality and save the lives of the poor experimented humans that Australia has. Following Harker''s lead, they immediately acted independently to wage war with Australia without the approval of their superiors.


    Of course, behind the scenes, these independent actions were actually ordered attacks.


    Due to the suspicious natures of almost every World Power, naval fleets and mobile bases were deployed all over the vast oceans. As such, it was rtively easy for these nations fleets to immediately attack Australia with heavy aerial forces.


    The moment Harker released the video, these nations were already poised to attack. Majority of attacks were on the Northern cities of Australia. New Birth City, which was formerly known as Darwin city had little or no forces capable of defending from the attacks now. Most of their soldiers were dead and the reinforcements from the nearby cities had yet to arrive.


    One China was even bolder. Instead of sending their forces to New Birth, One China''s massive fleet attacked two of the nearby bases. An all-out war immediately urred. Of all the leading world powers, only South Pacific United was unable to join the fray to make preemptive strikes as information was withheld from them. Pangea also maintained its aggressive threats to ensure that the SPU''s armies won''t ever make its way in Pangean territory.


    As such, they were the only superpower who was unable to send spies to retrieve whatever data was left in New Birth Fort.


    Any Australian military base would most likely host a secretboratory or contain the information for their research. As such, China went a step ahead. Rather than participating in a race against the battle to get the information in New Birth Fort, they opted to steal this information''s from other bases.


    The chain of events that China started caused rippled effects. United Soviet Russia waged an attack at Sydney with a full-scale army.


    The 107th fleet of the Americasunched a specialized rocket to destroy the Light Breaker.


    President Stark Norton of the Americas dered that the Light Breaker is confirmed to be armed with weapons of mass destruction and immediatelyunched a Sat-Breaker even without the approval from the World Governing Powers.


    Of course, the real reason was so that their troops can infiltrate New Birth Fort and destroy any possible evidence that the Light Breaker could reveal.


    Australia couldn''t fight back. The emergence of sudden attacks across all of its sea-based military bases caused them to be unable to provide reinforcements as the number of the attacks they received were too plenty.


    While the world was arming themselves to destroy Australia, a submarine was leaving the shores of New Birth City. It encountered a British fleet which protected it from a small detachment of Australian forces trailing at the back.


    Soon, the Submarine docked inside therge British ship and several soldiers gave a military wee to the submarine.


    Arthur was the first to exit.


    The Captain of the ship waited and gave a warm wee to Arthur.


    "Arthy! My oh my¡­ you''ve grown into a fine man. And an even deadlier soldier. Your father would be proud." The Admiral smiled.


    "Fleet Admiral Ramsden. Good to see you."


    "Looks like you''re following in the footsteps of your father... Oh my¡­. They''re alive."


    "They''re dead Admiral." Arthur gave amanding statement.


    "Of course. They''re dead. I''m very d that Mister Lowengren is dead. Such a bold strategy. Clearly, he was an ace amongst Generals." Ramsden smiled. The Admiral had long since been acquainted with Lennox and was used with following suit with whatever the Humprhrey''s did.


    The Fleet Admiral was, of course, referring to Lowengren and Alean Cipril who Harker confirmed to be dead.


    There were no words exchanged between the group. Ramsden led them towards the Bridge of the ship to witness the developing news first hand as well as see the results of their attacks towards New Birth Fort. Albert Hoross who had already escaped long before the war started immediately rushed and hugged Lowengren.


    The members of Covenant also stood there immediately talking to Arthur and Kristine.


    News of Australia''s ims filled the news channels as it did it''s best to appeal to the world. It tried to use Pangea of giving out false information but soon a video was released from the surviving Pangean forces. It held the interviews of the rescued individuals from Australia''s experiments.


    People who were lost for months and even over 5 years started to resurface. They came from different parts of the world and as the news from these countries confirmed that these people were actual people who disappeared, Australia''s counter-usations fell on deaf ears.


    The World Governing Powers demanded Australia to surrender, but Australia refused and suddenly stoppedmunicating. This outrageous acts even spurred the world to be angrier than it was.


    Arthur sighed and smiled.


    "Australia doesn''t have a choice. If they surrender, more of their experiments woulde to light. All they could do now is fight. But this war isn''t over. Australia won''t fall so easily. Still, I can''t believe that Seeker''s reckless n actually worked." Arthur sighed.


    "So what now?" Lowengren asked.


    "What else? The Game continues. Since yer One is still out, I still have to proxy for him in this war. Luckily, I have you to help me. How''s our prisoner?" Arthur asked the Admiral.


    "Still refusing to talk or eat. I believe he''s nning to starve himself to death."


    "Too bad. I guess it''s time to interrogate him."


    "Why is he alive?" Alean asked.


    "Ask Lynd." Arthur said as he left the room.


    The group turned towards Lynd.


    "Well¡­ it''s just a conjecture. But I think he has the potential to be a Ranked Hero." Lynd shrugged.


    The group was surprised at Lynd''s words. But no one doubted Lynd. He had basically copied a portion of Seeker''s skills and instinctive reactions. He could not shake the feeling that Lander was someone who had the potential.


    "Interesting..." Charles smirked.


    "Well¡­ I guess that''s expected. The question is, how can we make him one of us now that we''ve destroyed his country?" Alean wondered.


    Arthur finally reached the room where the prisoner was kept and immediately entered.


    "I kept you waiting. Lieutenant Lander.. The Hero of Helion''s Tragedy."

 Chapter 77 - Allies And Enemies

    The World Governing Powers gathered and the world representatives demanded Australia to be punished for its crimes. Australian representatives could only appear through a video live feed as their nation was blocked on all fronts. The Australian Minister of Foreign affairs, Leslie Corinth demanded all nations to cease its attacks.


    The world leaders except One China imed that they had no control over their General''s actions. The argument was so intense that threats were being issued over the use of weapons of mass destruction. With the fall of the Light Breaker, Australia had little defense over long-ranged attacks or satellite attacks.


    At this point, almost all satellites that had the capabilities tounch attacks were aiming at Australia.


    Australia finally used Pangea of presenting false evidence and threatened to level the entire archipgos of the three nations and condemned the New Great Britain for attacking Australian grounds even before the World Governing Powers had met. This was a breach to the very etiquettes of war decided after the third World War. It was New Great Britain''s actions which encouraged the other nations to join, hence Australia was extremely angry at Pangea and New Great Britain.


    At this point, President Albert Hoross surfaced and shocked the world. President Albert Hoross then attacked Australia and demanded that the President himself, would join the meeting.


    Australia refused as revealing any video feedsing from the President might allow the other nations to trace it to its source and kill the President.


    The World Governing Powers gave the stage to President Hoross to detail what happened after his escape ne was allegedly shot down. Apparently, Hoross and a few of the pilots managed to escape on thest second and used an escape pod to survive the air strike. They fell in the ocean and the nearest fleet led by General Audenvise rushed to check for survivors. President Hoross pleaded with General Audenvise to save his son, General Audenvise refused to help Pangea as it was a breach of the rules enacted by the World Governing Powers.


    "But when Harker revealed those video files¡­ Those video files that came at the cost of my son and his daughter, I finally managed to convince General Audenvise to take action. So what if there were rules that the World Governing Powers have made? These rules were set to protect humanity! What use will obeying these rules bring when the devil himself has revealed itself on the world!?" Hoross shouted angrily and gazed at the live feed from Australia.


    "You tried to capture me. No doubt you were nning to utilize me as a means to prate our country to kidnap my people for your experiments right? You were behind the experiments behind the My-Pangean incident, weren''t you?" Hoross recklessly used and kept on shouting as the Australian Minister fought back. But her resistance was futile.


    While the world watched the drama of the emergency summit held by the World Governing Powers, Harker''s transport finallynded on the F.F Churchill.


    Harker was then led towards therge room where all of the major yers of the New Birth Battle was gathered.


    Joining Arthur''s team were the three Australian doctors, Kristine from the Covenant, the thought to be deceased Sebastian Horros or Lowengren and finally strapped to a seat with a mouth gag, the wary hero of Helion''s Tragedy, Lander.


    Harker red angrily at Lander as he entered the room. Then his attention fell on Kristine and Lowengren, who looked extremely faint and beaten. They struggled to keep conscious while leaning on therge table at the center of the hall.


    "Please take your seats. I guess it''s time to keep everyone in the loop." Arthur began.


    "What about Meng?" Harker immediately asked the important question.


    "Meng? What about him?" Arthur asked.


    "Right! There was that!" Alean recalled.


    "Seeker fought one of Meng''s subordinates. We believe Meng, the Dragon, is after our technology."


    "What?" Arthur gave a confused look. After a bit of pondering, Arthur finally gave his conclusion.


    "Seeker lied to you. Meng''s not after your tech. Meng probably doesn''t know about Programmed ves."


    "What?" Harker and Alean eximed.


    "Impossible! We found Meng''s subordinate in our base! Sting, the blind assassin fought Seeker and even managed to scratch him!" Harker argued.


    "Right! I remembered that night. I didn''t think much of it, but who could manage to wound Seeker?" Meryl wondered.


    "Did you previously own a red gemstone that went missing or that Seeker took?"


    "Yes! It was one of the three gemstones we recently purchased. Seeker took it as payment." Alean nodded.


    "That exins it. Seeker told my dad to y along if someone were to contact him sprouting either thanks or threats involving a red gemstone. Based on what you told me, I think Sting was after that red stone. Seeker gave that gemstone to Sting. Sting took it thinking that Seeker is one of my father''s subordinates. If Sting thought that Seeker was working for Lennox, he would rmend that Meng use the red gemstone. In short, Seeker deceived you." Arthur gave a summary.


    "What?!" Harker was now confused.


    "Why did he need that gemstone?" Alean ignored Harker''s confusion.


    "I don''t know. It wasn''t important at that time. Seeker was pressing my dad to deduce where Feltrick''s bases were, remember?"


    Alean recalled listening to the conversation between Seeker and Lennox the night they destroyed Feltrick''s organization.


    "So Meng''s not after my dad?" Alean confirmed.


    "Yes. Sting was after the gem, Seeker wanted your army. Seeker fought Sting in your base and he found a chance, so he deceived you and got his Army. You thought the Dragon was after you, but it''s all a misunderstanding. It''s kind of funny if you think of it that way." Arthur shrugged.


    Meryl and Lyndughed.


    Harker froze at Arthur''s words. His remaining eye started to tremble intensely.


    Alean soonughed as well as she recalled the events.


    "You mean to say, that Meng is not after my head. And I just wasted billions for a pointless war?!" Harker erupted.


    "It wasn''t pointless. We needed the blood to save Lynd''s life." Meryl replied.


    "Blood?" Harker gripped his heart.


    "Yes. Lynd needed blood." Meryl casually replied.


    "Good thing the whole blood thing worked out!" Lynd gave a relieved sigh.


    Harker looked around in agitated frustrations at what the other party members had to say.


    Arthur simply nodded.


    "Simply put, that''s the gist of the war." Charles shook his head. He just realized that the thought of waging war for the sake of blood seemed ludicrous.


    Lowengren and Kristine were in no condition to care for Harker''s angry stares and just gave a nk look.


    "BLOOD?!" Harker was enraged.


    The logic of the war was to get blood? Why didn''t they send an application to the Red Cross or to the hospital? Wasn''t Charles a respected doctor?


    "You went to war with Australia at the cost of my army just to get some blood and save your stupid life?" Harker immediately ran and reached out towards Lynd and was about to choke him when a familiar heart-gripping sensation mmed down on him.


    Arthur, Meryl and Lynd''s pressure filled the room. Alean remained standing but gave an impressed nod. Charles gave an enthusiastic whistle at thebined pressure. Even his hands started shaking.


    "Hey! Careful!" Charlesined as the sudden pressure almost made him drop his coffee.


    "Again?!" Lowengren cursed angrily and gritted his teeth.


    Kristine started whimpering as she held on to the table. The others were immediately paralyzed and wanted to scream but couldn''t. The choking, heart clenching sensation made everyone else convulse.


    "Hey Guys! I got the pizza- Hey¡­what''s going on?" Cliff suddenly barged in and wondered why there was such intense pressure.


    "Let me join!" Cliff said enthusiastically and released his own pressure.


    "Wait!" Charles tried to stop Cliff.


    The kaster sisters and Eric was knocked out at the addition of Cliff''s pressure. Thankfully they were already seated and didn''t fall down. The gagged Lander was squirming on his seat and soon passed out.


    "Cliff! Stop it!" Alean red.


    "What? I thought we were having a contest!" Cliffughed.


    "Great. You knocked all of them out."


    Meryl gave a light kick and woke Harker up.


    Harker started gasping for breath at his awakening.


    He looked at Lynd with fear in his eyes.


    "We''ve grown quite a bit since thest time we met, General." Lynd helped Harker up. He politely pointed towards a seat. Harker shakenly followed and sat down.


    "Consider us simr to the Seeker you met a while back." Arthur summarized.


    "Impressive. Look''s like your potential''s not average. Seeker sure has an eye out for talent." Arthurmended.


    Soon, everyone who fainted managed to wake up and they were carefully seated on their corresponding seats.


    "Alright. Let''s get right to it."


    Arthur then began to tell them the tale of Seeker Carlean''s death and rebirth. The story of the alien race and of the Unlocking. Arthur gave a detailed exnation of what the Unlocking can do and even talked about Skills and Paths.


    Harker and Lander maintained a confused expression as Arthur continued with his tale.


    Time-travel? Aliens? The story that Arthur gave was extremely unbelievable.


    "Luckily, in order to make you believe, we have the proof right here." Arthur then turned to Meryl.


    "Meryl. Show it to them."


    Meryl immediately started glowing. Her skin turning whiter and whiter. The fair skin tone glowed and captivated everyone.


    "Beautiful¡­." Cliff watched with his mouth agape.


    "You should keep that form, Meryl! You''re extremely beautiful!" Lyndmended.


    Arthur kept silent but gazed at the glowing beauty of Meryl.


    "I can do more than just this." Meryl cheered and then the bright light enveloped the room. It was so sudden that Harker screamed in panic. Lander thought that it was a bomb and flinched.


    The light slowly disappeared and everyone looked with terror towards Meryl.


    "Lynd! You cheat!" Meryl frowned.


    "What?" Lynd inquired.


    "Don''t what me! You didn''t even blink!"


    "Oh!" Lynd realized it.


    "Interesting. At your level, you can already copy Meryl''s eyes¡­" Arthur pondered.


    "That''s dangerous Lynd! No wonder why you''ve been eating like a pig! You''ve been subconsciously copying Meryl! You need to control that power! You might overstress your brain again!" Charles warned.


    Lynd was shocked at Charles diagnosis.


    "But- but! I don''t know how to turn it off!"


    "Don''t panic. The blood you have in you should keep you safe even if you activate it 24/7. Let''s deal with thatter." Arthur then stood up to address the whole group.


    "That is the power of an Unlocking that has developed her skill. In fact, I think Meryl now has what Seeker would call a Path. The Unlocking of the brain creates wondrous changes that could affect the entire body. This is what gives us these superhuman powers. I''m sure Lieutenant Lander over there is well aware of what we can do."


    Lander just gave a wary re at the group and focused his eyes on Lynd. He knew that that monster was the most dangerous of them all.


    "So we''ve been going at it in the wrong direction." Sonia finally spoke.


    "We focused on carbon alteration and enhancing to make a perfect soldier, but what we really should have done was focus on the mind? So those New Age fanatics were actually correct? How ironic!'' Soniaughed.


    "Your study is also crucial. Seeker had long known that unless we are to gically alter our physical states, then the Unlocking cannot go beyond Inhuman. Seeker''s proof of that. The fact that he is changing his body is a sign that our bodies need to change as well. For now, just be careful not to overexert your brain, Lynd. there''s no saving you from that again."


    "Sorry for the trouble guys!'' Lynd apologizedughingly.


    "Don''t worry. We did gain a lot in this war." Charles smiled. The new technologies he gained would allow him to further his research.


    "True. New allies." Arthur gave a quick nce at a ring Lander.


    "But of course, new enemies. The world will soon knock at our doorsteps for the havoc we wreaked."


    "Why are you telling all this?" Harker broke his silence.


    "If Seeker''s memories are true, then I should be your enemy. You could have continued to deceive me, but why are you confiding this to me?"


    Everyone''s eyes went to Arthurs.


    Why did Arthur tell Harker this?


    "Because of your Path."

 Chapter 78 - How To Train With A Dragon

    "My father has been keeping his eyes on you, Harker. My father had long been impressed with how you slithered your way in the underworld. To be able to do so without bribing others of your kind is quite a gift."


    "Bribing indicates your intention and reveals the possibility of the briber to be after something. If people in the Underworld think I''m after something, they be wary of me. Also, bribing can create a trail that could cause my downfall." Harker summarized.


    "And this extremely cautious nature of yours led you to pursue other methods. What did you do that allowed you to be one of the biggest names in the underworld?"


    "I gained their trust."


    "Exactly. When I told Seeker of how my father took careful attention towards you, he reviewed your credentials and concluded that your ability to gain peoples trust is a Skill."


    "That''s a skill?" Lynd asked.


    "You underestimate the world he lives in. People like Harker stand in the brink of death every single day. They deal with all sorts of devils and betrayals and mutinies happen every day. And yet, years and years pass, not one of the leaders of these organizations gets reced. It takes skill to manage their thrones. And Harker used the strangest of them all. That''s why my father was confident that Harker has nted Programmed ves in Australia."


    Harker twitched. He still recalled Seeker''s demanding request of coughing up all of Australia''s Programmed ves.


    "Seeker told me that the strongest Path''s that existed aren''t the abilities that Meryl has. Rather it''s those abilities that can manipte the hearts of the people around them. We met Richie and experienced his Skill which he has yet to perfect. Peals of Thunder which create sounds that invoke fear to everyone."


    "How is that different to the Reapers Breath?" Cliff asked wondering how his new skills can fare against an Oveer.


    "Were you able to use it during our battles in Australia? The average suit of a soldieres with masks to cover themselves from any airborne chemical attacks. And that includes the Reapers Breath. So your skill is useless. but Richie''s skill isn''t. Meng the Dragon has something simr to that. And I think Harker knows of this. You must have experienced it haven''t you? That''s why you''re so paranoid about Meng."


    Harker was silent. He closed his eyes and recalled the pain he felt on his first meeting with Meng.


    "He¡­ he''s not human. I wasn''t just paralyzed by the fear. I was hurt. What you guys could do¡­ it''s nothingpared to what he has."


    Everyone was silent at Harker''s description.


    "I don''t know what it was. It almost drove me insane. I pushed myself too deep in the underworld and managed to trick his subordinates in making me meet him personally. Meng didn''t trust me. I almost died."


    "What did he do?"


    "He didn''t do anything. But when I saw him, my entire body just broke down."


    "I thought you were tortured and electrified!" Alean eximed.


    "I told you that because had I said the truth, no one would have believed me and if word goes out that I went crazy, I won''t be able to stay in the Underworld." Harker berated.


    "The moment I saw him my entire body didn''t just go stiff. I nearly died from a heart attack. The electric shock wounds I received was when his subordinates where defibriting me."


    "Is it the Reapers Breath?" Charles was shocked at Harker''s exnation.


    "No. Weren''t you listening?" Lowengren scoffedzily.


    "If it''s that then there''s no way Meng would be an Oveer with a Path so useless that relies on scent alone. I believe what affected Harker wasn''t scent but sight."


    "Sight? I almost died because of sight?"


    "Doctor Lindmitt? You''re the doctor here." Lowengren asked.


    Charles was pondering what might have happened.


    "From what you exined, it sounds like extreme fear caused your entire body to jolt which led to cardiac arrest. This is interesting. The fear that the Reaper''s Breath affects the brain and could cause heart failures when used towards people who have heart failures. But for a healthy heart like yours¡­. You must have fallen into an extreme level of stress that caused arrhythmias to your heart."


    The room was quiet from hearing such an absurd hypothesis. Meng caused extreme fear which led to Harker having a heart failure?


    "Just how abnormal are these Oveers?" Lyndined.


    Arthur and Charles gave Lynd an irritating look.


    "Says the monster himself," Charles mumbled under his breath.


    "In any case, don''t try to think too much of this. The Reapers Breath can never reach that level. It''s a Path that an Oveer has. It''s not something that we can hope to replicate." Arthur summarized.


    "But didn''t Australia manage to copy Richie''s Peals of Thunder? I mean, I heard it when Lynd was fighting Gand and I was even affected by it!"


    "It was a poor attempt in copying it, Meryl. Remember what we felt when Richie used the Peal''s of Thunder on us?"


    "Of course I do! Don''t remind me. It really felt like my skin was being peeled off." Meryl shuddered in recollection.


    "How was itpared to the version they used?"


    "Oh, I see where you''re going. Right. It was pitiful. Even Seeker''s pressure was far terrifying."


    "If an Unlocked mind can''t hope to copy that Skill, then the current technologies of this world wouldn''t be able to do the same."


    "Then what exactly can my Skill do?" Harker interrupted impatiently.


    "I''ve already exined it. Make people trust you. Isn''t that how you managed to get where you are? Isn''t that how you have buyers all over the world who believe that they are the exclusive purchasers of your Programmed ve? Yet yourwork of ves run all over the world and no one notices it. Except for people like my father."


    "I don''t see how that skill will be useful."


    "Don''t you find it easy to deceive others into trusting you?" Arthur inquired.


    "That''s right! Politicians, soldiers, friends, and colleagues! That''s why despite the facts that there have been many pieces of evidence pointing towards you, you are able to ward off suspicions from yourself!" Alean expressed.


    "That''s true. I have friends who all hold you on high regard. They say you''re a man that they can trust." Charles recalled.


    Harker was silent. Now that it was exined to him, he realized that he did have this skill in convincing others and making them trust them. It wasn''t hard for him to do so.


    "You probably feel that you can make a person trust you regardless of the circumstances right? That''s why even if there are tons of evidence pointing towards you, Presidents, military leaders and even your fellow colleagues in the Underworld can trust you."


    "Let''s say that''s true. How exactly can that be useful as a path? You actually think this skill is useful for theing wars?"


    "Yes. Imagine what you can do if you can make any enemy trust you? If the enemy, we captured is a woman you could even seduce her. Of course, you can do the same to a man should the opportunity arise." Arthur exined.


    "What are you implying?" Harker growled angrily.


    "Nothing. However, if we do manage to capture Aragarian''s who have exotic tastes, we will utilize all our resources to get the information we need. And you have that capability. You can make enemies trust you and use that trust to get intel."


    "So, I''m going to be a spy and a gigolo at the same time?" Harker scoffed sarcastically.


    Arthur sighed while Lowengren shook his head.


    "You''re quite slow for a General aren''t you? Don''t you see? He means, that if you manage to reach Inhuman or Ranked Hero, you won''t need to be a spy or a gigolo to do that."


    "An interrogator then?"


    "That is the tip of the iceberg. Seeker was confident that such a skill could be used on the battlefield. Being a spy would be putting you in so much risk and you might even betray us. No. For now, you stick close to us." Arthur exined.


    "Alean will take control of your army from the shadows. The same bomb nted on her heart will be nted on yours."


    Harker gave an angry look.


    "Don''t get me wrong, we do need you, but we don''t trust you." Arthur shot back coldly.


    "Why did you make it look like Lowengren and Alean died?" Charles asked.


    "It''s part of Seeker''s next n. Remember, he asked me to send Richie a message three days from now? Tomorrow, I''ll be sending it. In that message, was Rosa''s current location."


    "Who''s Rosa?"


    "I don''t know. Someone who''s obviously important to Meng. Richie will fight Meng but in that message, Seeker told us to help Richie."


    "Cool! Fighting alongside an Oveer!" Meryl happily cheered.


    "Wrong Meryl. This is training for us. Richie will lose. Richie''s growth hasn''t reached its peak yet. He will die if he tries to provoke Meng. So Seeker orders for us to help Richie achieve his goal and protect him."


    "WHAT?" Harker exploded in shock. His greatest fear would be Seeker''s prepared training ground?


    "You''re going to face Meng? You''re crazy! How are you going to train with a Dragon?"


    "It makes perfect sense." Lowengren shrugged helplessly.


    "We need strong enemies if we have to grow stronger. And Meng''s such a group that can challenge us."


    "I think it''s all good! We have Richie after all!" Cliff stood up excitedly.


    "Richie will already have his hands full with Meng. And let''s not forget Meng''s assassins. These are people who can stand before Meng and not die."


    "But that means-"


    "We''ll be facing Unbings." Lowengren sighedzily with his face nted on the table.


    "Not just ordinary Unbings. But trained Unbings. These are veteran assassins after all." Arthur added.


    "We just fought a war and now are going to fight people who can endure Meng''s sight?" Charles cursed.


    "Sounds exciting!" Cliffughed.


    Everyone except Cliff had a depressed look on their faces. Several even red at Seeker who was unconscious.


    "He''s out cold but he still manages to get us into some deep trouble." Meryl cursed.


    "A battle of this scale would undoubtedly cause a scene. Most intelligence services around the world should take note of this. That''s why Alean had to fake her death. Harker would be the visible leader while Alean and Lowengren would be the unseen leader of this organization which is trying to topple down Meng''s organization."


    "So you''re making us the scapegoats? That''s like putting the world''s crosshairs over our heads!" Lowengrenined.


    "Because of everyone in this room, your value is lower than that of Charles, Seeker, Meryl, Lynd and me. Of course, Cliff could be the sacrificialmb but let''s face it. Would the world secret organizations of this world believe that that man would be the menacing brain of a fearless organization?" Arthur pointed.


    Cliff had long stopped listening to the conversation as he was excited with the uing battles and was deep in thought while picking up severalrge ck objects hidden deep inside his nose.


    Alean and Lowengren stood helplessly at the imposing logic of Arthur.


    "But why did we have to fake our deaths?"


    "To add intrigue and mystery. Our deaths will slowlye into doubt and people will start believing that we are the real leaders. This will shield Arthur, Seeker and his group from suspicions." Lowengrenzily exined as he resigned his tired and helpless body to the table.


    "Why did I agree to all of this?" Lowengren started crying.


    "Charles, take your team and go to the British Isles. My father has already secured a location for your studies. You won''t be part of our skirmish against Meng. kaster Sisters and Dous, stay for now."


    Charles sighed in relief. Everyone else except Cliff gave an envious stare at Charles and pleaded with their eyes to take them with him.


    "Now. Meryl, you were selected by Seeker to be the trainer. Let''s take a look at those Jews and see who can be a part of your elite team." Arthur motioned.


    "Everyone else, continue training. Once you three reach Unbing, follow after Charles." Arthur ordered and started walking out.


    Kristine and Lowengren growled in depression.. Lynd begrudgingly moved while Cliff smiled and looked at the kaster sisters with perverted eyes.

 Chapter 79 - Call Me Uncle

    A week has passed since the incident at New Birth known as the Australian Avarice came to light and the war that followed.


    At the immediatemand of the World Governing Powers, the British and Russian fleet stopped attacking and pulled back. China maintained to continue its attacks but as Australia finally managed to organize its armies and spread their forces, the advanced technology of the EMP fields led them to an easy victory. China was forced to abandon the conquered bases and retreat. Nearly half of the Chinese fleet was destroyed in the decisive battle.


    After which, all the fleets of the various super-powers that wanted to invade Australia, stopped as it learned from China''s mistake.


    The talks of peace then began as the World Governing Powers held a trial for all of Australia''s crimes.


    The bickering and usations on Australia had piled up since the New Great Britain released the names of all the hostages they managed to rescue along with a handful of Pangean soldiers.


    After a week of coborating with other nations, New Great Britain released aprehensive list of all thirty-two individuals who were rescued. Each one of them was people who went missing or were presumed dead due to idents.


    The world erupted at the releasing of the names. There were three individuals who belonged to Russia, four in China, two in Great Britain and the rest came from different countries.


    "If Australia cannot send back my countrymen back, then I motion to repeal the prohibition of using Weapons of Mass Destruction against Australia! God knows what they are doing to my countrymen! And why stop with Pangea? What about the Chinese? The Russians? Are you tinkering with their organs too?!" Albert Hoross shouted with fanatical rage.


    This caused Australia to immediately release footages of the Pangean native''s current statuses. Australia didn''t hide the fact that all Pangean Natives were detained as hostages.


    "We will not release them! Among our prisoners are natives from all your homnd! We aren''t so stupid! If all of you start spreading lies about my country hoping that we would hand over our technology, then we will face extinction! So here! Our country holds over seventy million foreigners at this time. And we won''t be afraid to kill them! So go ahead! Send your nuclear rain! You will, however, be forced to enjoy the Cyber Abominations!" General Sledger of the Australian Army threatened.


    "ORDER! ORDER!" The Supreme Judge mmed his hammer.


    "General Sledger! Threats like that will not do well in this meeting!"


    "Threats?! You all bring up lies about our country and attack us without due process and you talk of threats?!" The General challenged.


    Australian representatives all pointed to the pieces of evidence that Pangea was probably after their technology and prepared this lie.


    The court asked Australia to present evidence of its im that Pangea attacked without warning but could only bring Pangean equipment''s that they managed to salvage on the attack on New Birth Fort. No video evidence was captured due to several reasons.


    The Light Breaker disabled all civilian cameras and shooting videos were impossible due to the interfering EMP signal. The only equipment''s that could capture video surveince that may be used as evidence were all wiped clean. No video footages managed to get out of New Birth Fort due to the Light Breaker.


    With such an absurd excuse, President Horossughed and scoffed at Australia loudly. He did not even act like someone representing a country in a trial that was hosted by the World Governing Powers.


    "President Hoross! You are acting out of line! Please allow Australia to make its defense!" The Judge ordered.


    "With all due respect your honor¡­ If I am acting out of line, it''s because¡­" Hoross paused.


    "MY SON DIED!" Albert Hoross gave an enraged scream which shocked everyone.


    As the news continued to y itself on arge TV, Cliff was standing over the wearied bodies of his former gang members.


    "What''s Cyber Abomination?" He asked in confusion.


    "You really need to attend ss, Cliff." Lyndughed.


    The gang members expected their once fearless boss to pound Lynd for disrespecting him, but they were shocked at his reply.


    "Could you tell me?" Cliff asked respectfully.


    "Boss?" One gang member found the strength to ask.


    Cliff simply shook his head in response. Are you crazy? That guy could emte Seeker! So what if he disrespected me?


    "Don''t worry. You were probably absent during the time this was discussed. If you were present, you should be able to remember it. I think¡­" Lynd awkwardly covered for Cliff.


    "It''s a Cybercrime where you record the yful and usually horrible torture and execution of other humans. Back during the Third World War and even during the Continental Wars, another war was happening. The Online War. People were bad-mouthing their enemies online. Trolls were making memes and social media videos where they were bad-mouthing and making fun of these enemy countries. Some memes became known worldwide and the world poked fun at these nations. It was all fun and dandy until these enemy nations managed to capture several cities and started making video memes of executing and massacring people. Some even managed to track the rtives of the most famous meme-makers which insulted their country and killed his rtives following the video style of these memes."


    "Why do you sound like Professor Darian?"


    "Oh sorry. Force of habit." Lyndughed.


    "Next thing you know; Lynd will be copying me." Alean entered the room.


    "Miss Alean!" Lynd stood up and smiled.


    "Is this all of them, Cliff?"


    "Yes."


    "Just be sure to keep them under control. And try not to work them to death. Not everyone is like you. I won''t be surprised if they could only reach Unbing." Alean gave a word of advice before motioning Lynd to follow her.


    The pair walked away


    "Looks like it''s time for Lynd to be a man." Cliff sighed enviously.


    BANG!


    A gunfire was heard but Cliff dodged it.


    "Seriously? You could''ve killed me!?" Cliffined angrily as the two walked up towards the stairs leaving therge white room they were training in.


    "Are they here already?"


    "Seeker''s." Alean nodded.


    "Meryl''s and your parents are on their way."


    BANG! BANG!


    The pair gave a confused look towards the room where the gunshots were heard.


    "Lynd?"


    "How did Mr. Carlean bring a gun?" Lynd wondered as he released his concentration.


    "Shot my dad, did he?"


    "Yeah."


    Alean sighed.


    "Well¡­ Chris has been going after our heads for so long. He probably shot my dad on sight¡­ Too bad. He''s a dayte." Alean and Lynd calmly walked towards the room.


    Meanwhile, Harker finally managed to grapple the pair of deranged parents and tied them securely on the seat.


    "If you two weren''t his parent''s I would''ve beaten you two!" Harkerined as he managed to gag Chris.


    "Now¡­As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted¡­" Harker frowned as he looked at the two holes behind him.


    "Your son is currently in aa. He is safe and should be able to reawaken in the next week or so. In the meantime, we need you to do a little detective work." Harker smiled.


    Alean was the first to walk in the room.


    "Good thing you''ve reached Unbing." Aleanughed.


    Chris and Grace''s eyes went wide open as they saw Alean. Their eyes of shock then turned into a fierce re.


    "Why did you gag them?"


    "They''ve been spitting. A lot." Harker answered helplessly.


    "How does it feel to be a subordinate, dad?" Aleanughed happily and disrespectfully.


    "Just tell your boss I handled his parents with care."


    "Right now, Lynd''s my boss."


    Lynd finally entered the room.


    "Hi, Uncle Chris! Aunt Grace! Errm... Why are they gagged?" Lynd then turned to Harker and frowned.


    Harker could only sigh helplessly.


    Lynd removed the gags from the two.


    "Lynd! What''s going on?"


    "Long story, Uncle Chris. Let''s just wait for Meryl and my parents to arrive." Lynd smiled.


    "For the meantime, can you not shoot my subordinates?"


    "Subordinates?" Chris and Grace echoed.


    "Yeah. I know you and Mr. Cipril has had a lot of history together. But they''re kind of like my subordinates for the time being. Well actually, Zeek''s their boss. But right now, they''re tasked toplete some stuff and I have to keep an eye on them."


    "You mean¡­ he''s working for you?" Chris answered with disbelief.


    "Yeah. Umm¡­ oh, I know! How about this. Mr. Cipril, please call me Uncle."


    Harker stood there silent.


    Alean gave a lightugh.


    "Uncle?" Chris gave a strange expression.


    "Well¡­ he''s kind of like a well-known General, right? Right now, some treat him as a hero! What if he calls me Uncle? Wouldn''t that prove my point?" Lynd smiled innocently.


    The soldiers around them gave a curious look at what would happen.


    "Unc¡­ Uncle?" Harker hesitantly spoke.


    "I think you need to do it more respectfully." Lynd evaluated.


    Harker gave a soft growl.


    "Uncle Lynd." Harker voiced out.


    "Somethings missing," Alean spoke before Lynd could even react.


    Harker red at her daughter.


    "Do it with a respectful expression. And kneel down while saying, Uncle Lynd. In fact, let''s make it, His Great Highness Uncle Lynd. Also, give a Knight-styled sword salute." Alean smiled.


    "I don''t think that would be¡­"


    "Just make him do it, Lynd," Aleanmanded.


    "Al-Alright¡­Mr. Cipril¡­ If you will?"


    Harker was fuming with rage but gripped his fist and gave a respectful bow and patted his chest three times.


    "His Great Highness Uncle Lynd." Harker bowed.


    Chris and Grace stared with a bewildered expression.


    "Yeah¡­" Lynd smiled embarrassedly.


    "I hope that convinces you guys." Lynd smiled and looked at Chris and Grace.


    "Make him cluck like a chicken and p his arms." Grace suggested.


    "Grace!" Chris scolded.


    Grace gave an embarrassed look.


    "Make him do that, topless." Chris then added seriously.


    Lynd was surprised but saw the serious stares of Seeker''s parents.


    "Uh¡­." Lynd gave a helpless smile.


    "Wait¡­ Why am I bringing it up to you? You said Zeek''s his boss, right? Well, as Zeek''s father, aren''t I half his boss? So do what I say, Harker!" Chris dered loudly.


    Harker cursed silently.


    "Sorry, Mr. Cipril. I mean, you''ve got to pay for your sins one way or the other right?"


    That day, malicious and insidious deeds were made. Harker lost all forms of dignity as a General, in fact, his dignity as a human crumbled right before the eyes of his own soldiers. The tyrannical couple took their sweet time and started with making Harker do the hokey pokey with other soldiers.


    As for the other deeds, even Alean and Lynd would never know as they walked out of the room in embarrassment.


    Harker died that day. And out of Harker''s broken self-esteem rose the Path which Harker wouldter master, Shameless Audacity.


    While Harker did unspeakable tasks that would put the twelvebors of Hercules into mere child''s y, a submarine was headed towards the edges of Australia''s Area of Responsibility.


    Arthur was seated patiently. He was wearing a dark synthetic outfit.


    "Are you guys ready?" Arthur turned to a group of twelve. There were teens and adults among the group and the group was evenly divided among the two genders.


    "This is crazy, Arthy." Meryl sighed as entered the room.


    "No, it''s not. A week''s worth of training and the fact that they''ve been taking Charles experimental drugs¡­ This should be enough for these twelve to sabotage Australia from the inside."


    "Not that. I mean the fact that we have to ride a missile and jump right before these missiles bomb the base."


    "That won''t be a problem." Arthur took one more nce at the Twelve Disciples.


    Each of the Twelve had a deep hatred for what Australia has done to them. Even at the cost of their lives, they didn''t have any problems with this mission.


    Meryl gave a light sigh then turned to the Twelve.


    "Alright ss! This is going to be your final exam. We''ll only help you up to the initial battle. How you infiltrate Australia will be up to you.. I hope that you all will make it out alive."

 Chapter 80 - Re-Entering Australia

    The continuing political battles against Australia continued. Yet another day has passed without any attacks.


    Talks about releasing Australian citizens that came from other countries continued but were met with sharp rebuttals from Australia.


    The World Governing Powers still held a strong stance against Cyber Abominations and the reuse of weapons of mass destruction.


    "Wars havee and gone but the moment we allow ourselves to act on these depravities, then we can simply kiss the world goodbye. Australia, should you show any hint of cyber abominations against any foreigners be it from Pangea or other nations, we will allow nations to use weapons of mass destruction against you!"


    The Supreme Judge dered righteously.


    "But if any nation uses any forms of weapons of mass destruction, then the World Governing Powers have all agreed that that nations immunity towards weapons of mass destruction will be revoked. Australia or any other nations may use weapons of mass destruction against it!" The Judge continued.


    A great mor erupted in the room as several representatives argued on the immediate resolution.


    Australian representatives all was silent. But they knew this was the best possible course of action. They could continue the war without fearing attacks utilizing weapons of Mass Destruction.


    "Looks like the wars going to continue for a long time." Chris sighed.


    Seated next to him was another couple. The tall man and woman stood nearby and kept looking at the doors at the far end of the wide room they were in.


    "Where is my daughter? Why were we asked to wait here?" He spoke with a strict voice.


    "Mr. Steveson Mikado, I know that you''re getting impatient. But I''m sure your daughter''s fine." Grace gave a kind remark as she urged this short and unhappy man back to her seat.


    "I''m sorry¡­ Is something wrong?" Grace then turned towards the wife of Steveson. Jade Mikado.


    "You''ve been staring at me for quite some time."


    "It''s nothing. It''s just. Were in this military base and you two seems so calm."


    "Oh. That''s because something impossible was shown to us. But this was all to our advantage so we''re not worried." Chris gave a light smile but his mncholic eyes continued to look deeply towards Jade''s.


    "Buuuuut you still won''t tell us what''s going on?" A happy and yful voice spoke behind the couple who had intense gazes.


    The two couples barely managed to hide their frown and turned towards thest couple with them.


    Peters Indigo and his ever faithful, and somewhat deranged wife, Lynda Indigo.


    "My my¡­ what''s with your gazes. You two should know that I am the one who should be the most¡­ the concern in this troublesome situation." Petersughed as he gave a meaningful nce at the two couples.


    The two couples gave a surprised look as if something sparked as Peters spoke.


    The atmosphere then became tense.


    "Harker here," Harker spoke through the speakers.


    "Thank you for waiting. I''m sure you must be wondering why I''ve asked you to wait in thatrge room. Now is the time to find out. You must have noticed the three crates just below the television? Please open it. The code is 5-7-3-1." Harker stopped speaking as the group went for therge crates. There were three crates prepared so each couple went over a crate.


    They gave a careful nce at each other before they typed the codes together.


    A clicking sound was heard and the three couples opened the boxes as if they were in synch.


    Inside the crates were several guns. Sub-machine guns, rifles, handguns, andrge knives.


    The three were surprised at the sight.


    The door at the far end of the empty room opened as three individuals walked in.


    They wore a ck mask and each held a particr weapon.


    The man on the left carried arge ax that was probably longer than himself.


    The woman at the center held a pair of handguns while the tall man at the right held an obscenelyrge gun.


    The man at the right immediately aimed his gun at the couples.


    "This is bad!" Chris immediately reacted and immediately took out a gun on the crate.


    Grace did so likewise as well as the other couples.


    Just when they had taken out a gun, the tall man immediately shot a single round using the big gun''s grenadeuncher.


    The couples panicked and evaded the st.


    Peters was the first to react.


    "Ah screw it!" He then opened fire and shot several rounds using the sub-machine gun he managed the acquire.


    The tall man easily avoided all the attacks.


    "Amazing! I couldn''t believe it! Arthur was right!" A familiar voice sounded from the tall man.


    "Lynd?" Peters spoke in shock.


    Lynd shot the grenadeuncher to explode a few meters from their location. But the quick reactions of his own father revealed the truth of Arthur''s previous revtion.


    Lynd took out his mask.


    "Dad! You''re really a former mercenary?!" Lynd had an awestruck look at his dad.


    The other couples already held their weapons and were aiming at the enemy but then stopped at the sudden development.


    "Lynd Peters?" Stevenson was shocked at the revtion.


    "Hi, Uncle Steveson!" Lynd gave a happy greeting.


    "I guess Arthur was right and you should be part of the East Asian Alliance Intelligence." Lynd smiled and then readied another round. But before he could shoot¡­


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Chris shot several rounds on the ground just a few inches away from where the three stood.


    "And finally, the worst of the lot." Alean smiled.


    "Chris and Grace Carlean. Pangean Operatives. But the two of you are actually double-agent spies from the Americas right?" Alean then readied her gun.


    "You know what to do. We''re dealing with experts here. Vamp up the training and release the strongest pressure you have." Alean ordered as the trio continued to walk closer towards the group.


    The group gave a wary look at each other. Although Stevenson knew of Chris and Grace''s true identity, as well as the dark history of the feared mercenaries pair that wreaked havoc in SPU''s history, he did not expect that his own cover was blown.


    Facing such aplicated scenario, Steveson threw his gun on the ground.


    "If you know our identities. Then I surrender. I''ll tell you everything if you promise that my daughter is safe." Steveson gave a serious stare at Alean.


    BANG! BANG!


    With two gunshots, the weapon that Steveson threw on the ground flew back up to him.


    "Nice shot." Aleanmended Lynd.


    "Don''t worry Uncle Steveson. Meryl''s with Arthur. Unlike Zeek, Arthur''s very careful and thoughtful. So you can be sure that she''s not doing anything crazy. Sorry, Mom! Dad! I''ll have to be a little rough on you." Lynd smiled as his pace started getting faster.


    "Wait! Where''s my daughter! I just want to know if she''s safe!"


    "Like I said Uncle, she''s in good hands. Don''t worry about her. I''m sure she''s enjoying the ocean breeze right now. Worry about yourself." A tremendously strong pressure filled the room.


    Meanwhile, on the dark depths of the ocean, a submarine slowly submerged.


    "Alright, guys! Time to ride our rockets to Australia!" Meryl shouted happily. She had already adjusted herself from the pitch-ck environment of the sea. The moon and stars shone poorly that night. Perfect for their operation.


    "Arthy! Exin."


    "The long-ranged misses have been modified in which we should be able to hang onto these parts. The rockets will be traveling at intense speeds so expect to withstand up to 8 G-Force. That''s nothing that we can''t handle though. At my signal, we are to abandon our missiles and glide towards the base. Our target is to disable the defense of the base. Kill everyone silently and disable whatever defense system you can. That is all."


    The team walked out of the submerged submarine and waited for the countdown.


    "It''s still not toote to stop this crazy n, Sire." Admiral Ramsden Audenvise gave ast plea.


    "Stop calling me "sire" Ramsden. You''re no longer our family butler."


    "Be it as it may, Sire, I still find myself to be med for what happened to your sister. I cannot stand to see another one of Master''s sons to be lost in meaninglessbat."


    "It''s no longer meaningless, Ramsden. And don''t worry. Dad''s looking for my sister now. We should be able to get her safety. You have your orders."


    "As you wish Sire."


    "Admiral,unching will shortly begin. Pleasee back inside."


    The Admiral slowly walked towards the entrance and gave onest look towards his young master.


    "Fire the Lightning Rods!" Admiral ordered.


    Further out from the borders of Australia''s area of responsibility, the Floating Fortress Churchill acted.


    Several long-rangedunchers aimed for Australia and fired several rounds of rockets.


    The rockets flew high up on the atmosphere and slowly it aimed down. Up on the stratosphere, these rockets unloaded their package using maic technology.


    Large bars of steel rods flew down to the earth from the great heights of heaven.


    As it reached the Australian base, the Enigmatic Maic Field acted as bolts of lightning arced and struck theserge rods.


    But the rods weren''t explosives and simply withstood the electric bolts and crashed on the base.


    BOOM!


    The earth shook as these megaton metals nted itself on the different parts of the base.


    Admiral Ramsden Audenvise gazes at the video feeds and smirked.


    "You think you''re the only one who has grown since thest war, Australia? It''s time to fight fire with fire."


    Meryl and Arthur watched the feeds outside the submarine using a small square device.


    "What''s that metal? It didn''t seem to do anything on the base except create a few holes." Meryl had a confused expression.


    "Wait for it. While Australia utilized alien technology to reach this far, the other countries had also used the time to perfect their sciences. And a powerful nation such as New Great Britain isn''t something to be ignored. They are probably the only nation who could dismantle Australia''s EMF."


    "You mean those metals will keep the EMF busy?"


    "No. That''s not it. It''s ironic actually... This technology of theirs. After all these years and all their breakthrough, they went back to one science which they''ve been famous for in science fiction. Doctor Frankenstein''s entric answer to awakening his monster. The Lightning Rod."


    The pods which held and fired therge metal rods then started to spark an electric charge. The electric current raged out as these pods slowly fell towards the ground. Then it happened.


    Arge lightning st arced from the sky and rocked these heavy metals.


    BOOM!


    A of electric arcs filled the entire base.


    Electric arcs continued to dance striking every form of metal and incinerating unguarded soldiers outside.


    The war between the EMF reddish lightning fought against the blue lightning arcs from the lightning rod and resulted in chaos. Soon the reddish lightning arcs disappeared.


    Another set ofrge metals fell unto the base. And a few secondster, lightning strikes rained upon the base once more. The arcs of electricity were more chaotic as more Lightning rods protruded from the ground.


    "The missions a go!" Arthur spoke as he readied to jump.


    The EMF was no longer activated at the second volley of Lightning Rods.


    The submarineunched several torpedoes which then vaulted upwards and broke out of the water.


    Arthur immediately jumped and positioned himself at the provided gaps and handles of therge rising rocket.


    Soon the volley of rockets broke through the waters as the rest of the teams followed.


    The submarineunched a total of twenty-three rockets which flew to the sky.


    "WEHEW!" Meryl shouted excitedly as she was lifted high above the dark sea.


    It wasn''t long before the base was on sight.


    Several anti-air turrets were still functional and shot several rounds towards the sky.


    "You sure you got this Arthy?!" Meryl shouted loudly on herm device.


    Arthur did not answer but simply pulled out two rifles prepared for this anti-air opposition.

 Chapter 81 - The Parents Allegiances

    Two long rifles were inserted into a slot on Arthur''s missile. Ensuring that the locks that held him on the missiles were securely fastened, Arthur then used his rifles to aim.


    Just then, the burst of speed that the rockets they were riding started to slow down. With thest adjustments on the missiles, position and aims were performed by the missiles, the bursting res that propelled these missiles started to die out and the rockets then continued to a freefalling motion.


    The missiles glided and started free-falling towards the base.


    "Why did it die out?" Meryl panicked.


    "These missiles are equipped with anti-heat seeking capability. They are designed to glide towards its target." Arthur calmly replied as he aimed for the approaching anti-air rockets.


    However, even without the heat source, the Arbiter rockets continued to fly towards the sky. Despite the disappearing heat signals, it continued to fly towards the missiles that Arthur and his team rode.


    "Why does it look like those rockets still know where we are?" Meryl wondered.


    "Australian technology. If I had to guess, it''s using maic technology to guide the rockets. Anyway, we''vee prepared."


    BANG! BANG!


    Two shots were fired and the powerful Rail Gun which destroyed two anti-air rockets reaching for the missiles. The rockets exploded and destroyed the nearby rockets as well.


    Arthur continued to shoot the rockets as they glided through the air. Using Instant Calction, Arthur determined that the remaining anti-air rockets would not be able to intercept the free-falling missiles.


    The missiles which Arthur and his team rode glided pass the Arbiter rockets.


    The remaining Arbiter Rockets then broke into many pieces and created a shield of the explosion which destroyed the other missiles that wereunched.


    "Detach now!" Arthur ordered.


    The team immediately unfasted the belt which they attached to the rocket kicked off the gliding rocket.


    Glider wings immediately appeared as they extended their arms. Like flying squirrels, the team glided slowerpared to the missiles. A second after they jumped off the missiles, the boosters reignited and the missiles flew towards the different locations of the military base.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    s, Australia''s anti-air defense was prepared. Since the first attack, theyers of air-defenses had been enabled. Most of the missiles exploded before it could even hit the ground.


    The shockwaves tore the skies above the base and in the chaos of the explosions, two missiles managed to bypass the air defenses and finally managed a touchdown.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Tworge explosions rocked the eastern and southern part of the base.


    The lightning strikes finally ceased as the wave of lightning''s that arced through the area faded.


    The soldiers finally made their appearances. Jet powered Exoskeletons flew to the sky and several infantries also made its appearance.


    Meanwhile, in the shroud of darkness and the distraction of the explosions and lightning''s, no one could imagine that fourteen soldiers had infiltrated their base.


    Another wave of lightning rods was approaching the base, but the anti-air defenses managed to attack it while the EMF only attacked approaching missiles.


    "And that''s the gist of it." Lynd finally breathed out.


    It was a long story that he told. Luckily, his audience had no strength to ask any questions with their current state. Their shock also made them hold their silence.


    The three couples were lying t on hospital beds as several nurses and medics treated them.


    Their condition was bad. They all had gunshot wounds, several gashes and even stab wounds. Although they weren''t critically injured, they looked like they just survived a war zone.


    "So my daughter¡­ is currently training twelve of these ''Unlocked'' by apanying them in attacking Australia?" Steveson was the first to react from the long tale.


    "Sir! It''s on the news." A soldier arrived in and reported.


    Harker simply nodded and immediately signaled for the television to be turned on.


    "Following the rejected demands of New Great Britain, General Audenvise has acted once more and attacked the military base on Lower Tresk. Several long-range missiles were fired and an ongoing skirmish is taking ce in the Eastern Seas of Australia. Pangean military personnel who were monitoring the area noted that several lightning strikes urred on the base." A female reporter spoke as several images and a short video was shown of the lightning strikes.


    "Experts im that these lightning strikes damaged the base and should be a new technology developed by New Great Britain."


    "It''s clear that war is on the mind of every nation. Australia has revealed its aces and managed to push back the battle. But it looks like New Great Britain has a few tricks of their own." A short fat man with a thick ent spoke on television. His title appeared and identified the new face as General Pimitin, a My-Pangean General.


    "So do you think Australia will lose this war?" A reporter asked.


    "It''s hard to say. We haven''t seen the full extent of their technology. What''s curious is why did New Great Britain unveil this new technology? No other nation has yet to reveal their aces yet as early as now, but New Great Britain already did." General Pimitin frowned as he spoke. There was clear distrust and wonder in his eyes.


    The new continued to ry the information about the sudden battle, but Steveson paid no further attention to it.


    "So my daughters taking part in the battle?"


    BEEP! Am device suddenly alerted as Lynd immediately took it out to check.


    "Yep. Looks like they''vepleted their mission and is swimming back to the submarine."


    The stares of the couple were numb at this point. Such information brought them to a state of not knowing how to react. It wasn''t long since they fought three young kids who turned their world upside down. The moment''s that they thought they would die exceeded the total amount they experienced in their lifetime.


    "Now on to the reason why we all called you here." Alean finally spoke.


    "We need you to betray whatever organizations you''re working for and pledge your allegiance to our cause. Right now, this is the only organization worth fighting for. Your sons and daughter are already fighting it. This information cannot reach the organizations you''re working it. Do you understand?"


    Peters gave a loud sigh.


    "Welp¡­ having my ass handed down to me by my own sons sure is refreshing. We''re mercs. We don''t have work for anyone. We went to this country to retire. Looks like we can''t retire just yet, Lynda." Petersughed.


    "Lynd Peters¡­ just know that I''ll be sure to get back at you." Lynda gave a strong re towards her own son.


    Lynd sighed seeing that look. It wasn''t how she used to look at him. But before Lynd''s emotions could affect him¡­


    "But I''m proud of you son!" Lynda smiled.


    "You even managed to top the daughter of this strict Chinese man! But just promise me you won''t ever kill yourself trying to save that cowards son! If you already did in that future, then don''t in this timeline." Lyndaughed as she pointed at Chris.


    Steveson and Chris gave a ferocious re at Lynda.


    "Haha! That''s right! How you like me now Detective?" Peters mocked.


    "If what you said is true¡­ then it''s only obvious that we would follow you. Our assignment to Phil-Pangea also acted as my retirement." Steveson spoke coldly.


    "I would love to help my son out. But it''s not that simple. They know I met with you, Harker." Chris spoke gravely.


    "It''s alright. It''s part of our n. We will be headed for China. I want you three to act as a distracting entity to add more mystery for our uing fight." Alean spoke.


    "Arthur''s n is to use your identities to draw attention to whatever secret agency that''s watching you. If the three of you suddenly decide to go for One China, then it might mislead the Aragarians into thinking that what this is, is simply a battle in the underworld. You are to head back to your respective organization and act as if you''ve uncovered something between my organization, and Meng''s." Harker concluded.


    "I see. You''re using our identities to make this operation known so that it won''t be something suspicious to our alien residents¡­" Chris concluded.


    "Hiding something by putting it in in sight... Impressive." Steveson summarized.


    "How is Zeek''s condition?" Grace finally asked as she gave a re to her husband.


    "Honey! Rx! Look, Lynd''s like his best friend and he''s not worried¡­ Right, Lynd?" Chris turned to Lynd.


    "Don''t worry Aunt Grace. Zeek''s just preparing himself. Charles confirmed that his status is already stable and should awaken within a week or so."


    Grace sighed in relief.


    "You said my daughter''s changed. How?" Jade spoke for the first time.


    Petersughed.


    "So you know how to speak after all?"


    "Lynd." Jade asked firmly ignoring Peters and Lynda''sughs.


    "You have to see it for yourself. She''ll be waiting in China." Lynd smiled.


    Looking at the two strict parents of Meryl, Lynd offered a silent prayer for Arthur.


    "What about Richie?" Grace spoke once more.


    "Me and my husband met that man by chance. It''s hard for me to believe that he might lose against Meng." Grace spoke once more.


    "Arthur told me that Richie needs to master Peals of Thunder. Otherwise, we would all die in this battle." Lynd casually answered.


    "Then¡­ then why are you so calm?"


    "Zeek already went to the trouble of fixing it. It should be fine." Lynd smiled.


    Even Alean could not help but smirk at Lynd''s confident answer.


    Far far away from the Pangean military base where Lynd was, a thin man with a bandaged leg silently sat at the church seats. The service had already ended and the Pastor was met with a group of people who would thank the Pastor for the sermon.


    The thin man calmly waited for the Pastor to finish his greetings and started to retreat out the back.


    The thin man then moved. His steps weren''t fast. But it was clear that his wounds were no longer an issue.


    The thin man traveled through the backstage of therge church pulpit and then reached the outside of the building. A pathway led towards the home of this Pastor. People woulde and go as they pleased so seeing this thin, bandaged man didn''t rm the residents of the house.


    "I''m here to see the Pastor." The thin man asked a young boy who was just exiting the house.


    "Oh. Follow this pathway and turn right to a little house. That''s my dad''s office." The young man answered respectfully.


    "Thanks!" The thin man answered and went towards the small house.


    The thin man didn''t even knock but simply opened the door.


    The Pastor gave a curious look at the man but kept silent.


    The thin man walked and sat on the chair. His posture was neither arrogant or respectful but had a casual aura.


    "Hope you don''t mind. I''m Richie." Richie smiled at the Pastor.


    "Calvin Luther Eagle. You can call me Cal." The Pastor smiled respectfully.


    "I was hoping you wouldn''t visit me. I''m curious why you did though." Eagle spoke as he stood up and went for the refrigerator.


    "I don''t drink but feel free to do so." Eagle then tossed a bottle of beer towards Richie.


    "Oh my, Pastor. If you don''t drink then why did you have a bottle of beer in your fridge."


    "Obviously I noticed you and asked my wife to buy some for you guys." Eagle shrugged and sat down.


    "Now to what do I owe the pleasure?" Eagle then gave a slightly serious stare.


    "This." It was a simple word, but the sses around the house started to shake. Any more and it would have broken.


    "Impressive." Eagle nodded.


    "If it is, then why aren''t you affected by it?"


    "Slightly weak. I''ve seen and experienced worse." Eagle gave an honest reply. He was not arrogant in his bearing but someone who looked like he was ashamed of what he just said.


    "I see¡­ It looks like that little kid Seeker was right¡­ Now on to business¡­" Richie then leaned forward.. His eyes stared deep into the mysterious entity before him.

 Chapter 82 - The Reformer

    "In conclusion¡­ This drug is a preliminary drug that I''ve developed to help people reach the Unlocking up to Unbing Advent. I''ve been developing this based on my cells. I''ve figured that if I used Seeker''s or any other, then the effects would be too drastic and could kill a person. So I used myself and Alean as the base. At Arthur''s request, Cliff''s data has been scrapped as his potential seems to exceed Surmounting Unbing." Charles spoke calmly. On the screen was him in one of his doctor attire. A coat that he hasn''t worn for quite some time.


    "But you still haven''t answered my question. Why are my parents in pain!?" Lynd shouted angrily.


    Charlesughed.


    "Rx! It''s part of the process! Remember what we''ve been through?"


    "We never had that!"


    "You did! You just didn''t notice it. Seeker has been slowly building your physical capabilities remember? You kept training till your body was sore and we were exposed to those hellish training. The stress that our minds and bodies experienced slowly piled up until we reached it. What you taught was simply sore muscles from your workouts were actually the changing cells of your body brought about by his training."


    "So why are my dad and mom screaming in pain?!" Lynd demanded once more.


    "Imagine all that stress beingpressed as one big ball." Charles motioned swiftly as if trying topress as something.


    "And then ced in a pill. And have your parents eat that pill. All the stress that should have slowly changed your body suddenly happens and explodes. Wouldn''t that be painful?"


    "Then why did you make them take it?" Lynd growled.


    "Don''t worry! They won''t die! They''re mercs! They''ve must have had the necessary physical training and all that! They can handle that stress! I''ve already tested it on these three! And look how happy they are!" Charlesughed as he pointed to the three,


    The kaster Sisters, as well as Eric, gave a happy wave.


    "Of course they''d be happy! They''re Programmed ves!" Lynd could only grumble.


    "Depending on the progress of their Unlocking, they will either experience pain or have no effect at all. Did Cliff take it?"


    Cliff was in excruciating pain.


    The airne didn''t have bidets on their toilets and he was forced to use toilet papers. It was unnatural for him knowing that bits and pieces of his own excrement would be meeting his underwear gave him a restless mood as he sat down his seat.


    "What?" Cliff asked irritably noticing Lynd''s stare.


    Lynd turned back to his Visual Pad and gave a frustrated stare at Charles.


    "Don''t worry about your parents Lynd! They''ve been through harsher pain than this! Anyways, I''m really busy right now. With the data you and Zeek''s been giving us, we are constantly improving the possibility of a drug that can boost a person''s potential. See ya!" Charles immediately disconnected the call.


    Lynd sighed and rushed back to the hangar of therge military ne and went to visit his parent who was still squirming uncontrobly in a small pod prepared for each of them.


    "What did he say?" Alean yfully asked.


    "He says it''s normal," Lynd grumbled.


    "Oh! Come here you!" Alean went and gave Lynd a tight hug.


    Lynd blushed to the extremes.


    "Anyways, we should be approaching the Tatsulok soon. Let''s get into position. We can''t be seen."


    Therge ne approached Pangea''s version of the Floating Fortress.


    Arge triangle shape ship could be seen floating in the middle of the vast ocean. Like the F.F Churchill, the entire ship spanned several kilometers wide.


    "Tatsulok Aguinaldo in sight." A soldier reported to Harker.


    "Get in position." He told the group.


    Unlike New Great Britain''s 5th fleet, the Phil-Pangean fleet was located further north, just outside the Area of Responsibility of One China.


    The Tatsulok Aguinaldo became the favored location for several countries to meet and solidify a possible alliance against the Australians.


    As Pangea was generally neutral in its stance against New Great Britain and One China, it was the only nation that was deemed as safe for several enemies to meet at.


    General Harker walked down the ne and saluted the Pangean Generals who waited for him.


    "Well, if it isn''t the troublemaker." A General frowned at the sight of Harker.


    "Panderas. Nice to see you again." Harker answered coldly.


    The other Generals could only sigh at the sight of these two bickering. Who knew how many died in the secret battles between these two.


    "I should have you arrested for what you did. But I guess the death of your daughters enough." Panderasughed happily.


    Harker frowned and with a speed that far surpassed a normal human''s he imnted his left fist deep into the abdomen of Panderas.


    Panderas flew back a few feet and tumbled down vomiting blood and spit. Panderases reaction was swift. He reached for his gun but before he could pull the trigger Harker stomped forcefully at this forearms.


    The sound of the bones breaking could be heard as Pandera''s pained screamed seemed to overpower the sounds of helicopters and nesnding.


    The other General finally managed to react and tried to separate the two but Harker had already moved with amazing speed and calmness as he walked towards the main buildings.


    "I''m not in the mood for your games Panderas. Talk like that again and I''ll break your jaw." Harker answered coldly as we continued walking.


    The scene petrified the other Generals and the surrounding soldiers. Not even Panderas''s own men dared to point their gun at a General.


    As the delegates from other Nations started arriving, two particr groups immediately went and paid their respects to the heroic actions of Harker Cipril.


    One China''s delegates, as well as New Great Britain''s, paid a visit to the General.


    As the delegations arrived and spoke with Harker on his office, another meeting was urring.


    "Arthur! Meryl!" Lynd rushed towards Meryl and gave her a tight hug.


    Alean couldn''t help but clench her fingers as Lynd hugged his best friend who recently turned into a divine angel.


    "Oh¡­ Umm¡­ Hi Kristine!" Lynd gave a shy smile.


    Kristine returned a smile back after which, she returned to a tired and exhausted stupor.


    Lowengren walked behind Kristine with the same exhausted look.


    "What happened to them?" Alean wondered.


    "They took Charles drug. So they''re a little nauseated." Arthur responded tly.


    "Alright. Everyone, get ready. We are about to leave. Our guide to one China should be arriving shortly." Arthur ordered without caring for the state of everyone who just settled down.


    "How do we get to One China without leaving a trail?" Alean asked immediately.


    "My father already made the preparations. Several soldiers from the delegates of One China are actually assassins. They''ve made the preparations and we should be able to sneak into the ne without notice."


    "Assassins? Friends of your father?"


    "No. These are Meng''s subordinates."


    "What? Arthy! How did you pull that off?"


    "Remember Seeker''s little gift to Meng? Meng promised my father that he''d help him out once for the gift. My father told him to help me sneak into One China without detection."


    "Nutterballs. So we''re asking our enemies to help us get to them?"


    "They should probably bring us to one of their bases and treat us like VIPs. Once that happens, we wait for Richie to make his move."


    "I wonder if Richie''s managed to perfect Peal''s of Thunder?"


    "Seeker should be right. He wouldn''t risk this. We could die after all."


    "I don''t know. Zeek''s made quite a lot of messed up decision." Lynd sighed.


    "What if Eagle is far stronger than Richie and Richie dies at the hands of this Oveer?"


    "Die? Why would he die? Did you think Seeker sent Richie to fight Eagle?" Lowengren spoke in an annoyed tone.


    "Sebastian¡­ Not everyone has your wisdom." Alean reminded.


    Lowengren sighed.


    "Alright¡­ I''m sorry. That med''s got me all cranky. Why would Seeker have him face another Oveer? That''s just stupid. Eagle wasn''t meant to serve as a training ground for Richie¡­ In fact, If Richie dares to fight Eagle, he''d be dead for sure."


    "Then what''s Eagle for?" Meryl couldn''t help but ask.


    "The only reasonable answer... is that Eagle is the reason why Seeker valued Harker." Arthur began.


    Inside the room of Pastor Calvin Luther Eagle¡­


    "¡­and then I realized¡­ I was a lonely man¡­" Richie sobbed as he poured his heart out. The world''s deadliest assassin sobbed for the first time in his entire cold and cruel life.


    "Praise God¡­ Realizations are the path to growth. You can''t heal a wound by saying it''s not there. Jeremiah 6:14. I''m d that my sermon has inspired you." Eagleforted.


    Richie continued to cry his heart out. The years of anguish, of paranoia, of fear, all the shackles which bounded Richie all shattered at the immense kindness of the man before him. His words broke through the thick carapace which numbed Richie''s heart.


    "Your voice¡­ itmands great power¡­ you are right in thinking that it draws its strength in your own confidence. But the truth is¡­ you aren''t that confident. You are afraid. And so you hide in istion. But should you break free from those chains, and find the courage to enjoy the fellowship of the brethren, then your confidence will also shoot up. Are you willing to call me friend, oh lone assassin?" Eagle challenged as he had just done countless times in the altar.


    "I am!" Richie''s voice was firm. It wasn''t loud but it was powerful.


    The moment he said those words, a powerful shockwave enveloped the room. Eagle managed to brace himself and withstood the impact but everything else shook and was thrown away. The crystals, mirrors, and sses nearby all started cracking at the tremendous force.


    Even Richie was surprised at the sudden changes.


    "I¡­I''m sorry!" Richie immediately apologized.


    "No need! I have seen a miracle today! This is the miracle of John 18:6! I am happy to have served you!" Eagle smiled.


    "Go in peace. I feel that the purpose of your visit has been fulfilled."


    "It has. Thank you, Pastor. I feel that we will meet someday. That kid should allow our roads to cross once more. Until then, I''ll be happily watching your sermons online." Richie respectfully answered.


    "Oh? What about your friend? He wasn''t nning on seeing me? Truth be told, if he was the one who met me, then I''m not sure what I would do!" Eagleughed.


    "Hmm? There was someone else? I came here alone."


    "Oh¡­ Looks like he was just here to watch."


    "I can stay here if you want." Richie offered.


    "No. Since my God has granted you victory, let your mission not be dyed. Besides¡­ I don''t think that Mathematician has any untoward intention." Eagle rubbed his chin.


    "Lennox? He was here?" Richie was surprised and he continued to ponder this meaning.


    "I think your right. If he was nning to hurt you, my instincts would have warned me about it." Richie mumbled.


    "Go. I shall pray for your sess in oveing thest chains that bind your heart." Eagle smiled confidently.


    Richie said no more. He stood up and walked out of the room.


    He looked back and could not help but feel thankful to the young man who made him meet Eagle.


    "What a powerful person. No wonder my instincts were warning me not to mess with that man. Now I''m even his friend." Richie mumbled to himself as he started walking out of the residence.


    Richie then recalled Eagle''s words.


    As Richie reached the outskirts of Eagle''s residences, he looked at the distances and knew he was being watched.


    "Lennox. Don''t mess with him. Or you''ll have to face me as well." Richie growled.


    The Oveer''s voice wasn''t a loud shout but an invisible force moved from where he stood and shot at the roof of a nearby mid-rise building.


    Lennox was observing what had transpired. He took several steps back as whip-like sound zoomed pass his body apanied by Richie''s words.


    "Interesting..." Lennox spoke calmly unaffected by the terror that should have sent any man kneeling in fear.. He removed his cracked sses and started to walk away.

 Chapter 83 - Special Packages

    A young wounded boy followed the various soldiers who were leading the people away from the war.


    The sudden attacks of New Great Britain had threatened the nearby city. The war slowly dragged towards the city and New Great Britain''s forces had finally conquered the base.


    The evacuation urred immediately and the soldiers were escorting the civilians out.


    Thanks to the pacts and agreements set by the World Governing Powers, it was possible for these civilians to make their retreats without facing the attacks from the enemy.


    "Looks like this is where we part ways." A tall man followed the boy.


    "Remember your assignments. Let''s show these heathens the wrath of God." The young boy spoke seriously.


    Eleven refugees nodded and slowly went their separate ways.


    On the Tatsulok Aguinaldo, the meeting of the Generals of several nations finally ended.


    "General Lu." Harker called out as One China''s General was about to disappear on the various exits of the hall.


    "Harker?" The young General noticed.


    "I have a bold proposal. You probably have heard the intel that I''m the leader of an Underworld organization based in Phil-Pangea. That information is correct."


    The simple sentence shocked General Lu.


    "However, at the death of my daughter, I realized how things¡­ were wrong for me¡­ Right now, my priority is the destruction of Australia. I have sold all the information regarding my organization to two groups of Foreign Intelligence Service. Your country can benefit from this. All you have to do is allow six people to board your ne."


    "Let''s talk somewhere else." The General responded. The details that Harker spoke off were extremely terrifying.


    The pair walked towards Harker''s office.


    General Lu sat down on his seat and got straight to business.


    "A bold proposal you have, Harker. The things you just said could get you killed. So if you are willing to risk this much just to inform me, you''re either crazy or confident of my trustworthiness. Who are these people and what is their purpose?"


    "I''m simply resolved, General. These people are American double agents who now reside in Pangea, an Eastern Alliance spy, and two extremely skilled mercenaries from the SPU."


    "Oh? That''s quite a diverse group. Not to mention they are all our enemies. Why are you bringing One China into this little gathering of yours? And if this is for revenge, why aren''t you joining the trip?"


    "This mission is a great opportunity for One China, General. You let these groups in, they might be able to give you data on Meng the Dragon. And possibly, his technology."


    A surprised look surfaced on General Lu''s face.


    "Why would you and those countries want to mess with Meng?"


    "His technology of course. The unmatched and strong warriors he has are unfathomable. Has your Flood Dragons ever been a match for Meng''s assassins? It''s clear that he must have some human experiments that could provide biological improvements that enhance the human body."


    "It''s all pure conjecture. We have yet to confirm if Meng really holds such sciences."


    "That''s why you send these three. I don''t care for the benefits as long as Australia burns. If it''s true that Meng holds such technology, then your country stands to benefit from the discoveries made by these groups. If they fail, you cannot be med. The fault will fall on either America, The Eastern Asian Alliance, or the SPU."


    General Lu silently considered Harker''s words.


    "Then why have you not risked yourself, General? Why would Pangea not take part in this mission?" General Lu gave a scrutinizing re at Harker.


    Harkerughed.


    "Haven''t you just seen my countries stand in this war? This isn''t a Pangean operation, General. It is a Harker initiative. I gathered those groups and I offered them the ns and sold the information I have regarding Meng. As a part of the Underworld, I also gave them a lot of information on a lot of things." Harker smiled.


    General Lu could not help but feel fear in his hearts. Was it possible that Harker knew of his own secrets?


    "As for my personal involvement in this, it''s simple. This n is not full-proof. What if it fails? What if Meng doesn''t have the technology? This could reveal my connections to the Underworld. And if Pangea finds out about it, my days as General is over. And I ask you, if I lose my position, who can assure me that Australia will fall?!" Harker questioned with eyes burning with fanatic passion.


    General Lu could not help but pity the man. So behind this cold General''s treatment towards his own daughter was actually a doting father, who simply gave her daughter tough love?


    "I will contact my immediate supervisors. I''ll tell them of the six new members. Have them board my ne."


    "Oh? You don''t need their approval?"


    "They trust me. And I don''t need to worry. I feel that I can trust you as well." General Lu stood up and immediately left.


    Harker coldly watched as the General left. When the doors were finally shut, Harker finally sighed.


    Harker took his phone and immediately dialed a number.


    "You''re good to go. Meng''s assassin should soon meet with your team. Good luck. And Alean,e back alive." Harker coldly spoke.


    Alean didn''t even respond but simply ended the call. However, she had an unusual smile on her face.


    "Strange." She muttered under her breath.


    "The missions a go. Meng''s assassins should be here soon."


    "Alright!" One special package to Menging up!" Merylughed.


    "It''s your time to shine." Arthur nced at the groggy couples.


    "What happened?" Chrisined.


    "Sorry, Uncle Chris! I had to knock you all out. And we gave you some drugs. You should take this time to get used to your new strength."


    "What?" Chris wondered as he tried topose himself from the groggy sensation.


    "Meryl!" Jade ran towards her daughter and hugged her tight. Steveson followed and gave a hug as well.


    "Mom! Dad! Not in front of my friends! And aren''t you an Eastern Alliance spy? You should have more bearing and calmposure." Meryl gave an embarrassed cry as her mother and father hugged her tight.


    "I''m just d you''re safe. You''re not mad that we lied to you?"


    "Save it forter. We have more pressing issues at hand." Arthur spoke.


    "Where are we?" Steveson asked.


    "The Tatsulok Aguinaldo."


    "Hey! I know you! That famous Piercing e-sport yer!" Petersughed.


    "You know that there''s a big bounty for your old man. The strange thing is, there was a bounty for you but then an explicit order came out not to touch you."


    "We''ll have time for all unnecessary talkster. In a few minutes, you will be boarding a ne headed for One China. At this point, if you fail to follow my instructions you will die." Arthur spoke emotionlessly.


    "You all are now going to y the part as representatives of each of your organizations. Indigos, you''re working for the SPU. Each of you will pretend to be in a joint operation to infiltrate and steal Meng''s technology."


    "So basically if we don''t y along with all this, you''ll kill us?"


    "No. China would. Besides, screw up and your daughter would die. Well¡­ probably die." Arthur added as he felt Meryl''s scorned stare.


    "The files are here in this papers. Read it and live up to it." Arthur handed the group a set of files.


    The group gave a casual nce and terror was seen on the eyes of Chris and Steveson.


    "My God! This could lead to a World War! This is crazy!" Chris cried as he read the files.


    "Don''t worry Uncle Chris!" Lyndughed.


    "They know what they''re doing. Arthur''s very smart and Lowengren''s just as amazing. I''m sure they have a well-thought n in all of this. By the way, how did you guys infiltrate Australia?"


    "We rode a long-range missile and glided our way into Australia''s territory! It was fun! Kinda scary on thest part though. We had to jump off before the missiles blew up the base." Meryl announced in glee.


    "Rode¡­a missile?" Jade paled at hearing her daughter''s description.


    "Enough. We''ll have more of thatter. Read the files now. Carleans please follow me to the next room." Arthur immediately strode as they made their way.


    "So¡­ how was the training?" Lynd asked trying to change the subject.


    "They''re really impressive. Seeker was right. Those kids that we rescued in My-Pangea were monsters. They probably could reach Inhuman Proficient or more. What about you?"


    "Cliff started training his old gang. They''re quite slow. I''m guessing only up to Unbing Proficient unless Charles improves his drugs. So far no Ranked Heroes..."


    "You guys are crazy. You''ve been constantly exposed to people who were strong. Your standards are too high! Charles Lindmitt, a soldier who managed to provide great advances in the field of medicine¡­ That speaks of his capacity in intellect and strength. Alean Cipril, a girl born and raised in the shes of the Underworld. It''s only expected that they reach at least Surmounting Inhuman!" Lowengrenined.


    "Take a chill pill will ya?" Meryl frowned.


    "Is it any better than the previous pill you gave me?" Lowengren growled.


    Aleanughed.


    "In any case, Sebastian''s right. You''ve been around strong people. Considering your bloodlines and the dangerous things your family was involved in, it''s expected for you to reach these potentials. The only anomaly in our group is Cliff." Alean pointed out.


    "So you''re saying¡­ I''m a genius?" Cliff grinned.


    "I''m saying you''re a monster. Geniuses know how to use toilet paper." Alean giggled and Lyndughed.


    The group continued their casual conversations as the parents were shaking at the implications of the files they have before them.


    On the far-out reaches of space¡­


    Arge asteroid continued to orbit Mars. This asteroid was big enough to be a moon. But it''s axis on Mars was so precise that Earth could never see it through its telescopes and satellites.


    "We''ve lost several Pioneers." A man spoke as he stood in the middle of arge hall full of people. His features were very young but he had arge frame. He had a red glow on his eyes that stared calmly at the group before him.


    "What happened? Have these beasts found out about us?" A bearded man shouted. The huge frame was made obvious even as he sat down.


    "Impossible! We were careful to hide all traces! Is there a traitor?" A thin man with sses squeaked nervously.


    "Why would anyone betray us? What does Earth have that we don''t?" A tanned manughed.


    "Pokemon." A man with a rugged attire pipped in.


    Everyone was silent. Some even nodded unconsciously.


    "Garenjazz¡­ What are those clothes?" The young man asked.


    "I thought it looked cool. They called this style Hipster. Do you like it?"


    "Nevermind." The tall young man ignored it.


    "Whatever is happening on Earth, we can no longer ignore it. Garenjazz¡­ will you go?"


    "Pass." He shook his head.


    "I''ll go." The bearded manughed.


    "Just make sure not to indulge in your pleasures too much. We believe this is what led to the deaths of those Pioneers." The young man turned back.


    The bearded manughed.


    "I won''t. I''ll just kidnap the girls and bring them back here. That way, no one will find me out."


    "Don''t take too many and avoid those who are influential." The young man replied.


    "Don''t touch Amanda." The thin man ordered.


    "Cherry or Gordon?" The bearded man asked.


    "Can you kidnap, Rein, Cloud, and Seeker?" A young teen girl interrupted.


    "Seeker? Who''s Seeker?"


    "A rising pro gamer. He''s so dreamy¡­ I hope he''s not dead. I heard he was in Australia."


    "Well, Princess¡­ you should know how these things are. I know it''s your first time requesting packages. But we can''t just pick any famous Earth artist. I doubt I could take Rein. His fame in the Eastern Alliance would create too many conspiracy theories if we fake his death. Cloud''s just as worse."


    "Oh? So that''s what Feyor meant by influential." The young girl sighed.


    "I can get this Seeker for you though."


    The eyes of the girl twinkled.


    "Yay! Seeker''s the yummiest anyways! I can''t wait!" The young girl bit her lips in anticipation and lust.. This would be her first special package from Earth.

 Chapter 84 - Those At The Peak

    A young wounded boy followed the various soldiers who were leading the people away from the war.


    The sudden attacks of New Great Britain had threatened the nearby city. The war slowly dragged towards the city and New Great Britain''s forces had finally conquered the base.


    Ever since the Third World War, and the emergence of Cyber Abominations, strict war etiquette was observed during the war.


    Once a base is officially upied, the "region" in which that base covers then fall into a ceasefire as the civilians would be escorted out. The civilians had the choice to either flee to a nearby city or allow the conquerors to capture them. A strict screening procedure is involved on assigning whether or not a civilian may move to the next city or will be taken by the invaders.


    Both the invading and the defending country may not attack each other during this time.


    Any country who does not follow this procedure will face the World Governing Power''s wrath. This involves the authorization for any country tounch weapons of mass destruction towards the offending country.


    When New Great Britain managed to conquer the base, the ceasefire came to effect.


    The evacuation urred immediately and the soldiers were escorting the civilians out.


    A parade of civilians was walking towards the screening area.


    "Next!" A soldier coldly announced.


    A small boy walked in slowly.


    "Name and birth?"


    "Jeffrey Davison."


    "Your names not found in the system. Please walk towards New Great Britain''s deport bay."


    "Please, sir! I''m homeless! I don''t have any paperwork or proofs! I wouldn''t appear in the system! Don''t send me out there! Please! I''ve heard they beat Australian''s and torture them! I don''t want to die!'' The boy wept.


    The soldier had long experienced scenes such as this. His cold heart wouldn''t budge and immediately call security to escort these civilians out.


    But this time, he could not help but sympathize with the boy''s plight.


    "Please send all of us in! Me and my friends and family! We can''t bear to be a part of one another! This is our home and this is all that we''ve known!"


    The soldier hesitated. His numb heart was moved.


    "Listen, kid, I''m sorry. It''s just that¡­"


    "Let them in." The supervisor overseeing the checkpoint sighed.


    "Al-Alright sir!" The soldier immediately followed.


    "How many are you with?" The supervisor asked.


    "There are twelve of us." The young boy spoke. His eyes pleaded.


    "Please¡­ let us all in. I know it''s too much to ask."


    "Let them in." The supervisor smiled.


    "Thank you!" The boy broke down and cried as he hugged the soldier. With grateful smiles, he beamed at the group around them.


    All twelve managed to move past the checkpoint.


    "Which region do you want to go?" The soldier asked.


    "We don''t know. We''ve been in this city all our lives."


    "I think it''s safe if you head to the central cities. Avoid the coastlines." The soldier smiled.


    "Thank you, sir!" The young boy smiled once more.


    The twelve walked out of the checkpoint offering their thanks to everyone.


    The young boy continued to wipe his tears but then his eyes went nk.


    "You did it." The tall man pretending to be his fatherughed.


    "These are soldiers who have seen death and wouldn''t care about other people''s feelings. They ce their duty above their emotions. They are cold, detached, and would simply follow their objectives. Butpared to the evil scientist who experimented on me every day¡­ they would look at me like they did to their firstborn baby. How do you think I managed to avoid being thrown out of theb by being a useless experiment?" The boy answered with a nk expression.


    "Whatever kid! Just remember your targets! You have the most important roles to y after all!" The manughed.


    "I will."


    "This is where we part ways, Disciples." The tall men addressed his team.


    "Let''s go."


    The Twelve Disciples parted ways. Each headed towards their respective checkpoint exits and would journey to their assigned cities.


    Harker and Lu stood at the loading bay of One China''s port.


    "What are all thoserge crates for? You could fit a car in there!" Lu wondered.


    "You know how the Eastern Alliance are. They don''t trust others. They use their technology."


    Luughed at thisment.


    "And I''m guessing the SPU loaded a lot of high-grade weapons?"


    "Yes. I prohibited the use of biological weapons. But anything else is fine."


    "So we have the Eastern Alliances high-techputer gears, SPU''s barrage of terrible weapons and America''s Misceneous technology?"


    "What could go wrong right? But it''s Meng. I won''t be surprised that all of them die." Harker spoke softly.


    Lu was silent. He has heard of Meng''s terrible reputation.


    "Interesting. Don''t panic. But it seems that there are assassins who managed to sneak in your crew. Meng''s personal group if I''m not mistaken." Harker was bemused as he noticed two particr soldiers aiding in the loading.


    "What?!"


    "Rx. I don''t think this is serious. It may have been a coincidence. Perhaps the Australian techs have tempted him out of his cave. He might have dropped several spies in this base and is using this gathering as a method of spreading his spies on each attacking nation. I''m just telling you this so you can keep an eye on them."


    "What should we do?"


    "Nothing. We don''t want to arouse their suspicion, do we? If they sense something wrong then it could ruin this mission. My team won''t do anything suspicious. So they won''t be found out."


    "There''s a lot of risk in this, Harker. What if he''s here?"


    "If he is, then it''s good. Our mission should easily bepleted. But I doubt it. Meng¡­ is hard to hide. I''m sure you know of this."


    "A tiger may learn how to crouch, but a dragon can never crouch like a tiger." Lu nodded.


    "Exactly. So I''m sure he won''t risk it. Especially since half of the world is here. Just ignore it. They have their mission and I''m sure they''re focused on aplishing it. So they won''t have time to take notice of these minor hindrances."


    "If what you say is true, then your team just has to pretend like nothing is going on. Delegates always hitch rides in meetings like this. But they have to remain inconspicuous. They will be sharing the same flight after all." General Lu warned.


    Harkerughed.


    "Rx! I''m sure they won''t do anything suspicious. Those three countries picked them because they believe in their potential. Put yourself in the shoes of these three countries! If they fail, Meng will retaliate. And with his deep connections here in China and in the Underworld, who knows what you would face! Who would you send if you were in their position?"


    "The best of the best. The strongest of the strong. The pros among the professionals. The Elite." Lu responded without hesitation. If they were to take such a risk, the person whom they would send would be a god among men.


    "Indeed. Paragons in their industry. Those unchallenged of this world and detached from all forms of carnal desires. They stay focused on their mission. To say it in your terms, unhindered in the heavens. The mountain beyond the mountain. Just like the Chinese Cultivators of old. Unblemished¡­ Pure¡­ Created solely to fulfill their task." Harker nodded as a fierce gaze exuding deep respect shed in his eyes.


    "Sir. The six guests are now on board. We did as they requested and provided six high-end gamingptops and installed Piercing:Bullet. The six are now happily gaming inside the ne. It''s quite a scene. Six grown individuals cursing and shouting." A soldierughingly reported.


    "CARLEAN! CHOKE ON THESE BALLS!" Peters loud voice was heard even at the bottom of the ne.


    The soldier slowly walked away.


    Lu''s expression painted a silly expression. He turned to Harker for an exnation.


    Harker''s gaze stared straight to the heavens as if pondering the miracles of the men he just sent.


    "Behold, Lu! True professionals! When they are assassins, they are invisible. When they are politicians, they are corrupt. When they are undercover, they are rowdy and rascals! Total immersion in who they are. Don''t be fooled! This is what it means to be at the peak!" Harker slowly walked away as he continued to ponder the unparalleled might of these individuals.


    Lu sighed. For a moment he doubted these six individuals.


    "The peak, huh?" Lu wondered and walked away.


    Harker was cursing on the inside.


    "Why the hell are they ying Piercing:Bullet!?"


    The six said agents were paired up with their spouses and were busy moving their mouse and typing away on their keyboards.


    If someone would look at the game that these six were ying, they''d be shocked. It has reached a level that pro-gamers could only manage.


    A triple-threat team melee was underway as each coupled was paired and busily fought against their enemies.


    The match was amazing. Everyone was easily evading and blocking each other''s attack.


    The game had already progressed for more than ten minutes but not one of them has received damage.


    "Getting used to it, honey?" Time for our counterattack!" Chris spoke excitedly.


    "I''ll lead. You''re too reckless." Graceughed as she controlled her avatar towards the center of the map.


    "Now!" Grace ordered.


    The timing of Chris and Grace''s attacks were precise. The moment the enemy evaded, the small millisecond which the yer would be unable to evade an iing attack was exploited.


    BANG!


    The first damage was made.


    Jade had taken the first hit.


    "Damn you, Carlean! Messing with my wife!" Steveson roared and attacked.


    In therge hangar of the ne, severalrge crates that could fit several people were finally loaded.


    "Are you sure it''s OK?" Kristine wondered.


    Inside this crate was Kristine, Arthur, and Meryl. They sat on the floor. The entire crate was empty but it had a cooling system which kept themfortable.


    "Yes. They barely have enough time to train. This could be the best training for them."


    "ying Piercing:Bullet?" Meryl wondered.


    "Yes. Why do you think Seeker made you y these games? It helps you get used to the speed. And not only to see in the midst of this speed but to react as well. Not to mention the limited scope of the screen will help them calcte and move ordingly."


    "No wonder you allowed those twelve to y that game on their free time." Kristine realized.


    "Yes. I have already a n on how to use this game as a training ground for my team."


    "Your team?" Meryl was surprised.


    "Of course. That''s why Seeker assigned you as the trainer of this team. This is your team. I''ll be making my own team soon. I suspect the Covenant''s to have high potential in reaching theter stages of Inhuman. Once Lowengrenpletes this training, he will also set out to make his own team."


    "I see. It''s more effective this way." Kristine sighed.


    "I wonder how those twelve are doing?"


    "Don''t worry about them. They''ll be facing humans while we''ll be facing those who stand at the Peak in this world. Of course... Right now, we too stand at the Peak. This is a battle that cannotpare to our previous fights. We face Unbings." Arthur spoke with a serious expression.


    Somewhere in One China''s famous "City of Fantasy," Nanjing...


    A dangerous meeting was also taking ce.


    Twelve assassins were standing in the main hallway. This organization had over eight thousand employees worldwide, and they were affiliated with thousands of businesses, politicians, and other organization.


    But in thisrge organization, it only had twelve titled assassins.


    This was the organization that was the King of the Underworld in the East.


    He slowly walked in.


    The stones and steel that was used to build this ce were modified. Its density and strength allowed it to withstand Pangean Eradication technology.


    But this wasn''t for protection.


    He walked in and none of the twelves deadliest assassin dared look at him.


    "Let me see your growth."


    None were even looking at him, but many of the assassins started having wounds in their body.


    Of all of Seeker''s miscalctions, this was the worst. He underestimated the Oveer who currently stood at the Peak.


    ----


    Author, dated April 24/2021:


    Check out Ascension of the Nephilim which is my entry to the Spirity Awards! Please leave a review to AotN story so that a rating will appear. (Also do leave a review here if you haven''t yet)

 Chapter 85 - China’s Hidden Dragons

    "You survived. That''s passable" The tall muscr man nodded in appreciation.


    "Master''s strength has once again grown."


    "You have Humphrey to thank for that. His son''s visit will be ssified as a mission of top priority. If Lennox wants his son to see the Underworld, then we shall happilyply. Is that clear?"


    "We understand, Master." The lead assassin nodded. Wounds were slowly appearing all over his body. It was as if an invisible knife was slowly shing his skin.


    "Sting should be back after his mission. His growth is impressive. It seems that his encounter with one of Lennox''s men gave him great fortune. Make use of this encounter and learn from them as they will be learning from us. This should all awaken us and remind us that there are mountains beyond mountains and heavens above the heavens. If I find out that you all are weaker than them¡­ then you all know what to expect in the future."


    The assassins in the room felt a terrifying pressure and some even started bleeding through their nose.


    "Yes, Master!" All assassins nodded immediately. At this point, everyone was doing their best to remain unmoved as they knelt down.


    "Go now." The huge muscr manmanded as the pressure disappeared.


    The assassins immediately dispersed.


    The ceasefire had ended and the war raged once again.


    New Great Britain''s sess in the first battle was met with strong opposition.


    The battle was no longer on New Great Britain''s favor. The powerful technology was no longer as effective as before since Australia was ready.


    With the diverse technologies of each country, revealing one''s technologies too soon could lead to a country''s defeat.


    New Great Britain''s move was deemed foolish and reckless because of this. Not only did they reveal their new "Technological Possibilities" to Australia, but the entire world now knew. This would be an advantage if ever the enemies of New Great Britain would act.


    As the Southern seas waged its wars, the Northern coast was weary at the potential attacks that One China would do.


    Near the Northern coasts of Australia...


    A military convoy had just finished evacuating the civilians from the fallen base on the southern region and was en route to the South.


    "Sir! We''re detecting movement! There seems to be a person walking alone in the desert about three klicks from our location."


    "Move along. It might be some civilian that got lost in all the chaos. Let''s pick him up and send him to the next city we pass by." themanding officer ordered.


    The squad continued to move on the route andter found the civilian walking alone in the hot sands of the wilderness.


    The person''s walk indicated that he was exhausted and at the end of his capacity. He was covered in a ck rag that covered his entire face as he slowly walked in the heat of the sun.


    "Medic!" The Commanding officer shouted as he saw the poor state of the man.


    The squad immediately rushed faster towards the man and several medics rushed even faster.


    But then, the man suddenly stood still. He shot his arms forward.


    This was thest thing the medics saw.


    Back in the Tatsulok Aguinaldo¡­


    Colestart mmed his fist on the table angrily as he continued to take his stance.


    "You have acted recklessly and almost brought a nuclear holocaust to our nation! How dare you call me a coward!"


    "War is knocking on your doorsteps and I am the most capable General here! I destroyed New Birth Fort! If you hadn''t blocked my path, then that city would have remained in our possession until the next Border Ceasefire!" Harker shouted back.


    The Generals of various nations all sighed.


    Harker was right. After the fall of New Birth, if President Colestart immediately authorized the mobilization of the entire Pangean army, then New Birth Fort would have remained in their hands longer. Harker could have held the city long enough for these nations to send in their spies. But theck of support from Colestart resulted in New Birth Fort being reconquered by Australia.


    "The Border Ceasefire has already given ample time for that country to restore New Birth Fort! Now all my hard work became nothing! The death of my daughter became nothing! The death of President Albert''s son became nothing!" Harker roared once more.


    "Shut up, you stupid corrupt General! I know you are corrupt and have an organization in the Underworld! This entire thing might be a big scam you nned!" Colestart shouted back.


    This sentence created amotion as the important leaders and General''s gathered reacted on Colestart''s crazy usation. The media continued to document everything. The reporters were smiling in their hearts and even the people in the room could imagine the crazy headlines about Colestart tomorrow.


    Because of Harker''s information, almost all of the superpowers were secretly supporting Harker. And all these nations urged their media to attack Colestart.


    Colestart is usually calm, radiating in righteousness and would make a decision before a logical analysis of his avable options. But at this moment, he was angry and illogical.


    Harker stood silently and did his best not to smile at Colestart''s usation. Colestart just dug his own grave.


    Of course, Colestart''s anger was without reason. The piled-up stress and attacks he has been receiving have given him endless torment.


    Days before the Australian Avarice took ce, he suddenly received concentrated attacks from all media groups in the three Pangean nations. News reports,ints, disgruntled and unhappy citizens flooded the news.


    News about poor traffic on the highway road of Phil-Pangea''s biggest city was med on Colestart''s administration.


    News about long dys on the International Airport of Indo-Pangea was med on Colestart''s administration.


    News about the defeat of world champion Pangean Boxer became a trending meme wherein the me was ced on Colestart''s administration.


    His previous allies and connections in the media world could do nothing to help him in minimizing this tide of media attacks.


    He did his best to salvage his reputation and was able to maintain his status and was winning the media wars at first.


    The barrage of defaming news brought about by the media did little to sway his followers and supporters which consisted of the majority of the Pangean poption.


    A war against the media took ce as Colestart''s supporters started attacking these media.


    But then, he made one bad call.


    He went against Harker''s actions and disyed hesitation in his actions against Australia.


    His heart was pure. Colestart knew Pangea could not afford to fight Australia and that negotiations were still possible. Aside from this, the war in itself looked like a big misunderstanding.


    There were attempts to kidnap Albert, but was Australia really involved? The war itself seemed to have started under unclear circumstances so Colestart believed that this issue would be easily cleared up without falling into war.


    And this stance sealed his faith. International and national media groups attacked Colestart and his supporters slowly dwindled. The synergy of the previous bad news paired with this internationally known scandal made many of Colestart''s supporters shake.


    So despite Harker''s action being too daring and reckless, the media was on his side. As Harker was still building up a reputation from the previous victory over the scandal in My-Pangea, his momentum and strong charisma gave him the support of the majority.


    To the masses, Harker was a hero. But to Colestart, this was all a fa?ade used to steal the Presidential seat of the Pangean Nations.


    "Harker''s actions are reckless. I cannot hand over full military authority over to you! You are emotionally incapable of assumingmand over this battle!" Desperate to cling to whatever power he has, Colestart immediately went with his ace.


    If a joint military operation of several countries were to be made, then the other General''s would probably agree that it would be reckless to leave Pangea in the hands of a vengeful father.


    "You only want revenge and who knows if this could lead to some Cyber Abominations!" Colestart screamed. He was at the brink of defeat. Everyone knew that these usations could only damage Colestart''s reputation. But his disparity drove him to the point of blunt usations which do not do well in politics.


    Suddenly the Chinese General, Dyne Lu, stood up in surprise!


    "I''ve received word from our fleet! The northern base of Australia, Fortress storrid has just been conquered! Fleet Admiral Loren storrid is dead!"


    "What?!" the surprise shouts of everyone had not yet echoed across the room when various aides and news reporters started running around to confirm this news.


    "How?!" Harker immediately asked.


    Lu''s stunned face had not vanished as he read the memo from his handheld device.


    "This¡­. Get the media out!" Lu demanded as he continued to look in shock at the message.


    The reporters and all unimportant people were thrown out of the room immediately as Lu insisted strongly.


    "We have received a message for you, General Harker." Lu looked towards Harker with eyes brimming with caution. The entire room turned to Harker.


    "What is it?" Harker immediately asked.


    "Meng offers this tribute inmendation for your courage."


    This sentence silenced everyone.


    Almost everyone in the room did not understand what this meant.


    Only a few Generals and the leaders in that room understood what that meant.


    Colestart paled in shock.


    He unceremoniously left the room in haste.


    "It''s over. It''s all over." He kept repeating.


    "What was that?" A high leveled government official asked as he chased Colestart.


    "During the third World War, China fell into a dangerous position as it had to face the Russians up north, the Eastern Alliance on it''s East, India on the South West and New Great Britain was marching at their West." Colestart narrated.


    "What?"


    "Aside from the threats outside, the power struggle between two political groups were also intensifying. It''s a known fact that both political groups were using borrowed hands from the foreign invaders to kill their enemies."


    "What are you talking about?"


    "But a third political group appeared. This group suddenly rose into power due to the backing of one Chinese General and that won the peoples trust. Itmanded a strange army of strong warriors. Martial artist experts of all sorts appeared and wiped out the enemy. A single soldier from this army could kill hundreds. And some had even a thousand confirmed kills."


    The official following Colestart was now quiet. It was beginning to understand.


    "You know history! This army made a single attack! A damned single attack! It moved South West and burned thends of India! At the first Border Ceasefire, One China was formed. India was conquered! Who do you think the leader of that organization was?!"


    "You mean to say that that army belonged to that man named Meng?"


    "Yes. It was under his father''s back then. China''s Hero-General who we know in history. The Golden Dragon of China, Nogard Meng. He was a part of the army but he had a secret army which hemanded. That was that army!"


    "But that''s over sixty years ago! Nogard''s dead!


    "And his organization grew stronger. His son took over and is currently the head of that dark empire. Every President who took the mantle in Pangea is given several highly ssified information. One of them is a simple instruction written by the findings of President Doronilo''s administration. ''If we want this country to continue to exist, don''t mess with Graydon Meng!''"


    Colestart''s pace was getting faster and faster. Staying in the Tatsulok would be useless. With Meng''s support, Harker is sure to soar.


    The victory at Fortress storrid proved that the army of the Dragons was still as strong as ever. Though news of their existence was wiped out of the pages of history, a few peoplemitted it to memory.


    And now, his appearance brought a tremendous shock to the world once more. There was no detected rocketunched, no earthshaking battle reported on the news, yet a fortress has fallen.


    Those who were aware of this organization only had one thing in mind.


    The long-dormant leader was now taking action.


    The ck Dragon of China had awakened.

 Chapter 86 - To Be Defeated

    Colestart was lost in thoughts on his way back. The pressure of the Dragon was thest thing he needed right now. Why would Meng be impressed with Harker''s action? Could it be that this dark tyrant would actually be impressed?


    He checked online and viewed the news. As expected, his reputation continued to plummet. News of his usations towards Harker''s criminal connection hit the media. The media made him look like a bitter, desperate and deluded person who could only resort to crazy ims to defraud his enemy.


    "Have you made contact?" Colestart answered the phone before it even rang. He has been waiting for this call for some time.


    "Yes Boss, but he wouldn''t say a thing. He''s afraid, Boss."


    "Afraid?" Colestart was shocked at the news.


    "Half of his men are dead. They all died."


    "What?! How?"


    "They were attacked. He said two guys went in a rampage at their headquarters. Almost everyone on site was killed."


    "Two guys? That man has an army!"


    "More than half is dead."


    Colestart felt his stomach clench.


    "Was there any video feeds recorded of the attackers?"


    "No. The enemy wiped off the data. There were a few survivors. But it looks like they were intentionally spared. The survivors imed that the attackers were using ss swords."


    "What were they after?"


    "Nothing. The two burned all the drugs and stole some of the money. They took what they could carry and burned the rest."


    "So it''s not money or drugs... They were sending a message¡­" Colestart murmured.


    "Gather whatever information you can about those two. We''ll put out a bounty for them. Talk to Stanley, Brenton, and Grander after this! If Delton can''t help us, then we should contact Harker''s other rivals."


    "Boss¡­ About that¡­ I already contacted them." The agent hesitated.


    "Apparently, the same thing happened to all of them. When I met with Delton, Stanley was with him. He told me that seven other groups were attacked. Among those seven are those groups you just mentioned."


    Colestart''s worst fear came true. The enemy was a step ahead.


    "Do they suspect that it''s Harker?"


    "Yes. Delton said that everyone knows that Harker did this as all who were attacked were his potential enemies and had evidence to charge him. So now¡­ No one''s courageous enough to openly use Harker or provide any information that could tie Harker to his secret organization and his illegal trades."


    "Who attacked the other groups?"


    "Another pair of killers trained with various weapons. They all attacked the main base and would leave a few survivors. For Stanley, since he was at that hideout when the raid began. The two killers killed everyone except him."


    "Can he identify who attacked him?"


    "He said they wore masks. One guy had some sort of an ax, while the tall guy carried a scythe."


    "An ax and a scythe? Delton had an army and they were all killed with two swordsmen¡­ Stanley was attacked with two people carrying an ax and a scythe?"


    "Brenton''s men were killed by two men carrying rapiers, and Grander''s base was raided by two guys carrying a shield and sword, and a spear."


    Colestart''s mind went numb.


    "What happened when the killers met Stanley?"


    "Stanley said he was trying to y it cool. Since he knew he was dead, he wanted to die like one of those calm andposed gang leaders we see on T.V."


    "That fits his profile... Did the attackers torture him?


    "No. Quite the opposite actually... He wasn''t harmed. And the two killers spent about an hour in his office."


    "What? What did they talk about?"


    Colestart was quiet. Stanley was actually admitting he wanted to act cool?


    "When the two men finally arrived, the taller man informed the smaller one not to kill Stanley. It seemed like the smaller one was about to kill Stanley. The two then started looking for something to drink. They didn''t want fancy wine. So the taller man asked for soft drinks while the smaller one drank beer. Cheap beer."


    "What happened next?" Colestart ignored the strange urrence.


    "Stanley started to give his speech about how he built his career over the deaths of many and wasn''t afraid to wee his own demise..." The agent paused. He was unsure of how to tell the next part.


    "And?"


    "Well¡­ the taller one wasn''t paying attention as he noticed Stanley''s collection of retro games. And he¡­ started ying."


    "ying?" Colestart was tongue-tied.


    "Yes, Boss. the taller man started asking Stanley about his collection of old consoles and retro games. The leader seemed excited about a certain retro game called Skyrim."


    "And then they just left Stanley?"


    "Well¡­ the taller man left emptied a bag of money to take away Stanley''s console and some of his games. So the leader left Stanley with some few millions of Sydians before leaving with a bag full ofputer games."


    "Was Stanley able to note certain... peculiarities about the assassins?"


    "The smaller one seemed to be the subordinate of the taller man. The taller man had a peculiar expression. ''Nutterballs.''"


    "Nutterballs?" Colestart repeated.


    "That''s all that he could tell me. The assassins were dressed in dark clothes. They had voice changing equipment and left no traces of prints behind."


    "I see." Colestart didn''t know how to react. He silently pondered the events that have just transpired.


    He remained silent but did not hang up the phone.


    "Boss? What happened? Who are these men?" The agent finally asked after a minute of silence.


    Colestart startedughing.


    "Boss?"


    "It''s over. My career is over. I, who was never corrupt, will be remembered in history as one of the stupid leaders of Pangea who opposed Harker. It''s finished. Hahaha."


    "Boss? What are you saying?"


    "Meng. Those attackers where Graydon Meng''s subordinates. Each had a particr weapon they specialized in. Using simple ancient weapons, they massacred hundreds. No one else in this world could do that!"


    "The ck Dragon?!"


    "Yes. I''ve just learned that the ck Dragon is helping Harker. It''s all making sense now. It''s not Harker. It''s Meng. He''s after this country. He might have wanted something in Australia''s technology and is using Harker to get it. It''s all making sense now!" Colestartughed harder.


    "You mean, those who killed their way through those gangster hideouts were Meng''s assassins?"


    "Yes! They were a mentor-mentee pair. The taller would be Meng''s assassin, while the younger ought to be their son, daughter or disciple. They used the Underworld as a training session for their kids or disciple! Laughable right? No wonder these syndicates could only remain silent! Meng was sending them a message! Don''t interfere, or I''ll kill you!"


    "So what do we do?"


    "Do? There is no ''do!'' Meng has the media controlled and now he paved the way for Harker to rise into prominence! And Harker''s old enemies, who could''ve helped us are too afraid! If we continue to fight back, Meng might even send his own men to kill us! We have to surrender."


    "That''s it?!"


    "Of course that''s it! Funny right? I have never been corrupt and has even vowed to wipe all of the corruption in this country! But just because the Dragon wants something, I can only choose to surrender in order to live! And not only that, I will be known as someone wicked, corrupt, and cowardly! I thought I''d forever be undefeated in my political career! So this is what it''s like to be defeated¡­"


    Colestart continuedughing and soon started to sob uncontrobly.


    Meanwhile, in a secret location in Hong Kong¡­


    BANG!


    Arthur finally managed to shoot a bullet in which Cliff was forced to block. Arthur continued his barrage.


    Cliff immediately dodged the attacks and kept pushing forward.


    Kristine dashed forward to block his rush but Lowengren intercepted.


    Lynd and Meryl were constantly assaulting each other as they moved in speeds that exceeded human capacity.


    Alean was busy dealing with Lander as they were shooting each other at extremely close range.


    The couples could only look in horror and amazement at the fight that was happening.


    "Isn''t that the Hero of Hellion''s tragedy?" Chris could not help but wonder.


    But no one had the time to answer Chris''s query as the battle grew fiercer.


    The six pairs were experts in the field of armed and unarmedbat, but they couldn''t hope to match that ongoing battle. Their eyes were zooming from one end of the battle to another. Every time they would hear a loud sound or gunfire they would immediately turn towards it.


    Everyone was switching from one weapon to the other.


    All that the couples could notice was that Cliff was eventually cornered. It looked like he was grasping the sword and using his strength to stop Arthur from piercing him.


    Kristine and Lowengren''s battle was also reaching its climax.


    Meryl could no longer resist Lynd''s changing battle tempo.


    Meryl suddenly released a bright shing light.


    "Now!" All of a sudden, Lowengren screamed.


    Arthur sneered as he heard Lowengren''s shout and took out a small gun and shot on several locations despite the bright light that Meryl made.


    As the bright lights faded, only Lynd was standing on Lowengren''s group.


    Lowengren, Lander, and Cliff were down.


    Arthur''s team immediately rushed to attack Lynd together.


    But suddenly, Lynd took out a small device and pressed it.


    Several small electric bursts exploded and shocked Arthur''s team. The st came from the weapons they carried.


    Lynd''s weapon stopped at Meryl''s throat.


    Lynd stood there smiling.


    "You lost Meryl."


    "That''s cheating." Arthur snorted. He could only kneel as his entire body was numb.


    "This wasn''t part of the weapons we agreed upon!" Arthur angrily argued.


    "And that is why you lost, Arthur." Lowengrenughed.


    "We will be facing enemies with unknown technology. What are you going to say when you lose?!" Lowengrenughed.


    "That''s not the point! I did not take this into consideration! If you told me that you would use other weapons other than those we''ve discussed, then I wouldn''t have lost!"


    "And that is why you lost! You have such an outstanding Path, Chaos Order, but this is its weakness! It relies on what it knows! This supercharged weapon was outside of your calction and so you didn''t think about it! You didn''t notice that when Cliff blocked your sword, he was actually sticking that small bomb at your handle! You were so into the calction that you forgot basic observation! I knew that Meryl would use that burst of light to finish most of us of and that you would rely on Chaos Order to hinder Lynd from defeating Meryl!"


    Lowengrenughed crazily. It was too satisfying. After several days of being tormented by Arthur, his revenge tasted so sweet.


    "Your Lennox Humphrey''s son! So the blood of a great mathematician flows in you! How do I defeat a calcting monster from finding what is the variable x? Simple, change the given data! Your own calctions defeated you! Face it, no matter what you say, you''ve lost, Arthur!" Lowengrenughed.


    Arthur sat silently with a cold expression.


    "It''sing." Meryl sighed.


    "What''sing?" Lynd wondered.


    "What does Lowengren always do, after he wins?" Meryl giggled.


    "You suck Arthur! You suck! You suck! Hump this for free, Arthur Humphrey!" Lowengren turned around and revealed his recliner and pointed at it provocatively. He had clearly left his profound game-mode and went to another mode he was world-renowned for, the greatest trash-talking winner in the world.


    "Let''s just start the meeting." Arthur frowned and slowly stood up, as he clenched his teeth in pain. Beyond the physical pain, was the reality of defeat. So this was what it felt to be outsmarted?


    "Let''s assess everything we''ve learned in this mock battle."


    "Well, I''ve learned that Arthur sucks!" Lyndughed loudly.


    "Lynd¡­" Alean sighed.


    "Oh¡­ So-sorry Arthur. I unconsciously imitated Lowengren."


    Lowengren continued his tirade of insults as they walked towards the meeting room.


    "I can''t believe I lost to this bunch of kids." Lander could only sigh as he followed begrudgingly. Somehow, he was happy as he followed the group.


    "Crap. I can''t help but be happy..." Lander followed as he did his best to convince himself that he is not happy. But this proved useless as the imnted chip started to do its wonders.


    "Don''t worry." Aleanughed as she saw Lander''s odd expression.


    "Reach Ranked Hero.. You should be able to control your emotions by then."

 Chapter 87 - A New Romance

    Prime Minister Steele Zhang sat nervously as he met with China''s most powerful individuals.


    "So you''re saying, that you won''t attack that base?" A tall, lean and stylish man red at the Prime Minister.


    "Yes. That ce is¡­ dangerous. No General of China''s Army would boldly attack with that ce." The Prime Minister answered nervously.


    "Is that man so terrifying? Does he have an army as powerful as One China?" The person beside the tall lean man, a beautiful woman with wless white skin interjected.


    "Madam¡­ You have to understand. That man is a demon!"


    "Why haven''t we heard of him?"


    "Because he doesn''t want to be known! Even his organization has been silent for the past decades! That was never the style of that damned family!"


    "Even in the Underworld? Why haven''t I faced any oppositions in my dealings there?"


    "That''s because you haven''t crossed his bottom line! And the other organizations would dare not cross with theirs! The fact that they''re silent doesn''t mean that they won''t bite! That organization changed our history!"


    "I don''t have time to listen to your history lessons, Prime Minister. If it wasn''t for the fact that Richie went missing I wouldn''t be talking to you! Who is he and why have you been hiding his existence?!"


    "Hiding his existence? We dare not! We simply thought you knew! That man is a legend! Richie wouldn''t dare attack that man! In fact, let me tell you this, rumor has it that Richie once shed with Meng''s subordinates and his subordinates managed to escape alive!"


    "What?! So they''re as strong as Richie!?" The tall man was shocked. He had long read of the reports of Richie''s capabilities. And now, more of them surfaced?


    "Who are these assassins? And what exactly are we facing?"


    The Prime Minister gave a frustrated look. He couldn''tprehend how these two knew nothing about Meng.


    "Let me exin through history. During the third world war, there were thirteen strong warriors who led our armies to victory. This was controlled by that man, Meng."


    "Skip the history lesson. How strong?" The woman impatiently demanded.


    "Extremely! This thirteen warriors conquered India! One sweeping campaign was all it took to win that war. And that was because these thirteen joined that battle. That''s why even that experiment, Richie is afraid of him."


    "No, I''m not." The voice was so in yet it sounded like thunder.


    The window ss was shattered and a powerful force sted through the room. The trio was thrown out of their positions and stumbled on the ground.


    "Richie!" The Prime Minister cried in terror.


    The guards inside the Prime Minister''s mansion immediately moved. All of them were the elite. Agents who have been trained to the highest level.


    All entered the room immediately and rushed towards the window to see what happened.


    The guards pointed their guns out and were ready to pull the trigger but no one could be seen on the balcony of the building.


    "He''s in the building!" The Prime Minister shouted.


    BANG! BANG!


    Gunshots were heard downstairs and the guards immediately rushed to lead the three to the safe room.


    "Boys." A calm voice somehow echoed throughout the house despite the loud sounds of gunshots.


    "CALM DOWN."


    BOOM!


    It was like thunder. The voice resonated throughout the mansion breaking windows and cracking the marble tiles.


    Everyone was affected. Many instantly dropped on the floor, some fainted, while others felt as if they were being skinned alive.


    Richie casually walked over the shaking bodies of the soldiers and agents and steadily walked the stairs.


    A happy whistling tune echoed out as he took his steps. But this whistle brought extreme pain to everyone.


    People were shouting in pain and fear, yet somehow this little happy whistle overpowered the loud sounds in the mansion.


    "Ri-Richie!" The Prime Minister screamed in shock as he finally regained sanity.


    "Prime Minister¡­ I''m here to ask permission. I''ll be attacking Meng''s base. So get ready to clean up after my mess." Richie smiled.


    "Wha-what!?"


    "Who do you think made me disappear for a while? Those damned assassins assaulted me when I was about to abduct Hoross and killed my client!" Richie sighed.


    "Gary!" The tall man couldn''t help but cry out.


    Richie nodded.


    "And just to make it clear¡­ I was never afraid of Meng. The reason why I never shed with them, is because he and I are one of a kind in this world. So I allowed him to do his little operation since he never bothered with me. After all, it''s quite lonely if I''m the only one left at the top."


    "I understand. Forgive me for being so presumptuous."


    "The mess will be hard to clean up. Admittedly, I won''t stand a chance facing Meng and all his little minions. So I''ll be bringing my disciples along. Just make sure your country stays out of the way."


    "Of course! Of course!"


    "I''m sorry for ruining your meeting. Especially when you''ve had such a distinguished guest." Richie gazed at the two.


    The pair shivered at the eyes of the man.


    "And looks like I''ve messed up the prettydy''s make up. Here. For your troubles." Richie flicked a gold coin at the woman.


    The woman gave a blushing stare as he looked sweetly at Richie.


    Richie simplyughed.


    "Lady¡­ Don''t even think about it." Each angry word of Richie somehow stopped the woman from breathing as she felt her chest weighing heavily on her.


    Thedy coughed and coughed and Richie simply turned around.


    "See you around, Prime Minister... If I''m alive that is." Richie sighed as he went his way.


    "You''re not sure you can defeat him?" The tall man could not help but interject.


    "Who are you? And why do you care?" Richie frowned.


    "Forgive me! We are just concerned about China''s welfare. It is said that Meng sent one assassin to destroy Fortress storrid!"


    "It shouldn''t be one. All thirteen was there and they all ambushed me. Meng''s simply creating an illusion to make his team look all strong and powerful." Richie slowly walked away. A trace of loneliness could be felt as he walked.


    "How many of his assassins did you kill?" The tall man asked once more.


    "None," Richie replied angrily.


    A powerful force mmed against the man pinning him on the floor. The man was gasping for breath as he felt his ribs cracking.


    "Are you happy? The ambush was well-thought of. I barely escaped by hiding myself among the Pangean residents. But now, I''m ready. By tomorrow, only one will remain. So get out of the way." Richie coldlymanded as he continued walking.


    "Wait!" The woman managed to remember an important assignment. But Richie seemed to be ignoring this woman.


    "Seeker Carlean! Is he alive?" The woman cried out.


    Richie almost immediately paused as he heard that name. He continued walking but started to slow down as he came to a calm halt.


    Richie gave the woman a curious look.


    "The Piercing Pro Gamer?"


    "Yes. Is he alive?"


    "Aren''t you a little too old for that kid?" Richieughed.


    "It''s business. A lot of money''s been circting around that kid. And I''ve ced quite a lot on him as well. The Covenant says he''s alive. But no word from him since New Birth Fort''s destruction!"


    "Oh." Richie simply shrugged and continued walking.


    "Yes. He''s was wounded. I saw him on New Great Britain''s ship. They should be keeping him since the testimony from an inte celebrity kid could further attack Australia''s reputation." Richie''s figure soon disappeared from the trio''s sight and his whistle slowly drifted further and further until none could be heard.


    As they confirmed Richie''s departure, the woman stood up and called her driver.


    "Get us out of here!"


    The pair immediately walked out not bothering with the Prime Minister and immediately rode the limousine that arrived.


    "This is crazy!" The tall man shouted as he continued to hold on to his left rib.


    "He''s worse than what Gary reported!"


    "Idiot. Gary told us that he never has seen the full extent of this man. Even when facing assassins, he wouldn''t use his voice!"


    "He''s dangerous! With that strange ability, he could pose a threat to us! And that Meng! He''s just as strong as this Richie? That''s crazy! What happened to these Earthlings! How did they have such monsters? And these monsters have disciples?" The tall man cursed.


    "Rx! That monster said it himself! They are the only monsters in this damned. We kill them, then we can ensure our victory once we execute our ns." The woman smiled.


    "What about his disciples?"


    "We''ll kill them too! His disciples should be well-trained assassins while Meng should have applied some human modification on his body and his thirteen soldiers. We''ll just wait for the two to fight to the death and steal Meng''s data."


    "We kill them during their sh¡­"


    "Exactly. If Richie has his disciples, and Meng has his assassins meet, then this battle will turn into an all-out melee! A well-ced bomb would easily do the trick!"


    A satisfied smile was disyed on the tall man.


    "Of course! We should earn some merits with this!" The tall man finally rxed.


    "Still... that Richie was quite a monster." The woman recalled with great lust in her eyes.


    "That was a true man. Not even our world''s greatest couldpare to him." The woman sighed.


    The tall man was quiet. A hint of jealousy appeared on his eyes but he couldn''t speak of anything to dissuade the woman of her fantasies.


    "Forget about him. He needs to die." The tall man finally spoke.


    The woman simply sneered at the tall man''s response andughed.


    "Looks like Presider Pridgeon''s request is also half done." The tall man changed the subject.


    "Right. Thanks to me! You were so intimidated by Richie that you failed to use the opportunity to gather information. You''re useless. Why am I here with such weak men?" The womanughed.


    "If only Presider Pridgeon would look at me. At least he''s a man I can settle with." The woman sighed.


    The tall man could do nothing but frown.


    "Presider Pridgeon likes men! And not just men! Teenagers! He''s wasn''t only looking for Seeker! He told me to ready that kid as a package!" The man spoke in deep disgust.


    The woman gave a devilish smile and held out her mobile device and clicked it.


    "Presider Pridgeon likes men! And not just men! Teenagers!" A recorded audio was yed.


    "What are you doing?!" The tall man screamed angrily.


    "Get me Rein or I hand this over to Presider Pridgeon!" The woman threatened.


    "What? Why?! You damned slut!" The tall man cursed.


    "Ha! Fool! Presider Pridgeon isn''t gay! It should be Presider Zeraphine. She should be a teenager by now. But you just had to curse your superior!" The womanughed as she reyed an audio recording.


    "You slut! Give me that!'' The man threatened but the woman gave a kick at his ribs and the man squirmed in pain.


    "You''re crazy! You know how hard it is to get him without rousing suspicions!"


    "I don''t care. Meeting that Richie really ignited my passions. Since I can''t have such a man, I''ll settle with someone less." The woman smiled as she gazed on the small coin that Richie gave.


    "Fine! I''ll do it! Damn it! Luckily the news in Australia''s keeping the media busy! He''s just recently married, you slut!" The tall man sighed in defeat.


    "That''s why he won''t make this little fling of our public. Besides, If he falls for me, I can kill off that little wifey of his. A pity that he''s no Richie. Oh my, Richie!"


    THUD!


    The car suddenly swerved as the driver hit on the breaks.


    The two passengers smashed on the doors and crashed on the floor.


    "You idiot! Drive carefully!"


    "I''m sorry! I just lost control somehow!" The driver apologized.


    "Just get us out of here!'' The tall man shouted and the car drove on.


    "Was that really necessary?" Arthur couldn''t help but ask through them device. He heard Richie give apressed shout.


    "You almost gave yourself away." Arthur did his best to hide his anger.


    "Shut it. I did what you asked and gave her that bugged coin." Richie was standing on the rooftop of a nearby building.


    "Do you believe me now?"


    "So aliens do exist..." Richie grinned.


    "An intergctic showdown sounds fun.. I think I found myself a new romance."

 Chapter 88 - Meetings And Deductions

    A group of men waited outside their cars in an empty parking lot. Ahead of this group were two tall and lean men who kept gazing at the entrance of this underground parking space.


    One had a rich dark skin. His own fist was full of tattoos that made it look like his skin was made of hard metal. The other man was a man of Asian origin.


    Finally, the visitors that these two were waiting for arrived


    A frown appeared on the ck man as he counted the visitors that were sent.


    All sources indicate that there was only one man who would meet with them. But surprisingly, four appeared.


    The diversity of the four individuals was something that made the uncaring Asian man also give a curious look at the party.


    "You must be Sir Arthur." The ck man spoke.


    "Just Arthur, please."


    "Master didn''t tell us that you would have such a¡­ diverse party."


    "Is there a problem with these three?" Arthur gave a bored look at the two.


    The ck man frowned but before he could speak his partner spoke up.


    "Apanying you are people who are legally dered to be dead. And these aren''t any average nobodies. Commander of the Heroes Army, Alean Cipril and the Game-Transcending General, Sebastian Horros."


    Lowengren moved and offered his right hand to the Asian assassin.


    "Nice to meet you." Lowengren smiled mysteriously as the two shook hands.


    "Their identities are quite sensitive considering that they''re actually alive. But these two are nothingpared to him." The Asian assassin pointed to Arthur''s thirdpanion.


    "Several of us wanted to fight you. Another figure who is believed to be deceased. The Hero of Helion''s Tragedy. Thrince Lander."


    "Would we reveal the heart of our operations so easily to such a suspicious group? Do you think our Master would allow it?" The ck man demanded.


    "Tell him that I''m this capable. Would that be a problem?" Arthur coldly responded.


    The two frowned.


    "Where is that man that my subordinate shed with? I''m sure he would have offered a more¡­ hospitable wee." Arthur ignored the angry gaze.


    "Oh¡­ Your subordinate shed with Sting? It wasn''t your fathers?" The ck man mocked.


    "Yes. Why would that be surprising? I thought he would be the weakest of your team. Is he the strongest? Then your organization is only so-so."


    The ck man clenched his fist. The sounds of his knuckles clicking could be heard.


    "Force, calm down. Arthur, I would appreciate more honesty in our talks. Why are you implying that it was you who enlightened Sting?"


    "Enlightened? You mean to say that my small advice helped him?" Arthurughed.


    "My my¡­ Quite arrogant. If this was your father telling me this, then I would believe it. But you?" The ck man sneered.


    "Based on those words¡­ Has his father allowed your Master to also improve?" Lowengren joked.


    The two assassin''s expression changed.


    Arthur sneered at seeing this reaction. Fighting against Lowengren was very frustrating but having him as an ally is quite refreshing.


    "Why would it be surprising, that I, his son, can''t do the same to Meng''s lousy subordinates?" Arthur challenged.


    The ck man took a step forward but then the Asian assassin quickly raised his right hand stopping the ck man from rushing forward.


    "That was fast." Lowengren admired as he witnesses the quick reaction of the Asian assassin.


    "Force, remember Master''s orders."


    "Then you deal with them, One." The ck man continued to re at Arthur.


    "Aren''t you acting a bit too arrogant?" The Asian man asked.


    "I''m tired of this. Lowengren. Educate these fools." Arthur ordered.


    The Asian man frowned but continued to raise his hand to stop hispanion.


    "Assassins are known for their silence and mystery. However, you two gave us enough information that could prove fatal if ever we fought. I can deduce your specialties." Lowengrenughed.


    "I''ll humor you¡­ What are our specialties?" The ck manughed.


    "Mister ck man here has tattooed both of his fists. He is definitely proud of it. But the tattoos couldn''t hide the callous marks of his fist. It''s clear he has been punching a lot. Going by his name, ''Force,'' and the footwork he disyed when Young Master Arthur taunted him, he is definitely someone who specializes in unarmedbat. So he''s a martial arts expert who kills by his fist."


    The ck man was stunned silent.


    "Next, One. The way you quickly stopped yourpanion from moving forward was quite fast. I shook your hand intentionally when we met to confirm the state of your hand. The callouses indicate that you''ve been holding something tight. Having a fast draw on your right arm added by the fact that you have callouses when most assassins would probably wear gloves indicate that your weapon is something you hold with your bare hand."


    The Asian man revealed a surprised expression.


    "It not hard to deduce what weapon you use based on this. You need careful control over your weapon, so you refuse to use gloves. You probably need to ''feel'' your strikes. Added with a fast right arm, you use a Katana don''t you, ''One?'' A Samurai warrior who has mastered the ways of Iai. Quite a quick draw." Lowengrenughed.


    "Maybe your organization needs a bit of a woman''s touch. Such hot-headed and tant disy of testosterone isn''t good for an organization like yours. Arthur merely taunted you and you already gave away vital information about yourselves. I''m sure that information isn''t avable even if we were to pay a high price in the Underworld. Tell me¡­ is Meng''s organization that easy to fool?" Aleanughed sarcastically.


    "Know your enemy. Isn''t that an important principle that One China values?" Lowengren sneered.


    The two assassins gave an awkward nce at each other.


    "Not to mention¡­ you gave away quite a bit about your Master. Why would the two of you be offended that the three of us follow Young Master Arthur? Shouldn''t that impress you? After all, a little boy decides to take a field trip in the Underworld¡­ Wouldn''t it be natural that he would bring along impressive escorts to shut down the doubts that you have? But no. You guys look threatened."


    "Meng''s using me as a way to gauge the strength of my father''s organization isn''t he?" Arthur spoke coldly.


    The two assassins started to feel uneasy at Arthur''s words.


    "If you are nervous about our strengths¡­ then it only means that you Master has told you to be wary. So this means that either my father''s strength can threaten your organization or it can even ovee it. If our two organizations ever go to war, you''ve given us quite an important advantage... Morale."


    The two assassins almost swallowed a mouthful of saliva at Arthur''s exnation.


    "I wonder what more we can learn about Meng by the time we reach their base?" Lander asked himself. His voice was low, but to the ears of these trained assassins, it was as if it was spoken through a megaphone.


    The two assassins started sweating profusely.


    "Regardless¡­ It seems their foolish actions will get them reprimanded. It must hurt a lot if these two world-ss warriors are now sweating profusely." Aleanughed.


    The assassins were doing their best not to reveal any more emotions but they were starting to feel fear.


    "Tell your Master that in this first round, we''ve bested you already. He will find out about this anyway. At least if you show your sincerity by telling him what you''ve learned he might not punish you." Arthur walked forward as the two assassins unconsciously gave way.


    "Weak." Alean sighed as he followed.


    "Disappointing. And to think you said you want to fight me." Lander chided as he passed.


    "Suck it losers! You''ll never defeat us! Know your enemy and know yourself! That''s the Art of War! But you two? You know nothing about your enemy and only know how to get your pits stained! Losers! Losers! You clearly are the ass in assassins!"


    "Lowengren!" Alean angrily pulled Lowengren to stop him from his annoying mode.


    The two quickly followed and decided not to act arrogantly anymore.


    "Young Master Arthur, please forgive our actions. We will be escorting you back to our headquarters as instructed." One spoke as he rushed towards the car.


    "No. I''m here to see the Underworld. Is there anything that we can do along the way that could show me how dangerous the Underworld is?"


    "There are none." One responded respectfully.


    "Is there an enemy gang that has been offending you or some sort? We could go over there and wipe them out." Lowengren yawned.


    The two assassins gave a worried look at each other.


    "There is one group that has. But they are connected with one of the most influential businessmen in China." Force spoke softly.


    "What is there to fear? You''re the king of the Underworld." Aleanughed.


    "I would need the Master''s approval."


    "Alright." Arthur sat down on his seat and immediately tried to sleep.


    The surrounding bodyguards were shocked to see how their respective leaders became submissive butlers who carried the luggage of these four individuals.


    Meanwhile, in Shanghai, arge pod was secretly retrieved by a submarine and it dove deeper on the ocean floor and finally reached a secret underwater base.


    "Presider Pridgeon!" A group of well-dressed businessmen bowed as they met the Aragarian from above.


    "Disappointing." Arge bearded man responded harshly.


    "It''s been over a week and your fixes on this so-called Australian Avarice is making my head sorer than the spaceg I''ve got!"


    The Aragarian''s all remained silent.


    "Several Pioneer''s in New Birth City died! All because you guys caused a war! I can''t believe how stupid that Gary is! And why didn''t anyone stop him! Now, look at the mess we are in! Pangea managed to rescue a lot of Jewish refugees! I don''t know how these Jews got rescued but if the world catches on with our ns, then it''s going to have serious repercussions!" Pridgeon roared.


    "It shouldn''t be that bad¡­" A voice tried to console Pridgeon. Pridgeon simply turned to the man who spoke and gave a furious p.


    SLAP!


    "If the world bes aware that the Jews are being targeted, then it will create another wave of theories and talks that could cause their religion to spread! The Jews have been having conflicts since the dawn of their history! Larson, repeat the historical enemies of the Jews to me to refresh your dull minds!"


    "Presider, these were Egyptians, Philistines, Amorites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Romans of the ancient world!"


    "What about during the modern to the supra-modern era?" Pridgeon angrily asked.


    "Hitler andter, Palestine and all the neighboring Muslim countries wanted them dead."


    "Now get this in your thick skulls, you idiots! These coincidences of the Jews always having oppositions that wanted them dead is a good proof of Jewish and Christian faith! If people haven''t been so antisemitic, then their religion would be easier to deny! But your stupid actions will add more fuel to this faith!"


    "Presider, the people haven''t noticed that a majority of the rescued experiments in Pangea and Australia are Jews!" Larson defended.


    "Should I thank El-Shaddai, God Almighty for that?!" Pridgeon gave Larson a harsh p on the face.


    "Presider! If people notice, we can argue that the Jew''s are the easiest to kidnap since kidnapping them won''t raise much public attention because they are scattered all over the world without amunity to protect them!" A middle-aged man with thick sses suggested.


    "IDIOT!" Pridgeon smacked the man and his sses flew off.


    "It doesn''t matter what the excuse youe up with! When we appear to finally take control of this world, the doubtful ones in Christianity or Judaism will be believers since they see the devil at work in massacring Jews, and the skeptics are moved from unbelief to doubt! We could have more nations as enemies! Do you want that? Are you guys Aragarian''s or are you Christians who are baptizing people in Jesus''s name?!"


    "Presider, I have a suggestion." A seductive voice echoed at the side as a white and wless beauty stood.


    "We reveal these findings that the Jews are being targeted for kidnapping globally. Then we create an organization to save them." She gave a soft chuckle.


    Pridgeon''s angry expression turned into a surprised one. Then this surprise became a smile.. An insidious and wicked smile.

 Chapter 89 - Israel And Babylon

    "Now that is a n!" Pridgeonughed heartily at the woman''s suggestion.


    "Pioneer Madelyn, correct?"


    "Yes, Presider."


    "A most ingenious n! We can even use that to send more and more of our people here that way!"


    "More people?" There was a look of confusion among the Pioneers.


    "Of course! These people will rece some of the more prominent Jews we kill. How do you exin a massive drop in the poption otherwise?" Pridgeon gave a disappointed look at the rest.


    The room was silent. That could easily mean over a hundred Pioneers!


    "Of course, they wouldn''t be equal to you nor would they be assigned to any technologies. They would just be normal citizens who we could use as soldiers." Pridgeon exined as he noticed the shocked expressions.


    "You still haven''t realized the extent of your blunder, have you? How many Pioneers do we have left in Pangea?"


    "Sir! I''m thest one!" A young man stood up.


    "I thought so! we''re even lucky that one survived! How did you survive?"


    "Almost all Pioneer''s partnered with Feltrick. The reason why I''m alive is simply that my connection with Feltrick wasn''t that apparent." The young man sighed.


    "And this is why I was sent here. We basically lost all connection in two countries? TWO COUNTRIES!" Pridgeon roared angrily.


    "Luckily one of you still has brains! With that n of her''s we finally have a way of sending more people here! Do you now understand what my primary task is? To clean up after your damned mess by establishing a base for us!"


    "Presider wants to make a country of our own?!" Larson was shocked.


    "Yes! Look at what''s happened! The attack at Australia and Pangea wiped out the Pioneer''s before others could send help! We aren''t safe anymore! If one Harker has done so much, what if more will arise as they discover the sickening actions you have been doing?"


    The Pioneers were all silent. They once thought that they were the kings of this world, but in a span of two weeks several of them had already died and some couldn''t even leave Australia. If Australia loses the war, then these Pioneer''s left behind would be doomed to die.


    "Because of this, The best course of action is to take over one nation and be its rulers! That way we wouldn''t face such tragedies."


    "If I may, Presider. I have a suggestion to make." Madelyn spoke out once more.


    "Oh?"


    "I believe the best ce to create our own nation is Iraq."


    "Iraq? That wastnd?" Pridgeon frowned.


    "That is because Iraq is currently focusing on building monumental sites that will be the center of their Megapolis. This makes it an ideal ground for many of our Pioneer''s to relocate due to the rich business opportunities there. Another reason, which is the main reason why I choose that site, is because of its strategic location. It is surrounded by several nations who have been continuing their ongoing crusade to kill the Jews."


    Pridgeon was in deep contemtion.


    "I see. You n to use that country as a way to support the surrounding nations in their crusades against the Jews?"


    "No, Presider. We will use that nation to scare the surrounding nations and protect the Jews."


    "What? And why would we do that?"


    "Presider, even if we create an organization that can save the Jews and uses this organization to secretly kill them while bringing in more Pioneers, we are still in danger of discovery. Not to mention these Pioneers would have to face the threat of being killed by these antisemitic nations. The best and easiest way to do this is to give the Jews a ce of their own."


    "I see. That makes sense. It would also allow the Jews to easily return to their homnd..."


    "Yes. The reason why the Jews are dispersed is due to the danger of living in Jerusalem. Especially now when the Muslims outnumber the Jews there."


    "So we create an environment which makes it tempting for the Jews to go back home¡­" Pridgeon started nodding in agreement. Then Pridgeon realized something.


    "No. That won''t work. The Jews wouldn''t trust Iraq. The history between these two cannot be easily ignored. You forget that the Jews believe that Iraq is where the tower of Babel stood. Andter, it was rebuilt as Babylon. Another foe of the Jews. We don''t want that old post-modern Rastafarian song, ''By the Rivers of Babylon'' to once again gain poprity." Pridgeon shook his head.


    "Presider, I have not forgotten that. I am aware of the historical and religious implications wouldn''t make the Jews trust these nations. The solution is not that difficult, however." Madelyn smiled.


    "Do exin."


    "The Book of Daniel records the greatest Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar''s conversion and belief in this Jewish God. We can use that to our advantage. Since Iraq''s megapolis would be centered in this New Babylon, we can create fake ancient records detailing Nebuchadnezzar trust to Yahweh and make the current dictator appear to be someone who has also converted to Judaism."


    Pridgeon''s eyes gleamed with excitement.


    "That would work! If that''s the n, then the two bases of operations would be both Iraq and Israel."


    "Yes. If we manage to take control of Iraq and Israel, it''s easy to massacre the Jews. It will appear in a way that won''t ever reveal our hand behind it. Once the two nations reach the honeymoon stage, we instigate a rebellion in Iraq, and once the change in dictatorship happens, we backstab Israel and lead our armies along with the armies of the surrounding nations to immediately wipe out the unsuspecting Jews. In the eyes of the world, it would simply be another tragedy between the age-old conflicts between Israel and its surrounding enemies."


    "For that n to work... our Pioneers are to continue in kidnapping Jews so to entice rm, correct?" Pridgeon guessed.


    "Yes. We need to make it look like the organization that we create can effectively capture the syndicates that are kidnapping the Jews."


    "A Good Cop-Bad Cop strategy. Not bad Madelyn. I''ll be sure to inform the Presiders of your wisdom. You will take charge of this mission then. I promote you to Arbiter. Once you''re done with your preparations, you can relocate to the moon if you want to."


    "Thank you, Presider!" Madelyn smiled.


    "You can choose two technologies and two of any ss C upgrades."


    "Thank you!" The woman bowed respectfully.


    The Pioneers stared in envy at the sudden promotion of Madelyn.


    "Now¡­ Let us discuss what to do with that Harker. The probable information he has acquired from raiding Feltrick''s bases cannot be ignored."


    "PRESIDER!" Larson gave a horrified scream.


    The group was surprised at Lander''s panicking expression.


    "Someone just raided my main base and killed everyone!" Horror appeared on his eyes.


    "What?! Someone''s targeting Pioneer''s again?" Pridgeon frowned.


    "It must be Meng. Both our organizations been snooping at his. He might have noticed it and wanted to kill us. Damn it! That dragon''s pretty ruthless." Madelyn''s eyes turned grave.


    "Somethings not right¡­" Pridgeon was in deep thought.


    "Presider?"


    "These attacks against Pioneers¡­ It''s too coincidental. Let''s put a stop to this meeting. I need to take action to face this threat." Pridgeon''s eyes turned grim.


    About half an hour before the meeting began, Arthur''s team had arrived at the Larson Conglomorate Complex located in Nanjing.


    Theplex was arge group of tall buildings and skyscrapers and was situated near the edge of the city. Yet despite its far distance, thisplex was bustling with activities.


    Arthur''s team rode towards the top of the nearby hill to look at the entireplex.


    The assassins stood alongside Arthur.


    "As you can see¡­ this base of theirs is quite popr. We won''t be able to attack recklessly. Meng''s orders specifically indicate that if we cannot hide this battle, then we have to abandon it." Force respectfully warned.


    "Also, we don''t have information about that base. So we need to scout it first before we can attack it."


    "Rx¡­ Their base should be underground." Lowengrenughed as he took a look at thendscape.


    "Underground?"


    "Yes. It''s too risky if he puts the base on any of thesemercial buildings. I took a look at the city''s blueprints and it says that theplex uses arge tunnel which connects theplex''s flood control water basin to the Yangtze river."


    "How does that prove that the base is underground?"


    "Simple. Larson''s name is affiliated on all boating and naval services in this area. Given the strict rules of One China against drugs and human trafficking, you can''t risk connecting yourmercial buildings to your illegal base."


    "So that means that that tunnel connecting to the water basin would be the only entrance to that base?"


    "Yes. Haven''t you read the files about thisplex?" Arthur gave an irritablement.


    "To be the improvement of society by manifesting innovation, integrity, and integration." Alean quoted at the side.


    "That is Larson Conglomerate''s Mission statement. Their Core values also emphasize integrity." Lander nodded.


    "What does this have to do with anything?" Force could not help but frown.


    "Haven''t you learned anything from our sh? Know your enemy? I wonder if you really represent the Dragon''s organization. To speak in Chinese terms, you surely made him lose quite a lot of face." Lowengren shook his head.


    Force restrained himself from smacking Lowengren.


    "We know they''re dirty. But they are so adamant in covering it up, that they present this fa?ade of integrity. By being more transparent, the government won''t ever think of doubting them. This is why there are no ces in thoseplex that is inessible. Hence, if they opened the entireplex from the lobby all the way to the offices of the manages, where else can they hide this secret but underground?"


    "Wouldn''t that simply mean that they have established their base elsewhere?"


    Arthur gave an exhausted sigh.


    "No. For two reasons. Their operations cannot be done at night. Especially with how strict One China''s curfew system is. The only option is to do it in broad daylight. Underground. The scale of their deals should be sorge, that they make use of this poprplex. With people moving in and out of this ce all day long, it''s easy to hide their operations behind these legitimate fronts." Arthur exined.


    "Seriously. If Meng assigned you two to assassinate them you''d surely fail thinking that the enemy isn''t here." Lowengrenughed.


    The two assassin''s faces were distorting. But they couldn''t defend themselves from the attacks of Arthur''s team.


    "Don''t tell me we should tell you what to do?" Arthur frowned.


    "You n to dive upstream and enter the tunnel."


    "Yes. Alean, Lander¡­ you go. Lowengren and I will stay above ground to see if we can make the most of this. Do you have it with you?"


    Lander had long retreated back to the trunk of the car and took out arge briefcase.


    "I have it here." Lander returned and opened the briefcase to show Arthur.


    The two assassins looked strangely at the device.


    "That looks like a Pangean whish bomb. But these are¡­ bigger." One frowned.


    "Indeed it is. We detonate it underground. The whish won''t destroy the underground but it would give the skyscrapers above quite a shake."


    "We use the earthquake to rattle the top area and cause an evacuation. That way we can kill the leaders. So Force will go with Alean underwater, and One will go with us." Arthur immediately moved as his team followed.


    One and Force stayed a bit as they gazed at thendscape.


    "This Arthur is¡­ quite strong." One stood in amazement.


    "Indeed. I''m not sure which of us are professional assassins." Force sighed. They were assassins who have mastered ingenuity in the art of reconnaissance and assassinations yet, they were thoroughly beaten by Arthur''s group. Though they could have eventually discovered the truth behind Larson''splex, the way Arthur''s team analyzed and identified the secrets behind Larson''s organization made these two assassins look like amateurs.


    "Anyway¡­ Let''s just try to show them our skills in fighting. This is the only way we could save some face.." One frowned as he turned and followed.

 Chapter 90 - The Blood Farm

    A group of three continued to dive on the dark waters of the Yangtze River.


    The trio wore advanced diving suits which offered light and fast movements.


    The rivers deep and dark depths held a small secret. Although it wasn''t a real secret as this has been proposed to the government, this underwater tunnel didn''t lie on the edge of the river. But instead, it extended to the middle.


    Arge drain which was being covered by metal grids was found lying inconspicuously in the middle of the deep river.


    "Why is it here?" Force wondered in curiosity.


    "You''re surprised?" Aleanughed as she approached the drain.


    Force simply frowned. While he would offer his respects to Arthur and Lowengren, Alean was not on the same level to which he should give due respect.


    "Then I presume you know?" Force spoke back with a mocking tone.


    "Putting this tunnel next to the river would undoubtedly increase the odds of it being found. What if someone spots this location and gets curious? Not to mention that if they ced it near the river banks, others might notice people going in and out. It''s fairly obvious." Alean sneered.


    Force was silent at Alean''s response.


    Lander only shook his head. He knew that Arthur was the smartest in terms of pure knowledge and understanding, Lowengren had the greater wisdom but in terms of schemes, ckmail and coning people, this woman from the Underworld was Queen.


    "Wait till Lowengren hears of this. I''ve been respectful towards you and always kept Lowengren in check with his insults. Now I guess I''ll have him insult you and belittle every stupid thing you said and presumed. I wonder what your brothers would say when they see you handling the unbridled insults of that brat." Alean spoke coldly.


    Sure enough, Lander only nodded his head in expectation.


    "Sucks to be you, pal." Lander could only mutter under his breath.


    "Dear Big Sister! I was only saying that so you can enlighten me! No need for such unnecessary response! Must the Queen allow the words of flies to arouse her anger? Dear Big Sister, Magnanimous One, Pearl of the Pangean Seas! Forgive this foolish one and forget his audacious usations!" Force quickly offered praises which he had often heard when he was about to kill his targets.


    If the other Assassins saw how Force was buttering up with this woman, they would undoubtedly think that the world was ending.


    Force was weeping on the inside. The quick trip they took going to Nanjing was met with the constant barrage and creative insults of Lowengren. Arthur didn''t care, Lander was in no position to speak and only this person was bold enough to reprimand him. If she wasn''t there to stop Lowengren from constantly insulting the two of them, then who knows how many times One would havemitted harakiri to regain his honor?


    "Enough. Open the gate. This metal door should be resistant to heat and other underwater cutting equipment''s. Arthur believes that you have the strength to break it open correct?" Alean ignored the pleas.


    "As youmand!" Force immediately dove further and gripped the metal grids.


    With a low grunt, he pried open the metal grids and it gave a small hole allowing the group to dive in. As the trio dove into the drain, they realized that the underground tunnel was wider and bigger than what they thought.


    "It is as Big Sister theorized." Force nodded in amazement as he dove deeper to observe the strange hole on the beds of this wide and deep river.


    "This tunnel could easily fit a submarine. So that means that the drain is only a cover. That lid should be able to open up wider allowing submarines to pass through here." Lander was amazed.


    The group soon dove towards the darkness. Though their respective suits gave off no lights, the technology these advanced suits carried could easily see through this darkness.


    Soon the trio finally reached a hangar. The hangar was bustling with activity as a submarine had surfaced and was being loaded with various crates and boxes. The submarine was situated in the middle of therge hangar and the hangar itself had several floors with various moving tforms hanging and moving around the room.


    "Lander. Go ahead." Alean ordered.


    Lander immediately utilized a small booster which gave a powerful burst throwing him out of the water and into the surprised expression of the workers who were loading the next shipment.


    A pair of sters protruded on Lander''s suit.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The sudden gunshots alerted the security guards in the area as the workers were fleeing in panic.


    "Should I help? He''s facing professionals." Force dared not take action immediately. He knew since Alean ordered this, then this little field trip served as an opportunity to gather experience for them.


    "That''s exactly why it''s safe to send Lander. If any of them were less skilled, then Lander could get shot." Alean chuckled.


    The guards from the first level all up to the third level immediately scrambled to retrieve their weapons while others who had their weapons started shooting.


    Lander had lived through a barrage of rockets, bullets, and beams countless times. But this was the first time he did it without an Exoskeleton. Still, he was more confident now that he ever was before.


    "Skilled enemies would shoot within a specific range as they would target their enemies. Either they would predict where their enemies would be or would aim directly for the body. I''m sure you do the same thing and use their skills against them when you evade." Alean smiled.


    As the gunshots echoed throughout therge room, Lander utilized his dash at the most precise moments evading the bullets. Lander continued to rush towards his enemies while unleashing his barrage and evading bullets.


    Force was secretly amazed at Lander''s control and skill.


    "Impressed? Or are you scared at our strengths." Alean sneered.


    "Formidable. But he won''t be able to beat me or any of my colleagues." Force gave his conclusion.


    Alean simplyughed and lept from the water to the open area. Force followed.


    "Looks like their bringing in the big guns. You''re up, Force." Alean announced as she pointed to a room were several Exoskeleton''s were moving out.


    "Strange. Why would these people have ess to a military-grade Exoskeletons?" Force wondered.


    "Is that a problem?"


    "Not at all. It''s just that it seems Larson''spany has a few secrets of their own." Force frowned before moving at extreme speeds.


    At the evolving progression of the war, the world focused on developing technologies that can defeat others. However, a certain General in China held on to the martial might that he had inherited on his ancestors. Technology and martial arts coborated creating a powerful Force that brought India to its knees.


    A fist smashed directly on the head of an Exoskeleton. This fist wore a special glove that started emitting a strange light that was pulsing every now and then.


    The fist pierced through the metal smashing into pieces.


    Force utilized a small burst which suddenly appeared on right shoulder and thigh to quickly turn around pulling the hand that pierced through both metal and skull. As he rotated in midair, he kicked the Exoskeleton right beside him


    A metal de protruded from his suit right before his kick reached. Another burst caused Force to spin faster and the Exoskeleton was sliced in half.


    Using these burst, Force was jumping from one enemy to another, killing them immediately with one strike. The force of his punches and kicks would either pierce through or slice the enemies.


    It wasn''t long before these three had already finished killing everyone.


    Force had an extremely disgusted expression as he gazed at the inner parts of the factories.


    "Human blood. Are they farming human blood?" Lander spoke in disgust.


    "It seems that even our organization pales at the abominations that this Larson has," Force spoke as he witnessed the thousands of blood.


    "They must be keeping some humans alive in order to continuously farm blood from them." Alean analyzed as she reached the inner parts of the room.


    "Regardless, we have to destroy these ce. Set up the whish bombs." Alean ordered and immediately turned around.


    Force had a peculiar stare at Alean.


    "We''ve seen worse in our mission in Pangea and Australia. Compared to the operations happening in those countries, this here is nothing." Alean shrugged noticing Force''s expression.


    Lander was quiet. A sense of anger and disgust started rising as he realized the implications of such a hidden organization. He knew that Larson was closely associated with various Bringer of Change in Australia. The anger seemed to have seeped deep in his heart as a quiet rage started building.


    "Are you doing this?" Lander could not help but ask.


    "No. I''m not holding the switch remember?" Alean smiled as she understood the question.


    As the ongoing battles urred underground, life on theplex above was business as usual.


    Suddenly, the entireplex started to shake. The shaking started to intensify and soon the people in the building started panicking.


    Everyone started rushing out of their offices. Another strong tremor was felt and some who were running were pushing each other on the esctor causing some to fall several stories high.


    Soon, a group of armed men escorting some VIP''s appeared and rushed for the emergency exits.


    "Follow them. They should be rushing upstairs. This building must have been built to withstand earthquakes with that building as its foundation. A helicopter should be waiting upstairs. I trust you have ways to make it look like an ident?" Arthur asked. The trio stood at the center of theplex, next to arge fountain.


    The various esctors that crisscrossed in the center allowed the trio to have a good view of the activities happening on each floor level. The three wore strange masks and a simr suit that Alean and her group wore.


    One could only sigh and started tailing the group. Instead of using the esctors, One used his superior martial arts to scale the levels.


    "Let''s go." Arthur and Lowengren then moved quickly as One was no longer in sight.


    The pair did not rush upstairs but headed to the lower levels of the building.


    The Medical Center of Larson served as a mini-hospital and research facility inside thisrgeplex. The ce was chaotic as most of the people were the first to have evacuated.


    Arthur and Lowengren soon caught sight of a series ofrge warning signs were erected everywhere and an air-lock and quarantine chamber that led to another part of the building.


    "They''re quite deceptive. They made this ce openly essible to all. But who would go to this area with all the chemicals and diseases being treated here." Lowengrenughed.


    Arthur shot a light beam on the handles of the door and the pair walked in one room with guns ready and started shooting the scientists inside.


    Aside from the scientist that the pair killed, there were humans being kept in pods, while others were being kept in cages.


    "It''s actually a blood farm. Although we didn''t find any secret weapons¡­ Master Meng will be most¡­ interested in this." Lowengrenughed.


    "We have to inform Master. We calcted incorrectly. They don''t have any special techs. The reason why they''ve been snooping at our people might be due to their illegal activities. Something must have made them paranoid about us." Arthur gave a grim look.


    "What about these people?"


    "Let''s just kill them. Will use a Scorching bomb to make it look like a gas leak exploded."


    "Why do that? If the government found out about this, then we wouldn''t have to lift a finger to kill Larson." Lowengrenined.


    "No. Because of the Australian Avarice, discovering this ce could implicate all of One China. It could even cause another troublesome war and we might have to get involved again."


    "Are you afraid, Trigger?" Lowengrenughed.


    "I''m not as sadistic as you, Specter." Arthur frowned.


    "Let''s just gather whatever data we can and blow this-"


    The video feed was suddenly cut.


    Pridgeon, who was attentively watching the video feeds immediately turned to Larson.


    "The bombs must have destroyed the power nt that was powering up the entireplex." Larson gulped a mouthful of saliva.


    "It seems that I have to personally take action for this.." Pridgeon frowned.

 Chapter 91 - Why Not?

    "Larson Complex is now under quarantine when an intense earthquake hit the area causing a gas explosion on the Medical Center of Larson. Due to the sensitive research being conducted on that area, the Government has sanctioned to iste it fearing that the chemicals and airborne diseases in that area could kill people.. Staley Kitfield, head of public rtions of Larson Conglomerate has released an official statement." A young female reporter narrated.


    The screen shifted to a tall, respectable middle-aged woman with jet ck hair.


    "The Earthquake apparently damaged therge drainage system which keeps theplex flood-free. Our engineers had developed arge flood basin underground the entireplex leading to the Yangtze River. The reports suggest that the Earthquakes strength was amplified due to the hollow water basin. Though the integrity of the buildings above theplex managed to withstand the shock, this led to another ident creating an explosion damaging the medical center. This has only proven that even the slightestxities can cause greatmotions. This is a lesson hard-learned by ourpany and we will ensure that this won''t ever happen again."


    The screen returned to the female reporter.


    "A lesson hard-learned indeed. Owen Larson, CEO, and founder of Larson Conglomerate could not be reached for a statement. The explosion led to an ident due to the tragic ident of his son and daughter, Granite and Orea Larson. It was found that during the evacuation, the helicopters that were evacuating the two crashed somewhere in the Yangtze River. Themunity in Nanjing had set out a volunteer search party to search through the Yangtze as the helicopter that these two used reportedly crash some 2 kilometers as it was transporting the two to the south."


    "Tina, this is just devastating. Larson Conglomerate has been one of the most outstanding businesspanies that One China has ever created."


    "Indeed it is. Owen Larson has yet to release an official statement. Our deepest condolences to the Larson families. This continues to remind us of that age-old question which continues to haunt Christianity; if there is a God, why would He allow bad things to happen to good people?"


    Lyndughed at the reporter''sment.


    "You know, I just noticed how even the news reports are pretty anti-Christian or anti-Semitic." Lyndughed.


    "It makes sense. Must be their doing. These small subtle statements can only add to cement the faithless and shake the resolve of the faithful." Meryl sighed.


    "Since when are you so poetic?"


    "Ugh. Haven''t you been doing our homework? I just read the email from the Principal. He''s one of the few who knows that Alean is still alive and has sent us the homework we need to finish. We have a lot catch up with. I''ve been doing eight essays about my opinions in history! That''s why my English is a bit dramatic. I have to deal with that advanced mathematics homework next!" Meryl frowned as she continued to write.


    "You''re still doing homework?" Cliff was surprised.


    "Yes. We can''t abandon our student identities after all. What are you going to do to hide your identity? We can''t afford to leave any suspicious traces. It might draw more attention."


    "Oh. That. I''ve already finished all that including the math homework." Lynd shrugged.


    "How? Those were the-" Then Meryl realized it.


    "No fair! You just simted Arthur! That''s cheating! That''s cheating!"


    Lynd gave a heartyugh.


    Cliff didn''t know where to begin and he simply kept his mouth shut.


    Suddenly, three tall men barged in the lounge where the trio was staying at.


    The three wore simr ck outfits. The synthetic, leather-like feel added with the strange bulks on certain parts of the suit made it obvious that several of the most expensive technologies in the world has been applied on these suits.


    Leading the group was a middle-aged blind man. The person next to him was a man who looked like on his early 20''s. He had a bulky, andrger right hand. Thest person wore a strange mask to conceal his face.


    "Hi, Shock. Looks like you brought your friends with you." Lynd smiled as he approached the familiar assassin who guided them inside the room they were staying in.


    The man with the bulky,rge hand didn''t smile and gave Lynd a strange look.


    "Sorry for the doubtful treatment. I had to verify if you are indeed one of Arthur''s peers. Your superiors brought quite a trouble in Nanjing." Shock spoke with a serious tone.


    "Oh¡­ So that whole thing in the news was caused by our Arthur?" Lyndughed.


    "Man¡­ I wished I went with them." Cliff sighed.


    "It seems you two have grown stronger¡­" The blind man spoke.


    "I don''t believe we''ve met." Meryl tried to recognize the blind man before him.


    "Sting. I''ve briefly met Young Master Seeker."


    "Oh! You must be that guy Seeker fought in Harker''s base! I heard you managed to wound him!" Lynd smiled.


    "I merely scratched his skin." Stingughed. Shock and his otherpanion gave a curious stare at Sting.


    "As expected of Young Master Arthur. He created quite amotion. We will be escorting you to meet with them now. They have arrived." Sting smiled as he respectfully led the group outside.


    Meanwhile, outside thergend that belonged to Greydon Meng, several buildings were secretly taken over as a totally new set of characters observed the area.


    "How''s the situation?" Pridgeon returned to the main headquarters for this operation.


    "Presider, a few hours ago, three individuals walk into the base. We cannot identify them as they were wearing specialized suits. For some reason, they were amodated inside without any conflicts."


    "What?" Larson was surprised.


    "Why would they be? Those ought to be Richie''s disciples! Why were they granted entry?"


    "Pioneer Larson, we are unsure, Sir! But based on the satellite feeds, the three were treated respectfully before they were amodated inside the building."


    "That''s strange¡­ Were there no High-tech resonances from our scans?" Pridgeon asked.


    "Sir, the scanners are not detecting any high-tech devices outside of Meng''s organization. These ces are clean."


    "So these three went inside without having any support or backup. That means that Meng trust these three. If such a secret organization trust those three, then they are either one of Meng''s top men or are a very important guest." Madelyn concluded.


    "Could they be from the Government?"


    "I doubt it, Presider. The rtionship between the two isn''t that good."


    "Sir, another group has arrived and is entering Meng''s fortress."


    The satellites zoomed on the images of a group of six entering Meng''s gates. All of them wore masks. The six were met by a group of soldiers. Leading the group were five masked figures who wore the same suit the six were wearing.


    "The two at the side fit the physical descriptions of the one ones who attacked. That one should be Specter and that should be Trigger."


    "So there were six of them who attacked? One of them should be the killer of your kids Larson. Why the hell didn''t you put some video feeds on your Underground base?"


    "Presider, the Government in One China has required that all video channels andwork be monitored. Unless I have a server and inte source of our own, then I won''t be able to do so." Larson''s expression was raging at the sight of the six.


    "Then why is Meng allowed to have thiswork? Is the Chinese Government so afraid of Meng?"


    "It''s because of the contributions of his father, Nogard Meng. We''ve also received information that Greydon carries out assassinations requested by the Government." Madelyn answered seeing Larson buried in his rage.


    "I see. So these two are this formidable. If none of the Pioneers enjoy this benefit and he does, that means he still holds more authority here in China. His death will be very beneficial to us."


    "Meng! Rosa says, Hi!" A loud and thundering voice shouted. This loud and explosive voice could even be heard inside the secret safe room where Pridgeon presided.


    The loud voicemanded domineering power as it raced across the block. It was as if the entire area was shaking.


    "It''s Richie!" Larson shouted in delight.


    "Impossible!" A grave look appeared on Pridgeon''s eyes. Seeing the power of Richie''s voice shocked the Presider who holds countless technology.


    "We found him!"


    The satellite focused on a building near the main gate.


    "Why aren''t there any reactions from our scanners?"


    On top of the building, a figure stood tall. Suddenly he disappeared as he started zooming towards the base.


    With a powerful shout, the sses and lenses of the various cameras and CCTV''s in the area started cracking.


    "Sir! We''re losing visuals! Only the satellite feeds remain! Should we send the drones?"


    "No. We can''t risk getting detected. Let them fight."


    "Richie?!" Force shouted in surprise as he turned around.


    "Get ready!" One ordered.


    The four masked men who awaited them immediately moved with Force and One.


    "What''s going on?" Arthur asked in confusion.


    "That''s Richie. The strongest independent assassin." Force spoke with a grim voice.


    A figure appeared on the top of the high walls which guarded the entire base. The soldiers below it scrambled and started shooting the enemy.


    Far out from the wall, near the entrance to the main building, were the seven assassins who were with Arthur''s group.


    The figure stood silently and seemed to be observing the group.


    "Get back! He''s not someone you can handle!" One moved quickly in front of Arthur.


    "Twister, Clutch, Specter. Support us. Strike and Force, join me for the melee. Use all techs avable. Kill him immediately. Blur, you''re the fastest. Contact the others and get Master. We will try to buy you some time." One ordered immediately. The group immediately took out their own sets of weapons.


    "Fire at will!" The leader of the soldiers below the wall ordered as he pointed towards this mysterious figure on top of the wall.


    But as the guns started firing, the figure disappeared from the area and a sonic boom could be heard.


    "Attack!" One ordered.


    A powerful burst appeared on Blur''s boots as he zoomed towards the main building.


    Surprisingly, Lowengren was already standing right on Blur''s path. He was already throwing a strange, familiar red and white ball.


    "Voltorb! Self-destruct!"


    BOOM! The whish bomb created another loud sound.


    Blur managed to retreat on thest second as another burst appeared on his forearm pushing him backward.


    One and the rest were surprised at the sudden attack and immediately Twister and Clutch turned around as the remaining assassins rushed towards Richie.


    Arge windmill-de appeared on Twister''s arm as he threw it towards Lowengren.


    The windmill''s de started spinning and it was moving as it had a mind of its own. But Lowengren didn''t even move.


    BANG!


    The windmill was shot down and a fiery explosion threw the windmill off-course.


    Alean held tworge pistols and started shooting Clutch but Clutch somehow disappeared amidst a purplish smoke bomb. The purple smoke then started burning as the shots Alean fired exploded like napalm.


    The figure that stood on top of the walls also vanished as it broke through the sound barrier.


    One could still see the movement and let out a loud shout as he readied his Iai drawing technique. Force and Strike readied their attacks as well.


    A ck-red whip appeared on Strike''s hand as he prepared whipped it forward. Force''s two hands were glowing with a reddish glow.


    But Arthur immediately intercepted Force. He held a vibrating mace which was also emitting electrical charges.


    Lander was zooming high above and also intercepted Strike as he unleashed a barrage of attacks with his trademark spin.


    "Why?!" Force cursed at Arthur.


    One was also confused at the sudden attacks. But he could not ignore the approaching threat in front of him.


    Specter immediately appeared on top of One as the two zoomed to meet the arriving figure. Though the speed was terrifyingly fast, the two had the capabilities of shing with it.


    BANG!


    Arthur''s mace met with Force''s fist. A terrifying explosion rang out and Force stepped back.


    Arthur who was also thrown out immediately recovered and was rushing to sh once more.


    "Why not?" Arthur asked as he smirked.

 Chapter 92 - Dashing Ahead

    The point from the wall where this figure once stood was about a mile away from the main building. The soldiers didn''t know where to point their guns as the figure disappeared.


    Meanwhile, despite the fiasco urring at the back, One and Specter dedicated their entire being at the approaching enemy. The sonic booms drew closer and closer.


    One stood still and utilized the best of his mental and physical capabilities. Time seemed slower in One''s perspective. He could barely see the approaching enemy and thus he practiced theing strike.


    Others called this practice a pre-shot routine, while others know it as ''mental rehearsal''. This is One''s secret to his sessful strikes against enemies across the world.


    The image that One envisioned was that he would be shredded by the powerful sound waves of Richie.


    One started to mentally visualize his counter attacks. As One dove deeper into his subconscious, the concept of time changed. In this realm of deep focus, One managed to analyze every detail of his opponent. He visualized every possible attack that the enemy would do, and the possible counters he could do to stay alive.


    In most of these scenarios, it ended with both he and Specter either dead or critically wounded. One strengthened his form and made the necessary adjustments to eliminate any useless movements.


    Specter was hovering over One. Surrounding the two were various invisible wires that he stealthily ced. The technology of stealth traps had evolved over the years as countless wars brought out the need to counter trap-detecting devices.


    The invisible wires spread out like a spiders'' with Specter on the center.


    The hidden weapons that Specter held were the full suit. Nothing was left out.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The figure sent several powerful jet-fueled bursts allowing him to readjust his charge to dive in between the two warriors.


    The two waited to strike when suddenly another powerful burst shocked the two as the lone figure suddenly stopped several meters in front of them.


    One and Specter were about to attack but immediately stilled their arms at the abrupt stop of their foe.


    "Ready?" The figure confidentlyughed.


    BOOM!


    The image and possible attacks that One had rehearsed all fell to shambles. The enemy had a totally different attack pattern as it dove straight to the two assassins. One foresaw himself not being tortured by the immense soundwaves but he saw himself dying several times. In many of those scenarios, we would be sliced into three different pieces.


    One maintained his calm and gripped his sword tighter. A light reddish glow could be seen on the small protruding steel of his katana.


    Specter was the first to act as he moved forward. The thin wires resonated to his movements and started forming barricades before Specter.


    BOOM!


    A loud sonic boom echoed out. The zooming figure''s response to the moving wires was to spin faster.


    The burst caused the approaching figure to spin faster as a sword could be seen shing out.


    The wires did not entangle the sword as was originally designed, but the wires were all sliced apart.


    BOOM! Another loud bang sounded as the figure dove downwards to face One.


    One quickly drew his sword but the sessive strikes of the enemy struck his sword at an extremely fast speed. The strikes came from various directions leaving the katana shaking and soon breaking from the pressure.


    A small reddish explosion urred as One''s sword was sliced into two. One managed to make a quick dodge causing the enemies sword to slice his mask off. One utilized the boosters on his feet to retreat.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    A series of eruptions caused the figure to spin faster and rose to meet Specter.


    The sudden change of attack where the enemy abandoned its attacks towards One and rose to attack Specter caught the two off guard.


    Specter threw several minor explosives and used several hidden weapons avable as he rose further to the sky while his wires formed a in front of him.


    BOOM!


    At thest moment, a stronger boom echoed out and sent the figure flying straight towards the pce.


    One was so surprised at the movement that his jaw was wide open. Specter already threw his hidden weapons and all of them pierced through the thick floor.


    No one was ready for thest burst and no one could intercept the sudden change of direction.


    The enemy had entered the pce unhindered.


    Blur noticed the sudden change and with a burst from his boosters, he zoomed to meet the foe.


    "Foolish!" Lowengrenughed as the explosions rang out.


    Several spider mines had made its way towards the pce entrance and exploded blocking Blur''s path.


    The enemy disappeared into the main building.


    Strike and Clutch took the opportunity to attack Lowengren but Alean''s rain of fire showered relentlessly on the paths. This time the napalms exploded and left a burning scent of sulfur and brimstone.


    The explosions made Blur retreat but then Blur started to advance towards the main entrance. He zoomed past the explosions caused by the spider mines. As he reached the entrance, a powerful explosion urred sending shrapnel towards Blur.


    Blur jumped backward still propelled by his boosters. Blur raised his hands towards the sky as another burst appeared on his hands pushing him backward.


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred behind him but this time the shrapnel''s that were sent out started to emit electric sparks.


    Blur thought he had evaded most of the sharp shrapnel suddenly an electric current charged from one shrapnel to the other and a web of electricity came forth.


    Blur tried to evade at thest moment but the electrics zapped past his mask. The mask that Blur was wearing was charred ck and the circuits of the mask were damaged.


    Blur immediately removed the mask before it could harm him.


    Strike and Clutch paused in their advance as they noticed the explosions and the electric lines.


    "British Lightning rod technology?" Strike paused as he motioned Clutch to stop attacking.


    A young Caucasian man with blonde hair and blue eyes was revealed to be Blur.


    He gazed angrily at Lowengren who wasughing at Blur''s failed attempt.


    Blur readied to chase Richie but then a voice stopped him.


    "Blur! Don''t go! Facing that man alone would be suicide. We deal with the threats here first before chasing him. Don''t forget that half of our team is still inside. Besides, he is in there."


    One walked calmly towards Arthur who had backed away after thest strike.


    Lander had withdrawn back near Alean. They stood back-to-back with Lander facing Blur towards the building''s entrance.


    Clutch and Strike were facing Alean while Twister positioned himself to the east of Alean and Lander''s position.


    On another side of the battlefield, Lowengren and Arthur stood together as they awaited the approaching three. Force, Specter and One calmly walked to meet them.


    "So this was your n? Help my Master and get our guards down and invite yourselves to our doorsteps to kill us?" Force cursed at Arthur.


    "It''s simple yet very effective." Arthur shrugged expressionlessly.


    "The n was to send him inside to fight your master while we deal with you."


    "Are you really sure that the four of you can deal with the seven of us?" Blur immediately disappeared as he dashed forward.


    BOOM!


    A muffled explosion sounded out and Lander disappeared from his position.


    Blur was surprised to find out that Lander had already appeared in front of him and to his horror was brandishing the two guns right in front of his head.


    A series of gunshots were heard as balls of fire hindered Twister''s sneak attack from killing Lander.


    Blur immediately flew back at extreme speeds and barely evaded Lander''s attacks.


    Arthur and Lowengren stood side by side to hinder Force, One and Specter from joining the melee.


    "Shall we dance, Samurai?" Lowengrenughed.


    "For someone so smart, I can''t believe you''d be so stupid. If Richie helped you fight us, then you might have killed us." Force mocked.


    "No. That would be stupid. He needs to dash ahead of everyone and make sure to fight Meng before he meets all of us. Isn''t Meng''s unique power something that naturally erodes everything around it?" Lowengrenughed.


    "How did you know that?!" Force shouted angrily.


    "Deduction. Your attire appears to be the same suit you would use on your assassination missions. You told us that yourself. Yet when you changed on your underwater gear, Alean told me that she saw several strange scars and wounds. Many of which, seemed to have been incurred recently. So why would you have wounds when your suit is practically perfect? The only conclusion is that it is incurred whenever your off mission." Lowengrenughed as he readied several bombs on his arms.


    "But that''s absurd! You guys are at the peak of your forms? Who could wound you except your fellow peers? Yet the wounds that Alean saw were simr to burn marks. As if the skin itself was corroding. I think Clutch would be the only assassin out here that could do that. The other option is your master. But then we have a problem. Your loyalty to your boss is something rooted in respect and not fear. That is obvious at how you take offense at us insulting or defaming your master. So why would there be wounds when this leader of yours doesn''t invoke fear and why do you allow yourselves to get wounded by your boss?" Lowengren casually walked ahead of Arthur as he juggled the bombs with ease.


    "If your boss is much of a freak or more than Richie, then I would have to tossmon sense aside. So your boss has the ability to somehow corrode things just by his presence. Therefore, fighting your boss together with your team is disadvantageous to us. You guys are used to his powers. We are not. So that guy has to rush and meet your boss in order to make sure that Meng won''t disturb our battles." Lowengren stopped juggling.


    Arthur and Alean gave Lowengren an exhausted stare. They knew that Lowengren learned of Meng''s capabilities through Seeker''s information.


    "Impressive deduction. So you made Richie rush inside to fight Master since your three friends are inside the building and they might run into Master? Impressive as always, Arthur." One walked forward to face Lowengren.


    "But you''ve made several miscalctions." One then assumed a sword-drawing position.


    "Those three friends that you sent inside are probably dead. Not only are the assassins inside our Demolition Team, but the Judge also apanied Sting to meet your friends." One gave a confident grin.


    BOOM!


    Arge explosion urred on the east wing of the main building.


    "That must be st. The Explosives experts of our group."


    "Judge?" Lowengren asked.


    Force gave a heartyugh.


    "Our organization has twelve assassins. But should any of these assassins betray Master, He is sent. He is both Judge and Executioner. Even Sting who has grown stronger couldn''t beat that monster!"


    "That could only mean that he is a personal disciple of Meng¡­ Then that exceed our initial calctions." Arthur frowned.


    "Exceed your calctions? You can''t calcte him! Those three should be dead by now!" Forceughed once more.


    "Don''t worry about those three friends of ours." Arthur readied his mace.


    "You say that those inside are stronger? Well, the same could be said of our three."


    The mes, smoke, and rubble had started to dissipate.


    Three figures stood up from the sudden explosion. Their appearances looked ragged as several parts of their suits were burnt. Before they were a pir of fire that was slowly burning out.


    "Get st and Trigger here! We can''t kill these monsters!" The man with the strange mask spoke angrily.


    Three figures started to walk out of the mes.


    "Who''s the weakling now, Typical?" Meryl shouted as the burning glow around her started to disappear.

 Chapter 93 - Miracles Of A Believer

    The moment Richie gave the terrifying shout, the three assassins that were talking to Lynd, Meryl and Cliff were alerted.


    "Richie!" Sting shouted with horror.


    But before Sting could immediately rush for the door, the masked assassin immediately waved his hands sending out three shurikens that raced towards Meryl.


    Shock didn''t understand the masked assassin''s movement but reacted ordingly.


    His arm immediately gave an electric spark and lightning started to arc towards the three.


    Lynd, Meryl, and Cliff immediately evaded the lightning sparks by immediately using their boosters the moment the masked assassin threw the shurikens. Cliff revealed a mini cannon and sted the wall allowing the three to escape through the opening.


    As Meryl zoomed towards the hole Cliff created, she shed the shurikens headed towards her with a ss sword.


    The shurikens were cleanly shed by the sword. However, as it was thrown off by the sh, all three continued to fly towards Meryl''s face as if it was being guided.


    Meryl gritted her teeth and used the boosters to give her a quick spin. One of the shurikens left a cutting mark on Meryl''s cheeks.


    The two groups maintained a distance from each other.


    Sting who turned his back was unable to aid his twopanions from fighting.


    "What gave it away?" Meryl asked as she wiped the blood off her cheeks.


    "Your reactions. You weren''t surprised at Richie''s voice. Though your expressions seemed genuine, it''s not enough to fool me." The masked man answered coldly.


    "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Typical, Judge and Executioner of the Dragon''s Fang."


    "You alright?" Lynd gave a worried whisper at Meryl.


    "Yeah. Be careful. His weapons aren''t ordinary ninja stars."


    "You three are quite skilled." Shock admired as he readied his metal arm.


    "To be able to live through young masters attack¡­ Arthur''s allies are indeed formidable. But you three made a mistake to fight against us." Sting''s tone was cold.


    "You guys are no average joes yourself. To attack us without hesitation. But next time, please practice some manners. I know it was kind of a split second decision but why did you have to attack the only girl in our team? I mean, Lynd''s pretty tall. So he''s hard to miss." Cliff joked.


    "Manners have no use in assassinations. And I didn''t attack the girl by chance. I aimed for her since I deemed her the weakest of you three. She was lucky to damage the homing tech on my shurikens with that strong sword. But that won''t happen again. Goodbye, weaklings." Typical waved two of his hands sending eight shurikens flying towards Meryl.


    Typical was a master assassin who could easily read emotions. When Richie''s voice echoed throughout their base, Typical found the reactions of these three weren''t confusion but alertness. And as he threw the next set of shurikens, he did not bother to even nce at Meryl and gazed at the expressions of the other two.


    And in their eyes, he saw frustration. Typical was about to smirk at the sight of this then noticed the two men weren''t frustrated at him or his attack. They didn''t even bother to nce at the shurikens he threw. Why were these two showing the emotions of frustration whilst staring at the girl? And why did this frustrated emotion, look as if the two were annoyed that something troublesome would happen?


    Days before the attack on Larson Complex¡­


    "After we meet with the assassins, we''ll send a signal if we push through with n A, or do n B."


    "I have a question!" Meryl raised her hands like an innocent student.


    "Why does n A have such an unbnced division?"


    "Of the eight of us, you three are the strongest. Since the aim of this attack is to allow us to sharpen our Unlocking, the best way to put our lives on the line is to expose our weaknesses." Arthur exined.


    Meryl and Lynd looked at each other with a peculiar gaze.


    "Therefore, Lynd has to avoid simting the two of us. You must not make any ns before the battle or even during. Can you do that?" Arthur warned.


    "Wait! Isn''t that a part of Lynd''s strength?" Cliff argued.


    "The problem we face right now is that we are too strong together." Lowengren summarized.


    "Every battle you''ve faced so far had the advantages of information, nning, and readiness. Before Arthur came along, you had Seeker, who is more of a cheat than Arthur. He knows who our enemies are and can generally win the battles by strategies alone. This was why you won against Richie."


    "During the battle on the Australian Avarice, you had me and Lowengren to make the ns." Arthur reminded.


    "The battle was already half-won with all the traps we''ve set."


    "Traps? Sacrificing those soldiers who reached Unbing was just a trap you nned?" Alean interrupted.


    "Forgive me for my poor choice of words." Arthur gave an apathetic respond.


    "That was the best choice. I had to sacrifice them to hide your existence." Lowengren slowly exined.


    Alean remained quiet and gave a soft, bitter sigh.


    "No need to apologize or exin. I understand. I know the cost of that war. At least those soldiers were decorated as heroes."


    Seeing Alean''s silence, Lowengren continued.


    "As Arthur already exined, a few Unbings can do little to win the war. If we want to make a noticeable difference in the future, we either have to add more Ranked Heroes on our army, or train someone to reach World Champion."


    "And that''s what we''re trying to do. We''ve always had powerful chess pieces we could use duringbat. That is our weakness. As for you three, there was no struggle entailed in your battles as you already knew you would win. What we all need is uncertainty in our fights."


    "So we divide brains and brawns¡­" Alean nodded.


    "That''s why Lynd shouldn''t imitate our nning abilities. What you three need is not the intelligence to face the enemy, but the raw power to break through whatever obstacles you have. I need the Lynd that went berserk in My-Pangea." Arthur spoke bluntly.


    The entire room fell silent. This was one topic that everyone avoided.


    "Look." Lynd hesitated.


    "The truth is; I''m terrified of unleashing that¡­ thing."


    "I''m right then. You can seal your own skills, right? You''ve been sealing the abilities you disyed back then."


    Everyone was surprised at Arthur''s conclusion.


    "Sealed?"


    "Lynd''s path of observation and empathy is very convenient in masking pains. Whenever instances arise where he is reminded of these traumatizing events, he imitates someone else. His Path allows him to draw from someone else experiences."


    "What a terrifying path. So that''s how you manage to learn the Paths and skills of other people. You actually can experience and go through what they did. That''s how you learned Lander''s technique." Lowengren rubbed his chin as he pondered.


    "In order to survive, you need to unseal it. That anger, that trauma, that deep rage that was identally embedded on your soul as you saw the helpless children being mistreated and killed, unseal it."


    Lynd remained silent. His hands were visibly trembling.


    "You have to do this. Since the Aragarians will be watching, we can''t use techs that are too obvious or ones that could pose a threat to them."


    "But Arthy! That''s a bit too much! Can we even win in that scenario?" Meryl gave a worried cry.


    "We have no choice. Through Seeker''s efforts, we already had Unlocked ourselves into a realm that is humanly impossible. It shouldn''t be easy to reach Inhuman but we already have one now. But this is where it ends. Seeker''s training cannot push us further. I don''t have time to go over the details as to why I know that to be true, but right now we need real pressure to push us higher."


    "But what if we die?" Cliff argued once more. For the first time, a trace of fear was heard in his voice.


    "That''s exactly why we need to fight this way. You need to go beyond yourselves in theing battles. You need to break further in your Unlocking. It''s not about reaching your potential. It''s about increasing your potential."


    "Why does it feel that you''re pressuring us too much?" Meryl could not help to ask.


    "If n A pushes through the three of you would be the ones to enter the main building. There is a chance of meeting Meng there. If Meng were to appear then you three have to stop him until he arrives to fight Meng."


    "What?!"


    "That will give us the highest chances of everyone''s survival. But don''t worry too much. Whoever they send to amodate you should be the weaker group as they would treat me as the stronger opponent. So whoever remains inside the building should be easier to deal with the enemies we would face."


    "What if the stronger ones are inside?" Meryl asked.


    "There''s a forty percent chance of that being the case. After all, someone needs to protect the base." Lowengren did not deny the possibility.


    "Forty percent? That''s a high risk we''re taking! You''re risking these two? Didn''t Seeker tell you not to risk Meryl?" Cliff argued.


    "We have our own reasons as to why we''re risking you three. And I think it''s time to finally address the truth. You probably know this to be true. Lynd, Meryl, you have more potential than Seeker." Arthur finally dropped the bomb.


    The two were silent. They did not look too surprised.


    "Seeker didn''t tell you at first because it might cause your emotional and mental states to be disturbed. But now, you should be very clear of it. You two are stronger than Seeker."


    The two remained silent. It seemed as if they already knew about this.


    "But, dude, what about me?" Cliff finally erupted.


    "Honestly, we don''t know. You clearly have the potential to reach Surmounting Inhuman. But you don''t seem to have a Path." Lowengren shrugged.


    "This is why you have to be ced in such a perilous scenario. If you want to live, you need to make a Path or at least manifest a skill."


    "So you''re sending me off to die?!" Cliff shouted angrily. A powerful force engulfed everyone. Only the parents who silently listened to the conversation were paralyzed while the rest gave a wary look at Cliff.


    "Cliff." Alean began.


    "While it might seem that way, if Meng appears earlier than anticipated, then we''re all dead. If he does appear, who would you rather be with? Arthur and Lowengren, or Lynd and Meryl?" Alean red.


    The pressure subsided as Cliff realized the truth. With Meryl''s Path and Lynd''s own strange abilities, they would be more likely to survive.


    "It''s not as suicidal as it seems. We do have a technology that could greatly help you three." Arthur continued.


    "My father was able to develop a unique suit. Inside the suits are nerve connectors which allows you to connect your nerves to the suit itself. While the suit in itself has no functions when it is connected to your nerves, the suit can provide you energy as it is stored with the same nutrients that you use to burn energy."


    Arthur handed a suit to Meryl.


    "Just by connecting my nerves to the suit? I don''t understand."


    "You''re Believers. Make a miracle out of it." Arthur shrugged.


    "Any other helpful advice?" Meryl gave a sarcastic reply.


    "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1." Arthur handed Lynd and Cliff the suit with a serious face.


    "Gee¡­ Thanks, Pastor." Meryl red.


    Back in the present, the shurikens zoomed towards the three teams while two were aimed at Meryl.


    Meryl was extremely angry because of Typical''s callousments. Lynd and Cliff knew it would be dangerous to stand next to Meryl and sprinted as fast as they could.


    An unexpected phenomenon urred when Meryl''s nerves bonded with the suit. Arthur expected a Miracle from the Believers, but Arthur vastly underestimated the power of the Unlocking.


    A hot yellowish glow surrounded Meryl. Her entire body gave a golden-yellow glow. Lynd and Cliff dashed out of the area as fast as they could.


    BOOM!


    A miniature sun erupted with Meryl at the center.


    "Retreat!" Typical ordered as they dashed out of room destroying the walls near them.


    "Who''s the weakling now, Typical?"

 Chapter 94 - Masks And Deception

    While the outside building appeared like a huge mansion with several buildings and warehouses connected to it, the inside of the building did not look elegant or extravagant. It was made with Hardstone and metal. The entrance led to a wide hall carefully guarded by soldiers. But even for these soldiers, what happened next were just too fast.


    Only Suit was prepared and ready to fight the approaching threat. Knowing how several of his brother''s fought against Richie, he immediately readied five Exoskeleton Suits.


    The Exoskeleton Suits were programmed with heat vision and trajectory prediction that could match and attack enemies at the speed that Jet-Powered Exoskeleton''s were using.


    As the intruder believed to be Richie approached the gate entrance, Suit and his automated Exoskeletons raised their gun barrels.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Two powerful sonic booms could be heard on the other side of the main door.


    The figure changed direction on thest second and sted its way inside the building.


    The Suit''s reacted immediately but it was toote for them to fire urately and hit the target.


    The target somehow managed to pierce its way through the thick doors decimating three Suits at its entrance.


    Some of the more experienced soldiers managed to shoot at the entering figure but the speed exhibited by the figure was just too fast.


    Suit and his surrounding robots immediately chased the figure. The Exoskeleton''s apanying Suit started to merge with the Exoskeleton he was equipped as they were moving towards the direction their enemy dashed off too.


    BOOM!


    Three figures who stood outside of a zing room were to focus at their enemy that they could only stare at the zooming figure.


    BOOM!


    Another sonic boom was heard and countered the force of his flight until the figure stopped at the end of the hallways.


    "Nice! You''ve grown! Talk to youter!" A cheerful sound was heard and another powerful sonic boom propelled the figure onwards, as it pierced through walls and rooms.


    Near where the figurended and left, Cliff and Lynd were standing with a confused expression. They had just broken through the wall to escape Meryl''s rampage. But before the two could speak about the bizarre scene, gunshots were heard and the two had to dodge by entering the room the broke out off.


    BOOM! Explosions rocked the area where they were.


    "Trigger, st, Suit. Attack together with us!" Typical called out.


    "But Young Master, that other person is headed to attack Master!" Suit answered back as itsrge bulking armor finally appeared in the East wing.


    "Master is not someone who needs our protection! And what can you do? You''ve merged three Suits? Did that person destroy three already?"


    "He caught me off guard!"


    "No more excuses. If he got through the seven assassins outside, he can go through you. Just help us deal with the monsters in that room!" Typical shouted.


    While the insides of the base were chaotic, the observing army outside continued their detailed analysis.


    "Are the drones inside yet?" Pridgeon asked impatiently.


    "Presider, the bug drones were able to slip in unnoticed thanks to themotion. The team is carefully positioning them to give us clear visuals."


    "We''re in position!" Another soldier yelled immediately.


    "Transmit the feed now! I want to see how strong Meng and Richie''s disciples are."


    Several images started to appear on therge screen. The video images were curved and distorted but were slowly starting to give a clearer image at each passing second.


    "The bug drones are now syncing the images for rity." The thin soldier reported. The respective perspectives of each drone merged with each other and the entire battle between the eleven warriors was broadcasted.


    Arthur was shing with Force, One and Specter. As the leader of the group, the assassins deemed it important to kill him first.


    Lowengren was escaping the attacks of Clutch. The poison mist blocked his path towards Arthur. Behind Clutch was a thick ming region with dark smoke. His attempts to attack Alean were met with an explosive counter as his chemicals were either extinguished by the fire or would blow up due to an unbnced chemical reaction.


    Lander and Alean continued to work together as they fought Twister, Strike, and Blur.


    As the battles of the three progressed, it was clear that the assassins were keeping each fighter away from assisting theirrades.


    One and Force moved at incredibly fast speeds. Specter was high in pursuit but kept his distance. Arthur utilized his own boosters to evade one and strike the other. One and Force attacked at opposite ends. Yet despite this strategy, Arthur could easily counter or evade the attack without looking back.


    Specter idly observed from the distance as he ''hovered'' over the air. Suddenly, he moved at incredible speed to sh with Arthur. One and Force retreated immediately.


    Arthur frowned as he noticed Specter approaching.


    A bright dagger appeared on Specter''s arms which shed a powerful and bright light.


    Arthur didn''t wait for Specter to get closer and immediately struck his two maces together..


    BOOM!


    A powerful st urred and the two were sent two flying backward.


    Specter was about to crash on the ground when suddenly he stopped falling.


    Arthur revealed an undamaged appearance and simply checked his maces.


    "Ingenious. You have invisible wires that can move on their own and even harden. Your real weapons are those treads of yours that could either pierce through me or coil up to me, correct? That bright dagger is used to hide these hidden weapons of your attacks. Isn''t that bit of an overkill? I already can''t see the treads but you still took the effort to blind me."


    Specter leaped back to his feet.


    "And yet I was at the losing end of that exchange. Pangean Whish technology? And you seem to be wearing special gear to make yourself immune from it. I didn''t know that American Misceneous technology has created such powerful steel."


    Seeing that Specter failed to assassinate Arthur, One and Force immediately moved.


    "Specter, move back." One ordered as he and Force came to an understanding and started utilizing faster speeds.


    Their attacks glowed differently this time as traces of dark spots were forming in Force''s fist and One''sser sword.


    Arthur merely smiled and suddenly the two maces on his hand started to emit electric charges and vibrating.


    "British Lightning Rodbined with American Misceneous metals and Pangean''s whish¡­" Specter identified the technologies that Arthur wielded.


    "Richie sure is generous." Force red.


    "The best for his disciples." Arthur gave a mysterious smile.


    The three stood silently for a moment and then the next moment loud bangs were heard as each used their boosters and dove towards each other.


    BANG! BANG!


    The melee continued once more. Arthur''s attacks were more dangerous as mini whish bombs and lightning would sometimes explode at Arthur''s strikes. Arthur''s timing was precise and his hits would always cause one to either stagger or back off allowing him to evade the next other assassins attack.


    As Arthur returned to strike Force, Force exerted great effort as his fist charged with a shade of dark red energy.


    "Foolish." Arthur scoffed and struck the fist with his mace.


    BOOM!


    Arthur used the whish explosion to turn around delivering a roundhouse mace attack towards Force''s face.


    Force attacked Arthur with another punch. But since he was still staggering from thest strike the momentum and force that he used on his second punch were weak.


    BOOM!


    Blood started oozing on Force''s ears as the lightning and an intense vibration radiated in his body.


    Arthur was about to withdraw, but then Force''s fist remained glued to Arthur''s mace.


    Forceughed heartily as his trap worked and One immediately delivered a quick sh.


    Arthur countered One''s sh with his mace. The moment the mace and theser sword were about to hit each other, One canceled hisser sword''s solidity and the sword energy dissipated.


    The sudden disappearance of theser sword allowed One to position the handle of his sword towards Arthur.


    Arthur saw the predicament and could not help but admire his opponent. One was confident hisser unorthodox sword sh would kill Arthur before Arthur''s mace could deal lethal damage.


    One was right. Arthur would have lost. The deceptive attack would have killed Arthur instantly.


    But Arthur had Selective Unlocking,


    Arthur had long mastered a way to focus his Unlocking to one or two attributes boosting them greatly.


    The moment his mace was stuck, Arthur focused on time perception.


    Time slowed down and Arthur''s brain started to feel the strain. A decisecond passed slowly in Arthur''s perspective. Then Arthur could count by centiseconds.


    One''s cunning attack was easily seen through.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Two whish explosions urred as Arthur pulled the trigger.


    The explosion sent One flying with his mask shattered. The other explosion caused Force to fall back ending the maic pull.


    Arthur immediately released the handle of his two maces and boosted backward. Specter misunderstood Arthur''s capability. Arthur did not have the armor to protect him from his own explosions. Arthur was simply timing his retreat to avoid the whish or ride it. The direction of which the two maces flew to from the explosion was also Arthur''s retreat path.


    And like a surfer riding an invisible wave, Arthur casually retrieved the flying maces as he flew backward.


    Arthur suddenly spotted a dagger approaching on his peripheral vision.


    Arthur strained his entire body to force his heard to turn. The dagger slid pass by Arthur''s mask scratching it.


    Arthurnded safely but his neck muscles were in pain from the sudden movements.


    "You guys really are experts. Even in that scenario and the quick turn of events you were still able to send out such deadly attacks." Arthur admired.


    One and Force had already stood up and red angrily at Arthur.


    "Too bad you lost that exchange." Arthur continued his insults as he gazed at Specter.


    "Is that so?" Specterughed.


    Then the upper portion of Arthur''s mask suddenly started cracking. Arthur realized it and immediately used the mace to scrape the upper portion of his mask ripping the top part off his face. A synthetic covering covered his face with only his eyes being revealed.


    The upper half of Arthur''s mask fell on the ground and it continued to crack as the part which the dagger sliced started corroding.


    One and Force gave a devilish smile.


    "You''re not the only one with interesting technologies." Specterughed.


    "Corroding metal." Arthur frowned as he watched the terrifying effects of the corroding metal.


    "We''re professional''s We never expect to win easily. So we always have a deception that we mask in deception."


    "Tell me¡­ If you had this, why didn''t you just aim for my Maces from the start?" Arthur wondered.


    "Force is interested with that mace you carry." Specterughed.


    "So instead of attacking my weapon, you decided to aim for my face?"


    "Those thick sses you wore when we met indicate you have poor vision. So you must be using advanced technologies to see. Especially when you''re in a fight of this level. Your not the only one who can make deductions. Now that your mask is gone I wonder how you will fight. These wounds are worth the new technology you are offering us." One chuckled.


    "My how greedy."


    "Still putting up a calm front? Let''s just end this." One readied a stance.


    The three assassins were standing in three different locations surrounding Arthur.


    "Wait." Arthur motioned before the three could move.


    "What now? Are you going to tell us yourst request?" Forceughed.


    "No. I''m just unmasking my deceptions." Arthur smiled.


    "You guys arepletely off the mark. I don''t need sses. I only wore them because the Marketing team made me do it to give me a more ''cunning'' and ''smart'' look. I soon developed the habit of wearing it all the time." Arthur gave a sly grin.


    The assassins felt threatened at Arthur''s strange deration and immediately attacked together.


    BOOM!


    A loud sonic boom was heard as Arthur moved faster than before. Even for these Assassins with well-trained eyes, all they could see was a blurring figure which moved upwards.


    "NANI?!" One''s great surprise caused him to instinctively cry out in his native tongue.


    The blurring figure of Arthur who rushed upwards suddenly dove and headed towards Specter.


    The wires wrapped around Specter immediately.


    BOOM!


    Another sonic boom sounded and the blurring figure suddenly changed its direction.


    BANG!


    One could only see Force''s battered body flying in the air.

 Chapter 95 - Seek And You Will Find

    Pridgeon continued to look at the battle as the bugs synchronized the images with a shocked expression.


    "Impossible. They could easily fight on par with a Presider!" A look of intense anger erupted as Pridgeon looked at the video feeds. The three battles were being transmitted separately. Pridgeon focused on the escting battle between four specific fighters.


    Unlike the other battles which utilized strange weapons, this onergely was a battle that involved closedbat. Soon the battle progressed and it appeared to be that Richie''s disciple was about to be defeated.


    Suddenly the figure blurred at incredible speed and the sonic boom was even caught clearly on camera.


    The flying and battered body of the assassin flew and crashed down the ground.


    The dark armor that the man wore was broken. The suits no longer kept its flexible and cloth-like appearance but the damaged caused it to reveal its true, hard and tough form.


    Meanwhile, Arthur stood calmly and gazed at the other side of the battle.


    "Leave her alone."


    Clutch who had witnessed the attack on Force stop and red back.


    "Clutch. Focus on that woman. You''re too far from us if you dare attack him he''ll get to you first before we can offer any support."


    Clutch paused and returned his attention to the woman who had mocking eyes.


    "Fine. I''ll pay back whatever you owe Force to this woman. I hope you''ll enjoy her suffering." The suit that he wore suddenly started to change in color as a vacuum could be felt. Clutch revealed two vials and tossed it to the ground.


    Dark purple smoke exploded out as the vials were broken and the strange gas somehow circted around Clutch.


    Alean had a solemn look on her face. If she is wounded just by a bit, the gas would immediately kill her.


    "Give her your best and most pleasurable kiss." Arthur ignored Clutch''s actions and focused on the two men before him.


    Arthur had fractured his right arm at the attack. His right leg which bore the powerful boost was also in pain. The muscles and bones of his foot were pushed way beyond its limits. Even with the shaping armor that Arthur wore, the strain was just too much.


    "So a few more and my leg muscles would tear?" Arthur noted the pain in his legs. As his movements were now gravely limited, Arthur started to mumble a series of numbers.


    Force finally woke up from his unconscious state.


    Blood was dripping out of his chest. The armor was in a total wreck. Even when Force mmed his fist together to create a powerful force field, it was easily broken from the intense strike of Arthur.


    "Don''t move, Force. Just stay there." One ordered. Several soldiers who stood silently at the barricade finally moved to save Force.


    "Quite a disciplined army you have. After everything that we''ve been doing, they dared not attack me." Arthur admired then went back to his random mumblings.


    "It''s already embarrassing that we have to ask help to get them to rescue Force. But this is where the battle ends. You''ve paid quite a price for that move."


    "It seems that your leg muscles are about to tear. The bones in your arm should almost be fractured." Specter analyzed.


    "If I want to defeat one of you, I''d have to be willing to pay that price." Arthur simply shrugged as he continued to mumble numbers.


    "Let''s just end this. Get ready, Ar-"


    The video feeds were all suddenly cut off.


    "What happened?" Pridgeon screamed angrily.


    The soldiers were all scrambling to identify the cause of the sudden disruption.


    Larson was confused at the sudden developments.


    "Sir, it seems that our signal receptors are blocked. The feeds from the drone bugs are now being redirected to another receptor. Please give us-"


    BOOM!


    The building they were on started shaking.


    "What was that?!" Pridgeon screamed once more.


    The soldiers turned to the video feeds of the security cameras on the surrounding buildings and disyed in on-screen.


    A feed from another building where nted Aragarian''s were based disyed an ongoing shooting.


    "Intruders! Kill-"


    BANG!


    A masked attacker immediately shot the nted man killing him with a headshot. Two soldiers started attacking the main entrance and killed everyone along the hallways.


    The attackers started shooting and killing everybody in the room. It wasn''t long before a single man was the only one left alive. His legs were shot twice by the two attackers.


    "Why this one? Wouldn''t that woman be better?" The manined.


    "My my¡­ someone needs to go over his training notes. Didn''t you see that woman''s attire? She''s a strong and courageous type. This one''s more cowardly." A woman''s voice came out of the first.


    "Now tell me¡­ just who do you work for. And why are you here?" The woman started to interrogate as she stepped her heel on the man''s wounds.


    "AHHHH!" A piercing scream was heard.


    "The Chinese Government! We work with the Chinese Government! We were monitoring Greydon Meng''s base!"


    "Chinese Government? If you guys are going to lie better make a believable one.Wework for the Chinese Government. We are in the middle of a joint operation between the East Asian Alliance, SPU, the America''s and One China."


    BANG!


    The woman shot the arm of the man.


    "AHHH!" The scream echoed out once more. The terrified man started crying and soon a pungent smell covered the room.


    "Woah. Man¡­ that''s spicy." The manughed.


    "I''m telling the truth! Larson''s here! He''s one of the leaders of this operation!" The nted man cried once more as the woman pointed the gun on his temple.


    "Larson?" The two looked at each other.


    The woman thought for a bit.


    "Perhaps his ming the death of his sons to Richie? But that''s strange. Richie met with him and told him not to interrupt this battle."


    "Don''t overthink it. If he thinks Richie killed his sons, then he probably wants to be the grasshopper stalking the sparrow while it eats the early worm something¡­ Erm¡­ what''s the phrase? That Chinese phrase?"


    "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the sparrow. How the hell did you mix the early bird saying with that?" A voice was heard as two more agents walked into the room.


    "You had it so wrong, Dear." The womanughed at hispanion''s misquotations.


    "We made the same conclusion as well." A cold female voice spoke ignoring the merriment between the two agents.


    "So it seems that this Larson wants to kill Richie together with Meng. It''s a good thing that Richie has that strange instinct thing¡­"


    Pridgeon watched silently. Larson''s mouth kept moving up and down but no voice came out. Regardless of what would happen, Richie would definitely target him after this.


    "How the hell did they get to that conclusion!" Larson screamed with great fear.


    Suddenly, a strange vibration was felt in the entire building.


    "Ohhhhh Larson! Where are you, Larson?!" A familiar and terrifying voice was heard.


    "RICHIE!" Larson screamed in terror.


    "Looks like things are getting out of hand." Pridgeon frowned.


    "So you''re on that building, huh?!" Another loud shout echoed out as the building vibrated.


    "Goodbye, Larson." Pridgeon couldn''t take it anymore. A metal wing appeared from his back and a strange white-pearl armor covered Pridgeon from head to toe. He immediately zoomed out of the room. His flight was not hindered by the walls. The walls melted as Pridgeon''s suit passed by and the moment he passed through the wall, Pridgeon turned back and shot a y-like substance back to the wall.


    The substance immediately hardened as it filled the gaps of the wall and copied the color of the wall.


    The wall was covered up as if it wasn''t even destroyed.


    Pridgeon turned around unceremoniously and zoomed up into the sky. His entire outfit turned invisible. No traces could be found. Not even the sound of his escape could be heard. Pridgeon simply disappeared into thin air.


    Larson could only stand and watch and wanted to curse at Pridgeon.


    "Found you!" Another loud shout was heard but this time several sonic booms were heard after it and a figure was standing over the rubble remains of the wall opposite to where Pridgeon exited.


    THUD!


    Everyone immediately stumbled at the strange sound. Various nted soldiers started convulsing wildly on the floor.


    The monitors of everyputer started to crack.


    Larson stared around him and realized he was the only one left unaffected.


    "Wa-why are¡­ you¡­"


    "Why am I here? And who was that man who rushed in earlier pretending to be me? Ask and you shall receive." Richieughed.


    "I''ll answer three questions before I kill you. That was my disciple. Erm... Stewy Keyiar. Next question."


    Larson gazed fearfully at Richie. He slowly epted his faith amidst the fact that no one could help him.


    "How¡­ did you find¡­"


    "How did I find you despite your extremely secure preparations? As Pastor Eagle would always quote, Seek and you will find." Richie smiled but Larson gave a confused look.


    "Alright fine. Through Echolocation. Last question."


    "Madelyn?" Larson squeezed the words out of his mouth.


    "You mean that girl? Since she was on her way out, I didn''t bother with her."


    The eyes of Lander turned from fear to anger.


    "Oh. You wanted her to die? Since we share this kindred spirit I''ll kill you painlessly." Richie shook his head after seeing the angry eyes of a man that demanded justice.


    "I had such eyes when I met her too. Farewell, brother." Richie paused.


    "Die." Richie smiled. But it was a smile that brought death.


    It was a simple word but strange vibrations shook Larson''s body.


    Richie turned around and gazed at Meng''s base.


    "No more loose ends. Time to fight the Dragon." A low sonic boom exploded as Richie immediately disappeared from sight.


    Everyone left on that room was already dead.


    Minutes passed and soon a strange ripple appeared in the middle of the room.


    Pridgeon appeared as he undid his cloaking.


    "Larson!" Pridgeon rushed towards the lying body of Larson. He immediately used his suit''s tech to check on Larson''s body.


    "No wounds but he is clearly dead. Why didn''t the bomb explode?" Pridgeon was bewildered.


    At Pridgeon''s arrival on earth, he immediatelymanded all Pioneers to be imnted with a bomb on their chest which would explode once they die in order to get rid of any evidence and possibly kill the person attacking the Pioneer.


    When Pridgeon escaped, he remained at a distance to wait for Larson''s murder. But no explosions urred. After waiting several minutes, Pridgeon finally decided to check.


    Pridgeon continued to carefully scan Larson''s body.


    Unbeknownst to Pridgeon, a strange vibration that was enveloping Larson''s heart causing it to continuously vibrate suddenly disappeared¡­


    BOOM!


    Backtracking ten minutes before Arthur''s battle reached its climax, an interesting meeting also took ce.


    A figure walked in the dark corridors deep inside the mansion. He wore a thick strange armor, that was simr to the armor the Dawn soldiers wore.


    But instead of the slow, clumsy steps, his pace was rxed and as if the metals he wore bore him no hindrance


    Suddenly a powerful sonic boom sounded out as a figure finally reached him.


    The armored man simply raised his right hand ready to p the attacking figure.


    PENG!


    The sword was sent flying by the p while the attacking figure was somersaulting backward and used several minor boosts to regain his bnce.


    A thin figurended easily and took out another sword.


    "I can''t believe you''ve already reached this level of monstrosity. Looks like this will be an interesting battle." The figure removed its mask and revealed his handsome face towards the armored man.


    "The ck Dragon, Greydon Meng. Good to see you." The figure greeted.


    Greydon''s domineering figure stood firmly. But as it saw the face of the man, it could not help but react in shock.


    "You? Why are you here?" A curious and thick voice sounded out.


    "Piercing E-Sport Gamer, Seeker Carlean?"


    "Oh? You''ve heard about little old me? Well... What should I say to my beloved fans?" Seeker slowly motioned and the sword which was thrown into the far wall flew back to his arms.


    "It''s just good to be back.." Seeker''s trademark devilish grin finally shed again.

 Chapter 96 - He Who Treads The Ancients Path

    "This is truly a marvelous turn of event." Meng stared at Seeker.


    "Who would have thought that you would be the one to fight me?"


    "Well, facing you could be too much. The best ending would be me, defeating you. But if I can''t at least I can stall you until Richie gets here." Seeker gave a confident smile.


    "I see. So Richie and Lennox are busy as of this moment¡­ Are you sure your little friends can handle my assassins?"


    "Probably not if they stay the way they are. But like me, failing to grow, is tantamount to death."


    The thick armor of Meng started giving a reddish glow.


    "Then before Richie or Lennox arrives, I should eliminate you."


    BOOM!


    It happened so fast. An electrical yellow charge glowed around Meng. This electric glow was pointing towards Seeker''s direction. Its appearance was barely a tenth of a second. Suddenly, Meng''s entire body raced towards Seeker at incredible speed.


    Seeker wasted no time and evaded the charge with a powerful boost.


    "How creative. So this is how the primitive Dragon fights." Seeker smiled.


    Suddenly, another set of electrical glows appeared pointing to Seeker''s direction.


    Bits and pieces of Meng''s armor exploded towards Seeker.


    Seeker gripped his sword tight, and with a fast-spinning sh, he struck the approaching metals, knocking it off course.


    Strangely, the metal armors did not crash on the ground but another glow appeared on Meng''s body and the pieces of metal were returning and reattaching itself to Meng.


    "As expected of the nation which developed maic technology. A battle suit which is equipped with rail technology allowing it to move at incredible speeds. Of course, it would be useless for most humans as the heat it generates would short circuit anyplex technology that suit is equipped after several uses. So the pilot has to be able to see and fight without technological enhancements at the speed of sound and withstand the scorching heat." Seeker rotated his elbows to relieve it from the stannous strike his arms just did.


    "But of course, that fact pales inparison to the question of what kind of a human are you? I mean... How hot is it inside that suit of yours? Being a human rail gun, the heat generated in one attack should''ve fried anyone piloting it on first use. Yet it doesn''t seem to affect you. You seem more resilient than the Dawn Soldiers that my friends fought in Australia. And I know there are no experiments done on your body. Now that''s just disgusting."


    "Disgusting? Coming from someone who just used his bare hands to knock off a canon. If I''m disgusting, then what should I call you?"


    "An Inhuman." Seeker smiled.


    Meng raised his eyebrows at Seeker''s strange answer.


    "Then tell meInhuman, where is Rosa?"


    "Oh rx. We didn''t even meet her. She isn''t that weak anyways. This was all to get your attention. You are a very xenophobic and cautiousman after all."


    "So you used her name and led an attack just to talk to me?"


    "Well... knowing your personality, the sensitive information that I have wouldn''t be credible in your eyes. What we need to do, is defeat you first. Perhaps then, you''d listen to us.." Seeker gave an innocent smile.


    "Then I want to see how you will defeat me."


    Suddenly another electrical charge zoomed past towards the direction of Seeker.


    BOOM!


    The full armor of Meng charged forth towards Seeker. Despite the high-speed attack, Meng was mindful enough to observe Seeker''s escape route.


    Pieces of his armors started to rattle as the yellow electric glow appeared, cutting off Seeker''s escape.


    But then, Seeker who was about to evade did the most unexpected thing. He charged towards Meng''s direction with his two hands gripping the sword tightly.


    Meng sneered at Seeker''s stupid move.


    BOOM!


    Seeker zoomed towards Meng and used the impact and his booster to throw him backward and after another boosts to the side, Seeker managed to evade the full strike of the charging armor.


    Meng shook his head in disappointment.


    Despite the sessful evasion, Seeker''s body was visibly trembling.


    "I''ll admit that you''re strong. But if you want to defeat me, then you have to bedisgustingas well." Suddenly, a stronger and more chaotic electric glow surrounded Meng.


    "An Inhuman is not enough. You thought too highly of yourself. You still do not have the qualifications to stand before me, Gamer. "


    In a different time, in a different ce of a different reality¡­


    Meng dragged Seeker''s beaten and unconscious body and tossed it towards a calm and tranquil old man who sat on top of the rubble remains of an Aragarian Comet.


    "I''m done with the spar. Here''s your little project." Meng tossed Seeker''s body towards the old man.


    Seeker''s body suddenly stopped and floated on midair. Then Seeker''s body slowly floated towards a huge metallic pod ced at the side. The moment Seeker sshed into the pool of the pod, and then it''s metal doors closed.


    "So? How was it?" The old man asked.


    "He clearly reached Ranked Hero. His physical body should be simr to those at Ranked Hero Proficient. You can make the announcement. This should greatly increase the morale of everyone."


    "Oh? Why would it boost morale?"


    Meng had a curious look on his face. But knowing that the Realm King wasn''t a dotard of an old man, Meng gave a decent answer.


    "Because its finally proven that Non-Believers can reach Ranked Hero. And even up to the Proficient stage."


    "I wonder about that." The Realm King gave a mysterious smile.


    "Arthur and Seeker. Two Non-Believers have reached Ranked Hero." Meng added.


    "Arthur''s special. His pseudo Path and Selective Unlocking makes him special. And let''s not forget his heritage."


    "So you''re implying that Seeker''s also special? He''s clearly worse than Arthur. He has no Path. Even a Pseudo Path would have done well. All he has is the capability to match the Unlocking of Ranked Heroes in terms of Perception, Physical strength and endurance."


    "That''s exactly why. Do you really think that Lennox, who concluded it would be impossible for the Pathless or the average Non-Believers to ever reach Ranked Hero, would be wrong?" Realm King challenged.


    Meng dared not say that Lennox was wrong.


    "So if he is correct, then what exactly is Seeker Carlean?"


    "People often assume that I picked Seeker to be my disciple out of pity and boredom. But what if I did so because I believed he had a Path?"


    Meng gave a curious look.


    "If he has a Path, then why hasn''t he shown it yet?"


    "What if he has." The Realm King gave a mysterious smile.


    "Please save me from your mysteries. What is his Path?"


    "The Unlocking." The Realm King gave a short answer.


    "The Unlocking?"


    "His Path put it simply, is the capability to rise up the stages of the Unlocking. It''s a Path, but it''s also not a Path. Quite a contradiction, right?" The Realm Kingughed.


    Meng gave a strange look at the Realm King.


    "A Pathless Path?"


    "Exactly. If Lennox is right, then this is how Seeker reached Ranked Hero. That''s how he managed to form a physical body that a Non-Believer would be unable to. That''s how, despite the absence of a Path or a Pseudo-Path, he managed to catch up with his peers and even surpassed some. After all, how many Ranked Heroes have reached Proficient? Even Arthur, who was the fastest to race through the Unbing and Inhuman stage has yet to reach the Proficient stage of Ranked Hero."


    Meng was stunned silent at his words.


    "If this is the case, is he a Believer?"


    "No. He isn''t a Believer. Because he could never believe the impossibilities to create a Path like the Believers. But what he has, is something interesting. He believes in himself. He believes that even without a Path, he can break through the ranks to reach the higher stages."


    "Forgive me for doubting this disciple of yours. But your ims are very questionable."


    The Realm King merely smiled as he looked towards the pod.


    "I first noticed Seeker, during the Retaking of Pangea. He was of course, first amongst the Unlocked due to his close connection with Doctor Charles. But of course, he was quickly forgotten within the ranks of the army as his closest friends, the Empress of the Sun and the Prophet Elijah overshadowed him."


    "And so you''re saying that because he was overshadowed by these two, that he wasn''t noticed?"


    "Seeker''s career is something that should''ve amazed anyone but since there were so many doubtful things about his progressive growth, he was never seen amongst the heroes. There are several miracles that he did, which we simply ignored. How is it, that he managed to achieve the same level of physical and cellr enhancement which other Ranked Heroes has? Think carefully. Reaching the Ranked Hero stage was already deemed impossible, yet Seeker not only reached that stage of the Unlocking but beyond the state of his brain, everything else caught up as well."


    "That''s because of the neuro- transcellr phenomenon!" Meng argued.


    "Oh is it? Then why is it, amongst all the Ranked Heroes, excluding Elijah, only Seeker has reached the stage where both his mind and body reached Proficient?"


    Meng couldn''t retort.


    "Let''s say you''re right. Then exactly, what is Seeker''s Path?"


    "It''s simr to Lynd''s. You could say it''s weaker¡­ but on a different perspective, it''s also stronger. If Lynd can mimic and acquire the Path of every Ranked Hero or Champion, Seeker, can acquire everything else but the Path."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Anything that is not Path rted, but rted to the Unlocking stages, which means, physical enhancement, time perception, improved motor capability, Neuro-transcellr enhancement, and everything else, he can acquire. How else can you exin how he managed to reach the physical biology of a Ranked Hero Proficient this fast?" The Realm King gave a wide smile.


    "Then you had him fight me to grow?"


    "Yes. Although your physical body is strong because of your Path, even Lennox would agree that your body will undoubtedly hold the key ingredients that could help Non-Believers acquire the physical body of a Ranked Hero!"


    Meng recalled his battle with Seeker and thought deeply.


    "So it wasn''t just a feeling. His physical body did grow stronger mid-fight."


    "Oh¡­ Looks like Seeker had some progressed in your fight. Good. If Lynd''s path is the Narrow Road, the one who can gather all paths and produce the Way, then Seeker holds within his potential, the capability to break through the Unlocking without a Path. He simply knows the truth about the Unlocking."


    Meng stood silently and unconsciously gazed at the metal pod which hosted Seeker.


    "So that''s why you adamantly fought the Tyrant Empress to have Lynd near Seeker. I thought you were just protecting Lynd''s innocence." Meng contemted.


    "Well, yes. that and if Lynd manages to converge all the Paths, who knows how Seeker will mature. As long as Seeker can witness someone surpass World Champion, he has the potential to do so too." The Realm King smiled.


    "So what do we report?" Meng asked a serious question.


    "Rx. I know how important morale is. We''ll tell the world that reaching Ranked Hero is possible even for Non-Believers. And of course, we cannot tell Seeker of his Path. He might doubt himself if we told him. Despite his strength, he is quite insecure." The Realm King heartilyughed.


    The sleeping Seeker Carlean, couldn''t hear the conversations between the two Oveers. But recently, in the depths of his subconscious, as he was building the foundations of his Unlocking, he recalled this moment and heard what he couldn''t hear before.


    Before Seeker died, he not only saw but felt what it was like to surpass World Champion.


    Seeker stood bravely as Meng''s yellow charge grew brighter.


    "I have no qualifications to stand before you? Perhaps before. But not now." Seeker sneered confidently.


    "I am he who has stood at the crossroads and asked; where is the Good Way that I might walk in it? If no new Paths open before me, I''ll just tread on a Path already trodden upon!"


    Seeker dove forward once again to sh with Meng. But this time instead of evading, Seeker was bent on smashing that metallic armor to pieces.


    "I am he who treads the Ancient''s Paths!"


    BOOM!

 Chapter 97 - Cliffs Preparations

    The Lynd and Cliff ran back to the room and stood behind Meryl.


    After the explosion, three areas of the room continued to burn with a strange bright fire. The enemies whom Meryl faced where the masked assassin typical, Sting'' and Shock, the assassin with a metal arm.


    Cliff and Lynd, who stood behind Meryl, were facing the other direction. Another set of three assassins,arge assassin with an abnormally huge gun, Trigger, an assassin who wore a strange mask with military-grade visors, and therge hulking figure of Suit, who have merged with several other androids which followed him.


    "Meryl, Seeker''s awake! I saw him outside just now." Lynd''s happy and excited voice sounded out.


    The raging eyes of Meryl immediately diminished. However, knowing the skills of the enemy'' she dared not turn his attention to Lynd who was behind her. Still, an uncontroble smile of relief surfaced.


    "Really? Where is he?"


    "I don''t know. But it looks like he''s nning to face Meng. Something must have happened to Richie." Lynd frowned.


    "What? That''s crazy!" Meryl cried in rm.


    "Yeah. Let''s go all out. We have no time dealing with these guys. Let''s finish them and help Zeek!" Lynd sighed.


    "Go all out immediately?! This isn''t what we talked about! I-" Cliffined.


    "Get stronger Cliff. If you can''t win against these guys, then you can''t even help Zeek. Meryl, let''s switch. I feel that that Sting knows Realm Somatotopy." Lynd ordered and immediately turned back to face Typical and his group. Meryl moved in synch and faced the Trigger''s group.


    Dejected of being ignored and forced to fight a battle he knew not the oue, Cliff clenched his fist in anger.But as he had no choice but to follow on the changes in their ns, Cliff activated the strange back-pack provided by Lennox. The Backpack that he wore wasstarted to emit strange soundsand it began to slowly reshape itself bing a full bright silver armor that covered Cliff.


    "American Nono-tech. Pesky Misceneous techs." Trigger couldn''t help but frown as he identified the equipments.


    "They''re ridiculously rich. Let''s kill them and get those techs!" Suit couldn''t hide the greed in his eyes. being the only Assassin that utilized suchplex heavy machinery, he yearned for a suit that had American Misceneous techs.


    Cliff continued to clench his fist in anger and despair even after the armor was fully equipped.


    "Cliff, you can do it. You''ve been doing your best. For the first since ever, you were trying hard. You even studied under Arthur to improve your strategy." Meryl giggled as she spoke to Cliff with a refreshing tone.


    "That''s right. We believe in you. You can do this. Don''t think of it that we are giving our backs to you because we don''t have a choice. We are moving on with the ns not because we are reckless or desperate, but because we know you have the strength to help us." Lynd added.


    "Right. You have to grow stronger. But know that we believe you can. Don''t worry. Lynd and I are Believers. So believing in you isn''t just an empty gesture. We really mean it. Let''s go."


    "I admire your confidence, but please don''t underestimate us." Typical frowned.


    "Kill them." Typical stepped back. He wasn''t used in fighting with the assassins as a team so he decided to withdraw and observe.


    "We don''t dare underestimate you. We''re just in a hurry. Meryl. Do it."


    Suddenly, a bright glow appeared again. Instead of the burning sun, a bright light enveloped the room.


    "Pangean Everbright?" Shock wondered.


    "No. Even my mask can''t see through this light." Typical frowned.


    "No wonder he made her face Trigger''s group."


    At the back, the three assassins, could not look directly at the light despite the advanced visors they wore.


    "Strange. The light even distorts my scopes." stined as he aimed randomly.


    "Mine as well." Suit had a solemn look as even his Suit proved useless.


    "Careful! She''s attacking!" Trigger shouted.


    Despite the bright light, the assassins still sensed Meryl''s approach. Relying on technology alone wouldn''t have made them fit to be in the Dragon''s Fang.


    Sting was the first to attack.


    He immediately raised his hands as a sudden swarm of small needles shot out towards the three enemies.


    "HAH!" Lynd shouted mightily.


    A strange fearful chill gripped the backs of the assassins blinding Sting from detecting Meryl.


    The rmed eyes of the assassins could not help but focus on the location where the sound was heard. Sting, who faced Richie once, recalled the terrifying ordeal and unconsciously feared Lynd.


    Though the sensation was weaker, the familiar dread made all the assassins warry.


    Trigger immediately started shooting. The blinding light hindered his sight but relying on his experience and instinct, his attacks were surprisingly urate.


    Meryl tried to leap forward all the way, but she had to change her course and evaded it to the side and would rush backward. Suit joined in attacking as his suit opened severalpartments unleashing a storm of bullets. Despite the blinding light, Trigger and Suit managed to roughly trace the location by identifying where the light was brightest. This whole time, they kept their eyes wide open.


    st silently stood and observed as he left the two to do their part.


    Suit and Trigger unleashing their load, Meryl was unable to push forwards and simply started to run around the room slowly pressing forward.


    Meanwhile, on the other end of the room, although Sting couldn''t identifyhis enemy''spositions as Lynd''s copy of Peal''s of Thunder created a powerful vibrating force that distorted his senses, he still managed to have a rough idea of where Lynd was.


    Shock joined in the fray. He shot his attack as soon as Sting began.


    Using the metal needles that Sting threw as a guide, the electric shocks generated from Shock''s arm created a web of electrical energy that followed Sting''s needles.


    Lynd, who managed to ''understand'' Sting, knew that Meryl''s light wasn''t enough to incapacitate someone who had stepped on theroadof perfecting Realm Somatotopy.


    Lynd immediately dove forward to face Sting as he used Lander''s special attacks to dive right in, evading and knocking off the swarm of small needles. His weapon vibrated with a strange force that did not allow the electricity that coursed through the needles to hurt Lynd.


    The counter-attack that Lynd employed not only managed to knock off the needles but it canceled the electric currents that went along the needles.


    But Lynd dared not rush forward recklessly, he also started zip and zooming around the room as the entire swarm of lightning needles was not easy to deal with.


    st suddenly lifted his gun and aimed somewhere.


    While the entire group was busy, Cliff stood unmoved from the sudden movements of hispanions as well as the ensuing chaos caused by the assassin''s attempts to shoot despite being in a light blinding scenario. He closed his eyes knowing that it would be impossible to see. He was right in the middle of Lynd and Meryl. The light that Meryl emitted had blinded him.


    Cliff tried to remember Lynd and Meryl''s movements and guessed the movement that the two would usually do. He cursed himself for not paying attention to Arthur''s training as his thoughts wandered to the fights he had with and against Arthur.


    What would Meryl do? How would Lynd attack? Knowing their personalities, who would they target?


    Arthur and Lowengren had sternly warned the group not to make any ns. And Meryl and Lynd followed it. Cliff, however, spent all his days preparing and nning what he can do. The simtions of Lynd and Meryl''s attack had countlessly reyed itself in Cliff''s head.


    Cliff had several sessions with Arthur, Lowengren and even had several bouts with Richie, days before the attack begun. He was relentless and constantly hovered over these three asking and inquiring, and often times pleading with them to revert the n. Theuing battle was dangerous for them. The possibility of fighting Meng had robbedCliffof his easy-going confidence.


    Seeker was the monster that he feared. But when he realized that this monster was traininghimto be a monster as well he grew overconfident andid-back.


    But now, he might die. And so, when his life was on the line, Cliff pestered everyone with questions, advice and even fought with them.


    His memories recalled further back and even reviewed the time when Seeker taught them Realm Somatotopy.


    He reminded himself about their talks and tried his best to achieve it.


    The ''vision'' of Cliff slowly started to form. Cliff could somehow feel things. It wasn''t clear because rity wasn''t what Cliff wanted. A vague, blurry, image started to surface in his mind where all that he could see where strange silhouettes detailing the presence of something.


    The memories were tightly grasped in his brain. The power of Advanced Recall made it so that he could rey the scenes in his head. Unknowingly, the method and speed of his recollection had surpassed everyone, even Seeker Carlean.


    In his memories, Arthur had a busy and immersed expression but his mouth moved endlessly.


    "The enemies are equipped with the best of Chinese technology. So the Technological Possibilities that they have focuses on maic, electromaic and rail technology. So expect attacks simr to the Lightning Rod technology. Using maic technology, they should be able to create diverse possibilities in the repelling and attracting of metals. Meng''s organization should use metals with specific maic frequencies. So the possibilities are endless as it is horrifying."


    Cliff continued to give a dumb look as Arthur narrated every possible thing that their enemies would have.


    Arthur gave a nce at Cliff.


    "Repeat what I just said thirty-four sentences ago."


    "The Assassins should be capable of working as a team and can undoubtedly utilize each of their skills to synchronize with each other''s attacks and fighting styles," Cliff repeated.


    "At least your Advance Recall can help you memorize everything I''m saying. Watch the videos so you canpletely understand everything I''ve said. It''s important that you review and reflect onspecific topicsas you watch the videos which exin or show what I''m talking about."


    What Arthur didn''t know that Cliff had managed to push his Advanced Recall to another level. Even then, when Cliff was desperately preparing, he could remember everything that Arthur was saying, all at the same time.


    It was a strange form of recollection that had surpassed the usual method that people recollect.


    Back to the present, using all the memories avable and thetotality of his vagueRealmSomatotopyCliff had actually memorized everything that the assassins were doing.


    Although he couldn''t see anything, his poorer and distorted version of Realm Somatotopy allowed him to see where st aimed. He wasn''t even aiming at Meryl.


    At that moment, Arthur''s words came to memory.


    "Rail technology, added with maic technology, could be dangerous. If it were me, I''d create a weapon that can attract, push or guide other attacks so that it can surprise the enemy. Imagine seeing a tank fire about ny degrees from where you are standing only to find out that the cannon was guided to attack your position."


    Cliff just gave his usual nk and confused stare.


    "They have that technology. They are assassins and they are a team. You can be dead sure, that if Lynd or Meryl reveals their strength they will use underhanded methods to kill you."


    As Cliff was recalling these words, he found himself asking an important question.


    "How will st guide his attacks?"


    His memories suddenly brought to attention Lowengren''s suggestions.


    "If I were fighting Meryl, and I have the technology that the Brits have, I''d use heat-seeking technology to trace Meryl. It''s simple yet very effective."


    The talk with Richie, which he dreaded since Richie would asionally release an extremely painful sound, also surfaced in his mind.


    "The feeling that I get isplex. I simply know where the attack will be, how it may happen, why it will be that way. It isn''t a psychological understanding of my enemies, it isn''t because I make impressive ns like Seeker, Arthur or Lowengren. No. All I ask myself is, what scares me? And oftentimes, the most unlikely and strange things are the very things that do." Richieughed.


    Cliff realized, that of everything happening in that room, st''s actions were the strangest. Why did st aim randomly at the center?


    Slowly, Cliff waited for the precise moment.


    st finally started to pull the trigger.


    "Meryl, off! All, don''t move! Defend!" Cliff shouted. The words sounded strange as Cliff shouted at a fast speed that only an Unbing can understand.


    Meryl immediately stopped her zing attacks and stopped using the burst. Arge metallic shield formed in front of her as she freefell from herst jump.


    Lynd also stopped his boosts and used aplex maneuver to knock off all approaching needles.


    The sudden act of stopping was reckless and extremely dangerous even for them.


    But they immediately followed without hesitating or questioning. All because it was Cliff Fangwood who told them to do so.


    At that split second, st had already pushed the trigger.


    A canister wasunched.


    Midflight, the canister glowed and finally, with the amazing rail technology it had, this canister, aimed to shoot a rail beam.


    The target? As Lowengren guessed, it was the area with the highest heat signature.


    It would have been Meryl. But Meryl immediately undid her bright sh. It would have been the Booster techs the two were wearing as the Dragon''s Fang should have weapons that could conceal or cool down the heat that their weapons gave. But of course, it couldn''t have been the Boosters, since Meryl and Lynd stopped flying.


    All that was left was Shock, the source of the lightning webs which enveloped Sting''s needles.


    And so, the canister, after confirming its target, fired.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 98 - The Roadless That Prepares A Path

    As Seeker charged to meet Meng''s metallic armor charge, his memories delved during the time he was a Ranked Hero.


    Combining the science of their age, as well as mastery over the cells, an Inhuman body was made. These bodies were extremely durable and strong.


    Seeker, who has the memories of owning an Inhuman body, knew how to rebuild his Inhuman body. And along with these memories, are the skills he managed to develop in his former life.


    "Evolve, you damned cells! Even for just a bit!" Seeker gripped his swords tightly as he was about to counter Meng''s Rail attack.


    BOOM!


    Seeker managed to barely make it.


    The entire body of Seeker became as hard as Almetal.


    The density and weight of his arms grew heavier in the extremely small window of their attacks.


    BOOM!


    Meng was swatted down like a fly. The inertia of his attack and the power that Seeker exerted to smash the monster was so intense, that it sounded like a huge explosion had urred.


    Meng crashed down on the floor beneath creating a crevice on the thick floor.


    Seeker immediately retreated afternding the blow.


    He was gasping for air. The energy he expended throughout his attack inside and right now burned his energy tank empty. On thatst attack, a huge portion of Seeker''s stored energy was devoured.


    "I can only keep Surmounting Strength for one second?" Seekerined.


    Seeker calmed down. The first breach of power has consumed a vast amount of his own calories and even ate up most of the energy that Lennox had stored within Seeker''s suit. The evolution of cells left Seeker dried up.


    "At least my gamble worked." Seeker smiled.


    He couldn''t awaken his cells on regr scenarios but had to find enough stress and pressures to stimte the awakening. The first time he managed to evolve his cells on his previous life was also during an encounter with Meng. And just as how reenacting an eventcan help recallmemories, Seeker gambled that a sh with Meng was necessary in order to force the evolution of his cells.


    Seeker was secretly rmed at the rate of consumption.


    "Looks like I miscalcted the effects. Could it be because my body now is stronger than my former evolution?" Seeker continued to ponder.


    Out of the rubbles, the figure of Meng slowly rose. This didn''t surprise Seeker but the threat was greater than before. Seeker had very little energy left.


    "Amazing strength." Meng admired.


    "But it looks like you can''t do that again." Meng casually walked out of the crevice. A portion of his metal armor was bent out of shape. Meng immediately discarded it.


    Strangely, the armor he wore started to rearrange itself. The thick parts of the armor also started to divide itself and spread around the missing parts. Soon the missing part of the armor was covered by a newyer of armor at the expense of the other parts.


    Suddenly a figure appeared next to Seeker.


    "Looks like I''m notte." The figureughed.


    Richiended softly.


    "Greydon Meng!" Richie smiled.


    A sigh sounded out.


    "Richie." Meng greeted back.


    Richie tossed a round disc towards Seeker.


    Seeker simply loaded it on an open slot in his backpack and the backpack gave a yellow light. Seeker''s pale appearance started to look better.


    "Thankfully you''re here now. I would''ve died if you were anyter. How are they?"


    "Arthur seemed injured. In terms of attrition, they should lose. Cliff''s team seems to be doing good though." Richie answered calmly.


    "What does your gut tell you?" Seeker asked once more.


    "Arthur''s team should do well. But I feel Cliff''s team could die at any moment. Are you sure about this arrangement?" Richie wondered.


    Seeker gripped his sword tightly at Richie''s words.


    "No. But that''s exactly why I suggested this to Arthur."


    "Regardless I''m impressed with their progress. Such improvements should''ve taken decades of training. You seem to have a talent for getting powerful team members." Richieughed.


    "I''m curious as well." Meng couldn''t help but ask.


    "The assassins under me were all selected after decades of research, and go through various elimination matches leaving only the strong behind. For you, it would have been lucky if one or two were among your peers, but how is it that you have so many who are strong enough to hold their ground against mine?" Meng asked in an apathetic tone.


    Seeker chuckled. Meng had already asked this question once in another lifetime.


    During Seeker''s hibernation, the state and scenario were all too familiar that Seeker''s mind unconsciously brought to memory an event that Seeker had no memory of.


    And just as Seeker''s body was floating in some metallic pod and was unconscious, the memories that he could only have tapped into when he surpassed the 100% of the Unlocking was unveiled.


    In this particr memory that was brought up, Seeker was unconscious and should have no way to hear everything around him. It was just after a training battle with Meng. The conversations between his master and Meng were finally made known.


    Seeker''s body was still floating inside a metallic pod.


    "If you think so much of him, why didn''t you supervise our little spar? He almost died. My destion was already affecting his organs." Meng spoke bluntly as he pointed tothe vital stats of Seeker disyed on the metallic chamber he was resting on.


    "Ha Ha. Not really. I knew he would surpass that little barrier. Believers enjoy the soaring flight of their Unlocking. But the reason why Seeker never became a Believer although I suspect he has the capacity to do so, is that he enjoys the climb more than the view at the peak. So putting him into these death-defying scenarios was just what he needed."


    "How did he withstand my destion?" Meng couldn''t help but ask.


    "The necessary thing to have the possibility to reach a World Champion''s body. Of course, you of all people should know that, Robertson." The Realm King smirked.


    Meng flinched at hearing his birth name.


    "Oh? Does that offend you? No wonder it had to be me¡­ Sorry. I promised your old man to keep calling you Robertson." The Realm Kingughed.


    Meng gave a surprising look at the Realm King''s words. He quieted down and the angry eyes gave a soft stare as he reminisced his old man.


    "The necessary ingredient to have a World Champion''s body¡­" Meng resumed the topic.


    "So it''s Cellr Evolution? But it''s toote. If he only started now, his body wouldn''t even reach pseudo-champion." Meng sighed.


    "True. If only he met you earlier. But of course, if he faced you at Inhuman, then he can only die."


    "So there''s no hope for him to build a World Champion''s Body?"


    "Well¡­ If he met you before you reached Ranked Hero, then maybe that''s possible. But of course, there''s no use crying over spilled milk."


    "So only I am destined to have this strength?" Meng asked.


    "A World Champion''s body is only a theoretical estimate of what the person''s body should be in order for the body to fully act on what the mind is capable of. So except you, the Life, no one could achieve that body. We can''t even build a decent Ranked Hero''s body much more a World Champion." The Realm King suddenly waived his hands.


    Meng wondered why the Realm King used his powers.


    "Although¡­ if Seeker goes beyond World Champion¡­ then he might find the clues to build such a body." The Realm King mused.


    "Beyond it? Then if that''s a possibility, what if we make Seeker train with the Tyrant Empress?" Meng suggested.


    "Are you insane, Robertson? The consequences far outweigh the gains. We might gain a little something that would take years to perfect, but we lose a Ranked Hero. We can''t afford that." The Realm King frowned.


    "What if Rosa and Meryl apany him during the spar? Even that android Zera can support him."


    "No. That''s one thing that we should never do. I''m already scared if Lynd meets her, how much more for Seeker?"


    Meng halted in insisting on his ns.


    "Why is it, that I get the impression that you favor Seeker over Lynd?"


    "I was about to exin that to you. He''s finally here." The Realm King gazed up.


    Floating towards their area, was a confused and panicking soldier who carried a UNputer.


    The soldier saw the two and suddenly alerted his poise. He did his best tond on the ground correctly and he immediately gave a respectful salute.


    "World Champions!'' The soldier spoke nervously.


    "Show him the data of the Gryphon Squadron."


    The soldier saluted and searched through theputer and handed it over to Meng.


    "What exactly am I looking at?" Meng wondered.


    "Notice how many Unbings reached Inhumans under Seeker''smand."


    Meng took a quick look then gave a shocked expression.


    "All of them?!"


    "That''s right. A one hundred percent sess rate. No other squadron in this army¡­ no the world''s army has that! And that''s because Seeker is their trainer!"


    "How is that possible? Even my Fangs don''t have such a sessful ratio! How did he gather such a team? I''ve spent decades training my men and they all go through a brutal selection process! How the hell did he gather an even better army?"


    "That''s because it''s not about who these people are, what they''ve been through, or what their talents could be, but it''s all about who has been with Seeker." A mysterious smile emerged from the Realm King.


    "Bring up the data of all Non-Believer''s who have awakened the Reaper''s Breath below Inhuman Proficient!" Meng ordered immediately.


    The soldier was fast at work to bring up the selected data.


    "You''re quick on the uptake. No need to look at the files. I already did. Every single one of them had on some asions trained with Seeker." The Realm King smiled.


    "What does this mean?" Meng asked seriously.


    It was already proven that unlocking the Reaper''s Breath before Inhuman Proficient was deemed to be impossible. But soon, various soldiers below that rank and stage had managed to awaken it.


    "It presents the possibility that Seeker''s capacity and capability to learn and rise above the stages could be passed on."


    "Impossible! Lennox concluded that neuro-transcellr transfer was impossible! Two Paths cannot intersect!"


    "True. But why was that?" A smiling grin met Meng''s serious face.


    "Because even if a person can''t manifest a Skill or a Path, he or she still has a Road to walk on. And that Road cannot intersect with others."


    "Exactly. But remember Seeker''s case? Seeker doesn''t have a Path. And more than that, he has no Road of his own. He is the Roadless that prepares a Path..."


    "If what you''re saying is true, then this path could put him on the top three ces of the list of Paths!" Meng was stunned.


    "Oh? I think you''re missing the point! The problem is, it was assumed that his sessful rank ups, as well as his entire squadron''s advancements, were because of the Empress of the Sun and the Way. And because of that, Seeker''s entire potential and career were easily epted without mor because those two were always beside him. but I believe the opposite."


    "Seeker made it possible for Lynd and Meryl to breakthrough!?" Meng asked in shock.


    "Yes. I believe that''s how those two reached their respective stages even if theycked the requirements to reach Ranked Heroas hadLennox proposed."


    "Why haven''t you contacted headquarters about this?"


    "Because of theck of proof. This is all an assumption of mine and I''m simply betting on that. The bigger probabilities still point to Meryl and Lynd. After all, His awakening of the Reaper''s Breath, reaching the Ranked Hero stage without a Path, and even his recent achievement of being able to form a Ranked Hero''s body, are all eptable. They are exceptional, but not necessarily a miracle."


    "But if you prove that he has the ability to help Unbing be Inhuman or help an Inhuman reach Ranked Hero, he would be treated as a priority and we could finally have hopes in winning this war!"


    "Only if I can prove it." The Realm King corrected.


    "What proof do we have? We can''t use the Gryphon Squad as it would only make others point to Meryl and Lynd and we can''t use Meryl and Lynd as proof either! And the biggest issue is, Seeker reached Ranked Hero. I had no choice on this matter. We would''ve lost too much so I allowed him to break through that bottleneck at that battle to be able to halt the enemies'' escape. Now his biology is simply too advanced to guide an Inhuman to a Path. Nor can he help other Ranked Heroes. Seeker has nothing more to offer to his peers.Only hispeers who are at Ranked Hero could easily develop a stronger body with their respective Paths."


    Meng stood silently.


    "So if Seeker stayed at Inhuman and learned the basics of all our Paths, from Oveer''s and all the present Ranked Heroes what would''ve been the oue?"


    "Oh? You can''t help but fantasize about that as well?" The Realm Kingughed.


    "Well, it would be easier for him to help others find a Path. We could have more Ranked Heroes and maybe probably even two more World Champions if we''re lucky. But like I said, the conditions for Seeker to be able to pass it on is vague. All I know is that that there has to be this connection... some kind ofpatibility between Seeker and the other Unlocked... Only then can the truth of the Unlocking be passed on."


    Back on the current timeline, Seeker''s sneer resumed. He gazed at Meng and was internally grateful. This was the person that allowed him to finallylearn of the Path he had which his master never admitted.


    "I''ll tell you when I defeat you, Meng." He said answering Meng''squestion.


    "I wonder if what Master said is true?" Seeker couldn''t help but wonder.What of the nepanions he gained on this lifetime? Would they have the potentialto reachRanked Hero?


    Outside the fort, Aleancontinued to fight withall her might and wit.


    Dodging and attacking synchronized attacks of the assassins.


    But a strange feeling started to surface as Alean fought.


    It was a minute feeling at first but it gradually grew as the enemies attacking her intensified.


    Her battle momentum was gradually growing stronger and stronger.. She was getting in the zone.

 Chapter 99 - In The Zone

    While other assassins continued to fight, Arthur and his remaining enemies were simply observing each other. Force was out and so if Arthur wished for it, he could immediately kill Specter or One. But doing so would leave Arthur incapacitated after the sh as his muscles and bones would break.


    As for the Assassins, Specter and Force could not abandon their position for Arthur could dash and kill any of the other assassins. A silent agreement was made between the three. The only way to win would depend on who wins on the respective battles of their teammates.


    Force had long been rescued by the surrounding soldiers. But the other soldiers dared not interfere with the battle of the Dragon''s Fang. Instead, many were rushing towards the gate as the explosions and gunshots were slowly rising in intensity. Soldiers equipped with Pseudo-Skeletons could be seen as they started rushing towards the gate.


    Alean and Lander''s battleground started to look more and more like hell as Alean''s ming attacks would leave trails of fire.


    Some of her bullets were not hard andpact. Some would shoot out and break like a mmable liquid that would give off a minor explosion but with an exaggerated amount of mes. This was, of course, another one of America''s Misceneous technology.


    This was one of the rare technology which was banned by the World Governing Powers to be used during the war. If the Americas developed more weapons based on this or improved the existing study, then the other countries would be allowed to use weapons of mass destruction in the territories under the Americas. Such was the wickedness and cruelty of the Hellfire Technology.


    The assassins would not recklessly charge towards Alean. Who knew if her Hellfire Technology could roast them alive even with their armor.


    Twister faced Alean and attacked with his strange windmills that gave off a strange vibrating movement. The windmills would flicker with strange lights that made it look like it was either further or nearer than its actual location. The strange vibration, shing lights and how the windmill could detach and reattach its des made the attacks almost impossible to predict.


    Yet for some strange reason, Alean was able to shoot down or evade the attacks effortlessly.


    The nearby sh between Blur and Strike was clear on its intentions. The two assassins did their best to drag Lander further and further away from Alean.


    Strike revealed his special weapons. He used nanometal particles which would move ording to his will. It looked as if he controlled a swarm of flies. This swarm could merge together andpress itself to form weapons. The nanometals also continued to whirl around Strike like a whirlwind. The nanometals, however, could only move freely five meters from where Strike is.


    The nanometals would often merge and form a weapon that Strike would use to attack. Hidden in the swarm, various kinds of dangerous attacks would emerge. A sword''s sh, a spears thrust, and even a whipssh would strike out from this swarm.


    Strike chased and attacked Lander by allowing the entire swarm to cover him and use it as a way to fly and charge towards Lander.


    Lander had already tried shooting at Strike but found it impossible to prate through the swarm. As such, Lander could only retreat from Strike and Blur who would circle from a distance and charge right in at a key moment.


    It felt strange fighting ''bare'' as no Exoskeleton protected him. Yet instead of the ufortable feeling of fighting in a state that you were not used too, the battle instinct of genuine hero began to show. What he felt, as he dove and dealt with Strike''s swarm and Blur''s incredible speed, was euphoria.


    The sensation of battling it out as he would evade by the skin of his teeth was so daring and dangerous that it allowed him to enjoy the battle thoroughly.


    Of course, facing the two assassins was not an easy task. Lander would have died over ten times in this battle. But Alean who could shoot towards Lander''s direction whenever she gets the chance.


    For some strange reason, Alean''s attack was always on point. Soon, Lander''s performance and the intensity of his attacks started getting more effective. Lander was now able topletely utilize his small size and nimble flexibility. Certain moves and maneuvers which wasimpossible toperformwhile riding an Exoskeleton were now being performed. What began as a constant dance which allowed Lander to evade by the skin of his teeth started to be more and more rhythmic.


    Soon, even with Blur and Strike attacking together in a pincer formation, Lander''s momentum was already built and he was now starting to effortlessly evade them with his strange spins.


    The booster they used was taken from the Misceneous technology of the Americas. It was the best of all booster systems the world currently has. It allowed amazing maneuvers that even outmatched the acrobatic prowess of the East Asian Alliance. The wearer is basically granted the ability to "fly" for as long as eight seconds.


    The three assassins were slowly getting more and more furious as the attacks kept missing. They were at the peak of the world in terms of strength and cunning. They were patient when ites to fighting and always maintained a calm aura, but fighting the pair caused them to slowly lose their patience as their strikes and coborative ns seemed to have always ''messed up.''


    Finally, Twister stopped attacking as he angrily red at Alean. He knew something was wrong with the way he was fighting and it was all because of this girl.


    "Blur, Strike, let''s give it all we got!" Twister shouted as he revealed more windmills. The windmills he was throwing out returned to him and suddenly, it divided into several pieces. At the core, was the ring that held the des. The des had detached itself but continued to spin around the core. Five windmills were hovering before Twister.


    Blur and Strike paused and nodded.


    Blur''s boots glowed with a simr bluish glow as he charged at faster speeds to hinder Lander.


    The nanometal particles around Strike suddenly started to envelop him once more. Suddenly the entire swarm gave of a blueish glow.


    Twister immediately moved. He rode on one of the windmill''s core and suddenly he flew up high. At a wave of his hands, the windmills attacked. The strange lights and the whirling object made it look like the attack was aimed at Alean but only a few portions of the des flew while the rest of the windmills including the one he was riding on zoomed towards Lander.


    The bluish swarm that covered Strike also moved at incredible speed. The nanometals suddenly utilized Rail Technology to attack. But instead of attacking Lander, Strike''s charge was aimed to kill Alean.


    The bursting charge of Strike exceeded Blur''s movements. The two assassins suddenly changed their targets and unleashed an extremely fast attack which could even kill a Dragon''s Fang. Even an Unbing would have died from this sudden change of targets. This was what made the Dragon''s Fang the elites in this world.


    Yet this ingenious sneak attack was doomed to fail because of one reason. The faster one aimed for Alean.


    Alean Cipril was baptized in the fires of the Underworld at such a young age. Her younger self encountered various disgusting men who lusted after her young body. Though Harker would never ever sell her own daughter, his standing in the Underworld wasn''t always as strong as where he was now.


    And so, Alean had to face her own storms as escaping from the various kidnappers who were hired to target her. Her beautiful face and body only drew more predators which even Harker couldn''t see.


    As her life was bound to end terribly if she made a simple mistake in whatever decisions she would face,she realized, she couldn''t afford any. Not even the smallest errors on her life could be made. From her experiences of running away from the predators who lusted after her, to the organizational decisions that would have ced the men under her to meet perilous situations, she grew up with the firm belief that "I should not make the wrong choice."


    This, however, soon changed to "I make the right choice." So in every decision that Alean would decide on, she would follow it until the bitter end because she believed it to be the right path. Every time she killed or made ''friends'' with members of the Underworld, or when she would be tasked by her father to handle certain government or militarily rted concerns which secretly worked in synch with their Underworld operations, she would always have this motto in her mind.


    As she fought these three assassins, a phenomenon started urring.


    It is the same phenomenon that people witness all the time. Whenever twopeting teams in any sporting event happen, Momentum or Rhythm was valued. No one could properly exin this phenomenon. Some say it had to do with morale as the sessive or consecutive scoring of points by a team would lead them to push harder and harder. The team who didn''t have the momentum or rhythm on their side would end up suffering or struggle even in scoring a point. Perhaps the absence of morale affects their psychological and mental fortitude which eventually even affects the physical.


    This phenomenon also appears not in teams but on individuals. Some call it being "in the zone" while others prefer calling it being "on fire." When this phenomenon happens, the individual falls into a state that somehow surpasses its peak point. They be smarter, see clearer, develop a strange sense of expertise and confidence.


    For the sports yers, be it a physical sport, mental or even on e-sports, this state makes them touch a godly state where everything they do bes sessful. Their choices, their calls, their drive, attacks, defenses, instinct, basically everything in their being turns into a master.


    For intellectuals and artist, they fall into a state of sudden enlighten where they understand and grasps the essence of whatever they are studying or doing. This allows them to create masterpieces in art and literature orplete scientific works.


    This strange phenomenon urred as Alean fought. Her intelligence and wit could notpare with Arthur or Lowengren, but for some strange reason, she knew what to do. The momentum she built as she fought not only helped Lander reach the zone but also caused her enemies to always underperform or miss the proper timing or opportunity.


    Alean''s decision-making skills evolved as she continued to keep making the right decision in her attacks and on how she evaded.


    It was as if the flow of the battle arranged itself to make Alean win.


    Alean had easily dodged the des that Twister sent out. Twister aimed thinking Alean would evade to the right as she always did, so Alean simply stood still and aimed at the bluish swarm.


    Strike''s charging attack almost was so fast, but Alean somehow knew the assassins would use this method of attack and thus a gun had long been aimed at Strike.


    BOOM!


    A fiery explosion engulfed the bluish figure. The nanometals guarded the mes like living sand and suddenly, it shot out a pair ofrge pikes. However, despite the capability of Strike to attack and defend at the same time, it missed by arge margin as Alean use the cover of the explosion to readjust her position.


    Alean had already pulled the trigger of her other gun. But she didn''t shoot at Strike.


    BOOM!


    A fiery explosion rocked one of Twister''s core sending the attack into chaos. Twister lost control of several orbs as the unexpected disruption made the des scatter.


    Lander managed to escape bythe attack once moreas he dodged the des of the windmill. If Alean had not shot that orb, he would have been finished. He used his guns to block Blur''s speedy attack.


    SMACK!


    Using the powerful impact brought by Blur''s sh, Lander adopted an odd twisting position which allowed him to be easily thrown off from the center of Twister''s remaining windmills. But the impact had nheless disoriented Lander as he flew out towards the mansion''s entrance.


    Blur immediately took action as it charged forward to finish the job.


    "Wrong move." A voice was heard at the back.


    The ground that Blur was standing on, was the same area where Lowengren first used a Lightning Rod grenade.


    An interesting fact about Lightning Rod technology; as long as the "lightning rods" are not totally destroyed, it can attract another lightning strike. For someone as malicious as Lowengren, he decided to activate this secondary effect if it detects someone pass by it.


    And so, with the rushing sprint of Blurrunning overthe lightning rods that remainedon the ground,the result could only be concluded with one single word.


    ...


    BOOM!

 Chapter 100 - The Golden Valkyrie

    The massive wall that guarded and shielded Meng''s empire from the world was now under fire. Two wild and crazy fellows were shooting and zooming around the main gate. A few minutes passed and Meng''s hidden army started to appear. Soldiers equipped with Pseudo-Skeletons started to defend the wall.


    The attackers were equipped with two technologies that made them unstoppable. The first technology was SPU''s "Ghost technology."


    This was abination of cloaking and the usage of deceptive illusions and mirages. This technology made SPU the most dangerous nation in terms of guerri warfare. It was said that SPU''s cloak and mirage technology had surpassed every other nation by at least a half a century.


    SPU cloaking technology proved too strange for the soldiers as they would see mirages and realistic illusions of the two appearing and attacking. When the soldiers would shoot these illusions, the pair would suddenly appear and shoot their enemies disarming or wounding the soldiers.


    The Pseudo-Skeletons could not take on the hits as the Pangean Eradicating bullets left their armor vulnerable as time passed. Even those with Exoskeletons, they would have to hide behind their walls for cover as the relentless barrage of these two seemed unending.


    Aside from these two technologies, the most troublesome was the Americas Misceneous Boosting tech dubbed as the Hawk Rider.


    The Hover Boards that appeared during the Continental War became an instant sess and gave soldiers without Exoskeletons or Pseudo-Skeletons to fight back against more dangerous opponents. The fast-moving and mobile dash added with the cloaking and mirage technology made the two unstoppable.


    The former SPU mercenaries disyed their expertise in their wild movement. As they had reached Unbing, their former wild nature had only grown greater. Like two surfers who surfed on the waves of fire, bullet, and explosions, the crazed and excited cries of the two could be heard.


    Compared to Lynd and Meryl''s superior movements during their raids and attacks during and prior to the Australian Avarice, these two mercenaries showed extreme experience.


    It was bing more obvious that these two intruders needed someone on the same level as a Dragon''s Fang to kill them. But of course, these soldiers weren''t just about to give up.


    BOOM!


    Arge explosion enveloped the area as several jet-powered Exoskeleton fired their barrage ruthlessly.


    Maic technology was brought about because China fell into a perilous time during the previous wars as gasoline, oil and other resources to make their weapons and ammo bing more and more scarce. This urged the Chinese to seek out a more sustainable technology and to discover a way to reuse or recycle their ammunition.


    The Metallic Bomb was a heavy metal orb which was designed to ''split'' and ''shatter'' upon contact. Then using maic technology, these orbs would be pulled back to the Exoskeleton allowing the soldiers to retrieve and ''reform'' the orb. A single metallic bomb could be used over four times and still be capable of destroying another Exoskeleton.


    With that, the Chinese were bolder and more "wasteful" in shooting these metallic orbs.


    The two attackers barely escaped as they used hoverboards to evade the attacks.


    "Exoskeletons. Damn. With that firepower, even we can''t leave unscathed!" Peters grumbled as he gazed to the sky. They were about to break through the gates but the Exoskeletons stopped them.


    Several red Exoskeletons hovered in the air as some of the Jet-Powered Exoskeletons were circling back.


    "I wonder if she could deal with it?" Lynda wondered.


    "Right. We haven''t seen her fight have we?" Peters smiled.


    "That kid with the sses seemed confident. She should be alright. We''ll just have to watch and see." Lynda sighed as she opened a bottle of beer.


    "She''s finally making her move!" Peters observed as a gold figure flew towards the main gate.


    The Exoskeleton''s became the norm in warfare. It was easier to build and had the capability to act as both tanks and jets. It was mobile and soon became a standard weapon of war.


    But as the wars continued, each country would decide to add their own twist to these creations. The most daring versions came from the East Asian Alliance. The Skin-ted Exoskeleton was stronger than a Pseudo-Skeleton but weaker than an average Exoskeleton in terms of armor and destructive power.


    During World War 3, manyughed at their poor design stating that using such thin armors and focusing on nimbleness, flexibility, and speed was pointless considering each nation already had the means to easily target it.


    But as the war progressed, the enemies of the East Asian Alliance were all being easily routed as these metal ninjas infiltrated their base, dismantled their Armors and Exoskeletons and even high jacked some of their aircraft. But these were only made possible because these apparently frail Exoskeletons were equipped with one of the EAA''s most secretive and guarded science; Barrier Technology.


    Although barrier technology was one of the sciences that Lennox had yet to procure,bining Lennox''s collection of sciences and Harker''s collection through his Programmed ves, reverse engineering Skin-ted technologies and creating something simr became possible. With the short time allotted, Lennox delivered a most intriguing product which Arthur had demanded from his father.


    As the gold figure dashed towards the wall, the Exoskeletons detected it and fired their cannons. But the pilot of this suit was already used to the high-speed battles even before she became Unlocked. It easily evaded the attacks of the Exoskeletons as it flew faster and zipped through the air.


    Finally, it started to attack.


    Therge spear that it was carrying was poised to be thrown. As the Skin-ted warrior flung her spear, the spear immediately disappeared. It moved so fast that nobody could even see or detect where it went.


    Seven Exoskeletons that were once hovering over the air had fallen down. As these seven fell, a small stake like-metal could be seen hurrying back towards the Gold warrior.


    The small stakes had reformed back to a long spear which the warrior carried. The enemies started attacking when a zing bright light appeared as the warrior raised her shield.


    Pangean Everbright sh blinded the unsuspecting enemies and zoomed forward.


    The transforming spear would randomly appear on the Exoskeletons, some even fought not knowing they were bleeding to death and only discover arge hole in their suits afterward. No one could catch up with the golden light of this warrior.


    Soon, a soldier on the wall stopped shooting and realized what he saw before him. He didn''t recognize it at first but after a few minutes of observation, the familiarity of the scene before him made him realize it. The beautiful and undeterred battle style could only be her.


    The agreement with the Chinese Government allowed Arthur''s team to procure several of the features of their coveted maic technology. The Spear was built with a more advanced version of the metallic bombs. It used roughly the same level of maic technology that Sting used.


    The Skin-ted Exoskeleton was also equipped with SPU cloaking and mirage techs. This allowed the warrior to fool her enemies. When they thought and could see the warrior throwing her spear, it was actually already done a few seconds back and what they witnessed was a dyed illusion. The spear was equipped with Pangean Eradicating technology and so it would not blow up or explode but simply pierce through.


    And so, the coboration of technology allowed a fictional character toe to life.


    Lynda and Peters looked at it in shock. As they''ve been ying Piercing for the past days, seeing such a magnificent sight caused them to marvel.


    "It''s like... the one in the game!"


    "Valkyrie! It''s Piercing Valkyrie!" A learned soldier of Meng''s army cried in shock.


    Kristine brought to life the beloved character which she specialized in. LordChokeMeSenpai, had also transcended from the gaming world to the real one. The world of E-sports had already made her skilled in timing, instantaneous reactions, and even a sixth sense that shemanded during battle. And with all this, she disyed tremendous ferocity that surpassed the two mercenaries.


    The Exoskeletons would sometimes be "pulled" by the stakes or pushed further back causing the attacking Exoskeletons to end up with friendly fire.


    The high-speed action of the Piercing series was something that was described as ''a challenging evolution in the gaming world.'' The skills you needed to y this game involved high-speed reflexes and eyes that could see through the blur. It was something so difficult that many gamers who had poor eyesight had to undergo eye-surgery just to improve their vision. Even Seeker used this game as a training ground for Unbing.


    Kristine was among the gods who stood at the peak of this game. And so, like Arthur, the new strength to her perspective only allowed her control and prowess to grow at an unimaginable level.


    "Amazing. That girl''s pretty good." Peters spoke with his mouth wide open.


    "My son said that''s his girlfriend." Chris appeared behind the two.


    "Enough. Let''s get to work. I''m worried about my daughter." Steveson interjected.


    The three couples each carried a piece of cylindrical cubes. After putting it together, Steveson impatiently took it, and like a bazooka, Steveson aimed and fired.


    BOOM!


    The loud sound of the explosion jolted Pridgeon awake.


    The bomb in Larson knocked him out. Luckily, the armor he was wearing had various technologies that could protect him. The wounds he initially had were continuously being healed by the suit. A lot of the suit''s energy was expended because it had to heal Pridgeon and repair itself.


    "What happened?" Pridgeon cursed as he groggily stood up. After recalling what he was doing, he immediately stood up. He could see smoke and fire over at the main gate of Meng''s base.


    All theputers were damaged when Richie came in. Pridgeon used the technology in his suit to connect with the server directly. Several warnings were shown as his suit was losing power.


    He used the cameras all around the base to check on the current state of his base.


    "Dead! They''re really all dead!" Pridgeon cured angrily. The Pioneers and nted that he gathered for this mission were plenty. Their deaths would undoubtedly cause problems as these Pioneers were the heads of various Earthly organizations.


    He took a look at the state of the base and sighed in relief. The metal gate that blocked the path to Meng''s mansion was now destroyed.


    "Good! I can still kill them!" Pridgeon grinned.


    Pridgeon used his suit to ready it.


    The remaining bug drones that were in the base started to zoom towards the inside of the mansion ignoring the shocking battle that was currently happening. As the bugs managed to reach the deeper parts of the messed up mansion, the scans identified a strange heat source that was unlike any other heat source that existed in the world. Suddenly the heat disappeared.


    "That must be Meng!" Pridgeon concluded.


    He had no time to spare. The energy of his suit was running low. He had to save up his energy as he had to escape immediately.


    He guided the bugs as it continued to fly deeper and deeper into the mansion. The bugs soon came upon a room where the heat source was supposed to be only to find several figures that were intensely looking at each other.


    Suddenly a light shed once more blinding even the bugs.


    "Pangean Everbright? Even Pangea is involved?" Pridgeon could not help but cry out in surprise.


    But seeing as there was no time, the drones detected another battle which was happening and so Pridgeon ignored the battle and ordered the drones to push forward.


    Suddenly several of the drones started to break down as the drones detected a strange chemical attack.


    He ordered the remaining to move back but he sessfully identified the source of the chemical attack.


    After resolving in himself that this oddity should be none other than the being called Greydon Meng, Pridgeon started to prepare for ''its''unch.


    The World Governing Power''s forbade the creation of technologies that further improved nuclear or other technologies that caused mass destruction. But the truth is, everyone knew, the other countries had something up their sleeves.


    The Qilin''s Horn was China''s most prized weapon. No other nation had known the existence of this bomb although it has been used twice during the Continental War.


    This weapon was so effective in killing that it would undoubtedly be banned by the World Governing Powers. And so, the existence of this weapon was kept secret all these years. China would have to expend a lot of resources to create one single rocket as it was equipped with various technologies that China has not yet revealed to the world.


    Pridgeon insisted to have this weapon ready in case something unexpected happened.


    "Stupid Earthlings. I''ll kill every one of you!" Pridgeon gritted his teeth as he prepared. He would undoubtedly be punished or demoted for his poor performance on Earth, especially now that he had to use the Qilin''s Horn.


    "I hope finding that Gamer could appease Zera." Pridgeon mumbled as his thoughts wandered into how to find Seeker Carlean to appease the Princess. Maybe only then will the other Presider''s overlook his failure.


    ----


    Author, dated April 24/2021:


    Check out Ascension of the Nephilim which is my entry to the Spirity Awards! This work is abor of love. I barely earn anything here (Only through my Pa tr eon) so the best way to help me is by supporting AotN by voting power stones in that story!.. Please leave a review to AotN story so that a rating will appear. (Also do leave a review here if you haven''t yet)

 Chapter 101 - Unsealed

    The Rail technology of China had far surpassed other countries. The power and speed that China used were simply more powerful and diverse. Railguns became a more preferred weapon of choice as the evolving technologies made it more powerful than post-modern guns.


    But the Chinese had mastered the art since their research on maic technology had long been kept a secret from the world.


    Rail Beam was a cannon fire with a tailing electric path that would continuously control the metal to continuously spin and prate through any armor. The added heat and the rough making of the canon made this attack a powerful weapon that could even pierce through Armors if given the right time and aim.


    And this powerful and deceptive attack was aimed at Shock.


    Shock was shocked at the shocking turn of events.


    The sudden disappearance of Meryl''s bright light caused st''s attack to aim for Shock. Shock, quickly summoned all the lightning to act as a shield to deter the iing attack.


    BOOM!


    The Rail beam''s bright light and shy impact did not allow the others to confirm if Shock was dead. Being professionals, the assassins continued to attack not giving their enemies any more time to rx but worried filled their hearts.


    But almost immediately the Rail Beam dispersed. Shock was seen thrown off from his position. Standing on the ce where Shock was, was arge ck shield which was now reshaping itself to another weapon. The shield disrupted the electric charge that would have followed causing the rail beam to lose power.


    The assassins stopped attacking as they were shocked at his intervention.


    The three Unlocked also stopped their attacks.


    "It seems you guys have an interesting power. I''m sure that Master won''t mind if I fight seriously." The cold and confident voice of Typical sounded out.


    The shield had finally reshaped itself into anotherrge sword which Typical easily carried.


    While he carried two swords, various nanometals, which were the remains from therge shield, continued to circte around him. The sword on his right arm gave off a familiar reddish blow. The boosters on his feet started to give off a bluish glow as it was charging itself for an attack.


    "Young Master!" Sting called out worriedly. He felt the odd sensations happening in Typical''s body.


    "Do you know why they call me ''Typical''? Unlike the other Assassins who are equipped with various techs, I am only equipped with the typical technology that is bestowed upon the warriors of our n. A sword, the booster boots, some ranged weapons, and a normal shield mask." The mask that Typical wore started to change in form. It opened up revealing his eyes which gave a strange pale-green color.


    "Yet despite that, I am expected to be able to conquer and defeat all of the other Assassins should we fight one-on-one." Typical''s voice started to grow angrier at the moment. He turned to nce at Shock and confirmed his status.


    "Young Master, thank you." Shock voiced out painfully.


    "So this is it, right?" Lynd responded.


    "Looking at your new weapons, it seems you are utilizing various technologies that the other Dragon''s Fang must be equipped with." Lynd returned a smile to Typical''s angry gaze.


    "It is as you say, young Lynd Indigo. Mymendations. I fear that unless I betray the code set upon me by my Master, a member of a Dragon''s Fang would die. You see, only I have the right to kill them. No one else can."


    "So you''re undoing the seal? And let me guess, you have a golden headband on your head that''s keeping your powers in check and the moon can turn you into an ape?" Merylughed.


    "So what? The power of our friendship can defeat it! For love and truth!" Meryl mocked as she raised her hands.


    "Laugh while you can, young master Meryl. But that''s not the seal that I meant." Typical''s body started to glow.


    "The technology is not a seal but a limitation. Master does not care if I use other technologies. The real seal is something imposed on me simply for my own safety." Typical''s voice started to tremble.


    He gripped his swords tighter and gave off a powerful roar.


    "HAAAAA!"


    The battle cry that he gave created an odd sense of goosebumps for Lynd and his group.


    "My God!" Meryl''s cheerful expression changed as she felt the pressure. She never dreamt that someone else would make her feel a sense of threat.


    "Reaper''s Breath?" Cliff frowned.


    "No. He barely touched it." Lynd replied.


    "But this is troublesome. He was clearly at the peak of Advent, but now he''s reaching Unbing Proficient." Lynd summarized as he felt the strange changes in Typical''s body which he has gone through.


    "Assassins. Ready yourselves. This will be the first time I''ll be fighting together with you." Typical ordered as he readied a stance. The assassins followed likewise.


    The odd sensation they felt on Typical''s body continued to grow stronger and stronger.


    "I can''t believe it. The peak of Proficient. He''s almost Surmounting!" Cliffined angrily.


    They have been with Seeker long enough to know the levels of each stage. Seeker had on numerous asions limited the strength he presented. And during their training, Seeker did his best to show the limits of Surmounting Unbing. That sensation was instilled on all of them as they had to fight Seeker in that form.


    "How?" Meryl nced worriedly.


    "He should really be a Surmounting Unbing! But since it could kill him, he sealed it! Right now, he''s undoing the seal!" Cliff cursed.


    "What?! How is that possible? It must be some technology! he can''t be Surmounting!"


    "Cliff''s right, Meryl. I can already feel it. His Path. We all know what Mister Meng''s Path is. No wonder he took this guy as his disciple. He can withstand Meng because his cells and mind have already reach Surmounting Unbing!"


    "But what about his energy consumption? If he''s forcing his body, then the energy needed to be burned should be extremely high!"


    "That''s why his master sealed it. It could kill him. That''s what happenedto Lynd. It seems he already could reach that stage. But his body couldn''t handle it. So he kept it in check."


    "So if that''s the case, if we hold him off long enough, we would win, right?"


    "Ifwe can Meryl. Don''t you get it yet? A guy this strong who can manifest an unlocking up to Surmounting Unbing without the medicine that Charles developed? That guy is a genius! He is like us, Meryl. He''s Believing his way to the Surmounting stage. There''s no doubt about it. He is one of those future Ranked Heroes."


    "A Believer?!" Meryl was shocked. She never dreamed that she would be fighting someone as frightening as him.


    "HeisMeng''s disciple. What do you think?"


    Meryl gave a silent look at her opponent and gave a serious re at Typical.


    "Meryl.Calm down. It''s not like things are hopeless. Lynd should be at the top of that ranking. And since you must be near the top, we mightjust beat him. At most, we could be fighting number two. But with number one by our side, and with your''s ranging from 3-5, then if we work together we should be able to face him." Cliffsoftly reminded. The greatest problem right now is if Meryl would lose confidence.


    "I''m not worried, Cliff. I''ve estimated that I should be at the top five of that ranking list. I can give the first ce to Lynd. But anyone who wants number two can do so over my dead body!" Meryl shouted as she turned and faced the three assassins at the back. A golden glow started to appear around her body.


    "Meryl. Stop. Don''t waste your energy anymore." Lynd ordered as he reached out to Meryl.


    "Lynd, we can''t win at this rate. Although Meryl''s already consumed a lot of her suits energy, we need that sh to be able to attack. Those gunners are pretty good even with the light, we would get hit without it." Cliff rebutted.


    "Are you ready?" Typical interrupted. His voice sounded constrained as if he was in pain and holding something from pouring out.


    Lynd ignored Cliff and didn''t let go of Meryl.


    "Lynd? We need that light!" Cliff urged.


    "Don''t worry. Typical is not the only one who sealed their strength, remember?" A familiar confident feeling exuded from Lynd as he imitated the devilish grin that the other two knew so well and feared.


    "You can unseal yourself?"


    "I already did." Lynd took a step forward.


    "We''re ready too!" A strange golden glow started to appear around Lynd''s body. It began to grow brighter and brighter.


    The assassins were blinded by the light once more.


    "Damn you! Ugh. Let''s finish this so you can stop imitating me!" Merylined but a trace of joy surfaced in her face.


    The three charged forward as fast as they could towards their opponents.


    The battle progressed as the groups continued on their melee.


    Meanwhile, deep in the underground level of the mansion, another important battle was happening.


    BOOM!


    The metal armors that would shoot out of Meng would explode an electric burst upon contacting anything. The metal''s further divided itself creating shrapnel that would explode.


    Seeker and Richie immediately retreated right before the entire radius where Meng and his shooting armors were, were enveloped with intense electric charges.


    As the metal returned to Meng, Meng suddenly rushed forward towards Seeker and Richie.


    The fast, rail charge created a powerful shockwave as it zoomed towards the two.


    Seeker had already boosted to the right in order to evade while Richie simply stood still and knew that the attack wasn''t headed for his direction.


    Meng was indeed headed towards Seeker, but as he drew closer, the bluish glow that surrounded Meng started generating electric charges pointing to different directions.


    "NOW!" Seeker shouted.


    Richie had long been ready and shouted.


    "RAAA!" It appeared as if there were invisible waves that were crashing into Meng''s armor. The armor would meet some resistance as it passed through the sound waves that caused it to move significantly slower.


    Seeker had long known of this disgusting skill that the Oveer Richie has.


    Seeker rode one of the invisible waves that were rushing towards Meng. Seeker''s memories of fighting side by side with Richie allowed him to master his fighting technique which made him be known as the Death Tide.


    The armor had just exploded out of Meng who was still wearing a Skin ted armor.


    Though Richie''s waves made the exploding armor travel slowly, it was still at a speed humanly impossible to follow.


    But Seeker wasn''t technically human anymore.


    "Surmounting Sight!" Seeker unconsciously shouted as he rushed towards Meng. He could see through the small gaps and was rushing towards Meng. Since his previous attack where he forced his cells to evolve, the consumption now was lesser. And by channeling and focusing the surmounting strengths only to his eyes and sensory senses, Seeker was able to maintain that form longer.


    Seeker zoomed in and thrust his sword towards Meng''s torso.


    Meng moved forward allowing the sword to touch the armor. Suddenly, the electric charges on his feet burst forth backward. Meng moved backward at incredible speed while allowing the sword to continuously touch his armor. Meng''s retreat matched the pace of Seeker''s strike but slowly, Meng started to slow down increasing the resistance between the sword and armor more and more.


    Soon the momentum of Seeker''s thrust was finally voided.


    Seeker did not hesitate and retreated immediately.


    The armors returned to Meng as another electrical chargepulled all the armors back. And just like that, Meng wore his full armor once more.


    Seekernded on the distance but instead of fighting, he turned to Richie.


    "Damned monsters! You can already do Water World?" Seekerined as he nced at Richie.


    "Water World? I like it!" Richieughed.


    "And you! I was moving at the speed of sound but you can even negate the attack at my speed?" Seeker then turned towards Meng.


    "Right. Amazing martial arts. Even I can''t do that. I should practice that move. Instead of blocking the thrust of the sword which would have pierced through your armor, you caught it and slowly applied a force equal to it as you retreat until it bes two equal and opposing force and then you negate the attack. Amazing control. You make it look easy." Richiemented.


    "As easy as catching a falling egg." Meng gave a stoic reply.


    "Is this the best you two can offer? You should have brought more destructive technology. At this rate, you won''t be able to go through my armor."


    "Well, a lot of eyes are watching this battle. So we can''t afford any techs that would alert them. Also, I''m from the future, Meng. So I know of Ultimate Obstruction. Once I determined your fighting style with that troublesome armor, I already nned how to destroy it. If I can''t break it from the outside, I''ll just do so from the inside."


    Seeker had used Surmounting Sight to stealthily nt small bombs coated in rubber jell as he charged and zipped through the pieces of Meng''s armor. While smashing the armors, Seeker had calcted the trajectory and simply tossed the small object thattched to the underside of the armor that flew off.


    Seeker revealed a detonator and pressed it.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The explosions came from the insides of Meng''s armor. Pieces of his armor could be seen flying around. Pangean Eradication technology damaged the integrity of the armor and destroyed the Maic Rail Return technology installed in the armor.


    Meng''s figure which was constantly exploding started to move further and further away from Seeker and Richie. Soon the explosions stopped. Smoke and electrical charges emitted by the damaged armor could be seen around Meng''sying figure.


    Richie gave a confused look.


    "Why do I feel scared all of a sudden?"


    "Oh. That''s because the armor that Meng wore wasn''t meant to protect him. It was meant to protect us." Seeker said as he slowly retreated.


    "The armor was a seal to stop the destion from spreading. Now that we destroyed it, and even wounded Meng, this destion would now appear. Get ready. We are about to face the Second Form of this Big Boss."


    A strange corrupting and degrading air started to spread out as the ground itself somehow seemed to corrode.


    "My God. What did you make me fight?" Richie smiled excitedly as he stared at the strange spreading aura.


    "Regarding his Path, he is known as He Who Rides the Pale Horse."


    "One of the four horsemen in Revtion?" Richie asked.


    "Oh. Looks like Eagle''s reform made you interested in the Bible. Exactly. He is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His Oveer''s Title is even more domineering."


    Greydon Meng rose from the smoke and the electric charges that scattered randomly. The figure gazed at his wounded body and sighed. He started to walk towards Seeker and Richie. The armor on his upper body was destroyed and only the armor on his legs remained.


    His skin was pale green. His eyes were dark red.


    Small cuts and wounds started appearing on Seeker and Richie. If it was anyone else, they would have been killed.


    "What a sight to behold. I''m getting wounded just by looking at him!" Richieughed.


    "Wait till you fight him." Seeker spoke seriously as his suit started giving off a yellowish glow. Seeker was increasing his strength by consuming the energy of the suit.


    Meng stood off in the distance as he watched his blood drip down the floor. The stone pavement around him started to crack.


    "I never got to see this on my previous lifetime. You can''t imagine how excited I am to see this. I finally get to see your real form. Greydon Meng.. The Abomination that Causes Destion."

 Chapter 102 - The Second Prophet

    Days before the scheduled fight against Meng took ce, astrange meeting was happening.


    The awakened Seeker Carlean sat at the table and continued to eat. An array of various foods was ced before him.


    He continuously consumed the dishes in front of him as if his stomach were bottomless.


    "So that''s basically it." Arthur finally finished detailing everything that has recently happened. Arthur had given an extremely detailed report as to what had happened, their actions and the enemy''s reaction.


    "Um¡­ Shouldn''t we be celebrating and telling everyone that Seeker has awakened?" Kristine finally couldn''t help but ask as the two didn''t have any intention of telling the rest.


    "No." Seeker and Arthur chorused.


    "This is the first time that we can urge them to fight on their own. The mental preparation before the actual fight would be the best training ground for them to finally grow up mentally." Arthur exined.


    "Yes. They have to be mentally prepared for death. Without it, they won''t have any hopes at reaching Ranked Hero." Seeker smiled as he gave to the lovely Kristine.


    "I''m quite pleased that Lennox managed to recreate Piercing: Valkyrie. Bet you''re thrilled to get on that suit.


    Kristine smiled.


    "You bet I am. Although... I just hope I would be able to control it properly to minimize the deaths of Meng''s soldiers."


    "Just do what you can do. It''s better for Meng''s soldiers to face this threat. So much more awaits them. We can use this terrifying ordeal to see which one of them has the potential to go beyond Unbing or Inhuman." Seeker smiled back.


    "Now that you brought it up... That brings me to my first question. How is it that you''ve managed to find a lot of people with the potential to be a Ranked Hero?" Arthur inquired.


    "So you''ve finally noticed." Seeker smiled mysteriously.


    "Noticed what?"Kristine gave a confused look.


    "Making a Rank Hero is extremely hard. It''s almost impossible." Arthur summarized.


    "I initially argued that the reason why Meryl and Lynd reached their current and future standing is because they were innately geniuses. But now, Cliff surfaced. He''s Path seemed to be forming at such an early stage. I even suspect Alean to have already created her Path as well."


    "Alean has a Path?" Kristine was surprised.


    "She was able to survive Lander''s attack. Don''t underestimate that man. He''s fighting skills surpasses both Lynd and Meryl. If it weren''t for the fact that he''s just at Unbing Advent, he''d probably be the strongest and most experienced soldier we have. But despite that, he wasn''t able to defeat Alean."


    "True. It''s good that we have the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy. He didn''t fare well in the future and died even before the Aragarian''s arrived." Seeker smiled.


    "What''s Alean''s Path?" Kristine asked.


    "I spoke to Lander after the battle. He kept talking about not being able to find the right rhythm. Alean''s attack was strangely urate. She seems to be developing a Path simr to Richie''s instincts."


    "Oh. So it''sthat? Did she develop that pseudo-path? Interesting." Seeker was surprised and fell into contemtion.


    "What do you mean, Arthy?" Kristine turned to Arthur as Seeker was in deep thought.


    "Meryl and Lynd could have been those flukes but now that those two are showing signs of being able to have a Path. Since our mock battle, I started to wonder. I am the son of an Oveer. The things I''ve been through are terrifying that even Alean, who was born on slightly simr circumstances, wouldn''tbe able tosurvive a single day from the life I lived." Arthurexined.


    Kristine was silent. She had known of Arthur''s life before he reached Pangea.


    "Yet even this only caused me to have a potential of the least amongst Ranked Heroes. How is it, that suddenly, there are two more. Alean would have had that possibility but Cliff? What exactly is happening?" Arthur called out to Seeker.


    Seeker sighed and gave a lightugh.


    "It was me." Seeker began.


    "I''m not as useless as I thought I was. Apparently, I had a very entric Path. It was never confirmed in my past life but only postted by my Master. Few actually knew of this. I walked a Pathless Path. My Path is being able to copy everything else another Unlocked has, except their unique Paths."


    Arthur and Kristine listened silently to Seeker''s exnation.


    "I don''t get it." Kristine gave a confused look.


    "You copied the foundations, correct?"


    "Exactly." Seeker smiled.


    "Each Path causes biological changes to an Unlocked Individual. That''s why no two Ranked Heroes or why no two World Championsharing thesame biology. Each of them will evolve on a specific path. But my Path allowed me to take the base foundation of each of their Paths. I couldn''t get their Path, but the foundation they''veid that was possible for another Unlocked to develop on their own, I was able to copy."


    "But how does this exin Cliff and Alean''s growth? Charles said that imnting cells from people with higher Unlocking gave no benefits." Arthur countered.


    "It''s impossible for the cells of another Unlocked to merge with another Unlocked. That has been confirmed even on my future. And I did tell Charles about that. This is because the cells of every Unlocked hasit''sown Path to follow. And even if an Unlocked doesn''t have a Path, the Road of his or her own personal beliefs, upbringing, tendencies, habits and other factors cannot cooperate with other cells. But I''m different. I never had a Path. You could say, my Road of beliefs were generic."


    "So that means your cells can cooperate?" Arthur questioned.


    "Yes. When everyone around me Believed in a Path, I simply Believed that I could reach the higher stages of the Unlocking. And because of that, my cells can be used by others as a foundation. I''ve been unconsciously sharing my cells in my past life. This led to Lynd and Meryl, who were by my side the most, to reach Ranked Hero and develop their Paths."


    "I see." Arthur gave an understanding nod.


    "Wait! Arthur, exin! I know that look!" Kristine immediately caught Arthur''s nod which indicated that his thoughts were far away from Kristine''s present standing.


    "How did he mixed cells with them?" Kristine asked Arthur.


    "Scent." Arthur answered immediately.


    "His training method uses the Reaper''s Breath to create near-death experiences. We''ve been through it. I''ve always had the potential to be a Ranked Hero so that''s why I''ve managed to form my pseudo-Path quite quickly. As for Lynd, Meryl, Alean, Charles, and Cliff had spent more time with Seeker. That''s how they managed to develop their Paths."


    "Our advantage is that because of my memories, the cells that I''ve been unconsciously releasing are stronger and smarter than my previous life. It contains the very memory of my peak at Ranked Hero and therefore, passing it on is easier."


    "So the reason why Meryl and Lynd managed to awaken their Path so quickly and reach an incredible level is¡­" Kristine finally understood.


    "Right. I didn''t know it yet. But my cells were extremely beneficial to them. Those two are my dearest friends. And I don''t want to see them die. My thoughts continued to hold on to this thinking. And as I continued to cling to that thought, my cells must have pushedtheirUnlocking faster. That''s how even Lynd managed to awaken the Reaper''s Breath so early. It was so fast that it allowed Lynd to imitate my very stage and identally hit Inhuman." Seeker sighed.


    "So you''re to me in that little ident after all?" Arthurgave a sarcasticugh.


    Kristine was shocked at Arthur''s reaction when heughed.


    "It''s pretty rare to see you quite happy." Seeker smiled.


    "Of course. This opens arge possibility for us in the future battle. We now have a shot in winning the future."


    "I hate to burst your bubble¡­ But if you think we can build an army of Ranked Heroes, that''s not possible. After all, in my past lifetime, I''ve had a lot under me, but the most they could reach is Surmounting Inhuman. So it''s not as easy as it seems."


    "Is that why Charles, who has been with you the longest hasn''t developed his Path?" Arthur frowned.


    "Yes. He fell short of the requirements." Seeker sighed.


    "What requirement?" Kristine asked immediately.


    "At this point, I''m simply guessing. But I think¡­ it''s faith."


    "Faith? How can faith do that?"


    "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1." Seeker smiled.


    "Thanks for the encouragement, Pastor." Kristine gave a sarcastic remark.


    "The requirement is for the person to have the same faith that a Believer has but not on themselves." Seeker began mysteriously.


    "Not on themselves?" Arthur frowned this time.


    "Yes. I guess it''s more of having faith in me?" Seekerughed embarrassedly.


    "Hosanna, Lord Seeker," Arthur responded unenthusiastically.


    "I know it sounds strange. But hear me out. Lynd and Meryl, by any standards, do not have the capability to be a Ranked Hero. They didn''t have the same experiences, resolve and mental fortitude that Ranked Heroes should have. And in fact, those two don''t have the same faith Ranked Heroes or Believers should have." Seeker exined.


    "I''ve suspected that." Arthur gave another understanding nod.


    "Arthy?" Kristine turned to Arthur.


    "Think about it. If Lynd and Meryl, who lived a peaceful and calm life, manage to be a Rank Hero because of having a simple faith that Believers have, then why is it that others can''t? There could be a million others who would have this same faith that Lynd and Meryl has. But why aren''t they capable of doing it?"


    Kristine kept silent at Arthur''s challenge.


    "Theyck all those qualities that Seeker mentioned. Think of it this way, Ranked Heroes should have at least the same experience I''ve been through. In fact, they have to have more. The thing Icked is to have this Faith to produce even more impossibilities. That is why I should be at the bottom of the Ranked Heroes ranking. Meryl and Lynd had this strange faith to make impossibilities but they don''t have the other qualities."


    "Right. If it was just a matter of Believing, then we should have more Ranked Heroes. But the truth is, this child-like faith, isn''t as child-like as it seems. Faith endures. It continues to hold on. It doesn''t falter nor does it surrender. It hopes even in the hopeless, it believes even when there is no light. That is true faith. My question is, did Meryl and Lynd have that?" Seeker smiled mysteriously.


    "You mean to say, they didn''t have that?" Arthur frowned.


    "I believe so. Meryl and Lynd didn''t have that true Faith on themselves initially. But they had that faith in me. They always believed that I can help them. And that mindset made them ept my cells allowing them to make the impossible leap towards the higher stages of the Unlocking. Perhaps their faith in me, allowed them to have faith in themselves as the war progressed and ultimately, it formed their Path."


    "Sounds¡­farfetched¡­ Not to mention weird." Kristine couldn''t help but giggle. Then she turned to Arthur and noticed his straight face.


    "Arthy?"


    "No. It''s true. We have evidence to support that. How is it, both Meryl and Lynd, who are yet to face the horrors of war, managed to awaken their Path so early that it could even match Oveers?" Arthur gave a simple question.


    "More so, Alean and Cliff also disyed signs of having their own Paths. They could be potential Ranked Heroes now. We cannot mark the appearance of two more Ranked Heroes as a mere coincidence. Seeker is indeed the key." Arthur summarized.


    "Right. Luckily, for some strange reason, you started to have faith in me as well, Arthy." Seekerughed.


    "Of course I have. You could save my sister. That''s the ground of my Faith. Seeker, this revtion calls for one immediate action. There is another who we must push to be a Ranked Hero. I also think he can easily believe in you. If we seed, he could be another Prophet."


    "Of course. I was waiting for you to bring it up. Look''s like I was right in getting a hold of him this early. Let''s just hope he would indeed have faith in me. Call him up." Seeker smiled.


    Back at the present, the battlefield outside the mansion became strangely still.


    Everyone''s eyes were affixed at something. It wasn''t at the sudden destruction of the wall, it wasn''t at the strange sounds they could hear in the depths of the mansion, it wasn''t at Blur''s sorry figure. Everyone''s eyes were glued at the arrogant figure of Lowengren who was slowly walking towards One and Specter.


    For reasons unknown and unseen by the Assassins, Clutch wasying on the floor. He had the same sorry figure that Blur had.


    Blur was struck by lightning. When the Assassin''s attention was captured by this surprise lightning strike, they only realizedter, that Clutch also encountered a simr situation. But no one in the Dragon''s Fang or even the nearby soldiers saw what happened because of the sudden demise of Blur.


    "Surprised?" Lowengrenughed wickedly.


    The assassins continued to give a warry stare at him.


    Arthur saw it all. While everyone was focused on Alean''s fight, Arthur had turned his attention to observe the other fight.


    Clutch had an impressive technology to emit a strange mist that took shapes. Particrly it could be the shape of a strange hand. Clutch could ride the mist hand and move freely within it. It appeared to be in a gaseous state, but with the way it could smack a grenade out of the way made it look like it could solidify for an instance.


    Yet this technology proved pointless. Clutch had yet to attack and reveal his technology when he was already defeated by Lowengren.


    "What did you do to him?" One finally asked angrily. He knew it was pointless to ask, but his confusion and surprise got the better of him.


    Lowengren simply continued tough evilly. Lowengren gave a quick look at Arthur and sneered.


    Arthur was extremely annoyed. There was, however, a sense of relief that followed his annoyance.


    "So it really is a Path. He really has the potential to be a Ranked Hero!" Arthur told himself. Memories of his own defeat surfaced once more.


    Arthur finally confirmed it. Lowengren had more potential than Alean or Lander. The Second Prophet was born.


    "I can''t believe such a stupid attack could be so effective!" Arthur finally voiced out hisint causing the assassins to ponder.


    "Tsk tsk tsk... Still going by the book Arthy." Lowengrenughed.


    The frustration inside Arthur was pilling up as Lowengren continued to give him a look of contempt.


    "I had to give my limbs to bring down one assassin and he could do that with a damned shlight?!" Arthur silentlyined.

 Chapter 103 - He Who Treads In The Counsel Of The Wicked

    Days before the attack, Arthur and Kristine waited patiently in Arthur''s room. Next to them was arge Chamber Capsule that only he and Kristine knew followed them to Hong Kong.


    Seeker stood nearby and turned his eyes towards the door.


    The door finally opened.


    A young teen walked into the room and immediately noticed a third person standing alongside Arthur and Kristine. Of course, Lowengren knew of this man''s identity.


    "Casual Carlean. We finally meet." Lowengren immediately called out.


    "Sebastian Hoross. The Game Transcender." Seeker greeted back with a smile.


    "Why have you called me?" Lowengren immediately asked as his face turned serious.


    "Ah. Back to game mode, I see? Rx. The fact that I called you here doesn''t mean I am going to y around with you or discuss strategies with you which requires your ''other self.''" Seeker stopped and observed Lowengren quietly.


    Lowengren''s expression slowly rxed as his breathing changed. And like that, he exited his game mode.


    "Unless you merge these modes of yours, you''ll never move past Inhuman." Seeker summarized.


    "I know about that. I''m trying but it''s not as easy as I thought it would be." Lowengren frowned.


    "Wait. I don''t understand. You''re talking about how he switches back and forth from game mode? It''s not just him putting on a serious face?" Kristine could not help but ask.


    "Yes. It''s far more than that. The truth is, Lowengren''s a fun-loving, rude and oftentimes cruel kid who loves to y tricks on people. But after what they did to him, this game mode of his is actuallya mentalstate that was forced upon little Sebastian here. And he needs to ovee that. As I recall, the you of the future told me that you were forced by your managers to take acting sses and adopt a new persona. They even used drugs, right?" Seeker asked.


    "Drugs?" Kristine was shocked.


    "I was right¡­" Arthur murmured as he gave Lowengren a scrutinizing look.


    Lowengren simply nodded.


    "Correct. They were using drugs to stimte me in my acting. After the Cyber Gamer Act banned in-game trash talking in thepetitive field, my career was at risk. So my managers wanted Horrorross out and another Arthur in. Thus ''Lowengren'' was born."


    Kristine couldn''t help but gaze weirdly at Lowengren. She had long been aware of Lowengren''s trash-talking prowess. But to think that it actually wassoingrained that his managers actually had to use chemical means to remove it? She turned to Arthur and noticed thatArthur''s expressionrevealed that hehad known about it.


    "Don''t worry. You''re an Unbing now. Whatever damages it did to your brain, it can easily be flushed out." Seeker then revealed a vial with a strange glowing greenish liquid.


    "These are cells taken from me. My little retreat has made me discover that my Path is quite strong. If you have the faith a Believer has, and you believe in me, then my cells can help you."


    "Are you going to die on a cross for me?" Lowengren smiled.


    "Hopefully not. But simrly, you have to believe in me. If you''re sessful, then you could even awaken your Path."


    Lowengren took the vial and started to unceremoniously left the room. A hint of excitement could be seen on his face.


    "That''s it?" Arthur asked when Lowengren closed the door.


    "The more the knowledge, the more the doubts. Leaving things as broad as possible is sometimes better than all the information in this world. Especially if it requires others to have faith. Lowengren understood it. I guess that''s why he didn''t want me to exin things to him. Sometimes in order to believe something, you need lesser facts. The facts will only limit your thinking." Seeker smiled.


    "Do you know what his Path would be?" Kristine inquired.


    "No. Even in the future, he didn''t even reveal a Skill. Your father took an interest in him and took him up as a disciple though." Seekerughed.


    "My father? Interesting. He must have some sort of potential."


    "Not jealous?" Seeker teased.


    "No. My father made it clear that I''ll have to walk my own road. I want that as well." Arthur calmly replied.


    "Oh, you''re no fun as always. Anyways, keep an eye out on Lowengren. We need to know whether he will only manifest a Skill or if it''s strong enough to be considered a Path. I hope that at the least, he''d be a new Ranked Hero. " Seeker stretched his arms as he walked back into the capsule chamber.


    At first, Arthur didn''t take Seeker''s words seriously. But his unexpected defeat made him obsessed at what Lowengren''s Path is.


    Arthur''s first clue came when he witnessed an impossible but casual event.


    Lowengren had managed to infuriate two of the Dragon''s Fang. Arthur knew that this was almost impossible to do so. He had been around assassins all his life and One and Force weren''t any run-by-the-bill assassins. These were the ones at the peak of this trade.


    Was it that easy to infuriate a Dragon''s Fang?


    But this coincidence wasn''t the only time it happened.


    The second clue came when Arthur finally defeated Force.


    Lowengren had urged Arthur to do his best and not be afraid of attacking and critically wounding either One or Force even at the cost of being immobile.


    Arthur disagreed and wanted to explore other strategies but Lowengren was confident. This went on for two hours. There were even moments that One entered their chambers to offer tea as the two continued to debate using figurative terms and phrases. In the end, Arthur had to concede and follow the risky ns of Lowengren.


    After the smashing Force, Arthur''s body was broken and damaged. He wouldn''t be able to fight back.The only thing could do was distract his enemies.


    "Quite a disciplined army you have. After everything that we''ve been doing, they dared not attack me." Arthur bluffed.


    "It''s already embarrassing that we have to ask help to get them to rescue Force. But this is where the battle ends. You''ve paid quite a price for that move." One moved towards Arthur.


    "It seems that your leg muscles are about to tear. The bones in your arm should almost be fractured." Specter also spoke.


    Arthur''s heart grew cold at Specter''s words. It was just as he feared. Lowengren was confident that they wouldn''t attack him but Arthur insisted that they would.


    "If I want to defeat one of you, I''d have to be willing to pay that price." Arthur simply shrugged. Though he remained unmoved on the outward expression, his heart was in turmoil. He had insisted that the Assassins would attack him as they would notice the tearing of muscles and breaking of bones in that attack.


    But even then, Arthur didn''t me Lowengren. He was stupid enough to agree to the n in the first ce. Arthur didn''t even tremble as no fear was in his heart. He was ready to die.


    "Let''s just end this. Get ready, Arthur." One readied a stance.


    But right before One and Specter could move, Lowengren, who was facing Clutch, gave a light chuckle as he tried to hide a quick nce he made over Arthur.


    "Wait!" Clutch immediately cried out as a dread of fear jolted him.


    Specter and One stopped their advance and immediately gazed at Clutch.


    Lowengren cursed and immediately threw three bombs. This wasteful attack confused the two assassins. They were well aware that Lowengren had barely used his grenades but he was now frantically throwing several of them to attack Clutch.


    Specter and One gave each other a meaningful look after seeing the strange reaction of Lowengren and the warning of their fellow assassin.


    One finally shook his head at Specter and the two dropped their stance and observed the other battles.


    Arthur was stunned at the development. He had just started to see his life sh before him but now he had to cut it short and gave a strange look at Lowengren.


    What had just happened was a miracle. A simple chuckle and nce made Clutch, a cold and cruel assassin to feel a sense of danger.


    At that moment, Arthur pondered deeply. Has Lowengren never really revealed even a small bit of his Path or Skill? Or was it possible that Lowengren has, and Arthur just didn''t notice?


    The clues suddenly became more apparent.


    The Australian Avarice was a fight they won due to Lowengren''s strange strategies.


    How did Lowengren manage to confuse Lander and throw a grenade without making Lander realize it? Arthur didn''t believe that that tactic would work. But it did.


    How was it that Lowengren knew how General Gand would act? Lowengren didn''t. He baited and trapped Gand.


    "Deception. That''s the root of his Path¡­" Arthur finally understood.


    And so, while all eyes were on Alean''s battle, Arthur''s were on Lowengren''s.


    Lowengren had been using small bombs which gave of a small blue light throughout his battle. Clutch easily evaded the bombs and even scoffed at Lowengren.


    Utilizing a strange technology that generated fog, Clutch easily evaded the Lightning Bombs.


    The Fog would take strange shapes, but usually into the shape of a flying hand. Clutch rode the strange fog as it appeared to have the capability of bing solid.


    When the battle between Alean and Lander grew more intense, Clutch finally decided to end the stalemate by attacking in case more of his allies are defeated.


    The mist around Clutch started to gather and create a small tornado. A powerful attack was about to beunched.


    "Eat this!" Lowengren suddenly screamed as he countered with a powerful toss.


    The speed of the thrown grenade was extremely fast. A burst of air made the bomb fly like as fast as a bullet. Yet this speed was still slow in the eyes of any Dragon''s Fang.


    Clutch made an easy evade as the mist around him carried him sideward.


    As Clutch was zooming sideward, his peripheral vision caught sight of several blueish lights approaching him.


    The sudden appearance of these lights shocked him as he did not expect Lowengren to be able to throw more bombs at this speed. Clutch evaded it by dashing backward. As he was retreating he noticed several spider mines on the ground behind him. Clutch cursed and frantically used his boosters to propel him upwards to avoid the bombs in front, and the spider mines at the back


    Lowengren immediatelyughed and called out to Blur on the other side of the battle.


    "Wrong move."


    A powerful lightning strike enveloped Blur and surprised Clutch who momentarily turned to look.


    It was at that moment, that a bomb that did not have the glowing blue lights zapped out lighting right on top of Clutch. Unconsciously, Clutch had actually been looking for these blue lights and a bomb without it hadn''t caught his attention. The charging arc of electricity raced downwards as it was attracted to the spider mines below Clutch


    BOOM!


    Clutch was enveloped in a of lightning. Clutch didn''t even manage to reveal the maximum capacity of his technology. He fell down and appeared in a simr state that as Blur.


    Back at the present, the Assassins kept shouting at Lowengren in anger demanding theughing maniac to answer them. While Blur''s defeat was unexpected, the arrogant and disgusting sneer that Lowengren wore had drawn in all the attention. Even his mocking and arrogant tease at Arthur somehow made the Assassins frustrated. They concluded that Arthur wasn''t the leader of this group. Lowengren was!


    Arthur was now sure. It wasn''t just a Skill.


    "He fought the battle using unnecessary decorative lights in his bombs. And then he suddenly used a damned shlight to deceive Clutch into thinking that more bombs were on his way! Because he kept using lighted bombs, he made Clutch forget that he could throw a bomb without that damned blue light!" Arthur thought to himself.


    Those deceptive attacks shouldn''t have fooled Clutch. Being a poison user, it was obvious that Clutch would be the Assassin who would use the most elusive fighting styles. Yet, he easily fell for Lowengren''s lie.


    What was deception? Arthur''s mind raced.


    Why is it that some people find it easy to trick others? Many have made a career out of it and had deceived people. Others would scam through various means with various evidence, but others would only use words and still be sessful. Deception through misinformation, maniption, and misrepresentation. This was Lowengren''s path!


    "Looks like you''ve finally figured it out." Lowengrenughed.


    "You''ve awakened it even before we had our little match¡­ I wondered why I trusted your stupid promise at that time..." Arthur red at Lowengren.


    The capability to deceive a potential Ranked Hero so casually, and one with incredible intelligence such as Arthur, this was a Path.


    Lowengren revealed another bomb. It wasrger than his usual bombs. It gave a peculiar red and white divide.


    The Assassins were slowly backing away at the sight of the strange bomb.


    "Electrode, I presume?" Arthur almost smiled at the sight.


    "I''ve always known what my Path was. When Seeker offered me his truth, I finally had the faith to live it out." Lowengren arrogantly dered.


    "A deceiver of nations? Should I call Satan then?" Arthur frowned.


    "No. That would be too anti-religious. If Seeker intends to return theology to its peak, we all must carry Biblical titles."


    "Then what should your Path be called?"


    "You know what is written. Blessed is the man who stands not in the way of sinners or sits in the seat of mockers. And more blessed is he, who walks not ording to my directions¡­ I, who tread in the Counsel of the Wicked."


    "Shall we end this?" Lowengren called out to the Assassins.


    "Execute the n! Blow this ce up!" Lowengrenughed as he readied to throw the bomb.


    The Assassins moved to retreat as far as they could in those quick seconds. They could not afford to stay within range of Lowengren. They could not ascertain how Clutch was defeated so they had to act cautiously.


    Arthur knew that this was another ploy made by Lowengren. Their mission was to keep the Assassins busy. Arthur wouldn''t be able to help and the energy that Alean and Lander expended in the battle was great. As they didn''t have the capability to draw energy from the suits like Seeker and the others, they had to conserve their energy. This deception was the answer.


    "Let''s do it Electrode!" Lowengren shouted crazily.


    Arge rm suddenly trumpeted throughout the base.


    "Are you insane?!" One screeched in great fear as he recognized that rm. The other assassins also reacted in terror at the sight of Lowengren''s weapon.


    "TIER ONE WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION DETECTED! ALL PERSONNEL,EVACUATE TO THE SHELTERS!"


    The rm caused great panic as the soldiers started to immediately retreat.


    Lowengren continued to hold up high the Pangean shbang.. No one among them was more confused, bewildered and worried than he was.

 Chapter 104 - The Qilins Horn

    "Are you insane? You''d kill us all?" One continued to shout angrily.


    "Quickly! Alert Master!" One shouted to a nearby soldier.


    The soldier immediately reached for hism device and started pressing several buttons. The face of the soldier changed as his attempts proved useless. He beckoned on another soldier and several soldiers immediately started to send their own messages through their respectivem devices. But after several tries, the signal just wouldn''t push through.


    One noticed it and frowned.


    "Themwork is down?! Then run towards Master and Young Master!" One ordered as his gaze returned towards Lowengren who held the bomb up in his hands.


    Lowengren analyzed the situation with a solemn look. As someone who deceived, he knew what deception was and concluded that the Assassins weren''t giving him a taste of his own medicine.


    "That''s not me." Lowengren finally answered as he lowered the red and white ball.


    "Arthur." He turned to ask.


    "The only reasonable exnation is it''s the Aragarian''s. They areunching a Weapon of Mass destruction." Arthur responded.


    "That''s crazy! Why would theyunch a weapon of mass destruction right in the middle of China? That would leave a trail back to them! And I thought you said that Richie killed everyone!" Lowengren cursed.


    "He left one woman alive. However, she shouldn''t be a threat anymore. I made Richie kiss her, remember?" Arthur countered.


    "Then who? Wait...One, are there any other enemies of your organization crazy enough tounch a weapon of mass destruction?" He asked One.


    One paused for a bit. He gazed at the eyes of Lowengren as if to probe further.


    "It seems you are really not the ones using that weapon. No. There are none."


    BOOM!


    A thundering sound from a distance was heard.


    "TIER ONE WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION QILIN''S HORN DETECTED!" The rm sounded once more.


    "The Qilin''s Horn!" One cried in terror.


    The other Assassins also had the same terrified expression.


    For hardened Assassins of these levels, showing a level of terror wasn''t due to the fact that they would die. With their loyalty and servitude, death wasn''t something they feared. Failure was. Failure to protect and serve their master.


    "What is the Qilin''s Horn?" Arthur immediately asked.


    "The Qilin''s Horn is a weapon of Mass destruction that doesn''t create mass destruction. It''s a missile that can actively shoot and kill anything deemed as an enemy within an area. No explosions, no radiations, no chemicals. Just dead bodies. Onceunched, there is no known technology that can shoot it down or destroy it." One gave the summary.


    "I see. So it''s a weapon of mass destruction that is untraceable and can be used discreetly. Then only the Chinese Government has the capability to use such weapons. Other than that... it might be the Aragarian''s, The Chinese won''t randomlyunch this after all." Arthur concluded.


    "So it''s definitely the Aragarian''s. But how? Richie was certain that everyone was killed. He kept using Echolocation!" Alean rushed closer and screamed.


    "Then they simply have the technology to either fake a state wherein they appear to be dead or something that can hide a person''s presence. It looks like the sound ising from the building several blocks from where we are at."Arthur then turned to One.


    "Let''s get out of here. Lander can go in and warn Seeker. Looks like the Aragarian''s used am jammer. We need to act now. Sorry, Lander. If you die on the process of informing Seeker, know that you did something great. The future will remember your deaths." Arthur ordered as he immediately pushed a button.


    Lander immediately followed. A trace of joy could be seen in his eyes. The happiness sprung from Arthur''s words which somehow motivated and made Lander willing to die.


    "I can''t believe dying would be such a magnificent experience." Landerughed as he started dashing on towards the mansion.


    It was then that Arthur noticed thatnone of the Assassins moved. They allstood their ground and remained guarded.


    "Lander! Wait." Arthur canceled the order.


    "One? What are you doing?" Arthur asked.


    Lander stopped his dash and gave a curious look at the Assassins.


    "Young Master, it''s been a glorious battle. Such a pity that we would die not in your hands or you to ours. Go and flee, but we must remain. We will try our best to destroy the Qilin''s Horn. If that increases Master and Young Master''s chance of survival by a single percent, we would dly take it."


    The other Assassins stood their ground.


    "Looks like there is something with this weapon than meets the eye. They should know Meng''s capabilities yet, they are afraid that he would die." Lowengren spoke softly.


    "A weapon that could kill Meng? Interesting.Alean, take Blur and Clutch and get out of here," Arthur ordered as he immediately shot a regun up in the air.


    Kristine noticed it and immediately started zooming towards them. Most of the soldiers had started to retreat at the alert. This made Kristine''s approach faster.


    Lowengren gave a light smile and moved towards the Assassin.


    "Young Master?" One answered with surprise.


    "We''ve gotten off on the wrong foot. We never meant to kill you. Especially now that we know how capable you guys are. And just like you, we must do our best to protect our allies inside. If you believe escaping is futile, then we shall do the same and fight. If it increases the chances of their survival by a single percent, we would dly die for their sake. Besides, we also can''t afford to lose the ck Dragon," Lowengren took out all his weapons andid it on the ground and started to tinker with it.


    "Tell me the capabilities of this bomb. I can have Kristine attack it as her suit has jet-powered capabilities."


    "I''m afraid that''s impossible. Once it starts it begins its charging phase and isunched, no one can dare to approach it or shoot it. As it can already shoot down anything within a given area. It''s designed to shoot down jets at their fastest speed, kill pilots inside the most resilient Armor''s and detect enemies with the mostplex cloaking technology."


    Kristine finally arrived. Her golden armor equipped with such wondrous technology made the assassins hold their breath in amazement.


    "Kristine, from now on you''re not allowed to talk to Lowengren alone," Arthur ordered immediately. Lowengren was shaking his head with a grin on his face.


    "I got your lunch box ready." Kristine immediately handed over several small pills from her back-pack.


    Arthur immediately took one.


    "Shouldn''t someone warn them?" Alean asked.


    "They should have noticed the rm. But not anyone has Lowengren''s Path. So their battles should be reaching its climax as they don''t have time. Going there could only get you killed."


    "Lowengren''s Path?"


    "Why did they believe us immediately?" Arthur asked.


    It was then that Alean realized what had happened.


    "What? It''s a Path?"


    "What else could it be? The others won''t be able to convince their enemies. So the only way is to try and stop this bomb and hope that we can save them. Don''t worry. Seeker''s inside. They should win." Arthur then turned his attention to the approaching Assassins.


    A surprised look appeared in Alean''s eyes.


    "Zeek¡­" Alean smiled and then immediately dashed to take Blur and Clutch.


    "How long do we have?"


    "About ten to fifteen minutes now that it''s in range with our detectors. If the missile has the sameunch speeds that we know." One spoke softly.


    "The missile probably hasn''t beenunched yet. To avoid detection from the government, they wouldunch it from a nearby silo. It should be hidden in one of the nearby buildings in this area. That way, only your base would detect it. It should still be in this so-called charging phase. How long do we have in that scenario?"


    "If that''s the case¡­ we should have about three to five minutes." Specter answered.


    "Alright. Then the n is to wait here. The target should be your Master. So destroying it from where we are now is our best option." Arthur suddenly stretched his arms to see if its fully healed.


    "Good. My body should be able to function at about one-fourth of my peak." Arthur paused as his cells started healing itself.


    "As enemies, you were terrifying. But as allies, it feels as if a great burden on my shoulders has been lifted." Specterughed.


    "Is the Qilin''s Horn simr to the Killing Horn?" Arthur asked ignoring the Assassin''s sentimental stares.


    "As expected of Lennox''s son. Yes, Young Master, the two are one and the same. The Killing Horn is what it''s called in the Underworld." Strike answered.


    "So that''s why it''s being sought after in the Underworld¡­"


    "We can give you a brief overview of what that technology is equipped with. But rumor has it, that it has been constantly improved throughout the years. We do not know the full extent of its technology." Twister spoke as he moved to the front.


    "Alright. You have thirty seconds. Exin the technologies that weapon is or could be equipped with. Give me an overview of all technological possibilities that One China has."


    Specter started to narrate the specs of the weapon to Arthur.


    "I disagree with Young Master Arthur. Since there is no way tomunicate with our allies inside, we need to send someone to warn them. Otherwise, if we fail, they will die. You seem confident of your allies... but if they be too wounded to escape, how would they be able to escape the Qilin''s Horn?" One spoke to Lowengren.


    "As Arthur said, going to them is pointless. Imagine what your Master would say if you appeared in front of him and tell him to stop fighting."


    One sighed.


    "He would conclude that I betrayed him."


    "Exactly. They would believe that we are equipped with a technology that protects us from the Qilin''s Horns targeting system." Lowengren exined.


    One started to wonder why he immediately believed Lowengren and did not think of that possibility.


    "Don''t worry. If we did have it, we would have had the chance to kill you several times now but we didn''t." Lowengren smiled.


    One nodded his head in agreement.


    "Then let''s hope that our allies haven''t killed each other yet." One furrowed his brows.


    "Don''t worry. I know you see your masters as monsters. But those who went inside are monsters too." Lowengren answered.


    A few minutes before the rm, the battle inside the mansion had reached a terrifyingly different level. The rooms which formerly existed in the area where they fought had disappeared. The destruction of st and Trigger''s weapon had eroded the walls that divided the rooms. Only the outer walls of the mansion weren''t destroyed as it was made with hybrid Almetal.


    The new ''hall'' that was formed through the destruction of the rooms during this battle would asionally ze with a bright light.


    The constant sound of gunfire, explosions, and of two metals hitting each other continued to reverberate throughout the area.


    st, Trigger, and Suit continued to shower Meryl with their attacks. Several Exoskeletons were now supporting Suit from the back. The Assassins were no longer shooting randomly except st who kept shooting Maic bombs targeting, Cliff, Meryl, and even Lynd.


    Meryl continued to attack and retreat as she faced the three Assassins.


    "Damn it! Aim for that brat in the middle!" Trigger cursed.


    "What the hell do you think I''ve been doing! But unless you two can stop the crazy girl, we''d be dead if I didn''t shoot her!"


    Cliff maintained his distance between Meryl and Lynd distracting Sting most of the time as he used a strange sniper rifle. Every time, Meryl would call out to Cliff, Cliff would immediately turn around and shoot an Assassin.


    Trigger and st had been wounded by several of Cliff''s attacks barely sparing themselves from critical wounds.


    The intermittent and immediate shes of light that Lynd or Meryl would send out made the three assassins incapable of attacking.


    "Let me charge in! I have five suits with me!" Suit moved but was stopped by Trigger.


    "Don''t! That brat''s explosion is dangerous! It even damaged and melted parts of the Almetal of this mansion! You''re Suit''s would be incinerated along with you if she does that again!"


    "I must help Young Master!" Suit answered in anger.


    The Assassins were surprised as they witnessed how the young boy traded blows and withstood Typical''s power.


    Lynd and Typical''s battle was extremely fast. It was moving from one end of therge hall to the other. The attacks would leave arge gash on the wall and even dent the Almetal.


    Surrounding Typical were the nanometal particles that continued to float and form into several deadly weapons which Typical would utilize to block or attack. Some of the nanoparticles would gather together forming an iron pike that would fly out and attack Lynd. These pikes would be enveloped with a red and blue electric chargecausing fly as fast as a bullet.


    The technologies of several Assassin were used by expertly handled by Typical.


    Yet despite all these different weapons, Lynd matched it with expert evasion using Lander''s cyclone, the usage of strange shouts that distorted Typical and the blinding light that Meryl had.


    Typical used the nanoparticles and its Force Chargeto jump several times in midair, changing the direction of his attacks.


    Lynd stopped from his charge and started to retreat. But then, he immediately dashed forward and used his sword to block an iing attack.


    BOOM!


    Lynd was sent flying to the ground but then a small explosion rocked Typical sending him flying back as well.


    When Lynd stopped attacking and was about to withdraw, he felt a strange but familiar sensation behind him. He stopped withdrawing and charged forward but at the same time lightly tossed a small coin-sized object. When he was struck by Typical''s sh, he was sent flying at an incredible speed allowing him to escape the explosion caused by the small bomb he threw.


    Sting immediately caught Typical as the other assassins gave a surprised scream.


    Cliff immediately rushed to finish off Typical.


    "Stop!" Lynd shouted.


    Cliff stopped and stood to cover Lynd from Sting.


    "Don''t attack him! You''ll die." Lynd ordered seriously.


    It was then that Cliff noticed Lynd had several wounds all over his body.


    Lynd''s body was trembling all over. He was tightly grasping the sword.


    "I can''t believe that I might die here." Lynd sighed.


    "How were you attacked?" Cliff was surprised. He couldn''t recall any attacks that Typical made to give Lynd these wounds.


    "You don''t fight with your eyes with this one, Cliff. He could easily kill you and Meryl if I wasn''t keeping him¡­ extremely busy."


    "TIER ONE WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION DETECTED! ALL PERSONNEL, EVACUATE TO THE SHELTERS!"


    The rm was heard from afar.


    Lynd gave a strange sigh.


    "Looks like we''re running out of time." Lynd stood up and prepared to attack.


    Meryl suddenly appeared next to him.


    "Lynd. Let me fight him.." Meryl gave a resolved look.

 Chapter 105 - To Change A Path

    Days before the battle, Seeker, and Arthur continued to discuss the events that took ce while Seeker was unconscious.


    Surprisingly, Seeker became more interested in Meryl''s Path.


    "You mean to say, she could explode like a bomb?" Seeker had stopped eating the array of Chinese cuisines in front of him.


    Arthur gave a strange look at Seeker. It was the first time that something had actually startled him. After all the information that Arthur gave, even the acquisition of Lowengren and Lander, these facts did not startle him. The progress of the Twelve Disciples didn''t even cause Seeker to pause or give further instructions but had trusted that Arthur would have taken care of it all.


    But when they discussed Meryl''s Path, Seeker actually stopped eating.


    "Yes. My father had to culture her cells into an outfit and armor so that she wouldn''t burn it up. Strangely enough, if heat is applied to it, it burns. But on my father''s instruction, when we had Meryl wear the suit and use her explosive technique, the materials weren''t burned. But if she wasn''t wearing it, it would burn."


    "Of course! Neuro-Transcellr phenomenon interlinks the cell. That''s how it can''t harm its own body regardless of what Path it has. But that''s not important!" Seekerined.


    "Really? A discussion about how our cells are immune to its own attacks, and the possible ways we can weaponize this science isn''t an important discussion?" Arthur frowned.


    "Meryl! She couldn''t do that in my future! She could generate light, but that was it!" Seeker''s voice seemed disturbed and excited.


    Arthur and Kristine had a strange expression that Seeker continuously ignored. The science of using one''s own cells to create armor was non-existent. Although there had been rudimentary sciences that could be used to do this, it was never applied in the military. Arthur and Kristine who was closelymunicating with Lennox had marveled at Lennox''s discoveries. But


    "When did she developed this Path?"


    "It was she went to meet the three scientists working in New Birth Fort. Her talks with the Harker''s Programmed Salves made her realized something. She said something about how deceptive happiness is but I didn''t really bother asking her."


    Seeker was in deep thought.


    "The first possibility could be attributed to me. My cells are inherently stronger than my previous life which may have allowed her to have this new Path¡­ but it''s still rtively impossible. Her Path basically changed."


    "What''s wrong with improving her Path?" Arthur asked.


    "Think Arthur. What would be a Believers'' weakness in terms of potential? Why are Oveer''s more powerful than them?" Seeker immediately asked.


    Arthur was now the one in deep contemtion. Barely two seconds passed and Arthur came to a conclusion.


    "The Believers'' weakness is their belief." Arthur summarized.


    "Right. You nailed it."


    "Ummm¡­ Guys¡­ I don''t have knowledge about the future or have an I.Q like Arthur''s." Kristine interrupted.


    "Believers are limited to what they believe. In other words, they''re Path has its end."


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about." Kristine sighed.


    "Let''s take Meryl for example." Seeker took over.


    "Her Path reached its peak the moment she managed to awaken it. It was powerful, but she couldn''t improve it. Her Path had already reached its end. That was their weakness. They could never be World Champions unless they had Lynd''s Path or anything simr."


    "So Meryl changed improved her Path. Why is this a big deal?" Kristine asked again.


    "Because it is impossible to improve a Path. It''s just the same as trying to change a Path. That''s what Seeker is basically trying to say."


    "Believers have to believe that they can truly do that. If Meryl improved her Path, it means her belief changed."


    "Ok¡­ But isn''t this a good thing? Why do you look so worried?"


    "It''s becauseshe''s walking on a road that she didn''t walk before. A road that could open the way to the World Champion stage. This next battle has to be nned in a way that it could challenge her to the extent that she would further improve her belief system." Seeker answered quickly and quickly retreated off to his imagination again.


    "I don''t understand your worries. We can make ns with Lowengren to find a way to put Meryl into the most terrifying and dangerous state while at the same time ensure her safety."


    Seeker shook his head.


    "This battle is a training period for our team''s psychological and mental maturity. They have to face the pressure of thinking that they could die. That''s why I didn''t make my awakening known. I would save them when things get too dicey or if I am confident that they would win, I''d just head to the next battlefield or straight to Meng. Using Sting and my knowledge of Rosa, I could get Meng to stop fighting when things get a little out of hand."


    "I know. That''s why I divided the group that way. I anticipated you''re awakening to be earlier and also know that this would be a perfect training ground for them. That''s why I secretly brought your capsule here instead of sending you with Charles."


    "But things are different now. There are two opportunities before us. The first has to do with my Path. I have to fight Meng. If I can find the foundation of his Path and acquire something that can improve my physical body, I may have the opportunity of having a World Champions body. So I have to face the full wrath of Meng."


    "We can still aplish that part with our original n, with just a few minor adjustments. But the second opportunity is about Meryl right?"


    "Yes. If we leave things the way it is, Meryl might subconsciously close her Path. She needs a trigger that would make her want to be more powerful."


    "And the risk you have in mind might kill her?"


    Seeker slowly nodded.


    "I lost them once already. I don''t want to lose them again. The risk is just too high." Seeker sighed.


    "Why is it too high?"


    "The only enemy that could challenge Lynd and Meryl right now...is too strong. Number two in the Ranked Heroes list. The closest thing we have to an Oveer. Typical. He Who Treads the Thorny Road."


    "He''s that strong?"


    "What do you expect from someone who Meng trained since childhood? In terms of mental fortitude, physical strength and power, he was the strongest under Ranked Hero. Even if the Lynd in my future fought him, he would not be able to defeat Typical without sacrificing an arm or a leg."


    "Impressive. But I understand your concern. The best way to maximize this opportunity is to make sure Meryl doesn''t know you are awake. And if I exined what Typical''s Path is, they might sense that you mighthave awakened."


    "Yes. Meryl has to carry the burden of doubt and fear before they fight. She must also have the right motivation to end the fight. I can make myself known and face Meng alone. That would make Meryl and Lynd want to end their battle as quick as possible in fear of my safety. But unless they know what Typical''s Path is, they could die. If I tell them what Typical''s Path is before they fight them, then it wouldn''t be of any use. They would win the battle attributing it to my information. They have to know that I believe in them." Seeker frowned.


    "Wouldn''t Lynd be able to understand it with his Path?"


    "No. Lynd''s copy is limited to three factors. His memory or understanding of the person, the level of his Unlocking and the strength and biology of his body. He cannot copy something if he has no base materials to use. He can copy you, me, and even Richie as Lynd has the foundations to do it. But with Typical, he can''t. He not only knows very little about Typical, his biology just can''t do it right now."


    "So the dilemma you''re facing is between sparing Lynd and Meryl and ignore the opportunity that could push Meryl to World Champion, or risk the battle where they or Typical might die?"


    "Yes! And the most frustrating thing is that we might not have this chance again!" Seeker''s tone rose in frustration as he looked at Arthur''s nonchnt expression.


    "What''s with that unflustered look? At least help me out with this!" Seeker red at Arthur.


    "The answer is simple. Send Cliff with them. You forget that in this timeline, Lynd and Meryl aren''t the only monsters you''ve awakened."


    Back in the present, Lynd gave a confused look at Meryl.


    "No. You can''t fight him. He''s too dangerous. If I haven''t imitated Richie''s instinct I wouldn''t be able to fight him. He could kill us all at any moment. I''ve been forcing him to keep an eye on me."


    "What''s his Path?"


    "I don''t know. His physical body is strong! It can handle my Inhuman strength! And he could have a Path simr to Meng. My instincts are able to let me evade these invisible attacks. but as you can see, I am unable to escape all of it."


    Typical slowly stood up. The damage he received from the bomb had left his left arm burnt and limp. It dangled weakly as he stood up. Typical was gasping for breath.


    "You are strong. Ready yourst strike. I''ll give you that courtesy. Don''t take too long though. Our time is running out." Typicalughed. The assassins had regrouped right behind Typical. None of them said anything. They knew their Young Master wouldn''t let them take part in this final strike.


    Something strange filled the air. The goosebumps that Lynd, Cliff, and Meryl felt were unnatural.


    "Somethings wrong." Meryl frowned.


    "This was what I''m talking about." Lynd clenched his fist. Where would the next attackse from?


    "It''s Realm Somatotopy." Cliff felt it.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Arthur spoke of it in passing. He theorized that if a person is strong enough, he can control the molecules around him. Seeker''s been doing it to us¡­ Arthur noticed that whenever Seeker would release his Reaper''s Breath, there''s that feeling of our chest being is pressed¡­" Cliff quickly exined. The speed of his voice was fast that most humans wouldn''t be able to understand it.


    "Seeker was usingwhat Arthur called Force Somatotopy. He controlled the molecules around us and used it to push down on our chest. It''s like telekinesis. But for this guy... instead of moving and pushing things, he''s making an extremely thin sword or needle. That''s what was attacking Lynd!"


    "I see. No wonder I would get wounded if I moved to certain ces." Lynd frowned.


    "Is there anything in your memory that could exin why I can''t copy it?"


    "Arthur told me that a Path depends on the Unlocking and our biology. So maybe you don''t have the biology to copy it yet."


    "What is the difference between his body and ours?" Meryl asked this time.


    Cliff thought hard and every memory of his talks with Arthur surfaced. The memories of Arthur ranting about strange topics that didn''t seem to have value started to fall in ce.


    "The Mitochondria! The powerhouse of the cell!"


    "What?" Meryl and Lynd chorused in confusion.


    "Arthur mentioned that the reason Seeker could manipte the molecules near himbecause his cells are stronger than ours. Seeker exined to Arthur that it''s because his body can store and release more energy than ours."


    "So that''s why Seeker could still move faster than us in our training even when he moderated his Unlocking!" Lynd finally understood.


    "But what exactly is the difference between our bodies and his?"


    "The mitochondria. His cells must house more mitochondria than ours. Arthur ranted about this. If we have more mitochondria''s in our cells. We would have more energy, more control in our Paths and would be physically stronger by another level."


    "I wonder what kind of discussion you''ve been having with Arthur for him to talk about those things." Lynd could not help but shake his head.


    "It''s Seeker." Meryl giggled.


    "He didn''t want us to know that he''s up so that we would mentally prepare for this fight. So he made Arthur feed Cliff with this information." Meryl smiled and took a step forward. She hastily removed Cliff''s backpack which was full of energy while a golden glow enveloped her.


    The backpack she wore was detached. Lynd and Cliff wondered at Meryl''s strange action.


    "Meryl?" Lynd wondered.


    "Don''t worry. I used the remaining energy in my backpack to change about half of my cells into ones with more mitochondria." Meryl then wore Cliff''s backpack.


    "You don''t mind do you, Cliff?" Meryl smiled.


    Cliff nodded but he gave a strange gaze at Meryl.


    "You changed your cells? But how?" Lynd was also shocked.


    "It''s because I''m already walking on a simr Path. My cells were already changing. I was on the crossroads of my Path. But now, I know what road to tread."


    "But how did that make you change your cells so easily?" Lynd was surprised.


    "Remember Arthur''s words? Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1."


    "You think Seeker left that message for us?"


    "All that I''m sure of is that this battle is something Seeker nned. He believes in us. He can''t always fight our battles. Arthur, Lowengren or whoever can''t also do the same. They are at most helping us walk our Paths. And our job is to tread on that Path that they are risking their lives for." Meryl smiled as a golden glow enveloped around her.


    Lynd and Cliff couldn''t help but take Meryl''s word to heart. it was then they understood why Seeker chose to appear before them but didn''t help them in this fight.


    Both gripped their fist and looked on towards Typical.


    "For now, this battle belongs to me. Watch me tread through this fiery furnace."


    "Let''s do this Typical!" Meryl suddenly spoke in a speed that normal people could understand.


    "Done talking like insects?If your strong friend couldn''t kill me, I wonder how you can?" Typical smiled as he took off the mask.


    A face of brilliant white which was almost glowing was revealed.Yet along with this face was a dangerous pair of pale green eyes.


    "Time is running out. It would be disrespectful to kill you without seeing my face. You can have this honor." Typical smiled.


    Typical smiled and slowly raised his right arm. The nanoparticles around him started to move erratically. Sting''s metal spikes also started to hover on its own.


    Meryl started to slowly walk towards Typical.


    Cliff and Lynd immediately felt it and dashed away to escape.


    The area surrounding Meryl started to burn as Meryl''s body started to give off a radiant golden glow.


    "Die!" Typicalughed. The nanoparticles and Sting''s pikes around Typical started to move and gathered together forming tworge spears. A bluish and reddish charge enveloped both spears.


    BOOM!


    The spearsunched itself towards Meryl at incredible speed.


    Meryl immediately raised her hands and aimed for the two spears.


    BOOM!


    Two rays of concentrated fire burned the two spears disintegrating the nanoparticles. The surrounding area started to distort as if something was consuming everything around Meryl.


    Suddenly, Meryl was thrown back. it was as if an invisible force struck Meryl in the chest.


    The two spears struck the area where Meryl once stood.


    The attack was so swift all that Lynd and Cliff could see was Meryl stumbling backward.


    The two sprinted and reached for her body. Blood was found on her chest. The golden bodyid still on the ground.


    "Assassins. Finish the rest." Typical stumbled down and started gasping for breath. His previous demeanor and the glow on his face was reced with a deathly and pale look.


    "I''ll kill you!!" Cliff gritted his teeth and prepared to attack.


    "No. Wait." Lynd immediately stopped him.


    Cliff was about toin when he realized that Meryl''s body was moving.


    "That was a dangerous gamble!" Meryl gave aheartyugh.


    Typical was shocked at the sight of Meryl standing.


    "If you aimed for my head, I would''ve died. Luckily, I was right. You are a gentleman." Meryl giggled.


    "How?!" Typical demanded. Blood started to drip from his mouth.


    "Your invisible knife... You aimed for my heart, right? You didn''t want to kill me by wounding my face." Meryl smiled.


    Typical froze at Meryl''s words.


    "Your de was quite sturdy. Did you develop it hoping you can wound the ck Dragon on your training? Even at that heat, that thin de still pierced through the fire." Merylughed.


    "Then how did you survive?!"


    "Did you know? The cells of the heart have a higher percentage of mitochondria whenpared to the other cells of the human body. I''m d I paid attention to that discussion in ss. Ibusted the cells in my chest and heart and that burned your invisible knife." Merylughed as she pointed to her chest. Blood started to dripout but a faint light seemed to be escaping the wound.


    Meryl raised her two arms and opened her palms. Two glowing lights started to appear.


    Meryl drew the two lights towards her chest. A strange light could be seen leaving Meryl''s wound. The three lights started to condense and formed a golden light orb.


    A powerfully bright sh enveloped the room.


    "Anyways, it''s over. One turn used up for charging my attack. Too bad you didn''t take that opportunity to attack." The glowing orb shed stronger and stronger as the orb started to shake erratically.


    The Assassins rushed forward to protect Typical. Suit took the lead and used his thick Exoskeleton to take the iing attack. The other assassins started attacking, but Cliff dashed ahead to block the attacks using his shield while Lynd''s strange shout caused the others to miss.


    "This attack literallyes straight from my heart." Meryl grinned.


    "Burning Heart!"


    Abright goldenser shot out of the golden orb and shot towards the group of assassins.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 106 - The Trumpet And The Horseman

    Several minutes before Seeker had challenged Meng, A lone Aragarian was slowly headed towards her car. It was the Aragarian Madelyn.


    Her car was not more than thirty meters from where she was now. But this distance seemed like miles in her perspective.


    Her every step was extremely slow. She would do her best to maintain her bnce at every step. And the reason for her slow pace was the remnant sensation she continuously felt. She had an extreme sense of panic and fear had gripped her heart. Her mind continued to recall the terrifying scene when she met Richie.


    When Richie appeared and their base was raided by the unknown soldiers, Pridgeon had sent her to immediately request for backup to the nearby Aragarian''s based on the outskirts of the city. She would leave the battleground and head to the nearest Pioneer base and use her connections to deploy the military branch loyal to them.


    But on her way to her vehicle, she suddenly met Richie.


    Her guards simply died. They were convulsing when Madelyn turned to them for protection. Clutching their chest as hard as they could as it seemed to have been gripped by a strange force.


    A strange feeling urred on her chest. What followed next was a jolt of fear as she heard the whistling tune of Richie.


    "It''s amazing, isn''t it?" Richie smiled.


    "Sound. Vibration. Movement. Waves¡­ The science of matter. And I control it. Can you feel it? The intense vibrations of my voice that causing your heart to be gripped as the sound prates deeper into the tissues and skin." Richie happily narrated.


    "Oh right... I wonder what to do with you..." Richie immediately took out am device.


    "Arthur¡­ I know you''re busy." Richie called out on them device.


    "I met Madelyn again. What are your thoughts?"


    Arthur had just defeated Force at that time. He stood silently and gazed around the battlefield. His eyes noticed Alean.


    "Leave her alone," Arthur called out seeing the opportunity to converse and yet hide theirmunication. It was at this time that several assassins had moved towards Alean.


    "Leave her? Why?" Richie frowned.


    "Give her your best and most pleasurable kiss," Arthur ordered as he shut them device and focused on the battle.


    Richie sighed. He knew what Arthur was ordering him to do. Richie recalled Arthur exining another theory when they were still preparing for the attack.


    "Your voice isn''t something that can only push or cause fear. It''s more than that. We don''t know what Meng will be capable of so the stronger you get, the better our chances ofpleting this mission."


    "This voice of mine isn''t my only Path you know. With my instinct, I can easily survive whatever Meng throws on me." Richie brushed Arthur''s words and attempted to leave.


    "Seeker knew about your voice. Yet when I asked him what your Path is, remember what he said on that hotel floor? He told me that your Path is your instincts. Why would he leave out your voice?" Arthur asked.


    Richie stopped moving.


    "Alright, kid. You got my attention."


    "I assumed that Seeker is correct. So that is your main Path. He''s already up but said that I have to figure out what your Path is on my own. Seeker''s hint was on the fact that he didn''t describe your Path to be that of your voice but your instinct. So I worked under the assumption that your main Path is your instinct."


    "Now you''re just confusing yourself, kid." Richieughed.


    "Your Path is Vibrations." Arthur finally summarized.


    "It isn''t sound. But the vibrations that your sound produced. This also exins your instincts. The vibrations of everything around you tells you what to look out for. I could go on and exin the matters regarding string theory and what-not, but that''s basically it. You feel things around you at a different level. And like a prodigy who understands music, the information of these vibrations simply¡­ tells you what to look out for." Arthur quickly exined.


    Richie gave a surprised look.


    "Well, I''ll be! Congrattions! Looks like you''re bing more and more like a true Prophet!"


    "Use that knowledge well. You can cause terrible destruction. After all, wasn''t it shouts that tore down the Walls of Jericho?"


    "So my Peal''s of thunder can do more than just push?" Richie''s eyebrow raised.


    "Probably. From a biblical perspective, God created everything through His voice. As for science, it has already proven that all matter is simply vibrations or waves at a certain perspective. I don''t know what would be the end of your Path. But what I''m sure of, it doesn''t just end with pushing things around and inflicting fear." Arthur then paused for a bit. After a moment of hesitation, Arthur continued.


    "Also¡­ if this helps¡­ it''s about her. The Tyrant Empress."


    Richie''s happy look stiffed and a slow-building re surfaced.


    "Your potential could be applied outside of warfare but even in other fields¡­ Right now the vibrations you can cause shakes the inner being of a person. This jolt gives birth to the sensation of fear. But I believe you can do more than just fear. This would exin her¡­ attraction towards you." Arthur''s voice started to tremble. The astonishing force that vibrates around him already started happening.


    Richie gave a stoic look at Arthur. He had already made Richie angry so Arthur resolved to finish what he started.


    "When used appropriately, fear couldmand loyalty and respect, submission and even ecstasy," Arthur spoke faster knowing that if he prolonged this discussion, he wouldn''t be able to think straight.


    "Ecstasy?" Richie''s eyes went wide opened as he realized something.


    The crushing sensation around Arthur disappeared.


    "So that''s why¡­ she enjoyed it¡­" A hateful look surfaced as Richie recalled an embarrassing and painful memory.


    Arthur was closing his eyes and was trying to analyze his situation.


    Soon, his fingers could move and Arthur retained movement in his upper body.


    Richie red at Arthur as if to say, you did that to yourself.


    "As¡­ I was saying¡­ If you want to conquer that woman, you can either kill her or give her a taste of her own medicine. As early as now, you have to think of a way to match her assaults. If you meet her again, she will try to kiss you. If you find a way to dominate her as she has dominated you, then you havetrulydefeated her. So use your powers and find a way to give a painful fearful and pleasurable kiss!" Arthur spoke coldly and immediately retreated.


    Richie smiled at Arthur''s challenge.


    "What a troublesome order¡­" Richie stretched out as he gazed at the petrified Aragarian.


    "Fine. At least I can pay your kind the same pain she inflicted on me." Richie finally resolved himself.


    "Remember me. Remember my voice. And remember my name. I am Richie." Richie yfully whispered as pangs of dread shuddered Madelyn''s body.


    Immediately, Richie gave a passionate kiss. A silent growl vibrated out of Richie''s lips and caused Madelyn''s entire body to tremble in intense fear. But it wasn''t only fear. The memory of that kiss, the melodious ring of Richie''s name was embedded on her very heart. Her organs shook, her mind was jolted. And in that process, the name Richie was an unrelenting sound that trapped her heart and emotions.


    Back at the present, the moment Madelyne woke up, she immediately made for the car out of fear.


    Suddenly, she realized that her legs couldn''t respond and she stumbled off. She started to crawl faster and faster. And that was when she realized that a warning was disyed on her Alinon.


    A panicked shock appeared as she immediately dialed the Alinon and linked a line to Pridgeon.


    "Madelyn!" Pridgeon was relieved to receive Madelyn''s call.


    "Presider. What happened? Why is the Killing Horn charging!"


    "Good thing you called me! I almost forgot that Richie left you alive. I''ll set the Killing Horn so that it won''t target you. But it''s still too dangerous to remain here. Head to the northern checkpoint. Soldiers loyal to us are there. Arrange a pickup and prepare my shuttle out of here. I''ll leave the clean-up to you." Pridgeon immediately ordered.


    "Presider¡­ I¡­"


    "No time! My suit''s energy is extremely low! I almost died and this suit had to expend most of its energy reviving and healing me! I barely have enough time toplete theunch and escape! I must kill that Meng and the Richie!"


    The moment Madelyn heard Richie''s name, she stumbled down and started to convulse wildly. Extreme fear shook her heart but at the same time, she climaxed in extreme ecstasy.


    Her entire body trembled when she heard the name. Madelyn continued to spasm and crawl towards the car with a mixture of emotions. Richie''s name had rooted itself in her heart.


    "Oh?" Richie lifted his head and gazed to a distance.


    "Looks like she''s up." Richie pondered.


    "Amazing. That Arthur is right." A sinister smile appeared on Richie''s face.


    BOOM!


    He returned his gaze to the battle in front of him.


    Seeker was spiraling backward from the force of Meng''s punch.


    Despite how Meng would recklessly punch on Seeker''s sword, the wounds on meng''s fist were shallow and seemed to be healing fast.


    Seeker''s figure had small cuts all over his body.


    Richie patiently waited for an opening.


    The vibrations he felt were extremely peculiar.


    "Ugh. Forget it. This is his Path. No use understanding it." Richie sighed.


    Seeker continued to charge and execute powerful shes.


    Meng would evade the attacks the moment he could ''feel'' even the slightest sensation of the sword touching his skin.


    A deste force gathered once more and exploded causing Seeker to retreat.


    Seeker then noticed that the destion near Richie was gone.


    "Can''t you do the same for me?"


    "No. The destion gets stronger the closer we get that guy. Are you out of tricks?"


    "I can''t create an opening. That man''s too strong." Seeker sighed.


    "Oh alright. Sheesh. I''ll help you. You''re still too sloppy with your techniques though." Richie shook his head.


    Seeker silently cursed.


    "Let''s go!" Richieughed.


    Richie dashed forwards at incredible speed.


    Meng utilized the armor on his lower body to dash faster.


    The deste force went wild around the room but a strange repelling force kept it at bay.


    Seeker charged right behind Richie.


    The trio moved at extreme speeds. Meng was retreating as his destions were no longer hindering the two.


    The deste force gathered around Meng''s body as he kept moving wildly around the room as Seeker and Richie moved closer and closer.


    "Water World." Richie suddenly dered.


    The entire room suddenly felt heavy.


    Meng couldn''t easily move as a force was pressing upon him in all directions.


    The force suddenly got heavier and Meng''s expression started to show pain. Waves and waves of concentrated sound started to m against Meng.


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    If it weren''t for his strong body he would have been knocked around by this invisible force.


    Meng''s red eyes started to turn darker as he red angrily at Richie.


    "Here''s the opening you needed, kid. That should be enough to tie him down." Richie smiled.


    "It takes a monster to deal with another monster." Seekerughed and started dashing towards Meng.


    "It''s not enough!" Meng growled.


    A deste force rushed from Meng and was headed to meet Seeker''s charge.


    Sensing a strange danger, Richie dashed forward and used his voice to alter the molecules before him removing friction and adjusting the aerodynamics around him. Water World also started to obstruct Seeker''s charge. Richie dove towards Seeker and pulled him back.


    Seeker finally noticed the anomaly approaching him and followed Richie in dashing backward.


    Seeker and Richie continued to retreat and finally was outside of Meng''s reach.


    "You miscalcted big time, kid! If I fought him alone I would definitely die!" Richieughed.


    "How bad was that attack?" Seeker immediately asked.


    "I could no longer sense the vibration within the area of his attack. Whatever molecules existed in that area just disappeared." Richie exined.


    "Maw of the Dragon! How? He needed to be at least at Ranked Hero if he was to activate that!" Seeker cursed.


    Seeker knew that Meng was among the fastest in terms of the development of his Path. He knew Richie wouldn''t be able to defeat Meng and so Seeker sent Richie to the Reformer to stabilize Richie''s Path.


    "Something must have happened in this timeline. But the question is what? How did he - wait¡­ it''s Rosa isn''t it?!" Seeker then realized what may have caused this predicament.


    "The red gem!" Seeker thought in his heart. He knew that Meng needed his trigger to finally ovee thest hindrances in his heart.


    After years of being engraved with Chinese teachings and philosophies and following several superstitions, Meng had struggled with what he believed to be a heart devil.


    "You slept with Rosa?!" Seeker shouted angrily. He knew the red gem was something that Rosa would love and that fitting gift he delivered through Sting would have undoubtedly help Meng in his pursuit. But what Seeker didn''t expect was for things to progress faster.


    "Damn it! If that''s the case fighting Meng at full force is too risky!" Seeker thought in his heart and clenched his sword tight. The opportunity of facing Meng for his growth had to be ignored now otherwise he would die.


    Meng was enraged at Seeker''s words.


    "And what if I did?" Meng coldly challenged.


    Seeker was surprised.


    "Oh boy. It looks like he misinterpreted your reaction. Funny how someone like him could get jealous." Richie teased.


    "Shut up! Your making things worse!" Seeker cursed.


    "No choice. I''ve got to persuade him to stop!" Seeker then took a step forward.


    "Wait!" Seeker called out.


    "It''s pointless fighting!" Seeker shouted.


    Meng scoffing re at Seeker.


    "Pointless?" A fierce look in Meng''s eyes appeared.


    Seeker sighed. He quickly used Surmounting Senses to quickly formte the best argument and proof so he can convince Meng to stop fighting.


    "Yes. Because-"


    "TIER ONE WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION DETECTED! ALL PERSONNEL, EVACUATE TO THE SHELTERS!"


    The rm sounded out.


    Seeker was stunned at the announcement.


    "So that''s it¡­" Meng slowly walked towards Seeker.


    "Is it the Qilin''s Horn?" The ground started cracking and breaking. The footsteps that Meng made would dig down through the stone floor.


    "You''ve invested quite a bit to kill me. But even on my death, you''ll never have MY Rosa!"


    A powerful strange deste force started to appear. A greenish glow appeared and started destroying everything around him. Meng''s appearance started to turn ck.


    A dreadful fear gripped Seeker and Richie.


    A dark and pale greenish glow started to surround Meng as his body started to turn ck.


    "Interesting. The ck Dragon has green wings." Richie smiled as the greenish glow took a strange shape behind Meng.


    While Richie was impressed at Meng''s show of power, Seeker was scared stiff.


    He had seen that attack once in his future after the Rapture took ce.


    The show of power that the ck Dragon disyed to fend off the attacking armies solidified Meng''s ce as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.


    The horrifying scene of a valley full of dry bones once again surfaced in his memory. This was one of the few memories that Seeker had to actively forget because it was too gruesome even for an Unlocked.


    "The Wings of Abomination¡­" Seeker unconsciously mumbled.


    "Richie. I''m going to try something crazy. if I die, get out of here." Seeker sighed.


    "No way. I''m an Oveer. Either I die defeated, or I Ovee." Richie smiled. an intense vibrating force started to gather near Richie.


    "Walls of Jericho?!" Seeker identified the sensation. Despite the formidable odds before him, Seeker grew excited. They still had a chance as Richie has awakened his own skills that solidified his ce as one of the Seventh Trumpet.


    "Amazing. I get to witness something that many on my future would die to see. A Horsemen Fighting a Seventh Trumpet."


    "I doubt this is enough. Are you able to ovee as well, Inhuman?" Richie asked with a smile.


    "That''s why I love this New Game. The climb is more exciting than my first ythrough." Seeker grinned excitedly.


    "Time to Tread the Ancient''s Path.." Seeker readied his sword.

 Chapter 107 - Creation Versus Desolation

    Typical opened his eyes. To his surprise, he was still alive. He turned to look at the other Assassins and noticed that they too were also alive. He could easily identify that their wounds weren''t critical and were in fact on the process of getting better.


    Typcial gazed back at his own body and knew what saved his life.


    "You¡­ healed me?" Typical gazed curiously at the three figures who were nearby.


    "Woah! Nutterballs! He''s already awake!" Lynd was stunned as he turned back noticing the awakening Assasin.


    Lynd''s trio was injecting some strange medicine onto the bodies of the Assassin. While the rest were injected certain medicines that stopped clotting, encourage cellr regeneration, the drug they used on Typical was different.


    After acquiring a sample of the Dawn soldiers from Charles, a condensed version of a cont liquid was finally created by Lennox. It was unknown even to Seeker how Lennox managed that, but at Seeker''s orders, Arthur gave several vials of this to the group in case any of them would fall into a simr dilemma that Lynd faced.


    "As expected with Meng''s Disciple. I''m pretty sure you would have Ranked Higher than me in Zeek''s future. But now, you should quietly take your ce as number three or something." Meryl sneered as she walked proudly towards Typical.


    "Are you guys sure we shouldn''t be going down there?" Cliff asked immediately.


    "I''m sure. That sensation. It should be Richie." Lynd answered immediately.


    "The other one should be your Master. Is that right?" Lynd turned to Typical.


    Typical was confused but then closed his eyes as if trying to sense something. It was then that he felt it.


    "This is Master''s potential?" Typical was shocked. He could feel a trace of destions reaching to where he stood.


    "Who''s that other one?" Typical then asked in shock. The sensation was something that seemed to be of equal strength to the strange power of Meng.


    "I don''t understand. I thought Seeker went there. How did Richie get there already?" Cliff asked.


    "He went there quite a while back. I barely caught sight of him with my eyes. He was using some strange technique which allowed him to move extremely fast and not make a single sound. Not even the sound of him passing through the air was heard. Unlike Zeek''s charge which created thunderous sounds when he would break through the sound barrier, that movement was... calmer." Lynd answered immediately.


    "Seeker... Was it that first person who went to face Master?" Typical interrupted.


    "Yes. An ally of ours. We intended to get things done quickly and assist him. But it looks like the scale of their battle is far greater than we imagined. I doubt we''d be of any help." Lynd sighed.


    Meryl also kept silent as she cursed herself for her inability.


    "In any case, we need to go to Arthur and help him deal with that weapon of Mass destruction thing."


    "It''s not yours?" Typical was surprised.


    "No. Someone wants to kill us both. We''re headed out front. This is the only thing we can do now." Meryl answered.


    "Judging by the scale of the battle between your master, Richie, and Zeek¡­ They would probably be too wounded to escape that weapon. We''re headed off to stop the weapon." Lynd informed Typical.


    "Wait. Do we really need to deal with that weapon? I mean, the ce where they are at should be deep underground right?" Cliff asked.


    "No. Although the Master''s throne is buried deep underground to protect our men from his Destion, the weapon that may be headed towards us is the Qilin''s Horn. It doesn''t have explosive firepowers like atom bombs or other weapons of mass destruction, but it has the capability to reach its targeted location and kill any enemies along the way." Typical hurriedly stood up.


    "I''m going with you. It seems you never intended to kill us. If Lennox is making this battle some training ground, then we will settle our scoreter. For now, we take care of the threats." Typical went to Trigger, who was unconscious and took his boots.


    "Cliff. Take these men and head somewhere safe. Is there a spot where we can put your allies?" Lynd asked Typical.


    "The safest would be as far away from the target of the Qilin''s Horn."


    "The target should be Zeek, Richie and Meng. I saw several drones flyby this area while we were fighting." Meryl spoke.


    "Head further west and use the elevators to the lower levels." Typical immediately informed.


    Cliff wasted no second and went for the unconscious bodies of the assassin.


    "Young Master¡­ Let me-" A barely conscious Sting spoke.


    "No. You may not join us. Besides, these two are far stronger allies than you or any of the Dragon''s Fang." Typical gave a cold response.


    Sting didn''t respond and only cursed himself for his weakness.


    "Let''s go," Typical ordered.


    Right before they could leave, a faint crackling sound was heard far off in the distance.


    "What''s going on?" Cliff could not help but shudder. He could feel it too. An ufortable sensation that apanied a painful sound that made his stomach turn.


    The rest stood silently and had a strange realization on their eyes.


    "So this... is an Oveer," Lynd muttered softly.


    Despite who strong they were now, they knew, they would only die at the scale that battle was happening.


    Deep underground, strange lights and crackling sound would burst out as two distinct zones met.


    One area had an intense desting factor that the very hard pavement meant to seal off Meng''s powers was deteriorating.


    On the other side, matter waspressed and contained in what looked like a ball that started to vibrate at a strange way resisting the degrading aura that permeated.


    Meng stood with two green wings floating at his back.


    Richie sneered at the Dragon as a visible but transparent force field started to form around him keeping the destion from spreading.


    Seeker stood and couldn''t help but tremble in excitement at the two forces.


    "A fight that an Inhuman would die to see¡­" Seekerughed as he quoted a saying in his future.


    The Green Wings behind Meng had started condensing on his back. A strange zone of destion surrounded Meng grew stronger as the green wing became more and more vibrant.


    Richie gave a low deep sound as he hummed a familiar tune.


    The force field surrounding them started to give off a powerful repelling force. Even the deste aura was repelled by the strange force.


    The Wings of Abomination was the attack that brought intense drying and decaying on the battlefield they called the Valley of Decisions. Richie''s Walls of Jericho was the almost imprable repelling force that both protected their armies in the future and at the same time caused the deaths of millions.


    The powersthat the Oveers had were unimaginable. They were iparable even to the skills of Ranked Heroes. Because of this, many wondered what it would look like when two Oveers were to seriously fight each other to the death. Just what kind of battle would that be? No one knew.


    And Seekerfinally gotto witness this. It was a battle that even his future self wanted to see.


    "So this is what they look like on their early stages¡­" Seeker was amazed. Their strange and almost unexinable miracles had yet to reach maturity. It was at a point where it made sense for Seeker. As of this moment, the skills they disyed would easily make them as strong as Ranked Heroes. Though their Inhumancapacities greatly limited the powers they could create, the battle was something that evena genuine Ranked Hero could leave unscathed.


    The miraculous Paths of these two were just far too powerful.


    "Let''s hope you two will finally be genuine Oveersthroughthis battle." Seeker smiled.


    "Just be sure you won''t fall behind. Wait for my opening. It''s time to show this Dragon that his roar isn''t the loudest." Richie''s figure started to dive off a strange distortion as the walls that held back the destion condensed into an armor around Richie.


    BOOM!


    Richie sted off creating a powerful sonic boom clearing the path of any destion.


    "HA!" Richie roared loudly.


    Matter was pushed back as if a powerful repelling force started spreading.


    "As expected. Voice of Creation." Seeker grinned.


    The Wings of Destion spread mightily as the ck figure of Meng moved.


    A greenish hue from the surroundings disappeared as it covered Meng''s fist.


    With a greenish st of light, Meng punched the approaching Richie.


    The Maw of the Dragon was now visually seen as a greenish force devoured the approaching soundwaves.


    BOOM!


    A strange resistance urred between the two men who were halted from their respective charges.


    Several explosions were urring around them.


    One had the power to devour everything, while the other had the power to repel everything.


    The two met and shed as the strong stone floor underneath them started to crumble.


    Richie immediately retreated and disappeared from Meng''s sight.


    Humans could move in a predictable manner. But using the vibrations around him, Richie could move in strange directions. The usage of this strange movement could easily confuse the most trained warriors.


    BOOM!


    A powerful punch struck Meng from above.


    Meng had blocked it in time as he felt the repelling force. His feet sunk at the strong pavement which immediately caused the crumbled parts of the stone to be thrown off by the repelling force.


    Richie disappeared once againafter makingthe strike.


    Even Meng was a creature of habit. His habits and expectations of fighting another human had limited his skills. But Meng wasn''t a normal human.


    Meng turned around and punched out to his right causing him to hit a powerful force field.


    BOOM!


    The force field shattered but no Richie was found.


    BOOM!


    A powerful punch struck Meng on his face. The punch caused a powerful loud eruption. Meng had used Ultimate Obstruction to repel most of the attack.


    The sounds that Richie employed had confused Meng.


    Meng tried to counter by having one of his wings to attack Richie, but Richie evaded with a strange summersault. Richie ''walked'' as he performed this somersault and easily evaded the right wing of Meng.


    Meng, who caught sight or Richie, chased Richie and readied a punch.


    Being unable to escape or disappear from Meng''s sight, Richie rushed forthas ifsteppingonsomething invisible and rushed to meet Meng in a shing strike.


    BOOM!


    Unlike Meng, Richie had limited energy to release. The mighty Walls of Jericho were quickly deteriorating as Richie fought within Meng''s zone.


    Even though a smallyer of his sound armor remained, Richie did not retreat but faced Meng.


    "HAAA!" Richie gave a mighty roar.


    Strangely, Meng changed the direction of his punch to hit his right side hitting empty air.


    ZOOOOM!


    Seeker immediately charged as he was waiting for this precise moment.


    "Amazing. It could even affect an Oveer." Seeker admired.


    With Richie''smand over sounds and vibration, Richie could confuse his enemies by transmitting his voice in a way that it would be interpreted by the enemies'' brains differently. But Richie''s second ability that could render an armies air force useless was Richie''s ability to disrupt his enemies'' equilibrium. When used at a perfect time, this disruption could kill a World Champion.


    Meng immediately used the momentum of his punch to twist his body in order to evade the force he was initially resisting with his fist. The pivot-evasion made him turn around as the vibrations slid by.


    However, against all expectations, Richie didn''t follow up on this attack.


    "Kid!" Richie smiled as the armor around him started to dissipate and envelop the fast approaching Seeker Carlean.


    Seeker held his sword tightly and gave a powerful thrust aimed to pierce Meng''s back.


    "Foolish!" Meng responded by raising his wings and creating an explosion of deste force.


    Richie was blown off with more wounds appearing on his body but he continuedughing.


    Seeker dove in and thrust his sword aiming for the left wing of Meng.


    The sword pierced through the green wing and that''s when Meng realized it.


    Seeker and the ss-like sword didn''t disintegrate at the full exposure of his deste aura.


    Meng retreated but a strange repelling force hindered him as he heard Richie''s continuingughter.


    Seeker''s strike pierced through the green wing and prated Meng''s back and all the way to Meng''s heart.


    The wings suddenly exploded.


    BOOM!


    A strange acidic and desting force erupted.


    Seeker was thrown back from the powerful st. The edge of his sword was burnt in half and his outer clothes were burned. A synthetic dark grey suit remained but even that suit was badly damaged.


    Meng stood with a wound on the side. The sword almost pierced through his heart.


    "Looks like you failed." A battered Richie stood up. The wounds around him were numerous and the blood around him kept dripping. The armor he wore was also in a poor state and even his booster was damaged.


    Seeker was also badly wounded all over his body.


    "The sword didn''t pierce through!" Seeker cursed angrily.


    Meng had a solemn expression.


    "How did that suit and your sword remain undamaged?" Meng had to ask.


    Seeker could only gaze back in despair. The attack had failed.


    "I see. Same principle as my armor. I underestimated your body. I didn''t expect that it would be able to resist my destion." Meng concluded


    "Looks like this is the end for all of us." Meng gave a solemn remark. Despite the fact that his heart was damaged, Meng continued to lift his head up boldly.


    "Thank you for the marvelous fight." Meng admired his opponents as his wings spread once more.


    "But although I cannot win this battle, you two won''t ovee me." Meng gave a despaired sighed.


    "Red is the most beautiful of all." Meng gave a strange smile as he recalled his beloved.


    The blood on his back started to seep out. The deste force returned. Only this time, twice as terrifying as before.


    The entire underground room started cracking and crumbling at the destion.


    Seeker and Richie immediately closed his eyes. They knew that they would have been greatly wounded if they continued to stare. One knew of it from the future, while the other did it out of instinct.


    The two could feel it. A green tail-like figure with small reddish spots appeared from the hole of Meng''s back.


    It extended out and stretched pointing to the heavens.


    "Tail of the Dragon." Seeker gave a solemn and almost helpless answer.


    "This is bad. My full strength couldn''t block that." Richie gave a lonely sigh.


    Yet Richie moved forward.


    "Richie! No! It''s too dangerous!"


    "What choice do we have, Kid? I told you, either I die or I Ovee. It''s clear now. Neither of us are Oveers yet. We don''t have time to do anything, all that is left is to move forward." Richie continued to slowly walk forward. Each step causing more wounds.


    "No! We need to retreat and think of a better strategy!"


    "No time, Kid. Even if we do that, he''ll die. Would you want that? Besides, it would be unmanly for me to flee when this guy literally whole-heartedly prepared this for us." Richie''s teasingugh.


    "I don''t have any other way to help you!"


    "Oh? I''ve seen your potential. I''m sure you can squeeze something out and perform a miracle." Richieughed.


    It was at that moment that an intense frustration erupted from Seeker. He made a mistake. They would die because of his mistake, and yet even at such a critical error, he heard the samemendation he kept hearing in his past life. Many of which, died because they believed what they said about Seeker.


    "I''M NOT A BELIEVER!" Seeker roared angrily and bitterly. Seeker''s calmposure was reced by an angry and desperate emotion.


    Richie paused.


    "Then just hope that I can Ovee." Richie shook his head in disappointment.


    He started to hum a strange but familiar hum. A powerful armor started to appear once more and take shape. Instead of enveloping all of Richie, it formed a translucent shield.


    "Shall we?" Richie asked.


    "I''m disappointed that the boy refuses to join." Meng sighed.


    "Come on. Give him a break. He''s still a kid after all. Are you ready?"


    "This Dragon pays his respect to a Mighty Warrior." Meng respectfully bowed as he sped his hands at Richie.


    "Too formal. Just call me Richie.." Richieughed as he started running with a transparent shield floating in front of him.

 Chapter 108 - Birth

    With the appearance of the Tail of the Dragon, Seeker knew he messed up.


    The Dragon was too strong. Even though Richie had already reached the level where he could use Voice of Creation, Meng''sst stand proved to be too deadly.


    No matter how the battle would turn out, one of the two Oveers would die.


    Either Richie would sumb to Meng''s powers, or Meng would die from the loss of blood and the wounds he received.


    Thest attack made by Meng had destroyed Richie and Seeker''s suit. And even though the suits had traces of their DNA in it, it couldn''t withstand the deste force that Meng used in hisst attack.


    Meng''s boosters were also damaged in the previous sh.


    And so, Richie and Meng fought with nothing but their legs, fist, and their deadly Paths.


    As it was, the battle was slower but at the same time far deadlier than before.


    Theck of resistance allowed Richie to move faster than Meng and Richie started to zoom around him as the shield he generated moved around protecting him in being directly exposed to the deste force.


    Meng continued to attack. The tails whip and stings were blindingly fast, but Richie simply used his instincts to keep evading the attacks. His vibrations always allowed him to move to the right angle.


    Yet the insights of his amazing instincts didn''t make him immune to the danger of the fight. Meng had proven to be a martial genius who could attack Richie. And all that Meng needed was one hit to end this battle.


    A stalemate began to emerge with Richie constantly evading and Meng attacking.


    Even at that moment, the two warriors enjoyed the death battle. Perhaps they''ve never been as happy as this. Yet their joyous expressions and Richie''s deliriousughs only added up to the growing anger of Seeker.


    Seeker had done all he could. By Treading the Ancient''s Path he managed to solidify his entire body and even managed to synch his cells with his weapons which was also made from his own cells.


    This allowed his weapons and armor to withstand the full force of Meng''s destion. Yet despite that, the full force of his charge was insufficient to wound Meng''s heart and defeat him. The attack fell short from victory. A single inch would have been enough to win the battle. But Seeker failed.


    But there was no time for hesitation, regrets and even ming.


    Seeker turned around to avoid seeing Meng with his eyes and held his sword in front of him.


    The end of the sword was charred ck as if it was melted by some powerful acid.


    Bits of Meng''s blood continued to remain and was slowly eating through the metal.


    Seeker knew the answer to his dilemma would be for him to give himself up in favor of saving the two Oveers. If Seeker defeated Meng, then Richie could exin things to Meng.


    "It''s enough. My Path had awakened Meryl and Lynd''s. They should be stronger now. Arthur, Cliff, Sebastian, Alean and even Harker¡­ New Heroes might surface and possibly Champion''s may rise. It''s enough. All that''s left is to let these Oveer''s live." Seeker consoled himself.


    "Now what was Meng''s body at that time?" Seeker then used his memories and his Unlocking to send him back in the past. The memory of his battle with Meng on the other timeline surfaced.


    Seeker''s true self was standing nearby. Upon reaching Inhuman, the concept of memory and recollection changes. The Unlocked could re-y the actual events in his head. However, with Seeker''s added skills as a former Ranked Hero, Seeker managed to rey the events and view things outside of his perspective by relying on his Realm Somatotopy.


    It was as if he was there as an invisible, intangible spirit that could view the battle from a third-person perspective.


    The Seeker he looked at was employing attacks that would have cut a building in half, but these attacks weren''t even avoided by Meng.


    Meng''s unarmored body met the strike and it wouldn''t leave a small wound.


    The Realm King''s instructions were simple for this mock battle.


    "Fight him until you cannot fight anymore."


    Seeker''s sword corroded from constantly shing Meng''s body. With no other means to attack, Seeker eventually turned to use his fist and employed all the strength he had to punch Meng.


    His skin would burn every time he would punch Meng.


    While the Inhuman''s observing the battle observed it for thirty minutes, the battle in Seeker''s perspective had already been two hours long.


    General Lynd Indigo and Commander Meryl Mikado was there. The two silently observed the battle but a clear sense of hatred permeated from their looks. The way Meng was ying around with their friend made the two vow to hit the confident Meng right in the face when their turn came up.


    Seeker saw himself not with an angry or desperate emotion but a face of excitement and glee. His past self didn''t mind that the Dragon yed with him. He used every single second to absorb everything he could get from Meng.


    His techniques, his skills, the strange biology of his body.


    A Ranked Hero''s sight could telescopically zoom in and out at will. At Seeker''s level, he could even observe the microscopic changes that Meng had.


    Seeker refreshed himself as he scrutinized the details of the memory. The image of what he saw back then started to resurface as well.


    Slowly, Seeker''s cells started changing mid-battle as he noted the main differences.


    Meng''s cells were extremelyplex. Vastly different from a normal human being''s cells. It didn''t have the biology of a human. It was as if Seeker was observing a strange lifeform.


    Finally, after minutes of discreetly changing his cells, Seeker then began his all-or-nothing attack.


    BOOM!


    The mere shockwave of Seeker''s dash sounded like a powerful explosion.


    This was the birth of Seeker''s Skill. The Surmounting Surge.


    "Surmounting Strike!" Seeker yelled crazily as his body temporarily reached the theoretical standards of a Surmounting Ranked Hero''s body.


    BOOM!


    A loud explosion erupted as Seeker managed to punch Meng straight in the face.


    Blood dripped from Meng''s face.


    A powerful desting force leaked in the room causing Seeker to face the wrath of destion.


    Meng immediately grabbed Seeker and employed his techniques to stop the destion from affecting Seeker.


    Lynd immediately utilized several Path''s he could copy to create a powerful suppressing field to contain the leak of Destion.


    Seeker had already passed out and was in the hands of the ck Dragon.


    "I''ll face you two tomorrow," Meng spoke as he took the unconscious body of Seeker and zoomed away.


    Seeker ''watched'' his memories taking note of whatever details he missed out on.


    With the Future Meng''s molecr biology in mind, Seeker then sighed before he nced at the blood. This was a gamble. Seeker would once again push his Unlocking further than he should and once more risk his own life. This would allow Seeker to zoom into the drop of blood andpare Meng''s future biology with his present one.


    Seeker needed to know everything he could learn about Meng''s biology and cells.


    "If nothinges up, then I guess I''ll settle with an all-out suicidal charge." Seeker chuckled.


    "I''ve already died once. If I can give this timeline a better future, then I have no regrets." Seeker smiled as he observed the cells. It was all starting to get clearer. The anomalies of Meng''s cells were stripped to its most basic form. Time slowed down as Seeker broke past Surmounting Inhuman.


    Yet as all of these were taking ce, an intense fiery sensation filled his head.


    Seeker ignored it but a frown surfaced on his face.


    The answer was certain. But the chances that Seeker could imitate the basic structure of Meng''s cells were not only so low, but it could also kill him instantly if he failed in controlling.


    "Should I just attack the way I am right now?" Seeker contemted.


    "No! Richie would save me like he did that time." Seeker gnashed his teeth as another troublesome memory unconsciously surfaced.


    "I''m not a Believer. I can''t make miracles." Seeker finally voiced out angrily.


    "Yes, you can. Though it doesn''t seem like it." A voice resounded from the void of Seeker''s memories.


    By saying that exact line, Seeker''s temporary Ranked Hero state unconsciously recalled an event that Seeker has been trying so hard to forget.


    Seeker held on to a long ss sword. It continued to pin the woman to the wall. The blood of the woman continued to drip.


    The woman smiled at Seeker. An unusual look of calmness and affection that shouldn''t be given to someone who wanted to kill you.


    "Wasn''t it a miracle that you fought through the soldiers that no Inhuman could kill? Wasn''t it a miracle that you even reached theirmander and killed her?" The woman smiled.


    "Those weren''t miracles. Those were probabilities." Seeker answered coldly.


    "You''re right. But think about it... How many probabilities that were originally believed by others to be miracles was defied by you? The First of the Unbings. The All-Inhuman Captain. The Youngest Reaper¡­ and now¡­ the first Pathless Hero." The woman smiled as she recounted Seeker''s achievements.


    "Is that all you have to say before I kill you? Encouraging me is pointless. Don''t think you can reawaken those feelings, Zera." Seeker spoke back in anger.


    "I know I probably can''t. But my goal isn''t to reawaken those feelings but to help you realize something. You don''t need to be a Believer to do Miracles, Zeek. Those you call Oveer aren''t anything like Believer''s yet they have been doing greater miracles. And I believe you can too." The woman smiled.


    A rumbling sound erupted from afar. The ship that Seeker was supposed to stop was now lifting off and Seeker was running out of time.


    Seeker was surprised as he heard the sound and red at the woman but before he could say anything the woman was already pointing somewhere.


    "Arthur''s Four Force elerator is hidden in that safe. Your fingerprints will unlock it. I''ve modified the boosters to fit your cells."


    Seeker immediately rushed towards the safe. Although he was cautious, Seeker pushed his palm on the scanner which immediately unlocked the safe revealing Arthur''s old FFA.


    "Why?" Seeker asked the woman.


    "I''m sorry that I betrayed you, Zeek. I''m one of them after all. But I couldn''t let you die as well. I attacked this ce knowing you''d be the one to defend it. I attacked you knowing that you''d be able to ovee me. Just like the long list of probabilities you''ve always ovee, I knew you''d do the same with me."


    Seeker continued to re suspiciously at the woman.


    "You know you don''t have time for this, Zeek." The woman simply chucked. However, tears started to fill her eyes.


    "You know what your biggest miracle is?" The tears slowly fell off her beautiful cheek.


    "How you''ve made me fall for you." The teary-eyed woman gave a warm smile.


    Seeker could not help but tremble at her deration. Yet Seeker forced himself to repress those emotions.


    "From here on out, it''s better if I''m not with you. So I hope you steal that girl from, Lynd. And I hope she can make you happy. Be well, Zeek. Survive this war for me please." The woman giggled.


    "Zera¡­ What are you saying?" Seeker''s expression turned serious. The hateful re disappeared and was immediately reced with rm.


    The woman raised her head and gazed lovingly at Seeker.


    "Thank you, Zeek. For everything. I''ve set the kill-code to activate once I say it. Because I''m scared... I''m scared that If you answered back, I would probably end up betraying them. So it''s better if I don''t hear it. I''m sorry." She smiled.


    Seeker was about to move towards her, but the woman was also equipped with so many technologies that allowed her to match Seeker in speed and reaction.


    "I love you, Seeker Carlean."


    Her eyes turned nk as she breathed herst. Her own suit stabbed her and ruptured the heart.


    Seeker stood silently. Although it was only a few seconds long, Seeker pushed the time, as he perceived it, to the maximum. Yet even with the time gained from prolonging the seconds, Seeker still couldn''t think. He couldn''t feel. He couldn''t even absorb the reality in front of him.


    Zeraphine of the Presiders had died.


    Seeker wanted to say it. But he couldn''t. Even the present Seeker didn''t know what hindered him from saying what he wanted to say. Was it his deep anger towards the woman for what she''s done? Or was it the fact that Seeker knew that the dead don''t answer back.


    Seeker immediately proceeded to wear the FFA and used it to leave the room unceremoniously.


    It was at this battle, that the first Ranked Hero who had no Path was born. The massacre that Seeker made that day was so brutal and so numerous, that he became known as Death Tide Carlean.


    "Zera..." Seeker couldn''t help but mutter.


    Seeker returned from his memories and continued to stand nkly. A loud crashing sound behind him awoke him from his deep thinking.


    Richie and Meng''s battle continued.


    Almost immediately, Seeker held the sword in front of him. But a strange glint was now present in his eyes.


    "Cancer? Is this really what made your body so resilient?" Seeker turned around and called out to Meng.


    Seeker was sure. The strange body of Meng in the original timeline was extremely different from the others that even Lennox couldn''t recognize or understand Meng''s cells.


    On this timeline, Seeker managed to take a clear nce at Meng''s "human" cells.


    Meng had an Unlocking that defied normal humans.


    "So this is how your brain cells can naturally withstand the higher stages of the Unlocking!" Seeker apuded as he was impressed.


    The more Seeker thought of it, the more he believed this to be true. Seeker''s thoughts raced through all of history and all of his known knowledge of Science and even of the theologies that were instilled in him in the future.


    If Meng had already had this body before he was Unlocked, then only one exnation would be eptable.


    Meng had the body of an evolved human.


    Seeker''s thoughts lingered in that idea.


    What if humans had already begun to evolve but the mutations that were meant for their evolution had actually killed them?


    Seeker traced back to the famous book that ced atheism on the map during the 19h Century. Charles Darwin''s book, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life."


    Natural Selection had begun and the favored ones in this evolutionary chain would be preserved while the rest died out of theck of adapting or in this case, theck of syncing with their mutation. Meng was the favored one. A human who finally achieved perfect synthesis on all of his cells. If any of his body parts weren''t made up of cancer cells, he would have died.


    "Such a low probability. But she was right. I''ve never done the impossible but I''ve always seeded when faced with the improbable. It''s clear. I was never a Believer. I was something more." Seeker smiled as he finally realized why those who died in his past life continued to believe in Seeker and believed that Seeker could usher more miracles.


    A great mystery started to ur. It is a mystery that could arguably be more important than the Unlocking itself.


    Richie suddenly retreated out of the blue and positioned himself far away but kept his eyes on Seeker. He could feel it in his instincts.


    Seeing the strange action, even Meng turned to observe what happened to Seeker.


    Seeker didn''t hesitate but allowed the changes in his mind to ur on his entire body.


    "Ironic." Seeker thought.


    "To think that despite the theologies indoctrinated in me, I''d have to use ''On the Origins of Species'' as the grounds of my faith." Seekerughed.


    Seeker''s body started to turn red.


    "Greydon¡­ Do you understand the importance of what we are seeing?" Richie smiled as he saw Seeker''s state. His instincts told him what it was.


    "Of course." Meng sighed in reluctance. He had epted his defeat. He knew it not because he had Richie''s same sense of instincts but because he has been through that same stage himself.


    "What day was it for you? What was that defining moment that made you step over into this realm? Who knows if we would ever see it again? Appreciate this day, Greydon! We are witnessing the birth of another Oveer!" Richieughed.


    Seeker started to slowly move. He began by observing every detail of his new body.


    A strange sense of confidence empowered Seeker. He had witnessed this state and calmness from his master. He has fought alongside these monsters against terrible opponents, and he even faced some of them. But Seeker never really knew what it was that separated an Oveer from everyone else.


    But now he did.


    He knew that whatever happened, he would survive and ovee.


    The original set of Champions, which waster called the Oveers, were categorized as people who could single-handedly eliminate a nation.


    "And he who Ovees, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations¡ª He shall rule them with a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter''s vessels." Seeker recounted the promise that Eagle spoke of in Seeker''s other life.


    And almost immediately, Seeker disappeared.


    Richie naturally took action as well.


    The blurring red-figure zoomed towards Meng. Using only brute strength, Seeker''s powerful body allowed him to move incredibly fast. Even the steps he took left cracks on the floor.


    The powerful shield appeared in front of Seeker. The shield and the tail finally struck each other.


    BOOM!


    Seeker''s figure dove further and further as he was protected with Richie''s shield. The shield finally disintegrated into nothingness. But Seeker''s figure remained firm as his figure dove through the destion unhindered. By forcing his cells to undergo the mutation that Meng had, it birthed to him a body that can survive the destion of Meng by a few seconds.


    And with the strength that was birthed from the miracle of Seeker''s gamble, Seeker punched out.


    BOOM!


    A thunderous sound resounded as Seeker punched Meng in the chest and sent Meng flying backward. The powerful vibration that Richie stored in Seeker was transferred over and shook Meng''s heart and gripped it.


    Almost immediately, the deste power disappeared.


    A new Oveer was born.

 Chapter 109 - A Flash Of Lightning

    Moments before Greydon Meng''s defeat, the Aragarian had finallyreached the final stages of his preparations.


    Pridgeon stared at the Qilin''s Horn. The electromaic pulses it gave off was getting more and more powerful that the building he was on started to shake intensely. Even the enclosed space wasn''t enough to hide the shing noise that added to the vibrations in the area.Pridgeon had to spend more energy and depleted his suitas he used the stored energy in his suit to boost the charging phase of the Qilin''s Horn.


    The appearance of Richie shocked him that he no longer felt like a god on the they called Earth. And with how Richie treated Meng with such reverence, he was afraid that perhaps even in this situation, both Meng and Richie,could find a way to disrupt theunch.


    Despite the weapon being hidden deep underground, the loud sound of crushing and grinding of metals continued to echo out astheunch pod had slowly opened up allowing the sound to leak out.


    Pridgeon''s suit was just minutes away from total shut down. He continued to move frantically as he kept checking the battery. He sighed in relief. Luckily, he was able to finally assign priority in targeting the detected enemies which were hidden above and below ground just in time.


    The coordinates of the attack were decided. Pridgeon had set the weapon to prioritize going over to the location which his drones reached before encountering a strange field which led to its destruction.


    Pridgeon had set the Qilin''s Horn direction of where it would beunched and the path that it should takeand massacre whoever it meets.


    Itwas to pass through the entrance and eliminate all of Richie''s disciples and Meng''s assassin. Afterward, it was to continue its path and drill its way underground eliminating everybody within the area. Theplex path it had would also change if ever it detects any nearby heat-signature and eliminate it.


    It also emitted a strange electrical charge that would somehow distort the imaging feeds that most video cameras had.The technologies that this device had would certainly stun and surprise the other nations should this information be leaked.


    "This world is stronger than we thought. If they have more people like Meng and Richie, then we need a Principal to assure victory!" Pridgeon cursed as he recalled his helplessness against Richie.


    "If only I had more technologies!" Pridgeon vowed to acquire more technology once he wins this battle.


    BEEP!


    His suit had suddenly stopped functioning. Pridgeon rushed out to the outside of the building.


    "Activate Emergency protocol!" Pridgeon''s eyes were grave. Every second from this moment on would cause his suit touse thesr energy of the sun. Who would have known that the Aragarian''s have used their technologies to change the sun that it started to give off strange energy?


    Only one Aragarian among them had the technology to harness and use this energy. And though all the Presiderswere equipped with the technology to harness and use this power, they would be forced to pay a fee to that Aragarian in order to use it.


    Usage of this was also limited to emergency situations.


    With how paranoid the Aragarian''s were with their identity, using this sr harnessing technology on Earth was dangerous. Who knew if even a second of harnessing this energy would be noticed by the world?But with how things were, Pridgeon had decided to use it now and pay the priceter. he was confident that though Garenjazz had warned him, it wasn''t easy for the sciences of Earth to detect the sr energy that the Aragarians they have been hiding.


    His suit started glowing as it started to powerup. The energy percentage rose to one.


    "Activate Quick Absorb!" Pridgeon cursed out. He knew this would be noticed by his peers and wouldter be chastised by Garenjazz. He would then not only pay him the usual amount but because he used Quick Absorb on Earth the price that Garenjazz would demand would significantly increase. Theenergy percentage quickly rose to five percent.


    "Stop!" Pridgeon called out and returned inside.


    Pridgeon quickly uses his suit to activate the console that controlled the Qilin''s Horn and made sure to check all the settings he ced to ensure that they were without error. After he noted the final preparations and was finally confident that nothing could go wrong, he utilized his suit and immediately escape the building.


    The suit had also been tasked to locate the nearest functioning transport that could get him out of this ce as fast as possible.


    As Pridgeon escaped, arge horn-shaped metal slowly emerged from the silo. Unlike a regr missile, this weapon moved slowly.


    Killing humans have be a form of artas wars progressed. The weapons that were developed became more and more sinister as technology continued to progress. During the Post-Modern Era, many countries, particrly the poorer countries, rejected the need for weapons of mass destruction. But when the Third World War urred, these nations were either immediately conquered and even some were wiped off the map.


    The destruction of several nations eventually forced the other nations to create weapons of mass destruction. Some had long developed it, while the more endangered smaller nations had allied or became one to pool their finances and technologies to develop their own. Due to theck of uranium, nations had threatened each other to drop more than just nuclear bombs as the more advanced nations had the capabilities of shooting down these nuclear weapons which wereunched and detonated through a missile.


    Pnd was the first to develop a weapon of mass destruction which dwindled the sources of food of their rival nations. At the copse of Germany''s resources, Germany had surrendered from the World War and became subjugate to the then United Kingdom.


    Soon, the development of non-uranium grade weapons that were either slightly weaker or stronger than an average nuclear bomb came into the light which havocked destruction all over the Earth.


    As the technological possibilities increased, the term "weapons of mass destruction" eventually evolved and had several ssifications.


    Destructive weapons that could createrge scale destruction in a country were the first of the types.


    The second was the environmental weapons that were designed to either harass a nation''s environment resulting in famine, gues, and other environmental threats.


    Biological attacks were attacks that brought chemical agents that would poison people. Strains of unique viruses which were airborne or easily passed were also used. Viruses that would kill, cause insanity and even instill unnecessary phobias which led to Austria''s downfall arose brought shock and disgust to the world.


    Thest of the ssifications belonged to the sure-kill weapons which could not belong to any of the above categories but still could kill over a hundred thousand in one use. This theoretical category was believed to never see the light of day as each country had already developed various means to defend themselves from all sorts of imaginable attacks.


    What they didn''t know, was that China had developed such a weapon.


    Back at the main entrance of Meng''s mansion, the Assassins and the Unlocked continued to discuss the strengths of the weapons.


    "The Qilin''s Horn is a killing machine. It is made up of Prime Almetal but rumor has it that the recent version should be equipped with a stronger metal."


    "Supra-Prime Almetal? Impossible. Even my father can''t create that." Arthur frowned.


    "Whether or not that is true, we do not know. As for its traits, the Horn is notunched like a regr missile but it could be likened to a robot that has been assigned a path. It has the capacity of moving from one point to another and kill everything and anything in an assigned path."


    "So if it can kill everything, just how fast is it?" Lander immediately asked.


    "It''s faster than a Jet-Powered Exoskeleton."


    "What? How can it kill everything with certainty if it moves at that speed?"


    "The secret of the Qilin''s Horn is that it is equipped with the secret technologies that other countries have."


    Lander was shocked at the revtion. Even Australia wouldn''t dare steal or imitate another country''s Technological Possibilities. The existence of a weapon that has two Technological Possibilities could lead to another Continental War, yet this weapon has more than two.


    "That''s crazy! You could start a World War with that weapon! If the World Governing Powers find out-"


    "If they find out. The Qilin''s Horn is designed to kill everything deemed as an enemy within an area. Onceunched, it is assumed that there are no survivors. This way, no one can find out the existence of this weapon."


    "But it can be detected!" Lander argued.


    "It has a cloaking technology simr to the SPU''s tech and is even equipped with Russia''s Distortion fields. It uses weapons that are virtually untraceable, America''s Misceneous Molecule Bullets. And therefore it will have easily over a million bullets at its disposal. Combine it with our Rail Technology, it can urately shoot down Jet-Powered Exoskeleton''s traveling at full speed and its attacks can prate through Shield Armors."


    Lander was shocked at hearing the description of the weapon.


    "Which direction can it shoot?" Arthur asked.


    "The entire rocket can shoot in every direction. The Molecule bullets are fired through the small pores all over the rocket and as it is shot out, it forces bonds with the atoms in the air and createsrger bullets."


    Suddenly, several figures were walking out the broken down main door leading to the mansion.


    "Arthy!" Meryl smiled as she called out.


    "Good. Your fight finished earlier. I assume you know what''sing?" Arthur asked.


    "Yes. You owe us for not telling us that Zeek''s back." Lyndined.


    "You must be Typical." Arthur ignored Lynd and turned to Typical.


    "How strong are your needles? Can it pierce through Almetals?" Arthur immediately asked.


    Typical gave a curious look at Arthur surprised thatArthur was well-learned of the skills which he had been keeping a secret all of his life.


    "No. Almetal''s made of a different molecrposition. Even my needles can''t pierce through it."


    "Our parents?" Meryl immediately interrupted.


    "Kristine already picked them up and they should be rushing off the safe zone of this ce."


    "I doubt our shelter can hold." Typical shook his head.


    "The Qilin''s Horn was designed to be able to prate and dig through rubble and tons of metal at a terrifyingly dangerous pace."


    "Africa''s Impact tech?"


    "Yes. Combined with Pangean Eradication, it can dig through the Earth at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour. Unless the shelter is made up of Pure Almetal then that weapon can''t be stopped. Our walls may have been a stone-Almetal hybrid but it won''t hold from the attack."


    Everyone had a grave look in their eyes.


    "How do we stop it?"


    "The weapon must have a blind spot," Lowengren suggested.


    "I just exined how it can shoot in every direction." One frowned.


    "No. It has a blind spot. It''s boosters. The tail is its blind spot. If we can get there we should be able to ready an attack." Typical suggested.


    "But Young Master¡­ the rocket uses our Rail Technology to navigate it. We won''t be able to get to its tail! In fact, that device is designed to always protect the booster!"


    "You can''t. We can." Typical voiced out confidently.


    "I can also cover those pores with my needles. Molecule bullets are weak if it doesn''t leave their port and bond with the molecules outside. I could cover up several if I''m close enough. Meryl can use that same attack and shoot down its tail. Unless that attack can easily obliterate the weapon?"


    Arthur''s gave a curious look at Meryl. Meryl gave a teasing smile but shook her head.


    "It''s not that strong yet."


    "Has your Path evolved further? Never mind. No time. Lynd, Meryl, Typical and I will attack it. The rest will act as a decoy. Group together and defend yourself from the attacks. Use all your skills and technology to block the attack. Lowengren, use the lighting to disrupt the attack. If it uses Rail Technology, then let''s hope lightning rod technology can disrupt it."


    BOOM!


    A loud sound was heard from afar.


    "It''sing." One clenched his sword tight.


    The group suddenly made their formation. Out in the front, stood One, Specter, Strike and Lander. The rest stood at the back.


    Suddenly, a lightning bolt raced from one of the buildings outside of Meng''s mansion and struck the skies above Arthur and his team.


    Arge metal pir appeared. It was floating in the air as electrical charges kept charging it.


    "Launch your strongest attack, Meryl!" Arthur cried in rm as he dashed towards it. The moment Arthur saw it, he gave up the full list of ns that they had made and acted on his own.


    The others were stunned at Arthur''s change of ns.


    It was then that theynoticed it. This Qilin''s Horn had no boosters. It was a simple metal pir that for some reason was capable of hovering and moving. They were wrong. They were so wrong. This weapon far exceeded their expectations.


    The electric charges around therge pir started to gather and then it was released.


    Typical immediately attacked and created several needles that blocked the small pores around it but a strange shockwave tore his needles apart.


    A continuous st of electricity continued to rage and counter the lightning that Lowengren activated.


    Lynd rushed forward as fast as he could, but the rounds of attacks the Hornunched back were too many for Lynd to evade.


    Arthur was unable to even move when he was shut down. The bullets shot at him causing Arthur to be thrown back by several meters.


    Meryl immediately attacked as a fiery light rushed forward from her chest. Yet the Horn repositioned itself to another location where a trace of lightning once lingered. The fire st missed and the rounds of molecule bullets struck Meryl down.


    The Assassins and Lander couldn''t even do anything and the rounds of molecule bullets struck them.


    The light bluish lights which guided the molecule bullets through rail technology could be seen piercing everyone.


    In a span of three seconds, Arthur and his team were all shot down.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The thunderous attacks continued. After a split second, the metal weapon stood in victory over the lying bodies of the Assassins and the Unlocked. Without wasting another second, a trace of a lightning shot towards another corner of the mansion and the metal disappeared from where it stood and reappeared to the side of the mansion. It continued to unleash the torrential attacks on all those in the area. It moved from one part of the base to the next utilizing a blindingly fast lightning technology.


    After shooting and confirming the deaths of everyone above ground, therge horn started to drill its way underground and moved quickly through the levels shooting any survivors.


    It caught up with Kristine and the Alean who were protecting the others and shot them down as well.


    The Qilin''s Horn had zoomed to and fro the upper areas before drilling down to attack those underground.


    Soon the sound of the attacks and the prating sound of Qilin''s Horn diving underground could no longer be heard.


    Finally, the Horn reached the underground level. The stone and almost metallic walls were full of cracks and had shown signs of breaking.


    "Those sure are terrifying sounds out there¡­" Richie frowned as he gazed towards the approaching weapon.


    "Just y along. The moment I heard that crackle of lightning, I knew it was over." Seeker sighed.


    Meng was sitting down at the corner and counting hisst moments. It seemed strange that his captors ignored him almost immediately.


    The Horn finally drilled its way towards therge, broken down room where Meng resided.


    Bullets were immediately fired and the two were shotdown almost immediately. Meng also received several of the bullets and fell back.


    "ALL TARGETS ELIMINATED. COMPLETING VIDEO TRANSMISSION." A report was sent to Pridgeon and the weapon finally shut itself down.


    There was silence for a few seconds.


    Suddenly a crackle of lightning once more surfaced from the Qilin''s Horn.


    The bolts of lightning were endless but instead of spreading randomly, it focused on a single point.


    A figure started to manifest itself from the lightning crackles.


    It was made of pure electricity and slowly started to create something.


    "shes of Lightning and Peals of Thunder. Thest time I saw you two together was during the Rapture." Seekerughed as he started to get up. He continued coughing as the bullets struck him in the chest. Strange energy was contained in the bullet that attacked them. It stopped their heartbeat but then strange energy left them refreshed and stronger.


    Meng and Richie finally opened their eyes and stopped pretending. Both had a very strange look on their faces.


    The two were also recovering from the damages of the previous sight. Meng had already begun the recovery in his heart and was no longer in critical condition.


    Being monsters of their own right, they could easily expect the unexpected. But what they witnessed defied their expectations.


    "Zeek. I get why you were confident that none of us will die now¡­ but¡­ exin what exactly am I looking at¡­" Richieughed.


    The lightning continued to gather and slowly started forming a figure. Soon flesh, bones, and blood started appearing in the midst of the concentrated lightning.


    Meng and Richie stood in awe at the sight. A human being was being formed out of the crackle of lightings.


    "Zeek?" Richie called out once more.


    Seeker was also stunned by what he saw. Although they were already allies, Seeker had allowed only agreed to reveal the most minimum information about the Unlocking. But it seems that the mad scientist had gone a step further to secretly research everyone.


    "He is another peer of yours, Richie. Another Element in the Seventh Trumpet st."


    "Then going by that verse, he should be shes of Lightning. But how the hell is he doing this?"


    "The Unlocking can allow a person to change their cells to a molecr level. Theoretically, you can change it to a different state¡­ but that would simply be suicide."


    The form of a man started to finally take shape amidst the lightning.


    "After all, if you don''t understand biology, physics, chemistry, and other sciences, if you make an iota of error when youmand your cells to change, you could die. So although this theory is possible, its actually impossible. And what this guy is doing is something harder to fathom or exin. After all, while he became lightning, he alsomunicated with the Qilin''s Horn and gave the orders to fake-kill us. This is a true Oveer. We are nothing but foreshadows in front of him. Thank God he''s on our side."


    A figure of a naked middle-aged man started to appear. His appearance was simr to Arthur but had a deeper eye and silver-white hair. Slowly the crackling lighting around him started turning into clothes.


    "Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, ''Here we are''?" Seekerughed as he quoted a familiar passage that many in his future memorized by heart.


    The remaining lightning slowly formed a pair of sses that fit perfectly on the middle-aged man''s face.


    "Now what brings you here, Lennox?" Seekerughed.


    Lennox finally appeared in hisplete form. A callous expression was worn but a hint of urgency could be seen in his eyes.


    "Casual Carlean. You''ve messed up this time. She''sing." Lennox frowned as a grave look in his eyes surfaced.


    Seeker''s mind went nk at those words. Whenever the Oveer''s in his future would say this, it would only mean one thing.


    "What?" Seeker wondered. Was this the same thing? Because if it was, then there was a chance that they all would be wiped out.


    "I couldn''t stop her. She''s headed this way."


    Seeker''s body visually trembled. His worst fear was confirmed.


    This reaction surprised both Richie and Meng. In all the horrors that Meng had disyed, it did not give off the same reaction that Seeker now had. Especially now, that Seeker had the mindset of an Oveer.


    "Richie, Meng. We have to fight together. If Lennox can''t stop her then she must also be a genuine Oveer like Lennox. Forget about revenge, for now, Richie. Survival takes priority." Seeker announced with dread.


    An expression of fear and anger surfaced in Richie''s face. Was he going to live the nightmare he once faced?


    "Who ising?" Meng finally asked.


    Seeker was clenching his sword as he tried to resist the unconscious shivers that his body gave. Although he was on Oveer, the memories he still had in his past life wasengraved so deep within him that he unconsciously carried over the fear of his present life.


    She was the most terrifying among all Oveers.


    "The Rider of Red Horse.. The Tyrant Empress."

 Chapter 110 - The Tyrant Empress

    Like any life-changing meetings, Richie''s meeting with the Tyrant Empress was very normal.


    That is, normal when you consider the everyday adventures of the Oveer Richie.


    His life had always been filled with perils and fights. Although he would only take missions that he liked and only would do aroundone to three missions every year, it was a sure sess. And normally these missions he would ept usually had an entire organization as an enemy.


    When Richie acted, an entire organization would immediately disappear.


    At that time, he was hired to assassinate the leader of a secret organization that had an influence on several military generals in two continents. For some strange reason, the assassins that were sent all disappeared and didn''t evenleave a report or trigger any devices that would alert the clients of their demise.


    And so, after spending a lot of credits, the client risked reaching out to Richie. And due to Richie''s entricity, money wasn''t the issue. Everyone knew that Richie only picked projects that he liked.


    When Richie studied the organization, his interest piqued.


    The affiliations and coborations between the key individuals believed to be in this organization made no sense. Even enemies were secret allies. Politicians who would kill each other should the opportunity arise wouldn''t dare anymore as the other is also affiliated to this organization. In fact, a few of these "allies" had evene to the point of killing each other.


    Like a child who found a great game to y, Richie continued todig deeper than before. The Underworld was in upheaval because of how Richie would wind up or appear before the heads of the organization to ask questions.


    Richie spent nearly a year investigating and came to the conclusion that there was no organization. These different people who were scientists, politicians, business moguls, military officers, and even those who were in the Underworld simply followed the orders of a mysterious personality.


    Richie soon started to investigate what no other assassins would do. The World Governing Powers soon came to the sights of the fearless assassin known as Richie.


    Being the strongest military force that contains all of the Worlds Technological possibilities, any member of this group was deemed with the highest importance. Any reports of the kidnapping, assassination or threats to any of its key members or its rtives could easily lead to theunching of a weapon of mass destruction. The weapons of mass destruction that this organization has, could easily destroy mid-sized countries and so, any attempts for kidnapping, assassination, or maniption to its key members were strictly prohibited.


    But Richie was one of those who didn''t care what would happen to these nations. The assignment had long given him enough intrigue that he simply wanted to get to the bottom of things.


    A name surfaced which was the wife of Jacob Dous Granite, the current Western Ambassador of the World Governing Powers. Quera Sapphire was scarred with a terrifying burn wound in a terrorist attempt of using Arabian Cold Fire. Quiera turned down all offers for surgery and kept her scarred face as a sign that until all terrorist and religious extremist was wiped out, she would continue to wear this mask and refuse treatment.


    As Richie continued to study the various facts and tidbits of information he could find, his instincts kept telling him that there was something strange about Quera Sapphire''s life prior to the wound and after it. To some degree, Richie believed that the person under the mask was no longer the original Quera Sapphire.


    It was almost impossible considering assuming another identity had to fake so much information. Information that was virtually unhackable given the unique setup and the intense security for all those belonging to the World Governing Powers.


    Intrigued by this unique arrangement, Richie became more serious and started digging deeper.


    Failure was the result of all investigations as he was finding it harder and harder to actually meet Quera.


    It was when he followed the mysterious actions of a certain businessman who suddenly had shown strange actions that led him to a secret meeting in the heart of Germany.


    There Richie uncovered the name of his target.


    The Tyrant Empress.


    It was a name that was virtually unknown even in the Underworld.


    After finding the right path, Richie continued to tail the businessman and finally led him to the highest skyscraper in Germany. That day was very normal for him.


    Then he saw the angelic form and devilish beauty of the woman.


    Never again would Richiey eyes on a woman more beautiful than hers.


    The tall and seductive figure. The long legs, the pitch-ck hair that cascaded marvelously over her shoulders. Her eyes were round and her brilliant blue eyes were like diamonds that pierced through the white veil she wore to cover her face. Yet this veil did little to hide the perfection of his beauty. The wless face and skin seemed to glow under the veil and the very captivating figure drew Richie to stop. The fair skin which was neither too white nor too dark was perfect just for her.


    At that time, Richie felt immediate danger which awoke him from his stupor. His instincts were telling him to immediately get out.


    Then the woman smiled.


    Horror fell unto Richie as he found himself unable to control the muscles of his body. His heart even stopped beating.


    Without hesitation, gave a powerful punch to his chest which fractured the ribs near his chest. Immediately Richie tried to leave.


    "Who''s there? Come out and y?" The seductive voice called him which paralyzed him once more.


    Richie forcefully moved to break away from the desire to go out to the open.


    "Impressive! Come here and give me a good look. It''s rude to stare secretly." The Tyrant Empress smiled as she sped towards the area where Richie was.


    More of her beauty was slowly revealed as she tore the veil which covered her face.


    Richie could no longer help the urge and turned back as he was helplessly driven by the urge to do so.


    The full sight of her face was breath-taking.


    Richie found it extremely hard to breathe at the sight of the woman. It was as if his very cells stopped moving at the sight of the woman.


    "Oh? You can still move?" She smiled deviously as she slowly approached the petrified Richie who was struggling to move parts of his body.


    "Want to have some fun?" She smiled.


    Richie''s mind was in turmoil. Every muscle he had wasn''t moving. It was like his entire body went numb and was suffering the phenomenon of sleep paralysis.


    His instincts were telling him to move. He had to move if he wanted to live.


    The woman drew a small sharp metal needle that she used to hold her head. Slowly, she traced it around Richie''s torso.


    The lustful control was finally broken the moment the needle was ced over Richie''s heart.


    "HAA!" Richie shouted immediately and drew back to run.


    It was the first time that Richie managed to reveal the miracle of his voice.


    An unworldly terror shook every inch of the Tyrant Empress''s body causing her knees to wobble and fall.


    Richie regained his ability to move and dashed away at an incredible speed. Due to the secrecy of the building, Richie carried no technology that could help him. All Richie could do was rely on his legs that were extremely stiff at the moment.


    As he was running, the powerful fear that was rooted in an intense vibrating force continued to weigh upon the woman.


    If it was anyone else, encountering such terror and fear for the first time would have shocked them. Any other Oveer would have been greatly affected as this would have been the first time they would feel indescribable fear.


    But Richie met the Tyrant Empress.


    The shivering body of the beautiful goddess shivered but this fear didn''t remain the same.


    Fear became ecstasy.


    Richie sprinted out as his instincts were screaming to run away from the woman.


    "Ahhh!" An excited moan reverberated across the empty halls of the building.


    The desire to turn around and the instinctive desire to flee caused Richie to move strangely. A part of him wanted to run towards the Empress while the other part was sprinting for his life.


    These conflicting movements caused Richie to stumble down. The moan awakened the lust within Richie and it drew him to intense desire.


    He could hear that the crazed woman has abandoned her clothes and was throwing it randomly on the floor and at the same time she was seductively approaching Richie.


    "Come back. Let''s have some fun!" The woman teased.


    Richie knew turning around could kill him. His instincts kept telling him so. But the lust was extremely powerful. It was forcing Richie to turn his head.


    It was as if an invisible force was turning Richie''s head.


    "AHHHHH!" Richie screamed in terror as his head was being forced to turn.


    There he saw it. The sight of extreme beauty and seduction that was petrifying his body.


    The seductive curves of the woman were revealed as her clothes were long stripped off.


    The woman jumped on top of Richie.


    "Won''t you scream for me again? Please?" She whispered seductively. The small pike was still on her hand and without hesitation, the pike was plunged towards Richie''s heart.


    Instincts took over causing Richie''s paralyzed body to immediately reach out and stop the de.


    "STOP!" Richie managed to scream.


    The terror overpowered the Empress but instead of falling or shivering in fear, the Empress climaxed.


    "AHHH!" The Empress moaned once more. Her movements were not hindered but her face gazed excitedly at Richie continuously driving the dagger towards Richie.


    Richie''sst-second instincts of imminent death would kick in and cause Richie to move despite the petrification of the Empress. But his movements could only block or evade theing dagger.


    The Empress had already started to do her ritual on Richie bringing great unworldly pleasure to Richie.Even Oveers and World Champion would have died in this, but Richie, who had a strange power that relied on his own instincts knew better.


    "Scream more! Fight me! Kill me!" The Empress moaned as she continuously tried killing Richie while at the same time started to enjoy him.


    The twowere in a strangeact of beingone ingreat intimacybut at the same time,the Empress continuously attacked and stabbed Richie trying to kill him. Richie''s reflex reactions guided by his own instincts would allow him to evade and even attack the Tyrant Empress.


    The Empress was also continuously evading the deadly punches and counters that would have killed her. But no fear was shown on her face but ecstasy.


    The Oveer''s pride continued to pile up and finally, in anger, Richie managed to ovee his lust and delivered a punch towards the Empress''s stomach.


    The Empress was sent flying back but a seductive moan could be heard.


    Richie took this opportunity and rushed outside. The anger of the Oveer''s heart could not be exined as he became the Empress''s toy.


    "I swear I''ll kill you someday!" Richie yelled in extreme anger before he started to retreat.


    Thest shout that Richie managed to make was devoid of any lustful obstacles and managed to reveal its full potential as the building itself started shaking.


    The Empress was thrown back again as a powerful shaking force kept the woman pinned down. There was no trace of fear in the woman''s eyes. Just delight and extreme ecstasy.


    Richie carried that pain and that humiliation for years. Ever since then, Richie became more active in the Underworld and even found refuge in Australia. He allowed the Australian''s to study him in hopes that he could improve the miracles he made that day. All for the purpose of killing the woman that made Richie fear.


    Richie knew, that if he didn''t have the instincts of such a great desire for survival, he would have died at the hands of that woman.


    Back at the present, Richie was flying towards the exit of Meng''s Mansion. As he propelled himself forward and was parting the molecules in front of him, his flight was met with no resistance whatsoever. And so, Richie was able to move at a speed that surpassed the speed of sound while at the same time not making any sound.


    Richie zoomed out of the base and ignored the recovering soldiers who were slowly awakening from the paralysis that the Horn brought.


    He could sense her. Beyond the abandoned buildings, she was approaching. His instincts screamed for him to flee. Even while facing Meng, his instincts didn''t urge him to retreat but somehow encouraged him to fight as it felt the potential of Seeker Carlean.


    But now, even when another Oveer who has manifested the maximum potential of its stage was with them, Richie felt as if he was going off to his death.


    Richie grit his teeth containing the terrors that loomed in his heart. But at the same time, a feeling of great longing and excitement that was rooted on lust gued his mind and heart.


    "I will Ovee!" He told himself and dashed off to face her.

 Chapter 111 - The Tyrant And The Thunder

    At the outskirts of Meng''s militarypound, a strange floating seat that looked like a throne was moving at incredible speed. This seat was one of the most powerful weapons of the World Governing Powers. It was made of Prime Al Metal and held several of the secret technologies of various nations.


    Being the judge and arbiter to ensure that the World would not fall into another catastrophic event, the World Governing Powers had ess to all technologies that the nations had. If ever a nation would act unruly, it would then meet the wrath of the World Governing Powers and a full disy of technology would be shown.


    Since the end of World War Three, the WGP had been the rulers and guardians of mankind. They were to ensure that no matter how heated or dangerous the rtionships of the two countries would be, they would be there to ensure that no nation would ever be wiped out of existence.


    And so, the richest and most powerful force on Earth does not belong to a country, but arge organization that ruled over everyone.


    The small seat that was hovering towards Meng''s base was one of the most powerful weapons that the World Governing Powers had. Though the World Governing Powers had yet to reveal its full might in war, it is said, that ten of these seats could wipe out an entire fleet of Jet-Powered Exoskeletons.


    Seated on this seat, was Quera Sapphire. She was covered with a thick metal armor known as the Iron Maiden armor. It was an armor derived from one of the World Governing Powers'' special suit. This suit was designed to be worn by women and it was created toplement and maximize their control over the seat which was called the Rule.


    The Rule moved forward and a strange electromaic-like energy pulled a strange figure along with it.


    The figure was Pridgeon who attempted to escape.


    Quera smiled as she felt it¡­ She knew someone was approaching. The sensations of her body grew hot with lust as she could feel his presence.


    "Ah!" She moaned excitedly.


    "Just the mere memories of that day makes me wet! Are you back for more, my beloved Richie?" She smiled as the Iron Maiden opened up and revealed her seductive figure inside. She wore a blue synthetic tight clothing and a golden coated helmet which covered her entire face.


    Richie was standing on mid-air. A powerful force kept erupting out from him. Learning the power of the Empress from Seeker, Richie already had his preparations to protect him from the allure of the Empress.


    "I told you before, that one day, I will kill you!" Richie red angrily.


    The power of his voice reverberated around him.


    "Oh? Looks like you''re wounded. Did that bad boy Meng give you some trouble?" She teased.


    "Looks like I''ve hit the jackpot. With all of you boys around, I could easily take over this world! Come and join me! You will rule next to me and experience the greatest pleasures and ecstasy imaginable!"


    Richie shivered uncontrobly.


    Seeker had warned him to protect himself with ayer of sound that would keep him protected from the pheromones released by the Empress.


    But even without it, the mere memories of that day caused Richie to have an unexinable longing.


    The allure and temptation were so intense that it almost drove Richie mad with pleasure.


    At that moment, Richie understood the power which triggered such dangerous emotions.


    "HA!" Richie shouted back.


    A powerful shockwave, stronger and bigger than a Pangean Whish bomb exploded out.


    "Your sound¡­ it''s strange. It looks like you have the same power as me¡­ But different. Such scary power."


    "What''s scary is that you''ve managed to suppress those urges... Am I really not enough?" The Empressugh.


    "Please. I''ve met your counter. I''ve heard Eagle preach on lust." Richie shouted back as a shockwave rocked the Rule that the Empress sat on.


    "Ahh¡­ So you''ve be one of those weirdos? My my¡­ That is truly a formidable religion. Your faith is verymendable. I''ve made faithful men turn insane with those words and here you are unaffected by it." She smiled.


    "And here I thought that the mere sight of my delicious curves would have been enough to steal you. Oh well. I''m still confident that I wouldn''t even need to show you my face. You''ve might have be stronger but I have to Richie. You''re not worthy of seeing my face." The Empress gave a confidentugh.


    "We''ll see about that. The Great I Am Himself is the source of my Voice. I can make a mountain move, much less a whore like you!"


    "This makes it all the more pleasurable to conquer you!" The Empress suddenlyughed as she sat down on the Rule and it suddenly moved forward.


    Hundreds of small metallic cubes were sent out from the Rule. The cubes were charged with strange electricity and it circled around and the enveloped everything around the Rule.


    The cubes suddenly started to rotate around the Rule at an extremely fast speed. The Rule could barely be seen from the outside as the metal cubes became a shield that protected the Rule.


    Suddenly, some of the cubes shot at Richie at an extremely fast speed. Richie evaded the attacks easily as it was shot out. The cubes that were sent out would then shoot back towards the Rule at the same speed.


    "Enigmatic Maic Pulse technology¡­ Rail Technology¡­ American Misceneous technology and even Lightning Rod technology. How greedy."


    Hundreds of cubes shot back and forth and Richie started circling the Rule to evade every attack. Just when the attacks had blocked Richie''s escape, Richie roared.


    "But that''s not enough to Ovee me. WATER WORLD!"


    A strange shockwave caused the air itself to be heavier. The fast movements of the cubes were hindered and Richie made his escape as he moved at the same speed.


    The remaining cubes that weren''tunched out gathered together and made a shield in front of the Empress.


    Richie courageously dashed towards it.


    "I couldn''t use this against Meng because his destions could destroy it. Luckily, you don''t have that capacity." Richie smirked as he revealed a small handle that extended out forming a ss diamond sword simr to the one''s Seeker and Meryl had.


    "The Word of God is sharper than a double-edged sword." Richieughed as he recited.


    Richie finally made the offensive and gave a powerful sh even though he was 20 meters away from the Empress.


    A powerful swishing sound was heard but it was strong and caused the Earth to quake as if the swishing sound was thunder.


    Suddenly, the cubes that formed a shield suddenly split in half as arge gap was revealed. The molecules of everything within the direction of the sh suddenly were repelled creating the gap.


    The Empress was using her thick armor to block the attack as she raised her two hands.


    The Iron Maiden created a strange shield that Richie could identify as barrier technology.


    Even then, the Empress couldn''t understand what happened. The force was so strong that it could actually repel the metal cubes which were controlled by several Technological possibilities.


    Richie immediately rushed in.


    "Die for me!" Richie roared. As he rushed forward preparing to sh the Empress once more.


    Meanwhile, Seeker and Lennox finally met up with Arthur''s group and the Dragon''s Fang. Using the emergency ping that Richie had, Arthur''s team and the rest of the Dragon''s Fang started to move towards the entrance where they all met once more.


    Richie had given them several orders to gather and wait for Seeker when he zoomed out to fight the Empress.


    "Everyone except Meryl and Lynd must escape. We''ll be headed to fight the Tyrant Empress." Seeker immediately ordered without wasting time.


    Lennox immediately emitted lightning sparks which started devouring the energies stored in Lander and Alean''s backpack.


    "Lowengren and I can help." Arthur countered. Seeker knew that Arthur wouldn''t say this recklessly and nodded.


    "Are you sure? You''ve taken quite a beating."


    "I reached Inhuman in that fight. I used the electrical bolt that my father attacked me with and turned it into energy. I''m at 80% of my peak." Arthur answered back.


    Seeker frowned and gazed at Lennox.


    "I told him that theory when I attacked him. He is my son. My electrical charges should bepatible with him since he has my DNA." Lennox simply nodded.


    "Alright. Then everyone else must other than these four must retreat."


    "I can still fight." Typical frowned.


    "No. You''d be more of a hindrance in this battle."


    "You seem to underestimate my skills." Typical spoke as a murderous intent filled the air.


    "No. He actually values it. The problem with fighting the Tyrant Empress is that your skills are too dangerous." Arthur interrupted.


    "How can it be a problem?" Typical frowned.


    "Just follow my orders. Meng went back inside to get another of his suit. I have his Seal right here." Seeker then revealed a golden seal with an image of a dragon.


    A strange painful feeling could be felt as they looked at the seal.


    The Dragon Fang all bowed at the sight of the seal.


    "We obey, Master''s directions."


    Lennox had started to slowly turn into an electric charge.


    "Let''s go, Lennox. Arthur, follow the sounds of the battle. Lennox and I will move ahead." Seeker ordered.


    BOOM!


    An explosion resounded in the far of a distance. The silence of the surrounding made this loud explosion so apparent.


    "Richie. You got to endure." Seeker frowned as he turned towards the direction of the explosion.


    The cause of the explosion was a thunderous and powerful shout that Richie made. The force of sound gathering and being sent out was so powerful that visible shockwave could be seen attacking and rocking the Rule.


    The Rule used the cubes to create a shield with Barrier technology to shield itself from the powerful shockwave.


    Though it endured at first, slowly, a strange vibrating attack allowed this shockwave to drill its way destroying several cubes.


    The Rule continued to be pushed back asyers of its defense crumbled.


    Richie could no longer maintain and his powerful shout gave thest crescendo before bing silent.


    The crescendo of Richie''s shout drilled its way towards the barrier shield and the metallic cubes.


    The Empress made the remaining cubes create an explosion using African Sr technology creating an explosion right in the middle of the approaching shockwave.


    BOOM!


    Another powerful explosion rocked the area. The Rule was sent flying further backward crashing on to the nearby buildings.


    "That was pretty manly." The Empress smiled as the dust fell. The Golden mask she wore had arge crack showing most of her face. The Iron Maiden suit was severely damaged from the explosion and the remnant vibrating force which managed to reach it. The Armor slowly opened up revealing the seductive figure of the Empress. The armor was now useless. Despite being unprotected, the Empress stood confidently as ever.


    "I never expected you could easily damage the Rule like this¡­" She nced at the remaining metallic cubes and sigh. Each cube was extremely expensive.


    "Too bad though. I was hoping that the next time I do it with you, it would be just as exciting as the first. Oh well. I''ve never made out with an amputee before so I guess there''s some excitement in that." Sheughed devilishly.


    Richie managed to use his voice in creating a force that allowed him to stand in mid-air but his appearance now was extremely pitiful. He no longer had any arms.


    Backtracking tothest moment of Richie''s sword attack, the Empress chuckled and caused the helmet to revealed her face.


    She then gave a seductive nce and whispered, "No, you die for me."


    Richie''s hands suddenly changed the way it held the sword and his hands proceeded to pierce his abdomen in a quick suicidal attack.


    But right before he could pierce himself, Richie then gave his most powerful shout, concentrating the force of the Walls of Jericho and threw it all out like a cannon st.


    The force of the explosion was right in between his two arms and his shout immediately amputated it.


    This shout continued to force its way and attacking the Tyrant Empress which destroyed the cube defenses of the Rule and destroyed the Iron Maiden armor of the Empress.


    Blood continued to ooze down the remains of Richie''s two arms. It was a wretched sight. It was as if his hands were yanked off. Blood, bone, and muscles could be seen at the stomp of Richie''s former hands.


    Richie continued to gasp heavily. His face was pale and he finally allowed the force that kept him floating to disappear.


    He fell down and almost stumbled but managed to remain standing.


    "I know your powers¡­" Richie began.


    "Having these two arms are too dangerous. If your hand causes you to sin, pluck it off." Richieughed heavily.


    "At least I''vepleted my mission." Richie then smiled.


    "Mission?" The Empress frowned.


    "To get you to show your face." A voice spoke from afar.


    The Tyrant Empress was surprised and looked around to trying to find the source of the voice.


    Suddenly a bolt of lightning arced from the skies. Seeker held the sword and guided with the lightning force of Lennox, he shed at the unprepared Empress.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 112 - As Fierce As The Grave

    As the danger of the uing battle is at its extreme, Arthur''s group couldn''t recklessly charge in but had to slowly and carefully move towards where the battle was.


    They moved without using their boosters but had to run and used various technologies they took from the Dragon''s Fang to move quietly.


    As Assassins, all of the Dragon''s Fang wore modified boots and gadgets that allowed them to travel quietly. Their boots had several technological possibilities that allowed them to run as fast as they can yet not make any sounds.


    Yet despite this, Arthur was extra careful in leading his team.


    Suddenly, a figure appeared behind them.


    It was Typical.


    Arthur frowned as he noticed the chasing Typical but did not decrease their pace.


    Typical quickly caught up with them.


    "What did he mean by being a problem?" Despite the appearance of the Greydon Meng''s personal Seal, Typical was insulted at Seeker''s words before he left. So as the group moved to chase after Seeker, Typical followed.


    "It''s like this, the Empress has powers that would be simr to mind-control. You have the power to create these strange needles, right? Your Master has his Destion which is an incredibly perverse power. Yet our enemy has something far more terrifying. This woman''s Path is Beauty. Absolute beauty. This could mean two things." Arthur exined slowly as he continued to sprint. The group continued to follow Arthur and paid attention to Arthur''s words.


    "Based on what Richie told us, she has the power to cease all movements. And that even affected someone like Richie. We do not know what this Oveer''s Will is. Seeker told me about it but couldn''t understand it as well. But it''s not something that can be affected by simple hypnosis and the like. Yet the Tyrant Empress still managed to leave a terrifying mental scar on Richie. Even your Master has to be extremely careful fighting her. I daresay, that right now, if your Master faced her one-on-one he would lose." Arthur exined carefully.


    "We be so captivated at her, that it could even stop our hearts from beating. But the more dangerous power that this Oveer has, is that her beauty can not only captivate but enve. We''ve read in history and even in stories how people do stupid things for lust."


    "So you mean she can mind-control us?" Meryl interrupted.


    "If we are weak enough, then yes. But for us who are Unlocked, it wouldn''t be that easy. She can''t fully mind-control us but it will definitely affect the way we think. Love is blind as they say. That great obsession, lust and love will drive us to act against what we want."


    "My Master has trained me and prepared me to be-"


    "Your Master hasn''t trained you to be prepared against someone stronger than him. You will be affected by her beauty. Seeker and my Father dared not to face her alone. This is because they will get affected by her beauty. How confident are you that you can control yourself when fighting her?"


    "Didn''t you say it''s not total control?"


    "Yes. To people like us, her beauty would probably cause us to act on instinct. It''s not total control over our bodies but it would be an instinctive reaction to follow her. We retain our minds, but we still be enved to her. Even if you know that you shouldn''t attack Meng, that woman is just too beautiful that you might consider killing your Master just for her!" Arthur angrily countered.


    "Now think of the implications if you would suddenly use his skills in the middle of a highly chaotic battle?" Arthur poised the question.


    Lynd and Meryl who had faced Typical knew that it was too dangerous. A well-ced needle could even kill Seeker.


    Typical frowned at first, but reluctantly stopped following the group and started retreating.


    "Then please protect my Master," Typical said as he stopped running and dashed back to the base.


    Lynd and Meryl''s expression was sour.


    "But Arthur, how can we help? Aren''t our skills as dangerous as Typical?" Lynd immediately asked.


    "Yeah. Wouldn''t we be more of a burden if it''s like this?" Meryl asked immediately.


    "Yes but also no. While facing the Empress is dangerous, I can only say that something must have happened in Seeker''s battle against Meng. And that something can help us, and only us because we''ve been with Seeker." Arthur exined.


    "What do you mean?"


    "I know of Seeker''s Path. And only this group can benefit from it." Arthur didn''t exin any longer.


    Lynd smiled.


    "It''s good to have Zeek back." Meryl sighed in relief.


    "Don''t get too relieved." Lowengren interrupted.


    "He made Richie go on ahead." Lowengren then reminded.


    "So?" Meryl and Lynd chorused.


    "So my guess is, Seeker did it to stop her from getting to us. The biggest mistake that you could make in any strategic game, is to miss out on the chess pieces of your enemy. If it wasn''t for Arthur''s dad, we''d be dead. Now Richie is sent to face this monster by himself. If it was any Oveer, then it would be fine. But Richie''s fighting an Oveer and half of himself. Worst case scenario is; Richie would die before Seeker could get to him."


    "No way. Zeek wouldn''t-¡­"


    "Think, Lynd! I can''t exin it to you, but Seeker has something that he can pass on to us. Just as Arthur said. But even then, right now, He''s gambling everything. He even NEEDS to use us." Lowengren emphasized.


    "Seeker''s been very protective of you two in particr. If he is sending you two to a battle that could lose you in death or in lust, then he must be very very desperate." Lowengren spoke grimly.


    The two gave a grim expression but before they could voice out anything, Arthur spoke.


    "Let''s just keep a low profile. We are approaching the battlefield. Since Seeker sent Richie to face the Empress alone instead of fighting together with us, then he must have concluded that a sneak attack would be the only way to win. He''s counting on us in this battle. He must have a way for us to resist the lust but he can''t pass it on to Typical. This is also why he went first. He will look for a way to counter the Empress''s Path. He shouldmunicate to us soon so keep yourm device on and wait for any transmission from Seeker." Arthur ordered as the group dashed forth.


    On the other side of the city¡­


    BOOM!


    A thunderous explosion resounded again.


    The Rule was thrown backward from the powerful impact. Seeker''s body was in intense pain.


    He had ridden the lightning form of Lennox which was constantly electrocuting him and allowed the Almetal handle of his sword to carry him quickly through the air. The pair zoomed at a speed faster than sound and they raced towards where Richie was.


    As they werending, Lennox adjusted the way he carried Seeker allowing Seeker to perform a shocking stab at the Empress.


    Using thisbination, Seeker wouldn''t miss as he was simply holding on to the de. All they had to do, was wound the enemy''s face, and their battle would be easier.


    However, the attack wasn''t sessful.


    "Damn. It was too shallow! I can''t believe I resisted hitting her." Seeker angrily cursed himself.


    Despite the strategy of using Lennox to lead the strike, on thest second Seeker tried pulling his hand back to resist stabbing the Empress. And with a physical strength that could even harm Meng, Seeker''s resisting force caused Lennox to fail in delivering the full power of the nned attack.


    Lennox had appeared right next to Richie and was slowly transforming back to his human form.


    The Rule was knocked back as the electrifying strike caused an explosion.


    The Rule then started to transform. Utilizing Misceneous Metal Morph Technology, the once exposed throne was surrounded byyers of metal. The seat had disappeared and the Empress stood confidently. The sight looked like a blossoming rose with a fairy standing in the middle of it.


    The Empress was now wearing a strange silver metal armor. Her right hand had morphed to a metal shield. Seeker''s momentary hesitation in attacking the Empress allowed the Empress to wear her Skin-tted Exoskeleton.


    "My my¡­ what naughty boys! It looks like I have to really put more effort." She excitedly eximed.


    The floating body of Pridgeon was immediately thrown off towards the distance as the electromaic cage exploded.


    Seeker gazed at the direction where Pridgeon was thrown off to.


    "Was that your friend? If you want him to live, you boys should hurry up and defeat me." She seductively bit her lips as she gave a hungry look at the three.


    Richie was slowly breathing and focused on allowing his wounds to slowly close up. But his focus disappeared at the Empress''s tease.


    "Hey, Zeek. We''re screwed. Her Path''s already terrifying enough, and now we have to deal with technologies that could buy a few cities?" Richie chuckled.


    Seeker gazed at the armor that the Empress brought. The Rule she sat on was one of the strongest weapons built on Earth. Only weapons of simr strength to the Qilin''s Horn could fight against it. But what was more nefarious was the Skin-ted suit she wore.


    "Altered Almetal Skin ted Exoskeletons? Looks like the World Governing Powers really are loaded." Seeker sighed. That Exoskeleton alone would cost an entire fleet of Exoskeletons. The number of armors like that would not exceed three.


    "I see you recognize my little toys. Well, a girl''s got to defend herself." She teased as the skin-ted visor opened up revealing her face. A deep wound could be seen right above her eyebrows which ran towards her lips.


    "You were nning to wound my face to make me ugly? Reminds me of my younger days." She chuckled.


    "But true beauty isn''t about physical perfection. You have to consider charm, poise, elegance¡­" The Empress started to gracefully move her hands borating on each point. Then her hand ran through her wound and she wiped it downwards causing her right face to be full of blood.


    "and vulnerability¡­" She turned to the group and did a charming pout.


    Seeker clenched his fist tight and gnashed his teeth. The allure was extremely powerful.


    Lennox and Richie had to jump away from one another. Lennox''s jump was strange as if half of his body wanted to stay and attack Richie. Immediately an electric charge burst from his legs and sent him away immediately.


    "Oh? That''s interesting. I know Richie could evade it as his instincts can overpower my charm¡­ but dear Lennox, how did you do that? You aren''t in that strange lightning mode after all..." The Empress teased.


    Lennox was constraining himself. He dared not even speak and turned his eyes away from the Empress. But his body kept trembling as if another force was making him turn.


    "His way of thinking is far different from us. The best way to put it is if we can think at one time, he can divide his thought process. Looking at how he can already convert himself to electricity without killing himself, he should have about over a hundred thought processes." Seeker spoke quickly. His breathing started to slow down.


    "Oh? That''s amazing. Now what about you, little boy. You''re the scariest of them all. You practically resisted my beauty..."


    Seeker merely shook his head and slowly sighed out. Intense anger surfaced from his eyes.


    "The best way to defeat emotion is to throw a stronger one against it. No matter how horny you are, you lose all that when you see something that causes sadness, anger, and disgust." Seeker exhaled strongly. The memories he forcibly recalled were the most painful memories he had. Using his Unlocking, it was as if he saw it happening again.


    "Oh really? I believe love is the strongest. Can those pitiful emotions really help?"


    "Individually... they won''tst a second against you. but luckily... I have the perfect emotions to fight you." Seeker smiled. Recalling Zeraphine brought painful memories. But there was one which made Seeker extremely angry. As his memories about her were unsealed, Seeker remembered it all.


    "For love is strong as death,jealousy is fierce as the grave." Seeker quoted a verse from the Bible that Eagle would constantly sigh about.


    "Jealousy?" The Empress was surprised.


    "Jealousy gives birth to a mixture of emotions. Hatred, Anger, frustration, disgust, wrath, sadness and quite interestingly enough... love..."


    "Oh? So which of those emotions are you using?"


    "All of them." Seeker could barely hold on as he replied, but slowly, his expression was getting more and more focused.


    It was the first time, since a long time, that the Empress gave someone an angry re.


    Someone was actually resisting her beauty.

 Chapter 113 - Clash Of The Overcomers

    The Tyrant Empress red angrily, as the once crouched and burdened expression of Seeker turned to extreme hate. The once lustful eyes were now a murderous stare.


    "I am... insulted by your words. I am here and you can actually feel¡­ disgusted? I guess I need to tease you a bit more to get what I want¡­" She smiled devilishly.


    The realm around her change. Seeker was caught in the area of powers where the Tyrant Empress Realm Somatotopy had reached.


    Seeker was barely hanging on to thest bits of his sanity. The empowering allure kept tempting him to attack the two Oveers. Richie and Lennox had started to move strangely as one part of them wanted to attack each other and the other couldn''t. Vibrations and lightning bolts started to appear in the chaos of their bodily control.


    "ENOUGH!" Seeker managed to shout and suddenly stumbled to his knees.


    "That''s actually impressive!" The Empress smiled but a hateful look was deep within her eyes.


    Seeker kept gasping for breath.


    "You really are an uptight kid. Or maybe it''s because you''re into guys? Oh well. Regardless, just keep kneeling and ept your new Queen." The Empressughed.


    "Won''t you boys at the back help me?" She called out.


    A strange illusion appeared before them. The seductive voice of the Empress pushed their lust to the limits causing them to fantasize about her delicate body being exposed before them.


    "She''s stronger than we thought!" Richie shouted loudly. Instead of sending an explosive sound, Richie''s shout echoed throughout the distance and made the far-away Arthur frown and rethink his ns.


    But suddenly, Richie''s actions were shocking. He was actually moving towards Seeker.


    The rm that Lennox and Seeker felt grew as they noticed Richie''s actions.


    Richie tried his best to resist and this made his walk extremely slow. He was ready to shout at Seeker to throw him out of the way while Lennox kept sending out lightning bolts on different areas to throw Richie off course to prevent Richie from attacking Seeker.


    "I said. ENOUGH!" Seeker screamed once more.


    Suddenly, an indescribable emotion rose from the depths of Lennox and Richie''s heart. The lusts of their hearts now conflicted with an unexinablebination of anger, sadness, and disgust. The lust was stronger, but the added emotions caused a conflict that allowed them to take better control of their bodies.


    "I figured it out. So that''s the secret. It''s Realm Somatotopy!" Seeker finally smiled.


    "What did you do?" The Empress felt the barrage of emotions and it was making it hard for her to concentrate.


    "There were theories of how you do it, Empress. Your Path..." Seeker then gazed at his hands and noted that the electrocuted skin was slowly healing itself thanks to its now new cancerous properties.


    "This beauty and the uncontroble lust that you cause, it was almost impossible to figure out what could cause it. All we knew was that people who saw you personally would be seduced. Because of that, we thought that it was reliant on having seen you." Seeker shook his head in deep frustration. If they had known of this, then it would have been easier to deal with this maverick.


    "It wasn''t sight. It wasn''t hearing from you. It wasn''t the intense curiosity looming in everyone''s mind¡­ It was just being around you. Your nearby presence affects the area around you making it a ce of lust. It''s not even your pheromones but a power of twisted faith in your beauty that causes all around you to fall into lust¡­" Seeker finally understood how some of the Oveers in his future fell for the Tyrant Empress despite having neither seen her or heard her.


    "Your Path is an annoying one. If it wasn''t for you, the armies would''ve been more united. Perhaps now that I know of this, Eagle won''t have a hard time counseling Champions and we might just be able to save more Heroes. Because of you, teams were broken, some Heroes killed and even thebo teams were divided because many want to be next to you. Only Meng and my Master could resist your full powers."


    Richie and Lennox had a strange expression on their faces. It looks like this woman had caused them greater troubles in the future.


    Arthur who was listening in on the conversation as Seeker had switched on hism device finally realized something about his future death.


    "So father was..." Arthur couldn''t help but chuckle at the thought of an infatuated Lennox.


    "Meng and my Master were the only ones who could resist you because their Paths could naturally counter yours! But now I get it! Woman, in your defeat, remember, it was Richie who made it possible." Seeker smiled.


    The Empress''s expression had slowly turned to anger as she was affected by it. It caused her to be extremely frustrated at the fact that her beauty and voice couldn''t affect the three in front of her and the cheeky way Seeker called him.


    "Richie''s efforts made you reveal your face and allowed me to wound it. You were wrong. I wasn''t aiming to make you ugly. I know how dangerous you can be if you show any forms of vulnerability."


    The Empressughed.


    "So what if you can resist it? Try attacking me, brat! We''ll see if my beauty can''t ovee your emotions!"


    "Oh, I think I can. At least, now I can! How do we defeat you if we can''t hit you and it would be more dangerous if we do hurt you? I gambled in understanding your Path. If I know what your Path is, I''ll know how to ovee it."


    Seeker held his sword high and revealed that at the edge of the sword, was drops of her blood which Seeker managed to acquire from thest attack.


    "This sword has my cells and can do amazing tricks like hold on to drops of blood. Since I''m pressed with time, I immediately swallowed your blood. That was dangerous. Even a drop that is not interlinked with you had a very potent amount of your power! I almost lost myself in that euphoria." Seekerughed.


    "But it was all worth the risk. This knowledge can practically evolve most Ranked Heroes and Champions if they manage to grasp it! It''s vanity, isn''t it? That''s the Root of your Path! You are so much attracted to yourself that somehow you start affecting others with Realm Somatotopy! I''ve been with Richie, fought Meng, and was jolted by the transforming cells of Lennox. With their help, my new Realm can now counter yours!"


    An empowering sense of disgust, rage, and heart-breaking sadness enveloped Seeker allowing him to think better.


    Lennox and Richie could feel traces of this emotion and the two gave in to the hatred, sadness, and disgust.


    Lennox started emitting electric bolts once more and Richie calmed himself and prepared for a powerful shout.


    "My beauty has always allowed me to ovee whatever enemies face me!" The Empress dered in anger.


    "I am Beautiful and that''s why I will win! Let''s see just how far, you three can push me! I''m brimming with curiosity! Now get off my head and witness my beauty!" The Empress shouted. Although nothing had changed in the way she looks, her appearance became more enticing, seductive and delicious. The angry expression had now disappeared.


    "Bloom of Babylon, eh?" Seeker''s expression changed a bit.


    Even Seeker couldn''t help but drool at the ''change'' in the Empress''s appearance. Seeker bit his tongue and brought to memory the throngs of painful experiences that he faced. Jealousy wasn''t enough anymore. Several scenes that Seeker had locked out resurfaced.


    He recalled how he held Lynd''s upper body as he continued to shout in pain. How he could only find Meryl''s head and how he even failed to say goodbye. The pains of death, the heart-crushing revtion of Zeraphine''s betrayal, even the rejection of his first love came to perspective.


    "Attack before her pheromones reach you!" Seeker shouted.


    Immediately, Richie gave a powerful scream.


    An invisible force surrounded them creating a vibrating invisible dome. Lennox immediately released several bolts of lightning which were aimed at the dome.


    "So what if I can''t hit you? I''ll leave it all to chance!" Lennox gave an angry snort.


    "True Random!" The bolts of electricity that Lennox sent bounced off as it struck the dome. It kept bouncing on and off inside the dome. A strange grinding sound could be heard as several parts of Lennox''s suit started to glow.


    "There it is again. That strange battery that can generate more energy from kic power. You think that I haven''t grown since ourst unending battle?" The Empress still didn''t move from her ce. Instead, her armor started to open up, revealing her seductive body.


    The Rule had again changed its formed once more. Layers of metal appeared in front of her like It levitated and started to move at incredible speeds.


    The skin-tight suit clearly disyed the curves of her body, and even when no nudity could be seen the effect was so powerful. In fact, it was exactly because no nudity was revealed that it made the imaginations of the three ran amok with lust.


    "You really want to hurt this?" She teased as she slowly traced her finger on her chest area.


    Richie dashed off the exit the dome fearing what he could do. As he has seen the Empress before, he would most likely be the most affected.


    The Rule rose and charged forward but then the lightning bolts that were moving randomly were now striking the Rule. The Rule''s metal petals blocked the barrage as it somehow expanded and protected the Empress.


    BOOM!


    The lightning bolts that hammered on to the Rule didn''t disappear but started to spin as if it was drilling through.


    "This again? You''re getting better, Lennox! Please be more gentle. These little things are hitting me." She smiled sweetly and immediately the Rule spun around sending the hardened bolts to be thrown off.


    Suddenly the lightning bolts changed its trajectory and were no longer hitting the Empress. Lennox cursed loudly as he hated how he could uncontrobly react.


    The Empress no longer advanced and nced at Seeker at the back.


    "My my¡­ You''re looking more and more delicious. I''ll tell you a secret. I''ve never kissed a young boy before. Want to be my first?" The Empress seduced.


    Seeker unconsciously moved for a split second but then stopped and closed his eyes.


    "O,he now. Don''t be shy. It''s getting cold and lonely here."


    "If it''s cold, then allow me." A hoarse voice could be heard from above.


    Arge metallic armor was falling like a meteorite. It pierced through the vibrating wall. Meng''s armor merged with the lightning bolts in the dome as it was attracted by China''s rail maic technology.


    The Tyrant Empress started to retreat but the massive metal altered its course to strike the Empress.


    "Foolish!" The Empressughed as her armor glowed a purple hue.


    BOOM!


    A purple lightning bolt emerged from the Empress''s armor and struck the falling metal. A powerful shockwave enveloped the inside of the dome.


    The metal mass fell several meters in front of the Tyrant Empress.


    As the dust settled, a man was seen standing. He wore an extremely thick te of armor. Some parts of the armor had gaps in front of him and blood clearly be seen dripping from the gaps.


    "Interesting. Now that I got a clear look at her, it really is hard to attack her. So this is the Tyrant Empress." Meng shrugged.


    "How were you able to resist-"


    BANG!


    Seeker took the opportunity to shoot at the Empress with a small gun he revealed.


    The Empress blocked the attack using the Rule''s petal but red at Seeker.


    "What? How?" The Empress red angrily. That attack was clearly meant to kill her.


    "Finally!" Seeker smiled.


    Lennox retrieved all the lightning bolts he sent which were bouncing randomly.


    Seeker finally sighed in relief.


    "What is going on? Why are you no longer affected?" The Empress gave an angry re at therge man who fell wearing an extremely thick and heavy armor. Gaps could be seen from his armor and it was as if a faint green light was moving out of it.


    "Took you long enough." Seekerined.


    "Long enough? You stabbed my heart with a de and then punched me using that other freaks strange vibrations. I had to take my time absorbing my cultured cells to recover." Meng simply frowned.


    "That''s only because I know you can heal faster than that."


    "Enough talk. This woman before me seems more dangerous than the three of youbined." Meng then gazed at the woman before him.


    "That look¡­" The Empress noticed Meng''s eyes and her heart turned angry.


    "Who''s the bitch that you deem more beautiful than I?" The Empress erupted in anger.


    "Oh?" Meng turned to the air around him.


    "You sensed it? It''s her pheromones. Aside from her Realm, she uses her beautiful body, the alluring voice she has, and those pheromones to get us to lust after her. Meng, keep releasing that destion. Lennox and I can withstand her beauty if you keep destroying her pheromones."


    "Seeker. I still can''t hit her." Lennox interrupted.


    "Of course. You are only receiving a small bit of the emotions I am releasing. Only Meng and I can hit her now. Meng, fight with your eyes closed if you want to hit her."


    Meng''s eyes closed and he nodded his head at Seeker''s orders.


    "You think that the four of you can defeat me? That''s cute. I''ll show you how this Empress will be your Tyrant! Then I''ll look for that bitch who has your eyes and kill her!" The Empress roared angrily.


    "Even with the four of us, I feel like we''re still the losing side." Richie chuckled.


    "Correct. With the given data, we have over an eighty percent chance of defeat. Let''s hope your arrangements prove worthwhile, Seeker." Lennox frowned as his body started glowing blue and sparks of electricity started running around him. Slowly, he was turning to lightning.


    "Don''t worry. They can do it." Seeker simply smiled.


    "After you, Mdy." Seeker gestured.


    "My pleasure!" The Tyrant Empress unleashed the full power of the technologies she had.


    An extremely chaotic battle quickly ensued.

 Chapter 114 - The Lions Den

    During the time when Seeker and the Tyrant Empress were talking, Seeker had been using herm device to leak his conversation with Arthur''s team.


    "We have to make sure we don''t see her," Arthur exined as they moved closer.


    "The Empress is extremely powerful. Our biggest advantage is that we''ve yet to see the Empress. So as long as we don''t know what the Tyrant Empress looks like, we can minimize her lust."


    "How can we fight without looking at her? Should we use Realm Somatotopy to sense her? Or will using it make this Realm of her''s affect us?"


    "It''s probably dangerous to use Realm Somatotopy."


    "Then how? Wait. What about Meryl?"


    "Yeah. I''m a woman! Maybe the lust won''t affect me like you guys!"


    "Are things really that simple? Her power is something all the future Oveer''s feared. Are you prepared to be a lesbian for the rest of your life?" Lowengren argued.


    "But I thought Seeker could do his own Realm! Wouldn''t that help us?"


    "Of course not! For us, the effect is almost useless! Seeker has the highest level of his Unlocking and because he is the originator of the emotions, he can partially resist the Empress. Although he is leaking that emotion, we only get a fraction of it. So unless we have Richie''s instincts, Lennox''s thought processes or Meng''s ability to destroy the pheromones, we wouldn''t be able to resist. Unless we be Oveers, don''t think about seeing her, hearing her, or getting close to her! Even Seeker kept muting the transmission when the Empress would speak! We cannot dare get affected until we defeated her!" Lowengren impatiently exined.


    "Then how CAN we fight? We can''t look, can''t hear and if the pheromone thing is present, shouldn''t we be able to breathe? How then? How?" Lynd almost shouted.


    Lowengren was silent but he nced at Arthur. Even he couldn''t think of a way to fight the Empress.


    "Lynd. Calm down. Let me observe the battle from afar first."


    "What? That''s crazy! You''d see the Empress!" Lowengren argued.


    "I will Limit my Unlocking. By limiting it, I shouldn''t be able to see things clearly. Based on their conversation, the distant we are at should be far from the Realm of the Empress. If I can''t see things clearly, I doubt the powers of the Empress would work on me."


    Lowengren remained silent. But his expressions were getting more and more frustrated.


    Arthur simply kept quiet and continued to move.


    They continued to listen on the conversation between Seeker and the Empress.


    It was then that they noticed arge metal ball flying up to the sky from the base they came from.


    "What was that?" Lynd wondered.


    "That should be Meng. We''re getting close. Follow where he falls." Lowengren answered immediately as he gave a frustrated grunt and dashed ahead.


    The transmission from Seeker ended as they heard a powerful explosion.


    "Enigmatic Maic Pulse? Looks like Meng''s attack caused the Empress to revealed her tech." Arthur frowned.


    "Great. We can''tmunicate with Seeker anymore." Lowengren gave a frustrated snort.


    The sounds of lightning and a strange and loud sound of rushing waters could be heard as they drew closer to the battlefield.


    "The battle should be in view if we turn right on this building. Stay here. I''ll take a peak." Arthur crawled up to the wall and gave a peaked to view the battle.


    A transparent dome had covered arge portion of thend.


    Outside the dome, was Richie who continued to let out a strange hum. As the sound resounded in the air, it sounded as if a thousand voices were making the sound.


    Inside the dome, lightning bolts continued to race from one edge of the dome to the other, ricocheting back and forth. Lennox could no longer be seen as he finally turned into pure electricity which continued to race throughout the dome.


    Aside from the racing bolts of lightning, several figures could be seen moving inside the dome. Two strange metallic objects kept shing with each other. Each sh would result in explosions. Seeker''s figure couldn''t even be seen in the epicenter of the battle as the moving lightning and the metallic objects took too much attention.


    "Alright. Time for the n." Arthur ordered casually.


    "What is YOUR n?" Lowengren tried to contain his building frustration and asked Arthur in the calmest way he could.


    "Ambush her. Meryl''s attackbined with the sh and certain skill that I''ve been practicing to use. Once we get the chance, Lynd and Meryl can use their sh and we raise our Unlocking attacking at a position where her voice, realm, and pheromones would least affect us."


    Lowengren frowned and almost cursed.


    "Just as I thought! This n is too simple! How do you blind her if we lower our Unlocking?! How do we even get into that battleground? Those are Oveers! Chaos Order doesn''t stand a chance against them! The battle would be too fast for you to estimate if you limit your Unlocking!" Lowengren gave an agitated answer. When Seeker used them device, Lowengren couldn''t think of any way to fight the Empress.


    "It is as I have suspected! We''re justunching a desperate attack! You''re not even sure we''d win!" Lowengren cursed.


    Lynd and Meryl gave Arthur a surprised look. Lowengren had always been able to guess Arthur''s thoughts.


    "Arthur¡­"


    "Is this true?" Lynd sighed solemnly.


    "What I am certain of¡­ Is that they are bound to lose. If we don''t help them, they won''t win." Arthur summarized.


    "How can you be so sure? Zeeks there! He can do this!" Meryl asked.


    "After several shes, the object that the Empress is riding on had shown no signs of being destroyed. And that''s considering it''s facing an attacking from Meng. The Empress is slowly breaking away the resolve of the Oveers. Lust is never defeated if it''s always there to tempt you. And because they have the most dangerous temptation, their battle will slowly move towards the Empress''s advantage unless they can defeat her before they sumb. That''s why we were called into the battle. They are to weaken the Empress as much as they could before we dive in and take the Empress out."


    "So this is it? You''re leading us into an all-out attack that could kill us?" Lowengrenined.


    "Even I can''t think of a way to help them! That battle is too chaotic! Who knows what other technologies that woman has up her sleeves! We can''t even get near that damned dome! Jumping in would be like jumping in the lion''s den!" Lowengren eximed.


    "No. There is a way to fight." Arthur revealed a rare and confident smirk.


    "You''re wrong, Lowengren. I''m not sending everyone off to their deaths."


    Lowengren was surprised.


    "Let''s just say, you''re no longer my equal in strategies. Pay careful attention to the n. We don''t have time."


    The battle inside the dome continued to turn to the worse.


    Seeker and Meng had always maintained a position far from the Empress''s reach.


    The technologies that the Empress revealed were far too many than originally anticipated. No matter what attack Meng and Seeker threw, the Rule would easily deflect as it would rotate with incredible speed.


    Even the solidifying lightning bolts that Lennox sent out could not hold.


    Seeker''s body continued to gush out more wounds. Some like cuts, while others look like it was being burned. Meng''s destion protected him from the pheromones but his prolonged stay had started to slowly damage and burn his skin.


    Meng charged forth once more and Seeker followed closely.


    Utilizing rail technology, Meng zoomed towards the Empress at amazing speed. Another round of EMP wasunched towards Meng hindering Meng''s quick advance.


    Meng drove his suit onwards enduring the purple lightning bolt that the Empress released and began to rush recklessly forward.


    As Meng drew closer, he immediately activated his suit''s electromaic capabilities and the parts of Meng''s thick armor scattered.


    The purple lightning continued to connect with these parts, causing the parts to fly out randomly.


    Another bolt was released from the Empress and it shot towards Meng.


    The purple lightning, however, disintegrated into nothingness as it drew closer towards Meng.


    Meng shouted and dove towards the Empress. Strangely, the deste aura somehow avoided the Empress and no corruption urred around the Empress.


    Meng didn''t even hesitate and delivered a powerful punch.


    BOOM!


    A punch full of deste force rocked the Rule''s petals which faithfully appeared to defend the Empress and thrown the Rule backward.


    The punch had actually dented the metal petal and a deste force remained and started to degrade the metal.


    "HAAA!" Richie shouted once more andpressed the dome causing the lightning bolts to change course.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Bolt after bolt rocked the Rule which activated all of its defensive capabilities.


    A powerful shockwave as strong as a bomb suddenly exploded out sending Seeker and Meng back. The lightning bolts all disintegrated as it struck the ground and the surrounding buildings.


    Lennox had returned to his human form as the shockwave had taken out most of his lightning bolts.


    His appearance was horrible as chunks of his arms and legs were missing. Blood was dripping everywhere.


    Lennox retreated to the far back to avoid Meng''s destion.


    "I can''t believe ying hard to get wouldn''t work." The Empress''s voice could be heard as the petals opened up.


    Parts of the Rule''s petals were bent and the part which Meng punched finally gave way and broke in half as the destion finally ate through it.


    "Scary." The Empress gazed at the part which was punched.


    "I guess it''s time for me to be more aggressive with you boys." She smiled as the Rule started to whirl and its petals slowly dropped.


    "You know, I''m not just a pretty face. Behind this fragile beauty is the mind of a genius. Although I''m not as smart as you, Lennox, still, it''s at a perfect level that matches my beauty." The Empress smiled.


    "I thought long and hard as to what I can use against Lennox here, whose lightning form could basically negate almost all forms of weapons. This Rule is one of the things I knew I could use. But I knew it wouldn''t be enough." Sheughed.


    The Rule slowly started to crackle with lightning and randomly shot out everywhere as it slowly started to transform.


    "Then New Great Britain attacked Australia. And that battle brought a lot of inspiration for me." She smiled.


    "Richie. Lennox. Work together. She''s creating a lightning storm." Seeker frowned.


    "Not just any lightning storm. Attack now and don''t let itplete its charge! That signature is exactly the same as Britain''s weapon of mass destruction! The Knights of the Round!" Lennox identified the weapon.


    "Richie!" Seeker called out.


    "I know! My instincts told me!" Richie added as he knew the lightning bolts which contained Enigmatic Maic Pulse could pierce through his current walls.


    "Attack together!" Seeker ordered as he immediately dove forward.


    Meng followed and Lennox raised his hands to shoot out several bolts of electricity.


    Richie roared as a powerful force came upon the lightning storms to contain it.


    The Rule, which the Empress stood on moved with incredible speed and continued to emit a powerful st of purplish and blue lightning stsing from its body. Shockwaves also appeared here and then making it hard for the four to get closer.


    Meng sent out his destions but the Maw of the Dragon would not bite as the Empress stood revealing her beauty.


    The battle moved extremely fast as the Empress started chasing the four who was desperately trying to retreat.


    Ten seconds passed as this battle continued. Although it was an extremely short time, for the Oveer''s it felt like forever. The battle was incredibly critical. Lennox and Richie would always be a single move away from dying.


    Lennox had his calctions to escape the approaching terror while Richie had his instincts.


    Meng held on through his insane endurance and the deste power that blocked many of the bolts. But whenever the Empress drew close, several of the bolts could pierce through the deste realm.


    Seeker was the only one capable of attacking at this point. His heightened senses and his brain which held memories of evading light speed attacks were being put to use at this battle. He dove in and would pass through the deste area around Meng to get as close as possible to the Empress who was standing in the open revealing her seductive face.


    An invisible wall appeared at a critical moment which blocked the Rule from advancing giving Seeker time to evade. The wall immediately crumbled as the lightning bolts pierced through it.


    At the outskirts of the battlefield, Arthur signaled hispanions.


    "Let''s start this crazy n. Time to Tread in the Lions Den."


    It was at that moment, that Arthur chose to move.

 Chapter 115 - The Prophet Daniel

    Returning to the time when Seeker and Arthur continued to make their many preparations for the uing battle, Arthur finally decided to ask a certain question.


    "There is a question that I am afraid to ask. It''s because as someone who does not have this blind faith like your other friends, I fear that if answer this question, my own intellect will limit my unlocking." Arthur began.


    "Let me guess¡­ You want to ask for a way to perfect your Path?" Seeker sighed.


    "Yes. My Path is an iplete one. Hence they call it a Pseudo-Path. Considering how you made things vague and broad for Lowengren, I have a feeling that it may be better if you did not tell me. But still¡­ with the uing battle, I also want to tamper myself."


    "I knew you''d ask this eventually. I''ve already thought long and hard about it. If my master is right, and I do tread the Ancient''s Path¡­ That''s what I''m calling it by the way. Do you like it?"


    Arthur gave a bored look at Seeker but nodded.


    "Yes yes. A brilliant name. Can we just move on?"


    "Alright, fine. Sheesh, Arthur. I was just asking for your opinion." Seekerined.


    "If I do tread the Ancient''s Path, then your Path can bepleted." Seeker went straight to the point.


    Arthur''s expression changed.


    "How?"


    "My foundations in this timeline are extremely strong. Vastly stronger to the ones in my past and I still have the potential to push it further. I have the advantage of memory, of knowing what an Unlocked should have in terms of their foundation, and I have the memories of breaking the one hundred percent mark of the Unlocking. This is something that has never been seen before. If I can pass on a firm foundation that others can build upon, then it''s possible. Especially if I get certain foundations."


    "Certain foundations? And those are?"


    "The first requirement is obtaining a certain Pseudo-Path. Several promising soldiers in the future timeline had it. However, none of them showed any potential to reach Ranked Hero. This is because it was a Skill. It was useful enough so we deemed it a Pseudo-Path. We called it Perfect Rhythm. It should be what you believe Alean to have now."


    "So it''s actually that formidable? No wonder she had absolute control over the momentum of a battle¡­"


    "Righto. I''m guessing that''s what you need to perfect it. You see, at this point, you are able to see and calcte everything with that amazing eye. Now imagine, if you have Alean''s Path?"


    "I see. I would in sense, be in control of the flow of battle. Far greater than Alean''s potential."


    "Yes. it''s honestly a cool thing. If you have it, you''d be a step closer to an Oveer. You see, most Oveers have that either naturally, or have something else to rece Perfect Rhythm. Your father has his hundred thought process, Richie has his instincts and so on and so forth. However, there are some who have Perfect Rhythm. The Tyrant Empress, Hermes, and even Meng. Although in Meng''s case, it could be attributed to his experience as an Assassin and years of being trained as a warrior. But what I''m saying is, they all have this Pseudo-Path."


    "Then, why don''t you have it? If there are other Champions who have this, why haven''t you developed it yet? I thought you fought Meng on many instances?"


    "The easiest way to exin it... is that, it''s not their Path." Seeker shrugged.


    Arthur was silent. He pondered on Seeker''s words.


    "They developed this Pseudo-Path, but it''s not their Path so you cannot grasp their foundation?"


    "Let''s put it this way¡­ I can''t tread on a road that isn''t the main road. Alean may have this as her main road. The Oveers merely have an offshoot of this. Like a supporting skill. But I need someone who has the Perfect Rhythm as their primary. And truth be told¡­ If I had known this, then I would have spent more time trying to absorb or study the cells of those Inhumans with that Pseudo-Path."


    "Then tell me, is what I have, a Path? From my observation, my Pseudo-Path is merely a support. I may not have developed my Path yet." Arthur finally asked.


    Seeker smiled.


    "Feeling a wee-bit insecure, are we Arthy? Don''t worry. What you have is a Path for sure. The proof of it is that you''re able to have it when you were an Inhuman. And even right now, at the early stage of the Unbing, you''ve already made it. You see, this skill of yours, there is a reason why we call it a Pseudo-Path and not just a Skill. I mean, having momentum doesn''t sound strong right? Why do we call it a Pseudo-Path, making it stronger than a skill but weaker than a real Path?"


    Arthur was in contemtion.


    "Just a guess¡­ You said that other Champions have it. Does that mean that it''s something necessary to surpass Ranked Hero and reach World Champion?"


    "Righto! Maybe I should call you Arthur Conan Doyle for such great detective work! That''s right. The reason why we call what you two have a Path, and not a skill, is because it''s something that many World Champions possess. In fact, in terms of Paths, there were other paths that could just be as strong as these World Champions. Yet what sets them apart is because they have a Pseudo-Path to apany it."


    "I see. Richie''s instincts were that powerful?"


    "Yes. The Empress has a Rhythm that is wondrous. Perhaps the best Perfect Rhythm as a Pseudo-Path second only to Richie''s instincts and Meng''s own version due to his martial skill. So although it falls into the category of being a skill, because World Champions have it, they elevated it to a Path. Your Father, my Master, and Eagle can also do instant calction which is was the basic form of Chaos Order. You were only more proficient in using it."


    "Then why are you certain, that what I have is indeed a Path? Isn''t it possible to awaken a Pseudo-Path first before an actual Path?"


    Seeker was silent.


    "You really want a new Path, that much? Trust me, Arthur. Your Path is strong!" Seeker suddenly turned serious.


    "Don''t desire for another Path. Although you may be able to develop another Path, trust in yourself. Trust in the foundation that brought you so far!"


    "My desire to change my Path is simply because I''m afraid I''m cultivating the wrong one. What if I could develop a Path greater than this? But my own faith and knowledge limit me. Isn''t it written? By the measure you use, it will be used against you? What if I''ve been limiting the development of my real Path because I was so caught up in this one?" Arthur''s voice was calm but serious. He did not speak hastily and was quite calm.


    But this fa?ade was easily seen by Seeker.


    Seeker shook his head.


    "I''m sure that Chaos Order is your True Path."


    "How can you be certain?" Arthur spoke with his tone slightly rising.


    "Simple. Because of what happened to me. I have always been skeptical about my own miracles that even when I made them, I unintentionally downyed it and thus, it limited my shot at bing an Oveer. But now I would never look down on such apparently useless issues. And just like me, the reason I believe it is because you''ve awakened it earlier! While it appears to be an improbable event, I believe, it is impossible! You have a Path! Not everyone can do what you do if they were at your current stage. Even Oveers! Let''s take Cliff as a good example. You mentioned something about Cliff having a strange memory that could match or surpass yours, right?"


    "Yes. Are you saying that Cliff has a Skill?"


    "Yup. But, I never saw thating! Who would have guessed that it would be a memory? I mean, have you seen his grades?" Seeker threw his hand high in exasperation.


    "Seeker." Arthur''s voice was slightly frustrated.


    "Rx. I''m kidding around so you could calm down. I know you''re in a hurry to save your sister. But the appearance of these pseudo-skills are miracles, Arthy. Just like my miracles, it may seem faint and obscure. But the strongest miracles could be the ones we take for granted. For Cliff, his new skill can be developed by most Unlocked atter levels. But the fact that he could do it earlier makes it his skill! Who knows? Maybe its a Pseudo-Path! Regardless, I am certain that this would be the root of Cliff''s road. And that''s what you also have."


    Arthur was silent. He avoided Seeker''s gaze.


    "Trust me, Arthy. What you have could be far powerful than it is. You told me the measure you use, will be used against you. That applies to you. If you think that your Path is only limited to be a Pseudo-Path then it will be. But the future you believed in it. He wouldn''t have traded his Path even for the Path of an Oveer!" Seeker smiled.


    Arthur nced at Seeker.


    "It''s interesting¡­"


    "What''s interesting?"


    "The way you talk about that future me¡­ I''m starting to understand why you wanted that romantic get-away with me." Arthur gave a smirk.


    A chilling sensation ran through Seeker''s spine.


    "Then tread on Alean. I am ny percent certain that it should be her Path. At Charles'' request, we have been preserving our cells every day. You can browse through it and study it all. You''ll notice the changes quite evidently." Arthur immediately spoke.


    "Then all that remains¡­ is for me to have faith in you¡­" Arthur sighed.


    "Correct. And considering that you aren''t a Believer but someone who relies on cold hard facts, the way for you to actually believe me is that if you can think of or develop a scientific exnation of how you can acquire the foundations from me."


    Arthur was silent.


    "So, I have to ask, what would it take to make you believe in me? The theory is there¡­ but awakening your Pseudo-Path earlier is all you¡­ I doubt it was because of me. I don''t have the foundations that can increase your Path after all."


    The thin figure of Lennox came to mind. It was then that Arthur realized it. The powerful and impossible tasks that he had done were far too great. Arthur had tried to kill Lennox on several asions but simply by being in front of his father, he couldn''t even do anything.


    "Be like my father. Be on his level. His shadow is what hinders me from having faith in you. In my eyes, people like my father are still the only ones who can do miracles. Not even you can top him. I can believe in Miracles. But in my eyes, only Oveers are those that bring it. That is the measure I use on myself." Arthur answered immediately.


    Seeker sighed.


    "I expected that. And truthfully I somehow get the feeling that if ever I step out of being a human and on to the grand stage of the Oveers... only then can I actually pass on these foundations at will. I need to believe in myself and have that sense of will that can somehow move my own cells to pass on these foundations to others. Perhaps bing an Oveer would achieve that. You see, it''s harder for me to grasps and pass on a pseudo-Path. This is because there is nothing generally different in terms of biology that I can observe¡­" Seeker sighed.


    Going back to the present time, the chaotic battle ahead continued to rage and rage.


    None, not even the assassins of the Dragon''s Fang could hope to survive such chaos. They may even die not from the Tyrant Empress but the chaotic attacks of Meng, Lennox, and Richie.


    It was as if a man would walk into a den of lions fighting and killing each other.


    But Arthur scoffed at the sight of such battle. Such chaos was nothing in his eyes.


    He moved with incredible speed and zoomed towards the center of the battlefield.


    The chaos of lightning bolts, destions, and the Empress''s own Realm drew no danger to this man.


    "I can see it." Arthur couldn''t help but smile as he moved forward.


    His sight was not that of sight, but of knowledge. Chaos Order has finally been made perfect. His mastery over his Selective Unlocking had also reached its critical point.


    Arthur had been holding in great joy since Seeker appeared before him with his father. He knew, that all of the requirements that Seeker imed he needed, had already been met.


    Seeker had treaded on the Ancient''s Path and got the foundations of Alean''s Pseudo-Path. It did not surface until he broke through and had the Will of an Oveer.


    And Arthur''s faith in Seeker finally manifested in the short time they spent talking. Arthur could sense the way his father treated Seeker was a way he would treat his equal. Witnessing how Seeker didn''t hesitate and led the way to fight the Tyrant Empress, and how his father seemed to be pinning his hopes on Seeker, it made Arthur realize that Seeker had be a monster like his father.


    This truth and all the other evidence that Seeker had always revealed about himself had finally turned Arthur''s head-knowledge into faith.


    The lightning bolts were crackling everywhere. A weapon that was ssified as a weapon of mass destruction was erupting its powerful bolts that could destroy the Wall of Jericho within seconds.


    Entering this zone would lead to death. The Oveers themselves were in danger of death.


    But Arthur saw through it. His faith in Seeker had caused him to finally have faith in himself and in his Path.


    With his Selective Unlocking, Arthur limited the Unlocking in the way that his eyes were weakened. All he could see around him was the blurring figures of the Oveers and the Empress. But his thinking process, his senses, and everything else remained at Inhuman.


    In fact, a new phenomenon that has never urred before, be it on the present timeline or Seeker''s original timeline, happened.


    The limitation of his sight, allowed Arthur to enhance others part of his Unlocking.


    Arthur could see it all. Where the next bolt would hit, where the Empress would move next. He knew where the safe zone of not being hit from his father''s random lightning attacks was, and where he should not go to be affected by the powerful destion that leaked out of Meng.


    He could see it all and could move through it.


    "The Threshing Floor won''t be the only thing I tread." A strange haughtiness appeared in Arthur''s cold and stoic heart.


    "The Lions Den was it? That''s nothing in the eyes of the Prophet Daniel." Arthur smirked.


    "This will be my final act, Seeker." Arthur mouthed as he noticed Seeker give him a quick nce as he entered the chaotic warzone.


    "I won''t be the Atomic Thresher of his future but I''ll be a real hero this time. I, the Prophet Daniel. He Who Treads in the Lion''s Den!"


    With incredible speed, Arthur dove deeper into the chaotic zone of thunderbolts and destion.

 Chapter 116 - Return Of The Demon King

    A single millimeter of mistake would have been fatal. Arthur was always moving at the right ce, at the right time. It was as if he could perfectly predict the chaotic battle urring before him.


    Slowly, Arthur had managed to sneak in the chaos. The theory of his entry was sound and irrefutable, but the application was frightening. Electrocution, explosions, shockwaves, destion or the lust of the Empress could all kill Arthur. But this lion''s den proved useless against Arthur''s eyes.


    As the Oveers noticed Arthur, they made sure that the Empress wouldn''t notice it.


    The chaos of the battle that was happening before him immediately intensified. Yet even then, Arthur was able to maintain his cloak. Any other person would have failed. But not Arthur. He knew where he must be and where to go.


    It was as if Arthur was ying aplicated game of chess. Every movement was important. he had to go to a specific ce as Arthur calcted it was the safest zone for his team to enter through.


    Although the Empress had the technology to detect Arthur, the chaos around the Empress gave Arthur the cloak he needed.


    Lennox did his best and started to act more aggressive. The bolts of his attacks started to drain his own physical body. Richie sted several desperate attacks and Meng had started to even unveil the Tail of the Dragon. Yet in all of this, Arthur took his time.


    After a few more seconds, the times that Arthur had escaped death by a few inches had already reached the hundreds.


    A few more seconds passed and Arthur finally reached it.


    Arthur dashed and ced a small round device to the ground and immediately retreated making his way through the sameplicated path once more.


    He then readied a small switch and pressed on it.


    BOOM!


    Suddenly, the area where Arthur left the device exploded out and a bright golden pir of light shot out towards the heavens.


    The majestic and sudden appearance of the bright light stunned everyone in the battle.


    The Empress was ready to defend whatever nefarious attacks that woulde out of that ground and licked her lips. Would there be more of these fun, exciting and mighty men to kneel before her?


    The light continued to shine brightly. Even with the Empress''s technology, it could not pierce through or see what was within that light. This small fact made the Empress curious. For even the Pangean Everbright could be seen through with the technology the Rule and her suit was equipped with.


    The Empress readied the Rule to dash towards the bright light and immediately attack whatever woulde out of it.


    The light immediately disappeared and the Empressmanded the Rule to move. But then¡­


    "What?!" The Empress halted.


    What appeared to be a naked young man hovered in the air and a strangeugh crackled out. His body was covered in dirt and grime and his entire body was covered in wounds that were written in strange symbols in his torso and face. Suddenly the figure slowly opened its eyes.


    Theughter was strange as its voice had a simr sensation to the voice of Richie. Although it was slightly weaker, the strange development had caused even the Empress to halt. The bolts around her disappeared as the Empress continued to analyze the creature.


    The creature''s body temperature was shooting up and down as if its body was constantly being cooled and heated up.


    "N¨¡? cutantiram¨¡ka irukki?¨¥?!" A strange deep and dark voice emerged from the mouth of the naked being. The bright light once more shone and the pir of light shot up once more towards the sky.


    "Tamil?" Lennox uttered unconsciously.


    The Empress was also alerted by the A.I system of her suit.


    "What is Tamil?" The Empress ordered. Since manynguages were no longer spoken in this era, the Empress had to ask the A.I system to search for it.


    As the A.I ryed the data, the Empress had a peculiar expression on her face. This creature was indeed speaking with ancientnguage that had ceased to exist after the Third World War. Why was this strange naked creature speaking with anguage widely known to be the oldestnguage in the world?


    Just as the creature was about to look around, his attention was immediately diverted to the sky and started to shout angrily.


    "N¨©?ka?!" A frightening shriek was heard as the creature continued to look to the skies. The light started to envelop him once more although it wasn''t as bright as before. Small beams of light seemed to have been gathering around the creature as the creature red angrily to the heavens.


    The Empress was the first to detect it due to her technologies, an unidentified power source was detected in the skies above.


    The group turned to see what the strange creature was looking at and was shocked at what they saw.


    A burning figure was quickly descending. A bright light-tailed from its back and continued to shoot out brightly towards the high heavens. It was as if it was teleported from heaven itself and sent down to Earth.


    The figure was constantly burning and what appeared to be wings could be seen from its back. It kept pping uncontrobly like a cloth facing the strong wind. Yet these wings were also on fire and the temperature that it carried rmed the Empress.


    The Empress was stunned at the sight. The technologies that the Empress had had far surpassed thebination of the nations that Seeker and his friends had. It had sensory technology, detection and can use various imaging technology to analyze anything. Yet against the bright light and the burning fire that enveloped the falling being, it could do nothing.


    "A devil and an angel?!" Seeker cried in shock.


    Its face didn''t have eyes. It was as if a burning mantle was ced where a human''s eyes should be. Suddenly the angel held up its hands in front of it.


    Strange bright lights were gathering in the palm of the two hands it held out. It was aiming at the demon. And the peculiar thing is that some of the lights seemed to have been leaking out of the chest!


    Everything the Empress witnessed before her seemed to have been leading to the same conclusion that Seeker had. Did their battle somehow awaken a slumbering demon in the heart of China?


    The flight of the descending angel suddenly exploded with speed as it plummeted towards the devil.


    Everyone was unconsciously retreating from the sh of the two.


    The Empress continued to observe the angel when suddenly, a bright light exploded out.


    A few minutes earlier,Arthur had to reassureLowengren that he can ce the team in a suitable ce, Arthur detailed what they can do to harm the Empress.


    "My Unlocking is different than yours." Arthur summarized.


    "I can limit my sight, but keep my senses as strong as ever. I''ll use Instant Calctions to enter the battlefield. I''ll use the chaos to sneak in and position myself in the proper position. I am a hundred percent confident, that I can make it!" Arthur dered.


    Lowengren''sexpression changed. He knew that a confident deration with such precise calctions was something that Arthur took seriously.


    "But how can you attack the Empress?" Lynd frowned.


    "I won''t. I''m only going in so that I can open up another way to get you guys to get in the middle of everything without having to pass through the obstacles."


    "I see. You want us to go through the sewers and reveal ourselves at the right time..." Lowengren realized it.


    "Wait. Can''t we just all do that now? Why do you have to go first, Arthy?" Meryl eximed.


    "No. Going underground and revealing ourselves right in the middle of the battlefield is still too dangerous. Arthur has to go in and lead us is so that our entry wouldn''t lead to one or two of us dying. Arthur can calcte the precise time of our entry where we canunch our surprise attack. Isn''t that right, Arthur? I forget. You are still that Precision." Lowengrenughed.


    Arthur nodded.


    "That''s right. Your entry will also be the beginning of our surprise attack! We can now be in a position that is safe. If that''s the case, I believe we can now do a sneak attack!"


    Lowengren''s initial worry and agitation disappeared. But a look of curiousness had reced the irritated and fearful expression.


    "We cannot face the Empress directly and will have to rely on using sneak attacks. The problem is, the Empress not onlymands technology greater than what we have, but her reaction speed is just as good as Meng."


    "How can we do a surprise attack? With that technology, she''ll know when we get close and with that reaction speed and strong defense, we cannot do a lethal blow." Meryl asked.


    "We do have one shot. Your attack."


    "I don''t know the full extent of the attack or if it can damage that Rule thing. I haven''t tried attacking weapons made of Prime Almetal. That''s why I said my attack wasn''t strong enough to damage the Horn because you all might pin your hopes on my attack."


    "I don''t think it can prate Prime Almetal. But considering how Typical praised it, it should be stronger than you think. And the Empress isn''t wearing a Prime Almetal suit, but an Altered Almetal. It should be weaker than Prime Almetal so you can damage it. At most, you can hurt her or stun her."


    "How are you going to attack the Empress? The Rule is equipped with morphing Prime Almetal. We can''t break through that." Lowengren asked.


    "That''s why we need to wait for her to focus on attacking. Based on Seeker''s description of her, she''s an impatient one. She''s bound to change her current utilization of the Rule and use it for a more offensive form. And when she does that, a surprise attack might just work."


    "Even then, it''s still too risky. You just said her reaction speed is at an Oveers level. At that stage, she doesn''t need the auto-defense of her suit and can easily evade attacks." Lowengren countered.


    "That''s why we need to lower her guard. Lowengren, that is precisely why I brought you here. If she is exposed to the full force of Meryl''s bright light, the surprise will get her off guard. Even if it''s for just a tenth of a second, we can use that surprise as an opening to attack. Create an opportunity which will cause her to fix her eyes on Meryl and not expect that blinding shbang. Meryl will then shoot her most powerful attack on the Empress once the Empress is blinded. Can you do that, Lowengren?" Arthur gazed at Lowengren in a serious manner.


    Lowengren paused but then a strange grin appeared and he nodded and quickly exined his n.


    The serious gaze of Arthur, Meryl, and Lynd changed almost immediately.


    Even though they were Unlocked, their dazealmoststed three seconds. The group forgot about the battle and was shocked at the bold and audacious n of Lowengren.


    The n was called, ''Return of the Demon King.''


    "What we need is to create a scene so shocking that it would stop the battle almost immediately. Here''s how we do it." Lowengren exined.


    Arthur who had treaded through the Lion''s Den ced the marker on the location where his team can safely jump in the battle. Finding the precise location to escape the Empress''s Realm or the Paths of the other Oveer''s was almost impossible, but not for the Prophet Daniel.


    Deep in the sewers, Lowengren, Lynd, and Meryl waited. At Arthur''s signal, they used a Pangean bomb to blow up a hole to the streets.


    At the exact moment of the explosion, Lynd released his copy of Meryl''s bright sh. The bright light prated all the way to the top creating the strange pir of light that mystified the Empress. The momentary surprise, caused the Empress to fail in detecting that something at the center of this pir had flown all the way up.


    Using the technologies of the Dragon''s Fang, particrly Specter''s tech, Lowengren used the invisible wires to make himself appear to hover on the air. He had stripped off all his clothing and revealed everything. He had added strange marks on his face and body and covering it with the grime in the sewers to give the authentic dirty look.


    The strange appearance of Lowengren caused her surprise. And then, Lowengren''s Path went to action.


    Standing haughtily on the above ground, naked and dirty, Lowengren gave off the impression of power, danger, and confidence. He paid no attention to the Empress and knew that Arthur''s preparation ced him in a position where Meng''s destion would block the Empress'' pheromones.


    At the moment when Lynd used his sh, Meryl flew up as high as she could with the technologies she borrowed from the Dragon''s Fang.


    Lowengren had cut the back of Meryl''s suit making two ''wings.'' A part of her suit was also cut off and made into a bandana which Meryl wore over her head.


    Since the suits were crafted by Lennox to have Meryl''s cells in it, Meryl caused her fire to flow through it causing it to burn but not be consumed. The fire gave Meryl a burning wing and a strange ming head which further deceived the Empress.


    As Meryl freefell, she then prepared her strongest attack as the wound to her heart was still open.


    At Arthur''s signal, Meryl then used it.


    BOOM!


    A blinding sh exploded out loudly. It blinded all the Oveers as they were looking at the figure closely.


    Even Seeker was stunned. Lowengren''s deception even made him forget about Meryl''s skill!


    The Empress, who had her eyes affixed on Meryl was affected by the blinding light and caused her to unconsciously cover her face.


    Arthur then sprung up and did hisst task.


    Perfect Rhythm and Chaos Order worked together. All Arthur had to do was to lead Meryl''s aim to where the Tyrant Empress was standing. Since Meryl couldn''t look, it was up to the blinded Arthur to aim for Meryl. Arthur had already calcted where the Empress would be.


    "Go!" Arthur shouted.


    Amidst the golden sh, a beam of light rushed out and struck the unprepared Empress.


    BOOM!


    The Empress was caught off guard from the sudden attack and thrown her off the Rule. The beam couldn''t pierce through the skin-tted armor but this stunning moment proved deadly to them.


    Seeker, Lennox, and Richie immediately acted when they heard Arthur shout.


    Amidst the light, Seeker rushed forth and readied a sh. Lennox sent out a powerful bright bolt to where Seeker was and led Seeker''s sword to strike the Empress. Knowing where the Empress only at a theoretical level, Lennox was able to send the attack out.


    Richie shouted and created a powerful force that pushed Seeker''s arms and legs, ensuring that Seeker would not escape or withdraw his sh attack.


    BOOM!


    The powerful upward sh struck the still disoriented Empress throwing her higher to the sky.


    The Empress managed to perform a defensive pose with her arms. Her bones were broken at the powerful impact and the resilient armor had cracks.


    Immediately her Realm and her Pheromones erupted.


    "MENG!" Seeker shouted as he felt a powerful urge to kill those around him.


    Meng had already revealed a pair of green wings and pped it towards where he heard the sound. The Destion enveloped the surrounding area of the Empress burning her Realm. Seeker was able to retreat as the Empress''s Realm failed to reach him.


    Arthur immediately dashed forth.


    "Lightning and Sound!" Arthurmanded.


    Any of Meng''s greenish destion could have critically wound Arthur or kill him. But Arthur knew Meng''s mysterious destion was still made of matter. And all matter takes up space. Thereby, an external force can still push or move it.


    The form that Arthur envisioned, was a drill.


    Locking various senses and only keeping the ones he needed, Arthur took out his mace and Lynd''s sword and started to spin at an unbelievable speed.


    Richie instinctively shouted covering Arthur with a spiraling sound force.


    The sword and mace spun outwards and a strange wind could be felt being drawn into the spinning sword and mace vortex.


    Lennox released another string of lightning that connected with Arthur''s weapons and the spin turned faster and was headed towards the Empress.


    The Empress was shaking and still recovering from Seeker''s attack. She wanted to dash out of where she was but she immediately noticed that the destion around her could melt her own armor. If Meng had the will to send that destion to her, she knew she would die.


    And this momentary analysis that the Empress made as she saw the surrounding aura, caused her to be blinded from the fast-approaching force.


    The spinning vortex which was led by Lennox''s lightning prated and withstood the green aura as it was visually seen to have been pushed away. The drill prated deep and finally entered the area where Meng could not send his destions to.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Sword and mace kept striking the Empress''s body in a chaotic swirl. The Empress''s unresistant body was caught up in the storm. Meng ceased his aura as the two pushed further upwards.


    "Almost there, Arthur." Seekerughed as he witnessed the nostalgic move.


    "STOP!" A desperate and strangely alluring cry was heard in the midst of the grinding vortex.


    Lennox unconsciously pulled back the lightning bolts back and Richiemanded his sound to also pull Arthur back. The sudden pull threw Arthur far off in the distance.


    The battered and beaten body of the Empress freefell from the sky.


    "Damn it, Arthur! If I be a lesbian, this is on you!" A frustrated cry emerged as the burning being rushed to catch the Empress from falling.


    Meng took the opportunity and destroyed the Rule as his Maw started chewing the Rule.


    Meryl caught the Empress andnded safely. She couldn''t move as she witnessed the terrifying sight of the Empress.


    The Exoskeleton was shattered and only a few parts remained intact. The damaged body of the Empress was unrecognizable. Blood kept dripping from the many cracks and shattered parts of her suit.


    The Rule that Meng kept on attacking was slowly being degraded.


    "Just damage the core circuits. You can''t eat that metal easily." Seeker sighed in relief.


    "It''s finally over." Lennox gathered the remaining bolts in the sky. He was missing several fingers and holes could be seen on his arms and legs. However, he ignored his state and kept gazed at the location where Lowengren was standing.


    "I never thought such a Path would be possible. " Lennoxmended.


    Meng had a stoic gaze but said nothing. Seeker sneered at the sight of that.


    "Oh my God! Meng¡­ You believed that?" Seekerughed.


    A deste aura started growing as it crept towards Seeker.


    "She''s healing!" Meryl managed to force out a cry.


    The wounds and bloody gore on the Empress''s body could be visually seen to be regenerating. The skin was covering the deep wounds and even the scars vanished.


    Meng grew tense and turned his destion to face the Empress. However, Seeker and Richie kept calm and continued to rest.


    "Rx. She used what was left of her energy reserve to heal herself. She won''t be able to fight anymore. Especially since you got the Rule and her armors broken. Don''t underestimate the Threshing Floor." Seeker smiled.


    "I see. So that''s why I feel calm." Richie smiled.


    "If that''s the case, I trust you and Arthur can take it from here correct? And you do know how to heal me?" Lennox asked Seeker.


    "Yes." Seeker nodded.


    Lennox immediately fainted without saying anything.


    "You can heal him?"


    "Yes. You''re in a more critical state. You should rest. We got this."


    "Oh. So I''m the worst of the bunch?" Richie grumbled.


    "Last question. How did she heal herself?"


    "It''s part of her Path. Extreme vanity. She is beautiful. That''s the summary of her Path right? So she can return to that beautiful body regardless of how mangled it is. The fastest regeneration, second only to Lennox." Seeker exined.


    Richie didn''t say anything else but gave in to the fatigue and fainted.


    "I can''t believe I lost." The Empress smiled as she finally sat up embracing Meryl.


    Meryl tried but she couldn''t move away or let go of the Empress.


    "Say goodbye to heterosexuality, Meryl." Seekerughed.


    "You''re not going to kill me?" The Empress wondered as he witnessed the casual expressions of the group.


    "Like we can." Seekerughed then shook his head.


    "No. Although you wanted us as your ves, we still need you in the future. Arthur, could you get the Presider? I think the Empress tossed him towards the Port Highverse Building."


    Arthur immediately dashed off.


    "I hope I wasn''t too rough on him. Who knows what you guys would do if that ally of yours die."


    "He needs to live but, no. Not an ally. He''s an important enemy. And soon, it will be your enemy too. If you want to win against them, you have to join us. Oh, and please stop trying to control us." Seeker sighed.


    The Empress pondered on Seeker''s words but then turned andughed.


    "No promises." But a hint of relief appeared on her expression.


    "You''ve got quite a beautiful friend. It''s the first time I''ve envied white skin." She stroked Meryl''s neck. Meryl was doing her best not to give in to the extreme pleasure of her touch.


    "Take care of me while I sleep, Ok? You''re my guardian angel after all." She giggled. Then she remembered something.


    "Oh! Where''s that boy who fooled me?"


    "Hiding of course. It would be dangerous if you got him. Quite a skill right? No wonder, Arthy said he could help. A Path that could even deceive an Oveer. Man¡­ That''s new." Seekerughed.


    "Yes. To think that I believed that a Demon King had awakened. But Arthur was also impressive. His Lennox''s son?" The Empress.


    Seeker nodded.


    "Like Father like Son. Well, since you don''t have any ns to kill me, I guess it''s safe for me to sleep. Let''s talk more when I wake up." The Empress urged Meryl to sit and the Empress slept at Meryl''sp.


    Meryl continued to show signs of shaking. She was trying to break off the Empress''s control but even as the Empress slept, Meryl couldn''t find a way to get out of her grasps.


    The battle had finally ended.

 Chapter 117 - Epilogue Of Act Two

    The SPU government received an unusual message from a pair of vagabond mercenaries that had disappeared for years. As these two mercenaries were well respected, the government took the information seriously. When the information revealed that a coborate effort led by Harker, to send delegates from the East Asian Alliance, the Americas, and One China to infiltrate and steal the technology belonging to Greydon Meng, the SPU immediately agreed.


    The President of the SPU continued the fa?ade of continuous hatred and resentment towards Harker but secretly, the two had a very lucrative deal.


    Harker reasoned that since he was the leader of an Underworld Organization, revealing it to Pangea was too risky. His aim was the destruction of Australia. So Harker went with the only enemy he had to reveal important information that could help him eliminate Australia.


    The Americas and the East Asian Alliance also received word of this information. Harker has a team in ce in China that had intel on Meng''s operation. An ambush attack and raid in Meng''s mansion was now possible.


    The catch was that Harker wouldn''t dare send his forces with Pangean tech and so he can only send a few soldiers whose identities were unknown to the world. He proposed that the three countries were to provide the manpower and the technology to carry out the covert operation. In that way Pangea''s involvement would nevere to light and that his workings would never be traced back.


    Another catch was that these countries wouldter carry out their own investigation and conclude that Harker is not the head of an organization in the Underworld.


    One China had also concurred with the arrangements and provided several bases and their own technology to equip the spies and soldiers for this mission.


    The countries each sent their delegates and were all led by the parents of Seeker and his friends.


    What came next was days of waiting for the sess or failure of the mission.


    And then it finally happened. News of the aftermath soon went public.


    None of the soldiers that these countries sent survived. But then a news report, far more important than the first, surfaced. Meng''s armies were massacred and Greydon Meng''s gory remains were confirmed.


    The World Governing Powers convened a World Gathering requiring all delegates to personallye to discuss and present the urrence as the assault could lead to a world war. This halted all wars in skirmishes worldwide.


    Even the attacks in Australia had to cease.


    All world leaders who held great authority in any country were required to go to the World''s Helm, the massive artificial ind and military base of the World Governing Powers.


    The World Gathering began with China toe forth with their report.


    The Chinese ambassador was enraged and demanded that the three countries had an initiated a malicious attack to eliminate their strongest General and had asked for clearance to wage war with these countries.


    The three countries in question, SPU, the Americas and East Asian Alliance countered revealing an unregistered weapon of mass destruction used in the battle.


    The world was shocked by the news.


    The sins of these countries were espionage. It paled inparison to the sins of China. This misdeed could lead to an all-out attack from the World Governing Powers


    The debates escted to such a level that many nations had voiced out and threatened China.


    It was at that moment, that China unveiled the weapon in question.


    The Killing Horn was brought to the site.


    "You all are idiots! While it''s true that China has been developing a weapon, we have not yet perfected it! Behold, this is the perfection of that weapon! The Killing Horn utilizes tech not avable to us! It is clear, China is not the author of this weapon! It is the World Governing Powers who did this!" The Ambassador cried out in anger.


    The world leaders allughed and mocked at the desperation of the Chinese Ambassador. They all continued to send a barrage of denouncements to China.


    "Fine! Since the World Governing Power''s will not speak up or admit their sins, I have no choice! Know this! You brought this upon yourself!"


    The confidence that the Chinese Ambassador disyed agitated the World Governing Powers.


    China then went on and revealed another technology. And this time, it shocked everyone including the World Governing Powers.


    The Rule.


    At that moment, all the nations ceased their denouncements and sat silently in shock at the site of the weapon which was exclusively for the World Governing Powers. No nation had the technology and resource to produce such weapons.


    "I ask the World Governing Powers to bring up the Rule they have in their possessions that is known as the Blooming Flower!" The Chinese Ambassador shifted his challenge to the World Governing Powers.


    Terror had covered the Earth. As the integrity of the World Governing Powers came to question, terrorist attacks against the facilities that the World Governing Powers controlled all over the world started to happen one after the other.


    While the politics and the corresponding terror of this gathering yed out, a carefree team had justnded on the Tatsulok Aguinaldo.


    Seeker was shocked. The entire floating fortress was now secretly under Harker''s control. The various leaders trusted Harker and had given Harker an unprecedented level of freedom andmand over the Tatsulok hoping that Harker can destroy Australia.


    Under the guise of recruiting an entire army to fight the Australians, several hundreds of soldiers had arrived at the great approval of the various leaders and Generals staying in the Tatsulok Aguinaldo.


    The soldiers arriving consisted of a very diverse group.


    The majority were all the soldiers who served under Meng. The very same army which reportedly died on the recent battle in China. They continued to remain independent and was granted to build an underwater base just below where the Tatsulok Aguinaldo floated.


    The rest of the soldiers that were brought in, were the delegates sent by the SPU, the EAA, and the Americas. Unlike Meng''s army, these groups were all converted and were now Programmed ves.


    With the extreme freedom granted to Harker, Seeker was now rxing at the infinity pool which overlooked to the wide ocean.


    "Impressive. But I still don''t get how Harker managed to develop his Path?" Seeker wondered.


    Harker had barely spent time with them, yet he showed signs of developing a Path.


    "Is he a natural Unlocked?" Seeker mused.


    "No. He believed in you."


    "But how? I barely spent time with him!"


    "Remember that little ss which you blew your Reaper''s breath into? He has been carrying it around with him and I even saw him constantly smelling that. I bet he kept it as a reminder of the true powers in this world. He even asked me for more of your cells when the ss had run out of your¡­ cells." Arthur shrugged.


    Seeker had a strange look on his face.


    "Why do I feel vited? Did youply?"


    "Of course I did. That''s how his Path grew. I gave him a months'' worth. Luckily, you seemed to have been constantly releasing this breath when you were out."


    Seeker just gave Arthur a disappointed stare.


    "First of all, how dare you." Seeker began.


    "Zeek." Lynd arrived.


    The group turned to find Lynd and an extremely sexy Alean took a dip with them.


    "Wow. Look at you!" Seeker admired.


    Alean simply shook his head and blushed a little.


    "Weren''t you the one who kept urging me to tempt Lynd?" Alean thought in her head.


    "How''s Richie?" Seeker asked.


    "So you already knew about Lennox?"


    "Of course. We call him the Lightning Phoenix after all. As long as he can get a hold of apatible source of energy he could convert it and heal himself. So, Richie?"


    "He''s ying around with Meng already. They are fighting on the Ocean floor." Alean sighed.


    "Good for them. I''m d they can get together."


    "They didn''t in your future?"


    "You guys underestimate the Tyrant Empress. Our armies were divided because of her. Several Oveers had already given in to their lust and became herckeys. Although they could think straight and had more control over their bodies¡­ just like those poor Ranked Heroes... they wouldn''t leave her side. That''s why there were two armies that our forces had. My Master took off with those who could willingly leave the Empress." Seeker sighed.


    "Hopefully now that we''ve got the Empress locked up and properly handled, we can hopefully find a way to make our forces more united in the future." Seekerughed.


    Arthur simply nodded his head as if he understood something.


    "What do we do now?" Lynd finally asked.


    "We wait. Did Lowengren seeded?" Seeker asked Arthur.


    "Yes. That whole Demon King and Queen all worked out as expected."


    "Demon King?" Alean asked in confusion.


    "Lowengren poised as the Demon King and appeared to an incredibly drugged Pridgeon. Later, we made the Tyrant Empress appeared before him as the Demon Queen. Man, I can only imagine how the Empress teased him that made that person willingly be a spy. I kinda envy him though." Seekerughed.


    "You mean he''s on our side now?"


    "No. It''s too dangerous to rely on lust to control him. We just prodded him on to the right direction." Seeker smiled and enjoyed the rxing view.


    "I can''t believe I''m actually rxing." Seeker smiled as he gazed on the ocean.


    "Did you know that the sea won''t ever be the same again? Years from now, half of it won''t be useful to us." Seeker sighed.


    "Do we now have a chance to fight back now?" Alean asked as she gazed towards the wide ocean.


    "We''ve gained a lot. We have an army that couldpensate for our losses in Australia. Technologying from several nations and information about the technological possibilities of the World Governing Powers. But these all, of course, are nothingpared to our greatest fruits. The progression of the Unlocking and the possible improvements of the Oveers. This should all give us the shot we need, right?" Alean smiled.


    Seeker''s expression changed.


    "No. It''s far from enough. We need more. We need all the resource and tech we can get. Otherwise, we''d still be on the losing end should they appear. This brings us to our next mission. We have to destroy the World Governing Powers. We need all of their techs." Seeker stared to the far horizon.


    Lynd smiled and gazed at where Seeker was staring at.


    "Funny. I''m actually excited about your ns. Is the World''s Helm in that direction?" Lynd giggled and gazed off as well.


    "Be excited now. With the ripple of changes, we''ve made, things are bound to change. Despite the advantage of our headstart, I''m not sure it''s enough to deal with them. There is a group of Aragarian''s who never appeared on my timeline. Maybe this time, with all the havoc we''ve caused on Earth, maybe they''ll appear." Seeker then nced to the heavens with a serious expression.


    Everyone had a curious look at Seeker.


    "The Aragarian''s live in a society that could best be exined as a form of dystopia. The higher one gets in this dystopia, the more technologies they get. The ones they sent to our belonged to three lowest grades. The first where those who were basically equal to ves. The nted. Next, are those who could be considered as the freeman or the working ss of our society, they are called the Pioneers."


    "So that''s what those titles mean. That Larson and even that woman who got away¡­ Those were Pioneers?"


    "Yes. The one who they were faithfully serving and the one we captured belonged to the group known as the Presiders. But truthfully, Pridgeon is amongst the weakest of this group. He must have been a Pioneer who was promoted a decade or two ago. There are stronger Presiders up there. Don''t underestimate this title. The range of power that they have is vast. While some could only equate to the same level of Unbing others are stronger. Remember, the wars we had against these Presiders drove many World Champions to their deaths."


    "Then who are those who you are worried about if they appear?" Arthur asked.


    Up in the hidden spaceship that orbited around Mars, another meeting, far more critical yet unknown to the people of Earth had also begun.


    A young man with red eyes stood to meet the gathering Presiders.


    "Presiders, we seem to havee to a little bump. Pridgeon is returning here. He has sustained injuries. It''s happening again. But this time, even a Presider is injured." The young man reported.


    A tall man with a strange long ck coat, a hat, and a pipe was the first tozily raise his hand.


    "What was his injury?"


    "We''re lucky that Pridgeon invested in cell regenerating technology. If it was any of us who received his injury, we would be dead."


    "What are you suggesting?" The man sighed and had a very annoyed expression.


    "I''m not suggesting. I ammanding. Five Presiders including me and you, Garenjazz, are to go down on Earth and investigate this strange organization that is targeting our forces."


    "You will go as well?" A thin man with sses was shocked.


    "A Principal, perhaps in his boredom, has decided to take over this mission. Expect technological gifts from him should weplete his task."


    At these words, the bored and uninterested expressions of everyone around suddenly lit up and hands were raised immediately.


    "I''ll go!"


    "No! I''ll go!"


    "I am the most senior among you next to Feyor and Garenjazz! I''m going!" Another man cursed.


    "Wait! Why have you two immediately been assigned to go?!" Another Presider angrily cursed.


    "Prince Dormin assigned me to select who gets to go." The young man coldly replied.


    The room fell silent at Feyor''s deration.


    "I''m going." The sound came from a young teen who initially didn''t raise her hand.


    "Oh? You wish to go¡­<em>Princess</em>?" Feyor''s emphasis on thest word caused the young teen to re at the Feyor.


    "Don''t call me that. I am a Presider like you. I wish to go not because of the tech bestowal but because Pridgeon failed to get me Seeker. I alreadypromised and only wanted Seeker and yet, Pridgeon failed." The young girl red up.


    "Apologies. Then I will inform the Principal that six<em>Presider''s</em>will be sent. You being the special case. You wouldn''t care if the Prince will not bestow you with gifts?"


    "I don''t, I just want Seeker." The girl continued frowning.


    "Then it is decided. I shall now select the remaining three." Feyor announced as he turned callously to the others.


    A mor rose as a lot of the Presiders started to shout in anger.


    The young girl got up and went her way out of the room.


    As she neared the door, she recalled something.


    "Assign me to Pangea." The girl impatiently shouted so that Feyor would hear her.


    "As you will, Princess." Feyor waved his hands.


    "I told you not to call me that. You say it with such jealousy or hatred. Fine. Since you keep calling me that, tell Prince Dromin to assign the Addition to me." She growled as she left, not allowing Feyor to respond.


    The room was quiet when she left.


    "You''ve done it. You just had to say it." Garenjazz frowned.


    "Now a little brat has to be our leader." He then sighed and walked off.


    "The first was intentional. The rest, a habit. Rx. I''ll see if I can make the Principal assign one of us to be the leader." Feyor had aplicated expression on his face. He then turned to a nted who guarded the door.


    "Make the announcement. Six Presider''s will be sent to Earth."


    "Yes, Presider." The nted bowed.


    "For now our temporary leader will be granted the Addition making her above all Presiders.. Let it be known to all Aragarian''s on Earth, Zeraphine of the Presiders ising."

 Chapter 118 - Seekers Essay (Pre-Volume 3 Auxilliary )

    Seeker Carlean <[emailprotected]</a>>


    To: Darian Aquamarine <[emailprotected]</a>>


    Hi Sir,


    Attached is my History Essay, The WGP.


    Thanks.


    Sincerely,


    Seeker Carlean


    ----


    Advents and Effects of the World Governing Powers


    The World Governing Powers (WGP) is an organization that made up several key figures of the most powerful nations that remained in power after World War 3.


    At the end of the World War, the mysterious murders of several of the world''s most powerful and influential world leaders which were spearheading the war efforts on various fronts suddenly left an awkward scenario for the various nations who were still fighting.


    Those who managed to ascend to the heights of President and Generals in the gap that was made from the murders of these men, peace suddenly became the desired answer.


    The world was too tired and too weak to continue fighting and the terrible effects of their war and an organization were developed from the pooled representatives of the remaining nation.


    It was here that the World Governing Powers was established.


    The World Governing Powers originally became the only functioning government that ruled over the entire world. Never has there been a time that the world united together and made great progress in the development of the world.


    With all the technologies both from government and the remaining private sectors, the World Governing Powers then dered the Void Period which would be the dates that would not be recorded in the Julian calendar but would be counted as the Void Years.


    In summary of the many promises that the World Governing Powers made during that year, they vowed to make the Earth as habitable, peaceful and progressive as it was prior to when World War Three began.


    The development of the World Governing Powers was also necessary to resolve several key problems that the then world faced.


    The Problem of Food


    The first and most difficult issue that had to be resolved was theck of food which various nations suffered from. Once the war was over, the territorial scavenging of nations that somehow supported them ended and meant that without stealing or conquering, they had to make do with what they had. Because of this, most other concerns be it territorial, political, historical and other ims to have ownership over a patch ofnd or sea in order to acquire to have a ce for farming, raising cattle and to take advantage of thend''s natural resources.


    The task to ensure food had forced the WGP to consider extreme actions to ensure that the production of food would be maximized. Several countries and the boundaries in former Latin America, Africa, Europe and other parts of the globe had to be restructured. Talks that continued on until the first decade of the Void Years were made to finalize the recent structure and boundaries of these nations.


    In order to further bnce, it out, a mass repositioning of the cities had to be done as people were forced to move to wherever the WGP deemed necessary. This was of course to provide morebor for the farnd areas or on factories that needed to have people to man it.


    Because of this, some nations were forced to ept foreigners from all over the globe. This, of course, led to the massive growth splurge of Asian, Caucasian, African and other lineages to bemon on all countries while prior to the World War, the racial and ethnical divides were more clearly seen. Ultimately, this strategy to divide the world and redistribute them had shown remarkable and effective results which drastically lowered the daily death toll from starvation and poverty.


    The Problem of Poption


    Even with the ns of reordering and redistributing the people around the world, the general condition of the world continued to remain in a critical state. The need to clean or revive locations that were bombarded with weapons of mass destruction was so urgent as its effects had started to spread. The WGP needed more people who would be tasked to work and clean these areas to quarantine the spreading of radioactive materials, diseases and other airborne or waterborne chemicals.


    Aside from cleaning up these ces, the manpower needed on several nations which had fertile grounds that wouldter be used to feed most parts of the world were also growing higher and higher. As more countries demanded more food, the manpower that the world could presently utilize was already low and if the growth rate remained as it were, then the continuing damages left by the war would cause more and more deaths.


    It was then that the WGP had to force governments around the world to fund and raise test-tube babies in order to keep up with the supply. This generation wouldter be dubbed as the Lab Generation. The Lab Generation were boosted with faster growth but came at the cost that their life-spans would end at the age of sixty and seventy unless medical treatments were made to prolong. The Lab generations who managed to work and serve the WGP wouldter receive funding to ensure that they would live as long as an average human.


    In reality, an estimate of about thirty to forty percent of the entire Lab generations were test-tube babies. The main issue was that the governments around the world could not provide for these babies. And thus, it was enforced for all families to adopt or raise sons and daughters if their ie was at a specific range. This was regardless of their marital status. Single men and women who received a substantial amount were forced to adopt children and raise them appropriately.


    The other main issue regarding the need for the poption growth was the surrounding ideologies and culturally appropriated traits on the view towards child-rearing. At the peak of Post-Modern ideology, many people had already abandoned the need to start a family and many were in fact, married couples who would never have children. The enforcement of the governments with the prodding of the WGP was met with a lot of bacshes. The Pre-War Generations were generally resistant to this decree while the Void Generation who grew up knowing that they needed to make a difference were more open and epting.


    But as the science was clearly revealed, there were practically no one on Earth who remained without a child when they reached the age of 27.


    However, having a one-child per family was still not enough as several nations on other parts of the globe were facing extinction and thus more and more people on other nations were sent either by force or by mutual agreement.


    The problem was that people who had homosexual orientations or who identified as any gender that were not heterosexual by nature nearly upied about 40% of the poption of the world. And because of that, most homosexual families would only adopt the bare minimum amount of having one child.


    The WGPunched a global propaganda whichter became a movement that challenged the ethical and moral responsibilities of everyone. The very belief and mindset on the eptance of homosexual rtionships were all challenged and the media quickly followed suit of promoting the benefits of being in a heterosexual rtionship. The very arguments that the world had long supported were all quickly challenged, ridiculed and received attacks from all medical perspectives.


    Studies stating how homosexuality is ssified as mental illness resurfaced. The WGP spared no sense of grace and continued with its adamant tirade to attack all gender groups who could not biologically and naturally consummate and give birth to a child.


    Rumor has it that the WGPter developed more sexually transmitted diseases that was far more terrifying than AIDS. In the Void years, it was said that over 30 sexually transmitted diseases emerged that specifically targeted people with homosexual rtionships.


    Despite the rise of many groups to counteract this tant usation delivered by the WGP and supported by the local governments, ultimately, the groups which were dubbed as the LGBTQ++ during the Post-Modern erater sumbed to the immense persecution, threats, and bullying they received.


    Various religious groups were funded by the WGP and the governments of each nation and used religion as a tool for attacking and further ostracizing people.


    Even the Void year historian Joseph Fas concluded that history repeated itself. "The same scorns, and limitations imposed on all who identified as these genders returned with a more powerful and hateful form. Just when you thought religion was finished due to the challenges and victories that those of thismunity had garnered, the government and the people which supported them abandoned them. Some will say it was necessary. But I say it was cruel. The millions of people affected and the hundreds of thousands who wouldtermit suicide were all buried and onlyter revisited when governments received their sovereignty over theirnds and people."


    Even up to now, the scorn and attacks against the non-orthodox genders continue as themon people have yet to move on from the brainwashing attacks that the government and the WGP did. And as religious groups naturally received more support at that time, the looming fear which these religions imparted continues to remain a painful thorn to those who are inclined to this sexual orientation.


    Thister urged the expected phenomenon that we call "Going back to the closet."


    The Problem of the Environment


    The effects of the Third World War were devastating on the environment. Weathering conditions across the world were bing more and more random as droughts started appearing on countries with heavy rains, and snowfall started impacting countries near the equator. Death tolls due to the changing weather also spiked up. Heavy rains and strong winds also caused radioactive materials to travel to different locations infiltrating water supplies.


    India, Egypt and other countries in between Africa and Asia were so damaged that it was only until the end of the first decade of the Void years that people could live with a life expectancy that was in line with the general poption. The WGP''s main bulk of efforts were done to remove nuclear radiation or any other environmental remnants from any weapon of Mass destruction, the drive to do reforestation, and the protection of wildlife.


    Several countries also developed means and ways to help the WGP in terraforming Earth once more.


    New Great Britain''s weather-controlling technology were unveiled, Americas Misceneous technology also aided in utilizing nanoparticles for regrowth, and nearing the end of the second decade of the Void years, the newly formed Pangea also revealed its eradication technology which was a radioactive-free technology that was useful for terraforming damaged mountainsides.


    Germany''s Aqua tech also proved useful in reviving the sea life through the Coral Resurrection projects, and the Aqua clean drive which are continually used to remove chemical wastes that were dumped on the ocean.


    Most environmental hazards were removed by the end of the Void Years and it was said that the teeming forests on every continent were even denser than it was back on the 1900s.


    The Problem of Possible Wars


    By transferring all military technologies to the World Governing Power, the World Governing Power had the resource and the men to practically end a nation should it want to. The surrendered weapons of mass destruction were used to warn any nations who were getting out of line after the war. Due to the heavy losses and the atrocities that several countries had performed against each other, terrorist acts funded by an enemy country were rampant and the World Governing Powers had to use several show of force to establish their ce in the new world.


    The political upsets that led to several revolutions also became a priority. Several countries had wanted to oust the WGP from their power and supnt it. But when the World Governing Power had issued a mass execution on one of the countries supporting this movement, the remaining countries immediately stopped from their acts.


    Celebrated Void Year historian Joseph Fas of the New Great Britain concluded that the period of the Void Years naturally involved mass killings, show of might, threatening acts of abandonment from the WGP''s support and research for scientific was seen as an abuse of power from the nations who wanted to rece the WGP as the new world leader. But to the rest of the world, who wanted to get back up on their feet and just return to a habitable state, the World Governing Powers was seen as right.


    It was said that the World Governing Powers had killed over seven million at that time period. Several minor wars and skirmishes also urred at that time period when several nations who refused toy down their arms and allow the WGP to take hold of all their scientific studies attacked the WGP''s main headquarters in Pnd. But the armies of these nations were easily decimated when they revealed the gruesome technology that the WGPter banned the Americas from developing, the unveiling and usage of Hellfire Technology had basically burned the invading armies to a crisp.


    The WGP had promised that they will return authority and power to most governments once the situation of Earth would stabilize. It was on the second decade of the Void year that the WGP announced that they will stop meddling directly with all nations but only remain as an organization that will continue to watch Earth and ensure that no wars that would be as treacherous as that of World War 3 would ever happen again.


    Nearing the end of the Void Years, the majority of nations voted for the continuing existence of the WGP in order to prevent the rising super-powers from attacking and harassing the smaller and budding nations.


    The Problem of Bnce


    The WGP concluded that the world ended up in the current post-apocalyptic state due to human greed and nationalistic pride. They did not give out any historical and political statements but stated that people simply thought themselves to be better than the rest. In order to maintain this bnce and to ensure that nations would rely on each other, the WGP imposed the Technological Possibilitiesw that would be abided by every nation.


    Each nation would have monopoly of the use and production of products unique to their own technological possibilities. This ensures that nations will need another nation to provide for a specific product. Although the goal of making "all nations equally rich" was not met, many of the weaker nations were making strides and strides in their development and thus, the dividing perception regarding the rich first-world and second-world countries and the developing third-world countries slowly diminished.


    Each nation now had a technology and product exclusive to them and apart from several nations that belong to the Rotting Lands of the Americas and other nations which had been barred of trade, most countries which were considered to be poor and belonged to the "third-world" group rose economically and could even be a nation that the major super-powers such as the Americas or the New Great Britain would dare not engage recklessly with.


    In an effort to unite the world, the WGP also funded the growth and development of several online games. The logic was that online games provided a tform where people all over the world could meet and participate. These small organizations that were tasked to create a game that would be suitable for the masses wouldter produce the most awaited games in all of history. The Piercing series and the Generals are among the fruits of this.


    Because of this,puters that were ssified as "high-end gaming" devices became a naturalmodity as private corporations were forced to cheapen their prices.


    Conclusion:


    The WGP is an organization that was established with well-meaning intentions. Though they were extreme and oftentimes brutal, the effects and lifestyle that our present age enjoys could not have been made possible with the very bold decisions and movements made back then. Sadly, this did not unite the world all the more. For in our present era, we live in a times dubbed as the Age of Distrustful Nations.


    What originally was meant to unite us and make us all equal, further divided us. In my opinion, the WGP made a mistake. It wasn''t just greed that people struggled with. They also had the issue of contentment. Now in an era where everything and every country is almost equal, it increased the paranoia of the stronger nations and made the weaker ones desire for more.


    The WGP which were supposed to be the guardians of this Earth became the object of jealousy for the entire world. Will peace ever be made possible? I doubt it. Unless greed and envy are removed from the Earth, more secret organizations, simr to the one currently challenging the WGP would definitely surface.


    ----


    Darian Aquamarine <[emailprotected]</a>>


    To: Seeker Carlean <[emailprotected]</a>>


    Hello Seeker!


    d to see you back on your feet. I hope you recovered from whatever wounds you received. I''m d to know you are ready for school.


    We might have to move you to a different ss now. Do consider the Royal ss that I teach. I''ll do my best to note into conflict with your training regime.


    In fact, you don''t need to attend. I don''t think you need me to teach you how to make it in life since you earn twice and probably three times of what I make.


    Please give me a discount or a free pass to your streams!


    Thanks.


    Sincerely,


    Professor Darian.

 Chapter 119 - Room Of The Royals

    It had been three months since the attack on China and the world had grown more chaotic since then. All over the world, there were various uprisings urring on different parts of the world. Various protests regarding the injustice of the World Governing Powers had begun.


    Some governments were supporting the WGP while others had shown subtle support for their protesting citizens. Some countries ignored the raging protest and neither did they show any signs of supporting the protest.


    Pangea had fallen into a neutral state. The masses, in general, weren''t too obsessed with the World Governing Powers as their attention remained affixed on Australia.


    During these three months, Australia had shown off more of its terrifying technologies as various mobile bases were being made. It was rumored that New Birth Fort is going through another hibernation stage with technologies that would astound the world.


    The coastlines have all been retaken as most of the foreign invaders were pushed off. Although the WGP''s rules were extremely favorable for Australia, they were simply following the rules established since the Void Century.


    Professor Darian Aquamarine headed towards his assigned ss. Because of the diversity of students in this school, the lesson ns for the Regrs, Rising and the Royals were vastly different.


    Darian Aquamarine was one of the most open-minded teachers in all of West Phil-Pangea High. His lessons were very critical and he dared to voice out things and ideas that would startle an ordinary person.


    These were the elite students of the school. Each of them had a name behind them and all of them would have a name for themselves in the near future.


    Their gene pool was optimized as their parents could afford it. By their basic biology, they were a step up to the rest. Unlike those born without Artificial Intervention, the Royals were by nature, more beautiful, more good looking, had a higher I.Q, and generally were immune to more diseases.


    The enhancements they received would oftentimes improve a person''s height, eye-sight, and even mentalprehension. As such, a person who would have had average intellect could have the possibility of being innately smarter and better at memorizing, analyzing and other mental tasks.


    As for looks, there has not been an unattractive Royal for nearly a decade. Such was the prestige of the Royals of the world.


    Ever since the emergence of the Lab Generation, people have been divided ording to their gic capacities. People of low-born status couldn''t afford the expensive gic enhancements making them sub-par to themon man. People of the Rising group would have taken various body-enhancing medications that they could afford and would at times avail of certain gic enhancements making them a bit slightly better aspared to an unenhanced person.


    The Regrs were the lowest of the bunch. Since the foundation of the school, the core beliefs and values of the school have been established. It aimed to help all people of all walks in life. Regrs, Risings, and Royals all have a part in society and must be educated and equipped so they can perform their respective roles well.


    Since Regrs were students who were extremely poor or who cannot afford even the basic enhancements, they only received the most basic forms of training and their job opportunities are limited. Although there have been people who started off as Regrs but slowly managed to acquire wealth and fame that could even be of equal level to a Royal, the general purpose of this divide was to further segregate and divide the workforce of a country.


    Royals would hold key positions in society, the Rising would be the middle-ss group and the Regr would be the group who would perform odd jobs, blue-cor jobs, and other rted tasks.


    As each country had its own Technological Possibilities, the possible career paths in each country were different. Due to the limitations and potential opportunities brought by a technological possibility, the necessity of dividing work sses was alsomon around the world.


    Each of these students had a strange aura around them of pride, confidence and the graceful etiquette befitting their heritage.


    Darian Aquamarine finally arrived at his assigned ssroom.


    Despite maintaining a calm expression, a lingering sensation of unease still followed him even though he had been teaching to Royals for years. After taking a deep breath, Professor Darian Aquamarine entered and nced at the room full of Royals.


    "Good Morning ss!" Professor Darian greeted.


    "Today, we will be continuing our discussion about the World Governing Powers. No doubt each of you has done your reports? So I would like to hear from your observations and questions."


    The Royals, being the higher ss of society, had a different kind of training and teaching. They were given more freedom to voice their opinions and challenge the very nature things. Hence, it wasmon for illegal matters to be discussed within these circles.


    A hand immediately shot up before anyone else could.


    "Sir!" A young man immediately greeted.


    "I wonder why we must discuss this. It''s fairly obvious to all of us that this is a conspiracy set by the World Governing Powers to make us believe in them. The atrocities revealed in China three months ago are yet to be concluded. All evidence points that it was the World Governing Powers that did the attack. I don''t see why we must continue to cater to their whims."


    "Because their whims can mean three weapons of mass destruction going off in our three countries. And we may not have the capacity to defend it. Also, the conspiracy, the event itself is very questionable. Why would the World Governing Powers send a Rule? Any other technology could have sufficed. And why use a weapon not yet revealed to the world? Why risk it? The WGP is certainly hiding techs that could shock us, this is of no doubt. But why use it so recklessly?"


    "Wasn''t it that China imed that it was a pyrrhic victory?" Miles Current, another Royal student inquired.


    "If so, howe the World Governing Powers didn''t immediately retrieve this Rule from China? If I was one of the heads in the WGP, I''d immediately retake the evidence that China has before the Conference. Yet nothing happened! It only proved that the WGP knew nothing of the attack."


    "So you are saying that China really did own that tech, Professor?" Another Royal student inquired.


    "No. I personally believe that the reason the WGP has been more active and more aggressive is that there could have been a third party involved. And that party has the power to threaten even the WGP itself."


    "Do you have any evidence to support that im, Professor?" A hand shot upright as the question was asked.


    The ss turned to the student who raised her arms.


    She was a beautiful Asian student who had bright white skin, long flowing hair, and sharp eyes.


    Several hearts were throbbing at the sight of her beauty, while many girls frowned at her initiative to talk.


    "Oh! Where are my manners! ss this is our newest member. She transferred from the East Asian Alliance and will be studying here. You all know how our rtionships with other nations have been dicey but as we are faced with the Australian Avarice and the WGP has to do more PR stunts to show that they hate human modification, our very country, and in fact, this school is the only school that was allowed to continue its transfer student program. She is the first of many students who will be sent here." Professor Darian exined.


    "Would you be so kind as to introduce yourself to us." Darian smiled.


    "My name is Lara Diamon. Daughter of Cratch and Violet Diamon. Thank you for having me." The beautiful girl promptly introduced.


    To the uninformed Royals, the revtion of her parent''s name caused deep shock. The majority who knew who Lara was, took the opportunity to keenly observe Lara as she allowed herself the attention.


    The Diamon family name was one of the most powerful names in the East Asian Alliance. It is one of thepanies to has been approved by various nations, even those nations who shown aggression towards the EAA, to have a permit to operate on other nations. the conglomeration the Diamon''s built controlled banks, real estate and had their own techno hub that was even used by the government of EAA.


    "I''m curious about the Professor''s opinion. As you know, my country is one of the identified countries that were involved to raid China''s ck Dragon."


    Various strange looks appeared at the mention of the ck Dragon.


    Professor Darian simply smiled. He knew that the nature of the ck Dragon would have reached the ears of these students as the attack on China had practically unveiled one of the most shocking secret organizations.


    The Enemies of China had all used the exposed example of Meng to entice the WGP into adding more restrictions to China. But because the WGP was in an extremely disadvantageous position and could not afford to leave the Rule to China, they mostly ignored most of China''s atrocities and imed that China was ying ording to the rules, unlike Australia.


    "I believe a teacher like you should have heard of this ck Dragon? As I was saying¡­" Lara continued.


    "The EAA was told that all our forces met their deaths. Many of my countrymen and women do not believe that. But it''s pretty hard to deny that if a weapon of Mass Destruction belonging to the assassinate type was used, then the deaths are possible. I can only imagine what technology was stolen from Meng''s base. But if these attackers are not from the WGP, who would this organization belong to?" She spoke slowly and clearly.


    The Professor smiled politely at the inquiry.


    "Themon theory is another organization which seeks to rival the WGP. Although it isn''t spoken of in the news, going by what the WGP has been doing in these past months indicates their attempts to see if there are nations who pooled all their technology together and made a new branch of technological possibilities that could rival the WGP. This is scary if you think about it. And this is also the very thing that I believe to have happened. It doesn''t make any sense for the WGP to attack China. Regardless of what the ck Dragon had, you can be sure that the WGP already had simr technology."


    The ss erupted in debates at this im. Many continued to insist on the constant conspiracies of the WGP while others went to the WGP''s defense. Lara remained silent throughout the discussion.


    The ss continued with its discussion as Darian continued to defend and at the same time promote the WGP. The discussions further dove into the possible implications that these changes have for their market and businesses. As many of the Royal''s in this ss were well off, others actually had businesses of their own.


    Soon the discussion circled back to the WGP as many started denouncing and iming how the WGP were abusing their power.


    "Admittedly, we aremanded and ordered to put the WGP in the light and glorify it. But the truth is dear students, my personal choice is to side with them." The teacher''s announcement caused shocked expressions to some of the students.


    "The WGP was established to rule over this world for a purpose. When the Third World War ended and we entered the era we now refer to as the Void Years, it was this organization that led to mankind''s current progression. They have led this world effectively."


    "But Sir, the many criticisms the WGP has had over the years are piling up! They are biased, greedy and prioritize their development over the world!"


    "Yes! And that system worked! No country who did not abide under the rules of the WGP had fallen below the poverty level ever since the WGP has governed this Earth! Compared to how we are now in this age, the Post-Modern era was just terrible! Thousands would die every day from starvation alone!"


    The ss was silent at this argument.


    "Look at Egypt or the nations in the Rotting Lands. This is one of the nations that started to refuse aid from the WGP. Look at their state now. It''s said that their technology is a centuryter than ours. Would you want that?"


    Several of the students had a strange expression.


    "Aside from this argument, another reason why I choose the WGP is that choosing this mystery organization is simply illogical. The WGP has technologies that surpass the world and this advantage could not be defeated if two or three countries allied together. But even if this organization does have the power to fight it, then we should expect the fourth world war. Ask your grandparents how life was back then." The teacherughed.


    The students were silent.


    "The WGP has its ws but are you really willing to change the order of this world and recklessly allow another World War to happen?" Professor Darian challenged.


    "Isn''t this reason very weak, Professor? Why should we allow ourselves to settle with second best?"


    "Think of it this way. If we continue to support this mystery organization, the world will soon be forced to pick a side. Right now, I''m telling you, though the WGP has its faults, it has guarded and protected us from wars that can lead to the destruction of several nations. Are you willing to gamble that? And if you are willing, how sure are you that this mystery organization will be as good, as neutral, as passive, as effective as the WGP has been? Will you trade something that works for something that might rule over us with an iron fist?" Professor Darian left with that as the bell rang.


    The ss got up and went their own way.


    Lara walked casually ignoring the many students who wanted to strike up a conversation with her. She walked out and simply shook her head as she recalled the statements of the teacher.


    Then she nced forward and sighed at the sight of several posters and ads on the small monitors around the school.


    She had been in Pangea for weeks but she still hasn''t personally met the person she longed for. Despite her status, she could only wait and nce at the sidelines not even capable of walking up towards that person and greet him.


    As she left the room, arge monitor disyed Seeker''s recent stream. These streams which were originally paid streaming ounts would be disyed for free after a few days pass in this school.


    Students still continued to gather and celebrate Seeker''s name.


    "Casual Carlean. The Rising that rose above all Royals.." Lara smiled as she gazed at the confident face of Seeker Carlean.

 Chapter 120 - The Special Regular

    Lara continued to stroll through the hallways of the school. Various parts of the school continued to undergo renovations. Several buildings were being erected and the other buildings were being dismantled and improved.


    Several soldiers were, in fact, patrolling the school grounds.


    Lara couldn''t help but shake her head. It was as the rumors were. Seeker''s influence had drawn out the military. Over the past three months Seeker Carlean had developed a new nickname.


    Because of his crazy gambles and how he managed to infuriate his enemies leading to bets that were always north of a million Sydians, he was now called Crazy Carlean.


    Various organizations and groups were trying to stop Seeker from continuing in his gambling spree. But suddenly, news that shocked and stunned the world appeared.


    Charles Lindmitt who was recalled back by New Great Britain and won the bid to bring back this personality enraged Phil-Pangea. Although by citizenship, he was of Pangea, his birth-home was Sweden and because of this, New Great Britain managed to recall this personality with the promise that all of his research will be supported and the findings would even be shared with Pangea.


    At the peak of the usations mounting against Seeker Carlean, Charles managed to cure cancer.


    Lara couldn''t help but smirk at the memories of Charles''s announcement and how the unusual case of Seeker''s sickness had allowed him to discover the link between cancer cells and how to control it through the brain. The Transcellr Neuro Phenomenon became the top topic in the world. Charles''s study also concluded that within this years'' time, he would have been able to map out and possibly cure any and all neurological sickness. His request is that Seeker must be allowed to do what he does. The adrenaline rush of Seeker was necessary for his studies. Seeker''s streams had always apanied several doctors in waiting who was said to be working under Charles and people who watch Seeker''s stream knew of Seeker''s condition.


    And since Seeker''s gambling spree was the fruit of this study, the rest of the world and Seeker''s haters could do nothing but shut up.


    Seeker paraded his aplishment''s the next dayughing and mocking quotations and statements made by people who dered Seeker was a threat to humankind.


    Lara walked out slowly and casually, not joining with the other students who went their way in pairs or groups.


    She walked into the long cafeteria and couldn''t help but nod in satisfaction as she saw the arrays of meals. This was truly worthy of being one of the most prominent schools in the Pangean nations.


    Being a Royal she continued to browse to the rooms that were specifically reserved for their use. As was indicated in the manual, the Royals may reserve rooms for them to dine in and so, Lara walked around the various rooms to check if there were any rooms with spaces.


    Various offers popped up as the males witnessed Lara browsing. Lara ignored all the offers that these men gave and didn''t even gaze back at them.


    Even the men who directly walked and greeted Lara was not met even with a stare or smile.


    Many men frowned at the sight of her apathy but dared not abuse their position. They knew it was stupid to mess with someone with the surname Diamon.


    As she reached the middle area of therge hall which housed these private rooms, she noticed that a crowd of people was standing and staring at a certain room. They kept their distance but did nothing to overstep their boundaries.


    Lara smiled in excitement as she knew what this crowd meant.


    Seeker had finallye out and had gone to school. This was the first since the three weeks of Lara being in Pangea. After an intense match with several E-Sport yers that led in an extremely shocking and unbelievable result, the World Governing Powers tried to detain Seeker but due to theck of evidence, they had to let Seeker go.


    Sadly, Lara couldn''t approach as the crowd around that room was too many and were even crowding. There were more men than women because she would also be making an appearance.


    Lara sighed and decided to simply stare at a distance.


    It was then she noticed that near where she was standing, was a Royal room with only one upant.


    She turned to peek inside and noticed a girl eating a rather simple dish.


    The girl was beautiful but had a rtively simple appearance.


    The girl inside noticed Lara''s gaze and waved back with a smile.


    "Hello! Are you looking for a room? I doubt there are any avable here. Most Royal''s dine together with their friends. And the other rooms are already taken because of Seeker''s trio. I suggest joining another room. Don''t worry. With looks and hair like that, any male Royal would definitely let you in for free." The girl giggled.


    Lara had a bemused look. She nced at the name registered for this room at this hour and then Lara''s expression changed.


    "Novelty-stoise?" She wondered.


    The girl inside didn''t react but maintained her warm look.


    "Maybe I should eat here instead. I hate being the center of attention. Most female Royals are probably jealous of me." Laraughed.


    "Oh¡­" The girl was caught off guard but responded courteously.


    "I''m Lara."


    "Oh? You''re actually introducing yourself? Itsmon knowledge for anyone that is a Royal to know you and your family."


    "They know my family. But I don''t think they know me." Lara giggled.


    "I''m Charm Novelty stoise." She introduced.


    "Novelty-stoise? Interesting." Lara smiled. Those two family names implied that this girl was the product of two powerful families.


    "Go ahead. Feel free to ask. I won''t get offended." The girl cheerfully offered as she started opening her meal. It was a simple meal considering the usualvish food that most Royal''s have.


    "Alright. Since you said so. Howe you are so¡­ unaltered?" Lara asked as she observed her beautiful features.


    "My parents simply didn''t want it. Although gic altering is beneficial, they wanted to have a child that would naturally be made and developed without those enhancements." Sheughed.


    Lara smiled and had a warmer look at the cheerful girl.


    "I''ll be honest¡­" Lara began.


    Charm simply sat silently and waited for the usual words she has heard so often.


    "You''re beautiful already. Don''t get altered. It''s a waste of time. You''re more beautiful because you''re wed." Laraughed.


    Charm was surprised at the words of Lara.


    "Th-Thank you." She smiled with an embarrassed expression.


    "Believe it or not¡­ I hate my altering¡­" Lara sighed.


    "I wished I could just walk in here with who I am. With who I really look like. But instead, the standards of these world in terms of beauty have grown so high that having a beautiful face like yours is almost good as not being good looking." Lara sighed.


    Charm had a strange expression on her face.


    "Why do you hate your Altering? I mean, you look stunning. Whoever tinkered with your genes must have been an expert!" Charm admired.


    "But it isn''t me¡­ I wish I had parents like you who loved you for you and didn''t need toenhancetheir kids. It makes me feel that I wasn''t enough." Lara smiled.


    "You''re a weird kid." Charmughed.


    "And that''s why I think we''d be good friends." Laraughed.


    "Thanks! That really means a lot. I mean, I have friends but none who have a prestigious title such as yourself."


    "Oh? Were you bullied too much that you actually made friends with Rising''s or Regrs?"


    Charmughed.


    "If I am, will you find that offensive?"


    Lara was surprised at Charm''s reaction.


    "I don''t see any issues with having friends with Risings or Regrs. If I hadn''t met you, I would have dined with Rising''s if all Royal rooms were taken. If I met a Regr first, I would dine with him or her." Lara spoke seriously.


    Charm smiled.


    "Good! Then you won''t have a problem then! I was scared you''d freak out like how my other friends did."


    "Freak out?"


    "I have a friend who is a Regr," Lara announced simply.


    The eyes of Lara didn''t show any strange changes.


    "Is it that bad to have one on this side of the Earth?" Lara asked.


    "Well... Yes. This school has always adopted this stand. Value those with potential and make the rest simply capable of surviving. In this school, a Regr, means you have no future. You simply exist and will act like someone who will help and do the dirty work." Charm sighed.


    "I see. I think that''s the general view around the world but no one would ever make fun of you if you have a Regr friend." Lara pondered.


    "Not in Pangea. Because we have been situated around countries that are hostile to us, those who are Rising are treated as unimportant while the Regrs are like trash. The culture of this country urges this because as a Pangean, we were engraved with this thought in our heads. If we don''t get better to those around us, we will die." Charm exined seriously.


    "Anyways, forget it, let''s eat." Lara offered as she tapped on the table which brought up the hologram for the menus at their school.


    "This school is really impressive. Hologram menus? How rich."


    "This is only recent. It''s all because of Harker." Charm exined.


    "Oh. Right. So what should we order? I can treat you to anything! Don''t worry about the price just name it!" Laraughed.


    "Ummmm¡­" Charm hesitated. But then she looked at Lara and then sighed.


    "Alright. The thing is... this Regr is a bit special. I actually treat him with a full course meal." Charm exined timidly.


    "A Full-course meal?" Lara was stunned. Was Charm eating a simple meal so she can shower this Regr with dishes handmade from the top food restaurants that were run by the businesses of some Royals?


    "Are you in love with this man? Is that why you''re eating such a simple meal?"


    "Yeah. Actually, the reason I have a simple meal isn''t because of myck of money. After all, I am still a Royal. As you guessed, in about five to ten minutes from now, that Regr would join me and eat here." Charm finally confessed.


    "So he''s your boyfriend? They say the best way into a mans heart is through his stomach. " Lara teased.


    Charm gave her an odd look.


    "I don''t think anyone had said that idiom since the Void years. But no.It isn''t anything like that." Charm defended.


    "A Full-Course meal? There are only three five star restaurants serving in this school. One of which is owned by Harker and the rest by some royals. I know the range of these meals. And while it isn''t expensive, it sounds like a lot to be given for free at a Regr."


    Lara continued tough as she saw the change of Charm''s color.


    "It really isn''t like that!"


    Lara smiled weirdly.


    "Then do tell, what it is!" She teased.


    "Alright. This Regr. His extremely special."


    "That''s what women who are in love always say." Laraughed again.


    "Well... I''m feeding him not necessarily out of love... But out of pity."


    "Pity?" Lara had a weird look.


    "He¡­ he goes in here¡­ to cry¡­" Charm tried to exin.


    "Cry?"


    "Yes. He''s¡­ very busy¡­ is constantly under pressure¡­ and rarely sleeps. That''s how pitiful this guy is." Charm exined.


    "Wait. He''s a Regr, right? Is he a working-student or something?"


    "He is a Regr. But I wouldn''t call him a working-student. But he''s really sad. Every day, he has to report to his superiors and it sounds like they keep giving him a task that is almost impossible that even Royal''s of our prestige would find to be very very difficult."


    "You''re kidding?" Lara was stunned.


    "Basically, he has to get in between the turf battle between twopanies and sometimes have to sh with other government agencies, groups, the police, military and if I remember correctly, an odd deal of trying to get him to meet the president of Corplegred."


    "Corplegred? The current owners of the Pokemon franchise?"


    "Yes. That samepany. His missions can go as easy as talking with people but will sometimes involve running away from armed men. He has extremely harsh deadlines to finish and frankly, some of them are illegal."


    Lara continued to gap in shock. Was this a Regr or a secret agent?


    "There were times that he even had some wounds and told me he got it from his training sessions. The first time I met him was when I had an errand and got to this room for about thirty minutes in my allotted time. This guy thought I wouldn''t show up and went into this room, locked it so he could cry. When I saw how pitiful he was, I allowed him to stay. Every now and then when he is scheduled to meet with his superiors, he goes in this room to cry." Charm sighed.


    Lara had a strange expression.


    "That''s awful? Wounds? Why would a Regr have that kind of lifestyle? Is he one of those enrolled in a Student-Soldier program?" Lara guessed.


    "Yes. He is a student-soldier. But that''s not why he cries. It''s because his identity is a bit special even for a Regr. Although people still look down on him for being a Regr, his identity also makes him someone that wouldn''t make others bully or mess with him. In fact, people know that this guyes in here to meet with me. Honestly, I lost quite a few friends in the process. They say it''s out of disgust, but in truth, most are jealous of me. In fact, many Royals have tried to talk to this man." Charm exined further.


    "Interesting. Who is this person?" Lara finally asked.


    "STUPID ZEEK! STUPID STUPID ZEEK!" A loud curse was heard as the door opened and shut immediately.


    A young man had immediately copsed to the floor and started to weep desperately with painful sobs.


    "I FAILED AGAIN!" He cried out pitifully.


    "I DIDN''T ASK FOR THIS! I DIDN''T ASK FOR THIS! LET ME DIE! JUST LET ME DIE!" His sobs grew louder and louder. The soundproof room prevented his loud howls to be heard from the outside.


    "Cliff! Oh my God! Get up! It''s alright! It''s Alright! Here! Have some drinks! Don''t worry. It''s on me. Eat as much as you want!" Charm immediately helped the young man to be properly seated and tapped on the table to bring the buffet options.


    Lara was stunned at the face of this man.


    Despite her research, very little data had been shown about this man. But in a twist of fate, Lara met this man on the first day of her transfer.


    "CLIFF FANGWOOD?!" Lara recognized the man who was officially assigned to be the bodyguard of Seeker Carlean.

 Chapter 121 - Cliff’s Hardships

    Gazing at the pathetic form of the man of whom Charm was now hurriedly serving, Laraunderstood the financial troubles that would result from preparingsuch high-ss meals. If Charm had been constantly ordering this meal, then the expenses would indeed be expensive even for a prominent Royal.


    The poor man continued to sob making even Lara feel a sense of pity.


    "No wonder she gives him such enjoyable meals¡­ He¡­ really is troubled." Lara thought silently as she understood Charm''s troubles.


    "I''ll pay for it." Lara offered.


    Charm was stunned and was about to say something else.


    "Don''t worry. Think of it as a celebration for having two new friends." Lara smiled.


    Cliff finally realized that there was someone else in the room.


    Cliff stared at Lara then to Charm.


    "I''m sorry! I didn''t mean to-!" Cliff stood up and was headed for the door. It was then the Cliff noticed the features of the new girl in the room.


    "No! It''s alright! Let me treat you. Offer whatever is on this table. Don''t worry about the price. I can-"


    "A Diamon?! You''re the transfer student? I''ll do anything! Please let your Dad ept to the meeting!" Cliff rushed forward and approached her.


    Lara was surprised at the sudden reaction of Cliff.


    "Meeting?"


    "Yes! Twopanies will be trying to bid for their medical services for a branch of yourpany here in the South-East Asian region! However, a smallpany is trying to get a hold of your dad to win that service! Please let that smallpany allow to meet with you! It''s apany named MedServed! It''s one of thepanies that the sponsor of the Covenant controls! Please! Please! I''ll do anything! I beg you!"


    Lara was confused at the sudden plea of Cliff.


    "What? I don''t understand." Lara turned to Charm.


    Charm sighed and stood up.


    "Allow me to exin. Are you familiar with the political arenas here in Pangea?" Charm asked.


    "I can''t say I''m that versed." Lara shook his head.


    "I''ve heard that because of the unique status of this country is three countries that are one, the political battle here is very chaotic. But apart from that, I didn''t pay attention to it."


    Charm sighed.


    "It''s like this¡­ Thisschool has be one of the most Elite schools in Pangea because of Harker. Harker announced that he wants to transform this school into something which is more militaristic by nature. Because of that, many in the Pangean nation are now insisting on enrolling their sons and daughters here. And because this school is one of the special cases to which the WGP allowed its transfer student program, everyone who is anyone is sending their sons and daughters here."


    Lara nodded.


    "And this isn''t just in Phil-Pangea or any Pangean nations¡­ But this has actually caused all surrounding nations that have a generally positive to a neutral rtionship with the Pangea, to take advantage of Harker''s new interest and would use this school as a means to establish more rtionships with other formidable countries."


    "You mean to say, Pangea is now being courted? Is it only because of Harker? Or is it because¡­?"


    "Right. Crazy Casual Carlean." Charm sighed.


    "People who are capable or approved by the WGP for international travel have been trying to enroll in this school. A few months ago, before transfer students were weed, all of the schools were being oriented to the many changes. But since I''m a Royal, we know more of the happenings behind the scene."


    "So you mean to say, our presence has a more of a political reason?"


    "Yes. In fact, we now have an array of well-known family names that were previously not associated or enrolled t this school. You,a Diamon, are among the few families which managed to enroll here despite being outside of Pangea. I heard several other names started to enroll here. Larson, Xia and Vonderbrass students were also enrolled."


    "Vonderbrass, huh?" Lara couldn''t help but smile at hearing that family.


    "As for those within Pangea, we''ve also had more prominent families joining this school. Inklet, Hydron, Dalisay¡­ these are just a few of the powerful families present here."


    "I see. So the initial n of sending students here in order to threaten Australia from attacking Pangea became a center of political conflict."


    "Yes. Oh¡­ Give me a sec Lara¡­"


    Charm then immediately began ordering their meals.


    Charm then turned to Cliff.


    "Cliff, sit down. She''ll agree. Don''t worry." Charm smiled.


    "THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" Cliff started sobbing intensely.


    "Anyway¡­" Charm turned back to Lara while patting Cliff on the back as Cliff rested his face on the table quietly.


    "Because of that, the school is always at the brink of chaos. You see, the political andmercial enemies will find that their sons and daughters will be ssmates and schoolmates with one another. Everyone is racing to get connected with the top brass of the military and at the same time use the sons and daughter here to establishmunication with people like you."


    "I get it. Although International Trade has been banned by the WGP, personal shipments are possible. This means themercial, industrial and even military groups here are getting acquainted so to continue the necessary trades they need but only do it in a form that wouldn''t fall into the category of international trade."


    "Exactly. This conflict isn''t quite good. You''re lucky that you''re a Diamon and no one would dare threaten or force you. But people like me, who are Novelty-stoise are under constant attacks in our reputations and some of the lesser families get bullied."


    "It''s this bad?"


    "We can''t me them. With the bans made by the WGP, international trade is very limited. Connections are now the best way to keep businesses at the float. So this school suddenly became a ce of chaos. After the ban, there have been three incidents where attempts to murder some of the Royal''s took ce. Because of that conflict, the school immediately took action and banned all political andmercial groups to send bodyguards within the school premises. Any student who has been confirmed to have sent bodyguards will automatically be expelled. This is to make the school neutral amidst the secret battles urring. Obviously, the name of Harker is one of the many things that''s keeping this school from bing a real battleground. Everyone''s afraid of Harker now."


    "Who isn''t? That mad man will do anything to destroy Australia."


    "Yes. In fact, I''m not sure why you came here, but I have a feeling that many of these nations are sending prominent members of their families to build rtionships with Harker."


    "So if I understand correctly, this information is rted to Cliff Fangwood?"


    "Yes. Not just Cliff Fangwood. Did you saw the private Royal Room not far from here right? It''s rted to them."


    "Seeker Carlean, huh?" Lara smiled.


    "You know of Seeker''s meeting spots? You must be a fan! Wait¡­ now that I think about it¡­ Cliff Fangwood''s name isn''t something that anyone outside of Pangea can know!" Charm was surprised.


    "I am a fan and I did my research so I know. I actually recognized this person because of the odd rumors that Seeker has been hanging out with him. There were rumors that Cliff here is involved with drug dealing and haters of the Covenant is using Seeker of being a part of a drug trade of some sort." Lara exined.


    "Wow." Charm was stunned.


    "You know that much? Most of this information hasn''t been leaked abroad."


    "Seeker Carlean is the reason why I transferred here. Teehee¡­ I''m a very big fan you see."


    "A Casual?"


    "All the way. How close are you with Seeker? Is he in a rtionship with LordChokeMeSenpai or Meryl?" Lara immediately asked Cliff.


    "Um¡­ I''m just a bodyguard. I really don''t know. He is close to Meryl. But I know that they were always that close." Cliff answered.


    "Wait. Bodyguard?" Lara repeated.


    "Yes. It was illegal for bodyguards to be used. But because of Seeker''s sensitive identity, and considering that whoever gets Seeker gets the Miracle Maker, Lynd, and the Snow Goddess Meryl, people will literally kill for Seeker. About two or so months ago, Seeker''s team was actually attacked by several otherpanies. Because of Seeker''s presence, Lynd''s growing reputation, and the many endorsements Meryl has received, it is already known that Seeker and his trio are amongst the first that will have a Global Wandering Citizenship approved."


    "So I take it, that there have been many conflicts and attacks made to Seeker?"


    "Yes. I think Cliff said he got shot a couple of times already."


    Lara was surprised to hear that. She frowned and kept silent for a while.


    "So Cliff''s sort of a¡­ human shield for Seeker?"


    "Yes. But that''s not the worst part. Many of Seeker''s possible sponsors are vying for the right to make Seeker and his trio a brand ambassador. You know the recent stunts Seeker has pulled off. With his capability to earn billions the entire Pangeanmercial and political sectors are after him. Cliff''s job is to be the intermediary tomunicate with the other groups apart from being Seeker''s bodyguard. I''m guessing that contacting you and asking you to allow your father to meet with this uhh¡­"


    "MedServed," Cliff mumbled lifelessly.


    "Right. Contactingyou to get thisMedServedpany is one of the many things he is tasked to do. But beyond that, if the Covenant manages to tie themselves with certain groups, it would bring greater profit to them. The most dangerous and problematic part for Cliff is when the Covenant hasn''t yet procured an important deal, and the otherpanies are also aiming to either block or steal the opportunity that the Covenant has."


    "So it is true¡­ The Covenant has finally moved to be more than just an e-sport gaming group."


    "It''s only expected. The amount that the miracle trio makes and the gambles Crazy Carlean won has been shaping up thatpany. And since Seeker wants to use his funding to make this country a better ce by providing support for the Military, their march is almost unstoppable. They have been creating businesses that have literally monopolized several organizations. So I''m not surprised that they would try to tap the health providing industry."


    "But why a smallpany like Medserve?"


    "Meryl''s cosmetic drugs. Once we release those products, we will be in directpetition with several beauty cosmetics here in Pangea. That''s why our best option is to get associated with corporations that have international branches otherwise these cosmeticpanies will send more to assassinate Seeker and¡­"


    "Which means¡­ there''ll be fewer bullets raining on Cliff." Charm continued.


    "How can some deal with some healthcare provider end up in assassination?" Lara was stunned.


    "Well... You know how amazing Meryl''s skin is, right? It''s not easy to sell it here in Pangea. Because of all thepetitors, they wouldn''t want a drug that made Meryl that beautiful to ever surface. That''s why many Pangean Groups are condemning Meryl''s operations and are insisting that it broke the gical enhancement limitations and are insisting that its some form of human modification."


    Laraughed.


    "Seriously? What stupid politics! A drug that made someone''s skin, snow white and sparkling, is considered at the same level as Australia''s modified soldiers?"


    "It''s all political. That''s why I understand the aim of the Covenant. They n to promote their drugs to yourpany. But since, International trade is banned."


    "I get it!" Lara finally understood the ingenious n of the Covenant.


    "They won''t sell the drugs but offer it as a healthcare service that the EAA has adopted!"


    "Right. Your country ces value in beauty so much that it''s even covered in medical insurance. If yourpany introduces that..."


    "It advertises their beauty products and somehow bypasses the international trade bans made by the WGP!"


    "Yes. You could guess where that would lead to..." Charm smiled.


    "Right. Once that product is out, even if the cosmetics industries in this country try to ban it, the international market will be their enemy. They will be mocked and criticized by those abroad."


    "And to stop that from happening, they n to kill Seeker. As Seeker''s earning potentials have already reached billions of Sydians, his death would result at an end of these business deals as lesser people will be willing to invest in him."


    "I see. So, people believe that Seeker''s earnings can fund the experiments which resulted in Meryl''s amazing skin!"


    "Yes.They can''t kill Meryl. Whoever wants to kill that goddess will receive massive bacshes. Since a lot of groups already hate Seeker, then killing him bes the only viable option. And thus, Cliff has more um..."


    "More bullets to cover." Cliff nkypleted Charm''s statement.


    Lara was silent. She was dumbfounded as to how pitiful this Cliff is.


    "Could you please say yes? He''s been through a lot recently? Hisst errand made him deliver a message to anotherpany, and then he got shot and attacked. He barely made it out with his life."


    "Please. Please¡­" Cliff begged.


    "This school is quite harsh." Lara frowned.


    "Yes. A lot of things made it this way. From the politics of this school to Seeker''s miracle three and even the fact that Harker has been acting more aggressively to resume the war against Australia. All of these are turning this school into apolitical chessboard." Charm sighed.


    "Alright. I''ll tell him. Don''t worry. I''m such a daddy''s girl that my father will definitely approve of this. But in return, I just want to meet them. It''s ok if you take your time. But give me a chance to meet with Seeker. Is that a deal?" Lara raisedher arm forward.


    "Deal! I''ll tell you of his potential locations! I''ll tell you some juicy info right now! Seeker sneaks off at times, unguarded and usually walks and eats at local ces! I can give you these locations!" Cliff immediately pped her hand hard and shook it with great thankfulness.


    "Thanks, Lara!" Charm smiled.


    "I didn''t think you''d be a daddy''s girl. I had the impression you hated your father." Charm wondered.


    "Oh¡­ that was¡­ when I was younger. When I got older, I felt their love. They do spoil me a lot after all." Laraughed.


    Cliff continued to hold on Lara''s hand. Realm Somatotopy took ce. Just as how Seeker managed to reveal the hidden identity of Feltrick Ung-ive, Cliff confirmed Lara''s identity.


    "Aragarian¡­" Cliff''s thoughts went to overdrive. He had clearly remembered that it was confirmed that the Diamon''s weren''t Aragarians. Even Seeker''s future memories confirmed this.


    His unconscious gaze lingered on the beautiful figure of Lara, who took notice of Cliff''s strange stare.

 Chapter 122 - Cliff’s Real Hardships

    While there have been several confirmed Aragarian''s that have infiltrated school, there hasn''t been a student as young as this. The greater mystery was that the Diamon''s weren''t Aragarian''s in Seeker''s future.


    Cliff was still in a daze when Lara noticed him looking at her. Did he sense incorrectly? His Realm Somatotopy was far weaker than that of Seeker. What if he got it wrong?


    "Cliff, Charm will get jealous if you stare." Lara teased as he noticed Cliff''s drifting gaze.


    This awoke Cliff from his stupor.


    "So-Sorry!" Cliff immediately turned to Charm and apologized.


    "Wha-why are you apologizing to me!? Apologize to Lara!" Charm reacted.


    "Sorry!" Cliff realized his error and apologized to Lara.


    Lara simplyughed seeing the two panic.


    "Rx. I''m just teasing. Still, you two make a cute couple." Lara continued to tease.


    "I''m so sorry! It''s just¡­ I''ve been through a lottely. And now that I managed to secure one of the more dangerous deals with the Diamon''s I just got so relieved. My adrenaline is constantly pumping to ensure my fast survival. So I am constantly on the edge and sometimes I just¡­ nk out."


    "Wait. Why is your adrenaline constantly pumping?" Lara asked.


    Cliff realized his mistake.


    "I-It''s fine! They made me go through some experiment which forces me to constantly pump adrenaline. They nned to use if for Seeker but tested it on me first!"


    "That''s illegal!" Charm was shocked.


    "Oh! I''m not supposed to say that! Please keep quiet about it!"


    "But¡­ you could die!"


    "They were doing it for me. They said that the constant adrenaline can ensure my survival¡­ I won''t feel any pain, and can get away faster." Cliff''s voice fell silent.


    Charm had a worried look in her eyes and almost hugged Cliff but somehow felt ashamed at their peering guest.


    "At least¡­ things would get better now." Charm consoled.


    "It''s alright. I''ve lived quite an illegal life. I sold drugs and even abused a lot of Regrs and Rising here. I deserve this. I am thankful for this operation they did on me. The only side effect is I''m always at the edge and my heart pumps faster than normal. Here. Take a look. Compare it with your heart." He offered to Charm.


    Charm held Cliff''s chest with her right arm and used her left arm to feel her chest.


    "Cliff! This is dangerous! It''s pumping dangerously fast!" Charm screamed in rm.


    "No. I''m alright. Really!" Cliff insisted.


    "Let me see!" Lara immediately reached for Cliff with her right hand while feeling her right chest with her left hand. She felt Cliff''s beating heart andpared it with hers.


    Lara was shocked. She continued to observe the speed of the heartbeats. A few seconds passed and the heartbeat continued to remain at the same pace.


    "It is dangerous. Alright. I''ll tell my dad to ede with their request and ask them if they could support the Covenant. They were nning to do so anyway. But now, I''ll make my dad add another use and that is to make your life a lot easier." Lara frowned.


    Cliff was shocked.


    "Really, Lara? Thank you! I wanted to do that, but my influence is not good enough!" Charmined.


    "Anything for my new found friend and her boyfriend." Lara teased.


    Charm was turning red.


    Cliff ignored Lara''s tease and wept.


    "If you can do that¡­ please. Thank you. Thank you so much!" Cliff cried ignoring Lara''s tease.


    "You can''t imagine the pressure I have. The truth is, in a few moments I will be going in that room to report to Seeker. Since they are limiting the number of people that could get close to Seeker, I have to make this report. But Seeker''s not making my life any easier. He keeps going after crazy gambles that are making a lot of enemies. I keep pleading to him to stop, but he said he has to do it and I should pay for my past crimes." Cliff sighed.


    Charm couldn''t help but sigh.


    "Well¡­ He is doing a lot for his country. But we can''t deny the actions he is making are causing turmoil in the business world. He did ask thesepanies to align or help them but many refused."


    "His demands were crazy!" Cliff defended.


    "His demands were necessary. Do you really believe that Pangea can defeat Australia now?" Lara countered.


    "Wow. You really are a Casual." Charm couldn''t help but interrupt.


    A knock was heard on the door.


    "Miss Charm? We have the food ready." A waiter announced on the outside.


    Charm pressed on the button and the door was opened.


    Several waiters carrying several tes walked in and ced the courses of meals on the table.


    "My my¡­ howvish. This school is really top-tier." Laramended as the food was being brought in.


    "Anyway Cliff¡­ I support Seeker but I''m biased because I am a fan. But don''t worry. I''ll see what my family can do to make your life a bit easier. So forget about the next meeting. Whatever they talk about, tell us. And I''ll do what I can to help. For now, let''s eat and enjoy good food!" Laraughed.


    Cliff smiled and nodded.


    "And remember¡­ the one helping you isn''t me¡­ but Charm who is clearly falling for you." Lara teased.


    "Lara!" Charm shouted.


    Lara simplyughed but went ahead and started to take her fill of food.


    The three ate and had a merry time. Cliff originally had a poor look but his countenance improved as the conversation went on. Cliff''s pitiful countenance slowly became more and more natural as they continued to talk about various topics.


    Lara kept teasing the two that they should be a couple and Lara could even use her influence to protect them. The two were extremely shy with each other and couldn''t stare at each other for the remainder of the meal.


    Suddenly, loud cheers were heard outside of the door.


    "I got to go." Cliff finally said as he nced at his watch.


    "Oh? Based on the cheers, it should be Meryl, right? Almost everyone cheering are boys." Lara giggled.


    "Yeah. It''s that Snow Goddess again." Charm sighed in jealousy.


    "Thanks for the treat. I really appreciate it. Sorry for the pitiful sight. I''ll be leaving now." Cliff smiled.


    Charm stared sweetly at Cliff and smiled back.


    "Anytime. I''ll be here tomorrow. And I think Lara will join us as well. Right. Lara?"


    "And intrude on your privacy? Why would I? Say¡­ how many times have you two met like this these past months? Don''t tell me that¡­" Laraughed.


    "LARA!" Charm screamed as Cliff left the room with an embarrassed expression. The opened doorway allowed Lara to view the scene outside. Her sight followed Cliff and her gaze finally rested at Meryl.


    There she was. The young teen with nearly a dozen titles. The Snow Goddess, the Song of Winter, The Ivory of the Orient.


    "That¡­" Lara was stunned as she closed the door and sat beside Charm. Her face was just shocked.


    "What was that?!" Lara couldn''t help but exim.


    "I''ve seen her photos but they were right. Seeing her close and personal really just¡­" Lara kept eximing.


    "Take your time. Most of us here had the same reaction. Many already gave their bid to try the failed skin alteration that Meryl went with. But the Covenant had remained unmoved deeming it too dangerous." Charm sighed.


    "I heard Doctor Charles Lindmitt and several other renowned surgeons gave their two-cents in the operation," Lara added.


    "Yes. Doctor Lindmitt reported that Meryl''s brain was severely damaged during the process. It was as if her brained deteriorated and had Alzheimer''s. That''s scary." Charm shivered at the thought.


    "It''s just funny how nations can get jealous. I was even embarrassed to know that the EAA also demanded the Covenant to reveal the procedure of the operation iming it was bordering the science of creating super soldiers." Lara gave a dryugh.


    "Well, I doubt those usations will get anywhere. There is just too much going on in the world right now to care about some cosmetic operations about skin enhancements. But I wonder if it''s true. I mean, look what they did with Cliff. I hope that since information about his procedures has been leaked to us, he won''t get in trouble. Can you...?" Charm tried to ask.


    "Don''t worry about it. I''m sure my dad can think of a way of using that information against the Covenant and ensure the safety of your little boyfriend." Laraughed.


    "Thanks." Charm ignored her tease and simply nodded.


    Lara was caught off guard.


    "You¡­ really like him, don''t you?" Lara asked seriously.


    "I guess I do. He''s really a nice guy. He used to be notorious in this school. I remember meeting him on several asions. He used to threaten and ckmail several Rising students. But I can only imagine what horrors he faced to make him turn into that kind and gentle guy."


    Meanwhile inside the other room where Cliff and Meryl went into¡­


    A lean, confident andid-back teen sat in the middle of the seats. Surrounding him were three other individuals. Meryl and Cliff were among the people around him.


    "Zeek." Cliff greeted with an exhausted expression.


    "First to report is our beloved Cliff. Oh¡­ and be honest if you''ve fallen for her." Seeker teased.


    Meryl grinned maliciously. She was a small and beautiful girl with white beautiful skin that made her the medias center of attention because of her unworldly wless skin. News and reports of her would only be surpassed when Crazy Casual Carlean would do something earth-shaking. She was usually timid and reserved, but her trueical and yful character would resurface when she would be around her close friends.


    "You know... I actually thought you would be all over Eva? I mean... she is a Programmed ve. I thought considering your erm... previous reputation you''d take advantage of that? Didn''t you show interest with her back then?"


    "Well, I called it. Charm Novelty-stoise is a sweet and kind girl." A tall, and well-built man smiled. Despite his tall frame, he had a gentle expression and a casual smile. Lynd Peters Indigo''s reputation was also growing making him popr with girls of various ages. Because of his size, even older and more mature women had the hots for him.


    Cliff didn''t know how to retort.


    "It''s not that."


    "Really? You do know that we''ve been listening to your previous conversations? Although your little get together earlier was impossible to hear because of the loud crowd outside, I remember that two weeks ago, you two have been awfully sweet with each other." Seeker sneered.


    Cliff was stunned. They were listening?


    "I guess... I guess... I was just trying... I knew I was a Regr and I did everything to reach for things that were beyond me... But I''m d that now... I can finally... Finally, reach..." Seeker imitated Cliff''s words which he uttered to Charm when the moment was ripe a few weeks ago.


    "Finally reach what?" Meryl imitated Charm''s then response.


    "Finally reach a girl like you." Seeker said with eyes full of moisty tears.


    Lynd and Meryl startedughing so hard that they were turning red. Even Seeker broke toughter after imitating Cliff.


    Cliff was also red but for a different reason.


    "What- Whatever. I''m slowly gaining her trust!"


    Theughs continued.


    "Anyway... Although Charm Novelty-stiose hasn''t yet talked about her older brother, she mentioned something about a family trip to the Nethends years back. Her brother''s disappearance seemed to have urred at the same time of that trip. If her brother went with them, then he could have disappeared in that area." Cliff dove on to a subject that Seeker treated with extreme seriousness.


    "Nethends¡­" Seeker immediately frowned.


    "Doesn''t fit the bill¡­ But regardless, it''s a good thing if he disappeared there. Arthur can check."


    Meryl, Lynd, and Cliff gave a relieved sigh.


    "Finally, something that Cliff won''t be sent to." Meryl smiled.


    "See? You get to go on dates with a cute Royal and you don''t have to be sent out anymore.


    "Yeah."


    "This only means that Cliff can proceed with another mission." Seeker answered back.


    When the trio heard of Seeker''s arrangements, they were petrified. Suddenly, Meryl and Lynd felt guilty for teasing Cliff.


    "Zeek¡­ I''m not that busy with the¡­"


    "No Lynd. You have to maximize building your reputation. The WGP could repeal the sanction of the disallowing of international travel at any time and reestablish World Games. Focus on that. Meryl, you have another espionage task on the next trip. A modeling agency has been granted approval to send you to Antarctica. Of course, this is a cover-up. Someone has finally agreed to purchase you for one night. Details of your mission will be given by a Programmed ves based there." Seeker''s orders were firm.


    Despite Seeker''s shocking words, Meryl wasn''t in anyways worried or disgusted with her task but turned to Cliff in pity.


    "Zeek¡­ what about Mann? Isn''t he still after Cliff?" Meryl finally asked.


    "Already taken care of. Alean''s team along with Meng''s assassins are making sure that the breadcrumbs won''t end back here."


    Meryl kept quiet. They no longer had anything they could use to save Cliff from the uing terrors.


    "Now Cliff¡­"


    Cliff was tightly clutching his arms.


    "Good news¡­ Your next mission doesn''t involve a potential Oveer who died too early in my future. So you don''t have to test your next target''s potential."


    Cliff sighed in relief.


    The battle against the Amir Mann was Cliff''s most brutal battle yet. He constantly would wake up in the middle of the night as his extremely urate memories brought the terror of that battle again and again.


    Amir Mann, the GreatCommonMan was not so human. Nor was he somon.


    The battle that ensued when Cliff met was extremely terrifying. Despite Cliff''s own preparations, he received a lot of wounds and even Typical had to aid them.


    Yet, even so, Cliff barely escaped and the battle had cost him his right leg. The reason people didn''t notice that Cliff''s legs were plucked off was due to the tech that Lennox had which could reattach the lower portion of Cliff''s original human leg with the upper prosthetic leg. And since the data that Charles received from Meng and Seeker''s body, breakthroughs to allow regeneration of limbs were being developed. Cliff''s leg had grown by half of what was sliced off.


    Lynd and Meryl also smiled at hearing Seeker''s words.


    They knew how strong Cliff was. With his strange memory, his performance always was at its peak.


    "Now¡­ little Cliffy¡­ He He He¡­ You will be facing Grant Hermes. He is one of the Oveers in my future. But right now, he shouldn''t have manifested his Oveer''s Will yet. So I guess we can call him a Near-Oveer. So he''s probably at the same level as Amir Mann. But I know his Path is stronger so, go all out from the start. Luckily, you already have the experience of fighting a Near-Oveer so this should be easier." Seeker smiled.


    Cliff''s eyes went nk. The nightmares returned as he recalled the battle and could only visibly shiver at the thought that he would face someone of that power once more.


    Meryl and Lynd''s mouths were wide open at Seeker''s deration.

 Chapter 123 - I’m Still A Kid

    Cliff actually spaced out at Seeker''s orders.


    The nightmares he had to face were many. Fighting an Oveer was simply one of the few things he was tasked to do.


    "Uh¡­Cliff? Cliff? Are you there?" Lynd called out worriedly as seconds passed and Cliff maintained a nk reaction. For someone nearing Inhuman stage, this was a terrifying event.


    "Don''t worry. I''ve made the necessary preparations that will ensure your survival."


    "Zeek. Aren''t you being a little too harsh on Cliff?" Meryl finally asked. A hint of anger was heard on her tone.


    Seeker nced at Meryl and had an odd look.


    "Alright. That''s it." Seeker had a frustrated appearance. His reaction had a trace of true anger.


    The faces of the three turned pale as Cliff awoke from his stupor.


    "Exactly, why are you two afraid of me? Don''t think I haven''t noticed." Seeker turned to Meryl and Lynd.


    Seeker frowned and crossed his arms with a fork in hand.


    "Is it because of the Oveer''s Will? Do you really think I''m that heartless because of that? The Oveer''s Will brings me confidence. In a manner of speaking it simply allows me to have faith on myself. It doesn''t mean that I am like Dragon or Lennox or the Empress for that manner. I simply have the Will." Seeker exined.


    "You''ve changed, Zeek. Whether you want to admit it or not." Lynd finally voiced out.


    "Changed? I haven''t changed. We are simply moving on with our ns!" Seeker answered angrily.


    Well if that''s the case, why have you been giving Cliff impossible missions?"


    "What impossible missions?"


    "You made him into a suicide bomber that was to throw the bomb just as it was about to explode. That bomb had to be near him to cover him up, and far enough so that he''d survive." Meryl pointed out.


    "Yes. But with his memory and that test we did, he could easily aplish that!" Seeker defended.


    "We already went through several tests runs with a dummy bomb and he performed it marvelously. With his memories, he can almost do what I can do in imitating my Ranked Heroes skill."


    "Well, it''s just different when it''s a real bomb. Also, you¡­ kind of painted a target on his face on his recent mission. I wouldn''t be able to sleep if I knew a Near-Oveer was after me."


    "And that''s why I sent Lowengren. Amir Mann is now targeting Lowengren and even Alean!" Seeker turned to Lynd.


    "Do not underestimate Lowengren''s deception. If he said he deceived Amir Mann, then he deceived him. You should be worried that Alean wouldn''t run into him or her limbs would be ripped off just like Cliff''s! Everything I ordered; those are within his skillsets. I was confident he''d survive both." Seeker continued to argue.


    "In case you''ve forgotten, Cliff is the only person left for these jobs who can risk showing his face to his enemies. Especially to those groups of people. We can''t let Alean or Lowengren do those as the world thinks their dead. And because Charles finally discovered where that baby Ricardo is, I cannot risk separating him from being with Ferna. I don''t know how Ricardo died but it could happen anytime soon. We ensure Ricardo''s survival; we can give Charles as a shot at dating Ferna! She might be the key to Charles''s faith! Do you not want to give Charles a shot at bing a Ranked Hero?" Seeker exined carefully.


    "I wouldn''t make you guys do things beyond the norm. For Cliff, I am confident of what he can do, and I won''t ever cross the line!" Seeker spoke righteously.


    "You made him kiss that guy too. That kinda crossed the line." Meryl finally spoke up. Her look at Seeker was angry.


    "Now you''re prepping me to be sold to some pervert. Am I to give those guys a kiss too?" Meryl added angrily.


    "What?! I made Cliff kiss who?!" Seeker was shocked.


    "Yeah, Zeek. That was too much." Lynd echoed.


    "Kiss who?!" Seeker repeated.


    "Primer Elionios. That weapons dealer." Meryl reminded Seeker with angry eyes.


    "I asked Cliff to kill the man!" Seeker defended.


    "Kill? What? No. You sent me a message that I was to kiss him!" Cliff finally spoke.


    Cliff rummaged for hism device and revealed it to Seeker.


    Seeker nced at them device and it read:


    "Change of ns. Things are getting a little moreplicated than I thought. Kiss him."


    Seeker nced at the messaged and paused. He was shocked at the message and it took him a few seconds to actually react ordingly despite his great Unlocking.


    Because the government and even the WGP were watching them, Harker hadunched a unique set ofm devices that can only send and receive from their devices. Seeker had installed the same program on his device but he realized that although the message ry of theirm device would go through Harker''s unique server, them devices are still bound with Pangeanw which included strict autocorrecting tools designed to minimize cursing and strongnguage.


    Seekerughed. Heughed andughed.


    "Kiss? That''s supposed to be kill! I guess the AI autocorrected it to kiss and I didn''t notice." Seekerughed as he tested his theory on hism device.


    The theory was proven right as the word kill immediately became kiss as he sent it to Cliff.


    Seeker couldn''t stopughing.


    Even Meryl and Lynd were doing their best not tough.


    "So you really kissed him? Was it just a smack or did you add some tongue to it?" Seeker asked with augh.


    Cliff''s expression remained mortified.


    Meryl and Lynd couldn''t contain theirughter anymore.


    Cliff felt his heart clench as if it was attempting to forcibly stop beating. The memory of that kiss would be engraved forever in Cliff''s memories. His strange memories weren''t something that he couldn''t turn off at the moment and so, the constant reminder and memory that could even recreate the sensation were present.


    Seeker continued tough until suddenly, he realized it.


    "Wait. Does that mean he''s alive?!" Seeker asked angrily.


    Meryl and Lynd were stunned at Seeker''s changing mood.


    "Great! Just great!" Seeker cursed angrily as a familiar terror fell.


    Although no one was greatly or physically affected by the pressure the two were confused.


    "Zeek? What''s wrong?" Meryl tried to pacify.


    "He had to die! He was one of the key people that the Pioneer used that forced Pangea into a weapons deficiency crisis! I wanted him dead since his connections were already established. It was all nned and I can''t change it now because he''s alive!"


    "Zeek. This could be something-"


    SMACK!


    Seeker mmed the table angrily.


    "You don''t get it! He was supposed to die! You know the rules I''ve set! We kill those who were the original contacts of these Pioneers forcing these Pioneers tomand someone we already control. Since we don''t have time to go through the process of confirming if these people were already in contact with the Pioneers the best way is to simply kill and rece! But that attack we did on that night would have made Primer fearful! And so we cannot make that opportunity again!" Seeker was angry.


    "But Zeek, we can attack them again-"


    "No! With Primer having an attack and some pervert kissing him randomly, he would have made an investigation and take efforts in hiding! Other organizations will notice this and therefore, the Pioneers would learn of this! I already captured his son because I thought his father is dead! Now he''d be searching for his son!"


    Seeker continued to grow more and more enraged. He couldn''t imagine what reactions Primer Elionios would do after this event. His son has been kidnapped, his base raided, and some strange weirdo kissed him.


    "What made you think that themand was kiss?!" Seeker chastised.


    "Zeek! Stop it! To his defense, you''ve been giving him strange orders. Shut the gate on the north side. Drop that bullet there. Make sure to let that guy see you before you hit him." Lynd recited several lines from Cliff''sm device.


    "Thatst message¡­ If I received it, I would have done the same and kissed the guy instead of killing him! Could you give him a break! You first sent him on a suicide mission to fight Amir Mann, who wouldn''t be the same after that?! What is going on with you? Are you bing delusional? Insane? Bipr? Is that other memory affecting you? Tell Arthur! You''re not good enough to remain our leader if you don''t get your nutterballs together!" Lynd shouted back angrily. A profound vibration surrounded the room as Lynd employed Peals of Thunder.


    The room suddenly turned quiet. All they could hear is Lynd''s exaggerated breathing.


    Seeing as Seeker was quiet and had aplicated expression, Lynd continued.


    "I hate it. I feel like I''m losing you. You are not that man in the future! The Zeek I signed up to join has always been that young, yful, forgetful and careless kid. Believe it or not, I felt safe. Even if he would push me to the limits, I would happily do so! But mark my words, Zeek! If that other you take over, I would lose my faith in you!" Lynd shouted all the more.


    Meryl and Cliff gazed at Lynd. Meryl sighed and nodded.


    "Me too, Zeek."


    Seeker was no longer angry but had his usual look.


    "Lynd. Thanks. I''m sorry. You''re right. Ever since I received the Oveer''s will, it somehow gave life to my other memories. So at one point, I''m a kid¡­ and the other, I''m that desperate and paranoid adult of the future."


    "I know. But please, Zeek. I know that your memories sharper than ever, I know that the Oveer''s Will demands some pride in yourself. And I know that and somehow your personalities changing because of that whole future you merging with the present you as you rise higher in the Unlocking. But you are not the future you!"


    Meryl nodded her head. She clutched Seeker''s hand to calm him down.


    "Zeek, you have us now. You are not alone. The starting point you had in your future isn''t the starting point now. Nor will things remain this way. We are stronger and you don''t have to be that negative, demanding and very strict man you became." Lynd spoke with a strong reprimanding tone.


    Seeker was silent and closed his eyes for a bit.


    Memories of the present timeline resurfaced and Seeker viewed his life in the eyes of his past, and this present, ignoring the future he knows while recollecting. Seeker then started to organize his thoughts. For a normal human, his feat would have been impossible, but because the brain of an Unlocked is different than that of a human, they are able to do stranger and more diverse things with their thought.


    Seeker mentally organized the two memories he had and made a clear distinction between what was from his timeline, and what was from the other.


    "I''m sorry. You''re right, Lynd. That me of the future had already lost all of you. And so he became that way. I guess I''m still afraid of losing you two." Seeker apologized.


    "We''re still kids, Zeek. Even if you have that memory, you have to make sure you remember who you are right now. Are we only our memories? No! You''re a kid with an adult''s memory. That makes you smarter. But that still makes you a kid." Lynd smiled.


    "Your biochemical, biological and neurological states are that of a kid," Cliff mumbled unconsciously.


    Everyone gave Cliff a strange look.


    "I''m¡­ I''m sorry. I just recalled Arthur''s words." Cliff felt afraid.


    Seeker, however,ughed.


    "Right. That does exin it. I''m not an adult. I''m still a kid!" Seekerughed.


    "I guess I still have to figure it out. The merging of my memories is getting harder and harder to deal with."


    "I''m sure you''ll figure it out. And if me or Meryl could see that your diverting and changing¡­ then we''ll do everything and anything. Including kicking you hard on the face." Lynd smiled.


    Seeker smiled and nodded.


    "Understood. But I''m sorry, Cliff. You have to proceed with this mission. Only you can after all. And besides, I have to make things difficult for you because I want you to be a Ranked Hero." Seeker spoke calmly.


    Cliff took a deep breath and gave a reluctant sigh.


    Lynd and Meryl were surprised at Seeker''s words but merely smiled.


    "I''ll¡­ be more careful with my treatment to you. I guess the adult me inside of me got all greedy and wanted to take advantage of your potential. But still¡­ your potential could be equal to Alean''s. I do not know what you can do with that memory. I''ll be honest, with an extreme recollection like you''re you could even follow on Lynd''s Path!" Seeker spoke slowly.


    The three were stunned at Seeker''s words.


    "Right¡­" Meryl was the first to react.


    "Memory. It could¡­ it really could!" Lynd nodded as well.


    Cliff was shocked.


    "So please understand why I''m letting you go through this. The adult me wanted to keep these things from you, I guess. But I feel¡­ that it''s better for you to know." Seeker smiled.


    Cliff was silent for a while. Then he spoke.


    "I haven''t finished my report yet. Charm is friends with Lara Diamon. The very same Lara Diamon you wanted me toe into contact with. And I''ve got bad news. She''s an Aragarian. I mapped her using Realm Somatotopy with a hard p and tricked her into holding her heart. She touched her right chest instead of the left."


    "How did you trick her to do that?" Meryl wondered.


    "I made them think that some experiments are being done to me to make my adrenaline constantly pump. Is that alright?"


    "Yeah. It''s within the allowable range of experiments that we can reveal." Seeker nodded. But a strange glint appeared in his eyes.


    "To think the Diamon''s were Aragarian''s¡­ unless¡­" Seeker''s expression changed.


    "Did you ask her for the request?"


    "Yes. She agreed. Are all Aragarian''s bad? This one seemed good."


    "Of course some of them would appear good. Not every Aragarian treats us like those you met in Australia. Some are kind,passionate, and rtable. But it''s these ones that you should look out for. Their human traits make them all the more dangerous and difficult to deal with." Seeker frowned.


    The three kept silent at Seeker''s reaction.


    Seeker looked around and sighed.


    "That''s the cautious me talking. Observe her. If she appears to be one of the wicked Aragarian''s we''ll show her no mercy. But if there are angels amongst those fallen ones, then we''ll treat them with whatever human or Aragarian rights applicable."


    Lynd and Meryl smiled at Seeker''s reaction.


    "However¡­ This changes things. If Aragarian''s are able to infiltrate and supnt other families¡­ something that they didn''t do on my timeline¡­ then something must have changed. Cliff, send a message to Harker after this. Ready everyone for top-secret information to be disseminated on the next ssroom session. Make him use his prepared pings for Alean and Lowengren. They are the ones who need to hear this information the most."


    "What''s happening, Zeek?" Lynd couldn''t help but ask.


    "Simply put.... more enemies have joined this war."

 Chapter 124 - No Longer Ichabod, No Longer Lo-Ammi

    On the other side of the world, a short and bespectacled man had finally arrived at a tall building.


    Several tall and ck men who guarded the door greeted him respectfully.


    The short bespectacled man simply smiled and waved as he strode by.


    "Now that, Raffias, is Shark Umberton. He is one of the most influential people who reside in this tower. He actually purchased the rooftop of this very tower so be sure to treat him with the utmost respect!" The ck man with a more distinguished uniform spoke.


    Raffias, the guard-in-training nodded and imprinted the figure of the man who just passed by.


    "I know that man! I''ve seen him on the news! Isn''t he that business guru and professor? He is fighting for the human rights of his people." The other guard nodded.


    "Yes. The very same. But don''t stereotype him because he is some spiritual leader. He is actually a very nice person. You will receive plenty of gifts just by serving him well." The supervisor added.


    Shark Umberton was a timid, but brilliant man. He was one of the few people who was a widely outspoken Jew who could openly reveal and enforce his religious beliefs and still get away with it. His secret? He gives away money.


    Because of his unique business enterprise that links variouspanies of different technological possibilities, Shark Umberton was one of the very first individuals to have produced products that are a mixture of various technological possibilities but remained in line with the rules set by the World Governing Powers.


    This venture was originally deemed as impossible, but Shark Umberton''s connection proved to be so massive, that he made the impossible possible. Several businesses corporation tried to reach out to him. And when he was so influential and powerful, he revealed his Jewish heritage.


    The secret of this was to his generosity and manner of giving. He owned several charity organizations and was widely known in the united nation of Africa. Due to the nation''s toleranceto religious organizations, Shark Umberton managed to secure support from many illustrious businessmen and investors which brought his name on par to the various African Elite.


    Shark finally reached the private elevator which his employees begged him to use in fear of his own safety. The elevator would take him to the penthouse he owned at the top floor and ess to it was extremely strict.


    As the elevator doors opened, Shark walked over and sighed.


    His wife and their three kids had a party to attend to at the other edge of the continent.


    He went straight to the kitchen to cook a meal for himself.


    Suddenly, a creeping sensation had been tickling him. The sensation made him gaze towards the west. Nothing was there.


    "Strange." He couldn''t help but murmur.


    It then happened all too suddenly.


    A powerful presence made him shiver in fear as he knew something was standing right behind him.


    "Shark Umberton." The sound was powerful. He could feel the very words of the voice impact his back. The voice had a strange reverbing effect that made each of his words echo out.It was as if the rushing sounds of awaterfallfollowed the voice.


    The pressure grew strongerand Sharkfell down in great fear.


    He slowly turned and there stood a man with two strange blue wings that appeared like lightning.


    Shark was gripped with fear and shock as he struggled to move away from the being.


    "Son of man, do not be afraid. I havee because the Lord has anointed me to preach good things. To speak and herald to you about things that are tooe. The year of the Lord''s favor is near and the day of vengeance for our God. No longer shall My people name their sons, Ichabod, saying that the Glory of the Lord has departed. No longer shall they name their daughters LoAmmi saying that we are not His People and He is not our God. But many shall rejoice for the day of Purim is near."


    A sudden majestic force surrounded Shark as strange golden dust enveloped him. Soon he was lifted up by the strange golden dust and carried nearer to stand before the man.


    The man had a strange countenance and his very eyes were golden. His face was dark like brazen iron and the hair of the man was glowing white.


    As Shark was lifted up, he immediately bowed down in worship. But right before he could bow down, a powerful kick met him and jolted him back up. The dust continued to carry him as he floated while screaming and holding on to his broken nose.


    "Stand up! I am merely a servant of the Lord just like you!" The angelmanded angrily.


    "Forgive me!" Shark screamed in terror.


    "The wicked plot is at footas the demons of this Earth have harbored evil intent to my people. The age of the Gentiles ising to an end and my people will once again receive mercy. Shortly after this, you shall be approached by a people belonging not to a nation you know. They know not the Lord your God and they know not His statutes. They shall speak to you as they speak to their beloved."


    "What shall they ask of me?"


    "To save the people of the Lord your God. They shall walk in the footsteps of Nimrod and rebuild that great city. And in it, they shall gather my People."


    "Am I to stop them?"


    "You shall journey with them to wherevernd they take you and you shall take their golds, their ornaments, their silvers, and the precious stones. And you shall use that to gather my people. But trust not in these people who grant you the gold, the silver, the ornaments or precious stones. For they shall strike your heel but He shall soone and crush their heads. The enemy shall number beyond the sands of the seashore and your foes shall bring down many cities andy destions upon destions. But though a thousand may die at your side, and though ten thousand shall fall before you, no harm wille near you. Take courage, you who are favored by the Lord of Host. Rejoice and go and do the task you are called to do."


    "Oh, great Angel! I am but a man! I do not know what you mean! I cannot do that! Send someone else! Someone stronger!"


    "The spirit of Daniel has once more been sent here. He shall tell you what to do. Seek out he who can tread in the Lion''s Den and he shall be your guide."


    "Oh, great Angel! I beg of you! Send someone else!" Shark cried in fear.


    The dust started to move around erratically and started crushing Shark.


    "AHHHHH!"


    "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of the Holy One of Israel, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until you find the time of my formering because you did nottake courage to thmand of the Lord." The angry voice of Gabriel drifted off leaving the poor Shark spinning around and falling to the ground.


    When he came to, Shark was stunned that he could no longer speak.


    In a panic-stricken shock, he quickly looked around him and noticed that there wasn''t anything around him that could prove the urrence of the strange scene which he witnessed. He gazed up and towards the night sky that could be seen through hisrge ss windows. It gave a view of the city, but more so, it gave a bright view of the stars above.


    He sat there for minutes as he dazed off staring at the glorious sky.


    Suddenly, he recalled the angel''sst words and thought hard. There was something familiar with the words.


    "Gabriel¡­ Where did I hear that?" Shark thought to himself in a hurry.


    It was then that Shark spotted an odd book lying around. This was where the angel Gabriel once stood.


    He reached out to it and was stunned as he looked at the title.


    "The Gideons ESV Bible"


    It was then he remembered the name.


    Shark opened the book and skipped the entire Torah, the book of the Prophets and everything which he knew the Christians called the Old Testament.


    He speedily read through every page of the Gospels and soon reached in the Gospel of Luke.


    It was there he saw the verse of Gabriel''s appearance.


    "Gabriel!" In shock, Shark screamed the name.


    While his former shock had not yet died out, he then realized he could once more speak.


    He sat there in silence and slowly turned to every page of the Bible this time with his belief shaken. The very Gabriel had appeared before him and cursed him with the same curse the priest had in the Gospels.


    As his beliefs came crashing down, and as he embraced the book and clung on to it with every bit of his soul, the man known as Shark Umberton started praying. But this time, to the man he read to be called Jesus.


    Under the dark sky of the city, two figures were sitting down a fast-food restaurant dining.


    "Why did you kick him?" Alean finally asked.


    "Eagle''s orders. Angel''s don''t allow man to worshipthem¡­"


    Alean furrowed her browse as a curious expression surfaced.


    "Why do you feel¡­ afraid? From what I hear, he''s like the one Oveer who wouldn''t hurt a soul. Why would you be afraid of him?"


    "It something about his Path. It''s basically the opposite of mine." Lowengren gave a solemn expression and kept on eating.


    Alean was silent and took note at Lowengren''s refusal to discuss Eagle''s Path.


    "Anyway, how sure are you that he wouldn''t be able to speak before reading Luke chapter one? Are you that confident with your hypnosis?"


    "Of course!" Lowengren frowned as he munched off arge piece of the burger.


    "I can hypnotize anyone in Warfreakz and they''re all at Unbing Advent! Much more a Jewish professor!" Lowengren frowned.


    "Alright. I''m just making sure. I''ve been ufortable at the hasty ns we''ve been making. We should have asked Lennox with this n. How sure are you that it would be Shark? We mess up with this one then all our ns would fail."


    "We won''t. First of all, this isn''t a hasty n. Don''t underestimate Arthur''s prediction. He who Treads in the Lion''s Den never treads hastily. It seems hasty because I had to go in and out of America before the WGP banned international interactions. But the truth is, he''s already made that n since we heard that meeting of theirs through the gold coin that Richie gave to that Pioneer, Madelyn. Besides, even I would do the same thing. The best person who should gather the Jews would be the Jews themselves. No one else could easily pull that off like this guy." Lowengren continued munching.


    "We just have to make another scene and lead Amir Mann here and we can get out of this stupid country." Lowengren munched off angrily. The battles and escapes he had to do push his brain to the limits. If Cliff hadn''t wounded the man, then their team would have been wiped out.


    "What''s wrong with your training? Why can''t my guys shoot as good as those freaks with Seeker?" Lowengrenined.


    "They didn''t have Charles as their teacher. I can only shoot with high uracy within a given distance. It was Charles who trainedMeryl and Lynd howto handle a gun back then." Alean sighed.


    Even Alean was stunned at Charles''s innate ability to wield guns. He was better at using long-ranged rifles than anyone Alean knew in Harker''s army.


    "Great. Just great. Once we get back I''m having Warfreakz undergo that training with Charles." Lowengren frowned.


    "Let''s hope he manages to save Ricardo. That poor baby... I''ve never seen such strange cancerous disease."


    "Acquired radiation from the nukes of world war three and cancer¡­ That''s a painfulbination. Luckily Charles got the cancer part fixed." Lowengren sighed in amazement. He had little interaction with Charles but all of it impressed Lowengren immensely.


    "So Cliff got his training from Charles as well? He''s Path is interesting. I''m sure Seeker knows that Cliff has a Path that could be simr to Lynd''s."


    "It''s that formidable? No wonder Seeker insisted on making Cliff the sniper back then. He already noticed Cliff''s particrity.


    "You''re Path''s not half bad too. To think we could have escaped from Amir Mann without losing an arm or leg. Poor Typical."


    "Yeah. He was trying too hard. If we didn''t arrive earlier he would have surely been dead." Alean recalled Typical''s gruesome figure.


    "He''s trying to be an Oveer. Those assassins got a wakeup call. They realized how far off they were in skill. The next time we see them, they would be a scary group." Lowengren sighed.


    "I hope that they''re safe. Their departure was too abrupt it might have caught the attention of Amir Mann."


    "You underestimate my deception." Lowengren frowned as he continued munching.


    "Worry about us. Amir Mann is definitely chasing us." Lowengren gave a long sigh as if the realization of being on Amir Mann''s crosshair made him extremely uneasy.


    Alean continued to look at Lowengren.


    "Howe you''re not erm¡­ afraid? That battle was extremely terrifying."


    "Of course I''m afraid. I still get nightmares from then memory of that quick encounter with him. But this has always been my life even before we all met. So I''m kind of used to it."Aleanughed.


    BEEP!


    A small square device suddenly lit up.


    "Hm? Seeker''s sending some highly ssified information. Something must have happened."Alean noticed.


    Lowengren frowned.


    "It must be rted to what Arthur predicted. The possibility that newer Aragarians are joining the fray." Lowengren said as he continued stuffing the burger on his mouth.


    "We''ll have to wait. I''m guessing their ss will be shortly in session. We could receive the information within a few hours. For now, wey low and make preparations for another deception."


    "We''ll at least we have some free time. That satellite drop made me extremely¡­ queasy." Alean shook her head.


    "Then you must be looking forward to our uing swim to reach the Arabian nations¡­"


    "Why did you agree with Arthur''s suggestion?"Alean frowned.


    "We are Unlocked. Our capacities are far greater and stronger than that of a human."


    "That doesn''t exin why we should swim through the Red Sea. Without any powerful gear at that!"Alean nced angrily.


    "It''s the best way to remain undetected." Lowengren countered.


    Alean remained speechless at Lowengren''s behavior.


    "I wonder how Zeek is doing¡­" Alean wondered as she gazed at the farthest star which brightly glowed in the night sky.


    Lowengren nced at Alean and shook his head as Alean was entranced by the bright moon above them.


    He stared deeply at the very preupied Alean but could not say the words he wanted to say.


    "He should be doing fine. Perhaps more than fine. Who knows how far he''s grown? We''ve never seen him put an effort in fighting since three months ago. And all that he has been doing was just rxing at school and then those crazy streams and gambles¡­" Lowengren shook his head once more.


    "Jealous? Well, I don''t me you. He gets to y at home while we''re out here facing an Oveer, swimming through the ocean, and getting dropped and gliding from a freakin satelliteunch! Even with my Unlocking that drop was too much for me!"


    "He''s just preparing. I bet the next time we meet him; he''ll have interesting gifts from him. And I''m not jealous. No way. I say let him rest. A few months isn''t enough of a day-off with what''s in store for him.. One-on-one with a fully awakened Oveer? It''s too soon even for him."

 Chapter 125 - Class Is In Session

    Lara happily entered the next ssroom with an excited glint in her eyes. She had a strange sensation and started to look around and then found a familiar face who kept waving at her.


    "Charm!" Lara smiled as she walked towards the Royal.


    Other Royal''s couldn''t help but frown at the sight of Lara openly conversing with Charm Novelty-stoise.


    This was the second ss where Charm and Lara were ssmates. As such, she was excited to be around someone she feltfortable with.


    As the two sat together, several Royals kept looking at them.


    "She got Lara Diamon?" A teen girl frowned. She approached another young man and whispered.


    "Well, that Charm has a knack at manipting characters. Maybe her practice on that Bodyguard is making her more skillful." A young man shook his head.


    "You don''t understand the dangers. Think of it this way. If that Charm is doing some deals with Cliff and thereby cooperating with the Covenant, then thebination of these two is dangerous."


    Unbeknownst to everyone, up on the second floor of the adjacent building, unseen from the crowd, Seeker stood watching from the small opening of the window. After their meeting, he rushed to this ce which was a designated traveling point of Seeker. Because of Seeker''s unique status and the many enemies around him, his daily travels around the school would be protected and guarded. These routes held the greatest advantage of being sheltered by the buildings around it, covering Seeker from possible sniping attacks.


    "Is that her? Lara Diamon?" Seeker asked as he peeked through the small gaps of the window curtain.


    "Yes. Is she familiar?" Cliff wondered.


    "No. That''s not a face I remembered." Seeker shook his head.


    "But of course, we can''t be certain. The surgeries that the Aragarian''s can do is quite impressive. So she might have undergone that surgery."


    "She didn''t go through any surgery. I checked. I pped her arm and mapped it with Realm Somatotopy remember? It''s not at the level that you, Lynd and Lowengren can do, but it was enough for me to observe her nerves." Cliff answered.


    "Then if that''s the case, she shouldn''t be someone I met before. After all, the EAA was never among the cities that I attacked in the future." Seeker sighed.


    Lynd''s eyebrows raised as he witnessed this.


    "You''re¡­ disappointed?" Lynd asked.


    Seeker frowned.


    "Lynd, please keep your observations to yourself." Seeker shook his head and immediately left the room.


    Meryl watched with an intrigued expression.


    "Well?" Meryl turned to Lynd.


    "Don''t¡­ give me that look." Lynd hesitated.


    "You know something! Come on! Tell me!" Meryl pulled Lynd''s arm.


    "I don''t know! It was just that! Seeker felt disappointed."


    "He must be after a certain Pioneer." Cliff shrugged.


    "Oh¡­ you guys are no fun!" Meryl frowned and turned away.


    "By the way, Meryl¡­ Arthur''s not gonna like that." Lynd called out seriously.


    Meryl stopped from her tracks and didn''t turn back.


    "It''s not easy to imitate Arthur. And though I can''t tread the Lion''s Den, it''s enough for someone like me to see where this is going." Lynd reminded.


    Meryl was silent but continued on to reach for the door.


    "That''s right. And Arthur who could actually tread the Lion''s Den didn''t do anything." Meryl argued and left.


    Lynd sighed.


    "What was that about?" Cliff had to ask.


    "It''splicated. The future changes that Seeker had made are starting to surface. Just get stronger, Cliff. If Arthur attacks us in the near future, we would need your help. You are the one who remembers his thought process more than we do after all." Lynd sighed.


    Cliff was shocked. Why would Arthur attack them?


    "I guess it''s a good thing you''re going after Hermes." Lynd sighed and left the room.


    Seeker made his usual march towards his assigned room. As expected, a long line of students watched this parade but none dared to approach him. The cheers erupted.


    "He''sing out! Wanna head to the third floor to get a better look at him?"


    Lara smiled and nodded.


    "Of course! I haven''t seen him personally yet! I couldn''t get here earlier. You guys really should work on your traffic system." Lara giggled.


    "Phil-Pangea always had traffic problems. Let it go." Charmughed back.


    The pair headed towards the outside of the room.


    As the two left, the young man and Matilda''s expression turned grave.


    "She seems really close with the Diamons." The male student frowned.


    "What do we do? We can''t afford an alliance between the Diamons and the Covenant."


    "We''re not the only ones." The male frowned and pointed to another end of the room with another trio of students having a dark expression.


    "The enemy of our enemy is our friend. Although thatpany of theirs is a rivalpany, both of our groups can''t afford a Covenant-Diamon coboration." The young man strode towards the group of three.


    The tallest of the group noticed his approach.


    "Hoffman¡­ Is there something you need?" he gazed cautiously at Hoffman.


    "Ladies and Gents¡­ It seems that for now, we must put aside our temporarypetition. In any case, those sted Novelty-stoise can''t get an alliance with the Diamons. It means another businesspetitor to our already cut-throat rivalries." The youth called Hoffman spoke.


    "We can''t afford that union so why not make a temporary alliance?" The girl asked.


    The three looked at each other.


    "I agree with Matilda. We need to do something about that Charm." A young teen who was seated in the middle of the three spoke.


    "Any suggestions then?" The tallest turned to the youth seated.


    "I have a suggestion. We already know about the rumors about Charm and that Regr. Why not use it to our advantage?"


    "Fake some strange rtionship with the two? It seems a bit dull." A short bespectacled man who was the third party of the trio shook his head.


    "No. We all know the rumors of Cliff''s past. He was a small-time drug dealer. What if we use that, make it look like the Novelty-stoise is having an ongoing drug trade deal the Covenant¡­" The tall man rified.


    Hoffman and Matilda''s expression grew bright. The two others belonging to the trio also smiled.


    "Hitting two birds with one stone¡­ I like it. We''ll have to nt drugs to both Cliff and Charm to do this¡­" Matilda suggested.


    "How can we?" The bespectacled youth wondered.


    "Easily aplish. You are still thinking that you alone are nning against her. If we coborate then framing someone with drugs can easily be aplished. I''m quite close with one of the System admins and can imitate the digital signature of Charm''s locker." Hoffman grinned.


    "I believe your family is close with the makers of the locker? Once we have the physical key and match it with the digital signature we can open that locker." Hoffmanughed.


    "Right!" The tall man apuded.


    "Shall we head somewhere private to discuss this deal?" Matilda wondered.


    "Let''s meet after school." The youth seated in the middle of the three casually replied.


    Charm and Lara finally reached the third floor. They were just in time for Seeker to make his march. Every single movement and transfers made by Seeker had several security protocols in ce. Harker had assigned several soldiers to guard Seeker.


    "You sure you don''t want to get nearer? We could scuffle down to the first floor." Charm teased.


    "Don''t tempt me! Any closer and I might approach him and get arrested." Laraughed.


    It was then that Seeker''s figure was now seen. Several students had started to cheer and somewhere even pushing to touch Seeker. Surrounding Seeker was a group of students. These were the students who many envied. While most of the students in the school were banned from even touching Seeker, these students had the privilege and capability to freely do so.


    "So that''s them. How lucky. Why can''t I be among them? I''m an exchanged student!" Lara grumbled.


    "Haha. Is little Lara so jealous? You know the answer to that. It''s because you have such a powerful family!" Charmughed.


    "I know, I know. It''s my curse to bear. Otherwise, I would be hugging that- Hey! Who''s that girl that Seeker gave a hi-five!" Lara cursed angrily.


    "Rx. Their just friends! I doubt those foreigners would create more controversy than they''ve already made. Their parents and friends might get hurt if they do." Charm shook her head in disgust.


    "Hurt them? Controversies? People are attacking their parents?" Lara asked in a confused expression.


    "You underestimate the hate that this country has for foreigners. The truth is, many secretly hate your presence. If you were any other Korean girl, you''d probably get bullied. Thank your name that you aren''t bullied. Pangea is a xenophobic nation. With the Australian Avarice and all that, it''s gotten worse. All of those ssmates that Seeker now hang out with were attacked and bullied one way or the other. The school made several attempts to quell the conflict around them but to no avail." Charm gave a disappointed nce at the students.


    "They ced CCTV cameras all over the school and made these students walk on a specific route to minimize the attacks. But bathrooms were used to ambush them and some attacks were even made outside. The school made a couple of changes and even tasked Ted Zyrcon to be a member of that ss and was in charge of their protection but because Ted made such a good job, he was attacked. Seeker finally stepped up and volunteered to be a ssmate of this group in hopes that his fame could stop these attacks."


    "Did it work?"


    "Kinda. But the students still receive threats every day. Ted had several near-death experiences because of this. But so far, the bullying seemed to have stopped."


    "That''s good to know. Is that Ted?" Lara asked as she pointed to a local student amidst the group of foreigners.


    "Yeah. He used to be a jerk. I thought he would have made the lives of these foreigners a living hell. But he did such a good job that most of his former friends would even attack him now. Luckily Seeker stepped up."


    Lara was silent but stared at the ss. Sheter noticed a foreign adult entering the room.


    "Is their teacher a foreigner because¡­?" Lara began.


    "Yeah." Charm sighed.


    Lara knew why a foreign teacher had to be assigned. The other teachers didn''t dare teach this ss.


    "Wow. This school is just a big campus of bigots." Lara shook her head.


    Charm could only helplessly nod.


    "At least there are a few like you and that Ted. And that Seeker¡­ He makes me want him more." Lara smiled as he stared directly at Seeker.


    Seeker was about to enter the room when he caught sight of the staring Lara.


    Seeker smiled and waved his hands before entering the room.


    Lara was startled and couldn''t even wave back.


    The group of foreign students was already seated in their room when Seeker entered.


    Seeker took his assigned seat and waited.


    The bell was about to ring and several students were now hastily entering their assigned rooms.


    The teacher finally entered.


    He was a tall bespectacled man with brown hair. He had a strict expression and immediately took his ce in the room.


    The bell rung and sses finally started.


    The doors were closed and the man removed his sses.


    "Good morning, everyone." He greeted.


    "General Seeker. Good morning." The teacher was the first to greet and the students followed.


    Seeker remained standing and waited for the teacher to confirm their protective protocols.


    "Audio blocking confirmed. Soundproof technology activated and since we''ll be speaking at a speed that humans can''tprehend, I guess even technologies that can see through walls are now ineffective." The teacher reported.


    "Do we really need to go through all of this, General?" The teacher asked Seeker.


    "Eric¡­ You know how we need to do this. Because of my unique status, even the WGP is concerned with my daily habits and with who I talk to. I''ve just received word that an Aragarian has enrolled in this school. So how do I decimate information in a safe and secure manner?" Seeker asked.


    The teachers and students were stunned after hearing


    "An Aragarian?"


    "The first of many. So trust me when I say that this ssroom is the best ce to hold meetings and reports. With each of these foreign delegates allowed tomunicate with their parents back home, then we can disseminate information across the world and the Aragarian''s won''t even know how we do it."


    "Let''s get this on. We weren''t able to finish thest meeting because we wasted too much time. Is this slow enough for you?" Seeker asked. His voice was fast. Any normal human being wouldn''t make sense of what Seeker said.


    "I''m sorry, Sir! I couldn''t get thatst part!" A young girl, barely fourteen years old raised her hand.


    Seeker nced at the girl and frowned.


    "Fine. I''m being considerate because of your age, but imbed this in your mind, ve, age isn''t a factor to the Unlocked." Seeker spoke slower. But the speed was still too fast for a normal human


    "Is this good?"


    Despite the speed, all the students in the room nodded.


    "Good. It looks like most, if not all of you have already reached Advent of Unbing. Looks like Charles'' drugs are working fine." Seeker asked.


    "Charles wasn''t the only one you know." The teacherughed.


    "Of course, I won''t ever forget about you, Eric. It''s convenient having one of Harker''s top Programmed ves who worked with Charles to be here to help us with the drugs." Seekerughed.


    "Anyways, each and every one of you is to report to your correspondents immediately. This meeting has to do with urgent information that must be disseminated as early as now. Originally, I kept this info from your correspondents for fear that theirrge organizations may have some nted''s or Pioneers in ce. As such information as crucial as this may be deadly. This is especially true for Lennox''s and Meng''s organizations. Do note that and be sure to tell them why I didn''t tell this information earlier." Seeker turned to two specific students. One, a short and fat Caucasian and the other, a lean and well-built Asian.


    "But now¡­ things have changed. The Diamon''s, who we have long ago confirmed to have no Aragarian''s among them, suddenly had one. Lara Diamon who we have tested before, and have confirmed to be human, suddenly appeared with an Aragarian biology. And so, if Aragarian''s can rece us, then it only means that the assumptions and groups we have confirmed to be humans, may not necessarily be humans now."


    Each student, including Eric, had a grave look on their faces.


    "So for now¡­ let this ss be in session.." Seeker spoke seriously.

 Chapter 126 - Aragarian Ranks

    The ssroom which Seeker was transferred too contained all the foreigners who due to their unique status, was approved by the WGP to remain in Phil-Pangea. Ever since the attack on China, several changes which called forth for the return of foreigners to their home country were allowed. The only groups that were allowed to remain, were students.


    Due to the difference in Technological possibilities, most school credits are not epted on other countries. As such, foreigners who study on different countries usually meant their long-term stay over at their country. In fact, in most cases, they live in the country they study as the trade they learn there may not be avable in their own country or due to the difference in technological possibilities, the trade may not be simr in work, operations, and other details.


    Because students who have studied in Phil-Pangea for more than two or three years would be forced into a position of wasting their years, the WGP soon relented that only after ensuring a background check to the students and their parents will they be allowed to remain and study. And these students were the few who were allowed to contact their parents.


    All over the world, the various teams that Seeker had established an alliance with waited.


    After receiving the ping that Harker had sent out, they all prepared the assigned recipients to receive the message.


    A man with a cybeic arm, and whose two legs had several cybeic attachments noticed the ping.


    "Young Master¡­" Another man by the side also noticed the ping.


    "Should I inform Master?" The man asked.


    "This information is relevant to us. But it''s not something that Master needs to be informed of. Regardless¡­ Prepare the Fangs. We''re going hunting."


    "Young master? Your body is not yet-"


    "As you will, Young Master." Sting gave a respectful bow and suddenly disappeared.


    In the deep lush mountain forest of France¡­


    Deep in the man-made mountains was a secret base that housed the most advancedboratories throughout the world.


    "Seeker''s ping." Kristine frowned. She wore a golden armor with sophisticated technologies that would have made the WGP wage war with New Great Britain.


    Surrounding her were various armed men who wereying on the floor. Some were on the verge of death. Others only suffered a few broken bones.


    "Gentlemen. I hope this proves my point. Sadly, we must end this session¡­ it seems that I have business to attend to." A young man wielding two maces sighed.


    "You already know what it''s about. Why bother?" Kristineughed.


    "I have an idea, what it will be. But nothing specific. Let''s go, Kristine. Major¡­ The medics will take care of you. Don''t worry. None of you will die. But after we fix you up, we''ll have another session." Arthur casually walked away.


    The soldier, who was shaking all over, couldn''t even point and aim properly. He immediately copsed and fainted.


    Somewhere in the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean, where the light failed to reach, a metallic orb-like object, that was like a small submarine continued to roll across the ocean floor.


    An extremely alluring and beautiful woman continued to perform several yoga positions. Her mind, however, remained on that battle.


    Ever since her capture, she was tasked to only bewitch one Aragarian and she was kept hidden from the world. But after a few weeks, it was decided that she would be tossed into the depths of the Pacific Ocean and the controls of this small orb which was an application of the Rule Technology, would be given to several individuals who have never met her. Every day. The controls of this orb and its direction would be given over to another person. Some didn''t even know what it was they were controlling but wouldter gift it off to another member.


    All of this was to ensure that none of the original people who fought against her would be tempted to seek her out and meet with her again.


    BEEP!


    A beep was heard as a notification appeared on the console of one of theputers present. She knew what this meant.


    Back in Phil-Pangea, Seeker had finally begun his exnation.


    "Now, to begin our little meeting, I''ll need a quick update on the current progress of your contacts. As for the ones on my end, we''ve basically taken control of most of the weapon dealers in the Pangean nations. However, due to some¡­ issues, we''ve failed to kill Premier. His son has been turned into a Programmed ve so we basically have a spy in their organization." Seeker confirmed.


    "Oh? I thought it would be better for him to die and make the Aragarian''s make his son the go-to person for their connections here?" Eric wondered.


    "Just¡­ Just ignore it." Seeker firmly answered.


    Eric had a curious expression but paid no heed to it a fraction of a secondter.


    "Any other changes in our ns?"


    "No. Just that. We will have to make the necessary arrangements with the change of those ns. I need the reports from your parties." Seeker ordered.


    "Much obliged, General." Eric smiled.


    "Reporting from Charles'' team. Our current progression is still the same. Our experiments have generally branched off into three different programs. The main Unlocking Program which we are currently focused on making a safer drug for making Unbing Proficient and is on the process of creating a test drug for Surmounting Unbing. Of course, you know of Charles'' current dilemma. His current focus on this matter is to use the Unlocking to control the cells of the body and limit the attacks of cancer. Charles has been engrossed on the matter of Ricardo after all. Do you have anyints on this matter?"


    "None. I''m sure that he doesn''t need to be reminded that perfect control over the cancer cells would be more possible on the higher stages of the Unlocking. How is the health of Ricardo?"


    "It''s actually quite intriguing. Charles has actually asked for assistance from Lennox. The radiation surrounding the child is quite deadly. This also caused a mutation on the infant''s body leading to cancer. Yet¡­ for some strange reason¡­ the child is alive."


    "That child was originally the case that aided Charles greatly in discovering the Unlocking. That child is perhaps, the hope of our race. At such a young age, he already has shown signs of breaking through the Unbing stage. This may have been caused by the radiation, the sickness, or perhaps both. As such, his study of that child should be his priority. Tell him that he can ask for aid from any of our groups. Lennox and Meng should aid him as much as they can." Seeker then nced at two particr students who were designated to be the messenger between Seeker and these two groups.


    "I trust that all of you haven''t been acting conservatively with regards to your experiments?"


    "Oh not at all, General."


    "Any casualties?"


    "None so far. Meng''s soldiers were resolved and we''re the ones asking us to try the riskier procedures."


    "I meant the guinea pigs."


    "Oh! Right. Of the twenty-eight Aragarian''s we''ve captured in China, nine have died so far. Seven from Charles experiment."


    "I see. Go crazy with the risk. The gap created by Meng''s presumed death will undoubtedly cause many skirmishes in the Underworld and even in the military of China. Such chaos caused by the disturbance of Meng should be within the Aragarian''s expectations so they wouldn''t bother with several nteds disappearing."


    "Great! As for the remaining experiments, it''s both on the initial phase. Basically it''s a study of merging Paths. One program, led by the sisters, Sonia and Saunia, focuses on Lynd''s cells and how it reacts to the various Oveer cells we have. If we solve the merging process, we can probably create a drug that could make other Unlocked develop Skills. The other experiment is led by yours truly, and it is focused on experimenting with your cells and how it may be used to pass on the various traits you already have."


    "I see. Keep me posted with the updates of your studies and experiments. Alright. China your up."


    A young Chinese student stood up and nodded.


    "Due to the interference of Lowengren and Alean, together with some members of the Dragon''s Fang, Amir Mann has been spotted in China and India. Lowengren and Alean managed to enter Africa andpleted their mission. They just need to make a bigmotion but Meng has his doubts that another gang massacre would get Amir Mann''s attention."


    "Tell him not to worry. Lowengren''s deception isn''t that easy to escape. Not to mention that this is the n of Arthur. They''re in the clear to re-establish their base in China." Seeker nodded.


    "Then Meng will continue on his ns. But they want to visit the Empress again."


    "Ugh. Just because we defeated her doesn''t mean that he can fight and win her. Unless he can confirm Rosa''s ascent to the Oveer level, I will not allow it. She has to beat me alone inbat. But the way things are going, Rosa''s at Ranked Hero level in potential at best. Since she cannot believe in me then Meng has to find ways to-"


    "General, Meng believes that that problem would be fixed only if they face the Tyrant Empress. It has to do with Rosa''s faith. He said you would understand."


    Seeker was silent for a while but finally relented.


    "So its beauty? Strange. Why didn''t she manifest it on my timeline?" Seeker mumbled.


    "Fine. I agree. But this has to be done after I fight the Realm King. If I survive, then we can talk." Seeker turned his attention to another student.


    "Korea?"


    "We have sessfully established a base in the city. The Mikado''s are currently trying to regain the trust of their superiors but it looks like they''vee across some conflict. Ever since the secret mission on China, Colonel Meryl''s parents are under strict guard and are highly monitored. If it wasn''t for the new ves there, they wouldn''t be able to do anything. And so they can''t kill their way up thedder because this particr boss of theirs is highly connected."


    "Any Aragarian''s found?"


    "No such luck. We have no idea where to start." The student answered.


    "Tell the Mikado''s to focus their efforts in investigating the Diamons," Seeker ordered.


    "These are the possibilities regarding the Diamons true identity. One, they were Aragarian''s even on my time¡­ but they died and fought against the Aragarian''s secret forces. This is the reason why I concluded they weren''t even on this timeline. Although they could have used their deaths to hide the facts that they were, it was useless then. The battle already happened and all pretenses and disguises were already being thrown off. The more likely possibility is that the Aragarian''s are using their technology to somehow rece or imnt themselves on our''s society¡­" Seeker frowned.


    "Since I''m already discussing it, I''ll just go ahead and tell you all to know. Give a Tier S priority report to your correspondents. It is unlikely the Aragarian''s can fake the medical records as it would still leave a digital trail especially for those countries with the Blockchainwork. We are to all act in the assumption that the Aragarian''s have a way to physically rece the top families of Earth. This would only be possible if a High-Leveled Presider came or worse, a Principal has been sent."


    "General, if they had that tech before, why act now?"


    "I have no choice but to leak this information here. Double the encryption when rting it back to your assigned posts. To exin that reason, I''ll need to first expound on the world and culture the Aragarians have.


    The Aragarian''s have several levels or tiers which defines their status. Imagine that each rank symbolizes a technological power. In their dystopian society, you have to amass contributions either by serving those with higher rankings or perform notable contributions to society. The more contribution you have, the more discoveries, and whatever contributions the higher ones in society give away, the higher you get to climb in this system."


    Seeker then went to the board and drew severalyers.


    "Those at the bottom are what we call as nted. These are ves who have very little or no technological advancements. They could be treated asmon humans and wouldn''t be a threat to us in any way. Basically, these are foot soldiers, ves, andborers. Higher than this group is the group that has infiltrated Earth long ago. The Pioneer."


    Seeker started listing out several names on the board.


    "As you know, these are the Pioneer''s we''ve confirmed."


    A Russian student raised her hand.


    "General. Are we to assume that any Aragarian businessman, with a reasonable amount of power, are Pioneers?"


    "Not necessarily. In Pangea, only Feltrick Ung-ive was a Pioneer. His wives and children would be considered the nted level. Some nted directly serve under a Pioneer and are at times allowed to rise in thedder of sess in this world. So any powerful Organization, be it political,mercial or military, these groups would generally have one Pioneer. The rest would be nted."


    The Russian student nodded and sat back down.


    Seeker recalled something as the beautiful student sat down.


    "Oh. Eva. Did Colonel Cliff make a move on you?" Seeker asked.


    Eva had a curious look.


    "No, Sir. But please tell him I''m free anytime." She smiled excitedly.


    "Sorry. I think that ship has passed. You know who he''s hanging out with these days." Seeker shook his head.


    "I don''t mind. As a ve, I''m required to be a bit more open-minded." Eva smiled once more.


    Ted gave a jealous look at Eva and then turned to Seeker.


    "What''s with the stare, Teddy?" Seeker frowned.


    "Uh¡­ Nothing General." Ted panicked.


    "Moving on. The Pioneers hold some power. The best analogy is that they are the freemen of medieval society. Or in moremon terms, they would have the same power and authority that the middle-ss has."


    "Just the middle ss?" A dark-tanned student asked as she raised her arm.


    "Yes. Just the middle ss. There are Pioneers, however, who has chosen to subordinate themselves under the next level. Those who aren''t subservient to any Aragarian''s of the next level are called Rogue Pioneers. There are a lot of these people on Earth. The dystopian society of the Aragarian''s is quite treacherous that living on Earth before they harvest it is like a long vacation. Of course, Rogue Pioneers who joined Earth usually try to amass contributions by providing resources to other Pioneers or the ones above the Pioneer level."


    "Is Feltrick Ung-ive a Rouge?" Ted asked to make Seeker forget his momentary jealous look.


    "We don''t know. But it''s possible. Those who came here on Earth are mostly Rogues. Although several Pioneers have been sent to Earth by their superiors on orders, it was said that there was an incident that urred during the Third World War that made the Aragarian''s warry of us. Hence only a few Pioneers who are serving the next tier were sent. And don''t ask. We did our best, but we were unable to dig out the events regarding that matter."


    "Will Pioneers who have served under the more prominent Aragarian''s stronger?"


    "It is possible. But there was none in my timeline. They may have more authority and could evenmand a Rogue Pioneer to assist them on certain tasks, but generally, they are just a regr Pioneer. However, because of the anomaly of the Diamons, it is best that we work under the assumption that they have. On this timeline, It''s certain that the more of the next tier is actively involved with the things of this Earth.


    We have captured one Presider but because of their special status, we dared not kill them. Otherwise, chaos would ensue. These Presiders could be likened to kings or world-leaders of our world. They have technologies that would theoretically equal or surpass the Technological Possibility of a nation. Depending on the chosen tech route of these Presider''s they may have techs that could allow them to rival an Inhuman. In fact, there are few that could even kill a Ranked Hero. Fighting several of them, or several of their armies could kill a World Champion. Basically a Presider is like a General of an army. They have up to twenty Pioneer''s serving directly under them. If they were to arm their army of nted, a single Presider could easily eliminate a country."


    The room was quiet.


    "In my timeline, we fought and verified eight Presiders. But in this timeline, we do not know how many we will face. The Aragarian''s have now been bolder in their infiltration to our which means that either a Presider with a unique technological possibility made a move and joined the war¡­ or worse.. A Principal has arrived."

 Chapter 127 - Lowengrens Deception

    On the other side of the world, Lowengren and Aleancontinued to stroll through the lonely park avoiding public CCTV cameras and other video recording devices.


    "Who''s that?" Alean asked as she sensed a group of people following them. Her voice was extremely fast that it sounded like she was humming.


    "Not sure. They don''t seem to be Indians. So they''re probably not Amir Mann''s men. That must be a local African group. Maybe someone recognized us?" Lowengren frowned. His voice was also fast.


    "They''re too short to be Africans. If anything they should be Asians."


    "You''re right." Lowengren realized as he noted their sizes.


    "If they are short, this means that they had purposely withheld themselves from taking gic enhancement. They must be some prideful people."


    "Do we fight?" Alean asked.


    Lowengren shook his head.


    They soon reached the dark areas of the park and could sense that the watchers were getting closer and closer.


    "Do you think OUR future''s hopeful now with all these advantages WE''ve been building? LOST?" Alean spoke in a fast tone and spoke at varying volumes. To anyone else, all that they could hear was ''Are we lost?''


    "NO. From what Zeek exined, all these advantages could only make the enemy reveal more fangs. We just have to FOLLOW our orders as was nned by ME, Zeek, Arthur, and Lennox."


    "I thought Zeek said they managed to fend off all the Aragarian''s who attacked Earth in his timeline. With the recent information, he gave out¡­ our victory seemed highly unlikely. How did he do that?" Alean''s words reverted to producing hum-like words.


    "Really? Bringing up the past? We''re being tailed by who knows what organization, and you want to chat about Zeek''s past?"


    "I didn''t really take Zeek''s exnation seriously at first. But now¡­ it''s getting harder and harder to deny. So I want to know now."


    "Alright. Well¡­ We know Seeker''s confidence that they defeated the direct threat on that ster battle. That''s the most important clue to understanding how they did it."


    "You know how they did it?"


    "Of course. A little chat with Arthur solved that dilemma. First, you have to understand how these Presider''s see us. If the Pioneer''s see us as nothing but meat, how much disdain would Presider''s have towards us? That''s why Seeker only knows about a few Presiders. There are probably many Presider''s who didn''t take part in the war. Their n has always been to make Earth fight itself and so they used their Pioneers to do the dirty work."


    "I see. Why send a General to do a task of a boy scout?" Alean nodded.


    "Exactly. They didn''t want to get their hands dirty. And I think, that the Lennox and Arthur of that timeline, along with whichever Oveer''s survived never fought back to an extent which would make the Presiders threatened to go all out."


    "You mean they never crossed the bottom line?"


    "Yes. That''s why only a handful of Presiders was identified in Zeek''s timeline. I think, what they plotted was to make these Presider''s underestimate them then suddenly initiate a mission that probably would have wiped out the entire armada in one sweep."


    "How would they do that?"


    "If you are fighting against an enemy so strong and so many, deception would be your best bet. Remember what Zeek said about his death? Didn''t you find anything strange with his story?"


    "When he told it to me back then, I thought he was making up most of the stuff so I didn''t bother. But now that I think about it. Why did they give that mission to Seeker? That was a crucial task. I doubt that all Oveer''s already died then."


    "That''s the right question. The answer is simple. They gave Seeker this mission because the Aragarian''s would never imagine that it would be Seeker who would deliver the killing blow. It was a trap. They made it look like that the ster attack was an all or nothing gamble to directly face the Presiders who didn''t even bother taking action."


    "So you mean, the Oveer''s were the bait and Seeker was the hidden dagger?"


    "Yes. Consider their situation. Most of the nations who betrayed Earth had gone through an organized retreat to the Aragarian motherships. Once the Aragarian''s fix them up with the right techs and weapons, returning to Earth with a few more Presiders would assure the Aragarian''s victory."


    "So Seeker''s attack was a desperate suicide mission where failure meant the defeat of the human race?"


    "Yes. They gave Seeker the most important mission because he was the weakest. The Oveers were probably busy attacking the main motherships but were in fact, the ultimate diversion."


    "I see. They made it look like that Seeker''s mission was to take control of one of their big ships to fight the other ships?"


    "Right. It was a somewhat sloppy attack and had to look like a desperate attempt so the Aragarian''s wouldn''t detect the scheme. That Supernova must have been so strong that I wouldn''t be surprised that the explosion would have left devastating effects on Earth."


    "That''s the second thing that bothered me. How did we manage to have the science to do that? Wouldn''t the Aragarian''s have the tech that could detect anomalies in their star energy?"


    "Yes. But they don''t have the Unlocking. You''ve already seen the answer as to how Seeker overloaded that ship. The Lightning Phoenix. His lightning''s are already unexinable even at the Inhuman level, imagine what it could do at the World Champion level?"


    Alean was stunned. She recalled the amazing exploits of Lennox when they sparred on several asions.


    "If that''s the case, I could imagine that Lennox''s lightning would be¡­ almost alive at the World Champion level. So he studied the ster energy and converted his lightning energy into something that would create an explosion¡­" Alean finally realized it.


    "But if it''s that terrifying why did Seeker have to dive in to kill himself?"


    "Lennox must have told him somehow. Maybe the stored energy that Lennox sent with Zeek''s team had a way of estimating the energy to make the star go into a full explosion. Even the World Governing Powers don''t have the technology of the Four Force elerator. They must have stolen ster energy and mixed it with Lennox''s powers. This was why Seeker was sure his dive wouldplete the mission. If an Oveer tells you to jump off a cliff, would you dare stand still?" Lowengrenughed.


    Alean nodded.


    "They''reing." Alean frowned as she sensed several men slowly approaching.


    Just as Alean said, several figures were approaching the enemy from every side.


    "Are they¡­?" Alean noticed the peculiarities.


    "Interesting. Ninjas. I didn''t think I''d ever get to see such warriors." Lowengren responded.


    The hooded figures finally emerged and revealed themselves.


    "Looks like this one''s going to be fun," Lowengren revealed a smile.


    The enemies revealed several sharp des.


    "Micro des. How scary." Alean smiled.


    "Let''s release it together. Ourbined Reaper Aura should paralyze them." Lowengren grinned.


    The figures slowly readied a pose but right before anyone could attack a strange figure mysteriously appeared between the two.


    "Stop. You''ve failed as shinobis. Their overall power is more than twice of yours. Retreat. Let me deal with them." The appearing ninja ordered.


    Alean and Lowengren felt their stomachs clutch in fear. They were all too familiar with this sensation.


    "This bearing. A Near-Oveer." Alean frowned.


    "Looks like our actions have brought in more troublesome foes," Lowengren answered back.


    "Impressive. You spoke so fast and so softly, that even I couldn''t understand what you are saying. It looks like rumors of your death were intentional. The masterminds of the Australian Avarice live on, I see?" The Ninja readied two swords.


    "Who are you?" Alean took out two handguns and readied to attack. Her handguns were about two times thicker than a regr handgun.


    The Ninja ignored her and unsheathed his de.


    "Don''t bother asking, Alean. I know who that person is." Lowengrenughed confidently.


    The ninja was surprised at Lowengren''s deration and observed him cautiously.


    "Remember Greydon''s information? I believe it was Typical who told us about his organization. It''s obvious who they could be. We''ve created such a riot, it''s not hard to deduce which group is after us."


    Alean realized something.


    "I see. It''s them." Alean smirked as she kept one gun back and brought out a sword.


    "I didn''t know that the Dragon is aware of our existence. Looks like we''d have to look for his missing body." The ninja spoke coldly.


    "Oh don''t bother. We''ve already killed them. Your organization is next. So prepare to wash your neck¡­ Lilibeth!" Lowengren pointed haughtily at the Ninja.


    The Ninja''s expression changed at Lowengren''s haughty and unruly unveiling.


    "You think that disguise going to fool me? I know a woman when I see one! Don''t think that just because you''re a woman, I would hold back!"


    The ninja''s arm was trembling visibly as he clutched it tighter and tighter.


    "We''ve already made quick work of thatst gang. Were they your subordinates? I bet they don''t even know they were serving under a woman like you! I''ll make sure to have a good time with your body, Lilibeth!" Lowengrenughed mischievously.


    "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING LILIBETH?!" The Ninja cursed angrily.


    The surrounding ninjas slowly retreated away from the circle they were making as they felt the anger of their master.


    Lowengren had a shocked expression.


    "What? You''re not Lilibeth? No way! I''m sure it''s you! That feminine voice! She''s masking it and making it deep! But it''s definitely a woman''s voice!" Lowengren turned to Alean.


    "I''m right, right?" Lowengren sought approval.


    Alean immediately nodded and continued to re cautiously at the Ninja.


    "She''s just trying to trick us. If we don''t think she''s Lilibeth then she can surprise us with that Lillypad attack that Typical talked about. Careful Lowengren." Alean added.


    "Right!" After being reaffirmed Lowengren returned to his haughty look.


    "You''re n failed, Lilibeth!"


    "I''m the Void Ninja! Get your facts straight!" the Ninja was grinding his teeth in anger.


    "The Void Ninja? Wasn''t he the guy Lennox said had strange teleportation skills? What was his name again? Dous?"


    "No. I think it was F- something." Alean pondered.


    "Frankie? Fred?" Lowengren guessed.


    "It wasn''t a name. They had a title simr to the Dragon''s Fang." Alean rebutted with an irritated expression.


    "Firefly? Fist? First? Fungal?"


    "Stop guessing! You idiot!" Alean shouted.


    "I''m Rai! Rai! For crying out loud! You have connections that would be envied even by the World Governing Powers and you still can''t remember a damned name! Rai! Remember now!?" Rai shouted exasperatedly.


    Alean and Lowengren turned to each other in shock.


    "Rai. We''ll take note of that. Now we have something to tell the World Governing Powers! A mysterious organization unknown even to them has resurfaced, and with strange teleporting powers that he disyed, he could be a threat to the WGP! I can already imagine the contents of my report. Thanks for telling us who you are, Lilibeth."


    Rai''s expression turned sour.


    "YOU!"


    His anger manifested on his surroundings. Aside from the overpowering strength of the Reaper''s Breath, the entire space around Alean and Lowengren seemed to turn unstable.


    "In any case, our info''s off. It looks like we need to expand our search for the missing Rule!" Lowengren smiled and took out am device.


    "We''ve got their names! Rai, the Void Assassin! Cover our retreat! Fire at will!" Lowengren ordered.


    Rai was a step toote in trying to stop Lowengren from his request. Before his other foot left the ground, it happened.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Powerful explosions that created arcs of electricity that bolted from one shrapnel to the next sted several Ninjas out of their formation.


    "Borg! Use the Blue Srium Bomb! Don''t worry about us!"


    Rai heard the strangemand and searched for Lowengren.


    "Borg! Shoot now! Lowengren shouted to hism device as he cried staring at the top of a building.


    Rai saw a strange bluish light which he concluded to be China''s Light Rail technology and frowned.


    Immediately, Rai kicked the ground and vanished appearing at a distance.


    BOOM!


    Rai didn''t bother turning back to see the explosion but he immediately ran towards the building which he believed to be where the sniper was.


    "NO! ALEAN! DON''T LET HIM GO TO BORG!" Lowengren''s scream echoed but Rai rushed on ignoring whatever attacks would be shot at him.


    He disappeared once more and appeared closer to the building. After a few steps he vanished once more and reappeared at another distance but this time, he reappeared as he was spinning to catch a small de hurled towards his back.


    CLANK!


    Without even turning around, Rai caught the de and teleported once more reaching the fifth floor of the building.


    A few leaps up, he vanished and reappeared several floors above and continued to quickly rise through the building.


    It hadn''t been more than five seconds since he left Lowengren and sprinted to the top of the building.


    With a long de and the small dagger in hand, Rai stood on the top of the roof where he knew the attack came from and was shocked at what he saw.


    Nothing.


    There was nothing there.


    Rai stood as his anger manifested once more in the surroundings.


    "Report!" Rai angrily called out to his men.


    "Master, they vanished." A voice replied hesitantly after a few seconds.


    Rai stared in silence and was clutching the dagger he caught till his hands were bleeding. He then noticed, scratched on the de of the dagger, was the taunt that made him punch the floor so hard that his fist dug through the cement.


    "Made you look, Lilibeth!"


    Alean and Lowengren had just sat down on their respective seats on a certain public train.


    Strangely, their attire was vastly different and even their faces changed.


    Alean continued to stare at Lowengren silently.


    "What? Something off with my mask?"


    "No. Your deception''s getting scarier." Alean couldn''t believe that the enemy would fall for such obvious taunts.


    Using Specter''s technology, Lowengren deceived Rai into thinking that a Rail attack came from the rooftop Rai scaled. It was in fact, a yoyo with strings made from Specter''s technologies and had the ability to give off a bright neon blue glow.


    "Your assistance made it easier. No wonder Arthur made you pair up with me. He was right. Your Path can support mine." Lowengrenughed.


    "I wonder what Lilibeth is doing right now?"


    "His Path was scary. Teleportation? It''s a good thing you deceived him."


    "Yeah. We would have died if we were held back any longer. Still... That Lilibeth would be very helpful if he does reach Oveer. His Path beats Amir Mann''s after all." Lowengren''s expression turned serious.


    "Let''s double our security measures. We''re fighting an organization that even Lennox and Meng didn''t know about! Not to mention we still have our mission for luring Amir Mann here!"


    "Already taken care of. Those explosions I left at the park should do the trick. Lilibeth would probably try hiding in fear of the World Governing Power''s retaliation. Amir Mann should discover that battlefield and conclude it was us. After all, that shrapnel from the mines I''ve been secretly nting when we were strolling in the park would act as our calling card confirming our involvement."


    "I see. A mysterious battle urs in a nation with a powerful dictator. It should scramble the government to take strange movements. And Amir Mann would get wind of this and throw his search of tracks. But how did those ninjas from the EAA find out about us, anyway?"


    "No idea. It looks like our entry to this country has its loopholes."


    "Gee¡­ I wonder where''s the loophole in riding a satellite that wasunched and gliding our way down here? That was a totally safe trip! I didn''t even manage to say goodbye to him!" Alean cursed. She could still recall arguing with Arthur who was exining the exact timing for them to get off the satellite and follow the exact path to make them reach the penthouse of Shark Umberton.


    Lowengren gave a curious look at Alean and pondered at her irritable reactions.


    "Are you missing him that much?" Lowengren asked.


    "What? Where''s thating from?"


    "Since it''s not your period, I just assumed." Lowengren squinted.


    "Well yeah! It''s been months since I''ve contacted Lynd and-"


    "Fine. Lie to me." Lowengrenughed.


    "What? Who are you talking about?" Alean grabbed Lowengren''s arm.


    Them device lit up.


    "Oh, it''s from dad!" Alean noticed an encrypted message.


    "Dad? Not even calling him General." Lowengren teased.


    Alean ignored Lowengren''s tease and started decrypting the information.


    "It''s information about Presiders. Seeker''s revealing it to everyone. It means¡­"


    "Right. Arthur''s prophecy was urate. It seems that there are more Presiders here on Earth aspared with Seeker''s timeline. We''ll need to do one more task if that is the case. We can''t risk leaving a trail which could lead these Presider''s to the EAA ninjas or Amir Mann."


    "What do we do?"


    "What else? A deception.." Lowengren smirked.

 Chapter 128 - The Gamer That Shook The World

    A tall white man with a lean, but muscr feature walked down the unsanitary and poverty-stricken homes. The alleys were so narrow that most American''s would find it hard to pass by given the dirty and grimy floors and thin walls that were covered in molds and other unsanitary things.


    "Ugh. I hate this damned ce." He cursed as he swiftly moved through the dirty road.


    While most of the world has be cleaner and cleaner as technology prioritized cleanliness after the Third World War, the dirty and unsanitary city where this American paved through was among the few countries who progressively got worse.


    The tall man stared from afar as he reached an opening with several houses. The houses appeared to be owned by the richer families in the area. Despite the crowded conditions, not one of the many people moving through and fro through these narrow alleys would enter the territory of this ce.


    At the open area which would lead further into these houses, several armed men stood by and guarded the ce.


    The American shook his head and sighed.


    "I can''t believe I''d have to get my hands dirty for this." The American wore a pair of ck gloves and moved closer.


    "Hey. This is private property." An armed guard called out angrily His ent was very apparent.


    "Seriously? ents? Has it been ten years since I spoke to someone with ents?" The American frowned.


    "Is there a problem? You got a problem with our ents?" One of the Latin natives called out to the tall man. He revealed a gun in his holster which he paraded around like a badge.


    "I have a problem. This damned stupid mission is the problem. Sending me here, to an undeveloped and useless country. What the hell is that Chris Carlean is thinking! Bringing Grace here?!" He openly cursed.


    While the armed man had a strange expression, the tall man took advantage of it. It was quick. The tall man kicked the man, took the holster and held him pinned down with the gun pointing to his temple.


    "I''m here to see Chris. The American who you are serving." The tall man called out before thepanions of the Latin man could react.


    "Oh, you know boss Chris! You should have said so, man!" The man who was pinned down eximed.


    "Get him out here! I''m that man''s boss!" The American cursed.


    "Yeah? Well I''m your daddy!" One of the guardsughed.


    BAM!


    Suddenly, the man charged and grappled the guard tossing him on the ground. A gun was aimed at his mouth.


    "Let me show you who''s the boss!" The American smirked as he readied his gun.


    "Don''t be too cruel, Jake." A sweet and calm voice called out.


    "Grace!" The man was shocked to see the tanned features of the woman he had longed for.


    "Senorita!" The other guards all called out.


    "Let go of little Fernando first." Grace smiled.


    Immediately the tall man eded and allowed the Latin native to stand once more.


    What irritated Jake was that the Latin man''s eyes continued to look down on him.


    "Come on in. My husband is expecting you." Grace smiled and walked inside.


    "He- He knows I''ming?"


    "Of course. Jonathan''s already inside." Grace smiled.


    A strange expression surfaced as he heard the name.


    Jake silently followed inside and kept quiet of what he witnessed.


    Drugs of all sorts were being made in thisb. Groups of people were busy working with strange and obviously obsolete devices to create drugs. Even Jake had to scoff at the poor technology made avable to them..


    "You are¡­ allowing Chris to do this?"


    Grace maintained her smile.


    "Anything for our little boy."


    Soon the two walked up to the many basement floors and reached the master room guarded by more men.


    As he entered inside, he could identify the faces of the people inside.


    From the reports, he got from his team, these people were the previous leaders of the drug den that he was in.


    Jake was surprised but tried to hide it in front of Grace.


    "They didn''t die?" Jake silently thought to himself.


    Soon his gaze moved beyond these drug-lords and it rested on a figure who immediately made Jake feel a surge of hatred and anger.


    The figure was casually seated in the middle of the room. The gang leaders and drug-lords all were silently sitting around him as if they were devout followers awaiting their religious leader.


    Chris was seated on arge couch facing arge monitor. The loading messages of an ongoing Piercing:Edge Free-for-all was seen.


    Surrounding Chris was various chips and junk food around him, as well as a pile of gumball and jawbreaker candies.


    "Hello, Jake! Nice of you to join us." Chris smiled. His words came out strangely as he still had a jawbreaker candy in his mouth.


    "Dear, your right on time. The game''s about to start. You got the stuff? I hope it wasn''t hard for you to get it." Chris turned to his wife.


    Jake''s expression turned sour and he red with hatred at Chris.


    "You''ve been in this country for two months and you''ve already made a drug den and have even turned Grace into a drug smuggler!"


    "Really, Jake? Have you seen what Grace is about to give Chris?" A mocking tone was heard as a tall man wearing a white sleeveless undershirt walked forward. He was previously seated in a position that was unseen by Jake. As he walked towards the center, the various burn marks and scars on his arms which were covered in a variety of tattoos made Jake identify this person.


    "Jonathan. I wondered what made you resign so quickly. I was happy that the Force has less inadequate agents. And now it''s clear. You now want to embrace the lifestyle you''ve always longed for." Jakeughed with a mocking tone.


    "Ah, Jake the ever-critical and biased agent. I''m sure you would have ignored us and bombed this ce without asking what''s happening out if it weren''t for Grace here. Pathetic. Seriously, Chris, why don''t you just kill the guy. He still has the hots for your wife."


    Jake immediately drew his gun and aimed for Jonathan. But before Jake could pull the trigger, Chris spat out the candy in his mouth and the candy struck Jake''s hand. It was a simple spit, but it felt like a rock was tossed.


    Almost instantly, an overpowering dread enveloped everyone in the room.


    Jake''s eyes grew wide as he stared at Chris with an unexinable dread.


    Grace sighed.


    "That was quite reckless of you, Jake. Rx. What Chris was asking is, if I got the burgers he wanted. You know how poor this nation is. There are very few fast-food restaurants here that would be edible." Grace revealed the burger in the brown bag she was carrying.


    "Jonathan. You shouldn''t provoke him. Jake would have really shot you." Grace sighed.


    Jonathan simplyughed.


    Grace immediately sat down on the couch and grabbed a jawbreaker candy and popped it on her mouth.


    Jonathan could only look in horror as his life-long crush had a huge bulge on her cheeks as she started devouring therge candy.


    "What brings an old friend here?" Chris asked as he ignored Jake''s pained look.


    "I''m here to find out what you two are doing!" Jake screamed.


    "You left the Force after the Pangean operation and disappeared sixteen years ago!"


    "I didn''t disappear. I received quite a good offer from your superiors and took it. Grace was already pregnant, they needed an agent in Pangea who they could call in times of national crisis, and I took it. I entered the police force and became a detective ording to their offer and had to live the life of a poor bum. Not to mention those many incidents against Harker Cipril." Chris smiled as the game started.


    Grace and Chris controlled their corresponding avatars and moved towards the map. Various attacks urred as other yers were meeting the two inbat.


    Ranged, mid-ranged and close-ranged attacksing from beloved Piercing characters started happening.


    Despite the chaotic and fast battles,Chris and Grace began massacring their enemies in the free-for-all with great speed.


    Their movements continued to evade the attacks easily and most of their opponents couldn''t even fight back as they would fall for the variousbos of Chris and Grace.


    Jonathan and Jake were shocked at the incredibly fast movement that the two made. It was as if the screen was just a blur for them.


    "Anyways, we wanted our son to have a normal life. We didn''t want to continue as an agent and that offer was our ticket to a way out. Anytime a war could break out, as long as I followed whatever mission they have and seed, I would continue in this little retirement of ours. By the way, the Ice Pair was there as well. They seemed to have retired as well. Good for you, if you met Jade and Stevenson in any of your covert mission, you would have definitely been killed." Chrisughed.


    Jake''s expression turned angry at the boasts of Chris.


    "You really think so highly of yourself. Just because you''ve faced off with them several times, you think you''re so high and mighty."


    "Of course he does! Even those Double O''s from New Great Britain died at their hands. Are you saying you''re better than them? The Ice Pair have killed over ten Double O''s and we''ve lost nearly thirty to these two! You were on a mission to capture them but you never even got near them!" Jonathan reminded with a mocking tone.


    While Jonathan and Jake started bickering, Chris and Grace continued their massacre with such speed and skill that other yers wereining.


    A lot of chats appeared on-screen calling Chris and Graces avatars cheats. Several even reported the two in the system even though barely three minutes have passed in the game.


    "It''s all skill baby! Go ahead! You''ll be disappointed at the results!" Chris called out on the mic as he turned it on.


    His arrogant mocking made Jake stop arguing with Jonathan.


    "Sorry. You get a lot of these babies when you enter these servers. What a toxicmunity." Chris sighed.


    "Dear, the faster they report us and leave, the faster Seeker can join us. Let''s get the reports higher so that system notifications will alert iing yers."


    "What? I thought being reported in the system is a bad thing?" Jonathan wondered.


    "Yeah. But we aren''t cheating, Jon. Those reports would invoke a system check on our rooms. Of course this babies will probably be sting this room number in the public chat telling them no to join. Since the system can''t verify that we are cheating, the room will remain open but fewer people would join." Chris exined.


    "Once we get everyone out of this room, Seeker can join us." Grace smiled.


    Jonathan was shocked. He saw the number of reports pilling up. The room was initially full, but now people started leaving and no one would enter the same room to rece the missing person.


    Slowly the number of yers continued to decrease.


    "You''re actually skilled enough to make all those people think you are cheating?!" Jonathan was stunned.


    "Yeah. Actually, we have to this. I mean... it would cause quite amotion of Casual Carlean joined this room," Chris added.


    "Have you been following our son''s career, Jake?" Grace asked as she continued to move the jawbreaker around her mouth.


    "Uh¡­ Yeah. I''ve seen his career. He''s quite impressive. He must have gotten it from you." Jake smiled.


    "His sess is the reason why we returned to America. We haven''t got the chance to talk to him. After the incident in China, all foreigners who weren''t born in Pangea were forced to return to their countries. Seeker was imed by the Pangean natives to be theirs. So we were kicked out, and we decided we want our son back." Grace exined as she continued massacring Piercing noobs.


    "You see, Jake? This whole taking over this drug-den and going to the Rotting Lands is all about them being good parents." Jonathan started exining on the side.


    "What? If you expect the higher-ups to believe this-"


    "They will. Only you wouldn''t. And that''s because you''re an idiot." Jonathanughed.


    "You expect the Force to believe that a well-decorated agent like Grace and an inept idiot like Chris went to the Rotting Lands so that they canmunicate with their son?"


    "You really haven''t been following Seeker''s career, have you? Is it because he looks like Chris? Inept agent? Like you could ever do half of what Chris has contributed to the Americas." Jonathanughed.


    "Seriously? You don''t know what my son has been up to?" Chris gave a quick, disappointing nce at Jake.


    "He''s a world-famous gamer! Of course, everyone knows who he is! He''s names been on the news that people have grown deaf from hearing it!"


    "Exactly. But you sound as if you are... unaware of the recent things that have happened?" Jonathan agreed but then investigated Jake''s apparent ignorance.


    "What things?" Jake asked as he looked around.


    Some of the drug-lords were actually shaking their heads! This made Jake embarrassed.


    A particr drug-leader was actuallyughing at Jake.


    "What a pu-"


    "Dominic. Please. Let''s keep this room curse free." Grace interrupted.


    "What''s going on?" Jake was now even more confused.


    If the people in the Rotting Lands know of Seeker''s actions, how is it that he couldn''t?


    Even Grace sighed.


    "Well to be fair dear, if Seeker didn''t start gaming maybe we would''ve been caught off the loop." Grace turned to her husband and sighed.


    Chris sighed in return.


    "I guess you''re right. We never did follow the news in gaming. I guess it''s possible for people like Jake to exist."


    The jabs that Chris did made Jake clench his fist angrily.


    "Of course. You''re not a gamer so you don''t know the fame that Seeker has had these past months. He is more than just some international icon." It was Jonathan who took the liberty of exining.


    "The biggest event in gaming e-sports happen during the Nations of the World summit. And although it was cut short due to the Australian Avarice, Seeker and his team shook the gaming world the past months due to the proposal of the World Governing Powers to host an online Nations of the World meet." Jonathan exined.


    "I''m well aware of that event! What''s so great about Seeker''s actions?"


    "Are you really well aware? Or have you just been reading the news we see online and on television? Go to the deep-web and you''ll see what was happening behind it.You really are a fossil. Man. To think you''re an agent."


    "So I don''t read a little gaming news? What''s the big deal?" Jake exploded in anger.


    "The big deal is; that event was worth billions of credits. That''s the big deal!" Jonathan exined with an annoyed expression.


    Jake was stunned.


    "We are now approaching a terrible time. International trades have be stricter and most of them, are banned. The tariffs for imports and exports are now on a scale that would drive business owners and conglomerates insane! But the one thing that hasn''t been touched is gaming interactions! Seeker''s capacity to earn money is shocking that even to us Americans, it''s actually revolting. It is because Seeker''s not a regr streamer, but a big-time gambler. In fact, just this past month, Seeker and his trio have managed to earn more and increase the overall GDP of the entire Pangean Nations because gamers all over the world continue to purchase ess to his streams and of course their ridiculous bets in the Gambling Den!"


    Jake''s expression turned to confusion.


    "Improve a nations GDP? A gamer has that power?"


    "Of course not! That''s why not knowing about Seeker is simply being a caveman! It isn''t about gaming and streaming anymore, nor is it about e-sports or any of those fields! Do you realize, that about two months ago, when the WGP proposed an unofficial celebration of the Nations of the World Meet, Seeker managed to win money that could build a small army?" Jonathan gave an irritable response.


    "Uh¡­N-No." Jake was stammering.


    "What a fossil! You despise the world of gaming so much, no wonder I was tasked to finish those e-sport rted missions! You didn''t care for it, do you? Well, allow me to give you a tour. The World Governing Powers, in order to divert the attention of the masses from the agro of the world, volunteered to host the Nation of the Worlds Meet. Instead of sending yers all over the world to one location, these yers will y at their corresponding nations. Since they would host the battles online, they promised a cheat-free server that would be unhackable and stable."


    "I know. They did that to make people forget about the whole China event."


    "In that event, Seeker took the initiative of making insane gambles. Of course, all of this happened in the dark web, and after that, the WGP banned any discussions about this! There were twenty gambles in that event alone that would total into a hundred million credit! Three of those gambles reached a billion credit, while the biggest gamble, the insane no-death gamble against all teams, allowed Pangea to win two billion credits!"


    Jake was stunned at the amount of the gambles being made.


    "It reached billions?"


    "Of course! Nations were betting against them! Of course, the reason why it reached that high as because Seeker kept stirring up the nations for that gamble."


    "Damn. Seeker''s rich!" Jake eximed.


    "No. None of those gambles were ever paid. Because Seeker won all the gambles, the World Governing Powers was used of being bias to the Pangean Nations. This worsened the WGP''s rtionship with several nations!"


    "And because of that, it''s hard for us to get connected with Zeek." Chris finally spoke as he most of his opponents were now leaving the room after leaving creative curses about Chris and Grace''s mothers.


    Jake turned curiously at Chris.


    "Why?"


    "Simple. Seeker''s disgusting win streak made the WGP extremely angry at Seeker." Chrisughed.


    Jake was stunned.. To think the all-powerful WGP would be angered by a Casual Carlean.

 Chapter 129 - Long Distance Call

    It was ridiculous. How could a simple gamer ever create such ripple effects?


    If gambles of that level were being made, did it mean, the opposing nations that gambled against Seeker and Pangea spent so much that it would affect their GDP? What crazy notion is that?


    Jake''s mind went reeling. How could such an information skirt pass by him?


    "Of course, because no payouts were made, news of this battle has yet to surface." Grace reminded.


    "So the WGP really went overboard and destroyed news of this?"


    "Of course. The problem is that Seeker has too many fans! Even within those nations that are about to lose hundred-million credits, the fans in their country would still support Seeker. So the WGP had to make sure no news of this would reach mainstream media."


    "They wanted to use that event as a way to distract the masses. Since it bit them back, they blocked all news about it. Of course, regardless, the result of the Nations of the World Summit that the WGP held was considered partial and biased and it made the WGP be seen as money-grubbing and corrupt. So they vented its anger on Seeker. When the WGP found out that we were foreigners and although the Pangean nation had imed that we were its citizens to win favor for Seeker, they were still overruled and we got kicked out."


    "Pangea did its best to keep us¡­ but¡­ they didn''t have the power and our legal credentials in Pangea weren''t that good either." Grace sighed.


    "It''s like that, Jake. Because of that event, we were forced to return to the Americas. And honestly, if we rely on Pangea alone, it would take decades before we could ever be with our boy. So that''s when we struck a deal with the Force. We wanted our citizenships in the Americas to be fully revoked. But your superiors made a deal for me toplete several missions. They were leveraging our failure during the joint mission in China."


    "What a bunch of losers the Force is. I''m d I resigned." Jonathanughed on the side.


    Jake gave an angry re.


    "What? They are ming Chris and Grace for failure? It was a joint operation between the four nations! Yet these four failed because of the interference of an Organization that even the entire Americas didn''t know of! Why are you ring at me for my honest opinions?" Jonathan challenged.


    Jake was silent. He had no way of rebutting these facts.


    "Those missions were ssified. Even my ess can''t allow me to see it. What exactly happened there?"


    "Using your old enemy to reveal things you had no ess to know of? How pitiful." Jonathan scoffed even more.


    "I''m asking Grace!" Jonathan defended.


    Grace red at Jake. A strange fearful sensation erupted.


    "Honey," Chris called out immediately.


    The sensation disappeared as Grace took a deep breath to rx.


    "Jake, I honestly still consider you as a friend. But if you keep admitting that Chris is your enemy, I''ll have to cut ties with you. I have a son with Chris now and I love him. So much more than I could ever do to you. I could tolerate it if you hate my husband. Countless agents at the force already hate him for stealing me and I''m used to that treatment. But cross the line and treat my husband as an enemy spy, I be one as well." Grace warned.


    "I¡­ I''m sorry." Jake hesitated.


    Jonathan simply shivered.


    Seeing as how Jake still remained in the palm of Grace''s hand even when Grace was a turncoat made Jonathan recall Grace''s other personality. Of course, he only knew about it when Chris finally married Grace and the three could talk about things in a more honest manner. It was there that Grace revealed how he could easily manipte and take advantage of both enemies and friends through her charm. Grace had always taken joy in toying with men''s hearts and even admitted in toying with Jonathan''s heart. He had also been enthralled at the beauty that Grace carried and also tried to woo her. Luckily, his friendship with Chris was strong enough that he somehow got over the fact that Chris took his dream girl.


    "Man oh, man¡­ I''m d I didn''t pursue Grace." Jonathan reminded himself.


    Jake stood awkwardly.


    "I am sorry. I was so worried when I heard you went off with Chris to China to steal the Dragon''s tech I was worried. I wanted to know and even tried to steal information from my superiors but they were always a step ahead of me. They knew I would try to do that¡­ so they already took the necessary precaution to keep me from getting the information." Jakemented.


    Grace''s eyes softened.


    Jonathan could see it, but he also noticed Chris sigh and shake his head.


    "Is Chris sighing out of jealousy? Nah¡­ He never got jealous¡­ Then is Chris sighing out of pity for Jake?"


    "Alright. In respect to our friendship, I''ll tell you what happened."


    Those simple words gave life to Jake as his expression turned soft and his eyes tearing up.


    Jonathan, who have heard Grace admit how she enjoyed toying with Jake''s heart and would be angry if Jonathan teased her of being friends with Jake, was disgusted by how Grace manipted Jake. Still, he was surprised how Jake, an Agent of the Americas most mysterious and powerful secret service, would easily be manipted openly by Grace.


    Jonathan had no other reaction other than imitating Chris by sighing and shaking his head.


    "Definitely pity. Chris is definitely pitying Jake!" Jonathan concluded.


    "Thank you for trusting me with this information. It may not be much to you, but I''m dying to know what happened. If there are enemies who harmed you there, I''d kill them without question!"


    "Thank you for your sentiments, Jake. But even we don''t know where to point our guns to¡­" Grace shook her head.


    "Long story short¡­ Harker wanted a way into Australia for his revenge. He reached out to us since he apparently knew of my real identity and wanted me to tell your superiors that they can have a slice of the cake for a joint attack against the Dragon and his Fangs." Chris mumbled as he ced another handful of chips in his mouth.


    "Who participated?" Jake wondered.


    "An interesting trip. We met the Ice Pair there. We thought they were terrorist but they were actually spies from the East Asian Alliance! Imagine that! They were actually in Pangea too! What a small world." Chrisughed.


    "WHAT?!" Jake and Jonathan chorused with stunned expressions.


    "Yeah. But don''t worry. They were retiring as well. You probably know of their daughter. Meryl Mikado." Chris added.


    Jonathan choked from his own saliva and coughed.


    "That beautiful girlfriend of Seeker?"


    "Yeah. Oh. But she''s not Seeker''s girlfriend. They''re quite close though. Damn. These kids are relentless! How many times do we have to kill them and not die until they think were cheating?!" Chris cursed.


    "Honey. This is a cheat-free server. The options are these kids think we are e-sport pros using some random ounts after all. Let''s move faster and try to make them assume we''re cheating." Grace smiled.


    Immediately the speed and deadly attacks of the avatars of Chris and Grace moved throughout the map.


    "So it was a joint attack between Pangea, China, the Americas, and the East Asian Alliance?"


    "Beautiful isn''t it? The SPU also took part in it and sent the deadly Missionaries."


    "The Missionaries are alive?!"


    "Yeah! Quite a small world I''ll tell you-" For some odd reason, Chris stopped talking and had an expression as if he was being lectured on.


    "Anyway, despite that we still failed. Meng died and his entire base was in ruins. The Chinese army took the brunt of the damage from the attack of this mysterious organization."


    The other yers in the room started to log off one by one.


    "He should be logging on anytime now." Grace smiled as the remaining yers were leaving the room in anger. As Chris and Grace were in positions near the possible spawning points, many of the yers couldn''t even move and would just die endlessly making them curse in frustration and were reporting the two as cheaters.


    "What about the mysterious organization? You two were there in China¡­ Do you think those who attacked you were from the World Governing Powers?" Jake asked tly.


    "I don''t know. It could be. It also could be something else. The emergence of this new power made your superiors a bit edgy and wanted me to find out about it. We gave them a counter-offer."


    "A counter-offer?" Jake had a confused look.


    "How can you afford that? Grace, I''ll be frank. You two have no bargaining chips! Why would they give you a counter-offer?"


    "Actually, it was more of a threat than a counter-offer. We injured every other agent in the building and smacked their faces down to the ground. After proving our strength to your superiors, we offered to train a team that could rece us." Grace summarized.


    It was then, that the world around Jake made sense.


    "The hospitalization of three Lights. And the reshuffling of agents¡­" The two events that shook the entire Force of America started toe to light.


    "Wait that means¡­" Jake couldn''t believe it.


    "Yes. This is also why I''m here, Jake." Jonathanughed.


    "Those fifty agents who were injured with over thirty who are now incapable of serving for the next month or two were all caused by Chris and Grace." Jonathanughed.


    Jake recalled the strange dread he felt before Chris. Was it really him?


    "Of course, your superiors wouldn''t let go of me when they realized how strong I was. But I could basically destroy the entire Force if I put my mind to it. Or at most, I can shake its foundations. So when I offered to train a team of men who could be half as good as me, it was really tempting for the force. I even promised, that if I can''t satisfy their standards, then me and Grace will return to the agency. If we are able to do so, they''ll help us get back to our son." Chris continued.


    "But why did you go here to the Rotting Lands?" Jake asked.


    PING!


    A message appeared as a new yer joined the room.


    His game handle was one that had shocked the world.


    Casual Carlean has entered the room.


    "Hey, Mom! Dad!" Seeker''s voice greeted.


    "Zeek!" Chris and Grace greeted back.


    Suddenly, the three avatars rushed at each other and converged at the center of the map and a battle was happening.


    The three Piercing characters shed with extreme speeds that shocked both Jake and Jonathan.


    Even the other drug dealers in the room were stunned at the battle. They were already used to seeing Chris and Grace fight. But never had they witnessed the true extent of the power of the two.


    The three continued to talk casually as Seeker started to tell him of his day.


    The others in the room turned silent allowing the parents to have their rare talks with their son.


    "How did you get to the Rotting Lands?"


    "Well you know me and mom, we smashed our way in." Chrisughed.


    "Haha! That''s cool, Dad! I wish I could''ve seen that. Why is it called the Rotting Lands anyway?"


    "Oh right. Since you''ve been born in Pangea, you wouldn''t know the history of this ce."


    "I know that the Rotting Lands was formerly known as Central America."


    "That''s an older name. It became the center for the United Latin Countries group which was formed to battle the United States of America. When the Americas were unified, Central America continued to be the hub for revolts and terrors until such a time that the American President Prumd Tnd got so angry at these countries that they stopped all forms of trades to go into these countries. It still technically part of the Americas but it''s more of the trashcan for the Americas." Grace exined.


    "Sounds illegal."


    "Not really. They own Central America and can choose to do fit of thesends. Even the WGP couldn''t do anything about it. So no government authority or agency from the Americas exists in the countries here in the Rotting Lands. It has its own government but they arergely left behind from the world and do not have the luxury that most of the world has. Even tasty hamburgers." Chris sighed.


    "Is that why that ce has illegal servers that can still connect to Pangea?" Seeker asked.


    "Yeah. So this ce isn''t all that bad. At least we can talk."


    "Yeah."


    "So, how does it feel knowing your old man''s a spy. Are you depressed with all this ''my Dad''s not the man I thought he was?" Chrisughed knowing what the answer to this question was.


    "Are you kidding me? That''s kick-ass! No wonder I''m awesome!" Seekerughed.


    The talk continued. Personal matters soon came up which made many of the drug lords excused themselves knowing the level of privacy needed.


    "I miss you, son." Chris sighed.


    "I miss you too, Dad. I miss you, Mom. I''m sorry for what I''ve done."


    "Don''t be. That was awesome. Although it''s been months since we''ve talked, I''m d you got our message." Chris smiled.


    "Thank Uncle Harker for us." Graceughed.


    "I can''t believe you''re calling him that¡­" Chris shook his head in disbelief.


    "I will. We''re still looking for ways to get those gamble bets. We already have some ns in mind. We are to challenge another country on a one-on-one battle."


    "You''re nning to tease team Canada again?" Chrisughed.


    "Yeah. I''ll show those bozos. The problem is, they don''t want it to be public and we want it to be public."


    "Why public?"


    "Simple. If I beat them as I did during that time, and we would be using Canada''s server''s then most of the world will have no excuse for not paying. The Gambling Den may release most of the pending bets if we beat Canada." Seeker smiled.


    "Reckless as always." Graceughed.


    "Well don''t worry about us. We have our ways of getting back to you. Go crazy." Chris smiled.


    "I will. Love you, Dad, Mom. I got to go. The stream should be starting soon. You guys should try streaming too. You''ve got the skills after all."


    "No way. We don''t have your same charismatic charm. And I think the world gets enough Carlean screen time from you alone."


    Seeker was silent on the other end.


    "Are they¡­ listening now?" Seeker hesitated.


    "Yes. It''s best we don''t talk about them¡­ we don''t know who our other visitors are¡­" Chris sighed.


    Seeker continued to y silently for a while until he eventually managed to hit and connect with abo killing Chris''s avatar and then proceeded to attack the avatar being controlled by Grace.


    The three sat silently as the respawn happened.


    "See you soon, honey." Grace''s eyes went moist as she bid her farewell.


    "Don''t worry, Son. This will be over soon." Chrisforted.


    "I just want my family back." Seeker''s voice was cracking up and it was apparent that he was on the verge of tears.


    "Bye." Seeker bid farewell and immediately disconnected.


    The two parents sat on their seats silently and couldn''t help but wallow in their depression at the distasteful end of their call.


    The two disconnected from the room and shut off theputer.


    Jake stood quietly and sighed.


    Chris immediately turned to Jake.


    "Jake, the real reason I allowed you to get in here is to prove to your supervisors that this is all there is to it. Happy now? Make sure to report it urately. No weird messages, no hidden or false codes. We have no equipment on our end that would encrypt or decrypt stuff. As you can see, a inputer linked to an illegal server connected directly to Pangea. That was just a in ordinary phone call to our kid. Illegal as it is, this was all there is to it." Chris remarked angrily. It was the first time he was visibly angry at Jake.


    Jonathan''s expression changed.


    "He was sent here¡­ to¡­" Jonathan stood up angrily.


    "No! I can exin! Grace!" Jake tried to defend.


    "Don''t worry, Jake. We knew this would be the case. If your superiors still think we are Pangean double agents, then we understand. Just do your job. I''m d they sent you. It makes it easier for us to talk calmly. We''ll tell you when the next call will be." Grace forced a smiled as she immediately left the room. Chris followed.


    Jonathan turned back before leaving and gave Jake a look of contempt.


    "This is why Grace chose Chris. You would never choose her over a mission." Jonathan then left.


    Jake stood awkwardly in the room. His sour expression didn''t leave his face. No one was left in the room as all of them had already left. Jake slowly left the building and went out the way he came. The guards no longer threatened or talk to him but had a look of disdain.


    "Boss of our boss¡­ yeah right." The little man who Jake pinned down earlier remarked loudly.


    Jake walked out containing his anger. He quickly took out am device and dialed.


    "I managed toe in before the call happened. There was nothing weird about the call. They had no devices used for encryption and decryption. This means the audio you heard on that room was clear. They were¡­ genuine in what they were doing.." Jake reported and immediately closed them device.

 Chapter 130 - Hidden Messages

    Jonathan followed the couple towards the lower basement area and soon reached arge open space.


    The deeper they went the weirder Jonathan''s expression became.


    "Hey, Chris¡­ what was this factory before you guys took over? Those walls¡­this structure¡­ Not many technologies can detect what''s happening inside."


    "It isn''t the only detection. It''s to soundproof stuff. We got intel from Harker that Australia''s developed a powerful human which have very sensitive ears. So when we got here, I added a little more precaution to this hideout''s security."


    A message beeped and Chris checked hism device.


    "Looks like Jake left the building. As suspected he really was sent in to observe our calls." Chris sighed.


    "WHAT?!" Jonathan shouted angrily.


    "You see? And you thought I was being too much in trying to manipte him." Graceined.


    "Come on. That guy doesn''t know his suffering because of you. His too blinded with his attraction." Chris defended.


    "I don''t understand how you can still treat him like a friend. He went in here to spy at a call you and your sons had! He thought you were doing some sort of coded message!" Jonathan cursed angrily.


    "Calm down, Jon. Jake has always been after what was right. Let''s give him our sympathies for trying to do what he believes in."


    "What''s creepy is how he still thinks and unts his affections for Grace! I''m d Grace is still ying around with his heart How can he even believe that your little call with Zeek would be full of national secrets! I hope he''ll report what he sees and tells those jerks in the Force to use their brains!" Jonathan cursed again.


    "To think I felt sorry for him when you started toying with him again! Grace, that was awesome! I''ve never seen him tear up! How did you do that?"


    "Well, given his rather narrow thinking, he still thinks only he deserves me. I just gave him a little hope in that area. You know Jake. He''s always this strict and narrow-minded fellow. So I guess when I said I''m her friend, any hope that was shattered when Chris and I tied the knot resurfaced." Grace replied with augh.


    "I don''t think he''s still doing it because of his attraction, Hon." Chris suddenly opened up.


    Grace paused and looked at Chris.


    "I''ve been thinking. Could it be this is your Path?" Chris asked as he approached a pile of guns in therge room. Grace did likewise.


    "My Path? What? Are you putting me on the same level as the Tyrant Empress? I''m ttered. Tee-hee!" Grace giggled adorably.


    "Well... not exactly simr. But¡­ based on your history¡­ I think it''s your charm. You know. You manage to get these people to fall into their own assumptions."


    "What do you mean?" Grace wondered.


    "Well¡­ there are always girls who simply either by their own conscious choice or by their na?ve movements that can simply make people like them. It''s hard to put to words but based on my experience at the Force, I''ve heard many interesting delusions from my peers. This, of course, includes Jonathan over here."


    Grace''s gaze turned dangerous.


    "Are you calling me someone who flirts with people?"


    "No. You are someone way way worse than that. Without flirting, you make people dream about you."


    Grace was surprised.


    "I mean think about it. We were always around people who were emotionally trained to be able to kill others. Yet we have people like Jake."


    "Jake''s the only one who has those sort of thoughts about me!"


    "Jake''s an extreme example. But try to consider it. You may be out of practice because you''re married to me, and we have a kid and all. But you gave a lot to fantasize about. And even when we were married there were still some delusional agents who kept pestering you because they thought they still have hope."


    "So you are saying that I have the same Path of the Tyrant Empress? Honey¡­ That''s so sweet." Grace giggled.


    Chrisughed.


    "Not exactly. Think about it this way, Hon. You have the same Skill of the Tyrant Empress. Perhaps one of her many Skills which when merged together forms her Path. Her Path ultimately borders mind control¡­ but your Path¡­ I guess its obsessions? I mean, we have a kid now who''s already a teenager, we''ve been together for so long, yet somehow, a simplepassionate moment makes him fall into the same trap all over again!" Chris exined.


    Jonathan continued to look in confusion at the sudden discussion.


    Grace pondered.


    "Well¡­ it is possible. And I do have the history¡­" Grace continued to think.


    "Aside from that... I''ve been thinking... About Zeek. What made him so strong? We know based on the intel, that those with manifested Skills have a higher chance of birthing people who can develop skills. What if... the both of us, have the potential to be Ranked Heroes? Maybe that''s how Zeek came to be so strong. Of course¡­ that is assuming I''m right about you and you have a Path. After all, I don''t think I even have a Skill! So he must have taken after you."


    Grace smiled.


    "I also did think about that¡­ But I think it''s the two of us. You just haven''t got the chance to train or develop whatever Skills or Paths you have. At least, you probably have the potential to be strong."


    "Oh really? What makes you so sure?"


    "Remember Granny''s old story?"


    "You mean how he met Grandpa? Yeah. You think that was real?"


    "It sounds like a Skill to me." Grace shrugged her shoulders.


    "I guess you''re right. We''ll have to ask Granny when we have the time. Anyways¡­ As for you, you might have to try and practice your Skill."


    "You want me to seduce other men?" Grace frowned.


    "Well¡­ If you master, it¡­ You won''t need to! You make them fall into having endless dreams about being with you. I guess, try experimenting on seeing the limits of this Skill?"


    "You want me to use Jake?"


    "Well yeah. We can even have him spy on the Force."


    "And I thought you pity him."


    "I do. But he keeps hitting on my wife. So this would be her just rewards I guess."


    Grace smirked.


    "And I thought I was the cruel one."


    "What can I say? Our son takes after both of us in cruelty. Now for Jonathan." Chris turned to Jonathan.


    "What are you guys talking about?" A sense of dread filled Jonathan''s heart as he noticed the couple look at him with a strange expression.


    "How do we exin it to him?" Chris frowned.


    "Do we need to? We''ll do the shock therapy first and then exin to him how we sent messages to Zeek."


    "Yeah. But, I''ve always noticed he had an extreme sense of hearing. So who knows? Maybe during the therapy, he''d develop it. If we exin the theory now and immediately make that the focus of our shock therapy, then we''d finish this faster. We could also send our findings to Charles. Maybe if we condition the mind to have this focus ahead it could create those divergent Selective Unlocked."


    "I guess you''re right. It''s worth a shot. Jon¡­ Do you believe that we managed to send encoded or secret messages to our son just now?" Grace immediately asked Jonathan without warning.


    "What? Coded messages? Just like¡­ what Jake was using you of?" Jonathan''s expression changed.


    "Well¡­ He is right. Now that we''ve fooled the Force of the Americas, we won''t have to worry about them discovering our method ofmunication. That Arthur''s quite a schemer." Chris sighed as passed the table full of guns and went for the lockers.


    "I think it''s that Lowengren kid, Dear. Who would have thought that we could actuallymunicate and talk about such dangerous things and not be discovered? Even when they''ve ced their best spy in the same room with us."


    "What?" Jonathan was confused at the discussion.


    "Jonathan. We trust you. You''ve been a good friend. And we know you came to us because apart from the boredom you get when serving that government, you also want to get stronger. So, the level of strength and power that we have is quite amazing. We call it the Unlocking. With it, we were able to openly talk about the future ns we have without you or Jake even noticing." Chris smiled as he took out a strange dagger and started a pre-shot routine with the dagger aimed at Jonathan.


    "Hon, could you exin this part? I don''t think I can exin it properly." Chrisughed with an embarrassed expression as he continued to do his pre-shot routine but would somehow frown and shake his head.


    Grace gave Chris an irritated look.


    "Jon. Do you know how a person can fall asleep even when it''s loud?" Grace asked.


    Jonathan was rmed by how Chris was dangerously aiming his dagger at and unconsciously took a step back.


    "Wa-What?"


    "It''s a thing that our brain does. Basically, as it shuts down, the brain stops interpreting the noise around even though the eardrums are ringing. But at our level, it''s even more amazing. We get to control what noise the eardrums react to. Amazing isn''t it? It took us over a month to master this painful thing. Zeek said that only a few could actually do it at the early stages of the Unlocking. Oh, I think you could go over and get a gun. It would be more fun that way. Well, more fun for us." Grace smiled.


    "What?"


    "Anyway, the Unlocking allows us to take more control of our bodies in various ways. One of which is that we can hear things way, way better than a normal human being can. We''re at the Proficient stage so it''s actually three times more powerful than what you can hear. Apart from that, we can order both our eardrums and our brains to only gather and interpret certain sounds."


    "What are you guys talking about?" Jonathan started to pace back and slowly reach for the weapon.


    "Bad choice Jonathan. That''s just a handgun. Go for something with a strap so you can wear it otherwise we''ll just knock it off you. Anyway, what Grace is saying, that''s how we managed to talk with our son and deliver key information for Pangea. As Jake suspected, we are a double agent. But our Boss isn''t Pangea, it''s our son." Chris exined.


    "Information? I didn''t hear any talks! And what do you mean a weapon with straps?" Jonathan was visibly panicking as he started to reach for the big guns testing Chris and Grace''s reactions.


    "Ingenious right? After the whole fiasco in China, the World Governing Powers is sure to be listening in to every phone call. Especially calls and interactionsing from one country to the other. And since Seeker pulled that stunt, it''s even harder to do so now. Don''t we need a license to be able tomunicate abroad after the incident in China? Not to mention there is a possibility that the Aragarians are listening in. So Arthur and Zeek developed a way tomunicate with each other." Chris boasted.


    "And that was what I was exining earlier. By matching the frequency of our sounds to the chaotic noise of the background like say... the Piercing theme music, we then are able to openly mask our conversations. This allows us tomunicate openly and at the same time, mask ourmunication. No devices, no strange frequency. Just regr sound jumbled up, whispered, spoken at an extremely fast pace that any listener would simply ignore it. Although, it took some getting used to. That''s why our meeting took about an hour because we couldn''t understand what Zeek was telling us." Grace chided.


    "Now, one of our mission is to add another group to our little gang here in the Americas. We are looking for someone who is really connected to the government and therefore, can easily act as a spy. So, you being a spy is the perfect person that could fill this gap."


    "I don''t understand what you''re saying but you''re asking me to betray the Americas. Is that right?"


    "We are asking you to side with humanity. Believe it or not, an alien race is upon us. We trust you and consider you a friend, so we are offering you this option. Join us, or get killed." Chris added.


    "Of course, you may not believe us now. But do you want to see it, Jon? What did we do to defeat all those agents? We made it look like we were just the better agents, but in reality, we are above what a normal human can do. We have walked out of the chains that limit humanity and have been walking in a path that is making us more and more unbing to are human traits. And this is all because of the Unlocking."


    "Are you really going to kill me if I disagree?"


    "No. To be urate, we''ll try to kill you until you agree." Grace smiled.


    "What do you mean?"


    At that moment, a sheer powerful force made Jon shake in fear. He couldn''t move.


    Chris casually ced a small helmet-like device over Jon''s head.


    "Is it working?" Chris turned to Grace.


    Grace had started fiddling with theputer nearby to see if the helmet was picking up the brain waves and brain activity of Jon.


    "Looks good. Honey, let me try. I want to see who of us has better control over the Reapers Breath." Grace smiled.


    Chris nodded and stopped releasing his Reapers Breath.


    As the sensation ended, a new terrifying force gripped Jon.


    "Tsk." Chris clicked his tongue.


    "Dear, it''s not apetition." Grace smiled as she was delighted with the result.


    "Besides, the differences aren''t that wide." Sheforted her disgruntled husband.


    "Looking at the reports of Charles, it looks like Zeek''s Breath was two times stronger than ours. And this was before that China incident. I wonder how strong it is now?" Chris wondered.


    "Let''s not ask such stupid questions. There''s no usepeting with our son. He''s one of them after all."


    "What''s...going... on...?" Jon forced his mouth to speak. The sheer terror slowly increased.


    Suddenly, Jon couldn''t keep his figure up and fell down to his knees as Chris walked closer with a dangerous smile.


    "Jon, as you can see, this sudden fear is what anime weebs would call killing intent. Of course, this isn''t really killing intent but a biological response of your body when faced with immediate terror. Charles theorized that right now, your brain is interpreting me and my wife as threats. Is he right?" Chris tapped on Jonathan''s shoulder.


    It was as if arge hungry lion was using its gigantic paws to tap Jon''s shoulder. Jonathan''s fear continued to increase as Grace nced at the chart.


    "Looks like ourbined Breaths could easily paralyze an experienced agent." Grace nodded with a satisfied expression.


    "What weapons should we use to scare him?" Chris asked with a weird and almost perverted expression.


    "How about... guns? I still remember Lynd''s close-ranged shotgun attacks." Grace shivered visibly.


    "Ugh. Don''t remind me." Chris sighed.


    "Bute on... Let''s be gentle with Jon. He''s already been through a lot during his missions in the EAA."


    "I know! How about, we add a little thriller-feel to this training. We use Chainsaw like that of the post-modern Texas Chain Saw Massacre."


    "Hmmm... Imitating horror movies sounds fun... But that sounds worse than the shotgun n."


    "What about using axes? These look less effective and aremon themes used in many horror or thriller movies." Grace offered another suggestion.


    "Hmmm... Well, the scene of you and me hacking away at Jon does sound fun..." Chris contemted.


    "I''ll let you shout, ''Here''s Johnny!''" Grace giggled.


    "Oh right! That sounds fun!" Chris immediately ran towards a pile of weapons that were somehow stashed behind the lockers.


    Jon''s sweat was pouring and his back was damp from the continuous sweating from the perverse conversations he managed to hear.


    "Jon... We''ll prove to you, the Unlocking exists. We could use the drug, but Charles''s most recent conclusion that his current drug is slightly weaker than someone who breaks the chains of limitations without the drug. So this is a way of helping him in his research. And so, we will be recording your data on our attempts so that he can fix whatever biological issues divide the two and create a drug that can fix this problem. After tonight, we hope you''ll be able to achieve the Unlocking."


    "Yeah. Otherwise, it''s Jonathan''s Chainsaw massacre tomorrow." Graceughed.


    "Oh... A part of me wishes you won''t break through the Unlocking tonight." Chris smiled.


    Immediately, the husband and wife drew closer to Jon with arge red firefighter''s ax.


    Two axes were raised to the heavens. Jonathan was squirming as he was forcing his body to move.


    "HEEEEEERE''S JOHNNY!" Chrisughed with a manic expression.


    So began the nightmares of Jonathan.

 Chapter 131 - The Day Pangean Politics Changed

    Seeker''s return to Pangea from his long staycation in the Tatsulok Aguinaldo also brought in the arrival of yet another key figure that has be the center of admiration. While Seeker was admired as a great personality that would aid Pangea, this figure was seen as the true hero of Pangea.


    The mere sight of him would cause countless youth''s blood to boil.


    While the WGP wrestled with the public as they faced attacks on all fronts, Harker''s prominent rise allowed him to take over the missing gaps that the chaos against the WGP had made.


    Although the WGP had done its best to mediate the situation, even using a PR stunt to appeal to gamers whichposed the majority of the world-wide poption, the Nations of the World E-Sport Meet ended up with more gaps and angry citizens because of Seeker Carlean. Harker took Seeker to hide in the Tatsulok until the school that Seeker studied would be militarized. It was only when things were safe that Seeker was allowed to return to school.


    But Seeker''s return to Pangea also meant the return of Harker to Pangea.


    Pangea had long since been embroiled in such a battle where political groups were very fickle in their alliances. President Hydron who opposed Colestar and supported Harker suddenly switched sides as Harker''s reach slowly epassed his own empire.


    Harker''s rise was so imminent that almost all political enemies temporarily were on a ceasefire to resolve Harker''s charge. Choosing the lesser of two evils, the political groups decided Colestar was the best person to ally themselves with. Seeing as how Colestar only maintained his political power and never sought to improve it, he was the better choice. Harker was all over the ce, stepping the boundaries of these political groups. Only My-Pangea president, Albert Hoross, father of the deceased gamer-now-hero, Sabastian Hoross, sided with Harker.


    Of course, this was within everyone''s expectations. Because the two had shared pains in the deaths of their son and daughter, the two had allied. My-Pangea had be one of Harker''s staunchest supporters. Every My-Pangea native hailed the great gamer as a hero and yearned for vengeance. Because of this, Harker had basically the support of one-third of the Pangean Nations.


    In a short month after the event in China, Harker became a powerful political, business and military power. So the other groups met with Colestar in a secret meeting to discuss this. Seeing his political enemies reach out to him, and the fact that the Dragon has been confirmed dead, Colestar finally decided to act against Harker once more.


    Of course, the WGP was supporting Colestar but the could only do things secretly. The biggest advantage of Harker''s enemies was therefore fixed on Phil-Pangean President, Colestar. The nominal leader of the entire Pangean Nation. As President, he quickly made deals to allow and permit these businesses and foreign groups to further infiltrate Pangea. All that was left was to confront Harker and show him that he would be fighting a losing war if he kept at his madness.


    The confrontation would happen when the Tatsulok who carried both Seeker and Harker would return to Pangea. While Seeker returned to school, that meeting took ce. It was called the Thriller in Man. Named after a boxing event during the Post-Modern era, President Colestar was to meet with Harker personally. The purpose of this personal visit was so that Colestar was to present several awards to Harker in response to the mounting pressure that the masses demanded to Colestar. Of course, behind this fa?ade was a political confrontation.


    Would Harker agree to focus on the war and not step on the territories of the many political groups? Or would he resist? Though the enemies of Harker were confident that they would win in the end, they knew it would be a costly battle.


    On the tallest hotel near the Man Bay, a particr man of shocking identity stood at the rooftop of this prestigious hotel. The view of the Tatsulok was clear on the rooftop. Yet this breath-taking view wasn''t of any interest to this man.


    "Hydron?" A well-dressed fat figure walked over to the Indo-Pangean president.


    "Lyan Sherfire. We finally meet." Hydron smiled.


    "Yes. And as allies¡­ What a world we live in." The fat man called Lyanughed.


    "Who would have thought that the two of us would ever be allies. No matter how temporary this is." Hydron could not help but sigh.


    "I''m more amazed that you and Colestar would ever see eye-to-eye on anything."


    "That just goes to show you how formidable Harker is." Hydron frowned.


    "I did everything. I tried to defame him, research some dirt on him¡­ Nothing. We all know he''s greatly involved in the Underworld, but now¡­ none of his allies or enemies would speak up against him! No media group would ept my bribe of creating negative news about him!"


    "Ugh. That''s why I hate politics. All that nonsense andplexities. Business is easier. Anything that lets you earn is good, anything that doesn''t isn''t. No PR stunts, no circus trials, and all that nonsense."


    "Wrong Lyan. Politics is the peak of businesses. Handle your empire long enough and you''re bound to get involved in politics."


    "A difference in opinion, but I''ll take heed of the warning my adversary gives me." Lyan chuckled.


    The two silently gazed at the Tatsulok.


    "You think Harker would agree?"


    Hydron gave a rare smile.


    Lyan''s expression grew interested at Hydron''s smile.


    "You''re that confident?"


    "Ha Ha Ha." Hydron gave a mightyugh.


    "You think that Colestar is any pushover?" Hydron asked Lyan.


    Lyan had a strange expression.


    "Going by what I know¡­ Colestar is boy-scout. Always looking for the righteous and the good. I know he isn''t involved in any business deals that you are involved in. He''s clean. Therefore, he is weak."


    Hydron shook his head andughed all the more.


    "Na?ve. Well¡­ I don''t me you. Your interest lies parallel with Colestar''s interest. So you''ve never shed. But let me tell you this. He isn''t weak. I''ve been fighting him for more than a decade and I''ve yet to kill him or defeat him in any political arena! That man is a genius! Yes. He is clean, he is a boy scout. But he is resolved. He''s the reason for the downfall of the Ingress, the Solviatums and the Char groups of the Underworld. You tell me if he''s weak."


    Lyan was stunned to hear this news. Battles on the Underworld are extremely chaotic but it is also extremely covert. Some of the weaker organizations in that group are generally unaware of the battles that happen daily.


    "He''s that strong?!"


    "Word of advice from your adversary¡­ Don''t mess with Colestar. Wemand people with fear and with our money. Colestar doesn''t. He is trustworthy and those serving him are willing to dirty their hands for him. He controls them by their respect towards him! He''s that formidable!"


    Lyan was shocked.


    "Honestly, I feel relieved that Colestar''s on our side on this battle against Harker. They share the same aura if you will. Now that the Dragon''s out of the picture, Colestar has nothing to fear. I''m quite interested on what Harker''s expression will be after that talk." Hydronughed.


    A man wearing a ck suit approached Hydron.


    "Sir. The talks have been confirmed to be over. The two groups will now bemencing with the awarding ceremony." The agent notified Hydron.


    "Good." Hydron smiled.


    "Time to see a good show. I wonder how that imposing and dignified Harker will act now? If he agrees with our demands, he can still act freely. The only difference is; we get to earn¡­ but if he doesn''t agree¡­ he will quickly lose his army and his ns are left in shambles. This deal is a sure win for us." Hydronughed.


    Lyan could only smirk. He knew the contents of that deal and even he was confident that Harker would agree. With Hydron''s revtion on Colestar''s true character, he became even more confident."


    The two turned away from the view and sat down on the luxurious wide pool area. Surrounding them were all important political, business and criminal leaders.


    Despite the enemies gathering on one area, they all had excited expressions.


    The sat down to watch the ceremony of Harker''s awarding.


    Colestar was to simply start his speech by saying, "There is victory in unity." If Colestar said this, then it would be the signal that the deals went properly.


    The event was held in the very middle of therge open areas of the Tatsulok. As the floating base carried with it an army, the area was sorge that people had to use trucks and vehicles tomute from one location to the next.


    At the center was a well-designed military stage. Several key figures of the military were in attendance.


    Of course, several of them awaited Colestar''s opening line.


    Colestar''s vehicle arrived.


    The cameras were zooming on his exit of the car and how he strode casually towards the stage.


    Colestar''s appearance seemed a bit better than his face during the past weeks. This time, he looked happy, confident and almost brimming with excitement.


    "The deal is sessful." Hydronughed.


    Several of the Underworld leaders cheered and toasted with their allies and even with their enemies.


    Colestar''s expression could easily spell the letters of victory.


    Colestar immediately strode towards the stage.


    Everyone had curious expressions. Where was Harker?


    "You may be wondering, where Harker is¡­ Unfortunately, I''ve been informed that there was a problem with the vehicle that was supposed to bring Harker here." Colestar spoke on the microphone.


    Everyone was surprised.


    Hydron sneered with the others.


    "Oh? It looks like the deal seemed to have given Harker some damage. To think he would not attend the awarding ceremony."


    "Why would this happen?" The nearby Lyan asked.


    "Perhaps a show of force. Everyone knows that Colestar and Harker are bound to butt-heads. Perhaps Colestar wanted Harker to use this event as a way to show that Colestar is still boss." Hydronughed.


    "Oh well¡­ It looks like Pangea will belong to Colestar. If he managed this, I should take warning." Hydron gave a mncholic sigh.


    The others around them seemed to have the same ideas and could not help but stare in fear at Colestar.


    "So instead of a military vehicle, Harker wille donning his newest military tech. A full-body Exoskeleton armor that is twice as hard, and twice as fast as our current Exoskeletons!" Colestar then added.


    Everyone had dumb expressions on their faces. Before any of them could react.


    BOOM!


    A loud sound of something breaking past the speed of sound could be heard.


    A small object pierced through the skies from the distance and was diving towards the stage.


    Right before it couldnd, another booming sound was heard as the Exoskeleton used its boost to stop its fall.


    CRASH!


    The Exoskeletonnded on the ground before the stage. It stood up, stalwart and dazzling facing the crowd and the cameras.


    It was unlike the former Exoskeletons of the army. It had a deep ck coating and had a bulky figure. It was about twice as huge as the regr Exoskeleton.


    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!


    Several mechanical sounds were heard as the Exoskeleton slowly opened up revealing the pilot.


    Freakin'' fog appeared out of the armor as the grand figure of Harker emerged out of the opening Exoskeleton.


    "Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you the General of the Heroes Army! General Harker Cipril!" Colestar gave an almost fanatical shout as he pointed to the standing figure of Harker.


    Harker nced at the crowd silently and strode for the stairs that made its way to the stage.


    Everyone''s mouths were wide open.


    "What the...!?" Hydron gave a surprised scream as he witnessed the odd scenery.


    Just as Harker was walking on the stairs, the standing Colestar started to use his fingers to "shoot" at Harker.


    "Why? Why? Why is Colestar giving Harker the finger-gun?!" Lyan shouted in amazement.


    And just as Lyan observed, Colestar was indeed giving Harker several finger-gun bang bangs as the General approached.


    The two immediately stood nearby each other and Colestar avoided the handshake that Harker offered and instead dove in to give the General a deep hug.


    As they parted, Colestar continued to rest one of his arms behind Harker as the two looked and waved to the cameras.


    The crowd erupted into cheers. Except for those who knew of the deal, the rest went bananas at the sight. Who would have thought that Colestar would show nothing but support to Harker?


    As the crowd continued to erupt in cheers, the cameras caught Harker and Colestar having small talks as the two talked. Colestar wasughing and was brimming with joy and even proceeded to give the General a good ol'', friendly, p on the back.


    Harker''s political enemies were astounded.


    As the cheers died down, Colestar took the microphone once more.


    "Harker has just told me that I can just pin the medal immediately and be done with this ceremony. He is a busy man, and he''s about to get busier." Colestar smiled.


    He went over and pinned the medal over Harker.


    "As for Harker''s next task, he is to hunt down all political and government groups that have been acting against him. Truth be told, several groups have been threatening me to attack Harker and I was caught up in a dilemma as the goals that I desired for this country were being harassed by these political enemies. Harker offered a solution. He would hunt them down all at once, ignoring military and judiciary procedure and then take on whatever punishment our country willy upon him."


    There was pin-drop silence. The once rowdy crowd was stunned at the news.


    Colestar was being threatened?


    Harker would hunt the corrupt officials down?


    Harker did not waste time. Hisrge figure suddenly ran and jumped out of the stage.


    The Exoskeleton below the stage suddenly came to life and moved immediately flying in a circle and used its opening to envelop Harker. Just like that, Harker once more piloted the Exoskeleton.


    Before anyone could react, several gunshots were heard as the Exoskeleton started shooting on several Generals, military and political officials.


    Beams of light could be seen and those that were shot stumbled down as if paralyzed.


    The crowd panicked but suddenly, Harker flew away on the distance.


    "Those he shot are among the political, military and evenmercial groups pressuring me and threatening me. I want to take this time to reveal to Pangea, the political and military turmoil guing the government. But first I would like to use the power that the Pangean Nations have given me to call for Martial Law. I will hand total military control to Harker effective immediately. I only need the approval of another Pangean President." Colestar said tly.


    "I agree." A voice was heard and as news reporters turned their eyes, the shocking figure of My-Pangean president, Albert Hoross was shown.


    "Then with that, Harker¡­you are free to hunt."


    On the top of the Hotel, the terrorized looks on the people around them remained but things happened so fast that they did not know how to react.


    Hydron was the first to notice it.


    The Exoskeleton that Harker wore was zooming towards the rooftop of their building!


    "He''sing here!" Lyan shouted as he sprinted towards the door.


    BOOM!


    Lyan was thrown backward at the explosion.


    As the debris and dust cleared, military soldiers armed with deadly Pangean weaponry were seen. Some Exoskeletons were even among the soldiers!


    "You have two choices." A cold voice was transmitted.


    Harker was already hovering over them.


    "Confess to your crimes now. Or I will kill you. You have five seconds to decide. Five¡­ Four¡­ Three¡­"


    The events on that day wouldter be called the Pangean Rebirth. The shocking revtions of all corruption came to light causing great shifts and changes on the political arena of Pangea. The decades of scheming and wars between various political parties ended and one group held the monopoly of power. But this was a group, that the masses trusted.


    The title of Harker was officially decided that day.


    Harker Cipril. General of the Heroes Army.. The Light of Pangea.

 Chapter 132 - Aragarian Report 1 (Volume 3 Auxilliary )

    To Zeraphine of the Presiders,


    Exalted Zeraphine, here is the report of Earth and the history of our interactions with them.


    Pioneer Lumbly Cassto


    ------


    -Arrival of the First Pioneers-


    The first wave of Pioneers who infiltrated Earth was sent in sometime during the Space Exploration age near the end of the Post-Modern period of Earth.


    The Presiders did not want to use their own resources for the takeover of Earth. Instead, they handed the task of taking over Earth to the Pioneers. Every Pioneer who would ept this mission would immediately be granted several Presider Common Sciences and once theyplete their mission, various foundational elements of the Reserved Sciences of these Presiders would also be given to the Pioneers. As such, arge group of Pioneers immediately volunteered for this mission.


    With several nations investing on space exploration, our team had long taken control of a floating satellite that Earthunched, called the International Space Station. Lourca Oviili, who was the promoted Arbiter during that period was gifted an abridged version of one of themon sciences exclusive to Presiders which were used to enve or mind control another person.


    Through the help of several Presiders, the infiltration and take-over of all persons in that spacecraft were sessful. As the Space Age peaked, several delegates from all over the world, who held key positions in various space programs, were eventually mind-controlled. As we seeded in manipting these people, the first wave of Pioneers was sent since all the space stations of all countries turned a blind eye to our entry with the help of the ves we imnted per area.


    -Life on Earth-


    The Pioneers on Earth adapted to the lifestyle and developed strategical methods to take over Earth.


    The first wave of Pioneers who were sent were all gifted various abridged versions of the Common Sciences of different Presiders. With these technologies in hand, these Pioneers made various products and devices that became extremely popr on Earth allowing the Pioneers to immediately enter into key authoritative positions.


    The general assessment of the Pioneers was that Earth''s current world-view was very self-centered and at the same time prideful. They valued humanity as apparent on the mainstream movies of their time. The Earthlings valued human life and may not agree with our lifestyle.


    Our system groups and assigns our race into several categories which are granted or prohibited in using various technologies as our contributions increase or decrease. In short, our life bes easier the more we amass contributions and bes more difficult the more harm we cause to the public groups.


    The Earthling mindset is different. Regardless if they are a gue or a blessing to the society, they continue to remain adamant and demand equality iming that it is their "human right." This ideology is vastly opposed to our "Racial Responsibility" motto. While we have established a system that ultimately focuses on benefiting the society, Earth has yet to perfect its system and remains adamant in keeping with this delusional sense of "equality" which is basically them trying to havefortable lives without doing anything to benefit their race as a whole.


    Earthlings of that era valued this equality so much that any actions that will try to diminish this equality, as demanded by the masses, will be met with extreme prejudice. As such, if we try to impose our system during that era, it would be met with great dissatisfaction for Earthlings believed that everyone in their race is equal, despite the great inequality in their socio-economic structure.


    Their economy, unlike ours, has little or no structure. Anyone can get rich or poor based on purchases alone. Food, health, and even basicmodities are all to be purchased. Unlike our system which gives basic food, health, and suchmodities to everyone and will only require us to pay for contribution points whenever we desire to experience the more luxurious benefits of thesemodities, such as high-ss meals, vanity rted medical alterations,rger houses, and so on. Here on Earth, if you have no money, you die. This is true especially on the formerly ssified "third-world" countries.


    And so, this confusing setup took the first wave of Pioneers a few years to perfect and understand. Despite all the loud screams for equality, the clear divide of finances spread across all living sses and across all nations. It seemed that the system they used is a system that rests on greed while carrying a fa?ade of moral integrity. With this, Earthlings will hate whenever any form of system is in ce that makes one group a group with lesser privilege, but still, avail a system where there are groups who are rich and powerful while others are in deep poverty.


    The Pioneers tried changing the flow of the philosophies of the era through peaceful means. The media was used, movies, television, even a country was taken over with and tried to replicate the setup of the Aragarians, but these were all met in failure. In fact, the people who the Pioneers used to spearhead such movements ended up being attacked causing their businesses to go bankrupt. Also, mimicking our financial systems was also impossible. The world was so set on using money that our contribution system is very irrelevant and ipatible.


    The conclusion that the Pioneers sent to the Presiders was that if the Presiders would decide to take over Earth, they would be met with strong opposition. There was just so much difference between our race and theirs, despite our biological simrities.


    As such, it was deemed necessary for the Pioneers to first shape the culture of the world into one that would be more epting of our systems to minimize any possible conflicts that may ur once the Presiders finally take action.


    The Presiders of that time gave the order on their n on how to make the Earthlings more agreeable to our lifestyle. As the study for Earth''s history continued, the Presiders concluded that in order to change the world''s philosophies several key changes must happen:


    A World War


    The Presiders determined that based on Earth''s history, Earthlings change their philosophy whenever a cataclysmic event is the end result of their philosophy. The Second World War brought a massive shift in the philosophical paradigm that the views before it was condemned. If the Pioneers are sessful and create another great war, the philosophy would change. At that point, the Pioneers would find it easier to lead the world and shape a new philosophy that will make the Presiders'' entry easier.


    Elimination of Religion


    Religion proved to be a problematic tool as a great majority of the world believe in a religion and the atheistic group was growing to slow for religion to be ultimately removed from Earth. The strategies done to weaken the faith of Christians, Muslims and Jews proved ineffective. Despite the fact that the Pioneers were even fabricating and nting various evidence to support an atheistic view, many of those people on those religions proved to be unmoved. This was especially so with the Muslim and Jewish groups who were more traditional in their beliefs.


    So the Presiders who analyzed and studied the religions of the three major branches deemed that the weakest and fewest religions, the Jews, held the key. The elimination of this group would be the best evidence to support an atheistic system allowing the Presiders for easier entry.


    -The Pioneers Initiative-


    When various Pioneers had risen to a level of great wealth and managed to mingle with politicians, religious leaders, and media groups on the most powerful "first-world" and "second-world" countries, Lourca Oviili once again rose to the asion and mind-controlled groups that they had the opportunity to control whatever political and religious groups they could manage.


    The political arena was further thrown into conflict as the ves we captured had followed our orders and instructions. But no matter how these mind-controlled ves tried to push a first world country into war, their proponents would suddenly turn tail and side with the opposing group. This was themon case on all first-world countries Only a few countries would dare wage war but if ever these second-world countries belonging to the Communist group would do so, the coalition of the first-world countries will immediately act in unison causing these Communist countries to be cautious in doing such actions.


    The religious leaders that were controlled were ordered to perform scandalous acts, or even convert themselves out of religion to weaken the religious organizations. But the opposite urred. In Christian, Jewish, and Muslim groups, the loss of faith for their leaders only strengthened the faith of those who believed in it because of the mounting persecution, bullying, and attacks from atheistic and political adversaries of these religions.


    Ultimately, the Pioneers decided to use the divided views of Earth to trigger the World War. The political arena on Earth is extremely formidable. You can almost tie any issues to a political party. In the Post-Modern era, political groups were even using the protection and preservation of the environment as a political tool. The Pioneers orchestrated an event that was meant to cause more divides between the religious and areligious groups on Earth, but the event snowballed into a bigger event which eventually led to the Minority Wars.


    The Pioneers took advantage of the sudden eruption of wars and soon manipted events that led to World War 3.


    -The Pioneer Massacre-


    After the Pioneers managed to manipte the world, contact between the Presiders and Pioneers was limited. When the War had reached the peak, all the Pioneers on Earth were massacred. It was only after the war ended that the Presiders was able to investigate the strange massacre that killed all the Pioneers.


    (As requested, the details of this event is on another file, which I will send to you shortly.)


    Because of the Massacre, the newly found organization, the World Governing Powers has more or less, taken control of the Earth''s power and amassed all weapons of mass destruction that remained after the Third World War. This group was intolerant and very skeptical and evenunched several weapons of mass destruction on countries that tried to rebel against them.


    The Presiders of that time feared the end result if they were to wage war on Earth even though it was on a critical stage because of the madness and bloodlust of the World Governing Powers. This battle would even cost them more because the WGP had all the weapons of mass destruction that the other countries previously had. The Presiders then decided that they would wait for the second group of Presiders and Pioneers, who would be arriving a decadeter, before proceeding to conquer Earth.


    The gap they made and the loss of contact to Earth surprised the Presiders as the WGP had created several technologies that could pose a threat to the Presiders. As these Presiders were not willing to pay a precious price for victory, another set of Pioneers were sent to Earth with the hopes toplete the n of making Earth war against itself, once more.


    More than 200 Pioneers were sent to Earth this time. The majority of these Pioneers were Rogues, unlike before as the Presiders were fearful of losing more Pioneers serving under them.


    This time, all Pioneers, be it Rogues or those serviced to a Presider had surgical chips ced in them that would notify all Presiders if they were to die.


    -Earth Today-


    As of this era, Earth has greatly changed. The Age of Distrustful nations has caused the nations to be greatly suspicious and careful with each other. Technological possibilities were in ce, which is simr to our own contribution system.


    The era of the current Earth is growing more and closer to our own philosophies. It is expected that nearly half of Earth''s countries would side with our group and maybe even be willing to war against their own kind if ever the Presiders decide to show themselves.


    The recent events, however, have supported the theory that a Lost Primordial could be hiding on Earth and maybe acting behind the scenes of the WGP. (This is as opposed to themonly epted theory that Lourca Oviili betrayed our race.)


    With the documents gathered detailing the oddities of Greydon Meng and the assassin codenamed "Richie", it was theorized that only a Lost Primordial could have the technology to create such humans as Lourca Oviili has no Reserved technologies that could birth these two Earth anomalies.


    -Pokemon-


    Regarding your question on the poprity of this game, it could easily be exined by simply ying it. I have attached all the versions of this game, some have slightly poor graphics while theter ones have better ones. But in truth, I heard that the other Presiders n to release these games on the same order it was released chronologically They n to simply improve the graphics and ship them off back at home, imitating Earth Marketing strategies of releasing poorer products and slowly improving it on theter release to amass more contribution points. You may want to give the older ones a try as it helps in understanding why other Presiders have taken a liking to it.


    As for the reason why we believe this game is popr on both Pioneers and Presiders, it is because the game mechanic to "catch" Pokemon, is simr to our goals as Aragarians. We amass contribution points to acquire better sciences of different kinds. Pokemon serves as a game that allows these goals to be tranted into an extremely entertaining way. There are different Pokemons of different values, strengths, usage, just as there are different technologies avable to us.


    We believe that all Aragarians are naturally inclined to find this game entertaining because of this simrity. Even the yer-Vs-yer arena of this game has a lot of simrities to the technologicalpetitions we have back home. Just as how our technologies could be weaker or stronger when faced with another, the "types" of these Pokemons can be more effective, or not effective to other Pokemon types.


    We would even dare specte, that even the Principals back home would find this entertaining as they could rte on being a Pokemon Champion, the same way they rose through the ranks and became Principals. Although their Excellencys, the Primes, may not necessarily be able to rte with this game, still we are confident in its attractive and entertaining nature and we may even acquire countless contribution points. I would rmend that you send your father, his Excellency, Nominal Prime, to observe the game first as even he may acquire benefits if he reports it to the Formal Primes.


    I have attached the walkthroughs and all the games converted to a format that is eptable on any game console of your choosing. Princess,your very own POKEMON legend is about to unfold! A world of dreams and adventures with POKEMON awaits!


    ---


    I would have disciplined you for thatst line. However, you did introduce Pokemon to me and I am indeed having fun, so I''ll let it slide. Choose among these technologies. I can gift you a foundational science of your choosing. Just don''t make any simrments in the near future.


    Lastly, prep my trip for Phil-Pangea. Make it look like I have been a long-time, hardcore fan of Seeker Carlean as well.. Do whatever seems fitting to you.

 Chapter 133 - Seeker’s Curse

    The incident earlier that day had stunned the world.


    Confessions after confessions were made that day. The WGP and several foreign countries all reacted iming that Harker Cipril was an acting vignte who used his authority to do what he pleased. The politicians of the Indo-Pangean nations all cried out angrily at the sudden outburst of Harker''s actions, but most of the masses even within Indo-Pangea apuded Harker''s actions. Slowly, various groups and organizations rose up and used Hydron of several corrupt deeds and the murders of several members of their groups.


    Along with the other political andmercial groups captured during the surprise raid, several prominent businessmen and allies of these groups were also suspected of being in partnership for their crimes. But none of these groups could do anything.


    The sudden deration of martialw did not prepare all of Harker''s enemies. Those who were captured that day were shown to have been tortured. But before any human rights organization could react, the confession they received which also involved human trafficking made those who were against torture confused and unsure. Harker had just exposed yet another human trafficking operation made by the government officials themselves!


    With Colestar supporting Harker, and with the evidence that Colestar has presented, these two enemies who now presented consistent data made the opponents unable to present anything but could only use Harker and Colestar with absurd usations that made the massesugh at them.


    And now, surprisingly, this Harker had announced that he will make West Phil-Pangea High as the base of his operations! While everyone thought it was simply to keep Seeker safe, Harker had actually decided to make this base, the headquarters for his operations!


    Various veterans of war were interviewed by different media groups as they could not interview Harker.


    "It''s ingenious. While most of Harker''s enemies have been trying to infiltrate the Tatsulok Aguinaldo, Harker has just made a base, which we know nothing about. It should haveplicated technologies that makes it imprable." A famed army veteran in My-Pangea responded during an interview.


    "But what if assassins are sent in that school? That school is a public ce!" The reported questioned.


    "No. Not West-Phil Pangea High. Don''t you get it? The changes we thought that was applied in that school, wasn''t for Seeker! It was Harker! It would have been possible to infiltrate that school before, but Harker''s political enemies gave him time to perfect that school''s defenses! Now that Harker dered it as his base, it will make morepanies and organizations want to send their students there! Messing with that school or bombing it, will kill the killer and ruin the entire organization that nned that attack! That''s why he made that school! He wanted to gather the influential making that ce something that no one would even consider attacking!"


    While the interviews and news about Harker''s recent actions flooded the media, a convoy of vehicles guarded with Exoskeletons, Armors, and Tanks of new designs arrived in West Phil-Pangea High.


    The cars stopped and soon the soldiers all arranged themselves and gave a salute.


    His figure emerged.


    "It''s really him¡­" A student was teary-eyed as he witnessed the figure.


    His eyes were sharp. His shoulders, broad.


    His strides were grand and his expression was focused.


    His bearing was weighty and his auramanding.


    His stance wasposed, his courage apparent.


    His pain was great, but his resolve was greater. He ims to be no hero, but he was the only one the world considered to be.


    He is the majestic, glorious, unparalleled, undisputed, illustrious, eye-popping, eyebrow-raising, breath-taking, heart-stopping, spine-chilling, most amazing General of the Heroes Army, Harker Cipril. The Light of Pangea.


    Those who saw him grew silent. Most unconsciously clutched their hearts.


    "This is a man we can trust. A leader we can follow." A student unconsciously said as he witnessed his walk.


    Next to Harker Cipril was an unfamiliar soldier with several scared faces. Harker imed he was one of the survivors of the attack on Australia who just recently recovered. ke Golderon.


    ke followed nearby while Harker led the way. They have headed to a military facility right behind West Phil-Pangea High and soon these figures vanished from sight.


    Deep inside the base, Seeker stood up and stretched. He was in a strange room with extremely high-endputers and devices. Surrounding him were several other soldiers also ying Piercing games.


    "Who would have thought that this is how we would save the world? Computer games! I''d never expected this answer even in a thousand lifetimes!" Harkerughed as he walked in.


    "Harker. I''m impressed. You didn''t even make Colestar a Programmed ve. How did you do all of that?"


    "I told him the truth."


    Seeker was surprised.


    "The truth?"


    "Yes. About us, our mission, the Unlocking, the Aragarians¡­ everything."


    Seeker was silent.


    "And he agreed to help you?"


    "I asked him. I know of his profile. He''s a good man. Far better than who I was. So it''s only natural that he would help us. I even told him that Meng is alive and he''s our ally. That made him agree to help us even more."


    "How did you prove that Meng was alive?"


    "A video recording of me and Meng of course."


    "You have a video recording of Meng?"


    Harker simply took out hism device and revealed of Harker standing next to Meng. The two of them were giving each other the Finger-Gun Bang Bang. Meng''s expression remained stoic, but Harker had an expression of delight. Never mind the fact that wounds were gushing out of every part of his skin.


    Seeker opened his mouth but no words could escape him.


    There were several key points in Harker''s im that Seeker wanted to ask but in the end, he simply shook his head.


    "Scary. Shameless Audacity is a scary Path." Seeker shivered.


    "The Path of Shameless Audacity, though rooted on Trust, mainly helps me achieve one certain thing. I feel that if I ask anyone a favor, they would do it for me. Of course, there are various limitations to how I can achieve this."


    "Lieutenant Lander. It''s been a while." Seeker ignored Harker and spoke to the disfigured soldier who strode next to Harker.


    "General Seeker." The soldier named ke Golderon answered back.


    "Looking good with that disguise."


    "I look like Freddy Kreuger." Lander sighed.


    "I have your next mission You have to go to China. You will deliver several techs we''ve recently acquired and given that to Meng to further their weapons development. Also, this will serve as training. Amir Mann may focus his attention there once the breadcrumb trail that Lowengren left him in Africa disappears."


    "Alright. Like I have a choice. But please, give me all the data you have about Amir Mann. Don''t send me off like you did with Cliff who knew nothing about his enemies. As a soldier, the information you provide is a lifesaving factor."


    "I honestly don''t have any other information other than what you saw. He died early on in my timeline. I didn''t even have the chance to meet him, but my Master held him with high regard. What we do know, is that it seems that his growth is slower than the rest of the Oveers. He should be at Richie''s level prior to meeting with Eagle."


    "Richie''s level? He used his fingers to rip apart Cliff''s armors! Cliff was equipped with weapons and armors that were borne with our technology and his own cells! Yet a scratch from that monster could damage it?" Harker shook his head.


    "It wasn''t a simple scratch. It''s probably his Path. A Path born out of his own scientific maniption but aided with his potential as an Oveer." Seeker pondered.


    "And you want me to fight that?"


    "Typical and his troupe will be with you."


    "My assistance would be negligible against Amir Mann. Some of the Dragon''s Fang will die and even I could die."


    "If they die, they die. If you die, you die. In my future, only Typical was at the Green Dragon''s side. He was the only Fang. It means, that the rest were probably dead. If they die here and cannot grow stronger, then they will be useless in the future. If most of them die, but we get two or three Ranked Heroes, it''s worth it."


    Lander''s expression turned sour.


    "Soldiers are trained to value their brother-in-arms. Why is it, that you, being a solider cannot understand this concept? Oh right¡­ Someone who can order the massacre of civilians in Australia wouldn''t be able to understand such basic human morality." Lander angrily retorted.


    "My my¡­ Looks like someone''s slowly oveing the Programmed ve Chip? Have you forgotten, that I know the future? This means I know which pieces to sacrifice and which pieces to protect. I also have to have the cruelty to kill whoever you deem fit and abandon the pieces which are worthless."


    "You don''t know their worth. No! Our worth! Even if we died in your future, who knows what they contributed? And whatever future you have, it''s not this future. You cannot have the say on who to kill. As of this moment, everyone is innocent! They have yet to side with the Aragarians. We must give them that choice again even if they made the wrong choice in your future! You''re just ying God, General!"


    "Maybe I am. But as I said, I know the future. They will choose wrongly. And so unless those on our side, prove to be useful, I will use them as cannon fodder. You were an enemy. If you die, you die."


    "The future this, the future that! That doesn''t give you the right to kill the innocent or abandon your men! My country had innocent people in it! Yet you allowed Arthur and his group to massacre civilians there and even now, you allow those Twelve Disciples, to freely massacre innocents during these past months! Now you decided to treat these Fangs and me as useless because they weren''t in your future? Regardless of what you believe in, the truth is, General, you are a terrible, terrible leader. You don''t have any moralpass." Lander said coldly.


    Seeker justughed.


    "Really? You know it''s funny, that''s the same usation people gave over the God of the Jews and Christians. People mocked God because He caused genocides. But perhaps it''s because God knew what these people will do, that in His love, He allowed massacres. For example, the Amalekites. They attacked Israel just when they left Egypt. The Israelites were believed to be without food and water and had been wandering in the desert. The Amalekites wanted to take advantage of this and plotted to kill them. But they failed. So God in His love, ordered Samuel and Saul to massacre the Amalekites because He knew what they would do to the Jews. But because the Jews failed to wipe them out, a few hundred yearster, one of the Amalekite survivors by the name of Haman, almost managed to pass down an imperial decree allowing people tomit genocide and kill all the Jews in the Persian empire. If it wasn''t for Esther and Mordecai, he would have seeded."


    "Why are you telling me this?"


    "Because you talked about my moralpass. Truth be told, I was worried about it to¡­ That''s why I asked Eagle during my time in the Tatsulok Aguinaldo. And do you know, what Eagle said? He said that I can do whatever it is that I should do. It was he who gave me that told me that little story about the Amalekites. The moral of this story? My responsibilities are far more terrifying than what you can imagine. And this is because I know the future. And this is why I am right and you are wrong."


    Seeker walked closer as he gave off a spine-chilling smile.


    "Do you know? When the Aragarians revealed themselves, your fellowman opted to wipe-out all who did not agree with the Aragarians. Your country prostituted itself to the Aragarians. Everyone wanted the techs the Aragarians gave and the life that they would experience. Your countrymen gathered all foreigners who lived in theirnd, and if these foreignerse from a country that was against the Aragarians, they were killed, raped, tortured and treated like livestock. You don''t know what your countrymen did to mine. But I know."


    Lander was silent at Seeker''s ims.


    "This is my curse. I know the future. And therefore, the burden of killing the people within the nations which I know served the Aragarianspletely falls on to me. I will carry with it and I will bear the consequences of my actions! As for your sympathy over the Dragon''s Fang, I and Meng are of the same opinion. A blunt Fang is useless. And so the Green Dragon allowed me to leave a trail for Amir Mann to China!"


    Seeker took a step closer and grabbed Lander by the cor. Despite his advanced Unlocking, Lander couldn''t even move or escape Seeker''s reach.


    "Grip yourself and be thankful that I agreed to spare you. Mark my words, Australia will not be thest. Nations will burn and though they haven''t justified themselves in this lifetime, the sins they did in mine is enough to condemn them ten times over! A terrible leader? You are wrong. I am not a terrible leader. If anything, I am a loving leader. I love and will protect those who served our cause. And I really don''t care about the well-fare of those who will betray humanity. And though my love urges me to take care of everyone on our side, I have to prioritize the life of the entire human race! I choose to prioritize it over some useless soldier who won''t leave a dent in the future!" Seeker''s tone was both calm and gentle, yet a terrifying murderous intent could be felt as Harker and Lander felt the leaking emotions of Seeker.


    Lander couldn''t breathe. He maintained his stance but he felt as if a towering giant was looking down on his puny form.


    Suddenly, Harkerughed.


    Seeker frowned. A sense of anger was building up.


    Lander was even more petrified. Why did Harkerugh?


    "So angry. But that''s not true, is it? If that is the true n, you would have made it that our next battles will be fixed on those countries, particrly Australia! But no! Right now, where are we investing our money? Games! Are you really going to massacre these nations? Why are you then creating a VR game that can allow even Unbings and Inhumans to train?" Harker challenged.


    "You''re getting more arrogant, Harker." A strange murderous sensation filled the room.


    "Arrogant? Wrong. It''s just I got to know you better. As I see it, you are wavering between two paths to take. Will you take the murderous, vengeful, angry route? Or will you take the other route, the route that the kid in you want to take? You''re caught in a half-step between these two paths!"


    "I recall you being one of the enemies of the future that contributed to the deaths of millions of Pangeans. Maybe I should just take away the mercy I gave you, Harker." Seeker started to calmly walk towards Harker.


    Lander''s expression showed fear. But Harker maintained his smile.


    "Lynd was right. The adult you really messed you up." Harkerughed again.


    Suddenly, the sensations vanished.


    Seeker was silent. His re and anger disappeared.


    Lander was shocked.


    "It looks like your Path really is helpful. Thank you, Harker." Seeker sighed.


    Lander was more confused. Why did Seeker thank Harker?


    "All''s well that ends well." Harkerughed shamelessly.


    "I have beenmunicating with Lynd these past days. I kept asking him what''s up with you. Truth be told, we''ve noticed your changes after the battle with the Tyrant Empress. You were bing bipr. Happy at one point, then angry the next. Your ruthlessness earlier was your future self''s mindset. But your friends know you more than you give them credit for."


    Seeker could only sigh.


    "Lynd knew you''d be one of the few who could help me?"


    "He knew that I was one of the few who would dare to try. I who thread in Shameless Audacity." Harkerughed.


    "It''s time you told us the mystery about you.. So tell me. Is there another Seeker in that brain of yours?"

 Chapter 134 - The Child And The Adult

    "Another Seeker?" Lander was even more confused with Harker''s question.


    "It''s the only possible exnation. Consider what he just said he wanted to do. Did he really mean it? Yes, he caused great massacres in Australia, but that was only because he had to save himself, and Lynd. If he really wanted to kill all your countrymen for their betrayal, he can just order the Twelve Disciples to shut down the defenses of any fort and leak the information to the other countries. The massacre of your people could easily be aplished by my own soldiers who will join the battle. Since the world already knows of my anger against the Australian''s even the Aragarian''s wouldn''t suspect our involvement. But Seeker didn''t choose this route. Do you know why?" Harker asked the confused Lander.


    Lander could only shake his head.


    "Because a part of him doesn''t want to. Hence instead of focusing money to bring down a nation which he knows to be evil, he decided to invest on¡­ that." Harker pointed to severalputers nearby.


    A soldier was ying Piercing. His hands were still shivering from Seeker''s recent outburst.


    "He used my connections and the Underworld and turned several of Piercings most talented programmers and former programmers into Programmed ves. And using the technologies of three nations and a budgeting from our Underworld connections, his streams, the math provided by the Humphreys and my military funding, he has been creating he calctions for the games with real-life physics."


    Lander couldn''t help but give the game an odd look.


    "You''re downying my ns, Harker. Even though your suspicions are correct, building a game will still save us a lot of money and possibly a lot of our soldier''s lives. We are building an Unlocked army. And this army will need to practice their skills. Our army will be divided and spread all across the world. Not all of them haverge open areas like this base. It isn''t practical for them to even fight each other. For Ranked Heroes and Oveers, a single mock battle would be expensive." Seeker pointed out.


    "Not to mention, even a single battle between two Inhumans will result in a lot of destruction. So instead of that, I need a game that can stimte their perceptions, nning, and so on. The Unlocking is a growth of the mind. So investing in creating a game that could practically allow Unlocked users to do something that can push it to the limits is a perfect way to do it."


    "This is a game based on Oveers?" Lander walked closer to observe the game.


    "Not just the Oveers, Ranked Heroes, Inhumans even Unbings should have their characters in this little game. Again, it''s basically a way for us to practice without spending millions of Sydian''s in one mock battle. Besides, the game, Generals is something that was created in order to test out war. That''s why even Generals secretly y that game."


    "But isn''t this just a game? It would still be different from actual fighting." Harker shared his doubts.


    "Kristine. Remember her? LordChokeMeSenpai? Hasn''t she has managed to fully assimte her gaming skills in bing a real Piercing:Valkyrie. Lowengren has long ascended from being a gamer to be a true war General. I''m sure the rest of the Covenant can do what their respective Piercing Avatars can do if we manage to give them the right technology." Seeker smiled.


    "I''m sensing that you''re nning on turning the best e-sport gamers into Programmed ve." Harker smiled.


    "You catch on pretty quick. That''s why I''m creating such a big havoc in the e-sport world. I need another Nations of the World E-Sport event so we can slowly get them to our side."


    "Why not simply contact them now? Your parents are in the Americas, the Mikados'' in the EAA. These two nations hold the best e-sport gamers and first-person shooters. Most of the best soldiers in Generals belong to these nations."


    "Yet, these two nations are nations who utilize a Blockchainwork. It''s almost impossible to do any illegal business with how the government''swork remains stable and is practically imprable without leaving traces. No. I need them out of their countries. Somewhere where a Blockchainwork does not exist." Seeker continued.


    Harker sighed. Hacking the Americas, the New Russian Federation and even Africa were nearly impossible thanks to the blockchainwork.


    "Well, it looks like this other you have thought things through. But can you maintain this? Now that I''ve known you better, I can''t help but feel that all your former ns have all been half step measures." Harker suddenly asked.


    Seeker was silent.


    Seeker''s refusal to argue or defend himself made Lander believe that Harker was right.


    "Half-step? With everything that he''s been doing? These were all half-steps?"


    "Yes. I may not be like Arthur or those other freaks, but I have held my throne in the Underworld for too long. I know what it is to be cautious. Charles told me about your original ns. You wanted to amass enough money secretly using your skills with the game correct? It would be low-key, and it wouldn''t attract attention. I figured that if you hadn''t started the My-Pangean massacres, the Australian Avarice or led your team to battle in China, the world would be more peaceful and you could travel around the world, meet with Oveers and Ranked Heroes and convince them secretly. But no, you created havoc, changing everything and messing up this timeline that we don''t have any choice but to maintain this extremely guarded and paranoid lifestyle."


    Harker waited for Seeker to respond.


    Seeker remained silent and actually turned to the chair he was sitting on when he wasmunicating with his parents in-game.


    "I was right. I know what it means to be cautious. This was the best way to survive. Alean have told me in detail what the others have been discussing about you. Lowengren deduced that in the future, your friends won the war by tricking the Aragarians and killing them all out at once. But my daughter couldn''t just see it. Maybe Lowengren, Lennox and Arthur know about it¡­ But the path you''ve made this timeline take is a more dangerous path."


    "Since when have you two made up as father and daughter?" Seeker could not help but ask.


    "Since we realized that the preservation of our lives depends on you. Nothing else matters anymore. Power? Wealth? Security? The Aragarian''s will take that all."


    "My my¡­ Who would have guessed that the corrupt Harker would turn a new leaf?" Seekerughed.


    "Well¡­ I have the kid you to thank for that."


    "The kid me?" Seeker questioned but the shock in his heart was great. Very few people knew of this secret. Only Meryl and Lynd knew about it and Lynd wouldn''t be so dumb as to tell Alean about this secret.


    "No one told me. I deduced it." Harkerughed seeing Seeker''s changing expression.


    "Alean couldn''t tell what was wrong with you. Her Path might have sensed it as the momentum around you has changed. Rather, she says it keeps changing. I''m sure Arthur, Lennox, and Lowengren know but they would hide the truth. And don''t worry. Your secret is safe with me." Harkerughed.


    "Are you using you''re Path against me?" Seeker questioned causing every bone in Harker''s body to shake.


    Harker stood still despite the rickety movements of his bones. Sweat started to pour out of his back.


    "Using your voice to match the frequency of my bone and amplified it so that it would shake. Not as strong as Richie''s but that is the basic. Impressive." Harker smiled.


    "I am afraid of you. But I know you couldn''t dare kill me. So don''t bother scaring me. Especially now that me and Alean have patched things up. I know your two personalities wouldn''t dare." Harker smiled.


    "And why is that?"


    "If I met the adult you way back then, then I''d probably be dead. But because it wasn''t the adult you that I met, but theplex Seeker Carlean who has his adult self''s memory, you kept me alive. And because of that, even the adult you won''t dare kill me."


    "Oh? Want to see if that theory holds?" Seeker released an empowering aura that made Harker feel a trace of heat leaking out from where Seeker was.


    Harker however, remained firm.


    "You act like an adult but your heart is constricted. I, who tread in Shameless Audacity can tell. There are two things unique to my Path. I know I can make people trust me because I can feel it if they do. You trust me with your life already. However, sometimes, I could sense that a part of you¡­ no¡­ rather another you don''t. Alean said your momentum''s all mixed up. It only means there are two of you. Did the Oveer''s Will manage to affect you?"


    "Why do you care?" Seeker frowned.


    "I have to. The kid Seeker trust me. The adult doesn''t. I have to convince him to remain as a kid." Harkerughed.


    "That''s only to your benefit." Seeker countered.


    "Not really. For one, I''m sure your best friends like the kid you. Those memories you have from the future¡­ with the Unlocking it''s like you can re-watch the entire movie which is your life, correct? And through this, you can bring a fragment of your memory, of the anger, of the pain. But that is what it is¡­ a fragment. It can only change you so much. But now, for some reason, you''re Oveer''s Will is making that merge possible. But you need to reach the higher levels of the Unlocking to have these emotions match your recollections. The stronger your Unlocking gets, the more your memories can affect you like the psychological scars of these memories can do its full damage in your mind and heart. But I think, it''s to your disadvantage." Harker surmised.


    "Why so?"


    "The Kid Seeker left me alive." Harker began.


    "I know that the me of your future would have allied with the Aragarians. The Adult Seeker, being relentless, merciless, cruel would have killed me immediately. The kid Seeker left Alean and his father alive with the intent of using them. That is a twinge of his mercy. Kid Seeker''s decree of our punishment, wasn''t death, but abuse. However, when kid Seeker realized that I have a Path, he allowed me to cultivate it. I was useful after all¡­ So useful, that even when Adult Seeker arrived, he couldn''t kill me anymore."


    "What are you implying?"


    "What I mean is¡­ that Kid Seeker is more merciful aspared to Adult Seeker. And this Kid Seeker is statistically and historically more useful for your ultimate goal. You managed to raise two potential Heroes, me and Alean. And I''m told by Alean that her Path was very beneficial? I heard it was what aided you to be an Oveer yourself and even caused the awakening of the Prophet Daniel."


    "Just how close are you with your daughter for her to be sharing that information with you?" Seeker frowned.


    "She tells me this¡­ because she trusts me." Harker smiled.


    Seeker kept quiet.


    "Consider your current Path, Kid Seeker. Though you have the option to merge with Adult Seeker and walk on that path, you may also walk on your current Path. I would advise with thetter than the former. If you do defeat the Realm King, you will have this choice. The right thing to do is to walk with Kid Seeker''s perspective. The world isn''t as hopeless as with Adult Seeker''s timeline after all." Harkerughed.


    "Am I manipting you? Maybe so. But if you hold on to that past you, and consider it more gainful than what the current you can acquire, you will lose track of your goal. Adult Seeker had the goal of surviving. But Kid Seeker didn''t have that in mind. He didn''t want to simply let the human race survive. Kid Seeker met Feltrick, the first Aragarian of this world who controlled the most power in Pangea. And what''s interesting is that Kid Seeker couldn''t help but kill him. You exposed yourself and the Unlocked immediately and even risked a war with Australia who was another superpower that endangered Pangea. Those actions weren''t for survival."


    "Then why did I do that?"


    "You gave yourself an excuse. Though you had Adult Seeker''s memories, and though you knew Adult Seeker wouldn''t alter the timeline as it would create a lot of uncertainties, what did you, the Kid Seeker do? You risked exposure and changed the timeline of this world with the grand attack on Australia. Was Australia the cause of Pangea''s downfall in Adult Seeker''s future?"


    Seeker was silent.


    Lander who stood at the side gave Seeker a saddened look. So it really was his country that brought so much death to Seekers. Things started to make sense for Lander. Who knew if it was his fellow-man who killed Seeker''s friends and killed off Seeker''s parents?


    "And so, you''ve been making half-steps. You couldn''t decide whether to keep things as low-key as possible. That was the Adult Seeker''s n. Make another surprise attack that could wipe out the Aragarians. But the Kid in you just couldn''t let all the deaths and possible massacres continue, can it? There were better ways to save the Jews but you choose the most reckless one. Lucky for you, you now have people like Arthur who can clean up after this mess."


    "Right¡­ Now the Aragarians are more guarded. If Richie didn''t nt that gold coin to that Aragarian Madelyn we would never have known what the Aragarians would do!" Lander realized.


    "Exactly. Seeker made reckless actions. He should have known better but he chooses to save them. Those facilities in My-Pangea¡­ he eliminated everyone. Why go that far? If he made more programmed ves he could have controlled the operations and formalize his research into creating that poison Feltrick was developing! But no! Seeker ordered Cliff to massacre everyone and ordered his team to destroy Feltrick''s bases all at once! There would be a thousand better ways to approach that problem! But this Seeker who knows the future choose the worse one and even allowed his operations to be taken noticed by the Presiders!"


    Lander gave Seeker a strange look.


    "You really are a kid¡­" Lander couldn''t help but voice out.


    Seeker had an extremely guilty look on his face.


    "Admit it. Though others can''t see past this recklessness of yours, a few can. I''m sure Arthur, Lennox and even that kid Lowengren already know about it. You were giving yourself excuses. You were forcing actions that Adult Seeker would disapprove of by making yourself believe that these actions were better. But it isn''t. Now you can''t follow the Adult Seeker''s original n. The de that should have been an assassinating strike, has be a broadsword used for war. The Aragains are wary, and even Presiders are now on Earth. This is the worst possible direction that your future you would take."


    Lander and Seeker were silent. Seeker appeared to have not have heard Harker''s words. But the truth was, each usation made Seeker be gripped with frustration.


    "But I think¡­" Harker continued mysteriously.


    "This is the best path."


    Lander was confused while Seeker finally turned and met Harker''s gaze.


    "You see¡­Adult Seeker''s n was survival. He wanted to make sure that the human race would survive this tribtion" Harker gazed deeply into Seeker''s eyes as if trying to talk to the Adult memory within.


    "Then what was Kid Seeker after?" Lander asked as Seeker remained silent.


    "This is exactly why I like Kid Seeker more. He wasn''t after survival. He was trying to save the World.." Harker smiled.

 Chapter 135 - Conflict Of Seekers

    Seeker who was silent and kept avoiding Harker''s gaze finally let out augh.


    "You put it quite in a noble fashion. But the truth is¡­ it''s much more immature than that¡­ The Oveers Will which demands confidence, resolve and determination could be said as a state of epiphany for most¡­ But for a kid like me, it''s simply maturity."


    "Hang on¡­" Lander asked. Seeker just confirmed what Harker had long been implying and couldn''t help but interject.


    "Are you saying, General¡­ That just as Harker is implying¡­There are actually two personalities in your head? You''re one of those who have split personalities?"


    "Is there a problem with that?" Seekerughed.


    "General¡­ If you be insane¡­ we would be doomed. You were just about to send me on a suicide mission to fight Amir Mann."


    "He''s not exaggerating, Seeker. Please tell me more about it¡­ The more I know about your strange state the easier it would be me to bring you back. I fear that a day wille that the adult in you will take over and we will lose this immature kid that will save countless lives." Harkerughed.


    "First of all¡­ Lander¡­That mission is non-negotiable. This mission wasn''t given to you just because you''re expendable. But more importantly, because you have a high potential. You just pissed me off earlier so I didn''t bother exining. But the truth is, your mission will be difficult but not impossible. Lowengren will be sending Stanley Vagrant of Warfreakz. And Ms. MaliciousUnicorn of the Covenant, Dara will be sent as well. These two are the most outstanding gamers in their teams. I believe you''ve met Stanley and trained alongside him?"


    Lander couldn''t help but sigh. Of all the people that Lander trained alongside with, Stanley Vagrant was undoubtedly the strongest. Although Stanley was unable to defeat Lander, their spars actually gave Lander a scare.


    "I hope that rifies that me sending you there to face Amir Mann isn''t because I''ve gone insane. As for your other question¡­ Harker already guessed bits and pieces of it. He''s right. The memory I had wasn''t able to influence mepletely. When I first got all that memory from my future self, it only gave me a boost causing me to reach the early stages of the Unlocking. Therefore, my skills in recollection weren''t as strong as it was."


    "So I was right. Initially, it was like watching a movie y out, correct?"


    "Yes. At the Unbing level that was the case. It was easy for me to forcefully reform my body to bing an Unbing as my memories had the details of that. I can urately remember things and even allow my memories to guide my body in battle because mentally mapping my body and mimicking it is easy. In short, muscle memory is retained. But as for the emotional experience of these memories¡­ it''s a different story."


    "Emotions? Why wouldn''t it affect you? You can remember it with frightening details! Weren''t you using your memory to stimte your emotions to guard against the Empress?"


    "I was already at the Inhuman level at that time. Generally, at the Proficient stage of the Inhuman level, you can basically view things differently. Much more for the likes of Cliff and myself."


    "Because of Realm Somatotopy." Lander guessed. He was reaching the basics of Realm Somatotopy and even as someone who was reaching the Surmounting stage of Unbing, the way he recalls things were vastly more urate.


    "Exactly. We experience a more three-dimensional experience when recollecting. And the more powerful your grasps in Realm Somatotopy, the more amazing your recollection will be. That was the stage I was at when we fought in China." Seeker paused.


    "If I received those memories and it shot me towards the Ranked Hero stage, then I would probably have acted more like my future self. But the memories that were given to me were dumped when I was not even unlocked. In fact, it was thanks to that big memory dump that I became an Unbing. In that perspective, these memories were not perfectly transmitted. It''s like you simply have knowledge about pasts things."


    "Oh, how I love the arrogant, parading, and domineering Seeker Carlean of those days. So basically, you were just a teenager who knew a lot of things about the future. You neither had the maturity or resolve to follow through with your actions." Harkerughed.


    "I don''t understand! You know the consequences of your actions! Yet you decided to just¡­ show off?" Lander couldn''t conceive what had happened.


    "Lieutenant Lander¡­ No one can understand Seeker''s experience. On our end, we could easily say that if we had Seeker''s memories we would make the right choice. But it isn''t that simple. The fact that two personalities are already fighting in his brain is proof of theplexity of what he''s going through!"


    Seeker simply smiled.


    "Let me put it this way. Both of you can recollect your experiences and memories. But as my own memories also have the interference of my future self, it''s like I can view two sets of memories. My own, and my future self''s memory. You cannot imagine how strange and beguiling this is. Imagine having memories of another person. It confuses you. Although it is my own, and my future self, the two of us, the teenage me who just wanted to have some fun and rx not making any effort to even be a Royal, and that serious adult who had lost so much and would sacrifice himself and others were just vastly different."


    "Wouldn''t it be, that since you were able to see how that adult you started off as a student and then faced all those pains and eventually ended up as someone who would sacrifice others willingly? Wouldn''t you understand and somehow rte to him?" Lander asked.


    "Well¡­ yeah. But I also understand one thing about this future self of mine. He''s extremely selfish. He lost so much, so many, and weren''t even able to say goodbye to many blood-brothers and sisters, that he really doesn''t care if the world burns just so that these people live." Seeker gave a helpless sigh.


    "Oh? Wouldn''t you, the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy be able to rte to that?" Harker turned and asked Lander.


    Lander was in a daze. During the battle against New Zend, when an ambush was made on one of the key oceanic fortresses in their area. The battle was so great that he lost so many friends that it made him cruel and willing to risk attacking. It was that vengeance that made him out of Helion''s Fort to face the vast armies that cornered their team. It was solely because of his capabilities to dodge almost all iing attacks that allowed him to survive just in time for the Australian Army to arrive and fight back.


    None of his peers lived. He was the sole survivor and that catapulted him to a Hero status.


    "Right. Lander, you should understand this the most. Do you know why Lynd believed that you had the potential?" Seeker immediately ask.


    Lander shook his head.


    "The resolve you have is on par with those who are Near-Oveers. If anyone could rte to Adult Seeker¡­ of course aside from Lynd¡­ it would be you. The memories that I got from him was initially¡­ just memories. Pictures of the past, knowledge of the present and visions of the future. And so¡­ I merely used my memories as a guide. That was why, as Harker said, I''ve been making half-steps on my ns."


    "But even if you had his memories, would you be able to know what the adult you wanted but you to do?" Harker asked.


    "I had an inkling. That memory dump made me smart. But is it really that easy? A lot of people in this world know what''s good and bad for them and still choose the bad. But in my case¡­ I really had to internally struggle over it. You were right to some extent." Seeker gazed at Harker.


    "I guess I wanted more than survival. I wanted to save the world. So I was caught in a half-step between following what my memories demanded and what I wanted."


    "Then..." Lander asked.


    "Wasn''t your attack on Australia primarily decided by the kid you?"


    "I knew Australia had long been deeply infiltrated by the Aragarians. My memories demanded them to be exterminated but only wanted to do so,ter. I could have used Harker''s Programmed ve to destroy it silently. But knowing that the Aragarians had long been making human farms, I knew that Australia would be the hub of that. So when Lynd met the ident of his breaking through I decided to attack Australia. Perhaps I was ying the hero. So immature¡­ it was really unnecessary."


    "So you knew all along that fighting Australia was unnecessary? You really owe me an apology. I lost an army there!" Harker shook his head.


    A few seconds passed until Lander realized what the two were talking about.


    "What? Attacking and killing those people in Australia were all unnecessary?!" Lander shouted angrily.


    "It really was. When I learned of the detailster I was wondering why they went through all that trouble. I was right! It was really just Seeker''s heroic acts!" Harker muttered bitterly.


    "Seriously, Lander? Think! They could have acquired the Dawn soldier''s blood through an easier way!"


    "How?"


    Harker sighed.


    "You really need to use that big coconut of yours. Think! Was there a high-leveled group of scientists in Australia, in New Birth Forth who had ess to Dawn soldiers?"


    The haze that blinded Lander faded. And three figures came to mind.


    "Then! Then! Why?! Why?!"


    "He just told you why. He wanted to be a hero and save the poor humans being treated as livestock in that base." Harker exined.


    "I wondered why all that war became necessary when all you needed was blood from Dawn Soldiers. I mean sure¡­ The kaster Sisters would have been suspected of their strange actions. But I honestly think even that General Gand wouldn''t have minded it. Sure there would have been issues after that, butpared to the after-effects of what they pulled, whatever covert operations we could have done in Australia would have more benefits!"


    Lander''s mouth was open.


    "All that destruction! Those deaths! Those were all unnecessary?!"


    "Yes." Both Harker and Seeker nodded.


    Lander was actually shaking in anger.


    "Why are you so calm?! You lost an army!"


    "Of course I''m mad. But, remember, I gained many Jews who were subjected to unspeakable terrors. Many of which are young teenagers. If I strap them up with high-endputers and have them y Piercing, they''d be better than my former army. And besides. I lost that army, but Pangea now follows me." Harker shrugged his shoulder.


    "All''s well that ends well I guess." Harker sighed.


    The shaking and convulsing angry figure of Lander turned to Seeker.


    "I''ve already exined why I did that. I''m a selfish, hot-blooded teenager. Put yourself in my shoes. Would you have preferred that I allowed the Aragarians to continue on their research? You''ve seen the sick experiments they''ve been making. A strange gas that wouldter be used to keep us on a near-death state to eat up our expenditure, several strange airborne diseases that cause painful boils¡­ and I''m not even going to mention that Pok¨¦mon-chimera hybrid they were making!" Seeker listed several of the operations they uncovered when Arthur was killing their way in Australia.


    Lander still had an angry look but swallowed it all and said nothing.


    "Oh¡­ And just so I can ease your erm¡­ anger¡­ This is the kid me talking now. While your countrymen will ally themselves with the Aragarians, it isn''t that I didn''t me them. All of them have been deceived and have been lured by the enticing promises of abundant and of a rich life. Ultimately, they didn''t know who these people who gave them that abundant life was. I was actually a bit iffy in pursuing the mission. Even when we were there, I still had no set ns of how to take the Dawn blood. Should I go on a rampage? Or should I do it stealthily? But something out of my expectations urred but I guess it turned out to be the best."


    "Richie?" Harker guessed.


    "Yes. We fought and I had to forcefully push my Unlocking. With me out of the picture, I knew Arthur would be the best candidate to act as my recement."


    "Because of his intellect?" Lander asked. He was constantly manipted and deceived because of Arthur and Lowengren.


    "No. Because Arthur''s more mature than Seeker¡­ Arthur could do certain things that Seeker couldn''t do." Harker analyzed.


    "It is as Harker said. Truth be told¡­ I was running away from my responsibilities. I may have had a confident demeanor but in truth, I was the most confused among all of you. When I first met Arthur in this lifetime, I already knew he carried the same bloodlust and cruelty as he did in my future. But even then¡­ I honestly underestimated Arthur''s cruelty. So much more with Lowengren''s insanity. If I was awake during the Australian Avarice then I may have been against their ns and led Harker''s army in full-victory. Even if that meant that the Unlocking would be revealed. I would have yed the hero." Seeker closed his eyes.


    Everyone suddenly became quiet.


    Seeker moved once more and logged on in-game and tried to get his mind off things and keep the Kid him in control.


    Lander and Harker stood there and continued to reflect on Seeker''s words.


    "Then by what you said¡­ If it was the Kid Seeker awake, he would have attacked another country by now." Lander shook his head.


    "When he awoke he was already at Inhuman. So you could say he was a different person. But honestly, it would have been better if more of the Kid was at the helm." Harkerughed.


    Seeker frowned when he heard this.


    "I still am the one at the helm. The cont liquid we got from the Dawn soldiers didn''t just manage to cool my body. It calmed me down. As you know, the temperature has been known to be a factor in calming or enraging a person''s mood. Hot temperature makes people more aggressive, irritable while lower temperatures may cause depression. My body, because of the Unlocking was in a state of constantly being on the higher temperatures. So it made me reckless¡­ daring¡­ and being so¡­ aggressive." Seeker sighed.


    "I see. So it made you a bit more clear-headed? But why did you suddenly have this bipr personality? Is your body temperature affecting you once more that the cont liquid of Australia is no longer enough? Are you in heat once again?"


    Seeker gave Harker a strange nce.


    "Choice of words, please. No. it''s not that. The cont liquid is enough even up to Ranked Her.!"


    "Then why the change?"


    "When I was in that deep sleep, I already knew that the other Seeker in me was vying for control. Thus, I did my best to seal my memories."


    "You sealed your memory? How?"


    "You''ve probably seen or heard of stories about people who repressed their memories after experiencing a traumatic experience. That defense mechanism is something that most Inhumans have ess too. I just kept the bit of remembering certain parts about my memories and remembered the fact that I sealed some memories. That somehow stabilized me for a bit. But who would have thought that Meng was so strong? I was forced to unseal it. And then there was the Tyrant Empress."


    "The leaking of your emotions!" Lander guessed before Harker could say anything.


    "Right. When I leaked all that hatred, I allowed myself to be thoroughly immersed on my many memories. That somehow¡­ changed me. The recollection I have of my memories became more real. And so¡­ because I could see things and feel things in a different way at the Inhuman level, my emotions were starting to get affected by my memories. It''s like I''m somewhere in between being able to recall my future self''s memories, and being able to fully experience it."


    "Then I''ll ask upfront. Will that future you, ever take over?" Lander asked him with a solemn expression.


    Seeker nced at Lander and gave him paused for a bit.


    "I don''t know.." Seeker gave his final answer.

 Chapter 136 - Aragarian Report 2 (Volume 3 Auxillary )

    Exalted Presider,


    This file holds all the stories and theories we have about the Lost Primordial and why his existence is believed to have made an influence on Earth.


    ----


    The Lost Primordial


    Stories about the Lost Primordial are very vague even among Presiders. Little or no information is essible about their history, who they were, what transpired during the Prime Wars and if any of their descendants still reside in our country.


    The Lost Primordials and the Changes in our Society


    The Lost Primordial may refer to a group or one individual person. Everyone who sided with the Lost Primordial are often ssified as Lost Primordials however, history suggests that in terms of power, only one person had the strength to be called a Lost Primordial. He was believed to be thest survivor of a group of people belonging to the same ssification of those who are currently nted of our era. It was said that these group of Aragarians are the reason for the strict implementation of passing down technology in our society and the diversification of our educational system.


    At that time, since equality was among the Techno-Ethical values, nted were more ambitious and demanding to be granted more technologies regardless of howcking these groups have contributed to the development and continued growth of society, that mindset fueled these group to feel jealous and envious.


    It was this culture that encouraged them to try to im more technologies and rise up quickly through the ranks in order to gain ess to technologies equal to Presiders. It is also for this reason, that the passing down of technologies, unless due to impressive contribution to our society, has to be gained within a span of decades. A person can only gain one technological advancement one rank from his current rank and only once can it be granted for every decade. This is to make these Aragarians be capable of adjusting and learn the techno-ethical responsibilities that apany their new techs.


    These groups of nted schemed and even took advantage of those on the higher groups and even managed to seduce, manipte or even possibly ckmail these groups. Soon, the rise to power was imminent as more and more people were gathering in their teams.


    As even those on the levels of being a Presider were supporting them in secret, the contribution points they amassed were so fast that they developed several technologies through thebination of several techsing from Presiders. This is also why those at the rank of Presiders and those above them have to pick a technological path and cannot acquire a technology different from their Path easily. This is why, to much ire of many Presiders such as your distinguished self, divergent technologies can only be acquired once a century and has to go through the examination of several Aragarians a rank higher than them.


    It was said that these groups managed to gain immense contribution at the defeat of the Babelian armies at that time. Through the contributions that several Presiders and Pioneers and countless nteds, they elected one leader among the Pioneers, who was the one we wouldter call the Lost Primordial, to be the first of the Principal.


    The rise of this Principal was said to have caused a great civil war because the other Principals resisted when they sensed that this new Principal was manipting them.


    Although most Principal''s were guarded, the Presiders and Pioneers under him managed to amass more contributions allowing him to afford various divergent technologies. The reason why those under the Lost Primordial was so sessful was due to the handing down and the open-ess of technology that the Lost Primordial offered to those serving him.


    This moveter drew in more Presiders and Pioneers and almost every nted who were not subservient to any other Pioneers and Presiders were joining this group.


    It is also in this that the w of Presiders and Principal granting technological ess of their subordinates have been discovered and adjusted on our era. As of now, unless three Primes approve, no Presider or Principal can even equip their nteds with their own technologies. Although Presiders and Principals can use some of the rudimentary aspects of whatever technologies they have to grant healthcare support, equipping of basic weapons for battles and defensive purposes, as well as ster exploration, passing down a device or object that contains more than the rudimentary technologies are illegal.


    Other changes in our society were taken from the effects of the Prime Wars.


    The Prime Wars


    At the death of five Principals, the Lost Primordial managed to pilfer their techs and secretlybine all of them. It was believed that a Prime was manipted by the Lost Primordial''s schemes and secretly supported him covering up the fact that the Lost Primordial acquired three divergent techs from three Principals.


    Although the rules for Principals and Primes on how thetter is prohibited from attacking weaker groups were in ce the Lost Primordial managed to create secret bases unknown even to the Primes.


    Secretly, through the use of his connections with a Prime who betrayed our race as well, the Lost Primordial managed to create techs that matched other Primes and even surpassed the technology of his secret sponsor.


    It ister believed that the Lost Primordial betrayed and killed the Prime merging the techs of the Prime to his own.


    When the death of the Prime was discovered, several groups of Prime started out to search for the Lost Primordial''s secret base. This was a terrible miscalction as the Prime that the Lost Primordial killed was believed to have been secretly amassing several Divergent Techs for his own.


    Since all who ventured out were equal to Nominal Primes in power, all of them were killed and their techs believed to have been taken by the Lost Primordial.


    True Primes were immediatelyunched out and the Prime Wars began.


    Several Principals under themand of the Lost Primordial catapulted to Nominal Prime levels and while their techs could notpare to sciences of the True Prime, they were too many and managed to fight the True Primes to a standstill.


    The war continued on for several years and while the Lost Primordial were generally fleeing from one area to the next, the shes that urred led to deaths of several True Primes and many Nominal Primes.


    As of this point, countless theories were made as to how the Lost Primordial managed to find the technologies to surpass the True Primes in power. Perhaps it was because several True Primes were killed and their technology was stolen or that among the True Primes were those who betrayed us and have allowed the Lost Primordial to im more techs. Some simply concluded that the Lost Primordial developed his own science and crafted a new Technological growth for himself.


    Regardless of the theories, it was clear, that we faced an enemy that was at the Primordial level.


    Finally, when the war had reached a critical point, the True Primes finally called upon our own Primordial.


    The battle was extremely quick as our Primordial vastly outstripped the Lost Primordials power.


    His armies and forces were easily disseminated and it was believed that his Tech Holder was destroyed.


    Post War


    The post-war of the Prime Wars became an extremely crucial point in our society. It was then that our system of governance has followed the same systems in ce in times of old when we had one Prime King. With the defeat of the Babelians and the loss of other enemies such as the Lost Primordials, our society has never been more united.


    The rules in ce to avoid another possible Prime War were in ce. One of the most important changes was the abolishment of the Equality rule. It was clear that people are not equals. The Lost Primordial were not out ethical equal and thus he caused great devastations and wars.


    It was then that the new Technological-Ethics, the Roles of Society was made. We are unequal. In intellect, potential, and morality. We have to ept our roles and live with it. The nted to their ces, the Pioneers to theirbors, the Presiders to their positions, the Principals to their responsibilities and the Primes to their burdens.


    The Lost Primordial''s Legacy


    At the end of the Prime War, the technologies that the Lost Primordial developed were lost. Almost all of his armies were destroyed in the final battle between the two Primordials.


    The disappearance of this Primordial and how he simply vanished in our history without leaving anything that we can study about or salvage from his technology gave him the name the Lost Primordial.


    The theories of his disappearance are too numerous to mention. The most prominent ones are that the Primordial has taken the technology of the Lost Primordial for himself. But no such science that the Lost Primordial revealed was ever found.


    The rming theory is that the Lost Primordial was the very first to have developed interster flight and has managed to travel through space and reached Earth right after the war. This rming theory is supported on how the World Governing Powers has somehow been developing a system of Governance simr to our own prior to the Prime Wars and even came to the same improvements that our own race has made after the Prime Wars.


    The theory is further supported when all the Pioneers we sent on Earth before World War Three were all killed with little or no evidence. Even the Pioneer who is believed to have utilized the technologies gifted to him by the Presiders imed that Earth has a Lost Primordial.


    But as of date, this theory does not hold to be true. For if it was indeed true, and a Lost Primordial has traveled here centuries ago, then Earth would be far stronger and more powerful than it should be today.


    Also, Earth''s position in the gxy was so unique that it took us great lengths of scientific developments to even detect it. Although it would have been possible that if the fleeing Lost Primordial who was on a near-death status would have coincidentally fled to the direction of Earth, the possibilities of finding Earth was so minuscule that it''s basically impossible.


    And the fact that the Lost Primordials interster traveling capacities were questioned as he could have used it anytime during the battle but still fought against our Primordial to the point of Near-Death was also proof that he didn''t.


    As a footnote, one of the theories that we now have was that if the Lost Primordial did have the interster flying capability, he might have known about Earth through his constant theft of information from those of higher ranks and may have known a theoretical position of where Earth would be.


    One of the reasons why the extermination of the three religions, Jewish, Muslim and Christianity is among the ns of the Presiders is because of a certain story that both Jews and Christians believe in. This story is simr to the origin legends of our own race and could easily tie up and exin several parts of our history and the families that we know began the civilization age of our race.


    Although the story is mainly believed by the Jews and Christians, the Muslim groups also believe in a simr story. And because the existence of this story could be used as a way to paint our race in a different fashion than holders of these religions will be inclined to go against us, the elimination of these three groups has be one of the priorities as ordered by the Principals back home.


    -----


    This report is awfully biased and one-sided.. How can someone be a Primordial by stealing techs? This doesn''t make sense.

 Chapter 137 - Mystery Of The Dragon

    Lander secretly sighed to himself. Although Seeker''s answers were I don''t know,pared to the earlier answers, it was better,


    "Alright. I understand that you have two personalities and that you see Australia as a country that we should be abandoned. However¡­ I have a proposal. Send in me in there. Help me infiltrate the entire area. I can simply say that I was able to escape and had to hide because I was captured. We can easily fake my escape from New Great Britain. Isn''t Admiral Audenvise the former butler of the Humphreys?"


    Harker and Seeker gave Lander a meaningful look.


    "It''s toote to save them, Lander. If anything, they will be more aggressive to us. Our actions against them have already made Australia an opposing force. Even if we manage to get you inside, you cannot save your country. The Aragarians may have abandoned that group, but if ever the Aragarians arrive in the future, and they find out about us, and what we did to their country, they''ll still side with the Aragarians."


    "I''m not like you, General. I don''t act that childish, nor do I have any desire to save the world. I know the path that my countrymen will take. I won''t save them all, but let me save some. Have the Twelve Disciples establish a base there and give memand over it. I will build my own team. I still have a few friends who I want to save. Just like you in the future would burn countries to ensure the survival of their friends, give me the same opportunity!" Lander argued.


    "You cannot tell them about me-"


    "I don''t intend to. I intend to show them the dark operations of our country. My request isn''t to save Australia. Let me be its downfall." Lander''s gaze was serious.


    Seeker finally smiled.


    "Granted." Seeker gave a lightugh.


    "Hm?" Harker then noticed an interesting ping.


    "General¡­ I have something interesting to report." Harker''s expression gave aplex look.


    Somewhere in the great high mountains of Mongolia was one of the mostplicated and war-fillednds. Situated at the borders of three nations who have had several military skirmishes, the mountain range famously referred to as Mordor stood in deathly silence.


    This mountain had been the battlegrounds of several skirmishes that had been estimated to hold over a million deaths. When the New Russian federation started to move against the Arabic nations to the East, this battle had been the chosen spot. When China had defeated India and started to make a grand charge up north, it was also on this mountain that the great battle urred.


    The weaponsunched to it, the many battles and deaths had caused the towering mountain to have a shade of dark-reddish color. And so, it was called Mordor, the same name of the great mountain in one of the timeless tales that was famous even during the Supra-Modern era.


    Because this mountain received several weapon strikes and had always been a location of war, very little attempts to restore the environment and repair the radiation and chemicals that liter the mountain.


    It was a lifeless, barren and extremely lonelynd.


    Two figures continued to walk through the reddish snows that fall on the mountain.


    Despite the frost and the potentially dangerous radiations, the two wore no suits.


    The first was a man. His brutish body had a strange greenish hue. He wore strange metallic armors that look like stone. The second figure was that of a beautiful woman. Her skin was wless, but unlike Meryl''s skin which was predominantly white, this woman had a strange blueish glow that would only be discernable if you look at it closely.


    "Are you tired?" The man asked caringly. Despite his strict expression, he gave a soft and careful question to the woman.


    The woman merely smiled and shook her head.


    "Such a question¡­ you already know that I''m reaching Inhuman. This little hike and the cold weather isn''t affecting me." The womanughed.


    The man gave a rare smile.


    "My father always would remind me to treat my mother with respect and concern, even though my mother could easily kill a battalion of soldiers. It''s just a habit."


    "Oh? What a kind woman."


    "She was. I wish you would have met her."


    "Oh? Maybe she''s so strict and her standards are too high, that she''d fight me to test my strength and see if I''m worthy for you." The woman chuckled.


    Greydon Meng just gave a strange smile.


    The woman looked with curiosity.


    "You mean she would have done that?"


    "Of course. The burdens I bear are quite heavy. If a war breaks out that could end our country, I''d have to have the strength to face the countries and even the World Governing Powers. My wife should be at least as strong as my mother." Meng gave off augh.


    "Then would your father have demanded the same thing?"


    "My father¡­ is a mystery. Whoever is trying to get me here must have intelligence surpassing that of the Aragarians. And even Lennox and his boy said these were impossibilities¡­"


    "Well¡­ Don''t worry. I''ll protect you." The woman smiled.


    "We should move. The designated location is a few kilometers from here."


    The pair slowly walked towards the direction where the designated meeting was to take ce.


    "He''s near." Meng suddenly spoke.


    "I didn''t sense anything. And I thought my senses were better than yours."


    "It is. But for a person like him, I would be the one who could sense it. That familiar aura. They have different scents. Richie had a very jolly sensation. Perhaps it''s because he enjoys battling others. Seeker has aplicated sensation. The friction is something you could feel as if two opposing forces are crashing are grinding at each other. The Tyrant Empress emits an extremely tempting sensation. Even if you know what her skill is, perhaps those who aren''t Unlocked would look at her anyway. Lennox has the most terrifying of them all. His aura makes it feels like a thousand men are looking down on you. But this aura¡­ it''s quite interesting. You can''t help but feel¡­ that you are vastly inferior to him." Meng then stared at a certain direction.


    An Old man was walking in that direction. The ground was parched red and the darkening skies only made it look like an extremely evil background. And there, walking in the foreground of this massive painting was an old man who looked like a disguised god or devil.


    Rosa couldn''t help but shiver. She finally understood what Meng was talking about.


    "Robertson. It''s been a while." The Old manughed.


    "Father." The young dragon bowed his head. Never in his life has this Oveer bowed his head, but now he did so, not only because the man before him was his father, but because this was the man he respected the most in his life.


    Ros''s body continued to shiver. It was an impossible scene. The cold never bothered Rosa, but yet, the sight of how his beloved bowed to another in full-submission caused her great fear.


    It was a scene of legends. The ck Dragon had bowed its head to the Golden Dragon.


    "Nogard Meng¡­ The Inverse Dragon is alive!" Rosa couldn''t help but be amazed.


    Meanwhile, back in Pangea


    "The age-old champion of China, the Golden Dragon is alive. Meng just informed us about this development as he found his father."


    "Nogard Meng is alive?!" Seeker was stunned at the fact. He actually stood up almost pushing theputer desk before him.


    Harker was surprised.


    "Why are you shocked? It makes sense. His son is such a monster. Having a father like that would-"


    Seeker immediately started walking. He went to his private room and motioned for the two to follow.


    Harker and Lander were confused. In this room were some of Harker''s most trusted men and more than that, these were all Programmed ves and wouldn''t see the light of day. They would live and die in thisb and yet Seeker went to his private quarters to discuss something?


    Lander and Harker followed quickly hiding their confusion.


    "What''s with all the secrecy. It was you who said that everyone in here would be our secret keepers and would die if they even try to link it¡­" Harker was confused.


    "The reason why these people are allowed to know about everything we know of the future is because of many reasons. First, the game will be one of the most critical tools for our training. Therefore, we have to ensure that they obey us because of many things. The first is because they are Programmed ves. But of course, we all knew that if they reach a certain level of their Unlocking they can be like Lander. So we need the second reason. And it is simr as to why Lander remains our ally despite his capability to override the Programmed ve chip."


    Lander was quiet. He didn''t meet the gazes of Harker and Seeker.


    "And that reasons are knowing the future will give them a moral stand and they would want to remain with us. So like Lander, even if he can have greater control over his emotions, he will continue to fight for us. However, the information that I will be telling you is one that can actually be detrimental if they know."


    "Is it about the lifespan of the Golden Dragon? What about it?"


    "Yes. It''s almost impossible for the Golden Dragon to be alive! I would wager, that based on history and Greydon Meng''s description of his father, his father would probably be on thete stages of Unbing. It doesn''t make sense! There is a price for our Path."


    "A price?"


    "The hyperactive nature of our cells causes us to break down more of our own cells. The breaking down process of our bodies is pushed to its maximum because our cells are working beyond the normal! That''s why we need to eat a lot of food! But more than that is the observed phenomenon that our cells simply die out eventually. The Oveers of my time concluded that the more we use our unlocking, the more it eats up our lifespan.


    At this statement, the expressions of Harker and Lander turned ugly.


    "Only Meng was estimated to live beyond seventy because of his unique body. The rest would probably die at an earlier age! Even with the various experiments to prolong life, Lennox himself concluded that he would die before he reached sixty!"


    Seeker observed the two and noticed their expressions.


    "As you probably can tell, even you are affected. After the passing away of the Lab Generations during the post-war, where many died at such an early age, our world has long since had the fear of anything that can lessen our lifespan. For the Lab generations, their untimely deaths made everyone more vulnerable to our mortality. And since we all have the disposition to be extremely fearful of being unable to live past our fifties or sixties, this is one information that I''ve kept from everyone.


    "Even with our current sciences in prolonging age¡­ going fifty or sixty is the limit?"


    "Depending on your Unlocking. But even if you took the best treatment, an average Inhuman wouldn''t reach seventy. Ranked Heroes are assumed to live only up to Sixty but paths that eat up a lot of energy, and the number of times they use it will even lower their lifespan. Although it won''t happen continuously until they suddenly die, at most, those of my future were expected to have a lifespan of sixty. As for Oveers, depending on their Path, they would probably die before they hit Fifty. Why do you think the Oveers of my future were risking it all on one attack! They didn''t have the time!"


    Harker and Lander had a strange expression on their faces.


    "Does that mean¡­" Harker began.


    "No. It does not factor in your current age. Since you stepped into Unbing just now, the regression of your lifespan has just begun. Besides, Uneings have the longest lifespan. They could easily live up to 90. But it would be impossible to go over a hundred."


    "So this age limit is if they have been given life-prolonging medications?"


    "Yes. One of our major concerns in the future had always been to look for sciences that the Presiders left behind that could prolong our lifespan. But the Golden Dragon is an anomaly! I had to take Meng''s power source because if I can pass it on to others, then I might be able to increase everyone''s lifespan if they have the strange biology of Meng''s body! But if Nogard Meng is alive, then I have to meet him! Who knows what his body holds!"


    "But isn''t it possible for Nogard to live up to now? What if he''s just at the Unbing Level and started to minimize his usage of the Unlocking when he died. Wouldn''t the ny-year lifespan exin his survival?"


    "Think! Nogard Meng was already a soldier before the Third World War! The fact that Meng is still on histe thirties meaning that he was born somewhere on the 2080s. Nogard was already a General way before the Third World War."


    "So? He must have marriedte in his life. If that''s the case it an exin his lifespan!"


    "Seriously? For a General you sure are slow. Think! Let''s say he was thirty during the Third World War. And that''s a very conservative estimate."


    "Then he''d be around eighty to ny now, this year. So what? He may have been at Unbing his whole life and rarely used his Path. Not to mention, with the life-preservation and the techs to strengthen our reproductive organs, people could easily reach a hundred." Lander did the quick maths.


    "Wrong! The Void Years! You forgot to add the 30 years not recorded in the calendar!" Seeker corrected.


    "Then he''d be!" Harker realized it. He forgot to add the Void Year period which marked the building of supra-modern society.


    "Yes. Today is 2116. If he was thirty during the Third World War, he would be over a hundred and twenty. Even with thetest medication, his cells would have died out even if he was just in Unbing. I never met him in my future timeline! The Aragarians officially revealed themselves on June of 2128. So by that time, He would have been dead already. But if I can meet him and tread on his path, then there is a possibility that I can add more years to all Oveers!"


    "Lander¡­ I''m sure you know this information is critical. Seeker is right. No one can know about this lifespan limitation.


    Lander nodded his head as he maintained a solemn and almost fearful expression.


    "In our future, we had a hard time changing how people viewed life. Since the standard already was that people could live to a hundred, people who died at fifty were considered young. Such was the curse of the Lab generations who were nearly halved in just a year as they died through aging. We had to show them historically, men lived short lives and that valor, honor, and glory were better. We tried all these tactics. Greek philosophy, the Bushido code of the EAA. But sadly, people were still unwilling to be unlocked."


    "Until it was practically hopeless?"


    "Yes. We couldn''t force everyone. A lot of our own even sided with the Aragarians because of this¡­ It was only when things were hopeless that many agreed to go through the Unlocking."


    "But it was toote."


    Seeker could only nod his head.


    "Originally, I was nning on hiding this truth until we had an Unlocked army and let people find it out on their own. By then they''d have no choice."


    Harker and Lander nced at Seeker but decided not to get mad at Seeker''s deception.


    "But now¡­ I can actually change things. This is even better. I''m going to China. Harker. Start that operation."


    "That operation?"


    Harker smiled.


    "Of course. With Pangea under mymand, I can do that tomorrow night. I''m assuming you''ll be using that as a chance to sail to China?"


    "Yes. We''ll make the ns."


    "Then before we continue¡­ I''d have to give my findings of the previous mission you gave me."


    Seeker''s eyes then lit up.


    "You found them?"


    "Just one."


    "Was it that kid you asked me to track?" Lander asked Harker.


    Harker nodded.


    "Who is he?" Lander turned to Seeker.


    "The first member of my personal squadron and a member of my future self''s original team.. The Gryphon Squadron."''

 Chapter 138 - Seeker’s Experiments

    "Gryphon Squadron?" Lander asked curiously.


    "A strike team that my future self personally led. These people are among the people that my future self wants to desperately save. I cannot escape it. So although we might have to over cross some borders and take some risk, I can''t help but urge you to exert more effort for this."


    Harker could only sigh.


    "It was harder than I thought. Most of the names you gave didn''t pull up much data. The only possibility is that they are currently known by their Supra-Modern name." Harker sighed.


    Seeker nodded. This was among his expectations.


    "Quite understandable. When the war raged, people were shifting from one nation to another. Most didn''t even use their real names."


    "You mean, revealing your identity was dangerous in the future?" Lander wondered.


    Seeker shrugged.


    "Partially. When war affected many countries, people were immigrating from one country to another. Of course, many countries wouldn''t let these refugees in, so almost everyone was adopting new names to get in another country iming that they were born citizens of that country."


    "I see. So in theing war, Border Ceasefire''s will cease to exist¡­"


    "Yes. Civilians will be massacred left and right. The smarter ones kept traveling passing from border to border to reach other counties. Since they kept a fake name, even when the United Nations armies were formed, those made-up names stuck as they assumed it when they became soldiers. And the discussion of our old name was rarely discussed. Many wouldn''t discuss it because it brings painful memories of a better time." Seeker''s expression slowly grew disturbed.


    Harker was silent. He worried about a country like the Pangea''s where crossing borders meant traversing the oceans and seas.


    "I did manage to find one. And he''s from the Priority List."


    Seeker''s expression lightened.


    "Who?" Seeker then asked.


    "Nathan Suarez. This is the one that matched the descriptions you mentioned." Harker handed a tablet detailing the information of a young teen.


    Seeker''s eyes went wide opened as he stared at the profile of the young man.


    "Is he the one?"


    "Yes. This is him. He still has that innocent look on his face. Twelve years old? Perfect. Abduct him. He''ll be the perfect guinea pig for my little experiment." Seeker smiled.


    "Experiment?" Harker was surprised at the sudden orders. He felt a bad premonition for Seeker''s strange orders.


    "Exactly what are your ns for him?" Lander was the first to react.


    "Don''t tell me you''re going to do what the Aragarians did!"


    "No. Of course not. The Aragarians were testing their drugs and other chemicals on them. I won''t be doing that."


    Lander gave a relieved sigh.


    "My experiment is designed to make them suffer."


    "What?!"


    "Don''t get me wrong. It''s to make him stronger. I need him to grow. He was only an Inhuman in my timeline. And that''s not enough. So I have to make him stronger. Not to mention he''s one of those who have great affinity at using the thought transmitter¡­" Seeker smiled.


    "Thought Transmitter?" Harker frowned as he recalled the details of this device.


    "I have questions about that device. I read the details for that device and I''m confused about how a simple device like that could transmit human thoughts through a blue crystal?"


    "The crystal is apressed brain matter of one of the diseased Oveers of our time. She died too early, and if it wasn''t for the fact that Lennox managed to preserve her cells, we wouldn''t have been able to create those devices."


    "So it''s another technology created from an Oveer¡­" Harker now understood how that odd device could allow telepathicmunication.


    "Is she the one that you asked Richie to look into?"


    "No. Lennox is looking for her. Richie decided to take a different route. He was always a loner, it looks like this time he realizes the importance of a team." Seeker smiled.


    "This way, all Oveer''s will have teams of their own? Howe you haven''t ordered or instructed me to make a team yet?" Harker inquired.


    "I''m a General after all. It wouldn''t be difficult for me to train soldiers. I already have a group of soldiers who would-"


    "I never stopped you from creating a team. You are free to do so. I guess I just didn''t consider it important and it passed my mind. You see, based on experience, unless you are an Oveer, or have a Path that could aid you in leading a team, the most you can ever achieve would be Inhumans. And that''s if you get people with high potential." Seeker shook his head.


    "I think I have both the time and resources to aplish that." Harker furrowed his brows.


    "No. People with the potential to be Ranked Heroes are either people who wouldn''t serve under others or are those who are serving Oveers. If I''m going with the same thought process that my Master had, these people generally have to go through a lot of terrifying, death-defying moments. Their faith or confidence in their skills surpass the rest of mankind so much that it in itself is an Unlocking. Their beliefs break the barrier ofmon sense that it manifests in their bodies. Do you have soldiers with those experiences?"


    Harker was silent.


    "Remember that Alean only managed to manifest her Path and may reach Ranked Hero because of me. Without me, even with all her experience, the day-to-day death threats, she would have simply ended up being a regr Inhuman."


    "What about my Path? Arthur seemed to have valued it. If Lowengren can use his Path to create soldiers, why can''t I-"


    Seeker sighed to interrupt Harker.


    "It''s not that simple. The reason why I said someone has to be an Oveer to birth a Ranked Hero is because these Oveers can both protect those under them and make them face odds so impossible that it forces them to evolve and adapt."


    "With the right technology-"


    "Too risky. And you underestimate Oveers. It''s not about what tech you have, it''s who you are."


    "What about Lowengren? You gave verbal instructions for him to build his team. My Path should be simr to Lowengren."


    "Your Path is simr but it''s not as effective in battle. Lowengren''s Path is one that has managed to affect fully-awakened Oveers. It was enough for Arthur to snatch victory from the Tyrant Empress. A feat that three Oveers wouldn''t be capable of! This means, he can put his team in trouble facing incredible odds and can get them out safely."


    Harker was silent but his expression disyed frustration.


    "You still don''t ept it? Maybe it''s because you haven''t faced an Oveer. You don''t know what it''s like to face one of us and live."


    "Then how confident are you that Lowengren will seed?"


    "A hundred percent. Unless you understand or know Lowengren''s Path beforehand, he is sure to escape when fighting an Oveer. Even if all of Warfreakz die, or even if Alean dies, I am certain that Lowengren can escape. That is why Lowengren is the one we sent to deter Amir Mann and go to these dangerous nations to draw out any hidden Ranked Heroes or Oveers."


    Harker was finally silent and his eyes grew calmer.


    "So you''re saying that I can''t do that? And unless I be an Oveer, I can only create Inhumans at most?"


    "Yes. And that''s wishful thinking. As we stand now, the highest level that Charles'' drugs could reach is only up to Inhuman. It can never break the Ranked Hero bottleneck because it demands a Path. I thought it was possible before, but as it turns out, I have a Path too. So the conclusion returns to the original theory; only one with a Path can be a Ranked Heroes."


    Seeker continued to read the file of the young teen.


    "How big is the gap between Inhumans and Ranked Heroes?" Harker couldn''t help but ask. The strongest he bore witness to was the strength of an Inhuman. Greydon Meng was believed to be in the ranks of an Inhuman Proficient. In fact, they Tyrant Empress which everyone knew to be the most advanced in her Unlocking was also on this stage but had a higher degree of mastery.


    "The Ranked Hero stage can easily be exined like this. It''s as if an Unlocked has to Unlock himself again. The power of a Ranked Hero vastly surpasses that of an Inhuman. The weakest Ranked Hero in terms of physical strength can leave a dent when punching an Australian Armor. And I emphasize, this is the weakest Ranked Hero." Seeker''s casually remarked as he continued to peruse the files.


    Harker was shocked.


    "I see. So that''s why you''re gunning to make more of them. So you n to kidnap this Suarez child and make him face the horrors that will give birth to a Ranked Hero?"


    "Not exactly."


    "Then what?"


    "If they have faith and Believe in themselves, then they''ll be a Believer and thus, end up as a Ranked Hero. But why should I aim for a Ranked Hero?"


    "You''re aiming to build an Oveer?!" Harker was surprised. What horrors would this kid face to be one? The child would probably die.


    "No. That''s impossible. I don''t think someone serving under an Oveer can ever be an Oveer. Perhaps if they are peers it could be possible, but Oveers are Oveers because they walk a Path and walk on it confidently. You could say, the reason why I never became an Oveer in my past life is because of the protection I received from my Master, the Realm King."


    Harker was confused.


    "Then what is your aim? If not a Hero, or an Oveer, what? What are you trying to build?"


    "I don''t want them to believe in themselves. I want them to believe in me. I''m aiming for the middle of these two levels. A level that only appeared and manifested to one person."


    "A World Champion!" Lander and Harker chorused.


    "Yes. The necessary traits to create a Rank Hero is almost impossible. Simply put, it''s by luck. As for Oveers? Forget it. Remember that the reason why you got into contact with four other Oveers isrgely attributed to me. To create them¡­ is simply impossible."


    "But you became an Oveer¡­" Lander retorted.


    Seeker smiled.


    "And what did I need to go through? I had to take on two lifetimes with different experiences. In short, I needed two people''s will to create it. I''ve already exined that my future self''s will is influencing me. That''s because of his will, his desire, all his emotions are added over mine. And let us not forget what he got through to give me the chance to Ovee."


    "So we settle with what you have already created in the future¡­ A World Champion." Harker loved the n.


    "I''ve always treated the two an Oveer and a World Champion differently. Alean, Lowengren, Meryl, Lynd¡­ probably even Cliff¡­ They are showing signs that they have the potential to be World Champions. And that''s because they believed in me. If I fail at this experiment, At the least, they are sure to be Ranked Heroes. Since this is my advantage, I should capitalize on this."


    "Then your n for this little Suarez is to put him in scenarios that will somehow push him to extremes and then, you suddenly appear to save them?"


    "Something of a simr vein but nothing so obvious. I will have to make him go through a lot of pain and suffering first. So this is what you''re going to do. Get your men to ruin his life."


    "What do you want to do? Shall I kill his parents after they watch a show in some dark theater using a thief with a gun?" Harker joked.


    "Please. If anything, Batman would be an Oveer. But you seem to get the idea. But of course, don''t kill his parents. Abduct them or something. Be creative."


    "Why not just ask your parents to get this kid? He''s in the Rotting Lands."


    "No. Too risky. There are too many agents spying over my dad. You have to find your ways of doing it."


    "Why me?"


    "Because people trust you. Any other Unlocked could leave a trail. Your methods, like Lowengren''s, can easily be used to hide these trails. Either that or people will ignore the trail because they trust you. Just find a way to get in the Americas."


    "Consider it done. I have a few men you may find interesting. I believe they are starting to develop skills. I''ve got someone who can snipe without the need of a scope, someone who is twice as strong and tough as the other Unbing, and someone who we noted to have blood which is more resilient to poisons and chemicals. Perhaps these soldiers may develop Paths. If you want, you can try experimenting on them."


    Seeker shook his head.


    "Those are skills. And by the sound of it, except for the one resilient with poison, I surmise that that will be the limit of their potential and it won''t ever be a Path. Even if it is, it will be an Inhumans Path. Consider the people we already have and make that a standard. Lowengren is not even at the Inhuman stage but he can deceive Oveers. That''s a Path. Unless the miracles of your soldiers are something that could surprise or shock you, don''t bother reporting it to me."


    "What about me?"


    "Lynd felt that you have the shot at bing a Ranked Hero because through his sympathy he felt that you and I are simr. I agree with his assessment. Hero of Helions Tragedy. Your life should be as simr to Adult Seeker. This is why I permitted you to go to Australia. But don''t make any big moves until after I fight my Master."


    "Understood." Lander nodded.


    Harker could not help but sigh.


    "So this is it? I''ll just have an Inhuman Army at most?"


    "It won''t be an army. You''ll have a lot of Unbings. But many won''t ever be an Inhuman. However, you now have a group of Jews who went through horrors that would even make a war veteran look like a beginner. Capitalize on that. Also¡­ there is one unique soldier that I should mention. It''s that Prince guy who you assign at the gate. That''s the one that you should observe."


    "The mid-eastern soldier whose popr with thedies?" Harker was confused.


    "He has an interesting smile. Meryl thinks his cute."


    Lander and Harker had to look at each other to confirm what Seeker told them."


    "O¡­k¡­ So Meryl has a little crush¡­?" Harker inquired with a puzzled face.


    "She didn''t mean it that way. Even Alean noticed it. There''s something with his smile. It''s probably a Skill. Something that manifested affecting Unbings. It isn''t much¡­ but he should be a good seed to cultivate."


    "How can that be a Skill? That guy is just cute! He''s got that mid-eastern, movie-star look."


    Seeker gave Harker a weird look.


    "That''s the first¡­ disturbingment I heard a General say about his soldiers." Seeker shook his head.


    Lander nodded.


    "Creepy General."


    "How much pain should I make this Suarez go through?" Harker quickly changed the subject.


    "I need them to be pressed to the point of desperation and death. But give him hope once in a while. But crush any of his efforts to seed. It''s best to keep this situation for a month. After my battle with my Master, if I''m alive, I''ll go see him." Seeker then started moving towards the exit.


    "Gentlemen¡­"


    "General. If I may. You''ve been pushing everyone way past their limits these past months. Even though it is possible, the missions you''ve given me, Harker, and even Lowengren and Alean were dangerous. But Lynd and Meryl''s missions aren''t. Are you¡­ affected by the fears that you''ve inherited from unsealing those memories?" Lander dared to ask.


    "I''ll figure that out soon." Seeker did not turn around but continued to walk.


    Lander could only remain silent and did not persuade Seeker. Although he knew that Seeker was being too overprotective, a part of him could rte to Seeker.


    "You two Seekers have toe to a decision. Both Lynd and Meryl have the highest potential to grow. The you in China had the perfect n. You were mature enough to push them to disaster and had the kid-like confidence that they would win. But now that you unsealed those memories, your fear of losing them is clouding your vision." Harker spoke up before Seeker could walk farther.


    Seeker didn''t reply but continued to walk on.


    He watched as the lonely figure of Seeker walked towards the exit of the room. At that point, Lander felt that he started to respect Seeker.


    "I can''t imagine the burden he''s carrying," Lander muttered unconsciously.


    The two continued to look at the lonely Seeker who walked with the world on his shoulders.


    At that moment, a sense of respect grew as they watched Seeker disappearing through the exit of the door.


    They couldn''t help but think, that the young teens'' lonely walk looked like a cowboy running off to the sunset. It was, even for the two of them, a cool scene.


    BEEP!


    "Iing Transmission from contact: Grandma." A voice prompt was heard.


    Seeker''s footsteps hastened to walk further and further to hide the sound from Harker and Lander.


    "Gra-Granny?!" Seeker''s voice could be heard on a distance.


    Almost instantly the ''cool'' scene disappeared.


    "Zeekee! How are you? My contact connection with you has been approved! Looks like your parents did something to approvemunicating with you! Now we can talk! Be sure to visit us in the Americas when you''re ready Zeekee!" A loud, old woman shouted through them device causing those soldiers near the room to hear every word of it."


    Though Seeker had the phone''s volume at a moderate level, the shouts of the grandma echoed out and even allowed Harker to hear it. The feat had left itself as Harker could continuously hear the muffled sounds of Seeker''s panicking attempt to save his cool exit.


    Landerugh.


    "What an immature kid. He was actually leaking his emotions to make us believe his exit was cool!" Landerughed.


    Harker however, had an intensely desiring look.


    "I must have that skill! With that and my fog-emitting technology, I can always make a cool entrance!" Harker voiced out fanatically as Lander gave him a strange look.

 Chapter 139 - Arthur’s Experiment

    During the period where Harker made his move against the Pangean President, an important event also urred.


    With the threat of the WGP and possible Aragarians, Seeker had instructed that unless there was something that could get the world''s attention, the acts of delivering messages would be limited. However, when Harker managed to make Colestar his ally, the WGP and the Aragarians would be sure to put their attention to this.


    And in that gap of bewilderment, all over the world, the information revealed by Seeker was being passed on by the Programmed ves to each foreign group it was in assigned to.


    Students would contact their ''parents'' from another continent. Due to the sudden ban on international travel, various families were separated. As a way to appease the displeasure of the world, the WGP gave several rules and scenarios which could allow people tomunicate with one another.


    Several limitations were imposed including the monitoring and recording of any international calls on the cloud-blockchainwork that the WGP provided.


    With thisw, various students who were minors were allowed to contact their parents every week for a given amount of time.


    Using this channel and through theplicated technique that Seeker and Arthur proposed, the foreign students on Seeker''s ss served as messengers which would be the channel of distribution towards the various teams that were allied with Seeker''s cause all over the world.


    The content of the recent message contained never-before-released information and was treated as a priority and extremely confidential message.


    One such call happened between an approved international contact not from a family but a private organization.


    This was a call from Halley Vagrant, the Covenant of the Strongest acting manager, to Arthur Humphrey who was imed by New Great Britain as theirs and shipped off against his will.


    Arthur continued to talk with his manager.


    "And that''s it. Until the World Governing Powers lifts the ban for Wanderers such as yourself, we cannot proceed to the Court for our legal battles about your citizenship between New Great Britain and Pangea." Halley smiled.


    "To think that Seeker managed to make Gaming an internationally important event." Arthur cursed.


    "We''re notining. We''ll be earning billions of Credits because of this." Halleyughed. She then passed on a folder who was received by a foreign girl.


    "Who is that girl?" Arthur finally asked.


    "She''s Eva. A Russian exchange student having her internship here. She''s in Seeker''s ss. Seeker rmended her to this post. She was beaten up several times because of her nationality. I''m guessing Seeker had pity. Moving forward, she will have your number for any minor details if I''m busy."


    "How is the acquisition of Warfreakz?"


    "Still ongoing. But it''s going to happen. After Lowengren''s death along with most of their members, they were practically begging us to do that. You are in line for Lowengren''s position and Seeker is being eyed with his trio. With Seeker''s recent stream ying Generals, the demand of our country and the online polls has reached over 50 million votes."


    "More money for you." Arthur didn''t care.


    "Well, that''s about it. Do you have any messages for Seeker?"


    "Tell the rest of the Covenant that I send my regards. Make sure Seeker can teach them a thing or two of his skills. That''s Seeker''s azy teacher." Arthur turned around as the video call ended.


    "Did you manage to get all that?" Arthur asked as he turned to a familiar face.


    Admiral of the New Great Britain fleet, Ramsden Audenvise along with several of his trusted soldiers were in the room.


    "Barely. It was too fast and too soft. I also had a hard time distinguishing the masking sound with her tone. I don''t understand how Eva managed to get what you were saying!" The Admiralined.


    Arthur turned to his subordinates but all were shaking their heads as they understood nothing.


    "Don''t feel guilty. It took a while even for me to master that. And my training should be nowhere near the level that Seeker Carlean could give. So don''tpare yourself to those teens. With the Unlocking, age bes almost irrelevant."


    "Is he better than you, young master?"


    "Yes. At his current stage, I''ll need at least four or five of me to defeat him."


    "You have quite a high estimate of him."


    "I''m being modest. Think of him as someone like my Father. Let''s move on to the report. Since you haven''t understood what those messengers said, I''ll give you updates that rte to your direct mission. It''s been confirmed that the Realm King was on the Floating Nations. But it seems that he started to move and returned to Australia because of the World Governing Power''s orders. Hence, the priority would be for you to get back in the war. We need you to reestablishmunications with the Twelve Disciples. Their mission has changed drastically because of the interference of these Presiders."


    "What about the presence of those Principals that Eva mentioned?"


    "The probability of a Principal going into Australia is about thirty percent. So we have to be sure that the Principal isn''t there. Regardless, I''m quite sure a Presider has been assigned there."


    "What am I to divulge to the Twelve Disciples?"


    "They have to identify who is the Presider. In this scenario, there should only be one Presider staying in Australia. Give me a report to list down the prominent business moguls or politicians who managed to exit Australia. Focus on those connected or affiliated with any Bringer of Change. Take note of the BOC''s that remained in Australia and identify the soldiers who were serving under them and their current statuses and location."


    "Will these Disciples carry out the task of filtering out which is a Presider and a Pioneer? How will they do that?"


    "With Seeker''s information of Pioneer''s serving under Presiders and may have a business of their own, it''s possible that of all the Bringer of Change in Australia are Pioneers. But our priority is to find out the Presiders. It''s they who have the technology to challenge us."


    "So this is our battle? To know where these Presiders are?"


    "Yes. We cannot continue with our ns if we don''t know where the Presider''s are. If a nation holds a Presider, we have to move our and select another country to move against that. Our priority is to find out where all the Presider are residing. But in the silence of this period, we also have to pursue another important step. Acquiring more Unlocked with high potential."


    "What about the information regarding that lost experiment that I sent you, Young Master? Could that experiment be the foundations for creating modified humans that can improve the science of the Unlocked?"


    "It was intriguing. We can start with him."


    "So he is a suitable material for creating modified humans?"


    "No. He is a failure as a modified human."


    Ramsden frowned.


    "I don''t believe Iprehend your logic, young master."


    "The world had it wrong. They believed that modifying a human requires the alteration of their gic make-up. We change the body, the cells, the very nature of things. But that is in itself, a failure. It seems that we''ve had the answer all along. Have you ever wondered if the mystery andplexity of the brain? Despite the technology we have, we can''t reproduce it. No material we''ve ever created by our own hands, using our materials havee close to thisplex organ. The experiment you mentioned isn''t a modified human."


    "You''re implying that that experiment is also an Unlocked?" Ramsden was stunned.


    "I''m sure he is. That''s how he escaped. He is someone who managed to Unlock himself while undergoing the experiment."


    "Escaped? I''m not sure if I read the same report, young master. The report states that he disappeared before their eyes. His cells heated up so much that it disintegrated as he started to meltdown into nothingness."


    "Lies. That''s how he tricked them. They thought they were getting somewhere in modifying him. He was showing increased strength and durability that far surpassed what humans had. In truth, he simply reached Unbing."


    "But sire¡­ the report says that he began developing ording to what the report says! The drug repeatedly showed an increase in his metabolic activity. These instances only happened when they gave the drug!"


    "Those drugs didn''t work. Do you know how hard it was for Charles Lindmitt to figure out the key to shocking the brain of an Unbing? An Unbing''s anti-bodies are strong. That''s why people of that stage are almost immune to most diseases. No. Observe the video that you gave me. Every time he would be injected, he would go panic and be wild. Why do you think that is so?"


    "The drug would leave him in pain! It would only be natural that he would struggle."


    "That is what it seems like. But no. He had Trypanophobia."


    "Is that the fear of dinosaurs, young master?"


    "Ever so witty, my dear Ramsden. No. The fear of needles. The reason why he panicked and screamed was that he feared needles."


    Ramsden contemted the videos. Arthur''s exnation seemed to fit the feeds he saw.


    "The cause for his sudden melting, wasn''t because the drug backfired and somehow ate up his entire body. No. It was a Skill."


    "The experiment had developed a Skill?"


    "Yes. This isn''t the first time I''ve seen this. I''ve had twelve interesting subjects back in Pangea. Sadly, they are to be Seeker''s soldiers and are now called the Twelve Disciples. The pain and struggles of ab rat are harsh. Those who retain sanity or the will to continue are those people who are generally stronger in terms of will and tenacity. In short, they are perfect candidates for the Unlocking. The easiest way to describe it is that only by going through extreme pressure or treacherous experiences can one somehow push the boundary without using drugs."


    "Are you suggesting that the pressures and pain of being subjected to inhumane test Unlocked these people.?"


    "Yes. But that is extremely difficult. Because they have to have such faith. Take this man, for example, the root of his faith is fear. The fear he had for needles caused him to always be bounded and tied. He needed to escape from the needle. What thought must he have? We know have to employ a million possibilities of what he could be thinking. But observing the video recordings, it was easy to deduce. He wanted to escape."


    "That became his Path? Escaping?"


    "No. There are many ways to escape. This young teen was allowed the simple pleasures of life. Games, television shows, and so on. His favorite show was Astral Walker. An animated show featuring a special group of a soldier who could change his entire body by using science to bend the fifth, sixth and seventh dimensions. Basically¡­ he could walk through walls."


    Ramsden was stunned.


    "The report. They said that his cells burned up causing him to disintegrate at an extremely fast speed." Ramsden now understood.


    "Yes. The coincidence of his Unlocking made him believe that whatever drug they were giving him was working. And somehow, the limits of his faith was pushed further and further. His Path awoke. What those scientists believe to be disintegration, was that boy simply passing through walls."


    Ramsden was dumbstruck.


    "New Great Britain was stomped. They couldn''te close to the sess of that experiment. They never will. They never would imagine that the experiment merely became Unbing."


    "So he already is Unlocked. Then Young Master, what did you mean, when you said earlier, that we can start with this Unbing experiment?"


    "It would be my experiment, Ramsden." Arthur smiled.


    "His potential is interesting. That ability alone, if cultivated properly may allow him to slip through most of the Aragarian''s future weapons. This Path of his may even allow him to walk out unharmed when facing an Oveer. With such a Path and background, he would be simr to Lynd''s case. A potential World Champion."


    "So you''re nning to capture that man and send him off to Seeker?"


    "No." Arthur immediately rejected the proposal.


    "Seeker is adamant in building World Champions. He''s probably nning he''s experiments to build his team with the use of his Path. I have a different experiment in mind."


    "Young Master? With the threat of the Aragarian''sing, is it wise to have such experiments? Why not send them off to Seeker so that they may have this faith towards him?"


    "Foolishness. If we are to ship off such a person who''s very identity is extremely sensitive in this country we would be risking our exposure! Not to mention limitations, country regtions, and future territorialws the WGP is slowly creating. Seeker would not be able to travel around the world to train all soldiers. As such, each branch must find ways to build their army."


    "I''m curious about his n. Why did he order us to make bases and soldiers all over the world? It would be better to have a singr base. We can have all those Oveers take control over a nation. It would even be easily aplished. I''m sure doing that in secrecy wouldn''t be difficult! If that is aplished, would we not have the freedom to train easily, and in the light rather than disperse our resources and train in the dark? And with him around, the possibility of creating an army of Inhumans, a lot of Ranked Heroes and even some World Champions wouldn''t just be a dream! We wouldn''t have to risk making these maskedmunications which the Aragarian''s or the WGP could pick up!"


    "Seeker insisted on this set-up to be done. He has his reasons and he refuses to tell me why. I can only conclude that Seeker knows something that will transpire in the future that he cannot exin. And if he thinks that we should continue building our forces separately, then I will follow that path. Remember, both me and my father approved of this."


    Ramsden was silent. If the Young Master and the Master believed this was the right thing to do, why would he disagree with it?


    "So what are you nning, Young Master? If not building a World Champion, are you settling with making more pseudo-Path walkers like that alternate you in Seeker''s future?"


    "Why bother with that? My Path has solidified. My sight and calctions have grown far beyond what a human can imagine. Even my Father cannot replicate my calctions now. Seeker is creating Champions with the help of his Path. I, on the other hand¡­ n on creating Oveers with my Path."


    "Oveers!?" Ramsden eximed.


    "You- you n to make another¡­being like your father?"


    "Yes. These Oveers are built from extremely difficult circumstances. They have to face pressures far beyond the Rank Heroes face, and they must develop certain psychology, a resolve, a motto if you will."


    "And you n on¡­?"


    "With my Path, I can orchestrate these events. Even Seeker won''t be able to because these events could kill the subject. Or, if they faced too much pressure, they fall into insanity. I, however, can easily bypass this miscalction."


    "Then this experiment named Strafe, is the perfect candidate? How do you n to do so sire? I''ve seen the videos. I can''t imagine a more terrifying event that could further push him into bing an Oveer! What more terror can you add to his poor and mistreated life to further his desires and nurture the Road he is treading? More torture? He has had it all. More near-death experiences? With his ability, he can easily escape. What can bring a man like him to more terrifying pains, events, and experiences that cannot alert the Aragarians or the WGP cautious eyes?"


    "You think so narrowly, Ramsden. There is more than one way to shake the mind. In fact, for an Oveer, it''s the heart that needs a good shaking. And I already have the perfect weapon that can bring this person in experiencing far greater pains that will make even him yearn, desire, and strive to ovee himself."


    "Such a n should have enormous repercussions to this world, sire! What if the Aragarrian''s or the WGP notice this?"


    "They won''t. This n of mine does not involve extreme fighting, deaths, idents, the use of any powerful technology or any other rted scenarios that you just mentioned. I can make sure that even the battles will be quite minimal. But its effects will be far more terrifying than surviving a World War." Arthur smirked.


    "There is such a thing? What could be so convenient that can do that, young master? What weapon or event has such an effect on a man?" Ramsden asked curiously.


    "A weapon? No. An entity."


    "What entity could that be?"


    "An entity known as a girlfriend.." Arthur smirked.

 Chapter 140 - The Heartless That Lived

    During the Third World War, renowned scientist Lunacy Larkfield developed a powerful technology that could affect and even cause lightning storms.


    The once rainy and cloudynd of London however, had be a sunny and warm ce with a cold windy breeze that retained the cool temperatures that the natives had grown ustomed too.


    Because of this, London became a ce teeming with controlled wildlife. This was what made London, the greenest ce in the entire world.


    Somewhere in the heart of London was arge park right in the middle of the City. It was a park inspired by therge New York park of the post-modern era.


    In this forest park, a young man of British features sat down at a lonely alley in the park and started to feed the ravens.


    He stared at the free birds that flew up and roamed the park and smiled.


    He had gone through so much these past years.


    He was still barely a teenager when he managed to escape from the facility. The peace suits him. He would openly walk among the animals that London had allowed to freely roam on the forest city.


    For a moment, he would be able to forget his nightmares.


    He was born from a normal family and lived with them until his father got into shady business with some of the Underworld groups in New Great Britain.


    A simple event escted to the point that an ident was used to cover up the murder of his parents. He was sold through the Underworld and soon reached the secret government groups in charge of human modification.


    It was then, that his terrors began.


    For six years he was ced on a ce which continued to treat him as ab rat.


    Three times he nearly died because of the drugs and countless times, he passed out from the pain of the experiments.


    Although he would always have ess to all forms of entertainment, he dreaded whenever night woulde.


    His only wish was that he too, could bend the fabric of time and space and pass through the 4th, 5th or 6th dimensions.


    His mind wandered to the past and then he kept reminding himself of the present.


    "It''s all over, Jake. It''s all over." He mumbled again and again.


    Two years wasn''t enough for him to forget the past. The needles kept terrifying him. He was already afraid of it before, but because of the pain that the experiments brought him, it even added to his fear.


    Although he was believed to be dead, his fear pushed his paranoia to a high level. He had done everything he could to change his face, his body, and so on. Stealing became his means of survival. It was easy, considering he could pass through walls.


    And so, like a spirit that slips through everything, the young boy struggled but found a way to live.


    Suddenly, he turned around and noticed several suspicious-looking men walking around the park.


    There were three of them, all standing from different angles.


    Jake sat down and pretended that he didn''t notice.


    "Impossible. No one knows I''m alive." He thought in his heart.


    He then waited patiently as the group walked further.


    Jake gave a relieved sigh but decided to move.


    He stood up and started to walk around the park.


    He walked further and further towards the deeper part of the park where more and more people would walk, have a pic and generally make use of the wide and open space.


    He sat down at a nearby bench and observed the free folk that gathered.


    Jake couldn''t help but smile.


    Suddenly, he noticed a mysterious woman walking by briskly.


    Though she wore high heels, she continued to walk at a quick pace as if she was being chased.


    As she approached the nearby bench, the woman suddenly flinched as if she was startled and immediately sat down next to Jake.


    Jake was surprised and continued to observe the woman.


    "I''m sorry! My- my foot suddenly cramped." The woman smiled.


    It was then that Jake realized it.


    He knew the sound of that voice. It was all too familiar. Ever since his days on theb, his only source of joy was a beloved T.V show that sparked his dream to escape and the Piercing game series.


    And right next to him, was one of the most sessful and skilled yers in the entire world.


    It was LordChokeMeSenpai. Kristine Sythia.


    Jake was shocked but contained his overflowing joy and the tempting switch to go all fan-mode.


    He managed because he knew that something was off.


    He had lived a life that was paranoid and always had to look behind his shoulder every day. And right now, the same strange actions that he was so familiar with, appeared with this woman.


    Jake thought for a bit.


    He knew what it was like for someone as edgy as her to suddenly meet someone who would ask him of various questions even if the person simply wanted to help.


    "Um¡­ Hi. Great day for a walk, right?" Jake casually spoke.


    It was then he realized that this was a stupid opener. He was in London. A city that had controlled weather technology. Of course, it would be a good day.


    "Um¡­. I guess? It''s kind of new for me. I''m actually from Pangea." Kristine smiled.


    SAVE!


    Jake thought in his heart.


    Kristine appeared to be resting but was using this time to nce around. Jake caught wind of this but pretended to have not noticed. Kristine took off the coat she was wearing and with an outfit that was vastly different from the overcoat she wore, her appearance immediately changed.


    Suddenly, she took out a wig wrapped on her bag and immediately wore it. With that, she gazed at Jake.


    Jake was now in close perimeter with the woman who made him smile so many times.


    "I''m sorry! I''m- trying to get away- from some fans. I''m-"


    "Kristine Sythia. The most beautiful e-sport yer in the entire world." Jake couldn''t help but mutter.


    This was unintentional. His voice suddenly leaked out as he spoke the innermost beliefs. The distance he was at, and the very action of Kristine was so captivating.


    Kristine was surprised and she smiled and blushed.


    "Um¡­ Thanks¡­ Tee-Hee. Sorry for the mystery. I''m trying to get away from some pesky fans. Could you pretend that I''m your friend? I mean¡­ like¡­ try to um¡­ be more¡­ familiar with me?"


    "Fa-familiar?" Jake was shocked. Right in front of him, the chance to be familiar with the girl of his dreamsnded.


    "Oh! Sorry!" Kristine panicked and suddenly moved closer and started to yfully hug Jake as she gave off augh that was different than hers. It looked extremely natural. It was like two extremely close friends or even lovers would yfully hang out and talk of whatever the two wanted.


    The moment she hugged him, his mind drifted off to a world far far away.


    Further than the farthest reaches of space. Jake''s smile which would barely appear, shone like the sun.


    Jake found himself in heaven.


    Drumming smashes forcefully yed in his mind as he suddenly thought back to a post-modern ssic hit that survived the Third World War came to mind.


    And baby you''re all that I want,


    When you''re lyin'' here in my arms


    I''m findin'' it hard to believe


    We''re in heaven


    The melody continued as the song that was a paragon amongst power-bads filled Jake''s thoughts.


    It was as if the most sophisticated surround sound was ced around him. He was thoroughly immersed.


    The power of Jake''s mind came to y as he savored those short few seconds as if it was for a lifetime.


    The sudden surprise and delight made him unconsciously smile as well.


    The mysterious men walked pass by them.


    "Sorry!" Kristine smiled as he noticed that the mysterious group of people has passed by.


    "Are¡­ theying back?" Jake muttered unconsciously.


    The Unlocked mind made him see time so slowly that his words came out extremely quickly.


    "Excuse me?" Kristine gave a confused reaction.


    "I''m sorry- I- um¡­ It''s just no one as beautiful as you have ever hugged me like that." Jake spoke quickly at first but adjusted the pace of his speed.


    Kristineughed as she heard Jake''s words.


    "You''re extremely honest, aren''t you? I usually meet the extremely shy types, and then we have the confident y-boys, but you''re an awkward honest type." Kristine giggled.


    "That''s because I am. If it''s in confidence, I know my ce. I mean, I don''t look down on myself but I know I can''t ever be with someone like you. On the other hand¡­ I''ve lived¡­ quite a life¡­ Being afraid of being rejected by a girl is the least painful thing I can experience."


    "Really? Some people would rather have a broken bone but never a broken heart."


    "That''s because they had a heart in the first ce. If your hearts are already broken, you won''t be afraid of it breaking." Jake smiled back.


    Kristine gave an interesting look at the random person.


    "That sounds¡­ terrible. The one thing that I fear above all¡­ is to have my heartbroken."


    "You''d still be alive. To some people, being alive is more important. In contrast, to me¡­ the pain of rejection is good. If someone breaks up with you, at least¡­ it means that you were once desired."


    Kristine smiled once more. It was a sincere smile. One from the heart.


    "Wow. I''m not sure whether to apud such hope or feel sorry for what you''ve been through. It''s really obvious now that were extreme opposites. You see¡­ for me, who have received endless expressions of adorations and love¡­ it just seems all¡­"


    "Fake?" Jake guessed.


    "Yes. I mean¡­ I know why people like me. They say I''m beautiful¡­ I''m innocent, yet naughty, pure yet dangerous¡­ a skilled yer¡­ a sessful streamer. They tell me that I can have everything that I ever wanted in this world. Most of the guys say that I can have any guy in this world¡­ They say they love me¡­ but I know it''s all fake."


    "I''d kill for that attention. If that was me I''d take it. Besides¡­ it''s not all fake. They do adore you. Many wouldn''t hesitate to marry you."


    "It''s still fake. Sometimes, you fall in love with someone not solely because of their beauty. Nor is it because of their charm. You fall in love with the delusion¡­ in the imagination¡­ in that dream¡­ you see yourself with that person, but you don''t love that person because you know that person¡­ you love that person because of your fantasies, not because of reality."


    Jake was surprised at the sudden change of tone that Kristine did.


    "Are you¡­ talking about Arthur? Or that Seeker?"


    Kristine gave a dryugh.


    "Maybe I''m talking about all of them." Kristine sighed.


    "Um¡­ about the rumors¡­"


    Kristine smiled.


    "About Arthur? Or about Seeker?"


    "About both of them."


    "Both of them?" Kristine was confused.


    "Are they gay?"


    "PFFFT!" Kristine gave a suddenugh as she was surprised at Jake''s question.


    "Sorry! That surprised me! That''s an old rumor. It''s not true. It''s just some fan-fiction that people make to suit the fantasies they have. Of course, because a lot of people want it to be true, so that rumor exists. When you''re as famous as we are¡­ you get a lot of those."


    Jakeughed in embarrassment.


    "So¡­ who is it then? The one you like?" Jake immediately asked.


    "Wow. There''s just no fear with you? You know it''s rude to ask people that¡­ Especially since it''s quite a sensitive subject. Who do you want it to be?"


    "Obviously, none!" Jakeughed.


    "But I''m sorry. I may have overstepped my boundaries but I was just curious. When you were sharing that earlier¡­ you really seemed bothered by it. Are you struggling with winning their love? Is there someone you are in love with, not because of who they are but because of the fantasies you have if you have him?" Jake dared to ask.


    "I¡­ don''t know. I think I had these moments with both of them. But it''s getting clearer now¡­ that they love someone else. But silly old me! I continue to chase even if their hearts are set elsewhere. I couldn''t help it though. The dreams I have, the fantasies I enjoy when I''m there by his side! It''s like I''m addicted to this fantasy."


    "You know¡­ there was a song during the post-modern era about something like that. It goes, Dreams are my reality, a different kind of reality. I dream of loving in the night. And loving seems alright... Although it''s only fantasy." Jake sang.


    "Hey¡­ That''s a good song!"


    "It is. But it''s a sad song. He''d rather live in his fantasies because reality is just not nice to him."


    "Yeah. I can rte to that. I guess because of how I feel and how I am treated by them, that I find it better for me to live in a fantasy world. You know, maybe that''s why I hate it when people say love, but only mean it because of their fantasies. Maybe that''s why I hate things that are fake and hate entertaining these unreal love."


    Jake smiled.


    Kristine gave him a curious expression.


    "What?"


    "We are opposites¡­ I want to have friends. People who I can hang out with. I''m not that picky to even care if they are simply using me or do like me. On the other hand, you have the affection of the world, but you disdain it. Because you want something more real." Jake smiled.


    Kristine''s stare lingered at Jake. Her looks made it seem that she was in deep contemtion at Jake''s word.


    "Oh! I''m sorry. I haven''t asked what your name is."


    "Jake."


    "Yeah. You look like a Jake." Kristine giggled.


    "So why does Jake yearn for a rtionship even if it''s a shallow one? This Jake doesn''t seem like a bad guy."


    Jake sighed.


    "It''s because I can''t. For whatever reason, I''m just¡­ too scared I guess? The thought always gued me, you know? I want to impress a girl! With money, fame, power, strength and even charm¡­ But I really shouldn''t."


    "Really? So you mean to tell me, you''re alright being alone?"


    Jake simply nodded.


    Kristine''s expression was strange. He gave an inquiring look at Jake but discovered that Jake didn''t want to say anymore.


    "I''m not sure if you''re ying that mystery card that many of my suitors tried¡­ Are you trying that?"


    "I truly am not. My life''s a bitplicated. Even now, that little hug of yours brought me to heaven. If I can be honest, I do want you, you know? But I''m too scared."


    "Why?"


    "Would you still want to love, if you know it would kill you?" Jake asked hesitantly.


    Kristine smiled.


    "You''d rather live without knowing love, than love and not live? Don''t they say it''s the same? By the looks of it, all that denying yourself of love is breaking your heart." Kristine spoke after some consideration.


    "I''d rather live with a broken heart than have a pieced up heart with a dead body," Jake answered morbidly.


    "I don''t know what you''ve been through¡­ but honestly, I don''t think it canpare with what I''ve been through. But despite what I face, I''d rather die alive. I don''t want to soon lose my life with an already broken heart." Kristine smiled.


    "Wise words. I think there was a song about that." Jakeughed and kept quiet.


    "Ariana Grande, Break Free. Too bad I can never break free from my own chains of love." Kristineughed.


    Kristine gave him a sarcastic look and simply giggled.


    "This was fun. Although I don''t like the mysterious stranger approach, yours is the best one yet."


    "I''m not trying to be mysterious!"


    "Really? Being so mysterious and at the same time so tough? It''s quite an interesting way to pick up girls. The mystery entails strength, but you tell this story of such weakness!" Kristine gave exaggerated movements as she said those words.


    Jake simplyughed at herical movements.


    "Honestly, it''s quite ingenious if I think about it. Your approach was¡­ highly intellectual and philosophical at the same time¡­ so you make girls see that your interesting and smart. And then you give yourself this dark, mysterious past which excites girls that want to have fun and a bit of danger¡­ Very macho too. And then because of this dark hurting past, you develop some sort of, ''I can''t love''plex but it appeals to the woman''s heart because it somehow calls forth the instinctive nature of women to love and nurture. It''s impressive!" Kristineughed as she listed each quality with exaggerated acting.


    "It''s honestly true!" Jake could onlyugh bitterly.


    "Really? This isn''t you flexing with suchplicated back story and intriguing mystery?"


    "Honestly! Look, Kristine, as I said, I''ve always been tempted to flex a little, but to have someone to love is just too dangerous for me!" Jake defended.


    "Then flex a little!" Kristine giggled.


    "I dare you. Or are you afraid that I''d fall helplessly in love with you?"


    "Honestly¡­ kind of!" Jake was almost in tears. It took a lot to resist. He was extremely afraid. Getting acquainted with someone so beautiful and famous was extremely dangerous for him.


    "Just flex! I want to see if you''re my knight in shining armor!" Kristine teased the more as she drew closer and gazed at Jake''s eyes.


    Jake gazed closely at those eyes and lost resistance. It was there that love conquered fear.


    Jake gave a bitter sigh but immediately pushed his hands on to the bench seat.


    Suddenly, his arms passed through the wooden surface but the bench wasn''t destroyed. It was a gentle reach, like a hand reaching on the water to pick up something the water contained.


    His arms passed through wood! That sight shocked Kristine.


    The hand wasn''t pulled back but Jake pulled his arms with a forward swing and held an almost clenched fist towards Kristine.


    A butterfly was moving around in the small gap of his arms.


    Kristine''s expression was stunned as he looked at Jake with an almost frightened expression. Kristine appeared to have almost stood up in fright until he heard the reluctant sigh of Jake.


    "Those assassins or hitmen or whatever¡­ those three earlier. I can kill them. I can protect you." Jake gave a conflicted smile.. The heart that what once was dead, was slowly bing alive.

 Chapter 141 - A Just Cause

    Whenever nighttime would fall, the Pangean citizens and almost any avid fans of the Piercing games and its pro-scene would generally tune in to the action-packed live-stream of the fastest rising e-sport and streamers on Earth.


    Lynd Indigo and Meryl Mikado were the fastest streamers to have ever pushed beyond the 1 million credit mark. It took them two days toplete the stream. Collectively, the two earned an estimate of 12 million credits on their streams.


    Covenant of the Strongest became the most lucrative investment for businessmen causing chaos in the underworld. Various groups were trying to get tied with the Covenant but because of Harker''s influence, only the most daring groups dared to make their attempts. The worst-case was bomb threats made on onepany that wanted to initiate a deal with the Covenant of the Strongest.


    Of course, for the key yers themselves, their daily lives and especially their streams were generally undisturbed.


    "And that''s all for tonight guys! Thank you for all who gave me these donations!" Meryl hadpleted her daily routine on her stream. Unlike most female E-sport yers, Meryl rtively wore modest clothing. They were decent but not too showy.


    "Also, don''t forget, Lynd will be streaming after this and so the challenge has been ced. I heard that they will be selecting Lynd''s opponents randomly. So, test your skills! You could be the one who may give Lynd his first defeat. Of course, secretly we''ve been ying with each other so, in reality, this isn''t his first defeat." Meryl giggled.


    "As promised, Lynd will fight against various yers and those interested must gamble 100 credits. If you manage to defeat Lynd, you get 1000 credits. And Lynd will be ying against you, with one hand, tied behind his back. Honestly, he can defeat anyone who''s not an E-sport yer easily even with those conditions. Seeker and Lynd had always yed like that even before. I never got into the hang of it and not to mention I didn''t want to put callus on my hands and fingers. Their quite dainty." Meryl revealed her thin fingers.


    "As for you,dies! Please remember this¡­ Lynd''s quite a shy guy. So please keep your proposals to yourself. He can''t concentrate on those demands to marry him or have him sign your bras and underwear. We don''t want that incident to happen again. So um¡­ don''t throw your underwear''s directed at him. If you really can''t hold yourself, aim for the stage. Don''t throw it at his face." Merylughed.


    Thement section of Meryl''s stream had very fewments. And that''s only because you need to pay to get the ess to actually put inments.


    Yet despite this, a flurry of text still covered the chatbox with manyments pouring in.


    Comments about people stating that Meryl shouldn''t do what these two were doing as they were brutes erupted. Some of the bolder men stated that they wanted to put a ring on those fingers. Luckily, due to the strict rules and how there were dedicated people who would kick out and perma-ban those who would make lewdments, no one ever breached the boundary.


    "Also, I''d like to make an announcement on behalf of Lynd. He''s generally a shy guy, and even though he was pressed by our managers, he was too shy to admit it. But we''ve decided that all 80% of the earnings we get from the stream will be given to support several orphanages in Pangea." Meryl smiled.


    The news stunned everyone. Most streamers only promise a specific amount, but Meryl had decided to give 80% of her earnings as donations. This was unprecedented kindness. Even those who proposed to Meryl took back their words as they felt ashamed and unworthy to have an angel like Meryl.


    "Lynd will also do the same. All of the earnings he would get on the gambles of that event will also be donated to the orphans and fatherless. As you know, the rate of child abandonment has been exceedingly high and more and more children are growing up without fathers, mothers and even both." Meryl gave an emotional speech as images started appearing on their stream.


    "I''ve been raised up by two great parents¡­ who sadly weren''t able to retain their citizenship and was sent back to the East Asian Alliance. This is both an appeal to the EAA to please let me get my parents back. They are Pangean''s by heart. Please let us be together again. I would also like to use this opportunity to thank Pangea for their constant fight in getting my parents back. I''m d I have this nation supporting me. So in response to your kindness, I''d like to use this money to look after the orphans of this nation." Meryl smiled as tears seemed to have covered her eyes.


    The world was heartbroken at Meryl''s face. Several of those chatting cursed the EAA for their selfish demands of Meryl. Although they lost legally as Meryl was born and raised in Pangea, her parents were forcefully demanded to return.


    "I n to give these orphans education. Eighty percent of what I earn will be dedicated to helping them finish their studies as well as support to give these kids a little joy in their lives. Also, let us remember that after the detestable discoveries of human trafficking in our nations a few months ago, we have over a hundred some children who are left to fend for themselves. So this will be my fight." Meryl casually wiped off the tear on her eyes.


    The chat room went crazy. People were demanding to open a donation box but Meryl simply shook her head.


    "I don''t want to be too greedy. I know how famous we are. And so I know that many will willingly donate thousands. But that''s why I won''t ept donations and only payments for the ess of this stream. Don''t worry guys. With the amount that I''m earning it is more than enough to help these young orphans." Meryl smiled.


    The viewers were stunned. She was¡­ too Bright.


    "The good news, I epted the offer to go to the EAA since the Covenant had agreed to let me be the brand ambassador of a new clothing line to be unveiled by Shrandel, an Antarctica basedpany in the EAA. Thispany vowed to do what it can to help me see my parents without being stopped by the government so, during my stay at the EAA, I''ll have the chance to meet my parents before going to Antarctica. So this is my shot to go visit my parents regrly so I agreed immediately."


    Several chats started wishing Meryl the best while others were openly apuding Shrandel''s move that allowed Meryl to bypass thews that hindered her from meeting her parents.


    "After this stream, I will be going to the airport and will take off for the EAA in a few hours. My next stream will be on the EAA and next week stream will be on Antarctica. I didn''t want to say this¡­ but Seeker won a gamble against me¡­ so here goes." A strange frustrated look surfaced on Meryl''s face.


    "It''s going to be cold on Antarctica. So please send me your love and hugs to keep me warm." Meryl then made gestures and expressions with cute poses that were very unbing of her image.


    The chats stopped pouring in as people were stunned at the development.


    "Happy, Zeek?" Meryl frowned.


    The chats started pouring once more.


    Most of the viewers hadn''t moved on from Meryl''s attractive pose and teases.


    It was then that she noticed one particr chat that asked a serious question.


    "What about Seeker? Will he be donating?"


    Meryl smiled.


    "Sadly, Seeker can''t donate his earnings with all the crazy bets he''s been ying against other nations."


    A lot ofughs were made in the room at Meryl''sment.


    "That''s very Seeker." Someone remarked in the chat room.


    "But don''t take his moves to be selfish. Remember, he wants a better Pangea. With the probability of war looming on the horizon and in case, Australia will suddenly attack, this will greatly help us with our war. The money he can earn can greatly benefit this nation as he promised to use it to support the military. That way Pangea, as a nation can allot more budget to health, education and so on."


    If it were anyone else, people wouldn''t have epted this im. But when these words came from the angelic, sweet and innocent Meryl, it was a blinding light of goodness.


    Some actually cried as they read on. These three friends, Carlean, Mikado, and Indigo, were angels sent to help Pangea.


    "So that''s all for tonight! See you on Friday for the next stream! Bye guys!"


    And with that Meryl logged off.


    "Phew." She took off her headset and started stretching.


    "I still can''t get used to this¡­" She shook her head.


    In the room, stood Halley Vagrant, the manager of the Covenant of the Strongest.


    "Use to what? Fame?"


    "No. Deceiving people."


    "Deceiving people? You are giving money to orphanages. Why would that be deceiving people? It''s a just cause."


    "A just cause? Orphanages? More like a Jewish training grounds to make an Unbing army." Meryl shook her head.


    "It''s an ingenious scheme. The money is publicly noticed by all and since orphanages are natural ces where the government or some secret organization will look keenly, we are openly funding our armies. If anything, we need 144,000 as Arthur once mentioned."


    "Whatever. But that''s thest time I''m doing those poses!"


    "You know those really help us. By making it look like Seeker''s bullying you to make those pose, you retain your angelic reputation but at the same time garner more fans. Not to mention even Danny smiled when you did those pose." Halley giggled. She knew that Danny Haze, the most famous e-sport yers amongst women had a liking on Meryl.


    Meryl had nothing to say.


    "I''m surprised that this is what bothers you and not that crazy man in Antarctica that wants to um¡­ touch you."


    "How much did he pay?"


    "Three hundred million credits." Halley Vagrantughed.


    "Ugh. Not even enough to pay off half of our debts with Lennox¡­ I''m not bothered. It''s not like he can actually touch me. Still, Zeeks'' ns are scary. Just what kind of world was it like in the future that he would be this brutal?"


    "If you ask me that pedophile had iting. You wouldn''t have been able to pull this off if he wasn''t that immoral. Frankly, with what''s at stake, Seeker''s quite reserved in his actions."


    "Then I must be happy that it was Zeek that got sent to the past instead of you."


    "You should. If I were the one in control, I would have used you and Lynd more daringly. That''s considering what you already pulled off. I''m sure Arthur and Lowengren would feel the same way. But no¡­ you got an overprotective leader who would only risk us and keep his beloved friends from such terrors." Halleyughed.


    Meryl frowned.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Ohe on! Alean and Lowengren''s halfway around the world facing who knows what. Cliff''s been sent to his missions. Harker''s return to the Underworld was quite dangerous. And even I am forced to act as mediators with the most dangerous criminals in Pangea. Do you know how many of those uncultured swine''s have tried to strip me in the open? Even my nephew, who is a timid boy have been shipped off to the Tatsulok and then to China to train with those assassins! And here you two are making streams and money." Halley gave Meryl a scornful gaze.


    Meryl could only remain quiet as she looked to the window.


    "Is that you see it? Aren''t you forgetting that we attacked Australia? Are you forgetting our war against those Assassins? You think you''ve had it rough? I faced death more than I can count on these experiences. I''m just like your nephew! I''m still a kid, Miss Halley. I''m not used to all this intrigue, espionage, framings and murders¡­ I have to do it¡­ I''ve lost my childhood, Halley." Meryl spoke angrily.


    Halley was surprised and gave an embarrassed coughed.


    "I believe I had misspoken. I guess¡­ I forgot you are one since you are so strong. It''s just. I''ve seen what you''ve done with those soldiers and how you train them to reach Unbing¡­ I guess I keep forgetting that you were just an innocent girl four months ago." Halley apologized.


    Meryl simply smiled.


    "It''s ok¡­ Even I forget who I was back then. Still¡­ If I had known that the energies on those suits he lent cost that much I wouldn''t have used it recklessly." Meryl wept as she recalled the shocking total expenses that they have to pay Lennox.


    "Seeker''s taking care of it right now. He should be reaching the penthouse soon. I''m still shocked and sickened at the news though¡­ I respected a lot of them¡­ but I guess they had iting¡­" Halley could only sigh.


    "Me too¡­ Those names¡­ there were very respectable men and women! To think they would be so¡­ perverted."


    "It''s a quick way to earn though. We have the perfect excuse. Imagine tomorrow, two business empires, several prominent names and possibly thousands and thousands of people will lose their jobs."


    "And all because their boss is a pervert. At least we could finally pay off our debts to both Lennox and Meng¡­" Meryl sighed.


    "I thought money wouldn''t be a thing in the future!" She continued and cursed.


    "Right now, it''s a means to amass weapons." Halleyughed.


    Meryl was silent. She then gave a visible shudder.


    "What''s wrong?" Halley asked in confusion.


    "It''s just¡­ If he wanted a billion credits¡­ I wonder what exactly is he going to do with it. I mean¡­ even when Seeker tried to negotiate, Lennox wouldn''t lower his price and demanded it. I wonder¡­ what exactly, is that Oveer nning on doing? That thought¡­ just scares me." Merylter sighed and started packing her clothes.


    Halley smiled.


    "I believe¡­ that whatever that man is up to, it will surely be another just cause. Like the one, you have been doing. Anyways, I''ll head out to Lynd. I''ll do my best to make him stay. I''ve heard that his fans want to tease Lynd more and more. May bought fun toys for him."


    Meryl and Halleyughed.


    Meanwhile, somewhere in the very depths of an active volcano¡­


    A woman and a man wearing an Exoskeleton armor were zooming on theplicated crevices and molten tunnels.


    "We need to get out of here! Theva''s starting to affect my suit!" The woman spoke with a pained expression.


    Their escape was chaotic. The sudden appearance of a man inside their secret base had caught them off guard. They tried to fight and kill the threat but, the enemy was so powerful that they had to escape. Abandoning their base, the two had flown for hundreds of kilometers and had used up several of their doomsday protocol to ensure that they wouldn''t be detected by any government agencies and corporations.


    Yet in all this, the enemy was closely trailing by.


    And so in a desperate attempt to throw off the enemy, the two had flown into the mouth of an active volcano and even dove deep into the brimstone and sulfur off towards some safe tunnel in the underground.


    Though the suit resisted the burningva, the insides of their suit were enough to cook them alive. If it weren''t for the fact that they were gically enhanced, then they would have died from the burns.


    "We can''t get out yet. Let''s find a ce to hide first. I''m sure that that¡­ thing couldn''t follow us into this volcano. We''ll stay here for a while and try to recover." The man sighed as they continued to rush towards a cooler ce of the volcano.


    Suddenly, a strange scene urred as electric currents started to gush out of the nearbyva pool from which the couple just came from.


    The electrical energy was dark blue as it zoomed around the area.


    The couple panicked but the sudden emergence of the lightning was too fast.


    BUUUZZZ!


    The two were stunned by the bolt and couldn''t move.


    They crashed on to the hot walls and it was as if the lightning had solid shape.


    The two panicked as the clutched on to the lightning that now had a physical form.


    Slowly the lightning gathered before them and was starting topress.


    A figure of a man could be seen.


    "Set note¡­ Extreme heat and presumably, coldness can still inflict pain, thereby limiting the thought process. Set countermeasure. Execute." The cold and uncaring voicemanded.


    As the figure started to be clearer and clearer, a famous face appeared that caused great fear to the two couples.


    "Lennox Humphrey!" The man called out.


    "It''s been a while. Stefanny¡­ Damien.. How are the kids?" The man asked as he gave an unaffected look towards the two.

 Chapter 142 - An Ordinary Father

    It began during World War 3.


    Due to the heavy need for energy and the harsh limitations and danger of relying on Nuclear power, various nations had to change their methods for building power nts to power up their cities and even had to switch to alternate forms of fuel for their war machines.


    Geothermal energy became one of the most popr options. Underground power nts were also protected against the most powerful weapons of warfare. Even weapons of mass destruction couldn''t prate the Earth so easily.


    Soon, most nations had changed the way of building objects. It was only the proud nation of Australia who built a towering edifice which became one of the most famous bases as they had the technology to stand firm, immune from most of the destructions that were thrown to them.


    The greater majority of the world began to build underground cities. Although small inds are archipgoes are not able to do this as the nearby sea or ocean would often reveal various underground rivers and sea paths limiting the extent or depth that they can build, for those who lived in arge Continent surrounded bynd, this was a popr choice.


    Secret bases were found all over the world. The Age of Xenophobic Nations arrived as various internationalpanies were barred from expanding to other nations because they feared that thesepanies were tools used by the government to build secret underground bases on their country.


    Unknown to the world, the nation which had the most powerful and well-hidden force, were not any of the major superpowers. It wasn''t even the WGP. This nation had relied on various means, mainly relying on Underworld operations to secretly gather the resources to continuously build it.


    And so, ever since World War 3 was happening, this nation dared not interfere or participate with the battles that were happening around it but remained neutral while secretly ckmailing and using the opposing parties to fund itself. On the forefront, this nation looked like nations simr to the Rotting Lands of the Americas.


    But who would have thought, that a massive mobile fortressid dormant under the poor and suffering nation of Egypt?


    Unknown to the world, Egypt''s sess in perfecting this technology would be attributed to only one single scientist. Damien Jones.


    A renowned scientist who was believed to be dead for over a decade.


    Lennox stood there simply gazing at the two. Their location was far from Egypt. In fact, they were far in the deep coldnds of Russia.


    "I would like¡­ to talk with you two. You were very hard to find Damien. It took me three months and I had to even ask help from my son." Lennox gave the two a stoic look.


    Damien and the woman stood cautiously and aimed their guns at Lennox.


    "You can try shooting if you still think that would be of any help," Lennox added.


    BANG! BANG!


    Several gunshots were heard.


    But no wounds appeared on Lennox''s skin. Strangely, the condensed Matter bullets somehow struck the rocks behind Lennox as the bullets seemed to have passed by Lennox


    "So¡­ I presume that the child on Steffany''s womb at that time would be a teenager now." Lennox ignored the stunned gazed and slowly approached.


    "What do you want?" Damien asked cautiously. He knew that he was alive for a reason.


    "Damien, I know that you fled because you knew Egypt was going to kill you. And so you made it look like an ident which killed the most sessful specimen of Project Nile. You hid from the world knowing that the world would all want what''s in your head and kill you. Do I look like I want to kill you?" Lennox asked.


    "What are you here for? Rumor has it that you went missing. People assumed you died."


    "The same could be said for you. I have my reasons. But it''s surely nobler than yours."


    "What do you want?" The man asked once more.


    "The same thing you want. To give a safe, and good life for my daughter and son. Except my goal also happens to aplish the greater picture with the wars that areing."


    "I see. Wars areing. You want to hide in the ground? You want my Dug Down Tech to flee from the war? No. That''s not the ruthless mathematician I know... What''s going on?"


    "My daughter went missing about three years since your disappearance. I want your tech to find her."


    "What?!" Damien was stunned.


    "She disappeared? Who would dare?!" Damien asked in surprise. Lennox was a renowned powerful man. Although bounties for his head were numerous, no one dared to take it. After the Orient Massacre of Mercenaries, no one would casually ept a mission to kill Lennox.


    "Not who¡­ but what. Dug Down Technology was partially created alongside a certain businessman, correct?" Lennox asked.


    "Marion Raison. But he died shortly-"


    "He''s alive. I''m sure that, he was the one who funded your little research and also gave you the materials that allowed you to develop this technology, correct?"


    Damien nodded.


    "Interestingly enough, the same had happened on several nations. Take, for example, Australia. Enigmatic Maic Pulse technology was formed by a single genius scientist who gained inspiration and support from another business entity whoter died as well. I could name several other cases. They all have one thing inmon. The businessmen died, and usually, the inventor with them. Of course, on your case, you managed to fool them by stealing and partnering with Experiment 01A3. Code named, the Woman of the Nile." Lennox then turned to the woman Steffany.


    "Anothermon trait is that all these businessmen had strange backgrounds. If you trace their lineages, you''de to aplete stop. Their genealogy suddenly appears out of the blue. Andstly, all of them shared another trait¡­ They all have their hearts and organs inversely mirroring ours. What do you make of this, oh paranoid friend of mine?" Lennox asked.


    Damien''s eyes grew alert.


    "It really was a conspiracy¡­ I''m not dumb. The research material he gave me which he imed to be the works of histe friend were already advanced. The missing pieces weren''t hard to find. I knew something was up the moment Marion showed me those research material."


    "Your paranoia became your most useful trait. It kept you alive. Had you not been paranoid, they would have killed you once youpleted the research. They already perfected this tech and may have even found ways to surpass it."


    "Just what kind of global conspiracy is this? Such technology was already avable! A few years had passed and Egypt has already developed various means to use it in war. Is this the work of the WGP?" Damien wanted answers. His years of escape and hardship made him feel like he needed to know this information.


    "No. Not the WGP. A far worse entity. Aliens called Aragarians. And that''s the group that kidnapped my daughter. I lost track of her in Egypt. I hadn''t known about Dug Down Technology then. Who would have expected that I was supposed to literally dig deeper into Egypt? I want Dug Down Technology so I can rescue her." Lennox spoke inly.


    Damien''s expression changed.


    He gazed at Steffany and the two had an understanding nod.


    "Impressive. Such a detailed and unbiased search for truth. You actually considered the possibility of aliens?" Lennox gave rare praise.


    "The great Mathematician actually praised a paranoid fool like me."


    "A paranoia that considers all possibilities but still has logic in mind is quite rare¡­ You are not given to endless conspiracy theories but simply find things that best exin the situation." Lennox continued.


    "It was just among the possible answers. We were reaching an end to exnations. The only thing possible was that something or someone outside the known governments and the WGP would do this. Why would the WGP give Egypt strength? You mentioned Australia. But I''ve learned of other nations as well. The same happened in Pnd. The sudden emergence and growth of the Floating Nations? While the WGP attributed these sudden technological appearances to the fact that these nations may have long been hiding this technology and are simplying out due to need, I thought differently. I was in the deep of the Nile Research. I knew the extent of Egyptian studies. Dug Down technology simply surpasses it. And so I carefully started to observe the history and even spied on the reports from other nations just to learn what was happening to my own. Even the barrennds of Kuwait had risen when their oil supplies ended! I knew that these nations received outside help. But why make it so powerful?" Damien poured out every hypothesis and thoughts he had on this matter.


    "Follow me, and I will show you the truths to all these things. I won''t keep you from any information I know should you choose to follow me. Who knows? You may even get to kill Marion Raison personally." Lennox smiled.


    Steffany''s figure shook.


    "I will¡­ get the chance to kill him?" A dark strange aura was leaking out of her.


    "As expected. Unbing¡­" Lennox smiled greedily.


    "You have expected for Marion to have lived?" Lennox asked immediately.


    "He''s not a man to die like that. I knew he was still out there¡­" Steffany clenched her fist.


    "Lennox¡­ My wife''s situation is not that good. With your technology to transform into lightning¡­ do you have the means to help her stabilize her situation? Her body-"


    "Can condense, absorb and manipte the water around her. That''s why you choose to hide hear because you thought I was tracking her based on the gathering moisture." Lennoxpleted Damien''s sentences.


    Damien was stunned.


    "I do have the means for that. Shall we move to a more?fortable location?"


    "I want to know what you''re nning first. You already gave us an overview of what you want. But you never told us what you n to do. I''m sure rescuing your daughter is only a step towards your true goal. You would always make sure to hit more than one bird at once."


    "Dug Down Deep technology is on the hands of these Aragarians. I n to raze Egypt to the ground and acquire thatrge underground fortress as my own."


    Damien''s eyes grew solemn.


    "You n on waging war against Egypt?"


    "No. To wage war against a nation so weak as Egypt and against something so hidden would draw the ire of the Aragarians. It is not the time yet to face these aliens. My friends have yet to solidify their ces. Also, Egypt has clearly rooted itself in Aragarian hands. It would not be an exaggeration to state that it is controlled and owned by Aragarians. As such, a battle would only draw out their attention. No. I n on assassinating Egypt."


    "Assassinating?!" Damien was shocked.


    "It''s possible. I am already making the arrangements. It will be glorious. The Lord has once visited thosends and struck the firstborn. But apparently, these people haven''t learned their lesson. The Angel of Death shall once more roam Egypt with nine gues following before it. And when this angel of Death roams Egypt once more, it will no longer Pass Over any houses but ughter all the settlers."


    "What are you talking about?!"


    "I n on killing everyone in Egypt. Is that clear enough?"


    "You''re crazy! That will draw in the attention of the Aragarians!"


    "Will it? It''s a xenophobic country. As long as I can kill everyone and not create a panic, this secret will remain hidden. With how the WGP has been acting, these Aragarians must also be acting indiscretion. Besides, they would never expect an entire nation to be killed off overnight. So if my ns push through, the world won''t notice. Egypt hasn''t even shown any media news reports in thest three years. The world doesn''t know what goes in it nor do they care. They treat it like the Rotting Lands of the Americas."


    Damien felt a chill rise up his spine.


    "Madman!" Steffany was the one who shouted.


    "You can''t be serious, Lennox?!" Damien added.


    "I have thought it through. In this situation where I know not what happens inside that underground base or the status of my daughter. I am sure, that almost half if not a third of Egypt''s poption have rtives or distant rtives and friends working in that underground fortress. If I steal it or kill everyone in it, it will alert the Aragarians one way or the other. I will have to kill everyone to ensure that whatever battle happens underground, no one can take notice of it. Even if it is a simple tremor."


    "You would kill a hundred million lives to prevent anyone from noticing your battle underground?!"


    "I would kill a hundred million lives to save my daughter." Lennox''s cold expression surfaced. Sparks of electricity started to gather around him.


    "That''s why I need Dug Down Technology. I don''t know what experiments they''ve been doing on my little Princess. You probably know of it Steffany. What would you do if both your son and daughter were subject to the inhumane experiments they are doing? Would you be able to even sleep at night?" Lennox challenged.


    Steffany was stunned silent.


    "My family was the reason why I left the Underworld. But during my hiatus, it seems this Aragarians took control of the many areas of the Underworld and somehow, discovered my daughter. Not caring of who I was, they took her. Her disappearance was my greatest challenge. It was that that pushed me to this level. For her disappearance led to the death of my wife and the estranged rtionship with my son. My wrath has long been withheld, Damien. And now, I know where to aim it."


    "You can''t do that! Even if you manage to kill everyone quietly, it''s impossible to remain unnoticed! The Aragarians will know about you soon!"


    "Not if my other friends make a good show to keep the world distracted."


    "Distracted?! What can possibly distract this organization from a nation-wide massacre?!"


    Lennox broke off his cold expression and chuckled. The figure of the ruthless Seeker emerged. The serious scowl of his son whom he had been so proud of also emerged. The serious face of Meng, theughing figure of Richie and the unforgettable terror of the Tyrant Empress emerged. Even the arrogant and annoying smirk of Lowengren surfaced in his mind.


    "Trust me. When these friends of mine move, the eyes of the world will surely turn to them."


    "You cannot do that! Even with all that Egypt has done to me and to my wife, that is something our conscience cannot allow!"


    Steffany was silent.


    "Lennox. I know the pain that you feel and the anger that you carry. But Egypt is not bound to this sin. Even I, who could possibly be the only person who understands your fear will not ept your crazy ns.


    "Of course. I never wanted your sympathy. Even for someone like Seeker Carlean who had seen firsthand the terrors of these Aragarians never wanted me to know that it was Egypt. Even my son kept it from me. s, I had to find the clues myself. But now that I know it, even if that Seeker Carlean, that Abomination or that Assassin will try to stop me, I will have my revenge!"


    A gripping fear clutched Damien and he couldn''t breathe.


    Steffany noticed it and immediately raised her hand as a strange rush of moisture covered them. Suddenly, arge ball of water covered the two of them.


    "So I am right¡­ you have such focus. Even with everything that didn''t make sense, and the pressure I exude, you could still think clearly. You even noticed that the fear that took hold of you two was brought by scent? Do you have an unhindered thought process like I do?" Lennox smirked.


    "Regardless, you two will join me. I have means to turn you into ves that can easily allow me to control you into oveing this moral dilemma." Lennox then raised his hands as a strange bolt of electricity started to harden on his hands.


    "Wait!" Damien''s muffled voice that spoke inside the water ball called out. He was scared beyond belief. He''s heard of it. Programmed ves. The inhumane method which became a top luxury within the Underworld.


    "Lennox! You''re insane! That is a nation we are talking about! Aren''t you the great Mathematician? Aren''t you someone who holds logic above all?"


    "I am, Damien. But what you must also understand, is before being a Mathematician, I was always a husband to my wife, and a father to my son and daughter. I tried to resist it, Damien. But s, if I want to save her, I have to kill everyone in Egypt, least she falls into any more dangers."


    "No! You''re just forcing that issue! You want that to be true! Your vengeance has clouded your judgment!"


    "Then let it be¡­ For right now, I do not see myself as a Mathematician¡­ A man of logic. A man of morals. Right now, I am just an ordinary father. And I will do everything to get my girl back."


    It was a brief moment. But it leaked out. All the anger that Lennox had was unleashed for a brief second.


    Somewhere, in the heart of Australia. In the middle of one of Australia''s busiest metropolis¡­


    A man was rxing on the rooftop of a mid-rise building.


    He shivered and gazed off to another direction.


    "Strange. One of them is so angry that even I can feel it from here. Don''t want to be that person''s enemy.." Heughed and returned to back to hiszy position.

 Chapter 143 - Perverts And Programmed Slaves

    While Piercing Fans were watching an event where Lynd would be performing a one-handed miracle match against several fans, a dark gathering was happening elsewhere.


    While anyone with power or prestige were busy preparing or making preparations either on the business side or on the political side of Harker''s sudden rise to power, some of the unaffected and perverted groups were slowly traveling in secret to a specific location.


    With these events urring, no one noticed that Seeker Carlean had ended his stream early and was believed to be headed home.


    The truth was far from it. As this night was extremely crucial several preparations were made to ensure and fool the world of Seeker''s actual location.


    Several soldiers who had Seeker''s build and height would meet with Seeker on specific points of the city and wear clothes simr to Seeker while Seeker had to change to another set of clothes that matched the soldiers who met up with Seeker.


    One may say it was paranoid or overkill, but considering the secret acts that would transpire that night, some would even consider the precautions as risky.


    Seeker strode with a strange expression. The moon shone brightly overhead. Seeker gazed at the full moon and snickered. Tonight was a night were many would finally reveal their animalistic instincts.


    This night was a night that was practically prepared and anticipated by several of the most prominent names in society. Be it in politics, entertainment, and even religion.


    It was a night of dark feastings. And although the world would condemn them and demand for their immediate death, the old rule that has existed since time immemorial still stands even in the Supra-Modern Era. The Rich, the Powerful could do anything they wanted.


    Despite the hateful cries of the world, men and women of power had found ways and avenues for them to im their desires. The Underworld became the haven for these men. Not many really knew of the workings of the Underworld. Mainstream media and the government refused to acknowledge the existence of the underbelly of the world and so, not many even knew of the deep darkness the world was in.


    After years and years of practice, and people have finally mastered the art of hiding their evil deeds. While the whole world despised and condemned acts of human trafficking, sexual exploitations, inhuman experiments and the like, there has never been a time in the world that these three key elements were the highest paying jobs, with the most unbelievable secrecy.


    Three months ago, Harker had finally leaked a piece of certain information. The price for knowing the information was already costly, and the price of taking part in it would only enable the richest of the world to take part in it.


    Two pieces of information were dispersed to a select few. Those who knew of the first information would not reach ten on Earth. Those who knew of the second were climbing by the hundreds.


    The first information was that Seeker Carlean was a Programmed ve. This information shocked the leaders of several nations when they found out about this. They did not leak this information but cascaded another information that was of equal worth.


    Seeker Carlean was open for purchase. His hourly rates were in the millions and those who can pay the higher prices get the first taste of Seeker.


    Around the world, those who could take a slice of the Seeker pie suddenly scrambled and ced their bids.


    Harker made a deal with a respected organization in the Underworld who would be in charge of hosting the event and ce to be able to taste Seeker Carlean.


    The preparations of a single gathering to taste this authentic and iparable dish was set and everyone who wanted to take part in this made their necessary preparations.


    And while the world marveled at the capture of Pangea, certain news was sent to all the highest bidders. They have over ten hours to go to Pangea, as Seeker Carlean was open for reservations for the next three days.


    It was shocking. But everyone understood and became willing to go to Pangea. Now that Harker had allied with Colestar and especially now that there were nopetitions in the Underworld, tonight would be the perfect night! Even the organizations that were against Harker would be too busy for their preparations for Harker''sing actions!


    Tonight was the first of many nights and the lowest bidder who was called for this night reached over a hundred million credits.


    Seeker continued to walk with a disguise that perfectly made him appear like a normal kid.


    Although he was walking and crossing the busy streets, unbeknownst to the onlookers, surrounding Seeker were several men and women who were keeping an eye on Seeker,


    The people following Seeker all wore different kinds of clothes. Some were jogging, some had business attires, while others still had casual clothes and walked by pairs.


    Their purpose was to simply cover Seeker on several key locations in the city square.


    And with that, Seeker moved and moved closer to his destination.


    Upon entering the building, the guard on duty noticed it and smiled as he saw Seeker approaching.


    "He''s here." The guard spoke through am device.


    At that moment, the security surveince of the building watched the monitors that were being disyed.


    As Seeker''s view disappeared on the cameras outside of the building and into the building halls, the man immediately pressed the button and a falsified feed was disyed on the CCTV cameras.


    With that Seeker managed to go through the halls without being seen on camera.


    Seeker moved towards the elevator and didn''t press any number but instead pressed on the button to allow Seeker to speak directly to the security surveince team who was waiting for the signal.


    "Casual." Seeker spoke softly.


    That was the signal.


    The man immediately knew what to do as he pressed on a button that made the elevator go down.


    Deep down. Lower than the lowest floor registered.


    Inside an exquisite and well-decorated bar, soft jazz music was being yed as several of the rich and powerful sat and drank to their heart''s content. It was not a chaotic disco bar that was dark and loud.


    It was the exact opposite. The people were loud but not boisterous, they each carried a certain ss in them as continued to converse.


    "Is it time?" A famous politician inquired at the barkeep.


    "We''ve just gotten word that he is in the building." The barkeeper responded.


    "Excellent! Excellent!" The politician smiled.


    Those around the bar heard of the news and cheered. Their previously ssy expressions had a trace of lust and excitement.


    Several of the women who were there started to lick their lips.


    "Months of preparation and it seems that we can finally go through with this!" A famous business stood up and walked towards the door to wait for the star toe in.


    "This has got to be the most satisfying event in years! Who would think that that genius Harker managed to aplish this in three months!" Another sighed in excitement.


    "I had to fake an injury." A well-known athlete sighed.


    "I had to fake some diseases¡­" Laughed a movie producer.


    "Shall we go over the order? First, the individuals who paid top money will go. The transferring is ready." A prompt and strict man spoke as he went over theputer to disy the order.


    Projected on a hologram is the order of people who would go first in using Seeker. On the bottom was the grouping for those who wished to participate in yet another round.


    "Hold it!" A woman stood up.


    "I am willing to top Levan''s ce and pay an additional 10 million credits!" The woman spoke as she red angrily at another man.


    The man she identified as Levan simply chuckled.


    "Now, now, Amanda. You know the rules. No price changes." He chuckled.


    "It is as Levan spoke, madam." Another man added.


    Amanda simply frowned and sat down with a sour expression.


    The door handle shook as the sounds of a slow rustling movement could be heard.


    The person who was opening the door showed hesitation as the dy and slow movements had awkward pauses in between.


    Suddenly the door was opened.


    Seeker Carlean walked in dressed in an extremely good-looking suit.


    His appearance was well-groomed as his ck hair was brushed neatly.


    He exuded an aura of confidence.


    Everyone in that bar stood up and approached Seeker staring at Seeker''s breath-taking form and face.


    The eyes of everyone grew wider as their pupils dted.


    This event has been practiced and nned with over two months'' worth of preparation. With the strict rules and protection that Pangea had emced on Seeker, it was almost impossible to get Seeker to be in these gatherings. But now, it was made possible. These rich and powerful people had all promised to spend millions and nearly billions of credits while some offered their Sydians.


    "Seeker Carlean! My Seeker Carlean!" A woman moaned longingly.


    "Hahaha!" A manughed lustfully.


    "Three hundred million credits! It''s all worth it!" Another man spoke excitedly.


    "The star of the show has arrived!" Levan walked towards Seeker.


    "It is true! They didn''t lie! You really are open to these¡­ things¡­ oh, Casual Carlean!" Levan''s smile was strange and the great greed and lust could be seen in his eyes.


    "Levan! I''m warning you!" Amanda spoke in disgust. The thought that her Seeker would be so tainted when she would finally have her turn made her so angry.


    Levan ignored her and simplyughed.


    "In three hours¡­ his mine." A fat man looked excitedly at Seeker.


    Others started to calcte when their turn would be. Each paid enough for one hour and thirty minutes. And considering there would be a gap to ''clean'' Seeker up with top-notch technology, a few five or ten-minute gap was also added on their equations.


    Levan took out his own drugs which he prepared for the asion.


    "I really have to thank you, guys." Seeker smiled.


    "This five-day break from streaming is what I need." Seekerughed.


    "Oh? You actually anticipate this? My my¡­ I will make sure to give you a good time!" The manughed.


    "Not really. What I meant was, my departure from the watchful eyes of Pangea could not have been made possible without you. Now I can finally stretch my hands. Too bad, a lot of changes have to be made." Seeker smiled.


    It wasn''t as exaggerated as before.


    Seeker''s Overpowering Will caused a strange paralysis that was simr to having their muscles harden. No one fell down.


    The fear was so intense, that everyone turned stiff. Their muscles never rested as it contracted and experienced a strange spasm. This was one of the few things Seeker managed to understand from the Tyrant Empress. Although Seeker couldn''t force a person to be attracted to him through looks, thebination of Meng''s own biology and the foundations that built the Tyrant Empress'' realm somatotopy had allowed Seeker to create this minor petrification technique.


    "Now, let''s add fear in the mix." Seeker smiled as he dove into his memories to rekindle the dark terrors he faced.


    Aside from the emotions that Seeker leaked, the overpowering force of Seeker''s new body allowed him to perform a minor effect that Meng had. To the eyes of his onlookers, Seeker wasn''t human but everyone shuddered and instinctively thought that Seeker was something else.


    In that instant five died immediately from a heart attack. Though they were dead as they''re heart had failed, they were standing still. The intense invasion of Seeker''s cells had caused their brains to still act and send signals throughout the body.


    The Realm of an Oveer had crushed them.


    "Good. A perfect score. Those that we concluded could die of a heart attack died immediately. It looks like my reapers'' breath has gotten stronger than ever¡­ Or is it because of Meng''s cancer cells?" Seeker was satisfied with the result but pondered on the possibilities.


    "There are sixteen of you here. Five have now died¡­ As nned¡­ three wouldmit suicide. While two would die being murdered by some of you¡­ while the rest will remain as ves. ves who will die at our discretion to cover the intense exchange of money that will transpire tonight. Perfect. And after getting all your money, the trail leading back to me will almost be non-existent. Gentlemen, we''ve done the impossible. We stole over a billion credits right under the intense and watchful eyes of Pangea, the Underworld, the WGP and the Aragarians." Seeker smiled and started to apuse.


    "Two months¡­ I had to prepare for this and made Harker use his Path to take over this disgusting organization. And after that, we had to wait until we got Pangean. Now I can easily use this venue to call out all the disgusting perverts like you, take your money and do whatever I can with you." Seeker narrated as he walked towards one of the men who died with a heart attack.


    "At the same time¡­ I finally get to stretch my legs and face more assassins." Seeker motioned and several of the guards approached Seeker.


    It was clear that their paces were slow and difficult.


    "Ge-Ge-general¡­" A guard approached as he handed over an enclosedptop with shaking arms.


    "Don''t feel guilty. It''s impressive that you didn''t even drop theptop." Seeker smiled.


    Seeker took a quick look at the numbers.


    "Nice. That''s nearly 2 billion credits. I guess we can find ways to spend some more on buying technological weapons from Meng and Lennox.. Are the gambling dens ready?" Seeker smiled greedily at the amount of cash they would earn tonight.

 Chapter 144 - Means, Motive And Opportunity

    Due to the massive repercussions of a single event like the raping of Seeker would have on the world, the Underworld organizations that would organize such events required a lot of security deposits. In fact, even for the rich individuals in this room, they had to ce a massive deposit that totaled more than half of everything they owned.


    This was so that if ever any of these men would try to renege from the agreement or end up causing problems for the organization, the hosting organization could simply take away their money.


    All of these Sydians and Credits stood at the ready for Seeker to take.


    "Yes, Sir. The number of um¡­ perverts have exceeded our initial calction. Four more have joined in this." A familiar security guard approached. Unlike the former guard, he was more calm and rxed. It was one of Harker''s trusted soldiers whom Seeker has met several times in his dealings with Harker.


    "Why, Tyler. How fast of you! Already at Proficient?"


    "It''s all because of your care, General." The soldier saluted.


    "Have you confirmed that their travel towards this ce has been made in secret?"


    "We have confirmed it. They have made great preparations long ago to hide their movements and they have done it well. The timing of each also had made it clear that they will be silent in social media and other public appearances for the next two weeks."


    "Good. This is a perfect time for them to eithermit suicide, kill each other or undergo a Programmed ve surgery. Anyways, what do you have to knock them all out? We can''t hurt them yet as we still have to analyze who we to kill, to do surgery on and so on."


    "We have a tranquilizer gun that can stun them. It''s designed like a real gun and can fire at the same rate and speed. But the impact is not lethal even if you aim for the head. I hope that this is convenient for you, sir."


    "It''s perfect. I can use that for the party upstairs." Seeker smiled as he noticed the unique gun on the soldier''s waist.


    "Has Harker prepared the operating room? We need to do the surgery immediately."


    "The Doctors are ready to perform the Programmed ve surgery." The soldier replied. He raised a small suitcase he carried and gave it to Seeker.


    Seeker opened it and admired the sheer work of art.


    "Pangean Eradication Technology and Bio Receptors. Two of Pangean''s deadliest weapon. Untraceable by technologies are known to Earth. The perfect device to create spies. Did you know that even now, Russia has yet to perfect the creation of the perfect spy? They sought brainwashing techniques, which means to hide and kill emotions¡­ But they were all too shallow. If people simply used human greed and the deepest desire of pleasure and vanity, we could easily control the world." Seeker smiled.


    THUD!


    A soldier had fallen and copsed on the floor.


    Seeker then noticed that even Tyler had a strange expression.


    "Sir¡­ About your pressure." He stood the closest to Seeker and was bearing the full power of it.


    The other guards around the room were all having strange expressions. As if they were on the verge of copse.


    "Oh. Sorry. Let''s knock them out first them." Seeker took the gun that was hanging by the soldier''s waist.


    Seeker then shot Levan.


    BANG!


    The gunfire caused many of the fear-stricken individuals to flinch in fear. Some even stumbled down and started squirming.


    Levan fell to the ground as blood spilled out of his chest.


    "What the Nutterballs?!" Seeker cursed.


    "This is a real gun!"


    "Ye-yes, Sir. That''s my custom made gun. The tranquilizer gun is with Scribs." The soldier pointed to the other soldier who was carrying a gun that looked like the usual tranquilizer guns of the Pangean army.


    Seeker cursed. Wounding Levan like this would lead to a mess in their ns. The excuse and ns that they have made for each pervert¡­ The individual present was detailed and precise. But now, things had changed because Seeker was a trigger-happy person.


    Seeker walked towards the other soldier with an odd expression and took the gun and immediately shot everyone who wasn''t soldiers. After that, Seeker stopped releasing the powerful pressure.


    "Give him medical attention. And I guess do the Programmed ve surgery immediately.


    The soldiers scurried to get the fallen Laven and started to carry him to the room prepared for their Programmed ve surgery.


    The soldier reached the door at the back and gave a loud knock.


    "What the?! Why is that guy bleeding?!" A doctor cursed.


    "We were expecting surgery for the brain and heart! We don''t have the equipment suited for a damned gunshot wound! Especially something this critical! This bullet round prated through his lungs and made arge hole!" The doctorined.


    "Who''s the genius who shot this man?!" The doctor cursed.


    The soldiers hurriedly closed the door for fear of the Oveer outside.


    "Call Harker and have him send a medical team with all the necessary equipment for surgery. Have one of your men fake a heart attack on the public area so that you can call the ambnce." Seeker ordered hurriedly.


    Several soldiers started to move immediately.


    Seeker red at Tyler who dared not to look Seeker on the eyes.


    "I want that man alive. In the meantime, it looks like I need to quickly think of a way out of this." Seeker immediately activated Surmounting Thought. Taking the foundations of Arthur and Lennox''s thought process through Seeker''s studies of the two''s brain cells, Seeker was able to divide his thoughts and created a secondary thought process. Although this was the first time he would activate it as the consumption was just too great, Seeker''s current scenario required him to immediately think his way through this minor ident.


    Although it wasn''t as powerful as Lennox''s thought process which Lennox could "program" to continuously calcte allowing him to perfectly change his cells to its lightning formation, the secondary thought process of Seeker allowed him to easily think and calcte faster than before. The only disadvantage was that Seeker had to force his cells to a temporary Surmounting state which consumed a lot of energy.


    As Seeker started to use his mind to surpass the ways humans thought, it was then a strange sensation ran across his body. It was as if for a microsecond, perhaps even faster than that, Seeker''s entire body went numb.


    "Finally." Seeker thought to himself.


    "Finally?" It was then that Seeker wondered.


    "Sir?" Tyler asked as he heard Seeker mumble.


    Seeker then shook his head at the peculiar event. As his mind started to think of what to do, he finally came up with a n.


    "Get me three back-ribs, two roasted chicken, two tes of rice, and what soup does this ce serve? A screw it, get the two most expensive ones." Seeker ordered as he sat down. One of the guards immediately scrambled and ced the order.


    "Get them here in ten minutes." Seeker''s expression looked worn out. Without the same suit which had a stored energy costing, a single usage of any forced Surmounting ate up a lot of energy.


    "Alright. Soldiers." Seeker called out. The surrounding soldiers approached Seeker.


    "Select six from them and have them scheduled for the Programmed ve surgery. Since I shot Levan due to someone''s ipetence¡­" Seeker gave another re.


    The soldier, Tyler had a bitter expression on.


    "Who''d expect that you''d just shoot people!?" Tyler cursed silently.


    "Let''s do it like this. Now that Levan''s critically wounded, if he lives he''d take more than a month to recover. Making his future movements limited. Let''s make it that he and that man went into a wager which escted to them gambling five hundred million credits. Levan won, the other man got mad and shot him. So basically we''ll be framing one of these guys. It''s best if we make the person who shoots him another Programmed ve. Who''s the best candidate?" Seeker turned to ask Tyler.


    "Amanda. She hates his guts. Even in the Underworld, it would only seem natural that a simple gambling bet between the two could escte into this."


    "Good. That seems like a good excuse for their disappearance. Turn both of them into Programmed ves. This means instead of nting the mind chip on these two, we''ll just nt them with a bomb for now. How long until the next batch of those mind cells are ready?"


    "Since we''re running low after using our entire stock to turn those foreigners into Programmed ves, the next batch of working mind cells should bepleted by the end of this week."


    "Alright. nt the bomb on their hearts and send these two to Harker. Instead of controlling them as ves, we can make Harker do his magic. I''m sure the threat of death should be enough for Harker to tread in Shameless Audacity."


    One soldier immediately went out of the room to inform Harker.


    "Use the money that Levan and Amanda prepared to rent me as the money for the gamble and make Amanda make a bet on the opposing side. We can add from Amanda''s current money with these other people."


    "Sir. Amanda is scheduled to go to China tomorrow."


    Seeker was then surprised and smiled.


    "Perfect. It looks like I can slip in and out of China easier. Alright. Do the same, but for Amanda, let''s not turn her into a ve yet. It looks like we cannot risk any surgeries for her just yet. I need her to bring me in and out of China."


    "Sir, what about your gamble?"


    "Have Lynd be my recement for the uing bet. We can make it that there was another attempt to kill me. And with Harker''s recent alliance with Colestar, an assassination attempt is expected. Also, to make the bet even more dramatic, get Harker involved. Make him force Covenant to increase the yers to face Lynd to one-hundred-fifty."


    The soldier was stunned.


    "The game settings of Lynd''s y must be set to the highest level so that the bullets can be seen. This will ensure Lynd''s victory. On the front, it will look like that Harker is showing off and challenging the underworld that he can make use of me and Lynd."


    Tyler nodded in amazement. It wasn''t even ten seconds when Seeker began to think and started giving out orders. And his ns were already this detailed.


    "As for those who died via heart-attack, put all the money they brought now to be gambled against Lynd. Their defeat of the bet could be the cause of the heart attack. I want this organization to be part of the bet as well and make it look like these five borrowed five hundred million credits each. I think this would be reasonable grounds for a heart attack." Seekerughed.


    "We should have enough to turn the rest to be Programmed ves as was nned. Have themmit suicide. Some must have a videotaped confession, while others to write a letter. You guys get creative. Just remember the three most important factors in trying to cover this whole thing up." Seeker reminded solemnly.


    "Yes, Sir. Means, Motives and Opportunity. We are to ensure that the means of murder cannot be traced to us, the motives of these men whomit murder will seem natural in the eyes of that outside, and that we or any organization that is tied to you do not have the opportunity to perform the act of murder." Tyler repeated.


    "Good. Assume that Sherlock Holmes is on our tail. We have to make all these three factors work out beautifully that it won''t point back to us."


    "Seems a bit wasteful, sir. Can''t we just make them ves and use their money-making capabilities to support us?"


    "No. The more we spread our, the riskier it gets. As of now, even Presiders would find it hard to enter Pangea now that Harker and Colestar are allies. But these politicians, actors, and stars move around the world. If they get in contact with a Presider, then we risk them getting discovered. It''s best to kill them and milk them for what they are currently worth."


    "But wouldn''t their deaths draw attention to the public and therefore make the Aragarians or the WGP wary?"


    "These groups are poorer than the rest and aren''t worth much to either to the Aragarians or the WGP so I doubt their suicides will have any negative effects. The expenses of turning them into Programmed ves should be easily paid by their wealth. Have them redo all their will and give the inheritance to a charity organization under Harker or any organizations belonging to Lennox. You can also make them give it all to Eagles churches and ministries and for those based on Pangea, make them give it to our orphanages."


    "Sir, Yes sir."


    "For now, our immediate action is to make them Programmed ves and have them ready their funds for the gamble against Lynd," Seeker added.


    Suddenly, Seeker''s expression was in deep thought. For a few seconds, he was quiet.


    The soldiers had a strange expression first.


    "Contact Lynd." Seeker finally ordered.


    "Tell him I''ll be leaving tomorrow. We are to make him fact two hundred yers but tell him that he can use Peals of Thunder to scare or paralyze his enemies when necessary. If he asks about the possible effects of revealing Peals of Thunder, tell him that Harker''s Path will fix whatever possible attention that will be aimed at him if he uses the path." Seeker immediately stood up and walked towards the door.


    "Where are all their bodyguards?" Seeker then asked.


    "They are at the penthouse."


    "Now let''s see if any among these men are worth being part of my army. I hope these seasoned veterans of the Underworld will be unlike those death-row prisoners. To think that some actually died in fear of me." Seeker clicked his tongue as he recalled the experimental sessions he did.


    "Sir. General Harker asks if you can keep all alive and not go overboard. Even if they don''t have the potential, General wants to try a different route and see if his Path can make others believe in you."


    "Fear is not a good foundation for their faith in me." Seeker shook his head.


    "For Cliff¡­. It wasn''t just fear. It was amazement. For seasoned veterans who think they are at the top of this world, seeing something they cannot exin will birth more fear. So I don''t think I can make a World Champion out of any of these. The weak that shames the strong. That''s what we are looking for."


    "General Harker still insist, sir. An Unbing is still useful for his own ns."


    Seeker sighed.


    "Whatever. I guess that man''s not half bad. I doubt his ns will work¡­ but he does thread on shameful audacity. Make sure that those Underworld thugs will be partying inside the enclosed walls. You are positive the acoustics upstairs are perfect?"


    "Yes. We followed the same standards that have led to Sting''s capture a few months back."


    "Good. That building had great acoustic setup." Seeker recalled the amazing design and how Sting was unprofessionally captured by Harker''s men.


    "I''m going up then. What weapons have you prepared for me, this time?"


    "A il, a butcher''s knife, and arge halberd crafted ording to your specifications. Oh and uh¡­ these tranquilizer guns." Tyler responded and pointed to the guns that the other guards were carrying.


    "How many Aragarians have we confirmed?"


    "There should be three on the penthouse, sir. All of them are in charge of the security of these men. Is it possible for Pioneers to be among them?"


    "No. These are just nteds. But we can use them to get to the Pioneers and learn more about the current situation of these Aragarians. Since it won''t be a while till we can contact Pridgeon, we should do this."


    "Are we going to have them undergo surgery?"


    "No. Too risky. Since Programmed ves are Aragarians tech they might have technologies to detect them."


    "Then how do we¡­?"


    "We''ll lock them up for now. But once she is out of her little cage, we''ll ship them off to wherever she is."


    "She?"


    "The Tyrant Empress."

 Chapter 145 - Meeting The Mercenaries

    Since Seeker Carlean was a Pangean native, it was virtually impossible to move him out of the country. The Underworld Organization known as the Three Dashes had stated that meeting Seeker would only be held within Pangea. Anyone who wanted to rent Seeker had to move into Pangea. Unlike Meryl who was generally unguarded by the military, theplication of moving Seeker was deemed as impossible.


    The people who had the money and the connections to sneak them into Pangea naturally all brought their bodyguards.


    And these weren''t just ordinary bodyguards. People of the Underworld generally had a lifespan of only up to three years. Any organization that managed to remain standing was powerful. More so for hitmen''s, assassins and bodyguards. Those who would be able to remain in the business after several years were naturally powerful and in fact, many would try their best to stray away from each other''s paths.


    As for the bodyguards that apanied those who wanted Seeker, some were already on their fifth year, while others had a decade worth of experience.


    These were the cr¨¨me of the crop. And naturally, since enemies would often find themselves working with each other again, the level of professionalism that these men had was extraordinary. For people of these levels, they bore no grudges at the other assassins and could evenugh and joke around with each other, even if their conflicts and previous shes had resulted in a severed limb.


    Three Dashes would treat the clients of Seeker as extremely important VIPs and would get the best service possible. The bodyguards, which although would have a vast difference in terms of amodation, would also be generally treated like a VIP.


    No organization wanted to draw the ire of a mercenary who has lived long in the Underworld.


    And so unlike themon perception, the hired hand of these secretly notorious politicians, entertainers and other people of authority do not give in to worldly pleasures as they still have a job to do. Their alcohol was limited, their behavior was descent, and even their grooming was above average. They did no drugs and had a high level of self-control.


    And although the movies would show them as wild, vulgar and self-centered, it was actually the opposite. In fact, many of these movies that showed the wild nature of mercenaries were actually paid by the Underworld itself to continuously brainwash the world into having a stereotypical mindset against these. In fact, any sessful movie or TV production that portrayed assassins as highly cultured individuals were generally forced into a cessation of its production and release.


    The truth was exactly the opposite. The Underworld itself was the greatest and most impable existence of hospitality, customer service, and support. Of course, this was because it needed to. With the current state of the world and how it denounces drugs, human trafficking, prostitution, and other vices deemed a threat to society, the secret deals, and trades of this world required to improve its overall "services."


    Secrecy has been pushed to a higher level that was even bordering paranoia. The preparations to perform a single illegal deal were extremely detailed. For the more despised illegal activities such as human trafficking and prostitution, any men of power would have to take a lot of necessary precautions including ensuring that their traces were left undetected and some even opted to create opportunities to keep them away from the eyes of society.


    In fact, most people of power would have to create an illusion that they are somewhere else before taking part in such an event.


    And just as how high and tight the secrecy of this is, the bodyguards, the security details, and even the hired mercenaries that would protect these individuals all would put serious attention and a high level of professionalism as the dangers that follow their clients are high.


    And while all the clients who wished to purchase Seeker were kept secret on one of the lower floors of this building, the Mercenary huddled at their usual spot. Seated on the enclosed bar on the high tower were these well-armed and very professional assassins.


    The room was full of people sitting casually at their ces with their own businesses. Some were napping, others were on their phones while many others were chatting of how they managed to nearly kill each other.


    In the far, innermost corner of this bar, a man was seated and continued to drink a colorful drink with vors that the world would yearn for.


    "Madison." A tall and blonde woman smiled as she sat down near a thin and strangely frail-looking man.


    The man gazed at the woman and took off the ck visor he wore.


    "Cheryl. Nice to see you. You nearly killed me back then." The man smiled.


    "I guess that puts our scores at a tie." The woman called Cherylughed.


    "Bodyguard detail?" Cheryl asked.


    "Yes. But I''m not working for an individual. I was hired by N.C."


    "Oh? So I''m guessing the priest you are working with should be one of high position. And I''m sure my client is here for the same thing."


    "Seeker Carlean, huh?" The frail man was surprised.


    Several of the rxing men in the room turned and gazed curiously as they heard the two talk.


    Noticing the expressions of those nearby, the two suddenly understood what was going on.


    "What? It looks like it''s a party. No wonder I had to sign those uses that if I were to attack any other mercenary or assassin unless confirmed to be for self-defense would be the termination of my contract." Cherylughed.


    "You too, Oark?" The frail man called Madison asked a burly man on the other side of the table.


    The burly man simply nodded.


    "It seems that everyone in this room has been hired as bodyguards for people who would be enjoying Seeker Carlean," Oark spoke softly and started to drink.


    "You''re a fan of Piercing. So you must be affected by this." Cherylughed.


    Oark retained his stoic expression.


    "Unless I can see his showing weakness on his games, I''m not bothered at whatever hobbies he is indulging in."


    "How boring." Cherylughed.


    "Still¡­ It''s no wonder even my trip here was shrouded with secrecy and had to have no trail. It seems our clients participating in an awfully sensitive activity." Madison frowned.


    "Oh don''t be such a worry-worth. The preparations that Three Dashes made to keep our arrival a secret is one of the mostplex and detailed I''ve seen."


    "Even so! The World Governing Powers has received tremendous bacsh because of Seeker''s stunts! I got into contact with some of the WGP''s descendants and they aren''t happy with Seeker!"


    Cheryl was surprised by this information. A look of worry had appeared on her face.


    "If this was a single client, or two, then I would have agreed. But with over ten people renting Seeker? Should this information leak out, all of us are in danger of exposure!"


    "The Underworld and Harker are protecting Seeker. It should be fine." Oark replied stoically.


    "But that doesn''t fix the fact that the Pangean Government and the WGP are keeping an eye at Seeker Carlean. Should the WGP get any wind of this, it will do everything in its power to destroy Seeker''s reputation and that includes allowing us pawns to be revealed!" Madison countered.


    "I''m terminating my contract. It would have been easy if one or two people disappeared but several? Too risky. The WGP might connect the dots." Madison stood up.


    Suddenly the door opened.


    A young teen walked into the room and the door closed.


    Several of the guards came out carrying several weapons including arge halberd that looked terrifying.


    "Ladies and gentlemen! People of the Abyss! Men and women of the Underworld! Assassins! Hitmans! Mercenaries! Good evening!" The young teenughed.


    "Seeker Carlean!" A series of surprised and confused cries were heard.


    "You have all failed your contract. Your clients are either dead, captured or due to the ipetence of my own soldiers, at a critical condition with arge hole on his lungs. Whose Levan''s hired men?" Seeker asked.


    Everyone in the room all reached for their weapons. As part of the protocol of any organization in the Underworld, these mercenaries were allowed to carry weapons at all times even in the lounges and bars.


    "What''s going on? What do you want?" Madison was the first to ask.


    "What I want?" Seeker sneered.


    He took therge halberd ced near him.


    "Death."


    What followed was a blurring movement that surpassed the speed of humans.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The ones further at the back managed to shoot. Madison, Cheryl, and Oark who were at the deepest corner at the bar unleashed their barrage.


    The nearby mercenaries did no such thing as their instinctive reactions were to evade the fast-moving teen.


    The halberd arced like lightning and smashed towards a nearby mercenary throwing him off to the side. After this, the blurring figure surprisingly retreated to the side even though the initial volley of bullets did not hit him. Seeker moved and hid towards one of the many thick pirs.


    "Much better. You can react with such speed. It really proves that your mercenaries are far better than those soldiers I usually train with." Seekerughed as his figured blurred and moved from one pir to the other.


    "Form a perimeter. Get close and huddle up. Anyone with defensive technologies takes the front." Madison ordered.


    Although these mercenaries would often fight and even kill each other, right now they had only one enemy. And as working and killing each other weremon and expected subterfuges necessary for their work, they immediately adapted.


    Everyone knew that the frail Madison wasn''t an ordinary mercenary but was, in fact, a mercenary with an impable reputation. He has yet to protect a client that had died. Though his wounds and near-deaths were as high as the rest, his methodological and well-nned tactics always led to the client''s safety.


    As such, the mercenaries all followed Madison''s orders. Cheryl even stood near him.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The gunfire continued.


    "His movements are impossible. Seeker must be a Pangean experiment. His body should be three times faster than the rest of us." Madison analyzed.


    "Be careful and employ all defensive technologies. Don''t hold back. Protections on explosives, chemicals, and even Eradication techs. Use it all at once."


    The mercenaries suddenly brought out their techs and activated it.


    "Low Tier Barrier?" Cheryl was surprised at the technology that therge Oark employed.


    "Good. What we need is time. Try to contact- hm?!" Madison was suddenly surprised as the sight that he witnessed.


    Seeker charged forth with a wild expression. He threw his halberd towards the group and the halberd smashed on the barrier.


    SMASH!


    The barrier had actually shown signs of faltering.


    "The halberds are made of Almetal!"


    "How the hell did he throw that thing?"


    "Throw? How the hell did he even carry it!"


    Some of the mercenaries were panicking.


    "Calm down! Tighten the perimeter anything that gets out of those pirs must be shot!" Madison ordered.


    Since the barrier remained strong, everyone continued to shoot whenever the slightest of movements were noticed. The bullets they shot passed through the barrier without obstruction as the strange technology allowed everyone on the inside of the barrier to attack.


    Seeker smiled as he charged forward.


    His eyes saw every gun aimed at him and easily evaded the bullets.


    During Seeker''s retreat during the time he fainted, Seeker had solidified his own biology to follow the building blocks of the theorized requirements to form a Ranked Heroes body.


    One of the reasons why it was extremely difficult to form a Ranked Hero was that aside from the harsh requirement of their Paths, the biological changes of their body had to be unique.


    For Ranked Heroes like Meryl and Typical, a modified cell that contained massive stored energies was necessary to pull off their own techniques.


    Others like the Thief in the Night had to have a body of different pores and skin cells that could perform a strange camouging skill.


    As the various forms of Path''s were revealed, the study on developing a perfect human that could meet the many features was made.


    The bodies that Oveers or those at World Champion level had, were far tooplicated. No one dared look at the Tyrant Empress''s cells unless they wanted to be lost in the phantasmagoria of the Empress''s beauty. No one could make heads or tails with Meng''s body as the cells were too inhuman and didn''t even seem possible to create.


    Lennox''s body was basically that of a regr Ranked Hero but his powers of transformation were due to his high intellect. The rest followed a generic Ranked Heroes body simr to Meryl''s or Typical.


    Seeker had the same body. He had a Ranked Heroes body that resulted to his own set of impossible miracles.


    But in this timeline, Seeker was aware of the Truth. And with the truth he gathered from Meng''s and the Tyrant Empress'' own cells, Seeker was slowly creating a body that was codenamed "Pathless." This was a theorized body that was aimed to bepatible with all possible Paths.


    Thest three months were not merely spent on ying games. Seeker had intentionally been limiting his actions because he kept changing the cells in a slow but sure manner. The energy he had to expend and the food that he had to eat on every meal could have fed ten people just to keep up with the hungry cells of his body. But soon, his intake grew less and less to the point that he needed to eat five shares of food.


    Lynd''s extreme sympathy and observation had allowed him to unconsciously be capable of morphing his own body. But Seeker managed to reach the level through the scientific research of Arthur, Lennox, and Charles. With a body that was made up of a high amount of cancer cells, Seeker''s stored energy had grown almost ten times and after mastering the skills during these past months, Seeker could now use these skills with the lowest energy consumption possible.


    And so, excluding Surmounting Thought that utilized brain cells, Seeker''s usage of Surmounting Strength, Surmounting Sight and other simr skills could now be used more often.


    Surmounting Strength gathered at Seeker''s arm. He punched out towards the barrier as he approached.


    The punch caused thundering echoes as the velocity of the punch had almost reached the speed of sound.


    Bones that were harder than metal. Muscles that contained massive power and Carbon that was harder than diamond.


    This was but the beginning of a Ranked Heroes body.


    And while Barrier technology could even be used to weaken or block the different levels of the armor-piercing round, against a massive force such as this, it was simply, insufficient.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 146 - Eagles Pastors Conference Notes (Volume 3 Auxiliary )

    [emailprotected]</a>%F <***********@*****.org>


    To: 2Lifw)r3<***********@****>, Ig4(3dl_d2 <***********@*******>


    Dear Z and A,


    I know you two have a lot on your te. But I hope you find time to study this. I offered L to send him some of my sermon notes so that he can peruse it as it seems that giving him this information would be extremely beneficial for the future. But he rejected it.


    He said that he would rather listen to me speak about it personally. Apparently, he wants to believe in it and given his intellectual bias, he may turn deaf ears to the lessons in my notes. He wanted to not only know of what I know but have a chance in believing and he hopes that listening to me would do far more benefit than just reading some letters. I understand his intentions. The best way to learn about something is to believe in it. So he suggested having a personal meeting. I''m wanted to conduct a Bible study but with the way things are now, I guess it will have to wait.


    Z, I hope our previous discussions from so long ago, (it feels like it''s been another lifetime, right?) have somehow created a foundation of belief. Perhaps what had happened to you is one of the miracles that the Almighty allowed. I firmly believe this. So I am hoping this letter would allow you to better understand what actions to take and that you could pass this information along to anyone who you think could help in this. You have been taking the right steps and I guess it would be attributed to our talks from long ago.


    Anyway, here is the draft of a conference message I''ve prepared to give on one of our uing Bible Conferences. Perhaps this may give you some insight on what to do with your life and how you can be of benefit to the lives of others.


    Also, that kid from Psalms 1 might also benefit from reading this. I have a feeling that he wouldn''t want to attend a Bible study hosted by me because of our ''conflicting'' methods.


    Best regards,


    Calvin Luther Eagle Senior Pastor at Grace From God Ministries


    1 Attached File


    A Study on Typology (I will be discussing more of this during the Bible Study and exin the key aspects in detail. Treat this study as a primer for the things to be discussed soon.)


    Prophecy has always been something that people found intriguing and mystifying.


    The Bible contains the most prophecies that have been urately fulfilled in human history.


    For example, the prophecy on Tyre in Ezekiel 26¡­


    In that Prophecy, several prophetic elements that seem extremely unlikely to be fulfilled if we apply the science of probability. For the sake of time, I will only go over several key aspects of the Prophecies and will not deal with any other prophecies made against Tyre on other verses in the Bible.


    I have selected five of the ''most intriguing'' prophecies that were fulfilled right down to the dot and remind you, that the chapter consists of more elements that have been fulfilled.


    As a background, Tyre as a city isposed of two parts. One city in the maind, called ''Ushu'' or Old Tyre, and another city built on a small ind about half a mile away from the shore of Old Tyre. This city on the small ind ismonly known as Tyre.


    In Ezekiel 26, Tyre was supposed to be:


    1. Attacked by Nebuchadnezzar (v. 7)


    2. Attacked by "many nations" (v.3)


    3. The stone and timbers of this city would be thrown in the sea (v.12)


    4. Will be scrapped like a bare rock (v.4)


    5. The Ocean depths will rise over it (v.19)


    A popr opinion regarding prophecies is that any prophecy may eventually be fulfilled as time pass by as the things that have been written may be fulfilled by chance. If Chapter 26 of Ezekiel talks about any city, with any conqueror, that is indeed true but this chapter exclusively talks about the city of Tyre.


    This prophecy is not talking of any city. No, it''s not the city of New Birth Forth or the City of World''s Helm. It''s taking about the city of Tyre.


    And this city is to be attacked by Nebuchadnezzar. Not by Hitler, not by the Fire Nation, not by Team Rocket, but by Nebuchadnezzar. A specific person living in a specific time. And this city would also be attacked by many nations, its stone and timbers would be thrown in the sea and the city will be scrapped like a bare rock and that the Ocean will somehow rise over the city itself. It''s interesting how specific it is.


    Now, historically, the first aspect was easily fulfilled.


    About a decade after the prophecy was believed to be written, Nebuchadnezzar attacked the city and we have evidence to support this historic fact. But Nebuchadnezzar was only able to conquer Old Tyre as the other city on the small ind was naturally protected by the sea and Tyre had an impressive fleet of ships.


    So none of the other prophecies were fulfilled. Numbers two to five on our prophecy list were not fulfilled during this attack.


    Should we now mock the Bible for its inuracy?


    Be aware, that the remaining uses of this prophecy are almost impossible to fulfill.


    Why would the city be attacked and someone would be so bored as to take the stones and timbers from the wrecked city and throw it on the ocean? Why would they do that to the point of scrapping the ruins of the city to a point that what remains will look like a bare rock? And how will the ocean rise over it?


    The fulfillment of the other aspects of the prophecy urred nearly 200 yearster.


    The Prophecy was written sometime on 587-586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar attacked it on 573BC, but the fulfillment of prophecy points numbers 2-5 would be on 332BC when a man who conquered nations led an army consisting of armiesing from different nations and attacked the very city of Tyre.


    We know this man to be "Alexander the Great."


    We know Alexander the Great would force another nation to submit and aid him in his conquest so many nations could easily be fulfilled at this point.


    He led his armies and attacked Tyre, conquering Old Tyre once more. But this wasn''t enough.


    Tyre was arrogant and mocked Alexander for failing once more as the settlers have retreated to their city-ind protected by their vast fleet of ships. Seeing as how Tyre remained safe like a turtle and having the sea as a natural barrier with a fleet of ships that even Alexander the Great could not easily destroy, Alexander and his armies came up with an ingenious n.


    A great task of building a man-made bridge from the coast of Old Tyre to New Tyre started. Alexander ordered his men to take the ruins of Old Tyre, throw it to the sea to build a bridge to which they can use to attack the city of Tyre.


    In this, Prophecy points numbers 2-4 have been fulfilled. The prophecies which seem almost impossible actually happened.


    Many nations came, attacked Tyre, took the ruins of the city and threw it to the ocean to make a small bridge, scrapping Old Tyre like a rock.


    But what about number 5?


    Well, because of the man-made bridge which supported and allowed Alexander to send his armies to attack Tyre, the topography of the ind changed making the bridge leading to Tyre into a penins which exists to this day. Because of this change which led to a massive geographic change on the area, the location of the Old Tyre was eventually buried by sand and water ultimately, burying the location of Old Tyre underwater forever.


    God sent Nebuchadnezzar andter fulfilled it some 200 yearster in the person of Alexander the Great. But thest bit of prophecy would be fulfilled about a thousand yearster as the coastline of Tyre changed because of the man-made bridge of Alexander.


    Now you calcte the odds of this prophecy being fulfilled? What other nation, since 587 BC, was named Tyre, attacked by a Nebuchadnezzar andter by many nations, and apparently, the entire city structure is thrown to the sea, scraped like bare rock, andter sinks to the ocean? What are the odds of that happening? And remember, I haven''t listed ALL the prophecies that Tyre is supposed to fulfill!


    Now this maye as an intriguing historical study, but the reason I''m discussing Tyre is to formally challenge whether or not this Prophecy would have only ONE fulfillment or will it be fulfilled again? What if, the verses in the Bible may be foreshadowing something that will happen in the future.


    Now, let me rify, I honestly believe that in Ezekiel 26, most of the prophecies written there have already been fulfilled. What I''m saying, is that we open our exegesis to the possibility that it could be fulfilled again!


    How would something that had literally happened be fulfilled again? To argue, I would like to point you to the study of Eschatology, or the interpretation of the End of Times. We call it the Apocalypse, the Last Days and so on. Many camps and theological schools all have different opinions and interpretations as to their fulfillment. And throughout the course of history, there have been several interpretations which the people of that time were sure of because it made sense.


    During the time of Apostolic era, if you read the Book of Revtion, you would say, the anti-Christ is Rome.


    Hundreds of yearster, Martin Luther made the same conclusion during the Reformation period. Their study of the Word led to this conclusion.


    Back in World War 2, everyone believed that the Anti-Christ was Hitler. The Jews who suffered so much would certainly think so as well.


    During World War 3, everyone then med Graden Pouterfisx to be the Anti-Christ as it led to the further destruction of Israel.


    Right now, because of the Australian Avarice, many even say that Australia is the Anti-Christ.


    And for the Australian natives of today, they would say, Harker or that gamer-turned-terrorist Lowengren is the Anti-Christ. (Honestly, I wouldn''t be surprised.)


    Others believe, that it''s the World Governing Powers, and still some point to that miraculous E-Sport Gamer, Seeker Carlean to be the Anti-Christ as he must have sold his soul to the devil to be that good in Piercing! (Z, as you noticed, I like to add current events like this as a sermon illustrations to draw attention to the younger audience. It really makes most gamers listen to my sermon if I mention famous e-sport yers.)


    And quite honestly, except those saying its Seeker, the rest had a valid reason to im that this was the Anti-Christ as they disyed a shocking level of depravity, wickedness, and immorality.


    Are we to assume that they were all wrong? Perhaps¡­ Or maybe perhaps from Hitler, all the way to the Australian Avarice, they have been "Types" or signs that will simply point us to a Final Anti-Christ. Perhaps, God, in order to constantly remind us that His Word is True and indeed miraculous, has destined history, as written in the Bible to have several fulfillments, many of which are partial fulfillments or foreshadowing to a final fulfillment?


    And it is in this vein, that we find ourselves in the study of Typology.


    Typology is the study of signs, symbols and the interpretation of Types.


    Let me take a positive example to further cement my case¡­


    You''ve heard me say several times that I say Samuel in the book of 1 Samuel of a "typology" or a sign that points to Jesus. In many ways, an appropriate approach would be to read 1 Samuel with the assumption that Samuel foreshadows Jesus.


    If we go to the prophecy in 1 Samuel 2, God got angry at the current High Priest, Eli, and prophesied to Eli that Eli''s lineage would-be priest who wouldn''t reach old age and that their line would stop serving in the altar. After that, God gave this prophecy in 1 Samuel 2:35,


    "I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do ording to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always."


    Now the immediate assumption as to the fulfillment of this prophecy, if we follow that story, is that we would assume it to be fulfilled through the priest to Samuel. Samuel took over when Eli died, he ministered faithfully and reced the line of Priest that served in Israel.


    ording to the Bible, we do not have any records of Samuel evermitting sin, and even on his death, he challenged Israel of this, to which Israel responded that they have noted no sin in Samuel''s lifetime. If you think David had a magnificent title, "a man after God''s own heart," consider Samuel''s title. A man who will do ording to God''s own heart and mind.


    But on the other hand, many would challenge that this verse does not refer to Samuel but to Jesus because of the use that this priest will "minister before God''s anointed ones, always." Which basically implies this priestly line will forever serve God. And only Jesus could fulfill this role.


    My interpretation and I hope this congregation''s interpretation and conviction, would be that this verse was fulfilled in two ways.


    Samuel was the initial fulfillment and is a typology to the final fulfillment, which is Jesus.


    The Bible has been doing this several times and using a certain Old Testament verse and make it a sign that eventually points to Jesus. In other words, these verses have more than one fulfillment.


    A partial fulfillment of the sign in the form of Samuel, a righteous Priest who was impable in actions and wisdom, andter the Great High Priest that we have in Jesus.


    1 Samuel also introduces David, a typology of Jesus in the areas of being a King.


    But of course, this alone could not be supporting evidence for my theory in the study of Typologies. So let''s take a look at another interesting and puzzling verse which shows a unique example of a typology.


    We go to Hosea 11:1 and find an interesting phrase here that was used by the Gospel writer Matthew.


    "Out of Egypt, I called my Son."


    This is a strange verse to use because mainly, ording to the context of Hosea 11:1, the son here refers to the nation Israel. Why did Matthewter use this verse to mean Jesus? We all stand with the idea that the Holy Scripture is inerrant. So why would Matthew, in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, use this verse in its wrong context?


    My answer is Typology.


    Let us first analyze what''s going on in Matthew.


    Joseph and Mary had escaped from Bethlehem because of Herod. They lived in Egypt and waited for Herod to die. Upon Herod''s death, Joseph returns to Israel and so, Matthew summarizes it in verse 15 of chapter 2, And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."


    Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1 and immediately assumes that this is speaking of Jesus when in actuality, the context rules that we so hardly adhere to, dictates that Hosea 11 is talking about the nation Israel!


    Typology easily resolves this issue. If we are to assume that Israel has always been a typology of Jesus, a temporary sign and can have more than one fulfillment in the great passage of time, we can then easily ept this verse.


    By epting that Israel in Hosea 11, represents Jesus, we can actually see that in many ways Israel did foreshadow Jesus.


    Jesus, like Israel, stays in Egypt and leaves to return to the Promised Land. Jesus, Like Israel, is sent to the wilderness to spend a passage of time connected with the number of 40. Israel spent 40 years wandering in the desert, Jesus spent 40 days in the desert.


    The Gospel records that Jesus was sent to the wilderness to be tempted and tried, wasn''t this the case for Israel?


    And isn''t it interesting, that in the famous encounter between Jesus and the Devil in that same wilderness where Israel was tested, Jesus answered the Devil quoting verses from the book of Deuteronomy?


    Deuteronomy discusses most of the consequences that Israel suffered because they failed. In this Typology, Jesus acts as the perfect version of Israel. He goes out of Egypt, is tempted by the devil in the wilderness exposing Him to hunger, thirst, and the danger of being killed by wild animals.


    In Israel''s hunger, theyined to God, and the reluctant response of God was to send Manna from heaven, Satan uses this same strategy and tells Jesus to make stone bread, but Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy saying that man shall not live by bread alone.


    Jesus fasted in that 40 days in the desert. The Israelites feasted with unlimited manna and even by sending birds which the Israelites can easily capture and eat. I can go on and on, but if you analyze the remaining challenges that Satan poised to Jesus, we find that the Israelites actually failed on all of these temptations. In fact, I would go as far to say that the temptations Jesus faced and the temptations Israel faced were roughly the same!


    But it doesn''t stop here, if you''ve read through the Bible, you will know that the moment Israel finally enters the Promised Land, you''ll be reading through the Book of Joshua. And in Hebrew, the name for Joshua is Yeshua, the very same name to which we trante the Name, Jesus!


    So Joshua bes a typology, a foreshadowing that the book of Joshua will also repeat in history. We''ve already seen hints of that! That scene in Joshua 10 where kings in their retreat hid in caves to flee from Israel. Is this not the same vivid imagery exined in the book of Revtion which will be the scene when Jesus returns?


    At this point, I argue, that perhaps in the dogmatic ways of our interpretation of Scripture, we have long set aside the possibility that if the Bible is promised to be the Word of God, Inerrant, relevant and true, then would it not be true for all ages? Is it possible to see this foreshadowing''s again and again?


    I will not be surprised,dies and gentlemen, that in the near future, the very events we read in the book of Revtion will be a typology! A sign that we may soon see, in anticipation of the Second Coming!


    We have long interpreted the book of Revtion and its various events to have passed! How many writers and Bible teachers have risen up to exin how World War Three fulfilled many of the verses in Revtion.


    I''m not saying they''re wrong. I''m saying they could be right. But in this sense, that what they exined are but typologies and these signs that may repeat itself unto final fulfillment.


    So read the Book of Revtion! Read the book of Joshua! Read the Book of Daniel! Of Zacharias, of the many verses and the many books in the Bible which speaks or alludes to theing end!


    We could alle witness to various typologies of events that will have its ultimate fulfillment when Christ return. As for me, I may sound insane, but with the recent events that have been happening, I am certain now, we will bear witness to many foreshadowing''s itself! Make no mistake!


    Perhaps, in theing days, chaos will be revealed. And perhaps, in theing days, someone will rise up perhaps as another foreshadowing of Jesus who will appear in Power and Might! Perhaps, in the days toe, you will all see the Way!


    Let''s close in prayer¡­


    (A and Z, I do hope this gives us a roadmap of future actions you have to take. Revisit the stories in the Old Testament. I have a feeling that one of our friends may be anticipating the revisiting and fulfillment of the prophecies in Egypt. It might take some time until the Bible study after all. So the specific ns that I have in mind to make the world believe in God cannot be exined. For now, read and follow the Word.. Oh, and if C and G are free, have them visit me here in the Americas.)

 Chapter 147 - Conflux Of Emotions

    The Barrier technology developed by the EAA was shocking. Through this technology, it withstood the attacks of the Americas during the Third World War. The weakest barriers could easily block armor-piercing rounds used bymon infantry. Even though this barrier was weak, strategic usage of this tech when paired with their unique Exoskeletons that had fast speed had made EAA a formidable country that made the skirmishes of the Americas and Canada end in failure.


    Even low-tier barriers were priceless that not every rich power in the Underworld could gain ess to it. With its unique andplex resources, it was deemed impossible to reverse-engineer and thus, portable barriers would appear even on enemy countries. Of course, barrier technology could not be used against the EAA as they could easily ess it.


    Oark became an extremely valuable hired guard or hitman in the Underworld as he was one of the few who had managed to acquire portable barriers. Yet who would have thought that a punching from a human could prate through it?


    Various reddish lights had suddenly lit up as the barrier was breached. A hole was made from the punch. The shockwaves of that punch vibrated and exploded out causing the mercenaries behind the barrier to shake and stumble because of the shockwave that was generated from the punch.


    "Tsk! It looks like I can only go this far. Barrier technology is as formidable as ever." Seeker admired. His hand remained prating the barrier. Though the barrier tried to close the gap created, and while normal humans would be crushed at the reforming barrier, Seeker managed to ignore


    But before any of the mercenaries could aim their guns at Seeker, Seeker''s hand opened and a small orb, asrge as a walnut, fell down.


    At that moment, Madison''s years of experience and the throngs of battle experience made him feel that he was on the throes of his death.


    And just like all those other moments where he faced death and barely made out alive, he witnessed the phenomenon that would greet him like an acquaintance.


    Time first started to move at an extremely slow speed. The milliseconds of Seeker''s actions were clearly seen as if the entire act was over five seconds long. But as the bomb dropped, timed move slower still.


    It moves so slow that the falling orb wasn''t moving anymore.


    And for a few seconds, Madison finally concluded that time stopped.


    "I guess this is it?" He thought. Such a strange series of events had befallen him. He was one more mission away from being able to leave the Underworld. Who knows? Maybe he could finally profess his feelings to that person.


    But life was cruel. Thisst mission which paid such a huge amount that he could buy himself out of the picture had too many unpredictable variables. But who would have thought that he would be scammed? Not only was this mission involved in the prostituting of a world-famous gamer, but it also involved the government and even the WGP!


    The strange feelings he felt at that moment when time stood still made himugh at his own misfortunes. Pity still, was the fact, that he could not evenugh or smile as his body remained frozen along with time.


    "I would die from the hands of a kid? What a sick joke." He thought as he looked at the bomb.


    In fact, there was a point where things stopped moving. It was if, time would not move.


    Madison gazed at it for a long time. Sadly, there wasn''t anything he could do. He could not even change the focus of his sight.


    "At least let me have a good look at my killer!" Madison thought as he tried to take a peek at Seeker''s face.


    His eyes were affixed to the small palm of Seeker which dropped the small orb. Even then he tried his best to look at Seeker. But since his eyes had focused on the orb, he could only make out the vague and unfocused image of Seeker''s expression.


    "He''s smiling? What a cruel kid." Madison thought in his heart.


    "I guess this is it." Madison couldn''t smile but he was somewhat happy. Now that he knew he would die, strange emotions began to surface at the thought of freedom from this life.


    He could not even shift his gaze but longed to look at the assassin beside her.


    "Would it be crazy¡­ if I told you that I loved you?" He pondered before epting his faith.


    "At least¡­ let me prove it."


    In the great mystery of that moment, somehow, Madison knew that time would suddenly move forward.


    And immediately after, time indeed moved.


    Seeker''s punching arm retracted at an unbelievable speed and quicker still was Seeker''s retreat. With one powerful step Seeker flew off to the other end of the room as if he was flying.


    Despite the series of unexpected scenarios, the mercenaries still managed to react faster than how most could. And so, most of them noticed the small orb that fell down.


    Before anyone could yell, the bomb immediately exploded.


    THUD!


    A muffled sound could be heard and it was as if a strange vacuum was formed sucking a strange vibration that sounds within the area disappeared.


    The explosion had no mes, no loud booming sounds.


    All that it emitted was a powerful repelling force that threw them all away.


    It was a bomb that was the result of their application and study based on Richie''s voice.


    The Aragarian''s behind the Australian government had been trying to replicate Peals of Thunder. But now that Richie had grown far stronger, and with the great scientist Lennox behind their back, a militarized usage of Richie''s sound was possible.


    Richie was granted the honor to name it.


    The chattering Richiemended Lennox at that time and while Lennox and Arthur had long retreated as Richie''s chattering mouth worn them out, Seeker stayed close by and listened as if he was used to Richie''s endless chatters.


    "What do you want to name it?" Seeker patiently asked.


    "My skill is called Peals of Thunder, right? Then there could only one name for this bomb." Richieughed.


    As Seeker recalled the discussion with Richie, he unconsciously frowned.


    For a split second, Seeker even forgot he was in the middle of battle.


    "It''s a good thing these Balls of Thunder are as useful as you said it was." Seeker sighed. It was then that Seeker''s expression changed.


    The sound bomb shook everyone in the room and they were thrown out and they all crashed to the walls or was ttened on the floor.


    Others flew past Seeker at the force of the explosion.


    Yet despite this bomb, none of the assassins died. It was all ording to Seeker''s calction. The position and direction of how these mercenaries would all be thrown off were urate. Except for two particr people, Madison and the woman called Cheryl.


    Madison''s body had great wounds.


    Seeker gave him an odd look.


    "Unbing. How rare. To think there''d be someone in your group with this potential." Seeker walked closer towards him ignoring all the grunting and the struggling bodies around him.


    "I guess I''ve been greatly underestimating your kind. Perhaps Lander was right. I may not know it, but people like you must have had contributed greatly to our future. Well, this changes things." Seeker smiled.


    At thest possible second, Madison reacted faster than the rest of the mercenaries. He actually moved in front of the mercenary Cheryl and did his best to withstand the explosion.


    The other mercenaries did not have wounds as critical as Madison''s body had.


    In fact, Cheryl, who was thrown off from the back had the fewest since the impact that assaulted her was greatly minimized.


    "Is this love?" Seeker mused to himself.


    "Ah¡­ that familiar face." A strange thought echoed out in Seeker''s mind. At that moment, Seeker then understood the actions of Madison as if years of experience had thought him this reckless and selfless act of sacrifice.


    Seeker frowned as a grave and serious look surfaced on his face.


    "I see¡­ Forget it. I''ll deal with youter." Seeker said to himself. Seeker then nced at the bloodied body of Madison.


    "Amazing. You forced your body to stand still and ept the full force of the st and yet you survived. The transition and effect of the Neuro-Transcellr phenomenon shouldn''t be that fast. Yet your body almost reached the basic level of an Unbing body? How''d you do it?" Seeker moved quickly and stood over Madison.


    "I see¡­ If this was a real bomb, it would¡­ draw the attention¡­" Madisonughed.


    "So¡­ the bomb¡­ was just a st¡­ so you¡­ can disarm us¡­ But why? Aren''t you nning¡­ on killing us?"


    Seeker didn''t bother exining and went ahead and shot Cheryl immediately. Because Madison took the majority of the explosion, Cheryl wasn''t as hurt as the rest.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Three shots rang as Seeker shot Cheryl with his eyes locked on to Madison.


    Seeker was stunned. The expressions of Madison turned from a sudden look of fear and then almost instantly became a confused look. Seeker who studied micro-expressions could tell the emotions that Madison disyed.


    "Impossible. You could see that? This gun should have fired at the same velocity of a real gun yet you noticed it¡­ Do you see things stop?" Seeker then asked.


    At that moment, Madison''s expression turned strange. He could not help but nod.


    "So that''s it. That''s how you know I shot tranquilizer bullets." Seeker nced in excitement. He had shot the girl from a position that hid the gun''s appearance from sight. Madison would have only seen the gunshot.


    If Madison found out that Seeker used tranquilizer bullets, the only exnation was that Madison managed to either make time far slower than ever which is almost impossible for any regr Unlocked. Those at the Advent stage of Unbing didn''t have this capacity.


    "What an interesting Skill. Could you stop time from your perspective? I need that¡­" Seeker smiled excitedly. This was a simple Skill. But if he could trace the foundation of this, have Lynd copy it, or pass on the foundations to everyone else, a perspective that could stop time was extremely useful.


    "Since you''ve reached Unbing¡­ You probably now have the vitality to remain alive while I y around with the others." Seeker shoved a pill on Madison''s mouth.


    "This should help you stay alive. Eat it and rest."


    Madison, who was confused, still obeyed Seeker. He knew that having such a conversation amidst mercenaries would be idiotic and decided to just obey Seeker''s orders and wait until Seeker defeats the rest of the mercenaries.


    After confirming that Madison swallowed the pill, Seeker aimed his gun at Madison.


    "We''ll talkter."


    BANG! BANG!


    Immediately after Seeker shot Madison, Seeker dodged as a mercenary finally got a hold of a gun and immediately attacked Seeker.


    "Good. Except for these two, everyone else has reacted ording to my calctions." Seeker smiled. The explosion of the bomb had injured. Seeker knew none of them died. The position and of where he made the bomb fall was calcted. Except for Madison and the girl, everyone else fell into the respective areas that Seeker had envisioned.


    But then Seeker started to retreat back to the entrance as his calctions could no longer keep up.


    "So I can calcte just an instance?" Seeker sighed. He knew if it was Arthur, his calction would have continued longer.


    Some mercenaries were acting in instinct and were rushing to get a gun to shoot Seeker because of their fear of death. Other mercenaries were still trying to make sense of where they are.


    Seeker smiled and was about to use the full extent of his Reaper''s Breath, he paused as he recollected something. Just like Madison, Seeker managed to awaken and reach the Oveer''s level due to a variety of emotions.


    "It isn''t just fear¡­" Seeker frowned.


    "My rising to the Ranked Hero stage was one of the most conflicting emotions I felt¡­ Love, hatred, anger, frustration. Madison reached Unbing with that as well¡­" Seeker pondered.


    His rise to the Ranked Hero stage was also through the conflicting emotions of fighting and defeating Zeraphine of the Presiders.


    "Let''s try it then¡­ What if I awaken their emotions and push it further? They''re better than the soldiers and have had quite a life. Maybe if I force them to tread on a path, they would breakthrough¡­" Seeker grinned. He prepared to summon the memories and all the emotions he felt and leak it to affect all the mercenaries.


    "I''ll be stronger if you do that." A familiar thought surfaced once more.


    Seeker gritted his teeth.


    "If I''m right, you''d be less annoying." Seeker answered back.


    "Whatever you say."


    Seeker no longer hesitated, but then summoned his memories once more.


    Suddenly, Seeker''s cell started to vibrate erratically. The power of his cancerous cells was focusing on producing the same hormones that would create the Reaper''s Breath.


    Seeker channeled his memories and just as he managed to release the emotions during the battle against the Tyrant Empress, Seeker did so once more.


    A powerful terror grasped the hearts of everyone in that room.


    Seeker only smiled and ignored him and waited for the others to respond.


    The emotions that Seeker leaked out were based mainly on his frustrations. The many memories of his life, all the frustration that he felt. Failure in battle, failure in love, failure to save his loved ones all were poured out.


    And aside from the frustration, Seeker leaked out the angry emotions he felt. The anger that drove him to defeat and kill Zeraphine, the anger that allowed him to destroy the Orbital''s that killed both Lynd and Meryl, the many waves of anger he felt towards the arrogant faces of the Presiders who massacred Earth with a proud expression.


    All of these were all leaked out.


    "Fight me!" Seeker called out.


    The shivering bodies of all the mercenaries started to move as the scuffled for their weapons. They could not understand it. But somehow, a strange angry emotion and a feeling of utter frustration brought about by despair gripped their hearts and mind.


    The mercenaries moved wildly and angrily,


    "Too slow!" Seeker reacted as he lunged towards a mercenary who was reaching for a gun and kicked him. Seeker expertly spun and took the halberd that was dropped nearby and began his attacks on all the mercenaries.


    Two of the mercenaries managed to move as if Seeker''s pressure were none-existent. One of them was the one that Seeker just kicked. Their eyes were red with anger and a conflux of various emotions.


    "What a surprise! Harker was right! These soldiers ARE useful! But sorry Harker¡­ These mercs are too perfect! More members for my Gryphon Squadron!" Seeker smiled as he ran towards the remaining one who was moving towards their weapons.


    "Let''s see how strong your will is!" Seekerughed as he raised the halberd to begin his infamous training procedure.

 Chapter 148 - Manifestation Of Memories

    While the battle continued, Lynd finally went backstage evading the many odd toys, underwear and other objects that were being tossed at the stage.


    Lynd''s expression was pale and difficult.


    Halley Vagrant waited at the back.


    "You alright?"


    "I don''t get it!? Why am I more famous than Danny?" He cursed.


    Halleyughed.


    "It''s because your tall, sessful and sweet. Danny has his yboy thing but you appear to be a much more realistic guy. Even the average girl would feel that they have a shot at you because of your down-to-earth and shy expression. The more you react in embarrassment to your fan''s treatment the more they will love you. Be calmer if you want that to go away."


    "They were throwing those-those¡­ things! How the nutterballs can I remain calm?!" Lynd shouted in frustration.


    Halley simplyughed.


    "I have your next assignment. Looks like there were changes in the n. Seeker has important business toplete in China. And so, you will be the yer who will be ying for that bet in Generals. Harker has ced arge bet and you will be facing more than two-hundred yers alone."


    "That''s a little too much even for me."


    "That''s right. Seeker will allow you to use Peals of Thunder and other intimidating skills in your possession."


    Lynd frowned.


    "Wouldn''t that be dangerous?"


    "It''s a way to get the Underworld''s attention off Seeker. If those groups in the Underworld realize that they have you and Meryl to worry about, other than Seeker, they would probably give up or give in to Harker. Seeker said that Harker''s Skill is bing more of a Path. You should know about how Colestar has now be our allies. He''ll use that Path to shelter you from whatever harm you have."


    "Oh? It''s that strong? Wow. I was right in trusting Harker to help Seeker with his strange¡­ emotions." Lynd smiled.


    "I guess the pressures on me for that gamble. I gotta think of ways to win a 200 yer battle¡­" Lynd was in deep thought.


    "Yes. The gamble has been set to two billion credits."


    "Two billion? That''s crazy! Or perhaps¡­" Lynd then realized something.


    "I see¡­ Seeker''s using a different method to train me¡­ Instead of my life, he''s using our resources on the line to pressure me¡­" Lynd''s expression grew sour.


    "But why Peals of Thunder? There should be subtler ways to affect a crowd." Lynd wondered.


    "Oh well." Lynd decided to just stop pondering.


    "Is Meryl ok? I''m still worried about her."


    Halley''s brows rose as if she heard a weird joke,


    "She defeated Typical. One of the most dangerous assassins on Earth that could easily kill a squadron of soldiers with Exoskeletons and Armors. I''m sure a single pervert won''t be a problem for her."


    "I''m just not toofortable with this. Our actions are so drastic now. We are changing the world at such an rming rate. I was even surprised by Seeker''s n to bankrupt those organizations around the world! That''s just crazy!"


    "Seeker did say those enemy organizations allied with the Aragarians like a whore to her pimp. If you ask me, they deserve this." Halley casually retorted.


    "Oh well¡­ Although revealing Peals of Thunder could be dangerous I''m sure Seeker has ns for this¡­" Lynd shrugged his shoulders.


    "You''d just be frightening kids and disturbing their concentration with your sound. How can that be dangerous?"


    "Well¡­ it''s like this. Ever since we''ve discovered the strange Paths¡­ we''ve vastly underestimated Earth. For some strange reasons¡­ there were more people with the potential to be Ranked Heroes and Oveers in this world. If I reveal Peals of thunder¡­ they might notice it. I don''t know what Zeek''s nning. I''m guessing he''s trying to lure more people to check me out."


    "Well¡­ knowing how overprotective your boss is of you, I''m sure he has interesting ns to make them stop."


    "Yeah. He must be using other means to ensure that I continue to grow. And 2 billion credits just seem to be the best way to pressure me. Anyways¡­ tell me if you feel that Arthur''s acting odd. I''m guessing Zeek''s nning on using Arthur to train us. Just like the Tyrant Empress will be used to train the Oveers, Arthur might be used to train us in another mock battle."


    "A mock battle? What do you mean?"


    "Ever since we got back from China, Zeek''s been putting up a shroud of emotions that masks his true emotions from me. I can''t see through it. It''s¡­strange¡­ He''s hiding something from me. And what worries me is that although he was the one who told Arthur that he must protect Meryl because of their future romance, Zeek''s been turning a blind eye to Meryl and Danny''s growing rtionship. And worse¡­ even Arthur seemed to be doing nothing about it."


    "So you''re thinking that Seeker''s going to use Arthur to attack you once he gets too jealous of Danny?"


    "I know Arthur likes Meryl. He tries to hide it but I know he does. That''s why I assume Zeek wants us to go into some form of civil war."


    "Sounds reckless." Halley frowned.


    "I''m just confused about this current arrangement. Arthur''s away from Meryl. I know they could have made more arrangements to not separate the two. And I thought Seeker was after Kristine. But ever since China, he''s been keeping himself distant to her."


    "He''s an Oveer now¡­ Perhaps¡­ his desire for love has changed." Halley concluded.


    "I''m just worried. Seeker''s adult memories are messing with him¡­ I''m just afraid he''d go on and do something¡­ reckless¡­" Lynd sighed.


    While Lynd and Halley continued to discuss the future ns of their group, a meeting of lesser importance was taking ce on a small caf¨¦ near Seeker''s house. A pair of young teens sat down and started to eat, ordering an extremely normal dish.


    Yet the normal dishes that were being ordered could not much the status of these hungry customers.


    "So this is what we''ve resorted to¡­" Charm smiled as she noticed Lara''s eyes.


    "Wha-what?" Lara was confused.


    "Why have we been eating near Seeker Carlean''s apartment?"


    "What?" Lara was surprised.


    "Ohe on. Despite my poor family, I''m still someone who could get the right information. I was trying to dig where Seeker has been hiding for the past few days to tell you. Who would have thought you already knew? No wonder you wanted to eat here!" Charmughed.


    Lara giggled.


    "Fine. You caught me. Well¡­ it''s not like we''d actually meet him. He''s probably staying at that military base."


    "Yeah. I heard about that too. General Harker''s quite a paranoid guy."


    "Oh well."


    The two continued chatting about Seeker.


    After a few minutes, the person who was seated behind the two received a message on hism device and immediately stood up and went for the back exit.


    Standing at the back, a man who wore the exact set of clothes of the exiting person stood and waited.


    "Is that them?"


    "Sir, yes sir." The soldier answered back.


    "They have been talking about you. It seems that the Diamon has a crush on you, Sir."


    "Mind your own business, soldier. How long have you been in this area?"


    "About three hours. I''ve changed locations various times to make it look like I''ve been here a while."


    "Good. Go and change. A spare set of the clothes I woreing here is in the closet. Leave and take a roundabout trip back to the base. As long as your figure makes an appearance, there''ll be fewer chances that the WGP or the Aragarians can track my movements."


    "Sir, yes sir." The soldier walked towards the bathroom and Seeker strode in.


    As Seeker entered the room wearing the exact clothes and having the exact height and build of the soldier who had just left, Seeker nced at Charm and Lara from afar.


    Seeker then observed every small and micro-movement that Lara gave. Suddenly, his vision grew more powerful.


    Forcing his vision to reach the level of Surmounting, Seeker employed Surmounting Sight to analyze the girl Lara to the cellr level.


    Seeker frowned. The dissatisfaction on his face was shown for a few seconds.


    Almost immediately Seeker realized it.


    "I''m actually disappointed that it''s not her¡­" Seeker sighed.


    It was then as if his consciousness had created a visual representation of his own self and appeared before him.


    "Of course I am¡­ You know what she did before she died." A figure which had the exact looks of Seeker''s future self stood next to him.


    Seeker was surprised to see an older Seeker appear. He was dressed quite casually, but his appearance was exactly what it was when he ''died.''


    Eventually, Seeker calmed down.


    "Really? Visualization? You could actually manifest and exist in this way?" Seeker frowned.


    The adult only smiled.


    "The cons of an Unlocked mind." The adultughed.


    "How did you manifest into that form?"


    "When you inherited my memories, the fact that you are also me, allowed me to take advantage of something. It''s like your brain has actually revived me. Think about what you have been doing. You have been immersing yourself in my memories allowing the current you to understand me better and better. But at the same time, you also have been trying to seal me off. With these two conflicting actions, and the fact that you have a brain that is more sensitive, powerful and capable than a normal human being, wouldn''t it just be logical for me to appear?"


    "Logical? Going by the way you have been exining these things to me makes it look like you are smarter than me. How do you exin that?"


    "Ah¡­ Such a cute kid. It''s because you were trying to seal me off but have also immersed yourself in my memories. Think about it. Even without the Unlocking, there are people in this world who suffer from split personalities and have severe hallucinations. These people suffer from those psychological disorders because their minds have been going beyond the intended limitations and have been working against itself. So what would happen to someone who has such unique circumstances as yourself?"


    Seeker was silent. Suddenly he almostughed.


    "So you mean to say¡­ the reason why you appear smarter than me and have been exining things to me, is because I have beenmuning and, at the same time, avoiding you? So in short, I am equally as smart as you, but because of the Unlocking, I divided our personalities, our wisdom, and intellect?"


    "Bingo. Truth be told, you knew the answer as to why I appeared, but you sealed that off making it only essible to me. In short, you''re insane." The adultughed.


    "But why now¡­ Wait¡­ don''t tell me!" Seeker was then in deep thought.


    If the Adult Seeker was right, then he should know this answer already. The process of thought that Seeker underwent was so strange. No normal human being couldprehend the act of what Seeker was doing. It was as if, he was thinking and drawing knowledge from another person.


    Seeker then sighed in relief as he managed to break the seal that divided the knowledge and wisdom between the two.


    "It was back then. When I used Surmounting Thought and created an extra thought process. You took advantage of my additional thought process and manifested yourself through it¡­ That was you earlier. I thought that those strange thoughts would only be limited to being thoughts. I never expected it to be like this. That you''d actually manifest." Seeker recalled the odd thoughts that spoke when he used Surmounting Thought.


    "Right and wrong. You knew I would manifest¡­ well, a part of you did. And that part is me. You both knew and didn''t knew that doing so would create me. A part of you made it possible to create me. Soundsplicated right?" The adultugh.


    "I really am insane." Seeker felt a headache and grasped his forehead.


    "Yes. But don''t worry. I''lle in handy in battle. The stronger you get in the Unlocking, the better it is for me. Think of this way. With me around, you have a permanent extra thought process."


    Seeker was stunned.


    "You mean¡­ I managed to grasp Lennox''s foundations?"


    "Of course. He''s been training me to do that on my timeline, remember? But now that you met Lennox earlier, it was easier to develop it. What helped was Arthur."


    "I see. The foundations of Instant Calction. It allowsplex thought processes to be simpler because of the basic calction skills¡­"


    "Yes. The need to create an additional thought process was extremely taxing to the brain even if it was Unlocked. But with Arthur''s skill, the process became simpler. With instant calction the energy, effort and focus needed to maintain an additional thought process became lighter. But don''t think you can pass this one to your friends. Only those who have Selective Unlocking can do this."


    Seeker sighed. An additional thought process would prove extremely beneficial for the Unlocked.


    "Not to mention, you are a special case. You have another memory in you. And that other memory is still you. That naturally made it easier for a permanent me to appear. Don''t worry. With me by your side, I can easily help you with my vast experience and you can even make me take over you."


    "Hmph. I guess that''s one advantage. At least this way I know who''s thought or desires I''m listening too."


    The adultughed.


    "Right. With us being seperated, I won''t be able to manipte you."


    Seeker raised an eyebrow.


    "Won''t be able to manipte me? Yeah right.. You clearly want me to go and talk to that girl. And I''m sure that that emotion stems from you! Isn''t that maniption?"

 Chapter 149 - I Won’t Fall In Love

    "Oh? Am I doing that?" The adultughed.


    "I thought I sealed your emotions and separated it from my own." Seeker frowned.


    "It would have been possible. But I''m still you. So regardless of how mysterious the sensations of having that memory dump, my memories will still affect you. Besides, what you feel now should be a mixture of curiosity and hatred, right? After all¡­ if it wasn''t for Zera, Lynd and Meryl would still be alive."


    "Then it''s good that it''s not her. That way I can just ignore her." Seeker then turned and attempted to walk away but found that he couldn''t.


    "Why the sudden stop?"


    "Regardless if it''s her or not¡­ having a rtionship with an Aragarian will be beneficial. I could find out more things about them."


    "Well¡­ Remember that the probability of that girl being her is still high. Just because her cells weren''t as I remembered it, it doesn''t rule out the possibility that she''s Zera."


    Seeker maintained a nk expression but turned around to face Zera.


    "Wouldn''t it be better if you kept my distance from her?"


    "I won''t be like you. I won''t fall in love. At least in this timeline, if that girl turns out to be Zera then I already have my guard up."


    "Oh? I think that''s just part of the reason. Curiosity killed the cat, right? As a teen, you''ve always had a crush on Kristine Sythia¡­ But my memories of Zera is just so powerful, that even now, you cannot resist attempting tomunicate to her. Poor Kristine. If she realized the cruel destiny you''ve ced on her with your immature actions¡­" The adult did not continue speaking but his head continued to shake in great disappointment.


    "You underestimate me. I''m an Oveer now. Something you weren''t in your prime."


    "Ah¡­ but love conquers all. Come on, my lifetime''s memories have memorized hundreds of Eagle''s Sermon. The greatest of these is love¡­ Love covers a multitude of sins¡­ Shall I go on?"


    "I''m not in love with her. You are. You are right. I am curious. But knowing who she is and what she did¡­ I''m sure I can resist her."


    "We shall see then¡­" The Adult merelyughed.


    "Still. You are bound to her because if anything, you will have to Ovee her to get stronger."


    "Why? I''m already an Oveer. I''ll soon reach the World Champion stage if things go smoothly."


    "Yes. But what goes beyond that? The problem with the terminology we''ve used in the Unlocking is that we''ve ended the limit by naming it ording to that old sci-fi theme. The 10% of brain capacity thing. Only in our terms, we refer to it as the extent or the amount of power we apply to our brain. But is 100 really the limit? You know as much as I do that that isn''t true. There is something more than that. I''ve seen it on thest moments of my previous life."


    Seeker was silent.


    "What goes beyond the World Champion stage? Or rather, what must you be to be more than an Oveer?" The Adult Seeker gazed off the distance and stared at theughing Lara.


    "You mean that if I want to go beyond an Oveer, I''d still need her?" Seeker frowned.


    "Zera was your ticket then¡­ Your road to reaching the Oveer stage only became sessful thanks to me¡­ We already know of it right? How disgusting it is to actually be an Oveer? You had to go through two lifetimes and actually die in order to awaken their Will. As such, it''s almost impossible to attain a will and build one. It''s as if only those born with that will be Oveers. Right now, the safest bet you can make is to use the strongest and most painful emotions that may break you to go beyond an Oveer. That helped you reach Ranked Hero and it was that that awakened your Will. But remember, that Will of yours, is abination of both of ours. So just use her instead."


    "Why does it have to be her? Can''t I use someone else as my trigger?"


    "You could. But only those at the same level of the emotions I felt to Zera would count. In your timeline, you''d have to lose Lynd, Meryl, and your parents again to meet the same level of anger that I felt. So, it''s better if it is her." The adult smiled.


    "How cruel of you. You are sending the only person you really loved in that future to die in this timeline to break my heart."


    "A broken and contrite spirit the Lord will not reject. Only then can the Lord change your heart from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. That''s what that Eagle made us believe right? He used that verse to convince the Unlocks of our time to not lose hope and we''ve managed to create several squads of Unbings because of that. You believe it too. I know that because I believed in it. Then choose. Either you use someone else to die to strengthen your heart, or you use Zera, who is an Aragarian."


    Seeker was silent.


    "Besides¡­ it would be interesting if you do fall in love with Zera as I did. Because either you cross the boundaries of an Oveer through her death¡­ or through her life. Regardless¡­ She is important."


    Seeker continued to stare nkly at Lara.


    "How do I know that you''re just saying that because you''re still in love with her. And you want me to go to that girl at the small chance that she is Zera."


    The Adult Seeker only smiled but remained silent.


    "Anyways¡­ Get out of here." Seeker ordered the adult.


    "The fact remains that I will talk to her because we need information. I want to know more things about the Pioneers, Presiders or if there''s a Principal. Not to mention the mystery of that Lost Primordial that Lennox discovered in your timeline."


    "Oh? How do you n to do that? If she really is Zera, you know that''s an impossible chore. Zera chose to kill herself than to betray her own kind. My love conquered her and she chose to die not picking any sides."


    "Regardless of who she is¡­ it''s clear that she likes me. I''ll use that to my advantage. If she is Zera, then it''s easier. Zera probably never liked you or were attracted to you in your timeline but only fell in loveter. This time¡­ I have that advantage."


    "The advantage that she has a huge crush on you? I see. It is possible." The adult realized Seeker''s advantage.


    "I have to say, I''m jealous. I wonder. With this advantage¡­ it is possible Even if the odds are extremely minute, its greater than the odds of making her betray her kind." The adult spoke with a dazed expression and even turned to the girl Lara.


    Suddenly, the adult realized something andughed.


    "Ah¡­ I see now. You''re such a kid. You also want to try ''that'' aren''t you?"


    Seeker almost had an irritated expression.


    "It should prove effective."


    "What a kid. Still after such childish romances. Whatever¡­ I won''t deny that that strategy is effective. So I guess I''ll let you live out that fantasy. The legendary Fishermans'' Farmer build? And you will be using the Natural''s strategy, right?" The Adult Seekerughed.


    Seeker was slightly turning red containing the anger and embarrassment from the Adult''s mockery.


    "Whatever. Live out your childhood fantasy. I''m curious if this will even work. So childish. The pride, the confidence, the naivety¡­"


    "Oh shut up. I''m not the only one urging myself to talk to her. You''re dying to talk to her as well. Now get out." Seeker began to walk.


    The Adult Seeker sneered.


    "Let me tell you my opinion about that earlier feeling of frustration. I''m talking about the one you felt when you realized that she''s not Zera¡­ That wasn''t from me, you know? That was all you." The Adult Seeker suddenly vanished. His loudugh echoed loudly in Seeker''s head.


    Seeker''s march had stopped. And Seeker gripped his fist tightly.


    "I won''t fall in love with her." Seeker vowed to himself.


    Seeker then continued to walk casually. Because he had a disguise on, no one could recognize him.


    He walked towards the seat directly behind the seats of Lara and Charm. Seeker sat down and called for a waiter who went to his seat to take his order.


    Behind him, the pair ofdies continued to converse.


    "So what exactly do you like about Seeker?" Charm wondered.


    "Of all the people Miss Lara Diamon could have, she chooses a streamer."


    "What''s wrong with Seeker?"


    "He''s like a taboo for someone like you. He''s a Pangean with sketchy backgrounds that are connected to the Americas. We can''t even tell if he''s a Pangean native. For all, we know he could be a spy from the Americas."


    "Oh? But we from the EAA love such love stories. How many movies have we made that romanticized those taboo love stories?" Laraughed.


    "Ugh. I hate those EA dramas. That will be the end of your nation. If most of your girls'' dream of getting swept off their feet by spies from other countries then your nation will end up with a lot of betrayals."


    Lara simplyughed at Charm''sments.


    "You''re quick to judge¡­ But isn''t your love story more likely to be simr to those EA dramas you hate?"


    "What do you mean?" Charm asked.


    "Cliff! That man is a mystery too! He''s being experimented on! You surely must have suspected things to be more than that! He should be some spy in training but now you''ve even managed to steal his heart! Oh, I bet millions of girls in my country would dly trade positions with you!"


    "What are you talking about? Cliff a victim of illegal operations!"


    "You can''t be that thick! Or maybe love has already blinded you." Lara giggled.


    "Listen¡­ As a third party observing your situation¡­ Cliff''s story has a lot of loopholes! I can''t even begin to point them out!"


    "Loopholes?"


    "Yes. He isn''t a victim! He probably willingly took those experiments to be stronger!"


    "No way! Cliff is a victim! You weren''t there when he cried! The experiments he''s been going through-"


    "Are far more powerful than what he made it out to be. He should be at least three or four times stronger than a normal human being! That operation he had wasn''t just something that would make his adrenaline more active. His physique is far stronger than a normal human being."


    "What? "


    "Look. Don''t ask how I know. I just do. Don''t underestimate the technology that the EAA has. Don''t be fooled by our fa?ade in being a country that specializes in cosmetic surgery. Truth is, we can easily determine enhanced humans." Lara spoke seriously.


    Charm wanted to argue back but Lara signaled for her to stop.


    "I won''t exin myself as it has to do with our Technological Possibilities. But I''m telling you the truth."


    Charm was stunned at Lara''s deration.


    The fact that Lara brought up the technological possibilities of her country made Charm hesitate.


    She was silent for a few seconds then gazed at Lara once more.


    "Let''s say you''re right. Why is he doing it then? Why has he been constantly talking to me?"


    Lara shrugged.


    "I don''t know. I was thinking about it these days. I mean¡­ with General Harker, there''s really nothing much your family can offer for him. I didn''t say anything until now because¡­ I feel that although Cliff is lying to you¡­ his actions don''t make sense."


    "He is courting you. It''s the oldest trick in the book." Seeker then sat down right next to them carrying his te.


    The two were surprised at the sudden appearance of a strange man.


    Seeker was wearing a costume that hid his true face.


    Lara immediately noticed.


    "Who are you and why are you wearing that fake face?" Lara frowned.


    "That man''s wearing a fake face?" Charm was stunned. He gave the man a closer look and noticed that the face wasn''t real. But it was so well-made that unless people took the time to look closer they wouldn''t have noticed.


    "Huh. I thought you were a fan of mine. I mean, you figured out where I''m staying despite how hard that info is to get¡­ Yet you couldn''t tell by my voice?"


    "Seeker Carlean!?" The two shouted.


    "SHHHH! What are you doing?!" Seeker whispered angrily.


    The crowd around them started to give the group a strange look. Others were even trying to stand to see where the voice came from.


    "Exactly! Seeker Carlean is ying again! Let''s watch that stream together!" Seeker spoke with a weird voice that was obviously hiding his real tone.


    The pair immediately realized what Seeker was trying to do and yed along.


    "Right! We can watch it at my ce! I''ve got the coolest VR that will make it look like we are in the game itself!" Lara added.


    The crowd''s attention disappeared as many fans of Seeker thought that these Casuals were talking about Seeker''s next stream.


    "Nice save." Seekerplimented.


    Lara, however, was gripping Charm''s hand tightly.


    THE Seeker Carlean was right in front of her.

 Chapter 150 - A Game Of Attraction

    "I can''t believe it!" Lara added while Charm continued to gasp.


    The crowd went back to their meals and ignored the sudden shout.


    "Act normal will you?" Seeker pleaded in a low tone.


    Lara''s expression was just exuding joy, delight, and excitement.


    "I''ve managed to convince Harker to get out of that dump. So I have to wear this disguise. Don''t ruin it, girls!" Seeker whispered.


    "So-Sorry!" Lara had was stammering in excitement.


    It took a while for her to actually calm down. Charm was surprised as well but she had no trace of the same fanaticism in Lara''s eyes.


    After a few minutes of Seeker motioning Lara to calm down, Seeker finally talked again.


    "Ok. Looks like you''re calm now. Rx ok? Oh yeah¡­ Just to throw off all potential awkward discussions, I''ve been listening at your conversation for a time now. So I know Lara likes me. I''m ttered. To think a Diamon likes me!" Seeker gave a smile.


    Lara was blushing red. Her previous squirming movements all disappeared and were reced by rigid petrification.


    Charm started tough hard. She tried containing it to draw lesser attention but she continued tough it all out.


    Lara however, was frozen stiff all throughout the time that Charm wasughing.


    "Right. Anyways¡­ Cliff''s been doing the Eeyore to you, Charm. You haven''t noticed?"


    "The Eeyore?"


    "It''s in ''A Game of Attraction.'' You know¡­ That novel about the origins of Veil Cruz? In that novel, Veil Cruz determined that there were four general styles of courtships to be used by the Fishermans and the Farmers."


    "I think I remember that¡­" Lara wondered. The topic that was revealed drew her attention.


    Seeker''s eyes caught Lara''s amazement and joy at the emergence of the topic and gave a small frown.


    "If I''m not mistaken¡­ Veil divided suitors into two categories. The Fisherman who would court showing their obvious intentions, and the Farmer who would court using subtly and would not reveal that they like someone during the courtship process."


    "Oh? Only a true fan of Piercing lore would know that little love story. Yes. That''s exactly it."


    "Veil Cruz? Isn''t that guy an Impact?"


    "Yes. But the origin story of Veil isn''t as action-packed as the rest of the books. In fact, the novel was a love story. Usually, only hardcore fans of Piercing know about this story."


    "What''s the Eeyore?" Charm asked again.


    "In that novel, Veil theorized that the process of falling in love could be broken down into its most basic form. Communication. He first divided the two distinctions of how a person could court." Seeker exined. He gave a quick nce at Lara.


    "Lara, why don''t you exin?" Seeker smiled.


    "I-I¡­" Lara was surprised. Seeker''s smile mesmerized her once more.


    "I do." Lara gave a nk answer.


    "What the Nutterballs?" Seeker was surprised at her answer.


    "I mean- I do want to exin! I do want to exin!" Lara immediately continued.


    Charm continuedughing.


    "Nice save, Lara!" She gave her a thumbs up.


    Lara hastily began to avoid embarrassment.


    "Veil''s Tactician''s Guidelines to Courtship reveal two possible routes a person may court. Basically, there are two kinds of people when courting. The one who prefers to court someone openly, not hiding his or her own intentions about the guy or girl is known as the Fisherman. Since Veil was a guy, he usually would exin the Fisherman''s as the stereotypical cute and confident guy who would sweep a girl off her feet with his charming words, his corny lines that will drive a girl''s heart to beat intently and the so on."


    "So¡­ basically¡­ Danny of the Covenant?"


    "Yeah! Exactly!"


    Seeker''s eyes continued to stay at Lara. Somewhere deep inside Seek was more and more disappointed.


    "The other guy, is what you call, a Farmer. When these guys court, it subtle. It''s slow. And they wouldn''t dare make their intentions obvious. They hide themselves through a variety of means, creating instances tomunicate with a girl."


    "So like Lynd? I mean¡­ If he were to court? Awkward and cute?" Charmughed.


    "Sorta. I guess." Lara gave a nce at Seeker looking for confirmation.


    "You do realize you need to say something for me to get what you''re saying, right?" Seekerughed.


    "I was just asking¡­ I mean¡­ you''re a guy. Maybe you can exin the Farmer."


    "I don''t think he can. You just said that the Farmer is a shy guy. This is¡­ Casual Carlean." Charm lowered her voice at stating Seeker''s title.


    "He''s like the definition of confidence. He''s a Fisherman if anything."


    Seekerughed.


    "I''ll take that as apliment although I''m sure you meant it negatively. Well¡­ basically, Farmer''s don''t show their intentions. It doesn''t really mean if a guy is handsome and good looking that he''d be your generic Fisherman. A Farmer simply wants to court a girl without being obvious. There are a lot of ways to do that. And this brings us to the next part of Veil''s theory." Seeker nced at Lara and smiled once more.


    "Um¡­ Um¡­"


    "Take your time." Seekerughed


    Lara took a deep breath and clenched her fist.


    "Alright. Veil believed that the concept of courtship or you know¡­ dating has to do withmunication. While modern dating uses a lot of apps and means to force one tomunicate, in real life, the courtship process between two people who personally know and see each other is different."


    "Wow. You sound like you really read the book. You must be one of those hardcore Piercing fans."


    "No. I''m just a fan of Veil. Other than his origin stories, I haven''t really read the novels and other stories about Piercing lore."


    "Well, continue. You''re doing a fantastic job."


    Lara smiled and turned back to Charm.


    "So anyway¡­ since courtship at its most basic form is simply a process of maintaining and improvingmunication between two people, the two categories, the Fisherman and the Farmer would simply determine whether or not the guy or the girls make his or her intentions known to the other party. Let''s say, Seeker¡­ if he''s um¡­ courting¡­ Kristine¡­" Lara paused at the mention of LordChokeMeSenpai''s real name.


    "Er¡­ If Seeker is a Fisherman, he''d t-out say to Kristine that he likes her and would you know¡­ ask her out on a date. If Seeker is a Farmer, it''s moreplicated. The mostmon strategy is that Seeker would approach her as a friend. Ask her toe to y a practice match together and slowly build a consistent channel ofmunication with Kristine." Lara then turned to Seeker for confirmation.


    "That''s right. And that brings us to the different routes that people use to establish courtship. One of which, leads to the Eeyore." Seeker then nced at Lara implying her to continue.


    "Ok. So Veil said that usually, guys mainly follow fourmon routes tomunicate with these girls. These be the foundation of how theymunicate with the other person. The first is the Knight. Basically, it''s your knight-in-shining-armor routine. The guy goes out of his way to help the girl in any way he can. Both Fishermans and Farmers can do this. Of course, the Farmer would try to hide his intentions as he helps the girl."


    "So basically¡­ it''s those weird nerds that do the girls homework in the many post-modern love movies?"


    "Sorta¡­ But Veil implied that they weren''t effective or were unskillful in courting the girl."


    "Next we have the Guardian?"


    "I thought Cliff was the Eeyore?"


    "Well¡­ you need to know the others first before perfectly understanding the Eeyore." Lara replied.


    "She''s right." Seeker nodded.


    Seeing that Charm also nodded in understanding, Lara continued.


    "Right¡­ The Guarding is different from the Knight. It''s the ssic, Big-Brother routine. Or the Best Friend routine that most guys use."


    "So basically¡­ the friend zone? Isn''t this a Farmer''s trademark move?"


    "Yes and no." Seeker took the initiative to answer back.


    "These four sub-categories; The Knight, the Guardian, the Natural and the Eeyore are simply means ofmunication. A Fisherman can court a girl and his main method ofmunicating is using the Knight. A Fisherman''s Guardian is simply a guy who is very obvious in telling the girl that he likes her and uses the best-friend routine to get the girl. A Farmer''s Guardian is the typical Best Friend routine. But you read the novel, you''ll see that Veil has been employing all of these strategies switching it up from time to time. As these four are only methods ofmunication, guys can switch from one style to the next. They can start off with a Knight, then move to a Guardian and so on."


    "Ok. I think I get it." Charm pondered.


    "So it''s like my high school friend. This guy liked me and told me. But he was very casual about it and we continued to be friends. So he was courting me using the Guardian¡­"


    "Yes. Guardians tend to be very protective, extremely worried about your well-being and so on. A Guardian could even go to the extreme of using their status as a friend to be a shoulder to cry on or to listen to the love woes of the girl."


    "That sounds¡­ desperate¡­"


    "Hey. It works. The guy has a solid reason formunicating. We all know how people love their pity parties when ites to this. Both guys and girls usually want to share their woes with someone. Some people even have the need to go over their stories and woes over and over again. Anyone who''s had a guy or girl friend who got busted would know what I''m talking about."


    "Yeah¡­" Charm gave a long sigh. She recalled how her friends in high school kept on and on about a certain guy that broke their hearts.


    "And that''s the Guardian. He bes the shoulder to cry on, the ever-attentive ear, the ever weeping eye. He bes a brother to the girl, to always be understanding, and to always act like this girl''s guardian." Seeker summarized.


    "Lara, please exin to Miss Novelty-stoise what the Eeyore is."


    Lara smiled brightly.


    "The Eeyore is a style which was based on the same ssic Winnie the Pooh character of the Post-Modern era. It was a style that followed the depressed, sad and very lonely appearance of Eeyore that strangely made him look cute and adored by girls." Lara repeated as she recalled the description given by Veil in the novel.


    "And you''re saying that Cliff''s doing that? He''s been intentionally acting depressed and all to get Charm''s attention?"


    "It worked, didn''t it? How many hours did he manage to spend to talk with you? And it is a solid reason formunication. While the Guardian, the Knight, and the Natural forces the guy to create a scenario with the girl, the Eeyore is the opposite. It traps the girl and makes the girlmunicate with them by looking like a mess."


    "So¡­ He''s been lying to Charm?"


    "Not necessarily. I know what the poor guy''s been through¡­ So a lot of what he may have been telling you was true. What did he say?" Seeker asked.


    "A lot. His responsibilities¡­ the deadlines you gave him¡­ the experiments¡­"


    "He actually told you of those experiments?!"


    "They''re real!?"


    "Yes. Man! That Cliff is breaking military protocol just to get a girl!" Seeker frowned.


    "I mean no offense¡­ I''d probably do the same to get Lara¡­ but I mean¡­ wow."


    Lara was blushing red once more.


    Noticing her blush, Seeker finally concluded that this isn''t Zeraphine of the Presiders.


    Seeker was both relieved and frustrated.


    Charm''s expression turned grave as she heard about the experiments.


    "The experiments against thew! You''ll get-"


    "Actually, No. Remember the use the World Governing Powers gave in experimenting on people? Anything that doesn''t disrupt or change the biology of a person to a state of making them weaponized is not allowed. But what Cliff had¡­ which I''m sure he told you is¡­" Seeker motioned at Charm to finish his sentence.


    "Adrenaline enhancement?"


    "Yes. Man! Did he tell you that? Boy¡­ is he in trouble."


    "But you can''t put adrenaline enhancement! It''s illegal! The only enhancements allowed to a Pangean Citizen are simr to everything Royals have! Also, Lara said that she can erm¡­"


    "I heard what you two were talking about earlier. I know Lara has some ways to determine whether or not someone is experimented on. But the answer is quite simple. Cliff is technically a soldier. Which allows him to undergo those surgeries and have been through human enhancement programs." Seeker added.


    Charm was stunned at Seeker''s revtion.


    "Cliff is a soldier!?" Charm almost screamed.


    "Yes. And he did that experiment willingly. I mean, the benefits of being a soldier were practically his salvation. I mean¡­ he had a rough life before."


    "I know he was a drug dealer." Charm continued.


    "Wow¡­ Just wow. Cliff likes you that much, huh? Since you already know that, you have to understand for a Regr, being a soldier whose job is to babysit a celebrity is a high paying and low-risk job. So he agreed and just so he can do his best to protect me he too experiment."


    "So he willingly took that experiment?"


    "Willingly? Yeah. He volunteered for it." Seeker answered back.


    "Those operations were worth millions of Sydians and he got them all. In fact, he has more experiments that most Royals now. This was Cliff''s change of life. He now has the gic potential to be on equal standing with Royals. Of course, the demand for him skyrocketed as well."


    Lara remained silent and looked at her friend.


    Charm''s expression turned angry.


    "Again. He didn''t lie." Seeker added noticing Charm''s expression.


    "It was true. He did suffer because of the surgery. Maybe everything he shared with you about his hardships was real."


    "He would cry every time we meet! Was it real?" Charm confirmed.


    "Yeah. I''ve seen the guy cry. So it must have been true. I''m simply saying that he used his own dilemma to draw your attention, your sympathy, and he is actually aiming for your affection. The Eeyore. A powerful weapon for the sympathetic and kindhearted." Seeker gave a wry smile.


    Charm was silent.


    "If it''s any help, it really shows he likes you. But if he''s been making me look like the bad guy, then he probably was lying. Thest thing I want is a Novelty-stoise and a Diamon to have poor impressions of me." Seeker grinned.


    "I can''t believe his been manipting me!" Charm scowled.


    "Manipting you? Not really. What he did with you, was just choosing to cry at a specific and right time. The only lies he gave you¡­ well, not you¡­ there must have been some half-truths in what he said. If he did lie, he lied to Pangea by telling you the operations he had. Which, by the way, is illegal."


    "All maniptive plots!"


    "Just like Veil in the novel. But let me ask you this. Did he really have a choice?"


    "What do you mean by that?"


    "If it was an ordinary situation, how would Cliff talk to you? You''re a Royal. And one with aplicated background. If he wanted to maintainmunication with you, how was he to try? If we go over Veil''s theories¡­ we would cross out the Knight. It''s impossible to try that. He can''t do the Guardian as well. Walk up and ask to be friends? Not on his life, it''s going to work."


    "What about the Natural?"


    "The Natural is as its name states. The guy uses natural circumstances that allows you two to have a chance ofmunicating. It''s the most diverse strategy. But guys using the Natural take advantage of whatever circumstances that naturally arise. Either they make the opportunity tomunicate with you or wait for that opportunity to arise. So it''s diverse. In a school setting, manipting things to get you to be groupmates at work so he can start talking to you, casually walking over to the water dispenser when he notices you heading for that direction¡­ and so on. Cliff forced an event that started you to talk. He used the Nartural. But his follow up could only be the Eeyore. Remember this, he is a Regr. Even if he is a special one, most Royals assume that he''s just our little errand boy and would scoff at the thought of building a rtionship with him. His only option was to make a way for you to know what his true value is. Would you have talked to him now? Even if you did, he still wouldn''t have a shot. Because he''s a Regr."


    "Charm''s not that closed-minded."


    "I noticed. But Cliff didn''t know that. So he made up a way. He used Veil''s steps in creating contact. The A and Four I''s."


    Charm''s eyebrow rose and turned to Lara.


    "Attention. Get the person you want to court''s attention. Make him or her know you exist. Next is Impression. Build a good impression on that person. Impact. You leave an Impact on that person which bes a viable reason formunication. And I guess Cliff''s already seeding in Interest. You are interested in him. Only thest step remains. Intention. The step where Cliffys opens his intention to you. This is a Farmer''s route. Fishermans put Intention right before or after Impact."


    "Just as Lara exined. He had the perfect scenario and pulled off quite an effective courtship routine. As for his use of pity? Heck, even I pity him with all the things we''ve been making him do. What''s else would a Royal girl feel in that situation?"


    "You mean, that day he went in to cry¡­ he knew I was already there?"


    "I don''t know."


    "Are you sure it''s a good idea to tell this to Charm? I mean¡­ he is your bodyguard and you kinda sold him out."


    "Well, he''s been such an expert user of the Tacticians Guidelines of Courtship, he doesn''t need to keep up with this. He already has a new method of keeping constantmunication. I''ll just tell him." Seeker shrugged.


    "Tell him what?" Lara grew curious.


    "That Charm obviously likes him. Problem solved. He''s been hesitating with Intention but now that we know Charm likes him, this should make things a little more interesting." Seeker immediately took out them device.


    "WHAT?!" Charm panicked.


    "What''s wrong?!" Seeker frowned.


    "What''s wrong?! What''s wrong with you?!"


    "Don''t you like him? I mean¡­e on¡­ I''ve been right behind you all the time. I heard you admitting to like him." Seeker smiled.


    "Well¡­ well¡­ I do like him! But thing''s would get awkward!"


    "Not as awkward as it can be¡­" Seeker shrugged.


    "What do you mean?" Charm asked angrily. If Seeker had more plots to tell Cliff and makes things worse, Charm wouldn''t know what to do.


    "He''s on the other line right now. I already called him. He just heard you confess." Seeker gave a cheerful smile.


    "WHAT?!"


    "How deceitful of him." Lara couldn''t help butugh.


    Charm was silent but her expressions and actions of pointing at the phone and making figurative signs at Seeker told the exact opposite of calm silence. She kept making signs that a normal person wouldn''t do towards his or her own mother.


    Seeker frowned at Charm''s barrage of actions. Suddenly, Seeker smirked and held them device near his mouth.


    "Yo, Cliffy. You there?"


    Silence.. Stunned and time-stopping silence gripped Charm and she couldn''t even breathe.

 Chapter 151 - Things That The Mouth Can’t Explain

    Charm''s world had stopped moving. She just went stiff and her mind went nk.


    Her world was a passing haze and it was as if someone she was ced in an enclosed space and all she could hear were muffled sounds of whatever was going on outside.


    The only thing she could see, was the name of Cliff on them device indicating that the call indeed went through.


    "Did Cliff hear it? Was he listening? He might have been busy! He might have thought that Seeker had identally called him and hang up. That''s what normal people do, right?" Charm continued to ponder in her head.


    While Charm was going through the denial stage of the four stages to eptance, Lara had a worried look over Charm.


    "That was kind of mean. You should stop scaring her." Lara gave a frown.


    Seeker held them device and shed it before the pair to show the name and the time that has passed when the call started.


    Cliff Fangwood. Three minutes and thirty-seven seconds.


    This meant that the call even began before Charm confessed to liking Cliff.


    Charm felt as if her ancestors in heaven were calling her to join her and leave the worries of this world.


    "Hey! That''s too much!" Lara finally eximed.


    Seeker''s eyebrows rose.


    "You know¡­ you''re not who I thought you''d be." Seeker smiled.


    "What do you mean?" Lara was surprised.


    Seeker smiled and pointed.


    "Well¡­ You''re a Diamon¡­ but you really care for her, don''t you? Charm I mean. And your concern for the Regr Cliff is also something that most people of your bloodline would have.


    "I''ve always been this way." Lara smiled.


    While the two started chatting, Charm had met over four generations of her ancestors and was now slowly returning to her senses. Yet her gaze lingered on the dialed name on the Comm device.


    "He''s not¡­" Charm hoped for the best and mouthed her words to Seeker.


    "Cliff. Stop pretending that you''re not there. As your client, I order you to report the situation to me. Are you nearby already?" Seeker called out loudly.


    Charm felt her soul departed her. Her ancestors rushed to pull back her soul as if they feared her soul would be snatched by evil spirits.


    "¡­"


    "Cliff¡­ I''m waiting¡­ This is a direct order from your supervisor." Seeker spoke in a strict tone.


    "¡­.Sir¡­" Cliff voiced out weakly.


    Charm expression was nk. Her equilibrium was suddenly turning strange as if the room was spinning around


    "You should see this, Cliff." Seeker spoke in a volume and frequency that normal humans couldn''t hear.


    "She''s like having a near-death experience right now. Maybe if I keep this up she''d reach Unbing Advent." Seeker teased.


    "PLEASE STOP! I AM BEGGING YOU!" Cliff had been pleading at a volume that the two couldn''t hear ever since Seeker dialed it.


    "Why are you worried? She just admitted she likes you. Come on. This is your chance of finding out the details of her brother. Since your nearby take her out somewhere. I knew what you were thinking. I practically guessed all of your intentions, right? But you''ve got to change tactics and adapt. ying the Farmer has no more benefits. I''m not forcing you into ying the Fisherman for nothing. We need to know where his brother is. And fast. So use everything I did to your advantage."


    "Everything you did?"


    "Think! I made it look like you were leaking military secrets! Use that as a form to forcemunication. You don''t have to use the Eeyore anymore. Any of those four routes are to be abandoned once you''ve established a firm foothold of yourmunication. That is because once you have a rtionship or a connection with the other person, such necessities to forcemunication bes unnecessary. Youmunicate with the person because of your attraction and because the other person wees you, you don''t have to worry about what social convention, social etiquette, or nominative standards to keep you frommunicating with her. Make her tell you things that she hasn''t which is at the same level as the information you gave her. Ask for forgiveness and when she''s over it, you can jokingly ask her of things she hasn''t revealed on the context that you already told her a lot of things that are not to be disclosed." Seeker ordered.


    The conversation was fast and quiet that to the eyes of Lara and Charm, Seeker was just staring and sneering at Charm''s expression and Cliff''s silence.


    "Cliff. I order you toe in here and ask Miss Novelty-stoise to apany you to a ssy bar. I rmend H-02. I''ll tell the owner to give you a private room." Seeker spoke normally once more.


    "Pri-Private?!" Lara reacted.


    "Yeah. I think it''s time for Cliff toe clean. But since the nature of their discussion has a lot of secrets¡­ I think they need a private ce to talk. Don''t you agree?" Seeker smiled. Thankfully, he was using "him" to help himmunicate with Lara and talk to Cliff all at the same time.


    Charm remained silent and stunned. She had witnessed her ancestral generations bidding her good luck on her talk.


    Seeker abruptly hung up.


    "Charm¡­ Don''t worry. He really likes you." Seeker spoke sincerely.


    For some strange reason, Charm felt a strange warmth on her heart.


    "You¡­ think so?" She asked with an embarrassed expression. Her stunned expression suddenly disappeared.


    Lara noticed it and was confused.


    "He told me. So don''t worry. I was honestly doing him a favor. That''s why when I noticed you were eating here, I sat at the back to see if you liked Cliff. That guy is crazy for you. And I know you''re the type of girl that likes to take things slow in rtionship¡­ Don''t worry. Cliff''s really awkward with these things. He''s never dated a Royal before. Much less someone as erm...plicated as a Novelty-stoise. So rx." Seeker smiled warmly.


    At that moment, Cliff entered the room wearing an expression that could only be described as ''Cuttlefish.''


    Seeker shook his head and sighed.


    "See. I told you. He''s probably twice as embarrassed as you are." Seekerughed.


    "Don''t worry." Seeker then whispered.


    "He''s feeling guilty. He''s probably afraid of you since he thinks you think he lied to you. Go with the opposite of the Guardian. Be the elder sister that is chastising or punishing her junior." Seeker gave a thumbs up seen only to Charm.


    "That would¡­ work?" She asks hesitantly.


    Laraughed.


    "It''s the perfect counter. This way you get to hide your embarrassment and talk to him. He would be on apologizing to you and you can finally take control of the flow of the game." Lara added.


    "Like Lara said. You could even ask him to treat you out to some nice meals. He is a soldier and I could easily ask the Covenant to ramp up his pay. He did take a few bullets for me. I''m sure they''ll agree." Seekerughed.


    At that moment, Charm realized her advantage and abruptly stood up.


    She started to walk towards Cliff as if she was storming off.


    "You have some exining to do." She muttered as she passed by intentionally bumping Cliff by the side as she left.


    Cliff had a surprised and fearful expression and immediately turned to follow her.


    Seeker and Laraughed as the two were outside.


    "That was¡­ cruel."


    "Well¡­ If Cliff can use me as an excuse to get to Charm, why can''t I use him to get to you?" Seeker gave a daring smile as he locked eyes to Lara.


    Lara was surprised and her eyes widened.


    "Same eyes¡­" Seeker thought in his head.


    "You''re really good at teasing girls." Laraughed.


    "I haven''t teased a lot of girls. So if I am good at teasing girls, then I''m good at teasing a girl named Lara." Seeker smiled.


    Laraughed as she hid her blush.


    "Then what n were you adapting to uh... get me?"


    "I''m sorry?"


    "You''re obviously ying the Fisherman. But your approach¡­ I just can''t quite pinpoint which of the four you are trying. This is neither the Guardian, the Knight or the Eeyore¡­"


    "Then it''s the Natural then. And quite specific to my current predicament. I heard you talking a while ago that you had a little crush on me. That presented me with an opportunity. If I talked to you a littleter, I had to pretend that I haven''t heard of your conversation and would be forced to y the Farmer. So I dove in. I yed the Fisherman. The only problem was the social etiquettes which served as hindrances."


    "Social etiquettes? You''re Seeker Carlean and you''re worried about that?"


    "Of course I am! Even people who meet on bars with the intent of getting lucky can''t go out and directly ask a girl if she wants it. Both are forced to consider social etiquettes and unconsciously take part in the courting ritual of talking andmunicating before going into the real intentions leading to sex and whatever it is they are into. So even I have to take necessary approaches to build rapport. Otherwise, what socially eptable style would I do that could lead to a conversation with you? So I thought like Veil Cruz¡­ I dove right in, and admitted who I was, and how I had been eavesdropping to your conversation."


    "That''s socially eptable? And let me just ignore the fact that you are talking like Veil Cruz in the novel." Lara giggled.


    "You are clearly a fan of Veil. So I guess trying to mimic his idiosyncrasies would give me a shot at impressing you. Who knows, I could hit all thee I''s with that. Impression, Interest, and Impact. As for my entrance being socially eptable¡­ it''s yes and no. It''s arrogant and slightly creepy but falls within an eptable range considering my uh¡­ famous standing. And I prepared a little trick to diminish the arrogant and bordering-creepy entrance."


    "Oh my gosh¡­ You talked about Cliff! You made us focus on that!" Lara realized it.


    "Exactly. Now, the previously awkward, egotistical and somewhat rude entrance is easily dissipated because I naturally brought up Cliff and Charm''s little love story. The revtions were too great that you two had no choice but to abandon my entrance and forget about it and focus on the topic at hand."


    "I see. So it''s like you walked up to us, told us you were eavesdropping and know that I like you, but used Cliff as a buffer to make the stressful atmosphere disappear?"


    "Yup! And I also managed to get Charm to go with Cliff so I can spend more time with you. That is what I like to call, a ''Pro Natural'' move." Seekerughed.


    Lara giggled. Seeker continued to smile and Lara caught the glint of relief in Seeker''s eyes.


    She paused for a bit and took the time to appreciate Seeker''s relieved expression.


    "Is something wrong?" Seeker asked curiously.


    "I''m still¡­ caught in a daze though. I never thought you''d like me. Or is it because I''m a Diamon?"


    "Wow. Off to the sensitive topics immediately, are we? Well, I don''t me you though. Who wouldn''t want to date a Diamon? I do agree that your standing is very impressive. But honestly¡­ what do you have, that I don''t get?" Seeker smiled.


    Apetitive expression appeared on Lara''s eyes.


    "Um¡­ Hello? Diamon? I''ve got an empire behind me!"


    "Your parents have an empire behind you. As for me, I have an empire of my own." Seeker sneered.


    "Empire? You work for the Covenant!"


    "Yes. But all I get on these gambles of mine are my own. Also, I''m basically living with General Harker. Do you have an army behind your back?" Seeker countered.


    Diamon didn''t know how to reply.


    "Of course, I''m not saying this to show how better I ampared to you. I''m simply saying that I am pursuing you it''s because I genuinely like you and are not after anything that you inherit or what-not." Seeker replied.


    Lara smiled at Seeker''s deration.


    "Appealing to thepetitiveness in me, I see?"


    "Well¡­ it''s not just that. You''re a Diamon but you started hanging out with Charm who has a crush on some Regr kid. It shows that you don''t take issue in the divide. I had to hazard a guess. But you don''t like being gically modified, do you?" Seeker inquired.


    Lara''s expression turned stiff as she was stunned by Seeker''s inquiry.


    Seeker''s heart grew cold at seeing the expression of Lara.


    Right next to Lara, ''He'' manifested again.


    "This is interesting. It''s about an 80% probability that this is Zeraphine of the Presiders." A calm look surfaced on Adult Seeker''s eyes as he stared at Lara.


    "I''m curious¡­ Will you make her suffer on my behalf? Or will you also fall in love with her as I did?"


    "I''m doing this for my mission," Seeker responded mentally.


    "Whatever you say¡­ You''re still a kid, Zeek. Even if you are an Oveer, can you really escape the irresistible and almost mind controlling nature of the fire that you are ying with? Well regardless¡­ This isn''t dangerous. After all, she will be an instrument of your breakthrough. One way or the other." With that, Adult Seeker vanished.


    Lara''s expression remained surprised as she stared at Seeker''s eyes.


    "What makes you¡­ say that?"


    "Just a feeling. That''s why I risked bragging about my achievements. Usually, when you brag against a girl, unless they''re head over heels for you, they''d probably find that person to be so full of himself. But I''m doing it, to bring out apetitive nature in you and because I simply want you to ept yourself for who you are."


    "What do you mean ''ept myself?''"


    "It''s ironic. People feel insecure because they are inadequate¡­ but a small number of people¡­ those who reach the top¡­ feel inadequate because they are secure. How did that happen? Your very birthright which others would be sought for¡­ you already despise?" Seeker gave a curious nce at the eyes of Lara. As if trying to solve a puzzle that was scrambled into a mess in her iris.


    Lara was shocked. Somehow, the invasive stare of Seeker was something she longed for.


    "Did I hit it dead on? Honestly, I''m saying this with a selfish intention. I want to know who the real Lara Diamon is. Not because you are rich and powerful, but because despite that, there is fear, insecurity and probably even some regrets in your heart. You aren''t a wless Diamond."


    "Then why do you like me if I''m not wless?"


    "It''s precisely because you''re not wless that I like you. To summarize, just as you hate how perfect you see yourself because of your family and gic alterations, I like how imperfect you are. Am I talking in nonsense? No. I can''t exin it in words. But would you give me the chance of showing you that?"


    Lara was trembling from Seeker''s words.


    "Show me¡­ what?" Lara asked forcing herself out of a dazed state.


    Seeker''s warm smile caused Lara to even stop breathing.


    A conflicted sigh was heard in the depths of Seeker''s thoughts.


    "You cruel Kid." The adult Seeker sighed.


    Seeker''s consumption of energy grew to an rmingly high level. At that moment, Seeker forced the cells on his face to imitate the Tyrant Empress''s cells.


    The emotions Seeker leaked that moment came from one of the most treasured memories that the Adult Seeker had. It was the memory of how Adult Seeker fell in love with Zeraphine.


    "And now¡­ the finishing blow. Her very words, to be used against her. I wonder which of the two of us is cruel." The Adult Seeker sighed in Seeker''s mind.


    "Seeker? Show me what?" Lara asked once more noticing Seeker''s momentary silence.


    Seeker gave a warm smile and his gaze held on to Lara''s gaze.


    "Show you what my mouth can''t exin but what my heart can give."

 Chapter 152 - Lowengren’s Might

    Near one of thergest train stations that connected all of the African nations¡­


    Lowengren and Alean''s retreat route going back to China through the Red Sea had to be altered. Because of the interference of the strange group that attacked them, Lowengren had to set up another deception to lure the WGP and the Aragarians away.


    As such, they actually rode a train towards another city and left the station to travel to a certain home where one of Harker''s Programmed ves served and changed their disguise into another one before entering the same train station and traveling to another city in Africa. After traveling back and forth and going through the many cities in Africa, they finally disembarked on a specific station. It was very early in the morning, but since the train was interconnected with several cities across the African Continent, the station as critical as this one remained open. And although there were very few people in it as the various exits and gates empty with the lights shot off.


    "Alean, let''s split up now. Follow the arrangements I''ve made."


    "You haven''t told me what you will be doing." Alean furrowed her brows.


    "It''s best that you don''t know. After all, the more genuine your reactions, the better. Just y it by ear." Lowengren shrugged.


    The two separated and Alean went off and sought for a security guard in the station.


    "Where is your manager? I want to speak to him." Alean spoke seriously. Her disguise was that of a middle-aged woman who had unremarkable features.


    The tall ck man wondered.


    "I''vee with orders from the WGP. As you may have heard, something happened on the middle cities which we believe to be a battle. Because of that, we are in search of potential suspects and require to check all the security cameras in the building. Speak to your supervisor if you don''t know what I''m talking about." Alean''s voice was calm. The look she had however made the tall security guard treat her seriously and immediately contacted his superiors.


    It wasn''t long until several ck men arrived and started talking with Alean.


    In truth, as Alean and Lowengren suspected, the battle they had at the park sparked attention and rm to the African Government. Security on most public transportations was on high alert to identify people who weren''t detected in their system or who have traveled illegally.


    Alean maintained her serious expressions and followed the group into therge security room where all video feeds are being disyed and even broadcasted to several other areas of the Government.


    "As this station is a hub that connects its too other stations, we need to properly identify all personnel. My own identity should have also surfaced in your systems. I will be frank. I''ve been sent on a secret mission. We do not know the organization which has caused that attack on the Middle Cities." A grave expression surfaced on Alean''s face as she continued to exin the details of her mission.


    Almost immediately, the security team sprang to action. Theirputers were all working at top-notch speed as all the faces of people entering and exiting the station were shown.


    Alean was secretly looking at the camera feeds and sending it to Lowengren.


    Somewhere, in the dark corners of therge train station, Lowengren was studying the feeds carefully analyzing the position, direction, and movements of the cameras.


    "This should be good. Alright. Just act out ordingly to what you see." Lowengren gave Alean some instructions before going silent.


    Alean was curious just what this deception was?


    Soon, the answer to her question was shown on screen.


    Her jaw dropped open as she stared in shock at the scene.


    "Hm? Sir! Look!" One of the guards pointed.


    As the guard''s eyes were drawn to the screen they were stunned.


    "What is going on?! Who is that?!"


    "I don''t know! Should we let him in?" A guard was so confused at the scene that he asked a strange question.


    "Let him in? Are you insane!? Guards! Head to the north entrance! I want to capture a madman!" The leader announced angrily as he rushed out of the room.


    Alean was dumbstruck that she couldn''t speak.


    "Why does that person look familiar?" One of the guards suddenly murmured.


    Alean noticed it as well. There had to be a reason why Lowengren revealed his true face.


    "Isn''t that¡­ Lowengren?" Alean guessed.


    At that point, the guards who were looking started to have shock faces.


    They reviewed the tapes, again and again, to see and zoom at the face of Lowengren.


    Lowengren''s face was never fully shown in the camera. The angles they could only manage could at most show only half of his face.


    Alean bid her farewell after confirming that there were no individuals who were able to escape the Blockchainwork. Alean walked out calmly but still inwardly shaken with what she saw. The ce where Lowengren had chosen as his stage to reveal his madness was one of the least used exits as it directly led to the main highway, and since there were very few busesmuting at that time, no one would pass by that area except the asional drunks.


    Alean moved to avoid the CCTV and finally waited at the other end of the station which was simrly unused as of this hour. It was the exit at the opposite end where Lowengren revealed himself.


    Lowengren rushed towards the dark alleys careful to evade all the cameras in the city that are used for the government to monitor the area.


    Alean continued to wait in the area where Lowengren left her. The waiting made her grow more impatient.


    Soon her expression was sour. She constantly grumbled and wanted to tear Lowengren apart.


    Lowengren finally appeared and immediately rushed towards Alean to wear the disguise he used to wear.


    "What the hell was that?!" Alean cursed.


    "SHHH! Be quiet. We don''t know if they can hear us!" Alean and Lowengren had been speaking at a speed that was faster than to what a normal human could understand.


    "You showed yourself to the world! The WGP is watching over us! They''d pick up on you!"


    "It''s a deception." Lowengren easily.


    "That wasn''t deception! That was insanity!"


    "Exactly. That was the point."


    "How was that the point?!" Alean was so angry.


    "Think about it. I want to make myself seen by the Aragarians. The problem is that the World Governing Powers are also watching. So how do I deceive one party and not alert the other?!"


    "I don''t know! But definitely not what you just did!"


    "Think! My actions have to make the WGP doubt it''s me so they can ignore it! But on the other hand, our recent deception has made Pridgeon extremely obsessed with exterminating the Jews, remember? So that action of mine is perfectly reasonable!"


    "The hell it was!" Alean cursed angrily.


    "Rx! Have faith in my Path!"


    Alean gave Lowengren a quiet stare. She had to admit, Lowengren has yet to fail with his path.


    "Exin how you did it."


    "All I have to do is deceive the WGP into thinking that it''s not me. I don''t need to deceive the highest officials who control the world. I may get the attention of several army leaders, but they''d probably not bother with it. In fact, most of the people working with the WGP would probably ignore it and not report it to the higher-ups. But even if they do, I''m still confident that they wouldn''t think so much of it. That''s why I had to do that."


    Just as Lowengren predicted, the various bases of the WGP had been notified of the video from the train station.


    "You wanted me¡­ to see this? What''s wrong with you?" Awork manager of one of WGP''s bases reprimanded.


    "But Sir! The system detected that it''s Lowengren!"


    "No, it''s not! Don''t bother me with this useless reports!" The manager angrily stormed out of the room.


    Simr scenes were yed out on different parts of the world. Lowengren however, failed to realize one possible loophole from his deception.


    On the depths of an undisclosed part of the Pacific Ocean, arge structure that was as wide as a mountain kept crawling on the ocean floors. Apart from the distance and the various interference that other nations used to mask signals, this underwater structure had technologies that surpassed the world. This deep traveling base was one of the many ''Antis'' mobile bases deployed around the world.


    Having jurisdiction and unrestraint freedom, the World Governing Powers were now more aggressive in their hunt for the terrorist organization that attacked China.


    This particr Antis would patrol the regions in the South Pacific as the ongoing wars against Australia continued to rage.


    One particr soldier decided to report the incident to the higher-ups. His immediate supervisor was surprised at the scene but decided to bring it up to the Fleet Admiral.


    "You sure Admiral would like to see this?" The soldier questioned helplessly.


    The supervising officer frowned.


    "You''re the one who showed this to me. If you didn''t think this was something worth alerting me, then why are you worried if I showed it to Fleet Admiral Margantae?"


    "With all due respect, Sir. I was merely following protocol. You can choose to ignore this report." The soldier gave an embarrassed reply.


    "Well, Fleet Admiral did say I should bring anything odd or strange. And I would have ignored anything but this really does look like Lowengren. And she values him that much."


    "She really thinks he''s alive?" The soldier had a strange expression.


    "You know how fans are. Anyways, Fleet Admiral''s choices on which team or yer she would fan over is her decision. As for me, I''ll just do my job." The officer shrugged and took the file containing the video and left the room.


    The officer and soldier belonged to one of the more skeptical and guarded military bases of the WGP.


    The officer walked and rode several elevators and walked along various transportation routes to get to the main chamber of the variousmanders in the base.


    During the Third World War, most wirelessmunications and devices were easily detected, interrupted, manipted and even blocked with the various technologies of each nation. Because of this, the need to deploy highly trained soldiers who would have the insight of a General was necessary on each major battlefield. These new rank was adopted by several countries and it continued to be so even after the war.


    Field Commanders, Naval Commanders, and Sky Commanders were frontline soldiers that had the authority tomand and use a wide array of a nation''s technological possibilities and were generally trained directly by a General or an Admiral. This was so that whenever technologies would interfere inmunication, a battalion could still function and coordinate as these Commanders generally had the same flow and thought.


    The General would generally spend the majority of their time training with these Commanders for various scenarios to make these Commanders coordinate well with the General''s n.


    The officer approached the main training area of the Commanders of the Pacific Antis. This was the most guarded and protected area in the entire mobile fort as the most powerful officials were gathered here.


    "Fleet Admiral! We have reports that need your immediate attention." The officer called out respectfully.


    Several high officials turned to see why the soldier had interrupted their daily training.


    "Report." A tall, and cold woman ordered. She had short hair that would mistake her for a man, and several burn wounds on her face.


    "We have a video feed of what we believed to be Lowengren!" The officer reported.


    "Only¡­ it''s a bit troublesome." The officer continued with an embarrassed expression.


    Themanders in the room were shocked. Some even stood up in surprise.


    "Oh? That kid? Show it to me." The woman contained her shock but everyone knew that this news greatly affected her.


    The name Lowengren was a legend amongst Commanders and Generals. The World Governing Powers had deemed this person a threat and due to the inconclusive reports of his death, the WGP had to check if Lowengren was indeed dead. Secretly, several of the Commanders in this fleet including the Fleet Admiral herself had faced Lowengren in the massively multiyer game, Generals. It was there, that they tasted defeat.


    "Show us the video." A Commander ordered on behalf of the Admiral.


    The video was reyed in front of all of them.


    "The video was taken from the CCTV camera of a public train station in Nairobi." The soldier reported.


    Themander had a strange expression and pointed to the video and asked the soldier with dread in his eyes.


    "What the hell is this?"


    The officer didn''t know how to react and started exining.


    "We''ve confirmed the identity using facial recognition. Although only one half of his face was clearly seen, we matched it with the recent pictures that Lowengren revealed during the Australian Avarice."


    "Is it a 100 percent match?" The Commander continued to ask.


    "There were some inconsistencies. But over 76 percent of that revealed area matched with Lowengren''s known face. Also, his eye color doesn''t match. But our experts believe that this could be due to some special contact lenses. We''ve already ordered a special team to investigate the area and see if there are any trails that this man left."


    "You''ve left out the most important question." A Commander impatiently replied.


    "Commander¡­ I am well aware that this video shows his¡­ his might¡­ and this shouldn''t be news that I can¡­ easily show you¡­ But I simply¡­ thought¡­"


    "You simply thought what? Answer the damn question! Why is he naked?" The Commanded then turned to ask.


    The officer was silent and simply shook his head.


    The video he showed was a recorded CCTV video where the person they believed to be Lowengren had emerged from the staircase and was drunkenly walking carrying a bottle of Gin. Only his left side was revealed but he had no clothes on. This pathetic sight which showcased the drunk teens ''Might'' had unknowingly stunned these powerful men and women."


    "Well to be fair¡­ a 70% match could be something we have to look into. Our facial recognition system is almost perfect." Another Commander asked.


    "Almost. But why would Lowengren appear in a public train station in Africa? And why would he be naked?" Anothermander inquired.


    "I don''t know. Maybe he met some trouble?"


    "That bottle his holding¡­ it appears to be some liquor? Maybe Lowengren got drunk." Another Commander sarcastically added.


    "You''re actually discussing whether or not this is Lowengren? The man who brought Australia to its knees, a man shrouded in mystery even to his alleged death! He was that man who defeated several of us! He was at the peak of intellect, the paragon of cunning, the very definition of cautious! Why would allow himself to be seen publicly?" A Commander who was a well-known fan of Lowengren shouted in defense.


    The othermanders could not answer. They knew of Lowengren''s potential and this action seemed absurd.


    "Maybe he''s an exhibitionist?" Amander guessed.


    "Please keep it professional." The Admiral gave a silentment but every Commander became silent.


    "Maybe to deliver a message?" Anothermander guessed.


    "Then why show his face? Why risk showing it to us? If it was to send a message to someone, what''s the message?"


    "Indeed. The more important question is why would you reveal something that can make us easily identify him?"


    "Are you talking about his face or his groin?" Anothermander couldn''t resist but joke.


    The Commander gave an angry re at the joker.


    The joker gave a dryughed and avoided the eyes of this strictmander.


    "This was taken in Africa? A pity that the Fleet Admiral assigned on that continent hates my guts. I guess I have to go." The Fleet Admiral sighed.


    "Admiral?" Several surprised voices echoed.


    "Although all of this it doesn''t make sense and it is most likely not him, this is something he would definitely do."


    "Get drunk and walk around naked?" A Commander could not help but reply.


    "All that I know is, we cannot take the wisdom of that brat lightly. If he is alive, we should consider all possibilities. Commander Lioner, Aura, Lockhard, and Reinfield. The Antis is yours tomand. The rest, prepare for departure. We leave for Africa tonight." A rare smile emerged as she gazed hopefully at the screen.


    The Commanders around her turned elsewhere.


    The Admiral realizing the strange timing of her smile as she looked at the video feeds immediately retracted her gaze and coughed as she walked out.


    "It is as Admiral Tanya says. This is so random and so pointless that it couldn''t be Lowengren. But of course, we should still send someone there to confirm. Look for someone who would match Lowengren appearance on the right side of the face." Anothermander quickly gave a summary to change the topic.


    "Let''s get ready." He continued as he followed the Admiral.


    Meanwhile¡­ Somewhere on the moon.


    "IT REALLY IS LOWENGREN!" A shocked Pridgeon reacted after watching the same video feeds.

 Chapter 153 - Pridgeon’s Obsession

    Up on the infinite space, the lonely moon that revolved around Earth was quiet. The moon had long had human settlements. Astronauts all over the globe would be sent to the moon and became the ce for satellite repairs and recement. As such, the richest and most powerful organizations of the Earth would have astronauts who were under their employment and would live on the moon,municating with the various space stationsunched by different countries.


    Recently, the moon had undergone another client who was bought arge bulk of the moon''snd and even situated themselves on the dark side of the moon. This was naturally the World Governing Powers. The World Governing Powers issued a statement requiring each country to send their representatives who would be working on the moon and would act as ambassadors ofmunication.


    The recent attacks on China and the mystery of the usage of technologies owned by the World Governing Powers required the World Governing Powers to be more transparent in their actions. As such, any major operations were openly presented to the world.


    A military base on the moon was one of the biggest projects that the WGP underwent. Never before had they made a base on the moon, but due to the rising troubles, creating one on the moon became a priority.


    On the office of the ambassador of China, a strange meeting had begun.


    "Let''s make this quick. We only have a few hours of free time." Thezy voice of a man ordered.


    "I can''t believe it. We have to meet on the moon? Ugh. I hate flying with those contraptions from the Earth." Another voice was irritable.


    "Zera will not be in attendance." Another tired voice spoke.


    "As expected. She wasn''t interested in this on the first ce. Garenjazz, this is all your fault." An angry Presider voiced out.


    "Can''t we get to business! We need to start this meeting! We''ve already dyed for too long!" Arge bearded man insisted.


    "Presider Pridgeon. It was your failure that has led to this incident in the first ce." Another Presider chastised.


    "And why did you bring a Pioneer here?"


    "She''s an Arbiter. I''ve promoted her. And I brought her here because she had a brilliant n for the gathering of the Jews."


    "I seriously think that the presence of a Pioneer would just degrade-"


    "Rx Crostfree. Pridgeon has been the most adamant for us to have this meeting. Since this little meeting of ours has been dyed because of the paranoia of the WGP, Presider Pridgeon means well and wants to get things done. If he brought a Pioneer or an Arbiter here, it is without reason." Garenjazzzily interrupted.


    "You just want to get out of this meeting as quickly as possible!" A Presider used Garenjazz.


    "All I want is the best for us and to ensure that our ns won''t be hindered."


    "Is that why you reced the CEO of Nintendo?!" The Presider angrily used again.


    "It was for the greater good of all Aragarians that I took over. The Principal has decreed that we are to be more involved with the battle on Earth."


    "Really? Greater good? And not just so you can y all the unreleased Pokemon games?!"


    "Owning the organizations that own Nintendo is the greater good of Aragarians. Once we start our ns, most of the world would be destroyed. I n to keep thispany intact as its games have created a phenomenon amongst Aragarians. I sent an old version to the Principal and he ordered me to take over whatever organizations own Nintendo." Garenjazz casually rebutted.


    Everyone was silenced at his words.


    Some had peculiar expressions as if they didn''t believe the exnation of Garenjazz.


    "Can we now get on with the meeting?" Garenjazzzily moved on.


    "Presider Pridgeon. I believe you already have ns which would be the best course for us to proceed in this battle."


    "Yes. I believe that this will not only allow us to fix the mess with the Jews but could also allow us easiermunication. This is Arbiter Madelyne. She is one of the survivors of the recent battle between Meng and Richie. Because of her performance, I initially made her Arbiter to be the overall leader of all Pioneer''s here. But now, this position is useless since we have been sent to personally deal with the mess on Earth. She has a n which I believe would be the best course of action in the process of eliminating the Jews."


    "Are you still so adamant with that? We are being too careful! Forget about the Jews. Now that we are here, there''s no need for all this nonsense. If we relied on the Pioneer''s to clean up Earth, then this would have been a good tactic. But our technologies could easily destroy Earth." A Presider sighed with an annoyed expression. The Presider was a in ck man with a rather neat and organized look. From his hairstyle to his clothes, it made him look extremely clean.


    "Yet even my technology could not defeat an Earth Assassin!" Pridgeon shouted back.


    The Presider who kept arguing with Pridgeon sneered.


    "That''s because you are weak." Heughed.


    "If it was me¡­"


    "If it was you, you, at most you could only wound him before dying terribly!"


    "You underestimate me so much, Pridgeon."


    "You underestimate Earth, Gordon!" Pridgeon countered.


    "The nted and the Pioneers were equipped with techs that are equal to a country''s technological possibilities! Yet they were all killed. And those who killed them weren''t even the assassin or Meng. It came from special operatives of other countries. We viewed them as ants yet they killed all the nted I had in China. Richie was too powerful. I didn''t dare fight him. If you were there Gordon, you would have fled too!"


    A powerful force field engulfed Pridgeon before a strange red light shot to him.


    The force field blocked it. As these two forces met, there were no explosions. no loud sounds, not even a visual sign of resistance. It was as if the red light simply touched on the blue force field and was no more.


    "Gordon, please control your temper. Although you are strong, Pridgeon has a point." Garenjazzzily pointed out. The force field around Pridgeon hade from Garenjazz.


    "Even if Pridgeon is one of the weakest among us Presiders, he is still a Presider. If Earth has the capabilities to challenge Pridgeon, then it means, that they have the means to hurt us. This is why the mere fact that Pridgeon was injured became a topic worthy of being addressed by the Principals back at home."


    Gordon was silent.


    "Now that we finally managed to gather everyone here¡­ let us now discuss what transpired after the battle."


    Everyone turned to Pridgeon.


    "I only awoke at the Floating Fortress of China, the Da Sheng. The nted and Pioneers in the Chinese Army found me with the emergency ping that my suit was sending and immediately retreated to the Da Sheng to hide from the World Governing Powers. They imed that the organization that decided to ambush and interfere with the battle between Meng and Richie, attacked me, wrecking my suit."


    "This organization is dangerous then?"


    "No. Whatever this organization was, it shouldn''t be that strong. My suit was barely functioning. I already had to use all of its energy on Richie''s surprise attack."


    "What was Richie''s attack?"


    Pridgeon''s expression turned purple. How could he say that the attack came from an improved Pangean Eradication Bomb that he nted on the hearts of the Pioneers under him? The explosion only damaged him because he wasn''t on guard with the danger and curiously checked on the heart of Larson before it exploded in front of him.


    "Some form of sound vibration which stunned me and then he used a Pangean Eradication bomb." Pridgeon brushed off the inquiry.


    "Since I got caught in the st, the suit set out to heal me. When I was refreshed, the suit had low power and I used it to fire the modified weapon of the Chinese, the Qilin''s Horn. I escaped after that in order to make it look like the attack was a desperate suicidal attack made either by Meng or by Richie."


    "Then this organization appeared as you were fleeing?"


    "Yes. The attack from the mysterious organization made my status critical. Of course, my suit must have exhausted all of its remaining energy to repair whatever damage I had before I was found by the nted''s and Pioneer. It was this same group that rescued Madelyne. She encountered Richie personally, but perhaps out of Richie''s whim, he left her alive."


    "And what is your conclusion about this Richie?"


    The several times Richie''s name was mentioned were extremely torturous for Madelyne. The name of Richie would make her unconsciously remember the extremely passionate kiss she received from Richie. The memories would always result in the same thing.


    Ecstasy.


    It was as if Richie''s name was a triggering force that would cause Madelyn''s entire body to convulse.


    "This¡­ Richie is extremely strong and powerful. He had tech that I could not identify. No Earthly Technological Possibilities was as advance as this." Madelyn managed to keep a straight face but her entire body was twitching inside. Amidst this pleasure was great regret. Why did Richie die?


    "Are you alright?" Garenjazz gave a curious look.


    "I''m¡­ fine Presider." Madelyn responded.


    "She reported that the extreme encounter has been giving her night terrors and she is currently suffering some form of the post-traumatic disorder. Talking about Richie is extremely torturous for her. I hoped to show her to you to see for yourselves the effect of this Richie!" Pridgeon exined.


    Since Pridgeon exined it, Madelyn started to gasp and visibly perspire. Luckily, she managed to hide all disys of extreme delight and her appearance fitted someone who was greatly shocked or disturbed.


    The Presider''s continued observing Madelyn with a wary expression.


    "This is how strong Earth is. This is the same reason that I had requested more Presider''s to actively take part in dismantling and weaken Earth before we begin our invasion." Pridgeon dered righteously.


    The Presiders were silent.


    "I thought Richie and Meng were all killed?"


    "Yes. But this battle happened with another organization watching. This organization is mysterious and strange and we can only assume that they found Meng and Richie as threats. If an organization such as this do exist, then we have a problem. We do not know who are its leaders. Also, I''m sure you''ve read the report. Various organizations around the world are getting more active. In the Underworld, organizations have been eliminated and newer ones have risen to take over."


    "This is a result of the World Governing Powers troublesome ban." A thick ssed woman spoke. She was tall. As tall as Pridgeon. Her face was smooth and dark and her beautymanded attention. She constantly twirled her dark and curly hairs as she sat impatiently listening to the meeting.


    "Wasn''t it because of this delusion of theirs that made our meeting difficult in the first ce? Before we even managed to leave the mothership, the WGP had already begun making that stupid base over there." She narrated angrily.


    "It''s a perfect cover. The organization, if they do exist, is masking their activities in the arising chaos due to the bans made by the World Governing Power. We have to act as if they do exist. You should act more your age, Tiana." A young man with a small frame gave a stern reminder.


    "Act my age? Well sorry, that I''m not as old as you, grandpa! To think you''d invest about 30% of your sciences in age lengthening! For a man who''s so keen on keeping his young looks, that''s very mature." Tiana countered.


    Feyor raised his eyebrow.


    "And look where this science has made me go. Unlike most of you who had to take over several of your Pioneer''s organization or mind-controlled, supnted or killed your way through to im another existing organization, it took me no great effort to start a growingpany. Unlike you who would be bounded by the limitations of yourpany''s profiles, habits, and investments, I can do whatever I want. You better earn a lot of contributions in this battle if you want to keep that beauty of yours." Feyorughed.


    Tiana frowned.


    "Can we please get back to the topic at hand! If this organization is a threat, we have to find out more about them at once! But beyond that, it is another issue! The Jews! We have to make sure they are eliminated to ensure that those religions can unite this Earth!"


    "The Earth is already divided if you haven''t noticed. If this secret organization exists, then we would have even fewer things to worry about. Let the WGP and this organization fight each other. We don''t need to harass the Jews if something that can threaten the WGP already exists." Gordon sighed in disinterest.


    "No. We follow Pridgeon''s n. It''s best that we remain cautious. Although the elimination of these two organizations, the WGP, and the mysterious ones could hasten our ns, many nations will still remain neutral. Religion can unite them. And once we appear and there is a united group, they could use nuclear techs against those who would side with us and that would be troublesome for our clean up. The worst case is that we would still remain here in space and be unable to live onnd because of all the radiation. The best is to get the nations them to fight each other and once the WGP is weakened and that other organization appears to conquer the WGP, we rush in and defeat them. Our priority is to maintain the bans for radioactive weapons, Any other weapons of mass destruction are allowed except those nuclear techs." Feyor countered.


    Pridgeon nodded with beaming smiles.


    "Exactly! We must remove everything that could unite nations. We''ve already changed the ideology and philosophy of this age. We''ve added fuel to divide groups and have spies all over the world! Only religion remains to be the issue and with the Jew''s out of the picture, we would be one step ahead of our ns!" Pridgeon dered with fanaticism.


    "I have a question. Howe no one is studying nuclear tech?" A child inquired. He had a decent, clean hair-cut and wore a stylish attire.


    "Lanterk, that tech is dangerous and leaves too many problems. Even our science branches never followed or emphasized that path because of its dangers and we have found better alternatives. What''s the point in studying something so primitive and disastrous?" Garenjazz patiently exined.


    "I''ll never understand Earth''s fascination with radiation tech. It''s too harmful." Feyor shook his head.


    "They weren''t like us who had environmental issues. Since our is only half as big as Earth, I guess they never had an issue with environmental safety whereas our culture drills that in our heads. Regardless, nuclear tech and other radiation-based techs are off-limits for us. It has no benefits."


    "Well, those who tasted radiation made Pokemon¡­ So that must be something, right?" Lanterk gave a quick response.


    The Presiders couldn''t help but nod in agreement.


    "Fellow Presiders, what is the n?" Pridgeon impatiently asked.


    Garenjazz raised his eyebrows at Pridgeon''s persisting impatience.


    "Pridgeon, only a Principal has the authority to make me rush my words. Us meeting with you is already testing the limits. I don''t care why you''re so demented on destroying Earth or why you want to do it as fast as possible. But your fears are misced, Pridgeon. I get it. Earth is strong. But we are not as weak as you. But so to ease your fears and end this stupid meeting, you take full charge of this n then." Garenjazz orderedzily.


    "Any objections?" Garenjazz turned to the other Presiders.


    "I have a question. What exactly is the n?" Lanterk asked Pridgeon.


    "Bravo Presider Lanterk! Clearly the young are truly more radical than the old!" Pridgeon praised. The other Presiders moaned in annoyance.


    "As I was saying, Madelyn suggested using a Jew to gather the Jewish race. We reveal the atrocities beingmitted around the world by most of the Pioneers and me this mysterious organization or the World Governing Powers. This will trigger a global action in trying to gather all the Jews in one ce making our jobs easier. Christianity ought to support this and this gathering should bepleted within a month if all of thepanies we''ve joined pool our resources to help them. Once done, we kill them off secretly to wipe out that race for good."


    "That''s a problem." A Presider voiced up. He was an old man with dark long flowing hair. He worerge rings on each of his fingers and itpromised rare precious stones that were found on Earth.


    "Such a move will greatly affect the Pioneers under mymand. They have been the ones who handled the major ns in exterminating the Jews."


    "I will make it worth your while." Pridgeonughed.


    "Then I have noints. The n seems well-though off. The Earthling will be bearing most of the cost." The old man turned away with disinterest.


    "Quite a smart Arbiter. Alright, I agree to make him an Arbiter. Rogue Pioneer''s on Earth will thereby be under yourmand." Garenjazz agreed.


    "Can I go now?" Lanterk asked innocently.


    "Yes. Now that Pridgeon''s satisfied. You all know your mission. Just carry it all out. Oh, and be sure to ask Zeraphine of the Presider''s if you n to abduct a teenage pop star or actor. She''s currently collecting those she can." Garenjazz sighed in frustration.


    "Garenjazz, please take responsibility! We can''t have those especially now that the World Governing Power''s is active! This might hinder the ns with the Jews!" Pridgeon pleaded.


    Garenjazz sighed.


    "She''s Zeraphine of the Presiders. We can only hope that she won''t act all crazy. She''s in the process of collecting the first one and even I don''t know how it would turn out. Why don''t you do it, Feyor? Surely, talking to Zeraphine of the Presiders would be a menial task. After all, you are the next in line of seniority. I''ll give you ess to several of the unreleased games. The recent one explores the maps before the Third World War." Garenjazzughed.


    Almost every Presider reacted to that statement.


    "I''ll see what I can do¡­" Feyor was in deep thought. The price was indeed worth it. But Feyor knew what a handful Zeraphine was.


    Garengazz left the room not saying or waiting for anything. It was then that he noticed it. A private message was sent to him and he was immediately able to sense it.


    "Garenjazz¡­ Might I have a word with you in private? It has to do with someone who could endanger the secret of our existence." Pridgeon sent.


    Garenjazz continued to walk as if nothing happened.


    "I''ll see you in your private quarters then.." Garenjazz sent back.

 Chapter 154 - Change In Priorities

    Pridgeon was reying the video again and again. Zooming the picture as much as he can and using various technological image-enhancing devices.


    "Presider¡­ if that person wore any form of disguise or makeup¡­ then even with the image enhancing programs, we cannot confirm if that person really is Lowengren." Madelyne helplesslymented. Behind the two of them was one of the most powerful Presiders, Garenjazz Murkore.


    The Pioneers and nted around him were getting ufortable at the constant zooming of the picture while Garenjazz was busy fiddling with a small handheld device ying the unreleased version of Pokemon. Some of the nteds and Pioneers gazed in envy at this.


    "You''ve called me¡­ for this?" Garenjazz finally stopped ying and spoke up.


    "Garenjazz! That''s Lowengren!"


    "Can you tell based on his junk?" He gave a boring reply.


    "I''m serious! That''s him! He ought to be the most dangerous man that we Aragarians should be wary of!!"


    "So he killed a few Pioneers¡­ Even if these were directly under you-"


    "But the Jews! He rescued all of the Jews under those Pioneers! I was unable to find them! If he is alive, he must know of the secret hunts in killing the Jews! The ones revealed by New Great Britain were the few outcasts that weren''t Jews. But therge majority of the people missing were all Jews! He must have them!"


    "I doubt he would have a mind. They might have died during thatrge explosion. Didn''t Lowengren kill himself in the middle of that battle? No, you think this Lowengren would be so bored as to take notice of the Jews during that battle?"


    "But what if-"


    "You are talking in probabilities, Pridgeon. These what if''s are but simply conjectures that your paranoid mind has instilled. Remember, most of the Jews we abducted weren''t even aware of their Jewish bloodline. Only we know because of our technologies in identifying them. So rx. This isn''t as critical as you think. Its already highly unlikely for this stripper to be Lowengren. Much more so if Lowengren was aware of our n to kill Jews."


    "But then why did he target Pioneer''s specifically?"


    "Are you bing an idiot, Pridgeon? That''s the natural thing to do. Those Pioneers were called Bringer of Change in Australia. They are the most influential people in Australia. If he killed them Australia would feel it''s repercussions. If it weren''t for you sending resources to Australia after that battle, how could Australia have been kept at float? The targeting of Pioneers was simply Lowengren''s n of revenge. The Jews he rescued were meant to make the world angry at Australia and it did work. But no news ever came out about finding these people to be Jews."


    "There has to be something more-"


    "He was not after Pioneers specifically. He probably didn''t even know that all of those he rescued were Jews! Pangea hasn''t even released statements about that and they have had those Jews for over three months! Rx. That''s not Lowengren and the Jews are kept in the dark." Garenjazz insisted and turned away.


    Pridgeon was silent and could not respond. But a hateful re continued to lock in his eyes as he gazed at the image.


    "This will be thest of this. I''ve already aided you and granted you permission to act ording to what you want. You can go ahead and continue killing the Jews but don''t drag us all into your madness." Garenjazz spoke as he left the room.


    Pridgeon immediately punched his fist down destroying theputer in front of him.


    "Presider," Madelyne spoke from the side.


    "I''ll take care of this myself. If all non-affiliated Pioneers are now under me, then it''s easy. I can have them search for this Lowengren and you can gift them a tech upgrade as a reward." Madelyn smiled.


    Pridgeon calmed down at those words.


    "Good." He turned to anotherputer and started to pull up various files from the world.


    "How do we have such data at hand?!" Madelyn was surprised.


    Being a Presider, he had essed to all the information that all Pioneers and nted have on Earth. Madelyn knew that they would have various differences in tech, but he was stunned at the files Pridgeon had on hands.


    "Of course. There are still nted who serve us directly. These were initially used to spy on you Pioneers in case any of you got strange ideas. The information we Presiders can gather around the world rivals that of the World Governing Powers."


    "But Presider¡­ We don''t have any spies ced in the World Governing Powers! Their membership is decided by bloodline! How can you cote all this information?!"


    "You underestimate our sources. As you know, the WGP has formidable defense and security members which protects their members. It''s even hard for Presider''s to infiltrate and that lousy tactic we''ve done on several families on Earth wouldn''t work with them. But I''ve easily found a bypass. Infiltrate those who work for each member of the WGP. They are generally at the forefront of gathering this information. And although we won''t be able to figure out the exact movements of the WGP, we could deduce based on the information they send, through the small movements they make."


    Madelyn gazed at the different sources. They were from all Pioneers and nteds around the globe. This is the power of a Presider. She gazed longingly at such power that Pridgeon had. To think he was considered the weakest amongst Presiders!


    "Look here. There were reports of an investigation about several explosions urring in the park nearby. I''ve asked my Pioneers to investigate it and they believed it to be leading to a mysterious organization. But now, it''s getting clearer and clearer. It''s Lowengren. He must have had a small skirmish with the different Underworld groups in Africa. This is definitely Lowengren. Check on all our Pioneers and other forces in that country and see if there have been any movements against the Jews." Pridgeon ordered.


    "How sure are we that it''s not a mysterious organization?"


    "It''s too coincidental. Why would Lowengren appear? He must be involved somehow. Regardless, he is the priority. Prioritize searching within the area of Nairobi. I will be providing you temporary ess to all the Pioneers and nted that we have in Africa. Do your best to analyze all Jews within the area."


    Madelyn hesitated but decided to ask.


    "Why naked?"


    "It must have been a plot. He should be sending a message to another part of the world through this. But because it''s too unbelievable, only the rted parties would notice this. As for the rest of the world, they would react just as how Garenjazz did."


    "I understand, Presider. But may I dare to ask¡­ Why are you so focused on gathering the Jews?"


    Pridgeon simply smiled.


    "I guess you should know since you are in charge of coborating with the Pioneers and nted on Earth. This will be our little secret. You cannot others of this. I will restrain your suit and it will kill you if you talk to anyone else about this." Pridgeon then waved his hand and several newmands were ced in Madelyn''s suit.


    Madelyn was surprised at the sudden movements of Pridgeon but dared not argue.


    "Do you know of the tale of the Lost Primordial?"


    "The Aragarian who rebelled? Isn''t that the story of the Principal from ages ago who rose to power and rebelled causing our to fall into ruins?"


    "Yes. It was said that at that time, the division of technology wasn''t as strict as our time. It was his rebellion that caused this whole dividing of technology that separated the nteds, the Pioneers, Presiders and even the Principals. People below the level of Presider are unaware of this truth. He wasn''t a Principal. Society hadn''t developed into our current dystopian state. The legend of the Lost Primordial was said that he tried to take over society with the acquisitions of the technologies from his friends and enemies. He then challenged the heirs of Barbablon and lost."


    "He challenged the Kings?"


    "Yes. It was said that several Kings fell fighting the Lost Primordial and he was killed. But my studies on that matter proved different." Pridgeon smiled.


    "Do you know that requesting information regarding the Lost Primordial would cost you a Judges im?" Pridgeonughed.


    "A Judges im for some information?!" Madelyne was stunned.


    "That''s insane! A single Judges im could easily make one a Presider!" She was surprised.


    "Now do you know why I am the weakest of the Presiders? I was curious. I long knew and had no hopes of bing a Principal. So I traded that im to learn about the Lost Primordial. I''m so d I did. Those two people I met on earth. One was a young demon who didn''t even allow me to see his face. The other was the manifestation of the Queen of Heaven. I had to review the old videos of several well-respected expositors of the Bible after that. They did not say it or imply it, but for some reason I feel that they were putting on a facade. As if they were wearing two identities! They wanted to create an illusion that they are the Anti-Christ and the other would be the Woman that Rides the Beast! Perhaps Mystery Babylon itself! Any other Presider would not have recognized them or seen through his intention. But I did! Ever since I asked for that information, I noticed the clear ties between our origins and Earth! They think I am the weakest? Ha! I''ll soon be the stringest!" Pridgeonughed manically.


    Madelyn had an anticipating expression. Was it really them?


    "If what they say is true, then if I y my cards right, I might gain power equal to a Principal! No! A Prime!"


    "You mean those two were the Lost Primordial?"


    "No. Those two should be their descendants. Think about it. How could we exin the likes of Meng and Richie! Others believe it to be due to technological enhancements! These are at the same tier that could challenge Presiders! How could Earth have acquired this technology?"


    "Does that mean that an Aragarian has reached Earth and Richie and Meng are simply results of the experiments of these Aragarians?"


    "It''s only a guess. But the powers that these two had disyed were out of the ordinary. It is clear, that if these are the descendants of the Lost Primordial, then they would have technologies that go beyond what Principals have!"


    Madelyn was stunned.


    "So I n to use theing Principal to face these two. My close association with them may allow me to take a peek at their experiments. This Earth is now more than just a, Madelyn, it is an opportunity to ascend! Has it been a hundred years since thest Presider rose to be a Principal? What about you? When was thest time a Pioneer became a Presider? If we y our cards right, we get these two!"


    "So they weren''t demons?"


    "These earthly demons were fake. If they were real, they''d have known I wasn''t from this Earth! They tried to make themselves look like demons but theirck of knowledge with regards to my real race proves that they are but humans with strange technology. When the time is ripe, they will try to take over the world. My n is to help them achieve their ns."


    "Help them?"


    "Yes. They had the same idea we had. That''s why they were going after the Jews. I''m not sure why they chose to appear as the demons when they could have been angels. But I''ll follow along with their n. I''ll make the move to gather all the Jews faster. Sooner orter, they will sh with the other Presiders. And at the right time, I''ll send my armies to annihte them! I''ve been holding on to myst Judges im. When the Principal arrives, I''ll use it to im technologies for war!" Pridgeonughed.


    Madelyn was stunned. Pridgeon really knew what it was like to y low key. Most Presiders immediately use up their Judges'' im. But it seemed that Pridgeon was extremely wary of his peers.


    "Now, Madelyn, I trust you understand why I am hastening the process of gathering these Jews. The faster we move, the faster they seed. It would be years until the Principal arrives. With how things are going, the Principal wants a good show. So he wants all Presiders to take part and supnt various organizations of Earth so that by the time he arrives, war will ur. I n to force the Presiders to fight these Lost Primordial. That way I can take away whatever technology they have!"


    "I understand Presider. I shall see to it that we should seed!"


    "Go! Make preparations to contact Shark Umberton! I will grant you ess to all the other nted on Earth. Find that Lowengren! The trail starts with this video!"


    "Yes, Presider!"


    Almost immediately, several alerts rang appeared on theputer that Pridgeon was using.


    "What?!" He was stunned.


    "Presider?" Madelyn who was yet to move out was surprised.


    "A Fleet Admiral is looking for Lowengren!" Pridgeon cursed.


    Madelyn was stunned and looked over the screen.


    A Fleet Admiral with sevenmanders. This wasn''t an easy group. Not even the Pioneers would dare act against such Earthly authority.


    Pridgeon was cursing angrily.


    "Presider, if I may. It may not be that bad. If a WGP Admiral were to look for Lowengren, and we have means to spy on them, we can simply follow their trails and act ahead if needed. With the way things are on Earth, our movements are barely sufficient. But these groups can easily enter and leave the area. What''s important is Lowengren''s death right? Then this group will be more than enough."


    Pridgeon''s angry expression turned calmed.


    "You''re right. Although the ideal scenario is that we manage to capture Lowengren, killing him isn''t a bad thing too. Alright. Summon all Pioneer''s in Africa. I don''t care about which Presider they are currently serving. Tell me, and I''ll talk to those Presiders to temporarily cooperate with me. I''m sure even Garenjazz would agree with this request of mine."


    "Of course, Presider.." Madelyn bowed and immediately left to take action.

 Chapter 155 - Mystery Of The Eagle

    The days had been rtively easy for the Carlean''s. Using Jonathan''s connection, they managed to enter the Americas easily. And so they immediately set forth to travel to Texas. Strangely, the Force of Americas weed them with open arms and even sent them with smiling faces. The Force of Americas had greatly valued these two agents who have proven to be far more terrifying. After Jake left, the Force sent another messenger and asked them toplete several missions in return for rewards.


    These missions in the Rotting Lands were aplished quickly. In fact, it was too fast that the Force would not believe them. Had it not been for the testimonies of the leaders of the drug and weapons syndicate in the country as they all confessed their loyalty to Queen Carlean.


    As such, the value that the American government now had over these two, skyrocketed. Although they would not allow these two to return to Pangea, anything else was open for consideration.


    As such, Chris and Grace requested to send them over to Texas to attend the seminar of a well-renowned Pastor. Strangely, the Force did not bother with this strange request and sent them off immediately.


    The seminar had finally concluded. And while most of the attendees headed off to take selfies with the renowned pastor, Chris and Grace sat quietly at their seats.


    "I finally have the info you asked about." Jonathan suddenly spoke to them after returning to his seat.


    "Great! Just in time for this dreaded meeting. So what''s the connection between the Force of America and Eagle?"


    "It''splicated. But I now know why the Force didn''t treat your request as something weird."


    "So? Spill it!" Chris asked quickly.


    "Pastor Eagle is known within the top brass of the Force. I''m assuming that all the different heads know Eagle personally. Because of Eagle''s unique standing, the Force probably misinterpreted your purpose intoing here. You see, the Force have long noticed Eagle''s charisma and convincing powers. We have been using him to convert spies, terrorist and other of the more troublesome members of society and convert these people into Christianity."


    "Convert them?"


    "This seemed to have started a few years or so after you left for Pangea. What happened was that a certain terrorist extremist group have been sending their men to attack churches all over America. Somee from radical political groups who want to eliminate religion in the Americas, while the greater majority from other religions. Anyway, Eagle''s church was one of the primary targets. It is fast expanding, it is a developing church and had converted people from different religions. These people were among the high-profiled positions of either the political party of this terrorist group or a religious leader of whatever religion."


    "So this church had several terrorist attacks?"


    "That''s the thing. In five years, eight people threeing from a political group, and the rest being a part of a major religion was converted to Christianity! Because everyone knew that Eagle spent most of his time in the office, six of the attackers tried to kill Eagle personally in his office."


    "Yikes. Trying to kill an Oveer. That''s insane. What did they bring? A handgun?"


    "The oue isn''t what you''d expect. Eagle converted them. On the spot!"


    "Converted?!"


    "Right! Three of those six attacks were witnessed by several of the staff members of the church. Of the remaining two attempts on Eagle''s life, they were done during the service. Or rather they were supposed to be done. Before they even got the chance to kill anyone, they were converted as they pretended to listen to the message."


    "Wow¡­ That''s amazing." Grace marveled.


    "So he was discovered by the Force?"


    "No. The Force had been skeptical at first. But there was a particr event to which the Force of America was in dire straits as spies from Africa and the EAA were nning a joint operation to steal several of the highly ssified techs. The tech was stolen and the thieves were nowhere to be found. The only member the Force caught wouldn''t squeal."


    "You weren''t there at that time?" Chris was stunned that such events urred when he left the force.


    "No. I was undercover. It was at the same time when you two disappeared. I guess the Force finally realized how much of an asset you were when you were gone."


    "You guys made it out alright."


    "That''s what I''m trying to say. I didn''t know of it, because I didn''t have clearance for the information and I never bothered to investigate it. But it was all because of Eagle. He took care of the gap that was opened because you two left."


    "How exactly?"


    "It was Prickles. She was the one who introduced Eagle to the Force."


    "I thought she resigned?"


    "She was brought back in because you and Grace disappeared. She had attended this church recalled those events and stories and in desperation, she decided to bring Pastor Eagle in. The reason I got this information, is that Headquarters got into a lot of mess that day that the secret of that day easily spread to some of the agents. At that time, various members of the Force were furious because inviting Eagle was not within their protocol. But Prickles seemed obsessed with something. She really believed that Eagle could help them and she secretly allowed Eagle in and have him talk to that terrorist!"


    "And Pastor Eagle managed to convert him?"


    "Convert¡­ is a weak way to say it. To this day, that man is a double agent and has been sent back to the EAA."


    "What?!" Grace and Chris almost shouted.


    "How?"


    "I don''t know. But what I''m sure of, is that this man became religious. Ever since that event, we had on several asions, invited Eagle to help us. And although some of the people we make him convert spanned years, he has yet to fail any mission. Of course, we won''t count the three missions he is currently handling in converting certain individuals¡­ but he has yet to fail."


    Chris and Grace were tongue-tied.


    "Actually, for some of those he won over to Christ, as he would put it, few have be pastors now in this very church. And all of those he converted, who either entered the Identity Protection Program or who became our own agents or middlemen, all¡­ and I mean all¡­ tithe to this church." Jonathan spoke as if he remained amazed.


    Chris and Grace''s expression changed. The two went back to read over the files that the Force of America gave them. Of course, everything that Jonathan had said was all ssified and were not among the documents sent to them.


    "Of course, the files they gave you about Pastor Calvin Luther Eagle wouldn''t include that. But I guess they concluded you must have found out about him one way or another. As such, they are warry of your meeting with Eagle, but not all that cautious. They must have assumed you two already knew each other."


    Grace and Chris continued to read through the files in theirm devices.


    Before the Third World War, various religions were declining as fewer people believed in the lore of Christianity, Judaism, Im, Buddhism and generally all other religions. With the rise of atheism and the ongoing wars that continued to gue the world, America, once a bastion of the Christian protestant doctrines eventually changed into an atheistic nation.


    When the Americas were officially united, it no removed any trace of religious attachments to its constitutions,ws, and many othermon things.


    However, things changed after the end of World War Three. The Void Years were the harshest of all periods for the Americas. Like all nations, the Void Years brought down the economy of the nation as it struggled to keep itself afloat amidst the various attacks both inside of itsrge borders and outside.


    It was in this period that the nations which were once said to have belonged in Central America made a great revolt that divided entire America''s as a whole.


    Due to the after-effects of the Third World War, suicide rates were extremely high making it the leading cause of death during the Void Years.


    Of the many things that were attributed to having helped the Americas recover from the downfall, those of the Christian faith point to the spiritual revival which took ce during this era. Pastor Martin Westley Eagle became a prominent preacher and was called the supra-modern Charles Spurgeon. He was dubbed as the supra-modern Prince of Preachers and became critical with the revival of Christianity on a worldwide scale.


    The history of Martin Westley Eagle was well-detailed in the documents that the trio was given.


    "I''ve heard granddad talk about Pastor Martin Westley as well. To think that this man would not only inherit his father''s talent but vastly improve on it." Grace muttered.


    "Right. To think that he''s one of the Pastors that no organization or supra-modern movements wouldn''t dare touch. It''s amazing how even the World Governing Powers has to adjust to this man." Chris noticed that Eagle was already leaving.


    "The Paragon of Preachers¡­ What a justly deserved title." Chris could only shake his head in amazement.


    "If my Skill is a Path, I don''t think I can do what he did. I can only affect a guy or a girl at the moment. Perhaps the Tyrant Empress can do greater things and make the persons she uses her Path on to be obsessed with her¡­ But this guy¡­ it''s really mind-control!" Grace added.


    "The Reformer. That''s what we call him in the Force." Jonathan added.


    "No wonder even that Lowengren is afraid of this guy. Lowengren deceives but this guy convinces¡­"


    "That''s why Seeker had Richie meet this guy. Seeker probably knew that Richie was a Near-Oveer and needed a little push." Chris then stood up as he witnessed Calvin Luther Eagle retreat to his home behind the church.


    "Let''s go," Chris called out and Grace and gave Jonathan a nudge.


    "I''ll pass. That guy gives me the creeps." Jonathan shook his head and stood up and walked off in another direction.


    Chris and Grace started to move and followed Pastor Eagle from afar. Several members of the church would greet or converse with him further dying the travel. Pastor Eagle soon reached an elevator and rode it to the ground floor. Chris and Grace used the stairs and soon reached the ground floor just in time to see the Pastor leaving.


    "Let''s talk in my office." Pastor Eagle smiled and started to be on his way.


    Chris and Grace gave a deep breath as they followed Eagle.


    The group did not interact and merely walked quietly.


    Eagle led them outside of the main church building and towards a path at the back leading to a wide, yet humble home. The path soon diverged into two stone paths, one leading to the house, while another leading to a smaller house.


    "This way please." Eagle smiled as he led the two towards the smaller house.


    The small house was an entire office space. Eagle''s collection of various post-modern books and some even from the eighteenth and neenth centuries was present and well preserved. On the far bank of the mini library,y arge ss container disying a long scroll slightly opened. It had several markings on the inside. The ss emitted a strange green glow catching the eyes of Grace and Chris.


    "Please sit down. Looks like Seeker and his friends have been busy. I can tell that you are at least at Proficient." Eagle smiled.


    Chris and Grace were distracted by the odd items they found in the room. It was full of books. From the book''s case, covers, and design, some even predated the Post-Modern era!


    But what attracted Chris the most, was arge ss table case situated at the back with a long ancient scroll, slightly opened, and various yellow lights continued to shine on it.


    "That''s one of the few remaining authentic copies of the Old Testament handwritten and penned by the ancient Jews. It is believed to be dated somewhere around 700-1400 AD. That light is one of the Preservation techs of the Americas." Eagle smiled as he answered the curious looks of the two.


    "Wow. You really are a Bible freak." Chris was surprised.


    "That Preservation ss¡­ it should be worth millions and millions!"


    "It''s a gift from various parties that support me." Eagleughed mysteriously.


    "Oh right! Where are my manners? I''m Chris Carlean. This is my wife Grace."


    "Oh? I''m sorry. I received no words of who would be my next guests. So you two are Seeker''s parents? You''ve raised such a fine young man. You should be proud!" Eagle smiled and gave the two a beaming look.


    "We are¡­ As for the sudden visit, we were having problems with themunication process here in the Americas. We''ve focused our efforts in Africa after all. And the various Programmed ve operations were quickly draining Harker''s funds. So aside from me and my wife, the only other contact in the Americas which work for us would be Jonathan, a friend who has just resigned from the Force."


    "I expected as such. So your forces are still concentrated in Africa? Then we still have a lot of work to do. Things are not looking good if this is the case. It looks like the Aragarians of the future were extremely careful."


    "What do you mean, Pastor?"


    Eagle simply smiled and shook his head.


    "All in God''s time, Mister Carlean."


    "Oh, please, call me Chris. I know you''re an Oveer. I''ve met a few like them and we wouldn''t dare be addressed with any titles." Chris said hurriedly.


    "Oveers and Worldly Positions are but a mist in this life. A time ising and it will surelye when such pretense is nonsensical and all the Redeemed will stand as a Co-Inheritor in Christ. I am being formal because of that anticipation. Do I dare mistreat a future King?" Eagle smiled.


    "Um¡­ I''m sorry Pastor. Although my wife is a Baptist. I''m actually an Agnostic."


    "Ah¡­ I''ve always been ufortable with that word. Its rootse from the Greek word, Gnostic, which means knowledge. And of course, the A, which is a Greek prefix meaning without. So put them together, and you have a word which means to be without knowledge. The ufortable part is because I also know Latin. And Agnostic in Latin is Ignoramus. I can''t help but tie the two together. So forgive me for refusing to use that term. I''d rather go with the term, Atheist. Although people will fight to the death in trying to define and divide those two words because of the differing philosophies between them, it''s still the same if we base it in the original meaning. Theos which means God, and the same A prefix. And we have a word meaning, those without gods. Both the Atheist and the Agnostic share this inmon anyway. Would you be morefortable if I refer to you in that way in the future?" Eagle asked.


    "Erm¡­ I''m alright with that Pastor." Chris replied meekly.


    "But of course, I have a feeling you won''t remain that way soon." Eagle gave a smile, but something sinister shed behind the innocent and calm smile of the Pastor.


    "You must have seen it too, Chris. The changes in your son. Wasn''t he always an atheist like you? Why the sudden change? Besides¡­ believing in God, for people like us, will soon be necessary."


    Eagle spoke pleasantly and calmly, but as soon as he finished his sentence, Chris jumped backwards as if trying to escape something that was surrounding him.


    CRASH!


    His jump was so sudden that he ended mming through the door. The steel frame of the door was surprisingly made of powerful metal and it did not even bend from Chris''s sudden jump.


    Chris was struggling as if something was enveloping him and he continued to squirm.


    "CHRIS!" Grace shouted worriedly.


    She tried to calm the panicking Chris but couldn''t.


    "Pastor, please stop!" Grace cried in an extremely agitated voice.


    Grace felt a terror that she couldn''t understand. The years spent with Chris allowed her to understand the extent and strength of her husband. Seeing her husband suddenly falter, she moved in front to block Eagle''s gaze.


    "Pa-Pastor¡­ Please. Don''t use your Path." She spoke calmly.


    Eagle raised his brow and gave both Chris and Grace a peculiar look.


    "Interesting. I can''t believe that you could actually sense my Path working on you. Perhaps it''s with your genes that Seeker became who he is." Eagle smiled as turned around and walked towards his table.


    "Pastor. We''ve heard from Jonathan how you have been using your Path to Brainwash others. My son has done great and good things to you and your family with the information he has been providing. Can you at least, let us, his parents, be the same person when we leave?" Grace pleaded.


    Eagle simplyughed.


    "I think there''s some misunderstanding as to what my Path can do. Alright. It seems it''s not yet time for you to be called into His Kingdom. A pity though. I offered you the easy way, but you want to choose the hard way." Eagle sat down on his chair behind his desk.


    "Do sit down." Eagle offered.


    Grace continued to support Chris.


    "Are you alright?" Grace asked.


    "I¡­ am. It was just too much. He wasn''t trying to hurt me or anything. It was just¡­ I felt his Path approaching. It felt so real that I tried to escape it." Chris mumbled softly to his wife.


    "Rest assured, I won''t try to convert you anymore." Eagle started to pour the two some wine.


    "You¡­ actually drink, Pastor?" Chris couldn''t help but ask.


    "Only wine. But I do so only on certain asions. The Bible tells of a great Banquet that God prepares. At that time the best choice meat and the most delicious of wine are made ready and will be served to us. And Jesus has made several allusions to thising feast even in His lifetime. As such, I have to set an example for my kids, although I do it in moderation. To remind them, and excite them of that great Banquet that they should look forward too." Eagle poured the two a ss and offered it to them.


    Chris who became thirsty from the pressure he felt earlier immediately took it and drank a mouthful and sat down on the chair before the desk.


    Grace followed likewise.


    "Now that you are more rxed¡­ Please update me as to what your forces have been doing. How have we been progressing in our attempts to take over this world?"

 Chapter 156 - The Paragon Of Preachers

    Chris and Grace put on a serious expression. They then began to report the ongoing activities that have been happening around the world.


    "Well, first of all, we''d like to apologize. It was hard enough for us to get back here. And since we are former agents, the eyes the government was on us. We didn''t want to make things a little bit too suspicious so we took our time in the Rotting Lands. We also made preparations for a possible base to be made in the Rotting Lands. The weapons and drug dealers will be managing that."


    "No need to apologize. We all must work only at the appointed time. I should visit the Rotting Lands soon if that is the case. So many drug dealers and people of ill repute. These will be perfect mission fields." Eagle smiled.


    "Mission fields?"


    "It will be my role in this war. I''ve long understood what I should do. After viewing that short summary that Richie gave on our initial meeting, and the data Doctor Lennox managed to pass on to me through that kid, Lowengren, I knew that it would take some time for me to get the opportunity to talk with Zeek or his team. It wouldn''t be long before the World Governing Powers would ban or limit global connections. So I already expected such a dy to reach me. It would, after all, seem suspicious if either of us startsmunicating with each other out of the blue."


    "Ah¡­ Right¡­ Any-Anyways¡­ Let me begin with the simple stuff, Pastor." Grace continued.


    "Ever since the WGP started to banmunications across countries our teams have been focused on building up an individual army each. Lennox went back to New Great Britain with Arthur. Arthur is currently the one in charge of the Army. Last we heard, Lennox went on a trip of some sort. The priority of their team has to amass energy holders much like the suit that we used in the raid. The same one that Lowengren gave you."


    "Ah, that one¡­ That was an interesting suit. It gave me the capacity to double the energy that I can exert." Eagle smiled.


    "That very same. The energy that is used inside the suit ispressed energy that is of a simr structure to our bodies. It is a result of Lennox''s own research to perfect his own skills of manipting himself into energy. The suit he gave us is a suit that is basically, ownerless. It does not associate itself to a single person allowing any person with the Unlocking to use it if they can."


    "Each suit costs millions of Sydian or Credits. So our resources have been taking a hit since we are purchasing these suits from Lennox who is the one who has the technology to create these suits."


    "Millions? Pity. Our church won''t be able to support the means to purchase more of those suits." Eagle sighed.


    "We''ll talk about the negotiations for thatter. What about the other aspects?"


    "The main concerns in preparation for theing wars are food, shelters, and bases, weapons and building secret means to travel around the world. These are all currently being factored in. The weapons and secret buildings fall on Harker''s responsibility. With the support of Pangea, Colestar will soon be engaging Pangea''s allied countries into building more infrastructures for them. On the outwards, it will appear as if Pangea will be building passageways that will unite all of the South East Asian areas."


    "Can you do that? I don''t think the WGP will agree with those ns."


    "They probably will agree to some degrees of aplishing this n. Our excuse would be the threat of Australia. As long as that superpower is present and with the recent scandals of their human experiments, most of the countries in South-East Asia may agree to this alliance. With Harker, now being seen as a friend of Colestar, Pangea will be starting an attempt to establish ties with the SPU."


    "What a mammoth project. I guess it pays to have control over a country. But I''m assuming that all of this is a cover and the real reason is to build bases in various areas of the countries?"


    "Yes. That is the n. Of course, this n is only something we hope to aplish. If the two countries unite, then most of the countries not belonging to any United Groups of Nations may join us. The bases we are nning to build in the SPU region isn''t only for arms, but for food. SPU''s gueri technology has some interesting takes on concentrated meals that will be beneficial in the time of war. Pastor, you also have to make preparations here."


    "I''ve already begun. When Seeker revealed himself, and the appearance of the three Riders, I know what wille. Obviously, food bes my priority. I''ve actually started my n of purchasing Lambs."


    "Lambs?" Chris was confused.


    "For food and biblical reasons." Eagle simply smiled.


    "In any case¡­ You being here in the Americas, which will most likely be further away from the first waves of catastrophe will be the source of food for our armies."


    "What will you do with the WGP? The Worlds Helm stands in the way between these two continents and it isn''t easy to cross it."


    "The Tyrant Empress will deal with that issue. Apparently¡­ Seeker has made some extremely reckless ns. Almost everyone who wasn''t Oveers disagreed with his ns. It would cause a number of wars after all." Grace sighed. Even Chris put on a helpless look.


    Eagle gave an odd look as he noticing the parent''s expressions.


    "Let''s discuss that some other time. What of the other Horsemen? I recalled that Greydon Meng went back to China. Thatrge piece ofnd holds many mountains and must be littered with Underground bases. Have they established a base yet?"


    "I''ve just gotten word that my son is on his way to China to meet with the Dragon''s Father. Apparently, he''s alive and has established secret bases in the Mongolian region. In fact, it looks like the main base is near Mordor."


    "Oh? That Nogard in history is alive? And he has a base of his own? It looks like some changes will be urring in China. I hope the Dragons act quickly. The faster they take over the government, the faster I''ll be able to send missionaries to China once more. It would seem that I have to prepare for another mission field." Eagleughed.


    Chris and Grace maintained their strange expressions and were unable to hide them this time.


    Chris could only shake his head, partly pitying the people that will fall for Eagle''s path.


    "New Great Britain¡­ East Asia, China, and the Rotting Lands? So that''s why the Good Lord has been making me meditate and has impressed on my heart to train more missionaries. Looks like the age of Rekindled Theology ends and the era of the Frontier Missionaries begins." An anticipated smile appeared on Eagle.


    "I believe that would be enough for now. No need to tell me the details and ns of your respective teams. Tell me¡­ Did that kid aplish his task in Africa?"


    Grace was caught off guard.


    "Yes. He was able toplete the mission and Lowengren has managed to nt the seed in Shark Umberton per your instruction. Our sources in Africa have confirmed that the groups tied to the Aragarians have been moving to establish contact with him."


    "Then it''s enough. They should only keep a close watch and take note of every detail of their n. With the Spirit of Daniel amongst us, what is there to fear? What we should do, is enforce a mean to block the Aragarians from building bases around the world. With the nations, your team is slowly conquering all you have to do is make a nation unsuitable for the Aragarians to have a foothold of their forces. As much as possible, try to make the Aragarians build their forces within these areas." Eagle pointed on a specific region in the map of the world that appeared on the desk of his studies."


    "Why there? I thought the Aragarian''s would build their base on Africa? That''s why our forces have been focused there."


    "Tell them to continue doing that but they have to make it more aggressive. Africa shouldn''t be the ones to rise once more. Nations within these areas should be¡­ Oh? I forgot that this particr country is in Africa as well. I wonder what to do with this?" Eagle continued to have a pondering expression as he nced at the north-eastern map of the African continent.


    Grace and Chris finally frowned.


    "Pastor. I do not follow your logic. Wouldn''t it be best to go along with the original n? If we nt enough forces in Africa-"


    "Then the overall n your son intends to use Christianity as a means to unite the world would note true," Eagle exined tly.


    Grace and Chris were surprised at Eagle''s deration.


    "The overall n of my son?" Chris was the first to ask.


    "Yes. How can we unite the world to face the Aragarians? With the power that the Aragarians possess, they can easily conquer as. Most nations will probably ally themselves with the enemy. At this point, the logical solution is to submit to the Aragarians. We are not that different from them in terms of our biology. If the Aragarians promise not to kill us, many nations would probably agree. Do you know why the Aragarians have been using back-handed methods to weaken us?"


    "No." Grace shook her head.


    "Because of our dividing worldviews and the difference in the system of governance. These factors would make it hard for this Earth to submit. The Aragarians know that taking over us is possible. The issue, however, is that we may rebel. Do you know why no perfect government system exists in this world? Because the perfect government requires the perfect people. The perfectws will forever be imperfect if the people following thew are not perfect! You have seen for yourself the fa?ade of this world. Did you not witness it in China? Have you not seen the reports of what the Aragarians did in My-Pangea? Despite how strict the world''sws are in human trafficking, it has not stopped the perpetrators but only forced them to adapt and improve!" Eagle began.


    "Then what exactly are the Aragarians doing?" Chris asked.


    "They are weakening the world and want it to fall into chaos so that the people would desire to look for another form of governance. This world has drastically embraced freedom and equality so much. And with your son''s exnation, that is not the way of the Aragarians. Their dystopian setup which separates technology and roles is so ipatible with ours. It could be that in the timeline of your son, it really did happen. The world sided with the aliens and maybe only those who believed in the Gospel became the rebellion."


    It was then that Chris and Grace looked at each other.


    "Pastor Eagle. You''re a man who believed in God. And as an Agno- I mean atheist, I believe in science. What made it easy for you to believe in the story that my son gave? Time-travel? Rebirth? All that? What do you make out of it?"


    "I''m grateful of course."


    "Grateful?" Chris echoed back.


    "Yes. Grateful. Tell your son, that me and my family would be forever grateful. He even listed out who among my family would die. Such amazing grace that the Lord has that He would actually bend the fabric of time and space to send a messenger to save us. Me and my wife were in tears of the Lord''s grace."


    Chris didn''t know what to say.


    "You¡­ You believe God caused my son to be a time-traveler? A time-traveling reincarnate?"


    "I believe in a being that exists outside of the three dimensions. Even up to now, our science has not learned of ways to go beyond the three dimensions. Even the half-dimension element, which we call time can only be viewed and observed. We have yet to learn how to manipte time. I''ve watched too many science-fiction shows to know that time isn''t constant. It could be even said to be a part of the matter. It is malleable and can be manipted. Gravity distorts it, speed shortens it and so on. I believe in a God outside of the time dimension. Won''t sending your son to be a trivial matter to him?"


    Chris was stunned while Grace remained warry.


    "Pastor¡­ Are you sure you''re not using your Path?" She asked once more.


    Eagleughed.


    "I assure you, I am not." Eagle smiled.


    Grace couldn''t help but feel wary at the beaming and sincere smile of the Pastor.


    "Don''t you believe your son?" Eagle asked Chris.


    "Honestly¡­ I''m having doubts recently. My son has been insisting on things¡­ Crazy things. He was just a kid who was brilliant butzy. And then suddenly¡­ he became all this. I thought of all the Oveers, you''d hold the most doubt towards him. He had to defeat Richie, Meng and even the Tyrant Empress to make them believe. Lennox agreed in desperation because of his search for his missing daughter. You have no reason to believe him!" Chris argued.


    "Don''t you see the paradox of your statement? You just told me two reasons why I should believe him."


    "Reasons?"


    "Do you think; that the two of you stand a chance of defeating me?" Eagle asked simply.


    There was no pressure of any sort, no overpowering emotion, no strange and unfamiliar sensations that caused either Grace or Chris to move. But at that moment, they felt like little ants in front of a giant.


    Suddenly, the chairs that Chris and Grace were seating on started to move closer and closer towards the table.


    A strange attracting force was pulling them. The unnatural way the chairs moved made them almost leap out. But they felt great resistance as if the gravity of the Earth was concentrating on keeping them seated.


    Grace and Chris could not move up the chair. They did not know why, but they felt they could die at any time.


    "I am an Oveer. The Paragon of Preachers. It''s not a title I boast of, but I will boast of Christ in me. Even if you sent your entire army before me, I will Ovee. Not of myself, but by the Spirit of Him Who Died for me."


    Grace and Chris were trembling uncontrobly. When they became Unlocked, even the battles that they had against Lynd and Meryl was not able to bring them the terror that they deserve. But at that moment, they felt an unnatural fear before Eagle.


    "You underestimate us too much. And I will remind you, that your son defeated three Oveers and convinced one to help him. That is a miracle. What would make me want to help someone? You two are Seeker''s parents. But don''t fall into the same trap my Savior''s parents and siblings fell into. Jesus was seen as insane by His siblings and even Mary, His Mother, tried to stop him and wanted him to go back home during the early part of His ministry. Your doubt toward your son must stem from either jealousy, anger, disappointment or simply disagreeing with him. As it was with the case of my Savior''s parents and siblings. Which is it?" Eagle asked. He drank the wine cup before him and started to pour out a new ssful.


    The trembling stopped. Chris and Grace were drenched in sweat.


    "He ns¡­ to kill billions!" Chris finally spoke.

 Chapter 157 - Prophets And Covenants

    "Kill billions? Did he personally say that he would?" Eagle asked patiently.


    "No. But what he ns, is to create such great chaos that there will be war. Regional wars and possibly a Continental War! The n was so audacious that it could be another World War!" Chris finally revealed.


    "Your son must have revealed the reasons as to why he ns this?"


    "He did." It was Grace who spoke this time.


    "But there could have been more peaceful solutions! We could have allied with more nations and won their trust ensuring that the Aragarian''s won''t be able to deceive them! We have you and Lowengren after all. Harker''s Programmed ves can control the media and win the general poption Wouldn''t it be possible to do that?" Grace asked.


    "Please tell our son to stop! This madness is just too much! He might listen to you!"


    "I am no war expert. Nor am I versed in politics. Have you brought these questions up to any of the other Oveers?"


    "I know a blood-thirsty look when I see one," Chris stated calmly.


    "Those insane people would want war. Meng''s just itching for a war. Richie''s plenty insane as he is, and that Lennox! He''s too busy looking for his daughter!"


    "The Empress is even worse than all thosebined." Grace sighed helplessly.


    Eagle, however, had a strange expression.


    "You really have underestimated your son. His burden of the future is great. I see you now¡­ I finally understand why he sent you two here."


    "Sent us here? We are here to give you the report on our current progress!" Grace seemed offended by Eagle''s words.


    "True. But except for Lowengren''s progress, I honestly couldn''t careless with what the others are doing. Especially now when I can''t help any of you out. I''ve already given a summary of what they should do when Lowengren met with me. And while it is helpful to have you here and report the current progress as well as to check on what I need, the real intention of Seeker was to make you believe in him." Eagle smiled.


    "What?" Grace asked in confusion.


    "Put it simply. He wanted me to reform you two. But s, your husband''s sense of danger seemed to be interesting. You see, even Richie didn''t know that my Path was starting to affect him. But your husband immediately felt it. What an interesting Path."


    "Reform us?"


    "He''s worried about you. Tell me, what did he say regarding your deaths?" Eagle asked calmly.


    "What does¡­?"


    "Your son knows the future. Put that in mind. You can''t imagine the burden that has. Knowing the future isn''t as simple as you think. The knowledge you have about things in the future will be an extremely problematic issue."


    "There is nothing wrong with us!"


    "You doubt your son who was from the future. He has proven everything and it would be foolish to not believe him. Yet you doubt him and question every move he makes."


    "He wants to start a Continental War! Isn''t that something that we would be worried about?"


    "And just like Jesus who said that a Prophet is without honor in his own hometown and among his people, so is he too you. He had done many miracles, healed possibly thousands, stopped the storm in front of a dozen witnesses and did many other things. Yet when He arrived home no one believed him. Don''t you see Seeker''s simrities in the ounts of Jesus?"


    "Jesus wasn''t nning to massacre people!"


    "In His firsting He wasn''t. We are about to enter the Times of Jacob''s Trouble. And if you know your Bible, you''ll know of the great massacres that will ur in the End Times." Eagleughed.


    Chris was starting to get irritated.


    "What kind of a Pastor are you?"


    "One who takes the Word and the future of our World seriously. Haven''t you thought of why Seeker wants to create war?"


    "I don''t know! He didn''t bother to exin it! The rest of the group simply agreed! But those guys are war freaks! Why are you agreeing with my son?" Chris shouted.


    "He didn''t tell you then because you are his parents. You are overprotective of him, worried and generally someone who will go on any lengths to keep him safe and happy. The problem is, he''s no longer the kid you remember. Isn''t that the real reason why you are worried about his seemingly insane decisions?"


    "There is a limit as to what insane decisions he can make! But this is just too much!"


    "I don''t know how you died in that future, but Seeker knows more about you than you know yourself. He must have known this would be so. And as his parents, it would be extremely difficult for him to be your leader. You might have been trying to get into more of the actions and even want to force the dangers that only Oveers should face to yourself. Let me tell you right now, that is suicide. The moment he became an Oveer; he became something an ordinary human could not hope to achieve." Eagle spoke bluntly.


    "You underestimate us! True, we aren''t like Richie or Meng who had lived their lives on the battlefield! But we''ve had our fair share too!"


    "That doesn''t mean anything. You''ve seen it yourself. The sheer unimaginable powers of my peers. The terrors they can do and how the mere presence of them seemingly drains the courage in your hearts. I just released an inkling of my powers and it already made you helpless."


    "My son''s not like you!" Grace shouted as she stood up angrily.


    "Correct. Your son will be more, much more, than what I can ever hope to be. Of that, I have much faith. You have to ept this as early as now. We are still pretty much on the early stages of this war. Seeker has only spoken of the terrors but did you notice that he never showed any constant or persistent fear of what is toe?" Eagle spoke softly yet it made Grace stop shouting.


    Grace sat back down as she felt her husband holding her.


    Chris took the lead.


    "What do you think?" Chris asked.


    "He''s doing that intentionally. If he shows any great fear of what the future is, people would lose morale. And especially know that the world is so divided, it will create fear. Even Programmed ves will act hesitantly. There is a limit as to what that happiness producing chip can do. Especially when you have an Unlocked army that can suddenly break free form that Chip."


    "You mean to tell me there is far more terroring?"


    "Yes. He told me. Oveers have perished in that war. And all that we have been gaining for these past months could only aid us in the immediate threat. And even with all these advantages that this New Game+ has brought us, it will only take us as far as when your son fought and died against the bosses of his first ythrough. We don''t know who or what we are facing after that."


    The pained fear remained in the hearts of both Chris and Grace.


    "Pastor¡­ Are you telling us to watch our son rush forth into battle? A battle that he already lost and died in that future? Are you telling me, that my son sent us here, to hear youfort us of therge probability of his second death?" Chris asked solemnly.


    Eagle immediately nodded without any hesitation.


    "Yes."


    "How¡­ how can you say that?" Grace shouted in anger.


    Eagle couldn''t help but sigh.


    "I speak the truth. And you did tell me to not use my Path. Would you have preferred that I lied and said great things? No. It''s better that you carry this mindset in the future. Your son might die. The future he spoke off is too grim and too terrifying. The enemies that lied behind the ones in our immediate heavens are but the weakest. Who knows if there are more Aragarians who vastly overpower these Presiders?"


    Grace and Chris recalled the information about the Principals. They have yet to report this to Eagle and could not help but grip their fists.


    "Don''t we have a chance now? We have you, a human calctor and those disgusting people who are now far stronger than who they were in Seeker''s future!"


    "Pridees before the fall. The fact that he sent you here is to make sure that you two won''t be liabilities in this mission. You love your son and you don''t want him to die. But his role in this future is great. He knows that you two might end up acting recklessly in an attempt to help or save him. But he knows that if you do try that, you will surely die. You are not on his level."


    The two were silent.


    "Pastor. We''ve always been ready to die. But our son¡­ we don''t want him to die." Grace started to tear up.


    "I believe you. That''s why he wanted you here. In order to make you ept this fact. He will be in greater danger. And of all the things that could thwart his n, it would be your worry and fear. Maybe that''s how you died in the future. And frankly, it might have been an unnecessary, useless death. You must have rushed fort and bought your son time or advantage that didn''t see fruition."


    Grace and Chris were silent. Their eyes were turning lifeless.


    "This is the answer that he concluded. And this is why you don''t want to believe that everything your son has predicted is true. You don''t want to lose him. And because of that, you don''t want to believe him. Yet you must. He''s just another soldier, a pawn in this war."


    Grace started to cry. Even Chris was tearing up.


    "We¡­ left the Americas and the Force because of the many enemies that wanted the two of us out of the picture. We were the best in the Force even before the Unlocking. We did all of this to get away from the pain, the danger, the evil that exists in this world. Aren''t we doing the right thing? How could this be, that our transfer to Pangea would lead him into a life far terrible than the one we lived through?" Chris asked emotionally.


    "You are good parents because you love your son that much. But those who allow their kids to face the challenges of life head-on, and be there right behind them to support, help and guide them are better. In Christian theology, God did not promise to take us out of the world to experience no trouble, but He promised to be with us in the trials and tribtions of this life. You did your part, Mom and Dad. It''s time to follow your General." Eagle smiled.


    The two quietly sat down silently as tears continued to trickle down their eyes.


    "Use your Path on us." Chris suddenly spoke.


    Grace was surprised at Chris''s words.


    Eagle smiled and nodded. He got up and walked around his desk and towards the seats that Chris and Grace sat on.


    Eagle then took Chris by the hand and made him stand.


    "Believe in your son. There are things that he told me, which no other Oveer ever heard. Things of great glory. Things of great terror. And your son had shown great wisdom in his actions. With the things he revealed and the things he kept hidden, trust that your son is smarter than he looks. Although his antics seemed child-like and immature, he is on a path of growth. But there are many things¡­ much more difficult choices he has secretly made that you will all soon see. And there is wisdom in these choices. But there is also great pain. I know what you feel. You don''t want to bury your son. I don''t want to too. But like King David, there is a Promise for you that the Bible has. If Seeker is to perish, know that he cannote to you, but you can go to him. Such is the honor for those who have felt this. Rejoice. For the pain of the parting, will only make the joy of the reunion far better." Eagle smiled.


    The unusual sensation was covering Chris. But this time, Chris did nothing to resist it.


    "The Paragon of Preachers¡­" Chris finally understood the terrifying power of this man. And just as the wind travels to and fro from the earth and how the passing wind only whispers that it is there, but won''t divulge where it goes or where it came from, a mystery of change urred.


    Only Seeker knew what this was. It was the terrifying technique that brought many Pioneers to aid and even die for the Earth''s armies. The Paragon of Preachers wielded his hands as if it was Holy as he sped it tight on Chris''s shoulders.


    Chris felt the many convictions he felt that held him further from the faith of Christianity to be slowly disappearing as newer thoughts and counter-arguments he never thought of before started to imnt itself on his mind.


    Back in Pangea, a boy and girl pair was walking through the dark and quiet streets leading back to school.


    Seeker and Lara talked both with moderate speed and content. But all the time they walked, Seeker never took his eyes off her.


    It was then he felt it.


    "Odd." Seeker wondered.


    "What?" Lara asked.


    "Nothing. I just had this strange feeling."


    "Deja vu?"


    "Nothing of that sort. Just a feeling. I don''t know." Seeker smiled as he led the way.


    "Strange¡­ How can you feel it here?" The Adult Seeker appeared behind Seeker.


    "I''m sure that was it. And by its timing, it could only be mom and dad."


    "Righteous Bestowal?" Seeker mentally asked.


    "It could be. But something''s not right. Why are we feeling it?"


    "Could it just be a random feeling? Or should we get all superstitious with this?"


    "We''ve never had this feeling before. If the Unlocking is involved, you can''t just put aside any small details like this."


    "What do you think is happening? This never happened in your timeline. So it should be because of something else. And howe I know this involves dad?"


    "The Unlocking. Haven''t you read of those strange stories of twins mysteriously dying together? When one twin is attacked, the other gets the very same wounds."


    "I see. Because we''ve reached a higher level of the Unlocking, we can finally sense each other. Right. Dad and Mom were dead in the future."


    "Seeker¡­ If ever you have the chance¡­ Try to meet up with Nana¡­ I feel there''s more to our family than we thought." The Adult mysteriously vanished.


    Seeker kept a mental note at the strange instructions.


    "Granny, huh?" Seeker wondered.


    "I guess this is it¡­" Lara suddenlyughed.


    "I can''t believe you talked me into this. It''s actually me walking you home¡­ But why the military base? I thought you''d be staying at that ce of yours! Tell me now. I did my end of the bargain." Laraughed yfully.


    "Oh, it''s actually simple. The walk going back here is longer than my ce. I wanted to apany you more." Seekerughed.


    Lara started to blush intensely.


    "So¡­ is this it? What''s the protocol? The issue here is you''re not an ordinary girl. If it weren''t I''d give you a kiss on the cheek or say something cheesy. But the truth is you''re not. And neither am I. So I want to ask you. Are you sure of this?"


    "Sure of what exactly?" Lara''s heart was pumping fast. She knew what Seeker was about to say.


    "I''m serious. I don''t want to fool around. I want to be with you and risk it with you. If you say yes and be my girlfriend, we''d have to enter a contract of some sort. A contract not written in paper, but something inscribed in our hearts."


    "Tch! Stop quoting her words against her! It''s too cruel?" The Adult Seeker''s though appeared once more.


    "Shut up. I''ve got something better." Seeker wasn''t showing it, but the Adult Seeker could feel him smiling.


    "A contract?" Lara was stunned.


    "Oh right. Never mind." Seeker sighed and turned around.


    "Wait! I- I haven''t said no." Lara panicked.


    "Don''t misunderstand. I wasn''t talking about that. But a contract is a deal between two parties which binds both toplete their end of the bargain. I don''t want that."


    "What?" Lara was confused.


    "I don''t want a contract. I want a covenant. Whether or not you keep your end of the bargain, or if in the future, I fail to keep my end, we''ll still be with each other. I hate celebrity rtionships. I want a real one.." Seeker called out.

 Chapter 158 - A Hint Of Madness

    Lara was lost in her own world.


    Those words were just too precious. Unknowingly, Seeker just dered the one thing she longed to hear. Even Lara didn''t know that she wanted it.


    "A covenant?"


    "Yeah. When I joined the Covenant of the Strongest, I got a lecture from Arthur. He exined why they named their group of the Covenant of the Strongest. The Covenant is riding in a certain philosophy. Being the Strongest for them isn''t just a matter of being victorious. They do aim to be victorious and have amassed numerous victories even outnumbering Git Godlike. But their belief in that they are the strongest is found in that Covenant. Whether or not they win or if they lose, they are still the strongest. I like that idea."


    "Sounds very stressful. Aren''t you going to be some sort of martyr who''d be dying for another person?" Lara teased.


    "It isn''t actually. First of all, is that person worth dying for? If I find that a girl is worth dying for and fighting for, I''d go for it." Seekerughed.


    "I thought you Pangean''s have that you do you, find yourself, build your career view in love?"


    "Well,pared to your helpless romantics in the EAA, we are." Seeker giggled.


    "But think about it? Why do celebrity rtionships fail? Do you really believe it''s aboutpatibility? We''ve heard it over a thousand times from those failed rtionships. They would say that their rtionship didn''t work out. What does that, work out, even mean?"


    Lara gave a deep though.


    "Well isn''t it because these two just couldn''t make the rtionship work? They were in two different ces, they had other priorities, they realized they were not meant for each other."


    "Yeah. I call bull. What I believe is that these two people didn''t need each other. Each was independent, sessful, growing and perfectly capable on their own. If they introduced another person in their life, their sess bes their downfall. Do you get what I''m saying?"


    "Then what does that have to do with being in a Covenant? That doesn''t seem to have the power to protect whatever rtionships. Let''s say even if I do say yes, what''s going to stop us from falling into those same pitfalls? You have your career and I have my family! Wouldn''t those things keep each other apart?"


    Seeker simply smiled.


    "That''s why I used the Covenant of the Strongest as an example. You see, the Covenant cannot survive as an individual. Even when Arthur was the leader, and before I got to join them, they have this philosophy, that they will only be the strongest, even if they lost, as long as they are together. They need each other to be strong. That''s why they formed a Covenant. It''s a way of telling themselves, that they need each other. A covenant like that, where both parties really and literally need each other, is perfect for a rtionship."


    "Need each other?" Lara wondered at the mystery of that use.


    "Right. I want to enter a covenant with you. It will be hard, difficult and challenging. You have to spend time with me and be by my side to the point that I will need you. You have to be a vital piece in the cogs of my soul, you''ll have to reside in the partitions of my heart and be the color of my life. I have toe to the point of vulnerability and openness to you, where you be the priority. And in the same way, you have to allow me that same opportunity. Once we reach that point of needing each other, then all mistakes are forgivable."


    Lara maintained her silence at those daring words.


    "The reason why I''m attracted to you¡­ is because you are imperfect¡­ just as I am. In that imperfection, there will arise a need. If you can never be perfect without me, then maybe at that moment, would you need me." Seeker smiled.


    Lara''s smile bloomed beautifully.


    Even when Seeker knew it woulde, his heart was somehow pierced through.


    "Alright. What an interesting proposal. I''d like to try that. The Covenant of the Strongest, huh? Looks like I won''t just be a Casual from now on." Lara smiled and immediately turned around and started walked away.


    "The process begins now. I''ve brought you here and so our time together hase to an end. See you tomorrow, Seeker." Lara gave a quick wave before continuing on her walk.


    Seeker couldn''t help but smile.


    "See you, Lara! Oh, and call me Zeek!" Seekerughed as he continued to look at the departing figure that disappeared at the corner.


    At that moment, several Adult Seeker''s appeared where Lara was. It was even a mystery how he managed to do that, and one by one, each held out and revealed their rating in a scorecard that they somehow carried in their person.


    10


    9


    10


    10


    6


    Seeker was so surprised that he actually nked out.


    "Veil Cruz would be so proud." One of the Adult Seeker apuded.


    "Shut up! And what''s with the six?"


    "Oh. Don''t bother with him. That''s Greg. He''s a bit of critic."


    "Who''s Greg?" Seeker called out but no one replied as the figures vanished.


    "Don''t tell me there''s more of them?!" Seeker moaned as he walked back towards the military base.


    "Wait a minute. How can you meet with her tomorrow? You''re already scheduled for China." An Adult voice resounded.


    Seeker stopped his walk and had an ugly expression.


    Seeker thought for a bit and immediately dialed a number.


    "Seeker? How was the mission?" Harker asked.


    "You can count it as a sess¡­But hey, listen. Can you shoot a rocket-propelled grenade or something to school tomorrow?"


    "Can I¡­ what?"


    ¡­


    While Harker was confused as to Seeker''s request, inside the home of Pastor Eagle, was a smiling, refreshed Chris who had an apparent bulge in his eyes. Right next to him was his wife. Tea was being served by a rather blooming beauty who had a very modest appearance. Yet her bearing would leave people stunned and amazed.


    "Shall I pour you two some tea?" Thedy asked.


    "Yes please, Mrs. Eagle," Grace responded with a kind smile.


    "Apologies for the relocation, friends. But that office is a ce where I have used my Path several times now. And because of that, it has be an unusual ce. My Path seemed to have rubbed on to that area."


    "Your Path?"


    "You''ve seen what I can do. What do you think the root of my Path is?"


    "Those chairs¡­ It''s not just being able to convince someone, is it?" Chris smiled.


    "Correct, Mister Carlean. The fact that you felt my Path approaching is a mystery in itself. Yet you did."


    "It was almost instinctive for me. I''ve always had this knack of understanding things. It has aided me in the Force and kept me alive even against strong foes."


    Grace smiled. The number of times his husband''s decisive calls had saved her and even the entire Force or America was over fifteen times already. She believed that her husband has this Skill.


    "I see. So it''s a Path simr, but different to Richie''s Path. As for my Path, the reason why I felt it strange that you felt it, is because you always felt this force being applied to you and didn''t mind it. All of a sudden, even though my Path should have been masked with that force applied, you still sensed it."


    "What force?" Grace was the one who asked yet even Chris frowned.


    "Gravity. That''s my Path." Eagle smiled.


    A sudden pull was felt like the couch that Chris and Grace sat on slowly moved towards Eagle.


    "Gra-gravity?!" Chris was so shocked.


    "Yes. Anything else is an offshoot of my Path. The reason why people be convinced of what I say is that they are drawn to me. The problem is, I broke through in bing the Advent and perhaps the Proficient stage when I was in that office, studying the Word of God. In this respect, I broke through just like Lennox or Arthur. I am a Selective Unlocked."


    "You''re the third guy that my son talked about!" Grace recalled one of Seeker''s many discussions.


    "Indeed I am. But because of that, my office has be some sort of a natural domain for me. In short, if you stay there, the more my Path will affect you. That''s why I had to move you out. This is, of course, a show of my sincerity in keeping with my promise least you would end up trying to convince Seeker and his peers to do what I am nning to do." Eagle smiled.


    "What are you nning to do, Pastor?" Chris asked with anticipation.


    "What I''ve always been doing. Spreading the Word of God. As such, I need the countries that we currently have a level of control over to prioritize and even support the evangelical movements the churches across the world have. That should be a priority. The second is, but only if possible, is to make these churches within these countries partner with my ministry. That will make it easier to spread it."


    "I see. You want to spread the Gospel to increase awareness of the church."


    "Right. Seeker ns to bring things back to the age of theology, then the churches must be given power."


    "So does that mean that my son should stop putting efforts into starting a Continental war?"


    "At most, he has to dy it. But I''m confident that if the doors of Frontier Missions are opened once more, it wouldn''t take long. I just need to get faithful ministers of the Word of God into these countries and it should be enough."


    "Just dy it? Pastor. I am thoroughly convinced of my son''s capability as you have pointed it out. But is a war going to be a good answer? Doesn''t it bother you, a man of God, for the many sins that my son is doing? I mean, that''s a lot of killing."


    "The Bible isn''t actually talking about simply killing. We find that in unity and as exined by Jesus in the New Testament that if you have insulted your brother, you have alreadymitted murder. Meaning if you kill out of selfishness, just as you would when you lie, steal, covet,mit adultery, or dishonor your parents, the kill that the tenmandments talk about is to kill due to selfishness or anger. Which is why the issue being not the act of killing but the reason for killing. It would be very contradictory if God ordered us not to kill, yet has ordered the Israelites to kill the enemy nations." Eagle exined.


    Chris was silent for a while.


    "Are you saying that it''s ok for Seeker to kill?"


    "No. I''m saying that they shouldn''t initiate it. Our side must stand a morally correct ground and we have to be consistent with it. Because if Seeker does nt to start a war, then soon when the Aragarians reveal themselves, they will point out the warmongering nature of our team and it could sow the seeds of doubt. Many attacks will be made in the future that will try to divide or persuade our own soldiers and countries to reconsider their stance. So Seeker must not start the war, he must be defensive."


    Grace and Chris sighed in relief.


    "Well¡­ as long as war won''t be the-"


    "So what they have to do, is making a show of power, prestige, growth and rise their countries that the other countries will be jealous and attack us. It would be best to make Seeker and the other countries that the Oveers will soon control will join in an alliance. They have to push the other countries to war. And fast! Ideally, there should be at least one or two major cities in their own countries that must undergo an intense massacre before weunch a justifiable counter."


    Chris and Grace were petrified at Eagle''s words.


    "Pastor! That''s insane."


    "What is?"


    "That n! Do you not preach about God''s love?"


    "God''s love has always been apanied by wrath. What would you, a loving father do, if you see your son being attacked, being beaten, tortured and being made a spectacle of shame to many? Would you simply turn around and love those who did that to your son? Is that what a loving father would do?" Eagle challenged.


    "You have not yet fully grasped the fullness of God. The Bible is perhaps one of the most violent books ever written. It has descriptions of such terrible wraths that even involve women eating their own babies. And all of this is the because people have been making a mockery of God and His Word, and have turned away and even did approved of the shameful things He prohibited. Do not forget, that God''s chosen people, Israel who is always referred to as God''s Wife in the Old Testament, have been constantly attacked. Egypt to Canaan to Assyria, to Babylon to Rome to Hitler to the nations surrounding it on the Post-Modern Era and even to the Americas before World War Three. The Church, which is the Bride of Christ, have met persecutions and attacks and have their own share of murders and attacks. What do you think would a Loving God do, when His Wife and His Future Bride are both being raped and torn apart by the settlers of this Earth?"


    Chris and even Grace felt it. This no longer was Eagle''s Path, but a manifestation of his conviction.


    "Zeek skill¡­" Grace muttered as she felt a strange alien emotion which she knew came from Eagle.


    A rising anger rose from the hearts of Chris and Grace.


    "For thousands upon ten-thousands must die on our side and then we defend ourselves! If that happens, the world will know that these wars were of their own foolishness and maybe they will repent! These nations will have the choice to either ally with us, ignore us or be envious of us! If they choose to attack us, then they will die because of their selfishness and pride! Who told them to attack us? Who told them to covet our strength which God has clearly granted?" Eagle''s voice was getting more and more solemn. His wife also had a look of anger at the derations of Eagle.


    "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? He who sits in the heavensughs; the Lord holds them in derision." Eagle began tough as if he heard the funniest joke in the world. But the mixture of mirth and madness made thisugh an extremely ominous one.


    It was at that moment, that the couple was reminded once more, that the being before them was an Oveer.. One with great strength and a hint of madness.

 Chapter 159 - The Olivet Discourse

    "Pastor?" Grace asked.


    "My apologies. Of the many things that keep my blood boiling is knowing that the Kingdom age ising." Eagleughed.


    Grace nced back at Chris who simply shook his head.


    "We don''t have a choice, Dear. It may be insane¡­ but he has a point. We can''t unite the world through religion if our hands were tainted with the blood of many innocents. That''s why it''s best to turn those innocents into guilty killers."


    "Aptly spoken, Mr. Carlean!" Eagle praised.


    Grace sighed and shook his head. If his husband had been converted into Eagle''s charm, there was no use fighting.


    "How do you propose that we do that, Pastor? Are there any specific methods that you want us to do?"


    "The Aragarians are nning to gather the Jews and return them once more to their homnd. Just as how King Cyrus acted when he defeated Nebuchadnezzar. Israel will return once more to their home¡­ However, the Aragarians would probably be threatened that if other nations offer their aid to help the Jews. What if, Pangea offers their support to the Jews once more?"


    "How?"


    "Simple. Create a possible business rtionship with this newly established country. Most countries won''t give their support to Israel. And if history has proven any right, the neighboring countries might once more find excuses to attack Israel. The Aragarian''s might act behind the scene and cause these countries to make them outraged at the Jews, but at the same time, the Aragarian''s will use their connections to protect the Jews. Are you following what their intentions are?" Eagle turned to the couple.


    Chris and Grace nodded.


    "Right. Protect them until all the Jews are gathered and then with one full sweep, abandon their protection resulting in the massacre of the Jews."


    "They''re keeping the Jews close, and its enemies closer," Chris added.


    "Exactly. So what better way to stop this than for a country to step up on the early phases of the Aragarian''s n."


    "I see. Then there would be two different ces for the Jews to run to."


    "Exactly. If New Great Britaines on board with this, or perhaps even China, then the Aragarians will have a problem. What would they do?"


    "Manipte the countries to attack us¡­" Grace answered immediately.


    "Right. These countries will then be attacked through the maniption of the Aragarians. Who knows what they will do? I imagine some of them would be tantly obvious and insulting to the intellectual, but the nation will still attack."


    "And that''s when they do the counter-attack?"


    Yes. The sad truth is; the entire world cannot all believe in the gospel. Some just don''t have the capacity to believe. And so, we have to orchestrate events such as this and even the events that we will soon create to make Christianity the one religion."


    "Then what steps should we be doing right now?"


    "I''ve already given my advice. I''m sure that Seeker or that boy Arthur already knows of this. But they sent you here to get something else from me¡­ And that''s my knowledge of the Bible."


    "Why can''t they know about the Bible themselves?" Chris asked.


    "I mean¡­ Seeker knows the future and probably could guess the general direction you led the world too¡­ Also, Lennox and Arthur should have been smart enough to know this."


    Eagle gave a heartyugh.


    "They are uncertain because they have not grasped the Bible in its entirety."


    "My guess is, on Seeker''s future, I led the world using a different theological view. The most possible scenario is that I believed that a certain theology that I do not believe in would be the best view to take. Either because of the events that would shortly follow or perhaps, and more disturbingly, because my faith may have been shaken at the extermination of the Jews. But right now, Seeker is asking what to do since the Jews are alive."


    "What about Arthur? Could he not analyze this with his father?"


    "The spiritual answer is no. Because the Word of God is to be spiritually discerned. But the humanistic answer is that those two are being humble. They don''t want to waste time studying theology. Do you really think that Christianity is simple? Far from it! It isplex, mysterious and divisive. Since the death of Christ, various forms of Christianity had appeared. Some from a wrong interpretation over Scripture, some from the abandonment of Scripture and some from overemphasizing other parts of Scripture. Because of that, there are probably hundreds of theological views to study in order to perfectly plot out the future." Eagle exined.


    "So why should they exert effort in that when they can ask you?" Chris asked.


    "Correct. That is their reasoning. But sadly, I must leave you without any solid answers for now. I will not dictate the steps that they must take. Instead, I have an order to them. Not a suggestion. An order or demand if you will. I have to meet with all the Oveers, potential Ranked Heroes and any other person of interest."


    "Meet them how? We can''t bring them here. With so many around the world creating an online transmission is risky."


    "I have to meet them personally. And that will be Seeker and Arthur''s little assignment as they make their wars. They have to n the war in such a way that it can bring all of these people in one area." Eagle exined.


    "But why?" Wouldn''t it be better to tell us now?"


    "If I say it now, I believe that it will cause more harm than good."


    "You want to convince the Oveers and the leaders?" Chris understood the hidden meaning of Eagle''s n.


    "Yes." Eagle smiled and did not even hide his n.


    "But of course, don''t use me of trying to shove in the Gospel. I admit, it is my intention, however, if Seeker wants this world to be united in this religion, he must heed my words. I need the Oveer''s to believe. And so, I won''t be getting into the details of what they should do, but find a way to gather all the Oveers and important leaders to one ce."


    "That''s basically impossible to do immediately. Then this is what you meant by Seeker to dy his ns of war. You want them to use war as a means to gather everyone together."


    "Yes. I know that Seeker intends to forcefully take over a particr country and create a ripple effect by attacking the WGP. If a nation challenges and does significant damage to the WGP, other nations might participate. He wants the WGP out to acquire the technology it has. That is to say, Seeker intended to create a Continental War here in the Americas or in the Western extremes of Europe or Africa. That ns not good as we have to present ourselves as the righteous group."


    "So our team should focus on what exact actions?"


    "One, make these nations a bastion of Christian faith. They have to take over the leadership and make religion something important once more. Two, show support to the Jews. Ideally, they have to create support for them and while the Aragarians are gathering them, you have to convince other nations to act antagonistically against the Jews."


    "How do we do that?" Chris pondered.


    "I think we''ll have to let Arthur and Lennox decide that. We can use a lot of tools, Hon. Economics, geography, politics, the Underworld¡­"


    "I see." Chris nodded.


    "You also will need to aid me in building churches all over the world. Once all of these are in ce, and when we have churches nted all over the world, you have to change how the world views Christians. You should create political, religious and even ethnic groups that will persecute and attack Christians. This will be harder to deal with. Unlike the former reason, it''s easy to create one reason as the Jews will have a geographical ce. But Christians are all over the world. You''d have to be creative in doing this."


    Grace frowned this time.


    "I don''t understand, Pastor. Why is that?"


    "For vengeance of course. If we are to simte the End of Times, then we should do it in all of its uracies. If we are toe as people and powers that will judge this world, then they have to do something that deserves judging. This generation should know and should see, why they are going to face such cmities. The blood of Christians and Jews must taint their hands so that when we initiate our n and reveal great destions, they will feel guilty."


    "But Pastor. That means that the churches andmunities we will be creating¡­ and even ministers from your church will die."


    "Of course. That is what''s necessary."


    Grace couldn''t help but shudder.


    "Pastor, this is madness. I don''t think I can see you as a Pastor anymore. You want us¡­ and by effect, you are asking me¡­ to buildmunities, gather groups of people, who will share in the faith that I have believed in¡­ and all of this, is so that they will be ughtered?"


    "Yes." Eagle could not hide his smile. It was as innocent as his other smiles. But both Chris and Grace could sense a powerful and almost murderous desire rising.


    "I thought you were supposed to send your ministers in these countries! What about your mission to spread God''s Word?" Grace couldn''t help but reject Eagle''s n. Chris sat down silently and waited for the Pastor to give his answer.


    "That has and will always be my concern. Even before the defeat of the Aragarians, my concern is for the World to know of God. But how has He made Himself known? Through the fulfillment of His prophesies that His word may be true and everything false! Do you not understand? Death and persecution must happen within the Church. People of great faith and trust in the Lord, must all die! It is a requirement for the days toe."


    "What days toe?"


    "In prophetguage, there is one specific sermon that Jesus spoke of. That will be the time from now until we gather every one of your leaders for a Bible Study. Seeker must follow the events in that prophecy which is a preamble to the real stuff that''s about to happen."


    "The Olivet Discourse!" Grace realized what Eagle was talking about. She had been in church since her younger years and even when she was working for the Force of America, her mother and father would often remind her to at least, listen to some online sermons and would even send her some links.


    "What''s the Olivet Discourse?" Chris asked.


    "It''s a talk that Jesus had in private with His Disciples. It''s in three of the four gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke record this discussion. It''s called the Olivet Discourse because Jesus spoke to his disciples in the Mount of Olives. And in all three ounts, Jesus told them of the things toe. What Eagle is saying¡­ is that Seeker must fulfill the first part of that prophecy." Grace no longer called the Pastor ording to his religious title, but directly called out hisst name.


    Eagle did not even react negatively at this call but simply smiled.


    "Correct. That is the n. The Olivet Discourse talks about the signs of theing end of the world. Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famine, and pestilence. These events have to happen in session and muste quickly. And here lies the difficulty of this challenge. Seeker has to start wars and end them quickly."


    "Earthquakes, famine, and pestilence too? If we are to do that, it would involve the use of weapons of mass destruction¡­" Chris continued to analyze.


    "Chirs! You''re actually ok with this?" Grace was stunned that Chris had no problem with this.


    "Of course not. But honestly Hon, what choice do we have? There is very little that we can use to convince the world to side with us. The Aragarians can offer bribes of a good life of richness, peace, technology and so on can make the world our enemies. What can we offer to the world that they can''t offer? We can''t offer them richness, peace, good life and whatever¡­ The road that Eagle is suggesting has been the road that Zeek had nned all along. He cannot offer these things. So instead of offering it, he''ll promise the opposite."


    "Death and destruction?!" Grace cried.


    "Yes. But also a hope of an eternal after-life. And religion is really the key here. We can''t counter-offer what they will soon be giving. But if we paint them out to be the devil and show how their promises are fake and that real promises await them¡­ then we have a shot. Pastor Eagle is saying that we go by-the-book in this. We follow the Bible''s path of prophecy down to the dot and do so in an extremely clear way. People who see it and believe will be our allies.'' Chris exined with a sigh.


    "I''m guessing that Pastor intends to send people for their deaths because it''s also part of Scripture?"


    "Yes."


    "But Pastor¡­If that is the case and you know these churches will be attacked¡­ why won''t you make ns to save them?"


    Eagle turned to Chris and seemed to be thinking of something.


    "Hmm¡­Should I tell you? I guess this is a good thing that your leaders will have to note off¡­" Eagle pondered.


    "It''s like this¡­ Now, this is something most preachers won''t ever talk about. It''s my own personal view of Grace and Wrath. Every generation has to have martyrs. For the Word of the Lord in Luke 11:49-50 must be fulfilled! ''Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute, so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, maybe charged against this generation.''"


    "You will¡­ allow them to be killed so that the nations that killed them will be judged?" Chris confirmed.


    "It is not what I will, but this has been the way since the beginning. Mercy has always been reciprocated by anger and the death of those who God sent, and that is why they will receive judgement. Now that I know war is inevitable, then the deaths of the church and the saints of God will be used as fuel for theing burning wrath."


    "The death toll of this war will be in the millions!" Grace shouted.


    "And millions more will have the chance to repent when they see the destruction reaching theirnds. As I said, I want people to turn to the Lord! And war, suffering, pain, and death have always been the best tools to usher in repentance! So let the ware! The prophecies of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse is nigh at hand!"


    Chris shook his head and stood up calling his wife.


    "Let''s go." Chris smiled.


    "We''re just leaving like that?!" Grace argued.


    "Honey¡­ Our mission isplete. You have nothing much more to say¡­ Right, pastor."


    Eagle nodded.


    "We have our mission, Hon. And our orders are our top priorities. If you like, talk to Zeek directly. It won''t be Pastor Eagle fulfilling all of these after all." Chris smiled and gave Grace a light tug as he started to walk out.


    Grace could only walk in defeat but she left an angry re at Eagle.


    "Looks like Grace hates you." Eagle''s wife gave a light chuckle.


    Eagle simply shrugged his shoulders.


    "She still thinks I''ve mind-controlled her husband after all¡­ She''lle around. Ironic. And I thought I''d have more opposition from the atheist. But instead, I got it from someone who grew up listening and learning the Bible."


    Eagleughed.


    "As it has always been." Eagle''s wife smiled.


    "Right¡­"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Back in Pangea, a frustrated Harker was adjusting for Seeker''s crazy ns the next day.


    "An RPG to school? What is he trying to pull?!" Harker cursed.


    DING!


    An encrypted call was being received on hisputer.


    This was the encrypted message from the Americas. Since the message was important, only a single device inside the military base could decrypt and receive the call.


    "Yes?" Harker answered promptly.


    "Tell Zeek that he has to dy his ns. We also should prepare theing war so that we can have a group bible study somewhere with the Pastor." Chris ended the call.


    "War for a Bible study?! What''s wrong with these damned Carleans?!" Harker cursed once more.

 Chapter 160 - Attack On Harker

    At the main entrance of the school, hundreds of cars were rolling inside therge entrance. Despite the chaotic amount of students and some parents dropping off their kids, the flow wasrgely smooth and quick.


    Cars woulde to a halt and students would depart of the car, as the car would circle at the roundabout and exit, while anotherne was used for iing students to park.


    The train station on the other side of this building had a continuous flow of peopleing in and out. And the rooftop of this building would have several hovercraftsnding. Students and teachers also used these transportations.


    It was then that at the main entrance, a car circled and dropped off a student.


    A beautiful figure emerged. She wore the school uniform, but it looked like it was meant for her. Her hair was no longer tied up cleanly but beautifully flowed behind her as she walked.


    Lara''s arrival at school had drawn attention. This was because instead of her usual low-key entrance, Lara was just blooming and could not hide the smile on her face.


    "It''s her!" A Royal alerted his friends. The world seemed to have stopped to anyone who saw her.


    Some held their breath in amazement, some in anger or envy while others observed her because of who she was.


    "How is it that no one noticed her these past days?" A student scheduled to serve as one of the Student Soldier Officer Corp on that day mumbled.


    There was some mystery circting with Lara these past few days. Although it was known that a Diamon had enrolled in her school, finding her was extremely difficult. Even after sses, the students who wanted to talk to her would be troubled and would find her simply vanishing.


    It was even unnoticed how she would enter the school. For several students had awaited and were trying to contact this student but she would just somehow vanish and appear right in the middle of ss and mysteriously vanish once more.


    Worst were the rumors of the perceived friendship between a Diamon and Novelty-stoise. Even those with a Novelty or a stiose family name had strange expressions hearing this.


    Several of the Royals were cautiously approaching. Their fellow Royals who were also their enemies politically or in the business world were all watching after all.


    "I''m looking for Seeker." Lara suddenly asked a soldier who was stationed near the entrance. Unlike the other student soldiers, this was an actual soldier of rank.


    "Pa-Pardon?" The soldier was surprised.


    "I have an invite. Ask your superior." Lara maintained a smile.


    The people who overheard the conversation was stunned.


    "Uh¡­ Give me a moment, Miss Diamon." The soldier excused himself and used her radio transmitter to contact those inside the base.


    "What a show-off. It''s just been one day and you''re already parading the fact that he''s your boyfriend." A soft giggle as heard.


    Lara turned to happily greet her friend.


    "Oh, stop spreading rumors. I am a fan after all. I have to use my connections to meet a superstar like him after all." Laraughed.


    Charm walked close to her with her usual in and unremarkable look. Though she was beautiful,pared to the basic enhancements that most Royals use, she was a tier lower.


    Yet there was something different with Charm. Lara also smiled.


    "Oh? Looks like you''ve had more sess than I have. How far were you able to go?"


    Charm''s expression grew ugly as she gave Lara an angry look.


    Lara simplyughed and ignored her words. She knew what that look implied.


    "I''ll take it from here." A figure emerged out of a high-profile car that had immediately moved along.


    It was him.


    The majestic, glorious, unparalleled, undisputed, illustrious, eye-popping, eyebrow-raising, breath-taking, heart-stopping, spine-chilling, most amazing General of the Heroes Army, Harker Cipril. The Light of Pangea.


    "Ge-General!" The soldier immediately saluted.


    "I''ve heard from Seeker. And you must be Novelty-stoise? Come with me as well. I must discuss something with you." Harker turned and nced at Charm.


    Harker spoke coldly as he did not bother to look at the two and moved on.


    Lara had a strange glint in her face. As if she was extremely wary of Harker.


    It was at that moment that an rm resounded.


    Somewhere near the train station, a human figure had jumped off from the fifth floor and used apact RPG tounch a rocket towards the main entrance of the building. It was aiming for the vehicle that Harker was riding.


    It was all too sudden. The anti-air missiles started using heatsers to force the rocket to explode in the air, but it was to no avail.


    The rocket flew quickly towards the area and suddenly, it changed direction.


    "A guided missile!" A soldier had noticed it. It was headed for Harker!


    Harker frowned and rushed forward and held the two women near him by the arm near their shoulder and gave each a powerful push.


    The force that Harker exhibited was surreal as the two were thrown off in the distance. Harker was now moving further back as the rocket chased.


    BOOM!


    The missile exploded even before it made impact.


    "General!" The soldier nearby cried at the sight of the explosion.


    Lara and Charm were sliding a few meters back and started tumbling on the ground when the explosion urred.


    "The General!'' Charm cried as well.


    The soldier near the entrance was running towards the debris of the explosion.


    "Don''t! It has Pangean eradication! If you go there, you''ll only get burned!" Lara shouted almost reflexively.


    The soldier was startled. In that moment of hesitation, he could see a figure standing amid the mes.


    "At ease soldier." The voicemanded. Instead of his normal voice, it was clear that his voice was amplified with something.


    The stalwart figure of Harker was revealed. But this time, it was no longer human.


    "What the¡­?" Charm was confused.


    "Maic technology¡­? Impossible." Lara was confused.


    An exoskeleton that was smaller than the usual ones was revealed. The armor was only slightly bigger than the usual suits that the EAA exoskeletons had. It was coated in a pitch-ck coating.


    The strange thing is, several dark round metals continued to hover right in front of the exoskeleton.


    "Find me the bastard whounched that rocket in my school!" Harker''s cold and angry voice echoed.


    "Soldier, send Miss Diamon and Novelty-stoise to my office now." Harker then ordered the soldier nearby.


    Reddish light started to burst out at the back of the Exoskeleton. With a loud burst, Harker flew towards the sky.


    Lara and Charm remained as confused as ever.


    "How? That was Chinese Technology!?" Lara shouted in disbelief.


    "Miss Diamon, Miss Novelty-stoise. Pleasee with me." The soldier immediately spoke to the two.


    Meanwhile, Harker was currently floating on air.


    "Where is the attacker?" Harker gave a soft cry. As if he forgot to turn off the switch, or perhaps it was because of the sudden attack, Harker''s words, as well as the iing transmissions he was receiving, were being broadcasted by his suit.


    "General! We found him!"


    "Show it to me!"


    "I can''t, sir! We haven''t established the satellite link yet and your suit is still utilizing basic data! It will take minutes for your suit to download the videos!"


    "Are you saying that this suit is equipped with poor download speeds?"


    "¡­Yes."


    "Broadcast the feed on the school projector," Harker ordered.


    Suddenly, the feeds around the school which showed the school announcements, ads and so on started to reveal a feed of the building in front of the train station.


    A figure was seen sprinting on the top of the rooftop of the train station. With precise parkour moves, it jumped from the top of the roof and started using the pirs, ledges of the building and even some of the over-ground cables as a foothold.


    It had a strange mask that seemed to be made of metal. It was clothed in a greyish colored armor that was cama camouged with the building''s color scheme. The strange thing was, as it moved, the color of it''s were changing as well.


    Suddenly, it jumped from the fifth floor and was reaching for the sky as if it was catching something.


    A ck, metallic, cylindrical object suddenly fell from the skies and then the falling figure caught it.


    Even though the figure jumped from the fifth floor, thending was followed by a graceful roll. Thepact object was immediately used tounch the missile that attacked Harker.


    "I see. It used some sort of maic catapult to throw that small object high up in the air. That''s how it bypassed the detection of our security. With such skills, it must be a modified human. Soldiers, capture that assassin. He must be with that organization opposing the World Governing Powers." Harker suddenly flew towards the direction the assassin was seen running to afterunching the rocket.


    Harker flew high as several rms were heard throughout the city.


    "Alert! Danger level moved to Level 3! All residents mustply!" An announcement was made all throughout the city.


    Panic immediately ensued.


    Exoskeletons were immediately seen flying.


    Harker''s suit remained as the center of attention as it stood quite differently from before.


    Suddenly, arger version of Harker''s exoskeleton appeared. This was the pseudo-armor that Harker used when he captured Hydron and the other officials.


    It flew towards Harker as it started to open up. The two merged together and Harker controlled the mighty Exoskeleton.


    People around the city who witnessed that suddenly cheered. It was as if they were excited to see what would happen.


    "People of Pangea! An attack has been attempted on my life. A modified human used uncanny methods andunched a guided RPG in school to kill me. Of course, I expected this. Images of the attacker will soon be broadcasted throughout the city. Yourm devices will receive our ping. If you see this person, notify us by selecting the ping you will see broadcasted."


    "Iing attack!" Suddenly, a soldier cried as it detected several heat signatures approaching him.


    A single Exoskeleton zoomed in the sky as several beams of bright-green lights were raining down on them.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The attacks rained down but a strange metallic shied flew off to take the iing attack.


    "Those attack patterns¡­ I see. Australia, huh?" Harker suddenly gave a manicugh. It was full of anger and hatred, but at the same time, those who heard could discern a sense of excitement.


    "Come! Hero of Helion''s Tragedy! I''ll be sure to kill you!" Harker flew off towards the Exoskeleton and a shocking battle urred overhead.


    Meanwhile¡­ At an unremarkable alley, Cliff suddenly appeared. He had used his suit to camouge once more and waited when everyone''s attention was on Lander. After firing the rocket and escaping, Lander immediately drew the attention of the world by appearing and attacking Harker.


    "Nice! How casual! Too bad I was around. Otherwise, you would have fooled the world." A narcissisticugh was heard. A young tanned man who was noticeably shorter than most walked up to greet Cliff.


    "Nice suit too! Man! Those look like Australian tech¡­ But those changes. Isn''t that SPU technology? Are those two allying to kill Harker?" The young manughed.


    The young man approached the masked Cliff and revealed his gun.


    Speaking in a volume and a speed that no human couldprehend, Cliff called out.


    "It is as Seeker expected. Someone came. Who is this?"


    "What an interesting development. That should be one of the top ss families in Pangea. That man before you is an enigma. A mystery even in his family. But he should be the real leader of that family." Halley Vagrant responded in the same volume but she could not quite catch up with Cliff''s talking speed.


    BANG!


    Cliff dodged as the man shot him. Suddenly, the bullet exploded in mid-air and changed direction. The surprised Cliff was too slow and the bullet pierced through his shoulder.


    "Oh? No armor? Well¡­ makes sense. If you were wearing any armor, the sensors around that school should have detected it. Impressive. You were doing all of this without any techs?" The young man started looking at hism device and a rey of Cliff''s attacks was revealed.


    "Novelty-stoise?" Cliff asked Halley secretly.


    "Are you alright? No. They are the strongest overall. But if we are to talk about specifics¡­ say in the arts of covert warfare and assassination, that family is at the peak. He must be the heir to that family The Protector of the Provinces."


    "Protector of the Provinces?"


    "You should really listen to your history teachers. Focus on the battle first. I''ll exinter."


    The young man lifted up his pistol and started to smile.


    "Gardo Dalisay. Protector of the Provinces." The young man smiled.


    Cliff dove in and attack.


    The young man started to shoot several rounds of bullets.


    Using his extreme memories, Cliff had recalled the trajectory of how the bullet attacked him first.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The bullets exploded once more, but the direction of the bullets did not follow the first bullet''s trajectories and small shrapnel''s erupted everywhere.


    Cliff covered his head and ducked and rolled, his speed was fast but he was still caught by the attacks.


    "Hold up, gang! You haven''t introduced yourself!" Gardoined.


    Cliff paused after recovering.


    "If you haven''t noticed¡­" Cliff spoke in a distorted tone as he was taking in a few deep breaths.


    The wounds he received were all shallow.


    "I''m an agent. Why would I introduce myself to you?"


    "Come on! When I kill you, I have to report what title you have. Just make something up!" Gardo waited as he crossed his arms and waited impatiently.


    "Halley?" The confused Cliff called to Halley.


    "Why are you asking me?! Didn''t you have a little gang back them? What did you guys call yourselves? Use that!" Halley cursed.


    "Alright." Cliff then turned towards Gardo and readied a battle pose.


    "Small Time Drug Dealers." Cliff introduced himself.


    SLAP!


    Halley''s face-palm could be heard by Cliff.


    "Small Time Drug Dealers?" Gardo asked in confusion.


    "Shall we continue fighting?"


    "Whatevs'' Small Time D-D. When I kill you, I''ll just say that you are the Rocket Assassin. Give me a good fight! You should be the third modified human I faced. Thest two were pretty boring¡­"


    "I''m not a modified human." Cliff shook his head.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Several gunshots were made as Gardo once more shot another volley of bullets.


    The bullets were all strange. Each had a different shape. Each had a different effect. The randomness and the uniqueness of each bullet had made the Dalisay family capable of standing their ground against SPU technology. Their forces gave Pangea time to unite andunch a counter-attack. Against humans, this weapon was terrifying.


    Cliff stood motionlessly and used his unique memory to review things again. Unknowingly, Cliff didn''t know the vast importance of what he could now do through his memory. Because if Seeker or Arthur and even Lennox knew of it, they would have made terrible experiments on him.


    Cliff had now entered his own world.

 Chapter 161 - The Daydreamer

    Earlier that night, Harker called Lander and Cliff with an emergency ping.


    Cliff was forced to end his conversation with Charm, much to his annoyance.


    Cliff sat down with a disgruntled expression.


    Seeker and Lander finally arrived.


    "Well? How goes your mission?" Seekerughed.


    Cliff gave Seeker a strong re. It was one of the rare times that he actually disyed it.


    Seeker didn''t seem bothered.


    "You look like you had a good night." Harkerughed.


    "You could say that. I am about eighty percent sure that this Lara is a Presider."


    Lander, Harker, and Cliff suddenly froze.


    "A Presider?"


    "Specifically, she should be Zeraphine of the Presiders. The phrase ''of the Presiders,'' is a title bestowed on an Aragarian Presider which makes her either a nominal or an elected leader amongst Presiders." Seeker smiled.


    "Then this is good news!"


    Seeker gave a mysterious smile.


    "Indeed it is. But because of this, we need to create distractions and intrigue. Now that a Presider is within our reach, we have to even increase the security, the conspiracy surrounding our camp."


    "Increase it even more?" Lander frowned.


    "You''ve already created a new definition of paranoia. You all act and assume that someone else is listening to every conversation you have even when in public areas. And the areas where you do talk, you put various techs to soundproof, hack-proof, drone-proof and bug-proof it. "


    "We will need to increase security but that''s not what I mean. Harker, we will need to push our ns further. We need to create a distraction. They need to think that your organization is not what it appears. You understand what I''m saying?"


    "Create an undercover identity to hide our real one. I get it. So this is why you want to fire a rocketuncher towards the school?"


    "Ri-Right." Seeker nodded hiding his hesitation.


    "I see. We create chaos in this school by making it look like there are a lot of organizations after us¡­ If they believe in the existence of that secret organization thanks to Lowengren and the Tyrant Empress, then they might help me. Impressive." Harker filled in the nks.


    Seeker had a strange expression.


    "What? Do you have something better?"


    "Erm¡­ No. It''s just that you thought exactly what I was thinking! Right!" Seekerughed.


    Harker was giving Seeker a probing look when Seeker turned to Cliff and Lander.


    "You two will take part in this. With what Harker just exined, we need to put in a real act. It''s better if you fought with Harker." Seeker spoke to Lander.


    "An Exo battle? This will be fun. I''ve always wanted to fight the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy in this manner." Harkerughed.


    Lander simply shook his head.


    "What about me?"


    "You''ll be the one attacking the school. You are to shoot a rocket targeting Harker. I have a way of making Zeraphine look for me. Harker, you are to time your arrival at school tomorrow with hers. Cliff, schedule to meet Charm somewhere near the entrance. That way all three will coincide with their meeting."


    "Wait¡­ you want me to fire a rocket at them?"


    "Don''t worry about your girlfriend! Harker will protect her. Besides, it will be your hands guiding the rocket." Seeker smiled.


    Cliff red at Seeker.


    "To think he''s suddenly acting all brave. Towards the General of all people¡­ Love does turn a soldier to a fool." Lander shook his head.


    Seeker ignored Lander''s strangely respectfulment.


    "Afterunching the attack, I want you to retreat and disappear. Harker, when you are trying to look for his location, Lander will suddenly attack. Everyone will think that this is the same assassin."


    "Oh? You''re giving Cliff an easy mission?"


    "No. It''s a bit harder than you think. Did you recall Richie''s words before he left? He could sense that a lot of eyes are on you. Wouldn''t this be the best opportunity to bring them out?"


    "How?" Harker pondered.


    Seeker pointed to Cliff.


    "Him of course. With all the eyes looking at us, we''ll make sure that many will put their eyes on Cliff."


    "You want to leak information about an assassin?"


    "Yes. Make it appear that Australian tech has been detected in Pangea''s Zone of Responsibility. And make it look like it''s close here."


    "You want people to think Australia is assassinating me?"


    "Yes. They are the only country which we can pin to have created modified soldiers. Cliff will infiltrate the school without any technological enhancement. He can make it look like he used maic tech tounch a weapon over the school. But we''ll just have it readied on the roof of the train station. Cliff will then escape. If you make a public appearance a few minutes before Cliff attacks, those eyes should be watching the area. They will detect Cliff. And even though it would appear that we had forces ready to cover the tracks of the assassin through Lander, these silent observers will see the truth and attack Cliff."


    "You want me¡­ to face them, without any technological assistance at all?"


    "We can''t use Pangean, Chinese, SPU, British or whatever we have. And if you carry any weapon with you that does not trigger the tech detection systems around the city, it would be suspicious." Seeker smiled.


    "That''s crazy! You''re saying that its possible I''ll be facing a troop of soldiers without any technological aid and I don''t won''t even know what techs my enemies will have?!"


    "Yes. Who knows who wille. But who else can pull this off? Lynd and Meryl won''t be in the area. I will be off to China and the rest are not just strong enough to do this. You have to do it on your own."


    "Come on, Cliffy! You need this to help you prepare to face that guy! Consider this as training. You said that you managed to slow down time in an extremely detailed fashion. That''s impossible even for me! If you want to survive your next mission and aplish it perfectly¡­ you need to improve that memory of yours!"


    "What can my memory do?" Cliff argued.


    "Come on, Cliff. You think you can fool me?" Seekerughed.


    The truth was, Cliff, did fool Seeker. Because Seeker never imagined just how powerful Cliff''s memories had be.


    Cliff hid it, in fear that Seeker would push him to even more terrible missions.


    There would be no way to exin how Cliff did it. But this was something Cliff had been unconsciously doing for the past few months. It began as simply being able to memorize it. But Cliff wasn''t all that all-knowing. The reason he could remember everything at once was that he had more time recalling things.


    At first, all these things were working automatically in the background when Cliff would do battle. It was only when he faced the powerful Oveer, Amir Mann, did he manage to forcefully take more conscious control of his automated acts.


    He found himself in the world of his subconscious. It was simr to the method Seeker used when pushing his cells to achieve Surmounting Thought. But Cliff''s version was far more powerful.


    It was like he was in a dream-world. He existed inside this world and this world existed inside his brain. It was something that cannot be exined to beings who live in three dimensions. Even the fourth dimension which people live in only in a half-step, the dimension of time, was distorted here.


    He had used this to great lengths during his interaction with Charmst night. He was so scared and petrified, that he would spend ten or so minutes in this dream world to think about what to respond to Charm''s answer. He even used his knowledge of micro-expressions to see what Charm felt as he responded and even used that to change his sentences in the milliseconds of his answer.


    Cliff looked around and noticed that his environment around him mimicked the surroundings he was in a few seconds ago. But this time, Gardo was not moving. For some reason, Cliff knew that this world he was seeing wasn''t real.


    "With my wounds, I should only have a couple of minutes left." Cliff estimated.


    The skill was akin to Seeker''s Surmounting Thought. Only in consumed far lesser calories and energy aspared to Seeker''s forceful pushing of his boundaries.


    The scene before Cliff was the same scene happening in the real world. In truth, it was the manifestation of Cliff''s memories. It was barely a millisecond, but Cliff had limited his unlocking and only applied it to form this world.


    He was the first among the different in Seeker''s memories. And now, he was far more powerful. The first Selective Unlocking apart from Arthur, Lennox, and Eagle.


    Of course, Cliff intends to hide this from Seeker and never show even a hint of it.


    The rtivity of time was different in Cliff''s memories. Just like how dreams would somehow prolong or shorten time, so was the state of Cliff. The memories of the few seconds before him emerged in his mind.


    Cliff immediately started doing his work.


    Cliff reviewed thest attacks of Gardo and took note of it.


    In his memories, he reviewed how the bullets exited the gun.


    Time moved forward and back. Cliff could fast forward and rewind his memories, and while others could do it, it wasn''t as precise and time-stopping as Cliff''s.


    He pushed the speed of his memories to reach an extremely slow speed. This was the first time Gardo shot him.


    Cliff noticed the bullet. He took note of how it suddenly changed trajectory. Then he fast-forwarded his memory to the second attack as he witnessed the volley of bullets. He paused and reviewed how the bullets exploded out and noted the tech that was used.


    "Pangean Diverse Metal¡­ So that''s how he uses it!" Cliff recalled the notes he studied.


    Diverse Metal technology was one of the primary reasons how Pangea achieved its study and developed machines and devices that could contain Srium and Eradication technology. It was a science that had constructed a unique metal of strangeposition that could heat and cool itself ording to its memory of how it was made. It wasn''t hard, but because of the way it can change temperature, it would be capable of containing the dangerous and highly explosive nature of Srium and Eradication.


    "So the first bullets had the memory of being cooled down and suddenly heating erupting on a certain side of the bullet, triggering the explosive powders making the bullet change direction. The second bullets all erupted¡­" Cliff was in deep thought.


    The bullets either had certain ports that allow it to suddenly change direction midair through the use of a secondary explosion which redirects it. The other use was to self-destruct the entire bullet creating a mini-shot gun slug.


    "And each bullet is equipped with Pangean Eradication. So I only have a few minutes left to live¡­ So this is another scenario facing Arthur and those nerds of his¡­" Cliff continued to mumble as he recalled the moments of defeat against Arthur''s team.


    "Luckily apart from the first attack¡­ the rest only did minor wounds. I can''t believe that my prosthetic leg saved me there." Cliff couldn''t help but look down on his leg which was now full of holes. If it was a normal leg he would have fewer minutes to live as the Eradication tech would have corroded his leg.


    "Now how to evade this¡­?" Cliff continued to ponder.


    "I don''t have to guess where the bullets are going! I just need to know where he was aiming! That''s it!"


    Cliff then moved the scene to the recent gun attacks of Gardo.


    Cliff noted where Gardo aimed and fire and used the previous attacks as a base to simte where the bullets would go.


    Suddenly, the scene before Cliff had moved forward as if it was real!


    "What the?!" Cliff was stunned. He was sure this was his memory world. Yet now, a real scene urred in his memory as the bullets were flying on its own as if the attack continued.


    "Could it be¡­? My power isn''t just memory?" Cliff mumbled dumbly. He was surprised at how detailed his imaginations were.


    Cliff stood curiously and allowed the bullets to move on its path.


    The mystery was that his brain utilized the memories of the first attacks and created an estimate of where the bullets would hit.


    Cliff, however, remained silent. He was not like Arthur. He knew that these were but his guesses based on his memories and would not be reliable.


    "Do I risk it?" Cliff pondered as he observed several


    Cliff continued to consider several possibilities. Each time he changed his thinking, the scene before him would change.


    "Oh, whatever. I lost against the Covenant because of overthinking. I''ll just use this again." Cliff decided to act.


    The moment Cliff left his world of dreams, the bullets started flying. Cliff didn''t move and allowed the bullets to move when suddenly, a series of minor explosions rang out.


    With Cliff''s perception of time, a second already could be five seconds long. As immediate as Cliff left his world, he dove back in again.


    His memories were refreshed and he could see the bullets clearly and how it all exploded.


    There were two smaller explosions and one stronger one.


    Cliff decided to look at things from the least dangerous to the more dangerous.


    The first bullet that Gardo fired came to view.


    Cliff noticed that these bullets had erupted in a way that is divided into two bullets.


    "Whoa. It''s aiming for two parallel directions¡­ Whoa! I used the word parallel for the first time in my life!" Cliff realized then suddenly put on a serious look as he returned to the real world.


    He turned to the second bullet and noted its peculiar design.


    "This one should have a way of exploding on impact and can shoot a piece of it backward. Dangerous¡­ Dangerous¡­" Cliff muttered. Finally, Cliff turned to thest bullet.


    It wasrge, gaudy and had a bright reddish glow. In Cliff''s memories, this bullet was still in the process of exploding. But for some strange reasons, the explosion was happening on the front of the bullet.


    "Wouldn''t that slow the speed of this bullet?" Cliff pondered.


    He then discovered that some parts at the back of the bullet were about to burst.


    "Ugh¡­ how despicable. It''srger and brighter than the rest of the bullets. It exploded on the front to slow its speed down. Was it meant to be a bullet to distract his enemies with its bright lights? Then that means, that explosion at the back was meant to make the bullet fly faster again." Cliff shivered at the thought of fighting this man if he didn''t have the powers of his extreme memories.


    "Let''s see where my imagination will take this¡­"


    Cliff''s imagination suddenly caused all the bullets to fly. The first bullet divided and Cliff noted its path.


    The second bullet struck the wall behind Cliff, and a smaller bullet attacked.


    The third bullet was moving slowly then suddenly boomed and pierced through Cliff.


    "What a genius! He memorized his bullets and can use them effectively! Not to mention his despicable methodology. I hope this guy meets Lowengren." Cliff frowned.


    He then returned to the ce he was standing and took a deep breath.


    "I can do this three more times¡­ And the pain in my shoulder should increase thanks to the Eradication tech of that bullet. Looks like I could die here¡­" Cliff could only sigh.


    "I can''t believe that I''m getting excited." Cliff shook his head and wondered just what kind of a man was he bing.


    Cliff took his stance and excitedly left the realms of his dream world.

 Chapter 162 - A Plan To Capture

    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The first round of gunshots hasn''t yet resounded when the second set of explosions already urred.


    Cliff, however, moved forward.


    With precise maneuvering, he ducked into a low position. Suddenly, his movements halted as he shifted his body to evade three bullets that were crossing his path.


    The first two came from the first shot which divided into three parts. The second was from the second.


    Therge bullet was about twice as long and had a slightly bigger size than the rest. But it was eye-catching because of its reddish hue and the fact that it was moving slowly that it was noticeable with the naked eye.


    Gardo Dalisay was a powerful name in Pangea. He was a soldier, mercenary and a bounty hunter. Several notorious names had fallen under his guns and he had a five-streak sess of wiping out a few organizations in the Underworld.


    But this was the first time that the random adjustment, detailed maniption, and precise execution failed him.


    The bullets shot through empty air and even the corresponding explosions sted nothing.


    Cliff''s sprint was fast. In the next second, he was already a foot away from Gardo.


    Gardo immediately retreated as several powerful mas pulled him backward causing him to fly swiftly. But even his retreat was a step toote as Cliff managed to deliver a resounding punch on the extended forearm of Gardo.


    POW!


    Gardo''s right arm was fractured at the powerful hook that Cliff delivered. The gun in his arm was thrown off far away.


    As Gardo was flying back thanks to the mysterious ma, he used his other arm to shoot several rounds.


    Cliff did not underestimate Gardo but wouldn''t use his life-saving technique just yet.


    Cliff immediately moved the direction where he knew Gardo wouldn''t have considered in his calction.


    Velocity and strength allowed Cliff to perform advanced parkour moves as he moves sideward and started to scale the walls rising high up to the third floor of the nearby building.


    Cliff jumped towards the direction where the gun was thrown off to.


    Barely two seconds had passed when all of these took ce. Cliff took the gun and aimed back at the paled expression of Gardo.


    Without saying anything, Gardo motioned to reach for the gun and a powerful maic pull was calling the gun back to its rightful owner.


    Cliff smashed his foot on the pavement and bore a small hole from the impact. Using it as a foothold, Cliff held on to the gun as a powerful pulling force tried to yank the gun off Cliff''s grasps.


    Gardo''s expression was stunned at the sight.


    "I need backup." In all of his career, this was one of Gardo''s most embarrassing statements.


    "Small-Time Drug Dealers! Get ready to sh!" Cliff ordered as he spoke through a supposed device on his right arm.


    Gardo had a solemn expression and quickly took out another tucked somewhere in his back.


    Cliff spared no seconds as he sprinted to attack.


    "Price! Attack him from behind, now!" Cliff ordered.


    Gardo proved his expertise as he wasted no seconds in immediately used the maic device to pull him. He jumped and flew to the sky as if something was carrying him. But s, he was too skilled as an expert. His reaction failed him for as he turned to shoot at the enemy from behind, he found no one.


    Cliff had recalled the annoying trick that Lowengren used on him. Cliff copied what Lowengren said, his movements, his tone and even the very words he spoke.


    Gardo''s reaction was yet another text-book perfection. Instead of shuffling or changing his aim, he used his current path to escape and stepped on the walls of the building as he was turning and kicked on it.


    With it, he wasunched higher to the sky and aimed his gun to attack Cliff.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Using the only gun, he carried, Gardo shot several attacks as hended on the building.


    To his surprise, Cliff had evaded all attacks easily and was even able to easily react to where hended.


    Cliff''s parkour was quick and was even shy. It was as if he was showing off his parkour skills.


    Indeed, this was the case. Cliff had learned parkour by watching videos of other experts, and one particr shy influencer, who was famous for her extremely attractive and provocative expressions during her runs was Cliff''s basis. In fact, behind Cliff''s mask, was a flurry of emotions that would lead a one to consider just what exactly Cliff ate for breakfast.


    Cliff''s approach suddenly became arrogant and maniacal as he stood proudly in front of Gardo with a strangeugh.


    Cliff held out an odd red and white ball.


    "I win. Voltorb, use sh!"


    A soft, muffled bang was heard as a powerful bright light shed around them.


    No longer was this the normal Pangean Everbright. This was a military sh grenade that also utilized Meryl''s cells. Through a thorough study of how Lynd''s cells transform into Meryl''s, the scientist under the Mad Scientist Lennox was able to harness a miniature light. Lennox used his own ability to recreate the strange power and though he was far from fullyprehending and could only transform his finger to that energy for less than a split second, it was enough for him to create a miniature version of it.


    The light this sh-bang generated was shorter than the prolonged burning brightness of the Pangea Everbright, but it had the capabilities of bypassing more technologies than though possible. Also, there was a unique trait of Meryl''s brightness. It was not only something difficult to see. The phenomenon of light and heat was now different from Meryl especially after the battle in China.


    Directly being exposed to this light would hurt the eyes causing it to feel a burning pain.


    "AHHH!" Gardo had reacted ordingly and retreated but he kept his eyes open.


    "My eyes!" Another pained scream echoed and several other screams also followed.


    On the nearby building, a man rubbed his eyes in pain at the bright light. They had been staring at the ongoing battle in the sky between Harker and the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy. The battle nearby was loud, explosive and extremely eye-catching.


    In the middle of the battle, Lander suddenly shot out a powerful bright light that blinded everyone. The moment everyone managed to recover, the Exoskeleton that the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy rode was nowhere to be seen.


    "What happened? Where did that man go?!" The man recovered but continued to shout as a way to relieve the agony from his pained eyes. The sh of light was so quick that it surprised many and even gave a few quite a scare.


    "Where did that robot go?" A young boy asked.


    "I think he retreated." The man could only shake his head regretfully.


    Almost instantly, there were loud shouts, curses, and even joyous ims of victory that erupted on the floor of where they were. Everyone was discussing the battle. Many admired Harker''s skills in that battle as he stood victorious in fending off an Exoskeleton pilot of great renowned. Others were sad that the battle had ended so quickly.


    Who would have thought that not over twenty meters from where this crowd discussed the events that urred, the agents of the Dalisay family were just slowly recovering from their blindness?


    "My eyes! It stings!" A woman cursed as she kept rubbing her eyes.


    "Gardo!" Another man cried out as he ran towards the area where Gardo was standing near the enemy.


    He did his best and ran towards the roof.


    "Jane! Where are they?!" He called out to hisrade on the other roof.


    "I lost them too! The shbang really did a number on my eyes!" Thedy on the nearby roof was readied with a custom-made weapon. Gardo was leading Cliff towards the roof so that his fellow agent could shoot him. But when Cliff rose to the roof, the woman could not fire as Gardo was still in the way. And the next second that there was a clear shot, the shbang got her.


    "Where are they?" He shouted on them device.


    "Who? Focus on the battle! Is Gardo alright?" The voice on the other end asked immediately.


    "Focus on the battle? Gardo''s missing! Where is he? Can''t you find his ping?"


    "Missing? How could he be missing?!" The voice became angrier.


    "There was a powerful sh bang that blinded us! The moment we recovered, Gardo and the assassin was gone!"


    "What? You guys were looking at that battle in the sky?! Idiots! Gardo had asked for help! Since when has that ever happened?!"


    "What are you talking about? What battle in the sky? The assassin used powerful sh-bang! It was so strong that it nearly burned our eyeballs!"


    "What?! He had shbang too? Did they use it together? What''s going on?"


    "Where is Gardo?!" The man shouted to them device again.


    "Give me a sec!" The voice replied in a panic.


    "What the? No! Impossible! The ping is gone!"


    "How is that possible?!"


    Another agent finally reached the top of the roof.


    "Damn it! Mym-device is not working! What happened? Did that assassin used some tech-disrupting weapon?"


    "Brent can''t find Gardo!" The man who was on the roof impatiently summarized the problem.


    "What?! Where did they go?!"


    "Brent! You better tell me something!" The man shouted again!"


    "I can''t find him! It must have been because of Harker and that Exoskeleton''s battle!"


    "What does that have to do with Gardo?!"


    "Everything! The moment you got blinded by that assassins shbang, the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy was in the brink of defeat that it used a powerful bright explosion to escape! Along with his escape was the usage of Enigmatic Maic Pulse! All my techs are acting weird! This whole area is distorted and my scans can''t pick up anything!"


    "What?!" The man was shocked.


    "You''ll have to move quickly!" The voice on the other line repeated.


    "Military Announcement. Martialw is in ce. Anyone detected to be equipped with technologies above MD Level 3 will be detained for questioning. An attack has just been made to a general and is an act of war. We are asking all citizens toply. For those who devices above MD Level 3, please prepare your proofs, digital or otherwise for your possession of these devices. Rest assured, the military will be as prompt as it can." A citywide alert sounded out.


    "Martialw?!"


    Suddenly, several exoskeletons with strange cameras and satellite dishes could be seen zooming around the areas.


    "Tech detectors! Damn!" The man cursed.


    "When was Pangea this rich?! Those techs! Those are probably British techs!" The man who just got up the roofined.


    "Those with techs exceeding MD Level 3, you have already been detected. Please head towards our Tech-detecting Exoskeletons and present all legal documents for ownership and legality of use for any devices, weapons or programs." The announcement continued.


    "Efren¡­ What do we do?"


    The man called Efren could only clench his fist and bite his teeth.


    "We have no choice. If we escape, the military will probably chase us. We''ll have to pretend that we were sent for some mission. Since our ties with Harker isn''t that bad they shouldn''t suspect us."


    "What about Gardo?"


    "What choice do we have? The good news is; we can be sure he''s alive. Why else did that assassin kidnap him?"


    "What''s going on? Why did that man take Gardo?" Thedy on the other roofmunicated via herm device.


    "We don''t know. Let''s just get this over with and make a report to headquarters!" Efren ordered.


    Cliff had already been taken by several of Harker''s soldiers.


    Prior to the battle, Cliff was tasked to kidnap anyone of those who would attack them. They would coordinate their battle and the use of the sh-bangs almost simultaneously. Cliff''s escape had long been nned. It was in an enclosed area where the few buildings near it were all bought out and had people working for Harker. The only ones that weren''t in Harker''s paycheck, were too busy looking at the exciting and explosive battle above.


    And so, the battle between Cliff and Gardo was virtually unknown to many. And since Seeker expected more eyes to be secretly watching the battle despite their borate preparations, the usage of the sh-bangs and the sudden appearance of a pseudo-Australian EMP tech brought about by Lennox''s own creation had ensured the sess for this mission.


    Cliff had copied Lowengren''s battle once again and through his amazing memories and day-dreaming powers, he timed the usage of the bomb at the exact moment where all the people Cliff detected or saw would all be looking directly at him.


    The moment the sh happened, Cliff delivered a jaw-shaking uppercut on Gardo and immediately escaped through a prepared secret entrance nearby. The two were immediately picked up and rode an unremarkable van prepared for their escape.


    Blood continued to trickle down Cliff''s clothes. Cliff''s breathing was staggered. He even coughed up some blood.


    "He managed to shoot you again?" Halley watched as the medics were giving Cliff his much needed medical attention.


    Cliff could only nod his head. His face was pale. All over his body were shrapnels of the bullet. Since these bullets had Pangean Eradication techs, it was drilling inside him with searing pain. If Cliff hadn''t mastered the necessary skill of blocking pain through his sessions with Seeker, he would have fainted from the pain.


    "This guy''s good." Cliff gave his assessment as he closed his eyes to rest.


    "This is good too." Halley smiled as he looked at Cliff''s body.


    "I have to say¡­ Seeker''s training regime is impressive. You have the body and muscle build that would attract just about any woman. Butbine this sheer, raw delightful appeal with pain, suffering and you can make any woman fall for you. No wonder Seeker asked me to bring you to her."


    "Her?!" Cliff suddenly woke up and pushed away from the medics who blocked the view through the tainted window.


    "Were headed back to the base?"


    "Yes. You still have part two of your mission. We got the best warrior of the Dalisay n. Now we want the True Inheritor of the Novelty-stoise n." Halley nodded.


    "It can''t be! Seeker nned all this!" Cliff was shocked.


    "Right. He intentionally made this battle difficult for you so to wound you to a near-death state. The more wounded you are, the better. Now that wepleted this mission, we are now going to present it to her. A young man, whose body is chiseled with marble-smooth, rock hard abs, and is brimming with sweat and blood. Ugh¡­ Even I wish I could have that!" Halley giggled.


    "Seeker''s quite old fashioned though. He wants to present you like some mighty warrior of old. He kept quipping about how thedies dig macho, hot men. But add that machoness with a little pinch of sensitivity, vulnerability, and weakness, then you have a true heart-stopper."


    "He''s using my wounds as.... as... bait?"


    "He''s using your sweat, blood and weakened form to help you win her heart. This state you are in will draw bothpassion from Charm while at the same time give her an excuse to see your real body. underneath that muscle-hiding suit, you always wear." Halley then motioned to have the medics check on Cliff again.


    "Will this work? Will this help me capture her heart?" Cliff could not help but ask. A part of him was excited.


    "I don''t know¡­ but if you were to ask me what would happen when heart-breakingpassion and heart-stopping attraction meet and ovep¡­ I''d say the answer is love.." Halley smiled.

 Chapter 163 - Families

    Seeker boarded the ne full of medical supplies. Seeker was disguised as one of the crew members of the flight to secretly enter thend of China. As the world had ceased its cross-border trades due to the World Governing Power''s new rules, some trades were allowed to continue as it had to do with the lives of the citizens on other nations.


    Pangean Eradication tech had very useful, practical and cheap alternatives during many of the advanced surgeries. It was also used as a cheaper way of counteracting leukemia and prolonging the lives of cancer patients. And thus, even in times like this, the WGP allowed medical trades that were deemed to be life-saving or preserving to continue.


    All of the crew members were either from Harker''s organizations, Meng''s secret operatives and some, even where Lennox''s employees. Of course, all of them greatly feared or respected their respective leaders and had no need to be Programmed ves.


    Seeker sat down the ne as it began its liftoff.


    He perused over the news which was now showing Harker and Lander''s battle.


    "This is definitely the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy. Here is another footage we have captured during the battle of Helion''s Tragedy. As you can see, the technique that thisrge Exoskeleton used is simr to the spin that Lander used in this footage!"


    Two videos appearing side-by-side were being shown on Seeker''sm device. The first one was a video feed that one of New Zend''s soldiers managed to capture before dying. The video shows Lander''s attacks andplicated twists when he faced off with several soldiers attacking Fort Helion. The other one was a citizen''s recording of the battle. Both videos were taken at simr angles and the movements between the two were seamless and urate.


    Seeker switched to another news site and found several television personas talking about the incident. The one being interviewed was a military official brought in to answer the questions of the terrifying urrence that day.


    "So these rumors were in fact, true? Yet the public was not made aware that alien military technology had infiltrated Pangea? Isn''t this a reflection of how weak the army''s security is?!" The reporter angrily addressed the government official.


    "What we detected was metal. That''s it. Metal. You''ve seen the suit yourself. It somehow looks like it''s made with the same form that the Dawn Soldiers of Australia had. The size was just as big. What this indicates is that Lander was wearing a new Dawn Armor Exoskeleton. The boosters and rockets that propelled thatrge exoskeleton could have been any other technology! You could buy gadgets and build one yourself!" The official angrily argued back.


    "That should have been a loophole that you should have made preparations for! War is at the doors of Pangea! A little bit of effort is only needed!" The reporter chastised.


    Seekerughed at the two. Such skillful acting.


    BEEP!


    A call appeared and Seeker promptly answered.


    "Hey, who''s thisdy reporter in the Phil-Pangean Media Arts channel?" Seeker wondered.


    "You don''t watch the news, do you? She''s a skilled actress and T.V host."


    "Is she a Programmed ve?"


    "No. We only made the media heads ves. Why? Do you want her?"


    "And how would I be different from any Aragarian if I said yes?" Seeker frowned.


    "Then why are you asking?"


    "Well¡­ her acting is really convincing. I''m afraid that more people in Pangea will rally against you and could create more antagonist groups in Phil-Pangea."


    "It was you who ordered that this media group go on a full-scale news crusade against us." Harker gave a dissatisfied grunt.


    "No. It was Arthur''s orders. Oh well¡­ Considering how detailed he is; he should have known the prowess of her charisma. So I''m sure that Arthurmanding you to make this newsgroup create news against us is within his calctions. I wasn''t a borne schemer. Why did Arthur n this out?"


    "Perfection is dangerous. If we make Phil-Pangea spotless, and without any forms of strife, we create a utopian image. Which is why he must have decided to make one media group go and fight us. It will give the Aragarians the impression-"


    "I get it. That Pangea is not under one banner. If they see us divided, they''d try to exploit or bribe the other parties and more importantly not consider us a threat."


    "Yes. We are deliberately putting on a divided front so that our enemies will not be worried. I think Arthur considered this when you told him of the n to make Colestar our ally. With that recent stunt I pulled, I no longer have political enemies in Pangea. So I guess decided to create one. A political puppet that will act as our opposition."


    "Ugh. I''m d Arthur''s here to watch my back." Seekerughed.


    "So, a Dalisay? Who was it that Cliff kidnaped?"


    "We hit the jackpot. It''s the strongest member of the Dalisy family. Gardo Dalisay."


    "The Protector of the Province¡­"


    "Oh? Did you know about him? I expected him to be an unknown figure in your future. I don''t recall you ever attending my lectures about the families in Pangea. I thought you didn''t care¡­ but it seems you already know."


    "No. I don''t know about the families in Pangea. I only knew the Dalisay. It''s good that we caught him this early. He was an unknown name in the future because he was already dead. Like many great warriors, he was forgotten. But to me, Lynd, Meryl, and Charles¡­ that man probably among the bravest we ever knew."


    "He saved your life?"


    "Yes. I don''t know about the battles that urred in Pangea. What I did know was that not every family wanted to ally with the Aragarians and many rebelled. The most dangerous group who managed to put up a fight against your armies were the Dalisay n. When Charles developed the drugs and found a way to push a man to the Unbing stage, it was almost toote. Charles would have been captured by your men and our future would have been over. The Dalisay n was our way out of there."


    "He is that powerful?"


    "Yes. But it isn''t because of his own skill. People attributed me as the first Unbing who was sessful under Charles'' drugs. But the truth is, I only took it because I had the confidence it would work. Gardo Dalisay was the real first. Though he died. We kept it a secret because we thought that if the Aragarians knew Gardo took the first drugs, they might look for his body or blood and reverse-engineer the drug Charles made."


    "So this is why you''re interested in the families around the world."


    "We may never know. The Oveers may have overshadowed the achievements of the many families on this Earth. But for me, The Dalisay was an extremely important family that made the Unlocking itself possible. Right now, if what Cliff said is true and if Charm really is a True Inheritor, then you have to convince her to take up arms and help you. Are you ready to meet them?"


    "Not yet. We''re waiting for Cliff to fall into a critical state."


    "¡­"


    Seeker was confused and had to use his own Advanced Recall to check if what he heard was correct.


    "Critical state?"


    "Yes. He said that once he enters a critical state, we can then proceed to show his almost dying body to Charm."


    "Our Cliff asked that?" Seeker repeated.


    "Yes. He was shot with bullets coated in Eradication technology. But because of his Unlocking, the eradication radiation is taking some time before it could be lethal for him. So we are waiting for the radiation to cause him to go into a more erm¡­ critical state."


    "The things we do for love¡­" Seekerughed.


    "Alright then. Continue with your mission. I may prolong my stay at China to wait for Lowengren and Alean. So until then, announce to have me and certain government officials under lockdown. Use that opportunity to make more Programmed ves out of the captured officials or you can use your Path. Have the packages been sent?"


    "Yes. The two Aragarian hitmen you captured are being shipped off to the Tatsulok and they''ll be sent through the pod soon. Once you reach China, they should be somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."


    "Good. Finally, we have some reliable sources. I can''t wait for the Tyrant Empress to control them. If we have information with more Pioneers, we could find a way to get them before they know anything. You now have a reason to block allmunications to Pangea and block border-crossing activities. As such, the disappearance of a few nted hitmen ought to be normal. By the time you allowmunication, Charles should be able to move the pod of those nteds to meet the Tyrant Empress."


    "Lucky them. The Tyrant Empress must be so bored of being locked on that pod. I can''t imagine what pleasure they will experience." Harker could not help but feel envious.


    "Don''t be envious. Truthfully, the way she is now, she wouldn''t sleep with anyone who isn''t an Oveer."


    "Really? A woman like that? She''s the very definition of lust!"


    "Lust isn''t the root of her path. It''s pride. Would you have sex with insects? Anyways, I trust you know what to do with the Aragarian Zeraphine?" Seeker didn''t bother exining more and switched to a more serious tone.


    "I n to use Charm as the key piece. If what you said is true and this Zeraphine treats this Charm as a true friend, then if I get Charm to put on the mantle of a True Inheritor, she''s sure to help."


    "I''ll leave you to it. Send the information about the whole True Inheritor business and send me a detailed introduction as to what these mighty Families do and more about their business. Although I''m sure the Humphrey''s are already developing their ns to either control or kill the families of this world, I at least need to know the basics."


    "I extended to you an offer of attending that meeting three months ago."


    "And I thought I didn''t need it. I never expected Zeraphine to be a Family." Seeker could only shake his head.


    "Seeker¡­ This Zeraphine. If she considers her Charm as her friend¡­ is she an exception to the Aragarians? A soft-hearted person amongst monsters?"


    Seeker was silent for a bit.


    "She far worse than the rest. It''s exactly because she ispassionate that you have to watch out. She is an Aragarian through and through. When ites down to herpassion and her race, she will choose her race."


    Harker didn''t reply.


    "I''ll tell you and only you this. I''m going to y a very dangerous game with her." Seeker''s tone suddenly changed.


    Harker was surprised.


    "Only you have the cruelty and coldness to sacrifice and cut off loose ends. Should you deem her as a threat, regardless of what I say or do, find a way to kill her. Even if it means fighting me." The call suddenly ended.


    Harker was stunned at Seeker''s words.


    "General. Cliff has finally fainted."


    Harker was surprised and rushed to check on Cliff''s condition on the other room.


    "Why does he have burn marks on his chest?"


    "He asked us to use stun Tasers at him." The soldier responded.


    Harker didn''t know what to say. ording to ranks, Cliff did surpass the ranks of these regr soldiers.


    "Get him inside. It''s time to meet those two students."


    Charm and Lara waited in the underground areas of the base.


    "I can''t believe this happened¡­" Charm continued to sound her fright. They could hear the explosions and witnessed the attack on the news.


    Lara was silent. She continued to look at the news which would constantly show the battle.


    "Australian tech¡­?" She pondered.


    "No one else can copy that technology. The Dawn Soldiers are something of Presider Gordon''s technology. Even if they capture a live sample, there should be no way for them to be capable of creating hardened carbon skin¡­" Lara was deep in thought.


    "I''ll have to find ways tomunicate with Presider Gordon. And I thought they said Lander died in battle¡­ What''s going on?" Lara was confused.


    Suddenly, the doors opened. Freakin'' fog invaded the entire room as the door slowly gave way. Out in the deep dark hallways beyond the door, a figure emerged.


    His strides were grand.


    His face was resolute.


    His eyes shone with victory and his grin magnified his confidence.


    His standing was stalwart and his foot nted firmly on the ground.


    Lara and Charm held their breath at the figure before them.


    He was the impable General.


    The warrior who had just defeated Pangea''s most feared enemy soldier.


    And though he had no wounds to bear testament to his victory. But this was not needed. For victors like him not need trophies of their conquest for his deeds will forever be instilled in the heart of all Pangea.


    He was General Harker Cipril. The Light of Pangea.


    "Ge-General Harker!"


    "My apologies for taking you both captive. I had intended to approach before but found no opportunities to do so that would draw unnecessary attention. At least, with these attacks, I can continue with my n."


    "Not at all, General, it''s such an honor to have-"


    "You said attacks?" Lara interrupted and raised her eyebrows.


    "As expected of the Diamons. You caught on my words. That''s right. That attack was a diversion. The rocket was meant to draw me out. That''s why before we could even find him, the assassin chose tounch an all-out attack on me."


    "Was it really Lander? The Hero of Helion''s Tragedy?"


    "What remained of him at least. Something was not right in the battle. It was as if I was fighting against-"


    "A machine?" Lara continued.


    Harker gave Lara a scrutinizing look.


    "It seems there are more than meets the eye to you. May I ask what secrets your family has been hiding to this world, Miss Diamon?"


    "I will answer and tell you the secrets of my family but you must give me information of equal value." Lara gazed back.


    Charm was shocked at Lara''s boldness.


    "Interesting." Harker smiled.


    "Well?" Lara asked once more.


    "I''ll have to decline." Harker shook his head.


    Lara was stunned.


    "At least for now. Charm¡­ Three ces were attacked. The first was school, the second was on a secret and unremarkable van that was meant to transport President Colestar. And the third was Seeker Carlean."


    "What?" Lara and Charm shouted in shock.


    "Seeker managed to survive. But only because Cliff protected him. As you know, he was a secret soldier. And this saved Seeker''s life.


    "Where is Cliff?"


    "Next room. His condition is critical." Harker answered firmly.


    Charm dashed off without another word.


    "Charm!" Lara followed and quickly left the room to follow Charm.


    The moment they stepped out, Harker dialed a number and started to take in deep breathes. Sweat poured out down his back but was thankfully hidden by the specialized cloth which made up his uniform.


    "Harker?" Seeker frowned.


    "You didn''t tell me she had mind-controlling or mind-manipting technologies! I almost gave in!" Harker spoke in a speed and volume that normal humans wouldn''t understand.


    Seeker froze when he heard it.


    His memories poured out once more. Both the Adult and the Child each reviewed bits and pieces of their memories with Zeraphine.


    Seeker''s other arm was shaking uncontrobly.


    "I didn''t know. Be careful then." Seeker abruptly hanged up.


    The Adult had already manifested itself and sat on the seat in front of the Child.


    "¡­If this is true, then she might have faked her death." The Child was the first to speak.


    "I know." The Adult tried to contain his anger.


    "So that''s how she did it. She was ying with your heart from the start. You couldn''t detect or fight it yet. Luckily, Harker specialized in manipting others otherwise, he might have been affected by her micro mind-controls."


    A thought then popped out of Seeker''s mind. He immediately took out his phone and dialed a number.


    "¡­Richie. ns have changed. Finish whatever missions you have to draw out those powerful hitmen and start gathering your team. I will be releasing the Empress a month earlier. I want you two to make war with each other." Seeker coldlymanded.


    "Ohhh¡­ Sounds serious.." A familiarugh happened on the other side.

 Chapter 164 - Charm’s Secret

    Blood.


    Burn wounds of the second degree.


    There were even several holes that pierced through his body with the flesh around it that was beginning to show signs of rotting.


    His figure was so marred that you wouldn''t believe he was alive. Around the room were monitors that disyed the detailed status of Cliff.


    The detailed disy of Cliff''s status on every aspect of his body were all on critical status. Several doctors were in the room. Lara even recognized some of the doctors in that room.


    As for Charm, she had no time to look at them. The mere sight of his figure brought Charm to a petrifying shock.


    Memories of their talkst night shed by. What Charm did was practically bullying. She had forced Cliff to tell her everything about who he is, and his mission. And although Cliff finally revealed that he had fallen for her, she didn''t give him even a small ounce ofpassion or sympathy but berated him and called him a liar and a maniptor.


    She even managed to make Cliff tear up. It was only then that she gave up. She knew that she liked Cliff and perhaps even loved him, but in her pride, she had sworn to make it hard for him.


    And now, she may never see him again.


    At the convulsion of her emotions, Charm fainted.


    "Charm!" Lara shouted as she ran over to catch her friend.


    Cliff wasin down in a transparent chamber. It had several thickyers of ss that seemed to be emitting a strange light.


    Lara nced at it and frowned. She knew that the technologies her eyes had could not pierce through and analyze the biology of Cliff. But now was not the time to do spy on that soldier. Charm was in so much shock that it caused her to faint.


    She held on to her as several of the nearby doctors immediately rushed towards them.


    "Who are you? Why are you here?" A superior asked as he red at Lara.


    "They are with me." Harker arrived andmanded.


    "General!" The doctors all called out together.


    "How is Specimen Triple-0?" Harker asked.


    This title was the title that Cliff had.


    "He''s the first?" Lara was stunned.


    Harker heard Lara shock and turned to her.


    "Oh? I shouldn''t have been careless." Harkerughed as if he made a mistake.


    "Pangean counting begins with Triple 0. If you named him in such azy manner, then it proves he is the first."


    "Why are you angry?" Harker was bemused.


    "I wouldn''t have cared less. But she''s my friend''s friend. And that makes it different."


    "Oh? A Diamon cares for a man like Cliff? You do know that he is simply a Regr? He''s citizenship is that of the lowest. If this was another century, he would have been a ve." Harkerughed.


    "Isn''t the EAA known for that? You push it to an extreme. Even within the Elites of your country, they emphasize the Junior and the Senior."


    "Trust me. I belong in a n that would make a Regr look at one of the top noble sses. In my world, who you are born as will set your faith forever. So I don''t need your lecture. But not all the elites born of us loves this." Lara red.


    "Hmmm¡­ It seems my approach is ineffective. Truth be told, I merely brought this fa?ade out. In reality, I ce great care in this boy called Cliff. However, if I were to show any signs of favor, my political enemies would eat me alive." Harker smiled.


    Lara''s eyebrows rose but then turned soft. In the secrecy of how her guard was down, her eyes were secretly utilizing the techs in her eyes which constantly kept scanning and determining whether or not Harker was telling the truth or not.


    Her technologies prompted her that Harker was telling the truth. But something¡­ felt off.


    Harker was secretlyughing.


    With how he could see things in his perception, he knew that the very minute expressions of Lara meant she was doing something beyond the norm. And so Harker came prepared to meet this Presider.


    He had been releasing small bits of his killing intent. This was to provide shade over how Lara would react and deduce. She hadn''t noticed the growing fear in her heart.


    But at the same time, Harker had also released another form of intent. This was something that not even Meng or Lennox could create. Only individuals of such charisma could release it.


    Lara then rxed. Although she could not understand it, she began to trust Harker.


    "What do you mean?" She inquired.


    "What of your training in politics?"


    "The best. Naturally." Lara boasted.


    "Then I don''t need to get into the detail. As of now, any actions I make, be it good or bad will be challenged."


    "I know. Your political enemies will always oppose your stance. You take a stand that supports the Regr, then your political enemies will charge you with disrupting the culture in which your society has shaped. People will use you of not honoring the utopia that the Pangean nations have built and may even look into your descent and spread rumors that you, someone of a Rising background is trying to usurp this nation. You take the view of supporting the Royals, you will be portrayed as someone who does not view people equally." Lara narrated in one breath. She paused to consider the pros and cons of siding with the Rising.


    "Of course. Siding with the Rising is the worst. You''d be seen by your enemies as someone who wants to make every Regr a Rising and that would cause envy to the current Rising and may demand to be a Royal making the Royal hate you more¡­"


    "Impressive. It is as you say. Each stance I make will be my disadvantage. So I do my best to hide all intentions. Everything that I revealed, every stand that I took and even the image I crafted for myself are all calcted moves. It is loved by the media, as it fuels their gain, and most of my political enemies in Pangea have all been trapped. I am now waiting for the backstabbing attacks of that organization."


    "The Underworld?" Lara asked.


    "If only it were that simple." Harkerughed mysteriously.


    Lara ignored his mysterious statements but her heart was pounding.


    "Going back to my question. I wasn''t asking about what you meant by your political allies. I am asking why you take pity on Cliff."


    "Oh¡­ It''s personal. Simply put, it was my hand that ended his family tree. The Fangwoods are Underworld agents. Cliff has been secretly living a dual life as you know. But the drugs he had weren''t just ordinary drugs. It is the Fangwood trying to regain their lost Fangs."


    "The Fangwoods¡­ aren''t they simply Regrs?"


    "You don''t employ people of lowly births as hitmen? The Fangwoods are one of the hitmen groups that both Rising and Royals employ. They''re like the foot soldiers!" Harker gave a strange expression.


    Cliff had to stop himself from cursing as he listened inside.


    Lara noticed something and nced at Cliff.


    Cliff panicked and used his Unlocking to increase his temperature.


    "His temperature is rising." Harker immediately voiced out.


    The doctors panicked and began to move.


    Harker was cursing at Cliff in his mind. But he wore a serious expression as he nced at Cliff and clenched his fist.


    "I won''t let him die. I promise you, Alean." Harker whispered.


    Lara turned and nced at Harker. Although Harker whispered, Lara was able to make out what he said thanks to her superior hearing.


    Lara gave Cliff aplicated look and then realized something.


    "What is it that you want from me? I''m sure you didn''t bring me here for anything."


    Harker was awoken from his dazed look and noticed that Cliff''s vitals were stabilizing.


    He gave a relieved sigh and looked back at Lara.


    "While it is beneficial to have you as allies, it''s too risky. Take it as a sign of goodwill, since you are Charm''s friend and alert your family of the undercurrents the world will soon face. The reason why I brought you here was to hide my original target."


    Lara understood and immediately rushed towards Charm and stood to cover her from the doctors and even Harker''s nce.


    "What do you want with Charm?" Lara angrily shouted.


    "Rx. I brought her here to talk to her of course. I know of her real status after all."


    "Real status?" Lara asked.


    Harker was silent but his eyes gave a curious impression.


    "You¡­ you don''t know? Interesting. But if you didn''t know and wanted to be her friend¡­ then¡­ it was real friendship?" Harker gave Lara a strange look.


    "Know what?" Lara asked.


    "It''s best for her to tell you. As such, allow my doctors to treat her. I have a way of awakening her from her shock. If I told you, you might not believe me anyway." Harker then turned his attention back to Cliff.


    Lara was silent. She stood nearby ncing at Charm now and then.


    "What could it be? That even my sources don''t know?" Lara pondered. But then she realized a more pressing matter.


    "I need to contact the others¡­ That organization is real¡­ And it looks like it''s about to betray Harker?"


    After a few minutes of pondering, Cliff''s status suddenly became unstable and everyone in the room was taking action.


    Lara took the opportunity and tried to send out an alert through her cells.


    After a few minutes, she stopped.


    "Too many distortions. Looks like I need to get out of here first." She sighed.


    She then approached Charm who was now left alone as the doctors rushed off to their positions to help Cliff.


    She brushed Charm''s hair and sighed.


    "What is it that you didn''t tell me, Charm?" She sighed.


    ---


    A hundred kilometers from London was the Forest-Megalopolis of Central Ennd.


    Utilizing their highly desired weather-controlling technology, the former destruction that had caused Ennd to fall into a vast zone of destion, now became an area teaming with wildlife. Houses were intricate and built with designs that allowed trees and all sorts of nts to grow anywhere.


    The Lightning technology was the cause which allowed New Great Britain to give birth to weather-controlling technologies that stunned the world. Even the World Governing Powers apuded this technology and even purchased the tech at the price of giving them another tech in their arsenals.


    And so, with a technology that focused on nt biology and soil science which was a perfect pair with weather control, New Great Britain became the foremost suppliers of almost all farm-rted vegetables and grain.


    The Forest-Megapolis boasted the cleanest ce this world has ever known.


    The name of the megacity was Eden.


    In the heart of Eden, a middle-aged professor returned to his private quarters in the Central Ennd School of the Future.


    The professor did as what most schrs of the supra-modern era would do; turn on his console and y his favorite video game. The intrigue of Casual Carlean''s miracle had opened the world to pursue world-breaking attempts at various games. Everyone started pooling and studying the different versions of each game in hopes to find a loophole toplete it.


    Various of the older games have been revived and most games that generally had over sixty hours of game time were tested to the limits.


    What intrigued the professor, other than his interest in the game, was the strange sensation that the Professor had while watching all of Seeker''s video.


    As a shrink with an extremely sharp observational skill, the mystery that Seeker Carlean disyed was fascinating. He wasn''t the only one. Experts in Psychology had started to study and made researches focusing on Seeker Carlean. Was he lying? Or was he simply a miracle?


    Themon theory that circted was that Seeker was extremely skilled at the game. He and Lynd were already champion yers and that their sudden appearance as well as the skills they disyed instantly shot them to the peak of poprity.


    However, this professor believed to be different.


    It was impossible to find out about the bugs. And as a strong adherent of the ssical work of Conan O'' Doyle, he eliminated the impossible. And that impossibility being Seeker knew beforehand the bugs that the just-released game had.


    With his previous connections to several prominent names in the Underworld, this professor had long since crossed out the possibility that Seeker knew the game''s bugs beforehand. Other theories that insisted Seeker was working with Piercing grew dimmer and dimmer when the Professor continued to analyze everything.


    And so, his obsession led him to y the game itself. Actively recalling every single detail and expression that Lynd and Meryl had.


    He was confident in his observation of human psychology. Meryl and Lynd were not acting.


    Seeker surprised them with his show of skill.


    This revtion puzzled him deeply and so, he began to seriously ponder the mystery brought by Seeker Carlean.


    He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn''t noticed it. It was when he sat down on his couch that he realized it.


    "Are you here to kill me?" The professor sighed.

 Chapter 165 - The Lone Wolf

    The professor was saddened. He was not afraid, he was saddened.


    Death was something that he no longer feared with his career. Before bing a professor, he was a highly respected figure in the Underworld. As the Underworld would often wage war alongside the country''s military forces, to invade, attack, harass or defend foreign countries to achieve their goals, war veterans and generals became a necessity in many organizations.


    This professor was one of the best strategists in warfare.


    Death was thest thing on his mind. The one which caused him to regret the most was his game.


    He gave aplicated stare at his console. It was a sad ending for him to not be able to figure out thest mystery. Even his challenge inpleting a personal record was a fun thought for this calctive professor.


    "Go ahead and do it." He gave a long, regretful sigh.


    "Hmmm¡­ You''re almost there¡­ I can feel it. But somethings¡­ missing." A voice was heard.


    The voice was quite normal and it didn''t have any sense of coarse pitching or anything that would make it scary. Yet this normal sound caused the professor to be paralyzed.


    A strong constricting force enveloped the professor. But instead of gasping for breath, the professor weed death.


    The game booted up as the professor felt he was dying. His organs were somehow shaking with a terrible intensity and his vision was starting to blur. He was like in an endless pit full of echoes of the strange unremarkable sound.


    He had no time to consider what was happening. As of this moment, with how unprepared he was, he knew the manner of his death would only be a mystery.


    Was it radiation? Poisoning? The possibilities were endless. Without any data, he knew he couldn''t solve it. What he did was consider the games he was ying.


    Hisst thoughts weren''t of fear or confusion, but a mental map of what he wanted to do in that game.


    There were so many mysteries that made him find life worth living once more. The mystery of the battle in China, the strange actions of the WGP, and many others. But nothing quite captured him than the mystery of Seeker Carlean. He had set to himself to find a way to beat Seeker''s standing record of his fast-paced game. He waited for Arthur to beat it, but Arthur showed no particr interest in breaking Seeker''s record. This was, another mystery for this calctive professor. So when months have passed and Arthur remained uninterested, he decided to make his attempt to beat the game.


    There were some things which by his calction could still prove to be beatable. He wanted a perfect game that even Arthur wouldn''t be able to beat.


    In thosest seconds, inspiration finally came.


    The scattered sess of his n started to tie itself up. It was perfect. The ns, the strategies, even the execution. His mental rehearsal was perfect. In his mind, he saw himselfpleting the game with record speed.


    In those few seconds, he thought harder than he could ever think in his life. His regrets drove him to focus his attention on the game. At least, he would be able toplete it in his mind.


    From start to finish, hepleted it.


    He smiled.


    "Only in my thoughts have Ipleted it." He sighed in regret as he closed his eyes.


    Suddenly, the powerful chocking force disappeared.


    The disappearance surprised the Professor. He realized he could breathe once more.


    "Impressive. That was almost reaching Unbing." The man smiled.


    The professor fell and was once again enveloped in a powerful and paralyzing force. The sudden jolt and change of emotions awakened the Professor. The heart that was once willing to ept death was disturbed and it was there that fear crept in his heart. The once casual and epting personality of his death finally became fear.


    His heart was shaking. There was unnatural fear that followed.


    The professor started clutching the ground and would almost squeal.


    "Do you know, why I''m killing you? It''s simple really. The Underworld." The manughed.


    "Oh great detective, you solved many mysteries, but you weren''t able to solve the mystery of who killed you." The man smiled.


    The professor felt enraged.


    "Ho-how?!" He demanded.


    "You know the answer." The manughed. A strange vibrating force started to tten the professor. It was as if a wall was falling over him.


    A powerful pressure was crushing the professor. He felt his muscles and limbs were copsing under pressure.


    "Goodbye." The man''s voice hovered causing even more pain. Slowly he could feel a stabbing pain that struck his heart. Because of the strange force which paralyzed him, he couldn''t even look at his attacker.


    The vision that the professor saw was the shback of his entire life.


    He witnessed and recalled the first time his life shed before his eyes.


    It was at that moment that his life changed. He had so many regrets and decided to live a peaceful life. His illegal projects and collusions which made him quite notorious in Europe and as he realized his faults, he decided to follow this life.


    But life was cruel. His regrets made him ponder.


    "What else could I have done to have escaped the Underworld? Where there trails that I forgot to clean up?"


    Somehow, in those short moments, his shbacks brought by his regrets had made him recalcte his life.


    Even the corners where he would turn to during his escape came to memory.


    Somehow, he had even made a rough n in those moments.


    "I see. I should have done that." He said as he finally epted death.


    "At least I know who this is¡­" The professorughed.


    "Ri-Richie." He forced out. At that moment, the wall that was crushing him disappeared. But almost immediately, a strange painful sensation as if his entire body were being ripped apart gripped him.


    Shuffler kept struggling and struggling as the pain covered every inch of his body.


    "Looks like the experiments a sess." The voice spoke.


    "You actually reached Unbing just like that? It looks like I can really do this." Richie chuckled as he continued to watch the man who was squirming on the floor as every inch of his body was in pain.


    "I guess Charles has his answer. Shuffler, rx your mind. I''m not the cause of that pain. You are. What you''re experiencing is a direct leap from a normal human being to bing an Unbing. Pun intended." Richie smiled.


    Shuffler heard Richie''sments and immediately tried to rx.


    "Oh? So obedient. You trust me that easily?" Richieughed.


    Shuffler continued to squirm.


    "Professor Sammy Theoden. Or should I call you by your real name? Shuffler Atkins?" Richie walked around the house and picked a chair to sit on.


    His deductions caused him to reach a dead end. He knew who was trying to kill him because only one man knew that he was alive. Though Shuffler had sessfully faked his death, there was one person who knew him, not based on his looks, but because of his voice. And while it was a mystery in itself, despite the drastic measures he took to change every part of himself, this man still knew who he was.


    And since he deduced that Richie has no motive to kill him, he then thought of another probability that was urring.


    Although he couldn''t understand what was happening to him, he felt a strange vibrating force that seemed to have been constricting his body as if it was squeezing it. Shuffler could no longer move. Although the pain was still present, the constraining force allowed him to calm his mind easier as he had no choice but toy still.


    Richie waited for Shuffler''s expression to rx.


    "I''m sorry it had to be this way. I didn''t expect you to cross the boundaries of Unbing that easily. I initially opted to do Seeker''s trick and do some fun stuff to you until you be Unbing, but it looks like those moments earlier where your life shed before your eyes were enough to push you through the final hurdle. I wonder if this advantageous¡­" Richie started to mumble.


    Although Shuffler was in pain, his eyes continued to look at Richie with a thirst to know.


    "Curious? Well¡­ it''s like this. There''s supposed to be a drug that will help you reach this stage. But you seemed to have done it on your own. So instead of gradually reaching Unbing, you somehow leaped and so the effects of the Neuro-Transcellr phenomenon are urring." Richieughed.


    Noticing that Richie spoke no more, Shufflerter ignored him and focused on dealing with the pain.


    Slowly, Shuffler''s expression grew more and more relieved.


    "Done?"


    "Still in pain¡­ but bearable. You said that I''m doing this to me? How?"


    "I''m not really sure. As I said, even those freaks following Seeker had to gradually reach your level¡­ You managed to make the immediate leap."


    "Does that make me any¡­ different?"


    "Perhaps you''re like Arthur. Someone who can do Selective Unlocking. Considering how you can bear the pain, this means that you were already nearing the state of breaking through. Your days in the army and the Underworld might have helped you have a physique that could resist the pain. I heard those agents who took that drug had to go through the pain for a longer time. Luckily, I was right with your case. You were an inch away from bing Unbing. If you can talk, get up. I''m not here to kill you." Richie smiled.


    Shuffler slowly stood up. But he was still visibly trembling.


    "Wa¡­ What''s going on?" The professor contained his pain and tried to speak calmly.


    "Professor Sammy Theoden or should I say, Doctor of Warfare, Shuffler Atkins. Chess champion and former special tactics division of the New Chapter. You became a renowned strategist and even got a made-up doctor of philosophy in military tactics in warfare. Still, the pay wasn''t enough and you sought the Underworld. I''m d that you remembered my face at that time."


    "Ri-Richie." The professor shivered as he spoke the forsaken and ursed name.


    "You-You''re supposed to-to be dead." Shuffler tried to keep himself from shivering. He kept taking deep breaths to ignore the pain.


    "I''m sorry to disappoint you. I hear you like a good mystery. Want to know the answer to this?"


    The Professor''s eyes changed.


    Richieughed.


    "You really are like that Sherlock Holmes that you idolize. Mysteries really keep you going, huh? Looks like I''m right then."


    "What price¡­ must I pay? Since you left me alive¡­ even when I was¡­ whatever that was¡­ you must havee here for some other reason."


    "Oh. I''m not here to ckmail you or anything. In fact, I''m confident that once I tell you the mystery of what happened to you, you''ll be willing to join me." Richie smiled.


    "Is it¡­ an Alien race?" Shuffler asked.


    Riche''s smile was erased as a stunned expression appeared.


    "Woah. I heard you were good. But damn! That''s impressive! How did you do it?"


    "Several clues... Excuse me." Shuffler made his way back to the seat he fell out of when he suffered the pain.


    After a few seconds of taking deeper breaths, Shuffler finally looked at Richie in the eye.


    "First, you seeking me out. You said you''re not here to ckmail me and say that I will be willing to work with you. Next, is that strange event that had happened towards me. I have never been experimented on, nor was I from any gically enhanced family. But what seemed to have urred was a natural urrence. As if my very cells had this potential all along." Shuffler unconsciously looked at his arms.


    "Next is this new ability. I can tell¡­ my mind has changed. I''m sure that whatever happened to me, already happened to you. So¡­ you''re here to ask for my help. As an assassin, I''m sure you know all about me and that money, fame, power no longer has its appeal. So why are you confident that I''ll help you? This must because you either have something that I want¡­ but all I have is my life¡­ Next¡­ is the mystery of your death. Even the World Governing Powers were fooled. How did that happen? How did you escape its reach? So the conclusion is, that battle in China involved neither the Chinese Government or from the WGP."


    Shuffler remembered to breathe. He realized that most parts of his body are still numb.


    "Next is this strange power you possess. I may not look much, but this room is guarded by device identifiers. If it can detect a strange technology not registered to the New Great Britain''s database or you came equipped with any dangerous weapons, it would alert me. But no alerts. So the obvious answer, taking into ount what you did which caused my seizure¡­ is that your body is different."


    "So how can all that lead to an alien threat?"


    "Simple. You were confident in me joining. With everything happening, I''m sure war is sooning. But against who? Are we fighting against another nation? Some organization? The WGP? Why would I join you willingly? Those possibilities are impossible. It cannot exin your assurance of me helping you. So it''s fighting an unknown enemy far stronger than the WGP. Aliens."


    Richie smirked.


    "Alright, smarty pants¡­ The reason that I''m here, and why I left you alive back then¡­ is because I felt an instinctive caution when I saw you. I always remember a strange fluctuation that affects my instincts. I heard you left the Underworld after that event and died. I knew it wasn''t true. Only someone like me could kill you. So if I left you alive then, who else could have killed you?" Richie shook his head.


    "Ah¡­ your talking about that afternoon? The time you raided that base and ughtered everyone, save for me. Now that we''ve established that you wish to develop a mutual rtionship with me, where do we go from here?"


    Richieughed.


    "You''re an interesting fellow. You feel fear towards me, but you don''t seem bothered by it."


    "Fear is emotional. I''m sure you won''t kill me. Even if I do feel fear¡­ greater fear than anything I''ve felt before¡­ logic dictates that I shouldn''t fear you." Shuffler managed to talk. But it was clear that the fear was greatly affecting him.


    Richie was exceedingly delighted. He looked at Shuffler and grew excited.. He now had a chance of facing her, not with any freaks, but with freaks that he would hone.

 Chapter 166 - Richie’s Test

    "A freak alright. This is good." Richieughed.


    "So¡­ Aliens? This is an interesting turn of events. Also, please call me by my current name. Sammy Theoden. Aside from you, there are quite a few who would be willing to kill me."


    "Alright. You seemed pretty cautious about your identity."


    "If I''m not mistaken, a few of those aliens should want me dead. Hence, if they discover me, they could discover you."


    "Oh, I see. Interesting. I should report that to all teams. No wonder you went through such extents to change your physical features and even changed your eyes. If it weren''t for your strange frequency, I wouldn''t have found you. Still, this is exciting. I wonder how different the future me would have been if I had a Wolf Pack?"


    "Future you? Time travel already exists? Impossible. Then it should be¡­ Seeker Carlean?"


    "Oh¡­ So you can even discern such secrets?" Richie was thoroughly impressed.


    Shufflerughed.


    "I solved Seeker''s mystery. He must have known of the bug exploits in his future and simply took advantage of it. It was within the things I considered, but of course, who in his right mind would believe that?"


    "Well, you now know who the most important person our team has. This Seeker has been actively changing the future for the better. I don''t like taking orders and luckily, he knew the future me all too well. So he made preparations and gave me time to prepare for another fun activity which he knew would make me do the things he wanted me to do, but what he could nevermand me to do."


    Shuffler was in deep thought. He started to mumble randomly before answering as Richie''s answers gave him insight into so many things.


    "You n on building a team. People like me or who have my potential. If what happened to me earlier is possible, then people who may have left an impression on you would naturally be strong individuals¡­ If this is necessary, regardless of how strong you are or that rumored Dragon is, then this means the aliens vastly overpower us? So this means that the battle in China was more than just a fight against Meng. Is Meng an alien? No¡­ his history suggests otherwise. Someone like you then? So there are people in this world who have surpassed technology¡­"


    "Sammy," Richie spoke.


    BANG!


    Shuffler fell to the ground as he felt a powerful force mmed on to him.


    "As much as how impressive your ability to deduce from very little information is¡­ please mumbleter. Can I continue? I''m on a tight deadline." Richie sighed.


    "So-Sorry¡­" Shuffler forced out.


    "Right then. Since you''re smarter than I thought, I''ll keep it simple. I assume that as I exin more things, you could piece the remaining things together?"


    Shuffler nodded.


    "But first, do exin to me the mystery of your power."


    "Fair enough. The power I have is indeed not with any form of body enhancing tech. It is in fact, a brain-enhancing tech. We call it the Unlocking. It''s simr to that age-old myth of using ten percent of your brain¡­ But different. Instead of using ten percent of your brain, we push the brain to exert more effort. Basically, our brains have only been using ten percent of its strength. Not the parts of the brain, but the effort of it."


    "What about the Neuro-Transcellr phenomenon you mentioned earlier?"


    "Once your brain improves, all of your cells also improve. But generally, what I''m after is your mind. Something about it was powerful that it actually made me feel something. Either way, you''re someone who has great potential. I don''t know if you died in the future, but join me and you''ll have a shot at surviving."


    "I honestly don''t care if I''m with the aliens or with your side. But your side seems to have more mystery. Time travel? This is truly interesting."


    "If you''re that bored then don''t worry. The alien race will have their time. Right now, my immediate concern is a woman. And since you''re so smart, you can help track her and face her once more."


    "Who are we fighting?"


    "An old friend-sh-foe. The Rider of the Red Horse. The Tyrant Empress."


    "The Tyrant Empress?" Shuffler wondered.


    "Perhaps the most dangerous person on this Earth. Her power is strong and petrifying. She has a beauty that can literally kill you. She was present during the attack on China. She is the possessor of the missing Rule."


    "The Rule? So she has the missing Rule that belonged to the WGP¡­ Is she part of that royal family?"


    "No. She managed to somehow slip in and mesmerized some members. She''s not a member. But she''s such a pleasure-seeker. She longs to simply have fun and excitement. Her lust was so disgusting that she really didn''t care about this world. All she wanted was to have fun. Thankfully, an exciting enemy like the Aragarians is enough to keep her masochistic-self excited."


    "If such a person makes even you speak in such¡­ uh¡­ reverence¡­ she must be terrifying."


    "That''s not half of it. We defeated her and captured her. But Seeker knew we could never keep her. In fact, keeping her as a prisoner would only be reckless. We arranged to set her free but Seeker, at such great cost had to imnt a chip on her heart. However, the allure of the Tyrant Empress is so strong that Seeker didn''t want to keep her on that base. After all, Seeker had seen the Tyrant Empresses'' face."


    Shuffler had a bewildered expression.


    "So this... Tyrant Empress, is so beautiful, that even people like you can easily give in to their¡­ lust? I don''t follow. This Unlocking seems to be going to the realms of impossible. I won''t be able to deduce things easily with this. What exactly can the Unlocked do?"


    Richie simply smiled and decided to give a light whistle.


    Every single object in Shuffler''s home started to vibrate.


    Even Shuffler started to feel difort at the strange sound.


    Shuffler started to kneel down as he clutched on his stomach. He knew what this pain was.


    "Brow-Brown Note!" Shuffler shouted in shock. No technology could perform the Brown Note. Even the WGP couldn''t. Yet the man before him, who had no technologies equipped on him did so with a whistle.


    "That''s right. But I guess you could say that it''s not just Brown Note. It''s something more terrifying. While the Brown Note is a theoretical frequency that attempts to cause resonance in a human''s body causing them to lose control over the intestines. I can do things far beyond that. If I match the frequency right, I can destroy this entire house at a whistle." The sound suddenly disappeared.


    "With such technology, nothing can stop you!" Shuffler was amazed. The vibration seeped through his cloth which was secretly designed to even protect against gunshot.


    "Wrong. If I faced Greydon Meng alone, I would have died. His powers are extremely strong that my sound frequencies wouldn''t be able to do anything. Lennox Humphrey is another mystery. And this Tyrant Empress stands at our level. Her power is beauty. And as charming as it may sound, it is by far the deadliest power that I could imagine." Richie exined.


    Shuffler''s heart continued to thump in great fear. The man before him was already terrifying yet there were more beings like him.


    "Is the Tyrant Empress stronger than you? Stronger than the rest of... your kind?" Shuffler couldn''t help but ask.


    "She should be. But that''s only because Eagle is far toopassionate and kind. At this point, none of the Oveer''s can face her one-on-one. Truth be told, I''ve witnessed the uncanny powers that are far stronger than mine. Who would have thought that charisma and absurd things such as vanity could be far stronger than my own Path? And since we are facing such monstrosities, that''s why I''m here¡­ to look for a team that can help me."


    Shuffler was silent but his head was running in its maximum capabilities. Several names were mentioned and Shuffler had already started to analyze the details of each mentioned individual.


    "Eagle and Lennox¡­" Shuffler mumbled quietly.


    "What are the circumstances of the Tyrant Empress?"


    "Let''s go back to the battle in China first. I suspect you''d need all the information so you can make urate deductions on where the Tyrant Empress would be in the future."


    "Please."


    "Long story short, Aliens known as Aragarians, technologies in Australia that Seeker needed, and Seeker''s n to meet people like me. h h h. I assume your skills in deduction could give you urate guesses as to the current state of things?"


    "Are you going to continue with the Parable of the Sower? I''ll need to download Eagle''s pdf file for ''Understanding the Parables of Jesus'' if I am to make out what you are saying¡­ I can deduce, not look into the past." Shuffler frowned.


    Richie gave him a nk stare. His annoyance in Shuffler''s sarcastic remarks was growing.


    "Our purpose in attacking China was mainly to gain Meng''s allegiance. His position in Asia is very convenient. As Seeker and his team are based on Pangea, establishing a base in China allows Seeker to easily travel and send out his people all the way to Europe, Africa, and even Russia. These are the areas that Seeker valued because you know, he''s from the future. And so, we nned to win Meng over."


    "Win him over? If I deduced it right¡­You waged war against him¡­" Shuffler pondered. His deductive reasoning couldn''t understand why they massacred Meng''s army.


    "Is killing his army part of gaining the alliance?"


    "Meng didn''t lose his army. He lost his base. There were a few who died during the attack, but it was practically negligent."


    "I see. The massacre was a lie. You only fought Meng. Seeker had no choice but to defeat Meng and show him that he was honestly stating the truth. So the only way to win his trust was to actually defeat him¡­" Shuffler now understood.


    "Correct. We raided his base and aimed to defeat him so we can talk to him. But Seeker messed up."


    "Messed up?"


    "This was the funny part of the attack. Earlier before, Seeker had nted an interesting seed which would be the assurance of our victory. We were facing an Oveer. Victory could never be assured. So in the scenario that we would lose, Seeker would then reveal his nted seed and that it would have granted us the opportunity for dialogue. But what Seeker didn''t expect was for things to escte far quickly than it originally did in his timeline. I almost died because of that."


    "What happened?" Shuffler was astounded at Richie''s im.


    "Meng had slept with this Rosa." Richie smiled mysteriously wanting Shuffler to deduce the rest.


    Shuffler remained silent and waited on Richie. Deduction basically failed Shuffler now.


    "So it''s not elementary enough for you, Sammy?" Richie gave a displeased sigh.


    Shuffler could only nod in embarrassment.


    "There were many misunderstandings about Meng''s true power. Seeker didn''t know that that was the root of Meng''s Path. But to help you deduce what Meng''s power is, Seeker''s seed was, in fact, the real cause which allowed Meng to solidify his position and be someone stronger than me then. I had awakened the Will which is the entry point to bing an Oveer. But the Flesh is different. I have yet to awaken it. But Meng did."


    "What is this seed?"


    "Come on. It should be obvious to you now? I''ll give you more information. This seed allowed Meng to Ovee what they call in Chinese as the ''heart devil.''" Richie smiled as he deliberately gave unrted information to the battle.


    "It''s real?" Shuffler was surprised.


    "For Meng it was."


    "You have to give me more information about this. As I said, I can deduce, not have visions of the future."


    "Fine." Richie gave an irritated grunt.


    "Meng believed in the existence of a heart devil. And that was limiting him from bing what he could be. So for him, it and so it somehow became true. To answer your question about this seed¡­ our hot-blooded Dragon was in love." Richieughed.


    "The Tyrant Empress?"


    Richie shook his head angrily.


    "No. A different woman! Why would the Tyrant¡­? Ugh. Look. I''ll give you more clues. This woman had no interest at Meng. Seeker''s seed was supposed to resolve her disinterest to Meng but what we didn''t expect, was that Meng''s true Road was not rted to any previously hypothesized aspects!"


    Shuffler frowned.


    "Think about it. I''ve already given you quite some hints. You need to grow stronger because the enemies we are facing have technologies that far surpass the Unlocking itself! You have to be able to deduce within the lines of the impossible. And so, I''m giving you a little exam." Richie smiled..


    Shuffler had a frustrated expression.


    "There is just too little data! This is an impossible exam. It''s like you''ve given me a drop of water and is asking me which it''s found?"


    Richie grew annoyed.


    "I''ve seen various TV shows where the detectives could do better than you! And you are already Unlocked!"


    Shuffler wanted to curse, but who would dare curse an Oveer?


    "Meng had slept with Rosa." Richie finally revealed.


    "This is the reason why Meng grew stronger. And the reason why Seeker miscalcted in nting that seed!" Richie gave his answer.


    Shuffler was now even more confused.


    The Dragon''s sess in sleeping with a girl was this time-traveling reincarnators miscalction?


    "So¡­ sex¡­?" Shuffler pondered.


    "Erm¡­ This Seeker miscalcted because Meng gotid? Is Meng''s power rted to his libido?" Shuffler asked to eliminate other impossibilities.


    Richie had an aghast expression.


    "What the nutterballs are you talking about!? No!" Richie corrected with an irritated look.


    "Can''t you deduce things properly? For someone like you, this should be inly obvious! If you eliminate the impossible, all that''s left, however improbable must be the truth! Don''t you know this? Why the hell did you turn the Dragon to a sex-crazed dog?"


    Shuffler wanted to cry. Richie even quoted Sherlock Holmes but the context of what was happening was far from what Richie''s imaginations were.


    "I¡­ can''t deduce everything. With the oddities of the Unlocked, it''s almost impossible to understand your skills!" Shuffler spoke calmly.


    Richie paused and thought for a bit.


    "You have too. We will soon be challenging someone who could face me and Meng together and defeat us!"


    Shuffler''s eyes grew solemn.


    "Exin to me more about the Unlocking itself. I can see that it breaks through the unexinable. But what fundamental concepts can you shed light too?"


    "An Unlocked person has what we call a Road. This Road pertains to the possible skills a person can develop based on who that person is. The Tyrant Empress for example, she has a road of vanity."


    "Vanity? I see¡­ I think I understand. A vanity like that created beauty that could brainwash."


    "It''s more than just that. When a road can create miracles, Seeker calls that state a Skill. But once this Skill reaches a level of power that can easily win over an army, then they would call it a Path." Richie exined.


    Shuffler immediately fell into deep thought.


    Several points came to focus.


    Meng''s defeat and apparent victory over this Rosa was the key to understanding the Dragon''s skill.


    Seeker had nted a seed to assure their victory and at the same time make Meng stronger.


    "If Richie said that their mistake in the battle against Meng, was that Seeker made Meng think he was after Rosa¡­ Then that anger made him reach higher levels of this Unlocking." Shuffler thought to himself.


    "Meng had already slept with Rosa and overcame his heart devil and have gotten stronger?"


    In those few seconds, Shuffler''s thoughts were working so fast, that although time had not reached the same slowness that many of the Unlocks could do, Shuffler''s fast thinking allowed him to achieve a state simr to instant calction.


    Instant Deduction.


    Riche could sense the vibrations around Shuffler changing and he smiled.


    "This is it¡­" Richie smiled excitedly.


    "It''s not libido. But it should be something odd. The Tyrant Empress has vanity. Then what is this Meng''s power? Could it be wrath? Then what could make Meng so angry that allowed him to grow stronger and at the same time assure their victory?" Thoughts of Shuffler started to sweep through all the knowledge he had stored over the years. From psychology to biology, and even to pseudo-scientific studies.


    "Seeker nted a seed¡­ Could it be? It was literal?" Shuffler realized it.


    The information fell to ces. Richie imed that Seeker''s seed was meant to be their assurance in victory but was also a key in helping Meng grew stronger. If Meng grew stronger the angrier he got, then it could only be that seed! A seed that would tie the heartless and unyielding status of this woman whom Meng loved.


    That seed should have given Meng the advantage he needed but what Seeker did not know, was that due to his interference in the present things changed and Meng had already slept with Rosa in this timeline! Shuffler already knew that Seeker is crazy considering his public antics.


    And now, he wants to make Richie face this Tyrant Empress. It would not be surprising that he used this cruel method to allow Meng to finally win the heart of his beloved. But it was only through a cruel and heartless deed.


    Shuffler nced up and excitedly gazed at Richie.


    This was it! Richie had already been very mysterious in his words meaning the answer was so unlikely. Richie reacted harshly when he guessed that Meng was a sex-crazed beast whose powers were tied to his libido! It was obvious now. This is because Meng''s power was the exact opposite! Although he had the Unlocking, his heart devil was one thing that made him unable to win the heart of this woman. And what did the Chinese fear the most?


    "I have the answer." Shufflerughed.


    Richie smiled in anticipation.


    "He figured out that Meng''s Path is Destion with those random details? He truly surpasses even Arthur!" Richieughed to himself.


    "Meng is impotent! And his power is rted to being a cuckold!"


    ...


    ...


    ¡­


    WATER WORLD.


    The entire environment around Shuffler grew thick. It was as if he was underwater.


    "You''re an Unbing. You should survive one Sonic Punch.." Richie clenched his fist angrily.

 Chapter 167 - A Most Dangerous Game

    Shuffler was bleeding profusely.


    The powerful punch that Richie made shook his entire being.


    His entire body shook at the touch of Richie''s fist and it was as if a specific vibration were shaking and wrecking his entire body.


    It was the first time that such an attack opened Shuffler''s sensation. The sense of touch that was only created through the skin and other parts of the human body mysteriously appeared on all parts of his body.


    Shuffler felt his organs shaking. He could feel his heart beating. Even the rushing of blood and to its clotting, he could sense it.


    Richie paused after punching Shuffler and his expression changed. The former angry expression disappeared as an uncertain look surfaced.


    "Jeez. For someone who is a Selective Unlocked, you sure are dumb." Richie finally spoke bluntly.


    Shuffler thought that he would die but suddenly, the sensations urring throughout his body had ended.


    "A strategist, an Unlocked specializing in sensory and someone who can link the thoughts. These were the most important soldiers I should look for¡­" Richie mumbled.


    "I guess that makes you both a strategist and a sensory type? You could feel the vibrations, can''t you? Interesting. Seeker could only ''see'' it when he was an Unbing. It took him quite a bit of evolution to be able to feel it."


    "What was¡­ that?" Shuffler coughed as he tried to stand. The strength of the punch that Richie made wasn''t strong. It was the vibrations and sound around it that made it painful.


    "You reached the beginning levels of Realm Somatotopy. This is an extremely powerful technique. But sadly, I can''t teach you more about it. I don''t need it after all. So I never bothered developing it." Richie sighed.


    Shuffler remained shaken.


    "What was the answer?" Shuffler immediately asked.


    Richie continued to shake his head.


    "Meng''s power is Destion. He can summon a strange field around him that is in a constant state of Entropy. Even metals decay with his power. How could you not get that? What the nutterballs were you thinking?!"


    "Destion?! That was his power?! You didn''t give me any hints or spoke of any possibilities about that! I thought you knew the rules of deduction and gave me various seemingly unrted information but would actually be pierced through to make a grand canvas of painting! But what you gave me where his love story and habits! How would I know what damned power he has! Those hints you gave me wouldn''t give me any clues to remotely point out his potential road! Much less his damned Path!" Shuffler finally cried angrily in frustration.


    "Alright. I do admit that the time I gave you was too short. Even Sherlock Holmes needed hours to figure things out." Richie admitted.


    "Hours? I wouldn''t be able to guess what his Path was even if you gave me a day for a name!"


    "Come on. I did say that you have to be better than Sherlock. Our enemies will be more terrifying and smarter than any of Sherlock''s enemies. You need to surpass Sherlock''s capacities."


    "Surpass him? You do know he''s fiction right? And besides, I already said that I can''t deduce the impossible! Deduction is an art for finding out the one truth by subtracting the impossibilities! But how can I urately subtract when the range of impossibilities are so vast?! The data you gave me had nothing to do with Destion! How can I conclude that?"


    "Couldn''t you use Sherlock''s skill of deducing based on my outfit or something?"


    "Do you have any marks from that battle?"


    "Of course not¡­ I''m an Unlocked. We can even heal limbs."


    "Then how was I supposed to know?!" Shuffler screamed.


    "Rx, Sammy! Alright. You made your point."


    Shuffler sat down as he continued to shiver. The vibrating sensation remained.


    Richie looked at it and started to wonder.


    "Why is it that my sound remained in you? Odd. This looks to be different from the trick I did with that horny Aragarian."


    "You mentioned that this Seeker messed up? What exactly do you mean?" Shuffler then continued on the topic that intrigued him.


    "Right. He messed up. The seed that Seeker nted ended up doing more trouble for us. Seeker was supposed to reveal that he was the cause of Meng''s victory as he was the one who gave the means for Meng to win the woman''s heart. But careless Causal Carlean was so stunned after realizing Meng had slept with Rosa that he identally shouted in surprise at the extent of Meng''s rtionship. In fact, it sounded as if Seeker was angry that Meng slept with Rosa."


    "I guessed something simr. So it was a misunderstanding?"


    "Yes. The seed that Seeker nted long before was a red jewel he handed over to Sting. You know him right?"


    "Sting of the Dragons Fang. How can I not know? And this red jewel was something that won Rosa''s heart?"


    "Yes. Seeker didn''t expect that. He said that Meng had a hard time winning Rosa''s heart in his future timeline. So because of that, Seeker never considered Meng to be capable of using his destion to some extent. So when Seeker called it out, it made Meng angry to the point of wanting to kill us."


    Shuffler was silent but he was hesitating on his choice to follow Richie. Why did it seem that these men of great might sounded like some teens in puberty?


    "Ah... You should''ve been there! Seeker called out angrily at Meng, ''You slept with Rosa?!'' That was gold! Meng thought that Seeker was someone who was pursuing Rosa! You see, this little Rosa''s in her early 20''s so you could say that Casual Carlean had a shot at that ice-cold babe. And so, this made Meng so angry! Seeker''s little seed was supposed to help us, but then Meng was so angry that he wanted to kill us at all cost!" Richieughed and started talking fondly. Devoid of all the seriousness and solemnity found in his previous sentences.


    As Richie started to go on a monologue simr to someone telling another person the funniest joke he had heard, Shuffler began to understand theplexities that had urred on that battle. He was stunned that Richie''s own skill had surpassed even what he deduced it to be!


    "This Unlocking is interesting." Shuffler quietly thought as Richie continued to talk about the details of the fight.


    "But that''s not the end of it! Seeker told Meng to stop and that it was ''pointless to fight.'' And right before Seeker was about to exin the whole story, the Aragarian''sunched a Killing Horn! Meng''s radars detected it and the base was in full rm! So Meng assumed that Seeker was saying that it was pointless fighting because theyunched a Killing Horn." Richie continued tough hard and even started pounding happily on the table.


    "Man, I forgot how funny that was. It wasn''t back then because I was about to die!" Richie continued tough.


    Shuffler had an embarrassed expression as he didn''t know how to stop Richie from talking.


    "How long exactly has this guy been ying the lone wolf routine?" Shuffler cursed in his thoughts.


    "Ahem." Shuffler coughed lightly to remind Richie that he was way off course in their discussion.


    "Oh sorry. Right. Anyway, that battle managed to push Seeker to our level. He achieved what he called the Oveer''s Will. Now, imagine this. There was me, Seeker, Richie, and even Lennox Humphrey joined hands because the Tyrant Empress wanted us all."


    Shuffler felt a strange type of fear as he heard Richie exin.


    "Wanted all of you? What exactly is this woman into?"


    "It''s something about her Path. Extreme vanity, extreme selfish desires. The only human she knew to be her equal was me. She had been keeping tabs of my whereabouts and after Australia, she was trying to find ways to get to me."


    Shuffler''s head started hurting.


    "You- you were in Australia?"


    "Yes. It was like this. I was hired by a Bringer of Change in Australia who turned out to be one of those Aragarians I''ve been-"


    "Wait. Stop. Can we just stick to one story at a time? You really need to work on your storytelling skills. Your flow of thought is just a mess." Shuffler wanted to cry.


    "You sound like Cliff. And Arthur¡­ And Alean¡­ and Lowengren." Richie frowned and a trace of irritation resurfaced as he recalled these peopleining about his method of telling a story.


    "Alean and Lowengren are alive?!"


    "Right. You see about that¡­"


    Shuffler had no choice but to listen to the tale of Richie which was basically all over the ce. He was confused as Richie just started naming random persons from famous individuals like the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy to a sweet olddy who worked at a local dumpling store which he frequented during his short stay in Nanjing.


    "Enough with the dumpling! I''ll eat there when I get the chance!" Shuffler finally cried.


    "Oh right¡­ What was I talking about?"


    Shuffler had already started sketching on several papers the various information that Richie had spoken.


    "So the Tyrant Empress. Where is she now? What happened to her." Shuffler finally asked in impatience as the primary question he needed from Richie remained unanswered.


    "You already told me how you managed to defeat Meng and you''ve finished talking about the battle against the Tyrant Empress and how you used her to inflict ''strange voodoo stuff'' on this alien called Pridgeon... but what happened next?"


    "I''m getting into it! Man, for a Professor, you sure are impatient!"


    "I''m freakin'' impatient?!" Shuffler cursed in his thoughts angrily.


    After exining all this Richie then recalled how his voice could somehow detect tasty delicacies as his Path improved after the battle.


    Shuffler''s patience was running out. Even in front of his future boss, he was being worn out and finally, Shuffler decided to lead Richie into the right discussions.


    "Ahem. I just have a question. How can you contain the Tyrant Empress? You all have seen her. Is Seeker immune to the lust?"


    "No. Seeker''s trick doesn''t make him immune to it. He knows he can''t contain the Tyrant Empress. We all knew. That''s why we took precautions to avoid it. Meng met with his girlfriend. Arthur immediately left for New Great Britain together with his father to avoid losing themselves in lust. There were many of us who had seen her and keeping her in one ce would only be to our disadvantage. Seeker then kept her to temporarily hide somewhere but after a month, even Seeker concluded that even he wouldn''t be able to resist the temptation and contain his own lust against the Empress. So he arranged to have the Empress sent somewhere and arranged for her to be released soon."


    "Was there anything ced on her that could be used to control her?"


    "Who would that? Even we had to use everything we have just to defeat her. The only way to do that is by surgically operating something in her. But none of us dared touch her. And so after putting that bomb in a way that she can''t get it out, she has this strange healing powers that are just disgusting¡­ So after that, she was¡­ Oh, that''s right! I have to hurry up!" Richie realized his rants were wasting time.


    "What exactly happened?!" Shuffler couldn''t contain it anymore and actually screamed at Richie.


    "Three months. That was the time limit of that capsule chamber. After three months, she would be released."


    "What capsule chamber?"


    "The chamber which locks her in. Pay attention." Richie frowned.


    Shuffler was cursing intensely. Not only did Richie keep getting off track, but Richie also kept assuming that Shuffler would be able to deduce everything in a very quick manner.


    "This is thest time I''m showing off my deductive skills!" Shuffler vowed to himself.


    "I meant¡­ what kind of Capsule chamber. I cannot deduce the technologies you used to seal her." Shuffler changed his question like an expert tomb raider navigating through a vast maze.


    "Oh right. We built a capsule chamber using several techs. Lennox offered his own, Harker sent his best engineers and Meng also sent out some of his best technicians to ensure that she wouldn''t be able to forcibly escape out of that capsule. She''s probably among the best engineer on this earth."


    "She could build a Rule?"


    "With the right tools, yes. We had to make the Capsule chamber in a manner that she cannot alter its course from the inside or through hacking it. We also made it in a way that if she were to dismantle any specific parts of the device it would all fall apart."


    "She''s underwater¡­" Shuffler realized.


    "Oh now, your smart again," Richieined.


    Shuffler wanted to retort but took a deep breath.


    "Never deduce in front of this idiot again!" Shuffler vowedto himself once more.


    "The temptation was too great for us." Richie continued.


    "Even I who wants her dead can''t help but fantasize about her. Luckily, it''s keeping us sane thanks to Seeker''s trick of sealing memories. But even that''s not enough. Her image randomly appears in my dreams. If we knew where she would be, we might have been drawn to meet her. So Seeker gave the control of the capsule chamber to Charles Lindmitt. It was dropped in the Pacific Ocean and Charles navigated it. With three techsbined along with Lennox''s own version of enigmatic lightning, an event he WGP shouldn''t be capable of detecting it unless they see the pod in in sight."


    "Why are you releasing her?" Shuffler yed dumb.


    "To set the stage. Something interesting came up and we have to add haste to our ns. The Tyrant Empress and even our little team will all be ying a pretend war. Although, thousands could die in this game we y. But all to take the attention of the Aragarian''s away from us." Richieughed.


    "That is crazy!" Shuffler reacted.


    "With what you said, a sh between the two of you is terrifying! What if she gets a hold of another Rule? What will you use to defeat her? You are deliberately spending millions and possibly billions of Credits by following this route."


    "This is our training. How else can Oveers grow? If we lose, we simply be controlled by the Tyrant Empress. At the very least, we will still be alive to fight the Aragarians. So this was approved by all sides. Besides, if I have a score to settle with that Oveer." Richie''s voice grew more ominous at thest lines.


    "And so, I''m asking you to help me with this game."


    "This is a game for you? From what you exined the odds and risks hanging on this game is something that could kill us all." Shuffler sighed.


    "Of course... What else would Oveers y, if not the most dangerous of games? You know the risk, you know the enemy, will you y the game?" Richie asked.


    "Of course. Sounds great." Shuffler nodded immediately.


    "I ran away from the Underworld because the game got boring and death was imminent.. At least now, with all the hell this new game has, it won''t be boring anymore."

 Chapter 168 - The Fleet Admiral That Blackmailed Lowengren

    The dark sea that separated Africa from the Arabian Nations was one of the most dangerous areas in the world.


    The tensions between these two nations were something that the world continuously monitored. Before the Australian Avarice which created tension in the south-east Asian region, Africa and the Arabian Nations had always been the center of attention. Although Xenophobic Egypt was just up north, the southern area of the Red Sea had been an area of the world''s most dominating and bloody battles.


    "The Red Sea looks oddly peaceful." A tall man stood wearing a strange ck helmet that was tinted ck.


    He stood at the roof of a small building roughly eight stories high. The building had an extremely defensive structure andpartments and the city itself was full of soldiers. The building had an open area on the roof which allowed a pair of soldiers to watch the wide-stretching seas that could explode into battle any minute.


    A woman stood beside him. Her face had several burn marks and she had was a head shorter than the man next to him.


    "I never thought I''d see it. To think that I would get to travel around the world during these times."


    "I''ve never been here although I have been on several continents around the world."


    "You gamers sure know how to enjoy life."


    "It''s not like we got to go sight-seeing. I''ve been on the other side several times, but I never got to see this view. We were always apanied by soldiers and literally could only walk on specific ces."


    "Still¡­ traveling around this war-stricken part of the world without fears of being attacked¡­ that''s something envious."


    "What was it like living as General Harker''s daughter?" Lowengren curiously asked.


    "Somewhat exciting. I killed my first man when I was thirteen."


    "That sounds depressing."


    "Not really. I meanpared to that woman I killed when I was nine. Now that was depressing."


    "Well¡­ It''s no wonder you became a strong, independent woman."


    "And yet this strong independent woman cannot even best an eighteen-year-old kid who yed video games all of his life. Especially now that this kid is actually standing with stilts." Alean mocked.


    "The future is now, old woman." Lowengren giggled.


    "General. Lieutenant General. Here''s your tea." A soldier arrived and offered the two of them tea.


    "Thank you," Lowengren answered.


    The soldier immediately retreated and went inside while Alean and Lowengren continued to watch on the rooftops.


    "I''m curious if you told him that you were his mother, would there be a chance he would believe you?"


    "No. Remember that my path is a Path of deception? I can only make things appear to be true if they are believable in the first ce."


    "So, father?"


    "Yes. If I told him, I was his father he''d believe me." Lowengren nodded.


    Alean chuckled.


    "It''s quite an impressive Path you have. Your reckless deception not only allowed us to have an excuse to swim there, but we will soon gain an African General as an ally. What exactly is Charles doing? If not the Programmed ve, how does he intend to make that General an ally?"


    "It mainly relies on me. My deceptions would lead it. We''ve just heard that Harker managed to turn Colestar into an ally without needing the operation. The more we do these cheaper alternatives, the better it will be. We''ve nearly bankrupted Harker''s resources with all those Programmed ve operations."


    "But how do you intend to solve Charles reckless entry? The African nations are alerted."


    Lowengren sighed.


    "Honestly, we''d have to y it all by ear. Luckily, his entrance to this nation was right about the same time we caused havoc. So let''s just hope that the WGP, the Aragarians or whoever will tie these two. Charles was really reckless." Lowengren cursed as he recalled the surprising message he received from Charles which caused a lot of terrible problems which Alean and Lowengren had to solve.


    "He really became obsessed with the mission that Seeker gave over to him. I don''t understand why Seeker was confident that she would die if Ricardo dies. If we make her take the drug, then she won''t die with depression since her emotions could control it."


    "You have to stop guessing and assuming ording to your current understanding. The Unlocked has so much mysteries that even Seeker has been continuously discovering new things about it. I''m sure that the mystery between Ricardo and Crest Corentine isn''t as easy as it seems."


    "Oh? What guesses can you make out of all this?"


    "I''m not Arthur. I don''t think my own assumptions would be urate. And Seeker isn''t simply guessing. He Who Treads the Ancient''s Paths tread in mystery. They cannot be as urate as Arthur''s calctions, but with the foundations he gathered from everyone, particrly Richie''s instinct and even from your Zone skill, his guesses should give us some interesting developments."


    "Sounds like you have such faith in him."


    "Of course. That''s how I developed my Path!" Lowengrenughed.


    "If it weren''t for this blind faith that I managed to fool myself into having, I wouldn''t be able to do my deception."


    Alean shook her head.


    "Alright. What about your suspicious actions in pretending to be this General?"


    "What suspicious actions are you talking about? Was it the one where I pretended to be having demonic possessions on that church service?"


    "Er¡­ No. Although that was an eye-opener for me, I''m talking about the orders you purchased and the items that we will be bringing to the other side."


    "As I said. These weapons are effective tools that will be helpful for our little mission."


    "Our mission is to assassinate that Arabian General who we know to be a Pioneer. And out of everything avable here, you decided to use the advantage of being this African General to purchase bulk orders of those things? I mean¡­ even a knife would be a better weapon!"


    "If we try to bring a knife to the other side, it may get detected by the scanners! With all the scanning technologies employed by the two countries, this is only the weapon we can bring along before we get to the other side. I don''t have any other opportunities to purchase items legally without making suspicious entries in the Blockchainwork here in Africa or in the Arab nations. And although these items are eye-catching, it won''t draw out military investigations."


    "Stop calling them weapons! You make it sound so noble. How exactly can these items help us fight against Arabian Sabers? Can these things block a full-blown attack from it?"


    "Block? Why would you use these items to block Arabian Sabers?! Contained me Technology is the most advanced lightsaber technology on earth! They''re the closest things to those sci-fi weapons people obsessed about a century ago!"


    "Then how exactly are we going to use dildos to fight Lightsabers?!" Alean cursed.


    "Wouldn''t it be more interesting if you find that out when we start fighting there?" Lowengrenughed.


    "General!" A soldier ran in.


    "A WGP Fleet Admiral is here!" The soldier reported.


    Alean and Lowengren were surprised.


    "Send him up here. I cannot afford to abandon my post. I am expecting an attack at any moment. Tell them we are secretly on high alert although it does not look like it." Lowengren answered immediately.


    "Sir¡­"


    "Do it, soldier. Every second count. I have seen the intelligence report. Do not question my orders."


    "Sir, yes sir!" The soldier gave a respectful reply and turned away. Halfway through his retreat, the soldier awkwardly paused and turned back again.


    "Sir¡­ The-the the dildos you ordered have arrived."


    "Excellent. Send them directly to my quarters. Make sure no one sees it. You understand what would happen if you fail?"


    "Sir¡­ Yes Sir." The soldier ran quickly.


    "A WGP Fleet Admiral? Could it be a coincidence?"


    "Nope. They''re probably looking for me."


    "What? I thought you said that your little nude exhibition wouldn''t draw attention from the WGP but only the Aragarians?"


    "Wrong. I said it would only make the Aragarian''s believe that I''m alive. The WGP should be unsure."


    "Unsure? A Fleet Admiral arrived! This should be one of thosemanding a damned Antis! We don''t have the firepower to face those!"


    "Remember my first job, Alean. I was a respected gamer-general. I faced real generals andmanders of the war. This should be a fan of some sort. Or at least, someone who sees me as a rival. This is merely an investigation from someone interested. This Admiral may or may have not informed the higher-ups but trust me. They are not taking this seriously."


    "They''reing." Alean noticed.


    "Follow my lead."


    Suddenly, a figure appeared right on top of the building.


    It was riding a dark red exoskeleton with a strange form. The markings on the side were clear as it sparkled with a bright golden light.


    WGP.


    "How arrogant of you." A displeased voice echoed out.


    "Forgive me, WGP Commander. But regardless of your purposes, my country is on the brink of war. I have intelligence regarding an uing battle. I cannot abandon my post anytime soon. I would like to respectfully ask for the Admiral to rush here. I''m sure it''s not difficult for her. The fact that you''ve already managed to fly through my air without being detected already shows the equipment you brought could turn our entire base into ruins." Lowengren''s answer was without any emotion.


    The Commander could not tell whether Lowengren was being humble or conceited.


    "My Admiral deserves the courtesy of you abandoning your post. Should war ur, we can lend one or two attacks."


    "Lieutenant. What happened thest time we left our post?" Lowengren asked Alean.


    "Supreme General burned our left eye." Alean gave a simple answer.


    "Will he do it again?"


    "Yes, General."


    "And why is that a problem?" Lowengren asked again.


    "Because if both our eyes are burned, we won''t have the chance to see the agonized deaths of our enemies."


    "As you can see, Commander. We are in a bit of a bind. We don''t mind burning our eyes for you, however, the very joy which caused us to strive for these positions will be taken from us. It would be sad forputer-generated imagery to rece the magnificence of seeing it with our eyes." Lowengren sighed.


    The Commander was quiet.


    Suddenly, another figure appeared next to the Commander.


    "Such pleasurable and gutsy deration. Alright. I won''t take that joy from you." A voiced echoed out. The voice was deep and distorted.


    "I''ll make it easy for you. I want information regarding the recent troubles that have been spreading around your country."


    "Great Admiral. I cannot easily deduce which event you mean. There are just too many incidents. As such, I am unsure of what event you mean. Can you be more specific? Andstly, may I at least know how to address you."


    "I am Admiral M."


    "Admiral M? I''m sorry. But I was informed of a different Admiral in these areas." Lowengren frowned.


    "Ah¡­ You seem to be apetent General if you know about that. Ugh. Well, it does fit his power-grabbing tendency. Correct. I am not the Admiral in this area. I am here because of an interesting video that should have reached your ear."


    "If such appeal interests the Great Admiral of another area, then I most certainly know what you are here for. May I at least see who you are? Forgive my insecurity. But since you are not the other Admiral, I am not sure whether or not you are an Admiral of the WGP."


    "You dare question the Admiral? What if we attacked this pathetic base of yours? Maybe that will prove our identity."


    "Sure. I can offer whatever information if you promise to attack the base on the other side first. After that, you can kill us all." Lowengren remained uncaring.


    The Commander was stunned at the counter-offer.


    "Ha Ha Ha." The Admiralughed as exoskeleton opened up revealing a tall and beautiful figure.


    "Admiral!" The Commander was stunned.


    "Rx. I like this one." The woman leaped from her suit andnded in front of Lowengren. The Exoskeleton continued to hover in mid-air.


    "I am Fleet Admiral Magantae. Truth be told I have no jurisdiction or control over you and legally, I cannot ask you for this information as the Fleet Admiral you should be reporting to is Fleet Admiral Intrik." Magantae smirked.


    "However, if you do report me to Admiral Intrik, or if you do anything to reveal the illegalities of my presence, a simple attack of mine can open up this base allowing the Arabs to attack you." The Fleet Admiral held her hand up and the exoskeleton behind her followed.


    A bluish light was seen as a terrifying heat appeared.


    "Nuke Emitter!" Lowengren and Alean chorused in fear.


    "I can level this entirend if you do that. And if you''re worried about me, rest assured. My punishment won''t be harsh. I am a direct descendant of the World Governors whereas Intrik is but a hired hand"


    Lowengren and Alean were silent.


    "So you will directly interfere with the ongoing crisis from our countries without appropriate derations?"


    "Who''s to say that I am interfering? What I see is a mere arrogant soldier who, in his pride wouldn''t give due respect to an Admiral of the WGP. Dead men tell no tales. I can kill you and report whatever I want."


    "Fine. I will agree-"


    "Meet me in my quarters. I''ve taken interest in a nice hotel approximately seventeen kilometers from here."


    "With all due respects Admiral, I cannot-"


    "You have to. I don''t care if your other eye gets burned. The fact that has seen my face is enough of a reason to permanently be blind. You have two hours to prepare all the data about the information that I am looking for."


    "We are in the brink of war-"


    "And if you continue to remain adamant and callus to what I''m looking for, I will make sure that you lose this war. You show yourself to be so high and mighty. Your fake patriotism may fool others andmand respect, but in front of real power, it is pointless. Follow my instructions, General. I love humbling arrogant people like you!" Magantaeughed.


    "Admiral. Drinths have reported unusual activity within thepounds. It seems that a soldier was rushing to deliver a secret package and discreetly left it at General Hirock''s office. Drinths was able to find it by taking forceful control over the camera feeds in the building. Drinths is currently headed towards Hirock''s office to retrieve the package."


    Magantae smirked.


    "As you can see, General. It didn''t take much for me to uncover your fa?ade. I''ve barely talked to you in a minute and have already exposed your corruption. What could it be? Why would a respected war-hero hide something? Why would a General hide something he purchased to his own men? Could it be drugs?" Magantaeughed mockingly.


    "Admiral¡­ Erm¡­ It''s dildos. Commander Drinths found a box full of dildos."


    And there was silence in the rooftop.


    At that moment, Lowengren utilized his Path. There was something mysterious that happens in the area surrounding them whenever Lowengren would use his path. It was as if the perception of those around them and how they interpret facts to change. Something phenomenal happens to the sixth and seventh dimension that is juxtaposed to where Lowengren and the WGP elites stood.


    Like Eagle and Harker, their powers were something that cannot be exined by supra-modern physics. For no one could ever exin the math that urs beyond the three dimensions. Much more so for changes in the sixth and the seventh dimension.


    And as the changes in those dimensions ur, though unseen and unknown, Lowengren spoke the word which would be the three-dimensional representation of what Lowengren''s Path did in those dimensions.


    "Me and this Lieutenant... We are... into some hardcore kinky stuff.." Lowengren coughed.

 Chapter 169 - Charles’ Experiments

    Magantae couldn''t believe it. Suddenly, a high priority message was received. The hi-tech eye lens she wore disyed the image.


    Commander Drinths knew that such crucial information was vital and so, using their override settings that could catch the attention of the African government, Drinths sent the picture and a detailed report of thepositions of the dildo.


    It was risky. Although they were the WGP, they could not, in their current position of power, interfere with the proceedings of a country even if they were at war. And yet, against this reality, the urgency and shocking progression of events still made Drinths conclude that the Fleet Admiral would only punish him if he failed to send those files immediately.


    Lowengren paused awkwardly.


    Alean took a deep breath containing the anger of what Lowengren would say next. She knew what the seeding sentences of Lowengren would be thanks to her Skill.


    "Me and the Lieutenant here are¡­ sexuallypatible. I have to show them my fearless side and to constantly portray myself as someone who cannot be¡­ distracted. But since I''m married¡­"


    Alean slowly nodded.


    "Only a select few in the army knows of this." Lowengren did his best to sound calm, but a turbulent shaking was apparent even as he spoke.


    Admiral Magantae revealed a shocked face as she was unable to close therge, wide-opening in her mouth. She would have screamed and cursed if she could. But the stunning events robbed her of her voice.


    "Are these really dildos?" Magantae turned to the Commander and asked in an aghast expression.


    "Ye-yes. Admiral. Drinths just confirmed it. The report clearly states it. The dildos have no other unusual properties or haven''t been hiding any specific techs apart from themonce science applied to these dildos."


    "Commonce science in dildos?!" Magantae was astounded.


    "Height, length, feel, glossiness, slipperiness, flexibility¡­" Lowengren sighed and listed the sciences which made up a good dildo.


    "SHUT UP!" Magantae cursed. She red angrily at Lowengren who despite wearing a mask, was obviously avoiding Magantae''s line of sight.


    "Why is there a box of dildos? If General Hirock has this rtionship with this Lieutenant, shouldn''t one just be enough? There must be some secret to it! Check the chemicalposition of those dildos. Perhaps the drugs are mixed in with the properties of the dildo." Magantae ordered.


    "Commander Drinths already did as you have asked, Admiral. No other element in all those dildos could be used to create something else." The Commander replied.


    Magantae was furious.


    "Alright General. Exin to me why you need over a dozen dildos?" Magantae growled as the blue light of the Exoskeleton that Magantae piloted grew brighter and brighter.


    "B-BDSM!" Lowengren answered with great fear.


    The lights disappeared and there was silence once more.


    "BDSM!" Magantae repeated angrily. It took much control to keep her voice steady and not shout and choke the life out of Lowengren.


    "Esteemed Fleet Admiral. This revtion may be disgusting and disturbing. But that is all to it. I am a adulterer. You can charge me for that, but I do not have any connections to any drug rted or human trafficiking organizations. The reason why I ordered several dildos is that our fantasies involve-"


    "Enough. I don''t want to hear it. Get me the report you need or I swear I will st your damned base to smithereens! You have one hour!" Magantae left and jumped as the Exoskeleton which was hovering nearby dove in and wore itself on her.


    With great haste, the Admiral zoomed away. Themander followed suit as it hastily followed the Admiral.


    Alean and Lowengren finally let out a sigh of relief.


    "Really? Kinky stuff?" Alean cursed.


    "I didn''t have a choice. I didn''t expect them to be so fast. Damn. I underestimated their techs. It seems the WGP isn''t something to be easily trifled with. Luckily, it looks like they didn''t damage our dildos." Lowengren sighed in relief.


    "How did you know that she wasn''t the Admiral that was supposed to be assigned here?"


    "First is the fact that she hid her own name. The second is the fact that she didn''t know General Hirock''s name. The Africans are very secretive of their General''s identity and location as the enemy could use a General''s own style and methods to his or her own disadvantage. However, if she really was the WGP Admiral assigned to watch over this area, she would have known that this was Hirock''s location. But instead, the two needed that other Commander''s message to reveal who I am."


    "Sometimes I wonder what goes on in the heads of people like you and Arthur."


    "Here''s the simple answer. She tried to deceive me."


    "Now that I can understand. No deceiving the deceiver. Would there be a problem with the fact that she found our-errr¡­ I mean- your dildos?"


    "Nope. Her quick and angry retreat meant she had no other ways to ckmail us. That''s why she left threatening us with force."


    Alean then started to chuckle.


    "What''s with theugh?"


    "Nothing. I''m just curious about what will happen next. I know you. They ckmailed you. You wouldn''t ignore this as it would be too fun for you. Is this going to be your next game?"


    Lowengrenughed.


    "Oh please. You make it sound like you have no intention of ying around with them! In terms of ckmailing, I bow to you, my Queen." Lowengrenughed.


    "My reason is different. You find joy in deceiving people and making them go through the myriad emotions of anger, disappointment, and despair. For me, it''s a matter of pride. I don''t let anyone ckmail me and I simply have to pay them back."


    "Whatever. I know that if I had no interest in messing with these folks, you would force me to. Still¡­ This will be fun. I can''t make proper deception because you always ask me to tone it down. This will be the first where you will actually be approving of whatever it is I n to do with them." Lowengrenughed excitedly. It was as if the evil, conniving, bad-mouthing side of Lowengren emerged from a deep slumber.


    "Regardless¡­ this is beneficial. If we can trick this Admiral¡­ we might have an important ally within the WGP. And that''s that Seeker never had in his future." Alean anticipated.


    BEEP.


    One small device that was attached to Lowengren''s suit lit up.


    "Just in time. Charles seemed to be finished with whatever it is he''s nning. Let''s go meet the General." Lowengrenughed.


    On their way down, Lowengren gave severalmands to copy several specific videos. Alean could not help but be curious at Lowengren''s n.


    The group then went off and walked to a secret facility on the underground.


    This area had no cameras or any hi-tech devices. The chambers were primitive and dark. There were no lights. Some rooms were designed with sharp weapons that had already rusted to be hanging on the wall. The bloodstains in some rooms were not cleaned.


    Lowengren and Alean walked past all of the bloodied halls of the captured and tortured terrorist and enemy soldiers. Howls of pain and anguish could be heard echoing in the distance.


    Lowengren was frowning but Alean did not mind it all.


    Soon they reached the far end of the dungeon. The pair passed several rooms, closing the door as they walked inside. No one was there and no soldier stood to guard it.


    Eventually, they reached thest of the rooms. Upon opening, three figures greeted them.


    The first was a man who had several strange skin conditions. The skin of his flesh was gruesome and puss was oozing on many parts of his body.


    The second figure was that of a cleanly shaved man with a slight burn on his right eye. He was sitting upright on top of a bed with the constraints and chains on the bed no longer bounded on him. The third was a woman who remained seated and gagged on a seat.


    Alean was shocked to see the unbound man.


    "Looks like you didn''t need me after all." Lowengrenughed.


    The man with various skin ailments and pussing out of his skin nodded.


    "The reason why General Hirock was the only person who did research on this disease is because it is iming the life of his daughter. He''s a loving man who did everything for his family. He would even betray his country to heal her daughter."


    "Okie Dokie¡­ But General¡­ first things first. While I was pretending to be you, I made it look like that you and the Lieutenant General are into some hardcore BDSM stuff. So just inform your wife and family and move on."


    "BD-What?" The calm General''s expression changed.


    "Never mind. We''ll talk about thatter. The situation remains as crucial as ever. Please reveal yourself to him." Charles requested.


    Lowengren pulled off his mask revealing a burnt right eye.


    "Lowengren! So you are alive. Several of my colleagues fought you onst year''s battle." The Generalughed.


    "General Hirock. It''s a pleasure to talk to you in this circumstance. I presume that the Lieutenant General is not yet open to joining the good guys."


    "I don''t care who the good guys are. The African scientists proved useless in aiding my daughter. What exactly is this disease?" Hirock asked as he nced at Charles''s own body.


    "The disease has nothing to do with my current state. Don''t misunderstand. I am not looking for the cure of this disease to heal myself. I am doing it for Ricardo."


    "Who''s Ricardo?" Hirock asked.


    "Ricardo Corentine. Son of Crest Corentine."


    "Crest Corentine? Isn''t that the Pangean doctor who was briefly engaged to Charles?" Hirock pondered.


    "The very same. Our rtionship is aplicated matter. Just know that I want to cure that boy."


    "Tell Lowengren what you know," Charles ordered.


    "Hold on. Now that I think about it¡­ That face¡­ you''re Alean Cipril?" The General was confused.


    "The very same." Alean smiled.


    "That''s not makeup¡­ Did you acquire those marks during the Australian Avarice?"


    "No. We burned our right eye and created these marks. Don''t worry about it. It will heal. Please share what you know about this disease." Alean spoke respectfully.


    "Too many mysteries in this room." Hirock took a few moments topose himself.


    "Alright. The disease is an unknown strain that technically does not fall into any categories or types of diseases. It''s not bacteria, viruses, prions, and all those things. This is the reason why the African government abandoned this research. It was aiming to weaponized this disease but since they could not even find the cause of this disease, they abandoned it and quarantined my daughter for fear of infecting others. However, me and my wife I have spent most of our lives caring for my daughter and it has yet to infect others."


    "That''s basically the same conclusions that Charles encountered which prompted him to infiltrate this nation. Please tell us something useful." Lowengren frowned.


    "Our scientist has determined that the cause of this disease is the child''s DNA. Simply put, the DNA of my daughter is wired in a way that it will kill herself. It happens randomly and would be severe in nature. One minute my daughter''s fine, the next her body decides that the left arm is not there and she''s paralyzed. It''s like the DNA of my daughter randomly presses the kill-switch at any given moment. If not for modern technology that we use for super-soldiers in the enhancement which stimtes my daughter''s body to focus on growth and maintain its function, she would have died. But even then, her body bes more and more critical. It''s as if¡­" Hirock was choking up as tears were gathering in his eyes.


    "It''s as if her body itself does not want to live." Charles continued.


    "I discovered this disease when I was trying to cure Ricardo. I didn''t understand the nature of the disease. After New Great Britain recalled me, I settled in Irnd, my hometown. What I didn''t know was that Honey was also recalled to Europe."


    "Honey?" Alean repeated.


    "Crest Corentine. That''s her nickname. She too was recalled and I guess with the world ending, I finally got the courage to face her once more. We had no time to reminisce about this reunion though. She was desperate. She asked me to help her because her son had started to show some strange signs of the disease that killed her husband."


    "So an adult can have this?" Hirock asked.


    "I concluded that this disease is a gic problem. Sometimes the parents suffer from the disease, other times it does not. He was the only case I found that urred in an adult. But in Europe, there were no other incidents of this case. Crest was so brokenhearted at the mysterious death of her husband that she became obsessed with this disease. And when she checked on her son, she discovered the same cells active. It was still on the early phases and so she managed to stabilize her son. It''s been a year since she discovered the disease and she is nowhere near being cured."


    "I see. So you were nning on using the Unlocking as a tool to heal Ricardo."


    "The what?" Hirock interrupted.


    "For now, just listen, General. The adults are talking." Lowengren countered.


    Hirock knew his ce and kept silent.


    "Yes. The Unlocking is the obvious choice to try. I had already been experimenting on introducing Unlocked cells to a person. I thought that if the Neuro- Transcellr phenomenon is caused by a heightened brain being capable of recoding the entire DNA structure of a person, I theorized, what if I did the opposite? What if I introduce a person''s brain to an Unlocked cell?"


    "So you were using Seeker''s cells?"


    "Yes. In all cases of this experiment, even to people who know of Seeker and his history, even when I tried it on a few of your team, it failed."


    "It''s impossible for my team to have faith in Seeker. They''re Warfreakz. They won''t bow to anyone other than me." Lowengren confidently revealed.


    "That''s not why I tried it on your team. Aside from the faith issue, your team was Unlocked and I hoped your team could develop cells if I introduced Seeker''s evolved ones. But sadly, as the cells multiplied it gave birth to normal cells. So that experiment was a bust. Anyways, I used some of Seeker''s cells in hopes that since the blood of Ricardo had been showing forms of Leukemia, I thought the threat would stimte Seeker''s cells and it would fight back through its memories."


    "Memories?" Alean wondered.


    "Yes. Seeker''s cells carry a form of memory that allows itself to remember what it is even if the cells are out of the Realm Somatotopy of Seeker. Most of everyone''s cells can do that, they can only maintain the state for up to a few minutes. Seeker''s cells can keep it up for days and could go as long as weeks depending on the environment it is in."


    "So that''s how it works. No wonder his cells can transform people like Lynd so fast."


    "For people who have faith in them, it works. As for Ricardo, Seeker''s cells remained dormant even when attacked by the white blood cells. I had only enough of Seeker''s cells for one more experiment. The reason I came here because I know you are here Lowengren. You are the most important key to the sess of this experiment."


    "Experiment? You n on experimenting on my daughter?" Hirock erupted.


    "Don''t worry. If it fails, it won''t harm your daughter. I already tried it on an infant, remember? Ricardo''s barely two years old!"


    Hirock was startled. He couldn''t imagine what cruelty Charles had who could experiment on baby boys.


    Lowengren paused and continued to reflect on what Charles was saying.


    "Quite an impressive n." Lowengren smiled.


    "You want me to reveal that we have a magic medicine to be given to Hirock''s daughter. If she sees you, a famous world-renowned doctor helping, she would be confident. You''re going to use the cebo effect to create faith on this medicine which is Seeker''s cell."


    "cebo?! That''s the experiment?!" Hirock cursed.


    "It''s rted to something we call the Unlocking. Trust me. Even I feel confident that this will work. Heck, Seeker might even get another Ranked Hero at the very least!" Lowengrenughed.


    "What''s the Unlocking and how is it that that can heal my daughter?"


    "Hmph." Charles snorted.


    "Then observe this! Here. Flip this coin."


    The confused Hircok caught the coin that Charles tossed.


    He nced at Lowengren and Alean who didn''t seem to have any clue as to what Charles was going to do."


    "Flip the coin." Confident Charles ordered.


    Hirock followed and flipped the coin.


    Charles looked at it and on thest second, he closed his eyes.


    "It''s heads." Charles guessed.


    "Ye-yeah," Hirock answered.


    "Do it again."


    Hirock did so.


    "Tails."


    ¡­


    "Heads."


    "Heads."


    "Tails."


    "What exactly is this suppose to achieve or prove?" Hirock couldn''t take it anymore.


    "Hm? Not the response I expected. When Seeker did it¡­"


    "What exactly are you doing, Charles?" Alean finally asked.


    "Trying to show him the Unlocking."


    "By flipping coins?!"


    "Yes. I was not paying attention on thest second but because our perception of time is heightened it''s very easy to guess how the coinsnded. Seeker did that when we first met."


    Lowengren and Alean were tongue-tied.


    "Look. Just because you were shocked by Seeker''s performance, doesn''t mean everyone else will be."


    "Then what do I try? I can''t heal these rashes onmand yet!" Charlesined.


    "Gee. I don''t know¡­ Maybe the damned Reapers Breath?!" An exasperated Alean argued.


    It was as if the clouds of heaven parted and wisdom was bestowed on Charles.


    "Right! I forgot about that!"


    Charles immediately moved closer to Hirock.


    "What''s the Reapers Bre-?" A sudden terrifying sensation covered him and Hirock almost fainted in fear.

 Chapter 170 - Landing In China

    The crash was intense and painful. But barely before they can even recover from their dizziness, the system had announced that the pod would explode.


    The trio rummaged out of their area and ran outside.


    As they left the pod, they noticed trees and high marshes as well as the sounds of birds and insects.


    They were in the jungle.


    The group did not pause but continued to run further to escape the explosion.


    Suddenly, a muffled sound was heard as the small pod which held all three of them started to melt.


    "Pangean Eradication." The only woman of the three identified the tech that destroyed the pod.


    The Pod disappeared as the traces of it quickly became ck ashes.


    "Where are we?" The woman asked.


    "This is somewhere north of China. Based on the weather, the nt life here, and the existence of those nts, I''d say it was in the Great Mongolian Forest. Mordor should be over there." The burly man suddenly pointed out to the distance.


    "Why are we here? Where did he drop us off? And why did he do it?" The woman angrily demanded.


    "To test us. Cheryl, Oark." A thin man spoke to call their attention.


    "I had a conversation with him before he dropped us off here. You might have noticed it. Our bodies should be stronger than normal people. Our exit from that pod was proof. We were able to easily tear away those seatbelts with our bare hands." Madison finally spoke.


    "Why are we here in Mongolia?" Oark asked. He was slightly calmer than Cheryl and had an attentive look.


    "He gave us a mission. He revealed to me terrifying secrets which I willter share as we go along. But what you need to know, is that if we do notplete our mission, within three days, he will kill you two. A chip has been nted in your heart."


    "Us two?! What about you?"


    "He already wanted me in his team. This test is for you both. He opted to turn you into Programmed ves who will kill certain politicians and world elites. But this path would have been your death as you would then be tossed aside and be scapegoats. I petitioned to keep you alive." Madison answered.


    "I recall that Seeker had some particr interest over you when we fought him. Madison, what''s going on? And why have you opted to save us both." Oark gave him a suspicious look.


    "For you, Oark, it''s because we''ve worked and fought against each other several times. But in all of those cases, you always did not make great efforts to kill me. And I had done the same for you."


    "It''s because we feared each other. You are a brilliant strategist in the Underworld."


    "Yes. The feeling is mutual. I both feared and respected you and would be at ease to know if we would be doing a mission together. In a way, you could say that our numerous team-ups and shes could easily make us friends. The state of the world will be in such chaos that I need allies like you to survive. I know your capability; he didn''t think much of it. That''s why I asked him to save you two. So he gave us this chance to prove it."


    Oark was silent.


    "I respect you enough to follow. If you think that, I''m sure you have your reasons. What''s the mission?"


    "Wait! What about me? Why am I here?" Cheryl finally asked.


    Madison momentarily hesitated but he knew time was against him.


    "It''s because I''ve always loved you. And although I would love to talk with you about this, we have a mission to do. The first base nearby is a military base operated by the Russians. As Oark noticed, we are near Mordor. This gives us a better chance of finding the base."


    "So Seeker''s working with the Chinese? Or is it Arabs?"


    "None of them. Our mission is to attack both the Russians and the Chinese make it look like the Arabs did it."


    "Two bases? What weapons did he give us?" Cheryl maintained herposure. But her eyes looked at Madison differently. No matter her ice-cold nature, she could not help but reveal small glimpses of pure joy that had glowed on her face.


    "Seeker gave us no weapons. He gave us the Unlocking. That drug he gave us which caused us great pain during the flight was something that enhanced our senses. We are different from before. We will use this advantage to steal their weapons. Any weapons we might use could be detected. We don''t want that. We want mystery and conspiracy. Two bases destroyed, and no technological possibilities present that could help the WGP or whoever identifies which country attacked."


    "Then people will doubt the untouched base in the area," Oark concluded.


    "Yes. Our goal is to cause this chaos. Regardless of how the world reacts, it will create some doubts and confusion. On the first day, let''s explore our new capacities as soldiers. As you noticed, Seeker gave us nothing but amon set of clothes on our back. But if what we can acquire would be just half of what he has shown us when he attacked us, then honestly¡­ this mission should be a piece of cake."


    "Alright. Then let''s go look for the base. Along the way, you better tell us what''s going on."


    "I''ll tell you. But I''m not sure you''d believe it¡­ Even I don''t believe it." Madison mumbled as he started sprinting.


    As the three people rushed off, a ne had justnded on a certain airport.


    World-famous political personality and actress, Amanda Bright used her connections to give her a free ride in and out of Pangea before people could notice her. But her return trip proved chaotic.


    Seeker remained seated as the nended. He looked outside and waited.


    On his trip going to China, the ne was asked to circle and there were issues on various airports forcing the ne to move further and further north. The ne was finally forced tond. During this period of making the ne move further north and due to air-traffic operations, the ne had to circle about before discreetly dropping off a small pod somewhere in the vast snowy mountains of Mongolia.


    Several military drones caught the pod and move further north dropping the package into thergest forest that man had grown. The Great Mongolian Forest. The operation involved a lot of precise execution to hide the dropped package and to ensure that the WGP or the Aragarians wouldn''t notice the strange actions.


    Amanda was strangely allowed to walk around the airne. Although Seeker ignored her for the great majority of the flight as he was focused on talking with Madison, the information that she overheard shocked her.


    Aliens? Unbing and Inhumans? A Future war? It was all too mysterious. But the existence of Seeker sitting casually with the dangerous Madison listening to every word he said was such a strong proof that she could only remain silent. The fear on her heart continued to grow as terrifying ns were being uttered. He witnessed the dropping of Madison''s pod and how a strange military drone appeared and carried it towards the Great Mongolian Forest.


    All these things she witnessed and understood that the young man she wanted as a sex toy was a monstrous being.


    As the nended, she could not help but ponder what of her faith. Why was she left unharmed?


    "I suppose¡­ that seducing you wouldn''t be of any help." She gathered her courage and approached Seeker who was rxing.


    Seeker nced at her and simply snickered.


    "Amanda¡­ You''re probably among the top most beautiful women in the world. But to the Unlock¡­ it''s honestly useless. We have greater control over our urges and emotions. Unless you be unlocked, your taste and overall brand will always be one step lower. In fact, for people of my standing, I may prefer someone who is Unlocked but is a bit uglier than you."


    "So your kind don''t find me attractive?" Amanda asked carefully.


    "We still do. But I guess people like me would feel that you''re inferior. I mean you do have inferior pheromones. People who are Unlocked are generally more attractive. Normal folks call it sex appeal I guess."


    "Why are you keeping me alive then? You don''t find me attractive, you have already taken control of my money, what more do you want?" Amanda finally screamed.


    "To me you of course. In a short while, the Chinese army will raid this ce. They will receive reports of possible Arabian attacks of people infiltrating. You''re here¡­ in a ce where you''re not supposed to be. Considering your involvement in European politics things should get messy. New Great Britain would probably me the European United Nations and further create tensions in war. China will me you, the Arabs will deny you¡­ Frankly even I don''t know the chaos of what would happen after they see you."


    Amanda felt as if her stomach were turning. She was silent and had a nk expression on her face.


    Seeker stopped talking noticing her lost expression. After a few seconds when she seemed to have some life on her, Seeker finally continued.


    "You have two choices. You could choose to y along with my n or go against it. Know that if you try to expose me, you''d get killed immediately. We could just kill you after all. It would be more beneficial for me if you''re dead. They''d find your body and they can frame it all¡­ It would be impossible for people to conclude that you were kidnapped given yourst locations¡­"


    Amanda shivered.


    "Why haven''t you killed me then?"


    "It seems that I have underestimated scum like you. First was Harker and his daughter. Who knew that they''d be so helpful? Then there''s Madison. That Oark seemed rather formidable as well. And Cheryl seemed to have an interesting skill. A little push is all it would take for them to find their Road. And while I don''t carry any hopes of your usefulness¡­ I''ll still give you a chance. What can you offer me? I want to start a Continental War or something that will make the WGP more aggressive. What can you offer?" Seeker calmly spoke.


    "I can- I can-" Amanda was stuttering.


    "Contacts of politicians! I can give you ess to various people in the European nation!"


    "What else? Those things are not impressive. Doctor Lennox can get those if he exerts a bit of effort."


    "Rumors! Secrets of the Underworld and the people that take part in them! I can give you the dirt on all officials."


    "Harker is my subordinate. You think I don''t have those?"


    "I can seduce more people! You and your kind might not be affected, but I can get politicians, religions leaders, generals and so on to get those!"


    "Meryl Mikado. She''s far beautiful than you. She works for me."


    "Money! ess! The Ponzi schemes I manage! The corporations I own! My stocks and shares and direct connections to the makers of Pokemon! You''re a gamer right! I can give you ess to the unreleased games! Connections to the royal line of Europe! Diamonds, golds, and whatever jewels!" Amanda listed everything she knew that could attract Seeker.


    "Pokemon you say¡­" Seeker smiled.


    "Po-Pokemon?" Amanda was stunned that that drew Seeker''s attention.


    "Can you help me get a meeting with the top people managing the current Pokemon games? And it has to be a secret meeting." Seeker smiled.


    "Ye-yes! If I can get out of China, I''ll definitely-"


    "Alright then. I promise you, you will live through China."


    At that moment several Exoskeletons and thanks and soldiers appeared and surrounded the ne.


    Seeker wore a military outfit that matched the uniform of the soldiers.


    The soldiers went in and raided the ne.


    As the soldiers entered the ne, they paused and saluted Seeker Carlean.


    "General Seeker Carlean. We will be escorting you and your men to Mongolia. General Greydon and Nogard are waiting for you."


    "Alright. Amanda''s team are on the other room. Kill some of them and make it look like they resisted. Keep Amanda alive but beat her up first. Make her a priority prisoner." Seeker ordered as he left.


    "What?! Seeker you-" Amanda shouted but the soldiers suddenly struck her and gagged her.


    Several gunshots were heard inside the ne.


    The soldiers outside went into full alert as several soldiers were going out, while others were going in.


    Seeker and another soldier had moved out and although they were in in sight, the attention of the media who were already taping the urrence had their attention in the few opened window of the aircraft.


    "Report," Seeker ordered.


    "We have received several important messages from Harker has been received. Lieutenant Sting, One and Force will be escorting you to the base."


    The soldier led Seeker to a van that was waiting outside the airport.


    Seeker sat down and was greeted by the three Fangs.


    "Young Master, Seeker. It''s good to finally see you."


    "Sting. I see you''ve healed your eyes. Nice pun by the way. But why did you do it? You might have gotten better without your sight."


    "I felt that the opposite would have been better, young master. Master Nogard has taught me interesting tricks."


    "Oh? I''m looking forward to meeting him."


    "Young Master. Message from Harker. He has kept both students, Lara and Charm as you have suggested. Harker used Charm''s position as the True Inheritor to redirect Lara''s suspicion. It was revealed that True Inheritors are a distant rtive to the WGP."


    "Wait¡­ Charm''s a distant rtive of the WGP?" Seeker was shocked.


    "That Cliff! He hid it from me and only told Harker!" Seeker cursed.


    "The Novelty-stoise n is rted to the WGP?" One was intrigued. Even for them in the Underworld, this was big news.


    "You could say that it''s a vassal branch of some sort. It''s a long story. Let''s go."


    Seeker then rode the car and left the airport.


    Amanda''s capture was all over the news.


    "The flight of this ne was very suspicious. It circled China almost reaching Mongolia itself. This ne had just left Pangea. It means that for whatever reason, Amanda may have visited Pangea during thesest days. But we have yet to find out why. The Pangean Government had also denied any knowledge of Amanda''s visit. With the recent attack on Harker, they are guarded and have decided to shut down all international flights for the next months. Even medical aid has been rejected." A Chinese official answered during the report.


    "All of this to hide your arrival here." Oneughed as he listened on the news.


    "It isn''t just to hide. It''s perfect. The best ns are ones that do not cover up one thing, but dozens. In this act of chaos, we hid my arrival, sent forces that would attack Russian and Chinese bases, create panic in Pangea blocking all arrivals thereby isting the Aragarian known as Lara. This will also give Harker more reasons to keep Lara confined and thereby dy her in possibly alerting the other Aragarians. This dy will cause wariness and possible impatience on the Aragarians out there. And we might finally fish out another Presider. Of course¡­ these are but the most basic of our purposes." Seeker smiled.


    It was then that a priority message was shown on Seeker''s phone.


    Seeker perused it and after reaching the end of the message, Seeker had a strange expression.


    "Is something wrong, Young Master?" Sting inquired.


    "A WGP Fleet Admiral is trying to ckmail Lowengren and Alean."


    There was silence.


    "I''m sorry Young Master. You mean¡­ Lowengren¡­ As in Sebastian Hoross?" Force confirmed.


    "Yup."


    "Young Master Sebastian Hoross, who is Lowengren. The leader of Warfreakz. He who Treads in the Council of the Wicked?"


    "The very same."


    Force and One had a strange expression.


    "And the other one is Alean. That is Alean Cipril. Daughter of Harker Cipril."


    "Again, you are right."


    Force and One nced at each other. They then nodded together in understanding.


    They took out some incense sticks and sat on the other end of the car where they prayed to their ancestors pleading them to aid the strangers who dared ckmail the Demonic Pair.

 Chapter 171 - Beyond The Three Dimensions

    All news channels around the world were drawn into this news.


    Although another sh urred between Australia and one of New Great Britain''s forces, this news had less coverage as this other news featured a world-famous actress and politician, Amanda Mershalle.


    The shocking scene of her escape and how she shot several rounds, wounding two Chinese soldiers created an explosive shockwave that created tensions all over the world.


    The World Governing Powers was forced to investigate the matter.


    "Amanda resisted in the capture and shot several of my soldiers as was shown in the video. Our soldiers were very careful when they tried to subdue her and two soldiers were actually critically wounded during her capture. Your media channel has already captured and recorded the scene of her attempted escape so I will notment on that." The Chinese ranking officermented at a press conference.


    Several reporters shouted and started asking questions but the officer turned and selected one of the reporters who asked louder than everyone else.


    "Is China going to war with the Europeans?"


    "No. Our treatment towards Amanda should have been proof of this. As you have seen in the video, we didn''t shoot Amanda to kill her. The shots we fired were all stun weapons but she seemed prepared and had shock-deflecting techs equipped on her. Even though the military-grade that she carried would have been treated as an act of war for infiltrating our country, in these dark times, we wish to not rush into things. Two of my soldiers may have given their lives to show to the world and especially to the European United Nations that we do not wish to pursue this war. However, until they have given us the rightpensation, we will not return Amanda to them."


    "What about the rest of the crew?"


    "The remaining members of the crew also struggled. Several shot back at us, and we killed them in the scuffle."


    "You killed the remaining members of the crew? What right do you have in attacking and shooting them? Several of them were unarmed!" An international journalist based in China challenged.


    The Chinese official red angrily at the reporter.


    "The airne circled around China beforending. It moved north and almost reached the Great Warzone of China. We do not know why it did so. Itnded here and our teams came in to inspect. Who fired the first round? Did we do it? Several of you were here since the beginning as we''ve asked you to! We negotiated, but the officer that we sent inside was shot. This bullet was a cheap shot from Amanda. At that point, my soldiers had to treat all passengers of the ne as possible enemies. Now that I''ve answered your question, soldiers detain that reporter!" The soldier''s deration caused panic as several of the soldiers immediately rushed to pin down the reporter.


    The others could only scream and shout in shock.


    "To all journalists here!" The officer cried out drawing the attention of everyone. The cameras once more refocused on the man.


    "China has been at the receiving end of terrifying attacks. We''ve lost an army and a General. Do not test our bottom line. Her presence here is enough for us to start a Continental war. Yet we will not, for the sake of tolerance!" The Chinese official walked closer to the reporter that was pinned down.


    "We confirmed that inside the ne were several narcotics. You''ve heard Amanda''s screams right? She''s been asking who betrayed her and who sold her out? She even called out the names of several political enemies of her and even a few of her allies!" The official reminded.


    Some of the reporters and cameraman who managed to get closer, caught on tape, how Amanda was wildly struggling to get free as she started calling out the names of several political enemies.


    "We will not tolerate your fanciful words. The era of tolerance has ended. War waits on the horizon. And while we will not be the ones who will initiate it, we will show the world that One China is not so easily bullied!"


    "So to you, useless media who reports whatever news that you find can further your political agendas, One China has had enough of it!" The officer stood over the reporter.


    "Confess! Who sent you?!" The officer angrily bellowed.


    "Let go of me! No one sent me! How dare you use me-"


    STOMP!


    The officer stomped on the face of the reporter.


    Blood was running down his nose.


    STOMP!


    Another powerful stumped left the reporter bleeding.


    Several reporters around them couldn''t even move in fear. A trembling and powerful dread overcame them as the officer delivered one final stomp.


    "Who sent you?! Answer me or I''ll kill you!"


    "I don''t know! I was hired to ask those questions!" The reporter finally squealed.


    "Interrogate him until he squeals. Make sure all the media men can see the interrogation." The officer ordered as he walked away.


    None of the remaining reporters dared follow him or ask another question.


    The officer suddenly called the attention of one reporter which was controlled by the government.


    "This is an issue of international security and our country should unite! But we have these people who intentionally spread seeds of lie and fear! Who by ignorance or irreverence uses clever words and spin our actions to look cruel and wicked! You use these words and use whatever cause can fit your delusional agendas! We are at war and you journalists ept bribery and payment from whoever it is and ask the world to join the cause and agendas of your employers! I will not have it! One China is not so weak! We have found enemy spies in our country! As per thews set by the WGP, we have the right to detain, question and even to kill!" The officer screamed loudly.


    The surrounding soldiers and even some of the people who were watching apuded and cheered.


    "Detain all international journalists! If they can prove that they are not from the EUN or haven''t traveled to thosends, torture them! It is our national right!" The officer then turned and left as the native crowd cheered and the soldiers moved.


    Several journalists were screaming at the sudden assault.


    "Was that¡­ Specter?" Seeker recognized the voice.


    "Indeed it is, young master. After Specter''s defeat from young master Lowengren, he became more obsessed with the exploration of the possible skills simr to Lowengren and even General Harker''s."


    "Oh. So that''s why he was spending a suspiciously amount of time with Harker back on the Tatsulok."


    "Young Master¡­ We have arrived." Sting announced.


    Seeker gazed up and the deep river to which they rode finally revealed the underground base.


    "Quite a feat to build all this. So this is how the Golden Dragon''s army disappeared." Seeker smiled.


    Severalpanies and construction projects which were used for highways, subways and even used to transport water and energy across China had secret underground chambers which were used as high-speed train transport. It was small and subtle, but it allowed people to travel rtively fast inside China.


    "Master Nogard has lived a long life. All of these seemed to have been made even before World War Three began."


    Seeker smiled excitedly to meet the Oveer he never met.


    As they departed from the small, yet speedy train, Seeker felt a strong chill around him.


    "Rosa¡­ Good to see you." Seeker replied unaffected.


    A beautiful tall woman stood with a simple blue uniform.


    Force, One and Sting, however, could not move. The frost had frozen them solid.


    "Good. You managed to freeze them without freezing them. I see that you''re progressing further and further."


    "Yet¡­ my frost didn''t affect you"


    "Oh, on the contrary. Although I''m not as strong as your hubby, I can still copy the extent of his abilities to counter yours. The fact that I had to employ entropy speaks miles of your skill. I can tell¡­ Somethings happening around me that shouldn''t be a constraint in the three dimensions." Seeker smiled innocently.


    "Shall we spar again?"


    "You''re not even an Oveer, Rosa. Don''t push your luck." Seeker moved.


    As he moved, the entire icy region which had stopped everything suddenly moved forward. An unseen ripple spread throughout the area destroying the icy aura that had caused all things to stop.


    Force, One and Sting stumbled forward as if the direction of Seeker''s movements created a pulling force.


    Rosa was shocked at the sight of it and began to sense how small she was whenpared to Seeker.


    "Seeker. Don''t disrespect her again¡­" It was as if everything around them became empty.


    A green light that moved liked liquid arced out and formed argemouth that was rushing towards Seeker.


    Seeker smiled excitedly.


    "Perfect. Finally, someone, I can test it too." Seekerughed.


    The Green mouth of a Dragon opened its wide maw and bit down.


    Seeker extended his right hand and reached out towards theing Maw.


    BOOM!


    The Maw of the Dragon was stopped as an invisible force countered it. A distorted area was resisting disintegration. It was as if the Dragon bit down on an invisible shield.


    It had sound, it had a vibration, it reacted to Seekers'' own cells and the area around Seeker became Seeker''s cells.


    "Surmounting Realm!"


    The Maw of the Dragon pushed powerfully as Seeker had an invisible shield that blocked the attack.


    Seeker slowly tightened his other hand and punched out.


    The strange shield pushed forth like an invisible spear pierced through the Dragon''s head.


    A muffled sound was heard and the shield disappeared while Meng''s Dragon remained afloat.


    Slowly the green dragon disintegrated like ashes blown by the wind.


    Seeker fell on his knees as he was gasping for air.


    "Impressive attack. But if you said that the Realm King is at my level, you would lose." Meng spoke as he walked towards Seeker.


    One, Force and Sting had to retreat. Months ago, they would resist the destion, but now it was so dangerous that Meng had ordered them to remain a certain distance otherwise, they would die.


    Rosa remained standing as the creeping destion passed over her.


    Seeker only smiled and allowed the force of destion to cover him.


    Small cuts were appearing around Seeker but the blood would not flow.


    "Oh? Impressive. You already got the foundations of my wife." Meng could not help but smile.


    "Of course. I wasn''t idle these past months after all. Thews of thermodynamics that you embody and the stillness that causes things to stop that your wife has. They are simply reflections on three-dimensional nes. I have managed to see things beyond it. But as you can see, my application should only be one-tenth of your wife."


    "Enough of this. My father awaits." Meng then directed Seeker to the door.


    Seeker moved forward. Cuts and wounds would appear but Seeker ignored it.


    Seeker moved ahead of Meng and walked towards the door.


    Rosa moved closer towards Meng.


    "Thank you for protecting my honor," Rosa smirked.


    "Please don''t do that again. I allowed you to test him because I wanted you to know now how wide the gap is between you and him." Meng gave a sigh.


    "I have you. Don''t I?"


    "For now, I can keep him in check. But if the one who fought me was the same one who you faced, things would have been more troublesome." Meng sighed.


    "The one I faced? I didn''t mistake it then. There are two persons in him!"


    "After meeting Lennox, I knew this was bound to happen. He can grasp the truth of everyone he meets. It was only a matter of time that he''d have this ability. And with his memories, I''m not surprised this happened." Meng then followed Seeker.


    "Regardless, he is an Oveer. Don''t test his patience."


    Rosa simply smiled.


    "Fine. I guess I''ll settle with making that Lynd or that Meryl a rival." Rosa sighed.


    "Master. We have something to report which Seeker says that you should deal with." Sting called out from afar.


    Rosa immediately waved her hand as the frost gathered itself and became a wall that contained Meng''s destion.


    "What is it?"


    "We may have to move against the Arabian nations first. Lowengren has faced certain circumstances which could change the status of the nations in the Caliphates as well as Africa."


    "Lowengren?" Rosa frowned as she gritted her teeth in anger.


    Meng held Rosa''s arm.


    "If you don''t want to lose your other sister to him, do not get angry. The more provoked you are, the stronger his Path bes. I will remind you that that man has already taken several of the strongest weapons I developed. If he can swindle me, he can abuse you." Meng gently held on to Rosa''s arm.


    Rosa took a few deep breathes as Meng turned to Sting.


    "What circumstances has he met that requires my aid?"


    "Aid? Oh no, Master. It''s not that he needs our help. Seeker approved of Lowengren''s actions since recent events have forced him to move our ns quicker. Lowengren can fulfill the role of creating chaos in the south. The WGP has appeared and has contacted Lowengren."


    "The WGP? There will be changes to our ns regarding them. At least, for some specific members or branches of the WGP. My father has information that should surprise even Seeker."


    Sting was surprised.


    "Are they our allies, master?"


    "Not all of them. Did the WGP sh with Lowengren? How is it that my father has yet to receive such information?" Meng frowned.


    "Master. An Antis Admiral ckmailed Lowengren and Alean."


    Meng rubbed his forehead as he felt his head aching.


    "Those idiots!" Meng cursed.


    Rosa was silent. She knew that if ever Meng would act against Lowengren, it would be to instantly kill him. Otherwise, Lowengren''s deception mighte knocking on his doorsteps as it did a month ago¡­


    "That Brat! If he causes a Continental war with his insanities, our ns will get affected! Why did Seeker allow this? What changed?" Meng hurriedly walked and followed Seeker. Rosa also followed.


    Meanwhile, inside one of the most prestigious hotels in Africa¡­


    The video surveinces that were shown were unclear, and others barely showed anything useful. But for each evidence that Lowengren presented, the expressions of the Commanders and the Fleet Admiral grew darker and darker.


    Lowengren had been exining the scenarios before him and all that has been happening in this country.


    "Intrik had three things he used to ckmail over me. The least important is my adulterous rtionship with the Lieutenant. Aside from this, Intrik also knew about how I have been using most of the military funds to research ways to cure my daughter. If I disobey him, he will rat me out to the African government. But these two are far less important than the first." Lowengren paused.


    "What made me decide to work for him is that he imed to be capable of healing my daughter. And with the fruitless efforts of the doctors and scientist who I have been paying¡­ I could only agree." Lowengren then turned his attention to Magantae.


    "Nevertheless, I followed through with everything that he needed. Including videotaping the erm¡­ sessions me and the lieutenant had for his viewing. He was¡­ forcing us to explore more. Of course, I will not deny that there was certain¡­ excitement to it. He was not interfering in any way and even had some suggestions."


    The Commander and the Fleet Admiral had an extremely terrorized look on their faces.


    "Im-Impossible¡­"


    "This-This¡­"


    "Why would Intrik-?"


    "Impossible! Intrik ns to betray the WGP?!" Magantae was so shocked that she wasn''t unable to contain her voice.


    The winess she held casually cracked at her grip. The Commanders around her had a myriad of expressions. Some were still stunned, others angry while others were in deep thought.


    "Wh-what? Betray?! You mean¡­ all of these¡­ were parts of his ns in betraying the WGP?!" Lowengren was confused and eximed.


    "Admiral¡­ Could it be? The missing Rule is with him?"


    The Commanders suddenly began discussing the probabilities and implications of all of Intrik''s movements.


    Lowengren started to match his frequency to those discussions and began talking with Alean.


    "How do you like my n? Isn''t it glorious? With this, the WGP will be investigating people who belong to the Aragarian Elite apart from waging war with itself."


    Alean was silent. Something strange was urring. It was as if a hint of insight was forming. For almost a split second, Alean could see things from a different perspective. No longer were there physical dimensions of height, width, and length. But something far more strange.


    In that second, the insights she gained made her heart tremble. A trembling of excitement.


    "Lowengren. Do you trust me enough to change your ns?"


    Lowengren physically reacted to the question as his face changed. The Admiral and the Commander were in the deep discussion that no one noticed it.


    Lowengren gathered his bearings at the strangely intimate question and asked back.


    "Of course. What''s up?"


    "I don''t know what it was. But you have to use your deception to get them to go with us into the Arabian nations."


    "Why?"


    "I don''t know why. But I''m confident that things will be advantageous for us if they do."


    Lowengren gave her a curious look.


    "I know this sounds crazy. But the only way I can exin it is this¡­"


    Alean paused to take a deep breath. Even she was hesitant to say it¡­


    "Lowengren¡­ My Skill has be a Path."

 Chapter 172 - The Secret Of The Unlocking

    A well-shaven old man sat down on a table in a small garden with very detailed artificial lightning.


    It was hard to believe that this garden was hidden deep inside the reddish and terrible mountain that had radiation levels that could kill a man after being exposed to it for a few minutes.


    "Finally. An Oveer that I don''t have to fight." Seekerughed as he walked towards the gazebo in the middle of this garden.


    "Wee to Eden. My little escape in this rednd." The old man smiled.


    "Nogard Meng. It''s a pleasure. I''m sure your son has given you the details of my life. I haven''t met you on my other life, but I''m confident that most of our victories must have had you as a foundation."


    Nogard Meng simply smiled mysteriously.


    "I''ve heard my son''s story. I have to say¡­ we''ve hidden well." Nogardughed.


    Seeker''s expression changed.


    "Hidden?"


    "Forgive me for being blunt, Seeker. In your past life, you had no right of standing in front of people like my son or that Lennox¡­ So you might not have received all of the information regarding the war."


    "Of course. I was a small-time streamer who was pushing for his luck to be a pro-gamer back then. It was only when Pangea was attacked by Australia did I managed to be part of the army."


    "Then I believe that me and my peers took action."


    "This was our hypothesis as well." Seeker spoke.


    "Our?"


    "Sorry. My memories have actually created a personality. I keep talking with him that I tend to think of him as a real person." Seeker gave an embarrassed smile.


    "Oh¡­ My son didn''t tell me you''ve be insane." Nogardughed.


    "This was just recent. My future memories managed to manifest itself when my control over the foundations of other Paths improved."


    "I see. Is this why you changed tactics?" A disgruntled Greydon joined in the conversation.


    Rosa was quickly tailing.


    For some strange reason, the flowers and nts around them were not affected by the destion.


    Seeker gave Nogard a strange look.


    "Amazing. The opposite of Destion."


    "Yes. I am He Who Plows by the Good Soil."


    "You don''t tread?"


    "I believe, people like me, who are destined to only be the foundations of your battle will be named as such."


    "You seem to have a fairly passionate view of the bible." Seeker smiled.


    "Our progenitor was after all."


    "Progenitor?"


    "The Mystery of the Unlocking wasn''t something that just popped up. Nor did it exist since time immemorial. Put it strictly, it is science. One of the greatest scientific achievements ever to be made. You should have touched in it. I sensed it earlier. You were able to see beyond the dimensions, correct?"


    Seeker frowned.


    "Seeing it? No. I can''t see it. I don''t know how to interact with it. The more urate statement is that my actions here seem to impact those dimensions. Still¡­ I can''t believe that there was such mystery over this Unlocking. So you''re saying that your Progenitor was the one who gave you this technology?"


    "Not exactly. Even before the Third World, my, no¡­ rather our Progenitor has already taken actions to prepare the Unlocking."


    "Our? I''m sorry. I''m not used to Communism."


    Nogardugh.


    "Such dad jokes. You really are an adult. But no. Our in a sense that you are also the fruits of hisbor."


    "Who is he exactly?"


    "He never told us. But based on what your story is, he should be an Aragarian."


    "An Aragarian?!" Both Seeker and Meng echoed in surprise.


    "Does it surprise you so much? It''s technology beyond ours. It would only be that this was the work of an alien. Otherwise, why have there been only a few Oveers who were born in this world? History must have had people like us. But in all of history, you could say that I and my peers were the first."


    Seeker was silent.


    "Why would this Aragarian help us?"


    "I would ask you that. Who among the Aragarian''s would betray their own?"


    Seeker then realized it.


    "The Lost Primordial?"


    "Oh? Our Progenitor called himself a Prime."


    "He is the Lost Primordial!" Seeker shouted in shock.


    "What is a Prime?" Seeker then asked.


    "I frankly have little or no knowledge about who or what I am. I was hoping that you''d have more details to who or what this Prime is." Nogard returned the question.


    "The truth is we have little knowledge about it. I only know the details of the Primordial when I was fighting one of the Presiders in the future. Knowledge about this Prime or the Primordial is rare even among the Aragarians. What most know is about a legend of some wicked person who rose to power and waster defeated. But the real history about this is shrouded in mystery."


    "What do they mean by wicked?" Nogard asked with a bemused expression.


    "I have no idea. But the way that the Aragarians would question me was that he was assuming we were the soldiers of this Primordial because we had the Unlocking. You should share your side of the story about your Progenitor."


    "Our Progenitor¡­" Nogard emphasized in correcting Seeker.


    "Our Progenitor is someone who lived way way back. He lived during the Post-Modern era. Just before the Third World War. If he is an Aragarian, then he must have lived even earlier. Regardless, he is the world''s savior. It was his reform that made it possible for the Earth to survive and grow after the Third World War."


    "He''s the founder of the World Governing Powers." Seeker realized.


    "Right. But you see¡­ the Progenitor was very very cautious. In fact, you could say he was paranoid. Ever since that era, the Progenitor had been making preparations. He would tell us to prepare for an enemy. And we will know who they are when they appear. He neither told us who our enemies are or what they will do. But our assumption all this time was that this enemy wouldn''t be alien. This is because the Progenitor would only reveal himself to one person of every lineage. So even in my family, I only learned about his existence when my father died and when my siblings were all dead."


    "What exactly did he reveal?"


    "A way to control our powers. Doesn''t it bother you? You and that boy Lynd required a sophisticated and advanced technology that could cool your body down. Yet people like me, who is clearly somewhere in the Proficient stage of Inhuman could survive."


    "Yes. Greydon was a mystery. The more we fought, the more I pondered this. What made him capable of reaching that level? Even if he did evolve his cells, the process of evolving would have killed him and fried his brain." Seeker concluded.


    "It was a practice in meditation," Greydon answered.


    "A technique that my father taught. Or rather¡­ instilled."


    "Oh? Is it something that can be taught to me?" Seeker was curious.


    "There is no need for you to learn this. You''ve already awakened your cells. And you''ve also began to interact with it. Those dimensions beyond the third. And frankly, the technology instilled in you is far stronger than the technology we use. Besides, what I have is iplete. I need the pieces of the others to perfect it."


    "Who are these others?"


    "The Progenitor made several preparations. Many of which we will never know. He did, however, give us several instructions that only showed his extensive paranoia. He ordered us, to not reveal ourselves unless our lives depended on it, or until this enemy appears. In fact, he forbade us from seeking out each other when the time came. So I don''t know who these are. But I am certain that you already gathered some of them."


    "The Oveers."


    "Exactly. Progenitor made great preparations and hid us well. This is why we thought this enemy would be among us. We thought that this enemy will be someone who has great authority and control in the government. He would have control over arge force and unlimited resource and if we were any more obvious, we''d be found out and killed. We assumed that this enemy would have such power that they could easily infiltrate our ranks. And so, we were to hide or at least have knowledge about this. I''m guessing that the WGP holds one individual who knows about this truth. But unless this individual has an ability simr to mine, then he would have received information from an ancestor."


    "The Progenitor is dead." Seeker caught on and concluded. A certain degree of sadness was apparent in Seeker''s expression.


    "Correct. I am probably thest person to have ever heard themands of our Progenitor. And I had to hide this even from my own son in following hismands."


    Greydon had a pained look.


    Seeker almostughed at seeing Greydon''s soft side but mustered his Adult self to control his mirth.


    "Progenitor died right after the Third World War. He charged me with this responsibility to act as a fortress should the enemy arrive. And they did."


    "So that''s what made you show yourself to Greydon."


    "I thought that the mysterious organization that battled here in China and stole the Rule was this enemy. Who would have thought that it would be you and this enemy would be an alien race?" Nogardughed.


    "You Progenitor was right."


    "Our Progenitor."


    "Alright, fine. Our Progenitor was right." Seeker reluctantlypromised.


    "The Aragarians possessed great technologies and control. If you would have been more rxed in terms of keeping this secret, you would probably have been wiped out and eaten up before you even knew what was going on."


    "I''ve heard about the Programmed ve tech that Harker has. In truth, that technology is also among my arsenals. It was one of the techs left by the Progenitor. But it seemed that the others who received that, have died."


    "So it really was an Aragarian tech."


    "What Harker has, however, is a different technology. It seemed that the materials he used were specific to using both Srium and Eradication technology. And because of that, even our scientists can''t imitate it. We have one, but it''s specific to the technologies avable to us."


    "Interesting¡­" Seeker smiled.


    "It means; we now have more resources of making Programmed ves. So these others also have their own? We have to find a way toplete this technology by gathering everyone. If this tech surpasses the techs the Aragarians currently have, then we could use this to surprise them!"


    "Your betting on our Progenitor''s capabilities? You''re assuming that if the Progenitor was able to create a Programmed ve technology specific to the countries tech¡­ then he should have technologies that surpass themon Aragarians."


    "Yes." Seeker answered confidently.


    "This doesn''t look like some Presider tech. This should be a step up. I understand it now. Nogard¡­ the Technological Possibilities that each country has¡­ Is this something your Progenitor established?"


    "Very perceptive of you. Correct. It was with his help that this was made. People attribute it to the World Governing Powers, but the truth was, our Progenitor was the one responsible for it. He helped the scientist and government of each region to build a technological possibility for themselves. The WGP, which was at that time under Progenitor''s control was also aiding some of the poorer countries such as Pangea to rise up."


    "Then that means¡­ Progenitor made connections in different countries? The Families!" Seeker then shouted in excitement.


    "Of course. The Families. These groups had strong foundations that could be likened to pseudo Technological Possibilities."


    "I also considered that. I have long sent my men to infiltrate the families. Most of them reached where they are now through external means. Of the more prominent ones that you should note of in Pangea-"


    "The Dalisay n." Seeker continued.


    "It seems you already connected the dots."


    "No wonder. They were able to fight back because they have yet to unveil their full Technologies. No wonder Gardo was able to be Unlocked! He must have been at least at Inhuman level to be able to fight off Harker''s armies!"


    "What about the Ranked Heroes? Rosa? What of your family?" Seeker asked Rosa.


    "My family?" Rosa wondered.


    "The Ranked Heroes of my timeline already had abnormal traits. Almost every one of them was a mystery. The problem was my existence!" Seeker exined.


    "Your existence shrouded doubt on the origins of the Ranked Heroes." Greydon understood.


    "Right! Because my existence gave rise to Meryl and Lynd, no one knew what would make a Ranked Hero! Especially when the mostmon of all men became a Ranked Heroester became a World Champion! But now¡­ this Progenitor of ours must have been behind all of this!"


    Rosa was silent.


    "Then it means my sisters are all capable of reaching my level?"


    "Yes. We were wrong all along! We thought that the Unlocking was something that our mindset added with faith could create! But we were so wrong! Even with the drug that Charles developed, it was unable to make people reach the Ranked Hero! This created more confusion in my timeline!"


    "I get it now! There were only a few who were gically and biologically capable of bing a Ranked Hero!"


    "Exactly! We have to find a way to determine who those with these potentials have!"


    "I belong to a strong Family in the European Nations. Could one, simr to father-inw be there?"


    Nogard was pleased at Rosa''s address of himself.


    "Who is the oldest among your family? And who is the most inconspicuous?"


    "I see. Uncle de. But why would he cast me out of my own family?" Rosa pondered. Her expressions revealed a hidden hatred towards this uncle.


    "To hide you, of course. How many knew of your powers?" Nogard asked.


    "Only my sisters. Apart from them, everyone I met and fought, I was able to kill. Except for my husband of course." Rosa blushed and turned to Greydon.


    "Oh. I smell a love story."


    "Please focus." The Adult Seeker manifested and reprimanded Seeker.


    "Erm. Never mind." Seeker gave an embarrassed reply as he noticed the Meng''s look at him with an odd look.


    "One of us, have to meet him. We have to use this opportunity to gather them all. Who among your groups are capable of meeting them?"


    Seeker grinned.


    "This is timely. I actually had one n to bring out more Ranked Heroes but this move may now target those that the Progenitor prepared. I have a way to make a broadcast that may alert those under the Progenitor''s banner. But to do that I need to know. What happened during the times after the Third World War? Why have you been avoiding talking about it?"


    Greydon and Rosa realized it immediately.


    "Quite perceptive of you. I was hoping you wouldn''t ask this question. I don''t trust you enough yet. Forgive me, but I am skeptical of your existence as well. What if the Aragarians is using you because they found out of the legacy that the Progenitor left behind on Earth and is using you to lure us out? Prove that you are from the future. If not, all three of us will kill you right here, right now."


    It was then that a shuddering pressure fell unto Seeker. His physical body withstood it. But he could sense a giant before him.


    "I can''t see it¡­ But I know that I won''t be able to leave scot-free¡­ Especially with Greydon and Rosa here." Seeker smiled.


    "Well? You have ten seconds to prove your ims."


    Seeker then used Surmounting Though. The Adult scurried his memories to search for anything that could be of use, but the Child gazed in marvel appreciation over the power of the Dragon.


    "What does this control? What are his powers?" Seeker pondered in amazement.


    The sensation that Seeker felt was not a physical sensation. It wasn''t an emotional forbearance. It wasn''t an instinctive reaction.


    "As the wind blows¡­ wherever it please¡­ so is someone borne of the Spirit¡­ I see¡­ So that''s why no one was able to reach the Unlocking before. It needed to have this seed ced on a person''s form on one of those dimensions to make them capable¡­ It''s the opposite of Charles'' drug. Charles'' developed something that could forcibly enable a person to have the potential of Unlocking but this made them unstable¡­" Seeker mumbled as he basked in this revtion.


    "All interesting points. But none of them would make me halt my counting. You have four¡­ three¡­"


    "You''re up, Old Man." The Childughed.


    It was then that a powerful change urred in Seeker. The full switching between the two personalities was very drastic that a few dimensions were quaking.


    Nogard halted in his count and was astounded. A soul far more mightier than his stood before him.


    "In my future¡­you told my master, the Realm King, to call Greydon by his real name. Robertson." The Adult Seeker assumed full control over the body of Young Seeker Carlean.


    Nogard stared in shock.


    "I guess that made you stop counting.." Seeker cheekilyughed.

 Chapter 173 - Primordial Seeds

    Nogard felt the changes and looked in shock.


    "Well? Did I prove myself?"


    "Two souls¡­ Interesting. You really are from the future! I could sense the changes when you appeared. Are you the one from the future? You have¡­ quite a bit of power."


    "Well, my younger self has yet to grow. Although he has my advantage, his battle experiences are very limited. When he awoke the Oveer''s Will I also got stronger."


    "So that ident where you dove into the ck hole that they created¡­ it did not only send your memories but it actually sent your soul?"


    "I don''t know what you mean. Kid Seeker said that he could sense a bit of your soul? Is that the manifestation of a person in the other unseen dimensions? Is that why you could see me?"


    "It is indeed. It''s a miraculous feat you pulled there. How could one''s soul be transferred? From what my son told me, the vessel that was used to transfer your memories was something that could transmit thought? Does it mean that a human only has dichotomy instead of the traditional view of a tri-part human?"


    "Tri-part? You mean the trichotomy of man? Body, soul, and spirit? You''re suggesting that since my memories made up my soul that there is only a dichotomy? Frankly, I don''t know. Unlike the Kid now who has been influenced by Eagle and allowed Eagle''s influence to change him willingly, I am different."


    "I''m sorry. Your existence just made me curious. Sorry for those random babblings. But what you said earlier also proves you''re from the future. Not many know of my son''s real name. And not many could understand the meaning of me asking someone to call him by that name." Nogardughed and nced at the confused expression of Greydon.


    "You hate that name, but your mom loved it."


    Greydon was stunned.


    "She did?"


    "As much as I care for this little emotional talk of yours, I need to know about the-"


    "Seriously? Old Man, let me take over." The Young Seeker interrupted mentally.


    "Fine." Seeker relented.


    "Sorry. My Adult self is sometimes senile." Seekerughed.


    "You really are insane." Greydon managed to contain his anger at the Adult''s rudements.


    "Two souls. Even I don''t get it. I think that the Thought Transmitter brought more than just memories. This was something that was developed based on the Path of another Unlock. Sadly, I don''t know who this person is. I had no authority to learn about the history of that man." Seeker sighed.


    "Then that is possible. I thought it was a technology that was made. I didn''t know it would be some sort of Path. Then that exins how you were sent here. But your vessel could not contain that other you. Only now it could."


    "I''m curious about what happened after the Third World War. If what you said is true, and that the WGP could be our allies, I want to know what happened at that time."


    "Of course. The tale of the Third World War wasplicated. People were being manipted left and right. Looking back, and now that I know who are enemies are, Progenitor''s ns made sense."


    "What exactly is the WGP? Why weren''t you part of it?"


    "I was chosen by Progenitor to follow this destiny. I was perhaps the strongest among my generation, and thus, I was asked to be a secret force that will watch over the World Governing Powers. You see at that time, we thought the enemy was a group of syndicates that held a powerful force in the world. The problem was that they were very coordinated even if they had no means tomunicate with each other. But if they were aliens then it made sense."


    "Yes. They have means ofmunication that surpassed our technologies then. They must have had constantmunication with each other."


    "You will have to tell things you knew of in the future. What do you know about the Third World War?"


    "What we know was that the Pioneers had long been sent and infiltrated earth. They created devices, gadgets, and technology that surpassed themon market and that made their empires powerful. Some Pioneers were politicians, others were business moguls, some became artists and actors or models that would influence the movement of the world. But what we have are all general descriptions of that time. I''m sure you know why no Pioneer could give us the detailed events of World War Three."


    Nogard smiled brightly. It was as if he was relieved and thankful.


    "It means, Progenitors ns seeded. We were able to kill all to the Pioneers sent to Earth."


    "Right. It was you guys. This has been a mystery on our part. All the Pioneers on Earth were killed. The Presiders didn''t join in because they believed the deaths might have been the result of the war. People were betraying each other at that time and so many rose to power at the deaths of these leaders who might have been Pioneers."


    "Yes. It was us. We didn''t know who they were. But Progenitor gave us a simple way of identifying who the Pioneers were."


    "Oh? Did he tell you to check their biology and note how they''re biology is the mirroring inverse of our body?"


    "No. Nothing soplicated. Progenitor told us to kill those who are rich and powerful before World War 3."


    Rosa was stunned. Greydon smiled and Seeker chuckled.


    "I''m beginning to like our Progenitor. Very blunt. If you guys knew about the whole mirroring thing, you would have suspected aliens as this secret enemy. Progenitor did his best to hide that fact. That way, if the Aragarians managed to infiltrate your ranks, this information would not alert them."


    "Yes. If the Aragarians knew that this Lost Primordial is on Earth, then perhaps we wouldn''t have had a chance in your future timeline."


    "Yes. They would send the Presiders and Principals immediately killing us all. They''re pride in not wanting to dirty their hands to kill us allowed us to survive."


    "We did our best to hide our powers and even ourselves. That is why, even to this day, aside from the WGP which was a joint effort among all of us who received the Progenitors orders, we don''t know who and haven''t contacted each other."


    "Aragarian reports in the future stated that there was a rumor that one Pioneer iming to have found hidden technology. It seems he discovered the one your- er- our Progenitor contacted in Pangea. The technology must have ended up in Harker."


    "Why did the Aragarians stopped their invasion of Earth?" Rosa asked Seeker.


    "It doesn''t make sense. Earth was weak after the Third World War. Why would they stop the invasion?"


    "It wasn''t time. What do you think the Earth would do, if an alien invasion suddenly happened? And this is considering that more than half of the world was devastated and had radiations, uninhabitablends and ces that still contained remnants of destructive technology from the various weapons created?"


    "Surrender?" Rosa guessed.


    Nogard smiled but he shook his head.


    "Those who survived the Third World War shouldn''t bepared to the weak generation of today. They were battle-hardened and with everything that was going on, they would not give up. They would rather die. The Aragarians probably knew this. It would have led to a nuclear war where the humans would go all out. And this would make Earth uninhabitable."


    "Nogard''s right. Also, I know that Nuclear technology is the one science the Aragarians avoided. From our information, their is smaller than ours and probably some war before made this tech a taboo tech to practice. They probably had some fears in pursuing anything that creates radiation. So even after the warm they didn''t want to interfere but waited for us to clean it up."


    "This gap became our advantage. It was there, that the seeds that Progenitor nted started to sprout. Almost everywhere, nations started to recover through technologies that they developed. Even the smaller and weaker ones had technologies that could aid in their protection and growth. Of course, we made it look like we gave all of the technology over to the WGP." Nogard continued.


    "Then this was all a cover?" Seeker asked.


    "Correct. At that time, the leader of the WGP was one of those nted seeds of the Progenitor. And so, she knew that the technologies that the nations around the world were developing were also seeds nted by the Progenitor. And because of that, Earth recovered very quickly."


    "Earth recovered too quickly that the Presiders didn''t attack?"


    "The WGP was strong. They controlled all weapons of mass destruction at that time. The nations of the world could also go to war and had diverse techs of their own. Do you understand?"


    Seeker nodded.


    "This was all arranged by the Progenitor." Seeker answered.


    "Yes. The instructions that the Progenitor gave us after the Third World War was specific, although, at that time, it was odd. Not just odd, it was a mystery then, but now we understand. He was giving Earth a fighting chance. He wanted to make Earthplicated with a new system of governance that everyone applied."


    "Countries having technologies of various kind¡­ The weakest nations suddenly bing strong enough to be a threat. A powerful organization that ruled the world. It was all to make the Aragarians rethink their solutions." Seeker understood.


    "Yes. The world had changed so much. The reforms that were applied made it hard for the Aragarians to infiltrate once more. The new world that the aliens returned too forced them to study. They had no choice but to rewrite history again. All of their peers were dead. They lost control of the war at thetter part of it. When we were secretly controlling the tides of battle, we made it that every country would not be afraid of using weapons of mass destruction and it got so chaotic that people would want to kill the other side even if it meant there was no future left for them."


    "He really is our Progenitor. His ns caused the deaths of billions." Rosa could not help butment as he nced at Seeker and Greydon.


    "The Progenitor must be one of those Aragarians which are far stronger than a Presider. It understood the mentality of the Aragarians. He knew that even then they would not dirty their hands. I''m guessing that an average Presider lives around one to two hundred years?" Nogard continued.


    "Yes. They could easily go to three hundred. It''s because of this that they aren''t in a hurry to take over Earth. This world has nothing for them. From what I understand, their system allows the higher leveled one in bestowing gifts towards them. We know that Presiders were the primary enemies in my future. But this entire mission is only something that they epted because of the possibility of earning rewards from a Principal. And I know that they weren''t optimistic based on how they acted in that war. Theycked the motivation to attack us. The fact that only a few Presiders were agitated enough to challenge us proved that many were just there for their own possible gains."


    "As expected. Progenitor knew all this. And so he was betting that his technology would have time to flourish during the interim that would inevitablye after the Third World War."


    "The technology of the Unlocking." Seeker was in deep contemtion.


    "Sadly, it seemed it wasn''t enough. For his preparations, all failed in your timeline. Which brings me to this question¡­ Did Progenitor make preparations or knew that you would be sent here?" Nogard asked.


    Seeker shook his head.


    "No. My appearance in this timeline is really what Greydon told you. I hid nothing. No one sent me and I got sent here myself."


    Nogardughed.


    Heughed and heughed.


    Seeker was patiently waiting but his expressions indicated that he was starting to look worried at Nogard.


    He wasughing so hard that Greydon looked worried.


    "I''m sorry. It''s just that I was one whoined or argued with Progenitor a lot. He wouldugh and simply brush it off, encouraging me that whatever happens will happen. I thought that he was just being flippant or uncaring. But I guess he was just positive. Who would think that his positivity worked? I''ve lived my entire life regretting, being frustrated and helpless at everything. And he was actually right. I just had to chill." Nogard recollected as heughed.


    "He was vague and frankly,x. Even to his death, I did not sense any seriousness in his action of helping us. But now¡­ it makes sense. Perhaps he saw something in the dimensions beyond what even I can see or sense. Maybe he somehow knew you''de."


    "And now that I''m here¡­ there''s a lot to be done. It looks like we''d have a lot of changes in our initial n, Greydon.


    "Indeed. We need to find others that the Progenitor approached. These so-called, seeds of his."


    "The Dalisay''s should be one. Also, Lowengren reported a powerful group of enhanced soldiers that could teleport. It seems that they belong to some secret organization that was hidden in history. Not even the WGP or the Aragarians know of them."


    "That''s great. But how do you n on contacting them?"


    "The same way I did with Meng. That''s our only choice. Progenitor made it that your groups would act with extreme caution. If our team goes, defeats them and puts them in utter despair and spare them, then we can talk."


    "You have Lowengren and Eagle. Even that Harker might have a shot in convincing them. Why go through the violent route?" Greydon asked.


    Seeker gave Greydon a strange stare.


    "I thought you''d be excited about this."


    "I do want to fight them. But such chaos would alert the Aragarians."


    "It isn''t that I''m being a battle-freak, Greydon. Although it is a factor, honestly." Seekerughed.


    "But we must pursue this route because this is necessary. We do not have any opportunities to fight each other. You''ve seen the effects of what happens when two or more Oveer''s sh. All of us have grown tremendously in that battle. In fact, I daresay, that the future you would probably be two or three times more powerful than the you in my future."


    "Then what of the chaos?"


    "Simple solution. We create more chaos. Don''t forget, Lowengren''s acting all crazy. With everything that has now happened, I believe that this is the right path to follow. At first, I cursed at the thought of Lowengren and that Alean working together to get back at someone who dared ckmail them. But now??? it seems that things will work out just fine." Seekerughed.


    Greydon and Rosa looked at each other. Both had fallen for Lowengren''s deception and knew that in this regard, they were not his match.


    "Chaos in the Middle East will not be enough. The Aragarians have connections all over the world."


    "I will be headed to Australia. The battle there will be extremely chaotic. I sent several Unlocked agents to attack a military base in China andter they will attack Russia. Don''t think that Arthur hasn''t been doing nothing. Once he learns all this, he can easily cause a Continental War. Not to mention, my ns with Lynd¡­ Don''t worry. The world will be chaotic soon." Seekerforted.


    Rosa raised her eyebrows at the ironic act of Seekerforting her husband with the chaos this world will fall into.


    "It seems that the reconciliation between your two souls has changed you." Greydon gave Seeker a sharp stare.


    Seeker looked back andughed.


    "Don''t worry. We came to an agreement. I have changed and I am insane... But my ns are the best. My adult self wanted our survival, the kid in me wanted to win and save the world. Now I want to save the world. But I know I can''t save all of it. So I''ll save what I can. This will be the bloodiest and difficult path for us. Do you understand?"


    "Yes. You''re taking a huge gamble here. This path will attract Principals or those beyond them. If they are too strong, all of Earth will die."


    "Isn''t it better this way? This is, after all, a New Game+."

 Chapter 174 - The Heartless That Died

    Jake looked at the red blood that covered his hands. The past days haven''t been peaceful. He wasmitted to living a life free from dangers, yet here he was killing for the sake of the one he loved.


    There was no time to reminisce. A few more seconds and the door before him would open as the enemies would rush in.


    Jake''s heart was beating non-stop. He was reaching his limit. If he did a few more, he would copse and fall unconscious. But this was the path he chose. The moment he attacked those men that were tailing Kristine, he knew he had no choice but to finish the task.


    "Now!" Jake thought as he jumped forward. His head moved through the door and a small part of his head emerged on the other side.


    His eyes could see through the other side. He saw the men trying to push through the door but was surprised at the resistance that they met. Jake didn''t allow his remaining body to slip through matter but pushed against the wall. He has been training himself physically and because he was an experiment, his senses and strength were a bit stronger than normal men.


    As such even these groups of strong men couldn''t push through the door.


    Jake threw the knife on his hand on the wall with expert precision and the knife ricocheted through the gap of the open door.


    As it moved beyond the door, Jake used his right hand to pass through the door and caught the bouncing knife on the other side.


    What followed next was a massacre.


    Jake was stabbing his enemies by the vital parts and after killing a few, he moved forward and slipped through the door and continued his massacre.


    In a matter of seconds, everyone was dead.


    Jake stood there naked, like the clothes we wore remained on the other side of the door.


    More men arrived on the other end of the hallway and saw Jake standing.


    "It''s him! Kill him!"


    Jake ran forward and moved at incredible speed.


    His steps were fast and it threw him forward standing a few inches before his enemies could even shoot him.


    Jake swung his des as fast as he could and decapitated the man who shouted.


    Time was beginning to move slower and slower on Jake''s perception. He knew he couldn''t risk another second of that state so he was risking it all on thesest seconds to kill them all.


    The change in perception allowed him to see things clearly. And so with that, positioned himself properly to avoid being aimed at by the guns and started to hack the others swiftly.


    As time slowed down, his strength and uracy multiplied exponentially.


    Less than three seconds passed and all the men who just arrived were killed. Jake wasn''t stabbing and shing as strong as he could, but would simply move and stab the opponents on vital parts.


    "What exactly¡­ am I?" Jake couldn''t help but mumble as he stabbed thest man in the heart.


    "The¡­ Naked Assassin." The man answered before dying.


    Jake then felt a strange pain urring around him. He fell down and began to tremble.


    "What''s going¡­ on?"


    Suddenly, Kristine appeared on the other end. She had several wounds on her arm as she limped towards Jake.


    "K?!" Jake forgot the pain for a second as the sight of Kristine caused him to worry.


    "Jake! What are you doing?! I told you not to use that again! You''re even thinner now!" Kristine cried in agony.


    She stumbled over to where Jakeid.


    Jake tried to get up but felt the sharp pain causing his muscles to contract.


    "AHHH!" Jake screamed.


    Kristine panicked and held on to Jake as she embraced him tightly.


    Jake was struggling in the embrace of Kristine who could only pin Jake down on hisp.


    "What''s going on? This is all my fault! I''m sorry Jake! I''m sorry Jake!'' Kristine cried.


    Jake heard Kristine''s cries and hated himself. He tried to fight back the pain and bear it. Soon, his wild movements disappeared as if he was calm.


    "Your arm¡­ You got hurt." Jake calmly said hiding all the pain he felt inside.


    "What happened? I told you to stay in that room!" Jake reprimanded with a smile.


    "And if I did, you''d be dead! There was another guy around this building. He was going to kill you back then. I¡­ I¡­"


    Jake understood at Kristine''s stuttering words.


    "You didn''t K. I killed him. It was me. I''m the only killer around here." Jake smiled.


    But Kristine''s eyes were tearing up. She was holding back all the tears.


    "I killed him, Jake. I had no choice. I killed him¡­" Kristine sobbed.


    "There there¡­ It''s alright. Here. Take my hand. It will be alright." Jake smiled as he tried to lift up his hand.


    Kristine froze.


    "Jake¡­ Jake¡­ what happened to you?! What''s wrong?" Kristine cried.


    "What? Nothing''s wrong. It''s going to be alright." Jakeforted.


    "Jake. I''m already holding your hand." Kristine wept loudly.


    It was only then that Jake noticed his hand holding on to Kristine.


    "Jake! Can you feel anything? Jake? Jake?" Kristine kept shouting.


    But at this moment, Jake had a strange sensation. He felt that he was getting sleepier and sleepier.


    Jakeposed himself,


    "K. You have to get out of here. I killed them so fast that they wouldn''t have had the opportunity to contact whoever their bosses are. I already destroyed most of the CCTV cameras in this building. They shouldn''t be able to find you."


    "What are you saying?!" Kristine cried all the more.


    "K. I don''t have much time. You have to escape. In the pocket of my shirt is some cash. I managed to steal a bundle. That should be enough to get you out of here. Go back to Pangea. You''ve got fans all around the world. Chances are people who will try to get you back to Pangea. You should have more fans like me¡­ who''d be willing to die for you? With your connections with Seeker Carlean, I''m sure General Harker would protect you."


    "I told you that your magic wouldn''t be enough! Why do you keep giving yourself out like that for me?!" Kristine cried.


    "I''ve lived a very selfish life. At least, in myst moments¡­ I won''t be selfish." Jakeughed.


    "I really was a fool, huh? I thought because I had this ability I''d be able to save you. But the more I learned of the people who are trying to get you¡­ the more I wanted to save you¡­ Who knew? Maybe at the end of it all¡­ you''d fall for me. I know you think it''s fake because your famous and very beautiful. But I really love you, you know?" Jakeughed as he spoke.


    "I know your feelings are real! It has to be! You gave everything to me! Jake. So please, don''t die. I''ll give everything to you too! Please! Please! Live!"


    Jake smiled as his vision turned dark.


    "I told you that I''d rather live with a broken heart than have a pieced up heart with a dead body. I¡­ take it all back. Those words you said¡­ It¡­ it... gave me life." Jake smiled and then he fainted.


    Kristine nced at the unconscious body of Jake.


    Kristine checked Jake''s pulse.


    "It''s finally over." Kristine sighed silently.


    She continued to act weak and tried to carry Jake''s body as she limped.


    "Do I really have to do this?" Kristine frowned as he spoke in a different frequency.


    "Of course you have too. Seeker''s tale of that time he was unconscious in his future. He still found a way to remember it all. We can''t risk it. His Unlocking is very diverse. It''s as if it''s a mutation. I know for certain that he isn''t a Selective Unlocked. His path is just different. His body grew stronger before his brain did."


    "And you said this was something that is rted to what Seeker just found out in China?"


    "Yes. Anyways hurry over here, so I can tell you all about it." Arthur coldly ordered.


    Kristine continued to struggle and limp as he carried Jake''s unconscious body.


    "He went a little crazy back there. Several of the cameras that should be connected to those confirmed Aragarians caught how he killed those men back there."


    "It''s perfect. Don''t worry. He will be dubbed as the Naked Assassin."


    "Wouldn''t that draw more attention?"


    "It won''t. He Who Threads in the Council of the Wicked did the same thing and even revealed his face. Don''t say his name." Arthur reminded.


    Kristine was able to stop herself from saying Lowengren''s name.


    "You''re being too paranoid. Like this conversation could ever get recorded."


    "You''re not supposed to say that. Hurry and meet them." Arthur disconnected.


    Kristine continued her act of limping and carrying Jake out of the building and finally reached the safe route which would be protected from most technologies.


    New Great Britain Admiral Ramsden stood and nced at the woman.


    "Is this him?"


    "Yes. This is the experiment." Kristine spoke with a voice that was vastly different from hers.


    "Can you do something about that Russian ent? I haven''t heard ents in twenty years. It''s annoying."


    "I like it. Shut up and pay me."


    "You have to wait. The EMP will be unloaded. I hope that this act of mine will show my sincerity in joining that Organization." Ramsden gave a coldugh.


    "The Lost Primordial will be pleased to hear that. Have you arranged our exit?"


    "In a few seconds, Australia''s EMP will explode."


    "Australian EMP?"


    "I managed to acquire one during my attack back then."


    "So it was this. You were trying to get those weapons. Impressive Admiral. This will create more strain between New Great Britain and Australia."


    "The WGP will be forced to act soon. I only ask you to save me a Rule for my loyalty."


    "A Rule? Quite greedy of you. But I''m sure we can arrange that."


    BOOM!


    A powerful explosion could be heard from afar.


    Suddenly, the lights around the city and all electrical devices went haywire and some were even destroyed because of the Enigmatic Maic Pulse that was sent out by the bomb.


    "Right on queue. Shall we? Comrade?" Ramsden imitated a Russian ent.


    "Too soon¡­" The woman followed and no longer walked limply but carried herself in an elegant and seductive manner.


    "Stanis. You know your mission. Complete it."


    "Yes, Admiral." The soldier saluted as he went his way.


    Ramsden and Kristine entered an armored car that disappeared in the darkness of the city.


    The soldier that remained was sprinting.


    Suddenly, he extended his palm and ced it on his ear.


    "Link me to Pioneer ntter! I have information about the Organization that attacked China!" He spoke trying to contain his excitement. His eyes soon turned arrogant the further and further he walked.


    Meanwhile, the armored car did not travel far but went to a secret portion of the street that had a secret underground entrance.


    Kristine and Ramsden finally walked out.


    "That was the nted?" Kristine asked.


    "Yes. Young Master Arthur really yed a good one on him. A series of events that made him naturally rise up to be one of my trusted men. In truth, Young Master just ced him on the right ce, at the right time. Three monthster, from a normal officer, he is now one of the most feared men in my army. At least¡­ that''s what he thinks."


    "I think Lowengren influenced Arthur too much." Kristine sighed.


    "Brilliant acting, I must say."


    "Not really. With that technique that Arthur asked Seeker to teach me, it''s really easy. I can push my emotions to truly feel things on certain asions. I feel really bad about doing this. Jake''s genuinely in love with me!"


    "Ugh. Then I hope you''d befortable with the next ns he wants us to do."


    "Us?"


    "Enough of that for now." Arthur walked in and began to resume mumbling random words, terms and numbers.


    "Arthy. You''re exerting yourself too much again! Stop that! You know you could faint in doing that!"


    Arthur stopped mumbling.


    "Our ns have changed. It''s a good thing I''ve prepared for any drastic changes in Seeker''s personality. But it seemed there were more surprises. So our ns will shift slightly once more."


    "So you were right? Seeker developed a split personality?"


    "It''s more than that. The specific exnation is that the soul of his future self has now managed to take partial control over Seeker. My estimates were only up to Seeker having some form of schizophrenia but knowing that there are two brains in his head is even better."


    "Where are we headed this time?"


    "Our invasions will follow to the South. Ramsden, prepare the extraction of the Twelve Disciples in Australia. We will be sending those twelve back to their homnd once the battle of the Kraken is over. We have to establish a foothold on the nations that currently upy Israel. Specifically, to thends beyond the Jordan from Israel."


    "I understand."


    "Also prepare tounch an attack on the European Nations. This is just in case Lowengren''s actions are too chaotic. Someone ckmailed him and Alean. Seeker gave them the green light. They are currently with a Fleet Admiral of an Antis. If we manage to make her our ally, then it would be very advantageous in our ns regarding the WGP. We have changed our ns from exterminating the WGP to simply destroying them."


    "Erm¡­ What''s the difference?"


    "Destroying them is simply killing about 70-80% of them. Exterminating is a totalmitment to killing all 100%."


    Kristine couldn''t help but sigh.


    "Kristine. We have to pick up the speed of our experiments. I will have to focus on this one. My next ns will push you to the limits of what you can do."


    "Even if I''m an Unlocked?"


    "Yes. I''ll exinter. For now, the basics are, that there is the existence of an Aragarian betrayer who must be at least at the level of a Principal or greater. Going by his title as the Lost Primordial, and how the Aragarians named their ranks, it''s most likely that the Primordial stands higher than the Principal."


    "A betrayer? How sure are we that he is an ally?"


    "He created the Unlocking. And we are all fruits of this science he nted on Earth a hundred years ago. Nogard Meng is among those who were given a mission by this Aragarian. We will now refer to him as the Progenitor."


    Ramsden and Kristine were silent as the surprise robbed them of their own thought.


    "But this Progenitor knew how powerful the Aragarian''s are. And he was more cautious than we are. In fact, in terms of cautious preparations, we would be like a child before him. All powerful Families on all prominent nations will be subject to our consideration. Among the might Families of this world, could be a hidden ally. Progenitor arranged that these allies will not, and should notmunicate with each other. I''ll send you more details about the traits that they might have. I''ll also give you the instructions on your next assignments on what to do with Jake."


    "You''re leaving?" Kristine was surprised.


    "Yes."


    Kristine sighed and gave Arthur a light smile.


    "Where are you headed off to? It''s her isn''t it?" Kristine smiled.


    "Yes. Ramsden. Revive your old connections to the Underworld.. I need to go to Egypt."

 Chapter 175 - A Confusing Chaos

    General Vender Hircok awoke from his sleep. His body continued to have pangs of pain. The trembling in his body was not dying out. As Vender moved, he noticed that things were strangely slow around him.


    "What''s going on?" Vender wondered but noticed that his voice was strange and then suddenly, a ball was floating towards him. It was slow and he grabbed the ball.


    "Getting used to it? This is the side-effect of using my new drug. This one is based on the theories I got from those Selective Unlocked. I focused on perception first as it seems to be the most important aspect of the Unlocked." Charles appeared. He motioned to have Vender throw the ball back.


    "Mind your strength. Get used to the changes in your body."


    Vender looked at his hand and decided to throw the ball.


    The ball traveled slowly, but Vender knew that the ball he threw had such force as he exerted more effort than usual.


    Charles smiled and caught it with one hand.


    "That was a strong throw." Charlesughed.


    "Yet it didn''t even move your hand."


    "You are just on the Unbing stage. Right between Advent which is the first level of that stage, and Proficient which is the second. I''m already at thest stage. It''s nothing special. I also did the same procedure to your wife."


    "What? What did you do to my wife?!"


    "Rx. I had to do it because I need to see her DNA and cells and study it. It could help me with healing your daughter. And besides, your wife should be stronger now than some regr soldier. I''ve seen kids take out an army because of the difference in time perception. But even if we don''t add the time perception in the mix, the change in physical strength, their remolded stamina that could match cheetah is already ubsurd cheats that could make them simr to any cybeically enhanced or modified humans." Charlesughed.


    "What you should focus on, is your perception. You''re still seeing things slower than it should be. Let me help you¡­ Follow the sound of my voice and adjust yourprehension to the speed of how I talk." Charles started to speak slowly mid-way.


    "The trick in time perception is to rx your mind. Stop thinking or focusing. The drug that I gave you will have this side effect of your brain being too tense."


    At that point, Vender could see things at the normal speed. The minute hand on the clock seemed to have been moving second by second.


    Vender sat back down and noticed that he was in a strangeb.


    "Where are we?"


    "In a littleb that I brought with me. I had to park theb further outside the country and could only bring it in today. But now that my devices are here, I can continue with my experiments. I''m a very busy guy. Aside from the impossible miracles of trying to save your daughter, I have another task to fulfill. And that is the development of the Unlocking. Did you remember ourst conversation?"


    "Last conversation?! That monologue you had when you were trying to kill me, again and again?"


    "Yes."


    "Of course I don''t! How the hell could I -" It was there that Vender realized he recalled everything? The conversation that Vender didn''t pay mind to as he was trying to escape the nozzle of the rifle and the machine gun that was aimed right in front of him, became instilled in his memory word-by-word.


    "Why do I remember? Aliens¡­Aragarians? The Unlocking? I am an Unlocked?" Vender nced at his arms.


    It was as if Vender recalled and easilymitted all that information to memory.


    "Optimum time-perception. Advanced Recall also confirmed. Physical strength within eptable range¡­ Looks good. Congrattions! You''re the first sessful experiment to have crossed the Advent level and reached Proficient of the Unbing stage."


    Vender understood Charles'' cryptic words as his memories made him recall everything that Charles'' talked about as he was sting rifles and machineguns several inches from Vender''s head.


    "Of course, I had to make sure that you were already experiencing those states where your brain temporarily moves beyond its normal capacity. With adrenaline and a pseudo-near death state, the drug worked perfectly and enhanced it all."


    Vender was silent. But he could feel the miniature changes ongoing in his body.


    "I can feel my blood flow¡­" He could not help but voice out.


    "That''s new. A form Advance Realm Somatotopy... You could even feel your blood, huh? It''s a good thing mybs here now. We can run more tests."


    Vender then realized an important truth he skipped. He looked around theb to confirm it.


    "These are¡­ Non-African techs! How did you manage to move it inside without being detected?"


    "The attack helped." Charles smiled smugly.


    "The attack?"


    "An Australian EMP attack. It exploded right next to your base. Your base wasn''t the only one attacked. There''s another attack that was made on Pangea, another one on New Great Britain, and any minute now, the WGP should also be attacked. The world is in chaos nowpared to when you were awake three hours ago."


    "What happened to the base I was defending?"


    "The EMP attack damaged and destroyed most of your weapons. What do you think would happen?"


    "The Caliphates army invaded." Vender gripped his fist.


    "I suppose this is the price of the choice I make. I didn''t you would go to those extremes. Was it to hide your existence? Was it to cover my disappearance?" Vender smiled but the pain in his heart caused tears to flood his eyes.


    "What are you talking about? The Caliphates army did attack. But the WGP was there. They were so angry that they wiped out the army and evenunched an attack at the base as a warning!"


    "What?! But but¡­ What about the Australians?"


    "The Australians?"


    "EMP Tech was theirs wasn''t it?"


    "No. That EMP bomb was one of the many weapons ransacked during the sacking of Australia. Arthur gave me one, knowing that I would need it. But I swam here from Greece to talk with Lowengren first. So he made this n of faking a Caliphate attack. Of course, we made it look like it was from Australia and attacked several nations. But that EMP was only to give me a chance to send my Lab in. I parked thisb outside of your country, remember? The EMP destroyed the sensors and the battle between the Caliphates and the WGP allowed my safe and silent entry."


    "So my base is alright, and my family is safe, and there is hope in saving my daughter?"


    "Yes. But don''t forget. The drawback is that you must admit that you''ve been having a perverted rtionship with the Lieutenant. Don''t worry. Lowengren already exined things on your behalf. So your wife''s ok with it. Oh and, you''re country might go to war with the European Nations or the Caliphates. Depending on the sess of the attacks happening in Pangea, Australia, Egypt, and the Ice Nations."


    "War?"


    "Right. War. One China might go to war with the Caliphates or Russia too."


    "What the hell happened when I was asleep?" Vender could not help but curse.


    Charlesughed.


    "So this is what Seeker felt when he would surprise me! It''s refreshing! No wonder that brat loved doing this back then! To answer your question, let''s go to the news. Let''s start with One China."


    Therge monitor that was hanging above the room suddenly turned on and the feed changed to show news in One China.


    "The attack on these bases could only be from them. We do not know why they attacked but we have already identified the culprits. We have already learned of their route before theynded. So we don''t have any reason to believe that the Caliphates would attack us. Of course, the Russians do not share our perspective and are even ming us for faking it. How there they? Fake it? We lost a priceless and strategic base just as they have!" The Chinese official cursed.


    "But regardless of the idiotic ims that the Russians are making, we will set aside theirints about now and focus on the true culprits!"


    "The Russian base¡­ A Chinese base? This can''t be the Middle Earth Triangle? Two bases were destroyed?!" Vender guessed.


    "Not destroyed. But you''re right. It''s two of the three military bases that guarded the boundaries between the Caliphates, Russia and One China. Although, here''s a secret. I''m sure they''re exaggerating the news. They weren''t destroyed. Both nations are exaggerating the attack to have more reasons to either attack or force the WGP to allow several war skirmishes. After all, One China is weakened after the ck Dragons'' death. Of course, several important facilities were damaged in their bases."


    The information on those two bases being attacked was extremely crucial for a military man like Vender. Ever since the Third World War, those bases had always remained stalwart despite the usage of Weapons of Mass Destruction.


    "Why? Why would the Caliphates have attacked them? They have nothing to be gained from attacking two bases at once? Wait! No. This was your n! You did this?"


    "No. How could I do that? I''m right here!" Charlesughed.


    "Your team did it! That was foolish! If you sent an army, those Aragarians you mentioned would easily trace it back! Didn''t you told me earlier when you were switching from that damned rifle and the perverse handgun that they have connections and technologies that far surpass the World Governing Powers!?"


    "Yes. But we won''t be the ones who will take the me. Besides¡­ What attacked those bases wasn''t an army. It was amando unit." Charles answered mysteriously.


    "Then who could it be?! Two bases of such high profile security wouldn''t even receive damage from an airstrike!"


    "We are confident that we have the mastermind. We demand an exnation from the European Nations as to why they attacked us!" The Chinese official continued. His angry voice made Vender hear it clearly and Vender turned his attention back to the news report.


    "They have the means and the capability to attack us. They probably hope that we would me the Caliphate. But of course, the Caliphate could be working together with the EU! So until then, the mastermind of this attack will be continuously tortured until she confesses. I don''t give a damn about human rights! We lost a General and now we lost a base!"


    Vender stared in awe. He felt stupid for ming Charles and his team for this.


    "I see. You weren''t directly involved. You used people. So it''s the EU. Then it must be that European Secret Service! The G-7!"


    "The who?" Charles was surprised.


    "You Pangeans shouldn''t know of them. But our battles with the EU have thought us many things. The G-7 is a powerful team of seven individuals. They could destroy nations, conquer kings, and kill thousands. They must have sent them! The Gore, the Gentleman, the Grim Reaper! It must be them! But the mastermind was captured? The God was captured. Unbelievable."


    The scene on TV then disyed the profile of Amanda Mershalle.


    "That''s the God?" Charles asked with a sarcastic expression. He knew that whoever attacked the bases weren''t these five gods. Listening to General Hirock reveal his deduction brought such joy to Charles.


    "Er... Probably..."


    "Who is Amanda Mershalle? And what makes this mastermind of the recent attacks on the bases so peculiar? She is a Caliphate native who eventually moved and resided in the European Nations where sheter became a formal citizen. She began her modeling career through various adult entertainment-type shows and was a porn actress for three years."


    "Wow. China''s really pissed at her. They even used the term porn star. Haven''t heard that term used since ever." Charles gave a surprised whistle.


    "A porn star masterminded the attack on those two bases?!" Vender was so shocked that he almost choked from his saliva.


    Charles was full of glee. How many times has Seeker done this to him, he wondered.?


    "I kinda miss him¡­" Charles could not help but sigh as he recollected those fun na?ve days with the arrogant Seeker Carlean.


    "Let''s head to the news in New Great Britain." Charles ignored Vender and changed the channel once more.


    "We believe that these attacks were made with a specific purpose." The Prime Minister of New Great Britain was on the news.


    "Wow. They actually used her to deliver the news. Looks like New Great Britain is taking things seriously."


    "The attack using EMP technology has been confirmed. Whoever did this know the city well! It damaged most of the power nts causing the city-wide ckout and we''ve estimated businesses to have lost funds by the billions. The WGP has recently delivered to us an intelligence report indicating that several organizations were tied to Australia. With how Australia has been losing funds, I''m sure that resorting to establishing trade deals with criminal organizations would be the expected result."


    "The EMP attack on New Great Britain. But you did this right?"


    "Yes. Our team did do that. I''m sure it''s Arthur."


    "But who are you going to me? You told me when we were fighting, that we are trying to hide from those Aragarians! But everything you''ve been doing is all crazy explosions that making World War 4!"


    "Are we? Didn''t you just hear? The Russians are ming the Chinese; the Chinese are ming the European Nations because the mastermind was Amanda."


    "How did you make it look like Amanda was trying to attack and damage two strategically important bases by two different countries?" Vender demanded an exnation.


    At the silence of Charles''s refusal to answer Vender''s question, the high-pitched voice of the Prime Minister of New Great Britain could be heard.


    "And so, we concluded that this incident, dubbed as the Naked Assassin is the cause of this attack. Here is the video clip of a naked man, killing several undercover agents in one of the most notorious criminal organizations."


    A low-quality clip of a naked man shing and stabbing several men was seen. Later, an unidentified woman rushed towards the Naked man, and after a few moments, the two were seen leaving the exit.


    "A Naked Assassin?!" Vender was so bewildered that he was pulling the hair off his head.

 Chapter 176 - Three Shapes

    Colestar walked out of the elevator. The entire trip down was quiet.


    Although the base that everyone could see was impressive, the real base that was hidden underneath was far moreplicated. It dug down severalyers below the usual underground levels. Lennox had given them several of the techs that made Russia quite powerful as it was able to create underground fortresses effortlessly.


    Colestar witnessed the weapons being amassed and couldn''t help but shudder.


    "Oh! Mister President!" A tall, handsome youth ran towards President Colestar.


    "I finally get to meet you! Wow! This is amazing! I never imagined I''d get to meet the President of the Pangean Nations!" The youth excitedly called out.


    Colestar was trembling in fear. Harker had sent him more evidence of the truth about the Aragarians and sent several samples of what this tall kid pulled off from the battles in New Birth Fort and the extra-curricr recordings that Harker requested they record during their after school sessions. These extra-curricr student activities involved the attack on several organizations in the Underworld and threatening the leaders of these groups.


    Colestar could vividly remember the tale of what this man did when he got angry in My-Pangea.


    "General Lynd Indigo!" Colestar called out respectfully.


    Lynd was stunned.


    "Oh, Nutterballs! I forgot that I outranked you! Sorry, Mister President sir. I''m not used to this. I mean, I''m just a kid after all!" Lyndughed.


    "But really¡­ It''s an honor, sir. I''ve actually been supportive of your administration. I was kinda bummed when Zeek said he wanted to destroy your organization but I''m d that we''re allies now! I was really worried, to be honest. Since we didn''t want to spend more on creating those Programmed ve I thought we were going to kill you! I mean, it was either me or Meryl who Zeek would send. Killing you would be far too easy for Cliff after all¡­ Oh, don''t tell him I said that. He''s a nice guy. Probably one of the strongest next to me and Meryl around here. But he can''t make it. I heard his preparing to attack one of those WGP bases. Crazy stuff happening right?"


    "General Lynd. Please don''t be so easy-going when talking to the President." Harker finally stepped in.


    "Oh sorry, Harker. Any word from my parents?"


    "They''ll be one of the viewers in your next show. We''ll enable their mics so you can hear them." Harker nodded.


    "Great. What were they up to recently? Do you know?"


    "They epted that crazy mission. The Mikado''s wanted someone like Cliff to handle that but since we''re short in hands, we were hoping to dy that mission until we''ve confirmed the progress of the Twelve Disciples. But your parents were insisting on it. Frankly, even I couldn''tplete that mission as fast as they im they can. Your parents are such a-"


    "Nutterballs. I know. That''s how we got that expression." Lyndughed.


    "Nutterballs it is then. You seemed confident." Harker smiled.


    "Well, they kinda told me what they''ve been through before they had me. So I have an idea of what they''re Skill could be. And it''s really perfect considering their mission. They won''t do it themando route though. They''d probably make a rebel army first."


    Harker was in deep thought.


    "They can do that?"


    "Mom and Dad have street smarts. Even if you are to deploy them to the heart of Ivalice, if they say they can overthrow that government in three months then they should."


    "Without drawing attention? How? What Skill do your parents have?"


    "Erm¡­ I don''t know how to exin it. You see, dad and mom loved hanging out in bars and would talk to people¡­ The reason they managed to escape and lie low in Pangea was that they kinda started the Cambodian Counter."


    "You''re¡­ serious?"


    "That''s what they said. They were good buddies with that Cambodian leader. They met at one of those bars and talked. Back then they were in charge of bringing down the military base on Cambodia. But things went bad and their entire team was killed. They wanted to avenge their team and nned to build another group of mercenaries inside Cambodia. Strangely enough, dad said that more and more people joined them whenever they wouldin about the government."


    "Comin?"


    "Well¡­ that''s why I said I kinda know what they''re skill is."


    "Organizing a military group from nothing?"


    "Well no¡­ Mom said the people in Cambodia kinda did it on their own. Dad and mom just kept apanying that Ra-guy and talk to people and theyter managed to make one General angry enough to support them."


    "Ra-guy¡­ meaning Raaghav Ngor?" Colestar couldn''t help but ask.


    "Yeah. That guy."


    "Then the General is the Champion of Cambodia¡­ Straph Siegeman?"


    "Sorry, Mister President¡­ I''m kinda lost when ites to their history." Lynd answered in shame as he failed to reach the expectations of the Pangean President.


    Harker couldn''t help but feel a sense of insecurity.


    "Anyway¡­ You mean to say, it was your parents who convinced these two to start the coup d''etat? Howe your parents are unknown?"


    "Well¡­ Because they didn''t exactly convince them. If I''m right, the skill my parents have isn''t something as useful and powerful as you or Lowengren."


    "So it''s not lying, convincing or motivating or anything simr?"


    "No. Dad and Mom can make other people feel really bitter."


    "Bitter?" Colestar and Harker chorused.


    "Yup. They made that R-guy so bitter that he got mad and did that rebellion thingy."


    Colestar''s mouth was wide open while Harker gave an understanding nod.


    "That''s a nice Skill. It isn''t useful in battle. But with the right situation, it could even be more useful than a Path." Harkermended.


    "Right. How was the call with Zeek?"


    "Your mission has changed. You will need to say a specific line during your stream."


    "Oh? We''re pushing through with the stream?" Lynd was surprised.


    "Outwardly, we will be using your stream as a morale booster for Pangea. That Australian EMP bomb that exploded caused panic and concern. We need something to boost our countries morale. Your stream format will change. We will be offering 100,000 credits to anyone who can kill you in Generals and will be broadcasting it on the entire world. Behind that, Seeker has prepared gambles and bets from the funds we just allocated."


    Colestar couldn''t take it anymore.


    "Why did you do that, anyway? The Mindanao region of Pangea, particrly the area where you deployed the bomb was one of the most important locations in our country! You know most of our weapons are being developed there. We could have used that EMP to attack the Visayan region or even My-Pangea or Indo Pangea!"


    "It''s because of the Aragarians. They surely know about that. If we attack and damage one of the most important pieces in our army, would they suspect us?"


    "No! They would not suspect us! But isn''t that a bit too much? Pangea needs those weapons!"


    "We are approaching a time when those weapons are obsolete. You''ve seen the videos of what these kids can do. They were merely at the Unbing stage yet they could take on soldiers easily. The advantage of perception, time dtion, sensing, and so on is so strong that even if an old woman in her sixties bes an Unbing, she can take on a young soldier who has been properly trained. The stronger our soldiers be, the weapons they need to fight other countries be very simple. For people like Meryl or Lynd, a simple sword would be enough to kill a hundred men."


    "But didn''t you say that the techs the Aragarians have can easily breach that gap?"


    "Yes. That''s why our goal is to gain more techs and piece them all up together."


    "Piece them all together?"


    "I don''t understand it either. But that''s the n Seeker has sent out. The information he gave was cryptic. I can only guess a certain extent of it, but due to his paranoia, I''m not allowed to exin it."


    "So you are faking that attack in Mindanao to redirect the identity of the organization that is challenging the World Governing Powers?"


    "Yes. This will create confusion in both the Aragarians and the World Governing Powers. Australia can either deny or admit that it was them that attacked. Three EMP bombs were deployed in three different regions. Africa, New Great Britain, and Pangea. The problem is that Australia did not initiate it. As of this moment, Australia must be under the control of the Aragarians. They will ponder on who would initiate this attack."


    "What if they guessed that Pangea attacked both nations and only blew up one bomb in our country to escape suspicion? I mean, we could have prepared and moved the weapons in Mindanao before using that EMP bomb." Lynd guessed.


    Harker gave Lynd a strange look.


    "You''re¡­ not emting Arthur?"


    "Erm. No. I need to grow smarter on my own. Imitating others is very taxing. I should only use it in critical moments. When I emted Arthur, I came to this conclusion. Right now, this time is the perfect opportunity to grow my cunning. Zeek told me that I was pretty straight-forward in the future. I guessed that I had no time to develop a sense of cunning on my own." Lynd smiled innocently.


    "Impressive. He''s right. In a high-stake battle soon, the less you rely on emting others, the stronger you will be." Harker smiled in admiration.


    "So what of my suggestion?" Lynd asked.


    "What you fail to ount is the fact that the WGP and the Aragarians have very deep connections. In fact, I believe most of their connections are the same. Many WGP double agents are actually Aragarians. That bombing was made on one of our most important military facilities. And we made no preparations to escape it."


    "Oh! Nutterballs! What a great n! They won''t suspect us!"


    "Exactly. Because we lost weapons worth billions. It''s not something that Pangea can avoid sacrificing just to prove our innocence in that matter."


    Colestar was beginning to see the picture and snapped his fingers.


    "And New Great Britain would be the most likely country! Its either them or Russia! China seems to be the most unlikely nation in their eyes!"


    "Right. Of the countries that took part on the Sacking of Australia after New Birth Fort''s fall, Pangea bes the least suspected country. Russia has to cross the enemynds of the Caliphates in order to make the attack on Africa. Only New Great Britain has that capability. But it doesn''t make sense for New Great Britain to make those actions. Why would New Great Britain attack the strong nation of Africa that has always been favorable to them?"


    "It feels like we''re finally building momentum. What changed? Why is Zeek suddenly rushing a war?"


    "It has to do with what he learned in China. He is rushing back here as we speak. And then, he''ll head off to Australia and cause more confusion there. With the world in chaos, it will create more panic and rumors of wars."


    "Wars and rumors of wars. I downloaded Eagle''s sermon on thatst night. Looks like we''re finally going to fulfill the Olivet Discourse." Lynd couldn''t help but give a loud sigh.


    "Meryl already arrived on the EAA. Her actions should be on the news soon. This will be very interesting." Harkerughed.


    "What''s her mission?" Lynd asked.


    "Can''t say. Seeker told me not to inform you. He wants you to see his genius too." Harker sighed.


    "Oh¡­ Alright. He hasn''t been able to brag about how cool he istely. I''ll give him this chance."


    "So my stream is meant to gather more funds?"


    "Yes. I''ll send you a line that you have to say. Zeek wants to add more nervousness to a certain secret organization. So he wants you to say it. That event will be watched by the world after all. So it should reach the ears of these secret organizations."


    "Is it the one in the EAA? Those ninjas that fought Alean?"


    "That''s Miss Alean to you¡­" Harker coldly reminded.


    "Erm¡­ Ri-right¡­" Lynd''s face turned red as he took a few steps back.


    Colestar gave a weird look at the two and pondered the strange reactions.


    "Anyway¡­" Harker continued to change the subject.


    "Colestar¡­ The reason why I called you in, is because you have to make an appeal to the World Governing Powers to build more floating fortress. Petition to build three Shapes."


    "Three more? I see. We used the attack to give ourselves a reason for arming ourselves."


    "Right. With this, we have reason to transform the Massively Reimed Lands into arge navy port. The three Pangean nations will each be building one Floating fortress at once."


    "We don''t have enough funds for that! Tatsuloks, Lingkarans, and Persegis all at once? A single shape is costly enough, you want to build three shapes simultaneously?"


    "I will be heading back up to talk to Lara Diamon and Charm Novelty-stoise to discuss possible trade deals to make things easier for us. But don''t worry about the resource. We have various means to get a lot of money from different countries."


    "The Aragarian Lara? Isn''t she like a Presider?" Lynd asked.


    "The more she thinks she knows, the easier it will be to fool her. On the surface, the three Floating Fortresses is a massive project that we are trying to create. And the funds that we will be spending can cover up a portion of this project."


    "Wait¡­ A portion?" Colestar was stunned. Three floating fortresses was an astronomical amount.


    "It''s not enough?"


    "No. We won''t be building three floating fortress. We will be building a mobile country." Harker grinned.


    "Wait¡­ you''re turning the Massively Reimed Lands into one giant fortress!" Lynd finally guessed it.


    Harker nodded his head.


    "Exactly. That is why, you must earn that money, Lynd. Utilize your skills in that stream. The gambles that we will be making in the Underworld could easily reach trillions of credits."


    Lynd gave a solemn nod.


    "So that''s why Seeker wants me to do this. I was curious why he wanted me to do this¡­"


    "This will be the biggest project of Pangea. And it will be our most secretive task. Colestar, you are to focus your tasks on gathering the resources for this. Have some of your officials embezzle money but secretly use it for the building of this beast."


    Colestar''s expression changed.


    "I understand your n now¡­ Seeker¡­ you¡­ all of you¡­ never intended to save Pangea¡­"


    Lynd gave Colestar a slightly irritated look.


    "Forgive me for these blunt words, Mister President. Caring for one country is no longer a luxury when the world is nearing extinction."


    Up above this underground base, on a semi-underground level, Lara and Charm watched in horror at the news urring all over the world.


    Charm remained seated as her eyes locked on the news.


    "So¡­ this is why that Harker is trying to force me to fight for my seat¡­" Charm mumbled as she stared nkly at the news.


    "Charm¡­ Tell me everything. I don''t know if I can help¡­ but I can try." Lara smiled as she patted Charm on the back.


    "Lara¡­ Do you think that the organization trying to destroy the World Governing Powers is real?"


    Lara gave Charm aplicated nce but decided to nod.


    "It''s obvious, Charm."


    "Lara¡­ I am a pure descendant of the World Governing Powers."


    Those few words stunned Lara.

 Chapter 177 - Purpose And Money

    Lara silently walked over Charm and tapped her on the shoulder.


    "What exactly is going on, Charm?"


    "The Novelty-stoise n is a very special Pangean family. In fact, of all the families, it is probably the strongest." Harker emerged from the hallway.


    "Sorry I had to make you wait. Charm¡­ I hope that you are alright. And pardon me for the rush. I was¡­busy."


    "We saw. The attack of the Australians." Charm answered stoically.


    "The priority was to protect Seeker and Lynd. Seeker has been moved back to an undisclosed location¡­" Harker nced at Lara.


    "You understand, right?" Harker smiled.


    "An EAA student with vast connections. Of course. As you can see, General, I am very patient and have even allowed you to take me under custody."


    "I am very much appreciative of your tolerance and understanding. The world is changing as you can see. The attacks have urred. I was right. In return to my power, they are betraying me." Harkerughed.


    "Truth be told, I expected it. Sadly, they haven''t fulfilled their part of their promise. I got what I need, but when they learned I nned to betray them, they halted their ns. At least, from what I know, they will still pursue their attack on Australia."


    "Who?" Lara asked.


    "Who do you think, Miss Charm?" Harker turned and asked her.


    Charm was confused.


    "The WGP?" Charm was confused.


    Harker shook his head and gave a lightugh.


    "I''m disappointed. You really don''t know. Well¡­ it is expected. You are merely one who holds the right to challenge that seat. I won''t beat around the bush, Miss Novelty-stoise, I want you to challenge that seat. We will support you in your rise. You have to do it quickly though. Pangea doesn''t have much time."


    "Pangea?" Charm asked in surprise.


    "The WGP was formed after World War Three. But when they were formed, they held incredible power. You may know more about the details of that era as you must have learned something from your parents. Let me ask you this, what caused the rise of the WGP?" Harker challenged.


    Charm gave Harker a confused look. Lara, on the other hand, tried to contain her curiosity and remained wearing a confused face.


    "I don''t understand the question. You''re presuming that I know something, but I don''t. All that I know about the history of that era, is all that we all know in our textbooks."


    "So even a True Inheritor doesn''t have it¡­ Maybe you should have at least vied for the throne or sat on it to learn¡­ but let me suggest something. In World War Three, and even the times before that¡­ There was a battle that was happening before the events that led to World War Three. It was a political, military, and even religious battle. It was between two particr groups who vied to rule the world. They controlled media, governments,panies and used their power to shape culture into what it was at that time."


    "Two organizations?" Lara asked.


    "Correct. I''m not sure how they were formed. Some say they were the Free Masons, others the Illuminati, others avoided conspiracies and simply believed it was an organization that wanted total control of the world. Regardless of who they were, one was destroyed, and the other won and reigned to rule this world now. They are, of course, the ones that paved the way for your ancestors. The WGP."


    "Who was the other?" Lara asked again.


    "I suppose there is no harm in telling you this¡­ Perhaps if I can ally with the Diamons, then I can get help from you. The enemy that lost against this mysterious group was just as powerful as the first. So imagine two organizations owning one half of the world and used their half to fight."


    "Wait. Are you saying that the countries of this world, belonged to two organizations?" Charm asked in confusion.


    "Wrong. That would reveal them as one organization. These two groups weren''t one specific country, although there were many instances that they were basically the rulers of a country, they did not have such methods. Let me ask you this, to take over the world, what are the things you need?"


    "Money." Lara answered instinctively.


    "What else?" Harker smiled.


    "I would say military might¡­ But I have a feeling that it''s not the right answer here." Charm thought.


    "Is it¡­ allies?"


    "Very good. Allies. That''s a broad term¡­ And you should use these terms instead of specifics."


    "Purpose." Lara answered.


    "Purpose?" Charm asked in confusion.


    "I think I know what you mean, Miss Diamon. You''re right. You have to give those who follow you, who are allied towards you a sense of purpose. Simply put, these two organizations pursued these things. Money, Allies, and purpose."


    "That''s very broad."


    "Exactly. Because a politician, a military group, an organization or whoever can be your allies, provided you give them purpose."


    "What exactly is this purpose?"


    "Purpose is the most important of the three. It gives you both money and allies. I only said purpose, because that''s what I would call it. For some people¡­ some who¡­ yearn for it¡­ they always seek something that gives their life meaning. For others, it''s merely motivation."


    "I don''t understand anymore." Charm shook her head in disappointment.


    "This is interesting. You caught on the heart of the matter easily¡­ it makes me question your origin. Are you one of them? Sent to spy me? Impossible. I checked the Diamons¡­"


    "A spy? How could I be a spy from this organization?"


    "How can you not be? These two organizations fought each other. There was probably a time when neither knew the other existed. At least, from the organization that won, I know they didn''t because I learned a bit of their history."


    "What can I do to prove that I''m not a part of this mysterious organization?"


    Harker was in deep thought.


    "Then grant me the health technologies specific to your family," Harker demanded ruthlessly.


    "Done." Lara answered.


    Harker was stunned.


    "Done?"


    "I don''t know about the True Inheritor business of Charm''s family. But I am the heir to the Diamons. In fact, you could say I am the leader in training."


    Harker turned to a soldier who was next to him and whispered something.


    Charm was astounded and looked at Lara in surprise while Lara nced bravely but secretly listened to Harker.


    "Get a connecting transmitter here." Harker ordered.


    "Alright, Miss Diamon. Prove then your worth. If you really are not from this organization, and you im to have such authority, I will need you to do several things for me. Because even if you are a part of that organization, you will be greatly constrained."


    "Fine. The information that you are talking about sounds very very scary. If I am to assume the mantle of leading the Diamons, and you are possibly the only person who knows of this group''s existence and is nning to fight back, then I have to make a choice. We can negotiate the constraints in my family. As long as it isn''t greedy-"


    "I do need money. But suchrge actions will draw attention from that organization. The demands I have is mainly to monitor you. The first demand is that you will allow yourwork to be integrated into my Block-Chainwork. The second is to allocate a space in your headquarters, your family residence, and other possible important facilities of my choosing, to be a small base for my forces." Harker demanded boldly.


    "Oh. Just that? You''re being awfully nice. Fine." Lara countered with an arrogant smile.


    Harker''s brow rose up as he looked at the confident stance of Lara.


    He walked closer to Lara.


    "This is it. I have to try to capture her expression¡­" Harker thought in his heart and was slowly pushing his Unlocking.


    "Then it''s a deal. Shall we shake on it?" Harker asked.


    "Why bother? You did betray the organization that is trying to help you take revenge with Alean. But sure. To formalize it. Why not?"


    Lara reached out and extended her hand.


    "I never shook their hands in agreement. That''s my principle. My daughter would always make me shake her hands for any promises she made. And for those promises that I make, I always shake on it." Harker dered boldly.


    "Quite old fashion of you. But I can''t help but respect you, General. You really are a man of such dignity." Lara smiled smugly and slightly waved her hand to signal Harker.


    Harker sighed.


    "A pity. Seeker sought imperfection because he too was imperfect in many ways. Seeker is a very insecure kid. He said he liked that you''re perfect, but the truth is, he was hoping you''d be imperfect so he''d fell that he got a shot. But now I see with your resolve, your confidence, and your authority¡­ such perfection will drive him crazy. Why do you have to be so perfect, Miss Diamon?" Harker smiled. Almost immediately, Harker pped Lara''s hand and gave a firm handshake.


    Realm Somatotopy.


    In that exact moment, Harker focused on the expressions of Lara and used the connection to feel the heartbeat and pulse of Lara.


    Lara was startled at Harker''s words that she even lost herposure fell into a nk trance.


    Harker then removed his hands and turned around. As his face was out of Lara''s sight, Harker could not help but have a satisfied smile.


    "She really is in love. My what cruel tricks have you prepared for her, oh Seeker Carlean?" Harker thought.


    "It''s not my business. Perhaps Seeker''s fame attracted you, or maybe it was his charisma. But regardless of what you n on Seeker, dy it. Seeker is my cash cow. He is an emotionally unstable kid. The utter form of mncholy and insecurity. I will not tell him of who you are, and what you are really capable of. It would be presumptuous of me to assume your desires for him¡­ Just don''t show him this perfect side of you. If you want to¡­ then take baby steps and assure him that you like him. But believe me, taking care of that brat is perhaps one of the hardest things I had to do in my entire career!"


    Harker could be heard calling out the soldiers to hurry up in delivering the device and gave more instructions on what to do.


    Lara, on the other hand, remained with a nk expression on her face.


    "Lara? Are you alright?" Charm wondered why Lara had such an expression.


    Lara gripped her fist and turned to Charm with a calm look.


    "Wow. That man really listened to my talk with Seeker. I''m honestly embarrassed." She gave a dryugh.


    "Oh don''t let that bother you. I''m sure Seeker will ept you for who you are." Charmforted.


    Harker returned and nced at Charm and Lara.


    "I will be preparing the line that you will be using. If during the call, you go off script and tell them anything weird, we will kill you. I''ll prepare a script of what you will say. Of course, to make it look natural, the script will only contain a general outline of the topics you will be ordering them. And just because I''m paranoid, you will be allowing me to talk to them at any time that I demand in case you are secretly sending some message to them."


    "Isn''t that a bit too much, General?"


    "Believe me, Charm. Those are but necessary measures. If you want to vie for the seat of the True Inheritors, you''d need such caution."


    "I will. But while you are preparing the line, can''t you go ahead and give us a brief exnation of what happened in the past? Especially to the identity of those secret organizations back then?"


    Harker raised his eye-brows in defiance.


    "What I''m asking is the basic details of what you know. If I am a spy, tell me information about those which I should already know about the past." Lara pointed out.


    "You''re a scheming brat. But that I can say. Fine. As we discussed earlier, the two organizations needed money, allies, and purpose. Purpose as you said, was the most important. What motivates them? The era of the post-modern world came about because of these secrets wars. Perhaps these two knew that the other existed, or perhaps they didn''t. The first thing they needed was purpose. And both picked various means to acquire that. Charm¡­ what would you do, to ensure that your allies and followers have some form of purpose that would guide them and confirm their loyalty?"


    "Religiones to the top of my mind."


    "That was one of it. But the Post-Modern era could be described as an era of agendas. The two organizations profited from any opposing groups. Some from religion, but most of the profits were from the shing of cultures. We''ve discussed it before, Miss Diamon. My political standing."


    "What''s he talking about?" Charm then asked.


    "Something we talked about earlier. Now I understand the limitations of Harker''s actions. I mean, General Harker''s actions. You might have noticed, but Harker had no political alliances which made him a mystery. And even when he allied with Colestar we thought he would have sided with Colestar''s allies but he didn''t. Do you understand why?"


    "The basic rule of politics, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. General Harker can''t choose a political side to avoid making any enemies."


    "Exactly. Now Charm, imagine that on a grander scale. Two mysterious organizations holding the powers at the helm. What would that entail?"


    Charm thought for a bit.


    "Impressive that you could imagine what it was back then from so little information." Harkerughed.


    "Our family had long since studied the eras of World War Three. There were too many inconsistencies. Even the era after that, when the Continental wars happened, it had strange undercurrents that surprised us. The truth is, we always theorized the existence of certain powers. We suspected other families around the world to be stronger than they actually appear."


    "You''re almost right. The WGP did the same thing, hence we have the Novelty-stoise n."


    "You mean that the families are actually working for this organization?" Lara frowned.


    "I don''t know. But that''s the best guess. As I said, their allies were not bounded by any alliance. If it was, it would have been noticeable even in the eyes of themon man. Who knows? Maybe your family has always been under the shadow of this organization or the WGP without you knowing it." Harkerughed.


    Lara did her best to maintain a confused expression. But Harker saw a millisecond where her facial muscles almost twitched and slightly trembled.


    "It is a scary thought," Lara admitted.


    "Then what bounded them?" Charm finally asked.


    "For the sake of time, allow me." Harker began.


    "The best way to think of it isparable to the Left and Right parties of America during the Post Modern era. See what movements both parties pushed, that would give you an idea of the purpose which united the groups. This had staggering implications."


    "The Republican and Democratic groups?" Charm was confused.


    "Let''s use the old fears that were spread regarding climate change. If you checked your history, that has and always been a movement made by the Democrats. You cannot be a Conservative and support climate change because of that. Especially if you are someone of power, let''s use the President of what used to be the United States of America. As President, you had no luxury to support the things that the other party pushed. If you did, it would only make the other party earn more power and have more money."


    "For climate change? You mean the mysterious organization controlled that entire party?"


    "They didn''t have to. You just control the areas where the moneyes in or goes out." Lara continued.


    "Exactly. And that was greatly abused on that era. You see, it wasn''t who was morally or factually right at that point. Both groups were trying to convert the other and those they can''t convert, they try to bully or harm. Both parties were guilty of this. So almost all views that people stood for in that era, became bastions of financial support. Abortion became a tool that one party used. The other, would side and give power to the other party in hopes of stopping it. Religion became one of the tools used on one party, and the other group empowered any religious and areligious groups that would take away support and stop people from being part of that religion would grow."


    "How?"


    "Isn''t that what the parties were called in that era? Conservatives, referring to those who took a more serious, firm and dogmatic stand with the Bible, and the Liberals who initiated liberal theology which takes a different view of the bible. They allegorize, dilute or mystify the bible. And what did the Liberal groups stand for?"


    "They supported the LGBT, abortion, feminism¡­"


    "Right. These were all views that went against the beliefs of the Conservatives. America was a bastion of various Christian denominations. And with its deep roots, it wasn''t easy to uproot it. So the political party that formed was actually from one theological perspective that would allow this. And thus, the liberal party was born. And it became great on its own. The number of presidents this party managed to produce were just as many as those the Conservatives produced."


    "And you''re saying¡­ this was all a way for this organization to earn money?"


    "While I don''t think they crafted this purpose, they rode on it and controlled it. And with it, they had the money. The people of that era were fooled. The purpose instilled on to them, that they fought for, regardless of how true, righteous or how morally right it was, these were all money-making and power gaining tools used by these organizations. And that''s just within one country. These organizations held something on a grander scale. Anything that was popr and had another popr counter view, could be assumed to be their means of earning money. They controlled the top, which was the flow of money. And of course, because they had the money, they controlled the people who moved under this umbre."


    Lara revealed her surprise. But this wasn''t something she faked. It was real. She knew the Pioneer''s n of that day. And what Harker exined were the strategies they used. Her shock, however, was not in the uracy of how Harker exined Pioneer''s n, but the fact, that there was another organization fighting them.


    The urgency was now taking root and it gave birth to worry and fear in Lara. She had always beenx and uncaring to the ns of this world and generally would not worry. But the existence of an organization that challenged and even eliminated all Pioneers could harm her.


    "I have to find a way tomunicate with the Presiders!" Lara thought in her heart.

 Chapter 178 - What Is Truth?

    Hours before Harker went to meet with Lynd and with Lara, an important call was being made. Ever since the EMP attack, Pangea had activated several military protocols that would only be approved by the WGP if Pangea encountered a specific level of threat. With this, various satellite links were now made that allowed it to spy on other nations.


    But the activation of these satellites was not to have the capacity to do world-wide scanning. This was done to receive a certain call from China.


    "Ni Hao Ma?" Seeker asked.


    "It''s racist when you say it." Harker shook his head.


    "There are a lot of changes regarding my n. This Oveer, Nogard¡­ He''s far more different than who we thought he would be. It would seem that the Unlocking itself is Aragarian technology. Rather, a technology from one of those who calls themselves a Primordial. What we have is from the Lost Primordial."


    "An Aragarian made the Unlocking? Why would he give it to us?"


    "Maybe revenge? Who knows. But this seems to be a technology that surpasses the Presiders."


    "Did he fled here by ident? Or did the Aragarians already know about Earth for a long time?"


    "No use guessing. This, however, gives us quite a good advantage. From what we gathered, the Lost Primordial did a lot to help us in this battle. He nted a lot of seeds for us to harvest. The problem was, he could only do so much and he knew that the Aragarians would soon find this and try to take over it through intrigue, maniption."


    "Oh? What are these seeds?"


    "His assistance may not be appreciated. As it stands, my future self never managed to connect the dots because the aid he left behind were so scattered and hidden because he feared the Aragarians might acquire it and find out about him. Perhaps every technology on Earth may have been from him."


    It was a moment of revtion for Harker. This one possibility had always been disregarded. But when Seeker spoke of it, it made so much sense.


    " Nogard Meng? How is he rted to this Lost Primordial?"


    "Nogard Meng lived from that era. The less you know the better. How do you suggest we deal with this information?"


    "We look for those people who the Lost Primordial contacted. I assume you know who they are."


    "Naturally. We have our guesses. What else can we do with this information?" Seeker asked.


    "Use it against them. But you already have some n, don''t you?"


    Seeker smiled.


    "You are starting to understand me, Harker. Was it because you''ve been sniffing me for the past months? Still creepy."


    "What''s your n?" Harker avoided the sensitive subject.


    "The problem of the future was that we were so divided and they were so united. They yed around with us and caused the Earth to infight and appeared when we had already spent ourselves killing each other. It''d be nice if they did that so we''ll have our strength when those stronger arrive." Seeker smiled.


    "Will that work?" Harker asked.


    "The Aragarians seem like a selfish group doesn''t they? What do you think they would do? Report the existence of an Aragarian who has techs that vastly outstrip those here on Earth? Or search it for themselves?"


    "So you want to use this info to divide them and make them fight each other."


    "Isn''t it fitting? Jesus said that if Satan''s Kingdom was divided, it would be his end. A perfect picture for this enemy which we call the Aragarians. We divide them."


    "How will you do it? Do you want the Pioneers to betray each other in secret? Or are you hoping for the Presiders to do that?"


    "Why not both? It will be an interesting scene, wouldn''t it? I''ve long exined the organization of the Aragarians. It''s all about technology for them. The more techs they have or the stronger it is, the more they can climb this social dystopia of theirs. Imagine a tech that could be made avable? What we need to do is to sow the right seed. Make us appear more vulnerable, greedy and arrogant. Who knows? We could make a few of them temporary allies who will do our bidding!" Seeker chuckled.


    "What does Arthur think?"


    "He says it would be fun. Well for him it is. He seemed to like his new state in exploring the possibilities of the future."


    "If Arthur approves of it, then who am I to disagree?"


    "You actually have a mission you need toplete, Harker."


    "A mission? You can''t be seriously thinking of using this on Lara? That''s a Presider! Do it yourself! Her techs of mind-controlling nearly got me thest time!"


    "It can''t be me. No one else can fulfill this role, Harker. Besides, your Path is perhaps the one thing that could affect her without her knowing."


    "I can''t lie to her. It''s too risky! What if she has techs that can tell if I''m lying to her? it would make her more suspicious than ever!"


    "That''s why you don''t lie to her. Tell her the truth."


    "The truth?"


    "Exactly. Bits and parts of the truth. Reveal it to her, precept upon precept. Line upon line. Here a little there a little."


    "Now you''re just misquoting it. It should be precept upon precept. Precept upon precept. Line upon line. Line upon line."


    "I know what I said. You can''t add too many shades on the truth otherwise it would be a lie. Isn''t that the root of your Path? You are deemed to be trustworthy by those you interact with. You use truths to make them trust you, but in reality, those truths are vastly iplete. Isn''t that how you got me to trust you? And I trust you well enough toplete this mission."


    "You''re testing me aren''t you?" Harker gave Seeker a wary gaze.


    "That''s right. But it''s not testing rooted on mistrust. But testing with the hopes of improving." Seeker gave Harker a thumbs up.


    "Do you have suggestions as to what truths I''ll reveal?"


    "You are the one that treads that Path. Shameless Audacity, isn''t it? A mysterious Path of Trust and Truth. Arthur had the impression that you can be trusted with this. So here I am, calling you and asking you for your greatness, oh Honest One."


    Harker fell into deep thought. He explored the probabilities and possibilities, keeping caution at the forefront of his considerations.


    "I will reveal that an organization has been fighting against the Aragarians first wave. Since we know that both the Aragarians and the Lost Primordial had some secret wars that even the Aragarians didn''t know of¡­ I could use this as a truth which would make the Aragarians conclude that although the Lost Primordial is here, it isn''t as strong as it once was."


    "Sounds logical. If the Lost Primordial had any more power, it wouldn''t have relied on such secretive methods but would have been more aggressive."


    "I will reveal the truth of how the Lost Primordial operated. And since we are acting as the Lost Primordial now, I can also reveal how we have been manipting this world. Creating a purpose to follow, allies who will gather around our banner and gathering resources. The best way for them to feel that they are at the advantage is to lure them into thinking about how we have been manipting the world. They do not know of the Paths like Eagle''s, Lowengren, or mine. If we present to them an image of the enemy that they will seek, they fall into the mistake of underestimating us."


    "Impressive. Since revealing the Lost Primordial causes these Aragarians to take us more seriously, you''re still making it look like that our power is not so high." Seeker smiled.


    "You truly are a paragon of caution. What about the history of the Lost Primordial?" Seeker asked curiously.


    "You haven''t told me the specifics. But its better this way. I only need to learn the general concept so that my lies will work." Harker smiled.


    "You n to tell them¡­ Wouldn''t this lead to more problems? They know that history more than we do. They knew what was going on during those years."


    "Truths can lead to lies. If you handle it properly, even the biggest truth can be twisted and presented as a lie, though it bears the full essence of the truth."


    Seeker frowned. It was as if Seeker felt a strange urgency to understand this principle that Harker said.


    "I''m curious. Eagle can convince people based on the Truth he knows. Lowengren is a liar, but he ims that there is a limitation to the lies he can make. It cannot escape the truth. And now, you''re here telling me, that you can tell truths and make it a lie?"


    "You''re still a little wet behind the ears to talk about truth and maniption. Lowengren knows of this and that is how he uses it. You see, Lowengren is limited by the truth. He cannot make a lie that is so disconnected from facts. He cannot go to a person and say that he is a seventy-five-year-old woman. My Path lies in the presentation of the truth. It''s simr to Eagle, the difference is what we do with the truth. I made people trust me because they believed I was trustworthy. And it might have been because I had a way of manipting the truth to my benefit. If I were to put a distinction, Lowengren deceives, while I mislead."


    "What''s the difference?"


    "Lowengren tells lies to paint something in a different picture. I tell the truth but the emphasis or the disregard of these truths will lead them to a misunderstanding. That way, I will tread my Path and indeed gain her trust. But it will also deceive her."


    "Now I''m confused." Seeker gave augh.


    "Let me keep it simple. Lowengren lies. I tell truths. But my specialty is telling truths that can be abused or taken for granted. Isn''t this the issue pertaining to the vast divides between religion? I''ve been studying more and more of the theological views that are prominent today and even observed the various views that became lost after the Third World War. In the Christian denomination alone, we have Pentecostals, Baptists, Reformed, Catholic, Presbyterian, Liberal, Lutheran, Evangelical and so forth. Each has studied the same Bible but ended up with different doctrines focusing on certain specific principles. And though some would try to bnce it all out, they still will have their leaning to the truth which they abuse."


    "Just like other religions, huh?"


    "Exactly. Which religion does not have these denominations? Aren''t Buddhism divided into three distinct fields? Even the Jews hold to two different religious interpretations of the Scripture and the Talmud. This is the truth. I can give them the truth, but I will give it in a way where they can abuse it. In the end, truth isn''t so truthful."


    "What is truth?" Seeker asked,


    Harker gave Seeker a strange look.


    "Are you seriously asking me? Or are you quoting Pontius Pte?"


    Seeker snapped out of it andughed.


    "Alright then. You seem to have this whole thing under control. Go for it. You have passed the test. Try to record your conversation with her so we can build our ns from itter on."


    "You don''t want to listen to the specifics of what I will say?"


    "I''m confident that you will do the right thing. And even if you do the wrong thing, don''t disregard your allies. Arthur and Lowengren pretty much followed my ns back then. That is their confidence. It isn''t that they can form the perfect n, but that they can make perfect whatever ns are thrown at them."


    Back in the present, Lara was just about to make the call.


    "Remember, if you say anything else other than what we discussed, we''ll kill you." Harker coldly reminded as several soldiers aimed their guns at her. Charm was frozen with fear at this site while Lara nced as if it was nothing.


    The call finally went out.


    "Presider?" A voice called out worriedly.


    "Gereny? Tell mom and dad that I''m alright. However, I will need you to contact the council to tell them that I have information that will change things. I am currently being detained and protected by General Harker Cipril of Pangea. You must have seen the attack on T.V, right? I want to use my authority as Presider to call for a meeting for all of Pangea. And this is to subordinate ourselves under Harker. This set-up will also force us to put our entirework and show all our technology and business operations to Harker. Someone''s controlling things in the background of this world. And we either have the choice to be thrown around by the wave or fight against it. Is this call recorded?"


    "Er¡­ Ye-Yes. Presider."


    "Good. Have my mom and dad, and the rest of the families hear it. I am safe. I will contact you when it''s safe. For now, I am urging the council to prepare for ourworks to be ced under General Harker''s blockchain. You have three hours toplete the link. If you cannot do it, I will kill myself. That is all." Lara then ended the call.


    Charm was dazed at the words that Lara dered at the call. Was this the dainty, teasing, and love-chasing teen she met?


    "Impressive demands."


    "It''s to keep you from suspecting me. Three hours should be the fastest time when you can send your men to the EAA and establish a link between ourworks. I know that you would have shot me if there was any dy."


    "You make me look like some criminal. If it was anybody else, yes. But you''re a little teen girl. I could not, for the life of me, take the life of someone''s daughter." Harker chuckled.


    Lara gave Harker a surprised look and sighed.


    "I misjudged you."


    "As did I. Now I will be sending my soldiers there. I already have some of my men based on China. They will be there in 30 minutes. Since you offered it, I will have to take advantage of it."


    "That should be of no problem. Now tell me the second half of your tale." Lara asked seriously.


    "It''s very simple really. For some reason, right when the war grew chaotic, the winners of today managed to kill the leaders of the other organization. All of them were killed in an instant."


    "How? I thought these two organizations were so well-hidden and so covert. How can one side, just utterly kill the other party?"


    "It''s really simple. Someone from the other side was a traitor." Harkerughed.


    "What technology can this organization have to achieve this?" Lara was stunned.


    "I don''t think it''s any technologies like that. You seem to have little idea of how greedy people are. Someone on the other side was greedy. This person or a group of them betrayed their organization with the hopes of acquiring more. Whether or not the traitor was eventually backstabbed is unknown to me. Of course, since this organization is now nning on betraying me... I''m assuming the traitor is dead. Or... more improbably... that traitor is now the new head of this organization."


    Lara was silent. But even she could not hide the anger and frustration that arouse from her hearts. She even started to grip her fist tightly.


    "A traitor amongst the Pioneers¡­ As expected." She thought to herself.


    "You seem¡­ angry?" Harker asked suspiciously.


    "Of course I am!" Lara erupted.


    "I thought there was something behind this! Some technology, some brilliant scheme! I sacrificed my ownwork for that information! What is there for my family in all of this? What technology can I get if I allied with you?!"


    "Technologies? I''m sorry you had that impression. But you were way off. This organization is not strong because it has specific technologies or things that go beyond the known technological possibilities. They have been in fact, trying to conquer the World Governing Powers to acquire all the technologies they might have developed. They made that monster a little too strong. Maybe there was a fallout between the survivors of this organization but for some reason, their ties with the WGP are not firm. What they do have, is something far more dangerous. They have a way of making even your closest subordinates or even your child and maybe even yourself, to join them. Next thing you know¡­ the people around you are actually your enemies." Harkerughed.


    Lara was silent but her face continued to reveal anger and urgency.


    "I wonder what she''s thinking now¡­" Harker wondered as he turned around to hide his mirth.


    As for Lara, her thoughts were very simple.


    "Lourca Oviili did betray us!"

 Chapter 179 - Pangea’s Great Gamble

    News about the decisions that the Pangean Government in partnership with the Covenant of the Strongest to host an amazing challenge spread throughout the world.


    It was a political move, it was a money-making move, but most of all it was a loud battle cry that dered the nation of Pangea would not be so easily bullied. The game of Generals became the venue for this challenge. Several thousands of applicants would be filtered down to two hundred applicants. These applicants must have a suitable skill level, and may even be Pro-gamers.


    Even though it was past midnight on some countries, some hardcore gamers did the rare act of going out of their caves to submit an application. In fact, the announcement and the news have not yet died down that many already rushed to send in their application.


    Some stores were thrown into chaos as the number of people who lined up and rallied iming that they came in first.


    The announcement that the Covenant of the Strongest made in partnership with the Government of Pangea was simple.


    Lynd will be doing a military-uplift charity work, which also was thergest gambles to be made since Crazy Carlean''s challenge.


    Two hundred yers will be granted the chance of facing Lynd in the game, Generals. Generals were thergest MMO first-person shooter game ever made. The person who kills Lynd will win 5 million credits and if Lynd is killed, everyone who is left alive in that match will win 300,000 credits and even those who were killed in-game will still receive 50,000 credits. Unlike Piercing, Generals had no exaggerated features for its yers. They simted technologies that existed in this world with physics so urate it was dubbed to have had "near real life physics."


    Since its development, the videos uploaded on the for thepany to make the urate physics for it circted like wildfire. From blowing up actual tanks, ships to hiring the best mathematicians in the world, the efforts made for this game even garnered admiration from its enemypanies.


    Novastone, thepany that developed this game was even up for a World Peace-Maker award for it made the next generation obsessed with mathematics, creating a generation of hungry learners.


    And so, with such strict physics, it would be almost impossible to abuse the game with skills alone.


    The fee for entering this contest was 500 credits. Each gaming hub around the world was allotted several slots out of the 200 and a series of elimination matches would be made on the gaming hub where several yers would face each other in a free for all. The one that defeated would move to the next level and challenge several yers depending on the allotted slots granted to a certain gaming hub. This would continue for 2 or 3 cycles until the full number of slots allotted to them were filled.


    The event was broadcasted and many gaming hubs erupted with a wild desire to have the chance to receive it. The number of hubs was so many that most hubs would only be granted one slot out of the two hundred.


    The game rules had several uses.


    The more kills Lynd would make, the better weapons he could gain ess too. As for the opponent''s side, when a certain number of yers would die on their side, the remaining soldiers would also receive better weapons. Of course, Lynd would still retain the advantage of having better weapons and would as he achieves more and more kills.


    As for the game settings, Lynd would be granted full-map ess and all the enemies would be shown on his map. His volume settings would be twice as detailed that even those from 30 meters in-game would have weak to moderate sounds depending on their actions.


    Apart from this, the Pangean President came out in full support of Lynd''s crazy deration. He issued a challenge for all governments, corporations and the like to take part in. Pangean President Colestar delivered a heartfelt and angry rant about the attack of Australia. He denounced the nation for its cowardly attack on Pangean shores.


    "First they infiltrate and work with several corrupt politicians to kill kidnap and take away Pangean citizens for their sick experiments. And when we sought retribution and gave them an attack that they couldn''t forget, they now resort to cowardly means of disabling our fortress. At least, when Alean Cipril and President Hoross attacked, they fought to their deaths and resolved to blow up that base when they were not defeated!" Colestar mocked.


    "I will finally show the truth of my rtionship with General Harker! The truth is, I only pretended to be his enemy! Pangea was rotting with corruption! We''ve seen the evils done in My-Pangea! Had I shown more support to General Harker, then these Pangean turncoats would have used their connections to assassinate me! And so General Harker and I devised this n to appear antagonistic. When the time was ripe, we caught all the political enemies we had in one huge swoop! But it appears it''s not enough! For behold, even now the roots of Australian treachery are dug deep within our country! Some media groups that praised me suddenly attacked me! These same media groups that praised Harker is now attacking Harker! How do you think that bomb entered Pangea easily?" Colestar addressed.


    The listeners were stunned and the media reporters rushed to create articles about it.


    "But Pangea is not weak! We are developing piloted drones and Exoskeletons that can be remotely controlled. We have grown a new appreciation for the gaming world. Lynd Indigo, who you all know to be an exceptional Piercing e-sport yer will challenge the world! We will show you that our training is not weak! Have those 200 soldiers face our yers! We will show you a true massacre. And once we reveal our prowess to the world, we will show you all, that we are a step above than the rest! So send in your gamers and send in your soldiers to fight Lynd! We will show you our might!"


    The news confounded many and could not believe the headline-worthy news of what Colestar had just revealed.


    Most of the Pangean media reported the news in a positive light, while the remaining questioned President Colestar''s reckless decision and condemned his gambles. New articles about the morality of Colestar and how his reputation may have not been as it seemed flooded the news.


    Soon, General Harker was asked toment on this arrangement.


    "I am confident that this new Lynd will wipe the floor of those gamers. I will not deny it. Lynd has undergone several human-enhancing surgeries that improved his senses. Of course, it is nothing beyond the limitations imposed by the WGP. They are wee to check." Harker said firmly.


    The outcry of this statement was mixed. Many were stunned, while most of the Lyndiculous fan-club were outraged that their husband was experimented on. And an online sh questioning the morals of President Colestar, General Harker and the treatment of Lynd flooded Pangean socialworks.


    Outside Pangea, the news outlets were all making mocking the stupid move of this Pangean President. Of course, the gamers of the world rejoiced at this delusional move.


    The entry fee itself already broke the record and allowed Pangea to earn 700 million credits worldwide because of this deration. It was also steadily increasing hour by hour.


    Unlike the former gambles led by Seeker, this gamble was not being transacted on the Deep Web. It was held publicly and even utilized the online gambling room, the Gambling Den to host the worldwide gamble.


    Everyone had ess and could see the amounts being wagered on there. President Colestar even made a bold move and configured the gambling room to have an odd arrangement. The minimum bets that could be ced on Lynd winning would be 30,000 credits. As for the minimum bets for Lynd losing, it was only 1,000 credits. And so, because of the wide gap, many of themon folk gambled on Lynd losing and only a few were brave enough to bet on Lynd''s victory.


    The first shocking bet amounts were from a rising Inheritor in the Novelty-stoise n. An unknown teendy who just vied for the Seats of Inheritors was approved to the surprise of everyone. Charm Novelty-stoise had pulled all the share that was allotted to her and gambled it all on Lynd. A staggering 116 million credits were ced favoring Lynd''s victory causing an eruption of conflicts within the families. In fact, many of the others who were Inheritors ced huge bets on Lynd losing.


    Various families around the world also began moving. The majority sided against Lynd with the highest wager reaching 100 million credits only.


    The number of people who joined in the gamble grew. Several of the rich and powerful had even secretly made the gamble and soughtpanies, groups, and even the government so they can drop in their gamble. The wealth of the word was clearly shown at that time as millions were pouring in.


    While the gamble was generally portrayed in a positive light within Pangea, on the international media, Colestar was seen as a fool. Memes were made portraying him as an idiot and used his name as a curse word that meant someone who was extremely dumb or stupid.


    The most prominent international media even invited various military experts to ask for their opinion for Colestar and Harker''s strange actions.


    "Being a General of that game could be likened to being a General of an army. It''s one thing for a General to step out and be a real-life General. What makes a good General? Strategies and experience! The strategies that are used on that game have long applied core strategies that real Generals use. In fact, several countries have even modded that game to fit their own technologies and have invested millions and possibly billions in creating a simtion that could beparable to that of real life. Although it does not apply to everyone, for even Lowengren was an exception to the rule, great generals may arise from that game. But good soldiers? The main difference with using E-sport yers to be actual soldiers¡­ well¡­ it''s that they may treat it as a game." An internationally acimed war analyst of New Great Britain exined in a WGP-owned international news channel.


    "Is it really that different?" The reporter asked.


    Before the War analyst could answer, a WGP General took over.


    "A General should treat war or a battle as a game. They should keep in mind their resources and should push aside their feelings and think. Lowengren was the perfect illustration of this. He was cold-hearted and cruel. But as for soldiers, creating a battle like a game could be critical. It''s different when soldiers rush recklessly because it''s a game, rather than fear for their life. Gamers like Lynd can be skilled. But nothing can rece the hardships and years of training a real soldier goes through. The gap between the skills will be different." The WGP General concluded.


    Various experts across the country began sharing their suspicions. Even Pro-gamers noted that it would be impossible for Lynd to massacre 200 gamers. As such, gamers around the world fought hard to acquire a seat among those 200 slots. It was as if Pangea was handing out free 50,000 credits at the least. Of course, many were confident that in a 1 vs 200 games, most of them would the 300,000 credits.


    The topic became so popr, that it stood side by side in the news next to the battle that urred in Africa and the escting tensions in the Middle Earth Triangle.


    The only ce where the news was not glorified, was in Africa itself. As for the Nations of Africa, their news focused on a possible war that would emerge and the Government increased the security detail to the highest. Citizens near the Red Sea were asked to move towards the southern parts of Africa as their Citizen Response level was moved to Pre-Exodus mode.


    People were now following the protocols to relocate if ever war breaks out.


    Lowengren and Alean watched the news through a small TV that was positioned on the outside of the jail cell.


    "What do you make of this?" Lowengren asked Alean.


    Alean giggled.


    "That''s not how my Path works."


    "You said that its sort of like prediction."


    "Not really. It''s a wider version of being in the Zone. When you are in the zone, don''t you feel like you know what to do?" Alean asked.


    "So it''s a manner of feeling."


    "Right. It''s knowing where I should be and what I should do. But I still haven''t sorted it out. Just trust me on this. Please?" Alean asked with a smile.


    Lowengren averted his eyes from Alean''s pleading look and cursed.


    "Ugh. This is why I enjoyed being the only child. Having a big and domineering boyish sister like you is very problematic. Fine. Guess we''re ying it by ear." Lowengren gloomed in his defeat.


    Aleanughed.


    "Ohe on! Seeker is our leader. You should get used to it."


    "I wonder how Arthur feels. I''m d that he gets to be the main strategist of our little team. Poor little Arthur. I am honestly expecting a change in these grand ns."


    "Oh? I also had such a feeling. I feel that Seeker''s sort of random."


    "He is. I think Arthur knows. You know what the problem is with most of those reincarnated stories? Especially those about a person who was reincarnated to his younger self? It doesn''t deal with the emotional, mental and even biological changes that a person has. You have a biological brain of a teenager. Let''s say that teen is given in too depression, immaturity or selfishness. We know in science that the brain matures roughly when someone is 25 years old. You force the memory of an adult into a teen kid, who is yet to mature in the development of your brain will lead to problems. And worse, is that Seeker is an Unlocked. His brain is literally immature and hasn''t reached the fullness of its intended growth. What do you think would happen?"


    "A rapid switch in personality," Alean answered.


    "Yeah. That''s why the rhythm you feel when you''re around Seeker is random. The stronger his unlocking gets, the more vivid and powerful his memories affect him. At the Unbing, he can see and review his entire memory. And that is like being able to watch the episodes of your life in great detail. But that''s just it. Watching it is not experiencing it. Seeker improving on the Inhuman stages would trigger a switch because his memories be more and more detailed."


    "So it''s like he would finally be able to experience your memories again and again. As if it happened on the first time."


    "Yes. imagine the possibilities when we get there." Lowengrenughed excitedly.


    "Oh let me guess¡­ a teen like you? You''d probably relieve and re-experience that moment you got lucky!" Alean used.


    Lowengren''s mouth was wide open.


    "What the? I was talking about relieving the experiences of my first time ying video games!" Lowengren argued.


    Aleanughed.


    "Well, at least I got the relieving the virgin experience part right. Oh. They''reing." Alean sensed.


    Immediately, Lowengren and Alean''s demeanor changed.


    The moment a figure was heard, Lowengren suddenly began shouting.


    "Are you there? Admiral! Please! I''m begging you! Let me contact my wife! I have to know if my daughters safe!"


    The Fleet Admiral finally appeared.


    "You got some exining to do, Vender." The displeased tone of the Fleet Admiral could already be heard.


    "The information you gave me; the locations of those alleged trading ports were non-existent!" The Fleet Admiral red angrily at Lowengren.


    "Fleet Admiral! It''s because of the attack! I didn''t know that the Caliphates employed an EMP bomb! How did they manage to get it here? Isn''t the world banned from international trading! If anything, maybe that Fleet Admiral is tying up loose ends and has designs to kill me! Please let me speak to my daughter! They might have relocated when that bomb exploded! Help me reach out to her! My daughter! My daughter could be dead!"


    The Fleet Admiral turned to the three Commanders nearby.


    "What do you think?"


    "He does make sense. Australia was on lockdown. We guarded the south seas and ensured nothing went out. The only way that an EMP bomb could even reach this part of the world and even New Great Britain is if someone from the WGP gave it to them. The Caliphates could not have gained that weapon. Or perhaps they allied with New Great Britain who took part in the Sacking of Australia."


    "Right. And the bomb that exploded in their base was to prove their innocence. Except that the facilities in that area were of great importance to New Great Britain. Severalbs are there¡­" The Fleet Admiral answered.


    "Then, I will mockingly say this. You want to believe what Vender said, even though all the proof he imed about that Fleet Admiral betraying the WGP has vanished into thin air?" The Fleet Admiral turned and asked.


    "I would." A Commander spoke.


    "Me too¡­ He can''t possibly be lying. The moment we got here, we found out about the dildos. The chances of this person being schemer are practically zero."


    The Fleet Admiral and the remaining Commander nodded together in agreement.


    "Admiral. We must also make haste. Since we stopped the attack, that Fleet Admiral could be headed here to us. We need a n."


    Magantae turned to Lowengren once more.


    "Fine. Tell me everything you know about-"


    "I won''t cooperate! Kill me or let me talk to my daughter!" Lowengren shouted in great defiance.


    Mangantae was stunned silent at Lowengren''s shout. She frowned but then turned around and ordered the Commanders.


    "Have him contact his wife. Use a Priority Ping of the highest security. I don''t want any other people, even those in the WGP to know of that call."


    Alean and Lowengren were trying their best to hide their smile.. Things were going ording to n.

 Chapter 180 - Luke

    Alean and Lowengren were brought to a strange building. The moment they stepped in, Lowengren and Alean knew what they were on.


    "This building¡­?" Lowengren innocently called out.


    "Yes. It''s a Transport." One of the Commanders replied coldly.


    Lowengren marveled. This was actually a ship that could disguise itself to be a building.


    Even Alean was stunned.


    "They could go in and out of a country easily. I wonder how many ships in Pangea are like this? They must have some ships like these nted?" Alean asked Lowengren.


    "I don''t know. We shouldn''t underestimate the World Governing Powers. It''s a good thing we''re making that call. I can immediately report it to Charles."


    They were brought to a strange room with monitors and various strange devices.


    "There it is¡­ It''s the same tech that the Empress mentioned. If we have those, unless a Presider uses their technology to hack on our device, no one else can hear us. This will greatly increase our means ofmunicating." Lowengren spoke in a low volume as he made casual chats towards the other Commanders marveling at the technology.


    "Enough talk. Make your call and cooperate with us."


    "About this call. I¡­ I ask you to give me time to exin things."


    "Why would I do that?" Magantae asked with a bored expression.


    "Admiral. My priority is the life of my daughter. She''s already weak and dying. With everything that''s been going on, I''ve decided toe clean. It''s only a matter of time when they find out. Either through you or through that other Admiral. My fear is that if I am away from my family during these times, and they find out about my affairs, my daughter may lose the will to struggle and die. If that happens, then its no different that you kill me here right now."


    Magantae gave Lowengren a serious re.


    "You have ten minutes. Use it well."


    "Admiral! That amount of time will deplete the energy-"


    "We will be attacking soon. If what Vender says is true, we might have to attack the Caliphates. We will steal techs there to feed on our energy supply." The Admiral exined coldly.


    The Commanders were silent. One wanted to argue but decided to keep silent and start the machine.


    "Input the number of them device you wish to contact.


    A small tablet was handed to Lowengren. Lowengren pressed the numbers and the call began.


    "Please pick up. Please pick up¡­" Lowengren began to pray.


    Suddenly, the line was answered. On the monitor before them, a middle-aged woman was shown on the screen.


    "Vender! Thank God, you''re alive! I was so worried when I heard the bomb-"


    "Thessa¡­ How is Natara?" Lowengren asked urgently.


    "She''s fine. The doctors are doing what they can and luckily, when that bomb went off, he wasn''t in any dangerous or unstable conditions."


    "Thank God¡­" Lowengren breathed a great sigh of relief.


    "Listen, Thessa. I messed up. Please forgive me. I''ve been in an affair with Lieutenant."


    Thessa''s expression was strange.


    "Wha-what?!" The woman cried sorrowfully.


    "What are you¡­"


    "I''ve slept with her. Many times. I am telling you this, because¡­ some people will tell you sooner. And I wanted to make sure that-"


    "What? Are you leaving me? Are you-" Thessa started screaming.


    Magantae started to walk out of the room. When I get back, the call ends. I''ll keep my word. Ten minutes."


    With a wave of her hand the devices and gadgets around them suddenly became locked and only the monitor which continued to send the video feed remained. Themanders started moving out following the Admiral.


    "Impressive acting. How did you do it, Charles? Drugs?" Lowengren asked in a different volume and frequency.


    "Alean. Cover for me. I can''t still divide my thoughts." Lowengren said as he focused on pretending to be weeping and confessing his mistakes to the real General Hirock''s wife.


    "Any word from Seeker?" Alean asked immediately. Lowengren gave a helpless sigh but continued on to talk and angrily order Thessa to remain calm.


    "A lot since youst met me. The developments are amazing." Charlesughed. His voice could be heard at a different frequency. He was not shown on the video. And although the screams and arguments between Lowengren and Thessa were loud, the conversation between Alean and Charles progressed smoothly.


    Charles began to detail everything he learned from Arthur. He told them the truth about the Lost Primordial, the ties between Nogard and the seeds left behind. Alean was quiet for the most part.


    "And finally, here are the changes to Seeker''s n. Because we need all these Seeds to sprout, the best thing to do is really push this world into a near world-war scenario. Lynd''s gamble has also be a worldwide gamble. Lynd will be facing an almost impossible odd of fighting 200 men in Generals."


    "Impossible. Even for an Unlocked, it would be just impossible to do so. That isn''t like Piercing where you can block attacks. This is a first-person shooter. What did Seeker give Lynd to make his victory sure?" Lowengren hastily asked.


    "Peals of Thunder. Lynd will be using Peals of Thunder. Because we will set the game configuration, the volume that will be aired will be significantly reduced in quality and volumepared to those ying the game."


    "But¡­ wait¡­ That''s strange. Doing so will still make it noticeable to both the WGP and the Aragarians. Peals of Thunder may be detected there!"


    "Right. It''s part of Seeker''s n. He will make Lynd say something that will alert all the Seeds. Those who are the seeds of the Primordial will notice it and seek Lynd out."


    "Lynd will be in danger. If those ninjas we fought were among the seeds, they are at most a Near Oveer or a potential Ranked Hero. If one appears, Lynd could manage, but two or three? What''s Seeker doing?" Alean reacted.


    Lowengren sighed visibly and even took a second off his acting.


    "Lowengren, calm down. You need to maintainposure!" Charles voiced out hurriedly.


    "Don''t worry. This is about the safest thing we can use tomunicate. Unless the Presiders act personally, no one else, not even the WGP can hack into this line." Lowengren exined but still continued his charades of acting.


    "I''m impressed. You managed to use this from them for free."


    "We''ll be using this soon. Do you have the Comm device numbers of Seeker and the rest?"


    "Just Arthur. It''s 1AX-4VNT-00N. Call him. I don''t know why Seeker allowed Lynd such a dangerous mission. It''s very-"


    "Unlike him. Your theories were right, Lowengren." Alean turned to Lowengren.


    "But¡­ Now that I know this¡­ I feel that there''s something more beyond his memories changing his personality."


    "So you guessed it too¡­" Charles replied.


    "Let''s not jump to any conclusions. We don''t know why Seeker did this. Perhaps Arthur does. But I don''t think he won''t tell us the reason either way." Lowengren gave a quick nce towards Alean.


    "Why?"


    "Because if we know, or I know, you might force it out of me and eventually, Lynd will know. This is something that Arthur will not reveal. But let''s trust Seeker. Or at least, trust in the part of him that was innocent. I''m sure that his future self would have been some morbid, negative, and very angry person with all that he experienced. But the Seeker we knew was a childish, arrogant but heroic guy. Let''s just hope that he found the bnce somewhere in between these two extremes. For now, we focus on the task at hand." Lowengren ordered Alean.


    Alean frowned but nodded her head.


    "Did Arthur give us any other instructions?"


    "He said you''re free to do what you will. The more chaos you create, the better."


    "Then it''s perfect. We will be using the WGP to enter the Caliphates. Is there anybody among them who is one of those seeds of the Primordial?"


    "The Families. From what we learned from Rosa''s example, the oldest families with the deepest roots ought to be among them. Only one among them must have held this knowledge. So seek out the oldest among the group. Can you do this?"


    "It''s easy. Lowengren''s Path is stronger now. We manipte the WGP to look for the families and orchestrate our meeting. We also prepared several dildos for this attack. We''re ready."


    "Dildos, you say?"


    "Don''t ask." Alean shook her head.


    "What do you intend to do with these WGP? Who are they?"


    "Fleet Admiral Magantae. Shemands the Antis that is hidden somewhere near the Pangean region. As for what we n to do to them¡­ just don''t ask."


    "I¡­ I''m sorry. I won''t ask again. Lowengren. I''ve perfected the drug that can allow a person to easily reach Proficient of the Unbing stage. This drug also bes a foundational material that promotes the development of carcinogenesis in a person''s body."


    "Is it safe?" Alean asked in an rmed tone.


    Charlesughed.


    "It''s in preparations for the mutation that Seeker developed. It''s on its early phase but it should work. The Cancer we are using is a controlled one. It should allow you to have a slightly mutated cell. This makes it safer for a person to reach the Inhuman. Although we''re not still there yet, it should be foundational to creating this Ranked Heroes body that Seeker mentioned."


    "Controlled mutations? How did you manage that in three months?"


    "What do you think I''ve been doing these past three months?" Charles gave an arrogant smile.


    "You haven''t told us," Alean answered rudely.


    "Oh? You seem to be agitated, Alean."


    "Of course. Her boyfriend''s in a bind. But seriously, Doc. Tell us what you''ve been through. Have you been trying to develop the mutation by actually inflicting yourself with various diseases?" Lowengren asked.


    "I thought you already understood what it is."


    "I know there''s more to it that you first stated. I can force myself to get a fever if I want to. With you, however, you''ve managed to do it with skin diseases and so forth. I can''t do that. Are you using yourself as a human experiment to study the carcinogen? That''s reckless. You should remember the burden that you bear. Ricardo''s life is not worth our future."


    "Wrong. I have been finding ways to make a Skill."


    "Finding ways?" Alean then realized it.


    "Are you saying that you''ve been trying to find ways to control those diseases through your body?"


    "No." Charles smiled as he shook his head.


    "I''m trying to find a way to make my body create diseases," Charles exined.


    For someone as smart as Lowengren, he was still shocked at Charles'' bold gamble.


    "What? But how are you going to do that? That''s almost impossible! You can''t build your way into the Unlocking! Even Lennox has some abnormalities that allow him to do that!"


    "She''s right. You need multiple-, no, hundreds of thought-processes to be able to do that. How are you going to make the changes in every single cell in your body?"


    "Muscle memory," Charles exined with a simple two-word statement.


    It was then that everything fell into ce.


    "That''s why you''re getting yourself sick! To make yourself be able to reflexively create those cells needed!" Lowengren almost shouted and suddenly stopped acting on the surface.


    Vender''s wife noticed Charles motioning to her off-camera and she started to cry out and wail loudly.


    "Muscle memory? Don''t you mean cellr memory? But even if you can control your cells, how can your body create diseases? Unless¡­" Lowengren dreaded the next sentence for it could easily kill Charles.


    "You n to culture bacteria and viruses in your body!" Alean continued Lowengren''s dreadful conclusion.


    "That''s insane! Charles, you can''t forcibly break your way to be a Ranked Hero! You just exined that! You are not from any families rted to the Seeds that the Primordial left behind! Wait¡­ Or are you?"


    "I''m not. But I am forcing myself to have faith in Seeker. Don''t forget the freak that is Seeker. We don''t know how he got that form of potential. He must have been one of the Seeds that were long lost. But who knows? Maybe I am, maybe I''m not. But regardless, I don''t want to wait around. I failed to save Ricardo in my past life. Maybe I met him toote, or maybe it was because of my fear of meeting with Ferna. Ferna Crest Corentine is the love of my life. I sought fame, when I needed love and could not find love when I had fame. Regardless, I know that I failed in the future and I could already guess what that pitiful me did. But in this life, I met Seeker. A different Seeker. Not that cold, calctive, cruel future him that he talks about. Even you guys prefer our version right?"


    Alean gave a firm nod while Lowengren began to contemte.


    "That little bastard had the world on his shoulder. He knows the future and while it could''ve eaten him up, the child inside of him saved him from falling into a despairing mentality. I needed that little kid in me too. I listened to Eagle talked about a lot of things¡­ but the one that struck me the most is a rather simple topic."


    Charles moved closer to the device that was recording the video feed. A small voice, as loud as a whisper amidst the wailing cries of Vender''s wife could be heard.


    "Hope never fails. It''s not that if you continue to hope you''ll always seed through some miraculous ways as God or the Universe will grant to you¡­ But rather, being hopeful never puts one to shame. Because if I be a hopeful lunatic, I''ll still achieve more than those who fall into despair."


    Lowengren could not help but clench his fist. It was strange for someone who Treads his Path. He felt motivated and encouraged. Lowengren knew that this wasn''t some Skill or Path that Charles developed. His courage and hope were simply contagious.


    "I see." Lowengrenughed and he didn''t even hide it.


    "So what if you''re not an Oveer? You''d simply have to be one¡­ I get it. I like your insanity, Charles." Lowengren approved.


    Alean could not help but smile.


    "I know it''s impossible. The gap of the Ranked Hero is not so easily breached. Much more those that will try to tread to be Oveers. I would say that your efforts will be fruitless. But I can''t help but vie for you, Charles." Lowengrenughed.


    The door opened.


    Lowengren gave a visible tremble as he turned around.


    "I''m sorry¡­ I have to go."


    "That''s it? Just like that? The Lieutenant is just right there? Are you going to sleep with her again?"


    "I don''t know when I can call you again¡­ I''m sorry. Goodbye."


    The moment he said goodbye, Magantae shut off theputer.


    "Now¡­ Tell me what you know." Magantae ordered.


    On the other end of the line, the woman was still sobbing and crying.


    "Thank you for your efforts." Charles thanked General Vender''s wife before turning his attention back to the real General Vender.


    "Could you hear our conversation?"


    "Bits in pieces only." General Vender gave a strange sigh. He was listening throughout the conversation between them and was practicing the technique that Charles had began to exin. Through several devices, General Vender managed to hear and catch the words that Alean, Lowengren, and Charles used on that call. The only thing he needed to do was match their speed and time perception.


    "Not so much on the earlier part. But I did catch thest part. Why didn''t you tell them?" Vender asked.


    "Tell them what?"


    "That you can already make people around you catch a fever? You even lost control there for a second and I got a fever!" Venderined.


    Charles justughed.


    "It''ll be a nice surprise. I can''t wait to see Seeker''s expression when I see him!"


    "What are you going to call yourself? I can''t think of any bible names for you to take on, like your other friends."


    "Well¡­ there is one doctor in the Bible.. The Beloved Physician, Luke."

 Chapter 181 - Heavenly Meetings

    Up on the dark skies of the fading twilight, and aircraft continued to fly higher and higher on the sky. With the pretense ofunching a Sky Satellite over the high skies of Pangea, the strongest members of Harker''s armies were sent.


    Only three in that crew were actual soldiers. The rest were teenagers with the majority being gamers.


    "Can you believe this? How stupid it is for us to want to be soldiers." A soldierughed. He was one of Harker''s top soldiers.


    They were all seated on their seats as the aircraft steadily increased its speed as it vaulted upwards like a spacecraft headed for space.


    Yet the intense vibration and pressure did very little to even give difort to these passengers.


    "Who would have thought that gamers would be the kings of the future?" The other soldierughed.


    "Pro-Gamers. Any regr gamer who''s just fooling around wouldn''t make it." A young teen with bucktooth spoke up.


    "You must be Titan. Or should I call you Strawberry Situps?"


    "Any would do."


    "So you mean only Pro-Gamers make it this far?"


    "And not all games. Some pro at ying Match 3 games wouldn''t be helpful. They have to be gamers who y Hack-and-sh or first-person shooter games or other online battle arena types. These games naturally allow us to see through the chaos of a fast-paced environment."


    "I get it. Soldiers can only go through those fast environments when they are onbat."


    "Correct. You''re Tyler, right? Genera Harker''s second inmand?"


    "Yeah. This is Scribs Reatheart and that gentlemen over there is Earl Hither."


    "Erm¡­ Nice to meet you?" Titan gave a meek wave as they were unable to leave their sits during theunch.


    "Don''t mind ol'' Titan. He''s very shy despite his towering name." Dannyughed.


    "Lieutenant Danny. I saw that video of your fight against Lander. Very inspirational. You actually managed to hit him!" Scribs immediately called out.


    "Eh, it was nothing. Meryl''s been helping me train. So it was only natural for me to get that far. Still Piercing Hallow. That was quite a sight to see. An exoskeleton designed to be your character."


    "Oh, but you should see Dara. She''s actually the strongest among us. Well except, of course, Kristine. Lucky bastard."


    "She''s the lucky one? I don''t see anyone else dating Meryl." Earl gave a merryugh.


    "Approaching the High Point." A voice prompt was heard.


    The speed of the airne started to slow down and started to float in the sky.


    The crew finally was allowed to leave their seats. Most of the passengers were teens and immediately rushed to the window to view everything that was going on.


    "So this is a Sky Satellite." Dannyughed as he looked and admired the view.


    "Wow. Things look so small." A young girl remarked.


    "So this is the view of being around twice the altitude that airnes usually fly in..." Danny whistled.


    Everyone began talking to each other.


    Cliff silently held them device on his hand. He continued to look at it and had a very nk and almost depressed expression.


    None of those around him daredugh or tease Cliff.


    Surrounding Cliff was his group of trusted drug-dealers who have been trained as a covert ops team.


    "I miss you." Cliff dared to type the words and then he sent it.


    As the aircraft was capable of receiving and sending signals, the message that Cliff from the peak of the sky was easily sent.


    The soldier next to Cliff was one of the strongest among Harker''s men.


    He tried his best to avoid looking at it, but his peripheral vision, which was enhanced by the Unlocking could clearly see it as day.


    Who would have thought that while this Cliff was sent off to fight a rumored Near-Oveer where many of them would probably die, he had the luxury of sending cheesy text messages to his girlfriend!


    "You saw it didn''t you? I have Realm Somatotopy so don''t bother lying." Cliff frowned as he red at the soldier.


    "So-sorry sir. I couldn''t help it. It was on my peripheral vision."


    "Oh. Right. I keep forgetting that we are Unlocked. Don''t judge me though. I am acting like this not because I know I can survive¡­ but rather, I just want to enjoy thesest moments." Tears started welling up on Cliff''s eyes.


    "Get over it you big wus! You''re the strongest among us here and all you do is the text that girlfriend! What have you been telling her? That you like her? That you miss her? For crying out loud! That girl is a True Inheritor! She''s even richer than me and my dad!" A petite girlined as she pushed around the crowd to insult Cliff.


    Cliff gave the girl a harsh look.


    "I really wonder why Seeker allowed you to live. If it was me, I''d have killed you. This isn''t Piercing anymore, Malicious Unicorn. Just because you''re a step uppared to the other soldiers doesn''t mean you stand a chance against me!" Cliff berated angrily.


    "Can- can we calm down? Look. This is our first joint operation. Piercing and Warfreakz plus Harker''s Soldiers. Erm¡­ do you guys have a name? Oh, and what do you call your group, erm¡­ General sir, Lieutenant¡­ What is he again?" Stanley Vagrant asked in a very shaky voice.


    "Small Time Drug Dealers." Cliff answered without hesitating. The group of gangsters who always followed this troubled Cliff was all red from embarrassment.


    "Um¡­ Small-Small time drug dealers? Alright¡­ So um¡­ we guys need to unite. This is our first mission, and it''s a tough one. We have to-"


    "Oh, Shut up, Stanley! You guys are equally as useless as these drug dealers! Of your entire team, only two of you are actually going to join us to battle?"


    "The rest have different roles and that is not battle-rted. This battle cannot be another Piercing battle. If you think that being strong is enough for this battle, then I don''t know what to say to you. I don''t need a lecture from some muscle-brained idiot who''s the only role in the team is being a masochist." A long-haired, girl with average appearance argued back.


    The average appearance of this girl had continuously enraged her as a Pro-Gamer and even as a person. This woman never streamed her games, never cared for her looks, but this average face was well-known throughout the world. If Meryl was the e-sport yer that people would kill to have, this was a streamer who many would die for.


    AverageLady was her game handle. Confirmed kills in Generals, over 32,000. Only Lowengren was attributed to have killed more than her with his Maneuver during the General''s match a few years back. But since Lowengren died, the confirmed kills were not attributed to Lowengren. And so, this woman held the highest record of kills worldwide.


    When Lowengren''s avatar was killed in-game, the nations that survived assume that Warfreakz was defeated. But who knew that Lowengren had reserved her and kept him alive. And as the war continued, no one noticed that this lone soldier would infiltrate the battlefield of two countries and would kill randomly. In this room full of gamers, none was more respected than her.


    "You wanna go, Roselyn? You might be some hotshot in Generals but this is real life and I can easily wipe the floor with you!" Dara rose from her seat.


    "You''re right¡­ This is real life. And as always, despite your pretty petite face, your rich father, and whatever advantages you have, I''ll always be better than you." Roselyn smirked.


    Dara raged and moved to attack Roselyn.


    At that moment, Cliff stood up and angrily shouted.


    "Enough!" Everyone felt as if something was enveloping although they couldn''t see anything. The sensation was strange. It was not as if something touched or covered them. But it was as if they were aware that something was there in their own space.


    Cliff gave an annoyed look at Dara and a disappointing look towards Roselyn.


    "Does it really matter? You guys put so much value in your fame and worth and h h h¡­" Cliff started to give a speech.


    "But in reality, what do you have? What can fame do to help you? It''s annoying that you kids who are smarter and better than me don''t understand this basic principle! You still hold these titles valuable? You guys still want to be the strongest person in town? Are you insane?" Cliff exploded.


    "I hate being the strongest one among you! I hate being one of the guys you people connect to be on par with Lynd and Meryl and whoever! I hate it all! Every mission I lose a part of myself literally! I even had to kiss a freakin weapons dealer! And the girl that I like believes me to be in some intensive care where my conditions are unstable and I could die at any moment! Don''t you know that Harker even prepared what he would say to Charm if I died? He''d just say that the Eradication tech that got me deteriorated my conditions so fast than he can recover! They have a freakin back up n of what to do when I die! That''s how it is if you''re as strong as me!" Cliff shouted.


    Everyone was silent. Roselyn took her seat in fear of Cliff. They could sense the Realm of Cliff entering theirs. Though they couldn''t feel it, they knew that Cliff was everywhere in that room.


    "Seeker made me the leader of this trip because I know what''s up. I faced one Near Oveer with the help of the Dragon''s Fang. Even then I lost my foot. Now I''m with all of you, and though I know you guys are strong, the strongest among the people we canmand, it may not mean anything facing these people called the Oveers. And here you are bickering of who''s the strongest! Should I just let you fight the Oveer alone! Do you want to take my position! Go ahead! I hope Seeker makes you kiss toad''s farts!" Cliff released the fullness of his Reapers Breath.


    Suddenly, all the gamers took their seat as they felt a creeping fear warp over them.


    "Impossible!" Dara couldn''t believe it as she felt the constricting force.


    "General¡­ You''ve grown in your Realm." Tyler spoke.


    "Ugh. Already calling me General? I''m still a kid you know? Call someone like Seeker a General." Cliff sighed.


    "These are General Harker''s orders. I have no choice." Tyler was the only one who was able to remain standing up. Scribs and Earl also remained standing.


    "Now if you don''t mind. Please stop releasing the breath." Tyler smiled.


    Cliff turned around and sat back down.


    "I bet your kids learned your lesson. So it looks like, that we soldier have something that''s naturally better than gamers. It''s being more resistant to fear." Tyler smiled.


    Dara''s expression turned sour at hearing this.


    "Of course¡­ General Cliff is still better. I know why General Harker made us address General Cliff as a General. He is stronger than Harker. And you kids haven''t defeated Harker or Lander haven''t you? So imagine who strong General Cliff is."


    "Off a suit he is." Dara scoffed.


    Two of the nearby soldiers started tough.


    "You got a problem?"


    "Sorry, Miss Dara. But you''ve clearly haven''t seen Cliff fight, have you? His daily training regime is to fight five Unlocked piloting Exoskeletons. And sometimes he would have to face either Meryl, Lynd and sometimes even Seeker piloting Exoskeletons."


    Dara was stunned silent. Everyone was also surprised.


    The Small Time Drug Dealers felt a hint of pride as they puffed their chest up almost advertising the fact that Cliff was their boss.


    Of course, none of the Small Time Drug Dealers gloated of this fact to Dara. They knew how terrifying that woman is.


    Dara could only give Cliff an angry look. She vowed in herself to be far better.


    Cliff felt it and nced at her and kept them device on his hand.


    "You know¡­ I was probably someone like you. I thought of myself as someone better. I hated you Royals. I hated those Rising. I wanted power, money, and people to fear me. But I don''t know¡­ when you spend time around Seeker and those folks who really have power¡­ power to change the world at their whims¡­"


    Cliff waved and showed everyone where they were.


    "Right now, we are on a freakin Sky Satellite. That''s their power. And when you begin to finally have an idea as to how strong an Oveer is¡­ because you have seen them, work with them and even fought against them in what they like to call training exercise which is actually how to make an Unlocked go through near-death experiences¡­you just begin to question the whole point of life." Cliff sat down once again and took out hism device.


    "You begin to see how pointless it was to yearn for strength because even then, with such power you have, powers like those Oveers, the haunting fact of those Aragarians, who is far more powerful than these Oveers will always be a shadow that you would look out too. And with every moment being a moment you know you are wasting¡­ you really begin to regret a lot."


    Everyone was silent. They had never thought about that feeling.


    Cliff had the opportunity to see how the strongest beings on earth could move the world. Anything they nned of how a nation should or would behave and act, was within their grasps. And yet, this authority and power were but a helpless illusion. Those with the real power on Earth had no power at all.


    Everyone on that aircraft was reminded of this fact. With every power they had already gained, the future remained grim.


    Dara''s gazed weakened as she thought of this. Was her desire to be stronger a petty desire that would lead her to regret in the future?


    Everyone began to contemte their mortality and pondered what they could have been spending their time and efforts on. Some couldn''t help but look at Cliff and pondered what regrets this man carried. He had wasted his life on drugs and on the amassing of every form of self-exalting pretenses.


    Even the Small Time Drug Dealers could not help but reflect on this matter and sighed.


    "I should have slept with her that night..." Cliff wept as he gazed on them device.


    Everyone wanted to curse out loud.


    Cliff felt it and turned angrily at the rest of the crew.


    "Alright settle down. We''re starting this heavenly meeting. Our mission is to infiltrate one of the World Governing Powers'' floating fortress. We are to deploy an Australian EMP bomb right in the center to disable its defenses. There is a possibility that after our attack, an Antis will surface. I''m sure you''ve all been briefed as to what to when that happens. Our main concern, however, is their appearance. If we can knock out that big fortress, other organizations may take advantage of this. And so¡­ we could end up fighting them."


    "The Near-Oveers," Roselyn spoke in fear.


    "Yes. That bloody Oveer. As part of our¡­ erm¡­ graduating gift is that Seeker did not inform me of who this Oveer is and what his abilities are. So if you die, you die. The Near Oveer I fought could tear metal with his bare hands. My exoskeleton was basically ripped apart and I got away with my leg ripped off¡­" Cliff trailed off as the memories of that battle resurfaced.


    "Ugh. I don''t want to go down there¡­" Cliff gazed at the direction of where they were supposed to attack.


    "How are we going to go there?" The Covenant yer Asterisxx asked.


    "What do you mean how? Isn''t this ship going to bring us there?" Dara asked.


    "How? Isn''t this ship a Sky Satellite? Wouldn''t it be weird if this ship went down? President Colestar had to ask the WGP tounch it up here. If this ship would go down it would be a breach of the agreements made?" Roselyn argued.


    "Then how are we going down there?" Danny asked Cliff.


    "Easy. No parachutes, as we would be seen, no armed techs or boosters or we might be detected. Also, we will be forcibly dropping our body temps so that we would not be detected on their systems"


    "What?" Titan cried as he understood the implications of what Cliff said.


    "Didn''t you know?" One of the Small Time Drug Dealers asked.


    "Oh¡­ They don''t, Counter. I haven''t told them yet."


    "Wait¡­ is that why you three have been so silent?" Titan asked the delinquent named Counter.


    "Yes. No wonder you guys look so rxed! I''m already terrified of the first part of this mission." Another member of Cliff''s troupe sighed.


    "Don''t tell me¡­"


    "Right. You must have guessed it. We jump.." Cliff answered with a nk expression.

 Chapter 182 - Gamers, Soldiers, Drug Dealers, And A Man From The Province

    "We¡­ jump? We''re like over 150,000 feet from the ground? We''re almost reaching the damned mesosphere and we''re supposed to just jump?!" Dara shouted in freight.


    "Yes. We have rubber protection so don''t worry." Cliff eased her worry.


    "What''s a damned condom going to do to save us from falling?!"


    "Condom? It''s a special rubberized suit that can aid in keeping us shrouded. It would also puff up before impact to reduce the stress we will be receiving."


    "So it won''t hurt?"


    "Of course it would hurt. It would still kill normal humans. But we''re not normal are we?" Cliff countered.


    Other than the soldiers who knew the procedure everyone was gapping with their mouth wide open.


    "What about our weapons? I read that there were Exoskeletons and weapons that we can ess when we attack?"


    "Right. How are we going to deploy those weapons if we''re freefalling from the sky?"


    "Tyler. You exin." Cliff sat down and ignored their questions as he looked longingly at the ''get well'' videos that Charm sent.


    "Yes. During thest skirmish between New Great Britain and Australia, you know that Australia was able tounch a counter-attack which led to the destruction of one vessel."


    "I don''t read the news. Something like that actually happened?"


    "Yes. As part of the WGPw with regards to post-engagement between two countries, the WGP will join in and make several investigations to ensure that no illegal weapons or war crimes would be done during that battle. After salvaging the parts of the ship, the WGP was able to procure an unregistered set of Exoskeletons with strange techs currently not registered in their systems."


    "Our Exoskeletons!" Danny realized it.


    "Correct. Those Exoskeletons matched the details that you requested. Although the Exoskeleton does not defy thews imposed by the WGP, it did break severalws because it was an Exoskeleton which has a design that was not registered on their system. Anyway, the WGP has refused to return these Exoskeletons until New Great Britain offers an exnation as to these designs as well as registering it to their database."


    "And those exoskeletons are being held up on the inside of the ship?"


    "Yes. Those Exoskeletons are designed to have a one-time protective mechanism that blocks it from an EMP attack. So it will still run after the bomb explodes."


    "Do we know where it is?" Roselyn asked.


    "No. But we do have a uniquepass that can detect its maism."


    "No way! That suit has Chinese Maic technology?"


    "Yes. But only on itsposition. Its only ability is to be detectable to ourpasses, so the WGP won''t find out about that even if they experiment. And if they do figure it out, it may seem just like a coincidence." Tyler exined.


    "Ingenious." Stanley couldn''t help but be impressed at the details of the n.


    "So basically¡­ we set up the WGP to have the weapons we need?"


    "Yes. The weapons you requested cannot be developed in Pangea as it utilizes several techs from New Great Britain, with metal constitutions made in China. Since shipping was a problem, Arthur devised this n. I watched the reports. It all looked like New Great Britain made a bad call and failed to respond with the right counter technology when the Dawn Soldiers started appearing. But in truth, General Harker said that everything that happened on that battlefield went ording to Arthur''s n. And that is how the entire set of Exoskeletons were left virtually unharmed although the ship carrying it sank. And it was also because of Arthurs preparations that the WGP managed to easily detect it."


    Danny gave a confidentugh.


    "Sounds like the boss!" Danny continued to admire.


    "See, Warfreakz¡­ that''s how you make a n!" Dara insulted.


    "Oh shut up. I heard that the score is Arthur- zero, Lowengren- One. Arthur lost to Lowengren during one mock battle remember?" Roselyn mocked.


    Stanley was holding on to Roselyn begging her no to make any bolder statements.


    Dara was enraged while Titan and the gamer called Asterisxx had a change in expression. Only Danny continued to have a nonchnt reaction.


    "Anyway¡­ Our mission begins there. We''ve waited and waited for a powerful rain to envelop their area and now that there is, this mission is a go. The storm should reach that fortress in two hours. The sound should mask our arrival considering we will be making quite a ssh nearby. But with poor visibility and the fact that we arending 2 nautical miles from the Fortress, we are confident that we won''t get detected."


    "Two nautical miles?" One of Cliff''s troupe eximed.


    "Right." Tyler nodded.


    "It makes sense. We are Unlocked. What is swimming a few miles for us?" Scribs supported.


    "Yeah! But in a storm?!"


    "Hence the rubber suits. That''s also going to help us keep afloat as we swim."


    "What the hell? What kind of crazy, torturous, masochistic mission is this?" Counter eximed.


    Tylerughed as he looked at the young delinquent.


    "Come on, kiddos. It makes sense! We are Unlocked. The reason why we are confident that we can infiltrate that fortress is because of the crazy things we can do! And I emphasize the word can! No normal human being could dare do what we do. And because of that, they won''t suspect it! What humans could fall from the sky with some suit that can only give them a buffernding when they fall? What human can swim two nautical miles in a storm after that? No matter how they deduce it, no one could figure out that the reason their fortress was infiltrated is that Pangeaunched a Sky Satellite!"


    The gamers looked pleased at the answer but the Small Time Drug Dealers had frustrated expression.


    "Come on gang. It''s not that bad! Training with Cliff should be worse!" Counterughed as he tapped on their shoulders.


    "Right. And training with Arthur was just as¡­ easy. Ugh. I can''t believe he did that." Dara gave a sarcastic reply.


    "Oh really? Training with Lowengren''s the worst! Those deceptions scared me to death. I thought he would really kill us!" Roselyn argued not to be undone with Dara.


    "I think¡­ Lynd gives terrible lessons. That guy¡­ with all those skills he uses¡­ he almost killed me for real." Earl recalled their sessions together with Tyler and Scribs and the three unconsciously shivered.


    "I''m sure that Arthur is using his Path in trying to make us Oveers. So I''m confident that we are first in this list of who gets the worst and most brutal training." Daraughed confidently.


    Cliff gave an unconsciousugh.


    "You actually think it''s that easy? I think Arthur has abandoned his ns to make you even a Ranked Hero! Much more an Oveer!"


    "What makes you so confident in that im? You underestimate Arthur so much!"


    "Ok kiddo¡­ Let me exin thest part of this trip¡­ As you know, Meryl and Lynd are only who they are because of their faith in Seeker. Many of you don''t have that luxury. Especially you, Dara. I heard youughed back when Feltrick bitch-pped Seeker and Meryl. I''m sure that right now, you definitely don''t have faith in him. But whatever that may imply on the future, let me justy it down like this. Meryl and Lynd are strong because their Path is strong."


    "Their Path?"


    "Erm¡­ It''s like they had attacks like Hydro Pump or Hyper Beam or something. They are strong because they had strong attacks."


    "What''s with the Pokemon reference?" Danny asked.


    "Seeker made me memorize the game. He says it''s for a future mission. Perhaps that was the only good mission he gave me. It''s very rxing ying that game."


    "Can you¡­ um¡­ move on?" Danny urged.


    "Right¡­ anyway¡­ they have strong Paths but as Ranked Heroes, they are weak. I mean¡­ Covenant, you do realize that your terrifying boss, Arthur¡­ would you believe that he was only barely a Ranked Hero in Seeker''s future? How do youpare to theposure, confidence and force of will that Arthur has?"


    "So you''re saying a real Ranked Hero is better?"


    "Yes! Typical was a real Ranked Hero. He was tough. It took three of us, and Meryl who was basically an over-leveled Unlocked to defeat him. And with that, we escaped defeat. But we were lucky¡­ And this Typical who didn''t have the New Game+ advantage still managed to nearly wipe us all out. Had he aimed for Meryl''s head we would have been all killed. Luck. That''s how we won. Do you think I desire the powers of an Oveer? That''s too far out¡­ A Ranked Hero. That''s my current goal. And that''s why this mission is terrifying for me."


    "Terrifying? Why?" Roselyn asked.


    "Call it a phobia¡­ Right now, we are tasked to attack Grant Hermes, a future Oveer. But many of us may even die from not from him but from his beloved adopted daughter¡­ a freakin Ranked Hero. And a real deal this time. Not those cheat codes like Lynd and Meryl. Real ones. A woman who was even better than Future Seeker. She who treads like a Thief in the Night! Irvana Hermes."


    The soldiers could not help but gulp. They constantly watched Seeker''s battles. The three on one between Seeker, Meryl, Lynd, and Cliff was a stunning battle that they have reviewed detail by detail. Yet there is someone who is stronger than the future Seeker.


    "And that''s just the daughter. You guys really underestimate an Oveer. Do you really think it''s about strength? Facing an Oveer isn''t just about strength. You see apart from their disgusting abilities; the reason these Oveers are a step up to Ranked Heroes is that they just have this form of tenacity, endurance and force of will that allows them to ovee. It''s like thend, the sea the sky and all the elements are aligning up to their wills so that they can win. They have no useless movements, no missed opportunity¡­ put it simply, they have that skill of Miss Alean! Ites naturally to them. You guys are all pro-gamers. You know what it feels to have momentum and all that¡­ well, guess what? That''s how they live and breathe." Cliff spoke swiftly and decisively.


    Everyone gave a startled look.


    "Why are we going to fight a Ranked Hero and an Oveer?" Tyler asked.


    "Originally, we were just supposed to find the information about all the Antis in the world. The chaos would have driven Grant Hermes to go into that floating fortress to investigate unprepared and we would have fought them¡­ You see, Arthur could have easily made other ways to send those weapons us. But you see¡­ Seeker prepared something in that which will call Hermes. A small strange cryptic device with highly encrypted data. The WGP revealed all the techs they found and made a list¡­ Tyler?"


    "Right. They even encrypted the message and asked New Great Britain about it. Project Progenitor''s Wind."


    "What''s that mean?" Roselyn asked Cliff.


    "I don''t know. Seeker must have found something interesting in China. Whatever it is¡­ the information they told me is to prepare for a possible encounter with that Ranked Hero. Arthur said he''s confident that she''ll appear. I think we would end up facing the full force of Hermes."


    "What?! Boss! You didn''t tell us that?" One of Cliff''s minions cried out.


    "Oh right. Sorry. I was busy contemting my life choices. Sorry, Zidane¡­ Hank¡­ Counter¡­ I did tell you to enjoy what''s left with your life." Cliff ignored them and started looking at their phone.


    "That''s crazy! This is¡­ this is a suicide mission!" Danny finally erupted. He had no confidence anymore.


    "What the hell is Arthur thinking?!" Dara followed cursing.


    "And Lowengren¡­" Roselyn clenched her fist in regret.


    Only the three soldiers kept their calm.


    "You guys really are gamers. You should have more faith in yourmanding officer."


    "They''re ying with our lives!" Darained.


    "They''re saving the world. They trust us toplete it. Isn''t it just like when you y a game and you get ordered?" Tylerughed.


    Suddenly, a strange light blinked.


    "Oh. Just in time. General?" Scribs called Cliff.


    "Right¡­ At least we have him¡­" Cliff walked over towards a small room at the other end of the shuttle.


    "Who?"


    "Well¡­ they figured that this too much for us. So they gave us a little help. We have¡­ someone who has the shot at bing a Ranked Hero." Cliffzily walked over the room and opened it up.


    "Has the drugs worn off? Are you alright?"


    "What the hell was that?" A wearied voice answered.


    "It was the drug that was mentioned of course. Look, dude, I''m not very good at convincing people and telling you to believe all this¡­ bute on¡­ you''ve seen the proof¡­ we even gave you that file¡­ I hoped you read it?"


    "I wasn''t able to finish it! Those doctors of yours injected the drug already!"


    "Well¡­ you would have resisted otherwise. So that''s why they uh¡­ ambushed you¡­"


    "Ambushed me? What jerks you guys are. For someone wanting to save the world you guys are really insensitive!"


    "Who is he?" Danny asked Tyler.


    "I don''t know. Only Cliff was granted clearance for that. Until we were out of the atmosphere I couldn''t say anything."


    "Why? Aren''t you like the second hand of General Harker? You should even know Seeker''s conversation with him."


    "Yeah. It''s usually a very¡­ scary conversation. Like you said earlier, their just nning how to change the world. The more I listen the more terrified I get. But I don''t know why I wasn''t granted clearance for this."


    "It''s because¡­ my family might have the technology to force an answer out of you." The young man smiled.


    "What? You have techs that can force out an answer from us? You did read the files, right? What we have? Our technology? And you think that it could-"


    "Yes. We have a simr technology like General Harker''s. Programmed ve? We even call it the same thing. It uses a different blend of techs that you guys use. Although ours is slightly more temporary. Yours focus on one aspect of Eradication tech, ours focus on another branch of Eradication tech."


    "Another branch? There''s another branch for it?" Tyler asked in a surprised tone.


    "Eradication technology is a very very broad technology. What the government uses is one part. What Harker has, surprisingly is another¡­ what we have is another piece. Truth be told, I am inclined to believe your crazy tale. Because it made sense. Progenitor warned us about it¡­" The young manughed.


    "Anyways, with our tech, we could easily capture one of your guys and make them ves. Your superiors were being cautious. Although it would be almost impossible for them to find you granted that your escape was perfect¡­ but¡­ perhaps there was something they felt about my family that intrigued them¡­ If what you say is true, this Seeker Carlean must have known something about me from the future¡­" The young manughed.


    "Who exactly are you?" Tyler asked.


    "I guess I''m a potential Ranked Hero¡­ Man, these drugs are amazing! I can even make time move faster and slower!" The manughed.


    "No, you''re not. You''re not used to it yet. We''ve been adapting to your speed." Dara frowned.


    "Wrong. He''s just testing it. It looks like, we do have a shot. You''re stronger now." Cliff noticed the young man''s free reign and control over time.


    "Wanna have another go, Cliff?" The manughed.


    "Nah. I owe you one. What you did got me a girlfriend¡­ I don''t want to crush your pride now. I''ll need that confidence down there¡­" Cliffughed.


    The young man also chuckled.


    "Guys¡­ This person is probably stronger than most of you. I''ll need better techs if I were to fight him again. He managed to shoot me even prior to his Unlocking. Of course, I didn''t have any techs with me¡­ but still¡­ he shot me." Cliff exined.


    "Who are you?" Dara asked warily.


    "Me? I''m just some random dude living in a province of Phil-Pangea." The young manughed.


    "Gamers, soldiers and drug dealers.. Meet the Protector of the Provinces¡­ Gardo Dalisay."

 Chapter 183 - To Sink The Kraken

    The World Governing Power had created several fortresses that patrol around the nations. These were the visible forces that would patrol as the locations of the Antis remained undisclosed and unseen. Since the Antis had the ability to dive down to the lowest points of the seas, it was difficult and impossible for many countries to detect it.


    But above the sea, were several visible mobile fortresses called the Kraken. As the situation in South-East Asia, particrly near the Australian region, grew more and more chaotic, one of the Kraken''s had positioned itself on the borders of Australia.


    Aside from the war, Australia''s many crimes had led them into a disadvantageous position. The WGP had set several measures that prohibit Australia from using weapons of mass destruction, a continuing embargo on trading several key resources that the WGP determines to be dangerous, and constant monitoring from the Kraken to prohibit Australia from secretlyunching any stealth aircraft or satellites.


    Four Kraken and six Antis patrol the world. These were the mobile sea bases that were a ready force that could attack or terrorize any nations should they behave beyond the Nominative Ethics of a Nation.


    Australia did not receive the WGP''s wrath as they had received their wrath in the attacks of various nations. But as the wars in the South-East Asian regions continue to escte, this fortress positioned itself near the borders of Pangea.


    But when an EMP attack was made on the heart of New Great Britain, the angry government utilized their technology and used their weather-controlling technology to create a storm that would attack Australia. The WGP stepped in and prevented the usage of powerful storms, and so a typhoon level attack as only made. This Typhoon would reach the maximum range of what a Typhoon was and barely make it into a super typhoon.


    Since the attack was not at the weapons of mass destruction level, the typhoon was allowed by the WGP, however, the location in which the storm would pass would inevitably pass by the Kraken


    Up on the Sky Satellite, the group of gamers, soldiers, former drug dealers and a man from the province of Pangea readied for their drop. They were on their final briefing before their epic fall.


    The entire team was already wearing a unique ck suit made of rubber. Everyone was anxiously waiting for the precise time the storm would be over the Kraken.


    BEEP!


    The rm indicating that a signal was detected rang out.


    Tyler immediately turned the monitor on to receive the transmission. A distorted image of a person was shown. The feed was poor as if the signals were barely reaching. But to an Unlocked ear who could hear different frequencies, a clear and audible voice could be heard.


    "Is everyone doing well?" The familiar voiceughed.


    "General Seeker?!"


    "Zeek?! What happened?" Cliff asked in confusion.


    "What''s going on?" Gardo was confused. He could not see a clear image and could only hear distortions and although he noticed the rest pping their mouths, no sound came out.


    Cliff signaled to Gardo to keep quiet.


    "Cliff. Ask Gardo if he is one of the Progenitor''s seed." Seeker immediately ordered.


    Cliff asked Gardo right after he muted their audio-out.


    "Are you a Progenitor''s Seed?" Cliff asked.


    Gardo was stunned. However, after giving everyone a suspicious look, Gardo sighed and nodded.


    "He is," Cliff confirmed to Seeker.


    "I was right. So apart from age, power is one factor in bing the bearer of truth. Alright. There are several changes to the n."


    "Changes?" Cliff hated that word.


    "Don''t worry. You won''t end up kissing someone with these changes. One of our allies is a former Aragarian. He betrayed his own race, came to Earth earlier and was the reason why we were able to fight back in my future and in fact, he was the one who assured our victory from a possible Aragarian take over back during World War Three."


    "So the Aragarians were already here."


    "Right. Review your history from that perspective and a lot of it makes sense. But this Aragarian did so much to save us. In fact, it is assumed that he killed all the Pioneers who tried to manipte Earth during that period. We call this man the Progenitor. We are assuming that this Progenitor should be stronger than the Presiders and even a Principal. He has been dubbed as the Lost Primordial among Aragarians." Seeker summarized.


    Everyone silently listened but was shocked at the information.


    "A Primordial? What''s with their fascination with the letter P?" Cliff pondered.


    "Something about it being constant? I don''t know. Gardo Dalisay is one of the seeds that this former Aragarian left behind. Or at least I hope he is. The Progenitor made several preparations to help humanity fight against a possible Aragarian invasion. But of course, this Progenitor was even more cautious than we are. Gardo here may not even know of another team that the Progenitor formed. In fact, they were banned from actively seeking out other Primordial. So we can''t ascertain his identity yet." Seeker chuckled.


    "You mean he could be lying?" Cliff frowned.


    "Just keep an eye on him. Kill him if necessary." Seeker ordered.


    Cliff and the rest did their best to act normal. Seeker was actually telling them to kill Gardo at any time. While the rest did their best to put on a poker face, Gardo who still couldn''t hear the other frequencies simply sat down and waited for the meeting to end as he explored the dark caves on his face to extract somerge minerals.


    "Your mission will no longer focus on just one possible Oveer and Ranked Hero. Arthur ordered me to change the details of your attack. And since he actually ordered me, I had to take this seriously."


    Cliff was surprised. Arthur was indeed someone who always followed along with Seeker''s crazy n. But now, he was actually ordering Seeker to this.


    "So it''s this important¡­" Cliff muttered.


    "Right. We want this attack to be an all-out melee. Through the Weather Control tech of New Great Britain, the storm will pass, but strong rains should still hit the area continuously. You will dy your attack for about eight hours. This has two purposes. The first is to give time for those like the Dalisay to join. Arthur predicts that consecutive calls hinting out the existence of the Progenitor will force all those who are the seeds to take action. Arthur was able to manipte the encrypted message on that ship on thest minute. That simple message will draw the attention of many. And I have ns to broadcast another message. Because of that, we need more time for them to get closer when you attack.


    "This sounds¡­ more problematic. This will be an all-out war." Cliff couldn''t help but frown.


    "That''s the n. The other reason why we are dying is that we need Lynd to finish his little contest first. We''re afraid that the WGP will add stricter rules to world trade. In fact, we are assuming the entire world to halt its operations after this attack. This is because your mission no longer will be to locate all the Antis and damage that fortress, your goal is to inflict as much damage on it as possible. If fact, if you can sink it."


    "Sink it?!" Several cries were heard. Some even spoke normally.


    "Quiet!" Cliff reprimanded.


    "I knew it woulde to this, honestly." Cliff sighed.


    "The weapons you gave us isn''t enough to blow the whole fortress up. I doubt that you want us to initiate some nuclear meltdown." Cliff replied controlling his anger.


    "Nah. Too dangerous. The radiation would spread and harm civilians."


    "Since when do you care about civilians?"


    "Civilians of our side, I mean."


    Cliff rolled his eyes.


    "It is¡­ important that you sink it. As I said, there will be chaos so it should be easier for you to infiltrate the fortress. However, there may be a possibility that the WGP will be on guard from you. We''ve just received word from Lowengren. As you''ve experienced before, the limitations of our encrypted messaging can only include broader and more open-ended messages. And as you ended up kissing a guy, I''m sure you of all people understand the limitations of ourmunication."


    "Why are you apologizing?" Cliff asked suspiciously.


    "Because Arthur predicts that Lowengren may use ouring attack as a tool for deception. He aims to deceive a Fleet Admiral controlling one Antis."


    "Just get to the point." Cliff urged angrily. It was the first time that Seeker was actually apologizing and giving hesitating answers to Cliff.


    "Basically, the WGP may be on guard with your attack. They might allow the EMP attack to damage their base, but many of its weapons should be protected and be online when you attack it."


    Cliff turned purple.


    "Well¡­ to be fair though¡­ Various Families will move and therefore the government which they support ought to take action as well. Australia may have no choice but also join the battle. I mean, we''ve used two Australian EMP bombs on different nations. And now, on the WGP. It''s very obvious that the EMP bombs are not initiated by the Australians. But having no choice of the matter, Australia will attempt to intervene. Considering their close proximity, they should join the battle either to aid the WGP or to ransack the base like the rest. To help you, I''ve made preparations. Harker already leaked information to the Dalisay''s that Gardo could be in the Kraken so his team should help you guys. They have destructive techs which would definitely prove helpful." Seeker exined.


    "That''s it? The Dalisay''s against the WGP, several Families and the Aragarians? The level of difficulty you are giving me is increasing exponentially." Cliff contained his anger.


    "Well¡­ You''ve grown. I mean¡­ you can even use the word, exponentially." Seekerughed.


    Cliff was about to rant out but then Seeker continued.


    "Don''t worry. The Dragon''s Fang is on its way there." Seeker added.


    "Who among them will join?" Cliff held hope in his heart.


    "st, Trigger, Suit and¡­ Typical will be joining you."


    Cliff gave a visible sigh of relief. He even sat down and rested his head on the cushion of his seat. The pressure and fear he felt were building, and now, it just lessened by a great deal.


    "You have the support of the most explosive members of the Dragons Fangs. I did instruct them only to join when more groups will try to infiltrate the WGP. Of course, the Aragarians may also appear. I doubt that they''d ignore this. And I''ve already given my instructions on what to do when you meet them." Seeker added.


    Everyone gave a solemn nod as they understood what to do.


    "That is all. Tyler, give a detailed exnation about the WGP to them. I want you guys to talk about the rest of the implications of this attack. I don''t have time anymore. The signal from One China''s satellite won''t be able to reach you anymore. And just out of precaution, I have to end the call the moment the satellite naturally aims its sights on whatever government approved position it was supposed to have. I leave the detailed exnation of the mission to you." The call immediately ended.


    "What happened? What were you guys talking about?" Gardo scratched his head.


    "You! You!" Asterisxx gave Gardo an angry look.


    "What did I do?"


    "Our boss just found out about you. He must have found out about your erm¡­ kind through Nogard Meng."


    "Nogard Meng? That hero-general of old?" Gardo was confused.


    "He''s alive. He must have gotten something from the guy you call Progenitor. Anyways¡­ we''ll talk about itter. For now¡­ Tyler tells us about the WGP and their erm¡­ whatchamacallit?" Cliff asked.


    "Right. I think I need to exin more about the WGP''s military bases. The World Governing Powers, as you know is the prime organization or kingdom that holds this world. Ever since the Agreement of Foundations, the WGP had relocated from their base at Rome after the establishment of their own nation. They established this nation and was intended to be away from the prying eyes of the World. The Arctic nations remain to be the hardest nations to ever go to. Only the elites of the world can go there. Even General Seeker cannot go there. Of our team, the only person legally permitted to travel to the arctic nations is Meryl."


    "I miss her." Dannyughed.


    Asterisxx and even Titan rolled their eyes at Danny''s words and even Dara could not help but grit her teeth.


    "But aside from this Nation of Solitude that they made, they also established several bases which were meant to keep an eye on the world. The Worlds Helm is thergest megastructure ever made by human hands. An artificial ind that surely should have mobile capabilities. But of course, you all know that the Worlds Helm has yet to ever use its mobility. Roaming the world is two groups of massive fortresses. One above the sea and the other, under the sea. The Antis basically has the power of several fleets of any strong nation. It even its own air force, should they need to rise to the surface to war. Our target is the one that is above the sea, the Kraken."


    The gamers listened attentively. Most of them did not know the existence of the underwater fortress until recently.


    "The Kraken is generally a mobile fortress that has the military might to mobilize three ground, air and sea forces. It''s more powerful than an Antis. It isrge enough to have an international airport of its own as most international flights, especially those traveling towards enemy countries, wouldnd there. I am exining this so you guys could imagine the implications of our attack. As you know, our mission now is to try to sink it." Tyler exined seriously.


    Gardo''s mouth was wide open.


    "You guys are crazy." Gardo shook his head.


    "Our boss is." Cliff shrugged his shoulders.


    "Actually, the attack is a strategic one. Attacking the WGP will make it more cautious and thus make them send out their armies. Also, our focus is to move the world into the brink of war. So this action will actually aplish several of our directives. The more chaotic the world is, and the more active and wary the WGP will be. And we want that because that will limit the movements of the Aragarians. In fact, perhaps only their n regarding the Jews will continue. And that is our goal. We have to stop them or dy their actions. And this just fits the bill." Tyler exined.


    "Still??? The thought of attacking onerge fortress is just¡­ too much." Titan voiced out worriedly.


    "Wouldn''t this attack turn the whole world upside down? Attacking the WGP will create a global restriction in trade!" Asterisxx voiced out.


    "Weren''t you listening? That''s what we want! Lynd''s gamble would start soon. After that stream which would give us trillions of credits, the attack begins on the WGP! We get a lot of funds to do whatever it is we need, while the world suffers. If the WGP halts all trading, people would be investing in us! The only thing that would remain in the gamingmunity! And that''s our cash cow! We be rich and at the same time create a momentary pause to the rest of the world!" Roselyn exined.


    "But that will still create a copse the economy! The world will be in turmoil!" Asterisxx countered.


    "I think that''s the n. The more chaotic the world bes, the easier it will be for us to move. You see, the Aragarians don''t know about us. That Harker gave out the information to that Presider called Lara. The Aragarians think that someone among them betrayed the Pioneers and are now trying to take over the world now and is trying to gather technology. We gave the Aragarians a false enemy and Harker''s confidence that he can lead the enemy to make false actions. Lowengren already made sure that that other Presider guy would also do something crazy."


    "What exactly are we after?"


    "Time." Stanley sighed.


    Everyone turned to Stanley in surprise.


    "Err¡­ The boss kept saying that we need to hurry up and that there''s no time. I figure that since what we need is to make breakthroughs on the Unlocking and making friends with people like Mister Gardo, then we''d have more advantage." Stanley shrugged.


    "He''s right," Tyler confirmed.


    "We''re buying time. We''re making the WGP act all crazy and look for things that are not normal. The Aragarians will probably be going after the WGP because of everything Harker said. Harker told me that one of the best ways to be out of anyone''s radar is to make them focus on another enemy. They will never expect that we are united. I mean, New Great Britain, One China, Africa, the EAA, the Americas¡­ Who would think that we have people on those countries?" Cliff exined further.


    "Well enough talk. When are we going to attack?" Gardo asked impatiently.


    "Eight hours from now.. I''m curious though¡­ What exactly will happen within these eight hours?" Cliff pondered.

 Chapter 184 - The First Three Hours

    It wasn''t long when the world got news of the ship that the Australians managed to sink. The attack was brutal and became one of the most embarrassing defeats in Fleet Admiral Ramsden''s record. The WGP revealed the details of the post-battle and this included the designs of several Exoskeletons not yet recorded in their systems.


    The WGP demanded an exnation from New Great Britain, but all their demands were met withughs and insults. New Great Britain had been very disappointed with the WGP for the past months as many of its demands were ignored. The WGP seemed to have been siding with the Australians and theirck of action made with regards to the incident in China also fueled the fire.


    As no information regarding some secret weapons was being developed in that fleet, New Great Britain ignored their calls andughed at it.


    It was then that the WGP released partial details of the schematics of the new Exoskeleton designs as well an encrypted message with reference to the "Progenitor''s Wind Seed."


    It was only then that one of New Great Britain''s most respected personnel spoke out.


    Fleet Admiral Ramsden Audenvise confessed to his crimes and stated that these were mere designs that they were making and have not gone through the testing phase.


    Details of the designs were immediately released by the scientists employed under Fleet Admiral Audenvise and gave implications that each design could counter Australian techs. These designs were new Exoskeleton designs that were nned to counter the Australian Dawn Soldiers as well as Morning and Evening. Since the designs were still on the testing phase, they were not yet finalized and hence, not registered among the technologies of New Great Britain.


    "Did I breach protocol? No! Check those designs and tell me which among the techs employed on those Exoskeletons are not among New Great Britain''s capabilities! You use us of breaching protocol, and reveal the information of our techs making those new designs useless without even considering the sciences we''ve applied on it! So what if they were new designs! They were designs that employed our technological possibilities differently! Why go so far as reveal our technology? Are you rooting for Australia that much? Is Australia your pet project who can create such experiments and you reap its benefits? Why is it that we receive this treatment, whereas Australia, who has developed an inhumane weapon borne from harvesting and using human live specimens continues to move unpunished! You even prohibited us from attacking them with a Weapon of mass destruction?! Such stupidity! The storm we brought over them, and the storm that we will continue to attack them with, will only limit them. I''m sure that their human experiments will feed them when all their crops are destroyed!" Ramsden gave off an angry and fiery speech.


    Pangea, South Pacific United, One China, and several other nations apuded Ramsden Audenvise''s speech and rallied behind him.


    New Great Britain''s politicians continue to act in divided notions. One group wanted to punish Ramsden for his uwful actions, while the rest heralded him as a true Fleet Admiral. To be capable of creating ns to counter Australia''s tech at such a short time was praiseworthy.


    The report ran across the world creating waves and waves of chaos.


    This was the first hour.


    The second hour passed swiftly. While nothing happened on the outside, the truth was, the world was preparing for that event. The news and concerns regarding New Great Britain''s embarrassing defeat became yesterday''s news as people prepared to watch or take part in an event that had enamored the world. Because of the bets bing high stake bets, a blockchain server was actually used to host the entire game itself.


    The online programming codes were also disyed and live-feed tracking and detection systems were in ce. In a way, it would be impossible to cheat ying the game


    Several board members of Isolent Software, the producer of the world-famous game, Generals was invited to take part in an actual, live viewing of Lynd ying the game.


    Several prominent members of the WGP took part. Although as always, their identities weren''t disclosed, it was stated that members will watch the actual game that Lynd will do, in person.


    And so, the arrival of these members, and how they were secretly escorted to the location where Lynd would physically be ying the game happened.


    The members of the WGP each wore strange silver masks that guarded their faces. As part of their protocol, they wore the strongest Exoskeleton ever made on Earth. The Iron Man.


    Exoskeletons of about eight feet high walked into the room and observed Lynd from afar.


    At the center of thisrge stage, the gamingputer, other gadgets that Lynd was to use were being installed. This specialputer that was provided by the WGP and checked by various parties prior to its deployment in this undisclosed location.


    "Are you ready?" Harker asked Lynd.


    President Colestar was also among the people who stood by Lynd, along with Haley Vagrant and the current owner of the Covenant of the Strongest. After the death and the discovery that Feltrick Ung-ive was someone in league with the Australians, the board immediately reshuffled and Dara Park''s father became the current majority shareholder of the Covenant.


    Lynd nodded and nced at the distant towering Exoskeletons.


    "The WGP¡­ I can''t believe that I''d actually be in a room with them."


    "Win this¡­ and you''ll probably see more of them." Harkerughed.


    "Go. The stream begins." Harker pointed and Lynd turned and started his march.


    Everyone on Earth who called themselves a gamer watched this event. The event was so rushed that some only learned about it hours before the actual event.


    Almost all news and media channels each had their pay-per-view arrangements and movie cinemas, hotels, streaming services and the like all set time for this period.


    Arge empty space was shown with bluish light surrounding the entire field. Right in the spotlight of the bluish hue, on top of a pyramid, was aputer screen. It had an enormous monitor and the seats were designed forfort, ease, and maximum performance. One liter of the most popr gamers-sports drink sat on the side of the desk with a specialized cup and a long straw.


    A long staircase that reached to the bottom was slowly panning into view.


    At the very bottom, was a famous announcer who stood wearing a stunning tuxedo.


    "Ladies and Gentlemen of the World! Tonight is the night of champions. Two hundred gamers from all over the world. One-hundred thirty-six pro gamers and sixty-four skilled veterans of the world-renowned game that redefined Massively Multiyer Battle arena, Generals have been gathered. These are the best of the best. Some winning over fifteen rounds of elimination anding up first. We are not exaggerating that anyone here fought great odds and won. No one who relies on luck could get to this stage. Two hundred of the best of the best had to face nearly a thousand foes to get to where they are standing."


    A video presentation was immediately shown shing and showcasing yers all over the world. Several of the most well-known and famous soldiers and Generals was shown on screen. But because there were two-hundreds of them, even the most famous fighters were shown only for two or three seconds.


    Around the world, the cheers made in stadiums, hotels and other public ces which streamed this event became a thunderous noise that awoke the residents nearby, if there were residents who didn''t tune in to this almost impossible gamble.


    "Their opponent? He is no nobody. He is, in fact, one of the most sessful video game streamer to ever reach sess. Though they rode the wave of surprise that we know to be Seeker Carlean, they made their footings on those ces that ate pro-gamers alive. They held their fort and became one of the most talented champions in the Game of Piercing. But tonight, he isn''t ying Piercing. A challenge has been announced and all the world responded. He will face two hundred yers in a gamble that is so unprecedented that it makes Crazy Carlean look like Cute Carlean! Ladies and Gentlemen, standing six-foot, five inches, the Gentle Giant rises and will now approach the stage. Will this be a stage of glory or a stage of grave defeat that will bury Pangea and turn the sparkling pearl of the orient seas into a pit of gloom? Arise Pangea and shout your support, for Lynd Indigo ascends the steps of destiny!"


    And there, Lynd began his ascent.


    The cameras panned and focused on each footstep of Lynd. Slowly revealing and panning upward revealing the design of Lynd''s clothes that matched the red, white and blue g of Pangea.


    The world watched in silence as Lynd walked through those stairs.


    A rock rendition of the Pangean national anthem began to y with a crescendo as Lynd reached the peak of the pyramid.


    The camera zoomed in close enough to see Lynd take his seat, put on his headset. His face didn''t bear the usually shy and bashful attitude. He had a confident gaze, a resolute expression, and a scheming grin.


    "No words. Come at me. All of you."


    The cheers around Pangea were so loud. Never was a nation so united in cheers.


    "Well, what else can I say? Let''s get ready to rumble!" The announcer dered firmly as the game began.


    Two hundred yers were divided into different positions within the map.


    They all had simple handguns.


    Lynd began with a standard submachine gun. His starting point was at the center of the map, inside arge tall sky scrapper with various ammunitions. Of course, the ammo and weapons present were only ording to the level of weapons that Lynd had ess to.


    The Generals took their positions. Eight generals divided their team into eight groups. Each group consisted of twenty-five yers each, including the General.


    "Alright, team! Remember the n. We have to avoid a Lowengren''s Maneuver. If he kills over One hundred twenty of us that''s when he gets ess to nukes. We take this head-on." The General announced.


    Various theories were raised on how Lynd would defend against two hundred yers. Every known location in the game was analyzed by these eight generals and they each had their strategies to counter Lynds.


    Suddenly, the yers all began to move in an almost synchronized movement. The messed up deployment all started to form groups.


    "What''s this? The two hundred yers have actually organized themselves! The Eight Supremes have actually contacted the yers! This is¡­ this is almost cheating!" One of thementators shouted immediately.


    "No rules were set against this. The challenge did not state that these groups could notmunicate head on! If Pangea was more clear in their rules and the conditions of their gamble, they could have avoided this."


    "Look. Each group is moving into specific positions. It looks like each yer is to head towards one of the highest peaks within their current locations."


    Several res of different colors were being sent to the sky as the game progressed.


    "Theirmunicating! They aremunicating!"


    "It''s clear that the Generals have talked it out. This seems a very delicate position for Lynd. It''s sad that we cannot see Lynd''s point of view."


    "That''s right! Only the WGP has ess to it to avoid cheating. What do you think Lynd is going to do?"


    "Torch Tower is a heavily guarded base. Lynd has ess to mines, sub-machine gun sentries. And grenades. But with how organized his enemies are, I don''t know how else he can hold down the fort of Torch tower. Look. The generals have nned well; they are now taking vehicles that they can use to storm the base. Some are using whatever elements that the sub-machine guns cannot prate."


    Suddenly, several names were shown on screen as several yers were immediately defeated. The echoing sound of a submachine gun shooting somewhere could be heard.


    As the sounds were designed to imitate real-life, several of the soldiers immediately followed where the sound came from.


    "Sir!" A soldier who found one of the Eight Supreme General unconsciously reported.


    "Don''t panic. This is advantageous for us." The Generalughed.


    "Why?"


    "Simple. None of our yers were positioned close to Lynd''s tower. This was done so to allow Lynd the opportunity to prepare for our raid. But this time, it''s easier. He abandoned his fort. He wants to kill usmando style. This is easier. We hunt." The Generalughed.


    "We hunt?!"


    "Also. This means he left his tower unguarded save for some sentries. Regardless, this gives us time to raid, some of the Generals must have changed their ns. See?" At that moment three red res of different shades could be seen piercing the skies.


    "Shoot the blue re." The General ordered and a soldier immediately fired it.


    Three red, and five blue res each of different shades were now up on the sky.


    "Three groups would raid the fort, while five will defend. Which means, five would look for Lynd." The General concluded.


    It was then that the announcer caught notice of the movements of the soldiers.


    "The shades of res! That''s it! Each General uses a different shade of re ording to the color their character has! It''s an ingeniousmunication system!" The announcer analyzed.


    "It seems Lynd was trying to demoralize his enemies by killing them immediately! He left his fort and opted to use guerri tactics!" the second announcer dered.


    "It''s his strategy. He knows that if his enemies nned this, they would use fort-raiding strategies. But if Lynd adopts amando-style, his enemies may be left unprepared. At least... in theory."


    "But that means his fort, where his newer weapons would spawn is easy for the take!"


    "And that''s why we can see three generals headed towards the tower itself!"


    Another round of gunshots was heard as a few names were shown on screen.


    "Eight dead already! Lynd has killed eight soldiers! This looks like a good start!" The announcer shouted in amazement.


    "This looks bad. Let''s move more cautiously. Luckily, none of the generals have been targeted. It looks like Lynd is aiming for soldiers on the fringe areas." Another General analyzed. He had thirteen soldiers gathered which marched alongside him.


    From then on, the soldiers avoided the open streets, and cautiously probed their movements.


    But what the world, the announcers and even the yers didn''t know, was that the World Governing Powers who was granted the opportunity to view Lynd''s perspective was cursing and dering that Lynd must have cheated.


    "How the hell can he cheat?! That''s aputer I developed, ced under my ownwork and have passed the test not only of our own team but those of the various nations of the world!" A powerful and prestigious member of the WGP argued.


    The Kings of the World was stunned to see an impossible act.


    Each soldier died from one bullet. Everyone was wrong. Lynd didn''t leave the fort. Yet, he wasn''t even on the highest floor of the tower. What appeared to be random shots in the air, actually killed eight soldiers.


    Lynd''s first upgrade wasplete. He now had ess to high-grade binocrs. He grabbed it, moved up on the floors and then surveyed the area.


    "Now that that''s done, I guess I''ll start with Seeker''s mission first." Lynd sighed as he rushed towards the control room of the tower. With the kills he made, he could now broadcast sounds to make it more difficult for his enemies to search for his location.


    He moved towards the device which gave loud broadcasts on the city and booted up the device.


    His avatar moved towards the microphone which would broadcast his deration to the entire yers.


    "You think you''re all better than me? Please! You guys are just seeds that haven''t even sprouted! I am the Progenitor! And you seeds are nothing!" Lynd arrogantly dered.


    While Pangea rejoiced, all over the world, certain individuals who were watching the stream suddenly started to shake.


    "We''re heading to Pangea." A man dered as he stood up. He was the leader of one of the premier developers of weapons for their country.


    "Sir?"


    "Is this the era, where Rome will rise again? Oh, Progenitor¡­ Is that you?" He muttered under his voice.


    Somewhere above the Caliphate nations, in the heart of Mesopotamia. A woman smiled and began to be in deep thought.


    "Isaac." She ordered.


    "It seems¡­ I have to take a trip to Pangea."


    "Madam?"


    "Prepare the Glidewing. We move before the WGP activates the All-Sight."


    "What''s going on?"


    "Trust me." Sheughed.


    Somewhere in the mountain regions of East Asian Alliance.


    A blur of soldiers was running towards their ships.


    Inside the ship, a pilot had already sat down. He was still taking deep breaths for the speed he had to employ had already challenged the limits of his ninja training. Suddenly, a muffled puff could be heard, and a tall man stood behind the pilot.


    "Good. You arrived faster than me." The manughed.


    "Lord Rai." The pilot bowed.


    "To Pangea." Rai ordered.


    When Lynd gave his deration, it was the third hour.

 Chapter 185 - The Fourth Hour

    The announcement was a bold deration that made Pangean''s scream in fanaticism even more.


    To the rest of the world, it was a huge p in their face. Lynd could have exchanged far more powerful weapons. But the first upgrade Lynd purchased with his points was to use enable the city-widemunication systems that were spread across the entire map.


    "Why would he do that?" One of the Generals pondered. It would be simply too arrogant of him if he did that.


    "General, does that mean, he is still in the fort?"


    "Right. No need to fire a re. It will make Lynd aware of the codes of the re. We''ll just stick to the n. For now, we use our counter points to purchase radios." The General ordered.


    And so, radios were purchased.


    "All team Corban. Our frequency is Six-Three-Seven." The General known as Corban announced in his radio device.


    Several broadcast of the other Generals started their own broadcast announcing their locations.


    The soldiers who have not yet joined with their troop began tomunicate with their respective Generals and were now headed to their assigned locations cautiously. They continued to move by the walls, hiding by the shade of the buildings and would even use vehicles to crossroads which they knew to have a clear view from the peak of the tower where Lynd was.


    "Any thoughts? How did they kill those eight?" A general asked. They were using a frequency reserved for Generals.


    "Lynd might have used the sounds of the submachine gun to cover a rifle shot? He must have activated a sentry gun to fool us."


    "No. With the game''s set up, Lynd doesn''t have enough points to unlock rifles." Corban replied.


    "He purchased a skyline tool. It should be within the points he has. It used up his points immediately and he used it to hightail on the next building and then the next and killed eight fringe soldiers. When he had enough points, he used the skyline tool to get towards the floor where he then broadcasted his message." A General deduced.


    Everyone was silent.


    "Check the points. It''s exactly enough." The General repeated.


    "Adler''s right. Her analysis is correct."


    "You boys should think once in a while." Adlerughed.


    "We are to assume that Lynd is currently housed in his fort. Let''s proceed with the original n. Lynd is trying to confuse us using strange tactics. What can he use themunication broadcast for?"


    Suddenly, several loud sounds of a submachine gun shooting were heard all over the map.


    Some of the soldiers suddenly moved recklessly as some tried to look for the source of the gunfire.


    "¡­ And now we know." The General sighed exasperatedly.


    "It''s a diversion. Do not panic." The General''s began to order on the other radio line.


    Suddenly, several names were listed on the screen.


    "I see¡­ He''s using this to mask the methods of kills. That way we won''t know what weapon he bought."


    "He''s still after fringe soldiers though. Gather the group immediately. Since we cannotmunicate with any yers that died, we can''t find out how he killed them." Corban addressed.


    "No need to tell us that. I mean¡­ Oh, wait. Now I know. He''s piloting drones."


    "How sure are you, Arclight?" Adler inquired.


    "We''re facing some. Wait. Give me a sec. Lynd seemed to be manually piloting this one. It''s quite tricky to shoot."


    General Arclight had twelve soldiers with him. The drone flew overhead to surprise them but its attacks failed to kill any yers. The yers easily evaded the attacks and guarded against it.


    "Shoot it down together." The General gave its irritated reply.


    Three yers moved out of their covers and shot the drone.


    Though the drone was moving at an extremely fast speed, a single bullet from each yer was all that was necessary to bring the drone down.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Three gunshots rang out. The yers didn''t even waste shooting another bullet.


    The drone was struck on its weakest part and slowly began its descent to the ground.


    "Let''s go," Arclight ordered and moved even before the drone fell.


    BOOM!


    Seven names were shown on the screen.


    The Generals were shocked at the sight of it. Arclight''s name was among the fallen soldiers.


    A unison of curses was heard as seven names were shown.


    "What happened? Report!" One of the Generals immediately radioed over to the main frequency.


    But almost immediately, several names were shown once more on screen. The remaining soldiers who were with Arclight were now dead.


    Cold sweat drenched all the backs of the yers.


    A General was killed and his toon was all dead.


    The World Governing Powers were shocked at the skillful execution by Lynd. He indeed purchased a Skyline tool that allowed him quick mobility. With it, he carried one Drone, used the skyline to travel onto some building andunched the drone. He navigated it towards an approaching enemy troop and used it to attack. But midway, Lynd abandoned control of the drone and threw a grenade.


    Only the members of the WGP saw the difficult maneuver that Lynd did. The Grenade was thrown right exactly behind the Drone. In that expert throw, the soldiers did not notice the falling grenade. They immediately moved in haste and the well-timed grenade exploded killing several of them.


    The sudden explosion stunned the enemy, but as they were experts they proceeded to do their job, but then, Lynd shouted.


    Unlike the spectators, those who were ying the game used an advanced, high-quality sound technology that could replicate and pass on messages with frightening precision. It was so advanced, that even the footsteps of the yers in-game could actually be heard just as how it would sound like in real life.


    Lynd shouted, Die. And this time, unlike the previous yers that were killed, one of the spectator''s view was locked to show the area of the Generals. Upon the General''s death, the view remained, and everyone saw Lynd jumping down from who knows where and killed them all.


    His movements were so smooth that they could see Lynd firing seven bullets, killing the yers with a headshot.


    Their positions were all around and Lynd had to maneuver his avatar to make an almost 360-degree turn to kill everyone.


    "What was that? Did you see that? It was as clear as day and as smooth as ice! Lynd Indigo just shot seven bullets in an uracy that would only match the top pro yers of this game! That was amazing!" One of thementatorsmented.


    "It looked like Arclight and his troop didn''t notice the grenade! The drone must have gotten their attention. A sudden explosion and the death of their General. It was Lynd''s gamble. If any of those pro-soldiers managed to react in time, he would have been just as easily killed!" Thementator argued.


    "That was a gamble? It looked like art! That Lynd must have known he wouldn''t have been killed!"


    "It''s still a gamble. If NightShooter or Purple Creation managed to react, Lynd''s avatar would have been dead. Too bad they were killed in that grenade."


    "Are you serious? Juggernutter was among them and he had the same hustle as those former, yet he failed to shoot! Lynd surprised him! That shout may have caused them to panic! Didn''t you hear it? It was loud!"


    Meanwhile, in the room where Lynd was actually ying, the World Governing Powers was almost paralyzed in fear as well.


    "What- What was that?!" One who wore the Exoskeleton voiced out angrily.


    It was bizarre. They all felt fear.


    The moment Lynd shouted, they felt a constricting and painful vibration. It was just for a fraction of a second."


    "Harker and Colestar are hiding something from us." The other spoke angrily.


    "That is true. I hope you don''t mind. I took this as our tech rewards for our great contribution." Harker approached the three Exoskeletons. Trailing behind Harker was President Colestar of Pangea.


    The Three turned and red angrily at Harker and extended their arms.


    "Are you sure you want that? I finally managed to talk to you without being overheard by them. I was nning to give you the weapon Australia developed with that same sound technology." Harkerughed.


    "An Australian secret weapon?"


    "Yes. They equipped it on an Armor that we managed to retrieve. You see, my daughter and that Lowengren didn''t die in vain. When they executed their suicidal attack, they killed General Gand of New Birth Fort. It has a strange sound technology they call Peals of Thunder."


    "All technologies must be presented to the WGP first. You dared to employ and use that technology you reverse-engineered on that kid?"


    "He is a soldier. But it''s not the full thing. We have failed in reverse engineering it, hence were giving it to you, and want that same tech granted back to us. As for Lynd, what''s a little added volume to a kid? Peals of Thunder simply creates a thunderous vibration. It''s like he can shout louder than average. It is useful in those situations. Like when he was surprising his enemies just now." Harkerughed.


    The WGP was silent but they could not retort.


    "Of course, a weaponized version is different. Australia has found ways to use sounds as their weapons." Harker spoke bluntly.


    "We''ve been contacted by the organization that is trying to attack you." Colestar moved forward.


    "What?" One of the three asked in anger.


    "Believe us, don''t believe us. You''ll believe us soon anyway. How do you think Australia managed to recover despite a bombardment between Pangea, New Great Britain, and even Russia? Do you even know that the Americas have sent their forces to infiltrate Australia?"


    Harker gave a silent nod to simply affirm what Colestar challenged.


    "Aside from Peals of Thunder that erges sound, Australia developed a tech that could magnify sounds and create soldiers that could hear the words you would whisper in an enclosed room. Why did you think, I, the President of Pangea made such an effort to bring you three here? This whole show was to present you with this information!"


    "Exactly who is this mysterious organization?"


    "We don''t know. Harker was the first one contacted. Harker ruined their ns in that attack in Australia. So they wanted to use Pangea instead. He yed the part but when I was drawn in, I convinced Harker to be their enemy! Alean''s death was his wake up call. So we pretended to be their friends. They must have wanted me to draw suspicion from you through Lynd. But we''re not idiots. They promised to save us, but we''re sure they''d leave us dead in your hands."


    "Who are they?" One of the WGP members prompted.


    "We don''t know! They asked us and threatened us if we know who the Primordial is or someone called the Progenitor." Colestar sighed.


    "Who?"


    "We don''t know who they are," Colestar replied.


    "Here''s the truth of what we do know. These Primordial or Progenitor is some head of a secret organization. More secretive and mysterious than yours. So right now, we know that there are three entities in this Earth that can shake this if they will it." Harker convinced them.


    "Right. You, the group that this Primordial or Progenitor leads¡­ and of course, the organization trying to look for them. Just be careful. We can only y along with their music. We can''t help you. But if one of your bases attack¡­"


    "You can be sure¡­ that perhaps the group under the Primordial is taking part in it." Harker continued Colestar''s statement.


    "Right. Or it could be the organization looking for them. Just be careful. This is the most we can do."


    "Where is the Armor of General Gand?"


    "Oh? You want it now? You''re not curious how we can assure our victory in this gamble? Maybe you''ll call us cheaters."


    "We already know it. Lynd''s a legit pro-gamer that surpasses the skills of everyone in there. He has no missed moments, he ns every step and every second. With that sound that can shock even us, his sure to win. This is legit. The rules were to use technologies that were external. But any enhancements are allowed. Bring us to the Armor."


    "Fine. But you can''t talk. We don''t know if they have ears out there. With the Australian tech, we''ve had to change our entire protocol."


    "We understand." The three followed. As the trio walked, one of them was extremely anxious.


    "Progenitor... Have your enemies surfaced?" She pondered as she continued to stagger but forced her legs to walk normally.


    As the trio followed Harker to see the Armor, Lynd then began to smile.


    "Finally! Now I can go all out." Lynd sighed in relief.


    The mouse and keyboard that Lynd had were special. It was able to amodate extremely fastmands and was designed to even surpass the limits of speed that a human can click, or type on their keyboards. This was because, as the Pro scene of all games evolved into a national pastime, the gaming devices had higher demands.


    Lynd Had several small monitors near his desk. Part of the deal of the battle was that Lynd would have a dedicated monitor that will constantly show the weapons he has, the geographic maps other monitors that were dedicated to specific technologies that Lynd may purchase in-game.


    These were generally add-ons that even Pro-gamers didn''t invest in. One of the techs was actually an in-game mod that showed the in-game physics calction. And yet, Lynd used his points to purchase that.


    The Generals acted more cautiously. They merged their groups to form a toon of fifty soldiers, with one toon consisting of more than seventy-five soldiers. The first two fifty-men toons were searching for Lynd, while the seventy-strong troop headed for the tower to take over control of the tower.


    Lynd rushed towards the city and reached the ground. He used one car and drove it, as soon as it was moving fast, Lynd jumped off and in the smallest split-second gap of his jump, he used the Skyline and flew to the skies.


    The small split second-movements were so minute yet Lynd was actually able to exploit the physics of the game to his advantage. Soon, Lynd was in the building as the car moved onwards.


    "Sir! A car!" One of the yers noticed the car from afar.


    "No one''s driving. But Lynd must be nearby!" The General ordered.


    "Shoot that car down. But don''t blow it up. The rest continue to advance. If Lynd''s not in that car he must be nearby." The other General ordered.


    Several yers started shooting. They knew what the General ordered. And the attacks were made on the body to try to kill any yer hiding inside the car. The tires were shot causing the car to crash on to a nearby building. Several gunshots continued while other soldiers rushed towards the direction where the car came from.


    "He''s not in the car, sir." A soldier reported after approaching the vehicle. Suddenly, he saw it. In the sky, a small figure was flying. The front of the drone was shing. But because of the broadcast that masked the noise, they did not hear it.


    "Drone!" The yer cried to alert hispanions but was already killed.


    The yers started to take cover.


    "He''s controlling it! Alright. On three, we shoot it together!" One of the veteran yers called to hispanions crouching behind several ssed windows inside a building. There were four windows that gave them a clear view on the drone.


    "One¡­ Two¡­ Three!" The yermanded and his four otherpanions stood up their respective windows to shoot the drone.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Four names floated on screen as these yers were killed by the drone.


    "He''s controlling it! Don''t take risks! Listen to your general!" One of the General cursed as he saw those names.


    "yers fifty to sixty-three, rush out of your covers and shoot that drone!" The General ordered.


    And as quickly, as they could, several yers all together rushed out of the covers they hid under to shoot the drone.


    Lynd however, yawned. With his perspective, even if he was controlling the drone manually, the emerging soldiers were as slow as snails. Giving Lynd enough time to fire one bullet each as it moved closer towards the vehicle that he rode earlier.


    As he approached it, it finally came into view.


    Lynd used his points after killing the previous soldiers to purchase an explosive bomb. It was a simple, and crude bomb that unlike modern bombs could explode if shot. Lynd ced this bomb under the car seats. He trusted the expert skills of his enemies. No one messed us shooting and did not hit that particr area where the bomb was ced.


    And so, the drone shot one bullet.


    BOOM!


    The death of a fifty-man toon made the remaining yers panic.


    The game continued on. And this time, the system would disy how Lynd killed his enemies. The appearance of a sniper rifle made everyone afraid as Lynd killed nearly a dozen more men. In an odd turn of events, it was the surviving yers who locked themselves inside the fortress they wanted to raid.


    Soon, the fourth hour passed.

 Chapter 186 - The Last Four Hours

    Harker and Colestar presented the technology. But it was an odd one. Harker was basically typing the message on the screen whereas the WGP used some sort of technology that would also disy the thoughts in their head into text.


    "That''s one impressive technology¡­" Harker admired.


    The three ignored it and discussed the details of the Armor and its technology.


    "As we said, we are giving you this technology. And of course, once you perfect it, we want it for ourselves."


    The Three nced at each other and nodded their heads.


    They turned around and moved towards the exit.


    As they left, they headed back to the gaming room where Lynd was ying.


    They looked stunned at the development as they entered the room and noticed that Lynd had already killed over one-hundred yers.


    The yers now had ess to sniper rifles. Others used their points to purchase more destructive weapons. The engineers of the group started to purchase items that they could use to build more weapons. As the game had such great and diverse possibilities, rockets of all sorts were now being developed in the underground level of the main building where Lynd spawned.


    Suddenly, one of the Exoskeletons piloted by the WGP raised its arm.


    "Barriers?"


    The pilot of the Exoskeleton that activated the barriers said nothing but suddenly released a loud white noise sound that drowned the noise around him.


    "We can''t be too careful." The person in the Exoskeleton immediatelymunicated directly to the suits. This person did not talk the entire time he was with Harker. But now, she finally spoke.


    "If what that Harker said is true, then this secret enemy may have technology that is far more advanced than the techs that Australia used. Although this room is enclosed and the sound of the entire city''s map is emted in this room, we don''t know if this is enough to stop their techs. Use white noise like me to drown out the sound of our conversation."


    "Alright." The two followed.


    "The implication of what they said is too dangerous to ignore. However, what they said did make sense." The one in the other Exoskeleton agreed.


    "We have to take action. Contact the people you trust and make your respective countermeasures." The woman ordered.


    "Should we use the direct line? We can''t afford to use several links now. If we want to hide our schemes, we should only make one call."


    "We shouldn''t even call anyone in this scenario. If what Harker said that someone within the WGP is betraying us, any calls we make would seem suspicious." The other pilot argued.


    "No. One call should be possible. Lynd will win this gamble. The ripple effect of his victory will shake the world. Calling someone now wouldn''t be suspicious." The one called the Empress exined.


    "Empress, who do you suggest we should contact?"


    She thought for a while and ordered to contact the person that she trusts. And so, using an extremelyplicatedmunication system, one of the pilots made a long-distance call.


    Somewhere near the borders of Africa, in an underground military base that held vast weapons and soldiers, General Vender continued to make arrangements for the counter-attack on the Caliphates. Unknown to many, General Vender now had a superior he reported to, and it wasn''t his own government.


    Lowengren entered the office allotted for the World Governing Powers Antis Admiral.


    "Fleet Admiral. The preparations are ready. I have brought with me a small team of covert spies who will infiltrate the Caliphates. I believe that they are the best of the best."


    "None of them will join. We will be going with you personally." The Fleet Admiral ordered.


    Lowengren was stunned and turned to the soldiers and motioned for them to leave.


    "You-you will be going with us?"


    "Yes. I have to ascertain if what you said is true. I have to go. Or are there any issues?"


    "None at all, Fleet Admiral. It''s an honor."


    "How will you infiltrate the base?"


    "The attack that Fleet Admiral made caused devastation that weakened the defense of the enemy. In that gap, we can send a small team of soldiers. Although the techs have to be those that cannot be easily scanned. We were nning on bringing several weapons, as you can see." Lowengren pointed to a small crate behind them.


    "We can use our techs to hide you. Feel free to bring more weapons." The Commander next to Fleet Admiral Magantae exined.


    "Thank you, Commander! But won''t the Caliphates know that you are helping us? It will draw suspicion."


    "That''s why we need you to create a scene once youplete your mission. We have to make several attacks and make sure that they know, it''s Africa."


    Lowengren was silent.


    "Is there a problem with this?"


    "None." Lowengren sighed.


    "Silence!" Fleet Admiral Magantae shivered as she noticed a highly protected call that utilized various techs of the WGP. This was the direct line that the World Governing Emperors had to the strongest generals and admirals of the WGP army.


    Everyone immediately became quiet and Magantae immediately moved further from the rest.


    "Fleet Admiral Magantae Reporting." She answered.


    "Magantae. I want you to move closer to Pangea. We suspect an attack will soon ur. We suspect that the Kraken will be attacked.


    Magantae shivered in fear.


    "Emperor. Forgive me. I am currently not in the Kraken. In loyalty to the WGP, I dared leave the Antis and sought proof of my suspicions. Another Fleet Admiral may be nning to betray us! I am here in Africa." Magantae spoke solemnly. However, her heart was pounding. Her actions were the most suspicious of all.


    "Africa? You mean that Fleet Admiral Roovite is the one whom you suspect to be the traitor?" The voice of the man called Emperor questioned harshly.


    "I dare not use. I have no proof."


    "You''re probably right. It makes sense." Another voice sounded.


    "Empress!" Magantae knew that this voice was someone of higher authority.


    "What do you mean, Empress?" The man Magantae addressed as Emperor asked the woman.


    "I know what you two are thinking. But Magantae can''t be the traitor."


    "How can that prove that she''s not the traitor? She went to Africa! It was probably her who gave the EMP bomb to the ones that attacked New Great Britain and she used the remaining EMP bomb to attack Africa. She''s using that as a diversion. How can you still trust her?"


    "Because she''s my daughter." The woman sternly replied.


    The two Emperors were stunned at the revtion.


    "Tell me the truth. What happened? Why are you there?" The Empress asked once more.


    "I¡­ I have seen a certain video that may prove that Lowengren is alive."


    "A video? Howe we haven''t seen it? Lowengren is a top priority person to find! Any details of his survival should have been reported!" Another Emperor asked.


    "I''m¡­ sending it to you now¡­" Magantae voiced out weakly.


    And there it was¡­. The Might was shown once more.


    Alean and Lowengren started to talk casually. Of course, their conversation was something no one could hear.


    "Great. More people will be stunned by your Might."


    "Yeah. This should be interesting. Let''s continue to listen." Unbeknownst to Magantae, the two had the ability to listen at the private phone call Magantae was doing inside her Exoskeleton armor.


    "It''s good that we finally managed to learn about Realm Somatotopy." Alean sighed.


    "We''re very slowpared to Cliff though. I''m curious what Cliff''s future brings."


    Back in Pangea, the mouths that were wide open and the expressions they wore so ridiculous that it did not befit their identities.


    "Most who saw that video must have decided not to¡­ report it. My troops did because they know I am, or perhaps was, a fan of Lowengren." Magantae voiced out so weakly that her voice was that of a seven-year-old girl who was being chastised for stealing cookies.


    "Africa? So you went there for him? How then, did you find out of Roovite''s betrayal?" The Empress quickly changed the topic.


    "It was a misunderstanding. The General we talked to, General Vender Hirock, ims to have been ckmailed by that Fleet Admiral. He thought that the information I was looking for was rted to that and not Lowengren. So he immediately revealed everything when we pressed him to hand over whatever secret files they have¡­"


    "Vender? Who is that? What made you go for this General?"


    "He is one of the Generals of Africa. But he is nobody noteworthy. I was supposed to interrogate another General. We were aiming for the Generals that have been marked to be dangerous, but I saw this Vender on the roof. And I guess, I just was prompted to inquire since he was easily essible. I thought it would be a quick conversation¡­ but things happened. Anyway, our investigation led us to deduce that Roovite might have been using Africa and the Caliphates to amass himself of certain weapons."


    Listening on this call, was Lowengren and Alean who were using their Unlocking to catch every word.


    "So that''s why you wanted to stay up the roof¡­" Lowengren held hisughter.


    "I didn''t know my Path was working then. But see? Trust me. Taking these fools to Caliphates will really bring us goods results." Alean answered.


    "Wait." The Empress continued on the call.


    "Then meeting Vender, was purely coincidental?"


    "Yes."


    "Then it''s best that you continue working with Vender." The Empress concluded.


    "Are you sure, Everhiss?" One of the Emperor asked.


    "They did not expect Magantae to go to Vender."


    "They?" One of the Emperors asked.


    "Yes. It was them! Whoever is trying to betray us made Magantae leave the Antis!"


    "I see¡­ Without her, and severalmanders, then they have more chance of seeding in this mission."


    Magantae was stunned.


    "Correct. But we''re lucky."


    "Lucky? How so."


    "These secret enemies of ours made a spectacr scene. They knew Magantae was a fan! And only fellow Generals and Admirals know of Magantae''s fascination with that boy. They make a scene that will practically be ignored by the world except for our dear Magantae. They wanted you out. It confirms it. The attack should be on the Kraken near Australia. But what they didn''t expect was for you to randomly choose General Vender. The least choice of Generals."


    Magantae was startled at her mother''s exnation.


    "And this ident gives us a chance to get information about our enemy. Stop their ns in the Caliphates and in Africa. Return once the mission isplete. As for us, we will be the ones who will deal with the chaos in the Kraken."


    "It looks like we will be forced to protect the Kraken." One of the Emperors voiced out.


    "We will either protect it¡­ or destroy it. Let''s observe the chaos first." The Empress agreed.


    "Magantae. Order your Antis to prepare for battle. They have to be battle-ready within two hours."


    "As youmand, Emperor." Magantae sent a message to the Antis while her call with the Emperors and the Empress continued.


    "Tell us more of the issues there in Africa."


    "We suspect the Caliphates and Africa were being ckmailed by Roovite I have allied with the General here and was about to infiltrate the Caliphates."


    "Then proceed with that mission." The Empress sighed.


    "Empress Everhiss!" One of the Emperor was stunned.


    "They have to. We need haste to find out what''s going on. We need to investigate which of our bases will be attacked. If what that Harker said is true, then the Kraken near Australia will be the one definitely attacked."


    "I don''t understand why you trust his ims."


    "It makes sense. They force Pangea to create this gamble and earn a lot of money. Then the traitor will allow an attack to happen on one of the Krakens near Pangea. Most likely, it''s the Kraken that he has great control over."


    "You mean they want to throw off the me?"


    "Exactly. We most likely have several traitors deep in the high ranks of the WGP. If the Kraken near Australia will be attacked, just as Harker predicted, then we truly have a traitor in our midst. And we must figure out who they are now! She has to find out what she can in the Caliphates. And we¡­ we will thwart this attack." The Empress answered.


    "Oh? We will take action personally?"


    "It''s time we show the world, why we are its Emperors and Empresses." The Empress dered arrogantly


    "Daughter. You will no longer act in the shadows. I will be releasing your identity. We can soon be together. But for now, you have your mission."


    "I will not fail you, Empress."


    "You no longer have to address her as such. At least¡­ in front of us¡­" An Emperor chuckled.


    The Empress chuckled but did not reprimand the Emperor.


    "As you will, Mother. I willplete the mission. I will also request to have General Vender to receive certain medical technologies to heal his daughter. He was being used by¡­ Roovite and the use of his ckmail were to heal General Vender''s daughter. If not for him, I would not have found out of this traitor."


    Before the Empress could say anything, Magantae immediately added.


    "I checked which sickness it was¡­ It''s that gue." Magantae exined.


    "I see¡­" The Empress felt sad.


    "While his actions were indeed against us at first¡­ it was only to save his daughter."


    "We''ll see what we can do. It''s almost impossible to cure that gue. Even for us. But let''s discuss itter. Once you prove what''s going on in the Caliphates, I''ll agree to it. For now, we have to be wary of who we ally with." The Empress advised.


    "As you advise, Empress."


    The call ended and Magantae gave a deep sigh of relief. She walked back and addressed the Commanders.


    "Let''s begin with this mission." The smile on Magantae''s face was brighter than before.


    The fifth hour marked Lynd''s victory over the two hundred soldiers. It was almost impossible to believe that Lynd seeded in raiding the building which was transformed into a military fort. The world was so caught up in the news that conspiracy theories littered the news as various countries were using Pangea of it.


    Worse was the rtionship with the WGP. Twice did the WGP host a server, and twice did Pangea win over them.


    But as the world ravaged on this news, the Antis in the Pacific, was already near the Kraken.


    The sixth and seventh hour passed without any other incidents that were shown on the news. But if it were broadcasted, the world would have panicked. The Families were moving. Small troops of elite soldiers were now gathering around Pangea.


    The Dalisay family n had also received word of their champion and were quickly making arrangements to draw closer the Kraken. Yet they were not in fact, the first toplete their preparations.


    Various organizations have been arriving in Pangea through their secret means, while some organizations, simply waited. The Kraken would be able to detect them. But all of them waited.


    "Madam? Are we just going to wait here?" A man wearing a strange round and smooth Exoskeleton asked.


    "Don''t worry. We can afford to not attack the WGP. But the person called the Wind Progenitor will undoubtedly act." The womanughed.


    Nearing the eight hours, a certain individual had arrived in Australia. His entry was strange. By imitating meteor showers that would be burned in the atmosphere, this man managed to deceive the world and freefell from the great sky. In fact, he was falling from space itself.


    Hended in one of the lush forests of Australia which became a haven for animals. This was one of thergest forests with the most animals theming in it. Hisnding was rather smooth as if he was an angelic being descending on Earth.


    "Presider Crostfree. I hope your trip was not too tedious." One of the Pioneers bowed down.


    The man brushed off various dust on his clothes.


    "Not that boring. Earth really has some interesting books. Find me a collector''s copy of a novel titled Harry Potter." The Presider ordered as he opened a small book that magically appeared on his hands.


    Meanwhile, up on the Sky Satellite of Pangea, Cliff and his troops waited as the eight hours neared.


    "So let me get this straight¡­ We just jump¡­ and using our own breath, we blow on this small hole on our thumb like that Post-modern character, Luffy?" Gardo asked with a dazzled expression.


    "I don''t know who Luffy is but yeah, you get the idea." Cliff agreed. His expressions were more solemn.


    "Can I shout, Gomu-Gomu no F¨±sen?" Gardo asked.


    "Whatever makes you feel happy." Cliff nodded again.


    "Cool." Gardo then resumed his practice of blowing through the small hole on his thumb to inte himself.


    The others also did likewise. A few minutes before the scheduled hour, everyone stopped and looked at the door that was about to open.


    "General, the eight-hour approaches," Tyler reported as he set the pressure of the ship to match the one outside.


    "Ready for deployment," Scribs reported as the pressures were now matched.


    "And here I was hoping Seeker to call again¡­ No call happened. So let''s go."


    The door opened, and everyone took a step outside.


    It was a small step for man, but a giant leap for the odd group of soldiers, gamers, drug dealers, and a man from the province with an above-average fanaticism for the ssic anime, One Piece.

 Chapter 187 - Class Clown

    Everyone had taken a deep and heavy breath. Through their control of every muscle, the group was able to fill their lungs which as much as air as they can. And by their control of each little body part, they even stored some of the air in their stomach.


    The view was amazing and everyone contained their emotions and didn''t even look as they took thatst step and started to fall into the ground.


    It was said that falling at such a height, the fall would be one of thest things that kill you. The first would be theck of oxygen of being so far out in the Atmosphere. The cold would also kill you. As the cold falls way below freezing point, a person may have frozen to death.


    Andstly, there was the battle of the mind. Without resistanceing from the wind, the speed of the fall would increase so greatly that it would easily go beyond the speed of sound. And so, many may even die from shock or fear.


    The group employed one of their practiced tactics to counter the cold. With the Unlocking and the control of their body, they started to cause every cell of their body to shiver.


    The heat generated was amazing and it was actually eating up a bit of the calorie they stored.


    Their lung capacity easily fought off theck of oxygen. And Since they could retain air in their stomach, they could easily hold their breath throughout the first part of the fall where the air is so thin.


    The challenge, however, was that of the mind. They were all confronted with the increasing urge to shout and panic. And if they did, they would surely die.


    "Brace yourself! Remember the of this fall!" Cliff called out. With the level of his unlocking and the past experiences of terror and fear, he was the one who managed to control his body well enough to speak and retain air at the same time.


    "Contain the emotions! When we go beyond the speed of sound, I won''t be able to talk anymore!" Cliffmanded. His mind retained one specific memory. It was his recollection of his conversation with Seeker.


    The night that Seeker and Cliff managed to talk to Lara and Charm, Cliff was immediately called in to report to Seeker.


    "Right. So you''ll be jumping off the Sky Satellite. Arthur will soon manipte New Great Britain to use their weather technology to create a storm that will hit Australia. The storm will block the sky and give you the cover that you need. Of course, since we don''t know what technology they have that could detect you, we won''t be using any parachutes and since you''ll be thrown off into a storm anyway¡­ and not an average one¡­ It''s a storm with strong winds. So using gliding suits would be pointless."


    "Wait. Is it that tornado storm?"


    "Yes, but it shouldn''t have tornadoes at its position. Arthur''s making it look like that it''s headed for Australia. Still, the wind should be strong at that point."


    "So how do you want us to get there from the sky satellite? I''m no genius but I know that from that height, falling into the water would kill us. and even if we send a team of Unlocked humans, the math suggests that we would pass the speed of sound by then. That''s a terrifying speed! Humans would die even before they hit the sea!"


    "Ah... Getting better at your math, I see. It''s an experimental method. It would kill normal humans and even humans who have had gic improvements. But since you guys are tougher than that we can increase the stress and pressure. You will utilize a new rubber suit that Harker developed with Lennox''s design. It''s a rubber suit that can protect you from the pressure and coldness of the temperature at the point of your drop."


    "What about ournding?! Unbings can easily withstand the g-force of that drop even if we pass the speed of sound!"


    "You are jumping from a height of over one hundred fifty thousand feet. At some point, you will be traveling faster than the speed of sound. And you will be only increasing in speed as gravity does its marvelous work. So to make your descent slower, the small slits on the front areas of your suit allows you to make air pass through it. In doing so, it will make your drop a little bit slower when you reach the part of the atmosphere with air."


    "So it''s like a mini-parachute?"


    "Not really. You''d still be falling at an incredibly fast speed. It will slow your dropdown. That''s all."


    "Slow down our fall?"


    "It''s very technical. Aerodynamics, Physics, Unlocked Biology, and other specifications all have roles to y. Basically, the suit is made to slow down the speed of your descent."


    "How slow?"


    "It''s not slow enough to make your fall safe if that''s what you''re asking."


    "Then how are we going to survive?"


    "That''s when you use another aspect of the suit. You can blow air into to make yourself like a balloon."


    "You want us to inte our own suits?"


    "Yes. Unbings have greater lung volumes and capacity. You should be able to do that easily. The n is that you will start puffing your suits at thest safest distance just to avoid detection. The suit will have two inner chambers of air if puffed to its maximum capacity. These chambers are meant to absorb the shock of the impact when falling. Of course, it will hurt still like hell. If not for your current state and resistance, you would die."


    "Oh boy." Cliff sighed sadly.


    "The storm should be able to distort their sensors. But of course, the typhoon will make using parachutes or gliding techs useless. So we opted for this crashnding method. This also gives us a moment to train our little Unlocked elite team."


    "What do you mean?"


    "The truth is; we don''t know for sure if you guys will survive the drop. We are confident as it follows Lennox''s own design¡­ but of course, since we never really tested it, especially in a sea with arge storm brewing over it."


    "What else is new? You''ve been giving me missions like that for the past three months. I only pity those kidsing along with me."


    "Yes. That''s why I''m sending you. You are a cheat. Your memories of the previous battle allow you constant recollection of that feeling. Because of your experiences, you are braver. Which was the most terrifying experience you''ve had so far?"


    "Amir Mann. Next would be Primer Elionios."


    "The arms dealer? But¡­ Oh right. You kissed him." Seekerughed.


    "What''s this have to do with anything?" Cliff immediately changed the topic.


    "You may not have noticed it, but because of your Skill and memory, you already developed a state which most Inhuman''s in my original timeline failed to develop. We called it the Prime State."


    "Prime State?"


    "It was a state of being able to master emotions below Ranked Hero. As you noticed, the feelings and emotions you feel are hindered but never really denied. Anger will still arise especially when the body wants to be angry or pushed to an extreme. Fear can arise even among the Unlocked if the facts they see before them urges their fear to surface. And if the human body gives in an inch, the full effect of fear happens."


    "I have a question about that. Why haven''t you guys used drones or exoskeletons that would be piloted for those under Unbing?"


    "Most weapons in the future are easily disabled by the technology the Aragarians have. And so, the need to deploy humans in the field where necessary. The Aragarians could easily hijack our signals and take control of these weapons."


    "Ok. I get it¡­So this Prime State is¡­?"


    "It''s rare among Inhumans. Basically, anyone who reaches Ranked Hero must have this." Seeker exined as he gave a meaningful smirk at Cliff.


    "You''ve been abusing me¡­ because of this state?"


    "Yes. Hence the missions I''ve been giving you. Now, you will be guiding a team of Unlocked agents and your goal is to help them reach the Prime State."


    "I don''t understand. What exactly is the Prime state? I don''t see how emotional control is useful."


    "The ability to act, unaffected by emotions, isn''t something to be disregarded. I wasn''t lying when I said that only you can be sent to fight Amir Mann. You see, if Ipare you to Lynd and Meryl, because of that state, you have a higher chance ofing out alive. Think for a second. Meryl and Lynd only won the previous battles because of our many preparations. Meryl and Lynd were leaps and leaps further whenpared to Typical''s power at that time. Yet from what I heard, it was a close call for all of you."


    Cliff nodded.


    "Lynd and Meryl received my Path which helped them advance in their control on emotions. You assume that they also have this Prime State, right?"


    "Didn''t you baptize us with your Reaper''s Breath to make us immune to this?"


    "That is exactly the reason why I''m sure they don''t have the Prime State. What they got used to, is a specific fear. It''s like how an animal tamer loses the fear of handling poisonous snakes after so long. It does not mean that his fear of everything else disappears. They got used to my Breath and while the constant near-death experiences I gave them helped, the problem I had was that they had faith in me."


    "Faith was their problem?"


    "Yes. Once they got over the barrier of that fear or somehow got used to it, they reverted to a mindset of trusting me. It had its benefits because as long as they know I''m around, they had this confidence. But without me¡­ they''d panic and fall into fear. You, on the other hand, didn''t have that trust. In fact, you feared me."


    Cliff unconsciously nodded. He remembered the earlier days when he was forcibly enrolled in Seeker''s Save the World Club.


    "And of course¡­ fear isn''t something that I cannot give to those two. They trust me too much, that if I want them to actually fear me, I''d have to seriously try to kill them. Either way, I lose. If they lose faith in me, then it''s even more problematic. That''s why I never sent them to missions that would bring real fear and terror in them. You know what I''m talking about, right?"


    Cliff took a deep sigh.


    Of course, he knew Seeker was talking about facing a Near-Oveer.


    "The fear I felt that day¡­ haunts me even to this day."


    "And yet, you managed to continue. The unlocked usually have a higher tolerance in resisting PTSD or other expected disorders when going through something terrifying¡­ but not all resist it. Even among the Unlock, many sumbed to the fear and became half-soldiers. They were burdened with the fear and shock they encountered and couldn''t even fight properly. Imagine if I sent Lynd and Meryl who never had a true fearful experience face, Amir Mann?"


    Cliff considered the possibilities and simply nodded.


    "In a way Cliff, you have another aspect in you that surpasses Lynd and Meryl. And that''s why I needed you to lead this new team. Only you dare to go through the fear once more, and have the wits to help others." Seeker exined.


    "Will it be enough? Wits to ovee fear?"


    "Probably not. But what choice do we have? Either you make a miracle, or you find one. That''s how desperate we are despite all our advantages." Seeker sighed.


    Cliff continued to keep all these memories into consideration as he guarded the group.


    "Tyler should be able to control his emotions untilter¡­ Dara and Stanley are the biggest problems. Danny and Asterisxx might give in to the fear a little after Dara. Roselyn should have the same tolerance as Titan and my boys¡­. Let''s see¡­ What about Gardo."


    At that moment, Cliff was stunned to see Gardo actually ying around with his fall.


    He continued to adjust his pose to various battle positions and trademark flying poses made by certain fictional characters.


    Cliff immediately changed his position to make his fall slower as he moved closer to Gardo.


    "Gardo! Help me keep these kids calm!" Cliff shouted.


    Gardo was surprised and took a closer look at the others and his carefree expressions suddenly changed.


    He moved towards the closest group as fast as he could and Cliff readjusted his position as he moved towards Stanley and Dara slowly pulling them closer to where he was.


    As their fall moved to pass several thousands of feet, the speed and perspective made many of them frightened.


    "Here it is. The w of the Unlocking." Cliffined as even he could feel fear surfacing in him.


    Because of their precise vision, everyone could urately see and feel their fall. The sensations of moving faster and faster and being able to see and feel the distance of their fall. They broke through the sound barrier and even with their slow time perceptive, the fear kept increasing.


    Cliff continued to observe everyone''s expressions.


    They were approaching the most dangerous part. The mask they wore did not protect them from the cold and pressure, nor did it give arge amount of oxygen.


    "Damn it. I guess about now?!" Cliff cursed in his thoughts and rushed towards Stanley and Dara.


    With the speed that they were traveling, Cliff was extremely gentle and despite how critical the situation was, Cliff contained the panic and fear and gracefully reached out his right and left arm and began chocking Dara and Stanley.


    He red at Dara and Stanley to recall their talks of what they should be doing if he did that.


    Dara was the first toe to her senses and nodded and soon Stanley did so.


    Cliff did several hand gestures and adjusted his position to move to another flyer. He then nced at Gardo who was randomly imitating his recent actions by chocking the other members of their troops.


    Cliff chocked as he almost shouted in anger at Gardo''s stupidity.


    Cliff made several angry actions to which Gardo retreated to the back and somehow, people could tell that he was sorry and like a little boy who would quietly hide in the corner when chastised by his parents.


    Luckily, those whom he chocked didn''t panic but gave visibly confused reactions as to why they were being chocked. Others started to contain their emotions byughing at Gardo''s actions.


    It was then that Gardo gave Cliff a thumbs up and rxed.


    Cliff was stunned as he realized that Gardo''s actions made everyone calmer.


    Cliff observed his teammates and many were slowly focusing on their own emotional states.


    "Was that a¡­ Skill?" Cliff wondered as he readjusted his position seeing that nobody else needed the reminder of containing their emotions. He gave a quick nce at Gardo.


    Gardo gave Cliff several finger-guns before Cliff couldn''t help but give a contained chuckle.


    Gardo was now falling while posing in a way that could only be named as the "Paint me like one of your French girls pose."


    "He''s like a ss clown." Cliff pondered as he noticed everyone giving nces at Gardo.


    "Is that¡­ a Skill?"


    The continued to fall for a few minutes. Their lungs held arge amount of air that made it easy for them to not breathe.


    Minutes passed and soon a sudden wave of resistance was passing through their suits. The air around them was thicker and their descent started to slow them.


    Cliff was the first to try it. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath.


    "Alright. It''s safe to talk again!" Cliff shouted.


    And with that rification, everyone removed their masks and started to scream.


    The pent up emotions of their fear and the pressure urged them to shout their loudest.


    "Remember that feeling, guys! That fear is only a foretaste of what''s down there!" Cliff shouted.


    The expressions of many started to have a grim expression.


    "I''ve been telling the Small Time Drug Dealers this since the beginning. If an Oveer is down there, you will fall into fear. Every training you''ve had so far¡­ those are things that you should notpare to what we will be facing down there. Our respective bosses and leaders never wanted to kill us. Those guys at the bottom do! So what do we do when feares?" Cliff asked everyone.


    "Ovee!" Everyone shouted in unison.


    "Right! We ovee! If you all want to be Oveers, this is the first step! You don''t hide, contain, or deny your emotions. You meet it straight on!" Cliff continued to give his falling lecture.


    "The next part ising! Our speed will slow down again because of the clouds! But the night lights won''t help us see anymore. We''ll be falling blind. It will be scarier down there. But don''t give in to the fear!" Cliff ordered as the dark clouds grew darker and darker as they approached.


    They all knew that if they pierced through the clouds, they would be unable to see. The rity of their sight ounted


    The Gamers, soldiers, and drug-dealers all gripped their fist as they readied the small slit by their thumbs.


    Cliff noticed the expressions of everyone and couldn''t help but have a nagging feeling.


    "This isn''t the expressions they have when they are at their best," Cliff recalled.


    "Hey, Gardo!"


    Gardo was surprised at Cliff''s shout.


    "Err¡­ Anything you like to add?" Cliff asked.


    "Hmmm¡­ It''s kinda hard to top off your speech¡­" Gardo mumbled loudly so that everyone could hear.


    Cliff sighed and was about to consider other options.


    "Oh! I know!'' Gardo remembered.


    Everyone suddenly turned their attention to Gardo.


    "One Piece Exists!" Gardo dered adamantly and with a voice of dignified expression.


    Cliff was confused at Gardo''s strange mumbling but noticed the othersughed.


    The ones who wereughing the most were soldiers Tyler, Scribs, and Earl.


    "What?" Cliff asked.


    "It''s a One Piece joke. A ssical anime of the Post-Modern era." Stanley exined.


    "Oh." Cliff nodded. But then he saw that everyone''s expression was the same expressions they had when they were at their best.


    Cliff couldn''t help but smile.


    "Alright, guys! Clouds approaching! Let''s do this!"

 Chapter 188 - Over The Waters

    The stormy clouds were thick, dark, and brought terror on those who looked at it from above. They were being diving at a distance nearing the eye of the storm itself.


    The team braced themselves for what was about to happen. As they were about to touch the clouds, everyone was praying the same thing.


    "Alright, gang! Let''s just hope lightning won''t strike us!"


    The insane n of jumping into a storm would have its dangers. Although the storm that New Great Britain deployed wasn''t a storm that would produce thunderstorms, the science of weather control wasn''t so precise that it would ensure no thunderstorms.


    The group fell through the clouds with their stomachs clenched. Yet again, their fears broke through and engulfed them once more as fact drove their feelings to shake.


    Dara and Stanley were paralyzed at the drop. Cliff did his best to aid these two and Gardo even started to joke around. Only Danny and the soldiers were able tough this time.


    Soon the clouds parted and a terrifying gust of wind blew around them separating the groups.


    "Keep calm guys!" Cliff called out.


    The darkness around them grew darker and darker. The bright stars and moon were enough for them to have good vision when they were falling, but now as they prated deeper to the clouds, the pitch darkness was all that they could see.


    "Guys! Where are you?! I can''t see you! Cliff! Cliff!" Dara started panicking and iling around.


    The howls of the wind were so loud and with Dara panicking, she couldn''t hear the calls of the rest who managed to retain their calm.


    Soon, several others, including members of Cliff''s Drug Dealers started to panic.


    "Gardo! Can you get to them?!" Cliff cried out urgently.


    "Only a few! I lost track of the rest!"


    "Get what you can!" Cliff ordered as he rushed towards those at the furthest.


    The mission was now taking a dangerous turn. Even with their unlocking, the disorientation brought by the darkness who was so disoriented by the wind that they started to spin around. They couldn''t tell up from down anymore and their senses brought them to panic.


    Cliff was angry. They lost their cool so easily.


    "You cowards!" Cliff shouted as he zoomed towards two members of his group and gave them a powerful p.


    "That''s down! And this is up!" Cliff shouted as he pped them on the direction he called out.


    "Calm down! Don''t give in to the fear! Calmly face it! If this can kill you, you''re no use in this mission!" Cliff chastised his underlings who calmed down and quietly adjusted their positions to the right ces.


    Cliff then moved upwards, following the cries that he could hear.


    "You maniac! What the hell are you touching!" One of the panicked cries suddenly became an angry roar.


    "Who the hell groped my balls!" Another angry cry resounded.


    "I will molest and touch those who panic!" A dignified shout was heard. It was from Gardo.


    "What''s this? I hear another panicked shout nearby!" Gardo cried once more.


    "No please! Please! I''m calm! I''m calm!" Stanley shouted with all his might.


    Cliff was shocked at the way Gardo dealt with this issue.


    "Whatever works I guess," Cliff mumbled.


    "Everyone! Wait for my signal!" Cliff shouted.


    All throughout the fall, Cliff had always been counting. With his memory of looking at an atomic clock count for hours, he could easily make an urate counting as to how long they had been falling.


    Of the many things that he was told, the exact time of when they would hit the ocean was among them.


    "It''s almost time¡­" Cliff continued to count. A part of him was starting to shake in fear. What if the estimates were wrong? What if they would hit the ocean sooner than calcted?


    He started to grip his fists to contain his fear.


    The urge to give themand to start puffing up their suits drew nearer and nearer but this would increase the possibility of being detected.


    "The smaller we are, the less likely we''ll be detected." Cliff chanted again and again.


    Soon, he was nearing the estimated time where they should puff up their suits.


    "Now! Maintain your positions! Feet first and remember to roll!" Cliff ordered.


    Everyone started puffing their suits.


    "Gomu-Gomu no¡­. F¨±sen!" A shout was heard and everyone was desperately blowing through the small port on their thumbs.


    With the stronger lung capacity and the capability to blow air about three to four times stronger than a regr adult, the team''s suit started to quickly erge itself. The suit grew to about twice as big as themselves. Soon the inneryer of their suit had all the air it can handle and the outeryer of the suit started to puff up.


    The outeryer started to growrger andrger. Right at every one''s back is a small cylinder that was protected and wrapped around the twoyers of air chambers.


    Two levels of balloons were soon formed. Their heads remained exposed but two big balloons covered their bodies starting from the neck down to their feet. They looked like a big balloon with a small head protruding outside.


    All that was left was to brace for impact.


    And the moment came.


    The outer balloon came into contact with the water. Falling from the high distance and traveling at such intense speed, the stop would have killed every human. The balloon absorbed the shock and with their enhanced perception of time, the team started to adjust their position and prepare to roll when the pressure was allowing their bodies to move and not take the full impact.


    The timing of their impact was clearer. Cliff had already gained the ability to slow down time up to eight times than normal. On average, everyone could do five times slower. And so, these Unlocked whose perspective could slow have started to roll. With their senses that are also stronger and their overall body control better, they began to employ the ssic technique of rolling in order to break their fall. They intentionally used their suit to fall at a diagonal direction in order to do this.


    At impact, the air started rushing out of several prepared ports on their suits while at the same time the two air chambers began absorbing the force of the impact. The specialized rubber suit turned the impact into vibration as it passed through the first and second chambers.


    Still, with their concentration, the team managed to make the roll and dispersed the vibration. The first chamber popped at the tremendous stress and the second chamber was constricting as well


    Soon another pop resounded and the rolling bodies of the unlocked plummeted down the ocean. It was as if a whish bomb imploded around them causing mass shock around their bodies. The rubber suits did their job in discing the water giving time for the team to make a safernding on water. But still, it was painful.


    Blood started toe out of their nose and mouths, and others even bled through their ears. The chambers weakened their fall but the tremendous shock of the impact vibrated around them.


    Most of them coughed out underwater and began to quickly resurface.


    Though the darkness of the sea blinded them, the sound and sensation that allowed the team to sense things clearly even when underwater caused them to act in instinct.


    Everyone started to help out whoever was nearby.


    Gardo was the first to move as it swam closer towards Dara and Stanley and pulled them up as he noticed the two sinkings.


    Cliff moved next to rescue Roselyn and used Realm Somatotopy to detect the presence of his team. After confirming everyone''s safety, he started to swim back to the top.


    "That hurt like hell!" Tyler cursed as he resurfaced. Unlike Dara, Stanley, and Roselyn, Tyler still had several air chambers on his back protecting the cylindrical device hanging on his back.


    Scribs and all the Drug Dealers had their respective devices as well.


    Gardo and Cliff resurfaced carrying the others.


    The rest began coughing.


    "No time to rx!" Scribs shouted.


    The group swam closer to each other and help those who were knocked unconscious at the impact.


    "Wake up!" Cliff called out to Roselyn.


    Dana and Stanley were the first to give off a cough.


    They coughed the water out of their lungs through their control. Roselyn also awakened after that.


    The first thing the groups did was take out a small pill in the middle of their gloves and ate it. Then they started to quietly blow on their left thumb.


    The air started to run through a third chamber that was set on their foot. It soon started to puff up and slowly, the group was rising higher and higher on the water.


    "Remember! Do your best to not sink! We don''t know what techs they have but if you sink, there is a chance that their sonar can detect you."


    With the aid of the balloon on their legs, the team managed to keep themselves afloat. While the act of maintaining their bnce would be incredibly hard for humans, the unlocking allowed them to keep careful control of their muscles. The heightened control over their ears made them have better control at their equilibrium.


    As the group was slowly trying their best to stand and recover from the terrifying impact, they grouped closer to each other and held hands forming a circle.


    And so, an odd meeting urred in the middle of the ocean, where great waves and wind howled.


    Aside from Cliff and Gardo and Tyler, everyone had poor expressions on their faces as they were struggling to keep afloat. Their circle and formation aided them in helping each other stand firm but the damage they took on that drop still radiated over their body. Only a few barely had any damage.


    "You seem pretty strong," Cliff called out to Gardo.


    "The training I had was pretty rough. I am a seed of the Progenitor remember? You could say, that I was almost at the Unlocked level for years. And my training just got stranger and stranger." Gardoughed.


    "Still¡­ that was pretty insane." Gardoughed.


    "General! Over there!" Earl pointed to the distant lights that flickered on the skies.


    "Those must be some of the exoskeletons or Armors doing their routine checks. The cont liquid that was injected to us prior to our jump should help us keep our temperature low. Remember, we are to match the temperature here to avoid being detected."


    Tyler had been collecting the cylindrical tubed attached to the backs of those nearby. Others also did the same thing. Only Gardo did not have a cylinder.


    "Are there any damages?"


    "None. The ones Dara, Stanley, and Roselyn seemed to be alright."


    The three had a strange expression on their faces.


    "Don''t look so down. The expectation was that all of us would fail. Don''t worry. It''s pretty sturdy."


    "Alright. Remember the mission. If webine all those parts, now then it will be surely detected by WGP''s scanner."


    "How is this n going to work? We''re just walking in a base with a weapon that could do as much damage as a weapon of mass destruction and expect the WGP to be unprotected from it?" Zidane of the drug dealers asked.


    "I''m sure some protections are in ce. But this is Enigmatic weapon. An Aragarian tech. Not to mention Lennox tinkered with it. So this should give us some surprises." Roselyn answered.


    "But how will this work? I mean, we just carry it into the base?" Zidane asked again.


    "It will," Gardo answered.


    "Do you think it''s really easy to walk in a WGP base carrying a weapon like this? The only way it would be possible if we have been carrying various weapons and tech. But right now, we''re just carrying a rubber suit that protects and covers our heat. Which we used to make a balloon and we''re to run across the ocean storm in order to get to that base. That''s insane. It sounds simple, but it''s actually impossible." Gardo smiled.


    "Exactly. This method of ours is unthinkable. We have no techs other than this rubber suit and this won''t even get detected by their technology. How can a group of people enter the Kraken with no boats, no weapons, and yet deliver an EMP right in the middle of it? It''s ingenious."


    "I don''t really get it, but I trust the boss." Zidane sighed.


    "We assemble them on the way and throw it the moment we get there on top. We''re about to head on the most dangerous part of this mission." Cliff reminded.


    "How are we going to assemble it along the way? Shouldn''t we assemble it when we get to the Kraken?" Roselynined.


    "No. It''s because of those Armors. Expect the worse. I want to deploy the bomb the moment we get up there. That is to avoid any possible ambushes in case Lowengren''s info made them up to their guards. Looking at how the number of Armors patrolling it, they seemed to be on guard."


    Everyone had a solemn expression.


    "So how can we assemble it before we get there?"


    "What if we assemble it underwater?" Stanley suggested.


    "How? We need to be moving fast. We don''t know how long this storm will remain." Dara shot the suggestion down.


    "We can assemble it underwater." Gardo smiled.


    "We can run in water, right? Two people will drag the guy assembling it underwater. His head will be underwater and I think the water would aid in masking this tech. If we don''t assemble it fully, but leave it into two parts and keep it underwater, I doubt that even the tech detectors could catch that."


    "So six people? Two will be carrying the third person who will be assembling one half of the bomb?"


    "Yup." Gardoughed.


    "Sounds crazy and impossible. But we are Unbing." Tylerughed.


    "I''ll assemble the first half." Earl volunteered.


    "I''ll do the second." Scribs smiled.


    "Alright. Be careful not to drop any parts."


    "Shall we?" Gardo asked.


    Cliff nced at everyone.


    "Up there¡­ we had several moments of fear." Cliff began a prepared monologue.


    "I''m sure the falling sensation when we moved faster than the speed of sound may have scared you all. And when we entered those clouds and was suddenly blinded¡­ it also got the better of many of us. Right now, we will be invading a base withplex defenses. The storm had limited the forces outside, and our EMP can disable more, but we can never underestimate them. Our assumption would be that the base won''t get affected by the EMP. We will use our speed and the surprise attack to divert the direction of their forces while we rush towards the inside of the base. We follow thepass to get to our weapons."


    Everyone nodded.


    "I can only hope things will go that way. But being with Seeker taught me that things won''t be that easy. Some of you may die tonight. Keep in that in mind. I don''t want you running there suppressing the fear and losing it when we get bombarded by the Armors. Keep that fear in mind." Cliff reminded.


    Silence followed as the gamers and drug dealers started to grip their fists while holding each other to support the circle pir that kept themselves afloat.


    "You know, I joined the party a bitte¡­ But the game has just begun. Stage one''s always the easiest right?" Gardo addressed the gamers.


    "He''s right." Tylerughed.


    "Seeker believed in us. We have Lowengren and Arthur. They have made their ns and this is it. Trust in your bosses."


    The Drug Dealers nced at Cliff.


    "Just do what I told you. We''ll definitely make it out of there alive." Cliff smiled.


    "Is everyone good to go?" Cliff then asked.


    "Ready." They chorused.


    "Let''s do this!"


    And so the entire team started to break from their formation and in a miraculous sight, started to over the waters.


    About three nautical miles from where the group was running, the Kraken continued to brave the storm. It was like arge city with all the lights. The activity that it had didn''t decrease. Armors and Exoskeletons and various aircraft were flying above it, keeping constant guard at it.


    Right in the center of the Kraken, deep on the underwater city that thisrge floating fortress had, were Three Emperors. Among the many rooms, was a particrly active one.


    Two Emperors sat down at the room that made five-star hotel rooms lookmon.


    "Emperor. The decoys have left. Fleet Admiral assumed that you left already." A direct descendant of the WGP reported.


    "Good. Now let''s see¡­ what exactly does this Fleet Admiral n¡­ Have you made the preparations?"


    "I have told several Commanders. Anti-EMP techs have been equipped on several tforms of the Kraken without drawing attention to the Fleet Admiral. They are ready to battle and betray the General."


    "Looks like the mission you gave him, on thest minute proved to be a great distraction."


    "Thankfully, that naked exhibitionist would eat up most of his time." The Empressughed.


    "Let''s us ready ourselves for battle as well." The Emperor suggested.


    "Right." The Empress then stood up and a strange Exoskeleton suddenly appeared and covered her almost immediately.


    "It is time for the Emperors to Rule."

 Chapter 189 - Scout, Sniper And Tanks

    The waves were huge and the wind was strong. Yet despite these very trying conditions, the team was actually enjoying themselves.


    "I can''t believe I''m doing this!" Stanley shouted excitedly.


    "Running on top of the ocean in the middle of a storm. I want this on my next resume!" Dannyughed too.


    "Yohohohoho!" Gardoughed as he started to run using a strange stance of using his feet to sprint so fast.


    Even Cliff couldn''t help butugh too.


    The group was sprinting on top of the water and while the resistance of the wind and the terrifying waves were things that would make it impossible for humans, the impossibleter became possible as the group slowly got used to standing and walking. A few minutes passed and some were already doing tricks like jumping, running, and somersaulting.


    All of them would at times fall down on the ocean, and those nearby would help them get up. But as their running continued, they got used to it and even started to y around.


    "So this is what we are capable of? The advantage of perception, strength, speed, and control¡­" Gardo tried experimenting with his movements as they continued to run.


    "You got it. I was amazed at this. I easily became an expert at any sports I was ying! Be it in video games or physical sport, muscle memory ys a crucial role in skill. And our learning abilities have increased exponentially. How else can we get used to this crazy thing!" Tylerughed.


    "The battle ahead of us will also give us this advantage. So learn from it! The fear you felt on the high sky¡­ Remember it! Use it! When you face an enemy that will start to scare you, remember how you got over the fear!" Cliff reminded.


    Dara clenched her teeth at Cliff''s reminder and vowed to never fall into the fear that she just felt. Her confidence was shattered when they were falling as she needed to get saved twice and even groped.


    The speed of their sprint only got faster and faster. Soon the bright lights that flew on the air got brighter and brighter.


    "Drop your temperatures now! Assume the formation."


    Earl and Scribs started collecting the pieces of cylinders that everyone had and connected them. They started to lock the pieces they have together so that it was tight and secure.


    "You sure you guys can do this underwater? What if you drop it?"


    "The real connection doesn''t happen when weplete all the first halves of it. It still will take time for it to create energy. Right now, we''re just locking the two pieces together. The lock was designed so that no energy would leak out right before the meeting of two forces. Don''t worry." Tyler was the one who did the exining.


    "Ok then. Let''s do it!" Cliff announced.


    Earl and Scribs immediately ran forward and dove forward towards the ocean.


    Cliff and Zidane, caught Earl by the feet before his feet sank and Tyler and Danny caught Scribs.


    And the pair started to run quickly, dragging the pair of soldiers with only their legs above the water.


    Several lights could be seen flying up on the sky. They knew that the Exoskeletons or Armors were patrolling above them.


    The group didn''t slow down but actually started to move faster.


    Titan Tristle who is known as StrawberrySitups in the Covenant was one of the fastest gamers in Piercing. The only person faster than him was those who had millisecond reactions such as Cronus of Git Godlike. And what was even more amazing, ever since the team had returned from Australia, both the Covenant and Warfreakz had undergone certain training sessions as nned by their leaders.


    For Titan, the training he received was focused on perception and timing. Most of his training was ced on controlling his equilibrium, improving his reaction and agility, and cellr developmental program that made the reach of his sight and hearing further than the usual pace. Utilizing the data that they received from the files of the three scientists of Harker, they were able to create a modified version of the ultimate hearing techs used by the Australians.


    His training focused on seeing through his ears which allowed him to sense and see things immediately within a radius of meters. But utilizing his Unlocking by selective hearing, he can redirect the range of his hearing to hear only on a specific location. This allowed him to hear up to 150 meters on a specific direction.


    His physical training was dedicated to improved motor skills to minimize theg times that happen when thought has yet to dictate the action. He was faster than an average unlocked, had more endurance and greater senses for detecting.


    He was trained to be a perfect scout.


    His movements pierced through the waves and it looked like he was stepping on each wave to propel him further and further.


    The Kraken came into full view as the lights of the fortress gave the team the ability to see more clearly.


    The Kraken was arge diamond-shaped floating fortress. The entire fortress was made of several blocks, each of different shapes and sizes, and had several buildings and structures on top of it. The entire fortress was about twenty meters above sea level. The tall hull of the fort was the first challenge that they had to scale.


    Titan went ahead and looked for the best ce for their entry.


    The rest of the groups ran towards the hull and rested by clinging to the side of the hull. The ces that they could cling to at the bottom of the hull wererge enough for them to hold on to. For any normal humans, staying there would be suicide. But with the Unlocked, it was a moment for them to recover their strengths. Even those who were holding the EMP bombs resurfaced while keeping most of their bodies underwater


    "Will that Titan kid be alright?" Gardo asked.


    "Titan''s a scout. His endurance and stamina were trained to surpass us. Trust me, even if we manage to rest, we are still more tired than he is at this point." Danny chuckled.


    "I see. I sensed that there was something different among you. So I was right. Care to exin your builds?"


    "You''ll find outter." Cliff interrupted.


    "Rest for now. And unless you can talk at a different speed or frequency, I suggest you keep quiet. We don''t know if they have techs that can hear us." Cliff ordered.


    Gardo gave an embarrassed smile and nodded. Of course, everyone knew that Cliff did that because he hasn''t trusted Gardo yet. Everyone was reminded of Seeker''s cryptic warnings of Gardo being a possible enemy.


    Titan soon returned and jumped next to them.


    "Thepass shows that we are on the side closest to our weapons. We don''t have to circle the Kraken anymore further than we should."


    "Good. Have you found a good entrance?"


    "Yes. The closest entry point is the best. Maybe because of the storm the enemy patrols have lessened greatly. Any active Armors are sent to hover around the base. Only Exoskeletons are patrolling around the area. I detected three Exoskeletons near our entry point. We need to take care of all three of them."


    "Three''s a perfect number. Let''s go as nned."


    The group resumed to run across the Kraken and soon reached the point where Titan found.


    Titan was the first to move and ran up the wall utilizing impressive parkour moves that would have been otherwise impossible given the conditions they were in.


    Titan ran up the hull and soon reached the many cannons and turrets that were protruding out. Soon, Titan reached the top, but held on to the edge and listened.


    The Exoskeletons that were on patrol did not use lights but relied on their sophisticated technology to detect enemies. From night vision to heat detection, they were all employed.


    So apart from the lightsing from other buildings, and the lights for the airport, most parts of this fortes was still covered by the darkness. With his improved hearing, the rain allowed him to map the direction of the enemies nearby and Titan could even tell where they were looking.


    While hanging, Titan he gave several hand signals towards the group that was assuming another formation to help then stand. Each signal he madested barely a second but it was enough for everyone to understand what he meant.


    "Go!" Cliff ordered his three men to rise.


    Asterisxxx was the first to move and Zidane, Hank, and Counter quickly followed behind. Roselyn and Stanley then followed after them.


    The moment Asterisxxx reached up, he looked. For others, it would have been pitch ck. But for Asterisxxx, he could tell which Exoskeleton to deal with first.


    And so, with a quick flick of his fingers, he threw a rolled-up rubber strip which he tore from his outfit.


    John Octavion III is the son of a prominent sniper. John Octavion Jr. was a respected soldier in the field but sadly, during one of the skirmishes against the SPU, he injured his eyes, and even with the technology of their time, they were unable to fix it.


    John Octavion III took matters on his own hands as their mission wasrgely med on his father''s reckless attitude that basically caused him to lose all prestige and received an infamous reputation.


    But then Asterisxxx was born. Pangea''s best sniper user in Piercing. Andpared to the realism of Generals, Piercing required greater and more precise sniping skills.


    The Unlocking of Asterisxxx focused on sight. His eyes were now able to see invisible lights and had the basic anatomy that Meryl had. His sight could zoom in onmand and has a higher tolerance of seeing through the dark.


    But even more amazing, was the math. With the Unlocking, Asterisxxx was finally able to acquire a portion of what his teacher tried to teach him but failed.


    All he needed was one look and he knew where to shoot.


    Instant Calction.


    The flicks flew along with the blowing wind and struck the small mounted port that allowed the Exoskeletons to detect heat, techs, and metal. Theposition of their rubber suit was made to distort these things to a certain extent. And so, the Exoskeleton was blinded for a second. The moment he flicked the rubber cloth on the first Exoskeleton, Zidane and Roselyn immediately rushed towards the direction of his throw.


    Asterisxxx moved towards the next one and when the Exoskeleton would turn to their direction, he would immediately flick another piece of the rubber strips torn from his suit. Hank and Stanley rushed towards the second Exoskeleton and Counter rushed off towards where Asterisxxx threw his rubber stips.


    And so, the three Exoskeleton guarding that wide-area all received a strip of rubber cloth which halted their scans for a quick second.


    The Drug Dealers were amongst the hardest to train. They underwent the most inhumane training programs because they weren''t very skilled at controlling the growth of their bodies. Unlike the Covenant and Warfreaks, who had high imagination, and how their normal state had already surpassed the average human in their own set of skills, Cliff''s team was unable to forcibly dictate the growth and development of their body.


    They didn''t have this sixth sense as the rest did. In fact, they were the experimental batch who skipped the safer experimentation procedures and immediately used the dangerous experiments that Seeker recalled on his future.


    And so, after being subject to various electrical shocks that would force the brain to feel it, they managed to understand it as they grasped the essence of Realm Somatotopy. And there it was, the fruits of theirbor.


    A different bone structure that was denser and stronger even whenpared to an Unlocked.


    Their muscle was also heightened. The science to develop a Ranked Heroes body wasrgely aided by Seeker''s memory. But now, they also had technology that became a solid base for creating stronger muscles, bones, and organs.


    Zidane, Hank, and Counter of the Small Time Drug Dealers were basically miniature or simplified versions of the physique that the Dawn Soldiers of Australia had.


    As the three Exoskeletons had yet to recover from their blindness, the Zidane, Hand, and Counter rushed and employed a certain technique of attacking an Exoskeleton that they have practices again and again.


    The three grappled the Exoskeletons, and using throwing techniques, the Exoskeletons were smashed on the ground.


    SLAM!


    The strength of the three was clearly portrayed as they could easily carry the heavy weight of the Exoskeletons was a burden. But it was a light burden.


    Before the pilot could even recover, another toss was made. And this time Roselyn, Stanley, and Asterisxxx aided the respective three in delivering powerful kicks on the head regions of the Exoskeleton. Their strikes were designed to cause great vibrations on the head or through the jaw.


    SLAM!


    The heavy rain and winds silenced the loud ms and the position of how these exoskeletons were smashed prohibited the pilots from screaming.


    SMASH!


    The pilots became unconscious at the series of attacks. But since he was alive, and the Exoskeleton had not received critical damage because of the careful execution of the three, the respective alerts were not transmitted indicating an attack. the Pilots themselves were thrown in a way that made them stunned and as it all happened to fast, they weren''t given the chance to do anything.


    "Good. It looks like the n worked. We''re off to a good start." Cliff and his group arrived. The EMP bombs were immediately brought next to one of Exoskeleton that they attacked. The bombs carried by Earl and Scribs were starting to emit heat and could be detected by various tech scanners if caught so they nted it next to an Exoskeleton.


    The group moved the Exoskeleton to the alleys of a nearby building.


    "Woah. What techniques did you use? Is the guy inside that Exoskeleton unconscious?" Gardo was stunned.


    Cliff simply made a gesture to make Gardo shut up.


    Gardo gave an apologetic bow.


    "Titan. How far from here?"


    "ording to thepass, we should go deeper towards the north-eastern part of the base."


    "Would we be far off from the center?" Cliff asked Tyler.


    "We will be a bit off. So we should deploy the EMP bomb a bit further from the location of our weapons."


    "Titan. Scout ahead. Be careful. Assume that the enemy already has a n to counter our ambush." Cliff warned.


    Titan nodded immediately dashed towards the deeper regions of the base.


    Hovering at the very center of the Kraken, were two invisible objects. The stealth of these two objects was so precise that it even created illusions that made it look like the rainwater would pass by them. The Kraken itself had no capability to detect this with all of their techs. This was in ordance with thews set by the Emperors. All weapons by Emperors would be masked with all WGP techs.


    This was to ensure that the WGP''s technology may not be used against them. Every nation had tried to hack the WGP''s technology to control this since the WGP rose to power. None have seeded.


    The two were the strongest weapons made by the WGP and it was only given to those who were Emperors by bloodline or rank.


    It was the same device that the Tyrant Empress rode and used against Seeker.


    It was called the Emperors Rule. A throne of power for the strongest and mightiest men and women of Earth.


    These Rules wererger than what the Tyrant Empress rode. The entire Rule assumed the form of arge pod that covered their riders and the two emperors were constantly scanning the entire Kraken. And while doing so, it employed several cloaking technologies that hid it perfectly even when it floated during a powerful storm.


    "Do we defend this Kraken? Or blow it up together with everyone else here?" The Empress continued to mumble which was making the other Emperor feel ufortable.

 Chapter 190 - Those More Paranoid

    Cliff and his team had soon found an enclosedunchpad for Armors and Exoskeletons. The warehouse was locked shut. Therge garage door could only open through the main controls. The group only managed to go inside the room through the small port on the roof. Even the two pieces of the EMP bomb were masked because they were inside the building. As such, the group was resting and regenerating.


    "So what do we do now? Those Exoskeletons might soon awaken. And it looks like we can''t sneak into the inner levels. No building is easily essed. Their paranoia is as strange as ever." Scribsined.


    "The storm caused their paranoia. This is a weapon of New Great Britain, after all. So if your right in the middle of a tech attack, you have to be cautious."


    "Then what do we do? We''re running out of time!"


    "We are right on top of where our weapons are. So we need to find a way to open the doors. So here''s my suggestion." Gardo suddenlyughed.


    "We fight. We cause a ruckus. It will cause people to send their men up here. If theseunch pads open, we can get down on the lower levels." Gardo suggested.


    "What? Fight them? Haven''t you noticed that all patrolling soldiers are wearing Exoskeletons?" Dara argued.


    "Of course. I''d do the same. Weather conditions like this will make it very hard to see. I''d need at least an Exoskeleton to patrol outside."


    "If we cause a ruckus, then we''d be swarmed with Exoskeletons and Armors! We don''t have our suits! We won''t be able to fight back."


    "Hey, Hey! Don''t get angry,dy! Just my suggestion! If a ruckus happens, then they''d send some men up! We''re already here! Didn''t you notice? This room has no lights. It''s just some roof deck that is designed to keep enemies from attacking the Exoskeletons froming out of here! This must be Benteriallyon steel. No electrical wires are used here. This is like a turtle shell that protects theunch pads from any aerial attacks. It''s dark. Normally, this wouldn''t be an issue as WGP Exoskeletons have vast techs of detection. But with our ability to limit our heat, we can blend in and avoid thermal scans, and the darkness will simply cover us. They get up, and we slide down."


    "He has a point." Earl agreed.


    "What if we wait for those Exoskeletons to wake up or call? If they call them and they don''t answer, wouldn''t they send people up?"


    "Yes. But we don''t know whichunch pads they would use to send their soldiers on. Gardo''s right. We need to cause a ruckus to bring people up here." Cliff concluded.


    "But that''s insane! Who among us can fight a troop of Exoskeletons?"


    "I can." Cliff sighed.


    Everyone excluding the soldiers and Cliff''s Drug dealers were surprised.


    "It''s annoying¡­ But I can. I''m at Surmounting Unbing. My punches can hurt the pilots. It''ll hurt like hell after, but I think it''s enough until you guys find your armor.


    "Sounds fun. Can I join?" Gardoughed.


    "You?" Dara was stunned.


    "Yeah. I''ve had my share of fighting Exoskeletons while I was unarmed during the South Asian Scuffle."


    "You were there?"


    "It solidified my standing as the head of the family. It''s simr to the Novelty-stoise''s True Inheritor position. But you gotta prove yourself."


    "Besides¡­ I don''t have any weapons down there. I also want to cause the ruckus so that my boys can send me my toys." Gardoughed.


    "Then it''s settled." Cliff nodded his head.


    "Wait! General Seeker said that because of General Lowengren, the WGP might have their strongest force here. What if something like a Rule appears? You''ll die!" Roselyn warned.


    "Yeah. But I''m not worried. Our entry here is so secret and so strange because of our paranoia. We expected that even with our ns, they''ll still be able to detect us. Now that we''re here, it''s either that we seeded or they are luring us to a trap. Either way, causing a ruckus will be to our advantage."


    "Are you crazy? I thought you were a coward. Howe you''re suddenly so noble! You want to buy us time for us to get our suits at the cost of your life, right? I am against this. We came as a team; we fight and die as a team!" Roselyn argued.


    "Roselyn, calm down. General Cliff is right. Besides, I''ve been working with General Harker all my life. He sent me here, precisely to be a strategist to our team. I can assure you that if a Rule is here, and if we cause a ruckus, the chances of the Rule''s going after Cliff would be very, very low. That should give us time to use the EMP bomb."


    "Why?"


    "Because the ruckus is unnecessary. The assumption is, if we got here without being detected, is that we have superior technology. How else can we bypass everything? But if General Cliff attacks, it will surprise the enemy. Those with the Rule will assume that there is a traitor in their midst. General Harker met with those representatives from the WGP, and he did tell us that he''ll warn the WGP of a possible attack."


    "Then that makes it even scarier! The WGP will immediately send their best to kill Cliff!"


    "Wrong. They''ll stay put and guard the most important parts of the Kraken. If we''ve sessfully made an infiltration, it will make the WGP think we can go down the control rooms, the engine rooms, or even the reactors of this ship! They won''t move."


    "That''s just gambling with probabilities."


    "Tyler''s right Roselyn. I''ve been working with Seeker too, and I''ve seen his ns. He''s paranoid. But right now, our enemies will be more paranoid."


    "Boss. We-"


    "No. If you guys want to help me, you better get down there and get my weapon, boots, and armguards." Cliff exined.


    "Weapon? You don''t have an Exoskeleton?" Dara was stunned.


    "No. All I have is a newly developed Pangean Eradication de, a booster skate, and those arm thingies that help me navigate my booster skate on air."


    "What?" Dara felt as if something shot through her pride.


    "You thought Cliff has an Exoskeletal suit like you? No. I did tell you he trained fighting Exoskeletons without a suit. You think I was joking?" Tyler frowned.


    "I have a Realm Somatotopy. Wearing a suit hinders the sound. Trust me. I''m better without the suit. I assume the rest of you can hide at the back?"


    Tyler nodded.


    "What about the EMP bombs? How can we keep it up here without being detected?" Cliff asked.


    "Titan¡­ Wait here for a bit and hide by the exhaust port. With the chaos that I will bring, they''d probably not have any time to check on the Exhaust port. It should mask the tech by a bit. Besides, since they''ll be fighting and triggering the rm, if their sensors pick up some strange tech, they wouldn''t be surprised." Tyler directed.


    "So, I deploy it after you guys jump in?"


    Right. Too risky if we activate the EMP bomb before they get in. I was told that this has Lennox''s lightning. It should be stronger than the EMP bombs in Australia. If the ports don''t open, we''d have no way of getting in. But once they''re in, deploy it. Are there any exoskeletons nearby? Preferably a pair of Exoskeletons."


    "There''s a pair up north. Over the structure."


    "Which way is north again?" Cliff asked.


    "Erm¡­ You don''t know?"


    "No. I have no idea where north is."


    "That way." Scribs pointed.


    "See you." Cliff immediately leaped an extremely high speed and reached the small exhaust chamber.


    "Well¡­ See you when I see you. Or if I see you." Gardo giggled and followed suit.


    Titan also jumped up and used on of the four exhaust chambers and hid there with the EMP bombs.


    "Move to the back corner. When they cause a ruckus, these chambers will open. Let''s rush in and jump at the least possible moment." Tyler exined.


    Cliff and Gardo were outside.


    "So right before the moment, theynd¡­"


    "I see¡­ I kick the leg. It distributes the force, and with a little more pressure, I can dislocate the pilot''s leg."


    "Yup. My guys should be able to break the bones. You should be able to fracture the pilot''s leg through that."


    "Nice. I''ll give it a whirl. What will you do? I want to see you in action." Gardoughed.


    "Ourst battle was intense, after all. If this is Advent and you''re in Surmounting, then you should be at least three times stronger than me. Why didn''t you take me out back then?"


    "I couldn''t. We fought on the public. What if the Aragarians were watching? I can''t go beyond a certain level of strength and skill."


    "Even when I managed to shoot you?"


    "I''ve had worse. Let''s go." Cliff shrugged and started to move and headed for the structure that Scribs referred to earlier.


    Theynded on top of the roof and ran towards the direction of where the Exoskeleton was.


    Cliff could see the pair standing, and he jumped.


    As Cliff wasnding, he used his momentum to grab on the Exoskeleton and throw it to smash it with the other.


    BANG!


    Gardo was surprised. It was very hard to lift and throw an Exoskeleton while on mid-air.


    The Exoskeletons resounded on impact.


    CLANG!


    "ARGH!"


    "Enemy alert!" The first to recover immediately shouted.


    They raised their arms as the ports that had their weapons in opened and started to search for Cliff.


    "Where''s the enemy?" The soldier panicked as no trace of enemies could be seen. They had been using thermal and tech visions to search for the enemy, but no signs could be seen.


    "Nothing on thermal!" One of the soldiersined.


    Cliff rushed once more and delivered a powerful kick, which threw the first Exoskeleton a bit of distance and rushed towards the other Exoskeleton, who was continually aiming with his right hand. Cliff grabbed the arm and employed a shoulder throw to smash the Exoskeleton with the other.


    SMASH!


    "AHHH!" Another pained cry echoed.


    "What''s going on? I can''t see the enemy! Send back up!" The thrown soldier alerted. Right after he said that another kick reached him and sent him off by a few meters.


    The pair of Exoskeletons suddenly used their headlights and started to search for the enemy.


    "How many are there?"


    "I don''t-"


    Yet again, one of them was thrown as Cliff took advantage of his running momentum and smashed it to the other.


    The other cried out once more as the impact finally hurt him.


    "Move away from me!" The first soldier finally cried.


    And both shuffled to move away from each other.


    "Finally." Cliff smiled.


    The two continued to scan for Cliff, but Cliff was moving too fast.


    One of the Exoskeletons, switched his view and went back to thermal and continued to look around. Suddenly, thermal scans finally picked up something.


    "What the¡­?" The pilot was stunned.


    Out of thin air, the heat started to form in the shape of a human.


    "Die!" The Exoskeleton began to shoot in shock.


    Cliff moved so fast that one dash and he was already below the extended arm of the Exoskeleton.


    With a little redirection, the bullets started flying and striking the other Exoskeleton.


    With Cliff''s memories, he quickly allowed the arm to aim at the head of other Exoskeleton.


    The bullets shot slowly started to prate through the other Exoskeletons helmet.


    The moment the first Exoskeleton gave the alert, the base already started moving. Various intense scans were made in the entire region, and all the Armor were asked to report.


    At the center of the Kraken, the Emperors remained cautious.


    "No scans of any enemy movements on all scanners¡­ And then we suddenly have an alert right in the middle of the Kraken. Maybe we should just blow up this Kraken." The anger of the Empress could still be felt despite the calmposure of how she stated that.


    "You can''t be seriously thinking of blowing this entire fortress up?" The Emperor asked seriously.


    "Do you know who it is that''s nning to betray us? The Fleet Admiral? If so, then this entire Kraken deserves to be burned. That way, we can kill any important spies they have here. Who knows? What if this entire base is against us? It''s effortless to hide things even from us. We rarely visit Krakens or Antis. If that is true, then we can only flee ande back with more forces."


    "What do you think it is they are after?"


    "It''s just a guess¡­ But maybe the target isn''t the Kraken. Maybe it''s us. They knew we would be in Pangea and knew that Harker would betray them."


    "They are nning to lure and kill us, Emperors, huh? They are making up a surprise infiltration to alert us. How can they kill us? Only a weapon of mass destruction can damage a Rule. Are they going to blow up the reactor?"


    "That''s one probability. I''ve been monitoring the reactor since the start. No changes seemed to have been made. They probably want us to appear to distract us from battle. And when they''re sure were here, and when we are distracted, they blow it up.''"


    "But the Rule could protect us even from a Nuclear bomb! And even if the Rule would be damaged, nothing can match the speed of our Exoskeletons."


    "Maybe that''s what they wanted. A Rule." The Empress concluded.


    "Of course!" The Emperor realized.


    "It''s impossible to make a Rule! They want to use the materials of a Rule to build another!"


    Suddenly the Emperor fell into deep thought.


    "Isn''t that a bit of an overkill? Having a Kraken is too much of a sacrifice to get two or three Rules! Three Rules cannot match the pure destructive output of a single Kraken!"


    "Yes. But not everyone in this Kraken is their ally. Harker is telling the truth. He warned us of an attack. He must be doing it for his own countries sake and to get back at Australia. It will be to his advantage if this Kraken remains. So right now, we don''t know what the enemy''s intentions are. We can only make guesses. Are they trying to destroy the Kraken, or are they trying to make us appear?"


    The alerts started to increase as the deaths of several soldiers were confirmed.


    "Aren''t we going to attack now?" The Emperor frowned. He was waiting for the Empress to move.


    "No. We don''t know what their true n is. As I said, they may be using this to confirm that we are here. Three rules can''tpete with a Kraken, but what if they use it to build something else? Perhaps it''s something that we haven''t encountered yet. We''ve monopolized the creation of this type of Almetals. So it wouldn''t be a stretch for them to sacrifice one whole Kraken for it."


    "So, that''s why you were considering sinking this ship."


    "Yes. But then again, we might fall into a disadvantage. What if they wanted us to discover this, and losing the Kraken would be more advantageous to them? If they already have Australia and Pangea, losing a Kraken will greatly limit our control over here. For now, let''s see what we can do. Let''s just aim to stop their ns."


    "Aim to stop their ns? Since when have the Emperors been so helpless?"


    "It''s better this way. The boredom would have killed me otherwise. What we have to do is simply stop them from seeding. We wait for the Emperor''s summit and report all that we have found out. If my daughter seeds, it will be easier for us to discern whatever this organization is after."


    The Emperor was silent at the mention of Fleet Admiral Magantae.


    "You¡­ You''re just buying time for your daughter." The Emperor hesitated at first, but since he already started his sentence, he decided to finish it.


    "You sent your daughter there with hopes that she will uncover crucial information. That way, despite her blood, she could ascend as a Queen. As for us, you want us to simply foil whatever ns our enemies have and not gain any advantage."


    The Empressughed.


    "It was never intended to be a secret. Yes. Your ability to deduce shows your growth as an Emperor. Correct. If we act wildly and catch an enemy, we could gather the information anyway. But if we do this, and my daughter acquires the intel, then she would be given several promotions."


    "Sickening. Maniptive. You haven''t changed. You are using even me and Odinsbane''s affection to follow yourmands!" The Emperor grumbled.


    "You''re free to check out the attacker if you want."


    The Emperor frowned but didn''t do anything.


    "No. I can''t. Even if you are using this event to push your daughters standing among the Rulers, your strategy is still sound. I don''t want to lose the Kraken."


    "Correct. My personal ns aside, this is the best action we can take. We guard every inch of this area. This is the most important location of the Kraken. If the enemy ns on using an EMP bomb to destroy the Kraken, and the Kraken''s destruction is the enemy''s target, then this tform would be the perfect ce to deploy it. The area where the enemy was reported is on the south-western end. If we leave now, we won''t be able to protect this ce."


    "And if the enemy''s goal is to attack us and steal the Rule, they still need to disable this ce. So an EMP attack would be perfect here. They destroy the defenses here, we won''t be able to monitor the reactor, and they can secretly use it to self-destruct it." The Emperor angrily gnashed his teeth.


    "Exactly. So don''t worry. Those small attacks will soon be dealt with. Our job is to ensure that no EMP Bombs explode within this tform."


    The Emperor was silent.


    "I guess you have a point. It would be useless if they use the EMP bomb on that tform."


    BOOM!


    A powerful electromaic explosion with blue sparks of lightning exploded on the south-western tform of the Kraken.

 Chapter 191 - Origin Power

    The Enigmatic Maic Bomb was the technology that made Australia the king of its areas. The surrounding countries around it couldn''t do much against the Australians. They would often appeal to other nations that could counter it.


    When the EMP technology was revealed to the world, the WGP had to change several of its protocols and defenses to counteract it. Although Australia could never defeat the WGP because they could not readily produce the EMP bombs, the weapon threatened the WGP. It was because of this that Australia was raised to a Titan ss country. And it was because of this that the web of lies that Seeker instigated were things that didn''t require much pushing.


    The other Titan ss countries, such as New Great Britain, One China, and Russia, took advantage of the attack on New Birth Forth. Hence, during the Australian Avarice, they all sent to steal whatever technologies they still have as the EMP was a sought after technology.


    The WGP soon invented a countermeasure for their own. They found a way to limit the destruction of the EMP of Australia. The range of the affected areas was drastically limited as the weapons, and devices of the WGP could now resist the EMP. The further these weapons were from the EMP st, the more likely it was to remain functional.


    Right before the deployment of the EMP bomb, several Exoskeletons and Armors had already encircled overhead the area. These flying metals unloaded various forms of attacks and had to utilize the Kraken''s own spotlights to find the enemy. The mysterious enemy that eluded thermal and tech scans confounded the enemies. But soon, the figure was spotted. It was but a man wearing a strange rubber suit.


    Upon finding this man, they all started sending their salvo of bullets and sts.


    Since the Armor''s and Exoskeletons didn''t want to damage the Kraken, they avoided using explosive shots. The torrential rain should have sufficed in killing and would have even turned the intruder into a sttered mass of gore. But it didn''t.


    The intruder they were shooting already been in the spotlight of theserge Armors, but they couldn''t hit him.


    As the barrage of bullets continued, the heat and various energy sources rose on that tform. With the increase of temperature and activity, Titan finally had the opportunity to connect two cylindrical objects and finally armed the EMP bomb. He activated it and threw it on the direction that was headed to the center of the Kraken.


    The explosion resounded as a powerful electric st exploded out from the bomb and created a powerful maic shockwave.


    Amidst the purple electric waves that made up mysterious technology, small traces of blueish lights started to arc around as if it was alive.


    The shockwave of the explosion caused the Armors and Exoskeleton around the tform started to stumble, and those flying began to plummet.


    And then there was silence.


    A figure could be seen standing in the area that was formerly being barraged by bullets andser attacks. Almost every inch of the floor was coated with ck chars that came from the shells andsers. But none of these bullets and st managed to hit the young man standing.


    Cliff emerged out of his state and had an ashen expression.


    "Drats! Too much! I should have only used it a few seconds!" Cliffined.


    "I hope Zidane doesn''t forget to look for food," Cliffined as his stomach growled.


    "Wha- what? How did you do that?" Gardo was tongue-tied at the scene. Even with his unlocked potential


    "Practice. I awakened some sort of Skill when we fought. I kept practicing it until I got the hang of it. But it eats too much energy. I just used a few seconds, and I''m already low on calories."


    "Yeah. Now that you mentioned it, you got thinner."


    Suddenly, Cliff immediately had a grim expression.


    "What''s that?!" Cliff cursed as he gazed on the distance.


    The Shockwave of the EMP bomb revealed two floating objects that were being pestered by blue lighting. The objects floated on air and had a very familiar shape.


    "Two Rules, huh? This is going to be a problem." Cliff frowned.


    The figures were indeed the two Rules. No longer where they hidden.


    The Emperors were struggling in maintaining the Rules. The strange blue lightning was specifically attacking things that the shockwave couldn''t affect.


    Using their Exoskeletons, they used Origin Power to fight off the bolt that was always trying to invade and attack the Rule.


    "What is this?! The lighting''s alive! It''s simr to Origin Power!" The once proud and calm emotions of the Emperor started to show hints of panic.


    "We really have a traitor in our midst." The Empress had a grave expression as well.


    "We''re going all out."


    "Attention. This is Empress Miranne Everhiss. I am taking over the Kraken. Failure toply with my orders will mean the destruction of the entire Kraken. Activate Origin Form. I want the entire Kraken ready to fight in 3 minutes. Prepare Poseidon''s Spear and aim it for Australia."


    The Emperor was silent at the orders that the Empress gave.


    "You''re not invoking it?"


    "Not yet. It can waitter. It looks like we''ll be busy tonight. Can you contact Odinsbane?"


    "That lightning attack disabled several devices of my Exoskeleton when I forcibly shed with it. If I were to send out a signal, it wouldn''t be encrypted."


    "Same with mine. I''m sure Odinsbane is ordering the Antis up now. Kill the enemy. I can detect a heat source that is still standing on that tform. I''ll protect this ce."


    The Emperor immediately moved.


    As it moved, the bluish lightning from that was lingering around the Kraken suddenly started to shoot at it.


    "Move away!" The Emperor cursed as he utilized his own technology to create counter-shockwaves that were fighting with the blue lightning energies.


    Gardo suddenly walked forward. Cliff noticed the temperature change in Gardo''s body.


    "You really are a traitor." Cliff thought in his head as he readied to kill Gardo.


    "I''ll distract him. Find a way to attack. Hide for now. He''s locking on to my signal." Gardo gave Cliff a thumbs up.


    "What?"


    Gardo then started to take a few deep breathes and allowed the heat of his body to the surface once more. His temperature continued to rise.


    "What are you doing?"


    "It looks like the Lightning you guys added is hurting it. Is that Lennox''s lightning? How formidable. I''m just worried that they would feel so threatened and decide to destroy this area. They are more paranoid than we are, right?"


    Cliff realized the truth in Gardo''s word.


    "I can stall them. I know their weapons better than you do. This is a better approach than the cat and mouse game you have nned."


    "Maybe I should be the bait."


    "Really? With my special body and the heat that I can give off? Let me do it. I want to have some fun too." Gardoughed.


    "I was told to kill you if you betrayed us," Cliff warned.


    "I know. But you can trust me as they say in the days of old. Any guy who likes One Piece isn''t a bad guy." Cliff giggled.


    Cliff didn''t hesitate and started to move further from Gardo.


    "Let''s see what you can do.


    The speed of the Rule moves extremely fast and immediately was over the tform that Gardo was at and locked down on Gardo. Just as it was about to attack, Gardo''s temperature dropped increasingly fast and disappeared.


    "Thermal negation?" The Emperor frowned.


    "You think you can hide in this storm? Sonar detection would be useless with the wind and rain. But we have Origin. Search and destroy!" The Emperormanded.


    The Rule suddenly shed brightly and released several rays of light that shot out from the Rule. And a torrent of white lights started to shoot down. The strange part was that it wasn''t aiming for Gardo. It was shooting at random ces.


    When Gardo dropped his temperature, he immediately dashed off on the opposite direction of where Cliff was. He picked a suitable location where various structures, buildings, and deactivated Armors were.


    During the eight hours before the attack, Gardo had already exined what the technology the WGP has.


    A few hours before the attack, the group had already participated on several training sessions based on the lessons of Gardo.


    "In truth, you could say that me and the Novelty-stoise n are distant rtives. Of course, it so far out that we can marry each other. Anyway, we have some vague ideas about their technology. Can you guys guess what it is? We have time after all!" Gardoughed.


    "It''s hard to imagine. But I guess the WGP has every known technology on Earth and, therefore, can create their own technology out of it. Right?"


    "Well, yeah. It''s a bit like that. But it''s also not that. Because the truth is, the World Governing Powers have their primary technology. And honestly, this tech is way cool. They called it Origin Power."


    "What does it do? Is it a power source?"


    "It isn''t a power source. It''s a science that has very diverse applications. But the mostmon application is that it gives some form of knowledge or awareness of certain things."


    "Giving knowledge? Like it teaches?"


    "Well, not teaches. It''s the closest thing we have to pure creation. Imagine giving birth."


    Everyone had strange expressions.


    "You''re confused now¡­ but get this! During the process of birth, the cells in the womb of a mother divide through a process known as-"


    "Mitosis!" Cliff shouted excitedly. He had been listening in school these days, and this was the fruit of his hardbor.


    "Take that, Lynd!" Cliff muttered under his breath.


    "Erm¡­ Yeah. A little excited, but he gets it. Anyways, when egg and sperm meet, its just a lump of cells, but because of the DNA that it has¡­ it has a way of knowing just what to do. That''s why when an egg cell and sperm cell starts the process of bing a human. It starts with mitosis. It divides and divides and makes simr copies of itself. It''s so advanced that we still call it the miracle of birth. How is it that these cells know what to do? They start dividing, and all the cells are exactly the same. But suddenly, out of the blue, these little buggers start to divide and actually form specific parts. It''s no longer mitosis. Some cells decide to be a brain. Some decide to be an arm, and some decide to be whatever. So are you ready for this? Origin power asks a basic question simr to what''s going on."


    "Who decides?" Roselyn guessed.


    "Exactly!" Gardo cheered.


    "Now¡­ we all know this to be a veryplicated process. Even ourputers today are designed in a way that we have to dictate things. We have to program our littleputers on what to do. And even if we have nanotech''s, we still have to dictate what it does. Every action must be coded or designed. But even then, we haven''t yet managed to reach down to the very depths of it. How can these cells, without any energy, any form of knowledge or life, know what to do, and do the most difficult science that took us years toprehend? Now imagine being able to create a DNA-like code for certain objects. Like objects of war."


    "You mean¡­ Can their bullets think? Are you saying that when they shoot, the bullets can decide and move on its own?" Danny guessed.


    "My bullets are smart. They don''t use it on bullets. Themon application is to use it on their other energy-based attacks likeser beams, rays, sma, lightning. You know things like that. Think of the possibilities."


    "This Origin seems to be the root of Lennox''s Path," Roselyn concluded.


    "Yes. But Lennox is using something strictly with lightning. That''s what the General concluded." Tyler nodded.


    "I don''t know who Lennox is¡­ but imagine the enemy''s weapon is something like this Lennox''s lightning."


    "Despite beingser attacks, it can move on its own and change target¡­" Tyler, Scribs, and Earl had ugly expressions. As they have been continuously fighting in wars, they knew how deadly it would be.


    "You mean, these energy attacks won''t travel in a straight way that it should?"


    "Yup. It can move left, right, turn around. The science is prettyplex and hard. So in its application, it can only be done minimally. But the WGP should be able to create homingsers." Gardo exined.


    "Is there any way to alter it?" Cliff asked.


    "Kinda hard to do so. You see¡­ And this is extremely private information¡­ These codes that make up the movements aren''t DNA. These signals or codes are not something that we can physically reach, touch, or even handle. It isn''t in the three dimensions."


    "The three dimensions? What''s that got to do with this?"


    "You know¡­ height, width, length. The truth is, the same is said with the DNA. Imaginepressing suchplex processes, movements, and how each cell performs a specific role and makes a DNA. How does our body even make DNA? The Brain sort of functions like that on a bigger scale. The concept of though, imaginations, decisions, cannot be seen or measured physically. I mean, our brains send signals and stuff¡­ But that really isn''t what creates theplex nature of thought."


    Titan and Asterisxxx both nodded as well. Zidane, the rest of the Drug Dealers, was as confused as ever.


    "So you''re saying that thesesers can think, and we can''t even distort it?"


    "Well¡­ Maybe soon we can. The only way to distort it is to touch upon the dimensions beyond. There are roughly ten dimensions, ording to physics. Haven''t you noticed? The Unlocked Brain can breach the Dimensions! That''s how it can perceive time differently. The papers you gave me stated that Ranked Heroes could see light speed attacks. That''s impossible! But if you can see on different dimensions, then probably there is a way to see it."


    "Seeker did tell us of the Gargantuan and how he needed to be at least Ranked Hero to defeat it. The attacks of the enemy were reaching the speed of light. How could he have evaded it? No matter how slow we can see things, it shouldn''t give us a way to evade the speed of light." Cliff mumbled.


    "Anyways¡­ we''re getting ahead of ourselves. That is something that we can''t yet fathom. What you need to know, right now, is that''s what we''re up against."


    "So these energy attacks can bend and move at will and is not be disrupted by anything?" Danny had to confirm.


    "Yup. Of course, the response is not that good. Just imagine that theirsers have basic homing techs. But don''t limit it there. Like for example, if we shoot at a bunker, it would try to move and go to the small holes where we shoot with a gun. Or let''s say there a wall, it will look for a way to go over it."


    "Scary. Auto-aim on energy attacks? It can even avoid walls!" Danny spoke using gaming terminology.


    "What a cheat¡­" Dara grumbled.


    "But don''t worry! Knowing that it can think a bit... it means its subject to deception. So when youe across attacks such as that¡­ the tendency is just to get out of the way to escape it. What you should do is try to throw some faints. Use covers and corners. It can''t react as fast as it can. With our perception, that''s even easier." Gardoughed.


    Back in the present, the arcing lights did pretty much as Gardo exined. It randomly fell on the ground but then started to search for the enemy. Since the enemy couldn''t be seen through various tech scans, these energies were searching for any enemies.


    The bright rays moved and searched for the enemy. It zoomed and started to move around.


    Gardo smiled as he witnessed the bright lights falling around him.


    "This looks fun. I guess I have to push my Eradication body to the limit¡­" Gardo sighed as he saw the lightsing.


    The heat within his body greatly increased. The temperature was so high that the falling rain started to turn to smoke as it would touch his skin


    "Hope my boys arrive with my suit. Otherwise, I''d be naked by the end of this fight." Gardo giggled.


    The homingsers were approaching fast.


    "Time to shift gears!" Gardo then began to move.

 Chapter 192 - Puton

    When the WGP rose to power, it pursued several strategies in order to ensure that the world will never fall into the dire state it once had.


    The creation of the WGP was backed up by several other factors. Among those factors was that it ushered in the Age of Geniuses. Many prominent scientists emerged during that era and were harbingers of significant technological advances. Some discovered new sciences, others developed and improved the existing sciences. Othersbined the known sciences to give birth to newer ones.


    These great and amazing scientists came from all around the world. They all presented the fullness of their technology to the WGP for a better tomorrow.


    Using these technologies, the WGP was able to aid several countries around the world to provide exactly what these countries needed.


    But along the line, it was then that the WGP had an epiphany.


    When these groups started providing essential research materials, the WGP took note of it and even helped these scientists improve their sciences.


    But instead of sharing it with the world, the WGP urged these nations to keep it for themselves. The dividing of technologies began then.


    The inspirations that led to this specific n of the WGP is in one particr tale on the bible.


    After the days of Noah, when the world multiplied once more, sin became rampant, a certain city was built. And it that city was a rising tower that was initially purposed to go up to the high heavens as a challenge to God.


    Seeing this arrogance, and the united efforts to go against God, it was then the God went down. He twisted the tounges of men and dispersed them that their sinful intentions may not seed. He had already vowed to not rid the world in a mass genocide as He did during the flood. Yet even after the flood, mankind banded together to establish such an arrogant city.


    The WGP liked the idea of this divide.


    War urred because of the unity of technologies.


    Globalization gave the world ess to the technologies that the superpowers had. And while certain techs never became public and were only reserved for war, the general theory behind the technology was published on paper and was essed by most parts of the world.


    When World War Three began, the weaker countries could easily create or obtain weapons of mass destruction, provided they pay the right sum to another superpower.


    In an ironic twist, some who purchased these weapons ended up using these weapons on the country they bought it from.


    Globalization brought unity and familiarity. And so the WGP sought to change this. Project Babel was made to resolve several issues that the world suffered from. And with the diverse technologies that rose, the WGP imposed the Technological Possibilities.


    It was a global agreement that no countries can try to study or even develop technologies that are simr to another.


    This brought a significant economic change in the world. Every country needed other countries because they had no ess to these technologies.


    The Great Technological Divide happened during Project Babel.


    But a great secret happened behind the scenes.


    The Dalisay n met the Progenitor right after the establishment of the WGP.


    It was there that the Progenitor revealed a strange science that dealt with thepression of energy.


    The active volcanoes in the entire Pangean region aided as a constant source of the molten energy that they could harness.


    And so, as the heat bepressed, new technology was born. It did not allow Pangea to create powerful bombs that could wipe out a city. But it did manage to develop weapons that could melt through even the hardest of Supra Steels.


    This was one of Pangea''s special sciences. Eradication technology. The technology ofpressing energy.


    However, not all the discoveries were given over to the WGP.


    The strange technologies that the Progenitor left behind were in no way equal. But it didn''t mean that the sciences left behind weren''t useless.


    The sess of the Dalisay n was attributed to their advanced knowledge of Eradication technology.


    The family kept it a secret. They divided the technology into several parts and gave each piece to a faction of the family.


    And so, only the n leader and the elected Inheritor would know the full extent of this technology.


    Gardo Dalisay''s body bore the fullness of the Eradication technology.


    His temperature continued to rise as the bright lights quickly approached him.


    Suddenly, the heat and energy that he was emitting transferred towards his right leg.


    Gardo immediately moved towards one of the approaching lights and stomped the ground really hard in order to propel himself forward.


    BOOM!


    A small explosion resounded as Gardo kicked the ground, and the explosion allowed him to move faster. He kept his body as low as possible to evade the racing light.


    The light energy ignored his body as it directly went to the location where Gardo stomped the heat signature in that area was the hottest.


    Several explosions rang out as light struck the ground.


    Cliff and Titan overlooked at the battle and took a mental note. Both were still a distance away from each other and remained hidden.


    "That was close." Titan sighed.


    Cliff immediately sensed where Titan was and moved towards him.


    "It looks like those energy thingies thate from that Rule can only have simplemands. Did you see it?" Cliff asked the question.


    Titan clearly saw it. His vision had long transformed from the regr eye-sight.


    "Yes. Gardo moved all the temperature in his body to his foot. He''s been doing that for a while now when we were still at the sky satellite."


    "Yup. He was practicing for this. So this is what he meant by an Eradication body."


    "How did he transfer the energy to the floor?" Titan pondered.


    "Who knows? But Gardo gave us quite a gift, Titan. This is our advantage. Those holding vast technologies have ways to see and attack us. But our perception is the advantage. The guy riding the Rule didn''t have time to attack, and Gardo''s split-second actions couldn''t be seen.


    Indeed, it was true. The Emperor frowned. He couldn''t see what happened in those short seconds.


    Suddenly, the Rule automatically released several energy attacks.


    Gardo had run from the highest structure nearby and jumped off it, aiming for the Rule. The speed of his jump and the sudden appearance of a high heat-signature alerted the Rule and shot off several lights.


    Gardo spun around while on midair, and the energy sts locked on to the arm that Gardo extended out.


    The spinning heat caused the energy to curve and circled around to attack the heat signature.


    Gardo reached the Rule and pped on it. As he pped on the Rule, he used the explosive impact to throw himself of the Rule.


    The heat source remained embedded on the Rule and the energy that was circling around headed towards the Rule.


    "Pretty smart." Cliff was amazed at Gardo''s actions.


    A significant impact resounded as Gardo''s fists connected with the Rule.


    The ray of lights rushed towards the Rule. However, upon impact, it did not explode, but a shing light exploded abruptly, and none of the rays of lights could be seen.


    "Impressive technology. The World Governing Powers sure is tough." Gardo gave a wildugh.


    "You''re not bad yourself. Even now, I can''t identify the technology you have. Who are you, and why are you here?"


    "Gee¡­ I don''t know. I was trying to make you hit yourself and kill yourself. Maybe I''m here to sell girl scout cookies?" Gardoughed.


    "Why have you decided to show yourself to us? Are you that confident in killing me in a Rule?"


    "Please. I know that Pangean General betrayed us. Once we destroy this Kraken, Australia will begin its attack on Pangea. So I advise you... give us the designs of the weapon Plu- err... Puton! Or face our wrath! Hand over those Glyphs, and we will give your Kingdom and Pangea more time."


    Cliff, who was hiding, was confused with what Gardo was saying.


    "Damn. More One Piece jokes? That Gardo is a piece of work." Titan sighed.


    "What? What''s Puton?"


    "He must be asking for the WGP to hand over the Phonyglyp for Pluton. Just what kind of a weeb is this guy?" Titan began to shake his head.


    "Then why did he say Puton instead of Pluton?"


    "He might have been afraid that the enemy would search what Pluton is on the web and discover the One Piece reference."


    "Oh. I get it. I wonder whates up on the search engine if you search for Puton?"


    Titan shrugged.


    "I''ll try it when I get home."


    "Puton? We don''t know of such weapons." The Emperor frowned.


    "Oh? Even someone like you have no ess to that? How stingy. Oh well. I guess we''ll have to destroy this entire base."


    "All of that effort just for this, Puton?"


    "Well, not really. It would have been a plus. But we needed this eyesore of the map."


    "So this was all it was. You bombed New Great Britain, knowing that they would counter-attack by sending a storm to ravage Australia. And once the storm passes by this Kraken, you begin your infiltration. Impressive. It limits the techs we can use to search for you. Even sonar is acting all bugged up with the heavy rain and wind. I must say, this is genuinely ingenious."


    "Ri-Right," Gardo answered as he continued to move around to hide from the Emperor.


    It was then a distant lightning bolt erupted from a distance. Gardo noticed something in the sky and smiled.


    "Anyways... It''s been nice knowing you." The Emperorughed and was about tounch an attack before...


    "Hello? Mom! Geez! I''m busy!"


    "..." The Emperor stopped at those words.


    "Can''t you callter?! I''m kinda in the middle of world domination here!"


    "..." Cliff''s mouth was wide open.


    "NO! Don''t remove those posters! And it''s not cartoons, mom! It''s anime! And yes! It''s totally normal for grown men like me to watch it! Geez! Get off my back! I already gave you three inds! Stay away from my collectibles!"


    "..." Cliff remained speechless.


    "Wow. It''s actually working." Titan was shocked.


    "What''s working?" Cliff asked in confusion, still unable to grasps what was happening.


    BOOM!


    A powerful tremor shook the ground as the rms around the base grew intense.


    Several explosive sounds could be heard echoing out from the deep parts of the Kraken.


    The Emperor was surprised at the sudden sounds. He immediately made a quick scan over the remaining functioning cameras inside the Kraken.


    Several Exoskeletons could be seen rushing towards the center of the tform.


    "How?!" The Emperor was stunned.


    He checked for the structure report of the Kraken, and it was confirmed that no other doors within their tforms have been detected to be opened by force.


    "They went in through theunchpads. That attack they just did was a diversion. That''s why they caused a ruckus first before using the EMP!" The Empress contacted the Emperor and gave her deduction.


    "Impossible!"


    "Our enemies must have that technology that only Sovereign''s have. Skin Suits. Is your enemy using an Exoskeletal suit?"


    "No..." The Emperor grit his teeth.


    "Then it''s a skin suit. He was dying you. Kill him. Don''t waste time. If things go bad, I''ll have to invoke it."


    "Alright." Immediately, the Emperor activated a powerful attack.


    Powerful energy gathered around the Rule. Cliff and Titan, who had eyes that could see temperatures, immediately knew what was going to happen.


    They immediately ran to look for covers.


    As the energy gathered, the entire area was illuminated, and the heavy rain could no longer hide the shady figures.


    Gardo stood still andughed.


    "You think that was the reason why I dyed? That''s not it¡­ I''ll show it to you now! Hisatsu!" Gardo then assumed a strange pose.


    "Idiot." the Emperor sneered.


    BEEP!


    An alert could be heard as the Rule automatically moved on its own to avoid an iing attack.


    From the dark sky, arge long, and thick metal spear, was piercing the sky.


    But even as the Rule moved, a powerful burst suddenly appeared as therge metal rod adjusted the direction of its attack and smashed the Rule.


    BOOM!


    "ARG!" The pained cry was heard as the Emperor was stunned by the impact.


    Due to the sudden attack of therge pir hitting behind the Rule, the explosion urred prematurely, and because of the force of the explosion, the Rule was thrown off into the sea. The Emperor didn''t have time to react as the impact stunned him.


    The Rule was sent flying and off to the distance and crashed somewhere on the other tforms before falling off into the sea.


    Therge metal pir was fell on the other side. The original sharp point of thisrge metal was no longer present. Nearly a third of the metal was gone as if it was melted off.


    At the far end of therge pir, a door opened.


    Several men emerged from the door and were still trying to recover from the crash.


    "Finally! You guys arrived just in time!" Gardoughed.


    "Presid-" One of the passengers of thisrge metal called out as he heard the voice of Gardo, but hispanion covered his mouth.


    "Rx, Jane. This area was attacked with a special kind of EMP bomb. You can talk freely." Gardoughed as he drew closer enough for the people to see them.


    "Archie, Brent¡­ Oh, Efren! you don''t look so good."


    "Gardo. It''s good to see you." The woman who covered the mouth of the youth smiled.


    "I was seated in a bad ce. That shock made me all groggy. We just also took some strange drugs a few hours before gettingunched here. I had it worse."


    "That''s why I keep telling you that you should do more fieldwork instead of being the Intel guy!"


    "What was that drug?" Jane asked.


    "We''ll talk about itter. For now, you are forbidden from talking about that drug. Why did you take the drug, though? Wasn''t it suspicious?" Gardo asked curiously.


    "Maic rail technology? And this pir should be made of New Great Britain''s Lightning Rod tech. They used maism to shoot thisrge metal, huh? You didn''t use the rockets until you were nearby." Cliff suddenly appeared and began to connect the dots as he essed his memories.


    "Guys. Rx." Gardo said before the group could recognize Cliff.


    "We''re allies." Gardo patted Cliff''s shoulder.


    More members of the team emerged from therge pir. All in all, five members appeared.


    "Harker contacted us about three hours before and told us you''d be here. He said he forced you to attack this ce and that if we wanted to help you, we needed his drugs. However, he said that by taking it¡­ we would be bound to his alliance." Jane exined.


    "Well¡­ He''s right¡­ But why did he have to say it in such a negative way? And why did you believe him?" Gardo gave Cliff a strange look.


    "Harker''s Skill is something about gaining people''s trust." Cliff exined.


    "Oh. I get it. Anyways, boys and girls¡­ I was forced to fight. That part is true. But this isn''t a rescue mission to save me. We will support these guys with everything that we got. We need them more than they need us." Gardo exined.


    The group was surprised at Gardo''s deration.


    "I''ll exin everything soon. My effects, please. We need to get ready to fight." Gardo ordered.


    "President. We weren''t able to bring you Exoskeleton. Harker said you wouldn''t need it."


    "Right. Just get me a new set of clothes. This rubber suits already melting from my heat."


    "Yes, sir."


    "Lock and load. The enemy should be getting here. Let''s start this party!"


    The Rule once more appeared on the sky, and the Emperor gave a crazy howl. The region where the pir had struck the Rule was dented and cracked.


    "Damn it! Increase your scanning! I want this sector to have full scanning capabilities! We have enemies raiding the Kraken!" The Emperor howled. It paused for a bit, and then the Rule retreated.


    Cliff gazed at the distant Rule and couldn''t help but smile.


    "Oh? It''s retreating?"


    "Now that we sessfully disabled this sector, those Families should all be swarming in." Cliff then turned his attention to the dark skies above. He nced at the direction where the metal pir came from.


    Small bolts of lightning would asionally light the sky. And Gardo noticed it as well.


    There were various shadows that seemed to be hovering over the skies.


    "Looks like more guests are here to crash on this party.." Cliff sighed.

 Chapter 193 - Free Spirit

    Somewhere over the skies of South Pacific United, was arge aircraft that continued to fly over it. It was there to forever guard the skies of South pacific United from any attacksing from the surrounding nations. This aircraft held the best sciences avable to South Pacific United.


    It guarded the skies from any actions from Pangea and Australia. It was one of the few most advanced aircraft allowed to move within the territory of the Kraken. The ne had the most advanced detectors that would only be surpassed by the SPU. They had the most advanced stealth technology, as was the center of their Technological Possibilities.


    Aboard this vessel was the best and brightest that all of the SPU could provide. The training they received forbat and strategic nning were high. They were trained to be able to think so fast that when someone pulls up a gun in front of them, they could react without missing a beat. Every personnel on that craft was the most loyal agent of the united countries of South Pacific.


    And all of them were dead.


    The entire crew died without any wounds in their bodies. They did not die from any form of poisoning.


    The first to die was the pilot. The windshields suddenly broke as arge gash appeared. Something had sliced it in half. And along with the sliced ss and windshields, the necks of the pilot and the co-pilot were immediately severed. A group of six soldiers suddenly entered the ne through the holes that were made.


    A woman rushed off into the next room. Yet no one noticed her.


    The group of trained elites sensed nothing as she entered the room. And then it happened.


    The entire group suddenly realized that they couldn''t breathe. The woman who was unseen simply made sure that none of them could ever make a distress call ormunicate with the bases below.


    And like that, everyone died.


    Three hours had passed since then, and it was then that the anomaly urred.


    "Father¡­ An EMP attack on the Kraken." The beautiful young woman reported to her father. She had wless white skin with a strange light blueish glow that looks like it was radiating.


    The man she reported too was tall and lean. He had a very rxed expression and gave the woman a carefree look.


    "Isn''t that better? This means we can easily infiltrate it since there is an ongoing battle there. We just need to find the location of where they kept New Great Britain''s techs." The manughed.


    "Father. We should not treat our infiltration there with our sess in infiltrating this ship. This ship and the Kraken is iparable."


    "Yes. But the Kraken has an ongoing battle. Also, is this far enough for you to sense his presence?"


    "No, Father. But please, do not cast aside my suggestion! We have to make a n! A decent n."


    "What do you think, Austin?"


    "Listen to your daughter, Sir." The man called Austin was busy on theputers looking at files.


    "Interesting. We should have done this earlier! The data and techs here should inspire greater works for my research."


    "You just want to ensure that you get their techs before we trash that ce."


    "Sir. Technology will be our force to fight this enemy that you im to have been mentioned by your predecessors."


    "I didn''t need technology to bring you guys here."


    "Your disgusting power is taken from technology!" Austin argued.


    "Regardless, sir! we should infiltrate key fortresses, bases, or nes like this one to acquire more technology."


    "I don''t think that would be wise, Austin. The reason we can infiltrate this is that we me it on Australia or the WGP. As for the WGP, they''d think that this was something the SPU did. Our goal is to take what we can but ensure our secrecy on this matter." The woman argued.


    "Miss Irvana is so strict." Austin sighed.


    "Haha." The tall manughed.


    "Just be contented with what you can get now, Austin. Besides, you''d probably be surprised at what technologies we will face down there."


    "Of course. It''s the WGP!"


    "No. I''m not talking about them. You see, no one knows that I am the Wind seed that the Progenitor left behind. Others, who are my peers, would think that the inheritance has been lost. And to protect the identity of the Progenitor, they may try to acquire it. It could be out of selfishness, or it could be from the loyalty they have with the Progenitor."


    "So people like you will be down there, Father?" Irvana asked.


    "Perhaps people stronger than me. Regardless, we go as nned. Once you''re done with the download, you can make the ne crash down the Kraken."


    "We''re already headed down, sir!" The man who was currently on the pilot seat shouted. Oddly enough, though the windshields on the cockpit were wide open, the wind did not enter.


    "What?! Alvin?! What are you doing?! I''m not yet done downloading!"


    "We haven''t even made any strategies!" The woman called Ivana cried angrily as well.


    "Continue with your course, Alvin." The manughed.


    "Father!" Irvana cried.


    "Sir!" Austin also pleaded.


    "Crashnding on Kraken in five minutes!"


    "There is no need for us to make any ns. I''m sure you''ve noticed it now, dear daughter. The strange fluctuations. Is that why you''re so keen on making ns?" Grant Hermes gave a wildugh.


    "How many are there?" Grant Hermes asked excitedly.


    "About five. I don''t know. What''s going on? I''ve never felt it before? Why now?"


    "You don''t quite understand us, dear daughter. The fluctuations you feel and the sense of danger is now appearing because we are about to battle. I don''t hide it anymore. And they most definitely don''t need to as well. And the reason why you can sense it now is that it''s tied to their emotions. You could always sense emotions and gauge our enemy''s power. This is the height of their pride. Their excitement for battle draws near!" Grantughed.


    "So why won''t we make any ns?"


    "Because at this point, it is pointless to make any! Who knows who we will meet down there? Who knows what they n to do?"


    "But wouldn''t this rival of yours, Lennox... Would he make ns, Father?"


    Grant Hermesughed.


    "Trying to agitate me?"


    "Wouldn''t your recent defeat make you worry?"


    "I wouldn''t say that was a defeat. He didn''t get what he wanted. I managed to understand his n along the way. Me and Lennox were two opposite poles. He is as urate as a lightning bolt hitting a metal pole, while I am as free and random as the wind. A free spirit that roams this earth."


    "Sir! I think, I just detected several missiles locked on to this ne. They should be arming it up now."


    "Perfect. Then it means it will hit us within less than a minute. So it looks like we''d have to abandon ship now."


    "Really, Sir? That''s for boats." One of the other soldiersmented.


    "Whatever, Randy." Hermes rolled his eyes.


    "Let''s go!" With a wave of his hands, the right side of the ne suddenly exploded as a square-shaped cut appeared. Everyone was immediately sucked out by the wind.


    "Sir! I''m not yet done downloading!" The iling cries of Austin were heard as they were thrown off along with theputer that Austin was on.


    "There. Are you happy?" Hermesughed as they continued to free fall alongside the ne.


    "That''s not the point, sir!" Austin screamed.


    Meanwhile, back on the Kraken¡­


    The Emperor made the Rule retreat back.


    "Why are you retreating?"


    "I fought a single soldier, and he managed to damage me. I won''t take any chances. He has more of hispanions with him now. Fighting all of them would mean that I would have to go all out. Bad for the Kraken. Empress¡­ Should you invoke the call?"


    "No. The Kraken hasn''t detected it yet, but I could sense several signals approaching. They are taking advantage of the disabled sector of the Kraken. A blind spot that allows them to enter."


    "Then why haven''t you used it yet?"


    "It''s part of the enemy''s n. How far have they infiltrated our ranks? Do they know of the Invoking? Do they know of the secret of the Kraken?"


    "You want to lure everyone here first?"


    "Yes. That way, we can kill them and the nations that are taking advantage of our momentary defeat."


    "What do we do for now?"


    "Our jobs as protectors. What are the techs they have?"


    "Super-human tech. It was as if he had no weapons or metals around him. Perhaps it''s simr to those Dawn Soldiers. They appeared to have the ability to heat up their bodies. It''s like their mutants with superpowers."


    "Oh? Then they''re only at that level."


    "I don''t know. That enemy I had was able to redirect and fool my own attacks back at me."


    "Then it might be that they have cybeically enhanced perceptions."


    "If it is that, then they have something that can surpass my sensors. I couldn''t see any such technology in that person''s body."


    "Alright. Send the report. For now, we have to take this seriously. Use your Invoking."


    "I was about to suggest that. With this, we wouldn''t need your Invoking. If I use my Invoking, wouldn''t it be almost impossible for these traitors to use the Kraken against us?"


    "Not unless you are that traitor." The Empress answered stoically.


    A great sense of dread rushed over the Emperor. They did not use videomunication, so he didn''t know what the expression of the Empress was.


    "I would never¡­"


    "I didn''t mean that. What if they have a way of high-jacking your Invoking?"


    We''ll reserve your invoking forter."


    "Our first priority is to get rid of the intruders inside the base. I''ve already ordered some to review the CCTV feeds inside of the Kraken. They should be able to pinpoint where those intruders are. Once youplete the summoning, take half and eliminate the threats outside the base while the other half kills those inside the base."


    "Alright." The Emperor had a stern expression.


    The World Governing Powers had several influential individuals. Thetter were trained since childhood to be capable of having the skills to man and use the various technologies of the world. They called these soldiers as the Elites of the World. Each Elite is trained to the extreme. These Elites secretly shed with the various task force and secret services all over the world and had always been on the winning sight. Yet their powers and capabilities couldn''t even match one-fifth of what an Emperor could do.


    The Emperor''s privilege, known as the Invoking, allows them to ess the most advanced technology known to man.


    "I invoke my right as an Emperor of the World. I beseech the Kingdom to heed my request." The voice the Emperor rang out as the Rule that he sat on started to glow with a strange hue.


    Aurora started to appear on the dark stormy skies above them.


    Gardo saw it from a distance and could not help but sigh.


    "An Emperor''s Invoking. They are that serious in trying to kill us." Gardoughed.


    Cliff, who had heard of Gardo''s description before the attack, also gripped his fist. Who knew what horrors awaited them?


    The aurora that appeared over them wasn''t a natural one. As the Origin science of the WGP improved, they had created means ofmunicating that simply bypassed and was unhindered by any forms of distortion. No science could block or hinder when the WGP used their unworldly technology to its fullest.


    An Invoking had happened several times in history. When various covert countries teamed up and tried to attack the Elites that guarded the metal discovered in the arctic regions, several Elites were killed. The Emperor, who was their leader, became so angry that it used an Invoking.


    The world soon knew of its power.


    Call of Chimera was the weapon that became the world''s grim reminder of who the world''s emperors are. From then on, no organization or government dared to trifle with the WGP.


    The aurora quickly moved around the world, garnering the attention of many. It appeared all across the globe. The science of Origin power was not something contained or kept in one building or facility. It was allowed to roam the world. And so, at the Invoking, various skies turned transformed and created the fantastic scene before them.


    Cities around the world noticed it and were shocked at the sight of the growing brightness that lit up the sky.


    Over the Kraken, the once dark clouds were now bright with lights. Several figures could be discerned at the sky as various aircrafts hovered over the area.


    The Kraken roared with life as it began to attack the crafts that were approaching. The Origin power that came from the aurora brought life to the dormant state of the and various defense mechanisms and scanners that couldn''t function functioned once more.


    The aurora started to gather around the Rule of the Emperor.


    "Call of Automaton!"


    The aurora that waspressing on the Rule exploded spread enveloped the Kraken.


    Cliff and Gardo stopped at the aurora that fell around them. Strangely enough, the Kraken''s metal absorbed the aurora, and the once ck steel that where Cliff and Gardo stood now had a strange glow.


    The turrets, mortars, and other weapons that were shooting up suddenly moved and aimed at where Cliff and Gardo''s team were standing.


    Several rockets that were racing towards the sky suddenly arced about and were headed towards Cliff and Gardo''s location.


    "What the!? It found us?!" The man Gardo called Archie panicked.


    "Not just us. Even the guests wanting to enter this party are all detected. The aurora is giving us away." Gardo frowned.


    "So, this is the power of Origin force." Cliff gazed at theing volleys of rockets.


    "Forget the Oveers. The WGP alone can already kill us." Cliff sighed.


    The Krakenunched various attacks and shot down multiple ships and aircraft.


    Even the ships and nes that were out of the agreed borders of the Kraken were also targeted.


    Variousws and limitations were made to ensure that the Kraken cannot interfere with the affairs of the nations around them. Of course, the countries cannot freely enter and exit the borders around the Kraken. But the WGP had long warned the world that the limits would double in size in times of war. Anyone or anything within those borders will be attacked immediately. It would no longer leave anyone alive and would aim to kill all.


    The Origin power magnified and capabilities of the Kraken.


    "Release the Kraken!" The Emperorughed wildly as hemanded the Kraken tounch its wild attacks.

 Chapter 194 - Catastrophe And Technology

    Right after infiltrating the Kraken, Tyler and his team met such great luck.


    Three pilots have yet to board their Exoskeletons and got killed.


    Exoskeletons and used their fingerprints to turn their respective suits on. They were able to acquire three Exoskeletons. Tyler, Stanley, and Roselyn wore the Exoskeletons.


    Using those Exoskeletons, Tyler kept attacking the various CCTV cameras through its blind spots. No one paid heed to the disappearing CCTV''s inside the Kraken as everyone maintained the focus and energy on the ongoing battle outside. Several


    Exoskeletons had already lost their lives.


    While Tyler, Roselyn, and Stanley would use the Exoskeleton''s they boarded to full or distract anybody they met, the rest would silently try to kill them.


    Dara had aplicated expression. She had just witnessed Tyler and the other soldiers pluck off the fingers from their enemies to activate the Exoskeleton. Later they were forced to silence a group of seven soldiers. They swiftly executed them through whatever means they could.


    Dara chose the most peaceful way. He choked the person until he died.


    She looked at the rest of the Covenant, who also had a strange expression. Warfreakz, who assisted Lowengren, already had their fair share of killing people. Surprisingly, Stanley had the highest kill counts as he was the one who usually controlled the missiles during the Australian Avarice.


    Using thepass, they quickly approached the room where their suits and weapons were stored. The explosions and gunshots urged them to move faster. Very quickly, they managed to locate the room.


    The designs of the weapons the WGP acquired from the New Great Britain ship were considered weak and obsolete. The WGP thought the threat level of these weapons to be low tiered since it did not have any advance detection, auto-evasive, and even scanning techs installed on them.


    As such, these weapons were just stored away without any worries. The room didn''t even have any crucial clearance. Using the Exoskeletons that they procured, the group managed to bypass the room''s security and open the doors.


    It was there that a powerful explosion resounded, and the lights inside the Kraken turned off.


    "Titan deployed it..." Dara spoke nervously.


    "Rx. He''ll be alright. The timing is perfect. Roselyn. Stanley. How are your suits?"


    "It''s alright. Most scanners and auto-aim technology are all distorted. But it''s not like we need it anyway." Roselyn scoffed.


    The emergency lights turned on. The room had a faint red light that glowed around. It was enough for everyone to perceive clearly.


    "Before we begin¡­" Tyler began as he gazed on the Covenant.


    "The shock of killing¡­ The guilt and the pain¡­ I know that you''ve had training and had already killed people. But those were criminals and so on. Now you are facing descent soldiers who are just trying to live out their lives here. The guilt can eat you up. But you are soldiers. You do your job. It''s nothing personal. We are just on opposing sides in this spectrum. I know our leaders aren''t exactly what you would describe as sympathetic. But the horrors that await us all is far more terrifying. Just remember. Even our leaders died in that future. There is no other way to resolve this." Tyler exined as he locked eyes to the Covenant.


    Dara, John, and Danny looked at each other.


    "How did you guys get over it?" Dara asked Roselyn.


    "Simple. Our boss lied to us. We believe that lie. Treat it like you''ve always had. This is just one big game." Roselyn gave Dara a rare encouragement.


    It was then that they heard several rumbling sounds in the distance.


    "Alright. We continue with our ns. Be careful, guys. If youe into contact with anyone you believe to be an Aragarian or an Oveer, run away." Tyler gave hisstmands.


    The soldiers and the drug dealers went one direction, the Covenant the other while Roselyn and Stanley moved on their separate ways. Strangely, Roselyn and Stanley did not abandon the Exoskeletons they acquired. Instead, they wore a light suit that could barely be considered as armor, and after equipping it, they rode the defective Exoskeleton again.


    It was at that moment that the Invoking began.


    The explosion of aurora coated the Kraken, and it once more roared to life. The weapon system was enabled, and the Kraken used all of its arsenals. All the cannons were activated and began shooting. But what shocked the attention of the many invaders was the appearance of a powerful ss Seven Force Field. The shield enveloped the entire area around the Kraken. It had the same colors as the Aurora and looked like a fantastic aurora emerald right in the middle of the sea. It now required a tremendous force to infiltrate the Kraken.


    The dying Kraken, which had a lot of damaged parts due to the specialized EMP bomb, was now alive.


    The force field made the entire ship a glowing pearl in the middle of the dark seas.


    "There it is! Origin power! Beautiful!" Grant Hermesughed as they freefell from the sky. He gazed in awe at the Kraken.


    "Sir! Mind dealing with the enemies?!" Austin cursed angrily as several lights exploded from the inside of the Kraken. These were the attacks that the Kraken now did as it detected all enemies around it.


    "Beautiful, isn''t it? Because Origin power is released, even we have been detected! A conscious form of aura that brings life to the inanimate! Look! It''s giving the energy that the Krakencks! This has been their works ever since the Third World War! Who would have believed that Origin Power is all around us! If they activate it, they can control the world itself!" Grantughed continuously.


    The Kraken''s attack could now be seen leaving the force fields. Bright lights and sma balls could be seen being shot out on all sides of the Kraken.


    "How will you go inside, my peers? How will you conquer this monster?!" Hermesughed as if insane.


    The awakened Kraken had initiated its war protocol. Aided by the aurora, the scope and reach of the Kraken almost doubled.


    "SIR!" Austin cried in panic.


    "Rx. Such random and chaotic attacks won''t hurt us." Grantughed.


    The wind suddenly blew harder on them. Their suits were designed to capture the wind and carry them. And so, they were quickly moved by the wind.


    As they dove nearer and nearer, and as the rain of attacks drew nearer, Grant could finally make out the source of the Origin.


    "Which call is it, father?" Irvana asked.


    "Call of Automaton." Grant smiled excitedly.


    "Automaton? So I finally get to see these Golems you keep mentioning."


    "A weaker form. The Emperor will be using the Origin around the air. I''m sure somewhere within the Kraken are devices that could not be powered by any energy. Origin Energy would be the only way to awaken it. The Elites will enve it. I wonder how many Elites we would face down there?"


    "Sir! Enough with the crazy monologue!" Austin shouted in fear.


    "Rx, Austin! We''re in a freakin typhoon! This is practically making the boss a wind god!" Alvinughed.


    The strong winds of the storm started to move towards Grant Hermes and his team. The wind whirled and howled wildly as the speed of the wind increased.


    An impossible scene appeared.


    A tornado was forming from the high skies, and a cloud funnel suddenly emerged as the winds blew and blew. The wind raged and raged, and when the attacks were nearing them, it was all thrown in disarray.


    None of the attacks could hit the team as it would be sucked in from the tornado.


    The Emperors saw it and was stunned.


    "What technology is that? New Great Britain?" The Empress angrily questioned.


    "Impossible! By our estimates, it would take them nearly a hundred years to be capable of controlling the weather to that extent!" The Emperor replied.


    "Attack it with detonating rockets! I want that tornado gone before it hits that force field!" The Empress ordered.


    "The Guardians need more time! I''ll st that damned thing from the sky!" The Emperor howled as the aurora around it started the glow into a bright light.


    Hermes noticed it and scoffed.


    "That''s some scary attack. But in this storm, I am a Catastrophe! Time to go all out!" Hermesughed as he started to push his palms against each other.


    "An F4! Boss is going to use an F4!" Austin was scared.


    "I haven''t even seen him use an F3!" Alvinughed excitedly.


    Right before the charging power of the Emperor was released, the tornado around Hermes started to take shape. It was a powerful and thick tornado. The wind around it howled loudly. The clouds of the storm adjusted itself and were moving to make this tornado the center of it all.


    "Die!" The Emperor shouted as he released a thick and brightser attack. The entire beam was as thick as the rule itself, and it rushed towards the tornado.


    As the beam struck the tornado, the energy was dispersed at the strong winds as it scattered and moved uncontrobly due to the force that the winds pushed it to.


    "What?!" The Emperor shouted as he watched is an entire attack being quickly scattered around them.


    The Kraken focused its attack on theing tornado. But it was useless.


    The barrage of bullets and rockets would pass through the wind but never hit the humans right in the middle of the storm. The strong winds didn''t even allow the missiles to explode as the wind would carry the rocket on a different direction making the team in the middle safe from the explosions.


    As the group approached the Kraken, the wind that was blowing chaotically around them started to explode in a single direction. The whirling tornado''s tail was seen as it stung the force field of the Kraken.


    BOOM!


    The vibration could be felt everywhere as the wind fought and tried to prate the force field. The surrounding aurora gathered around the force field and was actually aiding it to recover.


    The concentrated tail of the tornado was resilient and continued to push itself and pierce the force field.


    Due to the reactions of the energy of the force field reacting, the turrets and mortars directly under the storm ceased its attacks as it would hit the force field. The weapons further out continued to attack it but the body of the tornado, but it was useless. Several explosions were now happening as the soldiers manually detonated the rockets. Even though the upper portion of the tornado was slowly weakening as explosions rocked it, the tail continued to battle as it kept gathering the stormy winds around it.


    It was a miraculous scene. A tornado battled against the greenish pearl in the middle of a dark, stormy ocean.


    Cliff and Gardo gazed at the ongoing battle on the skies. Gardo''s team was so shocked that they stopped.


    "Ge-General¡­??? Titan called out to Cliff.


    "Oh, boy. I hope Seeker sees this. He really needs to get us out of here." Cliff didn''t know what to feel.


    Gardo gulped.


    "So¡­ So¡­ that''s an Oveer, huh?" Gardo asked sheepishly.


    Cliff looked at it and simply sighed.


    "Yes. A real one. And that''s not a Near Oveer. Seeker either lied to me or underestimated this Oveer." Cliff exined calmly.


    "We''re¡­ going to die, aren''t we?"


    "That''s probably right." Cliff agreed.


    Catastrophe and technology battled against each other.


    Visible cracks were appearing on the force field, yet the aurora around it continued to restore the deteriorating force field.


    At that time, several aircraft suddenlyunched their counter-attacks, shooting attacks on various ces of the Kraken.


    The Anti-air technology came to life and shot down the many iing rockets. Nevertheless, the barrage of bullets andser attacks rained down on the Kraken.


    In the center of the vortex, Hermes and his team were floating as the air around them continued to maintain a constant force.


    "Boss, it looks like our other friends who want to crash this party decided to go all out."


    "They were already detected. No use in ying the innocent card." Grant Hermesughed.


    "Sir! We have to get out of here! It would be dangerous to continue trying to prate the force field!" Austin dered.


    "Of course, it''s dangerous. That''s why I made Alvin program the ne to follow this ping." Hermes revealed a small device that was blinking red.


    "What? What''s that?"


    The ne maintained a certain altitude. Alvin made the ne do several turns, and soon, Grant activated the small device. The aircraft began to descend and was headed right for the device.


    It pierced through the stormy clouds and finally appeared on the far end of the tornado''s funnel.


    Austin could make out the lights from the other end of the tornado and knew that it wasing.


    Austin was shivering in fear. He wanted toin. He wanted to curse or cry out. But he held it in. It would have been insulting to the boss if he still showed fear at this moment.


    Unlike Austin, the rest of the team continued to look at the force field, ignoring the approaching ne behind them.


    The ne was spinning as it approached them, and Austin was shaking so much.


    "This ought to crack this tough nut open." Grant Hermesughed as the ne zoomed by them, barely missing everyone.


    BOOM!


    The ne exploded as it crashed on the point where the tornados tail was trying to cut through.


    The explosions created a wide gap allowing the tail of the tornado to pierce onwards. As the wind pierced through, the entire team was immediately sucked in and thrown into the inside of the force field as the tornado instantly vanished. The mes of the explosion blew like a me thrower and disrupted the sensors of the Kraken.


    Grant Hermes and his team were able to infiltrate the Kraken.

 Chapter 195 - Creating A Scout

    Three months before the series of events that led to the Day of Rebellion, one of the most critical meetings in history urred in the Tatsulok Aguinaldo.


    A long table was made ready for them. An array of dishes from Harker''s various restaurant was prepared for them.


    Greydon Meng sat down on one of the seats. He wore a thick coat of armor that hid every inch of his body. The only part uncovered was the jaws of his mouth. The destion he released no longer leaked as long as he wore this. Only Typical among the assassins was present.


    Richie had a very rxed expression. The two stomps of his arms were bandaged up. Despite his extremely gruesome form, he still looked like he was enjoying himself. The dishes in front of him would float on the air as Richie whistled and devoured the dishes around him.


    Lennox appeared perfectly healthy. He ate like a perfect gentleman and would often wipe the smudges on his face.


    Lynd, Meryl, Arthur, and Lowengren also sat among the tables quietly eating.


    Harker didn''t even sit at the table but simply stood at the sidelines.


    "Alright!" Seekerughed as he called out to everyone.


    "It''s been a long journey, but we can finally build up our ns to start our research!" Seekerughed.


    "Shouldn''t Charles be here?"


    "No need. The research that Charles will focus on will still be the Unlocking. This gathering will address one of the other important aspects of how to abuse the Unlocking. I can''t believe that we can actually do this! That increases our chances of surviving the future battles greatly!" Seekerughed excitedly.


    "Is the Tyrant Empress listening on this?" Lennox asked.


    "Of course. She''s listening through a one-way transmitter. I won''t want you guys to go all bananas if you hear her voice." Seekerughed.


    "So¡­ I''m assuming you know what I''m talking about! Arthur. Lennox."


    "You want to create weapons and perhaps soldiers by harnessing our Unlocking," Arthur answered.


    "Exactly! This is one thing that we never had the time do focus on in the future. Most of our resources were poured out on trying to master the Unlocking. But now, not only do we have a Doctor who has be an Unlocked, but we also have you guys. The reason why I wanted to attack Meng was precisely to gather more resources. I knew that if I defeated him, or survived my encounter, apart from getting his science team, I will also draw out Dr. Lennox, here. Although apparently, I didn''t know that the Tyrant Empress was on our tail." Seekerughed.


    Lennox simply shook his head. He already had lectured Seeker on what he missed out in his ns and how reckless and wrong it was.


    "Anyway, I needed advanced research facilities like yours. Harker''s standing after the war will allow him to ess more military funds and, thus, create more research! So right now, we will need to discuss the future development of our armies. How will we proceed with the great abundance of research material we now have?"


    "I don''t understand." Lynd was the first to speak.


    "Wouldn''t it be impossible to weaponize our Paths? I mean, like Meryl. Even if we take her cells and store them, it can''t produce the same light and power that she can. Shouldn''t our cells be interlinked with each other for it to work?"


    "Actually, it has to be linked with the brain. But there are other ways to weaponize it. I''m sure either of the Humphrey''s can shed light on this."


    The group turned to Arthur, while the Oveers turned to Lennox.


    "Son?" Lennox turned to Arthur.


    "Oh, Snap! The family rtionship is restored!" Seeker reacted.


    Arthur gave an annoyed re at Seeker but then turned to the group.


    "The best example we can use is Meryl''s eyesight. We know because of her Path of Light, she can innately see everything. We''ve already done several tests, and Meryl''s eyesight can simply change form and automatically identify various cloaking techs with her vision."


    "I''ve seen those tests. Isn''t it impossible to imitate? Meryl''s DNA kept changing. I''m no scientist, but even I know that Pangea does not have the technology to aplish that. Her eyes just kept changing and changing ording to the situation. How can we copy those? And her eyesight is so peculiar that it can see all spectrums of light, all colors, even radiation!"


    Meryl blushed at Harker''s indirect praise.


    "We don''t need to copy everything that Meryl can do." Arthur calmly exined.


    "We simply copy one specific vision that she has. With my power, I can easily recreate or reverse create it." Lennox added.


    "I already finished the tests. Through that, I determined that we have the basic vision that can detect an SPU-level cloaking technology. The weapons that Lynd''s parents managed to bring to China has greatly aided my research."


    "Where are they?" Richie pondered.


    "Training. They¡­ kind of got a littlepetitive since we surpass them by so much." Lynd sighed.


    "So, we can take certain visions from Meryl and apply it to all our soldiers?" Harker confirmed.


    "Not all. That would take up a lot of time and resources. At most, we should give a soldier a specific kind of vision. If we have soldiers who can acquire one form of Meryl''s many eyesights, we can create specialized soldiers who are Unlocked."


    "Exactly! We didn''t have time to do this in my future as we had to focus on weapons that can be effectively carried by Unlocked soldiers and fight the enemy that was already there. But now, we have the time and the resources to do so. So for the next few months, I propose all our research to be focused on this. We must take small glimpse and pieces of each of our Paths and find a way to apply it to our soldiers biologically."


    "Agreed." Lennox nodded.


    Arthur did so, as well.


    "How long would it take to copy all the sight skills of the scouts in the Piercing series?" Arthur asked his father.


    "That''s very rude. Arthur¡­ That''s your dad." Seeker frowned.


    Arthur red at Seeker, but Lennox merely smirked and continued to wait for Arthur.


    Arthur twitched and finally caved in.


    "Fine. I guess I do owe you an apology for ming you for everything. Father¡­ How long can you copy the Scout''s skills? Are you familiar with it?"


    "Of course, I''m familiar. Unlike you who cut all ties with me, I paid careful attention and even sponsored several of your matches." Lennox smiled coldly.


    Arthur flinched again.


    "Anyways¡­ Father¡­" Arthur emphasized.


    "I want the Covenant to be at full capacity. Anything that we can in-game, they have to be able to do it outside. I believe that warfare will change because of this. I propose to follow the builds that are used in games. Tank, DPS, Agility types, and Scouts. If we can master this, then we can be more effective as a team." Arthur summarized.


    "Won''t this harm or limit the possible Skills or Paths that an Unlocked could create?" Greydon asked.


    "Yes. But it''s better this way. There were only a handful of Ranked Heroes in my future. This is why, unless someone has shown exceptional growth in one area, then we could decide not to apply any of these modifications."


    "Actually, I don''t think it woulde in conflict to their Paths. In fact, it may end up maximizing it. Let''s take the Covenant, for example." Lennox began his speech as he was carefully and gracefully, slicing the steak on his te.


    "They already have faith in whatever skillsets they have. The modification of their bodies will allow them to gain confidence. We might acquire more Believers to that. For example, the modifications that we will be putting on the Covenant''s Scout, Strawberry_Sit-ups."


    "Who?" Richie asked.


    "Titan."


    "Oh, that bucktooth kid I trained with earlier!"


    Harker, Lynd, and Meryl rolled their eyes. It wasn''t training. It was torture.


    "He is an expert in using scouts in the game Piercing: Edge and Piercing: Bullet. I would even say that he''s among the top in terms of technical skills. If he acquires the same skills in real life, he can be a strong soldier and a very valuable asset to our team. Whatever research we can gather from the present Path''s here right now can greatly improve his skills. Even if he doesn''t create a Path or Skill of his own, he could be something simr to a being stronger than an Inhuman but weaker to Ranked Heroes. I believe this is what Seeker intends to create."


    "Arthur truly knows me!" Seekerughed.


    "That''s right. We can create soldiers with specific roles. Not everyone can be a Ranked Hero! So why not make a weaker version of it? Meryl''s eyesight has the basic ability to see through things. We have to prepare a team that can start detecting cloaked enemies. Once we wage war with the SPU or the WGP, this will be a vital technology."


    "This sounds interesting. It will make my Fang''s a lot sharper." Meng added.


    "Then let''s start with the future scouts that we will be making. What do scouts need?" Seeker led.


    "Stealth would be the first. All our future soldiers need to have a training regime that allows them to control the body''s temperature. With an Unlocked body and stamina, that alone can do wonders." Harker gave his input.


    "Very easy to do. The cont liquid can be used in our bodies. All we need is a little training, and that should suffice." Lennox replied.


    "Sight would be the second. Scouts need a moderately great vision. Just like the characters in Piercing. They have to have the sight that can see clearly through darkness and have cloak detecting capabilities. If possible, a skill that can scan technologies that are nearby." Arthur exined.


    "So¡­ He can detect traps?" Lynd was tongue-tied. Arthur just gave the necessary exnation of what skills the Scouts of Piercing had in the game.


    "We have to recreate these game characters. That''s what their best at. Their training has been going on for years. If they can assimte and acquire all the character skills perfectly, I can give my assurance that they will be a force to be reckoned with."


    "So nimble agility and movement speed? The guys in Piercing can scale walls!" Lynd argued.


    "Simple enough. I can easily do that. Of course, when I had control over my sound, I never needed too¡­" Richieughed.


    Everyone was surprised at Richie''s deration.


    "The trick is¡­ to learn how to control every muscle and skin in your body. If every piece of your flesh can move on its own, things like sticking on the walls or ceilings be easy. Of course, they''d need to have a suit that is specifically made for them to have the capability to do so. If you have a slight rubber suit, with an arm that can control every inch of your skin, you can be Spiderman."


    "Is that possible?"


    Richieughed and gazed at Lynd. Suddenly, something shocking appeared as his face gave a distorted change without even moving his mouth or squinting with his eyes.


    Meryl was shocked that she backed away from the table as Richie was right in front of her.


    "Now, that was an example of what I mean. Don''t you know of guys who can move parts of their body that others can''t? Like they could move their ears at will or make one of their eyeballs look right while the other would look left? The thing is people don''t know how to move these muscles because they just don''t know-how. But with Realm Somatotopy and maybe a little help from my vibrations, being able to feel everything should be easy." Richie exined.


    "You''re confident that this will allow them to scale walls without any gears easily?" Arthur asked again.


    "If its smooth and slippery surface, they''d need a little help. Which was why I rmended a rubber-like suit."


    "What about for detection? Do you have anything that can help future soldiers in detection?" Lennox was the one who asked.


    "What my son wants for these scouts of his, is to have a portion of the instincts that you have. If my son is right with regards to your Path, and that you are a prodigy in sensing vibrations and understanding it, then perhaps you can find a way to make others at the very least sensitive to the vibrations you feel."


    "So basically, you are asking me to help you guys create spider-sense?" Richie asked.


    "Yes." Lennox nodded.


    Meryl, Lynd, and Harker had a curious expression of their face.


    Richie was in deep thought.


    "There is a way. But it will take time. Also¡­ You can''t put it in a body like Meng''s. The vibration that Meng''s mortal body has is different. Basically, what I''ll be training a person is to be like a fish who can sense the water as if it was their own body. And if we put it on someone like Meng''s, it''s like putting that on a lion. It''s just notpatible."


    "So you''re the fish, and I''m the lion?" Meng grinned.


    "You wanna go again, oh, Deste One? I''m armless but not harmless." Richieughed.


    "Focus, please." Lennox reprimanded.


    "Unless he''s a trained martial artist, he won''t have any hopes of being able to activate this sensory skill. So if you want to make soldiers like this, you''d have to sacrifice defense and strength." Richie turned to Arthur.


    "Scouts are agility-type. They don''t need to have tensile defenses. If they can detect things like what you described, then we''ll just train them to evade it. Luckily, people like Titan are trained to have the speed to react to that." Arthur answered confidently.


    "Then let''s do it. I''ll make him a tuning fork. It will hurt and make him disoriented for a few weeks. Let''s give your Scout a chance." Richieughed as he agreed to build their Scout.


    Months passed, and the sess was finally made evident in Titan Turk Tristle. He was the first full-fledged Scout that could match Piercing Arrow.


    Moving back to the time when Hermes finally entered the Kraken¡­


    ...


    Titan''s senses never dropped. He used his senses to observe and warn the team to hide if ever any Exoskeleton would approach. As he felt the strong winds ravage around him, a chilling sensation gripped his spine.


    "We can''t stay here. We''ll die if we don''t leave.. That Hermes¡­ He did something¡­" Titan quickly alerted Cliff.

 Chapter 196 - The Wind And The Arrow

    The powerful wind broke through and pushed as if there was a change in the air pressure creating the strong pration of the wind. The Kraken had calmed down when the force field was deployed as it blocked the wind itself. But now, the wind of Hermes pushed inside and created a strange wind field around them.


    "How arrogant!" The Emperor roared angrily.


    "Don''t do anything yet. Let them have their fun."


    The Emperor contained his anger and relented to making a devastating attack.


    "The others will soon find ways as the battle inside will be more and more chaotic. Once they''re all gathered, I''ll Invoke it. The world will once more remember why we are called Emperors!" The Empress dered.


    A twister of air madendfall on the surface of the Kraken. The twister started to growrger andrger. Right in the center of the twister stood six figures.


    "Let''s get this party started! Four Winds! Move!" Hermes ordered.


    The four men suddenly jumped and were suddenly flying at incredible speeds.


    Four figures shot out of the tornado and zoomed around the Kraken.


    Several unprepared Exoskeletons perished as the figures zoomed nearby. And a barrage of strange bullets was shot out as the four held small equipment on their arms. A strange cutting sound was heard as several needle-like objects pierced and struck the small visors of the Exoskeletons.


    The pilots died and fell down.


    The four continued to move with amazing speed.


    An Armor immediately unloaded a barrage, but the four moved in an extremely strange manner.


    One of them suddenly slowed down and immediately moved at an extremely fast speed towards the other direction.


    One of the Exoskeletons tried to ram one of the figures, but a silver light could be seen, and the Exoskeleton was sliced in half.


    The Armor kept shooting, but the four figures approached the Armor through a blindside. The vision and monitors of the Armor were suddenly attacked, leaving the Armor blind.


    The other soldiers suddenly began chasing and attacking the flying figures. As they moved, some were suddenly struck with a powerful wind that hindered their movements. Others were blown further as the wind would push them faster on the direction they were going.


    The four were vastly outnumbered. But the number of enemies they had was dwindling.


    "Go! Irvana¡­ Find me that Seed!" Hermes ordered.


    "As you order, Father." Irvana disappeared in in sight.


    "Now for the Rule." Hermes smirked. The tornado gathered near him, and he sprung up and moved towards the direction where the two Rules were. The tornado moved along him as it became his very feet. His movements were extremely erratic, and none of the turrets, Exoskeletons, and Armors could hit the moving man.


    "Oh? He wants to deal with us personally?" The Emperor was surprised.


    "It''s a diversion. You handle him. I''ll leave my Rule to you."


    "You''re stepping out??? The Emperor was stunned.


    "I''m stronger out of this Rule anyway. I''ll deal with the rats." The Empress left the Rule immediately. The Rule opened out, and an appearance that looked like arge throne could be seen. The Empress stepped out. Almost immediately, she disappeared.


    "Be careful, Irvana. I can''t see through the WGP''s cloak." Hermes whispered as he charged onwards to face the Rule.


    On the tform where the EMP exploded out, Cliff and Gardo stared in shock at the battle going on.


    The air channels reached their area.


    Cliff could feel the air thinning. It was slowly getting harder to breathe.


    Cliff observed several Exoskeletons that were fighting. Sure enough, some of them were falling down. He immediately turned to Titan.


    "What''s happening?"


    Titan was the first to sense it.


    The hair follicles of his skin could sense it. After being tuned by Richie''s sound and undergoing various painful experiments, the smallest movements in the air could alert Titan. Their rubber suits had already allowed the air to easily go inside them. And with the movements urring on air, Titan could sense it.


    His sensing was weaker than the power, uracy, and detail of Realm Somatotopy. But in terms of reach, it was bigger than what Cliff or even Seeker could master.


    "General! Something strange is happening in the area around us! I can feel the wind nearby blowing on a very concentrated direction. It''s as if¡­ there''s a channel of air moving. You can sense one nearby! Use your Realm and sense there!" Titan alerted as he pointed to an empty spot over their heads.


    "I can feel it. What a disgusting ability. He''s creating a roller coaster of air channels!" Cliff used his Realm to sense the changes nearby.


    The air channels had extremely strong winds that went more than 200 kilometers per hour. The friction and resistance made the movements of the Exoskeletons and Armors more difficult.


    The Exoskeletons and soldiers were emerging from the Kraken as the battle between the WGP and Grant Hermes began.


    Explosions and gunshots echoed as the battle began.


    Cliff recalled the details of who Grant Hermes was when he was talking with Seeker that night.


    ---


    Cliff had just had a wonderful talk with Charm Novelty-stoise, but then, Seeker''s call and immediate orders horrified him. As the two talked about who they might fight, Cliff had already made his preparations for the fight.


    "Can you at least tell me of the Oveer''s that you''re sure to be going there?"


    "I don''t want to. It would be more detrimental to you. I don''t know how strong or weak he is. I messed up with my estimates with Meng. I didn''t know that that damned gem allowed him to ovee his heart demons. Now, with all that''s been going on in the world, they might be preparing for war. So they could be stronger than they really were in my past''s present." Seeker remained adamant.


    "Then tell me his general Path, skills, and so on."


    "Hermes is the direct opposite of two Oveers. He is the direct opposite of Lennox because he doesn''t usually n. He ys it all by ear. And he is more powerful doing that than actually making up a n. Lennox has his thousand thoughts that can formte the best n. Why did you think we survived the Tyrant Empress? Truth be told, the most important key of that battle was Lennox. And that''s considering Lennox was already waring with himself. Some of his thoughts were surely taken through lust. So my suggestion, consider facing this guy as someone who can match Lennox."


    "Why don''t you just kill me?" Cliff asked with an irritated expression.


    Seekerughed.


    "Come on, Cliffy¡­ You''re almost at the Ranked Hero level! Don''t stop here!" Seeker chided.


    "You said two¡­ Who''s the other pr opposite?"


    "The Lone Wolf. Richie. Richie is the perfect Lone Wolf among Oveers. He never had a team in my timeline. Probably now he ns to build it, and this will be interesting. But Richie can fight an army all by himself. But Grant isn''t. He never fights alone. Meng might do it. Lennox might if things go haywire. But not Grant. He always has his four swords with him. To him, being an Oveer is not being an individual, it''s a unit. He is an Oveer, but it''s because he relies on others is what makes him strong. He is an Oveer who has underlings that he trusts with his life."


    "Great. Not only is he capable of matching Lennox, but he also has a team. And by the sounds of it, these are all Ranked Heroes? I thought you said I was only going to face one Oveer and one Ranked Hero!"


    "That''s what I said. Don''t you get it? Those four aren''t Ranked Heroes. They were simply at the peak of Inhuman. They need Hermes to be that strong. And Hermes was using them."


    Cliff wanted to beat Seeker, but he knew it was an impossible dream. Still, he couldn''t help but fantasize smashing Seeker''s casual face on the table before them.


    "I can leak emotions, and I can absorb them. I feel like you''ve been smashing my head on the table." Seeker grinned.


    "So he''s not the only one I need to worry about? I take him out, or any members of his team, he''d be greatly weakened?"


    "No. Right up to the moment I died, Hermes still had all four members. As I said, he and those four is the Oveer. If you manage to kill one, then yes, he''d be weakened, but in another sense, you''ve basically killed the Oveer. Can you kill an Oveer?" Seeker asked.


    "Then tell me about his team. So I know what to look out for."


    "I''ve met and talked with two. Austin. A coward, if I had to describe him in one word. He is the only strategist that I know of that can survive and adapt in the random and almost chaotic improvisation of Grant. Then there''s the main sword of Hermes. Omricon. He''s the strongest and is the only one who uses a sword. Alvin is the ranged expert. We''ll they all are, but he''s the guy that can shoot through and hit the target despite the chaos that Hermes makes. As for Omega, try not to calcte or anticipate his moves. He''s as random as his boss."


    "What about Irvana? I thought she was one of them."


    "She is¡­ But the Tyrant Empress got Hermes in my timeline. She was the only one sane enough to flee from her and withstand the lust. But I can imagine what it would be like if she remained with the three of them. As for the Thief in the Night, I''m almost sure that her Path wouldn''t have reached Perfect Cloak."


    "There you go again. Will it really be that urate? What''s the basis of your ims?"


    "If she had already achieved Perfect Cloak by now, she''d be an Oveer."


    Cliff was silent. But he agreed with Seeker''s assessment.


    "Regardless, if that Ranked Hero joins forces with him¡­ What can my Realm do? I can''t keep on using Realm! I''d be out of energy before the fight begins!" Cliff argued.


    "Who says that you would deal with that? Your best bet is to use our Scout. If they appear before you guys get your weapons, don''t fight them. Titan has to get you guys out of there. It will take all of you to deal with the Three Winds and the Thief in the Night. But I''m sure you guys can easily escape them." Seeker reminded.


    "That bucktooth kid doesn''t look like the reliable type!"


    "Don''t underestimate gamers. The pressure he''s been exposed to, definitely eclipse yours."


    ¡­


    Cliff recalled all this and turned to Titan to give his orders.


    "Titan. Lead us out of here! We can''t sh with them yet! At least not without our gears! And Gardo''s not enough to face all of them! We have to meet Tyler to get your suits!" Cliff ordered.


    "Is it alright if we get detected? Their thermal detectors can detect the weapons Gardo''s team brought."


    "We can''t! In this scenario, the Emperors haven''t forgotten about us yet! They''ll be looking for at the deaths of their soldiers! We can''t get seen! And you can''t kill the enemy directly!" Cliff demanded.


    Gardo barely caught on what Cliff said as he was a bitte in matching the speed of Cliff.


    "We can''t be seen, and he can''t kill? That''s too much."


    "It isn''t too much. It''s what we need to do!" Cliff answered again.


    Titan hesitated.


    "Here." Cliff handed his sword over to Titan. It was the same sword that Arthur used during the Australian Avarice. It was a weapon made of ss.


    "I know this will be the first time you''ll kill people who aren''t criminals. But you have to get us out of here. If we stay and fight Hermes or get detected by the WGP, we will die. This is your advent, Scout!" Cliff gripped Titan''s hand as he ced the sword handle on Cliff''s hand.


    Titan stared nkly for almost a split second and then immediately took the sword.


    "Keep a distance of at least 20 meters from me. Let''s go." Titanmanded as he ran ahead. The group followed and maintained the distance that Titan said.


    Several Exoskeletons were flying towards their direction.


    The team had no structures to which they can hide nearby. They had to carefully follow Titan route, or they would be in the middle of the air currents that were moving around the Kraken.


    As the Exoskeleton was flying towards them, Titan knew where their suits were looking at. Despite the darkness around them, he could see where his enemies were looking at. This was one of the basic requirements that Scouts had to have in Piercing. Scouts also went by several titles in the game. Some called them ninjas because they had to have the skill to avoid detection or avoid being seen by the enemy. Some preferred assassins. Titan was widely known for being the best of thetter title. He could take advantage of the views of his enemy and approach someone and kill them with a silent arrow.


    But of all his abilities, Strawberry_Situps was widely known for one of his most annoying skills. He was the only one who managed to learn it in the Covenant. Arthur could calcte it, but back then, his speed wasn''t fast enough to react. Titan, however, could do it.


    One of the Exoskeletons gazed down. On that precise moment, he saw a thermal heat suddenly appearing out of thin air.


    The shocked pilot raised his arms to shoot the foe, but suddenly, a stabbing pain struck his right shoulder.


    The time the stab urred, was the precise time he pulled the trigger. The pain on his shoulder forced him to shift the direction of his aim.


    The rattling of the Exoskeletons Gatling-gun resounded. The Exoskeleton shot hispanion right on the head, killing the other pilot instantly.


    Strawberry_Situps had the fewest kills within the Covenant. But if people count the enemy deaths indirectly caused by Strawberry_Situps, he would have the third-highest kill count within the Covenant. Only Danny and Arthur surpassed Titan. Killing his opponents through friendly fire, only this scout had been consistent and capable in doing this.


    "y?! What are you doing?!" The other pilots shouted in shock as they aimed their weapons at the soldier who just shot their teammate.


    The soldier known as y fell to the ground. The sword was immediately retrieved by Titan.


    "Wait! Don''t shoot! I saw something! It attacked me!" y managed to call out immediately.


    His wearypanions looked around while continuing to aim at y.


    Titan used the nearby structure to run up several stories. He then kicked and jumped towards one of the Exoskeletons hovering at the back. And right before he was near it, Titan caused his temperature to rise.


    The sudden appearance of a rising temperature caused panic to the Exoskeleton and immediately raised his arms to shoot.


    Using the sword again, Titan stabbed the shoulder of the Exoskeleton.


    The pilot began to shoot. Titan had already caused his temperature to drop once again and stabbed the extended forearm of the Exoskeleton.


    "Ahhh!" A pained cry was heard. The pain on his arm caused him to tightly hold down the pressed trigger. The de stabbed through his muscles, disabling him from letting go of the trigger.


    "This is better." Titan thought to himself as he moved the arm of the Exoskeleton. With his free control, he can easily cause more friendly fire.


    Two other soldiers died at the sudden barrage of this hovering Exoskeleton.


    Right before anyone could shoot the apparently traitorous Exoskeleton, Titan had jumped off him and shouted at a different frequency to alert Cliff, who then followed. The exploding gunshots masked his shout, and only Cliff heard it.


    "Traitors! I repeat! Traitors are among us!" the Exoskeleton that questioned y ordered as he brutally unloaded a barrage of bullets to his former ally.


    The Exoskeletons immediately moved away from each other and were wary of each other. It was then that the wind currents reached them. Several heat signatures could be seen moving at a fast speed and began to shoot at them.


    Themotion and the battle allowed Titan to lead Cliff and Gardo''s team without being detected.


    Gardo was amazed at Titan''s skill.


    Cliff was delighted.


    "Seeker''s right.. I DID underestimate these gamers! Let''s go! Strawberry_Situps has logged in! Piercing Arrow has joined the fray!" Cliffugh as he imitated the iconic alert that appeared when a yer joined a room in the Piercing games.

 Chapter 197 - Traitors In The Kraken

    Deep inside the centralmand room of the Kraken, various voices could be heard screaming orders angrily.


    "Sir! We''ve detected more dead soldiers on the Western tforms!"


    "Another report of a traitor on Delta squad!"


    "Where are the Elites? How long are they arriving?"


    "Our request for reinforcements was denied, Sir! No Elites will be sent!"


    "What?!" The Commander shouted angrily.


    "I need that report!" Anothermander demanded on the other side of the room.


    "Sir! Lieutenant has not returned any updates, Sir! They are still looking for the enemy!"


    Themand room in the Kraken had a veryplicatedmand chain. Each Commander took the initiative to take control of a specific aspect of the battle. Thesemanders would train, fight against, and would often conduct missions together. Such arrangements allowed them to maximize and anticipate each other''s actions and carry on with their respectivemands that would also aid and make the tasks of the others more efficient.


    But in the chaotic battle, they had more problems than solutions.


    The Admiral continued to remain silent.


    "Traitor? Do the Emperors think that I am betraying them?" The Admiral frowned. He continued to monitor the various responses that the WGP had in their request. They were not aware that two Rules hid on the battlefield and was the most surprising to see them. And with the Call of Automaton, the Admiral made this deadly conclusion.


    "Admiral! One of the Emperors is on the move! The Rule opened up. We assumed that the Emperor left behind. Still no word from them? Our requests were denied! No Elites would be sent as three Rules are here. Where is the other Emperor?"


    "Stop asking those questions if you don''t want to get killed." The Admiral responded coldly.


    "Sir?" The Commander was confused.


    "I didn''t want to assume this, but the truth is evident. I think they believe we are betraying them."


    "What?!" Several eximed cries were heard as more Commanders approached.


    "We need to identify who these traitors are on the ship. Give me afull background check on those two confirmed to be dead. I need you to check their data for those Exoskeletons that have been reported to be betraying us."


    "Were they really betraying us? Those two who were killed used to serve under my toon. I knew them! They didn''t have any ties or connections to indicate their betrayal!"


    "We have to deal with facts, Commander. Those two shot and killed three Exoskeletons. Thy even aimed for the head. If the other soldiers had not acted fast enough, who knows how many would have gotten killed? This is why our soldiers are failing on the battle above. They are all wary now of who their enemies are."


    It was true. The Commanders had long noticed the disarray on the formations of their soldiers.


    "And right now, the Emperors is being wary and is assuming that someone among our ranks is betraying them. We consider traitors for now. We act drastically. Because if we don''t, we could all die. The Call of Automaton is already taking shape. Do you know why the Golems have not appeared yet? It''s because the Emperors are cautious. The Call should have formed at the Central tform, but we saw nothing. That''s how much they don''t trust this Kraken." The Admiral exined.


    The Commander frowned.


    "Then what is happening? Where did the Call of Automaton happen?"


    "That is not our concern. If we try to raise suspicion by looking where the Call is happening, it will only make them more suspicious. Focus on the battle! Eliminate whatever enemies. We have to ensure that the Kraken does not fall! And order all our soldiers to kill anyone acting suspiciously immediately. Also Commander and all othermanders." The Admiral called out to the rest.


    The Commanders turned and looked at the Admiral.


    "Assume that within the ranks¡­ even Commanders¡­ that one of us will betray each other. I want apartmentalized team, each focusing on specifics tasks and not work against each other." The Admiral ordered.


    "Prep my Armor. I''ll deal with the winds myself."


    "Commander! It''s too dangerous!"


    "If it pleases and calms the Emperors, I must do this. Don''t worry. I didn''t get this position for nothing."


    "If that''s the case allow us-"


    "No. At the very least, one of you is a traitor. But I''m sure it won''t be all of you. If all of you are traitors, then I am doomed to my fate. So, if fewer of you are watching over the Kraken, the more it traitors can act more. All of you stay here. If all of you are the traitors, then I''m doomed to die. At the very least, I will redeem myself to the Emperors." The Admiral then moved.


    The battle was bing more and more lively. The turrets on several tforms could not shoot and aim properly with the strong winds blowing over them. The armies of the Kraken continued to fight a losing battle.


    The Four Winds of Hermes continued to ride the roller-coaster of winds. They would fly by riding an air channel and use it to propel themselves. Their flight would arc, swirl, and even rise at dramatic moments. The Four Winds would jump from one air channel to another, making their movements extremely random.


    The Armors and Exoskeletons could not catch up with the fast movements of the group. The coordination of these four individuals was top notched. The enemies would receive coordinated attacks.


    "Tell all soldiers to shield their eyes! They are aiming for their visors!" One of themanders alerted as it continued to analyze the battle.


    The feeds were chaotic as what the cameras mounted on the Exoskeletons were showing nothing but confusion. The movement of the four enemies could be barely caught on their cameras. The four never moved in a straight manner. It was full of twists and turns and would even move backward suddenly.


    Inside the air channel, a mysterious thing was happening. Their very words continued to reach each other as they fought.


    The mysterious wind of Hermes had a strange small line of tightly packed air molecules. This was the channel ofmunication that pushed and helped the sound travel within the air channels.


    Everyone could hear each other almost immediately.


    "Alvin. Take the north side. There''s a group of Exoskeletons there. It looks like they''re up to something fishy. Omricon, wait for my signal. Don''t show signs of cutting an Exoskeleton just yet. Wait for my signal. Omega, create more chaos on the top. I want them to gather right around the center. And be careful! Somethings not right. The Golems have not appeared yet." Austin gave his orders.


    Alvin then started to move swiftly and aimed for the Exoskeletons that Austin mentioned.


    He began shooting, but the Exoskeletons were now covering their armor.


    "Tsk. Might have to shoot the bigger guns." Alvinughed.


    Suddenly, the Exoskeleton behind the group started to shoot at the heads of the Exoskeleton.


    "Don''t attack! It''s me!" A woman called out as she shot the Exoskeletons nearby.


    The sudden attack created more panic.


    "The traitors here! He''s in league with the enemy!" The Exoskeleton reported before getting killed.


    The Exoskeleton attacked precisely and immediately killed three of the eight before retreating.


    The confused Alvin didn''t know what to do and headed to the next set of enemies.


    "Erm¡­ Austin? They have traitors among them."


    "Traitors?" Austin was dumbstruck.


    Irvana? You aren''t in some Exoskeleton now, right?" Austin asked.


    "What are you talking about? I''m about to exit our wind tunnels. Whoever it is, it''s not me. I''m out. Talk to youter." Irvana''s voice disappeared.


    "Um? Boss? If you''re not too busy?"


    "Don''t get fooled. Alvin. Try to capture that Exoskeleton if you can. It looks like there''s something else going on here. Capture not kill." Grant gave his orders.


    As Grant fought and evaded the sts of two Rules, he suddenly enveloped the wind around him to throw him upwards near the borders of the force field. Grant Hermes then began to fly around the Kraken while sending several tornadoes towards the Rules.


    "Listen up, guys. Whoever that guy was, he simply pretended to be our ally. They''re making it look like that they are part of our team. The WGP will then me us for this treachery after this battle."


    "Sounds great! That means we''ve got allies on this mission."


    "Wrong. The WGP isn''t our enemy. Remember why we are here. We just want to take the seeds. If anything, those guys are using the Progenitors wind seed to lure me out here and pin the me on me! They are the real enemy. If we don''t'' y this out well, we will get med for solely initiating the attack. Who knows? The enemy will reveal our identities to the WGP, and the WGP might end up attacking Canada."


    The Four Winds grew angry.


    "What do we do, Boss? We can''t let them push the me on us!" Omega answered worriedly.


    "It''s simple. We''ll tell them what''s up. We gift the WGP one of their traitors for questioning." Hermesughed.


    "So we''ll have to capture soldiers?" Austin confirmed.


    "Alright. You heard the Boss. We need to capture-"


    "Got one." Omricon replied as he stabbed his sword out and struck the area around the shoulder of a pilot.


    "AHHH!" A pained cry was heard.


    Omricon brought this soldier inside the wind tunnels as he swept his sword. Almost instantly, Omricon pulled back the sword and stabbed right the neck of the Exoskeleton. The de pierced at the right side of the neck, barely piercing through the pilot. Blood dripped at his right side as the de grazed over his shoulder.


    "You move, you die." Omricon warned as he observed the smallest possible movements the soldier would do.


    "Help! He''s got me! He''s got me!" The soldier cried in terror.


    "Who got you? Your movements are extremely erratic." A voice questioned.


    "One of the enemy! He''s carrying me off somewhere!"


    "Hey, soldier. I won''t kill you. But tell your superiors, whoever it is that betraying you, they''re making it look like we''re allies."


    The soldier quickly made his report.


    As that was happening, Hermes flew downwards and waved his hands. Three tornadoes formed in an instant. Despite these tornadoes not being linked to the clouds, it maintained the strength and power of a tornado. The sight of the cmities caused the soldiers to retreat. The Rules, however, remained steadfast.


    Hermes dove down and approached the Rule. As he approached closer, the chaotic wind disappeared and surrounded him and the Rule.


    "What a strange mask you''re wearing. I doubt you look like that." The Emperor finally spoke as it observed the skin-tight mask that Grant Hermes was wearing.


    "Of course. We wouldn''t want our real faces to be seen. This simple mask is simply amazing. I can''t tell you how many people I managed to kill easily because of this." Grantughed.


    "Anyway, I''m here to tell you that whoever is trying to betray you, isn''t part of our team. If you could just give me the Wind Progenitor''s seed that you acquired from New Great Britain, we''d be on our merry way."


    "Oh? Is that what you''re after? I find it inconceivable. Why aim for such cryptic information?"


    "I don''t know. Why should I tell you? But if you don''t believe me, give it to me, right here, right now. I''ll take my Four Winds and be out of here. As a show of good faith, I''m making my soldiers retreat." Hermes waved his hand.


    Suddenly, the four soldiers creating a ruckus retreated to the skies.


    "Tell your men to stop shooting. If they still do, I''ll send them in once more."


    The Emperor frowned as he saw the group move.


    "ept his request." The Empress ordered.


    "We need more information. We''ve checked and tested those weapons. Nothing of great importance are among those techs. Give it to him."


    "Alright." The Emperor answered Hermes.


    "Admiral. I want you to retrieve the weapons we''ve acquired from New Great Britain." The Emperor contacted the Admiral. All the other Commanders also received the message from the Emperor.


    The Admiral was just about to depart when he heard this.


    "Commanders." The Admiral immediately inquired.


    "We''re on it, Sir."


    The surrounding soldiers began to ignore the strange wind in the skies and prepared to attack the other enemies.


    "I''m waiting." Hermesughed.


    The Emperor emerged from the Rule like a kinging out of his chambers.


    "We''re on it. I hope you keep your promise."


    "Naturally. But I don''t think I will keep it. For you won''t seed on your part." Hermesughed.


    "What do you mean?" The Emperor answered.


    "The moment that soldier pretended to be our ally, I had a strange feeling. I think that whoever is trying to betray you will do anything to keep us at war with each other." Hermes calmly exined as drew closer.


    "I don''t think that the technology I am asking for is still within your reach. So¡­ If not¡­ I want to ask you¡­ what do you propose? I still don''t want to make you an eternal enemy. You guys surely have the tech to kills us all. But that would be too costly. You''d have to damage a great part of the Kraken. Right?"


    It was then that the Admiral received a most disturbing message.


    "Emperor¡­" The Admiral began.


    "The techs we''ve retrieved from New Great Britain has been stolen." The Admiral gave his hesitant report.


    The Empress sighed.


    "Empress? What do you suggest?"


    "Fight that bastard. We eliminate everyone whoes here. Did you do as I asked?"


    "Yes. The Golems will aim to capture the traitors. They have the truth serum prepared."


    The Emperor nced back at Hermes.


    "Let me guess¡­ We are fighting?"


    "Oh? What makes you say that?"


    "The wind. It blows wherever it, please. Who knows where it goes and where it journeys back? I feel that the wind of change is blowing once more." Hermesughed.


    "Shall we continue our dance?"


    At that moment, the four figures were seen flying dove down almost instantly.


    "Boss! You heard that?! You heard that?! Do they n to kill us all?! Why aren''t we retreating?"


    Hermes had secretly linked his Wind Whisperer to hear everything that the Emperor talked about.


    "Because I think¡­ we will meet Seeds of our Progenitor. And who knows? Maybe the enemy that Progenitor told us about will finally surface." Grantughed.


    While the battle continued, the invisible Empress continued to follow a certain Exoskeleton.


    The Exoskeleton hid it exceptionally well. But in front of the Empress, his traitorous actions were as in as day.


    "Let''s see who your allies really are¡­" The Empress patiently followed without doing anything to the Exoskeleton, who had secretly killed three more soldiers.

 Chapter 198 - A Voice In The Wind

    The Empress continued to tail the Exoskeleton. More and more, the Empress grew more and more impressed with the skills of this soldier.


    "This could be an Elite¡­ Who are these people? And how have they nted such skillful hands within our kingdom?" The Empress wondered.


    The Exoskeleton that the Empress continued to tail started to move faster and faster.


    Suddenly, the Exoskeleton started to move quickly. The state of his movements no longer was the confused, lost soldier who was caught up in the strange wind around him and would asionally snipe his enemies. This time, the Exoskeleton moved on a single direction. He even moved as if he was rushing off to a specific predetermined location.


    The Empress smiled and followed the soldier.


    Soon another Exoskeleton emerged from another tform, and both met each other.


    "Well? How was it? I got around sixteen Exoskeletons. Those teams started to panic. Idiots." The voice of a woman called out to the other.


    "Sixteen?" For some odd reason, the Exoskeleton that the Empress followed had a shaken voice.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "I got¡­ thirty-seven." An embarrassed voice replied.


    There was silence for a few seconds as the woman didn''t immediately answer.


    The Empress had already listened in to the transmissions between the two as she hacked theirmunicator.


    "Send some Golems here. I found two of those traitors." The Empress called out to the Emperor.


    The Emperor continued to reveal himself as he stood on top of what appeared to be a hovering throne. The Rule that the Empress once rode had attached itself to the Rule that the Emperor rode. The two Rules transformed into arge floating throne.


    "I''m on it." The Emperor answered.


    Unbeknownst to him, Grant Hermes had a change of expression. He faked a retreat as he allowed several sts to hit him nearly.


    "Boys. We need to cause a ruckus. We can''t let them catch those traitors just yet. The best scenario is if we can catch the WGP''s traitors. Get down and stay hidden. I need to use it." Grant ordered as he continued to retreat.


    "You need to use that? But Boss! It''s still pretty early! You''re stamina!"


    "Don''t worry, Austin. I can still do one more after that." Grantughed.


    Grant moved higher and higher as he prepared for the final blow. The Four winds rushed down and searched for a safe ce to hide.


    It was then that a strange voice called out to Grant and the Four Winds.


    "So this is the Wind Whisperer. Are you going to use Air Cannon? I suggest you don''t use it yet. You might harm my little friends. And if you do that, you can never get the Wind Progenitor''s Seed." A calm voice spoke.


    Hermes frowned and used his powers to sense out the winds that created the channel. However,


    "You won''t be able to detect me, Grant. Your move. We both will have our hands full if the Emperors use another Invoking. Get them to use it. We''ll fight over the Progenitor''s Seed once we''re done."


    The Four Winds, along with Grant was stunned at the words that echoed around them.


    The Wind Whisperer was a channel that, theoretically, anyone can use and piggyback on. But it was so mysterious and precise that the sounds that travel through this channel were almost impossible to detect. The loud noises of the blowing wind had masked the voices that move around it. Yet someone had found a way and talked to them through it.


    "Who are you?" Grant asked in a low voice.


    Even the Four Winds knew that this was the first time their Boss felt threatened.


    "Your ally. Just think of me as a voice in the wind. Of course, you probably won''t believe me. So let''s have some fun. I''ll save you if you need it. But for now, unless you want me to interfere with you personally, don''t use Air Cannon. Direct your winds to cause mass destruction to force the Emperors to make a Second Invoking."


    "Your allies are in danger," Grant argued.


    "Your daughter is with them. Not to mention, we made an borate n to trick Lilibeth to find my friends." The mysterious voiceughed.


    "Lilibeth?"


    "One of your peers. Another of the Progenitor''s seed. One of my allies is also a seed. You could say, I am too. A future seed, if I were to introduce myself." The voiceughed.


    "You would know that the Progenitor prohibited-"


    "Our enemies are already here. It''s time to unite. In fact, they might make an appearance right now. I am using this opportunity to gather as most seeds as I can so that the enemy, the Aragarians would appear."


    "You''re the one behind all this?"


    "Yes?"


    "Is the Wind seed real?"


    "The Wind seed in itself is not real."


    Grant grew angry.


    "But something far better than the Wind Seed is here. Something that would cause the nts to grow in the garden. Your seed will soon bloom too. Regardless, I know you won''t believe me. So I''ll announce it right now. We''ll beat you and spare you and your friends to prove that our intentions are real." The Voice vanished.


    "Boss?" Omricon asked.


    "Assume the Galilean formation." Grant gave the code word.


    "As you order." The Four Winds chorused as they assumed the formation.


    The Four Winds flew towards the location where Grant was flying. All four flew and chased after Hermes.


    "I, Jupiter, grant upon you, the Four Winds of Hermes."


    And there, a miracle once more urred.


    Grant Hermes controlled the winds. But an even unbelievable science took ce. Hemanded the winds and have allotted sentience on the winds around him.


    Of those who received their blessings from the Progenitor, the family line of Stavius Jupiter, a survivor of the Third World War, received the most detailed and secretive science. It was such an unbelievable science that it pushed Canada to be a superpower that even the Americas could not conquer.


    And of the many sciences, only one Wind was leaked to arm Canada of a tech possibility that allowed it to stand firm.


    Canadian Frost was the very bane of various technology. It did not feat the Misceneous techs of the Americas. Pangean weaponry was easily countered and disabled as Eradication technology could not corrode when the very molecules are robbed from its ability to move.


    The Chilling Wind blew. Riding this sentient wind, was Austin. Everything within ten meters around him would be subjected to an incredible frost.


    Austin was the first to move and charged towards the turrets. The Frost blew into the towers and froze various parts of the torrents making it unable to shoot.


    The Exoskeletons and Armors nearby suffered the same fate as the invading coldness affected the pilots. The Wind seeped into their body as if it aimed to freeze their bones.


    The bone-chilling sensation slowed them down.


    On the palm of Austin was an ice shaped sickle that Austin would use to curt around the soldiers nearby.


    The sickle wouldn''t cut anything but would cause the entire Exoskeleton or Armor to freeze.


    Another of the Four also moved, shortly following the sudden attack of Austin.


    The Blowing Wind blew. Riding this sentient wind was Alvin. He rode a mighty squall that gave a tremendous force, pushing even the Armors backward.


    Alvin lifted his fist as he delivered a right hook towards an Armor that he was approaching.


    The strong wind gathered together and aimed for the head of the Armor.


    CRASH!


    The wind waspressed to a single point. It caused a powerful impact as if a gigantic sledgehammer was mmed on the Armor''s head. The crashing force caused the Armor to fall with part of its face damaged from the impact.


    The Cutting Wind blew. Riding this sentient wind was Omricon. He disappeared as the wind pushed him with unbelievable speed.


    The Rule suddenly closed on its own as it detected a powerful attack approaching.


    BOOM!


    The Rule was thrown away once more as the Emperor staggered from the sudden impact.


    "AGH!" The Emperor cried as he was thrown off and fell back on his feet.


    He was far from the enemy, but the sudden arrival only meant that the weapon that shot it down traveled faster than the sound speed.


    A small gash could be seen on the outside of the Rule.


    The surprised Emperor could not believe the alerts that the Rule made indicating the damage it received.


    "What? The Rule got damaged?!"


    The Emperor cursed and searched for the enemy. But he was surprised to see a peculiar scene. An entire Armor that stood more than fifteen meters tall was split in half. The cut was made on the Armor''s waist. Without the boosters'' support, the Armor''s legs fell. The Rule was able to discern and capture a split-second video of what caused the attack.


    A figure of a human was floating in midair. It looked like it used something to attack the halved Armor. Then the figure moved again, disappearing from the screen of the Rule''s video.


    Several Exoskeletons and turrets were being cut by a strange force when the figure disappeared.


    "Admiral! Focus all firepower here! Chase the winds! It is the enemy itself! Use motion detectors!" The Emperor immediatelymanded.


    "As youmand!" The Admiral rushed off to fight the three flickering figures that left devastation after devastation.


    The Admiral wore one of the most advanced Armors, the Titans.


    Behind him were the most potent Exoskeletons in all warfare.


    The Goliaths had thicker armors but moved at Jet-level speed.


    They all moved out and started shooting. Each of them was equipped with a powerful sma gun and began to shoot at the winds. As the winds around the Kraken had decreased, rapid motion detectors were now being used.


    As New Great Britain''s tech improved, their storms could actually distort many detection systems. The raindrops were colder distorting thermal scans, the wind was designed to be morepact and could imitate the motions that Exoskeletons and other military units used when traveling. The darkness of the clouds was intentionally thicker to blot out any light so that even in the middle of the day, those inside the storm would think it was night.


    But now the Force field blocked most of the wind. After dissipating his Winds, the three soldiers could soon be detected and was targeted by the WGP forces.


    None of the enemies noticed a man walking casually at the hull of the Kraken. And the wind in the tform that he stealthily moved around in no longer had any air in it. Some of the soldiers who didn''t have any breathing apparatus or had their Armors and Exoskeletons damaged immediately died because they could not breathe.


    Right in the middle of that tform, the air continued to gather andpressed itself into a vacuum. The air was so densely packed that it was even visible as a tornado, all clumped up like a ball surrounded the final wind.


    But no soldier could spare the time to look for the forth who was hidden and was silently drawing all winds towards his position. The Emperor gazed with indifference as the enemies continued to cut down, freeze, and smash his forces. Soon, an annoyed expression was slowly leaking out.


    "Empress. I will be using a more direct and aggressive use of the Automatons. These guys are starting to irritate me."


    "Go ahead. The second phase of the Call of Automatons should shock and make them think we''ve brought out all our cards. The Golems need to hurry. It seems that they are about to make contact with their other members."


    "Can''t you just capture them yourself?"


    "I want to know how capable these spies are. The skills that these two have shown is already outstanding. They have the potential to be an Elite."


    The Empress continued to follow the two and detected the Golems approaching.


    "Don''t attack yet. I want you to attack them when they find their friends. Also, don''t attack them in surprise. I want you to attack them after making them aware of your presence."


    "You want us to test their capabilities, Empress?" A voice responded.


    "Yes."


    "As you will."


    Soon the two Exoskeletons met up with a team of various individuals. These individuals wore strange Exoskeletons that did not match any of the currently known technologies.


    "Tell your windy enemy that we found the technology that he was searching. It may be a little battered up, though. But inform him that we will give it to him shortly." The Empress ordered.


    "So, the traitors stole it?" The other Emperor replied.


    "It would seem so. The traitors might have stolen it to force us to fight these enemies approaching the Kraken. In short, they stole it to make them attack and wage war against us."


    "Since when has the WGP be a tool to make others weak?" The Emperor was angered at the analysis of the Empress.


    "Regardless, we have to know more about these organizations that exist behind the shadows. We''ve always known that there would be rats in our world. But these rats are humungous and could even pose a threat. For now, let''s use them against each other."


    The two Exoskeletons met up with their team.


    "Good Job. Roselyn, Stanley. The chaos you created with those alerts drew the enemies away."


    Roselyn and Stanley revealed their faces as they allowed the visor of the Exoskeleton to open up.


    Both gave a stoic nod to Tyler. But Roselyn''s expression looked frustrated.


    "Why did I limit my kills?" She mumbled as she gave Stanley a strange look.


    Stanley could not help but cower his head deeper into the Exoskeleton like a turtle hiding for cover.


    "We had minimal fighting. How was it for you, General?" Tyler turned to Cliff.


    "That Oveer wasn''t as weak as our little leader described," Cliffined.


    "Here''s your suit. Were you expecting that Oveer to be weaker?"


    "Not really. I knew it would be something like this. Where are they? The faster they arrive, the easier it will be for us. Only they can face off with that monster." Cliff cursed.


    "We had to flee with all our might! It''s very annoying." Gardoughed.


    Titan immediately rushed to wear his suit. He was the only member of the Covenant that didn''t wear an Exoskeleton but wore a specialized suit. It looked like an ordinary soldier''s Armor. Danny, Dara, and John each wore an Exoskeleton that had different shapes, forms, and weapons.


    Dara had a tall and thick ted Exoskeleton. Danny wore a medium-sized one with arge sword. John wore an even thinner one, and a long rifle was worn on his back.All their Exoskeletons had a dull grey coat that made it look like it was a prototype.


    Cliff stoppedining and wore the suit that was prepared for him. The specialized boots and shoulder boosters were also in ce.


    "This is my team. Let me-"


    "Enemies." Titan immediately alerted everyone as he senses the presence of several men.


    Cliff gazed at the direction that Titan pointed to.


    "What kind ofnguage is that? It was like a screeching sound?" The first person asked. He wore a clown''s attire. He had the full makeup, the hair, and even the nose.


    "I have no idea. Must be some form of code." The second man answered. He wore a dark tuxedo with matching shades and expensive watches. He also carried with him arge briefcase.


    "Let''s get this over with. I''m sure they are finished wearing their battle outfit. They choose quite a ce. This was where the first EMP exploded?" The third man was arge burly man with a woodcutter. He appeared to an ancient timber.


    "Yeah. It looks like it. We should try to cut off their escape path." The clown answered.


    Titan turned to John.


    "Are they¡­ robots?"


    "Looks like it. It seems they only made themselves look like a human."


    "Like those robots in that time-traveling science fiction film?" Cliff asked.


    Everyone then prepared for battle.


    "I see. This must be another application of Origin power. They found a way to awaken liquid metals and make it alive. We best be careful. Team, support everyone else here. This is going to be a battle, unlike any other." Gardo warned his team.


    "Shall we fight General?" Tyler asked.


    "Three robots of unknown power, huh? Covenant. You''re up." Cliff ordered.


    "With pleasure." Dara grinned excitedly.. Her Exoskeleton suddenly lit up as it charged towards the three strangely dressed beings.

 Chapter 199 - Creating A Tank

    Seeker and the Oveers continued to make their round discussions about the soldiers they want to create. The foundations to build a scout was perfect. But there were more roles to build.


    "Following gaming terminology, we need to build a good Tank." Arthur exined.


    "A Tank should be a heavily armored unit. It acts as an insurmountable wall that the enemies cannot easily destroy. The Tank is something that will make the enemy automatically know that it would take a lot of firepower to defeat it. It cannot also be ignored as it would have various abilities to deal with heavy damage."


    "Tanks in most games can take a lot of damage. I don''t think that we can build something immaterial unless we have those Almetals." Lowengren countered.


    "The Unlocking can create ways to create a Tank that does not necessarily focus on durability."


    "Then what should a Tank have?" Lowengren answered.


    "A Tank should be the main focus of the enemy. This will give ample time for the rest to attack and destroy their enemies. In gaming terminology, this Tank should take all the aggression or the argo of its enemies. The Tank should have the ability to stay survive the onught as well."


    "Actually, I like Meng''s version of a tank. Those metals that utilize Maic technology. In recement of durability, is the ability to reform or regenerate. Tanks have that." Seeker opened up.


    "My thoughts exactly. If we build a heavy Exoskeleton with Maic capabilities to withdraw and retrieve the piece of metals that may be chipped or cut off, we can create a diverse tank. Of course, the Tank we have to make should be a Tank in and out his suit." Arthur exined.


    "So if the Scout has senses, a bit of sight and hearing from Richie, what can we put in a Tank? Unlike the Scout, this Tank seems to be heavily reliant on the technology. Unless we make something simr to Meng¡­" Lowengren didn''t want toplete the sentence.


    "My Path is not easily copied." Meng''s tone was not angry but maintained a slightly respectful disposition.


    Even Seeker frowned at this.


    "The suit that I wear is costly. It''s hard to acquire Almetal now. China was only able to find a small mine but have long depleted it. And although we have the means to create hybrid Almetal, it would take some time. Five months to produce a batch of Hybrid Almetal. Unless we have the mine that the WGP has up in the Arctic nations, we won''t be able to produce an armor simr to mine."


    "You have the process of making hybrid Almetals? You mean its not something to mine?" Seeker was dumbstruck.


    "I presume we didn''t have it in your future?"


    "No! We didn''t! We had to use various weapons that were borne of others Path. The weapons that we had were obsolete. The WGP was disbanded three years before the great war. So the factories and mines that they owned were lost. I always assumed that Almetals were mined, and making a hybrid needed a small bit of Almetal."


    "We named it that way to fool our enemies. The truth is that we made it from another metal we discovered in our country. Through a secret method, we made it look like that it''s being meld andbined with actual Almetal."


    "I see. Then if you could not provide it in my future¡­ it means that these hybrid metals require certain metals found only in China?"


    Meng noded.


    "If this is the case, then I should prioritize on the mass production of these Hybrid Almetals." He gave Lennox a nce.


    "For now, I can send you some of the materials my soldiers salvaged to make a batch of these metals. I''ll give you all the data we know."


    Harker couldn''t believe what he was hearing. The information that Meng was offering could have started a Continental War. But now, he is freely giving it to Lennox.


    Lennox simply nodded.


    "The best course remains the need for me to establish a new base in China. We have some intelligence that a mine may be near Mordor."


    So that''s why you guys are pretty resolved in defending that area." Seeker realized.


    "As with Russia and the Caliphates." Meng added.


    "No wonder that region was the most guarded location in my future. Tyrant Empress and those she enved set out to retrieve those areas. But by the time they did, most of the opposing countries had already built those Gargantuan with that metal."


    "Do you have any other information about the Gargantuan? I can build it if you have the designs. Those charts and illustrations you drew based on your memories have so many terminologies that only the future engineers could understand."


    "None. I''m pretty sure those were encrypted terms. Our scientists figured it out, but¡­ I didn''t bother to ask what it meant. It was very irrelevant for me to study anyway."


    "Shouldn''t guys like you whoe from the future follow the clich¨¦s of being a vast know-it-all?" Lennox frowned.


    "That''s not even a thing." Seekerined.


    "It is a thing. People from the future should know all about these advanced technologies and teach us how to create it. Those who are sent back to their younger selves must have god-like knowledge to cure disease, create weapons, and so on. You only carried with you some half-baked cultivation technique."


    "Half- baked? You couldn''t even figure it out in my future! And why I should know those things? Do Time-Travelling Reincarnators study physics, engineering, medicine, farming, and animal husbandry instead of fighting the alien threat?" Seeker gave a sarcastic remark.


    "I''m just saying, that of all the Time-Travelling Reincarnators, you are the worst Reincarnator."


    Seeker rolled his eyes.


    "Moving on¡­" Arthur urged.


    "I think you guys are ignoring another problem." Meng interrupted.


    "The main problem with creating an armor-like mine is that it is costly since you have to apply the maic technology. If you want to deploy it in battle, it has to be under One China''s banner. It also needs to be made near Mordor. So how can you deploy these weapons around the world?"


    "That won''t be an issue," Lennox replied.


    "Those weapons won''t be something that the WGP can detect. Although right now, it will be quite taxing for me. But the progress of Charles'' study of the Unlocking has greatly aided in improving my potential."


    Even Meng grew curious at Lennox''s boastful ims.


    "How strong have you grown exactly? I haven''t met you in my future, but I am pretty sure you weren''t this strong at this time." Seeker wondered.


    "Before I acquired the Unlocking, I could only create several thought processes. But after utilizing Charles drugs as a baseline and the data of Seeker''s brain, I was able to increase the capacity and storage of my brain."


    "Capacity and storage?" Meng raised an eyebrow.


    "The mind of Lennox is the mostplex among Oveers. At least, in terms of the physical form of the brain. His mind is like aputer. Arthur of the future confided that you could even emte simple games in your mind. I bet the main key to your growth was my brain''s data." Seekerughed.


    "It was. Your brain kept changing. For someone like me, it was easy to change my cells to follow your foundation. The truth of the Unlocking hidden in your brain allowed me to reach a level that can emte games now."


    "Emte games?" Harker asked.


    "What kind of games?" Lynd asked curiously. It was the first time he dared talk so casually to an Oveer.


    Seeker turned to Lennox as did everybody else.


    "Currently, several of my thought processes are working together to y one of the surviving relics of the Post-Modern world. Of course, the game I chose is simple. It won''t have too many elements, which makes it easier for me to emte."


    The room was silent.


    "So that''s why I never see you rxing. Some of your thought processes were actually ying games!" Arthur finally realized it. The missing pieces of the enigma, which made up his father, finally made sense.


    "Twenty? Thirty? Just how many thought processes do you even have prior to the Unlocking?" Arthurined.


    "I don''t follow. How does he y a game in his head?" Lynd was the first to ask.


    "It''s a video game. He''s ying a video game in his head. He programs his thought process to act or perform severalmands like aputer. At his level, a single thought-process could do multiple tasks."


    "I don''t understand." Lynd inquired further.


    "Lennox has great memorization. He has a photographic memory and can use his imagination to mentally reproduce or imagine a vivid picture. It''s hard to exin, but basically, he can imagine an entire video game. Of course, depending on the number of thought process, he may choose to emte older games for itsck ofplexity."


    "So¡­ he''s ying right now? As we speak?" Lynd asked further.


    Lennox frowned as he revealed a slightly frustrated expression.


    "I''m still looking for the six fishing tiles. It''s a tiresome activity. I''ve been in this cursed route for hours already."


    "What game is he talking about?" Meryl asked Lynd.


    "Ruby? Your head is ying Ruby?" Lynd ignored Meryl and asked Lennox to confirm.


    "No. Not Ruby. Emerald. Of course, I modded it a bit so that all of them appear on various routes spread evenly. It''s a mod that maintains vani storyline, which I prefer, but at the same time allows me to y it without the pesky need to trade from other versions."


    "You even modded it?!" Lynd was starstruck at Lennox''s exnation.


    "Yes. I also changed the evolution sequence so that many of them will evolve without being traded. Theter versions have too many variables. So it will slow down my progress in my other research, which is currently working to find ways to improve our chances for theing war." Lennox gave a very, very rare boast.


    Lynd stared in worship at the being known as Lennox.


    "I must copy that Path!" Lynd vowed to himself.


    "I don''t quite see the worth of this imagination exercise." Harker turned to Seeker in confusion.


    "His imagination is very powerful, Harker. To him, it''s as if he''s really ying the game. I''m sure you''ve noticed it. Your recollection is stronger than ever. You can even recall music as if you actually hear it. In his case, he''s doing it in a veryrger and moreplicated sense."


    "But that doesn''t make any sense. Isn''t he basically ying pretend in his brain?"


    "Not really. His control over his thoughts is very profound. He can program some of his thoughts to think but only follow a simple rule. That is how he''s ying the game. He makes some of his thought processes act like codes. In his current game, some of these thoughts dictate the random encounters, the events, the RNG, everything. And even though his thoughts make all of these, he himself doesn''t know it."


    "He can notmunicate with himself?" Harker repeated.


    "Cannotmunicate with himself?" Seeker replied with a fuddled look.


    "I mean, he can choose not to talk to himself?"


    "Erm¡­"


    Harker looked like he wanted to release all the frustration, but Seeker was his boss.


    "Just kidding. I get what you mean. Yep. He does that. His other thoughts have no idea what these randomly generated numbers or rules are. That''s how he''s able to y a game mentally and enjoy it as if he''s ying it for real."


    At that moment, Lynd imagined himself ying Skyrim. But since he didn''t even have a second thought process, Lynd could only keep it to himself. It became his goal. He could y 24/7 with this!


    "I must find the Way!" Lynd was motivated.


    "How can any of this be of use to making a Tank?" Meng finally stepped in and asked.


    "He can assignmands to his lightning. We''ve seen what his lightning is capable of. If he was given time, he could program his lightning to be almost sentient." Seeker exined.


    "Sentient energy? I heard that WGP has such technologies."


    "Mine is different. I create thought processes and bestow it to the energy I make. I can hide it in an Exoskeleton or Armor. I don''t think the WGP will go through the trouble of analyzing the Exoskeleton''s or Armors we send and test it with any sentient detecting techs."


    "Exoskeletons that have your thought processes? If I had that, I wouldn''t need to walk out of my armor." Meng knew the vast possibilities of creating such equipment.


    "This means that the Tank we create can make an imitation of the various skills that the Tanks in Piercing can create." Arthur nodded.


    "Crowd control skills?" Meryl gave her guess.


    "Yes. My team is pro-gamers. They adapt to new characters and can use the skills given the right time they have. It doesn''t have to be the exact same skills. As long as it''s a skill that can do the purposes of crowd control, Dara will adapt."


    "The Queen of Tanks." Meryl muttered Dara''s title.


    "I can train her." Meng and Lennox offered together.


    Arthur and Seeker gave the two a strange look.


    "Really? The two of you? Charles would probably be her ve after you teach her."


    "I believe, with enough electrical stimtion, I can force her to awaken a secondary thought process. I know that for yers like them, especially tanks, what they have to have the most is the presence of mind. Although gaming strategy works here, this isn''t a game. Dara has to have the capacity to always be aware of what is going on around her."


    "I see¡­ That''s an exciting proposal. You n to make her your guinea pig?"


    "She already has the basic training. I''m sure that out of all the yers, the Tanks of Piercing are the most suited for my experiments. They stand at the forefront of the battle. They need fast hands to carry their slow-moving bodies and react ordingly. They have to keep in mind the health of their allies and as well as their own. The strain that they go through is the broadest. Marksmans and snipers focus on one opponent. Scouts focus on a single enemy when attacking, but observes the whole battle from afar. But a Tank is someone who stands at the very forefront of the battle. The burden of multi-tasking falls on them. So I think she''s the best candidate for my experiments."


    "What about you, Meng?" Seeker turned to Greydon.


    "I have developed a very unique and powerful method of using my Armor. It will save her some time on how to use the Maic capabilities of the suit. I''m sure with Lennox''s, he can easily code his lightning to create an electromaic push and pull that would be moreplicated than the maic means of reforming those armors."


    "Of course. My Lightning can push Chinese electromaic techs to another level. But right now, it will take an effort as I have to expend a lot of energy to make one." Lennox exined.


    "I guess¡­ We have the solid foundation of a Tank. But what about the pilot? Do we have any specific sciences that can improve her strength?" Arthur asked the team.


    "Dawn technology aided with that Path." Lennox smiled.


    "I propose an experiment. It is risky¡­ But since Seeker has acquired the foundations needed for this, we can create a limited version of it."


    The theory that Lennox proposed stunned everyone. Even before the experiments began, Dara was actually asked whether or not she would allow herself to be the first Guinea pig. As animal trials are not possible whenever the Unlocking is involved, the only choice is to go straight to human trials.


    Dara agreed.


    The process was one of the most intensive operations that even made Arthur sleepless. He would talk and evenfort Dara, which was rare even as their leader.


    The Clown, the Businessman, and the Lumberjack stood as Dara''srge Exoskeleton rushed forward.


    Suddenly, the movements of the Exoskeleton became so fast. It had no boosters, but it could fly with the strange electricity that created maic capabilities.


    The Exoskeleton zoomed fast, but the Clown simply stood up and punched out, hitting the Exoskeleton.


    CLANG!


    A loud metallic sound rang out as if tworge metals struck each other.


    But as the Clown''s fist struck Dara''s Exoskeleton, the entire body broke into pieces like an empty knight''s armor.


    Dara was standing on one of the pieces that were mysteriously floating.


    She wore the same synthetic outfit that Titan had and continued to run forward. Her right fist was glowing bright red, and she punched out.


    One of the most significant advancements that Seeker had was that he was finally able to trace Meng''s cells. Through the study of creating cancer cells and aided by the Dawn soldier''s research, they were able to turn Dara''s right hand into a formidable weapon.


    Tank''s required great defense. But to be a threat, they need to have the capability to deal massive damage.


    BOOM!


    The punch exploded out and even sent the Clown flying.


    The Armor quickly reformed at Dara''s left hand, and she punched the Businessman.


    CLANG!


    The metal fist and the face of the Businessman also create a powerful nging sound.


    The Lumberjack was struck by the debris of Dara''s remaining armor.


    Each armor that struck the Lumberjack emitted a bright electrical spark that disabling the Lumberjack from making other movements.


    "It worked!" Dara was delighted as she witnessed the sessful infliction of a crowd controlling skill that used Lennox''s lightning.


    This gave Dara the time to ready another attack.


    Her right hand gave the same reddish glow.


    BOOM!


    The Lumberjack was then blown backward as well.


    "MaliciousUnicorn has logged in. Piercing Armor has joined the battle.." Dara smirked confidently.

 Chapter 200 - Creating A Sniper

    The sudden movements of Dara surprised Gardo and his team.


    The elegant movements and precise execution were just perfect.


    Dara''s armor once more reformed into the thick Exoskeleton. Its body would asionally brighten as a charge of blue lightning would get emitted.


    Her fist held the energy, which brought life to the armor itself. While Harker had long pondered what form of energy Lennox could use, his answer was straightforward. He designed his lightning to be triggered by the Unlocking.


    The cells that Seeker discovered was one of the most beneficial things that the past Seeker brought. Seeker knew that his master and Meng longed for Seeker to create a body that could be worthy of carrying the significant burdens of a Hero and a Champion.


    Meng was the only Oveer of the future that could replicate the very life and body of what Champions should have. So, Lennox took on the enormous burden of transforming the Unlocked body to have the raw strength, energy, andposition necessary for an Unlocked to attain mastery over their Paths.


    Dara underwent various painful treatments. Seeker''s body became the basis, and Meng''s body was seen as the advanced form. The cells of Dara battled as more cancer cells were introduced. The harder part was continually being able tomand and dictate every single cell that had cancer in Dara''s arm. She would always ensure that the cancer would not spread but remainpressed on her arm.


    It was a grueling task that Dara had to endure. But it was because of her sufferings that allowed the second phase of her growth.


    Her Unlocking was pushed further and further every day as she learned to master every single cell in her right arm. It would have been impossible if not for the fact that Dara''s Second Thinking awakened.


    The lightning charges that were sent into her brain kept forcing her to see two thought processes. It was as if he was bing insane. Dara had to go against her human nature to develop the other thought process. Worse, was that Lennox made her go through her ordinary routine of training, fighting others, and even go to school.


    The task was grueling. Everyone thought that the talks of the Covenant disbanding had affected Dara, and she even fell unconscious in the middle of the school. But who knew, it was because of her constant efforts of mastering the cells in her right arm.


    Slowly and surely, the brain of Dara started to reform. With Lennox sending electrical charges that would force the mind to think, Dara''s brain gradually reshaped itself. This was the significant brain development that Lennox had. And as expected, it appeared- Dara''s secondary thought process.


    She was an Experiment based on two Oveers. She had the Right hand of Meng and the thought process of Lennox. The battle instinct of a Tank that Meng taught her was being disyed. And the multi-thought process that allowed her tomand the metals and have greater awareness in her surroundings also made her attack very sessful.


    The three figures were sent flying.


    "What happened?" The Lumberjack cursed.


    "What happened? You stood there in a daze after those robot parts hit you."


    "I lost connection to this Golem for a bit! Careful. The electrical charges of the Exoskeleton affect our synching with these Golems!''


    "I''m more worried about that right arm. Did you see the pilot? It''s a woman." The Clown replied.


    "Did she damage the two of you?" The Businessman asked. He was only struck with a robotic arm and did not receive the punch of the woman.


    "There are traces of Eradication in her arm. That punch eradicated severalyers of liquid metal." The Clown stated as he pointed to his right cheek.


    Underneath the skin, it revealed a metallic silver shine that was slowly changing in color. Soon, the skin returned to normal.


    The same thing was happening on the forehead of the Lumberjack.


    "Well, that was embarrassing. It''s the first time in a long time that an Elite gets to pilot a Golem, and we ended on the poor side of that sh." The Businessmanughed.


    "Let''s do this seriously. We were caught off guard. Who would have thought that they''d actually make a mix between technology and human modification? I never expected the pilot to reveal herself." The Clown frowned.


    "Let''s not keep the Empress waiting." The Lumberjack immediately rushed off.


    Cliff and the rest went near Dara.


    "I heard from Arthur that his father was very impressed with Dara. It looks like you didn''t let the boss''s dad down" Dannyughed.


    "Those guys are robots, alright."


    "Liquid metal. But they used Origin technology to give it sentience. It''s like Terminator 2!" Gardo added.


    "They''ll be more serious this time. Get ready." Cliff gave his orders.


    "Enemies. They should start attacking us within the next fifteen seconds." Titan estimated.


    A troop of Exoskeletons and Armors could be seen heading towards them.


    "General. Let the Covenant handle these three." Dannyughed confidently.


    "Alright. Gardo. Can your team handle those Exoskeletons?"


    "As long as it''s not those crazy wind riders." Gardoughed and immediately signaled his team to move to intercept the enemies.


    "Form a perimeter here! Don''t let anyone get past us! Those youngsters are going to be dealing with those three. As for this army, let''s deal with them."


    "Tyler and Roselyn, you''re with me. The rest, aid Gardo''s team. Stanley, protect the boundary between the two. You''re in charge of making sure that no group interferes with the other. Move!" Cliff gave his quick orders as the three strange men were approaching.


    "Now." The Clown whispered.


    At that split second, when the Clown spoke, Titan also gave his report.


    "Get ready! They are about to do something!" Titan urged his team to speak faster.


    Hearing this, John immediately closed his left eye.


    And with his right eye, he aimed.


    When Seeker and his team discussed the many roles of each of their soldiers, the most controversial one was about the sniper.


    "Do we even need it?" Meng was the first to ask.


    "In the long run, ranged weapons will lose its effectivity. If we get people to Inhuman, the skills needed for targeting and shooting will be basic knowledge. We only need to mass-produce a more superior eye-sight, and it should be enough. That is also considering, that if there were Champions and Heroes in Seeker''s future, then I believe that investing too much on this will yield unfruitful gains."


    Seeker was silent and did not refute Meng.


    Everyone else turned to Seeker to ask for his input.


    "Don''t look at me, guys. Although that is indeed the case in the future, I can''t say that abandoning this will be beneficial for the team. You guys have to sort it out. As Lennox puts it, I''m not the reincarnator with godly, all-knowing abilities. You guys have to sort out which is which." Seeker shrugged.


    "At theter levels, everyone will have equal sniping abilities. Those below Ranked Hero will all have it, and can easily acquire it through Advanced or Total Recall. Those at Ranked Hero wouldn''t need it either. So why create a sniper?" Meng concluded.


    "They can hit a target¡­ Yes. But a sniper should be more than that." Arthur countered.


    "What should a sniper be then?"


    "It is true that with the Unlocking, shooting will be easier for everyone. But in the game, snipers can hit critical points of a yer. As you know, each Piercing characters have a weak point in their offensive or defensive stance. A sniper should have the ability to detect which points are weakest and shoot it."


    "Critical points? How can anyone know what the critical points are?"


    "I can." Arthur replied.


    "My Path is something that is both difficult and easy to acquire. It is a simple calction. Applied science at its finest. It is simple because it can easily be taught. Difficult because it is hard to be mastered. If I focus my efforts on teaching a specific branch of Chaos Order or find ways to replicate it, it would be possible to do so."


    "I see. Snipers armed with a style of Chaos Order¡­ That would be something.?? Seeker was impressed.


    "Titan has a part of that ability. He was able to master attack redirection. But that is only suited for an Assassin or Scouts like him. Once we move a Piercing Sniper from the game and create one that can do everything that he can in the real world, he would be deadly. By shooting at the right ce, he could dy, cause incredible damage, or even kill an enemy at the right time. Even someone who could pose a threat to Ranked Heroes could be defeated. If his firepower is weak, all he has to do is have the skill to poke, harass, or disable the enemy. His role is to keep his team''s momentum up, the enemy''s momentum, down."


    "But Arthur¡­ Unless you''re someone like Cliff, who can remember the exact timing and moment of these attacks, or unless they really can calcte things as you do, they won''t be able to do that!" Lynd argued.


    "That''s why I said that it is difficult to replicate. It would have been impossible at Seeker''s future. But now we can. Seeker Exin the importance of Alean."


    "Where is she?" Lennox asked Harker.


    "She is currently guarding and monitoring the Tyrant Empress. Since Meryl here has been¡­erm¡­ tainted with the Tyrant Empress''s curse. She volunteered to monitor and guard her." Harker exined.


    "Can she do that?" Meng frowned.


    "My daughter seemed confident," Harker exined.


    "She won''t be affected. Ignoring the fact that she is a woman, she already has someone in her heart whom she holds dear." Arthur exined.


    Lynd blushed and wanted to hide.


    "Actually¡­" Arthur continued.


    "Moving on¡­" Seeker continued and immediately shifted the conversation.


    "We don''t have time to discuss borderline pedophilia."


    Arthur frowned but allowed Seeker to speak.


    Alean''s Skill is a handy thing. You could say it is one of the vital factors that can bridge the gap between a Ranked Hero and an Oveer. Now that this Skill appeared, I was able to trace back it''s foundations. Her ability of Perfect Momentum is also what allowed Arthur here, to solidify his Pseudo Path and make it a new one."


    "Zone." Meng understood.


    "My Fang''s told me that her ability hindered them."


    "Perfect Momentum is the ability to know or make the right moves. If we put it in gaming terms, two yers can have the same skill level, but the winning factor is who has the momentum and finds this state. They can always be at their peak. And such is the necessary skills a sniper should have. They don''t hesitate, and they don''t miss. The calls he makes, the targets he hits, and the area where he would shoot are made precisely and perfectly."


    "So you want Instant Calction and Perfect Momentum. Do you want fries with that? How do you n to recreate it? It isn''t something that can be surgically applied to another person. Instant Calction is a mental process. As for Perfect Momentum, it''s even more mysterious! I may have acquired it, but it''s clear that my Path is even more mysterious than Lynd''s! Is it even possible to copy it?"


    "Yes." Arthur confidently answered.


    Seeker was surprised.


    "Seriously? You can?" Seeker asked.


    "My Path has solidified. Setting aside that Asterisxxx has been training under my tutge for years, I can give the most basic training regime. Unlike the rest, which mainly relies on surgeries of forceful application of other Paths like Richie''s or my fathers, this one is more of physical training. I will be training his senses to be capable of shooting the enemy at the right ce at the right time. I have also calcted the events that allowed Asterisxxx to enter the Zone in our battles and can use those events as reference points."


    "I see. You are recreating the events to enter the Zone."


    "I don''t think that''s how it works." Richie frowned.


    "It''s something you activate at the heat of the moment."


    "Big words for a prodigy who''s sensing causes him to sense every form of danger around him," Arthur argued.


    "Unlike everyone else, we cannot activate it at will. Sometimes an entire game goes by, and that momentum has not appeared."


    "So you''ll be trying to not only train him to have an instinctive reaction and fighting skills, but you''ll also be recreating the events that may have been factors that allowed him to enter the Zone?"


    "Exactly."


    "This seems like vital info. Mind if you share this detail with Meng and your father?"


    "It''s still in the experimental stage. I don''t have any data to go with now. Frankly, whatever information I have will sound strange and useless."


    "Oh,e on. We are Unlocked. We are living miracles and the peak of strangeness. Whatever your theories are, however strange they can be, I''m sure it can benefit everyone else."


    Harker nodded at Seeker''s statement. If he could make his soldiers be on constant peak-performance, then it would a force to fear.


    "Fine. Going by what I''ve noticed over the years and have learned and demanded them to report every little detail before a match, I conclude that John Octavion III most peak moments were when he has been training for at least thirty-eight hours within three days before the match. He must have no mental or emotional hindrances within seventy-two hours. He must have drunk twice the usual amount of coffee and should have struggled with constipation within the week of the battle."


    ¡­


    There was silence.


    "Yup. I''m out. This is definitely your department, Arthur. So about the instant calction thing¡­ Wouldn''t it be too much of an effort for you? You can''t oversee him 24/7. You have to put your efforts on something more than that. Perhaps, the sniper can be trainedter."


    "No. I don''t intend to train him all the time. I will leave him the theories of how to do it. I will also give suggestions to what training regimes he should undergo."


    "Will that be enough?"


    "He is a pro yer. Ever since I became the Covenant team leader, I knew the most important factors in making pros. They don''t copy everything to an extreme. Each yer has to find his style, his momentum, and discover his talent. I only guide them. Even now, that will be my training. Of course, a part of this training would be to face everyone around here." Arthur exined.


    And so it was. John Octavion III fought all Oveers. Richie was blindfolded and wore noise-canceling headsets to strengthen his control. Meng had worn heavier metals to increase the weight he moved with during battle. This was one of the most ancient and primitive exercises for martial artists. John fought the Fangs, Lynd, Meryl, and Cliff. He fought Lynd, Seeker, and Meryl''s parents; he fought everyone who had an Unlocking higher than Advent except Charles and the Tyrant Empress. John had the most diverse experience in battle.


    And as was calcted by Arthur, the mystery of forming the Zone was something that John Octavion III managed to tap into time and time again.


    This battle was something that he didn''t leave to chance. He practiced the exact amount of hours; he did not allow any emotional troubles, pressures, and pain to bother him. He drank too much coffee and had been eating strange cuisines that caused constipation within the week of this mission.


    And so, right in that split second of the enemy''s sudden movements, John made the decision.


    Harnessing Lightning energy was one of Lightning Rod''s incredible technology. The sheer power that could be released was fast. It had an impressive firing rate of shootingpressed Light Balls of one attack per centiseconds.


    Even for an Unlocked, controlling it or aiming with that rapid firing rate would be difficult. But not for a Pro yer as experienced as John.


    He was the only Gunner-Sniper Hybrid. He could count and measure the fire of his weapons and make estimations of every trigger his character would have¡ªthe single hybrid yer who used Piercing Bullet as a ranged and mid-range fighter.


    The attack was aimed at the foot of this sprinting enemy. Titan had alerted him, and with his direct experience, he knew that these enemies would suddenly use a blitz attack.


    And so the attacks were aimed at their foot.


    The sturdy metal that made up the three Golems were hard and would not have been damaged by the attacks. However, the force and impact had altered their steps.


    The one straight dash became a staggering movement of chaos.


    CRASH!


    The force of their sprint was supposed to reach the speed of sound. But as the Golems were about to kick off their feet to vault them forward, the bullets had struck them, and so the three zoomed to random direction hitting the walls nearby.


    Only the Clown was able to make a rtively straight move. But Dara was already anticipating it. They had years of teamwork in their belts.


    Her armor shot out once more striking the Clown. Each impact reduced the speed of his sudden blitz. And after all the big chunks of Armor flew, Dara readied her fist.


    BOOM!


    Snipers were the opposite of their Tankrades. They didn''t need to multitask. Even if they had a second thought, that thought would still focus on the enemy. They leave themselves defenseless to maximize their offense. And this would have been dangerous if they did not have the right Tank with them.


    "Idiots! Do I have to act?" The Empress howled angrily.


    Titan heard the angry growl of the Empress.


    "There''s someone there! She''s cloaked! Even I can''t pinpoint where she is!" Titan alerted Cliff immediately.

 Chapter 201 - Creating A Fighter

    Titan''s movements were fast. Initially, he was already following the rest of the Covenant, but upon hearing the strange words, he immediately dashed back to warn Cliff.


    Cliff frowned and then stopped from his tracks and rushed back.


    Cliff was the one who immediately used his power to surge to an extreme.Realm Somatotopy was the most urate sensing mechanism that allowed him to sense everything around him. The invisible threat made everyone panic.


    The area around him suddenly stopped moving.


    He was in his dream world. He used his unlocking to detect the strange area around him.


    "Let''s hope this works!" Cliff frowned and started to run around the area in his dream world.


    It was then that Cliff sensed something as he was running around.


    "Somethings over there." Cliff frowned. He couldn''t see it, but he was sure it was there.


    "This should be enough."


    Cliff undid his daydreams and immediately rushed towards the area where he sensed the enemy.


    "Attack here!'' Cliff shouted as he jumped towards the center of their formation and struck with all his might.


    CLANG!


    The ringing metal echoed out as Cliff struck empty air.


    The Empress was stunned at Cliff''s sudden movements, but thanks to his superb sciences, her Exoskeleton automatically blocked the attack.


    The metal on her arm was made of Supra-Prime Metal. Only the WGP had the technology to use it and make it malleable, allowing it to be bent and shaped in various ways. And it had a powerful, smooth tech that could easily let bullets slide by.


    Yet despite this technology, the sudden thrust of Cliff had caused halt her advance as the impact urately struck the very center of the shield. A small dent was made, and the sword immediately slid off to the side.


    The Empress was at the circle of the encirclement. She nned to kill everyone by causing an explosion, but Cliff stopped her from hernding.


    Everyone had their backs against Cliff. Only Titan could move and aim at the area where Cliff warned. He shot several attacks, but the Empress had already assumed another pose to inflict Cliff''s lethal attack. The attacks that Titan had posed no threat to the Empress.


    Cliff was surprised at the smooth surface. He had the time to readjust the attack with his perception but concluded it was pointless. The shield was too smooth that if Cliff wanted to make a proper attack, he had to pull back his arm and strike again with such momentum. But this was toote.


    Time wascking even for these Unlocks.


    But there was one thing that was close enough, strong enough, and could react quick enough to attack the Empress.


    After discussing the Scout, the Tank, and the Sniper, they then moved on to the mostplicated team member.


    The DPS or the Fighter.


    "Damage, speed, and mobility¡­" Arthur summarized.


    "We can add the other technologies to aid it, but fighters need these basic things. Fighters should have the fastest traveling speeds. While the Scout''s can move faster, Fighters need to have the capability to move very quickly, from one part of the map to the next. It can be a reckless charge that delivers powerful blows¡­ but they be the first line of defense that should be able to bail the Scout or the Sniper out of trouble before the Tank arrives."


    Meryl just stood in a daze.


    "He''s really talking like this is a game!" Meryl was shocked.


    "Damage¡­ speed and mobility in an Exoskeleton that cannot have very limited techs¡­" Lennox frowned.


    "Shall we use my cells?" Meng asked.


    "Do we have the time? Risking an experiment with two people would be troublesome. And besides, it will be difficult for Danny if he has to bear the pain. As a Fighter, Danny doesn''t have the same presence of mind that most of his peers do. Dara can do it since she is skilled at multi-tasking, but Danny isn''t."


    Lynd and Meryl were stunned.


    Danny was the most well-rounded yer in their team. He had the same reaction speed that the Tanks have.


    "What? But in the Champions Match against Git Godlike, wasn''t he able to urately help everyone on that clutch fighting?"


    "That''s because Danny doesn''t think. He''s a hustle yer. When those seconds count, he shows up and does his best. In fact, in our team, we simply would have to shout or cry help, and he will act immediately. If Dara can Multi-task, Danny can easily change his focus. He can lock on to you, but he can move and change his tactics at the flip of a switch. Most yers don''t have that. They need time to process new actions or orders. Dara can take in more orders, but theck of focus is not the same." Arthur exined the traits of Danny.


    "So, that''s why he''s called the Berserker!" Lynd finally understood.


    "Right. Danny, the Berserker. The best Hustle yer in the history of Piercing. He''s usually very rxed, but when the game starts, he''s a machine that you order."


    "So he maintains focus during the battle? Everymand is followed to precision?" Lennox inquired.


    "Yes." Arthur nodded.


    "I may be biased when saying this because he is my team member. But he is the perfect fighter. An even more daunting problem is how the avatars in Piercing can quickly shift their direction and turn a 180-degree movement."


    "Then make him double-jointed." Seeker suggested.


    "Double-jointed? You have a way to make that in the future?"


    "Well, no¡­ I''m saying we do that now with whatever experiments we can do."


    "You really are the worst Reincarnator in the history of Reincarnators. Maybe ever."


    Seeker rolled his eyes.


    "But that is a good idea. I keep forgetting the limitations of our bodies are now easily solved." Arthur approved of Seeker''s idea.


    "I have an idea. Since he can immediately take on a task repetitively, let''s make him a living bullet. We program a different form of Lightning energy. Once he activates it, he can move at the Exoskeleton to move towards a specific direction swiftly and abruptly. For his training, he can wear metallic armbands and leg gears that will allow him to practice these extreme movements, twists, turns, and other movements."


    "You n to use the stress, the tension, the bone-breaking movements as a training source for his body?" Arthur frowned.


    "Yes. The key thing is to train his muscles and make it more stic and flexible. It should be able to stretch. So while we cannot abruptly make biological changes on an entire area, it would require focus, we apply the lesser form of Meng''s cancerous anatomy. We use Meryl''s cells or Typical''s cells as a basis."


    "Meryl and Typical''s cells are useful?" Seeker wondered.


    "I think it''s better to take a look at Typical''s. Meryl''s cells focus too much on the mitochondria. Typical''s is somewhere between Meryl and Seekers. Now that we know the divergent evolutionary Paths of Typical, Meryl, and Seeker, we can now create various cellr modifications, each with their specific roles. These two have evolved their cells out of their faith. Meryl''s cells focus on utilizing energy as a means to create those powerful beam attacks. That''s why her mitochondria are different. It''s like some super power nt that houses and creates a powerful energy. As for Typical, his faith does have an energy level that''s higher than the rest. But what I observed is that it was a cell that was founded on a different path. I''m sure you can guess what that faith is, Meng."


    "Typical is my first son. He only wants to have the capability to stand next to me. Both figuratively and literally. It is not surprising that his cells would have evolved to something a step closer to mine."


    "Indeed. He has a higher tolerance for your Destion. In his desire to be capable of standing in front of you, he achieved the opposite of Destion. His cells can reflect defensive energy creates obstacles in empty space. Through the concentration of this energy that he reflects, he can create those extremely sharp needles. But let us not forget that his Path started as a desire to have the capacity to stand next to Meng."


    "And that cellrposition is perfect for Danny? How so?" Arthur asked.


    "Typical''s cell is simr to Meryl''s cells. Both produce energy in different ways. But Typical''s cells utilize the energy to protect itself and can endure more punishment thanks to the constant exposure to Meng''s Destion. The power his cells have allows his entire bodyto increase the tolerance and punishment it can take."


    Meryl and Lynd nodded. Having fought him, they knew just how obscenely healthy Typical''s body was.


    "So while Dara will have something closer to Meng to create powerful attacks, we employ Typical''s cells so that Danny''s body can endure the pressure and pain that his weapons or Exoskeletons demand. That''ll work." Seeker smiled.


    "I suggest changing the cells in his joints. This will be the area that will receive most of the punishment. This will naturally hurt during his training as his weapons'' extreme movements will continuously push his joints to the limits. This way, he won''t need to multi-task. The pain will always be there anyway. It''s killing two birds with one stone."


    "It''s like killing him in two different ways at the same ce, at the same time!" Meryl defended.


    Everyone turned to Meryl with a curious expression.


    "He just went out with Danny on a date. We did have that wager, but she never got to collect it. It looks like little ol'' Meryl has a crush." Seeker exined.


    "N-no! That''s not it!"


    "Hope it''s alright with you, Arthy." Seeker teased.


    Lynd and Cliff were petrified at the sudden tease of Seeker while Meryl kept quiet. They dared not observe Arthur''s reaction.


    "Moving on¡­ That seems usible. The pain will naturally be centered at those ces. Adding the strain and training will continue to consume the energy and push the cells to its limits. But how can we teach him to contain it? For Dara, actively containing all the cells on her hand is her training."


    "That''s why I said we do it on smaller scales. We don''t do everything at once. We focus on specific areas and operate on them. That way, he can concentrate on those small areas. Since that part will already be strained or injured, the pain can be like a bulls-eye mark that will allow him to focus on it. We start with one joint, and once it''s strengthened. That way, he can perform powerful strikes. We just arm him with the most durable metal that can harness my Lighting to give him the burst movement speed he needs. The extreme movements, however, can be deadly as it will bear great pressure to his bones and joints."


    "So we break them? Repetitive breaking to induce this pseudo-double-jointed body?"


    "Something like that. It will all depend on Danny from here on. Just like the rest. He has to find ways to endure the pain and find his new y style. We can only grant him the weapons."


    "So this is it¡­ This is the fighter? He''s relying too much on technology if you ask me." Seeker frowned.


    "I can help a little. By the sound of it, this one needs to be more aware of the areas around him. The Tank only needs to look forward. The Scout takes care of the general map of the battle. The Sniper should ideally be at the back. The fighter, however, needs to have a clearer sense of whats going on around him." Richie interjected.


    "I can tune him up with another frequency so that his body is more sensitive to what''s going near him." Richie smiled.


    "Then that should do it. It won''t be as wide-scale as Titan''s or as urate as Realm Somatotopy, but it will be instrumental in battle. Anyway, Piercing de has that as a specialty that Danny will need." Arthur continued to give his assessments.


    Danny went through training that was bone breaking. His joints were experimented on as they merged the cells that Typical had. It was almost impossible to find tools that can study Meng''s cells. It was after Lennox revealed a more straightforward method of infusing Meng''s cells into other objects other than precious Almetal Hybrids that they could finally study Meng''s cells.


    But the ironic thing was that although Meng''s armies always had Typical, no one bothered to check on his cells and experiment on it. The cells had always looked normal. But now that Lennox revealed where to look, the discovery of Typical''s peculiar mitochondria came to view.


    Every fiber of the joint muscle of Danny had an inferior version of Typical cells. But this inferiority was enough to get the job done.


    The Berserker had already awakened.


    He was moving ahead. The Empress and Cliff shed behind him. Yet when he heard Cliff''s orders, his body immediately moved.


    The switching of priorities and thoughts happened instantly.


    Danny was already stepping forward to the direction he was facing. Yet at the split, he activated the charged electricity that his suit used.


    His foot twisted fast as his entire body spun. The electrical charges caused him to spin like a top. As he turned, Danny''s arm immediately transformed into arge hammer.


    The rapid spin would have damaged Danny''s joints and muscles, but his training allowed him to endure it. It was as if his body was being flung around wildly. He heard the crashing sound of Cliff''s sword meeting the Empress''s shied, and Danny immediately reacted faster than Titan, who initially sensed the approaching Empress.


    It hadn''t been a second since Cliff warned them and struck the Empress when Danny''s movements urred.


    The Exoskeleton of the Empress immediately deployed its defensive measures, but the electrically charged spinning attack was too fast for the Empress to even activate its force field.


    BOOM!


    The hammer hit the shield and sent the Exoskeleton flying off, crashing to an area belonging to another tform.


    "Empress!" The three strange men cried.


    "Kill them!" The Empress grunted back.


    The three immediately sprinted out to attack the group.


    "I''ll deal with that invisible enemy! Tyler, Roselyn! Follow me!" Cliff announced as he moved.


    "Danny, deal with the right!" John retreated and begun to give his orders.


    Danny just finished recovering from his quick spin, yet he managed to dash off towards the other side to sh with the Lumberjack.


    John began to shoot the other Exoskeleton dying its movements acting in sync to take care of the enemy.


    Titan had already vanished as part of his role as the Scout- Assassin.


    Dara rushed off and covered the Path that led to John. She faced the Clown as her Exoskeleton began to charge a bluish hue.


    The two began to grapple each other. The Clowns'' body was glowing with the same colors of the aurora above. The electric charges being emitted by Dara''s Exoskeleton could not paralyze the Golempletely.


    "Surrender, little girl! Or I''ll rip your body to shreds!" The Clown growled.


    "How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, Old man?!" Dara roared as she undid her Exoskeleton and to harass the enemy.


    BOOM!


    A powerful crashing of metal could be heard as Danny hammered the enemy.


    The Lumberjack defended with both arms, but the weight and power of Danny''s attack buried his feet into the thick metal ting where he stood.


    "Let''s have some fun!" Danny smirked.


    "You think this is a game, kid?" The Lumberjack cursed.


    "A game? If this were a game, then that alert would be heard."


    "Alert?"


    "The Berserker has logged in! Piercing Impact is engaging the enemies!" Dannyughed. Immediately, he twisted like a top, and as he turned, his hammer smashed the sides of the now crouching Lumberjack.


    The Lumberjack was ready and defended from the crashing impact.


    What the Golems could not discern was that they had fallen for the Covenant''s most dangerous formation.


    "Let''s show these Terminators why we call ourselves the Strongest!" John smirked as he readied his rifle.

 Chapter 202 - Unlocked Vs. The World

    The first rounds of attacks that Gardo''s team made shocked them. Their bullets were stopped by a strange maic field that shot out on all weapons heading towards that direction.


    "Australian EMP?!" One of Gardo''s men shouted in surprise.


    "Not quite. It''s a specialized version. Efren. Look! This one can stop bullets better!" Gardoughed.


    "Just keep shooting!" Gardo ordered.


    The Exoskeletons were hovering closer towards the area. Though no secure air channels existed on their tforms, the wind still blew durable, making their aim harder.


    Still, the Exoskeleton''s started to move on a strange formation. Right at the middle, they could finally see and discern the Armor that apanied them.


    "Is that¡­ a Titan?!" The panicky Archie shouted.


    "It''s the one creating the EMP like a field! We take that down; we take down that EMP copycat! I''ll go in ahead!" Gardo frowned.


    "What?! President!" Jane shouted.


    "We can''t let them get nearer!" Gardo shouted as he rushed forward.


    "Damn it!" Jane kept shooting as she ordered the rest to take their positions.


    The turrets nearby suddenly started to activate. Origin Power had finally awakened the tform. Since this was the tform where the EMP bomb was deployed, it took longer to reactivate most of its weapons, but now the dark tform was slowly awakening.


    "Spread out! Keep moving out of the perimeter of the others! We fight here, or we die!" Jane ordered as she began to shoot several rounds of bullet and immediately sprinted off towards the cover.


    "The bullets don''t work!" Efren frowned.


    "What exactly are we doing?" Efren continued to shoot attacks but kept his eye out on his cousin.


    "It''s all on you, Gardo."


    The bullets and attacks that Gardo''s team could make did not affect. But the barrage of bullets would cause some bright electrical attacks. The WGP didn''t use EMP as the rarity, and the cost of the making it was high. However, they found an easier and cheaper way of imitating this weapon. But unlike the subtler attack of the EMP, this electro-reactive field would reveal a bright electric shock that would arc out and attack any perceived threat.


    Gardo used that brightness to move deeper and deeper into enemy lines.


    As he drew closer, he observed the fields.


    "This is amazing." Gardoughed as he enjoyed the sight. The time difference made Gardo sense more of the surroundings and could even see clearly.


    More of his team''s attacks wereing in. Gardo was waiting. And then it happened. A bullet that flew caused the electro-reactive field to shoot it down. The bolt appeared quickly, and the sight which humans cannot usually see with their own eyes was disyed before Gardo.


    "Beautiful." Gardoughed as he shot another bullet.


    The bullet traveled quickly and was headed towards the area where the first bullet was struck. Gardo aimed to hit the bullet precisely on it is back. But then another bolt struck it from a different angle.


    "So shooting is pointless, huh?" Gardoughed as he retreated to avoid the iing attacks.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Several of the rockets exploded as Gardo would shoot it down even when it was still on its way.


    Gardo shot as the rockets exploded, and some of the bullets went through the field and damaged the Exoskeleton.


    But as it approached the Titan, several bolts attacked.


    "They''re too serious! The closer to the Titan, the more paranoid those electric thingies are!" Gardo continued to retreat.


    The Titan stopped shooting the rockets and frowned.


    Three of his men died when the rocket exploded.


    "The techs that the enemy is using can somehow mask their techs. Only their bullets seem to be normal." The Admiral reported to the Commanders.


    "Admiral! They seem to be drawing us away from the battle!" A Commander noticed the trend and informed the Admiral.


    "It''s better this way. The Call of Automatons has begun. The Golems have risen. We don''t know what their techs are. But the enemy of those Golems appears to be a specialized team. If we continue to sh with them, we might die even before we notice it. We deal with these small fries. These don''t have Exoskeletons." The Admiral rushed forth.


    Several attacks were made that suddenly managed to kill some of the Exoskeletons outside of the group. The Admiral noticed two Exoskeletons near the area where the Golems were.


    "I have eyes on two traitors here. Get everything that you can from them and try to deduce where they might have had contact with this organization! We need to know whether they were nted or did they switch sides!" The Admiral ordered as the information of those two was disyed on his screen and sent to the Commanders.


    Gardo grabbed on a nearby Exoskeleton, which was killed on the earlier sh, and he used his strength to lift it.


    His arm grew red because of thepression energy that increased his strength. He tossed the Exoskeleton and quickly aimed and shot.


    BANG!


    The bullet trailed where the Exoskeleton was and pierced through it. The timing was just perfect. The bullet passed through and was heading for the Titan.


    Just before the electrical bolts stuck the bullet, the bullet exploded and became divided into three. The first bullet was struck, and the two moved closer. But as it neared the Titan, another bolt hit the remaining two.


    "Not enough, huh?" Gardo sighed.


    The Admiral felt a fearful sensation as he saw how the bullet almost reached him.


    "That''s it! I''m not putting any more chances! Emperors. I request permission to use Hellfire." The Admiral sent a message to the signal the Emperor previously used to contact him.


    A few secondste, an answer was given.


    "Granted."


    The Titan immediately raised its cannon and suddenly shot a column of dark fire that attacked the area.


    Back when Hellfire technology was used in the many battles of the Caliphates, it only saw three actions before the WGP stepped in to ban it. The heat would meld into the hardest metal, and although it wouldn''t destroy or erode it, the heat would seep in and still burn any circuits that would allow an Exoskeleton would have. Of course, it was just as lethal to the pilots.


    The me erupted and hot around the area. Anyone who was within a few meters of that area would die.


    Gardo gazed at the approaching inferno and did not retreat. He knew if he did, this enemy would aim for his friends.


    Roughly a minute before the events that made Gardo face the zing inferno, another battle raged on the other side of the tform.


    The Covenant fought against the Golems.


    John had already rushed back and was in charge of using his attacks to damage or deter the Golems.


    The Golem''s had immense power despite their form, and therge Exoskeleton of Dara would even match the Golem''s strikes.


    The Golem''s movements had strange quick bursts that allowed them to move at an impressively fast speed and could glide at odd directions even when their feet remained nted on the ground.


    Dara was very cautious while battling the enemy before her and dared not use the Exoskeleton tes'' release to make another attack. She that the enemy would use odd techniques as she expected the enemies to have a lot of unpredictable skills and movements.


    She cautiously fought, utilizing the least skills as possible. The Clown had revealed its strange movements and would even try to break past her to attack John. But Dara was the Queen of Tanks. Nothing would get past her unless she dies. On contrast to this battle, Danny the Berserker was the one making all the wild movements that allowed him to spin like a top.


    His battle techniques were so strange that he kept making movements that would even surpass the flexibility of professional aerobics and acrobats. He could turn and spin around with each step. It was as if the joints on his legs allowed him to make an almost 360-degree turn!


    The speed of his turns was also breakneck. But what was annoying was how Danny could execute these attacks urately.


    The Lumberjack could not even move but retain a defensive position and take all the enemy''s attacks.


    John retained a distance as he would snipe the Businessman who kept trying and failing to approach John.


    "About now¡­" John sighed as he looked at the figure of the Businessman carefully.


    Suddenly, the back of the Businessman changed as it immediately transformed into a jet-propelling device. The Origin power around it was absorbed, and with it, it erupted like a shuttle sting off.


    As if acting in synch, the other Golem''s also transformed.


    The Origin power around them was slowly absorbed, and a great transformation urred.


    Danny smashed his hammer at the right rib of the Lumberjack, but surprisingly, the body that was struck turned to liquid!


    The hammer smashed pushed through the entire body of the Lumberjack and passed through the other end of the body. It was as if Danny had struck a pir of water while expecting it to be steel. The force of his strike caused him to be thrown off bnce, and the Lumberjack moved.


    The remaining upper half of the Lumberjack used its steel arms to grapple Danny''s twirling body, and the bottom half readied a powerful knee strike.


    The Clown that continued to grapple and wrestle with Dara abruptly grew two more hands that reached out and grabbed the Exoskeleton.


    The Exoskeleton started to disassemble.


    "Toote, girly!" The Clownughed as the Origin power around him grew brighter and brighter.


    BOOM!


    A powerful explosion urred. And the battered and broken Exoskeleton of Dara could be seen near a structure. It was covered in ck char.


    BANG!


    A big impact then resounded as Danny''s Exoskeleton was thrown off a distance.


    The Businessman received more shots that made it difficult for him to advance. The bullets that John used for this attack were severalrge metallic bullets. The bullets were not designed to pierce but would produce a staggering and halting effect.


    The shots were swiftly made that the Businessman was barely able to dodge it.


    Suddenly, his upper body transformed and created a cone-shaped shield with a very smooth front. Therge bullets slid through the shield and no longer staggered the Golem.


    "Let''s see you shoot me now!" The Businessman screamed as he approached John.


    Back before Gardo and the Covenant''s battle reached its climax, the Empress that was struck and thrown off had now recovered. The Empress contained all her emotions from ending the lives of her attackers.


    The Empress wasn''t hurt, nor was her Exoskeleton damaged. But her pride was hurting.


    A wave of increasing anger rose from within her.


    The Covenant began their assault, and the Empress nced over it and then detected several attacks headed her direction. She moved out of the way and observed the other battle. He sensed Gardo charging to the front lines and noticed how the electro-reactive fields were stopping the bullets.


    "Golems. Don''t y around. Kill them quickly." She ordered.


    She immediately used her boosters to move. Strangely, the usage of these boosters was masked. From the perspective of Cliff and his team, nothing was happening on the area where the Empress was.


    "You little pest!" She clenched her teeth in anger as she hovered closer to Cliff and his team.


    "Empress." The Emperor called out.


    "Admiral request to use Hellfire tech. Should I?" The Emperor asked.


    "Yes. Let him use it." The Empress ordered.


    Cliff contained all his emotions and continued to move as if nothing happened. But he already heard the soft orders of the Empress. Using a less consuming and weaker form of Realm, he listened to her talk.


    At that moment, Cliff used his Skill once more.


    In his dream world, he thought of the many possibilities of what the enemy could do. Cliff spent his days with Seeker, Harker, Arthur and listened to hundreds of annoying military training programs from various countries. With his memories, he decided to think of what the enemy would do.


    "I have to stop her from going after the rest¡­ But I can''t even see her!" Cliff cursed.


    He then summoned the memories of a specific training program he had and absorbed every detail of that memory. Then he left his daydreams.


    "She''s nearby. Follow my lead. Someone asked if we got the enemy. Remember, say enemy!." Cliff spoke using the frequency and speed that only they could understand. To the normal ears, it was as if he was heaving or breathing as he moved.


    "Did we get h- the enemy?" Roselyn asked.


    "No. But keep alert. That invisible thing got through my sensors. Don''t worry. If that enemy attacks again and gets into the sphere of detection, I''ll be sure to kill that enemy! This WGP thinks they''re all so smart!" Cliff gave amand using a different voice. He was copying the sound of another person.


    The Empress had used her techs to listen on them.


    The first thing Cliff trained on was how to change his voice. And although he cannot emte it correctly, the imitation that Cliff could do was outstanding. Cliff had asked for his help before he was sent off to the missions around the world.


    He begged him for permission to be able to use this. This was his ace. This was the one thing that could buy him time even when fighting an Oveer. And to protect his allies, he will have to use that.


    Cliff stood up with an arrogant pose. Memories of his figure surfaced. Cliff remembered every detail of his proud posture and how he stood, his tone, his appearance.


    "Oh, right¡­ That enemy might be a coward. Then I guess I have no choice but to talk to this big, brave man!" Cliffughed.


    Roselyn was stunned. He sounded and moved exactly like him!


    "My name is Lowengren! And I demand the weapon, Puton!" Cliff dered.


    The Empress, who was already moving to kill Gardo''s team, frowned and turned around to look at the figure.


    With a thought, her suit immediately retrieved all files regarding Lowengren.


    "Right height¡­ Same voice." She paused as she continued to make mentalparisons, which her suit simted.


    "Skeptical? Do you want to know how I survived? Let me demonstrate it! Team! Prepare bomb!" Cliffughed manically.


    The Empress'' expression turned sour. If the nuclear bomb would be deployed here, it would significantly damage the Kraken.


    "My maneuver will shock the world once more!" Cliffughed as he then took out am device.


    Roselyn then sprinted to the side.


    "Move as if you have something urgent and sure to do!" Roselyn secretly ordered Tyler.


    Tyler sprang to action and moved as well.


    The Empress looked around and noted the continuing battle of the team. The enemies that were gathered were losing. This was the Maneuver that Lowengren did. But why announce it?


    The Empress got even angrier.


    Without hesitation, she immediately summoned the Origin power on the air as it erupted, creating a green shockwave that erupted. The green wave swept through the Kraken and covered all of it.


    Cliff and the team were surprised and tried to hide for cover. But they realized that there was no harm in the sudden burst of the aurora. Cliff then could sense her presence. Even without Realm, they could see. Tyler and Roselyn, who continued to wear a WGP Exoskeleton, could see her figure.


    "So, you finally showed yourself? What''s with the green entrance? Are all Emperors that arrogant?" Cliff continued to maintain his acting and gave an even more arrogant stand to face the Empress.


    "I''ll call your bluff! If you want to die that badly, this Empress will humor you!" She shouted as shended nearby.

 Chapter 203 - Realm And Origin

    After hearing the voice in the Wind, Hermes led his troops on a full-frontal assault. While Cliff was still running towards the rendezvous point and even before they shed with the Golems, the other side of the Kraken continued to rage with an even more impossible battle.


    The Roller Coaster of wind had destroyed most of the turrets on the tform. The turrets had already withdrawn itself for repairs. As the battle progressed, the damaged Turrets would resurface as good as new.


    All soldiers kept reporting the various urrences around them as they battled.


    Slowly, the Commanders were able to identify the three winds that were attacking them.


    The Commander gave a detailed report to the Emperor. Through the Origin power in the air, the three winds could be seen and were immediately appearing in real-time in a map that they managed to develop.


    The Emperor started to use the maps that the Commander submitted, and through it, he began his counterattack.


    The Emperor had takenmand over the troop. He used his energy and created a sizeable serpent-like creature that would move around the skies.


    The Sentient Serpent flew across the skies and would try to bit or ram the three winds that moved.


    The sh continued as the three Winds employed various ways to attack the Serpent.


    The Blowing wind met it head-on, and at the sh, much of the head of the white energy scattered. The Cutting wind swopped in to cut the body and halved it while the Chilling Wind flew around it to freeze it.


    The energy scattered but could be seen rushing back towards the Rule.


    Soon another Serpent appeared.


    "Oh?" Hermes smiled as he looked at the Serpent.


    "So it looks like we''d have to ignore it while we fight. It''s rather useless trying to destroy that unlimited energy." Hermesughed.


    The Three Winds separated and began attacking the different parts. The White Serpent chased one of them, but the random maneuvers made it difficult to track it. Still, because of the Serpent, the Winds could no longer do the same damage as before.


    "There were four before. One of them is either ying possum or is using an attack we haven''t detected yet. Find it!" The Emperor ordered.


    "As you will." A Commander took the initiative and replied.


    The Three Winds would move around and used various means to sh with the white Serpent.


    After various attacks, the white Serpent would disappear as their energy would disperse.


    "Emperor. Allow me." Another Commandermunicated to the Emperor.


    "Admiral is busy aiding the other Emperor. Allow this humble one to be of service." The Commander requested.


    A toon of Goliaths came rushing in.


    "Don''t disappoint me." The Emperor gave an annoying reply as it began to summon smaller serpents as thest one was once more destroyed by the three in a concerted attack.


    Three serpents rushed out and attacked each one.


    "If we can''t hit them, let''s just crash into them. Employ the shields at my call." A Commander informed.


    The Chilling wind was the most visible o the winds as a bluish aura around it, and some ice crystals could be seen around it.


    The Chilling Wind did not retreat upon noticing the formation of Goliaths but moved even faster.


    "Now!" The Commander ordered as they drew closer, and the impact was imminent.


    BOOM!


    A powerful explosive sound could be heard as the Chilling wind struck a powerful force field generated by the formation of Goliaths.


    "Idiots! Our force field can tolerate some light wind!" The Commanderughed.


    The Chilling wind disappeared after the crashing impact.


    A thickyer of ice had enveloped the shield.


    When the Goliaths disengaged their shields, the ice started crashing down.


    The remaining winds attacking various parts of the Kraken suddenly started to turn around, aiming for the group of Goliaths.


    The Emperor, who had positioned itself at the back of the battle and regrly sent bright attacks, smirked.


    "As expected of the Commanders. That execution was brilliant!" The Emperor praised.


    The Blowing wind moved and started to avoid the two serpents that chased it and rushed towards the toon of Goliaths.


    "Ready the Fire Shield!" The Commander ordered.


    Aside from having a modified version of the force fields that the East Asian Alliance developed, their shields were now both offensive and defensive. Their research and the bountiful resources they havebined Force Field Technology with Arabian Contained me technology.


    The Blowing wind smashed on the toon of soldiers as a whirling cyclone could be seen on the wind''s head.


    BOOM!


    The toon was scattered at the explosive sh, but the Blowing Wind had vanished.


    "Two down!" The Commander could not help but shout in glee.


    The Cutting Wind was all that remained and the three serpents as well as the Goliaths that assumed their formation once more.


    "Emperors. I request permission to use Hellfire." The Emperor received a message from the Admiral.


    The Emperor gazed at the direction where the Admiral fought.


    "Empress. Admiral request to use Hellfire tech. Should I?" The Emperor asked.


    "Yes. Let him use it." The Empress replied with an irritated tone.


    "Granted." The Emperor replied. Not more than two seconds, an alert appeared that one of the Forbidden techs had been used. The Emperor ignored it as he knew it was Hellfire.


    The Cutting wind was surrounded by the various forces that kept assaulting it. It desperately tried to cut through the energy, but it received attacks from all sides.


    Suddenly, a powerful green shockwave exploded out, engulfing everyone on the Kraken.


    "Empress?" The Emperor called. Why did she use Origin Wave?


    "Isn''t this a bit too early?" The Emperor asked, but the Empress did not reply.


    Hermes was the first to feel it as he was up on the air.


    "Gravity changed?" Hermes pondered.


    "No¡­ It''s as if space itself is against me. What an impressive power." He smirked.


    "I guess¡­ I have to use you¡­ It''s been a while, hasn''t it, Omega?" Hermesughed.


    On the other side, the Empress had revealed herself.


    The Empress gazed at the other battles after utilizing Origin Wave.


    He could see that the Admiral was closing in and entrapped a lone soldier. Hellfire technology was pouring our of the mounted shoulder canon of the Titan.


    On the Golem''s side, the Golem''s had now employed their unique abilities to actively reshaping themselves to take advantage of the situation.


    BOOM!


    The Clown had detonated itself, and the scattered pieces of thergest Exoskeleton could be seen around them.


    The Clown gave a derangedugh.


    CRASH! A powerful impact happened as the Lumberjack gave delivered as a resounding knee strike smashed on the hammer-wielding Exoskeleton. The Exoskeleton was sent flying. Knowing how powerful a fully-charged knee strike of a Golem is, the Empress was certain that whoever the pilot was of that Exoskeleton would be crushed or smashed.


    The lone sniper would also escape the flying figure of the Businessman who looked like arge shield. As it kept moving, the guard had turned into ance that was flying at a dangerous speed.


    "It''s over. Your boys are doomed. And even if you do your little maneuver, it will not save you." The Empressughed.


    "Hellfire technology would melt and destroy whatever bombs you had that man carry. As for those Exoskeletons? They are the least of my worry. Blowing them up won''t kill them. And even if you''ve nted the bombs inside several other traitorous Exoskeletons like those two near you, Origin Wave will suppress that explosion. You''ve underestimated our techs, General Lowengren." The Empressughed.


    "Congrattions on making me reveal myself. But now that I used Origin wave, you are all dead." The Empressughed as she hovered closer.


    The sounds of terrifying explosions, and how the impacts of metal crashing on metal could be heard.


    "Oh? So confident are we?" Cliff gave one more boast that Lowengren often did. But then, he felt it.


    It was as if the space around him was resisting him. A familiar pressure pressed on him, hindering his movements.


    Cliff, Tyler, and Roselyn''s movements suddenly slowed down.


    Tyler and Roselyn could not help but ponder as a familiar resistance met them.


    "Origin Wave. This is one of our most powerful weapons. Itmands the Origin Energy that we''ve been creating for decades. It is the very energy we used to clean this Earth. We don''t even use the term energy anymore. For it is what we call our-"


    "Realm." Cliff finished the Empress''s statements.


    Cliff was so stunned at the sensation that he even got off the character. He almost forgot to use Lowengren''s voice in the shock. The feeling he felt was a sensation that he had experienced when facing Seeker and some of the Oveers.


    It was the dominant force that resisted him when he would spar against Seeker and the other Oveers. Cliff could only use it to sense things. Seeker had a way of using it to pressure others. Typical would evenmand it and use his energy to harness objects and create needles within this area.


    This was the mysterious power of the Unlocked that Seeker called the Realm.


    "Impossible." Cliff could not help but mutter and raised his hands. It was as if there was a force that resisted his movements.


    "Is she an Unlocked?!" Roselyn asked, using their unique method ofmunication.


    "No¡­ This feels different. Compared to General Seeker and the rest¡­ this feels dead¡­"


    There was no better way to say it. Those who have trained continuously with Seeker''s team knew the resistance that Realm usually brought. But along the opposition was an emotional feeling. Those who face it would sense a form of life.


    There was no other way to describe this Realm. It had resistance, force, and power. But it did not have the same life within.


    "This isn''t the Unlocking. They just found ways to imitate it. Typical''s Realm was far more terrifying. Heck, even Meryl''s Realm is stronger than this!" Cliff replied.


    "Then pretend that you can''t move that well!" Tyler thought of a bright idea. And immediately, as the pressure increased, Cliff and his group immediately began to move slower.


    "Don''t bother understanding it. The space around you rejects you. This is one of our aces. Imagine always facing a force that resists your every movement. With this, we can detect you. Surprisingly, you brought too little men with you¡­" The Empress nced at the map that her systems disyed. It listed all different groups that were within the Kraken.


    "Oh¡­ So you are a diversion.I can''t believe that you managed to sneak in seven more inside the Kraken!" The Empressughed.


    "There are seven more traitors on tform Xyclon. I will be sending the maps right now." The Empress directlymunicated with the Commanders.


    The Commanders shivered at the voice of this Empress and immediately sprang to action.


    "Seven others?" Cliff was so confused that he voiced his surprise.


    "You thought you could hide it from the Emperors? Laughable.Every soldier, resident, and granted individual residing in the Kraken wears a particr pin. Through that pin, we can determine residents from infiltrators once we use Origin Wave.


    Cliff, Roselyn, and Tyler were confused.


    "Did¡­ Did we have otherpanions?" Cliff sent a secret message to Tyler.


    Tyler gave Cliff a strange expression.


    "Of course not, General! Focus! They must be with Hermes!" Tyler replied.


    "And now that I know where all your allies are, the Origin Energy is nowpressing itself around them! Even if you execute your suicidal maneuver, the explosion will meet the constant force that resists it." The Empressughed.


    "Our explosions¡­ they will be suppressed!" Roselyn cried with a worried tone.


    "y along! We need to buy as much time as we can!" She spoke through a frequency only Cliff and Tyler could understand.


    "Correct. Even if it''s a nuclear bomb, the surrounding Origin Energy will go against it. Through our science, Origin Energy is capable of decreasing the power of an explosion by a third or even half!"


    "You can do that?" Cliff replied in amazement. He almost added ''too'' in that sentence but managed to resist it.


    "These are the least things our Realm technology can do!"


    Cliff cursed and hoped that he had studied more about Realm from Seeker.


    "But of course¡­ your team won''t be able to survive anyway. Except for you traitors who are equipped with WGP metal, everyone else will feel this restrictive force. So your small team would be helpless now. Even those strange men using a branch of New Great Britain''s and Canada''s technology would be destroyed. Their flight would have greater resistance so that they would be drastically slower. Even their bullets would face resistance!" The Empressughed.


    The pressure kept increasing, and Cliff began to move in a way that was staggering and slow. It was as if they were underwater.


    "It''s a pity that you didn''t wear any strong gears, Lowengren¡­ Or whoever you are." The Empressughed as she raised her hand to shoot Cliff.


    "Die alongside your troop. They were exceptionally skilled! I''ll give you credit for that feat. But your mistake in assuming that we would fall like Australia. We are Emperors. We will Rule!" The Empressughed. BOOM!


    A terrifying lightning bolt struck and prated through the Kraken''s force field and came crashing down on the area where the Golems fought the Covenant.


    "What?!" The Empress turned her attention to the battlefield. She noticed that the three enemy Exoskeletons were standing around the smoking remains of the Golems. The Golems were severely damaged. It would take some time for them to reform once more.


    "I have sustained heavy damage and will be retreating!" The Admiral reported.


    The Empress nced at the direction where the Admiral was fighting. Although a wide area of Hellfire could be seen, the front armor of the Titan was damaged. The Electro-reactive field was disabled due to the damage the Titan received. Even with Origin, it required repairs for the area to regain stability. The toon of Exoskeletons that apanied the Admiral''s Titan were few. Only a dozen remained from the original troop of thirty.


    "Descending Dragon sh!" A voice shouted.


    The domineering name of the attack caused the Empress to react and immediately employ an extreme defensive measure.


    "Die!"


    Green energy gathered around the Empress before exploding out.


    BOOM!


    The green bomb exploded mightily.


    "It works!" Cliff shouted in glee as he appeared above the Empress.


    The Empress was stunned that her explosive attack didn''t even faze the enemy.


    Cliff thrust his sword and struck the Empress right on the chest. The Exoskeleton that the Empress wore immediately went on the defensive.


    PENG!


    It was as if a wrecking ball smashed on the Exoskeleton, and it fell to a distance.


    The Empress crashed on the ground once more. In one day, she actually fell twice.


    She gave a grave look at the figure that was strangely extremely happy but then took on a very arrogant pose as if looking down on the Empress as if she was grass.


    "You¡­ Realm didn''t work¡­ My Realm st didn''t work. You''re an Emperor, aren''t you?!" The Empress angrily demanded.


    "Erm¡­ Ri-Right.." Cliff hesitated.

 Chapter 204 - Red Robin

    The seconds before the astonishingeback of Cliff in sessfully striking a guarded Empress, several events urred on the respective battles the others were facing.


    Gardo gazed at the towering Titan that readied its massive weapons that brought forth Hellfire Technology.


    Gardo retreated as the canon shot its first wave. The zing fire was almost likeva. It wasn''t just pure heat but had a thick watery form. Gardo retreated quickly and even employed his unique ability and exploded off backward.


    Upon retreating, several Exoskeletons took advantage of Gardo''s retreat and emerged from their forcefield and started shooting Gardo''s ally.


    "AGH!" One explosive round struck the area near one of Gardo''s men.


    "Efren!" Jane called out as she rushed a barrage.


    Gardo immediately stopped retreating and started shooting the enemies that emerged out of the shield.


    "Get back in!" The Admiral ordered, which made all the Exoskeleton''s rush back in. Yet in those few seconds, seven Exoskeletons were killed.


    "Superb shooting. What technology is he using?" The Admiral mumbled.


    "I''m alright!" Efren reported as he grunted and moved towards Archie.


    Suddenly, a powerful green wave enveloped the entire area.


    "What?" Gardo frowned at the sudden pressure that restricted his movements.


    His entire body felt resistance in the smallest of movements.


    "Origin Wave? I guess the Empress is serious. The Admiralughed and noticed that the Realm around him was making the heated cannon cool down faster.


    "Looks like I can shoot longer now!" The Admiralughed.


    "Sir! We can''t-"


    "I know! I feel it too!'' Gardo shouted back.


    Gardo stood his ground and noticed that the Titan had aimed his cannon once again.


    "Stand your ground and get ready to shoot!" Gardo shouted his orders.


    He knew that he couldn''t retreat. If he did, the enemies that stayed behind the field would attack and may end up shooting and killing his allies.


    "Once that man is roasted, attack his allies." The Admiral ordered as well as he aimed his canon once more.


    The Hellfire canon had one weakness: it couldn''t be used continuously.


    Yet now, the Admiral was determined to roast Gardo and his allies.


    Gardo knew that the next attack would be risking the weapon itself. Even then, Gardo nced at the Hellfire cannon, and disregarding themon sense of man; he stepped forward.


    "He''s attacking?" The Admiral frowned and immediately pulled the trigger.


    The heated mes could be seen emerging out of the canon. In Gardo''s perspective, time suddenly slowed down.


    Gardo''s entire body grew hotter and hotter. The theory was in his head, and though it was sane, it was still crazy. Gardo smirked and moved forward and threw his handguns towards the top of a nearby structure.


    His entire body heated up, and his right foot exploded out as he ran. At that moment, the mes had appeared.


    The zing mes of Hellfire raged through. Gardo''s theory was simple. If he moved fast enough, he wouldn''t feel the heat. Like someone swiftly moving his fingers through fire and not get burned, this same theory was the one that Gardo believed to have worked. Primarily since he used thepressed Eradication energy to burst forth, making his entire body hot. By increasing his temperature, he assumed that it would add as ayer of protection to zoom past the burning mes.


    "Fight fire with fire!" Gardoughed. His suit was specially made to withstand the heat his body generated and would even conduct it outwards.


    The tidal mes of Hellfire were likeva. Time slowed down so much that Gardo could even see the milliseconds.


    Slowly, memories of his life appeared.


    "A Life Review? But why? I won''t die here." Gardo smirked.


    Then Gardo recalled the discussions that made him confident in his reckless charge.


    During the eight hours dy, Gardo had talked in detail with Cliff to learn more about the Unlocking.


    "Wait¡­ You''re telling me she could explode?" Gardo asked.


    "Yeah. Originally, she could only create a sh bang that was so bright. But soon, she managed to have this fiery ability." Cliff replied casually.


    "But how? How can she not be consumed? Won''t the explosions she create harm herself? How can a grenade explode and remain intact?" Gardo pressed on. Of all the impossible discussions they had, this was one of the most crucial for Gardo, who had a body that was roughly simr to Gardo''s.


    "It''s her cells. Seeker exined that to an Unlocked, the cells are interlinked. So it won''t harm itself."


    "But what about explosions? The force of the explosion should cause great strain to her!"


    "Arthur said that it''s because of Realm." Cliff sighed.


    "Realm? I read about those on the reports you gave. They said that the Realm could create stuff. In an extreme example, it was the Dragon''s Fang lead assassin, Typical. Can you do Realm?"


    "No. I can only do Realm Somatotopy. Only Typical and Lynd can create Realm that alters the physical stuff of the area. As for Meryl, her Realm simply protects her. But even she can''t exin how it happens. Disgusting Believers." Cliffined.


    "But how does it happen?"


    "From Seeker''s exnation, it can only happen when the Unlock can produce it. Typical and Lynd can. But Lynd''s weaker. Seeker can, but it''s because of his memories. When we fought thest, he used it to make our movements slow. I lost a leg, Lynd an arm, and Meryl got stabbed on the stomach. It was horrifying. I hated that sensation!" Cliff shivered.


    "Sensation?"


    "Typical can sort of concentrating their Realm in a single area. With it, he can create great needles and des. Lynd could copy Typical, but it''s weak. Meryl''s Realm is sort of a defensive mechanism that protects her from harming herself. Any explosions she creates don''t affect her. Seeker and the other Oveers¡­ they''re scary. They can cover an entire room with Realm. That''s why I hated training with them. It''s like your fighting inside a haunted house, and Seeker is the haunted house!"


    "How does that even work?" Gardo asked curiously.


    "I don''t know. That''s what Lennox has been trying to develop recently. A Realm without an owner."


    "That''s possible?"


    "I don''t know. Lennox says it''s difficult to make. But if something like that were to be made, and Unlocked can immediately tap on to it. Realm is something that only an Unlocked can sense. Its probably because our perception is different. The problem is, creating a new Realm is practically impossible right now. But if we can create it, it''ll be easier."


    "How is it easier?"


    "It''s kinda like swimming. Lennox theorized that if he can create a new or ownerless Realm, we can experience what it feels like. If we can experience it, we can probably learn how to create it. Being exposed to other Realms is useless because it''s like experiencing being with another person. It just doesn''t work that way."


    "Oh. With my physical body, and with the Unlocking, I can dish out more damage. My cells are different. If I can get my hands on the cells of that babe, Meryl, our family couldplete their study and create a super-soldier with Eradication tech." Gardo sighed.


    "That babe?"


    "Yeah. Isn''t she like some super-hot white princess?"


    Cliff didn''t know how to react. She''s seen Meryl, and the memories of the former Meryl somehow made Cliff unable to see the new Meryl.


    "The only issue is being able to withstand our destruction. My body can generate enough power like that of a Pangean Eradication grenade. But I''d be hurt from my explosion. I wish that Realm would soon appear." Gardo sighed.


    And his prayers were answered.


    The Origin Wave created a vast Realm. It was not controlled by a person but was like a programmed tool. Yet because it had no ownership but only acted onmand, Gardo felt that he could manipte it.


    Eradication technology was the science of keeping atoms and molecules in constant movement. Through a particr means, the energy that they could create wasn''t just hot; it was grinding. The effect was so profound that Eradication bullets could kill a person or destroy an Exoskeleton if the bullet coated with Eradication technology wasn''t removed.


    The constant movement of his body allowed himself to generate heat. Every cell in his body was constantly at motion. Gardo''s body was an ongoing experiment. The Dalisay''s did not publicize the results and fruits of their study on all of their nsmen. The science that has been passed down for decades would all be instilled on the body of one man.


    After decades of research, Dalisay''s technology now created a super-human body that could generate heat and expel it safely. Of course, if the user makes such a powerful energy and strikes something, the explosion may damage themselves.


    Gardo pierced through the mes. He did a quick spin at the end to quickly throw off any fire that would have remained on his suit. He had no metal equipment''s on him, so the electro-reactive field didn''t activate.


    The slowing down of time allowed Gardo to push his heat on his right arm quickly.


    All that was left was to punch out.


    Gardo took his gamble. He hadn''t any of the faintest ideas of what Realm was. But because of the Origin wave, it was as if he was granted big training wheels that allowed him to simte what it was to have a Realm.


    "I guess it''s too soon to call this Hawk?" Gardo chuckled.


    "Red Robin!" Gardo punched out an explosive fist ofpressed energy.


    BOOM!


    The powerful punch exploded out.


    Gardo was thrown back from the force, but as he was flying backward, he somersaulted andnded on his feet. He immediately dashed towards the area where he threw his guns.


    "I''m alive! That hurt, but that Realm thing worked! Whoever did it is, thank you so much!" Gardo was extremely excited about the sess. The explosion was suppressed, and instead of facing the might of a massive bomb, he met the shockwave that threw him backward.


    The Titan''s shoulder was smashed, and a fist-sized hole could be seen. The devices that created the electro-reactive field was damaged and could not create more.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Gardo''s team members started to shoot. It was difficult to attack as their movements were prolonged.


    Stanley had been busy attacking the Turrets that surfaced nearby. Finally, hepleted his task and was now assisting Gardo''s team by shooting down the Exoskeletons that approached. Because he was still wearing the Exoskeleton made by the WGP, he was unaffected by the Origin wave and could move quickly.


    Gardo moved faster and faster. The Realm around him somehow lost its resistance. But as he jumped, a resisting force appeared near his stomach, and he lost his bnce and tumbled down pitifully on the ground.


    "Boss! Are you alright?" Jane asked.


    "How do I control this damned thing?" Gardo was nowining about hisck of control. It was then that he noticed a significant change in the skies above.


    "What happened? Why is the force field destroyed?!" Gardo stared at the heavens.


    "It was a lightning bolt! It struck there!" Archie reported and pointed to the direction where the Covenant fought.


    "If that''s the case, then the Covenant should be fine. Let''s clean up the enemies here and support Cliff!" Gardo ordered as he began attacking the Exoskeletons that were now fleeing.


    Several Armor''s were approaching andunched massive attacks.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Stanley and Gardo worked together and shot the rockets.


    "That''s crazy! They no longer care about the Kraken!" Archie cursed in freight. The attacks these Armors used would have left some damage on the Kraken.


    "They''re getting desperate! Let''s kill them!" Jane smirked excitedly.


    "Wait! Don''t! I''ll handle them!" Gardo called out and excitedly rushed forth.


    "Bo-boss!" Even the very trusting Jane called out in panic as Gardo rushed forth.


    "Don''t interfere! I''m training!" Gardoughed. The first thing he did was cause his legs to explode out.


    The explosion was terrifying, and he was thrown like a rocket.


    "Ugh! That still hurt¡­ But its an improvement!" Gardo smiled as he prepared a powerful punch.


    The Realm around him was to his advantage. For in the unthinking, un lifeless form of this Realm, the Empress gave simplemands. And of thesemands was one that greatly aided Gardo. The power was to restrict and contain explosions.


    Gardo''s potential as the head of a family that was one of the Progenitors seeds had long taken root. And now, with the Unlocking, it was as if individual pieces of the puzzle that would spur him to greatness had been unsealed.


    As Gardo approached the first Armor, an rming thought surfaced.


    "Wait. If my first punch is Robin, and this punch would be stronger, what would I name it? If the final form is Red Hawk, do I increase the bird size using Red Hawk as the final form? What''s bigger than a Robin? A parrot? What do I name this? Ugh¡­ No time to think about this! I must take advantage of this strange Realm and practice!"


    And so, begrudgingly, Gardo gave his unnamed punching technique that created an even more powerful explosion.


    This time, Gardo was not sent flying but the explosion but only took a few step backs.


    "Maybe I should change color¡­ Yellow Robin?" Gardo muttered, seeing the Armor that stumbled back with arge opening on its stomach.

 Chapter 205 - Breaching The Force Field

    The Covenant was in trouble. Dara''s Exoskeleton remained shattered on the floor as the Clown moved to find the main pieces which would have contained the pilot.


    "Did she die in the explosion?" The Clown pondered. The explosion was quite powerful as it harnessed the Origin energy around them.


    Gazing at the distance, he could see the Lumberjack had just delivered a powerful kick on the face of the hammer-wielding Exoskeleton.


    PENG!


    "Ouch. That''s smarts!" The Clownughed.


    On the other side, the Businessman had finally changed its form and assumed a staggered-proof form.


    Thence-like form caused the Businessman to move unhindered. The shots of the sniping Exoskeleton could no longer cause the Businessman to change its fast course.


    BOOM!


    A green wave rushed throughout the area and made the Golemsughed. Victory was assured!


    "The Empress used Origin Wave?" The Clown pondered as he waited expectantly for the sniper to be stabbed through by thence.


    Suddenly, something extremely fast smashed on to the Businessman.


    The Golem pierced on the ground below, making arge hole. Thence-like body was buried underground while his humanoid feet could be seen.


    The object that smashed through it was the hammer-wielding Exoskeleton!


    "What?!" The Clown was stunned.


    "Don''t doze off in the middle of the battle!" The Lumberjackined. The moment he knee-strike the connected, he noticed that his enemy was thrown away at an unusually high speed.


    As the Elites who piloted the Golem, they could not feel the impact that they made. If a pilot were in the Golem, they would know that there was something off with how the strike connected.


    Indeed, at thest second of the knee-strike, when the Lumberjack revealed more arms and grappled the twirling Danny, a voice shouted at Danny in a frequency that humans could not hear.


    "Careful! It''s creating more arms!" The voice warned.


    Danny immediately issued amand on the lightning energy that guided the extreme movements of his Exoskeleton.


    He was a pro-yer and was known as the greatest hustle yer in Piercing. The way he adapted and countered surprise attacks was legendary that very few assassins or scouts pro-yers would dare attack Danny in close-range.


    Danny''s advantage in how he perceived things only heightened his already indwelling skill. He rushed forth and used a strange technique that several of the Dragon''s Fangs decided to teach Danny.


    Force and One trained with Danny during the time in the Tatsulok Aguinaldo. Force extended his stay to train the Covenant for various skills in the stead of Meng.


    Danny had considered himself to be Force''s disciple.


    When the impending knee of the Golem drew closer, Danny urged his non-hammer arm to push against the knee. With that, he forced his body away from the knee. His hammer-formed arm then mmed down. The sudden change of direction ced immense pressure that would have injured a human being. But Danny''s unique constitution allowed him to bear the pain.


    The Hammer struck the knee just above where Danny''s other hand was pushing his body away. Danny used the remaining force of the knee strike to send him away as if an impact urred.


    The Golem could not sense, nor did he see the speedy actions of Danny and thought that he smashed the head of the Exoskeleton.The Golem''s other arms had already released Danny during thest second of the impact, considering the strike would send it crashing away.


    Danny''s figure did fly out. But the strange thing was it did not stop. Itnded expertly and continued to rush off towards the flying Lance-Golem.


    The Lumberjack tried to warn the Clown as the bent leg of his had yet to reform.


    BOOM!


    A powerful explosion suddenly jolted the Lumberjack after he warned the Clown. The st happened on where the Clown was.


    The Clown was once more sent flying as a terrifying punch created a deep dent was made on its metallic head.


    The petite woman was standing behind the Clown, and the scattered pieces of the Exoskeleton gathered together once more.


    It did not waste any time as it rushed towards the Lumberjack.


    Dara had known that an Explosion was going to happen. Titan had warned her secretly.


    Titan had the most meticulous task as he always roamed around the area and alerted his allies of anything that he saw or heard was of danger. It was Titan who warned Danny that another arm appeared on the Lumberjack''s sides. And while the difference of when Titan alerted Danny and when the arm caught Danny''s Exoskeleton was only about a second, it was enough for Danny to make the necessary preparation.


    Titan had noticed that the strange fluctuations in his vision that primarily detected heat. The changes in the Golems body could be seen as their temperature increased.


    Dara heard Titan''s warning and employed the technique that Meng taught.


    One of her many requests was to have an ability to that various Tanks in Piercing had. All Tanks could get in and out of battle. Each Tank would employ multiple means such as shrouding, deception, forceful retreat, and powerful attacks, that allowed the escape. And so, as the Clown grappled Dara, she already used the trick that Meng gave him. The Exoskeleton that the Clown held was only a hollow shell.


    Dara was already outside by then. One of the pieces flew and blocked the view of the Golem, and in that quick second, Dara rode one of the metals which shot out swiftly. Dara rushed to the area at the back of the Golem.


    When the explosions urred, the Exoskeleton armor simply allowed itself to scatter. The sight of the wreckage fooled the Clown, but in truth, Dara''s Exoskeleton was not even damaged in the slightest.


    Dara used a simplified version of Hybrid-Almetal. It was weaker than the usual metal, but this was strong enough to resist it. An explosion of that magnitude would have destroyed the circuits and energy sources that allowed the Exoskeleton to function. Only something made of Almetal, such as Meng''s armor, would be strong enough to withstand it.


    But everyone in the Covenant had no circuits in their suit. For this reason, the WGP didn''t secure the weapons since it was basically a nk and empty suit. But in reality, these suits had technologies that would shock the WGP. Lennox''s lightning powered the suit. The suit would harness and create more energy through heat, friction, and even impact.


    Benteriallyon metal was attached on several slots of the Exoskeleton to absorb and add more energy to fuel the Exoskeleton. But the primary source that triggers and empowers the Exoskeleton and awakes the lightning is the Unlocking itself. The cells of the team were altered and had specific changes in the mitochondria. No longer was it limited to being the powerhouse of the cell as it would awaken the Lightning energy in their Exoskeleton.


    The heat and kic energy that the Benteriallyon absorbed could also generate more fuel for the Lightning energy once an Unlocked piloted it.


    Dara''s fist glowed as the parts of her Exoskeleton returned to transfer the kic power to her.


    The Clown saw how Danny smashed the Businessman and readied to move.


    "Now!" Titan alerted.


    Dara rushed fort and punched the back of the Clown just as it was about to move. Danny struck the distasteful figure of the Businessman on the groin and sent it flying as well.


    The Lumberjack immediately rushed off as its back transformed into a strange jet propelling device and sted off as the Origin energy around became the fuel that created the burst.


    But Titan was waiting. He immediately jumped over the Lumberjack and struck it with a sword. The sword shed and sliced off one of the wings, causing the flight of the Lumberjack to spin out of control.


    John was waiting and began a series of attacks that forced the direction of the Lumberjack spin.


    Asterisxxx wasn''t an extraordinary Sniper in the Pro-team. He required more time to make an urate shot. In fact, most of the Piercing pro snipers had a higher uracy rate than Asterisxxx.


    But despite the low uracy rate of Asterisxxx, Arthur considered Asterisxxx to be a true sniper. In the fast-paced world of Piercing, speed in shooting was indeed essential. But Arthur valued uracy more. He knew that unlike other snipers, the more time John Octavion III would spend in aiming, the higher the chances of shooting.


    None of the Covenant made a big deal about Asterisxxx uracy stats. Only they knew the real stats that mattered. Of all the attacks that Arthur deemed essential or necessary, Asterisxxx had a 100% uracy rate.


    Now, with the Unlocking, the time perception gave Asterisxxx the speed hecked.


    The precise timing of the shots caused the Lumberjack''s chaotic spins to move towards the intended direction.


    The Businessman and the Clown smashed against each other from the respective attacks of Danny and Dara. And then the Lumberjack crashed unto them.


    BOOM!


    The three had a pitiful appearance as the liquid metal was so damaged that the three figures seemed to be meld together.


    Titan threw a small sk of liquid towards the Golems. The WGP studied it and determined it was some form of gas or energy fluid they presumed to power up the obsolete Exoskeletons. So, it did not perform any other measures and locked it along with the rest. Titan was worried that this sk would be stored elsewhere, but the utter mundane techs of everything their weapons had made the WGPx.


    As the sk reached the area directly above the three figures, Danny and Dara raised their right arm and generated lightning energy that arced towards the container. Upon impact, a small electric power struck the area below it creating arge of electricity wrapped around the three Golems.


    "I can''t move!" The Clown cursed.


    The lightning energy stunned the three Golems, making it difficult for the Golems to move.


    John had dashed towards the three Golems after hisst attack. He was now crouched down nearby the three Golems and raised hisrge rifle towards sk that continued to release strange lightning energy. He drew close to aim as high as he possibly can in that position.


    John was ready to shoot again. Upon aiming, his Exoskeleton drew energy from his own body and activated the hidden lightning bolt in his gun.


    BANG!


    A fast electric beam shot through the sk and pierced towards the sky. A portion of the strange energy that the container released when it was exposed to the electricity generated by Danny and Dara,bined with John''s charged attack.


    The beam raced through the sky. The Origin, powered force field, functioned just like a force field that the EAA developed. It allowed objects from within to leave the area without much resistance. As the beam passed through the sky, another weapon that Lennox had secretly developed through the years came into y.


    After the battle in One China, Seeker had inquired about the extent and control that Lennox had over New Great Britain.


    "You could say I control nothing, but I also control everything. I can bend things to my will, but not initiate it." Lennox exined.


    "Bend things? Can you control their weather technology?"


    "No. But if theyunch it, regardless of whether it''s a thunderstorm or simply a regr storm, I can use the clouds they generate to fire lightning strikes." Lennox revealed a sk of water.


    "This is a Liquified Cloud Charger. I create a few of this for battle, but no, It looks like I have to hurry up in creating these. One bolt is strong enough to destroy an entire building." Lennox exined.


    Seeker was silent.


    "No wonder New Great Britain faired better than the Americas in my timeline." Seeker mumbled.


    "How long does it take to create one?"


    ??Three sks ever month. Faster if you want a lesser version. I also need a substantial amount of energy to create one."


    "How much food do you need?" Lynd wondered. He knew that the Unlock generally uses the calories in their body to create it.


    "He doesn''t need food. This guy is basically a human charger. Most of the weapons that the Unlock used utilize the lightning energy he created. He can get energy not only from food but from everything else. Just plug this guy to a powernt, and he can be full."


    "So, you don''t need to eat?"


    "It is still easier for me to eat and let my body do the conversion from food to vitamins and minerals. So I still eat." Lennox exined.


    "Anyway, can you create smaller versions of these things? It would be beneficial for the battles toe."


    "It only works for the clouds that New Great Britain creates for their storms."


    "Do you control the weapons development science team of New Great Britain?" Harker was shocked and decided to rify.


    "No. I was secretly the head scientist who made this technology. I devised it from the sciences that my family has been researching. That''s why my lightning can cause clouds over New Great Britain to attack mymand."


    "Great. Create a few sks. It''s alright if it''s weaker. But we need at least five of these every month. New Great Britain will beunching a storm over Australia soon." Seeker smirked.


    The attack that Seeker mentioned was the long-nned attack on the Kraken.


    With the technologies prepared for this attack, the Windy Cloud category of the storm that New Great Britain sent would be a Lightning Tempest.


    Every time something from within the force field would exit it from the inside, an opening by which the object has passed through would remain for a few milliseconds before the force field reforms to cover that gap. This even applied to the smallest forms of attack that the Kraken would employ. Bullets and even energy shots would swiftly pass by as the molecules of the force field were designed to allow passage from within.


    Since the attack that John sent out was a continuous stream of energy, the small hole remained open.


    As the energy emerged from the force field, the stormy clouds over the Kraken detected the power, so it reacted by sending one thunderbolt.


    The bolt arced and ran through the energy attack. It followed the line of attack and went for the sk and descended on the three Golems.


    BOOM!


    A terrifying thunder erupted. The bolt of lighting faced the resistance of the force field as it tried to close the hole. But the effect was like water rushing out of a dam; the exposed opening could not withstand the bolt''s power and pressure. Arge hole was made, and the force field tried to recover the breach. But before it could quickly cover up the hole, a strange power stopped it. It was as if arge cork was ced on it.


    The Emperor detected the breach and frowned.


    He immediately rushed towards the hole in the sky and found arge jet.


    The Emperor readied an attack, but then, something invisible struck the Rule.


    The Rule was once more sent flying from the attack. Cracks appeared on the area where it was struck. Several alerts reported the damage on the Rule.


    "What?!" The Emperor couldn''t believe it. Something managed to damage the Rule.m


    Grant Hermes appeared nearby and nced at the sky. The Large jet transformed into a massive Armor with a simple post-modern design.


    "I knew you guys wouldn''t die so easily." Hermesughed.


    A figure emerged behind the newly transformed robot.


    A man walked on air and nced at Grant.


    "Just what I needed. An Oveer.." The manughed excitedly.

 Chapter 206 - The Needle Fights The Storm

    The jet had finished its transformation as several mounted and exaggerated weapons could be seen in front of the Armor. It carried a gigantic cannon on its right shoulder and arge shield on the left arm. Two men emerged from the sides and jumped towards the air andnded on nothing.


    Yet the two men stood securely on the air. Both carried arge backpack, and a lot of guns and weapons were word all over their gear.


    "Oveer Grant Hermes. You are as your reputation precedes you. You appear to be even more dangerous than that arrogant teen."


    "I knew the Dragon wouldn''t fall so easily. I take it that you are in alliance with whoever is behind this attack?" Grantughed. He could not help but nce at the force field that covered the Kraken. The shields were flickering as it tried to recover the hole. But something seemed to have halted the force field from closing up.


    "It looks like the Dragon hasn''t been cking. They say the Dragon was in. But it looks like it has sharpened its fangs. Are you here for the party as well? So exhrating." Grantughed.


    "I was watching the battle from outside of the shield. You lost three winds. And here I was hoping to fight you in your prime." Typical then unsheathed a long de.


    "My winds are stronger than the Dragon''s Fangs. Open your eyes, brats. Dragons can only fly because of the wind in their wings."


    Back in the Kraken, the Commanders were giving orders to each group with haste. With the force field, they already had so much trouble. With the distorted force field, the remaining forces that they had detected could now attack the fragile state of the force field.


    "Prioritize attacks on the breach!" The Emperor.A vast number of Exoskeletons suddenly flew from the ground and raced towards the area where the breach happened. The Kraken lit up from the numerous attacks that sted out.


    But despite the omnidirectional attacks, a few of the approaching forces found means to avoid or block the attacks quickly.


    The Emperor finally decided to use it.


    A giant White Serpent was forming from the radiant energies that gathered around the Rule. It was sorge that even Grant and Typical, who was nearly in the sky, could see it.


    As the White Serpent formed, it slowly turned into a bright shade of green as the Origin energy magnified its power.


    One of the shocking technologies that the WGP has shown to the world was something that appeared four decades ago during one of the Continental Wars that erupted. At the time when New Great Britain was rising as a power, the European Nations fought against New Great Britain and did not follow the Rules of Engagement that the WGP established.


    In anger, an Emperor and a team of skilled warriors that many believed to be the Elites that appearedter in history disrupted the ongoing march of the EU''s forces towards the battlefield. There were no discussions or anymunication between the two. The Emperor simply utilized one of the standard technology that all Emperor had.


    A giant Green Serpent rose from the skies and charged at the enemies. This energy could not be easily destroyed as it was made with pure energy. Explosions and bullets could do no damage, and the strongest energy-based attacks they had at that time could not prate through the Serpent thickness.


    The Serpent destroyed the armies, and the helpless EU had to eventually concede in their battle against New Great Britain because of the losses they had in that battle.


    Once more, this technology was released.


    J?rmungandr. The Midgar Serpent had appeared once more.


    It opened its white maws and moved to attack the sky.


    "Oh? Is this the bearing of an Oveer? We''d have to deal with your failure in killing the enemies?" Typicalughed as he nced at therge snake-headed towards them.


    "Little boy, just because you''ve been given by your daddy some neat toys to y with, doesn''t mean you can have talks with adults. Besides¡­ I was purposely, not killing them. But since you''re here, let''s have a little fun. I haven''t moved in a while, and my bones are just aching for a battle." Grantughed.


    "Deal with that first. I assure you, I am far more dangerous than that worm. Whoever created thick Realm made a fool of themselves. My power has grown. Was this supposed to obstruct us?" Typical shook his head as he felt the Realm around him. Several translucent needles appeared around him.


    "Amazing¡­ This will greatly improve our understanding of the Realm. Take note of this. You three now have an advantage! Grasps this!" Typical called out to the men behind him.


    "Yes, Young Master!" The three answered. The moment they entered the force field, they felt the strange and familiar sensation.


    "I''m more worried about your little brats, Grant. Will they survive?" Typical asked.


    "Oh, you don''t need to worry. The difference between your master and me is that I don''t have such ipetent subordinates."


    As the giant snake moved closer and closer, a tornado began to form right in the middle of the sky. It had the shape of the ball appeared.


    The appearance of the enormous tornado was so abrupt that the attacks of the WGP armies were now traveling in chaos. Several explosions even urred in the sky as the rockets would hit each other.


    The Serpent was the only thing that stayed true to its path and continued its reckless charge.


    The ball of tornado suddenly moved and shed with the Serpent. There was no explosion, but the white Serpent started to dissipate at the wild wind.


    Several des of wind were shooting out randomly and would hack and slice the turrets, Exoskeletons, and Armors of the Kraken. The frost returned, and the mighty blowing wind that even caused the Armors to be unable from moving freely all burst forth.


    "Keep shooting that tornado!" The Emperor ordered the Green energy around him gathered.


    Suddenly, several of the Exoskeletons nearby started to move erratically.


    Some were not shooting but started to retreat. Several others paused from attacking while others began to move towards the Emperor. Those who were flying stopped their flight.


    "More traitors?" The Emperor pondered.


    Some of the Armors were also moving strangely, while others didn''t move at all.


    "What''s going on?" The Emperor called the Commander and could hear the noisesing from their side as he opened themunication channel.


    The cries of soldiers gasping for their breaths resounded on the background.


    "Emperor! Something strange is happening around their area! The soldiers are reporting to be incapable of breathing.


    More and more Exoskeletons were falling on the ground.


    The Emperor noticed it and had a terrifying premonition.


    "Disy the oxygen level outside!" The Emperor ordered and the Rule.


    Several images immediately popped up, and the Emperor confirmed it. The wind in their area was bing thinner and thinner.


    In a high paced battle that required immediate fast movements, the sudden thinning of the air caused many to feel disoriented. Those nearer the tornado lost control and immediately fell.


    "How''s this possible! They have their oxygen supplies!"


    "We don''t know! Some of the Exoskeletons in the area aren''t suffering from oxygen loss!"


    The Emperor immediately took action and analyzed it. He then realized the culprit.


    "Order all Exoskeletons to have received damage to retreat!" The Emperor made a quick analysis and noticed that only Exoskeletons that have received damage from the earlier battles with the Wind had that.


    "Emperor?" The Commander asked in confusion.


    "They have a technology that can suck air! It is stealing the oxygen from the damaged Exoskeletons exploiting whatever damage or holes that have been made!" The Emperor gave his deduction.


    Right in the middle of the ball of a tornado, stood thest member of the Four Winds of Hermes. The Void Wind. Omega. While each of the Winds was granted the ability to wield the winds and employ a specific science that supported it, Omega was only given the power to use the wind. But the manner that he could wield it was so much greater andrger that he could create a vacuum right in the middle of the open field.


    Alongside him was the Three Winds.


    "What is this? It''s like that pressure that Boss creates!" Alvin wondered.


    "This must be that Origin tech that the Boss mentioned. Who would have thought that it would be something like this." Austin was delighted.


    "Woah. Omega¡­ You''ve already gathered so much. No wonder you decided to make a grand entrance!" Omriconughed.


    "The winds are blowing to our favor. I can even suck the oxygen out of the supply of a damaged Exoskeleton. This Origin Energy is helping me manipte the wind!" Even the stoic Omega couldn''t help but smile.


    As the Emperor had deduced, the Exoskeletons that were damaged by had the wind and oxygen sucked out. While many survived the sh of the winds, they still sustained damages created gaps, cracks, and even holes. The Exoskeletons generally ignored these damages as it was minimal and not worthy of making them retreat.


    "Do I have to use that?!" The Emperor was angry that he would have to use more of his arsenal to fight.


    "Fine then! Initiate Call of the Automatons, Code Z!" The Emperor finally ordered as the green lights of the aurora began to flicker.


    Grant noticed the changes in the sky and turned to the Typical.


    "It looks like we have to start fighting. I don''t know what techs the WGP will employ¡­ But then again, I don''t know what toys you got with you." Grantughed.


    "Toys? We''re not like the WGP. We''re just like you. Seeds of the Progenitor."


    Hermes didn''t show any shocked expression, but he was inwardly startled at how openly Typical announced it.


    "Surprised that I would go out and say it? Don''t be. A time ising and has nowe that we won''t need to hide these secrets. Our enemies are already moving to carry out their ns. As of this moment, we are still too weak even to fight them to a standstill. But don''t take my word for it. If I''m not wrong, that energy we detected in Australia should be on its way here. Whoever that man or woman is, the battle here will only grow more interesting. As for us, we must fight. Even if calling in a truce is possible, we have to put on a show. What would happen if our enemy discovers the trail of the Progenitor? They would target everyone here and all the groups that may have received an inheritance from the Progenitor."


    Grant could not help but nod his head.


    "You are right. You must be allied with that boy who chatted earlier. Alright. I promise I won''t kill you."


    "While I appreciate your sentiments, I can''t promise the same thing. On the other hand, to ovee my limitations, I have to try to kill you. But will you be alright? Your underlings seemed busy. You gave away your winds after all. Maybe¡­ you''ll die too early?"


    Grant gave a mightyugh.


    "I''ll discipline you in Meng''s stead. Brats like you should learn to treat their elders properly. Still¡­ It''s impressive that you could still talk. You seemed to have found a way to ovee my void wind."


    "Child''s y. Even the Unbing can do this with proper training."


    Suddenly, a powerful impact resounded right in front of Grant.


    Grant had his head bent as if he avoided an iing attack.


    "I didn''t know that Meng employed molecr space-transforming techs. And judging by how it could pierce through my wind field, that should be quite a formidable gadget you have."


    "Gadget? I am a growing sprout in the garden of the Progenitor. I don''t need gadgets."


    The giant robot with a shoulder cannon and shield immediatelyunched an attack. Two men suddenly started to jump in the air as if there were invisible tforms that supported them.


    The first man fired a barrage of bullets that seemed to move in a strange motion. It didn''t move straight but zigzagged in various directions. The other man shot severalrge metal balls that started to twirl in the air. It circled the man like how asteroids orbited a.


    The giant robot charged ahead and grabbed therge cannon''s turret, which detached from its shoulders. It charged towards Hermes and prepared to smash the shoulder canon like a giant hammer.


    Typical slowly hopped from one ce of the sky to the next. His speed was gradually getting faster and faster.


    Hermes retreated but not to escape, but to observe. He admired the fantastic and beautiful formation that appeared before him. He also appreciated the sensation of a growing threat that he has never before felt.


    "Now, this! This is fun!" Grantughed as he gathered a wind around him. He looked like a human tornado.


    "Do you know how Hermes treads the air, Typical? The sky supports it. You''re in my domain now, kiddo!" Hermesughed as the winds around them started to spin faster and faster.


    "The sky is but my stepping stone! I, too, shall Ovee!" Typical roared.


    The three men and the robot fell into the swirling winds of the tornado. But even then, their senses remained sharped as ever.


    The gunshots that the group sent coordinated with the electro-ma technology of the other bullets, creating a zone where the bullets would travel back and forth.


    This zone was the invention that st, Trigger, and Suit developed together after witnessing the endless lightning field that Lennox constructed. The inspiration of the Lightning zone allowed them to experiment and create an area that maximized their strength and catapulted their young master''s strength to greater heights.


    As the strong winds blew harder and more chaotic, Trigger and st would asionally add more bullets to maintain the bnce of the bullet zone.


    Grant was forced to retreat. Even with his winds, he would have gotten hit by the attacks. He could vaguely see the strange fluctuations of these bullets and decided not to meet it with his wind armor.


    "Impressive! This is the first time I am actually forced to take a step back!" Grantughed.


    "No matter. You''re at the eye of the storm, kiddo. The storm will only rage stronger from here on out!


    "Retreat? This will also be the first time you bleed! Let''s see which is more dangerous, the eye of the storm, or the eye of the needle?"


    Typical threw out a small ring in the air, and a needle manifested and shot out.


    The needle shot through the hole and carried the ring. And then the bullets and metal balls suddenly changed its movements.


    The electro-maic had created invisible electrical links that bonded the bullets, making them retain their orbits. And the ring that Typical used passed through all the lines creating a new bond.


    All the bullets and the metal balls were drawn in. The strong maic capabilities allowed the bullets to maintain their distance despite the strong winds that blew it.


    And Typical''s needles were unaffected by the wind.


    The ring guided and force the bullets and metal balls to travel on a sure route.

 Chapter 207 - Zombie Robots

    The eye of the storm raged, and the eye of the needle shot towards the raging winds but was unmoved by it.


    Like a weighted stone that fell into the, the orbiting bullets and metal balls were pulled by the needle. The invisible electromaic lines that held the bullets and metal balls together all chained up, and an invisible was made.


    Grant moved towards a different direction to evade the eye, but suddenly, Typical created another needle that pierced towards the eye. The original needle disappeared, and in that precise moment, the new needle struck through the eye and made it fly towards Grant.


    Hermes was within range.


    At the push of a trigger, the bullets and metallic balls gathered towards the eye of the needle. As the metallic balls drew closer to the ring, an electromaic charge erupted. The approaching rounds seemed to have a life of its own as it suddenly received a new target and shot through creating a powerful bluish light.


    This was their ace. The sophisticated technology they now had from Lennox''s research and experimental electric technology created a rail-less railgun. An impossible feat was made possible was the application of the semi-sentient electric currents that they copied from Lennox.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The metallic balls exploded as it struck the tornado body of Grant.


    The figure that was being enveloped in explosions and bluish st appeared to have retreated, and the giant Armor rushed in and attacked with using the hammer.


    A tornado shot through the skies and tore through the smoke from the explosion.


    "Hmph!" Suit disdainfully humped as he maneuvered his Armor.


    Electrical surges ran through the arm of the Armor and, despite not fully grasping the cannon-made-hammer. As the Armor''s arm continued its downward trike trajectory, the cannon spun on his hands like a baton.


    The tornado shot through the air, missing the cannon. The cannons "hammer" part was now just under the armpit of the Armor and the long handle, which aimed for the burry figure that appeared.


    Suit held his shield up high to protect itself as itunched a deadly round of China''s most potent mortar weapons.


    BOOM!


    The impact resounded, and it even alerted the WGP as it detected a high-tiered technology being used nearby.


    Up in the skies, however, Suit made for his retreat as Typical ordered it.


    "What happened to the explosion?" st asked as he jumped to space next to Typical.


    "Use your Realm to understand. A strong but small vacuum absorbed it. The same thing was happening to our rail guns. The kic energy was somehow cushioned by the wind and sucked into the vacuum. He''s good. As expected of an Oveer." Typical smiled.


    "What of your needles, young master?"


    "He found the secret of how to block it. He was using his Realm and infused it to his wind. My needles could no longer manipte the Realm around it, and it was countered just as it was about to strike." Typical smirked and created more needles.


    The number of needles that appeared shocked the rest of the Fangs.


    "Young Master¡­ Is this wise?"


    "Don''t worry. I''m not eating up much energy. The Realm around us is fueling this."


    The number of needles continued to increase, and the Fangs finally realize what this was. It appeared as vines with sharp thorns was forming in the sky. This was the theorized attack formation that Typical made for his team to fight with him.


    "Thorn road!" st recognized it.


    "Brilliant! The formation, the uracy, the timing! And that pilot, your probably the best Armor pilot I''ve seen." Hermes admired as the smoke vanished.


    "To think I would run out of the tornado armor. This is the first time I''m stumped. You have perfect coordination in attacking and maintaining defense. You aren''t affected by theck of oxygen in the area. And it looks like you have more." Grant continued tough heartily as the wind around him started to gather around him.


    Two tornadoes were appearing on his arms, and it had made touchdown to the water nearby.


    Soon the wind around could be seen containing water.


    "Let''s get serious!" Grant roared as he flew towards the group.


    The Four Winds of Hermes soon emerged as frost, powerful gust and wind des were shot out.


    The transparent thorns in the sky moved and shed.


    Some of the vines were cut and other crumbled from the cold.


    "As expected. My control over them isn''t that good yet. It''s too fragile. Still, this should do. Assume the Thorn Road formation!" Typical ordered as he went ahead to face off with the raging winds of the Oveer.


    The shocking scene caused several Commanders to pause in wonder at the battle on the skies. But then the alerts and rms would awaken the Commanders from their awe as the raging winds at the bottom also caused great devastation.


    But what awakened them from their gaze was a troubling report. Themand room as many of the soldiers noticed that the Exoskeletons whose pilots were killed started to move once more.


    "Sir! Everyone who is dead started to move!"


    The formerly dead Exoskeletons started to move once more. It then began to shoot at the skies. Several of them even gathered together and formed a tight formation and started to fly out.


    The ball of tornado where the Four Winds hid directly shed against the strange formation of Exoskeletons. It sent out the same attacks that Grant did. Wind des, frost winds, and a mighty gale blew. But the cold that temperate did not affect the already dead pilots.


    The cutting wind that shed and hacked the armors would cut it, but the Exoskeletons did not get cut into pieces. A small liquid-like substance would immediately attach the halved part before it fell. The blood and gore from the pilot''s dead body already fell, but the Exoskeletons continued to charge forth.


    A few Armors also joined the reckless charge and further tightened the formation.


    Even when the Blowing wind blew its strongest gale, the tight formation of this undead toon managed to move forward.


    As it flew deeper and deeper to the tornado, the Exoskeletons and the Armor started to glow a reddish glow.


    It approached the ball of Tornado and when it was close enough¡­


    BOOM!


    A powerful greenish explosion urred right in the middle of the tornado.


    "What was that?" A soldier in themand room pondered at the strange explosion.


    "It''s the Emperors. That was a Srium explosion. It used the Origin Energy and heated the different metals of the Exoskeletons and Armor. Those dead soldiers may have been controlled by an Elite back at the Kingdom." The Commander gave his analysis.


    The tornado grew smaller and moved towards the ground as quickly as it could. The concentrated wind created a powerful defensive shield that warded off the attacks. But this time, the wind was moving offensively.


    Several winds of frost and powerful wind des appeared to strike the enemy making for the sky.


    "Omricon, attack anyone who tries to fly near us. Alvin, try to create a more rotative wind about twenty meters from us. Omega, tighten thepression by about ten percent. We need the winds to increase our defenses. When my frost wind returns, let''s make an all-out attack and head west."


    "West? That''s where that other battle was, right?"


    "Yeah. Those guys are quite good."


    "Right. We can''t fight like this. We''ve already depleted about half of Boss''s winds, and he is also having a troublesome battle. We have to ensure everyone''s survival! We limit the attacks we sent out. And if we are in a group that can fight back, it would lighten our load." Austin gave his analysis.


    A powerful trembling sensation could be felt in the air.


    "Boss¡­" Alvin was worried for the first time.


    "The Boss trusts us. We should trust him too. He didn''t order us to retreat, so we fight." Omega exined.


    "But why did he cut the Wind Whisperer?" Alvin asked again.


    "Are you serious? We had someone using our line! We aren''t as strong as we thought we were! So we have to act cautiously. Boss wants us here¡­ So we fight." Austin''s voice was trembling.


    "Let''s just do what we do best. Austin, take charge and order us ordingly." Omricon sighed.


    And so, the ball of tornado started to move strangely. It would not sh with the enemy but did its best to avoid the enemy''s explosive attacks.


    On the other side of the Kraken, the Covenant also found themselves in the strange predicament. The Exoskeletons and Armor''s they fought appeared endless. No matter how much damage they do, the battered body would still rise and fight them.


    "What''s up with these things?!" Darained as she kept attacking.


    Danny had already smashed several to pieces and had already reduced the pilot inside to gory remains, and the Exoskeletons would continue to gather and reform.


    "Retreat!" Titan ordered immediately.


    Without hesitation, the team used several wide-ranged attacks to clear the enemies before them and retreated.


    "Stop using your attacks!" Earl of Harker''s soldiers called out to the Covenant as he noticed the regenerating Exoskeletons'' strange ability.


    "You guys have to continue with your mission! Save your energy and ammo for that! We will hold out here and fight them!" Scribs called out and motioned for the Drug Dealers to lead the attack.


    "What? No! We can''t divide our group now! Even I''m having a hard time dealing with them!" Dara argued.


    "Don''t assume that we would simply die. And don''t forget we have a mission here! Go andplete that!" Scribs argued.


    "He''s right. We have to move." John agreed.


    "Alright. Stay alive, guys. I''ll open a path for us." Danny rushed forward and wildly attacked the group in front, creating a pathway.


    Dara hesitated, but then she received a p on the shoulder. It was one of the Drug Dealers, Hank.


    "If you''re that worried of me, we can go on a date after this!" Hankughed.


    "You wish, loser!" Dara shouted back then moved in the direction


    "Good work, Hank." Scribs gave him a thumbs up.


    "Now, how do we deal with these zombie robots?" Hank frowned as he looked at the enemy.


    Suddenly, several of the Exoskeletons raised their arms and started shooting.


    The group immediately retreated to a structure nearby and avoided the barrage.


    "They can shoot too?" Counter was shocked. He had fought a few of those and was sure that he killed the pilots.


    "What were you expecting? Them to dance the Thriller?" Hank angrily smacked the head of Counter''s Exoskeleton!


    "Hey! Don''t put out your anger on me!" Counterined.


    "Enemies!" Earl alerted. In front of them was another group of Exoskeletons.


    "They can''t shoot yet?"


    "Looks like it takes time for these zombie robots to shoot." Scribs concluded.


    "Uh¡­ Guys¡­ Isn''t that the Lumberjack?" Counter pointed towards the back and found a disfigured Lumberjack slowly walking towards them. Many of the broken pieces of the Exoskeletons were gathering around it, and it mysteriously would merge with it as it was being transformed into the same liquid metal that made up the Golems.


    "Nice! I wanted to fight those Golems!" Zidane smashed his metallic fist together.


    "Focus, guys! We are on the losing side. We take out the zombie robots before they can learn to shoot." Earl ordered them.


    "Rx, Earl! Even I''m excited. Ever since the Unlocked, I always wanted to see how I would fare on the battlefield. They''ll have a taste of my guns!" Scribsughed.


    "And they''ll have a taste of my gunja!"Hank raised his fist.


    The rest gave him a strange look.


    "What? We''re the Drug Dealers! Never mind!" Hank then ran and started kicking the Exoskeletons in front of them.


    While these chaotic battles raged on, the Empress maintained a certain distance from Cliff. She dared not attack anymore. How could anyone resist it? The area where she was at had the most concentrated Origin Wave. And yet, this man before him could quickly move within it.


    Even Emperors didn''t understand the science behind the Origin power. Yet the man before him could move unhindered.


    "Who are you? I don''t recognize such young Emperors. Did you use some technology to make your body smaller?" The Empress demanded.


    Cliff maintained the arrogant pose that Lowengren would do.


    "Why should I tell you that?" Cliffughed.


    "Who are you?!" The Empress demanded as she released a gigantic white serpent that opened its maw and moved to attack.


    "You already know the answer, don''t you?" Cliff responded immediately.


    The White snake paused as the Empress trembled in fear and pondered the meaning of these words.


    "I...I do?" The Empress pondered.


    Roselyn observed the reaction of the Empress. Surprisingly, the Empress did nothing. As someone who stood and fought with Lowengren, the amounts of deception that they pulled off relied on one crucial factor.


    Lowengren knew how to buy time. His lies often made the enemy doubt, and what would have been their defeat would turn out to be their victory.


    "He''s like the boss¡­" Roselyn muttered.


    "What''s going on? How can he do that?" Roselyn knew when her Boss was lying.. And for some strange reason, she got the same vibe when Lowengren would make these outrageous lies.

 Chapter 208 - Cliff’s Secret Weapon

    Going back to the time when Seeker and the Oveers made their ns on how to build their teams, an unexpected topic came up, as initiated by Seeker.


    "Alright¡­ The next thing we need to discuss is Cliff." Seeker brought up the topic after discussing the various teams.


    "Cliff?" Richie was surprised that Seeker would bring up such a topic.


    "Is this why you didn''t invite him to this meeting?" Arthur asked.


    "That''s right." Seeker nodded.


    "Why? His performance is indeed impressive. But frankly, I don''t see the need to put an effort on developing him." Arthur countered.


    "That''s where you''re wrong. My future-past self would agree¡­ but I won''t. There is a mystery hidden in his Skill. Let''s go by what we know about him."


    "He has an awesome memory. His memory surpasses Total Recall, and it allows him to easily ess these memories without even having to recall it as we do forcibly." Arthur listed.


    "Yes. That''s what he ims to have. Bute on! Cliff has always been quite slow. He doesn''t understand the power he holds. The way he sees and reviews memories is probably something that we cannot understand or even rte to."


    "It''s that strong?" Harker was stunned. He always thought that Cliff was simply someone who went along with the ride of Crazy Carlean.


    "He is really dependable." Lynd supported. Meryl nodded her head.


    "Exin to me why it''s necessary first. I''ve been with him the longest, and by my calctions, he only has a Skill at most."


    "And the reason is that his powers are sort of like a dark horse among the Unlocking. He can fill in the missing pieces that Lynd can''t imitate in this timeline."


    "I don''t get it, Zeek. You mean there are some Path''s that I can''t copy?"


    "We didn''t believe it in our timeline. We only assumed that you simply needed a higher level of the Unlocking. But in truth, we chose not to believe. Things were pretty dark and hopeless. Now I can see the mistakes and hopeless things we pinned our hope on. And with the advantage of this whole New Game+, I can dare say things that would have otherwise been a taboo statement because it was the few things giving us hope."


    "There were a lot of wrong things in my timeline. We pursued a lot of hopeless cases. The assumption that Lynd could copy every Path was a lie." Seeker rified after a pause.


    "You said that Lynd was able to copy all the Path''s the Ranked Hero and World Champions he met. How was that a lie?" Richie wondered. Even Lynd could make various attacks that he had.


    "Yes. But Lynd wasn''t able to meet the Tyrant Empress. He could copy a small portion of Eagle''s powers but not Eagle''s ability to convince others. We all assumed that Lennox''s Path was a special case since Lennox is an Intuitive World Champion who, through his thousand thought process, could forcibly change each cell into the Lightning Energy he had."


    "Do you have proof that Lynd can''t copy every Path he meets? He copied my Path very easily. The moment he awoke during the Australian Avarice, he managed to copy Chaos Order."


    "Of course, he could! We were Piercing Fans, Arthur! We''ve watched thousands of your videos! We''ve analyzed every angle of your brilliant and amazing moves in the battles that you led! Of course, he couldn''t do it because it was all theoretical. But the moment he reached Inhuman, the improved perception, the control of how we view time and the sensing abilities that follow all make it easy! Isn''t Chaos Order a step beyond Instant Calction? The moment Lynd awoke and stabilized his position in the Inhuman stage, it was easy for him to replicate that. Right now, I can do that as well. But can he emte the Lion''s Den?"


    Everyone turned to Lynd.


    "Erm¡­ No, I can''t. I can imitate Arthur''s thinking process based on his emotions, his mindset¡­ but I just can''t see how he can make it so amazing that it''s almost as if he sees the future."


    "And that''s going to be your training for these next month. It''ll be valuable if you can emte even a percentage of that. The reason why you can''t is that you haven''t been informed on how to do it. This is an Intuitive Path, after all. But that''s not the only Path he can''t emte. Even if he can sympathize with the feelings, and have tremendous observation skills, he cannot copy things perfectly."


    "What do you mean perfectly?" Meryl wondered. Lynd could already do the bright shbang she can create.


    "He can recall things, imitate it, but to not perfectly copy it. I mean, Lynd would imitate the movement of Arthur matching every cell that Arthur can do."


    "Why would that be necessary?" Arthur interjected.


    "Lynd''s Path had its limitation. A person''s Path is generally formed through emotional experiences that shape the way a person thinks and his level of faith. That''s why Lynd can copy it. But of course, depending on how a person could process the information. As you may remember, there are different ways people process information. The Intuitive or Sensing types. The extent of Lynd''s copy appears to degrade if a Path is Intuitive by nature."


    "Oh? I have to consider that?" Lennox pondered.


    "Right. I''m sure Arthur can give you an exnation. He also wants to create a team of Unlocked. But he can''t just pick anybody. Typical, and the rest of the Ranked Heroes were always Sensing types. Only Arthur and I belonged to the Intuitive. In my timeline, because we focused so much on faith, we considered people who were intuitive to be generally weaker. The only option was to force them somehow to be Sensing."


    "The Believers, which we categorized to have the highest chances of bing a Ranked Hero, were always of the Sensing type. For those who were Intuitive, Even with the guidance of Prophet''s like Arthur, their potential could never improve. Of course, this was all in my previous life. In this one, we have a lot of advantages."


    "Such as?"


    "It''s not even been two months since I reincarnated, and we already have a few Intuitive Paths." Seeker smiled and pointed at Harker and Lowengren.


    "I understand." Arthur finally caved in at the gesture of Seeker.


    "Understand what?" Richie was curious.


    "These two¡­ Lynd can''t copy their Paths. Can you, Lynd?"


    Lynd was stunned.


    "I haven''t tried it¡­ I mean¡­ I can imitate Lowengren''s behavior through my observation and by understanding his emotions¡­ But I haven''t tried his lies. Also... for Harker... I''m not sure how to do it."


    "And Cliff can copy or imitate the Path of these two?" Arthur asked again.


    "Yes. Cliff has to grow. And what''s more interesting is that Cliff is a Sensing type. This means it will give Lynd a higher chance of imitating Cliff."


    "Can you even copy how to remember?" Meryl turned to Lynd.


    "I¡­"


    "He can, and he will. Don''t forget. You guys have me." Seeker smiled.


    "If Cliff''s Unlocking is pushed further, I can tread that Road and acquire how Cliff does it." Seeker smiled.


    "Those are all big ifs." Arthur countered.


    "If Cliff is one of the Sensing Types, and he got his power because of his faith in you, it is risky to invest in him. If he must grow, he needs to face trials that are almost impossible to ovee. All Ranked Heroes reached that stage because of their amazing Paths. My pseudo-Path was only so useful in your future. Cliff, with his memories, will die."


    "You''re right. Logically, that is correct. But do you know how I survived? I did not have any amazing Path''s that you said. Yet, I outlived you. And don''t get me wrong, although your death then was an honorable one, I will tell you that I faced far greater perils than you did. You could even say that the me then, inspired you." Seeker smirked.


    Everyone was silent.


    "I had great control in Advanced Recall. I could remember fighting techniques, movements, and actions. Just like Lynd, I could copy things to a certain extent. But of course, Lynd was a much powerful version of me. He was a Sensing type so he can sense the way a person would feel.But for me? I am an Intuitive."


    "You needed to think your way to copy then?"


    "Yes. I needed to think it through. Lynd had the advantage. Both of us were obsessed gamers. We never got pro, but you could say we were a half-step into it. And the reason why I was that good was that I copied a lot of tricks and skills that others Pro-yers had. This was also the reason why I never became pro. As Arthur said, pros must have their specialty. I didn''t have one. Which makes sense¡­ I was a Roadless person since the beginning. Lynd''s Road was to copy. My Road, on the other hand, was that I didn''t have any. Lynd could copy because that was his thing, I could copy because I was a nk sheet. I could learn anything. Anything physically possible for me to copy, I could imitate through Advanced Recall and a lot of effort."


    "And how can all of these be of any help or it''s rtion to that boy?" Meng interjected.


    "Because I broke through the World Champion stage and even went beyond it. I got a glimpse of the impossible things. And unconsciously, I passed it on already. In my timeline, it was almost impossible to create Paths out of wit, charisma, or personality. That was because my timeline focused on tangible things. But when I broke through on my death, it allowed me to open a different road of the Unlocking." Seeker once more pointed to Harker and Lowengren.


    "My baptism to that world which allowed me to see things in a bizarre way. I saw and interacted with several dimensions, and that made all the difference. Imagine, it even made Meryl''s Path drastically improve! You all say I''m the worse kind of Reincarnator. Reincarnators ought to have OP powers, disgusting ess to future knowledge, and some other ways to make them exceedingly powerful to trump the enemy easily. But here''s the thing, I am not that worse Reincarnator. I am a different breed. I am the Reincarnator that can give everyone the shot in bing OP. Through my rebirth, I made the impossible Path possible. And that''s why I''m bringing up Cliff on this meeting! He got the one thing that I was good at and made it greater! If I survived, so can he. And once Cliff grows..."


    "So, your goal is to make Cliff stronger because it will make you stronger."


    "Yes. I need it. Whenever I try to remember the sensations I had when I went past the World Champion stage, I saw things that I couldn''t understand. I couldn''t even remember it, even with my Unlocking! That was because the senses that I felt went beyond the capacity that my current brain can process. I can''t see the fourth dimension now, and I can''t remember what it was like to see through the four dimensions. But with Cliff¡­ It could be possible. Imagine the possibilities. In my attempt to reflect those dimensions to a three-dimensional image, I awakened my Realm." Seeker smiled excitedly.


    "But how then will you make Cliff stronger? Even I who thread the Lion''s Den can''t see a possibility of winning if I fight against an Oveer. And those are the minimum threat levels that he should face."


    "Right. That''s the issue. Cliff has to survive battles with Oveers. And that''s why I brought it up here. Meng, your Fangs are the perfectpanions. They should apany Cliff on his battles. It can''t be me or anyone here. He will grow careless. He has to dive into these battles with the fear of his life."


    "I was already considering that route to train my Fangs. I agree with your arrangements. But will it be enough? My Fang''s will die if they face an Oveer. If they fight against the leaders of the WGP, my Fangs won''t stand a chance."


    "Yes. But you forget, we have something that can even startle an Oveer And this person is the very key that can give Cliff a higher chance of surviving those ordeals." Seeker revealed.


    "Him!" Seeker pointed to a figure he sensed walked up to get some water.


    But shock startled Seeker and everyone else as they witnessed a topless Lowengren doing a heroic pose.


    "I knew it woulde to this, so I prepared for this entry." Lowengrenughed.


    Lennox, Richie, Meng, and Seeker, the Four Oveers, all wore a strange expression.


    Richieughed.


    "What?" Meng eximed as if almost angry.


    "Why is he naked?!" Despite the thousand thoughts of Lennox, he could notprehend this action and verbally voiced out his surprise.


    "How did he even escape my senses? I thought he got up to get water!?" Seekerined.


    Arthur shook his head.


    "I couldn''t predict that. I still need more training¡­" Arthur sighed.


    "This was to prove Seeker''s point. As you can see, I can surprise Oveers." Lowengren slowly wore his clothes.


    Harker was deep in thought. He never thought that stripping could be so cool.


    "How can I do that?" Harker thought.


    "And if I were toplete Seeker''s train of thought, You want me topile a list of lies that Cliff can throw out at any second. Right, Seeker? That will be his trump card."


    And the list of lies was made. Many of these confused Cliff so much that he was questioning Lowengren''s sanity and Seeker''s who ordered him to learn these things. Why would Seeker have me memorize this?


    Every lie that Lowengren did, Cliff was forced to memorize. Tone, pacing, breathing. Lowengren had to make his lies naked so Cliff could see every inch of Lowengren''s cells. This, of course, also became Cliff''s nightmares as images of Lowengren''s body would float up randomly in his recollection.


    The Empress was startled and began to ponder just how she knew this Emperor.


    All the Emperor that surfaced on her thoughts were all dangerous Emperors. If any of them is the Emperor before her, she would surely lose.


    "Who are you?! Tell me, Or I''ll detonate the reactor of this Kraken!" The Empress threatened.


    Cliff gave a very deep sigh.


    "I can''t believe I have to do this. Damn it, Lowengren! This better work! Erm¡­ Roselyn, could you follow my lead?" Cliff spoke in secret.


    "Uh... Sure."


    "You want to know who I am?" Cliff shouted with augh.


    "Then allow me to introduce myself!" Cliff made several bold steps forward.


    The Empress subconsciously retreated.


    Cliff took in a deep breath. And as if fate willed it, one of the passing spotlights that were damaged from the battle positioned itself and illumined the very spot where Cliff stood.


    "Prepare for trouble!" Cliff announced heroically.


    The Empress was startled. The timing of the spotlight confused her.


    "Roselyn! Do it!" Cliff immediately ordered.


    "What?! Do what?!" Roselyn was confused.


    Just before Cliff could exin what to do, a figure appeared next to Cliff.


    "And make it double!" Gardo fell from an unknown height and assumed a formidable position where he and Cliff stood back-to-back.


    Cliff sighed in relief. It was good that Gardo arrived on time.


    "To protect the world from devastation!"


    "To unite all people within the nations!"


    "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"


    "To extend our reach to the stars above!"


    "Lowengren!"


    "Admiral Shepherd!"


    "Team Warfreakz sts off with the speed of light!"


    "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"


    The Empress gazed in confusion.


    "What are you doing?! Do it now!" Cliff berated the woman near him using the speed and tone that humans could understand.


    The Empress was startled and immediately utilized the Origin energy around her to form a powerful shield. This was one of their most robust defense. It was so strong that it would consume a considerable amount of Origin power around the area. This was the reason why the Emperors did not fear nuclear attacks. The shield that they could generate was so powerful that it could withstand it. The shield appeared almost immediately, and the Empress braced for a terrifying attack.


    "Me-Meow! That''s right!" Roselyn was in tears as she said this.

 Chapter 209 - Loser!

    "What exactly can this do?!" Cliffined as he gazed at the fully naked Lowengren.


    The lies that Lowengren made and that Cliff was supposed tomit to memory was as outrageous as the first.


    Especially this lie. Why would the Team Rocket''s motto be of any use during the future battles he will have in the future?"


    "What can lies do?" Lowengren asked him.


    Cliff frowned at the sudden question. But Lowengren''s entric behavior has grown more and more now that the drug that strictly limited his personality was losing effect. The Game Mode Lowengren and the bad-mouthing, insulting, and very foul-mouthed Lowengren had merged, forming this strange, entric being.


    But Cliff knew that his entricity was an extremely ingenious one. Considering that his strange quirks managed to defeat even the Tyrant Empress, Cliff couldn''t help but maintain a certain level of respect and fear. This was in spite of the fact that he had spent thest hours watching Lowengren''s naked body.


    "Um¡­ Deception?"


    "Deception is the general effect. But the question is, what can deception do? On the battlefield, what can it do? What did it do to the Tyrant Empress?"


    "Erm¡­" Cliff wasn''t there and only heard the critical details of the battle.


    "The n was simple. We were to use the lies to destroy the momentum of the battle. The battle had to stop for the recuperation of Seeker and the others. The first lie appeared on my entry. It stopped the battle. They thought some strange being appeared and it worked. Now is that important?"


    "It gave you more time?"


    "Yes. Time is important. In the chaotic battle and the level of strength we have, time is something that we all need more of. Every second allows an Unlocked to recuperate far drastically than a normal human. For Seeker, that one second is enough to temporarily close up the wound he has through that strange forced contraction skill. At that moment, the time I gave them allowed Lennox to retrieve his lightning, and because it stunned even the Empress, the assault of lust was temporarily reduced."


    "It was that useful?" Cliff was stunned.


    "Every second counts. Now that we are Unlocked, a second is basically like five and more for those of Seeker''s ss. But that wasn''t the only thing my lies made. My entry also made the Tyrant Empress cautious. And that is another important goal when deceiving others."


    "I want my enemies to be less cautious. Why would I want them to be even more guarded?"


    "Wrong. When fighting an enemy that is giving their all, making them exaggerate their attacks or defend themselves when unnecessary will not only buy you more time, it allows you to see more of their arsenal. With the case of the Tyrant Empress, she stopped attacking the Oveers and focused on my existence. If you have allies with you, making yourself be seen as something far more powerful than you are will make the enemy hesitate in taking action."


    "What if the enemy immediately uses a powerful attack that could easily kill us?" Cliff harrumphed.


    "That''s why you need to follow the series of lies that I will make. The Tyrant Empress didn''t immediately kill me, right? Why did she pause and stop to kill me?"


    "Erm¡­ Because she was cautious?"


    "Yes. When I say make them more cautious, I mean that our enemies will be on the defensive. And the way to do that is to add a little bit of mystery to your power or identity. If the enemy is unsure of who or what you are, they won''t attack."


    "How can you be sure that they would be on a defensive? If I meet an Oveer that''s trigger happy, I''d be dead!"


    "Which is why you need to know which of my lies to throw. What if, you are mysterious not only because they don''t know who you are but also because they seem to know of the information they need? Would they kill you?"


    "No."


    "That''s right. So if your enemy is brave, calm, and spontaneous, you use a lie that will create more mystery. If the enemy is hesitant or shows any signs of weakness, you use a lie that will make you look powerful."


    Cliff nodded his head in agreement.


    "But why the Team Rocket''s motto?"


    "It gives you time because the motto is lengthy. With that, you can direct your team members as the introduction takes ce. The time allows us to inform our other members of the ns based on the enemy''s reaction!"


    Cliff frowned. Would this really work?


    "You, however, have to carry the burden of leadership. You have to be more decisive. If you can do what I can do, you''d have to take the lead of a team when you use my lies. So you have to learn how to adapt to the needs and actions that will follow."


    "How will I know which action to take? I''m not as smart as you or Arthur!"


    "Truth is¡­ Even I don''t know the results of some of these lies. I don''t know what enemies you will be facing after all. These lies are all generic. It will make the enemy believe you''re words, but even I don''t know how to react."


    "Then what should I do?"


    "You have to figure that one out, yourself. I can give you the guns and the weapons, but you should learn how to shoot." Lowengren chuckled.


    Cliff sighed.


    "I heard about your next assignment. You are to face a Near Oveer, right? Amir Mann?"


    Cliff nodded.


    "It was nice knowing you. I will treasure these intimate moments of you and me together." Lowengren exined with a heartful and sincere expression.


    It was only then that Cliff realized what he was up against. Lowengren''s lie urged Cliff to work harder and diligently. He began reading books, watching videos, and even talking to veteran soldiers that served under Harker of their battle.


    During the mission that nearly cost Cliff his life, the anger and frustration that Amir Mann had because of the lies that Cliff sent out made Amir Mann rage and break his own rules.


    His frustration led him to chase the trails of Cliff from one country to the other. Soon, the trail he caught on was already a trail that Lowengren had left behind.


    Cliff survived the battle because of the lies that Lowengren armed him with. Not only so, but even the Dragons Fang, who apanied Cliff, also held a trace of respect towards this delinquent.


    And so, facing the Empress, Cliff made his move and used one of the most ridiculous lies that Lowengren prepared for him. There were many lies that Cliff didn''t dare to try. This was one of them.


    As Cliff started with his introduction, the falling spotlight didn''t even faze him.


    "It happened again, huh? What is it with these lies? It''s as if the world adjusts to it!" Cliff, however, had no time to ponder the recurring miracles that Lowengren''s lies brought.


    Gardo immediately joined in. It was out of desire and excitement that made Gardo decided to join in with the fun. But as hended, Cliff then divided his words and instructed Gardo as well as Roselyn and Tyler of what to do next.


    "But General! The area around us is too thick! Although we can move through it, we wouldn''t be fast enough to escape!" Tyler exined his ns.


    "That''s why I''m buying you more time. Split up into two directions. And Roselyn, you have to meow!"


    "Why? I don''t think it''s necessary!"


    "Do it! Lowengren instructed this!"


    "General, I''ve been working with Lowengren for a long time! I''m pretty sure that there''s nothing in that meow!"


    "You haven''t been with Lowengren since his Path appeared! Just do it!"


    And as Lowengren and Gardo finished theirst words, Roselyn kept quiet.


    Cliff was so angry that he cried out angrily.


    "What are you doing?! Do it now!"


    The Empress suddenly sucked the Origin Energy around them. A giant, radiant forcefield enveloped her as the Origin Energypressed itself into a powerful shield that was almost indestructible.


    "Me-Meow! That''s right." Roselyn cried in tears.


    Cliff maintained hisposure. As the lies would yield unknown results, he always had to be prepared to take the next action. After witnessing the shield, he immediately moved.


    "Run!" Cliff gave his orders as he observed the nature of the shield and the position of the Empress.


    The Empress inside remained cautious, gazing intently at Roselyn.


    It was then the group ran together.


    "Find Stanley and continue with the mission! Bring Gardo''s team with you! Gardo and I will remain here to distract the Empress and draw attention to the rest."


    "I think she''ll be aiming to kill me, General!" Roselyn replied weakly.


    The sudden disappearance of the Origin Power allowed them to move freely. And just a few seconds after the energy was released, the team had immediately rushed off and ran over a hundred meters from where they once were. The Unlocked''s empowered body could smoothly run a hundred meters in less than five seconds, which would have already broken various world records.


    The fleeing figures of the enemy finally dawned on the Empress. At first, she thought that they were rushing off to a distance that would make them safe from the attack. But nothing happened the further they were.


    The stunned Empress suddenly felt a searing rage building within as she realized she was duped.


    She cursed and tried tounch an attack, but the powerful shield remained stable. Unlike the other force fields, this imprable shield could not allow objects behind it to move through.


    The Empress was stuck in her spot and couldn''t move!


    She then ragged and attacked but then realized that there was nothing she could do, and giving in to her rage would only make matters worse. She calmed down and recalled that she could still salvage the moment.


    The shield was a miraculous thing that could form out of thin air as long as an abundant amount of Origin Energy was present. But the weakness of this amazingly tight shield was that it could not dissipate quickly. The Empress had to suck the Origin Energy. But since most of it had transformed, the amount that she could salvage was only about 30% of the original amount. The rest would be lost as the shield''s chemical and kic changes would break down theplex Origin energy to basic the elements of Earth.


    The Empress patiently waited as she knew she needed to salvage as much as she could. Any reckless or wild attacks that she made would only deplete more of the shield.


    "I''ll get back at that little brat!" The Empress clenched her fist so hard that the grating metal of her Exoskeleton could be heard.


    At that moment, Cliff stopped.


    "This should be enough." Cliff thought to himself as another memory of Lowengren''s instructions surfaced.


    "You have to be prepared for anything to happen. These lies were made to divert attention, take attention, instill fear, doubt or worry, and even provide assurance. I don''t know how the enemy will react. If you lied, and they believed you, what would be their next action? Take advantage of it! If they get angry, take advantage of it! If they be afraid, take advantage of it. But remember this, whatever reaction they make, don''t ever, ever, ever forget to do this one thing! For if you do this, the sess of your future lies will only increase!" Lowengren''s words came to memory once more.


    Cliff did one of the strange things Lowengren revealed to him. While running, Cliff turned around and ced his hand on his forehead, with his fingers forming the ''L'' letter.


    "Loser!" Cliff shouted mockingly before running off and disappearing in the darkness.


    BOOM!


    A terrifying explosion urred within the shield.


    "Curse you!" The Empress howled as she tried to escape the shield forcibly, but it was of no use. The White Serpent of Midgar once more appeared inside the shield trying to break out, but it was of no use.


    Cliff and his group had moved behind the tforms and were no longer within sight of the Empress.


    "Carry on with the n! Gardo, stick with me! Have your team follow Tyler!"


    Cliff rushed off towards where the Drug Dealers were.


    The battle that Cliff''s team had, along with the two soldiers, was a wild one. In contrast to the tacticalbat of Covenant, their battle was a wild brawl.


    The electromaic technology that they had was the most basic and consumed very little energy. The lightning energy only allowed them to move in a fast, straight line to deliver a devastating kick or punch.


    The Exoskeletons that they wore had a hammer-like heel, which they used to smash like a sledgehammer. Their elbows and legs had a sharp edge that they used to deliver powerful attacks that were hacked and shed through the Zombie Robots.


    The Small Time Drug Dealers did most of the melee. The Two soldiers supported from afar using one of the near-infinite weapons that New Great Britain developed.


    Lightning Bolts was one of the most potent weapons that New Great Britain had. Each attack would harness and harden electricity and created arge bullet that was as big as a spike. The guns were among the most expensive parts of the entire group of Exoskeletons. Still, since noplex techs apanied the Exoskeletons that were equipped with these guns, it wasn''t granted any special clearance to keep it locked up in a secure ce.


    Yet now, in the hands of an Unlocked pilot, the gun disyed amazing potential. Even worse was that those who were upfront could take the bullets and reabsorb them.


    The Lumberjack finally moved. But instead of charging towards the enemy, it rushed towards the pile of Exoskeletons. The body of the Lumberjack turned into the Liquid metal, and it seemed to be absorbing all the broken pieces.


    "Attack that!" Zidane shouted as he noticed the peculiarity.


    The Lightning Bolt attacks that shot for the Lumberjack''s liquid body could not prate through. The Liquid metal absorbed the prating force the and the Lightning Bolt slowly disappeared within the molten metal. The body of the Lumberjack grew bigger and bigger, and suddenly another figure emerged out of it.


    It was the Clown.


    "Those brats!" The Clown eximed angrily.


    "I don''t think it''s a good idea to chase them alone." The Lumberjack warned.


    "No. I''m headed for the other allies. One of the traitors maintains a perimeter to ensure that our forces do not cross each other''s borders. I guess that''s what made them confident of this. He has retreated, but I''ve locked on to his signal. I''m going after him. You take care of these."


    The Clown immediately rushed forward.


    "He''s headed for Stanley!" Earl realized the direction the Clown was headed, and the team immediately rushed to intercept it.


    But suddenly, several powerful beams shot at the area, and a towering figure appeared.


    The Lumberjack had brownrger, and another head could be seen on its chest. It had six extra limbs like a spider''s arm that glowed bright red as some shot and the others stung.


    The team had to retreat as the powerful beams could prate even the structures metal.


    "We get hit by those, we''re toast," Scribs warned.


    "Will that Stanley be alright?" Counter couldn''t help but wonder.


    "We can only hope. For now, we deal with this spider."


    A few hundred meters from where the soldiers and the drug dealers fought the Golem, Stanley maintained his position and drew the zombie robots'' attention. Through this, Gardo''s team managed to escape.


    The Exoskeleton that Stanley piloted was heavily damaged. It would have been a miracle for an average human to remained uninjured with the state his Exoskeleton was. But for Stanley, it was easy.


    "It looks like I have to leave the Exoskeleton." Stanley sighed.


    Suddenly, the Clown flew faster than the speed of sound and with a gigantic ax as his hands and shed the Exoskeleton of Stanley.


    The upper torso of Stanley''s Exoskeleton fell to the ground.


    "Arrogant brats!" The Clownughed as it stood over the broken remains of Stanley''s Exoskeleton.

 Chapter 210 - Creating Spies

    The Clown moved so fast that it would have been impossible for a normal man to have noticed it.


    The broad ax hacked through and destroyed the upper torso of the Exoskeleton.


    It took a while before the Clown could stop from its rush. Stanley had appeared almost instantly on his sights and daring not to waste any moment. He rushed with his fastest movements and attacked the enemy.


    The Clown frowned. His hands had reverted to human arms once more, but it was without any signs of blood.


    He turned around to observe the Exoskeleton''s upper torso.


    His strike struck the upper chest area and hacked through it. The attack was so strong that the head and part of the right shoulder was chopped off. Yet there were blood-stains on his weapon.


    He turned around and found that there was no pilot in the Exoskeleton.


    "Is this Automaton? Are we really facing an Emperor?!" The stunned reaction of the Clown made him consider this possibility. The reports everywhere indicated that the enemies could still move even when the Empress used Origin Wave. Upon reforming its body, it immediately sensed the powerful shield that the Empress summoned.


    As the Clown was deep in thought, the Elite piloting the Clown sensed an attack but reacted toote.


    A sword shed through its head, cutting through the ce where the eyes should be. The top part of the Clown fell on the ground and turned into a liquid metal that tried to reform.


    The Clown cursed and released several long limb-like des that looked like the legs of a spider. He began attacking the area around him.


    The Clown then heard several echoing shouts around him. He circled over and began to strike the specific locations as deadly reddish des appeared on it''s back like the arms of a spider. But suddenly, a powerful force struck it and sent it flying. While in midair, various attacks continued to pummel it, making it rotate several times before falling down.


    The Clown immediately stood up and frowned. The head and eyes reformed, and he began to look around him.


    Stanley had retreated back and used his Unlocking to lower his body temperature. Even his heartbeat stopped as he was trained to do.


    "Who are you?" He gave a low whisper that was barely audible. He met everyone in Seeker''s team. And he wasn''t familiar with this voice.


    Had it not been for this voice, he would have been critically wounded. Although Stanley would have sensed the iing attack, it would have been almost toote to evade. At most, his evasion would have given him a deep wound in the chest. But a voice warned him beforehand and told him to crouch as low as he can inside the Exoskeleton. Since the suit he was piloting was designed forrge soldiers, Stanley''s thin and fragile frame allowed him to do it. Stanley withdrew his arms that controlled the Exoskeleton and forced himself as low as possible inside.


    The ax nearly wounded Stanley''s head. Panicking, in his movements, Stanley attempted to leave the Exoskeleton when strange shockwave erupted on his feet, causing him to bolt like a cannonball out of the Exoskeleton. Yet the forceful ejection mysteriously creates the slightest sound.


    It was then that he received the orders to attack the Golem''s eyes and gave him the directions of where to retreat. The scene of the Clown suddenly vaulting on its own and being thrown off confused him all the more.


    "What was that?!" Stanley was stunned.


    "Look''s like I was right. I was wondering how it could sense. Making a Golem like this would be difficult. Liquid Metal would have to imitate circuits and all that to allow it to be piloted from a distance. So how can it hear and see? As you can see, it used its eyes to see. This living metal seems to replicate the senses. But since to recreate the eyes and transmit visuals is a taxing to create, those Golems would assume a form where it would see through the eyes like a normal human. Oh. Quickly run to the back. He''sing for you. He can sense you through Origin." The voice ordered.


    Stanley panicked and immediately ran.


    The Clown rushed towards the area where he could detect Stanley.


    "Head towards the region north of here. Now that you''re without any ranged attacks, you can''t guard this area anyways. Besides, your allies have already fled. Move to the north to aid those rampaging friends of yours. Now, as I was saying¡­ With the previous battles that urred, I deduced that their hearing isn''t localized in the ears. It''s through the metal around it. Sounds travel faster through liquids, and even faster through solids. So to blind it, attack any part where you see it having an eye of some sort. But as for hearing¡­ it might be using its entire body to hear."


    "Who are you?!" Stanley asked again.


    "The proof of my theory was that since you damaged its eyes, it was unable to see and made reckless attacks based on the direction of where he heard my sounds. So it seems that it could use every inch of its body to hear. However, because those piloting it are still human and maybe using something simr to a VR console to pilot it, it will need to see through the eyes. This is very interesting. I''m an ally. Don''t worry."


    "An ally?"


    "It''s attacking. Focus on evading." The voice immediately alerted.


    Stanley could only contain his frustrations as he detected the iing attacks from afar.


    "Don''t you have those gears? Why aren''t you using it yet?" The voice asked.


    "You know about my equipment?"


    "Yes. My boss told me."


    "Who is your-"


    "Oh, don''t go that way. A toon of Exoskeleton will pass there. Ugh. I can''t use my attack yet. I need to recover. Oh right! Your allies!"


    Stanley was in between a toon of Exoskeletons, and behind him was the Clown preparing for a dangerous attack.


    The mysterious voice traveled on to another area and called out to Cliff.


    "Your allies are in danger!"


    "Huh? Who are you?"


    "Hurry! That gamer kid, Stanley, is in a fix! Move to your right and over those tforms!"


    Cliff followed as he felt a strange familiarity with the voice.


    Witnessing the position of Stanley, Cliff immediately used his Dreamworld.


    He looked at the position of the enemies. The attack of the Clown would reveal the location of Stanley.


    "I guess I have to do that!" Cliffined.


    Cliff quickly ryed his instructions to Roselyn and immediately dashed off towards where Stanley was hiding.


    "Help! An enemy over there!" Roselyn shouted in panic.


    The toons immediately heard Roselyn''s pleas and saw the bright red energy at the distance where Roselyn pointed.


    "Help! We''re with Admiral Shepherd! He killed everyone!"


    "Isn''t that the Golem?" One of the pilots of the Exoskeleton asked.


    Suddenly, Tyler''s Exoskeleton appeared behind Roselyn and delivered a punch on Roselyn, which sent her falling from the top of the roof she was standing on.


    "More enemies! Cover me!" Tyler called out to the Golem.


    Cliff finally got near enough.


    "Quick! Do this!" Cliff spoke in their secret voices.


    "Shoot the Red Cannon!" Stanley screamed as he retreated from the Exoskeletons.


    The Exoskeletons immediately scattered and sent several attacks to the Golem.


    The Clown was a distance away and couldn''t hear the cries clearly.


    "More traitors?" The Clown started attacking the group of Exoskeletons, and a battle began.


    A surprised voice echoed around Cliff and Stanley.


    "That¡­ That worked? But- but... how?!"


    In the gap between Stanley''s scream and the sudden evasive maneuvers that the Exoskeleton did in an attempt to evade the possible attacks from the Clown, Tyler and Roselyn had stealthily sneaked away.


    The group gathered together, and Cliff handed Stanley a specific pin.


    "Wear this. This will allow you two to move within the Kraken without getting detected by the Origin power."


    "What? How did you get this?"


    "We got them from a soldier we killed on our way here. Anyone wearing this won''t be considered an enemy in the Kraken."


    "How did you know this would mask us?" Stanley asked in confusion.


    "The enemy told us." Cliff shrugged.


    "What?"


    "Look. You guys have your mission. With everything going around here, you could easily infiltrate the enemies now. I''m sure you noticed it¡­ Roselyn¡­ Stanley. You did it. You actually did it. Arthur was right¡­" Cliff gave a sigh.


    "What?" Roselyn and Stanley asked together.


    Going back to the final discussion about the teams to build and their specific requirements, everyone''s eyes fell to Lowengren.


    But instead of a long list, Lowengren simply said that his team would only need essential gears.


    "You won''t give them heavy gears or special training?" Seeker frowned as he turned to Lowengren.


    "Nope. We all have our means, right? I have to take responsibility for my team and think of ways for them to grow stronger. They can''t have faith in you, Zeek.Er... Too soon?" Lowengrenughed at Seeker''s expression.


    "If it''s a hot woman, they get a free pass? Tell me when I can call you that " Lowengren ranted.


    "Why is that important? Focus."


    "Fine! My team already has a charismatic, majestic leader. Now, I can''t be like Arthur. Although he can provide suitable protection through the overpowered armors of his team, he can still calcte his members'' mental and emotional journeys. As such, he can build Heroes out of his team despite their equipment."


    "Then what are you nning to do?"


    "Lie to them."


    Seeker and several others had a weird expression.


    "But of course, my lies can''t be backed up without any solid truths. My lie has to be believable. And so, they have to go through fights that will challenge them to the extreme. Only then will my lies will be effective."


    "You want them to go ungeared and only have your lies? I know that to make a Ranked Hero, they would have to go through hell. But this is too risky." Arthur frowned.


    "Besides, they are pro-gamers! Although Generals aren''t as high-paced as Piercing, your team has always shown capacity and diversity. Who among your team aren''t pro-gamers on other games? Even the timidest member is called Saint Surgeon Stanley for his prudent and methodological ways of dismembering his enemies in almost any fighting game. Their adaptability is so diverse, but they choose Generals as the game to focus their efforts on because it''s the highest paying ones."


    "I know. But my lies have to be built on truth. I need them to improve, and the only way for them to improve is for them to break their limits."


    "What exactly are you training?"


    "Spies." Lowengren smirked.


    "Spies?"


    "Look. Arthur has got his team covered to create specialized soldiers. That''s a wonderful standard. I won''t darepete. But in the war thates, the usefulness of my Path and other simr Paths like Harker''s allows us to explore things that we could never make on Seeker''s past-future self. If we can create soldiers who can infiltrate the line of battle and cause havoc within, then it would be very advantageous."


    "Impossible. With the technologies they have, it''s almost impossible to get behind the line of battle. Unless you personally went in." Seeker sighed.


    "Unless we can create more Path''s like yours, then it''s possible."


    "What if¡­ A Skill like mine?" A daring grin emerged from Lowengren.


    It was as if lightning struck Seeker.


    "You mean¡­"


    "Yes. The lies that I nned for them is to push them into creating a Skill like mine. While Arthur decided to utilize his team''s strengths to turn them into something beyond Inhuman, then my Path can allow me to create Skills. I believe that creating Unlocked with Skills like mine is better than to create another line of soldiers in between Inhumans and Heroes."


    "But how will you do it?"


    "I originally had a hard time thinking of a way to make it." Lowengren smiled.


    "It''s Cliff. He bes the conduit that can force his men to believe in the lie he wants to create." Arthur exined.


    "Cliff?" Lynd and Meryl were surprised.


    "If Seeker is correct and Cliff can copy my lies, I can simply design my lies that need others to join in. You see, the issue is, I can''t lie to my team. They know me. They know that if I try to tell them that they can imitate my Path, their suspicion of me will hinder this faith. But now¡­ we have Cliff."


    "Cliff will lie on your behalf."


    "That''s right. At the right time¡­ at the proper situation, once Cliff sessfully does a secret mission of making my team lie in partnership with him¡­ they will then have the faith and believe that they have a weaker version of my lies. Arthur, what do you think?"


    "They have spent years following yourmands and seeing how you led the enemies by the nose. You hid it well. The world did not know of your deception. But they always knew you were a liar. If Cliff can emte your lies and you make a rather convincing one, then the chances of them forming a Skill of lying would be¡­"


    "About seventy percent." Arthur gave his deliberation.


    "This is assuming that the situation and threat they faced is believable. The more incidents that Cliff can make this happen, the higher the chances."


    "What a strange turn of events. Little Arthy can calcte the future and force his team to develop a Path through inception. At the same time, Lowengren uses his Path to make his team believe that they have a Skill through deception." Richie expressed his observations.


    "Inception and Deception. I believe with these two, we can create a powerful army that can finally stand a chance against those Aragarian Principals." Seeker eximed in delight.


    Cliff didn''t know all this. When Lowengren gave his orders, he made it sound like it was a sure hit. And Cliff believed it.


    And so, Cliff exined the uniqueness of the two.


    "We learned it?" Roselyn asked one more.


    "No. Not learn. Acquired. We don''t have time for this. The fact that you managed to pull it off earlier¡­ Especially you, Roselyn¡­ It shows you clearly got it. Move. The Empress might still find us even with the pin. Me and Gardo will buy you some time. Complete the mission." Cliff immediately left and rushed off.


    "I see¡­ So that''s why he didn''t tell me about them." A voice echoed in Cliff''s mind.


    "You must be with Richie." Cliff whispered softly.


    "Sammy Theoden. A pleasure to meet you.." The voice responded.

 Chapter 211 - Creating A Standard Soldier

    When the attacks on the Kraken escted, two figures could be seen floating at the dark, stormy seas. Unlike Cliff''s team that used extreme bnce and specific positioning to withstand the waves and wind, these two simply stood up casually over the waters.


    "Looks like we made it on time." Sammy Theoden sighed in relief.


    "That Seeker really knows how to create a good surprise. If he called us anyter, we wouldn''t have made it for this party." Richie smirked.


    "What do we do with this force field? It seems like if you were to make a powerful attack, we''d get detected." Sammy asked.


    "Just wait. There should be an instance when this force field will weaken. Don''t underestimate thoseing here. For one, Grant Hermes finally makes his appearance. He''s been on my bounty book for years, but no one ever could have captured him. Of course, since he can fly, it''s no surprise that no on managed to catch him!'' Richieughed.


    "But, are you sure that that person is inside the Kraken?"


    "The best ce to hide is to be right where your enemies are. The fact that your instincts led us here means he really did the impossible."


    "What are your theories as to how he did it?"


    "Love. That person was wanted for many things in the WGP''s list. But none of them were true. He must have done something that the WGP wouldn''t admit. His apparent death was well hidden. It would have been almost impossible for him to hide his identity or fake it. This proves that it was someone within the WGP that gave him his new identity. What else could lead to him being here, but that?"


    "How sure are you with that deduction?" Richie raised an eyebrow.


    "Listen, I know that since that whole cuckolding-dragon event, you''ve been skeptical of my deductions. But the fact that you managed to find him here only increases the chances of my deduction. He fell in love with someone he shouldn''t have and that someone couldn''t renounce her position. Who else would this be but an Empress? I''m sure that one of the Emperor''s who is currently guarding the Kraken is this Empress!"


    "Fine. I''ll believe you. Anyway, I''m sure he''s inside there. Your mission is to simply convince him to join our side."


    "He will. If he can find the strength and standing to stand by the Empress, he will surely take it."


    "That''s only true if your whole love theory is- oh? That must be that Lilibeth that Lowengren talked about."


    Richie stamped his feet on the water. A ripping soundwave zoomed through the area and passed through the water.


    As it wasn''t a form of attack or anything physical, even the force field couldn''t stop the waves from passing through.


    Several secondster, and the sounds returned. A mental map of the Kraken appeared. Anything or anyone connected to, or standing on the Kraken was mapped.


    The information rushed back, and the expression on Sammy''s face grew pale.


    "Did you find them?" Richie asked.


    "No! Of course not! That was too fast! I couldn''t remember all of that! My mind, even if it''s Unlocked, can only remember so much."


    "Come on! You''re smart! Do that memory thing that the kid Cliff has!"


    "I''m not a monster like him!"


    "Didn''t I make you one already? I should be a third weaker than my prime since I gave you that." Richieughed.


    "Whatever. I just need to get next to that kid! Since he knows Realm Somatotopy it''d be easy for him to find that man!"


    "I guess you should go now. Since Lilibeth is inside, he could rush in and kill the Commanders."


    "Fine. But what about the force field?"


    "Look up. Richie smirked.


    As Sammy nced upwards, he could make out a small figure that looked like a giant man.


    "Are those the Dragon''s Fangs?"


    "Typical is on the move. That little squirt has grown!" Richieughed.


    "Go now." Richie ordered.


    A powerful sound rushed around Sammy and threw him upwards.


    Sammy knew the reason for the sudden aerial throw. Their entry had to look like a force field received tremendous attacks from the enemies above.


    "Let there be¡­ Light!" Richie dered.


    The sounds that vibrated around Sammy started to vibrate and move in a disorderly manner. The sudden creation of kic energy and the raw force of Richie''s sound rushed towards the force field and created a bright light.


    BOOM!


    A strange muffled explosion resounded as the sound contained the force of the impact, making the damage more powerful.


    "Pangean attack detected!" One of the soldiers inside the Kraken alerted.


    "Is the shield damaged?"


    "No, Sir! It reformed immediately."


    "Ignore all breached attacks where the shields reformed. Focus on that big one in the sky!" The Commander gave his orders as he continued to watch the battles that urred in the heavens.


    As for Sammy, he managed to enter through the breach that Richie''s attack made.


    The repelling armor almost disappeared on impact.


    "That felt like I became a Pangean Eradication Bomb!" Sammy cursed. He then moved silently and used a strange force to push away the enemies that approached.


    Soon, Sammy managed to locate Cliff and his teams and prevented the impending trouble that could have killed Stanley.


    "Sammy Theoden?" Cliff repeated the name. This name was not among the list of soldiers or people of interest that Seeker revealed to him.


    Sammy''s figure emerged next to Cliff.


    Cliff immediately felt it. The remaining Origin power was mysteriously pushed away from the area around Sammy.


    "What''s going on?" Cliff was more worried about that. It was then he realized that the figure could not even appear even when using his Realm.


    "You are manipting the Realm around?" Cliff was shocked. The area around them had no Realm, and Cliff couldn''t sense him except through sight.


    "The Origin energy around you has confused your senses. If you extend that sensor of yours a bit further, you''d be able to sense me."


    Cliff was surprised at hisment. Immediately, Cliff concentrated and could sense an empty space around him. The Origin energy enveloped him as if he was underwater. But inside this ocean was a small chamber that he could not sense through unless he focused harder.


    As Cliff managed to extend his reach, he finally felt the presence of Sammy.


    "What is this resistance? It feels like something is repelling me. Vibration?" Cliff guessed.


    "Right. Richie gave me a portion of his power." Sammy exined.


    "He what?"


    "Don''t ask me to exin the wonders of these Oveers. Even I can''t deduce their powers." Sammy shook his head, recalling a specific painful incident.


    "Anyway, I''m here to ask for assistance. I need to meet a Commander of the Kraken. He is part of the team that Richie intends to form."


    "Go with Roselyn and Stanley. They are the ones who will infiltrate the Kraken. The rest of us would just hold the line and create more distractions."


    "I know. I already deduced that. I need you to do something. This will help me get that Commander out in the open. Also, here are some weapons courtesy of my boss." Sammy then handed over a cluster of small metallic balls.


    "Balls of Thunder!" Cliff almost shouted in joy.


    "I believe this is what gave my boss the inspiration to give me this repelling power."


    "He''s here?!" Cliff asked immediately.


    "He''s outside. Don''t count on him helping, though. He''s going to distract the other Progenitors seed. It''s part of the arrangement Arthur made. Crap! I have to go now. That Empress you fought is out of her shield!" Sammy frowned.


    Sammy immediately moved away from the direction that Cliff and his team were headed to.


    "This is what I need you to do." Sammy then ryed his instructions through a sound link.


    The words he spoke made Cliff''s eyes widen in surprise.


    "There was such a thing?!" Cliff was amazed.


    As Cliffs group prepared to face the Empress'' wrath, another group''s battle was reaching the climax.


    Earl, Scribbs, and the rest of the Small Time Drug Dealers continued to harass the Lumberjack.


    The Lumberjack''s body was almost twice its size as it continued to absorb more and more of the broken Exoskeletons. As the Lumberjack''s body grewrger, it continued to move forward and was no longer unaffected by the Lightning Bolts.


    Most of the absorbed metal was slowly turning into the liquid metal that made up the Exoskeleton. The Lightning Bolt''s prating power was made useless as the piercing effects were nullified. The protruding bolts that were pinned on the Exoskeleton''s body slowly disappeared as the Lumberjack grewrger.


    More needle-like limbs appeared on it''s back, and it was glowing red.


    "My turn to attack!" The Lumberjack sneered as it rushed forward, shooting with the needle-like limbs while some would pierce the nearby Exoskeletons.


    Counter, Hank, and Zidane retreated but only to assume that formation.


    Unlike the rest of the specialized teams of Arthur and Lowengren, the rest didn''t have the luxury of receiving specialized gears that suite them. They were given a unified technology that has a wide array of diverse capabilities. They weren''t in any way strong at anything, but neither were they weak on any aspect.


    "As for the standard soldiers, all we have to do is give them the right training. Since Advance Recall even affects muscle memory, all we need to do is to constantly have them fight powerful Unlocked opponents. We make them get used to facing enemies that are faster, stronger, and deadlier than them. That means everyone here would have to fight and train with soldiers at least once a month." Arthur exined.


    "The diversity of your Paths and Skill, the speed, cunning, and intellect will be used to shape our soldiers. Seeker and I will conduct training seminars and create a standard manual that will instruct our soldiers on how to fight. We instill the basics in them, and then they will just have to fight monsters."


    Such training was applied since the three-month period began.


    When the giant figure of the Lumberjack wielding dangerous weapons stepped forward, the soldiers and the drug dealers didn''t even flinch. They''ve been punched, smashed, hacked, and burned several times. Each would sustain a critical injury at least three times a month. And every training session would leave them with severe wounds.


    The fear that the Lumberjack should have instilled was pointless to these soldiers. Even with the uncertainty of how to damage the new form of the Lumberjack, they simply rushed through.


    "Same tactics!" Scribbs ordered as he rushed backward with Earl and shot more Lightning Bolts.


    Several rounds of the Light Bolts struck the Lumberjack, but the Lumberjack simply ignored these attacks. The prating force was easily nullified as the body of the Lumberjack became partly liquid.


    "Now!" Hank eximed.


    The Lightning Bolts had a specific electrical charge that could create a pseudo-electro-maic chain. These Lightning Bolts were made with a little help from Lennox''s living lightning. For simplemands, it was easy to create a simr version that even Pangean techs could replicate.


    The ces where the Lightning Bolt struck became a beacon or a marked ce. The marks that remain on the Lumberjack''s body, the Exoskeletons that the Small Time Drug Dealers piloted now had a target.


    Upon activating the Marked Enemy mode, the thee Exoskeletons suddenly charged off and delivered a powerful strike. The Lightning Bolt was used as a Lightning Rod and attracted the Lightning energy inside the Exoskeletons that Counter, Hank, and Zidane piloted.


    Three flying kicks sank into the different body parts of the Lumberjack. A kick sank on its head, and the Lumberjack''s neck was bent in a way that would have killed a normal human being. Another kick sank deep into the Lumberjacks chest, and its right leg was cut off because of thest flying kick delivered.


    While the liquid metal reduced the damage from armor-piercing attacks, the blunt strike from the Exoskeletons caused the liquid metal to scatter.


    A maic charge, where the Lightning Bolt was, erupted and caused the three Exoskeletons to be repelled backward. This was the second function of each Lightning Bolt. It allowed a maic reaction that pushed and repelled the Exoskeletons. The created prity was so fast that the legs of the three Exoskeletons which had kicked on different ces allowed were immediately retracted.


    The Lumberjack began its counterattacks in vain. The repelling force moved the Exoskeletons beyond the reach of its limbs. The ranged attacks also missed as Earl and Scribbs shot at the limbs.


    Several more Lightning Bolts struck the Lumberjack''s de-like limbs. And once more, another triad strikeposed of two kicks and a Punch happened even before the Exoskeletons could fully retreat.


    And this scene went through four cycles in two short seconds. The blunt attacks, the prity that caused Cliff''s minions to be pushed away and assume another attack, and another round of Lightning Bolts striking the Lumberjack cycled.


    The excess limbs were the next target. The Lightning Bolts struck at the middle region of these limbs, and Hank''s team would then use the sharp edges installed on their legs and elbows to sh it.


    At the destruction of these limbs, the cycle continued again and again.


    After the four cycles, the Lumberjack was basically back to a pile of scattered puddles.


    The living metal quickly retreated, while some parts even seeped through the gaps of the Kraken''s metal floor.


    "That was easy." Hank smiled as he observed the scattering liquid. Counter and Zidane started to shoot the escaping pools of water.


    "Yeah. But it took all of us to get one of those down. And look. Whoever was piloting that Businessman changed his strategy. Instead of a First-Person hack-and-sh shooterbo, he switched to RTS." Earl pointed to the distance.


    Arge group of small Businessmen was running towards their area. They were about one-third of the size, and their hands had transformed into various weapons.


    "We gotta run." Hank frowned and began to retreat.


    As the five retreated, a figure stood at their path. It was the Clown. The des on his limbs were dripping with blood. His main body was slowly transforming into a more solid form. It''s legs, and lower torso was in its liquid state. It was slowly eating up and breaking down various Exoskeleton parts.


    "Where was that damned kid!" The Clown growled angrily. He just killed an entire toon of Exoskeletons due to a misunderstanding. And as he was killing this toon off, another toon spotted him.


    "That damned kid made me kill two toons!" The Clown''s roar could be heard clearly.


    "Form a perimeter!" Earl immediately ordered.


    "I don''t think we can fight that Clown and a small army of Businessmen." Counter hesitated.


    "We just have to hold on. You three deal with those robot midgets. We''ll deal with this Clown." Scribbs replied.


    "I don''t know. I''m with Counter on this one. I still think we should be focused on retreating. This situation. It''s just dangerous."


    "Dangerous?" Scribbsughed.


    "Hey, Earl. Remember when Seeker fought against Lynd, Meryl, Cliff, and Arthur? Even General Arthur didn''t want to do that training session!"


    "I remember that. General Arthur said that it was too dangerous to have such serious training."


    Counter, Hank, and Zidane remembered that scene. Watching their seniors'' fights was one of their constant hobbies, and that battle was the one they viewed the most. Outnumbered and alone, Seeker fought against four of the strongest in the army.


    "Remember what Seeker replied when Arthur kept saying it was too dangerous?" Scribbsughed as he recalled that scene.


    "Of course. It was the first time I thought our cocky little General looked cool." Earlughed.


    "Dangerous is fun." Zidane smiled as he recalled Seeker''s answer.


    "Outnumbered and outmatched. This looks dangerous, alright." Even the hesitant Counter showed courage as he recalled that battle.


    "Let''s go have some fun." Hankughed.


    Seeing the rising morale of the five, a figure smirked in the darkness. For some reason, no one could see or sense him. He immediately turned his attention to the other side of the battlefield.


    "Oh? That looks dangerous. I guess I better go save Cliff.." He immediately moved stealthily towards the direction where Cliff was.

 Chapter 212 - Seeker’s Theories

    Hank, Counter, and Zidane charged towards therge groups of Mini Businessman, and their form changed.


    Their Exoskeletons underwent a transformation as various metallic pieces from their upper body moved towards their arms and legs. Their once bnced look now had more emphasis on their arms and legs.


    Metallic pikes appeared on their arms as they rushed towards the enemy as they assumed a formation that they had practiced for. Their right arm also revealed a substantial hole that would emit electrical charges every now and then.


    "Spartan Wall Formation!" Hank ordered as they moved in synchronization. Memories of their training surfaced as their instructor came to teach things towards them.


    Lynd had a stern and solemn expression and even wore sses as he continued his lecture.


    "The Unlocked potential lies in being able to think faster and opens the great possibility of multi-tasking. Your job as soldiers lies not just in assaulting but protecting your fellow man. With the Unlocking, warfare has changed for us. While soldiers will prioritize seeking cover, shelter, and guard, we can practically do away with it and fight out in the open. This training is designed to aid you inbat and, at the same time, push you to develop Realm sensitivity. The phenomenon that martial artists experience in their superior senses is now easily within your grasps."


    Lynd suddenly released a strange realm that caused everyone to go on alert.


    "As you can see, you all immediately felt a sense of wariness because I released a type of pheromones that made it look like I am angry. In reality, I''m not. How often have you ever talked to your friends or family members when they were in the middle of a fight, and you just happened to walk right in, without hearing or seeing them fight? Yet even then, you feel something amiss."


    "Now take that incident and magnify it. The Unlocked can do more than just read the aura of the room. They have already tapped into this ability to be aware of the area around them. If you attack an extremely practiced martial artist from behind, they somehow sense the attack and retaliate in time. What is the mystery behind that? I tell you the truth, what you know have vastly surpassed them."


    "When Lynd and Meryl attacked several bases in Pangea, and manage to even outdo the strongest soldiers that mankind had to offer, all they went through was several days. Several days of practice and being baptized into Seeker''s horrifying ordeals." Lynd tilted his sses as if reminiscing something.


    "What you have, will be months and hopefully, years of practice and training. We will be training you to have this sixth sense that allows you to observe beyond your eyes and ears. Only the most talented can reach the level your Captain Cliff could do. However, we expect everyone to have at least the minimal capabilities of sensing the area around you."


    The training that everyone went through was basically harsh. Everyone would fight people who were rated in equal strength with them, and they would form teams. Cliff''s trio had struggled with various soldier trios andter was able to awaken the sixth sense.


    As Unlocked, their senses were far sharper than themon man. They have noses that were about twenty times stronger than an average human''s nose. They had eyesight''s that had greater rity, and with enough training, it could zoom at will. Their sense of touch was also different. Through the use of a specific sonic frequency that Richie developed, the Unlocked could be ced into a temporary state to sense the area around them.


    Cliff had shown aptitude in that area, but no one else was able to clearly see it. Even Meryl and Lynd had to go through the process of using the unique frequency several times.


    As for the soldiers, none was able to awaken it at Cliff''s level. They were, however, able to develop a strange sensory that allowed them to have an intuitive sensing ability of things that were roughly a meter around them.


    But as training began, Seeker was the first to notice it and took the time to have personal sessions with the trio. This was an event that even made Harker jealous. Seeker rarely trained others aside from his current team, but he took the time to prepare the three.


    The reason being was that Seeker noticed a very early appearance of that phenomenon in his future.


    "There''s something special with those three?" Cliff asked in confusion.


    "It''s hard to say if it''s a talent or that we are emphasizing our training and efforts in both your teams." Seeker stated at Harker and Cliff.


    "I''m guessing it''s thetter. Apart from being the prototypes, we have been pouring special efforts on both of your trios. So it''s only normal for them to be a step ahead of the rest of the soldiers. Cliff''s team seems subpar individually, but how is it that they are among the best in team battles?" Seeker questioned.


    Harker didn''t know what to say and turned to Earl.


    Earl had fought them several times yet didn''t know. He could easily win against them one on one, but when together, it was significantly harder.


    "The fact that they can even challenge your trio proves that they have it."


    "Have what?"


    "A phenomenon that only the elite teams in my future had. Take a look." Seeker then pointed to a video disyed that appeared on the screen. Harker and Earl also nced curiously.


    The video disyed Cliff''s trio being surrounded and attacked by the other Unlocked. They had physicalbat that emphasized on melee weapons.


    Seeker froze the frame and pointed out to the circr formation that three had.


    "Take a look at this. In this frame, Zidane is the one closest to this enemy. Hank is on the opposite end. Hank''s distance is too far for him to sense this soldier. But since Zidane has his hands full, he won''t be able to counter. Observe how they deal with this threat and observe how they constantly fight after this." Seeker resumed the video.


    Just as Seeker said, Zidane was unable to deal with the enemy. As the enemy was about to strike, Hank, who faced the other direction and was more than three meters away, immediately turned around and kicked at the enemy to redirect the blow.


    Cliff, Harker, and Earl noticed the same urrences as the battle continued.


    Despite not having seen the enemy, and even if their enemies were beyond their normal sensing range, the three were able to detect them.


    "We called it Realm Synch." Seeker exined.


    "It''s the ability tobine their Realms and sense the area around them not individually, but as a group. Hank can sense the enemies that enter Zidane''s reach. The same thing happens with Counter."


    "This is a phenomenon that I noticed several times in my future, and whichever team manages to develop this, it would increase their strength by a fold or two. That is how these three can beat several trios in their training session."


    "Is it a Skill?"


    "I don''t know¡­ But it should be strong. The greatest example of Realm Synch would be one other Oveer. Grant Hermes and his team have it, which made them very strong. Still¡­ It''s good that this appeared quite early in this life. We have more time to study it. If webine it to what Earl, Scribbs, and Tyler have, it would be quite an interestingbo!" Seeker smiled.


    The chaotic shes of their daily training allowed Cliff''s trio to learn of this. The three had impable teamwork and moved and was considered to be in equal strength with Harker''s top three soldiers. As long as the three had their formation, they emted the strength and solidity of the warriors of old. Seeker personally trained the three and gave them a few more battle techniques that emphasized how to defend their allies.


    The Businessman rushed in unison. Despite their size, their numbers would have easily overwhelmed a toon of Exoskeletons.


    "Remember Arthur''s lessons! Shoot!" Hank immediately ordered.


    The trio immediately began shooting Lightning Bolts using their right hand.


    The Lightning Bolts increased in size. A bolt roughly twice the size of an ordinary pin struck the foot of several Businessmen.


    The shots were precise, and whoever got struck would either stumble or get stuck as their legs were pinned. The sudden stops caused the other rushing Golems to stumble over each other, and the unified formation was gone. Still, the advance of these Golems continued and reached the area around three.


    The rushing Golems began to push harder and employed reckless and suicidal attacks. But experience had already taught Cliff''s trio to stand firm. Compared to this army of miniature Golem, the smirking and arrogant smile of Seeker invoked more fear.


    "Don''t let anyone pass!"


    It was as if the battle was something that had a director who coordinated the fight scene.


    No matter how the rushing enemies attacked, thebination of punches, kicks, and Lightning Bolts stopped them from breaking through the thin line. The strikes that utilized electro-maic markings would even smash the small Golems to bits or send it flying.


    The unison of the three allowed them to act and immediately support and defend each other while also attack the enemy.


    Behind them, Earl and Scribbs also underwent a transformation. They faced the substantial form of the Clown that looked like a giant spider with its exaggerated needle-like limbs expanding out.


    Earl and Scribbs assumed a different form. Most of their torso barely had any metal ting. Their Exoskeleton transformed into a skeletal frame that supported the two to be capable of carrying their heavy weapons. Most parts of their armor had moved all the way to both their hands and feet. One hand held arge shield and the other a sword. The hand which held the sword had a small hole right on top of the fist regions.


    The scene looked like two knights facing a giant monstrosity. Yet the two didn''t even cower.


    Scribbs, Earl and Tyler were the only soldiers that managed to defeat Cliff''s trio.


    Upon exining Realm Synch, Earl and Harker nced at each other and were very intrigued at Seeker''s words.


    "What do you mean? Earl and the others have another Skill?"


    "Just like Realm Synch, it isn''t really a Skill. It''s another mystery I''ve witnessed, but we didn''t even have a word for it. I was looking out for it because of the miracle of Hermes. His team has two unique traits. They have this Realm Synch that extends for miles. The other is the ability to just know how their team will act or move."


    "Isn''t that normal in every team that has been working with each other for too long?"


    "Yes. It''s normal. But with the Unlocking, it can be abnormal." Seeker smiled.


    "So, in other words, Cliff''s trio can sense the movements of the enemies near them. My trio can sense and anticipate each other''s movements at another level?"


    "Yes. Both are equally beneficial. If these two thingsbine¡­ We could create a team with as much teamwork as the Winds of Hermes has."


    The Clown dove closer to the two as it''s arge frame to empower them.


    The pair raised their shields and rushed forward. Their sword arm shed and attacked a limb while the shield blocked the giant Clown''s crashing impact.


    "Hm?!" The Clown was surprised. The two warriors used their shields and defended in a specific position that perfectly bnces the weight of his crushing attack.


    Scribbs and Earl immediately released their defensive hold and rolled to the sides. The catching and the dropping of the Clown were so in synch that he staggered as he fell.


    Several shes immediately appeared as it targeted the limbs.


    The Clown''s upper body spun around to do a 360-degree sh using his hands, which transformed into swords.


    Scribbs boosted upwards as he jumped several meters on the air while Earl went as low as possible.


    The spinning des missed them.


    Scribbs shot using the small gun on his right fist, and a small Lightning bolt struck the area on the right shoulder of the Clown.


    With the marked area, Scribbs came falling down to sh the arm. The spinning body of the Clown prepared to deliver a sh at Scribbs. Then, a powerful stab urred on its left arm that created strong resistance to the spinning attack of the Clown.


    Earl had used his electrical charge to shoot and give a powerful thrust on the other arm to halt the spin of the Clown.


    Without the sh, Scribbs delivered his powerful blow, and the sword struck on the right arm and hacked through it.


    An upward sh followed as Earl made a follow-up attack that shed through the skull of the Clown.


    But even after dealing such an attack, the pair continued on its relentless assault.


    BOOM!


    A terrifying tremor could be felt as a massive explosion resounded on the other side of the Kraken. Yet this explosion did not divert the attention of Cliff''s trio and the two soldiers.


    On the other end of the Kraken, the Empress continued to chase. She sent a powerful st of greenish rays that was stronger than Pangea''s Srium tech.


    The Empress gave an angry howl as two green suns hovered nearby her floating form.


    Gardo and Cliff were on two different ces and kept evading the attacks. But when the greening power was shot, a powerful st urred, and the tremendous explosion enveloped Gardo.


    Cliff revealed no expression at the sight of Gardo being enveloped by the green st. His attention was fixed on the Empress.


    The Empress turned her attention to Cliff, and the twin green suns gave a bright sh.


    "You two cockroaches have scurried enough! Die, Lowengren!"


    "Kill me, and you lose all hope of saving him! You sensed seven other men, right? They were sent to deal with the Commanders!" Cliffughed.


    The Empress was startled at Cliff''s words.


    "If you let me go, I will tell my team to spare him!" Cliff offered.


    "It won''t work. That''s not one of Lowengren''s lies." Cliff heard a familiar voice.


    "Just die!" The Empress roared.


    The twin suns charged up, and the Origin energy around them slowly decreased.


    The charged energy created a srium core that was far stronger than the average srium weapons that Pangea had.


    The two suns shot at Cliff.


    A figure emerged and stood in front of Cliff. The young man held three small balls near his mouth.


    "Balls of Thunder?" Cliff pondered.


    "It looks like I''ll have to use it ahead of you, Richie." The young manughed.


    On the very millisecond that the three grenades explode, he began to tread his Path.


    Ever since he learned of his true Path, he had several theories on how it can make him better.


    In the past months, he gave a lot of effort in trying to realize his theories. But it all ended in failure. He could not let the Paths of others interlink with his cells onmand. But then, he met Nogard Meng. The Path and science he acquired in that meeting allowed him to understand more about the Unlocking.


    On hisst death, his memories allowed him to pierce through time and space. His other soul had traveled through different dimensions. And when he faced Nogard, the encounter led him to recall the sensation of things that surpassed the possible senses that could only be experienced in the three dimensions.


    Nogard taught him how to meditate. And with that guidance, Seeker could intuitively do it.


    It was as if he had some codes that could alter the set parameters, validations, calctions, the physics, the math, and the science that dictated the world he was in.


    The Balls of Thunder exploded, but it did not affect him. Instead, he was able to channel it.


    "Roar of Judah." Seeker whispered.


    BOOM!


    Sound and Sun shed, resulting in a tremendous explosion that shook the entire Kraken.

 Chapter 213 - Seeking The Fourth Dimension

    Earth was on theirst desperate attack. The Unlocked soldiers did not expect that there would be a return trip.


    But the most immediate problem was the terrifying fleet of space-capable jets that the rest of the world made to hinder the United Nations Army''sst gambit.


    Seeker was trembling. Even with his power as a Ranked Hero, he would surely die if their ships would blow up as they would be lost in space forever.


    And as theunch began, the pitiful amount of ships headed for space could only number one-tenth of their enemies.


    As the distance between the two armies grew closer and closer, a figure zoomed faster than the space-capable jets to meet the outstanding enemies before him.


    The lone figure was one of Earth''s greatest Champions. He was one of the Seventh Trumpets and the wielder of the Peals of Thunder that could be heard on the very throne of God.


    Seeker''s tremendous vision tailed the zooming figure and focused on it.


    "It''s all on you, Richie." Seeker whispered.


    Richie stopped at a certain distance. The enemy fleets began tounch their attacks as the sky rained with beams and rockets.


    Eagle''s voice continued to be transmitted to all members as he continued to preach and grant moral support to the armies.


    "Fear not the enemies that surround you! For it is written! He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings, you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler!"


    The skies lit up as the armies that surrounded the atmosphere continued to attack. The pilots were trembling at the scene as they continued to fly towards the torrential attacks.


    "You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday! A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will note near you! You will only look with your eyes and see the rpense of the wicked!"


    Richie drew his breath and readied a mighty roar. The sound of the terrifying and brave shout of Richie echoed out. Though they were all in their shuttles, the piercing cry still echoed out. Every Unlocked on those ships shouted in courage as they heard the mighty roar.


    "Because you have made the Lord your dwelling ce¡ª the Most High, who is my refuge no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no guee near your tent! The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts! Come hear the mighty cry of the Lord! Though our enemies be a devouring lion, the Lion of Judah shall roar!"


    The shout of Richie created a miraculous transformation. The sound vibrations made the area around it aspact and hard as metal. Sound became Steel and pushed forth. A mighty shockwave erupted like a gigantic invisible staff that shot towards the enemy fleet.


    Explosions after explosions rang out and covered the sky as the enemy attacks made contact with the invisible sound waves. But like an invincible wall, it remained undaunted and unhindered. The rushing continued to push fort. Various ships and orbiting objects began to rush and panic as they scattered to escape the pushing force, but it was toote. The Roar of Judah reached them.


    The Unlocked faced a daunting group thatposed of all nations that had allied itself to the Aragarian. But this fleet that vowed to hinder the ascension and the entire fleet all began to explode as the Roar reached them.


    The line of defense was quickly broken. And the ster-capable jets left the atmosphere and pushed towards the final battle.


    Seeker kept that memory deep in his heart. And now, he shared this fantastic tale towards the few people who remained. In this meeting, only the Oveers, Arthur, and Lowengren were present. Everyone else was not invited to this secret meeting.


    "Roar of Judah, huh? I don''t think I can do that massive force yet. My powers are slightly limited, as the sound I can make is also limited. I cannot create such a massive amount of sounds yet."


    "Roar of Judah is the culmination of your Path. You create sounds that create even more sounds. It''s like a chain reaction once you create it. Of course, you already know this, right?" Seeker asked Richie.


    "Easier said than done. Currently, I can only create anotheryer of sound during the attack. But overall, my sounds should follow a ratio of more than eighty-percent mine, and the remaining sounds are created from the original eighty percent that I make. But future me is capable of multiplying his sounds. He could double or triple it."


    "Might I ask why we are focusing on Richie''s Path?" An impatient Meng asked.


    "No. It''s not Richie''s Path. It''s Seeker''s. You have something nned, don''t you?"


    "Yes. Richie has a Path that is easy to create. In my previous life, I could never copy another Path. That was Lynd''s thing. But now, I want to do it. Because I am someone who does not walk a Path, it means that I can tread on all of them. And not just the Path''s that require mindset or faith. Those that Lynd can copy. It is even possible for me to copy things like Lowengren''s Path or even Lennox!"


    "I get it. Since we have the time, you want to focus on aplishing that?" Lowengren concluded.


    "Right. Hence I need to start with Richie. I can''t possibly copy Lennox with my current capacities. The Empress is out of the question. All that remains is Meng and Richie. But Meng will be doubly as hard to copy as I would need to be exposed to Meng''s cells. So all that''s left is Richie. Richie can start with the basics. He can tune me and show me all the frequencies of sounds. Even those that we can''t hear. Perhaps in that, I can understand it and find a way to create sounds like his."


    "Is this possible? What are the odds of that?" Lowengren asked Arthur.


    "Almost zero. But that''s why he has to do it. Seeker, Cliff, and Lynd have a unique ability to grow stronger as they meet more people. We already know Lynd''s case, and we have yet to prove if Seeker''s theory about Cliff is true. As for Seeker himself, he can copy the base foundations of everything."


    "Let''s see¡­ He managed to understand the cells and create that cancerous body of his. He managed to acquire the Empress''s abilities to reflect emotions. Too bad he''s not as vain as the Empress. But what did he manage to understand about me?" Richie wondered.


    "It improved my Realm. But I already had it. So while there is an improvement, it isn''t something that can greatly aid me during battle. But even if my chances of treading on another Path is zero, I have confidence in myself that I can soon reach it." Seeker smirked.


    And so it was that Seeker would practice and attempt to control Richie''s sounds. Lennox designed an echo chamber wherein the sound could be contained and harvested. But by bit Seeker trained using the sounds in that. But the sounds had already run out, and Seeker earned nothing.


    But then he met Nogard Meng. And in their short meeting, Seeker found the answer to the mystery that he was trying to achieve.


    "What exactly is your Path?" Seeker asked.


    "The soul. The Science that Progenitor gave me is a science that is not done on this dimension. And if I were to fight, the battle wouldn''t be on this dimension as well."


    Seeker sighed.


    "I felt a strange familiarity when you attempted to attack me. In my Adult self''s memories, he witnessed things that I cannot remember."


    "You can''t remember it because you no longer have that dimensional capacity to see and recall it. If you try to remember it, your brain, which thinks and trantes things in the three-dimensions, cannot process it. It''s like charging electrical equipment using gas. Unless you have something that can convert that gas to electricity, pouring gas on that electrical device is practically useless."


    "And yet¡­ it was that experience, the seeing through dimensions that made me aware of what you did."


    "Yes. My power is a soul attack. By attacking one''s soul, I can diminish your vitality, cause mental and emotional damage, change your personality, and kill you. But with my ability, my enemy has to stand at least one meter from me. I do not know how to move on to those other dimensions. So I need to be very near to another person."


    "That''s how you conquered China in your prime."


    "Yes. I could make enemies into loyal allies. And even make the most loyal soldiers of my enemy go insane. I could even kill a person despite how heavily guarded they are or no matter how thick their shields were. My attack does not move in the three dimensions."


    "You said that you taught your son some meditation skill?"


    "Yes. You see, his power is derived not from our own dimensions. I made him focus on another aspect of his meditation. It was to make him achieveplete control with his body. And in doing that, he managed to alter his DNA. Of course, his own potential,prehension, and faith made him cultivate that immense Destion."


    "I want to have that meditation skill."


    "It would take years to master that. We don''t have the luxury of time. However, because you had passed through all dimensions when you died, I believe there is a simpler way. And that is for me to attack your soul. Maybe through our sh, you will learn to tread my Path." The empowering force of Nogard''s soul immediately shed with Seeker without warning.


    Seeker''s two souls maintained a bnce of existing and appearing together and shed with the powerful soul of Nogard. The physical manifestation of that battle caused Seeker''s expression to undergo immense pain. His brain and heart immediately experienced enormous pressure. His entire body became paralyzed.


    His brain immediately gave way to various chemical reactions creating migraines, and he began to hallucinate.


    He saw in his vision a terrifying dragon who was trying to devour his body. Both Seeker gave a pained cry in the strange realm where this dragon was attacking.


    His body suffered from a strange paralysis. Seeker was in a peculiar state of being half-asleep and half-awake. The dragon''s maw fell on both Seeker''s, and painful cramps and piercing sensations could be felt all around Seeker''s body.


    Suddenly, the strange vision stopped. Seeker immediately copsed. His face was deathly white as if he lost a lot of blood.


    On the other side, Nogard also had a frail expression.


    "That body of yours is quite tough. Aside from having an unusuallyrge soul, you have two of them! I tried to possess you but couldn''t defeat the owner of the house!" Nogardughed as he fell into a deep slumber.


    Through being attacked, Seeker felt it and actually saw the strange realm that surpassed the three dimensions.


    It was then that he could hear a strange thought enter his head. Seeker knew that it wasn''t his, but a thought began to speak in Seeker''s head.


    "That was the best that I can do."


    "Nogard?!" Seeker reacted.


    "You''ve heard about it and probably seen it. The talks about demonic possessions, the strange sleep paralysis that is followed by these horrifying nightmares. People iming to have heard the voice of God or the voice of insanity. This is where it all happens."


    "The fourth dimension!" Seeker then realized it and immediately closed his eyes and tried to return to the dreamscapend he and Nogard fought. Both Seeker''s fell into a trance and saw it. But what they saw was something strange.


    "So that''s my Realm Somatotopy!" Seeker realized. Right next to him was the adult.


    "So our Realm Somatotopy in itself is already a breaching of dimensions."


    Nogard stood not far from them.


    "You really can tread it." Nogard smiled.


    "This is the unseen world. We are on a parallel ne. It is here that those cultic fellows go to for their astral projection activities. You must have heard of these paranormal encounters." Nogard exined.


    "Why does this world look strange? I can see the three dimensions, but¡­ I know that it isn''t the three dimensions."


    "You''ve heard of the tesseract?"


    "That strange cube is the scientific attempt to project the fourth dimension into a three-dimensional ne." The adult answered.


    "So is this it? We are standing in the fourth dimension? Then why do the three dimensions look weird here?"


    "It''s simr to those who draw 3D art by drawing height, depth, and length. If you view their paintings at a specific angle, you would think that it''s real 3D. This world is the opposite. What we see now is the three dimensions being projected into the fourth-dimensional ne. But depending on the angle of where we are standing, some of the three dimensions would look distorted here."


    "This is the dream world, right?"


    "Not just dreams. This is where thought urs. This is where imagination urs. We are in the depths of your brain. But saying that you are in the depths of my brain is also true. Such is the fourth dimension. We cannot exin it because we are used to thinking in three dimensions. How can an object be in two ces at the same time? Yet here, you are both in your brain and in mine."


    "I can see my Realm¡­ I can even see my emotions here." Seeker could understand the strange colors, ripples, and mist that enveloped the area around him.


    "That is your advantage. You who have treaded beyond the fourth dimension on your rebirth as you passed through time and space and managed to acquire the Oveers'' various foundations. I can''t see it, to be honest. But it makes sense. I can''t project emotions like you or the Empress." Nogardughed.


    Seeker spent his time in meditation even as he was traveling back to the Pangean regions. Richie rendezvoused with Seeker along the way. And when they met, Seeker once more asked Richie to give him a tuning.


    It was there that the miracle first happened.


    Going back to the present, the twin beams that surpassed the destructive powers of Pangean Srium sted out and raced towards Seeker.


    The three Thunders exploded, and Seeker called out the name of the attack.


    "Let''s do this." The Adult Seeker immediately moved.


    "Roar of Judah." Seeker smiled as the Balls of Thunder started to explode.


    In the fourth dimension, the ripple of Richie''s attack appeared.


    The whisper he mademanded the sound explosion, and it did not expand out like a normal explosion, but it sted out like arge column of steel.


    The sound created a strange distortion that made the Origin around them shift and move erratically.


    BOOM!


    The st could not prate the vibrations that Seeker sent out. No stalemates were made as the powerful pushing vibrations broke through the srium beams.


    The explosions caused by the srium beams counited to ring out. Despite the explosions, the mysterious sound wave kept moving on and on and crashed into the Empress.


    BANG!


    The impact threw the Empress upwards. Upon impact, the Empress''s armors gave a bright green glow the shed out. It was the Origin Energy that acted to defend and preserve her life. The forceful sound cannon carried the Empress to the high sky until finally, she managed to fall and roll the invisible wall that brought her up. Though her armor endured it, the impact caused various dents and even caused the Empress to bleed, and she also lost her consciousness.. Her body then plummeted down towards another part of the Kraken.

 Chapter 214 - The Monster Of The Caliphates

    Eight hours before the grand attack, a peculiar meeting urred right in the middle of the ocean.


    "Seeker. It''s nice of you to drop by." Richieughed as he waved his hands and created a sound force field that protected Seeker as hended from the sky''s great heights.


    As Seekernded, the trio started to sink in the ocean. As it submerged, they then began to move at a breakneck speed. Arge bubble-like sound shield covered them and allowed them to move in the water.


    "Richie. And may I know who this friend is?" Seeker asked respectfully.


    "Sammy Theoden. But my real name is Shuffler Atkins."


    "Oh. I''m sorry. But I don''t know who you are." Seekerughed.


    "Then that''s quite sad. I must have died a useless death in your future." Sammy shook his heads.


    "Now that you are with Richie, I''m sure you''ll make quite an impact on this life. Richie, how did you bestow your sounds? Did you take inspiration from my stories about Hermes?" Seeker asked.


    "How did you know about that? I was hoping to give you a little surprise." Richie asked curiously.


    "It''s part of my new training. I could sense past the three dimensions, and I could see a thick aura simr to yours on Sammy."


    "Oh? Is it beneficial for me to learn that trick you have?"


    "Yes. But I''m not sure if you can see it. Meng has been trying to see it all his life and only managed to affect the area within him. His destion is something that was far more terrifying than we thought. The destion is something that happens beyond the three dimensions. You should have seen all those scientific charts on how they present gravity around a? They make a-like chart that creates a sloping pit around it. You could say that the same thing happens around Meng. Only instead of gravitational pull, we have destion."


    "So that''s it! It''s not a form of poison or chemicals. His body is creating a deste field around him! Amazing!" Sammy eximed.


    "Oh? You prioritized the brain of your future team?"


    "There''s Arthur, Lowengren, Lennox, and because you know the future, you. I need someone to be the brains for my team." Richie smiled.


    "Tell me more about the dimension. Boss is a little entric, and with his newfound religion, he probably wouldn''t care."


    Richie frowned but didn''t say anything.


    "Alright. Put it simply¡­ the theories that Nogard had over this special power is simple. The brain is actually a conduit that connects us towards the other dimensions. If we were to use Eagle''s terms, then in man''s trichotomy, the spirit is housed in the brain. That is why the most perfect science is something that should ur within the brain. You received thest message is sent?"


    "Yes. Regarding Progenitor. Richie already exined it to me."


    "This Progenitor of ours was on a roll. He focused on science that aimed to use the brain''s connection towards the other dimensions to alter the very limitations of man. Those who are Oveers are basically those who have found a way to create a significant change in the dimensions beyond the Fourth. Lennox''s thought process, Richie''s sound, Meng''s destion, the empowering emotions of lust that the Tyrant Empress release and so on¡­"


    "What exactly is this fourth dimension? I never really paid attention to my physics ss." Richie pondered.


    "Allow me, boss. Imagine the world of those ancient Pok¨¦mon games that have been recently re-released. Theter games used three dimensions. They used the XYZ axis. You can move forward, backward, left and right, and you can move up and down. But the older versions only had X and Y in their axis. You can only move forward, backward, left, and right. The concept of jumping or moving in a third dimension was not possible."


    "Ok. I think I understand that part. You can''t move in the old 2D pokemon games like those in the Piercing series or in Generals."


    "Right. Imagine a character in the 2D pokemon games trying to move like those in a 3D game."


    "It''s impossible. Since the game was designed in 2D, you can''t move in 3D."


    "Now, if you had the right codes, you could bypass the two-dimensionalws and walk through walls. You that, you can walk from the first town and run to the Elite Four because of that."


    "Still following."


    "Imagine if you could move in 3D in that Pokemon Game. You could jump over obstacles, or go under it if possible. You''d be able to move and do things that originally was impossible to do in the 2D world!"


    "So you''re saying that Meng''s ability is something like that? Because he has ess to another dimension, he can create destion?"


    "Right. In fact, all of you disgusting monsters have some way of acting in those dimensions that its effect in this 3D realm are those very attacks you guys can make. It''s minimal for you, though. Like you guys can only move in another extra direction. Like Meng can jump up in that Pokemon 2D world, you can duck, but Seeker, he can directly change the code and make him walk through walls."


    "It''s not that exaggerated." Seeker rified. He then turned to Richie.


    "So its basically like Jesus. He lived next to His Father in heaven. He assumed a form that might haveprised several dimensions. Then He stepped down from heaven and breached the dimensions to be a character in this pitiful three-dimensional world of ours."


    "Amen." Sammy answered helplessly.


    "Does he¡­ listen to Eagle''s sermons?"


    "Every single day," Sammyined.


    "A few more sermons, and I''d be a believer..." Sammy mumbled silently.


    "And when Jesus ascended, He was a being that was fully three-dimensional, and at the same time, He carried with him the fullness of these other dimensions." Richie continued.


    "Right. I''m leaving now." Seeker shook his head.


    "Leave? How?" Richie wondered.


    It was then that Seeker and the Adult gazed on the area around him.


    "Don''t resist." Seeker said to Richie as he reached out to push his arms outside the sound bubble.


    Suddenly, Seeker''s figure moved out of the sound bubble as another sound bubble surrounded him.


    Seeker''s expression was that of extreme delight.


    "Amazing. He manipted it! He actuallymanded my sound!" Richie was surprised.


    "Too bad I can''t create sounds of my own. Lynd''s observation and sympathy allow him to take a peak and therefore understand the soul. And on the dimensions beyond us, he can replicate it because he knows your heart and emotions. I can''t do that. I can''t make an attack that has the soul in it. I can only control it. But of course, it''s useless if you resist. I can''t forcibly take control of something from you or use it against you. This is because I can see and do elementary maniption of the dimensions beyond the fourth. This is my prize from treading on the Gold Dragon of China." Seeker gave a boastful smile.


    "Then, this should really help you!" Richie waved his hands as eight small metallic balls floated and moved from his sound shield and went towards Seeker.


    "Balls of Thunder? No, wait. It''s far stronger than this. You¡­ managed to contain such a powerful shout?" Seeker was stunned.


    "You''re not the only one that improved, kid." Richieughed.


    Going back to the present, the contained thunder that Seeker used to counter the Empress was these same balls. Unlike the other bombs that imitated it and only had a small portion of Richie''s shout, this actually contained the full force.


    And it was these bombs that Seeker used to deflect the powerful attacks of the Empress. The explosions that urred shook the entire Kraken. Even some of the Commanders and soldiers deep inside in the Kraken lost their bnce from the strike.


    Cliff was thrown off to the back from the explosion. He immediately ran towards Seeker to talk to him.


    "Zeek!"


    "Cliff. I don''t have time. But now that I did that, things will get worse from here. The Emperors won''t be holding back. Oh? And it looks like the shield will soon fall." Seeker immediately turned his attention to the west side of the sea.


    "My goodness. What a monster. Lowengren told me about this¡­ but I didn''t expect it to be this bad! Cliff, my condolences." Seekerughed.


    "What?!" Cliff wondered.


    "Listen here, Cliffy¡­ We big boys are going to be busy. You''re the eldest among your brothers and sisters, so you should be the one to block that one. Of course, I won''t be too cruel. Here are some neat toys you could use to fight him." Seeker threw four small rings towards Cliff.


    "That''s the prototype that Meng developed. It uses both Lightning Rod and Electro-maic technology. It''s like those little boosters we experimented back then."


    "But¡­ this technology! Chinese and British techs?! It will make the WGP chase after us!" Cliff had been with Arthur long enough to know this.


    "Don''t worry. After this battle, things will change in the future. But more importantly, you''d be dead if you didn''t have that and fight him."


    "Who are you talking about?"


    "You should be able to sense him¡­ right about¡­ now."


    Great fear enveloped Cliff as the memories erupted and caused Cliff to fall on his knees.


    The familiar pressure was far deadlier than what it was a few months back.


    "When you fought him¡­ how did he look like?" Seeker asked.


    "What? Like the one in the file, of course! Him and those crazy nails of his!"


    "Oh. Then don''t be shocked about his current appearance. The Empress is up. I''ll be fighting her and drawing her out of here. Whatever you do, don''t bring your battle near the battlegrounds of the Oveers."


    "Other battles?"


    "Richie''s here. If I brought him here, you should know how dangerous things will be." Seeker smiled as he vanished.


    Cliff felt a strange sense of confidence.


    "You really think increasing my emotional confidence would help now?" Cliff cursed.


    "What happened?" Gardo appeared next to Cliff.


    "You''re¡­ alive?!"


    "Yeah. Srium tech is basically concentrated Eradication. Fight fire with fire." Gardoughed.


    "You didn''t sense me?" Gardo then realized it.


    "Somethings¡­ drawing my attention. We don''t have time. So here''s the n." Cliff began to exin.


    Up above the Kraken, a strange ball of Wind flew as fast as it could.


    The Throne of the Emperor suddenly rushed off to another side of the Kraken as it learned of a very shocking news. Its sudden departure caused the giant snake to trail after it.


    "Chance! Sorry kiddies. I can''t y much longer. My team needs me!" Hermesughed as he retreated.


    "Let''s retreat too. Conserve your energy." Typical ordered. He immediately leaped from an ideal tform, and the two beside him followed.


    "I created a forest of thorns, but all we could do was wound him! If we fought him with his four underlings, we would surely die!" Typical cursed.


    "Young Master. I''m sensing strange energy up above." Suit reported.


    "I sensed it too. That''s what made Hermes retreat. If he needs to get with his team, it shows that he couldn''t handle whatever''sing with his current power. Let''s retreat. Whatever''s up, there would kill us. If that Richie wishes to fight her, we can''t afford to be nearby! Move down to the Kraken! We rescue Seeker''s team as instructed."


    Suit immediately piloted his Armor and moved downwards.


    The tornado and wind that protected them disappeared. Thus, the Kraken attacks finally shot its full force towards Suit.


    "Finally! Something fun!" Suitughed. After the stressful and life-threatening battle between Hermes, this was very easy.


    The massive Armor made expert evasive maneuvers and would even detach its parts and reconnect it to dodge the torrential rain beautifully. Suit was a master in Exoskeletons and Armors. He was an Unlocked with a Skill in piloting.


    With his extraordinary sense and almost artistic piloting, he fought the various secret services. He defeated the strongest of members in the Underworld. With the Unlocking, this unworldly control that impressed Meng grew to a whole different level.


    "Young Master. Who is it exactly that requires Master Richie to face? Isn''t this person a mere Near-Oveer?" Despite the intense action of his piloting, Suit couldn''t contain his curiosity.


    "There are actually two of theming. I don''t know who would face the one on the east. I could sense their bloodlust even from here. They are simple Near-Oveers. But in terms of the Unlocking, they are Inhumans. And the feeling I get from them is also different. We call Young Master Seeker and the other Oveers as monsters. But these two¡­ they are literal monsters. You''ll understand once you see them."


    Up in the sky, Richie hovered and waited. Richie wore a strange garment. He had an Eagle mask covering his face, a red cape, and strange ws on his hand.


    The green aurora had lit the night sky, and even though the storm had shunned the stars and the moon, it was extremely easy for Richie to see through it.


    "Boy¡­ those nations couldn''t really help themselves." Richie nced at the various nes that were circling around the Kraken. Several airnes and boats had already sunk.


    "Hmm¡­ I guess after this, I get the frequencies of those pilots. I''m sure Seeker needs more skilled pilots like these." Richie bemused as he nced at the nes that keep themselves from getting shocked as it kept bombarding the Kraken.


    "Now, to deal with the monster from above." Richie smiled and waited.


    A figure emerged from the dark clouds. This figure''s flight was so fast that it actually parted a small hole on the dark clouds overhead.


    The figure started to slow down and ultimately stopped its descent as it drew near Richie.


    A woman of divine beauty stood and hovered on the air. She had ck wings behind her that kept pping.


    "Who are you?" The woman frowned.


    "Eagle Man." Richieughed.


    The woman gave a wary look at the man. She couldn''t understand how this person was capable of flying on the sky.


    "What''s with the costume?"


    "To hide my identity, of course. There are eyes around here that we should be wary of. You should have worn a mask to hide from them." Richie shook his head.


    The woman sneered.


    "For someone as beautiful as me, wearing a mask is an insult."


    "Really? I know a woman far more beautiful than you. She wears a mask because she''s so beautiful it could kill the world." Richieughed.


    The expression of the woman changed as a strange reddish hue began to envelop her.


    "Wow. So this is what the Gold Dragon meant. Anyway, I''m here to put a stake at your heart, oh great vampire of the Caliphates."


    The woman''s angry expression turned to shock. The reddish hue around her created sharp spikes on her wings. Her body was also coated with a strange red armor.


    "You know of me?"


    "Yup. I even understand the mystery of this strange skill of yours. Leukemia, right? If Meng has cancer and mutated his body, you have that on your blood. Still, it''s bizarre that you can do those things with your blood. Do you also suck blood from people? Anyway, Arthur believes that talking to you is pointless. So the best way to deal with you is to defeat you and spare your life. That would prove that we are on Progenitor''s side." Richie smiled.


    The woman remained silent, but her eyes widened.


    "Shall we start? I need to defeat you. That little doggie on the east could kill Cliff after all." Richie smiled.


    "If it''s a battle you want. It''s a battle you''ll get!" The woman howled angrily as she pped her wings and dove towards Richie.


    Thick red blood enveloped her hand as it transformed into a strange w.


    "Boy! This is something right out of a horror film!" Richie chuckled as he undid the sound that was carrying him and started to free fall.


    "I''ll be taking your blood, Eagle man!" The woman raged as she flew faster to catch up with Richie.


    "My dear, batsy¡­ Eagles prey on bats, you know?" Richie took a single step midair, and a powerful explosive forceunched him towards the woman.

 Chapter 215 - Faith From Fiction

    The single step of Richie caused him to fly at incredible speed and immediately met the Empress.


    Richie punched out towards the unprepared vampire''s stomach.


    A small peal of thunder sounded out, and Richie''s fist surprisingly pierced through.


    The shocked Richie panicked at the sudden strike. He wasn''t supposed to kill the woman. But almost a millisecond passed when Richie retreated as he sensed it.


    The woman immediately retaliated as her wings shed towards Richie.


    Richie evaded ordingly, but the powerful sh pierced through the sound armor that was all over Richie.


    Richie flew backward as the woman continued to give chase. Blood was dripping from her mouth, but she continued to recklessly charge.


    Richie could see that the hole he made was immediately covered by the blood.


    The blood around the woman turned darker and darker as she approached Richie.


    The woman flew faster and made an exaggerated attack towards Richie. She flew upwards and was using both her hands, which transformed into a w to sh down. However, her flight and the movement was slower, and it was an opening that Richie could take advantage of.


    Surprisingly, Richie retreated and did not retaliate and take advantage of the opening.


    Upon moving away from the range of the shing ws, Richie shouted, and a piercing cry like an Eagle''s sound echoed out.


    The echoing sound turned into a thunderous force that exploded out on the woman.


    The woman''s wings immediately pped and enveloped itself. The woman was thrown back a few meters, but it surprised Richie.


    "What was that? It ate my sounds!" Richie was intrigued.


    "You''re not half bad yourself. Despite being so near me, I couldn''t control your blood!"


    "I''m Unlocked. My cells are mine to control. You''d have to be far stronger than me or higher in the Unlocking to do that." Richieughed.


    The vampire frowned as she was unable toprehend Richie''s answer.


    "Ah, forget it. I can''t wait to suck your blood."


    "Those abdominal practices are not pleasing to the Lord. Do you not know that drinking the lifeblood of an animal is wrong?"


    The woman was startled at Richie''s words.


    "What?"


    "Oh. Lowengren was right. Throwing off random statements can buy me even more time. If punching or pushing you doesn''t work, let''s try crushing you."


    It was then that the woman felt it. A crushing wave that was much slower than the usual sound was approaching. But because she was bamboozled by Richie''s strange words, she was now without escape.


    Richie smiled and took a deep breath.


    "REPENT!"


    The surrounding sounds that had encircled the woman were fortified by Richie''s sudden shout, and it pressed hard to crush the woman.


    The woman once more used her wings to cover her, but the powerful sounds crushed her and pulverized most of her body as it became blood and gore.


    The crushed figure of the woman suddenly changed color as the sound could not crush it anymore. Suddenly, a bloodynce pierced out from the body of the woman.


    The sound that covered her was incapable of blocking or hindering the spear.


    Richie immediately evaded andughed as the surrounding sound started to shake.


    "Let there be¡­ Light!" Richie gave an explosiveugh as the entire area around the woman exploded.


    Richie''s breathing became heavier. He hovered further and further and tried to catch his breath.


    "You''re still alive?"


    As the smoke cleared, several blood-red bats continued to flutter around the area of the explosion. They were grouping together, and the figure of the woman once more emerged. She sneered at Richie.


    "As if that could kill an immortal." Sheughed.


    Richie shook his head.


    "What exactly am I seeing? And I called Meng a monster."


    The wings of the woman turned pitch ck as she flew towards Richie.


    Richie gave a low hum as the sound produced a strange resisting force.


    Water World came to y, but the resistance that the woman met was minimal as her speed only decreased by a few percentages.


    Richie retreated and gave a whistle that fortified the sound armor around him.


    It was as if Richie was surrounded by several small bubbles.


    Richie then rushed forward to meet the attack of the woman.


    The woman used her wing, and it gave a deadly shed as she spun.


    Richie used his fist to punch towards the woman.


    BOOM!


    A trembling explosion rang out, and both were thrown further.


    "What are you?!" The woman cursed as she flew once more to make another strike.


    "You''re asking me?!" Richieined and sent a powerful vibration towards the Kraken.


    The vibrations echoed out, and Richie actually went on the retreat and rushed closer to the Kraken.


    Meanwhile, the vampire flew higher to keep her distance as she continued to look down in arrogance as if waiting for Richie to make a move. While she did that, she issued amand that only those who have her blood could hear.


    A few secondster, he found him.


    "Sammy! Are vampires real?"


    "I deduce you''re facing someone with skills simr to a vampire? Otherwise, I don''t see how your sudden interest in the ult could be relevant to what''s happening. I''m kind of busy here!" Sammy cursed out.


    BOOM!


    An explosion happened once more as he escaped from his hiding ce.


    "Quick! Here!" Roselyn called out. She was dressed as a wounded pilot and signaled Sammy from an open door.


    "Finally!" He rushed in.


    "Anytime now, Sammy. How did vampires exist? She is using her blood in extraordinary ways. I practically crushed her and blew her up, but she''s still alive! She could eventurns to bats! I thought her strange powers had to do with leukemia! But this isn''t clear that!"


    "No. You''re right, boss. It is leukemia. But I don''t think it''s just that. She must have a Path!"


    "A Path of bing a vampire?"


    "No. The hundred-year tales of vampires and how it has been portrayed in movies is the one that gave her that faith! She took inspiration from that, and that allowed her to be a vampire. Faith made from fiction! Her Path could have been anything, but because it''smon in our myths and story. But it''s definitely blood! She might not even have a body, but all of her is made of that blood! Think of Lennox! She must be doing something like that!"


    "But she can eat my sound! Even my sound armor is not working. It''s not thick enough to hit her. My punches don''t seem to have any effect!"


    "Starting to regret giving me a portion of your powers?"


    "No! You are part of my power. So tell me how to defeat her!"


    "If it''s leukemia, then it has to do with her white blood cells. Her blood must have evolved so much that it can literally eat anything. If Meng''s body causes a great destion around the area, then her blood can eat anything. But it isn''t endless! Like how Lennox can be hurt after attacking his lightning, If you keep hitting her again and again, she should soon get hurt. There is only so much sound that she can eat. That apparently endless and unlimited power of hers is only a fa?ade! Just trust your instincts! Oh no. We got caught. Gotta go." Sammy shouted as he stopped talking.


    "So, I guess it''s a contest of attrition." Richie contemted.


    After facing Meng, Richie developed a way to furtherpress his sounds to make a thicker and powerful impact. But such attacks would make Richie use more than necessary and slowly drain his stamina as he would exert more effort inpressing it. Added with the fact that he gave a portion of his powers to Sammy, his skills'' prolonged usage would take a faster toll on his stamina.


    Sonic boomspressed on Richie''s arm. Richie stopped escaping and immediately attacked.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Three shockwaves exploded out in session.


    The entire area was full of blood, but Richie then continued his attacks as a more powerful sonic boom gathered on his arm.


    "Falcon Punch!" He cried out.


    BOOM!


    A terrifying thunder resounded and exploded around the area.


    Richie was gasping for breath.


    "Oh, Right. I''m an Eagle. Eagle punch sounds dull, though..." Richie then remembered.


    The blood around the air slowly turned to bats and gathered to reform the woman. The woman''s figure looked terrible. Several wounds could be seen, but no blood leaked out of these wounds.


    The woman was also gasping for breath.


    "Send me more blood and bring my weapons! Familiars, on me!" The vampire silently cried out.


    Up above the skies, a jumbo jet had been encircling the Kraken. As the battle in the Kraken grew wilder, the long-ranged attacks were abandoned and allowed these nes to monitor the skies. Several of them continued to fly around the area.


    At that moment, the ringing call in their blood caused them all to immediately move. Several soldiers quickly shed their wrist, and blood started to pour out of their hands. They each held a container to catch all the blood.


    As the soldiers collected the blood, another group of soldiers had already jumped down the ne. It began to freefall towards where their Madam was.


    Richieughed.


    "I guess that was too much for you. You can''t even put on a fa?ade anymore." Richie was about to rush out again when the woman called out.


    "Stop! You said you are one of the Progenitor''s seed? Then which family are you from?"


    Richieughed.


    "The Belmont n! A n of powerful vampire hunters! Our family has sworn to kill your ilk except for Alucard. He''s a good vampire. Do you have kids? You should totally name one Alucard, which is the inverse spelling of Drac. Kind of like how Nogard is the inverse spelling of Dragon. Greydon''s a bit weird, though." Richie casually remarked.


    The woman suddenlyughed.


    "And I thought I had to waste my time talking. Who''d have thought that you''d go on a rant on your own."


    "Making me have a taste of my own medicine, huh? Still, how can you control your blood from all the way there? You turned them into water droplets and waited for me to inhale it, right?" Richie replied with an innocent expression.


    The sound in his body had actually surrounded the blood droplets in the air. It was preventing it from entering Richie''s body.


    "What?! How did-"


    "REPENT!"


    A more powerful sound wave crashed. Richie gathered a mightier sound wave that waspressing itself all the time that was happening. By the time the vampire detected it, it had already blocked all escape paths.


    The crushing sound grew brighter as itpressed. The vampire ran towards the opposite direction of where Richie was and used her wings to attack. Her arms were no longer ck but had an almost white color.


    BOOM!


    The figure of the vampire looked terrible as she broke out of the copsing sound. She flew higher and was already missing a portion of her legs and arms.


    As she escaped, several figures could be seen falling from the heights of the heavens. It was a group of ten soldiers, each bearing a pair of bloody wings. They were holding variousrge sk that had were filled with blood.


    The soldiers assumed a formation and held on arge gun connected to a tank behind them.


    "Caliphate Dragon Breath." Richieughed.


    "So, the reason you had no tech was to infiltrate the Kraken?" Richie dashed faster to chase.


    The soldiers suddenly shot out faster as a massive booster at the bottom of their tank exploded out and gave them a powerful boost in their flight speed. Their wings allowed them to urately navigate their flight.


    As the Vampire went through their formation, they immediatelyunched an attack.


    A mighty wall of dark fire erupted out. Being the nation with thergest oil deposits, the science of how they harness and use oil has transcended the rest of the countries. The nket of fire that covered about half a kilometer from each soldier erupted out.


    "Don''t engage! Retreat!" The vampire ordered.


    "Yes, Madam!" The soldiers immediately used their boosters and wings to push back along with the vampire.


    Richie did not engage. Before him, the mes were not the usual mes but something that even pushed back and disrupts the sound waves he could send.


    Richie waited with anticipation. Richie ced his hand over his mouth as if something was protruding. And then he pulled his arm as if unsheathing a sword. A significant amount of his stamina was eaten up with this technique. An invisible sword appeared on his hands as he contained his sound.


    "The Word of God is like a double-edged sword. A fitting weapon against a demon like her." Richie smirked.


    The wall of mes died out as the Vampire flew straight to Richie.


    Her body had reformed, and her wings were far more extensive than what it originally was. Around her body were glowing yellow lines. On her hand were two glowing scissor-like swords.


    "Vampires with lightsabers. This looks fun." Richie flew faster to attack the Vampire.


    "Die monster!" The vampire cried as she dashed to meet Richie. Her soldiers maintained distance but kept aiming for Richie.


    Several kilometers from where Richie fought the vampire, a man was floating over the seas.


    "An Eagled-Themed superhero fights a lightsaber-wielding vampire. What an interesting show. But I''ve got to admit Pridgeon, these people do look powerful. Only Presiders with powerful weapon technologies could fight them. You should hurry. The reports I have from some of our nteds down there indicate that someone who they believe to be Lowengren is present." The man calmly exined.


    "Wait for me! This damned ship is traveling too slow!" Presiderined.


    "You should have acquired some techs that emphasize ster travel."


    "I''m not as rich as you, Crostfree. Can you discern whatever techs they have?"


    "Very unsightly. Earth''s fascination with the ult and their horror movies made them recreate their fantasies. It seems powerful¡­ but I can easily kill them all. You better hurry. If the Emperors make another Invoking, the amount of activated Origin Energy will spur me to action. I''d have enough energy to power another Orbital for a decade."


    "You would dare attack them?!"


    "Rx! With all these nations with unknown powers and even human modification, me stealing two Invokings won''t alert the world. Still, it''s not like the WGP''s wariness wouldn''t change. Me acting, and me not acting will still garner the same global changes. So why not earn from it? Besides, I have to kill every group represented here. I''m sure that whoever is attacking this Kraken should be the group''s leaders. That vampire is, in fact, the family head of those families in our watchlist."


    "Just wait for me to get there! I must get that Lowengren alive!"


    "No promises. The Emperors are losing. Another Invoking may happen." Crostfreeughed. He then turned his attention to the other side of the Kraken, where huge sshes of waters could be found.


    A creature was sprinting above the sea and was headed towards the Kraken.


    "Vampires and werewolves. Earthlings are stupid.." Crostfree shook his head.

 Chapter 216 - A Viral Path

    A ball of tornado which had three figures encircling it continued to receive the most devastating attacks from the Kraken. As such, the Four Winds of Hermes had positioned themselves close to a location where another battle urred.


    Three exoskeletons were visibly fighting as they kept pressing on. They moved with high speed and were rushing towards another part of the Kraken. Up in front was a giant Exoskeleton that continued to recklessly dive in and challenge even Armors in meleebat. There was another exoskeleton next to it. This rampaging warrior could spin so fast that it could send an Exoskeleton flying in its hammer''s single strike.


    Behind it was another Exoskeleton that kept shooting the enemies upfront.


    The Four Winds of Hermes moved in parallel to their movements. They even ensured that they would not intersect whenever the Exoskeleton would change directions.


    The strategy worked as the number of enemies that they encountered decreased. As they continued to encircle this group of fighters, some of those who would have chased them turned and paid attention to the fighting. The Elites tookmand over the battle as most of the Exoskeletons whose pilots were alive kept a safe distance and offered ranged support. They could not draw closer as theck of oxygen would have killed them.


    "Alvin, retreat a bit and focus on the North side. You''re getting too close to the Exoskeletons!" Austin ordered.


    "Omricon, there''s a troop right in the west, go ahead and attack them. That would lighten their load."


    "Those guys are good! Man¡­ I want to fight them!" Alvin eximed.


    "The most impressive member is their shooter. He is very precise on who he attacks. If we were to fight him, he should be the first to go." Omricon was so impressed that he actually gave his opinion on the matter.


    "Not if you can''t get past thatrge tank of theirs! And that crazy spinning top is just as dangerous. How can the pilot move like that?" Alvin wondered.


    "Focus!" Alvin berated.


    "You''re both wrong. You guys haven''t been paying attention to another critical member of their quad squad." Omega smirked.


    "Another one? The lightly armored one who keeps on hiding?"


    "Yes. Alvin''s our brain, I am the eyes. On that team, the shooters the brain, but that one their eye. He''s the reason how our two groups have moved in synch with each other. He has been adapting to my movements." Omega exined.


    The horde of undead robots continued to chase them. Soon, various Golems of different sizes were now the ones fighting them. The Winds of Hermes would sh with the Armor sized Golems while the Exoskeleton quad squad dealt with those with strong ranged attacks.


    The battle started to turn more gruesome and troublesome for the team as a horde of enemies approached them.


    "Winds of Hermes. On me." Amand was made, and up above, arge ball of tornado was falling down.


    The four winds retreated and merged with therger one. The strong winds grew chaotic as winds moving on different directions chaotically joined. The Golem armors couldn''t run properly on such winds, and most of the Golems retreated.


    Dara''s team took advantage of the appearance and immediately retreated towards another direction.


    "Boss! You''re wounded!" Alvin was stunned. In the middle of the merged tornado, the four stood and talked with their Boss.


    "What happened, Boss? Ho-How?"


    Hermes simplyughed.


    "I wasn''t strong enough."


    Those four simple words shocked the team.


    "We''d have to be more careful. Minimize our engagement. Austin, I leave the nning with you.I don''t know what''s going on. Monsters are rising around us. Several of them could even kill us! We don''t know who to trust. Do we believe that kid who said he''s with the Progenitor? What if he''s baiting us and brought here somehow? These are all a blur. Austin."


    Everyone was startled. It was the first time that their Boss sounded so helpless.


    The three winds turned to Austin.


    "Boss? Wh-Why me?"


    "The winds of time are changing. We can''t remain the free spirits that we are. Right now, we have to make a choice. And though we always favored making our own choices, that time will sadly end. This battle is the beginning of a new era for the world. I took you guys into each wields a part of my strength. But I never took the final step. I still believed that there was me, and there was you four. But now, I can''t afford to make this reckless choice. It''s time for us to be the Winds of Jupiter itself. So I trust your decision. You are the brain in this team, after all." Hermes exined.


    Austin was silent as he began to contemte. The burden of responsibility fell upon him.


    Austin let out a deep sigh.


    "We are the wind. We move wherever we please. A path may dictate our destination, a tunnel may determine our movement. But we''ve always done what we want. I panic and hesitate. But we have always made our choices based on what we do. I don''t know what''s the right choice. Do we believe this kid? Or do we betray them? It doesn''t matter. We''ve always yed things by ear. So what if a mountain blocks our path? We can always go around it! Let''s just fight and y it by ear! It won''t be any different than the usual fights we''ve had!" Austingave a courageous deration.


    Hermes was surprised at the sound of Austin. From the simple smile that he wore, it then started to growrger.


    The smile of the Four winds grew as they witnessed their Boss recovering his confidence.


    "You''re right!" Hermesughed.


    "Let''s y things by ear! Where do you guys want to go? There''s a lot of battles to choose from."


    "I wanted to see what''s inside the Kraken." Alvinughed.


    "That sounds like a good ce to go! Let''s do it!" Hermes chuckled.


    The massive tornado that was flicking flew up in the air and was slowly transforming into a sizeable cone-shaped twister. But on the end of this twister was a sharp needle-like drill. It moved down and struck the Kraken.


    The impact created a sizeable trembling sensation as it drilled through the metal ting of the Kraken.


    Inside the Kraken depths, the critical entrance points of the hallways and paths of the Kraken were all guarded by soldiers, and constant monitoring about possible breaches was made. Yet strange deaths were urring within the Kraken in rooms deep within.


    Themand chain was in chaos because of the news that traitors had arrived in the Kraken.


    Every team who guarded the pathways was nervous and was even warry with their ownpanions as more deaths have been concerned within the Kraken.


    Suddenly, a group of three young soldiers emerged with battered and wounded figures.


    Suddenly, a gunshot resounded. One of the three immediately fell backward as a powerful round sted on its right shoulder.


    "A traitor! Move back! One of those guards is a traitor!" The one who stumbled backward shouted as the woman, and the man pulled him immediately and hid at the corner.


    "Hold your fire! Hold your fire! Who shot him? I didn''t give the orders!" The leader of the patrol cried out in anger.


    "Sir! None of us had shot him!" One of the soldiers defended.


    "None of you?! What the hell is my wound then! And what was that gunshot!?" The man cursed with an outraged voice.


    "Don''t waste your breath! All of them are traitors! Report to Commander that we''ve located a traitor!" The other man called to his woundedrade.


    The woman ducked out of the corner and shot at the soldiers.


    The soldiers at the forefront of the squad immediately raised their Force Shields and blocked the attacks made by the woman. The weapon was a handgun that was part of the Exoskeletons'' standard suits that the pilots could use if ever they evacuated their uniform.


    Suddenly, several gunshots could be heard on the end of the trio.


    "They''re here! We''re surrounded!" The pained cry of the guy reacted as they sent several shots.


    "Exoskeletons?!" The third person of the trio cried.


    The leader of the toon was rmed.


    "Retreat here! All soldiers! Hold your fire! If anyone shoots those three, I''ll kill him myself!" The toon leader made his choice.


    "Don''t believe them! They''re one of the traitors!" The woman argued and warned hispanion, who was about to move out of the corner.


    But suddenly, the third person immediately ran and ignored the woman.


    "I''m taking my chances! Don''t shoot! Please!" The man cried as he made a desperate run and revealed himself to the toon.


    "Move! Get them!" The toon leader ordered as the shield bearers on the front immediately ran to cover the man.


    The woman and the wounded man also ran out of the corner as several attacks were made. An explosion urred, and the two made a desperate run.


    The shield bearers ran in front of them and slowly retreated.


    "Soldier! Report! What happened out there?"


    "I will never tell you! One of you shot me! Among you is a traitor!" The man stubbornly refused.


    "I believe that you''re not a traitor, sir! But someone here is! Please! We need to report to the Commander! We found out how those Exoskeletons were acquired!" The woman gave a wary answer as she kept her gun aimed at various soldiers who kept pointing at her.


    "Everyone! Stand down! Don''t even aim your gun!" The toon leader ordered angrily. He nced at the soldiers around him. The gunshot echoed out from his back, but he couldn''t tell who among his soldiers shot the first attack.


    "Give your secondary to them!" The toon leader ordered three soldiers who promptly gave their secondary weapons.


    "Here. In case other traitors would-"


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred near the direction where the three came from.


    "Theiring! They are wearing Exoskeletons! Can you-"


    "Don''t worry. We can handle even Jet-powered ones. Go!" The toon leader moved urged as hemanded his members to slowly huddle up and prepare for an attack.


    As the three ran ahead, they gave a sigh of relief. As they entered the deeper parts of the Kraken, more guards noticed them. But since the soldiers that barricaded the entrance were alive, they didn''t bother to confirm their identities. Everyone was running around performing whatever task they were assigned.


    The trio continued to run, and with the chaos inside, they were actions inconspicuous.


    "It actually worked." Stanley nodded his head.


    "Of course, it did! Don''t underestimate your lies. With a little help from my sounds, we can easily bypass most guards."


    Stanley wasn''t shot. Sammy used a powerful repelling sound explosion that caused him to realistically stumble back to make it appear realistic. As he stumbled, Stanley used a hidden de in his palm to wound his shoulder. Sammy used his sound to create a muffled gunshot near their area, making the troops believe that they were really shot.


    "It''s real. We really did acquire a portion of the Boss''s skill!" Roselyn couldn''t believe it.


    The trio had made several fantastic lies that allowed them to infiltrate deep in the Kraken. Yet none of those they met even asked them to prove their identities because of the chaos. They also used other Exoskeleton soldiers patrolling within the Kraken to kill some of the other soldiers they met and caused more confusion and alerting traitors'' identities.


    "We have to hurry! It''s good that those teleporting ninjas aren''t going for the Commanders. They seem to be looking for the room with the Progenitor''s seed."


    "It''s sad how even people like them dance in the arms of our bosses." Stanley shook his head.


    "Don''t be sad, Stan. If we develop our lies, we can make other people dance on our palms."


    "I don''t feel like that''s a good thing."


    "Really? Do you not see it, Stanley? I n to grab hold of all those handsome, dashing, and charming actors on TV! Our lies can lead them to our beds! You can make those KPOP artists that you adore fall for you, you know? We not only have the method to deceive, but we also have the strength to achieve!"


    Stanley was shocked.


    Sammy was all the more stunned.


    "Hey! Daydreamter! We have to hurry up!" Sammy cursed.


    "Of all the people to Unlock and train, they choose teenagers in puberty!"


    Roselyn giggled, but Stanley had fallen deep into a state of excellent strategical nning. The ns he was making as they ran only he would know.


    "Hey, kid! Snap out of it! That damned wolf ising, and you still dare to wet dream!" Sammy called out angrily.


    "You said Richie''s fighting a vampire, now there are werewolves?" Roselyn asked in confusion.


    "We were amazed as well. We already detected his presence on the way here. He didn''t engage us because he couldn''t afford to. I mean, with all that''s happening in the Kraken, he wouldn''t dare waste time. But if he gets here, he''ll definitely try to force his way in. And if he does get in here, we''d probably die."


    "Who is he?"


    "I heard from my Boss that Cliff and some of the Dragon''s Fang fought him. He''s Amir Mann."


    "That guy? I heard of him, but he''s a werewolf?!"


    "Cliff did say that his nails and ws could cut through steel," Stanley recalled.


    "Don''t underestimate the Oveer''s rage. After meeting Cliff, he got fooled and defeated. He chased a figure who he thought was Cliff but soon became your Boss. How many times was he deceived when he chased him? That rage and frustration. He must have seeded in a reckless experiment that made him that way."


    The two were stunned.


    "Could you deduce how he got his Path?"


    "Very simple. What were the origins of these werewolf tales? Do you know?"


    "No."


    "The epted theory is that a certain viral disease may have caused the then superstitious world to make these stories back in the Middle ages."


    "A viral disease?"


    "Rabies. People who got rabies exhibited strange medical conditions. Given how superstitious life was back then, people would find those who had rabies as those possessed by something evil. Anyway, His body ought to have developed something simr to Meng. If Meng has cancer, and that woman that my boss is fighting has Leukemia, then this man has Rabies, and he got Unlocked. I deduce that his Path should be along that line. A viral Path."


    The two continued to carry the bewildered expression.


    "Rabies created a Path?"


    "You''ve seen your superiors. I heard the Tyrant Empress got her Path from being extremely vain and self-centered. Who knows what mysteries the Unlocking could create? Maybe being a cuckold would even develop a Path."


    "What?"


    "Never mind. Let''s focus. Let''s first set a trap for those ninjas. If something big happens in this area of the Kraken, it will give us an easier shot at meeting the Commanders." Sammy then began to give a detailed exnation for his ns.


    A certain distance from the Kraken, a figure had been running on the air. It had been circling the Kraken for some time. Waiting for the right moment. But for some odd reason, wherever it would go, a massive battle would be on the very front of the direction he intended to attack.


    The figure ran like a wolf. He used his hands and legs to run. He had fur all over his skin, and except for some clothing that continued to emit a strange distortion around him, he looked like a feral wolf. For some unknown reason, the water under him wouldn''t give in and allow him to sink.


    The wolf continued to run around and slowly approached the Kraken. It then smelled something that made the rage in his heart appear once more.. With a terrifying howl, he rushed towards the Kraken in top speed.

 Chapter 217 - Return Of Jafar

    Right after the incident that caused Seeker to st the Empress from the sky, Cliff and Gardo received confirmation that the other team members were now together. The sudden end of the battle in the heavens and how a tornado and arge Armor dove towards the Kraken created more chaos.


    The Tornado''s movement has grown more reckless as it merged with the other tornado. As for therge Armor, the pilot shocked the soldiers that tried to destroy it. None of their attacks could hit therge size as it continued on a series of peculiar movements.


    Because of these eye-catching battles, Tyler had met up with Gardo''s team and the triune drug dealer and the other two soldiers. They began the next phase of their attack, and that was to infiltrate the Kraken.


    Still, their entry was difficult, unlike Sammy and the two liars who have journeyed deep into the Kraken.


    All that was left for Cliff to do was ensure that the feral werewolf that ran around the Kraken would be hard-pressed to enter and infiltrate the Kraken.


    The n that Gardo and Cliff did was simple.


    Cliff would drive out the enemies and fly out in a shy way to make the enemies be drawn towards them.


    The issue that they faced was the werewolf''s speed. A single jump would cause it to leap for a kilometer. As such, Cliff had to once again use the endless tricks that Lowengren gave.


    "EX-PLOSION!" Cliff suddenly dered while being chased and attacked by various enemies.


    A small explosion erupted on a distant structure.


    Cliff would then hastily travel towards the tform.


    The soldiers that were attacking Cliff had noticed that Cliff kept attacking the nearby tforms. As such, they realized that Cliff was trying to enter the Kraken. Severalmands were made by the Commanders in the Kraken as they created barricades and countermeasures to prevent Cliff from entering.


    Every time Cliff called out an unusual attack name that caused an explosion somewhere, soldiers would immediately rush to defend it.


    This prevented Cliff from entering.


    "Ballett?nzer re!" Cliff called out once more, and another explosion would ur.


    Back to the time when Cliff had spent long hours watching Lowengren, a strange period urred where Lowengren kept calling out random attack names.


    "Eruption!"


    "Zeus Lightning Bolt!"


    "Antis Strike!"


    "Burning re!"


    "Volt Tackle!"


    "Eternal me!"


    "Mega Punch!"


    "Return of Jafar!"


    "What''s the return of Jafar?"


    "I don''t know. It''s some old straight-to-video movie, which was part two of a ssic film. It has a nice ring to it so, why not make it an attack?" Lowengren shrugged.


    "So how do I erm¡­ use these attacks again?"


    "What else? It''s used to deceive enemies. Let''s say you have Richie''s sound grenade, or let''s say Lennox is around. You can use these lies to surprise or make the enemy retreat. Just call out a name that fits the kind of attack you will use."


    "So like¡­Psycho Crusher?"


    "That''s¡­ Just research every attack I mention. If you use an incorrect lie, it won''t work." Lowengren replied in exasperation.


    "But we''ve been doing this for hours. Don''t you think it''s enough?"


    "No. I don''t know who we will meet in the future. What if the very people near you would have abilities that we didn''t expect. Hence, we are listing a lot of lies for you."


    "So¡­ Return of Jafar?"


    "Whatever fits the context, Cliff," Lowengren exined before resuming another pose and delivered another lie.


    The lies that Lowengren gave were beneficial. Each attack somehow caused the soldiers to move in anticipation, but what was interesting was the mysterious explosions. The Intel team of the Kraken also scrambled to analyze the nature of each attack. Various reports and analyses of the attacks were immediately reported and cascaded.


    But Cliff kept using various attacks with strange names confusing the soldiers. As such, all that became the focus was to ensure that whichever area was an attack, must be heavily defended immediately to prevent Cliff from entering.


    Gardo kept an eye on the werewolf''s movements. Whenever it would suddenly shift its position, Gardo would use his powers to create an explosion before running out again. Whenever an explosion would ur, Cliff would immediately move as fast as he could. The sudden movements would cause everyone to shift their attention from the exploded area. All that matters was where it happened. And because of that, they were unable to detect Gardo, who would flee to another position.


    They kept running and running, adjusting their position to ce themselves right in front of the approaching monster''s route.


    The raging monster outside finally lost his patience. After circling around them for too long, he decided to attack. For some strange reason, the water was denser and more solidified and did not cause him to sink.


    Finally, he jumped up high and moved backward. As hended in the water, he didn''t sink, but the water around him almost had an stic reaction. And with a final pounce, the creature ran towards the Origin force field.


    A howling cry echoed throughout the area. It could even be heard on the other end of the Kraken.


    The howl of a wolf roared as the figure shed on the shield.


    There were no exaggerated sounds, no terrifying shockwaves from the impact. But instead, a powerful ripping sound could be heard as the sh ripped apart the powerful shield.


    The shield parted ways and flickered until it disappeared. The terrifying force of the wolf''s attack managed to cut the guard in an instant. Therge cut that was created was too much, and finally, the Origin shield that protected the Kraken slowly vanished.


    Cliff and Gardo were stunned that they gazed at the vanishing shield.


    The werewolfnded on the ground.


    It had a bulky frame and stood over seven feet tall. It gave a mighty howl that brought petrifying fear to all who heard it.


    "A modified version? No¡­ It''s like it''s a different breed." Cliffpared the petrifying sounds to the sounds that Richie could make.


    Gardo was visibly shaken from the roar. It was so painful that it even caused Gardo to stop moving.


    Several Exoskeletons could be seen falling down.


    Several lights at the center of the Kraken lit up. A horde of small Golems immediately rushed towards the wolf.


    Cliff dashed towards Gardo before it was toote.


    Several Armors began to shoot at the werewolf, but the passing blur of the werewolf immediately vanished.


    It was already standing near the Armor with extreme speed as it gave a powerful swipe with its paws.


    SLASH!


    The sound of screeching metal could be heard as the entire Armor was split in half.


    Witnessing the sh, Gardo realized that all the ns, the preparations that he and Cliff had prepared inbating the werewolf all be nothing.


    Cliff appeared next to Gardo.


    "Um¡­ We should retreat." Gardo gave a soft suggestion.


    "Way ahead of you! Let''s move!" Cliff held Gardo and sted off towards another area.


    As they moved, the werewolf suddenly roared angrily as it chased Gardo and Cliff.


    Cliff couldn''t see it, but Gardo, who was being carried away, felt his entire body tremble.


    Immediately Gardo sent out a series of gunshots with his specialized weapons. With his Unlocking, his attacks became more precise and deadly.


    Several bullets struck the blurring figure of the wolf right on the chest.


    The werewolf tumbled over but then roared as it ran faster.


    "Keep shooting him!" Cliff shouted as he used the jet-propelling gears to st him further. His left arm carried Gardo as he continued to dash up and down.


    The werewolf approached faster and faster. Gardo''s attacks were not hitting the enemy, and the wolf was getting closer.


    Gardo stopped shooting and took a deep breath.


    "Remember that moment!" Gardo shouted to himself.


    He waited and waited as death became imminent. Soon the falling ws of the werewolf were only a few meters from them.


    It was there that time slowed down even more in Gardo''s perspective.


    "Gotcha!" Gardo smirked as he suddenly shot at the Wolf.


    BANG! BANG!


    Two bullets struck the at the head of the werewolf and caused the sh to miss. His figure fell back due to the impact.


    The wolf howled angrily and ran to catch up to the two that continued to fly towards various chaotic battlegrounds.


    But each time the wolf managed to draw close enough to sh, Gardo, who would always be able to hit him at the right moment.


    "SWIPER NO SWIPING! SWIPER NO SWIPING!" Gardo kept chanting as he shot at the werewolf on those death-defying moments. The moment the wolf drew near them, the bullets that had always missed would hit at a critical ce and timing that would make the wolf miss.


    The wolf howled once more as it jumped to attack.


    Gardo was paralyzed, but Cliff could move. He made a faint which made it look like he was falling but then discreetly threw two Balls of Thunder.


    BOOM!


    Crushed in between the two exploding sound bombs, the wolf was once more thrown off the trail.


    Cliff fell to the ground and recovered his bnce to fly. Although the sound didn''t perfectly paralyze him, he still was affected by the strange screech. The pair jumped off and dashed once more.


    The figure of the wolf had now stood up. It gave an angry howl and chased once more.


    The sudden screech forced Cliff to readjust his flight, and the distance that was made was once more shortened.


    The werewolf jumped up once more, and even though it was still a distance from Cliff and Gardo, it made a powerful sh. A bluish blink could be seen on one of the devices that the werewolf wore on its hind-legs.


    "Evasion!" Gardo reacted as the air around them gathered and created several sharp knives that shot out towards them.


    Cliff sensed it and threw Gardo upwards to evade, but he had to stop boosting to get Gardo again.


    In this small gap, the Wolf ran faster and delivered an angrily sh towards Cliff.


    But right as the wolf''s figure neared Cliff, Gardo boosted from the skies as his legs gave a powerful explosion to propel him downwards.


    With both hands sped together, he smashed both towards the wolf as if using a baseball bat.


    "Red Robin!" Gardo shouted as he swung his two fists towards the werewolf''s head.


    BOOM!


    A powerful explosion sent the werewolf flying backward.


    "Let''s go!" Cliff activated his boosters and immediately carried Gardo.


    Gardo gave an extremely relieved sigh and used another explosion from his legs to send him further.


    "Look''s like Team Warfreakz is sting off again!" Gardoughed.


    "Red Robin? What a stupid name for your attack."


    "Oh, quit whining! It worked! Like you could make cool names!" Gardo berated.


    "Boom Box, Explosive Fist, Red Hawk-"


    "Hey! It''s not worthy enough to be a Red Hawk. What?!" Gardo then noticed it.


    They had already traveled quite a distance and even passed through several terrifying battlefields, yet the werewolf was rushing straight towards them!


    "What''s going on! We should have lost him!" Gardo cursed.


    "It''s our smell!" Cliff realized it.


    "Damn, this dog!" Gardo began shooting once more.


    "Can you change your scent?" Cliff asked Gardo.


    "What kind of a stupid question is that?"


    "We should have trained with that up there! Unbings can easily do that by manipting how their metabolism happens!"


    "I can fart!"


    "That won''t do anything!"


    "Really? I ate some spicy cuisines while we were-"u


    Wait! You can raise your body temp! It should change your smell! Go at about twice the heat of an average human! But wait for my timing! Do it as soon as we enter that massive smog!" Cliff then dashed with all his might as he flew towards a smoking area.


    Suddenly. Gardo caught sight of the werewolf. The strange light on its hind-legs continued to blink. But what was scary was that the wolf was stepping on air, and it even allowed him to burst forwards breaking past the speed of sound.


    Without hesitation, Gardo pped Cliff''s arm, causing Cliff to let go.


    Cliff knew what this meant and immediately shifted his position to aid Cliff. As he turned, he saw a familiar figure approaching.


    Gardo was midway from throwing a punch that made his arm glow bright yellow.


    The werewolf took another step, and his speed burst faster and made a strong thrust towards Gardo.


    "Piercing Arrow!" Cliff called out a strange attack from the back.


    The thrust of the wolf was met with an invisible needle that attempted to pierce through his palm.


    As such, the attack that should have killed Gardo was dyed.


    "Red Robin!" Gardo shouted as his fist exploded out and sent the wolf flying once more.


    As the wolf flew back, a-like invisible force caught the wolf, and using the rebounding power of the, he shot once more towards Cliff.


    "Thorn Road!" Cliff called the attack.


    The wolf mmed against several sharp invisible needles. His body was pierced, and blood sshed out, but the Wolf simply roared and shed the invisible needles and broke through it.


    Cliff had already pulled Gardo back and dashed back towards the smog.


    The wolf began to run on its four legs and gave a mightily leap. As it flew to the air at incredible speed, it began to throw a series of shes that created deadly energy des that operated in the air.


    "Return of Jafar!" Cliff extended his arms as if to make a powerful attack.


    The wolf stopped shing and prepared for whichever mysterious attack would strike him.


    ¡­


    Nothing appeared.


    The wolf was falling down and angrily stomped off in mid-air. The lights on its hind legs continued to blink as the air around its feetpressed and created a foothold.


    The wolf dove towards the smog, but then something approached it on it''s left side.


    A gigantic arm was rocketing towards his location.


    The wolf gave a powerful sh towards the arm, but his energy des met something invisible and as if a thickyer of ss broke away. The robotic arm continued to shoot towards him undamaged.


    At thest second, the wolf smashed his two arms towards the fist.


    BOOM!


    The robot rocket arm was actually thrown back from the impact, and the wolf was also thrown backward.


    Then out of the thick smog, anotherrge robot arm emerged. Soon the gigantic Armor of Suit appeared as it punched the flying wolf.


    BANG!


    The wolf was sent flying out once more.


    Cliff and Gardo stood next to Typical, who had a pale expression. Blood trickled out of his mouth.


    The energy he had to use to expend was too much.


    "Young master!" The two Fangs arrived next to him and nced at him worriedly.


    "It''s fine. I overexerted myself." He shrugged it off.


    "Thanks for the assist." Cliff gave a relieved sigh.


    "Let''s just hope I am enough. I fought Hermes alone and couldn''t even wound him. Now, this¡­" Typical sighed.


    "That was a nice hit¡­ but I think we made a booboo." Gardo frowned."


    "What?" Cliff wondered.


    Typical gave Gardo a strange look.


    "A young Ranked Hero in the making¡­ Impressive."


    "No! I''m serious, guys! We shouldn''t have taken our eyes off him! It was good when he was chasing us. But it''s even worse if we let him go!"


    "Howe?"


    "He''s a werewolf!" Gardo gave a dreadful warning.

 Chapter 218 - Faith From Science

    A stealth jet was approaching the Kraken. It was one of the greatest and most secret creations that the Americas created. If the world found out and proved this jet''s existence, it would cause the WGP to punish the Americas thoroughly and even disrupt the Great Divide.


    It flew directly over several countries, and yet it wasn''t detected. This was because each nation had discovered another signal that came from a suspicious country and distracted it as the full efforts fell to identify the sudden signal. Silently, the Void Traveler moved without hindrance.


    "First Australia and now this. What''s next, I wonder? It looks like it won''t be long until the Americas finally face off in another great war."


    "I am tired of facing Canada anyway." Another soldier smirked.


    "Alright, gentlemen. Our spies have just sent us the details of what''s ahead. You wouldn''t believe it. The technology that has been revealed is all strange and powerful. Each one of them is crazy enough to cause a Continental war. Bio human experiments, breaching of the Tech possibilities, and a rival tech even disrupted the WGP''s technology. All of this surfaced in the Kraken. This is why our superiors risked using the Void Traveller once more. He is confident that with everything that has been revealed in the Kraken will not cause the Americas to suffer greatly." The Commander exined the mission.


    "Looks like the world will be different tomorrow." One of the soldiers sighed.


    "We perform just as we did in Australia. Our goal is to acquire as many technologies as we can. Either from the WGP or whoever is down there. Our exit point will be on the south end of the Kraken after thirty minutes from our arrival."


    "Sir! We''ve just detected arge missile silo opening up on Phil-Pangea! An unknown rocket that''s as big as a building is getting prepped forunch! Based on its current position, it seems to be aimed at the Kraken!" The pilot interrupted.


    "What?" One of themandos reacted.


    "We continue." The Commander ordered.


    "Sir?" Several soldiers reacted.


    "If it''s the size of a building, then we are safe. Why would any countryunch a missile that''s easy to hit? It''s not a missile. It''s a payload delivery rocket."


    "Approaching the Kraken. The void mode will be disabled for a safe departure. Prepare to move in- Oh my God! What is that?!" The pilot eximed as they broke through the dark clouds and witnessed a strange scene.


    Winged creatures and what looked like a red demonic being was shing on a flying man with an eagle mask.


    The Eagle-man was slowly retreating as it continued to move towards the Kraken.


    The winged creatures chased down and kept shooting the eagle-man.


    "Go down now! Look! Various jets are also attempting tond in the Kraken! Activate Void mode and deactivate it the moment we disembark!"


    The pilot immediately followed the Commander''s orders and dove down.


    The air above the Kraken was chaotic. Various attacks rained down from the sky. But since most parts of the Kraken employed advanced Almetal ting, the terrifying attacks could not prate.


    As all that was happening, Typical and Cliff were giving Gardo a strange look.


    "He isn''t a real werewolf. The information that we received from him indicates that he has something simr to my Master. If my Master has Cancer, this person has Rabies." Typical exined.


    "Rabies?" Cliff wondered.


    "That disease you get when bitten by certain animals. It''s easily treated today." Typical exined.


    "Then why does Amir Mann have rabies?"


    "He cultivated it. Just like how my Master did."


    "Well, if it''s rabies, then all the more reason to chase after him!" Gardo cursed.


    "Rabies is a virus! You get it from the saliva of a dog or a world, right?! What happens if a rabies virus of his level is infected to another?! We have to chase him, or we''d be fighting several of those werewolves!" Gardo ran out immediately.


    "st! Trigger! Distract the WGP soldiers!" Typical used his boosters to chase the wolf.


    st and Trigger immediately positioned themselves between the direction that Typical, Cliff, and Gardo was running. They immediatelyunched various attacks to draw attention from the enemies.


    Typical flew with extreme speeds and no longer moved with caution. What would happen if Amir Mann bit another person? Would they transform? It sounded like a fantasy, but as he flew, the raging wolf''s evidence didn''t chase after them as it did with Cliff made Typical worry.


    He then spotted a battlefield where several Exoskeletons had clear bit marks that prated through their armor. The pilots were alive and were moving in a berserk manner.


    The pilots were squirming randomly. Many had even used their eject button to emerge out of the Exoskeleton quickly.


    The pilots that managed to get out of their suits were all scratching and iling.


    "Get it out of me!" A soldier cried in pain. There was something visible moving within it.


    "Damn!" Typical cursed and immediately followed the trail of bitten soldiers.


    The soldiers that were previously attacking Typical had stopped and turned to the fallen and squirming soldiers and was rushing to save their lives. A cold chill ran down the spine of Cliff and Gardo as they hesitated.


    "Don''t attack them! We don''t have time! st, Trigger! Dispose of all enemies in this area!" Typical ordered and rushed faster than before.


    Immediately the two began to attack the screaming soldiers and the Exoskeletons that were nearby while Typical moved on ahead.


    "Kill everyone nearby! Any enemy could be a potential werewolf!" Typical also sent several invisible needles that pierced through and killed various soldiers nearby.


    Typical was now able to move faster. Cliff and Gardo appeared nearby.


    Cliff was the first to sense him. The hatred that the man had for Cliff immediately caused Cliff''s sensitive senses to react. Typical also noticed it.


    "What a thick killing intent. His emotions of wanting to kill you are spilling forth without effort. What did you do?" Typical asked.


    "After we fought, he chased me, and Lowengren took over and led him away."


    "Oh¡­ Then I feel sorry for him." Typical smirked.


    A tall man with bulging muscles stood casually amidst the destruction. His only clothing was a synthetic like cloth that covered his groin region and several belts around his waist and legs. He was gasping for breath but his aura didn''t show any weakness.


    "You!" Amir Mann gazed at Cliff with a dark look that disyed his great hatred.


    Cliff remained silent. He knew anything he would say would only make things worse. Cliff cursed Lowengren several times in his head.


    "He''s back to being a human? He should be easier to deal with, right?"


    "No. He still retains arge percentage of his strength. The man before you far exceeds my capabilities." Typical warned.


    Amir Mann continued to look coldly at the three and was focused on his breathing.


    "Don''t attack yet. He''s analyzing us. This is also the best time to analyze him." Typical spoke at a speed that normal humans couldn''t understand. Strangely enough, Typical didn''t change the frequency of his words.


    "He might transform into a wolf again!" Gardoined.


    "It would be better if he did. Didn''t you two notice? When he was in his wolf form, he had the strength, but he moved out of instinct."


    "So, right now, he can think straight? Oh great. Shouldn''t we stop him from resting?" Gardoined.


    Suddenly Amir Mann moved and caught something invisible with his bare hands.


    Typical''s expression grew serious.


    "He caught it? I see¡­ Molecr melding. Impressive. Not even Lennox has ess to that technology."


    Amir Mann held on to one of Typical''s invisible needles and immediately crushed it. His gaze towards Typical became angrier.


    "What''s molecr melding?" Cliff asked.


    "A science exclusive to the East Caliphate nations. Itpresses and adds densities to the molecules around a small area. It has very little war application because the radiation that it releases could kill humans. But it looks like he can take it because of his rabies. So that''s how you could walk on water and air."


    "Eh? Molecr melding? But how? That technology requires great energy advanced machinery! He doesn''t have anything except that strange belt on his waist and legs! Where are the metals that emit the radiation?"


    "It''s in his bones. I don''t know how, but his bones generate the energy that should have required all those technologies." Typical concluded.


    "What a disgusting science."


    "That is not a concern as of this moment. What interests me is the fact that he doesn''t disy the other traits of an Inhuman. He''s perception is slow. He should be an Advent or Proficient of the Unbing stage! I only changed the speed of my words, yet he couldn''t understand us. If he was Unlocked, he should have understood my words."


    "But he caught your attack!" Cliff argued.


    "Because he''s a trained fighter. He reacted ordingly. But his time perception is very slow." Typical frowned.


    "You mean whatever science is in that body of his I can give him a body stronger than the Unlocking?" Cliff guessed.


    "Get ready. He''s about to make his move." Typical suddenly ordered.


    Amir Mann suddenly vanished from sight.


    With extreme speeds, he appeared right next to Cliff and shed downwards. The movements surpassed even the momentum he had when he was a wolf. The bones and muscles of Amir Mann were torn at the extreme movements he made.


    Cliff stabbed upwards as Typical created a thickyer of thorn that supported Cliff''s sword.


    The sword stabbed on the open palm, which had devastatingly sharp fangs.


    Cliff urately positioned his sword to ensure that the force applied would be concentrated on the sword and not sway to the side. And just as how two pressing fingers can''t easily break a matchstick when pressing on both ends, the powerful impact of Cliff and the Wolf came to a stalemate before quickly pushing Cliff backward.


    Amir was stunned at how fast Cliff and Typical could react. Typical then pulled Cliff backward as he noticed Gardo''s n.


    Gardo''s entire body was zing red as he rushed towards Amir. His body temperature reached an extremely high level before exploding out as he extended his arms.


    BOOM!


    A powerful explosion urred that contained the full might of an Eradication bomb.


    The figure of Amir was thrown back. And Gardo also flew back because of the explosion.


    Amir Mann crashed on a nearby structure.


    "Tsk! That''s some durable underwear!" Gardo frowned as he retreated.


    "He took on an Eradication bomb, and it didn''t kill him!"


    "My guess was right. Our perception gave us the advantage in that sh. And look... His body is something beyond Inhuman! That durability is almost the theorized Ranked Heroes body!" Typical spoke with a speed only an Unlocked could understand.


    "Even now it just like it was back then. I could have killed all of you, but your teamwork was just too amazing. But right now¡­ I''m not alone! Go ahead and make your ns. It will be yourst!" Amir Mannughed maliciously as he slowly stood up. The burn marks on his body rapidly healed themselves.


    "His body is like the Dragons! That regeneration! It''s unfair!" Cliff cried.


    Several figures were moving around them. Growls and howls came out of their mouths as the group moved towards them. They were the bitten pilots, and they have turned into werewolves. Some of them still wore their Exoskeleton. But their madness could be seen in the yellow glow of their eyes.


    Hair covered their entire body, and the nails on their hands had be ws.


    "He''s controlling them?!" Gardo was stunned.


    "How is this possible? He wasn''t like this back then!" Cliff almost shivered in fear. They were already spent in facing one werewolf. And now, nearly a dozen surrounded them. And who knows if there were more!


    "Rx. While Amir''s body is tough, those werewolves around us ought to be easier to kill. The virus somehow forced their bodies to be Unlocked in terms of power and strength."


    "All I hear you say is we''re doomed!" Cliff cursed.


    "Rx! Forcing the body to achieve Unbing has its price! We know it has to be the brain first! Remember the price of forcibly unlocking the brain without the cont liquid! It should be the same as the body! These wolves are on theirst stand! If we survive long enough, we win! And you!" Typical called Gardo.


    "Seeker told me about this. That wolf is simr to you." Typical pointed to Gardo.


    "That ability of yours to create explosions isn''t your Path, correct? It is the application of science. Which means you still have room to grow. The science that became the foundation of your miraculous body can further evolve into a real Path. The creature before us had a science that enhanced his body just like you. But he had yet to merge with this werewolf science and only applied a small portion of it. Maybe because of his hatred with Lowengren, he finally crossed the threshold and made a Path out of it."


    "He is like me?" Gardo''s voice trailed off. He was so bewildered that he forgot to speak with the same speed that Typical used.


    "You and that wolf are scientific experiments that became Unlocked. The science that made him that monster improved when he developed faith. It became a Path!" Typical dered.


    Gardo was surprised at this revtion.


    "His existence only proves that Seeker''s call was correct. A science that birthed a Path is something that even the future Seeker couldn''t understand. And we must acquire it now!"


    "Could you stop with the motivational speech?! Answer me, if we get bitten or scratched, will we turn?!" Cliff shouted.


    "I don''t know. Our Unlocking should provide resistance to the virus as our immune system is heightened. But it''s better to remain unbitten. His ws shouldn''t turn us, but avoid his bites at all costs!" Typical irritably replied.


    "How do I turn the science in my body into a Path?" Gardo asked Typical. The sage knowledge that Typical revealed opened an amazing door of insight for Gardo.


    "It takes faith. Find that Faith, that confidence to move the applied science in your body to be something else. With the world''s strongest representatives here in this Kraken, this battle will cause many who were weak to rise as Oveers. Will be among them?" Typical asked.


    Typical then spoke in a frequency that Gardo couldn''t hear.


    "What''s his name?" Typical urgently asked Cliff.


    "Gardo! Why are you even wasting time to encourage him?!" Cliff replied angrily but still did it in secret.


    "Will you be among them, Gardo?" Typical ignored Cliff''sints.


    "Wow. You even knew my name!" Gardo was amazed.


    A total of thirteen wolves surrounded them. Amir Mann''s wounds have all healed.


    "Let''s see now if I can win this battle with a team of my own!" Amir howled as he charged.. The werewolves around them also leaped to attack.

 Chapter 219 - The Kraken Command Center

    The battles around the Kraken was getting more and more chaotic. The soldiers were no longer moving out of the Kraken. Still, all focused on fighting to defend the possible entry points.


    The Kraken was likened to a closed shell. It had no open doors to lead it inwards but only had small ports tounch the Armors and Exoskeletons or even the soldiers to battle. But apart from that, the exits and entry points in that area were very few. Unless the person knew where these opening were, the person would spend a lot of time looking for these specific hidden entry points.


    When the Kraken battle was growing more and more chaotic, a group of seven had managed to bypass everything. They waited for the right moment to enter. When more explosions urred, they finally took action. They could walk on water as they also had a suit that provided the ability. With their ninja reflexes, they were able to move swiftly. When they reached the Kraken''s edge, the leader finally showcased a talent that would have shocked the world.


    The background of the leader of this six was slightly bizarre. They were among the few groups that still held on somewhat superstitious beliefs. The believed in ghosts, devils, and other haunting creatures. This was because the line of this family was somewhat unique. They were all born as people who could see things beyond what the eye could see.


    They had, what most would call, the third eye.


    This family all grew up following a line with odd upations until someone appeared to them. He called himself the Progenitor gave them great gifts. It was a technology beyond their understanding through that, they were able to create superhuman beings and trained in the way of the Ninja. This odd family vanished in history and would asionally appear in the Underworld. Yet their actions were very discreet, and only a few have ever proven their existence.


    The third eye was their foundation. Only one member of their family would have full ess to this technology. As the years passed, their understanding and usage of the eye grew.


    His eyes could do an incredible thing. It could see through objects as if it had an X-Ray ability. Only the distance of where he could see would only be several meters from where he was. But for them, this was more than enough.


    His eye guided him. All that was need to cross through the impossible barriers before him.


    There was no way to go through the metal. They could not go over it, under it, or pass by its side. But there was a way to move around it. Only, one must be capable of moving beyond the three dimensions.


    The entire team held each other and prepared to run. Although their current position did not allow them this luxury, they still did it anyway as if the wall in front of them was non-existent.


    Their leader took a deep breath and looked past it. He took a step, and with the technologies imbued in his body, he crossed the three dimensions and went through a fourth one.


    Teleportation.


    This was impossible. If one could move in it, one would be unable to move out. To sessfully move in it, the person has to have the capacity to see in the fourth and, at the same time, still see in the three dimensions. It was an impossible task. But his eyes could see.


    The moment he stepped forward, the rest followed. They traveled through the fourth dimension with their leader guiding the way in and the way out. With the teleporting ability, they entered into the deeper chambers of the Kraken. It was the primary residential area of the Kraken. It was far deeper than where Danny and his team were able to enter.


    With a high starting point, the seven used their advantage. Their leader could see through walls and could teleport. Their first task was to find a way to locate where the weapons were. And to that, they had to find a specific room that logged the movement of items. Initially, they thought that anyputer would have been excellent. But as they essed it, they realized that the entire ship had several physically separatedworks that were inessible from each other. As they grew impatient, they even began to kill some of the members secretly.


    Yet they made sure that there were no cameras or any detecting devices on the people they killed. If there were, they used a specific drug to put some soldiers to sleep. It was then that the chaos escted, and the group learned that there were reports of traitors. They took advantage of this cover and began to move daringly.


    Cameras and detectors were destroyed, and even some toon were killed. The ninjas showcased their abilities in stealth and silence. With their leader teleporting from one area to the next, they could kill and leave without causing rms on their location. Soon, they found what they were looking for. It was aputer that recorded the log records and logistics inside the Kraken. They found the location and headed towards it in haste.


    The weapons that the WGP confiscated from New Great Britain were within the deeper chambers of the Kraken. The group continued to move further and further. It became reckless as they had learned that there were several attempts to break in.


    It was then that the team found a chamber that stored a lot of MRE.


    The leader of the group moved immediately and ripped open several of them and quickly devoured them.


    "My Liege. Wouldn''t a Lambas pill be better?"


    "I need to conserve my energy. If that man... that... bastard is here, we will kill him this time!" The leader recalled the strange encounter he had with that liar, whom they thought was Lowengren. Even with his eyes, he was deceived. The torturous memories of Lowengren''s faint surfaced. How was it that a teenager was able to deceive him, Rai the Void Assassin?


    "There are no soldiers near here. Most will just pass by. But guard the door just in case. I will make quick work of these meals." The leader continued to eat. His expressions suddenly changed.


    "What is that... monster?!" He cried in shock. Even his underlings were stunned at the shocked expression that their leader had.


    He began to eat and drink faster. Channeling his control, he forced his digestive systems to work more quickly to create more energy. He then stopped eating andmanded his group to huddle up and resume their formation.


    The oddities outside are getting stranger. Apart from Hermes, several others are here. Some of them stronger than me."


    His subordinates were stunned. Even whenparing himself to Hermes, he never would state that Hermes was superior to him but an equal. Yet now, there were beings in the Kraken that could surpass him?


    The group began to teleport. Unlike before, they would now teleport in sequence. Their leader was running, and they simply followed.


    "Get ready to fight." Hemanded.


    While they were yet teleporting and moved in the fourth dimension, Rai expended more energy. They threw several shurikens that flew and destroyed the cameras right before they emerged in their teleportation. The moment they appeared on the destination that Rai teleported to, they began to attack.


    The ninjas were trained to have a reaction speed that was three times the average human. As such, the group of soldiers that were guarding the area were killed within five seconds.


    Rai moved towards the Exoskeleton and gave a simple thrust. His arms prated through steel and killed the pilot.


    They immediately retreated without saying a word and ran towards another area. They ran straight as if there was no wall. Rai activated his teleportation ability that sent them to another room.


    "Get ready to fight. We''re moving faster. We have to get out of here. I am sensing a dangerous presence outside of the Kraken. His bloodlust is actually manifesting in my vision." Rai exined with a grave expression.


    Their journey became faster and faster as they prepared to rush towards the indicated room.


    Soon they reached a room with severalrge pieces of equipment.


    "Find the seed of the Progenitor and erase whatever data is on it."


    Rai immediately ordered.


    The team immediately scrambled and moved to ess severalputers. At the same time, Rai started to tinker with several containers and tried to open it.


    Under the chairs of severalputers were small round balls that had a motion sensor. As the ninjas approached, it immediately exploded.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    A loud sound bomb erupted and threw everyone in disarray. Even Rai was affected by the sudden sound waves that sent all of them flying around the room.


    Nearby this location was one of the most guarded and secured rooms. The room was designed in a particr way that the vast majority didn''t know how to enter it. It had a lot of doors, but if seen from the outside, it looked wholly sealed. This was because this room only had one-way in. But once inside, you could use several of the doors and open it from the inside. This was the heart of the Kraken. The very room where the Admirals and Commanders were.


    The explosion and alert immediately caused panic to the soldiers inside it.


    "Calm down!" Themanders ordered their respective groups. None of themanders even spoke, but everyone began to move as if they knew what to do.


    The gear they wore was a specialized Exoskeleton that used the hardest of Almetals. They were a suit designed to be worn by the top elite of the WGP''s army.


    Four of the Commanders wore it the suit and opened one of the secret doors.


    The thick walls parted until it revealed a grand opening in which the four Commanders stepped out of.


    But a strange scene yed out in front of them. A woman and a man were carrying another fainted man. They hade from the direction of where the explosions were reported.


    "Commander! Traitors in the room G-16!" The woman cried.


    Their appearances looked pitiful. The woman had a burnt face that had blood all over. The other man had several shot marks on his leg and shoulder. Thest one had a wound at the chest, and it looked like his life was critical.


    "Who attacked you? Why haven''t you rushed to the medic bay?"


    "We have an important report! Several traitors already tried to silence us! We could not afford to get treated!" The woman cried hysterically.


    "It was the New Great Britain weapons! They were some trap! It contained-"


    "Don''t speak!" The Commander ordered as he looked around and noted the identification pings of some of the soldiers around them.


    "Everyone here with soldier-grade weapons, follow me. It''s time to kill some traitors. Everyone else, scatter and hide. This ce will be a battle zone." One of themanders ordered and led the surrounding soldiers who witnessed the scene could only follow. Many of those were working on different branches and didn''t have weapons. They immediately cleared.


    The firstmander to whom the woman called out, took the wounded man from her arms and moved back towards the Command Center.


    "Speak only inside." The Commander ordered.


    The woman and the man followed the Commander''s lead and went into the Command Center.


    It was then that the man being carried started to speak. Strangely, only the Commander could hear him.


    "Your girlfriends really protective of you. If you make any unnecessary movements, she could die. Did you know she''s one of the Emperors that is fighting outside?" The calm voice of Sammy echoed on the ears of the Commander.


    His expression immediately paled. But he dared not make any strange movements. He continued to act normally and moved to put the wounded man on a medical bay.


    "Commanders. They have important information. I''ll take care of this one. It would seem our spies have deeply infiltrated us. I don''t trust anyone." The Commander said he personally ced the man near a medical facility and began to individually remove the man''s shirt and use the devices to heal the wound.


    Roselyn began to recount a terrifying tale. Stanley sat down and immediately fainted as if thest defense of his body finally gave way. While all that happened, Sammy continued his narration.


    "We can kill your woman. But we won''t. We are not here to kill her. But to recruit you. Chase Brander. Or do you prefer you''re current name, Drake Lattlefield? Anyway, I represent my boss, who is currently above fighting a vampire. You remember him, right? The Assassin, Richie? I''m sure you have met him and fought him. He said you were the most resourceful and calm-headed man he met. To think you survived to fight him." Sammy continued.


    Chase felt more fear. How did he know of his real name? Ever since the previous escape, he had managed to change his identity that even the World Governing Powers couldn''t find out. His tracks were perfect. And considering the Blockchain security level, it was impossible to hack and change the information about his past. Yet it happened. But here was a man who knew who he really was. The fear had startled him so much that he forgot that Richie had ''died'' in China.


    "I''m offering you a simple choice. An enemy ising, and the war they will bring will be unlike any other in our history. They are far stronger than our current team and the World Governing Powers. I am giving you a chance to be her shield just as she was yours. In fact, what we offer is a chance for you to stand alongside her. One of our spies is currently with your daughter. Yes. She is alive. You must have met her¡ªthe Admiral of the Antis that is nearby. Your Empress-girlfriend really liked you. Even though you didn''t know, she even assigned your daughter somewhere close to you."


    The man continued to tremble. If he wasn''t wearing the Exoskeleton suit, everyone would have seen his staggering form.


    Sammy then continued his monologue while Chase did his best to act generally in dressing the many bloodied wounds of Sammy.

 Chapter 220 - A Sword Like Lightning

    The risingmotion around the Kraken had now exceeded the capabilities that the Kraken could handle. There was a massive tornado right at the Kraken center, and it kept on drilling on the Kraken. Most of the firepower was centered there, but the tornado was just too strong. Around it, was the four winds that continued on attacking those that dared enter its perimeter. A cutting wind, a freezing wind, a mighty gale, and an area that always sucked the air created a vacuum. The soldiers were doing their best to keep up. Several powerful weapons were already used to destroy the entire tornado. But every time an Armor or the Kraken itself would prepare for an attack, the wind would use it and fling it up to the skies above.


    Several bright explosions have already urred on the skies above. But as if that wasn''t bad enough, werewolves were reported to have made an appearance. At the opposite side of the Kraken, the Commanders have long led all the soldiers to retreat.


    Werewolves were seen, causing great havoc. The strength of these werewolves was terrifying as they could forcibly dismantle the parts of an Exoskeleton. Yet what intrigued the Commanders was that although these werewolves were originally their own men, they continued to attack another unidentified party that was attempting to infiltrate the Kraken earlier.


    "Let them kill themselves! Don''t waste our men!" The Commanders ordered and ushered their forces to support the Golems.


    The battle of the Golems almost ended as the group of soldiers was already cornered. But suddenly, a massive Armor appeared and aided the Exoskeletons that fought the Golem. The Exoskeletons took shelter from this and retreated to another end.


    "Any update and that group that disappeared?" A Commander talked to another Commander who shook his head.


    "We lost the trail. The battle is too chaotic, and our sensors cannot pinpoint them. They werest seen fleeing towards the werewolf region. Should we send men? I opted not to as I believe that that group caused the lightning strike allies with the ones currently fighting the werewolves." The Commander quickly ryed.


    "Yeah. I suppose that''s the only thing we can do. For now, we focus on the tornado and order the full retreat. Our priority is to make sure that there are no more groups that can infiltrate the Kraken."


    "Where is the Antis?" The other Commander cursed.


    The pair was silent. A tremor could be felt that caused the Kraken to shake.


    "What now?"


    "Sir! One of the buoyancy chambers has been destroyed!" One of the warriors reported.


    "What?!" The Commanders eximed.


    Even the Commander that was healing the wounded soldier that was brought in reacting.


    "Who did it?" The Commander shouted.


    "Admiral!" A video feed appeared.


    "I am headed for the buoyancy chamber. Since that area is only essible to Commanders or those in the Command center, then one among you is the traitor."


    "Sir. With all due respect. After being defeated, you have not returned to battle even though your Armor has been repaired. And even though that had happened, you did not report back here. As a Commander of the World Governing Powers, I would have to suspect you as well. You left out that apart from us Commanders, you have direct ess to opening those buoyancy chambers."


    "Commander Drake! How dare you?!" Another Commander angrily replied.


    "How dare me what? Of everyone who can betray us, the Admiral has the most power and capacity to do so! He is outside right now, and by his location, he is near the buoyancy chamber that was damaged! Who else could have done that? Tell me?!" Drake challenged.


    The Admiral''s expression changed.


    "So, it looks like you''re the traitor." The Admiral sighed.


    "On what grounds?" Commander Drake countered.


    "On the grounds that I am not the traitor." The Admiral sneered.


    "That''s it?! I haven''t left this room! I can''t possibly be the traitor! You trained us all to be wary, and you already warned us that there might be a traitor among us! So now that I use you, that''s the best you have?"


    "Enough! Fine, then Commander, why not go out here and check? Aren''t you worried that I would blow up more chambers? If I am the traitor, it is beneficial to you. You can watch me. If you are the traitor, it''s beneficial for the good guys to not have a traitor in the Command Center. I dare you. Do you ept?" The Admiral''s expression turned serious.


    "Why wouldn''t I dare?" Drake replied and immediately moved.


    The room became quiet as it observed Commander Drake immediately exiting the room. Therge exit was opened once more.


    "Get those three soldiers out of there." The Admiral also ordered.


    Drake paused and motioned for the soldiers to get the one who was in a medical table.


    The two immediately moved, not daring to linger anymore.


    "You two follow me. Keep up to my movements and detail the ns. I will be disabling the outgoing of mymunicator. Inform me for any important changes or if the Admiral acts crazy." Drake gave his orders as he began to move.


    "Everyone else. Carry on. Assume that the ones next to you are traitors. If Drake isn''t the traitor, then he''s the best soldier among you for suspecting even me." The Admiral sighed, and the video feed disappeared.


    "You heard the Admiral. Back to work. We are already in the brink of defeat." Another Commander chided.


    Drake and the group began to move.


    Stanley and Roselyn continued to carry Sammy.


    "There. I did as you said. How did you do that? How did you inform your allies?" Drake whispered.


    "Our other allies have found a way to infiltrate the Kraken. The weapon that they used to begin the attack was the one you hid in themon areas. The Exoskeleton you received from New Great Britain."


    "But those are obsolete weapons? Do you really expect me to believe that they could pilot such useless tools?"


    "You guys just haven''t figured out how to turn those weapons on. As for how I did it, it was fairly simple. Some of your teams have already been broadcastingmands all over the Kraken. Roselyn recounted what we had ''discovered'' while Stanley was sending out the messages as he spoke in a different frequency. Hearing such things is easy for them."


    "Stanley? That soldier?"


    "He might look old, but he is a kid. It''s just some smudge and makeup."


    "A kid?"


    "Hi! I''m Stanley Vagrant."


    "Vagrant? Warfreakz?"


    "Oh. You''ve heard of us? I''m Roselyn." Roselyn smiled.


    "Anyway... I told them right when you told me about the frequency that we can only hear. This is all part of the smallest miracles that our team has. You interested? Such power will allow you to stand alongside her."


    "The fact I did to what you said shows my willingness. But are you guys seriously going to sink the Kraken? Although I don''t care about the WGP, there are soldiers in this facility that I do care for! If I am to ally with you, I want my squad to be spared!"


    "Go and order them to go search for the Exoskeletons from New Great Britain. At this point, you are both suspected of being a traitor, or the only smart Commander. Your actions will be tolerated if it''s just that. I already made Stanley make that broadcast." Sammy smiled.


    "Fine. But still... you guys are crazy. Sinking the Kraken? We still have several more buoyancy chambers to destroy."


    "You guys really know how to put on a show. I''ve been taking a look at the map and the Kraken''s capabilities. Those chambers... they aren''t even real."


    "What do you mean?" Drake frowned.


    "Destroying those chambers won''t do anything. It''s only something that was meant to deceive possible traitors. If we blow up all of those chambers, the Kraken still won''t sink." Sammy exined.


    Drake was surprised, but his gaze turned strange.


    "What? No! That''s impossible?! We were clearly-"


    "Think! This is the Kraken. The best and brightest of the world made this! Why would they create a Death Star level weakness? We have learned so much since A New Hope. Why make the same mistake?"


    "What?" Drake was confused.


    "Your superiors did that to deceive people and reveal possible traitors. Richie''s instinct believes this as well. Before we went inside, he mapped the entire Kraken and already pointed out the weaknesses of it. He''s understanding of vibrations is superb. He noticed that even if those chambers were broken, the Kraken would still float."


    "How sure is he? Is he as smart as those who built this? How can he understand the limitations of the Kraken? Did he saw the ns before?"


    "He didn''t need to. The vibrations and sound had already revealed where the buoyancy of this ship is and how it floats. Those chambers only provide a tiny percentage of it. Especially now. It''s almost impossible to sink this Kraken unless you blow up about half of it."


    Drake was surprised at the ims.


    "When the Emperor''s Invoking began, the Origin force had even strengthened it. As long as a thickyer of Origin energy remains in the air around us and in the sea below, the Kraken won''t sink. But as I said, even without Origin, destroying those chambers won''t sink this ship."


    "If that''s the case, why did you still order Dara''s team to blow up that chamber?"


    "To create confusion. Everything that has been happening here is being recorded. So we can''t afford to make the enemy think we''re this smart. Didn''t Lowengren teach you that?" Sammy smiled.


    "No. Our boss taught us to always show ourselves to be three or four times smarter."


    "Ah... A difference of perspective. But who am I to go against the great Lowengren?"


    "You said that you will force her to call me?" Drake asked impatiently.


    "Calm down, Chase. It all depends on our great and magnificent leader. He''s probably looking for the right opportunity to tell her."


    Drake was silent.


    "What happened to the Antis? What did you do to it?"


    "Not what. But who. And the answer to ''who'' is Lennox."


    Deep underwater, the Antis continued to sink.


    For some strange reason, the Antis'' doors and chambers were opened, and the crushing water rushed inside the Antis. Although the soldiers in the Antis had the means and protocols to quickly resolve this scenario, the rushing water was too fast to deal with, and it caused the Antis to sink.


    Various protocols were enabled to draw the water out of the Antis. However, the estimates show that it would take a few hours toplete as the sinking Antis already met tremendous pressure. Odinsbane did his best to push the water out, but it was toote. He tried to send several messages to warn the Empress, but his messages could not be sent out.


    Finally, Emperor Odinsbane rushed out of the Antis to resurface. His Invoking could not be made as he was deep inside the water. Therefore, he could not gather the Origin Energy around him. But upon exiting the Antis, he met two bizarre creatures. The darkness of the waters could not hide the figure. A figure of what looked like a woman stood by, but next to it was a bright shing figure.


    Odinsbane rushed forward and made a wild charge as it released powerful white energy that became the shape of a serpent.


    "Finally. He made me wait long enough."


    Lennox''s body shed with intense electricity. But the electric charges did not move out but continued to rotate around him.


    "Compress as much water and turn it into a sword," Lennox ordered. The woman next to him was one of the lost sciences that even the WGP sought after. The science pushed Egypt to acquire formidable tech that ced them on par with the Caliphates and the African Nation.


    She was the first and most sessful Project Nile specimen who stood nearby andmanded the waters around her. With the aid of Lennox, her control over the water increased to a whole level. It was her power that forcibly caused the waters to rush in after Lennox opened the door. And although she could not control arge amount of water, her water control in various critical moments caused them to sessfully drown the Antis.


    The water around her was being drawn andpressed into a spear. Thepression of the molecules created an almost solid figure.


    Lennox lifted his hands and touched the sword.


    The sword began to sh with bright lights as a bluish charge enveloped it.


    The terrifying energies caused even the woman next to him to back away in fear.


    "Lennox! That energy!"


    "Rx. It would be hard for the WGP to detect a weapon of this level since we are deep underwater. The Antis can detect it, but with the static field I created, it won''t send out a warning. Besides, we are directly above the Kraken. Up there is the strong storm that New Great Britain sent to harass Australian. And right now, that aircraft my son sent should have arrived. It will use several weapons on the boundaries of the WGP''s weapon limitations. So any fluctuations or energy that they detect in this region won''t be easily identified." Lennox casually replied.


    Odinsbane detected tremendous energy before him and frowned.


    "What technology is this?" After hesitating a bit, the Emperor led his Rule to recklessly charge towards Lennox.


    "You think that little stick is going to defeat me? Even a nuclear bomb can''t destroy this Rule!" He shouted as hemanded the Rule to travel forward.


    Lennox held the sword in his hands as the electricity increased.


    "Three months'' worth of energy... All gone. And to think I was saving this for Egypt."


    A chill rang up on the spine of the woman next to him.


    "Calm down, Stefanny. As long as you and Damien remain loyal to me, you''ll never be the ones to receive this sword." Lennox said as he observed the energy in the sword. It was then that he recalled one of the verses that Eagle once mentioned in a particr sermon.


    "A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished¡ª sharpened for the ughter, polished to sh like lightning." Lennox smiled as he held the sword higher and threw it like a spear.


    The moment it left his hands, the sword traveled quickly and rushed towards the Rule.


    The Rule released a bright, concentrated energy that countered the approaching sword, but the sword continued to travel unhindered.


    The Emperor activated a powerful Origin shield that its Rule could create.


    BOOM!


    The impact caused a muffled sound, but instead of an explosion, the sword easily pierced through the Origin shield.The sword shattered the shield and struck the hard shell of the Rule.


    BOOM!


    Yet again, the sword drilled its way, creating loud crackling sounds before piercing right through the other side of the Rule.


    The Emperor''s Exoskeleton immediately detected the energy. It forced the position of the Emperor as it also released another explosive power that was meant to deflect an attack.


    The sword stabbed right through and destroyed the left arm of the Emperor. The sword continued to charge through and prated the back of the Rule and headed towards the sinking Antis, causing another small explosion.


    The waters rushed in the Rule. The Rule immediately activated various defensive measures to prevent the water. Still, it was too damaged to quickly resolve the flooding waters. As for the Emperor, his expression was deathly white as he clutched his left arm and shouted in pain. The side of his ribs was also damaged and even the Exoskeleton armor he wore could not protect him from the terrifying sword.


    Various alerts were being made by the Exoskeleton suit and the Rule, but before he could react, an electric charge shocked him and caused him to faint.


    Lennox had a disappointed face.


    "Three months is not enough?"


    Steffany pondered on the strange words of Lennox.


    "It... pierced through the Rule and even damaged the Antis. What do you mean?"


    "Seeker spoke of an attack in his future. They were the primary weapons reserved for fighting against World Champions and Ranked Heroes. That attack that I made is weaker than the spected power that those lightspeed attacks the Aragarians gave the traitors of Earth."


    "That attack..." Steffany''s couldn''t even finish her words. That attack already caused her great fear but with Lennox''s description, she realized just how inadequate they were.


    "Let''s go. Tell your husband to retrieve the Rule and the Emperor." Lennox ordered as he descended towards the Antis.


    "Maybe our only hope... really lie on these madmen.." Steffany muttered to herself as she quickly followed.

 Chapter 221 - Meryl’s Mission

    The messages that the Kraken sent towards the various WGP bases were all requests of assistance. Word of the Antis going dark also spurred rage from the nations. The WGP received reports of different traitorous actions urring deep within the Kraken. The fact that the Antis did not surface and even disabled theirmunication system caused more considerable panic.


    Havinge to that extent, a certain high profiled soldier sent an anonymous report regarding proof of rebellion for a Fleet Admiral assigned in the African nations. The actions that the WGP made were precise. Several aircraft immediately set forth and bombarded several vital bases around the world without any exnation.


    The chaos that it created made the respective Krakens and Antis worldwide draw closer to each other. Various Antis have risen and revealed its form. The nations were shocked as they witnessed the elusive Antis.


    The WGP''s Elites also prepared to battle. They readied the fleets that were to aid the Kraken near the Australian and Pangean regions.


    However, an unexpected event was happening right in the middle of this extreme crisis.


    An Emperor was waiting at a room.


    He was a middle-aged man with well-built muscles and handsome features. But behind this impressive form, he was actually considered a sloth among Emperors and rumor has it that he has always been using his connections to taste the famous women all over the world. It was undeniable that he liked to take advantage of women who had Asian descent.


    He had been a longtime customer of the Underworld''s dark secrets. And while the highest members of the WGP knew of this sexual trading, they allowed it as various Emperors and Empress had long desired to indulge themselves on this activity.


    This transaction dubbed as the Celebrity Savor was one of the most guarded secrets in the Underworld. It was also the most favored secret that the WGP itself protects it. Yet, this secret had various limitations. Due to the sensitive nature regarding this transaction, very few celebrities ever get offered. This was because it involved the celebrity willingness and the timing, proximity, and military state of the nations where the celebrity was based could hinder any transaction.


    But a few months ago, as this Emperor perused to the various personage in their menu, he came to a shocking secret.


    Meryl Mikado was up for sale.


    This trading deal, however, was far more different than Seeker''s. For Seeker, those who wanted to purchase him for a few hours must find a way to secretly get to Phil-Pangea. But for Meryl, it was different. Meryl could only be reserved by one person and can enjoy her for the night.


    An auction urred in the Underworld, where everyone would pay 50 million credits just to participate. This amount still gathered several individuals whose identity would forever remain unknown. When the auction began, this Emperor raised the bid to 300 million credits and immediately secured his reservation.


    The problem was that it would be challenging to allow Meryl to move from Phil-Pangea and go towards the Arctic nations.


    An borate scheme was prepared to ensure that Meryl would get to the Arctic Nations. Of course, to further deceive even those who had participated in the auction, the flight schedule of Meryl had various pit stops each moving towards the nations where those bidders hailed from.


    The preparations were made and secured.


    Then the attack on the Kraken began. The Call of Automaton was triggered, and this raised the alertness level of all Emperors.


    The Arctic Nations was a group of nations belonging to various countries all over the world. Descendants of Americans, Europeans, Asians, and so on all resided here and had a small nation. However, none of them belonged or identified as someone from the nation.


    They all belonged to one organization. It is an organization sorge that it was a nation. They were the kings of the Earth. They were the World Governing Powers.


    The Arctic Nations went on full alert. The schedule even that this Emperor awaited had to face various troubles due to the attack.


    But since he had already paid so much for this preparation, he forcibly wanted to continue it. Even with the war on the horizon, he quickly created a n to bring Meryl Mikado to where he would be.


    As an Emperor, he had to assume his position and lead an army to fight back against whatever attacks were made. But when the shooting began, his lust and impatience made him conclude that the Kraken attack would end as quickly as it began. Rumors of possible traitors also circted. As such, he took matters into his own hands and even sent various members. They would have guarded the base home.


    He imed that there was an important interrogation that he would personally have with a possible traitor. And with the rising report of traitors, he decided to take matters personally.


    He kicked out almost all of his guards and the soldiers under him. He made them make preparations for any possible wars on another location.


    And soon, the entire headquarters that would have been his base of operation to fulfill his role as Emperor became an empty shell. It was only him and the guest that he was allegedly supposed to interrogate. The Emperor used a small chamber where he imprisoned this said informant to ensure that no one would scan who it was inside.


    As the Emperor opened the chamber, his impatient and angry expression immediately grew soft.


    "I''m so sorry, my dear. Something came up. I am Emperor Theon Epikyron." His warm and gentle voice awoke Meryl''s panicking state.


    Her expression was pale, and it looked like she was sick.


    "Are you alright? I''m sorry for such a treatment! I already told those mean men that they didn''t need to scan you, but they insisted! It was those Underworld men who forced this on me. Please, follow me to the medical facility." The Emperor urged. He was panicking. The expression of Meryl was ashen.


    He reached out his hand, but Meryl trembled and unconsciously rejected the side.


    "I see. You must be in fear and shock." His voice trailed off.


    Meryl nced at the man and quickly shook her head.


    "Emperor. I''m sorry. I just... please don''t get mad!"


    "Why would I be mad? Your presence brings me such great joy. If I wasn''t bound to my duties as an Emperor, I would have flown and asked for your hand in marriage." The man gave a warm smile.


    "Please forgive me. I thought I would have handled this... situation better."


    "Did the Pangean government force you in this?"


    "No... Seeker lost so much in the attack in Pangea. He was greatly wounded, after all. And he saw many of our countrymen die. The Australians were rounding up all Pangean natives and wanted to kill them. I didn''t understand why... I was so afraid, but Seeker resolved that he will protect Pangea."


    "There was such a thing?" The Emperor was genuinely surprised.


    "I... did this and agreed to this. I wanted to help. Pangea needs money. So I asked Harker to this. He didn''t want to because I was his daughter''s student... I loved Teacher Alean... I wanted to pay for her kindness back."


    The Emperor took his time and listened to Meryl''s story. Even with how critical the situation was, he didn''t allow his impatience and lust to ruin the mood. He wanted the best Meryl listened to the story that Meryl ryed.


    Meryl continued to talk about what happened in Australia. There were times that Meryl''s expression revealed pure fear, while other times, a trace of mncholy would surface.


    "I see... Pangea is making her tell me this sad tale in hopes of receiving more support. How desperate. They couldn''t even properly train Meryl to tell me these lies." Emperor Zeus sneered.


    "My Angel, please do not worry. I''ll do whatever I can to help Pangea get their revenge. Alean''s sacrifice won''t be in vain." The Emperor gave his empty promises.


    Meryl nodded her head as her expression changed and smiled at the Emperor as her tears fell.


    The debauchery and perversion that the Emperor had gone through should have dampened his morals. But yet, when he saw that charming smile, he couldn''t help but feel a warming sensation enveloping him. And there was a change in Meryl that he could not quite identify. It was as if Meryl was glowing.


    "I''m sorry, Emperor. I was just feeling unwell on my way here because I''m scared."


    "Come with me to the medical bay. Don''t worry. No one is around. Would you like to eat something first?"


    Meryl nodded and followed the Emperor.


    As the Emperor was immediately called to duty, the room was not prepared for his current crusade. He had to lead Meryl down the lower levels of his headquarters and even to the cafeteria.


    He took his sweet time as he talked and even gave Meryl a tour, which was amazed at the amazing sights she saw inside the headquarters. It was as if they were living in the far future.


    They soon reached the medical center and began treating Meryl.


    Soon, Meryl''s pale expression vanished as the variousplex machines offered the best treatment the world had to offer.


    "It looks like you haven''t been eating much." The Emperor chuckled.


    "I''m sorry. On the way here... I guess I lost my appetite. I also kept throwing up."


    "It''s only natural. You were doing a courageous thing. I assure you, I will go above and beyond in repaying this gracious gift."


    "Please, Emperor. I''ll do anything if it can help my country." Meryl pleaded.


    "The first thing you must do is get well. It looks like you really need to eat. Follow me. Let''s grab a bite at the Cafeteria. I also noticed you were quite amazed at the sights in this little office of mine."


    "Yes, Emperor. It''s so amazing. It''s like living in the future."


    "The future, huh? Well, for now, let us live in the present and get your food."


    The Emperor gave Meryl a tour and allowed the curious Meryl some freedom. She would even do funny things to the various strange equipment they had.


    The pair soon reached the cafeteria and ate. Meryl''s previous fearful and worried expression slowly corroded and even began to talk to the Emperor casually.


    "Emperor. If I may ask. Why are we here? I was told we were supposed to be in your house."


    "We were supposed to be there. But something came up. I''ll tell you this though, the Australians may be behind this. I''ll see what I can do to harass those Australians."


    "Another war?''


    "Don''t worry. If ever war happens, I''ll break the code of Emperors and get you out of Pangea." The Emperorughed.


    "Thank you, Emperor!" Meryl smiled.


    "So, where are we? Are we in some sort of spaceship?"


    "Actually, yes! Here''s a little secret. This is actually my headquarters. It also acts as a spaceship and can fly to space if things be more problematic."


    Meryl was amazed.


    "This is a spaceship?!"


    "And my headquarters! Come, let me show you around."


    The Emperor toured Meryl around the area and even patiently exined every little device and gadgets and what it could do. He also showed Meryl the Command Center. As they continued to give the tour, Meryl''s expression suddenly changed.


    "Emperor! I''m sorry! I... have wasted your time. Please ignore my curiosity."


    "My Angel, don''t worry! I didn''t purchase this night just for your body. I wanted a night with Meryl Mikado. You don''t have to-"


    "No, Emperor. I know how much you paid for me. You have already shown me great kindness in being so patient. I am ready. Please take me." Meryl firmly said. Though there was a trace of fear in Meryl''s eyes, it was far lesser than when she got here.


    The Emperor smiled.


    "Alright. I will not lie and deny that I don''t want this. But I wanted you to also have a good time. I will agree if you can promise me that you will also have a good time."


    "I promise, Emperor." Meryl gave a charming smile.


    The Emperor led Meryl towards his main office. This was actually the room where he first brought Meryl. It was an office, but at the wave of the Emperor''s hand, the room changed. A bed appeared. What once was an office with very hi-techputers, it suddenly turned into a very fantastic bedroom that surpassed even the ssiest of hotels.


    Meryl saw the bed and shivered. But she took in a deep breath and immediately moved to the bed and slowly disrobed herself.


    The Emperor''s eyes lit up with excitement and also removed his clothes, and he slowly went towards the bed where the beautiful figure of Merylid.


    "Thank you for this night. Although many things have happened, I''m still happy that I get to spend this night with you." The Emperor smiled.


    "Yes. Even I''m surprised at what happened. Seeker really likes to givest-minute orders." Meryl sighed.


    Almost immediately, a terrifying heat erupted and burned the entire bed. However, there were no explosions or scary sounds but just a sh of fire.


    The Emperor was immediately incinerated and couldn''t even scream.


    Lying on the remains of the bed was a naked Meryl.


    "MakE SuRe tO gEt HiM NaKEd ANd COnFiRm tHat hE hAs No mEaNs To pRoTeCt hiMSeLf, Meryl!" Meryl mockingly repeated Seeker''s orders in aical tone.


    "I hate myself for doing that!" She cursed.


    After she put on her clothes, she nced at the time. Throughout the tour, Meryl kept leaving small round beads that hanged around her pretty dress. This was one of the various technologies that Pangea had developed using Meryl''s cells and implementing their Eradication technology. The developed bomb was empty, and even with the most advanced technology, it would not see any threat to these small beads.


    But that was because it was without any energy. It was merely an empty shell of a bomb. But after Meryl was scanned during her shipment towards the Emperor, she used her cells. She even took several pills that gave her the energy to contain devastating firepower that would erupt half an hour.


    Meryl returned to therge chamber, which the Emperor used to bring her in and rummaged around the various dresses and costumes. She ripped off parts of the costumes and began to wear them. Soon, she had a dark synthetic outfit that hid her frame and figure.


    She slowly walked out of the room, as various explosions urred.


    These all happened right after the Call of Automatons urred.


    The terrorist attacks urred right in one of the main headquarters in the heart of the WGP.


    Soon, several other explosions urred and caused the WGP to send their armies to contain the damage. And as the reports from the Kraken that confirmed high-profile traitors, the WGP acted cautiously. The request of support and reinforcements from the Kraken fell into deaf ears.


    All the other bases were warry and only sent a portion of their forces. The fear that the traitors may take advantage of theck of soldiers caused them to increase security.


    Back at the Kraken, the Empress was raging in anger but continued to circle around the Kraken. She had tried again and again to contact the Antis but could no longer reach them. Emperor Odinsbane had also gone dark.


    The Empress could only helplessly escape and struggled to get to where her Rule was.


    An aircraft emitting unidentified powerful energy drew near to the Kraken. The energy fluctuations it released could easily rank the weapons it carried to be almost at the level of mass destruction weapons.


    The Emperor had no choice but to face it.


    "Oh? You stopped running away." A calm chuckle resounded next to the Empress''s ears.


    The Empress grew angrier and nced at the figure who finally revealed his form once more.


    "You finally showed yourself, coward!" The Empress growled.


    "I showed myself earlier, remember? You were so amazed by my appearance that you were literally blown away." The young man chuckled. He wore a strange mask, but there was something almost familiar with his voice.


    The Empress angrily charged towards the young man.


    The young man chuckled and rushed forward to engage the Empress.

 Chapter 222 - The Good Soil

    After suffering from an unknown attack, the Empress dared not be reckless. The attack that gave her tremendous wounds didn''t have any powerful fluctuations or any abnormal energy signs. All that her suit could detect was that the device that her enemy used was something simr to that of a Pangean Whish bomb.


    Yet from that attack, it created a strange force that reverberated deep within her own armor and wounded her. Since shooting from a distance that required such concentrated energy was dangerous, the Empress switched tactics.


    She wrapped the light energy of her suit and contained in on her fist and legs. She dashed forward and attempted to face the enemy in a melee.


    The young man could be seen chuckling as he charged forward to meet the Empress.


    Facing the glowing energy of the Empress'' fist, the young man threw a punch as well.


    The two fists connected and created shockwaves. The two flew several meters away from each other due to the impact. But as soon as the Empress was thrown back, she immediatelymanded her suit to fly again.


    She then delivered a kick towards the head of the enemy, who was still midair.


    Suddenly, the young man pped to the air next to him, and as if there was an invisible wall, he was suddenly thrown sidewards and caused him to spin. As the Empress passed him, he suddenly kicked on the air as if something invisible was there. With that, a sword extended out from a small handle, and he shed at the boosters of the Empress.


    The Exoskeleton suit of the Empress had boosters on the heels and on the shoulders. These boosters could change its angle to a certain degree, and with the high techputer response, these suits can quickly shift the flight angle at a shocking speed.


    The WGP has developed auto-positioning boosters that would adjust itself to keep the Exoskeleton from losing control and falling.


    Yet when the enemy struck the Empress''s leg, it forcible changed the direction of the boosters, causing the Empress to plummet to the ground in a mediocre fashion.


    CRASH!


    The enemy continued its attack and struck the Empress''s body.


    The auto-pilot adjustment immediately scrambled. It detected an aggressive attack and began to boost her further away from the enemy and try to adjust the Empress''s position to get her back up.


    But the enemy moved even faster. Various explosions could be heard at each step of the enemy. It created a forceful st that propelled the young man faster than the speed of sounds.


    The young man kept moving around the Empress and always aimed his attack on the Empress''s boosters.


    The Empress kept crashing on the Kraken''s floor and walls due to the boosters'' constant redirection.


    As she was crashing and smashing, he heard aughing voice.


    "Hey, you guys should host a game like this in the next Olympic. Emperor Curling!" The manughed as he always toyed with the Empress, making her go where she was supposed to go.


    Suddenly, the man stopped chasing as he stopped and allowed the Empress to fly in an uncontrolled manner.


    She had already struggled and tried to take manual control of her flight after the insult. Her control inhibited the Exoskeleton from destroying a rogue rocket headed towards her.


    BOOM!


    The explosion caused the unguarded Empress to scream as she was once more thrown to the side.


    They had neared the giant tornado''s location, and several dangerous attacks were thrown off every once in a while.


    "Nice suit! It''s really sturdy! To think it can take quite a beating." The man chuckled as he noticed the Empress immediately getting up.


    The Empress had several wounds from the various impacts she received. The previous attacks that she took on thest battle didn''t harm her. Yet, towards this man, she was beaten continuously and even made a ything. She felt like a hockey puck that was simply toyed around by a skilled yer.


    The Empress didn''t attack immediately and allowed her suit to heal her and make their repairs. Inwardly, the Empress was afraid. Her suit held the best technology around the world. The Emperors of the World Governing Powers was the most powerful group of people on Earth. Although not many of them were as rich or as capable as other businesses, organizations, and conglomerations of the world, they still had ess to the world''s best technology.


    "Who are you?!" She cried in anger. She could not understand the unfairness of this battle.


    Being the most significant powers that monopolized mankind, they controlled everything. They managed the light of the world and even had greater control on its darkness. Human experiments, human trafficking, the development of illegal drugs, and even the trade of weapons urring in the Underworld were known to them. In fact, some Emperors manage the key parts of this disgusting ck market!


    They wore technology that could not be trumped by skill or ability. Their bodies held the world''s best human modification programs, whichbined various techs from different countries. Their bodies were harder, stronger, and could easily outperform a peak human.


    Yet the man before him was able to easily toy around with her great techs. Their suit had the best stabilizing and recovery technology. It boasted being able to regain stability to the pilot in just two seconds! But the enemy quickly took advantage of this technology! This wasn''t something that could be done by an average human who had no devices such as the physics analyzer that all Emperors are easily equipped with!


    "What is that sword?! How could it leave marks to my suit?!" She shouted in frustration and fear.


    The Exoskeleton suit she had was made of a unique metal hybrid that was only known to them. The secret of that metal was that it was formed only on the pr locations of the Earth. This was why the World Governing Powers made a nation for themselves in the Arctic regions.


    Yet this apparent sword had left several markings on her suit! The boosters that she had on her left shoulder was actually damaged! Although it was negligible, how could a mere sword sh create such damage?!


    The WGP also inherited a mysterious technology that allowed to harness andmand energy. The Origin Science that breached the known dimensions and could even create gravity and bend the naturalws was rarely used in battle.


    Yet she could not even use those techs to her advantage. Her previous concentrated attack that would have destroyed the most advanced tanks and Armors was countered. And her intense Origin punch was also matched with an unknown technology!


    "What technologies do you have?!"


    They had the technology, the physical enhancement, the world''s financing, and the best equipment that any nation could ask for. They have ruled the world and retained their position as the greatest for a century.


    These were the reasons why the Empress was so angry at the young figure who clearly did not have even a decent armor to protect him.


    Despite being illogical and even idiotic, she could not help but curse out and ask these questions to the young man before her.


    "Are you going to also ask for my ASL next? What about my Social Networking ount or email? I don''t usually give my digits to an olddy, though." The young manughed.


    "Answer the question!" The Empress growled as she readied and gathered more Origin energy.


    Seeker nced at the Empress. This was the force that Cliff and Gardo would not dare fight but only used various ways to deceive to flee from her. This was one of the strongest political and military power known to Earth. And Seeker had a simple assessment.


    "So weak." Seeker shook his head.


    "For someone who calls herself an Empress, you sure are weak. I mean, look at you! I''m even giving you time to gather that energy to recover and replenish your suit! Thestdy that I fought, now THAT was an Empress." Seeker chuckled.


    Seeker detonated another ball of Thunder during the battle and used the powerful sounds for him to move and attack. The drawback was that Seeker could only contain Richie''s Sounds within several seconds, depending on the extent and power of how he used the sound. It was that force that allowed him to sh with the Origin punch and allowed Seeker to move fast and perform his miraculous movements.


    The Empress waited, and her anger continued to rise. But behind this anger was a sense of fear. She readied a devastating attack. She took the opportunity that Seeker gave her to make the necessary arrangements to ensure minimal damage on the Kraken. Otherwise, arge breach would be made on this attack.


    Seeker could notice the peculiarities. What was even amazing was that changes were urring in the fourth dimension!


    "I see. Sudden detonation." Seeker sneered at the attempts of the Empress.


    He grasped on the remaining balls of Richie to prepare for the attack. And as he did that, he felt ufortable.


    "Seriously, Richie needs to change the name of these grenades." Seeker frowned.


    The Empress rushed forward and prepared for her to detonate the Origin Energy within. The explosion would be the strongest concentrated energy known to man. It surpassed the raw destructive powers of the Eradication and Srium energy. The energy was so great that it could even melt the hardest metals that even the WGP could create!


    "Devils Purgatory!" The Empress shouted, and her suit immediately set off the attack.


    The Origin energy around her and the nuclear power source her suit fused together to create a miniature explosion of concentrated kic energy. Taking inspiration to the heavenly bodies that contained the energy, Devils Purgatory was an attempt to create a contained st by creating a miniature sun.


    Origin Energy formed the various energies that breached the fourth dimension and allowed the appearance of such power. Although it exploded out, the energy was also contained that it did not corrode the metals of the Kraken''s hull.


    Even when the Empress was yet rushing towards Seeker, Seeker detonated one Balls of Thunder and kicked back to escape the exploding energy. A strange slingshot-like force made from sound also flung Seeker and aided in his quick retreat. The remaining sound energy was used to attack and impede the created energy. However, it was all immediately devoured by the miniature sun.


    The Sun remained for a few seconds before diminishing.


    The explosion was strange. It did not erupt downwards to damage the hull of Kraken. But instead, it expanded out. The energy it released was so powerful that no explosive force was created beyond the initial creation of the sun.


    As for Seeker, he stood at the edge of the explosion. He was one footstep away from being incinerated.


    The Empress saw that Seeker was unharmed, and her frustrations exploded out.


    "A thirty-meter-wide incinerating technique. Impressive. It didn''t even create a loud sound. You can use this stealthily." Seeker rubbed his chin.


    The Empress was shocked. How did he know that the attack was precisely thirty meters! This was the preset made for her suit!


    Seeker saw it all on the fourth dimension. He could see a strange fluctuation. With his sight that could see the shadow of the changes in the third dimension, Seeker retreated ordingly and stood a step out of the actual explosion.


    Seeing the unmoving figure of the Empress, Seeker knew that his little whimsical decision had shattered the confidence of the Empress. It was time.


    "Are you one of his seeds?" Seeker asked.


    That question further caused the Empress to freeze.


    "I am one of his seeds. So are you also one of us?" Seeker asked again.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about!" The Empress finally answered.


    "We have Chaser Brander. We can kill him. We also know where your daughter is, and we can also kill her." Seekerughed.


    The Empress felt her knees weaken at those words. If it wasn''t for the suit, she would have stumbled.


    The Empress immediately turned off all of themunication systems in her suit.


    "I am one of those seeds!"She finally answered.


    "Prove it."


    "I am a descendant of Reginald Price and the inheritor of Progenitors will. My family continues to secretly carry out this mission. After the war, we have been tasked to divide Earth and create a society that would divide technology to allow the other seeds to blossom without suspicion. We are the Good Soil!"


    Seeker smiled. This was the proof he needed. Arthur''s prediction was correct. The group leader who would immediately rush towards the Kraken had the highest potential in being one of the seeds.


    "The announcement that this Kraken made about those weapons from New Great Britain was something that it casually made. It didn''t know the significance of the Wind Seed. But of course, it would inevitably cause the Progenitors Seed within the WGP to act despite the vague name." Seeker exined.


    "So all of this... was to talk to me?" The Empress asked.


    "No. We did this for several reasons. That is one of them, though." Seeker admitted. Seeker began to think. Nogard Meng was One Who Plows By the Good Soil. The terminology that the Empress revealed was precisely about that.


    "The Good Soil? I finally understand. There is the one who plows, there is the good soil, so the Progenitor must be the Sower..." Seeker mumbled to himself.


    "Is this a coincidence? Did he know that these are Christian terminologies? Is he an Aragarian Christian?" Seeker wondered.


    "Who are you?! And what have you done to my-"


    "Rx. I was just confirming if you are the Seed. We have no ns to kill your daughter and your little boyfriend. We, in fact, want them to be our allies. Although your daughters probably going to have a mental breakdown for trying to ckmail Lowengren." Seeker shook his head.


    "What?" The Empress was confused.


    "All in good time, Empress. For now, lets put on a show of fighting each other. The enemy that the Progenitor talked about is already here and should be watching right now. One of the reasons why we attacked this Kraken is to make them act."


    "Who exactly are you?" The Empress asked again.


    "Empress...I am your father!"


    "WHAT?!" The Empress was stunned.


    "Just kidding. I''m sorry. I couldn''t resist. Seeker Carlean.. He Who Treads the Ancient Paths."

 Chapter 223 - The Snake And The Dragon

    The skies above the Kraken had turned into a full warzone. Explosions were happening left and right as the various attacks happened. Up in the heavens, a strange battle involving weird winged creature and a man who kept shouting ''Eagle Man'' could be seen as various strange gunshots and fire erupted now and then.


    But the Commanders had no time to care for these things. If any of the approaching enemies fought each other, it would be better. As such, the Commanders continued to order the forces to focus on the enemies with no rivals. In particr, they continued to attack the tornado. The tornado tried to breach the Kraken but could not do so.


    Various Armors equipped with Hellfire technology had been spraying several batches of living metals, which even caused the tornado visibly move to avoid it. Noticing the weakness and fear of the winds, more and more Armors emerged and began to send more Hellfire rted attacks.


    The drilling force could not break the hull.


    Grant Hermes was amazed at the strength and tenacity of the Kraken. Still, he then noticed peculiar energy as they continued to sh.


    "Boys, let''s stop for now. These bastards have been fooling us!" Grantughed.


    "What''s happening, boss?" Austin asked.


    "The Kraken has been releasing an almost invisible forcefield that protects them. The stronger we attack, the thicker it gets! That''s why we haven''t been breaking through!" Grantughed.


    "A skin-like shield? Wasn''t that impossible to create?" Omricon asked. He was a native of the EAA and knew their technologies well.


    "This is not the EAA, but the WGP! It''s possible for them!"


    "Then what do we do, Boss? Should we retreat?"


    "Yes. Let''s wait for Irvana. For now, we continue to try our best to break this tough nut! The energies they use as a forcefield appears to be gathering in one location. Let''s try aiming elsewhere. Austin, you know what to do." Hermesughed.


    "Alright! Follow my lead, guys!"


    The tornado that was once drilling suddenly moved away and then immediately gathered and created a thicker air drill and descended towards the spot where they were attacking. Suddenly, the winds shifted, and on thest second where the impact was imminent, the tail curved and stuck another area!


    BOOM!


    The thundering sound of the wind crashing and a grinding that followed caused the Kraken to tremble once more.


    "The shields were dyed! Boss, if we keep on stinging this Kraken on different spots yet focus on a particr one, we could break through it! We can''t drill through it as the shields gather, but it takes time for the force field to gather. Let''s disce it and attack!"


    "So, that''s why the enemy had been unusually quiet in their attempts to deal with us." Omega frowned. He had long noticed that the number of soldiers nearby had decreased.


    "They must have known that we wouldn''t be easily able to destroy the Kraken''s hull, so they allowed us this freedom. They were hoping that we would exhaust ourselves and that the energy we are disying isn''t infinite." Grant exined.


    "Then let''s do this, Boss! It would take time for them to notice our schemes. Right, Austin?" Alvin asked.


    Austin shook his head.


    "No. The Kraken''s hull is very thick. And it''s made of an Almetal mix. It''s too strong and would take nearly us several strikes."


    "Let''s still do that. We''ll use the approaching and attacking soldiers to create some chaos, and then we''ll disperse. They are bound to use some destructive attacks in their attempts to disperse us. When they attack, we use Wind Walk and hide it out. If an opportunityes, we gather and battle again. But for now, we rest and wait for Irvana." Grant gave his orders.


    Austin nodded and tookmand of the tornado.


    The tail of the tornado raised itself once more and began to strike the different areas of the Kraken. As predicted, more soldiers were approaching them.


    Several Armors appeared and began using Hellfire technology and began to attack them as they sent out a strange version of the wind.


    "Retreat!" Grant immediately ordered.


    The Winds followed as the Tornado rose higher.


    "What monsters! They used Canadian Frost as a Base and created Hellfire from it!" Grantughed as he retreated.


    "They are really breaking customs." Omega sighed.


    "No. They followed protocol. The problem is that arge aircraft bearing several technologies. The reason why they didn''t use any prohibited techs is that it hadn''t been approved yet. They used Hellfire to an unknown enemy, which means they must have noticed that that enemy carried technology that broke the International Technological Possibilitiesws."


    "Then why use it now?"


    "Our techs have mainly disyed Canadian Frost and some of the Canadian Wind techs. But that approaching aircraft bears a weapon of mass destruction. And so, now that they are in the clear of using whatever techs, they will now hit us with everything they''ve got."


    "Sounds scary." Austin quivered.


    "Sounds interesting." Omega smiled.


    "Sounds exciting!" Alvinughed.


    "Sounds fun." Omricon chuckled.


    "But boss, what do we do with the aircraft?"


    "You didn''t notice? The Emperor left the Kraken. He detected the aircraft and is nning to destroy it."


    "Should we flee?"


    "I''m not sure... Give me second. Ah, there he is!" Grant then allowed a powerful gust to blow towards a particr area. His Wind Whisperer reached the young man.


    "Hey. Is that aircraft your allies?"


    "Hmm? Oh. Hi Grant. Yeah. That''s one of our own."


    "Is that craft aiming to deploy a weapon of mass destruction?"


    "Nah. He''s just here to draw out the Emperor. I can''t afford him disturbing my little talk here."


    "Is that an Emperor you''re fighting?" Grant noticed the peculiarities of attacks the boy''s enemy was using.


    "Yup. She''s one of us. Hence the secrecy of making the other Emperor leave. Just continue whatever it is you''re doing." Seekerughed.


    Immediately, the ''call'' ended.


    "Just what is he nning? Austin?"


    "I don''t know, Boss. I''m sure that whoever nned this whole thing is someone far smarter than us. I don''t think that we can escape their ns. Whatever we do... they have probably already anticipated." Austin''s voice sounded distant and helpless.


    "I felt the same way too..." Grant sighed.


    "What if we fought that Kid, Boss?"


    "Too risky. He could kill one or two of you if we fought to the death. And I''m generous. Let''s not forget his other allies. For now, let''s abandon breaking through the hull of the Kraken. It would be idiotic to trust the kid''s words. Besides, there are other strange enemies here. That werewolf, that vampire and that eagle man are... Oh my..." Grant''s expression changed.


    "Boss?"


    "What an abomination... That guy takes home the championship trophy tonight... And that ice-cold sensation. What an odd pair..." Grant frowned as he stared at the distance.


    North from their location was arge aircraft. It was an aircraft designed to deliver massive payloads that would have destroyed a small nation with ease.


    It did not use any stealth technology that would have hidden the immense power that is naturally emitted.


    The Emperor used his Rule and the Rule that the Empress left to him.


    Upon detecting the fluctuations, he immediately prioritized attacking it. But the Kraken had sustained too many attacks and too many chaotic and downright weird enemies. The Emperor ignored the werewolf match, which oddly involved one massive Armor. He ignored the weird winged battle in the sky. And although the peculiar cries of ''Eagle Man'' would create a familiar Australian technology, he decided to ignore it.


    He raced towards the distant approaching enemy. His sent pings towards the Emperor and the Empress had failed, and he didn''t know what else to do.


    Various technologies were detected in this aircraft. But what was scary was a familiar fluctuation that was discovered a few months in China. It was the Qilin''s Horn. Only this time, it also detected strange nuclear radiation that caused the Emperor to face it. He couldn''t imagine how nuclear attacks that could wipe out a nation could bebined with the Qilin''s Horn, but such a weapon could threaten the Emperors!


    The Rule moved to the heavens and summoned a torrential rain of white energies. The approaching craft was within attacking range.


    The energies sted towards the aircraft with incredible speed.


    Atop the aircraft, a woman appeared and stood on the roof of the ne. Yet despite the wind that would have shaken the woman off, the woman casually stood without any support or tools to keep her standing.


    The temperature around her was so cold that some of the raindrops around her began to turn to ice. She was the beautiful ice princess that won Greydon Meng''s heart. Her beauty was shocking that if the world knew of it, she would have been treated as someone on par with the white princess of Pangea, Meryl.


    The white energy circled overhead and was approaching from different angles.


    She nced at the impending attacks and raised her hands.


    The environment was favorable for her. There were water and wind in the air. And so, achieving this was rather simple. What she released wasn''t cold air that the Canadians used to create their Frost technology. What she released was something that couldn''t be understood by any Earthly sciences. Yet in her body, it existed and was adequately contained.


    The cold fusion of energies createdrge chunks of ice that appeared in thin air.


    The woman createdrge blocks of ice out of thin air. This was one of her most potent abilities, which she named Ice Molding.


    The living energies of the Emperor could not evade the sudden appearance of the block of ice and erupted around the ice and destroyed it. The explosions rang out, and some of the energies pushed through the ice.


    A second, a third, and a fourth block of ice suddenly appeared. Soon all of the white energies had been blocked by the appearing ice.


    The Emperor nced in anger. He then noticed several pings being received.


    "Give me my Rule! Hurry! The enemy is too strong!" Her pained voice echoed strongly.


    The Emperor was shocked at those words. He wanted to reply, but he had no choice. His honor and his orders should have been to prioritize the destruction of this aircraft. But his heart betrayed him. The logic of mind over matter, could not ovee the issues that his heart had always yearned for.


    He clutched his teeth and began to charge as much energy as possible and used the two Rules to create a massive attack.


    His Rule was weaker than the Rule that the Empress used. As such, he decided to make one grand attack that utilized the amazing technology and energy that the Empress could ess. He didn''t even reserve any energy. With how hard-pressed the Empress was, she would surely activate ''that'' when she got her Rule.


    A giant white serpent suddenly emerged out of the two Rules. It was bigger than the previous Midgar snake that they had released and contained scorching energy. Two kinds of living power, one from the Empress and one from the Emperorbined into one.


    Immediately when thest parts of the serpent''s tail emerged from the Rule, a part of the Rule suddenly disconnected from the Emperor. It shot towards the Kraken to return to her master.


    The giant serpent roared as it charged.


    The woman''s expression grew serious as she channeled a significant portion of her energy that gathered in the air.


    An icy explosion urred right in front of the White Snake and created a devastating st.


    BOOM!


    The cold explosion in the sky caused the area around it to be arge block of ice. Three timesrger than the previous ice blocks that the woman created.


    The white snake charged head-on as it began to spin as it moved. The condensed energy gave off incredible heat as it twisted and pierced through therge block of ice, and the heat that it released caused the entire ice to break apart.


    The woman fell to her knees as she continued to gasps for breath. That attack caused her to expend all her abilities, but it was no match to the approaching Snake.


    The woman did not panic but could only sigh.


    "As expected, I am not a match for these Emperors. Love, you''ll need to take care of this one." Her sad but loving voice echoed out. She continued kneeling as she was gasping for breath.


    Inside the ne, arge man donning a thick metal suit nodded his head. With amand, the metals activated the maic fields, and the armor slowly floated away to reveal the man inside.


    If it was three months ago, this act would have been a crazy decision as it would have destroyed the ne. His body would just leak out the immense destion and cause all sorts of problems to the aircraft and may even damage essential parts and pieces of the ne. But this Abomination has learned to contain his wild energies so that it would not leak out. Although it would require some effort to do so, it was easy to do it for a few seconds. Beyond that, was his expert control of how the deste energy moved.


    It was one thing for Oveers to train, and another thing when Oveers learned from each other. He fought with a man who could control sounds, and with another who could transform into lightning. Somehow, their little advances gave him a new means to wield his power.


    "The heat of that snake is too much for my cold to handle. I hope this won''t be an issue with you..." Rosa muttered once more.


    "A mere worm dares to challenge this Dragon?" Greydonughed.


    Outside of the ne, arge head formed. It was an iplete head as only its jaws, and only some parts of its cheeks could be seen. The eyes and the top parts of the head were not even formed. Yet thisrge, green, reptilian creature opened its mouth and charged at the iing J?rmungandr.


    "Maw of the Dragon." Greydon muttered in a low voice.


    There were no explosions at the sh. The Snake lost its head as it entered the mouth of the dragon.


    The mouth rushed onwards and devoured the entire snake and continued to move towards the Emperor.


    The Emperor was shocked at the scene. The sight of the J?rmungandr being quickly devoured instilled great fear in his heart.


    "Empress... it would seem that I would be busy. The Automatons will have to follow my call. Do your best to defend the Kraken, and I advise you to use your Invoking immediately." The Emperor began to retreat as it began shooting arcing energies that moved around the approaching craft.


    "All Golems to Me. I invoke my right as an Emperor of the World. I beseech the Kingdom to heed my request. Grant me the strength to face a god!"


    An entireyer of the metal tes covering the hull of the Kraken and even the sides of the Kraken began to vibrate and glow with immense light. The various Golems that were battling, all retreated as the strange Origin energy began to envelop them.


    The Rule retreated quickly and even used a booster that could make it move so fast that it reached the area above the Kraken almost immediately.


    The metal pieces and parts and the Golems all flew up using maic technology. They slowly gathered around the Rule as it created a sizeable robotic figure in the shape of a man wielding arge sword.


    "Call of Titans!" The Emperor shouted as a new wave or Origin Energy gathered around the massive robot.

 Chapter 224 - Dual Cultivation

    The Kraken suddenly began to glow a strange hue as it released a familiar green energy.


    Those at the Kraken could feel the rising energy and could not help but exim.


    Grant Hermes''s expression changed as he sensed the strange energy that was being released by the Kraken.


    "Amazing. This entire Kraken is made of metal that contains Origin Energy!" Hermes was astounded.


    Up in the heavens, the gigantic Titan''s appearance had caused all of the nearby crafts to retreat.


    "Commander! We need to get out of here! Now! The energy I''m detecting that the Titan is gathering! It''s a mixture of New Great Britain''s Lighting Rod technology, China''s Maic tech, and Australia''s EMP techs! It will disable the Void Travelers cloaking!" The Pilot of the Void Traveler used a powerful message delivery system ping that was actually just asplicated and as secretive and encrypted as the WGP''s own transmissions!


    The soldiers who had justnded to the Kraken a few minutes ago had yet to enter the Kraken''s inner parts.


    "Let''s retreat." The Commander immediately ordered as he noticed the charging of strange energy that would reveal the Void Traveler.


    "Sir?" One of the soldiers was surprised.


    "We''re not even going to try? Haven''t we tested that the Void Traveler can protect itself from a full EMP attack?"


    "You''re underestimating the WGP too much. Haven''t you seen that strange green energy that is around us? It''s as if it''s alive. I''m almost certain that many parts of our beloved Traveler will get damaged. And we can''t afford to be discovered. Not now! We''ve crossed the WGP''s Red Line! If we get discovered now, it will really look bad for the Americas. We retreat!" The Commander exined and gave his final order.


    "Shift to Submarine mode now and hide in the waters! Dive down immediately and go as deep as you can! Don''t wait for us! Once you confirmed that whatever the Emperor ns to do has happened, you move to retrieve us. We will rendezvous underwater!" The Commander quickly ordered and urged his teams to retreat.


    "On it!" The pilot agreed and began to circle his invisible ne to avoid some of the more chaotic battles.


    Up in the sky, the Emperor continued to look with an angry expression towards the iing ne. He couldn''t identify what technology appeared that could actually eat the J?rmungandr.


    He began recording the images he could see and immediately broadcasted it towards the many WGP bases.


    "I wasn''t able to capture it, but that pale green energy ate the J?rmungandr. It seems to be a form of Origin Energy. I cannot help but conclude the worst. One of our own, no... maybe more than one... But someone with the authority of an Emperor or even a Sovereign has betrayed us! I will be activating the Pandora''s Box without waiting for authorization. Emperor Odinsbane has gone dark, and for a brief moment, I lost contact with Empress Everhiss. In fact, I lost contact again. I have to end this." The Emperor narrated.


    The Emperor red at the approaching aircraft and decided that he couldn''t wait anymore.


    The colossal Titan was far fromplete. Only parts of its body had been formed, but more parts were yet toplete its docking.


    Suddenly, a familiar green electric energy began to charge around the Titan. It was as if a green sun emerged to bear the Kraken. At the charging, the various air crafts that were hovering nearby went to a full retreat.


    Even the Vampires up on the sky began to flee and left the Eagleman alone and retreated.


    "Let''s see if your little ne can handle Pandora''s Box!" The Emperor roared as he ignited the energy.


    A green energy wave shot towards the ne. A robust electrical shockwave erupted out and covered half of the Kraken.


    The various aircraft that were within range all began to plummet. Even the multiple bats that fought Eagleman started to freefall from the sky as they were struck by the electric energy.


    Various werewolves were also struck and made them unable to move.


    If Typical hadn''t used his powers, Cliff and the rest would have been fried as well.


    The Void Traveller was actually caught in the st, but for some strange reason, its cloaking was not undone!


    As for the energy wave, it rushed towards the airne.


    The Green mouth opened once more and tried to bite the energy, but the heat was too much, and it sted through the mouth and eradicated the airne.


    BOOM!


    The Emperor finally sighed at the sight of the explosion. He managed to destroy that aircraft.


    But his relief was not short-lived as he noticed fluctuating energy that remained. He scanned the location of the destruction and continued to hasten the process of forming the Titan.


    At the falling debris of the shot down the craft, arge cylindrical, ck metal object could be seen.


    It was one of the taboo weapons that made the WGP angry and almost wanted to invade China. But China presented to the world a Rule and imed that the WGP attacked first and prompted them to use this weapon.


    It was the Qilin''s Horn. It remained undamaged as if nothing managed to hit it. Beside the Qilin''s Horn were two figures who apparently boarded the Qilin''s Horn.


    Meng and Rosa sat on two prepared seats inside the Horn.


    "This is an impressive weapon." Rosa couldn''t help but admire.


    "It cannot fully release my power, but it makes good use of it. Come. Let us see if the impossible miracles of this device are as Lennox said it would." Meng sat down as they began to activate the weapon.


    The Emperor immediately moved towards the falling Horn. He sent out many energy attacks that were made of bright green energy.


    But almost immediately, several icebergs appeared on the skies and blocked the green energy. But what was startling was that the ice had a pale green film around it, which began to devour the heat as it struck the ice.


    All over the Kraken, several persons couldn''t help but look at it.


    Somewhere, was Richie who was chasing an invisible aircraft. He couldn''t help but pause and turn and admire the scene.


    "Ah... Love. How strong." Richieughed. He couldn''t help but recall the Tyrant Empress.


    "I wonder if we..." Almost immediately, he pped himself.


    "Damn! I almost died!" A cold chill ran across Richie, and he focused on chasing the invisible ship. Beside him were several humans all clumped up together like a ball. A woman was within the pile and managed to stay awake. But her body was so weak. She received a lot of electrical charges from the Titan and almost died.


    On another part of the Kraken, Seeker was closely chasing the Empress and couldn''t help but look up with a strange expression.


    "Wow. Those two must have had some good fun after they got married! Ice and Destion?" Seeker shook his head and continued his chase.


    As Seeker had guessed, the Ice blocks that were created were abination of two Paths. The Horn was a mysterious device that held Lennox''s greatest sciences.


    When Lennox appeared a few weeks ago before Meng, he revealed this weapon and exined that this was a prototype designed for the two of them. It was also a device that was designed to allow them to train in a particr method.


    "Dual Cultivation training?" Meng was stunned. For the Dragon to be this amazed meant it was something so miraculous.


    "I took the liberty and used the Qilin''s Horns designs to recreate a cultivation chamber. It is powered by two things. Cold Fusion, and since it is made up of the cells from the arm you cut off a month ago, it can withstand your destion and, in fact, empower it."


    Meng''s expression remained horrified.


    "You found a way to fuse my Destion and Rosa''s Cold Fusion?" Meng expressed in shock.


    "Yes. Ultimately, this device can allow the two of you to share energies and attempt basicbinations. The more skilled you get at it, the lesser energy you need to create. Of course, I hope that this will help you and Rosabine your powers without any external stimulus."


    "Such a thing would create arge fluctuation. I do not know what kind of energy thebination would release. Still, it would be detected by the WGP or the Aragarians."


    "Yes. That''s why you can only use and train in it during battle. I''m sure the time you two can train in it is near. Based on Seeker''s history, there should be an unexpected event that will force us to fight. At least, that''s what my son told me." Lennox shrugged and walked away.


    And so the time was here. With the excuse of using a weapon of mass destruction to attack the Kraken, the pair immediately began to use it. On their first attempt, thebination was too weak.


    Going back to the present, the various green lights that the Emperor released could no longer prate the pale-green icebergs on the sky.


    "Love... I think you should employ more Destion. Don''t worry about me. Your cells have already granted me the energy, as Lennox has theorized. Who knew Dual Cultivation could actually cause our cells to be so familiar with each other?"


    "Maybe after this, we can continue it to further familiarize our cells. More dual cultivation sessions." Meng gave a daring smile.


    Rosa blushed and smiled as well.


    "Um... Guys. I kinda linked my sounds to talk to ALL of you. I didn''t expect to hear such a bold conversation right here on the battlefield." Richie couldn''t help but mutter.


    "RICHIE!" Rosa was shocked that she cried out loud.


    "You go, girlfriend! Tame that Rising Dragon!" Seeker encouraged Rosa as he chuckled.


    "SEEKER!"


    "Not just us, too. Even Typical and Cliff is here." Seekerughed again.


    "..." Typical retreated from his ongoing battle with the werewolves and tried his best to be entirely silent.


    "TYPICAL!" Despite trying to hide it, Rosa clearly heard strange sounds of a battle from where Typical was.


    "Ma-Master. Madame." Typical could no longer hide it as he had to fight. So he gave his greetings.


    Cliff chose to remain silent because he wanted to live long enough to see his next birthday.


    "Boss? What''s going on? Why did you link us all?" Sammy Theoden asked.


    "WHO! ARE! YOU?!" Rosa was fuming with anger. Meng kept quiet but was also clearly embarrassed.


    "Erm... I guess I should not have intruded. Oh, look! The Titan is preparing anotherrge-scale attack! I guess you two should get busy... Erm... And I don''t mean that to have any sexual innuendos! None at all! Talk to youter, guys! I just called to say to all of you that I found my ticket to America and will probably leave you earlier. Sammy, follow my instructions..." The sound link immediately disconnected.


    The Titan readied itsrge sword as green energy gathered.


    "Damn him! Damn him! If I don''t freeze his lips, I wouldn''t be human!" Rosa cursed as Meng kept silent and gazed at the sword-wielding Titan.


    "It''s his fault!" Meng eximed and pointed to the screen, which disyed the Titan.


    "Yes! Let''s kill that stupid Titan!" Rosa roared.


    Cold fusion urred and created a dragon-like creature using the Qilin''s Horn as a core. A miraculous sight was shown as the ice was not dead but now seemed alive.


    Pale-green energy enveloped the ice dragon as it charged to face the Dragon.


    The scene was like the tales of old, where Knights would challenge dragons.


    Meanwhile, back on the Kraken, Seeker was chasing the Empress. The Rule of the Empress traveled on a slower pace than the speed that the Emperor used to return to the Kraken as he initiated the Call of Titans.


    Seeker maintained an impressed look as he saw the strange things urring in the dimensions beyond.


    "Impressive. As expected of the fat cow of Earth! A single Kraken could bankrupt an entire nation!" Seekerughed as he charged forward to fight the Empress.


    "So this is it... You guys have managed to find a science that actually affects the fourth dimension. But you''re control is just weak. To bad. You guys had it wrong. The only thing that can control the other dimensions is something that can house something beyond the dimension. And that is the human brain. That which houses the soul or spirit." Seeker continued to mutter.


    The Empress was startled at his words.


    "I have to return to the Rule, and I won''t have any excuses for disconnecting my connection once I get in the Rule. It has greater technologies, after all. If I don''t get in the Rule, they will suspect even me of betrayal. I sent that ping to the Emperor to make him know I am alive." The Empress exined her actions when she got the opportunity to be of some distance from Seeker.


    Seeker sneered. He knew that the Empress has more than one motive for stating that. A part of the Empress would easily betray Seeker after all. Seeker knew that if the Empress can find any hope to kill Seeker, she would.


    "Go ahead." Seekerughed.


    This surprised the Empress. She thought that Seeker would be wary of getting her back on a Rule.


    "If I get in the Rule, I will be forced to showcase and really try to kill you." The Empress warned.


    "Have you seeded in your previous attempts?" Seeker sneered.


    The Empress grew angrier. With her Rule, she would have more power, and she was confident that she should have enough firepower to kill the young man before him. Now that even the Emperor was forced to reveal the Call of Titans, she won''t need to obey the technological limits imposed and could go all out.


    "I won''t kill you, but I''ll surely payback this humiliation!" The Empress vowed as she entered the Rule as the two began to sh that caused immense and terrifying fluctuations.


    She retreated towards an area where a group of Armors was moving.


    These were the Armors of the Commanders!


    "Commanders! Protect me!" The Empress shouted towards the Armor as she was to merge and allow the Armor to repair her and prepare for her own Invoking. At that point, the Empress no longermunicated with Seeker. They would now fight for real.


    Seeker observed from afar but heard the Empress''s vow.


    "Eh." Seeker shrugged without a care as he rushed towards the Rule. An Armor moved towards Seeker to block it. Its entire body was emitting a strange force that resonated with the energies the colossal Titan above emitted.


    Seeker clenched his fist and nced at the Armor.


    "I guess I have to be serious too."

 Chapter 225 - A Show Of Power

    Deep inside the Kraken, a strange footstep could be heard in an empty chamber with severalputers.


    The keyboard of aputer kept typing on its own. She had long entered the Kraken when the winds had arrived, but several issues made it hard for her to find the room that held the Seeds of the Wind Progenitor. She made several turns and did her best to remain undiscovered. Her cloaking ability was so powerful that it could not even be seen through thermal detecting devices.


    Every fiber of clothes that she wore was harnessed using her own cells. The strangepatibility of it allowed her to cloak almost everything. Even the air she breathes would somehow be harnessed into something invisible.


    And this allowed her to be the Fifth Wind among Hermes. The Silent Wind.


    Despite this tremendous advantage and how she managed to investigate the Kraken insides, all that she obtained was frustration.


    It took her a lot of effort to locate the room where the enemies imed to have seen. In her search, she even found an even greater foe. Several figures emerged out of nowhere near the ce she was staying at. One of them could also sense a strange presence and immediately teleported out of the room.


    The mystery of that encounter caused Irvana to double her caution. Soon, the chaos of so-called traitors emerged and allowed her to move even faster, instead of searching for the room which could house all the details of where the Wind Progenitor''s devices where kept, Irvana switched her tactics and tried to look for the teleporting ninjas. She was already on her trail, and she simply rushed off to seek the area where the group would teleport too.


    But she soon lost track of them and sought another room to show him the reports of any possible deaths and reports of confirmed traitors.


    But during her traveling, she caught sight of aputer that disyed the battle outside. She saw how the tornado held all the Winds of Hermes, and Grant Hermes himself was in it.


    After witnessing that scene, she immediately decided to move and leave the Kraken. That formation indicated that his mentor and father had no choice but to gather all the winds together. With all the strange things that she witnessed, she was sure that her father and the team would soon be in danger.


    Her escape was even harsher than her entry. The guards had barricaded most parts. Even with her cloak, she still had to move cautiously as people were just running around chaotically. Some soldiers would also shoot at the slightest sound since they were all carefully watching each other.


    Every now and then, a gunshot would echo randomly and cause a barricade to fall into chaos. Seeing this, Irvana also took advantage and would create one soldier to shoot at another with her cloak. This way, the number of reports had increased and allowed her to reach the exit.


    Upon reaching the exit, Irvana immediately tried to go towards the Tornado. When Hermes and the Four winds had joined, the various wind paths that she could have used for traveling disappeared. So she had to run towards the area where they were.


    But as she moved, she caught sight of a strange battle. She saw an Exoskeleton that released unusual heat and energy. The very sight of it, caused Irvana to feel fear. She knew what it was. It was an Emperor''s Exoskeleton. Based on the appearance of the Exoskeleton, the pilot must be a woman.


    "An Empress!" She thought. But what confused her was a young masked man who was fighting the Empress.


    As the two shed, a strange scene could be seen. The young man moved with a peculiar method and could allow him to walk on air. But what was startling was that his movements were not exaggerated or fast. Yet the Empress who appeared to be in a state of fear and panic often tried to attack random areas.


    In that battle, the young man struck the Empress and toyed with her as if he was juggling a ball. During the interim of that battle, the young man nced at Irvana.


    "Oh? The Thief in the Night!" Seeker sent her a message.


    The fear in the heart of Irvana rose considerably. When this young man managed tomunicate with them through the Wind Whisperer, she was already alerted at this man. But this man was toying with the Empress! He could even see her! She, who had practically the best form of cloaking ability in the world!


    Her heart grew terrified, and she began to run towards where Hermes was.


    But the young man kept forcing and throwing the Empress towards the direction where Irvana was headed to.


    She did her best to escape as the battle grew chaotic. Suddenly, a powerful force threw her. It was as if a mighty shout threw her away. Then a massive explosion urred. She fell right outside the area where the st reached.


    The fear in her heart skyrocketed. She felt a form of paralysis that she had long forgotten. Back when her biological father would beat and would often attempt to rape her, it was this paralyzing fear that she hated the most.


    Yet now, she was so close to death. If it weren''t for that odd shout that threw her out of the range, she would have died from the st of the Empress.


    She crawled away and wanted to retreat. But then she heard them talk. And this talk caused her to stay.


    "Are you one of his seeds?" The masked young man asked.


    "I am one of his seeds. So are you also one of us?" The young man asked again.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about!" The Empress shouted back.


    "Stay for a bit, Irvana. I created a sound field around us. So no one else can hear this conversation. But for you, you need to hear this. So that Grant Hermes will believe me." Seeker''s voice floated to her once more.


    She was stunned.


    "Don''t worry. On ount of the fact that my future self sorta had a crush on you... Oh, what? You deny it? Shut up! I can see right through our memories! How many times have you nced at her retreating figure? Whatever. Anyways... Sorry about that. Future me is really feisty. Stay awhile and listen. I''ll protect you. Don''t worry." Seekerughed.


    And so the Empress and Seeker talked. The discussion shocked Irvana, and slowly she could not help but agree with the truth before him.


    Soon the two began to battle again. But Irvana knew that this was a battle to show the world and even the enemy of the Progenitor that might be watching.


    Soon the Commanders who piloted several Armors that were second only to the Admiral''s Armor were spotted.


    Seeker didn''t even retreat. Even though he had no thick exoskeletons and suits like the Covenant of the Strongest, he stood there. For among those battling around them, he believed he was the strongest. Stronger than Richie and even Meng. He had the will and confidence to say it. Because he is an Oveer.


    For the past three months, Seeker had been in an almost dormant mode. There were moments where he almost revealed his seriousness. Standing before Nogard Meng was one, but that battle wasn''t a physical one, but a religious sh.


    Now when his other personality appeared and took form, Seeker''s power increased all the more. The once impossible tasks that he couldn''t do, we currently possible. Seeker had something vastly inferior to what Lennox had, but it was also something different.


    In fact, Seeker even theorized that the reason the other Seeker surfaced was mainly due to Seeker treading on the Path that Lennox had trodden.


    As the one who treads in the Ancient Paths, Seeker was able to make the first few stepping stones that these Oveers were treading on.


    And while Seeker only had a new thought process, it was, in some ways, more superior to the Path that Lennox had. Seeker did not only have an additional thought. He had a whole different person within him.


    The two were independent and, at the same time, could act together in the body of Seeker.


    Seeker stood firm as he witnessed the Armor which the


    The metals of this Armor was made up of weaker materials. The Empress''s Exoskeleton suit was more durable than theserge Armors.


    Several Armors rushed out, and Seeker grew wary because of the strange energy being released by these armors.


    Seeker clenched his fist, and the power in him surged to reveal its pure form. He no longer needed to hide it. With weapons of mass destruction battling with the Titan overhead, they were bound to create strange fluctuations and be the center of attention of even the Aragarians.


    The Armors in front of him also required him to use all that he had. He could see just how different the Call of Automaton was to the Call of Titans.


    The Call of Automatons tapped on the dormant energy that each highly expensive metal used to outfit Armors, Exoskeletons, and to make the very Kraken itself. But the Call of Titan activated its very core and burned it. For a few hours, this energy would burn until it was used up.


    Every country tried to create their own version of alternate power. Nuclear and conventional EMP became conventional weapons. And soon, the Enigmatic Maic Pulse of the Australian''s pushed it to another level. And so, various energy types were developed.


    China had Perpetual Maic Force. Canada had the Supra Wind Turbine.


    Australia developed Source Energy. The Source Energy that was hidden within the metal itself was one of Australia''s most guarded techs. Source Energy, which could keep their suits running even after being exposed to a high EMP st. Even the Dawn Soldiers was like a walking powernt through the application of Source Energy in humans. The WGP used this science and applied it to their own discoveries.


    During the Australian Avarice, most weapons were brought and manufactured. They utilized Eradication Coating, which could nullify three concentrated waves of EMP.


    But of course, if other countries had it, the WGP had an even more powerful version. This was the preparations that the WGP had in ce if any of the nations would use a technology that could disable advanced techs like the Australian EMP.


    And now, that energy is being used to power the colossal Titan. Each metal te had a terrifying amount of energy that only the Emperors could activate. While others would draw out the heat, Emperor Cort Reginald Triton had the Call of Titans. Which used the very metal tes themselves. The Call of Automatons and Titans were actually derived from a single invoking. It was just that the Call of Automaton would give life and use the Origin energy as a receiver for the Elites to Pilot it. But when the Titan was called, it would use and gather all metals to create a singr being.


    But as for the Armors and Exoskeletons that were not yet destroyed, the Origin Energy around them functioned as a force field that made them more robust.


    The Commanders who were charging found themselves being unable to swiftly load forward. They felt a strange sense of fear that they could not understand.


    Seeker''s ability to leak emotions had taken a stranger turn. It was no longer limited to the sense of smell or through being affected by it. After learning how to leak emotions from the Tyrant Empress, Seeker had found a way to do what the Empress could. He could create a Realm that contained the feelings he was leaking. And this invisible energy breached the three dimensions. This was how the Empress, who had a solid suit that could protect her from the radiation, chemical attacks, and the like, was still affected.


    This was how he was able to deceive even his team. The truth was, Seeker was already in the Kraken by the time Cliff entered. But they were unable to sense him because he had been leaking out emotions towards them that made the group guarded on specific directions. Cliff couldn''t detect him with his Realm as Seeker could easily send out his own Realm that masked Cliff''s senses. And so, when Cliff''s squad''s battles began, Seeker was actually watching them and guarded them, always ready to defend and aid them.


    And for those in that Realm, Seeker could somehow read their emotions. Seeker was confident that he would be able to get the truth. He would be able to determine if this Empress was indeed a Seed or not.


    Through the use of his emotions, he could easily manipte those who are unguarded of this power. In a way, Seeker was a step closer to being able to read minds and even to gradually instill with them thoughts by the shaping of their emotions.


    Seeker released a realm that focused on fearing to lose something when Seeker started talking about the Empress.


    Seeker has lost so many things in the future that his heart held great regret. When he revealed that he could kill Chase, he leaked out that emotion. The Empress simply thought that her heart held Chase with extremely high importance. Being led by this great fear, she immediately gave in to Seeker''s questions.


    Now, Seeker had to sufficiently bring the Empress into his side. And the way to do it was through fear. The Empress would never side with Seeker if Seeker could not contend against the World Governing Powers. After all, she could not recklessly endanger those of her family line, who guarded the secret of the Progenitor if they would all prematurely leave the WGP and face death.


    To fully bring her into his side, Seeker had to create a Realm that focused on fear. Still, at the same time, he had to show the Empress such power that she would engrave the fear and the experience into her heart.


    Seeker was slowly walking towards the two Armors. Incredibly powerful energy was building within his body.


    The Paths he had trodden on to slowly shape this body were plenty. It had Meng''s cancerous cells, Meryl and Typical''s bizarre mitochondria. His body held enough energy that looked like it could power an entire city.


    In truth, Seeker would have been burned by the release of his own powers. But thankfully, there was another path that he trod on and seeded in bing a usable science.


    Most of the Unlocked had their cells modified to do this. Every Unlocked sent in the Kraken could aplish this. They could limit the heat that their body needed to release and still function as healthy.


    But as for Seeker, he could do far more than that. He has treaded on the Trodden Path. For She Who Treads in the Frost of Heaven had already mastered this skill. And the basic concepts of her body gave birth to an impossible science that Seeker could now do.


    The energy that he contained in his body was so vast. Yet not a hint of this energy leaked out.


    "Thank God for Cold Fusion." Seekerughed as he charged.


    Surmounting Strength carrying explosive energybined into a single fist that punched out.


    The fist struck the head of the Armor. The force field did very little help as the force simply destroyed it.


    BOOM!


    The scene was engraved in the hearts of the Empress. It was like theic books of old. Man conquered machine. A powerful shockwave exploded out and even caused Irvana to stumble.


    The fear gripped the Empress''s heart as he saw the young man turn towards her.


    "One punch? Will I soon lose my hair with this power?" Seekerughed loudly as he slowly walked towards


    "The enemy is too much... I won''t wait for confirmation.. I will make my Invoking!" The Empress shouted.

 Chapter 226 - Crostfree’s Plans

    Just right above the Kraken was a figure that has continued to observe the Kraken''s ongoing battles.


    "How rich. This Origin energy seems to be very simr to the techs that Gordon and Feyor have. But this looks like a weaker version. If I steal all of their energy, I could study the science on my own and develop my Domain." Crostfreeughed as he watched the massive Titan.


    "Should I? Or should I not? With Zeraphine being our leader, I''m sure she wouldn''t mind." Crostfree continued tough.


    He nced at the enemy of the Titan. His expression turned more serious.


    "How do I steal you away? And just who gave you that unusual technology? How has Earthe up with their version of Cold Fusion?" Crostfree pondered.


    He gazed with a strange expression and wanted to send a ping to the moon. But with how dangerous the area was, every form of pings would have been monitored. If he sent messages to Pridgeon, it would be fine. With the state of this battle, the WGP will do everything to track outgoing and iing signals, especially from ones being sent to satellites and other Extraterrestrial receivers.


    He sighed and sent Pridgeon another message.


    "When are youing? That ship is too slow!" Crostfreeined.


    "Have you seen the alerts of all the WGP bases? Every base is on full alert! My nteds based on the Arctic nations just told me that an attack urred! An Emperor was assassinated!" Pridgeon replied angrily.


    "Oh? So that''s why there is no backup!" Crostfree realized it.


    "Yes. The entire world is on guard! Every nation is now arming themselves to war. There are even rumors that the WGP will begin attacking nations that it has deemed to be their enemies! As such, I cannot use the full extent of my shuttle''s techs to get there! My pace has drastically slowed down and is avoiding all aerial patrols!" Pridgeonined.


    BOOM!


    Another terrifying explosion resounded as the Titan attacked one of the most enormous Icebergs that fell on him. The sword shed through the Iceberg, but the resistance gave the Horn time to evade the strike.


    "Amazing. You should see this. The technology they have is oddly simr and could be the founding technologies that Gordon and Feyor have!" Crostfree teased.


    "DOMAIN!?" Pridgeon was stunned. His voice revealed a hint of envy.


    "Indeed. Domain science. The wielding of matter. The master of all molecules. Once you get here, you can help me clean up this mess. I believe that whoever is here represents the best in the world. You were too optimistic in dismissing that Meng and Richie were the world''s best. In my opinion, if you fought any of those who are here, you would die!" Crostfree exined.


    "But that''s too much! You should report this to the other Presiders first before doing anything drastic!" Pridgeon warned.


    "Ha! And share the technology with them? If Feyor or Gordon sees this, they''d immediately want to steal it! They thought that Automatons were all that the WGP has! But look and behold! This Origin Energy is exponentially more powerful than initially reported! They would fight us and ensure that we wouldn''t get a bit of this!" Crostfree sneered.


    "You best not report this, Pridgeon! There are other technologies of interest here. The one you pursued in Australia, the science of sound that seemed to be simr to the Assassin''s Richie is also here! But it''s more refined!"


    "They must have seen it now! With everything going on here, satellites may have been looking at the battle!"


    "Oh, how slow are you, Pridgeon? The storm! You forgot the storm! Have you noticed that the storm''s eye has vanished, and only arge shroud remains over the Kraken? I''ve been observing the battle since I detected the EMP. My satellites cannot detect or see the battle. The rest will be the same. No one but me knows the current situation. Well... You, because I need a helper to clean up the techs here." Crostfreeughed.


    "Fine. I guess I could risk discovery. If the worlds as chaotic now, a little bit of showing off should do. But the other Presiders will definitely suspect me since I will be breaking the rules to get to you! And if they do that, they will soon discover that we tried to get the techs!"


    "That''s easy. I''ll send out an emergency Ping. Aside from Princess Zeraphine, who seemed to have disappeared, there are no other Presiders on Earth." Crostfreeughed.


    "Once I send the emergency Ping, I''ll immediately cut my signal. Tell the others that you want to check what happened." Crostfree exined.


    "What if they askter about what caused the disappearance of the signal?" Pridgeon asked.


    "That''s easy! You should see this Titan! It can do several EMP charges and constantly release it. The charges could even increase, and the explosive range is quite good. It is far more powerful than the Australian EMP. I recall that this is something that Gordon left in Australia for his Pioneers. But it looks like the WGP have seeded in reaching a Pseudo-Presider level tech."


    "Pseudo-Presider level?! Let me have that then!"


    "Fine. It''s useless for me, anyway. I just need the Domain technology. I can even leave you a few. I''m just waiting for the other Emperor to reveal her ace." Crostfreeughed.


    "Anyway, just im that You couldn''t contact me because of the Call of Titans. Once he uses a powerful EMP burst, I''ll immediately send a distress signal and cut off mymunication. As for what happens next, I will tell them that the battle progressed with the WGP winning as it was using this event to trap the traitors and kill them using Lowengren''s Maneuver." Crostfree exined.


    "Lowengren''s Maneuver?"


    "We have to destroy everything here if some of the Presiders will decide to look into this battle. I can use a Star Bomb and destroy this entire space. We will report that the WGP used Kraken''s Reactor and caused it to self-destruct. And with your refining tech, you can clean up the remnant fluctuations from my star bomb." Crosftfree exined.


    "It seems that you have nned this thoroughly. Did you cause this?" Pridgeon asked with suspicion.


    "No. I am simply ying along. After this, you can look into the specific side-technologies here. There are several techs here that already surpassed the capabilities of our Pioneers. This Earth is quite a gem!" Crostfreeughed.


    "Just be sure to keep your promise! If you betray me, I will reveal the truth of this battle!" Pridgeon warned.


    Crostfreeughed at Pridgeon''s threats. He was the weakest of the Presiders and could only threaten him with the ssic ''I''m telling" routine.


    "I get the Domain tech. You can study the rest. I may ask a sample from you now and then. But don''t even dream of getting a sample from the Domain tech. Get a move on and make it fast! If that other Emperor''s Invoking is any good, I might be forced to act!"


    "Just tell me how powerful the Invoking is!"


    "The Call of Automaton is nothing worth my time. But the Call of Titan. It''s something else. It reveals that the WGP is something that could threaten Presiders. Perhaps the battle in China was caused by the rebel factions of the WGP. You must have heard the reports. Traitors are found among the WGP." Crostfree pondered.


    "The Jews must be the first thing we deal with!" Pridgeon was about to give a persuasive talk, but then Crostfree immediately agreed.


    "I agree. It''s not just the WGP. The other nations seem to have a foundation deeper than what we know. We have to destroy anything that can unite this world if we want to conquer it without great cost." Crostfree answered back.


    "Good!" That was the only thing Pridgeon could say. But his voice sounded excited that Crostfree finally sees it his way.


    Pridgeon continued to ask for the details of the battle and continued to im the diverse technology around.


    Crosftree didn''t care about the other techs and only focused his attention on the Origin around him. His gaze remained on the Titan and the Horn, which had an otherworldly battle.


    Little did he know that in the Kraken, a shocking battle was also happening. If he had focused his attention and used his techs, he would have sought for this technology.


    Seeker was facing the Armors and Exoskeletons'' barrage around him, but his movements were too fast for the pilots to follow. The Empress had retreated and kept attacking using powerful beams and used rockets that breached the WGP''s legal limits. But secretly, the Empress was waiting to disconnect her feed.


    Seeker revealed a strange metallic cube, which caused an electric distortion. This somehow destroyed and deactivated the rockets that the Empressunched before it reached Seeker.


    Because of the dire situation, most of the WGP was now watching the feeds of the Empress. But with Seeker''s strange lightning, she knew that she could take this moment to stop the video feed and fool the Emperors watching through her Rule.


    Seeker suddenly crushed the cube on hand. Strange electric energy appeared. The electrical power had a peculiar bright yellow shade that exploded out.


    Like Richie''s sounds, Seeker could control the energy through the Realm that he can see, and it created a strange lightning field. The moment it appeared, the Empress immediately disconnected hismunication signals and even used her suit to sabotage the Rule from the inside.


    With this, the feeds that the Empress had were permanently damaged.


    The lightning spike drew the attention of Crostfree in the sky.


    "Oh? What was that? Has New Great Britain weaponized a new form of Lightning bolts?"


    But before he could magnify his visions and make scans on that area, a mighty green mouth resurfaced once more as the Titan, and the Qilin''s Horn battled.


    The green energy was something that caught Crostfree''s attention, and he began to observe the minute details of the battle.


    "A Domain of Devouring? What a strangebination. Do these earthlings even know how poisonous that attempt is?" Crostfree shook his head. As a more advanced race, they had better knowledge of what technological pursuits would yield high fruits and which ones were dangerous and had more risks than gains.


    "Cold fusion and then Devouring... But how can these two work together?" Crostfree sighed.


    "Looks like only Feyor and Gordon could see through these mysteries." Crostfree continued to look at the explosive battle and no longer paid attention to the lightning bolt on the Kraken. Compared to the mystery of Domain, Lightning bolt was far too weak.


    The Titan and the Horn continued to battle out in the sky.


    The Horn moved with incredible speed and had various attacks that employed freezing beams and some rays that emitted overpowering destion.


    The Emperor was shocked at the revtion of the techs.


    The green beams looked like a more advanced form of Srium technology, while the ice was a mix between Canadian Frost.


    "What is this? Just how many countries have gone behind our backs? No! No country can''t have done this! This has to be an Emperor!" Emperor Cort cursed as he continued to control the Titan to hack and sh at the Horn and, at the same time, created various shockwaves around the sky.


    Soon, pieces of the ice that was covered with a green film began to fall down. The hail had created a fire within the Kraken for some strange reason.


    The battle even affected those at the Kraken. Almost all soldiers began to retreat inside the Kraken. Only those next to the Empress continued to battle. The once chaotic skies above now only had the Titan and the Horn.


    No aircraft remained on the skies because of the explosive attacks that the Horn and the Titan continued to release. Most were destroyed upon the initial sh and the explosive EMP sts that the Titan created while a few were able to flee.


    The strong tornado began to move away from the battle and raced towards the other side.


    "Where is she?" Alvin shouted with worry.


    "Calm down. She wouldn''t be reckless. With her ability, I''m sure she knows what has happened here and would immediately escape. She must have her reasons. For now, we wait on this side. Focus on defending against the explosive powers. And be careful of that hail. It has a strange property to it that could even eat the wind!" Grant warned.


    Everyone amongst the wind had a grim expression.


    "Austin. It''s up to, you know. Determine the best ces where she could surface and where we should go." Grant turned to Austin.


    Everyone then turned to Austin. It was then that they realized why this cowardly man was included in their team. It was for moments like this that he would truly shine.


    "Boss. I have a theory. But it only has a forty percent chance of being true!"


    "What is it?"


    "Irvana is smart. As you said, she would immediately retreat and even abandon whatever mission unless if it''s right in front of her. The only possible reason she hasn''t met up with us is that she encountered something that keeps her from getting here."


    Grant was silent for a second and realized what Austin meant.


    "He is with that boy?"


    "Yes. She should be near the area where the boy is fighting. And that could only be that area where we saw lightning energy be a field. That boy is fighting the Empress! We have two choices, rush back there and get her, or we minimize our defense and send one Wind channel for her to get out!"


    Grant smiled.


    "I''ll trust your theory. We will minimize our defense and create a powerful wind channel. We have to get out of here as fast as we can. If the Emperor that the boy is fighting will also use an Invoking, it would be dangerous even for us!" Grant exined.


    "You heard the boss!" Austin nced at the rest.


    "Create a channel that avoids those strange werewolves! We don''t want to get in between that battle!" Austin exined.


    As the Winds of Hermes channeled the wind, the battle with the wolves reached its climax.


    The other wolves had already been killed.


    Only the man, Amir Mann, remained, and his body assumed a bloodied human form.


    Before he was the enemies that gave him the harshest battle of his life, it was a glorious battle. He thoroughly enjoyed it and even lost his anger against the man who deceived him.


    Cliff could barely stand. His arms were strained from the continuous attacks and impacts that he received.


    He would have died several times already if it weren''t for the man before him.


    Typical stood in front of his team. His entire body was trembling.


    "Are you ready, monster? Our battle muste to an end. Otherwise, we would be swept away." Typical asked.


    "Still confident that you can block me?" Amir Mann asked as he threw away one of Typical''s arm.


    "We have... made our preparations." Typical gave his answer.


    "I have already disarmed you." Amir Mannughed viciously.


    "So? I have pierced you so many times that you might as well call me, Daddy!" Typical gave an even more sinisterugh.

 Chapter 227 - The Body Cultivator

    Going back a few minutes when Typical and Cliff faced the horde of werewolves...


    Most of the bitten pilots had ejected themselves from their Exoskeletons.


    The pain from Amir''s bites brought about a terrifyingly painful itch. It was so painful and torturous that the people who managed to get out of their Exoskeleton suit had wed themselves until they were bleeding.


    Since the pilot was unable to scratch themselves while inside the Exoskeleton, they would immediately eject themselves. And as they were outside the Exoskeleton, they would turn into the rabid creature before them. The hairs in their bodies grew at an incredible speed. Their bones warped and changed, and their hands turned to ws.


    Some were unable to escape their suits and turned inside the Exoskeleton.


    But as Amir Mann stood, he pointed at Cliff and Typical''s group before the enemies surged forward and charged.


    Typical rushed forward to test the team. A strange force surrounded him as he faced the wing attack of the nearest wolf.


    Fist and fang met and smashed the arm of the wolf, bending it in a strange angle.


    But the wolf ignored the pain and bit down at Typical.


    An invisible thorn stabbed through the mouth of the wolf and prevented it from biting down as Typical sent a kick to the wolf and sent himself flying backward.


    Cliff pulled Gardo back in retreat while Gardo kept on firing at the wolves.


    The pair then proceeded to continue on their dual-flying formation as Cliff circled out to lead some of the wolves back.


    At that moment, Amir charged forward yet kept his human form. As he used his science to manipte the molecules around him, he was able to charge forwards with outstanding speed where each stepped caused him to move and chase Cliff and Gardo. He ignored the rest and went to kill Cliff as he left the others to be overwhelmed by his wolves.


    Cliff kept shing in mid-air, but his shes could not halve or prate through the strong muscles of the wolves that approached. Despite the sharp de, the muscles and tendons of these wolves had some form of resistance, which caused their bodies to have a shock-absorbing technology.


    And while Cliff''s sword had a tech that could even pierce through the Dawn soldier''s body, it couldn''t push through as there was a constant reaction within the muscles that stopped Cliff''s de.


    Cliff''s shes were no longer as sharp as a sword but would hit the wolves like a bat.


    Gardo shot several attacks on the approaching wolves that caused their attacks to miss.


    "He''sing!" Gardo warned as he noticed Amir Mann rushing.


    Suddenly, several powerful explosions urred right where Amir Mann, where and Amir Mann was forced to move to the sides and turn.


    But strangely, the constant barrage of the turrets somehow struck where he would go.


    Amir Mann''s movement started to move faster and faster, but the aerial attacks did not end.


    "Impressive.?? Amir Mann couldn''t help but admire the pilot of the massive Armor.


    The Armor was already in pieces. But not because it was attacked, but because it willingly disassembled itself.


    The torrential amount of attacks continued to attack it, but not a single attack that could threaten it struck it.


    The more Amir Mann paid attention to Suit, the more he realized the brilliance of the pilot.


    The Armor was divided into five pieces. Each arm and leg and the torso flew individually and would use various weapons to attack those nearby. The main shoulder cannon on the right arm continued to shoot at Amir Mann. Amir Mann''s movements were very random and would even jump upwards to evade the jump over the explosion. Still, the cannon attack would swoop in directly downwards and prevented Amir from moving.


    Because of that, Cliff managed to escape along with Gardo.


    "st. Trigger. Don''t do that yet. Make your preparations. We are to trap that wolf! If we want to drag him to our side, we''d have to beat him!" Typical gave his orders.


    "Young master, what if he turns more wolf!" st argued as he continued with his barrage. The thorn road had once more appeared, and they were all jumping from one invisible tform to another and escaped the jumping figures.


    "He wouldn''t. The strength of these wolves can easily bite through and dismantle Exoskeletons. That should be a strength at the very peak of Inhumans. But that also means that the virus Amir can create is very limited!" Typical exined.


    Cliff and Gardo had received onemunicator each and had used it tomunicate with them.


    "What? You mean this Rabies isn''t unlimited?" Cliff was surprised.


    "No. He couldn''t even keep it up and undid his feral transformation! This proves that there is a limit to it! The virus has forcibly changed the make-up of these soldiers and made them far stronger. But their bodies could not keep up. This is a battle of survival! We don''t even have to kill these wolves! This is a battle of time! Keep on escaping but not escaping! Keep on attacking, but not attacking!"


    "What?!" Cliff was confused.


    "What is he saying?" Cliff asked Gardo.


    "It is... an ancient Chinese saying that dates back to the time of Emperor Yo Res and Empress Tu Pid!"


    "Yo Res... Tu Pid..." Cliff muttered under his voice as he racked his brains. As his ability to recall memories grew and grew, he now could search for memories he had way back. Although most recent events are quickly brought up and recollected, it was harder for those before when he got Unlocked.


    But one thing he was sure, was that he hadn''t heard of an Emperor Yo Res or an Empress Tu Pid.


    Cliff''s recollection affected his battle as he had to divide his attention to fighting and to recollect.


    Suit, st, and Trigger were so stunned at Cliff''s gullibility. They heard the two talk through theirmunicator and didn''t know whether they shouldugh or cry.


    Even Typical had his mouth wide open.


    They were in the middle of a life-threatening situation and were fighting a Near Oveer, and these two had the time to fool around.


    "Emperor who? Empress who?" Cliff finally asked.


    "Emperor You''re Stupid!" Gardo cursed out and connected the two names. He then continued to shoot at the wolves approaching.


    "Just keep fighting! Don''t make it look like we know that his time is running out! Keep trying to run away, but don''t make it too obvious!" Typical was grinding his teeth as he said this.


    Cliff finally understood what Typical was saying.


    "Young Master! He might know about our n!"


    "No! This one is not the cunning type! Haven''t you noticed? It can''t even move past Suit''s bombardment! He might be a Near Oveer, but his Unlocking is too entric! His perception, his thinking process, everything about his mental ability is only at the Unbing Advent!" Typical exined.


    It was then that Cliff noticed it. His memories began to recollect the events of their previous battles and realized that it was true.


    In his wolf form, the attacks of Gardo could hit him! A punch from a gigantic Armor could strike him! These were things that most in the Inhuman stage could counter easily!


    "What''s going on? Why?" Cliff couldn''t understand it.


    "You guysck training." Typical frowned.


    "This was the first thing I noticed. If we add to the fact that his body could produce a virus that can create other monsters, then there has to be a price for this! There is no unlimited power in this world! If there is, there has to be a reason why! That is his weakness!"


    "What is his weakness!"


    "The only thing that can exin everything! His unworldly ability to create a viral power that can turn normal humans to the Inhuman level. And his poor mental power that pales inparison to a real Inhuman! He is a body cultivator! While we Unlock the Mind to strengthen the Body, he has pushed his body to an extreme that his mind became Unlocked!" Typical gave his conclusion.


    "He''s getting impatient!" Gardo noticed.


    "Suit. He''s going for you. Cliff, Gardo, the moment he jumps, we switch. Help st and Trigger!" Typical warned as he noticed the posture of Amir.


    Amir took a single leap and jumped in mid-air. Through his science, he created several footholds in the air and zoomed towards the Armor.


    Cliff and Typical quickly made their switch as soon as they were sure that Amir wouldn''t notice.


    With the knowledge of Amir''s weaknesses, he became more confident and moved in an almost reckless fashion.


    Amir''s hands that looked more like ws rushed to grasp the various metallic parts of the Armor.


    Suit sneered at the sight.


    "What an idiot." Suit navigated the many controls before him and began tomand each Armor like a Grandmaster Pianist performing.


    Right after the battle in China, the Assassins had met and discussed the possibilities of their growth.


    They had tasted a great defeat in the hands of Seeker''s team.


    And while the enemy had so much advantage, to these Fangs, they were only worried because they had disgraced their Master.


    Among them, the most worried was Suit.


    He was a unique member of the squad as hergely depended on Exoskeletons and piloting ships and Armors. While he was also an expert in hand-to-handbat and shooting, his skills were far, far inferior to the rest of the Fangs. He did not have their resilience, their strength, cunning, agility, and the like.


    All he had was his piloting skills that were revealed to be useless in the battles ahead.


    And so when Greydon Meng himself, asked what they nned to do, the miserable figure of Suit stood only in silence.


    "Master... I don''t know how to press on. My skills seem insignificant now as the mystery of the Unlocking is unveiled." Suit could only look down in disgrace.


    Greydon frowned.


    "Is that what you think?" Greydon asked.


    "Yes, Master." Suit answered back.


    "You are wrong. You have looked at it incorrectly. Do not doubt the path that you are walking. The Road that you walk is one that I, your Master, affirms. The Unlocking will not make your skills obsolete. It will push you further." Greydon answered firmly.


    Since then, Suit had sought his Road and wanted it to be a Path. He realized that the way he felt, the way hemanded his machine was far more superior than the rest. He had lost faith in himself, but how could he loose faith to his Master?


    If his Master thinks that he is strong, why would he dare believe himself to be weak?


    Suit trained in his piloting skills and focused on how to control it effectively. He created a very diverse form of Realm that was unique whenpared to the Realms of the other Oveers.


    Suit''s Realm enveloped the machines that he piloted. It was a strange mystery that only those who piloted or drove such vehicles and pushed their skills to the limit could understand.


    Racers of all sorts, have bonded with their machines and could feel the close connection that allowed them to perform hair-raising stunts. But for Suit, it became a Skill.


    The parts of the Armor''s retreated just in time that it evaded the grasps of Amir.


    Amir missed the Armor by millimeters. And even before he could react, the quick movements of Suit had already urred.


    Suit knew that he''d have to learn to pull the trigger faster because he was in a machine. st and Trigger also studied the same thing. Before a mindlessly Unlocked werewolf, Suit''s hands were quicker than Amir''s eyes.


    Several turretsunched explosive attacks around Amir.


    As the mortar rounds struck Amir, a strange sight urred.


    The mortar bullets were somehow cushioned as it reached Amir''s body.


    Typical who was moving from the back was stunned at the scene.


    The mortar shells suddenly shot out as it passed by Amir, who used the mortar rounds to make his body turn and face Typical instead.


    The speed was fast, and Typical was so close.


    "Muscle memory!" Typical cursed.


    While he was right in stating that Amir''s perception was far weaker than theirs, his muscle memory far surpassed his. The moment the mortars neared, Amir''s strange hairs detected the sensation. His muscle memory acted and instinctively evaded the attack. With the right turns, he used the mortar attacks against them and even made several attacks a tool to redirect his flight.


    Typical gritted his teeth. He underestimated Amir. Amir had long noticed his weakness and created the wolves knowing that it would also be identified. All the while, Amir hid his most terrifying ace.


    And so, Amir rushed towards his real target.


    A thrust was made towards Typical.


    Typical was crafting a powerful needle in his arm, which he nned to backstab Amir. But the sudden changes were too quick even for Typical.


    Typical dispersed the needle energy and maintained only a small piece of it on his hands.


    "Dodge this!" Typical roared as he met the Amir''s arm with his own.


    The fast strike, along with the invisible needle, pushed forwards to strike Amir.


    But the moment the needle of Typical touched the palms of Amir, the palms changed its position. It was barely a millimeter when Amir made contact with the invisible needle. His muscle memory once more came to y as he turned his initial thrust, to be a pulling hand.


    The hand reached downwards and slid through the invisible needle and grabbed on Typical''s arm. He would never let of this arm.


    Suddenly, several stabbing sensations surrounded Amir.


    The energy that Typical dispersed turned into various needles that were aimed to pierce through Amir.


    Even with Amir''s ability, he couldn''t dodge such attacks.


    Amir had shifted his position to protect the more important organs but allowed many of the needles to stab through.


    Yet his hold on Typical did not grow weaker as he pulled Typical closer to finish him.


    But suddenly, various needles stabbed at Typical''s shoulder, and some of the needles that pierced through Amir, also stabbed Typical and sent him down.


    Typical then stepped on an invisible foothold to kick him further away. Amir could not change directions as several needles were pinning him down.


    "Ready the Road to Damascus!" Typical immediately retreated and gave hismands.


    The team continued to hinder the wolves as Typical retreated. Although Suit sent out his attacks and usedsers, bullets, and rockets that he could detonate. The crazy Amir could easily evade it all.


    The battle continued with more and more of the wolves falling.


    Soon, the Titan''s appearance appeared and blew away most of the wolves, leaving Amir alone to face the team who had hidden under cover of the Armor.


    And as the explosions continued, Typical challenged the monster and called him to attack and even imed to be Amir''s Daddy.


    Amir was not at all offended by the arrogant mockery of Typical.


    "You have a brilliant team. And here I thought I outsmarted you. Quite decisive of you to give up your arm." Amirughed.


    "If your hand causes you to sin, pluck it off. What about you? Did you enjoy my piercings?


    "Oh? A bible reference... It looks like you are one of the Progenitor''s Seeds." Amir smirked.


    "Could we stop now? As you can see, we are allies." Cliff asked.


    "No." Typical and Amir answered together.


    Amir smiled and liked Typical''s answers.


    "That being fighting the Titan... That should be the Dragon." Amir nced on the ongoing battle.


    "I will tell him this. His fangs were pretty sharp. But this one is a ravenous wolf. And I will devour!" Amirughed as he gave a mighty howl.


    The bodies of the dead wolves started to tremble, and many rose once more and howled madly.


    "Let''s see which is sharper! My Fangs or the Dragons?" And with a maniacalugh, he charged towards Typical.


    "Activate the Road to Damascus!" Typical ordered.

 Chapter 228 - Road To Damascus

    When the battle began, Trigger and st dealt with most wolves by drawing their aggression through their attacks.


    Trigger used a powerful piercing bullet and used another maic pointer that changed the direction of the bullet''s flight. His barrage seemed endless, and the shots that he used had a memory reshaping ability that allowed itself to reform.


    Though the bullets couldn''t easily pierce through the wolves, it would stagger then and stop them from the assault. Trigger would then use another special round of shots that can pierce through the wolves'' resilient muscles.


    st was equipped with several guns withrge barrels and turrets. The size seemed like it was too big for an average human to carry. It could releaserge bullets, and some of his other weapons were like mini-canons. He could not bring most of the powerful weapons that he would usually carry as the WGP''s scanners were expected to surpass other countries. As such, having stronger gear would make him a marked target by the WGP. And so, st brought in a rather crude weapon that relied on an electromaic technology. The mortar weapon that he used only several bullets. Through maic technology that allowed the broken shrapnel to be summoned back and reform itself, st practically looked like he had unlimited ammo.


    All he had to do was wait for the cooldown period for his ammo to reform.


    But what supported the two of them was the massive Armor of Suit, which kept sending them more ammo and guns on critical moments.


    These three had always worked as a team, and facing an army was one of their specialties.


    Trigger kept shooting and slowing the enemy down. st focused took the opportunity to attack the staggering wolves with his weapons traveled slower and had a longer cooldown to reform. And the air support of Suit would rain down an attack just at the precise moment.


    Due to the chaotic movements of their teammates and the addition of Cliff and Gardo, the two had to adjust how they attacked the enemy, and st limited his use of powerful explosives. Any wrong move, and he might end up hurting his team members.


    When the battle progressed, the two had used the various invisible tforms that Typical created and used it to escape the wolves'' ws and move in strategic positions to shoot.


    These two were mainly the ones who drew the ire of the wolves and faced most of them.


    The precise gunmanship and careful analysis of the two was the biggest factor that they could survive. The wolves could bite through steel and had the physical from to rip an Exoskeleton apart. Some of those who turned while inside an Exoskeleton suit even managed to pull their way out of it.


    The strange virus that infected these pilots'' bodies created a significant mutation that gave them a powerful healing factor within their cells. The cells, muscles, and tissue would reform as they were attacked or wounded. Some even retreated to eat and devour the dead bodies of other wolves or dead humans.


    With that, they managed to recover from their wounds at a frightening level.


    As the battle progressed, Trigger and st were the ones who saw all this and understood the terror of the wolves'' ability. And so, when Typical gave his analysis, the two were greatly relieved.


    Typical was correct. The virus that Amir Mann created was limited. It was not something he could endlessly make.


    The energy needed to create even a drop in the wolves'' saliva was staggering. In truth, this was worth two months of Amir''s conserved energy. After his embarrassing and frustrating failure to kill Cliff and some of the Fangs, Amir finally found the resolve and the mental strength to take the leap and apply the experimental studies that his family developed. This was the science that their Progenitor had left behind.


    Of all the Seeds that the Progenitor left, he was a special kind. Their family had long carried the knowledge that they would seek out and challenge the other Seeds. They were the trials and weeds that would uproot any seeds that would not bear fruit.


    The virus that the Mann family developed was a strange drug and stimnt that stimted the cells to the extreme. It also was thebination of several other technologies that the Mann family acquired from the other families and organizations that they devoured. It created a strange hormone that forcibly changed the cells of a human body. The only drawback was that it would fall into a crazed state once the cells awaken and would metabolize at an unbelievable speed.


    As Typical concluded, the body of these werewolves wouldn''t live for long. Even if the awakened cells wouldn''t'' do anything to exert energy, it would die within three hours. And this time limit would decrease the more the werewolf moves or if the body were to be wounded.


    But the strange thing about the virus that Amir creates is that it was a product of an Unlocked body. And because of that, the werewolves that Amir Mann made could be controlled by him to a certain extent.


    Through the strange hormones that Amir created, those infected would feel a sense of aggression and attack the targets that Amir would mark. It was as if the virus in their bodies was connected and being controlled by Amir Mann.


    The wolves were quite strong, but because they were slower and did not have the perception of the Unlocked, st and Trigger was quickly able to shoot them down with their weapons and saved the more destructive ones for Amir.


    But their numbers and very reckless movements and how they did not care for death was the one thing that made them quite terrifying.


    Apart from that, their muscles were designed that it would immediately tense up when struck.


    Thepacting and expanding muscles made it difficult for the bullets to pierce through. It was as if the entire muscles of the wolves wereyers of an advanced Ker suit.


    But now, with a strangemand, the hormones within the bodies of the fallen wolves awakened. Their body reformed. Those without a head were slowly regrowing a head. Only the brain fully reformed for most of the revived wolves, leaving their heads with open wounds. Those without limbs regrew thinner limbs. The speed that the bones reformed startled Cliff and the Fangs. They had gone through regrowing a bone, and it took them at least a month!


    Amir Mann also moved, and his time of the attack was when another terrifying explosion urred due to the Titan and the Horn''s battle.


    Suit reformed his massive Armor into one and stood to absorb most of the damage from the explosion.


    The pain that Suit went through was unimaginable. His senses were linked to the Armor''s itself, and so, the explosions brought about the pain as if it was his body were the ones affected.


    Yet Suit didn''t even scream but focused on the battle to aid hisrades.


    It was starting. The moment the undead wolves charged, Typical gave his orders.


    As the werewolves started to attack, they soon overtook Amir''s sprint, which was slower than the werewolf''s pounces.


    "Don''t be fooled by this!" Typical warned his group. After losing an arm from Amir, he no longer assumed that he was smarter.


    While raising the battered and disemboweled werewolves seemed impossible, this was something that Typical expected from Amir.


    After their previous shes and how Typical stopped the wolf from killing Cliff and Gardo, Amir already had a rough estimate of how strong Typical and his team were. And believing this, Typical knew that raising the wolves back from the dead would not be enough.


    Typical had considered a lot about the battle. If Amir knew just how strong they were, he didn''t believe that Amir would spend a significant amount of energy creating werewolves. And so, Typical thought that the wolves before them would be stronger. To counter this, Typical ordered st, Suit, and Trigger to ready the Road to Damascus.


    After conquering India, China discovered an extraordinary steel tech that became the basis for their reforming weapons. But the true techs of that technology was not revealed to the world.


    Western ideology believed that innovation was the best. They would often advertise that their products are thetest and have the most innovative features. Eastern ideology differed that many cultures believe that the older something is, the better it is. And so, even the Chinese would often advertise how a drug or medicine of something was something the ancients used.


    After the Third World War, the two ideologies met.


    The long science of Wootz steel, which was admired in the ancient world, resurfaced. After conquering India, One China had perfected and improved on Damascus steel technology. They created near-perfect, reusable steel that worked with their maic techs.


    When Typical ordered to prepare for their ace attack, Trigger and st had switched and used this most precious steel as they shot at the many wolves around them. They became fiercer, and unlike before, where they were cautious and sparing in shooting, they just kept on shooting like crazy.


    Of course, this was all part of Typical''s n. He knew these wolves would awaken once more. And when he gave his orders, the Fangs immediately understood what Typical had deduced. And so they made precise and numerous attacks.


    Taking inspiration from Lennox''s lightning field, the Fangs, led by Typical, created their own version. And through a specific event in the Bible, they made the perfect name for their most vigorous attack.


    Road to Damascus.


    Trigger, st, and Suit had already activated their attacks and waited for their master''s move.


    "Open your blind eyes, beast!" Typical roared as he took out a metal cube. He crushed it, and yellow lightning charged out.


    Some of the bullets that struck the wolves were still within their bodies. The sharpness of the Damascus steel-based bullets managed to pierce deeper but not through the wolves. Some of the bullets struck the walls. And a lot of those bullets fell on the area right in front of Typical''s current position. And with the appearance of the lightning, it was called out.


    The Fangs had battled against Lennox after the incident in China and faced his full wrath. And now, with the help of Lennox himself, they found a way to recreate the insane endless lightning field of Lennox.


    The bullets rushed out and began to move and fly at extreme speeds. It was as if the shots had a mind of its own and passed to attack the wolves. Most of the bullets first gathered right in front of Typical and pierced through the wolves that were about to reach Typical''s group.


    From the skies above, several invisible needles pierced down and stopped the sprint of the werewolves. Those at the very front were all minced into pieces by the flying bullets, and they were sliced apart that it would take a while for them to reform or recover if they still had that ability.


    Typical knew that what was most important now was that they outsmarted the opponent in the battle between them. The enemy, Amir Mann, proved to be more than just a mindless brute. His calctions in thepetition earlier almost seeded. He was aiming for Typical the whole time and left the clues to lead Typical into a situation where he revealed his ace in touch-response. His muscles were so trained that he could move his body by the senses he could feel.


    This state was both weaker and strongerpared to the advantage that the usual Unlocked would have.


    Typical revealed his eyes, but his eyes were affixed to Amir''s expression. It was then that Typical felt a fearful sensation running up his spine.


    Amir Mann didn''t seem scared or bothered. He was excited.


    "What is your ace?" Typical wondered as he watched Amir move forward with a lot of wolves following him from behind.


    The Road to Damascus created a barrier of flying bullets to protect them and would slice apart any enemy that would move. Even the thick and dense muscle of the werewolves no longer stood a chance.


    "Quick! Attack them! Those wolves are different! They are weaker than they once were! Send an attack so that I can tell what it is!" Cliff shouted quickly. He had used his daydreaming ability and discovered that the strength and durability were weaker. But the reactions of the wolves right before they were minced into pieces made Cliff wonder. It was as if the wolves could have reacted.


    st, Trigger, and Suit immediately began attacking with their weapons and redirected and controlled the endless bullets'' flow before them.


    As these attacks wereunched, it moved right inside the bullets'' barrier calling many of the circling shots out.


    These bullets rushed forward, and a field of chaotic flying bullets surrounded the running wolves.


    The Road to Damascus finally revealed its final form. Some of the bullets that remained inside some wolves were also summoned out.


    Cliff was about to use hisst daydream, but then, he stopped. He didn''t need it to see what the abilities of the wolves were.


    The wolves began to dodge the iing bullets at a very expert level. While many still got struck by the bullets that started to create a chaotic field, some managed to evade it.


    Typical locked his gaze to Amir Mann, who was quickly moving through the field.


    Typical''s expression darkened at what he saw.


    Amir Mann was doing a simr thing that Arthur did when the Fang''s sparred with Arthur, Cliff, Lynd, and Meryl.


    Amir''s only difference was that while Arthur treads the Lion''s Den and could easily calcte and walk in it, Amir would evade just before he would get hit as he retained his ability to move and react upon contact.


    Typical had once sealed his brain to prevent it from reaching Inhuman. With the cont liquid that was acquired and modified from Australian Dawn tech, Typical was able to stay and maintain an Inhuman state for days before it would be dangerous. He knew what it was to seal or unseal it. And it happened right before his eyes.


    "Inhuman!" Typical shouted. And this simple shout brought great fear to his Fangs and Cliff.


    Amir Mann had used a strange technique to push his brain to a temporary Inhuman state. And the wolves around him also received a portion of this state.


    Cliff, Gardo, and the Fangs now faced an Unlocked pack of Werewolves.

 Chapter 229 - Challenging Lilibeth

    The panic inside the Kraken continued to increase. The battle outside was so shocking that all soldiers were all called to retreat. And during thismotion, several chambers inside the Kraken had been mysteriously attacked.


    Some exploded out of the blue, and various chokepoints within the Kraken were blocked and were even blown up.


    The continued attacks inside frustrated the Commanders. It was clear that someone who knew all parts of the Kraken was inside.


    The Commanders and the soldiers were all acting wild, and the various soldiers aimed to guard the passageways. Traveling within the Kraken was very strict. But then, more reports of explosions and attacks were happening elsewhere.


    Yet even with that chaos, those who were not fighting or guarded certain chokepoints all waited in silence. An important confrontation was about to happen. The Commander and the Admiral''s conversation had now been broadcasted all over the Kraken.


    The mind games between Commander Drake and the Admiral kept everyone in a constant tense situation.


    Drake had given several orders that were counter to the Admirals. He sent the toon directly under him to bypass all protocols and move towards a specific room where they will rendezvous. He gave them the orders to shoot and kill any soldiers that would bar or hinder them on their path.


    No soldiers dared attack them. The Admiral was confused at the orders, and since it would only benefit him, he didn''t give any specific demands to send them in but sent another Commander to apany them.


    The Commander sent were one of the strongest Exoskeleton pilots in the entire Kraken.


    The more the talk continued, the more it seemed like the Admiral had betrayed them. Various locations that the Admiral sent orders to protect and add more defenses were being attacked. Some of the locations were very far from each other.


    As the lethal talk continued, things took a stranger turn as a reported werewolf had breached through the Kraken and was fighting various areas. Videos of a crazed man growling as he charged forward with an Exoskeleton suit could be seen. Another video of another troop that was attacked surfaced as a crazed man leaped and ran on all fours as it charged towards the unprepared soldiers.


    Amidst this chaos, several chambers had already been blown up. The Kraken''s ability to keep itself to remain at float was already showing troubling signs. In fact, the Kraken''s constant floating height had sunk by several meters.


    But secretly, this was all apart of the scheme and plot that Sammy and the rest of the Covenants, the Small Time Drug Dealers, Warfreakz, and Gardo''s team continued to do.


    Sammy had ess to am device that Chase had. With this, he could observe the various locations within the Kraken. He gave his orders as the Kraken-wide broadcast between the Commander and Admiral continued to talk and challenge each other over the battle.


    The rest did as instructed. Titan, who wore light armor, searched for nearby items to make himself look like a crazed and feral man transforming to a wolf. He would then use his techs to make it appear he was a charging wolf. The distraction would then allow John to snipe the enemy with his godlike sniping ability.


    And right before the enemy could deliver a clear report after Titan''s initial sighting, Dara and Danny would attack and kill them.


    The Small Time Drug Dealers were with Harker''s trio and brought Gardo''s team had the most critical mission and immediately prepared for the trap they had created. They were nearer to the buoyancy chamber and with great haste and made the preparations. They immediately left and rushed towards another area to intercept another team who was fleeing.


    This team''s escape was in great haste that they even fought and slew several guarding troops.


    After the explosive trap, Rai had to force his team into a retreat as several Commanders, and more toon members chased them. The technology of teleportation was something that they had to keep secret. But in their wounded state, Rai knew that fighting the enemy would lead to several men''s deaths.


    And so, Rain recklessly used his teleportation to escape.


    Sammy, who could see the various feeds, could predict Rai''s travel path. Knowing that the enemy could teleport for a short-range, Sammy had already deduced the distance and direction of how Rai and the ninjas could flee. When Richie linked with him, Richie gave Sammy Rai''s location. It onlysted a few seconds, but it was enough for Sammy.


    And so, the Small Time Drug Dealers, Harker''s Trio, and Gardo''s team prepared the greatest ambush of that they could manage.


    Their opponent, after all, was a Near-Oveer. Thankfully, they knew the greatest weakness of this teleporting assassin.


    The moment the assassins appeared, the ninjas immediately began to attack the nearby toon and easily massacred them when the Unlocked team began to move.


    "Quick! Focus your cameras! We need to identify the enemy!" Tyler shouted as he left his cover and began shooting.


    Several of Gardo''s team came out carrying strange rectangr gears that had lenses. It wasn''t even a camera but a stylized magazine of a weapon with some round ss stuck on the corner. But with the Small Time Drug Dealers showering the enemy with their marking technology, Rai and the assassins had no time to worry but began to retreat. It was at that point that one of the nearby squadrons heard the attack.


    "Dingo troop! An enemy attack has been detected on Roo Troop! Head over there and provide backup!" Drake immediately shouted and ordered the team to check on the group.


    The Admiral was silent. But the attack location was nearby, and the Roo Troop has not responded, and the Commanders have concluded that they were already dead.


    "No! Dingo Troop withdraw! We need to save our forces! This enemy has already killed two troops, and our scans indicate that the Roo troop is dead!" The Admiral frowned.


    The gunshots continued, and even more explosive attacks were made.


    "Are you insane, General?! Can''t you hear the explosions?! There are some in the Roo toon that is still alive! Dingo! Save your allies!" Drake shouted back.


    "Let''s move!" The toon leader ordered as he could still hear the ongoing exchange and attacks.


    The Admiral was silent. But he was rushing faster and faster. The first chamber that was near him had already been destroyed right before he could enter it.


    And so, he began to move towards the main buoyancy chamber right in the very middle of the Kraken.


    Most of the Kraken''s transportation system has been shut down. These were the protocols they had set whenever major breaches happened in the Kraken. Since it was unclear how many enemies were inside, the Admiral and Chase gave orders to initiate this.


    The Admiral was using one of their faster highways inside the Kraken. While it was slower than the transportation system, these roads allowed for Armors and Exoskeletons to travel at rapid speed. The downside for these highways was that those traveling might have to circle around to get somewhere or use entry points further from their destination.


    This was the Kraken''s protocols to allow monitored traveling inside.


    "You are clearly betraying us, Admiral! You are forcing our toons not to aid each other! You im that those soldiers are dead, yet the audio in those locations indicates that a battle is ongoing!"


    The Admiral could not respond. He knew that iming that the Roo squadron''s vital scans had disappeared was not enough of a reason to stop the Dingo squadron from charging in. After all, if the enemies used EMP techs, it was possible to cut the signal and make it look like the soldiers died.


    The Admiral kept silent as Drake keptining. The Admiral had changed the location as to which buoyancy chamber he was heading to since the first wone was immediately destroyed right before he got to it. The Admiral thought that as he would dere which buoyancy chambers to go to, the traitors would immediately destroy it to make it appear that the Admiral was at fault.


    And so, to test his theory, he dered different chambers while heading towards the main chamber.


    "The truth is, I was afraid that you were using the ces where I said I would be going to attack it before I get there. I have been heading towards the main buoyancy chamber all along!" The Admiral finally admitted.


    "What?! Then the Roo troop fought you?!" Drake replied in shock. Although it was not that near to each other, when Drake stated it, the manymanders'' expressions inside the Command Center changed. They had already lost signal from the Admiral and couldn''t trace his current location.


    "I knew you would say that! You''re twisting facts. Although I am near their troop, I''m already in front of the buoyancy chamber! How would I go there and get back here considering the exit points that I can use with my Armor! You can''t fool me, Drake! Or should I say, Chase!" The Admiral finally revealed the truth he had long known.


    "... So you knew?"


    "Oh? Are you admitting it? There you have it, men! Even Chase didn''t deny it! Chase, I have long known that you were once a fugitive of the WGP and has- Lilibeth,e and fight?!" The Admirals monologue changed as he entered the main chamber. He unconsciously read the carved letters on the primary buoyancy device.


    "Where are you, Lilbeth?!" The more he read it, the more confused he got. The Admiral couldn''t understand why anyone would write those words. Whoever was here could have destroyed the chambers but instead wrote these strange words. The surprise caused the Admiral to read it immediately. And since he was previously talking in a very challenging tone, the words that he spoke came out with an aggressive tone.


    Scribs sighed as he witnessed the scene and immediately began to retreat. He was the one who was tasked with doing this. Richie had already found the locations of all buoyancy chambers and told Sammy where it was allowing Sammy to send Scribs there ahead of time.


    When everyone heard that broadcast, Sammy quickly found a table and flipped it over sheer joy.


    Roselyn, Stanley, and Chase were stunned at Sammy''s actions.


    "My n went perfectly!" Sammyughed.


    "Chase! Quick!"Sammy ordered.


    Chase knew what to do and how to follow up.


    "Lilibeth? That flower-powered ninja you keep talking about these past days? Why are you bringing up your lilypad?" Chase asked with a perplexed tone.


    When Rai heard those tabooed words, his rage reached its boiling point, and he immediately acted.


    "I''ll kill that, Admiral! So it is them!" Rai sprinted away from the iing attacks and positioned himself behind one of the other ninjas with great rage.


    "My Liege!" Before his soldiers could calm their leader, Rai gave hismands.


    "Deal with this first." And before the other ninjas could move, Rai had vanished as he teleported away.


    The ninjas could only sigh. The hatred in the eyes of their leader was clear as day. Ever since that incident in Africa, the ninjas had been living a life of hellish training.


    Several strange rounds containing electrical energy could be heard approaching them.


    One of the ninjas noticed it and took out a strange red de and deflected the lightning bolts.


    The bolts were tossed aside at the attack.


    "Let''s just kill the enemies." One of the ninjas ordered as he led the team to attack Gardo''s group.


    "They took the bait! Drug Dealers, Go!" Tyler ordered and sent out the three to fight and tank them from the approaching ninjas. But then the Kraken began to quake as a terrifying explosion urred outside.


    "Gardo..." Jane couldn''t help but worry. The sounds and vibrations of the outside battle worried Gardo''s team.


    They had long seen how out-of-ce they were in this battle. Jane took on the mantle of leading the team with Gardo''s absence, but the shocking scenes continued. The Golems'' appearance and even the reports of the werewolves outside made them realize how weak they were.


    Though the effects of the drugs soon became apparent, they had a hard time mastering it. Even when they were Unlocked, they could only survive through the powerful Pangean soldiers and the teenagers that were far braver than them.


    "He''s alright... Is he? He isn''t as weak as we are, right?" Brent asked.


    "Such a stupid question..." Efren scoffed.


    "With the weird drugs that Harker gave, we were transformed to practically near the boss''s level. But if he took the drug, imagine what level he would reach! He''d be even more powerful than the Golems and werewolves! Worry about ourselves! If these guys are right, and we are fighting teleporting ninjas, we need to focus!" Efren immediately moved and aided the team to shoot the ninjas.


    "Efren''s right. Rx, Brent. Our President is a hero, after all. Right now, he''s no longer the Protector of the Provinces, but the Protector of Pangea. What you need to be worried about is if you can still catch up with the President." Janeughed.


    Brent nodded, and determination appeared on his eyes. He moved and began attacking as well.


    "Gardo... Please be alive." Jane whispered so softly that even for those Unlocked, only she could hear it.


    Upon the Kraken''s hull, the battle had ended. Since the time the wolves became Unlocked, only a few seconds passed.


    Gardo smiled. His heart was still beating. He just went through a rollercoaster of emotions in that battle. But right now, all he could feel was peace. Even though his arms were gone andrge ice blocks were falling on them, he still had a very peaceful mind.


    "That was fun," Gardo said softly before his consciousness gave in to the darkness.

 Chapter 230 - Cliff’s Decision

    Going back a few seconds in time, right when Amir Mann led his wolf charge.


    At that moment, another gigantic sh urred on the skies above.


    Arge block of ice that covered the skies fell on the Titan. The Titan charged up as energies could be seen to havee from the Kraken to power the Titan as the Titan stabbed upwards.


    BOOM!


    More explosions that sent several electrical sts and falling hail cascaded down the battlefield. The erupting electrical currents sted out, creating the power known as Continuous Explosion. Through thebination of various sciences, a constant force of explosions could be retained in the skies above. By wielding that constant exploding force, the attacks that the Titan could create was earth-shaking. Yet the ice was coated with a strange destion that could disintegrate the force.


    On the Kraken, remaining battles involving Seeker and the Empress, as well as the Fangs and the wolves all had to use various methods to resist the cataclysmic effects of the shes.


    Suit focused on covering the team. He knew that if the surrounding chaos reached his team, they would die. Most of his attacks were focused on attacking the giant falling hails from the battle between the Horn and the Titan.


    His attention was fixed there, and in that short time, he failed to notice the miracles that Amir caused. In that short time, even Typical couldn''t tell Suit to aim for the wolves. The one advantage that Typical thought they had, was now removed.


    The cold rain that was falling on the bodies of the wolves would steam up. Even the wolves which had not fully recovered their skulls had brains that were smoking. The virus forcibly awakened and injected the vast energy it could contain. Even the humans'' bodies that did not previously turned as they already died before they could turn revived as werewolves.


    The numbers of the wolves had doubled, and the speed and agility of these wolves were iparable.


    Yet the wolves were burning themselves to death. They wouldn''tst more than twenty seconds as the entropy took in a terrifying toll. But all of this was more than enough for their charge. Though the wolves'' bodies had lesser muscles as their recovery and healing focused on the brain, it didn''t matter.


    It was as if the virus sacrificed to improve the brain allowing the wolves better moto control. However, the virus itself was also expending itself on this attack. The wolfs charged fast enough to survive the Road to Damascus and allow more of itspanions and even Amir Mann to get through the valley of bullets unscathed.


    The Wolves had an Unlocked mind and had a swift reaction speed. It could even evade bullets as the muscle memory aided by the unlocked mind allowed them to move and avoid the bullets that would have pierced them.


    The deadlybination horrified the team.


    Typical''s expression turned sour. There was no time to send out orders.


    "Fight with all you''ve got!" Typical shouted the only phrase he could say now. There was no time to n, and trying to escape would be even deadlier as they would have to face the electric sts and hail. Typical could only do his best and went all out, causing numerous needles to shower down or appear. Typical saw it once more. Death was approaching. This was what his Master had always said that would allow a Hero to be an Oveer.


    Typical fought with his life on the line but knew that he wouldn''t Ovee this.


    Trigger and st prepared to make various drastic explosive attacks. But since their gear was severely limited for this infiltration, the destructive weapons they could use was not enough to kill them all. Still, They prepared the weapons and set to self-destruct in a range that would also hurt them. At most, they would all die together.


    Gardo gathered as much energy as he could. All he could do now was resort to a desperate attack. Yet even then, a fierce and almost anticipating expression was worn on his face.


    Cliff stood at the back, but as the few seconds passed, he determined that they would all die.


    The attacks of Typical and the Road to Damascus was not enough to block all of them. It was certain that Amir Mann would breach the Road to Damascus. And once he does, Typical would no longer be able to hold him off like thest time.


    Typical was great wounded and with an entire arm shed off, the energy that Typical could summon was weaker.


    Trigger and st invested so much in the Road to Damascus that they had two choices. Abandon the setup and bring out whatever attacks they could have, or do their best and maximize the Road. What was the right choice? For Cliff, who basically had stopped time, even he couldn''t decide.


    Cliff had already activated his Daydreaming ability. But even then, he determined their fate was death. He could see clearly how the wolves ran and leaped in a weird position.


    Cliff had been bombarded by Arthur''s mathematical teachings that he could doplex calctions, and with a quick nce, he could tell that more than half of the wolves would be able to enter the Road because of the way the wolves would jump. They jumped with a spinning motion that allowed them to evade more bullets.


    Although it was possible for Cliff to calcte the gun attacks and direct the attacks done by Trigger or st, it would require a lot of mathematical calctions. Cliff wouldn''t have enough time to calcte what proper attacks they could do even just for the next second. He would run out of the time he had in this dream world by then.


    "It''s not enough..." Cliff sighed and used thest remaining energy of his to enter his dream world.


    He gazed at the surrounding scene and looked around, hoping to see if he could use anything to fight.


    Gardo was charging and summoning all the energy that he could muster. But Cliff recalled how well Amir Mann could fight in closebat. The only chances where if Gardo would generate an explosion so powerful that everyone here would be killed.


    Cliffmented and went to his memories as another scene formed before him.


    In this near-death state, Cliff managed to put his recent and most treasured memories to y into a scene. When death approached, Cliff abandoned the fight and escaped to his dream world. The scene in front of him changed.


    It was his date with Charm Novelty-stoise.


    She was pulling him around and asking him to treat her as repayment for all the meals she bought.


    "You have a soldier''s sry? And you never even bothered to get me something?" Charm challenged.


    "I''m sorry! I didn''t want you to know. But this should be water under the bridge, right?"


    "No! It''s not! Who are you, really? Tell me the truth!"


    "What I said was true! Honestly, it was even worse than what I told you. I really did have a lot of stress. The first time you saw me crying was for real!"


    "So that means, all those other times, where you were crying, weren''t?"


    "No-no! It had its truth, but I was forcing it to make me cry. I-I didn''t know how else to spend time with you! You are a Royal! And I was a kid who had been selling drugs at school. What else could I do?"


    Charm tried to hide her blush but maintained a very nonchnt and almost strict expression.


    The real Cliff watched from a third-person perspective of the talk that he had with her. His Realm allowed him to see this memory from a different perspective. Everything within three meters around where Cliff stood could be seen. Cliff couldn''t help but smile and look at Charm''s expression. This was something he couldn''t see back then because he dared not give Charm a straight look. But in his memories and aided by his dreams, he saw Charm''s simple yet undiminishing beauty.


    "Well... What are you good at? You could have used the skills that made a soldier! I would have been impressed. I mean... A Regr bing a soldier and even the bodyguard of Seeker Carlean? That''s very impressive."


    "I''m not good at anything! I swear! I got dragged into this whole mess unwillingly! They promised me that I would be a part of this ''save the world club,'' but I''m starting to see them as the real devils of this world!" Cliff argued.


    "And the only thing that I am good at... Or the one thing that I know I''m good at is daydreaming."


    "Daydreaming?"


    "Yeah. I don''t expect you to understand. But that''s all I have to offer. I''m not as smart as them. I''m not as strong as them. And I''m not as resourceful, charismatic, or even as good as a liar or a maniptor as they are!"


    Charm nced at Cliff and hid the confusion in her face. She could tell that Cliff was very serious and had some insecurities and hardships along the way. She then recalled Seeker''s attempts and actions earlier that night and realized just how much a schemer Seeker was.


    Charm realized that Cliff had a point. She, too, felt the same way as a Novelty-stoise. She was the weakest among all of her kind. Though she could have imed her family''s power and authority, she didn''t as she believed herself to be weak. Charm sympathized with Cliff and wanted to do her best tofort Cliff. She thought for a bit and finally asked a question.


    "Did you daydream about how you would cry before you talked with me?"


    Cliff was surprised.


    "Well. Yeah... I would try to imagine what I would have to say or how to react..."


    "Then I''d say you''re really good at daydreaming. All our talks, all those moments you had with me. You got me rolling in the palm of your hand back then. You will pay for your crimes soon... but what I''m saying is, you were that good." Charmughed.


    "So, I guess daydreaming isn''t so useless after all?"


    "No! I don''t think it is!" Charmughed.


    "You know athletes and professionals go through a training process known as mental rehearsal. They see the image of the future in their mind and act ordingly. Golf yers go through that routine mentally so that their actual hit would be urate. Boxers go through the practice of shadowboxing. Races who can picture the entire race track in their head imagine themselves zing through the field doing breaks turns, and so on, at the right second. Your use of words was rather insecure. Don''t call it daydreaming! Call it mental rehearsal!" Charm exined in detail.


    "I''m sure you''re exaggerating things. If I could be at least half as good or as useful as what you exined, I''d honestly be happy. But I''m not. I''m a Regr after all. A regr pulled into the world that I shouldn''t be. Everything about this unfair world. How people should be divided into tiers such as Regrs, Rising, and Royals has its ws. But the ws our government have in this whole system is not being able to properly identify and ce a guy or girl in the right Rank. Seeker should be a Royal. I don''t know why he''s in Rising. But as for me, I am rightfully in the Regr ss." Cliff sighed.


    Charm frowned.


    "I''m not sure if you really think of yourself in that way, or you''re trying to pull an Eeyore on me again!" Charm gave Cliff a suspicious look.


    "I didn''t know about this Eeyore! I don''t even read books! At least not until recently. I swear, I didn''t know about that courtship style."


    "You don''t know it, but you just do it! Please, Veil''s Tacticians Guidelines to courtship are simply observations of what happens in the real world! A lot of guys y the pity card."


    "Well, why would I do that now? Now that you said Seeker ratted me out? Besides, what if it''s real? What if I''m really insecure, and I know that my little daydreaming won''t get me anywhere?"


    "I''m still here, aren''t I?" Charm challenged.


    Cliff was stunned.


    Charm''s face was blushing red, but she maintained an angry expression even though her face was twitching.


    Cliff was surprised at Charm''s deration and quickly turned away.


    What was shocking was that when he turned away, Charm''s smile was extremely familiar! He didn''t see it then, but now with his dream world''s powers and his Realm, he managed to recreate the scene. When Cliff turned away, Charm nced at Cliff''s back and made a very charming smile.


    Cliff realized that that charming smile was exactly how Cliff envisioned it to be.


    "Mental rehearsal?! That was so urate!" The smile became the key that created a chain reaction in Cliff''s memories.


    Charm was right. She was still there. Although Cliff used the pity card, it was a very borate scheme. Only Cliff knew how long he would prepare his spiels and scripts to move Charm to shower Cliff with deep affection.


    His talks with Charm all ended up exactly as he nned. Was it possible that he truly had this gift?


    Cliff immediately forced his daydream to change.


    He was clenching his fist. He was hopeless, but now, a silver ray of hope broke through his dark skies. If he was going to die anyway, why not try something crazy?


    "So, that''s what Seeker meant!" Cliff recalled another certain memory.


    "Typical knew he was going to die, but he continued fighting. He is a Hero. Gardo should be the same. But for me... I actually gave up! But I won''t anymore! I have to be a hero! Isn''t this why you kept pushing me to these battles, Seeker?"


    Cliff nced at the battlefield before him. He only had a few seconds left in this dreamworld.


    He looked only at one thing. It was Amir Mann.


    "It''s possible! It''s definitely possible! I just need the courage to take the step forward!" Cliff knew what to do. If the attention of Typical, Trigger, and st were focused on dealing with the pack of wolves and not put Amir Mann into consideration, they could survive.


    "One-on-one! That''s what I need to do to live! I have to fight him one-on-one and hold him off long enough!" Cliff clenched his fist.


    Mental rehearsal began. Various memories started to resurface. And the mystery of Cliff''s Path showed itself. Cliff recalled several memories at once.


    "I have finally achieved it! It is possible! Those characters in those anime series I watched have paved the way for me! It is true! No wonder anime climax battles are twenty percent fight, and eighter percent memories of the past!" With the built-up courage, Cliff was ready to move.


    Thest moments in his dream world ended. The remaining energy in Cliff''s body was only sufficient for the battle.


    Cliff haspleted his preparations.. All that is left is to act.

 Chapter 231 - Hero

    The many memories that surfaced included a particr talk that Cliff heard as he was dining with Meryl, Lynd, and Seeker.


    "What is the difference between an Inhuman and a Hero?" Seeker repeated the question.


    "Yeah. I mean, we are already at Inhuman. And you mentioned that in your timeline, there wasn''t anyone who had a Ranked Heroes body. And I get that all your recent projects are designed to make that. But still, you had heroes in your timeline. And you said that you yourself became Ranked Hero. So what exactly is the difference? If what we could do scientifically was reach the Inhuman stage through our sciences, then how did some be Heroes?"


    The group was dining in one of Harker''s restaurants, and a vast array of food was before them.


    Seeker continued to munch his meals as he often did before. Only this time, Meryl, Lynd, and Cliff also continued to eat the extravagant amount of food before them.


    "The difference is simr to the gap that separates a Ranked Hero to an Oveer. I couldn''t answer it before because due to theck of study and since things were very confusing, I wasn''t confident yet. But now that I am an Oveer, I am certain that I am correct. Though several elements can divide it, I guess the most important thing is their will and fortitude."


    "Will and fortitude?" Meryl echoed in confusion.


    "So to be a believer, we need Faith, and now we need will and fortitude? What next? Patience, Perseverance, and Love?"


    Seeker stoically nodded.


    "Yeah. Something like that."


    "You can''t be serious?"


    "Er... what about just the stage between Inhuman and Ranked Hero," Lynd asked again.


    "Let me try to put it this way... Heroes don''t give up. Even when they are about to die, they won''t give up. Champions are basically heroes who have stronger powers that match Oveers. But the reason why they can''t be considered Oveers is that Oveers are those who can Ovee regardless of the challenge before them."


    "That doesn''t help us, Zeek." Meryl frowned.


    "If I can say something that can help you, we''d have more Oveers now. But that''s just it! I can''t think of a better way to phrase it! It isn''t something that can be exined or passed on. It is something that the individual develops on his own. And it''s not easy. I mean, I needed to die and live again to get my shot bing an Oveer! That''s how wide the gap is between a Hero and an Oveer."


    "Could you, at least, be more specific?"


    "Alright. How about this. If Ipare who I was when I was an Inhuman and became a Ranked Hero, it would be this. An Inhuman will lose hope and give up right about five seconds before they die. When most people see inevitable death, they surrender. But Heroes don''t. They fight until they are dead. Champions are basically heroes but are stronger. Inparison, Oveers believe that they won''t die or lose. Even at thest second. You guys are still Inhumans. You need to have that great force of will to be a Hero. But since you did it in my future, I''m sure you''ll do it in this. But it would be best if you made the next step further. Be Oveers, guys." Seeker smiled.


    Cliff reflected how he just gave up and finally understood what Seeker meant.


    The memories of Amir Mann battle surfaced. Everything he knew and remembered about Amir Mann repeated themselves in his head as he continuously thought about them. His recollections about Gardo also appeared. Every attack Gardo made, his movements, and even his expressions during those battles emerged as well.


    These all surfaced together, and Cliff remembered all of them, at the same time.


    The recollection process of Cliff was already something that humans couldn''t understand. While humans could remember one thing at one time, and Lennox could remember several things because of his multiple thought processes, Cliff recalled everything despite having only one thought process.


    His Path grew stronger at that moment.


    Cliff''s time in his daydream ended.


    Cliff took a step forward as his dream world faded and reality continued.


    He unsheathed his sword and ran towards the enemy.


    "Focus on the wolves! I''ll stop Amir Mann! Gardo! Blow up your arms with Red Robin!" Cliff spoke as quickly as he could. He knew that at this moment, everyone''s Unlocking was pushed to its max. Their perceptions would have been at their peak.


    The wolves that survived and those who managed to move past the bullet field began to hit the end of the Road. The wall of bullets started to shred them. Some of them only had a leg left or had used thest of their might to throw themselves towards the wall of bullets.


    Amir Mann moved closer, and as the surrounding wolves got hit by the bullets, theirst actions were to harden their muscles as much as they could. The meat shields allowed Amir Mann to pass through the field without a single scratch.


    Of course, this was also because st, Trigger, and Typical stopped paying attention at Amir Mann. What Cliff didn''t know was the respect the Fangs had for this man. The three had fought them and had witnessed the extremely detailed ability of Cliff. They saw how Meryl and Lynd trusted this man with their life. When Cliff ordered the two to shut down all their attacks, the two did wlessly. It was Cliff who gave the Fang''s the first defeat on that battle in China.


    Typical would even use that attack to remind how the Fangs should trust each other, further moving the Fangs to see Cliff more formidable than ever. And even though it was sudden, when Cliff said those words, they gained more courage. They could put their trust on Cliff because they had tasted defeat because of him.


    With Cliff assuring them at thatst second, they immediately acted and focused on making the Road to Damascus a road that will ughter and stop the wolves.


    Typical did the same and used his needles to attack the wolves instead of the alpha.


    Amir was spinning around as it left thest line of the Road to Damascus. It saw Cliff running towards him as hended on his fours. His upper torso had already transformed into a werewolf with long ws. He got up and gave an upward sh at the sprinting Cliff.


    At the very exact moment, Cliff''s descending foot was no longer a step forward, but an awkward and reckless stomp to stop his fast sprint. Cliff''s sprint was so fast that this stomp actually strained the muscles on his foot!


    For a split second, Cliff stopped moving since his leg had stomped to the floor. But Cliff''s other half of his body was continuously running.


    Cliff allowed the remaining kic energy from his sprint to throw him towards the right when the upwards swipe moved past his face.


    Excellent motor control for an Unlocked, and especially for someone like Cliff, was different. The muscles of the body could even work in contradiction to each other. This allowed their bodies to move in astranger manner. Richie and Meng had taught the principles of this, and it was something that Cliff practiced after his first encounter with Amir Mann.


    The empty swipe missed, and Cliff almostughed.


    On those small seconds, his presumption proved correct. Amir''s Unlocking wasn''t as strong as it was. The deception of how the other wolves grew stronger and became Unlocked was a hollow lie.


    When the wolves began their sprint within the Road to Damascus, Cliff recalled how the wolves evaded. The wolves and even Amir Mann always dodged on thest possible second. The illusion that they could evade made the Fangs and even Cliff himself believe that they were Unlocked and could avoid. But this was only a half-truth.


    It took Seeker, Charles, and everyone else months for them to maximize an Unbing drug. Even now, with all their advantages, it was insufficient to perfect it. How could Amir Mann do that so quickly?


    And so, with this doubt in mind, Cliff finally found the truth. Amir Mann simply made these werewolves simr to him. It did heighten their perception, but what it mainly gifted the wolves was the ability to do muscle memory evasion. What looked like a pack of Inhumans wolves was a pack of tricksters and imperfect copies that paledpared to Surmounting Unbing!


    When Cliff used his daydream''s remaining time to observe Amir, he noticed that Amir''s Unlocking was actually stillcking. His perception was only at the low stages of Unbing. He was using his muscle memory to move. The proof was that in Cliff''s memories, Amir would only evade most of the bullets when it would make contact with the very hairs on Amir''s body.


    Amir Mann''s missed attack was proof of this. Had this been a really Inhuman like Typical, the attack wouldn''t have missed.


    Cliff made sure that even the hairs of Amir''s wolf-like hands would not touch him as it might have triggered Amir''s muscle memory.


    "Arthur''s right." Cliff thought.


    "One step at a time. The world could fall for all I care. I just need to make my next step!"


    Hended towards the right side of Amir Mann and immediately crouched down. Amir Mann relied on a very unimaginable touch-responsive counter-attack. But if Cliff were not to make any contact against Amir, no attacks or counter-attacks would be made.


    After delivering a sweeping uppercut with his left arm, Amir immediately sent a total kick with his right leg. His body was Unlocked. It was here that he showcased just how fast his attacks were. Relying on his superior body that could bend and flex to a greater extreme than most gymnasts had, Amir''s kick was designed to decimate anyone who was around him.


    He didn''t know that this ability of Amir to send out explosive and fast attacks was already noticed by Cliff. And this attack was in Cliff''s Daydream.


    When Amir Mann grabbed Typical''s arm and pulled it, Cliff could see just how fast it was. It was a good thing that Typical had already reached the Proficient stage of the Unlocking. If it was anyone else on Proficient, be it, Lynd or Meryl, they would have died. But for Typical, his perception was fast enough to see the quick touch response of Amir Mann.


    Amir Mann pulled as if his body had a programmed code that would act when triggered. As for Typical, he used his perception to immediately redirect his own needs to stab and cut his arm so that Amir Mann failed in pulling Typical.


    Amir''s kick was so strong that it broke the speed of sound. But yet again, he missed. Cliff had already crouched down when Amir''s kick swept by.


    "Just as I daydreamed." Cliffughed.


    Now that Cliff was proven right, Cliff even dared to do something that no one else under the Ranked Hero stage would try against a Near Oveer.


    Cliff readied his attacks. With a roundhouse kick that created a sonic bomb, Cliff positioned himself on Amir''s blind spot and began his attacks.


    Being positioned at a blind spot with Amir''s back against Cliff, Cliff knew this was the position he needed to be. His daydreams worked. He was exactly where he wanted to be. Using this amazing position as his advantage, Cliff moved on to the next phase of his attack. He quickly moved following Amir Mann''s blindside and began to attack the most critical parts of Amir Mann''s body.


    Amir Mann''s fur. This was Cliff''s target.


    Cliff sent out a single stab aimed at the fur.


    When it touched the fur, Amir Mann would use his touch-reaction to evade and counter-attack. Only that Cliff was no longer there and had already positioned himself on another location.


    Several thunderous kicks and punches erupted around Cliff.


    In contrast to these explosive attacks, Cliff''s movements were simple. Sometimes he would make a broad jump, and sometimes he would simply crouch down or take a small step to the right or left on some attacks.


    But the scene continued. Cliff was there, triggering Amir Mann''s counter-reactive attacks but would stay at a ce where he wouldn''t be attacked.


    Two seconds passed with this scenario. Somewhere in between evading and attacking, Cliff took out a small metallic ball and detonated it.


    It was long enough for Typical and the group to notice the battle.


    "Focus!" Typical shouted at the two who were getting distracted.


    Cliff gave one more attack and leaped as hard as he could towards the back. As Cliff jumped backward, he threw the sword on his hand along with the metallic ball.


    He had fought Amir Mann on two asions, and both memories gave him an estimate on the possible moment when Amir would be greatly angered.


    And just as Cliff dreamed, Amir Mann forcibly canceled his counter-reactive attacks and focused his attention on the leaping Cliff. He moved and immediately and jumped towards Cliff.


    Cliff could finally rx. There was only one more thing that Cliff envisioned would happen. His memories allowed him to predict Amir Mann''s movements, and he kept at it for two seconds. With thatst attack, he could only hope to have seeded. He fought and used all that he could prepare. At that moment, hemented. He wasn''t a Hero.


    Because the moment he threw the sword and the metallic ball, he felt a strange sense of peace.


    He exhausted all of his attacks and gave up. He stillcked the qualities because he would fight to thest breath. But Cliff no longer had any attacks left.


    "I guess I should have prepared more." Cliff sighed as he looked and hoped for the best.


    The sword flew, and Amir''s face was right in front of it.


    The moment it grazed his skin, Amir immediately turned his head and his body as he began to spin the sword passed by, but he didn''t notice the small bomb that Cliff tossed. Since he did not have the eyesight that could even match a superior Unbing, he failed to see it.


    The Balls of Thunder exploded out.


    It sent Amir flying towards the right side of Cliff.


    Cliff gave a relieved sigh as his ns worked. All that was left was to hope on Gardo.


    Gardo had seen the battle and was extremely impressed at Cliff. He couldn''t understand how Cliff evaded all those attacks. It looked rather straightforward. In fact, it made the terrifying Amir Mann look very weak. But when he saw Amir Mann flying towards him, he knew what to do.


    "Blow up my arms. What a crazy n. So he prepared all of this to give me the best opportunity to attack Amir." Gardoughed.


    Both of his arms were bright red as he was sprinting towards Amir''s approaching figure. Amir wasn''t giving up. He was trying to get into a proper position when he saw Gardo.


    Gardo decided not to name the attack with the same name his idol called it, fearing possible copyright infringement.


    Gardo had listened to the sage-knowledge of Typical and had been pondering on what his Path could be. He thought he was dead for sure when Amir started attacking. But seeing Cliff fight Amir it gave him even more confidence.


    "I must do the impossible too! My Path is not yet this! This is science. I must find a way to make this my Path! Let''s see just how strong my explosions are!"


    "Red Thunder!" Gardo shouted his killer attack as he pped his hands in front of approaching Amir.


    BOOM!


    It was as if a powerful Pangean Eradication bomb exploded.


    Amir Mann''s burn figure could be seen zooming towards the other side.


    Several secondster, all the wolves that were trying to breach the road all fell and died.


    "He''s unconscious! Get him and begin evacuation!" Typical ordered Suit.


    Cliff reached the figure of Gardo. His two arms were gone, and the front of his body had significant burns.


    "You can... heal me, right?" Gardo asked with a weak voice.


    "Yeah. I''m sure Typical has medicines for the Unlocked. Let''s get out of here." Cliff sighed.


    With Suit following the evacuation orders and who stopped blocking the attacks from theHorn and the Titan, the ice and the lighting charges began to fall on their location.


    Cliff carried Gardo and rushed off towards one of the pieces of Suit''s Armor.


    "That was fun.." Gardo replied as he fell unconscious.

 Chapter 232 - The Traitor Of The Kraken

    The battles outside continued to erupt that no one noticed that the werewolves were defeated.


    Suit and the Fangs were on full retreat. The Armor transformed back into arge shuttle and moved away, evading the bolts and ice blocks.


    He had blocked the charges and ice for only several seconds, but arge part of the Armor was already damaged.


    "Dive underwater! That''s the safest ce we can be!" Typical ordered.


    "But the Antis!" Cliff argued.


    "You think we are the only ones who came here? Richie''s here, and deep down underwater, Lennox and a newly formed team are attacking the Antis."


    "Lennox has a team now?"


    "You''re not the only ones who were busy. Lennox has an impressive member. She has a Path that is as deadly as the Madame''s Path. She could control water."


    "Water?"


    "Terrifying, isn''t it? Imagine being inside the Antis. Lennox can easily infiltrate you with his Lightning energy, and with him is a woman who can control water." Typicalughed.


    "Young master, please stop moving." st reminded as he continued to bandage the severed arm of Typical.


    "How did you do it?" Typical then asked Cliff seriously.


    "It''s my Path. I have great recollection ability and can daydream. But for some reason, my daydreams were stronger than it originally was. I first activated this a few days ago when I fought with Gardo the first time. But earlier, my recollection ability allowed me to recollect and somehow pause time even if I don''t go to my Dreamworld. I think It''s because I met Seeker."


    "He must have tread on a Path that aided yours. How interesting. But that battle against the Near Oveer took great courage. Tell me the secret. What did you do?"


    Being reminded of this, Cliff recalled one memory he recalled during the battle earlier.


    His memories brought him back to after the escape on China. Cliff was gazing at the boundless horizon. He was looking at the direction where the World''s Helm was. After learning that their next n was to fight the World Governing Powers, Cliff couldn''t help but feel a sense of dread.


    "I heard what you did. I''m d that you paid attention to everything I said." Arthur stood next to him.


    "Arthur! Yeah. I still can''t believe I''m alive. That was very... scary."


    "You''d better get used to it. I have already calcted how Seeker intends to use you. You better prepare for everything." Arthur mysteriously spoke and turned his back to leave.


    Cliff didn''t understand it then, but he ignored Arthur''s statement.


    "How did you do it?" Cliff asked Arthur.


    Arthur paused and turned back to Cliff.


    "Do what? Tread the Lion''s Den? It''s not something you can prepare for."


    "No. I mean... How did you get the courage to go there? This battle was something that already went beyond my capabilities. I... I''m scared now. And we are fighting the WGP? I thought I''d eventually get a back seat in this thing and only deal with the small fries. But when that Qilin''s Horn appeared. I thought I was really dead. But you... after facing sure death, you still dared to fight the Empress and even stood in the very middle of that battle. Are you an Oveer?"


    "No. I''m not an Oveer. I''m far from it. At most, you could say, I''m a Hero." Arthur answered a matter-of-factly.


    "A hero?"


    "I finally understand why I was considered someone who barely made it on the Ranked Heroes in Seeker''s past. I could not simply take the next step."


    "The next step?"


    "Heroes are like prodigies, and Oveers are prodigies among prodigies. They wouldn''t be able to tell you how they stand and fight against and enemy. But what is most necessary is the ability to stand up and take the next step."


    "How? That battle would have petrified me. How did you find the courage? Every single step you make, you risked dying! Wasn''t it scary?" Cliff asked.


    "That''s just it. That''s the main difference a Hero must have. I wasn''t scared. The chaos of the groups fighting within that lightning dome and the fact that everyone in there, except for me, were Oveers didn''t bother me. I just focused on my next step. The world could fall for all I care. But what I needed was just to make another step to move on."


    Cliff could only sigh. He couldn''t understand what Arthur was saying.


    "There maye a time in the battles toe where you lose the courage or will to take the next step. Take a look at where we are. In the middle of this vast ocean, there are nonds in the horizons. You will find enemies who will look just like this sea." Arthur pointed towards the sea.


    Cliff gave an unconscious look. At that moment, he could feel just how small he was as he looked at the vast ocean with nond in sight.


    "What I did is to take the next step simply. Many will lose courage and give up. But just take the next step and always take the next step. Real heroes will always have the will to take the next step. While most heroes have an incredible path that supports their state as a Ranked Hero, it''s really just a matter of courage for people like you and me." Arthur exined as he walked away.


    Cliff continued to gaze on the vast seas.


    "Even when I can''t seend or hope in the distance?"


    Arthur could not help but shake his head as he gave a small smile.


    "That''s always how things will look in theing age. Every battle we lose and even those we win won''t take us anywhere nearer to our goal. But that''s why you must take the step forward. Just keep making those steps, and you''ll be surprised that you''re already where you want to be.


    Cliff didn''t know how to answer Typical. But he nced at st and Trigger and even to the figure of Suit piloting the ship. They had now dove underwater and escaped most of the terrors above.


    "I just fought him and focused on one move at a time. I guess that''s what Heroes need." Cliff smiled. He sat down and slowly lost consciousness.


    Typical could only smirk as he watched the confused looks of his men looking at him for rification.


    "He is stepping into our realm..." Typical sighed.


    While this battle concluded, the fight between Seeker and the Empress had also escted.


    The Empress waited for the right time to do her Invoking. She knew that she would be suspected as a traitor if she activated it immediately after losing themunication signal. As such, she could only wait for the moment that Seeker would kill all the surrounding Commanders.


    She rushed and used several powerful attacks that somehow caused the wild lightning energies to focus its Seeker attack.


    But Seeker appeared to be ying around.


    Seeker took the time to help the confused Irvana out.


    It wasn''t obvious since Irvana was practically invisible.


    "Hey, Irvana. I wonder what that beautiful face of yours is thinking. This should be the first time that I actually saved you." Seeker teased.


    Seeker used the infamous princess carry to hold Irvana.


    "You..." Adult Seeker could not help but curse.


    "Jealous?"


    "You do know that we are the same person! y with fire, and you''d get burned!"


    "Unlike you, I have Cold Fusion. A little heat won''t burn me!" The younger Seeker teased.


    "We''ll see about that."


    Seeker continued his retreat and finally found one of the wind tunnels that Hermes left.


    The Empress suddenly rose to the sky as another burst of lighting energy exploded out.


    The energy gathered on the Rule and shot towards where Seeker was.


    It was as if the Empress could redirect the attack through Origin.


    Seeker didn''t retreat and used all the energies he had to form his Realm.


    The approaching energy caused Irvana''s body to shake.


    "Oh, don''t worry, my Russian Princess. Your knight is here!"


    Seeker could actually sense the Adult rolling his eyes.


    Seeker tossed Irvana towards the wind tunnel, and with his left hand, he summoned all the Realm that he could master.


    His battle with the Realm King drew near. And unless he could control the forces around him, he would die. The battle surprisingly proved to be a practical training. A lifeless Origin approached, and Seeker manipted it with his Realm.


    The lightning energies that the Titan released and the powers that allowed the Empress to redirect these attacks were all Realm.


    Seeker enjoyed the battle until he could hear the alerts that Richie and Sammy sent.


    "Oh? Good." Immediately Seeker retreated as he pretended to be taking critical attacks.


    The Empress was surprised and wondered why Seeker retreated.


    The Commanders immediately went to rescue the damaged Armors. Seeker''s attacks blew off the heads, but the pilots survived as they were positioned within the chest area.


    "What''s happening?" The Empress wondered.


    "Empress. This lowly one dares to ask. Do you know Chase Brander? The Kraken is currently divided into who to follow. Please guide us." The Commander immediately reported.


    The Empress no longer had hermunication feeds, so she immediately moved the Rule to send a strange ray over to the Armor.


    "Show me." The Empress ordered.


    A few minutes earlier...


    The Admiral had finished reading the text and was so bewildered that he was about to curse out in rage at the strange ploy that Chase had for him.


    He had never talked about lily pads and flower ninjas. But right before he could speak, a figure appeared out of thin air on the chamber''s side.


    The Admiral felt a trace of fear as a dark clothed man appeared right next to him. He saw it with his own eyes and couldn''t believe the science involved in creating this.


    Rai gave one look at the Admiral and then noticed the markings on the wall. It was then that Ria felt a surge of fear and immediately tried to teleport away. But it was toote.


    "You! Who are-"


    BOOM!


    Even before the Admiral could finish his sentence, the room had already exploded out.


    Although the Admiral appeared to be wearing arger Exoskeleton, it was the core of the Armor he wore. It could detach and leave the Armor''s shell and allow him to enter into the Kraken''s main halls and yet carry superior firepower.


    His Exoskeleton was thrown on the back as he smashed to the wall, whichter fell as the explosion''s force continued to damage it.


    Several floors and rooms were demolished in this blow, and arge trembling could be felt within the Kraken.


    The rms surged as the announcements and promations rang out all over the Kraken.


    The soldiers of the Kraken began to panic. The destruction meant that their entire craft would be bound to sink.


    The weapons used were among the higher-tiered weapons. While these weapons wouldn''t prate the hull, the insides of the Kraken were much more vulnerable. During the time that Chase and the Admiral continued to talk, the supersonic sound that Roselyn continued to send out directed the rest to gain ess to the weaponry of the Kraken.


    At that time, the game that Chase and the Admiral yed was akin to a chess match. At that period, the Admiral had opened several of the weaponry chambers and storehouses. Chase also gave his orders to open his. Since both were not yet proven to be traitors, the Commanders and soldiers hesitated in obeying the respective orders.


    Some obeyed while some held their ground and refused.


    It was there that the Covenant and Tyler''s team acquired the explosives they used to attack some of the chambers! Although the strongest weapons were beyond these two groups'' reach, they still managed to catch several powerful bombs that could quickly destroy the chambers.


    The first few buoyancy chambers were being destroyed through the explosive weapons that the Exoskeleton''s of the Covenant and Harker''s three soldiers had. But the main chambers and some others were wrecked using the explosives found in the Kraken.


    The Admiral was unconscious for a few seconds from directly experiencing the powerful st that sent him towards the back.


    The entire chamber was destroyed, and water began to rush inside the Kraken!


    "You destroyed the main buoyancy chamber?!" Chase screamed in anger.


    "You really are the traitor! Everyone in the Kraken, heed my words! I will tell you a secret! I do not deny my name! I am Chase Brander! I had a rtionship with one of the Empress of the WGP! Because of that, I was chased out! But the Empress that I loved risked a lot and protected me. She is that Empress who is defending us outside! And I will dare say her full name to tell you of my mission! She is Empress Miranne Zoren Everhiss!" Chase dered with great boldness.


    The Empress was listening to this while she and a troop of Commanders battled against Seeker. Seeker had already told her where Chase was and how he was currently aiding his team members. When she listened to the broadcast, the voice of the man, she loved echoed strongly. And when Chase boldly says her full name, which was punishable by death, her heart quivered.


    Empress Everhiss recalled the promise that Seeker gave earlier.


    "Can he soon call me by my name? Will this group allow me and him to be together?" The Empress could only hope in her heart.


    The Commanders waited at the Empress''s response.


    But then Chase continued.


    "Here is proof that he is the traitor! He might not be the Admiral we used to serve but an impostor! When I was with the Empress, she revealed to me a secret! And that secret is that the Kraken won''t sink even with all the buoyancy chambers are destroyed! This is a false secret! But if he were the real Admiral, he would know that and not destroy it!" Chase shouted.


    The Admiral finally had a sense of what was going on. He coughed up blood and was forced to make his Exoskeleton move. But the blow had damaged many parts of his Exoskeleton that it required more time to initiate its self-repairs.


    The Commanders who were with the Empress were shocked.


    "Empress? Is this true?" This gave hope to the Commanders.


    "Yes. And I am indeed Empress Everhiss. I knew Chase would be killed, so I made him go here. But the orders for the death of Chase Brander has been revoked. That is because he is one of the agents we ced to find out who the Kraken traitor is!" The Empress made her deration. There was fear in her heart. If thesemanders live to tell the tale of this battle, her identity would be jeopardized. But now, Chase faced the possibilities of being killed, and she could not retreat.


    "It is as Chase said! Commanders! The Admiral is the traitor! Announce it! We follow Commander Drake- no- Knight of the Emperor Chase!"


    The reports were cascaded all over the Kraken.


    The Admiral was stunned to hear then news. An Empress had agreed with Chase!


    "What''s going on! I have to act now! Either that Commander is working with Chase and is also a traitor, or the Empress herself is the traitor!" The Admiral made a daring guess.


    "It could even be that all three are the traitors! I have to move fast! I''ll just assume that it''s the Empress that''s the traitor!" The Admiral had no choice anymore. He was seen as the traitor. He had to do his best to save the Kraken from sinking. This would be proof of his loyalty.


    As he moved, the confusion and chaos even made the Admiral ask himself a strange question.


    "Maybe it''s me.... Am I the traitor?"

 Chapter 233 - The Last Mission Objectives

    With the alignment shifting to aid the Commander formerly known as Drake, the entire Kraken moved.


    Water was entering the Kraken, but the Empress immediately gave her instructions. After entering a specific series ofmands within the Command center, several parts of the Kraken began to close up. As such, the breach in the buoyancy chambers was immediately resolved.


    Chase gave his orders and directed the groups to defend the specific spots and redirect the guard forces where the Admiral made some of the toons watch, fearing that it was all part of his ploy.


    The Commanders in the Command center were now fully supporting Chase.


    Sammy was listening to themands, but his expression was strange.


    "I was wrong! I should have known better! I can''t believe that the WGP would leave a secret Konami Code that could close those breaches! And here I thought that only the Emperors couldmand the Kraken to close those breaches!" Sammy ranted away, making Roselyn and Stanley give him a weird expression.


    "Will this be a problem?" Stanley asked.


    "No problem. I was just wrong with my deduction. Anyway, quiet down. I''m still listening to themanders and Chase."


    "The Admiral sent a toon to guard this choke point. Why would he do that?" One of the Commander asked and was broadcasted towards Chase.


    "While it looks like that the Admiral wants to protect the missile silos, its possible that the original target is this path! The one that leads to the control panel! Maybe they are looking for a way to open those flood gates."


    "Right! It seems logical. The Admiral will want to open as many ports to send water in. Have them move and intercept the enemy!"


    The orders were sent, and the toon moved. A suspicious soldier was on watch and immediately panicked as it ran towards the control panel.


    The soldiers chased the man and shot, but he managed to move inside.


    More gunshots could be heard, and the lifelines of these toons were quickly disappearing.


    "Send more men! The enemy is here! The enemy is-" The toon leader wasn''t even able to finish his sentence when he died.


    The Commanders scrambled to send more teams, and the choke point soon only had a few soldiers left. The explosions on the other side grew louder and louder.


    Chase continued to give his orders to the group. He was now granted full ess and control of the video feeds of the Kraken. He gave orders to hide his location in case the missing Admiral would find him. The Commanders immediately followed and even changed the frequency of theirmunication.


    The toons and teams were moving from one ce to the next. If the teams were almost on standby, now no team remained stationary. They all moved in synched, and the Commanders were now able to create a guarded perimeter that assumed traitors were among them. This organized set up would limit the casualties and allow each group to support and attack each other if necessary.


    Some of the Commanders focused just on that and would ry several suggestions to Chase. Chase would either agree or modify themands. Slowly, every Commander treated Chase as the Admiral.


    Chase''s team was stationed near the Kraken''s top levels and was assigned to prevent anyone from escaping. No one questioned this as Chase affirmed everyone that there are no traitors among the team he formed.


    But while he gave his orders, another group of people was intently listening to the broadcast. But their focus was not on Chase''s words but on the supersonic sounds that Roselyn would send out.


    Tyler and his team found a small vacated room that Chase made for them. The group sat there and rested. The battle with the Ninjas was the most brutal one yet. It was even more terrifying than the fight against the Golems. Even Tyler had several wounds and stabs on his body.


    The room that Chase emptied had several medical facilities. Yet, for the Unlock, the medicines in this room could quickly help them recover.


    The ones who had the least wounds were Gardo''s team. They were the ones dressing the wounds of Tyler''s team, and the trio teens.


    "You alright?" Jane asked Tyler as she began to treat Tyler''s wounds.


    "I''ll live. You were pretty good back there."


    "Not good enough if you had to protect me." Janeughed.


    "We were practically useless until the veryst second."


    "Understandable. You were given an experimental drug designed to put you in the Unlock state temporarily. I''m guessing it was only when you guys thought you were going to die that you managed to see how to move and perceive faster than normal." Tyler smiled.


    "You guessed correctly. But among my team, I''m probably the best at it. And I could only do so much."


    "Don''t beat yourself up. Me and the boys had months of training."


    Despite the best attempt of Tyler tofort Gardo''s team, the team felt utterly helpless. Unlike Jane, who managed actually to do something useful, most of them weren''t.


    Efren nced at his wounds and could not help but sigh. He only received a few stabs and already had a hard time walking. Yet Tyler had a lot more injuries, and however, they seem fine. Worst was one of the teenagers who received several stabs but didn''t even flinch.


    It was there that Jane, Efren, Brent, and Archie managed to move in the speed that an Unlocked could. But the timing of their attacks was all off. Only Jane managed to adapt to that scenario.


    Efren continued to patch the many stabbed parts of Hank''s body. But Hank didn''t even flinch. He and the two other Cliff''s team members were all carefully listening at the broadcast that Chase was doing.


    Jane had a peculiar expression as she pondered just how they managed to survive.


    "Their bones are different. The attacks that those ninjas did couldn''t prate through the ribs. Our bodies are also modified to be harder like theirs, but our bones were lighter. Those three kids have double our weight and density. So while it looks like they are more injured, we are more damaged since me, Scribbs, and Earl are standard soldiers that emphasize mobility. Those kids are designed to be hard hitters given the techs that they have." Tyler summarized.


    Jane was silent and waited until suddenly, the eyes of Scribbs, Zidane, and Earl opened.


    "The path is open! We can proceed with the mission," Earl announced.


    "Let''s put on our gear and leave. Roselyn said that the ninjas ought to be escaping, so there probably won''t be any more enemies that can threaten us. Still, let''s be careful." Earl exined what they heard.


    "I can''t believe that we managed to pull this off! We''ll be using the Kraken''s missiles to blow itself from the inside-out! It sounded impossible... But now the way to those weapons room is open! That guy called Sammy sure is smart." Scribbs praised in amazement.


    "I''m sure this was all ording to the ns that Seeker and Arthur had made. That''s why our instructions were vague." Tylerughed.


    "Let''s move. The route towards the weapon chambers should be essible within the next five minutes!"


    The group immediately prepared to move out.


    The route they were to travel no longer had any soldiers as Chase moved them because the Kraken detected the Ninjas.


    A toon of soldiers,posed of several troops were already massacred. The camera feeds in the Command center show a group of men who had the attire that looked like a ninja.


    The moved with incredible speeds and utilized incredible weapons that used shurikens and other primitive des.


    But these weapons were flying and could even move on its own. Added with their outstanding agility, the team managed to move and easily evade the bullets'' barrage that the toons used to shoot them.


    The rage of the ninjas poured out in massacring these soldiers. Their attacks were brutal and aimed to kill the soldiers and Exoskeleton in the most gruesome way possible.


    "Faster! Trace the signal of lord Rai!"


    "Who are those warriors?! They nearly wiped us out!" One of the Ninjasined.


    "You didn''t notice? They could but didn''t! When we were retreating, those pilots could have still fought and shoot us! But they refused too!" Another cursed out.


    "My des couldn''t pierce through their bones! I stabbed several times and thought myst attack would stab through that pilot''s heart, but I failed!" Anotherined.


    The ninjas couldn''t understand how they were defeated. The first three exoskeletons were like walls. It was as if they couldn''t move past through them because as long as they were near them, any of the three could sense where they were. As such, some of them received ambushes from their blind spots because the other Exoskeleton would attack or deflect their attacks!


    Still, some of the Ninjas were able to bypass the enemy believing that the ninjas that stayed behind could finish the job. But the next three Exoskeletons that faced them were just as troublesome.


    The group moved with such excellent synchronization that they would even shoot their allies randomly. But with just a tilt of the body, the attacks that one of the Exoskeleton would make would barely miss the other and hit a ninja!


    The remaining soldiers positioned further back from the six exoskeletons managed to gain momentum as the battle progressed. The ninjas realized that there was a high chance of killing each other. Normally, they would have allowed this. But then the explosion happened, and the signal of their lord disappeared.


    As such, they retreated and prioritized finding their lord.


    They expected to lose half of their forces in that retreat, but the Exoskeletons didn''t attack them for some strange reason!


    "Quiet! We don''t know if these video cameras can pick up audio. Move faster! Our lord is nearby!" One of the Ninjas shouted to stop the others from talking.


    The group reached arge open space that was used as a warehouse and repairing center.


    As they entered, they immediately sent attacks to kill the remaining soldiers that were escaping.


    Suddenly, a person appeared out of thin air.


    The moment this person appeared, he immediately stumbled.


    The Ninjas noticed this and rushed towards him. They no longer chased the retreating figures but gathered around the man that appeared.


    "My Liege!" One of the ninjas eximed with great relief.


    The man who appeared was Rai. Blood was trickling down his mouth as his body had strange burns. He barely managed to teleport his way out when the massive bomb exploded. His attention was focused on the Admiral, and was about to kill it that he didn''t detect the bombs hidden under variouspartments of that room.


    If it weren''t for his quick reaction, he would have been dead.


    He used his teleportation skills to blink out of the fire.


    But as his path is treading between the third and fourth dimensions, the explosion still managed to reach the dimensions he walked into.


    As such, Rai was burned and faced the force of the explosion when teleporting. It was a risky move, but it was the only option he had. The space he walked on was copsing. In his experiments concerning the mystery of teleportation, he knew that most fire could not breach the dimensions. But a particr type of heat could breach it. And that was fire generated from sulfur.


    The previous explosions weren''t enough to harm him, but this was his weakness. Aside from the sulfur, the bomb was so intense that even as he treads in the fourth dimension, the space within that area was copsing.


    Rai managed to escape, but only as one who ran through the fire.


    He was drained as he forced his cells to stabilize the copsing world of when he teleported. If it weren''t for the fact that his subordinates could track his location, he wouldn''t have risked it.


    "My Liege! Are you alright?"


    "We must leave."


    The ninjas nodded and carried their leader as they escaped.


    The entire scene was caught on the videos as therge hallway. It was finally captured on camera, and the Commanders were stunned.


    "What was that? Cloaking? Was he there the entire time?!" One of the Commanders shouted in shock.


    "Probably. Perhaps his cloaking disappeared as his attire gave way! Look at is a figure! Our troops must have wounded him! We don''t know just how long that man was cloaked! Who knows! He must have someone that was in here, in this very room reporting to the Admiral!"


    "No use discussing that! I want twomanders to analyze the possible actions that his cloaked warrior you mentioned could have made! It must have been him who destroyed the other buoyance chambers. Tell all forces to be alert and inform them of the enemy that has a strong cloaking tech that could defeat our own!'' Chase intruded and gave hismands.


    The Commanders agreed and began to ry the information.


    But then, many of the Commanders grimaced as they noticed that the ninjas were no longer moving in secrecy. Instead, they rushed out as fast as they could, and forcibly attacked and killed their way.


    "They are heading for the top level!" A Commander noticed.


    "We have to kill them! We need that information! Killing at least one of those could give us an idea of who they are! They might even be one of the traitors!" One of the Commanders concluded. Several disagreed, but Chase waited patiently.


    "We have to try! They look like they are nning on escaping. Those technologies couldn''t be cheap. Maybe they only have one Cloaker while the rest are just here to support. Did you notice that they only began to move wildly when the Cloaker was injured and could no longer maintain his cloak?" Chase gave his suggestions.


    "Commander Drake is right! That should be the main team of the traitors! I rmend sending our forces to intercept and kill them! They could lead us to the missing Admiral!" Another Commander shouted.


    "Agreed!" Several others no longer hesitated and epted Chase''s analysis.


    And so, the soldiers focused their attention on chasing and killing the escaping ninjas. This allowed Sammy tomand the Covenant and Tyler''s group to move into the specific weapons facilities and pilfer the needed weapons. As such, the entire group was now approaching thest mission objectives that Seeker bestowed towards Sammy.


    All that was left was to send Roselyn and Stanley to their respective positions, and Sammy''s mission would be over.

 Chapter 234 - A Reason For The Invoking

    Outside, only the Empress remained at the hull. She had ordered the other Commanders to retreat and began to look for Seeker.


    She soon found him, or rather, Seeker appeared and dealt a powerful attack that created a strange vibration and even caused the Emperor on the skies to feel it.


    Emperor Cort was growing impatient. He had to finish this battle quickly.


    He grimaced on each devastating attack he delivered. He had consumed a full quarter of the Kraken''s energy. But as the enemy''s Horn received significant damage on thest sh, Emperor Cort carried on with the attacks.


    With another concentrated attack, the Horn finally exploded as a small crack appeared. The Titan then released another surge of lightning that would destroy the Horn from the inside out.


    At the attack, the Horn exploded.


    "It looks like your ally is dead." The Empress called out to Seeker.


    Seekerughed.


    "That armor was to protect us. The Dragon is now free to roam.


    A powerful green light could be seen floating in the skies.


    Rosa had allowed herself to fall to the ocean at the destruction of the Horn. Staying next to him would be dangerous even for her. Her Path that could resist Meng''s destion could no longer keep up as Meng grew stronger.


    The appearance of the great pale green light that contrasted the bright green of the aurora of the Origin energy.This light started to move as if it was pping like wings.


    Seeker sighed in envy. His destion has begun to harden. He was getting closer and closer to bing a real dragon. The green lights grew darker and darker. Soon the wings had a very dark green color that was almost ck.


    "The ck Dragon from my memories..." The Adult could not help but sigh.


    Greydon Meng was able to fly with his strange wings. A small rocket engine was attached on his back.


    "Let''s finish this." With his wings to guide his flight, Meng towards the Titan.


    Therge Titan reacted quickly and tried to swat Meng like a fly, but a tremendous force green force covered Meng, and it was as if arge arm with ws appeared.


    It quickly hardened and turned ck as it shed with the Titan.


    BOOM!


    The Empress was shocked at the scene. But instead of worry, she was excited. She would finally be reunited with her love.


    "Alright. You guys seem quite strong. So you said that I must do my Invoking. Why?" She asked as she continued to attack Seeker.


    "To kill the enemy. Those that the Progenitor feared are here. Hiding in the skies above." Seeker answered.


    "Then, when should I do the Invoking? If Emperor Cort had not summoned the Call of Titans, I would have made the Call of Poseidon. But now, I would need sufficient reason to make that Call. Even more, if you want me to make the strongest Invoking, I can do."


    "Oh, you''ll know when to make that call." Seekerughed.


    "For now, we fight!"


    "Alright. This auntie will take care of you!" The Empress charged forward. Knowing that Seeker wouldn''t dare kill him, the Empress made her move.


    As the battle continued, the situation inside the Kraken continued to y out. No one knew where the Admiral was, and everyone followed the orders of Chase.


    With Chase by their side, Roselyn and Stanley could procure an Exoskeleton from the many rooms.


    Sammy also wore his own, and as the group traveled, they did not look conspicuous. As the team appeared on several parts of the Kraken and could be seen by the Commanders, they did not ask any questions and concluded that Chase asked them to apany him. They had heard Chase order several soldiers along the way, and so, having three Exoskeletons apanying him was not suspicious.


    The group traveled towards the area where the main buoyancy chamber was as Chase exined that he was hoping to meet the Admiral.


    The Commanders sent various teams to guard the high-ways inside the Kraken in case the Admiral went back to his Armor. The Armor''s shell was soon found, but the Admiral was nowhere in sight.


    As for Sammy and the team, they were about to part ways.


    "And that''s the mission. I believe that if you get to the bottom of the wreckage, you can be rescued.


    "But why not the reactor? Why attack that area of the Kraken? Wouldn''t we be able to destroy the Kraken if we attacked the reactor?" She was confused as she continued to follow Sammy.


    Sammy could only smirk.


    "Just follow my directions. I''m out. Richie''s calling." Sammy gave hisst reminders before moving along with Chase.


    Roselyn and Stanley nced at each other.


    "Let''s just do this. It does make sense. Our orders were never to destroy the Kraken. But to sink it!'' Stanley exined.


    "I guess you''re right." Roselyn sighed and went towards the weapons silo near the main buoyancy chamber.


    The weapon silos were the most protected and guarded facility in the entire Kraken. The silo was a room which ced all the explosive underwater.


    The liquid that was used was one of Canadas''s most advanced liquid-ice techs. This was the concentration of Canadian Frost technology. It was this tech that matched the dangers of Hellfire technology and was even able to put it out. And right here, arge pool with all the dangerous silos being submerged made this area a lot safer than it would have been.


    Detonating a rocket in this room would not cause a chain reaction because of various factors.


    The pool was something that could significantly reduce hit and even absorb explosions of fire. It was dubbed the Ker of explosions and science, which made Canada strong enough to resist the Americas on the many skirmishes it had.


    The frost had the strange ability to "spread" and pass on its coldness faster than regr ice. It was in this way that Hellfire technology, which could also spread heat, found its match. Through the spreading of the ice, even a WGP Exoskeleton would not be immune to this tech. The pilot would die from the frost even before the Exoskeleton would be damaged from the constant coldness. This made it practically impossible for ordinary soldiers to retrieve any of the rockets locked up in this room.


    Tyler''s team entered the room with instructions on how to open the door manually.


    The room had walking tforms that were floating on top of a deep blue pool. The entire room looked like arge grid with the walking tforms forming the lines, and the spaces in between the squares were the water. The water had a weak bluish glow and was transparent. The glow was faint, and with the Unlocked''s enhanced eyesight, the group was able to see the various weapons and missiles positioned on each square of the grid.


    Every single one of these silos was something that no other country could match. It applied various techs and even fused various sciences that many countries developed.


    The entire room was shut down. The refrigerating devices that provided a great increase in the room''s cold temperature were also turned off. Of course, logically, turning this device off wouldn''t be a problem. The cold refrigerating effect was only to increase the cold temperature of the liquid and maintain it. But without the devices that cooled the room, it would still take days before the liquid''s temperature would drop.


    Of course, Sammy made Chase shut down the room so that no one could monitor what was going on inside it.


    Chase had asked the Commanders what to do with the room.


    The Commanders feared that perhaps the Admiral could manually bypass the system and force one of the rockets to beunched. Another way was to retrieve the missiles with the devices and pull them out of the cold liquid. It was impossible to take if someone would use a simple Exoskeleton. Unless someone was able to bring in arge crane that could function even with the frost, there was no possible means of getting the rocket out.


    Chase only had to bring up the topic, and it was the Commanders themselves voted to shut down the device.


    Even if it were the Admiral''s Exoskeleton, the seeping coldness would kill a person as every inch of the human body would have their temperature immediately drop. This sudden change of temperature could kill a person.


    And while the technology to resist the coldness was present, no one in the Kraken. After all, gaining ess and abusing the weapons facility was something that could potentially destroy the Kraken itself.


    And so, Tyler and his team immediately rushed towards the top of the many pools and went for a specific submerged missile. With Sammy and Chase working together, the group found a particr weapon.


    One weapon was the enhanced version of New Great Britain''s Wrath of Zeus. It was a weapon designed to prate and create a powerful concentrated explosion like that of a needle. Its st would not spread out but would concentrate on a specific spot as if it was going to pierce through it.


    The other weapon was a weaker version of the technologies used to make Europe''s Big Bang Boom. This was one of the most potent explosive weapons with the same explosive force of a nuclear bomb. It could create devastation. But this bomb did not have any environmental hazards as it would not generate any radiation.


    "Good. Just as Roselyn said, it is shut down. Alright. Remember, even if its shut down, the frost is still terrifying. Don''t worry about triggering any rms. Chase fooled the Commanders into doing a total shut down of this facility because they were afraid of the Admiral doing something. So without the plug, there are no rms in this ce that could trigger it." Tyler exined.


    "So, taking a dip down there would be about just as cold as that temperature that Ranked Hero Rosa made?"


    "That''s what we are assuming. So keep your body temp as high as possible. Tap twice if you want to pull as out. If not, go ahead. We won''t be able to pull you up with this rope since it might immediately freeze. Hank, Counter, Zidane. Get ready. If Earl can''t resist the cold very long, then you are to run and fight your way and get to Roselyn and Stanley''s position and pull those weapons for them." Tyler then used a metal cable to tie Earl''s Exoskeleton.


    "If after taking a dip inside, you think it''s too much, tap out. If underwater, and you think you won''t make it, tap twice on anything so we can send someone down to save you." Tyler reminded once more.


    Earl nodded.


    "Take too long, and you would die from the frost, or even if you doe out, you might still identally kill yourself from autophagy in trying to burn your cells. Remember your training." Tyler added.


    Earl immediately dove to the deep water and moved as fast as he could.


    The chilling frost immediately attacked Earl. It seeped into his Exoskeleton and affected his body.


    Earl rushed towards the area where the missile was and continuously raised the heat.


    "It''s weaker than Rosa''s frost. Thank goodness!" As having experienced various battles against the Ranked Heroes, he recalled fighting Rosa. It was Rosa who trained most soldiers to increase their body temperature and pressured them with an extreme frost that could seep into the bones almost immediately.


    The basic principles that Seeker revealed on his first sh with Rosa was an oddly simple technique. With his Unlocked powers and his superior control of his body, Seeker shivered.


    The shivering was so powerful that the heat he generated could actually be felt by those nearby. Everyone was trained on how to drop and raise his temperature continually. The training was rtively easy, that even Gardo managed to learn it. Of course, his biology was one reason he could push down his body''s temperature.


    And so, Earl was quickly able to dive into the deep pool and retrieve the rocket. He used his Exoskeleton to attack the various mps that held the rocket and immediately pulled it out and resurfaced.


    "Scribbs can get the other missile. It''s not that dangerous. But I don''t think I have enough energy to go down again." Earl reported as he emerged from the water. The cold remained but the constant heat that.


    On two other ces, the same scene was urring.


    "This isn''t so hard! It''s weaker than Rosa''s!" Daraughed as she moved down and grasped the missile and broke the various locks that held it in. She didn''t even emerge but swam towards the other part and got the other rocket that needed.


    As for Roselyn and Stanley, despite using the Exoskeleton of the WGP, they could manage one trip back and acquired their respective missiles.


    Let''s go. It''s been five minutes." Roselyn rushed out, and Stanley followed.


    Stanley continued to count how long it has been. As for their mission, they were ordered to detonate both rockets on a precise time. Chase had already exined how to arm these missiles, and Roselyn had cascaded this information through the broadcast. The missile was immediately armed. If the warhead received tremendous pressure, it would explode or if an external heat would prate it.


    The moment each team left the weapon silo, the chaos within the Kraken became more chaotic.


    Commander Drake was attacked by one of hispanions, and the other two soldiers who were reported with him were also killed.


    The battle was soon transmitted as Drake reached an area where the cameras were working. More soldiers were caught up in the battle between Commander Drake and the mysterious WGP Exoskeleton.


    The traitor wore a standard suit, but his piloting skills were so excellent that it made Drake look like an amateur. More soldiers were rushing towards the location of the Commander.


    The Admiral managed to use somemunication rooms and witnessed the battle between Drake and the mysterious Exoskeleton.


    The battle that the two had wasn''t fake. Drake was close to death if it weren''t for the soldiers who came to rescue their Commander.


    The mysterious Exoskeleton immediately escaped when more soldiers arrived.


    "Chase him! It''s the Admiral!" The wounded Chase shouted.


    The Admiral cursed as he saw the video feed.


    He was once again being med as the enemy. But the fight was so real. Chase received several attacks that pierced right through his Exoskeleton. In the Admiral''s perspective, he even thought that Chase received a critical injury.


    "What''s going on? Is Chase not a traitor despite his questionable past? No! That Exoskeleton must have been either in league with Chase and yed out this scene or is one of those mysterious invaders!" The Admiral concluded and rushed towards the reactor of the Kraken.


    While everyone focused on these ces, the Covenant, Tyler''s team, and Roselyn and Stanley finally reached their assigned locations.


    Roselyn and Stanley had gone their separate ways. Stanley rushed towards the damaged buoyancy chamber while the rest were positioned on three main elevators.


    These Elevators were no longer functioning as part of the protocol and would only work if the Commanders enabled it. As such, all the Elevators would automatically position itself on the lowest floor of the Kraken that was deep underwater.


    The respective groups destroyed the elevator doors and prepared to drop the missiles.


    "Drop it now!" Tyler ordered.


    Elsewhere, Titan said the same thing.


    And finally, Roselyn also made the drop.


    Stanley had ced his missile inside the wreckage of the main buoyancy chamber and had retreated. His fingers were right on top of the trigger.


    Roselyn dropped the rocket half a second earlier than Tyler and Dara.


    With the weights each team tied to the rocket, the warhead fell headfirst.


    Half-way through the fall of the first, Tyler and Dara''s team immediately threw the missile and rushed to escape.


    Back outside, the battle between the Titan and the dark-winged creature continued. The Emperor had used more parts of the Kraken to rece the parts of his body that the enemy could destroy.


    Yet this wasn''t enough of a reason.


    The Empress knew that the WGP could still be watching this battle through the Kraken''s video feeds.


    "What exactly are you waiting for? I need a solid reason to do my full-"


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    Several ces of the Kraken exploded out, causing a great trembling.


    The explosions pierced through the hull, and fourrge holes piercing right towards the ocean was made. Kraken.


    The Empress was shocked at this sight. The Kraken was difficult to pierce through from the outside because of its ingenious designs. But an explosion of that force from the inside would have terrifying consequences.


    For the first time, in the history of the WGP, the legendary sea monster that has sent countless ships to the deep abyss is now sinking to the abyss.


    The Empress was shocked. Even with everything she witnessed tonight, she still hadn''t expected that Seeker''s goal was to sink the Kraken.


    "As you can see, we don''t need Medusa''s head. I believe, that this should be enough of a reason for you to make that Invoking.." Seekerughed.

 Chapter 235 - The Call Of Poseidon

    Three powerful explosions that used one of New Great Britain''s most powerful tech created massive holes under the Kraken. It used the elevators as a way to reach higher levels.


    The other bomb that they used had the strongest st range. Although the force of this st was many times weaker than the original version the European nations used as their weapons of mass destruction, it still had a decent range.


    As such, the WGP''s Big Bang Boom bomb could not destroy it. The explosion was forced to travel up the floors and would destroy the elevator doors. But these exhaust ports were too tight and caused the st to expand out to the top floor.


    It did not have a terrifying force that destroyed most of the elevator shaft. The Elevator shaft''s surrounding armor used the same metal that is applied on the hull. And so, it was among the most stable part of the Kraken.


    "Send teams to contain the damage! We need to prioritize closing those gaps! I want to get a full damage report at once!" The Commander, who was also the main engineer of the Kraken, ordered.


    "Sir! There is arge breach on the locations where three of our main elevators functioned. The strong metal that we used to build the shaft contained it. But the explosions reached all the way up. All the floors of these two elevator shafts are damaged as the explosion leaked out."


    "We need to send a team to close the holes!"


    "No! We have bigger problems! Look here!" The Commander pointed out to the other Commanders.


    "Look at the damage on the Buoyancy Chambers!"


    "I thought the Empress fixed it!"


    "Fixed? The Empress merely opened up the ports to dissolve the original weakness of the Main chamber! But they threw a Big Bang Boom bomb on the main chamber! It destroyed all the gates that had closed and stopped the waters from traveling from one chamber to another! This wasn''t a weakness before, but now it really is a weakness!"


    The Kraken then began to shake and tremble.


    "Sir! The top floors are giving in!"


    "Of course, it will! The Kraken was designed to have a tough shell that could withstand attacks from the outside! But the damage we received exploded from the inside out! The secret of the Kraken''s powerful defense has been with the hard metals, and the shock-absorbing and scattering capabilities beneath this tough shell! Break that, and it will alle tumbling down!"


    "Then what do you suggest we do? Abandon ship?" Another Commander angrily argued.


    "Calm down! Death is upon us, and getting angry and panicking can''t do anything! The damage created on this Elevator shaft is not as strong as the rest! Plug that in first! Then we have to send our teams to close the damaged sluice gates near the main Buoyancy chamber and make sure the water flowing inside the main chamber does not overload the other buoyancy chambers!"


    The Kraken applied the buoyancy system to make therge structure capable of floating. The weight and buoyancy were divided among all chambers and supported by this main chamber.


    Of course, as Sammy predicted, the weakness was all a fa?ade. There were ways for the Kraken to remain floating even without these chambers. It was a diversion designed to make their enemies invest in such an attack and only fail.


    But Sammy ordered Stanley to ce a bomb at the most insidious area possible.


    Stanley ced the bomb he got inside the recently wrecked main buoyancy chamber. The st rushed out and destroyed the gates that closed all the breaches when the main buoyancy chamber was destroyed.


    "Where did they get those weapons?! We need to answer that question! If traitors are still among us, they will use more bombs! We have to stop thinking within limits. We never expected someone to be able to bring a weapon of that scale within the Kraken undetected!"


    Sammy continued to listen as he followed the battered Exoskeleton of Chase. After fleeing, he got out of his Exoskeleton suit and rendezvous with Chase on a predetermined area.


    "I can''t believe you guys did this. The Kraken, which we thought was unsinkable sinks." Chase still couldn''t believe what they pulled through.


    "The moment you joined us, this was already set in stone." Sammyughed.


    Sammy used themunication of the Kraken against itself. He used the paranoia that themanders had through the appearance of traitors. And this restricted the Commander''s movements and forced them to give severalmands that were beneficial to the Unlocked. The Kraken''s entire army yed the fool in his hands.


    "Take this incident as your first lesson. The reason why your elite team of Commanders failed is that you still functioned within a certain scope. You trusted in certain impossibilities. But as you can see, I have a team that could do and conquers all things that were once previously thought to be impossible. And I tell you this... You will see greater things."


    Chase was silent, but his heart could not help but excitedly beat. He had long thought that his heart was dead. But now, the hope of their reunion drew near.


    "Commander Chase! What are your orders?" One of the Commanders asked.


    "Do whatever you can there. I am looking for the Admiral. He might still find ways to use other weapons to blow up! Send a team to observe the weapon silos! He must have found a way to sneak in there and get weapons! Stop functioning within the limits of your imagination! Assume that our enemy can do the impossible!" Chase gave his orders.


    The Commanders were just as enlightened at Chase''s words, as Chase was with Sammy''s words.


    The group then began to create action points and erged the scope of probabilities. It would have been chaos, but for the top elites of the WGP, this was what they were trained to do.


    The Kraken was sinking at an unbelievable speed.


    Outside, the Empress was shocked and couldn''t understand how such an event happen. Even if Chase Brander was betraying the Kraken and secretly aiding Seeker''s team, she never expected this level of destruction.


    Seeker took this time and finally exined the n to the Empress.


    The Empress was stunned.


    "This was what this whole thing was all along?"


    "Yes." Seekerughed.


    "You are greedy. Now I understand what you want. But it makes sense. If your n seeds, it will bring great benefits. But it''s impossible! They won''t help you. And I won''t help you if you cannot assure the safety of my daughter."


    "They will help us. And don''t worry about your daughter. I can''t assure you that she will be safe. She sort of pissed off one of the high ranking members of my team. While she won''t be physically harmed, her sufferings will be that of the spirit. But don''t worry. Lowengren won''t go overboard. Just do your part." Seekerughed.


    The Empress could only sigh. She knew that her actions would betray the WGP. But she didn''t expect that this was a step she would not be able to retract.


    "Then, I shall follow your ns." The Empress answered through gritted teeth.


    "Good. Show it to me then. I want to fight the best of what the WGP can offer."


    "I am the Empress of the Dead. The Sea is my Kingdom. The Call of Poseidon awakens my servant, the sea. But I''ll show you my full invoking."


    "I invoke my right as an Emperor of the World. I beseech the Kingdom to heed my request." The Empress made her deration.


    "Call of Poseidon!"


    This phrase was the trigger of her Rule to bring out the fullness of its power.


    When they stood at the Rule, the resonating aura that has long been mixed to the world reacted.


    When an Emperor sits on the Rule, he wasn''t just sitting on one of Earth''s most powerful weapons.


    Since the establishment of the World Governing Powers, Origin''s science has long been harnessed and released through the world. And what was sinister is that the surrounding nations did not know that this energy was present on almost every corner of the globe.


    The Krakens weren''t just military bases. They were generators of Origin Energy. An Emperor seated in a Rule was like a god. He or she would have control over this very power. And the fullness of their might would be revealed upon the Invoking. This was why the weapon was called a "Rule."


    Emperor Cort''s invoking was amongst the weakest forms of Invoking. It would disy its power only when a Kraken was nearby. Of course, their Invoking had lesser restrictions. But for the Invoking''s that Empress Everhiss has, it was far more powerful. Of course, the WGP never intended these powers to be revealed unless necessary.


    A green energy appeared a full three kilometers around the Kraken. At the center was the Rule of the Empress.


    The green lights did note from the sky. But from the sea.


    The sea became alive and started to move.


    A wall of water rose on all sides of the Kraken. And it grew higher and higher.


    It reached ten meters higher than the Kraken.


    The Commanders were all shocked but took advantage of this.


    "Quick! Send men to repair the breaches on the following sections! Create barriers on these chokepoints!" One of the Commander ordered.


    "Send a team to the weapons silos, nearest to these locations. We should reactivate power to those silos! Someone was able to retrieve weapons without our knowledge!" One of the Commanders suggested.


    The series of orders were immediately ryed as actions were taken to salvage the damage from the explosion.


    Outside, the waters began to rise like a wall around the Kraken. The glow of the sea had a strange green light.


    Twenty meters.


    Thirty meters.


    Forty meters,


    The scene stunned even Seeker.


    "This is what it was. The unseen war between the technology the WGP revealed that forced the Presiders to move." The adult Seeker watched in amazement. It was then that things on his timeline started to make sense. The wars and battles that urred across the globe now made sense when Seeker saw the real strength of the WGP.


    The waters moved with a strange form of intelligence. It no longer obeyed the rules of physics but was actually moving out of the Kraken!


    The Emperor and Meng stopped their battle and observed the changes happening on the ground.


    "Call of Poseidon. So this is her power. She controls the seas. Then what exactly is the other call?" The Emperor wondered.


    Meng also stopped and had to look at the scene before him.


    "That technology. If used correctly, it should match the power levels of World Champions... It seems weneed the WGP''s technology." Meng nced and observed the moving powers.


    The Rule of the Empress had transformed. It was now surrounded by a deep and thick water that expanded fifty meters from where the Rule was hovering.


    "This has long been transformed into ours. The same technology that we gave to all the nations to terraform Earth after the Third World War was also the materials that created the Origin energy that we control." The Empress spoke softly. She had long noticed the strange hearing ability that Seeker had. She wasn''t using any amplifiers to talk to Seeker.


    Seeker then began to realize just how formidable the Progenitor''s Seeds were.


    "I see. This was part of the Progenitors n. It looks like he invested a lot. But sadly, it wasn''t enough." Seekerughed.


    "What are you talking about?"


    "It''s a long story. But whatever it is that you have, it won''t be enough. You were the first to fall after all." Seeker sighed.


    The Empress observed Seeker with a strange look.


    "Since you have no intention of telling me now, then I guess we should continue on putting a show."


    "Of course. It would be suspicious if you didn''t try to fight me and went with your strongest Invoking."


    "Then die!" The Empress shouted as she raised her hand.


    Severalrge columns of water sted out from the tall wall. The water moved with incredible speed as it harnessed the energy around it.


    A small metal cube appeared once more, and Seeker crushed it with great force.


    BOOM!


    The waters met a powerful sound shield that covered around Seeker.


    Seeker was shaking as he continued to contain the sound around him.


    More waters gathered, and soon Seeker was enveloped with arge ball of green water that continued to swirl and swirl. The Kraken''s metal floor was slowly showing some damage as the twirling water grew brighter and brighter.


    Seeker was facing immense pressure. But he contained the sound force around him and closed his eyes.


    The Empress controlled the waters behind her to createrge towering water, and it began to spin as if it was a drill. It was poised, ready to strike like a scorpion''s tail. The wall of waters around the Kraken also began to glow.


    Seeker grit his teeth.


    "We should try it now," Seeker called to his Adult version.


    "The pressure is right... And what we are going to do should create a strange fluctuation. But the energy around us will mask the fluctuations of these changes. This is the perfect ce to do that." Seeker continued.


    "You don''t have to tell me since I''m still you, but wiser." The Adult reminded.


    Seeker and the Adult began to do something that no one in Earth''s history was able to do.


    All these past months, and how he had treaded on various Paths and solidified him was all to awaken a certain power. Of the many Paths that Seeker encountered in his future, the Path of Realm King was the one he knew of the most.


    The Realm King treated Seeker as a Disciple and taught him and showed him his powers'' fullness. Even though most of it never manifested in Seeker''s future. But now, Seeker had a totally different form of foundation. He had a body that contained the marvelous foundations of so many other Heroes and Oveers that he knew he could achieve it.


    The past month, Seeker allowed the different teams to experiment on what physical attributes could create different types of Unlocked bodies. But all of these were but the basics.


    The Covenant, Harker''s Trio, and even Cliff''s group all had a body that was categorized as an Unbing Body. None of the Oveers even began their experiments on how to make an Inhuman Body.


    This was because Seeker prohibited them from doing it. The Realm King''s knowledge, science, and possibly his inheritance from the Progenitor were necessary to make that body. Seeker knew that if they were to make a perfect Inhuman Body, they needed Realm science.


    But something happened to Seeker that practically allowed him to gain ess to powers of Realm.


    The Adult Seeker awakened. When the Adult''s soul took form, it was as if Seeker had a different means of essing his memories. All the lessons that the future Seeker went through when he trained with the Realm King were once just memories that the young Seeker could view or watch from afar, as one watches a movie.


    But now, the Adult who could recall it also lived through it. He felt every pain, he went through every experiment, and this experience gave the Adult an edgepared to the Child.


    Seeker''s body underwent a bizarre change. The Adult used his memory and the pain engraved on his heart to go through every specific change that was necessary to create Realm. Seeker never understood it before. But now, Seeker could see in the fourth dimension. When the Adult was being sent back in time, he saw a world that had over seven dimensions.


    With such foundations, Seeker was very confident in seeding in this process.


    The Child was in charge of controlling the sound that protected Seeker, but at the same time, he also aided the Adult whenever the Adult would lose control over the changing cells. Seeker would forcible contain the cells to keep it from acting wildly. The process was painful. Seeker''s entire body was starting to manifest in the fourth dimension.


    Meng could feel the great changes and gaze at Seeker.


    "It''s like those Xianxia tales of old. Seeker is practically reaching a higher Realm in the middle of a battle." Meng chuckled.


    Seeker''s control over the Realm grew stronger and stronger.


    The Adult finally stopped the channeling of energy that allowed him to grow a body part on the fourth dimension.


    "So, that''s what he meant." The Adult finally understood it.


    The Realm King had talked about his powers and how to create it, but since he knew Seeker would never be able to understand it, the Realm King tried to change the means of his training and attempted several experiments to make Seeker stronger. But instead of teaching Seeker how to attack through the fourth dimension, he decided to teach Seeker how to improve his senses in the three dimensions. This was the best level that Seeker could reach.


    But now, Seeker could sense in those dimensions and be able to leave a part of his body on that dimension to create the power attacks that everyone wouldbel as telekinesis.


    The Child actively wielded the sounds around him and moved forward. With the foundations set, Seeker''s control on his Realm grew exponentially. He began to rush forward and finally moved out of the water.


    Suddenly, Seeker''s body began to fly.


    Surmounting Strength urred as Seeker flew right for the Empress.


    "Come!'' Seekerughed.


    The pir of water immediately moved to sting the flying Seeker.


    And against all logical expectations, Seeker sent out a fist to meet the drilling water.

 Chapter 236 - The Call Of The Dead That Waits Dreaming

    Seeker''s fist contained the force of his strength. And along with his power, was the telekic force that flew along with his punch.


    The area around his fist became his Realm. The sound condensed and became stronger as Seeker controlled and contained it within his fist. The energy his body emitted through Cold fusion and the radiation that his cancer cells released could now be wielded.


    Cold fusion was used to create energy. And aside from this, another powerful energy was formed as Seeker''s body emitting radiation through his cancerous cells. These two energies had no framework for working. At least, not on the three dimensions.


    With the theories that his Master taught him, Seeker experimented and began to understand all those words.


    The Realm King was called the Realm King because of his powerful Realm. In fact, while he couldn''t kill any Oveers, no Oveers could kill him. He had the perfect defense. And all that knowledge was passed on to future Lynd and Seeker. Seeker never understood it, and Lynd could only draw out up to a fifth of the strength that the Realm King could create.


    And so, out of the invisible air around him, Seeker''s Realm gradually formed. It had energy in him as the various Path''s that he met intersected.


    His foundations were now even more significant than the Realm Kings.


    As the punch was sent out, a force that was born within the fourth dimension moved explosive energy that appeared around Seeker.


    BOOM!


    It was as if the Origin water that took the form of a spinning spear met an invisible wall. Therge water pir sttered and could not pierce through and strike Seeker. The pir of water retreated as it lost its head.


    Several other pirs immediately appeared at the Empress''s orders.


    "Good! Since I know you won''t die that easily, I can go all out to fool the world!" The Empress thenmanded several more pirs to appear.


    Each pir came from one side of the wall, and it rushed out to attack Seeker.


    "Realm Shield!" Seeker shouted. He used the remaining sound around him as the foundation that wrapped the energy of his Realm.


    The Adult Seeker then focused onpressing the energy within.


    The water pirs rushed, but all exploded as it reached a ten-meter parameter.


    As thest pir struck him from behind, Seeker immediately allowed his Realm to grow weaker and allowed the force to strike and throw him forward.


    Seeker rode the force of the impact and even controlled the direction of his flight.


    With his Realm, he now could do the one thing only the Realm King could do in his future. And that was to fly.


    Seeker flew towards the Empress and gathered the energy on his fist. He crushed another Balls of Thunder and contained the sound explosion. Just like before, Seeker wielded this energy as it waspressed in the space around him.


    Seeker''s flight was so fast that the Empress was caught unprepared.


    Seeker punched out on the water shield that protected the Empress.


    "Did you know? Sound travels faster in water!" Seekerughed.


    BOOM!


    The moment Seeker''s fist touched the water, a vibrating explosion charged out and struck the Rule on all angles.


    The Empress instinctivelymanded her Rule to close and managed to avoid the crushing energy from the sounds.


    The Rule was sent out of the water sphere because of the powerful strike. It crashed on the various structures of the Kraken beforeing to a stop.


    "Congrattions! We are finally beings that are not bounded in the three-dimensions! Could we be considered as angels in biblical history?" The Childughed.


    "No..." The adult Seeker answered with a weak voice. The transformation left tremendous pain in his soul, and the Adult''s soul actually grew smaller.


    "You should listen to Eagle more often. Nephilims means the Fallen Ones if we consider the strict Hebrew root of that word. Are we those who have fallen? We can''t call ourselves that."


    "You''re right. We are those that Ovee. We don''t fall, but we ascend. So... hims? I''m not too good in Hebrew."


    "Just go with Realm Treader like what Master called it. I''ll leave everything to you. I don''t think I can wake up when you have your fight with Master. So you''re on your own, kid. Just don''t y around with girls. You will regret it..."


    "Whatever you say, Mom." The Child chuckled as he nced at the Empress.


    "Now, I''m fighting this battle alone. I should take this time to master Realm. Otherwise, my Master will kill me." Seekerughed.


    The Empress no longer looked with a stupefied expression. She had long expected Seeker to be capable of creating such an attack.


    She checked on the Rule and noted that parts of the Rule were damaged from the attack.


    "These folks are amazing..." She praised.


    "At least, I can be confident of my future with Chase together..." She sighed. She then urged the Rule to move forward once more.


    "Who are you? What power did you wield?" The Empress asked angrily, putting on an act. She used her speakers to amplify her questioning to make the Emperor above hear it.


    "It seems that the Empress of the Sea isn''t qualified to know my name!" Seeker shouted as loud as he could and used the Balls of Thunder''s remaining sounds to make it look like he had mysterious techs that could amplify sound.


    Emperor Cort witnessed all this and immediately sent various messages with his emergency pings.


    "I don''t care about the consequences. We need the Empress to do a full Invoking! Her current power cannot defeat the enemy!" The Emperor reported.


    As the Emeperor continued his report, Seeker was concentrating on gathering the energy. He was close enough tomunicate to the Empress without making the others hear.


    "Is this enough? I''m sure that I''ve damaged the Rule on thatst attack." Seeker then asked with a normal voice.


    "Yes. It should be enough. Be careful, though. My Invoking is not easily defeated." The Empress warned.


    "Follow the n. Richie... Anytime now..." Seeker also shouted in a supersonic frequency.


    "Rx. The boys and girls of your team are escaping as we speak. I''m already in this Void Traveller also. I found the right chick to help me fight against the Tyrant Empress. So I''ll bepleting my mission, and will be off. I can''t afford to spend time here if Arthur''s predictions are right. So I hope for the best in yourst missions." Richieughed.


    "Send us the coordinates. And remember... That attack... You must make sure that he won''t be able to detect it."


    "Just have the Empress use widescale attacks. I can assure you that he or she won''t know what hit him."


    "No. That''s a he. I know him. He killed an entire army, including two Ranked Heroes, and injured one Oveer. I''m sure it''s him."


    "Whatever... I''m out anyway. Too bad... I was betting against Arthur''s prophecies." At that, Richie''s voice vanished.


    The Empress then heard thest instructions that Seeker hadn''t told her. Richie was very detailed, and the Empress immediately recorded the coordinates.


    After waiting for the time for Richie to finish his job, Seeker slowly walked towards the Empress and revealed how the area around him was actually stopping. Every raindrop falling within a few meters from Seeker would stop.


    With a wave of his hands, the water dispersed.


    Emperor Cort saw it and immediately sent the video feeds to report to the WGP what was happening.


    As the Empress saw Seeker move, she knew it was time for her to do the Invoking. And this was undoubtedly one of the aces of the World Governing Powers.


    "I invoke my right as an Emperess of the World. I beseech the Kingdom to heed my request. Grant me the strength to kill a god!" She shouted.


    The moment she shouted, strange energy vibrated around the entire area. And then, there was silence.


    The falling rain, the blowing winds, and the dark clouds all stood still as she made that Invoking.


    Even Seeker was stunned.


    The waters around them had stopped. The very storm itself stopped.


    "What the?" Seeker was confused for a few seconds then realized it.


    "Of course! We''re in the middle of the ocean! The clouds itself must have been made up of the waters from the sea! And if this Kraken has been creating Origin energy, then that storm is made of it!"


    "You better move." The Empress warned as she shed a devilish grin on her face.


    Even the water droplets around Seeker revealed that it contained Origin energy. It began to shake, and Seeker felt an incredibly dangerous feeling. The vibrations around him were telling Seeker that it was dangerous. This was Seeker imploying the foundation of Richie''s Path.


    Without hesitation, Seeker crushed two more Balls of Thunder and summoned his Realm. The Adult was no longer there, so Seeker had to control and contain the Peals of Thunder and his Realm.


    A shield formed, and Seeker charged off and flew to the sky without hesitation. He moved as fast as he could to get away from the Kraken.


    Up above, Meng also noticed Seeker''s retreat and moved without hesitation.


    The Titan sent out several attacks towards Meng on thatst second.


    A few secondster, the water of the clouds, the water of the sea, began to rush towards the location where the Empress hovered.


    The waters ran on top of the Kraken and did not follow thews of physics. Water was moving at will and could even climb the skies.


    Seeker felt a great sense of threat and flew faster and faster as Meng did his best to move as well.


    The waters began to gather around the Rule, and a powerful bright green light shed.


    BOOM!


    A powerful explosion that looked like a miniature hydrogen bomb shocked the skies.


    Seeker was thrown off in the air and used his Realm to stop him from being thrown off.


    Seeker knew that his speed wasn''t fast enough to escape the explosion. He only had three more balls of thunder, so he decided to withstand it with his Realm alone.


    "Master''s punch could move an Orbital. What''s a little shockwave to me?!" Seeker roared as he sent out a powerful punch. It was as if his fist temporarily disappeared as it was reflected on the fourth dimension.


    BOOM!


    A counter explosion erupted on front of him, but still, he was thrown back and had to control hisnding.


    Seeker''s arm had several wounds as if the veins in his arms exploded. The pressure was too strong for him to resist on his own. Yet he managed to survive the powerful st that was a level lower to Weapons of Mass Destruction.


    "They really are scary. How pathetic of me. With all my advantages, I''m still not half as good as Master. Master would be so angry." Heughed to himself. Seeker gave another nce back at the Empress.


    Suddenly, a green figure withrge dark green wings emerged nearby.


    "Greydon. You''re alive." Seeker smiled.


    "It seems that we need to work together to finish the n." Meng''s form revealed most of his body save for pieces of his clothes that he used to cover his face.


    "Just as Arthur predicted. You look like you received quite a deadly attack."


    "When the powerful explosion urred, that Titan sent a powerful lighting attack. I was unable to evade it. It was a lighting attack simr to Lennox and had the properties of hardening. I was barely able to destroy it with my destion."


    "As expected of the WGP. I''m more curious now. How is it that the WGP failed to put up a fight when the Aragarians came? Just how powerful is the true strength of the Presiders if they managed to defeat the WGP from the inside?" Seeker''s expression turned serious.


    "Yes. This power that they wield is enough to destroy the world. Even if all the nations attack them, they will fail. Something must have happened in your future even during the peaceful days before you became a soldier."


    "Regardless, if Arthur predicts that we can''t save all of the WGP, then our n is the most reasonable."


    As he looked back at the Kraken, the pair''s expression grew more and more solemn.


    The water had risen from the ocean''s level, and a strange creature over 300 meters long was standing on top of the ocean.


    The Kraken was deep inside of thisrge monster. The monster''s form was that of a human except thatrge tentacles were sprouting like beards on this human''s massive head.


    Right at the forehead was a bright silver object. This was the Rule, and, on the Rule, the Empress stood.


    "I Call on the Dead that Waits Dreaming!" She shouted as the waters started to grow brighter and brighter. The Kraken was also glowing green light as strange energy that came directly from the Kraken reactors shone with bright energy and gave life to the water monster.


    "Amid the ck seas of infinity, I call on you!"


    "Call of Cthulhu!"


    Therge sea creature began to create a strange shriek that created shockwaves around the area.


    Waves of water rushed out and created powerful andrge waves nearly hundreds of meters tall.


    The towering form of therge water monster looked almost alive. It''s tentacles swayed and moved, and it''srge arms were slowly rising up on the sea.


    "This seems troublesome. How do I get near that?" Seeker was in deep thought.


    "It seems they''re making it harder for us. The Titan is merging."


    As Meng pointed out, therge Titan moved down towards the water monster and submerged itself. It stood right where the head of the creature was.


    "Empress!" Emperor Cort called out as the Rule of the Empress moved and positioned itself next to the Titan. The Titan opened up, and the two moved inside.


    Arge water monster inside was the Kraken and the Titan, and right inside the Titan were two Rules that were powering the Invokings and were utilizing the power source from the Kraken.


    "How was the Kraken not affected by that explosion?" Meng asked.


    "Controlled explosions. The direction of where the force of their bombs had some form of intelligence. It wasn''t just a bomb. It was a Bomb that had Realm science. What envious technology. We didn''t have that. Only Arthur, who could calcte the range of the explosions and create forms when deploying it, could do simr things that that science could do. It would make the Atomic Thresher a hundred times stronger if he had that tech." Seeker could not help but nce greedily.


    The Kraken appeared to be fine. The holes were now being repaired. Even with all the chaos that happened outside, it didn''t affect them. In fact, the Kraken was now showing capabilities that even the Commander and the Admiral never knew existed.


    The panic inside the Kraken remained as Commander Chase was nowhere to be found.


    Only Emperor Cort couldmunicate with them and began to give his orders but was suddenly stopped by the Empress.


    "Emperor Triton! Follow my orders!" The Empress immediately ordered.


    Cort was stunned at the sudden orders.


    "We have another enemy. Follow my ns precisely. We don''t have much time! The enemy is stronger than us! If we don''t act together, we will die!" The Empress said with an angry expression.


    Cort could only nod.


    "Tell the Commanders to support us with their energy and repair whatever is needed to be repaired and cut the line. I need your full attention for the enemy ahead! Record everything that is to happen and send it back to base, if we die, at least they can see everything!" She ordered.


    The Emperor nodded and immediately ryed the instructions, not even giving the Commanders time to report the missing Chase.


    Therge monster was slowly moving towards the direction of where Seeker and Meng stood. It raised itsrge hand, which now had arge pir of green water. It was as if the colossal creature held arge club.


    It swung therge club like a baseball bat towards Seeker and Meng.


    Seeker and Meng also moved with incredible speed.


    "Let''s finish this in one shot!" Seeker shouted with a loud voice as the enormous water club approached him to the sides.

 Chapter 237 - A Message To Overcomers

    A few minutes before the Call on the Dead that Waits Dreaming, several events were happening behind the vivid scenes of the battle between Seeker and the Empress.


    Moving underwater was arge jet that could move with great speeds underwater. Suit''srge Armor had terrifying damages, and Suit was draining his own energy tomand the Armor to move.


    Typical and the rest did what they could do to stop the waters from flooding in.


    Among those inside were the Covenant, Tyler''s trio, the Drug Dealers, and Gardo''s team.


    After blowing up the Kraken from the inside, they dove down to the holes and swam out of the Kraken just in time to be rescued by Suit.


    The group began to chatter and was stunned when they saw the full power of the WGP.


    "Suit, get those five! They hid well, but they won''tst long if they continue that." Typical suddenly ordered.


    "What five?" Suit was confused.


    "Just stop after eight hundred meters." Typical exined.


    Therge Armor moved and then suddenly stopped, and Typical opened the door.


    He used his Path to create an invisible wall that prevented the waters from entering.


    "Need a lift?" Typical offered.


    Suddenly, several figures moved closer to the opening ports and moved to enter it.


    Typical removed the invisible wall, but the waters didn''t rush inside. Instead, a powerful wind kept blowing and kept the waters at bay.


    Five people stepped inside.


    Suit closed the opened hatch and began to zoom away from the Kraken.


    "Hermes..." A weak but violent voice echoed from the back.


    "Oh? You didn''t kill the wolf?" Grant Hermesughed as he ordered his team not to attack. He sent his winds to push the leaking waters in the damaged Armor.


    "This is an impressive ship. I''m very impressed with the pilot as well." Hermes praised.


    "Don''t be too smug, Suit. You failed to notice our battle with Amir, where we would have died. You''re not in any way different to Cliff, but he fought Amir without a Suit." Typical immediately chastised Suit.


    "I wouldn''t dare, young master." Suit answered without skipping a beat.


    "How strict." Hermesughed.


    "We were never supposed to kill Amir. We are all the Progenitors seed. Why kill each other? The battle up there will show you all our true enemies. And it will make things easier for me to exin what''s going on." Typical answered Hermes.


    "Who was that man that fought the Empress?" A young teen immediately asked.


    "That would be Young Master Seeker." Typical answered.


    "Young Master? If you address him as such, how strong is he?" Hermes was surprised.


    "He and Richie defeated Master. But right now, he should be capable of shing with my Master one-on-one. He is also the nominative leader of our organization."


    "Is he single?" The teen asked again.


    Hermes face-palmed.


    "Who''s asking?!" Dara erupted.


    Roselyn face-palmed too.


    "I... don''t meddle with the intentions of Young Master." Typical averted.


    "Isn''t Seeker with LordChokeMeSenpai?" Gardo inquired to the Covenant. He had just recovered a bit after taking the medicines on the ship.


    "He''s THAT Seeker? Seeker Carlean?!" Irvana eximed with surprise.


    "Yeah? Well, what''s that to you?!" Dara exploded.


    "Is Dara infatuated with Seeker?" John Octavion, signednguage towards Titan.


    Since they were Unlocked, whispering was useless, so these two developed their own method ofmunication.


    "I saw her downloading all the photos that Seeker created to lure in those perverts." Titan signednguage back.


    Irvana, who saw the two making signnguages understood it.


    "Photos?" She asked.


    Typical who had a better sense of what was going on, finally face-palmed at the untimely discussion.


    "Can we discuss this some other time?" Typical sighed.


    "Why are you so respectful to my daughter?" Hermes curiously asked.


    "She who Treads like a Thief in the Night, Irvana. She is a future Ranked Hero. In other words, she''s my peer. Most of your questions will be answered in a few minutes. For now, protect us in case that wolf acts wildly." Typical answered.


    "A future Ranked Hero? So it looks like some very miraculous things happen. Fine. I''ll observe whatever happens. Amir Mann... It''s been a while. Let''s just enjoy the ride. Since your enemies haven''t shown any intentions of killing you, you might as well see what they have to show you." Grant Hermesughed.


    "I don''t have a choice of the matter. That little boy over there gave me quite a beating." Amir answered coldly.


    On another part of the ocean, another aircraft was moving underwater.


    The Void Traveler had long charged away since the many explosions around the Kraken urred.


    Truthfully, the team had already tried to escape if it wasn''t for the uninvited passenger that somehow found a way to board the Void Traveler, they would have hightailed away since the Titan''s attack.


    "I''m really sorry about this. But as you can see, little Sammy here took his time!" Richieughed.


    Everyone was quiet and did not answer back.


    The powers of this man were so strong. Everyone was visibly shaking until the man undid whatever strange powers he had.


    Next to him was a beautiful woman who was previously wounded and bleeding. But now, she was rapidly recovering. Aside from her, Richie brought in several wounded men who were in a very critical state. They remained unconscious and were treated by the soldiers on board. Their blood was not flowing wildly for some strange reason. The puncture wounds in their organs wouldn''t even bleed out.


    Richie used his sounds to allow the amazing clotting to stop the blood. He had already ordered the soldiers to treat these men, and some were reluctantly doing so.


    "Who are you?" The woman finally asked.


    "You can talk now? That''s great."


    "You''re blood. What was in that? It contained such strength!" The woman gazed at him with a peculiar expression.


    "Woah. Did you manage to absorb my blood cells? Man, oh, man! Seeker''s gonna be thrilled with your skill! I''m Richie. The Assassin." Richie said as he finally removed his Eagle Mask.


    "So it is you! You''re actually alive! What really happened in China?" The woman was startled and began to ask the questions that she had been trying to understand for months,


    Almost everyone in the ship reacted. The entire squadron sent by the Americas knew who Richie was. The infamous Assassin who was said to have killed three elite squads from the Americas.


    "I''m sure the Commander remember me. We fought once or twice, I believe. I never forget a familiar frequency. Sammy, this one my next recruit."


    The Commander felt a shivering fear rising through his bones. He had fought Richie twice, and his previous teams were wiped out. Only he remained.


    "Oh. And this beautifuldy will also be a part of our team as well. I told your friends in the sky to escape and to rendezvous one hundred kilometers from here."


    The woman was surprised. How was it possible to send a message to a ne that was hundreds of Kilometers up?


    "Oh. He did that through your ownmunicator. When you were attacked, he sent the message through all the survivingmunicators your team had. He still has it." Sammy exined and pointed to the nearbym devices.


    The woman immediately grabbed one as some reddish hand emerged out of her body and made the soldiers widen their eyes.


    "It''s in her body? What tech is this?" One of the soldiers was amazed.


    "It''s me. Follow the previousmand that man said. I''m safe." She called.


    "Madam! Thank goodness!"


    "Disconnect the call. We don''t know who has ess to this line." The woman immediately used her blood to pierce through all them devices.


    "Why did you save me?" She turned to Richie.


    "I am also a seed. We''re just one step ahead of everyone. For now, you guys should also watch the conclusion of this battle. Right now, whether you like it or not, you will be a part of my team." Richieughed.


    "Don''t resist him, men. This man wiped out the previous teams I had." The Commander sighed as he noticed his soldiers trying to do something.


    "Very good! Commander Mikhael if I''m not mistaken?"


    "What do you want?"


    "For now, I want you to move the Void Traveler up high. Don''t worry about being detected. Pangea will soon send their salvos. And their working for our leader."


    "Are you saying that you are responsible for all this? The attacks?"


    "Wasn''t it obvious? I made you wait for this guy to exit?" Richieughed.


    "What are you nning? Do you know the repercussions of this battle?"


    "I''m recruiting you to face someone I have no hopes of defeating. The Tyrant Empress."


    The woman shivered with fear. Her expression turned pale.


    "You... you n to fight her? That person is insane! No one on this who knows her name would fight her! You''d be her ve! If it weren''t for my blood, I would have fallen for her spell!"


    "Oh? Did you meet her? Rx! We''ve already defeated her. Who do you think it was that I fought in China? First, it was the Dragon, then we sort of became friends and fought the Empress with Lennox''s help. Oh, but we didn''t kill her. I don''t think anyone can. You see..."


    "Boss. You''re going off track. Just summarize it. No, wait. Let me summarize it for you." Sammy interrupted.


    "Forplicated reasons... The Boss must keep her from creating too much hell on Earth. We are aware of her powers, and so, we are going to need some help."


    "What are you trying to do? If you defeated her, then why-"


    "Don''t bother guessing. Not even the best deduction experts could exin what the hell these guys are up too." Sammy added.


    "I''ll exin after we see the show." Sammy started to take several food supplies on the ne and began devouring them.


    "Hm? Why is the water vibrating this way? You better move fast. Something dangerous is about to happen." Richie suddenly ordered the pilot. At that moment, the Call of Poseidon was about to start.


    The Void Traveler moved quickly and slowly emerged out of the water.


    The scenes that the parties witnessed, those in Suit''s Armor, and those in the Void Traveler, astounded them.


    The Call of Poseidon that manipted water caused the Vampire, the Wolf, and Hermes'' expressions to pale.


    Hermes was particrly affected. That technology was beyond his capacity.


    These Oveers felt as if their confidence was shaking.


    Each couldn''t believe the abilities that the WGP had.


    As for the rest, they were no different. Whether it was Typical, or Cliff, or anyone else of the Unlocked, they still were stunned.


    The sight they saw made them realize how powerless they still were against the WGP.


    "This isn''t the shocking part." As if speaking in synch, Typical and Richie said the same thing exactly on that same moment.


    The various parties in those two crafts marveled at the words of the two and listened.


    "This battle was designed by Arthur to push the WGP into such straits to reveal their strongest power. But this revtion was meant to attack someone else." Typical exined on his side.


    "Something else?" Hermes asked with curiosity.


    "Only Richie could sense that person. But somewhere in the sky is the Progenitor''s enemies. They have the technology that can easily destroy all of these."


    BOOM!


    A powerful explosion urred.


    It was here that the Call of the Dead that Waits Dreaming began.


    The explosion was so strong that both aircraft trembled.


    "Impossible! How did the explosion not damage the Kraken!" The Commander in the Void Traveler asked.


    "The explosion is controlled. It was sentient and didn''t harm the Kraken."


    "Sentient bombs! How did they have it?" The Commander was stunned.


    "You guys underestimate the WGP too much. Seeker calls it Realm. I heard that Aragarian call it Domain. You see, these Aragarians, which are the enemies of the Progenitor, has the very sciences that he gave us. Or rather, what we have are the foundations while they have the real thing. Actually, when Lennox and Seeker nned about-"


    "Boss. I''ll take it from here." Sammy interjected again.


    "In short, the WGP was meant to show their power so that they could use everything they''ve got to make a surprise attack against the Aragarians or this so-called, Progenitors enemies. But even then, we don''t know if we will seed. The purpose of this entire event fulfilled the ns that Seeker and the gang made months ago. They wanted to create an event that will force the world to see something unbelievable."


    "For what purpose? That will create panic and hysteria!" One of the soldiers answered.


    "No, it won''t. Countries like yours will cover it up. Most of the world will try to do the same. The WGP will also do it. They won''t show weakness, especially at a time like this. The Caliphates, East Asian Alliance, the Americas, Canada, and even those other countries wanted to take advantage of the chaos. They will all see it but will keep in wraps. Anyway, they are not the people that my Boss wanted to get this message out. This was what it''s all about if I simplify it. This battle was a means to send a message to a certain group of people."


    "Who?" The Vampire asked.


    "People like us." Richieughed.


    "When me, Meng, and Lennox found out the tribtion that awaits, we knew what level we needed to reach to Ovee. And not just us. The Heroes of this world must be challenged and resolve never to lose hope and never give up when the trialse. This battle will be cause them to rise. So we change the world and make even more brutal than what it is."


    "You want people to adapt."


    "Correct. If they witness their enemies'' true powers, it will force those at the top to seek a higher heaven. You, yourself have faced such power. You couldn''t even defeat me. And if you can''t even Ovee that narcissistic Tyrant Empress, then you will die. We are the Salt of this world. And our job is to season it."


    "While it pains me to interrupt your chance to share the Gospel, I think you are needed, Boss." Sammy reminded.


    "Oh. Right! I almost forgot! I have onest thing I need to do before we scadoodle."


    Suddenly, one of the main doors opened. The pilot was surprised, but the buttons to open it was pressed.


    But before he could react and close it, he noticed that there was no change in air pressure that would have sucked some of them out didn''t happen.


    "The Boss can sense vibration. So he knows what buttons to push to do things like that." Sammy exined to the confused soldiers.


    Richie stood up and looked down on the big skies.


    The final confrontation begins.

 Chapter 238 - The WGP’s Strongest Attack

    The whole world was trying to get in on the action that happened on the Kraken. A sessful attack on the Kraken was a terrifying concept. The WGP were like the gods of the world, and yet, a weapon that could produce as much damage as a weapon of mass destruction urred in the Kraken.


    The world tried to take advantage of it, but most aircraft that tried to interfere were all blown down.


    The only few groups that managed to enter and set foot on the Kraken were the elites. And even then, they all gained nothing.


    The Emperors acted and revealed powers that could easily destroy and prevent weapons of mass destruction from taking effect.


    Those who were there were shocked at the potential of the Kraken. They couldn''t even believe what it would be against the more massive bases such as the World''s Helm. If the Kraken could already make such attacks, what would the World''s Helm be like?


    Yet while many were amazed, a certain person found all of the Kraken''s ability, trivial at best.


    Minutes before the call, Crostfree continued to report the details of the battle. He was practically invisible, and it was almost impossible to detect him with most technology. The area around him was very distorted. He was standing there but was also not there.


    The bending of space happened, and he was situated in a world beyond the three dimensions. He stood as a third-dimensional being, transported into the fourth.


    "It seems that there is a mysterious organization that is challenging the WGP. It''s a mixture of Rebels and some other groups that seem to have a great foundation on Earth. We underestimated Earth. It seems there is more to their sciences than we expected. I''ll be frank. There are several technologies here that are foundational Presider level sciences. They didn''t have this before."


    "Then it may simply be the Fight of Life. The terrors that the Pioneers we sent before left them in very dire circumstances. The former Presiders who ended their shift here all gave us detailed information."


    "I don''t think it''s enough. They have techs that are very suspicious. I don''t think that the former Presiders who went home managed to investigate whatever happened here."


    "You''re saying the Fight of Life couldn''t have allowed them to develop this?" A Presider asked.


    "Fight of Life?" A young boy''s voice was heard inquiring.


    "Fight of Life is the theory that we believed made way for the WGP to gain this technology. Simply put, Earth''s humans during the Post-war era were so harsh that it forced them to adapt. We know how our ingenuity has given birth to critical sciences. Even the tales of how our Principals fought and won against the Babelian armies have grown and perfected greater techs because of the immense pressure. Several skirmishes between the infighting of Principals and Presiders have also allowed this. This is why whenever a Presider or a Principal goes to war against another of their level. They will wipe the enemy out. Even Principals dare not look down on Presiders and would kill them if any two parties reach an unresolvable situation."


    "Please educate the young Presider on your time, Garenjazz. Right now, I need to make a serious report. As you can-"


    Immediately, Crostfree forcibly disconnected his connection towards the moon. He used a peculiar science that allowed himself to directly create a link by sending their messages beyond the fourth dimension. This required a lot of energy that could shock a nation for its expenses. But for the Presiders, this was nothing.


    "Finally. A reason to disconnect." Crostfree smirked. He saw how the powers of the Invoking drew great energy and created a powerful st. The Titan just used a powerful electric shockwave that managed to reach his suit.


    But while the strange gear he wore could resist it, he simply allowed the energy to reach him. When the electrical energy arrived, he made the disconnection.


    "Pridgeon. They should be contacting you now. You know what to do." Crostfreeughed.


    Pridgeon received several messages from the


    "Pridgeon! Did you disconnect as well?"


    "Of course! I performed it just as you stated. I lost connection a few milliseconds after you lost your connection. What happened over there?"


    "Where are you anyway? You should be here by now!"


    "Pangea hasunched severalrge metal pikes that are headed towards your direction. I had to move slowly to avoid being detected! Otherwise, I would face the wrath of that nation!"


    "You''re so weak. You don''t even have a decent suit that can fly faster?" Crostfreeughed.


    "I can''t risk getting detected! If I fight back, it will make this nation aware of another.


    "The enemies are ripe for the taking! If you don''t get here, you won''t get a single one of these things! I was nning on giving you a portion of this science. But now you lost it. It''s quite impressive. It should have exceeded the foundational science of Living Lightning!"


    "Living Lightning! Presider Marrho''s techs?!"


    "Yes. Presider Marrho. The Bolt of Heaven. Electricity merged with maism. It controls andmands metals allowing the quick movement ofrge superstructures. Superstructures. As you know, Presider Marrho''s the closest one in bing a Principal among us Presiders. You could acquire their foundations!" Crostfreeughed.


    "But, you''re too slow!"


    "How do you expect me to escape being noticed by an army! The Pangea has gathered an entire army that is bound to beunched anytime! I can''t just zoom by and escape their notice!"


    "What are those Pangeans waiting for? I noticed them back then, but they haven''tunched. Are they trying to sweep in once this battle is over to take over the Kraken?" Crostfree pondered.


    The battle continued between in the Kraken, and soon the second Invoking urred.


    As this Invoking urred, Crostfree trembled in shock.


    "How?! Impossible! They have made this entire region full of dormant Origin! This is impossible! To make such an amount, they needed to have had this technology after the war!" Crostfree cursed.


    He disconnected too soon! But luckily, the most basic information he needed to send he already did.


    Crostfree intended to send those strange signals to cut off his connection and then destroy the Kraken and absorb the Domain but the powers that the WGP presented surpassed his previous estimates.


    "It''s impossible! The Fight of Life couldn''t have made this possible?! What''s going on? How did they acquire and learn to produce it!" Crostfree couldn''t understand it. He decided to keep this information from Pridgeon.


    "Even Pridgeon would be suspicious of this! If he learns that the WGP has such advanced technology that has surpassed the limits of Domain foundation science, he will betray me!" Crostfree began to think.


    "Pridgeon is unaware and couldn''t understand this. I''ll just tell him that this is still foundational. After all, only I have seen the full potential of Domain tech."


    The Call of Poseidon merged the energy that gave sentience to water. If applied to war, this would have been dangerous. Water, after all, was not easily destroyed. But this water had water properties that allow it to flow and move between the smallest gaps. It had kic energy in it. Crostfree''s was now having trouble suppressing his greed as he saw the technology before him.


    "I must remain calm. If I show any forms of recklessness, Pridgeon would be suspicious!"


    It was then that he saw the battle between the Empress and Seeker.


    A strange force allowed Seeker to move.


    "Impossible! Is that telekinesis?! How did these monkeys acquire such techs!" Crostfree was further astounded. The previous techs that he saw were all basic techs. Even the sight of Typical and Richie''s technology, they were easily achieved through various means.


    But domain techs of all its form were the more expensive technology. The strongest Presiders in their Ladder of Ascent all had Domain science.


    "Where is that damn, Pridgeon?!" Crostfree was cursing. He couldn''t wait to acquire these techs.


    "Pangea hasunched an armada! It''s like their sending their full army! It wasn''t just a few rockets but a whole army! It will be challenging for me to get there!" Pridgeon suddenly eximed.


    "What? An army?!" Crostfree was startled. If Pangea had sent a small group which he could immediately wipe out, it would have been easy to hide. But to send an army would be difficult even for him.


    "Pridgeon! Dy them! We can''t destroy the Pangean army just like that! If we can''t destroy them, we can''t steal all these techs! I''ll go ahead and destroy these enemies and give you the techs! If you can''t agree, we can''t get even one tech!" Crostfreeshed out.


    "...Fine! You better keep your word!" Pridgeon immediately disconnected.


    "Good!" Crostfreeughed.


    He then used his techs to see the ce where the Pangean fleet could be seen. Pridgeon''s Judge''s Decree could be seen flying and harassing the entire fleet. Pridgeon did not use his more dangerous techs but kept it minimal.


    Nevertheless, this battle seemed to have dyed the fleet''s movements as they became warry of potential attackers.


    BOOM!


    The sudden explosion almost caught Crostfree off guard. He was so absorbed by looking at the battle that he did not see the changes on the battle below him.


    His suit appeared and enclosed his entire body to protect him from the st.


    On the earlier battles, Corstfree never wore his suit despite being invisible but wore a strange and very entric attire that looked like the characters of the famous book that he was reading. But now, a white and almost rubbery suit appeared and covered his entire body, and only his eyes that gave an odd yellowing glow could be seen.


    He nced at the battle below, and this time he was petrified.


    "Impossible!" The scene of arge squid-like monster with the Kraken and the Titan in the middle shocked him.


    "Domain Suppression! Domain Control! Domain Sentience!" Crostfree listed all these techs that he identified as Realm.


    "Did the previous Presiders betray us?!" He was startled. It was the only conclusion that he could make.


    "Regardless! I must take these techs!" Crostfree began his preparations. Space began to slowly dpress as he readied to shoot at the two opposing forces.


    Crostfree waited for the two to attack each other. Recklessly attacking them could destroy them and irradicate any hopes of acquiring whatever technology these two had.


    Crostfree waited for the right moment. He slowly appeared on the space before him but had stealth that surpassed this. He was not worried.


    He saw the wide swing and how the two challengers bravely faced therge water club.


    The Empress looked and immediately knew that this was the moment.


    She was the one who was in control. The Emperor''s Titan and the Kraken all gave their support to the Empress.


    And this was the moment to initiate the n that Seeker proposed.


    The purpose of the Invoking was to attack the Presider.


    Seeker had revealed that the enemy of the Progenitor was watching. Seeker urged to Empress to send even just one attack. The enemy''s response would prove whether Seeker indeed was who he imed to be. Also, through this, the Empress would finally know, if the enemy that Seeker mentioned is the enemy of the Progenitor.


    As for determining it''s precise location, Richie had long found Crostfree''s location. While the person was cloaked, his conversations'' sounds were heard as the sound had to pass through the three dimensions. With this, Richie heard the conversations and gave Seeker and the Empress the precise ce where he heard Corstfree''s words.


    As the club approached the two rushing forces, a blinding sh erupted out.


    It was so strong that it was as if a miniature sun was born right above the sea.


    It was one of the aces that Meng brought with him. Bybining Pangean Everbright tech and improving it with Meryl''s Path, they were able to develop a sh bang that surpassed all techs of Earth.


    The Empress already expected this. She had already directed the attack by inputting the exact coordinates.


    Using her precise control, the Empress allowed Seeker and Meng to disappear into the club.


    The sudden sh startled Crostfree. This was a shbang that had surpassed his expectations.


    His suit detected approaching energy, and an evasive procedure was done. The suit was about to send Crostfree to another dimension to evade the attacks.


    But at that moment...


    BOOM!


    A powerful explosion urred right behind him and threw him forward.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Up in the skies higher than where Crostfree was, was a ship known as the Void traveler.


    Everyone inside the craft was scared stiff at the crazy attack that the man with them did.


    The attack was powerful. Upon firing it, the Void Traveler detected an intensely powerful kic force that would have destroyed their ship.


    Richie gave hisst attack and stumbled back, immediately fainting. Sammy caught Richie.


    "Shut the door! I can''t hold it for too long!" Sammy shouted as his sound prevented the air pressure froming in.


    The door was immediately closed.


    The Commander''s eyes were locked on where the attack was sent.


    "Sir! As that man said, there was someone there!" The pilot reported to the Commander.


    The Commander gazed silently at the strange attack and gulped.


    The Void Traveler was nearly destroyed when the Titan gave off its powerful attack. But for some strange reason, the energy was unable to damage the Void Traveler, although many would assume that the Void traveler was hit. Something stopped the Titan''s attack. And now, they saw this power up close.


    "What was that?" The vampire asked Sammy but couldn''t help but give a worried gaze to the unconscious Richie.


    "Sound bomb. It''s one of his recent attacks. He was asked to master this attack because their team may need an undetectable attack that could beunched without alerting attack scanners that are ten times more powerful than what the WGP has. And this is his answer. He creates vibrations through a silent supersonic sound wave that, upon detonation, creates a massive vibration and shockwave that could blow up even Almetal hybrids."


    "His sound is amazing. I detect the same form of wariness from you..."


    "I know. But it''s like a child wielding a knife while to him it''s like a god wielding lightning." Sammyughed without taking offense.


    The explosion series pushed the unguarded Presider out of the zone he was in, and his suit was struggling to keep up.


    And as these attacks were urring, the figure of therge water monster below had already changed.


    Upon igniting the bright light, the Empress carried out the n. After confirming the coordinates of the explosions, she thenunched the deadliest attack on her arsenal.


    "Empress! That attack!" The Emperor was stunned and tried to stop her.


    "Obey mymands! A monster far powerful than the ones we face here is above! Send me all your lighting! We willbine our attacks in this one!"


    The elements that could create a hydrogen bomb gathered, and now, the Emperor sent his own attack. Two attacks that could be ssified just a tier below the level of weapons of mass destruction were sent out.


    And it all raced towards Crostfree.

 Chapter 239 - Crostfree’s Technology

    Going back to the time that Seeker had reached China and met with Nogard Meng, the Progenitor''s discussion altered many things about their ns.


    Thankfully, Nogard Meng had erected severalmunication systems that allowed them to discreetlymunicate towards specific ces using one of the most primitive means ever.


    Hidden inside various road structures created that expanded out of China was a well-guarded long cable. The cable had been ced inside the thick concrete and was very inconspicuous. Most would assume that it was an obsolete power line. But it was, in fact, a telephone line.


    Through Nogard''s connection, a certain someone was finally able to reach Seeker through a call.


    "So... you have the burden of arranging a n that will take into ounts all of this." Seekerughed.


    Hisugh was one with great sarcasm.


    Seeker revealed the existence of the Progenitor''s seed and how it was very absent in his future. Aside from this, Seeker went into detail to describe the world''s historical situation at that time. Seeker exined which countries fought which, and who won on these encounters. Seeker dared not make any ns himself but immediately presented it to someone who could make the most of this information.


    "So right now, you have the harsh task of trying to-"


    "I already have a n, Seeker. The team that was supposed to make a systematic attack on the Kraken and because panic, should now aim to do more than that. I have received word from my father, and he will be attacking the Antis. This coincides with the n that I have. If we seed, we should be able to gather several more seeds. Grant Hermes will definitely be brought up, and perhaps more will seed. Also, this n will allow the Progenitor''s Seed that must be hiding within the WGP to surface. I will also be rendezvousing shortly. I need Harker to prepare his armies for an attack." Arthur immediately answered.


    "I sort of expected this, but this was already within your calctions? Wow. You really could see the future."


    "Yes. Ever since we observed Pridgeon''s shock reactions, I have already assumed that there may be more to the Unlocking that meets the eye. As far as I can tell, the Unlocking only appeared shortly after the third world war. There were no records of someone bing so powerful to have shocked the world. So working with that assumption, I theorized that there must have been something that brought forth that event. You said that when Lowengren and the Empress revealed themselves, you could somehow draw in the sense of shock and disbelief from Pridgeon. But also there was greed and lust. That was the key."


    "Everybody gets greedy when they see the Empress."


    "True. But there was a possibility that those emotions you were able to pick up from him were caused by something else. From that, I created several ns that would either support or fight the WGP. It isn''t that I saw the future, but I made preparations for all possible directions of the future. If the Aragarians are among the WGP, then killing it would be best. But if any other groups in it might antagonize the Aragarians, then they ought to have it''s used. Since they are most likely one of the biggest seeds, this Progenitor left behind, then preserving them, or making an alliance with them is necessary."


    "What do you think happened in my future? How did the Presiders destroy the WGP without a war?"


    "Many meanse to mind. If they have techs that can kill an Oveer, it is fairly simple, and it shows how smart these guys are. But to defeat the WGP, several Presiders are needed. Who knows? Maybe they were never killed, but most of the WGP submitted to the Aragarians. We cannot ascertain whether they were killed in resistance or jumped on the bandwagon. The only thing that the WGP could offer is technology. You assumed that it was not enough to move the Presiders. But if this Lost Primordial is real, then something may move or tempt them."


    "What variations in my n have you considered or rmend now that you know the Progenitor exist?"


    "I''m inclined to use your n as a foundation. The preparations have been made. The trail that Hermes was following will soon lead him to the South-East Asian region. You wanted to attack the Kraken to make the WGP more guarded. But with the Progenitor''s existence, then it would be possible that they offered the Aragarians a technological possibility that made the Aragarians or some of the Aragarians tempted. By attacking the Kraken, we can make the WGP think that it''s a mysterious organization and will hesitate to make an alliance with the Aragarians."


    "Sounds good. If they think it was the Aragarians that attacked the Kraken, they would add more caution in everything. This will make the Aragarians'' attempts to bribe or persuade the WGP harder." Seeker was satisfied with this n.


    "You said that each Presider has their own techs, right? Tell me the techs of those that appeared."


    "Really? I thought you said it would be better to have our teams not know what their techs are so that we would assume that they have technologies that could kill an Oveer. Didn''t you suggest this to make everyone more on guard and train harder?"


    "I know. But in this case, I need to know who the Presiders that appeared in your timeline are. Right now, there are two. The first is the Presider in Australia. The second will be her. Tell me, was it her? Is that girl that Harker mentioned, the very Presider you fell in love with?" Arthur asked.


    Seeker was silent for a few seconds, but Arthur did not change the topic. Seeker had not told Arthur anything about this, but Arthur was very blunt in his question. Seeker sighed.


    "It''s most likely her."


    "Then do whatever your heart intends and get back at Kristine. You''ve been giving her quite a heartache after all."


    "Says the man who treats her as her sister. I know what she felt towards you in my future. And I''m sure you know it."


    "I know. That''s why I want you to take care of her. My affections for Kristine will always be like this. I will treat her as my sister. I know you told me that I would end up with Meryl for Kristine to lose all delusions with me. But now that you''re other half woke up, then you''re chasing after that Presider instead. You were quite cruel in doing that. But all is good. I''m using Kristine''s confusion to build an Oveer."


    Seeker gave a big deep breath as he could not help but curse at Arthur.


    "Isn''t what you are doing worse than what I am?"


    "The difference is, I make my intentions clear. And you are leaving her hanging. You better make that choice, Zeek."


    Seeker wanted to argue back but realized that Arthur would probably reveal more.


    Seeker took a deep sigh.


    "It''s her. It will always be her." Seeker answered.


    "Then hurry up. She will ask me a lot of things, and I may even be inclined to tell her about Lynd."


    Seeker remained silent but was shocked. How did Arthur know about this?


    Arthur spared no time and continued.


    "Now... Since Zeraphine is one of the first Aragarians who made their appearance in this timeline, we can easily iste her by making Harker keep her on some protection pretense. This way, she won''t get involved in theing battles. That leaves for only two possible Presiders. Pridgeon and the one in Australia."


    "I thought you deduced that they went to the moon?"


    "They will being back. And whoever was once in Australia in your timeline may be the very same ones in this. Even if he is on the moon when the battle happens, he will most likely go down to Earth and check out that area as it is his jurisdiction. So who is he? What technology does he have?"


    "Crostfree. The one-man-army. He is the only Presider with very few Pioneers under him. Most of the Pioneers we killed must have been aligned to him. But he doesn''t need an army. He carries it with him."


    "So his tech involves some dimensional creating tech?"


    "Yes. He has all of his equipment''s in a secret dimension that he can summon."


    "What weapon does he have in that dimension?''


    "Weapon? More like a mountain!"


    "Can you, Greydon and Richie fight him?"


    "No. He is too strong."


    "What if we get the WGP tounch one of their strongest attack at him?"


    "Why are we trying to kill him?"


    "It will shift the actions of the Presiders. If the Aragarians bribed the WGP in your world, killing a Presider and shifting the me to the WGP will be more convenient for us. The two will be at war. After the battle, the WGP will most likely be on alert. They would think that we are the Aragairans, and the Aragarians might believe that someone among the level of Presiders is betraying them."


    "That''s impossible. The Presiders are very loyal to their race." Seeker recalled the death of Zeraphine.


    ''Loyal to their race. But not loyal to their own. Think about it. If these Presiders have a form of the system among them, it follows thews of the jungle. They will betray and kill each other for the sake of more techs. Do you understand?"


    Seeker immediately nodded.


    "Now that you mention it... it does fit the several events in my future self''s timeline."


    "Then we do that. Cliff''s new mission is to sink the Kraken. Your mission, to kill a Presider."


    Seeker smiled. But in this smile was great excitement.


    And with that n, all the elements were set.


    Richie developed a powerful technique that could create explosions that were virtually undetectable.


    And as for the Empress, she harnessed two attacks from two Full Invoking.


    The energy exploded out, and a tremendous sh appeared that it could even be seen on the moon.


    BOOM!


    The skies brightened, and the lights could be seen from heaven.


    But the power of the Presider was not so easily defeated.


    The attacks of the Empress and the Emperor caused Crostfree to summon it.


    A massive, invisible structure appeared and shielded him from the bottom.


    "Impossible!" The Emperor was the first to exim. Even when the explosions happened, it could not st through the invisible structure. It spread to the sides as if the fires and explosive nature of this couldn''t prate through it.


    Ayer of the cloak was damaged, and parts of the invisible object could be seen.


    Crostfree was extremely angry. He was forced to send it out. It consumed a lot of energy to bring it out and maintain its cloaked appearance.


    He had to hide it from the WGP. But more importantly, he had to hide it from his peers. If he was forced to summon something like this, a thorough investigation would be made.


    And so, he forced barely a fifth of hisrge spaceship to block the iing attack. Most of the attacks were also banished towards the unknown dimensions to withstand it.


    In an unknown location, the eyes of Seeker peered through these dimensions and could see it all.


    A strange red light started to glow around this invisible ship.


    "Die!" Crostfree angrily shouted as he readied his st to attack the enemy from below.


    There were no rms and alerts on the Rules. Event heir sophisticated technology could not see just how terrifying this light was.


    Suddenly, several bright lights crashed on the invisible structure.


    Crostfree was forced to divert the attacks and used the light to destroy the iing energy.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several explosions appeared, but the red light that was now covering the entire invisible structure like a shield would somehow devour the iing attacks.


    Crostfree grew even angrier at and looked towards the horizon. He could see it. Severalrge metal structures as big as buildings began to send their attacks.


    It all used a green light, which was trademarked only to one country.


    "Pangea!" The Emperor was surprised.


    "Pridgeon! What the hell are you doing! Why is Pangea here?! Didn''t I tell you to divert their attention!" Crostfree shouted with great anger.


    "They disappeared! They were seriously fighting me, but suddenly, they used a powerful burst to fly off to the distance!"


    "Why didn''t you chase them!"


    "I would get detected! The energy I would use would be something this Earth hasn''t seen!" Pridgeonined.


    "You useless, nimrod!"Crostfree shouted.


    "I''ll just kill them all at once!" Crostfree shouted in anger.


    He didn''t care anymore. This was a well-calcted n. He was fighting someone that was trying to ambush him!


    The entire tip of his ship grew red.


    Inside one of the main buildings, Arthur calmly gazed at the energy and gave his orders.


    "Now."


    This simple order brought out thousands of Armors and Exoskeletons.


    One of therge metal structures opened a massive door and unveiled arge Armor.


    Therge Armor moved with terrifyingly fast speed but opened it''s pilot doors.


    A freakin thickyer of fog that had a very cool hint of blue emerged out, and a stalwart figure stood at the door resisting the terrifying winds of his flight.


    The strong wind that blew against him caused all the fog to trail back and revealed his glorious general outfit.


    That figure was the majestic, glorious, unparalleled, undisputed, illustrious, eye-popping, eyebrow-raising, breath-taking, heart-stopping, spine-chilling, most amazing General of the Heroes Army, Harker Cipril. The Light of Pangea.


    "Lost Primordial! I am here to betray you! You won''t have your way today!" He shouted with his voice.


    "I''ve killed all your Pioneers, and all that is left is to kill you! Emperors and Empress! I, General Harker, am here to aid you! Let''s kill this otherworldly threat!" Harker announced.


    A gigantic shoulder canon formed on his right shoulder, and General Harker''s figure disappeared inside the suit of Armor.


    "Srium Eradication Beam!" Emperor Triton detected it. It was an illegal branch of Eradication science. It was deemed never to be aimed against an enemy.


    Pangea had developed this and used this on the many skirmishes against South Pacific United. This technology would leave so much eradication that is overly using this left radiation on many battlefields.


    Both the soldiers who used it and who survived attacks from it all suffered from radiation.


    Soon, the WGP ordered to mark this technology as one of the banned techs.


    The Emperor saw this and was flustered, but the Empress ignored him.


    "Shut it! You''ve seen what this enemy can do! All illegal techs used against them are allowed! I decree it!" The Empress ordered. She was convinced of what Seeker told her. The enemy of the Progenitor revealed a strange technology that even she could not theorize or exin.


    Crostfree''s expression was stunned. He could not believe his ears.


    "The Lost Primordial?!" Crostfree was shocked.

 Chapter 240 - Fall Of The Kraken

    The Pangean Army sent out a torrent of attacks.


    As for the Empress and the Emperor, they immediately took advantage of this and sent several attacks towards the same location.


    Crostfree gazed to the sky and looked towards space. He then saw it and was relieved.


    He took action, and suddenly, the space around him began to change. More and more parts of his gigantic ship peeked out of his pocket dimension.


    It was as if a hologram of a red moon appeared on Earth.


    As it appeared, it began to fire back several bright rays that shot towards the Pangean army and therge water creature with a Titan inside.


    The Empress used more ocean water to create a shield, but every attack from the red light would cause the waters to explode out.


    The Empress ordered therge water monster, which contained the Titan and the Kraken, and dove down towards the sea. Yet even as it did this, more energy beams were erupting from the sea itself.


    It was as if the ocean was fighting the moon.


    The Pangean soldiers all saw these things and marveled at the sight.


    "Don''t fall back, men! When we decided to challenge these people, we knew what we were up against! Press on and fight! Support the WGP!" Harker roared as he dove closer and closer to the chaotic battlefield.


    The hologram-like form of the moon that battled against the sea remained immovable and continued to attack.


    While all these things were happening, Crostfree''s mind was focused on the words that Harker shouted.


    "The Lost Primordial!"


    "Pridgeon!" Crostfree called out immediately.


    "Did you hear that?!"


    On the other side of the battlefield, Pridgeon was exceedingly angry.


    "That idiot, Harker! He betrayed those two?!"


    Ever since the deception of Lowengren, he had been trying to figure out more of the Lost Primordial. He knew that the Lost Primordial in this world wasn''t real, but only someone who might have acquired their technology.


    From their talks, he knew that Harker was following their orders. But he never expected that Harker would betray them.


    "Yes! I heard! Who is the Lost Primordial?! Is it that same one in our stories?!" Pridgeon pretended he didn''t know.


    "It must be! He must be here!"


    "But that''s impossible! Not even Primes can live that long! It''s been thousands of years!"


    "He must have fled here somehow. We must be wary. It seems the war here on Earth is something that is far moreplicated than what we thought it was!" Crostfree exined.


    He remembered the strange advance Domain sciences and concluded that it must have been the former Presiders.


    "Something must be up! The former Presiders must have discovered clues about the Lost Primordial and went home! Remember, among those Presiders that retreated, several are joining the Principal! There must be something up! Who knows? They could be luring a Principal here to fight the Lost Primordial!"


    "Shouldn''t we report it to the rest?" Pridgeon asked.


    "Don''t be a fool! It''s every Presider for himself! If we tell the rest, they will start infighting to win the Principal''s favor! There are already some of them here! It''s a race against time! We have to acquire as much as we can from the Lost Primordial! Who knows? Maybe one of those Presiders who went home is luring the Principal here! Maybe one of the Presiders has betrayed us and gave away our information!"


    "What? One of the Presider''s has betrayed us?"


    "Yes! There are only three Presiders who have the technology to detect my location without me noticing urately! Garnejazz, Fayor, and Zeraphine!"


    "How can you be sure that it''s those three!"


    "I know what their Judges ims were. The potential of their techs could easily detect mine!"


    "Then you don''t suspect me? I was once attacked and almost died here. What if I am the traitor?" Pridgeon challenged.


    "Then what if you are that traitor!? Why should I trust you? And why are you trusting me?" Pridgeon immediately challenged.


    "Trust you? I don''t trust you. Why would Presider''s trust each other? I am informing you because there is a very low chance that you would be a traitor. I''m just sure of it!" Crostfreeughed as if he heard a funny joke.


    "The technology that could reveal my location is something that not even five of you can manage!" Crostfreeughed.


    The strange explosions that startled and caught him off guard was a technology that Crostfree believed to Atomic Combustion. Only those with Domain could do these. He knew all of Pridgeon''s Judges im, and even if Pridgeon made one more Judges im, it would be a foundation Presider Science. It would take him decades to develop and apply the foundations of this tech.


    "However, you could be working for the traitor!"


    "But then again... You can''t be. I have my ways of detecting the signals you sent. I am sure that you have not yet sent a message to any of the Presiders in space. Don''t underestimate the way I can sense and see things from here!"


    "Then answer my other question. What if you are that traitor? What if you are someone in league with the Lost Primordial? Weren''t your teams the first to go back here? The Pioneers in Australia who were under your banner were all killed! This means that either they were killed by the Lost Primordial in a war you already started..."


    "Or that the Lost Primordial wanted to lure me out here and someone among the Presiders wants me dead. Regardless, I am nning to betray the Presiders in this way. I will steal whatever technology I can steal from these teams! You have a choice to support me or to go against me. You have a choice. You either help me in this battle, or I will kill you myself!"


    "Help you? But how?"


    "Fight with all your technological prowess! At this point, you need to fight with everything. I have already revealed so much in this battle! Any more, and it would make the Presiders up there suspicious!"


    "What? With what you already revealed, they should have detected it!"


    "Wrong! The WGP has found a way to distort the surrounding area. It''s one of the technologies that tempted me and have made me reveal a portion of my powers! Those at the moon can''t detect it! Only Zeraphine can, but we''ve lost contact from her for a long time!" The Presiderughed.


    "Why me? If I begin attacking, they will attack me with their forces! I can''t handle their attacks! I could risk dying."


    "As I said, you are either a spy, an employee of the spy, or someone who is just caught up in this whole battle! I don''t care what you do, but I''ll kill you if you don''t do it! Do you realize that here on Earth is an inheritance that could be a foundational science of Principals or higher? Choose! Or I''ll kill you!"


    Suddenly therge translucent moon began to appear more and more visible and began to release powerful energy attacks. Red lights, blue and yellow beams filled the sky. It was all aimed at the area where Pridgeon''s ship was.


    The st traveled with such a crazy speed that it was already at the speed of light.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    "Damn it! Stop attacking! I''ll do it!" Several attacks struck the ship, but a bright blue shield protected Pridgeon''s ship.


    He then began to move faster and faster and release bright lights from all over his ship.


    The bright light was simr to the Empress''s light, and the Emperor used to create the Jormungandr.


    But these lights were more powerful and began to attack several of therge flying buildings.


    The light energy immediately pierced and prated through one of the structures.


    The Armors and the Exoskeletons began to charge against Pridgeon and attacked them.


    The army that Harker brought was surprisingly skilled as it could evade and the living attacks.


    The many structures that were once targeting the moon began to attack Pridgeon''srge craft.


    The attacks soon began to hit, and the cloaking mechanism could no longer hide itself from the many blows and explosions that it was receiving.


    "How are they seeing me?!" Pridgeon cursed as he immediately deployed a powerful white bomb.


    A sh of white appeared and devoured everything with a radius of three kilometers.


    Everything that was within that area all exploded. Armors, Exoskeleton, and even the structures that were caught in the st all became rubble that fell to the sea.


    Pridgeon''s craft moved with speed, but his ship needed to recharge energy to create defensive shields after that attack.


    Suddenly, a powerful bolt of lightning emerged from the sea.


    The Titan had surfaced and sent several attacks at the ship.


    The st pierced through Pridgeon''s ship.


    "AGH! Crostfree! Save me!" Pridgeon cried.


    "Why should I?" Crostfree sneered. With Pridgeon dead, he would have all the techs to himself.


    Pridgeon used several evasive movements. The ship that was pierced through with lightning, still could fly at an unbelievable speed and headed towards therge moon.


    "Do you know why I am a weak Presider? Where did you think I spent my Judges Call? On those banned history books! I know about the Lost Primordial! I can share it with you!" Pridgeon shouted.


    This message rmed Crostfree. Everyone knew of that option. It was one of the many things that a Presider could im. But none would do so. Why would they spend a Judge''s im on something so useless? This exined how Pridgeon was so weak that he was barely seen as a peer by many. Crostfree immediately acted. He needed whatever information Pridgeon had.


    Suddenly, severalyers of reddish blocks appeared around Pridgeon''s ship and shielded it from the srium attacks.


    The attacks were blocked, and Pridgeon ran towards therge moon. A small portion of the red moon gave way and allowed Pridgeon''s ship to pass through.


    "Since you have your use, I guess I''ll spare your life. Now to finish this!" Crostfreeughed.


    "Behold Pridgeon! This is my power! I won''t hide it anymore! I''ve killed several Presiders and hundreds of Pioneers to take away their techs. This is one of them! The Bolt of Heaven of Presider Marrho, condensed in my own pocket dimension!" Crostfreeughed.


    At that moment, it was as if space opened up. A portal appeared and led towards eternal darkness. The image inside the portal couldn''t be exined.


    Only Seeker''s watchful eyes nced and could see what was inside it.


    "Space really is curled up. So that''s why the Bible tells us that the heavens will recede like a scroll..." Seeker muttered as he looked at the opened portal from an unknown location.


    A powerful lightning bolt emerged and struck the sea.


    BOOM!


    The sea, which was made up of Origin Energy, met the living lighting of the Presider.


    To a Presider, Origin was a foundational science. And the Domain that Crostfree revealed was something far superior in application and harnessing.


    The powerful bolt that struck the sea attacked the Origin Energy and caused it to revert in form. The lightning itself aimed to attack the entire sea itself and create a powerful surge that sted through the Titan, the Rule, and Kraken itself.


    Explosions after explosions rocked the entire sea.


    The Great Old One that was formed dissipated and was lost in the sea.


    The Titan that received the tremendous attack began to explode to pieces.


    The Kraken was no longer being protected and carried by the water, and the waters copsed in it.


    The Rule showed no activity. Its charred form sank into the deep ocean.


    And just like that, the strongest structures crafted by Earthly hands were done in by one tremendous thunderbolt. The symbol of the WGP''s strength, the Kraken, has sunk along with the Emperors and Empress that ruled over it.


    "NO!" Harker cried in great shock as the attack silenced the sea.


    He began to charge towards the Red moon blindly. He was the one that was closest to it and chased after Pridgeon''s ship, which was passing through a small passageway that opened up.


    "Harker! I''ve heard of you! Light of Pangea! Die!" Crostfree''s voice echoed throughout the entire area around them.


    A figure appeared in the distance. It was about a man''s size, and he had a strange dark cloak that covered all of his forms. It looked like a ghost hovering over the distance as his body seemed to be translucent.


    Crostfree revealed himself and personally took action.


    He raised his hands as a bright red energy appeared before him.


    "I''ll tell you something, Pridgeon. This attack uses a very familiar element. Sulfur. Who would have thought that the only element to cross through the dimensions would be brimstone? This attack is quite weak but will be quite helpful when trying to take out pests like this. Who knows who this Harker is working for? But if he is in league with a Presider, then Dimension technology must be employed. Consider this as my sincerity for our partnership." Crostfreeughed.


    A reddish and fiery substance that looked like liquid erupted out of his hand like a volcanic explosion.


    Pridgeon rushed to the side to evade the erupting energy in shock. But just when the fiery liquid fire almost struck Pridgeon, it moved and changed its direction, allowing none to hit it.


    The rushingve moved with incredible speed towards Harker''s Armor.


    Suddenly, theva near Harker''s Armor disappeared.


    It was then that Crostfree noticed it. Harker''s Armor was emitting a strange green light, but now, this light was now more concentrated. And then, Crostfree found a man standing at the back of this moving Armor.


    "What? My Infernal Brimstone was destroyed?!" He was shocked.


    The sudden strange force that could destroy Brimstone rmed Crostfree. Pridgeon had reached the end of this pathway, and his ship was positioned next to Crostfree''s figure. The rming green energy surprised Crostfree that he immediately closed this passageway as the transparent red moon began to close the pathway created.


    Meng''s expression was growing paler and paler. The powerful pressure could not be devoured, and the path became small.


    "You better move fast. The Tail of the Dragon could only be maintained for so long." Meng spoke.


    "I know." Seeker smiled. It was then he carried a strange mace which he got inside of Harker''s Armor.


    This small mace was so expensive that it costed more than the entire Armor of Harker.


    Three small metal cubes and three Balls of Thunder were detonated.


    Seeker moved forward and even entered the destion of the Tail of the Dragon.


    With Cold Fusion, Seeker resisted the terrifying destion. And because he could move within it for a few seconds, he had enough time to wield it through his realm.


    Seeker moved with incredible speed. With telekinesis and Richie''s sound, he dove right for the path before him that Meng created through the Tail of the Dragon.


    Seeker had always tried to imitate Arthur in the future. And while he couldn''t fully do the same thing that Arthur could do, his movements and imitation of Arthur''s attack gave him the moniker the Death Tide. But now, things were vastly different.


    When his Adult Self appeared, Seeker realized that he still had an additional thought process but was constantly used by his Adult self. But now that his Adult self-had fallen into some slumber, the remaining thought process remained, and it allowed the Young Seeker to use it to support his calction. He knew long ago that he could do this as he finally seeded in treading on the foundations of Lennox. And this additional thought process was what Seeker needed to pull it off.


    "Time to Tread the Threshing Floor!"


    Seeker dove to the closing passageway before him and performed an attack that only one man could do in his future timeline.

 Chapter 241 - The Moon Killer

    The science that Crostfree had was something that worked differentlypared to the stronger Presiders.


    Domain was ssified as a Presider Level tech. It was a foundational science that allowed them to create changes in the fourth and seeding dimensions. As for Crostfree, he was very knowledgeable about Domains because the foundational science that he pursued allowed him to peer into these dimensions. Both sciences were among the options that a Presider may im upon reaching this level but these sciences. But if a newly ascended Pioneer would immediately im this, it would probably be several hundreds of years before they could even make any sense of it!


    But these Presiders had shown great wisdom in thebinations of sciences that allowed them to find a way to discover these technologies. For those who managed to understand these mysteries, the most popr approach was to select a science that allows them to manipte things beyond the fourth dimension. The logic in this is by having a science that can manipte and create changes in the dimensions beyond them can enable them to find where this dimension is and even sense it eventually.


    Crostfree, however, chose a different way. The ambitious man sought the technological foundations that would allow him to discover where it was and find it. While others worked by getting something to reverse-engineer it, he sought for the tools to build it.


    And so, his techs allowed him to find and manipte space. It was not domain, but it was something that many Presiders who developed their domain could not do. They all could manipte the domain only in a certain way. Crostfree''s discovery allowed him to create an interdimensional weapon. His weapons, along with the few Pioneers who are faithfully serving him, and everyone else hid in this dimension forever.


    This moon''s hologram was a partial way of bringing out his ship from the dimensional space he created.


    His mastery over this was so impressive that he believed he found the way for matter to take up two spaces at once. The curved space''s bending allowed him to bring hisrge aircraft to be in the Fourth Dimension and be in the three dimensions.


    But these sciences had a limitation. For one, the physical form of this structure was unstable. Crostfree was forced to reveal it but only brought out a part of the ship, and its translucent form meant that it wasn''t as stable as it was. But for the sciences of Earth, Crostfree believed it was enough.


    Even when the WGPunched its most potent attack, it was able to deflect it.


    But now, a pathway was opened and could not quickly close as something foreign had entered it.


    Crostfree was left to forcibly close the pathway and to either crush or push away the foreign entities.


    Meng released the entire destion to the area ahead of him. The powerful destion made it harder for the ship''s transition to taking ce. Many parts of the vessel were receiving heavy damages. And the massive Armor was also recklessly attacking the area.


    Harker began to overload the Srium Eradicator as he shot none-stop. There was no time to worry about the possible side effects of overloading his weapon as he would soon die if he didn''t.


    But even with all this, Crostfree would have prevailed. His ship would be able to deal with the attacks and would receive some tolerable damages. But then it happened.


    Seeker had seen it several times in his future timeline, and all of it was executed on precise timing. But every time Arthur did that, even to his death, they were always victorious.


    The speed that one has to reach to be capable of performing it was so high. But the problem with the Threshing Floor was to estimate it. It could only drill through a certain distance. And Arthur was a master of that.


    Seeker did not know what material he had to face and could not tell just how far he needed to go. But what he did have a lifetime worth of memories.


    Arthur was the calctive type who always would find a way to make the necessary calctions to fight his way through. This was his means to reach the state that Heroes had wherein they would never give up.


    Seeker, however, was someone who would genuinely never give up. He had the will of a Ranked Hero, and through his efforts and strengths, he managed to imitate Arthur''s attacks. It was weaker, but that solidified his position as Death Tide Carlean.


    But things were different now.


    He was no longer a Hero who only had wits, will, and luck. He was an Oveer.


    And his powers were growing at an incredible pace.


    Sound, Lighting, Cold Fusion, Destion, and Realm. These were his arsenals that made this push possible.


    He knew what sciences and equipment were needed to perform the attack. Arthur relied on Nuclear Power to generate the energy required to do this. Seeker relied on the many miracles his body had trodden on.


    A screeching sound could be heard as Seeker''s figure began to rotate faster and faster.


    The Threshing Floor appeared for the first time in Seeker''s current timeline.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacks did not only strike the closing pathway in the first three dimensions. Using the little knowledge he had of the dimensions beyond the third, each attack caused the transitioning and translucent spacecraft of Crostfree to be unstable. And in this instability, various pieces of this ship began to explode and disappear as it could no longer exist in both dimensions.


    The drilling force pierced through as various pathway pieces were visibly being torn to pieces and moved at a very quick speed.


    Crostfree was so surprised and immediately activated his suit''s power and brought forth a powerful, strange grey armor.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Seeker''s attack''s speed was halted, but he continued to rotate like arge drill trying to pierce through an incredibly hard object.


    Crostfree began to send out a strange, powerful explosive attack, but it was all eaten up by the strange green force that apanied Seeker.


    Crsotfree was slowly being pushed back by the attacks. But every time he would be knocked back, powerful electric energy would draw him towards Seeker and made Crostfree''s attempts to escape fail.


    The attacks'' damage level was reaching a critical level, and Crostfree himself had various wounds from the vibrating impacts that seemed to prate through the suit. The suit''s defense mechanisms that protected the pilot were not enough to block the shockwaves and vibrations. If not for Crostfree''s True Judge body, he would have been killed.


    Suddenly arge ship moved from the sides and smashed on Seeker as a bright white glow surrounded the ship.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several powerful explosions urred as an explosion that used Cold Fusion erupted out. The ship of Pridgeon had used its remaining energy and self-destructed.


    The explosions caused Seeker to be sent flying backward. Pridgeon''s ship was obliterated from the sh.


    Crostfree was also thrown back but was caught by Pridgeon.


    "Who is that?! No! What is that!" A shocked expression emerged from Pridgeon. The Presiders were very clear with regard to the power levels among Presiders. And yet, the mighty Crostfree would have died if not for Pridgeon''s intervention.


    Seeker''s figure could be seen. Most of his suit was damaged, and cracks were appearing on the masks he was wearing.


    "Ugh. I almost forgot about you." Seeker spoke in a deep and strange voice.


    "Lost Primordial! You thought you''d seen thest of us! But now, the stage is evenly set! You called yourself a god, but even the gods have bled! We''ve killed all of your Pioneers in the War back then, and we will kill you now!" Seekerughed.


    Crostfree''s expression soured.


    Pridgeon was just as shocked. He knew of the Lost Primordial and deduced that the two ''demons'' he met were these Lost Primordial. But now, there was another group that had the strength to fight against them.


    "How have you grown stronger?!" Crostfree decided to go with the flow.


    "Heh! Do you think that the Progenitor only left one inheritance? When we defeated you, we also found another. Now die!" Seeker motioned.


    It was time for ''him'' to act.


    Harker had thrown his shoulder cannon, which was reaching critical levels.


    At the same time, Harker''s massive Armor revealed a small opening on the back, and a figure emerged.


    The figure nced at the distance and frowned.


    "It''s too far!" He cursed.


    "Do it. That man will help you!" Meng answered back.


    "Remember our deal. I do this, and my men walk free!?? He cursed and jumped towards the shoulder cannon of the Armor.


    Immediately, he disappeared.


    The Large shoulder canon also disappeared along with him!


    As he moved, he was surprised to find that the dimensional road that he would usually thread on was very clear and without any strange obstacles. He could see arge object surrounding him just as it was outside. But of course, he already knew this. Ever since Harker''s Armor caught him, he had been keeping an eye on the battle inside the Armor. Something odd was happening in the dimensions that he usually would travel on with that technique.


    Carrying therge cannon would have been impossible. But here, in this ce, gravity was a force that he could evade. And without the usual obstacles, he was moving faster than he could. But his stamina was running out. It was then that he noticed it. A peculiar spark of lightning could be seen in the dark and strange dimensions he was at.


    "This must be it! His pull." The man gritted his teeth and walked towards the small spark of lightning.


    Upon making contact, he was suddenly pulled and went out of the dimensions.


    He appeared right next to Seeker.


    His figure was charred from the intense electricity, but his eyes remained focused.


    Immediately, he removed his hold over the Large shoulder cannon that was traveling at an incredible speed.


    Seeker grasped on the man.


    "Now!" He shouted.


    Rai immediately turned back and did his teleportation.


    Seeker disappeared, and all that was left in the closing passageway was therge shoulder canon.


    "What?! Where did he-" Pridgeon was shocked. Seeker and the man who suddenly appeared with the shoulder cannon disappeared as quickly as he appeared.


    "Get behind me, you idiot!" Crostfree ordered as he began to force his weapons out.


    Therge shoulder canon was forced into a critical state. But this wasn''t unintentional. This was all ording to Arthur''s calction.


    BOOM!


    A powerful srium bomb exploded with might that would be on parpared to weapons of mass destruction.


    Rai was cursing. He was bleeding out of all his eyes and ears, but he endured the teleportation.


    Seeker aided him and used his telekinesis powers to further throw them in the dimensions they were traveling in.


    Harker and Meng had begun retreating the moment they thew out the hammer.


    Seeker and Rai suddenly emerged near them as they raced out of the exploding st.


    Because the st happened right in the middle of the craft, most explosive energy could not leak out. But it looked like therge red moon suddenly spat out a green wave of fire.


    The Pangean fleet did not waste any second and bombarded it with a lot of firepowers.


    Anotherrge rocket wasunched, and because the moon was no longer fighting back its defenses, it slowly gave way and allowed therge rocket to move inside.


    This was the most potent weapon of mass destruction that Pangea had. It did not have the same size and range that other weapons of Mass destruction could do, but it still had a power that could do just the same damage, even more, when detonated at the right ce.


    The science relied on Srium and Eradication technology. It was a me that would generate tremendous heat by causing the molecules of every matter that the balefire would hit.


    It was simr to the Hellfire tech but was allowed since Hellfire would cause heat to spread and damage the environment. This weapon would only affect the objects immediately struck by the bomb. In short, all the environmental consequences and hazards were not present in this weapon.


    The foundational sciences were different, but their effects were treated the same.


    The Balefire Eradication Kogenic Isodiabatic Bomb ended the sh between SPU and Pangea when the South East Asian Continental War escted. The All-Terrain Mobile Behemoth that the SPU revealed broke several rules of the WGP. The WGP granted Pangea authority to use one Weapons of Mass Destruction, and this was Pangea''s answer.


    When the BEKI bomb erupted, the main army of WGP housed inside the Mobile Behemoth was incinerated. The SPU was confident that not even a nuclear bomb could prate through their techs, but they never expected such a concentrated weapon to appear.


    BOOM!


    The moon-faced the sun as it sted out and incinerated a huge half of the moon.


    The red moon''s figure could be seen distorting, and then suddenly. It was fading away. It was as if the sun next to it had outshined it. Slowly, the red moon that was turning more and more unstable disappeared.


    The video feeds of Pangea had already been sent home, and when victory was confirmed, they began to live-stream the attack.


    Videos of the red moon that shot down the Kraken and the monstrous powers of the WGP and defeated it were now being shown everywhere.


    Amidst the smoke and fire and the strange red lights'' chaotic shes, arge Armor dashed out of the heat.


    Its figure was burnt and charred. It had various damaged areas, and therge shield that was once in its left hand was burnt, and even its right hand showed signs of significant burns.


    With a loud voice, the pilot of the Armor shouted.


    "Soldiers of Pangea! This is our victory!" The voice announced.


    What followed next was a cheerful cry of great delight.


    The soldiers and officers who controlled the video feed all allowed their voices of cheers to be heard.


    The battered form of the massive Armor moved closer and closer to the main army, and the boarding doors of this Armor finally opened.


    As the doors opened, the heat trapped inside finally gave way, and a tired, but dignified figure emerged.


    It was the figure that everyone knew and loved.


    The majestic, glorious, unparalleled, undisputed, illustrious, eye-popping, eyebrow-raising, breath-taking, heart-stopping, spine-chilling, most amazing General of the Heroes Army. Who else could this man be? But the Moon Killer himself. Harker Cipril. The Light of Pangea.


    "Pangea! No! I call on to the world! A threat that could defeat the WGP exists! We have long been preparing for this day, but the day to rise against them stands! These monsters only want to enve us all! I do not know what they n, but today''s battle should be a wake-up call! We cannot becent! We must unite! Only then-"


    "General! Enemy attack!" A voice could be heard through General Harker''s speaker.


    Suddenly, a hand emerged from the back and pulled General Harker back inside, and the doors immediately closed.


    Several bluish bolts of lightning emerged from the sea and attacked Harker''s Armor.


    At that moment, almost all of the flying structures that brought Harker''s armies were attacked. Explosions began to ur left and right, and various structures fell.


    The Armor of Harker dashed as several lightning bolts from the sea appeared.


    The number of bolts that came out of the sea was too numerous.


    The various structures moved forward to save Harker and took in the damage to block most attacks from reaching Harker.

 Chapter 242 - Presider Crostfree’s Report

    The sudden attacks caught the world in shock. No one knew who it was that was suddenly attacking them but the surprise attack brought down most Exoskeletons and Armors in the air.


    It was difficult to evade as it had an almost sentient means of bending and moving.


    The structures were also bombarded, and several had already fallen to the sea.


    The surviving aircraft that remained all surrounded Harker and kept shooting randomly to the sea.


    The previous glorious scenes of victory had be a pitiful retreat.


    "Retreat! This battle, we will pay back a hundred times to our foes!" Harker angrily shouted. It was as if he was out of character. The rage could be heard, but along with it, an incredible sense of depression and frustration.


    "Move! Move! Move! Full retreat!" Harker ordered angrily.


    Nearly half of the fleet was exterminated from the ambush. When most of the forces were on full retreat, severalrge silver oval objects surfaced from the sea. These Ovals were as big as the Rules of Emperors, but it was so smooth as if it had no gaps, cracks, or lines around it.


    It had a strange electrical energy that linked itself to the sea below. The sea was howling as a malicious green energy could be seen at the deep blue under it.


    The lighting attacks continued to attack the fleeing structures. These were that were left. Any Armor or Exoskeleton had fallen into the ocean.


    The scene was broadcasted across the world, and everyone knew that Pangea had to pay an incredible price for this. And yet, no one knew if the enemy had it worse.


    The red moon that they conquered seemed domineering, but what was it that attacked them from below?


    The news reporters worldwide began to report this shocking urrence, and the world watched in silence.


    Somewhere within the space near Australia was a pocket dimension that had moved away from the battle.


    Presider Crostfree was seated inside hisrge ship. But it had severe damage as if arge hole could be seen on the center of it.


    "Report!" Crostfree ordered.


    "Sir. Nearly thirty percent of the ship was damaged, and we lost about a hundred nteds and over twenty Pioneers." The Pioneer reported.


    Crostfree gritted his teeth angrily. The energy he had to use was so astronomical that several Earth nations would not have been able to pay it up.


    And all of his efforts made him gain nothing.


    The bizarre attack from the person who called him Lost Primordial produced severe damage to his Presider Armor. And after that. He had to fight the Srium Bomb. The deaths of the nteds, and the Pioneers were nothingpared to the damages he had to endure.


    Crostfree was silent, but he kept looking at a peculiar device on his hands.


    It was a simple transmitter. Of course, this transmitter was directly connected to the Moon and even to the main Orbital behind Mars.


    Crostfree took a deep sigh and immediately began the call.


    "You have... a lot to exin Crostfree..." Garnejazz no longer had azy voice.


    "I know. Is the Princess reachable?"


    "I just got out. I was deep inside Harker''s facilities due to a misunderstanding and had no ess to this Transmitter." An impatient voice was heard.


    "My apologies if my statement offended you, Princess. It''s simply because I was worried. The enemy is not as weak as we think it is."


    "Who is the enemy?" Garenjazz asked curiously.


    "I think we may have traitors among the previous Presiders."


    "Traitors?"


    "Well... I won''t say, traitors... But right now, I just want to level the ying ground. Someone from the previous batch of Presiders must have discovered an inheritance belonging to a person who they call this..." Crostfree then aired the short audio of the words he heard.


    "Lost Primordial! You thought you''d seen thest of us! But now, the stage is evenly set! You called yourself a god, but even the gods have bled! We''ve killed all of your Pioneers in the war back then, and we will kill you now!" An eerieughed, followed this recording.


    "Show us the video feeds. If you have acquired the audio, you must have some videos to show us. Who knows, you could be lying?" An irritated voice argued.


    "I won''t. Showing the video will unveil my Judges Call and my technology. Someone already got greedy on the previous batch of Presiders. I don''t want to tempt others in our team to bear fangs at me." Corstfree countered.


    "Who was that?" Garenjazz asked again.


    "How should I know? But he could get near to me. The techs he had was bizarre. It was iplete andcking, but it sufficed to get near me."


    "Who is the Lost Primordial? Are they rted to the Primes?" A young voice asked once more.


    "Yes, who is he?" Another Presider asked.


    "Seriously? Many do not know about the Lost Primordial?" An irritated voice asked once more.


    "You... know about it, Princess?" One of the Presider''s asked.


    "I asked one of Pridgeon''s Pioneers, and he told me."


    "Knowledge about this Lost Primordial is not easily disclosed. Many of the Presiders do not know this information, Princess. You just had the opportunity to pick a Pioneer who knew about this information."


    Crostfree was silent, but he could not help but turn around to see Pridgeon''s unconscious body.


    He set the microphones to mute.


    "Tend to that Presider. He is very useful for me."


    The various Pioneers moved and began to tend to him.


    "Presider. May I ask about the Lost Primordial?"


    "I do not have any idea aside from the name. It seems that Pridgeon was very eager to win some plus points to Princess Zeraphine that he told this information to his Pioneers. Either that or what he gave out was negligible information."


    "Then, this information shouldn''t be open to us?"


    "It probably can be passed on. A Presider has full control over the techs that he bestows on his Pioneers. If he gave this information, he must have known about the Lost Primordial earlier and told his Pioneers the bare minimal information to investigate Earth. He is the weakest among us Presiders, but suddenly, he is the smartest. Ironic." Crostfree shook his head.


    Presider Zeraphine began to cascade the information that he received from Pridgeon.


    "So the Lost Primordial is said to be a Prime?" Lanterk asked once more.


    "Not just a Prime. A Primordial."


    "A Primordial?"


    "Just as we are to Principals, and Principals to Primes, the Primordial stand above the Primes. It is a distinguished title. Anyone who has that title stands above everyone else in our world. Our current leader is a Primordial." Garenjazz exined.


    Everyone was shocked. To many Presiders, knowledge beyond the Principals was very scarce. They could only hear of the Primes based on the discussions of the Principals.


    "The Pioneer gave me a rather... in-depth report. If even my fellow Presiders have not heard of this Lost Primordial, then I believe this report will be helpful to us all."


    "How is Pridgeon?" Garenjazz asked Crostfree.


    "Unconscious. But he is still alive. I am currently in Australia and will hide for a while."


    "You won''t return to Mars? It seems that you expended quite a bit from that battle." A womanughed.


    "Oh, my dear Tiana. If you only knew. You''d probably be dead if it were you here. That man who fought me would have ripped your face and turned all your sciences to naught. You should be at least as daring as Pridgeon if you want to be useful from now on. If this is true, then we do not know what monsters exist within Earth!" Crostfreeughed.


    "Are you implying that I am not strong enough to fight these monkeys?"


    "They have Domain." Crostfreeughed.


    "Yes, Yes. That Origin energy that the WGP has boasted. So what? Such foundational-"


    "Have you seen the battle I did? Or rather, could you have seen it?" Crostfreeughed.


    Everyone was confused until Garenjazz broke the silence.


    "I can''t. Can you tell me why?"


    "I''ll just say two words and leave it to the wise to understand. Domain Suppression." Crostfreeughed again.


    "WHAT!?" Zeraphine and Feyor shouted in surprise.


    Garenjazz was silent, and no one could tell what he was thinking.


    "So it is a Domain. Then here are the possibilities. One... There is a Lost Primordial, and he did leave a legacy on Earth. This implies that the Lost Primordial may have died here. One of the Pioneers found it, and quite understandably, she kept it a secret."


    "She? How do you know it''s a she and not a he?" Tiana argued.


    "Lourca Oviili. The Arbiter that went alongside the first batch of Pioneers. Weren''t there wild theories of her betrayal?" Garenjazz askedzily.


    "That theory had no basis and is-"


    "We are facing opponents with Domain Suppression. If I were to give Domain''s foundation science to Earth, it would take them roughly a hundred years to understand it. What they have is a technology that should have taken about two hundred years of research! And that is assuming they have the sameputers and devices that we have. That''s why I am presenting this perspective." Garenjazz silenced everyone.


    "Garenjazz is right," Feyor added.


    "Domain Suppression means that they can already interact and draw movements beyond the third dimension. I had it because my Judges im were numerous, and three Presiders gifted me a hundred years worth of their research. Unless someone did the same, it would be impossible for Earth to reach this level at such a short time."


    Many were shaken at Zeraphine''s words, but everyone swallowed their words in frustration. It was a few secondster that they suddenly realized the threat and power of Earth.


    "I haven''t finished my report. Let me remind you that whoever attacked me wasn''t someone with the Lost Primordial. This is what happened. I detected an attack on the Kraken, which used Australia''s Light Breaker tech. After which several groups began to attack the Kraken to the point that the WGP was forced to reveal their weapons one by one. Eventually, the WGP revealed their greatest weapon. It was the Invoking, and it had Domain Suppression." Crostfree answered.


    "Wait. It wasn''t the Lost Primordial who used Domain Suppression?"


    "Gordon, aren''t you the one who was tasked to spy on the WGP?"


    "You think it''s easy? That group is paranoid to the extreme!"


    As the argument began, Crostfree muted his transmitter again.


    "How is Pridgeon?"


    "He is stable, Presider. We also began to feed his suit with a various energy source to quicken its auto-repairs. Presider. If I may, the WGP has shown more than just Domain Suppression. Why did you report only that one?"


    "If I reported everything, I do not doubt that Feyor, Garenjazz, and even that ursed Princess will wage war immediately against the WGP. They will take advantage of this chaos between the WGP''s war against this unknown group to immediately steal their current Domain science. But now, they will act with reservations. The price they have to pay is not worth the prize. So they will take a more economical route."


    It was at that moment that Crostfree unmuted his device.


    "Can I continue now? You can bicker all you want, but this is the truth of what I faced. Let me finish. You can argue all you want after this. Several groups challenged the WGP. Among them were groups which was a century ahead than the current techs of this world. A group could control the wind; another group had human mutation techs that allowed them to be simr to the Babylos Grunts. One of the more interesting technology is Cold Fusion. It finally appeared on this. Someone had already begun to study it. Another was a technology even I could not identify. Here. I''ll show you the video."


    The video revealed a strange green aura engulfing an object that looked like the Qilins Horn.


    "Isn''t that based on Pridgeon''s weapon?" Tiana asked.


    "Wait! I know that tech! I have it too! It''s the Sheera''s Pride tech foundation." Lanterk could not help but add.


    "But that Sheeras Pride is different! Ours use star energy, but that one seems to use Cold Fusion as its foundation! What is that green power?"


    "It''s gue Technology." Another female sighed.


    "Andronze? Are you here? What a rare treat!" Gordonughed.


    "I always join your little meetings but just remain silent. And the reason is you, Gordon."


    "Will you two settle your suppressed desires another time?" Crostfree cursed.


    "Its gue Technology. I''m not sure, it has traces of it, but that version seems to have an air form rather than liquid. But what I have is only the foundation. I haven''t touched it since I got it apart from adding it with to weapons." Andronze exined.


    "They used gue technology andbined it with Domain. That is a gue Domain." Garnejazz rified.


    Everyone was shocked.


    "Merging techs? Impossible! How could they¡­"


    "It''s not that farfetched. If you understand Domain, it''s elementary to trante it to other techs."


    Crostfree''s expression soured as he heard Garenjazz said that. He knew Garenjazz was lying. Garenjazz was most likely downying the tech so that others won''t snoop around.


    "Fine. If it''s just him¡­ I''ll find a way." Crostfree said after muting his transmitter.


    "I still haven''t finished my report." Crostfree finally spoke.


    "What there''s more?"


    "Yes. Much more. The WGP revealed their Origin attacks and began to win the war slowly. But¡­ Something happened. It seems that it was all a ploy. The WGP fought with these who imed to have received something from the Lost Primordial, and suddenly, the two worked together." Crostfree tossed the transmitter to the table nearby as the memories of his defeat nearly made him want to crush the transmitter.


    "They worked together?" Zeraphine asked after noticing Crostfree''s silence.


    "They thought I was the Lost Primordial and gave a surprise attack. This is why Pridgeon fainted. He was attacked, and his ship blew up, and I had to save him but got hurt along the way." Crostfree exined.


    "So the Lost Primordial is a Presider. Interesting." Garenjazz pondered.


    "No!" Crostfree countered.


    "No?"


    "He isn''t. Because right after I escaped, the feeds that you probably saw on Earth happened."


    "Wait! Those attacks were not yours?!" Feyor was shocked.


    "No! Garenjazz knows my tech possibilities. He can confirm. The Red Moon that you saw in the Pangean feeds was my tech. I retreated after that!"


    "Crostfree is most likely telling the truth. He has a means ofpressing and expanding things. Unless he made another Judges im, he wouldn''t have that kind of technology. I fought him several times and know what his aces are. This is why we call him the One-Man army during the skirmishes that we once had. I won, of course."


    There was silence. The Presiders were all shocked. Crostfree''s expression turned red.


    "Then who¡­?"


    "This is just my guess¡­ But the group who called themselves the Lost Primordial, who knows about us, used me as bait. And he attacked the enemies after my weapon was defeated. You''ve seen the videos. Isn''t that technology one of his?"


    "His?" Zeraphine asked.


    "Presider Marrho. The Bolt of Heaven." Gordon echoed out in surprise.


    "Then, a Presider has betrayed us.." Garenjazz finally concluded.

 Chapter 243 - A Traitor Among Us

    The concept of betraying their own race was foreign to the Aragarians as it is with Earthlings. No one would think of doing such a thing, especially when there is too little to gain.


    Everyone was silent and wrestled with this revtion.


    "Why would a Presider betray our race?"


    "You misunderstand. I didn''t mean that he betrayed the entire race, just us. The current Presiders here."


    "What do you mean?"


    "He is simply doing what we did back home. And I''m referring to the battle of conquering and devouring each other to make ourselves more powerful. The Barbablon and the Babelians had long retreated to Babylos. Unless a Presider is daring enough to initiate a Judge War against them, no one would ever have enough contribution points to be a Principal. Even Presider Marrho has to make sufficient preparations to start a Judge War. Everyone is making preparations for that, and aren''t we here to amass as many contributions for that time?" Garenjazz asked.


    "Then what is this traitor nning? And how could it be a Presider! Everyone is here! The only suspicious ones are Zeraphine, Pridgeon and Crostfree! But They don''t have the Bolt of Heaven!"


    "If word of the Lost Primordial reaches home, how many Presiders will flock here? Or rather, would we even get the chance? The best thing to do is to keep this news out of the Principals. Make this something only Presiders will settle. I do not believe that if the inheritance of a Lost Primordial is here on Earth, he or she would inform a Principal. That is a chance to be a Prime!" Garenjazz exined.


    "Then the most suspicious one is definitely Crostfree." Lanterk made a guess.


    "I will take Presider Lanterk''sment as a sign of his immaturity. But if that is true, how could I have created a distortion field that blocked even Garenjazz''s techs? The possibilities are, I am working with Zeraphine or Feyor or Garenjazz himself!" Crostfreeughed.


    "What is your opinion of this matter, Crostfree? You''re the one who fought them after all?" Feyor asked.


    "I''d love to hear your tale as well." Gordonughed.


    "Then, since you asked, let me give you my narrative... The Lost Primordial''s legacy is left on Earth. Someone, probably from the first batch of Pioneers, or even a Presider who was here on Earth at that time, found the inheritance. Earth''s people found another part of Lost Primordial''s Legacy as that audio clip of my enemy imed. They killed all Pioneers, and perhaps the Presider''s lost the sh, or it would cost them too much if they continued fighting. They must have determined that it was too dangerous to continue or too costly for them, so they retreated. They requested another batch to rece them while they go home." Crostfree exined this all in one breathe.


    "So those Presider''s who went back wanted us to weaken the enemy? They assumed that Earth could put up a fight?" Lanterk asked.


    "Young Presider, one would do well to ignore the ramblings of Crostfree. He is the survivor of Dormin''s Downfall. Wasn''t it after that war that you earned quite a bit of tech? Did you betray and kill your fellow Presiders? I heard just before that war, you were a nameless Pioneer?" Tiana asked with great suspicion.


    "Then how do you exin the Principal going here? Just because Pridgeon got injured? No! The Presiders may have informed this Principal. Some deal must have been struck! That Principal used the excuse of a wounded Presider to go here! The traitors belong to the former batch! That is the most probable truth!" Crostfree barked back.


    "Highly unlikely. I knew Principal Nabal and had the chance to serve him. He''s an entric Principal and is a hedonist. He isn''t the type to seek fame and despisesplex ns. He is a weak Principal by their ranks, but none would dare attack him, for he is the son of a Prime! Himing out here out of boredom just fits his personality! If the inheritance of the Lost Primordial is true, he would most likely tell his father! Why strive hard when you have a stronger dad who could do more with that tech than you could ever do? As long as he lives a life that is not boring, he would choose to remain sheltered under his father''s wings!" Tianaughed.


    "Perhaps that''s why the Presiders downyed the reports. They needed someone like him to go." Zeraphine interrupted.


    "Think about it. He goes alongside those Presiders who went back home, and when they return here, they reveal the existence of the Lost Primordial or find a way to make the Principale to this conclusion. He would be forced to act and fight those who inherited Earth''s technology to give it to his Father. As for us, we would all be killed."


    "Except you." The voice of another young teenage girl echoed.


    "What are you implying, Presider Straviaa?" Zeraphine almost shouted.


    "It''s just that when Crostfree was battling with these unknown enemies, you were in Pangea. And you did not offer any aide at all. Weren''t you sent to Earth earlier than most? After Pridgeon, you used your obsession with this Seeker Carlean as an excuse. Almost all of us returned to the moon shortly when the WGP made their crazy demands. But you? Who knows what you have been doing, Princess!" The teenager mocked.


    "Enough!" Garenjazz reprimanded.


    "As much as I want to see a good-old-fashioned cat-fight between two beautiful teens worth simping over... We still have to focus here. Straviaa, its impossible for Zeraphine to be the traitor. While she may have motives and desires great power and all that evil viin clich¨¦, her technologies can''t be that one because she does not have Presider Marrho''s Bolt of Heaven. I know, because I am assigned by her father to be her ward." Garenjazz didn''t hesitate to reveal this secret.


    Straviaa became silent, and Zeraphine also kept quiet.


    "With regards to the statements that Crostfree made, while it is possible, it will easily fail if we report to another Principal back home. If we reported that we were attacked and tell another Principal, their n immediately fails. But those pretending to be the Lost Primordials created a trap to make us fight these Earthlings who im to have acquired another piece of the Lost Primordials inheritance. Why risk it?"


    "How effective was the attack?" Feyor suddenly asked Crostfree.


    "What is the extent of the damage?"


    "Pridgeon is gravely wounded. He used his ship to collide with the enemy, and I had to move and save him. I used my technology to rescue Pridgeon, but then, they used a Pangean BEKI bomb on me."


    "Then isn''t it obvious? If they did that, they vastly underestimated the powers of Presiders. To think they assumed that a BEKI bomb could kill us?" Andronze answered.


    "There is another possibility." Andornze continued.


    "The Lost Primordial left their inheritance to a small group of people who have been making preparations for our attack. Maybe the Lost Primordial who lived the remainder of his or her life here decided to nt seeds to give this world a chance to fight back. The only problem is that we discovered this location earlier than expected. "


    "This does sound possible. But why would the Lost Primordial fight the WGP? Why are their factions?" Gordon asked.


    "Maybe one group got greedy and wanted to devour the rest. Didn''t Crostfree say that the Kraken battle revealed that various countries have technologies that could be a century ahead? What if the Lost Primordial nted a whole bunch of seeds? The techs he must have with him are plenty. He gave them all foundational science and simply hoped that Earth would develop strong enough. But some groups got greedy and overestimated their capabilities." Andronze guessed.


    "That is possible. The improvements of the countries were suspicious after the Third World War."Feyor nodded in agreement.


    "It does exin their guts in attacking another Presider like Crostfree. So we have an ambitious group with technologies ripe for the taking. It sounds like it''s time to abandon all forms of pretense and just make an all-out war." Lanterkughed excitedly.


    "I agree with Lanterk." Straviaa approved.


    "Are you convinced, Garenjazz? You are my ward, after all." Zeraphine asked with a very sarcastic tone.


    "This is just... too easy. Perhaps it''s my own paranoia or because I know how crafty Crostfree is. We fought several times, and he still lives. I am almost certain he is either exaggerating or downying the battle. Either he received shocking amounts of damage that could kill several of you, or he is exaggerating the battle, and it was he who caused Pridgeon great harm. "


    "Is Pridgeon awake?" Crostfree asked.


    "He is stable." A Pioneer answered.


    "Force him up and get him here."


    "He is barely able to move, Presider."


    "Can he talk?"


    "Yes."


    "Then bring him in," Crostfree ordered coldly.


    Garenjazz waited patiently for Pridgeon toe online.


    Soon, a video feed was being sent to them, and it showed a very weak and wounded Pridgeon. He was wearing his trademark suit, which had recovered to some extent. There were still parts of his suit that did not recover, and Pridgeon still had no right arm.


    "As you all know, Pridgeon prioritized in Life Science. So his body has the best healing mechanism among all of us. And as our Presiders suit is virtually hack-proof against other Presiders, you could say that I cannot manipte his suit even if I gave him the energy to recover." Crostfree presented.


    Several Presiders nodded. Principals granted the suits, and it contained tech that could not be understood.


    "Give him enough energy to fully heal himself of any drugs, hypnosis, or any other means to alter his state of mind." Garenjazz coolly ordered.


    "Fine. But you all will pay me the energy that I expend now. Granting energy to power a Presider suit and fix it isn''t cheap." Crostfree frowned.


    "It will be divided between us," Feyor promised to which some of the Presiders frowned.


    Powerful energy began to surge and power the suit of Pridgeon, allowing it to recover just enough to allow the suit to perform certain scans and functions. Pridgeon''s right arm reformed along with his suit.


    The recovery began under the watchful eye of all the Presiders. Pridgeon''s countenance could be seen changing.


    "Tell us the truth."


    "Pridgeon. Tell them but do not reveal my tech or hint them of what I am capable of." Crostfree warned.


    The other Presiders didn''t find this demand strange.


    "It is as Crostfree said. I almost died, and he saved me and retreated. He shed, and his weapons got attacked by that BEKI bomb."


    "Is this good enough for proof?" Crostfree asked Garenjazz.


    Garenjazz was silent.


    "Hurry. Sending you a video feed isn''t cheap. I will be demandingpensation." Crostfree added.


    "Fine. Disconnect it." Garenjazz sighed.


    Crostfree immediately disconnected the video and returned to audio transmission.


    "I''m still not convinced to be honest. Crostfree might have bought Pridgeon after all." Garenjazzzily replied.


    "You can''t be serious?!" Crostfree shouted.


    "I''m just honest. I have to show Zeraphine everything I know. She isn''t easy to watch. So, I am merelyying it out on her." Garenjazz yawned.


    "I don''t think someone''s out to betray us." Feyor gave his stance.


    "The scenario that Andronze presented seemed to be the most logical. I have a theory that can evenplete it. Lourca Oviili. What if it was an Arbiter who discovered the inheritance of the Lost Primordial? It would exin her betrayal and all the lost technology. I heard that there were rumors of mind-controlling tools that are at our level. What if she discovered it and was trying to face off against the Presiders out of her arrogance?" Feyor presented his theory.


    "This conversation is going nowhere!" A voice that never spoke finally shouted in anger. The voice sounded like an irritable and old man.


    "Enderks. So even you are in attendance!" Crostfreeughed and gave a weak cough.


    "I have no time to listen to this talk. Crostfree and Garenjazz are too suspicious of each other. The rest of you wild stories that match the paranoia of those two! If we just take action and destroy Earth now! Why bother with all this! If we all take action, it will reveal whatever traitor there is!"


    There was silence, and finally, the young Presider Lanterk agreed.


    "It does sound good." Lanterk nodded.


    "We don''t know who or what-"


    Suddenly, Crostfree started to cough loudly.


    "What''s going on?!" Pridgeon could be heard shouting.


    "Presider! Presider?! AGH!" A shrill cry was heard. This was the same voice that Crostfree was talking to.


    "What''s happening?! What is that strange green gas?!" Pridgeon shouted.


    rms were suddenly made.


    "WARNING! HIGH RADIATION DETECTED! EVACUATE THE BUILDING! WARNING!"


    "What''s happening?"


    "Crostfree?!" Various Presiders suddenly began to shout and freak out.


    Panicked cries and alerts could be heard on the background.


    "Crostfree! Where are your weapons? Your techs? Where is it?!" Pridgeon''s demanded. Crostfree gave no answer.


    "You! Where is it?"


    "I do not know! Presider Crostfree could open a portal to a pocket dimension! We don''t have ess to it! He sends us into hisrge spaceship at will!"


    "What?!"


    "Presider! It''s burning! Let me go! Let me go!" The Pioneer could only squeal in pain.


    "DAMNIT!" Pridgeon howled as he began to escape.


    Several loud cries could be heard at the background, and after a few seconds, the call was terminated.


    The video conference call of the Presiders in the moon and in the Orbital continued. The expressions of all the Presiders looked sour.


    "Crostfree is dead," Garenjazz confirmed. He noticed the lifeline that revealed the urate status of the Presider no longer showed its vital signs.


    "It looks like he was burned to death..." Lanterk looked over at the reports of how Crostfree''s body died. When a Presider dies, the suit presents a timeline of what the body went through before dying.


    "No. That was gue Technology. It''s that green energy that he showed us earlier. Whoever attacked him with that green energy must have used some strange way to imnt it in his body. But Crostfree should have detected it."


    "No, this proves it. Crostfree fought a hard battle." Garenjazz concluded.


    "I know his technology. And based on thosest seconds, I can conclude that the battle cost him too much. After Pridgeon fought, he must have also suffered quite a bit. The fact that he was in some building proves it. The ship he was on, which he hides in a pocket dimension, was damaged that he temporarily settled in his base in Australia. What a fool. Pridgeon wanted to acquire the techs, but only Crostfree could open it. But since he is dead, then unless we are able to find that dimension where he kept all his weapons, it is forever lost." Garenjazz sighed.


    Everyone''s expression grew dim.


    "What a waste." Enderks cursed.


    "So... We don''t know who the enemy these are. Are they Earthlings, are there traitors among us? Andronze looks especially suspicious." Gordonughed.


    Andronze only red at Gordon.


    "What do we do now?" Straviaa asked with a visibly, fearful expression.


    "We wait. There are two Presider level forces on Earth. Is anyone willing to fight it?" Garenjazz asked.


    No one replied.


    Back at the pocket dimension of where Crostfree was...


    The charred ashes of Crostfree''s body fell down. His suit was unable to protect him.


    Pridgeon''s right arm was giving off a bright red light.


    "Perfectly executed! Ladies and Gentlemen, as promised, I will be a Principal, and you all shall be Presiders!" Pridgeonughed.

 Chapter 244 - The Grand Plan

    Pridgeon stood andughed at the scattered ashes of Crostfree.


    "Crostfree had one thing right. He always knew how to keep it low-key. But his second mistake is not being low-key enough. Learn this important lesson, all you Pioneers."


    Around him stood the many Pioneers who once served Crostfree. Everyone was silent. Their expressions were not of horror or fear. It looked as if they just meant business.


    "As you can see, even the Presiders are confused about this situation. I have met the Lost Primordial. And if I fulfill my end of this mission, I will acquire technology from them as well. While this Earth has advanced greatly, imagine what it would be if it falls into our hands?"


    The Pioneers were slowly gathering. These were all the Pioneers that had severed under Crostfree.


    "Ever since Crostfree took you in, you barely left this ce. But just as I promised, I can help you all!" Pridgeonughed.


    Pridgeon continued toy out his ns and revealed the many benefits that all the Pioneers would receive.


    When the Srium cannon of the Harker''s Armor erupted, Pridgeon willingly acted slowly. He moved just slow enough to allow more than half of his body to be charred. This forced Crostfree to heal him.


    But what he didn''t know was that Pridgeon''s self-recuperating technology was far more powerful than he thought it would be.


    Unlike the previous explosion that Pridgeon suffered, he was ready tounch his defensive mechanisms to counter-act the explosion.


    On China, Pridgeon made a mistake to carefully observe the body of the Pioneer Lander to see why the bomb did not explode. As such, he was at a very vulnerable state. But the true power of Pridgeon''s Body-Recovering Tech was something that could have instantly healed him had he made the right preparations and brought enough energy.


    This time, when the Srium Bomb exploded, he readied his technology in a way that, when he was brought into Crostfree''s dimension, he was immediately conscious even though his body was in terrible shape.


    In that dimension, Pridgeon was able to take advantage of the mysterious space around him that surpassed the four dimensions and activated the most recent Judges im he had.


    Once more, this was another technology that very few Presiders took. The reason being, this device was just an effectivemunication tool. For Presiders, they did not need this. Among Principals, this bes necessary for those who have arge army, especially during war.


    But of all the technology that Pridgeon used, he chose this Judge im. It was deemed useless by Presiders, as Principals usually allowed them to carry a device that allows them to do this. The only advantage of making this im was since it became one of the necessary tools, those who selected this would have a moreprehensive legacy than most sciences. It wasn''t a foundational science, but it was already at the level of Working Science.


    This tool made it possible tomunicate with others using the user''s thoughts directly. If Seeker saw this, he would be amazed at how this science bore great simrities to the Thought Transmitter.


    Pridgeonmunicated to all the Pioneers and gave them an offer they could not refuse. The science of Crostfree far exceeded Pridgeon''s expectation. But a series of events happened that allowed him to enter the very pocket dimension of Crostfree. He was surprised. Crostfree had only a few Pioneers that apanied him on Earth. These were now based in Australia. But when he was brought into this dimension, it finally made sense.


    Crostfree has been hiding his Pioneers in his pocket dimension. If Pridgeon had not heard of this, then he knew these Pioneers were being locked up in here. As such, with the offer of freedom and going out on the world and get the chance to fulfill their deepest desires, they immediately agreed to betray them.


    The truth was, Pridgeon''s suit had enough power to heal itself. But he wanted to use the excess energy just in case Corstfree could retaliate.


    And so, when he was "healed," he began to make the reports. And then, the chance presented itself.


    Crostfree, who had been very cautious his entire life, made a grave mistake of underestimating Pridgeon.


    This was the one ce where he knew he was safe. The energy he sent to Pridgeon was only just enough to heal him to speak. But Pridgeon used his own stored energy to heal himself and used his techs to move quickly and stab his Crostfree''s throat with a condensed me.


    This was rather basic science. But Corstfree''s suit was damaged and was in a state that was focused on recovering itself. Most of it''s sensory, and auto-attacks were shut down or was damaged.


    And thus, Pridgeon''s attack seeded and killed Crostfree.


    Now free from their master''s control, all the Pioneers began to take the necessary actions that Pridgeon discussed to them. They caused the entire ship to make fake alerts and create a ruckus that perfectly yed out the whole scene that the Presiders believed.


    "Crostfree sure was very smart. He kept up the video distorting energy just long enough even to hide his Bolt of Heaven. Pangea only managed to capture the video feeds of his pocket dimension. And even they would report it. They would only think it was a powerful beam attack! What a man your former leader was!" Pridgeon admired the plots and how Crostfree fooled and manipted everyone.


    "To think that he even managed to fool Garenjazz!"


    "Presider. What was that bolt that appeared after? Crostfree imed that it was weaker, but I have studied his bolt long enough to know that the bolt that attacked Pangea was different."


    "I will answer that question in a few moments." Pridgeonughed.


    "Suit Devour!'' Pridgeon finally disyed one of the technologies that he was hiding.


    His suit began to devour Crostfree''s suit.


    "What technology is that?!" One of the Pioneer eximed. She was a very attractive woman with light yellow hair.


    "Who are you? If you are surprised by this technology, then it seems you have been under Crostfree''smand since you rose to a Pioneer."


    "I am Pioneer Liajean. Presider Crostfree made me a Pioneer. I have served him during his many wars back at home. I''ve seen many techs from Presiders and evens aw those for Principals. Yet that technology you have is something I have never seen before." She stated.


    "No one who has this technology will show it. Because if those who have it reveal it, many Presiders will try to kill him. This is the path of a devil. But the great limitation of this is that it''s too useless! It''s not a science but an ability. My suit is equipped with it." Pridgeon sneered as he could see the manymands that Crostfree had in his suit emerging to his own.


    "Amazing! Amazing! So this is a Top Tier Presider! Ha Ha Ha!" Pridgeonughed as he began to assimte with the technology of Presider.


    The Pioneers all felt it. The various bombs in their heart had a new owner.


    "I see. This suit allows me to know if any of you harbor intent to kill me. But since it was me who nned to kill him, he was not alerted. He picked the wrong tech path for making Programmed ves. Whoever gave Lourca Oviili''s Programmed ve tech had it right. Happiness was the best way." Pridgeonughed.


    It was then that the bombs in their hearts suddenly were destroyed.


    The Pioneers were amazed.


    "I keep my promises. You will undergo a different Programmed ve tech. But no bombs. But it will make you far more obedient than you were with Crostfree." Pridgeonughed.


    "Make the necessary preparations. Move us to the coordinates of where Crostfree''s base is. I can open a dimensional portal. I need to report to them soon." Pridgeon''sugh continued.


    And as Pridgeonughed andughed in great euphoria, a more shocking scene was urring deep in the ocean.


    Half of the Pangean army was decimated. The Kraken had sunk. And the Antis mysteriously vanished.


    Or so the world was led to believe.


    When the Bolt of Heaven came crashing down, the Empress and the Emperor thought they were finished.


    But something strange happened.


    A figure moved right in front of it and allowed the lightning energy to pass by.


    When it did, the lightning continuously struck therge Great Old One. It passed through the Titan and began to course through the Kraken.


    But the energy did no harm!


    Several explosions urred as the energy exploded upwards.


    "Cancel your Invoking and pretend you''re dead." Themand of Lennox coursed through the Emperor''s Titan andmunicated with the Rules inside.


    The samemand was sent towards the Kraken. It was weird as the voice seemed to havee out of the lightning andmunicated to the right persons deep inside the Command Center.


    Lennox stood and took in all the Bolt of Heaven and used his amazing Path to Convert the energy. Presider Marrho had the Bolt of Heaven. What Crostfree had was only the foundational science of it. It would take him hundreds of years to get half of what Presider Marrho had shown on the previous war against the many scattered tribes on their.


    But Lennox received the true Bolt of Heaven. The roots of his science came from the Lost Primordial itself. And with Seeker''s many exnations about the future, Lennox was able to master it finally.


    None of his thought processes were ying games anymore. It took in therge bolt of lightning and began to use his newly developed Realm to counter the Presider''s Domain. The result was a total takeover.


    The explosions urred, and immediately, the Empress, the Emperor, and the Kraken began to cancel the energies that it was creating and allowed itself to sink.


    The Rule was shut down, and the pair used their Exoskeletons tomunicate. They were out of the range from the scanners of the WGP.


    When Lennox''s lighting was sent out to strike them, the Emperors immediately followed on the advice and made it appear that the Rule was destroyed.


    The battle continued above the seas, but the Kraken continued to sink.


    "Who was that?" The Emperor finally asked. They had forced their way out their Rules and allowed their bodies to sink.


    "From now on, we are dead. Just obey mymand. We would have died fighting. These people are our allies."


    "What exactly is going on? What happened to the Antis?"


    "I don''t know. Their leader contacted me during the battle and exined everything. Those who attacked us at the start weren''t trying to destroy us. But to save us."


    "Save? Everyone in the Kraken will soon die! We can''t save everyone!"


    "The people in the Kraken is safe. We gave them enough time. Though they were battle-ready, the battle''s time allowed them to prepare for the possibility of sinking. Haven''t you noticed? The Lightning energy was forces most parts of the Kraken that no longer had the power to move on its own! The doors have already closed! So don''t worry. The enemy I fought imed that he could save the Kraken." The Empressughed.


    "What? Save it? Without your Invoking, how can you save them? What power can push away the deep sea?! Many may survive, but they are locked inside their rooms, and who knows if they are slowly drowning!"


    "Rx. And here I thought Emperors would be calmer than this." A voice was heard as a strange man appeared with parts of his body emitting unfathomable lightning. In fact, it looked like his arms were made of lightning.


    "Who are you?" The Emperor asked in amazement.


    "Empress. You better tell the Antis to follow yourmand." The man answered stoically and pointed.


    Below them, it finally appeared.


    A blue figure appeared underwater. It gave off a weak light, and in the pitch darkness, it was very noticeable.


    It was a woman who moved with incredible speed.


    "Amazing. She can do what my Invoking can do!"


    "Who is that?" The Emperor was stunned.


    "Our allies. It seems that the mystery of the Antis is finally solved." The Empress could not imagine what power this man had to have taken control of the Kraken.


    "Where is Emperor Odinsbane?"


    "Critically wounded but alive. He is being treated in the Antis." Lennox answered back.


    The Antis was under the control of Lennox. He had brought the nearly dead figure of the Emperor and made them follow his orders. But his orders were also something that they wanted to do.


    They were ordered to catch the sinking Kraken.


    The world didn''t know that the Kraken and the Antis were actually two separate mobile bases that could be one.


    When the Kraken rests on Antis, the Leviathan awakens.


    The protocol wasunched, and the sinking Kraken was on sight.


    The Antis began theplex protocols of shooting various devices to slow down the Kraken descent, and the Antis began to move to slowly attach itself to it.


    "Is that my daughter''s Antis?" The Empress asked Lennox.


    Lennox nodded and gave a curious look at the Empress.


    "Your daughter is the one who ckmailed Lowengren, correct?" Lennox asked.


    The Empress gave a curious nod. She had already heard of this as implied by Seeker.


    "I, too, have a daughter who is in deep darkness." Lennox immediately sped off towards the sea above.


    The Empress was starting to get worried. Why would someone as powerful as that man say something so cryptic?


    Using the energy he received from the Presider, Lennox channeled the remaining energy and changed its form. It now looked like his own energy. One bolt suddenly fell into the Reactor of the Kraken.


    "Empress! He''s trying to destroy the Kraken!"


    "Rx. He isn''t let''s just watch what he''s up to."


    "Yeah, Emperor. Rx. We already seeded in making that guy retreat. As you can see, Empress, we have thought things through." Seeker finally appeared. He was with Meng, who was now wearing a thick armor. Behind him was a group of soldiers wearing strange ninja-like attires save for one who had a strange wound.


    "It''s you! Seeker Carlean!" The Empress was shocked. The group seemed to be unaffected by the water as if they were inside an air bubble.


    "We''ll talkter. Let''s head down to the Antis. It looks like they''re all arriving." Seeker smiled as he nced to the west.


    "Hm? Impressive. Another Hero." Meng nodded.


    The Lightning of Lennox struck the area where the Reactor was, and suddenly his energy changed.


    Several oval balls made of pure metal appeared as a strange small submarine released them.


    "As expected of Lennox. It looks like he already managed to grasps the foundation of this science." Seekerughed.


    The oval metal objects were struck with the lightning, and it began to rise to the surface at an incredible speed.


    "What exactly is he doing?" The Emperor asked Seeker.


    "He''s going to attack half of the Pangean army."


    "What?"


    "How else can we hide half of our armies in the Leviathan?" Seekerughed.


    "This was their n all along. They weren''t trying to kill us. They wanted to take the Kraken and the Antis."


    "Take the Kraken and the Antis?"


    "What''s better than building an army? Stealing one!" Seekerughed. Seeker then took out am device.


    "Congrattions, everyone! Mission aplished! We now have a Leviathan!"

 Chapter 245 - Undercurrents

    The Kraken and the Antis now created the megastructure known as the Leviathan. It allowed itself to sink into the ocean''s deep dark parts where the pressure was immense and where long-distancemunication was almost impossible.


    Inside this massive structure was chaos where every man and woman were running about and trying to fix leak after leaks.


    Inside the centralmand center, which was formed bybining the twomand centers of the Kraken and the Antis, were three people. These three once held elevated statuses in the world.


    Miranne Zoren Everhiss, a Preeminent Empress of the ck Seas.


    Cort Reginald Triton, a Perfect Emperor of Constructs.


    Voyer Odinsbane, a Peerless Emperor of Tartarus.


    These three held powers that had not yet been revealed to the world. And yet, these three were sitting down and patiently waiting for several teenagers to finish their business in the bathroom.


    "And that''s about it. We call them the Progenitor. He has nted several seeds on Earth and told us to prepare for battle. He warned us that this enemy could suddenly be among us, and we would have to treat even our family members with great fear and assume them as enemies."


    "So among the Emperors, only you have this?" Cort asked again.


    "No. We were forbidden to seek out each other until it was evident who our enemies were. But I did so anyway. Our family believes that there are at least two groups among the Emperors. Among the seven, I believe apart from me. Another Preeminent Emperor holds this title."


    "What about among the Perfect and Peerless ranks?"


    "I do not know. My family believed that there was none. This is also the reason why I could not easily betray my family for love and choose to abandon him, even though I truly loved him. I suspect that Emperor Godgrant is one of the Seeds. But it''s too risky to assume."


    "Just tell us the truth!" Voyer shouted. Unlike Cort, he was still in the process of recovery. His Exoskeleton suit was connected to a power source that allowed him to remain awake despite his grievous wounds.


    But in his eyes was burning anger and jealousy.


    "You didn''t do this because of that! You''ve been hiding this secret all your life! How could you easily abandon it! It''s because of him! It''s because of that man?! Isn''t it?!" Voyer shouted.


    "I heard it all! They say that Chase Brander is here!"


    Cort was silent, but he gave Voyer a sad smile. He was helpless in this. The Empress had long smitten both of them. And now, in this very vessel, was the man who made half of Miranne''s life a living hell. And it was shocking considering her great position.


    The door finally opened, and it was the Admiral of the Kraken.


    "Emperors. I demand an exnation!" He called out angrily.


    Several Commanders of both the Kraken and the Antis also entered the room. Each had a different expression on their face. They could not enter the Leviathan''s Heart. Only Admirals knew how to ess it. And after everything that urred, everyone was confused as to what happened.


    The Emperors waited in the Leviathan''s Heart, but no exnations were made as to what happened.


    "Who was that enemy? The one who created the Red Moon? And who were those that attacked us earlier? I wasbeled a traitor and nearly died nearly died from the attacks of my own men! And now, we don''t know who it is to trust!" The Admiral shouted without any form of respect.


    "Calm down. I am not the one at fault for this. Where is Commander Chase Brander?"


    "So, he IS here!" Voyer shouted.


    "Excuse me¡­ Could you let me pass through?" An irritated voice was heard at the back.


    "Who are you?! Why are you here?!" The Admiral couldn''t take it anymore.


    Cliff sighed and released it.


    SMASH!


    The Admiral lost his bnce and stumbled. Most of the Commanders also stumbled after sensing the powerful paralyzing fear that broke through their hearts.


    "Oh? What is he releasing?" The Empress was surprised.


    "No techs¡­ What''s happening?"


    Even Voyer, who was mad, was now looking at the mysterious youth.


    The youth was in a terrible mood. There were no bidets in this ce. And this was both a shock and a great source of anger for the already wearied Cliff Fangwood.


    "Can we start now?" Another figure appeared. It was arge burly man. His attire looked terrible, as if a firing squad just shot him.


    "Who is that?" Voyer turned his attention and gazed at the man warily.


    "His body is strange! The heat signature is off the charts."


    "Empress... Emperors." Amir Mann nced at them and gave a sarcastic bow.


    "Based on what that Seeker said, you must be Amir Mann."


    "Seeker? That kid who took a lot of my blood? I hate that kid''s smirk."


    "That kid could easily kill you, you know. He fought the Empress and defeated her." A figure emerged out of nowhere.


    It was a beautiful youngdy. She was appearing from an invisible state and finally had form.


    She had wless white skin and a strange blue glow. Her eyes were as blue as this same glow, and she looked on to the Emperors and gave a respectful curtsy.


    The Emperors were amazed at the technology. It was a cloaking tech that even they could not detect.


    "Pardon Irvana. She''s a bit obsessed at the moment. But she''s right, you know. That kid was the one fighting the Empress. Even I don''t think I can survive fighting that Invoking. Scary stuff." Augh was heard on the hallways leading to the entrance of themand center. Five figures walked in. A tall man entered. He was nearly twice as tall as the girl and was a head taller than Amir Mann. The figures that followed him were four men, each of different expressions.


    But before Amir Mann could answer, a small thud could be heard, and several figures appeared out of thin air.


    At the front, the leader almost stumbled, and his subordinates immediately supported him.


    "My liege." One of the Ninjas behind him tried to support him.


    The Emperors and the Empress were surprised.


    "You!" The Admiral recognized them.


    "Oh? An organization that even I do not know about? Impressive!" Grant Hermes was intrigued.


    "Teleportation!" Voyer was astounded.


    "How? We don''t even have a working framework of that?!" Voyer was eager to interrogate, but the Empress immediately reached out and tapped him.


    "Trust me. That''s the least of your concerns." She warned.


    "This was the man that I fought! He appeared in the Main buoyancy chamber and-"


    "No need to defend yourself, Admiral. Things will all be revealed soon." Another voice echoed out, and Chase Brander stepped in.


    "You!" The Admiral''s anger rose to the limits.


    "What are you doing here?"


    "Honestly, I want to know what this whole this is about." Chase smiled and nced at the Empress. His heart was beating faster. Atst, he met her.


    Voyer immediately acted. He rose his hands and sent out a bright beam that sted towards Chase.


    "Chase!" The Empress shouted.


    But meters away from Chase, pale green energy appeared, and it was as if a small mouth appeared and devoured the iing attack of the Emperor.


    "That energy! It''s the pilot of the Horn!" Cort recognized this energy as he fought it with his Titan.


    Cliff immediately retreated to the far edge of the room. Noticing this, the Ninjas also followed suit and brought their leader away.


    Everyone wondered why Cliff suddenly retreated, and then they felt it.


    Wounds began to gush out, and it was as if knives were shing them apart.


    The Emperors began to create a strange shield, but the rest weren''t so immune to it. Some of the Commanders rushed towards where Cliff was.


    Grant Hermes and Amir Mann stood their ground, but even they were not immune to the wounds.


    "What a terrifying power." Grant Hermes felt a sense of caution towards this enemy.


    The Four Winds assumed a battle position out of instinct. They all felt fear.


    "Don''t. The way we are now, we''d only lose. None of us here can kill him." Grant gave his assessment.


    "It wasn''t the Horn! It''s actually him! He holds that power!" Cort was horrified.


    "The ck Dragon of China. So he lives." Amir Mann frowned.


    "Master. I believe that will do as a greeting." A voice urged.


    Greydon Meng wore hisrge Exoskeleton suit, and it began to prevent the deste energy from leaking out.


    Typical stood next to Meng. But what was amazing was that he bore no wounds. As the painful and wounding presence disappeared, everyone felt the room temperature drop.


    A breathtaking woman was walking next to Meng. Her snow-white hair, pale-white lips captured everyone''s attention, and then her deep blue eyes began to glow as it released a painful frost that caused everyone to withdraw their gaze.


    Aside from those wise enough to not look at her, only the Emperors were unaffected.


    "Emperors, I hope you no longer doubt my words. The Seeds of the Progenitor is here. Look around you. Do any of them hold any equipment or techs that create their power? Look at that girl! Look at the Dragon. The techs we all saw back then are all inside of their bodies! And we can''t even detect any form of metal inside of them! They are the Seeds!" The Empress stated as the woman went inside.


    Voyer''s heart quivered as he saw the woman. It made him difficult to breathe. He continued to gaze at the woman.


    "Emperor. Continue to stare at my wife, and I''ll gauge your eye out." Meng gave his threats as he moved forward.


    "Don''t fight back! I couldn''t even wound that man when I made the Call of Titans!" Cort reprimanded. Voyer had already opened fire once, and with his impatience, he might do it again.


    Suddenly, lightning struck an empty spot between where Meng was and where Voyer was.


    "Greydon, stop." At first, the figure was that of a man and spoke. But a split secondter, the electricity reformed and created a man with clothes.


    "I hate the way he looks at my wife."


    "He will be sent to her. Don''t worry." Lennox exined.


    Typical smirked as he heard Lennox''s answer, and Meng casually moved towards the long table and pulled up a chair for the woman to sit on.


    "Please. Everyone. Have a seat. I know that all of you have questions, and we will answer them." Lennox exined.


    Voyer was silent and moved towards the seat. Cort and Miranne could tell that he was shaking at the appearance of this man.


    "So that''s how he infiltrated the Antis!" One of the Commanders of the Antis realized what was happening.


    Soon, a strange crowd also entered. With them was a scientist who was long believed to be dead. Damien Jones walked in alongside who was also a beauty but had such a rich and darkplexion.


    "That''s the girl who has the same power as my Invoking." The Empress could sense a strange fluctuation around the woman and determined that this woman could control water. They had witnessed how this woman moved inside the Kraken and drew the waters on various ces out.


    Following the girl were the members of Warfreakz. Their appearance caused the Commanders of the Antis to shout in shock.


    Stanley Vagrant and Roselyn Distork entered and was followed by the Covenant of the Strongest.


    Danny Haze, Dara Park, John Octavion III, Titan Turk Tristle all walked inside and took their respective seats. All of them look exhausted.


    Finally, one man walked in. Arthur Arthinar Humphrey.


    "Shall we start?" Arthur asked.


    "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the right-hand man of our leader and is coincidentally my son, Arthur." Lennox introduced.


    Everyone was stunned.


    "Our leader?" Voyer eximed. Lennox was so terrifying, yet he wasn''t the leader?


    "Seeker Carlean is the leader of your group?" The Empress immediately asked.


    "Let me summarize what happened. As you have just witnessed, we face an enemy that can easily destroy the most powerful weapons that Earth has to offer." Arthur ignored the Empress.


    "And to all of you, you all easily sumbed and fell into the various traps that we set. The most powerful structure in this world, the Kraken and the Antis, easily subdued by a group of teenagers. Do you know why you failed?" Arthur asked this question.


    "You''ve had traitors in our midst the whole time! Of course, you defeated us!" The Admiral could not let his pride remain tarnished.


    "There were no traitors. The only traitor in the Kraken is Chase Brander. And the truth is, it wasn''t until these two infiltrated the Command Center that Chase became our ally." Arthur pointed towards Roselyn and Stanley.


    "We were the soldiers who brought the wounded guy in and imed we were ambushed." Roselyn rified with a smile,


    "Impossible! How could-"


    "Supersonicmunication. When these two got inside, they talked in supersonic frequency that allows the rest of their team members to make the necessary traps. I won''t go into details, but what I''ve said is true. There were no traitors who helped us infiltrate and destroy the Kraken apart from Chase, who only helped out on thest part. The truth is, several teenagers managed to infiltrate the Kraken and create so much chaos and even defeated the Call of Automatons. That''s how powerful we are. We were so powerful that we used our abilities and skills to make it look like there were traitors among you."


    "It''s true. It wasn''t until they brought in that wounded man inside the Command Center. He- told me about the Empress. She is..." Chase hesitated to say it.


    "I am his wife. The Admiral of this Antis is our daughter." The Empress revealed without hesitation.


    Voyer was stunned. If it weren''t for the fact that his Exoskeleton covered his face, everyone would have seen his ugly expression.


    "I am a fugitive to the WGP because of that. When Sammy was brought in, he talked to me using his strange powers. And it was only then that I allied with them. Everything that happened after that was all part of their n. I can confirm. That aside from those youths, a few others who aren''t here, they have no other allies. The traitors we thought existed was simply them using their abilities to make our soldiers kill themselves. Those ninjas also made things more confusing. But, you- no... we were all yed the fool." Chase exined.


    "But all that wasn''t to kill you. Although we did kill a lot, it had to be done." Arthur then added.


    "It had to be done? My men killed each other out of paranoia! That''s your answer?! It had to be done?"


    "Yes. Because while there were no traitors who helped us, there are traitors among you. These are traitors that serve an enemy far more powerful than our team. I''ve already asked my team to check on the medical records stored in both the Antis and the Kraken. We created a very chaotic environment, and the real traitors must have sent whatever reports they could in that battle to create the illusion that I wanted to make. But now, in this deep ocean, they have served their purpose. They won''t be able to make their reports, and their masters think that they are dead." Arthur exined stoically.


    "So, that''s the n!" Cliff finally realized it.


    "This entire mission was developed to achieve several things. The first is to gain technology. A presumed-to-be dead Emperor and Empress are the best. The second is to gain a base that can secretly develop and study this technology. This Leviathan is the perfect ce. We not only have a base but an army."


    "Amazing..." Austin could not help but exim.


    "The third is to gather more information and to understand more about the current state of our enemies. All three points are designed to counter the undercurrents that the Aragarians will be making from now on."


    At the mention of the word Aragarian, two people in the room felt their heart stop.


    "The Aragarians will be making undercurrents in the world. Hence, we will be diving deeper to shroud ourselves from them. I expected that the Kraken and the Antis would host many nted and possibly even Pioneers. Commanders Jorvic and Shane. Your hearts are not in the right ce.. Do you want to tell us about the Aragarians now, or do we have to torture you first?" Arthur then addressed two Commanders.

 Chapter 246 - Arthur’s Report

    The tale was shocking. The two Aragarians confessed to everything. Their hesitation was immediately met by torture, and then the horrors and fears they felt from the Reapers Breath of Oveers made them squeal.


    These men revealed shocking things about a world beyond them. It revealed the Aragarians, their world, their habits, the long history of the battles before World War Three. Their mysterious defeat and various information were mentioned.


    The Emperors gave several questions to confirm various things, which these two were forced to speak. It revealed malevolent actions urring within the world and pinpoint the organizations that are generally controlled by the Aragarians.


    The Emperors, Hermes, Amir Mann, the other Commanders were all caught in a daze after the two''s exnations.


    It was the best proof presented that the Emperors and everyone else was stunned.


    But their stunned expressions did not end there. Arthur then revealed the Unlocking. He exined how a person could have developed technology with nothing but the brain in their heads and their bodies'' cells.


    The Emperors were silent. They had long seen the theoretical frameworks that they have been trying to research. The science of Skin Suits has been a long-time romance that many Emperors chased after.


    After making the two Aragarians squeal the truth and convince everyone that an actual alien threat is alive, Arthur then began to go into the details of the information he needed.


    "Under which Presider are you?"


    "I am from Presider Gordon''s team." The Commander answered.


    "How deep has the Pioneers and Presiders infiltrated the WGP?"


    "We haven''t infiltrated it as we hope to. The WGP is strict. The only way is to marry our way in. But even that is not easy." The Aragarian nced towards Chase.


    "So that''s why my parents were so mad. They assumed that Chase is a Pioneer." Miranne could not help but realize that there was with reason on how paranoid his parents were.


    "How sure are we that he isn''t a Pioneer?" Voyer used.


    "His physiology. Aragarians have biology simr to ours, but their organs are inversely positioned. That''s what Arthur meant by that their hearts are not in the right ce." Cliff exined.


    "What if he''s an Aragarian sympathizer?" Voyer used again.


    "They don''t do that. The most they will do is to make him a Programmed ve. But Sammy said that he isn''t as Richie scanned him during the battle." Roselyn smiled as she answered.


    "They see us as livestock. If you remember the many atrocities in Australia and even what urred in My-Pangea was their doing. They harvest our organs, blood, do experiments out of us, and even make sex ves. They don''t'' see us as equals. Isn''t that right, Commanders?" Arthur turned towards the two who were shivering in fear.


    "As I expected, they couldn''t infiltrate the higher levels of the WGP. But if they have two Commanders, one of the Kraken and another of the Antis, then I''m sure everyone can imagine just how deep their connections are on all nations."


    "Australia... Are they...?" Cort asked.


    "Yes. They are a nation driven by Aragarians. Seeker went there to create more havoc and pull out one Oveer that he believes to be stronger than everyone in this room."


    "Master? Is that true?" Typical was surprised.


    Meng gave a simple nod.


    "Seeker ims that he is the Oveer that no one can kill."


    "Interesting." Typical smiled.


    "The proofs are here before you. It is up to you to believe them." Arthur exined.


    Arthur gave the group time to talk it out.


    Amir had several questions, which were answered by Cliff.


    "Lowengren? So it was him! I''ll have to teach that brat a lesson." Amir dered.


    Meng sneered while Typical shook his head. Rosa had a veryplicated expression but did not voice out any concern.


    Grant had some questions about the Aragarian Pioneers while Irvana wanted to ask Arthur more about Seeker, but Dara stopped her, and the two began to argue.


    Chase and the Commanders finally made peace. The Admiral of the Kraken, James Mossle, continued to ask about the many things transpired in the Kraken and how they seeded. With the recent revtions, they were no longer angry at each other but began to start and rethink their strategies.


    Arthur waited silently as he remained seated at the table.


    Cliff sat beside him and continued to enjoy his beverage. Amir had stopped pestering him and went for Meng and began to challenge him.


    "No wonder you wanted the Commanders and Admirals. These guys really know how to adapt." Cliff praised the Commanders.


    "You became a Hero." Arthur appraised.


    Cliff was silent.


    "Yeh. I think I understand what Seeker meant." Cliff sighed.


    "That''s good. You even went ahead of Lynd."


    "Meryl''s already a Hero?"


    "Since her battle with Typical. Lynd''s too soft. But he should be one soon. Finally, Seeker made his decision."


    "Then I pity Lynd. The stronger a person is, the harder it would be for him to be a Hero. I can''t imagine what dangers Seeker prepared for Lynd."


    "It''s not just danger. Lynd will think that Seeker betrayed him."


    "You know, he had the impression that you would fight us. I''m sure it had something to do with Danny and Meryl getting closer."


    "He theorized that because he thought that was Seeker''s way to make him stronger. He is very far from the truth. I do like Meryl, but that''s it. My sister is more important."


    "What did Zeek n for Lynd?"


    "On thest game, Seeker made Lynd reveal a portion of Peals of Thunder."


    "So I heard. But what about it?"


    "I designed it to draw many Oveers to this side of the world. And as you can see, Grant Hermes, Amir Mann, Rai of the Blink Assassins, and Rayna Ashaka all took part in attacking the Kraken. But the truth is, there were more in this world that went elsewhere. I have information that another Near-Oveer, self-proimed Hercules, is now in Pangea. And he''s not the only one."


    Amir Mann turned a curious look at Arthur.


    "Hercules is in Pangea?"


    Arthur nodded.


    "To name a few. There are other Heroes in Pangea."


    "Why?" Cliff scratched his head.


    The conversation between Arthur and Cliff drew the attention of the Emperors.


    "Hercules. Code name for the bearer of the Might Project of Rome. He should be the Family head of the Ceasars. Octarion Ceasar." The Empress recalled.


    "Yes. I''ve set it as such to make Pangea appear to have a downfall. Harker is already informed."


    "A wise choice. The way things were, the WGP would pressure Pangea to tell them what they know. But if you create great chaos in Pangea, the WGP would have to try a more diplomatic approach and remove the suspicions to the sudden rise of power."


    "War in Pangea?"


    "Yes. And as I exined, at the very center of it all, is Lynd."


    "Lynd?"


    "He will be at the center of the battle, of course. Three potential heroes, with their forces, and a Near Oveer along with his army, will be chasing Lynd." Arthur calmly exined.


    Cliff was surprised. But unlike before, in which he would be shocked, he simply nodded.


    "Makes sense."


    "Arthur. It''s about time you tell us what the Aragarian''s n now. You''ve got the information you needed." Meng asked as he noticed the small talks ended.


    "Yes. We must have an action n. After this battle, the Aragarians will surely-"


    "The Aragarians will do nothing. I guarantee it." Arthur interrupted Cort.


    "What? Why? One of their strongest men was attacked and with the report that he will give-"


    "The report he will give will be minimal. I have always been working with a certain assumption in mind. Aragarians live in a very interesting society. Imagine the days of old. nteds are the ves. The Pioneers are the Freemens. The Presiders could be a knight or a noble. And a Principal could be a duke. And eventually, these Primordials are kings. Instead ofnd, money, they seek techs. The more technology you have, the higher you rank in society. And what these two just said proved it."


    "Arthy, Why aren''t we killing them? You''re already talking about a lot of things that they shouldn''t hear." Danny finally asked.


    "Why kill them when she can have them?"


    "She?" The Empress asked.


    "Long story." Arthur said, deflecting the question.


    "I have already calcted what will transpire after this. Pridgeon would have seeded in killing the Presider."


    "What?!" The two Aragarians eximed.


    "Ever since we fought him and made him see both Lowengren and her, he has been obsessed with that mission. But after I learned about the Lost Primordial, I calcted that he would have also found out about it. This would exin his weakness."


    "You mean, knowing the Lost Primordial is the reason why he is weak aspared to the rest? But these two just admitted that this Crostfree is among the stronger Presiders that even their boss fear."


    "Yes. But don''t you see? They used the word fear. There is conflict within the Presiders. They will do anything to acquire techs and grow stronger. That is thew of the jungle in their world. Yet why is Pridgeon so weak? Why is he so weak that even Pioneers could kill him?" Arthur challenged.


    "Right. After seeing the power of Crostfree, I wonder why he was so weak." Typical added.


    "Remember that in China, a mere bomb nearly killed him. There has to be a reason for it. And I believe that reason is the Lost Primordial. Whatdo you think is the Lost Primordial''s greatest achievement?"


    "The Unlocking." Several voices answered together. These were Meng, Lennox, and most who were already Unlocked.


    "Correct. Being a Primordial, he must have had all the technology that Presiders and even principals had. And somehow, he was able topile all that technology and imnt it into the human body. In short, the Unlocking is the pinnacle science that the Aragarians have. Using that as a basis, I began to analyze the suit of Pridgeon. He must have been confident that no earthly weapon could understand it, but he did not expect that my father is here."


    "You were able to analyze a Presider''s suit?!" The Commander somehow forgot the many wounds in his body.


    "Just barely. But I found out that his suit has something that makes it simr to what we already have. It bears a resemnce to the cells of Lynd and Seeker."


    This information shocked the Unlocked.


    "In case there would be mind-controlling weapons used for this mission, I kept it a secret even to Seeker himself. But now, it''s time to reveal it. Pridgeon''s suit has that very same science in it. But that begs the question, why would such a suit be among Presiders? My answer? It should be something that they can only acquire. These twomanders exined it. A Judges im."


    "You mean to say, Pridgeon used a Judges im to acquire the power of his suit."


    "Yes. But I don''t think it''s something as amazing as it sounds. Going by their exnations, you can get technology from it. But there were also other things such as information or even weapons. I believe that his suit is a weapon. And it is a weapon that he cannot fathom."


    "Then what is this weapon for?" Hermes asked.


    "A weapon that allows him to steal other technology," Lennox answered.


    "It fits the requirement. The rise to reach the next level is impossible. Psychological analysis of Pridgeon''s behavior when we first captured him reveals his a very desperate and ambitious person. "


    "Then the other Presider''s must have known this," Meng added.


    "That Crostfree was very careful. I don''t think he would have allowed himself to drop his guard against Pridgeon. The weaker he is, the more suspicious it would be."


    "Yes. Except that Pridgeon had a habit of dying already."


    "I get it! The first encounter we had with Crostfree during the battle in China must have convinced Crostfree of Pridgeon''s weak strength!" Cliff realized.


    "Exactly. Because of that previous event, Pridgeon was able to fool Crostfree. It might have been a short second, but in that quick second of weakness, he died. "


    "But this is all based on calctions and approximations! These aliens must have


    "I have been keeping an eye at Pridgeon during the entire battle. I knew he was putting up a show. I''ve seen Lowengren and fought him so I can tell lies like the one he did. He was intentionally making Crostfree think that he was weak. And even during the end of the battle, he did as I expected. Am I right, Greydon? Did he willingly allow himself to get hurt with thest explosion?"


    "Yes. He could have moved faster, but he chooses to dy it." Meng answered.


    "So I''m sure that right now, he must have killed Crostfree and acquired his tech. But he is not reckless. If he did that, he must do it in a way to deceive his fellow Presiders. So when he kills Crostfre, the others will probably think that it was the Seeker or Meng who killed him."


    "That''s why you made Seeker say those words." Meng gave a rare smile.


    "Yes. If the Lost Primordial legacy is here, it will make the Aragarians convinced that there is a powerful force that could threaten them. And since Seeker''s words implied that two groups are fighting here, it would cause the Aragarians to wait and watch temporarily."


    "Why? What gives you the confidence to assume that?" Amir Mann asked.


    "Because I tread the Lion''s Den. I tread the Path that can know the future."


    It was a simple answer, but it was one delivered with extreme confidence.


    "Pardon my unbelief, but it''s very hard for an old man like me to believe in soothsayers and mediums." Grant Hermes supported Amir Mann''s challenge.


    "I am not a soothsayer. I am a Prophet. But to ease your fears, let me tell you why I am confident. My father''s attack to attack half of the Pangean army wasn''t just to bring half an army here. It was designed to create an illusion. The Aragarian''s will think that someone among them has betrayed them."


    "When we attacked the Presider, Seeker made it look like we thought that Crostfree is the Lost Primordial. Which means, the Aragarians think there is a mysterious third party." Greydon Meng revealed.


    "Yes. And this was timely presented when my father attacked and destroyed half of the Pangean fleet with technology that has never been seen before on Earth. The new technology will make the Presiders question its source. Since the Unlockinges from a powerful tech, then every Path that we have is linked to science that the Aragarians may already know."


    "What do we do now?" Grant Hermes was the first to ask.


    "Build an army. Build a base Pangea has already been approved to build a massive fortress. We use that as a means to hide the Leviathan."


    "Hiding a tree by putting it in a forest." Austin could not help butmend.


    "We will soon enter a world of great battles. But most of you won''t fight in it. Unbing and Inhumans will fight those battles as a training ground for them. As for the rest of you, you will be training in a different means. But we all must use this time to build teams and armies and prepare for the great war ahead."


    "What about Seeker? Where is he?" Irvana finally asked.


    Far away from the Leviathan, in the rocky cliffs at Australia''s shore, a figure emerged from the waters.


    Seeker''s figure was strange. He walked on the beach''s shores and looked towards an Australian base that was to his west. This base was destroyed during the previous attacks made by the different nations that fought against Australia.


    "General Seeker?" A young boy sat at the stony beach and called out to the figure that was walking.


    "You must be Matthew of the Twelve Disciples."Seeker smiled.


    "Yes, Sir."


    "I sensed that you were busy with all the havoc we caused on the Kraken."


    "Yes, Sir. Themotion you made allowed us to infiltrate the base and kill all the officials. They believe that we are the assigned officers of that base. Fort Redhill is yours tomand."


    "Good. I need an army to fight him." Seeker''s expression turned serious.


    "He should have sensed me by now."


    Somewhere in the heart of Australia...


    A man was casually watching the news on the rooftops of one shabby-looking house. The man had a thick beard, sses, and had several barrels of alcohol to his side.


    "Oh, boy. Look''s like one of them is here.. Hrm? Is he looking this way?" The man frowned.

 Chapter 247 - Epilogue Of Act 3

    It was the first online broadcast since the WGP issued the severe limitations in trade and broadcasts worldwide.


    But now Grace From God Ministries was finally allowed to do their broadcast since the WGP had revoked its duties from the world.


    "You''re watching that?" A young man frowned as he nced at what hispanion is watching.


    "Yeah. I love this guy. He''s very unlike most preachers. People call him the Paragon of Preachers."


    "I don''t care if he''s called the Pimp of Preachers. Can we just get to Lynd''s stream?"


    "You haven''t heard?! It''s canceled! Every stream is canceled!"


    "What?"


    "What were you doingst night? The world was turned over because a Kraken was attacked!"


    "A Kraken? Who attacked them?!"


    "We don''t know. But the Kraken was destroyed! Watch the videos! Their enemymanded a freakin'' moon!"


    "A moon?!"


    "What the hell, man?! Why do you think I''m listening to this pastor preach? I''m scared! Check the news! A lot happened! What do you think will happen if a Kraken sunk, and we don''t know who did it!" The man cursed as the opening prayer began.


    "Then switch to it! What''s going to happen?!"


    "You use yourm device to get the news! The world is headed to another World War, and I don''t know when his sermon will reach this side of the world! Everyone''s scared, and I''m looking for answers!" The teen cursed and began to listen to the sermon.


    The other teen began to scour through the news and read with horror.


    General Harker lost half of his fleet in the sea and finally divulged an impossibly scary secret.


    Pangea was being controlled. His actions were geared to attack an entity that he called the Lost Primordial.


    The technology of the Lost Primordial could destroy a WGP Kraken. Harker nned a daring n to lure the enemy out and attack it. Images of how General Harker destroyed the moon surfaced, and the WGP apuded his actions.


    Yet the world''s shock was twisted as the next series of videos became public, where Harker was forced to retreat.


    The appearance of the lightning energy that attacked and sought out the soldiers brought down half the fleet confused, even Emperors. Yet because Pangea had shown daring loyalty to the WGP and even bore the burn of the WGP''s harassment, several Emperors were moved to guard Pangea and even allocated some of its technologies to support the development of Pangea''s greatest project.


    The Three shapes received approval to be built. The WGP also gave their final words to Canada and all the other nations who gambled against Pangea. They were to pay up the remaining bnce.


    Then came the most shocking announcement of all.


    The WGP has withdrawn its authority in governing the world. They will only ensure that thest duties, including Pangea earning the money they were supposed to win from the gambles, would push through.


    The next week, it will cease to be the World Governing Power and will cease its operations worldwide. Various locations and thousands and thousands of jobs would be lost. Bloodline descendants of the WGP would all retreat to the arctic nations or the World''s Helm. The Kraken and Antis had gone dark. The Krakens were all submerged, and their signals immediately vanished.


    "The world has grown outside of the WGP''s eyes. Records of the Kraken show that key countries have technologies at least several decades ahead of what they have reported. If the world refuses to submit to us, then we will no longer guard it. You are free to kills each other. But attack us, and we won''t be generous."


    The spokesman of the WGP immediately left, and the entire building where the press release urred began to shake andunched itself.


    All over the world, various buildings and even skyscrapers uprooted itself to move.


    The more terrifying things wererge malls andplexes began to move on its own. Large leg-like structures allowed it to move, and it all moved towards the sea.


    Nations trembled at the sight of these things. Some of them were business organizations and industrialpanies which provided arge bulk of their materials and technologies.


    Yet none of these happened within Pangea.


    The sudden changes worldwide created copses in the world market and even created panic leading to various violent outbreaks in each city.


    The young teen paled as he continued to read the news. And he wondered what the big announcement of the WGP was.


    He nced back at his ssmates who sat and immersed himself on the sermon of Pastor Calvin Luther Eagle.


    He approached and respectfully asked the teen if he could listen along.


    Calvin Luther Eagle stood with a very calm attitude.


    "The news around the world is troubling. Wars and rumors of wars will soone. And people are once more asking, what now? Many are inclined to read through the book of Revtion because they fear that the world is ending. Is it? My answer is both a yes and a no." Eagle smiled.


    Deep underwater, the Leviathan had sent a small pod that connected the two with a long wire. The pod rose the higher parts of the ocean and was able to acquire that broadcast.


    In just a matter of two days, the Commanders of both the Kraken and the Antis had redistributed their assignments. The Empress was named the Admiral of thisrge fleet. All over the Leviathan, the broadcast continues.


    Soldiers continued with their repairs and listened at the broadcast.


    "I don''t know if the world is ending. But what I do know is that every generation will either witness, live immediately after, or see from a distance great terrors that will draw them back to the Bible."


    "This broadcast is very boring." Voyer sat down angrily.


    "This is the order of the Empress." Cort answered.


    "Then why are we here with these two aliens? And why haven''t all of those aliens been killed?" Voyer asked angrily.


    "And why are you so rxed. I know that your feelings for the Empress are as strong as mine. Yet you allow that Chase Brander to disgrace her."


    "I loved her knowing that her heart was already taken." Cort simply exined and sighed.


    "And that''s what we''re here to fix." Arthur came in and delivered arge metal safe. Severalplex locks were in it.


    "Open this. It will solve all your problems with love. This pod that you are in will be ejected from the Leviathan and will be traveling towards Egypt to meet the Empress."


    "What? You are separating us from the Empress?! Why can''t the Empress journey together with us?" Voyer roared angrily.


    "Inside is ourtest weapon. Study and it and grow stronger." Arthur ignored Voyer.


    "The two Aragarians are yours tomand. We''ve already imnted a chip in their body that will self-destruct at the flip of a switch. The Empress will have the ess codes to it. Goodbye." Arthur immediately turned, and the pod that they were on immediately detached.


    As Arthur moved outside of the room, Miranne Everhiss and Chase were waiting.


    "This n is risky. Why are you sending two Aragarians out there? What if their kind contacts them?"


    "They are our allies now."


    "That''s crazy! And Voyer! He is so obsessed with me that he will do anything to have me! You should have killed him! Even Cort is a liability."


    "Not anymore. Do you think your beauty is that amazing? Their obsession towards you will vanish the moment they open that safe."


    Miranne continued to frown but didn''t say anything.


    "If you are confident with your ns, then I won''t ask anymore. But what do you mean that I will follow them?" Miranne asked.


    "Not you. Another Empress. A real one."


    "What was inside of that safe?" Chase asked.


    "A photograph of the Tyrant Empress is inside that safe. That photograph was created using her very cells." Arthur answered.


    Inside the pod, the four men had already opened the safe and found several pictures of the Tyrant Empress.


    The powerful scent and allure immediately spread, and the sight that they saw of a bewitchingly beautiful woman was the only thing that they gazed at. Their suits began to activate the necessary life-sustaining protocols as they even forgot to breathe.


    Eagle''s sermon was all over the world. In one of the many bases in Mordor''s region, three men sat down and listened at Eagle''s exnations.


    "Imagine living in the ancient world, where wars between Rome and many nations were happening. Imagine living when World War 1 happened. Imagine living during World War 2 and 3 and even on the Void Period. Wouldn''t you also conclude that the world is ending? Frankly, it is very arrogant of us to assume that the world is ending. Why should we be the very generation that gets to see it? And so in humility, I submit to you, to not assume that the world is ending."


    "Madison, I don''t understand why we need to listen to this," Cherylined.


    "Yes. We are in the middle of a mission here." Oark alsoined.


    "It''s already practicallypleted. Rx. No one''s going to go here. This is Eagle. He is in league with Seeker. So we have to listen to what he has to say."


    Cheryl rolled her eyes and sat down as the sermon continued.


    "Seriously, though... I never thought I''d see the Fangs. Who was that?"


    "That should be Sting. I still can''t believe the powers that this Unlocking gives. And he expects us to gain powers simr to that..." Oark remained shocked at the memory of Sting''s attack.


    "Oh well. Wake me when you''re done, Madison. I''m going to sleep. With the pending missions we have, I don''t know when I can sleepfortably again." Cheryl rested on one of the couch at the back. She wasn''t bothered at the dead bodies nearby.


    "Every period of history will somehow see a moment where the End of Times looks like it was near." Eagle continued.


    "Now... This era is upon us again. I said yes and know because maybe it is, or maybe it isn''t. At most, if Jesus is not returning yet, what we are in, is another era that will be a typology, a foreshadowing of the events toe. It will draw people to listen to His Word and return to it. As intended."


    Somewhere in New Great Britain, a certain young man had finally broken out of his prison.


    "Where is she?" He searched and searched. The sermon of Eagle resounded on the hallways. He moved carefully and was practically unseen by the CCTV cameras mounted all around the building. This was because he could slip through walls.


    Soon he found the room that he was looking for.


    A beautiful youngdy bathed in arge pool with scents and aroma, which wasvishly infused to make the water itself smell beautiful.


    Her expression was nk as she listened to the sermon.


    "Kristine!" The young man called.


    "Jake! What? I thought-? How did you escape?"


    "I found a way..." Jake''s wearied expression surfaced.


    "I thought it was impossible. But I was so worried. I thought you were... In that fear and worry, and the memory of you, I found a way to evolve my powers..." Jake smiled.


    "Kristine. I need you here now. Come to my chambers. And wear the outfit I''ve prepared for you." A cold and detached voice was heard.


    Kristien trembled.


    "Yes... Admiral Ramsden."


    "I told you to call me master."


    "Yes, Master." Kristine answered as she did her best to hide her choking cry.


    Jake''s expression turned ugly.


    "It... was the only way to save you." Kristine couldn''t look at Jake as her tears began to fall. Behind her, hoisted on the wall, was a very seductive attire.


    "No! No!" Jake saw the scene and began to weep.


    Behind her tears, Kristine was still carefully listening to the sermon of Pastor Eagle.


    "One thing that we should look at... in Jerusalem. If the Times of the Gentile nears its End, then Jerusalem will once more take center stage in the events of the World. As it always has in the past. Isn''t it interesting? The Jews have always been involved with every major power that rose in this world. From the ancient world of Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Rome, Germany, and so on. It is as if history has deemed that they must die!"


    In Pangea, Lynd was seated on his room. He continued to listen at the sermon while reading through the news.


    "Jeremiah 16:14-15 offers this promise; Therefore, behold, the days areing, deres the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ''As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of thend of Egypt,'' but ''As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.'' For I will bring them back to their ownnd that I gave to their fathers. If this is happening once more, then we know the Times of the Gentile ising to an end. The following verse offers an incredible picture."


    Lynd ignored the powerful presence that he felt approaching him and even increased the volume as he tried to bring himself to listen to Eagle''s words. But Lynd was immune to this. His closest friend betrayed him. And though he wanted to deny it, the conclusion that he came to was undeniable.


    Footsteps could be heard approaching Lynd.


    "Lynd Indigo." A tall man called to Lynd. But Lynd ignored him.


    "Verse 16 reveals this; Behold, I am sending for many fishers, deres the Lord, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. Many will ask, what does this mean? But the mystery of the Fishers has already been revealed. Jesus calls the disciples and promises them that they will be ''fishers of men.'' And this was the fulfillment. It ushered in the times of the Gentile, where God''s mercy and grace are spread through the Gospel of Christ. But that era may soon end. The times of the Fishers will end. And what does this verse say?"


    "Lynd Indigo." The tall man called once more and took several steps closer.


    "Afterwards, meaning after the era of the Fishers will be the era of the Hunters. And this mystery is yet to be revealed. But the verse brings us to remember the events in Joshua 10 when the conquest of Israel''s armies was so great that the defeated kings hid in caves. And again, we see this illustration mentioned in Isaiah 2:21. Where the wicked will hide in caves and flee because of the terror of the Lord. Andstly, we see it in Revtion 6, where the samenguage is stated. Kings and mighty men will hide in caves. Read these verses! Jeremiah 16:16, Joshua 10:16, Isaiah 2: 21, and Revtion 6:15. I believe that these verses call out the days of the Hunters."


    Lynd finally sighed and turned around to look at the man.


    Lynd''s expression had grown very dark. The soldiers assigned to guard him were no longer around. Even Halley Vagrant, who reported and cascaded information about his next mission, couldn''t be contacted. Even the emergency pings he sent to Harker garnered no response.


    "But shall we fear the era of the Hunters? No! For in Zechariah 12:8, He gave us this promise. ''On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them.''"


    The man behind Lynd was a tall man with strange silver attire. His suit seemed to be alive as the metallic liquid continued to circte and reformed into an armor. The forming armor emphasized the great muscles on his body. He had muscles that seemedrger than Greydon Meng.


    "I am Hercules. Your stream was very interesting. Are you a seed of the Progenitor?" Hercules asked.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about..." Lynd answered angrily. He had copied Arthur''s thoughts and finally concluded that Seeker used him to lure Near Oveers and Ranked Heroes. With the sound scan that Richie taught him, he found several powerful entities around the area.


    "God will protect us! David was a giant yer, and the weakest of us will be like him! A giant yer! You have seen the Dawn soldiers of Australia! Those giant men seemed like a mountain, but those with the weakest faith will have the power to defeat them! And those with greater faith will be like the angel of the Lord! They will move literal mountains with their faith! These are the Oveers! And they will Rise!"


    "Then, you will die." Herculesughed.


    "Who knows? The Oveers may have already risen and are among us!"


    "Anyst words?"


    Lynd gathered all the energy he had in his mouth. This was one of the strongest attacks he could create. He was so angry that he did not care to hide his powers in this attack.


    "Alright. Since you asked for it, listen well to myst words." Lynd red at the tall man.


    The tall man smirked, and arge spear was formed from liquid metal. He held it and waited for Lynd to deliver his epitaph.


    Lynd stood up.


    "FUS-" Lynd took a deep breath.


    "RO DAH!"

 Chapter 248 - New Pangea

    The headquarters of the Pangean army was on full-alert. The weapons were all revealed, and several armed weapons of mass destruction have already been readied.


    Even SPU dared not make any arrogant attacks against Pangea. Pangea had just lost half of their army in the recent battle, and the temper that Harker has shown upon his return was not very good.


    President Colestar, President Hydros, and President Hoross all appeared together in one press conference to dere their intentions of formally unifying the three Pangean nations and dere their autonomy to the world as "New Pangea." The elected leader would be Harker Cipril. While the three presented their ns, they created a framework that became the world''s envy.


    The world was changing.


    The destruction of the Kraken and the sudden decision of the WGP created a void in almost every aspect of the world.


    The thousands and thousands of jobs that were employed by the WGP disappeared. The trade and even the stock market guidelines were all at a halt as they no longer knew what to do. Trade processes and the supply and demand form that drove the world was halted.


    But Pangea already had a n. Suddenly. The many mysterious actions of Pangea all made sense now. The world knew that Harker had long nned to betray the organization that was making his country a puppet and had already assumed the worst scenario and plotted a way for their country to be self-sufficient.


    One of the Visayan Inds of Phil-Pangea was already on the process of being transformed into a military base.


    Yet even in the nation of Pangea, several terrorist attacks and explosions urred. The moment Harker attacked the moon, several battles urred in broad daylight. Many of them were immediately quelled, as it seems that the military was ready to take action against them.


    The number of attacks that urred across the nations of Pangea was shocking. During the press release, the three Presidents all confirmed that these buildings were under the control of a mysterious organization called the "Lost Primordial."


    The Presidents, however, assured that while the murders were done swiftly, the heads of those organizations would immediately be reced to ensure that the economic, military, and scientific progress of the nation would remain unhindered.


    The list of all murdered figures was released. The Press immediately jumped on all the released names and began to study it. Various groups andints were all voiced out. But they were all overshadowed by the painful losses of Pangea. With General Harker''s defeat, many of the country''s politicians agreed that such drastic changes must be done to ensure that this mysterious group does not enve Pangea.


    While all these changes were happening, Harker listened to the report of his three most decorated soldiers as they reported everything that transpired in the Kraken.


    "So in the end, Chase decided to stick with Empress Miranne, but they will probably rendezvous somewhere in South Africa. It seems they n to make Africa the stage for their showdown."


    "Seeker said that Africa was originally the nation that will rise to power. But now, they are reshaping the world. This will force the Aragarians to nt their seeds in the countries in the Middle East. This way, we can predict their movements and, at the same time, fulfill the Biblical stuff that Eagle wants."


    "I didn''t understand what he meant in his sermons. But for some reason¡­ I think I''m a Christian¡­" Earl admitted.


    "I told you to be careful when listening to him. Oh well. It''s better this way. If we talked with Lara, we''d need to keep our heads guarded. What better way to guard our minds than a fanatic belief in something, right?" Harkerughed.


    "Anyway, what should be the focus of your attention was that part where he was discussing the Amillenial and Pre-Millenial theological views. I think he wants us to guide the world to follow the re-Millenial timeline. But that''s just a guess. We still need to do that Bible Study session he wanted. Now that all the Oveers and Heroes have risen and have been moving more visibly, we can find them all and gather them."


    At the mention of heroes, the three had an almost embarrassed expression.


    "Sir¡­ We apologize for our weak-"


    "Apologizing because Cliff became a Hero? It is an interesting turn of events. But he did meet Seeker earlier. That is his advantage, and Seeker has already had a n in mind how to make more heroes." Harkerughed.


    "Even Meng was unable to birth a new hero among those who helped you. Even Typical could not cross the barrier to be an Oveer. So why should I me you? Rx. We have more battles to fight. Train harder and be a hero on the next!" Harker urged.


    "Yes, sir!" The three gave a salute.


    "Sir, before we left the Leviathan, we''ve confirmed that there were zero casualties. We were also able to recover all ships, Exoskeletons, Armors, and transports. The damages were all controlled, and they are all currently within the Leviathan." Tyler gave the details of his report.


    "I told you not to bother with it. Lennox made those attacks, and Arthur orchestrated it. Just trust them to be able to as nned."


    "Sir¡­ About Lynd¡­ Is it true? Arthur told us the details. We also have confirmed that Octarion Ceasar was spotted near where Lynd was based at. Halley Vagrant also spotted Brazil''s famous Eden family. How did she get here?" Earl asked.


    "Also, the Khans have been reported around the area," Scribs added.


    "Perfect. This should be enough for Lynd. By the looks of it, the Ceasar''s produced a Near-Oveer. And Eden and the Kahn''s has a potential Hero. If we add this to the Zulus, then we have quite a team."


    "The Zulus? Akahs Zulu is here?"


    "I knew that Olympic Champion was unlocked! No one can run like that!" Earl eximed.


    "Yes. The Ceasars have long been known in the Underworld for their Might Science. The Kahns have developed their metal-bonding science. Anyone in the Underworld knows that the Kahns have a very addictive science. We know that. But while it is deemed obsolete, let''s not underestimate it as it''s something that the Progenitor left. The Kahns must be hiding something. They have been ying possum. Also, Lennox gave me the information for Eden. It seems that they have science, which allows them to control nts."


    "Sir! Lara Diamon is requesting to meet you!" Tyler reported.


    "Ah. Finally! I was expecting her¡ªtime to act out my scheme. You three talk to her first. Make sure to guard yourself as she has this mind-controlling science. Keep your Unlocking up. Although, if you guys prayed the sinner''s prayer-like what Eagle asked on that sermon, you probably would resist it as you are already fanatics." Harker advised and made the three meet with Lara.


    The three made their preparations to meet with Lara.


    Lara waited on the main lobby of therge building where Harker was known to be residing in. She remained silent, but her eyes were secretly moving from one end of the building to the other.


    "Damn. Even with my suit, I can''t hear what''s going on inside! Damn that Australian Dawn tech! If it weren''t for them, Pangea and the rest of the world would bexer in their soundproofing!" Larained in a whisper.


    "Pioneers. Any update on your applications?"


    "We are still doing a physical exam." One of the Pioneers responded.


    Several meters from her, a soldier sat down on the reception table. He kept on smiling at the many peopleing in and out of the building. He had been nodding and smiling at several people, but secretly, he was also listening.


    He continued to type whatever he could hear from Lara and discreetly send it through hism device.


    "Mister Prince!" A youngdy immediately approached.


    "Oh! Miss Charm Novelty-stoise! It''s good to see you again!" Prince suddenly eximed louder than usual.


    Lara heard it and was startled.


    "Charm!" She immediately called out.


    "Lara?!" Charm turned around and immediately ran towards Lara. The two gave each other a tight hug.


    "I was so worried! I thought you''d be sent back to the EAA for sure!"


    "Nah. It''s a long story, but I managed to stay here. But of course, I have to talk to General Harker."


    "Me too! Let''s wait. I hear that that soldier at the reception is quite close to the General."


    "Miss Lara. Oh! Miss Charm! You are here as well¡­" Earl approached.


    "The General will meet you two now." Earl smiled.


    "This will make it a lot easier. The General has a lot on his mindtely. I think it would be best if the two of you meet him together." Earl then ushered the pair towards the room.


    Lara''s expression changed slightly but decided that she has no choice.


    "Listen¡­ Charm. Please don''t be surprised at what I will be revealing to the General." Lara warned.


    "I won''t. It''s something simr to the secret I kept from you, right?" Charmughed.


    "Yes," Lara affirmed.


    "Then, don''t worry about it. We all have our burdens. I just hope that what you will be discussing with the General will be beneficial for New Pangea." Charm answered with a smile, but it quickly turned to aplex expression.


    "We will be supporting Pangea. We n to relocate the entire Diamon base here."


    "That''s great!"


    "It''s an obvious choice. Pangea is one step ahead of the game. I''m just lucky that I met him, and he seems to have a good expression of me." Lara smiled back.


    As with before, the pair was led to a massive elevator that brought them down severalyers down.


    Lara was secretly analyzing the structure with her suit. She could not believe what she saw.


    "Incredible. This structure would survive a weapon of mass destruction! They went all the way here." She noted as her suit gave her the basic analysis.


    "They even used distorted electromaic waves to change the signals of any foreign detection. Impressive." Lara continued to admire.


    Soon the elevator doors opened, and the pair were led to the inside of the facility.


    "General is currently in the middle of training. Ever since his defeat, he has been locked in here and kept on training." Earl exined.


    As therge door opened, General Harker Cipril was standing in the middle of the hall, with his bare chest to greet them.


    He was wearing his military outfit, but for some strange reason, his jacket that was unbuttoned as he stood there, sweating from his training.


    Earl was amazed.


    Lara and Charm were in no way disgusted as they saw this half-a-century older man as his muscles were ripped. His figure was extremely domineering.


    Several Exoskeletons were zooming back and fort shooting him and would at times try to pin him down since he could casually evade the bullets approaching him.


    He would evade the bullets by the skin of his teeth as and the bullets would graze the edges of his outfit.


    He remained standing and suddenly would move towards the nearest Exoskeleton. The other soldiers would try to keep up but even with his back against them. Harker would evade as the bullets would pierce through his jacket would flutter in the wind.


    The bullets that shot through his jackets would hit the Exoskeleton he was rushing at.


    And just like that, the Exoskeleton surrendered and deployed a strange force field that appeared for a few seconds. This allowed the soldier piloting the Exoskeleton to retreat safely.


    As Harker turned towards the remaining Exoskeletons, his clothes would slowly be torn to pieces revealing more and more of his glorious self.


    Even his pants were getting cut. But Harker would use his pants'' ripped edges to kick it towards the Exoskeleton, blinding them for a few seconds. When the soldiers were able to remove the cloth, he panicked and shot where they would see the General was standing and hit the Exoskeletons behind the General.


    Soon, there was only one Exoskeleton remaining. Harker did not even rush towards him.


    "Do you want to surrender? Or should I dirty my hands?" Harker asked.


    The soldier surrendered. He quickly ejected from the Exoskeleton and was trembling as he retreated.


    As for Harker, he began to pull away from the burnt and tattered clothing that remain. Harker was not shy as he pulled it away, revealing more and more of his body.


    Earl, Tyler, and Scribs finally understood one of the cryptic messages that Harker told them with all seriousness.


    "Stripping is cool." Scribs could not help but mutter silently.


    Harker turned towards the opened door and spotted the two.


    "Forgive my¡­ tattered form,dies. I waspleting my training regimen."


    "Those were¡­ Those were live rounds!" Charm was shocked.


    "So? Our enemies have techs and weapons that far exceed our imagination. This training is pitiful."


    "You''re defeat was not your fault, General." Earl consoled.


    "Be that as it may¡­ If we keep on maintaining what we have been doing, we will die. Lara Diamon. I thank you for offering those blueprints for simple force fields." Harker gave a respectful bow.


    Even though Lara prided herself as a Presider, there was a sense of inferiority and unworthiness when Harker bowed. She remained silent, but her pride was shaken.


    Charm took Lara''s silence for shock and interceded for her.


    "General! No need to bow! We are all very thankful for what you have been doing."


    "Ye-Yeah!" Lara answered as she recalled that she was undercover.


    "General Harker¡­ I am the head of the current Diamon, and my parents have agreed. We will be transferring our entire operations here in Pangea."


    Harker rose his brow.


    "You have to pardon my suspicion, Lara. Such an offer is too tempting. Since I have shown the world the existence of this ''Lost Primordial,'' I am too suspicious of such offers. Who knows? You could be among their pawns, be it knowingly or unknowingly. So I refuse." Harker answered immediately.


    "We have¡­ information about the Lost Primordial. During World War 3, my ancestors were able to kill a being that aligns itself with the Lost Primordial. They were called Pioneers. The reason my family has be stronger is because of this heritage we have from the Pioneers."


    "Pioneers? Strange¡­ Some of their high ranking officers were called Pioneers¡­" Harker''s expression changed.


    "But knowing that information makes it all the more suspicious. I refuse. The chances of you being one of them are even more likely. I will spare your life as payment to Seeker''s great achievements. Leave."


    Charm and Lara were both stunned.


    "General. I am willing to do anything to prove my innocence. I am even willing to allocate all technologies and funds of mypany to your country! If you suspect the EAA to be a country under the control of these Lost Primordial, then our exit will cause the copse of that country!" Lara urged.


    Harker sneered. Tyler had already arrived with a new set of clothes, which Harker was grandly putting on.


    "Fine. If you want to prove yourself so much¡­ I require two conditions. The first is that every Diamons, including you, will be our Programmed ve. With the technology given by the Lost Primordial, we can imnt a chip inside you and make you our ves. Our orders will dictate your happiness. You will have your own thoughts, but because your mind will trick you into being happy only when we want it, you will have no choice but to serve us. We will also nt a bomb in your brain to kill you. Do you ept?"


    Charm''s expression turned ugly.


    "I ept," Lara answered immediately.


    "Lara!" Charm shouted.


    "We''re very serious about this." Lara nced at Charm.


    "What was your second condition?" Lara turned to Harker.


    Harker''s smile grew nastier.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Of the many Military bases in Australia, the one that received the most attacks from the harassments was from the Military fortress, Zendsbane. The Eastern seas of Australia had received many attacks from various nations, and yet it did not fall.


    The soldiers who served in this station were undefeated and ssified by the Australian military as the Unbreakables.


    "As you can see, at the turn of the second month since our arrival here, we decided to capture this base and make it our escape route should we be caught." The young boy called Matthew exined. Seeker was brought in therge warehouse where several repairs were being made on the damaged Exoskeletons.


    Several Exoskeletons noticed Seeker''s presence and immediately dashed off towards him and began to unload a barrage of attacks."


    This group of Exoskeletons were all Unlocked and had braved many battles and was the same team referred to by the military as the ''Unbreakables.''


    "Children, please!" Seekerughed.


    An invisible and terrifying force smashed the Exoskeletons from above.. The group was ttened on the ground.

 Chapter 249 - Harkers Wager

    The Exoskeletons crashed down at such an impact that the steel suit began to crack. There was also a small palm-shaped dent on top of the helmet of the Exoskeleton. This was where the force pushed them down.


    All in all, four Exoskeletons immediately acted and dashed off to attack Seeker.


    The four struggled to get up and utilized various boosters and strange means to escape the downward force but were unable to.


    "Now, where are the other two?" Seeker was bemused and looked around. He then saw an Exoskeleton at the back who did not act suspiciously but retreated when the group rushed forward. It was aiming at Seeker.


    And then it attacked.


    BANG!


    The moment the trigger exploded, Seeker was able to hear the sound as he could hear across the dimensions.


    But now, things were changing. Even his vision could see things differently. It was too fast before, but now, he could see it.


    Thergest contributing factor to this was that Seeker met Rai and took a small amount of blood from him. The other factor was that when they were attacking Crostfree, Seeker looked at the ship found something ridiculous that it almost made him vomit in dizziness.


    Right inside the fourth-dimensional Realm, was arge three-dimensional object that existed. The contrast was so strange and so bizarre that no one could understand what it was or how it was even possible. It looked like the entire 3-dimensional ship of Crostfree, which had shiny metals, andplex architecture, was poorly pasted into an artwork that employed abstract and surrealistic styles.


    Seeker had a hard time retaining that memory and even had a hard time remembering it.


    But he was finally able to do so when he left his extra thought process to stay within the realms of the four dimensions. And so, while Seeker''s physical body would see within the three dimensions, his additional thought process would see on the fourth.


    Time was changing because Seeker could see in it. It was almost as if Seeker could see seconds into the future. He could tell the specific route of the bullet and where it would hit him.


    "Time is malleable. So being able to see past the three dimensions can allow me to see the future, huh? Is that how Arthur did it?" Seeker began to wonder if this resulted from finally being able to tread on Arthur''s path.


    The bullet that wasunched utilized Australia''s finest weaponry. Enigmatic maic pulse wasbined with foundational maism technology that created a powerful snipping rifle. Its ability to move because of the technologies applied to it allowed it to move unhindered and unaffected by various external forces, including gravity and wind.


    The sheer power of this rifle was also strong enough to kill Exoskeletons and even the pilots of Armors.


    Seeker sneered.


    "This looks like a good time to experiment. It''s about time for me to use that Skill."


    As the threat level that Seeker was facing wasughable to an Oveer like himself, this battle was a time to experiment.


    The centiseconds that passed were slowly moving slower.


    "Finally. His Skill is finally taking root!" Seeker smiled as he recalled the figure of one of the exciting hitman he met and fought. Although Seeker could not emte everything and stop time, his perception of time was so enhanced that things were a hundred times slower than it seems.


    With the slow movement of the bullets, Seeker could conduct different experiments on his attacks. His Realm began to form, and a telekic force began to appear.


    After the attack on the Kraken, Seeker had his casual swim and stroll in the deep ocean. By using the ocean tides to swim faster, Seeker began to reflect on his memories of how the Realm King would attack in his memories.


    Seeker knew that there would be no way of looking into his memories and analyzing it to observe the fourth dimensions that urred within his memories.


    Still, Seeker had to try. And when he tried, he realized he was greatly mistaken.


    Although it wasn''t clear, he could peer into parts of that dimension in his memories. After much contemtion, he realized that it had something to do with Cliff.


    And so, with this ability, Seeker was very excited to try it in battle. And now, a perfect opportunity presented itself. He was facing strong Unlocked individuals who were a notch higher than most Unlocked. They would even have the potential to be as great as the Covenant of the Strongest.


    The speed of the bullet was bing slower and slower.


    When a certain level of slowness was achieved, Seeker could literally see how the mathematical equations of physics and how it interacts in these dimensions as their reflections were also being manifested in the fourth. His other thought process was looking in the fourth dimension and could see how thews of physics were happening. It was simr to how a programmer would use their tools to look at the urring equations when any movement or interaction is happening on a website or an application.


    Seeker could somehow see the math and the physics manifesting on the fourth dimension.


    Not even Crostfree, with his technologies, could look simultaneously in both dimensions. And therefore he couldn''t do this.


    "Is this how my Master could redirect light-speed energy attacks?" Seeker was surprised. And so, he used his telekic abilities to interact with the bullets.


    Severalyers of telekic energies were created at the path of the bullet. Because time was slower, Seeker could also create a counter spin around the bullet to slow its movements.


    The sniper attack didn''t evenst a second, and yet Seeker expended such a great amount of energy that it nearly consumed half of what he consumed in the entire battle in the Kraken. If this were the Seeker who fought in China, he would have died. But thankfully, the cancerous cells that he now improved on could store a vastly greater amount of energy.


    Seeker caught the bullet.


    "Cool. I''m like Superman!" Seekerughed.


    In that extremely quick period where Seeker admired what he did, the Exoskeletons that were pinned down managed to move.


    "Impressive! Even without our guidance, you got this far. Well, you did have a leader who defeated Arthur. You guys should be stronger than Harker''s Trio or the Small Time Drug Dealers. As expected of Git Godlike."


    "Dantes. Keep shooting. Alexa, you can''t Tank this one alone. Twister, we three attack together. Misty, Shanna, you two stay mid-ranged." The Exoskeleton that revealed arge de gave his orders.


    A sniper was positioned from afar. Two mid-ranged fighters with diverse skills and three melees ssed Exoskeletons charged against Seeker. This team had not lost a single battle when they began fighting. And their current formation we one that had shocked the gaming world. They were the only e-sport team that has seized the championship from the dominant win streak of the Covenant of the Strongest. The Australian Piercing team, Git Godlike began to attack Seeker with all that they have.


    "Fine¡­ I''ll humor you kids. Matthew, call the Twelve Disciples. This should benefit them, as well." Seekerughed and didn''t even use his telekic powers and waited for the Exoskeletons to attack.


    Back in the Phil-Pangea, Lara''s expression turned weird as she heard the next condition.


    "That- That''s the condition?" Charm was also confused.


    "Why is this the condition?" Lara asked.


    "Seeker is valuable to me. The truth is, I was supposed to hand over Seeker Carlean to them as a gift. I know that to them, he is important. I had ced Seeker Carlean for sale up the market."


    "For-For sale?!" Charm shouted.


    Lara also had a strange look of great anger and disgust. Her fingers twitched as if she wanted to rip the head of Harker immediately.


    "I will not deny it. You twoe from prestigious families. You should have heard about the rumors about me being in the Underworld. And while it can''t be proven and many who do know I am within the Underworld think that I am a middle man of various organizations and families in Pangea, the fact is, I am my own master. I used this illusion to cover my presence and make it appear that I am but a soldier and a pawn that is ced by a more notorious organization or person in the Underworld."


    "So, it was true. You chose not to hide from the Underworld but made it look like that your just somebody''s pawn. And because no one knew who owned you, they would hesitate in attacking you. So that''s how you survived in the Underworld. Then tell me, have you sold Seeker Carlean?" Lara didn''t hide the extreme anger and courage that she had.


    Even Charm felt an unusual change in the air that moved her attention to Lara.


    "As I said¡­ the Lost Primordial wanted this Seeker. This Seeker Carlean was so important that instead of just canceling that bid, they made me go through it, but everyone who participated in these bids, whether male or female, was either killed or imnted by this Programmed ve technology.It was almost as if there was jealousy behind this act. Seeker was not sold, nor was he touched. I guess you''d have to thank the Lost Primordial for that on. After all, seeing your real anger proves that you aren''t one of these Lost Primordial." Harkerughed.


    Lara''s expression remained the same as he looked at Harker''s eyes.


    "You were testing me."


    "Of course. I can at least ascertain that you like Seeker. Why else would you blush when I asked for that condition? But when I told you that he was sold as a sex ve, you got mad. Of course, everything I did say was true. I just used it to test you. Then do you ept this condition? Doing so would tie your fate to Seeker Carlean. I am betting on this. You might have resources and funds that surpass even my own, and I couldn''t imagine what technologies the Diamon family has applied to you, but I am willing to bet that Crazy Carlean will cause you to fall in love."


    "That''s what you''re betting on? Love? I like him, but that''s because he''s a celebrity. You are willing to wager and risk partnering with a family you are suspecting to be associated to a Lost Primordial and who may betray you, and even cause your downfall because of love?" Lara challenged.


    "Seeker has been called many things in his career. Casual Carlean, Cool Carlean, Cancer Carlean by his enemies. Crusader Carlean. Conqueror Carlean and, of course, Crazy Carlean with his recent antics. But you haven''t had the chance to really be around that kid. I won''t be surprised that he will be called Cupid Carlean. Yes, I am willing to wager that. Because I am confident that you will fall in love with him!" Harkerughed.


    "So¡­ I ask you again. Will you marry him?"


    "Sounds a bit weird that you are proposing on his behalf. Will he even ept?"


    "He has no choice of the matter. But I wouldn''t be too bothered. He did make me promise to protect you. This proves he likes you at least just as much as you like him."


    Lara couldn''t help but blush.


    "Whe-Where is he anyway?"


    "Will I tell a potential foe the location of one of my most valuable subordinate?"


    Lara was silent.


    "Lara! This is crazy! Don''t agree!" Charm urged.


    "I agree with your strange terms," Lara answered.


    "Lara! That''s insane! You''d be their ve! He''s only using Seeker as bait! Seeker isn''t worth it!" Charm tried to persuade her friend.


    "Charm. My country is finished. One China will soon wage war against them. And mypany still has assets,panies, and subpanies around the world. The reason why I am moving to Pangea is out of survival. New Pangea is prepared to deal with the market copse and is able to function now that the WGP is gone. I am not doing this out of my personal fandom over Seeker. He is just a nice gift that I will get on the side. I think you don''t understand because although youe from a powerful family, you haven''t extended your assets, liabilities, and technologies all over the world. My family has. I need someone who can save all those. If the Diamons cannot have those assets and connections, we would soon fall." Lara exined her situation.


    "But that''s not enough to-"


    "Think of it as the great lockdown during the early 2000s. People, society, and even trade had no clue what to do when that virus began to spread. Although history has warned us to prepare for such a thing, we are yet taken aback now. The WGP''s void cannot be easily filled." Lara added.


    Charm could not refute Lara''s words.


    "I am desperate. And rather than to ally with this mysterious organization, I choose to put mypanies hands on someone who ns to fight it. Even if this Lost Primordial is so powerful, they are hiding and used covert means to attack the WGP and even lure out General Harker. This proves that they are not to be trusted. Why else would they hide? I just want my family to survive this storm. Will you agree now that I have epted your conditions?" Lara met Harker''s eye.


    Harker was silent and then immediately nodded.


    "Alright." Harker finally agreed.


    "General!" The three soldiers nearby reacted.


    "It''s final." Harker answered firmly.


    The three were silent.


    "The uses are already too stringent, and yet she agreed. Even if she is a traitor, it will be very difficult for her to betray us. And if we find the slightest suspicion, we kill them." Harker exined.


    "Yes, Sir!" The three soldiers saluted.


    "Then what means do you propose to help all the variouspanies you have around the world?" Harker immediately asked.


    "My focus has always been for Pangea and not for anyone else. As such, unless you have any ns in mind that could help Pangea participate in world trade, we would be more willing to partner."


    "There happens to be just one. I have gotten word that because of the chaos happening around the world, the Jews are now being gathered. Have you heard of Shark Umberton?"


    "Owner of Umberton Enterprise?"


    "The very same. Now that the WGP is gone, He now has a chance to relocate to Jerusalem. His shocking decision is currently not supported by Africa because of his empire. But with your help, we could change just that."


    "It''s not that I am anti-semitic, but what benefit can it pose to me?"


    "I believe the Lost Primordial is after the Jew! Which is why we should protect them!"

 Chapter 250 - Proof Of The Holocaust

    "Why would the Lost Primordial go after the Jews?" Harker challenged.


    "They do not pose a threat in any way. Yet you think that the Jews can give you the benefits that you need and even protect you from the Lost Primordial?" Harker looked as if he heard an extremely unfunny and even provocative joke.


    "I n to start a program that aims to bring back all the Jews and re-establish Israel as a nation once more. And I am sure it will gain favor with many nations." Lara exined.


    "Favor? Although the Muslim nations of the Caliphates are no longer as antagonistic to the Jews as it was a hundred years ago, and even if many of the nations in the Caliphates love the Jews and protect them, they are not strong enough to force every nation to participate in a n of transferring possibly millions from their country. What reason do they have to heed your call? Humanitarian aid? Love? Peace?" Harkerughed.


    "Such words will beughed at in the age that we now live in. If you think nations are willing to protect the Lost Primordial is hunting down the Jews that you im for love, you must be insane."


    "True. But that will change soon. As I said, I believe the Lost Primordial are after them. The proof might even move you to act."


    "Proof?"


    "All the people you rescued, which the Australians were experimenting on are Jews. You can coborate with New Great Britain to confirm."


    Harker stood up in surprise. He motioned to the soldiers near him.


    Earl and Scribs immediately rushed towards the nearbyputers to pull up the files.


    "Why would they be Jews?" Harker asked.


    "I don''t know. I was hoping that you could figure out why since it was you who attacked Australia. I bet that the events that your daughter discovered here in Pangea also involves the Lost Primordials! I saw those disgusting news of how they were harvesting organs from people and even had a pedophile ring. I''m betting that many of them are Jews! We have a way to determine if a person is of Jewish descendant. I''ll give you that technology. Check the organizations that Feltrick Ung-ive had My-Pangea. I wouldn''t be surprised that for his human trafficking operations, most, if not all of them, are Jews. "


    "Bring up the file of the surviving experiments we found in My-Pangea." Harker ordered as well.


    Earl immediately moved and brought it up.


    "Sir! Around thirty percent have imed to be of Jewish descent!"


    "Sir! As she said, many of those from New Great Britain are Jews too!"


    Harker was silent and continued to observe the people.


    "It''s likely that most if not all of them are Jews. Answering the question about their citizenship is very confusing for Jews. After all, they have no country to call home again. So they might answer the most recent country they resided in." Harker concluded.


    "See? this changes things, General. Maybe some deeper plot is at the foot as to why the Lost Primordial is targeting Jews."


    "Indeed. I may have to return to the Underworld to scout for activities that involve Jews¡­" Harker frowned.


    "Sir, why the Jews? Why another Holocaust?"


    "It makes perfect sense. They be the ideal group to experiment on." Harker answered.


    "The Jews have already dispersed. Family ties have probably been lost, and if one family who do not know or is unable to contact their other rtives disappear, they won''t be noticed. The Jews have been the target! The Lost Primordial may have been targeting Jews to perform their human trafficking and human experimentation programs!" Harker moved towards theputer and brought up several files.


    The soldiers began to bring up various findings that they have found out.


    "Are you sure of this? You''d be a ve!" Charm asked Lara once more.


    "Don''t worry. Harker is a good guy. I could tell. He''s really just angry with what happened to his daughter. I guess you could say kids like us ought to be his weakness. He won''t force me into doing anything really bad."


    "But you''d be a ve!" Charm repeated.


    "It''s only to protect them from spies. It makes sense, Charm. Remember, Harker''s armies were defeated. It''s normal for him to be this paranoid." Lara smiled.


    Charm could only sigh.


    As Charm no longer talked to Lara, Lara began to activate a unique technology that allows her to type out her thoughts and send it towards the Pioneers.


    "Pioneers, contact those working under Garenjazz. Send them the entire conversation that you just recorded. Tell Garenjazz that I need to talk to him immediately." Lara typed out.


    "Presider, If I may¡­ why did you tell Harker that critical information? I thought discussing things about the Lost Primordial is strictly prohibited?" One of the Pioneers dared to ask.


    "I am doing this to make Harker work alongside Pridgeon. I think Pridgeon betrayed us."


    "What? Why?" The Pioneer was confused.


    "Harker''s statements. He said that this Lost Primordial wanted Seeker. And he promised to hand Seeker over to me! I have gone over the videos of Harker and the statement that Crostfree told us. My original assumption was that Harker was the one who challenged and talked with Crostfree. After all, we can tie Crostfree and Pridgeon''s tale together with Pangea''s video. But now it looks like Crostfree lied. Garenjazz was right. Just send him a message. I need to talk to him."


    "As you will, Presider." The Pioneer answered.


    Lara continued to talk with Charm, and soon, Harker approached them.


    "We agree to help you. We will support this project. We will meet again tomorrow. Prepare all the files your family has about the Jews and send ten people to undergo the Programmed ve operation. Miss Charm, please stay as I have more to discuss with you. The Dalisay family has also arrived."


    "Can I at least have information about who you are allied with? How did you drive that moon back when even the WGP failed?"


    "I have no reason to tell you. Even if you be a Programmed ve, such information won''t reach your ears. Now go. I must discuss certain things with Charm. Also, your first assignment is to study who it was that attacked usst night. Lynd Indigo is missing."


    "Missing? Lynd? Oh, my God!" Charm cried.


    "Indigo? Is Lynd someone that the Lost Primordial wanted?"


    "No. By the looks of it, I assume that Lynd is in league with the Lost Primordial. Use your connections to find him. And ignore the other parties involved. I already know who and what they were after. If I find out you''ve been looking for the other parties, then the deal is immediately off, and we will consider you our enemies." Harker answered coldly.


    Lara said nothing but gave a polite nod. She turned to Charm to bid her farewell.


    "Charm. Let''s talk and catch up once we''ve done our responsibilities to save this world!" Lara smiled and turned to leave.


    "First of all, Cliff is safe." Harker began as Lara was leaving.


    The doors shut, and Lara couldn''t hear the conversation.


    Tyler escorted Lara out of the building, but the pair was unusually quiet.


    "This looks like to be harder than it seems. I hope Garenjazz can figure something out!" Lara tried her best to hide the frustration in her heart.


    "Pridgeon. What did you really see?" Lara''s mind wandered.


    Using her technology, she began to send orders to the Pioneers to make the Diamon prepare for their search of Lynd Indigo. At the same time, she made orders for Pioneers affiliated with organizations that were the Diamon family''s known enemies to begin the investigation.


    "Oh? Lara Diamon?" A surprised voice was heard.


    Lara looked up and saw a familiar figure who has been on the news on several asions.


    "Who is this?" Lara typed mentally.


    "Presider, that is Gardo Dalisay."


    "You must be the head of Dalisay. General Harker mentioned you." Lara answered.


    "If you are here, then it means you are our allies. Strange times. Strange times¡­" Gardo sighed with a sadmentation.


    "President. For thest time¡­ Anime can wait! And please be more amodating to Miss Diamon!" A strict woman was by her side and began to berate Gardo.


    Gardo rolled his eyes as the woman berated but turned towards Lara and smiled.


    "Any way we can help you? I''d love to talk more with the Diamon head, but I''m busy and should meet with General Harker." Gardo smiled.


    "Do you know about Lynd Indigo?" Lara asked.


    "Oh¡­ Yeah. We just got off that site. I can''t give you the details as to the chaos there. It was a mess. Romans, Brazilians, and even Mongolians. Strange stuff. To think Lynd was in league with these people. Harker''s boys didn''t have a chance." Gardo sighed.


    "General Harker! President, please be more respectful!" The woman chastised again.


    ???Anyway, here''s the information we gathered." Gardo brought up a Comm device and began sorting through the files he had.


    "I''m only supposed to search for Lynd Indigo. I don''t think I should take that." Lara''s expression turned sour.


    "Hm?" Gardo looked stupefied.


    "Miss Lara, Gardo didn''t mean anything." Tyler finally interceded.


    "The General has given her strict instructions not to search for the other parties." Tyler sighed.


    "Oh? I''m sorry. I thought she''s our ally."


    "She is. But you know how paranoid the General is. Miss Lara, please take the files that the Dalisay is generously offering. I''ll tell the General." Tyler smiled.


    Lara nodded. She knew that Tyler was trying to hide the fact that she would soon be a Programmed ve. She took out herm device and received the files that the Dalisay gave.


    Lara took it and went her way. But even as she was leaving, she was trying to listen to the conversation of Tyler and Gardo, which disappeared as the group entered the elevator door.


    Lara walked towards a car that was waiting for her, and she got in it and left.


    "Find out what you can with this file¡­" Lara held them device, and all the files were being uploaded and shown to theptopputers the Pioneers had. She was lucky that she received information that she herself was not supposed to look for.


    "We''ve detected a virus in the file."


    "Obviously. That Gardo''s pretty sneaky. But it looks like the information he sent is legit. This makes the efforts of investigating who were these other parties involved easier." Lara answered as she perused the file through the technology of her suit. The connections detailed that those who attacked Lynd belonged to a secret ninja organization in the EAA.


    In it were various details about Lynd indigo. It was there that the information about Lynd''s family line was revealed.


    "Lynd Indigo¡­" Lara continued to look at the various CCTV''s.


    She was surprised to see something miraculous.


    Several soldiers were shooting at something in the CCTV, but a blurring figure st towards them, and it was as if a small bomb exploded. It was a brutal scene. Some of the soldiers were immediately killed and burned from the fiery napalm.


    A bright burning figure that looked like a re remained and slowly dimmed down.


    When the fiery re disappeared, Lynd rushed over to one of the unconscious soldiers. Lara immediately paused the video and could see Lynd Indigo.


    "Lynd Indigo really is a spy..." Lara noted as she read the details of the Mercenary parents of hers and read the details of their adventures.


    "Is he a mercenary hired by the Lost Primordial, or is one of them?" Lara pondered.


    "Presider. How is it that Lynd''s clothes are not burned up? In the video, he bursts into mes!"


    "It''s probably a Skinsuit. Don''t bother researching. That suit is equal to a Presider foundational technology. Only the WGP of this world has it."


    The Pioneer was amazed.


    She zoomed the video to reveal Lynd''s face. Lynd grabbed one of the soldiers that were knocked out from the explosion and could see that it was Lynd.


    Lynd immediately retreated with amazing speed and movement techniques that allowed him to scale buildings!


    Lara''s expression darkened.


    "Gather all the Pioneers of this country." Lara immediately ordered.


    "I have to act decisively!" She dered.


    "Presider, we have gotten word from the Pioneers under Garenjazz. Garenjazz intends to meet with you." The Pioneer reported.


    "Good. It''s better this way." Lara sighed.


    "You all have to get stronger. The undercurrents here on Earth are terrifying. Most of you fled here to escape the exploitive and predacious lifestyle at home. But it seems that something simr will happen on Earth. The Presiders will begin to devour each other." Lara warned the Pioneers inside the car.


    They were silent, but there was fear in their hearts. When Presiders battle, the Pioneers are but expendable pawns.


    Back in Australia, six of the Exoskeletons that attacked Seeker were all mangled and broken up.


    The only one that remained standing was an Exoskeleton who only had one armored arm. The left-arm had wounds but was generally still alrightpared to his amputatedpanions.


    "Impressive. I yanked off that arm of yours, but you could react just on time and twist your arm and release those handles. Millisecond Reaction. Perhaps with this, I could further understand that werewolf I met." Seekerughed.


    "Just admit defeat." Seeker sighed.


    "We have a lot to talk about. Disciples, hope you learned something."


    "I learned not to joke around with you, General." A talldyughed.


    "Amazing. I never thought that energy sts could be held like that!" A middle-aged man finally spoke. He had been holding his breath far too long when the battle began.


    "And to think, that none of us could defeat the six of them," Matthew added.


    "Cronus. Your teammates need to recover. Disciples, prepare any prosthetic surgery. They will be busy in the next few days."


    Cronus maintained a battle stance. But in reality, this was a fa?ade. The terror that Seeker brought on to them was extremely scary. In his eyes, he thought hispanions were all dead. It was both courage and cowardice that caused him to stand firm with his sword. He was too scared even to speak.


    Seeker made quick work of them. They attacked together and used weapons that even allowed them to challenge and deflect the fleet''s attack, but all of it was made useless in front of this man.


    "Still, I willmend you, though. With your limited materials, you still managed to create a team that could be on par with Harker''s trio and the Small Time Drug Dealers put together! In any case, let this be a lesson, Cronus. You defeated Arthur. So your potential is amazing. Grow stronger and transform your team to be real titans. Your life depends on it." Seeker walked over to the twelve disciples as Cronus finally fainted because of fatigue, shock, and stress.


    "Prepare the army. In two days'' time, we attack Central Australia."


    ----


    Author, dated April 24/2021:


    Check out Ascension of the Nephilim which is my entry to the Spirity Awards! Please leave a review to AotN story so that a rating will appear. (Also do leave a review here if you haven''t yet)

 Chapter 251 - Lynd’s Enemies

    Going back to the night immediately after the Kraken was reportedly destroyed, the news reports were erupting as several terrorist attacks urred around the nation.


    Everyone focused on the powerful bomb that emitted an electromaic pulse. Although it was weaker than and more obsolete than the new EMP that Australia developed, most devices that themon folk had were affected. And since this attack was made at the heart of the Megapolis city, it created power outages that cut the inte connection and other wireless capabilities.


    But this was all part of the n by Harker created to hide a battle in the city. All the attacks were nned, and the losses that Pangea suffered was actually very minimal. As for the key battle that it was hiding, it was at the studio unit where the newly celebrated e-sports gamer was. No one noticed that the first ce to be attacked was the condo unit, where Lynd Indigo resided.


    Lynd''s entire studio unit was a wreck. The windows were broken, and even the walls were cracking. It was as if several Pangean whish bomb was deployed inside.


    Lynd had immediately retreated after erupting his powerful voice attack.


    At the corner of the room, a man continued to stand at the far edges with arge tower shield held out. The powerful explosion caught him by surprise, but his reaction and the techs he had quickly caught up to shield himself from the attack.


    But upon revealing his hateful curse, the rage that built up in Lynd''s heart disappeared. What reced it was fear. The enemy was able to anticipate this shockingly impossible attack.


    When he released the powerful sound attack, the man was able to react on thest second. He raised his arm, and the liquid metal formed arge tower shield that protected him from the blow. He was slowly moving backward and was rapidly stomping with his feet that now had metal spikes on his heel. The movement of his retreat was also very peculiar. The man kept making small steps backward and would only take the step until the veryst second before his body to be thrown away.


    The control was so precise that if the force he applied were a little bit stronger or weaker, the rhythm of his entire retreat would have been wrong. As such, he was able to withstand the explosive attacks but remained as close as possible from Lynd''s Dragon Born Roar.


    Lynd''s heart clenched as he recalled the discussions that Seeker and Meryl had. They had asked Seeker about the difference between an Inhuman and Hero. And Seeker exined what was needed, but then he rified something.


    "Honestly, Meryl. You already had that moment of being a Hero. All you need to do now is grasps that mindset and keep it constant. But since you''ve experienced it, I think you''re already there."


    "So, I''m a Hero?"


    "It''s obvious. On the battle against Typical, you developed the mindset to challenge and fight him. You never gave up on making the next steps. You kept on challenging it and had the heart and perception to do the next reasonable thing. Heroes do that. Even when it was impossible, you stepped forward." While Seeker was praising Meryl, Lynd felt a painful clenching in his heart.


    He had thought that he was Seeker''s secret and strongest weapon. Somewhere in his heart, he held that pride. But when he fought Typical, his heart wavered. He was considering having Meryl and Cliff retreat while he would remain. But even then, he never believed that he could win against Typical.


    But Meryl did. Although her victory was attributed to a dangerous gamble, and would have lost if Typical aimed for the head, Meryl''s courage and determination made Lynd feel a sense of inferiority.


    Lynd kept quiet when Seeker offered his praises to Meryl.


    Finally, Cliff couldn''t help but ask. Perhaps it was simply Cliff''s curiosity or the fact that he has epted his ce in life in being some generic minion that he had the guts to ask this question.


    "What about Oveers? What exactly makes them stronger? Is it the Path?"


    Seeker was in deep thought.


    "Well¡­ Oveers do have a strong Path, just as how Heroes generally have a strong Path. But here''s the thing¡­ The reason why Heroes and Oveers have their Path in the first ce is because of their will and fortitude. Lynd, in my future, had an amazing Path that could have easily made him an Oveer. But there was a reason why he was called World Champion. That is because, even with his power, he wouldn''t be able to defeat any Oveers. Meryl, you changed your Path from simple bright lights to the burning sun because you were already bing a Hero. That''s why I arranged that battle to force you in fighting Typical."


    "Then what''s the difference then? Since I already am a hero, what''s the next step?" Meryl was now curious.


    "It''s very easy and difficult to exin. You see, a Hero will always take the next step. No matter what. They will fight until they die. But Oveers will always take the step that is not geared for survival or evade the current attack. They are far more calm andplexpared to a Hero."


    "What do you mean? Wasn''t that the same I did in my fight with Typical?"


    "Yes and No. You had a chance to fight back, and you took it because you had this fortitude to keep on fighting. But your victory was due to luck, right? You were giving it all and decided to use thosest seconds as a means of finding the means to survive and win. Oveers aren''t like that. Each step, each movement, each attack they make, isn''t to survive the next five or so seconds. It''s to Ovee."


    And now Lynd understood what Seeker meant.


    The powerfulpressed sounds would have killed a man, but to the Near-Oveer in front of him, he managed to block it.


    Seeing how the man casually blocked it, Lynd immediately released a powerful blinding light and escaped while creating several more sound attacks to cover his tracks.


    The man was able to block the iing attacks, but he could no longer sense Lynd the moment the attack ended.


    For a split second after the attack, the man stood there in deep thought.


    "He has abilities to create strong kic attacks using sound. This should be an application of the rumored abilities that noted Unbing Richie has. But with the various abilities that he presented, assume that their human modification has taken a few steps up. We continue chasing him with the assumption that he is an Inhuman. But let it be noted that his capabilities give him the potential to reach the higher stages of the Unlocking. Possibly, a World Champion candidate." The tall man gave his report and rushed off.


    As for Lynd, he was already several buildings away. His expression was ashen.


    "The terms he used are exactly the same terms we use! This person must be the same group who created the terms that were used in the future. In short, this man received from the Lost Primordial the seeds to create the theoretical forms of the Unlocked!" Lynd was emting Arthur''s thinking process and came up with this conclusion.


    Lynd had used Meryl''s light and canceled the sound around him by creating a sound-proof shield. He had jumped off his room through one of the opened windows and fell down the tall building.


    Suddenly, Lynd kicked off the wall to propel him forward. The kick''s impact was so strong that it shot Lynd directly towards the building that was across the street.


    Lynd created a powerful reverse sound wave that caused his speed to drastically slow down as he was about to hit the other side of the building. But suddenly, he sensed an approaching attack and evaded the attack.


    Lynd was started and released a powerful spinning sound attack to counter the approaching spear.


    Lynd gritted his teeth and created with great difficulty, one of Typical''s needles.


    Is shot towards the center of the spinning sound and struck the spear.


    BOOM!


    The collision resulted in a powerful shockwave. The long and thick des that Lynd created shattered, but it managed to deflect the powerful spear.


    "Odd¡­ He countered my attack because it would kill others." A very tall and dark man pondered as he was standing at the top of the skyscraper. He wore a thick white Exoskeleton. He was at least a foot taller than Lynd in thatrge Exoskeleton. The spear that he sent out returned to his hands.


    Lynd stared at it and knew what it was. It was the metal that made Africa the strongest nation in Seeker''s timeline. The Zulu Steel. It was so hard that it was a level lower than Almetal Hybrids. But unlike these metals, it was diverse. It could block high temperatures and could be altered to be able to conduct electricity or not.


    Lynd''s heart clenched. He was without any gear. If he had even a single Exoskeleton or any powerful weapons like the swords that they used in China, he would have at least a bit of confidence.


    But he was bare and was without weapons.


    Lynd immediately began to retreat and used his arms to create an explosive st that would send him further away. Lynd flew away like a rocket and had immediately fled over a kilometer away.


    The tall man raised his spear and pointed at Lynd.


    "Curse!" The tall man shouted.


    Lynd felt his entire vision spinning. His realm became distorted and started to change. Lynd panicked and immediately used expanded great energy and created several thought processes.


    The three thought process, along with the first, began to analyze what was happening, but s, it was still too strange as Lynd''s body was struggling to remain bnced.


    Lynd crashed on the ground but was protected by the sound shield he deployed.


    Lynd''s vision was still blurry, but he could see that his crashnding killed several civilians as he smashed through cars and ttened the panicking people fleeing from the explosions they heard.


    His teeth gritted.


    "Why, Seeker? Why? This is too much!" Lynd cursed as he looked at the deaths.


    He felt two more entities approaching and could even feel something moving underground. His instincts and the sound map he deployed detected all of it.


    "Fine! If you want to cause deaths, I''ll cause deaths!" Lynd resolved as the anger in his heart burned. The strange realm that was affecting him was being eaten up. The entire building seemed to be melting from a powerful destion.


    The civilians who have yet to run away suddenly felt a strange burning sensation and began to fall as they panicked.


    Two figures appeared at the very end of this deste zone.


    One stood on top of the building. It was a strange exoskeleton. Several roses and leaves were emerging out of the various gaps of the Exoskeleton.


    "Tsk. He destroyed all that pollen. This strange radiation looks scary. Why not you go first? Aren''t your descendants brave and brutes?" The woman called a skinny man on the ground wearing a ssy suit and who was holding a briefcase.


    "After you, mydy!" A skinny gentleman with a very ssy set of clothes bowed.


    "Oh? It looks like you two are also here." The tall ck man arrived on the skies above.


    Lynd stood up. Seeker''s betrayal overtook the fear and concern he had. He caused the death of many people. And Seeker gave him over to several men. It was an insidious push. If he failed, he would die. If he fought seriously, many innocents would die.


    He knew what Seeker intended. The gentle giant was being forced to turn into an evil and heartless titan.


    "Three Heroes and a Near Oveer! Fine then! I''m a future Champion! If I die, I''ll make sure to rip your limbs out!" Lynd cursed, and the energy that was stored within his cells were being awakened.


    The three individuals noticed the anomaly.


    "He''s gone crazy¡­" The woman frowned.


    "What exactly is he nning? He stopped my attack, but now, he''s preparing an attack that would kill hundreds!" The African wondered.


    The gentleman also had a peculiar look.


    "What a dangerous death stance. He really wants me to suffer. What did I even do to you?" The gentlemen sighed.


    "Oh? It looks like he''s finally serious. And here I thought he was a coward." A voice echoed out. It had a strange ringing sensation as if it was the voice of several people talking at once.


    A man was casually walking amidst the abandoned cars as the people escaped the potential battleground. He had arge shield and a long metal spear that was formed with some form of liquid.


    When the three noticed him, they immediately retreated.


    "So, it''s you!" The gentleman''s attitude changed.


    "Octarion! He did it! He devoured his brothers! Only one Might remains!" Akash Zulu eximed.


    The woman also retreated and immediately controlled the many beasts he set loose in the city.


    Severalrge monstrous nts broke through the sewers and appeared on the roads tearing and pushing down the cars and positioned itself between her and the man who was casually walking towards Lynd.


    "Eden, Kahn, Zulu. I would appreciate it if you left this man to me." The man ignored therge towering nt-like worm.


    "I don''t know what Seeker discovered. But going by what I did, you are all here because I said something about a Primordial and Seeds, right?!" Lynd shouted at the three.


    "Strange powers. It looks like the Lost Primordial endowed you with several techs.." Octarion praised.


    "Just shut up! I won''t say anything to you! I''ll only talk when one of you remains! I''ll tell you everything! The aliens, the Aragarians, the Unlocking, Meng''s secrets, Eagle, Lennox, and even the Tyrant Empress! So go ahead and kill each other!" Lynd roared.


    "What an immature child." The woman gave a disgusted reply.


    "Is he betraying his friends? Pathetic." Akash sneered.


    "Looks like he didn''t know about this. He holds so much potential and power, but I can''t believe he''s this spoiled." The gentlemenughed.


    "You three still think slowly. He is clearly who he ims to be. He holds the secret of the Lost Primordial. This is the Lost Primordials way of training him. That''s why you three are also here, correct? You want to ascertain if he is a friend or foe?" The man continued to walk and even entered the destion zone that Lynd released. But his body did not react against the destion.


    "We want to see the truth about the Seeds, but the Lost Primordial lured us here to whet this whelp." Octarion answered.


    Lynd''s expression changed.


    "May the best among us win." The man saluted before the liquid metal transformed into arge spear and shield with a metal armor surrounding him.


    "THEN DIE!" Lynd shouted as he rushed forward, and a bright sh emerged.. It was so bright that it seemed that it looked as if a sun was being born in the middle of the city.

 Chapter 252 - Australia’s Future

    It had been exactly three days since that incident, and Seeker finally received the reports from Harker.


    Several cameras that Harker ced around the city and had the capacity to resist the EMP bomb caught portions of that battle.


    "General. We are ready to move." A young woman reported.


    Seeker stopped watching the feeds and turned around.


    "Good. Let''s begin." Seeker walked out. His countenance and usual demeanor had changed.


    The young woman noticed it but said nothing.


    On the dark of that night, an entire army set out. It used the strongest cloaking technologies that it could employ to make their abandonment of that base hidden from anyone.


    The Twelve Disciples have taken control of various organizations and made


    An entire army continued to move in silence, and with the amazing preparations that the Twelve disciples prepared for, the march of this army was unhindered and unnoticed. In that army was arge train-like vehicle.


    Inside were severalrgeputers and a very peculiar sports-car that could move faster than most flying constructs. It was the very same car that Arthur drove when he wreaked havoc in Australia.


    Seeker continued to observe the features being added to it while at the same time looked through the many reports from all over the world.


    The fall of the Kraken created a void of the uninhibited ry ofmunications between the nearby countries. As such, Seeker could receive news from his allies who were based in China.


    With Nogard Meng''s secret route that allowed quickmunication, the information that came even as far as New Great Britain would reach him quickly. Seeker continued to nce at the many reports that were being sent through the establishedmunication ry while talking with Harker. Suddenly, one of Harker''s statements caused the Oveer Seeker to meet an abrupt halt in his tasks.


    "I have to what?" Seeker asked again.


    "Marry Lara." Harker repeated.


    "I already proposed on your behalf."


    "You''re not my dad! Why do I have to marry her? Lara- No! Zeraphine, the Aragarian Presider!?"


    "This is Arthur''s n."


    "Did Arthur foresee how strongly I would refuse this suggestion!"


    "He did. But he said you''d agree once I finish my exnations."


    "That son of a prophet!" Seeker cursed.


    "He said you would appreciate it. He predicted that this Lara betrayed you in your past. But this time, it is us who holds the cards. Marrying her is very beneficial for our group. She will be investigating us. You can use your memories to guide just how far or how deep her previous connections ran. That way, we could gauge or make an estimate of what her techs were and use it to make her think that she''s investigating us. We can lead her and even the Presiders themselves into doing our bidding. Another part of Arthur''s n was to erode further the rtionships that these Presiders have with each other. If we make it look like Pridgeon is after the legacy of the Lost Primordial, which he is really after, it will throw their group into disarray." Harker exined.


    Seeker couldn''t react. But the prospect of marrying Lara was shocking.


    "Arthur even said that if you still want Kristine or decided to choose her at the end of all this, then killing Lara would be even easier. You''ll have the trigger to the gun anytime. Kill her, marry her, torture her, it''s all up to you. However, Arthur is against you having both her and Kristine together. Kristine''s already been through so much following after Arthur that he doesn''t want that to happen with you." Harker ryed everything.


    "I hate you guys." Seeker couldn''t argue. Those were the greatest advantages that they would hope to acquire.


    "Don''t worry. Lara thinks her little mind-control worked. Well, actually, it did. I allowed myself to be mind-controlled and fought against it after proving its purpose in convincing her. She is currently after the trail of Lynd. Have you received our reports about Lynd?"


    "Yes. I am viewing it right now. The good news is he finally developed it."


    "He hates you to the bones now."


    "I know. That was the one thing I couldn''t let go of. I knew the memories of my future self and that it has always been extreme rage that benefited Lynd. The incident in My-Pangea proved that. But what could make him all the angrier than being betrayed by the person he trusted the most?" Seeker sighed.


    "I''m surprised that you could make that choice. You''ve finally matured. Or no¡­ I guess it''s because you have that adult self of yours making these mature decisions for you."


    "Rai and his group are watching from afar. Lynd will live." Seeker assured.


    "I know you don''t believe that, but you''re just optimistic. This whole scheme won''t work if you don''t believe that Lynd could die."


    "That is why I sent Rai to help observe and help him create a way out. But enough of Lynd¡­ How have the WGP moved?"


    "Just as Arthur predicted. A Pangean craft has been positioned on several locations around Australia. Of course, considering Arthur predicted that the most viable escape route you have is to the East, I have prepared more soldiers there. That kid is very amazing. He even foresaw this. In a weeks'' time, there will no longer be a nation called Australia."


    "New Great Britain, Russia, and Pangea are all ready to attack. When the WGP begins their attack, they will follow. Anyway, I still a lot to do. The mess of Lynd''s battle is drawing a lot of questions. I''m putting your fianc¨¦ to work." Harkerughed and immediately disconnected.


    Seeker continued to watch the video feeds that depicted Lynd''s battles. The video files that were given to Seeker were already arranged ording to the chronology and the direction of Lynd''s escape.


    "You''re a monster." A voice spoke at the back.


    "Why do you say so? Haven''t you and your team been monsters themselves, Cronus?" Seekerughed.


    "Monster? We fought against invaders! Your damned Jewish friends all lied to us! They said that you would liberate Australia! And yet you n to burn it down?!" The leader of Git Godlike was shouting angrily.


    He was the only one who was conscious as others were being treated on the devices at the back.


    Cronus was being locked in ce by several mechanisms that prevented him from moving.


    "I am going to liberate Australia. I''m here to burn a country that would, in the future, be so evil that they''d kill twice the millions that will die here! See? I''m saving this country from piling up wrath for themselves! In my future, Australia grew so strong because of Aragarian tech that they abused their position and made great trouble in the South Asian nations. But now, they won''t have the chance! In the future, since this country will be so weak and useless, the residents will flee to those Cities of Refuge and be part of the good team. Team human!" Seeker smiled as he walked towards the angry Cronus.


    "Bullcrap! I don''t care if you''re from the future! You don''t have the right to decide the fate of the innocent!"


    "I am not deciding the fate of the Innocent. I''m deciding the fate of the guilty. By destroying their power and scattering them, they will be more level headed. Besides, I won''t be leading the attack right now. I''ll just be taking advantage of it! True, Pangea is waiting to attack Australia, but didn''t you hear that little call of ours? Surely, with your Unlocking, you heard it!"


    "You''re insane! The only reason why the WGP will attack Australia is because of what you did at the Kraken! You used an EMP bomb! Of course, the WGP would me Australia! But you caused all this! Australia will burn! How does it feel to have the blood of millions and millions on your hands?"


    "A bit sticky." Seekerughed.


    "You''re insane! You just want to kill people and massacre them! You''re condemning an entire nation over some grudge and some memories!"


    "I caused all of this? No! Those Aliens who treat humans like cattle started all of this! But just so you understand where I''m from, I''ll let you see the emotions that I felt when Australia attacked Pangea!"


    Seeker drew closer to Cronus, and it was as if Cronus could see strange visions around him.


    He could several soldiers bearing Australian uniforms ravaging Pangea. The mass executions that Australia did also came to form.


    Cronus saw how the Australians humiliated, rapped, and even killed publically the people of Pangea, the SPU, and even the other countries within the South Asian regions.


    "These are all that I saw on the news that I watched. But Australia did more, much more prior to this! You see, they had grown so powerful that no nation in the South Asian region could fight against them. But they saw it beneath them to kill and attack the soldiers. The sudden rise of power made Australia mad. They didn''t even use their weapons against Pangea! For the SPU, they used weapons of mass destruction. Oh, I wish they did that to Pangea. But to Pangea, they starved us out. They burned our farnds and cut the lines of resources. Do you know why they did that?" Seeker smiled. But his smile was very malicious and full of hate.


    "You see, when the Aragarians came, they revealed their ideology. They revealed how technological advancement is the key. They presented their wondrous techs and showed that humans are all unequal. Our valued equality. And the first thing they did is remove that delusion on the countries that allied with them."


    The visions that Seeker revealed showed how Seeker read the reports of how people in his hometown began eating each other. The starvation drove many made. Some of those were Seeker''s ssmates. Cronus could feel the heavy bloodlust that Seeker had.


    "To be honest, they did have something interesting and worthwhile to preach. They value usefulness. What is a person locked in his own room, typing out words like equality or justice when that person has contributed absolutely nothing to society? The Aragarians valued humans who will be useful to society and abhors humans who are not useful to society. And that means that if a person cannot contribute anything to make this society better, they are only useful to be abused and enved. Hence their society that created the hierarchy of nteds, Pioneers, and Presiders."


    There were visions of people being enved and forced into forcedbor. Some would tie a live human and used them as meat shields for Exoskeletons rushing towards the battle.


    "I do not fully me Australia for their choice in allying with the Aragarians. When the Aragarians revealed themselves, it was as if the choice was a no-brainer for most countries. For Australia, they realized that they had no choice but to ally with the Aragarians since most of their government, military, and people who gave them food, jobs, and money were all Aragarians! You''ve seen it! Even your employers are funded by Pioneers! That''s why the Twelve Disciples went through all that trouble to dismantle their ns!"


    Cronus then saw Seeker standing over Australia''s ruined bases as he watched the many videos of the experiments the Australians made.


    The visions then focused on the many online videos that were burned into Seeker''s hearts. The Australian conquerors did anything, and everything to show their worth to the Aragarians and even carried out various experiments on humans'' many bodies.


    "Do you see it? Everyone, every single one of your countrymen, did these wicked things to mine. And wrath and justice dictate your death, but what did we do? We changed the fate of your countrymen. Their hands will now be free from these bloody future! Your country will suffer, but it will be reborn! Millions will die, but it will change the future fate of your country! Or would you rather have that future where your country is immediately destroyed? Let me show you something interesting. It''s something not even Arthur predicted." Seekerughed.


    And the visions changed.


    Blood.


    Gore.


    Hundreds of kilometers of blood pouring like a river. It was deep that some cars were totally submerged by the blood.


    The blood was as deep as a horse''s bridle and extended out.


    The mere sight of this vision made Cronus weak.


    "This is what happened to all your countrymen¡­ Is this what you want? Or would you rather that I cause suffering now? Do you think I''m insane? I''m very merciful, Cronus."


    "How? What- What was that?"


    "Your future should we not do this. You see, in the future, Australia was very much against the rest of humanity that decided to fight the Aragarians. And those countries met the wrath of the Oveers." Seeker smiled.


    "So would you rather have that?"


    Cronus kept trembling. The sight was too much. The blood was so horrifying. Even Seeker, who saw that felt a great sense of fear.


    "Your immediate family members are all being escorted out. Also, I''ve selected certain people who I know would be your respective partners. That''s the extent of my mercy. Your other rtives will be left to fend for themselves. Of course, that is if you sessfully aplish your next mission. Should you fail, then I''ll leave them when we retreat."


    Cronus was crestfallen.


    "You''re asking me to betray my country?"


    "I''m asking you to side with humanity."


    "The whole world at the palm of your hands¡­ and you dere a genocide?"


    "Better me than those Aragarians. The genocide they will make is far more inhumane. At least, in my genocide, it will give billions of people to make the right stand and choice. They won''t have a government that can dictate lies to them. My job right now is to fight a man who was part of the reason why you saw that vision."


    "What?!" Cronus trembled once more.


    "Crazy, right? That''s why I''ll need your help. Cronus, you''ve fought and even defeated the Covenant of the Strongest. Arthur''s been very helpful when he waged war in Australia, and now it''ll be your turn to prove your worth. The Realm King awaits. And I have brought an army to face him. But even then, I might lose."


    Cronus was silent. He turned and look to his teammates.


    "If we do our job well¡­ You won''t kill us?"


    "Why would I kill you? If you perform well enough, I will give you the same techs that we''ve given to the Covenant. And you will have a shot at defending theing massacres. I suppose this will act as both your training ground. The chances are slim, but the truth is, if you seed in defending Australia, I have greater use for you." Seeker smiled.


    "The same techs that the Covenant has? Alright. I''ll talk it over with my team."


    Seeker smiled and went over to check on his beloved sports car. He opened the lid, and the engine that this car had, had a very strange object found at the heart of the engine.


    It was a live, beating heart.


    "Looks like my cells are properly in ce. What an amazing man Charles is.." Seeker smiled and gazed lovingly at the car.

 Chapter 253 - Git Godlike

    Arge battalion of soldiers continued to march forth. This was the Morning Army of the Eastern Australian Force. The dying forest soon broke into arge wastnd where the nts rotted. It was as if the entire forest began to die from the great heat of the wilderness.


    Overseeing the entire Morning Army was a man suited in arge Armor. He stood on a nearby mountain to observe the formation of their troop. Severalrge dropships were approaching, and he watched the soldiers move inside. But he had to decide whether to believe what this man was stating.


    "Sir. If you don''t do this, we will lose the Central regions. Our first priority is to make them escape! Millions will die! And after the constant attacks, we''ve received from the many nations, our forests are all dying. If these people run out and flee to the other regions, they will die in the wilderness!" The young teen continued to make his report.


    "Private, if you weren''t as good as General Smith said you were, I wouldn''t bother talking with you. Do you know how crazy this is? You are telling me that many of the Bringer of Change in Australia could be linked to these Lost Primordials. You believe the words of that General Harker, who is the sole cause of the deaths of soldiers and civilians in thest three months?" The General angrily questioned.


    "I believe what I heard! I don''t know about Primordials. But they called the Bringer of Change as a Pioneer! Sir! Please exin then, how is it that within these past months, the greatest technological security systems that our country could afford were easily bypassed by spies! I saw a Bringer of Change five minutes before he was killed! Who has the power to infiltrate these bases and kill these people?!"


    The General was silent. This was one of the causes of why the Australian army has been so divided.


    "And General, three of the fallen Bringer of Change were also creating strange technology and were doing inhumane researches to create strange technology! Why haven''t the military acquired those strange poisons and chemical warfare? Please General! Send a hundred, even just a hundred soldiers to ready the city for evacuation!"


    "A hundred soldiers could probably take out one Golem! One Chimera! We don''t know what the WGP will send, but we are preparing for war!"


    "That''s why we should send it to Central! Mypanions died to get this information!The Primordial, Pioneer, or whoever that is! He''s in Central! If we capture him and hand him over to the WGP, we may avert the war!"


    The General nced at the soldier and looked him in the eye. His Armor zoomed and looked at the expressions of the boy.


    "Two hundred soldiers. I will promote you to the rank of Captain." The General finally answered.


    "Tha-Thank you, General! I won''t fail you!" The soldier announced.


    "Give him a specialized and well-bncedpany. Give him toons with a varied team of soldiers."


    "Yes, General." A soldier who stood wearing an Exoskeleton saluted.


    "Captain. Follow me." The soldier moved.


    Soon, the entire army began to depart with only a few toons being outfitted for another mission.


    The young finally found the opportunity and opened a strangem device that was hidden within the cuffs of his sleeves.


    "This is Matthew. I managed to acquire 200 soldiers."


    "Good work. That Company should have a few Armors¡­ Good. The armies were shaping up to be better than I thought." Seeker replied.


    "Sir¡­ if I may¡­ How did Jamie do?"


    "Jamie? She managed to pull the same amount as you."


    Matthew could help but frown after hearing this.


    "Except around fifty are Evening Soldiers, and they even gave us two Dawn soldiers. But rx! It''s not apetition!" Seekerughed.


    Matthew''s expression grew dark.


    "Noted, General. See you on the battlefield." Matthew immediately shut hism device off.


    Seekerughed and couldn''t help but remember the days the Adult wouldpete with Irvana.


    "I wonder how she''s doing¡­?" Seeker couldn''t help but recall the beautiful Russian who Seeker had in his arms back at the Kraken.


    The doors opened, and several men entered.


    "How''s the prosthetics?" Seeker asked Cronus.


    "It''s functioning as intended. Good thing, it can keep up with their speed. And it''s a good thing that none of my limbs are missing." Cronus answered.


    "It''s a good thing you still have millisecond reaction, Cronus. Otherwise, that arm of yours would have been made of metal. And it shouldn''t be fast enough to react like your actual hands." Seekerughed.


    "Allow me to introduce my team formally. Git Godlike." Cronus ignored Seeker''s snidements.


    "You know, I may not seem so excited or interested now since we have this whole alien invasion and fighting for our lives thing, but the truth is, I am quite star-struck to be here in front of you guys. I am a big fan of the Piercing series in my previous life and even in this. And right before me is the team that did the impossible." Seeker smiled.


    "You didn''t seem that star-struck when you ripped my legs out!" The most beautiful girl of the team cursed.


    "I''m sorry it had to be that way, but you did had iting. Who told you to attack me anyway?" Seeker countered.


    "But in all seriousness, your potential in that game will prove useful in the real world. You guys did the impossible. Despite how much slower Impact characters are and how weak they are, you utilized the diverse weapons and emphasized pure skills to bridge the gap. You are the only team that can use Impact characters at a pro-level and even defeated a reigning champion. I salute you on behalf of all gamers!" Seeker spoke sincerely.


    "I heard the rumors, but you really insane." A fat teen could not help butment.


    Seeker had broken several ribs of this man when he punched and broke the Exoskeleton armor. The seeding punch damaged his lungs. Even with the most advanced medicines designed for the Unlocked, the teen was in critical condition for almost a day. He had the worst state among all of them.


    "Enough. Do you guys want to agitate him?" Cronus intervened.


    "Seeker, this is Paul Anthony Dantes, who everyone knows as Kid_Caramel. He is the best snipe-obstruction yer in the game with the most annoying harassment. He was the first to debut an Impact character in our team and the history of Piercing. But while he can use a lot, he mains as the Impact character, The Distant Destroyer." Cronus introduced.


    "Next up is Dara''s rival. Though Dara is the better tank, I would say she is the better yer. You know her as Alexa_Squared. Alexa Alexa." Cronus pointed to a slender but tall woman who was wearingrge round sses. She seemed to be the total opposite of Dara. As she quietly stood by the side.


    "Oh, that''s her real name?" Seeker was surprised.


    "Our team scout, and the one who was the key yer to achieve our victory over that famous battle. Everyone calls her the yer of Titans. Misty Wedgers."


    The woman had bright purple hair and wore a very strict expression. She was the most beautiful woman in the group. And that was considering that most E-sport yers undergo enhancements that make them a cut above the rest in terms of beauty.


    "Ah, the infamous Cerulean_Stars. Misty Wedgers? So that''s why you went with the name Cerulean! I have watched that battle several times. I couldn''t believe that Titan''s Piercing Arrow would have lost three consecutive times! You''re more beautiful up close." Seeker praised.


    "Shut up and-"


    "Misty. Now''s not the time. I don''t want to repeat what I told you. If you want to lose your limbs, fine! But do it in your time! Don''t involve me! I already told you what he showed me!" Cronus shouted.


    "It was a trick! He''s mad because Australia-!??


    "Enough! I don''t care if you don''t believe me! But I am the team leader, and we are prisoners! If you want to escape, go ahead! If you want to save your parents, go ahead! But I won''t follow!"


    The woman was now silent. But even after the scolding, the woman still red at Seeker.


    "What can make you more cooperative?" Seeker sighed.


    "She just wants to see her parents prove your sincerity." Cronus answered on her behalf.


    "Done. I can arrange to have them here in one day. Pray that the attack doesn''t happen then."


    Misty continued to re at Seeker.


    Seeker shook his head and ignored her.


    "Jumpstart_Engine, I presume?" Seeker asked.


    "Twister Hover, or Jumpstart_Engine." Cronus introduced.


    A tall and tanned man with messy hair gave a simple nod.


    "The God of All Trades. You''re the guy who proved that Impact characters could fight against Piercings on a one-on-one. I just hope you''d be as useful in real life as you are with your team. I hope that the diverse technologies prepared for you can bring me a good surprise." Seeker smiled.


    "It will. We''ve already had our ns. It all depends on what techs you can do. We''ve already used the Covenant''s suits as the baseline models. Next one is Shanna Turner. Her game handle is RaVeil_Fantasy. She would have been our ace in fighting against the Covenant in this season. She uses The Faye Fighter."


    "Another Impact yer? That is amazing! Arthur would have a higher chance of losing if the battle continued. But the way Arthur is now, you guys don''t stand a chance anymore. Nothing escapes his calctions anymore. Which ces a great burden on you, Surge Embers." Seeker smiled at Cronus.


    "From now on, Cronus will be addressed as Lieutenant and will bemanding a squad of soldiers. The Twelve Disciples will be your Captains. Use them to your heart''s content. I''m sure, with your experience in the game Generals, you should have some familiarity with militarymand."


    "If the techs that will be added to our Exoskeletons are not yet here, how can we train with them?"


    "For now, you can familiarize it on theputer. Harker justpleted the program and uploaded it in the Dark Web. We will be using a VPN connection hosted in China. Customize your Exoskeletons ording to the game. You can also make special requests and see if our scientists can replicate the technology you want. After that, log in the game and y."


    "You want us to train using an online game?" Cronus was confused.


    "It''s an online VRputer game with physics settings set by Lennox Humphrey itself. It''s very, very lifelike. Because of the Unlocking and the current level you guys are at, this is more than enough. What you need is to improve and train in your reaction time and so on. Being Pro-Gamers, this is even easier for you. Kristine''s first battle wearing Piercing Valkyrie proved to be too much for Meng''s soldiers. So this is the perfect training for you."


    "But we''re training with a video game? Not even a real battle?" Paul asked again.


    "That video game is linked to your nerves. You will feel whatever pain you would feel in reality. Of course, dying in the game won''t kill you. But the shock is real. And don''t underestimate it. You see, we are Unlocked. Training does very little. Our senses, aim, timing, awareness have risen to a level that makes us superhumans. What we need are actual battles. And this game that Lennox and Pangea and other countries have worked hard on allows us to go wild and bring out the best of our Unlocking."


    "Alright. I understand. If this game is as close to reality as you say it is, then expect our powers to increase considerably." Cronus epted it faster than the rest.


    "I''m looking forward to it. Other teams should also be online. You can try challenging the Dragon''s Fangs if you''re confident enough."


    "So our training is¡­ to yputer games?" Twister Hover repeated, still adapting to the uing training. He was already mentally bracing himself to face the terror of Seeker.


    "Would you rather another round with me?" Seeker offered.


    "No!" The girls shouted.


    "I''d rather let myself be mangled by a pack of deranged goris."


    "Pass."


    "We''re training in the VR."


    "Anyway, Arthur believes that the attack would ur within the next three days. But Arthur is almost sure that it will happen on the third day. Since you are Unlocked, you probably don''t need that much sleep as you once had. So use that time to familiarize yourself with the techs and y against the teams. Here are the schedules Harker''s Trio, the Small Time Drug Dealers, and Warfreakz."


    "Small Time Drug Dealers?"


    "Yes. With Gardo Dalisay."


    "Who?"


    "Just fight them. Cliff will murder you guys, and with that Gardo around, you''re bound to be confused."


    "If we fight Warfreakz, will Lowengren be around?"


    "No. God knows where that rascal is. And considering that he''s with Alean, I couldn''t imagine what that ckmailing woman is doing. And Lowengren''s not exactly the let bygones be bygones type. Just prepare for the war. Save an official preset of what weapons and techs you have just in case WGP will begin their attack earlier than expected."


    "When can my team get hands-on training if we have presets saved?"


    "During the battle. The techs are not around here. It''s currently in the Tatsulok and will be delivered here via rocket attack."


    "What?" A chorus of confused answered echoed back.


    "You, guys are smart. The Unlocking gives birth to a wider range of possibilities. Since we are still hiding the fact and making it look like the attack that will ur in Central Australia will belong to the Lost Primordial, the method of how you get your weapons must be carefully hidden. So we are using a means of transport that is within the intersection of ''what everyone else thinks is impossible'' and ''what I can do'' in the Venn Diagram."


    "You can retrieve six Exoskeletons being carried by rocket before it explodes?"


    "Of course not." Seeker rolled his eyes in exasperation.


    "Oh. Right. That''s imposs-"


    "If I retrieve it before it explodes, the Aragarians might see it through whatever techs they have. We have to be very secretive. The six exoskeletons will be hidden inside the rocket. And I will retrieve it during the explosion."


    "During?"


    "Yup."


    "As in... while the rocket blows up."


    "Right again."


    "Let me get this straight.You n to retrieve our Exoskeletons when the rocket explodes. As in, when it releases a powerful kic force and such hot energy that can incinerate even the steel of an Exoskeleton suit?"


    "You''re Three out of three!" Seeker confirmed once more.


    "I don''t want to wear a burnt up and beaten armor."


    "Rx. I can ensure that not a scratch would fall in it." Seeker assured.


    "Where exactly will this rocket explode?"


    "Right on top of us, of course. We will use the fiery mes as our means to escape. This is the most logical option we have."


    Everyone was silent.

 Chapter 254 - Lioncourt Diviner

    His name is Lioncourt Diviner. He sat down and nced at the city and could feel the many movements urring around him.


    The sensations and the whispers he could hear were so outstanding that he even knew the deepest secrets of this city saved for the conversations urring on several underground facilities where even the vibrations could not reach too.


    But despite the shocking amount of soldiers that were being deployed, his senses focused on the Eastern side of the city. He could feel an unimaginable ominous presence approaching.


    "Progenitor¡­ I wonder if that''s your seeds or the enemy." He sighed.


    Surrounding him were several dead men. These were among the top officers of the military. The room itself is themand center for the city. Near the crazy man with messy hair and long beard was a General regarded as the equal to the fallen General Gand, who died fighting the Pangean infiltrators.


    "General. It seems that our enemy is drawing closer. I hope that you would now be more generous in agreeing to sending your soldiers outside the city. I am doing this for your benefit. Someone is going to attack this city. You didn''t listen to my many warnings, but I hope now that some of youmanders are dead, you''d listen to me now."


    "You''re insane!" The General shouted.


    The rest couldn''t talk. It was as if the surrounding soldiers were being choked by something invisible. Everyone was gasping for their necks, trying to escape the choking force.


    "I find you''reck of faith disturbing. I suggest you listen to me, General. I don''t want to kill any moremanders or soldiers in this room!" The man red.


    "Lioncourt! What are you trying to do?! We''ve been friends for years! Think about what you are doing! The WGP will be attacking soon! Are you one of them?!"


    "No, I''m not one of them! I keep telling you that an army is approaching us! This Lost Primordial or that enemy of his has infiltrated our ranks so much that they had an army hidden among your army! And I am telling you this because we are friends, Chester. If you ignore my warning, this city will die. I can''t save everyone! While killing an army is easy, saving a city is not! About a thousand soldiers are moving as we speak!"


    "Impossible! A thousand soldiers? How can they send a thousand soldiers this deep in the city! Our eyes have been all over the skies and seas, and we are confident that the WGP has yet to send any force, big or small, to infiltrate and reach the maind. All our bases and military personnel have been working hard to prevent that!"


    "Think outside the box for a second. You''ve known me for many years, yet you couldn''t even detect the technology that I wield. The longer we talk, the more of your men will die! Did you think the battles you''ve won were achieved were because of your strength and wisdom? Face it, most of it is due to lucky urrences! I''ve been helping you out a lot to make my little home peaceful. Haven''t you seen the reports? Pilots and even captains dying without any outside wounds?" Lioncourtughed.


    "How-How did you-?"


    "What did you think I just did to your beloved Commanders? I have been killing your enemies from afar! Who did you think opened that gate in the aircraft carrier you were trying to blow up? Several key enemy captains andmanders dying by a heart attack? What did you think caused their heart attack! They did not die of a disease. I murdered them! I helped you make this city and this country great because I wanted to be hidden from the Underworld''s turmoil and the wars that happen! This is the very same reason why I am here! Don''t test my patience, Chester."


    General Chester was startled at the sudden things that Lioncourt revealed. In truth, he had seen the reports of these. Many enemies didn''t die from any attack but from some mysterious diseases. The ones that Lioncourt mentioned were key factors of why he won and got his current decorated position. General Chester hesitated. He looked at the fallen Commanders and realized that Lioncourt was right.


    "Fine! I''ll listen! But stop whatever it is you''re doing to my men!"


    At that exact moment, the soldiers around the room finally could breathe and be no longer choking.


    "Done. Execute those orders now!"


    The soldiers were all recovering and gasping for breaths.


    "You heard the man. Go on and make those orders."


    Lioncourt had already given a series of orders when he got into the room. The soldiers were now acting on executing the many instructions given to them.


    "You better be right, Lioncourt! That Lost Primordial better be attacking! This entire branch will be treated as traitors!"


    "The attack should ur at any time now. When that attack urs, you can immediately dere that several of your Commanders were in league with the traitors, and a battle broke out because you discovered it and led to this event where they killed each other." Lioncourt exined. A mug suddenly levitated towards him. Coffee had been brewed.


    The General turned to look and was shocked to see several other things levitating towards their proper position. The soldiers gasped in shock.


    "Ugh. I can''t believe that they''re attacking so early. I hadn''t even had my morning coffee. I ended up killing your Commanders because of it!" Lioncourt sighed.


    "You killed my Commanders because you haven''t had coffee?"


    "They were pointing guns at me and calling me an old man! It''s been a bad day. I''m sorry I lost my cool."


    "You don''t say sorry after killing several of my Commanders!" The General was trying to control his emotions for fear of being killed, but he couldn''t help but snap at Lioncourt''sments.


    "Let''s just hope that whoever''s nning to attack your city has had their morning coffee. The feeling I get for the enemying here is that he or she may have killed more people for pettier reasons." Lioncourt then began to ry the actions.


    Nearly thirty kilometers outside of the city, Seeker continued to observe the metropolis from a nearby mountain.


    "Sir. The armies have been dyed and are assuming a position directly opposing our formation." Matthew of the Twelve reported.


    "As I thought they would. The Realm King awaits. This man is amazing. In his peak, he stopped an Orbital that is as big as the moon from escaping. And that was while he was sustaining heavy attacks. He should be weak, but given his cautious nature, he must have created severalm rys around the city that enhances his detection abilities."


    "How great is his detection, General?"


    "I am assuming that as long as you are within the vicinity of the city or even at the outskirts of it, you will be detected. If he created severalm rys to enhance his sensing, then that should be possible."


    "General, did you intend for Git Godlike to die? Why did you send them inside as spies?"


    "No. I sent them in first to protect them." Seeker smiled.


    "To protect them?"


    "Yes. Right now, the Realm King doesn''t know that I know what he''s capable of. In fact, I know more about his powers than he himself does. So when Git Godlike attacks, he will do everything but reveal his powers. He will use it to make surprise attacks at our forces at the right time. His attacks will be made in secret and will be hidden in the chaos of war. So with Git Godlike attacking first with only six Exoskeletons, the Realm King won''t attack or kill them since it will be very noticeable to do so. He will think that whoever sent those six will have their eyes on them. Anything suspicious or out of the ordinary would be noticed immediately."


    "But what if these six cause great damage? Such damage that your Master cannot tolerate?"


    "You probably weren''t a gamer and probably only know of their battle styles in the recent battle in Australia. But the reason why Git Godlike precisely won over Arthur was because of their skill in ying possum."


    "We noticed that on the several times they defended Australia. They would appear to be losing and would make critical counter-attacks on the most unexpected moments."


    "Exactly. But I think you haven''t seen their full potential. In the E-sports world, their abilities were almost legendary. The defeat of the Covenant of the Strongest was precise because of that. Arthur won the longest one-on-one battle against Cronus because of the limitations in trying to y possum in that scenario. But in a team battle, Git Godlike reigned supreme in that now-legendary battle. But even after their debut, they continued to recreate that tricky y. Game after game did the world see how they would lure the enemy into thinking they''ve won. And again and again, they were able to pull it off and snatch victory."


    "And they will do that to the Realm King?"


    "Yes. The one thing that my Master was not interested in was video games. He kept teasing me on the other world to be a game addict and always were against my ns of employing gamers into the battlefield. Right now, if I survive this battle, I''m going to rub it in his face!" Seekerughed.


    "Send Git Godlike in. And assume your positions. Get ready to support Git Godlike anytime." Seeker ryed his orders.


    "Yes, Sir." Matthew immediately moved.


    "And now¡­ Something to distract my Master." Seeker smiled.


    Seeker has finally acquired several foundational paths from various Near Oveers. It was here that thews of physics were bypassed.


    The melding of the Realm Kings Telekinesis'' ability and the Void assassins means to traverse the Dimensions allowed Seeker to move and physically walk through various elements and unknown and undiscovered mathematical forces that lie on the fourth dimension.


    It was a simple ability that the Realm King, Richie, Lennox, and Eagle had in Seeker''s future.


    The ability of Flight. As Seeker flew, the surrounding soldiers were stunned, and even the Twelve Disciples marveled.


    "Anti Gravity¡­ But why is this different than Eagles? Eagle can change gravity, but I can use it as a foothold¡­" Seeker assessed as he finally used his powers.


    The flight steadily grew faster and faster. But it was still slow in Seeker''s eyes. Even drones have faster speed than him.


    When Seeker reached nearly four hundred meters, he stopped. As he was already on top of a mountain, the height he ascended allowed him a clearer view of the city.


    Several Balls of Thunder and a Lightning Cube appeared on Seeker''s palm.


    He crushed it all andpressed the energies into a ball. In the past days, Seeker had been trying to use telekinesis tobine the two attacks and create a different attack. His inspiration was the very same technique that his Master was known to use back then.


    The utilization of present energy, be it fire, nuclear,sers, or even lightning, the Realm King would use his telekinesis to create a route for the energy by reshaping the explosions'' path and direction.


    While Seeker could not do the same, he harnessed the powerful energy andpressed the explosive attacks of Richie''s sounds and the almost sentient lightning.


    The entire energypressed into a small ball with a very wild flickering light inside.


    Seekerpressed the energy and was starting to grow pale. Seeker''s skin color also grew lighter, and his hairs were starting to turn white.


    "The first attack that is truly mine and not a copy of anything." Seeker smiled as he observed his creation.


    shes of Lightning and Peals of Thunder was wrapped around andpressed in an invisible force.


    "An orb that contains the lightning and thunder that appears at the voice of the Lord. This beats your Holy Hand Grenade, Master." Seeker sneered.


    "Sovereign''s Orb." Seeker whispered as several crackles of lightning could be seen emerging out of the orb as Seeker reached back his arms in preparation to throw it. Following a professional baseball yer''s throwing style, Seeker hurled the ball, which continued to create crackles of lightning as it zoomed at an astonishing speed.


    Seeker immediately began to fall down from the sky as he was trying to recover from the massive losses of energy.


    Back in the city, the Realm King immediately stood up as he could sense strange energy.


    "Tell the north-eastern troop to retreat immediately!"


    "What?" The General was confused.


    But it was already toote. The speed of the small orb was so fast that it had already reached the city entrance.


    BOOM!


    A terrifying shockwave exploded out, and bolts of lightning surged out like millions of snakes and began to create a chain of attacks as it moved outwards from the explosion.


    Lioncourt immediately created a powerful telekic shield that tried to contain the explosion, but the expanding force of the sound and the strange movements of the lightning continued to move outwardly.


    Lioncourt''s expressions grew solemn.


    "He''s this powerful after all..."


    "LOST PRIMORDIAL! THIS IS OUR REVENGE! WE WILL PAY YOU BACK FOR OUR DEFEAT!" An angry voice resounded throughout the city as the explosion urred. Seekerpressed the sounds of those words inside the Sovereign Orb."


    The sudden sound caused Lioncourt to lose concentration, and the shield that he created was destroyed.


    Lioncourt stumbled back as his shields failed and immediately used his power to stop the General from reaching for his gun. The soldiers in the room were also sted away from reaching their weapons.


    "I am not the Lost Primordial! It''s a trick!" Lioncourt shouted as he tried to calm the soldiers.

 Chapter 255 - Acquiring The Weapons

    The words that resonated throughout the city made it clear. The Lost Primordial was within the city. And in that city, only one man came to mind to the General and his soldiers.


    Lioncourt used a sudden burst of psychic sts that attacked the soldiers who reached for their weapons.


    The General could only re back at Lioncourt. When he heard those words, he immediately tried to grab the nearby gun, but Lioncourt moved to throw the gun away, which caused him to lose his concentration.


    "Listen to me! That voice is lying! I am not the Lost Primordial! Ugh. Damn¡­ I do look like it, don''t I?" Lioncourt frowned.


    The General and the soldiers nodded in agreement.


    "But it''s not me! I tried to stop the explosion, but the st to powerful. If the Lost Primordial is here, it''s not me. I was just here at the wrong time. But I am not working for this Lost Primordial¡­"


    "That''s what a guy working for the Lost Primordial would say!"


    "I- I- Oh for crying out loud! Thisplicates matters with a lot!"


    "Then who is the Lost Primordial?!"


    "I don''t know. But he''s using the two of us to do the dirty works."


    "The two of us?" The General was confused.


    "You already disobeyed direct order to send your soldiers to the fringe regions! Even if you win, your superiors will question you! They will use you of working for the Lost Primordial and ask why you didn''t send the soldiers. They might even argue that you used your soldiers to initiate the attack before the troop could move to the fringe regions."


    The General was horrified as he realized what has happened. He knew that with the current situation, it would be almost impossible to defend his innocence. No one would believe him. Especially now¡­


    The General calmed himself down.


    "What we need to defend is the people and to find out who this Lost Primordial is. Everyone, this insane old man is right. We don''t have much choice. We should fight."


    "Very good. You caught on. There is no retreating from this. Whether or not I am the Lost Primordial is no longer important. We are all forced into this battle. So, General, let''s do our part."


    "My priority will be the people."


    "Oh? How noble. To think someone as corrupt as you will turn soft."


    "Corruption? I was forced into it. The political and military games forced my hand. You question my motives, but this incident has already broken my career and made me a wanted man. The least that I could do is fight as a General without the political footholds that enved me. If I am to die, I''ll die doing my best to save the people. Perhaps my services will make my punishment lighter. So I want to know what your powers are. If you want to work with me, I need to know what you can do. You im that you could stop that explosion?"


    "No. At most, I could weaken it. The force of that eruption was weakened by nearly twenty percent. I could have reached thirty, but I knew you would grab that gun." Lioncourt sighed.


    "It will take some time for me to exin. But just think that I could tell the exact location of the enemies, what gear they have, and their number as long as they set foot, at least a hundred meters from the gates of the city." Lioncourt exined.


    "It''s that urate?"


    "Yes. But it''s consuming a lot of energy! My entire stock of energizers would probably be halved after this battle!" Lioncourtined as he took out a small cylinder and popped out one small capsule that radiated with a strange green energy.


    When Lioncourt removed the bottle cap, the headquarters'' warning devices and scanners began to give out strange pings as if a powerful and dangerous bomb was detected.


    The Realm King swallowed it as if it was some tasty candy treat.


    The General and his men didn''t know what to say. How could a capsule contain and hide the powerful radiation? Much more surprising was the fact that this man ate it!


    "Oh? It looks like Pangea and the other nations are acting." The Realm King gazed in different directions.


    "What?"


    "It''s beginning. The WGP hasunched their attacks. New Great Britain and Pangea have alsounched several dangerous weapons. They are nowunching a salvo of great destructive weapons." The Realm King sighed.


    True enough, of the many coasts of Australia, the many aircraft carriers, Floating Fortresses and Sky Fortresses that were hovering around Australia, began tounch their attacks.


    The WGP had destined Australia to destruction. Even though it can''t be proven that they were not in league with the Lost Primordial, they still caused the Kraken opening attack. And so, the WGP sought an economical method.


    When the WGP disbanded, this meant that the rules of using Weapons of Mass Destruction were lifted. And while many nations would not hastily use it in fear of being the WGP''s target, the attack on Australia was supported by the WGP.


    And with the amount of long-ranged weaponry, the Anti Defense system of Australia would be overwhelmed.


    "Then¡­ this city?" The General could not help but ask in fear.


    "The current number should not be capable of reaching the inner cities. Australia does have one of the strongest missile-defense systems. So even if a few rockets found their way here, the numerous defense systems would wilt it down."


    The survivingmanders brought up the detectedunched ranged missiles and their calcted areas.


    "Oh? It looks like Pangea is very daring. They shot several rockets aimed at the central cities."


    "How arrogant."


    "If the WGP is supporting them, can you say they are arrogant?"


    The soldiers could not refute this statement.


    "Keep your guards up. It looks like these weapons can still attack the city. Activate whatever defense systems are avable."


    "You heard the man." The General ordered, and the soldiers began to make the preparations and doubled the present defense systems.


    ¡­


    Outside the town, Seeker continued to devour as much food as he can. His color had returned, but his hair remained white.


    Matthew, one of the Twelve, waited nearby.


    "Sir, the rocket is approaching. We are ready to shoot down and redirect that rocket to the indicated location."


    Seeker nodded.


    "Ugh. I exerted too much power on that. Is Git Godlike in position?"


    "Yes. They still show a sense of panic and uncertainty and is demanding you to make an appearance, General. But they are standing over the giant bullseye where that rocket is expected to makendfall and obliterate the terrain."


    "What a bunch of wuss." Seeker frowned as he stood up while takingrge pieces of pork and chicken.


    Seeker began to leave therge vehicle and walked towards the specified location.


    The entire team of Git Godlike waited on top of a hill. They had very nervous looks.


    "Rx. I''m here." Seeker grumbled as he ate thest pieces of pork.


    "Rx? I never use that word when a rocket is hurling towards me and could level this entire hill!"


    "What is a rocketpared to me?" Seeker grumbled.


    "Anyway, The moment we get your gear, you six immediately attack the city. Several of the rockets are aimed to target several buildings owned by the remaining Pioneers. I''m sure that this will distract the Realm King." Seeker gave hisst orders.


    "You said that the Realm King has an ability to sense within a great range. How sure are you that he won''t be able to detect us?"


    "Why did you think I made that powerful attack? I made a terrifying attack that minimized the forces and imed that the Lost Primordial owns that city. That incited panic and will create civil unrest. This will cause many to panic and try to escape forcibly. It should be happening anytime soon. And when the rocketse, the panic will only increase. There will be shootings and people trying to forcibly flee from the city, while the soldiers will try to protect the citizens by hiding them on bunkers and what-not."


    "But it will be us who will make the first attack. Though I could guess why the Realm King won''t kill us, I still feel that it''s risky."


    "The Twelve Disciples will then move and send the different forces they have gathered. And that will give me time to move in."


    "Can''t you just move in along with us?"


    "He''s the Realm King. He could sense Oveers hundreds of miles away. The closer we get to him, the stronger it gets. I am using all of you to give me a safe passage to face him. Because if this doesn''t happen, I don''t stand a chance of winning." Seeker exined.


    "Now be good soldiers and learn from this real battle. The previous battles you''ve fought couldn''t be considered battles. But now, we have an Oveer directing the army. Learn to survive and how to think. Don''t think ording to the set limitations of whatever illusion you believe to be the reality. The realms of the impossible awaits. And so, you as a fighter and a strategist must learn how to adapt and fight in this."


    Soon, their sensors detected the missile that somehow bypassed all the other defenses.


    "It''s here." Seeker called out as he looked at it.


    The expressions of the entire team grew grim.


    His hands crushed thest remaining cube that Lennox bestowed him.


    The electric energy remained on his hands as he tried to hide it from being seen.


    "Can''t be too careful. Maybe the Aragarians are watching from space." Seeker smiled.


    The city''s missile defense system sent its attacks to destroy the iing missiles, but a strange electric charge came out and would attack most of the rockets. Some would hit it, but for some reason, the rockets didn''t even detonate but smashed on the rocket as if it was just a flying piece of metal.


    But even the force of its impact had greatly diminished as the electrical charges would repel it.


    Yet even with theplicated defense system, some of the rockets were destroyed and exploded in the skies above.


    There were fifteen rockets. Three had an unusuallyrge frame and the rest which were slender and depicted the usual sizes that ranged rockets had.


    As the rockets zoomed nearby, Seeker finally unleashed the lightning in his hands.


    A bolt of lightning arced out, and the rocket also shot a bolt of lightning as it seemed to react to Seeker''s attack.


    The two bolts struck each other. The two attacks happened together that it would look like the rocket sent a bolt to the hill where Seeker stood.


    The rocket shifted its direction and was falling into the hill. As several missiles were exploding and ramming the massive rocket, it looked like one of the threerge rockets malfunctioned and fell to the nearby hillside.


    Seconds before the fall, Git Godlike remained standing but had a tremble that they looked like the rattlesnakes'' tails.


    Seeker reached out, and the lightning energy of Lennox gave themands, and the rocket deployed the Exoskeletons. A of lightning appeared behind the rocket distorting the vision of what was going on under it.


    The bolts of Lightning energy shot the Exoskeletons out, and itnded behind Seeker faster than the speed of the rocket.


    Three Balls of Thunder were crushed as Seeker created a sound shield.


    "Walls of Jericho!" Seeker shouted on the veryst decisecond before the rocket struck the ground and detonated the weapon.


    BOOM!


    The position of where the rocket struck was several meters higher than where Seeker and Git Godlike stood. This was one of the ways for them to hide from the explosion.


    The entire hill crumbed as the powerful rocket that could decimate an entire block exploded out. The rocket that Pangea sent out was a modified and erged version of the me Wind bombs. These bombs would explode with a powerful force, but the real threat was in the mes that remained.


    me Wind was a fire that could be blown by the wind and travel several kilometers from its originating area. This was used to create enormous fires that could quickly spread. Even buildings andplex devices could be burned. This tech was so malicious that it could only be used with the approval of the WGP. And now that the WGP is no longer present, this weapon was free to use.


    The fiery mes covered the entire area. But unbeknownst those who could use their technology to peak on the explosion, a small safety zone existed on the bottom.


    Seeker used created a small sound shield that employed one of Richie''s hardest defenses. He wasted no time and gave the order for the group to equip their Exoskeletons.


    Git Godlike wasted no seconds as they immediately jumped to wear their suits.


    "The suits of yours can easily withstand the mes. Run through the fire and go to the city!" Seeker had a pale expression. His hair, which had started to turn ck, became white again.


    "Maybe I should just dye this damned thing!" Cronus heard Seeker grumble as he wore his Exoskeleton suit and immediately rushed towards the city.


    As the group moved out of the fire, Seeker undid Jericho''s walls after collecting the handful of items that was prepared for him. The very mmable and almost liquid-like mes that had settled on top of the sound shield came falling down and burned the location. No one could now tell that there was once a safe zone under this explosion.


    Seeker stood amidst the mes and counted the items and the new sword he got.


    "Nice. Balls of Thunder, Cubes of Lightning, and Meng''s little own creation. The Horn of the Dragon. I can''t believe he finally managed to create a weaponized version of his destion!??? Seeker counted.


    And there was a specialized pair of boots. Crafted with Seeker''s own cells and made with the techs that revolutionized warfare in the future. Lennox gave the design theories, and Harker created it. Although they could not reach the same level of ster sciences that the Aragarians have, their own version, nuclear and fusion energies, made up for itsck. The boot was a weaker version of the Four Force elerator.


    "Ah¡­ My beauty¡­ It''s good to see you again." Seekerughed.


    But then, it was as if lightning struck him.


    When Seeker connected with the lightning Bolt, he acquired something so marvelous and shocking that he could not believe it.


    In his mind, he could imagine it, or instead, it was as if it was ying in his head.


    "It''s there!" Seeker could almost scream and delight.


    The lightning energy imprinted something on Seeker.


    There, in Seeker''s imagination, was a vivid image. It was so clear and so real.


    The magnificence of Lennox had improved leaps and boundspared to how Seeker remembered him in his future.


    For in Seeker''s mind, the image was clear. In Seeker''s mind, there was a programmed power source that could run and could move ording to Seeker''s thoughts.


    Seeker could not help but gaze at it in shock. The fiery hells around him were easily forgotten as Seeker concentrated on the image ying inside his head.


    It was really there. The starting screen of Pokemon Emerald was disyed in Seeker''s head.. Ready to start a new game.

 Chapter 256 - Forced To Fight

    The entire hill was burned up, and the mes were now being blown away. The other rockets exploded in mid-air as it could not withstand the tremendous attacks from the cities defense system. Yet since it exploded closer to the city and happened, the malicious mes were now starting fires on the nearby buildings. Even the Exoskeletons and soldiers were moving to avoid the drifting mes as it would affect them.


    Panic began to erupt as unrest urred. Due to the mysterious sound that challenged the Lost Primordial, many in the city were panicking. They feared being caught in between the battle between the Lost Primordial and Harker''s allies.


    "We are being held hostage! Don''t believe the lies of the government!" One of the citizens shouted as he called out for the others to flee and leave the city.


    The city defenses were already set up. Tall walls that reached up to forty meters sprung from the ground and prevented many from escaping.


    Many were barging at the gates of the walls in an attempt to flee.


    All hell broke loose inside the city.


    Outside the city, on a nearby hill which was now burning with intense heat, a figure remained standing.


    "Amazing¡­ It really is Emerald!" Seeker trembled as he watched his character leave therge truck which finalized their move to the new city.


    The sounds were even ying on his head.


    "How did he do this? This isn''t thought processing anymore! It''s programmed thought! Just how disgusting is this man?!" Seeker could almost curse. But Seeker knew that Lennox did this in hopes for Seeker to develop more skills and possibly create an additional thought process.


    Seeker finally sighed and began to walk out of the mes.


    Outside, Jamie, Thomas, and Mark, members of the twelve, waited.


    "Is the General alright?" Mark asked.


    "You asked an irrelevant question."


    "It''s just¡­ Git Godlike already exited the area, but General still hasn''t moved out of the fire? Why would he remain in the fire? Wouldn''t that consume more of his powers?"


    Even Jamie couldn''t answer that question.


    "Look! Behold! Walking in the midst of the fire! The mes do not devour him, and his appearance is that of a son of man!" A man called Thomas joked.


    The two red at him with a strange expression.


    "What? It''s very rare to be able to quote from Daniel and literally use it in the exact context of the verse!" Thomas argued.


    Seeker finally emerged out of the fire, totally unharmed with aplicated expression on his face.


    "General, What happened?" Jamie immediately asked.


    "Never mind me. Prep each force and ready the attack. You all know what to do, right? Right now, even your soldiers would be confused. We trick them into raiding the city. If you can achieve that, your mission is practically halfwayplete. All you have to do is try to survive and cause more havoc."


    "That''s our mission? What if the forces retreat and abandon mymand if they be suspicious?"


    "Really, Thomas? You still don''t understand the point of our other orders."


    Thomasughed like the question was irrelevant.


    "That''s why I have you guys to help me!"


    "Once we seed in sending the soldiers in the city to attack, they have no choice. They are forced to fight the battle! Regardless of what happens, they will be a suspicious team!"


    "Why?"


    "Remember our orders? We were to convince our respectivemanders to send as many soldiers as they can spare! And the method we did it was that we were suspecting an attack from the Lost Primordial! Think! If you were a General, would you report to the higher officers that you n to send soldiers?"


    "Erm¡­ No. Lieutenant Colonel Larry kept our transfer a secret."


    "Exactly! He and everyone else the Disciples deceived secretly sent apany of soldiers! The moment our soldiers appear and fight in that city, they will be monitored and will be under investigation for possibly being a traitor or someone who works for the Lost Primordial or the imaginary enemy of the Lost Primordial."


    "Oh. Right. So basically, we are tricking the army into appearing in a battlefield where they are forced to fight?"


    "That''s the gist of it," Mark confirmed.


    "I get it. But sorry, General. It''s all too confusing. The way we fooled the world into thinking that there''s the Lost Primordial and there''s an imaginary group fighting the Lost Primordial where in reality, it''s just us! Sometimes I think I am the Lost Primordial."


    Seeker sighed.


    "Just go and make sure you send the soldiers inside. Thomas, I think to make things easier for you, just pretend that you are the Lost Primordial once you get the soldiers inside the city. Pretend to be some evil viin who managed to trick the soldiers. By then, the fighting would be too chaotic that no one knows who is their enemy and allies. I trust that the rest of the Disciples are more aware of what to do?"


    "Yes, General¡­ Erm¡­ There is Andrea. But I''m sure Matthew will sort her out." Jamie answered.


    "Whatever¡­ Just do your best and try to live. I don''t care if the entirepany you brought here dies. You guys must survive. Once you see the signal tell the forces to attack." Seeker gave his orders.


    Immediately the three Disciples gave their salutes and began to go to their corresponding forces.


    "Over a thousand soldiers were trying to enter the city. Possibly three thousand trying to defend it. I hope this chaos will be enough to hide my presence." Seeker muttered softly.


    "But if anything this life has taught me, is not to underestimate Oveers. I''ll have to assume that Master is at least twice as strong as my original calction."


    Around the city, twelve separate groups were gathering on secret spots. Each did not even know that the other groups existed. But each troop of soldiers watched in horror at what happened to the city.


    "The Lost Primordial¡­" A soldier could not help but mutter. The events that transpired were too ominous. A strange attack demanded the Lost Primordial to surrender. It was so loud that all of the city heard it. Naturally, the soldiers observing the city were all made aware of it.


    Jamie finally arrived. Despite being so young, this small and gentle soldier quickly rose the ranks and was even trusted by the General. Their information and use in battle were so undeniable. On many asions, she had been one of the key reasons why a battle would be won.


    There were several other soldiers who weren''t legally old enough to be soldiers but their worth in intelligence, strategy, and skills in battle allowed them to be Captain of their own rights.


    Thepany of two hundred soldiers was using a stealth armored vehicle called Tremors. This was one of Australia''s ind transportation that could hide with its camouge and stealth techs. The vehicle could partially burrow itself underground and move. Yet the true size of this vehicle was sorge that it could carry Armors.


    "Captain Jamie!" A soldier called out as he found Jamie undoing her stealth gear.


    "At ease¡­ Ipleted the reconnaissance and found that we are not the onlypany that was sent here!" Jamie called out.


    "You mean the General''s suspected this city to betray?"


    "It seems like it. I''m not the only one here. Mark and Thomas are around the area hiding as well. I''vemunicated with them, and they agree to move out together with us. There are other toons, but I don''t trust them." Jamie exined.


    "Captain? Why?"


    "We don''t know why they are here. The truth is, even I am suspicious as to why Mark and Thomas are here. While I''m happy that they''ll be fighting with us, I can''t be sure if they are allied with us. So don''t expect them to save you and offer backup. Are they here because they were ordered to attack the Lost Primordial? Or are they under the orders of the Lost Primordial?"


    "Captain! You can''t be that skeptical! You, Mark, and Thomas fought and rose ranks together!"


    "Haven''t you seen the news? The Kraken had a lot of traitors. That''s why it fell. The WGP doesn''t even trust itself. How can we trust a team of soldiers? Our mission has changed. We are to assist the civilians from escaping. The military forces are keeping the civilians. Why join in on the battle where we don''t know who our allies or enemies are? The best that we can do is save whoever we can save." Jamie exined.


    The soldiers couldn''t refute the words of Jamie.


    "I would go as far as to say that we shouldn''t even trust each other¡­ But that would be the end of our team." Jamie added grimly.


    "Then when do we go in, Captain?" The Lieutenant asked.


    "We wait. We can''t be too hasty. If the soldiers guarding the city really means well and wants to protect the citizens, we might get caught in the crossfire of that battle. We would be fighting people who are on our side. We wait for the right moment and observe."


    "Captain! Several Exoskeletons are dashing towards the city!"


    "What? How many?"


    "Six!"


    "Six?!" Jamie exined and rushed towards the monitor that was currently locked on the zooming exoskeletons.


    Six Exoskeletons were zooming towards the city gates.


    "Why the gates? That would be one of the most heavily guarded parts of the city!" Jamie was confused as she saw the Exoskeletons rushing without fear.


    The city defense began to attack. Mortars, rockets, energy-based attacks, and bullets rained down on the six.


    The Six began to separate.


    Cronus took the lead and moved faster and faster.


    "Let''s do this. Phase One, Tech Reveal!" Cronusughed.


    One of their team shot severalrge canisters that exploded on mid-air.


    A sound-wall was created. It wasn''t as strong as Balls of Thunder, but it could imitate a very weak version of the Walls of Jericho. This caused the rockets to explode as if it struck something hard.


    Bybining maic rail, electromaic technology, and Lennox''s sentient lightning, the various military groups that served Seeker and the Oveers were now able to mass-produce weaponized maic lightning. This lightning could create powerful mas or create sudden prities that would affect bullets and mortar shells.


    The studies of Meryl''s eye-sight finally bore fruit. The team developed a pair of contact lenses that could block and absorb light generated from a Pangean Everbright.


    Three Exoskeleton''sunched never before seen technologies that made the barrage miss them entirely.


    A powerful shbang that blinded many also urred, but the team of six continued to advance as they had perfect eye-sight.


    When the shbang urred, it created a powerful heat signature outside of the city. And so, with a wide-ranged, heat generated, one of the Exoskeletonsunched a peculiar weapon as the cities defenses could not easily shoot these weapons.


    The battle on at the Kraken had tremendous limitations as the WGP was expected to have the most advanced weapon detecting systems. As such, the weapons that the group all sent were among the most foundational techs, excluding the Qilin''s Horn.


    But now, against Australia, Git Godlike had more freedom with the techs they are equipped with. The peculiar weapon that wasunched was a simple canister. It was a weapon that nearly caused Meng to wage war on New Great Britain and caused a small civil war among the Oveers.


    Codename: Fart of the Dragon. This weapon is a gaseous chemical created bybining Meng''s destion with the bioweapons that Seeker acquired after destroying one of the Pioneer''s bases in My-Pangea.


    The Aragarian Pioneer was experimenting with a contagious bioweapon that would force the enemies to use up its medical supplies. But now, it was a bioweapon that could seep into most hazmats suits and cause immediate ailments and diseases. While it could not kill, it could greatly inhibit the performances of Armors and Exoskeleton pilots.


    A muffled sound was heard, and the surrounding soldiers realized that a canister releasing a strange dark green gas was already near them.


    "What is this?" A soldier cried. He was still recovering from the shbang, and he could feel a strange irritation, which was turning into a burning sensation.


    And the best thing about this was that it was effortless to mass-produce.


    Three more canistersnded on the different areas of the gates.


    The shouts and panic were heard. The destion was so fast that it immediately caused burns to the Exoskeletons who were near.


    The soldiers who were not wearing Exoskeletons activated their protective suits, but these were also burned.


    Most soldiers retreated, and the Exoskeleton Pilots were also struggling.


    This allowed Git Godlike to approach the gate without facing heavy fire support.


    Git Godlike scaled the unguarded wall and, upon exiting, began to use another malicious tech.


    The techs of this lightning were soplex. Itbined various technologies that Pangea, new Great Britain, Russia, and the Americas had. Along with it was the foundation of Lennox''s living lightning.


    "With this, they''ll also be forced to fight each other!" Cronus could not help but sound extremely saddened as he said these words.


    The six Exoskeleton released a small electrical shockwave and struck the many mechanical devices. Within the shockwave was a singr bolt of lightning that bounced from one Exoskeleton to another mechanical device.


    The lightning would seep into the very circuits and produce a strange maicmand. Thismand''s uniqueness was that it had to first identify the specific model of the Exoskeleton or the equipment that it structurally before giving off amand.


    For someone like Lennox, who could already create a programmed thought and impart it as he did to Seeker, setting a fewmands such as shooting the nearest detected Exoskeleton or Armor was simple.


    As the shockwave exploded, several of the Exoskeleton and even an Armor got affected by it.


    And so, as Git Godlike moved forward, the surrounding soldiers were suddenly shooting at each other.


    All of Git Godlike had a very sour expression.


    "Are we really going to do this?" One of them asked.


    "We have too. Kill a few of our own countrymen to save a lot of them. Just think of the innocent families that we could save by killing these soldiers." Cronus said stoically. But even his hands were shaking.


    As Git Godlike moved, they killed any soldiers that tried to stop them.

 Chapter 257 - Lioncourt’s Capabilities

    Everyone in the military knew that Git Godlike was currently under Matthew''s protection. Matthew had always shown a great sense of enthusiasm towards them. As these gamers are still able to earn through their fans both domestically and internationally regardless of Australia''s atrocities, the government was convinced by the Disciples that they were important.


    After the attack on China, their treatment became more and more important. Even though Australia was still under such a great scandal and there were many online petitions to ban them from the e-sport world, the fact that they stood among the few who could defeat the Covenant. As such, various nations supported Australia secretly.


    Of course, their group never got to join in the e-games because of the war and how dangerous it was to even y in a secure location. But it was decided that they would be ced under military protection. And with the maniption of the Twelve Disciples, Git Godlike was eventually assigned under several members of these twelve spies.


    The Twelve disciples had seen death daily. Every day, someone they knew would die when they were being experimented on My-Pangea. And they brought that horror to these E-sport yers.


    When all six members reached Unbing, Git Godlike would be sent to kill an organization that would be confirmed to be linked to the Pioneers. Most believe that Pangean residents who have not escaped Australia were the cause of this and were instigating terrorist acts against them.


    Git Godlike had no choice but to kill them, or the bomb in their bodies would explode.


    But even then, the people they killed did little to stain their guilt as they saw the organizations'' horrors. From sex ve rings to human experimentation, they saw it all.


    "They were evil men." These was the words they would say after every mission.


    But the numbed sensation of killing resurfaced once more. But Git Godlike pressed on.


    The advance of the six wasrgely unnoticeable in the city. Most of the reports that flooded themand centers were about the reports of betrayal.


    When the strange lightning bolt struck many of the Exoskeleton and Armors, infighting in the city began.


    No one knew what was going on. Some of the soldiers did not even know that they were already shooting their fellow soldiers because they closed their eyes when they got hit.


    And with the rumors of the many betrayals that urred during the battle of the Kraken, the soldiers were already suspicious of each other. And just after a shbang that blinded many soldiers, betrayal emerged.


    All of these were factors that brought the city into further chaos.


    And with that, the reports about Git Godlike were mixed into the crowds of reports.


    The General''s wore an apprehensive expression. After breaching the city, all traces of them were lost.


    "Don''t panic. The six Exoskeletons may have infiltrated the city butI''ve locked into their presence."


    "What?!?? The General was shocked.


    "Tell your forces to stop shooting! They''re adding to the noise!"


    "My men are dying because traitors are here, and you are worried over some noise?!"


    "There are no traitors! Those six used a strange ability! Think! If we believe them that they are after the Lost Primordial, these soldiers are from the WGP! The techs they used were able to program the Exoskeletons and Armors to aim and shoot at the nearest soldier got a few seconds! There are no traitors! It''s all a trick! Tell your men to stop shooting each other!" Lioncourt shouted.


    "How could-"


    "We don''t have time! Do it!" Lioncourt interrupted before Chester could answer back.


    "Sir¡­ There are reports that some of the soldiers are iming that they didn''t know what happened and that their Exoskeleton suit was acting on its own." One of the soldiers reported.


    Chester''s expression changed.


    "Then do it! Tell all soldiers to stop shooting. There are no traitors!" The General ordered.


    The soldiers immediately gave their broadcast, and while it was met with resistance, slowly, the group.


    Looking at their movements, they seem to be headed towards the Magalus Complex. Send your forces there! The Lost Primordial could be there!"


    "We have to see who or what is inside the Megalus Complex!"


    "That''s¡­ the secret location of the Bringer of Change¡­"


    "A Bringer of Change again¡­ Are they really the Lost Primordial? But they called themselves Pioneer. And there''s also that mysterious Aragarian term that I keep hearing from them¡­"


    "How did you-?" Chester asked.


    "After the Australian Avarice, I have been keeping tabs with your meetings. So I know that you''ve had The election of Commanders was your weakness. Although I couldn''t use my powers to understand and listen in to your talks inside your base, I could easily listen through the elected Commanders you had and what they would talk about at home. I could tell from their discussions on the bars or at their leisure time that they have been cing suspicions on several Bringer of Change. I heard that several Bringer of Change was already killed. The government just ced a double for these people, right?"


    "It is as you say¡­ Just how strong is your ability to listen on our conversations?"


    "Not strong enough. I''ve also been keeping tabs with these Bringer of Change. While I haven''t heard them, they call themselves Lost Primordial, I''ve heard the terms Aragarian and Pioneer."


    After Lioncourt said that, he suddenly raised his hands as one of the soldiers was suddenly vaulted to the sky.


    "Your heart quivered. Tell me about the Pioneer!" Lioncourt demanded.


    The soldier was floating on the air, choking, and panicking.


    "Tell me!"


    "I don''t know- ARRRGGG!"


    His arms were suddenly ripped off. The scene shocked the soldiers.


    "Lioncourt!" Chester panicked.


    "He''s working for them! I know what I''m doing!" Lioncourt ignored Chester. No one dared to move as they witnessed the gruesome scene.


    "Tell me!" Lioncourt demanded.


    "I can''t!" The soldier cried out.


    "You can''t? I see. A bomb. Interesting. But whose holding the trigger?"


    The man''s expression grew more and more afraid. And then¡­


    BOOM!


    The body exploded, and a bright yellow me erupted out of the man.


    Lioncourt acted swiftly and created a powerful force which contained the explosion.


    Arge sphere of fire appeared. It was as if there was a strong ss that was able to contain the explosion.


    Sweat began to drop on Lioncourt''s face as he tried to contain the st.


    Severalputers were caught in the explosion, and three of the nearby soldiers perished.


    The room was silent after the explosion.


    "What- What did you-"


    "Pay attention! That wasn''t me! There was a powerful bomb ced in his body! But it blew up!"


    "Don''t think you can fool me! This is thest straw! Lioncourt! Kill us now! We will not obey you-"


    "Think! Think! The Bringers of Change are dying left and right. How many BOC''s have died on thesest three months? And worst yet, you can''t even identify who is doing it! If I were the enemy, I''d put a bomb on these people so that if they die or if they encounter a heightened sense of fear, it would explode. I could feel his heart beating! It was what triggered the bomb! I saw it!"


    "You felt it? Do you really think that I would believe that you could hear that person''s heartbeat!"


    "I''ve heard you sing I''m a ve 4 U in the bathroom countless times! It''s your favorite song, isn''t it?"


    Chester''s expression changed as he heard Lioncourt''s deration.


    "How do you think I kept tabs at your Commanders and even those BOC''s? My hearing and the way I perceive things are vastly different from yours! I can even detect the six Exoskeletons'' location and even understand why your men began to attack each other! I don''t have time for all of this. But you should ept this! You have a traitor in your midst! And luckily, one is now dead! This also means that the remaining soldiers in this control room are not working for this organization!"


    "That doesn''t prove anything! You have strange powers already! What if you had the power to blow up people?!"


    "Why would I blow up someone and give that away? Didn''t you see it clearly? I contained the bomb! If I didn''t, you all would have died! I already made ims that I limited the explosion of the earlier attack!"


    "General¡­ If I may..." One of the soldiers stood up.


    "I''ve worked with Lance for several years. And after the Australian Avarice¡­ He has been acting strangely and was very suspicious of things¡­"


    Chester turned to that soldier and gave a meaningful nce.


    "Do you believe the ims of this crazy old man?"


    "Yes, Sir. I''ve already reported this to Commander. He can attest to my reports."


    Chester turned over the Commander in question, who also nodded.


    "Can we get back to saving this city? Please?" Lioncourt asked again.


    "What do we do with the six Exoskeletons?" Chester immediately asked.


    "Nothing! Bymon logic, you shouldn''t have detected them yet! You only know of their existence because of me! And my abilities are not something that can easily be acquired or copied! For now, we record their movements. Make it look like we have some cameras or soldiers who were coincidentally on certain locations. Since the orders are now closely monitored, we have to record what we did and why we did it. This is all to remove the me that we are the Lost Primordial. Those Exoskeletons are our proofs that the BOC''s are the Lost Primordials. And we prove that we could easily exin that these Exoskeletons may be among the team that General Harker allied with."


    "I see. If we wait and see how this battle turns out, we might get the real Lost Primordial? If those words were true, then we can either prove that the Lost Primordial is the Bringer of Change or those Exoskeletons!"


    "Exactly.There is also another possibility. The ones attacking us is the Lost Primordial. They are using the attack to misguide everyone. Why else would they use such a powerful and strong shockwave that announced their aims? Wouldn''t that allow the real Lost Primordial to prepare or flee?"


    General Chester nodded in agreement. This could be a ploy! Why else would they do that? Why create such an eye-catching opening?


    "He''s right! Call all units! Do not engage!" Chester hastily ordered.


    "Not to engage?!" The officers were stunned. The Bringer of Change who was being attacked was an important member of Australia. He had given so many contributions to building up the city and has donated to so many charitable events. Though there were rumors, most inside this room was thankful for the various charities that the man did, especially when the Australian Avarice happened and people were relocated from one city to the next.


    "I didn''t say that we shouldn''t attack them." Lioncourt interrupted.


    "We still have to as they are our enemies. If you ignore this group and they seed in killing the BOC, your superiors will question you why you didn''t engage a group of Exoskeletons."


    "So should we engage?" Chester then asked in frustration.


    "Quite a predicament, right? You engage, it will look like you are protecting the Lost Primordial, you don''t engage, and you will still get med for working with them! Regardless of what choice you use, you will be med by some of your team."


    "Then what should I do?!"


    "Just wait. Tell your men not to engage yet! If those Exoskeletons attack and we don''t do anything, it will only make us look more suspicious! We observe first. If the Bringer of Change does not have any forces ready to retaliate, then the BOC is innocent."


    "What if the BOC has already evacuated?"


    "No. I am concentrating on them using my powers, and I can assure you, that the BOC is still in the building!"


    "That might be a double!"


    "I have already told you that I''ve heard you do your rendition of the ssic, I''m a ve 4 U! Do you want me to list all the post-modern female pop singers that you frequent? I have made my preparations, and I can tell if that BOC is the real one or a double!"


    Chester was silent. He hated the fact that this man knew of his song choices. And worst was that this man was revealing it in front of his own men.


    "What you guys should prepare for is to destroymthe entire block near the Megalus Complex."


    "You want to bomb the entireplex? That will kill many civilians!"


    "Yes. But we don''t have a choice! None of your soldiers can fight against them! I''ve seen them. Their skills or techs are so powerful. They could face an entire army of Evening and still survive. That''s why I want them to face off with the BOCs."


    "What if the BOCs don''t know that an enemy is headed their way?"


    "It is possible. We have raised the walls, after all. Fine. I want you to send orders directly to Captains and Colonels defending the city to prepare to wipe out the field. But at the same time, pass down a supposedly secret order to make the soldiers avoid shing with these six Exoskeleton on route to the Megalus Complex. I trust that there are more spies in the army. They will inform the BOC''s so that they can prepare. Do it now! We don''t have much time!"


    The orders were sent down, and the preparations were made.


    The six Exoskeletons were expertly moving deep inside the city and werergely undetected because of electromaic interference that the six Exoskeletons were emitting.


    Deep inside the Megalus Complex, a Pioneer was panicking and was sending out emergency pings to that person.


    "Bringer! The city is being attacked by the Lost Primordial! We need backup! The enemies are approaching our location! This is Bringer of Change Harvey!" His panicked cries continued.


    But what the Pioneer heard was the most heart-wrenching reply. In times of desperation, this was something that meant that their life would end.


    On the other end of this highly securedm line was a voice prompt.


    "Apply for a Bank Personal Loan! No coteral, No Co-Maker, No Credit Card needed! Minimal documents required!"

 Chapter 258 - The Failed Plot

    Ever since the death of Presider Crostfree, the Pioneers were all facing a reorganization. Under Pridgeon''smand, several new orders were issued, which improved on the security of the Pioneers and Presiders due to the sudden attacks and mysterious deaths of the Bringer of Change and the attacks made by the Lost Primordial and against the group who were believed to be against the Lost Primordial.


    As such, a protocol was established to protect Pioneers in Australia. Pioneers could use no Aragarian techs formunication, and they would only use technologies known on Earth. An established code was set. Bringers of Change would contact one another, but this line is something that Presider Pridgeon could listen into.


    However, in this protocol, Pridgeon could disconnect the line so that the line will not route to any Pioneers and to himself in fear of being discovered.


    If that protocol is activated, the line will randomly route to random phone lines. This will also serve as a signal to the Pioneer that no support will be granted as his position is alreadypromised and aid cannot happen.


    The Pioneer heard through his nteds working for the military of the approaching threat. He was informed and immediately requested for back up. But now, he could only grit his teeth in anger as he heard the voice prompt offer him amazing deals that sounded too good to be true. After all, who could provide loans in a time of crisis? Not to mention the fact that many of the residents are not necessarily residents of the city and may have been refugees driven to the Central cities of Australia.


    "Sir?" One of the nteds asked as he could see the grim expression of the Pioneer.


    "We are abandoned. We do what we have to do. We take the me for being the Lost Primordial. Our enemies could be the Lost Primordial, or we could have been wrongfully used. We fight back." The Pioneer could only sigh in defeat. He knew his death was approaching.


    The reserved toon of soldiers and Exoskeleton that this Pioneermanded all went to their assigned positions. They wore Exoskeletons, which were more advanced than what the Australians used in war. They continued to monitor the sightings of the six Exoskeletons and began to improve their defenses. Lioncourt had already given Chester the instructions to leak their findings, which would help the Pioneer prepare for the attack.


    And so, several sentry guns were deployed on therge park that was right in front of theplex''s main building.


    But as this continued, Lioncourt sighed as he knew that his attention could not be fixed on the six Exoskeletons.


    "As expected. The diversion is here." Lioncourt frowned.


    "What diversion?"


    "They don''t want us to know what''s happening inside thatplex. So it''sing. Severalpanies of soldiers will now attack the different sides of the city. That''s why I had your men position themselves on those positions. They should being... right¡­ about... now!"


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several explosions urred almost in synch with each other.


    Severalrge Armored Carrier appeared. These were designed to be like mobile bases thatmanded the group. It perched right outside the city and would send attacks towards the city but continued to move further or nearer to avoid getting attacked by ranged weapons.


    It was also armed with air defense systems that stopped iing rockets from approaching.


    Severalpanies of soldiers could be found approaching the cities as the Armored Carrier shot suppressing fire on the city walls.


    "There more than what I anticipated. Either this enemy is overly cautious, or they were expecting great resistance. But by the looks of it, the enemy knew that they would be facing an army." Lioncourt voiced his thoughts.


    "Maybe because they know that the Lost Primordial would waltz in the headquarters and threaten the General not to send his army." General Chester answered back with a sarcastic expression.


    "Me? No. Impossible. But it sounds like you''re right. That is what makes it strange." Lioncourt wondered.


    "Who knew about me? I cut ties and disappeared from society just as Progenitor instructed¡­" He thought to himself.


    "Deal with the Exoskeletons near theplex. This army is just a diversion. Tell your men to hold the line. From the looks of it, none of the soldiers beyond our walls are skilled as the six inside the city. Those six Exoskeletons are far more terrifying than the armies. Just do it. Wait for my signal." Lioncourt gave his orders.


    Chester followed but continued to grit his teeth. More than ten Armored Carriers were positioned outside the city. They were all ced in a unique position that the city could only provide limited air support to the ground troops. The possible actions he could take were only a few, and all of them were risky. So he decided to follow Lioncourt.


    Lioncourt began to personally oversee several soldiers''mands as the General had to do one more important role.


    The soldiers that were attacking the city were identified as Australians. He began tomunicate with the Australian soldiers that were attacking them and demanded that they stop.


    The General had been trying to exin his actions to thesepanies'' Captains, but none of them responded. Chester increased his threats and sent emergency pings to other Generals. But surprisingly, one of the Generals suddenly called him back.


    "I can''t believe Jamie was right. You are a traitor. Luckily, I did as she instructed. Why else did you not send your armies as was ordered? She already sent me a report. She said that a strange elite team of soldiers were able to bypass your defenses? Good luck with dealing with them, Lost Primordial." The line immediately disconnected.


    General Chester''s expression was so ugly that he began to roar at Lioncourt, who was ignoring him and kept his eyes focused on the sightings of the six Exoskeletons.


    Soon, several other Captains dered that they knew General Chester was working for the Lost Primordial and that their General had given the order to kill him. Several broadcast reached the cities asking the soldiers to surrender and to free the civilians.


    Nathan, who was one of the Twelve Disciples, stood outside one part of the city and gave his orders.


    "Remember men¡­ It could happen anytime. Don''t panic and try to do it as we discussed before." He gave his reminders and waited with great anticipation. His Unlocking was not at his highest peak as he remained focused.


    The sudden broadcast confused most soldiers and the Civilians who were nearby, beginning to rush out of it, wanting to get out of the city.


    Jamie was also experiencing the same circumstances.


    At that moment, it happened.


    Lioncourt used his powers and manipted the movement of the soldiers that were positioned outside of the city. He also secretly aided the civilians to escape the city.


    "I''m sorry. But your deaths are necessary for this battle." Lioncourt apologized as he did it. But not a trace of guilt weighed in his heart. It was like he was giving these civilians the due courtesy necessary.


    And when many parts of the city were unable to contain the panicked civilians, the gates were opened, and the civilians finally found a way to escape.


    The weapons that were being telekically controlled by Lioncourtunched a rocket towards the civilians.


    On several parts of the city, the same thing was happening. The escaping civilians found themselves as targets for theing rockets.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacks were broadcasted and shown all over the city, shocking the civilians. Many near the gates immediately went inside the city and ran towards their houses. No one could tell just how many civilians died on those attacks.


    "Hmm?!" Lioncourt, however, was shocked at the reaction of the soldiers.


    The soldiers that shot the rockets were not killed. And while that attack was malicious, it should have sent the approaching armies into panic and confusion and would have caused them to kill themselves. But now, Lioncourt can''t do it. After the first soldierunched the rocket, most of the soldiers dropped their weapons almost immediately.


    Lioncourt could no longer make a subtle telekic attack to force the other soldiers to kill each other.


    Besides, the soldiers were outside of the city and were beyond his control.


    "What''s going on? Did they know about my techs?" Lioncourt frowned and immediately sent one of his mechanical bugs to move closer towards the soldiers. His bugs could fly faster than regr flies and at max speed could move as fast as 60 kilometers per hour.


    Soon, the discussion was now in range.


    "I can''t believe it¡­ The Lost Primordial¡­ He''s so cruel." A soldier muttered.


    "Men, as you can see, we are dealing with an evil far more terrifying. We know that they have technologies that have advanced maism that can force us to shoot each other. And I warned you all and taught you how not to kill each other. I made sure that you will always keep your safety on when not shooting. But I didn''t expect that they had a way to make rockets attack remotely!" The Captain, Maddie began to express hatefully.


    The soldiers were already made aware of their enemy''s possibility of using maic or programmed attacks that will trick their Exoskeleton suits or guns into shooting at each other.


    "The Lost Primordial had a choice. He could have used that rocket to kill us all, but instead, he used it to make us look evil. Instead of killing the Captain of this troop, he used it to kill civilians! I order everyone this newmand, do not ever point your guns to an ally!" The Captain shouted.


    The soldiers took thesemands to heart. It would be dangerous if they identally killed each other.


    "Do not worry about that technique! It''splex and will probably eat a lot of energy! Just like that weapon we captured, it takes time! So we will use this gap to infiltrate the city!" The Captain began to give off variousmands as all armies began to attack the city.


    Lioncourt''s expression turned ugly.


    General Chester had just disconnected against one of the Captains who personally called them to insult Chester andmended General Chester for his cowardice of using civilians.


    "Did you do that?!" Chester roared at Lioncourt.


    "No. They have the same technology that I have. That''s how." Lioncourt''s expression was just as ugly as Chester''s.


    "You can''t be¡­"


    "Do you understand why I was hiding? Just like Richie, who you once had the opportunity to study, I did my best to hide myself because I don''t want to end up like that kid! Ever since he was found out in the Underworld, he has been a weapon that was experimented on and used. Of course, Richie grew so powerful that no organization could touch him. He decided to stay in Australia because of the environment that I had made for myself! It had very little involvement in international affairs or the Underworld. That''s why he allowed the government to hire him!"


    Chester was silent but could not help but be amazed at what Lioncourt knew.


    "Focus on defending the city. At least with this, the citizens can be protected easier. I hope those attacks will make them morepliant. I''ll put my attention on those six exoskeletons. They are within range of theplex."


    Chester nodded but remained suspicious at Lioncourt. A part of him believed that Lioncourt made those attacks.


    Git Godlike slowly approached the area.


    "Remember what he said. We assume that that man knows our location and that the government has already locked on to our position. Trace¡­ What are your thoughts on the battle ns of the enemy?" Cronus was addressing Misty Wedgers using a new title to hide their own. They spoke at a speed that was faster than what most humans could understand. The frequency they used were also different.


    "They should be wary of fighting us. That person should already have estimated our strength and would have determined a precise way to kill us."


    "So sniping or a weapon that could blow up an entire block."


    "That''s one possibility or a series of weapon attacks, an elite team¡­ But I doubt they would send Dawn against us."


    "Alright. Then we proceed as usual. Hebron, maintain a position in the center. Provide sniping support for everyone. All Guy, I want you to create a perimeter and a detection field. We need to be made aware of any weaponsunched directed at thatplex. Fist and Kite, follow me to battle. We do what we do best."


    Twister, who was renamed All Guy in this mission, fired his weapon. He carried the most diverse sets of weapons that contained almost every weaponized version of the various Paths that the Seeker''s team could gather.


    Misty Wedgers went ahead and scouted the location. But suddenly, several attacks were made even though she was trying to avoid getting detected.


    The Exoskeletons in the Megalusplex let out powerful bullets that could pierce through the thick pavement and hard steels.


    Misty had to escape and retread to avoid being struck and even used one of the sound barriers in her suit to block most of the bullets.


    Misty returned to her team and made her report.


    "They are ready and use weapons more advanced than the Australian army. It uses Enigmatic Maic Pulse, which makes the attacks nearing our rail guns in power. But, they have the advantage of being able to shoot it consecutively.


    "As expected. But this will be easily stopped. Once All Guy sets up those beacons and creates our EMP field, it would be easy." Cronus smiled. The Twelve Disciples had practically taken over several bases. With that, they leaked Australia''s techs to Seeker''s team, who was able to reverse engineer it and create countermeasures against EMP.


    Twister activated the beacons that were positioned all over the area. The beacons produced an electromaic charge. At the same time, it emitted a sonar pulse that allowed the two weapons to detect everything within a few kilometers of their area. It also disrupted the EMP.


    "What''s going on?!" The Pioneer in theplex shouted as their techs could no longer detect the movements around theplex.


    Paul Anthony, who was addressed as Hebron, had already finished his preparations. He found a targe immediatelyunched his attack.. This sniping attack was also another terrifying weapon.

 Chapter 259 - Tech Explosion

    The scientist that worked under Seeker''s team were based all over the world. Perhaps, within Seeker''s armies, they were one of the happiest people.


    The age of Technological Possibilities barred most scientists from studying the different techs around the world. Even if the capabilities of these products could be seen, and even if an extremely small percentage were applied and sold to the public asmon devices, equipment, and gears that each country would export around the world, most scientists could not recreate the full extent of another.


    Even though New Great Britain is more advanced than Pangea, it could not recreate Pangean Eradication or Australian EMP. But when Seeker made his armies and was now allied with very powerful and influential people, their ess to technology grew and grew.


    And so, Seeker''s team was experiencing something that no country had experienced since the founding of the WGP.


    They called it a tech explosion. The tech possibilities allowed impossibilities when merged with another tech.


    The possibilities and potential of the weapons that they could develop was something that even made Seeker smile when he slept.


    As such, the scientist were all busy with studying each other''s techs and evenmunicated on how to create powerful weapons.


    There were two ways that they would incorporate the mixing of various tech possibilities.


    The first was to create a wide application of technology and create weapons of war that could shock the rest of the world. The second way to apply these technologies was far harder. How to incorporate these techs into a more convenient and easily essible form.


    Just as how the originalputers were as big as rooms, people began to advanceputers'' technology to the point that a handheld device is a million times more powerful in performance and usage than what the firstputers were.


    One of the first creations of these scientists was a bullet.


    The bullet had the same technology as the Qilin''s Horn. It was impossible to create a power source that could allow the bullets to think on their own. But with Lennox lighting, it was very easy to make. The scientist already had the foundations with electromaic and maic rail technology that the different countries had. There was also the Lightning Rod tech of New Great Britain. With these as a foundation, the small bits of help that Lennox made allowed the different scientists to create sentient weapons that could ''think'' and move on their own.


    Truthfully, this technology was already avable on the second month since the attack on China. Mass production of bullets and weapons had already happened. But these techs were not used in the Kraken because it would get detected, especially since several Emperors would have been present.


    The bullet that was shot could prate even faster than normal rifles. Its initial speed was already fast as it was shot through a rail weapon. But now, with the addition of lightning that could think, the bullets could move and locate enemies. Thanks to the electromaic beacons that Twister created, the bullet was already able to detect the presence of various Exoskeletons moving around the area.


    It was a malicious tech that could allow bullets to adjust aim and hit more vulnerable parts. The first Exoskeleton was struck right at the upper chest and pierced through the power generator located at the back.


    But this his weapon''s maliciousness did not end in this ability.


    The bullet could siphon the energy that powered the Exoskeleton and use the created electricity to create anotherunching pad as if it was fired again by another rail-gun. This would increase the bullet''s speed once more and add another surge of power that would allow it to make another intelligent attack.


    The bullet raced through several soldiers and killing them with a wound on the chest. It shot out of one Exoskeleton and raced to attack another. It didn''t travel in a straight line and would even shoot out from one Exoskeleton targeting a nearby enemy. Even if the Exoskeleton were positioned to the far left or right of the bullet''s original trajectory, the bullet would arc and move, hitting another soldier.


    "¡­ Fifteen Tangos down." Even Paul was shocked at the power of this weapon.


    Lioncourt crushed the cup of coffee he had made when the bullet wasunched.


    "That¡­ was too surprising. Maybe I should crush you now¡­" Lioncourt gritted his teeth. For some strange reason, he could not hear what these six soldiers were saying even if he was concentrating on the area where these six were.


    Normally, when his bugs would be near an Exoskeleton, Lioncourt would have been able to hear whatever the pilot would say due to Lioncourt''s ability to understand vibration. But this time, he was met with a masking vibration that made the words of these soldiers unintelligible.


    Paul had noticed the fly nearby but pretended to have not noticed it. He was thinking of moving in a direction that would kill it as he was afraid of what the Oveer Lioncourt could do.


    "Should I¡­?" Paul asked.


    "No. And guys, we have no time to be surprised. Just kill and attack! We do it now before that man attacks us! Remember what that insane man did to us back then! This guy could do the same thing!" Cornus charged at the opening.


    Twister and Paul made other attacks to distract and suppress the soldiers as the three members of Git Godlike charged towards theplex. The Exoskeletons and the various sentry guns began to shoot, but the multiple technologies that Twister sent out were distorting their aim.


    The three members of Git Godlike were the close-ranged fighters of the Team. Cronus specialized in Piercing de, a Piercing character that was generally considered a double-edged sword as his most terrifying attack relied on true randomness. Arthur couldn''t use it in-game, but Cronus, who had his technique dubbed as Millisecond Reaction, was perhaps the only Piercing yer who could use it properly. That is, of course, not counting any Unlocked yers.


    But in battle, this reaction was something that Cronus practiced and practiced that he reached a point that his ability to evade being shot by various enemies had grown to the extreme that no one on the same Unlocking stage as him could ever copy.


    Tworge swords protruded out of his Exoskeleton as he began to slice through the enemies that rained out bullets towards him. He was able to slip through the attacks unscathed and attacked the Exoskeletons.


    Shanna, who was called Fist, revealed tworge pikes on its fist, which he used to impale the enemies and used the dead and mangled soldiers as an Exoskeleton shield to attack the next Exoskeleton.


    Alexa Alexa, who was called Kite, used a powerful booster thatunched herself faster than Cronus and Shanna''s speed.


    She sted through various Exoskeletons and even wrecked the cement walls around theplex with increasing speed. Her Exoskeleton wasrger than the others, and her Exoskeleton had various protruding pikes that emitted a powerful vibration shock that was derived from Richie''s sounds.


    The impact created a powerful vibration that shocked the pilots and left them unable to move. Some of them who were directly struck by Alexa''s charge was killed because of the whish.


    The three retreated once more as a volley of attacks arrived.


    It was then that Twister, Misty, and Paul would send their own attack that would create an opening for the three to dive once in again. Like this, the battle went on with Git Godlike slowly gaining ground and approached the entrance of the building.


    Inside, the Pioneer gave his orders.


    "We shoot it! The next time they move, fire the weapon!" The Pioneermanded as arge cannon was positioned inside the mall and was aiming at the entrance.


    Twister was finally able to ce all the beacons around the area. He had already informed the team of the canon but now urged the rest that movement was happening inside and that it would be shot the next time Git Godlike attacked.


    "Heh! What a bunch of idiots! All Guy, Hebron, we''re counting on your timing." Cronusughed.


    Paul Anthony and Twister immediately acted. Twisterunched a familiar canister, which they used to repel rockets'' volley when they were charging in the city. As for Paul, he began to load a blue orb and took aim towards the inside of theplex, and waited.


    A powerful roar was heard inside theplex. A soundwave wrecked the area and attacked the three fighters at the front, and indiscriminately killed the other soldiers who were being massacred.


    But right before the sound wave reached the three members, the canister that Twister shot exploded and created a wall of sound.


    The Sound wall easily blocked the ongoing sound cannon. This gave time for the three members of Git Godlike to move out of the way. A few secondster, the sound wall ended, and the sound canon continuously shot through the area.


    The Pioneer inside the building was so angry. His technology was derived from the techs that they acquired from the Government. As the Government had been experimenting on the strange power that Richie had, the Pioneer thought that his sound was superior to the enemies. But even this weapon couldn''t even defeat a harnessed sound grenade.


    But of course, their techs were only imitating Richie''s abilities. At the same time, this sound grenade harnessed the real thing.


    Paul Anthony had already repositioned himself and loaded a blue orb on his rifle, which now had arger barrel.


    He shot a blue ball into the building, and since he had repositioned himself, it did not intersect with the ongoing sound wave that the canon shot out.


    The blue orb reached the location where the canon was positioned.


    The Pioneer himself was there geared with a more advanced Exoskeleton.


    The blue orb exploded as it struck the canon and created a blistering cold ice-field. It was as if the insides of the building had a raging snowstorm. The canon itself was frozen solid, and the Exoskeletons nearby were also frozen. Most of the soldiers were already dead from the call, and the Pioneer himself was dying.


    The technologies that the enemy had far outstripped theirs. They could do nothing against these six soldiers.


    Despite the ice-cold temperature, he could hear the six Exoskeletons approach. The cannon killed the guards outside.


    The six arrived and did not even move fast.


    "Your techs are far inferior to ours, Lost Primordial!" Cronus shouted at the frozen Pioneer Exoskeleton as Paul raised his rifle.


    BANG!


    Meanwhile, back at the headquarters, Lioncourt was deep in thought.


    "Tch. He died. That was it. But by the looks of it, those six have revealed all their cards."


    "What happened? What cards?" Chester asked.


    He had sent some soldiers to approach theplex, but they were all killed. No one could tell what was going on inside. Most soldiers would even have a hard timemunicating as they detected a strange electromaic field that interfered with theirm systems.


    Many attempted to n am ry inside, but they were killed while they were still kilometers from the area. General Chester kept arguing that it would be impossible for six people to snipe their forces, but Lioncourt evenughed and exined that only one of the six were snipping, which drove General Chester and his men into more disbelief.


    "Well?" Chester asked.


    "Judging by your expression and that loud explosion that half of the city heard, there must be something that went on in thatplex!"


    "It looks like we were slightly mistaken. The BOC''s have a sound technology that is inferior to the ones that the six Exoskeletons used."


    "If the BOC''s have inferior techs, then the Lost Primordials are the ones attacking this city! The BOC''s are those who are against the Lost Primordial! They could be the ones who were working with General Harker!"


    "Not a very good conclusion. If the BOC''s are these Anti-Primordials, then they should be allied with the WGP! We''ve seen and confirmed that the WGP either works with or have members that support the Anti_Primordials. Then why attack Australia? Harker could have been working for the Lost Primordials before the Australian Avarice and betrayed during the attack on the Kraken. So whoever is inside that building may not necessarily be these Anti-Primordials."


    "Then who else could it be?!"


    "Someone else, of course. The world thinks that there are two factions. But it looks like the secret organizations of this Earth are more than what we know. I''ve spent my entire life trying to learn these factions and tried to manipte the world to ensure that Australia would only have one organization. These people, who many call Pioneers, have been doing a lot of nasty things in our city, but they were careful that I thought they wouldn''t be found out. But it looks like a peaceful life is no longer possible for me." Lioncourt sighed.


    "Do as nned. Destroy the entire block. It''s best that you use energy-based attacks. They have already killed the Pioneer inside that building and should be retreating. I''ll make sure that they won''t escape."


    Chester immediately ordered to send it out.


    Git Godlike had entered theplex and confirmed the death of the Pioneer. All six of them gathered and nced at their surroundings.


    "Missionplete. Let''s move."


    "Ugh. I hope we survive this. I''ve never been this nervous." Alexa sighed.


    The group exited the building and began to move out. It was then that it happened. They were some hundred meters from theplex and were in the middle of therge garden areas.


    A Sky Satellite above this city had continuously watched over it. It had no weapons but could only monitor the city and provide alerts in detecting rocket attacks and so forth. But right before the attack on the city, Lioncourt had reached this ce by unknown means and equipped the Sky Satellite with a miniature Light Breaker that he had stolen from one of the dead Bringer of Change.


    With this, an EMP pulse was sent to the specific location where all Git Godlike gathered members.


    The familiar scene that urred in New Birth Fort happened once more in this city.


    The entire block lost all power.


    But then, the six Exoskeletons could no longer move. It was as if a force was stopping them.


    "There it is!" The six still had power as their suits were EMP-proof because of the many techs that power it. It even drew energy from their Unlocking and was made with their own cells. But they were unable to move because Lioncourt used his powers to pin them down. Not even their boosters would allow them to escape.


    "I can''t believe that they''d have the guts to blow this entire block! The civilians would all die!'' Misty shouted hatefully.


    "It''s starting to make me think that that insane man was right¡­" Shanna sighed.


    "Enough talk. It''s time for Phase 2, Tech Surprise. Once we do this, we can start saving the city!" Cronus was getting impatient. Despite the fact that a strange force was making them immobile and could only allow them to wiggle around, they were calmly looking at things.


    "I just hope this works¡­" Paul sighed.


    "Don''t worry! It will. Once we do that, he''ll probably disable this force. And in that few seconds, we should be able to escape."


    "I hope your confident of this maneuver, Twister. Our lives hang on the line, after all."


    "Don''t worry. I''m not even trembling." Twister lied as he tried to keep his hands from trembling.


    "The rocket!" Paul could see the approaching rocket. This was the rocket that General Chesterunched to destroy the entire block. The civilians around the area had not yet evacuated when they saw theing missile.


    "Activate the Lightning now!" Cronus immediately ordered.

 Chapter 260 - Realm King

    Lioncourt nned it all too well. He didn''t want the group to hide inside the building before theyunched the rocket. With the various techs shown, it would have been possible for them to escape. Lioncourt also knew that these Exoskeletons were generally immune to the Light Breaker.


    Yet, in order to hide the use of his powers, Lioncourt ced the miniature light breaker in that Sky Satellite andunched it to deceive and conceal his powers.


    If the Light Breaker was used and the Exoskeletons suddenly lost power to move, it wouldn''t reveal his powers. At most, whoever wasmanding these Six Exoskeletons, would assume that what was used as a more powerful version of the Light Breaker.


    But sadly, the leader of these six yers was Lioncourt''s own disciple in another life.


    Tech Reveal and Tech Surprise were the real-life application of Skill Reveal and Skill Surprise that Git Godlike was most famous for. In each season, they would reveal and win matches with their trademark skills. But in reality, each of them had a secret maneuver or technique that they rarely used. This was especially advantageous since they had several Impact characters in their roster.


    Impacts had a diverse set of attacks, and only several of them would be used to harass their enemies. But when the tide swings to their disadvantage, they would then usebos, the team ys, and skills that they never revealed publically. This was how they won the game even against Arthur''s Precision.


    The beacons that Twister created were all small hexagonal boxes that could be ced just anywhere. Yet, these pocket-size devices were now emitting powerful energies that would be detected by most tech detectors. Those that were nted on locations that were lower than the current position of the members of Git Godlike began to fly through a small rotor de that allowed the device to fly like a small helicopter.


    The beacons began to light up, and it all attacked the six with a sh of strange lightning.


    "Oh? Are they trying to power the Exoskeletons? Interesting. It looks like I can''t hold them too long without drawing suspicion." Lioncourt sneered. Although he couldn''t see it clearly, he could sense the peculiar movements through his Realm.


    He concluded that the six exoskeletons were trying to power themselves up. It made sense. Since the Light Breaker may have killed their systems, attempting to revive the apparently malfunctioning Exoskeleton suits with an emergency battery system provided in those small boxes was the right action.


    "Hmm¡­ It looks like these people didn''t want to underestimate Australian tech and proceeded with the worst scenario in mind. I have tomend them." Lioncourt gave his praise.


    "What''s going on there? Is something wrong?"


    "Nothing." Lioncourt simply shook his head. He knew that these six would die.


    Lioncourt waited until the rocket neared the group to the point that it would be impossible for them to escape the st or retreat to the nearby building and finally undid the telekic hold.


    The rocket approached, and Lioncourt finally removed the shackles he ced on the six.


    "Now!" Sensing that the weights were lifted, Cronus gave his orders.


    The group began to shoot towards the iing rocket. But their movements were sluggish as if something was pushing their aims far from the target.


    It was here that the genius of Cronus''s ability to predict human psychology would finally have its use in a real battle. Without seeing Lioncourt, he knew that at this moment, even that Oveer believed he was victorious.


    Lioncourt was simply waiting for the rocket to hit the ground. One of these six would be protected by Lioncourt''s telekic powers. He needed one survivor to question and torture. With that, he was distracted. His attention was focused on creating a telekic shield around one of them.


    Cronus''s timing was just brilliant.


    "Do it!" He hastilymanded.


    Twister''s hand had long been on top of the trigger, and he pressed it as quickly as he could.


    Lightning Tow was activated.


    Of the Seven beacons ced around the area, the furthest one was the beacon that sent the orders to pull the entire team. This was simr to the science that Meng used for his Armor and the very same tech applied in Dara''s tank Exoskeleton. But this was an improved version. It acted like a reverse rail gun that will shoot the six Exoskeletons out. The rest of the Beacons were pulling the lightning threads that connected them all. And like a rock flying out of a slingshot, the six Exoskeletons wereunched towards thest beacon.


    Every single one of them gritted their teeth and prepared for theing whish of elerating at such a fast speed. The rocketnded on the area around them, and arge explosion urred.


    BOOM!


    The six had flung to the air and used their boosters, but it wasn''t necessary as the shockwave of the explosion reached them and threw them further.


    Lioncourt''s expression was stunned. His mouth was wide open.


    The sudden movements caught him in surprise, and he couldn''t react fast enough for it. His guard was down. Just like the many E-sport professionals who fell against Git Godlike, Lioncourt fell for the possum tactic.


    Lioncourt''s patience had reached its limit, and he decided just to kill the five and spare the six for questioning. No more hiding, but just pure brutality.


    But just as he was about to do it¡­


    THUMP! THUMP!


    He felt it.


    THUMP! THUMP!


    His heart began to beat faster and faster, and an unusually chill rose from his spines.


    That sensation cleared his head, and he finally began to consider the various things that he did not.


    "Me¡­ They are after me¡­" Lioncourt voiced out.


    "What?" Chester asked at Lioncourt''s sudden statements.


    "The six exoskeletons¡­ Their mission was the diversion. The attacks of those soldiers were just to hide it. This was a threeyered n. The armies outside were intended to make me think that those Pioneers were the target. But they aren''t!"


    "What are you talking about?" Chester shouted. There wasn''t any time for Lioncourt to suddenly be mumbling strange words with the war happening outside.


    "This isn''t about the Lost Primordials and the Anti-Primordials! No! Maybe it''s one and the same! I could be one of those Lost Primordials!" Lioncourt continued.


    "What? What are you talking about? You''re the Lost Primordial?"


    "I could be! I just didn''t know it yet!"


    "What do you mean?!"


    "I am not the Lost Primordial because I knew myself to be the Progenitor''s Seed. I am one of them!"


    "Chester finally grabbed Lioncourt by the cor. He didn''t care that this man could kill them all.


    "Tell me?! Are you my enemy?!" Chester shouted.


    "No. You guys and this whole city are caught in the crossfire between two fighting forces. To be urate, you were used. I dedicated my entire life to hide so that when the timees that the Progenitor''s enemies would surface, I will gather my peers. I was instructed to hide, no matter what happens. No matter if hell broke loose until it was clear without a doubt who our enemies were, I would never make my mark or appear on this world!"


    "Your enemies? Your enemies are at the gates of this city! At the heart of the burning remains of the Megalus Complex!"


    "Probably. But if that person is my enemy, then I have failed the mission the Progenitor gave me." Lioncourt frowned.


    "That person? Who?"


    Waiting at the elevator was a young teen who looked at the small disy which told him which floor he was on. His mind absentmindedly looked at it, but his head was looking somewhere else.


    "Would you like to save the game?"


    He selected Yes.


    Lioncourt turned towards the entrance of this room and waited. Since his enemy was showing him the courtesy of not being rude and wanted to announce his arrival, Lioncourt didn''t send his telekic attack on towards the elevator but waited.


    SAVING¡­ DON''T TURN OFF THE POWER.


    "Who ising?!" Chester asked once more as he noticed Lioncourt put on a serious expression and looked at the entrance.


    "I''m guessing it''s my enemy. None of the Progenitor''s seed should know of my existence. I was granted this ability to find them and gather them for that battle. But now, this man approaches and used this entire war to mask his presence. He knew my powers from the start. And that''s how he outsmarted me!" Lioncourt''s expression had no trace of anger. But almost everything in the room where he was at was giving off light vibrations.


    Everyone felt the fear in their bones as they trembled.


    Edge saved the game.


    Seeker closed the strange emtor in his head and sighed. He was wearing an Australian soldier''s uniform, and inside it was his battle suit. It had several pockets and a belt that held the many marvelous weapons that were the fruit of the Oveer''s many Paths.


    "Ugh¡­ I can''t believe I''m doing this." Seeker had been plying to keep his mind of the nervous sensations.


    Seeker moved forward and faced the terrorizing pressure. He recalled how their enemies reacted whenever they felt the power of the Realm King. But now, Seeker was at the receiving end of it.


    The hallway from the elevator to the main door was only several meters, but for Seeker, it felt like he was walking hisst long walk as he was about to face his executioner.


    It wasn''t only fear. Seeker respected this man and knew just how powerful he was.


    "I can only hope that my own preparations are enough." Seeker sighed as he reached the door.


    A sword extended out of a small cylindrical tool, and Seeker shed the door open.


    The sudden cuts appeared and shocked General Chester and his men.


    After two shes were made, Seeker kicked the door open.


    BANG!


    The door stopped in mid-air, a few meters before Lioncourt. The door then bent together and, with a loud noise, was folded neatly and pushed to the side.


    Seeker nced at it and sighed.


    "Lioncourt Diviner." Seeker smiled.


    "And you are?" Lioncourt asked.


    "Seeker Carlean?" The General was stunned.


    "Who?"


    "A Never-Gamer¡­ Even though my fame ought to have reached your ears, you never bothered to remember my name?" Seeker frowned.


    "That''s Seeker Carlean! A famous E-Sport streamer and the member of the Covenant of Strongest!" General Chester exined.


    "I''ll get downright to business. Let''s get out of here and fight somewhere further than this ce. As you probably already guessed, this entire war was to get me to stand right in front of you."


    "Who are you, really? And how did you know about my powers?"


    "You wouldn''t believe me if I told you and conclude that I''m an enemy if I told you. You never mentioned this thest time we met, but you''re one of his seeds, aren''t you?"


    "True. It looks like I''ll have to get the real answer out of you."


    "Right now? That''s Chester Charrington, right? General Chester, have you ever spent time with this old man and enjoyed hispany in a jetted bathtub?"


    Even Lioncourt had a strange expression when he heard those words.


    "Ye-yes?" Chester answered as he was caught off guard by the sudden question.


    "Oh. So this General''s already your friend, right Ma- Lioncourt?"


    "What''s that to you?"


    "Do you want to fight here and risk killing him? Or would you want us to fight somewhere else?"


    Lioncourt nced at Chester first before looking back at Seeker.


    "Where do you propose we fight?"


    "You choose. After all, if we fight here, then this city loses its General."


    "Good. Then follow me." Lioncourt immediately moved.


    A wall copsed, and Lioncourt zoomed out with incredible speed.


    Seeker nced and turned his attention back at the General.


    "Phew. I didn''t want to mess this headquarters. At the end of our fight, I''m counting on you to protect us. Hopefully, I''ll be alive after all this." Seeker suddenly levitated and was about to move when suddenly, Seeker turned his attention to the General.


    "Not that it''s any of my business, but you should pay attention to the guys your daughter dates." Seeker immediately sted out of the room with his beloved booster.


    Lioncourt waited at the top of the sky.


    "I suggest we fight somewhere in the city. If we fight in an open ce, then more people will know about our fight."


    "Fine," Lioncourt said nothing and zoomed towards one of therge buildings which he knew held no people inside.


    Seeker followed.


    The city was in chaos. The fires on the outskirts of the city were spreading to the center. The brave firefighters remained even when war was happening outside. Seeker turned on hismunicator and could hear Cronus constantly giving offmands. He was busy stopping several soldiers from killing each other while the rest were busy saving parts of the city.


    Finally, the pair arrived at the location where Lioncourt decided the two would fight.


    It was inside one of the production factories. When the war started, everyone decided to flee. This location was also near an ongoing battle between several soldiers. Soon, the fighting would reach their location, and it would somehow be a shroud to their battle against each other.


    "You have a rather curious team. You sent them to distract me. And now, they are basically saving parts of the city and trying to stop the battle. On another side, one captain has gone crazy and began to talk about destroying the world."


    "That must be Thomas. So, do you have any questions, or are we just going to start the fight?"


    "I have some. How exactly did you know of my name and location?"


    "You wouldn''t believe it if I told you and assume that the Progenitor''s Enemies found out about you. Anything I say will be suspicious."


    "You seem rather pessimistic of this."


    "Of course. I got it from you, though." Seeker chuckled.


    "Well, you are right. Progenitor told us that we would know who our enemies will be. Because we will know that it''s really them, but he told us to be very, very wary. Because the capabilities of our enemies will always surpass our expectations."


    "Yeah. Something like that. If I told you the truth, you won''t believe me and assume that I''m just trying to get to you to find the others. No matter what I say, it will only end in you trying to kill me and escape. So rather than do that, I''ll just fight you and beat you and show you that I am at least sincere by sparing your life. But honestly, even if I did that, you still won''t believe me." Seekerughed.


    "Then let''s not waste time." Lioncourt extended his hands, and Seeker did the same thing.


    Two telekic forces crashed in the dimensions beyond the three.


    Seeker was thrown back and cursed. He was far too weakerpared to the Realm King.


    But the Realm King was far more surprised at Seeker''s power.


    "So that''s how you found me." He frowned.


    "An enemy that has my abilities."


    "And there''s the pessimistic, skeptical and unbelieving master who always assumes the worst. That''s why I didn''t waste time exining things. You would havee to this conclusion when you discover that I also have a form of telekinesis!" Seeker cursed. He took out three items that were found within the side-pockets of his outfit: a small greenish horn, a round ck ball, and a silver cube.


    "Let me show you how much I''ve grown, Realm King!" Seeker shouted as he crushed all three items.

 Chapter 261 - Harker’s Media Plans (Volume 4 Auxiliary )

    Owen, Liitters, Nickel, and Ramos,


    General Harker wasn''t very happy with your recent attempts in handling the pro and anti-media propaganda. As such, we are writing this to you to remind you of what our Mission, Vision, and Objectives are.


    As such, the General has decided that your main media approaches will be dictated from now on. We have given you the creative freedom to write and present your news, but it has caused more harm than good to our goal.


    Listed below are the key factors and news that you should present and the desired effect of it. The four of you should discuss among yourself who will present the positive and the negative side. It is also best that you wouldmunicate by letter, as most forms ofmunication may bepromised. Have the letter sent by your most trusted personnel. As always, continue to present a false perception bymunicating with each other or attending social events and press conferences where all of you are together.


    Here is the news that you should focus on and their corresponding tone:


    1. Effects of the Fall of the WGP-


    You should continue to promote fear in these times. All news reporters should makements or present fearful facades of what they see being discussed. The destruction of the WGP will create civil unrest within Pangea. The news should all be grim. When people are afraid, the easier it will be for us to control them. Showcase the effects of the fall of the WGP. For the next weeks, you should show how the gap created would invite dangers in the alliances between nations. Below are the specific aspects that you should tackle in your news:


    A. Military-


    General Harker will soon decide how much of Pangea''s armies were decimated on that battle. You are to send your teams and make conspiracy theories that the actual losses surpassed what the General will dere. This will draw out more of those who are against Harker''s enemies. Interview them and hear what they have to say.


    Two among you should agree with them and enforce your station to take an antagonistic view against Harker suddenly. You should show why Harker''s decision to fight this unknown group was idiotic. They should deny patriotism and aim to look for what is ''the good of the people.'' With you guys taking the offense, the Aragarians should not try to manipte and control you as you would already be doing what they want.


    The others should focus on why loyalty and chivalry, and patriotism are necessary and important, especially now, when war is near. The news should center and always mention how the previous atrocities that Alean Cipril discovered had already shown how disgusting they were, and you should all theorize (but present it as if you are confident) that these were the Lost Primordial that Harker rebelled against. As for Harker''s defeat, show that it was Harker''s victory. Since the attacks came from the bottom of the sea, use that to exin that the moon had already sunk andunched a desperate attack. General Harker will provide several detailed information on the battle you can use and im to have been uncovered by your team. Some Generals and politicians that we already control will also present themselves as Anti Harker and leak key information that can be used by the anti team.


    B. War with Australia-


    In a few days, Australia will be attacked by Pangea. The pro-Harker should create simtions showing how it would be easy for us to invade Australia since several countries have taken the initiative to attack it. Continue to present Harker as a war hero in the news, and your job is to denounce whatever news the Anti-Harker team will give.


    Those who decide to take the anti-Harker stand should quickly attack this move and show how it is foolish to attack now that the WGP has been eliminated. Showcase how such a move will leave Pangea defenseless and open to the attacks of the SPU. Your team should show every detailed movement in the SPU that can be linked to them plotting an attack on Pangea. Your site should not state it, but it should imply that the SPU is sure to attack Pangea.


    C. Economy


    Also, create an economic review. List down how our economy is affected by the loss of the WGP. Below are Lennox''s projections on how the economy will copse:


    > Severe limitations to domestic and international trading- List down all products that are on high demand or that Pangea orders in great bulk. Exin how the loss of these products can affect our way of life. Exaggerate the ims so that people will panic. Do not offer or show any alternatives but show it so that these products that are lost are irreceable and that the suitable or cheaper options are just incapable of recing it. This should work form devices,puters, and other products.


    >Depletion of food- Since International trading will be left in limbo, list down all food, drinks, and other basic necessities that are removed from the market. Be careful not to mention that there are local alternatives. Instead, show what businesses and top restaurants will lose most of their products. You have to indicate which pleasures will be gone and make it sound like it will be forever.


    >Copse in agriculture, industries,mercial, and construction services- List down all the techs and conglomerates that will lose certain services that relied on any technologies that are imported and use other tech possibilities. Make it look like, but be careful not to say how everyone''s lives will be changed and fall into a doomed spiral.


    Economic repercussions of Building another Shape- The Anti group must condemn the building of the Shapes. They must attack all attempts to strengthen the military and im that it would be better to focus on increasing food production, tech, and service recements for the services and products that Pangea will lose with the fall of the WGP.


    The Pro mustmend this as the time for war is now. I leave the creative arguments that your two sides will make.


    2. The Families-


    Every action that the Families do must be featured. Particrly the Dalisay and the Novelty-stoise families. Feature the other families and invite them to meet or set a press conference in Phil-Pangea. The goal is to make these Families want to meet with you, be it they are pro or anti-Harker. Please inform us of the details of their travel so that we can arrange to have them turn into Programmed ves. Your team must set specific meeting ces if they n to offer key information.


    It is most likely that many of the Families who are against Harker will try to feed you information about the General''s activities in the Underworld. If they are not willing to meet, inform us to use Hydron to lure them out. As a Programmed ve, Hydron has be a great asset in bringing key officials to us to be turned to Programmed ves.


    3. World Conflicts-


    Once you finish presenting the above news, the next news you should focus on is presenting the dangerous conflicts across the world. Although the WGP has not yet leaked it, it indicates that Meryl had reported to General Harker that an attack urred when she stayed at the Arctic nations.


    Also, indicate that you have a correspondent in Africa and the Caliphates and exin that although the details have yet to be revealed, there was a battle that decimated the Caliphates'' defenses. Be sure to present the news in a way that African soldiers have managed to enter the Caliphates.


    The other focus should be the missing Antis and the Krakens. As the Kraken has also submerged into the ocean, it would encourage illegal activities over the regions where these Krakens were based.


    Although it should have been covered in the economic section above, another team should research the direction of the world''s global economy. The projections must be grim to incite fear.


    3. Handling Social Media Influencers and Managing Mob Culture


    Lennox and Arthur indicated that you don''t have to worry about drawing or creating a group that will strongly support you. They expect that the masses will do that for you. Just present the news and be firm with it. People will create groups and attack each other for their views. We have seen these scenarios pan out during the end of the post-modern era. There will even be charismatic people who will take advantage of this chaos to be social media stars, further spreading hate, conspiracy theories, and the like.


    This era is bound to create various online social media stars. If the social media star is someone who is presenting positive news, then the pro-Harker team should invite them. If it is someone against, then the anti-Harker team should do it. If there are rising stars who are in it for the honest and sincere intention of informing the public, invite them to your tform. Please give them a taste of fame and talk with them on your primetime shows. They should be well praised by the station that invites them.


    The opposing media outlets should insult him, make fun of his ims, and counter it. The goal is to make the masses that is opposed to the message that this social media stars oppose him or her and make enemies out of this person. This will force the social media star to move from a sincere and possibly neutral position to take allegiance to the pro or anti stance.


    Arthur said that controlling the mob will be very easy. The above news from the positive or the negative side will greatly put practically everyone to an inconvenient lifestyle. And those who are suffering willin while those who by their positions and sesses are unaffectedpared to the sufferings of some will most likely turn pro.


    You, the Media, should turn petty into personal. The inessential with essential. The easiest way to understand how you two should act is to consider Post-Modern America''s divisive news.


    The way the Democrats and Republicans manipted the news to present each other as good or better than the opposing party is the best way to create division within Pangea. You are to ensure that no neutral ground emerges. The news has to be ck or white. Categorize what makes a Pro and what makes an Anti. The best way to treat this is how the image of the Democrats and the Republicans were trying to shape each other.


    Note the generalmonalities between these two groups, whether negative or positive.


    For example, the Republican group of the former United States of America was full of anti-vaxers, anti-environmentalists, climate change denouncers, and generally Christians in theology. Most Republican leaders who came to power would side with these groups and even promote it. The leaders may not necessarily be anti-vaxers or climate change denouncers but will have no choice but side with them and promote their own nonsensical beliefs.


    The same could be said with the Democrats who enforced borderline crazy fanaticism to racial equality, which led to the approval of theft, arson, and desiring for Caucasians to allow themselves to be abused rather than to defend themselves if robbed, killed, or harassed for the sake of pleasing the non-caucasian races. They embraced progressivism, feminism, LGBT, and other diverse movements that were denounced and were attacked by the Christian Republicans.


    The trick is to add names and concepts to whatever movements you want to create. For example, tobat the Christian movements of the Republicans, the Democrats attacked traditional beliefs by calling them outdated and turned to wokeism. They took whatever supporting ideologies that already existed, from atheism to socialism and evenmunism, and could level the perceived moral high-ground of Christian beliefs.


    The Republicans, on the other hand, turned to patriotism and religion to stop the Democrats'' advance for racial and sexual equality by citing that they were "Americans" and "Christians." They would try to portray their leader as a "model Christian" and would ignore whatever scandals these leaders would make. Theirmon argument would be to show that the Democrats have a twisted form of morality and try to hide their own hypocrisy to take advantage of the moralpass of many who are unable to ept the ideologies and extreme beliefs of the other party. More could be said of this, but please do your research on how to use progressivism, counter-progressivism to create an image of what the anti and the pro should look like.


    If there are any neutral small news channel, then either the pro or the anti-Harker groups must threaten them while the other offer protection.


    4. Guidelines


    To the anti-Harker group, although General will soon show his counter ns as we have already prepared for theing devastation, your team should deny, deny, deny, and rebut whatever ns the General presents. We will present several areas you could attack, and the General will feign weakness to these usations. The Pro should alwayse to the defense of the General and present counterpoints to the rebut the anti-group presented.


    With you two groups bickering and presenting the possibilities, it may deceive ''them'' from discovering our real intentions.


    All your actions should be intended to create two opposing parties that are extremely blinded by their own beliefs, simr to what happened in Post-Modern America. This will make it easier when the Cities of Refuge are built, allowing Pangea to witness the rise of a Third-party group that can offer the solutions that the first two cannot provide.


    That is all. Report your progress via paper.. BURN AFTER READING.

 Chapter 262 - The Decimating Hero And The Jaws Of Hell

    Knowing his master, it was impossible to talk his way out of this battle. The only way was defeat and torture. Seeker could not afford to be questioned by the Realm King for too long.


    He knew that if he had allowed the Realm King to take him and question him, it would be days and days after it happened. The Realm King would keep Seeker a prisoner and try to outdo what Seeker has built. In short, the Realm King won''t ally with Seeker''s armies.


    The Realm King was so skeptical that even Seeker never heard of the fact that his master knew who the Lost Primordial was in his previous life. But now, Seeker deduced that his master was, in fact, one of the essential pieces set by the Progenitor.


    With the Realm King''s abilities, he could sense powerful entities'' rough locations in this world. But because of the grim warning, the Lost Primordial left behind, and the orders to never seek each other out would make it hard for them to unite.


    Slowly, Seeker was able to make a rough guess of what happened. Seeker joined the war roughlyter when Charles had finally created the drugs to push normal humans to reach the impossible strengths of the Unlocking.


    The Oveers and the other Progenitors seeds were all entities that had a focused science left behind by the Progenitor. But as their science would be preserved into one body, it was impossible to pass it down to the another as the science belonged to a single person.


    It must have been his master who immediately called and reached out to all of the Seeds and gathered them. Charles must have used various samples of these entities and created a drug that could turn a human to be Unlocked. And even though these only had a small chance of revealing who could be Unlocked, it allowed the rise of Ranked Heroes who reced many of the Progenitors seeds who passed away when the Aragarian''s first attacked.


    But right now, Seeker was a very suspicious entity. He knew that to talk to the Realm King. He had to go to him unnoticed. If the Realm King sensed that Seeker or another Oveer would be going to him, he would flee. If Seeker chased after the Realm King, he would not have seeded.


    For even in Seeker''s future, the Realm King was known to be an "undefeatable" Oveer. With his powers, it would have been impossible to get near him. With that in mind, Seeker crafted this n to start a war and make a colossal distraction that would force the Realm King to undo his all-area sensing but focus on particr locations.


    If Seeker were to be pushed and thrown far, far away, he would have to exert great effort just to get near the Realm King from his current location.And so Seeker immediately used three items that harnessed the powers of various Oveers.


    Destion, Sound, and Lightning all appeared. The powerful destion was ced on the back, and Seeker harnessed the two powers on the front to push the telekic powers.


    It was clumsy and a very chaotic mess for an attack. The three powers'' coordination was not efficient, and Seeker even had a lot of trouble containing all three. Nevertheless, Seeker moved and attacked with all three because it was the only attack he could do.


    The sound was the pushing force that would deflect any telekic powers that might reject or redirect the attacks. The Realm King could alter energy sts in the future, and Seeker guessed that his master must already have that ability.


    So tobat that, Seeker created arge Wall of Jericho that pushed towards the Realm King. This was an offensive and defensive attack. Behind this wall is the Lightning that was ready to strike. Andstly, the destion that Seeker created was divided into two. A portion of it enclosed the region behind the lightning and enclosed it. Another portion remained around Seeker and would be Seeker''s shield to protect himself from the Realm of his Master.


    As expected, the Realm King''s expression changed as his entire Realm suffered from the destion. The entire area around them was already part of his Realm. Lioncourt could feel the surroundings around them as if invisible, metaphysical hands and feet were there.


    "Ouch." Lioncourt frowned. He immediately retracted his realm away from Seeker. The strange green powers could harm him and caused painful sensations on his extended ''arms.''


    "Destion that breaks the dimensions! How do you like the taste of that, Realm King?!" Seekerughed as he drove his attacks towards Lioncourt. Sound and boltpressed and created arge spiraling spear.


    Lioncourt had a serious emotion and decided to meet the powerful attack with his powerful force. He took out a small capsule once more and ced it in his mouth.


    Seeker identified what that item was. It was one source of energy that only a few Oveers could harness. The Realm King had found a way of harnessing andpressing energy through his powers. And it is also by his powers that he could absorb that energy and convert it into energy. The purepressed radiation that Lioncourt swallowed released all the potent energy, but the mini-reactor inside of Lioncourt quickly absorbed the energy.


    The mini reactor was something that baffled scientists even in Seeker''s future. This was because only a few Oveers developed it. But this reactor became the reason why these Oveers could maintain the heavy usage of energy. It was because of this energy field inside their bodies that the Chinese called the Dantian.


    Lioncourt channeled the energy that could have blown up half of the city and released a small portion of it as a force that fought the approaching energies.


    Seeker knew the name of this powerful psychic st.


    "Psychic Canon, eh?" Seeker muttered. He had seen this move countless of times in the future. It was a psychic attack that created a powerful explosive force.


    A tremendous force that exceeded the force that many high-tiered explosive rockets could do waspressed and formed a spear that also rotated to counteract the spinning sound and lightning force.


    BOOM!


    An earth-shattering quake resounded all over the city with the force of these two shing against each other.


    A tremendous shockwave rocked outwards. But since the pair had fought severalyers underground the selected factory, everyone else could only sense the powerful force vibrating out of the city.


    To most, they only thought that a small earthquake urred right in the middle of the city, but the Disciples and Git Godlike knew that it was something else.


    Several members of Git Godlike couldn''t help but nce at Misty Wedgers, who was the one who suggested to fight him on their first meeting.


    Misty had aplicated expression as they continued to move at a very fast pace.


    The soldiers were surprised and even began to move with more haste as they felt an earthquake. They feared that another explosion urred somewhere within the city.


    But Git Godlike had various tech sin their Exoskeleton. They could tell the size and power of that sh.


    "We... We tried to fight that?" Paul Anthony cringed at the mere memory of his attack.


    "This is the man who even Arthur respects and follows. We were really too arrogant." Cronus sighed.


    The trembling throughout the city did not cease as the two powers that Seeker and Lioncourt sent out were forcibly pushing against each other. A loud rumbling sound that caused the entire factory to shake echoed out.


    Lioncourt sneered as his force was directly moving closer and closer to Seeker. His control over the energy which he concentrated was just more superior to Seeker''s. Seeker could control the sound, the lightning, and the destion, but it was not aspressed and focused as Lioncourt''s energies.


    Seeker did not panic and expected him to lose in this bout. But his aim in this attack had met its purpose. He was able to gauge the power of the Realm King. And with that, he knew, his next attack could reach.


    The boosters in his feet charged to full power as Seeker was preparing for a reckless charge.


    The triune energy that he released was allpressed, and it gathered around the sword that Seeker extended. To the right of the sword was the white lightning, and to the left was the green destion.


    The sound energy was allpressed and was used to contain the power of the two. Seeker could not control all energy, so he used Richie''s sound to help him contain the two rampaging energies.


    And with a more focused and concentrated form, Seeker was able to remain standing as the psychic explosion passed through him. Seeker was like a small but sturdy and grounded rock that resisted the full force of a rushing river. He remained steady and concentrated onpressing the energy.


    In addition to this, Seeker did his most powerful skill in the Surmounting series. Surmounting Strength and Surmounting Thought were small portions of his ability where he would forcibly use arge amount of energy to throw portions of his ability such as his strength, vitality, perception, and so on into the Ranked Hero stage. But now, Seeker did it to all.


    Lioncourt felt a terrible premonition at the sight of Seeker''s new form.


    "I am the Seed of the Progenitor. I tread the Ancient''s Path and within me is the truth of the Unlocking! These three energies are the powers of other Oveers. So in a way, you''re not fighting one guy, old man. Don''t be embarrassed at losing at my de! Decimating Hero: Form of Roaring Lightning!" Seeker grandly announced his form, which he knew would enrage the Realm King.


    "Decimating Hero: Form of Roaring Lightning? How childish!" Lioncourt scoffed.


    "It''ll be quite a bummer that this childish form could kill you." Seeker taunted.


    "Is this some kind of a game to you? You toyed with this city and even have the gull to make silly names for your attacks?"


    "This isn''t a game, Mister Lioncourt. I''ve already yed the game and went to a game over." Seekerughed.


    Lioncourt''s expression changed as he could not understand the words of the child.


    What are you talking about? Oh, never mind. I''m wasting time again talking to a fool like you." Lioncourt raised his hands.


    The rushing psychic attack disappeared. But then, Seeker could see through the dimensions and see that a swirling vortex of psychic energy was forming right in front of Lioncourt. Just like Seeker, Lioncourt began topress the psychic energy around him to create the swirling vortex.


    "What I''m saying is that I know you from the future! You are my master! How else could I learn your ability? Anyway, I know you won''t believe me. And if I tried to block this attack, I would have been killed if I tried to fight that in myst ythrough!" Seeker smiled.


    "That''s an all-matter grinder. Am I right? I know this because this is one reason why no other Oveer could im that they could defeat you. Well, save for the Tyrant Empress and another."


    Lioncourt''s raised his eyebrow. Seeker was right.


    "I''m guessing based on the size. You should have created about five hundred circr rings? Each ring would spin, and the next outer ring would spin on the opposite direction. And since you are using telekinesis, which reflects beyond the three dimensions, this attack crushes both the physical and the ethereal forces. Kind of like this triune attack I prepared!"


    "Who are you?" For the first time, Lioncourt felt a sense of fear.


    "Jaws of Hell. That''s what I called it." Seeker ignored Lioncourt.


    "Of course, you would chastise me if I would force you to shout that attack as they would do in games and anime. But luckily, this isn''t just a game. No. This is a new game! This is a New Game+!" Seeker gripped the sword and sted forward to meet the jaws of hell.


    The Jaws of Hell began to spin with incredible speed. Sparks could even be seen appearing out of the invisible air.


    Lioncourt roared as he sent the whirling vortex to meet Seeker.


    But at the critical moment, Seeker changed the position of his boots and sted off again but on reverse. A single inchter, and he would have fallen for the Jaws of Hell.


    "Psyche!" Seeker taunted out and retreated.


    The Realm king was confused at the sudden retreat and even the taunt. But then, he felt it.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Five instantaneous attacksunched in different directions immediately urred.

 Chapter 263 - Greg

    If Seeker proceeded with that attack, he would have surely lost. And there was even a high chance of getting killed. That attack was just too crazy. At Seeker''s level of skill in controlling three different Paths, it wasughable to believe that Seeker could defeat it.


    Even if he used these skills to fight back against Lennox, Richie, or Meng, Seeker would have lost because of hisck of control. When Seeker caused the three powers to explode out, he only had to control where they would go.


    The previous sh, which resulted in a stalemate, had very little to do with Seeker''s ability. It was the power of the three items he had.


    And the reason Seeker attacked in this manner was because Seeker was using another Path that he had been practicing and wanted to attain. Cliff proved that it was possible, and seeing that allowed Seeker to believe.


    Seeker exploded the three weapons and caused the power to rampage and contained the power to make it look like he was harnessing the three energies for a powerful explosive attack. But this was impossible since Seeker was trying to divide his attention to maintain all three weapon-generated Paths.


    This was all part of Seeker''s fa?ade.


    This fa?ade was geared to make Lioncourt believe that this was Seeker''s most powerful attack.


    The Oveer Seeker knew that his potential was now different. But each Oveer had their way of fighting and their own way of Oveing. Seeker was searching for his own. And the umtion and careful usage of each Path was the key.


    "I have sessfully deceived him. I''ll have to thank Lowengren for this." Seeker smiled.


    The sudden attacks that came from different locations forced Lioncourt to execute emergency counters. Most of his psychic force was already spent on controlling the vortex, and all he could do was create several powerful telekic shields that appeared in front of him to block the iing attack.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Rockets were flying in and exploding, but the Realm King was quick to set up a shield while concentrating on moving therge vortex.


    Seeker began to analyze the range of where his master can immediately create a psychic movement.


    "Let''s see who can endure longer!" Seeker taunted once more.


    Another wave of attacks erupted. And this time, it was far more numerous than the previous attacks.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The attacks were now aimed on the areas where no shields were created.


    Seeker took advantage of this and dashed towards another side to bypass the vortex rather than face it.


    Lioncourt moved the vortex with incredible speed to block Seeker''s approach.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Another round was fired, and it was there that Lioncourt sensed the culprits.


    "How?!"


    "This factory was not selected by ident!" Seeker sneered as he zipped and zoomed from one end of the building to the other in his attempt to escape the swirling vortex.


    "So this was all part of your ploy!" Lioncourt cursed.


    The previous attacks that Seeker had sent, the rockets, Git Godlike, and the other armies had already decimated many of the potential warehouses and buildings for their fight.


    The deception that Seeker managed to pull off was something that magicians called forcing. The truth was, this was the ONLY ce that they could battle without worries. They wouldrgely be unnoticed because of how untouched this structure was and its timely positioning from the urring battles.


    Seeker made Lioncourt think he had the illusion of choice when he suggested to battle elsewhere.


    Lioncourt led Seeker to this location out of respect for Seeker''s intention to not fight at the army''s headquarters.


    And because of that, Seeker had already positioned a peculiar car nearby.


    It was a car. A sports car. The very same vehicle that Arthur drove when he attacked Australia. But this one had special tools in it. Seeker created arge scale attack to hide its approach. Seeker had been controlling it through a neural link worn on his head. It did not release any signals at first, as if it was just a piece of metal that couldn''t do anything. Thus, Realm King was unable to detect it.


    But now, Seeker used the lightning of Lennox to light it, the device nted in Seeker''s head charged up, and Seeker was able to sendmands through it. Lennox''s lightning was the key. The car received the electric signal and activated the prepared protocols.


    Various drones that had already been sent out and discussed themselves as abandoned factory tools came to life. It was instantaneous. The dronesunched several silent energy attacks.


    The Realm King red warily at Seeker.


    "He''s trying to break my concentration and finish me off with that strange sword imbued weapon. I can''t fly away or drill myself down either. My, this is a tough predicament." Lioncourt weighed his options.


    Seeker, on the other hand, was also quickly looking for a way to break the stalemate. In truth, he was losing.


    "That damned Radiation Pill!" Seeker cursed. He was running out of energy in this battle.


    The powers he carried was a ploy. It wasn''t strong, and Seeker only concentrated on containing the energy. He could only hold his current form that was at pseudo-Ranked Hero stage only for a short time.


    "I must Ovee! My power of Deception must increase in this fight!" Seeker gritted his teeth and waited patiently. His instincts were telling him that he would lose if he acted rashly.


    "Trust in your instincts, Seeker. That''s Alean''s Path, after all." A voice spoke.


    "Hrm? Wait¡­ Greg?!" Seeker was able to discover someone in his thoughts.


    "Yeah Yeah. I''m here to help."


    "So that''s what my old self did! He created a split personality! I''m legitimately crazy, aren''t I? Was it since then?"


    "Yep. You''d probably be diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder if you saw a doctor. Of course, Adult Seeker intentionally made us in order to help you in these situations. Anyway, each of us has different limits. I''m like, half of the mind the adult you have. But still, with half a mind helping you, it would be easier for you to act. I''ll take care of the guns and your car." Greg answered.


    Seeker wanted to curse out, but he needed all the help he could do. There was also the mystery of how the future of him crafted these characters. Yet Seeker set all aside and allowed Greg to help him. Maintaining and controlling the additional thought process was taxing. It was like trying to control another person. But this way, the mental burden of thinking would be split.


    "So this is what Lennox did too¡­" Seeker realized how Lennox could manage the many, many thought processes he has on his head.


    Lioncourt''s expression was pale. He had to create a powerful psychic vortex because he fell for Seeker''s trap. He was hesitant in dispersing the vortex because he was wary of Seeker''s triune energy.


    "Drats. Bad move in using the vortex. But if I disperse it now, I''ll have to eat another Radiation Pill to fight this kid. Ah, whatever. First deal with those pesky annoyances!"


    Lioncourt extended his senses and tried to use his telekinesis to destroy the drones. But as he scanned the area, the drones were moving too fast and shooting too urately. As he was still focusing on using maintaining the vortex, he couldn''t concentrate and make an urate attack.


    The few attempts of Lioncourt creating a psychic hold to capture the attacking drones kept missing.


    The drones were moving so fast and were still able to make an organized attack. The drone attacks were slowly prating the psychic shields that were set up. A mixture of various techs urred. Some of the attacks contained bullets that had maic capabilities and would suddenly switch direction. Some attacks employed hellfire tech, and others used molecr bullets that constantly reigned down.


    Finally, Greg used a more powerful weapon.


    "Hey, Seeker. Lower your head." Greg told Seeker.


    Seeker did so, and a powerful white lightning bolt sted from behind him. It came from outside and pierced through the stone and marble walls of the building. This was one of New Great Britains Lightning artillery that had the fastest traveling speed.


    Greg had managed to position the car sneakily and made a sudden attack. He didn''t even tell Seeker about this attack to ensure that the Realm King would be so surprised.


    Seeker was in tears.


    "You suck, Greg!"


    "Good evade." Greg praised.


    This attack finally caused Lioncourt to lose concentration.


    The diversity of attacks were too much that Lioncourt divided the vortex and allowed the numerous rings to fly out in defense.


    "Looks like I have you on the ropes!" Seeker taunted and finally used his sword to attack one of the rings that broke through.


    At that point, Lioncourt had used his psychic ability to do an almost impossible thing. Not even Seeker knew of this ability.


    It was a power that distorted the order of the world.


    Time moved slowly. Unlike the Unlocked''s ability to increase their perception of the speed of time, this power was actually slowing time as it passed around the area.


    Even the bullets and energy attacks stopped in mid-air.


    The radiation energy in the capsule were all used up.


    "The only choice is to stop using this vortex and fight him..." Lioncourt took a deep breath.


    This momentary pause allowed him time to analyze everything around him. This was a power that directly interfered with time itself.


    "I''ll have to kill this kid quickly!" The Realm King decided. He could not afford any wasted moments now.


    But what he didn''t know was that this frozen period of time also allowed Seeker to think.


    Normally, it wouldn''t have been possible. But Seeker acquired a certain Skill from one specific mercenary.


    "Woah. It looks like the Skill of that dude you sent to China is finally working! But it''s sorta useless. Time has to stop for it to appear. I guess it''s useful in this way. But bruh... Even the adult you didn''t even know that the Realm King could stop time!" Greg shrugged.


    "He must have used this several times in my adult me''s timeline. But no one just noticed. What an amazing power! Anyway, the Realm King will immediately evade all iing attacks. He might n to do ''that.'' So here''s what we do!" Seeker made his counter ns.


    And then, the moment arrived. Time continued once more.


    The Realm King took a few casual steps forward and undid all the powers he has been using.


    The vortex and the shields he created disappeared. The Realm King gathered his energy to use another attack once more. He was wary of Seeker''s strange triune sword and had used defensive measures. But now, he wanted to switch to the offensive.


    But with practically a defenseless form, the Realm King was still confident. He had one of the most diverse Path. His ability to affect both the three dimensions and the dimensions beyond it allowed him to do incredible things.


    Telekinesis wasn''t his only power. The Realm King could also do telepathy.


    Lioncourt peered into the eyes of Seeker. But his vision was looking into the thoughts of Seeker.


    A person''s thoughts, imaginations, and even dreams are something that urs in another dimension. It is not exined or seen in the three dimensions where the physical forms of humans existed. Lioncourt was confident that if he knew Seeker''s thoughts and could see the areas where he would attack, he could easily deal with Seeker and perhaps even understand the powers that Seeker wielded.


    His eyes locked on Seeker. And immediately, he activated it.


    "Here ites. Mind Reader! He''ll see all my thoughts and understand them at an instant! Greg! I''m trusting you!" Seeker eximed.


    The Realm King peered into Seeker''s thoughts, and the sight that he saw shocked him.


    It was a forest of some sort.


    The camera''s view panned upwards and revealed a vast open field full of thick grass.


    Then a teenager wearing a green headband and a green backpack appeared on the open field as he rode a bike. Suddenly, several odd but familiar also appeared on the vision.


    The vision of then shed white. When the sh ended, a silhouette of a colossal creature appeared. It was a strange ape-like creature that was apparently inside some sort of volcano.


    Then the vision changed again, and another colossal silhouette could be seen. This time, the creature was deep at sea. The vision immediately turned to the skies and revealed the silhouette of what appeared to be a flying dragon. It shot a st towards Lioncourt, and the vision turned all white.


    Soon, words appeared on the vision.


    Pokemon.


    Emerald Version.


    The screen faded, and the options Continue, New Game, and Option appeared. There were some strange words written under Continue that confused the Realm King. The entire vision took over a minute, but not even half a second passed in the real world.


    When peering into the dream world, time was much more different. But what surprised him was that Seeker''s thoughts were not only static. It actually moved as if time continued normally for Seeker.


    "What is this?" The Realm King cursed.


    "I guess I have no choice." The Realm King stopped his mind-reading ability and channeled the remaining energy in the radiation capsule that was in his mouth.


    Seeker began to y Pokemon Emerald. While he was doing that, Greg had already controlled the car and the drones to retreat as he controlled Seeker''s body to move closer to the Realm King.


    Half a second passed, and Greg could see Lioncourt''s disappointed reaction. Greg immediately returned control of the main body to Seeker when he saw the Realm King moving.


    The Realm King spat out the small radiation capsule in his mouth. The strange capsule was floating on the air. At that moment Seeker reached out for several Balls of Thunder.


    The Realm King acted as if he was pushing two invisible objects towards each other, and a strange power could be felt crushing the floating radiation.


    Seeker crushed several Balls of Thunder right in time to defend against that attack.


    Two psychic forces began to approach each other in an attempt to crush the floating capsule. The atoms of the many radioactive elements in that capsule were being held up and were unmovable. And as the psychic forces approached, it began to split the atoms of this radioactive material.


    Nuclear Fission was achieved.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 264 - The First To Overcome

    The process of nuclear fission was replicated. The Realm King used his science to imitate the process of Nuclear Fission and created the small mushroom cloud that rose out of the city. A great majority of the Realm King''s ability focused on creating a vortex around him to protect him from his own weapon of great destruction.


    Seeker was thrown off by the powerful explosion, which caused him to fly out of the sky.


    Blood was everywhere as Seeker flew, and his left arm was burnt off.


    The Walls of Jericho barely formed and barely protected Seeker.


    Back in the remains of the copsed factory, the Realm King was panting and also had several wounds on his body. Since this factory''s underground levels copsed, the upper floors fell and caved in on the underground.


    The Realm King panting as he maintained the remaining telekic force he had to hold the rubbles.


    Blood was dripping out of his mouth and ears. His legs were also wobbly, and many wounds had exploded out from that attack.


    "I won." The Realm King smiled as he nced over to locate Seeker''s position. He did a wide scan to search where that kid was blown off too.


    It was then that he detected several figures moving towards Seeker''s position.


    A battle ensued as two groups of Exoskeletons shed. On one side were the six exoskeletons. On the other, twelve groups of Exoskeletons wearing armors that had not yet been seen began to fight.


    The Realm King frowned and immediately made haste to move towards Seeker.


    He created a telekic drill and hastily left the wreckage of the battlefield.


    The Realm King had detected that Seeker''s body flew towards the nearby power nt and the Realm King moved towards him.


    He reached out, but he could sense that Seeker had deployed the strange destion that protected him from any iing psychic attacks.


    "Tch. Even up to death, that kid still does his best to survive. No wonder he''s an Oveer."


    The Realm King had detected that Seeker''s body was in critical condition. Apart from the loss of his hands, his organs were weakening.


    One of the six Exoskeletons broke through the battle with the twelve and was headed for Seeker''s direction. The Realm King frowned and created a powerful psychic st that erupted from a distance.


    BOOM!


    A vacuum appeared and created an explosive force that sent the Exoskeleton flying back to the center of the battlefield.


    The five Exoskeletons began to reform their position, but their enemies were overpowering them.


    "A shattered chest, ruptured organs, possibly blind and his left arm destroyed." The Realm King analyzed the wounds he could feel on Seeker. The Realm King was about to move closer when he frowned.


    "This kid is quite a bad egg. I guess it''s better to kill all those six and the twelve. This could be another ploy." The Realm King held his right hand up with palms wide open. He then used his force to create a small telekic wave that rushed all over the city.


    In that way, he immediately detected the various soldiers and Exoskeletons nearby. And while Git Godlike and their twelve enemies were further out of the radius of the initial scan, the Realm King forced his sense to include the two opposing groups.


    The Realm King was sweating as he began to lock down on the various soldiers and pilots moving around.


    Suddenly, the Realm King closed his hands and made a fist. At the exact same moment, a powerful force began to crush the four limbs of the soldiers in the range that the Realm King activated it.


    The soldiers, the pilots, and even Git Godlike and the Twelve enemies all fell down.


    "You- Bas-tard!" Seeker shouted and coughed up blood.


    The Realm King heard it and began to move towards the Power nt.


    He arrived at the power nt and saw Seeker''s pathetic form.


    Around them were the remains of what looked like a car. It was scattered throughout the area as if Seeker broke through it.


    "I don''t have the luxury of discerning, who are your allies and enemies. But this way, it should give me time to have a quick talk with you." The Realm king scanned the area and noticed various metallic objects that don''t seem to be part of the building or any devices that Seeker broke as he was thrown in here.


    "Was this the weapon that attacked me? How ironic." The Realm Kingughed.


    Seeker was blown off at the exact direction where the car was. Bits and pieces could be seen everywhere.


    "Tell me who you are. Another group ising here. I''m assuming that those six Exoskeletons that distracted me are your allies. Twelve more have appeared and are after you. But whoever they are, they wouldn''t be able to move as I broke their bones." The Realm King wasted no time as he approached.


    Seeker was trembling, but he immediately took out a metal cube and crushed it.


    Sparks of electricity attacked the Realm King, but the Realm King deflected it all.


    ??I guess it''s pointless to talk to you. Kid, you really are an immature Oveer. Learn when to fold. Oveers don''t always seed. They will Ovee, but they will taste defeat. I don''t want to waste any time. The six Exoskeletons are bound to be defeated. I will get you out of here! Just-"


    "Tech Reveal." Seeker smirked.


    The lightning energy had already attached itself to the various metal parts surrounding him. And with the same tech that Git Godlike used to pull them out of the explosion, the many pieces of the wrecked car gathered around Seeker.


    "Lightning Hero: Form of the Armored Heart!" Seekerughed.


    The metal pieces formed an armored suit that was bigger than an average Exoskeleton.


    The Realm King wasted no time and took out hisst radiation capsule and swallowed it.


    "I''ve won! Realm King!" Seeker''s sword was revealed as powerful electric energy coursed through it and made itrger than it was.


    "A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished, sharpened for ughter, polished to sh like lightning!" Seeker eximed as he rushed forward and stabbed towards the Realm King.


    The Realm King couldn''t repeat the previous attack as he had no energy to create a shield to protect him from the explosion.


    "A foolish attempt! I still have enough energy, kid! Not even your cheesy named techniques are enough to save you!" The Realm King shouted as he released a powerful telekic force.


    The telekic force that he created was fashioned into the shape of a sword sheathe and shot urately to contain the sword made of lightning.


    The electricity that surrounded Seeker burst into a powerful bright light. The lightning energy erupted as several metallic cubes that were scattered nearby exploded.


    The Realm King was startled as the powerful lightning energy was so overcharged that it could actually force the telekic energy the Realm King created back.


    "Overcharge!" Seeker eximed as the various lightning energy gathered and coursed through Seeker''s sword and began to run wildly around Seeker''s car suit.


    If Seeker weren''t wearing the armor, the lightning energy would have fried Seeker. But with the science of melding cells and metal, the suit that Seeker had could harness and release the energy that came from the lightning.


    The Realm King gritted his teeth and was slowly being pushed back.


    "Then let''s try¡­ this!"


    All of a sudden, the Realm King''s surroundings began to have a strange glow. Yellow auroras were emerging from the body of the Realm King. His eyes were glowing yellow, and even his mouth had looked as if he was about to breathe fire.


    Inside his body, the capsule was forced into an unstable state that it was now constantly releasing radioactive energy.


    "Is this your y, kid? Were you making me deplete my resources and aimed for a battle of attrition with this final step? Too bad, kid! I have more than one capsule left!" The Realm Kingughed as a small capsule emerged from his pockets and moved towards his mouth.


    The yellow lights began to glow brighter. The Realm King had yellow raysing out of his hair and even the tips of his fingertips.


    The sword sheathe began to push the lightning sword back, and Seeker was once more at a disadvantage.


    Seeker had constantly been releasing an electrical explosion, which was why he was able to force back the powers of the Realm King.


    "You''re right, Realm King! That was the n! But you should be warier of the ce you are at!" Seekerughed.


    The Realm King frowned then noticed that most of the machinery in the power nt powered up.


    "That lightning attack turned it on¡­" The Realm King tried to move but then noticed that several attacks were approaching him.


    From afar, the several Exoskeletons were all shooting miniature rockets and attacks.


    "They can still move?!" The Realm King was stunned.


    "Tech Reveal. Those Exoskeletons were wearing skin-tight armor underneath the Exoskeletons. I wonder, do you have time to deal with the operational power nt? Or is this pressure too much for you?!" Seekerughed.


    "This is my gamble, Master. If you can Ovee this and divide the energy you have, you will surely win. But if I Ovee and learn to harness Lennox''s lightning energy and tap on this city''s power nts, I will win!"


    The attacks arrived from behind. The Realm King rushed to make a powerful shield around him. But at his immediate front, he still retained the forceful counter-push keeping Seeker''s lightning at bay.


    "This was all nned! The battle was to get you here! This car is made up of my cells! It is designed to contain all the lightning energy absorbed through the mitochondria embedded on the metal. And with it, it harnesses the energy and sends it straight to the armored heart, which I use to channel this sword! This is one of Lennox''s strongest attack. Normally, I can''t use it or contain it. That''s where the cares in hand to help me channel. And while you have two radiation pills, I have a power nt!"


    The Realm King''s expression was grave. He had never been ced in such a situation. The attacks kepting, and eighteen soldiers were moving towards their location. Git Godlike and the Twelve Disciples were now executing theirst order.


    The Realm King no longer has the opportunity to create nuclear fission as he did earlier. He was once more too focused at the nearby energy. Not to mention that making that attack again could fatally wound him or kill him. The first st already took a huge toll on his body. And now, the chess pieces of Seeker entrapped him, and there was no longer a way out.


    All that remained was a battle to see who would Ovee.


    The Realm King focused his attention and began to divide his thoughts forcibly. It was the first time that he tried to use his telepathic powers to create a divided thought. And then, it was created. A small form of sentience that could think in separation to his thoughts emerged in Lioncourt''s head. Lioncourt had sessfully divided his opinions. The minor thought began to use the excess powers that the Realm King was releasing.


    While harnessing the excess energy, the secondary thought shot a powerful attack towards one of the devices feeding Seeker with energy.


    VROOM!


    A force intercepted the telekic attack, and the force he sent created a small shockwave.


    Greg was situated on the other Dimensions and watched the telekic movements reflected on these dimensions.


    Seeker hid this ability from the start to surprise the Realm King in these final moments. At least, in this way, the possibility of the Realm King Oveing would decrease.


    The Realm King was not startled. At this point, nothing surprised him. All he could do was take the next step to ovee.


    The force and power that the second thought began to increase in power and speed slowly.


    Greg began to curse as he continued to send telekic attacks to intercept the Realm Kings'' attacks.


    At the fourth attack, Greg could no longer block it fully, and the telekic force struck the nearby devices. But it had weakened from Greg''s interference that the device wasn''t destroyed.


    "I won!" Seekerughed as he took a step closer.


    The entire factory suddenly lit up as all the machinery began to move on its own.


    The power nt utilized various fusion sciences and even the enigmatic maic pulse to power the entire city. In theory, it was impossible to do. But just as Lioncourt overcame, so did Seeker.


    Two prizing power sources fueled the Lightning de of Seeker. The suit outside began to pilfer the power nts'' energy and used Lennox''s lightning to kick start it. But in Seeker''s body was Cold Fusion. And somehow, these two powerful energies began to merge.


    And then the impossible urred.


    The Australian power nts were advanced, and attacking a single nt would only minimize the city''s electricity. This was to ensure that any Australian city will not easily lose its power supply quickly.


    The entire city had several power blocks that always supplied each other and wouldpensate for the energy. Seeker not only pilfered that power but through his power source, he became an additional block.


    Now, Seeker was no longer connected and stealing energy from one Power nt, but he had tapped into the energy of the city itself.


    "POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!" Seekerughed manically like a crazed Dark Emperor.


    With the powerful energy in hand, Seeker stomped forward and carried the deadly lightning sword, which tore through the telekic sword sheath that the Realm King created.

 Chapter 265 - Lies And Truth

    The once potent psychic force that the Realm King released was easily pushed back with an entire city empowering him. In the battle to Oveer, Seeker achieved it first and now had the advantage in the battle.


    The moment the lightning energy gathered, the Realm King quickly realized that he would soon be overpowered and began to use his powers to make him fly backward.


    His flight bought him more time as it took a few seconds before the defensive sheath was broken. But the Realm King was able to use it once more. His hair was already white, but when he used it, his skin had grown pale. Time stopped.


    It was a critical moment, and his face aged all the more. He nced at Seeker and began to think about what he could do to avoid the attack.


    "It''s useless, Master." Seeker''s voice echoed out.


    The Realm King''s expression turned sour.


    "Time has stopped. How can you talk to me?"


    "Time hasn''t stopped. Space has stopped. It''s still shocking for me to see that you could do this. I''m honestly a bit hurt. You even hid this ability from me! Your precious disciple!"


    The Realm King was silent, and he kept looking around to find a way to defeat Seeker.


    There might have been a way for the Realm King to win. The Realm King was a genius on par with Lennox. He was thest of the Selectively Unlocked individuals who broke through the unlocking without undergoing great pressures but only did so in their study.


    The Realm King searched and searched. But Seeker did not waste this opportunity.


    "This is the first time thatmunicating through the fourth dimension is possible. You''ve altered space at such a strange way that it''s being reflected on this ne as time and space stop. Was this why you trained me in Realm Somatotopy so much? Were you looking for a way to make me sense this dimension?" Seeker continued. Although Seeker''s mouth couldn''t move, he could send his thoughts immediately.


    The Realm King lost his concentration when Seeker mentioned Realm Somatotopy. That was a terminology that he had made up.


    "I''m guessing that right now you are looking for that right moment, that right instant of when you would send your attack to make me miss. But I should tell you that I still have one more Horn of the Dragon. The explosion of Destion will protect me from any forceful touch that you can do with your telekic hands. Just give up, Master. Besides, you won''t die anyway. I won''t kill you. I''m only going to beat you and spare you to prove that I am your ally. I don''t see any other way that you would ally yourself with me. Frankly, this is exhausting. I had to do this with Greydon Meng, too!" Seekerined.


    The Realm King explored every possibility in the few seconds that remained.


    And then the seconds ended. Seeker''s attack continued.


    The Realm King activated one technique that he hadn''t done in this battle. The telekic ability he had was all in pushing or repelling the forces. But now, he used a different kind of telekic force. It was the power of attraction.


    A powerful pulling force urred nearly a hundred meters away from where Realm King was. It was very specific and controlled that the pull had no eleration but would immediately throw the Realm King a hundred meters in an instant.


    But Seeker had already seen this and made preparations. Little did the Realm King know, he had fallen for another trap of Seeker.


    Utilizing the Path of Harker, Seeker told the truth. His interactions with Harker had allowed him to realize what Truth was. And how it could be used.


    Seeker told the truth. He had one Horn of the Dragon left. But in doing so, he was able to fool the Realm King once more. The Magician''s y of Forcing once more surfaced.


    Seeker knew that the Realm King had a skill that was slightly simr to Eagles. Sending a telekic attack that would rush down on his current location in the 4th dimension would temporarily create a folding space. And this would create a strong gravitational force that would cause nearby objects to be sucked in as if it was a ck hole. In this case, the Realm King made one pull his body while he would use his powers to eject him in that direction. This was the Realm King''s fastest way to move as there would be no friction and required very little eleration.


    Only, Seeker didn''t deploy thest Horn but instead activated a pair of Balls of Thunder.


    BOOM!


    The Balls of Thunder exploded behind Seeker''s suit and was released urately like boosters. He had already positioned it behind him when he formed his Exoskeleton and prepared for this moment.


    The Realm King''s sudden retreat was met with Seeker''s sudden charge. Seeker flew higher than the Realm King and delivered a sh with the sword.


    The movement was too quick that evasion was no longer an option for the Realm King.


    CLAP!


    Just as the sword shed down, the Realm King spat out one of the radiation capsules. It was very dim and had very little light. The energy was no longer one-tenth of the previous capsule that the Realm King used to create Nuclear Fission. The stoppage of time and the creation of the pulling force had consumed most of its energy. Adding the fact that the Realm King was wounded, his concentration and the harnessing of the energy was far less efficient.


    BOOM!


    Arge explosion sent Seeker flying high. But then, the many chains of lightning somehow condensed and acted like arge that prevented Seeker from flying any higher. The of lightning stretched up until it couldn''t anymore and then throw Seeker downwards with an even faster force.


    The Realm King was lying on the ground from the st and saw Seeker''s counter.


    The Realm King sighed and knew this was his defeat. But still, he gathered the remaining energy he could and created a shield.


    Seeker sprang down and stabbed the lightning sword towards the Realm King.


    Instead of a sword sheathe, he only fashioned a shield that covered the tip of the de.


    The body''s lightning energy shed and sted everywhere, and Seeker''s entire suit of armor was coated with the electricity.


    Seeker could have ended it all but had to restrain the force of his attack.


    FIZZ FIZZ FIZZ


    The Realm King had extended his two arms to capture the stabbing edge of the sword.


    The shield was able to stop Seeker''s stab. A tremendous weight pressed on the Realm King. The energy that Seeker had was too powerful and wild that the Realm King could not do anything. And as he was pressed with his back on the ground, there was no more room to retreat.


    "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature andplete, notcking anything." Seeker began to mutter as the two were caught in a stalemate.


    Lioncourt''s expression was deathly pale. He was visibly thinner than what he was, and wounds began to appear around his body.


    "Isn''t this amazing? Only by facing tribtions can we Ovee. It was you who taught me this. You told me that Heroes would learn to take the next step. They will always strive to survive because they are those who remain steadfast and firm under great stress. And when they face enough trials and allow their faith to be tested time and time again, they finally learn how to persevere. They develop the mindset of never giving up and never to lose hope for victory. That is what separates an Oveer from a Hero."


    Lioncourt knew that he lost. Seeker was only dying the inevitable by talking with him.


    "So¡­ you''re saying you''re from the future, and I was your Master."


    "Come on, Master. Isn''t it clear? I am a young teen, after all. How would I have the ability to be an Oveer with just that? I faced a lifetime''s worth of trials but never really made it because I''m a bit slow. Either that or my Path was just something too strange that I need two lifetimes to activate it. You have got to tell me what you know about the Lost Primordial or, rather, the Progenitor." Seeker smirked.


    "Then I guess you should stop attacking me. I am convinced-"


    "Master, I know how suspicious you are. I think I understand why. This was probably why you were so adamant in taking Lynd and me as your disciples back then. You must have seen or known something. Something that not even Nogard or the other families knew about." Seeker exined.


    The energy that Seeker summoned began to grow stronger and stronger. Bit by bit, inch by inch, the power was surging towards the Realm King.


    "The Progenitor must have told you something about the Path''s that others could do. So I''m curious. Did he tell you of a certain Path that would allow many other Paths to grow? Nogard said he is the Good Seed. If that''s the case, am I one of them?" Seeker asked as the de was halfway to the Realm King''s chest.


    The Realm King''s expression changed.


    "You met the Good Seed?"


    "I did. He was quite old. But then he could not answer my own peculiar status. So I''ll tell you why you lost, Master. The first Path that I received is from a little youngd who you may never have heard of, considering how you hate games. He is Lowengren. Oh, wait. He is quite popr among soldiers, so you must have heard of him. His Path and reason for his fame are his ability to entrap, lie, and deceive. I harnessed his powers and tested them on this battle. The fact that you fell for my many tricks despite your natural caution is because of that."


    "Lying is now a power? That exins it. I normally shouldn''t have fallen your tricks."


    "Yes. Fooling or deceiving an Oveer is difficult to achieve. Yet that man can do that on a natural basis. I estimate that I only used around forty percent of his power."


    "I¡­ hope never to meet that man."


    "You and I both, Master. But you''ll have to interact with him. The next Path is equally more powerful. It is General Harker''s ability. He had bits of it when he was still in the Underworld. And he finally harnessed it to be weaponized. It was the reason you believed that I would use the Horn of the Dragon to emit destion, when in fact, I used Richie''s ba- I mean Thunder."


    "That wasn''t deception¡­ That was¡­ Truth?" The Realm King guessed.


    "As expected of Master. Yes. Truth. I do have one more Horn. But you focused so much on that, that it made you forget the other truths."


    "His ability is, to tell the truth?"


    "He can gain people''s trust. Isn''t this the reason why you somehow lowered your guard? The truth that I have been giving you is backed with evidence. So even though I am about to stab you with this weapon, you are partly inclined to believe me." Seeker smiled. The sword was now just a few centimeters from Lioncourt''s chest.


    "You damned brat!" Lioncourt cursed.


    "Anyway, Master, am I one of the Progenitors Seed? Did he tell you about a certain Path that will help other Paths grow? The mysteries surrounding me are very, very distracting in my cultivation. I need to know the Truth. What exactly am I?"


    "The Progenitor only said that among all the seeds he nted, there was one that he pinned his hopes on. But the possibilities to create it were so impossible as it was imperfect. He said it was impossible but somehow believed that it woulde true. This possibility was that all Paths, all his seeds would somehow bear fruit through this specific seed. Are you saying that it''s you?"


    "I''m not sure. But in my future, you were so adamant in taking Lynd as your disciple. Everyone believed that you were trying to get a powerful soldier and scoffed at you. The main army belonged to the Tyrant Empress after all¡­ But you see, I think you were mistaken. I think there''s more to what the Progenitor entrusted you. And if you are unwilling to tell me, it''s alright. But I want you to know that whatever that is, it''s probably me." Seeker smiled as the sword began to stab the Realm King.


    The Realm King couldn''t help but chuckle as he felt the electrical energy attacking him. His vision turned dark.


    "I hope in this timeline, you''d agree with me. The future me kept telling you that these Paths are something, but you kept brushing them off. You could have taken Lowengren then, but you disregarded and doubted his ability. And now, you are slowly lowering your guard and attack output because you are trusting me. Trust, deception, charisma, and even jokes could be weaponized. I can''t wait for Gardo''s Path to bear fruit in me. Of course, I''ll have to cut down on the One Piece references..." Seeker chuckled.


    The power that the Realm King was releasing was slowly diminishing. The Realm King realized it was not with theck of energy, but his ownck of resolve.


    "This is why I hate trusting people." The Realm King muttered right before he fell unconscious.


    In the sh between two Oveers, he that tread the Ancient Path won over the Rumblings of the Seventh Trumpet.

 Chapter 266 - Wildcard Seeds

    The world was in chaos. Aside from the sudden attack in Australia, many other incidents urred that made every news channel report different things.


    There was a battle in Pangea which raced for more than a hundred kilometers also urred. The news reports of strange techs that erupted and would disappear and suddenly explode out tens and twenty kilometers away were heard. The panic in Pangea even caused the different armies to enter the city warily.


    Civilian casualties were plenty, and all of Pangea was in a state of strict military control.


    Half-way around the world, Africa and the Caliphates also had a skirmish that caused tremendous shockwaves in the Middle East. Several battles urred within the city, and the two armies fought on several fronts between the ces.


    An Antis and a Kraken have surfaced nearby New Great Britain causing tensions in the region. Rumors of several war zones erupted in the fringe floating cities of New Great Britain. Many artificial inds were evacuated because of this.


    As for Australia, the battle in the shores had already caused several prominent cities to fall. New Birth Forth faced three armies and was able to fend off the attackers but at high costs.


    Way out in the central regions, the Realm King awoke.


    "Oh. So you were telling the truth." The Realm King immediately replied.


    He was in one of the Armored Carriers that attacked the city.


    "Good evening, Master." Seeker greeted. He wore various prosthetics to make up for the missing limbs he lost on thest battle. But other than that, Seeker looked alright.


    "Impressive. A prosthetic that actually moves ording to the monstrous growth of your body."


    "Not my design. Lennox made it. Master, do forgive me for plugging you in all that. I still had to do that just in case you''d go all crazy." Seeker smiled.


    The Realm King had various devices nted on him. With a quick scan, he noticed that many were bombs that would immediately explode. Aside from that, many parts of his body were only functioning due to his devices. Without it, he would have died.


    "As you can see, I temporarily disabled several of your organs so you would listen to what I have to say."


    "You really act like a disciple of mine." The Realm Kingughed.


    "Now that it''s safe to talk to you, allow me to make a quick summary of who I am and who your enemies were."


    Seeker then began his tale from what he learned from Nogard. The stories about the Progenitor and soon, Seeker revealed the existence of the Aragarians.


    "Aliens? So the Progenitor was an alien too¡­ From what I saw, it does make sense." The Realm Kingughed.


    "Well¡­ I know a lot about these aliens, going by what we found out on this timeline and even my own. But honestly, we are not too sure just how much we know. So let me start with my future." Seeker told of his tale and how the world fell into chaos when the Aragarians revealed themselves. But Seeker skipped many details as to what the battles were, which country fell first. Seeker primarily talked about what groups were formed in his alternate future and the Paths that were revealed. And after detailing this, Seeker went straight to his death and his resurrection.


    "It sounds impossible, but with what you can do, you have to admit, my reincarnation seems possible considering you could already stop space and time along with it." Seekerughed.


    The Realm King''s expression wasplicated. He was in deep thought and listened at Seeker''s long tale without interrupting him.


    "Please ask if you have anything to rify," Seeker added.


    "So you''re saying that the Unlocking was the key to all this. And that those six Exoskeletons and even the Twelve that fought them are Unlocked?"


    "Yes. In this timeline, we have advanced to create a drug that could breach a soldier into Inhuman. Right now, the effort is to create a Ranked Heroes body for the many teams that are preparing for the future battle."


    "How many Seeds of the Progenitor have you found?"


    "Confirmed Seeds include Nogard and Meng''s groups, Rosa''s family, Empress Everhiss of the WGP, the vampire, the werewolf, the Void Assassin of EAA, the Dalisay family of Pangea. And recently, Lynd is fighting against three potential candidates who belong to suspected families. There are other unconfirmed groups such as Lennox, Eagle, Richie, and of course, me."


    The Realm King fell into deep thought. Seeker ignored him and continued to sit down and have a strange expression.


    "Hrm? Are you ying a game?" The Realm King frowned.


    "Master, you are still in the process of figuring things out. Can''t a guy y?"


    "Is it that Pokemon Emerald that you showed me back then?"


    "Yeah. Lennox was somehow able to program his thoughts, and it was as if my brain downloaded it. I guess he was experimenting with it. Think of how this may be weaponized in the future!" Seeker smiled.


    The Realm King shook his head in irritation and continued to wander in the many possibilities and traps of everything Seeker just exined.


    "Ugh. No matter how I see it, I just can''t seem to find a w in your words, and that damned ability to make people trust you is really irritating me!" The Realm King cursed.


    "Wke what you said fit thest actions of the Lost Primordial or the Progenitor. I was a special case. Just like Nogard, I am someone who the Progenitor assigned with a specific task. Most likely, the mysterious Paths of Richie, Eagle, and Lennox spring from that era."


    "That era?" Seeker stopped ying and began to pay attention.


    "The Seeds of the Progenitor was not just in the form of Technological Possibilities granted to special groups of people. Sometimes, the Progenitor gave some people a strange bracelet that merged with their bodies. I had the same. It isn''t something that even our most advanced technology could understand. Most families have this tech. They pass on their bloodlines from one person to another. That''s how people like me have this ability without having an army to back us up like the Dragon."


    "Gardo vaguely exined this. They have techs that only their bodies had. So I assumed it would be something passed from one generation to another."


    "Yes. So the Progenitor gave Technological Possibilities to some groups, and they made families, organizations, and even nations out of it. I had vaguely sensed the battles that urred in the Kraken and many of those who appeared there had what I had. Let''s call them Direct Legacies. There is, however, a third group."


    "A third group? So this exins everyone who does not fall into those two categories?"


    "Correct. It was a wildcard group that the Progenitor made. When you exined the Aragarians and how they might lust after these techs, it finally made sense to me. The Progenitor had to bury his seed and even make these seeds so small to hide it from the Aragarians."


    "Right. Otherwise, it would draw attention and call out the powerful higher-ranking groups of the Aragarians. I can''t imagine what it would be like if those that defeated the Progenitor would attack us. They would probably harvest all the sciences the Progenitor made. Even now, one Presider is acting ording to our n because of the temptation of the Progenitor''s techs."


    "That''s how powerful the Progenitor''s Seeds are. And so, to minimize the chances of the Aragarian''s acquiring these groups, rather than inly give it like he did to the rest of the group, he made these Wildcards."


    "So what exactly is this wildcard group?"


    "Call it evolution, call it a mutation, call it growth. The Progenitor took advantage of a certain period in our history create arge group of people that had the potential to develop these powers that you call Paths. I believe that it was at that time that the people who can achieve the Unlocking was formed."


    "Arge group of people? If it''s in our past, then could it be the time when factory-produced humans lived?" Seeker asked.


    "Exactly. At that time, the WGP needed to deal with the poption problem and expended most of their resources to create humans. With the chaotic environment, manualbor was the most needed group. And so, those factory-humans were created. You may recall that they have a lower lifespan, and in most cases, many would only live until their thirties or early forties."


    "Wait a minute. It can''t be! The lower lifespan was because they had the potential of the Unlocking, and it was eating them up?!"


    "Yes. The Progenitor was so powerful that he could go anywhere at that time, and he must have modified the creation process of these humans. But they had a low lifespan due to the power of the Unlocking. It increased their catabolism as a side effect. The only way to stop it was to make these humans breed with other humans."


    "What an impressive n. A wildcard gamble seems risky. But I think I get it. If any of those wildcards allies with the enemy, they won''t have a chance of breaking the Unlocking. Only those who would risk their lives and face impossible odds would be unlocked."


    "Right. Besides, the sons and daughters of those who were the result of this mix were naturally geared to have a culture that would value familial ties. What was the stigma for these factory produced humans?"


    "Low chance of sessful procreation. And their kids would have a high chance of having a lower lifespan." Seeker answered as he knew his history. These people suffered a lot and received discrimination because of the manyplications they had, not only with their life but because they had a low birthrate.


    "Wait a minute¡­ Did the Progenitor foresee this?" Seeker eximed.


    "You noticed, huh? The stigma, suffering that these people had made them turn to religion. These people were despised and feared, used by the world to be their bond ves andbor workers. And it was these groups that became the primary poption of religion, particrly Christianity. They believed the hopeful nonsense that this religion implies. A hope of future heaven, second life, a Kingdom, and so on. So tell me, what exactly happened in the future that made religion important?"


    "Our current ns are aimed to address that. There is something that we all need to know. We were able to gather an army of people who would side with us because of their faith. And so, it''s necessary to change the worldviews of this current world."


    "The Progenitor did tell my family to brush up in our Christian literature. Could it be because of this?"


    "I don''t know. But because we need this, Pastor Eagle will be discussing what we should do to shape this world into something that follows Christianity."


    "But why Christianity? That religion is soft. This world is predominantly atheistic. Pantheism has been eliminated after the third world war. And if I were to pick sides, I''d go with Muslims. If you want to build a world using religion, you should use Muslim theology. They''re thergest monotheistic group on the, and people won''t want to mess with Muslims for the extremist tendencies. Christianity is a soft one. They''ll just get bullied and pushed over."


    "It''s risky to use Muslims. In my future, the Aragarians used the extreme end of Muslim theology as a weapon to counter ours. The peace and camaraderie that the Jews and the Muslims now share in the Caliphates will soon be twisted. The Aragarians sent people who they called as prophets to turn many of our allies to betray us. Eagle kept talking about the hope of aing Kingdom. It drew many, but when the Aragarians brought up certain theology in the Judeo-Christian worldview, it created a great divide and made many of our Muslim allies betray us. Of course, those that weren''t deceived fought all the harder. Some of the squadrons that I led had an all-Muslim team. It was cruel faith that they would be forced to fight and killtheir brothers and sisters..."


    "Well, their feud goes all the way back to the Old Testament, after all. Not to mention the extreme factions of the Muslims have been around for a long time. It was not easy to mend that gap. The current peace that the Muslims have with the Jews are all but pretense. Even now, great political turmoil is happening in the Caliphates. If the Muslims and Jews had truly be friends, Israel would have long been given back." The Realm Kingughed.


    "Oh? It seems you know a lot about what''s happening in the Caliphates."


    "I have to. This was one of the many orders that the Progenitor gave me. Now tell me, you assumed that the Progenitor nned to give the wildcard seeds this pitiful life for them to turn to religion?"


    "Yes. I''m using my family as an example. My grandfather was someone who was adopted into society, but his lineagees from the factories of the Void Century. Although he made it, he was very strict in ensuring that our family ties were followed. Not to mention, my grandfather and the side of my mom have dedicated Christians. So this is why I was naturally inclined to fight the Aragarians. I''m guessing that the Progenitor intentionally made my forefathers suffer by forcing them to follow Christianity. When the Aragarian''s came, they offered an alternate lifestyle, a lifestyle of great money, power, and lifestyle but was contrary to what the Christian faith believed in. So I think he made that scenario and even provided people like Eagle to preach to increase the chances of his wildcards to side with the good guys."


    "That does make sense. It answers many of my questions about the mysterious actions the Progenitor made. So, I''m inclined to believe you. But first, I''ll have to grill you for what you tried to pull. If you are my disciple, you should have known the recklessness of what your actions were."


    "Not on this battle. The attack on the Kraken allowed us to kill the Presider based in Australia. His forces were all taken by another Presider, and we know that Presider is headed towards the Caliphate region."


    "What about the techs they have to look at our recent battle? We pulled off several crazy stunts back then."


    "The city was attacked by several ranged rockets from different countries. So it''s not weird for the energy signature that we released to ur. The explosions that you made were simr to nuclear energy. I doubt they''d look into that. With no Presider around this ce, no one would really care to investigate. And besides, we intentionally caused or allowed several battles across the world that would cause them to prioritize those incidents over us."


    "But what about the whole Lost Primordial announcement that you sent? And that attack that you used was very strange."


    "As I said, it''s the least of their problems. The Dragon, Lennox, and the rest have begun their movements. This includes killing Pioneers. I just read Lowengren''s report and had to use my Unlocking to stop me fromughing and cause my wounds to open. That is one madd. His current actions alone must have taken the attention of many Presiders. Anyway, our battle was something everyone was preparing for. Efforts have been made to make this tree one in a forest of other chaos." Seeker exined.


    "Alright¡­ I guess that''s good enough. The fact that you are still not being attacked proves that our fight was unnoticed. So what are your ns? What''s next for us? And where do I fit in this army of yours?"


    "The next step is to build the Cities of Refuge."

 Chapter 267 - The Adventures Of Lowengren And Alean

    The battle in Australia was terrifying. Technologies that were not revealed appeared. Hybrid techs surfaced, and a loud announcement challenging the Lost Primordial echoed out throughout the city.


    Aside from this, a Pioneer was targeted, and even though the Pioneer requested to be rescued, he was ignored. And to the Aragarians, this incident should have been something that would demand two or more Presiders to investigate.


    But none of these happened. As Seeker predicted, the Aragarian''s was rmed by another incident and immediately shuffled to fix the damage. Pridgeon, who was in Australia, had no choice but to leave the country and move in haste to the Middle Eastern region.


    The Presiders ignored various events, and Australia wasn''t the only country to have this treatment. Battles and skirmishes all over the world were ignored because a more incredible and shocking change urred in the Caliphates.


    At the center of this alien-shocking incident were two people. Lowengren and Alean.


    Due to the amazing ability that Lowengren had, he was the most sought after a man that needed to go all over the world to arrange several things for the benefit of Seeker''s team. And as Arthur predicted that Alean''s Skill would also grow stronger if Alean followed Lowengren, the pair had the most adventurous missions on thest four months. This was because the two had to move to different countries and circled the globe.


    Their first mission involved a visit to the Americas to meet Pastor Eagle. As both Paths were opposites, everyone agreed to have the two meet. This mission was done in haste as the WGP was about to close international travels due to China''s event.


    Lowengren and Alean safely reached the Americas and met with Pastor Eagle. He thenpleted various missions to make several bigpanies invest in various Pangean organizations. When the preparations for their return to the Asian region were finalized, the pair left the Americas.


    Lowengren and Alean became stowaways to a satelliteunch since the WGP banned international travel. They jumped off that satellite to intercept an airliner that had two Programmed ve pilots. This airline was thest of the internationally approved travels to transport stranded citizens to their native countries.


    The pair hitchhiked on that ne and secretly reached the EAA.


    In the EAA, the pair then intercepted Cliff and the Dragon Fang, who had justpleted a mission and was being hunted down by Amir Mann.


    Lowengren drew the aggression of Amir Mann through several embarrassing and downright degrading pranks.


    One such prank was that Lowengren brokered a deal with Amir Mann by leaving cryptic messages for the two to meet and make amends at the battle. An exchange was supposed to happen. Amir Mann believed that it was a trap but was confident that he would ovee it. And so he appeared in the discussed park.


    There he realized that he was targeted by arge group of agents who pretended to be civilians.


    Amir Mann pretended not to notice, but his patience grew thinner and thinner as these agents had abysmal skills in the arts of espionage. Amir Mann even saw some of these people giving their allies secret nces.


    Amir Mann''s phone rang. The number belonged


    The moment Amir Mann picked up the phone, it happened.


    A sh Mob.


    "The organizer of the sh mob is that man in the grey suit. He is going to propose to his fianc¨¦ of three years. They are a match made in heaven. He is a fitness freak and loved to work out and met this young and beautiful woman who also shared the same passion. They have had their shares of failed love. The woman''s cheated, the man''s dream girl said no to him when he confessed. And yet, heaven found a way to make these two broken-hearted souls fix their heart through each other''s broken pieces." Lowengren lovingly exined the backstory of the two.


    Amir Mann''s temper red, but right before he could shout, a man wearing a very casual civilian attire approached.


    "Hey, Mann!" The young guy called out. Amir Mann sat at the fountain near the area where the sh Mob urred. Although several people sat in that fountain, this man approached Amir and talked to him as if they were close.


    Amir contained his anger and looked at the man who was approaching him.


    "Are you alright?" The young man asked as he noticed the almost distorted face of Amir Mann.


    "Whatever you n to say, just say it," Amir answered angrily.


    "Well, I saw you on the other side of the street. You looked very irritated. Does this scene remind you of anything?" The young man asked.


    "I just¡­ don''t like to be yed around." Amir Mann answered.


    The young man sat down next to Amir Mann.


    "Life ys around with us, my friend." The young man smiled.


    "Enough talk. You have something for me. Correct? I could see you gripping something in your pocket."


    The young man was stunned.


    "Ri-right. Amazing. You saw through that! Oh well¡­ here goes."


    The man pulled out a small pamphlet. And in it were the words: "Sin and Salvation."


    "Tell me, have you heard of Jesus Christ?" The man asked.


    Amir Mann suddenly grabbed the man by the cor as he realized he was duped again.


    "Woah, Man! I''m sorry! Your friend just asked me to talk to you! I-I was talking with her and was about to talk about this, but she said that she''s already a Christian and referred me to you!" The man panicked at Amir Mann''s sudden action.


    Everyone in the za threw strange looks at Amir and the scene he caused.


    Lowengren had already fled by then.


    "Amazing. That guy was really useful! Amir should be coughing up blood in frustration now!" Lowengren praised Alean.


    "I think I''m getting the hang of my Skill." Aleanughed.


    Ami Mann chased at whatever clues he found but fell for the scheme after scheme. Thister caused Amir Mann to suffer great frustration that he risked his experiments and finally controlled his werewolf form that he used when fighting against Cliff, Typical, and the Fangs.


    As for Lowengren and Alean, the pair reached China.


    In China, he trained shortly with the Dragon''s Fang, and with Alean''s help, the group was exploited. Meng allowed Lowengren to win over and humiliate the Dragon''s Fangs as Meng believed it beneficial to their growth.


    Rosa soon stepped in and challenged Lowengren and Alean. The result was that Rosa would have to give her younger sister, who was as old as Lowengren, in marriage and refer to Alean as "Queen."


    Yet again, Lowengren praised Alean''s Skill.


    When Amir Mann finally found the breadcrumb trail that Lowengren left, the pair did a more daring travel n. Using another satelliteunch in India, they jumped just as Cliff and his teams jumped during the attack on the Kraken. The groupnded on the ocean and swam miles after miles to reach the region of Africa.


    Theypleted another mission where he met with Shark Umberton and made a great deception of pretending to be an Angel.


    But Lowengren''s adventure was far from over. In Africa, they were detected by the Void Assassins, and the two fought. Lowengren fled and was forced to perform yet another trick.


    After Lowengren performed an exhibition to showcase his raw and naked, the pair went towards the far east region of Africa. They reached the borders between Africa, Egypt, and the Caliphate region.


    They were supposed to find a way to cross over and get to the Arabian nations and assassinate an Arabian General who was a confirmed Pioneer.


    But Charles suddenly appeared and required assistance, which forced Lowengren to kidnap General Vender Hirock, who was secretly making deals in the Underworld to save her daughter, who had an incurable illness.


    General Vender''s connection in the Underworld was found by Charles and urged Charles to take action even without the approval of Seeker. And there, Lowengren and Alean once more used various means to redirect Charles''s reckless entry.


    Going back to that time, when Lowengren and Alean were on top of the roof, an invisible aircraft that could not be detected by the sciences of the Caliphates or Africa hovered close by.


    "Fleet Admiral Magantae! Isn''t this a General?" One of the Commanders reported as he showed Lowengren and Alean donning their disguises.


    Fleet Admiral Magantae was searching for clues to verify if Lowengren was indeed alive. By chance, he came over to Lowengren and Alean''s rooftop rxation.


    "Let''s see what he knows. Commander Drinths investigate his office. I need to know who this General is."


    "As youmand, Admiral."


    It was at this point that Admiral Magantae met with Lowengren without her knowing. The incident was so frustrating that the Admiral had to curse out and gave Commander Drinths heavy punishment for having her listen to sciences that made a good dildo.


    "Throw all the dildos out!" The Admiral ordered.


    "Admiral. Punish me all you want, but I believe that we should throw out or destroy those dildos! I''ve conducted research on this General. A scandal of this level will ruin him. We can use this as a means to ckmail him! We need these items! I have already traced the buyer and can prove that the General made this bulk order of dildos! We can even use the soldier who was delivering this to prove that this is the General''s items."


    "What?!" The Admiral shouted at the top of her lungs.


    "This is Africa! They value strength and might! Such items would trap this General! Look! He has been researching for ways in the Underworld to cure his daughter! I can easily prove this! And considering how he was willing to risk this for his country, he won''t allow news of his indecency to reach his daughter, who is suffering from a critical illness!"


    "What do you mean? He will deny that this dildo is for his extramarital affair?"


    "Yes! He may opt to admit to being gay rather than break the heart of his daughter!" The Commander exined.


    Magantae was silent.


    "If we destroy the evidence now, we might not be able to use it to our advantage!" The Commander urged.


    "Fine. We''ll dy it. But I''ll have to see if the information he brings me will be worth it!"


    While the Fleet Admiral waited, Lowengren was able to meet with Charles and the real General Vender.


    It was here that Vender confessed to having been looking for means to heal his daughter and even brokered several deals with the Underworld. It even reached a point where General Vender had deals with organizations in the Caliphates! He sold moderate tiered devices with Africa''s own Tech Possibilities to the Caliphate Underworld organization!


    The smile on Lowengren''s face reached his ears, and Alean could onlyugh. She knew that Lowengren was inspired to create another great deception.


    The Fleet Admiral gave Lowengren a deadline to present all information to her. She hoped that she would find the location of Lowengren.


    But what Lowengren brought was pieces of evidence for Vender''s dealings with the organizations in the Caliphates. Lowengren used his Path to lie when he gave the report.


    The truth was, Vender gave various African weapons and core techs to the Underworld organizations in the Caliphates. Since it was easier for the Caliphates to broker deals with China, the European nations, and even New Great Britain, Vender sold some forbidden techs in return for hi-tech medicinal facilities.


    Lowengren changed it and told the Fleet Admiral that the deal involved certain raw ores and a long list of materials.


    After defeating the Tyrant Empress, the team analyzed the needed materials to make the same Rule the Empress had.


    And while it would have been impossible for many, Lennox was easily able to reverse engineer even the process of creating the Rule. The materials, however, were hard to find. Some of which are native only to certain countries like Africa.


    Of the list of demands and trades that Lowengren revealed, was transactions involving an ore that was needed to create Almetal steel. Lowengren even intentionally added other techs that were unimportant materials since it could have been legally purchased and even imported from Africa.


    But when Lowengren used his Path to lie, Magantae and the Commanders came to a dastardly conclusion.


    "Im-Impossible¡­" A Commander was shocked.


    The materials all pointed to the creation of a certain weapon.


    "This-This¡­" Another couldn''t believe it was possible.


    This weapon was something that only an Emperor should have. Rumour has it that these weapons'' obsolete forms would be granted to impable Generals of the WGP.


    "Why would Intrik-?"


    "Impossible! Intrik ns to betray the WGP?!" The Fleet Admiral eximed.


    "Wh-what? Betray?! You mean¡­ all of these¡­ were parts of his ns in betraying the WGP?!" Lowengren acted.


    "Admiral¡­ Could it be? The missing Rule is with him?" One of the Commander asked.


    "How do you like my n? Isn''t it glorious? With this, the WGP will be investigating people who belong to the Aragarian Elite apart from waging war with itself." Lowengren was exceedingly pleased at his deception. With this, the WGP would now investigate the Arabian nations and even could cause conflicts. As such, it would be easy for Lowengren to sneak in and assassinate the Arabian General. But then, Alean, who had apanied Lowengren in these past months, finally grew strong.


    "Lowengren. Do you trust me enough to change your ns?"


    "Of course. What''s up?" Lowengren asked after a pause.


    "I don''t know what it was. But you have to use your deception to get them to go with us into the Arabian nations."


    "Why?"


    "I don''t know why. But I''m confident that things will be advantageous for us if they do."


    "I know this sounds crazy. But the only way I can exin it is this¡­Lowengren¡­ My Skill has be a Path."


    Lowengren was stunned. But his head began to spin and did its best to conjure a way to make himself be part of this party.


    The Commanders and the Admiral were so stunned that they kept looking at the list of materials that Lowengren traded with.


    It wasn''t a coincidence. The volume, the requirements, and specifications of these materials all fit how to create the missing Rule revealed to be in China.


    "It seems that Fleet Admiral Intrik is on to something far scarier than what I imagine. I''ll send you the locations of where our trades urred!" Lowengren offered.


    "In exchange, help me kill General Joab Barak!" Lowengren gave his demands.


    "Give us the information, or else we''ll reveal your dark secrets to all African Nations!" One of the Commanders argued.


    "If I am right, General Joab Barak could be working with Fleet Admiral! Our deals have already beenpleted! All that''s left is for him to send me the medical equipment! But since he is nning to betray the WGP, he will kill me! He never intended to keep his end of the bargain! My daughter''s life is at stake!" Lowengren crafted a lie out of nowhere.


    "Imprison the two. We can already deduce the locations of where they traded from this paper." Magantae sneered.


    "We don''t need them. Thank you for yourpliance!" The Admiral motioned, and the Commanders picked the two up.


    Alean and Lowengren pretended to struggle as the Commander wearing an Exoskeleton carried them out.


    "What''s your y?" Alean asked in secret.


    "We still have to send Charles inside, right? Originally, I intended to make them fight with the Arabian General. But since you said that it''s better to send us inside, then we''ll use the timely attacks of the Australian EMP''s to bring Charles into this country and raise our importance in the eyes of Magantae!"


    "Thanks for trusting me," Alean said while screaming hateful words to the Commander who was carrying her.


    "If your suggestion bears better fruits than my ns, we will be operating like this in the future. You tell me what direction to take, and I''ll lie to bend the wind and the waves.." Lowengren answered.

 Chapter 268 - Exposing Africa’s Secret

    The information that Magantae received was enough to cause great shockwaves in the WGP. If someone nned to betray the all-powerful and untainted WGP, it would mean death. Nations have, in many points, crossed the line, and they received great punishment in return.


    But just when Admiral Magantae and her team hadpleted the necessary preparations for their trip, the shocking incident urred.


    An Australian EMP bomb was deployed over the city and took out the defenses. Panic ensued as a majority of the defenses went offline.


    "It''s him! It''s him! That General hasunched her weapon! He really aims to kill me! My god! An Australian EMP?! How did he get this?" Taking advantage of the sudden bombing, Lowengren began to do his part.


    Magantae was furious. Her suit was damaged, and she had to use various emergency protocols, including a satellite drop, to restore her power. Worst still was the fact that the Caliphates took this opportunity to attack Africa. It didn''t matter whounched the attack. The Caliphates acted swiftly.


    But then, Magantae appeared and used her Nuke Emitter.


    A powerful erupted on top of the Red Sea. The Commanders wore their Armors and flew to various locations, and sent their warning. However, despite the explosion, the Caliphate army refused to believe that those who fought them were the WGP and rushed on.


    Magantae was so angry that she began to summon her suit''s full might and waged war on the army.


    The Nuke Emitter was a powerful tool that practically devastated the skies.


    The Caliphates retreated, but several powerful weapons of mass destruction were detected.


    Magantae and hermanders charged through and used a strangerge ship that bombarded the base.


    The appearance of the famed Pegasus ships proved that this was indeed a WGP ship.


    After proving their identity, the Admiral ordered a full retreat.


    "This is bad! Now that we revealed ourselves, Intrik will be on the move!" One of the Commanders exined.


    "Admiral Intrik." A Commander corrected.


    "No! He doesn''t deserve my respect! An Australian EMP? It''s him!"


    "We can''t prove it!"


    "That''s why our first order of business is to head for those ces that Vender reported immediately! We go to the meeting spots and capture any suspicious character. We then head towards the trading locations!"


    Lowengren gave two different kinds of ces in his report. The first were the locations where they would discuss the objects to trade. However, the trading spots were on different locations. Some locations were so far that it was on the other side of the African Continent.


    This forced the team to move immediately. With word that another WGP Admiral was nearby, it created chaos.


    Magantae waited for a message from Intrik or from the nearby Kraken or Antis. But no such message happened.


    "What''s going on?" Magantae wondered. She could not help but worry. Why would her battle practically be neglected and ignored? She used the Nuke Emitter, and the nearby WGP facilities did not respond.


    Magantae had personally traveled to look at the various locations that General Vender mentioned on the report. She sent hermanders to look at some key locations that seemed sketchy while she decided to head towards the ce, which seemed the most unlikely ce for a trade between two enemies would meet.


    The location was on the west end of Africa. It was a very sheltered ce, and Magantae concluded that it was the perfect ce to conduct such trades because its position was very inconvenient, and even if the trade were discovered, the government would not presume that the other party was with the Caliphates.


    And so, Magantae ordered the rest to check on the other locations while she would deal with this one.


    The secret trading spot was very difficult to travel to. There were only very few ces in all of Africa that were unmonitored by the government. It was on the outskirts of the north-western side of the African continent, in a location that was hidden in the cliffs.


    She used her techs and reached the locations an hour, which was impressive considering the great distance that she traveled in.


    The ce was a hidden cove underneath the cliffs. There were practically no roads or means to reach it.


    "What an ingenious ce." Magantaemended.


    She immediately dove and used her suit to burry herself on the sand. Only her head protruded, and it camouged itself with the same color of the sand.


    Morning arrived, and people finally appeared.


    The people looked as if they were ordinary. They had shabby clothes and brought with them the most ordinary of items.


    As ordered, Magantae and the Commanders would immediately send an emergency video broadcast that would immediately be uploaded on the cloud for all of the top brass to view. This was Magantae''s n to prove Fleet Admiral Intrik Roovite''s detestable activities immediately. If they can video record trading the raw materials used to create a Rule, anyone with the information would immediately realize it.


    The video was also set to be uploaded anonymously. Although it would be possible to identify who, it would take hours for it to be traced. And this was the time that Magantae and her Commanders needed.


    If they seeded, they could immediately escape and leave Intrik Roovite to be punished by the Emperors and other WGP officers back in the Arctic nations or in the World''s Helm.


    The video began recording and immediately uploaded it.


    The soldiers in the Arctic nations and the World''s Helm immediately saw the files and reported their superiors.


    As for Magantae, she received the shock of her life. She was set on finding out the illegal deals of General Vender and prove Admiral Intrik Roovite''s betrayal. But what she witnessed the uncovered secrets of Africa. She was so shocked that she trembled in anger.


    "WHAT?!"


    "Is¡­ Is this real?!"


    The Commanders also witnessed the same scenes as they continued to upload the video on the Cloud.


    Back in the jail cell, Alean and Lowengren continued to discuss Alean''s new power.


    "So what is it exactly? You just feel you know what to do?"


    "It''s closer to feeling lucky. Have you ever felt that way? Like everything you did just would work out? And I''m not talking about that in your games. I mean, does it happen in everyday life?"


    Lowengren thought for a while.


    "Outside the game, I think there were just days when I felt happy, and things just went my way."


    "It''s something like that. Zone is the ability that appears in apressed amount of time. So when you have a game, or when I am fighting, those moments bring out the best in me and just allows me to focus. That''s when you are in the Zone. But the way that I have to use it during this entire trip was to somehow spread it out through the day."


    "So it''s like waking up on the right side of the bed. Or simply having a lucky day?"


    "Sort of. I''m sure you''ve noticed it. My Skill greatly helped the deceptions you have made."


    "Of course. Your small suggestions have been¡­ very helpful. Was it your Path that sensed that me and Roas''s sister ispatible? I haven''t even seen how beautiful she is. But damn! Am I already engaged? My entric behavior as a gamer hasn''t really made me popr with the girls. Guys, however¡­"


    "Should I have asked if Rosa had a brother?" Aleanughed.


    "To answer your question, no. Me arranging you with her sister was just me having fun. I wanted to pay back her arrogance and your crazy schemes that have purged my innocence." Aleanughed.


    "You could have said no. Why didn''t you?"


    "I could say noter. Rosa''s very attractive. At least, I have to see her sister first. Otherwise, I might regret saying no immediately. But you''ve forever made Rosa our enemy."


    "That Rosa thinks she''s all that just because she''s the wife of an Oveer. So I wanted just to push that pride down. The way she looked at us was as if we were beneath her."


    "It''s part of her Path. I keep telling you that a person''s Path affects his personality! That''s why Richie is the way he is! Well¡­ I''m not reallyining. Seeing how beautiful Rosa is, a part of me is excited to meet her younger sister."


    "Too bad she didn''t want to wage her other sister on another gamble."


    "Eh? I don''t want to have that kind of harem, though. Don''t you know? Leviticus 18:18 forbids a guy to marry a woman and take her sister as a wife."


    "You really n to follow that? The world will change soon. And someone like you deserves two or more girls at his side."


    "I mean, if we are trying to make this world something that uses the Judeo-Christian worldview as the main religion, we Oveers should abide on thews of the Bible."


    "We Oveers?" Aleanughed.


    "I have to lie to myself, shouldn''t I? That''s the only shot I can think of bing them." Lowengrenughed.


    "Speaking of lies, you''re really cruel. No wonder you''ve been asking those questions on the Programmed ves and Pangean spies we went to."


    "I think that''s my way of using the Zone thing you have. I think all Paths have to find this Zone. I can''t just lie randomly! I have to know which lie and what lies to use and what things to get."


    "Still¡­ the things you try to get are very¡­ unnatural. Putting aside the dildo request, you had to strip naked and showed your privates to all the highest-ranking officials of this world. And then after showing them that, you immediately ask Pangean double agents, spies, and programmed ves to give you a list of those banned locations!"


    "I really never understood why they are banned here. I mean¡­ sure. Back in the Void Years, various diseases were airborne and could transfer from one person''s skin to another. But we''ve practically eliminated it!"


    "Know your history! The continent of Africa suffered more from that disease. And so, it''s natural to be doubly careful of that illness."


    "Then why have they created these locations?"


    "Suppress something, and the desire to do it simply increases. It''s like putting a No Fishing sign somewhere. It will make people want to fish. Or putting a Do not touch and people will be curious and do it!"


    "Welp. Luckily, these ces are not reported to the WGP. We can use those banned locations to trick Magantae and her team."


    "Yeah. I wonder what they''ll think when they realized that we sent them to all active nudist beaches here in Africa."


    "Too bad we can''t get to see their faces."


    "True."


    The faces that the variousmanders and even Fleet Admiral Magantae distorted as they witnessed the parade of men and women suddenly disrobing and enjoying the free lifestyle of nudity.


    No other apt description could be used to exin the shock, surprise, and confusion these people felt, except for the word, "Cuttlefish."


    The high ranking officers based in the World''s Helm and anyone else who had ess to the cloud saw the file.


    "MY EYES!"


    "WHAT IS THIS?!"


    "Alert the soldiers! We''ve been hacked! Someone managed to upload porn in our cloud!"


    "Find out who uploaded this cursed file!"


    "BLLLARGGG!" Someone vomited as he saw a happy grandma frolicking.


    Various reactions from the video happened all over the world as these top officials were appalled at what they saw.


    The Commanders immediately closed the video and sted off.


    All of them didn''t even care that they would expose themselves as they sted out of their buried spot and created a shockwave that sent all the nudists into a naked panic.


    As if in sync with each other, the Commanders and the Fleet Admiral shouted the same word.


    "HIROCK! I''LL KILL YOU!"


    General Vender Hirock felt a strange imbnce and nced outside.


    "What''s wrong?" Vender''s wife couldn''t help but ask.


    "I don''t know. It''s as if a bunch of angry voices is urging me to die¡­ Such imbnce in the force is disturbing." Vender sighed and brushed off the mysterious sensation.


    Meanwhile, Fleet Admiral Magantae had to stop herself from using the Nuke Emitter and bombard the area in her anger.


    "Commanders! I hope you have better things to report."


    "Fleet Admiral¡­ I''ve seen¡­ I''ve seen a naked grandma."


    "So what? I''ve seen a horrifying half-man, half-elephant!" Another Commander shouted.


    "Wait! All of us were sent to a nudist beach?!" Another Commander eximed.


    "That Vender!" Another Commander shouted in rage.


    "But it makes sense." The Commander, who saw a naked grandma, exined.


    "What makes sense? The free life?!"


    "No! The Nudist beach! I don''t think Vender would trick us! Why would he? He is our prisoner! These ces are the perfect ces to make illegal trades!"


    "TRADE! YOUR! MOTHER!" The Commander who saw the man-elephant cursed.


    "Haven''t you seen his dildos first hand!? If anything, this man is sick in the head!"


    "No. Drinths has a point. Let''s not forget that we justunched an attack in the Caliphates." The Admiral stepped in.


    "But¡­ this was too fast! Vender''s reports stated that they met daily!"


    "What if we did see the meeting! What if the trades now included modified humans! And to hide this trade, they make it look like a nudist gathering!" Commander Drinths, who saw the naked grandma rebutted once more.


    Themanders were silent. It did seem TOO coincidental. Vender reported specific locations, and all were nudist beach. Themanders believed that this General would not dare deceive them.


    One of themanders who saw the horrifying scene of the elephant-man brought severe damage to his pride. It would take a long time until this soldier can perform a g ceremony as his manhood was psychologically shattered.


    "He must have been modified¡­ That''s it!" The Commander concluded.


    "No. I thought about that. I scanned their biology and noted that none of them were enhanced in any way." The Admiral added.


    Swords stabbed the Commanders heart as he heard the Admiral''s assessment.


    "I¡­ am¡­ pathetic." He muttered.


    "We don''t have the time to search around. Admiral Intrik may be acting as we speak! But there would be no point in Vender sending out in this nude hunt! Remember, Intrik might be after his life!" Admiral Magantae shouted.


    "The nudist beach could be a properly established trading post. We don''t know, and frankly, we don''t have the time! We have to proceed with this mission! We prove Intrik''s betrayal and wipe away the shame that we caused the WGP! As such, we need Vender! No one is allowed to torture and hurt him!" The Admiral cursed.


    "Admiral! He must suffer! He must-"


    "We''ve already betrayed his trust! In our actions, we proved that we couldn''t care less about him or his daughter! We cannot use the stick anymore but only the carrot! Think! What would everyone back home think after they saw consecutive videos of that scene? We would beughed at! We do this and fix this and do it the fastest way! That man has gone mad because he thinks his daughter is dead! He will not be afraid of torture!"


    She recalled the shrill and frustrated cry that General Vender had before she departed. When the EMP attack urred, Vender rambled on and on about how he was right. He even believed that his wife and child were dead began to ram the jail cells with mad expression. The Lieutenant-General tried to calm the General, but it was pointless as he kept on smashing on the jail cell.


    "Commanders, make haste for that building! If Intrik has killed him, we''ve lost our chance for redeeming ourselves!" The Admiral urged.


    The Commanders then increased their speed, even risking getting detected.

 Chapter 269 - Pioneer Flantter

    The rage the Commanders and the Admiral carried as they were traveling back caused them to randomly attack ces as the memory of their stupid act surfaced.


    The bleeding heart of Fleet Admiral Magantae caused her to scream again and again as she flew through the sky.


    When an emergency ping indicating that the WGP may have been hacked was sent out, the Commanders almost fell and crashed on the ground.


    These incidents drew the African military''s attention as they were detected, and some nes were sent to search the strange signals.


    A Commander could not contain his anger and used long-ranged rockets to shoot down the ne and evade detection.


    The Admiral criticized the team and shouted in great anger to make no more mistakes as any reckless action would further jeopardize their mission.


    The Commanders soon flew trembling in rage.


    One of the Commanders arrived and immediately confirmed that Vender Hirock was still alive and immediately secured the perimeter, fearing sudden attacks.


    "Vender is alive. The building is unharmed."


    "Do NOT lower your guard. It may be that Intrik hasn''t found him yet. Defend him with your life. If you fail, you will admit to uploading all those files!" The Admiral threatened.


    Some of the Commanderster arrived and went to scout the northern regions and check if there were movements within the Kraken or the Antis nearby.


    When the Admiral arrived, they finally confronted Vender.


    "You got some exining to do, Vender. The information you gave me- the locations of those alleged trading ports were non-existent!"


    "Fleet Admiral! It''s because of the attack! I didn''t know that the Caliphates employed an EMP bomb! How did they manage to get it here? Isn''t the world banned from international trading! If anything, maybe that Fleet Admiral is tying up loose ends and has designs to kill me! Please let me speak to my daughter! They might have relocated when that bomb exploded! Help me reach out to her! My daughter! My daughter could be dead!"


    This argument was sound. In their rage, they couldn''t think properly. But with a simple answer, their hatred vanished. There was an EMP bomb deployed, and it was designed to give an opening for the armies of the Caliphates to attack.


    "What do you think?" The Admiral turned to the other Commanders.


    "He does make sense. Australia was on lockdown. We guarded the south seas and ensured nothing went out. The only way that an EMP bomb could even reach this part of the world and even New Great Britain is if someone from the WGP gave it to them. The Caliphates could not have gained that weapon. Or perhaps they allied with New Great Britain who took part in the Sacking of Australia."


    "Right. And the bomb that exploded in their base was to prove their innocence. Except that the facilities in that area were of great importance to New Great Britain. Severalbs are there¡­" The Fleet Admiral answered.


    "Then, I will mockingly say this. You want to believe what Vender said, even though all the proof he imed about that Fleet Admiral betraying the WGP has vanished into thin air?" The Fleet Admiral turned and asked.


    "I would." A Commander spoke.


    "Me too¡­ He can''t possibly be lying. The moment we got here, we found out about the dildos. The chances of this person being schemer are practically zero."


    Everyone nodded. Despite being sent into a while nudist beach hunt, the evidence still supported Vender''s ims.


    "Admiral. We must also make haste. Since we stopped the attack, that Fleet Admiral could be headed here to us. We need a n."


    Magantae turned to Lowengren.


    "Fine. Tell me everything you know about-"


    "I won''t cooperate! Kill me or let me talk to my daughter!" Lowengren shouted.


    Magantae expected this. Their previous actions showed that they were willing to discard Vender. But now, they had no other choice but to this through him.


    "Have him contact his wife. Use a Priority Ping of the highest security. I don''t want any other people, even those in the WGP, to know of that call." The Admiral ordered.


    The Commanders gritted their teeth but carried out the order.


    They led Vender and the Lieutenant General over to their base and made the two do the call.


    Still, the Commanders listened in on the call between Vender and his wife.


    "No signs of any signals and secret messages being sent. Nobodynguages show any form of possiblenguage." One of the Commanders noted.


    "What''s the point?! I can''t take it anymore! Why the hell is this Vender detailing their strange escapade! And by all that''s holy, why did he make the Lieutenant General remove her prosthetics? This is sick!" A Commander stormed out, unable to bear the details of the call.


    "I saw an elephant-man, and now this?! Damn it!" Another stormed out.


    They didn''t know that Lowengren had finallymunicated with Charles and learned of what Seeker gained on his meeting with Nogard.


    The time passed, and Magantae was standing in front of Lowengren once more.


    "Now tell me what you know." She demanded.


    "What I know is that they will try to kill me! But this could be an advantage! You are here, after all! But I am the least among Generals! Why go after me when there is a General in Africa who has a history against the WGP! If you want information, you have to get General Joab Barak!"


    "Joab Barak? That is one of Africa''s most wanted General of the Caliphates." The Admiral frowned. She didn''t want to be used by Africa as a hidden de to take another.


    "I had time to think when you left me to die in this cell! You were looking for a Rule, right? Or is it that Fleet Admiral Intrik wanted to build one! It makes sense if they gather certain high-valued ores here! Let me kill him! Send me in and help me get in the Caliphates, and I can make him squeal!"


    "And why would I go after him?"


    "He is power-hungry, and everyone knows that he had long yearned to take control of the Caliphate! If your enemy is after our ores and is hiding them from the rest of the WGP, isn''t Contained me technology the most suited in order to process these ores?" Lowengren asked.


    The Commanders trembled as they realized that what Lowengren said was true.


    The Fleet Admiral Magantae sent them a secret message to keep cool.


    Of course, Alean and Lowengren noticed this.


    "They took the bait." Alean smiled.


    "Fine. Make your preparations. We will help send you in. Only a small group of soldiers will apany you. In that way, if you get caught, we won''t get implicated. Bring in all the gear you need for this mission. You have three hours." The Fleet Admiral immediately left, and the Commanders followed.


    Alean and Lowengren immediately began discussing their ns as to which unit to send and what to bring. Soon, the pair shuffled off, each headed to different locations. They have disappeared for a long time. Yet in that gap, the real General Vender had takenmand and left specific orders through various secretmunication channels to prepare Lowengren''s real weapons.


    "Fleet Admiral? You are helping him?" A Commander immediately asked.


    "Of course not! He will immediately make his troops move. If there are any spies within his forces, they will immediately act. Monitor themunication lines and search for any possible calls and connections that will be made within General Vender''s forces. Note any outside calls, pings, and even text messages."


    "We are using that? We don''t have the authority to activate the All-Seer!"


    "There has been a breach within the system of the WGP, and we''ve uploaded those embarrassing videos. There is also the attack from the Caliphates. We report them all at once. There seem to have been no reports of my actions attacking the Caliphates. Someone is trying to hide that information! If Intrik isn''t going to report it, we should."


    "But this will draw suspicion to us!"


    "Yes. But it will also lead a trail to Intrik. If we fail and are branded as traitors, we need to make a trail that leads to the real enemy. If our identities are questioned, we owe it to the WGP to leave behind the trail of our patriotism. Even if it means we will be putting ourselves at risk! We do not know just how deep the extent of Intrik''s betrayal is. We might be caught in some ns that have been happening for months or years!" The Fleet Admiral exined.


    The Commanders all nodded and did what they had to do.


    Somewhere in the Antic ocean, the Kraken and the Antis under themand of General Intrik were in a state of confusion.


    A shocking upheaval urred as there was an attack on New Great Britain. New Great Britain immediately initiated its State of Emergency protocol and summoned several storms surrounding its immediate regions.


    The Kraken and the Antis were also engulfed by the storms, which caused them to reprimand New Great Britain for their actions.


    There were reports of several nuclear meltdowns within Africa. This was because a certain Presider had received the reports from the most prominent Pioneer.


    "ntter, why me? There are several Presider''s that you could have contacted. Why have you chosen me?" The voice of a girl spoke back.


    "Because although Pridgeon promised us that any information about the Lost Primordial would be rewarded with techs, I am willing to bet that the information about this is worth more than Pridgeon let out. That''s why I went to you, Presider Straviia." The Pioneer reported.


    "Oh? It seems your eyes are set beyond Presider."


    "I can leak this information to others. Although the report is vague, I am willing to risk having a sour rtionship with a Presider for a shot to be A Principal!" The Pioneer dered.


    "How courageous. As it turns out, the information you have is quite interesting. My family has constantly told us of this Lost Primordial. Legend has it that they reached the peak in power. If what your nted said is true, and that there are Lost Primordials in this world. I won''t hide it. Even if we


    get two percent of whatever remnant knowledge he amassed, it should either contain foundational techs that are Principal level."


    The Pioneer trembled at these words. He was excited. His gamble paid off.


    "Then here is what you do, we need that Kraken to attack New Great Britain. I have to send my forces inside that nation to look for this Naked Assassin that Admiral Ramsden has. To think that they would even create modified humans like this. Presiders have not even perfected the science of passing through matter."


    "There are strange reports as well, Presider. I have just received an alert that a WGP Fleet Admiral has attacked our forces on the south. It was strong enough to wipe out an army! This is suspicious because Fleet Admiral had just been reported near New Great Britain! We do not know why another EMP bomb appeared down south! Could this be the Lost Primordial?"


    Straviia frowned and was silent for a bit as she took a look at the files that were being sent to her.


    "Why would a WGP Fleet Admiral go to an area that is the jurisdiction of another?" Straviia could identify the suit and weapons and discern who that person is.


    "That''s a Fleet Admiral?!"


    "Our reports indicate that only one Fleet Admiral has been granted ess to a Nuke Emitter. That should be Fleet Admiral Magantae of the Antis in South East Asia."


    "Why would she be here?"


    "Has there been any reports or anything that has happened in Africa or the Caliphates?"


    The Pioneer was deep in thoughts. Several reports immediately brought up to the Presider, but Lowengren''s naked revtion was not among them.


    Straviaa continued to go over the files and frowned.


    "It must be a diversion. The Lost Primordial and those contacting Admiral Ramsden must be trying to re-divert attention. These sessive attacks were made to make the Kraken and the Antis divide their forces and efforts. Don''t send the report about this attack to the WGP. im you had some meltdown or something. I will personally search New Great Britain for that experiment."


    "You n to go in by yourself, Presider?"


    "I have to. It''s too coincidental. Just when that experiment gets stolen, these attacks ur. This is the first time I''ve seen something so chaotic ur together. And this is not the only one! Pangea won their gamble because that streamer, Lynd Indigo, has some special powers. There have been reports of illegal travels urring on certain countries because of this. I can''t investigate Pangea because that damned Princess is there, and Crostfree has descended at Australia! And I''m sure Pridgeon who gave these orders to you are far ahead of this Primordial race."


    "Understood, Presider. But how can I help you other than not sending those reports?"


    "You have to send your forces to look for the existence of hidden organizations within your country! The Families ought to be a good ce to start. That attack that wiped out that army must have some hidden undercurrents. I have a feeling that groups are trying to get in the Caliphates. This will be your test. Presiders and Principals aren''t just people who have techs. They are those that conquer their enemies. Not reporting the attack and appearance of this mystery WGP Fleet Admiral to Fleet Admiral Intrik will open your country to possible attacks. You have to learn how to conquer them!" The Presider exined.


    "But Presider, I cannot handle a WGP Fleet Admiral!"


    "I will lend you some techs. I have a Skin Suit that you could use. It will be stronger and more durable than a WGP Admiral-level Exoskeleton. Use it as you wish. It will be sent directly to you. My aircraft will drop that suit to you along with several weapons."


    "I understand, Presider."


    "Let''s hope your gamble pays off. I await the day that you stand as my equal." The Presider immediately disconnected.


    Pioneer ntter couldn''t help but smile as the call disconnected. He went out of his secret room and moved towards the conference room where several Generals waited. All stood up as he entered.


    ntter was his Pioneer name. But on Earth, he is known by another.


    "General Barak." One of the Generals addressed him.


    "What are our actions."


    "My sources have informed me that Fleet Admiral Intrik is still housed in the Kraken. Whoever it is that appeared and disrupted our attacks is not from the WGP. Prepare for a possible invasion. Spies may take advantage of this chaos and infiltrate us. I will move south. My contacts from the WGP was willing to send me a new Exoskeleton that is stronger than the standard suits that are used by Admiral levels."


    The Generals all had a surprised expression.. But none questioned it. Such was the authority that General Joab Barakmanded

 Chapter 270 - The Deceivers Trial

    Lowengren and Alean had finished their preparations and gathered their team and weapons.


    The WGP Commanders were watching the phone calls that two made to ensure that they did not contact anyone else. Lowengren was even denied a call to his wife. But of course, they were still able to contact Charles as they had already prepared a phone line wherein Lowengren was trying to call one of the soldiers. As such, the group was able tomunicate with each other peacefully.


    The WGP Commanders did not suspect the normal phone call as it was fairly short and had a very mundane discussion. Of course, through Lowengren and Alean''s ability, the group was already able to inform Charles about their ns.


    Soon, Lowengren and Alean brought in a group of twenty men and presented them before Magantae.


    "Fleet Admiral. The preparations are ready. I have brought with me a small team of covert spies who will infiltrate the Caliphates. I believe that they are the best of the best."


    "None of them will join. We will be going with you, personally." Magantae suddenly dered.


    "You-you will be going with us?"


    "Yes. I have to ascertain if what you said is true. I have to go. Or are there any issues?"


    "None at all, Fleet Admiral. It''s an honor."


    "How will you infiltrate the base?" The Fleet Admiral asked.


    "The attack that Fleet Admiral made caused devastation that weakened the defense of the enemy. In that gap, we can send a small team of soldiers. However, the techs have to be those that cannot be easily scanned. We were nning on bringing several weapons, as you can see." Lowengren pointed to a small crate behind them.


    "We can use our techs to hide you. Feel free to bring more weapons." The Commander next to Fleet Admiral Magantae exined.


    "Thank you, Commander! But won''t the Caliphates know that you are helping us? It will draw suspicion!"


    "That''s why we need you to create a scene once youplete your mission. We have to make several attacks and make sure that they know it''s Africa."


    Lowengren was silent.


    "Is there a problem with this?" Magantae asked again. This was a very harsh request that the Admiral was asking. Magantae wanted Lowengren to create a scene to ensure that the one that attacked them in Africa. While attacking the Caliphates was logical since the Caliphates had first initiated an attack, this would question the first appearance of Magantae and hermanders.


    Magantae was making it clear that she wanted to make it look like Africa had someone pretend to be a WGP official. This act was a severe vition and would draw in great consequences.


    "None." Lowengren pretended to sigh.


    "Silence!" Fleet Admiral Magantae suddenly shouted as she began to call.


    It was here that Empress Everhiss called her daughter and learned that she was in Africa. Everhiss believed that Magantae''s departure was not an ident but a plot by these invisible enemies. And so, to take advantage of falling into the trap, Everhiss gave Magantae a mission in securing information about the secret enemies of the WGP through what she believed to be the idental meeting with General Vender.


    Fleet Admiral Magantae had just received her orders from her mother and had revealed several shocking things.


    During this time, Alean and Lowengren were able to hear the conversation that Fleet Admiral was having.


    "Wow. So she''s the daughter of Empress Everhiss." Lowengren was stunned.


    "Looks like we found someone interesting. This also sounds like Seeker is about to make his move."


    "Yeah. Look''s like we can go all out. Whatever we do in Caliphates will simply be yesterday''s news because of the attack on the Kraken. And we just somehow managed to draw out the Admiral itself. This ensures that whoever ns to attack the Antis will find it much easier." Lowengrenughed.


    "And that all because I wanted to stay up on the roof. See? I told you my power had be a Path."


    The call had ended, and Magantae turned to everyone else.


    "Commanders, we begin our new mission." Magantae exined.


    After which, Magantae dered that they would begin their mission.


    "Our mission?" The Commanders asked at Magantae''s strange deration after her call.


    "What I am about to reveal to you should surprise you. I have long told you all that I am a descendant of the WGP. But the truth is, I am not just amon descent. I am the daughter of Empress Everhiss. My real name is Tanya Magantae Everhiss." The Fleet Admiral dered.


    The group was shocked. Lowengren and Alean were there in the same room listening and pretended to be visibly startled at her words.


    "Our mission has changed. It seems that there are more traitors than we can imagine. By luck, we found this General who is somehow used by Fleet Admiral Intrik Roovite! My mother is also on the brink of discovering something. The Kraken of Pangea will be attacked!"


    "A Kraken? Which nation dares?"


    "Not a nation. The WGP itself! We have spies inside our circles. Spies who are bent on taking us down. This Admiral Intrik Roovite could be the least of our problems!"


    "What is our new mission, Admiral?" A Commander asked.


    "Our aim is to understand what they are after and what they n to do. We dismantle one n and reveal it. So our goal changes, but the next mission remains the same. Our mission is to capture General Joab Barak in the Caliphates and prove the connection with Fleet Admiral Intrik. My mother will take care of Intrik. Now that they are guarded, the Kraken in Pangea will be safe, and we will be one step ahead of our enemies." Magantae exined. She then turned towards the group and finally removed her armors, masked and revealed her beautiful and young face.


    "Jealous?" Lowengren sneered as he whispered to Alean.


    "Is that your type? Want to make her yours? With my Path, it can happen." Alean countered, and Lowengren couldn''t rebut.


    "General Vender Hirock. If you agree to aid us with everything you know, I promise you that the WGP will help you with technologies. While I cannot promise that your daughter will be cured, the sciences andboratories you will have will be unmatched in this world. Do you ept?" The Fleet Admiral asked Lowengren.


    Lowengren was about to ept when he heard Alean talk.


    "y hardball with them." Alean said.


    Lowengren paused for a few seconds. He did not question Alean''s suggestion.


    "Forgive for being skeptical¡­" Lowengren began.


    "I have been deceived by a Fleet Admiral of the WGP. Why would I trust you?!" Lowengren answered.


    "I''m tired of all this! I''ve been abused, fooled, and mistreated by the WGP. That Admiral even used an EMP Bomb to disable this entire area! He had no intention of keeping his promise but wanted to use the Arabs to kill me! While I''m thankful that you stopped their attack, on what basis can you assure me the same? Maybe you just n to kill me after you''re done. Regardless if I know what I was doing or not, I did betray the WGP! Why would you suddenly be so generous?!" Lowengren adamantly argued.


    "You! Don''t put the Admiral on the same level as that scum!" One of the Commanders angrily chastised.


    The group began to shower their threats towards Lowengren.


    "What''s next, Alean?" Lowengren asked. He couldn''t find the right way to lie his way out.


    "Tsk. It''s still troublesome. I still can''t deceive a group of people. Any suggestions on what to do?"


    "I have¡­ a faint feeling." Alean closed her eyes. Due to the mask, no one could tell that she was concentrating."


    "That you are on the right track, Lowengren. And for some reason, I feel like my right track is to pierce beyond the present and see what I should do in the future."


    It was a Path that no one could exin. It''s effects radiated out all over the known dimensions.


    For a single second, Alean knew what she needed to do.


    Far, far away, in a gxy that Earth has not yet seen, stood a man who was moving all over the dimensions. He had broken many dimensions but continued to move from one dimension to another. He continued to search for it, the final dimension, but could not find it.


    "Still not enough?" He pondered and took a step forward and returned into the three-dimensional ne.


    It was then he felt it. He gazed towards the clouds and tried to sense where it came from. He began to move again as if chasing the radiating energy the pulsed throughout the gxy and the cosmos.


    "Prophecy? Was another prophet born?" He pondered as the energy disappeared. He gave a frustrated groan and took a step forward, and disappeared once more.


    Back on Earth, Alean felt as if a strange power was drained from her, and she fell down.


    The group was surprised at the sudden fall of Alean.


    "Al- Lieutenant!" Lowengren eximed as he rushed towards Alean.


    "Lowengren. You have to deceive them! We need to get as much as we can from them. I felt the power leave me! Something good will happen if we control the flow when we are on the other side! Do your best..." Alean secretly exined.


    What''s wrong with her?" One of the Commander''s wondered.


    "Ha Ha Ha¡­ It''s all over. It looks like it''s toote¡­" Lowengren began tough as if he suddenly turned mad.


    "Why do you think that a loving father like me would cheat on my wife? Was it only due to my perversion? I fell in love with the Lieutenant General! She has sacrificed so much for my daughter and even became a willing experiment to take on her illness!"


    The Commanders heard it and suddenly, unconsciously drew back. They all knew what illness General Vender''s daughter had as they''ve seen the reports. And this sickness was something that the WGP called the gue.


    Due to theck of research, it was not certain whether or not the illness was contagious. Lowengren and Alean knew this as they had discussed it with Charles.


    "You! Madman! That illness could infect us all!" One of the Commanders shouted in shock.


    "Ha Ha Ha! And with that, I determined that you do not have the means to heal this illness!


    So why should I help you? What else can you offer?" Lowengren dared.


    The Fleet Admiral was cursing. The reckless actions of hermanders caused her rtionship with General Vender to deteriorate.


    "As I said, we do not have the cure to that disease. But we can help you by providing the best medical assistance." The Admiral immediately interrupted.


    "Then how can I trust your words? The way I see it, something happened that made you reveal your lineage. You''re going all-in on this, right? You think that if you seed in this mission of yours, you''ll get great rewards. Well, I can imagine that! Apprehending someone who will betray the WGP will surely make you an Empress of this world! But the way I see it, If I don''t cooperate, you won''t seed! If I''m wrong, then let me die, right here, right now!" Lowengren then did something no one expected.


    He quickly reached for the nearby weapons that he brought and aimed for his head.


    BANG!


    Right before he could pull the trigger, the Empress shot the gun off his arms.


    "Ha Ha Ha! I''m right!" Lowengrenughed.


    "You need me more than I need you now! You offer a hopeless aid that can''t even cure my daughter! Why should I tell you what I need? I have long nned our raid to kill this General Joab Barak! I know the contacts that can help me move deeper within the building! I don''t care what you guys think! I know my worth! And since I am on the edge of death, and my daughter will die anyway, I''d rather have some fun!"


    Everyone was silent and stared at the Admiral. Alean had already fainted from suddenly overexerting herself and was in the arms of Lowengren.


    "You seem to be mistaken. Do you think you are worth the trouble? You are only a convenient option. I am confident that the techs I have can bridge the gap of your so-called contacts. I am a future Empress. Know your ce!"


    "Know my ce?! I have something that you don''t!"


    "What?"


    "Why will I tell you?! Did you think that I made my deal with Intrik alone? I have made deals with Doctor Lennox Humphrey himself! And with me, are his weapons that can unlock all doors!" Lowengren boasted.


    Upon hearing Doctor Lennox Humphrey, the group was startled.


    "You lie. Not anyone can-"


    Lowengren reached out of his hand and revealed a small orb.


    "Your techs couldn''t detect this. But if I arm it, you would know what power is! Behold. The Cube of Lightning!" Lowengren armed the cube with aplicated twist.


    The charged power appeared and caused several rms on the suits Magantae and her Commanders.


    Everyone was startled. The tech was marvelous, and they didn''t know how it worked.


    "It could probably even kill some of you!" Lowengrenughed.


    The Commanders formed a perimeter around Magantae.


    "Wait! I can promise you that we will even take care of your daughter should you die on this mission! I will adopt her as my own so that she will reside within the WGP''s finest bases where she will receive care!" Magantaeid down her terms.


    Lowengren gave another crazyugh.


    "What can you do to promise or assure that? Words are useless! You need me more than I need you!"


    "Then make your demands! Anything within my power, and within the time that we have, I will do!" Magantae dered.


    Lowengren knew that this was an important tipping point in the negotiation against the WGP. As for his mission, he may have to face it all on his own since Alean is out. He didn''t know how long Alean would stay knocked out.


    "It''s all up to me, huh? I would have to fight by myself and even protect Alean. But her Path should never be underestimated. She did that, and it was with purpose. I am on the right Path." Lowengren smirked.


    "Cliff and Seeker will have their battles in the Kraken, but mine and Alean will not be any less dangerous." Lowengren took a deep breath. Witnessing how Alean somehow over-drafted her Path made Lowengren realize that there was something that he must do to improve his Path. This was a battle that he must face. And he knew it would be just as hard and even harder as the challenges the rest will face.


    "General Vender!" Magantae called out as Lowengren had actually spaced out.


    "Fine! I have a simple demand!" Lowengren decided to experiment. There must be more to bluffs and deception than what he believes to be.


    "Prove your sincerity to me! This mission will be possibly myst! I''m sure you will try to kill me or betray me once I''ve outlived my uses!"


    "Trying to prove our sincerity and intentions are useless since you have already made your own conclusions. If it is possible, I will let you do it!" The Admiral then sent a message to the Commanders.


    "Be prepared. We do not know what he will request. Send amand to the Antis to request for a Satellite drop if necessary. He might want to send his daughter to the Kraken or Antis! He might insist on sending his daughter or might kill himself now!" The Admiralmunicated.


    The Commanders immediately made their preparations to activate amunication ping to the Antis.


    "Let me bring¡­" Lowengren began.


    The Admiral frowned. He expected General Vender to ship her daughter to a WGP hospital immediately. But with Lowengren''s phrase, it seemed that he wanted to send her daughter in personally.


    "We don''t have the time to-"


    "¡­ my dildos."


    General Vender wanted to bring his dildos to the Caliphate nations.


    "Let me bring my dildos!" Lowengren dered with a serious voice.

 Chapter 271 - The Weapon Is…

    It took a few seconds before it finally registered in their brain.


    The shocking and confusing request didn''t make any sense.


    Lowengren observed their observation.


    "Let''s see if that Commander who was already impatient ought to try to kill me." Lowengren hoped.


    "Your what?" The Commanders all seemed shocked at Lowengren''s statement.


    "I have to bring this. I believe I will die in the Caliphates. So why not die with my precious toys. I did export a great effort to acquire this secretly." Lowengren shrugged off.


    "And if possible, send me more of this! I need at least another box. You have the connections! Wait. I decided! Bring me more of this! And it has to be colored ck!"


    "ARGH! I''ll kill him!" One of the Commanders suddenly ran towards Lowengren.


    "Perfect." Lowengren smiled.


    Lowengren quickly opened a small portion of the Cube of Lightning, and it created a powerful burst of electricity that began to attack all the Commanders and the Fleet Admiral.


    Several powerful force shields blocked the sudden emergence of the lightning bolts, and everyone retreated.


    The shocking power of the lightning collided with the force fields and was slowly piercing the shield.


    ZAAAP!


    The force field of the Commander at the forefront of the attack shattered. The Commander raised his Exoskeleton arms, which transformed into arge shield to block the lighting.


    The Commander was stunned at the development.


    "Stop!" Magantae shouted. Her force field was also close to copsing.


    "We will buy dildos!" She shouted in panic.


    The lightning field disappeared as Lowengren flicked the turned top part of the Cube and closed it. But right before all the lighting energy could disappear, a single bolt struck Lowengren.


    ZAAAPP!


    "Ugh!" Lowengren stumbled down.


    "Madman!" The Fleet Admiral called out. It was clear that the weapon could immediately kill Lowengren as well. On their perspective, a stray lightning energy struck Lowengren.


    "Don''t aggravate him! We could die!" Magantae ordered. It was the first time she was afraid of the man before him.


    However, on Lowengren''s end, he was also cursing.


    The chaotic lightning should not have harmed Lowengren. The lightning attack that Lennox contained in his cubes had some form of sentience and would avoid the user who activated it. Activating the Cube itself was only possible for those above the Surmounting Unbing stage of the Unlocking. This allows the Lightning energy to avoid attacking the wielder as the various signatures that only an Unlocked could release.


    But who would have thought that this one had energy programmed specifically to attack Lowengren?


    Lowengren stumbled down. The Lightning energy had the ability to create pressure that it was as if arge metallic pole struck Lowengren.


    And this pole aimed for Lowengren''sher regions.


    Lowengren stumbled down.


    "This is for tricking me into this deal. Don''t worry. This will happen the first time you use a Cube. The other cubes can detect if you''ve already been kicked. Enjoy my products." A strange thought emerged in Lowengren''s head.


    "Lennox¡­" Lowengren wept.


    Right before he left, Lowengren managed to procure several materials from Lennox for free through deception and lies.


    The pain was so immense that Lowengren almost dropped the Cube, and he couldn''t even hear the words that the Commanders were shouting at him.


    "You''re crazy! You''ll kill us all!"


    "We''ll buy those damned dildos! Stop it!" The Fleet Admiral pleaded.


    The lightning energy vanished as Lowengren was kneeling on the ground and the Cube was closed.


    "Admiral¡­ His techs are amazing. We''ve known that the WGP was after Lennox''s alleged techs. And now we have proven it! This is something that the Emperors have been researching! If we acquire that and gift it to them¡­" A Commander secretly sent a message to Magantae.


    "Right¡­"


    Lowengren was still in pain as he knelt down and concentrated on forcing his brain not to process the pain. But the jolts of electricity would stimte his nerves and force him to feel the pain. As he was in this state of torture, he couldn''t hear the words of the Magantae.


    "General Vender Hirock! We will ede to any of your requests! As long as you give us that! Give it to us!"


    "My genitals!" Lowengren whimpered in pain.


    "I should have known!" Lowengren cursed at his own foolishness. He received a weapon from Lennox but should have known that Lennox would not allow his pride to be trampled on so easily.


    "My genitals! The target was my genitals!"


    "We''re after that weapon! Why would we want your genitals?!" A Commander cursed out.


    Lowengren then realized what was happening. He was silent for a bit and used Advanced Recall. He was so focused at the pain that he didn''t hear what was being discussed and used Advance Recall to remember what the group talked about.


    Lowengren then cursed at the misunderstanding.


    But something unusual urred because Lowengren remembered Alean''s words.


    "Was this still part of her prediction? Wait¡­ The group genuinely believed my words¡­ Do I deny it. Or use it?" Lowengren pondered.


    "Deception is based on truth. I cannot deceive without having any basis for the truth. Perhaps my words can be used to mislead them further¡­" Lowengren pondered and realized what easy way he could use to deceive the enemies.


    "Do I really have to do that?" Lowengren gritted his teeth.


    "That weapon! We want that weapon! Give us the weapon, and we can assure you we will ede to whatever wild request you have!"


    Lowengren cursed. He now had a way to exin perfectly why the WGP can''t activate the Cube. This was one of his fears in revealing this tech. The Cube of Lightning would be miraculous in the eyes of the WGP. He had to make an excuse for why they couldn''t study it.


    "The weapon is my genitals!" Lowengren exined.


    "WHAT?!"


    "What do you think is the root of this technology?" Lowengren challenged.


    "New Great Britain''s Lightning Rod tech." The Fleet Admiral patiently answered.


    "Well? What do you think the Lightning Rod of this weapon is?" Lowengren countered.


    There was silence.


    The WGP team couldn''t answer this challenge. They had little knowledge of Lightning Rod technology is.


    "You mean¡­"


    "Why did you think I wanted you to purchased Lightning Rods?" Lowengren reminded.


    "Lightning rods?" The group wondered. And then realized what he meant.


    "The Dildos!"


    "What''s going on?!" The Fleet Admiral demanded.


    Lowengren simplyughed.


    "You''ve been ying us a fool! Those dildos! They are weapons, aren''t they?" Magantae used.


    "Of course! Do you think that I would easily trust Fleet Admiral Intrik! I purchased these weapons as a secret weapon! It was perfect! That stupid Fleet Admiral wouldn''t know what hit him if he tried to betray me! But now that he didn''t even intend to give me the medical supplies he was supposed to give me, then I''ll go in there and Bolt his wife and kid! I''ll fry him, and I''ll even make them lightning rods!" The mad Lowengrenughed.


    The Commanders were slowly retreating at the madness that this General presented.


    "This General is dangerous!" Commander Drinths suddenly sent a secret message to everyone.


    "Yes! We''ve all been yed the fool! He would have seeded in using us to purchase the materials without even knowing!"


    The Fleet Admiral couldn''t help but admit.


    "So the dildos were your aces?"


    "Yes. Lennox was a genius. He gave me the means to do this! He is iming that General Jacob might have been involved in kidnapping his daughter. And seeing me, a kindred spirit, he decided to help me. I promised him to give whatever information I find to him. As payment, he gave me these cubes and crafted them to have mysterious techs that only I and the Lieutenant General can use!." Lowengren revealed several metallic cubes, which caused the Commanders to retreat even further.


    "The Dildos were modified to have strange materials that actually be great rods that fortify and redirect the lightning! Of course, there is something necessary to activate it. Something that I won''t tell you. But as you can see, the drawback is that it will hurt me!"


    "Then the burns on your body¡­ They are-" The Fleet Admiral asked.


    "Yes. You guessed it. It''s caused by using these weapons. Me and the Lieutenant General has used Lennox''s Cube several times. One Cube has enough energy to destroy forty high-tiered Exoskeletons at your level!"


    "You''re insane!"


    "I''m desperate! This is the perfect weapon for me! A man in desperate circumstances hoping to save my daughter has a weapon that can put to shame the pride of the WGP! I even had to sacrifice my body and hide it in a ce which isn''t suspicious!" Lowengren slowly stood up and proudly revealed the slightly burnt area on his lower body.


    Everyone wanted to turn away to avoid this sight.


    "Give us the techs that Lennox gave you. I have already reported your case to my mother. I can urge her to increase her support for you."


    "Kill General Jacob, and you might get Lennox''s support. He could even provide these materials directly! Of course¡­ he might not trust you. After all, your coworker used my desperation and betrayed me. And Lennox sympathizes with my situation. We are but fathers looking for a way to save our daughter!"


    The Commanders and the Fleet Admiral looked at each other.


    "Fine. We agree to support you. There''s a medical bay on our ship to help you and the Lieutenant General heal while we travel."


    "I ept. But don''t test me, Fleet Admiral. If I even get a hint of your betrayal, I''ll use these to blow you all up! If you noticed, the Cube was not even opened all the way! If I were to release all the energy this Cube has, you could be sure that that shield of yours won''t even prove helpful!" Lowengren boasted as he fiddled with the Cube and revealed another one on his other hand.


    The group subconsciously retreated.


    "By the way, this Lightning energy is controlled by me. Now that you revealed you guys have force fields, it can arc and hit you on another location. You guys only have single directional force fields, right?" Loewngrenughed.


    "We will do our part. But you have to allow us to study a single tech."


    "Be my guest." Lowengren threw one metallic Cube.


    The group panicked and almost dashed out when the metal cube fell quietly on the ground.


    "Are you guys idiots? Didn''t I just exin it? It needs the lightning rod, and it needs¡­ well¡­ me. I gave the cubes to my team to study, and they couldn''t make any heads or tails with that. Lennox seemed confident with theplexity of his tech. So a smart man like him must have done something with that weapon that you can''t even activate. The only way to activate it is if I do. But I won''t since it will¡­ punish me."


    The group couldn''t understand why such a crazy method was necessary.


    "If you''re wondering, why that ce¡­ It was Lennox''s idea! And he had a point. No one would expect that ce to be the lightning rod source." Lowengren exined.


    "Pick it up!" The Fleet Admiral finally ordered.


    There was an awkward pause as the Commanders didn''t know who would pick it up.


    The Commander in the forefront froze for a solid second before rigidly moving to pick up the Cube.


    As he held it, he confirmed that it wasn''t an arm and detected no energy leaking out of it.


    "Shall we? Lieutenant-General needs treatment. And I''m not in perfect condition myself." Lowengren urged.


    The Fleet Admiral moved and apanied Lowengren. The team began to move towards the medical bay.


    "Also, since you guys have already attacked a base, I rmend not using it. The security there ought to be tougher. And besides, I have a contact down south that can get us in easier. Head for The Southern Saudi Fifth Fortress."


    "We have our ways of going inside." A Commander scoffed.


    "No. That ce sounds perfect. If he has contacts there, it would be easier. We have already created an action that should have caused Intrik to investigate. But he didn''t. Why? We have to be cautious. We follow General Lander''s suggestion."


    Alean was ced inside an enclosed pod to heal her. At Lowengren''s request, her mask was not removed. Her body was under extreme exhaustion. Lowengren knew that this was because she overexerted her Path, and it somehow caused immense pressure on her body.


    The WGP couldn''t understand Alean''s condition. One of the Commanders was a trained doctor and continued to check on Alean''s status and concluded that it was indeed the gue that was causing her body to go through immense catabolism.


    The moment the Commander found that the Lieutenant had a strange form of cancer cells, he immediately increased the quarantine protocols and kept her in a pod.


    Lowengren refused being ced in a pod and requested injectable, edible, or drinkable medications to help speed up her healing process. The Commander could not give anyment as it was reasonable for Lowengren to remain on guard.


    As such, medicines and MREs were provided for him. But Lowengren did not take any and simply stared at Alean''s pod.


    Soon, severalmanders arrived carrying a box of dildos. There were more boxes now as the Commanders managed to procure more in the short time they had.


    Some of the Commanders were tinkering with the box full of dildos that Lowengren owned.


    One of the Commanders touched the dildos with his bare arms to curiously ess the dildos that hid the strange technology of controlling the cube lightning.


    "So this is the rod?" The Commander praised.


    "You''re a very impressive man, General. To think I just saw you as a sick pervert." The Commander, who nearly tried to kill Lowengren, couldn''t help but praise.


    "Did you pick that up the pile? I hope it''s not the one we used after you left earlier." Lowengren emotionlessly answered.


    The Commander dropped the dildo.


    "Wha-what?!"


    "I mean¡­ it''s already there. Why wouldn''t we use it? Why would I tell my wife I had an affair if it wasn''t true?" Lowengren asked.


    The Fleet Admiral quickly followed and stood behind Lowengren to ensure that his soldiers wouldn''t attack.


    The Commander wanted to rip Lowengren limb from limb, but the Fleet Admiral stopped him and ordered them to make their preparations immediately.


    "Enough! Make preparations! We leave for Fifth Fortress." Magantae urged everyone out before someone would start killing each other.


    The group quickly finished their preparations and therge building that they had transformed into a strange vessel that had now submerged in the Red Sea. It began its journey to the other side of the Red Sea.


    Lowengren was soon left alone in the room.


    Lowengren looked on at Alean and was lost in thoughts.


    "It went too smoothly." Lowengren reflected on how he managed to get to this point through his deception.


    "I always n my lies. But now that I went with the flow... it was... too coincidental. How did I seed without ns?" Lowengren had umted his victories because his wisdom and wit apanied his lies. But at that point, he was without ns, and yet it didn''t even cost him much apart from getting kicked on the nuts by lightning bolts.


    "Arthur and Seeker said that my Path would not have beenplete without Alean''s Path. And just now, her actions paved the way for my sess. Just what is her Path?"


    Lowengren had long noticed that his lies often coincided with coincidences. As a constant person who would enter the Zone in his games, he knew that luck was essential to achieve Zone. But what Alean had was not only luck but a sense of direction that could dictate favorable circumstances in the future.


    "It''s not luck. Just what is it?" Lowengren continued to think.


    "My Path can only grow stronger if I understand this Zone. Oveers have it, and this turned Arthur''s Pseudo Path into a real one. I had received a portion of this through Seeker. But what is it?"


    Lowengren gave a deep sigh and nced at the pod where Alean was.


    "It looks like it would be harder for me to deceive you¡­ Oh well¡­" Lowengren shook his head and began to eat the MREs of the WGP.

 Chapter 272 - The Gambler

    Fleet Admiral Magantae and her Commanders had taken the time to analyze the metallic Cube that Lowengren gave while their ship traveled underwater.


    Because they had to avoid detection, the ship''s speed could not be fast as to cause ripples in the sonar system used. The vessel traveled slowly but quickly across the dark ocean.


    Their attempts led them to open it as Lowengren had done manually.


    The theories they had led them to believe that it was Lowengren''s fingerprints to activate it. But since the Commanders didn''t want to further deal with the perverted, disgusting, chauvinistic, and insane person, they attempted to reverse engineer the tech and try to bypass the possible fingerprint activation system.


    But to their surprise, the Cube they had in front of them was like a piece of metal.


    The group tried to apply heat, electricity, and several techs against it.


    "It maybe Lightning Rod technology¡­ Commander¡­ You have the dildos?" The Fleet Admiral asked.


    During the short period before they left, one of the Commanders immediately moved to acquire more of the dildos. And to do that, the Commander raided several shops that had sold the same dildos and stole them.


    The events confused the local residents as it was broadcasted on their news, but the Commanders in charge immediately returned as fast as they left that they didn''t care what news would circte for they would die in shame.


    The dildos of the same brand were ced side-by-side next to the Cube, and they performed various tests to see if it would trigger it.


    Of course, nothing happened.


    It was then that a very important call was made.


    It was from the Antis.


    "Fleet Admiral. An Emperor has taken control of the Antis." A Commander reported.


    "I am well aware. Commander, the Emperor, knows of my mission, and I will bem-silent moving forward. I do not know how long this will take. We will be entering thend where a possible WGP traitor lies. And since we have no clue as to what technology awaits us, it would be best that no messages or signals will be sent. Even using the priority pings should be avoided as it will hint to the enemy that there are other WGP soldiers within Africa. Although they can''t hack on and listen in to ourmunication, they can still detect the source and destination of this ping."


    "I understand, Admiral. Good luck on your mission." The Commander answered.


    "Fleet Admiral¡­ We will arrive in twenty minutes." A Commander reported.


    "Is it possible that General Vender gave us a nk cube?" One of the Commanders guessed.


    The Fleet Admiral had already suspected this when their attempts failed. She gritted her teeth and began to move towards the medical bay.


    She took off her mask, revealed her beautiful face, and even allowed her bright orange hair to cascade down her shoulders.


    She moved into the room and saw Lowengren eating MREs. The gap on his mouth was too small. Magantae couldn''t make out the face of Lowengren but could see that his lips were burnt.


    Lowengren ignored the beautiful face and continued eating the MREs.


    "You seem to like our MREs."


    Lowengren was so lost in his thoughts that he didn''t notice the Fleet Admiral. And even when the Fleet Admiral called him, Lowengren did not allow himself to flee out of his own thoughts.


    "Time to test it out. Let''s see if she will respond perfectly to my actions. Arthur is someone who can calcte thoughts and things. But I can mislead someone, so I should create my future through the lies I make. I guess it''s time to bring out the old Gambler in me." Lowengren thought to himself.


    "This tastes way better than African MREs. But of course, you do have all the techs you need." Lowengren scoffed.


    "Judging by your expression¡­ It looks like you failed in analyzing the weapon. Not that I''m surprised. However, it''s been a few hours. You already stalled for a few hours to study those techs. Can we get a move on and get to the Caliphates? You don''t expect me to think that your vessel requires a few hours to cross the Red Sea? Moses did it with a Staff, you know¡­"


    The expression of Magantae immediately changed at this usation.


    "We did not stall. Since we are trying to enter the Caliphate region without being detected, we have to limit the speed. While our techs can bypass many, there are simple techs that can detect the movement of water. We are going at the best speed we can."


    "I don''t believe you. You could easily bypass this, can''t you? Or is the WGP so pathetic that your little vessel can move as fast as an orca whale?" Lowengrenughed. His eyes were locked on the expression of the Empress.


    The Empress twitched but did her best to hide it. But to the eyes of Lowengren, these micro-expressions were clear as day.


    She forced augh and turned to Lowengren with a smiling expression.


    "How did you originally intend to break through the defenses of the Caliphate army?"


    Lowengren sneered. Thankfully, his mask was on; otherwise, this would have caught his attention.


    "Perfect. This should make it easier for me to define our entry¡­" The n was approachingpletion.


    "The easiest way. Bribery. I have contacts on the other side. Soldiers in key positions who can help me get in."


    "You trust bribed men?" Magantae frowned.


    "I trust desperate men." Lowengren''s voice turned serious.


    "I have searched for men like me! Men who are willing to sell themselves to anyone to help them. Do you think I''m the only one who''s desperate? I know the game of deception well. So I don''t put my life in people who have more to gain. I put my life in the hands of people who have nothing to lose!" Lowengren''s voice thundered.


    The Fleet Admiral was surprised at Lowengren''s serious tone.


    "You know¡­ I think I can rte. My mother is a WGP Empress. But shemitted a grave crime."


    "Public streaking?"


    "What? No!"


    "What crime can an Empress of the WGPmit? She''s an Empress, for crying out loud! I assumed that whatever crime shemitted was something like dishonoring or tainting the WGP name!"


    "She fell in love with someone."


    "Is it Elmer?"


    "What? Who?"


    "I don''t know. I randomly called out a name."


    "You!"


    "Look. I don''t have time to make guesses. She''s an Empress. Who could she fall in love with that would make her so targeted."


    "Anyone who isn''t a direct descendant!"


    "There''s such a rule?"


    "Why do you think the WGP has not yet been betrayed from the inside all these years?"


    "A shared online streaming ount?"


    "Test my patience once more, General, and I''ll-"


    "Test your patience? Test your patience? You brought me in here, without even making preparations to save my daughter! You shipped me out of my base, disallowed me tomunicate with anyone, and you even stalled for hours while you try to dissect the tech of Lennox! I gave you the Cube, which I know is the only reason why I am valued! If you had found a way to study it, I would be dead now!" Lowengren stomped angrily towards Magantae.


    "And then youe here and ask me questions that I do not know! How would I know how the WGP maintained its loyalty and how they could avoid infighting for nearly a century? Test my patience? You''ve been testing mine! Shall I just blow this ship up with Lennox''s tech?"


    Magantae contained the rage in her heart. Lowengren was able to counter and point out the pointlessness of her questions perfectly.


    "Rage, confidence, resolution, and sarcasm. Since she took off her mask, it''s obvious that she''s trying to develop some rapport with me. But no¡­ I have to take control of this momentum. She should rage and hate me for now. If I want her to fall for my trap, I can only build that rapportter!"


    "Here is your Cube. We''ve reached the destination, and I''m here to return your tech. We will infiltrate the ce and get you inside." Fleet Admiral Magantae threw the Cube recklessly.


    As the Cube was being thrown in the air, Lowengren used his Unlocking to think.


    "Should I do it? If I enrage her too much, she would want to prove how great the WGP is and try to show me how easy it is to infiltrate the WGP¡­ If I enrage her too little, she won''t challenge me¡­ I need to enrage her, but at the same time show capability¡­ I hope this works¡­" Lowengren was actually afraid. He needed to guide the WGP in. He needed to be the first one to go in.


    Lowengren stepped forward and caught the Cube.


    "Judging from her expression andck of fear, she might think that this Cube is fake¡­ I see. Perfect." Lowengren sneered.


    Right before Magantae could turn around, Lowengren flicked the Cube and activated the Lightning energy.


    "You thought this to be fake?" Lowengren sneered as he held the Cube.


    Magantae was bewildered by what she saw. She believed the Cube to be fake and wanted to broker a deal with Lowengren through her rapport. But Lowengren kept brushing off her attempts that it angered her. But now, she was surprised to see that the Cube was real.


    Right before Lowengren was about to deactivate the Cube, he sent a small bolt to attack hisher regions once more, just as it did the first time. Lennox programmed the cubes to attack him the first time, so Lowengren decided to rey this scene as he already used the lies regarding the necessity of lightning rods.


    The bolt struck him, and Lowengren hardened his rocks.


    The attack reached and caused Lowengren to grunt.


    "Ugh. I hope this is thest time I-"


    But then¡­


    ZAP!


    A powerful mming bolt struck his sack like a hammer smashing eggs.


    "Oh? Did I, Doctor Lennox, manage to fool He Who Treads in the Counsel of the Wicked? How does it feel to be deceived?" Lennox''s cold and uncaring voice echoed in Lowengren''s mind once more.


    Lowengren assumed the fetal position.


    "RARGHHHHH!" Lowengren made an angry scream.


    Behind his scream was a vow to hurt Lennox.


    Magantae''s expression was that of fear as she witnessed the lightning energy dancing wildly.


    Lowengren wanted to attack the Fleet Admiral but kept urging his angered self to stop.


    The Lightning energy subsided.


    Lowengren was angry.


    "You still think I lied? See what you made me do?! This is the real deal! This is my resolve, Magantae! You underestimate me too much! You WGP aren''t all-powerful! There are techs you can''t beat and resolve and wills that you can''t ovee!" The confident and arrogant voice rang out.


    "I''ve already prepared for this day, and I will achieve it in my hands! Do you say you will get me inside? I will get myself inside by myself!" Lowengren shouted.


    The Fleet Admiral couldn''t help but shiver seeing two bolts struck Lowengren.


    With the tech equipped in her Exoskeleton, she could tell that Lowengren was hurting.


    "I apologize for not believing you. I do not hold you in contempt or underestimate you. I just want to assure you that my mission won''t fail."


    "I''ve already said it. I don''t trust you. You enter the Caliphates, looking for something to gain. Fame, power, position. I enter it with nothing to lose. And the people who will help me are such."


    "Can you get us in?" Magantae asked.


    "Yes. I''ll go first. Wait for my signal, and don''t do anything stupid like get yourself spotted."


    "I can promise you that that won''t happen. Consume these." Magantae threw several small pills.


    "Those are the most advanced recovery pills. It should help you with your wounds. In ten minutes, your wounds should be healed. I have prepared a uniform for you to wear in the locker room. Head to the Launch bay once you''re finished. We will give you a Caliphate Exoskeleton, which we acquired when we attacked this ce earlier. Suit up and see you."


    "I''ll need to bring dildos. Can you secretlyunch it towards the western side of the coastal base?" Lowengren asked.


    The Fleet Admiral was surprised.


    "Can your body tolerate the pain of using that cubes again and again?"


    "A single Dildo brings out that power. But more of it, and I can increase the range of the attack." Lowengren exined.


    "If the dildos are scattered everywhere, the Lightning field will react at an even wider range. Of course, the more dildos there are, the faster the energy inside the Cube it uses. I need it to level this base."


    "Alright. We''ll send it towards the western side, but you have to create amotion first."


    "Oh¡­ Then you''ll know when to send it." Lowengrenughed.


    Magantae moved towards the door.


    "Fleet Admiral Magantae. I did get what you wanted to tell me. Your sympathetic because your mother did everything to protect you, and you admire someone like me. Is that what you wanted to say?"


    Magantae did not answer.


    "We only want to see our daughter safe and happy. The best way you can thank your mother is to find your own happiness. If I can only see my daughter happy, I could die content."


    Magantae sighed.


    "Do you¡­ want to call your daughter one more time?" Magantae offered.


    Lowengren sneered. His gamble worked. The bnce of agitation, irritation, and sympathy allowed Lowengren to get what he wanted.


    "If possible¡­" Lowengren answered softly. He even added a slight cough to make it look like he was trying not tough.


    The Fleet Admiral fiddled with something and threw a small device to Lowengren. It appeared to be an earpiece with a small microphone.


    "I''ve already dialed it. Just say call, and it will call. You can''t say anything obvious. This isn''t a secure line like the other one."


    "I know what to say¡­" Lowengren answered.


    Magantae left.


    Lowengren had silently gone back to eating more MRE''s and pretended to consume the small pill that Magantae gave him since several cameras were observing him. He looked tranquil, but in his mind, he continued to rage.


    "That damned Oveer! I''ll get him!"


    Lowengren then paused and wore the earpiece.


    "Call."


    "Vender?!" A surprised woman answered on the other line.


    "Hi¡­" Lowengren slowly answered. But in the gap of his voice, he began to speak to another person.


    "Charles. Are you there? I need your help¡­"


    "I''m listening¡­" Charles answered.

 Chapter 273 - Lowengren’s Infiltration

    After using his Unlocking to convert the absorbed nutrients to heal himself, Lowengren went for the locker room and wore the uniform.


    "Where is your contact? We are three kilometers from the coast of Saudi. The Fifth Fortress is only two kilometers nearby the ce we n to deploy you."


    "It''s good enough. Just deploy me, and I''ll move in."


    "How? Your suit will be detected. How can you sneak in?"


    "Sneak in? I never nned to. It''s hard to sneak in, but through my contacts, I will be invited in." Lowengren boldly answered.


    The Commanders and Admiral looked at each other.


    "Invite you in? How?"


    "I won''t tell you! I don''t trust you guys! And if I told you, you wouldn''t trust me to pull it off! So you''ll have to find out!"


    "We designed your suit so that it can talk to us! But we cannotmunicate with you. If Intrik is present, it will give away our signal. Also, Intrik could be listening as well. So if you want to talk to us, you have not to make it obvious. With the limited techs we have, we cannot perfectly mask our signal, and encrypting yourm signal would also be suspicious. Are you confident? We won''t be able to help you or instruct you."


    "Aside from the free ride, I never intended to trust you." Lowengren sneered.


    "Send him." The Fleet Admiral finally decided.


    The Commanders didn''t question the decision and immediately sent Lowengren to the Exoskeleton that was ready to deploy.


    Lowengren wasunched through a small pod that housed him. The Caliphate defense systems couldn''t detect the small pod, and Lowengren safely reached the beach.


    As Lowengren emerged, he slowly strode towards the Fifth Fortress. Soon he reached the base and walked up casually.


    The base was alerted as it noticed Lowengren''s unstopping march.


    Back in the vessel, the Commanders and the Admiral all looked and frowned at Lowengren''s action.


    "What is he trying to do?" One of the Commanders wondered.


    "Perhaps his contact is a top official. Let''s wait and see. He is confident of being able to get in the base. He might have prepared an excuse that''s brilliant or has something that only he and his contact know."


    "The Admiral is right. Despite his perverseness, let''s not forget his hidden genius. Even we were tricked that these dildos are essential for activating that!"


    "Right. I believed that the Cube he gave was fake. But to show us his resolve, he flicked it again and received those two lightningshes! He is a man of ns,mitment, and will! Let''s just wait and see what actions he has prepared to get in the base!" One of the Commandersmented.


    Several Exoskeletons moved out of the base and rushed towards Lowengren, stoically walking as if he was like some zombie.


    Lowengren''s heart was beating.


    As he continued to walk, he began to think about his Path.


    "I need to push myself into dire straits if I want to Ovee. My lies and my means of finding that Zone when I lie must appear on Command! So I''ll gamble like I always do in the game. Will I get killed? Or will I be able to find the right time to lie?" Lowengren thought to himself.


    "Exoskeleton! Report your ID and status! You have been reported dead in the battle up north! Who are you? You have ten seconds to exin!" The Exoskeletons called out.


    The Commanders and the Fleet Admiral watched quietly and waited for Lowengren''s ingenious response.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Lowengren then immediately raised his two arms and shot the nearby Exoskeletons with the guns attached on his forearms.


    Five Exoskeletons received five headshots.


    "Die! Die! Die!" Lowengren charged and shot as many attacks as he could.


    The Commanders and the Fleet Admiral were so shocked at what they saw.


    "WHAT?!"


    "WHY DID HE SHOOT?!"


    "MY LIVER!" A Commander couldn''t take it anymore and fell to his knees.


    All the Exoskeletons that approached Lowengren were killed. Afterward, Lowengren charged forward and shot at the defenses of the base.


    "Die! In the name of the WGP! Die!" Lowengren shouted as he moved and attacked.


    "WGP?!"


    "WHY?!"


    "FLEET ADMIRAL! STOP HIM!"


    Lowengren''s shooting skills were far more superiorpared to the enemies. Aside from the Unlocking, the WGP had outfitted Lowengren with contact lenses that could allow him to detect most iing attacks of the enemy easily. This also allowed Lowengren to kill several soldiers that were far away.


    The Fleet Admiral hadn''t moved a muscle since Lowengren began shooting.


    "We''re going to fail this mission. We''re going to fail this mission." She helplessly mumbled. Her finger was trembling by it did not press the button to open them line. Contacting Lowengren now would even make things worse."


    Through these contact lenses, the WGP could also see what Lowengren could see. The contact lenses also could ess the various sensors and sights of the Exoskeleton itself to warn the pilot of any threats that would appear.


    With this sight and his Unlocking, Lowengren grew courageous in attacking the base.


    He had trained against various monsters before his grand adventure. He had faced the Dragon Fangs, Rosa, and even gambled against Lennox. Compared to them, this base seemed awfully cute.


    "This lens is amazing!" Lowengren marveled as he spoke out loud.


    As for hearing, the WGP had tapped on to themunicator of the Exoskeleton Lowengren was piloting so they could hear what Lowengren was saying. The frequency was unique and altered as the wary team of Magantae decided not to hack on to the line that the Caliphate armies were using as they might get detected on their attempts.


    The Commanders were all visibly agitated and wanted to rush for the Comm device that the Fleet Admiral now held just to shout at Lowengren.


    "Rx, everyone. This is all part of the- ugh! That was close. I almost died there. Erp!" Lowengren called out to inform his silent viewers.


    The Commanders and the Fleet Admiral were turning purple at the sight of this.


    "Is this still part of the n?!" A Commander angrily asked as he implored the Fleet Admiral to contact Lowengren.


    Magantae was hesitating as she wasing so close to turning on the Comm Device to scream at Lowengren.


    "This base is very strong! I don''t think I can get inside." Lowengren sighed as he retreated.


    The Commanders were pulling their hairs at hisment.


    "My Highblood!" Another Commander felt pain that he had not felt for so long. With their techs, maintaining high blood pressure was easy, but Lowengren managed to trigger it.


    "The only way I can get in is if I nuke this building¡­ or if I die¡­ Ugh. Maybe I should just retreat. Nah! I''ll die fighting!" Lowengrenughed again and dashed forward.


    "What is he doing!"


    "Admiral!" A Commander urged.


    "Wait. Listen to his words!"


    "DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! BEHOLD! THE TECHS OF THE WGP! OH, PLEASE DON''T KILL ME!" Lowengren begged after nearly getting struck. He was broadcasting his words for his enemies to hear.


    One of the Commanders finally left the room to rush to the medical bay to treat his high blood pressure.


    "HE''S INSANE!"


    "Should we just go and sneak in now? He''s causing amotion after all!"


    "No! He''s hinting it out to us! He never trusted us, so he''s telling us now! He said that he wasn''t nning to sneak in but to go in invited!"


    "He''s being shot by the base? He killed five soldiers and counting! Will they just invite him for tea?!"


    "The best way to get inside without rousing suspicion is to get inside, either dead or injured! That''s why he''s using the WGP! The n was to force them not to kill him but interrogate him! His contacts inside would convince the soldiers not to kill him!" The Fleet Admiral deduced.


    The Commanders all stopped. The one who was near headed to the medical bay stopped as he heard this. It made sense.


    "So¡­ His n was to attack the base and get shot at?"


    "Yes. Hispanions would capture him. That''s the best way to get inside without arousing suspicion. That''s why he''s very loud and is acting crazy!"


    "I''m not sure if this is crazy or ingenious¡­" A Commandermented.


    "In the name of the WGP Grand Admiral Jafar, die!" Lowengren shouted as he moved forward.


    The Commander who had stopped decided to go in the medical bay, fearing his high blood might erupt again.


    The attacks grew and grew as more soldiers began to attack and caused Lowengren to retreat.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The mortars were now being used, but Lowengren had managed toe out unscathed as he kept moving in random patterns.


    "They are trying to kill him! It''s not working!" A Commander called out.


    "Mortars?! No fair! No one said anything about mortars! Are there sniper attacks too?!" Lowengren cursed and retreated further. But his words were still broadcasted loudly.


    "Sniper?" A Commander realized.


    "I see! He must have made a deal with a sniper! It''s the perfect way to get in! The Sniper shoots him, and he pretends to be hurt! With his crazy antics, it''s easy for his contacts to suggest interrogating him!"


    Magantae nodded as he recalled Lowengren''s words.


    "So this is someone who has nothing to lose?" Magantae murmured under her breath.


    It was then that Lowengren found his chance. The contact lenses detected an Anti-Exoskeleton sniper.


    "It''s about to happen!" Magantae eximed as they saw the warning through the contact lens.


    At that moment, time slowed down as much as it can.


    Lowengren focused as he could see the aim of one Exoskeleton carrying an anti-Exoskeleton sniping weapon. He felt that it was the right time, and Lowengren trusted his instincts as he rushed forward.


    Lowengren moved forward and risked his own body as he began to charge forward while extending his two arms to shoot almost randomly at the enemy.


    BANG!


    The enemy sent one shot, and Lowengren was ready.


    The bullet shot through Lowengren''s Exoskeleton helmet, and the bullet pierced right through it, destroying the protective visors.


    With a simple turn of his head, the bullet nearly grazed Lowengren went through the other side.


    Lowengren pretended to fall back as the bullet fired and quickly aimed his right and left arm to shoot at the area near the back of his head.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    It looked like Lowengren identally shot his own head when he got snipped on the enemy''s perspective.


    Magantae and the Commanders couldn''t see what happened. The moment the visor of Lowengren''s Exoskeleton was shot through, they lost the means to see through the Exoskeleton but could only see the perspective of Lowengren''s eyes. As such, they didn''t see Lowengren actively shooting himself.


    Lowengren aimed for them box near his Exoskeleton''s nape area, and the shots he fired damaged the box.


    After confirming that the Exoskeleton was no longer capable of long-rangemunication, Lowengren sighed.


    "It worked... Now on to the next phase of the n."


    The shootings had stopped as Lowengren pretended to lie as if dead.


    Magantae and the Commanders were horrified.


    "Did he¡­?"


    It was then that Lowengren blinked several times to confirm he was alive.


    "He''s still alive! Amazing! That sniper nearly shot him through the head!"


    Several Exoskeleton''s approached Lowengren to check on his body.


    "Don''t shoot! Don''t shoot! I''m a nted! Contact General Barak- No! Pioneer Barak! The WGP! They were controlling me!" Lowengren pleaded.


    His Exoskeleton remained down on the ground as if it wouldn''t function.


    The soldiers nearby could understand his words.


    "Please call General Barak! Please believe me! Tell him the WGP is here! I''m a nted! I''m a nted."


    The soldiers stood over Lowengren with their guns aimed at Lowengren. Since the visor of the Exoskeleton helmet was broken, a single shot would kill Lowengren.


    The WGP Commanders and Magantae were watching with their arms clenched as the stress of Lowengren''s infiltration reached its climax.


    They could see Lowengren iling his arms in exnation.


    On their monitor disyed Lowengren''s vision, which was several Exoskeleton arm-guns pointed at his head.


    "HQ. Exoskeleton reports that he is a nted and is being controlled by the WGP." The Sargent of the toon that approached Lowengren decided to ask.


    "A what?" The officer was confused.


    It was then that another person inside the main headquarters had immediately called General Barak even though he had no approval.


    "I''m a nted too. We are a secret team of soldiers that work under the General. If none of you in this room knows of it, it''s even more impossible for foreigners to know about us. If that person ims to be a nted, then it should be newsworthy for the General." The officer revealed.


    Even the superior of this officer was stunned at the fast action this officer took.


    "Report!" General Barak appeared on screen and shouted.


    "General Barak. A nted soldier who ims to have been captured and is being controlled by the WGP is here. We''ve managed to disarm his Exoskeleton."


    "What?! I am on my way there. Do not kill that soldier! And to the rest listening, if I find out that news of my elite team spreads, other than the nted officer, I will kill all of you!" General Barak ordered coldly and disconnected.


    The officers of the base were stunned at the conversation. This revtion of General Barak''s Elite team made them tremble.


    "You heard the General. Also, please treat me as someone of the same position. I am by no means of higher rank than any of you!" The officer further exined.


    "Let''s just do our jobs here." The nted added.


    "Sargent! Do not kill that man! Capture him!" The Commander of the base gave his orders.


    "Don''t kill him! HQ want''s him!" The Sargent finally ordered his men who were pointing their arm-guns at Lowengren.


    "Thank you¡­ Thank you¡­ I''m a nted¡­ I''m a nted¡­" Lowengren cried weakly.


    The arm-guns that were aiming at Lowengren''s head became an outstretched arm that pulled Lowengren up.


    Lowengren pretended to have no control over his Exoskeleton and allowed the group to carry him. One Exoskeleton stood on each of his sides to carry him like two soldiers carrying a wounded ally.


    No one knew who started it, but everyone in the underwater vessel was pping.


    Even the Fleet Admiral couldn''t help but p and shed a tear.


    "He did it! The madman did it!" One Commander cried.


    In the medical bay, one Commander was resting on a bed and was surrounded byplicated medical devices that moved on its own and continued to treat him for his high blood pressure.


    But even though it was unwise to do so, he was also pping. The robotic devices were trying to adjust, and several warnings were being announced, telling the Commander to stop moving.


    But the Commander ignored it.


    "That crazy pervert actually did it. What a guy." He pped.


    Lowengren, who was being carried by two soldiers, kept on thanking the team for believing him.


    "Thank you! Thank you! They were controlling me¡­ Please get me inside¡­"


    "It''s alright, soldier. We got you now." The Sargent smiled.


    And afterward, Lowengren did the most logical thing to do.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    On the monitors of the WGP, they could see the battered view of Lowengren, who, despite having a damaged visor, began to shoot the soldiers around him.


    He killed the entire toon.


    Fleet Admiral Magantae fainted.


    One Commander was shouting.


    Another punched the floor, and another coughed up blood.


    In the medical bay, the Commander was convulsing as the robotic devices were actively enforcing stronger means to strap down the Commander and immediately perform emergency treatment for stroke.


    The group of soldiers was immediately killed at the sudden wild attacks of Lowengren.


    "Move back! Move back! They still have control over my Exoskeleton!" Lowengren cried.


    Several soldiers from afar began to shoot at Lowengren as they panicked from the sudden attacks.


    "Stop! Don''t shoot! The General wants the pilot alive!" Several angry cried ordered the corresponding officers in the field.


    The nted was shouting form his base. This was a nted! And someone who had been with the WGP!


    The soldiers stopped attacking and switched to using non-lethal Exoskeleton disarming attacks, which utilized electric sts and tasers.


    Lowengren shot the back of one of his victims and retrieved its bullet pack encased inside and equipped it to his guns


    "He''s got more bullets now!" One of the Sargents cursed.


    "Permission to shoot the arm off this soldier!"


    "Permission denied! The Heavy Shield team is approaching. Surround it with reflector shields and fire electro-spores at it!"


    The Sargent no longerined. Heavy Shield Exoskeletons are among the special suits that the Caliphate army had. They had many uses, and with its reflector shields, it was able to halt the advance of the Ninja Exoskeletons of the EAA.


    The problem was that Lowengren was just too fast and could easily evade whatever attack was thrown at him. Not only could these Exoskeletons take in more damage, they were also equipped with the elusive Mirage Technology.


    Lowengren had already retreated when the Heavy Shield Exoskeletons appeared, but the enemies were catching up on him.


    The enemy kept on shooting while Lowengren was running away with his back against them. Yet even with this, Lowengren''s amazing lens was able to roughly warn him of the iing attacks. And with his Unlocking, this slight advantage brought tremendous gains for him.


    The electro-spores traveled slower than a bullet, which made it easier for Lowengren to evade. Lowengren ensured that his evasion was not so quick and clean to give off the impression that the enemy could hit Lowengren at any moment.


    "Compared to Seeker''s Piercing de, these surrounding attacks seem very easy¡­ I pity the Un-unlocked." Lowengren recalled a terrible memory of when he faced Seeker.


    Despite the enemies havingrge shields, Lowengren could still kill some whenever he suddenly changed direction. He would shoot at the soldiers who did not have their shields up as they were shooting.


    The WGP couldn''t see it because Lowengren would cause his vision to zoom by, and when he was turning, his hands would shoot without him looking.


    "Deceiving two groups of people is not easy!" Lowengrenined. He was getting more and more exhausted as he kept pushing his Unlocking to the limits.


    "HQ~ This man has already killed more of our men! He is able to shoot us urately even if we use Mirage techs! We need to attack him now!" The Sargent reported.


    "Negative. That man is doing his best to warn us about the attack! Try to destroy the Exoskeleton without killing the pilot! If you can''t do that, just shut up and shout at that soldier! Ask him questions about the WGP!" The officer who revealed himself to be a nted eximed.


    The Sargent of the Heavy Shield team cursed at the almost conflicting orders. He then ordered three of them to move faster and kept their shields up.


    "Soldier! Tell us more about the WGP! Where are they?" The Sargent shouted, and his voice was amplified by his suit that made it louder than the gun fires.


    Lowengren smirked as an evil thought surfaced.


    "Perfect. Let''s test it out. I want him to get so mad that he''ll shoot me!"


    "They are with YOUR MOTHER!" Lowengren shouted back maintaining a panicked voice.


    "DAMN IT! KILL HIM!" The Sargent shouted as he began shooting at Lowengren with a high-charged electro-spore that would have killed Lowengren.


    "Perfect!" Lowengren sneered.


    The sudden charge of the soldier gave Lowengren the opening to kill one of the soldiers.


    "Sargent! What are you doing?!" Another Exoskeleton Sargent approached with a few of his men.


    "We are to keep this person alive!"


    "But! He-! He-!" The Sargent was enraged.


    "Soldier! Where is the WGP?" The Sargent ignored the other Sargent. He also heard the same thing, but doubted what he heard.


    "They are underwater!" Lowengren shouted again.


    "Wha-what?" The enraged Sargent was unsure.


    "Your recklessness has costed us a soldier!" The other Sargent berated.


    "No! He clearly said something about my mother!" The Sargent hesitated.


    "Your mother? The WGP is controlling me and I have time to insult your mother?! Are you serious?" Lowengren demanded.


    "You must have misheard! We''re shooting each for crying out loud!" The other Sargent believed Lowengren.


    "No! He really said that! Right?" The Sargent turned to his soldier.


    BANG!


    Lowengren had suddenly rushed forward and killed the other soldier.


    "What are you doing? The pilot controlling me is skilled! Stop standing and fight!" Lowengren cursed.


    "DAMN IT!" The Sargent raised his shield and charged off, and adjusted his position to maintain the other toon''s formation as the soldiers hemanded were killed.


    Back at HQ, the nted continued to ry information to General Joab and would receive new orders. He had used a small earpiece which allowed him to listen to what the General would say to him and through that, he would ry the orders to the rest. Despite being one of the lowest ranking in the room, everyone was now following his orders.


    "Ask him what rank these WGP soldier holds? Are they WGP Elites?" HQ contacted the other Sargent who reported Lowengren''s screaming answers.


    "No! They couldn''t be Elites. They were all bragging about how they can get a promotion or something! These soldiers must be weak!"


    The Sargent ryed the words to HQ.


    The nted was almost smiling as he heard this. He knew that his decision to reveal the term nted was risky. But it seems that his risk was well ced. If they are able to defeat these weak WGP spies, they could acquire more techs! And for Pioneers, tech possibilities from the WGP were like the Holy Grail.


    "Pioneer? No. I could be a Presider!" He knew General Barak or Pioneer ntter valued resourceful men. But if now that the WGP''s techs were nearby, he could secretly steal some for himself and even be above Pioneer ntter!


    "Sir¡­ Should we ry this to the General, or should we just attack and capture the threat itself?" The nted officer asked his superiors.


    The Superior of the nted was trying to hide his expressions.


    If they waited for the General, then the honor and glory will belong to the General. But if they were able to defeat it, a record of being able to defeat a WGP team would allow him to quickly rise in the ranks of the country!


    If Pangea had the majestic, glorious, unparalleled, undisputed, illustrious, eye-popping, eyebrow-raising, breath-taking, heart-stopping, spine-chilling, most amazing General of the Heroes Army, Harker Cipril, the Caliphates had General Joab Barak.


    His words were even more powerful than any Caliphate leader. Although the Caliphate nations were still not considered one nation, no nation would dare mess with the General-Leader, Joab Barak. But now, with a WGP tech, he could just be as awesome!


    The superior hesitated and considered if they had enough manpower to attack this WGP team.


    "Sir!" The Sargent reported again.


    "This man is screaming something about the WGP having a toy of the Lost Primordial?"

 Chapter 274 - Eagle’s Trending Sermon: Cities Of Refuge (Auxiliary Volume 4)

    Good evening! It''s good to see you once again. And it''s surprising to see you here now that the WGP has fallen. While the world panics, you still present yourselves before the Lord trusting in His good grace.


    But let me greet the rest of the world. Good evening, or morning, depending on what part of the world you online viewers are watching this. My name is Calvin Luther Eagle. I am but a Pastor, a father, and a servant on the Lord based here in the Americas.


    I was asked to redo the recent sermon that I had as it seemed to have be trending. Several of our viewers imed that my recent sermons were cut short due to the various cmities and wars urring worldwide. And due to the attacks, the servers that host my sermons for viewing on Asia and even Europe were destroyed.


    And everyone requested that this sermon be repeated and uploaded, as we have just switched to another satellite server to host my sermon so that it would be broadcasted all over the world.


    I thank our supporters who donated so much tounch Eagle''s Wings Satellite. Many have joked that this could be the angel broadcasting the message of hope, as found in the Book of Revtion. And while this joke seemed timely and relevant, especially now at the wake of the WGP''s abandonment of their responsibilities in bing the watchers of the world, I urge everyone to stop.


    It is not because I am a huge killjoy, but because careless jokes like that can lead people to really believe the implications of that joke. In dark times, any ray of hope will be something everyone will desperately search for and pursue. As such, the jokes that magnify the newlyunched satellite to host our sermons may be something that passing people who hear these jokes will fall into believing. I am not a ray of hope in this dark time. I am, but a voice in the desert as the prophet John the Baptist would say.


    I''m very critical of this because the reactions of the world from one of my sermons were already rming. I use the term rming, because of all the sermons about hope, about theing Kingdom, about peace; it''s this topic that became the ones that everyone was searching for.


    The search engines reported that the sermon''s title became the most searched keyword next to ''WGP copse'' and curiously, ''will senpai notice me now that the world is ending?''


    I joke about thetter search term. In truth, the keywords, City of Refuge was the second phrase that everyone has been looking for, and so, even though the servers that blew up was halfway around the world, it still came to our ministries attention because of the mor and search for answers were so loud that my staff forces me to deliver this sermon once more.


    I already intended to do this because several of my new friends in Pangea, One China, and New Great Britain had already requested this sermon. By the time they were free enough to listen to it, it was already gone since the server was already blown up.


    But because I now have to deliver this sermon again and know that the viewer is all over the world, I intend to change it and tweak the message so that it offers more hope.


    The first sermon became trending due to several factors. I thank our in-house online experts who have worked tirelessly to understand why such a message will be trending, and here are their answers¡­


    The First reason is because of the atrocities that have been discovered and have surfaced. Pangea was the first to report illegal activities that shocked the world.


    Organ harvesting and sex trades existed there all for the sake of the depraved mindset of man. We who have prided ourselves in basically eliminating human trafficking, very, and even prostitution are now shocked to see that these things still happen.


    The next thing was the madness of Australia. And while some Australian listeners may be offended by what I will say, the fact is, your nation had been abducting people all over the world. While Pangea ims that the illegal activities in their country sprang from Australia, and even though your government has obstinately denied it, I would suggest that at the very least, both actions are tied and may have worked together even by the smallest amount.


    Africa''s Shark Umberton, the notable professor, has fled and relocated to Israel once more and ns to work with the Caliphates to reestablish the city of Jerusalem and make it a nation once more. His voice has once more resounded strongly as various sponsors of all sorts had managed to contact him. And we know that the reason why this previously unknown person is being elevated because of the shocking revtion that almost all the experimented people in Australia are of Jewish Blood!


    Another reason why that sermon became trending and why Shark Umberton is also now someone who parades in almost all news outlets is One China''s decision to eliminate the former Larson Conglomerate. And yes, it has been confirmed by our missionaries that the proper term is eliminated. The horrors of these conglomerates and how they are secretly the fronts of wicked schemes have made the Earth realize that we are not as good as we im to be. Once more, the Jews were the target.


    But perhaps the biggest reason why the City of Refuge became one of the top searched terms is because the ashes and memories of World War Three are still engraved within our minds. Humanity was nearly wiped out of existence. And now, the WGP itself has withdrawn from their role as their foundations are shaken from a dastardly attack from this mysterious enemy. So who will we turn to? As such, I understand how that sermon, titled the City of Refuge, became trending.


    Everyone longed for these Cities of Refuge that was exined on that sermon.


    I admit that I didn''t really have any high hopes for that sermon. I believed it to be just like any other sermon. But I guess I underestimated the Word of God. It goes out, and it really does fulfill the purpose in which it was sent out.


    So what is the City of Refuge?


    In my previous sermon, I used the City of Refuge term to paint a picture of salvation. God had ordained several cities to be refuge points for those who are foreigners or for the innocent. But perhaps I should take this opportunity to explore more of what this city is.


    It first appears in the Old Testament as amand to Israel to appoint certain cities for specific purposes. The text is found in Numbers 35, as you will see on the screen.


    9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into thend of Canaan, 11 then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manyer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manyer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. 14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in thend of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.


    I''d like first to rify that the City of Refuge''s Biblical image is to be a ce for manyers who await judgment, for the strangers and foreigners, and those who are sojourners.


    Three are made within the Jordan river, and three in thend of Canaan. This means three cities shall arise in Canaan, which was thend of Israel at that time. And there would be three cities that will rise outside of Canaan, beyond the Jordan river! And this should be a rather... very interesting detail for some of my friends listening.


    The verses introduce two different and curious elements that we will have to pay attention to.


    The first is known as the Manyer. This is a person who has been killed. The second is known as the Avenger of Blood. The Manyer flees from the Avenger of Blood, while the Avenger of Blood tries to kill this manyer. Now, here we have a fascinating character. The Avenger of Blood. Someone who is legally allowed by the Law of God itself to kill another.


    People today who have a very limited view of the Bible will often use the age-old argument, but doesn''t the Bible say, "thou shalt not kill?"


    That is both right and wrong. Yes, it is aw. But thisw was meant for one thing, murder. This means thews of God strictly forbid the killing of someone out of wicked or evil desires. For if killing is illegal, why did God order the Israelites tomit genocide?


    The term genocide may shock many of you. But yes! The Bible has, on several asions, allowed the people of Israel tomit genocide. Now, to their defense, the people which God had allowed them to kill, at one point sinned against the Lord or even attempted to kill Israel.


    The Amalekites famously attempted tomit genocide when the Israelites were still on the desert. This angered the Lord. Israel is the apple of God''s eye, as Psalm 17:8 puts it. The very expression of the apple of my eye is actually derived from this verse.


    So let me put it in perspective. Killing enemies in war for survival and other purposes were allowed in the Old Testament. The era of Jesus''ing marked a totally new era because, by His Blood, we are already saved. This changes the rtionship we have with everyone. He promised in the New Testament that He has Ovee, and we too can Ovee! These promises allow Jesus to make bold statements such as ''love your enemies.''


    But in the Old Testament, where God''s favor is not being readily dispensed, as the dispensationalist would put it, then at that time, you have to kill. And that is why the City of Refuge is important.


    Because Blood demands Blood, the Avenger of Blood is normally the closest or next of kin of the in. They are legally allowed to kill the manyer, be it if the manyer identally or intentionally killed the said in.


    People may say that this is a barbaric concept and doesn''t sound in any way remotely Biblical. But that cannot be any more further from the truth. Blood demands blood. In our New Testament era, Christ has died. He has paid for all sins, including the blood price of the in. His shed blood was the Blood that would pay for the sins of all manyers.


    But there is a catch in all this, which I willter expound.


    For now, we take a look at these Cities of Refuge. Because my previous sermon is trending, I feel the need to exin more of the elements that were not previously described. But before that, let me emphasize the things you may have already heard on the previous sermon I made.


    The Bible is the Word of God. And by that, I believe it is timeless. It doesn''t matter what era, what time, or even what Testament we are in. Not one Word of the Bible, not even the smallest strokes, will fade.


    It stands for eternity and is applicable on all times.


    And because I believe this, I believe that the imagery of these Cities of Refuge is not meant for historical reference. It is more than a typology that refers to a future object that we should yearn for. I believe the time ising and may even be here, where these cities of Refuge will continue once more stand! In the chaotic and evil world that we now face at the destruction of the WGP, the Cities of Refuge will appear. These will be cities designated by God Himself to be a refuge for many.


    To the Beloved of this world, keep up the good fight. A time may being that these Cities will be a reality. So hope for that day! Hope for the City of Refuge and flee to it! Do not dy! Run when you see it happening! These cities will be great and powerful cities.


    Perhaps a period will arrive that the Righteous must take up their arms to y and attack the wicked men hoping to kill them. This would be possible when the age of Grace ends and the period of Wrath and Judgement begins.


    Do not be deceived, God is abounding in mercy, but it has its limits. If you don''t believe that, why would God send the ten gues of Egypt? Why would God cause the Israelites to be sent to captivity for seventy years? And if you say that''s Old Testament, go to the Book of Revtion. On several asions, God will wipe out a third of the Earth. That ising, friends.


    We are all Manyers. We have created a culture and a world where these Jews are persecuted and harvested in the cruelest of fashions.. And because of that, we might soon see the Avenger of Blood.

 Chapter 275 - Eagle’s Trending Sermon: The Avenger Of Blood (Auxiliary Volume 4)

    Hi! This is Calvin Luther Eagle! As part of the protocols of posting sermons from the international market, my team has decided to split the sermon into two parts. The first half, which is now titled, the Cities of Refuge is now up on our site, and this is the second of that sermon titled the Avenger of Blood. And now, to the sermon itself¡­


    The Avenger of Blood is a very interesting role in the Bible. And as we have already discussed the legality of killing in the Bible, let us understand the purpose of why the Avenger of Blood is allowed to kill.


    The more you study the Bible, the more prevalent a certain theme appears. And that theme is Blood demands blood.


    The first urrence would be on the time of Cain and Abel when the first murder urs. But it wasn''t until the time of Noah. After the Flood, God tells them in Genesis 9:


    4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.


    6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.


    Blood has something in it that somehow makes it uniquepared to all of our human parts. The shedding of Blood was foreshadowed here and became the theme that we see all throughout the Scripture. Death demands blood, and sin demands blood. This is why the Old Testament is full of animal sacrifices.


    The verse in the book of Numbers continues with an exnation and an example of what killing without intent is. In the example presented, we see several examples wherein the murderer had a clear intention to kill the person. In short, it was nned, it was intended, and it was done deliberately.


    Let us turn back to Numbers 35.


    16 But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 17 And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21 or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.


    22 "But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait 23 or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, 24 then the congregation shall judge between the manyer and the avenger of blood, in ordance with these rules.


    So the verse is clear that there are two types of Manyers. Those who killed someone intentionally and the other by ident or unintentionally. The Manyers can all rush towards these cities of Refuge and avoid the Avenger of Blood.


    If the Avenger of Blood can kill the person outside of the city, the guilt of blood does not apply, as we can see in verses 26 and 27 of Numbers 35.


    26 But if the manyer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manyer, he shall not be guilty of blood.


    Now, this may look and sound extremely primitive. But keep in mind that this was designed by God so that He can enact justice. You see, it may seem convenient for murders to kill someone in secret and make it look like an ident and flee to these cities of refuge. It would appear that they escaped justice, correct?


    No. God will move in mysterious ways to enact His Justice.


    We find such an example in 1 Kings 2. One of David''s tormentors, a man named Shimei, had cursed David during David''s most trying and embarrassing moments. David spared Shimei because he believed that God sent this man to torment David. David brought up this charge to Solomon in 1 Kings 2.


    8 "And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord: ''I will not put you to death by the sword.'' 9 But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood."


    When Solomon reigned as king, Solomon did not immediately put this man to death. Perhaps it was because Solomon wanted to make sure that he wouldn''t kill an innocent man. So Solomon offered the same principle offered to these Manyers. He gave Shimei orders to stay in Jerusalem and that if he leaves that city, he will die. We then find what happens on theter verses of 1 Kings 2.


    36 Then the king sent for Shimei and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. 37 The day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure you will die; your blood will be on your own head."


    38 Shimei answered the king, "What you say is good. Your servant will do as my lord the king has said." And Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.


    39 But three yearster, two of Shimei''s ves ran off to Achish son of Maakah, king of Gath, and Shimei was told, "Your ves are in Gath." 40 At this, he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of his ves. So Shimei went away and brought the ves back from Gath.


    41 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, 42 the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by the Lord and warn you, ''On the day you leave to go anywhere else, you can be sure you will die''? At that time you said to me, ''What you say is good. I will obey.'' 43 Why then did you not keep your oath to the Lord and obey themand I gave you?"


    44 The king also said to Shimei, "You know in your heart all the wrong you did to my father David. Now the Lord will repay you for your wrongdoing. 45 But King Solomon will be blessed, and David''s throne will remain secure before the Lord forever."


    46 Then the king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down and he died.


    Notice how Solomon phrased it in verse 44. "You know in your heart all the wrong you did to my father David."


    This meant that Solomon knew that what Shimei did when he reigned curses to David was not because the Lord ordered him, but because of his own personal agenda. And Solomon reminded him of this. Allowing Shimei to make Jerusalem a City of Refuge for him was a test. Solomon wanted to see if this person was innocent or guilty.


    And so, herees the truth about God''s judgment. He will make ite to pass that the guilty indeed receive their just rewards.


    And this bes another important point in this City of Refuge. It will not only be a city that is protected from the outside. It is sure to have the right people on the inside.


    Most of us fear the enemy of this world! They have fooled the WGP and brought down a Kraken and an Antis because of the traitors inside! But not so with this city! There will be miracles that will divide the sheep and the goats! If this city rises, you can be sure that the times of the Gentiles areing to an End! God will gather his people! Jerusalem is being rebuilt as we speak! And I am confident with every fiber of my body that three cities will rise in Jerusalem, and it will not be conquered! Three more will appear on the regions outside of the Jordan, which could mean anywhere! Who knows where these cities will pop up! But mark my words, the refuge will appear amidst these troubling times!


    Flee to these Cities, oh you beloved of God! Flee and find refuge from the devouring lion that encroaches! Hope will appear! These cities will be the light of the world! Is it not mentioned in the Bible?


    "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden!" Matthew 5:14!


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    You apud...But while it seems something to cheer for, it is something that you all should be wary of! Yes! You, pping your hands in celebration! I am talking about you! Will you be able to enter this city?


    The Avenger of Blood is someone who is the next of Kin. The Jews have all been persecuted. And whether you know it or not, you supported them! The Larson Conglomerate, the My-Pangean family of Ung-ive and Australia, oh Australia! These are the only confirmed groups of those who have been harvesting and killing the Jews!


    You have all supported these groups! You purchased their products, lusted over their services, and you even continue to do so today! And while you are not directly the one murdering, the age of great Grace that God has shown through the death of Christ also ushered in a time of great wrath!


    Those who have not epted Christ will suffer the terrifying wrath of God! Luke 11 records that God will charge the future generations after his death to bear the penalty of all the martyrs that died! That is why even now, martyrs, preachers, and those who share the Gospel have been killed and will be continuously killed to constantly condemn each generation of murder!


    47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ''I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,'' 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.


    ''I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,'' this is the Wisdom of God! He called people to die for His name in every generation so that every generation will bear the prophets'' blood! Do you not understand? You are all manyers!


    The blood of these prophets and even the dying Jews who are abducted and abused all over the World will be paid by the Avenger of Blood, and you are all on trial! So flee to these cities! Flee and be spared from the Avenger of Blood!


    The age of Grace will soon end! The age of the Fishers of Men will pass. The era of the Hunters approaches! Jesus, the Lamb of God, will return as the Avenger of Blood to pay back the world who is guilty of the sins of manying! And blood will be shed!


    Isaiah 63 shows us this!


    1 Who is this whoes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength?


    "It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save."


    2 Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?


    3 "I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel. 4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption hade. 5 I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. 6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."


    Revtion 14 shows us that Jesus will trod the great winepress of God''s Wrath. The blood of the guilty will flow for as high as a horse''s bridle for about three hundred kilometers!


    You decide whether you want to be trodden or forgiven! For this Avenger of Blood, Jesus Christ is also our High Priest! We go back to Numbers 35 onest time, to read a verse that should assure us, who believes.


    There is onest use that can happen so that the Manyer is acquitted of all sins! And that is shown in verses 28!


    28 For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manyer may return to thend of his possession. 29 And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling ces.


    Verse 29 is a foreshadowing of what Christ will do. Hebrews tells us that Jesus is our High Priest. And when he died, we the manyers, can return! But do take note, not to our home town, but the verse strictly states thend of our possession, for there will be and allotted for the believers of God. He will allot a dwelling ce to them, so this rule of the Avenger of Blood and the Manyer is still in effect even to this day.


    Jesus is the Avenger of Blood. He will enact judgment. He is also our High Priest. He died for us that the curse that awaits the Manyers will no longer hold power! He also holds another role that was exemplified in the book of Ruth. He is our Kinsmen Redeemer. He will redeem the Jews and save them! He will establish the Cities of Refuge, three in Jerusalem and three all over the world!


    So who is this Jesus to you? Is he the Avenger of Blood who will y you and enact the judgment that you deserve? Or is He your High Priest who died for you? Choose for this day! Serve the Lord and receive the free gift of Christ! Or stand in opposition against Him and all the Oveers of this world!


    And believe me, they are now here! And they hold the authority to enact judgement as was stated long ago! These co-heirs and co-kings of Christ will stand and decide whether the Manyer is innocent of killing or if he deserves death!


    25 And the congregation shall rescue the manyer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.


    So choose! Face Christ and His Oveers, or enter the City of Refuge and receive protection!

 Chapter 276 - Entering The Caliphates

    The nted officer felt as if his body was electrocuted.


    "LOST PRIMORDIAL!" His heart shivered in greed. They had belonged to Presider Pridgeon''s factions and have heard of this. If he could offer this to Pridgeon, he could catapult straight to an Arbiter like thest Pioneer who Pridgeon took a liking to!


    "Commander. I believe we have to act! And fast!" The officer dered.


    "There is a secret item there that could greatly please the General! It is a weapon he has mentioned. The Lost Primordial! If you gift it to General Joab, he could even make you the leader of the Saudis!" The nted lied.


    The Commander of the base was stunned to hear this.


    "A secret item?"


    "Yes! It is what the General has been after! We need to get this item quickly!" The nted ordered.


    The Commander the nted served didn''t immediately take action.


    "Sargent, move back and ask the man about the vessel. We need more information about that vessel! If we attack and damage his suit now, we might lose the signal that is controlling it! Ask him if the vessel is indeed underwater or above sea! Because if it''s in the air, we would be wasting time trying to find it and subduing him will be our priority! But if it is underwater, we might just have the chance of attacking it! Do you understand?"


    "Yes Sir!" The Sargent knew what he needed to confirm.


    Lowengren was now getting the hang of maximizing one of the skills he hasn''t had the privilege of mastering.


    Realm was something that he couldn''t fully create. His Realm Somatotopy had shorter range and he couldn''t even create a stable radius.


    But with the lens from the WGP, he was slowly learning to understand how it works or feels.


    The WGP''s lenses could alert him and alert him of any attacks that may have happened within a 360 degree radius. As such, Lowengren was using it as a tool to help him understand and improve his Realm.


    "So that''s how it is. I wonder how Cliff managed to get this feeling right¡­ Is it really because of his memories? Or is it because he spent more time with Seeker?" Lowengren wondered.


    "I can hear them! They''reughing at you! They are able to detect and nullify your mirage techs if you move!" Lowengren warned.


    The Sargent was stunned as they heard this. They had consistently been deploying Mirage techs, and yet Lowengren was able to attack them. They knew it was a WGP tech but didn''t understand the science behind it.


    "Don''t move!" The Sargent ordered.


    Suddenly, the soldiers apanying the Sargent stopped moving.


    Lowengren rolled his eyes in condescension as he saw these unmoving Exoskeletons.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The soldiers died.


    "You! You said they wouldn''t be able to detect us!" The Sargent was crying.


    "Are you idiots?! You stopped moving in the middle of an Exoskeleton gunfight! What do you think the WGP would do? y 1-2-3 Statue?!" Lowengren cursed as he kept on attacking.


    "You said that we shouldn''t move?!"


    "I said they could detect you if you move!" Lowengren corrected.


    Lowengren continued to try out several lies and experimented with which worked and which didn''t. But more importantly, Lowengren was looking for the Zone.


    "I''m finally understanding it. Zone¡­ The Zone for someone like me is knowing the extent of my lies. I have to know what lies to use and what limits these lies have. My Path is more than just lying¡­ It''s leading! Perhaps I am more than just a council of the wicked, but perhaps I am a Blind Guide!"


    The Sargent was getting more and more frustrated at Lowengren''s bizarre movements.


    He called in more men to support him.


    "Team, move and protect me at all cost. Continue tounch attacks by shooting at the side of the shield! Our priority is to get covered by these shields!" The Sargent ordered.


    The Sargent moved closer once more and had more men protecting him withrge shields. This time, the soldiers prioritized in defense.


    Because their shields had powerful deflecting tools and had mirage techs that affects sensory, these heavy shield soldiers couldn''t also look through the shields but needed to peak out. This was how Lowengren was able to attack them through his Realm Somatotopy.


    This time, the shield warriors didn''t peak out and didn''t bother to deploy their mirage techs. They simply moved closer like an ancient army phnx that used shields to protect them. And through a small gap, of their shields they would position their electro-guns and fired randomly.


    Although they couldn''t hit Lowengren, they managed to draw closer to him.


    Sensing their intentions, Lowengren didn''t retreat and waited.


    "Do you have any other information about the vessel? HQ can''t detect any anomalies underwater. Are you sure it''s underwater and not airborne?" The Sargent shouted.


    "Finally." Lowengren smiled.


    "I''m not stupid like your men who yed 1-2-3 Statue with me! I know I was underwater! I emerged nearly a kilometer south of here through a pod! Although I couldn''t see anything, I know and could hear the sounds of water!"


    "How fast is this vessel?"


    "That''s right! The speed! It wasn''t traveling fast! I was first there when the WGP attacked north! I know this is in Saudi right? It took us a few hours to get here! But they brought out this strange transmitter when I wasunched to the surface! I think a drone is controlling me!"


    The Sargent ryed his answers.


    The Commander was silent as he continued to assess the words that the Sargent reported.


    "Alright. We must act now! Tell the other forces on standby to move out! Assemble everyone. Only keep a few soldiers to guard the base, but we have to scatter the group! If what this nted reported is true, and that the WGP vessel is slow, we might be able to catch it! It must have some techs that try to distort our sensors, but they can never really escape fast enough! If they try then all of the Caliphates and Africa will detect them!"


    "Sir! That''s reckless! We have to be careful! The WGP used a Nuke Emitter up north! Although General Barak ordered a ckout, we''ve known about the force of this group! If we send out our forces now, they risk getting killed and no one would be left to defend the base!" The nted argued.


    "Not entirely true. I''m betting that this is another group. If they were with the previous WGP, why didn''t the sneak in then? Here''s what I think happened. This belongs to another faction of WGP. It took advantage of the attack that the first faction did, abducted this soldier and brought it here. We don''t know what it''s goal is, but unlike the first group did not hesitate to be seen, this group is hiding! Why? The only reason, is its either not a pure WGP group but may actually be rebels! With everything going on in the world, the attack in Australia, the event in One China were a Rule emerged that the WGP imed was not theirs¡­ I have long suspected of a traitor in the WGP!"


    "What?" The nted acted surprised. But in secret he was happy.


    The nted was secretly happy. Pioneer ntter had secretlymunicated this to him and believed that this group of WGP was different from the first team. There were too many questions.


    If the first team was willing tounch an attack using a Nuke Emitter and decimated an army, why was this group suddenly moving in stealth?


    The news that General Barak had received were now alling in together and made the General conclude that this might be the Lost Primordial or perhaps even something else.


    His report to Presider Straviaa had already caused him to ponder and wonder about the might of Earth. Here was an organization that was able to hide itself all these years and managed to fool even the Pioneers!


    "The only reason why we were able to find them, was through that nted''s swift rise in the position of this mysterious group!" The nted had just been informed that another nted in the WGP had reported of the appearance of this Lost Primordial and so there could be more of them around the world.


    The nted never expected that he would immediately be entangled with this mysterious group. He was banned from telling the supervisors in his base of this information, and so, he made it look like the Commander found out on his own.


    "Thankfully, this Commander is smart!" The nted sneered in victory. Right now, all was left was a race in time. If General Barak arrived before they capture the WGP craft, he could just exin that the craft was nning to retreat and he made a call to stop it.


    But the prize was that if they were able to capture the WGP before General Barak''s arrival! The nted knew that this Commander lusted after power and was using his information to bring out his own evil intentions. If he can get that item and hide it, the nted can immediately find a way to contact Presider Pridgeon at the right time! If he bes an Arbiter, he wouldn''t fear this General Joab Barak or the Pioneer ntter.


    "This is how it is, isn''t it? We fight and deceive each other to get to the top! This is how it is back home, why shouldn''t it be like this here?" The nted secretlyughed.


    The Commander continued to ry his ns.


    "Alright! Send a team to look for the vessel! Search for a drone! We find that Drone, we might get a rough idea where the vessel is through the drone''s transmitter! Continue to attack that Exoskeleton but only maintain the amount of firepower we have been using! That pilot is ying around! As you reported he isughing! We use his arrogance against them!"


    And so, without informing General Joab Barak, the Commander had issues several orders to find the WGP vessel.


    Lowengren waited and kept randomly attacking and evading. He managed to kill one of the soldiers that apanied the Sargent. The movements of the soldiers made him realize that a small toon were now moving away as if it was searching for something else.


    "Perfect! My lies are finally moving into the vision I want! I was right! I can make my own future!" Lowengren sneered.


    Back in the WGP vessel, most of them have already recovered from their shock.


    Fleet Admiral Magantae awoke from her fainting episode. Since she was wearing her Exoskeleton, she didn''t stumble, and everyone was directing their attention to the screen. The Exoskeleton suit had used its advanced technology to awaken Magantae, and her head flushed red.


    She could feel pain in her body as the stress of watching this General Vender Hirock do crazy things had taken a toll on her body.


    In the medical bay, a Commander had alsoe to grips with what was happening now that he was sessfully treated. It was a good thing that he was already seated in the bed where all treatments are applied.


    "Admiral! We have to take action! He will endanger all of us!" A Commander finally turned towards the Fleet Admiral.


    The Fleet Admiral was ring at the screen and noticed that there were already several toons chasing after Lowengren.


    "You''re right. We have to take action."


    "Good! Let''s attack and-"


    "No. We sneak in. This was his n, right? He causes amotion, and we go in! This distraction is huge. The army seems bent on capturing him. He probably made it look like someone is controlling his Exoskeleton. This increases his value and gives us ample time to sneak in!" The Fleet Admiral ordered.


    "This... this was his n?"


    "It''s infuriating, but it is working! Look! They are focusing their efforts from chasing after one Exoskeleton to search for something else! General Vender has already proven to us that they want to catch him for whatever reason. And now, that they are actively using their manpower to search the perimeter! Observe their movements now! Are there scanners searching for drones or a remote transmitter that is trying to control the robot?" Magantae asked.


    The Commanders immediately started to move.


    "Yes! They are!" The Commander affirmed.


    "Then this is themotion he prepared for us! He can go inside now that they are trying to look for something that isn''t there. The armies are focused on looking for that, that our entry is now easy!"


    The Commanders turned towards the screen and saw Lowengren running for his dear life.


    "He did¡­ all that?"


    "You have to look beyond the simple and not be affected by his apparent actions." Magantae chastised.


    "We understand, Fleet Admiral."


    "Let''s go!"


    And so, the quick actions were made. Aside from the Commander, who was at the medical bay, everyone was already geared for battle.


    The group moved and immediately left the vessel, leaving one Commander who just had a stroke to guard the ce.


    As for the rest, they all suited up with a bulker Exoskeleton armor and used advanced mirage technology to change their appearance to be simr to the Caliphate Exoskeleton.


    Magantae and the Commanders continued to look at Lowengren''s perspective and could clearly see that the soldiers were trying to capture and not kill. But when they reached the surface, their own scanners could detect that nearly fifty Exoskeletons were chasing after Lowengren and some Caliphate Jet-Propelled Exoskeletons were even in the area.


    "Strange¡­ Why haven''t they captured General Vender. That amount of soldiers should make it easy for the group to capture him!" Commander Drinths wondered.


    "Maybe they don''t want to capture it yet. They could be using whatever techs to search for the transmitter that they think controls Vender''s suit." Another answered.


    "Then it''s perfect. The soldiers are distracted. Their HQ should be trying to find this non-existent signal. Vender had done his part superbly. We do our part and leave the dildos he wanted." Magantae smiled.


    The Commanders also brought the boxes of Dildos.


    "Do we drop it off at the discussed location?" One of the Commanders asked.


    "Yes. He will have his part to y, and we have ours. Remember our mission. We find anything that links to Intrik. General Vender will do his ns. We have already helped him enter this ce." Magantae rified.


    "How will Vender kill General Joab Barak?" Drinths wondered.


    "You''re quite slow, Commander. It''s obvious. Why did Vender say that he was from the WGP?" One of the other Commanders asked.


    Drinths and the others who still didn''t know also realized Vender''s ingenious ns."


    "Correct. He said he was from the WGP to make General Joab Barak go here. That''s how he ns to kill him. Remember his words? He ns to level this base with these lightning rods."


    "Then let''s get ready to escape anytime. Our mission was to infiltrate the Caliphates, and we''ve already done so. Bypassing all these scans that exist in the coastlines and the borders were the hardest part of our mission. But General Vender has fixed it for us."


    "Right. I can''t believe that we infiltrated the Caliphates by sneaking in an actual base! The coastlines are hard enough, but we went for the base!"


    "We must be thankful. Attacks like what Vender is doing is not yet conclusive enough to be reported to Intrik. The Caliphates will try to deal with this on their own."


    "That Vender¡­ Is he a madman or a genius?"


    "He could be both. He''s been ying low-key. Right now¡­ even I''m not sure which is a better strategist. Lowengren has met his match." Magantae added as she watched the actions of Lowengren.


    The Commanders were stunned. They knew how much of a Lowengren fan their Fleet Admiral was. To think she would put Vender on Lowengren''s level.


    The Commanders and Magantae found a scouting team of Exoskeletons who were searching the skies for drones or anything that could act as a transmitter.


    "Perfect. Let''s get them." Magantae smiled.


    As the daughter of an actual Emperor, Magantae and hermanders were outfitted with special techs that other soldiers of their level could not ess.


    This was a very powerful tech that could steal and assimte them signal of another Exoksleton. With their suits technology to morph their forms into an enemy Exoskeleton, they just had the perfect techs that can allow them to hijack control over a Caliphate Exoskeleton.


    This was their n, but it was risky since they would have to search for Exoskeletons and would risk discovery. But Lowengren''s actions had caused the base to send out scouts.


    "Activate signal stealer. With this, we can finally move at top speed and not worry about getting detected. If Intrik is there, I doubt he can detect us!" Magantae smiled.


    They would now enter the Caliphates, and with them were two boxes of what they believed to be powerful and extremely advanced weapons.


    And these were General Vender Hirock''s dildos.

 Chapter 277 - A Discussion With Planteds

    ANNOUNCEMENT:


    Please reread chapters 273 and 276 as they have been changed. Certain plot points were changed drastically. (About thest half of 273 was changed and 276 had lots of added stuff) Details as to why exined in Authors thoughts.


    -----


    The Saudi HQ sent Exoskeleton scouts to search the skies for any drones. They had a powerful cloaking system and were nimbler and silentpared to the usual Caliphate Exoskeleton.


    "HQ, the skies are clear. We''ve tried several signal channels and modes of detection, but we can''t find anything out here."


    "It''s the WGP! Of course, you won''t be able to find anything. Each of you should use a different scan mode and search the skies! We find that Drone we could track where that ship is!" The man answered back.


    "Can you believe this? I don''t think there''s anything in these skies?" The soldierined to his teammates.


    "Shut up and do your job. It''s the WGP we''re talking about!"


    "If it''s an Elite, I''d be all afraid. But intel states this isn''t one!"


    "They still have the techs to outdo ours! And be quiet! Who knows? They could probably hear us!"


    "Here us? Impossible."


    "Haven''t you read the reports? The Dawn Soldiers of Australia has such increased hearing that they could hear a flying bullet!"


    "Are suits have more techs than a bullet."


    "Well, whatever. I don''t want to argue with you, but our life is on the line of your ranting! So just shut up and do your job!" The other soldier chastised.


    Then there was silence.


    "Good." The soldier thought to himself but suddenly felt that there was something in his chest.


    Arge metallic de has pierced through his chest and was essing the server and the soldier''s Exoskeleton''sm device.


    "You were right. We can hear you. You should have been quieter when telling those other guys off." A malicious voice whispered.


    The soldier had died, and his suit fell into the sea.


    But the strange thing was that their deaths should have been reported to HQ. But it wasn''t.


    The Fleet Admiral and the WGP Commanders had activated their Signal Steal techs. With it, they hijacked the signal of the Caliphate soldiers upon killing them.


    The signal,m channels, and even the pilot''s lifeline reports were now their own suit.


    The WGP Commanders and the Fleet Admiral took advantage at the scouting parties'' movements.


    Each scout was moving on to a different location and was in charge of a respective area to search.


    Though there were numerous scouts in the dead of night, and as these Exoskeletons were searching for something in the air, the WGP was able to ambush the scattered soldiers easily. And in doing so, they were able to merge with the group without raising suspicion immediately.


    "It''s easier than expected." One of the Commanders smiled.


    "Thank General Vender for that. If he didn''t create this chaos and made the group search for drones, we wouldn''t have it this easy. They were specifically looking for drones and employed all their techs to search for an imaginary signal. This makes our entry easier." The Admiral answered.


    "How did he do that? What exactly did he say? I just wish we heard what he''s been shouting on about." One of the Commanders couldn''t help but mutter.


    "We know that it will have to be something in the line of his suit being controlled. That''s how he got them to search for it. But I think whoever is helping him inside took a hint from his words and is helping Vender create this situation." Another Commander assessed.


    "Quit talking. We start now. Initiate fake attacks." The Fleet Admiral finally ordered.


    BOOM!


    Several explosions urred in the area causing all the scouts to panic and withdraw at once immediately.


    HQ received several reports, and theymunicated with the scouts.


    But all they could were howling pain and shouts of rms that they were attacked.


    And so, the scouts were ordered to retreat as a team.


    Within that retreat, the WGP was able to merge with the group and seed in hiding swiftly.


    With the reports of the attack, HQ notified to capture the nted immediately.


    The defensive and yful arrangements were now rushing as the soldiers exerted more effort in capturing Lowengren.


    Seeing the reactions of his enemies, Lowengren finally allowed the attacks tond him.


    Within his suit, he released the specialized cubes that he had won from Lennox. The CubeCube that he had used not only could discharge electricity; it had the power to absorb and convert it.


    The electro-spores struck him in session. This sight horrified the enemy Exoskeletons as they couldn''t understand how Lowengren, who had been able to evade the attacks constantly, would somehow stop moving and caused several charged attacks to strike him.


    The Lightning Cube absorbed the iing electric attacks. Right before there were only a few attacks left, Lowengren closed the Cube, allowing the electric sports to strike the entire robot.


    A single spore could not kill a man. But the number of attacks that was shot would add to the current charge. Yet because Lowengren was able to absorb a bulk of the attack, he managed to survive the shocks. The remaining attacks were meant to show that his body had taken damage.


    Lowengren pretended to copse at the attacks.


    "Quick! Save him!" One of the soldiers nearby shouted.


    Several rushed forward and quickly used their tools to dismantle the unmoving Exoskeleton of Lowengren.


    "Medic! Call the medics!" The soldier shouted, and a Medic had already arrived.


    The Medic tore open Lowengren''s helmet and could see his burnt face.


    "Who is he?" The soldier asked the Medic through a specialized line that no one else could hear.


    "Do you recognize him?"


    "No. I don''t recognize this nted. His face got burnt up. It''s that bad." The nted Medic replied.


    "Let''s go. We''ll report this to Fudge. He has been in Contact with Pioneer ntter." The soldier addressed.


    "This man needs immediate medical attention! Let''s move!" The Medic immediately rushed off.


    "Make way! Get that soldier inside!" A nearby Sargent ordered immediately.


    Lowengren was quickly brought inside, and the soldiers outside began to form ranks and were slowly sent out to attack the region where the attack was made.


    The Caliphate region had the most diverse forms of Exoskeleton in the world. With the Sandstorm technology and how they could harnessrge amounts of sand to create metal, they were the foremost metal providers. And with it, they employed various types and kinds of Exoskeletons, and their soldiers were trained to master a minimum of three types of Exoskeletons.


    The soldiers quickly were outfitted to use Jet-Propelled Exoskeletons and began to aid in the recent attack.


    The WGP was on-route back to the base as was ordered by HQ. Of course, they were using this opportunity to vanish inside the base and seed in their infiltration.


    "I can''t believe that we are actually able to infiltrate this ce without being noticed!" A Commanderughed.


    All of them suddenly received an alert.


    "It''s finally happening. The attack on the Kraken¡­" One of the Commanders mentioned.


    "Rx. My mother and two Emperors are there. They will not lose. Focus on our mission. Vender has done remarkably. Let us not make his works outdo our sess. We have to find out why Intrik ns to betray us."


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Explosions rang out to the west, and several alerts and warnings were broadcasted.


    "Contact has been made on the North-East sectors¡ªsquadrons F5 to H1, outfit for flight-capable suits ording to highest specialties. Expect heavy fire on the enemy. We have located the enemy sub! Scout squadrons are to report to your corresponding teams and outfit ording to your Sargent''s assignments." The Broadcast spoke.


    "What?!" A Commander was confused.


    "North-East? That can''t be our vessel! We are positioned to the south!"


    "That could be either Africa or Egypt¡­ Is this a coincidence?"


    "Probably. Either that or General Vender wasn''t so honest. Still¡­ This does not harm us in any way but can only increase our chances."


    "Why so?"


    "If this is General Vender''s team, then they will take the me for the attack of the alleged WGP." Magantae exined.


    Meanwhile, back inside the hospital chambers, several doctors were busy treating the electrocuted body of Lowengren.


    "It''s amazing that you managed to survive." One of the doctors said as he treated Lowengren. The Doctor then began to check on Lowengren''s pulse and then moved to check on the heart.


    But as he listened, there were no sounds.


    "Doctor. I have that inverted heart condition. My heart is on the left." Lowengren exined as he secretly controlled his heart to stop beating.


    "Oh! I see¡­ Well them¡­"


    "Doctor¡­ I need to see the Commander. I have more things to announce!" Lowengren stopped the Doctor, who was about to check on his heart.


    A Sargent suddenly entered the room and pulled the Doctor aside.


    "We have orders to take this soldier."


    "He is in dire need of-"


    "I''m alright, Doctor. If I don''t report, even you might die." Lowengren tried to stand up.


    "The Commander is on his way. Doctors, please stabilize his condition first and focus on healing his immediate wounds."


    The Doctor sighed.


    "His life is not in any imminent danger, but he has several burned wounds. I''ll just inject the anesthesia and be on my way."


    When the Doctor left, the Sargent moved closer.


    "I''m also a nted. Who are you under?"


    "Presider Pridgeon," Lowengren answered with the only Pioneer he knew by name.


    "Do you have anything to report?"


    "If we seed in acquiring that sub, we have basic foundations that could push us to be Presiders! They have something called the Lost Primordial''s techs. I couldn''t say it earlier because they might have the means to hear me! But I know the exact location of the sub!"


    "You do? How?"


    "How do you think?" Lowengren gambled. This was a point where he had no ns. He had to use his lies to redirect the person toe to a conclusion.


    "If this fails, I''ll have to cover it up with more lies!" Lowengren thought to himself. He could im that he was some nted with a specific task from Pridgeon and that the nted he was talking to did not have the authority. But whateveres next would depend on the nted Sargent''s answers.


    "You mean¡­ What?!"


    "What else?"


    "But how? Right!¡­ The Exoskeleton!" The Sargent realized.


    "Exactly!" Lowengren nodded vigorously.


    "My Exoskeleton had that!"


    "You mean, Presider Pridgeon gave it to you? Or was it Arbiter Madelyn?" The nted asked.


    Lowengren recalled who Madelyn was. Richie gave her a gold coin that Lennox created, which allowed them to spy on Madelyn while she was on Earth. Of course, after Richie met with her again and kissed her during China''s battle, the coin was secretly swapped with another, which Richie had imbued some of his own cells.


    "Madelyn. She gave me the techs that she acquired. Of course, I can''t tell you what. But I have it! Techs that only Arbiters have!" Lowengren exined.


    "Why would Arbiter grant you this technology?" Another nted entered the room. This was the nted who contacted General Joab Barak.


    Lowengren had already seen his Id while he was walking.


    Lowengren nced around the room as if he was suspicious of people listening in to their conversation.


    "Erm¡­ nted Maver." Lowengren called the name he saw on the ID.


    "No need for the secrecy. We are alone here. So tell me. How do you have Arbiter Madelyn''s techs? Something that not even Pioneers have!" The nted called Maver asked.


    "I am her boy toy!" Lowengren answered without faltering.


    The nteds wore strange expressions as they heard this.


    "Boy toy?"


    "Haven''t you noticed?! I look like that gamer! That one who died in Australia!" Lowengren pointed to his face.


    "No wonder you look familiar! You look like Lowengren!"


    "Yes. Anyway, If I die, you will suffer her wrath. If she finds out that I told you, you will all die." Lowengren warned everyone.


    The group became quiet. The nteds had often gossiped in envy of Arbiter Madelyn''s lustful desires that even made her go after several famed figures in the EAA.


    "Alright. You have proven to be someone who is nted. Where is the WGP''s sub?"


    "There are two of them. The second one, the one you are attacking now, is still a diversion. The real one is located on the Southern area. It''s strong, so you don''t have to worry about sting it to smithereens. Launch pseudo weapons of mass destruction against it. Make it look like you''re aiming for the second sub and alter the course of the rocket at thest second to attack it! It will then reveal itself!" Lowengren dered.


    The nteds were silent, but then they began to smile.


    "You aren''t going to wait for Pioneer ntter?"


    "I am with Madelyn, after all. I''ll tell you a secret. Presider Pridgeon has already found the Lost Primordial! He has promised Madelyn to make her a Presider at the very least! With my contributions¡­ or our contributions, we could be one those who skipped a rank! From nted¡­ To Presider!" Lowengrenughed.


    "Good! Then we will follow your lead!"


    "Oh! Right before I forget! These WGP outcasts have someone called General Vender! He went in here earlier to assume a disguise. He should now be in this base as we speak! Kill anyone in the main power nt that might be acting suspicious! This will be our ace! If things turn sour, you can put on any mask and pretend to be that person!"


    "Oh? What about my voice?"


    "This General Vender has the ability to change his voice. It won''t matter. These guys aren''t Elites, but they''re not weak! They might have spies among us! I don''t know what happened after they sent me after all¡­" Lowengren shook his head.


    "General Vender, eh? Alright. I''ll make preparations.. It''s time for our attack! Boys, let''s aim to be Presiders!" The nted called Maverughed.

 Chapter 278 - Fleet Admiral Intrik

    Fifth Fortress was in chaos.


    The soldiers were getting frustrated at the conflicting orders. The position where the squads were assigned to be kept changing almost every other minute. And suddenly, orders that were practically the opposite of the first orders would be given, creating even more chaos.


    Many of the Exoskeletons didn''t know which to follow, and the group would end up getting divided into two.


    Because of this, it took a while for Magantae and hermanders to even reach the base.


    They were ordered to change directions three times and were even ordered to scout again at the disclosed area.


    The soldiers were cursing, and the tempers of the WGP Commanders and even Magantae were tested.


    Because they had linked and stolen the Exoskeleton scout signal, moving out of formation or out of order would make their actions too suspicious.


    "DAMN THIS STUPID BASE WITH ALL THESE STUPID OFFICERS!" One of the Commanders finally howled.


    "Calm down. This could be because of General Vender''s allies. They are creating more chaos so to make it easier for us to enter. However, they didn''t know the method of how we would enter. So them helping is actually not helping." Commander Drinths sighed.


    "Let''s just follow orders for now. Remember, we still do not know why Intrik hasn''t reported our attack up north. This shroud of chaos greatly helps us from getting discovered. The worst thing that can happen is that Intrik will find out that a WGP team is secretly investigating him."


    The group continued to move back and forth, and their impatience was being tested.


    Back at base, the nteds did their best to add such confusing orders. The chaos made every part of the base busy.


    "If we create that kind of chaos, those who have infiltrated will have a hard time moving. Any actions they make will allow us to discover them easily!" Lowengren instructed.


    The nteds were amazed at this nted''s wisdom that they slowly understood why Arbiter Madelyn liked him.


    As such, Lowengren was able to direct the forces of the nted to enact his purposes.


    One of the main groups were ordered to attack the other subs.


    But just as a squadron was sent to dive, the orders changed.


    "Wait! Move back! Be careful! The enemy might have that weapon from earlier. If we trigger it, it mightunch it''s Nuke Emitter!" A person reported and forced the Sargents of every Exoskeleton squad to rush back.


    "Assume defense position! We are going tounch a ranged attack at that sub! Just continue to attack it using mid-range rockets to discover its location! But do NOT approach! I repeat, do NOT approach!" The orders were sent out.


    The Commander of Fifth Fortress waited for nted Maver to instruct those in the Command Center to give their orders.


    He did not argue, but he allowed those orders to be sent continued to watch as his soldiers continued to make ns.


    Maver suddenly approached the Commander.


    "Commander. Sorry for takingmand. But now, let me report to you what the nted Soldier told us."


    Maver and the Commander moved towards another room, and Maver began to ry everything he found out.


    "So they could be already here?" The Commander frowned.


    "Yes. We are lucky that the nted who we caught was ying possum. His attack was a diversion! With the WGP''s techs, they might have been able to send a small reconnaissance team inside! But luckily, this soldier managed to locate the primary sub''s location through one of the techs that General Joab gave him. There are two submarines attacking the base. The one could also be another diversion. But no one must know that that is our real aim, Commander."


    "They must have used that soldier to test our capabilities. But when we tried to capture that soldier, they might have changed their ns. However, did you see thest attack that the soldier received? How was he able to survive that? That amount of Electro-Spores could''ve killed him!"


    "I also asked the soldier. But luckily, because of the strange actions that New Great Britain has been doing these past years, Joab Barak equipped some of his agents with techs. As for this soldier, he luckily had this." The nted then revealed one of Lowengren''s Lightning Cubes.


    "He used this to absorb lightning. It''s almost impossible to detect, but I saw with my own eyes that this Cube could release and absorb lightning!"


    "I see. So he was lucky. Then the WGP most likely believes that we only retrieved his dead body to investigate more about him. He was used as a test to see what techs we have, and that sub was to divert our attention. The real forces will sneak towards this base from the south." The Commander made his conclusion.


    "Wow. This Commander''s smart." Lowengren had been listening through a listening device that he made Maver wear. Maver recognized the wit of Lowengren and believed him to be the best way to capture the Lost Primordial''s techs.


    Lowengren used the greed that he saw and portrayed the same greed and desire to be a Presider.


    "Hmm¡­ Maybe I should make this Commander an ally¡­ But how?" Lowengren pondered.


    "Let''s see how he does it. If he surpasses my expectations, I may not need to use Maver." Lowengren waited for the Commander''s n.


    "Alright. Here is what we''ll do. I''ll fire a Gehanna Piercers. Let see if their sub can take that! As for the spies that are already here, we lead them to a certain ce and ambush them. We know that they are here, but we must get manipte their movements and decisions to follow our directions. We still do not know what they are after." The Commander made his decisions.


    The nted was silent but was amazed at the wisdom of the Commander.


    "Yes, Commander! Also, it seems that someone called General Vender is here as a spy!"


    "Vender? So the WGP has allied with Africa. General Vender is a General up north. He hasn''t been much of a threat; hence he is barely known by Generals. To think that he would hide such a secret¡­"


    "The nted soldier said that Vender has some deal with the WGP. He helps them get inside, and they offer medical aid! What do you make of that, sir?" The nted ask.


    The Commander fell into deep thought.


    "So it''s not an equal partnership but a personal deal? We don''t have much information about Vender, but it seems that he wants to cure someone. Then if that''s the case, we can use that to draw out these infiltrators! Ready Dune World. Regardless of how high-tech their suits are, they won''t know what will hit them if we activate Dune World. How many of you nteds are here on base?" The Commander asked seriously.


    The nted had a conflicted expression.


    "If you want to acquire that tech that your General is after, I need to know! Because we might have traitors in our midst, I need people I- no- we can trust. Your nteds are the best option! Ready them for Dune Combat! The rest of the base must not be alerted with Dune World!" The Commander gave his orders.


    The nted realized what his n was.


    "Forgive me, Commander, but I cannot disclose their full number. But I will contact those I can and make them ready for this."


    "Make your preparations. For now, I''llunch the Gehanna Piercers. This should cause them to panic and buy us some time." The Commander ordered and took out a certain device and readied for theunch.


    "The only problem is¡­ if this vessel has the capability to defend itself, it will flee." The Commander sighed.


    Lowengren heard this and smirked.


    "Maver. Suggest this to the Commander! Quick!" Lowengren began to whisper and tell his lies to which Maver gave his suggestion.


    "Oh, I love it when a nes together." Lowengren was grinning from ear to ear.


    "Alean was right! This was the right choice. If all things work out, I can secure the City of Refuge that Eagle said. Three within the Jordan, eh? Looks like I''ll get busy."


    Lowengren was currently in an Exoskeleton and was moving along with another toon.


    With his newfound position in the group of nteds, he moved around the base freely. He imed that He had already taken a secret medicine that Pioneer Pridgeon himself gave him. The group marveled as Lowengren was even able to exin what exact sciences Pridgeon has.


    And so, Lowengren was able to move out and was sending a message to a specific broadcast signal.


    The message was just garbled statics and grunts from an Exoskeleton that may have identally tapped on a different signal.


    But the messages that had higher frequencies that the normal ear couldn''t hear were clearly ryed to several people inside the submarine nearby.


    It was Charles and the real General Vender.


    "Oh? It looks like it''s finally my time to shine." Charlesughed as he suited himself.


    "Will you be alright, Vender?"


    "I- I didn''t catch all that. What did he want me to do?"


    "Honestly, I have no idea. I just know what I have to do. You can ask him again. You can already talk at different frequencies. Oh, and this is your first battle as an Unlocked! Kill as many as you can!" Charles left and moved out of the sub through a special Exoskeleton, leaving a very confused Vender who was now sharing what he just heard to his wife who couldn''t make heads or tails of what Lowengren said.


    "A Nuke Emitter wasunched up north. So what if I fire a banned rocket in the Red Sea?" The Commander of Fifth Fortressunched the rocket and directed its movements.


    The Gehanna Piercers were specialized rockets that were used to be able to travel extremely fast underwater. As underwater bases weremon, such were weapons were developed to deal with these hindrances.


    The rocket moved with fast speed and rushed towards the skies, and prepared for its dive.


    The Commander, who just recovered from a stroke, observed and determined that it was headed for the submarine he had detected when Magantae and her team moved out.


    "A Gehanna Piercer? How brutal." The Commander shook his head and felt sorry for the submarine. He had deduced that this must have been an African sub.


    But as the Gehanna Piercer was falling, a secondary thruster suddenly exploded out and immediately changed the attack''s direction.


    It was headed for the WGP vessel!


    With itsplex technology, the Gehanna Piercer dove through the dark ocean and flew as if it was still on midair.


    The rxing Commander felt his stroke returning at the sudden changes. He panicked and began to activate all defensive protocols.


    Several torpedoes wereunched in an attempt to intercept it.


    "Childish. Is this what the WGP has to offer?" The Commander of Fifth Fortressughed as he continued to control the Gehanna Piercer. Despite the fast speed, he could still navigate the rocket and avoided the iing torpedoes.


    The Commander in the WGP was panicking and began to activate the defensive protocols to brace for impact as the rocket had reached impact range.


    The many anti-torpedoes attacks finallynded on the Gehanna Piercer. But the Gehanna Piercer was already too near.


    BOOM!


    A powerful explosion urred deep underwater and struck the WGP vessel.


    Upon the ground, Magantae and the Commanders were shocked at what they saw.


    "WGP! I''ve been waiting for you! Fleet Admiral Intrik sends his regards!" The Commander of Fifth Fortress suddenly announced what Maver suggested to him.


    "Let''s hope that it is as you suggested, Maver." The Commander was clenching the side of his chair and waited.


    "Will they escape? If they do¡­ we won''t be able to catch them. But if we make this lie, there could be a chance that they would remain to fight Fleet Admiral Intrik for whatever reasons." The Commander sat down and nced at the many scans in the Command Center.


    Fleet Admiral Magantae and the Commander were shocked when they heard it.


    "So this was his n. Intrik is here!" Magantae''s voice almost trembled.


    Meanwhile, Lowengren had finally retrieved the boxes of Dildos that the WGP had secretly sent a while back.


    Lowengren couldn''t help but pause as he was about to return as he received a message from the real General Vender.


    "I''m sorry. I got confused. What did you do, and who am I supposed to be? I didn''t catch your exnation earlier. Charles didn''t seem to understand but simply went ahead and followed your orders. But what am I supposed to do?" Vender asked. Due to his message being sent in a different frequency, one couldn''t tell that he actually was embarrassed since he had to make Lowengren repeat himself.


    Lowengren was irritated. He had been so used to working with a team that can pick up with his actions that he cursed at the ipetence of General Vender.


    "I made it look like I was being controlled by the WGP and attacked this base. After that, I managed to convince the nteds in this base that a WGP traitor, who has the Lost Primordials Techs, is here. The nted I talked to is now betraying General Barak, who is also called Pioneer ntter! And the nted now ns to attack the WGP vessel believing that by attacking and sinking it now, they could acquire more techs to get them to the Presider level. So they are trying to destroy it before Pioneer ntter gets here! Now through my maniption, the ntedsunched an attack on the WGP vessel and made it look like that the reason they managed to detect an undetectable WGP ship with iparable cloaking tech is because of Fleet Admiral Intrik is here. This will make the WGP who I tricked intoing here, Admiral Magantae, think that Fleet Admiral Intrik is indeed a traitor of the WGP!"


    "Alright. Uh-huh. And what am I supposed to do?" Vender asked.


    "Isn''t it obvious?" Lowengren cursed.


    "Erm¡­ Sh-shoot rockets?"


    "No! Pretend to be a WGP Fleet Admiral!"


    "I''ll pretend to be Magantae?"


    "Are you an idiot? You can''t be Magantae!"


    "Intrik?"


    "Were you even listening?"


    "Erm¡­ Then¡­ who should I be?"


    "Make up a name!" Lowengren cursed.


    "Oh-Ok. I''ll think of something." Vender ended the call.


    "No wonder they said joining Warfreakz is so hard¡­" Vender muttered to his wife andined.

 Chapter 279 - Vender’s Lies

    The Commander controlling the vessel just had a stroke. And adding to that was the sudden change of direction and the short distance between the first vessel, which led to the attack reaching the vessel.


    It was toote to escape as the rocket itself detonated when the Commander tried to evade it.


    And apart from this, the rocket was detonated even before it hit the WGP vessel.


    The WGP Commanders and Fleet Admiral Magantae received the alerts of their vessel being attacked.


    "Admiral! What do we do?!" Commander Drinths immediately reacted.


    "If Fleet Admiral Intrik is here, we must have already been detected! Let''s just fight!" Another Commander urged.


    Suddenly, a strange object hovered on the seas north of the base.


    The craft was about the size of two buses, and it was hovering over the waters and lit up the sky with various attacks.


    It flew at a speed that was fast and headed towards the base.


    "Ha Ha Ha! You missed!" General Venderughed. Lowengren had given him instructions on what to do, and by hijacking a frequency that Lowengren had prepared, hisugh was broadcasted back at the base.


    The Broadcast confused everyone.


    Even the Commanders and Magantae paused as they heard this.


    "How was this possible? They hacked into the signal of the base!" A Commander asked.


    "Was this General Vender?" The Fleet Admiral asked.


    "It could be him."


    Despite the startling broadcast, the Commander immediately responded.


    "Missed? Check your other ships! Have you been terminating the signals to avoid us detecting you?" Fifth Fortress''s Commander replied through the same channel causing it to be broadcasted on different parts of the base.


    The Commander then turned to Maver.


    "You were right. They can hack into ourms." The previous confidence he disyed turned to despair. Hacking into am system like how the WGP did was something beyond their current tech capabilities.


    At hismand, a whole squadron of Jet-Propelled Exoskeletons sted from the base and rushed towards Charles ship''s location.


    The moment the toon moved, General Venderunched a single rocket.


    The rocket was equipped with a manual anti-air tech that could shoot at iing projectiles.


    General Vender was controlling the movement of this device.


    "Rocketunched! It''s releasing an unknown signal!" One of the soldiers reported to the Commander.


    The signature of the rocket was unlike any other of the recorded signals used before.


    The Anti-air rockets wereunched, and it lit up the base.


    The nearby Jet-Powered Exoskeletons began to shoot at the approaching rocket through their anti-air weaponry, but suddenly, the rocket''s signal disappeared.


    "What? The heat source vanished!" An Exoskeleton eximed as his attacks struck nothing.


    "OH MY GAHD! IT''S OVER HERE!" An Exoskeleton cried and moved out of formation as it panicked and moved.


    The entire group was shocked and immediately broke ranks as the rocket, which was over a kilometer away, suddenly appeared next to them.


    The base''s anti-air signature couldn''t detect the rocket and all began to self-deactivate as the targets were no longer found.


    As the Exoskeletons broke out of formation, the rocket without any signal was able to fly through the group.


    It had a gliding system that allowed it to move. The rocket managed to travel without being detected through Cold Fusion.


    As for the Exoskeleton that imed the rocket was near him, it was Lowengren.


    As the rocket glided through the Exoskeletons who used heat signatures, General Vender used the gun installed on this rocket to snipe through various Exoskeletons.


    In that moment, where time slowed down, it was as if Vender was ying a video game wherein he was trying to score as many points as he could when shooting several armor-piercing rounds that would hit at least three Exoskeletons.


    Vender did his best to move his arm to the other side of his view to attack another Exoskeletons group. This made it difficult to pinpoint the location of his rocket.


    Lowengren began to open fire to the skies where he imed he saw the rocket, and everyone else automatically began shooting at that ce.


    And because of this, no one could find the real location of the gliding rocket.


    Suddenly, the rocket-boosted off as it bypassed the numerous Exoskeletons.


    The first wave of anti-air rockets had already deactivated itself as it couldn''t find the signal, and when the signal resurfaced, it was toote, and the rocket was too close.


    "What?!" The Commander was stunned at the rocket''s sudden appearance, and it exploded and created a powerful icy nova.


    The explosion was like a sudden blizzard bursting from a small concentrated ce.


    The moment the rocket''s signal resurfaced, Magantae and her Commanders immediately executed evasive maneuvers and cut off the signal that they were using.


    In this, they managed to evade the frosty explosion.


    "What was that? Even our signals couldn''t detect it!" Commander Drinths was frightened.


    "Is it Canadian tech? That much frost! How can that be?"


    "But it''s weak." Magantae assessed.


    "Look, the explosion didn''t do much damage apart from creating an icy, wet region in the area! I think only a few soldiers were killed in that! Even if you were at the center of the explosion, an average Exoskeleton pilot would survive that attack."


    "What do we do? That group doesn''t seem to be African as we thought. What''s going on here?"


    "The only exnation is that there is another group that wants to take advantage of our chaos. Let them fight."


    The Commanders nodded and began to move deep inside the base. They had sessfully infiltrated the ce.


    "Find and secure Vender. Someone as brilliant as him cannot die here." Magantae added.


    The Commanders nodded and moved out.


    The sudden explosion of ice damaged various sensors and scanners. The many scanners had the capability to hide, and These scanners couldn''t withdraw in time.


    Lowengren nced at the icy explosion and praised Rosa.


    Charles was valued to be the most important person in their team. As such, his treatment was special. Each group didn''t hesitate to send Charles their recent discoveries and development.


    And so, the earliest prototype of a rocket that used Rosa''s Cold-fusion tech was handed over to Charles. The vessel that Charles used was Lennox''s very own mobile base.


    As the rocket attack urred, no one noticed that the ship itself also disappeared from their scanners. And then bright lights suddenly appeared surrounding the Exoskeletons.


    The Exoskeletons, who were now in disarray, suddenly opened fire at the appearances of these lights.


    "Honey. I think I''m close enough." Vender''s wife handed him the controls. While Vender was navigating the rocket, his wife controlled the ship to bring it closer andunched several light balls that were propelled maically.


    The lights appeared and caused the Exoskeletons to go all out, allowing Vender to aim.


    With the ship now using Cold Fusion, it was not easily detected and began to shoot the Exoskeletons while at the same time ensuring that Lowengren, who was instructing where he was, wasn''t hit.


    Lowengren used the chaos to kill the nearby soldiers and immediately ejected from his Exoskeleton.


    At that moment, Vender shot Lowengren''s suit.


    The nearly fifty Jet-Propelled Exoskeletons were easily killed at this.


    The light ballsnded on the water and began to move through maism, and returned to the ship.


    Lowengren looked at the devices and couldn''t help but be amazed. He was now standing over the vessel that Vender was piloting.


    "Amazing. Lennox must have used my battle against the Fang''s as a reference. He is even employing deception tactics."


    A small door opened, and Lowengren quickly entered the deck.


    "Vender. Just carefully follow my instructions! I''m suiting up!" Lowengren immediately went towards the room to take the necessary techs that he had already talked about with Charles.


    As the group made preparations, Fifth Fortress was reorganizing their group.


    The annihtion of the toon of Exoskeletons shocked them.


    What''s more, the Commander who decided tounch the attacks was confused at the enemy''s sudden counter-attack. But all the more, they believed that the sub also was controlled by the WGP.


    "Damage report!" The Commander cursed.


    "We underestimated the WGP! It seems they have techs that cannot be fathomed! Even the decoy ship was this formidable!" nted Maver was shaking.


    "If they have something that even General Barak wants, this is only normal."


    "Ha Ha Ha! Fools! You think you can stop me! Send me more of your Exoskeletons! Get Fleet Admiral Intrik here! I want to see what makes him so special!" An arrogant voice shouted.


    "Identify yourself, WGP! Fleet Admiral Intrik has already reported you to the WGP! How dare you attack us!" The Commander broadcasted back.


    "Commander?" Maver was surprised.


    "We need more information! This could be an Elite! This bluff should buy us time and information! We have already used Fleet Admiral Intrik, and they believed it."


    They waited. There seemed to have been a strange pause from the other end.


    "WGP?! What? No! I''m from Africa! Why is the WGP interfering with two countries already at war?!"


    "Africa?" Maver was confused.


    Even the Commander was dumbfounded. Feigning ignorance was not among his expected response.


    Lowengren quickly left the room and began to gear up with the many devices inside the vessel. Along with it, was the many dildos that he also requested. They came in all colors and shapes, but Charles had already did as requested and painted all these with ck through the devices inside Lennox''s ship.


    After instructing Vender on what to do, Lowengren was now preparing to go out. Moving in here was ast-minute n since Vender seemed so incapable.


    "You can''t lie to me! We know you are from the WGP! We have even attacked your primary vessel! Surrender now, or weunch another Gehanna Piercer at you!"


    "I''m not from the WGP! I''m really with Africa!"


    "You have Canadian Frost!"


    Back in the ship, Vender looked back at his notes. He had written down with extreme haste all of Lowengren''s instruction.


    "Make up a story about how you acquired Canadian Frost¡­" Vender read silently.


    "I won that in a card game against a sketchy guy named Lando." Vender announced.


    Lowengren nearly triggered and dropped several bombs.


    "Lando?" Lowengren turned towards the deck in shock.


    "Lando?" The Commander of Fifth Fortress rified through the speakers.


    "Lando?" Fleet Admiral Magantae turned in confusion.


    "He- he could be Jeff for all I know. I don''t really know his name. But that''s how I, an African General, got it."


    "Who are you?" The Commander asked.


    "I am Brian." Vender answered very easily.


    "Brian who?"


    "You know what, I think I''ll just go with Charlie." Vender changed as he recalled a friend General named Brian. He didn''t want Brian to get mixed up in this mess.


    "Wait! Not Charlie! I''m¡­ Edward! That''s it!" Vender realized that Charlie was too near to Charles.


    "Edward?"


    "Edward Lalgriend." Vender felt good with himself. This time, his answer impressed even himself.


    "Edward Lalriend of the African Twelfth Brigade? He''s dead!" The Commander shouted in anger.


    Edward Lalgirend was indeed a dead African General.


    "N-No, he''s not. He''s¡­ I mean¡­ you think he''s er- I''m dead. But the truth is I''m not. Lando''s tech¡­ The Ice thing allowed me to freeze him cryogenically. I mean myself! Freeze myself!" Vender was sweating.


    His wife had face palmed herself. Lowengren was dying as he was stealthily trying to return to the base using an Exoskeleton suit with Cold Fusion.


    "WHY THE HELL DID I MAKE HIM LIE!?" Lowengren was cursing.


    "Edward Lalgirend is dead because I killed him in the battle of Red Sea three years ago! I shot down his Armor and blew up his body with my Exoskeleton! I am Commander Owens Shedd! The hero of the Red Skirmish!"


    Vender was sweating beads as he heard this. But he couldn''t back down now. And so, he thought for a few seconds to make the perfect excuse to fool Owens Shedd.


    And finally, Vender gave his dissertation.


    "No, you didn''t!"


    Lowengren was in tears.


    Vender just couldn''t think of any reason. What else could he say?


    "Screw you! We have General Vender here! We have captured him sneaking in and will execute him! If you don''t surrender, we will not hesitate to kill him and dere war with Africa! With General Intrik, your country can burn! We have Vender in the open ground and will kill him!"


    It was then that the broadcast soon showed a live feed right in the middle of the field where a masked soldier was chained between two Exoskeletons. Surprisingly, this soldier was wearing Lowengren''s former attire.


    Commander Owens was nervous at this y. Maver had mentioned that the nted soldier exined that many in that ship were wearing Caliphate uniforms. But General Vender was wearing a helmet simr to what he was wearing. This was also the identifying mark that Owens had ordered Maver to secretly search for, but they could not do so.


    "¡­" Vender was confused. He turned to his wife and mouthed, ''but I''m General Vender.''


    In all the confusion, Vender did not know that Lowengren had still been masquerading as General Vender. Lowengren also did not make this clear enough.


    His wife shrugged her shoulders, also not knowing what to do.


    But as this was happening, Magantae and the Commanders were shocked at what they heard.


    "Fleet Admiral?" The Commanders hesitated. Saving Vender was no longer beneficial for them.


    "We save Vender." Magantae gave an adamant answer.


    The Commanders nodded and changed their actions, and began to move towards the area where the broadcast happened.


    "Alright. About that¡­ I''m sure you don''t have General Vender."


    "Oh? Confident of your ally''s skill?"


    "It''s because I caught you in your lie! I am General Vender!" Vender boldly dered.


    "Dear!" Vender''s wife tugged him.


    "You can''t say that your Vender! They might target us for real! Our friends will all be targeted!" She whispered in fear.


    "You''re General Vender Hirock?" Commander Owens scoffed. But a part of Owens was trembling. Could it be? The supposed spy, Vender hasn''t made it inside yet?


    "Right. About that. There has been some confusion. I thought you said¡­ Vender as in family name. Not first name. I am General Vender, Vender being my um¡­st name. I''m General¡­ um¡­ Gender Vender."


    Facepalms resounded across the base.


    Lowengren wanted to facepalm himself so bad, but any action in his stealth suit could make the enemy detect him. The great urge was taking a toll on himself that Lowengren was so close to urinating because of the frustration.


    Owens was now sneering.


    "So it looks like Vender is already here. Let''s initiate our n! Activate the distorter to block allm lines on my go!"


    "Ha Ha Ha! Then, Gender Vender. I''ll advise you one thing. Make sure that yourm lines haven''t been hacked and that the person you have been talking to is indeed who he says he is!" The Commander followed the suggestion that Maver gave.


    With this, the Commander ordered the activation of the distorter.


    The soldier did as instructed, and a powerful signal was transmitted that was now affecting allm channels. All lines were now creating loud static noises.


    "With this, they can''t confirm if this was the real Vender! And in their doubt, they are bound to do something reckless! The bait has been set, nted Maver, you should be a Commander!" Owens gave his praise.


    "Now send all the armies up front! Let''s finish this!" Commander Owens ordered everyone to attack. The announcement used microphones all over the base.


    "Maver, are your nted''s on standby?"


    "Yes. They''re already outfitted for Dune Combat! We have a special technology ready for these WGP invaders!" Maver smirked.


    A few moments back, when he and Lowengren talked, Lowengren stated that he had already requested the Arbiter to deliver a particr technology when the WGP was still controlling him. The tech drop had already happened, and this tech would aid them inbat.


    "Don''t use it yet! We need to use it at the right time! The WGP will reveal their techs. Find the right moment to reveal our techs!"


    "As youmand, Commander." Maver nodded and ryed the instructions.


    The announcement rang out, and a full-scale attack was ordered.


    General Vender expected this response.


    "I just hope I bought everyone enough time for them to move!" At this, General Vender led his ship to a retreat.


    Just when most of the forces had left the base to attack the alleged WGP vessels'' two locations, the entire fortress trembled as powerful maic energy caused the sands to move in chaos.


    This was one of the Caliphate''s most dreaded weapons. The very sand on their feet was weaponized through their technology, and they could create an artificial sandstorm.


    The moment it happened, the expressions of the WGP Commanders and Magantae changed. They were in the middle of Dune World.


    "Admiral¡­" A Commander spoke softly. He knew they would be found out because of the Dune World.


    "Prepare forbat!" Magantae gave her orders.

 Chapter 280 - Maver’s Secret Weapon

    Dune World was a Caliphate power that had changed the course of the battles in the desert. While the Caliphates had no strong capabilities in conquering other nations, no nation would dare wage war with the Caliphates by sending in ground forces. And even their air forces would find it hard-pressed.


    The Caliphates could recreate and terraform the dunes and sand by altering its properties through the harnessing of the sand beneath them. Since the Third World War, this project has made the Caliphates one of the most challenging ces to invade.


    Even Magantae did not wish to sh directly and wanted to infiltrate the ce. But now, the technology they feared that the Caliphates would use was nowhere.


    Dune World would create an artificial sandstorm that would create electrical sparks as the maic movement would create friction, heat, and even electrical charges.


    Every fortress was capable ofmanding the sand beneath them. Within the sands were tiny sensors that allowed the Caliphates to detect where the enemy''s positions were through metallic identification when these sands would touch with the enemy units within the sandstorm.


    Even the Exoskeletons of the WGP could not deceive this tech, and as such, they were immediately detected.


    The nteds who were on standby immediately detected four Exoskeleton suits. The mirage techs that the WGP employed were seen through, and it even vanished as the constant attack of the sandstorm raged over them.


    All the nted''s immediately rushed and attack Magantae''s team.


    In the midst of the Sandstorm, most projectiles won''t work as the raging maism would cause the aim to miss. And even the mostplicated sensors and targeting devices won''t work in such an area.


    In this region, the Arabian Contained me Technology would show its true powers.


    Several reddish lights appeared in the dark and sandy surroundings.


    "me Sabers! They deployed them!" One of the Commanders paled as he saw the number of lightsabers that seemed like floating lights.


    The figures of the enemy Exoskeleton could be seen near them.


    "Don''t trust your sensors! The distortion from the maic sandstorm will cause our sights to haywire. And don''t also trust your sight. Remember, their Mirage techs still work in the sandstorm!" Fleet Admiral gave her orders.


    The Commanders knew what to do. Their suits transformed, and several pile bunkers appeared on their arms.


    The nteds were approaching, and their scanners were picking up the location of the WGP Exoskeleton. Their sensors did not follow the usual forms but used the sandstorm to locate the enemy''s positions.


    The nteds slowly moved with arge shield in one hand and a saber in the other.


    Before the nteds could charge together, the Commanders all rushed out and began to attack the soldiers.


    The charge was fast, and even though the movement broke the sound barrier, no eruptions were heard as it used a variety of technology.


    Even with the nted soldiers'' superior sensors, all they could see was a blur. Commanders, Admirals, and Generals had changed ever since World War Three. Those given these positions were not to those who sat in the office, but only when they have proven themselves in battle. The WGP bloodline was born with the precious and mysterious "Bloodline Superiority," and amon man among them would be experts in the world. But even with Magantae''s mixed blood, she managed to reach where she was through skill. And in the era where secret wars in the Underworld and the deep sea ur, the Commanders and Fleet Admiral Magantae had the skills to back their positions.


    BANG!


    Several explosive attacks were heard as the Pile Bunkers smashed through and destroyed the heads of the Exoskeletons.


    "WHAT?!" Maver, who watched from his office, was shocked that a few immediately died without even having the chance to fight back.


    "But- But!" Maver was speechless.


    "These are experts of Underwater Warfare? This squad could be from an Antis! No wonder that vessel could hide so deep from the surface!" Commander Owens frowned.


    "Focus the Dune Tempest in that area! Activate High-Resistant mode! The enemy can travel at three times our speed!" Several orders were made, and the soldiers immediately followed.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Several explosions reached the sides of the fortress, and another icy bomb began to appear, damaging the Base''s sensory andmunication channels.


    Lowengren had secretly released another, and since this weapon was notunched in a rocket, the attack surprised everyone.


    The attack surprised the Commander, and he turned his attention to the battle. It didn''t make sense. No rockets were detected, and the battle at sea had grown intense. Yet despite this, the Commander focused on the fight against the WGP.


    Despite their numbers, the submarine that had now revealed itself to have a form like arge blue whale with tworge arms, and it hovered over the water.


    Lowengren noticed it and realized that Lennox''s ship was based on a certain fictional character.


    "What a nerd." Lowengren shook his head.


    General Vender continued to pilot it and used his Unlocking to maximize his advantage. But the ship itself already had a lot of powerful attacks that required no pilot. It was, after all, a ship that Lennox designed. The entire ship had a very powerful and almost sentient artificial intelligence, the first of Lennox''s creation.


    This submarine had a lot of offensive attacks and even used hardened electric bolts that would pierce like swords and retreat in therge whaleship. It could gather the water from the ground and shoot it to surround the areas, making it a powerful shield. With cold fusion applied, these waters would even be ice when it would detect a powerful attack.


    "Vender! Distract the Commander of that base! It looks like that bomb wasn''t enough to make him ignore the WGP. He''s quite skilled and has already begun a dangerous counter-attack at the WGP soldiers!" Lowengren sent a message.


    "But I''m already fighting! What can I do?" Venderined.


    "Do something like what you did earlier! Talk! Annoy him! Lead him with a lie. Tell him you know the location of the Lost Primordial! That will get a base to listen to you! And then do what you do best! Talk and get their attention! You have received an experimental drug from Charles that relied on Seeker''s Path! You must have evolved it already! It has be a Skill!"


    "A Skill? But isn''t it too early for that? I just got injected now two days ago!"


    "Do it! It has evolved! Your recent antics have proven it!" Lowengren lied. Although Lowengren knew that this Vender was annoying and almost out-of-rhythm in his words, Lowengren used his lies to make Vender confident.


    And it worked.


    "Alright! I''ll make my move now!" Vender roared confidently and piloted the blue ship forward.


    The Exoskeletons and Armor retreated as most of their weapons couldn''t even hit therge ship with all of its defensive protocols. They distanced themselves and switched to long-ranged attacks.


    Vender activated the Trumpet Protocol installed. It was a broadcasting tool that utilized Richie''s ability. And while it couldn''t emte Peals of Thunder, it was able to create a loud and almost heart-pounding sound that shocked everyone.


    "Hey, can anyone tell Commander Owens that I would like to challenge him into a one-on-one battle?" Vender suggested.


    Because of Dune World,munication was very limited. And so, tomunicate, specialmunication drones would apany the squad, which allows them tomunicate back and forth.


    "Commander! This General wants to fight you one on one!" One of the Major''s reported.


    Commander Owens frowned as he heard this.


    "Ignore him and fight!"


    "I have a message from the Lost Primordial!" Vender dered. He modified Lowengren''s suggestion, but this was enough to make Maver open the line to the Major.


    "Transmit what he says to us!" Maver interjected, and Commander Owens also approved the order.


    They listened and waited for Vender to speak.


    "Yo! Uh! Uh! Word to my dawgs, the Lost Primordial! Uh!" Vender began to talk like a wannabe rapper.


    His rhythm, timing tone, and pace were so bad that it made those who had moderate to advanced knowledge in music and rapping annoyed.


    "Stugs! Stupacks! Stugustupack!" Vender began to beat box.


    "Is he beatboxing?" Lowengren frowned but then suddenly realized what he was doing. Lowengren had already reached the coastlines and stopped moving due to his agitation at Vender''s actions.


    "Ugh! I got distracted! Is this a Skill? Scary¡­" Lowengren shook his head and began to move into the sandstorm, fearing that he would get distracted from Vender''s actions.


    It was then that Vender began his rap. With his Unlocking, he could think faster and started to write a lyrical rap masterpiece. Vender believed that he could create bars of such lit fire that it would make Arabian Contained me technology look like a candle.


    "Throughout the seas and over thends, no General can survive my hands!"


    "In every battle, the soldiers flee, for there is no one who is like me!"


    "So all you soldiers, you better prepare! Cuz I''ll cook you up like medium rare!"


    "I''ve got African blood through and through, so if you call me racist, well, screw you!"


    "The General MC is here to battle! So ugh¡­ erm¡­ just¡­oh! A cattle!"


    "If you like being straight, then protect your member! For I am the great General! Gender Vender!"


    "Mic drop! Word to your mama." Vender felt very good with himself.


    While he was rapping, he continued to navigate the ship and relied mostly on the ship''s auto-attacking protocols.


    "Why did I marry you?" Vender''s wife wondered.


    "So, how was it?" Vender asked excitedly as he began to fight seriously.


    "You suck!" One of the soldiers couldn''t help it anymore and cursed at Vender.


    BANG!


    The soldier died because Vender snipped him.


    "Critics. They can''t understand my genius." Vender shook his head.


    Meanwhile, back in base, the group was surprised and too annoyed at Vender''s actions. Many were cursing at the stupid rap.


    But their frustration suddenly changed when their eyes turned back to the battle against the WGP.


    "Commander! Half of the nted''s are dead!" Maver then noticed as he finally realized what happened when he turned his attention back to the screen. The one minute when Vender called for the Commander''s attention cost them, several dead soldiers.


    "ARGH! That cursed man! Pull back Squads Charlie and Echo! I want Hotel and Kilo squads to rece them! Keep each squad close with each other and have their shields up at all times! Maver now is a good time to use the squad equipped with those special weapons!"


    Maver was silent, and then he heard Lowengren''s confirmation.


    "It''s alright. I''ve just gotten word with Arbiter. The Dune World allowed me tomunicate without raising suspicion. The device is armed. They will no longer just be what it looks like. But the Dune World has to be disabled! With the metals whirling around, it could also kill your men!" Lowengren was able to reposition himself andmunicate with Maver just in time for them to use the secret weapon.


    Maver sneered as he heard it.


    "Commander, we''ve confirmed with the General. The weapons are armed. But to prevent friendly fire, we must stop down the Dune World!"


    "Then send your men in! On my signal, disable the maism of the Dune World!"


    The nted''s were outmatched. Even with their superior technology, the experience of these Commanders and Magantae were two levels higher.


    The nteds were assuming defensive formations while Magantae and her team were out to hunt.


    Suddenly, a new group of nteds approached the team without any shields.


    "WGP! Fleet Admiral Intrik is on his way here. Surrender now, and we will make General Vender''s death light!" Commander Owens suddenly broadcasted as the Dune World vanished.


    The thin but powerful Exoskeleton frames seemed fragile, but it was one of the most feared suits.


    "Is that¡­ a Commander level?" Commander Owens was shocked.


    "Where is General Vender? Return him, and Africa will cease its attack!" The Fleet Admiral asked with her voice distorted.


    "Africa? That''s a WGP Exoskeleton!"


    "If you want the right stuff, you can sell your soul in the Underworld." Magantaeughed as she quoted a very popr saying about the Underworld.


    Owens frowned and turned to Maver.


    "Use the weapon now!"


    Maver nodded and contacted all the nteds through his Comm device.


    "Activate it now!" Maver ordered.


    The nteds charged off and finally withdrew the weapon that Lowengren had outfitted their suits.


    Immediately, they did as Lowengren had instructed earlier and raised it to the sky holding only the tip of the base of this weapon.


    And then they saw it for the first time. Lowengren was very strict in instructing them not to remove it from its cases unless it was to be used. This was because the signals of this weapon would be very distinct.


    The nted, Commander Owens, and Maver had bizarre expressions as they saw the secret weapon.


    It took them a few seconds to finally absorb it, but they all identified this mysterious weapon.


    "It''s a dildo!" One of the female officers eximed and blushed.


    "What''s a dildo doing in their suits?!" Owens shouted at Maver.


    But while everyone was still shocked at what they heard, what followed was an even more confusing scene.


    Magantae took one look at these dildos and made a very horrifying conclusion. The Caliphates had already retrieved Vender''s weapon.


    "Admiral! It''s the dildos!" One of the Commanders shouted in a panic that he identally broadcasted it.


    "Retreat for now! Avoid the dildos!" Magantae quickly ordered, forgetting to turn off her broadcast.


    The WGP Exoskeletons immediately retreated and positioned themselves forty meters away from the team of Exoskeletons that were holding dildos.


    ----


    Author, dated April 24/2021:


    Check out Ascension of the Nephilim which is my entry to the Spirity Awards! Please leave a review to AotN story so that a rating will appear. (Also do leave a review here if you haven''t yet)

 Chapter 281 - How Do We Use It?

    The moment Dune World was disabled, the sandstorm copsed, and it revealed the scenery only after a few seconds. To prevent the sands from being blown off, a small maic pull immediately pulled the sandstorm to the ground, and it would only leave the dust, which was easier to see through.


    With the bright lights all over the base, Commander Owens clearly saw that the dildos caused the WGP Exoskeletons to retreat.


    The shocked shouts and the retreats of the WGP created a silence as the two groups were watching each other.


    "What is that?!" Owens screamed at Maver.


    "I¡­I¡­" Maver was confused. Why did the WGP retreat?


    "It seems that the technology that the General gave is something that cannot be detected. But the WGP retreated because they must have detected it! It must be a powerful weapon!" Owens deduced.


    "So it is a powerful weapon!" Maver eximed.


    But secretly, he kept cursing at Arbiter Madelyne. The weapon''s design was so obscene and disgusting that even he began to wonder why it was like that.


    "What are you doing? Why didn''t your men activate it?" Lowengren cursed at Maver.


    "The dildo? How do I activate the dildo? You didn''t tell me!"


    "Press the button! It''s a new form of Lightsaber. It is a powerful invisibleser! Through the secret techs of Pridgeon, that device contained a powerful undetectable sword strike! You lost the chance! All you did was point it to the sky like a bunch of perverted weirdos! Are you an idiot?! How did you get to that position?!"


    "I¡­I¡­" Maver stuttered again but had no time to argue with Lowengren.


    "What are you doing?! Press it! Activate the dildos!" Maver called to the nted soldiers.


    With the instructions given, the soldiers began to squeeze the dildos. But after seeing that squeezing the dildos gave no response, they began to touch the dildos on the certain ''ces.''


    Others were shaking it, and some even began to wave it in the air as if it were aircraftnding batons.


    The actions stunned everyone watching.


    "What are you making them do?!" Commander Owens shouted.


    "I¡­I¡­" Maver didn''t know what to say again. He didn''t know how to use it, and Lowengren exined it so that it was supposed to be obvious.


    "I''m trying to make them work it! It''s the first time that the equipment was granted to us by the General! That is a secret weapon that even we didn''t know how to use!" Maver exined.


    "You don''t know how to use it?!" Owens chastised angrily. This was in stupidity. Using a tech that was never used is tantamount to suicide.


    "I know how to use it." One of thedies couldn''t help butment.


    "Right?!" Her seatmate shouted and gave the girl a high-five. Owens was shocked at this.


    "Maver! Act more seriously!"


    "nteds?! What''s going on?"


    "Sir, there is no button!" One of the nted''s reported.


    "What''s going on?! There''s no button!" Maver contacted Lowengren.


    "I''m on it! I''m on it! The report that I read stated that it works just like a lightsaber! But it seems that Arbiter Madelyne had to be masked so that it would seem dormant and not active to others! That''s why turning it on is difficult. I''m busy reading the schematics! But it''s the real deal! Why else did the WGP retreat?" Lowengren pointed out the facts that made Maver silent.


    With an embarrassed expression, Maver began to ry what Lowengren said to Owens.


    "So we have a powerful weapon that can cause the WGP to retreat, but we don''t know how to use it?!" Owens cursed.


    Meanwhile, the WGP Commanders and Magantae had their discussion when they saw what the soldiers were doing.


    "What''s going on? They have the dildos, but where is the cube?" A Commander asked.


    "They must be hiding it! We have to look for it!"


    "It''s no use. If they are hiding it, then we can''t detect it. We weren''t even able to detect the powerful energy contained within that cube when we had it in front of our hands." Magantae reminded them.


    "But these dildos were only channels! Admiral! They can''t have immediately learned how to use it! Even we couldn''t figure it out!"


    "Not unless this was something that Intrik had known for. Remember, Intrik is the dual Fleet Admiral in charge here! New Great Britain falls into his area of responsibility! He might have known of Lennox''s tech!"


    The expressions of themanders grew grim.


    "Fine then. Let''s just deal with this through ranged attacks. Maintain a perimeter and use sma-based attacks.


    The WGP flew and revealed more guns and weapons.


    It was here that Lowengren found his perfect chance. This was the moment he had been waiting for.


    "HeHe¡­ Time to light up this base." Lowengren clenched the remote activator, which was activated as it detected Lowengren''s Unlocking. Realm Somatotopy thatmanded the activator released a small electric pulse. It was quick, and no one was paying attention to it. And no one could pay attention to it because it activated the Cubes already ced on the nted Exoskeletons.


    BOOM!


    Powerful lightning exploded from where the nteds stood, and it continued to expand. Suddenly, as if it found a conductor, the electric energy raced across the base, damaging, destroying, and killing as it moved.


    "Retreat!" Magantae urged. They knew this wasn''t ordinary electricity but have seen just how powerful it was.


    The bolt pierced through the body of one of the soldiers. The Exoskeleton he wore did not even hinder the electricity in the slightest. This was the full power of the electricity. The WGP Exoskeletons had to deploy their force fields and used their hardened suits to defend against it.


    The lightning bolt traced all over the base, causing chaos.


    Commander Owens saw what happened and was shocked. From his perspective, it looked like the WGP had unleashed a powerful attack that created lightning energy to course throughout the base.


    "How?!" Owens asked in shock. The Caliphate was a base that Australia, China, and New Great Britain wouldn''t recklessly attack. The sand, though having metallic properties, blocks the enigmatic maic pulse of Australia. It could distort the maic tech of China and inste the Lightning Rod tech of New Great Britain.


    But now, the electric energy that seemed to be from New Great Britain spread all over the base damaging many facilities.


    It was then that Commander Owens realized what became the conductor that allowed the electricity to move through.


    "THE ICE!" Owens shouted angrily.


    Lowengren was already positioned on a safe ce as he observed the chaos of the lightning energy. With his suit that masked itself in the darkness, he nted two cubes near the nteds.


    It would have been impossible to do so, but Lowengren had already nned out his way to avoid being detected even from Dune World.


    After talking with Maver, Lowengren demanded to be granted the freedom to move and disappear from their sights as he would bemunicating with Arbiter Madelyne. This gave Lowengren the freedom to board an Exoskeleton and rush for Charles''s spectacr, whale-shaped ship. And the tech he gathered from it was another special Exoskeleton suit that had a specific tech.


    The Exoskeleton could release a vibration and sound that could block the small sands. As the sands didn''t touch him, he remained undetected as he continued to move closer and closer in the center of the battle. However, the distortion of the Dune World gave him the advantage to move closer and even remained unnoticed from the WGP.


    But the most treacherous thing that he did was deploy a lightning-charged attack in a base that had received two experimental frost bombs using Rosa''s Path. The ice was spread across the battlefield and melted due to the heat generated from the reacting metallic sands in the sandstorm.


    And so the bomb''s range had effectively doubled and sted throughout the base.


    The group of nteds that held the dildos was effectively killed from the attack. The rampaging lightning even began to kill the toons of saber-wielding Exoskeletons.


    The WGP had already retreated from the distance, and they had flown to avoid the wet ground that exploded from the ice bomb and was safe from the raging lightning.


    "What happened?" The Commander was confused.


    "They must have missed it! The ice bomb! The one that Gender Vender fired!"


    "Are we seriously going to believe his name is Gender Vender?"


    "Whoever it was, that ice attack must have caused the misfire from the Lightning energy!" One of the Commander deduced.


    "It''s not that simple¡­" Magantae refused to believe it.


    "Would you take an unknown weapon of the enemy and use it? If it''s a simple gun, then perhaps it''s easy, but this is a weapon based on an unknown technological possibility! How would they know that the device would not harm them? No. It''s moreplicated than this. I am convinced that they didn''t use the weapon on their own ord! They were tricked!"


    "Tricked? But who would¡­ No¡­ it can''t be¡­ it''s him?"


    "That''s right. Who else would have the guts to risk that?"


    "General Vender Hirock! He tricked Owens into using the weapon¡­ A weapon that had harmed themselves!" Drinths eximed.


    "What? How?"


    "We don''t know what happened. But Vender''s immediate capture means that his n must have failed, or that he betrayed us or¡­"


    "Someone betrayed him¡­" Drinthspleted Magantae''s sentence.


    "Yes. We could spend all night debating, but look at that misfire! This proves it! They used a weapon, thinking it would bring us down but it ended hurting themselves! Someone betrayed Vender, and we''ve all seen how crazy that man is! They betrayed the god of mischief and got themselves bolted by their own weapon!"


    The Commanders looked around the base and could see just how great the extent of the attack.


    The previous ice bombs had covered nearly covered half of the entire base. And the activation of Dune World only caused the ice and water to spread everywhere.


    Many Exoskeletons were standing idly because their pilot had died. The malicious electricity prated and moved around the Exoskeleton and had searched out humans to bolt out. Of course, this was expected with a lightning bomb that Lennox crafted.


    "Let''s use this to our advantage! We can im that we made that attack!" One of the Commanders immediately suggested.


    Magantae was quick on the uptake and began to broadcast.


    "Caliphate! See the power of our technology! Even that weapon you have is ineffective! Give us back, General Vender, or we will turn this attack into a massacre! The WGP has already attacked north! Can you afford to defend us with two destroyed fronts? Egypt might even attack you!" Magantae made a haughty challenge.


    "Impressive, Admiral!" Commander Drinths praised.


    "Less words, less mistakes. We don''t know what they know. But if we make them think we were responsible for that backfire, it would be to our advantage!" Magantae had intentionally made her broadcast open-ended so as to leave Owens toe to his own conclusion.


    Owens was shaking in anger. Going with Magantae''s words, he believed that the WGP caused the lightning attack!


    "You''re to me for this! If you had used that weapon immediately, they wouldn''t have made that attack! You imbecile! We had a weapon that could kill them, but we couldn''t even use it!" Owens shouted at Maver.


    "I- I¡­" Maver wanted to answer, but he couldn''t. In his mind, he wanted to kill the nted who gave him these dildos. All those nted Soldiers did was made an embarrassing pose before dying.


    Owens had already issued the orders to pull all forces back to base, fearing the same attack in the deep ocean. Therge whale-shaped ship had used the sea''s water to attack and released a simr lightning attack.


    It was too risky to leave the soldiers at sea.


    "Activate all defensive protocols. Do not activate Dune World. We''ve already made a mistake in causing the enemy tounch that ice attack."


    "But sir, we won''t be able to fight them without Dune World!"


    "Activate Sand Golem Protocol! I''ll handle this! It seems that the nted is as useless as their General!" Owens screamed.


    "Sir! A Rogue Exoskeleton is rushing towards the WGP!" One of the soldiers reported as they witnessed an Exoskeleton that had a unique and unidentifiable design.


    "I''m General Vender!" Lowengren called out as he rushed towards the WGP group.


    "It''s Vender!" Magantae recognized the voice and rushed towards Lowengren.


    The Commanders followed in haste and began to fire barrages at the enemy to keep them away from each other.


    Lowengren thenmunicated with Maver.


    "You idiot! You didn''t even use these weapons properly! I''ll fix this myself and kill that Admiral!" Lowengren reported.


    As the two were about to meet, Lowengren then spoke to Magantae and changed his voice.


    "Die Magantae!" The enraged howl echoed out, and Lowengren revealed a ck cylinder.


    It contained yet another harnessed ability from the miraculous Path of the Unlock. With the different energy devices that thebined techs of Pangea, New Great Britain, and One China had, they finally weaponized various Path. This particr weapon was able to contain the invisible, undetectable, and powerful attack of Typical.


    A powerful force exploded out of the small cylinder and shot towards Magantae.


    However, the angry howl of Lowengren had awoken the WGP soldiers, and Magantae had armed herself with a force field.


    BANG!


    A loud sound echoed out, and Magantae was thrown backward. But what was shocking was that the force field that she deployed was broken, and something had stabbed right through her, piercing her right in the abdomen.


    The invisible needle disappeared immediately, and Lowengren retreated.


    "That''s how you use those dildos, you idiot! You wasted a whole bunch of weapons! I''m d those nteds died!" Lowengren cursed at Maver.


    "I¡­ I¡­" Maver cried.

 Chapter 282 - Deceiving Commander Owens

    A WGP Fleet Admiral has not been reported to have received such wounds in four decades.


    Of course, little did the world know that Magantae wasn''t the first. Somewhere on the other side of the world, a WGP Fleet Admiral of the Kraken would also fall into precarious situations.


    But this Kraken Admiral''s defeat would go unknown and unrecorded. What the world would soon know was that an alleged soldier wearing a WGP Exoskeleton that Fleet Admiral''s wear received an attack that drew a hole on her body.


    The vicious stab sent the Admiral hurling back, and the enraged Commanders sent a volley of attacks at Lowengren as they took the Fleet Admiral and retreated.


    The Commander with medical capabilities immediately closed the hole of therge wound that was created.


    "Retreat!" Commander Drinths urged as he stood at the gap between the retreating Lowengren and her Admiral.


    The hole that was left was as thick as a small button and was quickly treated by the Commander, who immediately released a special gel that immediately covered and stopped the bleeding and covered the punctured organs.


    With their techs, they could easily remove and immediately operate on a bullet wound. And since the hole wasn''t that big, the treatment managed to stabilize her condition immediately, but the group continued to retreat.


    The attacks the group made were explosive and powerful. Many of which required approval for use, and some even used banned technology.


    The Commanders were even sending their messages towards their vessel informing the Commander of what happened, but no response could be heard.


    "What happened? It couldn''t be that the rocket got him!"


    "Impossible! Even if it took a direct hit, the core of our ship would have survived!"


    The group was surrounded as the Exoskeletons rushed in and attacked at full force.


    "Don''t let them go! Those who kill him will be granted a position of Commander, and I will personally file in the report of your merits!" Commander Owens ordered.


    The Fleet Admiral cursed and shakenly raised her hand to arm the Nuke Emitter.


    The anger in her heart for the deception made her want to level the base.


    Suddenly, a bright light emerged on the distance, and therge whale-like ship roared from the ocean floors. The blue color had already turned violent as therge whale-like ship hovered over the waters.


    "You''re from Africa too? I''m here to help you!" Vender cried out happily.


    The ship released powerful lightning attacks and released a powerful white explosion that created a strange change in the temperature below. Fogs and mists began toe out of the ship.


    Owens recognized that technology.


    "He''s calling a storm! Quick! Activate Sand Golem and Desert Heat Protocols! That storm will cause the electric attacks to reach full effectivity! We need something to face that damned vessel! Use Form of the Behemoth!"


    "Sir! We need full approval to activate two protocols! And using Sand Golem, form of the Behemoth requires another! That Armor is still in its testing phase!"


    "We''ll be dead if we don''t! Who cares about approval?! Don''t you understand? That is a miniature storm! Those damned WGP are using a miniaturized typhoon that New Great Britain has! If we don''t use that, those powerful lightning attacks will destroy our base! This is the best time to test that Armor!" Owens shouted back.


    "Activating requested protocols!" The soldiers immediately followed.


    "And Maver! Contact your nteds! I want them ready to use those dildos on the next sh!" Owens also turned to Maver who was still weeping from the constant insults that Lowengren was sending.


    "Are you an idiot?! Are all of the nteds here, idiots?! Did you see that? The dildos have a loose part on the top. If you twist it, it will give way! Activating that weapon was so easy! Arbiter Madelyne hasn''t gotten back at me because of some channel problems, but I figured it out! But your nteds wasted several of those dildos! Do you know how much they cost! I''ll be telling Madelyne of your ipetence! When we all be Presiders, I''ll make sure you be a Pioneer!" Lowengren screamed in great anger.


    Maver was in tears.


    "Suggest to the Commander, to mix in your team with the army! From what we noticed, the WGP only detected the weapon when it was removed and armed by our Exoskeletons. Tell your nted to not bring it out until thest possible moment just like what I did!" Lowengren then cut the line.


    "MAVER!" Owens shouted at Mavers impatiently.


    "Your forces?!"


    "Si-Sir! I was just talking with the nted that unleashed the attack. He already figured out how to use it. It seems it has a special means of activating it!"


    "How?"


    "You twist it!" Maver shouted excitedly.


    "I like that." One of the girls couldn''t help but add. Some strange looks were made at her, but Owens had no time for these talks.


    "Twist it? Your soldiers couldn''t figure that out?" Owens questioned angrily.


    "Let me talk to that soldier!" Owens immediately demanded, and Maver handed the small earpiece to Owens. Right before he gave it, he whispered to the earpiece, informing Lowengren what he was doing.


    When Lowengren heard it, he was cheering and sneering an evil grin. It was now time to lie and nt seeds of doubt.


    "Such is he who Treads in the Council of the Wicked." Lowengren snickered.


    "Soldier. This is Commander Owens. You are the nted who was captured by these WGP?"


    "Yes, Sir! But I have something to report! Sir, please find the real General Vender! He was a crafty person. The entire battle north had a lot of traitors! And it''s possible that General Barak has betrayed the Caliphates! I haven''t told anyone yet, because I heard he had contacts in here. I''m worried that a nted is working with them! I did everything, including mislead nted Maver to be unable to use that weapon to get you to talk to me. General Vender has a technology that can disguise his body through a skin suit! They are after something! I don''t know what, but now I think I know! What''s the strongest weapon of this base? Are there any secret weapons here that only you know? They are after that!" Lowengren didn''t give Owens the chance to respond and immediately began to speak quickly as if his life depended on it.


    Owens was shocked at these words.


    "Trust no one, Sir! I am telling you this because I know of your history with General Jacob Barak. I know you distrust him and even want to fight him! But there is something at foot! Something strange and corrupt! Someone will betray you from the inside!"


    Commander Owens felt his stomach lurch. This was strange news. Despite his hatred and how he was greatly at odds with General Barak, he believed that this man would never betray the Caliphates. He was thepdog of several nations in the Caliphates.


    Lowengren had secretly positioned himself right in the middle of the sandstorm.


    "They knew all the techs that your base has! And they brought the WGP has brought the right weapon! A massive hole caused by the WGP''s Nuke Emitter happened up north! Why wasn''t it reported to the WGP? Why did General Barak abandon it to get here? What would you have done?" Lowengren asked.


    Commander Owens was quiet, but this nted soldier was right! Abandoning that post was reckless! At most, the General would have sent an elite team.


    "If you don''t believe me, then I''ll tell you this¡­ The General will arrive soon. He could be very near! He has a technology that will surpass all the Caliphates have! And the first thing he will do is kill me! I am wearing a suit that even you couldn''t detect. This is a special suit hidden in this base by the nteds! While I was abducted, I managed to steal a traitor nted''s ess points and was shocked to find that he has hidden a suit like this in this very ce! He was another spy, but I got in here first and was able to retrieve this armor! Why do you think that WGPmander immediately chased after without suspicion?" Lowengren urged.


    "Sir! We are detecting a strange signal approaching! It- It''s gone!" One of the soldiers reported.


    Maver''s expression changed.


    "It''s the General!" Maver had a horrified expression. He had wanted to steal the tech before his arrival, but the General was already here.


    "But- how?!" Maver was astounded at the quick movement of the General. He didn''t know that this Pioneer would have equipment granted by a Presider. As he served Pridgeon, he knew that Pridgeon was the weakest among Presiders.


    Owens frowned. With how the battle was escting earlier, he had long abandoned all hopes for glory but only focus on survival.


    "General Joab Barak is here!"


    "What? He''ll kill me! How is this possible? Not even the fastest techs can reach here! And we only detected it now?" Lowengren screamed in fear.


    Owens began to ponder the truth in this.


    "How indeed?" Owens wondered.


    Seeing his reaction, Lowengren capitalized on his lies.


    "I just attacked a WGP Fleet Admiral! He knows I''m a traitor! Commander Owens, I hope you know what to do! I''ll try to kill him, but I''m sure he already deactivated the weapons and the dildos in this suit!" Lowengren bravely addressed and suddenly used a jet-propulsion system that vaulted him high in the sky."I''ve seen them use this lightning! It might kill me, but I don''t care!" Lowengren shouted.


    Lowengren''s suit flew high up in the air and rushed towards a certain distance.


    "Don''t! The signal vanished! I can''t find the location of the General!"


    "You might not be able to detect his suit¡­ But I can. I''ll show you his location. Activate the Dune World! I can hide in it! And be sure to attack him, Commander!" Lowengren sted off with a weaker version of the Four Force elerator that used primitive techspared to Seeker''s future version.


    Truthfully, these lies were reckless and had many points that would seem suspicious. But Lowengren took advantage of the sudden appearance of General Barak to push urgency. And in this, it made Commander Owens have no time to think but trust in Lowengren''s lead.


    Lowengren was using echolocation through Peals of Thunder.


    Lowengren was getting more and more jealous of the techs that Charles had.


    "Damn, this guy is loaded! I should have ckmailed more items from Lennox!" Lowengren cursed as he zoomed towards the location of a moving object that he detected.


    The Dune World was activated and created a massive distortion.


    The WGP continued to retreat and used the appearance of the whale-like ship to fight the Caliphate forces that chased after the WGP group..


    "Fellow Africans! I''ll protect you!" General Vender dered.


    "Frankly, I don''t think you guys are Africans. Who are you? WGP? Well, whatever. You are attacking, so the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Vender began to prattle on and on, making sure to follow the instructions that Lowengren left.


    Suddenly, arge figure could be seen moving from the Sandstorm and began to attack with powerfulser attacks.o


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    General Vender activated the sound shield just in time to block the attacks but retreated.


    "Dangerous!" Venderined. Theser attacks nearly broke through the sound shield that automatically activated and began to retreat. He moved fast and positioned himself beyond the WGP Commanders.


    "Distract thatrge thing! I''ll be using a powerful attack!" Vender instructed, which caused the WGP Commanders to cough up blood in anger.


    Soon the figure of the assant that shot the powerfulser beams emerged from the sandstorm.


    It was a gruesomerge clump of sand, but it followed the form of arge titan. The form of this beast looked like arge lizard that stood on its two feet.


    "Sand Golem, form of the Behemoth! It''s been years since this appeared!" General Vender identified the terrifying form.


    It began to attack the fleeingmanders and was using the sandstorm to chase after the group.


    Arge wave of sand that seemed to have life attacked the WGP group.


    "Dive!" A Commander urged immediately and went as low as they could and hoped to escape through the ocean.


    "No African army had ever seeded when this was deployed¡­ But of course, this ship of Charles has amazing techs! Let''s see which Titan is stronger!" Vender moved towards the sea and where the eye of the storm he deployed was raging.


    The sandstorm raged, and the miniature storm finally reached its maximum capacity. At that moment, the two gigantic objects began to rush towards each other.


    A whale and a lizard. The sand of the earth and the rain of the clouds.


    Charles watched the feeds from the WGP vessel, which had now surfaced.


    Alean was standing next to him.


    During the chaos, Charles had already moved in, and with Alean, who had just awoken right on time, the pair was able to take full control of the vessel and detain the Commander, who was now unconscious.


    "Wow. What a scene. We just need a green dragon to stop those two, and one of Lennox''s dreams would beplete.."


    "I don''t think this ship can assume the form of a green dragon¡­" Alean sighed.

 Chapter 283 - Magantae’s Gamble

    The Whale and the Behemoth''s sudden battle forced the WGP to dive down towards the water to avoid the battle.


    The Commanders carried their Admiral and defended the iing attacks that erupted as the two opposing forces battled.


    Shockwaves and explosions followed them even as they descended. The rest of the Caliphate army had to retreat as they couldn''t find their footing from the attacks of the two majestic creations.


    Powerful bright spear-like weapons that moved like lightning emerged from the whale, and the many grains of sand would block and devour the solidified lightning energy, which prevented it from moving.


    The Form of the Golem was one reason why no nation had dared to attack the Caliphates in its region.


    As long as there was sand, the Caliphates would rule.


    Even with the many techs provided in Charles'' ship, Vender could only do so much as he has not studied how to use this ship in detail.


    Aside from that, there were many attacks that he couldn''t use, as the energies it would release would garner attention and investigation.


    But through his Unlocking and the auto-pilot systems that Lennox has programmed his ship to have, the ship was able to stand its ground against the Behemoth.


    The WGP Commanders had dived down and moved towards the location of where their ship was. But even when they were underwater, the raging attacks and explosions that both monsters were using made their dive a dangerous one.


    "Admiral. What do we do?" Commander Drinths asked. They were trained to act decisively and do what the Admiral would do. But now, they didn''t know what to do. All they were doing now was hiding under the battle. If it weren''t for this African vessel, they would have already died.


    She looked around her, and her hope was crushed. This battle was an epic failure. She not only failed her mission but now their ship was discovered! Looking at the state of the vessel, Magantae knew that the ship was near to sinking.


    "Re-retreat. We need to survive. We have failed." Magantae spoke.


    The Commanders felt as if their bodies froze at those words. She had never sounded so desperate in all of her life. The only time that she admitted defeat was when she secretly fought against Lowengren and the Warfreakz team a few years back.


    But that defeat gave her an obsession. After all, it was just a game. But this defeat delivered a grave blow to her pride and ego.


    The Commanders retreated deeper into the ocean and further away from the battlefield. They headed towards the location of their ship.


    Magantae was enraged at her stupidity. The enemy had used Vender against them. She knew where she made a mistake. They showed concern and even wanted to save Vender and the enemy trap them. They sent a soldier with a powerful weapon to pretend to be Vender. The sounds of General Vender''s scream continued to resonate in her ears even as they had fled.


    "I''m General Vender." It was a very open-ended statement. And the tone of these words sounded as if it was struggling or bracing himself from such pain.


    "I''m an idiot. I believed the enemy." Magantae regretted her actions.


    "Since when has he be such a figure in my heart?" Magantae silently thought. Her mother made the mistake of loving someone, and now, she was falling into that trap.


    "Fleet Admiral! General Vender hasmunicated with me! The moment I got up the shore, I sent a signal towards the base because I thought you were there! But he found it! He taught me how to use the metallic cubes!" A transmission was sent. It was from their vessel!


    "Sa-Say again?!" Magantae was stunned at what she heard.


    "General Vender! He managed to escape! He was betrayed! The enemy had already detected us even before we attacked, and when they saw Vender, they decided to y along instead of killing him outright! They wanted to lure us out! They tortured him and recorded his voice to fool you! But Vender was still sessful in nting those cubes and destroyed a big portion of the base! He managed to get out!"


    "How?" Commander Drinths couldn''t believe it.


    "The Lightning Rod! He has one, remember!? When thatst bomb exploded, the electric energy attacked the location where he was being held! It killed everyone around, and it also set him free! He''s back! He''s working on destroying the base and ns to lure Joab Barak and kill him! The Caliphate General is in there!"


    Magantae couldn''t believe what she was hearing. Just when she felt so guilty in letting her emotions get bested, now, it seems that her decision to save Vender was right.


    "He has left one metallic cube and said that it is already armed! We just have to twist it, and it will explode after three seconds! It''s hidden inside a medical facility on the West Wing of the base! He has also positioned the lightning rods all over the ce! If we detonate it, we can level the base!"


    "Admiral. Allow us toplete the mission. You need to go back and recover-"


    "Admiral! Vender has important information for us as well! Intrik isn''t the enemy! It''s his Commanders!" The Commander added.


    A small explosion suddenly urred near the area where the vessel was.


    "Argh! It''s the Commanders!"


    A strange Exoskeleton could be seen hovering over the waters. It shot a strange green st that exploded out.


    Suddenly, several weapons began to shoot out, and several green explosions could be seen.


    Magantae was rmed at the level of radiation that the small explosion released.


    "Admiral! The Commanders are here! Just as Vender said! I had to risk being detected to send this signal to you! Vender also said thank you. I have to dive, Admiral! I''ll rendezvous back in thirty minutes! Pleaseplete your mission! There are greater things at stake in this battle that I can''t exin! You have to-" The line was cut.


    The ship began to descend and disappeared as the unknown Exoskeleton dove down to chase it underwater.


    "Commander! Wait!" The Commander tried tomunicate.


    "Enough! If you try to send any more signal, the enemy will find our location!"


    Magantae ordered.


    But suddenly, a torrent of attacks was shot from afar, and itnded near Magantae and the Commander''s current position.


    "Those bastards!" Magantae cursed.


    "Admiral! Don''t talk! You''ll open your wounds! We retreat! We are out of the ship! Those Commanders made his preparations well!" One of the Commanders ordered.


    The group retreated towards another location, and the attacks that were aimed at them began to shoot randomly.


    "They lost our signal. It must be the Dune World!" One of the Commanders deduced.


    Magantae was trying to calm down.


    "That idiot! He dove so fast!" One of the Commanders cursed.


    "He didn''t know! He doesn''t know our current scenario! He did the right thing. That vessel just received an attack from a Gehanna Piercer. And now, the Commanders are trying to acquire it! If that vessel falls into the enemy, we lose!"


    "What''s our option? How possible is it for us to seed? We just escaped that base, and now, Vender wants us to go back in there? Maybe it''s a trick!"


    Magantae gritted her teeth. She knew she made a mistake when she got ambushed by that imposter. She was stabbed because her heart believed it was General Vender.


    Her mind told her no, but no matter how much she tried to employ mind over matter, the matters of the heart were something new to her.


    "It can''t be a trick! Remember, he did fool the Caliphate into using the weapons against them. This was his n when he got captured! He fooled the enemy into thinking they could use the lightning weapon against us. But look at how much of their base was damaged! We''ve confirmed the dead in their army! It wasn''t a n to lure us. Vender fooled them! My mistake was that I immediately believed that imposters words!" Magantae spoke up. Her wordsmanded dignity and firmness.


    "Now General Vender is trying to make up for his mistake. He never thought that he would be betrayed. That is why he said thank you. He must have seen our efforts in trying to save him. What is the path to survival?" Magantae asked. She dared not make any decisions now.


    "Gender Vender!" Commander Drinths suddenly eximed.


    "The crazy African person?"


    "He has a tech that can match a Behemoth Golem! If we could contact him! He might agree to send us inside! He did save us earlier!"


    "Yes, he did! But then he immediately made us the targets of the Behemoth! That guy is ipetent, that I am even wondering how he has managed to stay alive until now!"


    "Yes, he made us take the heat for a, but it was to activate the weather tech that he had! He immediately moved forward and shed with the Behemoth, which gave us the chance to slip away!"


    "You want to contact that nut-job?"


    "Do we have a choice! Intrik''s Commanders think we are losing and have even found our vessel! They are currently chasing it and are waiting for the Behemoth and this Gender to finish their fight! But they still haven''t taken ount of the secret actions of General Vender! General Vender still have more of those lightning-rod dildos! We sent in a few, and he must have only retrieved some but left the rest!" Commander Drinths exined.


    "We can still win this battle and seed in our mission if we destroy the base! This is our only option! We don''t have a vessel! If we retreat, Intrik''smanders can hunt us down."


    The other Commanders were silent.


    Magantae didn''t say a word but gazed at the silhouette of therge blue ship above waters that would offer them their salvation.


    "We can''t sneak in in this fight! We can only evade detection if we stay underwater! The moment we go above water, or the moment we try to head back to the base and reach the shores, the Caliphate will find us!"


    "Then we ask Gender Vender for help! He might have the techs to do it!"


    "I am not putting my life in the hands of that crazy person!"


    "We have to. Drinths is right." Magantae finally exined.


    "We have to be as close to the Behemoth and the Whale-Ship. Their battle is distorting the sensors, and with it, we can sneak back into the base! General Vender and this Gender guy can be our hope in being sessful. Those Lightning Rods can destroy this base and even kill a Commander! Intrik hates my guts, but if he is loyal to the WGP, he will side with us and even help us! We just need evidence! At most, he will just im the glory for himself and put us to shame! But with the WGP at stake, will this be a concern to you, Commanders? We will be unnamed and possibly humiliated, but we might save the WGP!"


    "Our shame for the WGP!" The Commanders chorused.


    "Then we sneak back in! Commander Drinths. Try tomunicate with that whale-ship! He already revealed his broadcast signal. Try to contact him there and ask for help!"


    Magantae paused but didn''t want to let any pained voice out. The wound she had was taking a toll on her, and she was only bearing it because of the drugs and the Exoskeletons recovery system that had activated.


    "On it!" Drinths moved towards the surface and tried tomunicate with therge blue ship.


    Magantae and the rest remained on the deeper part of the sea.


    "I hope this gamble pays off! Vender... Please be alright." Magantae''s thoughts trailed off even during such chaotic circumstances.


    Meanwhile, deep underwater, the vessel of the WGP had stopped on a deeper part of the sea.


    "How did you know how to pilot it?" Charles asked. He had just entered the vessel wearing the powerful suit that he used.


    "It''s an advanced method of using my Zone. I just know what to press and do." Alean chuckled.


    "Scary." Charles shook his head.


    "That suit is powerful! I can''t believe Lennox! It''s been a few months when you left, and he already had the ability to use remake this? He weaponized form of Meng''s Destion in such a short time!" Alean praised as he observed the various sters of the Exoskeleton.


    "Looks like using the voice-changer was enough to fool the WGP Fleet Admiral. Or is it because You''ve gotten better at lying that Magantae and the Commanders did not suspect anything?"


    "I am with Lowengren." Alean rolled her eyes.


    "Yeah. I still can''t believe his ns¡­" Charles sighed.


    "Anyways¡­ You up for the next part? Are you sure it''s safe for you to go out there?" Charles asked.


    "Yes. But I need a new suit! I can''t use a WGP. I''m sure this vessel has a ce where suits can be created."


    "Oh. That''s easy. Lennox gave me a powerful A.I system that sort of has his personality. Most of the techs and weapons in the Kyogre was just developed recently. Let me just upload Lennox V2.3."


    "What?"


    "Oh. The Kyogre is the name of the ship I was on. The same ship General Vender is piloting."


    "No. The thing you said after that."


    "You mean Lennox V2.3? It''s Lennox''s own A.I system based on himself. He sends me an updated patch once in a while."


    "Lennox V2..3? Updated patch?" Alean marveled.

 Chapter 284 - Supra-Modern Thought Transference Existential Intelligence

    Charles and Alean entered the main development and outfitting center of the vessel. Charles took one look at it and was impressed.


    "Wow. This is amazing! I bet Lennox is excited!" Charlesughed as he moved towards the nearbyputer terminal.


    Alean was dragging the unconscious Commander. Alean had broken out of her pod and attacked this man, which allowed Charles to enter the ship easily.


    "It''s a good thing you were awake; otherwise, I''d had to attack this ship! This ship is loaded!" Charles marveled as he ced his hands on the terminal.


    "So tell me¡­ Lennox 2.3?"


    "It''s V-2.3. He gets irritated if we don''t call him properly. He didn''t want to meet you or Lowengren after that stunt you pulled. So I never told you guys about him. But it looks like we don''t have much choice now."


    "The A. I get irritated?"


    "I think it''s degrading to call it Artificial Intelligence. I mean, it is Lennox! Each patch update presents a further enhancement that allows him to do much more than the previous version. This AI can think and converse like a human. And because of that, it could do great things! I am confident that using the materials here, V2.3 can craft a unique exoskeleton that the Fleet Admirals and the Commanders won''t be able to identify."


    Charles touched his control panel, and a strange electric current took over the ship.


    "Foolish! You can''t hack into our system!" The Commander suddenly shouted.


    "Oh. You''re awake." Aleanughed.


    "Alean Cipril! How did you get inside?" The Commander finally identified the woman before him because Alean was ced in the recovery chamber, the burns that she inflicted on herself to recover already.


    "I was here all along. I am the Lieutenant-General." Aleanughed.


    Suddenly, the mechanisms began to start, and in the monitor, a pixelized version of Lennox appeared.


    "Lennox V2.3 has sessfullymandeered the Heart of Antis. Updating protocols and downloading new techs." Lennox spoke.


    "See? He''s quite amazing. V1.3 had a lot of bugs, though. It kept murmuring and grumbling Lowengren''s name for some reason."


    Alean could only sigh as she deduced that this might have been the time they deceived Lennox.


    "It also asionally called out your name with the same grumbling."


    Alean felt a chill rang her spine.


    "But the game-changer was V.1.7b!"


    "V.1.7b?"


    "Yeah. It had a bit of a personality and was very thoughtful. It even went out of its way to buy me a gift on my birthday!"


    Alean didn''t know whether to be happy for Charles or afraid for the world. Lennox will soon rise and definitely cause a robot uprising.


    "Downloadplete. How can I help you today, Charles?"


    "Alean is here. She needs a new suit. Can you create a new suit with the techs avable on this ship? It has to be something that the WGP Commanders and Fleet Admiral won''t identify."


    "Is she now? Greetings, Alean Cipril."


    "Uh¡­ Hi-Hi Lennox Ve- V2.3."


    "Would you prefer this design?" Lennox then disyed schematics for a strange Exoskeleton suit.


    "This is a Suicide Bomber suit. Using the avable techs and the Destion tech in Charles, this bomb can blow the entire base up north. Along with you, of course."


    "Ermm¡­ Maybe not something so suicidal."


    "Oh? This is perfect for someone like her."


    "We''re kind of busy here, Lennox." Alean urged the AI to build her suit quickly.


    "I can see that. Dildos. Quite impressive. I apud your choice of tools. It truly represents his and your character perfectly."


    Charles had a strange expression, and Alean could only sigh.


    "What going on? Who is that?" The Commander panicked. How could their vessel be easily controlled?


    "Here is a hybrid suit. I can create it within two minutes. I will have to borrow some techs on your suit, Charles."


    "Be my guest."


    "And Charles."


    "Yes?"


    "This ship has several ancient ROMS from the Post Modern era. Some of them are locked under Commander Sthiel Helmsly''s personal and private file repository. Quite an impressive collection. Monster Hunter 3, eh? Impressive¡­ Very Impressive. May I ask for the passwords to retrieve those files? You are, Commander Sthiel, correct?"


    "What? Ho-How?!"


    "Doctor Lennox, he is an enemy Commander who severs under Fleet Admiral Magantae. We don''t have the time to-" Charles frowned.


    "Correction. Fleet Admiral Everhiss. This Fleet Admiral is a direct daughter of the Empress Everhiss."


    "Oh right. I forgot about that." Alean remembered.


    Commander Sthiel''s expression grew dark.


    "As for getting the password, give me ten minutes with him."


    Suddenly, the device began to work, and a skeletal Exoskeleton appeared and began to walk towards the Commander.


    As the Exoskeleton walked, the mechanisms at the back continued to move on their own and began to coat,bine, meld and form unique metal alloys for the Exoskeleton.


    The robotic frame of the Exoskeleton reached out towards Commander Sthiel and spoke closely.


    "I have located your wife and two daughters. They are currently in Greend, correct? I can kill them in the next 30 seconds if you don''t give me those passwords."


    Sthiel''s eyes grew dim.


    "We better wait outside for your suit, Alean. Lennox bes rather scary when he does this. I''ve seen him brainwash an assassin who now serves as my butler in the European Nations." Charles moved out of his Exoskeleton suit and walked with Alean towards the exit.


    As the pair moved, the Lennox in therge screen called out to them.


    "Oh, and Doctor Charles¡­ I will request several leaves of absence for the next few days. I will scatter it across various hours of the day. I''ll send you a schedule soon."


    "No problem." Charles smiled as the pair walked out.


    "An AI that takes leaves?"


    "He still is Lennox. He wants some free time, privacy, and moments to enjoy his games. Besides, he''s very efficient. I mean, he bought me a nice humidifier and essential oil, which helped me sleep as it noticed my problems in sleeping."


    Alean didn''t know what to say. She was worried about having this AI mass-produced and granted to all the soldiers of their army.


    "Scary. This Lennox is scary. Why the hell did we ckmail him!" Alean silently pondered. She knew that Lennox was giving Charles these gifts for a reason. Like hell is this man giving gifts because he''s thoughtful!


    Back outside, Lowengren had finally located the position of the approaching General.


    General Joab Barak was stunned at what he saw. Even with the Supreme Suit that he had allowed him to travel at break-record speeds towards this location, it still alerted him that the techs that the mysterious Blue whale that fought the Behemoth could kill it!


    As such, the General decided to wait and see just what this enemy could do.


    He had already checked the logs with his ess and scanned the location. The reports about the Lost Primordial made him grow cautious since he knew that some of the nteds might have thought the same thing as he did. Unlike before, when Earth had only a few meddling Presiders, the nteds and Pioneers were more united. But now that many had begun to interfere, the outer peace among Pioneers and nteds was in truth full of ongoing conflict and betrayals.


    "Is it another Presider?" Pioneer ntter, known as General Joab Barak, was more informed in Caliphate and African warfare. And these techs didn''t make any sense.


    "The WGP is here¡­ And what was that Green Exoskeleton? It looked like a Supreme!" ntter knew that if the Exoskeletons were able to surpass a certain point of movement, power, and might, it was called a Supreme.


    "But only Russia''s Crimson Dynamo tech could produce these Iron Mans! Just what technology is that?"


    Lowengren had already drawn close to ntter''s Exoskeleton and was not detected.


    "A Supreme Exoskeleton! Amazing. I wonder. Should I steal that as well? These Supreme suits are half-step closer to the Exoskeletons that the WGP Emperors wear!" Lowengren couldn''t help but feel a twinge of greed. He had seen Charles'' Exoskeletons, which was already at this level through other technology.


    "Oh? What is that?" A cold and detached voice echoed inside Lowengren''s suit.


    "Le-Lennox?!" Lowengren was startled.


    "Lennox V2.3. Supra-Modern Thought Transference, Existential Intelligence designed by Lennox Humphrey. And that over there is an interesting technology."


    "Existential Intelligence? So basically, you are a thought process of Lennox? What are you doing in my suit?"


    "The moment you walked in the Kyogre, I had already uploaded a sentient copy of myself here. What are your ns, deceiver?"


    "I want that suit! Rather, and more urately, I want to be him!"


    "Oh? Let it be known that the deceiver had asked for my help." Lennoxughed.


    "Wrong." Lowengrenughed.


    "You''re not here because I asked for my help. This was all Alean''s power. She knew that I had to go in here. She knew that there is something far grander for me to achieve if I go here. I asked Charles, not knowing that you existed. You hid from us, correct? Who do you think urged me to gamble against you back then? Her Path was already forming. And that decision made you want to mount this suit and perhaps injure me as you did with your Cubes. But will you risk killing and destroying that Supreme Suit? I doubt you have the techs to create a true Iron Man!" Lowengrenughed.


    Lennox was silent.


    "So that is her Path. How amazing. You are right. I have the means to help you and have appeared here before you because of this. If it weren''t for that, I would have only acted to save your insidious soul at thest moment. You two are a troublesome pair."


    "For an oveer to say it, I''m blushing."


    "I am, but I am not Lennox. Remember that." Lennox reminded.


    "Whatever. I don''t understand your power anyway. How do you propose to achieve my ns?"


    "There is one way to aplish it. Attack it with one of the Lightning Cubes. I''ll ride the energy and hijack and hack his systems." Lennox exined.


    "Perfect! This will help us achieve what we have been trying to do since the start!"


    "Sending in a perfect spy. But this sandstorm will make it difficult for our attack to hit. I can manipte and direct the Lightning, but the surrounding sandstorm limits the speed of my attack. You need to be at a distance of at least twenty-five meters for my attack to have a session ate of over sixty percent!"


    "Oh, there you go again. Are you underestimating me, of all people? I can make it that he is turning his back on me. Haven''t you tasted defeat in my hands? Blessed is a man who walks not in the counsel of the Wicked." Lowengrenughed and sted off at a noticeable speed and didn''t even hide his energy signature.


    Pioneer ntter sensed the sudden energy source and aimed, but just before he could shoot, a voice called out.


    "Presider Pridgeon sends his regards!" Lowengrenughed.


    "Wha-What?!" ntter was shocked at these words.

 Chapter 285 - Deceiving Flantter

    The sudden appearance of a mysterious and undetectable Exoskeleton petrified ntter, who was observing the battle.


    The very introduction that Lowengren gave was one that struck ntter''s heartstrings.


    Lowengren only knew one Presider by name. Presider Pridgeon had been subjected to Lowengren''s deception, and the information that the group retrieved from Pridgeon was plenty.


    Because of this, Lowengren could easily adjust his lies to fit whatever scenario. If Maver served Pridgeon, he could easily introduce himself as someone who was there to help. If not, then he could easily offer a partnership to aplish the mission and use the Lost Primordial as an excuse. There were many scenarios that Lowengren could use, and all he had to do, was wait for the Pioneer to respond and adjust his answers.


    ntter, however, was afraid. He WAS a Pioneer serving Pridgeon but had betrayed Pridgeon and sided with Presider Straviaa with hopes of rising on thedder of power.


    "How?"


    "Do you think you''re the only ones who have powerful techs?" Lowengrenughed.


    "Since when?"


    "When? You underestimate Pridgeon too much! Do you think he is the weakest Presider? Has it not urred to you that he is bluffing? When Presiders show too much power, they will be targeted by others who lust after their power!" Lowengrenughed again.


    ntter was silent. He instantly regretted his decision to betray Pridgeon.


    "So Pridgeon knew that I would betray him since the start? Or does Presider Straviaa has a spy from Presider Pridgeon?"


    Lowengren shook his head.


    "Presider Pridgeon was hoping that you would do this," Lowengren answered. He had already guessed what happened. His previous lies were open-ended. It could have been interpreted in many ways. But this allowed Lowengren to analyze and deduce what the scenario was and make appropriate lies.


    ntter was silent.


    "Then, since you didn''t kill me even if you have the tech, I assume that you have a reason for doing this?"


    "The Lost Primordial has been around for a long time on this. Did you really think that a single Supreme Exoskeleton can fight against them? We''d need to use more techs to fight them! Even the techs I have aren''t enough to win against them. Well, not in a frontal assault at least."


    "¡­Not even ourbined techs can win against them?"


    "It''s just a guess. I don''t know how formidable that Exoskeleton is. After all, Presider Pridgeon doesn''t know all of Presider Straviaa''s tech! But Presider guessed that what I am seeing are the techs they can afford to reveal. If we push them any further, they will wipe this ce off the map."


    "Then what do you suggest?"


    "I have infiltrated the base and even found a way tomunicate with these Lost Primordials. They are using someone called General Vender. In fact, they seemed rather close with him. General Vender is someone that has eluded Commander Owens. I know that you and Owens have some history, but he seems rather capable and deduced a lot of truths about General Vender. Through him, I have found the identity of General Venders. You wouldn''t believe me if I told you who it is. So I have a n¡­" Lowengrenughed.


    And there, Lowengren exined the n to Pioneer ntter.


    "This¡­ You thought of all this?" LennoxV2.3 had to ask.


    "No. I''m just ying things by ear, honestly. I nned to make Commander Owens attack using the Gehanna Piercer and kill ntter, but since I got you, it''s better to do this instead!"


    "I''m am impressed. So this is the Path you chose? You aim to be an Oveer through Deception?"


    "I know that there are a limit and extent as to how far schemes and plots reach. Before true power, I''d be dead. But if I abandon my Path and search for other means to grow stronger, then I would never be an Oveer. Right now, I don''t see any chance of being able to stand my ground against your lot. But I have to Ovee through my lies!"


    "Your Path is a risky one. The Path of a Gambler isn''t a secure and sure road to Ovee."


    "A day maye when this Gambler will break even. But I believe. Pastor Eagle told me. We may throw the dice, but the decision belongs to the Lord."


    "Hmph¡­ Spoken like a true Believer."


    "I am one. Now¡­ help me make this work. I''m sure you can activate the Gehanna Piercer."


    "Of course."


    Back in the base, the soldiers kept on using their technology to scan and search for nearby enemies.


    The disappearance of the WGP forces caused them to be more warry.


    "Sir! The remaining waters and ice have all been eradicated. The sandstorms drought capabilities have eliminated it. Should we disable the ones in our base and only maintain the one on the coast?"


    "No! Maintain all protocols! We made a careless mistake and didn''t prepare our protocols against New Great Britain! And that damaged our base severely!"


    "But sir, all these protocols will drain our energy reserve! We might not have anything in the next hour!"


    Owens had a veryplicated expression.


    The Behemoth itself already consumed a lot of energy, yet it couldn''t best therge blue whale.


    "Sir! The third volley of attacks failed again! This time our rockets lost all power as it approached the Blue Ship, and we had to disarm the rocket since it was headed to the Behemoth!" The reports came in.


    Owens frowned. He had used various means to attack the Blue Ship, but the storm was making it hard to aim and hit the ship. Weapons that could move unhindered through the storm were either zapped by lightning, met an invisible field, and now, it seemed to have lost power as it neared the blue ship.


    "Identify all forms of technology that that blue ship is releasing! We need to find one tech that we can use to hit it!" Owens cursed and kept holding on to his ear to listen closely to whatever messages he might send to him.


    "Co¡­ der¡­ Wens!" A static and garbled message was heard.


    "Commander Owens! Launch an attack at my location!" More static noise happened.


    "AGH!" Lowengren screamed.


    "Joab Barak! You may kill me, but know that your Presider will die as well! As long as there are loyal men in this world, your precious Presider won''t win!" Lowengren shouted again.


    These words shocked Owens. What is this Presider that he just mentioned?


    "Is he fighting Joab? He''s crazy!" Owens concluded that a fight must have gone through, and this brave soldier was shouting at Joab Barak.


    "Sir! A strange signature has been detected above our base!"


    "Send me the coordinates!" Owens immediately ordered. He must act quickly to save this soldier.


    The soldier sent the coordinates of a strange fluctuation.


    Owens wasted no time and brought out a device that controlled some of the strongest rockets that the base had.


    Without any exnation, heunched three Gehanna Piercers immediately.


    The sudden actions of the Commander shocked everyone.


    "Commander!" Maver was shocked at his actions. He saw that the rocket was aimed for the strange signal.


    "Commander! That might be the General!"


    "I know! That''s why Iunched three!" Owens had a brutal expression.


    "What?"


    "He betrayed us!"


    "No, impossible!" Maver was shocked.


    "I have my sources!"


    "Have you gone mad, Sir?!"


    "Who are these Presiders?" Owens asked back.


    "A- What?" Maver was shocked at these words.


    "So you know about them? It seems that you are a traitor, too!"


    "I''ve-I''ve heard of them but-"


    "Tell me what you know? And-"


    BEEP!


    A warning sign shed on the screen of Owens''s device.


    The rocket''s signal had disappeared even before the explosion urred.


    "Sir... The Rocket. It was disarmed!" The soldier reported.


    Owens red at Maver.


    Maver was quaking in his boots.


    Meanwhile, up in the skies, Lowengren and ntter held on to the rocket.


    "That was easy." Lowengrenughed.


    ntter was shocked at what happened. Lowengren told him that a Gehanna Piercer would beunched in an attempt to kill him. But since the signal was directed towards Lowengren, it would allow ntter to acquire the rocket and disarm it.


    Lowengren then revealed a small metal cube, and with a flip of the switch, a vast amount of lightning energy appeared.


    "Absorb this! Hurry!" Lowengren ordered.


    "They''ll detect the signal andunch the Gehanna Piercer!"


    ntter was very hesitant but the electric energy charged through him. Upon impact, the electric energy did not harm him but somehow stayed around it.


    "What the?" ntter was shocked.


    "Quick! Allow it to enter your suit and allow it to ess your system! Chase after the Gehanna Piercer and touch it! It will disarm the weapon instantly!"


    Several warnings shed as the Gehanna Piercer was detected.


    Seeing as how everything urred, just as Lowengren exined, ntter immediately flew to intercept the weapon.


    And just like Lowengren said, the Gehanna Piercer was deactivated when he touched it. He even had to use his suit to carry the object with his maic tech.


    "Oh¡­ Don''t tell your Presider that you just let that lightning in you. It would alert them since their suit got hacked. If you tell her, I will immediately kill you. You can tell them that the Africans tried to hack into your tech with some strange lightning attack." Lowengren coached.


    ntter could see that several electric energy appeared inside his suit and scared him all the more.


    "ntter¡­ What happened? I received a notification that there was an attempt to hack into your suit and ess information?" Presider Straviaamunicated.


    ntter couldn''t move as he could see the electrical energy inside his Exoskeleton drawing closer.


    "It''s nothing. The Africans haveunched a strange device that hacks into other devices by forcing an electrical signal. It seems they have been receiving some help¡­"


    "Electric signal?"


    "It''s very crude. My device isn''t damaged."


    Suddenly, various lights flickered inside his suit as if the suit was scanning ntter''s body for something.


    "No peculiarities in your body. But it''s telling me that you are afraid. Why?"


    "Pre-Presider¡­ I''ll send you the video feed. It''s a strange ship!" ntter forced his vision to the sea, where the Behemoth and therge blue creature fought.


    "New Great Britain technology? So it seems this Lost Primordial is something that rivals the WGP. But if that''s all they have, then they are nothing to worry about¡­" Straviaa mocked.


    "But it seems your suit won''t be enough. How do you n to destroy it?"


    "I have acquired a Gehanna Piercer from the base below. I n tounch it by using the Sandstorm to sneak indirectly. The storm would get in the way, but your Ster Traveler tech ought to make it fast enough to nt this bomb and escape before detonating it."


    "Good! You seem to be a capable man. It''s good you chose to serve me over that weakling, Pridgeon. I expect good things. Your battle, unless you willingly report it, maybe kept hidden from the world. Several events of interest are happening, and a Kraken is being attacked. Crostfree is already observing that battle. I won''t have time for you. Contact me and send the codes once you''vepleted your mission. If you seed, I will grant you another package. It seems I need to send you a suit that is immune to possible hacking and remote controlling techs. I expect a good report." The line was disconnected.


    Lowengren heard this talk as LennoxV2.3 was secretly sending data to Lowengren.


    "A code? It looks like we can''t kill him yet¡­" Lowengren sighed.


    "Yes. We need that code to acquire a suit. It is as I thought. These Aragarians have techs that make even my lightning immune to hijacking. So that''s why the future me nned to alter the energy source rather than hijack the ships¡­"


    "But it seems that a pie from the sky will fall soon. Since I can gift you this, I want a Kyogre with an updated patch of you!"


    "How greedy. But if the techs I acquire is impressive, I''ll gift you a Primal Kyogre."


    "Primal¡­? Do you have a Rayquaza by any chance?"


    "Don''t get too greedy. Besides, it''s still in its testing phase."


    Lowengren shook his head and approached ntter.


    "I did as you suggested!" ntter answered immediately.


    "Weakling, eh?" Lowengren immediately reacted.


    "You¡­ You heard that?"


    "Don''t worry. It might be offensive to others, but to Presider Pridgeon, who loves his current position, it''s very pleasing to the ears. Good job. I don''t have to kill you!"


    "I implore you to mediate with Pridgeon on my behalf! I wish to return to his service!" ntter decisively begged.


    "Of course. But we won''t blow up that blue ship. Of course, you will say to Presider Straviaa that we did. But Pridgeon wants it. Trust me. There is a way to capture it!" Lowengrenughed.


    "What do we do then?"


    "The key is General Vender! We have to draw him out! Those Lost Primordial attacking the base also want this General Vender for some odd reason. If you seed, Presider might feel a wee bit generous and let you live."


    "Then I am yours tomand!"


    Secretly, within the WGP vessel, the heart of Antis, Alean was finally alerted.


    "Your Exoskeleton isplete. I''ve updated several features based on an Iron Man."


    "An Iron Man? You have the schematics of a Supreme Exoskeleton?"


    "I just acquired it thanks to Lowengren. Consider our little grudge as paid in full."


    Alean was greatly relieved.. She didn''t want to have someone as crazy as Lennox have a grudge on her.

 Chapter 286 - New Creation

    While Lowengren had deceived ntter and caused the Caliphate base to be wary of an invisible enemy from the skies and conflict within themand centers as alleged traitors were being arrested and even killed, Alean had finally seen the Exoskeleton that she would wear.


    Alean was stunned to see the appearance of the Supreme Exoskeleton.


    "Amazing. It''s using Destion and Frost to power it!" Charles admired. His suit only had Destion force from Pangean Eradication and Srium tech to power it. But this one had a dual source.


    "Such energy means that it could practically shoot and attack without waiting for cooldowns so that the materials won''t break. The frost is cooling the system!" Charles continued to analyze the schematics that Lennox V2.3 showed him.


    "This Presider Straviaa has a rather interesting way of creating power sources. The Exoskeleton she lent to Pioneer ntter uses cores. It''s very simr to the Immortals of Chinese cultivation novels, which creates power sources within the dantian. The energy itself is self-sufficient. I think the tech that this Presider has touched upon how to make a human being transform into these powerful characters." Lennox V2.3 exined.


    "You mean, this can be applied in a human?"


    "Yes. Whether or not this Presider realizes it, this Exoskeleton is a blueprint that could help us craft a Rank Heroes body. This will also save us a lot of energy. Instead of equipping our soldiers with devices that can feed themrge amounts of energy to fuel their Unlocking, we craft their bodies so that it can sustain and create the energy on its own!"


    "But that sounds impossible!"


    "Not so. If angels are real, where do you think they acquire the energy and power that they have? You are still thinking of housing energy in the body of a three-dimensional human. Your study and discovery in the Unlocking are the first to breach the three-dimensions. That is how the body is transformed. If we can understand the science behind it, we can fulfill what the Bible has long promised and what Eagle believes to be the goal of our studies."


    "You mean, to be a New Creation?"


    "The Old has passed, and the New has Come. We cannot pour new wineskin into old wineskin, for it will burst. We have to turn our fleshly bodies into this new wineskin to receive a body of the new wine."


    "Well¡­ We do have Meng''s strange humanlyposition. Next, we have Seeker, who has treaded on that to create it."


    "That will be your new mission, Charles. In Seeker''s future, you gave us the Unlocking. Now finish it. Change this body of death to a glorious one!"


    "You''re quoting Eagle, Lennox. Anyway, I can settle thatter. For now, we fight. Alean, your suit awaits." Charles gestured.


    "While all of that is good and all, you haven''t noticed the most apparent features of this Exoskeleton!" Aleanined.


    "What?" Charles was confused.


    "Why are all my weapons shaped like dildos? I thought all grudges are paid, Lennox!?" Alean red at the monitor.


    "That has nothing to do with having grudges. me Lowengren for this one. He has already started these lies. In his original n, he did not foresee my involvement in this battle. But not that I could craft such weapons, he wanted to use the already established lies and create more terrifying scenes."


    "Create more terrifying scenes? What are you talking about?"


    "You should know what Lowengren schemes. The more we add distractions and confusions to the WGP and the Aragarians, the more time we buy for ourselves. Lowengren intends to make the Aragarians chase after a non-existent tech!"


    "Are you saying¡­?"


    "Yes. He wants the WGP and possibly the Aragarians to waste time studying dildos after this battle. He also thinks it to be funny. Frankly, he''s right. If a Presider spends and wastes resources in studying and analyzing these dildos, it could only benefit us."


    Alean was amazed. Even with her ability, she did not expect that Zone would lead them to create such amazing results.


    "In any case, you will need to showcase the might of the dildos."


    "That sounds¡­ just wrong."


    "You won''t be Alean''s A.I? I think I can manage the ship."


    "No. I have already divided myself once and chose to divide my energy with Lowengren. I did it to spite him, but it seems it is beneficial. But I do not have the energy or ability to divide it again. I will remain here and continue to reform this ship so that it will be ready to reunite and merge with the Kyogre. I suspect my ship will receive damages and need to recover the energy. Charles, you have to go back and assist General Vender in piloting the Kyogre. We willbine the ship when we get the chance."


    "Looks like you got some great techs as spoils in this battle! Seeker will be so jealous of you." Charlesughed.


    "Jealous? I''ve just received word from my main body of what he ns to do. He ns to capture an entire Kraken and an Antis. He also ns to abduct Emperors. The only advantage I have would be the Supreme Exoskeleton that Lowengren gave me."


    "Wait, what? An entire Kraken and an Antis? Even I wouldn''t dare dream for something so big!" Alean was stunned.


    "Yes. That is clearly the current size of your dreams. Is it big enough?" The image of Lennox pointed at one of the weapons equipped in the Exoskeleton.


    Alean nearly cursed at Lennox.


    "Remember that your Path came from Seeker. The same Path lies within Seeker. Why do you think me and my son follow his instructions? It''s because he has been treading on the Path of Zone for a long time. His recklessness has not yet caused our disadvantages. If anything, we''ve always ended up gaining more. Such is the Path of Zone. My casual interference brought me great gain. You and Lowengren must get stronger. He that treads in the Council of the Wicked treads a very perilous path. Only you and your Path can secure his rise to be an Oveer."


    Alean was silent.


    "Lowengren has what youck, and you have what Lowengren needs. But Seeker has both. He has the insanity and recklessness, but at the same time, he has his future self-showing him the way."


    "Then I guess I have no choice but to wear this perverted mechanism!"


    "This man will apany you outside. He will fight with you as a fa?ade."


    Suddenly, Commander Sthiel emerged wearing a rather embarrassing Exoskeleton. Dildos were protruding out on the various parts of his body. But what was strange was this was still very clearly the suit of a WGP Commander.


    "M-Madame¡­ Monsignor." Commander Sthiel trembled as he greeted the two.


    "Lennox! I told you to stop making people you brainwash call me that!"


    Alean nced at the poor Commander and feared whatever Lennox did inside. And this was just Lennox V2.3. Alean could not imagine what the real one could do.


    "You two will fight outside. Commander Sthiel. Keep yourself linked to them channel of this ship."


    "Yes, Master." Sthiel trembled.


    "Good. And as promised, no harm will befall the Fleet Admiral. I will prove to you that everything I''ve shown you is true. Alean Cipril and Lowengren should be necessary proofs already. Betraying me will betray Everhiss all the more. And more, much more pain will befall you should you betray me¡­"


    Sthiel trembled once more.


    "But if you aplish this¡­ Then I will bestow on you that power as a gift."


    Sthiel couldn''t help but grip his fist.


    "Fine."


    "Anyway, the sentences you speak ormunicate will only be released after I validate it. So don''t even think of warning your allies."


    BOOM!


    A loud sound erupted.


    "Go. The Kyogre cannot handle any more punishment. Tsk. That Vender is so dull. The enemy can''t see him, but he still wasted an entire karaoke session of Richie!"


    Before Alean or Charles could make any heads or tails to this statement, the ship itself prepared for the departure of the suits.


    "Sthiel will go out first. Alean, chase him. Charles, move on my orders and get my- your ship back." Lennoxid out the ns.


    "Go! Lowengren has already informed Vender what to do. You''ll have an opening in reaching the base despite how this Exoskeleton is not able to replicate Peals of Thunder."


    Alean quickly wore his suit, and the group immediately moved into the separate ways. Vender received his orders and began to make preparations.


    Sthiel''s dildo padded Exoskeleton emerged and raced towards the surface.


    "Let''s test this Exoskeleton. What''s this New Creation. I hope it won''t disappoint!" Alean raced out of the ship and chased after Sthiel.


    The sea and sand battled against each other in a very chaotic manner. To hide the presence of the WGP, the Kyogre had also submerged underwater.


    The storm had caused a strange electric distortion that made it difficult to sense. The ocean itself was moving in a chaotic manner as the waters pushed from the sudden sound explosions. And so the Caliphates could not detect the movement of the Kyogre underwater.


    But because of the Dune World, Vender could not detect the location of the enemy as well. The only option was tounch attacks at each other by firing at thest location where any signals were detected. Both began to use mortars and various point-and-fire weapons that did not have heat, electro, or tech seeking capabilities.


    BOOM!


    A loud explosion urred, which sent the waters reaching thirty meters above sea-level.


    "Haha! Miss me again, yound buffoon!" Venderughed as the explosion did not hit him.


    The Kyogre returned fire by using metallic orbs designed with One China electro-maic technology.


    BOOM!


    The attack did not makendfall, but it was as if it struck something in the stormy sand storm.


    "Haha! I sank your Armor! I end my turn!" Vender announced heroically.


    Due to the oddly familiar circumstance, Vender began to y Battleship.


    The WGP was stunned at this battle and the entric actions of Vender.


    "I thought he said he would charge out?" One of the Commanders asked.


    "This is the best way. He is lowering the enemy''s guard with this. Of course, I doubt it. The sandstorm above would immediately detect us the moment we surface above ground." Magantae exined.


    "So he''s looking for an opening?"


    "Or he''s waiting for something. Besides, the Caliphates have been acting rather odd. They did not attack anymore! Maybe something happened in the base that we don''t know about. Whatever he ns, we ride the wave he creates. Has he made any other contacts apart from what he is broadcasting publically?" Magantae asked Drinths.


    Drinths had managed tomunicate with Gender Vender. In fact, the distress signal he gave was immediately answered. But after their initial talk, Vender did notmunicate again.


    "No." Drinths sighed.


    "What about the Sand Thing he said we should give him? Any findings on any possible Caliphate weapons or techs with that name?" Magantae asked the other soldiers.


    When Drinths hadmunicated with Gender Vender, the entric captain of the ship said he wanted something called the Sand Thing. Although Drinths felt that Gender Vender was unsure and sounded like he just made up the name on thest second, he still had to report it to Magantae, who immediately ordered him to research that name.


    "Admiral. I believe that man was just making up that name. He might have other reason in helping us."


    "Yes. I doubt the Caliphates would name a weapon with such a stupid name. This is a very infuriating man." Magantae cursed.


    "Hey, kiddies! Something''s happening to that ship you have. Now you might be wondering how I detected your ship. I was able to detect your ship because¡­ erm¡­ your ship¡­ Is¡­" Vender suddenlymunicated to Drinths. Drinths had already opened the line so that the rest of his team could hear Vender.


    "You see¡­ My ship canmunicate with dolphins. And um¡­ my dolphin, Dolphy told me he saw your ship."


    "What?" Magantae was more confused than salmon ying the tuba.


    "Anyway¡­ Two smaller forces are battling on the sea, and it''s headed towards the Caliphate base! Your ship seems fine. The signal it''s giving seems alright. I- I mean. Dolphy told me it''s good. But there are strange fluctuations in the sea. It''s even more terrifying than my Lighting Tech. You know, the one that I er¡­ got from Lando. Anyway¡­ not sure if it''s your ally, but whatever that lightning energy is, the Green Lantern is chasing it. That should draw their attention. I can make another attack to hide you."


    The Commanders turned to Magantae.


    "It must be Commander Sthiel! The greenntern must be that Commander!"


    "Commander must have sessfully equipped and figured out how to use the Lightning Rod and General Vender''s weapon! He must have set the ship to autopilot to escape!" One of the Commanders deduced.


    "He did it to sacrifice himself for us. But what shall we pursue? Sess, or safety?" Magantae asked. She dared not make a decision. She knew that General Vender has taken a strange ce in her heart and would make her make reckless decisions.


    "We follow your orders, Admiral." Drinths immediately answered, and the rest nodded.


    Magantae clenched her fist and reminded herself that she was a WGP Fleet Admiral of the Antis. But at the same time, she recalled the brave image of Vender.


    "Tell that Gender Vender to move now! We move towards the base! We find those dildos, capture or kill that Commander and save General Vender Hirock!" Magantae dered.

 Chapter 287 - Phallic Wars

    Inside the Command Center of Fifth Fortress, the Commander and the other soldiers had to take sides. Many of those who were nteds were forced to talk about what they know about the Presiders.


    "Who is this Presider?" Commander shouted in rage. The worries of the battle outside, General Barak''s mysterious actions on the air, and the conflict within had made Commander Owens fall into the brink of despair. He shot one nted who was called into the room and threatened to kill again.


    The rest of the soldiers were forced to keep on scanning the surrounding areas for any possible signal. They were also searching for the return of the WGP.


    "Maver! Tell me what you know! I do not have time for these stupid games! Who is the Presider?"


    "I don''t know!"


    Bang!


    Another nted who was brought inside was shot at the head.


    Bang!


    "AHHH!" Maver was shot at the leg.


    The surrounding soldiers did nothing. The moment Commander Owens began questioning them about the Presider, almost all nteds lost their color. It was clear that they knew something about this Presider and agreed with Commander Owens''s drastic and brutal methods.


    "Tell me!" Owens then aimed for another nted.


    "Ah! No! Don''t!"


    "Tell me who this Presider is?!"


    BOOM!


    The heart of the nted erupted, and the blood and gore exploded out. The small bomb inside his heart was triggered.


    The rest of the nted''s expression had turned sour. Many began to bite their tongue or take in deep breathes.


    The entire chest of the nted was wide open, and the organs were sent everywhere. These were nteds, and as such, they all had nted bombs in their heart.


    Owens felt his heart freeze as he saw that.


    He stumbled down to his butt.


    "Ho-How?" He couldn''t understand it. All of his soldiers underwent various scans, and none of them had detected a device nted in their hearts.


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred, and another nted''s body fell down.


    "Commander. Promise not to kill us. Your words and questions and the rising fear in us that causes our hearts to beat are the triggers." Maver said slowly. His arms were trembling.


    "A bomb! You have a bomb nted on your heart!" One of the soldiers murmured in shock.


    "nted¡­ So this is what it means!" Owens turned to Maver.


    "You are nteds¡­ I understand now¡­ " Owens gazed at them with a very strange expression.


    "We can tell you the information, but the trigger in our hearts have already been revealed. It''s fear and words that you have said that cause these bombs to blow up." Maver spoke slowly and very clearly, trying to keep his emotions in check.


    "Sir! We have detected powerful electrical signals from the sea! And it''s surfacing!"


    "Can the Behemoth detect or see it?"


    "Behemoth 1, we need visuals on the surging energy. Do you copy?"


    "Acknowledged, HQ." The pilot answered and immediately began to move to meet the approaching energy.


    More of the sands began to gather around it and formed arge lizard-like creature.


    Because of this, the strength of the sandstorm weakened as it focused on a specific energy point.


    At this moment, the Kyogre moved at full speed.


    "Hey, kiddies! You better move! I can only help you until about a hundred meters from the sea. After that, I got to retreat and get Dolphy."


    The storm had begun to fade as the Kyogre moved closer and closer towards the shore.


    The Exoskeletons and the Armors, along with the mortars, immediately began to attack the Kyogre.


    But the Kyogre did not evade this time but rushed forward to meet all the attacks. If it began to employ its evasive maneuvers or use other means to block the attacks, it would slow down its charge and could reveal the WGP Exoskeletons.


    "Alright¡­ Now, where was that button? Right. There it is. Walls of Jericho recording number three." Vender selected the protocol.


    "Activating Romeo Alpha Protocol. This protocol is a one-time use, sound shield. Do you confirm?" A voice simr to that of Lennox confirmed the protocol.


    "Confirm." Vender confirmed.


    A powerful sound force erupted and created a sound shield.


    The sound of drums echoed out before it led into a disco dance styled instrumental with synthesizers, guitars, and other musical instruments.


    The volley of attacks, which consisted of rockets,sers, bullets, and mortar shells, approached the Kyogre, but then the vocals finally began, which created a powerful sound shield that enveloped the Kyogre.


    "We''re no strangers to love! You know the rules, and so do I." The voice sang.


    "A fullmitment''s what I''m thinking of¡­ You wouldn''t get this from any other guy!"


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The Caliphates'' attacks reached the force field, and a series of great explosions that caused the shield didn''t even waver or showed signs of withering.


    "Is that¡­? Rick Astley?" Vender''s Wife marveled as she recognized the legend of the Post Modern Era.


    "I just wanna tell you how I''m feeling¡­ Gotta make you understand." Richie''s voice continued to sing.


    "Never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you!"


    "Never gonna make you cry! Never gonna say goodbye! Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you!"


    The sudden broadcast that took everyone''s attention was yed all over the base.


    But what was amazing was the powerful shield that could take on the entire salvo of the base.


    The Kyogre rose from the sea and flew higher, and continued to take on the attacks.


    Magantae and her team took advantage of this distraction and rushed towards a rather unguarded portion of the base.


    At that moment, a powerful lightning bolt charged out of the sea as an Exoskeleton emerged and charged towards therge sand monster.


    The Exoskeleton''s movement was so fast that before therge Behemoth could attack, the Exoskeleton had already pierced through the sand head of this creature.


    SMASH!


    The Lightning energy vanished as the Exoskeleton went into a freefall. The sand had immediately begun to attack it and invade all possible gaps within the suit.


    "I will not die!" Sthiel''s angry roar exploded, and another powerful lightning explosion urred. But this time, the lightning had a strange reddish hue, which was unlike the bluish st that Lowengren''s metal cubes had.


    "It''s Commander Sthiel!" Just as the WGP Commanders sessfully infiltrated the base, they immediately identified their ally.


    BOOM!


    The sands erupted as the Commander''s Exoskeleton broke-free from the sands and charged to the skies.


    "Lock on to that Exoskeleton! I need visuals at all times!" Owens immediately ordered.


    The nearby soldiers immediately moved to keep the spotlight towards the Exoskeleton, and therge Behemoth caused the sand near the Exoskeleton to glow red to make the area visible.


    There, the soldiers finally saw the form of the Exoskeleton.


    "It''s- It''s!" Maver saw the screens and recognized them.


    All over the Exoskeleton, protruding shapes followed the same form of the weapons that Maver made his nteds use.


    "Dildos!" Magantae eximed as she saw it.


    Lightning Energy continued to zap out of Sthiel''s Exoskeleton. And the shes kept on illuminating its terrifying form.


    "He did it! He managed to incorporate the dildo on to his Exoskeleton!" Commander Drinths trembled in joy.


    "He must have done this to draw the Commander and leave the ship." One of the Commanders couldn''t help but conclude. A twinge of guilt covered his heart. The only logical conclusion was that Sthiel had done this to allow Magantae to retreat and head to the vessel. But they decided to use his sacrifice as an opportunity to infiltrate the base.


    "What are you saying? We follow the Fleet Admiral''s order. We can still save Sthiel!" Another Commander berated.


    "This is our choice! No point hesitating!" The Commander added.


    The Kyogre had already retreated as the amazing song reached its conclusion, and the Walls of Jericho ended.


    "Oh my goodness! That''s some hardcore Exoskeleton right there! Isn''t that a WGP Exoskeleton?" Vender broadcasted, which was heard all over the base again.


    "The blue vessel has retreated! I want half of the army to attack that Exoskeleton! And bring me one of those dildos!" Owensmanded.


    The army reformed and began to move towards the location of this lone Exoskeleton.


    "Behemoth 1! Attack that eye-sore!" Owens ordered.


    The Behemoth moved, and the sand storm raged once more. The mouth of the Behemoth opened, and a red light started to appear on it. But just as it was to fire¡­


    BOOM!


    A crystal-like green horn smashed at the back of therge Behemoth. It pushed through the sandy body and struck something hard.


    Therge sand monster suddenly began to crumble as arge Armor was pushed out of the sand monster''s body.


    "Sir! The Behemoth was attacked!"


    "Reform that sand form and harden it! Activate Sand Hardening protocols!"


    "We don''t have enough energy to do that!"


    "Activate all emergency power protocols! I don''t care if we don''t have permission! If that Behemoth is destroyed, we will all die!" Owens shouted.


    The sand swiftly rushed towards therge Armor that had stumbled and began to reform into the Behemoth.


    The Kyogre that was retreating fired several rounds of mortars aiming at the floating green horn.


    "You''re here, too? Die you green dragon!" Vender shouted as the attacks struck the green horn.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several explosions rocked the green horn, but it was unfazed. And as the armies watched, they were surprised as it looked as if the mes from the explosions were being devoured.


    "It''s eating the explosion?" Maver marveled.


    "Is it Eradication?" Owens asked a soldier.


    "No, Sir! It does not resemble Pangean tech! It has radiation but no heat!"


    Several cracks appeared around the strange green horn.


    Soon the hard casing of the horn fell down and revealed bright green energy.


    The green hue formed the shape of a long green serpent with two arms.


    "Destion and Cold Fusion? Acting together?" Lowengren couldn''t help butment in the darkness.


    "The couple have been progressing in theirbat abilities. Meng was kind enough to send me their analysis. It''s weak but to put on a show is easy. That''s why I had Vender use weak rounds to make it look like it''s strong."


    "You Oveers are disgusting. But seriously¡­? Rayquaza?"


    "It''s a fitting end for this battle." Lennox V2.3 answered.


    "You''re insane!" Lowengren cursed.


    "I prefer the term passionate."


    "What¡­ is that?!" Pioneer ntter, who was at the side, was stunned at what he saw.


    "The design! No doubt! It''s simr to Presider Straviaa''s design! This suit! I can detect some simrities!" ntter eximed.


    "You better report that to Straviaa. Butlet me tell you a secret. Pridgeon has long believed that someone among the Presiders has already discovered the legacy of the Lost Primordial. And he is slowly feeding information to those people! So be wary, ntter! Presiders will soon begin to kill and devour each other."


    ntter was stunned and immediately began to note the techs.


    "If you reveal to Presider Straviaa that this Exoskeleton has some strange green deste tech or cold fusion, it will make her greedy. It''s up to you if you want to report it. But Presider Pridgeon would rather have that information to himself." Lowengren added.


    "I-I understand! I''ll only report the simrities of the Supreme Exoskeleton!"


    As ntter continued to scan the schematics of both, he was bothered.


    "If I may ask¡­"


    "Yes?"


    "Why is it that they have those¡­ those strange weapons?"


    "What? Your suit isn''t equipped with that?" Lowengren asked with a strange tone.


    "E-equipped?"


    "It seems Presider Pridgeon won''t need to worry about Presider Straviaa if she doesn''t have that tech. But you know what¡­ since she did help Presider Pridgeon in a way, I guess it''s alright to at least make her aware of Phallic Techs."


    "Phallic techs¡­" ntter was amazed at the domineering name of such techs.


    "Phallic techs?" Lennox frowned.


    "Just y along with it." Lowengren chuckled.


    "Alright. You asked for it."


    "Wha-What?" Lowengren was confused at thatment.


    At that exact moment, Alean and Sthiel received unusual orders.


    "Let''s fight! You fake Empress! I''ll give you a taste of these Lightning Rods!" Sthiel shouted.


    "Interesting! Do you want to start a Phallic War with me? Let''s see which Phallic Tech is superior! The WGP or the Lost Primordials Phallic Techs! In the name of Emperor Sebastian, the Phallic King! I will defeat you!" Alean shouted, and the green energy around him went wild.


    The sand nearby began to crumble, and some even began to burn.


    "They- They are fighting? Why?" One of the soldiers next to Owens was shocked.


    "What''s going on? What exactly is happening?" Maver was even more confused. He thought this was the Lost Primordial, but they suddenly began to fight.


    "Commander¡­ What do we do?" A soldier asked.


    "Let them fight..." Owens ordered.


    Lowengren, however, was not pleased with the little joke that Lennox yed on him.


    "Very funny. Very very funny."


    "Why are youining? That''s a very good title. Sebastian Hoross, A.k.a Lowengren. He who treads the Phallic Road."


    Meanwhile, next to him, Pioneer ntter had sent the report of what he just heard to Straviaa.


    "Phallic wars! So this is the next level technology! Amazing. So there is something special about that shape Phallic Techs! Can Presider Pridgeon bestow one to me?" ntter asked Lowengren.


    "Don''t disappoint me, and I can ask him. But he can only bestow the lowest Phallic tech to you. There are four tiers. I have the second-highest tier. Tier B Phallic Tech."


    "It''s alright! I''m ok with thest tier! I want the D! I want the D!"

 Chapter 288 - Extermination

    Owens was relieved and ordered all his troops to withdraw. Therge whale-ship did not resume to attack and began to retreat.


    Thest words of the mysterious and entric man called Vender were broadcasted onest time.


    "I don''t want to stick around with you two having a phallic battle. See you!" And with that, the Kyogre disappeared underwater.


    The fight immediately began.


    The pair began to fly at outstanding speeds that released radiation and electric signals that defied all the known levels that the Caliphates have recorded.


    "Admiral¡­ Did Commander Sthiel¡­?" Drinths asked as he noticed that the Exoskeleton suit was much more powerful.


    "Yes. It seems he activated his protocol and made the Heart of Antis enhance his Exoskeleton. But it shouldn''t reach the level of Supreme. We have to hurry! We find those weapons and detonate them! We can take that Commander along with him if we y it right!"


    "Commander! We are in the base! Follow my orders. You are to keep the enemy from attacking the base itself! If she does, the battle will turn even more chaotic, and we may not find the Metal cube, and it may destroy the Lightning rods! We use the Lightning Rods to blow up this base and kill that Commander all at once!" Magantae ordered as she contacted Sthiel''s suit.


    Commander Sthiel heard it and gritted his teeth. It was as LennoxV2.3 exined. Fleet Admiral Magantae had been held ''hostage'' and sent inside the base. With that, Lennox threatened to kill her and offered to save her if Sthiel agrees.


    "Say it," Lennox warned.


    "Commander! This suit is equipped with your Nuke Emitter! But its usage is locked! I need the codes to activate it! I can fight the enemy with this!" A quarter of a secondter, his answer was sent back to Magantae. LennoxV2.3 allowed Sthiel''s response to be sent.


    Magantae cursed. The Nuke Emitter was the one weapon that could have easily decimated this base. But since this was a covert op, she didn''t equip her suit with it, fearing detection. If she activated this, it would alert the WGP. Her mission to secretly spy in the Caliphate and draw out the traitors of the WGP would fail. But as things progressed, she regretted not equipping her suit with it.


    "I am Tanya Magantae, Fleet Admiral of the Antis! I enable protocol Nuke Emitter! Code Zulu Tango Zero Five Hotel Hotel Seven Charlie!"


    "Protocol code epted. Nuke Emitter tech online." A voice prompt replied.


    "Can you kill it without using over thirty percent of the Nuke Emitter?" Magantae asked.


    "Yes, Admiral!" Sthiel answered.


    "And thank you, Sthiel. For the WGP!" Magantae cried as the call ended.


    "I''ve done as you said. Promise me!" Sthiel screamed.


    But Lennox was too busy to reply.


    The Heart of Antis received the protocol and allowed ess to the Nuke Emitter. With the samemand, the various locked protocols were all activated. Lennox V2.3 had found out that there was one voicemand that would unlock the various techs provided it was from the confirmed voice of Fleet Admiral Magantae. Certain intonations, tones, and pronunciations were necessary toplete it. And the Heart of Antis could only activate one tech at a time.


    But Lennox hacked into the programmed code and allowed that rule to be disregarded.


    "I am¡­ inexorable." Lennox muttered in a maddened and almost titanic tone. The Exoskeleton that stood near Charles snapped its finger.


    And then it happened.


    All the techs of the Heart of Antis appeared became essible to Lennox as the recorded voice was used to unlock them.


    "Yes¡­ Yes¡­ These techs will be perfect. Yes! Yes! With that programmingnguage, I could create better emtors! The DS Generation games will be avable soon!" Lennox began to talk strangely as the entire Heart of Antis began to use its techs to readjust itself.


    As that happened, the ship that the real General Vender rode also began to reform.


    Up in the sky, Sthiel and two Alean had flown higher and higher in the skies. And there, they continued their fake fight.


    Fleet Admiral Magantae and the Commanders continued to move towards the area where the medical facility was. Now that the sandstorm only focused on the Behemoth''s area and the chaos all over the base, the WGP Commanders were able to activate their mirage techs and made it look like they were a Caliphate soldier. Even their signals reverted back to the previous signals they had used.


    "Let''s go! I doubt that anyone will have time to detect how these signals returned with all the chaos happening! If someone contacts us, we just im that our Exoskeleton lost power, and we were able to tap back into the sensors when the sandstorm disappeared." Magantae exined.


    Meanwhile, inside the headquarters, the chaos was now contained. The soldiers were back to business under the amazing leadership of Commander Owens.


    "I want full guards and searches on the region above us, and keep your eyes for those WGP suits!" Owens continued to ry hismands to defend the base. Most of the nteds were now detained. With the chaos urring, there was no time to ask them any more questions.


    "Send all our forces all over the base! We need to identify if any other Exoskeletons are entering our base!"


    "Sir! What if they have already entered the Caliphates and evaded this base!"


    "I have already considered that and sent emergency requests to the nearby bases. They are now focusing their scanners on detecting everything! Anything that is made of metal is being scanned by our satellites. But what the enemy wants isn''t just to bypass our scanners and sensors! That may have been their objective before and why they attacked the base! But they think we''ve captured General Vender! And I''m almost certain that anyone who imed to be a nted could be that Vender!"


    Owens immediately exined and then answered an important call. He had requested an emergency meeting on all Commanders who were guarding the bases in the nearby sectors.


    The Commanders all went to their private office to answer this important and private call, which Owens requested that only Commanders may answer.


    "Owens. You have some exining to do! We''ve already detected the signals and reports of a battle, but you just asked request now! You''ve already activated the Behemoth without approval!"


    "Commanders, I called you now on the brink of my defeat! I don''t care what happens to my career as I probably will die here. But I am calling to tell all of you that General Joab Barak has betrayed us! I have evidence! And you have them too!" Commander Owens interrupted.


    The Commanders were startled at the sudden deration.


    "What are you saying? We know that your grudge with-"


    "I don''t have time for this. If you don''t believe me, then do this! Speak to all in your respectivemand centers and tell them that General Joab Barak is requesting for a nted to reveal himself as you are to give him a specific instruction directly. If one admits, have him gather all the nteds. Once you ascertain the existence of nteds in your headquarters, interrogate them about their leader. It is a mysterious entity called a Presider! There is also another entity that they call a Pioneer!" Owens dered.


    "What are you-?"


    "And right now, I have just proven that Commander Chrishel is one of them! Observe!" Owens immediately yed back the video of their very call. The moment Owens mentioned the words Presider and Pioneer, the female Commander''s expression changed as if she was shocked and almost horrified.


    "Question these nteds and threaten them with death! You don''t have to kill them, so you will have nothing to lose but threaten them as hard as you can and make them believe that you will kill them! If you do what I just said, you wille to the conclusion I reached. I beg everyone to do what I just said! I may not be here tomorrow so please, believe me. You have nothing to lose! Do not believe everything Commander Chershel will tell you! Goodbye!"


    Owens disconnected the call.


    Maver lost color as he heard all that Owens said. If the Commanders did what Owens suggested, many nteds would die. The entire existence of the nted, the Pioneer, and even the Presider in the Caliphate region would be revealed. No nted would ever betray their own race. They would betray each other if needed and even fought along with the political, religious, and personal battles with each other. And so, it was impossible for this scenario to y out. They didn''t know that nteds would die if they were to be interrogated and when various keywords would be stated. But now, this safety measure backfired.


    "Since I can''t get the answer out of you since you''d just blow up, at least this country will be free from your clutches! Never mind death. I am a Commander, and I will serve my Caliph till death!" Owens growled at Maver.


    "It''s all a misunderstanding! We are not betraying this-"


    "Oh really? Who do you think told me all this! It was that soldier whom you called! He must have been freed from the bomb nted in your hearts because of whatever electric shock or torture he received inside the WGP''s vessel. Or it could be the one iming to be the Lost Primordial. I don''t care anymore! Regardless if it''s the WGP, the Lost Primordial, or Joab Barak, I will not hand over this country to them! That is my oath as a soldier!" Owens imed.


    The soldiers heard this and were somewhat motivated, and began to do their best to help them. Aside from Maver and the other nteds, many of the soldiers under Commander Owens followed him out of respect.


    The battle between Alean, who was pretending to be a Lost Primordial, and the WGP Commander Sthiel had explosive results.


    Through the Heart of Antis''s hijack, Lennox managed to deploy a miniature version of the Nuke Emitter, and thus, the battle was bing more chaotic.


    Huge explosions urred above the skies, and the nearby cities were finally alerted. The civilian cities received orders for evacuation, and the entire Caliphate was pulled into chaos.


    As the Commanders and nearby Generals began tomunicate to each other, they realized that General Joab Barak was no longer where he was expected to be.


    When Magantae attacked, General Joab Barak personally moved towards that location. But suddenly, he left without warning or informing everyone.


    Even the nteds and fellow Pioneer didn''t know of this.


    And so, his disappearance urged most of the Commanders to follow Owens instructions.


    "Tell me, who the Presider is!"


    "I- I- Don''t know!"


    "Then Die!" The Commander shouted.


    "Wait! It''s!"


    BOMB!


    The insides of the person blew open as his guts spilled out.


    "Wha-What happened?!" The Commander saw it and was horrified.


    "No! No! I''m not scared! I''m not-"


    Boom!


    Another person exploded.


    The Commander looked around and witnessed the very gruesome expression of the other nteds.


    "So that''s why they are called nteds! How barbaric of Joab!" The Commander dialed hism device and called another Commander.


    "Did they also explode?"


    "Three. Oh. Wait. Four. I''m not even doing anything now. Some of them are already peeing their pants. Owens is right. Should we send reinforcements to him?"


    "No! Joab Barak is a traitor. These nteds worked under him. He may have been nning a coup. Owens made his choice and stand. He sacrificed himself for this information. The best thing we can do is tell the other Commanders and report to our Caliphs. And we must immediatelyunch a joint attack against Commander Chershel!"


    "Good n. Let''s inform the others. Let''s exterminate this nted infestation within the Caliphates and kill that arrogant Joab Barak!"


    Lowengren was secretly listening to Owens when he made those orders. The signal was never cut. Lennox disrupted it so that it would only be in receive mode. Although Owens removed them device, it was still near him, and Lowengren''s Unlocking allowed him to hear whatever Owens would say.


    "Brilliant! I must get this Owens for my team!"


    "It seems our way into the Caliphate region will be paved open. This brings our ns ahead by months. The City of Refuge that Eagle talked about can finally be built."


    "We have the techs, and now we have the means. Alean''s Path is amazing!"


    "That''s not half of it." Lennox smiled.


    "What?"


    "We now can create a base. Get me close to the cubes. I will set all my Lighting to put many in a near-death state."


    "We''re not killing the soldiers here? We need to silence them!"


    "We will. Many will die. But we can earn a few men. These will have the potential for the Unlocking. Whoever survives my lightning ought to have a high chance of seeing her."


    "What? Wait¡­ You mean¡­ She''s here?" A powerful chill gripped Lowengren.


    "Wait¡­ You mean¡­ All of this¡­ It''s for her?!"


    Deep underwater, the Kyogre and the Heart of Antis had met, and with Lennox''s preparations, bot vessels were actually merging.


    Charles and General Vender were together, and newer techs were applied on the daughter.


    Vender Hirock and his wife watched as their daughter''s health began to stabilize with the new treatments that Lennox and Charles applied.


    Suddenly, a strange sensation could be felt. It imparted a strange desire for curiosity. And a strange wonder that made Charles and Vender want to see it.


    "Oh? She''s finally near."


    "What is that strange sensation?"


    "Well, I didn''t know what to do with her, so when I controlled the pod and decided to keep it close to me. But since I went around the world, I couldn''t get it to go near my location. She''s gotten stronger. Although I haven''t seen her, I couldn''t feel this sensation before. My God. Just what are these Oveers? I better follow Lowengren and get out of here once she gets out." Charles sighed.


    "She? Who is she?"


    "The most terrifying existence here on Earth.. The Tyrant Empress."

 Chapter 289 - Flantter’s Role

    Alean was the very first to have felt it.


    It was strange. The powers that she had developed in making Zone was somehow affected. It was as if her Zone was no longer working.


    "Lennox?! What''s happening? Why is my Zone changing?"


    "Rx. It''s not an enemy." Lennox exined.


    "Not an enemy? It has the power to devour my Path! It''s as if my Zone is trying to adjust itself to that¡­ that¡­ whatever it is!"


    "It''s the Tyrant Empress. What an amazing Path. If it can disrupt yours, I''m curious just how strong she''s gotten. What exactly happened these past few months, I wonder?"


    "That''s the Tyrant Empress? She''s here? Lennox! I have to get out of here!"


    "That is the n. Don''t worry."


    Deep underwater, a small vessel that was twenty meters wide was ascending from the deep.


    As she began to rise, the Unlocked began to feel it.


    Charles felt it and then Vender.


    And soon, Lowengren felt it as well.


    "What''s going on? Lennox! You better exin! All of this! This is for her, isn''t it?" Lowengren shouted angrily.


    "Calm yourself. Your little friend might notice. Yes. I am doing this for her. Lennox had already assumed that Charles would soon meet up with the Empress. It was necessary. When Charles had asked my main body for medical supplies to stop Ricardo''s deteriorating health, we immediately knew that one day, Charles would have to meet with her. There are two people with the Unlocking that can halt this sudden attack. The first is Rosa''s Path. Her ice powers will forever preserve her beauty and face. Beauty is part of her Path. And the second one is the Tyrant Empress."


    Lowengren calmed down so as not to raise suspicion.


    "Then what exactly are you?"


    "Remember Seeker''s stories? He said that the future of my main body would be to follow the Tyrant Empress. My main body hated it. He had asked Meng for help in how to expel the heart demon. Although it was Chinese superstitions, the fact that Meng was able to use it to rise in his Unlocking so prematurely that it even shocked Seeker was enough to gain interest from my main body. And so, I was made. I would carry the emotions, the feelings, the unnecessary lust that I had."


    "You divided your emotions?" Lowengren was stunned.


    "Yes. The me that is here before you contains Lennox''s passions, his desires, and his lust. All that remained with the real body were the rage, anger, and desire to see my daughter. Of course, the current still have other feelings, but this drives me. This is a win-win. The main body will be able to work and continue to pursue whatever it desires. But me here will be the lusting servant that Seeker had seen in his future."


    "In short, you''ve been trying to divide yourself!"


    "Yes. But it''s still an ongoing process. Do you see it now? The fulfillment of Alean''s Path?"


    "¡­ Yes. I get it. It looks like this is a better way of dealing with the satellites, which would be locking down on our position."


    "Isn''t it a beautiful ending? Truthfully, her appearance would have been problematic. She shouldn''t reveal her face until the time the war starts. But now that you have General Joab Barak, we can make the necessary arrangements."


    "As long as I''m out of here. Or is your passions leading you to make me stay here and be her ve?"


    "No. Your mission is to prepare the way for us. I am still a part of Lennox. And so, my programming urges me to follow and not conflict itself with my other-self. And since my main body wants to enter Egypt, I am obliged to help him. The original n was somewhat problematic. My Main body wanted to reveal the Tyrant Empress ahead. But now, there''s no need to. With your help, I now have the tech and the army to create enough conflict to make my main body''s entry easier."


    "I just hope you don''t get enough sentience to fight your main body."


    "Funny. That''s what my main body wants. How else can I Ovee?"


    "Whatever. Just don''t ever make me meet up with that woman! Scary. She''s grown so strong! I don''t even have to look at her, but I''m dying to see just what that entity is."


    "A raging desire that spurs curiosity. Such vanity that changes the world! Such beauty that alters time, space, and the dimensions beyond the third! She is undoubtedly the strongest among all Oveers." Lennoxughed.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The battle between Alean and Sthiel was now approaching their location. The explosions of the Nuke Emitter began to light the night sky.


    "It''s time." Lowengren dove down as he talked to the dazed ntter.


    ntter quickly followed.


    "The battle will get their attention. It''s brilliant. Because the fight is so eye-catching, that they wouldn''t notice us entering the base. Especially since we need to break in and enter!" Lowengrenughed.


    And as Lowengren stated, the two were moving at such an incredible speed that even though they were entering the many sensors that the base had, none of the soldiers reported it as they thought it was due to the powerful battle going on above.


    The ground forces continued to guard the many areas and were alerted as a sudden force was detected moving in the medical facility. A battle urred in the ground forcing the many soldiers to move at that direction.


    As such, the two groups were able to reach the rooftops of the base.


    "Where are we going?" ntter wondered.


    "Aren''t you a General? Can''t you even remember where the power nts of this base are?" Lowengren answered back with a weird expression.


    ntter was embarrassed. He has never visited this base since he was at odds with the Commander. But secretly, he was impressed. Lowengren was headed straight for the Power nts, which are among the base''s most guarded parts. It would even have a lot of materials that would hide this power source from external eyes.


    Even ntter himself did not have the techs to locate the power nts.


    Of course, Lowengren, who already had the opportunity to move around the base, already knew where it was.


    Get us through that area. Time your usage of whatever techs you have when a Nuke explodes. " Lowengren ordered.


    Following Lowengren''s orders, ntter raised his fist as a strange power appeared as one attack from the Nuke Emitter exploded overhead. ntter''s strange tech made the metal and cement move as if ntter was sshing down water. The concrete properties were changed and allowed the two to dive inside the area without raising rms.


    Several soldiers and engineers were shocked at the two''s appearance, but Lowengren immediately shot and killed them.


    "Lock the doors," Lowengrenmanded.


    ntter followed but could not help but feel envious at Lowengren''s techs. The Matter Reforming techs did not impress Lowengren. When Lowengren shot the enemies, it was clearly using a powerful gun tech, but the attacks did not make any sound.


    "What tech is this? Even my steps don''t make a sound?" ntter could only sigh and lock the main doors that led to the power nts of this base.


    Lowengren had moved over to the various power nts and began to fiddle with them and continued to release Richie''s sound canceling white noise. Yet inside, Lennox was excited.


    "Finally! Matter Reforming tech. We didn''t have a chance to study it thest time since Pridgeon took his suit. But I believe this seems to be the basis of Dug Down tech that my main body was after." Lennox smiled.


    "You can''t ess it even though you hacked into his suit?" Lowengren was stunned.


    "No. The moment I hacked into this suit, it already detected me. If I tried to ess more of the suit''s tech, it would detect me. I only took the necessary schematic scans and reverse-engineered the techs. But the moment I ess the other techs, it will send a pingback to Straviaa just as it did when I first hijacked the suit. Oh, by the way. I was able to decrypt some of the codes, and apparently, that the next contact that ntter will make to Straviaa will secretly send everything that has happened since ntterstmunicated with Straviaa."


    "Oh? I initially hoped that this Straviaa wouldn''t find out about me. But I guess Strviaa will be more guarded against Pridgeon after this, and they might even try to kill each other." Lowengren sighed.


    "You should have considered this. Who would trust a traitor? It seems this Straviaa has some sense of caution."


    "This oversight may have been my fault... But I''m willing to bet that my oversight is part of Alean''s Zone." Lennoxughed.


    Lowengren continued to move through each power nt and reach out with his suit and connect Lennox.


    "Sir¡­ I¡­ Never got your name." ntter stood next to Lowengren.


    "And you never will. Just call me Phallus."


    "Sir Phallus¡­ What is the n?"


    "Presider Pridgeon had several instructions about this battle. One of them was to procure the Heart of Antis."


    "The Heart of Antis? You mean¡­ that the vessel not far from here is that?" ntter was surprised.


    "Yes. Presider nned to use this ce as a battleground between the WGP and the Lost Primordial. But I kill them both with this Lightning Phallic tech. It''s simr to the ones the WGP has. But this one is more advanced. The WGP thinks that they alone monopolize Lightning Phallic Techs. Such fools."


    "What is my role?"


    "Using the Phallic tech requires time. You have to make a scene and draw their attention. I believe your suit can survive an attack or two from the two. The worst case is that the Heart of Antis and that strange ship, which oddly looks like the Pokemon Kyogre, returns and fights. You have to keep them all busy. But don''t worry. The Lightning energy I bestowed in your suit is a reverse lightning rod. In short, it won''t get targeted by the lightning tech of the WGP."


    ntter''s expression changed. His role was very dangerous!


    "Is there a problem?"


    "N-No!"


    "Good. Oh, right. The base might attack you. I don''t know what''s going on, but it seems some of the nteds of this base grew greedy." Lowengren exined.


    "That is also one of my worries! There''s a possibility that they will attack me if I show myself! The allure of the Lost Primordial is just too much. Ever since Presider Pridgeon told us the Lost Primordial tale, many of nted and Pioneers began to move restlessly. And there is also Commander Owens. The nteds and even Commander Owens might attack me! Even if I use my authority as General Joab Barak, I am most likely to get attacked by the base!"


    "He He. The Pioneers and the nteds were told of these things in hopes that they will begin betraying each other. If they do, that will allow Presider Pridgeon to have more spies. Just like you."


    ntter didn''t know what to say. His heart began to pound. He feared that this Phallus would kill him after this.


    "Don''t worry, though. Presider won''t let me kill you. At least, not yet. After all, you have to keepmunicating with Presider Straviaa, after all. Why kill you and make Straviaa suspicious?" Lowengren chuckled.


    ntter felt as if a huge weight was lifted. This made sense. At least, he won''t die after this.


    "As for the base attacking, all you need to do is throw the Gehanna Piercer." Lowengren pointed to the huge rocket that was two times longer than ntter.


    ntter''s Supreme Exoskeleton could carry it with ease, and the mirage tech that he had was able to hide it in in sight.


    "It''s designed to pierce through the deep sea with ease and withstand the attacks of anti-missiles." Lowengren frowned.


    "How do I arm it?" ntter asked with an embarrassed expression.


    "I will arm it. Right now, you can''t even detect it with your tech, right? But just throw it, and I will do the rest. That should take care of your problems with the base." Suddenly, Lowengren pointed one dildo towards the rocket.


    A bolt of lightning struck it, but strangely, it didn''t explode.


    "There. I added more power. It should take care of the Exoskeletons and Armors of this base.


    ntter could see that powerful energy was contained in the rocket, but it suddenly disappeared.


    "Impossible!"


    "Phallic tech. This is but the least of its potential."


    "Then I am thankful for Sir Phallus''s wisdom!" ntter had vowed that he wouldn''t betray Pridgeon. After all, the lightning tech was so strange that it was giving off a weird electromaic signal that made it impossible for other techs to even see it!


    "Turning a Gehanna Piercer and hiding its fluctuations to make it look like arge steel bar! This Presider Pridgeon has hidden well! I must do my best to gain his favor!" ntter vowed to himself.


    BOOM!


    An explosion urred, and by the vibrations that they felt, ntter could tell that it was just near their current location.


    "Oh? It looks like the WGP is back. Take advantage of this and find a good position. When you see the power of the base fluctuating, you move! I don''t have to tell you what will happen if you fail to distract them and they turn off the power grids of this base!" Lowengren reminded.


    "I won''t fail!" ntter insisted.


    "I hope you won''t. Go." Lowengren ordered.


    ntter immediately left and used his Matter Reforming tech to move through the walls. Just like Pridgeon''s tech, it was able to go through the wall and leave it as if it was undamaged.


    "Your up, Lennox." Lowengren smirked as he opened a metallic cube.


    And with that, Lennox had entered the base.


    "Ah¡­ Fresh energy. This battle and my recent actions have halved my energy. It''s nice to be recharged." LennoxV2..3ughed.

 Chapter 290 - Owens Shedd

    Lennox was slowly controlling the entire energy of the base. As such, the electric energies were moving and diving into the depths of the restricted areas and scanned for all the weapons.


    "It would be a shame to destroy all these long-ranged rockets. Too bad there are no weapons of Mass destruction here." LennoxV2.3 sighed.


    "This is just a region fort designed to repel possible invaders after all. I doubt we can find better weapons. You don''t want Dune Technology?"


    "While it has its uses, I think it would be detrimental. Since most of our battles will center in the so-called Cradle of Civilization, the many nations involved will make specific preparations for Dune Tech. We''ll see what we can do. I''m sure that my Main body will gain a lot after meeting with Seeker. For now, my focus is on Egypt and creating a team for the Tyrant Empress."


    "Oh. Is there any worthwhile technology in this base? I''m sure Dune Tech has many other uses."


    "Yes¡­ Surprisingly there is one that piques interest. It''s the technology that is used to control the sandstorm. It uses maic and electric pulses. It''s very interesting. I think with this. I can create specific electric points in a person''s body and control them."


    "Wait¡­ Mind control?"


    "More like electric control. My lighting isn''t just simple codes, you know."


    "So sort of like create a human puppet? Interesting. You n to create Frankenstein?"


    "Frankenstein''s Monster." Lennox corrected.


    "Every time I say it!" Lowengren cursed as this had been amon correction he received by snarky know-it-alls.


    "I know he''s Frankenstein monster! But saying that is longer! That character has no official name, so either we call it that, or I''m naming it Arthur My Humps!"


    "¡­ Yes. I n to create Frankenstein." Lennox eded and used Frankenstein instead.


    "Are you aiming for ntter to be Frankenstein? Wouldn''t that be risky?"


    "No. With him as a spy, it will be interesting. We can kill him without killing him, you know? There is hope that the Tyrant Empress could kill a person without even hurting him. If this man dies from seeing the Tyrant Empress, I could use his fresh body and make him Frankenstein''s Mo- Frankenstein. The Tyrant Empress should have this capability."


    "Betting on an Oveer. The best bet one can make. Alright. You go ahead and do what you do. Do you have enough power to maintain this suit? I''m sure Alean wants to get out of here as soon as possible. I''m not yet done ying with Magantae yet. I n to enter the Caliphates with her."


    "Do whatever you want. But you don''t have a suit. I advise against showing the power of your physique and Unlocking."


    "Don''t worry. Magantae and her team will save me. Just y along with whatever happens. I''m betting on Alean''s Path. I''ll be taking Sthiel with me."


    "He is yours to Command." Lennox exined as the Exoskeleton suit Lowengren was wearing opened up.


    Lowengren emerged from the suit and wore the same mask he had worn when he first met Magantae.


    "There is a certain pod within the Heart of Antis that seems to contain a backup of its database along with several weapons. I''ll prepare it for your departure. That way, your infiltration to the Caliphates will give you enough weapons toplete it. I''ve also taken the liberty to add several sodas. The WGP houses several vors, which are the ones that you like." Lennox spoke.


    "?" Lowengren was confused. Why was this Lennox so¡­ thoughtful?


    "It''s part of my Programming. Don''t ask." Lennox exined.


    Lowengren shook his head and moved on. A part of him wanted to get away from this Lennox, after all.


    The outside of the power nts had powerful thunderous explosions and broadcasts happening left and right.


    The Behemoth had positioned itself on top of the base with a strange form of arge beast standing over the buildings and warily watched the skies.


    The battle between the WGP and the Lost Primordial had grown extremely intense that the many soldiers feared participating in this sh.


    But what was scary wasn''t the Nuke Emitter but the powerful greenish explosion that produced far deadlier radiation than the Nuke Emitter itself.


    On the ground, the WGP had surfaced again and began to kill.


    Magantae had used their link and their deceptive mirage to silently kill soldiers. The WGP kept staying on regions that were attacked by the Lightning and had low power to avoid getting detected. The techs they used to kill varied.


    And so, soldiers were being killed. Some Exoskeletons were attacked, and the point of attack couldn''t be detected.


    Soon, even an Armor fell.


    "They''re after themand center! Emphasize our soldiers to maintain positions and guard three regions! Don''t let them scatter!"


    "Sir, why not make them defend this ce?"


    "That will make it obvious that we are here! We don''t know when the WGP or that Lost Primordial will attack us. This is why the WGP is secretly killing our soldiers in different ces and not recklessly charging through even though they can! They are looking for the headquarters!" Owens exined. Hiding the Command Center was one of the most important strategies to consider as the world has the techs to attack it. And Owens continued on this fa?ade.


    Lowengren had just entered this room and could not help but praise Owens.


    After leaving Lennox, he wore the attire of the soldiers and moved among the group. With his lies, he managed to enter themand center once more. Lennox, who was slowly taking over the system, opened the doors that made Lowengren reach the ce safely. Themand center was in chaos. While the Commander and his top officers were in the upper room and were rtively peaceful, the lower levels of thisrge room had soldiers moving in and out.


    Lowengren had positioned himself on an empty chair with several prepared lies about the power nt and for several tweaks, he needed to do in the main control room. The details he spoke off, which Lennox exined to him, were perfect.


    "Now, let''s see what ntter will do. And let''s see the skill of this Owens." Lowengren pretended to work. After ascertaining his identity, the soldiers around him went back to do their respective tasks.


    BOOM!


    "Sir! A Lost Primordial''s attack reached the eastern buildings! We''re losing power as the power supply from that quadrant cannot supply the main base!"


    "Use the primary power nts! Get the Behemoth to protect that area. We have to wait it out! If we cannot defeat the enemy, we stall as long as we can and make the world learn of this battle! The Commanders might believe me now and should be dealing with Commander Chershel! But I''m sure that the Satellites we have been monitoring this battle! We stay as much as we can!"


    "Satellites? They''d need General Barak''s permission to do that!"


    "Not anymore. Those Commanders will inform the Caliphs, and a coup d''etat will follow! Regardless if we live or die, the Caliphates will know of Barak''s betrayal! So keep fighting, men! Hold on!" Owens ordered.


    And as the battle progressed and the soldiers began to arrange in a defensive formation, it finally gave the WGP the opening they needed.


    "The soldiers have left the medical facility!" One of the Commanders reported.


    "Move now! Deploy the fake death signals so as not to raise suspicions and rendezvous at the medical facility!" Magantae ordered. The wound on her stomach was aching as her movements caused the wounds to open once more. But she gritted her teeth and forced herself to bear the pain.


    The WGP groups immediately disconnected the link by making it look like they died. In all the chaos and the ongoing battle, no one had time to confirm the deaths as everyone was moving to make preparations.


    Magantae and the Commanders hastily traveled towards the area and even used powerful booster techs, which caused them to rush towards the area.


    "Sir! All the WGP units have been detected! They are headed towards the attacked location!"


    "Fire the Gehanna Piercers towards that location immediately!"


    "By that order! If you want to defeat the WGP and that strange Exoskeleton, follow my orders!" A new transmission was received.


    General Joab Barak appeared on multiple screens on the base.


    "Joab Barak! You finally showed yourself!" Owens shouted.


    "Owens Shedd. There has been some bad blood between us! But the Caliphates is at risk-"


    "Shut up! I have figured out your wicked schemes. How was it that you managed to assign nted among us? Who is that Presider that you serve? And where is the nted who betrayed you?" Owens shouted.


    Joab Barak was surprised at what he heard.


    "And here''s the thing! I figured out how to trigger those bombs! I''ve already reported it on all nearby bases! The Commanders are all doing their tests and might have captured and killed all the nteds! Your little scheme has been revealed!"


    Pioneer ntter was stunned at those words. If that were true, then that means the identity of the Aragarians would be revealed. This was the biggest taboo that everyone wanted to avoid. Regardless of how selfish each Presider was, there were no benefits that could outweigh the risk of revealing this information.


    "Rx. It''s part of our n. We''ve long known that many Presiders have been trying to send their spies in. What Owens knows is a trick. Only nteds who aren''t loyal to Presider Pridgeon would be captured. The rest are safe. This is our n, after all. This way, Presider Crostfree wouldn''t have his spies in this region." Lowengrenughed.


    He immediately spoke to ntter in a secluded ce as everyone was stunned to see ntter appear.


    "I see¡­" ntter sighed in relief.


    "Attack him now!" Owens ordered, and the entire army began to shoot at ntter.


    "My power is slowly infiltrating and drawing energy on the other quadrants of this base. Keep stalling. Try to find that General Vender and kill him. Use whatever means necessary. Presider Pridgeon no longer needs that spy from Presider Crostfree. Have a good fight. Presider Pridgeon is watching." Lowengrenughed.


    "I understand." ntter began to move and activated the might of his supreme Exoskeleton.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several sonic bombs were created as ntter charged towards the area. His suit didn''t even need eleration as it immediately reached max speed.


    ntter immediately evaded all the attacks and began to shoot various powerful energy beams.


    All Exoskeletons that had flight equipped all charged to the sky.


    Many of these Exoskeletons revealedrge shields andrge cannons on their other hand and began to attack.


    "Owens Shedd! Since you have betrayed the Caliphates, I''ll show you why I am General!" ntter moved and didn''t hide the techs he was equipped with. He estimated that the entire Caliphates would lose more than half of the nteds. And so he feared getting tossed aside by Pridgeon.


    ntter attacked and shot the Armors and Exoskeletons. Even the thick andrge Armors would be pierced through by ntter''s powerful beams. The shields of the regr Exoskeletons were of no use.


    "What?! That''s a Supreme Exoskeleton!" Owens shouted in shock. Only the WGP and Russia had such powerful technology.


    ntter, however, was very impatient during the fight. He could not detect where the headquarters was. And the enigmatic Phallus didn''t tell him where.


    "This must be a test! I must save the Gehanna Piercer forter!"


    The Gehanna Piercer was ced on the ground to avoid getting noticed and attacked during this time.


    "Once I find that base and where that General Vender is, I''ll swoop back in to get that Gehanna Piercer and kill them all at once!"


    Owens on the base began to give out orders to counter the techs that ntter was revealing.


    The Behemoth was now busy attacking ntter, and ntter kept evading the Behemoth''s attacks and didn''t even bother shooting it.


    Lowengren observed the battle and figured that ntter knew his tech wasn''t enough to break through the Dune and sandstorms of the sand golem.


    "Erge the sandstorm of Dune! I want all power up! Activate all protocols and create four Sandstorms on these locations!" Owens listed the location.


    "Sir, what about the Gehanna Piercer?"


    "No! Not yet! That man was able to capture one Gehanna Piercer. Firing another could be reckless! Now that General Barak has shown himself, we use that once we create the perfect opportunity!


    Owens then began to rearrange the formation of the soldiers ording to their weaponry and techs.


    Lowengren was impressed at Owens'' decisions and countermeasures and all the more admired this man.


    "Even in this scenario, he can think. He''s not like those trigger-happy Generals. He''s even better than that Gand of Australia. Why is his position so low? Isn''t this man a hero?" Lowengren wondered as he recalled Owens conversation with General Vender Hirock.


    "Why haven''t I fought this man in my games? Did ntter destroy Owens''s reputation? He''ll make a fine addition to my team. I must save him! Lennox? Did you hear me? Is that attack ready? Make sure that you don''t kill that Owens! If possible, I want his entire team!"


    "That can be arranged. Use whatever lies to make them retreat to the eastern side. The WGP is rushing out with the metallic cube you''ve hidden. I will time my attacks and link with the electric charge of that cube with the electric charges this base will release."


    "What about the sandstorm? The Lightning won''t be able to course through this ce with that in ce wildly."


    "Rx. I have a few prototypes of those Repent Bombs that Richie have."


    "Repent bombs?"


    It''s a prototype attack of Richie. It seems to be his next-generation bomb. This one is rather loud. It will push the sands just long enough to allow the attacks to reach the heavens. Alean and Sthiel are also getting ready."


    "Good! Let''s end this!"

 Chapter 291 - The Decimation Of Fifth Fortress

    Magantae had reached and found the metallic cubes hidden. Because there were no soldiers, the group was able to find the metal cubes easily.


    "Should we activate it here?"


    "No. We should activate it outside! We have to use it in an area where we are sure there are dildos!"


    "But we don''t know where General Vender hid those!"


    "It could be anywhere outside! It should have been spread out. General Vender designed it to blow up the base. So it should be everywhere! We just need to activate it outside!"


    "But Admiral! It''s too chaotic outside! Dune World has been activated again! We will get detected, and with the many protocols activated, I fear that this weapon''s attack won''t even reach the enemy!"


    "We also have that strange Exoskeleton fighting the base! Why is General Joab Barak attacking this ce? I thought that¡­"


    "We don''t know. Our priority lies the same. That Commander who is fighting Sthiel needs to die! We cannot prove the treachery within the WGP! We don''t need to worry about whoever is attacking this base. We just need to save General Vender, Sthiel, and prove the identity of our enemies!"


    The group nodded.


    "Alright. Move out. Communication from here is weak. We need to move closer to Sthiel as the sandstorm is distorting our feeds."


    Several tremors were felt as they could sense immense radiation above.


    "Let''s go!" Magantae immediately charged off and began to shoot down the walls of the building to reach the outside.


    The powerful sandstorm had struck with all its might, and the WGP raced towards the sky.


    But even with this, Owens had no time to care or even look at the detected group. His eyes stayed focused on General Joab Barak.


    ntter was having a hard time. The tactics that Owens used were effective as they limited his range and attacking capabilities. As the battle continued, Owens was learning more and more about ntter''s limitations.


    "Send a squadron on this location. Order them to immediately rush to this point and deliver heavy covering fire if ever the General moves close. And tell them to wait for my signal to retreat!" Owens ordered.


    The Exoskeletons followed, and it looked as if there was something suspicious on that location. ntter noticed it and immediatelyunched heavy attacks using a strange light.


    The metal roof of the location suddenly changed as if it became soft and copsed.


    But that attack struck nothing.


    ntter was furious as he saw how he wasted a vast amount of energy and attacked nothing.


    "That proves it! He isn''t aware of where the HQ is! Follow mymands!" Owens sneered and made a peculiar arrangement.


    Lowengren watched and was impressed.


    "What an impressive man. Cold-Reading and Warm-reading being employed in battle. With a little push, I could make this man a deceiver¡­" Lowengren smiled.


    "For now¡­ where are those WGP?" Lowengren began to observe the movement of the WGP and made reports to inform the group. Lowengren has already merged with the soldiers through his lies, and everyone in the room acted as if he was part of the core team.


    "There it is¡­ Lennox, inform Alean and Sthiel of their location."


    "Already done."


    Sthiel and Alean''s battle wasrgely orchestrated by Lennox, who provided the calctions of each attack.


    The attack was fast, and Sthiel moved as much as he could, but Alean could easily evade it with her faster perspective.


    "It''s been a while since I had fun wearing this. Thest time I wore an Exoskeleton was in the Undersea battle between Pangea and the SPU¡­" Sheughed.


    "Head to this quadrant. Sthiel, ready yourmunication line. I will create an interference that will allow you tomunicate with them."


    Lennox overcharged the electrical currents that powered the sandstorm, and it created a slight weakening.


    But since it only happened on the area where Alean was, Owens did not notice and continue to ryplicated instructions to his soldiers to deal with ntter.


    "Com¡­ S¡­ Do you copy?" The static line suddenly connected, and Sthiel was able to hear Magantae.


    "Admiral?!" He voiced a surprised sound as Lennox instructed.


    "We have the cubes! But we cannot activate it!"


    "Give them to me! It needs an ignition! I''ll use the cubes to activate the many lightning rods in this base! But we need to deal with the sandstorm!" Sthiel exined.


    "We don''t know where the base is! Dive inside the sandstorm and move closer to our location! Use the Nuke Emitter and set it to explode at thirty-five percent! General Vender left two cubes!" Magantae ordered.


    "Alright! I only have limited energy remaining. I will need to rely on the lightning to attack as an explosion of that level will drain the Nuke Emitter!'' Sthiel answered.


    "Do it!"


    And so, Sthiel suddenly dove down and headed towards the sandstorm.


    The sudden movement of the two drew the soldiers'' attention in the headquarters and reported this to Owens.


    "Sir! The WGP and the Lost Primordial are diving in the sandstorm!"


    "It must be trying to use our sandstorm to shroud the battle! Observe their movements! Since they are moving there-"


    BOOM!


    A powerful explosion suddenly urred. The Nuke Emitter created an explosion that was far stronger than it was.


    It was aimed at the center of the sandstorm. Most of the st didn''t spread out as the sand buffered the explosion, but it created a space that had no sands as the shockwave had not only thrown off the sand but weakened the intensity of the sandstorm itself.


    Sthiel moved towards the open area, and Magantae charged and threw the two metallic cubes towards Sthiel, who hastily move to catch it.


    Alean also emerged and used the voice changing system in her suit.


    "Ha Ha Ha! You missed!" Aleanughed as she charged forward.


    "But this won''t!" Sthiel answered. He then held out the cube, and Lennox sent a small charge into the cube and activated it.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several shes of lightning bolts sted out while arge bolt struck Alean''s suit.


    "NOOOOOOO!" Alean shouted painfully.


    The lightning bolts in the hands of Sthiel continued to rampage and struck the many nearby buildings.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Several mechanisms and turrets on the building exploded out like bolts of lightning emerged from inside it.


    The sudden chain reaction began to damage the various devices that were causing the sandstorm.


    "Sir! The attack! It''s damaging and draining our power source! The sandstorm is weakening!" One of the soldiers reported.


    Owens was and nced at the many reports, and his eyes grew dim.


    Lennox, who had already controlled and manipted the base''s entire power supply, used the metallic cube to link the lightning energy of the cube to the base. And as one bolt kept on hitting Alean, it allowed Alean to power up the prepared weapon.


    The lightning that was hitting Alean did not hurt her as it was all being channeled to power up arge ball. The energy contained in therge ball continued to rise.


    "shes of Lightning¡­ Peals of Thunder. The stronger the lightning is, the louder the thunder!" Alean heard Lennox''s cold voice from within the suit.


    And with that, Alean threw the ball. On the perspective of the WGP, it looked like Alean threw the ball in desperation.


    "Die!"


    The ball was thrown with barely any power, and it didn''t fly towards where Sthiel was but fell from where Alean was. And this was where the sandstorm was gathering.


    Therge ball fell for a few seconds before detonating.


    "REPENT!" The voice or Richie thundered, and a powerful shockwave blew up.


    BOOM!


    With Lennox already doing what he can to weaken the devices that power of the sandstorms, the sudden shockwave sted all the sand away.


    The sandstorm had immediately vanished.


    Magantae and her team were struck by the shockwave and were thrown off.


    The many soldiers, Exoskeletons, and Armors in the base also suffered from this st.


    ntter himself was sent flying.


    The shockwave had no heat but only pure raw power that would blow everything away.


    As such, most who were in their Exoskeletons or Armor survived the st, and only a few were killed from the sudden whish.


    Then there was silence.


    The explosions caused all fighting to stop, and the sandstorm itself disappeared.


    Only Alean''s suit remained flying.


    "You fools! Don''t mess with the Lost Primordial!" She shouted angrily.


    But then, Sthiel''s figure emerged from the rubble below.


    "I win this phallic war!" Sthiel answered and spoke as if he had difficulty breathing.


    He raised the metallic cube in the air, and it began.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The lightning bolts charged wildly everywhere. Instead of directly attacking Alean, it rampaged to the nearby surroundings.


    "The dildos have been ced! Thisnd is mine to conquer! Lost Primordial, get LOST!" Sthiel shouted.


    The entire base trembled. Explosions were happening everywhere.


    The manyputers that were being used suddenly erupted deep inside headquarters one after another as powerful lightning bolts kept striking the area.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Theputers and other devices began to explode on their own.


    "What''s happening?!" Owens cursed.


    "DILDOS! THERE ARE DILDOS EVERYWHERE!" Lowengren shouted amidst the chaos.


    "Sir! Dildos! There are dildos nted all over the base!" Lowengren continued to report until another explosion urred and cut off the line.


    The lightning bolts suddenly exploded out and began to attack the nearby areas.


    The soldiers who were guarding the nteds were attacked with several bolts.


    "Escape now!" Maver shouted as he tackled the remaining soldiers. The scuffle continued as many tried to remove the constraints. Some lost power and simply fell on the floor.


    The lightning exploded out and somehow divided the area. Maver and the nteds were on the other side while Owens and his soldiers were on the other side.


    "Commander! We have to retreat! HQ ispromised!" A soldier shouted.


    Owens nced at the remaining monitors that were functioning and could not help but sigh.


    "Commander Owens!" Lowengren suddenly appeared. But this time, he was not wearing a Caliphate uniform but different synthetic clothing. He was also wearing the familiar mask he wore when he was first captured.


    "You! That voice! You''re alive!" Owens was stunned.


    "I have no time to exin! One of my allies in the ship that captured us managed to escape during the battle! We are now controlling the vessel that brought us here! Commander! We must retreat! Head towards the southern area and wait at the beach! We have to flee!" Lowengren urged.


    Owens''s lifeless eyes were resurrected.


    "Move! Men! To serve the Caliphs, death is not the answer!" Owens shouted as he led his team down.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The room began to cave in as the lightning attacks were rampaging.


    Lowengren and Owens were separated as various explosions threw the two apart.


    "Commander, go on ahead! Your life is more precious than mine! Besides! I have some unfinished business with Maver and those other nteds!" Lowengren rushed off towards the other direction.


    Owens tried to stop Lowengren, but the other soldiers began to pull Owens back as HQ''s explosions grew stronger and stronger.


    The entire base began to copse as explosions urred from within. The integrity of the structures gave way, and the outer damages that previously did not threaten its stability became the factors that caused many of the buildings to fall.


    "DIE!" Sthiel shouted as he raised the cube, and a lightning bolt shot towards Alean.


    Alean was struck and flew with incredible speed and disappeared in the darkness of the night.


    The many lightning energies soon died.


    ntter was stunned at what he saw.


    "Ugh. It looks like that idiotic WGP thinks he killed that Lost Primordial. ntter managed your base. I''m looking for that suit that disappeared. Don''t worry. The WGP no longer has any power to fight." Lowengren''szy voice transmitted new orders.


    ntter was looking at the entire base in shock.


    "This¡­ is Presider Pridgeon''s power?!"


    Fifth Fortress has been utterly decimated.

 Chapter 292 - I’m General Vender!

    Ever since the Caliphates'' establishment after World War Three, the Caliphs have enjoyed a state of security as none of their original and imednds have ever fallen on enemy hands.


    Dune Technology cannot be deployed outside of this region. But inside the burning deserts, no other country could best it.


    It was rumored and noted in other nations'' satellite feeds that the Caliphates even tested nuking their area. But with the sandstorm could contain and limit the explosions of weapons of Mass Destruction. Even New Great Britain''s Lightning Rod technology could not bring a strong storm to makendfall as the strong sandstorm could change the weather and create such heat to stop the storm from raging.


    And so, no fortress on the edge of the Caliphates or on the coasts that faced Africa ever experienced defeat. The reported attacks of the WGP up north managed to do a lot of damage, but the base was not totally decimated.


    Even the headquarters of this base and the power nts functioned.


    Magantae knew this, and so, after threatening the Caliphates, they retreated. Had they chosen to attack, it would not destroy this base.


    The surrounding bases and even the forces based in the middle regions had already sent reinforcements to guard the area. Even if Africa attacked that location, the base could still hold


    Never has there been an incident that a base would be totally crippled that it couldn''t active Dune World.


    Many Caliphs had watched the battle via satellite feeds.


    "What tech is that? And where is General Joab Barak?!" One of the Caliphs demanded.


    All the Caliphs of the Caliphate began to discuss and talk about the battle. The wild battle had already alerted them, and they were already viewing the video feeds.


    Soon, more information surfaced, and that General Joab Barak had betrayed them. The details about the nteds were made known. However, they weren''t publicized. It was also revealed that one nted Commander was proven guilty, and the Commanders made quick attacks to execute the Commander promptly.


    But all eyes remained affixed to the shattered ruins of the base.


    Magantae opened her eyes as her suit managed to resuscitate her. The wounds in her stomach required more healing, and her Commanders had already sprung to action.


    "The Enemy? Is he?" Magantae immediately asked.


    "Gone. We couldn''t her signal, but Sthiel managed tond a critical blow."


    "General Vender! Find General Vender!" Magantae recalled.


    On the other side of the wrecked base, a group of soldiers was able to escape the wreckage and crawled out in the open.


    It was Maver and the surviving nteds.


    "Let''s get out of here!" One of the nteds shouted.


    "To where? This ce is crawling with soldiers! Besides, Commander Owens has revealed the nteds! We aren''t safe here in the Caliphate!" Another nted argued.


    "We have to go see Pioneer ntter! He will definitely save us!"


    "That''s right! He''s the only ally we have!" Maver nodded and began to move through the wreckage.


    "Grab whatever weapon you can find and try to pilot an Exoskeleton! There are still soldiers around the base!" Maver ordered.


    On the other exit of the base, Owens Shedd and his group of soldiers continued to move and searched for the said vessel. The beach was dark, but then, a faint light could be seen surfacing.


    "It''s a Pegasus!" Owens eximed.


    "A Pegasus?"


    "It''s a vessel connected to the Heart of Antis, or more specifically, several Pegasuses makes up a Heart!" Owens answered.


    "General Vender?! Where are you?" Commander Drinths began his broadcast.


    Everyone was alerted at this cry.


    Although the base exploded, many of the soldiers who were outside were able to flee as they flew off when the explosions started. Some had been thrown off by the powerful shockwave that exploded and was yet to reach the base.


    The soldiers returned and began to open fire at the source of the voice.


    The WGP moved and began to fight. Without the Dune World, this battle was to their advantage.


    Suddenly, powerful light beams attacked the WGP.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The force fields of the WGP were deployed as the group allbined their energy to create a strong force field.


    "WGP! Lost Primordial! I don''t care who you are! Surrender now, or you will die!" Pioneer ntter dered.


    The soldiers took notice of Pioneer ntter. He had allowed his suit to illuminate brightly, which revealed his form. Those with Exoskeletons were able to determine the appearance of their General.


    "Caliphate Soldiers!


    Stand down! Do not believe the lies of your Commander! You have long known of our bad blood! He has betrayed the Caliphates! I was generous and will not charge you for treason even though you all attacked me! But now, see here! This is your General! General Joab Barak! Anyone who sides with Owens will be branded a traitor! Stop fighting me and attack the WGP!"


    The soldiers were now unsure of what had happened. Their base was in ruins, and ntter didn''t fight.


    "If you can kill that Owens in the process, I will even reward you! But I doubt they survived that attack! Look now what your Commander has havocked! For the first time, a fortress of the Caliphates has been left in the dust! This fortress has been disabled and is now a hole that our enemies can use to enter ournds!" ntter argued.


    Magantae frowned.


    "We have to do something! We cannot allow the remaining soldiers to unite once more! It will be difficult to find General Vender." She cursed.


    As this broadcast urred, Owens Shedd cursed. He was just about to board, but now, it seems that the WGP is not allied with Joab Barak.


    The remaining soldiers were urging Commander Owens to go inside the ship.


    "Commander Owens. Lieutenant Phallus has already told me about you. We have no time! We need to leave!" A tall masked soldier called out as he surfaced from the water. This soldier was Charles.


    "I can''t go now!" Owens cursed. He needed to convince the remaining soldiers to believe him.


    "Since we have the Heart of Antis, the WGP looks like a lesser threat! I have to-"


    "Allow me. Lieutenant Phallus is inmunication with me. We''ll handle it. I have an idea. It seems that General is also after General Vender!" Charles exined.


    "Go!"


    "Can I trust you?" Owens asked.


    "If you trust Lieutenant Phallus, then you can trust me." Charles exined.


    "Go inside! This suit is a WGP suit. I should be able to escape after this."


    "Save Lieutenant Phallus."


    "I wouldn''t leave without him." Charles immediately used a strange tech and disappeared. This was made possible with the mirage technology that Lennox acquired and improved.


    "Soldiers! Do not believe General Joab Barak! If he is truly innocent, why did he rush here alone? He has left his forces and didn''t even bring an elite team! He is hiding his true intent!" Charles suddenly broadcasted.


    What was strange was that the sound came from all over. It was not contained on a sing ce but as if there was a huge surround-system in the area.


    Even ntter was confused at this and did his best to locate the origin of the sound.


    The many soldiers hesitated all the more.


    "If you are truly on our side, General Joab Barak! Then tell me, which Caliph sent you! And where are your forces! Surely you have them!" Charles challenged again.


    "Owens and Joab Barak! The enemy that we fought that Lost Primordial, has ruined our ns. We, the WGP, will retreat. But give us General Vender!" Magantae suddenly shouted.


    The Commanders were surprised at her sudden interference. And she even admitted to being the WGP!


    "Admiral¡­" Drinths muttered.


    "It''s alright. The cats out of the bag anyway. The techs we disyed cannot be that of other countries. Even so, the Caliphate will agree and feel threatened at the mysterious enemy that we just fought. And now that the sandstorm is clear, I''m sure that the Caliphate armies are watching this." Magantae exined.


    "In this situation, we can only retreat and save what we can." Magantae exined.


    "The Admiral is right." Sthiel arrived.


    "Commander Sthiel!" The other Commanders happily greeted.


    "It''s dangerous, but that General Vender is amazing! He managed to fight back that enemy. I''m sorry, Admiral. The Nuke Emitter is damaged beyond repair¡­" Sthiel exined.


    "As long as you are safe¡­" She sighed.


    ''Where is General Vender?"


    "I don''t know. He said he has to finish something."


    "Can you hear me, General Vender! Where are you?" Magantae asked.


    "Commander¡­ We have to be careful. The enemy knows that we are allied with General Vender. They might¡­"


    "I know. I won''t fall for that trick again!"


    "What a coincidence¡­ WGP. I also am looking for that General Vender! Why do you think I don''t have my forces here? I had to send my forces to stop another uprising, thanks to this General Vender! So I sent my team while I rushed here! Who would have thought that the traitor Commander Owens would turn the entire base against me! Is he working for the WGP? The Lost Primordial?" Pioneer ntter exined in one breathe.


    ntter was trying to keep his emotions. Most of his mission waspleted. All that was left was to kill General Vender.


    "Even if the base fights me, I just need to ascertain the position of this General Vender and kill him! I can retrieve the Gehanna Piercer and kill them all!" ntter calcted.


    "Hmph! Commander Owens has captured General Vender! And we intend to keep him prisoner! If you want to get him, kill that wicked General!" Charlesughed.


    "Prisoner? Don''t make meugh! Your base is in ruins, and that Vender is as slippery as an eel! Give him to me, Owens, and I will retreat!" ntter suddenly offered.


    "And all you soldiers! If you stand in my way in rescuing General Vender, I will kill you!" ntter warned.


    "This General Vender must be a nted! But he is serving Presider Crostfree. If I y my cards right, he may think I''m here to rescue him!" ntter thought to himself.


    "Why is everyone looking for me? And why am I in the middle of a Mexican standoff?" A strange and confused voice was heard. This was one of Lowengren''s secret weapons. To defuse the oddly confusing scenario, Lowengren instructed Lennox.


    General Gender Bender appeared wearing a rather colorful bluish Exoskeleton.


    "Team Aqua''s Gender Vender at your service!" The real Vender Hirock introduced as he hovered and used bright lights to show himself.


    Everyone was startled at his appearance.


    "But since everyone is after that Vender Hirock, I want in as well! Where are you, General Vender Hirock?" Vender asked.


    "What''s going on?" A soldier asked another next to him.


    "How about we turn tail and just serve the Africans? This ce is confusing and crazy!" The other answered.


    "I''m General Vender Hirock!" A strange voice muttered.


    It was a damaged Caliphate Exoskeleton suit. It hovered slowly and eventually fell on the rubbles. The voice it had was pleading as if it was dying.


    Everyone looked at the Exoskeleton and wondered.


    "WGP! My friends! Save me!" The Exoskeletons pleaded.


    ntter frowned. This didn''t look convincing.


    "Is this really necessary?" Piloting this damaged Exoskeleton was Lennox. The suit was an empty shell.


    "Yes. it will make that guy brave enough to appear!" Lowengren urged.


    "No! I''m General Vender Hircok!" Maver ran from his cover. After discussing it with the nteds, they decided to fake being this Vender to be saved by the General.


    "I am a nted!" Maver shouted as soon as he was on a visible tform. He was waving something like a baton to make ntter notice.


    It was a dildo.


    Maver was wearing a strange helmet that hid his face. Recalling the description that Lowengren gave when he reached the base, the nted''s knew that Vender could change his voice. He believed that Pioneer ntter would see through his lies. But this allowed him to dere his allegiance and hope that ntter would save him.


    "Pioneer ttner¡­ Please¡­" Maver hoped that ttner would understand his intention.


    "A dildo!" The WGP Commander noticed.


    "It is a dildo!" Another Commander answered.


    ntter heard it and readied himself to move. The Gehanna Piercer was nearby, but right before he was about to move, another voice shouted.


    "You are all idiots!" A confident voice shouted.


    "I''m General Vender!" A man stood up on top of a small mountain of rubble. The stones began to copse, and this man was having a hard time maintaining their bnce.


    It was Lowengren. He made the real Vender Hirock make an entrance so as to disrupt the pace and rhythm of the talks. This would allow Maver to speak as well.


    Everyone else had a strange expression when they gazed at Lowengren. He was wearing only a mask and white underwear.


    "That Exoskeleton and that confused nted is not the real General Vender! I am!" Lowengren dered.


    "Why is he naked?" ntter was shocked.


    Maverughed. Why would this idiot make such an appearance?


    "You''re Vender Hirock? Prove it!" Maver challenged.


    "Oh? An imbecile with a dildo dares to challenge me?"


    "What do you have that more powerful than a dildo?!" Maver asked.


    "THIS!" Lowengren showed it.


    "My eyes!" A soldier cried.


    "How formidable¡­" Another praised.


    "Yup. I''m joining Africa. I am done with this ce." A soldier tossed his weapon and began to walk away.


    The group looked at the three possible choices.


    A damaged Exoskeleton with a possibly dying pilot.


    A nted Soldier.


    An exhibitionist who was maintaining his pose as hard as he could.


    "It''s him!" Magantae suddenly dered.


    "You know who it is! Go!" Magantae ordered.


    ntter also moved as he saw the WGP move. He began to shoot the WGP but was then attacked by Team Aqua''s Gender Vender and the soldiers nearby.


    "Damn it! Everyone attack all of them! Barak! WGP! Team Aqua! Go!" Charles cursed and gave his orders.


    As the soldiers still trusted Owens more, the battle prompted the soldiers to fight. Of course, one soldier was now near the sea and sought a means to cross the ocean and live his life as an African.


    ntter flew at a strange direction and arced towards the ground. It was then that he retrieved the Gehanna Piercer.


    "Sir Phallus!" ntter shouted.


    "Don''t worry. Just throw it." Lowengren answered.


    ntter threw the rocket to the only possible answer. Maver said he was a nted. And Lowengren had implied that this General Vender was an Aragarian who was secretly serving Presider Crostfree. And this Maver was holding a dildo which meant he might have been a carrier of Phallic Techs.


    The moment the rocket was thrown, it was coated in electricity, and the rocket was reactivated. The thrusters activated and raced with incredible speed.


    The many attacks from the surrounding soldiers did not damage it as it moved with great speed.


    The Gehanna Piercer suddenly roared to life.


    But then, ntter realized that the WGP ignored Maver and headed towards the most obvious contender of who the real Vender Hirock was. They were headed towards the naked man.


    "Wha-What?!" ntter was stunned.


    "You idiot!" Lowengren angrily chastised ntter.


    Maver''s expression grew grim as he saw the iing Gehanna Piercer. Why did ntter throw it? He believed himself to be the strongest contender. In hisst moments, he could see the WGP rescuing the naked man.


    "Why? But¡­ I have dildos!"


    The Gehanna Piercer began to spark bright lightning bolts.


    Unbeknownst to everyone, a certain rocket that Vender Hirock fired was directly on top of the falling Gehanna Piercer. The moment the Gehanna Piercer struck the ground near Maver, it exploded.


    A powerful bright light that turned the night into day exploded out.


    BOOM!


    The Gehanna Piercer exploded as well.


    When the dust settled, the WGP, Vender Hirock, and the naked man were nowhere to be seen.


    Those watching through the satellites lost visuals to the key figures.


    All that remained was General Joab Barak and the surviving Caliphate forces.

 Chapter 293 - The Aftermath Of Fifth Fortress

    Pioneer ntter thought he was dead. The Gehanna Piercer exploded, and a white light enveloped him. It wasn''t just any form of blinding light, but it was as if arge ball of pure white energy was summoned.


    In his perspective, it looked like he got caught in the sudden explosion.


    His eyes remained closed and slowly opened, and then he realized that he was still alive.


    "I''m alive?" ntter was confused.


    "Sir Phallus?" ntter called out.


    At that moment, Lennox began to speak and changed his voice to that of Lowengren''s.


    "Rx. I did that. You see, your country is looking at this battle via satellite. As such, I had to do something to hide the fact that I captured all of them."


    "Ca-Captured all of them?" ntter was confused.


    "What do you think happened? Presider''s ship is near here. It should surface any moment again. That light was to hide everyone from what happened. The moment that bomb exploded, Presider''s ship rose and captured everyone. The WGP, the Lost Primordial, and even that man called General Vender. Your stupidness disappointed Presider. But then again¡­ Vender was naked. I''d probably go for that other guy too..."


    "I beg Sir Phallus to plead to Presider! I am willing to divulge everything and anything about Straviaa! I will do my best!"


    "Rx. Your connection with Straviaa is very important. Of course, if you lose your usefulness or betray Presider, you''ll end up like General Vender."


    ntter could not help but tremble. Vender died by getting hit directly by the modified Gehanna Piercer.


    "Never! I won''t ever betray him!" ntter answered.


    "Good.I guess it''s about time for you to report to Presider Straviaa. I trust I don''t need to reiterate what you can and can''t say. Anyway, after that, you are to gather the survivors of this base. Soldiers are still soldiers. We can make them allies with that operation. In a few minutes, go towards the sea and gather everyone. The Caliphates are still looking at you. But with this, it will seem that the ship that surfaces is yours."


    "I understand. What is my next mission?"


    "Presider Pridgeon will tell him yourself."


    "I understand."


    "Goodbye." The voice disappeared.


    Almost immediately, ntter immediatelymunicated and sent out his message from Straviaa.


    Meanwhile, somewhere in the desert, an invisible object, as wide as a small house, was hovering over the dune.


    Inside was arge room with devices that were more advanced than themand center of Owens.


    It used various technology to keep itself from being detected. It made no sounds and hovered over the sands, and kept moving.


    "Reverse maism technology. Or this could be Dug Down Technology! Whatever this is, it allows us to hover over the metallic sand in this ce. There are also Canadian Frost Techs that can hinder and make it unnoticeable." Alean introduced.


    "What happened after I abandoned ship?" It was Sthiel who asked.


    "The ship was sinking. I couldn''t find a way to save it. I was about to ride one of the evacuation pods like you told me, but then a strange blue ship which had the simr designs of that other ship piloted by Gender Vender appeared. He couldn''t save the ship but manage to keep the water from rushing inside through some strange water technology."


    Sthiel had already exined what had happened since he left the ship. Alean woke up and tried to help Sthiel, and that led to the events that Alean exined.


    "Water technology?" Magantae eximed.


    "Could it be? Egypt''s tech?" Lowengren made a guess. Lowengren was fully clothed, but just like Alean, he still wore a mask.


    "The waters did not cease. And that''s when I did what you told me." Alean exined.


    "Sorry, Fleet Admiral. This was the best that I could think of." Sthiel sighed in embarrassment.


    "These technologies assimted with this erm... vessel just as the pilot told me. And here we are¡­"


    "Who were they? How could they possess techs that are even a match for the WGP?" Magantae wondered.


    Alean simply shook her head.


    "Still¡­ Despite having lost the Heart of Antis, we still have this Core. Thank you, Lieutenant General and General Vender, for your efforts. If it were for the both of you, we would have lost all our techs."


    "I have a feeling that we might not have lost your Antis. That man was merely a part of a fleet. I have a feeling that he nned to acquire your tech¡­" Lowengren suddenly exined.


    "What?"


    "They sent us here because they knew our mission. That''s why they were so generous that they gave certain techs that this Core could replicate and create! We are now inside the Caliphates! We are thought to have been defeated and weaponless! The assumption would be that you would retreat!"


    Suddenly, the Commanders and Magantae all perked up and were stunned at the realization.


    "He''s right!" Magantae exined.


    "This means we can still continue on our mission! But we have to know¡­ Can we trust that General Gender Vender? Vender Hirock, who is that man?"


    "I don''t know. He must be from Egypt if he has that tech! If I had known that they would be that strong, I would have contacted them. Maybe that''s why¡­"


    "What''s why?" One of the Commanders asked.


    "It''s like this¡­ Have you ever wondered why Egypt, which lies in the borders between Africa and Caliphates, and being a nation which connects our two groups of nations bynd, is not attacked?" Lowengren asked.


    "Xenophobic Egypt. We have not seen their capabilities in war. I know that they offer huge tributes to the two countries to remain neutral." Magantae answered.


    "Yes. But why have we Generals always been ordered to avoid the skirmishes against Egypt? Even when they would cross our borders? Egypt has been secretly exploiting riches from us! It''s the other way around!" Lowengren revealed.


    The revtion was so shocking that it caused the Commanders and Magantae to remain silent and pondered the implications.


    "Egypt¡­ is that strong?"


    "What if what we saw earlier was not Candian Frost? What if it was that water technology that is rumored to be in Egypt?"


    "What water Technology? I haven''t heard of it." Commander Drinths asked.


    "Project Nile lives¡­ Interesting¡­" Magantae sighed.


    "Nile¡­ So that''s its name!" Alean eximed.


    "It''s said to be an inhumane technology. The Egyptians became obsessed with superpowers. And they kept experimenting and experimenting. We''ve seen the reports of a failed experiment birthed from this Project Nile. It was a woman who could control water!"


    Lowengren gasped as he ced his arm on the side of his jaw. Alean was shocked and ced her hand over her mouth.


    "Super Powers? Why haven''t the WGP acted?"


    "Because it failed! The scientist in charge of that tech had died and vanished! We assumed that it was either the Caliphates or Africa that killed them. You see, they were bullied and are financially being weakened by the two countries! I never expected the opposite to be true!"


    "It makes sense! That''s how they controlled the storm! It wasn''t New Great Britain''s Lightning rod tech! It was actually water-bending!" Lowengren dered his realization.


    "Water-bending?" Many confused voices echoed.


    "It''s- It''s from my daughter''s favorite Post-Modern animated show." Lowengren exined.


    "What do we do?" Alean asked as she held out a strangemunication device.


    "Right before the vessel fell, the pilot sent out a pod that contained this. He said he wouldmunicate with us."


    "It''s best we keep it with us. Regardless, the enemy outside is safer than the enemy within¡­" Magantae sighed.


    "What about General Joab Barak! He has to die!" Lowengren voiced out angrily.


    "He yed me well! He was using me to draw you in! I underestimated his ns! I will do better!"


    "We will, General!" Alean encouraged.


    "Fleet Admiral! I''ve received an alert! It''s from the local news! The Kraken! The Kraken in Pangea and the Antis has fallen!"


    "What?!" Magantae eximed, and some other loud shouts also urred at the news, and the group immediately yed the local news.


    As these events were ying out, another important event was happening elsewhere.


    Owens Shedd opened his eyes. He could see that he was in some sort of chamber and that his entire body was locked and chained.


    "What happened?" He cursed.


    They had fled into the Pegasus, and the mysterious man went out to help but very quickly, he returned.


    The group dived even before the explosion of the Gehanna Piercer.


    Thirty-six soldiers followed Owens Shedd into the vessel to escape.


    And as the group traveled further and further underwater, they grew more rxed, knowing no one would chase them back.


    The mysterious man said they should rest while he would rendezvous with the nted soldier Owens Shedd admired.


    That was thest thing Owens Shedd remembered.


    "I fell asleep?" A dreaded fear entered his thoughts.


    "Good! You''re awake." Charles greeted as he nced through the ss chamber.


    "Charles Lindmitt?!" Owens was surprised at the appearance of this man. He was able to determine that this was the very same person.


    "Oh? Owens is awake!" Another voice eximed.


    "Vender Hirock!" Owens shouted angrily.


    "What happened?! Where am I? What are you doing to me?! Where are my men?"


    "One at a time. And I suggest rxing. Getting agitated makes it only worse. You sure are lucky! Lowengren was so impressed with your performance that he told me to spare a more powerful drug for you! This baby will get you to the Proficient stage of Unbing! He was asking if I have one that can get a person straight to Surmounting or even to Inhuman!"


    Owens didn''t understand what Charles was saying and kept screaming and moving.


    "Don''t bother. Not even an Inhuman can break out of that chamber¡­" Charlesughed.


    "Too bad that Lowengren wants this team. I can''t go all out and lift all constraints in experimenting with these humans." Charles sighed.


    "But I guess receiving those reports from the WGP''s other experiments in the Antis should prove useful."


    "The Antis conducts human experimentation?"


    "Perhaps only the experiments in the Arctic Regions of the World Helm. But I mean, you have an underwater fortress with massive power that is unchecked. That sounds like a good ce to conduct experiments. And all that data is right in this Kyogre now!"


    "Any reports about the gue?"


    "Yes. The Antis seems to be one of the ces where the gue is being studied and experimented on. It makes sense. The gue could be infectious and may spread. So it''s best to iste it. The Antis is the perfect ce for it. It looks like they even managed to make a name for that gue that struck your daughter. Sadly, it looks like they haven''t been able to cure it yet."


    "Doctor Charles, do you think there is hope in curing my daughter?" Vender asked when he heard that even the WGP couldn''t cure it.


    "We''ll have to wait a few days to find out. I just got word that more of the Empress''s ves are on their way here carrying more information. But the data is nothingpared to the fresh cells of the Oveers. You see, it''s only in battle and life-threatening situations that I can break through the veil and understand the Unlocking." Charles exined.


    "I know that the Unlocking is strong. I couldn''t even believe what I had just done. Even with my clumsy piloting, I was still able to fight that many easily! But can the Unlocking save my daughter?"


    "Don''t worry. Our victory here is nothingpared to Seeker''s victory. Seeker pulled a huge on! I believe the information we will be receiving and the science we will acquire will roughly be on par with the WGP! And even better is that Seeker seemed to have met an important figure. Nogard Meng is alive! His cells ought to be something that can help your daughter!" Charles smiled.


    "Really?!"


    "We can only hope. Also, some improved and harnessed samples areing. Rosa and Meng''s samples ought to do the trick." Charlesughed.


    "Doctor Charles."


    "Lennox? You''re here?" Charles was stunned.


    "I gathered enough energy from that base to create another exact copy of me. I have already met the Empress. I have already discussed with her what has transpired. And she wants to help provided she gets ess to more drugs. Rest assured, she will ensure that you won''t meet her or hear her voice."


    "How strong is she?" Charles asked curiously.


    "None of the Oveers will stand a chance if they fight her again."


    Back on the shore, ntter gave his full report and Straviaa, but the Presider didn''t reply at his messages.


    ntter had managed to convince the remaining soldiers that Owens was the real traitor and that the nteds betrayed him. Since the base was in ruins, the soldiers did not have the support and techs to help them.


    They had just seen a powerful tech that they believed to belong to ntter and decided to surrender.


    After gathering the survivors of this battle, ntter moved towards the sea as instructed. He waited and began to check on the reports of his Caliphate subordinates. But for some strange reason, he could not contact them.


    "Strange. Why haven''t they sent their reports?" ntter frowned. The many Caliphate bases should have sent reports to him. But he forgot about it due to the battle and the non-stop talks of Phallus.


    It was then that ntter realized something.


    "The reports that I should receive from the surrounding bases stopped ever since I got attacked by that Lightning Energy!" The idea dawned on him, and a terrifying fear broke through his heart.


    "Have I been deceived?" ntter was about to open hismunication, but then, the sea began to convulse.


    A small ship emerged on the shore. Several other ships that looked like the Pegasus also surfaced.


    ntter was about to raise his arms and ready his weapons when the first ship opened its doors.


    The moment ntter saw her, he couldn''t move.


    On a certain aircraft that was moving across the World''s Helm, the pilots and the passengers could not help but marvel at how their ship could avoid detection.


    The WGP had now activated all of its scanners and defenses and would attack ships and aircraft without warning.


    But yet, it could not detect this ship.


    The crew was quiet. The only sound they could hear the happy humming tune of the man responsible for their stealth.


    "Hm?" The hum stopped. Richie''s rxed expression slowly changed. A powerful killing intent surfaced, and everyone in the room could feel it.


    The pilot even lost control, but Richie used his sounds to keep the ne steady.


    His killing intent was so powerful that it was causing all matter around him to vibrate erratically.


    A woman next to her immediately moved to the other side of the ne.


    "What are you doing? You''ll kill us?!" She cursed.


    "She''s grown so powerful. I guess I can''t fool around anymore."


    "Bo-Boss?" Sammy asked with a trembling voice.


    "She''s out, Sammy.. The Tyrant Empress has surfaced."

 Chapter 294 - Dream Of A Succubus

    After the events in China, the Tyrant Empress was imprisoned in a secure location that was kept deep within the ocean. She was housed in a particr chamber in the Tatsulok where prisoners would be kept. It was a small chamber held by some chains and was allowed to sink further down as if it were anchors resting on the deeper part of the ocean.


    Only the worst of criminals were ced here.


    In this small ss chamber, the Tyrant Empress was recovering.


    The battle that she fought caused her to use an unbelievable amount of energy. Her entire body was something that naturally gathered energy. Yet despite containing energy that far exceeded what Lennox or Meng could contain, no one dared perform any experiments on her.


    The Tyrant Empress kept ncing at the view through the window. She could see the lights on the Tatsulok, which was right on top of her.


    Her expression was not in any way angry or distressed. Rather a look of excitement remained on her face.


    She wore a strange and very seductive outfit that she made do from the prison clothes she received.


    She watched the lights on top, which illuminated the waters above.


    "Enjoying the view?" Seeker''s voice appeared.


    "Seeker Carlean. I hope you''re very satisfied with what I did with that person that you call a Presider."


    Seeker was seated in arge room along with several familiar characters.


    The monitor in that room disyed the text of what the Tyrant Empress said.


    "Oh. We''re very, very satisfied. I don''t know how he''ll interpret it but what''s important is that we have nted a desire in their group."


    "Desire?"


    "A desire that has to be awakened. In my future, we figured quite a bit about these Aragarians and the society that they live in."


    "I''ve read the reports."


    "Yet would you believe that in my future, there was no incident of these Aragarians betraying or killing each other?"


    "Ah. So that''s what you meant by desire¡­"


    "Yes. I''m sure Eagle will approve. Even the Bible talks about it. A kingdom divided against its own is doomed to fail. The Presiders in my timeline was very by the book. No one got greedy. The desire that you ced in him will urge him to betray. For one reason or the other."


    "Satan casts out Satan." The Tyrant Empress murmured.


    "Exactly. As such, Pridgeon should go back with his alien colleagues. The once-forgotten temptation is made open. And if all goes well, we could kill another Presider. The death of another in mysterious circumstance ought to make the others wary."


    "So you used me to awaken his lust."


    "A powerful obsession normally awakens other desire. With the many Presiders around, Pridgeon knows that there are otherpetitors that may acquire you. And so, the thought of betrayal will be made open. Even that coward Pridgeon would be turned into a scheming monster with this obsession."


    "You truly are capable for a kid!"


    "Well, I do have my memories of the future. And boy¡­ You sure have caused quite amotion there. In my future, you were able to attract several Oveers. Those that did follow your bidding. On the other hand, the few Oveers that we''re able to resist you became another unit. But of course¡­ this meant that our armies were divided."


    "So you''re thinking of locking me up?"


    "We will be locking you up for a time. It''s so that the others can get a head start."


    The Empress sneered when she heard that.


    "Oh my¡­ Sounds dangerous! Eventually, you won''t be imprisoning me or limiting my movements, but instead, you n to unleash me into this world? I''m not sure if you''ve gone mad or have sumbed to my powers." The Empressughed.


    "You were wild and crazy, but you were strong. Even though these Oveers were under your control, you still managed to conquer all those nations and even killed a Presider. If it weren''t for your sess in conquering the West, the ns that we made to make the remaining humans flee wouldn''t have seeded. Why would I bind an Oveer?"


    "That''s quite a bold and dangerous n you have! How sure are you that I won''t turn on you? You already guessed what I want as someone who has trodden on my Path! Tell me, Seeker¡­ Is your selfish desires already manifesting?"


    Seeker was unable to hide it in his facial expression. His micro-expressions revealed themselves. And while it was gone half a secondter, Arthur and Lowengren saw it clearly.


    "I have my own path to tread. The flight to power alwayses with heart issues that we have to deal with. Meng was able to conquer his heart demons, and so can I. But one thing is for sure. I won''t be like you who gave in to her demons as you did."


    "Little boy, I conquered my demons. I even tamed them! But I guess I shouldn''tin. This n of yours sounds perfect. I believe that you want me to be the whetting stone for the Oveers that you gather. You n to make me the queen of a kingdom and have the Oveers fight me."


    "That is the n. We do need to introduce chaos into this world. The butterfly effect is now something that I didn''t worry about when I got Arthur and Lennox. Only they were capable of putting order to this chaos. But with you in the picture, our advantages can only skyrocket."


    "Just be careful, little boy. I''ve never made it a point to go after minors. But you''re one tasty treat that I just have to try."


    Seeker gripped his fists as he read those words. The dormant lust awoke and caused Seeker''s hand to tremble. But several memories shed at Seeker''s eyes, and it was as if something else took over Seeker.


    "You''ll try. But you won''t win. You''re not the only Oveer here, Empress." Seeker spoke in a low and angry voice. It was as if it was a different Seeker speaking.


    The Tyrant Empress noticed this and wondered. She smiled and shook her head.


    "Looks like I''m still too weak and ugly to arouse your senses. So where exactly are you going to unleash me?"


    "I won''t be the one who will unleash you. You will be controlled by someone who hasn''t seen you yet."


    "So cautious."


    "My Master told me of your strange ability. Those who saw you will dream of you, right? I have my fair share of subus encounters. And even those random dreams affect me. How much more a dream from you."


    "Subus encounters? I like the way you put it. Tell me boy¡­ who were they?"


    "The most terrifying dreams involved girls who I never even bothered with. It wasn''t that I didn''t find them attractive. I just never thought of them in that way. But all it took was one suggestive dream. It was random, but it involved them. The dream was also vivid and clear, unlike other vague and forgettable dreams. I find myself waking up and lusting after these girls. And it was a form of lust that could put it on par with the girls I have always lusted after."


    "Sounds like these girls are special."


    "Well, they are. But the lust and emotions that those dreams carry are haunting. Some of those dreams were before the war and the Unlocking. And some were during. But I know the current Unlocking is not enough to stop it. At Unbing Proficient, we can control our dreams. But I know that your power is different than that. It will breach our control. And I''ve heard my Master in his sleep. I heard his suffering groans. His longing cries. That unquenchable desire nearly killed him. I saw him suffer because of these dreams that he gave up sleeping as a whole. I even had to fight him together with the other pupils from his madness when he woke up. I''ve already told the others. The moment we free you, that could be an urrence."


    "Oh. What a marvelous n. But you should know how dangerous it is to tell me that. I have not yet acquired that power. Why are you intentionally telling me this?"


    "Because you have to grow stronger. Despite your strength, my dear Tyrant Empress, we only won our battles through subterfuge, tricks, and ns. In this timeline, we don''t know what enemies we will face. What you can be sure of, the you in my timeline stands no chance of winning. You won''t be the queen of the world! You will be a ve. A whore brought and disyed by the mighty hunters who have captured you. You will be a trophy. Nothing more."


    Everyone who was unlocked felt it. Powerful anger was vibrating around the area.


    Arthur and Lowengren watched the screen with a serious expression.


    Meryl and Lynd were visibly trembling.


    "Is that¡­ so?" The Empress asked.


    "A single Presiders could be equal to Inhumans in terms of strength. The problem is that they have techs that can outfit an army. So it would take a Ranked Hero to kill one, considering they have to go through an army. And that''s how some Oveers fell in battle. What if a being appears that makes these Presiders simple foot soldiers? Not even your tech can beat that."


    The Empress was wearing an extremely angry expression. While her beauty remained, those that would see her would tremble in fear.


    "I''ll take that¡­ into consideration. I will need a hi-tech ship."


    "Done. Lennox is currently crafting a vessel here in the Tatsulok that will be your escape pod. Whoever will control your pod will navigate it for three months. After that, that person will bring you near a country you can conquer."


    "Then you better make that vessel fully equipped. I want the capability to craft my own gear in that ship."


    "Done." Seeker answered.


    "Zeek. The Tyrant Empress¡­ is she smart?" Lynd asked in confusion. A ship like what she was asking was something that could only benefit scientists and doctors.


    "Of course she is. She''s a scientist of superb intellect. She has several doctorates in engineering, biology, medical doctorates, and so on. She''s very vain that she sees herself to be very smart."


    "Little boy, I am the smartest." Sheughed.


    "Lennox, Eagle, and my Master are smarter than you. But of course, knowing your capability, we won''t be stingy. You will have the files pertaining to Unlocking the possible means to weaponize it. But note that your ship is designed that it can explode and kill you inside it. We will free you, but you will be contained for three months."


    "I will be in my cocoon. Don''t worry. I see now how weak I am. I bet that me in your future never lost. Too bad. These wounds of mine and the pain in my heart will make me more beautiful than that pale imitation of me you met in your future. I will Ovee. This world and all of you will be mine. Just be sure you''re ready when I break out of my shell."


    Seeker immediately terminated them line.


    Three months passed, and the Tyrant Empress has finally emerged and appeared on Earth.


    ntter felt as if his entire body was going stiff.


    "Petrification? Amazing." LennoxV2.3 muttered as he controlled the suit of ntter.


    ntter couldn''t believe what he saw. The amazing beauty before her was so amazing that he literally lost his mind.


    A maic pulse was released, and all the shocked soldiers suddenly knelt down as their suits moved on their own.


    Those that had no suits were also kneeling as strange electricity in the area caused them to.


    "Tyrant Empress. I am a piece of Lennox. And I am here to serve you."


    "Take over that body of the Pioneer in that suit. Though I need severalpanions to warm my night, I still can''t afford to lose men. For now, we pick a country to conquer. What do you suggest?"


    "Africa. We need to cause havoc in Egypt."


    "Oh, that''s easy. I assume you have several ships waiting?"


    "Yes. And we''ve just received word that more areing."


    "Good. Now¡­ It''s time to make this world Dream of a Subus!"


    A strange power began to move across the world that day.


    Unknown to the world, many began to dream a strange scene that triggered an obsession, a desire, and a great longing for many.


    Seeker and the Realm King were together discussing their ns. But then, a strong sensation gripped Seeker.


    Sweat began to pour out of his back as a great sense of fear shrouded his heart. He could almost hear her whisper.


    "Woah. Who- no¡­ What is that?" The Realm King frowned.


    "Quera Sapphire. The Tyrant Empress.. It looks like I won''t be sleeping for weeks¡­" Seeker frowned.

 Chapter 295 - World News (1)

    Several discussions and interviews were made worldwide as to how the world could recover with the withdrawal of the WGP. A prominent news channel in the Americas was able to set up an international news channel in the midst of the chaos and began to broadcast news worldwide.


    "We are living in the point of chaos. Without the WGP to hold us back, we might as well fall into another World War! And the problem is that we have another yer in this field! Someone who can challenge and defeat an Antis and a Kraken! Three Emperors are believed to be dead! We have reports of battles and skirmishes all over the world! And they are not even hiding anymore!" A world-leading war analyst exined.


    "Sorry to interrupt you, sir. But we have a groundbreaking news report from the Caliphates. It seems that this report has been hidden among the other news. But Caliphates has reportedly was attacked, and on of its coastal bases is said to have been decimated." The reporter interjected.


    "The Caliphates? A decimated base? Do you know how difficult it is to bring down a Caliphate base? Not even firing a weapon of mass destruction can effectively destroy a coastal base!" The war analyst exined.


    "Is it because of Dune World?"


    "Yes! Dune World''s sand powers make it difficult to raid the area. The sandstorm bes a different form of a shield that is even harder than the force field technology of the EAA! What exactly happened?" The war analyst asked.


    "We have received andpiled all rted news and will be presenting in the order that our correspondent sent. Our correspondent believes that all of these news reports are integrated. The first incident that is associated with this even happens in Africa!"


    "In Africa? As expected! Africa and the Caliphates have always been at odds. But what happened? The African nations don''t have the techs that could decimate the Caliphates!"


    "That is indeed a mystery? The Caliphates have never been conquered since the establishment of the WGP. Even with Africa''s fruitless attempts to attack them, no base has truly fallen ornd that has been surrendered. And so, here is the report of our correspondent. Due to the limitations of our server, we only have his full script as to what has happened." The reporter paused to allow the script to be disyed to his prompter.


    "The situation in the Caliphates is believed to corrte to the events that urred in Africa. The situation begins with the first attack. A WGP vessel, believed to be a Pegasus, was sighted within the African region. An Australian EMP bomb was deployed inside the city. As the base was very unprepared for it, nor was there any signs of a weapon beingunched, it is believed that the EMP weapon was stealthily delivered or assembled within the African region." The reporter paused and turned to the war analyst.


    What do you make of this, Mr. nco?"


    "An Australian bomb in Africa? That''s very difficult to do. Of course, we''ve seen the reports that New Great Britain and even Phil-Pangea suffered from that attack. Is it the Australians? We don''t know. The Sacking of Australia that followed the Australian Avarice could have been an opportunity for many nations to do it. But we know neither the Caliphates nor Africa had the opportunity to take part in it!"


    "So who could it be? Is it the WGP?"


    "That''s the logical conclusion. But let''s not forget that there is this mysterious yer. Going by themon belief is that this organization that is challenging the WGP, the so-called Lost Primordial, could be a group of nations. Right now, I''ll be keeping my own opinions to myself. We are on the first part of the report, and I don''t think it''s wise to make conclusions."


    "Fair enough. Let''s go on the report. I would also like to inform our readers that this message has just been received and will be read immediately regarding the other reports we''ve been receiving. With the servers across many nations, we pride ourselves in being the first to deliver such news fresh and unaltered. So let''s continue with the report."


    "The bomb exploded and brought several cities to a ckout. The military bases of Africa were unprepared and had not enabled any protocols for possible Australian attacks. Mr. nco, why is this? Could you enlighten us as to why the bases would be unprepared? Or is Africa unable to defend against EMP?"


    "No. No nation is incapable of fighting off the techs of another. Especially techs that have already been revealed. We can recall the second wave of attacks that New Great Britain had against Australia, where they revealed specific technologies and how most war analysts mocked New Great Britain''s decision. This is because, once the tech is revealed, the nations will work to defend against it. Even allied nations have to share more than a basic level of techs so that these allied nations can defend against each other! How much more for nations that have a neutral stand against them? Every nation has its corresponding counterattacks against revealed techs. That is a fact."


    "Then why did Africa suffer from an EMP bomb? While it isn''t ssified as a weapon of Mass Destruction, the effects alone are equal to it."


    "Let me exin it this way¡­ We in the Americas. What techs are we most guarded against?"


    "Canadian and Russian techs."


    "That is correct. But since the World''s Helm is nearby, we are also guarded against all techs. This is why we are generally referred to as the Misceneous techs! It is because, since the WGP has a nearby base, our scientists are doing what they can to guard against a possible WGP attack. Our northern cities and bases are guarded and apply anti-Canadian techs. And we also have protocols for that in ce. However, what if Australia attacks us? The truth is, we won''t ever be fully prepared for it!"


    "So you mean to say that Africa was guarded and employed protocols that counter Caliphate and Egyptian tech?"


    "Exactly. There was a fault in their defenses. But frankly, it''s hard to keep up. If an attack using Chinese techs urs at our northern fortresses, we''d have a hard time defending it!"


    "Thank you for that exnation. We now continue with the reports." The reporter smiled.


    The war analyst, Jason nco, smiled and felt good about himself as he was able to answer the questions precisely.


    "The attack opened an opportunity for the Caliphates to attack the bases."


    "See? This here is why we received the report in ate fashion. I have a feeling that the Caliphates didn''t report the attack to the WGP Kraken nearby. And for some reason, Africa couldn''t as well. It had to do with the EMP."


    "I see¡­" The reporter nodded in enlightenment.


    "The Caliphate army attacked but was allegedly stopped by a WGP unit patrolling the area. The WGP used Nuke Emitters, which killed off arge amount of the Caliphates and even pushed back. It is said that the Caliphate base itself was subject to attacks from the WGP. However, our sources are not able to verify this." The reporter instinctively turned towards the analyst.


    "Nuke Emitters. Nasty small weapons. It could be asrge as a gauntlet worn on an Exoskeleton. Delivers weapons and explosions of great proportion that it could rival a European Big Bang Boom. The soldiers would have stood a chance if it was on Caliphate soil. But this battle over the Red Sea? Only death is expected."


    The reporter read on.


    "No further attacks were made, and the WGP retreated. However, an important event that ties to the events that follow is necessary to be reported as the correspondent believes the two unlikely events to be linked."


    The reporter paused and read the next line.


    "The WGP was said to have conducted raids in Africa as several Exoskeletons matching the standard gear of what WGP Commanders wore was reported all over the nearby cities of Africa. Wait. This doesn''t make sense. Why would the WGP attack the Caliphate and raid Africa? Why didn''t they just wait for the Caliphate to attack? Wouldn''t that be easier?"


    "It''s genius." Jason nco smirked. He nced towards an empty spot as if trying to pierce through the shroud of intrigue of the WGP''s actions.


    "Genius?"


    "The WGP must have been after something in Africa, but the Caliphatesunched an EMP attack. This would risk the WGP''s n in searching for that weapon as a war would have urred."


    "A weapon? You believe that the WGP is after a weapon?"


    "Yes. I am confident of my deduction. The correspondent believes that the attacks on the Caliphates are linked with these raids in Africa. Whoever that correspondent is, give him a raise! The Caliphates is the real target. But they needed a weapon in Africa! Hence this misdirection! The only question is, what weapons were raided in Africa?"


    "It''s a good thing we have a distinguished war analyst so that we the people could understand what''s happening."


    "It''s part of my job. No need to praise me." Jason ncoughed.


    "Now, let''s see what weapons the WGP stole in Africa, shall we?" Jason motioned towards the prompter.


    The reporter obliged.


    "Several kinky shops selling lewd sex toys were raided by Exoskeletons. Key witness ounts tell of simr elements, which makes us believe that the Exoskeletons were Commander Grade WGP soldiers. Several boxes of dildos were stolen." The reporter paused for a bit.


    "I''m sorry. We seem to be having some technical issues here." The reporter apologized as he looked towards the camera and began to gesture to the other staff members who were off the cameras.


    "I''m sorry, what? Is it the right report? No technical issues?" The reporter murmured.


    "Did I read-read it correctly?" The reporter turned to Jason.


    "Dil-dildos?" Jason read the teleprompter.


    "Are we sure that we didn''t have a mistype or autocorrect?"


    "That''s probably it! It must be some form of autocorrect." The reporter concluded.


    "Sex toys¡­ lewd sex toys¡­ kinky shops¡­" Jason read and reread the teleprompter.


    "Let''s just move on to the next part of the report." The reporter stuttered and motioned at his people to show the next line of messages.


    "The incident brought such curiosity as these WGP Exoskeletons demanded to meet the suppliers who were making these objects. The factory that produced this was also attacked and raided and several more boxes were stolen. The local news has confirmed that several unidentified flying objects were roaming Africa''s coastal areas and robbed several of these kinky shops. But since supply for dildos was reportedly ''too few,'' the robbers kept on demanding more. This event is now known as the WGP Dildo Raid."


    Jason couldn''t believe his eyes and ears.


    The reporter didn''t know what to do. But so to follow his job, he turned his attention towards the expert analyst who may discern what was going on.


    "Erm¡­ Mr.. Jason. Are dildos¡­ you know¡­ weapons of warfare?"

 Chapter 296 - World News (2)

    Jason kept opening his mouth but couldn''t say anything.


    He even stood up and approached the teleprompter to read if it really is dildos. He sat down and looked at the reporter.


    "Is this some sort of sick joke? I am a distinguished war analyst who served on many battles against Canada and Russia. And you''re making me sit here and talk about dildos?" Jason red.


    "Si-Sir! It''s really the report! This is also the first time I''m reading it!" The reporter then turned back to the camera and continued.


    "Mo-moving on. Let''s read what the report has to say¡­ Reports of bright light exploded out of the area where the Africans believe to be Fifth Fortress. In the Saudi Caliphate Region. The bright light was strong that those on the shore of Africa imed to have seen a sun appearing and disappearing on the horizon. Ok¡­ it looks like we are back in business. No more dildo nonsense¡­ Thankfully." The reportedughed.


    Jason''s angry re changed.


    "A bright light? Interesting."


    "Could you tell what this might be?"


    "Pangean Everbright. That''s one possibility. But this one seems to be an enhanced version. It looks like it must have been so bright since your correspondent was actually able to name the base which was attacked. I was going to tell you to fire that man for that inappropriate report. But hopefully, we are way past that."


    "Right. Right. That was just¡­ stupid. Moving on with the report¡­ The African government detected several powerful energy fluctuations and confirmed that Dune World was activated. Furthermore, A Sand Golem was created in that sandstorm. Erm¡­ Mr. Jason, what are Sand Golems."


    The moment the reporter mentioned Sand golems, the expression of Jason changed.


    "Alright. I take it back. Don''t fire that correspondent of yours! It looks like this is the real deal! Sand Golem is a very top secret protocol in the Caliphates! It''s not something that civilians know!"


    "Oh, thank God." The reporter sighed in great relief.


    "What exactly is this Sand Golem?"


    "It uses advanced Dune tech to make the sandstorm engulf one Armor. Sounds weak, right? It''s not! A Sand Golem can take on a full nuke and still fight! It''s amazing how your correspondent got that info! That''s just great journalism! The Caliphates doesn''t use it. In fact, from the reports and information we have, they have yet to activate that protocol!"


    "Wow. That''s very amazing! So is this one of the reasons why the Caliphate is tough to attack?"


    "Yes. Its Dune Technology counters EMP, Lightning Rod, you name it! If a Sand Golem has been summoned, it means the threat of this attack was so real! I think that the earlier report is true!"


    "It-it-it is? The dildos?!"


    Maybe your correspondent talked about the dildos because it was a cover for the WGP to steal the real weapon! You know, go in, make some strange actions that draw attention, and while everyone is focused on a nonsensical operation, a weapon is stolen! And that stolen weapon is something strong enough to make the Caliphates use Dune World and Sand Golems!!"


    "Of course! You''re right! That''s probably it! Amazing deduction!"


    "I think the correspondent of yours knows how to tell a story! This is delivering news with excitement and thrill. He knows that War Analysts will be looking into this, so he or she must have been trying to add intrigue to this report. He had me going there. But now I see the bigger picture. Give that correspondent a raise!"


    "I see. A little out of the box, but it seems it''s effective."


    "Well¡­ such reports are only appreciated depending on who the war analyst is." Jasonughed.


    "Indeed! Our station is thankful to have you, Mr. nco! Let''s see where this report is going¡­" The reporter turned back to the teleprompter.


    "This raid bes critical to understanding the battle. Fifth Fortress was the second base identified to have been attacked. We were able to identify the base because of the weapons that were used. While the African government hasn''t yet made confirmation of the attack, our team hase into contact with an important informant who offered to tell us the battle. The battle in the Caliphates was so chaotic, so brutal that it prompted this soldier to turn tail, flee the Caliphates, cross the Red Sea and escape to Africa. After interviewing him, we are convinced that the earlier actions of the WGP in stealing dildos are a part of a greater plot."


    "Brilliant! Now that is a reporter!" Jason praised.


    "They have found a fleeing soldier even before the African government found him? That''s amazing!"


    The reporter could not help but puff his chest in pride.


    "Indeed! We actually have information that the government couldn''t find! Let''s see¡­ There seemed to be some audio file attached to this report. The attached audio file is our interview with the soldier that had fled. Now keep in mind,dies and gentlemen, this audio is being yed for the first time!"


    The audio file was yed.


    "Tell us what you saw." A man''s voice asked.


    "The battle there was very chaotic. It all started with a lone soldier attacking who we weren''t able to catch or kill. We were told not to kill him, and he was able to kill a little over thirty soldiers. Maybe more!"


    "Thirty soldiers? An amazing pilot! That has to be a Commander Level!" Jason eximed.


    The audio continued¡­


    "Why couldn''t you kill him?"


    "I don''t know. He was being controlled by someone else. The moment we got him, more attacks arrived as arge Pok¨¦mon surfaced from the sea."


    "Arge¡­ Pok¨¦mon?"


    "That''s right. I know it was one! I''ve seen it! But I''m not that of a gamer. My son owns a game with it. But that Pok¨¦mon fought and killed a lot of my friends. And then they deployed a strange tech. That was the most bizarre weapon I''ve seen! It wasn''t in any of our briefings of possible techs. No one could identify it!"


    "It''s the weapon!" Jason added. He had a strange expression when he heard Pok¨¦mon but assumed that the soldier might have just been a nerd of some sorts.


    "I couldn''t understand it¡­ What I know is that this weapon is so powerful it tore apart our base! It nullified the Dune World''s power and destroyed us from the inside out!"


    Jason was stunned. This technology could rule the world!


    "And somehow, it is connected to dildos."


    There was silence. The person interviewing the soldier didn''t know what to say.


    The studio that was ying the audio also fell into a strange silence.


    Jason had a very disturbed expression.


    "Dildos? As in the sex toys?" The interviewer finally asked.


    "The very same. I was wondering why it was around the base. Dildos were everywhere. I couldn''t understand why. Someone had scattered dildos all over the base."


    "Scattered dildos?"


    "Yes! Some of these elite secret soldiers with bombs in their hearts even kept shouting something about the dildos. There was a secret behind this object that we just didn''t know! I even grabbed a hold on to some out of curiosity?"


    "What did these dildos do?"


    "Nothing! It was just a in old dildo! Hard and bendy." The soldier shrugged.


    "What?!" The interviewer asked.


    "WHAT?!" Jason nco shouted.


    "So it didn''t do anything harmful?"


    "That''s the mystery! It did! Some soldiers were waving it, and the WGP retreated when they found out that we had dildos!"


    "Wait¡­ Your army uses dildos?"


    "Apparently. The elite team called nted all had them. One managed to use it to hit and wound a WGP! It was a Fleet Admiral! And the dildo damaged the suit! It broke throughyers andyers of the force field and wounded the Fleet Admiral that the WGP had to retreat!"


    "The dildo that your armies used wounded a WGP Fleet Admiral? That''s a suit closest to those Iron Mans in Russia!"


    "Yes! I saw it with my own eyes!"


    "How did the weapon work?"


    "Well¡­ It pierced the Fleet Admiral."


    "Pierced?"


    "Yeah! I mean¡­ That''s what dildos do, right?!"


    There was silence once more.


    Jason''s expression was extremely ugly.


    "Mister- Mister Jason. Let''s wait. You said it yourself¡­ maybe this report willter rify what''s going on, and the soldier and the correspondent is merely um¡­ building excitement."


    "Yes. What else can build up excitement but dildos, right?" Jason shouted sarcastically.


    "Also. There was another group called the Lost Primordial. They were attacking us!"


    "Wait. It wasn''t the WGP that was attacking you?"


    "At first. But then the Pok¨¦mon and that other group attacked. There Exoskeleton of this Lost Primordial was a Supreme Exoskeleton. It was the real thing! It was an Iron Man! They also attacked and fought each other. Our base merely became the fighting ground for these crazy people!"


    "Wait. Iron Man, Pok¨¦mon and the WGP?"


    "Yes! And they all obsessed and used dildos! Each had strange powers! I heard they called it Phallic Techs or something! The WGP and the Iron Man were talking about it."


    "What did the Iron Man look like?"


    "It was an Exoskeleton with strange dildos around it. The WGP also had dildos all over its suit."


    "Dildos again?"


    "Yeah. I don''t get it either?"


    "So, in your opinion, are these dildos important weapons?"


    "I saw the power! I figured that our base got destroyed because of these dildos! But, here''s another thing. Somehow, a guy named General Vender Hirock and Gender Vender was in the mix."


    "Who is that?"


    "I don''t know! Someone from the WGP? I know that name is after an African General, but he must have been using an alias! In fact, there were three of them! One was in an Exoskeleton, and another was something called a nted?"


    "What are nteds?"


    "The elite group with bombs that I just said earlier. From what I know, sleeper agents of some sort. Or probably people who were forced to serve General Joab Barak. The Caliphates will soon have a civil war. That General was into some nasty business. They are called nted because they have undetectable bombs nted on their heart!"


    "How horrifying!"


    At this point, the reporter was hoping that Jason would somehow calm down. The information being discussed turned into a more serious and believable turn.


    Jason tried to contain his anger and drank some water.


    "Let''s circle back to the Vender Hirock people. You said three. An Exoskeleton, a nted and who was the third!"


    "And thest one was an exhibitionist."


    "PFFFT!" Jason spat out the water.


    "An exhibitionist?"


    "That''s what I saw! It was chaos! nteds, Pioneers, and Presiders were being mentioned! And then that another P was thrown out! And when that P was thrown out, I walked away!"


    "Another letter P?"


    "You see, in the height of the battle, I was already on the sea watching the battle with a telescope. The battle ended when General Joab Barak threw arge rocket that caused the bright light. He threw it at the nted, who was saying he was General Vender Hirock. The WGP rescued the other Vender Hirock, and after that, they were all gone."


    "They rescued the Exoskeleton?"


    "No. Ok. This is just my opinion here, alright? That battle was downright weird. The WGP rescued the man who was naked. I think the three people were pretending to be that Vender Hirock. General Joab Barak wanted to kill him. The WGP wanted to save him."


    "So who won?"


    "I don''t know! General Barak attacked the nted the WGP saved the exhibitionist because he showed them his erm¡­ you know?"


    "What?"


    "His saber."


    "His Light Saber? His Contained me Saber?"


    "No! I mean, his, you know¡­"


    "His dildo?"


    "Not that! His real stuff?"


    "His real stuff?"


    "His Papa Echo November India Sierra."


    "Is that a weapon? What was it again? Papa- what?"


    "No! I mean his junk! His stuff! His Johnny! His Mandalorian! That! His- !" A censoring beep resounded.


    "His- ?" Another censoring beep resounded.


    The reporter, who was swallowing his own saliva out of nervousness, choked on it.


    "Yes!"


    "Why?"


    "I don''t know."


    "Cut the damn audio! I had enough of this crap!" Jason eximed as he flipped the nearby table.


    The audio was immediately stopped.


    "Fire that idiot correspondent! How dare he interviews an insane man! How dare he!"


    "Alright! Alright! Quick! Cut tomercial!" The reporter urged as he stood up to stop the raging war analyst.


    The news circted around the globe.


    But to certain people, this odd andical news made them feel a sense of fear that they have never before felt on earth.


    Presider, Pioneer, and nted were reported. It didn''t take long for the Aragarian poption to find out about the ongoing massacre of nteds in the Caliphate bases.


    Straviaa watched the news as she had an extremely ugly expression. She called the only Presider she could trust.


    "Straviaa? Why are you calling me?" An older man answered with a grunt.


    "Enderks. I am calling you because I believe it''s you who knows what to do. I am sending you a video file from one of the turncoats of Pridgeon''s Pioneers. Watch it and stream the trending news that you see in that news channel from the Americas."


    "What''s the main point? If it''s not interesting, I''ll-"


    "I have proof of Pridgeon''s betrayal. He might have killed Crostfree and possibly stolen his techs. The video file will detail several techs that Pridgeon has not shown. He could be a mid-tiered Presider! And if he has Crostfree''s tech, he could be a high-tiered one!"


    "What?"


    "I called you because you''re the only one who has the guts and the impatient personality to do what I n. Help me kill Pridgeon!"

 Chapter 297 - SPU’s Attack

    The news report regarding the attacks and the strange reports of the events of the battle in the Caliphates began to garner attention.


    And while many news focused on the Civil Wars, news of the emergence of a certain nation inside the Caliphate nations was quickly garnering attention.


    A new nation was being rebuilt due to another power insisting that this nation should rise, especially in the era of the time. The Jews were targeted for human trafficking, be it for sex, drugs, experiments, and whatever known perversion, abuse existed worldwide. What was even startling was that the supposed allies of the Jews, the Caliphates itself, aided this human trafficking.


    Several individuals who were proven to be nteds became the key sources of how these Jewish natives would be kidnapped under the guise of working abroad or on the different side of the world. Their existence would then be manipted. Working men assigned to these regions would either be reported to have died of an ident, a casualty of the battle against another nation, or would even have run off with a mistress and go off the grid.


    But now, these usations were being discovered as the Commanders and Generals of the Caliphates were able to unveil the connections between the nteds and General Joab Barak.


    Various organizations all over the world vowed to fix it. The Caliphates itself dered that a new Caliph would emerge and would be controlled by the Jews. To the shock and anger of many and the joy of so many more, the nation of Israel was being rebuilt.


    Shark Umberton received several sponsorships to begin gathering the many Jews all over the world as more and more reports of human trafficking emerged. A daring plot headed by an African conglomerate allowed Shark Umberton to transfer his entire wealth andpany to the Caliphates. And all over the world, many began to follow on the footsteps of thispany. Shark Umberton became a powerful persona that began to gather the support that the Jews needed.


    But on the other side of these gruesome and heinous crimes was a strange report and conspiracy theory that would make everyone cover their mouths in shock.


    Up in the sky, arge flying serpent flew on the borders between the territory of Pangea and the SPU. It was as big as the Pangean Tatsulok if coiled up from end to end. But unlike the Tatsulok that floated over the waters, this one was flying in the air. An army of Exoskeletons and several Armors were flying next to it.


    Inside the Command center of this ship were the best Generals and Commanders of the SPU.


    "Sir, alone air craft is spotted. Its cruising speed isn''t fast, but it doesn''t look like a civilian airship." One of the soldiers reported.


    "Prepare to shoot it down." A General gave his order.


    "This is war, and we are here to conquer. Even if that ship is a civilian aircraft, it''s not like the WGP can reprimand us." Another Generalughed.


    "Yes, Sir!"


    "Prep my men for battle. We are nearing the Lingkaran of My-Pangea." Another General ordered.


    One of the General''s shook his head but didn''t say anything.


    "I advise the other Generals to prep their men."


    "With your forces ready, I''m confident that I won''t need to send mine." Another General answered.


    "Whatever. I want three mid-tier rockets to be fired at that aircraft. It looks military and will have the means to shoot down our rockets before it hits." The General ignored the nonchnt response of the other and gave another set of orders.


    "Yes, sir!" The soldier immediatelyplied and armed the rockets that were aimed at the UFO.


    The disk-shaped ship continued to fly without showing any signs of panic even when several rockets were aimed at it calmly. The SPU forces didn''t bother to hide the craft that their rockets were locked on to them.


    Inside the aircraft, several soldiers and a few teenagers were listening to the news. Another group of soldiers was panicking as they detected the rockets locked onto them.


    The television was turned on and was tuned into a news broadcast.


    "Ongoing reports of Caliphates obsession with this so-called Phallic Techs continue to circte the globe. The WGP has denied all allegations and knowledge of having such technology, but more video evidence emerges on how the Caliphate soldiers carry dildos in their Exoskeleton suits." The reporter continued to narrate.


    "It''s been three weeks, and people are still obsessed with this." Tylerughed as he watched the news report.


    "The madd Lowengren. I heard from some of our new recruits who worked in the Antis that they''ve lostmunication of Everhiss''s daughter."


    "Please be more serious! We''ve detected several powerful rockets aimed at us! The SPU didn''t bother tomunicate and is prepping to fire! And that''s Empress Everhiss to you!" A soldier dressed in the attire of the WGP Commander argued.


    "Hey, newbie. Rx!"


    "Rx? We are in the middle of a war! The enemy numbers twice our forces! Even if we are Unlocked and even if you are more experienced and stronger than me, that cannot defeat them because of their numbers!" The former WGP Commander argued.


    "So? We were far outnumbered when we raided the Kraken. We were able to bring it down!" Scribbsughed.


    "Because of trickery and deceit! Without it, you wouldn''t have been able to do that!"


    Tyler shook his head and merely smirked.


    "What do you think this little mission of ours is?"


    "It''s to see each other''s capabilities." The former WGP Commander answered.


    "Yes. That''s exactly the point. Do you know what our mission is?"


    "I know what our mission is! We are to attack the SPU and distract them! And then those guys who are Oveers will infiltrate the base and attack it just as you did! We are to incur damages to make sure their fleet retreats."


    "Oveers? No. No Oveers are joining this battle. It''s too menial for them!" Tylerughed.


    "Sending an Oveer to battle an army? That''s crazy. Do you know how strong the Oveers are now? I''ve been having wet dreams ever since that Tyrant Empress appeared." Scribbs shook his head.


    "Me two¡­" Tyler sighed.


    "Me always. How can I lust after someone I haven''t seen? It''s crazy." Earlined.


    "The report says that the higher you are in the Unlocking, the stronger its effects are."


    "Can you get more serious! The fleet is approaching! We only have fifteen soldiers in here, and most of them are teenagers!"


    "You want a go with this teenager? You may have been a big shotmander, but in this room, a little girl like me can beat you to a pulp. With or without a suit!" Dara red at the WGP Commander.


    Most members of the Covenant were present, and each was rxing and doing their own thing. Danny was having a video chat with Meryl.


    The former Commander wanted to argue, but his team couldn''t win against this woman alone.


    "You guys are good. I''ll admit it. But it would take to be more than good to beat an army."


    "You''re right¡­" Meryl frowned and nced towards the window where she was seated.


    "Oh,e on! Dara. So he''s a little better than you! No need to get all cranky!" Scribbsughed.


    "A little better than me?" Dara red at Scribbs instead.


    "Oh? I know that look. Dara''s in love again! First, it was Seeker, and now it''s with him?" Dannyughed.


    "Who''s in love with Seeker?" Meryl asked through the call.


    "Dara." Dannyughed.


    "Oof. Get in line, Dara. Even I never dared to want him." Merylughed.


    "Oh? So should I see Seeker as my love rival?" Danny asked.


    Meryl blushed and defended her previous statement.


    "Hey! It''s General Seeker, and stop gossiping, Danny!" Dara blushed as she hid her face.


    John and Titan, who were busy ying an oddputer game on the side, even chuckled.


    "This is what I''m talking about! You may have gotten strong, but you are all so arrogant! You think of yourselves so above everyone else. That''s what the WGP thought, and we fell. Can''t you learn from how you exploited us?"


    "Um¡­ No. The WGP lost because they were simply weaker than us." Titan answered.


    The Commander and the other former top soldiers of the Kraken and the Antis wanted to shout. Still, this teen had fought all of the former WGP soldiers together and made and trounced them.


    "Yes. Besides, he has been very irritated recently. I don''t want to get in the way when he fights."


    "True. Even Dara''s tough-girl character wouldn''t want to be outside." Scribbs chuckled.


    Dara''s blushing pink turned scarlet red in anger. But she couldn''t find herself to answer back.


    "I''m the Berserker, and even I don''t want to go out. He''s twice as cranky when we had that mock battlest week!"


    "Mock battle? I lost three fingers, broke two ribs, and had to undergo several bone correction surgeries." Johnined.


    "Why is he cranky, anyway?" Danny asked.


    "He hasn''t seen his girlfriend for nearly a month now," John answered.


    "Dara. Try to fill in the void." Tyler joked.


    Dara was red to the extremes.


    "Seriously though, Dara. Why do you fall in love with guys who manage to beat you up? Are you some sort of an M?" Danny asked.


    Titan unconsciously nodded his head but stopped before Dara could notice.


    "The first volley of attacks will be reaching us. Let''s prepare to deploy the Eradication Pulse." Earl announced as he could see several volleys of long-range rockets.


    "Look''s like a perfect chance for him to move closer without being detected."


    "Right. Slow down the speed and let the rockets reach our range. Deploy the Eradication Pulse." Tyler made casual orders which Scribbs followed.


    "General? You''re up." Tyler called through his transmitter.


    "When are we suppose to move in?"


    "When it''s too chaotic for them to care about us."


    "Too chaotic? Don''t tell me that the General ns to fight them all at once?"


    "He''s cranky. He needs to let out some steam! Give him a few minutes to vent his anger out."


    "What? That''s an army he''s facing! He won''t be able to move away unscathed from the focused attacks of all of those Exoskeletons, Armors, and a freakin'' King Naga!"


    Harker''s Trio and the Covenant suddenlyughed. Only Dara didn''t but gave the soldier a contemptuous look as if looking at an imbecile.


    "Oh right. He must have missed that training session! No wonder he doesn''t understand!" Earl realized.


    "What training session?"


    "Just watch, newbie. By the time the General''s done he should already demolished a fourth of all those Exoskeletons that are already flying." Tyler assured.


    The rockets were quickly approaching the aircraft, and Scribbs immediately activated it.


    A green shockwave erupted around the ship. This was Eradication tech that contained another weaponized Path. The Destion of the Dragon created a chemical reaction that caused the approaching rockets to detonate.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Three huge explosions rocked the heavens, and the ship that the Unlocked were own even vibrated from the power of the explosions.


    Their ship moved out of the smoking and fiery explosion and revealed itself to the SPU army.


    The soldiers inside the King Naga were stunned at what they saw.


    "What happened? What was that green shockwave?"


    "Sir! It looked like Pangean Eradication."


    "Chase after that ship! And send in another volley of rockets! I don''t believe that they have the capacity to keep releasing that green shockwave!" One of the Generals ordered.


    "Send in a toon of our fastest Exoskeletons and shoot that ship. Make sure they maintain a distance of about twice the radius of that shockwave." Another ordered.


    Unbeknownst to the approaching SPU fleet, a lone Exoskeleton had used the explosion as a means to hide the powerful fluctuations of his suit. His suit had one of the most advanced techs that Seeker and his team have created so far.


    The young man had a very cranky expression that asionally would turn grimace as if he was bearing great pain. Sweat was pouring down on his face.


    "I must find that ce immediately!" He vowed to himself.

 Chapter 298 - Eye Of The Needle

    The smoke and fire hid him, and with the escape of the disk-shaped vessel, the army got distracted and focused their attention on it.


    The past three weeks have been busy for the Unlocked. They had an Antis and a Kraken, which had nowbined and became the Leviathan created a unified chamber for experiments.


    Lennox was quick to work as he immediately uploaded the protocols of his creation to the Leviathan. Meng gave the data of his team, and Harker also did the same.


    The additions of new techs didn''t end there. Grant Hermes also provided Canadian Frost. Amir Mann also shared his experiments andmanded various families also to offer up their techs.


    The lone soldier employed a manifestation of stealth technology that the various scientist was able to derive from Irvana. With the science that Meng was able to provide on how to mix cells into various metals, the Exoskeletons they created had a tech that surpassed the Gueri techs of SPU.


    But the mix''s limitations made this Exoskeleton a suit that would emit a strange fluctuation that could only be seen if ultraviolet detecting scanners are used.


    But the huge explosion left strange rays that covered this Exoskeleton.


    The pilot was cranky and angry. While his friends attributed it to the fact that he hasn''t seen his girlfriend in three weeks, there was a far more nefarious reason why he was.


    The armies quickly approached, and finally, he began to move.


    The first one to struck was the pilot of an Armor about to shoot its rockets to the disk-shaped aircraft.


    The attacks created no gunshots or explosions but a powerful needle materialized and pierced through the suit that even stabbed the pilot.


    The attack caused the pilot to move his Armor and bump into the nearby Exoskeletons, and the missile he fired shot towards therge flying serpent.


    BOOM!


    The attack caused great rm. While the rocket could not prate and breach the serpent, several nearby Exoskeletons were engulfed on the attack.


    "What happened?" One of the Generals suddenly eximed.


    "Sir! One of the Armors was attacked, and the pilot is dead! The pilot died just moments before itunched the rockets!"


    "What attack killed him? Our scanners couldn''t detect anything!" Another General questioned.


    "Generals. To our position. It seems the battle is here." One of the Generals moved, and the Naga''s Heart began to move and transform to bring the respective Generals to their own Command centers.


    Only one General remained at the bridge of the ship and sent a series of orders.


    Therge Serpentine ship opened several ports and began to fire rockets. But then¡­


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The rockets veered off course and killed the nearby soldiers.


    In the disk-shaped aircraft, Tyler and Scribbs wereughing so hard that they were mming the desk.


    "What¡­? What''s going on?" The former WGP Commanders watched with a bizarre expression.


    "How strong. He even managed to do Chaos Order." Titan took a peek at the monitor and went back to his game.


    "How close is he to Chaos Order?" Dara asked John.


    John took a loot at the screen and observed it for a few seconds.


    "His aim and movements are just like the boss. It''s like an exact copy of the boss''s movements on our training sessions."


    The newly unlocked soldiers of the WGP watched in horror and amazement at how the soldiers were shooting off each other.


    "Wow. He can even do your trick, Titan!" Dannyughed.


    "He''s actually better¡­" Titan sighed.


    The SPU soldiers were panicking as they couldn''t see the attacker. With the sudden attacks from the King Naga, some even believed that there were traitors on the ship.


    "All soldiers, hold your fire! Hold your fire!" The Commanders and Generals in the King Naga gave their order. The explosions and attacks were causing an entire army to plummet into chaos.


    "Amazing¡­" Earl praised as he zoomed in to see the battle.


    "We could have done that with an entire team. But now, the General is doing it alone!"


    Suddenly, several SPU soldiers began to shoot at a certain location. Soon, the group began to attack as if it could see an invisible enemy.


    "Looks like they discovered that the ultraviolet sensors could detect the suit." Earl narrated.


    The army of SPU soldiers was now synching with the vision of the serpent. They could see what the serpent could see. With aplicated algorithm, the soldier''s view would be replicated by the system perfectly and even disyed in a three-dimensional format.


    As such, all the soldiers could see the attacker''s location even if their Exoskeletons didn''t have the capacity to the ultraviolet lights.


    The barrage of a full army lit the sky as it attempted to deal with the immediate enemy.


    "The General is in danger!" One of the former WGP soldiers eximed.


    "We have to help the General!" Another added.


    "Rx! You guys! That General down there is an Inhuman. And an Inhuman with a legit Path! I thought you were all thought that an Unlocked with a fully developed and useable Skill has the potential to kill a squad of Unlocked! That little thing isn''t something that can kill the General!"


    "An army is shooting after it! How can that be a little thing?!" One of the Unlock cursed out.


    "I''d rather have an SPU army shoot at me than stand in front of an Oveer." Earlughed.


    "What?"


    "This is what you guys need. Actual experience. You see, at this point, our victory over the Kraken and the Antis seemed to have neem achieved through plots and trickery. And while that is true, it was because we have the skills to back it up. But the issue is, telling you what we are capable of is not effective. You have your pride. This little joint crusade of ours is for you to see the true power of the Unlocked. If we have some of the best soldiers see it firsthand, then you could tell your other friends what exactly you saw." John exined.


    "Yeah. If we told you ourselves that running towards an army is possible, you wouldn''t believe it. You''d underestimate just how strong an Unbing ispared to a human. But now, you get to see the higher heights of the Unlocking in action. General won''t fail, nor will he get hit. It''s all ording to n. He has Chaos Order, after all. It should start anytime soon." Danny added.


    "What should start?"


    "Arthur taught me that in order for my trick to work, I''d have to make the enemy confident in shooting." Titan was the one who exined.


    "The General is making the enemy think that they can shoot without any consequences. And when they''re at a trigger-happy moment, he begins his attack."


    As if right on queue, the General fighting the army suddenly began to shoot. He used the same sound bullets earlier to attack the rockets that the King Naga shot out.


    It didn''t have any prating power, but the force behind it could throw off and redirect even a rocket at full throttle.


    These small sound bullets shot at the various soldiers, and it all happened. The sudden redirection of their arm, their aim, and theunched rockets created chaos. Soldiers ended up shooting each other, Exoskeleton flying and whirling out of control, hitting others and causing even more chaos.


    The cause of this chaos saw the entire fleet before him. But at the same time, he was also immersed in his memories. Two weeks'' worth of mathematical studies and training came to view. The practices and mock battles pitted the pilot against armies in all forms of scenarios. Underwater battles, aerial battles, ground,nd, mixed battles- everything that he trained for were surfacing, and his memories could even bring out more memories at the same time.


    His body copied the precise movements that followed the exact theoretical actions that he should do.


    A massacre was made though he didn''t shoot to kill.


    "Tyler. Begin your attacks in thirty seconds. I should have a shot in infiltrating this ship." The General contacted Tyler.


    "Aye Aye, General," Tyler answered.


    The newbies kept looking at the screen and were amazed at the power.


    "This is a Skill?" The former WGP wondered.


    "No. That is a Path."


    "What''s his Path?"


    "Memory. The way he recalls is vastly different from us." Dara exined. Her heart was beating so fast when she saw the chaos that their General brought.


    "Memory? That''s it?!"


    "Yup. To think such a strange ability could create such havoc. But that''s the truth. Right now, he doesn''t have an official Heroes Rank and title, though."


    "I''d put him above Alean but below Lowengren." Danny guessed.


    "Your list is too wrong. The Thief in the Night better than General Alean? Please. Don''t underestimate her!" Scribbsughed.


    "You''re just loyal to the Cipril family. You even put General Harker on that list! He isn''t even Ranked yet!" Danny argued.


    "What''s the winning vote for his Ranked Heroes title?" Dara asked Titan.


    "Using memory, he is capable of challenging impossible odds and scenarios. That training session with Typical was proof of it. I heard the boss didn''t want his title to be simr to his, so they decided to look for another reference in the Bible. I''m not sure what it is now. Haven''t checked on that email thread."


    "The Lion''s Den is the bosses. No one should have a simr title to his! Besides, the boss is definitely an Oveer! He just hasn''t the chance to fight!" Danny asserted.


    "I''m checking it now. Unless He Who Remembers Win, the winning title would be General Cliff Fangwood, He Who Treads Through the Eye of the Needle."


    "The Eye of Needle¡­" The former WGP Commander repeated as he watched the battle.


    Scribbs began tounch several attacks using the various techs that the ship was equipped with.


    The attacks couldn''t be detected. Armors and Exoskeletons were suddenly attacked by some invisible needle or were melted as they were caught in the greenish explosion of a horn-shaped metal.


    The chaos erupted all the more as more Exoskeletons were deployed.


    Therge serpentine ship had several docks that opened, and many Armors, Exoskeletons, and Jets began to fly out.


    "Jets?" Dara was confused.


    "We haven''t seen those since the Third World War. It looks like this one should have powerful techs if the SPU dares use it in this battle!" One of the newbies eximed.


    BOOM!


    Several jets immediately exploded as they crashed with each other due to the attacks of the lone General.


    "Then again, maybe not¡­" Earlughed.


    "Covenant, you''re up," Tyler ordered.


    "Best two out of three,ter?" John asked Titan.


    "Sure," Titan answered as they stopped ying. Their respective cubicles suddenly became an enclosed pods, and they were already wearing their Exoskeletons.


    "Alright. Danny, you take the lead." John gave his directions.


    "Titan, you''re with me. I''ll draw their attention, and you attack them. Dara, draw the argo of the enemy from John so he can make a clean shot. Leave the Exoskeletons and jets to me. Once General Cliff gives us the signal, we breach the King Naga. Tyler, take care of the newbies. Earl, you''re up to when the sun appears."


    The group was immediately shot out of the ship as the floor beneath them gave way.


    Four Exoskeletons raced through the skies.


    "John¡­ Keep one of those bays open!" Danny ordered.


    The sudden appearance of more Exoskeletons that began to massacre the group caused the SPU to duplicate the visuals. One half used the ultraviolet detecting scanner that allowed the SPU soldiers to see the rampaging General Cliff, and the others used normal sight to see the other Exoskeleton.


    Dara''s Exoskeleton ran straight to the enemies ignoring the iing barrage.


    As the barrage approached, her suit exploded out as if struck.


    But Dara kept jumping from one piece of her suit to the other.


    She kept jumping, and a small pile bunker appeared on her right hand as she jumped and punched an Armor right at the chest. The force of her punch and the pile bunker killed the pilot instantly.


    Her other suits reformed right in the middle of the formation of several Exoskeletons.


    These Armors'' jet-speed didn''t bother Dara, who only wore a small part of her Exoskeletons as she moved to dismantle another Armor.


    Danny was spinning like a top and began to slice through the blockades. Danny''s speed was the fastest among the group as it could create a powerful boost that shot itself several kilometers in almost an instant.


    John Octavion III kept sniping from afar and aimed for the nearbyrge transports.


    And as the chaos continued, Titan reached the very center of the battle and released a small orb.


    In that exact moment, John Octavion III aimed at the opening nearly ten kilometers away from where he was.


    BOOM! BANG!


    Almost simultaneously, a Pangean Everbright exploded and brightened the skies as John shot around towards one of theunching pads of the King Naga.


    A railgun bullet shot with incredible speeds that immediately crossed the distance. The bullet utilized the dimension-breaking ability of the Void Assassin. While it couldn''t teleport just like the Void Assassin, Lennox was able to find a means and a working calction of allowing inorganic objects to speed up the movement.


    The scientific studies that Lennox showedbined with the mysterious Realm science of the Realm King allowed bullets to travel at shocking speeds.


    The bullet crossed the distance as it traveled throughpressed space.


    BOOM!


    The explosion damaged the gate that was supposed to close. And this momentary pause allowed an invisible invader to move in.


    Earl also dropped out of their ship and joined the battle.

 Chapter 299 - Cliff’s Heavyweight Mission

    Earl dropped in and sted off the moment the Pangean Everbright wasunched.


    It began to attack and zoom closer towards the King Naga. Several secondster, Earl intentionally allowed himself to get attacked by moving towards the direction of attack a certain Exoskeleton was shooting at. Upon getting hit, Earl immediately disabled the cloaking mechanism that his suit was employing.


    The cloak was rtively weakerpared to the one that Cliff wore, but it served its purpose.


    "The invisible Exoskeleton has taken a hit! His cloaks are disabled!" One of the soldiers immediately reported as an Exoskeleton emerged out of nowhere.


    "Attack it!" The General and the Commanders chorused together.


    "Generals! We should fight cloak with cloak! The enemy is skilled, and we''ve already lost a lot of soldiers!"


    "Are you crazy?! If we can''t deal with these few soldiers now, how do you think we can fight off Pangea''s army?!"


    "What


    if this isn''t Pangea! That Eradication shockwave only had the same signature, but Pangea shouldn''t have the techs to do that! Is Srium Tech capable of a pulse-like tech? Even our spies in Pangea haven''t reported it!"


    "What are you saying? Could this be¡­?"


    "Either it''s the WGP or those Lost Primordials! They sent an elite team!"


    "General Tran is right! Look at the techs the other Exoskeletons are employing! Those aren''t Pangean designs! And that cloak! That surpassed our own! Are we really going to believe Pangea surpasses us on guerri warfare and espionage?"


    "Then fine. A approve activating the Naga Void!"


    "I approve the activation of the Naga Void!"


    "I approve!"


    When all five Generals have dered their approval, the separate Chamber of Commands immediately activated the Naga Void.


    The entire spacecraft disappeared along with all the Exoskeletons.


    "Pull back. Fighting in that cloak field would be too much for us." Danny immediately ordered.


    "Titan, John, keep at them. Earl, pull back and stick close to Dara. Dara. Don''t spread out your armor. Draw the enemy out of the cloaking field but do not engage in a melee. We use ranged weapons."


    "Acknowledged." The group chorused.


    As the group drew back and began a ranged battle with the enemy, a specific individual has infiltrated the King Naga.


    But instead of an Exoskeleton, the suit that Cliff had was now just slightly thicker than the ninja designs of the EAA Exoskeletons. The thick armors of the Exoskeletons were now beingpressed through Cold fusion. Earlier, when Cliff was fighting outside, the Dalisay Tech kept heating and expanding the suit, so it generated a vast amount of ultraviolet rays. But now, the cloak utilized basic transparent techs.


    Upon entry, Cliff immediately raced for what he believed to be the most critical location in the King Naga.


    The King Naga was a long snake-like ship. Several Chambers of Command were located at the very middle region of the King Naga. Each chamber had its railway that extended from the head to the tail of the King Naga. Each Chamber of Command was located on different floors of the King Naga and moved back and forth to avoid being attacked and destroyed.


    The main Command Center was located at the middle level of the King Naga.


    Cliff entered through a dock that immediately led him to the middle level.


    And upon entry, he transformed his suit and made his way towards that important room.


    The toilet.


    The Leviathan employed the strange Three Sea Shell system to wash away the remains every time someone defecated.


    But this was very foreign to the bidet system that Cliff was so used to. And so, in the entire three weeks that Cliff stayed on the Leviathan, he used his Unlocking to hold it in.


    Thepression, pressure, and stress made Cliff so cranky that no one dared to stand in his way. Even Typical was wounded in the cranky and crazy fight that Cliff did in their mock battles.


    "AHHHHHH!" Cliff shouted as he felt all his problems left him.


    On that day, the Meng family were not the only ones who could im to be dragons.


    The joy that Cliff felt that day would be a recurring memory that Cliff would recall in the most depressing moments of his life.


    "I¡­ HAVE¡­ OVERCOME!" Cliff shouted that even alerted the nearby soldiers who were passing by the toilet.


    The will that Cliff manifested that day was so powerful that it was a door-opening experience for Cliff to understand the nature of Oveers.


    Seeing as the toilet was struggling to defeat the dragon, Cliff immediately used the bidet and left the room.


    Cliff kept moving and revealed one of his weapons.


    "They n to attack us with this level of techs? I brought in so many techs, and they can''t even detect it! Weak!" Cliff shook his head as he revealed a small round ball which he pressed.


    A high-frequency tune was released, and Cliff''s suit was able to map out the entire location.


    "Realm and Richie''s sound techbined to make the perfect mapping tech." Cliff smiled as he watched it.


    Compared to the crazy missions he used to have where he would go in with little or no techs, this mission was practically a vacation for him.


    The sound allowed him to match the entire location as his suit could detect it and create a schematic of the area.


    Cliff could see the Chambers of Command, which were moving.


    "Each Chamber of Command would contain a General. This is to even out the workload and ensure that someone always stays inmand of the ship. The King Naga can divide into several independent ships for battle." Cliff recalled the details of the King Naga.


    "Man¡­ Each country have their amazing weapons and ships! Now, where is that mainmand center¡­?" Cliff began to look at the schematics as he continued to move with his invisible suit stealthily.


    Cliff immediately rushed towards a room he noted to be close to the railway of where the main Chamber of Command would pass by.


    "Looks like it''s impossible to get into that chamber as that chamber is moving at such fast speed."


    It moved to the tail and would immediately rush back to the end. The chamber had stabilizers that prevented the people inside from being thrown from the ship''s extreme movements.


    Cliff entered and immediately killed the people in the room. He locked the doors behind him and moved to the end of this room. His upper body began to heat up as he pushed towards the wall.


    Amazingly, he was slowly moving forward and melting the door at a quick speed.


    Cliff''s suit was growing hotter and hotter. The Dalisay Tech never found a means to apply their heated technology on another. But now, with the abundance of techs that they had, it was as if they found all techs to be a big puzzle piece that interlinks one tech with another.


    "How powerful was this Lost Primordial?" Cliff couldn''t help but wonder. In just a few weeks, this suit was alreadyplete.


    Cliff rushed towards the wall and used Matter Reforming Techs and the Dalisay tech to burn through the thick metal wall quickly. While he still couldn''t reform the metal he burned through, the weak metal used in this ship was easily prated.


    Soon he broke through this room and was now at the long winding exhaust chambers, which aren''t essible by doors. This was because this area was directly next to an important area in the King Serpent.


    Cliff had reached the extensive railway which the main Chamber of Command used.


    If invaders were to reach this room, unless they have the entire ship''s blueprints, it would have been impossible for them to find a Chamber of Command. The ship itself was designed only to have a few entry points to protect these Chamber of Commands from enemy infiltration.


    "I''m in position. Fire those bombs now!" Cliff ordered.


    "Aye, Aye, General!" Tyler ordered his team to be in position.


    The battle outside had already changed. Ever since the SPU activated the cloaking field, the Covenant had retreated and began to stick close to the disk-shaped ship to harass the King Naga.


    Upon receiving that order, the former WGPmander and the other newbies were already on position and were now using the various guns and turrets at their disposal.


    "Covenant! Dive!" Tyler ordered.


    The Covenant suddenly rushed forward and began to fire a barrage of attacks, and Tyler controlled the ship to follow the Covenant.


    Their sudden downward rush ced everyone at the range of fire of the SPU. An entire army''s worth of bullets, beams, and bombs rushed at them almost immediately.


    Danny''s suit revealed two mini-guns on his shoulder, which started to st towards the direction of the invisible King Naga. At the same time, his two hands shot out two small bombs.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    A miniature EMP explosion rocked the skies and revealed the Exoskeletons and Armors around.


    Titan and John switched to automatic weapons that delivered several explosive rounds per second, quickly eliminating the appearing enemies.


    Dara dove further and further inside the battle.


    "Dara! That''s too deep!" Danny called out!


    "Rx! I know what I''m doing! Titan! John! Shoot any bombs that could detonate! Compared to those WGP suits, my Realm can handle these clowns!"


    She suddenly caused her Exoskeleton to explode out into many pieces.


    Her focus heightened, and then she used her newly developed ability.


    Realm Somatotopy.


    Dara jumped and used boosters from one part of her suit to another, evading the approaching attacks.


    The further she went, the thicker electrical charge began to gather on each piece of her suit.


    The electrical charges kept rising and rising.


    "Fred. Take over my control of the craft. Scribs. It''s time to deliver that payload!" Tyler immediately shot two rockets.


    Scribbs controlled one, and Tyler controlled the other.


    Dara''s suit was now merging once again. And the electrical energy that her suit gathered from the remaining EMP sts earlier was now being charged again.


    As Dara''s suit merged, she suddenly punched her two fists together.


    BOOM!


    A third EMP st exploded out.


    "Nice! She was able to gather about eighty percent of the lightning energy from those two EMP bombs!" John praised.


    "Showing off for the General." Danny teased.


    The third EMP bomb that Dara created was deeper and closer to King Naga. This allowed the rockets that Tylerunched to move deeper than before. With most of the enemies now seen because the EMP explosions undid the cloaking field on those regions, the payload was sent.


    The avability of a certain video game allowed its yers to y in a world that almost replicates real-life physics, allowed the soldiers to train in various subskills.


    Rocket control was one of the lessons that Warfreakz taught. Stanley Vagrant''s sses became a popr online course that many of the soldiers took.


    The rockets zipped through the air evading and shooting the enemies. Various anti-air attacks shot at it, but the two''s export controls caused it to reach closer and closer to the King Naga.


    The two bombs began to arc towards the snake''s different ends and almost reached the cloaked areas.


    A few secondster, the bomb struck the serpent.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Two powerful explosions struck the area, and Cliff made his move.


    He had waited for the bomb to hit and jumped to ram arge iing pod.


    The explosion of the rockets created a massive explosion, and while the power of the st wasn''t strong, the shockwave it created was strong.


    "Sir! It''s simr to the Big Bang Boom of the European nations! The damage is minimal, and repairs are being made on the Delta and Hotel regions where the bombs exploded! The formation of the Exoskeletons and Armors outside are on disarray, and we are counting the death toll."


    The General frowned.


    "Generals? What do you think?"


    "We have to activate the Battle Naga! We are losing too many people!" Another General called out.


    "I approve! Let''s synch the energy supply to activate the Battle Naga!"


    "I approve as well!"


    The other Generals gave their approval.


    "On my mark." The General readied for the countdown as his hands held on a certain lever.


    But then he noticed that he couldn''t move his arms.


    Cliff had fired several weapons that shot an electrical pulse around them, hindering them from moving.


    "Mark!" Cliff spoke using the General''s voice and pulled the lever that the General was holding.


    The energy andmunication system of the divided King Naga all merged.


    "I''ve read the file. The King Naga is a ship thatpartmentalizes itself to avoid getting destroyed or hacked. The power supply is also divided to prevent the ship''s energy from being detected and to save energy during flight. So youpartmentalize it for stealth and unify it for battle. Tyler and the team hoped this would happen." Cliff revealed a small device that he plugged on to the mainputer.


    "You know, half of your entire ship would only equal this in value." Cliff pointed at the small device.


    "He could only make one after absorbing all that energy. What an insane man." Cliff sighed.


    "Anyway, it''s surprising that they trusted me with this mission. When they told me how much this costs, I trembled in fear. I can breathe easier now that I havepleted this mission... And since I have finally... That felt so good!"


    Several warning prompts were being disyed all over the room. Many warned that they''ve detected foreign programming invading thework. But a few secondster, all theputers suddenly turned off, and it quickly rebooted.


    "Lennox V2.7 Online.." A cold and detached man''s voice spoke as theputer monitors disyed the static and distorted face of a man formed by binary codes appeared.

 Chapter 300 - Chaos In The King Naga

    Cliff stood and watched as Lennox V2.7 began to hack the system.


    The other Generals and Commanders on their ship began to panic as they lost control to their system and a strange static appeared on all their monitors.


    "What''s going on?" One of the Generals asked.


    "Sir! I don''t know! Something is damaging our signals! Its affecting ourputers!"


    "What? We activated Battle Naga! All our systems are now unified! Does that mean-?"


    "Yes Sir! We''ve lost control of the entire Naga!"


    Suddenly, the entire ship began to tremble and tremble. Loud vibrations and powerful explosions could be heard everywhere.


    The tremors were so much that even the General was rocked of his seat. The Chamber of Commands had several techs that prevented them to be thrown and rocked around was disabled and the upants of each chambers were being thrown back and forth from the unstable movement of the Chamber.


    "Shut down the power! Shut down the power!" The General shouted as he managed to grab hold of his seat and wear his seat belts.


    The nearby Commanders did immediately what they could and finally was able to shut down the main power source. The Chamber of Command soon came to a halt.


    Soon, all Chamber of Commands had stopped as their main power supply has been shut off.


    But even then the tremors across the entire ship grew stronger and stronger.


    Turbulence and vibrations spread to these Chamber of Commands.


    "What''s going on? Have the stabilizers beenpromised?" A General frowned.


    "Boot up theputers now and immediatelymunicate with the other Generals!" He immediately ordered.


    The room was dark and only the emergency red lights that appeared when the power was shut remained. Suddenly. A bright light shed to the side as a red object appeared to be moving through the walls.


    The scene shocked the soldiers who were now racing to grab their gun. But the figure raised its right hand which no longer had a reddish color and shot at them.


    The shots were silent as needles struck them on their body. An electric charge was paralyzing them.


    Cliff moved forward and began to reboot theputers.


    The image of Lennox appeared once more.


    "Is this enough?" Cliff asked.


    "Go for a third one. The rest seemed to have activated theirwork firewall and are blocking my attempts to reach it. But if I can link with another server, I should be able to find my way in." Lennox''s voice answered.


    "Alright." Cliff immediately left and targeted another Chamber of Command. This time, Cliff aimed for one of the Chamber of Commands that had already activated itself and has already detached from the main Chamber and was acting independently.


    The Commanders and Generals remained paralyzed but were all struggling to move. Then a pod appeared nearby as an Exoskeleton emerged. Though no one was piloting it, it could move independently. The Exoskeleton was an SPU Commander Model.


    "It seems I may need to reconfigure somethings to shoot out my lightning." A detached voice could be heard from the Exoskeleton. Several others followed and left through the hole that Cliff made.


    Another remained to detain the remaining Commanders and Generals.


    On the moving Chamber of Command, the Commanders and the General was frantic in keeping up with themand line as confusion urred.


    Everyone was strapped into their seats and had their seat belts on as the stabilizing tech that ensured they wouldn''t be thrown off wasn''t working. Still, in this circumstances, the Commanders and the General proved to be very capable as they tried to prevent the scenario from getting worse.


    "We are to assume that we are the only ones left. Keep thework up and ensure that the General''s will each send their security codes first before we allow any form of link with them! We don''t know what that virus is or how it got into our ship! But if the WGP could be betrayed, so can we. Assume that our enemy is in this ship itself!" The General gave his orders.


    "General Reggs is attempting a link. He demands that we first give our security codes."


    "No! He confirms his codes first, and then I will give mine! I still outrank him as a General!" The General refused.


    The Commander ryed the answer.


    "He''s sending his code."


    "Zulu Tango One Five Sierra Hotel India Seven!" The General shouted.


    "Identity confirmed! This is the personal code!" The Commander who was tasked with memorizing each of the Generals code confirmed.


    The General didn''t act yet but silently waited as if he was hesitating. It was then that the nearby Commander secretly motioned a secret code confirming that the Commander was correct. This was a fail-safe protocol that was secretly established. There were in fact, two Commanders who knew the code but only one was publicized. In case the Commander was a traitor, the other could verify.


    "General Ngo code Alpha Charlie Three Nine Romeo November One." The General spoke.


    There was silence for a few seconds and finally, the system prompted that their link was established.


    "General Ngo! We need to gather our forces! There should be a traitor in our midst! Only you and General Mara?on was able to immediately detach from thework! We failed to mark on time but the virus was already detected! What do you rmend?" General Reggs asked immediately.


    But there was silence on the other line.


    Cliff had already boarded and shot the group and turned on theputer with Lennox already plugged in. The stabilizers were working again.


    "For the Lost Primordial!" General Ngo''s voice resounded through Cliff and the connection between the two Generals was immediately disconnected.


    "Did you seed?" Cliff asked Lennox who now appeared on the screen.


    "Yes. I''ve managed to hack into their systems. Do as nned." Lennox confirmed.


    Cliff nodded and moved on ahead.


    At that moment, more Exoskeletons emerged. This time, a General Model appeared and the Exoskeleton moved on without even pausing. A few Commanders also emerged.


    Cliff suit had transformed again and it bore its original Exoskeleton look. It began to move inside and cause amotion shooting any soldiers it found along the way. Exoskeletons were sent to stop it, but Cliff would easily kill the pilots.


    General Reggs had immediately ordered his crew to prepare for retreat. He sent his Chamber of Command to the tail-end of the King Naga and immediately issued orders to forcibly disconnect the sector from the main body.


    "All soldiers retreat! The King Naga has beenpromised! Retreat to the End Sector! General Ngo is confirmed to be working with the Lost Primordial! All forces retreat!"


    "All forces, by that order! I am General Tran! General Ngo is not a traitor! The traitor is General Reggs! Any soldiers who follow Reggs will be treated as a traitor!"


    "All forces. This is General Ngo. Reggs is a traitor. He found out about my affair with his wife and has betrayed the SPU."


    Cliff who was running and shooting somewhere in the King Naga stopped.


    "Seriously?"


    "It''s a trick I got from Lowengren." Lennox answered.


    "All forces! This is General Mara?on! Do not obey Ngo and Tran! They are the traitors! Head towards the End Sector or the Fringe Sector! I will be issuing a full retreat! The King Naga ispromised! I repeat! The King Naga ispromised! We are to go to a full retreat!"


    The conflicting orders made the soldiers confused. Most soldiers followed the direct orders of the General they were serving.


    Soon, more were forced to follow the orders of Generals Ngo and Tran as thee Commanders of both groups began to move and directly give orders in person. General Ngo''s Exoskeleton was even seen moving outside to keep orders.


    A perimeter and even some in-fighting urred near the Mid Sector and the Fringe Sector. As the Fringe Sector and the End Sector followed Generals Reggs and Mara?on, a barrier was even made between the two groups.


    The pleading calls of the Generals continued to force the other team to join the other side.


    Of course, one General was not very diplomatic but became very angry and kept cursing General Reggs.


    "Remember that night you were assigned to the Vietnam areas? I banged your wife!"


    Cliff couldn''t believe the insanity that Lennox kept doing but soon, the audio of General Reggs turned chaotic as his Commanders were clearly stopping him from getting to his suit.


    The aerial battle outside the King Naga had ended.


    After the explosion, the Exoskeletons had retreated and returned to the disk-shaped aircraft.


    The sudden retreat made the circumstances and conflicts in the King Naga all the more suspicious.


    Just as it was inside, each army had positioned itself alongside the sector of the King Naga where their immediate General was. While there were some soldiers who picked a side, most followed their direct superiors.


    "All forces! This is the Lost Primordials n! It wants to steal away as much soldiers as it can! Our mission has been to attack Pangea and eliminate the Floating Fortress! But now, the Lost Primordial is messing with us internally! With The End and Fringe Sector gone, our overall military might cannot easily crush Pangea! Remember the reports! General Harker is clearly working with the Lost Primordial!"


    "What foolishness! Soldiers! You''ve seen the report! General Harker allied with the WGP! Our mission has nothing to do with the Lost Primordial or the WGP! We are here to conquer Pangea who has been our enemies for the longest times! But now, these Generals are ordering you to charge straight to Pangean soil and fight! What if they are allied with the Lost Primordial and is forcing us to waste our lives just to attack Harker!"


    The Generals kept arguing back and forth and continued to throw off conspiracy theories after another.


    "Men! This battle is to problematic! We retreat!"


    "That''s right! You always retreat! That''s why your wife was unhappy! I on the other hand kept pushing on! And that''s why I can tell you this! Your son? He''s mine! Hahahaha!"


    While more curses and foul words were exchanged to everyone''s hearing, the detachment process finally happened. The Fringe Sector disconnected from the Mid Sector. Both the End and The Fringe Sector became another small serpent that looked just like the King Naga.


    The main body of the King Naga also reformed as if it never lost two sectors as well.


    When the disconnect finally urred, the End and Fringe Sectors began their hasty retreat.


    But then, the disk-shaped craft zoomed and chase the end sectors and began to attack it.


    The sudden movements of this aircraft caused several confused actions and many of the Exoskeletons began to fly towards the fleeing Sectors.


    "Men! We follow General Reggs! Quick! If we stay here any second, we''d probably die!" One of the toon leaders made a hasty decision and immediately ordered his team to make for the fleeing sectors.


    "Sir?" One of the soldiers asked in confusion.


    "Think! Why would the aircraft attack that sector and ignore the main! That''s because the main belongs to the Lost Primordial!" The leader exined.


    But just as his words, ended, several explosions rocked the sky.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several thunderous bombs exploded as arge figure emerged from the seas below.


    It was the Lingkaran that was supposedly based in My-Pangea.


    "What?! The Lingkaran can submerge?!" The toon leader was shocked.


    "All forces! Retreat inside the King Naga! Our anti-air weapons can onlyst for so long! Reequip with an underwater gear and prepare for submerged battle! The King Naga is diving!" The announcement reached all soldiers.


    The toon leader who was headed for the End and Fringe sectors cursed and turned around once more.


    "Men! Move back!"


    "Sir?" The same soldier asked in confusion.


    "Don''t you get it? Those Reggs is the Lost Primordial! They made this n to divide the King Naga! This was so that the Lingkaran can effectively kill us!" The toon leader answered.


    Between the two King Nagas, several toons of Exoskeletons and jets found themselves switching and moving to the other side.


    The Main body continued tounch various rockets at the nearby Lingkaran but kept on diving down.


    The Exoskeletons that were out immediately went in and docked on their respective bays just before the King Naga began to submerge underwater.


    Cliff was no longer fighting. He was seated in one of the Chamber of Commands he broke in earlier.


    "Just like this? We stole a King Naga?" He couldn''t believe it.

 Chapter 301 - The Snake And Circle

    As the King Naga initiated the dive, the attacks and bombardments of the Lingkaran continued.


    Yet the attacks couldn''t even reach the King Naga but exploded several hundreds of meters away from the King Naga itself.


    While this battle continued, various satellites continued to observe the battle. These belonged to other countries, while the Aragarians controlled some.


    "It seems that Harker was an exception. As expected of Pangea, its strength is nothing worth noting." A young, beautiful dark woman observed the battle but her interest dwindled by the second as she watched the satellite feed.


    The rockets exploded quite a distance from the diving King Naga. Some huge explosions urred even several kilometers before it reached.


    "The aircraft is the only thing worthwhile. But look, it''s not interfering anymore. Its simply flying around as if to check if the tail of the King Naga would return. It''s not helping the Pangean Lingkaran. And because it''s not helping, look at how pitiful Pangea is! They can''t evennd a clear shot!" Straviaaughed.


    "It is as you say, Presider. They had a clear shot at attacking the King Naga, and they couldn''t destroy it." A man at the side shook his head.


    "SPU cloaks aren''t much. To think they don''t have the techs to bypass it. So only that General Harker has the techs from these so-called Lost Primordial. If that pesky Princess wasn''t in Pangea, I''d raid it and immediately question that Harker."


    "Presider, I don''t understand how those rockets aren''t hitting the King Naga." A tall woman by the side asked.


    "We can''t see it through our satellites, but the SPU should be using a cloaking field for their anti-air weapons. They did not cloak their entire ship since they have ordered all Exoskeletons to enter it so to suit themselves for underwater battle." The Presider exined.


    "I see. Then that means Pangea is this weak?" The woman asked again.


    "Harker had his strong soldiers. He managed to bring New Birth Forth to its first defeat. Then he appeared on that battle against Crostfree and had interesting techs borrowed from the WGP. But Pangea in itself is weak. Remember that they had received an ambushed attack from Australia and blew up their weapons factory. And whatever weapons they had left must have been lost in the ocean when that Harker joined forces with that mysterious group to attack. Who knows what weapons they have left?"


    Straviaa then turned around and ignored the screen as she allowed several metals to cover her immediately. Metal pieces were flying all around. But as soon as it covered her, it disappeared.


    "Why are you no longer interested in that battle, Presider? Didn''t it prove that the WGP is still aiding Pangea?" Another Presider who stood at the very back asked.


    "Hm? How odd. And here I thought Enderks sent me one of his best." Straviaaughed.


    "My apologies, Presider. I am merely one of the tools of Presider Enderks. Please do not think that my foolishness reflects Presider Enderks''s capability!" The Presider was scared silly at thement of Straviaa.


    "Do you know who our enemies are?" Straviaa asked.


    "I have heard of the Lost Primordial and another mysterious entity that attacked and nearly killed Presider Pridgeon." The Pioneer exined.


    "To be urate, our enemies include the Lost Primordial who wiped out Harker''s armies and sank it all in the ocean. We also have the mysterious group that worked with Harker and the WGP to attack Crostfree. Of course, we know that that battle was a trap! Harker and his mysterious allies were forced to fight Crostfree at the leading of the Lost Primordial. Obviously, the entity that we should be wary of is the Lost Primordial, who knew of our existence. From this, what can you deduce in this battle?" Straviaa asked.


    The Pioneer began to sweat in fear. He couldn''t understand how those two pieces of information can easily create a conclusion!


    "I- I think..."


    "Urden¡­ Don''t embarrass me." The figure of an old man withrge, dark spots all over his body manifested in front of them. There were no explosions, no portals, but it was as if he appeared out of thin air.


    "Enderks. If I knew you''d be traveling by teleportation, I would have prepared food." Straviaaughed.


    "Liar. I know you''ve already detected it when I activated it. Why did you activate your suit''s battle protocols?" The old man asked.


    "Were you in the moon all along? My suit detected a dimensionalpressor in the hands of Urden. Quite tricky to detect." Straviaaughed.


    "Well, you should know how cautious I am. Only you know that I am on Earth!"


    "Really? Have you managed to evade Garenjazz''s eyes? Amazing."


    "With great expense."


    "I take it, teleportation is a recent acquisition, or is it something that you finally figured out on your own?"


    "I have long studied it. A Principal gifted me the theories before leaving Aragar."


    "For your services fighting the Babelians? I see."


    "It costs a lot to activate. Since I can''t generate energy from any powernts of any sorts, I had to use my stock of energy!"


    "You used energy in your Force Foundation?" Straviaa raised her brow in surprise.


    "I hope that decision will pay me back! Pridgeon is someone who I have noted to have not yet developed his Force Foundation! I will have wasted so much if he isn''t as strong as you believe him to be!" Enderks howled.


    "Please. Save me the howling, Enderks. You''ve seen the conversation between ntter and that mysterious Phallus. You wouldn''t have gone there if you doubted my ims. That feed must have shocked you, right? You personally going here proves that you too have no idea what this Phallic Tech is!" Presider Straviaa''s expression turned frustrated as she mentioned the term.


    "Enough of that. Now that I am here, prepare a space for me for my items will be thrown into the Otherverse to get here."


    "Fine. Feel free to use the underground quarters. Pick whatever warehouse you need." Straviaa waved her hand.


    "Warehouse? I need a base, Straviaa." Enderks smiled.


    "What? But the objects you have in our ship is... You don''t have that many forces under you!"


    "Do you think Crostfree is the only one who hid his army?"


    "But how?"


    "Simple. I have androids instead of Pioneers. All of them are in the Otherverse. They always have been."


    "You mean...?! Of course... That''s to be expected. If you''ve perfected teleportation, then it''s easy for you to put objects in the Otherverse."


    "The dimensions beyond the third are amazing, Straviaa. You should learn to study it."


    "If we kill Pridgeon, I''d have Crostfree''s tech. That is the deal, remember?" Straviaa red.


    "I know! I know! I dare not betray you."


    "As long as we are clear."


    "Urden, prepare my room!" Enderks suddenly moved.


    "Ye-Yes, Presider!" The Pioneer followed.


    Straviaa continued to observe the battle and took onest look at the King Naga that had already sunk underwater. The Lingkaran was suffering from many attacks, and it wouldn''t take long for it to sink.


    "Ignore that battle. Bring me to another battlefield." Straviaa ordered.


    "As you wish, Presider." The Pioneer nodded and changed the scanner to another battle urring in the Russian borders.


    Meanwhile, at the borders of Pangea...


    Cliff sat down at the Chamber of Command with several paralyzed Commanders and General Tran.


    "To think it would be this easy." Cliffughed.


    "It''s easy because you''re already strong. And it''s also easy because you have me." Lennox''s cold voice exined.


    "Why weren''t you there in the battle of the Kraken? I mean, you could have helped us a bit before diving down to attack the Antis, you know?" Cliffined.


    "I wasn''t strong enough back then. I needed a powerful energy source to create me. It was too expensive to create, so I nned on stealing on some of the most potent power nts in the world."


    "You mean the Antis? Or is it the Kraken-Antisbination?"


    "Obviously. The Leviathan holds two different technologies that allow it to create powerful energy. A normal power nt used to power cities cannot produce the energy I need to create another thought."


    "Was that the ckout? It was you?"


    "Yes."


    "So, the energy required to create another you is that big?"


    "There are other factors necessary. Unless my main body reach the higher stages of the Unlocking, there won''t be another one like me."


    "What level are you guys exactly? I mean, your main body? What level of the Unlocking?" Cliff asked.


    "All of us should be at the Proficient stage of the Inhuman. Of course, that sensation a few days back proves that the Tyrant Empress is already at the peak."


    "Surmounting Inhuman? To be honest, I feel that you guys are too slow. Why haven''t any of you sought for the Hero stages?"


    "Because we have yet to develop the theoretical body a Ranked Hero should have. Seeker''s future had a lot of faults. The heroes that rose in that timeline required costly energy to fight back. What we''ve researched on was how to create a body that could function by itself."


    "A body that doesn''t need these energies that you invented?" Cliff nced at the liquid-like objects moving around his body.


    "While it is impressive, it''s only a liquefied form of the energy that the Realm King could do. Of course, the problem with those radiation pills is that it''s easily detectable. My version is light and untraceable."


    "Hey, I''m notparing!" Cliff defended.


    "Initiating next phase of the n." Lennox''s voice ignored Cliff.


    The Exoskeletons, Armors, and jets had all returned inside the King Naga and were in their respective decks and undergoing outfitting for underwater battle.


    Because of this, all personnel rushed to wear the respective gear. Since the waters could copse, every staff in the King Naga was ordered to wear an underwater gear even if they aren''t soldiers.


    "All personnel have suited up on Exoskeletons or their underwater suits¡­ Doing heart scans." Lennox continued to report.


    "Erm... You don''t need to tell me, you know." Cliffughed.


    "I''m not talking to you. It just doesn''t seem right I don''t voice it out."


    Cliff shook his head and sighed.


    "Now I get what Arthur meant by his father being entric." Cliff thought to himself.


    "Heart scanspleted. Killing all confirmed Aragarians."


    The moment Lennox finished saying this, a jolt of electricity electrocuted several soldiers. All soldiers who had their hearts on the wrong side of their bodies were immediately killed. The electricity came from the many devices that were currently attached to their suits. Whether they were in an Exoskeleton or Armor, being outfitted for underwater battle, or personnel wearing a standard underwater suit, they were immediately killed.


    While this was going on, the King Naga had been moving at top speed towards the Lingkaran that kept on shooting at it. But what was surprising was that the rockets that wereunched either over water or the torpedoes fired underwater would explode even though nothing attacked it.


    "Wow. We''re wasting a lot of rockets and torpedoes." Cliff watched the explosions. He had been training to be a General, and he could recall the shocking price of each rocket.


    "All to fool the Aragarians. We know that they are watching. So making it look like that the Lingkaran can''t fight this King Naga will cause them to lower their guard against Pangea and only be wary of Harker."


    "What about the ship that Tyler was piloting? What if they will attack that ship?"


    "They won''t. The ship is too weak to attract their attention. But this is all part of another ploy. They will assume that since Tyler didn''t help the Lingkaran even when it is being blown up will make the Aragarians think that this was a deal between the anti-Lost Primordial team and Pangea."


    Cliff was silent but continued to ponder what this would imply. He used his memory to surface all advice he had learned from Arthur, Lowengren, and Seeker.


    "So you mean that because Tyler didn''t help the Lingkaran other than making the tail separate, it would make it look like Pangea brokered a deal with the Anti-Lost Primordial to help it fight the SPU. The Anti-Lost Primordial team wanted to lure out a King Naga and steal its tail by using their spies. Did I get it right?"


    "It''s remarkable how my son''s advice is well kept recorded and applied in that head of yours. It''s making you look smart. Yes. That is what we want to portray. The Aragarians will conclude that Pangea is weak and that its ties with the Anti-Lost Primordial team isn''t strong, and the Anti-Lost Primordial are mainly allied with Harker."


    Soon, the King Naga''s colossal figure could be seen reaching the Lingkaran. But what the satellites couldn''t see was that the Lingkaran had arge space enough for the head of the King Naga to move to.


    "Thank goodness this mission is easy.. With this, we have captured an SPU army and three-fifths of a King Naga!" Cliffughed.

 Chapter 302 - First Mock War

    As the King Naga struck the Lingaran, several prepared explosions appeared on the top of the Lingkaran as if it was exploding and being damaged from the rampaging King Naga.


    But the truth was that the damages that the Lingkaran had were all controlled and contained damages.


    The Lingkaran had been changed and rebuilt. The Leviathan had positioned itself under this Lingkaran and revamped the structure in preparation for the attack of the SPU.


    While the King Naga was outwardly battling the Lingkaran, it had attached itself to a special power source stored within the Lingkaran. Several Unbing was able to attach the wires at the chaos of the battle.


    A powerful electricity coursed from the Lingkaran and rushed towards the King Naga. This energy was easily harnessed and sent towards all the soldiers who were awaiting deployment.


    The electrical shock attacked all the pilots and caused them to fall unconscious.


    The King Naga dove deeper into the sea after ramming the Lingkaran.


    Explosions could be seen on the water below the Lingkaran as if a powerful battle was happening.


    As for the tail of the King Naga, the soldiers were rampaging and were starting to find a way to breach the Chamber of Commands. With the current status of the Lingkaran, they believed that they were tricked into siding with the traitor.


    The main body was waging a courageous battle against the Lingkaran, and they were fleeing with their tails tucked between their legs. Many soldiers saw how easily the Lingkaran was being dominated, and this made the soldiers mad for their lost glory and scared of the future.


    They had fled and disobeyed militarymand and would possibly face criminal charges for this.


    Soon, the SPU Exoskeletons were deployed.


    As the SPU Exoskeleton surfaced, those in the Lingkaran readied their weapons.


    But the SPU soldiers did not immediately attack. It hovered underwater, and some hovered above the area.


    "Alright, men. This is our first mock war battle. As of this moment, those Exoskeletons are being controlled by Harker''s armies. There are even Inhumans among them. Priority for the Unbing Proficient-inducing drugs will be given to those who can down an Exoskeleton controlled by an Unbing Pilot. Those who can down two will be bestowed with the Surmounting Unbing- inducing drugs." A former WGP toon leader exined.


    "The battle willst until the King Naga dives down and rams the Lingkaran from the bottom, causing it to pierce through the Lingkaran through the gaps we''ve prepared for it. This is our first battle. Although this is a staged battle, it will set our destiny for the future! You''ve seen the tapes and seen the techs that these Aragarians carry. Those at the Unbing stage are but cannon fodder! So you have to fight with your lives on the line because here and now, lies which you can be in the future!" The toon leader exined, but then he paused and took several deep breathes.


    "But that''s just the second reason. Remember how those kids toyed with us! We lost and got yed like a violin! Murder those Exoskeletons and show them what a WGP soldier really is!"


    The nearby soldiers all shouted with determination. They were the captured soldiers who were previously in the Antis. Though they discovered the truth of theing threat, they were still angry. Not only have they been tricked by a group of teenagers, but the number of their colleagues that died in the previous battle had also enraged them.


    "They said that thest battle was a door opening experience for us to break through the next level. But I say this is our chance to show them that they are wrong! We are not so weak!" The toon leader roared angrily.


    The former WGP soldiers moved. Although they were only equipped with standard Pangean gear, the scanners and other systems inside the Exoskeletons and Armors were of WGP grade.


    The army began to move out. But the SPU Exoskeletons did no immediately attack. In fact, only a few Exoskeletons moved forward.


    Remotelymanding a Commander Grade SPU Exoskeleton was one of the higher-ranking soldiers in the entire Unlocked army.


    "Warfreakz. Control your respective toons properly."


    "Woah! Roselyn, give the veterans a chance to y around first!" Gardo''s confidentugh echoed.


    "Ma-Major? But the training¡­"


    "Don''t worry about it! Besides, this is still training, except it''s in hell mode. Lander, want another round? Although you can''t beat me in a one-on-one, how about a contest of most defeats. identally killing a soldier will minus your points, though. One Point for every Exoskeleton we down regardless of rank. Two for every Armor. And minus ten points for every idental kill. We''ll see who kills the most in the next five minutes!"


    "You''re on!" Lander answered.


    The conversation was broadcasted on the WGP soldiers, and this drove them even angrier.


    "Kill them!" A WGP Commander shouted angrily as he went to suit up. He was originally based inside the Lingkaran and would act as a Commander, but that taunt drove him to a maddened state.


    Two Exoskeletons from the SPU''s formation moved forward. The rest didn''t fight but merely waited on the sides, evading the ranged attacks aimed at them and expertly shooting the approaching rockets.


    "HQ! Please count the number of confirmed soldiers we disable." Lander spoke.


    "Confirmed." Lennox''s detached voice answered.


    Lander and Gardo''s respective Exoskeleton moved at max speed. Despite an army shooting at them, the pair was easily able to evade it through their movements.


    "Soldiers ending with odd numbers, increase the margin of error of respective suits! These arrogant pricks can evade us since our aim is very urate!" A former WGP Commander ordered.


    Roselyn could only sigh as he saw two Majors rushed off to battle.


    "Roselyn, is this alright?" One of the soldiers near Roselyn asked.


    "Let it be, Czerus. It still fulfills the purpose of this training."


    "But, Roselyn! I mean...Lieutenant! The soldiers are very angry! What if they betray us! Didn''t you hear what the Major said? Minus points for identally killing soldiers?! They are ying with human lives!" Another soldier, which belonged to the team of Warfreakz, answered.


    "I think that''s the point..." A female soldier pondered.


    "What?!" Czerus and the other soldier chorused.


    "Lucy is right." Roselyn smiled.


    "Although Major was a bit reckless and offensive, his actions are still directing the WGP soldiers to the right path."


    "But, Lieutenant! Major is still toying with human lives! These are soldiers! They''re already angry at you and the rest for all the killings you''ve done in the Kraken and Antis!"


    "Do you really think that Major Gardo and Lander will identally kill soldiers? Have you seen the videos of their fight? Those two can shoot bullets at a person''s hair and not miss. Lander''s mid-ranged shooting skills are as good as Gardo. If he uses his techniques and gets closer to those soldiers, do you think he would make a careless mistake?"


    "Lieutenant is right. Major Gardo is as good as John Octavion if we set aside John''s unique eyesight. Why do you think he has been nominated as a leader of the Benjamin division?" Lucy added.


    "This is a mock war, but also a point of reference for everyone. This is the first war where we have soldiers facing off the Unlocked. This is important for analysis so our superiors can approximate the number of soldiers we need to fight future battles. This is also a means for gauging our new recruits'' abilities and identifying these soldiers'' potential. But ultimately, this is used to solidify the loyalty of our new recruits."


    "Loyalty?" Czerus asked.


    "Yes. We are Unlocked. Our superiors have been toying with nations because of their strength. Those who are not Unlocked don''t understand what that means. In their hearts, they think we cheated. "Remember the briefing... This battle is geared to show the WGP and the rest of the ununlocked soldiers in ourmand exactly how powerful the Unlocking is. The goal is to make people realize how weak they are. And maybe if they see the vast difference, they''ll finally appreciate what we told them. Do you remember what that is, Arclight? Czerus?" Roselyn turned towards the two male soldiers who were talking to her.


    "...That Unbing soldiers are but cannon fodder in theing war."


    "Right. Whether or not Major Gardo intended it, this battle will show them the truth. Two Inhuman soldiers toyed with an army. That will make it clear to them how weak they are."


    Lander dove faster towards the horde of soldiers. As the raining bullets fell, Lander began to twist and spin. His twist and turns were unlike the trademarked movements that made him the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy because this was full of counter spins and other odd movements. And in this dive, the many bullets that approached were easily evaded. But what not many could see was that some of the bullets had actually veered off course when Lander was getting closer.


    Seeker, the Realm King, Arthur, and Lennox immediately began to experiment with the many ways to pass on or train their soldiers to learn skills. The greatest advantage that the world had in this timeline was Seeker Carlean.


    Lynd Indigo''s Path was insufficient in trying to reverse engineer the Path of the Oveers. But with Seeker, it was now possible. Seeker had met and treaded on the Paths of various Oveers in their early forms. Apart from Meng, the Paths of Lioncourt, the Rai, Amir, and even the Paths of other Heroes now had a chance of being replicated. The Leviathan provided enough materials for the group to perform their studies.


    Realm became the priority. Seeker knew just how important Realm is in the uing battle.


    One of the many skills that Seeker was able to create that had the possibility of being learned by others was dubbed Realm Resistance. This skill required that the user has to be in the Inhuman stage. The user has to have a controlled cancerous body to have enough energy to perform it.


    Lander was the first to master it. He was among the few who could generate a Realm Resistance from nothing. But the science of the Unlocked had evolved several steps since they acquired the Leviathan. Many unfinished studies were nowpleted.


    Typical could produce powerful needles through his Path. And this Path was something that Meng had long studied. But because Typical''s Unlocking was so high that he could die by maintaining it, research on that power didn''t have much progress.


    But now, there was. Typical''s cells had already evolved, and each cell was had mutated mitochondria that contained strong energy. And while Lander didn''t have it, his cancerous body made up the quality of energy with quantity. And while they couldn''t create needles, they could harness the energy that could materialize, aiding Realm Resistance.


    As Lander flew with great speed, arge cone-shaped Realm Resistance field appeared in front of him. And aiding that was the device that allowed Lander to solidify the Realm Resistance. The iing bullets would ''slide'' or veer off because of this cone-shaped field''s solidified resistance. Lander''s expression was growing paler as he tried to maintain the field as the iing bullets'' were causing great pressure on his body.


    "Ah! There it is! Using Neji''s chakra rotation thingy, and observation Haki, Major, is able to move closer and finally start his massacre!" Gardo began to narrate like a professionalmentator.


    And what followed was as Gardomentated. As he wasn''t worried about having to evade an army''s worth of bullets, Lander began to shoot.


    As Lander was already deep within enemy lines, only a few soldiers could afford to shoot him. But Lander was still too fast and kept on shooting.


    Gardo, on the other hand, maintained a great distance and kept himself away from the range of the WGPmanders, but he kept shooting the soldiers.


    The number of soldiers that Lando was able to hit and disable grew rapidly.


    5...17... 26.. 32...


    When a toon was disabled, Lando would then fly off to the next cluster of soldiers.


    "Break ranks!" The Commander ordered.


    The Commanders gave several orders, which allowed the group to move away and stop Lander''s attack from continuing.


    "Soldiers! Keep yourself on constant motion but try to maintain formation! Do as practiced! I want- Erkk!"


    "Commander!" The nearby soldiers reacted as their Commander suddenly began to plummet from the flight that it was making.


    He was shot in the shoulder, and arm and another bullet struck a critical piece of its engine that weakened the suit''s capability for flight.


    Gardoughed and insulted the WGP for their weakness in being unable to protect their General.


    "Erm... Lieutenant...? Major just shot all Commander level Exoskeletons." Arclight, another member of Warfreakz reported.


    "He what?" Roselyn shouted.


    "Major! Please stick to the n!"


    "Rx, Lieutenant! I just shot their feet. They can stillmand with their mouths, right?" Gardoughed.


    Gardo only had a kill count of eight but kept on shooting from a distance. But at that moment, the number of his confirmed disabled soldiers rose to seventy as the bullets he fired several seconds ago finally struck their respective targets.


    "How many was it?" Gardo asked Lennox.


    "Five Birdies, two Eagles."


    "Ugh. I need to improve.." Gardo sighed andined at his inadequacy.

 Chapter 303 - The Gap Between

    Lander kept on attacking in the middle of the battle. He was in a hurry to kill, but he dared not shoot beyond the range of his expertise. He waspeting with the detestable Major Gardo, but as a soldier, he would dare not risk the lives of these soldiers.


    The Commanders had already concluded that Lander was dangerous and ced the full effort into killing him. Some fired powerful srium beams, but it proved useless against Lander.


    He was known as the Hero of Helion''s tragedy and had fought and survived against several waves of Exoskeletons. And now, with his Unlocking, facing an army was possible.


    Still, Lander''s own supply of energy was running low. His Skill had a limit, and since most attacks were now using tracing bullets, evading was bing a task.


    As such, Lander had to attack and use suppressing fire at various cases, and while he couldn''t disable a soldier, it would injure some of them and force them to retreat or find cover.


    The Commanders continued to order the soldiers to change the formation to keep moving away and wear down the Major with ranged fire.


    The time limit drew near, and Lander was immersed in the battle and even forgot about the gamble on thest minute.


    He fell into the trance of the battle. He was immersing himself into the flow. He felt as if he was a musician lost in the world of his own melody.


    Roselyn and the rest of the Unlocked who watched the battle saw the magnificent movements.


    "Amazing¡­" Lucy praised.


    "Zone! That''s definitely zone!"


    "That''s expected of him. Lander spent the most time with Seeker after all of us. He is someone that Lynd even praised." Roselyn reminded.


    "Look''s like this battle is his victory." Arclight concluded.


    "Wanna bet?" Hankughed as he moved closer to the group.


    "Gardo''s the winner here." Zidane added.


    "Yeah. He managed to wound the boss after all." Counter recalled.


    "That''s Zone! Look! Lander is already able to see and understand the entire battle! Right now, his map awareness, response, and judgment are at their peak!" Arclight argued.


    "Why are you guys here?" Czerus asked the Small Time Drug Dealers.


    "The battle is about to end. The time limit draws near, and if we stay behind, we won''t be able to fight." Counter exined.


    "Yeah. I''m excited at winning! Those inexperienced Unlocked soldiers are all betting on Lander. I can''t wait for the winning pile!" Counter gave a heartyugh.


    "I just can''t see how Major Gardo wins this! His attacks are unnoticed in the battle!"


    "Exactly." Roselyn finally sighed.


    "The Small Time Drug Dealers are right. It''s a good thing I didn''t bet until now."


    "Hmm. Cheater." Zidane cursed. Roselyn was among the richer soldiers on this battlefield.


    "Lieutenant? How can Gardo win?" Even the more perceptive Lucy of Warfreakz cannot understand how Gardo will win.


    "He was intentionally attacking in a very spread out area and minimizing the perceived threat he gives to the army. This way, the soldiers will focus on Lander. His attacks are meticulous and precise. I won''t have noticed this if these three haven''t mentioned it. You detected it through Realm Synch?" Roselyn asked.


    "People keep asking us how we do Realm Synch, but we really don''t know. Why is Realm Synch necessary to detect Major Gardo''s movements?" Zidane asked curiously.


    Roselyn wanted to p Zidane. The one thing that the Unlocking couldn''t cure was wisdom and intellect. Despite having enough knowledge and memory that could put to shame mathematicians, these three were still slow on the uptake.


    "Never mind." Roselyn ignored the three but couldn''t help but admire them. If they could see and notice how Gardo''s attacks worked, it meant the Small Time Drug Dealers could sense the entire battlefield.


    "Was that a¡­ double eagle?" Hank was amazed.


    "Right! That was a double eagle!" Counter confirmed.


    "A double eagle?" Roselyn asked.


    "It''s what Major calls when he can hit two soldiers with one bullet. I think he borrowed it from golf terms. If two enemies are killed, or in this case disabled, he calls it a Birdie. If three, it''s an Eagle. If four, then it''s a Double Eagle. But I heard Lennox refer to it as an Albatross."


    "I wonder if the Major can pull of a Condor."


    "Five enemies in one hit? Not with regr bullets."


    "Wow. Another Double Eagle!" Zidane muttered in amazement.


    "How do you guys see that?! Where in this battlefield are those attacks urring?" Roselyn was now getting irritated.


    "You guys can''t see it?"


    "We don''t have Realm Synch! Especially one as disgusting as yours!" Roselyn erupted.


    "We honestly don''t know. But one day, we just managed to see things the way another person sees it."


    "The boss said that our Realm Synch is improving." Counter shrugged.


    "Oh. Times up."


    "Erm¡­ General Lennox, Sir? Can you announce the winner to everyone?"


    "No need for the formalities. I am not the real Lennox but a thought. Just treat me like an AI." Lennox''s voice replied to Zidane, who made the request.


    "Times up. Final confirmed disabled soldier count. Lander injured a hundred and fifteen soldiers. Ny-seven of them are confirmed to have been disabled soldiers. No idental kills. Gardo, of one hundred seventeen injured, a total of One hundred seventeen confirmed disabled soldiers. No kills. Gardo wins." Lennox broadcasted.


    Amotion erupted as the Unlock were shocked at Gardo''s victory. Of course, these were allints of how they lost in the gamble. No one dared question the Oveer''s judgment.


    "Alright. Time to move." Roselyn called all the soldiers and issued the attack.


    The Small Time Drug Dealers were the first to move, and Warfreakz followed behind.


    The WGP Commanders felt helpless as they saw over a hundred soldiers move out. Some of the Unlocked went underwater, and many remained in mid-air. No amount of tactic, nning, and even the explosive weapons they had could win against this.


    When the soldiers saw the numerous soldiers attack, most began to shoot towards the sky. But while the hundred-some soldiers weren''t as skilled as Gardo or Lando, the WGP couldn''tnd a single hit. What was shocking was that they weren''t even able to use the powerful weapons in their arsenal. The Unlock would shoot or attack any Exoskeleton or Armor that was about tounch an attack.


    "Echo Five. Attack the Armor on your six. Alpha Three. Watch out for the turret. Shoot it down now. Drug Dealers. Prioritize attacking any Exoskeleton preparing to attack." Gardo gave his orders from afar. He kept on ordering and would single out some Exoskeletons tomand where and what to attack.


    In contrast to Gardo''s micromanaging, Lander was brutally making his way as he had a rampage. He was so frustrated at his defeat that he went faster in his assault. He wanted to end this mock battle as quickly as possible.


    "Charlie group. Attack the Jet-propelled toon on the Eastern quadrant. Warfreakz. I want this battle to be done in the next minute. Command your respective toons faster. Delta squad, push forward faster. Bravo and Alpha cover them. Small Time Drug Dealers lead the way for Delta. Keep in mind, Major Idiots orders."


    Lando continued macro managing the army and followed the flow of the battle as he used his zone.


    "Small Time Drug Dealers, disable the Armors first. Delta Two, snipe the turret at the north. Also, I might be an idiot, but I''m not a loser." Gardo chuckled.


    The approach of the Small Time Drug Dealers y drew closer was shocking to see. The trio began to use melee weapons which hacked and shed off the limbs of some soldiers.


    "You''ll live." Zidaneughed as he sliced off the leg of a soldier.


    The onught of the Unlocked was so terrifying that some of the former WGP soldiers were breaking ranks and retreating.


    Half of the WGP Commanders were offline. Many of them would lose an arm or leg in the process.


    "It''s over¡­" A Commander helplessly said.


    "It is¡­ Are we¡­ this weak?" Another asked as they watched the approaching soldiers massacre theirs. They outnumber the Unlocked ten to one. But when Lander and Gardo moved in, the losses they received were already catastrophic.


    The gap between them was sorge that tactics and ns couldn''t bridge it.


    In that scene, the well-trained Commanders who were taught to keep fighting and always look for a way to attack, retreat and exploit the situation couldn''t offer any counter ns.


    The WGP soldiers who numbered nearly a thousand were easily eliminated.


    It was no contest but bullying. The army easily devoured the thousand-strong soldiers.


    The sight of the one-sided massacre shocked the various countries watching over the battle. The chaos in the Tail of the King Naga was growing even wilder as more soldiers started to die and fight each other. Many were attempting mutiny as they concluded that the General and Commandersmanding this ship were the traitors.


    But at the peak of the chaos, the entire Tail of the King Naga received a broadcasting from the President and various Generals of SPU and ordered the Tail to continue its path in escaping and that they would not be charged with treason.


    The suspicious orders were rejected at first, but then the SPU began to prove the credibility of the orders as the assigned state leaders of the various countries in the SPU made their broadcast.


    Soon, the Tail continued on its retreat. The Tail kept an eye on the battle of the King Naga''s other parts.


    As the mock war for the WGP ended, Lennox initiated thest leg of their n.


    The King Naga began to ram the bottom of the Lingkaran.


    Though the battle looked destructive, the truth was, there wererge holes gaps prepared in the Lingaran. These gaps allowed the King Naga to ''prate'' the Lingkaran as it was drilling through it,


    The King Naga broke through, and explosions urred on the surface. The King Naga arced as it reached the heights. The Lingakran attacked the serpent that had bit through it, but as with before, the turrets and rockets exploded before it made any impact.


    It looked as if arge worm was devouring an apple. The King Naga would rise from the sea and break out through the surface of the Lingkaran and crash towards another part of the Lingkaran and pierce through it.


    Slowly, the Lingkaran began to sink.


    Roselyn led her team underwater as part of the n.


    With the Lingkaran apparently destroyed and the Pangean army decimated, the recovery and rescue mission was now happening. Explosions were used to hide the rescue operations that were generally performed underwater. The King Naga hovered over the water as it began to gather the remaining Pangean Exoskeletons they could see on top of the surface. But explosions would ur on some parts as there were still some survivors who were being captured. But the main reason why the King Naga hovered above the sinking Lingkaran, was to hide what was happening directly under it.


    The Lingkaran was actually fully operational. Water had not breached the rooms, and various Exoskeletons emerged from within the Lingkaran to save the Exoskeletons.


    Warfreakz took charge of the operations and gave specificmands on how to carry out the rescue operation. All the Unlocked took a mental note of all the soldiers they attacked and reported who required immediate treatment.


    Gardo was underwater and was about to enter the Lingkaran, but then he suddenly stopped as if he felt a strange fear grip his heart. He was about to fight with his life on the line, but then, he heard a peculiar voice talk to him.


    "Are you guys done with your fun?" A tall man stood in the waters with a rather torn and ragged appearance. The right hand couldn''t be seen, indicating that this man had his hand chopped off. What shocked Gardo was that this man had no suits, techs, or anything to make him move and walk under the water.


    "Now that your mission isplete, how about you guys have a little fun with me?" The familiar man asked.

 Chapter 304 - Cliffs Real Mission

    "All that''s left is to try to convince these guys to follow our lead." Cliff sighed.


    Cliff had be the primary person in charge of converting or convincing newly hired recruits to join Seeker''s armies. This is because Cliff had two powerful arsenals to convince people. Truth and Lies.


    But they came at great cost. After embedding the memories of a naked Lowengren, Cliff, To his horror, spent several hours watching a nude Harker who kept making speeches to convince those who listen to join their side.


    With Harker''s Truths and Lowengren''s Lies in his memory, Cliff was able to convince many. Most of the new soldiers in the Lingkaran were people who he had managed to convince. An alien threat was proven to exist. And along with this proof, Cliff threw in Lowengren''s lies of what the Aragarians would do in harvesting organs and blood. Switching back to Harker''s Truth, Cliff would then show the horrifying events that happened in Pangea.


    The soldiers were disgusted, and many vomited as unreleased footage of the organ-harvesting, child-predating, and human-trafficking videos were shown. Feltrick Ung-ive was once more revealed, and proof of his alien heritage was also shown.


    And finally, when Cliff brought forward several of the WGP''s allies and opened their heart to prove that they were nted, the many soldiers decided to join. The Empress and Emperors all dered it to be true and convinced those who were still hesitant to join.


    And so, Cliff''s remaining mission is to convince the newly acquired army and make them join.


    "Why did we have to kill the Aragarian soldiers? Wouldn''t it have been better for them to be used as proofs?"


    "Not anymore. After the Kraken, we do not know how the Aragarians will reply. They are likely keeping a close watch on them one way or the other. So the best way is to kill them immediately." Lennox answered.


    "Make sense. Still¡­ it feels weird that Seeker gave me such an easy mission."


    His mission had seeded quite easily as the King Naga and all the soldiers inside were captured.


    Cliff continued to rx as he was mentally ying a game that all Heroes received from Lennox. Last week, Lennox rolled out a more superior version of the game wherein yers can link and trade with one another or battle if they hold each other''s hands.


    It was then he felt it.


    Cliff abruptly stood up from his seat.


    "What? That was...!" Cliff was shocked.


    "Ah. Your real mission is here." Lennox answered.


    "How? Why? You can''t mean?!"


    "He''s probably itching to fight someone. It''d be costly if he met any other potential heroes. Meryl''s not here. So you''re up, Cliff." Lennox exined.


    "Wait! You want me to fight that?!"


    "Not just you. All the Unlocked here. This is another lesson. You''ve shown just how great the gap is between a normal human and an Unlocked. Now, it''s time to show the Unlocked how useless they are in front of real power. Of course, you know this. So the purpose of this is to force you to grow. Since your ascension and acquisition of the Heroes Will, you''ve grown quitex. Time to show you the next step."


    Sweat poured down on Cliff''s back. He could feel the tremendous power and wildness of this monster. Although it wasn''t at the level that Oveers or Near-Oveers possess, Cliff knew that this person would be stronger than the Near-Ovees that Cliff got acquainted with. And there was another factor. He could feel a great hatred that this person was emanating.


    "Ge-General!" Gardo immediatelymunicated with Cliff.


    "I know! I''m heading out! All Unlocked! Gear up! Gear up with your standard Unlocked Suits! An enemy is here!" Cliff cursed.


    "So that''s why you made these Unlocked suits with subpar materials. You had all nned for us to get massacred!" Cliff was gritting his teeth and began to tremble in rage.


    "Don''t look at me. me Seeker."


    "Damn it! I knew there was something wrong with this mission!" Cliff began to walk out.


    Although the order was already sent out, Gardo felt extremely nervous about being alone.


    "La-Lander! Small Time Drug Dealers! Warfreakz! Report to my position! Hurry up and bring my suit!" Gardo ordered seriously.


    "Dalisay Team! Suit up and prepare for battle as well. We have a guest." Gardo then sent them a feed of what he saw underwater.


    The figure wasn''t even wearing an Exoskeleton or had any special devices to aid him on his Path. Yet Gardo felt more pressure on this man than Typical.


    It was a tall young man. He had only one arm and moved easily across the water. Gardo had never met this man but had heard so much about him.


    "We can battle inside the Lingkaran, you know. I doubt your best friend would want a battle to ur out here. Even if it''s Underwater."


    "He''s no friend of mine. Rx. I''ll go easy on you."


    It was the first time Gardo felt such fear in his heart.


    "The heck?! My Skill isn''t not working! Why am I afraid? I can''t even throw out a joke!" Gardo couldn''t understand it. When he began to understand his Skill, he realized that it was something that could destroy momentum and affect the pace. Hisical personality, aided by his jokes, was something that could defuse tension, distract and dy. He even heard that Lowengren discovered someone who had a simr skill but did it unconsciously.


    But now, he couldn''t bring himself to make a joke. It was as if the pressure in front of him was hindering him from doing anything.


    "You walk a path simr to that of my wife? Too bad it''s too weak. This is my Zone. I am in control."


    It was then that another Exoskeleton could be seen moving underwater.


    "General Cliff!" Gardo eximed.


    "Man, I''m so d you''re here!"


    Cliff, however, had a sour expression.


    "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! And here I thought this was an easy mission!"


    "You can''t beat him?"


    "No! Can''t you feel it? He ain''t an Oveer yet. But this isn''t something a Hero can produce! That''s something in between the Hero and Oveer! A World Champion!" Cliff cursed.


    "Oh. It looks like I''ll lose my first limbs here, huh?" Gardo tried tough.


    "Lynd. It''s good to see you." Cliff called out nervously.


    "Cliff. Where''s that fool? Seeker?"


    "He''s not here. Where have you been? I heard we lost contact with you three weeks ago. By the time I surfaced from the sea, traces of you were gone." Cliff was very careful with his words.


    "Of course. Those four imbeciles chased me for a long time. Did those two die?"


    "No. If you''re referring to the Zulu and the Eden family head, they''re alive."


    "Oh? So there were people on our side watching! They watched me get beaten up and crushed into a near-death state! The Zulu wouldn''t have survived if not treated immediately. That Eden flower also tried to bite my hand off, but the destion would have killed her within twenty minutes. And yet those two live?!" The water around Lynd was whirling. Lynd''s shout echoed throughout the deep sea.


    "Lynd! Calm down! I''ve been there! You''ve seen it! Seeker kept throwing me off to fight dangerous missions! I fought Near-Oveers! It was crazy and bad, but look! I''m a Hero now! Me! Cliff Fangwood! I was that stupid kid that tried to bully Seeker! Seeker may have been a little harsh at you-"


    "A little HARSH!?" Lynd thundered.


    Ayer of the water around Lynd was frozen, but then a strange green heat appeared and caused the water around Lynd to boil.


    "Three Heroes and a Near-Oveer! And that man was stronger than that little pup that you fought back then!"


    "I fought them and their armies! And if that wasn''t enough, those damned Aragarians tried to look for me! And while all of that was happening, all your forces watched as they try to kill me and harvest my body parts!"


    "I understand, Lynd! Seeker did me wrong as well! I even kissed a terrorist at hismand! He sent me to the Kraken to fight Emperors, werewolves, Grant Hermes, and all those horrifying things! But that''s what we need! We have to ovee!"


    "Did you lose your limbs in that battle?! Did you transnt another man''s organ on your body?! Did you have to resolve cannibalism and had to stay at the bottom of the ocean for weeks! You fought with allies, and Seeker himself was there! Don''t think I haven''t figured it out!"


    "If you have the ability to figure out a deduce a portion of Arthur''s Path, then you should know why he did it! I get it! It hurts! It''s crazy! It drives you mad! But those are all to train us! He made it clear that you died in his future! Everything he''s doing now is to forge the discipline of what an Oveer should be in you! You are strong! So Seeker has to push you to such dangers! Aren''t you strong now?!" Cliff reasoned.


    "You''re all fools! Do you think it''s for us?! Seeker wants everyone to get strong, so he can thread on the path of everyone! Why is it that knowing how angry I am, that he allowed you to have a battle right on top of where I was?!" Lynd challenged.


    "Wha-what?!"


    "He knew I was here! He has acquired the Realm Kings power! He had known I''d be here! But instead of going here, he sent you! He''s a coward! He dared not face my wrath and sent you guys as buffers! Do you know how tempting it was to massacre your entire army?! But now I see it! Seeker wanted me to train you guys! But I''m not so generous! I''ll attack to kill!"


    "He''s not lying¡­" Roselyn appeared next to Cliff. Behind her, the Unlocked had already worn their special gears and had made a formation underwater.


    "This is bad. I can''t activate my Zone!" Lander also appeared.


    "It''s not working! I can''t see you guys!" Zidane panicked.


    Behind Lynd, several lights also appeared. After the Tail of the King Naga made its retreat, the disk-shaped vessel also retreated and dove underwater.


    The Covenant and Harker''s trio were here.


    "Commanders, retreat inside. This isn''t for you¡­" Tyler urged the group to retreat.


    "Who is that?" The former WGPmander asked.


    "Dara¡­ Can you¡­?" Danny asked.


    "No." Dara immediately answered.


    "Then the General will have to move forward. John. I think you should lead the Covenant."


    "I don''t think it''ll make a difference. If Dara is too scared to move closer to him, my strategies won''t work. It''ll have to be General Cliff who willmand us." John frowned.


    "Lander. Drug Dealers. Covenant. Focus and try to form your Zone!" Gardo ordered.


    The group immediately followed, and Gardo moved closer to where Cliff was standing.


    "General Lynd Indigo. We may have gotten off with the wrong foot. Think of it this way¡­ You''re Luffy. And Garp kept throwing you into whatever jungles and made you receive harsh blows. But right now, you''re so strong that it puts all of us to shame. You may not know me, but Seeker also sent me to hell and back. So I guess we are all like the Strawhats getting thrown off into crazy adventures because of our idiot captain. But hey! At least you didn''t kiss anyone. Haven''t you heard? Cliff is gay now." Gardo joked.


    ¡­


    BOOM!


    A sudden explosion urred. The force field that the Unlocked army deployed was shattered.


    The group moved into a defensive formation. Cliff gave several orders, and the entire army began to encircle Lynd.


    "A Zone user thinks he can disrupt my zone? Foolish! You''re Zone has to be stronger than mine to get your momentum right! But who are the others? Why was there ten Zone''s I felt? I see. The Covenant is here as well. Dara? Is that you? I still have a bone to pick with you. And I''m thinking of picking your spine!" Lyndughed.


    "Don''t listen to him! He''s using Richie''s voice to create terror! His body is using Meng''s cells! That''s why we are also frightened. Everyone, you''ve trained with the Oveers and Heroes. Think of it that you are facing all of them!" Cliff gave his orders.


    "Let''s have some fun!" Lyndughed as if he was Richie.


    "Attack!" Cliff ordered.

 Chapter 305 - Fighting A Champion

    After receiving the Diamons techs, the many scientists immediately began to look for ways tobine Barrier Technology and create a more efficient way of equipping it to the soldiers.


    Richie''s sound became the top science applied to create this. And so, a barrier technology that increases in strength the more soldiers there was created. The force field of the Unlocked utilized a strange frequency that each Exoskeleton was equipped with. A single Exoskeleton could create a weak shield and would break if a single bullet struck it.


    But as the Exoskeletons grew in number, so did its strength.


    Despite having more than seventy of them standing in a formation, the force field broke from the power of Lynd''s attack.


    The explosion urred when two sound forces collided.


    The soldiers saw Lynd sending a punch out, and somehow, it resulted in the scene before them.


    The underwater sound shock wave spread out and caused ripples that Lennox immediately counteracted by sending bombs to the sea''s bottom.


    Various ripples could be seen, but to the eyes of an outsider, it looked like the King Naga was still battling with the Lingkaran, who was struggling with an underwater battle.


    The Unlocked began to shoot, but Lynd createdrge icebergs that appeared around him. Lynd continued to move unhindered as he looked at all the soldiers battling.


    The Unlocked began to attack using the various techs that their suits had. Srium beams which were improved using Meng''s destion, sted from several Exoskeletons. Solidified lightning was also used. Others began to use molecr bullets that were enhanced using Typical''s Path.


    "Don''t bother using Everbright techs! Treat his eyes like Meryl! Don''t use sounds as he might control it against you! Zone users, keep forcing your Zones! Tanks, Fighters, and Standards up in front! Scouts, keep an eye on that guy! We don''t know what other Paths he gained in these past days! I want Realm users activating their Realms! Snipers, fire at will!" Cliff gave several orders, which made the soldiers assume their respective position.


    Because of the Unlocking, the army kept harnessing the new ways of how soldiers would fight. Just as how time and tech had changed the method of warfare, the Unlocking opened up a different context of battle. The soldiers in this army were all Unlocked and had previous experiences facing off against other Unlocked soldiers.


    Cliff had learned as much as he could and could execute a textbook battle from the tremendous wisdom of Arthur and Lennox''s instructions.


    Lynd nced and observed the battlefield. Before he was chased three weeks ago, he had already seen the proposed battle tactics for war.


    "Tanks¡­ Fighters¡­ And those must be the standard soldiers." Lynd continued to release severalyers of defenses. The icebergs were somehow able to retain their form despite the attacks from the techs. Ayer of sound enveloped the ice, and added with a bit of Typical''s power, Lynd created a strong force field.


    Suddenly, therge chunks of ice exploded out. The ice traveled with great speed as if there was no water resistance meeting it.


    "Shields up!" Lando, Gardo, Roselyn, and Cliff shouted.


    The Tanks used their corresponding techs to resist the explosion. The Standard soldiers also grouped together to resist it.


    Each Tank had its unique means of resisting the explosion. The Soldiers all used a counter sound force to resist theing sound and shoot the exploding ice shards.


    Lynd observed the reactions and praised them. No soldier was hurt at that attack. Each soldier quickly used a counter-reaction to resist the st. Amazing teamwork also appeared as the soldiers divided their roles into defending and shooting down the ice shards.


    The Tanks and Fighters were undaunted by the attack and kept rushing towards Lynd.


    "So this is your n? And Cliff is the General? Since no Hero is here to lead the way, you made Cliff a Commanding General instead of a Funneling General." Lynd analyzed the battlefield as he recalled the proposed theories and strategies of battle.


    The Tanks and Fighter were in position and began their harassment attacks aimed to make Lynd move.


    Dara used a crowd control skill as her suit exploded into many pieces, with each piece rushing towards Lynd.


    Danny followed nearby and began to use an attack. Lander began his whirling attack.


    Lightning enveloped Dara''s scattered pieces, and even she was glowing bright yellow.


    Danny''s body began to tremble as the Were-Serum was taking effect.


    Lander''s suit was drawing energy from his own body, and a tech that converted energy into the power of Typical''s needles urred.


    The other Unlocked Fighters and Tanks also employed a unique battle skill taken from the many Paths of the Heroes and the Unlocked.


    Lynd couldn''t help but smile as he nced at this.


    "Three weeks, and this is what you are capable of. It looks like you guys got a lot from the battle." Lynd''s voice was echoed out.


    But as the group drew closer, Lynd disappeared.


    "Snipers! Scouts! Now!" Cliff ordered.


    Several muffled sounds were heard as the snipers shot on the possible spaces where Lynd could have evaded to.


    The attacks tore through the gaps of the attacks in between.


    "Front line! Pull back! Everyone, eyes closed now!" Cliff didn''t waste time and made another order.


    The rushing Unlocked quickly used other techs to rush and retreat backward. At that moment, a powerful bright explosion urred.


    BOOM!


    The light illuminated the dark seas as a miniature sun was born.


    Yet as the sun was born, the Scouts and Snipers kept sending out more ranged attacks by shooting at thest area where they saw the sun being born.


    "General! How did he disappear?! Lynd never met the Thief in the Night!" Dara asked as she retreated. Luckily, they made it on time and rode the shock wave of the explosion to safety.


    "Lynd has grown stronger, and his ability to imitate has transcended reason. He is copying the techs he saw! What you just saw wasn''t the Path of the Thief in the Night! That was SPU''s cloaking tech! Everyone! Do not show any more techs than we have already revealed! No Cloaking! No Canadian Frost!"


    "General. What about Were Tech? I''ve already used the Serum! He can''t see me under the suit, right?" Danny asked. His entire body was constantly creating energy and force, and strange wild hair was growing all over his body.


    "I''m not sure! But his Realm is strong! That''s how he evaded the bullets! He might be- Oh. There it is."


    Lynd reemerged and had a very strange form. A thickyer of fur appeared, and his face now resembled a wolf.


    "What an interesting Path. The science Danny has iscking, though. I shouldn''t use it. And since I have to be serious in this fight, I''ll show you an interesting body." Lynd undid the effects as his body reverted to his normal human form. But then, energy gathered.


    "His body¡­ The energy around it! It''s getting stronger!" Lando was shocked.


    "Hisbining the Paths. The impossible hase true! The Way has appeared!" Gardo eximed.


    "Cancer cells. Modified mitochondria. Cold Fusion. He even has Meryl''s nuclear cells!" Roselyn used her scanners to see it all.


    "A Ranked Heroes Body! He built it!" Cliff trembled.


    "Not quite." Lennox''s voice was broadcasted.


    "That is not the theorized body of a Ranked Hero. It has the foundations, though. His body is very unstable. He could kill himself if he ignites multiple Paths together. Not to mention he doesn''t have a dantian yet."


    Cliff still cursed as he looked at the power level of Lynd. It was so strange and abhorrent. It felt as if he was fighting a god.


    "We only have one shot in defeating him! Use tech reveals on thest moment to attack him. If he managed to block or evade your attacks, it would be our loss. All those new techs will be something that he can copy." Cliff exined.


    "What''s the n, General?"


    "We''ll move step by step. We continue the same attacks that we''ve made earlier. Since his body isn''t self-sustaining, the more powers he uses, the weaker he gets. We''ll drain him of all his energy! He only has one arm, so Tanks and Fighters try to get him to fight you in a melee. From what Lennox said, it seems he can''t use certain powers at the same time. Look, he is creating energy right now through his multiple cells, but he can''t summon all of it at once."


    "So he can only use those stored powers one at a time?" Roselyn asked.


    "Not exactly. He can''t use conflicting powers at the same time. It also means that he can''t create powerful attacks with two different Paths at the same time. Don''t get intimidated. If he could use all of the Paths together with such power, he could have used Richie''s sound to trap all of us when he exploded using Meryl''s explosion. But he couldn''t!"


    "I see. So he''s bluffing. That stance he is doing now is a bluff." Roselyn broadcasted it that even Lynd could hear it.


    "I''m not bluffing, Roselyn. I''m just showing you what I''m capable of." Lynd chuckled.


    "Soldiers! This battle is another chance to Ovee. Facing this madman who wants to kill us gives us the rare opportunity to grow! We can''t win unless more Heroes are born among you!" Cliff shouted.


    The Tanks, Fighters, and some of the Standard soldiers who had their respective ranks in the army all began to activate several protocols that made their suit generate more energy.


    The Nuclear cells of Meryl were nted in their suit. The radiation increased as their suits were strengthened.


    "Shall we continue the dance?" Lynd asked haughtily.


    "He''s just following Richie! Don''t forget! Lynd''s the guy who blushed when girls threw him their underwear! All of his personalities are but copies of the others! But we''ve fought the real deal! So don''t be scared! Push forward and Ovee!" Cliff ordered.


    The army charged at Lynd, and the battle ensued once more.


    Lyndughed and disappeared once more.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Explosions urred as the snipers kept firing. The scouts kept rying the location where they sensed movements, and the front-line warriors kept chasing and shooting at the location.


    The Unlocked army moved faster than before as it chased after Lynd.


    Cliff, Gardo, and Lander kept giving offmands to hit Lynd.


    But then, Lander could see that the water around the location of Lynd was moving erratically. He could see that arge cone-like force surrounded Lynd. The bullets and other attacks sent towards Lynd would slide off or veer off the original trajectory.


    "Damn it! He got my power!" Lander cursed.


    "Keep shooting! His wasting energy! We deplete him to defeat!" Cliff ordered.


    The underwater explosions kept increasing, and soon Lynd''s figure was finally visible. Lynd was headed towards Dara. The snipers and scouts, and other soldiers continued to send their attacks towards Lynd to help Dara escape.


    But Dara didn''t retreat. She gazed angrily at Lynd. She activated her suit to explode out and some to attack Lynd.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Each piece of Dara''s suit exploded as it reached the cone-shaped force field that Lynd was creating.


    The cone- force shattered from the consecutive explosions.


    Dara used the remaining armors and rode on one while another flew to the back. A metallic rope was tied to the retreating armor piece, and the other end was tied to Dara. Dara jumped towards Lynd and harnessed a majority of the energy in her body to her arm.


    Lynd saw Dara''s serious look.


    "You''vee ready to die!" Lyndughed as he raised his arm and created a powerful beam that used Meryl''s Path.


    Dara gritted her teeth.


    "I love you, General!" Dara shouted. The armor piece that was retreating was suddenly drawn towards Dara with great speed.


    Lynd thought that the metal piece would retreat and carry Dara further, so he used a beam version of Meryl''s powers. But Dara pushed forward.


    Dara didn''t know if Cliff heard her sudden deration. She had no suit to protect her and knew that approaching the dangerous form of Lynd was tantamount to suicide.


    The armor piece struck her on the back and allowed her to evade the beam. Her body was greatly injured, but her face did not react on the slightest.


    The moving metal arced through the waters and brought Dara closer to Lynd. But then...


    STAB! STAB! STAB!


    Several invisible needles had been standing near Lynd. The water made these needles more difficult to sense, and Dara was only able to sense in when she was near them. She managed to move her body and evade, and the needles stabbed on her shoulder and leg. But instead of retreating, Dara forced thest piece of armor to continue to push forward.


    Dara gave her all and punched Lynd.


    Lyndughed. The stabs that staggered Dara gave him the time to switch the Path being used on his hands. He and reached out to grab Dara''s punch with his palm.


    At that moment, Danny rushed off with incredible speed. His entire suit emitted powerful electricity that even electrocuted his body.


    Danny was aiming for this moment.


    Danny bore the pain and shed down on Lynd''s extended hand.


    This speed was not revealed before, and Danny used thisst moment and aimed to slice off Lynd''s arm. He couldn''t attack Lynd because of the shield before. But now, with Dara''s efforts, the shield at the front of Lynd was broken. Lynd was also extending his arm to meet Dara''s attack out of arrogance. And this extended arm was outside the force field.


    Danny knew Dara''s courage and acted in sync with her recklessness.


    But Lynd wasn''t even bothered at Danny''s sudden eleration.


    Right before the palm of Lynd met Dara''s punch, a strange energy that had green lights appeared. And when Dara''s punch collided with Lynd, a green explosion urred.


    BOOM!


    Srium techs were its foundation, but this explosion was stronger than Srium or Eradication as it had traits of Meng''s destion.


    Danny''s quick rushing strike did not happen as the sword of his Exoskeleton melted from the heat. The explosion''s force was so strong that Danny''s Exoskeleton was thrown back. Half of Danny''s suit was charred, and the burns even reached his body. With the remaining strength he had left, Danny flung the sword on his other hand, but the sword met a sound shield and bounced off and fell to the abyss of the ocean.


    No signs of Dara''s body remained.


    The soldiers shouted in anger and continued to attack Lynd. Not a second passed when the enraged attacks and charge of the soldiers began.


    Lynd simplyughed and evaded the iing attacks as he focused on slowly reforming the shield in front of him. But then he felt it. The force field he created to surround him was breached again.


    "Hey, Lynd! It''s time for our rematch!" Lander shouted.


    Lynd was surprised and turned around to see Lander breaking through the shield from the back.

 Chapter 306 - Cultivator Slayer

    The chaos of the battle was what he needed.


    Lander knew that approaching Lynd, who had numerous Paths, would be next to impossible. And while they noticed that Lynd couldn''t use different Path''s together, there was still the issue of how long it would take for Lynd to switch from using One Path to another. The Intelligence team of the Unlocked noted the changes in Lynd''s physiological anatomy back in the Lingkaran. Lynd''s cells would change from one form to another to make an attack.


    Lander saw the opportunity and rushed for the kill. Dara and Danny''s attack made Dyne utilize Meryl''s Path, and his body tried tobine both destion and Meryl''s light. But just as Lennox stated, there was an unstable reaction when Lynd used an attack. Lander gambled and used this moment to attack.


    His fights against the Covenant had taught him a lot. He soon bested the Covenant as he managed to develop his Zone.


    Unlike the other attacks that slid off, Lander''s attack prated through the force field.


    Lander harnessed the energy of his body and fed it to the device in his suit. The techs in his suit allowed him to create a needle that was equal to Typical''s very own needle. The force of Lander''s speed was also fast, that his body was also being electrocuted.


    The needle stabbed out and met a powerful resistance as the sound and ice were struck. Lander''s suit was using maic technology to slide off but focus on a single point. Of course, the impact and pressure that Lander felt were terrifying that even his muscles were beginning to tear.


    Lander roared and forced his body to keep on stabbing. Finally, he broke through theyer of resistance and charged towards Lynd.


    But suddenly, the other half of Lynd disappeared! Only the left side of Lynd''s upper torso could be visible.


    Lynd shouldn''t be able to use sound as it was focused on the force field. He shouldn''t be able to use another big explosion as he did because of his reckless and cruel attack that disintegrated Dara.


    If Lynd could copy Lennox, he wouldn''t be missing an arm. If he could and didn''t use it, then recklessly reshaping his body underwater would kill Lynd.


    Typical''s needles shouldn''t appear as Lynd''s current physiology is chaotic. Only Typical''s Path could attack Lander. Yet, Lander gambled that Lynd''s current chaotic and morphing body should have trouble creating it.


    This was Lander''s deduction. At the cost of Dara''s life, he had the chance to approach Lynd and attack him. But now, Lynd managed to turn invisible in his attempt to evade the surprise attack. It was as if Lynd''s entire body would be in a state of cool down. Lander aimed for this moment to attack Lynd.


    Since evasion or blocking was the only option, Lander had to be very careful. Lander focused his entire being on this one moment. The ability that made him known as the Tazmanian Devil was not out of his random movements. Lander is a soldier of focus. His perception of time even began to move slower than his maximum. The sight of Dara''s death caused the terror to maximize, and he knew that he would likely die in this attack.


    Two swords had expanded out of his arms as he kept on shooting with his gun.


    Lynd was evading the bullets, but Lander was forcing Lynd to assume a position that would be difficult for him to escape. After locking down Lynd''s escape path with the bullets, Lander readied his sh.


    He knew that Lynd''s option would be to block these two sword strikes. His sword contained various techs that could even wound Meng. And he was certain that this sword would slice through Lynd.


    Lander retracted his two arms with the swords extending out, ready for his stab. All that was left was to stab at the right time. Lynd would kick his two attacks to block the attack as his arm is still in the process of recovering from the unstable collusion between two Paths.


    Seconds turned to microseconds at the extreme focus of Lander. As he approached Lynd, he suddenly punched out both his arms to stab Lynd. A powerful electrical jolt coupled with two boosters on his elbows caused him to stab with great force.


    He couldn''t see how Lynd would evade, so he had to rely on Zone.


    Midway through the attack, Lander caused the jolting power to move on the opposite direction. A burst of explosion urred on the ports of his hand where the bullets would exit. This explosion caused his stab to halt. Lander''s muscles were being torn, and his bones got fractured from the immense pressure.


    But he could see the remaining torso of Lynd tumbled backward as if performing a backflip.


    In his Unlocking, he could see a force rise up before him as the waters moved.


    Confirming Lynd''s kick, Lander canceled the opposing force that halted his stab and drove the two swords onto the chest of Lynd.


    But suddenly¡­


    BANG!


    Lander''s two hands were sted off as he could see Lynd''s two feet emerging again.


    The force he saw, which he assumed to be Lynd''s kicks, was actually a wave of sound that Lynd managed to release. The real kick followed afterward and struck Lander''s arms.


    Lander was spinning out of control from the force, but on hisst moments, he still gathered the remaining energy his body could muster to create a powerful needle attack. His body charged, and a port opened up on his chest, and Lander took aim.


    The attacks of the other Unlocked was nearing Lynd.


    Lynd raised his two hands which had now recovered, and used a powerful fiery st. It was Meryl''s skill once more.


    BOOM!


    The explosion brightened the sea once more, and Lander was sent flying back. His all-out attack had failed.


    But as the explosion urred, another Exoskeleton aided by two Tanks met the explosion head-on.


    The Tanks employed whatever abilities they had to withstand the fire just long enough to protect him. Soon, their suits began to fail, and they were sent flying back. But the Exoskeleton that the Tanks were protecting managed to push forward as it passed through the full strength of the shock wave. All that was left was the heat that the explosion brought. It had small amounts of Destion and would have killed any Unlocked who dared to face it.


    This was the moment he had been waiting for. Should Lander fail, he would attack when Lynd would do something like this. In the chaos of the fire and explosion, even Realm wouldn''t be able to detect his charge.


    The heat was burning up his suit, but he used fire to counter it. By fighting Fire with Fire, he managed to draw closer and sent his punch which contained all the energy that his body could bring out.


    "Red Peregrine!" Gardo shouted as the mes of his fist pushed forward.


    Lynd heard it and immediately gathered whatever strength he had to channel that force.


    "Fus¡­" Lynd took a deep breath as the fist of Gardo neared him.


    "RO DAH!"


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred even before the first wave of mes had disappeared in the water.


    Grado was not blown off as he had used his suit to explode out. He had to hit Lynd.


    The fist tore through the weak sound shield that Lynd made but right before his fist could hit Lynd, Lynd caught it with his one arm.


    Lynd''s green hand was burning and showed signs of instability. But it held on to Gardo''s fist.


    "You''re so full of energy!" Lyndughed as he activated the Path he got from Octarion Caesar.


    Gardo felt an intense amount of energy being sucked out of his hand, and without hesitation, Gardo caused his right hand to explode.


    BOOM!


    But right before Gardo could escape, he sensed two iing attacks and tried to evade, but one sound de managed to slice off his arm.


    Lynd was moving towards Gardo''s sliced arm and what was rming was the stomp of his other arm had grown bigger!


    But as Lynd charged, he sensed another force and immediately used his cells to create arge needle that stabbed behind him.


    The needle struck many bullets with its cone-like body, but the sharp point of the needle stabbed and struck an Exoskeleton.


    "General!" Many of the Unlocked that had recovered their sights shouted as Cliff''s Exoskeleton was pierced and sent to the dark abyss.


    Lyndughed as he rushed towards the floating arm of Gardo.


    But then¡­


    STAB!


    Cliff arrived and jumped down, delivering a strong stab at Lynd''s chest. He wasn''t wearing an Exoskeleton.


    There was silence.


    "It''s over, Lynd. We win this match!" Cliff shouted angrily.


    Lynd was weakly clutching the sword that was stabbing down on his chest as blood trickled out of his mouth.


    "How¡­ Did you escape my senses?!" Lynd growled.


    "When you used that Sound Shout. I know you had Realm, so when I was approaching, I activated a Balls of Thunder that is designed to create a sound shield and hid inside it. Realm requires a lot of effort to sense inside the sound bubble." Cliff exined.


    He had met Sammy Theoden and was thought that Realm could be fooled by creating a Sound bubble.


    "So that''s it¡­"


    "Give up and stop this insanity. We won."


    "Not¡­ Quite¡­"


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred on the direction of where Cliff was standing. Lynd''s cooldown ended, and he attacked Cliff.


    "GENERAL!" A lot of pained cries were heard. They could see Cliff''s figure flying out.


    "Ha Ha Ha Ha!" Lyndughed as he grabbed the arm of Gardo to absorb it.


    The energy he absorbed was so potent that it allowed him to regenerate the missing arm.


    "It looks like¡­ it''s my win! And because you lost, you will all taste¡­ death!" Lyndughed as he charged forward.


    The Unlocked was angry and began to charge towards Lynd.


    "Stop!" Cliff''s voice echoed out.


    The Unlock was startled at this, and even Lynd stopped.


    They looked upwards to where Cliff was sent off and found that he was unharmed.


    Next to Cliff was a familiar figure. He stood up with a ck suit, and he had a very disappointed look towards Lynd.


    "SEEKER!" Lynd howled angrily at the appearance of Seeker Carlean.


    "So what do you think?" Seeker turned towards an empty part of the sea and asked a question.


    "I think our armies could use a little work. But all in all, I''d say it''s a sess." Azy voice sounded. A figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was lying down on what appeared to be apressed pile of water that had shaped itself like a bed. Next to him was the badly burned body of Dara. Despite her appearance, she appeared to be alive. Another figure manifested itself. It was a beautiful girl.


    "The Thief in the Night!" Roselyn eximed.


    "I think that battle clearly simted what it would be to fight a Presider." Another voice sounded out from another part of the dark sea. Five figures were standing right inside a ball of air.


    "Grant Hermes." The armless Gardo muttered. The Tanks that had been blown back had swept back in to save him.


    "Mr. President. Please rest. The battle seems to be over. Focus on recovering." One of the Tank''s said.


    "I know¡­ I know, Archie." Gardo sighed.


    "Of course, our armies had the advantage of knowing some of Lynd''s attacks. But I guess our spies can gather this information. So I''d say that our armies can kill a Presider." Grant Hermes continued.


    "Congrattions, General Cliff Fangwood! Secret Mission, Cultivator yer,pleted! You have proven yourself worthy of wearing a Funneling Commader''s Exoskeleton." Seeker smiled.


    "I don''t need it! I want to go back home and go on a date with her!" Cliff roared angrily.


    "This mission was insane! It was a miracle that I won!" Cliff shouted and then sobbed.


    "You... won?!" Lynd red at Cliff.


    "Wasn''t it obvious, Lynd? I''ve never thought you''d be such a sore loser!" Seeker sighed.


    ---


    Author: Please support Ascension of the Nephilim by adding it to your collection and vote your powerstones there instead of here. It''s my entry to the 2021 Spirity Awards.. More details in authors thoughts.

 Chapter 307 - Lynd’s Secret Condition

    The Unlocked army was very relieved to see that their many superiors were alive.


    Dara Park of the Covenant was burnt and wounded, but she was seen to be awake. Although she remained afloat as if held by something invisible and kept groaning, her small movements proved that she was alive.


    Danny Haze was also standing as John Octavion III, and Titan Tristle stood by him.


    Lander was being drawn in towards the Four Winds of Hermes, and Gardo was surrounded by his own team.


    The Small Time Drug Dealers finally approached Gardo.


    "Boss! We''re so d you''re alive!" Zidane wept.


    "You guys need to get stronger. You were practically useless in that fight." Cliff sighed.


    "We¡­ Our abilities¡­ They didn''t work." Hank hesitated.


    Cliff shook his head. The trio bowed their heads in shame.


    Lynd nced around and noticed that everyone was alive.


    "You must be the Thief in the Night. No wonder there were strange movements in the water. It seems you guys have aplicated cloaking device that is superiorpared to the SPU."


    "We wanted to simte a battle against a Presider. The main concern is if we have a strong enough force that can kill a Presider. And since Presiders are equipped with numerous technology and weapons, we decided to use you as a reference point. So this battle was made to see if our armies and the training we have been employing are good enough to kill one. And they were. Of course, that''s thanks to General Cliff''s decisions." Seekerughed.


    "So this is what I am? After making me fight those Heroes and that Near-Oveer, you use me as a guinea pig to test your army?"


    "You already knew that, didn''t you? That''s why you wanted to kill them so badly. You wanted to teach us, Oveers, a lesson! Too bad you failed. You even lost to Cliff!" Seekerughed.


    "I DIDN''T LOSE!" Lynd roared angrily, and a sound wave echoed out. But the sudden sound wave disappeared.


    The Realm Kingzily raised his hand to disperse the vibration.


    "This is my primary disciple in your future?" Lioncourt turned to Seeker and asked.


    "Don''t worry, Master. It''s just a phase." Seeker answered.


    Lynd red at thezy bearded man. But after a few seconds, Lynd''s expression turned grim.


    "Oh? Wondering why you can''t copy me? Kid. I''m the Realm King!" Lioncourtughed.


    "Anyway, I hope that all Oveers, even those watching us live, will take note of this battle." Seeker interrupted.


    "Cliff was able to use diverse tactics as a Commanding General to send each of his members to cause Lynd to use his attacks. After identifying the gaps, the timing of Lynd''s attack, and the recovery time that Lynd needs to switch to another Path, he employed his tactics to defeat Lynd. If we granted Cliff a Funneling Commander''s Exoskeleton suit, he would have found a way to defeat Lynd without sacrificing Dara, Danny, and Lander. I hope there are no objections to granting his suit."


    "No objections with me." Grant Hermes answered.


    "None from me." Lioncourt answered.


    "What about for those online?" Seeker asked.


    "None." Lennox answered.


    "Meng''s team, Richie''s, my own, Amir''s, and the Tyrant Empress has no objections to Cliff''s rank up. They will report the suggested changes they want to employ in two days."


    "Give us your analysis, Lennox."


    "Increasing the number of Skills that the Unlock can do will greatly increase the odds of killing them. We need to increase more ranged-based Skills as well. If the long-raged attacks of our forces increase by at least thirty-four percent, or we have a way to increase the speed of our attacks by twenty-four, then an opponent that is at Lynd''s level would have been defeated without casualties provided the General is at least on Cliff''smanding level."


    "What if the battle wasn''t underwater? What would we need to improve on?" Lioncourt asked.


    "Detection and analysis. The intelligence team was immediately able to analyze the changes in Lynd''s body with my assistance, and the information was ryed quickly. Yet, this was easy since this is underwater. Should this battle have urred above, the Unlocked would have quickly lost sight of Lynd. Only those with Zone would have the shot of attacking Lynd."


    "Why was Zone canceled out in the first ce? This is the first time that I''m hearing reports of Zone being negated." Grant Hermes asked.


    "My team uses Zone simr to the soldiers under Cliff. Yet, in this battle, the group was not able to do it. What happened? Although my team would perform well. Still, that''s an annoying thing to experience."


    "It''s because of Lynd''s Zone. Simply put, the Zone that Lynd released was so powerful that it distorted everyone else''s momentum. It''s something that the Tyrant Empress released. Lynd was there and experienced the very self-centered Zone of the Empress. It seems that his battle against Octarion allowed him to understand and apply it differently."


    "He absorbed the Zone? Impressive. This will be great for our future studies." Lioncourt smiled.


    "Look at you all!" Lynd shouted.


    "All you Oveers ever-busy yourself is this! Everyone is an experiment in your eyes! You don''t care about the lives you ruin! The pain you cause! You all are arrogant pricks!"


    "Oh, please. Coming from a selfish brat, that''s rich." Lioncourtughed.


    "Get off your high horse, Lynd. You''re just mad because you''re finally one of the folks we experiment on! You were next to Cliff and saw all the crazy missions I made Cliff do, and you didn''t do anything about it! All you and Meryl ever did was try to talk me out of it!" Seeker chastized.


    "Because you always made sure that Cliff would be alright! You made me face three Heroes and an Oveer!"


    "And yet, here you are. What exactly have you lost forever? Every body part that was plucked, hacked, or eaten off you could recover. If you were to get stronger, you had to face those kinds of terror. Cliff was a normal person, and look at him now! Who was Cliffpared to you? You who Tread the Narrow Road?"


    "I overcame because of my own strength! You sentenced me to die in that battle!"


    "Now you''re just ridiculous. You overcame because I knew you would. And if there were real threats, the many soldiers were there to aid you. They''d give their life so that you can live on. You must have sensed them! Didn''t it make you think why those soldiers were there?" Seeker challenged.


    "You''re no longer the Seeker I knew! You are a bloodthirsty monster who would willingly allow the deaths of billions!"


    "You mean the billions that sided, funded, supported the Aragarians, and waged war against us? Do you mean the billions whoughed when Pangea was at theirst straw? Do you mean the billions who were happy when the Americas, Canada, and One China fell? Please. The fact that I didn''t n to kill them before their betrayal is already making me look like a saint! And you''re just changing the topic. You had to grow! But you''re just angry because I treated you like a chess piece! Newssh, Lynd. You always were a chesspiece! We all are! I even fought my Master in a dangerous battle. If I have to give my life for the future, then so be it! You''re still a coward that doesn''t want to bear his weight in this battle. I thought I beat it out of you. It looks like I have to do that again!"


    "You sent me to my death! Me! I who holds power and mystery of the Unlocking! I am the Way!"


    "Is that your excuse? You used to be the King piece on my chessboard. But you need toe down, Rook! Look at you! Even Cliff won against you! Howughable and embarrassing! No offense, Cliff."


    Cliff sighed and shook his head.


    Lynd''s body began to glow bright yellow as he looked hatefully towards Seeker.


    "I didn''t lose against Cliff! I would have killed them all if you weren''t here! I would have massacred your army if you didn''t interrupt!"


    "You still don''t get it, do you? If we weren''t here, you would have been killed by Cliff!"


    "Killed? You think that the heart-stabbing attack wounded me?!" Lyndughed.


    "Exactly! What is Cliff''s Path if not memory? Wasn''t he there when you fought against Typical? Hadn''t he seen how Typical lost in that battle against Meryl? He knows you have a heart full of powerful mitochondria that would melt his de! He thought you''d understand!" Seekerughed.


    Lynd''s expression changed.


    "You underestimate Cliff too much. You see, at the middle of the battle, he already sensed the Thief in the Night! Through his memories, he can memorize everything and see the smallest changes! He''s been ncing at the direction of the Thief in the Night when she saved Dara. And so, at the final moment, instead of cutting off your head, he went for your heart! Because he knew we were around! So from trying to kill you, he went for your heart! That was an obvious giveaway. But you were too dumb to notice!"


    "Liar!" Lynd roared hatefully.


    "His condition is quite erratic, Seeker. I feel that two personalities are trying toe out of him." Lioncourt frowned.


    "It pertains to a certain secret that Lynd''s parents told me. Lynd has always been an angry person and kept another side of him. It awoke once when he attacked that base and found how the Aragairans sexually toyed with and killed kids. That rage threw him to be Inhuman. And right now, it''s that rage that''s controlling him. This is why he looks so immature. All his selfish perspectives are kept in this person right here."


    "What are you bbing about, Seeker!? Don''t put me on the same level as you?!" Lynd harnessed bright energy on his palms and sent a powerful bright beam towards Seeker.


    Seeker smirked and readied to counter-attack but suddenly¡­


    The Realm King raised his arms.


    The bright beam stopped in the middle of the sea. It couldn''t move, and Lynd was shouting in anger as he felt an immense pressure crush on him.


    The bright beam was slowly weakening as the waters devoured the beam until it disappeared.


    "Master?" Seeker frowned.


    "I''m not interested in your fight, and I have to get back to Australia. You can fight after myst question. Is there a backstory to his split personality? Perhaps within Lynd lies the secret of enabling a secondary thought process on all Unlocks. Your case isn''t helpful after all."


    "Yes. His parents told me about Lynd''s secret condition. In my future, you must have found a way to destroy it. Being the son of the two wild mercenaries who bathed Ivalice in blood, Lynd inherited a form of uncontroble rage from his two parents'' bloodlust. While his parents learned to control it, Lynd had a pretty rage-driven childhood. They sought many doctors and even tried hypnosis when Lynd was still young. Eventually found a way to contact the Zulu family to cast a spell on Lynd."


    "How ironic. So the reason for his sudden insanity was because the Zulu family cast a curse on Lynd and broke that spell?"


    "Yes. I realized that it would be the perfect time to make this test and have our armies fight against this version of Lynd. This will also be the perfect moment to aplish something that we never could before. In my lifetime, Lynd rampaged and broke through several cities before his death because of his anger. But that anger was spent, and he became that other kind, Lynd. Right now, I n to split the two personalities forcibly. If he can imitate what I did with the Adult, we''d get the best of both worlds."


    "I see. You kids have fun then. As discussed, I''ll be taking Git Godlike with me, and they will be my first disciples."


    "We''ll also be taking our leave. Send Lynd on his way to New Great Britain too. If Lynd can copy new Great Britain''s weather tech, my Path ought to grow stronger. I hope your fight can push him or you to the next level." Hermesughed as he looked at the struggling Lynd.


    "You want a go at him, Omricon?" Hermes offered.


    "I am not yet ready to die, Boss." Omricon shook his head.


    "At least, you know your limits. Don''t fall behind from that Cliff fellow, though. It''d be too embarrassing if he surpasses you. Er- No offense, Cliff."


    Cliff sighed again.


    "The next time we see each other ought to be after the weplete operation City of Refuge. Till next time then." Hermes smiled as he led his group away.


    Seeker turned his attention back towards Lynd.


    "Alright, Lynd. Let''s have this anger management session, shall we?"


    "Can- Can I go home now?" Cliff begged.

 Chapter 308 - Clash Of The Messiahs

    Seeker held his hand up as a force around Lynd continued to crush him. Lynd was shouting and screaming as Seeker used the Realm powers that Lioncourt ''gave'' to Seeker.


    The strange Realm was distorting energy itself. It was as if all of Lynd''s cells were not his own.


    "Powerful, right? Just a few weeks, and Master has grown stronger after perusing all our data. If I fought him again, nine out of ten, I''d lose." Seeker chuckled.


    "Erm. Zeek? Can I-!" Cliff suddenly frowned and nced at the empty space next to him.


    "General Irvana?" Cliff couldn''t help but ask.


    Irvana suddenly appeared next to Seeker.


    "I can''t believe you still noticed me. I was careful that time." Irvana appeared. She spoke with a strange ent.


    "Supreme General Seeker Carlean. I''ll be meeting your girlfriend soon." Irvana gave a charming smile towards Seeker.


    "Why are you using a Russian ent?" Seeker frowned.


    "I thought you''d like it."


    Seeker smirked.


    "I forgot that you tend to get obsessed with your guys. Would you believe me when I say in my future it was Lynd who you were after?" Seeker smiled.


    Irvana had a look of disgust.


    "That pathetic excuse of a man? My future self must have been so¡­ short-sighted." Irvana said as she kept eyeing Seeker.


    "You often insult me when I talk bad about Lynd. You often try to find a way to talk to Lynd by making up excuses. Lynd was so tired of it that he made me the person who you would report to. Funny how things change..." Seekerughed.


    "Things can change for the better."


    "We''ll see. I haven''t figured things out yet, Irvana. I''ve already made a stupid mistake with Kristine. I should have learned from it, but I couldn''t help but tease you. I''m sorry for doing that."


    "It''s toote, General. If you know how obsessed I get¡­ then you know the extent of my emotions."


    Seeker smiled but remained silent. His gaze looked towards Lynd as aplicated memory surfaced. Eventually, Seeker shook his head.


    "I hope this girlfriend of yours proves to be strong. Otherwise, I might kill her."Irvana finally broke the silence.


    "Which one? Are you talking about the Aragarian or the other one?" Seeker smiled.


    "So manly." Irvana licked her lips.


    "But mark my words, Seeker Carlean. You will have eyes only for me. Like a Thief in the Night, I''ll swoop in and steal your heart." Irvana vanished.


    Seeker had a peculiar smile painted on his face.


    "Seeker. You owe me an all-expense-paid date with Charm for this battle. And a week off for THAT!" Cliff mumbled angrily. He nced towards the rest of the army, which was now boarding the Lingkaran.


    "Don''t leave yet, Cliff."


    "What now? I haven''t met Charm for weeks, and you show me that scene!"


    "You''re not done yet. You still have one more mission. With your Path, witnessing this little fight of ours ought to be helpful to you." Seeker called out, and with a push towards the deep abyss, Seeker, Cliff, and the rampaging, but bounded Lynd fell into the deep dark ocean.


    "WAIT! NO! DON''T KILL ME!" Cliff pleaded, but Seeker''s force continued to bring them deeper into the abyss.


    "Send me an Exoskeleton for Cliff to wear. Equip it with the best video recording system you''ve got." Seeker ordered as he moved towards the deep dark sea.


    Soon, Seeker came to a halt. The darkness of the sea enshrouded them. They were so deep in the ocean that light could no longer reach them.


    "Now, Lynd Peters Indigo. I wasn''t lying about what your mom and dad said. They called you the gentle giant in my future. But the truth was you were quite a monster when the time came. You see, your parents have a Skill of bloodlust. Though they managed to contain it, they lived a lifestyle of kill whoever pisses them off when they got older. But somehow, this bloodlust that they have didn''t affect them. They can make another person angry. When they talk andin, they trigger the bloodlust of those listening. Of course, it has to logically and factually fit." Seeker exined.


    Lynd, who was trying to trash about, slowly stopped and began to listen to Seeker''s words. He had believed that his parents were good at making people feel bitter. But now, that made sense. How else could bitterness drive a nation to revolt?


    Cliff had recalled that Lynda and Peter Indigo were the Cambodian Counter''s cause, which led to a great civil war. Cambodia was reborn as Ivalice and soon became part of the SPU.


    "Lynd''s mom and dad caused the war?!" Cliff was shocked.


    "Scary, right? It''s exactly why I gave the Indigo''s freedom to travel. The more theyin and make their listeners'' blood boil, the more beneficial it will be for us. It''s pretty rare how these two have a simr path. I believe that their Skill only appears when the two of them are together. But secretly, they bore a strange being known as Lynd Indigo who bore this maddening bloodlust." Seeker exined.


    "This exins why you can''t remember anything before the age of five. That''s when the shamans of the Zulu sealed this bloodlust and was revoked when you got cursed. Didn''t you notice? The soft, kind Lynd Indigo who wanted to save everyone suddenly gave in to his rage and began to fight without worries of implicating civilians."


    Cliff was stunned. This was one of the confusing things he couldn''t piece together with his memories. Lynd''s change was so dramatic, and he gave into his anger too quickly!


    Even Lynd was caught in a daze. It made sense.


    "So¡­ you''re going to tame him?" Cliff asked.


    Seeker shook his head.


    "Tame him? This is the chance to Ovee! He needs this rage! It could be the cause of his Unlocking! I intend to channel it." Seeker smiled as he turned to Lynd.


    "Lynd, you are a step closer to being a real-life cultivator. With all that we found out so far, it''s obvious that the Aragarian techs are geared to making themselves gods and immortals simr to those Chinese tales of old. So show it to me!" Seekerughed as he took out a small metallic cube.


    Seeker crushed it, and a bolt of powerful lightning formed and solidified into a shape of a spear.


    Seeker''s dark suit began to light up. Strange blue lights could be seen emerging from his suit, revealing the reddish hue.


    "You better move, Lynd. Otherwise, you''d die."


    Lynd had managed to unbind himself on some parts of the strange Realm suffocating him, but only his upper chest area could move.


    "Like you could risk killing me!" Lynd mocked.


    "I am the Way!" Lynd roared.


    Seeker flung the spear, and the lightning tore through the waters and was aimed directly at Lynd.


    Lynd was stunned at the sudden attack of Seeker.


    A needle faced the lightning spear, but it was torn and broken as the lightning pierced through it easily.


    A sound shield solidified and was hardened by frost. But the lightning st tore through it easily.


    Lynd panicked and raised his left arm and allowed a powerful glow to appear as he shot at the lightning.


    The beam engulfed the spear, but it showed no signs of stopping.


    Finally, Lynd caused the beam to implode on itself.


    BOOM!


    Lynd was thrown downwards right before the lightning spear zapped through his position.


    "That''s what you get for doubting my intentions of killing you." Seekerughed.


    Lynd''s arm was blown off. He used the imploding energy to explode and destroy the Realm. But because of this, his body was suffering from various burns.


    "You! How dare you?! I am the Way! You kill me, then you lose your greatest ace in this war!"


    "So what if you''re the Way? I am the Truth!" Seeker sneered as another bolt emerged on his hand.


    "Cliff defeated you. This is the limit of your potential. The only thing that gives you worth is to be food for me! I''ll push you to your limits! I will tread on your Path! So don''t disappoint me, Lynd! Give me a good fight before you die!" Seeker immediately threw the bolt.


    Lynd was frightened.


    The attacks that Seeker has shown were far stronger than any attacks that the three Heroes and the near Oveer could do.


    Lynd summoned the sound and moved through the waters to evade the bolt, but the lightning bolt moved on its own.


    The moment Lynd realized that the Lightning bolt was locked on to him, it was toote for him to evade. The bolt drew nearer and nearer, and suddenly, time stopped.


    Lynd could still think, but his entire body couldn''t move. Yet, at this moment, Lynd didn''t know what he did. His mind was focused on a single thought.


    Seeker really wanted to kill him.


    Escaping was no longer an option. Lynd would die if he couldn''t counter this attack. Lynd grit his teeth as the anger began to rise in his heart. Memories of their friendship surfaced. But soon, the memory of him being beaten and kicked by Seeker surfaced. Memories of his horrifying fight in Pangea also emerged.


    In Lynd''s anger, he nced at the bolt and wanted it to stop.


    Time began to flow normally, but the lightning bolt didn''t push forward. It kept trying to move, but it was as if a powerful resisting force held it in its ce.


    "You managed to finally copy the Realm King''s Path. Congrats." Seekerughed.


    "AHHHHHH!" Lynd roared as he used whatever energy he had to keep the bolt from moving forward. Even with this sudden miracle, he knew that even if he tried to evade, the bolt would readjust its direction.


    Cliff, who was watching the battle, felt a chill ran down his spine. He could tell that Seeker really intended to kill Lynd.


    "Not enough. Sadly, your rage and potential are not enough. But I guess I''ve earned quite a bit from yourst magic show, Lynd." Seekerughed as he approached Lynd.


    Lynd kept shouting and shouting. He could tell that Seeker was approaching to kill him. Anger turned to hatred and, soon, to despair. He was losing power, and the lightning bolt was showing signs of being able to breakthrough.


    "Hey, Lynd. Have you seen the way Alean looked at me? Since you''re dead, I''ll help myself to that one. With the world ending, I guess I deserve all these beautiful women. What do you think?" Seekerughed.


    BOOM!


    The concealed raging monster inside Lynd fully emerged from its shell.


    The lightning bolt disappeared. Lynd''s blown-off arm, his wounds all began to heal. Surrounding Lynd, the waters began to freeze as Cold Fusion urred. It was as if the entire ocean was feeding energy to Lynd.


    Seeker smiled as he stopped his approach.


    "You copied the cold fusion in Cliff''s Exoskeleton and applied it outside. Or was it inspired by what I''m doing? This is much better. The Way should be this strong." Seekerughed.


    Lynd''s expression was cold and detached. He looked at Seeker as his entire body began to recover.


    "Let''s see which of us is the real Messiah, Zeek.." Lynd''s stoic voiced echoed over the dark waters.

 Chapter 309 - Quarks Of Eternity

    Seeker smiled with great anticipation.


    "Let''s fight in our best from. I don''t want you to im that you lost because I took advantage of you while you were recovering ." Seeker didn''t continue his approach but began to harness more energy.


    All the Oveers all over the world felt it.


    Almost instantly, the Oveers made their nned attacks the moment they felt it.


    Richie led his team to attack the defenses which guarded the defenses of the Rotting Lands.


    The Tyrant Empress attacked the borders of Egypt.


    A military coup d''etat began in One China as a Military group called the New Dragons of One emerged and created chaos in the area.


    Russia took advantage of this and began to attack China but then, their armies met a mysterious group of twelve powerful Exoskeletons that easily eliminated the Supreme Exoskeletons of Russia.


    The chaos in that world grew to the extreme that day. But it was all to hide the battle between Seeker and Lynd.


    The various Presiders all over the world detected strange energy signatures that were happening all over the ce.


    The WGP was forced to attack as chaos sprung left and right.


    Back in the ocean, Seeker was smiling as a tremendous force was gathering around him. The water itself was at its boiling point.


    "Radiation levels critical." The Exoskeleton that was sent warned Cliff, who was standing several hundreds of meters from where he was. He was originally standing next to Seeker, but when Seekerunched the attack and moved out of the Realm bubble, Cliff remained. But now, the Realm bubble was trembling and was about to burst, yet Cliff couldn''t move.


    "Lynd and Seeker are about to harness energy. If you don''t move now, you will get injured from the radiation levels that he will create." The Exoskeleton under the control of the AI Lennox warned Cliff. Yet Cliff remained standing as if he didn''t hear Lennox.


    Finally, the Exoskeleton fired a round of electric energy, which jolted Cliff out of his trance.


    Cliff retreated as he regained his conciseness. He broke through the Realm that was holding him and swam towards the approaching Exoskeleton suit. Lennox controlled the suit, opening its ports with techs that prevented the waters from rushing in. Cliff was safely able to wear the suit, and after boarding it, Cliff began to retreat with great haste.


    He was panicking, and the only thought in his head was to move away. The scene he saw made him feel like he was about to face certain death. Staying there would kill him. And so, driven by this instinct, Cliff began to move away.


    "Cliff. Your job is to watch it." Lennox''s voice echoed out and awakened the frightened Cliff.


    Cliff realized what he was doing and stopped.


    "That¡­ was scary." Cliff could feel the suffocating pressure that the two released as they stood there.


    Cliff turned his attention towards the two hovering monsters in the dark abyss.


    At that moment, Lynd also began to concentrate. His nk eyes stayed at Seeker, but at the same time, Cold Fusion and the Absorbing powers of Octarion Caesar were working hand in hand. But at the same time, Lynd was observing Seeker, who kept on charging himself with power.


    "You''re very arrogant to show that in front of me." Lynd coldly spoke.


    "My dignity as an Oveer forbids me from bullying the weak like this." Seeker taunted.


    "You''ll regret those words. I already see it!" Lynd dered.


    Lynd''s entire body began to glow red and some parts were glowing green. Excruciating pain covered all of Lynd as his entire body began to burn. At that moment, the Cold energy around Lynd became more and more concentrated as it attempted to cool down Lynd''s body.


    "Not bad. You no longer in danger of dying." Seeker praised.


    The area around Lynd suddenly froze. On the other side, the water around Seeker was boiling.


    "What''s going on? What did Seeker mean that Lynd was dying?" Cliff could help but ask.


    "Lynd was simply copying things. He copied Meng''s Path, Typical, and Meryl. Typical and Meryl''s path requires heightened mitochondria that can contain a vast amount of energy. Greydon''s Path required a cancerous body. Remember that we had warned Lynd not to copy Meng. His body couldn''t handle it or control it. Yet in your fight, he was using it at will. You''ve seen how unstable his body was. The truth was, because of constant use, Lynd was suffering from multiple cancer disorders."


    "So he was dying?"


    "Applying the cancer cells transformation even to the Unlocked has been very selective because we knew of this danger. And until now, unless someone is an Oveer, it would have been very difficult to tame the cancerous cells. Only Dara received this enhancement, and we''ve limited it only on her hand."


    "What exactly are we trying to achieve here? The Oveers all over the world are even moving! What''s so important that we are allowing this fight to happen?"


    "What I''ve learned from Lowengren is never to count your money while the dealing is not yet done. So let''s see what we can reap after their battle. But know for certain that the benefits we can get in this fight will surpass our risk. The Presiders will detect this. But since the others are on the move and are revealing portions of their power, it will confuse the Presiders even more. Thank God I''m not part of that mission. Otherwise, I''d be force to carry dildos."


    "What''s up with the dildo thing anyway? Why did every Oveer start carrying one?" Cliff asked this other question that gued him for weeks. The Oveers were all carrying dildos, but no one dared to ask why.


    "Lowengren pranked the Aragarians. Soon, all of them will be obsessed with dildos. Cliff! It''s starting. I''ll be zooming in on Lynd''s cell to memorize it! Put effort in this!" Lennox''s tone suddenly changed.


    Lynd''s entire body transformed, and it finally managed to force every single cell to mutate at will. But Cliff could see that the entire body had unity. Lynd had managed to transform and tame everything.


    "Perfect. Now, we have a basis and a recorded instant of all cells bing Unlocked! If we are unsure, you can use your Path of memory to help us observe every detail of it."


    "But how did Lynd manage to tame it?! Is he¡­ an Oveer?!"


    "No. He''s still a World Champion. The reason he could tame it because he managed to copy and virtually transform it to one Path that even eluded Seeker."


    "A Path that eluded Seeker? You mean, Amir''s bodily transformation?"


    "Yes. Amir Mann, who has an Unlocked Body became the missing Link that Lynd needed. Seeker acquired the Truth of Amir''s Path, but it was underwhelming. It was the ability of the cell to grow and transform without limitation. Of course, unless Seeker wanted to be a crocodile, it proved useless. But Lynd copied that Path and transformed his entire body into Meng''s Cancerous body. Lynd is using Cold Fusion not only to harness energy but to limit the cancerous transformation. But looking at it now, it''s stable."


    "A Ranked Heroes Body?!"


    "Minus the Dantian.But Lynd is officially a cultivator! His lifespan should be able to reach two to three hundred years now." Lennox exined.


    Lynd was releasing a pale yellowish puss from his skin. He spat out a mouthful of ck blood. Almost instantly, Lynd allowed himself to be enshrouded in a thickyer of green destion.


    "How does it feel, Lynd? That''s what cultivators call marrow cleansing. Your body is undergoing a metamorphosis. The werewolf form of Danny earlier was just the primer. This is what you should be after." Seeker smiled.


    The frost energy around Lynd continued to harness and gather energy.


    "My turn." Seeker smiled.


    The energy level within Seeker began to explode out. The cold had been devouring the area around Seeker, but suddenly, a powerful energy source began to grow within Seeker''s body.


    "What is going on?" Cliff asked. The level of energy that both were released was simr to a weapon of mass destruction.


    "And to think that about four months ago, those two was done in by a Qilin''s Horn. Now those two are more deadly than one." Lennox muttered in nostalgia.


    "Observe, dear Cliff. Your memories of this battle will be a far more important recording. If we can somehow tap into your memories and view it as you do, we could learn a lot from the data of this battle."


    "Why aren''t they fighting yet?" Cliff asked.


    "They are stabilizing their bodies and preparing them for the fight. What you see before you is something that all of us in Seeker''s future failed to acquire. They are trying to build a Heroes body. It is a step closer to bing cultivators or immortals. But notice the difference between them and the contradictions between their attempts."


    Cliff was confused and watched the two closer. He could see the fluctuating energies and noticed something strange.


    He nced over to Seeker and found that the energy that was building up was from within Seeker''s body.


    "These two are iplete forms." Lennox began.


    "Seeker used his Path to understand the foundation of others. And so the main theories of Cold Fusion to generate energy. His mitochondria are now like power nts, and his cells have been transformed to also act like batteries. His body is a living powernt now. Thanks to the Realm King''s contribution to radiation and how Realm can contain it, Seeker generates power to charge itself up. Lynd, however, is using his path to copy Rosa and the techs of the Exoskeletons he saw earlier. And through it, he is creating an energy source outside his body. Both, however, is iplete as it requires them to be perfectly still. So they can''t do it in the middle of a fight." Lennox exined.


    "In other words, Lynd is creating the Cultivator Body. And Seeker is creating a Dantian!"


    "Exactly."


    Cliff suddenly retreated. A strange upheaval was urring around the area as the waters themselves were acting wildly.


    "What''s going on?" Cliff was shocked.


    "Just look around and memorize it for now. It''s the one thing we can''t see. Whatever you see happening now are but reflections in this dimension. Who knows what changes are urring in the dimensions beyond the three."


    "Are they even human?! Are you telling me that our goal is to create an army that can do what those two are doing?!"


    "It''s only natural. Think about it, if real super-humans exist, like the ones you read in theic books or in the tales of these cultivators, what will their bodies be like? The energy in their bodies that leak out should reach an extreme heat or radiation level. This is true even in the Christian faith."


    "Christian faith?"


    "Our God is a Consuming Fire." Richie''s voice could be heard.


    "Richie?!" Cliff was shocked.


    "I thought you were in the Americas?!"


    "I am. It''s a trick that I was forced to master. After the attacks, I managed toplete the little project I was trying to do all over the world these past three months. Did you know that electricity produces sound? Lennox helped me a bit. But basically, I canmunicate and spy on any devices by sending my sounds in and out. I''m just in time to see that. The Consuming Fire. The foundations of our glorified bodies!"


    "I don''t understand." Cliff was confused.


    "I''m talking about the glorified bodies that the believers promised when Christ returns! Cultivators, super-humans, angels of the Bible all have this. Eagle believes that a Ranked Heroes, or a cultivator''s body, is close to the glorified bodies prophesied in the Bible. Consider the feature of God. His being, His essence, everything about Him breaks through the normalws of our dimensions. That''s why God forbade men to draw near to Him in the Old Testament. This is also why Moses was only allowed to gaze at the back of God. For a being of such power that transcends the three dimensions, the radiation, the heat, the energies, and the upheaval of the physical realm could kill a man. David wasn''t figurative when he said that even the heavens could not contain God. And here we are, seeing the quarks that makeup Eternity. Hey Sammy! Where''s the popcorn!"


    Suddenly, the energy inside Seeker, and the ice around Lynd suddenly disappeared. The two nced at each other silently.


    "It''s a good thing I managed to call you guys on time. Otherwise, I would miss this fight." Richieughed.


    "How can you even see if all you can do is hear us?"


    "A trick I learned from the Realm King and Hermes. Basically, through the sound, I can imagine what''s going right there. Oh. Cliff, you better move away. You''d probably get killed in the sh if you stay where you are. Hurry. They are starting now."


    Cliff sted off and kept cursing Lennox for not warning him. Lennox was busy mumbling scientific jargon and was urging Cliff to keep close.


    At that moment, Lynd and Seeker started to attack each other.

 Chapter 310 - Lynd’s Pride

    Seeker and Lynd approached each other. They did not use any of their powers to fight each other. They had to use their corresponding means to contain such great energy in their bodies. But these energies could not be contained for long. And it would even diminish if both of them would use their corresponding means of using the Paths and Skills of others.


    As such, this battle which would be drawn out for possibly a long time, was a battle of attrition and physical fighting was the means that both chose. Whoever held more physical might would determine this battle.


    Seeker and Lynd both threw out punches at the same moment. Lynd was copying Seeker''s movements, and it was as if Seeker was fighting a mirror of himself.


    Both fists connected.


    BOOM!


    The force of both fists that contained so much power ended in a stalemate.


    Seeker smiled as he nced at Lynd, who was observing every minute detail.


    "I see. You want to directly copy my movements to bring out more of my hidden abilities so that you can copy them? You''ve already gained so many Paths. You''re too greedy!" Seeker smiled, and with great whirling speed, his body shifted as the waters around them were blown back.


    Yet the surprise kick of Seeker met a foot delivered at the exact same time. The two suddenly went into a brawl of kicks and punches, where both delivered the same attack with the same force.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Explosions rang out left and right as the fist and kicks struck each other. But Cliff, who was watching from afar, could see ice slowly forming on the further regions of the battle. The temperature around Seeker and Lynd was constantly dropping.


    "What''s going on? Why is the ice forming? What''s Lynd doing?" Cliff asked.


    "Lynd is making a huge energy reactor that employs cold fusion. That way, his entire body can keep increasing the energy that is in his evolved cells." Lennox answered.


    "But won''t that also increase Seeker''s energy?"


    "No. I can hear it. Lynd can gather energy because he is using Rosa''s Path of creating cold fusion from the air or water. Seeker only understands the foundation of Cold fusion. He cannot summon ice out of thin air, just as he can''t use any sound to make my Peals of Thunder. In short, if Seeker was to use Cold Fusion to create energy, it has to happen in his body."


    "Then Lynd is draining Seeker''s energy?"


    "Yes. That''s Lynd''s current strategy. Even his fists and kicks are perfectly estimated. Lynd doesn''t want to break this delicate bnce. If his attack is any stronger or weaker, then this mirror match would end. So he''s copying Seeker to the exact decimal point to drain Seeker. If any of his hits even managed to overpower Seeker, it would force Seeker to use other attacks, and he''s avoiding that."


    "Then how can Seeker win? Why is Seekerplying with this match." Cliff wondered.


    "See the difference between the Oveer and the Hero here, Cliff. It will greatly benefit you."


    The fight between Seeker and Lynd continued as Lynd perfectly copied Seeker''s movements.


    The glow around Seeker''s body, which was his power, was slowly dimming.


    And then, the moment finally came. Seeker could see that Lynd''s confidence was building.


    As a punch was thrown, Lynd countered with his own. But suddenly, the punch changed its trajectory.


    While it seemed that the punch''s changing trajectory seemed simple, there was a strange power that began to affect thews of the four dimensions. For some reason, the punch was something that Lynd couldn''t anticipate.


    BOOM!


    A powerful punch exploded out as it met the shield of Lynd. The ice cracked, and the sound armor was crushed. Typical''s repelling molecules were made void, and the punch propelled further, striking Lynd on the face.


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred.


    Seekerughed and moved once more. Lynd was already recovering from the strike and immediately copied Seeker. But at thest moment, it happened again.


    BOOM!


    A kick struck Lynd in the stomach. This time, the kick changed directions once more and did not hit the part of Lynd''s stomach, which had a powerful but small shield.


    Lynd created a powerful explosion. It was as powerful as a Nuke Emitter''s st. Up above, Lennox made King Naga and the Lingkaran deploy various weapons to hide the exploding Nuke underwater.


    Seeker was thrown off and sent several hundreds of meters back.


    Seeker gave an arrogantugh as he observed Lynd, who had quickly created an Ice field to recharge his body.


    "You made me crush one of Richie''s balls. And here I thought I''d be able to beat you to submission with just my fists!" Seeker coldly nced back at Lynd. His aura, his tone, and his yfulness all changed.


    "That must be the Adult. Kid Seeker would be embarrassed to say that¡­" Richie sighed.


    "You! You''re that Seeker from the future! You''re finally out! Is that how younded those blows? Seeker''s been switching personalities?"


    "I''ll tell you this, but consider my debt to your alternate future self, paid in full." The Adult answered seriously.


    "Switching personalities is not enough. It helped to throw you off guard, but we both know you could have employed other means to adjust and fight back. The reason is because of my Path?"


    "You''re Path?" Lynd was confused. He had observed Seeker and could not see anything strange. Lynd''s eyes suddenly widened as he noticed it.


    "Your Path has changed!"


    "I was a Ranked Hero back in my time Lynd. Do you know what my Path was? It was a Pseudo Path. Much like Arthur''s Chaos Order, I had a Path that was ranked. Of course, it was less than Arthur''s. Arthur''s Pseudo Path was proven. Mine wasn''t." The Adult extended his hands, and his suit was glowing brightly. Suddenly, a sword was created and formed before Seeker.


    Lynd''s eyes watched closely, but the tech was too confusing to copy.


    Lynd frowned and even shook his head to stop his Path from trying to copy it.


    "Tsk. He can''t copy cellr steel creation yet!" Lennox cursed hatefully.


    Cliff was shocked. He never ever seen Lennox voice out such disgust and disappointment.


    "Hey, I''ve been ying that Pokemon game you ced in my head, Lennox. But seriously, you gotta stop it, man. Besides, creating Pokemon out of our cells and make it pop out of a Pokeball isn''t needed in this war! Geez! If I hadn''t known better, I''d thought you''d be an Aragarian with your crazed obsession!" Richie cursed.


    "Shut up, Richie. It''s not like I''ve got a choice in this! The Tyrant Empress awakened this obsession and desire. Although I''ve removed the lust, the obsession remains! Isn''t it better that I''ve used it here?"


    "Gee, I don''t know. Why not put your obsession to your kids?" Richie argued.


    "If I did anymore, Egypt wouldn''t be standing now, Richie."


    "¡­ Alright. Fair enough. I apologize for that usation."


    "Forgiven. But you have to perform and create living sounds of all Pokemons."


    "¡­"


    Seeker had finally crafted a ss-like sword through his suit. The sword used his cells, and he gazed at Lynd with a cold expression.


    "They called me, He that Treads and Passes Over. This is my ability to Passover, whatever obstacles there were before me. Back then, they only called me this because I seed in doing this on several asions. asions that were deemed impossible toplete. But it was real then, and it''s stronger now! So get yourself ready, boy. I asked the Kid me to fight you. You always made me win in our fights. I''ve always hoped to fight a Lynd that really wanted to kill me." The Adult gave a strange smile.


    "Then let me oblige you!"


    Lynd shouted as he gathered several Paths that appeared.


    His appearance had changed. He did not have the same bright golden hue as Meryl. Instead, it was a fiery red heat that contained bits of destion. His body sparkled like burnished bronze.


    Lynd''s entire likeness was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro the dark ocean. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth red lightning, bolting out randomly from the center of his body.


    "There it is¡­ He is merging the Paths." Lennox watched with anticipation.


    "We have long wanted tobine the heat of Meryl and the Destion of Meng. But we could never figure it out. Gardo''s Path was different, but we knew that it was the missing link. We''ve never had a working framework of how it works, but now we finally have an idea." Lennox began to rant with great obsession.


    "So this is why we haven''t had progress in any sciences other than the ones we''ve already developed. You were waiting for this battle¡­" Richie realized.


    "Of course! This battle holds the understanding of what many sciences we have can do. Seeker and Lynd''s body will create the miracles that transcend our understanding, and through their merging of these Paths, we can now reverse engineer it and create more weapons!"


    "But Lynd''s form¡­ it''s very biblical."


    "He''s following the vision described in Ezekiel 1. That looks like the living creature of Ezekiel. The Cherubim! Seeker''s challenge of being the Truth triggered him. He''s showing Seeker that he is still the real Messiah of this world." Lennox analyzed.


    "No. It''s more than just taunting Seeker¡­ Lynd¡­ he believes he''s the Messiah! This is one thing that Lynd never showed. It makes sense now!" Cliff spoke as he recalled the various expressions and reactions of Lynd.


    "Lynd had thought in his heart that he was the key to victory. He was secretly proud and arrogant of this. That was why he was so angry when Seeker did that to him! This isn''t something Lynd thought of at the moment. This is a vision of himself!"


    "Ah. A disy of arrogance, eh? No wonder Seeker did this¡­ I guess we all needed to knock Lynd off his pedestal."


    Seeker sneered as he watched Lynd''s bodypleting its transformation.


    "What is this? An anime where I would wait for you toplete your next transformation?" Seeker charged.


    "Pass over this!" Lynd roared.


    A powerful sound wave exploded out as ice and needles shot towards Seeker.


    Seeker moved forward and began to harness the energy on his sword to sh with the sound.


    As a Horn was crushed, Meng''s destion burst forth, and Seeker wielded power on his des. The sword smashed and broke through sound and ice alike.


    Cliff was surprised as he saw the power that Seeker wielded. He knew that the power of Destion being contained was so strong that even their current tech couldn''t imitate it.


    "Maw of the Dragon! But how?!" Cliff was shocked.


    "He that Ovees isn''t easily limited by science, Cliff. Though the Horn of the Dragon contains a very small portion of Meng''s true Destion, Seeker managed to raise up its level on his own."


    "Sword of the Dragon yer!" Seeker boasted his de as he fought off the approaching attacks and moved towards Lynd with incredible speed. The distance which the explosion caused was quickly being crossed.


    "It looks like Lynd isn''t about to give up just yet. So this is a World Champion. It is impressive." Richiemended.


    Right above Lynd was a miniature sun the size of a bowling ball.


    Lynd''s right eye was having a bright white glow while his other eye maintained the same color.


    Immediately, the sun shot out beams of yellow and greenish lights. Red lightning began to crackle out and bolt towards Seeker''s location.


    Seeker fought against the iing attacks and began to slice the approaching powers, but somehow, several attacks managed to reach and wound Seeker.


    "Lynd''s right eye is copying Seeker''s movements. To be more precise, he is trying to predict Seeker''s movements, and the other half of his body is aiming at attacking Seeker!" Cliff was amazed at what he saw.


    "Correct. He has managed to split his thought process forcibly.. Now how will Seeker counter this?" Lennox wondered.

 Chapter 311 - The Passover

    Several attacks from all directions were bombarding Seeker. The sight of the sun surprised even Seeker. This was Lynd''s most powerful attack that he had in the alternate future!


    Seeker had told him this theorized power that Lynd wielded that made him feared by his enemies. They called him the Way for his appearance that looked like the Messiah himself.


    And his power was as if he was wielding the sun itself!


    Although Lynd in that future could not merge different Paths in his body, Lynd created a miniature sun and used two unique rings that could generate energy as both rings would spin around each other. With an outside power source, Lynd could harness several energies and stabilize the conflicting energies. This was one of the most powerful weapons in their entire army.


    But now, Lynd has managed to create the sun without the two rings. The power that Lynd created was weakerpared to the power he wielded in Seeker''s future, but this barrage was dealing actual damage from Seeker.


    Seeker kept evading and blocking the iing attacks, apart from this sun giving off a barrage of attacks. Seeker finally pulled out a Ball of Thunder and crushed it to create a powerful sound force, and sted off towards Lynd.


    Seeker was evading and moving from one end of the sea to the next. But as he zig-zagged, he was slowly drawing closer to Lynd. The sword of Destion was so strong that it would devour the waters where it would pass. The speed of Seeker was steadily increasing as there was no longer any resistance as he moved.


    Lynd kept attacking as the powerful red and yellow beams kept shooting and shooting. The ocean was strange as the waters were burning hot on Seeker''s side, yet there was an extremely cold urring on another side. Stranger still was the fact that there was a small sun in the middle.


    And so the intense showdown between Seeker and Lynd was Seeker attempting to move closer and closer to Lynd, who was holding the sun to attack, and the cold to increase the amount of energy his body can sustain.


    "So at this point¡­ It''s not simply about being able to Ovee. Lynd is not an Oveer, yet he is pressuring Seeker into this corner." Cliff was amazed.


    "Are you sure? Seeker is winning. Lynd cannot maintain that for a long time. While he is able to fight, he is rooted in that ce. He cannot retreat. The moment Seeker approaches him, his defeat is assured. Seeker''s current expenditure is controlled and well-calcted. Even if he doesn''t have that ability to recharge himself, in this battle constantly, he doesn''t need to."


    "I disagree." Cliff spoke tly. But Lennox did not take offense.


    "How so?"


    "Because Lynd is not focusing his attention on attacking. He is copying Seeker''s movements and predicting them, but his thoughts are not shooting. That expression of Lynd is very nk. His eyes are not even following Seeker!"


    "That''s because Lynd is copying me. He''s using my instincts and my ability to discern vibration to attack. That attack is practically his auto-pilot attack! But it doesn''t require him to focus. Cliff is right. Lynd is saving his focus for something else. He is drawing Seeker closer and closer in his web of chaos because he wants Seeker too."


    "So Lynd is entrapping Seeker?" Cliff asked.


    "I see now. It seems my previous estimates of Lynd is a bit low."


    "It''s starting!" Cliff could see Lynd''s expression changing. He had fought next to Lynd several times and even went with him on several critical missions. He knew what this expression meant.


    Seeker was deep inside the maze that Lynd created. The ice, fire, needles, and lightning were chaotic. It was reminiscent of the battle between Seeker and his team of Oveers against the Tyrant Empress.


    But then, Lynd suddenly raised one of his hands as the sun grewrger. Lynd concentrated and began to shoot several powerful beams towards Seeker. The chaos in the water also grew stronger as the ocean itself began to move and change directions.


    The sudden moving waters proved that Lynd had one more Path in his arsenal.


    "That''s Steffany''s Path¡­ So he spied on her¡­" Lennox spoke as if he was praising Lynd. He had not known that Lynd spied at this woman.


    "He must have escaped to the Kraken after the attack. Steffany was tasked with aiding the Kraken to repair most of the damage. He must have seen it." Lennox deduced.


    "It''s that Ranked Hero who can control water, right? The one serving as your General?" Richie confirmed. He had heard that Lennox was able to recruit the experiment of Egypt. It was a woman who had the power to control water.


    "Well, this changes everything¡­" Richieughed.


    The waters moved and began to push Seeker away while at the same time, a current blew underwater that pushed Lynd further away.


    But Lynd was not yet done. He concentrated on Seeker and released another Path that he had managed to copy.


    A strange force enveloped Seeker''s body.


    "Curse!" Lynd shouted as the ice around him cracked, and even his body began to crack and spurt blood.


    Seeker couldn''t move.


    As an Inhuman, Seeker''s sensation was so precise he can feel every cell in his body. And the strange power that Lynd used was actually shaking all of Seeker''s cell. It created discoordination between his cells. Seeker also felt a strange sense of helplessness.


    "Bad luck?" Seeker noticed it as even his Zone disappeared. He felt that he lost control and focus that even the timing of his movements was off the mark. His control over his body''s energies was also wildly breaking out, and several wounds emerged all over Seeker''s body.


    But when that power emerged, it affected time itself. And just like with the Realm King, Seeker immediately took advantage of that distortion of time to pause time itself.


    Seeker''s thoughts continued while all of time stood still.


    "Amazing power¡­" The Kid Seeker spoke.


    "Indeed. Reverse Zone. A power that kills momentum. I''m bing clumsy, unaware, disconnected from things. The curse is so strong that my control over this body has been halved."


    "Well, it''s expected. Of all the Families that we tried to chase, that Zulu family is the most difficult to catch. I can''t believe that voodoo is science! This is your first time experiencing this power. Can you tread on it and copy it? You''ve shown me quite a few amazing things." The Kid chuckled.


    "You''re under the impression that I studied your Path? Kid, we are one but two different entities. I can''t tread on your Path. I have a different one."


    "You focused on that Path?"


    "Yes. Rx. I may be so weak, but this is exactly the time when my powers show itself to be strong."


    Suddenly, time began to move forcibly, although it was extremely slow.


    "Looks like the halting of time is ending. Too bad it isn''t as strong as the Realm Kings."


    "This is because of Curse. Haven''t you felt it? We are being attacked beyond the three dimensions."


    "Of course I did. You sure you got this one? This looks very risky."


    "It has to be. Believe me. You''ll understand once I''m done. Help me yback all those memories. I need your help to make it as detailed as possible. Only if we work together can we do the precise memory power of Cliff. If we do that, you''ll understand."


    "Alright. But let''s hurry. Time is moving." The Kidplied.


    The visions appeared one by one.


    The first was the victory that started Seeker''s future career. Seeker was the only one left in his squad. All hispanions have been killed. Most of the soldiers next to him weren''t even Unlocked, and only a few were in the Unbing stage like Seeker.


    Even as they hid in the cover of the fallen wreckage of the ships and crafts that carried them, most of the soldiers lost hope. They would die in this attack.


    Only Seeker took heart and persevered.


    "Is there anyone left in the ground who can fight?" A familiar voice spoke directly to Seeker''s thoughts.


    "World Champion Realm King!" Seeker was astounded.


    "Anyone? Your mission will be a suicide mission. But if we want to retake Pangea, we have to do this."


    "I am battle-ready, Realm King!" Seeker answered.


    "Hm? You are Seeker Carlean, right? The first Unbing? It seems you are the only one remaining with the courage to stand. I will help you and use my powers to stop whatever I can. Expect the attacks to be lessened by sixty percent. You have to race through and reach the front lines at that time. Can you do it? We have to breach that front to preserve our forces."


    "I''m on it!" Seeker vowed.


    "Good. On my mark."The Realm King ordered.


    Seeker readied, and when the orders were made, Seeker rushed madly towards the front. The Realm Kings Power exploded out, and a terrifying earthquake urred.


    Seeker used his boosters to dash towards the front lines.


    The numerous attack was directed at him, but Seeker was never hit.


    The Realm King didn''t rely on Seeker. He wanted a diversion to send his forces, but Seeker performed unbelievably well.


    The iing beams and bullets were like rain, but Seeker moved on and ran towards the rain. His boosters were reaching the limits of what an Unbing could pilot through, and soon it went through it.


    Seeker took on the rain, and though his body had many holes from the beams and bullets, it was always an inch away from a critical location. Seeker could no longer see as a bullet struck the back part of his head as he drew closer. His ipital lobe was damaged, and Seeker had to rely on the realm. The Realm King helped him, and Seeker massacred the Australian soldiers who were holed in their bunkers and in the trenches built.


    The second memory surfaced.


    Seeker was already an Inhuman serving under Ranked Hero Lynd''s forces.


    Yet, the betrayal of Zeraphine left no survivors in the strongest and most powerful Inhumans in the Realm King''s army.


    Arge aircraft ambushed and massacred them. Only Seeker''s own squad managed to retreat and hold on. But soon, even Ranked Hero Meryl was injured and had to retreat. But the maddened Seeker did not flee. With a roar, he charged and faced therge craft that could injure a Ranked Hero.


    Seeker faced the numerous guns and managed to enter the craft. Unlike all the other enemies that they had fought, this craft contained powerful Aragarian soldiers that none of the fallen Inhumans managed to kill. Yet Seeker faced them all alone.


    He had passed over yet another impassable defense and reached themanding Aragarian, Zeraphine.


    Thest memories of Seeker was another battle that urred immediately after thest one.


    The Ranked Heroes were all worn out. A certain earth-made Orbital was preparing tounch. In it were the body parts of some of Earth''s Ranked Heroes. It had Irvana''s, Meryl''s, and even Lynd''s torn-off limbs. Only Arthur was the one left who had the strength to face it. But even he believed that they would fail. His calctions deemed that this ship would be impassable with their current strength.


    But then Seeker arrived wearing Arthur''s boosters. Seeker flew as if, disregarding his own life, faced a torrent of attacks. The Orbitals attacks could not hit Seeker. With the aid of the World Champions, who managed to break the force field just in time, Seeker reached the inside of the ship. It was there that he killed and hacked up hundreds and possibly thousands in such a short time. It was this massacre that granted him the title Death Tide Carlean.


    It was there that he gained the title, He who Treads and Passes Over.


    The memories rushed, and as time was slowly returning, Seeker spoke to himself.


    "Did you see that, Kid? Do you get it?"


    "I saw it. Your Path is something that can only happen if you''re weak. So you wanted to cultivate this?"


    "I''ve long believed that the Oveers were wrong. Or at most iplete. You and I walk different Paths. Because of everything that happened in this life, you have be mighty because of strength. But in my time, I became strong because of my weakness. I believe that the real path to true power is something in between. And so, I walked the Path of the Weak. But see how I will Ovee through my weakness."


    "My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness." The Kid couldn''t help but smile as he recalled a certain verse in the Bible.


    "Fine then, Old man! Show me your power! I grant you full control of this body." The Kid slowly fell into a deep sleep as the future Seeker Carlean took possession of the body.


    Time was now resuming, and Seeker had only a few moments before the attacks would reach him.


    Seeker focused arge bulk of his power on his arms which wielded the destion sword. The curse had cut his movement speed in half. But no fear emerged on Seeker''s eyes.


    Seeker took a step forward, and suddenly, he was thirty meters ahead.


    Lynd was stunned. All of Lynd''s attacks missed Seeker.


    "You want a contest to see who the real Messiah between us is? Then I shall pass over you. And you will know that I am He that Ovees.." Seeker smiled as he took another step forward.

 Chapter 312 - The Gap Between Champions And Overcomers

    The scene of Seeker disappearing shocked everyone.


    "Impossible!" Lennox and Richie chorused.


    Seeker appeared several meters more.


    Lynd immediately threw one of the suns towards Seeker and immediately retreated. The waters he controlled followed, and even the cold fusion that he made around him trailed along with his movements as well.


    The sun he threw immediately grew unstable and exploded. A red sun exploded. The explosion was so strong that the waters above were affected.


    Lennox had givenmands to execute the Last Stand protocol, which ordered all Unlocked to make it look like the battle between the Lingkaran and the King Naga continued.


    Lynd was nearly a kilometer away from where he was. His gaze pierced through the dark ocean. Yet despite such a disy of power, all that Lynd felt was fear. Seeker had one power that could easily defeat him.


    "How''s this possible? Even Seeker doesn''t have the strength to do that!" Lynd cursed out angrily. All his preparations to entrap and attack Seeker failed. The energy he had was less than half, and he was running out of options on how to attack Seeker.


    "Where are you?!" Lynd shouted.


    "Scared?" A voice was heard. The source could not be seen. As if the darkness of the water was talking to Lynd.


    "Hebined my sound and Hermes''s ability. Water Whisperer?" Richieughed as he heard the sounds moving across the waters.


    "Erm¡­ Lennox¡­ Richie? What happened?" Cliff asked in confusion. He didn''t understand how Seeker did that.


    Lennox knew how impossible it was for Seeker to do so. This was the ability that the Void Assassin had.


    The Void Assassin''s Path was one of the most confusing Paths that Seeker''s team had no workable framework to imitate or weaponize. This was because there were no visible changes in the physical nature of the Void Assassin. Yet, with Nogard''s help, they could sense that the Void Assassin''s power was hidden in the other dimensions. And with all the techs that they had, they could not see or look for it.


    Only Seeker and Rai had seen the dimensions beyond it, and they couldn''t exin how it was possible to study the dimensions with their words or exnation. They could not exin or describe something that cannot be experienced or seen in the three dimensions.


    And even though Lennox studied the DNA of Rai in search of the means to see the dimension, he could not see it.


    Even more mysterious was the fact that Seeker was able to teleport with such strong power remaining.


    Their tests had proven that it would be impossible for those at the higher stages of the Unlocking to move through space. Back when Rai teleported Seeker after throwing Harker''srge cannon, it was inside an area where space was distorted. Crostfree''s technology managed to distort thews of space and its dimensions, so Rai could teleport Seeker out of the battle at that time.


    But now, the current space they were fighting in wasn''t distorted, yet Seeker was able to teleport in it!


    "I thought Inhumans couldn''t teleport!" Cliff asked.


    "It''s not impossible. We simply don''t know how to."


    BOOM!


    Lynd attacked another space as Seeker continued to taunt him with words.


    "Come out and fight like a man!"


    "But Lynd, we''re both Inhumans. Shouldn''t we fight like Inhumans?" The Adult gave a strange cracklingugh as if he was telling an extremely funny joke.


    "It''s the adult Seeker!" Cliff identified the current possessor of Seeker''s body through that bad dad joke.


    "How is he doing that?! He''s moving in the fourth dimension!" Cliff asked once more.


    "Seeker does not meet the requirements to teleport! Rai''s body is the only one that can physically cross the dimensions and move in it. Wasn''t it exined that Rai confirmed that he could teleport arge canon and Seeker because Crostfree had weakened the integrity of space at that time? But even then, Seeker couldn''t move when he was brought in!"


    "Right. What are your thoughts, Lennox? Haven''t we concluded that it is impossible to send the physical body of any human that is at the Unbing stage? Aren''t they ''too big to fit in the entrance that leads to the fourth dimension?" Richie asked as well.


    "Yeah! Rai''s team was trained to have a body that was most conducive to teleport. But when we made one of them an Unbing, he couldn''t teleport with Rai anymore! How can Seeker enter that dimension and move in it!"


    "That is the question. There are two miracles that Seeker did in that act of teleportation. First, how did he walk into that dimension? We know that unless he is below Unbing, he can''t. I think Lynd''s curse made it possible. Seeker''s body was weakened. But that alone is not the right answer. I saw Seeker channeling a majority of his power onto the sword."


    "Has he thread on Rai? That doesn''t feel right." Richie frowned.


    "Interesting. Maybe that''s how it was made possible. The future Seeker is finally showing us his Path. Didn''t you hear what he said? He is the He that Treads and Passes Over."


    Seeker''s weakened body capitalized on the power that Rai showed him. Using the Sword of the Dragon yer, Seeker struck the one thing the Kid Seeker couldn''t see. And that was the entrance to the other dimensions.


    When the Adult had gained sentience, he had always been taking a back seat ride at Seeker and only helped the Kid on several asions. But the Adult always knew that this new life allowed the Kid to develop the wildcard Path.


    But the Adult Seeker had long guessed what his Path in his lifetime was. It was to pass over obstacles. As long as he had a destination in mind, he could reach it and move through it. It was a condensed Zone that allowed Seeker to know just where to go and when to move. And this time was no exception.


    Seeker harnessed most of his power into Destion in the Sword of the Dragon yer. With it, Seeker forced an opening that allowed his physical body to move into the void.


    And there, in the ce where space was curled up andpressed, Seeker moved. The Kid Seeker could not move because he didn''t have the body. But the Adult Seeker had that body in his previous life. He just didn''t know it. When he took over, the mysterious changes in the dimensions beyond finally gave Seeker the ability to move in this dimension.


    Lynd was panicking. The tricks and taunts that the Adult did were childish. But this was very effective against Lynd.


    "Die!" Seeker''s sudden shout caused Lynd to raise his hand towards the ce where he could feel a strange distortion and created a powerful st channeling the sun.


    The beam was sliced as it met a powerful Destion that ate away the energy.


    Lynd raised his other hands to reinforce his attack. His right hand contained Gardo and Meryl''s power as Lynd began to prepare for his other attacks.


    But then, he heard it.


    "CLIFF! NOW!" Seeker ordered.


    Without hesitation, Lynd retracted his other hand and aimed for Cliff, and shot a powerful attack.


    But then, a fist emerged from the dimensions and smashed on Lynd''s abdomen.


    BOOM!


    The fist struck the location in Lynd''s abdomen where the energy was being harnessed and prated deep into Lynd''s stomach.


    Lynd was coughing up blood as the energy in his body was being wildly released. His two arms that wielded different concentrations of energy also exploded as the instability of having various Paths returned once more.


    All of a sudden, the chaotic battle suddenly became quiet.


    The sword that Seeker created could be seen falling into the abyss. Seeker used it to sh with Lynd''s attack. But after striking Lynd, Seeker abandoned the sword and punched Lynd.


    The sword suddenly stopped sinking and began to move and approached Seeker.


    "Its¡­ Over¡­?" Cliff couldn''t believe what he saw. The attack that Lynd pointed at his direction was so far away that it took Cliff no effort to evade it. Cliff did not approach Lynd, and Lynd had always sensed that Cliff was quite a distance away from him. But that was why Lynd suddenly attacked.


    The memory of the beautiful ambush that Cliff managed was engraved in his heart. And so, his fear acted ahead and made Lynd move to react to it. And so, Seeker''s simple lie proved so effective.


    "That is the gap between them. Seeker is an Oveer, after all. This Adult version not only bears the marks of one but is far more cruel and cunning than the child Seeker." Lennox assessed.


    "Cunning? This is a more cunning Seeker? That''s a scary thought¡­" Cliff gulped. He had already been treated like a guinea pig from the regr Seeker. And now there was a more cunning Seeker?


    "The moment he managed to teleport and walk in the other dimension, he already won. But of all the was to defeat Lynd, he chooses one that is the harshest way to spank Lynd into realization. He lied. The old'' made-you-look defeated a World Champion level hero. And that was considering all of Seeker''s disadvantage." Richieughed.


    Seeker had retracted his fists that were buried in Lynd''s stomach. Seeker then ced his palms over Lynd''s chest as strange energy began to course through Lynd''s body.


    "Are you done with your tantrum?" The Adult Seeker asked as he crushed a small ball that created a sound shield that held them afloat in the ocean.


    "I...lost¡­ just¡­ like¡­ that¡­?" Lynd couldn''t believe it. His entire body was suddenly spent of all the energy. The sudden destruction of the energy chamber that he made copsed in itself and damaged his body. All of a sudden, Lynd could not muster the strength and power that he could wield before.


    "Just like that? You forced me to awaken my Path. And to do that, you had to pressure me to the point that I had no choice but to Ovee. Not many can do that, Lynd. You are a legitimate World Champion. A bit below to an Oveer, but far great than a Hero." The Adult exined.


    "Why¡­ is the anger gone? Is it because I''m dying?"


    "Like hell, I''ll allow you to die. I never intended to carry the weight of being a Messiah alone. I''m not Jesus, you know. At most, we are but typologies of the real Messiah. Besides, I need you alive so that we''d have a shot at making the Life. Rx. I''m already performing a transference of power. Because you''re the Way, my cells ought to work hand in hand with yours. As for your anger, it admitted defeat. It can''t win anymore, and all it could do is hide. You must learn to control it and bring that out at the right time." Seeker smiled.


    Lynd could somehow see the smile of his friend.


    "I don''t know you anymore, Zeek. Both you and Kid, you have¡­ changed so much." Lynd gazed curiously at the sudden shift of Seeker''s temper.


    He could feel his strength recovering as the critical wounds in his body were recovering.


    "Sure you still do. If there''s one thing the Kid me and the current me have inmon, it''s the fear of losing his friends. That''s why it took a while for us to put you in that series of events and awaken the raging monster within. It worked beautifully in the end. We both got stronger in the process."


    "I''m¡­ sorry¡­" Lynd began to cry. The guilt that his anger covered finally got to him. Lynd remembered what he tried to do and couldn''t help but feel a sickening and stifling sensation on his chest. The civilians he killed in his fight also appeared to his memory.


    "I got mad because of what you were willing to do to me. I knew that it was a test. But I hated it and got mad at how expendable I felt I was." Lynd cried out.


    "I did¡­ so many horrible things, Zeek! I am worse than those aliens!"


    "No. I''m the one who should be sorry. I was so afraid of losing you, but it wasn''t for the reason you''d think it should be. I was running away from my own fear. The Kid wanted to save the world. But he also didn''t want to bear all the responsibility of doing so. He- no... we were both afraid of bearing this messianic title." Seeker sighed.


    "You carried it so well in my future that you''re death really took a toll on me. I even began to think that we''d lose when you died. I was pinning my hopes that you''d be able to save the world. It was only when the Kid became an Oveer that I was finally able to convince him to get out of the saltshaker and into the world."


    Seeker withdrew his hand.


    "I arranged those battles and nned it in a way that those people will die. I am to be med for it. This is the responsibility that I knew I had but hesitated from pulling off. Knowing the future urges me to make cruel decisions. The death of those people was necessary to awaken your inner rage. Knowing that you couldn''t win fighting those four, you opted to use skills that could kill more civilians. To cover up that guilt, that anger in you took over. I knew about that rage even in my future. So it''s still my fault." Seeker sighed again.


    Lynd continued to weep as the pair was moving towards the surface. Cliff''s exoskeleton followed quietly, not daring to speak.


    The rise towards the top only contained Lynd''s sobs that slowly grew quieter and quieter until there was perfect silence.


    Between Seeker and Lynd, the pair knew that their friendship was restored and even grew stronger after the painful battle.


    "ZEEKEE! I''M HERE WITH YOUR FRIEND, RICHIE! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO VISIT THE AMERICAS? YOU''VE WRECKED THE WORLD BUT YOU CAN''T FIND TIME TO VISIT YOUR GRANDMA!"


    A sudden cry was heard from Cliff''s Exoskeleton.


    "Gra-Granny!" Seeker shouted as he scuffled towards Cliff''s Exoskeleton.

 Chapter 313 - When Overcomers Move

    Every continent, every nation had a different news report featured in their headlines. The sudden attacks and terrorizing movements of various mysterious groups had stunned the world.


    The power that some caught on camera was shocking.


    In the past weeks after the Kraken fell, the Dragon''s Fangs had reemerged in the world again. They med One China for the death of the Dragon and wanted to avenge the fallen Dragon.


    At first, One Chinaughed at these usations. But then the various bases near the Mongolian region were attacked. An army had suddenly surfaced. Leading the army was the well-known team that the Underworld dared not offend.


    The Dragon''s Fangs had indeed survived. Eight of the original thirteen members had surfaced, and a mysterious woman who had the Canadian Frost appeared along with them. The woman was revealed to be the Dragon''s widow and had the power to destroy a base. The many recorded videos of the battle revealed that these Dragon Fangs were supermen. While they seemed to have no Exoskeleton, they fought with incredible strength.


    One of the Fangs was recorded to cut down an entire Armor with a sword. Another was seen punching through Exoskeletons. A ghost was also seen, and a strange cloud of poison followed another.


    The news in One China focused on that. Many believed that the technology that only the WGP had, the rumored Skin-Suits, were worn by these men. Others think that these men had One China''s version of the Australian Dawn soldiers.


    But this newster faded as another shocking news urred.


    India rebelled, and overnight, they dered their sovereignty and gifted One China with all officials'' severed head in India. The many citizens in India that wanted to retreat to One China were forced to pay a significant toll. Most who returned to One China were all Chinese. Those of Indian descent who choose to stay as a new self-proimed President had emerged.


    It demanded China recognize its sovereignty and sent an elite team of soldiers to attack its base.


    Because of the Dragon''s Fangs threatening China for weeks, the forces based in the bases were few. But recorded videos of the battle in the few bases that separated India and China showed that werewolves were attacking.


    India only took the bases and imed that it would retain thend that it used to have before the Third World War.


    In the West, another uproar urred.


    The Americas had created a huge, huge wall separating South and North Americas from Central Americas back when Central America revolted and nearly conquered all of the Americas. As the leaders of Central America refused to bow down to America, South and North''s position issued a trade embargo that caused a decline in the economy, science, and military in Central America. Thesends were ''living examples of dystopia''. And yet, a country that was believed to have no technological capacity broke therge barricade and caused havoc in the Americas. A war broke that left the nearby cities in the barricade devastated. While America held its position, it was in a state of emergency, as another powerful force attacked in the northern region.


    Canada had employed a powerful Frost technology, and ''flying humans'' numbering over fifty was said to have infiltrated the area. Without any techs on these humans that would have marked them for heat or maic-rted attacks, the humans easily flew over the defense lines. The wind had also ragged as a powerful squall urred.


    But strangely enough, although Canada managed to conquer one of the strategic forts, they immediately retreated.


    The Middle-Eastern and European region was not spared from falling into conflict.


    The Kraken had resurfaced in those regions as it was pressuring all nations to capture the ''nteds'' that they had found in their base. This Kraken threatened the Caliphates and Africa, but a mysterious group appeared on the third day of their appearance.


    They roderge underwater vehicles that were strangely based on fictional monsters of a certain game franchise. They called themselves Pioneers and wereprised of many notable and respected people in the African and Caliphate region. They used amazing techs that were unknown to the WGP.


    These were all revealed as the WGP even streamed the battle for the world to see.


    Ever since the WGP''s defeat, it was looking for a moment to showcase its strength. The Pioneers controlled a strangerge robot that looked simr to the Golems of the Caliphates.


    The Kraken, under themand of Fleet Admiral Intrik Roovite was able to deflect the iing attack. But soon, various weapons of Mass Destruction were used, and the mysterious groups that fought them finally revealed themselves when the Antis sustained heavy damage. But then, it waster revealed that the Kraken had alreadybined with the Antis and had an Emperor guarding it.


    Even then, the battle was tilting to the advantage of the Pioneers. They revealed technology after technology to counter the techs that the WGP used. Even more shocking was that although the WGP had long purged all ''nteds'' that spread all over the world, traitors still appeared.


    The WGP believe that these Pioneers had Mind-Controlled as the very allies who fought with them and contributed greatly would suddenly betray them for no odd reason.


    It was a formidable battle that forced one of the Emperors to use its Invoking.


    The Call of Cmity was used. It created a powerful maic field that distorted the sensors of everything nearby. The moment it was summoned, not even the Pioneers'' best techs could counter the attacks, and all the ships fell into the sea.


    Soon, the Pioneers retreated, but they were hunted down by a fleet led by New Great Britain. Admiral Ramsden had surfaced once more and offered to be of full use to the WGP.


    Various mysterious organizations came into existence. All news channels looked at the many conspiracy theorists that looked into strange techs that were rumored to exist.


    The sightings of werewolves and vampires were even revisited. ck magic, voodoo, and even reported and its ims studied as they believed it could have been an advanced science.


    The world fell to chaos. Currency was losing its value as trade plummeted. A new economic system was being proposed, and various countries that were tied bynd created their form of trade and introduced a new currency.


    To the Unlocked, they knew who or what was making these great battles. When the Oveers move, the world will move with them.


    In the Pangea and SPU region, the headlines all talked about the battle between King Naga and the Lingkaran.


    The Lingkaran was believed to have sunk down deep underwater, and this King Naga vanished along with it.


    There were various theories of what urred. Many believed that the strange fluctuations that the Lingkaran gave off and the powerful energy was the Lingkaran blowing itself up to take the King Naga along with it. The King Naga never surfaced, and SPU lost all contact with them.


    The King Naga had docked in it and looked like a worm devouring the Lingkaran. With the new techs avable, the King Naga was being transformed to be a part of the Lingkaran.


    Lynd was lying down in a specialized chamber inside the Lingkaran. It had been three days since his battle against Seeker. He watched the news and couldn''t help but whistle as he watched the news. He had been switching from the news and from watching Eagle''s sermons.


    The doors opened, and Seeker stepped inside.


    "You alright?" Seeker asked as he noticed the lost expression of Lynd.


    "Yeah. It''s just amazing. I can''t believe that in a short few days, we''ve flipped over the world. It''s so chaotic now.


    "Wars and rumors of wars. As Eagle predicted."


    "Is the Bible Study going to happen now?"


    "No. Eagle found that it was best if we are able to bring out the other secret organizations, the Families, basically, any group that is a Seed of the Lost Primordial. Once we have it, we begin the Bible Study. Of course, such a gathering would be difficult to pull off. We''d need a Continental War to get all the Unlocked in that ce."


    "Does it really have to be an in-person event? I mean, I''m just listening at his sermons, and I already believe."


    "It has to be. We need the full effect of his Path. In short, we must allow ourselves to be utterly convinced. Even the Tyrant Empress agreed on this."


    "Did their mission seed?"


    "The Tyrant Empress? Come on, Lynd. She''s practically the strongest among Oveers. At least, right now, she is. You think she failed?"


    "So this Admiral Roovite is ours?"


    "Oh no. She didn''t appear before him. We need him. The best spy is a spy that we didn''t own. Take a look at what happened in that chaos! The WGP is even more paranoid now. They thought they had dealt with their traitor issue, but now, the Tyrant Empress just showed them her face, and nearly a third of that Kraken betrayed the WGP.


    "A third?! Wow. You really can''t trust the media. They said that over fifty betrayed the WGP."


    "Since when has the media been unbiased? We even use the media to our own convenience."


    "When will Meng and Amir Mann conquer One China?"


    "We''re waiting for the Presiders to move. Because we''ve leaked the truth of nteds in the Caliphate region, most of the nations followed suit and discovered nteds among them. And right now, the number of Pioneers and nted in the Americas are being wiped clean by Richie. He''s alreadypleted his team."


    "Did your Grandmother join?"


    "No. We''re still thinking of a way to get her to Nogard."


    "Still¡­ She should be like, the oldest Unlocked that we have next to Nogard."


    "I hear that there''s a very wild love story behind my grandfather and her. Her Path could be the science behind the Thought Transmitter!" Seeker revealed.


    "WHAT?!" Lynd was shocked.


    "Yeah! Richie felt something odd in the vibrations around him. So while his team began to attack the barrier in South America, he went in and met my grandma."


    Lynd didn''t know what to say but nced at the freakish friend of his.


    "I am neverparing myself to you again. I can''t believe I dared to believe that I am the Way!"


    "Well, you are. Thanks to your help, we now have a workable framework to apply various techs and create a dantian."


    "So what''s next for us? I mean, the Presiders ought to be busy gathering their men. They want to stabilize the region, and I understand the n is to let them¡­ We want them toe to Earth forcibly, and the Realm King was able to find a few of them¡­ If I''m looking at the timetable right, we have around eight months till our big move!"


    "Yes. But don''t worry. We will be busy. Meryl is returning to Pangea. And along with Cliff and her girlfriend Charm, we will be moving on our own!"


    "Wow. It''s like the teen band is all back together! We''re are he headed?"


    "South America. But our goal is to find the secret underwater city in that area."


    "There''s actually an Underwater city in this world?"


    "Yes. Not everyone weed the WGP when they rose to power. Back then, technology to do that was alreadypleted. The WGP forced most nations to follow their protocol and would only create a limited number ofrge megastructures. But by then, thousands and thousands had already fled to go to the sea and refused to help the world recover. The Kraken guards the top, while the Antis is designed for watching over these cities.. And that''s where we are trying to go."

 Chapter 314 - Underwater Cities

    "An underwater city? They exist?"


    "Yes. The world is a very big ce, Lynd. I only knew about it in my future. The problem is that these underwater cities are hard to attack or even find. They are constantly on the move. Right now, the richest people in the world are finding ways to go there. After all, the conflict up here is quite terrible." Seeker exined.


    "How many underwater cities are there? Howe I''ve never heard of it?"


    "Because if you''ve heard of one, it would have been destroyed or attacked already. Every nation in the world has established mobile underwater cities ever since the establishment of the WGP. These never surface at all. They are always disconnected from the world."


    "They''re illegal? So how can they exist?"


    "I don''t know myself. Lennox has a few guesses, but nothing something so concrete. That''s why we are doing this mission. We''re trying to figure out just how big the secrets cities of Earth are."


    "I''m assuming that these cities were wiped out in your future. Going by what you said, are these cities, the Underworld?"


    "Very perceptive. You''re not even copying Arthur."


    "I stopped trying. My guesses were always way off the mark. The more I tried to, the more I realized his way of thinking isn''t simr to humans anymore."


    "Oh? You realized that too? His thinking is different now. He doesn''t think in the now. He thinks in different points of time as his thoughts have broken the fabric of time and space itself. Although he can''t see the future, he can make very urate guesses and has been trying to reshape the future. It was him who realized that there are more underwater cities through his constant calction."


    "After I fled the Pangea''s, I found two cities when I was moving through the waters. I hid there and was able to stay there for a few days. That''s when I found out that they were all connected to the Underworld."


    "Those are Pangean secret cities. We''ve already found all hiding around the Pangean regions. In my alternate future, I only learned about these cities because a few of them resurfaced. By then, they were all our enemies. Arthur believes that the Aragarians took control of the underwater cities since taking over these cities won''t create amotion. And while it''s hidden from most of the world, Arthur saw that the Underworld couldn''t function and even remain stable with the WGP."


    "That''s right. I also thought about that. Why haven''t the WGP taken over the Underworld? I thought about it and argued that it isn''t because they''re some sort of ''necessary evil'' that the WGP allows for existing. But it has to be more than that!" Lynd argued.


    "Correct. The answer is that it can''t find them and that the WGP didn''t bother to exert effort in finding all of them. From what the Realm King said, some of these cities may have more of the Progenitors seed. And it makes sense for them to be there."


    "Then how many of these underwater cities are there?"


    "Arthur theorized that there should be more than a hundred underground bases. If the Lost Progenitor is involved, then there should be more than that. The Lost Progenitor could easily create a city buried under the lowest points of the sea! This is why Lennox is trying to rebuild Egypt''s Dug Down tech from Joab Barak''s schematics. But it wasn''t enough, though. He could either study that tech for a year or visit Egypt to find the missing pieces to make that tech work."


    "Is it possible for others to create these underground or underwater cities? What if an autonomous group headed by various groups of people creates them? Politicians, rich celebrities, organizations of some sort? There should be a few, right?"


    "Yes. Rosa''s family, Hermes, even Meng have one. So we could probably see a few more. That''s our mission. We are to infiltrate one and try to merge within that city and see what information we can gather. If we can find the location of the other cities, we might be able to have an easier time rebuilding our armies."


    "I see. In this scenario, the world isn''t as small as we thought. But you haven''t told me how we could find the other cities! If we find one, what''s the assurance that we can find the others?"


    "Because the one that we are going to infiltrate is actually a base of a Presider." Seeker smiled.


    "A Presider?!"


    "Yes. The Realm King sensed it. During our fight and when the others moved, themotion we created gave the Presiders the perfect moment to descend here on Earth. And, of course, it was the perfect moment for us to locate them!"


    "What a n!" Lynd praised.


    "Come on. We have me, Lennox, Arthur, and the Tyrant Empress directing the shots here. Do you think we would just mess with the world and not take full advantage of the chaos? We milked that battle for whatever advantage we can. We now know the current locations of several Presiders!"


    "But how are we going to get there? Even if we manage to infiltrate that city, it would reveal our identities!"


    "What if¡­ we are invited to it?"


    "Invited? You don''t mean to use Zeraphine to bring us in?"


    "No. Too suspicious. And we don''t know if Zeraphine will join. After all, we don''t know which Presiders is allied with who."


    "Then how?"


    "The few cities that in my timeline and took over the regions of South America that resisted the Aragarians. Coincidentally, when that Presider took advantage of our chaos to go to that underwater city, the Realm King was able to make out what that city looks like. Basically, we just have to force that city to resurface."


    "You mean¡­ we need to take over South America first¡­?" Lynd had a very suspicious stare at Seeker. He wouldn''t be surprised if this was the next mission.


    "Not necessarily. We take over one of thergest corporations in South America. My parents are in position. We offer a new product. Something that this world has not seen. Since this world''s economy will soon crash with everything that has been going on, we might fall back to the ancient era where trade bes the main way to transact. I''m sure money will resurface as this new era approaches. But either way, we create a product that everyone needs. And that tech is something rted or based on the weaponized paths of the Oveers."


    "Isn''t that dangerous? You''re practically giving everyone the chance to control our techs! They will¡­- Oh. I get it. That''s the n."


    "Oh? You caught up quite fast. Do tell me what we intend?" Seekerughed.


    "You n to release the cultivated cells of the Oveers. And you make them weaponize it with whatever techs. And since they are the cells of the Oveers that we have found a way to contain or keep alive, they will make more of it and try to create various alterations of it. So basically, you''re making the nations make more of our weapons without them knowing it."


    "Exactly. Ingenious, right? They will make our weapons. If they try to use it against us, we''ll just force these cells to be dormant."


    "That''s through the Realm King''s tech, right? I sensed that power when I copied him. Remote controlling of cells through Somatotopy. This n has Lowengren written all over it." Lynd shook his head. He pitied the world. They would be manipted and controlled by Lowengren.


    "Actually, it was me. But I thought of that using Lowengren''s Path. But all these missions about finding the other underwater citiese second. The first objective is to find who this Presider controlling the Underwater City is. If we find him or her, we can gain a whole lot of info about the Underwater world in this region,."


    "I get it. We acquire more techs and find all the hidden cities!"


    "Right. So this is a Spy mission. We will be spending most of the next eight months there. So it might be more boring than yourst." Seeker smiled.


    "If boring means not getting my hand chopped off, I''m game. I''ll think of this as some sort of a vacation."


    "Yup. And now, our original gang will lead this mission.


    "So us three, Cliff and his girlfriend, huh?"


    "Well, Danny is joining."


    "Danny? Not Arthur? Are you allowing Meryl to get with him instead of Arthur? What''s the big deal here?"


    "Honestly, I''m still a little uncertain of this. I mean, on the one hand, I know that Arthur will love Meryl. But in this life, the hope of finding his sister has changed things. Not to mention, Meryl had always had a huge crush on Danny. Isn''t Danny like, Meryl''s dream guy? So what do you think I should do? Do I follow my future and try to get Meryl to be with Arthur?"


    "I would go for the one love team in your future timeline. I mean, that rtionship is tested and tried! It survived an alien invasion. Besides, Arthur is stronger than Danny."


    "Keep in mind that I gave you your long-time dream of getting Alean. She was dead in my future. Do I ready you for your actual girlfriend? Alean was scheduled to join us when she''s done with her mission in the Caliphates. Should I call that order off and make Alean marry someone else? I recall Force, and One likes her. I guess it''s time to end your fantasies, Lynd." Seeker asked with a raised brow.


    Lynd vigorously shook his head.


    "Give Meryl, Danny. It''s her dream! We''re already saving the world! The most we should have is to be with the person of our fantasies! Besides, the future has changed, Zeek! Sheesh! Don''t be so rigid. Let Meryl have fun!"


    Seekerughed as he knew Lynd would react this way.


    "Man, your dreams of getting together with a teacher will always be something that I can never understand."


    "me anime for that! I mean, Alean really looks like those strict teachers with sses!"


    "I get that¡­ but still. It''s easy to fantasize that in anime, but not in real life." Seekerughed.


    "So, will Kristine join us?" Lynd wondered.


    Seeker had aplicated expression and shook his head.


    "No. But someone else will join us."


    "Who?


    "Zeraphine of the Presiders."


    "Zeraphine?!" Lynd frowned.


    "Zeek. I''ve meant to ask this. But the first time you saw Zeraphine¡­ you said she was yours. I do sense that you do like her¡­ But it feels... shallow. Are you trying to get Zeraphine in this timeline?" Lynd asked.


    Seeker shook his head.


    "No. At most, I have to repay her for all the future sins she creates."


    "Are you sure about that? You seemed conflicted."


    "My adult self is. As for me, I''m living my best life now. You''ve heard what Irvana said. Arthur is keeping Kristine safe. So-"


    "No use lying, Zeek. I mean, yeah. You''ve been ying the yboy recently. But I know you''re just doing that in an attempt to drown your emotions for Zeraphine. You''ve got to admit you''re affected by your future self''s memories. The first time you saw Kristine, I could tell. You were secretly excited. At least, it seems true that you liked her. It was like the way I''d look at Alean. But when you''re other self awoke, that looked changed. I haven''t seen you look at Zeraphine. But just by talking about her, I know your emotions became all conflicted."


    Seeker was surprised.


    "Really?"


    "You didn''t know?"


    "It''s not that I can''t¡­ I mean, there is another Seeker in me, after all. So I don''t really know if its'' me or him. If it''s me, I will go for Kristine. She''s like the one that got away, you know?" Seeker sighed and began to walk towards the exit.


    "For now, we have to get Zeraphine to go with us. As they say, keep your friends close, your alien enemies, right where you want them to be. Anyway, get ready. Oh, and we need more samples from your harnessed power. And enjoy this time free time while you still can." Seeker walked out of the door.


    "Zeek. Who did Kristine end up with within your future?"


    "She didn''t end up with someone, but there was someone who was close to her heart. And it wasn''t me." Seekerughed.


    "Who got her heart?"


    "You did."


    The door closed.


    Lynd was stunned. He remained silent for a time.


    "You hid well, Zeek. You really hid it well." Lynd couldn''t believe it.. But now, a lot of Seeker''splicated feelings that Lynd had long observed finally made sense.

 Chapter 315 - City Of Refuge

    Another week passed since the series of attacks urred all over the world. And while no battles have happened ever since that time, the world had changed significantly. Currency had already changed.


    As the world fell into a near-war state, trade was the first thing to be greatly affected. If the previous band of the WGP had createdplications, it had not affected trade as a whole. But now, governments were preventing the corporations in their country from conducting trade with certain countries.


    Credits became the standard value used as many countries were following Pangea''s move of switching to Credits as a form of currency. The WGP also epted credits for trade.


    But in a strange twist of events, various corporations lost billions of credits from various hackers. Before these corporations could even begin to exchange or purchase objects of value that were used in war, they already lost most of their funds.


    The hacking was practically untraceable. No one could understand how these huge corporations were hacked as they have intensive measures in ce to prevent hacking. Most of these nations already use a blockchain format in theirworks. Yet, it was as if the full details of their ounts were acquired, and the hackers were able to present valid documents to pretend to be the primary ount holders of these ounts.


    The amount hacked was so severe that some corporations valued over a trillion credits shut down immediately and became bankrupt overnight.


    The chaos was so staggering that the WGP had to step up and find a way how these hackers managed to prate through thework that the WGP designed.


    Many corporations even med that it was the WGP itself that did the hacking.


    Revolts and insurgencies urred on many government levels. Some states, cities, or provinces had their leaders reced. The Underworld became the official means to trade for most countries in the wake of economic copse.


    All of a sudden, those who made a living as entertainers, influencers, streamers, and another form of upations that were deemed as non-essential lost their jobs. Mass migrations, both legal and illegal, happened across all borders.


    Suddenly, huge underwater vessels as huge as cities surfaced in many parts of the world. A few appeared East of Japan. And just when everyone thought the war would ur in the EAA region, it was soon revealed that therge craft belonged to a rather unimportant family in Japan.


    It docked, and videos emerged of how various rich and powerful families began to enter thisrge vessel. It was then that it was revealed that this unimportant family had actually controlled more than a quarter of the Japanese army and various mega-corporation in the EAA.


    Anotherrge vessel emerged in the Indian region. India then dered that the new leader of their nation was the Mann family. The Mann family was legendary in India for being one of the few military forces that could stop the Dragon and his Fangs.


    Soon, several otherrge underwater vessels emerged. Two cities near New Great Britain emerged, and a few more surfaced in the ocean west of America and a few more in the Antic ocean.


    An underwater city in the South American region was slowly ascending. As this structure was once unknown, the many Pioneers were still preparing for their arrival and informing the government of this city.


    Presider Tiana was seated on her chambers, and no one dared to enter it. Her appearance seemed younger, and her skin was glowing. Surrounding the room was several portraits of Meryl, and she was ncing at it as variousputers tried to analyze how it was that her skin held such whiteness.


    "Stop the experiment." She frowned, and the glowing appearance disappeared. While she had white skin that would have been considered wless, it was nothingpared to one of Meryl''s photograph pics.


    "What is missing? How can this girl have such fair and beautiful skin?" She sighed.


    "The whole world in chaos, and your Pioneers are losing money, and here you want to look as cute as Meryl Mikado." All of a sudden, a hologram of a person appeared before him. Garenjazz was dressed in a strange outfit, and his hair was now blonde and had spiky designs.


    "Tiana."


    "Garenjazz. I see that you are not busy. What oundish outfit is that?"


    "Never mind the outfit.


    It''s a great day for us, Aragarians. We have discovered that the one captured in One China, the one who my team was able to recover, has direct contact with the elusive owners of Pokemon. Amanda Mershalle can make us talk to the actual owners who hold the original codes of all games!"


    "The original codes?!" Tiana stood up in shock.


    After the Third World War, most of the games that they have are remake attempts. No one has the authentic first five generation versions of the game anymore. All were remade attempts. The world was content with these remakes that copied the game. The remakes were ording to the memories of those who had the privilege of ying the old games. But the Aragarians had sought the original games as they wanted to see what it was.


    There were theories among the Aragarian circle of what the first games had. It was said that the current Pokedex was vastly inferior to what they had now. More than a hundred Pokemons were lost as no surviving data was found. The WGP had also createdws as some Pokemons were banned due to the world''s sensitive state.


    Known banned Pokemons that the WGP removed from the remakes were Koffing, Grimer, Forretress, Houndoom, and Metagross. But it was said that there were so many more removed and had been erased from history by the WGP for political issues and other concerns as some of these fictional characters resembled things that were considered offensive at that time.


    "Yes! Several Presiders will be joining as well! Talks of the deal to release the original versions with the original list of pokemons are underway. And the current decided location to meet is in South America!"


    "Here?"


    "It was the makers who wanted this meeting to be made there. Rumor has it that an outstanding scientist has managed to create living metals there. It seems this information is still fresh in the Underworld."


    "You n to host the meeting here?" Tiana asked directly.


    "Yes. Several Presiders will be making the visit. If that living metal is true and isn''t from any of our team, it is most likely a heritage from the Lost Primordial. That organization will make its appearance as well!"


    "Oh? It looks like I''ll be busy. But if you want me to host this ce, then it will cost you. The Pioneer who owns this underwater city is suffering great financial losses and will find it difficult to maintain it. As you just said, the chaos of the world had bankrupted several of the corporation belonging to the Pioneers serving under me."


    "How much did your Pioneers lose from that hacking incident?"


    "Four trillion credits all in all. We don''t know where it went. And with the current state today, most of the nations or corporations we were trading with are refusing any currency, even credits! Most of them are demanding trade of goods, techs, and other items that we offer."


    "This should be the doing of those Lost Primordials. They know we are here, and they are forcing our hand to appear. They must have found out who are Pioneers are through various means. An X-Ray would be the easiest. They just have to look at any human being with reversed organs." Garenjazz stated.


    "It''s frustrating that we have to rely on the resources of this. I''m starting to think that the battle-crazed Gordon has the right idea to start the war now."


    "And who would send out their forces? None of us wants to take the first step and wants to wait for the Principal to arrive first. Everyone has been acting less trusting after Crostfree''s death. I have information about Crostfree''s death. I can give it to you if you exclude me from paying your Pioneers all these earthly finances and items."


    "I have another information regarding the Lost Primordial''s legacy. Care to trade?" Tiana smiled.


    Garenjazz''s expression changed.


    "Hm¡­ We''ll talk when I get there."


    "That scientist you mentioned¡­ Can it be from the former Panzer Corp? They rebranded their corporation to Unlocked Industries, I believe."


    "The very same. To think that another would surface here. Aside from Pangea, which we already expected to find a way to survive and change their trade and economic policies, Unlocked Industries may be the key to build that here."


    "Build what?"


    "A City of Refuge."


    "What''s a City of Refuge?" Tiana asked.


    "It''s what they''ve been calling Pangea. A certain preacher''s sermon has been making rounds all over the world. Pridgeon is angry and wants us to manipte things so that this pastor''s sermons would be banned on many parts of the world."


    "Why? Are his sermons so formidable that it''s affecting our ns with the Jews?"


    "Not really. If anything, it''s helping it. That pastor has convinced several surviving corporations to aid in the regathering of the Jews."


    "Then why is it a problem?"


    "Because these Jews will be housed in the areas that they call Cities of Refuge. Pridgeon''s efforts are now being affected. Pridgeon wanted one ce where all the Jews would be, but this n will divide it."


    "His obsession with the Jews is really annoying. I heard he took over whatever Crostfree had in Australia."


    "Yes. Anyway, the city of refuge is a term that became popr due to the pastors preaching. It is a city or ce where people can find refuge. Right now, a lot of people are trying to go to Pangea, which everyone is expecting to be a major superpower soon. But with Unlocked Industries, another will rise in South America."


    Tiana was silent, but she was secretlyining. Garenjazz showed no reaction when he asked about Pridgeon. She looked as if she was listening, but she was looking at Garenjazz''s minute expressions.


    "He either believes the same thing that I believe about Pridgeon killed Crostfree, or he finds Pridgeon''s gains so minute that he doesn''t care!" Tiana thought to herself.


    "Are you listening?" Garenjazz frowned.


    "Or is there something on my face?" Garenjazz then began to look at a mirror which manifested on his hands.


    "I just became bored with your talks of the City of Refuge."


    "Bored? You shouldn''t be. I advise you to help build that up! We need officials and members inside thatmunity! To save resources for the war, we need to create a military force that can threaten this world. Pangea obviously belongs to this mysterious group that killed Crostfree. And there is also the real Lost Primordial. We don''t know if that is something a Presider decided to use to kill us secretly or if the Lost Primordial exists on Earth! You''ve seen the sunken cities on Earth. We cannot even find all of them. It''s very possible for the Lost Primordial to be hidden underwater!"


    Tiana was silent. But her thoughts were actually focused on how Garenjazz said Crostfree was ''killed by the mysterious group,'' implying that Crostfree believed it was them that killed Garenjazz and not Pridgeon.


    "We''ll talk moreter. Also, is it possible to get Meryl Mikado to be in this meeting?" Tiana asked.


    "Hm? I think it''s possible. Zeraphine had stated that she wanted to, and she''s had to contact with the elusive Seeker Carlean."


    "Oh? Has she had her fun yet? I found out that that Seeker Carlean was up for rent in the Underworld."


    "Tell me about it. Zeraphine was so angry that he almostunched an attack at those who paid for Carlean. If these people weren''t halfway around the world, they''d be dead by now. But no. I don''t think she has hadmunication with him ever since Harker''s defeat. I can ask her to invite Meryl but expect Seeker''s whole gang to join in as well."


    "If she manages to do that, I won''t ask her to pay for staying here."


    "I''ll tell her." Garenjazz nodded as his transmission disappeared.


    Tiana immediately waved her hands, and several Pioneers appeared as holograms.


    "Increase the speed of our surfacing. Contact the government and state that we are willing to trade with Unlocked Industries and offer up several techs. Send them these data." Tiana retrieved the data concerning technologies and theories on how to create weapons for underwater warfare.


    The Pioneers were amazed at the data and immediately nodded.


    "It will be done, Presider!"


    The underwater city, Day06, quickly surfaced to the world.

 Chapter 316 - A Gathering Of Pangea’s Best

    A submarine carried a few selected people who were invited to join in on the great reveal. In that submarine were among the wealthiest people in all of Pangea. Lara Diamon and Charm Novelty-stoise sat among the group.


    Charm and Lara were seated in a small room. It was secure, and they couldn''t hear the loud sounds outside the room. The escorts and bodyguards of both groups were seated on different rooms as Lara and Charm requested. While the bodyguards didn''t agree to this, they had no choice as their masters insisted on this arrangement.


    "I''m still not used to this." Charm sighed. She continued to peruse over the small digital map, which listed where all the guests stayed. The names of the people on that map were all famous and powerful.


    "Rx. Your heritage outmatches most of them." Lara smiled as sheforted her friend.


    "Says the girl who managed to relocate all of the Diamon''s resources quickly. I''m still surprised that you owned an underwater city!"


    "That wasn''t mine! I had no idea as well!" Lara chuckled.


    "Have you heard from Seeker?" Charm asked.


    Lara shook her head.


    "The situation turned out to be quite more severe than we thought. Seeker is hidden, and only Harker knows his current location. Harker let me in on a certain secret as well." Lara sighed.


    "A certain secret?"


    "It involved Seeker and exined how it was that he became so¡­ awesome. I''ve read the history of Seeker''s parents¡­ it turns out that he isn''t their real son. Chris and Grace Carlean are Force Operatives of the Americas. Seeker was their adoptive son. But the birth parent''s Seeker is said to be from the lineage of this mysterious person called the Progenitor. Harker''s allies who have secretly partnered with the WGP to destroy that Lost Primordial carried the moon received their techs from this Progenitor." Lara exined.


    Charm''s eyes widened.


    "That''s the name of the group? Progenitor sounds like a person."


    "It must be whoever has these techs. So we have the Lost Primordial and now the Progenitor. We finally have a name for them."


    "What about those Pioneers and nteds that we keep hearing in the news?"


    "Harker said that they must be serving the Lost Primordial as he heard of rumors where they used an operation called the Programmed ve. It''s an operation that practically mind controls you into following their orders."


    "What?! How sickening!"


    "That''s exactly why they had to hide Seeker. Being a descendant, the Lost Primordial would be after him. That''s why even I am unable to contact him¡­" Lara sighed.


    "Ladies and gentleman, please use your screen to observe the underwater city before you." An announcement rang out.


    Lara immediately used the remote to turn on the television. What she saw shocked her.


    "That''s not a city¡­ It looks like a strange Lingkaran." Charm frowned.


    But Lara knew better.


    "The King Naga!" She eximed.


    "King Naga? The SPU mobile fortress? Oh my god! You''re right!" Charm then noticed the peculiar shape of the serpent-like object that kept rotating.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, you are all our sponsors and are the main sources that can help Pangea be a so-called City of Refuge. So while the world believes otherwise, we cannot let you, our beloved sponsors, be deceived. Behold, our recent sess. We''ve lost an army in the South Pacific, but we gained another in the South China Sea. Behold, a functioning King Naga. Captured to replenish our lost forces."


    The many Pangean powerhouses were stunned to see this scene.


    "They have it! Harker has it!" Charm began to shed tears of joy. Such victory brought more hope to Pangea.


    The others even grew more emotional and cried.


    The submarine slowly docked on the Lingkaran as the soldier continued to recount the battle of the SPU. Through Harker''s first super-soldier, they could infiltrate and attack the King Naga from the inside. The details were exined on how the mission was pulled off.


    And while most of them listened and marveled at the exnation, Lara wasn''t.


    She knew what the King Naga was and understood its structure more than anyone else in Pangea.


    As such, she frowned as she listened. This ount was a lie.


    The Lingkaran was also shown as some minor repairs were still being made underwater. Nevertheless, the Lingkaran was fully functional.


    The submarine docked, and all passengers and guessed went on board the Lingkaran. The group was immediately led towards the King Naga.


    Various SPU soldiers led the group to the surprise of many.


    "We are Harker Cipril''s Programmed ves." The soldiers announced as he smiled.


    "Please go ahead and ask me any questions that you have." The soldier offered.


    The investors began to throw one question after the other as the SPU soldier politely answered his questions.


    He revealed that he was a Programmed ve and that he is a native of SPU. But now, he was the recipient of the Programmed ve operation and began to detail what that implied.


    The group was amazed at such an operation and even began to ask various questions on how the Programmed ve operation works.


    Charm''s appearance drained as she looked in disgust at this.


    "Lara¡­? Are you ok with this?" Noticing Lara''s unaffected look, Charm couldn''t help but wonder.


    "I''ve known about this, Lara. Even before. And look around you. I''m not the only one. About a fourth of everyone here already knew of this operation." Lara pointed out.


    "Try to look around. But don''t do it so obviously." Lara added.


    Charm followed and nced around. While some of the people asked how the operation works and even offered to purchase this tech, some of the guests remained silent and did not offer any questions.


    "How cruel¡­" Charm felt sick in her stomach.


    "Charm. This is the real world. But I know of this operation. Don''t be too impressed with what Harker is showing you. I know the cost of this operation. These people are nted with some form of device in the brain that controls the release of hormones. It dictates when a person is happy. But this small device is very hard to make. They''d have to make a new element not yet known by most of the world. Only the top of the Underworld has this." Lara exined.


    "What do you mean?"


    "In short, Harker is tricking most of the investors here. It''s him flexing his muscles. The truth is, he cannot do the programmed ve operation to that many people. The cost alone in making enough to control this many people would already eclipse the cost of building one Pangean Shape." Lara exined.


    "Please settle down." A familiar figure appeared. It was one of the soldiers who had always been seen loyally serving Harker.


    "Tyler!" Lara called out.


    "Nice to see you again, Miss Lara." Tyler smiled and gave special attention to Lara.


    "Dear investors, we have a special show for you to see. Let us enter. Gardo Dalisay of the Dalisay n is already inside. He took part in this mission to capture the King Naga." Tyler led the group into a smaller ship that allowed them to transfer from the Lingkaran and move to have a closer view of the SPU''s King Naga.


    The entire group was divided into several small pods led by Tyler, Scribs, and Earl. The three most trusted soldiers of Harker.


    Lara was with Charm and a few prominent members of Pangea''s richest circle. The small pod circled all over the King Naga and revealed how it was practically undamaged, and many SPU soldiers patrolled the area.


    "What exactly is going to happen here?" Charm whispered to Lara


    "It''s basically an attempt for Harker to garner support from all the strongest families in Pangea," Lara answered loudly. Not bothering to hide her voice.


    "Oh? It looks like Miss Diamon is making quite an usation." Tylerughed.


    "A necessary usation. The fight against the King Naga happened weeks ago! Repairing the King Naga and the Lingkaran could have beenpleted a few days ago. What you are showing now is merely a pretense. What is the original state of this ship? Did you sink it? We detected immense energy underwater. Don''t forget my family has an underwater city." Lara challenged.


    "Amazing. And here I thought that Miss Diamon would be like Miss Novelty-stoise." Tyler chuckled.


    "Everyone in this room except Charm already knew of the operation cost to make a Programmed ve. You cannot do a mass operation. You separated us into groups for this underwater tour to talk to us. Harker knew that everyone in here would be the most skeptical of your operations, so you decided to bepletely honest to us." Lara smirked.


    "Ah. I shall instill to my old bones, never to take the youth lightly!" An old Pangean powerhouse smiled.


    "Mister Russel Aggripa. It''s a pleasure to meet you." Lara gave a respected curtsy.


    "It seems that we don''t need to pretend. What happened, Tyler? How did you capture the King Naga?"


    "Would you believe me that the King Naga didn''t receive great damage in the battle? And while the Lingkaran had been damaged, it isn''t as bad as you thought it would be?"


    "Humor us." An impatient woman challenged.


    "All of you were given a special task of using your resources to find Lynd Indigo. But it seems that the Progenitor was pulling a trick on us to see if there are any traitors. We already have Lynd Indigo. We thought him to be a Lost Primordial, but just like Seeker, he too is rted to the Progenitor."


    The unimpressed looks of everyone became stunned, wide-eyed expressions.


    "I say rted, but Lynd Indigo is an experiment that the Progenitor had in the depths of SPU. The Progenitor has a base there. It was the Progenitor who decided to manipte the government of the newly founded SPU to use that arrogant naming scheme."


    "What do you mean by arrogant?" Russel asked.


    "South Pacific is the region that epasses most of South Asia. Yet now, the SPU only holds the territories of the upper part of South Asia. When the SPU began their crusade, they envisioned the entire South Pacific, and this includes Australia, to be theirs. And their hatred for Pangea began when Pangea was able to resist their arrogant dreams and fought back. This is why rtions between SPU, Pangea, and Australia are never amicable."


    "What has this to do with this Progenitor?" The impatient woman now asked with a more sincere and curious expression.


    Charm was surprised to see that she was the only one who didn''t know about the Progenitor until a while ago.


    "Everything. The Progenitor knew that the mysterious Lost Primordial would not nt its seeds in the SPU. For a time, it was safe, and the Progenitor managed toplete its experiment. It experimented on the son of a wild pair of mercenaries named Lynda and Peters Indigo. Of course, these two were thought to retire, but it was actually to send the child to Pangea where it would escape the eyes of the Lost Primordial." Tyler exined.


    "Then¡­ Lynd is?"


    "He''s safe. The Progenitor didn''t tell us as he feared there were traitors among us. He kept it a secret and made Lynd escape on a secret ship. And that ship was recovered by the King Naga before it attacked the Lingkaran." Tyler exined.


    "So Lynd is the reason why we have a King Naga?"


    "Not exactly. Lynd had the techs installed inside his body. He is changed to the gic level. The techs that Unlocked Industries revealed are a tech of the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor. Rather, it''s a very inferior version of what Progenitor and our enemies have. Lynd is made of this cellr metal and can do superhuman things. And through that ability, he deployed a virus of the Progenitor. A virus with such advanced A.I that it could hack and take control of the King Naga!" Tyler smiled.


    Lara''s eyebrows were raised as she heard it.


    On another room, Seeker and Lynd were looking at the feeds.


    "Did she buy the lies of how we got the King Naga?" Seeker asked.


    "I think so. It''s very difficult for me to observe or use my powers to empathize and sympathize with her. You''re right. That''s not her real body!" Lynd frowned.


    "But did she believe the lies?"


    "She has her doubts, but you could say she thinks it possible."


    "Good enough for me. Tyler. Don''t give any more details than that." Seeker ordered.


    "Already? That was less than half the lies you prepared!"


    "The fewer lies we give, the less chance of getting found out. This is alright. At least now, to her, the return of Lynd Indigo will go unquestioned."


    "You gave her the tasks of looking for me and then suddenly bring me back and say that I''m an ally. You''re cruel, Zeek." Lyndughed.


    "We don''t know what these Presiders can do with all their techs. Right now, with everything that we''re nning, Lowengren had the right call. We have to make these Presiders waste time and effort to look for non-existent things. Tyler. Do it." Seeker ordered.


    Back in the room, various questions andints were being made. Some of the families invested a huge sum in looking for Lynd. And they were very angry to see that it was all pointless.


    "Everyone¡­ We willpensate you soon. Right now, the Progenitor has given us the ess to mass produce that technology!"


    "That technology?"


    "Behold," Tyler revealed it.


    It was long and firm, sturdy and stalwart.


    "Phallic Techs! The power to rule this world!"


    Tyler had shown the best and most powerful of Pangea a dildo.

 Chapter 317 - A Divided Enemy

    As the tour continued, they were brought into the mainmand center of the King Naga and were told to wait. General Harker Cipril himself would visit them. It was also then that Tyler exined that their gathering was set at the same time to witness another momentous event. After Harker appears and reveals more shocking secrets, the call to SPU will begin. And Pangea will offer a secret alliance with the SPU.


    Even Lara herself was amazed at what Harker could do. At that time, Lara even wanted to make Harker one of his soldiers because of the wit and intelligence that he had.


    "No wonder the Lost Primordial wanted Harker. It must be quite a disruption in their ns that this man betrayed them." Lara thought as she looked around her. She kept checking her signal through the imnted chip that allowed her tomunicate and ess things through her eyes. But sadly, the signal was unable to reach as they were deep underwater. There were also a lot of distorting techs that were employed.


    "Is this ce to your liking, Miss Diamon?" Tyler smiled as he ced a cup of coffee nearby.


    "I still can''t understand why you would call the SPU and offer an alliance."


    "It''s all part of the n. The Lost Primordial is quite an elusive group. They are even more elusive than those allies that Harker found. But one thing our spies are certain off, none of the leaders in the SPU are connected to the Lost Primordial." Tyler exined.


    "Still, it''s risky business. You don''t know that." Lara countered.


    "This is something we carefully considered. We will always be on our guard against the SPU. But we''d rather have a divided enemy than a united one. Our efforts of reaching out to them will help us in gaining more forces. If the SPU is always our enemies, they might as well try and invest a little to make them our allies."


    "That does make sense¡­" Charm nodded.


    "Truth be told, Australia has alsoe into a form of upheaval. A new leader who was secretly manipting things behind the scene is now the real leader of Australia. After the events three weeks ago, several General were tried and executed for betraying the country. It looked like there were twelve secret factions in Australia led by a mysterious group called the Twelve. The new leader of Australia is asking to ally with us. They have already agreed to help us be a City of Refuge."


    Lara was stunned as she heard this.


    "What do you mean? I have connections in Australia, and I know that someone is trying to take over it. But why would they contact you?"


    "I don''t think that this ''someone'' your connections told you is the same one trying to win our favor. There are several people fighting to im Australia. But ording to the Progenitor, this man is the best to ally with since he has a deep hatred for the Lost Primordials and is not known. I heard that he was once one of Lost Primordial. Until one day, many betrayed him." Tyler exined.


    Charm began to ask questions eagerly, but Lara was silent.


    She began to scour her memories in an attempt to solve just who this person could be. She knew that Pridgeon was in Australia until two weeks ago and left several Pioneers in charge of trying to salvage whatever they can in Australia. Wasn''t Pridgeon tasked to control Australia? Her thoughts went back to the rumors of possible betrayals after the third world war.


    "¡­ And that''s why we are having a hard time looking for these Lost Primordial." Tyler continued to answer Charm''s never-ending question.


    "But what about the Progenitor? How was it able to escape the watchful eyes of the Lost Primordial."


    "We don''t exactly know. But General Harker put it this way¡­ You can hide from something if you know what that something is." Tyler exined.


    "That doesn''t make sense."


    "It does." Lara interrupted.


    "The Progenitor knew about the Lost Primordial, and because they knew about it, they did their best to hide from it. They knew that a powerful, unseen, and ever-watchful force existed on this and made the preparations and necessary precautions to hide away from them. You can''t hide from something that you don''t know exist. But if you know what it is, you''d know how to hide from it."


    "That is correct. And frankly, we don''t know. The deep seas remained unexplored. We haven''t scoured every inch of it. And even if we did, what if there are even underwater cities that hide beneath the city? What if these powerful organizations exist in the deep underworld area?"


    "So it''s a big world after all¡­" Charm sighed helplessly.


    "So what exactly are we waiting for? And how are you going to have that call with SPU?"


    "Any minute now. Just rx."


    "And the Phallic techs?" Lara asked.


    "You''ve seen the sample. We believe that those devices interfere with the three dimensions. Have you seen anything special from that tech?"


    "No. It looked just like an ordinary- erm¡­ stick until you harnessed energy on it, and it somehow became alive."


    "That''s right! The person who demonstrated it earlier was just a normal human. You''ve seen his scans. And you''ve all held that stick for several minutes to confirm how normal it was. Oh. Except for Miss Charm, who didn''t dare to hold."


    "I''d rather die, thank you."


    "And then¡­ the miracle. The dormant stick became alive and began to harness energy all of a sudden when we gave it to the soldier who had the right techs of activating it. You''ve seen that the stick suddenly awakened as the cells became alive."


    "How did that happen? On what framework can a stick suddenly be alive?" Lara asked.


    "That''s the mystery of phallic techs. It just did. We believe that the ancient civilizations of old discovered this by ident. Why was it that several nations were obsessed with erecting stone or wooden pirs in the ancient world? These phallic symbols were known as Asherah poles! Even the Bible urged the Jews of their time not only to stop erecting them but even had many God-fearing men tear it all down! "


    "You''re mixing religious superstitions to high-tech science?"


    "We''ve seen werewolves and vampires in this time. The existence of Voodoo and the shaman magic in Africa have already been documented. We are reaching an age where science, magic, and religious superstition are all mixing. Of course, being a Phil-Pangean native, my Christian roots and upbringing naturally incline me to go back to these roots of mine. Wasn''t the first tower that the anent world created was arge towering infrastructure? What if the phallic symbol of this tower of Babel is something that naturally breaks the dimensions?" Tyler asked.


    Charm maintained her unimpressed and uninterested impression, but Lara was secretly shocked.


    "Tower of Babel? Babelians? Could it be?" She wondered.


    The doors of the gates suddenly were opened.


    The majestic, glorious, unparalleled, undisputed, illustrious, eye-popping, eyebrow-raising, breath-taking, heart-stopping, spine-chilling, most amazing figure of the General of the Heroes Army was seen by all.


    There was something that made everyone simply stop and nced as Harker Cipril walked into the room.


    "The Light of Pangea himself¡­" One of the Pangean elites nearly fell off his chair as the imposing figure of Harker waltz right in and took his seat.


    "Citizens, friends, and protectors¡­ That is right. Protectors. Each and everyone one of you here is investing your resources to support my army. And even when I was defeated in the South Pacific sea, you still remained and trusted me. You are protectors of Pangea. The Lost Primordial has such a grand scheme. They sought to destroy the army of Pangea. And when they seeded, it was you who stepped up and offered techs and resources to help bridge the gap. But among these statements of mine¡­ one of them is incorrect. The Lost Primordial did not seed."


    Suddenly, images of the strange moon that appeared during the battle were shown once more.


    "Regardless of how the battle and ambush happened, we still managed to destroy one of their fortresses. I have found that the fortress was something that breached the dimensions! And we destroyed it! Whatever it was that attacked us, the Progenitor had found out how it got there! It was the Antis!"


    "The Antis?!" The crowd began to talk and whispered among themselves.


    "That''s correct. The Emperors were on our side during that battle. The Kraken was not. That battle was used to lure in the Lost Primordial. We, in partnership with the many secret groups, raided the Kraken. And while the Kraken was not on our side, the Emperors were. They did not know who in the Kraken would betray us. But sadly¡­" Harker sighed.


    Everyone was stunned silent.


    "Thest of the three Emperor served the Lost Primordial." Tyler continued.


    "Using the Antis, he created a means to harness strange Lightning Energy through Phallic techs and attacked our army. But this was done at the expense of the Antis. It''s gone. We tried to search for it underwater¡­ and all we found were wreckage and destroyed pieces. We believed that the Lost Primordial used the energy of the Antis to create the lightning attacks that massacred our army." Tyler stated and various pictures were shown on screen as Tyler, Scribs and Earl moved towards the tform in front.


    "It looked like a massacre. But it wasn''t! It was a ploy!" Harker continued.


    "The General is right. We believe that the Lost Primordial used that attack in desperation. But what we gained was more. The Lost Primordial''s intent was to show the world how strong he was. But he failed. We managed to destroy that moon." Tyler exined.


    "Are there any questions?" Scribs asked.


    Suddenly, several raised hands could be seen.


    But as the question and answer began, Lara was lost in her own thoughts.


    "No! These guys are wrong! The Lost Primordial only appeared at thest moment! They forced Harker and the Progenitor to fight Crostfree and only appeared at thest second! Then the Lost Primordial is someone who knows the existence of the Progenitor and the Presiders!" Lara concluded.


    Thinking back, it made sense. With her discussion with Tyler, the Lost Primordial was using his advantage of knowing who the Presider was and that a mighty army on Earth that can challenge a Presider existed!


    While the discussion continued, Seeker, Lynd, and Cliff were looking at the monitors on the next room.


    "Looks like it''s working¡­" Cliff noted.


    "That''s her expression earlier."


    "Right. She feels as if she realized something. It''s shocking her." Lynd added.


    "Of course she is. We controlled the flow of the conversation, and then, with a little help of me leaking out the emotions I had when I discovered that the world had been fighting an alien threat, it''s only quite expected that she woulde to this conclusion all the more." Seeker smiled. There were several devices and wires connected on the different parts of his body.


    Seeker had been releasing his emotions which were being sent towards the seat where Lara was seated.


    "It''s amazing how you used Harker... You made him talk only whenever he would say something true. Tyler and the rest would step in to speak the lies." Cliff observed. He had been able to copy how Harker would make an honest im and was taught how to use it.


    "Maybe like this, I can switch from Harker to Lowengren. Truth and lies as a weapon..." Cliff thought to himself.


    "It''s effective. I feel that Lara believed everything..." Lynd added.


    "We''ll have one more Presider believing this lie that one among the Presiders has betrayed them." Seeker smiled.


    "Satan casts out Satan." Cliff recalled.


    "So this is what you mean, Zeek." Cliff realized.


    "Yeah. Jesus said that His Kingdom, His real one with the real followers, is a united one. And He tells us that if Satan fights among his devils and begins to cast each other out, Satan''s kingdom will not stand. And that''s our n. Divide the Presiders. We give them a seed of doubt. Lowengren has managed to do that. He made that Presider believe that there is a traitor among them. And we know that Arthur had predicted that this Pridgeon would. So we increase the crimes of Pridgeon, and they will all be fighting among themselves."


    "How many Presiders are we aiming to kill with this plot?"


    "We''ll see. They''ve taken the bait already. Some strange guy had appeared to Amanda, and with her connections, we must have lured out one or two Presiders. We''ll observe just how strong they are. If possible, we kill one and make it look like another Presider did it." Seeker smiled.


    "You can''t mean¡­ you want to make it look like Zeraphine killed them?" Lynd finally understood what Seeker was trying to do.


    "Yes." Seeker smiled.


    "That''s cruel, Zeek. I mean, that person is still a friend of Charm¡­" Cliff added,


    Seeker kept silent and observed Zeraphine''s expression.


    "Zeek¡­ Tell me the truth. Are you doing this to torture her for what she did in your future? Or are you trying to iste her among Presiders so that you can finally have her?" Lynd asked.


    "I''m trying to save the world." Seeker stood up and removed the devices.


    "I''m going ahead. It''s my time to move." Seeker walked out of the room immediately.


    Lynd shook his head and sighed.


    Lara was deep in her thoughts when she heard the door open.


    "Ladies and Gentlemen, here is a living descendant of the Progenitor. Seeker Carlean." General Harker introduced.


    "Seeker?!" Lara and Charm eximed.

 Chapter 318 - Luring Presiders

    The appearance of Seeker Carlean drew interesting reactions. And while the cries and surprises could be heard, Lara felt her world stop.


    For some strange reason, memories of her first meeting resurfaced in her mind. She saw herself being reflected in Seeker''s eyes. And a strange feeling was bubbling up in her.


    She saw Seeker nce at her, and his gaze stopped.


    "Lara?!" Seeker eximed. He then turned towards Harker.


    "What''s going on?"


    Harker, however, ignored Seeker.


    "It may be shocking news, but this kid right here is the son or rather the descendant of the Progenitor. Right now, I find it necessary to exin in full detail who our enemies are and who the Progenitor is. I am sure that a time wille that they will reveal themselves and may spread their lies to garner allegiance. In other words, you might hear the side of our enemies. And just like a group trying to sell a product, it might be an exaggeration."


    "It''s good that you are very upfront with this." One of the oldest Pangean family spoke. It was Bing Aquino. Whether or not his tone was admirable or sarcastic, only he knew.


    "That is the question, is it? Am I putting my life at risk here? Now that we''ve witnessed how the WGP is not that all-powerful, we are now asking ourselves, are we siding with the right guys? This decision could mean not only extreme losses but death as well." Harker smiled.


    "However, our enemies have performed inhuman experiments even in Pangean soil. The Progenitor didn''t. He only subjected a few to the experiments. Such experiments include Lynd Indigo."


    Lynd suddenly appeared. He had a very tired expression and portrayed his robotic arms.


    The group was immediately startled to see Lynd enter the room.


    "Lynd Indigo is one of the first sessful experiments," Tyler exined.


    "Lynd¡­ Show it."


    Lynd nodded and closed his eyes.


    Suddenly, a strange shing light appeared and covered the room. Suddenly, it disappeared.


    As the various elites were finally recovering from their sight, they could see Lynd on the floor, gasping for breaths.


    "Everbright! That was Everbright!" One of the spectators eximed.


    Lara frowned. She didn''t bring her most advanced techs with her. Her trip down here was something that would give her the chance to meet the elusive supporters of Harker. But knowing that the enemy had such powerful techs, Lara didn''t bring her gadgets to hide her presence from the Progenitor. As such, she couldn''t understand what she saw. All she carried was a recording device that recorded everything.


    Scribs and Earl had already approached Lynd and fed him something, and carried him to a seat nearby.


    "What was that?!"


    "Courtesy of the Dalisay''s tech, we''ve managed to finally create a living Everbright. It is now possible to create soldiers who can do that." Tyler smiled.


    "We are in an age of impossibilities. Lynd did not use any devices or suits that can help him. As such, what you''ve witnessed was something that he generated using his own body. But it is possible to have things that can support him to help him minimize the expenditure of his newly gained power. But that which you saw is but the tip of the iceberg. Compared to the Dawn technology of Australia, we now can create super-soldiers that are enhanced."


    "And the reason we are here is that you want us to fund the creation of these super soldiers." Bing Aquino guessed.


    Harker smiled.


    "That is exactly the point. I know you all have techs and developments unique to your own family. Some are better than others. I have seen the Dalisay''s techs and think it should rank at the top three in all of Pangea if not first. But if Pangea were to grow, then all of you should grow with me."


    "You mean¡­ you will give us the basic techs to do what this Lynd can do? And you want us to enhance it with our techs?" Another among the families asked.


    "This is quite tempting. But I don''t believe that Gardo''s tech beats ours." The head of the Agrippa familyughed.


    Harker used his remote and pointed it at the monitor.


    Gardo Dalisay was seen fighting Exoskeletons that were attacking him. He had a strange blue suit. But what was shocking was that fire was exploding out of Gardo''s hands as he punched the Exoskeletons and sent it flying back.


    The jaws of almost everyone in the room dropped.


    "Looking at all your reaction, then it seems, the Dalisay family takes home the prize. And I believe that his techs outmatch yours by miles." Harker said stoically.


    "But don''t feel down. The Dalisay is someone who has inherited his techs from the Progenitor. We believe that the various sightings of supermen throughout the world gained their techs from the Progenitor..."


    "Or from the Lost Primordial." Tyler continued Harker''s statement.


    "The age of supermen are among us. The WGP has retreated but do you think they are giving up? I learned from the Progenitor that what they are doing now is a tech revolution. All Emperors are very much independent. In short, what we are doing in this room, is what they are doing. All of them are now sharing techs. They had made each group and Emperor develop their techs to grow. But now, it''s time for them to regroup. Once they emerge out of their cocoon, they will be something new. I want Pangea to do the same." Harker exined.


    "So that''s why you killed or ruled over all your politicalpetitors." A woman spoke.


    "You have been nning Pangea''s unity from the start!"


    "It is as you say, Tan Sri Lucia Patail. This is why I had to deal with the different pests in My and Indo Pangea. Only through this can we rise to be a City of Refuge!"


    There was thunderous apuse. The group was cheering at the scene.


    Lynd was already seated next to Cliff on the other room. But unlike his fatigued expression earlier, he was now calm and rxed and began to indulge on the rare rewards that he had never had the chance to enjoy.


    As a General of Seeker''s armies, he had the best devices andputers that Lennox himself designed! He boasted of havingputers that could crash a country or hack into the most secureworks and remained undetected! It had True Sight Tech, which was the highest graphic card in existence. Theputer could load data asrge as the entire Lingkaran itself, and it won''t falter.


    Lynd hesitated between ying the top three things he wanted to y. The first was his modded Skyrim. The second was the fun Virtual reality program that they were using to train more soldiers and challenge Git Godlike, to which he has bested three times. Thest is a rare relic of a game that they received after Lennox convinced Commander Sthiel to ally with them.


    After much deliberation, Lynd decided to boot up the PS1 Emtor and y Legend of Dragoon.


    Cliff watched with a weird expression.


    "Seriously? That one? I wouldn''t have been able to guess that you''d y that game even if you gave me a day for a name!" Cliff expressed his disgust.*


    "You wouldn''t get it." Lynd smiled.


    "What I don''t understand is this n! We are painting a target over the Families! That Lara or Zeraphine or whoever she is will make the Presiders move against them! But this n recklessly exposes us as well!"


    "Exactly! This will force the heroes and near-Oveers among these families to rise. This will be their tribtion. It will also force them to relocate to the City of Refuge. It helps us gather our team and exposes the Presiders who will make a move. And it''s only a matter of time that we get exposed. So instead of making them exert a lot of effort to fish us out, we show them that we do exist but downy our value. Then the Presiders won''t focus on us."


    "Still! I don''t like the idea of Presiders snooping around Pangea or whatever base we have!"


    "They won''t. I can somehow guess what''s the n. They create a mysterious entity that is moving all over the world. His shadow and his mark will be all that the Presiders will see."


    "Wait. You mean Lowengren."


    "Yeah. But seriously, Cliff. Rx now. While our trip sounds uneventful, Seeker''s out there right now, with Lara."


    "I know his intent. He wants to leak some of the Programmed ves we have. By telling the Presiders that we too have Programmed ves, they will try to reprogram our ves. But the people that Seeker will leak are either Unlocked who can control their emotions or are people exposed to the Tyrant Empress. Double agent unlocked spies. And many will be from Lowengren''s group. Warfreakz first most dangerous mission."


    "That''s not all. Think. We are going to an underwater city. Do you think he won''t milk this trip for all it''s worth? He will try to subtly manipte Lara into inviting more Presiders to the South America region! And we will be staying within the base!"


    "Yeah. But Seeker''s there."


    "Oh, my sweet innocent, Cliff. Have you learned anything? The new Seeker didn''t even y around and made me fight Ranked Heroes and Near-Oveers together. He even allowed a battle that innocents are involved. What do you think he will do to a human-recording machine that can remember everything perfectly? You''d be sent to spy against Presiders. You might have to go toe-to-toe with a Presider."


    Cliff felt his liver scream in pain.


    Outside, Lara and Seeker were catching up.


    "I can''t believe that you''re here! And listen, ignore Harker. I can talk him out of this whole fiance thing." Seekerughed.


    "I¡­ really don''t have a choice in this matter either." Laraughed.


    "You''re parents are forcing you?"


    "Harker told me that you are the descendant of this Progenitor. So¡­ they really want to get some of that."


    "But are you¡­ alright with getting some of this?" Seeker gave a bashfulugh.


    Lara blushed but couldn''t help smiling.


    "Listen, Lara. I have something important to say¡­"


    "Zeek. I know. Harker um¡­ told me."


    "He told you?" Seeker stunned.


    "Yes. I wanted to kill them, honestly. When I heard about it. You were¡­ sold to a few people. It doesn''t change the way I see you.


    "Wait. That''s what he said?!" Seeker cursed.


    "Yes. It''s alright. He told me this right before I agreed to be your fiance. I knew what happened before."


    "No! That''s not what I meant. Think! You honestly think that Harker will send the Progenitors descendant to be an on-sale item for various sick perverts all over the world?" Seeker challenged.


    Lara thought for a bit and realized the w in her thinking.


    A strange thought surfaced in Seeker''s mind.


    "Oh! That tricky Harker. I suppose Lara was so blinded in rage that she couldn''t think through this logically. This means she truly likes you. Seeker and Lara, sitting on a Kraken. K I S S-"


    "Stop it, Greg!" Seeker cursed mentally.


    "Then what happened?! Why would Harker tell me that?"


    "I don''t know. Maybe she didn''t trust you at that time. It''s only now that information about my heritage is being cascaded down. I''m guessing it was to keep me out of the Lost Primordial''s attention. Harker did put me up for sale. But that sale never happened. All who secretly came and hid their trails to Pangea are now Programmed ves! They went back to whence they came but as spies. I guess that was one way to remove any suspicion that the Lost Primordial had on me as well."


    "I¡­ I see¡­ Then I''m happy. I was¡­ worried." Lara smiled.


    "Yeah. Listen, I don''t have much time here. I will be sent to the South Americas. Harker is still organizing a safe ce for me to stay. Him cascading the information is to push any possible traitors within the Pangean elites to inform the Lost Primordial. It''s actually a trap. Harker wants the Lost Primordial to attack the Lingkaran and the King Naga!"


    "I see¡­ So that''s the n! Where will you stay?"


    "Harker is connected with Unlocked Industries. He says that a deal is happening with an Underwater City. I n to stay there.. And from what I heard, the Progenitor will also be there!" Seeker announced excitedly.

 Chapter 319 - Lies For Lara

    Lara was stunned at Seeker''s deration.


    "The Progenitor himself?!"


    "Yeah!"


    Lara had a strange expression on her face.


    "Seeker. I know this is a bold thing for me to ask. But¡­"


    "I know. I guess this is one more reason to stay as my fiance." Seeker smiled.


    Lara blushed all of a sudden.


    "I''m sorry. The truth is, this is just a big opportunity for me. This is the enigmatic Progenitor! That entity hasn''t even made a personal move yet!"


    "From what I know, he has. He''s said to have made a move on various ces around the world. The battle with the King Naga, the attacks worldwide, was used to cover up his movements."


    "What?!" Lara was shocked at those words. She knew well just how many Pioneers she had tomand to investigate the various mystery, but in reality, they were not the real thing? She risked moving down the Lingkaran without her techs to understand what happened.


    But it all turned out to be a facade to hide the real truth!


    "That''s what we heard. We don''t know whether the battle is happening overground¡­ but Harker theorizes that it should be in Russia. In the underground fortresses that Russia has built." Seeker exined.


    "What about the vampires, werewolves¡­ the attack in the Americas?"


    "We don''t know." Seeker sighed.


    "The Progenitor told us that some of them were caused by the Lost Primordials and some were his doing. He''s keeping us out of the loop in who our allies are. We don''t even know which persona he wille in as! We know that he is confident that we wouldn''t be able to identify who he is! Even the Lost Primordial won''t! The Progenitor is confident that we would be talking with him or her, and we won''t know that it was already the Progenitor!!"


    "It would be important for me to get there." Lara pleaded with Zeek.


    "Rx! You''re already invited. But you may have to make preparations, though. I heard that Harker intends to host our wedding there. My dad and mom can visit me, so it''s only there that I can introduce you to my dad and mom and be given away. What about you? Are you parents¡­?" Seeker trailed off as he hesitated to ask.


    "If they can join, they probably will join! The opportunity to meet the Lost Primordial is something that we have to do! But Zeek¡­ I have to ask¡­ What exactly is the connection between the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor?"


    "My guess? Based on the talks I''ve heard and the things Harker said he heard when the Progenitor blew up the moon, they are the same. The Progenitor and the Lost Primordial are indeed allies at one point in time. But the thing is, the battle in the Pacific was the Progenitor''s victory. Harker''s armies were destined to lose. This was part of his n."


    "What n?"


    "I don''t know. What we are preparing for is to diversify our techs. The Progenitor seems to be leading us to create weapons and techs that can easily assimte with other techs. He seems to have a way to steal the techs of others." Seeker shrugged.


    It was at that point that Lara felt her heart froze. Those words startled her. She recalled that particr science that nearly all Presiders ignored.


    "Based on what I heard, I think the Progenitor is not only one of the Lost Primordial before. He or she could have been the strongest! Right now, we are in the process of leaking Harker''s Programmed ve info. We are hoping one of these families who saw that tech would make some noise in the Underworld. The Lost Primordial has these techs, but from what I heard, the Progenitor has a way of sensing them! In fact, he has been reprogramming several ves! And these reprogrammed ves is something that the Lost Primordial couldn''t sense! Our leader is that confident." Seek exined in detail.


    Lara felt a great sense of fear. If this was true, her very life would be at risk! She could not afford to trust any of the nteds or Pioneers anymore.


    "Is this for real? If¡­ if these ves can be reprogrammed¡­ then do you have a means of sensing who these Lost Primordial''s are?"


    "Well, I was only allowed to show myself once the scans were made. Harker said that the Progenitor has an officer in this ship and has used a strange science to detect it. But don''t worry. Your identity has been confirmed and proven. I think the Progenitor knows you''re not a Primordial."


    "Why-why do you say that?"


    "Harker. For months he kept urging me not to make anymunication with you. All of a sudden, he lets me move freely and allowed me to talk to you? I''m guessing the Progenitor already confirmed there are no baddies in this ship." Seeker exined.


    A sense of great relief filled Lara''s heart. Her worst fear was avoided!


    "Seeker! Lara! The call to the SPU is about to start!"


    "Oh! Right. I''m needed. Lara, will you still be here after this?"


    Lara shook herself out of her trance.


    "I- I might have to go back up to prepare."


    "...Well, I understand." Seeker sighed.


    "Lara. I have to ask¡­ I''m not¡­ regretful that I have to marry you. I knew that these things are usually something hard to put into consideration¡­ but with the world falling as it is¡­ I¡­"


    "I''ll teach you." Lara smiled.


    "Teach me?"


    "Just as it was in the days of old, kings and queens marry for political purposes. I''ve been raised as such. It sounds cruel¡­ But it''s not that bad. I can teach you how to love me." Lara answered with a bashful chuckle.


    Seeker was stunned.


    "I guess I''m counting on you. Shall we?" Seeker smiled as he pointed inside.


    "I¡­ have to hurry. My parents and thepany is not yet prepared for this trip and if we want to move to go to the South Americas. Zeek. Can you ensure that I will go there?" Lara asked.


    "It''s a done deal. I think that''s the point. The Progenitor wants to see who his descendant is marrying." Seeker exined.


    "Then I have to hurry. I have to take advantage of this before the other families can take notice. If the other Pangean groups notice our sudden movements, they might suspect Harker of favoring the Diamon."


    Seeker was startled at her sudden exnation.


    "Miss Lara? The call is starting. However, since you finished your talk with Seeker, the craft leaving for the surface is ready." Scribs appeared and offered.


    "What? You knew she would leave?" Seeker eximed.


    "Of course. It is as she said. Since she is a Diamon and not a Pangean descendant, we can reason to the others that hiding her is necessary to hide all alliances. If they realized that the Diamon family is our ally, it might limit trades. But of course, the real reason she has to leave is to prepare for our departure. I''m sorry, Miss Diamon, for not telling you earlier. We are still acting in the highest protocol, and so we had to tell you this at thest minute. Please follow me to your craft." Scribs exined as he began to move ahead.


    Lara was surprised that the n was to get her out immediately.


    "I¡­ I understand. Zeek. Or¡­ should I call you baby or... something?" Lara gave Seeker a bashful look.


    "Let''s stick with first name basis. We can decide on whatever cringey nicknames to give each other on our private time." Seekerughed as he nodded his head towards Scribs.


    "See you in South America¡­ Love." Lara giggled as he followed Scribs.


    "Ew. I prefer Baby! See you!" Seekerughed as he waved.


    Lara followed and soon disappeared from view.


    Seeker looked and could sense Lara moving towards the elevator and moving upwards.


    "Great misdirection!"


    Lynd''s figure suddenly emerged next to him as he undid his cloak.


    "You made that lie about Russia to send the Presiders to focus their efforts there. The one ce where we haven''t done anything yet! They will expand great efforts and even mind-control people but won''t get any info about us." Lyndughed.


    "Not to mention you also gave away details about the battle here but made it something that they have to ignore as they need to prioritize finding what the real move of this non-existent Progenitor is!"


    But as Lynd praised Seeker''s n, Seeker was in deep contemtion.


    "Strange. Her body changed. It''s no longer the same as an Aragarian. She managed to switch it¡­" Seeker pondered.


    "What do you think, Lynd?" Seeker asked.


    Lynd was startled at that question. Through his memories, he confirmed the strange state of Lara''s body.


    "Now that you mention it... I can''t sense anything weird from her. I can''t even do tech copy. She was really cautious. That talk of yours was full of emotions, and it should have allowed me to sense it. And you''re right. Her heart is in the right ce. She doesn''t have the biology of an Aragarian. But her expression was all over the ce when you mentioned that the Progenitor has ways. This means she was without any techs. But at the same time¡­ She was still genuinely afraid. Which mean that whatever that being was, whether it was Lara Diamon or Zeraphine of the Presiders, it was still afraid of being captured."


    "I''m guessing this is a science that involves hypostasis discement. Just like how the Christian faith believes in the Hypostatic Union of Jesus Christ, wherein He is two beings, God and Man at the same time, that Aragarian is Lara and Zeraphine at the same time."


    "Hypostatic Union? That''s my word of the day. You mean, Lara is in the Three dimensions, and Zeraphine is on the Beyond Dimensions, but the two have a physical locality in the form of Lara''s body?"


    "Dude... what?" Seeker gazed at Lynd and made a bewildered expression as Lynd said something someone only crazy or stoned people would say.


    "Be more serious, Zeek!"


    "I guess that''s one way to put it. And that''s impressive considering she''s escaping our senses. This mission ought to be our deadliest. What do you think she''ll do after this?"


    "With what we talked about, she might be luring more Presiders in. That''s why she was so hasty to leave this ce. She is informing her allies of the changes in the South Americas and how this Lost Primordial will appear."


    "And enemies," Seeker added.


    "What?"


    "There is a possibility that Lara will contact a Presider with who she has no amicable rtionship. The n we showed her of allying with the SPU inspired her to do the same. She probably thinks that one among the Presiders has betrayed them. So if she has any enemies who she is certain to have no connection with the traitor, then she will ally with that person."


    "And that means another Presider in the South Americas. You said this was a break, but it''s getting more and more dangerous by the minute. By the way, you said that the Progenitor is confident that he wouldn''t be found out. You n to make them think that the Progenitor would be among the Presiders?"


    "Yes. We will also be putting some rather interesting individuals."


    "Like who?"


    "Erick Loudde."


    "Who? I don''t know him¡­" Lynd scratched his head. He had Unlocked memory, so it was rather embarrassing not to know who this person was.


    "Exactly. He''s some random dude who invested in Unlocked Industries and bought stock. He''s not rich or anything, but he will be invited in the Underwater city at the rmendation of Unlocked Industries."


    "What?"


    "We also have that famous influencer, Opel Rainner."


    "The famous girl who reacts on various things from movies, music, and even gamepetitions in ViewMe?"


    "Yup. We also have Dialfronz Chezkrick."


    "I don''t know that name. Is that a politician or in the military?"


    "He''s a very interesting dance instructor that my Grandmother likes. He teaches dance and does one hell of a Zumba routine as my Grandmother would put it."


    "I get it." Lynd nodded.


    "I don''t." Cliff emerged. He had been eavesdropping inside the room and used Realm to hear the conversation.


    "We put these rather unimportant people inside to make the Aragarians suspicious. It redirects them. They know we are with the Progenitor and because they know that, they won''t investigate us. And that allows us toplete our mission." Seeker smiled.


    "Are we going to nuke the city and get out to kill as many Presiders as we can?"


    "No. We frame them for being traitors. It''s going to be fun. If all the Presiders inside that sunken city are all using each other of being traitors, it will do more harm than killing a Presider."


    "Oh. Makes sense."


    "There is one more thing, though, Zeek. Lara''s reaction when you said that the Progenitor could copy techs made her heart skip. It was probably the part that scared her the most. What do you think?"


    "It proves Arthur''s theory. The real Lost Primordial, our Progenitor, had the tech to copy or steal the techs of Aragarians that are even stronger than Presiders! If she is afraid, this means that it is possible for a Presider to have this!"


    "We need that." Lynd''s expression turned serious.


    "Indeed.. If we have that, we can finally create it! Thest person who can take the mantle of the third part of the Messiah. The Life!"

 Chapter 320 - The Confederate

    The King Naga had vanished. The government officials lost all contact with the ship, and their secret messaging system didn''t work. And so, while the world thought that the King Naga had bested the ambush of the Lingkaran, the officials themselves were worried at the disappearance.


    It was then that Harker sent them a peculiar message.


    "If you want to know where the Lingkaran is, gather everyone who is of political or military value and await our call."


    The SPU officials were stunned at this. While some were shouting and calling Harker to be arrogant, others wanted to know where the King Naga was.


    Those whoughed at Harker''s ims believed they were victorious in that battle and that the King Naga intentionally went radio silent to initiate more attacks as it feared receiving nuke attacks and other Pangean rted weapons of mass destruction. Analysis and arguments were made, but as days turned to weeks, and the King Naga had not surfaced, nor has it made any attempts tomunicate.


    As the days passed, the SPU finally epted Harker''s offer and scheduled the call. The government of the SPU began to gather whatever data they could to counter Harker''s im. The best and brightest prepared their speeches on arguing and ringing out whatever details they could from Harker.


    The tail of the King Naga had reported all the strange things they heard, but these soldiers were branded as traitors. Not only that, the Tail of the King Naga had begun to kill off many of the soldiers, and the few that survived were driven mad from the horrors of what happened inside.


    In the end, most assumed that it was the Lost Primordial who took control of the King Naga and decimated the Lingkaran.


    Lara was there watching that call through the linked devices that allowed her to see a live feed of the conference call as she was leaving the King Naga.


    "Your ship to the surface is in the Lingkaran. Sadly, you won''t see the middle part of the call when we leave and move to the surface. We are, after all, making sure that we have an encrypted line." Scribs exined as they boarded the same ship that got them inside the King Naga.


    Despite Lara''s calm appearance, the truth was she was very perplexed. Her heart is racing just at the thought that she would have been discovered and possibly killed. It was a good thing she took the precaution of bringing no techs. Otherwise, she would have been discovered.


    "How confident are you that there are no members of the Lost Primordial among you?"


    "We''re not. The Progenitor is, however."


    "Really?"


    "General Harker said that when he asked the Progenitor, the Progenitor just said that our efforts were admirable and that our hearts were in thest ce." Scribs shrugged.


    But Lara was trying her best not to tremble.


    "The conference call is starting. I wonder what the General has nned? In this call, we must have the flow of the conversation. Even though we have the King Naga, General Harker has to control the flow of the conversation to make the SPU agree." Scribs wondered as they watched the small screen in the ship they were riding towards the Lingkaran.


    In the SPU, the leaders of each nation sat on their respective ces with their secretaries, personal soldiers. The room also had all the Generals and Commanders who had given notable contributions to the nation.


    There was also the General who had fought with Harker in his younger years. While many even within the SPU feared Harker, he didn''t.


    He sat and observed the call as it started.


    The video feed finally connected.


    Harker was topless at the call. He was sweating and showing off his muscles and scar.


    "Never skip training. That''s my motto." He said as he addressed not the SPU but Pangean elites.


    Lara walked out of the ship and didn''t want Scribs to keep her connected for the remainder of the call.


    Harker kept lifting his weights, and his manly sweat was pouring out that even the weights he held were wet. He dropped it and wiped his sweat with the towel.


    "Are... we sure we didn''t identally watch some erotica film made by Harker?" One of the top leaders of SPU asked his fellow leader. But the leader who he asked was watching intently.


    "Oh yes!" The leader quietly sighed as she blushed.


    "I''d like to ask everyone watching... just where am I doing this morning training of mine?


    It was then that the few soldiers and members of the SPU who had snapped out of the trance earlier realized that Harker was in one of the King Naga''smand centers.


    Suddenly, several figures emerged on the screen.


    It was the Generals and Commanders of the King Naga!


    One of the Generals handed a towel to Harker as the first was already drenched in sweat.


    "WHAT?!" The various leaders of the SPU exploded in surprise.


    Many began to curse and shout at the Commanders and Generals who betrayed them. Themotion was too much. Some of the Generals and Commanders saw their friends among the enemies!


    "HOW DARE YOU!" The leader of SPU roared angrily at one of the General, who was his close friend.


    "Rx. These guys didn''t betray you. They are mind-controlled." Harker exined as he took out one small strange ball.


    "This is the Programmed ve chip. With the Progenitors tech, we managed to make it even more powerful. It controls the emotions of these people, and at the same time, we''ve nted a bomb in their hearts simr to the nteds that shocked the world in the Caliphates. They are our controlled soldiers now. They are unable to escape their fate. If they don''t obey us, not only do they feel great pain, but it''s as if their hearts are being wrenched out, and they are killing their kin. Of course, if they follow us, they fall in such great joy and even ecstasy if they want to. They are, however, the happiest people in the world right now." Harker exined.


    "Through this, we captured the King Naga. The events that urred at the tail of the King Naga should have killed you. The tail disappeared, didn''t it? Or rather, most of the tail did."


    "The survivors had no choice but to destroy the tail and escaped through the tail-end of the King Naga¡­" The President of SPU answered.


    "Newly elected President Quest Sleeve. I trust that the recent works of your former secret weapons, the Indigo''s did a good job in their short stay there. To think you''ve managed to unite the SPU after all that has happened with the WGP." Harker smiled.


    "The Indigos?!" Some of those there were stunned.


    "There son is here, by the way. You thought he was some spy? It''s a long story, but their son is our ally. The real boss of the Indigos is the very same person I work for." Harker smiled.


    Lynd made his appearance. His body was glowing with a strange light, and it only took a few seconds before they could see and confirm that this was indeed the rising Game Streamer, Lynd Indigo.


    "What''s going on? I''ve seen those videos! Didn''t the Zulus, the Ceasars, the Edens, and that unidentified family attack him?!" One of the SPU leaders eximed.


    "Let''s get down to business. What I want, or rather, what my employers want, is an alliance." Harker smiled.


    "An alliance?!" The General that fought Harker on several asions shouted.


    "An alliance after all that you''ve done to this country? An alliance after all the hatred that Pangea and the SPU have built up for a century?"


    "Ah. General Lyndon Harvey. I trust you are well¡­ But not as well when I tell the truth about you. Your heart is on the right side of your body, right? One of the easiest ways to detect the lineage of our enemy is to check the heart. Most doctors will say that it is Situs Inversus. But the truth is that you are a Pioneer. A leader of these people called nteds. Luckily, it''s rather simple to have ess to your medical files. Quest Sleeve, if you want to rise as a nation, be mindful of your people. Are their hearts in the right ce?" Harker smiled.


    General Lyndon Harvey was standing up when he cursed Harker. But when Harker spoke, he became white as a sheet of paper. The sudden exposure was so sudden that he turned white as a sheet.


    The SPU leaders noticed this as they turned to Lyndon, and some even saw the sudden change of his expression.


    "Tyler?" Harker asked.


    "Yes, sir. As ordered, we watched the video and captured the¡­ interesting micro-reactions of those in that room. I believe these people to be Pioneers."


    "Good. Rey the videos of their expression now."


    "Presenting file."


    One General, four Commanders, one of the vice leaders of a nation, and one of the soldiers standing next to the back of the room was zoomed into. It disyed the expressions when Harker revealed the details about the heart.


    "That''s a lot of traitors in the midst of the SPU leaders. It looks like we''ve managed to do you quite a favor and reveal all possible traitors. I am sure you have a recording of this call as well. You can double-check with your own recording to confirm." Harker smiled and made the tapes rey their expressions in super-slow motion.


    "What?! Mister President, do we have to sit here and take these usations from-"


    "Shut up! General Lyndon has shown what seems to be a clear and real reaction. And you also had one. You sit down quietly. No one leaves! Guards, shoot those who resist immediately!" President Quest Kleeve shouted.


    The guards immediately moved closer and pointed their guns at those who Harker identified.


    "Sir¡­ It is¡­ as General Harker said¡­" One of the soldiers gave the grim report.


    "So Harker¡­ You think all of them are traitors?"


    "On second thought, about the soldier at the back. It doesn''t make sense for him to be a Pioneer. These Pioneers aren''t like those nteds. They are a much more powerful elite. These Pioneers are naturally smarter, better, and stronger than an average human and will generally seed in life. Considering that our secret enemy funds them, all Pioneers should have a higher standing in society. I thought he''s a nted, but upon closer review of the video, Tyler just confirmed that that person''s sudden change of expression could be because he is suffering from some form of Diarrhea. Hence his pale and dry lips which are apparent signs of dehydration." Harker exined straightforwardly.


    Even Lynd was shocked at Harker''s unembarrassed retcon of that information.


    "You¡­ You pooped in your pants?" The leader who brought this soldier is questioned with a very embarrassed and angry expression.


    "It¡­ I thought¡­ I tried to fart, and¡­"


    "Enough! Go to the bathroom, and someone get him a tissue!" The leader shouted.


    "Ew. Tissue." Cliff, who never got used to it, cringed at the thought of having no bidet.


    Lynd was facepalming himself.


    "Impressive, General. Not only did you outwit us, but you are even humble enough to admit your mistake. You could have left that soldier''s life and allow us to kill him. He is neither your countrymen nor is he of any worth here that you should care for him. Why degrade your reputation and admit your mistake?"


    "Because, if there is one thing I am, it is truth. I can only tell the truth. So even if it is to my disadvantage, I will tell it. Such is someone who walks in the Path of Shameless Audacity." Harker smiled.


    President Quest smiled.


    "Kill them."


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The people who were revealed to be Pioneers were all shot in the head by the soldiers around them.


    "President!"


    "This is interesting, Harker. I have long noticed that one or two of them have been making strange contacts and had long believed them to be traitors. But now, it''s easier. Men, if you want SPU to rise like the dragon that we are, we must get rid of all these frogs and pigs in our midst. I have overthrown thest President because I am decisive. Should you all hesitate now, you will fail. Send the order. Tell your respective groups to kill all people who have a situs inversus condition." President Quest ordered.


    "As you will, President!" Several leaders chorused.


    Many immediately followed, and even a few of the Generals began to make their call.


    "Good. I care not of the title. I just want to rid this world of these damned enemies of ours who have yed the entire world and manipted it. If you agree to my alliance, you get what you want. Pangea will merge with your country, and we can finally aplish the dreams of your ancestors!"


    "Oh? Will you drop the arrogant title of Pangea? The title that your ancestors chose to name your disunited archipgo region?" Quest was impressed.


    "I''ll tell you this. It''s not just you. Australia will also be our allies. Should you agree, we can be the South Pacific Confederate! A City of Refuge!" Harker smiled.


    Whether in the SPU or the King Naga, the emotions everyone felt great hype and excitement. The thought of bing the South Pacific Confederate all made them clench their fist in motivation.


    Even Lynd was clenching his fist.


    "Why?" Lynd thought in his heart.


    "Is this his path? He just pointed out that that soldier has Diarrhea! Why am I feeling this? Why do I believe that Harker is so cool?!" Lyndined.

 Chapter 321 - Zeraphine’s Choice

    Lara waited silently as she began to rise to the top of the sea. She had even prepared to give the orders for the Pioneers serving under her and considered doing a personal check on all of those serving under her.


    She was scared. For the first time in a long time, she was scared.


    Her father was very strict and did everything to ensure that she would be smart and well-prepared. But no matter how hard she tried, her father never was satisfied. In almost every situation that she thought she would make her father proud, it turned into criticism over the smallest details that she missed. It waster that her father ridiculed her to force her to move here.


    But now she understood.


    "This is the fear that dad kept feeling¡­" Lara reflected.


    "You always told me that I would die¡­ That I would die¡­ But I never really understood it¡­" Lara kept recalling her ridiculous attempt to figure out more of the Progenitor. If she had not taken the very precautions that her father instilled on her, she would have been discovered by this Progenitor!


    "Maybe dad''s right¡­" She sighed. It was the first time in so long that she called him ''dad.''


    Discovering that Garenjazz was her ward made her begin to think more fondly of her father.


    "My dad sent me here to escape the changingndscape of our home. But now¡­ The battles and conflicts he feared I would face are now happening here. I hated being called a Princes but now¡­" She gritted her teeth.


    "I must ascend! If I can get my hands on the techs of that Progenitor and that traitorous Lost Primordial, I can be a Principal!" Lara vowed in her heart.


    "You seem to be lost in thoughts, Miss Diamon." Scribs smiled.


    "I am. It''s just¡­ there is a lot to do." She smiled.


    "Miss Lara¡­ If I may. Seeker may not tell you. But he''s been through many horrors. Although his chastity is thankfully preserved, his road is not pleasant. This Progenitor is both protecting Seeker, but at the same time, prepared a treacherous road for him. The missions he has¡­ it''s insane. This trip to South America¡­ Is a mission rather than some vacation trip."


    "Really? I was under the impression that this was to protect him from future wars."


    "Yes. But think about it. Do you think that everyone who goes there is our allies?"


    "You mean, the Lost Primordial will be there!"


    "Of course they will. Seeker is a chess piece¡ªa lure to bring out the big fish. Seeker''s value is more or less likened to a powerful soldier. Important, but ultimately expendable."


    "How do you know this?"


    "We all have different orders, Miss Diamon. The Progenitor is quite wise. Harker, me, Earl, and Tyler each have differentmands and instructions that even we don''t know off. At this time, you can''t really trust everyone. Who knows? I could be one of those Programmed and Reprogrammed ves. It''s very difficult to trust anyone now. I suggest you do the same. Inform, and keep them uninformed. Direct, and do not direct. Order, but do not expect loyalty. It saves you of any possible heartbreaks." Scribs smiled.


    Lara nodded.


    "I''ll keep that in mind."


    The door slowly opened, and Lara was in the Tatsulok Aguinaldo.


    Lara began to descend the stairs as she reached the windy and loud boarding tform of the Tatsulok.


    "The frost and the Pidgeon is free. Let the WGP care for them!" Scribs suddenly called out to Lara and walked back in.


    Lara felt her legs turn weak. But she kept walking as if nothing was wrong and that the windy and wet floor almost caused her to lose her footing.


    A limousine waited, and several people from the Diamon family were there.


    "Miss Lara! How was the trip?" One of the people smiled.


    "Give me some privacy. There is an important business that I need to attend to. Hand me my phone." She said coldly as she moved and sat on


    "As you order, Miss." The men nodded and handed her a small bag.


    Lara sat on the back of the limousine as it began to move.


    As Lara was left alone, her body kept trembling and trembling. She wanted to stop, but she couldn''t control it.


    "It''s a Presider¡­ It''s a Presider¡­?!" Lara kept whispering this sentence.


    She was immediately able to guess the hidden message in that statement. The rollercoaster of emotions of fear and relief happened again. Whoever this Progenitor was, he or she was already aware of her true allegiance.


    Frost, Pidgeon, and Free were the keywords. But then, the word WGP also appeared.


    Crostfree, Pridgeon, and the WGP were all linked together.


    "Is Crostfree the traitor? Is it both of them? I thought Pridgeon killed Crostfree. Is anything going to make sense here? Who is the Progenitor?" Lara felt very frustrated. This was something she couldn''tprehend.


    "The WGP is involved?! What''s going on? Who is the enemy?" Lara cursed.


    She then opened her phone and dialed strangemands. Her fingers were trembling as she typed the numbers.


    Even now, she was very careful. When she infiltrated the Diamons, she only took over the heads and the rising daughter Lara. But everyone else was normal, so to hide her real identity. Yet now, she was unsure. What if there were spies among the Diamons? But she hesitated in calling any Pioneers in case some of them might also be among the traitor. With all the Presiders now attacking and infiltrating each other''s rank, she began to grow fearful and perplexed.


    It was then she recalled the n that Harker put in motion.


    "An enemy! Someone no one expects!" Lara was shocked.


    She began to use the phone. Her phone allowed her to remotely control certain techs that she had. And the encryption was so hard because it required the fingerprints of the most unlikely of people. Yet through that, she began to activate the Discement Tech and enable the double agent protocol. She was set on calling a certain Presider. While it seemed unlikely, it was better not to trust Garenjazz. What if being her ward was a ploy? She could not help but wonder.


    It was then that her phone rang.


    "Hello."


    "I never expected you to be so foolish as to disce one of my Pioneers. To think-"


    "We could die anytime." Lara interrupted.


    "I nearly died. Another enemy is called the Progenitor. All your Pioneers may be double agents. I need help, Straviaa. The one person I am sure isn''t an ally of the Progenitor or this Presider who masquerades as the Lost Primordial is you. Of course, it''s possible that the Progenitor left you the same message. About how the Frost is well in the WGP?"


    "...What happened?" Straviaa''s arrogant tone disappeared.


    "Find a way to get to South America. A gathering is happening there. A Presiders wants to devour all of us. Someone has ess to that tech. That useless and unused tech that we have seen! Someone among the Presider wishes to eat us all up! I think it''s even thinking of eating a Principal!" Lara continued.


    "What?!" Straviaa was now as shocked as Lara.


    "I''m not sure. But I know your heritage and circumstance. No one would want to ally with you unless you offered it first. But Crostfree lives! He''s with the WGP! We''ll talk more in South America. Get connected with Unlocked Industries and try to find a way into an Underwater City! This is why I revealed my spy to you. We can die, Straviaa. Our dads were right in their insanity. Right now, we are here, and we will probably die if we are careless. Don''t let any Presiders near you!" Lara immediately disconnected the call.


    Straviaa was silent. But she finally began to tremble. The revtion of Pridgeon''s secret strength shocked her. And even Enderk couldn''t understand what Phallic Tech was.


    "If Zeraphine went straight to me¡­ and even used that technology that would cost her so much energy¡­ then she must be serious. Pridgeon tried to kill Crostfree¡­ But it seems Crostfree is alive. Just howplicated is the alliance of these idiots?!" She smashed her fist into a nearby table.


    Back in the King Naga, Seeker was observing the screens and kept reying the secret cameras that recorded Lara''s expression.


    "She''s afraid. Well. I did as Arthur asked." Seeker smiled.


    "This will create a war against the WGP?"


    "Yes. We can''t be a City of Refuge if the WGP exists. We need it out. And the best way to do it is not to do it with our hands. We invoke these Presiders to take action. If Arthur is right, that Pridgeon must have found a way to kill Crostfree. Theck of actions in Australia confirms it. Even the Realm King sensed that the mysterious changes in the realm of Australia had grown differently. At this point, we need to cut our loose ends. And that is Pridgeon. The Presider who has seen Lowengren and the Tyrant Empress. So we pit several Presiders against him."


    "To think this Pridgeon would be strong. I mean, after what we did to him in China¡­" Cliff shook his head.


    "It only means he ced his bets on some technology that is weak and only strong when something seeds. And this is why we''re taking Pridgeon quite seriously. Anyways, they are Arthur''s problem now. If he''s right then, those countries will begin to copse soon. To think a simple, well-ced bomb can bring down three nations and destabilize the European Nations." Seeker shook his head.


    "And here I thought your n to reshape the Americas wasn''t crazy enough." Lyndughed as he returned.


    "How was selling your light to the Pangean Elites?"


    "It''ll work. Just as you and Harker nned, they will be secretly turning the Pioneers into Programmed ves. SPU also agrees to do this. When are we going to be the South Pacific Confederate?"


    "When America finally bes ruled by the South. Also, it looks like my little experiments are finallying to fruition. Those kids are all in Central America now. And with the copse of the wall, the Americas will surely begin to attack the Rotting Lands." Seeker began to ess the recordings of several young teens who were being secretly monitored in the Central Americas.


    "This is the future Squadron that you lead?"


    "Yes. In my past life, they were only Inhumans. I''m aiming to make all of the World Champions in this life."


    "You lead them to a hopeless situation, and then you appear as this strange Messiah. And you''ll even be using confirmed Pioneers to do the dirty work."


    "I want them to have just as much faith as you guys have in me. That way, should things turn sour, they won''t need me to be there to protect them."


    "How did they die anyway?" Lynd suddenly asked.


    "Wow. So upfront!" Cliff was amazed.


    "It''s better you guys know. Zeraphine killed them.." Seeker exined, and not even Lynd''s Path can see through Seeker''s emotions.

 Chapter 322 - Secrets Of The Presiders

    In an underground facility somewhere in the world¡­


    Straviaa, along with one of Zeraphine''s mole, stood near each other. Straviaa presented all the facts she heard from Zeraphine to Enderks. She had a solemn expression but around her were her strongest weapons. The building itself was now moving on its own, and the entire room where Enderks had her tools were now full ofrge canons aiming at him.


    "Prove to me that you are not one of these Lost Primordial." She said seriously.


    Enderks nced at her and smiled.


    "Such an interesting reaction. I never thought you''d be so bold as to aim your¡­ weapons at me."


    "Prove it, or I will shoot you."


    "Fine. How about this. I will let you ess my suit. But after, you let me ess yours. Otherwise, Ill fight back." Enderks smile, and suddenly a strange red glow was appearing behind him. Behind the red glow, a strange power could be felt.


    "You''d kill yourself and me?" Straviaa raised her eyebrow.


    "I can teleport back from here. You''d die. But I''d rather not waste the energy." Enderksughed.


    "Fine. I''ll let you ess my suit after I ess yours."


    Enderks walked over, and a strange light appeared.


    Straviaa reached out and held the light.


    "Keeping your finger on the trigger, I see. And I feel that this ce has several space-distorting sciences. You''ve prepared quite a bit, Straviaa."


    "I have my secrets." Straviaa answered as she kept looking at Enderk''s techs.


    "If you see anything you like, and I find some techs of interest from yours, we can do a cooperative trade. To think that the next person I''d be showing my tech to would be a girl¡­ Still, if the Suit Devourer is here on Earth, then it would be quite problematic."


    "Who invests in the Suit Devourer?" Straviaa demanded. She was rather satisfied with the details she found in Enderk''s suit.


    "The Suit Devourer is a high-risk, high-reward device. It grants you a suit without any techs whatsoever. And the main problem is that it''s a tech that requires you to consume several Judge''s im! Only a Top Tier Presider can im those rewards."


    "Top Tier? So Garenjazz, Crostfree, Tiana, Myrth, and Shakstres could have this?"


    "Yes. The most suspicious ones would be Myrth and Shakstres. They are the ones who are not interested in any of these earthly squabbles and used this trip to develop their respective fortresses in Jupiter and Saturn. Perhaps that was a ploy? They make it look like they are doing whatever research, but in reality, they have found a way to Earth to Garenjazz is Zeraphine''s ward. So it''s also possible that he is someone who has it."


    "Garenjazz? Are you saying that Zeraphine is the enemy?"


    "No. She might be unaware. You know who Zeraphine''s father is. His cruelty and viciousness are quite renowned among Primes. But it looks like Zeraphine got the scare of her life if she turned to you in her desperation. It seems that a formidable enemy is rising. I suggest you betray her the first moment you can." Enderksughed.


    "I''m not afraid of Zeraphine."


    "You should be. Do you think, Zeraphine''s father made a mistake in raising her child? You underestimate Primes too much. Someone who has pierced through the greatest mysteries of this world is to be feared. That is why almost all top-tiered Presiders would try to curry favor. But thankfully, her own pride forbids her to make any alliances other than the ones she trusted. Still, the fact that she is here is something that Prime Zephirus nned. At first, it was a mystery, and people thought Zephirus is in danger. Why else would he send her daughter here when the Prime Wars soon start? But now¡­ I''m starting to get it. If Zephirus can make another Conqueror, then the battle will tilt to his favor."


    "A Conqueror?! You believe Zeraphine has that potential?"


    "No. But Zephirus must have known that therein lies the way to make her be a Conqueror within Earth! And now we know the Suit Devourer has appeared here! It''s not a coincidence! Do not underestimate these Primes! Their power transcends whatever knowledge you think you know. The research on the dimensions beyond the six! The pitiful sciences that we Presiders have meant nothing to them! It is said that to Primes, time is different. It does not function in the past, the present, or the future. They battle through existence as they see and know the future! To us weaklings, it is something that we cannotprehend. We see time to travel forward. They see it traveling backward, forwards, upwards, and downwards! Presiders have to study the dimensions beyond the four to be a Principal. But Principals study that technology to be a Prime!"


    "Then my father?"


    "Your father, Principal Drawoc, sent you here to spare you of the Prime Wars. Principals and Top Tier Presiders will take part in this after all. But Zeraphine isn''t. You have two choices, Straviaa¡­ You either ally with Zeraphine with all sincerity to survive the storm here on Earth. Or you devour her."


    "Which would you choose?"


    "Unlike you kiddies, I''ve never wanted to be a Presider or a Principal all my life. My desire is beyond this ne! I want to be a Conqueror and reach the realms of a Prime!" Enderksughed.


    "So you wish to devour Zeraphine?"


    "You kiddies still don''t get it, do you? A Conqueror is not defined by the techs that he or she possess! It''s more than that! Devouring techs will make you stronger¡­ But so what? Do you think that the real Lost Primordial who managed to challenge the Primordial of our world by stealing techs? Zeraphine knows better than this. She was the one who harbored great doubts as to how this Lost Primordial rose to power. And she is right. The only way I''ll make an attempt to devour Zeraphine is if I have defeated her first!" Enderksughed.


    Straviaa was silent.


    "You view life in a strange way, Enderks. You don''t have any intention of making Earth your home?"


    "Home? Do you think this mission is a simple expansion mission for us Aragarians? It''s a relocation mission! What do you think thoses back home will look like after the Prime Wars? The Primordial and the Primes probably envision that all habitables will be so damaged and that our resources would have been so exhausted that we won''t have the means to reform thend. Hence, finding a better ce is the easier solution!"


    "So it was a lie... Weren''t we ever going to be rulers of this ce? We aren''t to start a new colony?"


    "All we are doing is to prepare the ce where the victor of the Prime Wars will reside after the war. That''s it."


    "Then why did you choose to be here, Enderks?"


    "To be a Conqueror. I can''t fight back home. I am too weak! There are too many Top-Tier Presiders. But here, there are only a few enemies. I''ve always believed that the Fight of Life would create a way for these Earthlings to resist it. I wanted to see it. The Fight of Life that we''ve seen happen back home is the reason why some have transcended from Presider to Principal and Principal to Prime. I wanted to see it firsthand. Maybe, if I see it and fight it, it will give me more chance to experience it."


    "That''s it?"


    "Of course not. I''ll tell you right now because it seems that the Presiders masquerading themselves as the Lost Primordial is starting. I n to fight and betray the Presiders here. I will conquer them!" Enderksughed.


    "What?!"


    "The Fight of Life would be my guide. But after, I will fight others and hope that through that, I can Conquer!"


    "You''re crazy! You nned to bring the terror and thew of the strong to this ce?!"


    "If the Prime Wars is over, and they return home, the same thing happens to us anyway! Presiders will abound, and Principals and a Prime will be there. What hope of ascending do we have? I''m nearing my life span, so it doesn''t matter. I will fight, and Conqueror! Or I die. Zeraphine has chosen her path. What about you, Young Presider?"


    Straviaa was silent. But she held up a bright light and offered it to Enderks.


    "Here is my soul. See for yourself if I am a traitor or is connected to the Lost Primordial." She answered back.


    Enderks simplyughed and held the light as well.


    "What interesting techs you have. But these are all weak. You have powerful weapons and emphasized techs that are used in warfare. But if you truly want to grow stronger and be a Principal, you should invest in Dimensional Techs or Space distorting techs. Those are the things that are necessary to be a Principal. Don''t be the inverse of your father and live up to the Curse that Prime Zephirus gave." Enderksughed.


    "I am uninterested in any techs you have. Since you gave me such important news, I can give you a few tech foundations for Dimensional or space distortion. After all, if we be allies, we should be more genuine in helping each other." Enderks smiled.


    "...Alright. But we both have to offer our souls if we want this to continue. I want ess to your soul, and you can have ess to mine. What about Pridgeon? Do you think he''s behind this?"


    "That is another mystery. If Pridgeon made a im for the Suit Devourer, he would have been noticed. After all, only Top-Tier Presiders can im a Complete Legacy without being known. So ut''s either that Pridgeon is merely the shroud and one of the Top Tiers is behind this. Or Pridgeon found a Suit Devourer beforeing here." Enderks guessed.


    "So we''ll be treating this situation assuming that one of the Top Presiders is behind this?"


    "Yes. We should also assume that Pridgeon will have total control of all of Crostfree''s techs. Either that or whoever is controlling Pridgeon from the background has Corstfree''s techs. Regardless, Straviaa... prepare for war. The Underwater cities are rising, and we also have to act."


    "Are we going to go to South America?"


    "Of course! We have to! We need to get to the bottom of this. Most likely, Garenjazz is going. I''ve received word that the original code of the Pokemon games has surfaced. We should assume that all Top-Tier Presiders are going. I think something terrifying will happen in South America. Prepare for the worst. Prepare for war, Straviaa..." Enderksughed as several red portals appeared behind him. Severalrge Exoskeletons appeared, and soldiers with simr faces began to march in.


    "Where is this from?!" Straviaa was shocked at what he saw. A clone army marched inside.


    "You... You are a Top Tier?!" Straviaa asked again as she could see that the portals created no strange fluctuations.


    "HAHAHA! Why do you think I assumed Pridgeon must have found a Suit Devourer? I also am someone who has received and stumbled on the inheritance of someone else! I will slowly be transferring my base here on Earth. Straviaa... You have to help me conceal it. It will benefit you greatly!"


    "But how?! These armies! These techs? It wasn''t in your soul!"


    "I didn''t devour the suit that I found! I don''t have a Suit Devourer! The Suit was amazing it was well-preserved and the soul still has some of its files intact! I simply found a way to study the remnant soul in that suit! That''s why it''s not in my soul!"


    "What? How can that be? If the Presider dies, the Suit dies with it! It disappears and is returned back to the dimension of energy!"


    "Why should I tell you how that works? I have my secrets, Straviaa!" Enderks returned one of Straviaa''s earlier taunts.


    "But how can you create a mass teleportation that escapes even Garenjazz''s techs?"


    "Simple! I used the cold to hide the heat and fluctuations that my teleportation techs is released. Most Top-Tiered Presiders surely know about my techs that are hidden within that Orbital¡­ But they don''t know about this!"


    "Using cold?! What ce could have such cold temperatures that it could escape the detection of Top-Tiered Presiders? Teleportation forcibly stretches space to connect it to another point! The source of the teleportation would be so strong that it would have a heat greater than several nuclear explosions!"


    "That''s why my secret base is hidden there! Only that ce could have such powerful cold to hide the fluctuations! I hid it there! In Uranus!"


    Straviaa was shocked at what she heard. But then her shock turned to anger.


    "In my what?! How dare you!"


    While Enderks was trying to defuse Straviaa''s anger, Pridgeon was moving slowly in the various dimensions using Crostfree''s ship.


    "Oh? It looks like Enderks is finally showing his aces! Crostfree, I really should thank you. No wonder you survived those wars. You treated every Presider as a threat¡­ Too bad you didn''t see me as one¡­" Pridgeonughed as he could see a strange bright light in the dimensions beyond. It was moving from space and was slowly reaching Earth.


    "Myrth and Shakstres armies have also reached Earth. So, all in all, four top-tiered Presiders have now moved their armies inside Earth. What about you, Garenjazz? What''s your y?" Pridgeon frowned as he nced towards another area in his scanners. Mars had no fluctuations or any noticeable tremors. Yet despite this silence, Pridgeon was getting restless. Thanks to Crostfree''s data, Pridgeon knew one thing.. Among the Presiders in the Sol System, Garenjazz was definitely the strongest.

 Chapter 323 - Marrho’s Secret

    Garenjazz awoke that night.


    "Strange... The same dream..." He wondered. In his dreams, he found himself standing and moving towards a long staircase. On the very top of the staircase, was a woman of unspeakable beauty.


    She stood in dazzling light and Garenjazz gazed at her beauty. And then the vision ended.


    "What is that? It must be a science... But who?" Garenjazz stood up from arge bed that had the shape of a fat, chubby, sleeping Pokemon.


    "Ugh. I guess I need to do this. Man... It seems I better start preparing for the fight and make sure Princess Zeraphine is safe." He sighed.


    He then waved his hand and a suddenly, he was being connected to one of the Presiders.


    "Garenjazz?" Pridgeon answered in confusion.


    "Are you trying to kill more Presiders, Pridgeon? Are you trying to make this ce as chaotic as our home?"


    "Wha-what?!"


    "Sorry. That was a strange thing to ask." Garenjazz chuckled.


    "I learned that trick from this awesome anime that I''m watching. Anyway, Tiana doesn''t have that science to breach the dimensions. All that is left is you. What did happen in China? And how did you survive?"


    "I already told you all about it! You can see for yourself-"


    "Look... I''m not as idiotic as everyone else. I know you have more involvement in this than what most of the Presiders believe. Just tell me inly, did you meet the Lost Primordial? Is she that woman?"


    "Woman?" Pridgeon was stunned at the usation of Garenjazz.


    "I am someone who has various techs. How do you think I am able to watch all of these anime and y countless video-games here on Earth? I stay in my dream world to watch anime all night. But now, that damned woman has appeared several times already! I know dimensional power when I see one." Garenjazz argued.


    "What are you talking about?"


    "Oh, you still wouldn''t cave, huh? I''m sure you know that Myrth and Shakstres are directly sending their armies to Earth. We also have Enderks moving. So it''s going to be very chaotic soon. Of everyone here, I''m most afraid of Shakstres the most. She must have felt it too. A beauty that rivals hers. She must have been called by it. Is this one of the Legacy of this Lost Primordials?"


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about! I''m busy with the Jews. I don''t have time to discuss this!"


    "Alright¡­ Let me tell you something, Pridgeon¡­ I know that Crostfree was ambushed when he died. It wasn''t some dormant poison or power that corroded him. I know this because I am certain Crostfree''s body had the ability to withstand and detect any foreign objects that enters it. The truth is, in my battles against Crostfree, I once had the opportunity of killing him. Do you know why I didn''t?" Garenjazz challenged.


    Pridgeon fell into silence.


    "This is a very intriguing conversation, Garenjazz. But I am-"


    "Because Crostfree isn''t an ordinary Presider. I was about to kill him when his suit activated a secret sequence that even Crostfree didn''t know about. He is one of the many rebirth clones of Prime Defiant."


    Pridgeon felt his heart stop.


    "Prime Defiant offered me a few foundational techs of Crostfree in return for not killing Crostfree, his minor incarnation."


    Pridgeon was silently thinking of various things and Garenjazz went ahead to destroy whatever wishful thinking he had.


    "You may be thinking¡­ ''but Garenjazz! oni-chan Defiant is a Prime! Thew forbids for Primes to attack or kill Principals and Presiders! He would break the ultimatew that our Primordial set!''" Garenjazz imitated a rather obscene and high-pitched girl tone.


    "The answer is simple. First, let me ask you¡­ Why hasn''t Presider Marrho ever ascended to the level of Principals?"


    Pridgeon was starting to realize what was happening. He lost all strength.


    "He is¡­ another rebirth clone¡­" Pridgeon answered weakly.


    "Exactly! That''s why I retreated. I had the chance of getting Crostfree''s techs, but I won''t stand a chance from Presider Marrho''s attacks. But you¡­ You killed him without warning! Crostfree doesn''t know this himself. The truth is, there are many Pioneers and nteds back home and possibly here that are his clones. While he doesn''t care if those Pioneers and nteds are killed, the fact that Marrho reached out to me is because it valued Crostfree that much. And it makes sense. You know Crostfree''s past."


    Pridgeon had heard that Crostfree was one of the few Pioneers to have sessfully ascended and became a Presider. Although the events during Dormin''s Downfall was unclear, the fact that Crostfree seed in amassing all those points proved that he had the chance. You see, Primes have things that we don''t understand. I''m lucky enough to have been selected by Prime Zephirus to be his daughters ward. Prime Defiant''s n in getting stronger is by walking as many roads as he can. He sent his clones to different levels of our world. Some are born in the families of Principals, some Presiders and others those ofmon birth. We can''tprehend why he needs to, but that''s the fact."


    "Then Crostfree was someone who was born to explore and walk on other techs and sciences?"


    "Exactly. Presider Marrho is one who ascended long ago and was tasked by his main clone to guard the levels of the Presiders and secretly deal with those who are near ascension. That''s why it was such a relief in my life when Prime Zephirus took me in and even made ward of his daughter. That way Marrho won''t deal with me. You see, Marrho told me the their real self, Prime Defiant, wanted to see if having different circumstances can help him change his perception and beliefs. And maybe through that, it will help him discover newer sciences."


    Pridgeon frowned and couldn''t see how this would change anything to supreme Primes who had the most powerful tech of the world.


    Garenjazz noticed his expression and shrugged.


    "Look, don''t ask me why. Marrho said you would only understand that the moment they be Principals at the least. I don''t know how that is possible, but that''s the point. And youkilled another potential Presider Marrho!"


    Pridgeon was clenching his fist.


    "So¡­ you can live and pretend that you know nothing. Actually, if you want to live, its better that you do. Because, regardless if you do know or not, Marrho wille here and kill you. If you have something else to offer, then it might change the ending of your life. Honestly, I bet Prime Defiant values Crostfree over Marrho. Because Marrho was born in a Presider Family. Crostfree wasn''t. He was a nted at first. I''m sure for whatever mystifying reasons, Prime Defiant wanted Crostfree to be a Principal."


    "There are two of them¡­" Pridgeon finally caved in. His entire body felt weak. He had thought that his little plot outsmarted everyone. But even then, he was simply walking in the palm of Presider Garenjazz.


    "I met two rather strange beings in China. One was a woman with a beauty beyond imagination. If my suit didn''t have the ability to keep healing the altering mental states¡­ I would have given in to whatever desires I have. The other was a man who I never saw¡­ It was them who wanted me to wipe out the Jews¡­"


    Pridgeon had no choice. Presider Marrho''s strength was unquestioned among Presiders. They even believed that his asscension would happen anytime soon. But with this revtion, it proved that Marrho''s strength was far beyond what they could imagine. And with the offense he identally made, this would bring great trouble with him.


    "Finally, you admit it."


    "It''s no longer worth the trouble..."


    "It''s good you think that way. Presider Marrho should be on is way here, you know. He might even move faster than the Principal since the Principal is preparing a lot to make this ce his residence."


    "Then since you are offering this, it means you have some way to avoid it? If not I''ll just tell everyone what you bbed and force Marrho to kill everyone here."


    "Of course¡­ While losing Crostfree is something Prime Defiant cannot afford, it isn''t irrecable. I can pretend to be acting under the orders of Prime Zephirus and will make it look like Zephirus knew all along about the Lost Primordial and sent his daughter here. With that, it should give us a chance for Marrho to spare you. He will suspect you, but knowledge of the Lost Primordial will probably make him hesistate to kill you. Especially since it would affect Prime Zephirus."


    "Then I guess I have you to thank."


    "Honestly, I was just waiting for things to y out like this before I bring out the big reveal. Since I have Crostfree''s basic tech, I have been spying on Crostfree''s secret base. And with that, it was easy to discern that you killed him."


    "How sure are you that Marrho will spare me? What guarantee do you have? I can still tell everyone about Marrho''s secret and force him to kill all of us. What if he decides to go ahead and just kill all of us and spare Zeraphine?"


    "He won''t. If the details of the Lost Primordial is down there, he''d use us as cannon-fodder.


    " He might even let you keep Corstfree''s tech if we y our cards right. But boy have you gotten yourself in quite a predicament, Pridgeon."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Maybe its because that beautiful chick blinded you¡­ but can''t you see the n? They are making you do the dirty work. You n to gather the Jews and kill them to avoid creating a religion that can unite the world. But I think these guys knew you are a Presider and left you alive. They pretended to be dumb and with a beautiful girl urging you to do stuff, you neglected this possibility. They want you to gather all the Jews so they can unite the world and make it even more problematic for us."


    "¡­ I have no excuses. Yes. I also have been seeing this person in my dreams for a time¡­ I thought it was just my subconscious longing for her¡­ But if you have it¡­ then she might have a tech that surpasses ours!"


    "Yeah. This also makes sense of the sudden rise of these ''Cities of Refuge.'' The strange obsession for the bible is secretly preparing a world that will fight against us. Israel would probably be a City of Refuge. I rmend doing something drastic. Who controls the Caliphates? Are you connected to him?"


    "Pioneer ntter has gone rogue. For some reason, it looks like he sided with Presider Straviaa during the scuffle a few weeks ago. I even suspect that this Progenitor who challenged us in South Pangea have somehow caught him."


    "Oh? So that whole thing in Pangea was the real thing? Then it seems we have strong enemies. And their smart enough to wrung us dry by making us enemies of this Earth. They made you do the dirty work to gather them in Israel, and then suddenly, you lose control of Israel. Almost all Pioneers and nteds in the Caliphate region are dead. So how do you intend to kill all the Jews? And for some reason, some events are forcing the WGP to gather the Jews! Whatever ns we''ve been trying to do to get our people inside the higher rankings of the WGP is now impossible to aplish."


    "I know. And I am on it."


    "Oh? What are you nning?"


    "Using Crostfree''s techs I nned to establish myself within one of the towns. I was thinking of rising one of the states in the Caliphates and be an ally of Israel. But instead of calling ourselves a City of Refuge, a ce to flee too, I will name it after a ce of power."


    "Alright¡­ That sounds passable. Do it. I''ll secretly help you. The other Top-Tiered Presider will probably do the same thing."


    "What about you?"


    "What about me? See youter." Garenjazz disconnected the call.


    Pridgeon sat down in his seat. The color in his face drained.


    "Even now I''m still this weak?!" Pridgeon cursed.


    "All Pioneers. Change of ns. We''re not heading to South America. It''s time to initiate project Babel!" Pridgeon finally announced.


    The Pioneers were all startled at the suddenmand. But Pridgeon already disconnected after this alert.


    "Madelyne!" Pridgeon called Madelyn directly.


    "Presider?"


    "While the rest stay here, we go to South America. With everything that has been going on, we need to hasten our ns!"


    "What do you mean?"


    "We need to kill at least two Presiders in South America!" Pridgeon dered.

 Chapter 324 - Epilogue Of Volume 4

    The world was falling into chaos. The truth was no longer something the government can conceal.


    Ever since the attack on the Kraken and the disappearance of the WGP''s support, the world was already going on its downhill descent.


    The financial world, the exchange of currency, the trade that the world relied on had all fallen into a chaotic mess. Countries found themselves to be without means to support or sustain themselves.


    Some countries even had people killing their leaders. It was very much satisfied with how the government was trying to fight off the copse of almost every stable source of ie, trade, and other necessities.


    Corruption began to reveal itself left and right in some countries. Countries in any form of alliance or agreement even fell apart, and war urred within.


    But as the world fell, great reformations and reestablishment were urring.


    New people rose to power, and the former regimes died with the leaders that once held them.


    Tech Possibilities had been lifted. Almost every corporation and organization, and even some of them, had revealed a new form of technology that they had secretly hidden all along and began to sell them and offer exchanges with various forms of financial aides and trades.


    The WGP offered trade offers to some countries that attracted them with unique techs. But mysteriously, it was countries that had long lived under severe economic and technological hindrances that were the ones that managed to remain afloat when the whole world changed.


    Pangea, which had enemies on both sides and limitednd trade, were forced to find means as the triune countries united and made techs of their own. With the western sea andnd routes blocked by the SPU and Australia hovering over the west, they had to turn to different means to survive the trade storm.


    Apart from this, the gambles of Crazy Carlean and Ludicrous Lynd paid off. General Harker wanted the various gambling debts to be paid using minerals, supplies, materials, and tech.


    But this trade greatly benefited Pangea as it now managed to create a stable society in the new era when the WGP fell.


    The Americas and Canada, which had long been isted due to the severe restrictions in trade, remained as stable as ever. And while great turmoil was happening within the Americas, powerful organization and techs that was so intriguing, it even moved the WGP to offer various trades.


    Since its establishment, Unlock Industries, which wasn''t even a month old, has overtaken severalrge corporations in the Americas. South America even experienced the rise of Underwater Cities, which created even more chaos in various countries worldwide.


    Arthur watched the news and continued to mutter strange things.


    His trip had taken him all over the world. He visited Pangea and aided Seeker in the attack of the WGP. After this, he had settled in the Leviathan and was making his way towards Egypt.


    The Leviathan had been spending thest three weeks traveling all over the world. It was searching all over the ce and managed to wipe out and conquer three underwater cities. Arthur understood more about the underwater cities and how these secret societies functioned. He was able to deduce and calcte the locations of the other cities and found a way to attack and conquer them without alerting the rest.


    The cities they attacked were easily conquered. Some had three timesrger cities than the Leviathan itself as the city was buried under the sea bed. But against the primary team of Unlocked soldiers, these cities easily were captured.


    But Arthur didn''t capture and enve everyone. They simply observed and acquired the unique technologies that developed in the underwater world. Some were turned into Programmed ves, and they even gave the conquered cities techs and exined about the Aragarians.


    As Arthur kept charting their path towards Egypt, he suddenly felt a strange force.


    He immediately turned on a strange device.


    The device was something thatbined several techs. Richie, the Realm King, and Lennox made means that allowed the three to link in great distances.


    "Soundcheck. I''m sorry for the sudden call. But this is the only time that I can make this call. I''m inside the underwater nuclear facility of a certain Underwater City. Is everyone here?" Lioncourt asked.


    All the Oveers and Near Oveers were present and gave a simple acknowledgment. Notable members joining the call who weren''t Oveers are Arthur and Charles.


    "They Tyrant Empress is, of course, without means to respond. Although I''m sure, you''ve felt it. It''s as if her ws are trying to reach out and grab us." Lioncourt wiped the sweat off his face.


    "Eagle seems to be busy. Anyway, now that everyone''s attendance is confirmed, let''s get this call started. As Arthur predicted, strange fluctuations are urring around the world. Four, to be exact. One appears to be headed towards the Caliphate region. Amir Mann, you owe me your liver. I expect the shipment to be made immediately."


    "Fine¡­" Amir grunted.


    "Liver?" Charles asked.


    "No time to exin, Doctor Charles. Anyway, with this, we can confirm that Arthur''s prediction was right. Crostfree is dead and Pridgeon now controls Crostfree''s techs. But now, there are three more strange fluctuations. Looking at the feel, I''m guessing two of them are mass teleportation. One is bending space like the Void''s assassins teleportation technique, but the other is discing space. Any thoughts on that Seeker?"


    "No. I don''t know who those Presiders are. But they might appear in South America. My team will keep a close eye at the situation."


    "Alright. Anyway, it means what you all think. The Aragarians are moving their armies inside Earth. We have aplished one of our objectives. From our own reprogrammed set of ves and the Pioneers serving the Tyrant Empress, we know that there are tiers among Presiders. Since these so-called top-tiered Presiders are now moving, we can now assume that it is safe to move into our next n."


    "Amazing. You got even the date right. You can really see the future." Seekerughed as he checked the calendar.


    "Then that means that Arthur is also right in the locations. Russia, Caliphate, Canada, and one in the Underwater region of the world. Is it in the Arctic waters?" Meng asked.


    "Correct. The movements are as Arthur expected." Lioncourt answered.


    "Let''s not get confident, Oveers. Our concern is to prepare our traps and create as many spies as we can. My predictions moving onwards will now have lower chances ofing true. There are too many factors in y and too many powers. And even now, our chances of victory is quite small."


    "We will do what we can. In about a few weeks, I should have the ability to sense through the wind." Hermes exined.


    "I''ll try to scout them. Or does Arthur have any suggestions?"


    "It''s best to wait for Richie to visit you up there. I''m sure he will be gathering and pulling you in the war against the Tyrant Empress in Africa. Once together, try to find a way to merge your two paths. We do not know if the Presiders in Canada can detect the strange movements of the wind. So it''s better to use your wind and make a Realm Chamber for Richie."


    "Alright. Sounds like a n."


    "Meng¡­ What about your father? How is he?"


    "He will be going to South America as nned. Rosa''s family has finally caved in. My father will be joining them and will be acting as one of their elders."


    "Caved in¡­ Meaning?" Charles asked.


    "Typical tortured them, and they believed the reports about the Aragarians."


    "The dium family fought me on several asions. You used fear to make them submit?" Rai wondered.


    "Consider them Programmed ves. But instead of pleasure, I used pain. Three of their younger members reached the Advent stage of Unbing during the torture, which proves that they may have more possible Paths to develop. They have agreed to join against the war against Russia and India."


    "Are you certain that you can handle that, Dragon?" Amir asked.


    "My Fangs crushed you once. They will crush you again, Little Doggie." Mengughed.


    "We shall see." Amir didn''t fight back. Although Cliff was the main reason they won, Amir counted it as his defeat.


    "Seeker. For your mission in South America, you have to be very careful. Pridgeon shouldn''t have made his move obvious. With how he is suddenly moving towards the Caliphate region means that things have changed. Act as if a Principal is there."


    "I know. That''s why Lynd and Cliff are with me."


    "That should also be a reminder to all of you. You have to be more on guard with your battles. Pridgeon is able to move an entire invisible fortress towards that location. It is that moon that we attacked in the South Pacific. If Crostfree bes the baseline of reference for Top-Tier Presiders, we should assume that the others have the means to do the same thing. Mass teleportation is something inconceivable at this time. And since both have used different means of teleportation, it means that their techs in the dimensions beyond are something we cannot imagine or box."


    "So we live assuming that they can detect us?" Charles asked.


    "In Seeker''s future, I believe that apart from Crostfree, most who took part were either low to mid-tiered Presiders. But now, we have Top-tiers on Earth. They will be actively looking for this Lost Primordial. We gave them a fake target with all our lies. So don''t try to get yourself in the target range." Lennox interjected.


    "As you can see, my son is wise in forcing all of us toplete our big moves before they get here. The only Presider that showed interest was drawn out and killed. But since we already killed a Top-Tier and made it look like another Presider or the Lost Primordial is involved, we might draw in Principals."


    "So in our current power, we don''t have any hopes in defeating Principals. We know Dimension tech is the key to rising to greater power. And we don''t even have the basics. My powers could barely be counted as that." Rai sighed.


    "Yes. Principals should have the power to do far greater things. And so our n relies on stealing whatever we can from Presiders. But even if we''ve acquired all the techs that the top Presiders here have, we still won''t be able to beat them." Arthur agreed.


    "Cheer up, gang! We have the Lost Primordial''s tech. We have within us the means to be stronger than these guys! The techs we get from them are just nice benefits. Just as it always has been, the key to victory lies in our ability to Ovee." Seeker smiled.


    "Our enemies are near. Are enemies bring such a great threat to the bnce. But this is the only way for us to grow." Seeker added.


    "Arthur, you didn''t tell usst time. But what is your prediction? What will these people do?"


    "The key lies ins Pridgeon''s sudden action. Why suddenly make an obvious move? For those who are Top-Tiered Presiders, this would make his acquisition of Crostfree''s tech known. Why would he do that?"


    "He knows he''s discovered," Richie answered.


    "He''s not hiding anymore. But even then, he is still moving toplete the obsession we''ve started with him with the Jews. Did he sumb to the Tyrant Empress''s power?"


    "Not exactly. He knows he''s failed. He''s moving to counter it." Arthur answered.


    "Tyrant Empress, you have to grow stronger in a way that he will fall into an obsession towards you without knowing it. Make him fall so in love that he will create an alternate personality. Make that obsession a personality. It is possible." Seeker suggested.


    "You''ve read my mind, Seeker. But while that may not happen, the best way for these Presiders to move freely within Earth is to create a new nation for themselves."


    "Then it''s perfect." Someone suddenly interrupted.


    "Eagle. So nice of you to join." Lennox greeted.


    "I''m sorry. I was in the middle of the Bible study. But the events that follow seem to be in line with the Bible''s grand tale."


    "The Bible''s grand tale?" Richie asked with great curiosity.


    "The Bible repeatedly talks about two certain things. Israel and a city that opposes it. Jerusalem was first shown in Genesis as the city called ''Salem'' ruled by an interesting bible figure that was a High Priest and at the same time a King."


    "Melchizedek!" Richie answered like a young kid showing off to his parents how smart he was.


    "Correct, Richie. This Melchizedek is seen as an important typology of Jesus Christ. He presents himself as a King-Priest, a role that only Jesus fulfills and is hinted to in the New Testament. The Book of Hebrews details this. Jerusalem quickly bes the center of all Biblical narratives. It focuses on that city, and the Bible even ends with the City of God, the New Jerusalem falling from Heaven and taking its ce."


    "That is what you kept mentioning as the Kingdom, correct?"


    "Yes and no. Depending on your view on eschatology, you might believe the Kingdom happens before or after. But that''s not necessary. For now, we can say that it is the Kingdom for convenience''s sake. What is important is that we understand the first important city that is Jerusalem. The second city also appears in Genesis, we see it featured prominently in thest book of the Bible, and we see its mentions running all over the Bible. The second city first appeared in Genesis as Babel."


    "The tower of Babel?"


    "Indeed! The very same! Babel in thend of Shinar. And do you know what existed in Shinar?"


    "Babylon!" Richie eximed once more.


    "Correct again! Look''s like Richie''s knowledge of the Bible is getting better! I trust your Bible studies have been going great?"


    "Richie''s leading bible studies?!" Seeker was amazed.


    "Yeah. You should join, Seeker! Your Grandmother frequently attends now."


    "...Please continue, Eagle."


    "Anyway¡­ It is, as Richie said. Babylon bes an important theme throughout the Bible, and in the book of Revtion, we see the two prominent cities fighting. Revtion tells of a great city, full of sin and wickedness, and is very vocal in their defiance against God. And this city is at odds with Jerusalem. You could even say that Babel, the city that sinful man built to reach the heavens and challenge God, is rebuilt!"


    "I get it. You mean to say that we are fulfilling the typologies of Scripture?" Lennox asked.


    "Indeed. Whether Arthur intended it to be, this is what''s happening. So, Arthur, we have to find a way to make Pridgeon build his fortress in thend of Shinar. If we arrange it in that way, my sermons could be a powerful weapon to convince the world when the timees." Eagle urged Arthur.


    "Alright then. I''ll send word to Lowengren. I predict that these Presiders on Earth will build a city just like Pridgeon will do. And I guess, to fulfill Scripture, we have to make our cities strong enough to fight them." Arthur added.


    "This doesn''t ovep with our current arrangements. Richie and the Empress will still fight in Africa. Amir and the Dragon will fight in China. Near Oveers, I urge you to join those battles. Make your battle wild that it will cause some countries to flee to the Cities of Refuge. Also, try to attack these towers of Babels that will surface. I predict you will lose. But that''s the point." Arthur added.


    "I see. One city is a ce of escape. The weak and helpless will go there. But Babel will be a city of power. Full of vices, sin, and pride. Both will rise, and both will have different things to depict. If that''s the case, then our battles will be easier. The other Presiders will probably join one of those cities to make their entry on Earth easier." Lioncourt analyzed.


    "So one of the major themes in the Bible is Jerusalem and Babylon¡­ Interesting¡­ It kind of makes me see the Bible differently know. So this is it, huh? A Tale of Two Cities." Richieughed.


    "The Cities of Refuge versus the Towers of Babel¡­ It has a nice ring to it.." Seeker alsoughed.

 Chapter 325 - Survival Room

    A young boy was thrown inside the room.


    "Get in there and stay there! You lot have been causing some great problems here!" The tall adult who was carrying the child shouted.


    "I''m innocent! Please! Help me! I don''t belong here! I was framed!" The young boy pleaded, but the door was closed.


    "No! Help! Help! Help!" The young boy pleaded, but he then heard another door closing on the other side.


    Almost immediately, his expression changed.


    "I guess that was worth a shot." He sighed, and he turned around and noticed that there were several others inside the room.


    "Quite an actor you are, kid." A tall white man with a very thick entughed.


    "I wasn''t acting. I am genuinely scared, and I don''t belong here. But what else can I do? I''ve been living like this for nearly two months now. I didn''t even have the time to cry when this all happens. Honestly, I was supposed to have died a month ago, and I don''t know why I''m still alive." The kid sighed as he sat down.


    "Sounds familiar..." A teenage girl with dark-skinned and beautiful big eyes murmured at the side.


    "This is strange. Something must be pulling the strings around here. Your the sixth person to have the same circumstances as us." A petite Asian girl with thick sses said to the side.


    "Wait. You guys have been chased around transferring from one group of bad guys to another and have been tortured nearly to death and saved at the veryst minute?" The teenage boy frowned.


    "Yes. And looking at your appearance, you ought to be the youngest among us. Just call me Ivan. I got abducted in the fringe regions of Russia. I was sold to a Caliphates, got my ride out of it, reached New Great Britain, and was shipped off the Rotting Lands. And eventually, here I am." The man exined.


    "Ivan?"


    "I''m Fish. From Africa with love." The dark-skinned girl introduced herself.


    "Epic." A quiet wounded man at the back with lots of bandages raised his right hand while lying with his back on the floor.


    "I''m from Canada.


    "Lim. One China." The petite Asian girl with the sses spoke.


    "Will. Best regards from Indo-Pangea." A short man who was seated on the dark corner of the room spoke.


    The teen looked at everyone.


    "I guess we''re using made-up names then. Hrm... Since I''m from the Rotting Lands, just call me Suarez, I guess."


    "So... What exactly have you guys figured out?" Suarez asked.


    "Since all of us have a simr situation, someone must be ying with our lives. Are your parents still alive?" Lim asked.


    "No. They died more than a month ago..." The teen had aplicated expression.


    "Same. All our parents and rtives have been killed. Since you are from the Rotting Lands, you should have only a few rtivespared to Ivan or Will. But someone is targeting us and is keeping us alive. Like you, all of us should have died more than ten times in thest month. Have you experienced it?" Lim asked.


    "It?"


    "You know... The thing?" Will repeated.


    "So everyone here... experienced that thing?" Suarez realized what they were talking about.


    "It''s awesome... I wish I had it before. Then I could have stopped those punks from killing my family." Ivan clenched his fist.


    "Everyone here has that?" Suarez repeated.


    "Yes. I just had it recently... It''s hurting my head. You guys are talking too slow!" Epicined.


    "And why is the light so bright?" Epicined some more.


    "It''s part of the process. You need to adjust how you see the time." Will exined.


    "It''s interesting that someone as young as you has that." Ivan praised.


    "Well... I lost my family for it..." Suarez sighed.


    "... We all did."


    "But if there are six of us now, why haven''t you guys tried escaping earlier?" Suarez asked.


    "I was the first here. I was able to use this power about two weeks ago. By then, I killed these people who belong to the Underworld. But... just like all of us, the next group of people who attacked us was incredibly skilled."


    "Right... They moved faster than me..." Suarez recalled the good-looking eastern man with the strange smile who easily blocked his punch and fractured his arms and legs.


    "And yet, despite having the power to do so, they didn''t kill us. When I woke up here, Ivan was the next sent in. When I discovered we had a simr experience, I realized that whoever is ying with us must be gathering us right now. And that theory was proven true when Will got here. So we decided to wait for everyone." Lim exined.


    "Oh... Wow. You''re pretty smart, big sis."


    "I have to be," Lim answered coldly.


    "What are your capabilities?" Lim asked again.


    Suddenly, a strange force erupted nearby. It was as if the room was being sucked or stretched out. The entire group felt a strange and eerie sensation that caused Ivan and Suarez, who were standing to stumble down.


    "What was that...?" Epicined.


    "GET BEHIND ME! QUICK!" Ivan shouted loudly.


    Epic was groggy, and then he felt it.


    It was as if a crushing sensation stepped over them.


    He was thest to react as everyone had already stood their ground together behind Ivan, trembling with great fear.


    The figure before them was a teenager who was barely eighteen years old. He looked familiar. But no one had time to ponder on this because the teen had many mysteries before him.


    For one, his body was bleeding as if he got stabbed several times in the chest. His right-hand arm was sliced off with the missing part on the ground.


    "Drats. Failed again. At least, this time, my hand traveled to the other side. No missing parts... Wait, why is it harder to breathe? Oh great. I lost a lung." The teenined as he felt the right torso that was bleeding.


    He bent down and reached for his arm and ced it. It was as if there was some strong glue as the arm connected. The teen kept looking at his reconnected hand, and soon it began to move.


    "Hello." The teen greeted the group.


    "Seeker Carlean? The famous streamer?" Fish was the first to recognize the mysterious youth before him finally.


    "Smart of you, Fish. You still go by Fish, right? Or has the butterfly effect forced you to go by your real name, Dory?" Seeker asked.


    Despite being able to have a conversation with Seeker, Dory was trembling. She knew that there was something definitely odd with this young man.


    "Alright. My lungs have healed enough. But it looks like I''ll need to teleport somewhere with food before scadoodling out of here." Seeker sighed as he sensed the remaining energy in his body.


    "Alright. Down to business. Fish, Ivan, Suarez, Will, Epic, and Lim. I trust the reason that you haven''t attempted any escape is because of Lim?" Seeker asked.


    "Who are you, and why have you appeared?" Lim asked angrily. She was angry and extremely afraid and was trembling and doing her best to stand.


    "Rx. I''m not here to kill you. I''m sorry for the scare, though. You see, I just tried teleporting here, and I still couldn''t get the hang of it. Hence the bloody mess before you. And the reason you fear such fear is because of the natural radiation and other effects that my body is exuding since I activated the full power of my body for teleporting."


    "And to what pleasure do we have the honor of having you here, Seeker Carlean?" Ivan tried to speak courageously.


    "Give me a few seconds first. I have to adjust my body so we can talk. Besides, I might kill you from the radiation. Being Unlocked doesn''t protect you to that, you know?" Seeker smiled and sat down in a lotus position.


    "Unlocked? This power? Unlocked? As in like the whole using my brain to its full potential?" Lim asked again.


    "Simr but different. You''ll get the briefing soon." Seeker shrugged and concentrated on taking in the energy of his body once more.


    The terrifying sensation that the six people felt that made them feel such terror towards Seeker disappeared.


    Will finally managed to breathe.


    Seeker smiled and recalled the Will in his timeline.


    "Ah, Will. Ever clumsy and cowardly. But very reliable when the timees." Seeker smiled as he looked at him.


    "How do you know us? Are you the one responsible for everything?" Suarez red.


    "Scared that you can''t read my mind, Suarez? I read the reports. Some of the Unlocked who fought you, particrly that Prince under Harker''s team, reported that he felt something enter his Realm. It seems that you are developing that Skill earlier than expected." Seeker smiled.


    "How did you-?"


    "Well, first of all, everything about your parents and rtives was a lie. They aren''t dead. They are, in fact, very much alive. Even now, in these chaotic times, they are living rather good lives. Tyre Ambers, or Ivan... Do you go by Ivan? Your girlfriend is doing well. So is your family. I recruited them and ced them under Arthur''s care. They have undergone Drug Unlocking."


    "What are you talking about?!" Ivan shouted angrily.


    "The power you have right now. We chemically induced them to have that. They are training for theing war. All of your immediate family are¡ªeven you, Suarez. Richie is building his army now and took them in. You''ll get the details soon."


    "And my family?" Lim asked immediately.


    "They are with Greydon Meng. Will, your family, and your step-siblings are part of Harker''s army. Fish, Epic... Same with your family." Seeker exined.


    "What exactly is going on?" Suarez asked.


    "Basically, there is an alien threat in this world. And the secret forces of Earth are gathering strong people to fight off the threat." Seeker smiled.


    "Are you some sort of a time traveler? You knew the nicknames that we made without telling anyone." Lim asked.


    "Ah, the ever efficient Lim is as smart as ever. But looking at you know, you have a lot ofpetition. It''s sad. You used to be the smartest in the army. But in this timeline, a lot of people overshadow you in wisdom. Git Godlike, Warfreakz, even that Cliff is really upping their INT." Seeker smiled.


    "Is this some sort of a game to you? Did you lose in that other time and time-traveled here for the fun of it?" Lim asked irritably.


    "I died in myst life to save you guys. But by some coincidence or the workings of some strange Zone that the Progenitor must have set, I time-traveled to this life. So this isn''t a game. It''s a New Game+ for me." Seeker smiled.


    "Zone? Progenitor? What are you talking about?" Epic asked.


    "Still as slow as ever, I see. Epic. You really need to study in this life. Anyway, Lim will tell you what she found out. But let me get right to the purpose of things. I made you go through all those terrifying things to push your to grow and Unlock yourselves. I knew that you had potential in my alternate timeline and hoped that you guys could naturally Unlock yourselves. If anything, we found that those who can Unlock themselves have great potential to develop Skills and even Path. And for you guys, I needed to make it as harsh as ever."


    "My parents are alive?" Suarez asked the important question he wants to be confirmed again. Ever since Seeker said that his parents were alive, it was all that he could think about.


    "Yes. But they won''t be for long." Seeker sighed.


    "What do you mean? Are you holding them against their will and will kill them if we don''t obey you?" Fish shouted.


    "If only, Fish. While we are holding them against your will... although Harker has been spoiling Lim''s baby sister... the thing is, a war ising soon. In fact, it''s already here. And if you don''t get strong enough to protect them, they will die. I am holding everyone''s family in my secret facilities to protect them."


    "What''s our mission?" Ivan asked immediately.


    "As expected. Ivan, you still bear the marks of a leader. This is good. Your mission is to kill several aliens by whatever means you can. They are Unlocked like you. Every one of them has a bomb on their hearts, and their mission is to kill you. If they seed within fifteen days, they live."


    "What?!" Lim was shocked at what she heard.


    "I need strength, gang. So this is the best way I thought possible. A game of survival. They will try to kill you. And aside from being unable to contact the other aliens and spill the beans, they can do anything, including acquiring techs to kill you all." Seeker smiled.


    "When does this game start?" Will asked with a serious expression.


    "This is my blood." Seeker ignored Will''s question, and through some mysterious means, Seeker made a cut on his wrist, and the blood sttered to the ground.


    "Drink it. He who drinks of my blood will have the chance to survive this battle. Or so a Messiah-like me should say. Honestly, I don''t know if you can have faith in me. But you have to. This blood of mine is the key to getting stronger. Welp... The game has already started."


    "What?!" Lim shouted in terror.


    "Those nteds and the few Pioneers that we kidnapped ought to have been freed now. See youter, guys. I hope the next time I see you, you would be worthy of to be part of the Gryphon Squadron.." Seeker smiled, and all of a sudden, space began to stretch, and Seeker''s figure disappeared.

 Chapter 326 - Revelation 8

    The group was shocked at the disappearance of Seeker.


    For a few seconds, there was silence.


    "Well, you heard the man. I don''t know about you guys, but my family is alive! I don''t want to die here! If it''s aliens, angels, or demons, I''d fight!" Ivan was the first to speak.


    "Lim. You seem to be the smartest one around here. What are your thoughts?"


    "Is your real name Tyre Embers?"


    "Yes." Ivan answered without hesitation.


    "He talked as if he knew us. He even mentioned things about my family. So¡­ first of all, that Seeker Carlean ought to be telling the truth, or he was really in charge of everything that we have been going through. You could call it an experiment, but he made us into who we are right now. Next¡­ I want to confirm with everybody. Did you feel the fear from him?"


    "Yes¡­ And there was a painful heat. I could feel it. I''m very sensitive to temperature changes. And when I got this power, it increased."


    "Then him appearing before us was also real. We don''t have time to talk about everything he just said. But what he showed us is something that is impossible. He was there, and then he wasn''t. So I have to ask everyone now. Do we believe him, or do we don''t believe him?"


    "Do we have a choice? We all want to believe our parents are alive. Haven''t you seen the news? The world is at war. That Crazy Carlean is probably- no, definitively involved in everything!" Will argued.


    It was then that they noticed Epic drinking the blood on the floor.


    "Epic?"


    "He said that his blood is some magic stuff, right? If we believe him, shouldn''t we drink his blood?" Epic argued.


    Suarezughed and went to drink some of the blood on the floor.


    Soon everyone immediately did it.


    "How do we get out of here? That door is tightly sealed!" Epic asked.


    "We have six people with superhuman strength. We kick it together, and it should open up. But first, we have to think of a way to fight our way out of here without sinking the submarine.


    "Submarine? We are all in a submarine?" Epic asked.


    "No. Haven''t you noticed? We are in a submarine."


    "I didn''t notice. I was unconscious when they sent me in here."


    "Me too."


    "Isn''t it dangerous? Why would you be in a submarine? They want us to fight here?"


    "We''ll have to go out to see if the fight is here or not here. Either way, do any of you know how to drive a submarine?"


    "It''s not something a single person can drive."


    "Then we either blow this ce up and escape or fight our way and take control of this ce to go to the surface. But I want to bring a sub to the surface."


    "Then we do that. We fight our way out and try not to kill people and scare the enemies out." Ivan decided.


    "Alright. Lim''s the strategist, somehow that Seeker knew I''d be the leader. What are you guys good at? If he''s right, then we ought to be good at something."


    "I can... read minds. Well, sort of. It''s not clear, but there are times where I can just guess what the people around me want to do. Right now... after drinking his blood, I feel like we all got connected. We all want to see our family" Suarez answered.


    "Read minds?" Epic was confused.


    "Seeker implied it earlier." Lim added.


    "I don''t know what I''m good at." Fish sighed.


    "I guess I''m good withputers." Will thought for a bit.


    "I''m not sure what I''m good at either..." Epic sighed.


    "Don''t bother thinking about it. We will grow strong even if we''re not right now." Ivan exined as he stood up.


    "Let''s go. We have aliens to kill!" Ivan ordered as he walked near the door.


    "Together on three." Ivan marked as the others suddenly moved towards them.


    "One- Two- Three!" Ivan roared as he delivered a powerful kick, and the others did so as well.


    On another submarine a few hundred meters from the first...


    "Great. I lost a kidney." Seekerined. Blood and wounds were all over his body, and he was handed a strange pill by one of the soldiers nearby.


    "Tell the captain to move ahead. The mission isplete." Seeker ordered one of the crew members, who immediately rushed off to inform the captain of the submarine.


    Arge buffet stood before him, and he began to eat. Around him were several unfamiliar people. Some of them had fins on the side of their necks.


    "And as I was saying... before we were rudely interrupted..." A tall and strict woman with sses peered over to Seeker.


    "The food supply that we have in store would be safely provided the enemy doesn''t know where it is from. The question remains as to how we can deliver it to the surface or any other locations."


    "Madam... That''s Seeker Carlean. He alone can destroy our Underwater City." A man nearby exined.


    "I know. But what of it? He won''t be able to survive without food to eat."


    "Actually we did." Seeker smiled.


    "Deteriorating sciences that could break down the metal and variouspounds. Most of the food supply was given to all Unlocked who could eat two times a normal man, and some like me could even eat a buffet like this without any problem. It was poison, but an Unlocked body can resist a wider array of poisons." Seekerughed.


    The woman frowned.


    "Seeker Carlean. We have allowed our city to ally with yours only because you are some of the sprouted seeds the Progenitor left behind. If the threat of the Aragarians is as severe as you im, then we will live the fighting to you and continue to produce and capture sea life for your armies to fight back. So please have respect for our presentation as you will desperately need us to feed you."


    "You misunderstand. This meeting, and this entire relocation of you in the South Americas and how Unlocked Industries will fund the creation of under Underwater City isn''t to ensure your ability to produce food for us. It''s quite the opposite. We have to discuss how to create a science that can destroy one-third of the sea and create a food crisis." Seeker smiled.


    Everyone''s faces changed.


    "What?"


    "See, Harker? This is why I told you a lie and only drop the bomb now." Seeker smiled.


    Harker, who was seated next to Seeker, also frowned.


    "Destroy a third of the sea?"


    "Yup. The more we learned about the future direction of this world, and going by Eagle''s sermons on Revtion, the more it makes sense to this."


    "A third of the sea?"


    "Yup. It''s all part of the n. The Earth has Presiders and will be building their Babels or Babylon cities. For usnd dwellers, it''s best to toss away the current world map that we know. In a matter of months and even weeks, new cities will arise. The secret cities on outer space will also begin to act. And with it, the Aragarians will also use the sudden pilgrimage of those who fled to space will return."


    "Wait. The conspiracy theory about the humans who fled the Earth during the Third World War is true?"


    "Yes. In my timeline, one of the delightful supports, when the Aragarians appeared, was the space force that harassed the Aragarian space force. But of course, they only bought us a few hours and took away a small number of enemies."


    "They assaulted the Aragarians? Then that means..."


    "You guessed it. The Progenitor set them. I never got to meet them and only learned about them through the battle reports. We don''t know how much help they offered because we only know of them because of their history. My master is preparing to find them, of course. But even then, it will be too impossible. So that''s why we create an event that will draw them out and something that will also greatly change the shape of the world to gather our group and the enemy."


    "An event that draws out those Space Dwellers and creates both the Cities of Refuge and the Babel Towers? So our solution is to destroy a third of the sea?" Harker asked again for rity.


    "Not just a third of the sea. We''re going full Revtion 8 here. Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the Earth. And a third of the Earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, zing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter."


    "You n to destroy... two-thirds of the sea?"


    "Nope. One third. You''re confusing the other third of waters for the rivers. Basically, we need to create something that will poison the freshwater supply of the Earth. To achieve that, we need to find a way to detect the world of it''s desalting stations." Seeker exined.


    "You''re insane." One of the men seated around the table eximed. He had fins of different sortspared to thedy that acted rudely towards Seeker.


    "Well... Technically, I am clinically insane."


    "This is... you''re crazy! I thought we are going to save the world! You''re destroying it!"


    "No. I''m shaping it. If the Aragarians are in this world, their allies will be granted Aragarian tech. You''ve seen from the videos what a Top-Tier Aragarian can do. They can outfit normal people to have weapons that can easily kill the Unlocked. And so the best way is to do what the Bible has been talking about! The Harvest!"


    "The Harvest?" Another woman with strange gills asked again.


    "It''s a long story. But basically, we will force the world to pick aside. Will they go to a City of Refuge, or will they build the tower that defies God? Will they go to Jerusalem or Babylon? Those are the options. You Underwater Cities which Eagle strangely refers to as shipmasters and seafaring men will also be given that choice. We are forcing you to side with the Cities of Refuge. But most of the Underwater Cities will go with Babylon."


    "You will kill billions by this crazy act! I have fled from the surface because of its cruelty. Now you, force me to serve you, you who is ten times worse than those above? What differentiates you from these Aragarians? What?"


    "My friend, you don''t understand. They will have a choice. Eagle will be preaching and using his powers that beguile and convince people. He will use religion, the one thing that the Aragairans are trying to eliminate in this world. If they chose the city of Babylon, you would see for yourself how cruel it will be. These events will bring out the worst and best of the people. And that day ising when the deaths of those who chose Babylon will not disgust you. You will rejoice." Seeker exined.


    "I will never rejoice at the death of humans!"


    Seeker smiled.


    It was then everyone felt it. The boiling anger caused everyone at the table to tremble and gnash their teeth.


    The anger was so great that they began to smash the table with their fist.


    Only Harker was unaffected. Even the other Unlocked serving near the table had very ugly expressions.


    And then, it was gone.


    "Trust me. You will rejoice at the deaths of these humans. Now, Madam Seafarer. While your ns are novel and honestly unique and can honestly be used in that time toe, let''s save it forter. As the masters of the sea, tell me.... How will I destroy a third of it?"

 Chapter 327 - World Governing Trade Hub

    A fleet of submarines and arge vessel that bore the same resemnce as a Pangean Lingkaran had reached therge boundaries that separated the continents of Canada and the Americas from the rest of the world.


    Back during the Third World War, the two countries in the American Continent were known to have been taking part in secret deals and supporting various countries and groups. They were even able to indirectly create intrigue to weaken potential enemies of the Americas and Canada.


    Even after the World War, the countries continued to do so. To stop this and inhibit the two countries from overpowering all other nations by a vast degree, the WGP erected two bases.


    The first was called World''s Helm. This was thergest mobile fortress in the world. It was so huge that it could easily be spotted from space. Thisrge fortress was erected in the Antic Ocean and limited trade andmunication between the Americas to Africa and the European nations.


    On the other side of the world, Russia had already created barriers that prevented the Canadian liberated state of ska frommunicating with them. And since the two have always had skirmishes against each other, the possible connection and trade routes from North America and Russia were not possible.


    The Pacific Ocean also had a WGP fortress. Using the inds known as Hawaii after the Third World War, another WGP fortress, the World Governing Trade Hub, was created using the wrecked remains of the inds. This ind was used as the primary connection of trade between the Americas and the Asian nations.


    When the WGP officially withdrew its role as the governing powers of the world, the two bases remained operational, iming that they were to guard and limit the illegal activities across the world. Since many illegal and inhumane experiments were happening and have been confirmed, the WGP had the moral grounds to im this.


    But every country in the world knew that the WGP did this to watch over their enemies.


    Seeker knew even better. The Pacific Ocean and the Antic Ocean holds over thirty underwater cities that only very few people in the knew of. These Underwater Cities were the gateway that allowed the Underworld to function despite the very tight constraints. And now that these cities are surfacing and chaos, the WGP even initiated trade rtions with these cities.


    When the world''s economic and trade operations copsed, the WGP offered to resurrect its services in exchange for trade and the acquisition of resources. They would take 2% of any trade materials being sent.


    And while the world was disgusted by this form of daylight robbery, they had no choice. No one was as safe in trading with the Americas and the Canadas as the WGP. The World Trading Hub was also guarded by three powerful Emperors known throughout the world.


    With these three as the ones guarding it, the world hastened to initiate trade.


    And so, when the World''s Helm and the World Governing Trade Hub confirmed the date when they would cater to trade, various nations immediately sent their fleets to head towards the WGP.


    Several submarines journeyed together and even were moving near each other.


    Some submarines that belonged to enemy countries were even within close proximity of each other.


    Some belonged to the WGP; others were independent subs from organizations all over the world. Some even belonged to the Underworld that was tasked to patrol and eliminate any submarines that were the enemies of other Underworld Organizations.


    The journey was quiet for these submarines. But it was very tense. Everyone knew that a battle could erupt anytime.


    The only group that was very rxed was from the Pangean fleet. Almost everyone in these ships were Unlocked.


    One of the Commanders of the Kraken sat down and listened to the shocking meeting that her new leader had with the rulers of the Underwater cities.


    She excused himself out and couldn''t help but tremble at the n that Seeker instigated.


    "You alright, Commander Yatra?" Lynd asked as he waited outside.


    "General Lynd!" The Commander was stunned that the powerful General of Pangea called out to her.


    "It''s nothing." She answered.


    "Have you... read my file?" Lynd asked.


    "Yes, General."


    "And you should know my Path, right?"


    "Ye-yes, General. I am just shocked and-"


    "Disgusted, horrified, angry, and afraid. You must have been shocked at Seeker''s ns. Tell me about your emotions... I am a General, and I think you will be serving under my squadron." Lynd sighed in reluctance. He closed his eyes for a few seconds as if trying to stop something in his mind.


    "...Yes." Ysa admitted.


    "General... How are you alright with this? After all... you are just a kid..."


    "Give me a sec. I was testing my limits and tried adding these mods to the game. Ugh. It''s hurting my head. I better stop with all these high-res graphic mods. Man! It''s taking forever to shut down!" Lynd cursed as he frowned while closing his eyes.


    Ysa recalled one of the strange quirks listed on Lynd''s profile.


    "Can yputer games on his head..." She muttered as she watched her future General.


    Nearly a minuteter, Lynd finally sighed as sweat poured down his forehead.


    "Commander Yatra."


    "You may call me Ysa, General."


    "Commander Ysa... Please follow me to the cafeteria. I need to devour a buffet of meals." Lynd sighed as he began to walk towards the cafeteria, clearly disgruntled at his failed attempts.


    "We have a lot to do in South America. The Unlocked Industries can provide a base for us, but I''ll be leaving the groundwork to you. You must try to find a foundation for our bases. I''m sure the detailed reports and tutorials of what to do and what to avoid are recorded in your head." Lynd walked on ahead.


    "General." You spoke once more. She was now conversing with Lynd Indigo. The best that she could do was ask her primary concerns anyway.


    "Are you... really alright with this? The ns that we''re making are practically destroying the world!"


    "We don''t have a choice. I used to be like you. Idealistic and hopeful... But when you get the same power that we have and realize that even this isn''t enough, you need to change your perspective. The world is changing, Commander Ysa. Right now, you are taking orders from a 17-year-old kid who can practically conquer a country!"


    "But are these deaths necessary?"


    "Yes. Our efforts in creating Unlocked have already passed the nned threshold that Lennox and Arthur nned. Anything beyond this will greatly deplete our resources. We can''t invest everything in creating unlocked, after all. You guys are thest batch of people we unlock via drug. But for us to survive, we need more Unlocked."


    "Then the destruction of the world..."


    "Is intended to make more of Unlocked soldiers. Seeker told me how they managed to secure a foothold in his future. You''ve read the file, right?"


    "Yes. I''ve read about what Seeker has been through."


    "Then why don''t you believe it? I can discern your emotions regarding that. You have a kid before you who can produce greater radiation than a nuclear meltdown, and you disregard time travel?"


    "It''s easier to believe that you are all experiments and that there are no more aliens in this world."


    "You''re weird." Lynd shook his head.


    Lisa was stunned.


    "I''m weird? ording to the reports, you can y an old game known as Skyrim in your head!"


    "If only. It''s too heavy! I''m doing it the way Lennox can. I just have on thought process, and I forcibly memorized every pattern. If it wasn''t for cold-fusion, my head would have burned. It''s already giving me a severe headache! Seeker''s lucky he''s got multiple personalities. He should be able to easily do this now..." Lynd sighed in envy.


    Ysa was at a loss at what to say.


    "Well, Commander Ysa. Regardless if you believe it or not, the truth is simple. We can''t afford to create any more Unlocked. While our foundations now are much better than before, the truth is we haven''t even created one-fourth of the Unlocked army Seeker had in his timeline. Do you know how all those Unlocked popped up?"


    "The war?"


    "Yup. The suffering, the pain, the mass poisons and diseases that they spread all over the world. You''ve seen the My-Pangean poison that those Pioneers were experimenting with, right?"


    "Yes. Those bio-weapons were horrifying."


    "Those were just Pioneer level. It hasn''t even scratched what a Presider-level bio-weapon can do. And so, these deaths and sufferings are necessary. But you see, instead of making the world fight the Aragarian, the n is to do it ahead of the Aragarian. We create enough chaos to drive people to desperation and maybe be Unlocked. But we have to do it in a way that won''t push the Presiders to begin an all-out war."


    "The n is to destroy the world and not make these aliens move?"


    "That''s right. And so, we are having important meetings to deceive, redirect and create confusion. The current n is to make these Aragarians think they are fighting against each other. The longer we maintain this, the better."


    "Then those experiments on the nearby submarines...?"


    "We are testing how these things work. Seeker''s future squadron is in one of those. You have seen Seeker teleport, right? What did he lose this time? I hope it''s not his heart."


    "His kidney..."


    "Ah. Those are rtively easy to grow. But man... our medical expenses and the energy he consumes to grow those are quite great. I bet the submarine doctor is going crazy with his antics. Not to mention teleporting makes him expend great energy. Harker must be bleeding." Lynd shrugged.


    "Sir... What about us...?" Ysa asked immediately. She had read the files and seen how scary the survival room program was.


    "I''m not that strict. Don''t worry. You won''t be facing Unlocks."


    Ysa sighed in relief.


    "Six of you will be tasked on to conquer an American fort and defend it for seven days. You need to kill over a thousand soldiers each. Any confirmed Pioneers, regardless of whatever rank, must be dispatched."


    "A thousand soldiers?" She frowned but realized this was still possible.


    "A Presider may send his forces to attack you too. Since our aim is to make it look like another Presider is interfering, you must not leave any survivors."


    "What gears and techs can we bring?"


    "Not sure what the tech guys can outfit you. But for sure, you guys need to bring dildos."


    "What?"


    "Don''t look at me! That''s part of Lowengren''s crazy scheme. You guys have to make it look like dildos are your weapons."


    You now had a very disturbed expression on her face.


    Suddenly, an alert was heard, and Lynd closed his eyes for a few seconds to sense things.


    "The survival rooms are starting. Don''t you guys have somewhere to be?" Lynd asked the Commander, who immediately sprinted to their battle positions.


    Outside the submarine, three of the previously dormant submarines and simply waited began attacking the other submarines without warning.


    In the chaos, the Unlocked group emerged and began to attack the nearby submarines using the sudden attacks as an excuse.


    The Unlock, however, was careful not to attack the submarines which contained the experiments and the Pioneers who were imprisoned and used as a whetting stone for others.


    War erupted, and it was very clear that Pangea wasn''t to be med.


    Several submarines sank, but in the deep darkness, the Underwater Cities and the Leviathan waited to salvage the materials that these submarines brought.


    Seeker''s submarine deployed their forces but hightailed towards the WGP base in Hawaii.


    Another underwater vessel met them as they neared the parameter.


    "Seeker Carlean." The screen disyed a tall and bearded man who had a very familiar feature.


    "Emperor Phoenix Everhiss." Seeker smiled.


    "You''re using my Leviathan to salvage all those sunken submarines." He said distastefully.


    "Your daughter agrees to it. That way, it won''t'' seem suspicious for us. Besides, the world knows it wasn''t you who attacked first. Hence we prepared some random subs to make it out of this battle." Seekerughed.


    "As per the agreement, we take twenty percent of whatever you scavenge here.." He frowned, and the call disconnected.

 Chapter 328 - A God Of War

    The Pangean submarine moved without any problems as it was clear it was escaping the all-out war that had urred in the underwater seas just a few kilometers from the World Governing Trade Hub.


    Right in a particr submarine, the group of Unlocked people had practically escaped from their captors.


    "We can''t stay here anymore! This submarine is too weak! If we stay here, we die!" Lim panicked as hemanded his group to rush towards the armory.


    "Our only chance is to escape and wear an Exoskeleton or a suit that allows us to swim here!"


    Ivan cursed and began to shoot at the guards that were surrounding their area.


    The rm had rung out when the group escaped and easily killed the soldiers. But Lim was shocked to find out that the rm had created chaos.


    The submarine they were at suddenly received several attacks.


    They were surprised as to how the subs immediately attacked them.


    "That damned Seeker! He told the aliens which submarine we were!" Epic cursed out as he started to shoot the soldiers using the guns they acquired as the battle began.


    Epic, Will, and Ivan had guns and were shooting the enemy. Yet despite this advantage, the ones who had killed the most were Fish, Lim, and Suarez. Using their petite forms, they began to scream and escape, making them look like children who somehow escaped. The soldiers focused on Epic, Will, and Ivan but were killed whenever the child and the twodies would reach their blindside.


    But the easy battle turned more intense. This was because attacks were bombarding the submarine. Several chambers were already filling up with water and made the six rush towards the next rooms.


    "You guys failed this first test. Lim¡­ General Seeker is disappointed." Suddenly, a strange broadcast was heard.


    The six who heard it were familiar with this announcement.


    "This is infrasonic!" Lim identified it.


    "Lim, you didn''t consider the situation you were in. You did not analyze the environment of this battle. Right now, your stupid choice of fighting your way out endangered everyone. This submarine belongs to the Underworld. And now that you escaped and created amotion, the other submarines belonging to the same organization that owns this one fired to destroy this one. This sub was the perfect hidden spot to initiate several human experiments." The voice continued.


    Later the speaker was found. He rode an Exoskeleton and began to massacre the enemies nearby.


    The Exoskeleton made it look like it ignored the six and moved onwards while broadcasting some strange indistinct sounds.


    "Because of that, it caused this scenario before you. As a penalty, if you do escape from here, the aliens will now have a base of operations. They will fight for it, but they can earn it. As for this sub, expect it to be destroyed. While the people inside this sub is fighting for their life and attacking their former allies, this will fall." The Exoskeleton moved towards the next room, and the broadcast stopped.


    Lim was silent when the man left. But tears of great frustration began to trickle down her face.


    "Don''t be fooled! This was their n! That Seeker is just insane! Who would have thought that this ce would be so full of submarines and would kill each other without hesitation!" Ivan encouraged.


    "No. I was the fool. That''s precisely why Seeker set the standards so high. Our future is bleak. He pushed himself, and that''s why he lost his lungs, and his arm was sliced off. Unless we reach a level beyond what Seeker has, we will fail. And that means that we need to grow strong on all aspects!" Lim gritted her teeth.


    "We have to retreat! That soldier allowed us to head to the armory!"


    "Alright. Let''s go. I know a thing or two about Exoskeletons. Let''s grab one and get out of here!" Ivan ordered as the group made their escape.


    The group found the exoskeletons after killing the people who were trying to wear them. Ivan gave the instructions, and the group was finally outfitted.


    The vibrations happening all around the submarine grew stronger and stronger.


    "Where do we go?" Epic asked.


    "The escape pods. I found them!" Will said as he was able to bring out the map in his Exoskeleton.


    "No. Avoid that. We don''t know what''s out there and how the battle is. The enemy may target all escape pods. We aim for the torpedouncher. We ride these weapons and hijack another vessel." Lim made her ns.


    "Let''s do it then!" Ivan nodded and urged the group to move forward.


    The underwater battle in the Pacific Ocean had grown into chaos. Some submarines suddenly received a powerful attack without even any detected sources. This created chaos, and the submarines began to attack each other.


    But as the battle escted, the Pangean submarines were virtually unharmed.


    Cliff was seated on themand center of the underwater vessel that looked like a miniature Lingkaran.


    The room was disying the entire 360o vision of the sea.


    Cliff sat down and watched it all as if he and themanders were seated in an invisible ship.


    The ship released a specialized sonar device.


    The Sonar Realm Ping was one of Richie''s inventions, and with the Realm King''s help, the two were able to create this strange ping that allowed the Unlock to see and understand everything.


    The submarines that had been damaged and the submarines withpromised sound dampening system allowed Cliff to hear everything going on around him clearly.


    The ping of the submarine he was on was so strong that Cliff could even hear the conversations being made on some submarines.


    Cliff smiled as he heard Lim''s n. With Tyler on board, it was easier for him to hear what was going on inside the submarine.


    "Seeker''s right again. Amazing. He really knows his team. He even urately gauged how Lim would grow." Cliff praised.


    Cliff then used his Path and began to view the possible simtion of what will happen when Lim''s team escapes. He also ced into consideration the other experiments aboard the other submarines.


    "Have the Drug Dealers destroy the EAA submarine. They should nt those bombs on the breached chamber to sink it. Roselyn, sink the ones from Underworld. Eh¡­ Sink all of them. I''ll send you the locations of their vessels that have important techs that we need. Git Godlike will engage the Pioneers. No tech reveals. Kill them all with just bullets." Cliff gave his orders.


    "To think that the amazing General Cliff used to be a punk kid who wanted to ckmail Seeker back in the day." Cribbsughed as he looked at the battlefield.


    "It''s not like I wanted to do this." Cliff sighed.


    "It''s not like I wanted to do this¡­ Says the kid who is manipting the entire battlefield to follow his will. You hold the fate of all soldiers and ships in this ocean. Your orders can assure their destruction or their protection. With you around, Seeker can finally enact his crazy ns and throw a lot of potential soldiers fight such traumatic battles but assure their to survival" Scribbsughed.


    "Well, not all ships. That one over there. The sounds I hear are practically zero. I''m guessing that''s a Presider."


    "Oh? How scary. What have you been doing then?"


    "It''s odd. It''s as if the ship wants to sink. I''ve been doing everything to ensure that it doesn''t. Anyway, the Covenant is on their tails. I already gave the orders. Hey, Titan. Make sure none of the men under your squad dies."


    "God of destruction, is it not you who dictates who will die." Titan teased.


    "But seriously, this submarine is packed with loads of attacks! I already feigned death twice and had to retreat and wear a new suit." Danny cursed.


    "Why are we making sure that this sub doesn''t get in the middle of the battle?"


    "If the Aragarians want one thing, it''s best to do the exact opposite. It wants to draw attention to be sunk down. So it''s best that we don''t just that."


    "Cliff, we should let it sink. But only after the important transport vessels have all been sunk and acquired by the Leviathan." Roselyn urged.


    "Oh? Why?"


    "It wants to sink so it can also gather and salvage the items down there. We can trace which sub it wanted to follow. So if we steal it ahead his trip is pointless and at the very least, we broke a Presider''s sub."


    "Oh. Sounds like a n." Cliff called.


    "Sink it now." Seeker suddenly interrupted.


    "General?" Roselyn was surprised at Seeker''s sudden order.


    "Don''t ignore his offer. He wants to get hit. So hit him. But when you do, go all out. He wants a few torpedoes to hit him, and you''ve been tropedo-blocking him, Cliff. Stop that and go the other way. Send him as many torpedoes that you can. If that Presider wants to go down, let''s help it. Have the Drug dealers and the Warfreakz infiltrate several submarines and make them fire powerful weapons towards that submarine. Some must shoot it intentionally while others must try to aim for something. I trust Git Godlike can make some torpedoes change directions..." Seekerughed.


    "That will¡­ destroy the submarine. What if the Presider retaliates?"


    "The Presider won''t. He''s trying to get his sub to sink in battle, and that''s why he is diving right at the heat of the battle. If you stop using your Path in stopping that to happen and allow several powerful bombs to hit it at once, who''s to me?"


    "¡­ He is."


    "Exactly. Don''t y with fire, and you won''t get burned. His submarine ought to have powerful techs inside. But he won''t dare reveal it. I reckoned the Presider piloting that sub has some dimensional techs or a tech that can convert whatever materials it detected on those sunken subs into another form into another. But the sub is necessary to hide whatever fluctuation it may release. So if you suddenly break his sub, what will the Presider do?"


    "The Presider will retreat and give up collecting the items, especially since there are Emperors nearby."


    "Yes. Roselyn had it right. But let''s not just aim to scratch his sub. Lets kill as many Pioneers and nted along the way. Assume that the submarine can disable rockets within 50 meters in a split second. You think you got this, god of war?" Seeker asked.


    "I think it''s possible."


    "Then execute the n."


    Cliff sighed and was about to give the orders.


    "Already in position." Serge Embers of Git Godlikeughed.


    "Um¡­ Boss. We are also sort of in position." One of the Drug dealersughed.


    "Roselyn?" Cliff asked.


    "Give me a few sec. I''m not like those Zone users! Stanley''s near one, though."


    "Tyler?"


    "Erm... This sub has a Big Bang Boom. Is that alright?"


    "Go for it."


    "Cliff, how''s my squadron?" Seeker asked.


    Cliff turned his attention to the submarine where the Gryphon Squadron was.


    At the chaos of the battle, Ivan and his team were finally sting off as they clung on the torpedoes. The chaos of the battle somehow masked their presence, and they were able to attack a nearby submarine. Soon, they mixed in the battle, and it was as if they were the Exoskeletons deployed for battle.


    "They''re already out. The sudden explosions ought to give them a chance to surface as many would abandon ship."


    "Continue to observe the battle, game master. I leave it to you." Seekerughed.


    Inside the docking bay of the World Governing Trading Hub, Seeker was walking with the Emperor.


    "As you can see, we are quite capable of dealing with such trivial matters." Seeker smiled.


    "Cunning and cheap plots like that won''t save the world."


    "I may have given the Earth in my timeline a few months because of such cheap plots. So I can''t really agree with that." Seeker smiled.


    The group walked into a room and saw several thrones.


    Each throne had different colors and was made of different steel. Each throne had its own unique design.


    Seated on these thrones were those who had the authority to govern.


    They were the Emperors of the World Governing Powers.


    "Emperors and Empresses of the Everhiss family. Nice to meet you.." Seeker greeted.

 Chapter 329 - A Little Birdie Told Me

    Seeker nced towards the numerous thrones gathered around him.


    "This entire fortress is a Many Mansion?" Seeker was rather impressed.


    Seeing several Emperors and Empresses in one ce proved that the entire fortress was one that only the strongest Emperors had.


    Emperors and Empresses had the ability and authority to create a mansion for themselves. This mansion was a mobile fortress that they could take anywhere. It could grow endlessly provided the Emperor wishes it to be. And while some Emperors invest in a humble abode, the Everhiss family, one of the oldest families in the WGP, created a vast fortress that had never before been seen. How this fortress travel was even a mystery to the world as it would asionally spring up all over the world and disappear all of a sudden.


    Seeker saw it and smiled.


    "So that''s the mystery. A rather simple way to transport onerge fortress is that it isn''t a fortress. This ship¡­ I sensed it with my realm. It can be anything. A submarine, a cargo ship, parts, or even random pieces of metal." Seeker was impressed.


    "How smart of you to guessed it."


    "The moment I saw it here, I knew that you must have used some means to bring a fortress this powerful here. The question is, how? And how is it that no one knew about it? The metal is quite interesting. Each piece is alive with your Origin science. We call it, Realm." Seeker assessed.


    "Show us your Origin." One the Emperors challenged.


    "Oh, I''m different. Unlike others who create it, I need something to jump-start it. Since I don''t want to embarrass myself by losing an important organ, I''ll just go with Richie''s." Seeker revealed a small round ball and crushed it.


    Seeker then gazed back.


    "That was it?" The Emperorughed.


    "You can''t detect it? How embarrassing."


    "Detect what? There is-"


    The Emperor was suddenly sent flying by an unknown force that smashed his face.


    The blood flowed out of his mouth as he fell into an unconscious state.


    All the Emperors stood up, and suddenly, some of the Thrones closed up, revealing a Rule.


    "Forgive my¡­ idiotic son." Phoenix Everhiss sighed.


    "You should ask forgiveness for your entire descendant. I simply used a sound that can be condensed into a physical form, and you couldn''t even detect that? This tech is rather basic, and all Presiders have something like this. If this is the state of the Emperors, then you will all fall." Seekerughed.


    Pheonix''s expression was sour, but he did nothing and decided to just keep watching Seeker.


    All of a sudden, a strange power gathered around Seeker. It was like the sounds of many voices speaking together as a strange swirling power like invisible ss began to surround Seeker.


    "This Origin which simply uses sound, was able to knock Empress Miranne back that even those two suns of hers didn''t have anything. That''s why she was forced to reveal her Invoking." Seeker smiled.


    Those seated on the throne looked at the strange power that only a few of them could sense.


    "So much arrogance. For someone who studies the Bible, you best learn how to apply it."


    The moment Seeker heard those words, he trembled.


    "Eagle!" He turned and nced above and found a man walking on air.


    "A little birdy told me you''d be here, Seeker." Eagle smiled as he began to slowly descend gracefully.


    "Forgive me for barging here uninvited, Emperors and Empresses. But Seeker would have refused meeting me if I didn''t." Eagleughed as hended next to him.


    Gravity increased nearly twice the moment hended.


    Seeker looked with a horrified expression. The person that he feared more than the Tyrant Empress stood here. While the Tyrant Empress was the most dangerous Oveer, the being known as Calvin Luther Eagle was someone Seeker didn''t want to meet in this life.


    Seeker had the means to resist the Tyrant Empress... But against Calvin Luther Eagle''s power, Seeker could find no resistance.


    Even the Oveer Richie crumbled into a bible maniac after meeting this man.


    "You are?" Emperor Phoenix asked with a furious expression.


    The pastor smiled at Phoenix.


    "My fire. The one, desire..." The pastor sang.


    The group of Emperors was stunned, but suddenly, some began to chuckle.


    Emperor Phoenix nced back at Eagle.


    "Believe... When I say... I want it that way." Phoenix smiled.


    Soon, the tension that everyone felt vanished as theyughed.


    All but Seeker. He was horrified.


    "No! This is part of his n! He starts with a joke to ease tension and get everyonefortable! And then he... why am I not speaking?!" Seeker realized he wasn''t talking.


    "Sorry, Kid. I know you didn''t want to meet Eagle. Thankfully, he finally appeared." The adult mused.


    Seeker was shocked at how the adult was strong enough to stop him from speaking.


    "You! I did everything to stay away from him! And yet you are here forcing me to listen to him!"


    "That''s because I know you wouldn''t want to listen to Eagle. You believe that you''d be mind-controlled. You even used our parents to talk to Eagle, and while the opportunity before was avable, you fled from him. Sit down, and listen to him!" The adultughed.


    While the two Seekers were fighting each other, Eagle continued.


    "Forgive me. I have heard the many songs that were being yed in this fortress, and I thought to myself that Emperors and Empresses of this world woulde to love a rather simple and honestly cheesy song like this. And so, I came here, showing my power, but the message I deliver is different than what Seeker brings. It is... as the song you like is. A cheesy message." Eagle smiled.


    Seeker was trembling. His memory of this man knew that the entire room was caught and entranced by his Path.


    The Path of Attraction that was derived from Faith.


    Eagle entered the ce and noticed the strange songs that were being yed frequently in the halls. He used it as a means to break the ice and at the same time create a form of rapport that allowed his Path of Attraction to work.


    Seeker knew that this odd act of Eagle was derived from the Bible. Just as the Apostle Paul drew attention to the men of Athens by using the altar offered ''to the unknown god'' and drove the masses of Athens to listen to him in Acts 17, so did Eagle used this verse as a means to create Faith and in this Faith it produced attraction.


    "I am an ally of Seeker. As you can see, while he is surprised that I am here, he is rather obedient." Eagle nced at Seeker and smiled.


    "Pastor Eagle." The adult greeted.


    "Damn it, Greg! Let go of me! You traitor!" The Kid Seeker cursed as his other personalities were stopping him from moving.


    "It seems that your Adult self is morepliant." Eagleughed.


    "Anyway, to all Emperors and Empresses, I hate to point this out, but you are no longer the Emperors and Empresses of this world. The Enemy, our Adversary, has revealed themselves. They are powerful and possess powers that can easily destroy you. You have seen for yourself the terror and devastation that they have brought. The Invoking that you have prided yourself to have been made pointless."


    The expressions of various Emperors grew sour as they listened to Eagle.


    "This is the truth. You called your selves Emperors and Empresses and sat on thrones and even called your power Invoking. This was very powerful imagery that you have shown. Your very power could invoke the sky and sea to do your bidding. And yet, here I am. In your midst. Here is this boy in your midst who without a throne managed to dethrone not one Empress but another Emperor." Eagle raised his hands, and the body of the unconscious Emperor floated."


    There were already a few soldiers who rushed to his side, but a strange force suddenly repelled them.


    The Emperors and Empresses were confused. They had been using various techs to understand the scene before them.


    "Telekinesis?"One of the Emperors guessed.


    "I am not the Realm King. I am but a messenger, a Servant of the Most High. The power He granted me by Faith is a power that no Emperor or Empress has mastered. Through His Spirit, I can carry people in the wings of Eagle. I can draw many towards myself and show them the Way of the Cross."


    As he said this, a powerful suction began to move and pulled the floating Emperor.


    The thrones that each Emperor stood upon trembled. Gravity began to pull stronger, and they could feel the pressure.


    "By this power, the Lord set the boundaries of the sea and ensured that it could not cross the sand. By this power, it brings down the haughty Devil, the Ancient Serpent, and it is also by this power that a third of the stars shall fall."


    They could all feel it. Gravity was shifting. It moved to the right, and the Emperors and Empresses held tightly. It moved to the top, and the Emperors and Empresses clutch on their seats so that they would not fall upwards.


    "He has given me the power of the North Star. And He has done so not by techs, not by science, not by hundreds and hundreds of years of studying... He designed science, and he bestowed in me its fullness. I am Calvin Luther Eagle. He who Treads the Winepress of Wrath."


    It was the only time that pride and arrogance exuded out of the Oveers.


    Seeker watched in shock.


    "The Reality of Gravity bends at his will... And he''s not even using an iota of energy. What a man..." Seeker nced at the Oveer, who he never fought.


    "With this introduction of mine, I hope that you will pay more heed to my words. Right before Seeker exins what he knows, I wanted toe here and offer a word of warning. Everyone here falls short of the standards of God. Your very existence goes against His Words. And your very form has been prophesied to fail."


    "What do you mean?"


    "The Progenitor never gave you the titles that you hold to yourself. All throughout Scripture, the titles of kings and queens, when not used in reference as a typology to Jesus Christ, but belong to the thrones of men, have always been an image of pride arrogance and are the very ones who will be brought down. Yet here you are, iming to be Kings and Queens of the world." Eagle smiled.


    "And yet, in a matter of months, this teenager, Seeker, took the world from your hands. And he did so because if he didn''t do it, these Aragarians will. And they did. Seeker came here to convince you as a prophet of God who has seen the destruction. For it is in the character of God to show wisdom. In every event, when God executes judgment, His servants and Messengers will always appear to warn them. Noah built an arc, and everyoneughed at him. Will you do the same?" Eagle asked.


    And when he did, he did not continue anymore but took his time to look at the Emperors and Empresses seated on the throne.


    The power that he presented, which wielded gravity, had already scared the Emperors and Empresses. And his piercing gaze made them tremble even more.


    Seeker had already epted his fate. With his multiple personalities ganging against him, he had no choice but to listen. But Seeker knew it was beyond that. He knew that the Path of Eagle was working on him.


    And a huge part of Seeker''s mind wanted to see and experience firsthand the real power of the Calvin Luther Eagle.. The one called the Paragon of Preachers.

 Chapter 330 - The Sermon Before The Kings (1)

    Before the great thrones of the Emperors and Empresses, a preacher stood and nced at them not with the usual amiable smile that he gives when he preaches but a serious look that contained disdain or contempt.


    "I know of you, Pastor Eagle. While it''s shocking that you also have such powers, a sermon is thest thing we need to hear-"


    The Emperor couldn''t finish what he said as a powerful force crashed down on him. Gravity surged to an extreme, and the Emperor felt like arge rock was crushing him.


    "Who made man''s mouth? Was it not God? Yet you have misused this gift by speaking false promises, uttering curses, and spheming the Name! Emperors and Empresses, tell me, by what technology am I doing this?" Eagle challenged as he withheld the power from affecting the Emperor.


    The Emperor had a look of terror. Unlike the first one, which Seeker knocked unconscious, he had already activated his barrier techs. Yet that shield of protection was useless in the face of Eagle''s power.


    "You can''t even detect by what means I am aplishing all these! The Aragarians have shown their technology to be something hundreds and possibly thousands of years ahead of what we have. And yet, here you are, seated on your Throne. You still think you are the kings of this world, but this teenager behind me can probably kill all of you should he want it to. His purpose ining here is to gather more allies. And you, who have been entrusted as the Progenitor''s seeds, are the best allies." Eagle continued.


    "But pridees before the downfall. The problem that may arise is that you lot have long been used in being the kings and queens of the earth, will choose not to bow or acknowledge the leadership of Seeker. Your arrogance may lead you to demand from us the very things that we have." Eagle exined.


    Seeker also nodded. This was his concern. And so, he decided to give this talk to the Everhiss n personally. It was necessary that everyone would side with them. Any single Emperor or Empress that disagreed could betray them. These were people of great power, and therefore, the people most likely to betray them.


    "And don''t take this personally. One of the greatest kings that the Bible itself honors is King David. He was called a man after God''s own heart. Yet it was this same man whomitted adultery and even murder. The very things that you wouldn''t expect a man of God to do. Power corrupts even the purest of hearts. So with you being used to be kings, this meeting would be a very critical moment for Seeker. His powerful disy and how he unhesitatingly attacked an Emperor and knocked him unconscious is evidence of this." Eagle motioned at the unconscious Emperor floating next to him.


    The Emperor began to awaken as he looked and saw what was going on.


    "Be at ease, young man." Eagle smiled, to which the Emperor began to float back to his throne. The Emperor looked around with a frightened expression and wanted to ask others what had happened, but no one paid heed. Everyone''s eyes were locked at Eagle.


    "Seeker would probably use force and ckmail to convince you. But the problem is, you lot are very problematic. It was wise for the Progenitor to keep you all divided while bestowing each of your power and forbid you to seek each other. This way, your arrogance would be limited. For if all of you knew that someone as strong as yourself existed, you wouldn''t go around the world doing whatever you want. And yet, here you are. You are calling yourselves Emperors and Empresses! Already you have all you want! Already you have be rich! Without us, you have be kings! And would that you did reign so that we might share the rule with you!" Eagle cried out.


    Seeker recognized that Eagle was quoting from 1 Corinthians 4 and couldn''t help but sigh.


    "So he''s really going to use this time to preach?" Seeker cursed.


    "Don''t be so down. This is the best result. They are the hardest group to convince. But now, with Eagle here, these people should be able to direct the rest of the WGP to war against the rising Babel cities." The adult urged.


    "You knew he would be here? How did you send him a message?"


    "I didn''t. I know that you didn''t share this faith and would do everything to avoid Eagle. You had my memories, but you rejected my conviction believing it to be some form of brainwashing."


    "You hoped for the crazy promises the Bible spoke off. It''s only natural that I would avoid it. Eagle would find it easy to convince me." Seeker shook his head.


    "I wanted to thread on his Path. But if I believe, I wouldn''t be able to do that."


    "Says who? I didn''t send Eagle a message. I had faith. You should too. For someone wanting everyone to have faith in you, you sure don''t put faith in others. You need this to grow, Kid. I didn''t speak of it before, but you know, right? To win theing war, you have to trust others."


    Seeker was silent. He could not help but recall the many images of the deaths and the nightmares of the deaths of his friends that somehow could bypass his Unlocking.


    "This is your heart, demon. If you want to be stronger, you have to hope." The adult exined.


    "In the hopeless world toe, that will be your greatest weapon. After all, it was mine."


    Eagle had already begun to preach, and everyone was listening to him attentively.


    "You say that a sermon is the least things that you need, but the truth is, the one thing that I believe can convince is the Word of God! In light of everything that we have seen, we are slowly starting to realize the one thing critics often asked about the Bible. Why didn''t the Bible teach us amazing techs? If God exists, why hadn''t he granted us techs from the start?" Eagle asked.


    "ssic apologetics. He didn''t immediately dive into preaching but adjusted his into how distant these people are." The adult Seeker analyzed.


    "So he''s first convincing them to the probability that God exists before diving into a sermon."


    "Yes. And honestly, with a Path using Gravity, it won''t be difficult to pull that off. Harnessing Gravity is clearly a power that breaches the fourth dimension."


    "True..." Seeker gazed at Eagle.


    "Here I stand, having a technology that none of you can defend against!"


    A powerful surge of power could be felt, and the Emperors and Empresses were doing what they can to stop being sucked in an invisible vortex around Eagle.


    Seeker quickly held on to Emperor Phoenix Everhiss, who would have been sucked into the vortex as he was the only Emperor who was defenseless as part of his sincerity to meet with Seeker.


    The Emperors and Empresses were using everything they could to keep themselves from being affected by this. Many Rules closed up to protect those seated on them, but even this proved useless as the Emperors and Empresses would smash into the enclosed walls of their Rules. It was as if arge ma was pulling them that their rule''s walls could not prevent the attraction force.


    "Shall I thread the Winepress now to show you its might?" Eagleughed.


    Seeker couldn''t help but feel a sense of fear.


    In his previous timeline, Eagle was the one who shocked the entire world when he showed the fullness of his power. The Winepress of God was trodden upon, and Seeker could never forget that scene. It was said that even the satellites who didn''t have any powerful zooming technology of various nations could see how the terrain was bathed in blood from the number of people killed that day.


    "As expected. This guy has been so silent. I even made sure that this guy was thest to receive all our scientific findings, and yet this monster can already do this? Was he already stronger than Meng when I sent Richie to meet him?!" Seeker cursed.


    "Men and Women of the WGP! You prided yourself on technology and made great advances in it! But you have made the same mistake that the Aragarians made! Even now, these Aragarians hold technology far stronger than what you have, but the Lost Primordial, our Progenitor, set in the seeds to produce a technology that vastly surpasses the Aragarians! And what is this tech? A glorified body! The body of angels, of Seraphims and Cherubims! A body that would have been granted to Adam and Eve had they not eaten from the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil! Let me tell you why the Bible doesn''t talk about technology or teach us secret science because, since the beginning, we would have gotten the fullness of this science simply by believing in God! Cellphones? Laptops andputers? Lennox Humphrey has shown us that it is possible to be that! He has found a means to make our heads run programs without any devices! Seeker can run Supra-Modern Crysis in his head!"


    "No, I can''t." Seeker sighed at the side.


    "Piercing: Bullet?"


    "Didn''t even dare to try."


    "Civilizations: Void Years?"


    "Not possible."


    "Skyrim with mods?"


    "Veryggy."


    "HE CAN RUN SKYRIM WITH MODS!" Eagle dered with great confidence.


    Seeker facepalmed.


    "What use are all these techs if we would have acquired something greater! Why would God give us cents of His Knowledge in science and technology? It would only distract us from spending time with Him! Even the best Christians lost themselves in Idtry when the cellphones were invented! God allowed the world to continue to build and harness what they can so He can show them what He can do and be glorified!" Eagle dered.


    "It''s all about proving to us how weak, and useless, and dumb we are! And He has to do it, least someone in heaven will im that they could make something far better than what God has to offer! This is why God allows society to fail in aspects! He has to allow the world to suffer so that when Hees, people know what pain is and delight in peace! He has to create hell and allow many to fall into sin so that He can show what it means to love! Do people ask how a loving God can create hell? It''s because Grace and Mercy cannot be exemplified if Wrath did not exist! In the same way, God allowed us to thinker with whatever scientific advancements we can aplish only to show that these things equate to how primitive cave people discovered the wheel! That''s the limit of our so-called knowledge!


    Eagle then turned towards Seeker.


    "Seeker, show us your power!" Eagle smiled.


    "The radiation level would-"


    "Have faith, young Seeker. It should be time for that to happen.


    Seeker''s expression changed as he realized it was about exactly when Cliff''s attack against the submarine would happen.


    Seeker nodded and immediately began to reveal the power that he disyed when he fought with Lynd.


    The radiation energy appeared once more as Seeker began to harness the energy.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several powerful explosions could be heard on the distance. This fortress was also underwater. They could feel the shock waves rocking the entire sea.


    The Emperors and Empresses were watching in awe at Seeker''s power.


    This was Seeker''s ace to convince the Everhiss n. But now, with Eagle''s leading, it seemed to be more effective.


    "See? With Eagle here, it''s going to be easy to convince them." The adultughed.


    "This is the Kingdom body that Christ promised! This is the quark of His technology! The Glorified Body that does not rot does not die and isn''t made through whatever experiments but only made through faith! This is why Christ did give an borate answer of what the Truth of this world is! He simply said I AM the Truth! And see before you, the Truth!" Eagle motioned grandly at Seeker, who now had radiation that could kill people.


    For some strange reason, Eagle, who was nearest to Seeker, wasn''t even affected.

 Chapter 331 - The Sermon Before The Kings (2)

    The moment the Big Bang Boom exploded and sted away the submarine, the Unlocked was watching it.


    John Octavion III was in position and aimed at the center of the submarine.


    The moment it exploded, the split-second capture of Cliff''s eyes with the enhanced techs that used various visions were used in the Command Center.


    The explosion urred, and Cliff used his Unlocking to the fullest. No human could have aplished this, for no human could pause time and observe every intricate detail that urred as the explosion that decimated the submarine happened.


    As the submarine was being shattered, Cliff saw it. The one area which had not been affected by the explosion. It was a split second, but that area generated a strange repelling force that made the explosion move away from it.


    Cliff then ryed the instructions of where the enemy was to John Octavion III.


    The sniper was waiting and shot a specialized bolt of lightning. It was a new enigmatic maic pulse derived from Australia''s technology. It would disable most techs, but they knew it would disable the tech of a Presider. But the goal wasn''t to disable the techs but to leave an electromaic mark that allows them to track the direction with a special device that locks into the location of the EMP.


    The EMP wouldst onlyst for several hours. But these hours would be more than enough for the team to deduce where the Presider would go.


    Cliff watched as the attacks exploded out. Cliff sent other torpedoes to explode right after the maic bullet would hit the Presider to mask the sniper attack.


    He hadpleted his mission as all allied forces have done spectacrly well.


    The explosion caused many escape pods to appear and escape. In the chaos, the experiments of Seeker consisting of the Gryphon Squadron and the other teams that were ced there managed to escape. Even the captured Pioneers and nted soldiers managed to survive and escape the battle without any losses.


    The Big Bang Boom had created such chaos that many of the Submarines began to retreat.


    In the wreckage of the sinking debris, an Exoskeleton with no detectable heat or electronic signature floated and continued to fall into the dark abyss. A young teenager was piloting the Exoskeleton.


    "That was stupid..." He sighed.


    "Feyor is going to be so mad at me... I lost all those Pioneers." The kid cursed, and then he activated various technology to escape.


    His Exoskeleton had suddenly turned invisible and towards the deeper parts of the ocean.


    "Attention all submarines. Whatever belongs down the ocean is the property of the WGP. You are all in our territory. If any of you move, the Leviathan will sink you." A broadcast was made underwater.


    Lanterk was surprised at the announcement.


    "What? They have a Leviathan here? Well... If a Dynasty is here... that should be normal. Strange, my suit maism is acting all weird..." Lanterk continued to check the status of his suit.


    "Can''t remove it yet as the WGP might detect it... Oh well. I''ll just get out of here. Man... this trip is wasted." He sighed and went his way.


    But as he was escaping, Cliff was already observing his movements through his Path.


    "Did I hit it? Did I hit it? He detected it, didn''t he? Did he?" John Octavion III kept asking Cliff.


    "Rx, man! Sheesh! You did. The n worked." Cliff sighed.


    "Do we give chase?" One of the Unlocked Commanders asked.


    "Titan, you''re up. Try to move parallel to the direction of the Presider and follow it at a distance. Do not actively chase it if it suddenly changes direction. Further instructions will be sent via sonar ping. Keep the Australian Hearing tech activated at all times in case he uses tech to move faster." Cliff instructed.


    "Follow the protocols, guys. Our forces will be moving out to scan the area of the wreckage. This should allow Titan to follow it without drawing suspicion. Ourwork of Underwater Bases will try to lock on that signal as well. Good job, guys." Cliff ended the call.


    "You''re getting better at this whole General thing." Scribbsughed.


    "Try getting thrown at missions that could kill you. It hastens maturity."


    While Cliff and the group began their clean-up, the sermon of Eagle continued inside the Thron Room of the Many Mansions of the Everhiss family.


    Eagle retained a rather serious expression as he began to teach Scripture.


    "What is Truth? This is the question that we pursue even in the Unlocking. Some say truth is rtive. Others say it is objective. But the main issue is not with Truth but rather how we interpret it. A man receives word that hisdy is pregnant, he rejoices in the truth. Another receives the same truth, but is petrified since he is not ready for this rtionship. Two truths different responses. I submit to you, the person of Christ imed to be Truth! He didn''t say He knows the Truth, but rather, He personifies it. And we call Jesus the Word Became Flesh. And so, I wish to bring a truth to you, written from another incarnation of Christ. The Word."


    A bible appeared from the roof before them.


    Seeker rolled his eye at this scene.


    "He hid it there when he used his Path to frighten the Emperors... What cunning."


    "Such is the Paragon of Preachers." The Adultughed.


    "What I see before me, the Truth thates to mind is Psalms 82. That Psalm is one of the stranger Psalms in the Bible. I say strange because we see God talking to other beings that the Bible itself calls as ''gods.''" Eagle opened his Bible and began to read from it.


    "God has taken his ce in the divine council; in the midst of the gods, he holds judgment: ''How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.''"


    Eagle then turned to the Emperors.


    "You here could be said to be like gods. You called your very power the Invoking as you could invoke the world to follow you. You have the voice of god and not of a man. Yet in your power, you did nothing to save the innocent. This verse speaks directly to you! Isn''t it odd? Why would God talk to beings that are called gods? If you believe that there is one God, then all the rest are false! But here, God calls them gods! And these so-called gods are extremely selfish or weak. Just like you! The experiments, the attacks against the Jews, the Underworld itself. You knew this, all of you, and you did nothing. And let me tell you why you did nothing. It''s not so much that you wouldn''t do anything, it was also because you couldn''t! When Miranne Everhiss chose a good man to be her husband, you all cowered in fear, and some even persecuted her. When Seeker began to shake your foundation you''ve built in this world, the first thing you did is repeal your power as the World Governing Powers and hid like a turtle. Is this the kings and queens of the earth? Is this the gods who Invoke nature and water, stone and steel at theirmand?" Eagle challenged.


    Many expressions turned ugly. It was the bitter truth. Even Phoenix couldn''t help but sigh. He was the head, and he fought very hard to persuade the other families to take action. When the attack of the Kraken urred, and Empress Miranne Everhiss vanished, most members of the Everhiss family demanded that they immediately enact and use their powers to search for the culprit. But the other families refused. The appearance of an entity that could challenge and kill an Empress scared them.


    "They have neither knowledge nor understanding. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken." Eagle continued to read from the book and turned once more to them.


    "This is you. You who imed to be wise are foolish. You who im to be gods, beings of truth, walk in darkness. And because of you, the earth is shaken. God continues and delivers this chilling message. I said, You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men, you shall die, and fall like any prince." Eagle read, and then suddenly, he rose to the sky and looked down on all the Emperors and Empresses.


    "This is you. I have long wondered what this verse talks about. Why would God address other beings that im to be gods and even call these beings gods? My initial reaction is to attribute this verse that God is speaking to Satan and his devils. They fit the picture, don''t they? Satan and his minions want to be equal to God. He has wanted this since the beginning. But now I get it! It was talking to people like you! Because it didn''t make sense for God to remind Satan to do good works and enact justice, as this verse states. Clearly, God is talking to men who have surpassed their human limitation!"


    "I view Scripture in a very different way than what most people see it as. I believe in what the Bible says about itself. It says that heaven and earth will pass away, but not a yod, the smallest stroke of the Bible, will pass away." Eagle allowed the Bible to hover, drawing closer to them.


    There was something almost hypnotic about it. Everyone''s eyes were fixated in the Bible that Eagle allowed to float.


    "Here we have the Bible talking about events of the past and of the present and even future. Most criticsughed at this book and said that it wrote concerning very small and limited parts of the Earth and didn''t even mention ces like Pangea or Australia. It was so detached from the world. But these critics forget that it wrote alongside the Cradle of Civilization. The ounts detail these ces, and even archaeology and historians agree on this. If you were to choose a religion, you might as well go for the one that was there in the beginning, right? Abraham was of Ur and was there in the beginning! He was the ce we call the Cradle of Civilization."


    The Emperors and Empresses nced at the hypnotic Bible that floated over them.


    "There he goes trying to convert people using biased facts. And he does that with miracles. How can people not agree to him with everything he is doing?" Seeker sighed.


    "He already exined it, didn''t he? It only bes biased depending on the interpreter. Watch how he uses Truth. Didn''t you struggle with this? Facts are facts. But interpretations are biased. The Oveers all have their facts and their interpretation of fact, but what is truth? Is Richie''s Path of Sound the truth? Or is it an interpretation of the Truth? If it is only an interpretation, then what is the real truth? You have to figure this out sooner orter." The adultughed.


    "You''replicating this sermon. And besides, you carry that burden too,"


    "No. You forget! Unlike you, I developed my Path. I walk that path of that which Passes Over. It is you who will thread in the Truth!"


    Seeker turned his attention back at Eagle.


    "Abraham traces his origins from Ur, and in Mesopotamia. The oldest organized religion, Hindu, doesn''t have much connection to Mesopotamia. Zoroastrianism was the second known oldest one that appeared near Mesopotamia. Of course, the only reason Judaism doesn''t pop up until muchter is that Abraham didn''t officially build an organized religion! They only became a real religion during their time in Egypt! And watch how the world follows the Jews. In almost every event, the Jews are always affected. Egypt, the rise of Israel in thend of Judea, Solomon''s reign, the rise of Babylon, then of the Medo-Persians, then Rome and on and on until our present age. You see, the Bible has talked about the rise of these empires, sometimes hundreds of years before they even appear. But I believe that the Bible didn''t just predict these events. It happened because it''s what the Bible says."


    The Bible flew back and returned to Eagle''s hands.


    "So I believe... that reality is what it is now because of what is stated in the Bible. And reality will go full circle. Look and behold! Do we not see Israel rising again? They got lost as a nation for over a thousand years, and many began to mock this ancient religion. The first time Israel was lost on the map urred at the start of the AD era. And it wasn''t until 1948 they surfaced. How could a race be lost for nearly two thousand years and yet suddenly appear and reform once more? They even outlived their oppressors! Where are the powerful remnants of the nations that conquered them? Even Rome became a Christian nation, which follows a faith branching out of the Jews!" Eagleughed.


    "And even now, with how the world treated the Jews, you can see that the world is helplessly following the history written in the Bible. Israel is reforming once more. We go back to Pms 82 and read thest verse, the verse that promises one thing. It says Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!" Eagle dered with a loud voice.


    "And the time to arise is now.... So what of you, o gods of the Earth? You have a choice! Fall like the mortal kings and princes of this earth and die, or will you arise and enact justice? Will you fight the Aragarians with us?"

 Chapter 332 - Altar Call

    The Pangean army and a selected few others that also belonged to the Alliance that Seeker created were those that managed to reach the World Governing Trading Hub.


    Each of the surviving submarines had managed to dock on specific inds that were formerly of Hawaii. Therge fortress had various devices that connected the inds, and even artificial inds were also created to beautify and stabilize the region after it was decimated from the war.


    Cliff and his team had also docked and moved out. Of course, this time, they had a change of uniforms. Cliff wore a rather simple attire and went alongside Lynd, the Covenant, and Warfreakz.


    Under the guise of being moved elsewhere for protection as they became celebrity heroes, which had created arge economic boost to Pangea just in time to solidify the foundations before the withdraw of the WGP''s duties all over the world.


    These celebrity streamers and heroes were invited to go to the WGP as Pangea feared that they would be a target of hatred from the many nations they allegedly stole billions of credits.


    "I can''t wait to see Meryl." Lynd smiled.


    "It''s been a while since we all got together."


    "The whole gang of crazies that make up the Save the World Club is back..." Cliffughed as he recalled how he got invited into this club.


    "Charles is also here... And Alean should be going here soon." Lynd smiled.


    "Hey, isn''t Principal Decker and Ted part of this club as well?" Cliff teased as he looked at the two individuals that were also invited. As Seeker and his group were still students, Jonathan Decker, the principal, and Ted Zyrcon were among the groups who apanied the trip to embark on a foreign exchange policy that opened Pangea to a working rtionship with the WGP.


    "Please don''t drag me into this." Ted nearly cried. The first time he got dragged into the Save the World Club when he was trying to ckmail Seeker with their Principal and Alean''s help. Soon, when Seeker took over the school through Harker, he was ''rmended'' by Seeker to undergo the various Unlocked Experiment test along with Principal Jonathan Decker.


    "Don''t worry. The school here will allow you to deal and meet with various WGP exchange students. This is another way to erge our circle."


    "Aren''t we going to blow up the WGP? Why should Principal Decker and me be forced to try and infiltrate the arctic nations?!"


    "So that you can help us blow it up from the inside," Lynd answered.


    "It would be too suspicious to have Meryl be sold to another Emperor pervert. You guys, on the other hand, are the perfect spies." Cliff also added.


    Ted wept.


    "What about you two? You guys are the leaders of this army? What are you going to do here?!" Jonathan Decker cursed.


    "We are going to meet the Emperors. Seeker said that in his past life, the techs of the WGP hid a tremendous secret. Think about it, if the WGP is a seed of the Progenitor, what exactly did they receive? What was the basis of their tech?"


    Jonathan was silent at this question.


    "We are off to acquire it."


    "You two, also do your best and try not to die." Cliffughed. He loved the feeling of pushing others into the same terrors he was once pushed into.


    "You guys carry on about your business. Lynd and I will head over to this so-called Many Mansions. Seeker should be in the middle of convincing them to join us." Cliff said as he parted ways.


    "Are you ready, Cliff?" Lynd asked curiously as they broke away from the rest and headed to a special ship that would bring them to the Many Mansions.


    "Ready for what?"


    "To fight all twenty-five Emperors and Empresses of the Everhiss n. And to think we are to fight them without any techs just to prove a point."


    "What? We are going to fight them?!" Cliff was shocked.


    "Yeah. Isn''t it obvious? Why else, only the two of us are asked to join Seeker? We''re the only ones strong enough to fight them."


    "But... But..."


    "Oh? You didn''t know? You need to up that INT stat, Cliff. This was very obvious. Karma rears its vengeance very quickly. You just made fun of Ted, and you''re off to fight twenty-five thrones." Lynd shook his head.


    Cliff wept.


    The Path of Eagle was one of the most mysterious ones among the Unlocked. Seeker knew what his Path would do and how important it is in the future. Without Eagle''s Path, they would not have aplished most of what they did.


    And while Eagle was the cause of great devastation on that day, his most important contribution was uniting the world.


    There was something in his words that demanded belief. There was something in his speaking that drew people to follow him. And so, here before the great thrones of the many kings of the world, the sermon that Eagle spoke cut them straight to the heart. It was unknown who started it, but some Emperors and Empresses began to sob.


    Eagle jumped from verse to verse. He began his tale from Moses and the Prophets and began to interpret Scripture to reveal just what it meant for Jesus to be the true King and the terrifying strength that He had and the many verses that detail how the bloodied and fallen Christ will return no longer a Lamb to ughtered but a Lion that conquers.


    "You are not true kings! Your weakness and futility prove it! I never had your money, your advantage, or your techs, but my power can destroy you! For such is faith! My weakness became my strength! False Emperors and Empresses! Do not be deceived! The Kingdom ising, and if you don''t repent and see the Wisdom of God and turn from your ways, you will all fall like mortals! But if you turn to God and allow Wisdom to rule over you, you will be called, the Sons of God!" At Eagle''s promise, he caused gravity to lose its power, and all the Emperors and Empress began to soar.


    It was a strange experience for them. They began to move in a strange pattern. But unlike before, these men and women did notin or curse out but allowed the power to move them.


    "This is grace! The self-proimed gods are allowed to call upon the name of the real God! You called this ce, Many Mansions. But God has prepared an evenrger mansion! No doubt you borrowed the name of this fortress in that ce! But this Many Mansion has not lived up to the glory prepared for the Many Mansions of His House! It will be far more glorious! The thrones that you are on will not be a throne of metal or any technology but will also be made of something glorious! For He, Himself promised that on that day, this world would be shaken! He will cast down all these people who think themselves to be gods! He promised it in Haggai 2, For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the drynd. And I will shake all nations so that the treasures of all nations shalle in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, deres the Lord of hosts. Thetter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this ce I will give peace, deres the Lord of hosts."


    A vast trembling urred as Seeker performed his part to make it all the more convincing.


    He used the energy he had stored in for several days to create a powerful Realm force. The Many Mansions of the Everhiss n was underwater, and no solid foundation kept it secure. As such, the force that Seeker created caused a great trembling all over the Many Mansion.


    Eagle had also used his gravitational powers to cause the trembling further.


    The entire fortress began to quiver. Although it wasn''t strong, it was noticeable.


    The Emperors and Empresses began to cry as they were brought back to their respective thrones.


    "Cast away your foolish pride and offer your thrones and your crowns to the true King of Kings!" Eagle ordered.


    Instantly, everyone began to abandon their thrones and fell prostrate.


    "Seeker, can you use your Unlocking to change your voice?" Eagle asked.


    "Yeah¡­ Why?" Seeker was confused.


    Meanwhile, Cliff and Lynd had just arrived at the Many Mansions of the Everhiss n.


    Cliff began to ask and bombard Lynd with many questions as to what he can do and how he could make his adjustments. Cliff needed every detail of Lynd''s power and when he might use these powers. Since Cliff relied on memory, he had to make the necessary preparations for the battle. This was his strength and power.


    The nearer they reached the room that servants of the Everhiss called the Throne Room, the more nervous Cliff was and would even repeat a question to Lynd despite his unforgetting memory.


    "Rx, Cliff! You''re strong enough to kill me. You''ll survive this!"


    "Not without any techs! You two could live through a nuclear bomb! I''m just human!"


    "I thought you reached Inhuman a few days ago?"


    "That''s not what I mean!" Cliff spoke with Lynd with the fast and inaudible means that the servants around them couldn''t hear.


    "You just tell me where to go and who to hit first like what you did earlier. Leave the fighting to us. But be careful though, these are Emperors after all. Their Invoking could rival Oveers after all. You''ve seen their power and arrogance. I''m sure you won''t underestimate them. Even Seeker doesn''t. You might just get to see a serious Seeker Carlean and experience it." Lynd sighed.


    Cliff felt all the more nervous.


    "What will¡­ Seeker do? Can you tell me what actions he will take?"


    "He will surely use his Surmounting Strength. Right now, he will have the strength of a true Rank Hero. He will do the same thing in the Kraken and show off his power to intimidate them. He will rely on Richie''s sounds as well. But with so many Emperors and Empress, he will Walls of Jericho, especially if we are already there. The battle starts when we enter the room."


    "This battle is important, Cliff. As a General, you must reach my level of understanding, Seeker. The fact that you didn''t know what our task is proving just how far you still need to scale. You need to know what Seeker is thinking. Just like me. Our minds have to all be one." Lynd looked Cliff into his eye and warned him.


    "The battle begins now. Be ready."


    And soon, the servants pushed open the door, and there Lynd and Cliff saw the great battle of Seeker.


    "Was Grace that taught my heart to fear, And Grace, my fears relieved! How precious did that Grace appear, the hour I first believed!" Seeker sang.


    The Emperors and Empresses sang their heart out in worship as Seeker led the song.


    One by one, Eagle was praying over the Emperors, and whoever he prayed over would howl even louder.


    Cliff wore a peculiar expression, and Lynd looked as if he got kicked in the groin.


    Seeker kept on singing and noticed that Lynd and Cliff were looking at him with that expression.


    Seeker made a helpless shrug and kept singing with a voice of an angel.


    "Are we... suppose to engage in this ''battle'' with Seeker?" Cliff asked.


    "Ye-yeah..." Lynd gritted his teeth as he answered. He had boasted too much to renege in his belief.


    Cliff looked at Lynd with an odd stare.


    "So... Are you going to sing tenor or bass?"


    "You want to... do a three-part harmony?"


    "Seeker''s already doing melody... I''m more of a bass singer." Cliff answered shyly.


    "...Fine."


    "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see!" Cliff and Lynd joined in with Seeker and produced a masterpiece.


    Eagle kept leading the group in prayer, and many called upon the name of the Lord that day.


    That day, an alliance that would redefine the Unlocked armies happened.


    That day, Seeker acquired one of the most mysterious techs that they had failed to acquire on his past life.


    That day, the fantastic three-part harmony Christian acape group, The Way, The Truth, and The Bass, began their singing career.

 Chapter 333 - A Meeting In The Mediterranean

    It was a strange end to the negotiation.


    Seeker could not help but look at the stalwart and peaceful person of Eagle. Seeker was actually prepared a great amount of energy to fight the Thrones of the Everhiss n.


    But Eagle just walked right in and preached and used some of his powers, and then the entire Everhiss n was now their ally.


    And much more than just being allies to people who were ''after the same thing,'' the Everhiss n had be believers. They believed in the message of the Cross and were driven by belief and obsession. Their zeal had been renewed, and their directions have been recalibrated.


    Seeker watched as the terrifying form of mind-control urred before him. The Emperors and Empresses were the same but different.


    "You are now all, a New Creation! Though not at the level of Seeker who has attained the glorified body, your start of bing a New Creation is in repentance and faith!" Eagle announced.


    "Eagle wants them to have faith in me?" Seeker murmured.


    "Zeek, why is Eagle here?" Lynd finally asked. They had burst into a three-part harmony acape, and it was only now that they had a chance to talk.


    "Arthur. He must have arranged this. He probably felt that I wascking." Seeker sighed.


    "I thought New Creation refers to the body of Cultivators. Why is he saying that the Emperors already have it?" Cliff asked.


    "He wants them to have faith in me. That way, my cells will work on them faster. They have body enhancing techs that we don''t have. Although the Unlocking is better, still, the Emperors and Empresses will have a more firm foundationpared to the body of most Families."


    "Biblical pun intended?"


    "No." Seeker shook his head.


    You have tasted in the hope eternal and have abandoned your own self. But there is much to be done. Our battle is no longer of flesh and blood. These Aragarians have returned and are here to rebuild Babel. While our team is nning to create these ces that will house the Believers, the enemy will try to trample and corrupt it." Eagle exined.


    "Seeker Carlean is a messenger and Prophet from the future. I hope that while the tale of Seeker sounds like something straight from a sci-fi novel, the truth will exin itself. How else can a boy with no background know everything that we know? Has he not caused the world to move by the sheer works of his that doesn''t seem interesting? He began as a streamer for Piercing! And if you believe that he is from the future, it''s very easy to exin how he managed to take advantage of a game whose bugs have not yet been recorded!" Eagle continued to exin.


    "But let us now hear from Seeker to detail what he knows." Eagle smiled and motioned for Seeker to take the stage.


    "Did Arthur set you up for this?" Seeker asked as he passed by Eagle.


    "Yes. He knew you were trying to avoid me. He had long sensed that while you knew religion would be used, you were unwilling to allow yourself to fall in it." Eagleughed.


    "Emperors and Empresses of the Everhiss Family. I will try to exin the details as clearly as I can. I will be providing you all our files and documents for this talk. But feel free to ask me anything."


    "What did happen in the Kraken?" One of the Emperors immediately asked.


    "How was the WGP defeated?" Another asked.


    "In a very embarrassing manner." Empress Miranne Everhiss entered the room.


    "Miranne!" Pheonix was d to see her.


    Next to her was Chase Brander, the WGP Commander.


    But instead of anger and disdain, the Emperors and Empresses held their peace and smiled back at her.


    Miranne suddenly froze. She nced around and could see everyone seated peacefully, and some even had a look of regret, and their eyes begged for forgiveness.


    "What happened?" She asked Seeker.


    "Eagle. The one I told you about. You could pretty much say that your rtionship with Chase Brander would have no opposition."


    "What? How? What did he say?"


    "I have no idea. Something about Psalms 82. Go figure." Seeker sighed.


    Miranne then noticed Cliff and Lynd. These two were rather famous to all Unlocked as their exploits have all been recounted.


    "What is he talking about?" She decided to ask these two, thinking Seeker was teasing her.


    "Lady, we just walked in here and started singing Amazing Grace. We''re as confused as you are." Lynd sighed.


    "My daughter. We have seen the light. And we are sorry for the harm that we caused on you."


    "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good! If not for that act, the events in the Kraken could not have yed off as it was!" Eagle smiled.


    "Anyway¡­ Before we get off-topic again¡­ With Miranne here, I guess she can tell you what happened in the battle of Kraken. For now, I really have to start exining everything." Seeker stepped forward.


    "Agreed. Emperors and Empresses. Let us listen to this full tale." Phoenix told everyone.


    It was there that Seeker began to recount his amazing tale from the start.


    Meanwhile¡­


    The sudden war that urred in the Pacific ocean created a huge storm in the world. Various nations began to release threats and review the video footage of what happened in that battle. Many even used the WGP of nning the entire thing to retrieve all sunken items in the ocean.


    But this im seemed faulty as various submarines were able to reach the World Governing Trading Hub. So these ims were immediately refuted by several nations and caused greater tensions.


    And while these things continued to happen, various alternate routes were already being made to deliver the items all over the world.


    In Europe, New Great Britain became the king. They created a powerful storm that continuously formed within their area and created variousplications within the sea trade surrounding the North Antic Ocean.


    The storm continued to pour out and even upied parts of the European nations. The treaties that forced New Great Britain toply with the weather they created for the surrounding enemy nations were no longer honored when the WGP fell. So most of Europe had suddenly suffered from unpredictable weather.


    Although New Great Britain didn''t initiate sending weather changes all over Europe, the constant acts of shaping the weather had created chaos and disorder in the region. Aside from New Great Britain who used their technology to stabilize their regions, the nearby nations were suffering from it.


    The European Nation had already disbanded as the great changes that the past month has brought created conflict. Rome suddenly rose to power, and with the leadership of Octarion Caesar, the nation grew and reimed a part of the country that New Great Britain controlled.


    Spain also rose to power, and the war escted between Spain and one of the regions in Africa.


    Attacks constantly bombarded the African nations. While attempts to maintain their unity emerged, the departure of various prominent Jewish Families yanked out from the region was causing it to lose great power.


    There were also various spies urring all over the continent, and nudist beaches were tied to acts of insurrections.


    Because of this, various skirmishes and battles urred in the region. And in that chaos, a certain meeting was made possible.


    The Mediterranean sea has various independent artificial ind cities that had resolved to remain neutral and became a trade point for these nations.


    The artificial ind had a lot of warehouses. As the city was mainly used to smuggle and transfer objects from one country to another, there were many abandoned and ignored warehouses in the area. Without the WGP, the area had turned into a warzone. Most of the residents had already fled to their respective countries on the maind.


    Traveling by ship was impossible, and flying over these seas was tantamount to suicide.


    With such a situation set for these cities, it became the ideal ce to meet.


    Two people waited inside one of the warehouses. Water was rushing in everywhere from the heavy storm that bombarded the skies above.


    Despite this very chaotic environment, the woman and the teen were having a rather delightful time rxing.


    "Any word from Magantae?" The young man asked.


    "No. But rx. My Path is not wrong. It will just be on time. She''ll lose her mind after realizing who we are and will run but will immediately be found by an ally." The womanughed.


    "You have to understand that I treat things logically. How do you even know she''ll find an ally?"


    "You? You treat things logically? You who entered the Caliphate region and waved that thing around like it was some sort of magic wand!"


    "Deception still requires facts. But your Path of Zone is basically guesswork!"


    "Look, Lowengren¡­ I honestly don''t know what will happen because of what we did! I just feel like it was right to leave her and her Commanders.


    "It''s not that¡­ I just want to know what she would feel like after this. After all those lies and where we led her, I''m just curious what she will be doing when she realizes everything."


    "You won''t be there to see it. She probably will try to kill me, though." Aleanughed.


    "I just wish I know what it is that will save Magantae and her Commanders from that trap we set up. You went a bit overboard, if you ask me. She''d be in a Kraken and have to face everyone around her."


    "Oh,e on. They''ll live! My Path is sure of it!" Alean assured.


    "I hope Arthur will tell me what it is."


    "It''s an Emperor. An Emperor will save Magantae." Arthur suddenly appeared out of thin air.


    "Cloaking tech? Or was it teleportation?" Alean frowned.


    "No. It felt like both. But Arthur passed through the floors!" Lowengren was amazed.


    "We were able to replicate the Path of my experiment. But it only works on certain metals. This is used bybining my experiment, the Path of Rai and the foundational matter-altering tech." Arthur smiled.


    "But I thought passing through the dimensions is very dangerous. Even Seeker gets all battered up!" Lowengren frowned.


    "I think¡­ I can teleport like that and be safe." Aleanughed.


    "Alean could teleport and be safe indeed. Her Path could help her. This is why I have brought a spare of this tech for you. It''s very hard to find Unlocked who can teleport. Right now, we only have three who can teleport without losing a limb or an organ. Rai, Alean, and me." Arthur revealed a thin smile. It was as if he couldn''t hide the proud smile when he said this.


    "You can calcte and use your Path in that dimension?!" Lowengren was shocked.


    "Just because I hadn''t been fighting doesn''t mean my Path is stagnant. The more I pierce I can through the veil and see the future, the stronger I be. With this, I have experimented on myself and used teleportation as a means to pressure myself. With that, I easily reached Inhuman Proficient."


    "Looks like we all have our paths to walk."


    "Indeed. And right now, we have to strengthen it further. I need to learn Alean''s Path, and Alean needs to have an environment where there are several conflicting Zones. Presiders have this. I have confirmed it during the battle of Crostfree. And so, our next mission will be assigning us to ces where our respective Paths can grow.. And those ces are South America and Egypt."

 Chapter 334 - Throne Wars

    Seeker had ended the long tale of his resurrection. He gave various details that only the WGP would know about the various techs of the nations. He also exined what happened in their future and presented this mysterious response to the WGP.


    "Truth be told, we don''t know what happened to you. You became so silent when the Russian-African war grew immense. The difference in that timeline was that it was more of a Continental War. The Caliphates were divided by Russia and Africa. Most of the European Nations gave arge bulk of theirnd to Russia. But Pangea, SPU, One China, and the rest weren''t involved. There were skirmishes around the world. Pangea and Australia, the SPU, and One China¡­ But it didn''t erupt into a full-blown war that became a free-for-all." Seeker narrated.


    Pheonix was already seated on his throne and had a very intrigued face.


    "That''s odd. We would never allow a country to grow so strong. And our future had two of them? The WGP ensures that they are the constant governing powers by being strong. It is our calling to rule over all nations and ensure that they aren''t strong. This is why we even divided the world. If left alone, the Americas and Canada would have be a force to be reckoned with."


    "Well, America and Canada did try to attack Russia¡­ But Russia was just too strong. When the Aragarians revealed themselves, the world fell into chaos as it created wars when various nations revealed their alliance to these nations. Most nations were immediately conquered. The few who resisted were being massacred. You never rose or offered any noticeable resistance. At least based on what I know. I now know that our rise was full of many bloodsheds. I never met most of the families I know now. It was very hard to receive information about what''s going on in other countries."


    "Was Antarctica still standing in your future?" Another Emperor asked.


    "No. By the time we managed to form our own armies, Antarctica was only a shell of what it once was. There was no one there."


    "Did any of the Emperors and Empresses fight you?" An Empress asked.


    "Very few. I recall that the Tyrant Empress had a huge battle against several Emperors. But details of that battle would only be known by the Tyrant Empress herself. You have shown me great power. The battle against Miranne Everhiss and her Invoking showed me that your power is something that the WGP must be wary of. So where were you in the past?" Seeker asked.


    "It couldn''t be¡­ that, right?" One of the young Emperors asked.


    "That theorized event? Are we that dumb?" Another frowned.


    "He really is from the future. That even is something only we theorized! Then it must be true!"


    "Then that means¡­ The Everhiss family is losing its grasps of our true mission." Phoenix finally spoke. There was great anger in his eyes as he said this.


    "It must be those other families! They must be the cause!" Another Emperor cursed.


    Immediately, a discussion erupted among Emperors and Empresses.


    The younger ones were talking about a theorized fight against Emperors, while the older ones, the ones who had received the orders of the Lost Primordial or the man they called the Progenitor, discussed their hatred against the other families.


    Seeker didn''t interrupt and waited. Eagle was also waiting for the rest to finish their discussion.


    "I knew it would beplicated¡­ But I didn''t think it would be thisplicated." Lynd shook his head.


    "Cliff? Are you trying to piece everything together with your awesome memory?"


    "I can''t. But what I can discern is that the Emperors obviously fought each other. That''s the conclusion they made."


    "Emperors." Seeker finally called out.


    The Emperors slowly stopped discussing and turned to Seeker.


    "A Throne War. That''s what happened." Phoenix exined as he stood up.


    "Throne Wars?" Lynd was confused.


    "Your tech¡­ The one that the Progenitor left you¡­ Is it this throne? It''s a technology?"


    Phoenix nodded.


    "The Rule that we built isn''t just mere metals. We made it look like that because that was the instruction. We even intentionally leaked and released fake Rules. The one that the Tyrant Empress found was as such."


    "That''s why it didn''t have an Invoking!" Cliff eximed.


    "Yes. A Rule, the real one, isn''t just a piece of equipment. It''s a channel that links us into the dimensions beyond this. Miranne reported that Seeker and many others in your team have already found out the truth about the dimensions beyond the three, correct? The Throne Technology is a tech that allows us to create and harness energy around us. But it isn''t the elements that you see in the world. It is the one that harnesses Origin."


    "The Rule creates the energy? It''s isn''t the Kraken, the Antis, or Leviathans or even the Arctic nations that create it?!" Seeker was stunned.


    "That''s what we made it look like. The Everhiss ns hold the true understanding of the Throne. Everything else that the other families have are but imitations. They have a form of the tech that the Progenitor instructed us to reveal. But to activate this tech, requires our bloodline. The Invokings that you''ve all seen are fake Invokings."


    The group was stunned. The younger Emperors and Empresses, including Miranne, were startled.


    "It''s fake? Then how strong is the real thing?" Seeker was amazed.


    "Not stronger. In truth, the real Invoking that we can do is only a tad stronger than what the rest can do. The only difference is the source of energy." Phoenix exined.


    "Energy? The fake Rules created undetectable energy, and even the Presiders can''t see! What is the real source of energy that can create an Invoking?"


    "Not what. But where. The real Invoking draws energy beyond the three dimensions. The energy we managed to harness in that dimension, we imitated and forcibly created in this one. With just us, we can only harness a very small percentage of that Energy. So instead of relying on it, we tried to create it in this world. Eventually, we came up with that energy. We made it look like we''ve learned to reprogram molecules of this world when in actuality, we are simply making it follow the real energy that exists in the dimensions beyond."


    Seeker and Lynd were both shocked at what they heard. Almost immediately, they thought of the same thing.


    "The Rule perfects the science of the Unlocking!" Seeker eximed.


    "If that''s the case¡­ that''s Eternity right there!" Lynd also shouted.


    "What? What''s going on?" Cliff asked in confusion.


    "We''ll exinter. Then what exactly happened that you all didn''t appear in my future?"


    "The Throne Wars is the only exnation. It has never happened and is only discussed as a theory that most Emperors think of. You see, we believe to be undivided. But apparently, we are fools to believe that. Most likely, we killed each other in your future. We fought each other. Some in the WGP must have wanted to side with the Aragarians." Phoenix exined.


    "If that''s the case, the Unlocked needs to get ess with those Rules! The real ones! Not the ones that you used to create Origin energy. Those are untamed energy! We already know how to create those! And it''s even far more powerful. If we use the energy you created through the Rules and created Invoking. The enemy might wield it! We need an Origin that follows the person!"


    Lynd began to create fiery energy imitating Gardo''s family science.


    "Like this. But this is a weak version. You call it Origin. We call it Realm. The elements you see before you don''t harm me, although it''s fire. This is what Seeker meant by tame and untamed. You guys could create the energy that we can use to do stuff like this. That''s how the battle in the Kraken was easy for us." Lynd exined.


    "Lynd is right. I was even able to manipte the Origin energy that Miranne created. But if we are to fight these Aragarians, we need to get Throne Technology immediately!"


    "We''ll have a problem with that. You see, the real Rules are hidden within the mightiest fortresses of the WGP. And even we can''t ess it. The truth is, the Progenitor left two thrones for us to study. And that was how we were able to understand and imitate it. Understanding Origin or Realm allowed us to rise to power. But if you want it, you''d have to take it."


    Seeker smiled.


    "Then it''s final. Are you willing to betray your peers?" Seeker asked.


    The Emperors and Empresses were startled at such daring questions.


    "Yes." Phoenix was the first to answer.


    "Emperor?"


    "Father?"


    The shocked group was startled at Phoenix''s very direct and immediate answers.


    "Members of the Everhiss n¡­ Are you still hesitating? If we don''t help Seeker now, a Throne War will happen, and we won''t be able to save this world and fight the enemy that the Progenitor raised us up for!"


    The group fell into silence.


    "We have to betray the WGP. Because they have betrayed the will of the Progenitor!" Phoenix dered.


    "Father is right." Miranne suddenly addressed everyone.


    Many Emperors and Empresses were hesitating and began to discuss with Phoenix or those nearby about the implications of all these. Many expressed moral and ethical concerns about their n.


    "Do not think that I havee to bring peace to the earth. I have note to bring peace but a sword. For I havee to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-inw against her mother-inw. And a person''s enemies will be those of his own household." Eagle began.


    The room was suddenly silent when Eagle read from his Bible.


    "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:34-38. This verse is fulfilled in many forms." Eagle began.


    "The bitter truth is, the Grace of God will save some, but from this verse, we know that people will reject us and even plot to kill us. Jesus is a divisive God. He will honor those who love Him and throw those who rejected Him into the fire."


    The Emperors and Empresses suddenly fell into deep contemtion.


    "Our battle against these Aragarians could be a typology of theing Kingdom. When the Kingdomes, we will see the devils and the adversaries of the children of God wage war against us. Revtion states that this battle will practically throw Earth and the universe itself into an upheaval. What bothered me are the two prizing scenes that the Bible presents. On one side, the Bible tells us to trust in God and wait for His Salvation. Revtion details verses thatmand the Saints to endure and die. Yet at the same time, there are hundreds of verses which most Christians won''t be able to fulfill."


    "You mean those verses about war and how those who trust in God are strong in battle." Seeker answered.


    "Yes. I believe that the Bible is the Word of God. It is alive and living. There are no verses that I should only consider to be ''for historical purposes.'' I believe that when God says a single man can chase a hundred, I believe it to be true and will be fulfilled one day. The Unlocking even fulfills this prophecy." Eagle smiled.


    "As for you, Everhiss. It could be this¡­ Your enemies will be your own family. The power that you wield and have the chance to possess may grant power to those who believe. As is written in Zechariah 12, And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them. And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations thate against Jerusalem." Eagle read once more.


    "The weakest will be like David¡­ And the house of David shall be like God, the angel of the Lord going before them. This interesting. I assumed at first that this verse was a hint of the power of Jesus Christ as it mentions David and the angel of the Lord, a title that schrs attribute to Jesus Christ. But could it be? Is this verse to be taken literally? I leave that up to you. What I do know is that this Seeker is rightly named so. He seeks the Truth. And you might have it!" Eagle smiled.


    There was silence.


    "Seeker¡­ What ns do you have for the future? If you want the Everhiss n to betray the WGP, we need to know if it is possible for this family to fight the whole WGP and Ovee it. It''s not that I doubt your power, but you all cannot fight the full power of the WGP." Phoenix answered bluntly.


    "That''s why we make the WGP go out of their shell. As we speak, another meeting is underway. Arthur Humphrey is discussing a terrifying n that will wreak havoc in Africa and possibly overturn Europe, the Middle East, and the African continent." Seeker exined.


    "What n is that?"


    "I don''t know... But Arthur believes he ced the most formidable people for that job...."

 Chapter 335 - The Council Of The Wicked

    The Mediterranean seas were quiet. The slightest disturbance from boats or nes could create amotion.


    While Arthur used a certain tech to teleport the great distance from the isle of Malta towards the abandoned floating city, two figures were busy doing running on top of the waters.


    "How much further?" One asked.


    "Getting tired, Old man?"


    "A little. Ack! Cramps!" The first one suddenly fell into the waters.


    "What the fragment?! Hey! Old man!" The other suddenly dove to save the first one who fell into the deep waters.


    Some 200 kilometers from the ind of Malta, Arthur had appeared to Lowengren and Alean.


    "Egypt? Huh... You made me run all the way here when I should have headed south." Lowengren shook his head.


    "What is Seeker nning?" Alean asked.


    "What am I nning." Arthur corrected.


    "I''ve already given my rmendations to Seeker. He rejected the part of me burning Egypt, but with Eagle in the World Governing Trading Hub, things show flow ording to my n. Our preparations have always been leaning on attacking both the Worlds Helm and the Arctic nations. And that''s what we are going to do. I''ve nned the best way that can help us all increase our Paths."


    "You have a way to predict the best routes for all of us to increase our Paths?" Alean was amazed.


    "Indeed. The moment people reach Inhuman, the only way to get stronger is to develop the Path. While we have a general idea of what a Ranked Hero''s body is, the problem is the possibility of walking down the wrong path."


    "Like Meryl''s Path?" Alean asked.


    "She had the Path of Brightness in that future, and now she has a Path simr to Pangean Srium Tech."


    "That is correct. We each have to find our path to be a New Creation."


    "So Alean will be forced to go with Seeker and settle in a ce where there are several Presiders. Are you expecting these Presiders to have an ability like Zone?"


    "Yes. The Top Tier Presiders may have abilities simr to that. Who knows? Maybe their techs have the power to y around with Fate and Destiny. And so, if Alean were to grow, she needs to be there."


    "I get it. Too bad. This means our little fun with Magantae is over." Lowengren sighed.


    "You said that an Emperor would save her? How?" Lowengren was intrigued. Of all the things that would save her, she never thought that an Emperor would.


    "Yes. Eagle should have already converted the Emperors. I was already prepared to make a way that the Everhiss n would be informed. So right, before she and her team get killed, an Emperor will capture her. He will take Magantae under the guise of torturing and killing her, but in reality, the Emperor will save her and bring her back to the Many Mansions."


    "Wow. Magantae might go insane after all the trauma we left her." Lowengren was amazed.


    "How did you pretended to die? She was very protective of you, ording to my sources. And from the few short videos I got of her, she seemed rather regretful." Arthur couldn''t help but ask.


    "You still can''t pierce through my lies, I see."


    "Which is why I am here to see more of your lies. That''s why we will be working together. How did you fake your death?"


    "I used my Unlocking and with the help of Charles''s skill and pretended to have a severe reaction and died ofctose intolerance."


    "¡­ That¡­ I would never guess that¡­" Arthur frowned.


    Alean was giggling to the side.


    "Even the great man who can pierce through the future can''t see through simple lies like that¡­ You need to get stronger, Arthur! He who treads in the Lion''s Den couldn''t even figure outctose intolerance." Aleanughed.


    Arthur twitched at Alean''s mocking tone.


    "Anyway, what''s next? I can''t wait to be back with Lynd now. I heard he got very strong." Alean smiled.


    "Is it really, Lynd you want to see? And not Seeker?" Arthur gave a dry answer.


    Lowengren cringed and had to use his Unlocking to stop himself from saying, ''oh, snap!''


    Although Lowengren had long noticed this, he never dared to mention or tease Alean of it.


    Alean''sughing expression drastically changed as she red at Arthur.


    "My My My¡­ Little Arthinar now has the guts to tease his big sister. Listen well, kid¡­ You might see the future, but I''ll soon have the power to change it in an instant."


    "And this is precisely why the next mission requires you to separate from us. You will be sent to South America. With all the Presiders present, your Path is valuable to Seeker. Just keep it in your panties and limit your pedophilia to one Unlocked at a time."


    "...I''m gonna go check on the¡­ um¡­ rain outside." Lowengren excused himself to get out of this crazy battle.


    "Big words from a fake four-eyed nerd who has a strange obsession with his sister. I hope you don''t corrupt Lowengren with your incestuous infliction."


    "My heart¡­" Lowengren felt his heart got wrenched out.


    "Please don''t involve me¡­" Lowengren muttered weakly as his feet began to shiver. The deathly murderous intent of two was affecting Lowengren that sweat began to pour out of his shirt even before he got to the outside.


    "Don''t you wish that I didn''t have this obsession? That way, Kristine would be mine and that there''s no one there to take your precious Seeker from you? I''m not sure how you see things, but it''s obvious that Kristine will still end up with Seeker. That is my prophecy!" Arthur dered.


    Lowengren stopped and nced in amazement at Arthur''s deration. He stared at Alean to see her reaction.


    Alean continued to wear her smile.


    "Then let''s see which is stronger. Your prophecies or my Zone!" Aleanughed.


    "Can we please get to the details of this mission?" Lowengren finally interrupted.


    "Geez. For some of the most enigmatic beings in the universe, you two sure are rather childish." Lowengrenined.


    "Says the man who died by milk." Arthur frowned.


    "The details of Alean''s mission are critical. It sets the stage nned to attack both of the strongest fortresses of the WGP. The Worlds Helm and the Arctic nations. The n is simple. Create enough chaos and shock that many of those Emperors wille out of its shell."


    "So Seeker and his team will force Underwater cities to rise and destroy several of them? I''m guessing he wants South America to rebel against the Americas."


    "Correct. At the same time, the Tyrant Empress will move and attack the surface of Egypt. And we go underneath. Alean, Seeker needs you there. Your Zone is important. This is the hardest mission for them, and that''s why Seeker is cing himself among the lions and will be entering the lion''s den of Presiders. I, on the other hand, will be seeking my sister in Egypt. Yes. Pun intended."


    "So Seeker is trying to learn how it is to thread in the lion''s den... He is forcing himself to face the greatest uncertainties of this future. That''s very risky. Any wrong move, and he could prematurely bring the war of the Presiders around us!"


    "That''s exactly why he has to do it. That''s the only way that he can go. There is nothing here on Earth that can threaten Seeker and Lynd, save for the Oveers. But we don''t have the luxury of making Seeker fight the others. Each Oveer has been granted their specific missions and has been positioned on specific ces to create war and grow in their respective battle."


    "I get that part¡ªthe assigned ces where the Oveers are set to hit several birds at the same time. The Oveers are all granted an opportunity to grow and create a team. Amir will face the Dragons Fangs along with Meng and his warriors. Grant Hermes, Richie, the Vampire Akasha are set to fight the Tyrant Empress, the Zulus that the Tyrant Empress will search, and your father''s Thought Transference Existential Intelligence." Lowengren listed the missions that he heard.


    "Creating these scenarios which force Oveers and Near Oveers to fight with all their might takes them out of the scope of the Presiders. The best way to hide an alliance is to make them fight. These groups will do whatever is in their power to manipte the government of wherever they are and fight each other."


    "I see. The Aragarians will try to pick a side and help one group and will ultimately be betrayed by this group."


    "If things go ordingly, we can kill Presiders without revealing the might of the Oveers."


    "So One China and India will have a war? I understand that part. But Africa...? Richie and his team will raid Africa?" Alean couldn''t logically exin the n.


    "It has to do with me and my father''s n to save my sister. Egypt is currently locked uptight. The Caliphates are in chaos, and even Mesopotamia has broken off and retained its independence. Through Akasha, Richie and his team can enter thend. Their battle will be over Africa. This will make Africa a rather problematic ce for the Presiders to create a future base."


    "But why? Isn''t it better to send our spies to Africa? Shouldn''t we just follow Seeker''s memory and aid Russia in this future war?"


    "This would have been ideal. But I have to save my sister. If it isn''t my father doing this mission or me, they may prioritize the world over my sister. So it has to be me." Arthur exined.


    "You''re not even hiding it, aren''t you? You want to save your sister no matter the cost. Why are we bending the rules for you?"


    "Because that''s how powerful I am. When I first allied with Seeker, I already knew that there was something strange with his ims about being together with Kristine. I knew that his n against Australia was out of his own selfishness and hatred developed because of what he knows Australia did to his country. He has made a thousand bad calls at the start. Do you know why I agreed?"


    "Because he''s stronger..." Alean answered with a sigh.


    "That''s correct. Regardless of how you see it and how conflicting his recklessness is, I wouldn''t even bother morally assess him. He is the hope that we have. So if he wants to be a bit selfish, I''ll let him. The same goes for you two. If your worth and power reach that level, the Oveers and everyone else will allow your selfish desires. The Tyrant Empress is the greatest example of this. She possesses the greatest threat and still retains her own vanity. She wants to be the queen of this Earth. Yet did we kill her or chain her? No. Seeker unleashed her. That''s how powerful she is."


    Lowengren and Alean were silent at Arthur''s ims.


    "If you grow stronger, you could even im Seeker for yourself, Alean. Right now, your Path is undoubtedly strong, but it hasn''t created a sure road to victory. My Path has. Get stronger, and you can do whatever you want. Same with you, Lowengren. If you grow stronger, even that desire you''ve chained in your heart is possible. You could also have her." Arthur smiled.


    Lowengren forced his body to stop trembling.


    "You smart bastard. You even caught that..." Lowengrenughed.


    "I am Daniel. There are no secrets hidden from me." Arthurughed.


    "But, Lowengren... The mission that I have nned for Egypt is much more reckless than Seeker''s." Arthur revealed.


    "What?" Even Lowengren was surprised at Arthur''s statement.


    "What do you think lies in Egypt?" Arthur asked.


    "A Presider?"


    "Correct. This Presider has secluded himself or herself in Egypt, probably even prior to the Continental Wars. I estimate that this Presider must be at least a mid-tiered Presider. Now, Lowengren, what do you think our n is?"


    "To rescue your sister?"


    "And make known our existence to the Presider?"


    "I doubt that our n is to kill him! That will practically be the same thing!"


    "That''s why our mission is something that I couldn''t even make sure ns. We need that Presider, to rebel against the Aragarians." Arthur smiled.


    "What? How?"


    "I don''t know. That''s why I''m here. This is the ce which can perfectly help you craft your Path."


    "Deception has its limits..."


    "It won''t be just the two of us. And the team I''m bringing with me are the only group of people who can help us achieve this."


    The door suddenly swung open.


    "You stupid old man!" Gardo cursed as he tossed the weary and drowned body of an older person.


    "You''re freaking in Proficient, and you still got cramps?!" Gardo cursed with an extremely angry tone.


    Lowengren saw the other person and felt their strength drain from them. It was the one person that Lowengren had no desire to associate with, if possible.


    "Gardo Dalisay and Vender Hirock..." Alean recognized the two.


    "Not just them. You cane out now. Everyone''s here. You''re the only person who hasn''t shown himself." Arthur called out.


    Lowengren and Alean were confused and began to look around.


    But no one appeared.


    Suddenly, lightning and thunder rolled out and created a bright sh that quickly illuminated the exit of the door. As the light disappeared, he stood in the doorway.


    His stance was majestic. His beard, glorious. His gaze, unparalleled. His power, undisputed. His eyes, illustrious. He is the eye-popping, eyebrow-raising, breath-taking, heart-stopping, spine-chilling, most amazing figure. Harker Cipril, the General of the Heroes Army.


    "Dad?"


    "The Light of Pangea!" Vender was amazed at his figure. He didn''t even mind the cramping pain in his legs.


    "Lowengren... Behold... The Council of the Wicked." Arthur motioned at everyone around them.


    "I like that name... We should have done this from the start..." Harker smiled. He took out a certain object in his pocket. It was a lighter and a cigarette.


    Harker slowly lit up a lighter and began to light his cigarette.


    "Dad? You don''t smoke." Alean frowned.


    But disregarding her daughter''s attempts to hinder his coolness, Harker continued to flick his lighter. The first two attempts failed to produce a spark as the lighter was wet. But yet, those mistakes only amplified his coolness.


    "But I guess a team this formidable needs a climactic build-up. Arthur''s Acts. Lowengren''s Lies. Gardo''s Guile. Vender''s Vexation. And of course, Harker''s Honor." Harker smiled as he looked around.


    "Ourbined Path''s could easily create something glorious. But the world was forced to wait. Because a team this awesome is forced to wait!" Harker puffed up to several smoke rings and blew an arrow right in the middle of it.


    Such cool swagger even impressed Alean, who would have otherwise been embarrassed.


    "What can we say, now that we are all finally going to work together?" Harker then paused for dramatic effect.


    Everyone suddenly felt drawn to him and found themselves waiting for an epic line to end his speech.


    "Hell... It''s about time!" Harker sneered.


    The darkest, dankest, and most maniptive team among the Unlocked was formed that day.

 Chapter 336 - Sincerely Wrong

    Seeker continued toy out the ns that Arthur has plotted for the Unlocked as with the wars that they were to initiate.


    "Since infiltrating the WGP or attacking it is practically difficult to do with how xenophobic it is now, the best way to fight and attack their fort is to draw out as many Emperors and Empresses as we can. The chaos that we will create in South America will cause those in the World''s Helm to move. And the chaos that will spread from Egypt and move upwards will force the WGP to move out."


    "And our job is to ensure that happens? You want us to use our power in the WGP to make implications to have that happen?" Phoenix asked.


    "Yes. Use whatever means you can to ensure that they will be forced to go out of their shell. Of course, you don''t need to make it obvious. If all goes well, in a matter of eight months Egypt, Rome, Babylon, and Assyria will rise once more. Arthur has nned that these nations will rise up as the Babel Towers of the world. The respective Oveers are already informed. And even the remaining seeds of the Progenitor that we haven''t met are being sought by Nogard Meng, Master, and Lilybeth."


    "Who''s Lilybeth?" Pheonix asked.


    "I mean Rai! Rai! The Void Assassin from the EAA."


    Lynd and Cliff facepalmed as they heard this.


    "Interesting n. As expected of the Prophet Daniel!" Eagle smiled.


    "Once Lioncourt has gathered all the seeds, where can we have the Bible Study. You have turned deaf ears to my request, Seeker. I hope that isn''t the case now." Eagle smiled.


    "I don''t have a choice, do I? Where do you suggest?"


    "Then there you have it. Everhiss n, you have to draw as many Emperors and Empresses to our side. Since Pangea is one of the few countries that managed to reach this ce, you could use it as an excuse to help usplete our Pangean project secretly. The Three Shapes that Pangea is building is actually onerge mobile fortress. With your help, the technology can be much more powerful. We still have to think of ways tobine your techs with every single tech we have in our hands."


    "I think you underestimate us. That Fortress you are making can easily be transformed into a Many Mansion. Each Emperor isn''t just people with Rules. We fought hard to acquire this tech. Your exnation of what the Aragarian society looks like is very familiar. Within the WGP, we follow the same format. Only when Emperors and Empresses have created immense contributions to technology are they able to acquire their Rules. Even that Emperor that Meryl killed, Theon Epikyron was a genius in his rocket propulsion tech."


    "Epikyron? Those are the WGP Emperors that we fought in the retaking of Pangea." Seeker frowned.


    "I see. So when the Throne Wars happened, they weren''t present. That''s because the Epikyron family is the family in charge of creating space habitats. They are the ones that have formed a base in the moon and even created several minor bases in the Asteroid belt. There is, of course, a high chance that they have already allied with the Aragarians." Phoenix had a very angry expression.


    "It might not have happened yet, but it may happen. There are several Top Tiered Presiders already on Earth. The WGP has to act to limit or harass their forces."


    "You n to make the WGP act as a shield to take on the attacks of the Top-Tier Presiders?" Miranne was stunned.


    "It''s only logical," Lynd answered.


    "You guys died without giving much help to us. So¡­ In this life, it''s better if your friends die with honor. But your life isn''t worth sparing for the future. The WGP has to fall if you want us to rise. Comparing the two of us, we have a higher chance of fighting and winning against the Aragarians. So instead of making us expend our men, why not expend yours? I know this would be very distasteful to you guys, but your friends must die for our cause." Lynd stepped forward to exin.


    "Lynd?" Cliff was about to stop Lynd when Seeker raised his hands.


    "Cliff. Lynd''s using his path of observation. These people have been affected by Eagle''s sermon and are on our side. But right now, being on our side means that they have their expectations and belief as to how to help us. It isn''t because of pride. They don''t look down on us, but they have their sincere beliefs and desires on how to help us. Lynd''s learned this the hard way. His dissatisfaction with my actions was because he had his own beliefs and expectations of saving this world. Let him speak." Seeker corrected as he spoke at a speed and frequency that only Cliff could understand.


    "You are Lynd Indigo. I''m quite surprised at the reports I''ve read about you. Miranne sent a lot of information regarding yourst battle. Apart from the chaos and deaths that you caused in Pangea, you rebelled and nearly killed several of your allies. It''s stated in the reports that it was none other than Seeker Carlean who tried to stop you. Wouldn''t you be the one who can sympathize with our current scenario? We wish for a world where most of the Emperors will survive. Regardless of whatever beliefs they have, they are still our family. You telling us to die for your cause is rather hypocritical, isn''t it? Did you two fall into somepromise after you fought?" One of the Emperors frowned.


    "You''re telling us that our life isn''t worth sparing, but you fought against your friend in some disagreement? While Seeker exined the future gave us a rather bleak view of the WGP, a Throne War is only one of the possibilities that may arise! The future isn''t set yet! Why not work towards trying to get the WGP to fight with us? Don''t just cast it aside and make them cannon fodder! They deserve better!"


    "That''s why I was rather harsh with my words. Eagle may have convinced you of how the WGP will betray you, yet in your heart, you still want to save them. That is understandable. But if you hesitate now, it could lead to catastrophic problems. And this is exactly why I spoke up. Right now, there are many paths to victory. There are many theories on how to best deal with theing battle. There are many truths and it is these very honest and sincere truths that could divide us! I can see it in your eyes! You all are clearly our allies, but because of your passion, your preference, and conviction, you all are secretly nning to make your moves, right?" Lynd asked.


    Cliff was surprised at this statement.


    "I see why Seeker brought me here. You guys are different. Every Oveer we''ve met followed a primitive yet effective rule. They were defeated, and they are obeying Seeker''s will because they follow the strong. But here amidst all thrones, the pride of the Emperors is not easily avoided! Let me tell you this¡­ If you try to save the world and help us ording to your wisdom, you will be the death of us!" Lynd shouted.


    "I had to be stabbed in the heart and pummeled to a near-death state to learn this. I was once like you! That''s why I rebelled. That''s why the rage was secretly building within me! Unlike Seeker''s other conquered friends, I was his friend even before this. When I slowly realized that I was the Way, it got me thinking of other ways to save the world. Seeker kept indulging my pride by not making me be thrown into the fires. Perhaps he was afraid of losing me as a person or as a friend. Because what he needed was not my opinion, but my strength and obedience!"


    Eagle could not help but smile.


    "As do God." Eagle added.


    "Emperors and Empresses, your alliance is greatly valuable to us. But only if it is done in perfect submission. You cannot serve two masters at the same time. You either serve our cause or serve the cause of your family. He who puts his hand and the plow and looks back is not worthy of my kingdom. These are the Words of the Most High. Seeker''s n will shock you."


    "Yes. Seeker has already discussed the ns with the leader of several Underwater cities, and they have agreed to help us destroy one-third of the sea to limit marine life." Miranne sighed.


    "WHAT?!" Many Emperors were startled.


    "Pastor!" One of the Empress turned to Eagle.


    "Good n. That ought to fill in the verses in Revtion. More wille to faith in this." Eagle approved.


    "What?!"


    "Do not be shocked at these ns. The world has to be given a chance to repent. They have to have that chance to repent. Just as it was with Israel in the days before the Babylonian captivity, they will have prophets who will preach the good news. My ministry is full of critics. I am able to convince people of peace who, in their humility, allowed the Word of God to make sense to them. But most of the worldughs at me and poke fun at my scientific reference, which is frankly easy to refute with the maniption of the truth." Eagleughed.


    "But what if we show the world how true it is? What if Egypt rises once more? What if Babylon, Assyria, and Rome be a power that mimics the words mentioned in the Bible? Doing so will create great chaos. There is so much more that I can talk about in regards to that. But you kings must submit to a leader now. Whether hemands you to abandon your brother, let it be so. Of course, Seeker won''t be so harsh as to make them die without a fight. You must allow them to grow." Eagle smiled.


    "Eagle is right. We will give you some of our technology to pass it on to your Emperor friends. Hopefully, with that, they can kill a few more Presiders or even inflict damage to their armies." Seeker nodded.


    "If they are humble and of a contrite spirit, and turn from their ways, they will be saved anyway. And the hope of God''s kingdom at the resurrection will allow them to live. Has any of us perfected resurrection science? God has." Eagle smiled.


    The expressions of the Emperors and Empresses were slowly changing.


    "Emperors, Empresses. We of the Everhiss n were called seeds by the Progenitor. We''ve long noticed we had a strange liking to the Judeo-Christain faith. He even called this house Many Mansions. He named our seeds, and pastor, isn''t there a verse that said something of how a seed needs to die?" Phoenix asked.


    "John 12:24-25. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Phoenix is right. Youin, how it is that your family is destined to die and be cannon fodder, well get in line. Those who follow God are always seeds to die for the future."


    "It''s not just you." Seeker sighed.


    "Do you think I''m building an army to defeat the Aragarians? We don''t even know or could imagine what a Principal is. I assure you, most of what I''m building or have built will die. Honestly, the destiny of your family members is easier. Isn''t it written in Revtion? Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Lynd, Cliff, and even most of the Oveers won''t be alive to see victory." Seeker exined.


    There was silence.


    Lynd kept ncing around.


    "How is it, Lynd?" Seeker asked.


    "I think we''re good. Man, that was hard. Fighting them would''ve been easier."


    "Yes. But they wouldn''t be as passionate as they would be. With them, we have these geniuses who will start splicing and enhancing our techs. It''s like we''ve gained six or seven Lennox''s." Seeker smiled.


    "Erm¡­ Generals?" Cliff intruded on the two as he spoke in a normal voice.


    "The Presider that Titan was following. It went and met with Lara!"

 Chapter 337 - Chaos Over The Pacific

    The free-for-all battle that urred in the Pacific Ocean was a shock to many. Almost every nation in the Asian region was relying on the trade possibilities that would arise in this. Nations would move their resources to the World Governing Trading Hub, and trade would take ce there.


    Due to the arrangement of the WGP to apply thews of Technological Possibilities, nations relied on each other for various non-essential and even essential products.


    But at the copsing economy and the difficult means for nations to trade with other allied nations. Since many nations had enemies next or near to them, establishingnd, air, and sea trade was difficult. Some attempts of trade were even stopped as war broke out in the trading routes.


    And so, no one expected a battle to ur as most submarines were on-route to the Trading Hub. Everyone didn''t want a battle to erupt there because even enemy nations couldn''t afford to create havoc! This was a ce where enemy nations could put up their product with little fear of being attacked by their enemies. When the WGP had re-offered their services, everyone wanted this offer to push through as everyone desperately needed it.


    Even some nations had trade problems in the recent months and the sudden rising of new nations like India, Mesopotamia, Prime Zend, and the Rasian Republic that split from Western Russia.


    With such chaotic uprisings that made it very difficult for most nations to find a footing, this trading hub would have been their salvation. And so the battle that erupted enraged many, and most nations began to target the Underworld organizations that were all over their countries.


    For the first time in history, nations were revealing the trade and control that the Underworld had. Revtion after revtion erupted, and various nations began to purge the Underworld from within.


    As more and more details of the underwater war were revealed, the more it was proven that the Underworld was to be med.


    The nations of Bandesh, Prime Znd, Rasian Republic, and the EAA were among the nations that managed to send several submarines into the Trading Hub. And while their losses were minimal, they still initiated the purging of the Underworld in their countries.


    But of course, there was one group that didn''t need the Trading Hub as much as the rest. They suffered no losses in the entire process, and reports of the great General that led the underwater battle echoed throughout the world. The Armies of the Unlocked had little need for this, for they had the technology to sustain and supply themselves because of the preparations they had made.


    Pangea didn''t need the Trading Hub or the Underworld. With their alliance on several Underwater Cities, it was possible for them to trade with nations as needed. And so, without fear of what implications wille out from a war that would erupt here, Seeker gave the green light to perform their experiments.


    The Gryphon Squadron had escaped and acquired a submarine and hightailed out of the sea. But even as they were escaping, many attempts to kill them urred. Torpedoes and rockets blew up, and if it weren''t for the sharpshooting skills of Epic, the group wouldn''t have survived the escape. They managed to board an escaping submarine and were able to mix in with the various workers in the submarine easily.


    The submarine they boarded was able to reach the surface. It had several damaged ports and was at the brink of sinking from the strange attacks that it received on its escape.


    The survivors who survived the many copsed chambers were being pulled out as many soldiers began to hurriedly evacuate the dying men.


    The first to get out of the ship was the Gryphon Squadron.


    "Where are we?" Ivan immediately asked.


    "That g. We''re in a Bandesh carrier. We have to hurry. We need to find a way to get a higher position among the soldiers here." Lim exined.


    "How are we going to do that?"


    "Battle. Those Pioneers have a means of knowing where we are. Even in the chaos, they knew which sub to attack. It wouldn''t be long when other ships start attacking this in an effort to kill us."


    "So you want us to merge with the soldiers now?" Suarez asked.


    "Not now. The attacks could happen soon. Once that happens, we use the panic to wear uniforms of the dead to get us a way to enter and fight. If we are able to fight and show the rest our superiority, it would be easy to reveal our foreign identities as someone being kept by those submarines."


    "What about killing those Pioneers? When can we do that?" Will asked.


    "Our goal is survival. This is the reason why Seeker took us. He wants to train us to reach the higher levels of the Unlocking. He said it himself! Those aliens will die in fifteen days. If we hold out until then, we win. But I don''t think it''s that simple. From what we just experienced, I now know that the standard he set for us is disgustingly high. What is important for us now is to get a better understanding of the circumstances we are in. We don''t know where we are or why we were in that sub!"


    "Lim''s right. What we need is information. Haven''t you noticed? Pangea, EAA, China, SPU, and Australia! There were even several unknown gs that I couldn''t tell! We don''t know what''s going on. Any reckless action we make could spell our doom!"


    "How?" Epic was curious."


    "The enemy is smart and informed. They may use it to leak information about us being some human experiments and put a mark all over our heads. This is why our best call is to merge with an army so that when we fight, they won''t be able to single us out!" Lim exined.


    Epic, Suarez, Fish, and Will all nodded as they heard Lim''s exnation.


    "I also think that just as that Exoskeleton managed to invade the sub we were at, soldiers serving Seeker are constantly monitoring us. That soldier who warned us was used to ensure that we survive the battle despite our stupidity. But I also think that if we managed to surpass their expectations, they would make things harder for us."


    Ivan frowned.


    "Meaning we have to constantly exceed their expectation to survive?"


    "Yes. We''ve all experienced this Unlocking. And think about how much pain and despair we had to endure to achieve it. They want us to be Unlocked all the more. Don''t think that they will save us again. We will be fighting for our life here. If we growx, we die for real." Lim warned.


    "Then we just do that! I want to be able to meet my family again! Let''s kill those alien Pioneers! This experiment also gives us an idea of how strong our enemies are. This also will fuel our rage. The Pioneers are aliens, and we will see just how immoral or crazed they are in killing us. Lim, you have to n ording to that expectation in mind. For the rest, we have to develop whatever skills we have to be of use. Right now, Only Epic, Lim, and me are useful in this team. The rest have to do something!" Ivan urged.


    The group nodded.


    "Lim... What''s the n?"


    "The best course of action to take right now is this..." Lim then began to give out the orders.


    As more and more ships reached the surface, some of the battles that began underwater rippled out and continued above the sea.


    There were several fleets of ships just waiting a certain distance from the World Governing Trading Hub.


    The WGP dered that while moving in between this region as possible, only ships of certain sizes could travel. Underwater vessels would be allowed to move without size constraints. Everyone knew that the WGP set this rule to ensure that they could easily defend the area. The WGP had the best underwater techspared to any other country because they had limited or banned anyrge-scale application or research in underwater techs.


    Because of these bans and limitations, the Underwater Cities thrived as most nations were not allowed to create ships or vessels that could explore the deep seas.


    But now, this long line of fleets was at war.


    Despite the chaos that had happened, the surviving fleets of submarines had alerted their home countries that they had reached the ce peacefully.


    On a certainrge ship that watched the battle, the final signatures needed to create the treaty had finally been signed.


    They watched the battle and found how they were able to send their ships right into the deep.


    The Leviathan already gave an estimated report of the items they salvaged.


    The war that sank many submarines was all a ploy to gather resources for various nations.


    "I can''t believe that it worked!" President Quest of the SPU was amazed at the battle reports. He even confirmed it with his men who were in that submarine and saw how everything went ording to n.


    "Indeed. All hail the South Pacific Confederate!" The Australian Prime Ministerughed.


    "All ording to the great General''s n." My-Pangean President Albert Hoross praised.


    "To think I wanted to fight against them." Indo-Pangean President Hyrdonughed.


    "I was lucky to be dragged in quite early." Phil-Pangean President Colestar was in tears. He could only imagine what heartbreak the surrounding nations felt when all those resources had sunk into the sea.


    "President Hoross, I read that from the report, your son, Lowengren, is now quite a figure." The Australian Prime Minister spoke up.


    "You know of General Cliff Fangwood? He is responsible for ensuring that all the resources and materials in those subs are undamaged when those subs are sunk. General of the Army, Seeker Carlean, states that it is almost impossible for Cliff to beat my son inbat." Horossughed proudly.


    "Impressive!"


    "So shall we get these treaties finalized? I hope there are no longer any doubts on what we can aplish."


    "I feel a little worried about selling my country to this." The Australian Prime Ministerughed.


    "Trust me. I''ve tried to fight the flow of Harker and got myself bombarded by the media. Things will be easy now. The SPU and Australia will find economic problems that can only be resolved with this sudden alliance. During that time, all who might oppose will be killed or converted. Whichever is more realistic. These people can easily change the world." Colestar warned.


    "General Cliff can urately destroy what subs that need to be destroyed and preserve what is needed to be preserved. With the destruction of those submarines from your countries, it spelled the death of your political enemies. You two are now in a position of more legal power to sign these treaties. Just think, if Cliff could do this, what more his other allies?" Horossughed.


    "Presidents¡­ We have a report that the Presider Titan is following is headed towards this location! He should be here in two minutes!"


    "WHAT?!" Everyone eximed.


    "Admiral Merol just confirmed it."


    "Wha-what are we to do?" The Australian Prime Minister panicked.


    "He should be headed for that Presider Lara in one of those subs waiting to depart!"


    "What are we to do? We''re all in this room! It would be very suspicious if that Presider finds enemy leaders gathered in one room! Even Lara doesn''t know of our alliance?" The SPU frowned.


    "Will he notice us?" Hyrdon asked.


    "Would you risk it? We have to do something that will make it him not doubt our presence together in one room?"


    "What can we do?" Colestar asked.


    "Why don''t we fight!" Albert Hoross dered valiantly.


    "Fight?!" Everyone chorused.


    "Yes. If he uses his scans and sees us punching each other, he won''t suspect an alliance but some sort of temporary truce! And since we are all punching each other, that Presider will think that the truce is ending!" Albert exined.


    "I guess¡­ that makes sense." SPU President Quest agreed.


    "Then let''s do this!" Albert cheered as he punched the Australian Prime Minister.

 Chapter 338 - The Naive Presider

    Lanterk kept murmuring and cursing as he went. He lost so much on this trip.


    He wanted to find a way into the World Governing Trading Hub but knew that it was very difficult to pull off.


    Ever since the death of Crostfree, all Presiders now viewed the WGP as a group that could threaten them. The illusive Lost Primordial and another mysterious group had also begun to put a stop at the dominant confidence that the Aragarians had. The Presiders that Lanterk had dealings with even began to change their attitude and views towards the earth.


    As such, Lanterk didn''t recklessly assume that he could easily bypass the sensors of the WGP.


    And so, Lanterk turned to Feyor to give him away into the World Governing Hub. Lanterk had no Pioneer connection on Earth as he initially had no interest in Earth, but as the chaos on Earth grew, Lanterk found several items that interested him.


    The appearance of the Almetal hybrid steels purchased and acquired by bulk urged him to move.


    While he had techs that could easily eclipse thebined technological possibility of several nations, the young Presider had limited resources to use.


    He nned to purchase or pige these items in the World Governing Trading Hub.


    He had detected arge number of raw materials being transported by several subs. But knowing that there were just too many witnesses, and since a Leviathan was near, he decided not to take drastic actions but wait for them to reach the Trading Hub.


    But then, the war in the Pacific happened. The submarines he had been attacked and were slowly sinking to the bottom of the sea.


    The specific submarine carrying the materials that Lanterk wanted also sank.


    The Leviathan didn''t move to the location where this submarine sank. So Lanterk proposed to the Pioneers to fake sink.


    He had the techs that could protect them and issued orders to make it look like the submarine received great damage and make the sub pretend to sink. They would chase after the falling sub, and he would secretly grab the items and retreat. This would save him a lot of effort and even minimize his earthy expenses.


    Once retrieved, he would use his techs to make it look like the submarine managed to recover from the damages, and they would be their merry way.


    But as they tried to initiate that n, the torpedoes just didn''t seem to connect with them.


    As Lanterk grew impatient, he urged the submarine to move into a daring route as if it was trying to save one of its allies.


    But who would have thought that he would suddenly get caught in the crossfire? The submarine ally even shot a rouge torpedo that was struck by several roaming Exoskeletons causing it to veer towards their submarine!


    The sudden and consecutive attacks forced Lanterk to act and used some of his techs. But then, a Big Bang Boom disguised as a normal torpedo wasunched. Lantern''s careless estimate of that rocket led to the brutal destruction of the submarine he was in.


    The Pioneers all died, and he was forced to escape.


    He saw the Leviathan harvest the spoils and got the Almetal Hybrid he was after and could only make his way back to the newly established Prime Zend whose leaders were humans, and Aragarian''s that Feyor ced.


    Lanterk was retreating and cursing as he swam through the sea. Since he couldn''t activate most of his techs as there were several powerful ships nearby, he could only use the bare minimum of his techs.


    "What am I going to say? Will Feyor believe that how those submarines used new techs that the Pioneers can''t withstand?" Lanterk wondered.


    "That''s it! I''ll say that I couldn''t use my techs because of a Leviathan and several Emperors were present! Still¡­ it''s a waste¡­ Those Almetal hybrids would have been useful to build that Titan¡­" Lanterk sighed.


    He continued swimming, not knowing that several kilometers, Titan was discretely following and used Australian hearing techs to amplify to hear things.


    "Feyor?" Titan was stunned.


    "It''s a good thing this kid is talkative¡­" Titan kept reporting the things he heard.


    Titan was linked to the Leviathan that was deep down the Pacific Ocean. The Leviathan, now under themand of the former Admiral of the Kraken, Muspi Merol, immediately cascaded the information to various channels.


    "We have another confirmed Presider name. Presider Feyor seems to be a level higher than this Presider. So is this a Mid-Tier Presider? Or a High Tier Presider?" Muspi wondered.


    "Admiral... Inform the team on the border to be alert. The target seems to be heading there. Have them ready their scanners in case the target escapes." Titan ryed the instructions.


    "What''s the situation over there at the barricade region?" Muspi asked as he checked on the location where the fleets of various ships remained situated. These ships were at the border of the discussed boundary the WGP had ced.


    "War, Admiral. What else?" A chuckle was heard, and Muspi recognized that voice. It came from one of the Unlocked who met him the earliest and was responsible for making him suffer an agonizing nightmare when he was still in control of the Kraken.


    "Roselyn, you''re already there?" Music gave an almost hateful reply.


    "I rode a long-ranged rocket to get here. The submarines began to fire several escape torpedoes, and I managed to hang on to one. It got me here as fast as I could. Try to hide your hate, Admiral. I still technically outrank you, you know."


    "Please be informed that Titan is tailing a person of interest, and they should be headed there. Have your team prepare their sensors in case that person uses his techs." Music changed the topic.


    "Roger, Roger." Roselyn happily replied as he began to move within the other ships in the barricade to perform more of her mission which was aligned to train the various experiments and the Gryphon squadron.


    As for Titan, he kept his distance from the leisure stroll of the Presider.


    "He sure is taking his time..." Titan couldn''t believe how rxed the Presider was.


    As the trip continued, Titan had been more rxed as he could tell that the Presider was immature and even unguarded.


    "This is one of those Presiders that Seeker told us to leave alive as they would be useful..." Titan recalled Seeker''s lessons.


    Lanterk didn''t even bother to use sensory techs and mask his sound with his suit. Lanterk knew that it was humanly impossible to hear him anyway, even with Australian-level hearing techs.


    But for the Unlocked, it was a different thing. With Richie''s sonar ping that could carry sounds, hearing Lanterk''s whispers was very clear and audible.


    Lanterk suddenly stopped as he detected another energy that was unique to Presiders.


    "Is this Zeraphine?" Lanterk gave an exhrated realization. He then began to move towards the submarine.


    The moment he said those words, Titan quivered.


    "Zeraphine? She really is Zeraphine!" Titan immediately began to ry the information he found.


    Lanterk also began to move immediately. This time, his speed was faster than his previous speed.


    "Score! I can still enter the Trading Hub with her!" Lanterkughed as he raced towards Zeraphine''s location.


    "Admiral! Target is moving towards Priority personnel Ares!" Titan reported immediately.


    Admiral Muspi cursed and immediately sent out a distress warning on all Tier Three and up soldiers in that region.


    One of them was the Presidents of Pangea, SPU, and the Prime Minister of Australia, who initiated their fist-fighting n to hide the suspicion of their gathering.


    "Notify the Tier Zeros. Ares is Ares. We have confirmed with audio, Ares is Ares!"


    Admiral Muspi immediately did as instructed.


    Seeker and his group were listening to Cliff ry the reports.


    "Zeek¡­ This kid Presider also confirmed it. Zeraphine is indeed Lara." Cliff confirmed.


    While Seeker believed that Lara is Zeraphine, there wasn''t any other solid evidence to prove that im.


    "Ah¡­ So she really is." Seeker didn''t have much of a reaction but simply gave a mysterious smile.


    "Then I guess I don''t have to hold back anymore."


    While Seeker''s expression remained the same, everyone in the room felt the dreading anger that was rising from within.


    "Sin is lurking at the door, and its desire is for you. But you must master it. Especially you, you who Tread in Truth." Eagle spoke.


    "You want me to conquer evil with good? Even though the atrocities shemitted in the future are plenty?" Seeker nced at Eagle with a cold glint in his eyes.


    "I want you to convert her. She loved you. If you y your cards right, she may just end up being our ally." Eagle smiled.


    "If shemitted those atrocities in your past, she can save herself in this one. Love covers a multitude of sins, Seeker. If you can learn to love her and find the truth of her betrayal, then perhaps in this life, she will betray them. And I''m no prophet, but having a Presider helping us behind enemy lines could spell out our victory." Eagle kept wearing the same smile he had as he looked at Seeker. Despite the raging anger of Seeker, Eagle managed to look at his eyes without flinching.


    Even Lynd was starting to get worried.


    "I''ll put that into consideration." Seeker finally backed down.


    The anger that covered the room disappeared.


    Even the Emperors were confused at what happened.


    While that was happening, an exasperated Lara was at the brink of going mad.


    "Hey, Zerap- I mean¡­ erm¡­ Lara!" Lanterk smiled.


    "What are you doing here?!" Zeraphine shouted with great anger. She first used her power to solidify the space around the room to make sure that no sounds would leak.


    "Well¡­ hello to you too." Lanterk frowned.


    "You are an idiot, Lanterk! You don''t know what''s going on!" Zeraphine screamed.


    "Look... I was careful. No one knows I''m here. You''re too fidgety." Lanterkined.


    Zeraphine wanted to rip the face out of this naive presider, but decided to contain her anger.


    "If there are two Presiders, won''t that mysterious Progenitor hesitate? Even if this Progenitor is Crostfree, he wouldn''t recklessly challenge me! And Lanterk is the first disciple of Principal Merrik. With the two of us, he shouldn''t have the guts to fight..." Zeraphine thought for a bit.


    A knock suddenly happened at the door.


    Zeraphine felt her heart tremble.


    How was it possible? Lanterk just entered the submarine, and a knock at the door happened.


    She red angrily at Lanterk.


    "What? Do you think that I brought him here? Geez. It''s a coincidence!" Lanterkined.


    "Just open the door. Pretend that I''m your brother or something!" Lanterkughed.


    Zeraphine opened the door.


    As the door opened, it was a rather tall and mustached man who was startled when he saw Lanterk.


    "Oh! Miss Lara Diamon. I''m sorry. I didn''t know you have guests. Hi!" The gentlemen smiled.


    "Miss Lara, I was justing here to give you this gift." The old man smiled as he handed Lara a beautiful portrait of herself.


    "Why-Why thank you! To have such artwork from an esteemed painter! Thank you!" Lara bowed as she epted the painting.


    "I''ll be upfront... I am just a painter that was invited. I''m... honestly horrified at the news of what happened in the Pacific... I have no allies... And..."


    "The Diamon''s value culture and progress. Artworks painted from your eminence will always be valued. Rest assured, the Diamon''s will be your ally." Lara curtsied.


    "Thank you!" The old man bowed.


    "I will leave you now, Miss Diamon. May we have a safe trip." The old man bowed.


    Lara offered a bow as well, and as the old man left, she closed the door.


    "See? It was just an old man looking for an ally. Honestly... I was scared too. I was sort of jittery if that was a soldier!" Lanterkughed.


    Zeraphine wanted to skin Lanterk! If he only knew what horrors surround them.. But Zeraphine couldn''t trust this oaf and kept to herself the experiences she had a few weeks ago.

 Chapter 339 - The Old Man’s Painting

    Lanterk was rather fond of the room. He was very rxed and kept looking at ''Lara.''


    "Lara, huh? How does your tech work, Zera? I mean... Is it really cool? I asked Feyor or Garenjazz, and they would kick me out of the room about your tech. They said I shouldn''t ask things regarding the inheritance of aPrime. Earth has a saying that curiosity kills the cat. But my master always says, peculiarity produces Principals. So I''m kind of, right in the middle between these two."


    Zeraphine felt that her heart was being wrenched out. The more this kid kept talking, the harder it was for her to hide her many secrets. Lanterk would soon talk about her techs, and so, Zeraphine did what she had to do.


    SLAP!


    The p resounded, and Zeraphine even applied a certain tech that caused great pain not on the face but elsewhere.


    Lanterk felt immense pain that he actually stumbled down.


    "OW!" The pain sank into his face.


    "That''s my tech. If you ask more, I''ll give you some more!" Zeraphine shouted as she went and sat down on one corner of the room.


    Unknown to her, the once childish and yful eyes of Lanterk had grown dark. As if there was pitch-ck darkness inside.


    The beast inside roared angrily but could not do anything but remain silent at the pain.


    While Zeraphine was being driven mad by this boy, an important video call was happening. The source of the video was in the very submarine Zeraphine was at.


    It was the mustached man who gave the painting to Zeraphine. He was making another painting.


    The strange video call did not happen over any devices, but the images were being projected straight to their brains through the techs that Lennox developed to have this call. Normal unlocked, even those up to the Proficient stage or Surmounting stage of Unbing would die. Only the Inhumans could bear the pain of this call.


    Seeker, Eagle, and Lynd were all joining the call.


    Apart from them, many Oveers and a few individuals who had the potential to reach Ranked Heroes also joined. And as designed, the Tyrant Empress could only see and hear but notmunicate with them.


    The mustached gentleman, Granite Mng, was a renowned painter in Pangea. He was also an Unlocked.


    The exploration of the Unlocked and the Paths that everyone could produce had long exploded forth. Seeker saw and knew that he began to collect all impressive groups of people with their diverse set of talents.


    Musicians, writers, actors, and various kinds of upations were recruited.


    Of the many groups, some created rather astonishing results. With the acquisition of these talents, a new age happened in Pangea. It was called the Age of Greatness.


    As for Granite Mng, he had been recruited shortly after the attack on the Kraken, and he happily took the mission of bing a spy.


    His skill in painting evolved all the more when he learned to see in different lights and even as his vision could zoom and see things far clearer than the eyes of a normal human.


    His speed has also increased.


    The man swiftly painted a piece of art with a speed that would stun the world. But his speed didn''t in any way hinder the uracy of the painting. For in Mng''s perception, time was fast and slow depending on the emotions that he felt.


    The sight that he saw earlier gave him a great fright. Thankfully, he was well-prepared and took several drugs and allowed it to affect him before walking off to meet Zeraphine and Lanterk.


    His painting was not even realistic as it utilized powerful bright colors based on the sight that he saw.


    "Formidable." Greydon Meng praised as he looked at the artwork that was beingpleted before him.


    "An Unlocking that has a Skill in Painting..." Rosa, who was also watching, couldn''t help but admire the painting.


    "This is... amazing." Even Lennox praised what he saw.


    "This is something logic and science couldn''t beat. What an amazing masterpiece."


    "I never thought that I''d admire a painting that uses Impressionism as a style..." Lioncourt admired.


    "And the Lord called forth His craftsmen. Such skill." Eagle added.


    The painting detailed a rather innocent and pure teenager. It was Lara. She looked exactly as she appeared earlier. But right behind her, inside the corner of the room, stood a dark beast. It had a face that looked like a man but ahead that resembled a goat. It had four horns, and a strange dark green color oozed out of his back.


    The body of this being retained the boyish body that Granite Mng saw earlier.


    Granite Mng gave the final strokes to the painting and immediately stumbled backward. The nearby soldiers and doctors immediately rushed to care for Granite.


    The sight even gave the Oveers a slight chill.


    "What beast is that... it''s giving me a hungry feeling..." Amir Mann frowned.


    "Near-Oveers can''t beat this thing... Even me and my team won''t be confident." Hermes frowned.


    "I hope this proves my conjecture was right. The paths that we do not understand should not be brushed aside. I knew that gamers would make the perfect fighters. And as you can see, people like Granite Mng make the perfect spies."


    "The Presider doesn''t know we managed to spy on him." Meng continued.


    "Yes. No techs were used. The Presider didn''t know that we know or have an idea of what he truly is. But Granite''s eyes and his pure passion for painting allows us to take a peek at the beast beyond the frame. I hope this should encourage you to consider adding other skilled people in your armies."


    "Great... I have to gather former K-pop stars to be Void Assassins..." Rai cursed.


    "Lowengren made Meryl dance a certain K-pop dance way back when we fought against General Gand in Australia. So I can''t say if that''s not a bad idea." Seekerughed.


    "The point is, Oveers. Do not be blinded by the power of your paths. In my previous life, my Path never awakened because of the numerous doubts of the miracles I''ve made. Also, most of you doubted my power. So I wasn''t granted the same red-carpet treatment I''ve been getting now. We need more than just brute strength, power, and techs. Beyond the ability of this painter to draw out and show us the real face of this Presider who infiltrated our ranks is the power to inspire and amaze. And honestly, as someone who''s seen the future, I can tell you, we will need that. Otherwise, our suicide rates will be as high in my future." Seeker exined.


    "Let''s discuss the painting. You said that your portrait was very urate."


    "There were some... oddities, but all in all, I believe he really nailed it. I think that whatever you see before you in that painting represents the Presider to some degree."


    "What does this mean?" Rosa asked.


    "Lynd? How do you feel when looking at that picture?" Seeker asked Lynd, who watched beside him.


    "Great pride. This beast is a very prideful being... In the painting, he was looking directly at Granite. Granite''s vision pretended to be on Zeraphine. Because of this, he caught sight of the secret expressions that this Presider has. And... he''s really full of himself."


    "That look... I''ve seen that look." Meng frowned.


    "Lowengren." Meng and Lennox spoke together.


    "A look like Lowengren? So this man is a proud liar?" Lynd frowned. Something felt off with this description.


    "That''s the impression you got? I got a different impression. That was the look Alean gave me back when she cornered me when she was trying to ckmail me. This happened very early after I was reborn. But I will always remember that face. She outsmarted me. While it looks like the look of a liar proud of his work, I got the impression of a maniptor."


    "Now that Zeek mentioned it..." Lynd added.


    "He''s right. I felt the Presider''s pride looking at this painting. I thought he was just pride, but now I can sense it clearly. He is proud of his current achievement."


    "Then that means everything about what he showed us before was a lie. His naivety, innocence, and the clumsy way he was talking underwater allowed Titan to hear him were all part of this scheme. He must have known that someone was listening and following him. Does he know about us? Or does he believe that another Presider, the one masquerading as the Progenitor or the Lost Primordial, is watching?"


    "He also met with Zeraphine... Zeraphine has been rather jumpy ever since we initiated that n."


    "Then this kid is twisted, cunning, and very brave. He went in here with the n of making him appear very vulnerable. Cliff... I assumed he was forcing the submarine to move in the middle of the battlefield. Did it look like there were any hesitation or necessary gaps between the movement of the submarine?" Seeker asked Cliff who was nearby. Cliff wasn''t joining the call, but he could deduce what Seeker meant.


    Cliff frowned and began to think back. With Seeker asking the right question, he realized it.


    "No. It was too precise! At the earliest moment, the sub moved and tried to get itself damaged!"


    "Even though it was a Presider''s order, that sub was owned by the Pioneers of Prime Zend. They would at least attempt to dissuade the Presider. Especially if the Presider is a naive boy!"


    "Then... Did he already kill all Presiders and was controlling the submarine?" Cliff was stunned.


    "This is a cunning demon that is far more terrifying than Zeraphine. We don''t know his real capabilities, but this brat is ying dumb and is even acting like a naivemb. But he is a devouring wolf. Everything he revealed in that battle was a sham. His real purpose had always been to go to Zerahpine."


    "Scary... You almost got fooled, Zeek." Richie whistled.


    "I mean, that kid fooled you. You needed an old man who has a Path in painting to show you that. If it weren''t for him, you''d have lost. You who fooled even with your little tricks the first time we fought." Richie added.


    "This is why I had Granite do this mission. His skill is rather useless as he can see the world differently. But now, you see just what his skill is capable of." Seeker didn''t argue with Richie''s usation of being deceived.


    "And that is why you are bringing him to South America? To spy on everyone?"


    "The easiest way to fish out a Presider is through this. This kid proves that my current strength isn''t enough to face them. As Richie points out, I''ll need help. With this monster joining the mix, it seems that my little trip to the South Americas will be riddled with challenges. Alean is scheduled to start traveling towards South America and will be traveling via the migration ns of the Everhiss n. I also have Cliff, Lynd, and Meryl with me."


    "You need my father, Seeker." Meng finally added.


    "Nogard Meng?"


    "Yes. He took a look at the painting. That is a soul ability. Just as how you mentioned that we shouldn''t underestimate weaker Paths, don''t forget my father''s Path. If we are to be cultivators, then we should do it in all its aspects."


    "Soul cultivation, huh...?"


    "It made me be an Oveer faster. Rosa was my heart demon. All of us need to face that. For Richie, it is the Tyrant Empress. For Lennox, his daughter. The chaos of this world will be helpful to masks the battles, but we have to use it to resolve our inner demons." Meng gave his warning.


    "You all probably know what your respective inner demons are. If I''m right, the Tyrant Empress is someone who has clearly ovee it. Thus making her the most powerful soul cultivator with the mastery of her Path."


    "Let''s make our move then. The Everhiss family needs to prepare for the arrival of Zeraphine and that goat brat. I need to prepare too. Till our next call." Seeker abruptly disconnected from the call.


    Seeker immediately moved and went for the exit.


    "Where are you going?" Cliff asked.


    "I have to meet Zeraphine, right? Which means I''ll be meeting that brat. I need to wear a good suit. You know, in case we might end up killing each other immediately." Seeker walked out of the door.


    Lynd shook his head and stepped in front of the Emperors and Empresses who were listening in on that call and began to project the painting for everyone to view.


    Seeker was already outside, and finally, he began to cry.


    "Hold it in, old man. It makes me really think that you created that female personality that Granite Mng saw." Seeker said as the tears cascaded down.


    He had been trying to hold it in.. But when he saw the painting, Seeker''s eyes were not locked on the image of Lanterk, but the beauty and purity of Zeraphine.

 Chapter 340 - Securing The Confederate’s Foundation

    The war in the pacific was very chaotic.


    The sudden war that urred underwater did very little to alter the peace between the ships at the border.


    The WGP had issued that while submarines inside the border regions may fire and attack each other, the ships out of the border weren''t allowed.


    The logic behind this was that submarines were ordered to stay at a certain depth so that any ranged attacks it would fire were easy to intercept. As the WGP were rulers in underwater warfare, the only option for the submarines could attack the WGP was over the waters.


    The WGP could track and observe any attacks or torpedoes these submarines wouldunch and where they would go.


    But the ships that were above sea level could not fire any long or mid-ranged weapons. Viting it would force an Emperor to step out and massacre the fleet.


    And so, when the underwater battle began, the ships at the border had no choice but to wait when their submarines surfaced and reached the outside of the border for them to offer any assistance.


    But this was not the case for three specific nations.


    Pangean managed to secure a location in the barricade of ships that were warring in the pacific ocean. At first, Pangea and the SPUmenced fired warning shots at each other to ensure that one group stayed on their route.


    But then the appearance of Australia caused the situation to turn into a stand-off between the three groups.


    Because of the ongoing battle between the three, the other nations participating in the trade dared not to position themselves near the three south-east Asian countries. Especially since these three had the advantage of being near and could afford to send their superstructures that were already the Pacific Ocean even before the chaos around the world grew worse and worse.


    Pangea had the Tatsulok guarding their region. The missing King Naga that had vanished in the Pangean seas had surfaced once more to be in service to the SPU. Australia''s mobile fortress, the Uluru, moved to the seas and brought the tech that could match New Birth Fort''s defense.


    It was only these nations that could afford to send a superstructure to wait at the borders. These superstructures where each nation escorts for the underwater submarines that would head towards the Trading Hub. But even before the three found their respective positions, the three structures were already shooting and harassing each other.


    The wounded and bruised Presidents of Pangea, SPU, and Australia were all ordered to part ways as if to make it look like they had some conflict.


    Their fistfight was an extreme precaution that they decided to apply if the approaching Presider took notice of them. The three groups even left the unremarkable ship where the three groups met after the fight. This was to make it look real.


    "I guess the real battle will begin shortly. When those submarines surface, it''s going to be chaos. As nned, I will be joining... What about you two?" Albert Horossughed as he sat on one of the ships that were sending them to the Tatsulok.


    "I have already applied for what team I will be assigned in," Colestar answered.


    "Me as well... I''m honestly confused why we are still pushing through with this mission... We now have two Presiders here. Wouldn''t they figure out our strange movements?" Hydron nodded.


    "I''m guessing that the sub where the Presiders are being kept will move immediately. That way, they won''t see what''s going on here. At least, that''s what Roselyn said when I asked her." Albert Hoross revealed.


    "It''s funny, right? We presidents would actually take orders from teenagers and gamers. Never did I thought that I would be an Exoskeleton Pilot in thest few years of my life." Colestar reminisced.


    "I never thought that we would be brothers in arms!" Hydronughed.


    "At least Albert''s kid has a higher chance of surviving." Colestar sighed.


    "You really think that?" Albert finally gave a strange chuckle.


    "The missions my boy is doing... is in proportion to his skill. Here we are dealing with Pioneers and nteds... My boy... He''ll be facing Presiders. And if we do survive the first wave, he will be the ones who will protect the earth from those Principals."


    The two were suddenly quiet at his reflection.


    "We have to do our part. It''s scary... that we are reaching a time when even kids have to take up arms." Hydron finally sighed. Suddenly, he got a special ping.


    "Git Godlike Squadron. Get ready. We will be entering the west of the Uluru. Once we disable the EMP shields, you are all to rush in at my signal. We will soon be sending a list of all Pioneers and nteds to kill. Enemy soldiers have already been marked by your system. Make sure to kill them." Serge Embers, who was famously known as Cronus, gave his order.


    "Git Godlike is here. It seems that our fake war will be starting in a bit." Hydronughed.


    "You''re with Git Godlike, huh? I''m with the Twelve. I assume that Albert is with Warfreakz?"


    "You got it. I also have received my orders. Let''s get this done. Time to set the foundations for the South Pacific Confederate!"


    "Most of the Twelve Disciples were also young. It''s like we oldies have the more menial tasks to do." Colestarughed as he watched the rising submarines from a distance. These subs were Pangean, SPU, and Australian submarines that were engaging in battle.


    By the time the submarine reached a certain distance, the three presidents were already suited up and ready for battle.


    Soon, the submarines have officially exited the border, and an all-out war between the three countries began.


    The three countries were firing specialized weapons at each other. Some techs hadn''t even been revealed yet and were first revealed to that world in that battle. But even these new techs were easily countered by the other nation.


    The arrangement of this battle was, in actuality, prepared.


    To the world, it looked like the three groups managed to enter into a stalemate by losing equal amounts of ships and soldiers and only revealing the bare basics of their technological possibilities. The battle was brutal, but the three countries decided not to disclose or waste additional techs and only used simple technology, whichter ended with the three groups securing a route for themselves to reach the World Governing Trading Hub.


    But in reality, each tech, the weapons used, and even the ships to sink were already nned.


    The South Pacific Confederate had already several weeks to prepare and had known of theing trade fiasco beforehand. This was the ce to fortify the South Pacific Confederate''s control in the military of SPU''s and Australia.


    Exoskeletons led by Roselyn and the rest of Warfreakz had already changed their outfits to make it look like they were an SPU Exoskeleton brigade.


    Their mission was to infiltrate the SPU ships and kill specific people by bing spies.


    Git Godlike and the Twelve Disciples made their respective moves by opening some ces in the Uluru to allow their respective squadrons to enter.


    Ever since the Confederate was born at that call, most of the SPU and Australia were unaware of this rising party in their midst.


    Following Harker''s media ns, the government of the SPU and Australia had grown very divided in just a few weeks. It came to the point that a revolution would arise as the political powers in SPU and Australia began to fight over the world.


    But then, a new political and military party was formed as several elite members of the conflicting parties gathered together to create a powerful one which was slowly bing the dominant party.


    SPU had managed to secure and wiped out a lot of Pioneers in their elites. The SPU also created many borate ns to make it look like these Pioneers were still alive and were shipped off for duty or had important business to attend to.


    The problem was wiping out the Pioneers that weren''t in their circle. Most problematic were the Pioneers in the military of the SPU and Australia.


    Australia was particrly more difficult as various Generals were already acting more and more independent as past battles had made them lose confidence in their leaders.


    The skirmish at sea between these three countries meant for them to slowly eliminate other military opposition that stood against the South Pacific Confederate.


    As the battle above the seas grew more chaotic, the submarines that each country was escorting were now also in a state of panic. While the first submarines that went and reached the Trading Hub were all members of Seeker''s army, this one wasn''t.


    The most chaotic submarine was the first submarine to begin moving even before the returning submarines had reached the border.


    All passengers were housed in arge escape pod that would allow them to escape if the submarine was damaged.


    The high elites of Pangea and the many families who went on this trip were panicking.


    "Why are we going ahead? Where''s our escort?!"


    "This is crazy! You''re going to get us all killed!"


    The panicked cries of the men and women continued that made the guards even have a hard time calming them down.


    "I don''t know! I just follow the orders I receive!" The soldier was on the verge of crying. Even he didn''t know why their submarine was moving.


    When everyone heard that a war broke out on the way to the Trading Hub, everyone thought their trip would be canceled.


    And to their horror, it wasn''t, and they would even move at a somewhat chaotic moment.


    The shouts and angry demands of these families continued. But three particr people were seated at the very back of the chamber.


    The three were Lara, Charm, and Lanterk.


    "So... Alexander... How did you reach Pangea from the EAA so fast?"


    "Ermm... Well..." Lanterk hesitated.


    "My nephew, Alexander, is a rather... innocent boy. And honestly, what you''re asking is family secrets, Charm." Laraughed.


    Charm chucked and apologized but then decided to stop asking questions and just wait. Secretly, she took a few glimpses at Lara.


    She had long noticed that Lara had been rather distant and oftentimes lost in thoughts. Charm concluded that it must have been something to do with the great responsibilities that she was born. From what Charm knew, Lara was practically transferring everything to Pangea. Thus, the Trading Hub was rather important for her.


    "Miss Charm and Lara! I see that you two aren''t worried." A beautiful woman called to the two.


    "Miss Jane Moore! It''s good to see you!" Charm bowed at her.


    "Jane Moore of the Dalisay n, right? You''re one of Gardo''s family managers!" Lara gave her pleasantries.


    "Oh? Such an honor to be remembered by the Diamons. Yes. I''m here on behalf of Gardo. He is... quite busy with experiments as you might imagine." Jane smiled.


    "Big and cute auntie! You look rather calm." Lanterk asked with a smile.


    "Oh? And may I know who you are?" Jane smiled in return and revealed a delighted exression.


    "I am Alexander Diamon." Lanterk introduced.


    "My nephew. It was sort ofst minute, but he reached Pangea."


    "My my... The Diamon''s are more than we thought!" Jane was amazed.


    "We can''t leak all our bloodlines." Laraughed.


    "Oh! I didn''t mean to" Jane realized what she just stated.


    "It''s alright. Really. That''s why I brought him here. To show our... sincerity." Lara smiled.


    "I would stay here, but I''ve already made the conversation awkward. I was just wondering if you two have any idea... what exactly General Harker is nning? Why are we moving first?"


    Lara shook her head and sighed.


    "I trust him... But I also don''t see the logic in this action."


    "Scary! I better stay at my seat!" Lanterk eximed as he moved back to his seat.


    But as he turned around, his expression immediately changed into a smiling and arrogant one.


    "What a fool, this Zeraphine. It''s obvious. There is a secret alliance between these three nations! The submarine is moving because it won''t get attacked!" Lanterk mocked the dull thinking of Zeraphine. She had no reason to hide her confusion.


    "It looks like being here will help me find out more of this Lost Primordial or that Progenitor... Still, Pangea, SPU, and Australia''s alliance are surprising. But as their leaders went into a fistfight, I guess this is more of a truce than an alliance. Still, they are investing an awful lot of men just to show this facade..." Lanterk began to think.


    "Are they aiming to attack Myanmar? Or is it One China? I guess that would make it too chaotic to aim for China.. Then maybe Europe? Where will I build my Babel?" Lanterk began to think about the possible locations where the other Top Tiered Presiders would reside.

 Chapter 341 - Experimenting With Pioneers

    The battle in the pacific continued to escte as the once defensive operations became more and more aggressive.


    At first, countries were just securing to retrieve the submarines that they could, but for some strange reasons, various countries began to break protocol and even disobeyed the direct orders of their superiors and attacked the main fleet of Bandesh.


    Myanmar and some independent nations began to attack a coordinated strike on one of Bandesh''s aircraft carrier. And the constant attack further escted into a battle.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    "Lim! I''ve done it! You better have a good reason why I should destroy all of the anti-air defenses this ship has?!" Ivan cursed as he finally reached an empty room.


    Lim was seated inside with aputer that had secretly linked itself with themand center.


    "Good. I can see it. Will really is a genius. Although he''s a bit clumsy, when ites toputer, he''s the king." Lim praised, ignoring Ivan''s question.


    "Lim! I hope I haven''t doomed ourselves in this!"


    "The Unlocked is a breach of the norm. Seeker showed us a very bizarre way ofmunicating with us. He teleported directly inside a submarine underwater without carrying any techs. While it should have made sense for him to teleport to us, as he could have had a device from where he was to send him to the sub, he still managed to teleport out without creating special effects that we often see in movies or animated shows. And he even lost an arm, and if we were to believe him, another organ as he did that. Why did he do that?"


    "He''s insane."


    "Yes. I agree. But another reason is to show us to stop thinking ording to humanly thinking. Do you know why a dog never thinks about flying in the sky as birds do?"


    "...?" Ivan just gave Lim a strange look this time.


    "It''s because it doesn''t have wings. Right now, you are a dog with wings, but you are still thinking like a regr dog. What will happen if we disable most of the anti-air techs?"


    "They''llunch missiles at us!"


    "Yes. Recall Epic''s sniping skills when we were surfacing. He could shoot a torpedo that was not evenunching yet. The enemy ships around us have shown hesitation in attacking us, except for a few that I''ve already noticed. They are the ones with Pioneers. They will break all protocols andunch weapons that are a step short of bing weapons of mass destruction."


    "Why would they do that?"


    "Think, carefully Ivan. The worst thing they can do is sink this ship. We are Unlocked. We can survive a sinking carrier. They will lose sight of us. So they will try to st this ship and blow it up. And we will be using that n against them."


    "My god...! You n to blow up their ship with Epic''s sniping skills!"


    "Epic. Target acquired. The ship to the far east is preparing a Havoc Bomb. Its warhead''s detonation is a contact type, but the proximity is an extremely small point at the tip of the warhead. Can you shoot it? The sensors indicate a missile silo opening right port of the ship."


    Epic was right in the flying on top of an aircraft carrier with a Jet-Capable Exoskeleton. He managed to take advantage of the chaos and wear an Exoskeleton assigned to perform anti-air attacks topensate for the sudden loss of the ship''s anti-air capabilities.


    "I see it. They''re prepping itsunch." Epic took aim and even stopped breathing. His form was steady, and his eyes nced at the target with unfettered concentration. He made a careful estimate of the wind, the turbulent chaos of the battlefield and finally pulled the trigger.


    BANG!


    ...


    ...


    ...


    He was off-target by thirty-four meters.


    "Drats."


    "Epic? Can you shoot?!" Lim''s former serious and cold expressions turned into panic.


    "Yeah! Sorry... I''m just not used to this Exoskeleton. Its shooting gears are changed. Give me a few seconds."


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Epic did several test shots and aimed elsewhere to see where his bullet would move.


    All shots missed the target.


    "Rx, you two. You just said that we are Unlocked. Those three shots gave me a way of already gauging the direction of the bullet. Rx."


    Epic aimed again.


    BANG!


    The bullet flew through the air and expertly struck the small point of the warhead.


    TINK!


    The sound of a bullet hitting through steel was heard, and a split secondter...


    BOOM!


    The entire ship exploded out, and five smaller explosions followed it.


    As the rocket was still inside the silo, the explosion urred right inside the ship and destroyed the ship on the first explosion, that the second wave of explosions would have been considered an overkill.


    Lim immediately ryed the other armed rockets she detected, and Epic began to fly around.


    The sudden destruction of one ship was so startling that all soldiers at sea.


    It didn''t matter what country they were at. They weren''t like Australia, Pangea, and the SPU, who had a deep grudge and would fight to the death. These were just countries defending their ships and rescuing the submarines they sent out.


    One ship had sunk. This would immediately lead to war. But the curious thing was no one was able to tell what was the cause of the sudden attack!


    The Pioneers who had expertly executed a n to manipte and control several ships were also stunned. They took advantage of the few techs and information they had about the sea and carefully plotted everything. But that explosion was beyond their expectations. A team of Pioneers had died just like that.


    "Deactivate the warhead!" One Pioneer immediately ordered as he was inside the mainmand center of one ship.


    Some Pioneers were smart enough to realize what had happened. Though they were taken captives, they had the means tomunicate with other teams and did the necessary experiments to attack all of the experiments.


    They were warned that the Gryphon squadron would be their greatest enemies. And so, some Pioneers were in charge of killing the Gryphon squadron while the rest would wipe out the other experiments.


    But as for the other Pioneers who were caught off guard from the explosions and were toote in giving out the order...


    BOOM!


    Another ship exploded and was wiped off the map.


    One Pioneer was able to disarm the weapon that he had readied. Little did he know that if he were only a few secondster, he would have been dead.


    The ships began to distance themselves from each other from the panic.


    To most of the captains, they had no idea how that urred.


    The Pioneer looked all over the battlefield in an attempt to figure out how their ships exploded.


    "What happened?" He wondered.


    All of a sudden, the door burst opened.


    A woman wearing a ragged outfit aimed and shot the Pioneer''s head and killed all those in the room before retreating.


    The woman jumped out of the window and dove into the ocean.


    A jet suddenly hovered and caught the woman before backing away to retreat.


    The other soldiers tried to shoot the jet, but the jet had already escaped.


    The woman managed to move inside the jet and found two people inside. Piloting the jet was a woman, and a young kid sat next to her on the pilot seat of the small jet.


    "Fish! Your piloting skills are amazing!" Suarez praised. He had just witnessed how Fish dove the ship and evaded most iing attacks.


    "Are you the boy that was broadcasting those strange words?" The woman asked Suarez.


    "Yes! Amazing! I was right! There are more of us in this crazy experiment!" Suarezughed.


    "Right! You found them!" Fish praised.


    "What''s going on?" The woman pressed again.


    "How many are in your team?"


    "Team? There were just two of us. And he just died." The woman frowned.


    "So one... And if I''m right, there were about four more who gave me that feeling. Ah... But why didn''t they do what I said?" Suarez frowned.


    "It was real! I heard your words, but mypanion didn''t. He died because he went separate ways with me after I told him I heard stuff."


    "What? Only you heard my words? Lim? Can you exin this?"


    "Remember Seeker''s words. We are his former team. The woman you found right now is only people who manifested some traits that make them suitable to be Unlocked. But not everyone is gifted. This little experiment is something that forces others to fight. Since we are Seeker''s team, it proves that we are much better and stronger than most. Fish, Suarez... Try to find and rescue as many as you can. This is also a test to make us grow stronger. If we can save more of these experiments, we have an easier chance of surviving in the future. Whether on future experiments or in the real thing."


    "So this current stage is meant to help us form a team?" Ivan realized it.


    "Yes. Those individuals who we met aboard this ship and who died were real Unlocked. Suarez was the first to identify them, and we failed to save them. The remaining Pioneers will be retreating. They don''t know how we blew two ships. So, we have to find more."


    "Alright. I get it now. Suarez! Keep up the broadcast and try to find another one Unlocked to lock in to. If you can read his or her mind and save that person just like you did with that new recruit, then it''ll be good. Use that woman as a way to gather more if you need an extra hand. Lim, I assume that we don''t need to continue with the defenses, right? You said the Pioneers are retreating."


    "Yes."


    "Then we better get out in the field and try to fight other ships to see if there are any Unlocked. The easiest way is to spot them is with their attire. Just like that woman that Fish and Suarez rescued, they should have some prisoner or rugged attire. I doubt the other Unlocked in this experiment managed to disguise themselves as we did. Epic and Will... Get ready for field duty. Are my arrangements good, Lim? Or do you have any other suggestions?" Ivan asked.


    "None. As expected of our future Commander." Lim praised.


    "Good! Let''s go! Don''t worry about shooting the possible Unlocked. You know how strong and resilient they are. Epic, just shoot ones in the leg if you found any!" Ivan ordered.


    The group immediately followed their orders. Suarez gave a quick exnation of what was going on to the woman they just met, and Suarez continued to make the strange broadcast where he was talking at a frequency that humans would be unable to hear.


    While that was happening, the battle between Pangea, SPU, and Australia was alsoing to an end.


    The three ships were now retreating as the Unlocked hadpleted their missions.


    Hydron, Hoross, and Colestar met once more in their ship. The mission went on surprisingly well. With the numerous tacticians involved, the trio was already back before Epic destroyed two ships.


    "So this is the cub tactician that is being trained!" Hydron looked at the battle urring near the Bandesh fleet.


    "Yes. From the looks of it, the experiments seemed to be seeding. Out of the thirty-five Unlocked, eight is already dead, though..." Colestar read the ongoing reports that were being sent back.


    "How wasteful. Those Oveers should save all the Unlocked they could get their hands on."


    "No. That experiment is necessary. We are now having a glimpse of how these Pioneers think and act. These Pioneers are warned of the full number of the Unlocked that they are fighting and are systematically trying to kill them! The eight Unlocked that died has taught us great lessons to see how they act and think. While it may seem irrelevant to us, give that information to the smarter ones like Lennox or Arthur, then we practically don''t have to worry about Pioneers once theye up with a strategy to kill these Pioneers."


    "Still..." Hydron sighed.


    "Don''t be too down, Hydron. Or should I say, Mister President?" Roselyn entered as she chuckled.


    "Good job inpleting the mission. You three make excellent Unlocked soldiers. Especially you, Uncle! You seemed to understand the flow of the battlefield." Roselyn praised her boss''s father.


    "I''m a bit of a gamer, myself." Albertughed with an embarrassed expression.


    "Anyway, let''s get down with our assessment. There are still a lot of things to do. Remember, while our little experiments are for Pioneers, a chess match that will change the world will start in the Trading Hub. Lara and that other Presider should be meeting with Seeker now."


    Hydron and Colestar couldn''t help but shiver. Both of them experienced the world-changing actions of Seeker. They could not imagine what it would be like when people who could dictate the economic, military, and politicalndscapes were to fight against each other.


    "I wonder what this will be like in the next months...." Colestar gazed at one of the monitors disying the submarine docking containing Zerahpine and Lanterk.

 Chapter 342 - How To Spy On A Presider

    Due to Lanterk''s appearance, an emergency meeting was made.


    Cliff led the briefing as per Seeker''s orders.


    "Eva, Miss Jane and... Prince..." Cliff nced at his sheet to read the information regarding the unknown soldier. The meeting included three of the most skilled, trained spies that were tasked to spy on Zeraphine.


    "You don''t remember my name, General?" Prince was curious.


    "I never found out what your name was even though we met a lot of times. You''re the guy who Meryl thinks is cute, right? Be careful around Danny, won''t you?"


    Prince felt terror. He has seen Danny''s wild style when fighting.


    "Anyway... That brat managed to trick me. So you three, be careful. You three are the best we got to be used as spies. But Seeker asked me to brief you to train you on what you can do when you are officially deployed. Especially you, Jane. Prince and Eva have already been deployed around Pioneers and were responsible for capturing eight Pioneers now deployed in the experiment. You don''t have any experience due to your other training. So to check if your nning skills are ok, what actions do you need to take?"


    "Our jobs as spies is to infiltrate, gather information, and mislead the enemy by redirection of facts. And if we caught, we are to ensure that it does not lead back to Seeker. So our identities are crucial and that we do not sumb to mind control or any possible techs that can see through our thoughts." Jane Moore answered.


    "Right. Thought Clearing. A skill necessary to spies. I just can''t ever master that..." Cliff sighed.


    "General, you''re Path is memory. It''s expected that you can do that." Eva defended.


    As Cliff turned the others, he was sure he could see Eva mouthing ''please think of me always'' as she positioned herself to hide her mouth from Jane''s powerful wide-ranged sight.


    Cliff blinked in surprise.


    "Erm... What can you say about this person based on the painting you saw and the pictures we have of him through the cameras in the submarine?"


    "Highly arrogant and talented. Considering that he even managed to fool you, he must be someone of great cunning ability. Worst case scenario is that he could be as cunning as Lowengren or have a high intelligence that can assess, manipte and predict multiple scenarios at once." Jane assessed.


    "He''s careful, an opportunist, but at the same time, his pride makes him make bold moves. I think he only moves when he is very certain he would win. That should exin how he remained unnoticed from his peers." Prince gave his impression.


    "He takes pleasure in sess and has a sense of enjoyment when he achieves his purpose or when his ns seed. The look he had on that painting gave me the impression that he''s a narcissist. But a narcissist only certain selective things. Regardless, he has to die for shaming the General." Eva vowed.


    "Ri-Right..." Cliff was starting to sweat.


    Jane and Prince couldn''t help but give Eva a strange look.


    "Except for the passionate answer of...erm Eva... You guys are right. In our armies, it is a rule that we will limit our interactions with a Presider only once or twice. And only those who are approved for espionage can make several direct interactions. This kid does it all the time! And we don''t know how long he has been doing this. He has probably been deceiving Presiders for a long time. How do you spy on such a person?"


    "For a Presider that is cunning and arrogant and has always been able to deceive Presiders, it would be better to allow him to take advantage or deceive us. I think the best way to engage a Presider like this is always to make him think that he is one step ahead of everyone." Eva suggested.


    "Same answer. Let prideful enemies maintain their pride." Jane recounted the sentence which Lowengren had written in his memoir, which was now the top Espionage training manual for the spies.


    Cliff nodded. Seeker gave this critical point and instructed Cliff to make sure the spies know this.


    "We will tackle what ns each of you has. Now, a more pressing issue. For Presiders that make strange moves like this, you as spies, be our lifeline to figure that out before it happens. This is crucial because if we want to cause war in the world, we have to do it that sticks to the bottom line of Presiders. We either get what they want before they have a chance of getting it and make it look like they missed their chance, or we allow them to seed as long as we''ve set a countermeasure in ce. Our goal is to dy their appearance in the world. To do that, you guys have to deduce what their goal is on the first few steps of their ns. So, for this particr Presider, what do you think he wants? Zeraphine wouldn''t have leaked the information Scribbs fed her about Pidgeon and the free frost. Then why is he here?" Cliff asked.


    "Lanterk is a Presider that could either surpass Zeraphine in strength or equal her. But right now, he is pretending to be a weakmb. One possibility... He is using Zeraphine."


    "No doubt, he is using his weak facade to gain the trust or indifference of Zeraphine. By being someone at the sidelines, it will allow himself to reveal more about the Progenitor or the Lost Primordial." Jane made her assessment.


    "I''m thinking another possibility. Although we''ve already made evidence that point to the existence of the Lost Primordial or the Progenitor, himing here personally to meet Zeraphine in this precise moment may be motivated by other means. Is he investigating the death of Crostfree? But I think aside from that. He is using Zeraphine as protection. Zeraphine didn''t turn away this Lanterk because she was afraid. The details of what General Seeker did to her must-have shaken Zeraphine to the core that she would rather risk having a Presider at her side than having none at all." Prince also added.


    Cliff nodded with approval. But at the back of his mind, he was relieved. He had been trained with many things and could apply strategies using many of Arthur''s and Lowengren''s tricks. But deduction wasn''t his strong suit.


    "Thank goodness these three are very smart for spies. I have no idea what I''m doing here. Why did Seeker assign this to me anyway?! Shouldn''t he do this himself!" Cliff secretly cursed.


    "But why did Zeraphine trust Lanterk? Why didn''t she believe that Lanterk could be a spy? Is Lanterk that weak?" Jane frowned.


    "Either that or Zeraphine thinks herself to be too strong." Eva guessed.


    "No... If she thinks that, she''d have kicked Lanterk out the moment she entered the sub."


    "Did Lanterk know that Zeraphine wouldn''t turn him away?" Cliff asked.


    "Genius, General! Of course, that''s it! He knew something about Zeraphine. Lanterk could have chosen anyone to be here on Earth. But he chose her!" Eva eximed and gave Cliff a very amazed look.


    Cliff, on the other hand, was confused. He was earnestly asking that question and was not applying Aristotelian methods of teaching.


    "Yes! The General is right! That''s another piece of information that we try to fish out from Lanterk! His means of entry were very childish. He used that method because it fitted his character. But I think he was confident! He must have believed or have known that Zeraphine was in the middle of something." Jane also concluded.


    "Thank you, Miss Jane, for su-summarizing my questions. While these guesses are good, and I got a good grasp of how you guys think, I guess... I''ll rate this as a pass. Now, what exact action ns are you going to do? We''re going to do the Objectives, Goals, and ns checklist here." Cliff moved on to the next part.


    "The infiltration process should be three separate instances. Since Miss Jane here has already appeared to her and has already presented an identity, she should go with that identity. Mister Prince can be a soldier. And since Lara Diamon or Zeraphine knows of my identity as assisting Halley Vagrant as the manager of the Covenant, and she has seen me as a ssmate of Seeker in that special ss, I could pretend to be someone who admires Seeker and sees Lara as a rival."


    "Great suggestion, Eva."


    "But secretly, I''m in love with you, General. And my real n is to attack and steal your heart by making Charm feel insufficient." Eva gave a seductive smile.


    Jane and Prince were shocked at her deration.


    "A little... too into character... I guess? I''ll circle back to your suggestion. Prince?"


    "Uh... I was just nning to be a soldier with a double identity. I could show some very suspicious behavior that will draw out his response."


    "How do you n to do that?"


    "I will make a false report detailing Lara''s physique and how she might be a person of interest to a Nairagara Zulus."


    "Oh? You n to use the Zulus, huh? Well, we do need to fish them out. Fine. I approve of the use of that. Someone like Lanterk should be able to notice that that word is the reverse for Aragarian."


    "Yes, General. I figured since Nairagara doesn''t exist, they will search for the other obvious term, the elusive family, the Zulus. So I''ll take a look at Lara and also at Lanterk. He will not take notice of me unless I show some interest in his presence. I can mumble words to describe him or act as if I''m checking with a superior on what to do with the boy next to Lara."


    "Alright. Then Jane will establish contact with Lara at the same time when Prince makes his fictional report. He might be able to hack on your phone line, so make a direct call somewhere. I suggest the Australian international bankpany that we heard from the reports. Do you understand?" Cliff recalled that Australia''s Pioneers used a strange loan hot-line as a means to ry their protocols. If a Pioneer were to be abandoned by a Presider, they would hear that prompt whenever they try tomunicate with the Presider. Cliff decided to use that because he thought it was funny.


    "You want me to call and apply for a bank loan and pretend to use that as an encrypted call that only I can understand? Right! Why didn''t I think of that? The Presider ought to be familiar with that Protocol and will make Lanterk think that a Presider really is involved! Genius!" Prince praised.


    Eva''s face turned to worship as he gazed provocatively at Cliff.


    "General. I think I have to change my approach." Eva suddenly dered.


    "I will vocally challenge Charm and im that I am in love with you."


    "What? N-No. You said earlier that you would challenge Lara for your affections of Seeker!"


    "I think this is the better route. It may seem suspicious that me and Jane will try to draw Lara''s attention directly. Lowengren''s book mentioned that we are to approach a Presider like a shy person approaching his or her crush. We have to use different reasons to avoid suspicions. Unless... we are boldly... showing it..." Eva smiled.


    "That... isn''t a very... persuasive erm... answer." Cliff tried to argue.


    "Think about it, General. I am a student whose identity is known to Zeraphine. If I go and challenge Charm, I can use the excuse that she is a Royal and you are a Regr! I can challenge her for her sincerity and use my obsession with you to ask Zeraphine to talk with me! She became friends with Charm, and reports state that she values that friendship. I try to make a friendship with her through that! I am using one of the best ways to gain a connection that has been proven many times in history. Girl talk, General."


    "Well... That makes sense." Cliff nodded.


    "Then General... I request that you show interest to me when we meet." Eva smiled.


    "I think we''re good. Goodbye, everyone. Good job." Cliff ended the call immediately.


    Cliff couldn''t help but sigh in relief.


    "That was scary. Why is Eva''s skin showing sign of being simr to Meryl!?" Cliff frowned


    Lynd was standing nearby Cliff.


    "Oh boy... This is interesting... You''re an idiot, aren''t you? Why did you agree with that?" Lynd looked confused.


    "Was it a bad idea?"


    "Granting a subordinate the permission to flirt to you in front of you''re girlfriend? You seriously don''t think that''s a bad idea? Still, it''ll be a good distraction. I''m curious. Lanterk looks like a teenager. That little drama ought to help me see if he is one."


    Lynd then began to ess the feeds in a ship connected to the submarine where Zeraphine and Lanterk were and began to ess the camera.


    "What are you doing?"


    "I grade those three a solid C+. They missed out on a lot of tricks to do. I guess we have to take over and help them. Prince didn''t think of creating an obvious attempt to spy on Lanterk using some of the techs. Using that would give Lanterk the impression that he is being watched, which will force him to stay quiet. Jane could use his means to warn Zeraphine. Zeraphine is pretty nervous and scared right now. Jane can give Zeraphine a message to warn her of Lanterk. This could end up with the two Presiders fighting at the least at a critical time. Eva could have used her n and constantly attack or put down Lanterk. This is one great flow of ying possum. People get to bully you. We can use that to force Lanterk to make impatient moves. Combined with the techs watching over him, he will be forced to sit still while Eva bullies that kid. Depending on Zeraphine''s reaction to defend Lanterk or allow Eva to bully him, we can also gauge their rtionship." Lynd shook his head.


    "It''s a good thing we are here to improve on what theyck. Hopefully, this will be a good learning experience for them. Against these enemies, we need every information we can get and we have to divide them as much as we can."


    Cliff was amazed at the various additions Lynd had.


    "What about Seeker? What''s his n?"


    "Knowing Seeker, he''ll probably follow my suggestion on what Eva can do. So Seeker may end up slicing off Lanterk''s hand, or Seeker gets his arm cut off. Either way, it''s a win for us.." Lynd shrugged.

 Chapter 343 - Abusing Lanterk

    Lanterk was amused.


    He could clearly see it now. During the chaos of the war and the constant conflict of battles underwater, somest-minute changes were made in their arrangement and cement of allocated underwater people.


    The families wereining to have their groups together, and so right before the submarines began to gather, several rearrangements were made that ced some soldiers on different ces.


    Stranger still was the fact that these actions were done during transit. Which was far more dangerous considering the submarines of the three countries began to travel together.


    On the outside, it appeared that Harker''s forces gave in to the angry mob of the families, but Lanterk knew better.


    "They are rearranging the members to amodate me? Then I am right. Zeraphine is in contact with the Lost Primordial or the Progenitor. But who is it? And why did it garner the attention of those other Top-Tier freaks?" Lanterk wondered.


    The first group to be moved out in the submarine they were was the Dalisay''s Jane Moore, who the soldiers used in their submarine as a means to quiet the families. Jane was rtively silent during the entiremotion. As a reward for her ''good behavior,'' she was allowed to switch to the submarine on the second ce in the formation and wouldn''t ride the vanguard submarine for the trip.


    But through Lanterk''s ess to the submarine, he knew that the pod that was said to have moved Jane never left. Stranger still, the Diamon family and the Novelty-stoise family that was in the very sub they were weren''t offered the same reward for their apparent good behavior.


    Lanterk turned to Zeraphine and even asked this.


    "Why aren''t we being offered the switch-sub treatment? The submarine I was in that was owned by Feyor had already sunk... So I don''t want to lose another submarine and waste more energy to escape." Lanterk asked Zeraphine with a worried expression.


    "What?" Zeraphine nearly cursed out loud.


    "What do you mean, lose another sub?"


    Lanterk then began to recount how he arrived at this submarine in the first ce.


    "... So I went here because I sensed your suit."


    "You managed to ense my suit?! How?"


    "I have a tech that can! One of my masters gift, of course! He gave it to me to always keep myself guarded from other Presiders." Lanterk boasted.


    Zeraphine wanted to curse at Lanterk for his foolishness in meeting her by his childish and reckless thoughts. Not only did his impatience caused Feyor''s entire submarine to sink, Lanterk even strolled around the ocean, making use of his tech!


    But right before Zerahpine could get angry, she realized that Lanterk''s tech could prove valuable.


    "If Lanterk had the means to detect suit and even identify which Presider it would be, then I might have the means to uncover who the mysterious Progenitor! Lanterk''s an idiot kid... But his random whim could have thrown in a wrench in the Progenitor''s arrangement. Is this why this crazy submarine exchange happened?" Zeraphine realized what it was that might have caused this.


    "Should I risk mind-controlling, someone? If Lanterk is here, I should be able to use that tech." Zeraphine began to consider using one of her power techs.


    "Lanterk... Do you sense any other Presiders nearby?" Zeraphine asked.


    "No. Why? Is there someone else?" Lanterk asked curiously.


    "No..." Zeraphine sighed.


    "Just being careful. The Progenitor and the Lost Primordial could be anywhere. They could be Presiders, after all. Remember that meeting we had when Crostfree died? There could be traitors among us." Zeraphine warned.


    "Really? But you''re the Daughter of a Prime, and I''m the disciple of Principal Merrik! Why would anyone dare attack us?!" Lanterk was shocked.


    "You must not think that way! Presiders back home wouldn''t even care if you are sheltered by Primes and would secretly plot to kill you if you can get away from it. Don''t think this ce will be any different!" Zeraphine warned.


    Lanterk pouted at Zeraphine.


    "Whoever dares to harm me will face the wrath of my Master!" Lanterk dered.


    Zeraphine shook her head and ignored Lanterk as she turned back and approached Charm, discussing things with family members.


    As Zeraphine left, Lanterk began to curl his lip up as he turned around to hide from every camera.


    "So I was right. There is a Presider currently holding this idiot Princess in some form of hostage or ckmail situation. Zeraphine''s sudden out-of-character and disinterest in any Presider alliance happening proves this. Although... Aside from Garenjazz, it would be difficult for her to have any allies at all. Perhaps I can sell some info to Straviaa to make Zeraphine face secret attacks. I wonder... Will the Presider hiding protect her or kill her? If there is a Presider here that can devour suits, they won''t be silent when Zeraphine is attacked. And maybe, at the right time, I can sneak and kill this devourer..." Lanterk turned around and sat down.


    He had already noticed how one of the cameras in the submarine was casually passing back and forth from where he was. But this camera wasn''t moving before. The other cameras in the chamber they were in weren''t moving as well.


    "Which Presider is this?"


    It was then that doors were opened once more


    Dozens of people were escorted to the chambers.


    Most of them were from the family delegates that were now joined by some of the people who remained in the ship.


    With them were Jane Moore and Eva.


    Leading the group were several men, among which was Prince.


    The three were among the top spies in-training of the Unlocked.


    Eva was originally one of Harker''s Programmed ves project that he intended to sell at a great price. But soon, she became part of Seeker''s armies, and they were among the first to be experimented to bing Unlocked.


    While most of her peers failed to progress anymore beyond what the drugs provided, Eva was able to exceed it and was the few among the school who managed to show some potential and even was allowed to undergo the enhancements to help her be a spy.


    Prince was a soldier in Harker''s armies and was famous for his womanizing abilities. But among the armies of Harker, only he had shown potential and even reached Proficient without relying on the drugs. He was among the few expected to easily reach Inhuman.


    But of the many Unlocked soldiers who showed potential, one of the most interesting ones to have reached greater heights was a member of the Dalisay Family.


    Jane Moore, who was one of the few people outside of the n to be taken in and trained to serve Gardo Dalisay, showed great potential. In a few weeks of training, she caught up to the many Unlocked gamer freaks.


    On a one-on-one match, Jane Moore could best some lesser members of Warfreakz and even Git Godlike when they would battle online.


    Careful study about her gave clues how it was possible for her to rise above the rest. She was driven with a powerful goal.


    Ever since the disappearance of Gardo when he fought Cliff, Jane had been ming herself for her inadequacies. She vowed that she won''t ever lose sight of whatever it is she is protecting. She took in training to be a Scout and underwent various operations to be the Dalisay''s family official scout.


    This training and her previous disappointments, which she took to heart, created Faith. And that Faith became the spark for her tremendous growth.


    When she heard that Gardo would be sent to the Caliphate region, she adamantly argued with many teams and insisted that she be sent along with Gardo.


    Finally, apromise was offered. She was required to pass the Unlocked Espionage group. Jane''s drive allowed her to rise through the ranks quickly, and while she had not passed, the appearance of a secondary Presider prompted the group to use her, one of their best students in the Espionage division.


    Her advantage was a skill she developed when training as a scout, Perfect Focus Vision.


    Unlike others who can focus their sight on certain locations within their view, Jane had perfect focus over her vision and could see everything at once if she wanted to. Even the objects on her peripheral vision could be clearly seen. This was the perfect tool to be used against Lanterk.


    The three found their target as they gave a casual look around the room.


    "Lara Diamon." Jane smiled.


    "Oh? Miss Jane? I thought they escorted you to another ship."


    "We decided that it would be best if we were separated. While most families brought their own devices that can allow them to escape in case this submarine sinks, we believe that Harker''s preparations are enough. So we retained this divided arrangement. Besides, that means if a sub sinks, there are still delegates that can reach the Trading Hub."


    Lara was amazed at their decision.


    Jane then turned to greet the other Diamon, Alexander.


    She smiled.


    "And of course, Alexander. The Enigma of the Diamon. We have little information about you. Miss Lara, I''d like to talk to your nephew. Tell me something about yourself, Alexander." Jane didn''t hide it this time.


    Lara was stunned. Jane was more than direct this time. He turned around and gazed at ''Alexander'', who was also wearing a confused look.


    "So this Jane Moore must be under the orders of the Presider? Or is she just a nosy little family?" Lanterk thought to himself. He was secretly annoyed at this as he would be forced to reveal some of the Pioneers or the organization he was with.


    "I guess I''ll just use Feyor''s team." he secretly schemed.


    Alexander wore a stuttering and confused boy who was immediately ced in the spotlight.


    And as nned by the three Unlocked spies, it happened.


    A beautiful Russian teenager tore through the crowd and pushed the unprepared ''Alexander.''


    "Out of the way, Brat!" Eva pushed the teen to the side.


    Coincidentally, Prince saw his shoes were untied and gave a swift kneel as he stepped forward to tie it, but the sudden thrown Alexander collided with the knee of Prince.


    SMASH!


    The knee strike happened too quickly. Prince had also made his steps to be strong.


    Alexander was on the floor clutching his head.


    "Charm Novelty-stoise! Cliff is mine! You will- who is this stupid teenager? Get out of the way!"


    SMASH!


    Eve delivered an angry kick at the floored Alexander.


    Cliff and Lynd were watching the scene on theirputers.


    "They used Jane''s sudden question to throw Lanterk off his form, and just when his thoughts were elsewhere, he gets the duo push and knee strike followed by that kick. What if that Presider goes crazy and blows up everything?"


    "If he does, it''s our advantage. But I think he won''t. This is a critical time for the Presiders. He knows that. And the strange arrangements we''ve made will make him think that another Presider, the one secretly manipting Zeraphine, is testing him if he really is an innocent, sweet child or a monster. So he won''t do anything reckless."


    "But... That''s a Presider! I''ve seen the painting. That kid gives me the chills. Those three got guts. Even I, a hero, wouldn''t want to mess around with something that could kill Oveers."


    Lynd looked at Cliff with a sad expression.


    "What''s up?" Cliff asked Lynd.


    "Seeker will probably order you to give that kid a wedgie."


    "He will order me to what?"

 Chapter 344 - The Mystery Of Lanterk

    Lanterk felt his anger raging.


    The pain he felt on his face was not blocked by any technology he had. If it wasn''t for his modified body that is more resilient, he would have been rolling in agony.


    The crowd was scuffling around.


    Eva went and began his rant at Charm, which shocked everyone nearby.


    Prince rushed and began to help Lanterk, constantly apologizing, and some of the soldiers even called the medic.


    While all of that was going, Jane revealed a skin underneath the sleeves of her hand. Written on Jane''s hidden skin was a simple sentence.


    "Be careful with the kid with four horns. He''s stronger than you."


    Lara saw the words and was petrified.


    Almost immediately after showing this note, Jane also ran off to help Lanterk.


    In the chaos that happened, no one noticed Jane''s subtle message to Lara.


    Jane used the most primitive technology to pass on the message. The timing and execution of revealing her hand to Lara were also done perfectly to hide this from being noticed by Lanterk.


    "Make him pay." Jane whispered to Lara while Eva kept kicking Lanterk.


    Prince, who was apologizing at first, was horrified at Eva''s relentless strikes and tried to stop Eva.


    Lanterk had already been kicked several times that he was thrown back, and Prince suddenly held Eva and tried to hold her back, but Eva disyed a powerful shoulder throw.


    But as Eva did this, Prince suddenly countered-attack by kicking as his feet were pulled off the ground, and in this maneuver, he managed to switch his equilibrium.


    Eva then noticed it right as she was throwing Prince and suddenly added force to her throw.


    "Hmph!" Prince sneered as he sent an ax kick ahead of his fall to stop him from being thrown down.


    SMASH!


    The foot struck on Lanterk''s chest.


    Prince''s fell off bnce as she pushed Eva away. The presence of a body that caught his nnednding caused him to stumble backward.


    Jane Moore''s body emitted a strange red heat as she ran towards the two and delivered a powerful punch.


    Both were caught off guard and decided to block the attack.


    BOOM!


    Two fiery burns exploded out on the area where Jane''s fist connected.


    The blow sent the two flying towards the edge of the room.


    "You idiots!" Jane shouted angrily. Her entire body continued to emit a strange heat, and even her eyes grew dark.


    She was about to help the poor Lanterk, but then the sight she saw around herpletely changed.


    She didn''t know where she stood, but she could see the faint image of the submarine she was in. But she could also see the sea and the stars of the universe around her. Space felt like it was twisted, and she could sense something gazing at her direction.


    She was confused, but she stood her ground and tried to clear her mind fearing that this was a Presider''s mind attack.


    It was then that she could make out four strange beings looking at her from a great distance.


    "That was too much!" Jane hurriedly shouted. She didn''t know whether or not she could be heard, but she shouted the code that would alert and instruct the rest to everyone from continuing with the n.


    Suddenly, the vision ended. She could seek Lanterk standing up, and she knew that he was the source of that vision. She looked around and noticed that none of the Unlocked had any expressions or reactions to what they saw. They Unlocked, however, did not continue with their nned harassment towards Alexander because they heard Jean''s cry. Jean tried to remain expressionless, but the sight of what she saw had made her heartbeat and her body weak.


    "The side-effects of my power is acting up again. If either that student or that soldier moves, kill them!" Jane began to make up excuses to hide her fearful trembling.


    Since the attacks had stopped, the boy they had beaten up slowly stood up and stunned everyone.


    Lanterk''s expression was dark and angry.


    Despite the consecutive attacks, he had no wounds, and there wasn''t even any drop of blood leaking out of his mouth, and the anger in his eyes could clearly be seen.


    And as his anger rise, what he didn''t know was that Zeraphine was looking at him with even greater anger.


    It had already happened once. Zeraphine had willingly sent her body in a state where she could have died without knowing it. As such, her caution towards her enemies had grown another level. But who would have thought that despite her preparations, she failed to estimate the power of this Presider?


    The key was in the phrase that Jean said. What the Unlock didn''t know that one of the strongest families in the Aragarian world had a symbol of a goat with four horns.


    "He''s part of that family? He isn''t just a disciple, then... Who or what exactly is Lanterk?" Zeraphine began to make guesses from all the Presiders she knew and even considered the Principals.


    "Still... If this brat wants to hide his power, then I''ll make keep hiding his powers and abuse him!"


    Lanterk was so angry that his entire body was secretly releasing certain energy.


    But right before he could make any move, Lara walked near him.


    "The Frost and the Pridgeon are free! So calm down!" Lara berated as she pped her right in the face.


    SLAP!


    The p echoed across the room and created a light shock wave.


    The soldiers, the families, and everyone else reached out for their weapons in fear of what Lara showed.


    Even Charm''s mouth was wide open.


    "Enough. I am the Progenitor, and I will not allow any such fighting inside my sub. Rest assured, I will bring you all to the Trading Hub as long as you all behave."


    The voice had a strange distortion as if both a man and a woman were talking together.


    The sudden voice startled the group.


    "Any more fighting, and I will personally destroy this submarine of yours and wipe out any presiding entity. Tests my patience again, and it will be the end of you." The voice ordered.


    The room was suddenly quiet.


    Eva was the first to react. She stood up and wiped the burnt skin at her side.


    She slowly walked before Charm.


    "I will get Cliff, even if I have to take him from you and your measly family." Eva threatened as she left.


    The group was shocked.


    "Efren, please report to Gardo and to General Harker that the Diamons are not being perfectly honest to us. It seems that Young Master Alexander Diamon is... quite alright after that attack. Young Mistress Diamon, we expect all possible techs to be given to General Harker. After all, such secrets about hiding a family line and such impressive physical modifications will greatly aid us in theing wars against these Lost Primordials." Jane smiled.


    Lara''s expression gradually changed.


    "I''ll give my full reports to him about this matter."


    "Good! We can''t wait to have such techs in our possession!" Jane Moore smiled.


    "Not mine. His techs."


    Lara turned to Lanterk.


    Lanterk''s angry yet childish expression remained.


    "Why did you p me? And what do you mean my-"


    SLAP!


    The p resounded and even created a powerful force that sent Alexander spinning several times in mid-air before crashnding on one of the tables.


    Most in the room were horrified at such a powerful strike. Even Charm was stunned at the sudden strength that Lara disyed.


    Alexander''s mouth was bleeding. The previous attacks caused by Eva and Prince did very little damage, but this once caused Alexander to lose a few teeth.


    But even before he could react, Lara picked her up.


    "You heard that? They are watching! That''s why!" Lara whispered quietly before throwing Alexander to the ground.


    "Alexander''s real name is Alexander Lanterk. He is from one of the Underwater cities that has been a secret backer of the Diamons. He will also give you the techs needed. I have been honest with Harker. That technology is not mine. This one, however, is..." Lara revealed.


    "Instant creation of Kic energy. This was supposed to be my gift to General Harker. This allows simple soldiers to make powerful attacks with very limited techs. Ifbined with your technology, it should increase the power of the attacks that your family can create. As for Lanterk''s family, he will grant you a new molecr firmness in molecules and make humans bulletproof. Alexander is the main family, and he will grant you not just this, but all that he has." Lara suddenly dered.


    "Let''s go, Alexander. I will be in my room!" Lara began to move ahead.


    Lanterk had a hideous expression. Not only did he get embarrassed and brutally attacked, but he would have to offer these humans a foundational framework for body-enhancing science because of Lara. But as Lara also offered one of her techs, Lanterk decided to wait and hear what Lara knows.


    As the group slowly were dismissed into their rooms and as some remained situated in the evacuation chamber, Lynd and Cliff also disconnected from viewing the video feed.


    "Jane''s expression turned to great fear. It seems that kid was about to use one of his techs and ordered the mission to stop. But this doesn''t make sense... Why was she the only one to have felt it?" Lynd mused.


    "Maybe she was the only one able to sense it! She has the potential of a Ranked Hero after all."


    "That''s it! She was the only one able to see it! We have to tell Seeker about it!"


    "Why?"


    "Didn''t you see where Jane was looking right before she gave the code to stop the mission?"


    "She looked all around the ce."


    "Right. It was as if she was brought elsewhere. Or rather, she saw something. It has to be rted to her Path. Perhaps we finally have it! The constant experiments we''re making are bearing fruit. Project Sight is working! We may soon have the means to see in the beyond dimensions!"


    "But how?"


    "That''s the scary part! It has to do with that boy Alexander Lanterk! He must have a tech that far exceeds everything we know! He could be rted or associated to a Principal!"


    "What do we do?"


    "We wait and see. That Zeraphine may have a n. Let''s observe for now. It''ll be up to the spies to attempt listening to them. It''s about time we find out whether our team is capable of spying on Presiders."


    "This is too early. Those soldiers are unprepared. They weren''t expecting such dangerous missions!"


    "This is exactly why it''s the perfect time to send them off! These spies are the most different kinds of soldiers we are creating. They don''t just fight but have an even more difficult role. They don''t need power but cunning. Their sess could easily mean our victory. But if they all fail, death is their only hope. They could be killed, or we could abandon them to their deaths with the easy excuse of the Progenitor to redirect attention from us. Besides, with everything Lara and Alexander showed, the spies now have the perfect excuse to spy on those two! Its kind of expected that the other families will either spy on them or try to make a connection with them! If those three get caught spying, they might not necessarily be killed! Jane will get protected by Zeraphine. That Alexander probably thinks that Prince may be working for the Progenitor."


    "How? Prince never got the chance to initiate his n into giving that fake report by calling the number."


    "The knee strike and the ax kick. Those were obvious hints anyway. But this is part of their training. They couldn''tplete their ns.. Prince''s actions were crucial. The question now, is how do they carry on?"

 Chapter 345 - Zeraphine’s Lies

    Lanterk was furious and was tempted to destroy Lara and kill the Presider that dared disrespect her. But Zeraphine''s words held a lot of mystery.


    He was able to deduce that Crostfree was alive, and this alone kept his anger at bay.


    Crostfree was a Top-Tier Presider who managed to fight Garenjazz to an equal. Garenjazz was the only Presider on this sr system that Lanterk feared. In Aragar, he already had encounters and crusades against Garenjazz and lost spectacrly.


    How Corstfree became one of Garenjazz''s equal rivals confused Lanterk to no end.


    What also stopped him was the sudden announcement. The Progenitor didn''t even hide and even spoke out loud. The masking techs that made it difficult to confirm which of the Presider was talking made Lanterk wonder.


    Zeraphine, on the other hand, was very angry. But Lanterk''s understanding of why Zeraphine was angry was way off the mark.


    Zeraphine had once more made a fool of herself. The more she thought about it, the more she was starting to see the logic and wisdom of her father.


    As the group was walking, Zeraphine''s head was also spinning with ideas.


    "Is the Progenitor lying, or is this a scheme to put a wedge in between two Presiders?" Zeraphine taught.


    "Even a Top-Tier Presider would hesitate to fight two different Presiders with different techs. Although me and Lanterk are considered weak because we have Inherited Techs, our numerous techs are not to be underestimated. I should try to milk this Presider for all he''s worth!" Zeraphine recalled some of themon things Harker''s soldiers would say whenever they chatted or greeted each other regarding the various missions they have.


    "He must be rather proud of himself. And the Progenitor helped me see through his facade with Jane and those two idiots. I have to add more aces up my sleeves! Right now, only my alliance with Straviaa is my secret weapon against this Progenitor, but even she may betray me!" Zeraphine cursed her weakness.


    "If I don''t break the cycle of being a hostage of this Progenitor, I''ll keep staying under his wing! If he''s right and Lanterk is stronger than me, then Lanterk can be more useful if I make him form an alliance with me... But how? Should I use my old man? Ugh. I can''t believe I''ll be doing this." Zeraphine frowned.


    The two finally entered the room, and Lanterk continued to wear his angry expression.


    Zeraphine immediately activated a certain tech that would mask all forms of sounds without hesitation.


    Lanterk was surprised. The tech Zeraphine used would even prevent Presiders who could breach the three dimensions and listen in on others.


    "What are you... doing? Is whatever you have to say to me something so important that you are afraid that Presiders might actually harness and use their energy to listen in on this discussion? You''re even using Universe Energy!" Lanterk was stunned. This time, he was so surprised at what Zeraphine did.


    "Do you know why my father, Prime Zephirus, sent me here?" Zeraphine immediately asked an important question.


    "Prime Zephirus?!" Lanterk was shocked at her words. He didn''t expect Zeraphine to immediately bring up something that almost all Presiders believed to be a taboo topic before Zeraphine. Everyone was well aware of how much Zeraphine hated her father.


    "Yes. My father. Do you think that I really went to this ce just for fun and to prove myself from my father? Do you think everything you think you know about me is true? You ruined my cover, you idiot! You! You! You!" Zeraphine shouted and then suddenly pped Lanterk one more time.


    SLAP!


    The barrage of questions was so startling that it made Lanterk rethink everything of what he was doing. And because of this momentary surprise, Zeraphine''s p struck Lanterk once more.


    Lanterk flew and bounced on the wall. If it weren''t for the strange power that Zeraphine released, the sound would have made amotion in the entire submarine.


    Lanterk raised his face once more and had more teeth knocked off. But instead of anger, he was stunned.


    "What?! What''s going on?!"


    "The Primes wars! That''s what''s happening! I am here to prepare for the Prime Wars! You idiot! Do you think this mission on Earth is simple? Why do you think the former groups of Presiders went home? What do you think the reason why mysterious entities like the Progenitor and the Lost Primordial are here? This is a Prime Ascension ce!" Zeraphine shouted in anger.


    "You idiot boy who is so stupid and dumb! You y around and walk from ce to ce, hanging out with Presiders who would kill each other, and you make it your daily routine! You idiot! You idiot!" Zeraphine attacked again, but this time, the Lanterk defended the p attack that generated powerful kic force that would have sent a tank flying.


    Lanterk revealed a powerful shield that absorbed all the energy of the p through a strange dimensional power.


    "Hmm. ckhole technology. How stupid. You don''t even have Phallic techs? Not only don''t you have the balls, but you also don''t even have the stick to fight in this storm!" Zeraphineined.


    "Phallic techs?"


    "You don''t even know what it is?! Why are you even here!? You idiot kid! You''d die like a shrimp in this ocean! That is how you can rise to a Prime! Phallic techs will be your foundation! If you follow odd techs that seem powerful, it will get you nowhere!"


    "What exactly are Phallic techs? I never heard of any techs, even from my master." Lanterk frowned.


    "That''s because only those Conquerors know of it! Of all Principals, how many have been dubbed as Conquerors? But here on Earth, we have a few who used it! That''s how critical the battle here on Earth is! You probably don''t know about themotion on Earth, right? There were reports of certain adult toys being stolen, and it was even reported by some key-witness ounts that the media have now discredited." Zeraphine kept talking and talking non-stop. She kept bringing up strange news she read after she learned of Phallic techs in the King Naga.


    She followed the many media news stations that talked about the odd battle in Africa and how phallic objects were involved and used it to make Lanterk grow more and more confused.


    Zeraphine soon sent the interview that she had coincidentally saved in her suit for Lanterk''s viewing to prove her point.


    Lanterk was watching with a look that was so bewildered he had a dumb expression. And deep inside Lanterk''s mind were many confused ideas trying to tie up the so-called Phallic Techs to every tech he knew, which were used by famous Presidents who became Principals.


    Meanwhile, Zeraphine was secretly sneering.


    "You think you''re so smart? Then let''s see if you can figure this one out! If you do have an idea of what Phallic techs is, you should soon offer it to me." Zeraphineughed.


    After Lanterk finished watching the odd news report, Zeraphine immediately continued on her rant.


    "My father has already given me that legacy. I know what it is! And that''s why I was shocked to have found out that the Progenitor has it! How can such weak Presiders have this? Do you know how much stronger I am done you, Lanterk? I could easily kill you with all your toy techs! Phallic techs and Suit Devourers are here, and while I''m trying to y it low-key, you suddenly appear with your stupid, clumsy manner and even tried to kill the people I am trying to get closer with to find out more about what techs they have! Are you an idiot?" Zeraphine raged.


    Lanterk felt very small. He had unknowingly stepped in something he never thought would blow out of proportion. But all the more Lanterk decided not to reveal his real strengths after realizing how Zeraphine hid hers.


    "I am a disciple of-"


    "stop it! You idiot! Stop it! So what? You don''t even have Phallic techs! This ends the conversation! Presider Marrho''s Lightning tech seems strong, right? Yet why hasn''t he ascended to be a Principal!? Because he realized that it was missing! Maybe your master realized it as well and pursued an odd off-shoot of that tech and created those four horn techs! But ultimately, those techs are not enough whenpared to the true power of Phallic weapons!"


    "Wha-what can it do?" Lanterk asked.


    "Why should I tell you that?"


    "I can offer to you foundational techs for anti-gravity in organic bodies! Just tell me what it can do!"


    "Ha! Do you think your little idiotic brain canprehend it? Everything about it will seem mysterious! Just as how important things to Principals seemed strange to us, Primordials have techs that won''t make any sense to you even in concept! And why would I agree to reveal such details for stupid techs like anti-gravity in organic entities? Why would I need it when various techs are cheaper and more convenient to create?"


    Lanterk gave off a helpless and distressed expression. But deep inside, his heart was cursing.


    "What can I offer to get her to say something about this?"


    "Fine! I will tell you the foundational mystery of it. It will sound very odd and very simple, but if you can grasp its meaning, it will show your potential as a conqueror! But to do this, not only will you give me anti-gravity, but you will have to announce our alliance publicly! Everything thinks you''re an idiot anyway. So if they think that I managed to ckmail you, then it would be alright. But what I want is to search for your suit! Give me your soul so I can have a look at it!" Zeraphine offered.


    Lanterk''s expression grew ugly.


    The real Lanterk was even enraged. If he did this, then most of his secrets would be revealed.


    "No! That''s my master! I can allow any abuse, but if it''s anything rted to my master, I won''t agree!" Lanterk swiftly disagreed.


    "Choosing your masters tech over the chance to understand Phallic techs? Such stupidity! Fine. You won''t figure out the mystery of Phallic techs anyway. So I guess I canpromise. An Energy Contract! If you were to renege in our agreement, you would pay me one-forth of your current Universe Energy!"


    "What''s the agreement?"


    "You will aid me in killing one Presider of my choosing! You should already know who it is!"


    Lanterk recalled Straviaa and the fight between Zeraphine and her and began to ponder.


    "I do intend to hunt a few Presiders. Going after Straviaa will eventually happen anyway... I guess I can agree to this." Lanterk finally decided.


    "Alright. Here is my soul. Start the binding. You will promise to tell me what you know about Phallic Techs, and I will help you kill a Presider."


    "Are you stupid? I already told you several things about what I know! That alone should already merit payment! How many Presiders here are interested in that strange news report in Africa?"


    "..." Lanterk had no answers to this statement.


    "Besides, I am confident that you won''t understand it any way that you''d use me of lying to you! And I don''t have time for a Principal to settle a disagreement between our Soul Agreement. So here''s my offer! I will add one more sentence for everything that I have already shown you about this tech that you find interesting. Whether or not this can help you is not my problem. But you will agree to help me kill a Presider!" Zeraphine changed the rules.


    "Fine." Lanterk immediately agreed.


    They shook their hands, and a strange binding between the two suits urred.


    The contract was established.


    "Alright, what''s the sentence?" Lanterk asked.


    "Phallic techs..." Zeraphine began. She had a very serious and even angry emotion on her face.


    Lanterk wondered why Zeraphine wore such an expression.


    "...can screw you." Zeraphine warned.


    "....What?"

 Chapter 346 - Together Again

    The submarine was now docking in the Trading Hub. The remainder of the trip was rtively peaceful. Although the submarines would sometimes fire warning shots if the other had moved in a certain distance, the respective submarines of each nation, no battles or wars urred that had the same level of the first battle over the Pacific Ocean.


    Seeker Carlean was wearing a strange dark-red suit. This was simr to the suit that he was wearing in his previous timeline. The only difference in this suit was the avable technology that it had. Seeker also wore a mask that covered his mouth and made him look like a ninja.


    "Get over here!" A woman wearing the same outfit but had a bright color of yellow shouted as he imitated an action of one of the most banned games in the world due to its depiction of vast gore and destruction.


    "Meryl... you''re finally here." Seeker greeted.


    Meryl ran and gave Seeker a tight hug.


    "I missed you so much! It''s good to be back. You guys have been busy while I was moving from one ce to another, visiting Emperors and Empresses after another."


    "You look good in that yellow outfit." Seeker praised.


    Meryl did a cliche anime pose which she would often do to melt the hearts of men, and earned millions of credits.


    "You could do without the mask, though. As expected of the beauty that even the Tyrant Empress took an interest in!" Seeker praised again.


    "Too bad the age of streaming is over. We can''t earn now after everything we''ve been through. Jeez. You could have waited a few days before destroying the Kraken and causing the world to copse, you know. We''ve lost several deals that would have been worth billions of credits!" Meryl frowned.


    "That''s exactly why we had to put a stop at those deals. If all our deals pushed through without any problems, it would be very suspicious to the world and may lead to various conspiracy theories allying us with the WGP. That would make our trading deals harder."


    "But all our submarines reached the World Governing Trading Hub! Doesn''t that look suspicious?"


    "We didn''t start the war, Meryl." Lynd emerged wearing a dark blue attire that matched the designs of Meryl and Lynd.


    "Lynd!" Merylughed and rushed and hugged Lynd.


    "It''s good to see you, Meryl."


    SLAP!


    Meryl delivered a harsh p on Lynd''s face.


    "That''s for being an idiot. You gave poor Cliff a fright by nearly killing him!" Meryl chastised.


    Every Unlocked who saw that scene shivered. Lynd''s reputation as a berserker had reached everyone''s ears. And since many Unlocked nearly died fighting this monster, no one dared do anything towards Lynd. Yet now, Meryl delivers a p that resounded across the hall.


    Everyone stopped moving and was ready to make a run for it.


    "Why are you pping me for? If it''s giving Cliff a fright, you should be torturing Seeker! He made Cliff kiss a guy! With Cliff''s memories, the sensation of that kiss will haunt him forever! Who knows? He might not even be able to kiss Charm with that traumatic experience!" Lynd argued back.


    "Yeah! Well, Seeker was doing all that to make Cliff get stronger! You tried to kill him because you''re a loser! Did you cry when that Near-Oveer and all those Ranked Heroes chased you? Did you call your mommy?" Meryl continued a barrage of insults.


    "Boo Hoo. I am the Way, and Seeker treated me like dirt! I''ll go ahead and massacre an Unlocked Army because my feelings are hurt!"


    "I lost an arm and several organs in that battle!"


    "Did you lose your first kiss? Cliff did, and he still had the guts to fight a Near-Oveer werewolf, an Empress, and a World Champion!" Meryl shook her head in disgust.


    Lynd couldn''t say anything and red at Seeker.


    "She''s right, you know." Seeker just shrugged his shoulders andughed.


    The three continued to bicker and tease each other with everything that has been happening. The conversations they had were different as they joked about world domination and how their ns could lead to wars and holocaust, but the friendship of these three was stronger than ever.


    The group didn''t even hide their conversation as they talked on length about everything that had happened.


    For that few stolen moments in time, the three were teenage students again.


    But their loud discussions would create gossips.


    Days willter pass, and Cliff will soon learn of the rumors that question his sexual identity and alleged ims about Cliff''s versatility.


    "Jeez, for someone who had it easy, you sure know how to insult people!" Lyndined.


    "She didn''t have it easy, Lynd. It was necessary for her Path."


    "I know, I know. It was the one ce to train her light. She was seen by Emperors and Empresses and, at the same time, prohibited the Presiders from chasing after her. It was the one safe ce that she could stay and would use her abilities to spy on the techs that the WGP had." Lynd sighed.


    "That''s right. You boys had to get stronger so you could protect me! Now with you two, we can finally be together and turn South America into a City of Refuge. So how many Presiders are expected to go on this strange trip?"


    "We don''t know. One Presider decided to pop up suddenly. It''s a young Presider who I''ve never met in my past life. He''s quite scary, to be honest. But luckily, our spies were able to execute a sessful tactic. And since Zeraphine got a copy of Lowengren''s book with modification, she should at least be able to create a good strategy to deal with Lanterk." Lynd smiled.


    "Isn''t it dangerous to give a Presider a book about Lowengren''s lies? They''re Presiders, after all. They could bend the world if they want to."


    "The book that Lowengren itself wrote is a lie. That''s why it''s alright." Seeker exined.


    "A book about lies... is a lie?" Meryl was confused.


    "It''s like this, Meryl. By creating a manual on how to lie, it limits the possibilities of how to lie. And since Lowengren wrote that for Zeraphine and other possible Aragarian double agents, we could gauge and predict their possible reactions and lies, they will use. So while they think they are lying and making amazing covert and espionage actions, we actually know what they might do. Take Zeraphine, for instance. The Presider Landerk will most likely fall for three possible tricks. But the most likely option that Zeraphine would use is to present herself as more mysterious and powerful considering that Lanterk has shown himself to be so weak." Lynd exined.


    "Wow. Lynd, you did get smart." Merylughed.


    "You need to catch up, Meryl. You''re the dumbest among us."


    "Oh? But beauty bridges the gap. I got a lot of techs and gifts from the Emperors, you know? What I can''t make up through intelligence, I can make up by calling Emperors to fight for me. Lanterk is young, right? Maybe I can make him my little pawn." Merylughed.


    Seeker and Lyndughed.


    "Indigo Blue, Mikado Yellow, and Carnelian Red. The whole teams back together." A familiar voiceughed.


    The three saw Charles Lindmitt with a young girl walking next to him.


    "You really should change your family name to Carnelian, Zeek. It suits the three of you." Charlesughed.


    "Charles!" Meryl eximed as she ran and hugged her.


    "Countless stars and politicians have embraced me, but it''s the first time I''ve been embraced by someone this pretty."


    "Seriously, Charles? She''s still 17 years old, and her birthdays still in two months. That''s just creepy." Lynd shook his head.


    "A 17-year old that assassinated an Emperor and got away with it. She''s practically one of the deadliest things on this."


    "Meryl, you better back away from Charles. I can sense several diseases in him." Seeker gave Charles a curious look.


    "Diseases? I think my hyperactive antibodies can resist it. Apart from each cell being highly concentrated, my body constantly purges my body with the heat and fire."


    "I know. Charles''s disease seems resistant to heat. Quite an interesting Path, Charles." Seeker praised.


    Meryl bolted out of Charles''s embrace, and a bright light exploded out of her.


    "Rx, Meryl!" Charles chuckled.


    "It''s all under control. Every disease in my body has been regted."


    "Just how many viruses and bacteria do you have in that body of yours?" Seeker wondered.


    "A lot. Many of which can be weaponized. But the biggest gains are being able to tame Amir Mann''s lyssavirus and that vampiredy''s, Anthro-Pteropid lyssavirus are quite interesting things. I was able to replicate both through leukemia and various cancer cells and have a way to use it in battle. But I''m no Oveer, though."


    "Charles, but that puts you in the rank of Heroes!" Meryl assessed.


    "No. Just like you two, I''m definitely a Champion." Charles boasted.


    "You finally have faith, o yea man who doubts." Seekerughed.


    "Faith developed through time. Your cells helped the most, Seeker. We''re a step closer to getting that Cultivators Body that you need. If we can kill and capture a Presider, we can further understand their science."


    "That''s great. But I think we may need to capture one alive. This is one of the reasons why I need to get close contact with them. The science that they have is something that is like a Skinsuit but far more powerful. Their very body is the tech itself. And that''s why it was impossible to study how they did that in my timeline. Let''s make use of this opportunity we have."


    "And who is this youngdy?" Meryl asked as she smiled towards the young girl.


    "This is Precil Hirock. The daughter of Vender Hirock. She also has the same ailment guing Ricardo."


    "You cured her?!" Seeker was surprised once more.


    "This is fun. I''ve finally reached the point where I am surprising Seeker Carlean." Charlesughed.


    "What is that disease? We''ve lost quite a number of men against this disease."


    "It''s a gue. And it''s a rather malicious one at that. And no, I can''t say I''ve cured it yet. Precil is only active because we managed to Unlock her through your blood."


    "Ah. You used my blood to create a drug and used the cebo effect with Lowengren''s help!" Seeker realized what had happened.


    "Worked like a charm!"


    "Thank you, Uncle Seeker." The girl curtsied.


    "Interesting. A Ranked Hero in the making! You''re the youngest I''ve ever seen! How old are you?" Seeker was amazed.


    "I''m supposed to be six this year. But the drugs that Charles gave me somehow hastened my aging so that I would have a body that could bear the Unlocking. This is why I look like a ten-year-old." Precil exined.


    At those words, the three had aplicated expression.


    "Are you okay? You''ve lost your childhood because of us." Lynd asked.


    "I got better. So I''m grateful, Uncle Lynd." Precil smiled.


    "What disease was it? To think that her body is this resilient already! Did she reach Surmounting?"


    "Yes. She just reached Surmounting Unbing a few days ago on the way here."


    "What id the ailment that got Ricardo and her? Is it contagious?"


    "There is no evidence of it. Honestly, that''s why I brought her here. I want to see if it is contagious."


    Everyone''s expression changed.


    "What do you mean?"


    "This disease is caused by a strange virus. I think it started in Egypt. Lennox has shown interest, and we are actually mass producing the virus to spread it right before we officially wage war against the Aragarians."


    "What do you mean by experimenting if it is contagious?" Lynd pressed once more.


    "The virus has a very specific group of people that it attacks. No one thought of it before, but my experiments proved it. I''m thankful for Eagle as he helped me understand this."


    "Eagle? What does Eagle have to do with this?" Meryl frowned.


    "Egypt... You can''t mean!" Lynd eximed.


    "I can see it. It seems to be a virus that has its own Realm." Seeker closed his eyes and began to see it through the soul.


    "It''s a soul gue. Everything happening in the body is only a manifestation of what this gue does in that dimension." Seeker exined.


    "Is it contagious?" Meryl asked immediately.


    "Hard to say. But it''s not attacking any of us. It seems Precil managed to tame it! Amazing! You could be a powerful soldier in the future, kid." Seeker praised.


    "Thank you... Erm. General Seeker." Precil blushed.


    "What is it? What does this gue do? I''m not as smart as Seeker or someone who can simte the thinking of various geniuses!" Meryl finally cursed.


    "The gue of the First Born.." Seeker smiled.

 Chapter 347 - Seeker’s Love Story (1)

    Meryl was confused at Seeker''s answer.


    "The gue of the First Born? As in, one of the Ten gues of Egypt?" Meryl asked Charles.


    "Yes. The more I studied it, the more I was certain. It is definitely that gue. I have it as well. It tries to kill me since I''m also the first born, but it can''t seem to work. It might be because of my Unlocking. The virus itself can''t keep up with the explosive growth and strength of my body. After all, when one bes an Unlocked, the disease that can affect us are small."


    "True. Even cancer bes a way for us to grow stronger." Lynd nodded.


    "That''s right. The virus itself is unique. While it is airborne, it is very difficult to spread. That''s because this virus has a very, very low reproductive rate. Truthfully, as a doctor, I have to say that it''s almost impossible for this virus to even exists! This virus has no known sources and origin. With low infectious rates and poor reproductive rates, this virus could easily be stopped. And it doesn''t seem to have any capacity to mutate."


    "So we can''t weaponize it."


    "That''s why I brought it here to infect you three. You three are the only Unlocked around that can be safely infected by this virus other than me."


    "Safely infect us? A disease that mysteriously can use Realm and kill firstborn will be injected to me?" Meryl frowned.


    "It means we have the means to stop it. If you set aside all the Unlocked who aren''t firstborn, we only have a few where we can experiment it on. It won''t work on Meng. The virus would be devoured. It won''t work on Amir, who has a ridiculous recovery rate and very strong anti-bodies. Same with the vampiredy. On Rosa? It would just get frozen. The Tyrant Empress? The virus would probably fall in love with her." Seeker listed.


    "As for the others, like Lowengren, they would have no way if directly attacking the virus. Arthur, Typical, Hermes, Richie, and so on will die if they are infected. Also, they are too far away. It''d be difficult for Charles as he would have to go all over the world. So instead of that, he chose to go here and inject it on us. We can use our Paths to attack or weaken the virus. Me and Lynd through using various abilities and you who can purge your body of such great heat that it can kill the virus."


    "Gardo?"


    "He''s with Arthur now, and he''s not a first born," Charles exined.


    "First, you make me sell myself to pervert, and now you want me to take on a deadly disease..." Meryl started pulling her hair in frustration as he nced at Seeker.


    "Think about the possibilities if we weaponize this? We could weaken or kill even Presiders if we''re lucky."


    "Fine. Get me infected by this thing. Wait... Will I have to keep my distance from Danny? I haven''t been with him in a while, you know."


    "Danny''s not the firstborn. Geez, for his girlfriend, you really don''t know a lot about him. He''s adopted." Lynd insulted.


    "How did you know?"


    "I read his file like any good General would do."


    "Well, I don''t do a background check on my boyfriend before dating them. Unlike you, oh good General, who is an aplice to pedophilia."


    "Ouch. That''s gotta hurt." Charlesmented on the side.


    "Still... I have to say; I''m quite startled how that one date I got you for defeating the Covenant would end up like this." Seekerughed.


    "You''re not mad that I didn''t pursue Arthur?" Meryl asked.


    "No. This timeline is so messed up. Arthur''s obsessed with his sister. The reason she fell in love with you was because you reminded him of her. Of course, eventually, he fell for you for real. I know because I was with him during hisst moments. Did he liked talking with you?" Seeker asked.


    "Yes. He said that it was fun having to talk with someone like me where he had to exin everything along the way. But honestly, I did give Arthur a chance. I was waiting for him. But he never made a move. Then Danny showed up and asked me to go on that date, and I agreed."


    "I don''t me you. Arthur''s been rather busy after all. He has been nning the direction of all Unlocked."


    "I know. I don''t me him. I guess just like everything in your memory, something different will turn out." Merylughed.


    "I don''t know... Between the two of them, Arthur has the higher chance of surviving this storm." Seeker sighed as he gazed on the many docking submarines.


    "What are our odds now? The odds of our victory?" Meryl couldn''t help but ask.


    "Against Presiders, we probably have a thirty percent chance with what we have. But against Principals... no chance at all. We have to Ovee, guys. That''s the only way." Seeker smiled.


    "Then I guess I have to marry Alean when I get the chance..." Lynd pondered.


    Meryl and Charles were frozen at Lynd''s words.


    "What? If the world''s ending, might as well go for it, right? I''m sure Harker won''tin."


    "But what about you, Zeek? We''ve been talking about everyone''s love life. Charles has rekindled him, and Meryl and me got a new one... What''s your n? Are you still nning on stealing the Kristine who ends up with me on your future, or are you going for that Presider?"


    "Wait! Hold up! You and Kristine?! And Seeker took her from you?!" Meryl reacted.


    Even Charles''s eyes went wide open.


    "Damn, son!" Charles reacted as well.


    Seeker chuckled.


    "Are you a bit bitter, Lynd?"


    "A little. I mean, Kristine Sythia? THE LordChokeMeSenpai was supposed to be my girlfriend? Who wouldn''t be? Especially now that you are treating her the same way, Arthur treated Meryl."


    "I messed up! I admit it. But, I will say this, our rtionship was nearly strained because of her. In a way, you could say you stole her from me."


    "I stole the girlfriend of THE Seeker Carlean? I''m definitely an Oveer." Lyndughed.


    "It was a prettyplicated time. Missions were keeping everyone apart, and you rose to Ranked Hero and became the World Champion. One day, Kristine just passed by and gave me that apologetic look. It was harsh and painful, but it is what it is."


    Cliff was seen running down the hallway.


    "I didn''t get thest sentence. What did you say?!" Cliff shouted as he approached.


    The group looked at Cliff and judged him.


    "You were... eavesdropping on us?" Seeker asked.


    "I was on my way here, and I heard Charles talk about the gue of the First Born from the floor below. So I decided to wait until Charles is gone. But then there was some group of Unlocked rushing on this floor to prep the arrival of the sub, making your words a little distorted." Cliff exined.


    "Charles, Cliff is an only child. Give him the gue."


    "What? No! Wait! I was just curious what happened!" Cliff began to retreat.


    "Anyway..." Seeker continued as he spoke in a softer voice.


    "I guess I have to exin the details of what happened. Now that Zeraphine is here. Honestly, I can''t tell the story of Zeraphine without exining my rtionship with Kristine. The rtionship between me, Zerahpine, and Kristine was very... chaotic, to say the least. In that timeline, I met Zeraphine in a very casual way. I was working in one small medical insurancepany."


    "Is it MedServed?" Charles was curious.


    "Yes. That samepany I tasked Cliff to connect with the big groups and is currently being supported by the Diamons. It''s sort of my thanks to them, I guess. Anyway, Zeraphine went by Zera then. I was on break and went to a Piercing themed coffee near the office and met her reading some Veil-Stacy fan fiction story. This was how I knew she was a fan of A Game of Attractions. I am a solid Veil-Tiff fan, as you all know..."


    Lynd and Meryl rolled their eyes.


    "Still fighting for that love team?" Lynd shook his head.


    "Anyway... Our conversation began because that fanfiction portrayed Tiff in a rather... negative sense. That fanfiction was somewhat famous, and most Veil-Tiff fans hated it. The writer tried to use everything in the canonical story to create a stupid fan theory and used it as a basis."


    "Wait... A fanfiction writer? I recalled you asked Cliff to abduct another possible Unlocked who was a fanfiction writer!" Lynd recalled, and he immediately looked the name up on hism device.


    He then turned to Seeker in horror.


    "Nutterballs! You... You made her an Unlocked, so she can''t write the fanfiction!" Lynd was horrified.


    "Well, I couldn''t kill her..." Seeker shrugged.


    "Madman!"


    "I regret nothing!" Seeker assured.


    "Can we please move on with Zeraphine?"


    "Anyway, Zera''s real appearance is slightly more beautiful than her current avatar or whatever that is... But for a Presider who could have whatever techs, she didn''t look that amazing. I wager that she didn''t allow herself to undergo any possible vain technology to make her more beautiful."


    "So that''s why she became friends with Charm!"


    "Right. We chatted and became frenemies. Ourmon denominator was that we hated Radia."


    "Who''s Radia?" Charles asked.


    "Another girl linked to Veil in A Game of Attractions." Meryl answered.


    "I hate her too..." Meryl sighed.


    "What? Why? Radia''s awesome!"


    "Of course you like her. Fair skin, yful smile, and a manipting attitude. That''s practically Miss Alean!" Meryl shook her head.


    "The story. Get back to the story!" Charles urged.


    "Anyway, our rtionship with Zera wasn''t that special. We became good friends. Since both of you often went out of town, I was mostly stuck with her. Slowly, we became best friends."


    "Best friends? As in, at me and Lynd''s level?"


    "Yeah. Several lockdowns made it difficult to travel then. I was stuck somewhere at My-Pangea, and for some strange reason... she was there..."


    "Wait, what? She''s a Presider! She could be anywhere! Could it be...?" Meryl asked.


    "Probably. She was starting to like me then. I tried to rey my memories, but it''s very conflicted. At that time, the war was mainly in Africa and Russia, and the area in Jordan became the main battlefield between the two countries. So Pangea wasn''t greatly affected. The need to fuel the war in Russia and Africa made our economy boom because of the purchases of our soldiers and techs. But when the Aragarians revealed themselves... I can''t deny the facts before me. Zeraphine used her connection to save me. And in a way, she saved you guys as well. Charles was also among the members who were saved."


    "She saved us."


    "That''s why I told Cliff that he had to be careful in gauging Aragarians. Zeraphine really cared for us."


    Lynd could feel the emotions that Seeker felt the most and was silent.


    "Wow. If you put it that way... It makes it hard to kill her."


    "No. We should." Seeker refuted.


    "This is why my present self can''t help but despise her. It was because of her that you died. When I asked her about it in our final confrontation, she said she really liked and cared for you two. But her simple whims of saving us was her problem. The problem with her simple decision got so big that some Presiders died."


    "What problem?" Meryl asked.


    "Come on, Meryl! She saved Meryl Mikado, the Empress of the Sun. The World Champion, Lynd Indigo. She saved me, Charles Lindmitt, the scientist responsible for figuring out the Unlocking. And whether she knew it or not. She saved Seeker Carlean. THE Seeker Carlean.." Charles answered.

 Chapter 348 - Seeker’s Love Story (2)

    Seeker''s alternate future was full of many pains and failures. But regardless of how great the despair of the humans had, the victories they achieved were also shocking.


    Meryl realized just what forms of horrors Zeraphine had unleashed towards the Presiders by saving their group. If Zeraphine didn''t save them, the Unlocked army would not have surfaced. The Oveers would be left to fight on their own.


    "Imagine being the person who creates entities that could kill Presiders. To these Aragarians, a Pioneer killing a Presider is just unthinkable. And Earth could have been seen as a generally nted to Pioneer level existence. Suddenly, a Presider dies." Seeker exined.


    "And Zeraphine is at the center of it all..." Meryl finally understood it.


    "This timeline allowed me to understand more and more of what the Aragarians nned and wanted. The reason why they didn''t t out kill us was that they must have gotten curious. It seemed inconceivable at first, but now that we have experienced a great surplus of techs, I think the Aragarians were curious just how far we can go. They wanted to see what techs we could develop. It was hard times, and our armies fought every day just to survive. And in this, we were able to hasten the growth of the Unlocking and made more and more advancements in technology than what we could have aplished in decades!"


    "I see... Just like us." Lynd added.


    "Yes. I used to think it was just a war for them and that they didn''t want to wasted resources. There may have been more. They wanted to see what techs we can create, which they couldter reap for their own! And that''s where I think Zeraphine''s treachery and conflict began."


    "Treachery and conflict? She became a spy to the Unlocked?!"


    "Yes. She was very... convincing. She saved me and even used her connections, wealth, and techs tobat the enemy army. Her support allowed us to win and kill thousands of enemies. That made her an important figure to our team. But of course, looking back, it was foolish of how we believed her to be an ally. She has killed thousands of our enemies, but what was that in the bigger picture?"


    "Right. We are already throwing the world into chaos and will be killing off many of our nation''s soldiers for the sake of Unlocking and experimenting with our techs. What are several countries to them? Zeraphine became the perfect spy. She was alreadymunicating with me even before the war."


    "I see. She just so happens to be associated with us without us knowing or suspecting her! She was there from the beginning and, therefore, was the most inconspicuous of all!" Charles marveled.


    "What irony. We could say that she is now in the inverse position right now..."


    "It is ironic. But you could imagine how far she went in to gain our trust and even presented herself and her family as a chess piece to sacrifice. Her entire ''family'' was burned down by Harker''s army. Her anger and devotion to the destruction of Pangea seemed real. But of course, we all know that the lives of a country are very much expendable. With the power we have, it even changes the moral code that we should live in."


    "So this is what Arthur meant by changing our perspective as we grow stronger..." Meryl finally understood one of the many lessons that Arthur broadcast to those who are Unlocked.


    "We used to fear guns and weapons, but not anymore. We used to be afraid of Exoskeletons, and soon it became trivial. And as our strength grew, our perception to the political, social and even military aspects of this world change." Charles exined.


    "I can now bring down a country with diseases if I want to. You three could easily conquer states and other small, independent countries if you wish. Seeker and Lynd could conquer a continent if they wanted to! And because of this, our view of the sacrifices we make changed. You believed Zeraphine to be your ally in your other life because you witnessed the deaths that she encountered."


    "Right. I saw the bodies that surrounded her. I saw how she survived and how she cried in anger. But in truth, it was very trivial for her. Of course, the only person that she did care for was us three. She said the first hard decision she had to make was to kill Charles Lindmitt, who she considered a friend." Seeker recounted.


    "I''m not sure if I should be honored or disgusted!"


    "Because of that start, she was able to assimte into the armies of the Unlocked and even became soldiers."


    "Did she get the Unlocked technology from us? But how? If we fought them and they have Unlocked, how could we win?" Charles was confused.


    "That''s where the Progenitor''s arrangement came in. In my future, the possibility of your drugs to Unlock people had a very dismal rate. If it weren''t for the many biological warfares that our enemies used against us, we wouldn''t have been able to figure out and focus on which person to use it on."


    "That was the drugs we saw in My-Pangea, correct? The ones that affected my Twelve Disciples?" Meryl confirmed.


    "Yes. I''m sure Charles can easily find a way to transform and cause that gue to afflict more painful sores than before." Seeker smiled.


    "Indeed. Eagle should be excited with that gue that I have in mind. But I''ll leave the details out forter." Charles smiled mysteriously.


    "Anyway, the fact was, even if they had the drugs for the Unlocking, they wouldn''t be able to do much with it. Because in the first ce, it won''t work on them. The Progenitor''s arrangement in the seeds he scattered after the World War were sprouting. For some reason, the Progenitor had made his arrangement that only those people who had intermarried with the factory babies after World War 3 would have them."


    "If that''s the case, then whatever Zeraphine got from Charles wouldn''t be useful to the Aragarians. At least... at the start of it. This means... she stayed within our ranks to spy on this technology even after Charles died." Lynd guessed.


    "Correct. Zeraphine was still around by the time I became the first confirmed Unlocked. When the Realm King found me and when our armies finally managed to create a line ofmunication, we initiated a daring plot that managed to deceive most of the world. At that time of the war, the nations who sided with the Aragarians received the perfected bio-warfare that was developed in My-Pangea. When Master and the other organized groups led by the Oveers began to attack and ransack medical facilities, most countries didn''t think much of it."


    "They thought you guys were simply gathering medical resources to heal the sick. But in truth, we were looking for ways to mass-produce the Unlocking drug." Charles smiled.


    "Exactly. At that point, I was just an ordinary soldier. It was there that I met Kristine. Zera wasn''t someone who managed to be an Unlocked because she doesn''t hail from a lineage of the Progenitor''s seeds."


    "So you and Kristine began to fell in love?"


    "Wrong." Seeker smiled.


    "At that time, I proposed to Zera."


    "What?!" Everyone was startled.


    "As Lynd just said, the End of the World was there. I asked Zera to marry me."


    "You guys got married?"


    "That''s the thing. She said no."


    "Why?" Lynd asked.


    "She didn''t love you?" Charles asked as well.


    Meryl rolled her eyes.


    "Men." She sighed in exasperation.


    "Think about it on her perspective. She loves Seeker for sure. But she''s an Aragarian. She''s already deceived Seeker so many times. The one thing she can''t do was deceive Seeker by saying yes to her!"


    "Right. Meryl nailed it on that one. You guys need to learn more about the ways of women."


    "I''ve got several medical degrees and is an Inhuman. Yet I can''t understand women." Charles shook his head.


    "Meryl is right. Zeraphine was guilty. In some twisted kind of love, she could not betray me in that area. I bet Meryl can guess what happened."


    "Let''s see... I''m guessing that you proposed to her because she was getting jealous of Kristine. I''m thinking that you two make a good team. Zera wasn''t Unlocked, and it would blow her cover if she tried to use techs to bridge the gap. So she watched in jealous anger. And then... BOOM! You proposed to her!" Meryl pped, surprising the two men.


    "Uncle Seeker wanted to tell Zera not to worry and that she was the love of your life!" Precil suddenly butted in.


    "Precil. What shows have you been watching?" Charles asked curiously.


    "Right! I can almost imagine it! Wow! Zeek! You do have a romantic side!"


    Seeker chuckled.


    "But that proposal must have been painful to Zera. She found out you loved her, but she was betraying you." Precil gave a saddened moan.


    "The only obvious reaction was that... she pushed you away! She said no! She wanted you to be with Kristine! Because her heart couldn''t bear to betray you!" Meryl was tearing up.


    Charles and Lynd rolled their eyes at the cheesy turn of events.


    "That''s exactly what happened. I was heartbroken, but I had to fight a war. So we went on with Kristine. Kristine... sort of liked me at that time, but I still had Zera in my heart."


    "Let me guess... Zera got married!" Meryl answered.


    "Oh no! Not married! But she loved Uncle Zeek!" Precil wept.


    "She had to do it, Precil. She wanted the man he loves to move on. I''m guessing, based on what Seeker said, Zera thought that the Presiders were interested in these techs and were nning to let the war continue for decades! That would have given Seeker a full life, defending half of the world! That''s why she did this. She wanted to see Zeek happy! But then... The unexpected happened! A Presider was killed! The Aragarians couldn''t afford to keep the war going and went full-force in trying to wipe out the Unlocked!" Meryl deduced.


    Charles and Lynd turned to Seeker.


    Seeker had an amazing expression.


    "Wow. If it''s a love story, you sure know how to deduce it and reach that level of intelligence! You''re exactly right, Meryl!"


    "So that means, when Auntie Zera got married, Uncle Seeker pursued Kristine! But Kristine was so bitter that she went with stupid Uncle Lynd!"


    "Wait! Why am I stupid?!"


    "Because you''re a baddie! Auntie Kristine clearly loved Seeker but was hurt because she was just a second option. So she went with you, and you pursued her! Idiot Uncle!"


    Lynd''s mouth was wide opened.


    Seeker was chuckling to the side.


    "Precil. Don''t call Zera Auntie! She''s an Aragarian!"


    "But she can''t be bad! She''s in love!"


    Charles facepalmed as he didn''t know how to respond to that statement.


    "Kristine and Lynd were together... But you guys never married. Because the world was in peril, we both had to set aside our differences and our strained rtionship and worked together. It was then that we''d heard reports that the armies of the Tyrant Empress killed two more Presiders. The Aragarians initiated the ns to kill our army and used Zera.. It was at that moment that Zera reared her true colors."

 Chapter 349 - Memories Of The Betrayal (1)

    The Inhuman Commander-in-Training, Seeker Carlean, under the service of General Lioncourt Diviner,monly known as the Realm King, was now tasked with another mission. His peers, Commander Lynd Indigo and Commander Meryl Mikado had already taken their leave. Seeker Carlean was the only one who has yet to exit the base and paid onest visit to his team.


    Seeker finished his speech and ended the conversation with his cherished team, the Gryphon Squadron.


    "Ace, Ivan... Take care of my team for me, will you?" Seeker smiled.


    "Of course, Colonel. Lim and Brenton have already crafted a n for our next raid. By this time tomorrow, we should be able to defeat Myanmar''s forces. And with that, our forces can march on to liberate the South East Asian region. That''s your hometown, right Colonel?" Ace assured as his fellow soldier, Ivan nodded at the side.


    "Colonel. I might be a little insensitive... But you should talk to Lieutenant Zera." Fish approached and finally smiled.


    "Still chasing fantasies, Fish? She''s already married, you know?"


    "Colonel, the world is over. Some weirdo Commander officiated over her marriage. There are no bonds and ties that matter. Just go over there and steal her! That guy doesn''t stand a chance against you! He''s not even Inhuman! And while you''re at it, take me too, Colonel!" A woman approached and gave Seeker several weapons that were granted only for Seeker.


    "Easy there, Alphie." Seekerughed.


    "Colonel. It''s just wrong. She chose that jerk, but I know she really loves you. We''ve talked a lot as I''ve challenged her over my feelings towards you, she denies having any but encourages me to go for it, but I know a woman in love when I see one. That''s because I''m also in love with you." Alphie gave a yful wink at Seeker.


    "Trust me, Colonel. If you go there and steal her and take her away, she''ll say yes and cry in tears. I don''t know what her drama is, but I''m sure something is stopping her. But will it be hindered by love? You''re the great Seeker Carlean! You''d be a Ranked Hero soon, Colonel!"


    "I hate to be a gossipy type, Colonel. But Alphie is right. With us graduating from your toon and you being handpicked by Commander Lynd to lead his division, we don''t know if we''re ever going to see each other again. Why not live thisst moment with no regrets? Besides, isn''t that why you dyed your departure. All the Unlocked have moved, and General Arthur is already on route. But you stayed here! You want to see her one more time, don''t you, Colonel?" Will asked.


    "Wow. For someone so dumb, you actually get that, Will." Lim arrived andughed. Next to her was a short man at the same height as Lim.


    "What do you think, Lim, Brenton?" Suarez, who was silently watching on the side, asked the two strategists of their squad.


    "Personally, I think Colonel should go for Kristine. That way, General Lynd would be mine." Lim smiled.


    "But if you were to ask me for the sake of Colonel... Then go for Lieutenant Zera. The miracle that brought us here can''t happen again. With our two armies branching off... I''d take the Lieutenant with me." Lim smiled.


    "I''m with Lim here, Colonel. You''re stalling for her, right? She probably thinks you already left. Go back there, grab her, push her by the wall, and kiss her. That idiot can''t do anything to an Unlocked like you." Brenton smiled as he gave Seeker arge thumbs up.


    "I''ll shoot him at the balls if he moves, sir. With my skill, unless the Realm King investigates, no one will know it was from your squadron." Epicughed.


    Seeker alsoughed.


    "Guys... I did dy here... But it''s only to tell her my final feelings. I do love her. But she made her choice, and I will make mine. But regardless of her choice, I''ll give her this ring that I found. Even if she doesn''t need it, I can''t give it to the next girl I''ll love. So I might as well just leave it to her." Seeker smiled as he raised his arms and used his telekic Realm to float the ring.


    "Woah! Colonel! You found a ring?! Was that why you ransacked thatrge mall before escaping?"


    "Colonel, can I have it?"


    "I should have ransacked that mall! Damn it! I could have stolen those ancient handheld consoles in the museum section!" Ace cursed.


    The squadron was stunned at what Seeker had and began to mor.


    "My my... The Colonel is quite bold. Getting her a ring? And just when you said you decided to stop pursuing her, you give her a ring. Talk about sending mixed signals!" Lim frowned.


    "Yeah, Colonel! Give that ring to me instead!"


    "I''m not giving her mixed signals! It''s just... you know... How would the next girl feel if she found out I gave her a ring that I got thinking of someone else?"


    "I wouldn''t mind, Colonel."


    "Alphie. Behave."


    The group continued to tease, and the girls even argued that Seeker was very cruel. But after the guys pointed out how cruel Zeraphine was in marrying that guy, the girls began to urge Seeker to go to that room, show Zeraphine the ring, and then propose to Fish.


    Alphie argued that it should have been her, and Fish was blushing to the extreme and couldn''t even hide it with her Unlocking.


    Soon, Alphie began to fight with Fish and challenge her to a duel, and whoever was left alive would get Colonel Seeker.


    "I didn''t know you like the Colonel, Fish!" Ivan teased.


    "Must have been during that mission in Myanmar. I had to embrace her for a long time to get out of that falling wreckage." Seeker recalled the details of that mission.


    Fish''s face turned even redder.


    "Colonel! That''s unfair! I never got that treatment!" Alphie snapped after hearing what Seeker and Fish went through.


    "Fish! How dare you?! I called dibs on Seeker!" Alphie turned to Fish.


    "Anyways, gang. I better go settle this. The Realm King awaits. You guys... Promise me that you''ll take care of her." Seeker gave a mncholic nce at the team.


    "We will, Colonel. Make sure you get Kristine from that Lynd. Bastard kid!" Ivan cursed.


    "He could hear you, you know?" Suarez warned.


    Seeker began to move away and headed towards the underground facility that was used as their base. He rode the many lifts in the base that brought him lower and lower.


    "Colonel? You''re still here?" Some of the soldiers in Seeker''s squadron were stunned as they saw Seeker leave the lift.


    "At ease, men. I''m no longer your Colonel. Strictws of the UN states that I have no authority tomand you unless our Generals agree. Treat me as a civilian."


    "Alright, Civilian Seeker Carlean. Where are you headed to?" The soldierughed.


    "Just off to some unfinished business." Seeker smiled and continued to move deeper into the base.


    "See you around, Civilian!" The soldier waved as Seeker began to move towards the office where Lieutenant Zeraphine was at.


    Some of the soldiers noticed him and gave him a salute. Seeker smiled and just shook his head. These were soldiers belonging to the Gorgon Squadron, which was the unit where Zeraphine served.


    "Co-Colonel Seeker!" Surprised cries shouted as the guards of Zeraphine saw Seeker headed towards the entrance.


    Seeker frowned.


    "You guys awfully look ready for battle. Was there a new order?" Seeker noted the Exoskeletons that these soldiers wore.


    "Ye-Yes. Lieutenant Zeraphine has made some orders for the next mission. Are you off to meet her, Colonel? We have no reports of you meeting her."


    "Just finishing some business with her. Rx, I won''t take her away." Seeker smiled as he walked forward.


    The soldiers in their exoskeletons nodded as Seeker continued to move forward.


    Suddenly, Seeker stopped right in between them.


    "You know, you three don''t have to be so nervous." Seeker frowned as he nced at one of them.


    "It''s-it''s that we know your history with her, Colonel."


    "Oh? Is it that? Or is it the fact that I can hear your heart beating on your right side of the chest?" Seeker frowned.


    SLASH!


    Almost instantly, the three were beheaded as Seeker sliced off their head with a crystal sword.


    "Zeraphine." Seeker frowned as he ran forward.


    "What''s the rush, Colonel?" Suddenly, a voice was heard, although no one was around.


    "I just married the Lieutenant, and you suddenly killed my men."


    "Killed your men or killed your nteds?" Seeker held his sword and closed his eyes.


    "Please. Without the Four Force Booster, you aren''t our match, Colonel." The manughed.


    Seeker''s Thought Transmitter suddenly emitted a bright light.


    "Seeker... Get out of there. Get whoever you can from your squadron and escape. There is a traitor in that base!" The Realm King''smands reached Seeker.


    "The Realm King already knows? Only he could breach through our distortion of space here. It seems we have to finish our mission ahead of schedule, Colonel Seeker."


    SLASH!


    Seeker suddenly jumped and shed on the empty air above him.


    An Exoskeleton suddenly appeared and fell to the ground.


    "Kill him! He can do Realm!" The once confident man gave a panicked cry, but Seeker was faster.


    Seeker jumped on-air and used a strange telekic power to create a foothold, and Seeker sliced another enemy as he jumped in another direction.


    "He''s grown stronger! Quick! Kill him!"


    Gunshots and strange electric bolts began to shoot out, which revealed their positions. Seeker kept moving and jumping, slicing one ce after the other. One of the Exoskeletons that were sliced identally shot around and killed another.


    Finally, Seeker delivered onest stab, which struck an Exoskeleton that was cloaked just like the others.


    "Impossible... How do you have Realm and... telekinesis?!" The pained voice of the man cried.


    Seeker sliced his sword to the side and stabbed several times. Seeker''s expression was angry as he kept stabbing the man.


    The attacks weren''t meant to kill him immediately, but rather to wound him and leave unbearable pain as well as disabling the Exoskeleton''smunication systems. After a few seconds of stabbing this man, Seeker began to run.


    "Gryphon Squadron! This is Colonel Seeker Carlean! A traitor is in our midst, and this base ispromised!" Seeker called over them device, but there was no response.


    As Seeker ran, he could hear it. From a distance, the pained cries of soldiers and civilians in the base as gunshots and explosions ur ed above ground.


    Seeker gritted his teeth. He had the option of going up to help his team, or he could search for Zeraphine''s area. Seeker knew that logically, Zeraphine would have been killed by traitors.


    "Unless they have an extremely borate escape n that urred before this base was made, Zeraphine must still be being transported if she was captured and not killed!" Seeker concluded as he raced towards the inner chambers of the unit where Zeraphine served.


    Seeker ran with all his might as his thoughts brought him everywhere. But his fears remained constant. There were no sounds of any battle in the underground areas where he was headed too. He knew it could only mean that the soldiers inside were all dead, are were all traitors.


    Seeker finally reached therge doors and used his ess pass to open them.


    The eight-meter metal door began to open up, and when Seeker saw everything inside, he only went inside to retrieve the nearest boosters and retreated to where he came.


    "No sign of Zeraphine. Did they take her?" Seeker pondered as he wore the Force Boosters while running. But as he kept running, the vision of the sight he saw in that room was causing Seeker immense pain. The blood in the boosters he wore also added to his anger.


    Almost all of the soldiers in thatrge room were either dead, and those that weren''t would be in the next minute. There was no time to save them.


    Seeker raced towards the top and used the Force Boosters to help him scale the underground facility faster.


    The soldiers he met earlier were already dead, and some of the survivors began to shoot at invisible enemies but were being massacred.


    Seeker ran towards them and sted off.


    "Seeker Carlean?! Kill him!"


    "Stupid Inhuman! We are on the same levels!" Another soldierughed.


    But at the next second, he was beheaded.


    "You guys aren''t real Unlocked, are you? You just have a body as hard as one and techs to make your move as fast as us." Seeker frowned as he tossed the decapitated head of the soldier he just killed.


    Seeker began his massacre, and the soldiers around him also helped as Seeker began to give orders.


    Almost immediately, Seeker raced towards the lift and sted off with his boosters.


    BOOM!


    An explosion urred at the top, and the falling upper torso of Alphie caught Seeker''s eyes.


    Time slowed down the moment Seeker saw her.


    He could see Alphie''s falling body nce at Seeker and smiled at him.


    "I love you, Colonel." Alphie mouthed.


    Seeker had no time to stop.. But he took time to mouth the words ''I love you too'' to Alphie as he continued to fly towards the burning entrance of the underground facility.

 Chapter 350 - Memories Of The Betrayal (2)

    The flight up the lift would have taken less than thirty seconds with the rate of Seeker''s speed.


    He had been using the Force Booster with great timing and precision. The small Realm Footholds, which he learned from the Realm King, aided him to fly up.


    But those few seconds felt so slow to Seeker.


    "Did I make the right choice? Zeraphine''s safety was already low at the start. If I had made it back here immediately, would I have been able to save Alphie? Would I have been able to save those soldiers?" The question haunted Seeker as he kept kicking and boosting his way up.


    The many vibrations and explosions that Seeker could feel were signs that the inside of the base was alsopromised. It wouldn''t be surprising if the enemy managed to ce several powerful bombs that would bury the entire underground facility.


    And even now, Seeker''s choice of ascending the flight was riddled with pain. He would abandon everyone on the levels below. Many would die because Seeker decided to go to the top. And the reason for Seeker''s immediate ascension was to find the missing Zeraphine.


    Another explosion urred, and more soldiers began to fall down as they were being thrown off.


    Seeker guessed that the battle above was suddenly so chaotic that many soldiers rushed to go down the tform. As the entrance to the underground base was situated on a cave in the mountain, Seeker knew that many soldiers must have retreated in the cave to escape the bombardments and attacks.


    Seeker watched the falling soldiers and made quick calctions as to who he must save. Looking at the soldier''s wounds, Seeker rushed to those who had wounds that weren''t critical. Apart from this, he also considered their overall worth. Were they smart? Did they have usable Skills? But as he was hurrying to the top, he had to make the cruel choice of allowing the rest to fall into their deaths.


    Seeker made his choice and began to save the number of people he could. There were five that he could carry and still allow him to rise.


    "Colonel! Save him!" A wounded man who Seeker saved uttered.


    "Can''t. Too many." Seeker answered inly.


    Immediately the man cut off his clothes for Seeker to lose his hold on the man. Although he was Unlocked, it was uncertain that he would survive falling from such height.


    Seeker felt nothing as he was using his Unlocking to mask his emotions. The man that the wounded soldier wanted Seeker to save was close to dying. There were more falling due to another explosion on the top. And among the new group was someone more valuable than the dying man.


    Seeker''s superior Unlocking allowed him to see this. The soldier who decided to sacrifice himself didn''t know his friend was close to the death''s door.


    The other soldiers who Seeker was saving could guess the Colonel''s decision and keep quiet. They began to help the Colonel by minimizing their weight as they ran on the wall and kicking on it to move upwards, and Seeker even asked them the situation that urred above.


    Just as Seeker had expected, there were several people using Exoskeletons with a high-leveled Cloak. They also had new weapons that even Inhumans piloting special Exoskeletons couldn''t evade.


    Seeker and the six reached the top, and without even a dy, Seeker threw the soldiers and immediately went straight for battle.


    "It''s Colonel Carlean!" One of the enemiesughed excitedly and began to attack Seeker.


    Seeker had already readied one very expensive weapon. It was one of the few things he acquired because he was rtively close with the origin. But this weapon was so expensive that only several were made and only given to specific individuals as the cost of finding suitable materials was scarce.


    It was a miniature version of Meryl''s Everbright.


    The powerful bright light exploded out and had such great heat and electromaic distortion that even the techs of the enemies couldn''t see through it.


    Seeker had used Realm and had memorized the locations of the enemies, and he hastily attacked the ces where these enemies were and killed several of the enemies almost instantly.


    "Kill him! Don''t retreat! He doesn''t have any more of those! Remember, he''s just an Inhuman!" One of the enemy Exoskeletons retreated and kept spraying his attacks almost everywhere.


    "You don''t know? No one under the Inhuman stage can kill me." Seeker gave his cold and terrifying warning as he fought and killed the enemies


    The enemy exoskeleton used a strange technology to attack and stop Seeker''s advance. Yet Seeker was able to move and evade the attacks.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several well-timed attacks somehow slipped through the enemy''s defenses and weakened several Exoskeletons.


    The attack gave Seeker an ample opportunity to charge ahead and kill the enemy.


    With thest of the enemy gone, Seeker immediately sought the cause of the well-timed attack that helped him.


    "Lim. Report." Seeker ordered.


    "The tremors suggest that this mountain is copsing. We don''t have the time to save the others inside the base. The spies must have nted and deployed bombs in a certain pattern to maximize the signal blocker and even that strange fluctuation that is preventing our Thought Transmitter from working."


    "I saw Alphie. Are Ace and Brenton dead?" Seeker asked as he noticed the surviving Inhumans around him.


    "Yes. When the ambush began, Brenton was immediately killed along with Ace. Ivan and me took over themand and managed to survive her attacks. I led my team to rescue you, Colonel. I figured that there might have been some trap to contain you first. It''s good that you managed to escape."


    "A trap? There were no traps. Where is Zeraphine?" Seeker asked.


    The expressions of everyone around them changed.


    Only Suarez didn''t have any hateful expression.


    "...Are you serious, Colonel? You must have heard it. You have an ability to hear it, and I do not believe that it didn''t cross your mind." Lim slowly began. Her breathing became heavy.


    "I know it''s selfish. But you all know that I wish to save her. I want-"


    "STOP! JUST STOP! SEEKER! ZERAPHINE BETRAYED US! DON''T TELL ME YOU DON''T KNOW?!" Lim howled as loud as she can and was visibly trembling from her anger.


    "Lim! Stop! Colonel, whatever you''re denying. It''s true. If you saw Alphie, then she must have made way for you to know." Ivan interrupted.


    Seeker''s expression remained unchanging, but his heart was getting crushed.


    It was obvious. Seeker knew this ever since he killed the soldiers underground. They were Zeraphine''s constant guards.


    It became even more obvious when Seeker reached the main chamber where the Weapons, Exoskeletons, and Armors were being housed.


    Most people who weren''t Unlocked served the armies in other ways. Zeraphine was the one in charge of maintaining and ensuring that the army had enough weapons. She was in charge of not only assigning the weapons and tools, but she was also helping in technological development and the acquisition of raw materials.


    The room was already empty of all these weapons. The enemies all had strange Exoskeletons with different and new techs. The only person who could outfit everyone was Zeraphine.


    The fact that Zeraphine wasn''t dead in that room would have been the obvious answer.


    But Seeker didn''t have to deduce. When he entered that room and took the Force Booster that one of the Unlocked managed to protect as he died, Seeker could hear the dying voices telling Seeker that it was Zeraphine.


    Seeker ignored them all.


    Even on the falling moments of Alphie, Seeker had seen the first sentence that Alphie stated before mouthing I love you.


    Denial after denial. It was one of the times when Seeker Carlean failed to face the truth in front of him.


    And this was what made Lim very angry. It was very obvious. The fact that the enemy knew who to kill in their toon immediately proved it.


    "Colonel." Ivan reached out to Seeker.


    "It was Zeraphine. If you are safe and didn''t know that it was her means you weren''t trapped. Zeraphine didn''t know you went back to talk to her and didn''t calcte your presence. She came here and immediately killed Ace and Brenton. Lim and I took over the group, and we managed to save the core toon but lost most of our Surmounting Unbing men." Ivan reported.


    Will and Epic were already holding on to Lim, who wanted to erupt in anger at Seeker.


    "Colonel. Alphie and Fish were the first who thought of saving you. They tried to go down the lift, but Zeraphine shot her. Alphie saved Fish, but... well, you saw her. Thinking back, she must have heard Alphie say to us that we have to warn and save you. Thinking about it now... Zeraphine must have escaped when she found out you were here." Suarez filled in the details.


    "With you here, we will immediately make the orders to retreat."


    "Where is she?" Seeker finally asked.


    "Colonel. She is... a Presider. You''d be killed if you tried to fight her."


    "Where is she?" Seeker asked again.


    "... We don''t know." Ivan refused to answer Seeker''s question.


    BOOM!


    Seeker burst his boosters to the maximum and flew towards the exit of the mountain.


    "ZERAPHINE!" The loud, angry roar of Seeker was heard all over the mountain.


    Seeker charged for the many Exoskeletons that were flying around and began to kill them.


    Ivan and Lim immediately made their decision to do what they can.


    The battle outside was initially a one-sided massacre, but Seeker''s arrival caused a shift in the battle as his wild and unstoppable charge caused many to die. Even though Seeker only had a Force Booster, he did the impossible and could match the fast-paced movements of the Exoskeletons that were reigning attacks on the Unlocked army.


    Seeker used the Exoskeleton''s of both ally and enemy to move up the sky.


    "Colonel! Fight in my stead!" A pilot who was granted an Inhuman level Exoskeleton ejected and sent her suit directly where Seeker was. She was one of the very few who managed to equip herself with this Exoskeleton but gave it to Seeker. Seeker found outter that the Inhuman who gave him the Exoskeleton had died as she fell to her death.


    Seeker fought the invisible army and once more added another miracle to his many long lists of miracles as he fought off the army of Pioneers with very little backup.


    Ivan and Lim had takenmand and issued the escape as they fought their way out of the mountain steps. It wasn''t long before tremors urred, and the entire mountain copsed.


    Epic, Will, Suarez, and Fish concentrated on aiding Seeker''s wild and reckless charge. With their support, Seeker managed to kill arge bulk of soldiers.


    It was then that she appeared and gave the orders to retreat.


    "Retreat! The Realm King ising. Let''s not underestimate them." Zeraphine ordered.


    "ZERAPHINE!" Seeker roared as he charged towards her.


    "It seems you killed my ''husband''. Thanks. And sorry, Zeek. I have to escape now." Zeraphine sighed as she retreated.


    "I''LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR!" Seeker roared as he gave chase using the Exoskeleton he was wearing.


    "I hope so, Zeek. I wish you weren''t here to see this. You should have left. I heard from Alphie. You are still here because you were... going to propose again? Let''s talk next time. I''ll exin everything before I kill you. I''m sorry. Now you know why I can''t marry you." Tears began to fall as she said this.


    Zeraphine''s skin suit began to glow a strange light as she sped up and disappeared from Seeker''s line of sight.

 Chapter 351 - The Weakness Of The Unlocking

    Meryl, Lynd, and Charles were all silent at what Seeker had just revealed.


    Seeker was very detailed in his exnations. Even his emotions were being leaked, allowing the rest to sense everything he felt when he began telling them the tale.


    "That day, we lost... several toons. The Realm King''s armies were practically halved that day. She timed the attack when Lynd and Meryl were out. And apparently, she thought I had already left. I was the idiot that day. And that idiot would have been eptable had he had not fallen for a Presider. Fish, Lim, Suarez, Epic, Ivan, and Will were the only ones who survived her attack among all Inhumans in my squadron."


    "That''s why you ced them in a special ce. You didn''t meet with Ace, Alphie, Brenton, and the other Inhumans because you knew that the former group was stronger than the rest."


    "Right. Originally, my team was led by Ace, Alphie, and Brenton. Those sixter rose through the ranks. But it was only when they were left that I realized how much stronger they were than the rest. So I gave them special treatment to make them know how strong they were. That should encourage them and put a higher standard of excellence when they meet others I didn''t appear to. Zeraphine''s attacked should have killed all of them, but they survived. Of course, Zeraphine probably retreated when she realized that I was still there. Alphie must have shouted something at her before she got killed."


    "Then what about Alphie? Didn''t she die trying to get to you? Why did you separate her from the rest? I think she has the same potential but was driven by her... emotions." Meryl asked.


    "Those with potential aren''t those who give in to their emotions and make a reckless decision. You do well to remember that, Meryl. You died because of that." Seeker warned.


    Meryl was silent, but she couldn''t help but frown at Seeker''s conclusion. This was a girl that loved Seeker, and Seeker merely brushed them off as distractions.


    Lynd shook his head at the side and decided to tell Meryl the truth of Seeker''s intentions after this talk.


    "The fact was, Alphie should have been careful when facing Zeraphine. It would have been apparent at the first few seconds what she was. But apart from those three, the rest survived. They were Inhumans, and they managed to act to defend themselves immediately. Zeraphine wanted to kill them, but when she heard that I was around, she quickly began her retreat and ordered the army from the background."


    "And then you chased her, right?"


    "Yes. The Exoskeleton I wore is the very same Exoskeleton that I presented to the Oveers months ago. This was the same Exoskeleton that was modeled after and used to create those special roles in the army such as Tanks, Snipers, etc. One reason for my survival was that I suddenly noticed the heart of those soldiers. I can only guess it now since Zeraphine has clearly taken over the body of Lara. They were just like Lara. I checked Lara Diamon''s medical records. The data shows that the original or real Lara had her heart on the usual human''s side... But now it moved to the other side of the chest."


    "Then is it some form of parasite? Their techs in biology and human anatomy could easily create a parasite that eats away and reform someone. We''ve seen Lennox''s Thought Transference technology. What if they have something like that? It was a parasite that actively reced the bodies of these humans? Outwardly, they''d look the same." Charles guessed.


    "A what that can what?!" Meryl was rmed.


    "Some sort of doppelganger... That is possible." Lynd guessed.


    "That''s one of the logical exnations." Seeker nodded.


    "They might have some form of parasitic means to infiltrate and take over another slowly. Those who betrayed us had backgrounds that made it look impossible for them to be Aragarians. And on the moments we were fighting together, I was sure they were Unlocked. And all of a sudden, they lost the same speed, perception, and power of the Unlocked and had to rely on drugs, technology to bridge the gap. Their hearts even shifted to another side."


    "That''s insane!" Meryl was disgusted.


    "I think I can create a way to do that. But that will rely on altering the DNA code." Charles frowned.


    "Only Oveers have the chance to do that. Lennox is currently working on the way to do that. He can ''convert'' himself, but his goal is to be pure lightning. That way, he would be simr to an immortal. Still, cultivators need to achieve that eventually. Right now, we have been pushing the limits of our cells to the limit. But just like those cultivators seeking transcendence, or that Glorified body that Eagle keeps talking about in his sermons, we need to find a way to achieve it. Since we don''t have any known framework for that, the only option is to steal the ones that these Presiders have."


    "And we are the main ways to achieve that..." Lynd realized what it could do.


    "Right. Our Paths are the missing link to creating that. The Progenitor really thought well. The more we get to see and interact with what lies beyond the three dimensions, the more I begin to see that things like destiny, fate, and time itself are things that the Progenitor could alter. My revival in this time could be his work! We just don''t know how, but what if he had the means to prepare my destiny in two timelines? He couldn''t have left all the techs to us. That would be suspicious, and the enemy might easily discover it."


    "You mean... To hide the Good Soil, the Seeds, and everything from the Aragarians, the Progenitor foresaw and prepared things that were spread across two timelines?!" Charles was amazed.


    "Yes. The seeds alone had no hope in sprouting on their own. But my appearance that was the result of changing space-time itself brought the chance for us to be capable of killing Presiders."


    "Then what exactly is the Unlocking? Could this be something far beyond our understanding?" Meryl asked.


    "What if... the Unlocking is the highest form of technology that the Progenitor had. He was called the Lost Primordial, right? He was at the peak of the Aragarian society! What if he discovered the key to transcendence through the Unlocking? He gave it to us secretly. But such technology can''t be handed down easily. So he had to make immense preparations to give it to Earth to make sure that the Aragarians can''t find it!"


    "And that preparation was me. Think about it. He is called the Lost Primordial. This means he must have done something to be an outcast. Since we haven''t heard from him, he is dead or hiding, watching his seeds sprout. For all we know, we could be the very means for him to get his revenge." Seeker smiled.


    "Nutterballs..."


    "Yeah. Nutterballs."


    "Uncle, what''s a nutterball?"


    "It''s Lynd''s expression. Don''t mind it." Charles sighed.


    "We''re... tools?"


    "Would you rather roll over and die? I don''t care what his intentions are, Meryl. But if it''s a chance to fight and win against these Aragarians... I''ll take it." Seeker smiled.


    "And that''s why you called us here, right? You n to discuss the perspective we should be carrying when we go in that Underwater City?" Lynd guessed.


    "Yes. If our conjecture regarding the Lost Primordial is true...Then capturing a Presider or allying with one can get us the techs we need to fight back because they will have something that helps us connect the dots of the Unlocking. I already have an idea what it could be."


    "What do you mean, connect the dots?"


    "Here''s what I think... What we have, the Unlocking, is one part of the true tech he has. The other part is what the Presiders have. What is the main weakness of the Unlocking?" Seeker asked.


    "The Unlocking has a weakness?" Meryl wondered.


    "Let''s look at it from the perspective of the future me. I was an Inhuman. What was missing that always kept short in making me strong?"


    "Weren''t you already strong?" Charles asked.


    "No. Zeek is right. Now that you mentioned it. When you chased Zeraphine, you were just an Inhuman. How did you survive that? It''s like an Inhuman challenging a Ranked Hero solo. How did you manage to fight Zeraphine''s armies when very few Inhumans could? No Inhuman could defeat me! And I''m not being arrogant in saying this!"


    "You''re asking Seeker Carlean why he''s strong?" Charles had a mocking expression.


    "Charles, this Seeker Carlean is an Oveer. The past-future or whatever wasn''t. You haven''t been training to fight like the rest of us, so you might not understand this. But the warfare in Seeker''s original timeline is vastly different than the ones here. In his memories, an Inhuman was very valuable. But that''s not enough to face an army led by a Presider. Even Seeker said that an Inhuman sacrificed herself to get Seeker an Inhuman Exoskeleton. But what made you special, Zeek? Talents and abilities can only go so much!" Meryl asked.


    "I can answer that. The Inhuman Seeker Carlean did something impossible. He had a Pathless Path. Or you could say, he had a Skill-less Skill."


    "What?" Meryl was confused at Lynd''s exnation.


    "The Passover. It was a Skill that allowed him to pass through whatever obstacles. But unlike other Paths or Skills, he didn''t have anything but his wit and power. You could say that it was an ability like Alean''s Zone. I mean, we have a few in this world. Seeker''s future didn''t have things like Zone, or Lies, or Prophets. These are all things that are Path''s but doesn''t have a physical nature. Eagle was the different one. He could convince people, but it was rted to his Path that could defy gravity."


    "Lynd''s right. Our previous understanding of these Paths might have been incorrect. My arrival in this timeline became foundational for others to develop a Pathless Path like my own."


    "Right. The future you''s Pathless Path of the Passover was very limited in being able to pass through. It''s very difficult to categorize, so I think no one in Zeek''s original timeline recognized it. But going back to Zeek''s question, that was Zeek''s strength. But what was his weakness? With this, it''s easy to guess." Lynd answered.


    "Charles, could you check my brain. I think I developed a brain tumor from listening to this conversation."


    Seekerughed at Meryl''s joke.


    "Very good, Lynd! You finally found a way to replicate a portion of Arthur''s thinking. If only you could do Lowengren''s."


    "Impossible. He is a liar. If I try to imitate or observe him, I''d be deceived. My Path can''t work on him at my current level. But anyway, I am right! The weakness of the Unlocking, which is also in fully obvious in this world, is that it does not give us a body that can cope with it!" Lynd revealed.


    "You could have just went with that, you know? Every day we try to find ways to build the glorified body. Why did you have to go the roundabout trip to talk about Seeker''s future Pathless Path?"


    "Erm...Meryl... You were the one who asked about Seeker''s strength and questioned future Zeek''s ways of fighting and surviving a Presiders army." Charles reminded.


    "Well-well... It''s because you confused me!"


    "Actually, Meryl. That was an important question. I had the Pathless Path of the Passover. But it never really manifested because I didn''t have the body that could. In this life, with the various experiments and techs we acquired, I now have that body! I could even teleport, which not even Lynd can do because he does not have the Pathless Path of the Passover! I couldn''t physically manifest this skill because my body was too weak! Just like how you managed to best Typical by changing your body, I didn''t know how or what this body is to get it! To teleport, I needed to have a body that is resilient or capable of crossing the three dimensions. This is the weakness of the Unlocking. And our weakness is the strength of the Presider!"


    "I get it now! They can create the body, but they do not have the Unlocking!" Charles finally caught up.


    "Yes. And that''s our mission! We have to acquire a body like theirs! They have so many techs, and from our investigation, we know that you are rewarded or purchase techs in their society. But where was it stored? When we found Presider Pridgeon, he had a strange suit, remember? One that we couldn''t remove or study because of the various techs it had."


    "That''s it! Their body! Those techs were engraved in their body!"


    "That should also be how they can recode their DNA! We are forcibly changing it by imitating the other Unlocked... But Presiders can alter it easily! What an amazing body!"


    "So our aim, is to one way or another, leave that Underwater City with a body of a Presider. What a daring mission. But I guess, it''s fitting as our Paths are most necessary for it."


    "Man! What aplicated mission. I''m starting to envy everyone else mission which is simply to fight and train each other by attempting to kill each other in an actual war." Meryl sighed.


    "Oh, right. What about Lowengren and Arthur? Now that I think about it... Harker, Arthur, Lowengren, Vender... And if Gardo''s real Path is being a clown... that makes five people with these so-called, Pathless Paths!" Meryl realized it.


    "Alean will be here because Arthur said she''d grow here. To make the long story short, Lowengren and Arthur have the same aim. But their aim involves bringing havoc to Egypt. Honestly, it''s sort of a contest between the two of us of who can get a Presider''s body first.." Seeker smiled.

 Chapter 352 - A Show For The Presiders

    Alexander Lanterk kept in mind his discussion with Lara. Despite the apparently fruitless discussion, Alexander had already been pondering how phallic techs can screw him. He began to look into the multiple information that he had ess to and even made use of his nted spies spread across various Pioneers. While the Presiders hadmand of various Pioneers, Lanterk hadmunicated with an army of nteds and enforced various means even to nt them as if they were humans.


    Lanterk appeared to have no team of his own on Earth as he had shown no interest in gathering people, but the truth of his childish facade was a means to prevent others from being suspicious of his activity. Since his arrival, he had been sowing various intrigues among nteds, which led some tomit crimes against each other.


    All that Lanterk needed was a few Pioneer to enact his dirty work toplete it.


    Feltrick-Unive in My-Pangea, another deceased Pioneer in China, and a few in Africa, and a few in the Americas were his only contact. Lanterk had an easy means of hiding this secret allegiance from the more heartless Presiders who enved their Pioneers.


    These Pioneers had a second personality. The science of Lanterk was something sinister that it was already affecting the thought process of the brain. And with these groups in ce, the Pioneers would secretly fund and provide resources to a few nteds that would brainwash and create agents not among the Pioneers and nteds but on humans instead.


    While the Pioneers and nteds had already created various means to ensure that their race would be hidden from the world, Lanterk knew how Pioneers operated. And this knowledge allowed him to ce spies on key ces that can allow the humans to send vital information back and forth hismunication system.


    With this in ce, he was able to confirm the emergence of the rumored Phallic tech. The war on the shores of the Caliphates centered on this elusive tech. A surviving soldier who witnessed the battle and deflected to Africa and was treated as insane told of tales that made Lanterk even more curious.


    The Pioneer ntter, who was also a well-known General, was seen at the battleground. Strange whale-like submarines and the fearful retreat of the WGP Exoskeletons of Admiral and Commander were soon confirmed.


    The presence of a strange lightning technology that destroyed the base was also centered in this Phallic tech.


    And there was also the bizarre naked man who appeared at the climax of the battle.


    "These reports would have been ignored by any Presider that doesn''t know of Phallic tech. But now..." Lanterk kept on secretly reading the reports around the world.


    "It really exists. But what does it mean? What did Zeraphine mean by ''it can screw me?''" Lanterk continued to ponder.


    While this was happening, Zeraphine was on her room making another set of preparation. She had no choice but to use this technology, and it would cost him another considerable amount of Universe Energy.


    Zeraphine''s consciousness somehow superimposed itself on one of the spies she has ced near Straviaa, but now, this spy became an importantmunication channel.


    "Lanterk is strong?!" Straviaa was stunned at Zeraphine''s conclusion.


    "That''s right. The mysterious Progenitor told me about him. He said that I should be careful of the kid with four horns."


    "Kid? As in the child of the goat? It can''t be! Lanterk is part of that family?!"


    "It does make sense. That family once defeated principal Merrik. He could have been forced to do this as a cover. Perhaps everything about Principal Merrik''s apparent fondness and over-protectiveness was all a ruse! This mission on Earth is far moreplicated than it seems!" Zeraphine exined.


    "What is your n?" Straviaa then asked an important question. She was afraid that the pressure and fear of having enemies by Zeraphine''s side would get to her.


    "Hmph! I already dealt with it! It''s a pity that I have to reveal the existence of that ursed tech."


    "A tech?"


    "Yes. It''s a certain tech. I guess it''s no use hiding it anyway. Soon it will be all over the ce. Ugh. Such embarrassing tech. And I swore never to use it. But I guess I have to. Straviaa. You might as well use that tech. This ce will be littered with people looking for it. Even this Lanterk asked me about it pretending to be an idiot. I''ll have to thank this Progenitor for giving me the warning. I wouldn''t have known about the elemental diversity of that tech! Straviaa. We have toe to an ord. I''ll tell you what I know, and you tell me what you know!"


    "The what?" Straviaa was confused.


    "What else? The Ignition rue Essence of that tech! I''m sure your father already gave you that as a precaution. For someone in a family that is expected to have a Prime in the next century, I''m sure that you already have that! Just tell me the phrase, and I will tell you my phrase. We don''t have to exin it all the more. Of course, I will not deny that this will be more advantageous for me. The truth is I already understand three Ignition rue Essence of that technology. I know that it''s disgusting, but it''s time to use Phallic Techs." Zeraphine calmly exined.


    But when she said that, Straviaa felt her heart jolt.


    "You want to talk about Phallic techs and trade the Ig-Ignition rue Essence?" Straviaa frowned and gave a disgusted look at Zeraphine.


    "Yes." Zeraphine answered directly and gazed at Straviaa''s eye directly.


    What Zeraphine didn''t know and couldn''t detect, Straviaa''s current soul was linked with Enderks.


    "Phallic techs? So it really exists. To think that a Prime''s daughter like Zeraphine has it. And by the looks of it, more Presiders know of it!" Enderks was amazed.


    "What is this Ignition rue Essence thing she keeps talking about?"


    "I have no idea. But it looks like we have to change our perception of what Zeraphine is. She could be stronger. But there is also a possibility that she is lying! This is her means to probe us. In this case, it is better to feign ignorance."


    "Right." Straviaa had already decided on this.


    "No. Don''t think I''m a child like that Lanterk. You could be making these things up. Ignition rue Essence? What is that?" Straviaa gave a sarcastic smile and even shook her head.


    "Fine. y those mind games. Lanterk already knows one Ignition rue Essence, but I gave him the hardest. So I don''t think he can figure it out. But keep that in mind. Lanterk is strong and is ying the harmless littlemb card. I already gave him a beating for it and took a tech from him. I urge you to do the same. I won''t contact you again for any development. We will be reaching the World Governing Trading Hub shortly. We will see each other in South America." The eyes of the woman before Straviaa suddenly changed, and she fainted.


    "Do you really think she''s lying?" Straviaa immediately asked.


    Enderks appeared nearby through teleportation.


    "The problem is... it''s from her. If it was some other Presider, then I would have concluded that it is a lie. But it''s from Zeraphine."


    "Right. She''s not so scheming. Not unless Lanterk is allied with her."


    "That is another possibility. We will find out soon in South America. Let''s hasten our assimtion of each other techs. We don''t know what battles we will face in South America." Enderks frowned.


    Back in the World Governing Trading Hub, Seeker and his team met once more with Phoenix Everhiss.


    They were in arge open chamber that was used for Emperors to train or fight each other. Now, it seemed like an altar. Right in the center of this room stood a long, tall pir that was made with basic metal. There was nothing special about it. But inside the room was the silent and invisible Origin energy that the WGP had been creating.


    "The arrangements are nowplete. We are ready to board the two Presiders. The Asherah Pole is ready. I don''t see why we need to do this."


    Seeker smiled.


    "Two Presiders believe the existence of what is called the Phallic Tech. Your Origin power is something iplete. It uses the same basis for the ability that my future is called Realm. With it, you have been able to create that power through the Unlocking. We are somehow able tomunicate and link our minds into our surroundings and environment. So, if they see a strange power that logically should only belong to someone at their level or beyond, then it will spread even greater doubt. Our goal is to make them suspect and even kill each other. They will be walking among their peers, wondering just who is among them who has that! This is also a way for us to discern what lies Zeraphine gave that kid Alexander."


    "Then you will present the facade?" Pheonix asked.


    "Yes. As long as there is Origin in that room, I''ll be able to give them a show. Of course, the only thing I will be showing off is telekinesis. I already talked with Charles. One of his diseases will be released in my body, and I will allow it to infect me. This will give more reason for me to have a chance to meet Zeraphine alone. I n to use the Eeyore on her."


    "The Eeyore?" Pheonix frowned.


    "It''s one of the Courtship strategies in A Game of Attraction. It''s when a guy or a girl uses pity, pain, and whatever to draw attention to the girl. In this case, Seeker ns to trigger the emotions of Zeraphine. By awakening her desires to help and nurture Seeker, Seeker ns to use that to spark possible romance and attraction." Lynd exined as he yawned and walked out of the room.


    Meryl was silent, but he followed Lynd while Seeker continued toy out the ns with Charles and the rest of the Everhiss Emperors and Empresses.


    "Meryl... Don''t try to get Zeek and Alphie together." Lynd suddenly mentioned.


    "What? Where''s all thating from?"


    "I know you. Listen, Seeker really loves that Alphie girl. But the reason why Seeker is harsh and distant to this girl is that Alphie fell in love with Seeker."


    "Exactly! I mean, Kristine and Seeker are forced. Zeraphine and Seeker is just in twisted!"


    "And Alphie and Seeker just won''t float. Don''t try to ship them. Seeker is distancing himself from Alphie and limiting interaction because he really did care and love Alphie. Just not the romantic type."


    "Then what was it?"


    "The same love he has for me."


    "Gay love?"


    "tonic! Jeez."


    "I know what you mean." Meryl chuckled.


    "But you know me! such juicy potential for love! I just can''t help it! You know I''m a helpless romantic. I can''t help but root for this Alphie girl who clearly loves Seeker more than Kristine or Zeraphine."


    "And that''s exactly why Seeker doesn''t want to have her fall in love with him again. He wants Alphie to be happy and find someone in this world. Don''t think that Seeker doesn''t care for Alphie. He does. I saw the pain in his eyes when he recounted seeing Alphie''s dying body. Do you get it? Seeker loves Alphie so much that he wants her to be happy, which means not making Alphie fall in love with her now."


    "So you mean... there''s a chance that Seeker will fall for Alphie?" Meryl smiled mischievously.


    "Nutterballs.." Lynd cursed.

 Chapter 353 - Throne And Poles

    Seeker entered therge room to test it. The specifications he required were not very hard to make, and so the WGP was able to immediately craft the metal pole that was now ced inside the room. Origin energy was being ced inside, and Seeker continued to test it. With the rich Origin energy, Seeker was able to perform several techniques that triggered the Origin energy.


    Seeker tried telekinesis of various forms and even began to activate the sound that he created and tried to make it ride the wave of the Origin energy and created a force weaker than Richie''s Peals of Thunder. By harnessing the coldness in his body that contained cold fusion, Seeker was able to make tiny crystals of ice in the Origin around him.


    The Emperors and Empresses were amazed at the various things he created.


    "And all of that... is not using the gear he wears?" One of the Emperors asked Cliff who was nearby.


    "No. Later he will show you the same thing but without any gears. He''ll probably be doing that in his underwear. But as discussed, you guys have to pretend that whatever Seeker is doing is eptable."


    "If we do that, won''t our enemies attack us in full force? We''d be sitting ducks if theye at us!"


    "It is a gamble. But the odds are in our favor. We have someone who can practically predict the direction the future is going. And with that, he arranged things to be leaning to our advantage. Even though that Presider wasn''t in his prediction, it should only help us."


    "What are the specifics?"


    "I don''t know. I only sound smart if I say something that is within my memories. If not, I''m dumb as a rock." Cliffughed at himself.


    "Then what do you know? What can you tell us about this n?" Another Emperor asked.


    "Well, the general n is to make the Presiders think that their enemy is a traitor within their ranks. If that''s the case, no one would recklessly try to attack. They will try to investigate, build their foundations before fighting. Based on what we have noticed, the warfare and strategies of the Presider are different from us. Their techs are very diverse, so we don''t know how they could infiltrate our ranks. You guys were practically untouched because these Presiders would expend some effort that would be costly for them. So until now, only those at the level of Pioneers attempted to invade you. But right now, with all of them Presiders, we really can''t trust anyone. And so, the best way is to make themselves doubt each other. That way, efforts will be made to figure out ''which Presider'' we are allied with and would always act cautiously. Our purpose is to buy more time."


    "So, in conclusion, right now, if we present ourselves as strong, it would make the Presiders hesitate to attack us."


    "Yeah. I should have exined it that way... But that''s how it is. The n is to get them to fight each other, and by the time that they realized they''d been duped, we''d already had a great advantage over them. We might have the chance to fight back. Of course, along the way, the things that Seeker will do will only get worse. That''s why Seeker and his team are headed to South America. Although they would probably not end up in some big fight, this is the most dangerous mission that they are taking part in."


    "And this phallic tech joke? This will be used to make them go after a wild goose chase?"


    "A diversion. The Presiders will soon find out about the technology that you have. The goal is to make them change their focus. Instead of Thrones, they will look for... well.. those poles."


    "Then why are we going to the trouble to create that strange ritual that he suggested?"


    "To confuse the Presiders, of course. They will see Seeker walk in, naked, and after going through some weird cult worship, he''ll gain powers. This is also in line with one of the past lies we nted on one of the Presiders we met. We made it look like... well, we''re Satan."


    "Satan?" Several Emperors chorused.


    "Yep. It''s a long story. Satan and a subus. It''s also one of the reasons why we are confident that Presiders will soon betray each other. One already did and acted. A few more ought to be in the process of attacking others. And we''ll be adding more confusion to this. So which is why we need the whole weird ritual thing and those pole dancers." Cliff pointed at the many ritual dancers who wouldter dance while Seeker performed his magic.


    "..." The Emperors had their mouths opened at the choice of words that Cliff used.


    "Ri-Right. The Pole Dancers."


    "Anyway, we''ll be in position. As you know, this n to impress and strike doubt and fear into the hearts of these Presiders involves an exhibition battle against them. Zeek and the group will be fighting, and I''m in charge of observing and warning them of the battlefield. I think Zeek should be unveiling the weakened Exoskeletons we prepared. See you around." Cliff moved out and went to his position.


    The submarine that held Lara and Alexander was finally docking in the World Governing Trade Hub.


    The region, which was formerly known as Hawaii, was now a hub of underwater trades. It had thergest known underwater fortress aside from the Worlds Helm.


    "Impressive." Zeraphine praised as she looked at the view.


    The entire horizon had the underwater fortresses on sight.


    "The underwater fortress that is said to be unsinkable. No wonder the humans used this ce to be the trading hub." Lanterkmended.


    "Yournguage and words are careless." Zeraphine frowned.


    "But, do we need to be careful? If you said that a Presider is here, then who cares what we say!" Lanterkined.


    "Just... ugh! You''re such an idiot! What if that Harker hears what you say and conclude your real identity! You''ll be forced to pay him another foundational science!" Zeraphine cursed.


    "Oh... Alright! I''ll listen to you. But no more pping! The next time you p me, I''ll fight back!" Lanterk threatened.


    Both Presiders were thinking of different things after this, and soon, they began to move to the departure area of the ship.


    Zeraphine met Charm along the way, and the two went in pairs, with Lanterk being the third wheel.


    "Good to see you again, Alexander. The entire sub is talking about you. They areining how a foreign family got into this sub." Charm giggled.


    "Haven''t heard of Lanterk, though."


    Lara gave Charm a meaningful smile.


    "I know, I know. I don''t have a choice, Lara. My parents are pressuring me to ask about that name and use my friendship with you to get more info and all that crap. We haven''t found any Lanterk family."


    "Obviously, it''s a lie. Why would I say Lanter''s real family name? But I''ll whisper it to you now." Lara smiled.


    Charm was shocked at Lara''s sudden decision and hadn''t processed everything when Lara was already whispering in her ear.


    At that moment, the various families were casually walking around but were secretly using many techs to spy on what Zeraphine was saying.


    "Small Willy?" Charm asked with a confused voice.


    "His family name... is Small Willy.


    Lara wasughing.


    Lanterk felt like he wanted to skin Lara alive but could only give her a re.


    "Sorry, Charm. I, too, have my responsibilities."


    Suddenly, an announcement was made.


    "Ladies and Gentlemen. Because of... recent developments, the Progenitor, in partnership with General Harker, the Light of Pangea presents, the powerful future soldiers of the world!"


    Arge disy was shown at the area where everyone was gathered, and it disyed the sea before them.


    "Together with the WGP, an alliance that will cause us to have no fear of this Lost Primordial is made! These future soldiers are not unknown individuals. They have conquered the world of gaming, but with the techs we have, we brought to life the skill and power they have shown in the gaming world. Behold, Pangea''s secret soldiers, The Red, the Blue, and the Yellow!"


    Three Exoskeletons sted out of one of the ports, and they had a very bright and strange Exoskeleton design.


    "To provide you with such entertainment, we are asking all families to send at least three or four representatives to pilot an exoskeleton and attempt to shoot down these three! You may use the Exoskeletons that you brought, provided that you only use bullets. Details of what weapons you may or may not use will be presented on these screens."


    Everyone was stunned at the announcement.


    "Anyone who manages to hit any of these three soldiers will be gifted with Alexander Lanterk''s tech. -Oh? His real name is what? Seriously? Alright. Correction, that''s Alexander ... erm... Sma-Small Willy."


    The room erupted inughter.


    "See? He is listening." Laraughed at Lanterk, who was burning red in anger.


    "If mister... Sma- erm... Alexander manages to hit any of these three. He won''t need to offer that tech. This is the Progenitor''s instruction."


    Lanterk''s previous angry expression changed as he was surprised.


    "He''s messing with you. Be careful." Lara whispered as she tapped his shoulder and pulled Charm away as she began to move towards the armory to outfit an Exoskeleton the Diamon''s brought.


    "Mister... Alexander. Since the Progenitor forced you to reveal your family name, he said that you could use one of our Exoskeleton." Jane appeared at the side.


    Lanterk turned over and gave Jane a strong re. Although this girl did nothing, she was the person who lowered Lanterk''s guard, creating the painful scene earlier.


    "I''m sorry for what I did earlier. I tried to stop those two." Jane gave Alexander a strange look in return.


    Lanterk maintained his re as Jane looked at him.


    "Please ept my courtesy. But don''t smear the pride of my family. I am a Dalisay. And Dalisay''s are... well... We''re bigger." She sneered.


    Lanterk turned and avoided her eyes but vowed that he would kill this person soon.


    "Just get me to your stupid armory."


    Lanterk followed and ignored Jane and the other Dalisay''s who tried to open a conversation with him. Another member of the Dalisay was extremely embarrassed and kept apologizing for what Jane did and said.


    "Please apologize, Miss Jane! I''m sorry, mister Lanterk, but this Jane does not represent the will of the Dalisay family. She is not even a Dalisay by blood! Jane!"


    "No way, I''m apologizing. I already revealed my tech and tried to stop the fight, but this arrogant little brat is being ungrateful!"


    "He''s a child!" The other man secretly whispered on Jane.


    "Well, he is pretty cute with his innocent eyes. He''s like a cute little animal. Like a goat! I guess I''ll call you Alexander the Kid." Jane smiled.


    Lanterk nearly froze as he heard that but kept on moving.


    "Such a cute little kid! How many horns do you have now, little goat? Are you going to grow four horns when you grow up?" Jane asked yfully.


    Lanterk turned around to look at Jane angrily. It was the first time that Lanterk felt threatened in a long time.


    "That''s it! Jane, you are officially relieved of your duties!" The Dalisay next to Jane erupted.


    "Oh, shut up. I never really pointed it out, but check the shares that President Gardo assigned to me. I outrank you." Janeughed and ignored the man.


    "You...!" The Dalisay next to her shouted angrily.


    "Guards. Take him away." Jane ignored the angry Dalisy, who was now escorted out by some of the guards following her.


    The group walked and soon reached the armory.


    "Guards, I will change. So please don''t follow us inside."


    "But! Miss Jane! The kid!"


    "This little goat can''t harm me. If you hear a loud bang, then ready to clean up the gore, I leave behind from blowing up this kid." Jane raised her fist, which began to glow red.


    "Ye-Yes, Miss!" The guards all nodded.


    Jane opened the hatch leading to the armory, and Lanterk followed.


    As the doors were shut, Lanterk used a strange tech to block all vibrations.


    "You better tell me who you are, or I''ll kill you now.." Lanterk threatened.

 Chapter 354 - Deceiving Lanterk

    Lanterk was very, very angry.


    It had been so long since he felt this threatened. He was a master maniptor, but the scenario was turning into greater chaos. How could this unknown human know of him? Of his true self?


    At that moment, four entities from a far-off ne were looking at Jane, and Jane could feel the same sensation as before.


    "Oh, don''t do that. It reveals more about you if all five of you will look at me like that. I''m still human. I can''t see in the other dimensions, you know..." Jane chuckled. Her previous fears had been lifted. She had sent the reports to the Unlocked group about what she saw, and the painting of Granite Mng further proved this.


    To prepare for this talk, Jane spent the remaining time immersed in great difort. The sensation of those four beings looking at her didn''t scare her. She had trained and fought against Oveers and had experienced great horror. What was difficult was the conflicting sensation of somehow peering out of the three dimensions. That was what she felt when all four entities were looking at her from a distant eternity.


    To prepare for this, she was forced toplete the one challenge that various Unlocked couldn''tplete. The challenge was to listen at a simple audio file. The length was a simple five minutes, but it was endlessly looped, and the Unlocked was tasked to listen to it for more than one hour.


    This was what Jane did.


    The audio in question was a recording of the howls, shouts, screeches, and rants of Vender Hirock.


    The Vexation tape was a strange audio source that became a curious oddity that even made Richie interested. But even Richie couldn''t analyze the audio file as he was driven mad by the annoying, unttering, and unnerving sound.


    With such experiences, the reality-bending experience was something that she could endure. This was all part of the n to do the impossible. Jane was to deceive a Presider.


    Lanterk''s prideful and arrogant form shattered when Jane said those words.


    "Yo-You! How did you!"


    "Could you stop now? Presider Pridgeon made me go through these weird sessions, and while I can manage, it is very, very ufortable." Jane smiled.


    All of a sudden, the four beings disappeared.


    "Checkmate." Jane thought to herself.


    "Better! Alright. First of all, rx. I''m not even a nted or a Pioneer! I''m human. Of course, Presider treats me well. Anyway, he''s done with his fun, but Presider Crostfree sent me to tell you this. Be wary of that Zeraphine. If you knew who she really is, you wouldn''t be so chummy as you are right now." Jane exined.


    "Zeraphine?! Who is she?"


    "I don''t know. Presider Crostfree didn''t tell me. But he doesn''t like it when his pieces can fight back. So you are our ace. Zeraphine had been quite obedient, but we knew it was all a ploy. Anyway, now that you know all of this, we have to ask you. Zeraphine must have fallen for your ploy. She doesn''t have the same techs Presider Pridgeon has, and the knowledge Presider Crostfree has to figure out who you are. So that''s your advantage. Or is it? Can you really challenge her?"


    "What do you mean?" Lanterk was very cautious of how he answered and pretended to be ignorant.


    "What do you know about Phallic Techs?" Jane asked.


    "Phallic techs? It- it can screw you..." Lanterk finally gave in and answered ambiguously.


    Jane first frowned and ced her two index fingers on her head.


    "It can screw you." She repeated.


    At the back of Jane''s head, she was hoping that this crazy, nonsensical ploy would bewilder the Presider before her who could kill her with a flick of a finger.


    "President Gardo... I hope this crazy suggestion works." Jane hoped.


    After a few seconds, she stopped.


    "Oh. That tech. Wow. Presider is impressed. As expected of the four-horned Goat!" Jane chuckled.


    Lanterk''s expression was even more confused now.


    "Or should I call you the four pir goat? Those four things are looking at me. What exactly are those things? Presider wouldn''t tell me." Jane asked.


    The casual answer followed by a detailed revtion of what she saw made Lanterk feel that there was a hole in his stomach.


    What power do Pridgeon and Crostfree really possess that they could afford to cause Jane, a human, to experience the dimensions beyond the three? Even Presiders could not handle the oddities of those dimensions and would make them posses extremely nauseated!


    How did this woman withstand such sensation? Normally, humans can''t even feel it. And if they can feel it, it would have made them fall t on the floor!


    The expressions of Lanterk pleased Jane greatly.


    "Good! The n is working. Phallic techs can screw you, huh? That means Zeraphine must have gone with that route and did Tactic Seventeen of Lowengren''s Lies. Intimidate in arrogance. She presented herself to be more powerful and imed to have ess to some Phallic Techs. Now we know just how Zeraphine phrased her made-up knowledge of Phallic Techs." Jane thought as she smiled back.


    "Anyway, Lanterk. The offer earlier was real. The tech that Zeraphine mentioned was something we Presiders don''t have. So it would be interesting if you give the foundations science for those things. If you can shoot Seeker Carlean, Lynd Indigo, and Meryl Mikado, you won''t have to give that tech.


    "Seeker? Wait! Those four?"


    "Of course! They are one of Pridgeon''s experiments. One of the weaker powers of Phallic techs. This is also a test for you. We want to see just how powerful you are and if you have already achieved the power of the mind. And of course, it''s one way for Presider Pridgeon to flex his techs a bit."


    "A mere human dares to say those things? I am still a Presider. All you have done is wag your lips. How can I know that what you are saying is true?" Lanterk frowned.


    Jane smiled and took out a small cylinder that had a very troublesome shape.


    "Condensed application of Phallic Techs can screw you. This version does everything but does not alter the fourth and fifth dimensions. Presider Pridgeon assumed you''d be able to exin it. Frankly, I don''t. Presider said that it''s like mastering the technology of heat to the point that I don''t need fire itself. Is it like making fire underwater without fire? I don''t understand. But he said if you do have Phallic techs, you''d understand. Otherwise, what you imed to know about Phallic Techs is only something Zeraphine hinted to you." Jane spouted some nonsense as she ruffled down her suit to reveal a metal case. She opened it and pulled out an object.


    The strange ck and cylindrical object with a strange design seemed to have no fluctuation. The scans show that it only contained what appeared to be living cells. But such techs weremon. Biometal was a rathermon tech for Presiders so that their weapons, exoskeletons, and armors could heal on their own.


    Lanterk was curious. He needed to verify the truth of these things. Was Phallic tech actually true? Lanterk could not help but consider that Zeraphine, Pridgeon, and Crostfree could be working together. He needed the means to verify it.


    "Where do you want me to test it? Should I screw you, as they would say?" Jane chuckled.


    Lanterk raised his arm, used his powers to draw out Universe Energy, and created a strange cube.


    "There." The metal cube was hovering in space, but through Jane''s Unlocking, she could tell that this metal cube was not just hovering but was ''affixed'' in the specific location.


    "Alright. Give me a sec. This tech is so primitive. So I have to worship it for a bit." Jane began to pray.


    Lanterk was confused at the sudden action.


    "Oh, Mighty Staff! Oh, Mighty Asherah! Pierce through!" Jane worshiped as she held the object towards the strange metal.


    PENG!


    A sudden loud force struck the cube and even created a small dent on it.


    Lanterk felt his heart stop. There was no fluctuation, there was no alteration of the fabric of space, yet a strange force was generated that could even damage the steel formed from Universe Energy! There was no remaining residue of energy or anything that Lanterk could study. He kept quiet and was trying very hard not to grit his teeth.


    He had seen it and believed. Phallic techs were real. The trigger to use that attack was so strange that even with his scanners, he could only see a strange heat building up, but the science of how the cylinder created the strange piercing attack made no sense.


    The floating metal cube fell to the ground as the invisible force that was holding it disappeared.


    "That is one interesting steel. It withstood such powerful screwing!" Janemended as she bent down to take a closer look at the metal but dared not touch it.


    "Will this kill me if I touch it?"


    "No."


    "I''m not risking it. Are you going to take this metal and study it to understand the screwing science?" Jane suddenly asked.


    "... Keep it. Tell Presider Pridgeon he has my respects for deceiving me." Lanterk wore an ugly expression which he didn''t hide even from Jane. In fact, there was no use hiding it. With the revtion that Phallic techs were real, Lanterk had no choice but to act more lowkey and observe and possibly steal possible Phallic techs. He had Zeraphine and even this person. Lanterk even vowed that the recording he saw of the attack would be studied to understand the concept of screwing.


    "Just be careful, Kid. Do you think every Presider that went here is weak? More than half of them should have powers that match or surpass yours. Zeraphine is one example. Don''t think that your little facade has fooled everyone. Even before the fake death of Presider Crostfree, Presider Pridgeon has already sold the information about you on one other Presider. Of course, who it is is a secret, and I don''t even know." Jane shook his head and stood up, ignoring the metal on the ground.


    "I hope this proves whatever doubts you have. Anyway, I was tasked to join and y around with those three. I will be fighting Seeker and his team seriously. This meeting between the Progenitor and the Lost Primordial is quite exciting." Jane smiled.


    "You can use any of those Exoskeletons. As stated, you can only use whatever weapon in that Exoskeleton. You could use whatever aiming science you have or whatnot. Just don''t use techs that can shoot and kill. They only have machine guns anyway. So it''s a fair fight." Jane went to the other side and began to suit up in an Exoskeleton ready to deploy.


    Lanterk went and suited up faster than Jane and immediately deployed himself out of the Armory and into the sea.


    Jane finally sighed.


    "I did it. I managed to fool a Presider. The book that Lowengren works.. And it seems I managed to give Seeker a powerful steel that they can study! Now they''ll definitely approve deploying me to Egypt!" Jane smiled as she deployed herself into the ocean.

 Chapter 355 - Cliff’s Memory

    While Lanterk and Jane had their little talk, the battle outside had already begun. This was because several families hurriedly sent their groups to attack the three Exoskeletons since the rewards would be given on who could first shoot or hit any of the three.


    There were over forty Exoskeletons on their side that had started to attack three.


    Three Exoskeletons fought underwater against forty and dove in the barrage of bullets that constantly assaulted them like rain.


    The Exoskeletons used had state-of-the-art bullets that were designed for maximum speed and uracy during underwater battles.


    And yet, even with the speed and power of these bullets, not one seems to have fallen to hit the three.


    Cliff watched the entire battle and continued toyout the ongoing developments all over the entire map.


    Cliff was watching and memorizing every Exoskeleton and every minor tech that they began to use. Although everyone could only use bullets to attack, the techs that either supports them in their aim, vision, and movement underwater were allowed.


    Each family began to deploy unique techs as they fought.


    Cliff continued to do his job and informing the group, but as it was Cliff''s first time tomand Ranked Heroes and an Oveer, the mission was the most stressful thing for him.


    "Meryl, the number of enemies shooting you will increase by five Exoskeletons if you continue in that trajectory. Erm... No... I meant you should stop that. Why are you diving into that ce?"


    "Lynd, when I said it would be impossible for you to evade all those bullets if you stay on that ce, it wasn''t supposed to be a challenge."


    "Seeker! STOP DOING THAT!"


    Cliff''s anxiety increased all the more. Everything he said was supposed to be taken as a warning. But the trio was doing the exact opposite and wanted more chaos.


    Meryl was intentionally looking for ces where the bullets would pass and would swim through it as she would chuckle and shout about the great fun she had.


    Lynd was shooting small bullets that would hit and trigger the anger of the Exoskeletons. The angry bunch was now in a circr formation that kept on a barrage, and Lynd was testing just how far he could stay there without using any of his ability.


    Seeker only has a few enemies attacking him, but he tested the limits of what he could do. He was staying at a ce where the Exoskeletons near him could shoot him at point-nk. Seeker was trying to evade everything while waiting for thest possible moment he could move.


    Slowly, Seeker''s skill kept improving as he estimated the right time when he could move his Exoskeleton finger from the hole where the bullets would be released.


    The particr pilot of the Exoskeleton that Seeker was toying with had already flown into a wild rage. They tried to tackle and punch Seeker.


    "BOOP!" Seeker booped the nose of the Exoskeleton before retreating, driving the pilot into an even more insane tantrum.


    "Cliff. Give me five more Exoskeletons." Lynd asked.


    "Hey, Lynd. Don''t go hogging all the Exoskeletons! Cliff, give ME five more."


    "I can''t GIVE you Exoskeletons! I don''t control them!"


    "Can''t you use your Path thingy to give me more!"


    "You''re not even following my instructions! If you want to get five more, you''d have too-"


    "Eh, you''re too slow. I''ll do it on my own." Meryl dove even further into the horde of Exoskeletons who were focused on Lynd. She shot a few rounds which startled the enemy, and turned towards her.


    "Meryl! You jerk!" Lynd cursed and fired several rounds at Meryl.


    The attacks of bullets flew and somehow filled in the various Exoskeletons'' gaps in their constant barrage.


    With just a few bullets, Lynd was able to corner Meryl and force Meryl to block the attack.


    Meryl shot several rounds that struck the bullets that were headed towards her.


    The few people that managed to discern that Meryl managed to shoot a bullet urately were amazed.ha


    But this attack triggered Meryl''s anger, and she began to shoot Lynd.


    Cliff felt that he would spit out blood from the frustration and the anxiety that he had.


    "Seeker! Tell Meryl and Lynd to sto- WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!"


    Seeker had ejected himself from his Exoskeleton and was now swimming around. He was controlling his Exoskeleton to boop the nose of the nearby enemies that were shooting him.


    As the Exoskeletons they had were the first designed Inhuman Exoskeleton and were made with their cultivated cells, the science was still far from perfect. There were dys to the release and activation of the Inhuman cells in their Exoskeletons. If Seeker wore any clothing, be it the synthetic suit that was made with their cells, the dy increased all the more.


    Of course, Cliff didn''t know this. So when Seeker left his Exoskeleton, he had nothing on him but the detached helmet of the Exoskeleton, which was his air support and his connection to Cliff.


    Apart from that, Seeker had sported a rather tight, ck brief, which was his the only apparel the stopped him from being fully naked.


    "Hmm... I was only able to impress one pilot when I stripped off my clothes..." Seeker murmured. He had been experimenting on a certain trick that Lowengren would do.


    "Ugh. Harker can do it... Why can''t I? How can I do a Cool Stripping Maneuver that would impress my enemies..." Seeker wondered.


    Cliff disconnected from the call in his anxiety.


    "You''re missing the point, Cliff..." Charles finally interjected. He had been next to Cliff the entire time.


    "You''re Path makes you vital in bing this sort of Commander who rysmands andmunicates to his man how the battlefield is. But you''re weakness is that you''ve alwaysmanded normal folks."


    "Normal folks?"


    "You were able to hear, Seeker''s story, right? Lynd did you a favor in calling you on that line so you could hear Seeker''s story. Remember how Seeker was able to stand above Inhumans in the tales that he shared. The three individuals that you are nowmanding are experimenting and showing you what they can do."


    "No, those three are acting insane!"


    "That''s exactly the point! You are amander! The problem is, even in Seeker''s time, they couldn''t afford to have a small team that has beings that defied logic! Seeker had his unit. Meryl led their own! There wasn''t a Unit that wasposed of several Inhumans at once! But in this timeline, that is possible! How do you expect to lead andmand the Gamer squads soon?"


    "The Gamer Squads don''t strip or shoot each other in the middle of a war!"


    "That''s because they can''t. Seeker and those two can. Cliff, you aremanding three beings that are on their way to bing immortals. That''s what it means to be a Hero. You yourself will be one of them! So this is your chance to grow and learn just how they are to fight! That''s why they asked you to be here! Do they really need you?" Charles asked.


    Cliff was silent and nced back at the insanity that the three made.


    "Then what exactly am I here for? What are they expecting from me?"


    "I don''t know. I don''t have your Path. But this is your battle as well, Cliff. How can you be of help to them? I think Seeker is trying this now rather thanter. Two Presiders will soon emerge from those jets. How are you going to help them? You have to figure that one out. What are the possibilities of your Path? What is the truth of it? Have you figured out what your limit is? I think those questions will be helpful."


    Charles ryed the prepared speech Seeker asked him to say. The entire facade of the group was meant to drive Cliff to exasperation.


    Cliff gazed back at the screen and began to fall into deep thought.


    "What exactly is Seeker up to? Why did he need me to be here? Is it just for the Presiders? No! Those Presiders won''t act beyond their means and will fight like normal people. They won''t show anything that Seeker and the group can''t handle! So why am I here?"


    Cliff cursed.


    His memories about each of the three surfaced.


    Each of their skills their abilities was made known.


    Cliff also focused his attention on the two Presiders and even on the book of Lowengren that he read.


    It was then he realized it.


    "That''s it! They won''t act beyond the normal! Which means... It''s the perfect opportunity to push their limits! If we can annoy that Goat just right on the sweet spot before he bes insane... we could actually force him to show a few techs! And Lynd can copy those!"


    It was then that Cliff started to realize the manyplicated plots of Seeker and how he would often milk every single drop to whatever opportunity they had.


    "That''s it! They need me here for that! They want to harass that Kid without harassing that Kid! Everything that they did right now was for me to have an idea as to what their capabilities were!"


    "You know you could just tell me everything!" Cliff finally cursed as he called Seeker.


    "Oh? You finally got it?" Seekerughed.


    "Well, he didn''t get the part as to why we didn''t tell him everything." Lynd shook his head.


    "Tell him what? What are you guys talking about?" Meryl was confused.


    Lynd suddenly stopped shooting her.


    "We didn''t tell you because you need to have this mindset, Cliff. There will be times when the three of us will be so busy at hand that we will have to rely on you to tell us what the best course of action is that affects everyone. Right now, you figured out the intention of this whole thing because Charles led you to it. But you need to understand our intentions even when we can''t say it. Your Path of Memory can do this, Cliff." Seeker exined.


    "Right. They say you can''t truly know a person. But you can. Every memory thates to mind allows you to create a draft of who you are as a person, and you could even guess what you are thinking. If Arthur can predict our actions through his knowledge and practice of psychology and other disciplines, you also can do the same because you can make an intelligent conclusion based on what we do."


    "What are you guys talking about?" Meryl frowned.


    "But can''t you guys do the same? You''re making it sound like I will constantly be adapting to your movements! Why don''t you guys adjust to my pace?" Cliffined. He poured his heart out now. The next stage they were set to go to had Presiders!


    "It''s as if this mission is depending on how smarter and stronger I be in this mission!"


    "That''s because it is. Cliff, both me and Seeker, have to copy you. Arthur''s Pseudo-Path broke through the three dimensions. In truth, Arthur had a Pathless Path before. Maybe because he somehow had faith in Seeker and grew to attain that power. Right now, in this timeline, he met Seeker earlier on, and that pseudo Path has be a powerful one. Arthur is a World Champion in this respect. Not inbat but in his ns." Lynd exined.


    "Right. And you, little Cliffy, is the same case. You have to grow stronger. Right now, Lynd can''t copy your Path because it hasn''t broken the dimensions yet. Haven''t you wondered why Lynd could copy Arthur and imitate it, but he can''t copy your Path? He can''t because Lowengren being the personification of lies, makes it next to impossible for Lynd to copy. The same with Vender."


    "I can''t stand Vender..."


    "But your Path, believe it or not... Has yet to cross the dimensions. Which means we can''t thread on it yet!"


    "So you must grow. Do you get what we want?" Lynd finally asked.


    "I already have an idea of what you want. So... Zeek, do you want me to arrange the chaos for the Goat? Or for both of them?"


    Charles smiled when he heard Cliff ask that question.


    "Wow. Seeker is right. Cliff is easily given in to pressure, and he ovepensates. So that''s why Seeker kept urging him on those crazy missions..." Charles recalled how Cliff was assigned on various missions on the past months.


    "That battle against Typical must have made them realize how strong Cliff could be if he prepares." Charles assessed.


    "Now he even managed to immediately see through one of the conflicting ns between Seeker and Lynd." Charles praised.


    "Obviously, Both of them." Lynd answered.


    "Just the Goat." Seeker answered together with Lynd.


    "Zeek?" Lynd asked and couldn''t help but frown.


    "Use Zeraphine to give painful and even life-threatening attacks to the goat if possible." Seeker smiled.


    "Hm... That is better. But you''re obviously forcing the issue to protect your little girlfriend." Lynd frowned.


    "What are you guys talking about?" Meryl cursed.


    "Zeek. Why am I going through this entire training session to be able to adjust to you, but Meryl isn''t?" Cliff cursed as he finally realized the unfair treatment between him and Meryl.


    "Because she''s beautiful.." Lynd and Seeker answered together.

 Chapter 356 - Cliff Courting Death

    Lara and Charm wore their Exoskeleton and were finally deployed.


    When they got to the sea, they were stunned at what they saw.


    Over fifty Exoskeletons were chasing around the three. The majority was focused on the blue Exoskeleton. Several more kept shooting and harassing the yellow one who kept diving back and forth to them, and several others were chasing after a naked man who was swimming around and was using the red Exoskeleton to yfully boop those nearby.


    Since there were many near it, the other Exoskeletons didn''t rush in to attack the group as they were afraid of friendly fire. They kept urging the pilots to retreat so that they could attack the Red Exoskeleton from a distance, but the five Exoskeletons had gone mad and were trying to smash and tackle the pilot from the many boops and pats that he was doing.


    Charm was amazed, but Lara was horrified.


    Through her techs, she immediately knew who that naked man was. And the sight of five exoskeletons trying to tackle and break his body drove her to immediately move.


    "SEEKER!" Lara shouted and began to shoot several rounds at the many Exoskeletons attacking Seeker.


    "Seeker?" Charm was stunned at Lara''s words.


    Almost immediately, Seeker acted and began to board the Exoskeleton while punching, kicking, and even tackling the nearby Exoskeletons.


    The quick movements of Seeker knocked the Exoskeletons around him and caused Lara''s attacks to miss.


    "Hey, Lara! Rx! I was having fun." Seeker chuckled.


    "Ho-How did you know it''s Seeker?!" Charm eximed. She was even more amazed that Lara recognized Seeker.


    "Hey, Miss Lara Diamon-Carlean. Please let your fiance y and fight. Women these days... That''s like his Bachelor Party." A loud broadcast was heard, and everyone froze.


    Apart from the crazy words of the broadcast, the voice was of someone who had reportedly disappeared in Europe. But his voice was very famous among Pangea that his call to return to his country broke the hearts of many.


    "Doctor Charles Lindmitt?!" Charm exploded in shock.


    "He''s here?!"


    "Did General Harker get him back?!"


    "Of course, General would get him back! That man is a national treasure!" Another exploded.


    "Zeek? What''s going on?"


    "Lara. My wife, let me show off a bit. I''ll show you how awesome your future hubby is. You can try to shoot me too, by the way." Seeker chuckled.


    "Lara Diamon, if you''re not going to shoot your fiance, you better just go back to the ship. You can shoot Lynd and Meryl, though." Charles chuckled and continued to introduce the three.


    Seeker smiled as he waved at Lara.


    Lara turned towards the other three, who started to give off the usual spiel they do whenever they would stream their games.


    The crowd was amazed.


    "Phnx Technology is an enhancement that creates humans with an enhanced perception of time. The five before you can see time faster than normal. This is one of the techs that the alliance of the WGP and the Progenitor! Please try to shoot them and do not worry. If it''s just bullets, they can easily evade it with the techs in their Exoskeletons. Except for Crazy Carlean, who still can enhance time further when the more his adrenaline gets to him!" Charles began to exin.


    Themotion erupted all the more.


    The three people they were shooting at were Meryl and Lynd? Time perception that allowed them to evade bullets? These were all shocking things! The science of controlling the perception of time has long been attempted. But the constant use of it would create severe side effects to the brain, and most of the attempts were deemed dangerous.


    "If you think that it is still as dangerous as it was, you''re wrong. Seeker Carlean has been subject to this experiment being the Progenitor''s descendant. Everything about him, his past, his crazy acts, and his victories were because of this. Lynd also won that gamble and defeated those hundred yers because of this!" Charles exined further.


    "My study, my science, has long been funded by that!" Charles exined further.


    As Charles continued to distract everyone with his revtions, Cliff had already begun tomand the three.


    "Alright. From your current positions, we need to keep you three in parallel positions with each other. Following Zeek''s n, our main concern will be that Kid Alexander. I''ve already taken into consideration your skills. Seeker, you can do that thing that Suit of the Dragon''s Fang can?"


    "Yep." Seeker smiled.


    "Lynd, can you copy that?"


    "Yep."


    "Seeker, can you use Realm to control the cells of the Exoskeleton and impute one of your personality in it? You already managed to use your split personality to control different devices. What if you use it to control an Exoskeleton? You don''t have to detach from the Exoskeleton but can hold on to it."


    "...That... I never thought of that..." Seeker was amazed at Cliff''s suggestion.


    "We just need it to do some basic movements all by itself. Lynd, can you still copy that if that''s the case? You will be forced to copy two things at once."


    "Interesting. I haven''t tried it. Will my copy of Seeker change if Seeker actively uses two multiple personalities? That''s a nice thing to try."


    "Meryl, can you do what Seeker did?"


    "What Seeker did? I can''t control my Exoskeleton through Realm alone!"


    "No. Not that. Can you strip like Seeker did?"


    "What?!"


    "Ara-Ara..." Lyndughed.


    "Cliff? Are you courting death?!" Meryl shouted hatefully.


    "I''m serious!"


    "I''m seriously going to kill you!"


    "I mean, that if we want to attack that Alexander, you stripping is vital!" Cliff argued.


    "What''s vital is me to rip off your vitals!"


    "You don''t have to go naked! Aren''t you wearing any underwear under that Exoskeleton?"


    "Yamete, Cliff-Kun." Seeker shook his head.


    Meryl began to curse at the very invasive and borderline perverted question of Cliff.


    "Meryl! It''s the only way without you guys having to reveal any more powers! I can arrange the entire battlefield to be arranged so that a single barrage of attacks from these families will hit that Alexander! But to hide it, it has to be you! A sudden and surprising strip will shock her! No one has seen you''re current form! It''s already taxing for the Unlocking to make people like me not to have lustful thoughts after you!"


    "Baka..." Seeker and Lynd chorused. Seeker actually face-palmed.


    Meryl''s anger exploded out.


    "You want me to strip after confessing to lusting after my body!? Wait till I tell Charm of this! Change the n, or I''ll change Charm''s boyfriend!"


    "Zeek! Lynd! You have to help me out!"


    "Hell no." Seeker and Lynd answered together.


    "But I thought you were leaving things to me!"


    "We are. This is part of your training. You could bemanding Oveers, you know. Unless you are able to convince them, they might not listen to you." Seeker answered.


    Cliff used his powers to enter his dream world. He was cursing. Leading these three was harder than scaling to be an Oveer.


    Cliff thought and thought of things that could convince Meryl.


    Then Cliff realized it.


    "It will make Danny make a move on you! And I mean, really make a move on you!" Cliff shouted.


    Meryl''s angry expression changed.


    Cliff had gone through his memories of Meryl and Danny. The more he reviewed it, the more he was convinced.


    "Apart from going on dates, Danny hasn''t been bold in his attempts to get you, has he?!" Cliff questioned.


    "Charles! Keep everyone busy! Keep talking more about the technology!"


    "Alright." Charles agreed and continued to make a long talk and inserted some nonsense about his achievements in Europe. Because of this, everyone wasn''t fighting. This gave time for Cliff to keep persuading Meryl.


    Meryl didn''t answer Cliff for the first time.


    "I thought about it and ced myself in Danny''s position. He got on a date with a beautiful girl that the Tyrant Empress herself praised! And what''s more, you met the Tyrant Empress up close and personal, but you didn''t seem affected by it! Why?!" Cliff asked.


    "You went on that date with Danny almost immediately as if your longing for the Tyrant Empress disappeared. How was that possible? You didn''t seek out the Tyrant Empress after meeting her in China! Seeker sent you out to the Arctic nations to keep you away from this ce just in case, but it never bothered you anyway! But what happened was you became even more beautiful! Then I realized it! The lust of women!"


    "The lust of women?" Seeker and Lynd were curious.


    "Charm talked about it! She didn''t get the enhancement despite being a noble family in Pangea. She was happy with it, but at the same time, she was envious. She then exined it me the kind of jealous lusting that she has! She wanted to have a beautiful body! That''s what happened to you! You saw the Tyrant Empress, but while it did cause you to develop a form of attraction towards her, it was reced to have a beautiful body that matches her! And it''s killing you, isn''t it? Despite that, Danny didn''t do anything towards you!"


    Meryl remained silent at these questions.


    "Danny isn''t making a move and may even be subconsciously limiting his attempts to court you because of this! Even if he is attracted and helplessly in love with you, he is using his Unlocking to put a lid on it! Because his boss is Arthur, and you are supposedly Arthur''s future wife!" Cliff deduced it.


    "True. Even I don''t want to mess around with Arthur." Lynd sighed.


    "Really? I''d take on Arthur, but not Lowengren. I can take being beaten before I even face him, but I don''t want to be embarrassed by that madd." Seeker answered.


    "Could you guys, shut up!" Meryl answered irritably.


    Seeker and Lynd smirked. They realized that Cliff hit a vein.


    "You have never shown... erm... a bit more skin to the world than you should. Fear is stopping Danny from making a move on you. But for men, what else can trump fear?"


    "Right. Cliff agreed to various crazy stuff to have a shot with Charm. I guess he knows what can move Danny the most." Seeker realized that this was why Cliff managed to deduce what could help Danny ovee.


    "And! If you do this seductively and willingly, it''ll definitely get him! Your previous missions were all kept a secret. Although Danny knows you would be doing that, he knows that those guys will die! But now... it will be something that many will see! He will get jealous! And not only jealous, but he will also realize what he''s been missing out on! So if you do what I said, he will chase after you! Isn''t that your Path? Do you want to shine? And yet the shadow that grips Danny''s heart to fear Arthur is over you! This is the answer! It might sound crazy, but strip!"


    "You go, girlfriend! Get that Danny!" Charles couldn''t help but interject as he found a moment to pause from his continuous exnation of the Phnx Tech.


    Meryl didn''t fight back or curse or threaten Cliff.


    "Ho-How sure are you that me stripping can... allow us to attack that Lanterk?"


    "Very sure! I refuse to believe that your beauty is somethingmon to the eyes of these aliens!" Cliff confidently dered. He had used these words to Charm when Cliff assured Charm that her beauty doesn''t pale against the other Royals in their school.


    Meryl paused for a bit.


    "Zeek? What do you think of Cliff''s n? Will it really work? Isn''t he a boy?"


    "He''s a Presider. He only has the appearance of the boy. And based on what we saw on that painting, that person is definitely not normal. He could be a hundred-year-old man for all we know."


    "What about you, Lynd? You think that me suddenly stripping in front of that Alexander will shock him and allow our trap to work?"


    "Worked on Kaguya..." Lynd shrugged.


    "...Fine. Let''s do this."


    Seeker couldn''t help but smirk as Meryl finally agreed. Seeker had long asked Meryl to make a more public reveal, but for some reason, despite the Path and desire of Meryl to shine, she kept refusing, and it even reached a point where the two fought. But now, Cliff did the impossible.


    "Alright, Cliff. Let''s see if you''re n is any good! If youplete this, then I have one less thing to worry about when we get to South America!"

 Chapter 357 - Cliff’s Successful Plan

    Charles had been continuing his broadcast revealing details of the technology known as the Phnx Technology. At this moment, even Alexander had already dove into the ocean. Every Exoskeleton that wished to fight against the group was there.


    Some families had actually assembled new Exoskeletons while in their respective armories to send to this battle. The price was just too alluring for them, and they expended the most that they can. Some even went back to be equipped with better tools for the battle.


    Among everyone, the ones who were most interested were Zeraphine and Alexander, who became doubly curious than the rest.


    Phnx Tech was clearly rted to Phallic techs, and both were curious if they could see more about the secrets of this technology.


    "This is our gift, Alexander. You will at least see its powers!" Jane sent a direct message to Alexander Lanterk as the two were equipped with Dalisay Family Exoskeletons.


    Lanterk frowned as he nced at the three strange Exoskeletons. His own eyes began to pierce and see just what techs these people had.


    "Pretty basic. But how did these people have the ability to evade all those bullets? And what branch of science did they use to improve time perception?"


    "Did you catch anything?" Lanterk suddenlymunicated to Zeraphine.


    "Of course. This is another aspect of Phallic techs. But this isn''t screwing... I wonder just what the Ignition rue Essence of this Phnx is? Also, as you have heard, Seeker Carlean is my fiance. So be careful that you don''t hurt him, or I will have a hard time with my cover!" Zeraphine warned.


    "Alright..." Lanterk answered softly. But his thoughts went wild as he kept wondering what was the Ignition rue Essence that Zeraphine mentioned?


    Charles was now wrapping up his speech.


    "So... please be entertained and amazed! Many of you think that we lost that battle in the Pacific... We can''t get into the details as there are several countries here... but we shall show you just how strong we are. Please attack these three with the intent to kill. You won''t seed." Charlesughed.


    Immediately, Seeker, Meryl, and Lynd began to boost forward and propelled themselves in several directions.


    The exoskeletons that the three-faced numbered over fifty, and they all began to shoot.


    But just like before, the three found it easy to evade.


    "Any good shooters out there, Meryl?" Seeker broadcasted.


    "Nah. The quality of these shooters is just too low. I don''t even need to activate my techs." Meryl sighed.


    "Me too. And I''m a rather big target..." Lynd frowned.


    Seeker, Lynd, and Meryl were broadcasting their conversations. And in that conversation, they had constantly been belittling the Exoskeletons, assaulting them as they began to talk of a diverse range of topics, including Meryl''s acquired card collection when she was in the Arctic nations.


    The more dull and bored the three sounded, the wilder the enemies became. They gradually moved closer and closer, and eventually, all fifty of them had an Exoskeleton to chase.


    Zeraphine was trying to butt in the conversation and tried to praise Seeker, but Meryl kept butting in.


    Soon, Zeraphine was moving closer and closer to Seeker.


    "Hey, Zeek. You''re not thinking of getting hit by your fiance, are you?" Meryl suddenly asked.


    "Of course not!"


    "Good. I don''t approve of her yet. Since I can''t have you, I''ll rather root for the Alpha Girl for your heart. Your marriage ain''t final until you say yes at that altar!" Meryl smiled.


    Cliff, Lynd, and Seeker nearly lost their focus on the fight. The n didn''t include Meryl''s strange words that implied she liked Seeker, nor was it supposed to mention Alphie. Meryl would just challenge Zeraphine, who would be hovering around Seeker.


    "Alpha Girl?" Lara couldn''t help but repeat.


    "It looks like... you''ve been hiding a few things from me..."


    "Oh my god! Meryl does like Seeker!" Charm was shocked. On their usual girl-to-girl moments, Lara had shared that she was worried about Meryl stealing Seeker''s heart. This made Charm investigate and even bombard Cliff with questions to assure her that Meryl had no interest in Seeker.


    But Meryl just admitted that! And it seemed that there was another girl in this conflict!


    Lara''s Exoskeleton suddenly erupted with great speed that surpassed the Exoskeletons of the others.


    "Meryl?!" Seeker angrily called her in their secret line.


    "What?"


    "Why did you say that?!"


    "Rx! I''m not into you, Zeek! She made you suffer a lot. And I know you n to go easy on her. But let me have my revenge on behalf of my future self. I may not be able to hurt her because she''s a Presider, but I can give her sleepless nights. You know I''m a very petty girl! Anyways, this doesn''t change the n! We can continue, just as Cliff told us." Merylughed.


    Lara''s Exoskeleton was right in the middle of a war. She suddenly dove down to the sea to avoid the line of fire that the rest had. And once she got a clear view of the battle, her Exoskeleton began to release a faint red light. With a loud burst, she ascended from her deep position and was headed directly for Seeker!


    Her sudden flight was nearly two times faster than the underwater movements of the rest.


    Lanterk saw it and frowned. He knew that Zeraphine utilized some of her Presider techs after getting taunted.


    "Anti-Resistance tech. She''s using it to move faster... But why reveal it? That will draw unnecessary questions and attention from the rest! Or is it that she is trying to see the true capability of the Phnx tech?" Lanterk made guesses. The previous encounters with Lara herself and Jane made Lanterk believe that Zeraphine was so much more than just a spoiled daughter of a Prime.


    Meryl saw it and realized that Zeraphine must have used some of her Presider techs to aplish the sudden increase of speed. And in response to this, Meryl raised her right arm, and a small ball appeared.


    "Phnx me!"


    Boom!


    A small explosion urred right in the middle of the chaotic fight. The explosion startled many and threw a few to the side.


    Even before the explosion''s shock wave subsided, Meryl was already headed to Zeraphine.


    "I''m not convinced. I want to see just how much she really likes you, Zeek!" Meryl chuckled as she moved towards Zera.


    "Hello, Lara. I won''t wait for the wedding. I want to speak now why I''m against your holy matrimony! You aren''t even as beautiful as me!" Merylughed as she charged for Zeraphine.


    "Meryl! Taunting her isn''t part of the n!" Cliff cursed.


    "Rx! It''s easier for me to lead Lanterk the more wild our fight is!"


    At that moment, Zeraphine began to shoot Meryl as she charged closer and closer.


    Meryl danced it off andughed.


    "So not only am I prettier, but I''m a better dancer? I get the feeling that I''m also the better kisser." Merylughed.


    BOOM!


    A powerful burst of energy exploded behind Zeraphine and propelled her faster towards Meryl, but Meryl raised her hand, and a golden glow appeared.


    "Asherah Fire! Heat that Pierces, Obey me!" Meryl chanted as a bright light shot a ray of light that exploded near Zeraphine.


    BOOM!


    The attack forced Zeraphine to stop her charge.


    A simr burst appeared behind Meryl''s suit and shot her fast towards Zeraphine.


    With a quick spin, Meryl used her Exoskeleton to deliver a deadly ax-kick right on Zeraphine''s head.


    BOOM!


    The kick exploded, but a powerful force field blocked Meryl''s attack.


    "Oh? So this is the EAA''s Barrier Tech. Let''s see if it can stand my Phnx Skills!" Merylughed as she raised her hand, and argence burning with bright heat appeared.


    Zeraphine cursed, and suddenly, a long transparent de appeared on her hand, and arge transparent shield appeared on her other arm.


    "A Barrier Sword? Let''s see if that''llst!" Merylughed as she charged.


    The two began to fight as Meryl used her burningnce to attack Zeraphine, who was blocking with her shield and attacking with her long sword. Meryl was very dexterous in evading that she didn''t even block one attack from Zeraphine.


    "Perfect. I got her techs." Lynd reported as he managed to understand the various technology that Zeraphine revealed.


    "Good. Now for the other Presider!" Cliff then began to order Seeker and Lynd to prepare to ambush Lanterk with their n.


    With Zeraphine keeping Lara busy, the other Exoskeletons wanted to take advantage at first, but when the two were fighting so fast, they abandoned their ns.


    Seeker began to practice the tactic that Cliff suggested. While inside the Exoskeleton, Seeker tried to link himself and instill one of his personalities to automate it. But as Seeker was about to call Greg, he then sensed a peculiar distortion.


    There was a strange energy present that he never noticed until he was trying to bring out Greg.


    "Hrm? Are the four horns rted to having different personalities, or is it something with the soul?" Seeker went back in and began to harass the nearby Exoskeletons by fighting them.


    "It''s too risky to try Realm. That other Presider might discover something. I felt it when I ejected near him. There''s something odd about him. Cliff. Change the ns." Seeker warned.


    Cliff nearly cursed when he heard it. But he didn''t panic. Cliff went to his dream world.


    With Seeker unable to try the Exoskeleton puppet and use it to move independently, it meant that the diversion of Seeker and Lynd wouldn''t work. These circus tricks were meant to force the rest to ignore Meryl with their eye-catching performance and irritating taunts.


    With their bodies out, the Exoskeleton would still move just as fast and would have provided Seeker and Lynd an extra set of hands that would distract Meryl''s enemy. Cliff intended to use that to maximize his memory and make Lynd and Seeker kick and punch the enemy Exoskeletons, which would replicate a bit of Chaos Order and create a chain reaction of friendly fire, which would harass Lanterk.


    But now, it wasn''t possible for them to do that. Seeker and Lynd can, and Meryl was at risk of being attacked as Zeraphine''s angry charge was just at the maximum.


    "My weakness is my tendency to follow things strictly. I''ve used my memories of everyone''s suggestion so much that while I can do what they said, it was never my own..." Cliff contemted.


    "This is why Seeker brought me here. I have to be more than just a guy who has a lot of memory. Something has to form with theption of all these memories!" Cliff frowned and began to concentrate harder.


    Several possible scenarios came to mind...


    And finally, Cliff found an answer.


    Cliff left his dream world, and as time began to flow, Cliff gave several orders to everyone.


    Lynd and Seeker suddenly charged towards Meryl and Zeraphine.


    "Lynd, Meryl! One more minute until this game is over and we win! Get Lara out of the way so we can use thatrge shield!" Seeker shouted.


    "One minute?!" Several pilots were stunned at what they heard.


    "One-minute warning!" Charles also announced as Cliff instructed.


    At that point, the group began to shoot at a more reckless pace. At first, the soldiers were hesitant that they might actually critically wound Seeker and hispanions, but the sudden announcement brought panic, and they began to attack.


    Meryl suddenly became faster than ever, and another Halberd appeared, which struck the shield and disarmed Zeraphine of her barrier sword.


    "Hurry! Meryl!" Seeker shouted as he and Lynd were now finding it more difficult to evade the bullets.


    But as this was happening, Lanterk sent Zeraphine a secret message.


    "Keep Meryl busy!"


    Without hesitation, Lanterk piloted his Exoskeleton to dive straight towards Meryl. His sudden charge was putting him at risk of being stuck in the crossfire. But to hide his intention, Lanterk didn''t immediately aim for Meryl but made it look like he was making a desperate charge to tackle Seeker.


    The flight of this Exoskeleton was so fast that it nearly struck Seeker.


    As it passed, it shot several rounds that were aimed for Seeker''s side.


    Seeker barely evaded the bullets that this charging Exoskeleton managed to fire at that speed.


    The Exoskeleton was Lanterk. He took the opportunity to charge in. But unlike Lara, Lanterk was careful not to use any Presider techs and only charged the maximum speed of his Exoskeleton. This way, it looked like Lanterk was just functioning within the means of normal humans could. But in reality, he had been using science that temporarily altered his perception of time and allowed him to make urate shots even while moving at that speed.


    Seeker evaded the bullets, but it was alright. Seeker wasn''t the target.


    His Exoskeleton was close to Meryl. He did not want to shoot while at a distance, fearing Meryl could react. Time perception could have caused Meryl to hear things earlier and react faster, so his only choice was to shoot at close range.


    Lanterk took aim and fired.


    But at that moment, Meryl caused her entire suit to disperse as a bright shing light appeared.


    The entire Exoskeleton broke to pieces just like Dara''s Tank Exoskeleton would. In the center of this shing light was Meryl. She only had two pieces of synthetic clothing that functioned as her underwear. Her face was even revealed as only a transparent mask over her mouth and nose was left to protect her from getting drowned.


    With the time perception that Lanterk had, he saw Meryl for several seconds.


    In those seconds, he could no think and even say anything. He was so surprised that he forgot to move.


    Lara was in a simr state as she could not help but gawk at Meryl''s too-perfect skin.


    And then, the bullets came.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Nearly thirty Exoskeletons were aiming at Seeker and Lynd, who just evaded to make all those bullets strike Lanterk''s Exoskeleton.

 Chapter 358 - Cliff’s Miscalculation

    There was one grave mistake in the n that Cliff suggested. The n was made to cause several rounds of attacks to strike Lanterk. This would push Lanterk to the point of anger that he will utilize more of his technology just as Zeraphine did.


    And so the entire n assumed that Lanterk would get hit by at most, five bullets. And that was already being hopeful. Lanterk was a Top Tiered Presider. It would be very difficult to kill him.


    But Cliff and the rest underestimated the effect that Meryl had on Lanterk. The beauty shocked Lanterk so much. It was as if Lanterk fell to the strange phenomenon of having love at first sight.


    Because of the amazing scene that he witnessed, Lanterk froze. His thoughts were taken captive by the beautiful figure of Meryl. Meryl also had a rather yful look on her face which weakened and numbed the senses of Lanterk.


    And so, what was supposed to be just a few bullets, became a full barrage.


    Cliff had been instructing Seeker and Lynd to move randomly and time the evasion of the barrage of bullets when most of the Exoskeletons finished reloading as they had already wasted their entire stock and requested additional refill from their various teams.


    More than thirty Exoskeletons shot at Seeker and Lynd, who remained within the line of fire at thest possible moment before evading and causing the rain of bullets to shower Lanterk.


    The moment Seeker and Lynd determined that Lanterk couldn''t evade the bullets, they immediately moved towards Meryl.


    "Meryl! Get out of there!" Seeker shouted.


    Meryl acted quickly and swam back even before the suit would reform and cover her. It took some time to drain the water inside, and so Meryl started to charge up the heat in her body to evaporate all heat as she retreated.


    TING! TING! TING! TING!


    The rain of bullets continued to hit Lanterk''s Exoskeleton. The bullets began to pierce through the Exoskeleton armor and should have killed the pilot.


    Seeker, Lynd, and Meryl felt it.


    The power to cross dimensions was urring before them.


    The bullets that struck Lanterk''s body simply couldn''t prate it. It wasn''t that Lanterk''s body was hard or resilient. But it was that his body was made of a different element altogether. It was the metaphysical element that allows Mid-Tier Presiders to begin their search and study to the realms beyond the three.


    The bullets faced a strange form of pressure, and they began to disintegrate. Yet regardless of how powerful this pressure was, it still hurt.


    The painful sensations that bombarded his entire body awoke him from his trance.


    Zeraphine was the first to feel it. Lanterk was about to unleash a terrifying attack that would wipe out all the Exoskeletons in the area.


    She moved to stop Lanterk but could sense that the power of Lanterk''s Nefilius Body was channeling energy that far eclipsed Zeraphine''s strongest attack.


    "The Four Horns...!" Zeraphine could see it now. Lanterk was true of that family.


    Cliff was petrified in fear. He immediately entered his dream world to think, but when he arrived, he could see it. Cliff''s power was something that allowed him to move across certain dimensions. His dreamworld was, in fact, one of the dimensions with the counter-flow and overflow of time. This was how time would stop there.


    But when he entered, he witnessed the foreign energy that was befalling the entire location. Only Seeker and Lynd could survive theing attack. Cliff felt great regret. He made a mistake in his calction and has doomed Meryl and the many Pangea families in his miscalction.


    Time ran out, and Cliff was leaving his dream world. On the few seconds in the dream world, Cliff could only hope that Seeker could have a counter means to attack him or have Zeraphine intervene. Regardless, the results of this battle would be to the disadvantage of the Unlocked. Even if Meryl lives, the existence and power of Seeker and Lynd would be revealed.


    "I''m sorry." Those were the only words Cliff could say to the team. It carried great regret.


    Cliff held on to the table and didn''t dare look at what would happen.


    And then it happened.


    A powerful vortex appeared at the bottom of the ocean. Gravity increased greatly that the water was sucked. But when it reached Lanterk, it increased countless times and suddenly pulled Lanterk down.


    The shock and surprise of Lanterk stopped him from using the st to kill everyone and used it to keep him from being thrown down.


    Zeraphine was stunned at the sudden power that brought Lanterk spiraling into the abyss.


    In the midst of the strange gravitational pull, Lanterk and Zeraphine could hear a faint whisper.


    "Behave, boy." The voice called out. The voice was distorted as if a multitude of people were whispering those words to him.


    Lanterk frowned and suddenly stopped his attack. He gazed at the source of the power.


    "Gravity? Which Presider is this? Is this Crostfree?" Lanterk frowned as he quietly allowed the suit to disappear into the abyss of the ocean.


    Cliff realized what had happened.


    "That was...! Eagle!" Cliff understood.


    Deep within one of the underwater facilities of the Everhiss n... Eagle stood and smiled, rather pleased at the result of his power.


    The Emperors watched with great amazement at the sight of Eagle using his powers. It was very strong and very scary. Lanterk was underwater, but it was like he was suddenly falling down from the sky and plummeting to the Earth in great speed for a split second.


    The Everhiss Emperors even saw the great anomaly that urred when Lanterk tried to counter the gravitational pull.


    "This Origin is rather helpful." Eagle praised as he turned towards Phoenix, whose mouth was wide open from the terrifying power he saw.


    "Seeker... I''ve done as you''ve asked. Was that eptable?"


    "More than eptable! I thought you''d take the waters nearby, but you can already focus such immense gravitational force on a single person!"


    "Then I hope you don''t need to call me to get back here anymore. It took a bit of an effort to rush back here, you know?" Eagleughed.


    "I hope not. That force should have scared that Presider. He may be assuming that whoever he''s up against would be at a level of Top Presiders. He and Zeraphine won''t act all rowdy. Thank you, Pastor Eagle."


    "See you soon. And I hope you''d put more effort into gathering everyone for that event!"


    "I will. The wars all over the world will draw out more of the hidden Oveers and Heroes. We still have to look for the many Seeds that Progenitor nted under the Earth and even those deep at sea. Once we are confident to have many, we will create the war that leads everyone to the Worlds Helm."


    "Thank you. And I really would like it if you three could sing at some of the events in South America. Our ministry leaders are looking for talented andmitted singers like you."


    "... Alright."


    "Thank you! I wish to hear more from The Way, The Truth, and The Bass." Eagle chuckled and disconnected the call.


    "Eagle?" Cliff asked.


    "Yes. After our meeting, he was already on his way back to the Americas. But I knew that we needed some help when dealing with Presiders. After all, that was a dangerous game. But thank God Eagle was still around."


    "... Did Seeker just says... Thank God?" Lynd wondered.


    "...Anyways... In the end, we failed in our mission, and Cliff failed his test." Seeker sighed.


    "I told Eagle to get ready and use his powers aided by the Origin energy in this sea. But no sweat! We learn from our mistakes. Cliff is not only to be med. We underestimated how beautiful Meryl is. I''ll take it from here. All in all, my assessment is that we are ready for the battle in South America. But Cliff, keep in mind, you almost sent Meryl to her death." Seeker warned.


    Cliff was quiet. But his heart was in turmoil.


    "The purpose of this is for us to have an understanding with each other. When we are around Presiders, we can''tmunicate with each other with whatever techs that we have. In fact, we won''t be using any means ofmunication at all. That''s how we fool the Presiders. They won''t find out our means ofmunication because there are none. We just act in sync with each other." Seeker exined.


    "So this test was meant to see how I would do?" Cliff asked.


    "Me and Zeek can react adapt to the changes and the ns that will happen when around Presiders. Meryl is beautiful. You can see what this implies from that Presider''s stupid dumb daze. Alean has Zone. So you are the only one who might get left out. Learn from this experience Cliff." Lynd added.


    With the threat of genocide avoided, the battle was fairly easy to finish. Even Zeraphine retreated, fearing that the Progenitor might lose his temper.


    Seeker began to give severalmands to close the event and instructed Charles on what to say.


    The battle on the sea continued as Lanterk''s Exoskeleton was sent down. But a few seconds passed when some of the pilots realized that they had identally shot the other Exoskeleton.


    It wasn''t until Charles announced that the 1 minute was over that most realized they had shot Lanterk.


    The horrifying conclusion silenced everyone, and no one dared to move.


    "Everyone, rx. Alexander Small Willy isn''t in that suit. He is piloting it remotely within the submarine. Although, you may have to repay the Dalisay family for destroying one of their remotely controlled Exoskeleton. It''s quite advanced after all." Charles finally revealed.


    "We will be checking which Exoskeletons shot that and will be sending the bill to those families to reimburse the Dalisay n. Anyway, the game is over, and no one managed to hit the three. Please return and get ready for docking. Wee to the World Governing Trading Hub. Let''s have a good time and make great deals!" Charles signed off.


    "Um... Lara... About what Meryl said..." Seeker finally approached.


    "Meryl! Get over here and apologize!" Seeker suddenly called to Meryl.


    "rify what you meant, and no more jokes! I''m serious, Meryl!" Seeker warned. Seeker used a strange realm to grip Meryl secretly to make her know that Seeker really meant it.


    "Listen here, Miss Lara Diamon. Zeek is my best friend. And I''m not just about to hand him over to some stuck-up rich kid who has the world on her hands. I''d rather that Zeek gets Kristine Sythia or even that Alpha Girl, but you, I don''t know you! Just when I turn my back and get sent to the Arctic Nations, I heard rumors of Seeker being forced to marry you for whatever political reason! You don''t know what pain, what hardship, what heart-breaking experience Zeek has already experienced! So until you prove to be the right girl for Zeek, I''ll watch over you! And if you don''t show any growth, I''ll team up with those other two and snatch him from you!" Meryl shouted and immediately turned around to leave.


    Seeker facepalmed.


    "Ly-Lynd. Help me out here!" Seeker called out to his age-old best friend.


    Lynd nodded and approached.


    And like any best friend who has been with Seeker through the good times and even had their share of bad times, Lynd approached and nodded.


    It was then that Seeker felt his heart stop when he saw Lynd draw close.


    Although Lynd was wearing an Exoskeleton, through Realm, Seeker could sense that Lynd had a sinister smile.


    Seeker then realized that Lynd never really found a way to get back at him for everything he had done. Not to mention the fact that Seeker was in the process of making sure that Lynd doesn''t end up with Kristine.


    "Seeker''s gay. Once you''re done with him, give him back to Arthur and me. Like you could ever satisfy him. Hmph! Puuuuu!" Lynd spat out at Lara''s direction hatefully. He turned around, and his Exoskeleton erupted with immense power that actually assaulted Lara!


    Lara was frozen stiff from that sight. It wasn''t just any yful tease. It was a hateful roar that was akin to an extremely jealous woman talking to her.


    Seeker realized that Lynd had copied Dara.


    "Nutterballs...." Seeker cursed.

 Chapter 359 - Seeker’s Presentation

    The battle had ended, and everyone was headed back to their respective ces.


    All except Seeker Carlean. Seeker had now just given such passionate and detailed speech worthy of an Oveer.


    Seeker was cursing in his mind, but he couldn''t do anything about it.


    He knew that his friends loathed the idea that Seeker would have any rtionships with this girl. They weren''t idiots. They knew that even by a little bit, Seeker was at least affectionate towards this girl.


    And so, even if it''s changing their sexual preference, they would dly do so to shatter the chance of any possible romance between the two.


    Meryl was more yful and kind in her attempts to drive Zeraphine to anger. But Lynd brought out the big guns.


    Seeker could only grit his teeth and make random exnations and tried to convince Lara that Lynd was only joking.


    "That was joking? He used his burst to fry my Exoskeleton."


    "He- He knew you''d be safe! It''s part of the prank!"


    "I know when a person is genuinely jealous of me. His actions felt like that of an obsessed teen girl doing petty stuff to the person she''s jealous of." Lara answered with an unamused tone.


    "It-it''s just that they don''t like me getting an arranged marriage! You know how friends are!"


    "Yes. I know how friends are. But Meryl''s reaction is an eye-opener. Who''s the Alpha Girl? Am I the Beta Girl?"


    "Oh boy..." Seeker sighed in exasperation.


    "Seeker, please report to the Altar of Asherah. We will be showing some important guests a hint of our Phallic techs." Charles broadcasted.


    "I... have to go." Seeker finally found his way out.


    "Go on. You obviously haven''t gotten over your phallic stage."


    Seeker was in pain as he left.


    "I did what I can do, Zeek," Charles whispered at Seeker as he left.


    As the group waspleting the docking procedure, the Exoskeleton was drifting in the dark ocean. The water had already flooded the suit, but the pilot wasn''t bothered. The water didn''t annoy him anyway. But he kept waiting. He knew that the one who brought him down here would visit him.


    "How''s our little Willy?" A mocking voice was heard.


    Lanterk saw the Exoskeleton belonging to the Dalisay family.


    Janeughed as he saw the pathetic state of Lanterk.


    "Presider was really surprised at your stupidity."


    "If Corstfree or Pridgeon wants a real fight... I''ll give it to them!" Lanterk roared. His voice was no longer the innocent boy, but his voice was distorted. It was the first time his hatred was leaking out, and all four entities were enraged.


    "Real fight? Presider, you were to be med. That battle was just to give you a shot in seeing what our Phallic techs are capable of. Zeraphine had her fun. She''s rather impressed with the tech, honestly. You, on the other hand, were reckless. Why did you doze off right in the middle of the battle? If you haven''t noticed it, you were at fault. We have it on camera." Janeughed.


    "What technology did you apply on that girl?!"


    "Phnx Technology."


    "I don''t believe you! How can a human have Glory? Without a Presider''s Nefilius Body, how can she breach the dimensions through sight?!" Lanterk roared.


    "How should I know? I''m not even a Pioneer!" Jane chuckled.


    "If you seek an answer, then look for Presider Pridgeon or Crostfree. As you can already tell, they are just nearby. Your mistake was your own. They are rather displeased in your attempts to massacre the entire ce. It would have been troublesome for them and might draw the attention of the other Presiders. There are still some who don''t know the real nature of the Progenitor. The Lost Primordial is also another case."


    "Who is the Lost Primordial? Crostfree was called the Lost Primordial, but it turns out he''s the Progenitor? What were all those things that urred in the Pacific? What was it about?"


    "Those who just entered the game have no right to dictate how the board isid out. The battle is veryplicated. As you''ve probably discerned from Zeraphine''s real power, the war here''s isn''t exactly as easy as it looks. You, yourself, is proof of theplexity here on this, little goat." Jane smiled.


    "Nevertheless, your alliance will be of benefit. Come up to the surface. We will show you something. Seeker Carlean will show one of the more advanced aspects of Phallic Tech. The concept of worship will appear. And it will exin how that Meryl got that body. By the way, if you want... you can have her. Of course, Presider values his little experiments. So he won''t gift Meryl to you. If Meryl falls in love with you... then it would be better." Jane began to ascend with her Exoskeleton.


    "We made it look like that you were remotely controlling the Exoskeleton from the sub. But you might get teased andughed at for your stupid maneuver back then. Regardless, if Presider senses much as less as a fraction of change within the three dimensions, he will crush you." Jane warned before zooming faster.


    Lanterk silently followed Jane.


    Jane was quiet, but she was excited. Her appearance brought more information. The Nefilus body has now be an important knowledge among the Unlocked. Future missions would further validate their authenticity as being Aragarians with such terms exclusive to only Presiders.


    Back in the underwater facility belonging to the Everhiss family, Seeker was before his two friends, who wereughing so hard. They had heard the entire exnation of Seeker and continued to mock him.


    Seeker looked with looks that even scared Cliff and Charles.


    "That was a nice touch, Lynd! Amazing!"


    "Well, he did im that the love of my life in another life was his. What''s a little love between close friends? Get that Phallic tech, Zeek!" Lyndughed.


    "I hope you guys had your fun."


    "Come on, Zeek. You know why we did that. You''re really into her. I don''t need my Path to see it."


    "Yeah, Zeek. And after your story, it should be Alphie who you should be with."


    "Meryl... About Alphie."


    "Don''t bother. Lynd already tried to persuade me to stop. But I don''t know about your ideology in that. While it seems logical that we should give her a happy life and make her pursue whoever, but you see... I''m the helpless romantic type that would still go after a guy, even though I know there''s little chance. So I''m going to help her with whatever I can to allow her to increase the small chance she got."


    "You''re going to tell her about me and that future?"


    "Yeah. I''ll give her a choice. She can choose not to fight for you. Will she take the path where she can be happy with someone else? Or will she gamble and pursue happiness she dreams of even if the odds are against her?" Meryl had a dreamy look on her face as if she was watching her favorite K-Drama show.


    Lynd and Seeker facepalmed at this.


    "Either way, I will be against you and her. I can''t imagine what it would be like to go through such betrayal."


    "I''m sympathizing with your emotions, Zeek. And I really hate her. I''m honestly mad at you for even falling in love with her!"


    "Look, Lynd. I''m not in love with her. It''s the Adult me. What I have is memories of that other guy. In this life, I already know who she is."


    "And yet you were worried to make her think that you have other girls... or guys." Lynd raised his eyebrow as he gave Seeker a contemptuous nce.


    "For my mission! I want to make her fall in love with me! Do you know what possible techs we could acquire from her through this?"


    "Just don''t mess this up. When she betrayed you and caused all those deaths, that was on her. But if she manages to kill people in this timeline, it''s on you!" Lynd warned.


    "Zeek. It''s Jane Moore. She just arrived with Lanterk at the submarine. And is requesting... to call us?" Charles was amazed.


    "With a Presider next to her?" Lynd wondered.


    "Patch her through. She''s proven to be quite smart. Let''s see what she wants..." Seeker agreed.


    "Presider. Lanterk is here. Should we head to the Altar immediately?" Jane asked.


    Seeker and the rest didn''t utter a single word.


    "Hrm? Alright." Jane nodded.


    "Presider Willy... I mean... Lanterk. Is your Phalium Suit damaged?"


    "Phalium?" Lanterk frowned.


    "Oh! Sorry! I confused it with the Phalium Suit that Zeraphine has. Yours was a Nefilium Suit, right?"


    Before Lanterk could answer, Jane turned her attention to the phone as if being corrected by the person she was talking to.


    "Oh. Nefilius Suit. I''m sorry, Presider. I got them all mixed up there. Anyway, Presider Lanterk... Presider says he willpensate you in whatever way you wish if your suit got damaged from that little pull down the ocean. Or were you already hurt from all those bullets? He counted two-hundred and seven bullets." Janeughed.


    "No need! Let me see Seeker." Lanterk gave an irritable reply and left.


    "Alright. Presider''s just being nice. No need to be rude about it." Jane immediately disconnected the call.


    "What was that all about?" Meryl was confused as to the random content of the call and the weird terms she said.


    "That was risky." Lynd frowned.


    "Not really. Lanterk believes that a genuine Presider is in this ce. With that power that Eagle showed, he is wary. Also, Zeraphine''s presence and obedience to the Progenitor has convinced Lanterk that a Presider is here. So Jane mentioning that term may seem unimportant to them. That''s why Jane immediately made the call in front of Lanterk. She even used a new term that we can use. I will follow up on that lie and mention the Phalium Suit. At least now, we now know what this suit is. W can casually ask this to Zeraphine as I would just im to be building one. All that''s left is to deceive them in that altar ceremony." Seeker smiled.


    "They''re ready. " Cliff announced.


    "Let''s go." Seeker then began to move towards the location as the rest followed.


    Inside an enclosed wide room, the Emperors and Empresses had arranged the ce to look like an arena. A giant ss dome enclosed the wide area in the middle.


    The families were all gathered on the seats surrounding the dome in the middle, and many even noticed the peculiar pir ced right in the center. Most of the families'' discussions were regarding the battle they just had and couldn''t understand how the game streamers easily evaded all those bullets.


    Lara was with Charm, who kept talking about the shocking news. The first thing Charm talked about was how Meryl confessed to liking Seeker! But then, Lara dropped the bomb and revealed that Seeker and Lynd might have been a thing.


    "He''s- he''s Bi!" Charm was amazed.


    "Apparently so..." Lara had aplicated expression.


    "Oh right... What happened to Alexander? I was sure that the Exoskeleton he piloted had a human inside."


    "Dalisay tech. It was meant to fool people by making the Exoskeleton have that. That''s why he was more reckless than me and went into the line of fire." Lara answered but had an angry expression on her face. She knew full well what that Lanterk did and how she herself was caught in the crossfire of two Presiders.


    "Please don''t talk about me like that." Lanterk innocentlyughed as he sat down next to the two.


    "So you''re still alive? I hoped that you really got shot from all those attacks!" Lara cursed and restrained herself from pping this man.


    "I messed up. I was stupid." Lanterk sat down and could only apologize.


    Some Exoskeletons were carried inside through a forklift and were dropped near the altar.


    When the forklift left, Seeker walked in. He was wearing the same underwear he revealed when he streaked and fought several Exoskeletons.


    Seeker went towards the center of the pir and nced at it, and began to pray.


    The entire arena continued to talk. Because there was no announcement and that Seeker didn''t even have anything on him, many assumed that preparations were still being made.


    BOOM!


    All of a sudden, a powerful eruption urred and threw the standing Exoskeletons to the side.


    Seeker raised his arms, and one of the Exoskeletons began to float in mid-air.


    Seeker made a gripping motion, and the Exoskeleton was suddenly crushed to pieces.


    Everyone was shocked.. But among those surprised were the two Aragarians who couldn''t understand how that scene yed out.

 Chapter 360 - Seeker’s Presentation (2)

    Witnessing the sight of a teenager with no noticeable tech destroy an Exoskeleton with a wave of his hand shocked the two Aragairans.


    "Impossible. How can this be? That boy definitely has no Nefilius Suit!" Lanterk cursed. He then recalled the Phallium Suit that Jane mentioned.


    "Could it be? Is this what the Primordial meant by discovering new techs? Is Pridgeon and Crostfree, or whoever it is, have found a science that surpasses the Nefilius Suit?!" Lanterk''s mind went wild. He began to consider a very minute possibility that hasn''t surfaced in over two thousand years in their world.


    The Aragarians had a veryplicated world.


    Its main goal was to pursue a science that they had witnessed at the very beginning. Witnessing that science sparked the mad obsession of their hearts. The entire system they created of the many levels and how techs would be divided based on contribution was only a goal that pushed towards that science.


    Those who witnessed this science found different means, and the differing ideologies led to their race being split into a war to prove who was right. How would technology be developed? Was it through unity or through a talented individual?


    Ultimately, the victors belonged to the Aragarians. Though the enemy, the Babylos survived and settled elsewhere, it had been proven in that long war that technology should not be shared with all for it to improve. At that era, those at the level simr to the nteds rose in ranks. Their interpretation and perception of the world allowed them to approach the science avable with a different perspective and is inspired by a different truth behind it.


    And so the system was made. Everyone in society has to provide contributions and try to create a way to improve these techs and find inspiration to find it. nteds acted like ves. Pioneers became the first group that can pioneer technology and studies it. Presiders then begin to search for the science that allows them to presider over the three dimensions.


    Yet, these two Presiders could not understand and see how the altar could create power.


    Lanterk was the most affected one. The altar he saw somehow allowed him to recall the forgotten history of the Aragarians.


    "Didn''t the Babelians escape through a simr ship? Asherah Pole¡­ Could it be?" Lanterk continued to think.


    Zeraphine was also in a simr situation. She had her eyes on Seeker the whole time and witnessed the power that crushed the Exoskeleton.


    There were no fluctuations, no techs to carry over the pseudo-Universe Energy that crushed it. And Seeker did not have a body that had breached the dimension. Zeraphine continued to investigate the source of how Seeker did it. The only exnation was the strange altar at the middle. But even then, there were no signs of it.


    Zeraphine began to do a biological scan on Seeker and found no imnts, artificial organs, or anything that could have exined it. She only noted that the cellr body of Seeker was slightly mutated as if he has cancer. But that could not exin the cause of the power.


    "Is it¡­ the brain? Impossible!" Zeraphine wondered, but before she could make the scan, Seeker had copsed on his knees as if he was drained of energy. Blood suddenly appeared on Seeker''s arms as if they were shed and cut by knives.


    Zeraphine was startled, and she nearly ran off to go to Seeker.


    "Rx, everyone. Seeker''s alright." Charles''s was now broadcasted, and he appeared on a tform that extended a bit in the arena.


    The explosion turned the once rowdy hall silent. Many were horrified. They were shouting angrily at Seeker but thought that the boy alone could have done it without any Exoskeletons.


    "We have one more presentation with Seeker Carlean. He has agreed to use a deadlier show. Later, Lynd Indigo will make the same presentation. But to convince you, we are requesting each family to deploy Exoskeletons inside the arena. You may be thinking that this was all a trick. So the best way to prove it is to have you send your Exoskeletons. The WGP willpensate for the loss of your Exoskeleton. You may also opt not to join the presentation." Charles smiled.


    An Armor soon stepped in and took a position, and several strangely dressed men and women entered the arena and positioned themselves to form a circle around the pir. The people began to dance and what was amazing was that the blood that leaked out of Seeker was traveling back!


    Next to him were Precil and Cliff Fangwood.


    "It''s Cliff!" Charm was excited to see him, and for a moment, she forgot the strange show that had just happened.


    And then, Eva appeared next to Charles.


    The excited face of Charm froze as she saw that wretched woman standing next to Cliff.


    Cliff was smiling and waving at Charm.


    "Hrm? Is she so shocked to see that I''m with Charles?" Cliff wondered. He didn''t know that Eva was approaching. Cliff sensed someone through Realm and assumed that it was Meryl.


    And right when Eva was near...


    "It might be because of me," Eva whispered.


    Cliff jolted in shock as he turned to see Eva.


    "E-Eva?"


    "My husband, how are you?" Eva smiled seductively and reached out to Cliff, who backed away as if the touch of Eva would kill him.


    But the moment Eva said this, Charm somehow acquired the ability to lip-read. And though Cliff and Eva was quite a distance, it was as if she was very near.


    In the perspective of normal people, they could see Cliff bolting as if Eva''s touch wasva.


    But in Charm''s biased, jealous, and very closed-minded view, she saw Cliff and Eva flirting with a little ''catch me if you can'' y right in the middle of an important presentation. Time was slowing down at the sight of these two in Charm''s perspective.


    What Charm saw was a totally different scene. She even began to see the future of Cliff and Eva. They were married. They had kids. And Charm was the maid of honor.


    Eva approached Charm and smiled.


    "Thank you for giving him to me."


    The scene disappeared, but Charm''s thoughts were everywhere.


    Charles, who was standing at the stage, suddenly heard a beep.


    "Hrm? My Unlock detecting device is beeping! Amazing! And I thought it never worked!"


    Charles had been tasked to find a way to detect the Unlocking. The device that he, and some of the scientists who joined their alliance, created was at the experimental stage. The technology of Realm and the other dimensions were employed that could scan an area of 300 meters for any brain activity that could be linked to the Unlocking. This device could sense if someone is breaching the stage from the 12% of the peak brain activity they had noted and could sense the moments where the brain was functioning and pushing itself beyond the limits.


    Charles immediately took it out and searched the area. He was subtle in checking and determined that the location where the anomaly was detected was near Lara.


    "Lynd? Do you copy? Unusual activity near Lara Diamon. What can you tell?" Charles sent a secret message.


    Lynd was already secretly spying on Lara Diamon and Lanterk.


    "Near? No changes on the Diamon and Small Willy. Wait¡­ Is that? That''s impossible? Unbing?!" Lynd was amazed at what he saw.


    "What? But I thought-"


    "Not them. It''s the Novelty-stoise!"


    "Her? What do you see? What''s causing it? How is it possible?"


    Lynd used his Path to observe and empathize with the emotions that Charm had.


    "What is Cliff doing?" Lynd asked since he had to focus on Charm''s face.


    Charles turned and saw Eva trying her best to hug Cliff while Cliff was pushing her away.


    Most of the crowd didn''t mind or even noticed Cliff and Charm as they were focused on Seeker, who was now standing with an expression right in the middle of a strange ritual that involved dancers.


    "Cliff is¡­ evading Eva. It can''t be¡­ Did she cross the bottleneck because of this? What do you see? What is she feeling?" Charles asked Lynd to understand what Charm was feeling actually to cause her to enter the Unlocked Realm.


    "I see Charm carrying Cliff''s severed head." Lynd sighed as he stopped.


    "What?"


    "This girl. I don''t know-how. But she has a Skill."


    "A Skill?"


    "She is skilled in¡­ extreme negativity and in assuming things. Ugh. Got to disconnect!" Lynd forcibly ended his observation and couldn''t help but clutch his heart.


    "How is that a Skill? Her Unlocking¡­ it''s regressing!" Charles noticed as the device he held disyed that the fluctuation unique to the Unlocked was slowly being undone.


    "Terrifying. The level of negativity and depression she has would have caused anyone else tomit suicide. Her Path! It a self-torturing Path! But she endures! This is crazy!" Lynd no longer referred to it as a Skill but a Path.


    "It''s a Path? Is that girl a potential Ranked Hero? But I don''t get it! This is the first time I''ve seen someone reach Unlocking and revert back!"


    "It was because of her Path. The depression and anxiety she bears are so powerful! The sight of Cliff and Eva triggered it! It traumatized her that she somehow went through an imaginary Life Review. That temporarily pushed her to the Unbing stage. I don''t understand it either. I''ll tell Zeekter."


    "Damn¡­ I feel sorry for Cliff¡­" Charles couldn''t help but look at Cliff, who was practically fighting Eva now and felt even more pity for Cliff. Lynd''s description of her Path would turn out to be a rather painful path.


    The ritual that the dancers performed ended.


    An Armor was brought inside.


    Seeker stood up and gave a bow to the altar, and then he reached out to the Armor.


    Therge Armor began to tremble. It slowly floated in the air. And Seeker closed his fist.


    The torso of the Armor was getting crushed. The strong Armor was bending from the telekic force and pressure. But all of a sudden, something different urred.


    Lightning energy began to erupt out of therge Armor.


    The torso of the Armor burst opened, and lightning rampaged all over the area.


    The dancers began to panic. Some fell, and others began to bleed out as wounds and cuts began to appear.


    The Armor was breaking and bursting with lightning energy. But as the shes of light continued, the crowd began to realize that the Armor was melting.


    The dancers ran out of the room as the lightning grew wilder.


    BOOM!


    The Armor finally exploded, and strange lightning remained from where the Armor took a human form and moved towards the Altar, and disappeared.


    Seeker, who had been maintaining his position, finally copsed and fainted.


    Several doctors immediately rushed in, and all were wearing hazmat suits as they took Seeker out.


    "Your boyfriend¡­ is quite powerful." Lanterkmunicated secretly to Zeraphine. It t


    "He''s the Progenitor''s direct descendant. I''m not sure if he''s Pridgeon or Crostfree''s son or if he''s the son of another Presider. Do you get it? That''s why I''m trying to win his favor! That should exin my actions earlier!" Zeraphine revealed and used this time to exin her unusual behavior in the earlier battle.


    Lanterk was amazed.


    "Could it... be that the Progenitor has achieved a way to pass on the power of the Nefilius Suit?!" Lanterk recalled a crazy theory that assumed how Primes were so powerful. It was said that they could raise Presiders that would easily reach Principal because their Suit itself would soon be capable of the techs the Principals could do.


    "Yes," Zeraphine answered without hesitating. Based on the book of lies she read, this was another perfect opportunity to make her appear to be a step uppared to Lanterk. So Zeraphine did not even fuss at Lanterk''s statement.


    Lanterk grew all the more cautious. If this is true, and Jane mentioned that Zeraphine does not have the standard Nefilius Suit, but the mysterious Phallium Suit!

 Chapter 361 - Meryl And Lanterk?

    Seeker was dragged to the back of the room as Charles announced and arrangements to bring more Exoskeletons provided by the family.


    Unlike Seeker, Lynd had a character profile that was disyed to everyone and showed the ability he could do.


    Seeker stood up, and the panicked and wounded dancers all stopped their facade and began to walk around.


    "Good job, gang!" Seeker praised.


    "Those wounds weren''t in the original n. You''re trying to get Zeraphine to be worried at you." Meryl appeared and began to mock Seeker.


    "I have no choice. You guys made things worse. Besides, spending time with Zeraphine at this time is dangerous. We don''t know what techs they have to study us when we are with them secretly. The same goes for Lanterk. And if you read Jane''s full report¡­"


    "NO." Meryl gave a distinct answer.


    "Meryl¡­ This is a perfect way. Zeraphine did kill a lot, but in the end, she couldn''t kill me. That''s how an Inhuman defeated her. It was obvious in Lanterk''s very amazing nce that he likes you. You are developing your Light. And it''s beginning to eclipse that of the Tyrant Empress''s light. Hanging out around a Presider is a very dangerous game. With their techs, we don''t know what they can discover from us. But now, we have something that can blind them. If we y the victim card right, we could make him an obsessed boyfriend that basically does whatever you want. Who knows? You could even force him to wage war on the secret Presider in Egypt, which will help usplete Arthur''s n."


    Meryl frowned.


    "You want me¡­ to use him, manipte him, make him do crazy things for me, and not really love him but use him like a tampon, discarded when done using?"


    "Exactly."


    "I''m in. Let''s do this!" Meryl made a diabolicalugh.


    "We''ll have to discuss something, though¡­ Your cells must be toned down by a bit. Can you do it?"


    "Yes. I''ve learned to create a switch on my own. I can improve and revert my cells at will. It consumes a lot of energy to bring it back up, though."


    "That''s good enough. I rmend constantly bringing down the cells on several asions and bringing them back up. That way, he can''t study you but will have to refresh his research parameters constantly."


    "That''s it? That''s the n the great Seeker Carlean cane up with? I n to bring it down drastically while I''m with him. And then, I''ll fake a seizure. Well, with my Unlocking, I can forcibly start a seizure. I n to do a dangerous one that will force him to save me. This will give him that feeling of being ''the man'', and I''ll treat him like a savior. That way, his hatred for the Presider experimenting on me will slowly increase."


    Seeker was impressed with the n Meryl gave.


    "That''s¡­ a really good n!"


    "I''m not yet done! I''ll tell him that I am an experiment salvaged by the Progenitor from Egypt! I was discarded after being used by the Presider there. I was her perfect ve and was her lover even at a young age, and then I was tossed away to this ce! Boohoo! I am a discarded girl. Am I not beautiful? Am I not enough? Will no one ever love me?" Meryl began to act out the scene exaggeratedly.


    "And then¡­ the Progenitor found me and created a fake identity for me and operated on me to make me look like my parents. They tried to save me but couldn''t because of my ever-changing cells."


    "Wait. That will spur Lanterk to do experiments on your cells! He will work hard that he might figure out something!"


    "Yes. He''ll figure out something and apply it to me because he''s obsessed with saving me. I saw the Realm King''s ability. I want Nuclear Fusion. If this Lanterk can figure out how to stabilize it in my body and apply it, then I should be at least at the World Champion level." Meryl answered with a straight expression.


    Seeker was starting to fear the terrifying power of Meryl.


    "With my constant yearning for affection, whatever research he will make will be directed to me. I don''t think he''ll have time to think about other applications once I''m done with him. You said he''s a schemer? Then this will be my training. Will his scheme and ns be better than my beauty? Or will he be blinded by my light?"


    "Ugh. This was what I was talking about. Only Lynd understood me. But in my future, I saw how the Tyrant Empress''s beauty just utterly destroyed the ns of the Presiders. And even now, it seems that the borate ns in my head to gain whatever advantages are easily achieved by you being cute." Seekerughed.


    "It''s good, you know!"


    "But what about if he starts digging up your past?" Seeker questioned.


    "Since both my mom and dad are EAA spies, then it will make it more convincing! With such sad background, he could conclude that the Progenitor faked all known details about my past life. If he digs it up and finds witnesses, testimonies, and proofs that I was there, it''ll make things even more suspicious! After all, he will realize that Harker, one of the pawns of the Progenitor, is protecting me." Meryl smiled.


    "I guess you''re right¡­" Seeker agreed.


    "Don''t worry, Zeek! Focus on getting whatever you can from Zeraphine. You should take her innocence and elope with Kristine. And with Alphie, if you can. I''ll make that Alexander my little pup. He''ll be getting so angry at the Presider in Egypt that he would probably nuke that Presider when they finally meet!"


    "Alright. It''s weird how you get so smart with these things all of a sudden."


    "I''ve read the reports of Arthur about how they are ying that poor experiment with Kristine. I took hints from that. I''ve been writing some fan-fiction stories about Kristine and that other guy. Admiral Ramsden''s reports seemed to have been written by a rather skilled romance writer. I mean¡­ that report had dialogues."


    "It was intended to look like a story. We didn''t have the advantage of creating theworks we have back then, so the best way that Arthur could send the detailed report to us was in that form. So that if any Presider chanced upon it, they would think it was a Romance-Tragedy nove. Of course, it''s still risky business. The Aragarians may pick up something."


    "So that''s why those rather steamy scenes were inserted! But why is that format still being used? We already have theworks set up. There''s no need to write those reports in that way! Especially since it still has a huge risk of being discovered!"


    "Would you rather Arthur stops?"


    "Honestly, no."


    "Exactly. That book is quite popr among the Unlocked women here when you were away. And¡­ apparently, Rosa, Irvana of the Four Winds, and the Tyrant Empress love it. They are treating Arthur''s reports as a book. So¡­ Arthur couldn''t afford to stop it. The Tyrant Empress told Lennox V.3.17a to tell Arthur that she will raid Egypt and interfere with Arthur''s n if he stops writing those books. So even if it''s risky, Arthur can''t afford to stop it now."


    "Who''s the writer anyway? She''s really good!"


    "Of course it is. Just like Granite Mng, this one has a skill in writing. That''s why Arthur chose her to write the reports."


    "Wait...Then those things I envision when I read her report¡­ it''s all because of her Skill?"


    "Yes. Arthur''s bringing that girl to Egypt. Just like how we are bringing Mng to South America, she will be the important informant who can pass on that message."


    "Amazing. These Skills are scary."


    "Scary and unexpected. The Presiders believe themselves to be the kings. Their pride and arrogance cause them to me their fellow Presiders when something odd like us appears. The more we discover more Aragarian terms, their history, their leaders, the more we can make it look like that their enemy is, in fact, Presiders. As for you, use Jane''s own terminology. Phallium Suit. That''s what your body is."


    "Still can''t believe we''re going through this whole Phallguage symbolism. Phnx, Pallium¡­ what''s next?"


    "You''re not the only one shocked. I can''t believe Lowengren''s little joke has blown up to be this huge." Seeker shook his head.


    "Anyway, this means that Danny will be spending a little bit more time with you."


    "No. Danny will be spending a lot of time with me."


    "What? But you''d be with Lanterk."


    "Zeek. I''m beautiful. This little Small Willy will be the friend I run to when hurt. It''ll make him more desperate because Danny will be the yboy that somehow filled the void of my past pain. And I will keep running to him. Danny will be the toxic rtionship that Lanterk will try to rece."


    "He won''t. I''ll fake some heart attack or something when Danny gets an attempted assassination from one of the families."


    "He will?"


    "Yeah. I showed my body outside. Do you think Lanterk will be the only one interested in me? When they find out Danny''s my boyfriend, they will try to kill him. That will make Lanterk protect Danny. With Danny''s Unlocking, although he can''t be as good as the spies, his Unlocking alone that allows him to see, hear and even smell things far beyond the human capabilities will definitely allow him to spy on Lanterk. Actually, I n on letting Danny gets caught trying to spy on Lanterk!" Merylughed.


    "Oh right! To Lanterk, Danny will just be the jealous boyfriend trying to snoop around and find out who Lanterk is! With Lanterk''s mysterious family and appearance, Danny can openly spy on Lanterk and not be suspicious!" Seeker realized it.


    "Oh yeah! You''re right! Now that you pointed it out, that does work! I guess I can make those adjustments in my n."


    "Wait¡­ That''s not why you''re doing it?"


    "Well¡­ Cliff''s exnation about how he convinced me to undo my Exoskeleton and reveal my skin¡­ inspired me. And you could me Arthur''s reports for this." Meryl had a creepy smile.


    "Meryl¡­? What are you nning?"


    "Well¡­ Lanterk''s going to be the best friend I have who gets nothing, right? So¡­ Danny and me are going to have this fake fight after an intense love-making session, which is, of course, also fake. Wipe that smile off your face, Zeek! And then¡­ after this fake fight, I''m going to go on a seizure because of the heartbreak I get from Danny, who decided to go after another girl. That''s how I meet Lanterk. He''ll save me then¡­ And then¡­ I''ll tell Lanterk to help me fake something. And that is, that Danny will be told that during my recovery, Lanterk took videos of me¡­ naked."


    "I''m sickened by your n, Meryl." Seeker had a disgusted look on his face.


    "Go on¡­"


    "Of course, I''ll also tell Lanterk to do me that favor. I''ll ask Lanterk to pretend to be my boyfriend to make Danny jealous. That way, when Danny and Prince begin to spy on Lanterk, he won''t kill the two because of the reason you just said. He''ll think that they''re looking to delete that video. Of course, this will depend if Lanterk will create some sort of small base here. He will do that, right?"


    "He has to. Although he doesn''t need it, now that he knows this ce has possibly two or more Presiders, he will use a room and apply his techs to mask it. This is a good n. Getting Prince in that room will definitely be beneficial. We are Unlocked. Lanterk will never expect Prince to have ways of spying on him that are beyond his estimates. My concern is Danny. I don''t think he''s capable of that level of spying."


    "Oh, that''s easy. I''ll only be telling Danny to fake our fight. But I won''t tell him the truth that Lanterk didn''t get a video of me naked when I was unconscious in hisb."


    Seeker felt a strange chill.


    "What?"


    Seeker knew that Danny would assume that the unconscious Meryl in theb of a Presider, who sees earthlings as mere animals, would definitely abuse Meryl.


    Meryl smiled.


    "I''m just curious if Danny really likes me. I know his fear of Arthur is stopping him. So a little NTR should be the push he needs. What about you and Zeraphine? Want some help as to n how we¡­ y with her?"


    Seeker nearly teleported to get away from the dangerous look that Meryl had on her face.

 Chapter 362 - Soul

    Seeker was starting to feel terrified at the wild imagination of Meryl.


    "You¡­ you''re scary!" Seeker nearly cursed.


    "Come on, Zeek! I think the best way to deal with Zeraphine is through jealousy! Wasn''t it written? Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its shes are shes of fire, the very me of the Lord." Meryl quoted.


    "No. If I tried to use that route, Zeraphine might follow the same decision that I had with Alphie!"


    "Then make her fall for you, and then fall for someone else! You could arrange this in a way that you can fall for her, and then you give Alphie just one passionate night! It''ll make Zeraphine take drastic measures to get you back! In her passion, she might disregard the consequences and find herself in a position that she can''t return to her team! Didn''t you say that she killed herself because she didn''t want to kill you? You can also use that ability where you leak your emotions to her! Make her see the love she had for you. I''m actually curious how that would turn out. You have strong memories of her and could even capture her emotions. What happens if you reflect that on her?"


    "I''m avoiding it at all cost. I don''t know what her real techs are. The more I see the power of the other Presiders, the more I''m convinced that Zeraphine held out on me on that day we fought. Harker has already stated that she has a strange ability to bend the thoughts of someone! And now that we''ve noticed that Lara''s real body has been transforming into the one that Zeraphine had, it proves that her technology is something that happens in the dimensions beyond the third."


    "Oh¡­ So her power has to do with mind-control. Then how do you n to deal with her in the future?"


    "I need to make sure of something else¡­ That''s why I''m waiting for him to arrive?"


    "Him?"


    "The only person who could shed light on Zeraphine''s mystery. We tried looking at her physical body, we tried to scan her to determine what was the source of her power, and even Granite Mng''s painting could not bring out any hints of who she was."


    "I thought she looked beautiful in that painting."


    "Whatever."


    "Are you blushing?"


    "The point is! There''s only one more person who can shed light on her mysterious trait, and he is on his way here. Quite taxing to get that man to travel. But luckily, that other Emperor who went to rescue Magantae was able to pick him up."


    "Who is this man?"


    "I brought him here so we can all grow. Nogard Meng. The only Soul Cultivator among all the Unlocked." Seeker smiled.


    "The Golden Dragon?"


    "Meryl¡­ If you can acquire his power, we could have something powerful. Right now, our bodies demand great sources of energy. And while me and Lynd stand on two opposite spectrum in our attempts to create a Cultivators body, what Nogard has should be another important step to perfect it. You want Lanterk to help you find a way to create Nuclear Fusion so that you''d have a constant source of energy fueling you. If you do manage to cultivate your soul, you could create a power source that is not within the three dimensions."


    "That does sound interesting¡­"


    "We all have to do that. I believe that the Aragarian Principals will have the power to alter the physical world. Even if you have Nuclear fusion, it may just disappear at the wave of their hand. So we have to build up our souls and find a way to make it an energy source that can help us continue fighting."


    "I understand. Well¡­ I have to get ready and talk to Danny. He should be arriving anytime soon. Is the information about Small Willy sent to the iing subs? Is there somece safe where I can tell him about it?"


    "They know that a Presider has arrived. But since they still had to fight andplete their mission, and we couldn''t risk sending a message that could be traced or intercepted, they still don''t know the exact details. Not everyone has Realm like mine that can create a sound shield. The briefing will happen in a secure ce soon. You could get Danny and bring him near Lynd or me to make the sound shield."


    "Eh? I''m toozy for that. I think it''s better than Danny doesn''t know that Small Willy is a Presider. He''s not a spy, after all. It''s better that he just thinks that kid is some snotty son of a Pioneer or something¡­ Besides, if he knows that I''ll be flirting with a Presider, he might get worried. I better tell him after me and Small Willy fake that whole seeing me naked thing. That way, his jealousy will give him the courage to face a Presider." Meryl smiled as she began to move.


    Seeker prayed to the Lord that Eagle preached about to spare Danny andfort his heart from whatever hell Meryl will bring.


    "Women be crazy¡­ Hmmm¡­ If Meryl ns to mess around with Lanterk, I''ll reschedule when Cliff gives a wedgie to Lanterk then¡­"


    The presentation of Lynd had finally ended. It was just as strange and mysterious as Seeker''s presentation. Although Zeraphine wanted to go out and head for Seeker''s location because of the terrifying wounds he felt, Lynd showed them an even more amazing scene.


    The Exoskeletons that the families had provided to see if it would be struck were crushed to the ground by a strange invisible sound. The sound was so terrifying that the ss dome covering the entire area was almost destroyed.


    The description of what Lynd''s power is was that he could control sound. His appearance and how he won in the great gamble exined how his voice was the key factor as he used it to invoke fear and shock.


    Lanterk and Zeraphine were both lost in their own thoughts.


    Neither of them had the technology that was simr to what they had just seen.


    "gue Technology¡­ Living Lightning¡­ And now sound. What Presider has such a wide array of techs? Or is it¡­ Crostfree? He always had the strange anomaly in his Nefilius Suit! He should be like me! Then he must be connected to Presider Marrho somehow!" Lanterk made his guesses. Lanterk had long noticed that there was something peculiar with Crostfree and had at times acted more cautious towards him than he would with Garenjazz.


    "Or is it Myrth and Shakstres? Are they the ones masquerading behind Crostfree? Could it be that one of them killed Corstfree and used the Devouring power to assimte with Crostfree''s tech?" Lanterk pondered. His mind wandered as he kept thinking how multiple techs would have been bestowed as a Judges im would surface in one Presider.


    "It''s tooplicated now! It could be any one of the Mid-Tier Presiders! Are there more Presiders who are hiding their strength as Zeraphine and I have? Those four better start moving and decide to send someone. Otherwise, I''d die here!" Lanterk was angry.


    "Should I tell Zeraphine about Crostfree''s anomaly?" Lanterk pondered.


    "No! It''s too risky! She will suspect me of being stronger! Perhaps she already knows about how I really am!" Lanterk took a casual nce at Zeraphine to ask her a question.


    "I''ll be going to Seeker." Lara immediately spoke as Lanterk was about to turn to her. Since themunication was vocal, Lanterk was stunned.


    "What? Are you just going to leave like that? What about the presentation?"


    "Didn''t you see what happened to Seeker? I have to go to him! Charm, let''s go!" Lara urged herpanion.


    "Hrm? I''m sorry, did you say¡­ something, Lara?" Charm''s face looked white as paper.


    "Charm? What happened to you?!" Lara was stunned. She didn''t understand why her friend looks so deathly pale.


    "I''m just¡­ a little tired. Can we¡­ go now?" Charm asked.


    "Was it because of Seeker? Or Lynd? Did someone attack you?" Lara kept asking questions.


    "It''s nothing! I''ll just be headed to my room."


    "Charm? I need to go to Seeker. Can you go back on your own? Charm?" Lara asked Charm as Charm didn''t respond to her words.


    Charm''s face was without any emotion. She simply nodded and turned around, and walked ahead of Lara.


    Lara was confused and gazed at where Charm was looking and spotted Cliff and Eva.


    Eva was no longer trying to pursue Cliff. She was just standing there with a victorious smile as her attention was locked on to where Charm was.


    Lara gripped her fist as she began to get up from her seat and leave.


    "That''s it? Are you leaving just like that? You saw all those things, right? Zeraphine! Those were three foundational techs, each requiring a Judges im! Are you sure that it''s just Pridgeon and Crostfree?" Lanterkmunicated with Zeraphine through their specialmunication channel.


    Zeraphine stopped and red at Lanterk.


    "You start off learning math. One plus one equals two. Years pass, you use that principle and apply it on the science that allows us to make an urate calction to travel in space at such a fast distance without colliding on meteors,s, and the like. This is the same concept here. Phallic Techs are the conclusion of Judges ims. All routes lead to that altar in the middle! And are you an idiot? You just asked me if it is those two. So you noticed that there could be more of them, and yet you riskmunicating with me through this line? Even I''m not sure if there are just two! Who knows who else is here? What if there are more Presiders here on this for all we know! What if they have Phallic techs that can hack into the links of our souls?!" Zeraphine then began to walk out and disconnected the link.


    The moment she left therge room, she began to hesitate. She could see Charm walking aimlessly.


    Zeraphine knew that the rooms that were prepared for all who wished to Trade would be on the other side.


    "¡­Being human really is frustrating." Zeraphine cursed as she followed Charm.


    "Charm! Where are you going!" Lara called out.


    Charm''s walk started to get slow. Finally, she fell down on her knees and began to cry.


    "Charm?!" Lara ran towards Charm and grabbed her.


    "Are you alright?"


    Charm kept crying and crying.


    It was then that Zeraphine could sense an immense sadness when she touched her.


    It wasn''t difficult for her as Charm was in a state of weakness. Her soul was leaking out, and so, Zeraphine used a portion of her power to dive into the soul and felt a great depression that she had.


    "Is it because of Cliff?" Lara asked her as she tried to get her to stand up.


    "What a very despaired soul. Come here, my child. He''s not the only man in this world," An old and intrigued voice called out.


    Lara and Charm suddenly reacted. The voice was very mysterious, and it even managed to draw Charm out of her depression.


    A masked man stood on the hallway. He had a strange in robe on him and walked with a walking stick. Surrounding him were people wearing the attires that only one group of people could wear on nter Earth.


    "Emperors!" Charm was startled.


    The moment Zeraphine saw the group, she felt a mysterious calmness. But on her mind, she was very threatened. Out of everyone there, her attention was on the masked old man.


    "Soul Tech?!" She eximed as she felt it.

 Chapter 363 - Intimidating Zeraphine

    The sight of the Emperors and Empresses frightened Charm. The voice that brought her out of her depression caused her to witness a sight that no human being on Earth would live to see.


    Twenty of the twenty-five descendants of the Everhiss family were walking and talking fondly to the masked old man.


    The sight was very strange. None of the Everhiss family were even wearing their mask.


    Charm watched in awe and was start struck at the scene. Although the Emperors and Empresses never make public appearances and would always wear masks, their faces, profiles, and pictures were mandatory subjects for all students worldwide.


    With how chaotic the world was, Emperors and Empresses could be involved in wars. Several battles and skirmishes between nations were rumored to have involved Emperors and Empresses. It was also rumored that the more entric Emperors and Empresses would walk among themon public.


    Because of these possibilities, everyone in the world was thought to memorize all existing and known Emperors and Empresses. Pictures of who they were have always been released by the WGP, and this has be part of the curriculum in all schools around the world.


    Everyone thought that they could interact with an Emperor or Empress without knowing. A more fearful possibility is thatmon folk would insult these exalted Dynasties and bring trouble to a nation.


    Despite being a pure descendant from the lineage of the WGP Emperors and Empresses, Charm of the Novelty-stoise was discarded as the Branch Family of the WGP. As the WGP has rules to limit the Emperors and Empresses each family posses, many other descendants would be assigned outside of the Arctic nations. Most became the soldiers and officers of various fleets of the WGP or assigned in Kranens, Antis''s, the World Governing Trading Hub, or in the Worlds Helm.


    As for Charm, she was a descendant that was assigned in Pangea. Though they have some benefits and secret ess to the main family, the advantages weren''t that great, which is how even a non-descendant family line like the Dalisay rose to power. Though Charm was of the bloodline, it has been imputed on them that they were mere spies in the respective countries they serve. They could be discarded.


    This status of Charm invoked a certain fantasy that she had always dreamed of, knowing she is a direct descendant.


    Around the world, movies, TV series, and the like would circte and use these Emperors and Empresses as important plot characters. The pictures of these Emperors and Empresses and even some videos would be released for the world to know who the Emperors and Empresses were and became source materials for these shows. After all, who wouldn''t want to have a rtionship with an Emperor and Empress?


    The most daring one was the EAA''s television show that was, at first, banned by the WGP. It was a love story between a woman and an Emperor who met in the middle of the battle during the fictional Continental War between the EAA and One China.


    ''Crash Landing on Emperor'' became a hit sensation.


    But, because of the illicit nature and daring presentation of how Emperors were, it was attacked by hordes of critics. Most shows before CLOE would create a fictional Emperor or Empress. But CLOE was the first to use the name and identity of a real Emperor. The simps of this Emperor hated how the show used his name and rallied.


    The show was immediately canceled after showing on five episodes. But the reason wasn''t because of the critics but because the real Emperor bought had secretly bought the rights of the show. The studio was relocated to the Arctic Nations and continued filming.


    The show was suddenly announced in the WGP''s streaming service, but no trailer was offered.


    When the first episode re-aired, it was known as the Day of a Billion Screams. The fantasies of women all over the world reached a level of fanatic worship.


    All scenes were reshot, and the real Emperor was ying the role of the Emperor. All with its adorable love scenes with the actress. The actress who yed the womanter became the first, and to date, the only non-descendant of the WGP to be the wife of an Emperor.


    When pictures of the two surfaced, and the actress was given the impossible chance of bing one of the WGP, it drove the world to worship and make even more stories. All Emperors and Empresses have been featured in shows across the world in many ways because of this.


    Although critics noted that the WGP used this as a tool to magnify their sainthood and create free propaganda that made the masses love them even more than their own country, these ims soon vanished. Those critics were persecuted, canceled, publicly beaten, and in some countries, killed.


    Still, among the intellectual groups, such as the Royals of Pangea, the teachers would teach that the marriage of the Emperor and thatmon actress was allowed because it brought a massive increase in the approval rating of the WGP. This was also why it never happened again.


    Charm was someone who had loved the Emperor and Empress romance genre and watched countless shows. But she had an edge whenever she was watching these shows. She was a descendant.


    And right in this very hall was the one Emperor she spent countless imaginary nights with.


    Emperor Hercules Everhiss stood right next to this masked old man.


    The pull of the voice that brought her out of her depression and heart-breaking fantasy brought her back to reality, and while the old man kept calling out to her, she never reacted.


    "Charm? Charm?" Lara finally called out after the old man''s several attempts.


    Charm''s dream was very strange. She fantasized about how Cliff was now locked inbat against this Emperor. Cliff was secretly an Emperor''s descendant as well! And, for some reason, Cliff was a vampire that sparkled when ced in the light.


    "Is she alright?" Emperor Hercules finally asked as he felt ufortable at how Charm was looking at him with a weird smile.


    "Hrm... She''s daydreaming. Oh boy. It must be that show you are on, Emperor Hercules. Tell me, young girl. Which Emperor do YOU fancy?" The old man teased Lara.


    Lara turned red in embarrassment and finally pped Charm.


    SLAP!


    "Emperors!" She shrieked once more as she awoke from her great shock.


    "Oh? It looks like you''re out of your depression already!" The old manughed.


    "Emperors. Empresses." Lara greeted as she pulled Charm to stand properly.


    "Hello, young ones. Emperors... may I know who these two are?" The old man asked.


    "These two are our guests from Pangea. They joined Harker''s team to get here to trade with us. This one is Lara Diamon of the EAA, and that one is Charm Novelty-stoise. She is the winning head of the Novelty-stoise n." Hercules said.


    "You... know my name?" Charm was stunned.


    "Don''t say anything, Emperor. She may faint. Please move on ahead." The old man ordered.


    Hercules shook his head and moved on.


    Charm''s gaze was glued on him.


    "Intriguing. I have heard of the Diamon n. To think they would be with Pangea! Aren''t you of the EAA?" The old man turned to Lara and began to disperse the awkward air.


    "I''ve established an alliance with Harker with hopes to know more about the Progenitor and fight the Lost Primordial." Lara answered. Although her answer was simple, it was designed to probe the old man.


    "Youngsters these days... It''s GENERAL Harker. Be more respectful to those in power. Especially as someone as prominent as the Light of Pangea."


    Zeraphine was caught off guard. Of everything she just said, the old man focused on this?


    "Well, it''s not that I don''t me you. You aren''t from around here anyway. I guess your upbringing and real identity are hard to disregard." The old manughed.


    It was then that Zeraphine realized her mistake. She said Harker because regardless of who the Light of Pangea was, he was just an Earthling. The double meaning quip of the old man made Zeraphine realize that she just gave herself and her identity away.


    "It''s alright, young child. I do understand your scenario. I tend to forget and call these youngsters by their names and not by their Emperor or Empress titles." The old man chuckled.


    "In any case, I have great respect for General Harker. It''s what led me to nominate him to my father in the first ce."


    "Father?" Lara and Charm asked together.


    "I am the son of the Progenitor." The old man answered calmly.


    Lara was stunned at the Old Man''s admission.


    "You didn''t know?" The old man looked at Lara, but he asked Zeraphine.


    It was as if Zeraphine felt that arge monster was staring at her. Zeraphine felt so small and helpless at the giant that was standing in front of him. It was like Zeraphine was standing in front of arge dragon bearing its fangs to her.


    "I... am not that close with the Progenitor." Lara reluctantly answered. Her heart began to beat so fast from the fear that she felt, but Zeraphine refused to show any weakness.


    "That makes the two of us. In my hundred years of existence, I never really spent more than ten minutes with them. I don''t even know which of them are my real parents." The old man sighed.


    "I am Seeker''s fiance. Are you rted to Seeker?" Lara asked.


    "Oh? Seeker swings that way?" The old man asked.


    Somewhere in the sealed chambers of the Everhiss''s Many Mansions, Seeker punched and roared as he heard Nogard''s answer.


    Lynd, who was still in the arena, had used Wind Whisperer, and with the help of Peals of Thunder, he sent a secret message to Nogard.


    "Good job, Uncle Nogard!" Lynd approved.


    Lara''s expression grew dark as she heard these words. Her greatest fears were proving to be true.


    "I''m just joking. Well... Partly joking. But Seeker may or may not be my rtive. Why are you asking? Shouldn''t you already know... Being Seeker''s fiance, he should have told you." Nogard asked back.


    "Things... aren''t that simple."


    "Then I have no business straightening out whatever it is you do or do not know." Nogard then turned to Charm.


    "Now... What''s curious is this little child over here. Your emotions... It''s very, very intriguing. My soul can sense it from here."


    Despite her best attempts to do so, Zeraphine trembled. Those words seemed very metaphorical, but Zeraphine knew that this old man didn''t mean it in that way. She herself has felt the strange anomaly of Charm. The emotions she felt was so painful that it was mixed with deep anger, regret, and abysmally low self-esteem.


    "Might I ask, what your problems are, youngdy?" The Old man asked.


    "Sir... The meeting... We are supposed to bring you to Emperor Phoenix." One of the Emperor exined.


    "Yes... I know. It''s about the Throne Wars. But I''d rather that this little girl will tag along. Since they are of General Harker''s group, these two should be trusted?"


    "One is a Programmed ve..." An Emperor pointed at Lara.


    "Oh? I doubt that." Nogard gave a mysterious smile.0


    Lara avoided the gaze of Nogard. But her fear didn''t stay with this old man. What she was thinking was how someone else has a technology that surpasses hers.


    "This is insane! The Progenitor.... isn''t a Presider! I''m being toyed by a Principal!" Zeraphine cursed.

 Chapter 364 - Zeraphine

    Zeraphine was a daughter of a Prime. And this was inconceivable considering that Primes was no longer considered to be humans. They were an altogether different kind of being. Mortal humans couldn''t conceive what these beings are. And for such a being to give birth to a child was all the more impossible.


    During the transformation between a Principal and a Prime, their bodies transform and be beings that didn''t have gender. As beings that exist and can interact beyond the three-dimension, they have changed and cannot even be described to be beings who have locality in time and space.


    The transformation is so different that these beings act and think differently. To Principals and Presiders, Primes were strange, enigmatic beings.


    And among all Primes, Prime Zephirus was the strangest one of all.


    As a being beyond the three dimensions, it was physically impossible for such a being to conceive a child. Yet it did so. Prime Zephirus was soon linked to a Mid-Tier Presider and gave birth to Zeraphine.


    This created a lot of spection and even created several battles among the Prime''s who demanded an exnation to Prime Zephirus. Prime Zephirus refused to tell them and merelyughed at his challengers, stating that this was one of his breakthroughs.


    The Primordial was neutral to the bickering among the group but confirmed that Zeraphine was indeed of Zephirus''s own blood.


    Thew that the Primordial dered only allowed an Aragarian to bestow a limited number of technologies that were one level lower than their current standing. Every time they ascend, they would gain an opportunity to bestow it, but only to offspring born after they ascended. Most Aragarians have multiple children and would often copte with Aragarians who were lower than them in terms of their level.


    But since Primes never had children, the highest tech to be bestowed has always been Presider foundational techs.


    The birth of Zeraphine naturally created issues as she was born after Zephirus ascended. A person born with a Principal leveled tech has not been seen since the founding of the Aragarians. The Aragarian world all were looking at Zeraphine''s growth.


    Principals were curious as Aragarians born with such advantage has never been seen. Half of the Agrarian consensus believed that Zeraphine would be powerful. She was granted such a great head start in the game. While everyone else is born trying to figure out the principles of the foundational techs, she would have such outstanding technology. No one knew what possible future such a person would have.


    The other group believed that Zeraphine would never prosper. The Fight of Life, the struggle and study of science that would spark inspiration would be things that Zeraphine would never experience. And so, many believed that she would be a mediocre Principal. She would be the weakest Principal known ever to exist.


    Many Primes raged and rebelled for Zephirus to never ever bestow Zeraphine Principal techs and argued that since such a case never urred, Zephirus can only bestow Presider level techs, and many threatened to attack Zephirus if he ever broke that vow.


    Zeraphine only received Pioneer-level techs when she was born. It was only her mother, a mid-tier Presider, who was finally allowed to give her the techs she needed.


    But as a child, Zeraphine had grown outstandingly smart and managed to improve the Pioneer techs and make it reach a level that was near the Foundational Presider level stage!


    This event created another turmoil within the Aragrian world as they imed it was impossible for someone who lived less than a hundred years to achieve that on her own. The investigations led by Prime monitored and even scanned Zeraphine in front of several Principals.


    The ruling then found that Zeraphine had a technology that only Principals should have.


    Her soul hasbined with her body. It was as if she was born with a Nefilius Suit.


    A war nearly broke out, but Prime Zephirus imed that he never gave her a tech endowment and even invoked the presence of the Primordial.


    The Primordial ruled that Zephirus ims were true. And this caused another upheaval. Many Prime''s and Principals vowed to be after Zephirus and Zeraphine if Zephirus would perform his bestowal. They argued that Zeraphine already had such an advantage that it should have been considered a bestowal of techs.


    Zephirus didn''t have much to say but only mocked his adversary. Still, after the event, no bestowal ever urred.


    The nature of Prime Zephirus being a transcendental being made it difficult for him to spend time with Zeraphine. Ad shortly after that event, Zeraphine''s mother also died.


    At that point, Zeraphine practically grew up alone. Many times did she pleaded for her father to help her but was met with silence.


    Zeraphine grew up being told two extreme things as she tried to scale the ranks of the Aragarian world.


    Those with powerughed at her and called her a cheat. Some even imed that she was a bastard born of her mother and that Zephirus was never her real father but only used this trick to subvert thew. They would mock her and whatever achievements and developments she could achieve as a young Presider. Those born of Principals would im that she cheated or used whatever evil means her father used to have her.


    The other extreme was the constant praises from two-faced people looking to manipte or tter her with words to acquire more techs or find a way to get acquainted with Zephirus.


    The two opposite ends of people that Zeraphine could meet made it more painful and heartbreaking for her as she grew up. She would beughed at for being perfect as it was but an illusion given to the bestowal of her father. She would also gain fake allies because of the alleged perfection of being naturally born as someone with the potential to be a Presider.


    All the more, Zeraphine continued to grow up hating her lineage and her father. She even hated when people addressed her as Princess, a title only reserved for Principals. Because of this, she vowed to be her person and tried her entire life to piece the mysterious puzzle, which is herself. She took the few techs that she could and even secretly studied the special soul that allowed her to make quick breakthroughs.


    Soon, she became an official Presider and managed to acquire two Judges im. Her ascension brought both hate and ttering pretense from many. Her father made a rare appearance and talked to her and made many Presiders give her research materials and various data for her use.


    And while Zeraphine was just a whelp among the Presiders, she had something that no one else had. The power of the Soul.


    As far as she could tell, only Principals would have the ability to have her power. And now, before her was such a being.


    The old man was casually talking and convincing the Emperors to bring Charm into the meeting. Since Lara was a Programmed ve, her presence shouldn''t be a problem.


    "You can ask the Progenitor if you are unsure." The old man''s voice showed a little impatience.


    "It''s alright. I''m sure they won''t mind. This could be an eye-opening moment for them!" An Emperorughed.


    "Good! Emperor Hercules, please escort Charm promptly." The old manmanded.


    Emperor Hercules nodded and began to offer his hand for Charm to take.


    Charm was stuttering and trembling.


    "Hm? Intriguing. What an odd girl." Nogard continued to be amazed as he looked at Charm.


    Zeraphine observed the two and could not tell whether the old man wanted Charm or her to be around. Left with no choice, Zeraphine followed in hopes of learning more about it.


    The pair followed. Lara was quiet and was doing her best to hide the roller-coaster of emotions she felt.


    Charm, on the other hand, was in heaven. She saw herself headed towards the altar. For some strange reason, Cliff was Emperor Hercules''s best man.


    But then, this fantasy ended, as she saw Cliff sprinting while being chased by Eva.


    The anger surfaced, and she didn''t take a peek at Cliff.


    "Charm! Wait!" Cliff called out and chased after the group.


    Lynd finally ended his presentation at the arena, and Charles gave his closing spiel and weed everyone at the World Governing Trading Hub. The crowd dispersed, and Alexander Lanterk also emerged with the crowd. He still had a mystified look on his face and got even more confused as he received a message from Zeraphine telling him she was with the Emperors and he should avoidmunicating with her at all cost.


    Alexander frowned and decided to go back and establish his base toy out his techs in order to uncover the many mysteries he learned.


    "Phallic techs?" Lanterk murmured.


    Suddenly, the crowd of people leaving the arena all burst into screams and cheers, and many began to profess their undying love.


    Lanterk nced, and his heart stopped.


    Meryl Mikado.


    The memory of what had he saw earlier was superimposed in the image of the walking Meryl. Meryl was as beautiful as she was but kept sprinting along with her guards to avoid the crowd of people.


    Lanterk acted without thinking. He used his techs to force ayout of the entire building. With the map in his head, Lanterk deduced where Meryl would run and moved towards that location.


    Soon, he saw a man leaning by the window and observed the beautiful underwater scenery.


    "Him? Who is he? Why is he here? Should I get rid of him?" Lanterk pondered. He didn''t want to allow any hindrance from his meeting with Meryl. Lanterk''s current form was that of a small boy. Compared to the good-looking and suave man, Lanterk knew that Meryl wouldn''t notice him!


    Lanterk observed the CCTV cameras scattered all over and cursed as he could find no way to kill the man.


    Suddenly, the doors burst open.


    "Danny!" Meryl called out. There were no guards following her this time.


    "Meryl! It''s good to see you!" Danny smiled.


    Lanterk grew angry at the scene. Meryl practically ran into the young man''s embrace.


    "I''ve missed you so much!" Dannyughed.


    "Me too! Being so far away from my boyfie¡­ Hmp! You sure didn''t flirt around with any girls?''


    "Of course not! I''m more worried that some guy might take you!" Dannyughed.


    Lanterk was growing even angrier that his face couldn''t hide his disgust.


    The two, however, had known that Lanterk was there.


    "Pioneer." Meryl did a very subtle sign which the Unlocked all knew. This was their means tomunicate with each other.


    Danny had been informed that he had a new mission that involved getting someone jealous and was immediately on board.


    Danny resisted the urge to nce at Lanterk.


    "Hmp! Lusting after Meryl, huh?" Danny was smiling but kept hiding the inner rage he had.


    "Ahem! Sorry. I- I¡­ don''t mean to interrupt." Lanterk finally spoke.


    The pair turned and noticed Lanterk.


    "Hey, kid. You lost your parents or something?" Danny gave a surprised look but intentionally provoked Lanterk.


    "Danny! Be nice!"


    "Kid came at a bad time!" Danny cursed and went all alpha by putting his arm around Meryl.


    "Hey! I know you! You''re that Exoskeleton Pilot that nearly got me, right? I actually asked for you after the fight!" Meryl identified Lanterk.


    Lanterk felt his stomach turn.


    "Oh. Ye-yeah! Sorry about that whole attack. And erm¡­ congrattions on winning that." Lanterk smiled, unable to hide the jittery sensation that was tingling all over his body.


    "Meryl Mikado." Meryl moved forward and offered a handshake which Lanterk greedily took.


    Lanterk was about to introduce himself when¡­


    "You''re Alexander Small Willy, right?" Meryl asked ahead.


    Lanterk froze.


    "Oh? Alexander Small Willy? What a weird name." Dannyughed and didn''t even hide it.


    "Danny!" Meryl chastized.


    "You really go by that name?" Danny mocked as he stepped in between the handshake of the two, forcing Lanterk to let go of Meryl''s hands.


    "It''s¡­ it''s a fake name." Lanterk gritted his teeth.


    "Oh, ok. Alexander Small Willy. I''m Danny Bigus Dickus.." Danny offered Lanterk a handshake.

 Chapter 365 - Intimidating Lanterk

    "Danny!" Meryl chastised.


    "What? If his fake name is Small Willy, it must mean something, right?"


    "It''s a strategy. Make the other person think something else, only to be something else entirely. It''s the opposite of what you are doing. Ovepensating is the term, I think. This is usually the tactic of the weak." Lanterk gave a cruel smile. His innocent facade vanished as the desire to prove himself to Meryl surfaced.


    Dannyughed and smiled at Lanterk. Hisughter wasn''t sarcastic or contained any form of hatred at all. Danny trulyughed.


    The battle against Lynd in the water made him and Dara face such terrors. Both of them fought and acted, assuming that each other would die. They had seen Lynd''s power and resolve, and the way they were able to take the step to challenge him was a life-changing experience.


    When the two woke up, they were actually surprised to be alive and were informed of what happened.


    Lyndter appeared to them and apologized. Lynd even cried as he could sense the great hatred that the pair had on him. But in that sincere moment, the two found it easy to forgive Lynd. The Covenant grew stronger that day. Titan, John, Dara, and Danny trained all the harder and were excited about the next mission.


    Seeker and Cliff soon praised the group. This was because, of the many Unlocked, they were the few people who forced Lynd to take action and became necessary elements for the mission toplete. That battle was the key that allowed them to finally have the will to reach the higher stages of the Unlocking. Danny and Dara were the first in the Covenant apart from Arthur and Kristine to have reached the Surmounting Unbing stage.


    And so, Danny was beginning to shift his mindset frommon humanly thinking to that of Inhumans.


    And right now, this strange Aragarian was calling Danny weak. Danny was so unbothered that he found it cute.


    "Oh? Interesting. How about wepare it! You show yours, and I show you mine!" Danny dared.


    Lanterk was stunned.


    "Wha-what?!"


    "What?" Even Meryl was caught off guard. The truth was, she never got the opportunity tomunicate in length with Danny due to their distance. Aside from the expensive cost of energy to create a link, it was dangerous as it was possible that they would get noticed by the Aragarians. The few means that they had were reserved for Oveers.


    And so, Meryl had no idea how much Danny had changed. To Danny, as they were intentionally trying to make Lanterk jealous, he decided to go all out. It was also one of the few moments that Danny had in which he could reason with Arthur why he did it.


    "How do you want it to go? Should we just show it? Or do you want topare both through touching?" Danny sneered.


    An ugly look surfaced on Lanterk.


    This challenge was reaching the limits of his tolerance.


    Even Meryl was frightened at Danny''s challenge.


    "Well?" Danny asked as he approached.


    "Da-Danny!" Meryl was stunned at Danny''s sudden approach.


    "Do you want to go first?" Danny grinned as he stood only inches away from Lanterk''s face.


    "I will... KILL YOU!" Lanterk said with his teeth gnashing.


    "Oh? Isn''t that your friend?" An old, serene voice asked.


    Zeraphine was horrified at the scene. They had just turned the corner, and she could see the devastating power rising. This was the same Universe Energy that surfaced during the battle was being condensed.


    Danny also felt it as a strange Realm appeared nearby. But instead of looking at Lanterk, he was looking elsewhere and frowned.


    "Isn''t that the Old man that was with the Realm a week ago?" Danny wondered. After the battle with Lynd, the Realm King took and trained the Covenant along with Git Godlike. But this man was also present. Their final training was to try and stay conscious against the old man in a two-minute battle.


    The experience once more an eye-opener as the group faced the horrors unimaginable. The Oveer Seeker had to use two souls to withstand his force, and Danny and the team weren''t even Inhumans.


    The voice triggered the horror, but at the same time, this entric old man was extremely likable.


    "Master-"


    "Don''t call my name so casually, Danny. We are among... uncertain people." Nogard smiled.


    When Lanterk turned to the side, he stumbled down.


    The horrifying sight of the man was clearly seen. It was a Dragon. Arge and magnificent dragon of shining gold skin. It looked down on him, and the four pirs stood by Lanterk to create the form of the Goat.


    And there, in his shock, Lanterk unconsciously uttered a word...


    "Principal..." Lanterk''s voice was so soft that normal people wouldn''t hear it.


    Even the inattentive Danny didn''t hear it.


    But somewhere in the underwater seas, Seeker stood up in shock.


    Lynd, who was on his way to Seeker, was also startled.


    Those words were the best possible result that they could hope for.


    When Seeker decided to make Nogard meet with Zeraphine, it was to intimidate her and understand more of the mystery regarding Zeraphine. But the meeting was so great that Seeker urged them to head towards Lanterk''s location.


    The short meeting Nogard had evidently shocked Zeraphine. The expressions that Lara had on her face proved that there were things that she could not fathom about Nogard Meng. And with this sess, Seeker hoped to add more arsenal in sessfully proving to Lanterk that the Progenitor was not something he could casually mess with.


    As of this moment, they were assuming that Lanterk was stronger than Zeraphine. But the startle and sudden slip that Lanterk made was an important revtion for the group.


    If they could fake the power of a Presider, they could dy theing battles and scare the Presiders to stop interfering!


    "Are you alright... Kid?" There was something strange in the old man''s answer.


    But Lanterk knew what this old man was saying.


    Lanterk abruptly stood up.


    "Ye-yes. Greetings, Emperors." Lanterk gave a respectful bow. He pretended that it was that sight of several Emperors that shocked him.


    "That is Alexander Small Willy. He is a family that is associated with the Diamons. At your father''s orders, we were to put a hold... in investigating him." One of the Emperors reported.


    "Small Willy? Four small horns...? Interesting." Nogard wondered.


    Lanter''s stomach turned. How was it that this figure took one look at him and immediately realized who he was? He looked at Zeraphine, who was now giving him a meaningful look.


    "What are you up to, Danny?" Nogard asked as he turned to Danny and ignored Lanterk as if seeing and discerning such things were useless.


    "You know this man, Progenitor?" The Emperors asked.


    "Danny Haze is one of the minor experiments of my father. Of course, I know him. Be thankful that I am sharing this information with you." Nogard answered without any qualms.


    "Progenitor." Danny bowed after seeing how Nogard behaved.


    "Don''t kill yourself with these reckless actions, Danny. You better move along. I expect to see the Covenant soon. Let''s us move, Emperors. How goes the status of my rtive?"


    "Seeker Carlean is stable. He managed to summon three different elements after worship. The third was a strange acid-like element that had the potential to melt."


    "Oh... That''s new. At least he hasn''t aged from using it. Otherwise, he won''t be able to fulfill his role to Miss Diamon over here." Nogard chuckled.


    Nogard and the Emperors moved along. Charm and Lara''s eyes lingered on Danny and Lanterk.


    Meryl had haughty and arrogant eyes as she sneered at Lara.


    This made Lara frown and turned a cold look towards Meryl.


    The group moved on.


    "Danny. I have to check up on Seeker. Stop fooling around! And it looks like you have a new session with that old man. Who is he?"


    "He''s a... descendant of the Progenitor." Danny heard Nogrd Meng''s conversation and knew that this was directed for him.


    "That''s all we know. He has this tremendous power that we don''t understand."


    "Phallium Body. What envy. If we get that..." Meryl''s voice trailed off.


    "Then... I won''t have to suffer those immense pain every night."


    "You heard him. He ages every time he uses it. I heard he''s not more than forty years old! Yet look at him..." Danny sighed. With such apparent giveaways from Nogard, Danny knew what the intentions were.


    "Let''s go, Danny. We have several more things to do. Let''s finish our mission." Meryl smiled at Lanterk and pulled Danny away.


    Despite the shock of Lanterk, Meryl''s smile drew him out. Lanterk turned and gazed at the beautiful smile of Meryl and couldn''t help but smile back.


    "See you around, Small Willy!" Dannyughed as he left.


    "Sorry about that! He''s just very overly protective of me!" Meryl chuckled as she waved, and the two left.


    As the pair disappeared, Lanterk remained with a strange expression returning.


    "A Principal? How has a Principal traveled here?" Lanterk cursed. But then he realized that things weren''t as impossible as it seems. Unlike Presiders who do not have the means and resources for Interster traveling, Principals could easily do this.


    "Suit Devourer? If the Lost Primordial was here... And someone managed to use the Suit Devourer on it... Then it''s possible. Regardless... They have to go here. The Four Pirs must be one again!" Lanterk decided.


    In another room...


    Seeker and Lynd had met together and were discussing the possibilities.


    "Lanterk voiced that word out. So he has mistaken Nogard as something that has Principal power. This means Principals are naturally soul cultivators..." Lynd immediately spoke the crux of the matter.


    "Yes. And because Lanterk said that and identified Nogard as such..."


    "It means that Lanterk is a Principal. This makes sense. Even Lara or Zeraphine didn''t cause any reactions from Mng. Yet his strange image..."


    "Yes. Mng couldn''t use his Path for two months! Luckily, Charles is here and should heal him right in time to travel to the Underwater City, Day06. I''ve alreadymanded the Emperors to flood this entire area with their Origin power. If Lanterk can sense it, he would be more cautious of trying tomunicate outside."


    "But Zeek... This changes things. If we are to make it look like the Progenitor is a Principal, then we''d have to-"


    "Make the Lost Primordial that is challenging the Progenitor appear to be a Principal as well. I know. We have to inform Arthur! They should have reached thends of Egypt right now, but hopefully, they haven''t attempted to move inside yet. Their entry must be shocking that the Presider in Egypt would think it''s a Principal level!"


    "How will they enter Xenophobic Egypt with tricks that will make the Presider assume a Principal is after him?"


    "It''s quite tough. On one level, we can''t let the Presider inside Egypt be wary. When Lennox attacked Egypt and defeated the Presider living there, it came with such great cost. That Presider has an army. Although Lennox seeded, we found out that Arthur''s sister has been killed long ago. The Presider somehow valued Arthur''s sister so much that he couldn''t afford to give it to others. So their entry can''t use heavy military forces. And they have to assume that everyone in Egypt is an Aragarian."


    "They have Lowengren, Vender, and Gardo. We can only imagine what crazy means they will use to enter it. With lies, trust, and vexation, they could easily waltz in as if they owned the ce. It doesn''t matter if they are Aragarians. They''d just get bamboozled or annoyed to death. But that''s the problem! It''s not enough to be Principal level!"


    "Yes. We have to contact them now!"


    Cliff suddenly entered the room.


    "You guys were talking about Arthur?" He asked.


    "Yes."


    "They''re on the news." Cliff took out am device and disyed a news article that was posted just a few minutes ago.


    "We''re toote!" Lynd cursed.


    "We can only hope they did something crazy. Something crazy enough to make it look like a Principal is behind the attack!" Seeker hoped before checking them device of Cliff.


    "An audio interview is said to go live shortly. Charles said that we should wait for him before listening to it as he''s still heating the popcorn." Cliff said.


    Seeker and Lynd read the news article.


    "Four robots from the future escort time-traveling Egyptian Pharaoh and attacked Egypt''s Borders."


    Lynd and Seeker looked at each other with strange expressions.


    "I guess... that''ll work." Seeker mumbled.

 Chapter 366 - How To Infiltrate Egypt

    In the weeks that have passed since the destruction of the Fifth Fortress in the Caliphates, Africa''s various nations began to gather and meet with state heads to discuss theing problems that started to rise.


    There were many political, military, and even conspiracy turmoils urring all over the country.


    The main concern was imminent war with the Caliphates. The attack that involved the mysterious disappearance of General Vender Hirock had led to a sh as the newly elected leaders of the Caliphate region after the fall of General Joab Barak made tensions much worse.


    The Caliphate had med Africa for coborating with the mysterious Lost Primordial or was part of another group known as the Progenitor.


    The issue of nteds was also brought up, which further hastened the tensions. Many Commanders who guarded the borders of the Caliphate made synchronized attacks. Although Africa has yet to lose one base, their losses were far greater than that of the Caliphate.


    The Caliphate deployed its secret technology called the Desert Bloom and createdrge sand monsters that wreaked havoc within the desert regions of Northern Africa.


    With Africa, various tensions were also urring.


    Various Jewish families with great empires vanished overnight. It waster discovered that the attacks on the borders were a diversion to get many Jews out of Africa. Some other odd incidents involved the WGP wherein the forces of Admiral Intrik had once more raided various adult sensual shops. The raid also involved attacking factories within Africa, with the WGP Fleet Admiral iming that the objects were linked to weapons of mass destruction that have not been submitted to the WGP for approval.


    The WGP also imed that they were to investigate certain key locations and soon ambushed and harassed various nudist beachgoers in the entire country, which caused even more confusion.


    But the greatest upset that the African nation had was the sudden rebellion of two states which have suddenly voted for independence. The situation was so beguiling since these states had never shown any signs of wanting to rebel.


    The States of Chad and Niger of the African Nation held a sudden conference tobat the rising threat of Egypt. There had been reports of mysterious activities, tremors, and unexined sightings within the border of Egypt that forced these two states to meet to strengthen their defenses. The situation was even more frightening as the region of Libya, which is part of Central Egypt, reported to haveunched satellites.


    Due to the apathy of the WGP, these allegedunches were not investigated.


    And so, the two States met. A few hourster, they dered their independence from the African Nations.


    The sudden deration sparked outrage and confusion as all leaders of the two states unanimously elected a new leader, who they called the Desert Queen.


    Under the orders of the Desert Queen, the armies within the states were suddenly called to gather, and a census and inventory of all avable war materials were issued.


    As the deration was so shocking, the economic and trade market around the African Nation came crashing down.


    All of the surrounding states of Chad and Niger that belonged to the African Nation were outraged and even sent threats and important military leaders to demand thepensate them for the sudden loss of various materials going into the two states as part of the trade agreement.


    But things turned worse as these Generals and soldiers who marched into the newly formed Desert Empire suddenly switched sides and dered their eternal loyalty to the Desert Queen.


    And as the unexined events continued to unfold, a certain meeting was underway.


    Arthur was standing with a nonchnt expression. Everyone else around him was vomiting.


    Alean looked nauseated but did not have the same sick expressions as the rest.


    "That¡­ was crazy. Fun¡­ But crazy." Gardo finallyughed.


    From Malta, Arthur activated a series of unique teleportation techs through the harnessing of the Void Assassins power. The storm above them was a weaponized storm meant to hinder and limit the trading and voyages between inds. As the storm had a strange lightning story, the fluctuations that appeared from the teleportation were masked when the thunderstorms were directly above them.


    The group was given precise instructions as to where to go and what steps to take. Along the way, Alean and Arthur navigated through the dimensions to bring everyone safely back.


    Arthur stood up.


    "As I thought. I need help to navigate through it." Arthur concluded.


    Alean yed a vital role in doing this. But Alean was still trembling from fear. If she did it alone, she would have died as her Path had been distorted in that ne. It required both Alean and Arthur to be present in order to save the rest of the members.


    As the group was recovering, a tall, dark man stood nearby.


    "General Barak?!" Vender eximed.


    "Father." Arthur called out.


    "I suggest you treat me differently, Arthur. I am Lennox V.3.17a." The man answered.


    "How is this possible?!" Gardo was amazed.


    "Through various operations and by imnting several steel rods in this person''s head, I can hijack his thought process. For this particr person, he was already dead."


    "How did you¡­ resurrect him?" Alean was horrified.


    "This isn''t resurrection. The person''s body is dead. But the desires of the flesh remained. Through her power, this body was resurrected in a vegetative state." Lennox answered.


    "The Tyrant Empress is quite horrifying." Harkerughed.


    "Wait a minute¡­ Those leaked information! You released information that was counter to the technology of nteds! By imnting steel rods in a person''s brain, they cannot be manipted or controlled by the Programmed ve chip! Many nations have imitated it as the information of the Programmed ve was leaked! This was your n?" Lowengren realized the intention.


    "What?" Vender was confused.


    "That''s right. My father is literally perfecting Frankenstein Technology. In theing wars, a simple thunderstorm will change the allegiance of many soldiers." Arthur exined.


    "That''s just half of it. We are perfecting a means to resurrect dead people. Through the rods, the Tyrant Empress that can awaken the desires left on the bodies of dead man, we can redo the miracle of the Dry Bones." Lennox couldn''t hide his mad smile.


    "A dry bone army¡­ What a freak that Empress is. It''s good that she agreed not to meet with us." Lowengren sighed.


    "She''s quite prideful. After all, Arthur and Lowengren did defeat her. So she values you and will try to devour more upfront and won''t resort to trickery."


    "Ah. It''s good that she''s vain then." Lowengrenughed.


    "What is the status in Egypt?"


    "The powerful mirage wall that surrounds the borders is capable of distorting most scanning techs. And the constant sandstorm that covers thend remains. There is also the Locust Techs that haunts thend."


    "Meaning it''s still nearly impossible to sneak inside." Lowengren thought.


    "Most techs can be detected inside Egypt. With Locust Tech, you can''t really tell if eyes are watching you. Of course, as Unlocked, you can lower your body temperature to match the heat of the environment. But their locust tech is strong. It can detect the slightest fluctuation of metals moving within theirnd because of the constant sandstorm. It''s simr to the Caliphates Dune tech but is applied differently." Lennox continued to exin.


    "So we can''t bring any weapons or gear?"


    "You can if you manage to steal the weapons of the soldiers and their specialized outfit. Same with their guns. However, their outfit requires you to wear everything. But there is another issue. The suit is activated through fingerprint and retinal scans of one pilot. No soldier can wear other gears, but it has to be that soldier." Lennox exined.


    "Simple enough. That could even work to our advantage. We wear the gear all the time, and if we need to activate it, we do. Everyone here is trained as spies. With our nk fingerprints, and our abilities to change the retina, we can easily wear those gears and activate them only when necessary." Lowengren exined.


    "Great n! That way, the Egyptian military can''t trick us, and we can switch suits by killing soldiers inside. That will make it difficult for them to track us." Gardo nodded.


    "But here is the problem. The Presider. Seeker said that my sister was killed even before my father got to her because the Presider killed her. Hence our n. We infiltrate ahead to save her before my father and the Tyrant Empress makes Egypt their war zone. But if our infiltration draws too much fear from the Presider, we might endanger my sister. And so, I need the Council''s help. How would you rmend we infiltrate this ce?" Arthur turned to everyone else.


    "Can''t you just walk your way in? We have lies and trust that should allow us to talk our way in easily."


    "That, however, puts a mark over us. And while we can move inside through those means, it might be noticed by someone who will report it to the Presider. And we don''t know how many Aragarian''s are in Egypt. Since they locked themselves up during the Void Years, we don''t know what to expect. It''s better to assume that almost everyone inside is an Aragarian. This means, if we enter and get scanned, the fact that we don''t have Aragarian physiology will already be found out. And even Lowengren''s lies can''t twist that fact. And Harker can''t lie to gain trust but only use truth."


    Harker nodded to agree.


    "Our option is to carry on the facade of being the Progenitor or the Lost Primordial."


    "Lost Primordial. I have received word that another Presider, stronger than Zeraphine, has boarded the submarine headed to the World Governing Trading Hub." Lennox added.


    "Oh? Any new information?"


    "Through the Unlocked painter, Granite Mng, we managed to draw out the strange power of this Presider. His powers ought to be something that can breach the dimensions. And from the looks of it, he is a being that is four personas." Lennox exined.


    The group fell into silence and continued to think.


    "Then if that''s the case... why don''t we do something so strange and bizarre that the Presider would be forced toe out and investigate."


    "Bizarre?"


    "We show him that we are beings that surpass his current technology. We can tell that Presiders have not yet mastered teleportation from what we see in the many reports. Seeker''s future life also confirms that only the stronger ones have it. We have a poor version of it that is extremely limited, but with Arthur, we can use it to an advantage."


    "Then what bizarre event are you suggesting?" Arthur asked.


    "The science-fiction kind." Lowengren grinned.


    "We have to enter the borders without any gears, right?"


    "Yes." Arthur nodded.


    "So, we teleport our way in. We then use one of Lennox''s thunder... But it has to explode out in the shape of the ball."


    "And then?"


    "Picture this. Five naked men appear in the middle of nowhere right after a spherical lightning explosion urs." Lowengren exined.


    "???" Arthur''s expression turned strange.


    "We will undoubtedly be approached by the soldier who will ask us who we are. We tell them that we are cyborgs from the future sent to stop a robot uprising."


    "What?" Alean, Harker, Arthur, and Lennox eximed.


    "That is awesome!" Gardo approved.


    "Aw, men! Can''t we be Jedi''s or something!?" Venderined.


    Everyone ignored him.


    "Because we are cyborgs, we can assimte with the clothes of the soldiers we kill. In fact, we should show it to them, how we do it!"


    "And then, we literally call out the Presider and demand that we meet them. Otherwise, the Principal that sent us will destroy all of Egypt to kill the nted who will soon be a Prime!" Lowengren exined as he turned to Arthur and Alean.


    "What do you guys think?" Lowengren asked the two people in the group who could gauge the best actions for the future.


    "I don''t know... But I feel... that could work." Alean was surprised as she said that. She couldn''t even dare to say that the whispers of her Path were encouraging her to approve of it.


    Arthur had his eyes closed. He began to calcte and consider the possible actions of the Presider. The word Prime would have earth-shattering consequences. One of the possibilities that this Presider hid in Egypt could be because he found something rted to the real Lost Primordial and Progenitor of the Unlocked. If such an event does happen, the Presider would be forced to conceal the event and attempt to meet with them.


    The allure of the Prime would work with Lowengren''s power to lie and Harker''s power to convince.


    Finally, Arthur opened his eyes.


    "Sounds crazy... But it should work." Arthur finally concluded.


    "Then I guess we should go! Alright, guys... Ghet to da choppa!" Gardo joked as he imitated a thick robotic, Austrian ent.

 Chapter 367 - Infiltrating Egypt (1)

    During the African Expanse, which united the various nations of Africa, the nations on the south part of Africa was in opposition to the many countries in central Africa. Those on the north faced the threat of Egypt, which has suddenly grown into a level that it could contend with the more advanced nation of the world.


    Most of North Africa came in conflict with Egypt and had requested an agreement with the nations in Central Africa that both parties would not attack each other but focus on their corresponding enemy.


    Central Africa lost, and the South took over. At that time, Egypt was expanding on all fronts challenging the other nations in the North African continent and the nations in the Caliphates.


    By the time South Africa won their conquest, the Northern Countries immediately surrendered as they were already losing. Libya, Tunisia, and parts of Algeria had already been conquered. Egypt was expanding its conquest to the nearby nations.


    With the surrender of many nations neighboring Egypt to the African nation, Egypt stopped its conquest and entered neutrality. It was here that the Caliphate and African nations went to war and solidified the hatred that the two countries had up to the present age. The African Expanse couldn''t attack Egypt, nor could it conquer the Caliphate area.


    Even though the African Expanse had ended, Africa remained thergest and most populous united force among all alliances in the world. Though conflicts would erupt between a state or two, Africa remained united.


    And so, when Chad and Niger dered that their sudden desire to be independent, it confused the entire world.


    Stranger still was the immediate action that the Desert Empire pursued. Shortly after its establishment, a protest organized by various groups of people and supported by the government urred at the borders of Egypt.


    It was an extraordinary development that even the African Nation couldn''t understand why the Desert Empire would set its sights on Egypt!


    The border that divided Egypt from Chad and Niger had protesters. It was a strange scene that confused even the experts and former residents of these two states.


    How was it possible that the entire nation would act in unison and even follow with one ord a riot thatprised almost all residents of the nearby city?


    The protest continued, and even the foreign correspondents of news around the world couldn''t make heads or tails of the ims as to why Egypt should ''pay.'' Some imed it was due to unusual experiments that were happening as to how the locust of Egypt began to eat their crops.


    Some imed that Egypt was manipting the sand through their tech to cause the crops to die.


    Others were even stranger.


    "So, what exactly has Egypt done to you and your family?" A reporter asked.


    "They stole my dreams and my childhood! How dare they?!" A young teenager who is wearing the uniform of a prestigious elite school in Niger was shown.


    "How have they stolen your dreams and childhood?"


    "By being the nation that is secretly spurring the Caliphates to have a war on us!" A nearby student erupted.


    "They are the reason why Niger and Chad rebelled! We have be a meat shield between the African Nations and Egypt! A state used to block Egypt''s malicious techs that are destroying our crops, shortening our lifespan, and even creating diseases!"


    "Right! It''s not just a locust! But frog! Lice! And all those other things! The water sources we have are now even poisoned!" Another native yelled.


    The reporters were confused, and even when they checked ims and conspiracy theories that have existed over the past decades, none of those ims were remotely simr to the shocking usations that the nations of Chad and Niger had regarding Egypt.


    No one could tell where these ims wereing from and why they suddenly erupted and convinced many people.


    Arthur and his team observed the status from a nearby military base. A crowd of people had gathered at the border of Chad and Egypt.


    "Amazing..." Gardo praised. His face and the contours of his body were different. He had worn a strange skin-tight suit that Lennox quickly developed on one of his bases.


    "As expected of the Tyrant Empress. With a single word from her, the citizens are driven mad. This is a power that eclipses any Programmed ve technology." Lowengren added.


    The other members of the Council were nearby. Just like Gardo, they all had different faces and body structures due to the suit they wore.


    "This is what impressed you? Not the fact that she just met the leaders of Chad and Niger a few hours ago and has controlled the entire nation to rebel against Africa?" Vender asked.


    "Those leaders personally met the Tyrant Empress. That is understandable. But these people haven''t! They are just called and affected by her whispers and calls in that dream world." Lowengren exined.


    "Which is why we have to leave now. The longer we stay here, the more we could be affected by the Tyrant Empress. Alean... I''m counting on you to time the exact moment we make the teleport." Arthur said.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll help you teleport near the border wall and escape."


    "Alright. Harker, you have to take the lead. Our entry must be captivating, and you must draw everyone''s attention. Once that happens, Lowengren, your lies are necessary. Vender, shut up. Don''t speak until we tell you to. Gardo, you will be the first to attack the Egyptian soldiers."


    "Are you sure they are there? All I see is a nk and empty wilderness."


    "It''s there. That''s their version of mirage. They created some form of reflective light that makes us see a nk empty spot. But in reality, that spot in the border should be surrounded by soldiers now."


    "So you''re certain that we have an audience to see our entry?" Harker confirmed.


    "Yes. The Tyrant Empress protesters managed to create so many that the people stretch about a kilometer wide. Even the Chad and Niger soldiers are having a hard time stopping them from slipping through. With such a crowd, Egypt will definitely deploy soldiers. And we can almost be certain that Aragarians will be among them."


    "Oh... Too bad I can''t extend or focus my Realm..." Gardo sighed.


    "Once we teleport closer, you should feel it. We can''t use our techs because we don''t know if they have the means to detect it. As you know, Egypt has one of the most sensitive tech detection techs. It even demanded the Americas to pay up nearly billions of Credits for spying on to them." Arthur exined.


    "So we''re going in blind. I just hope they won''t shoot us." Vender sighed.


    "Leave it to me. They will be so awestruck by our entrance that they would hesitate." Harker assured.


    Joab Barak entered the room.


    "Get ready. Arthur. Be careful. Try to find out what you can, and don''t try to infiltrate and save your sister yet."


    "I understand, Father."


    "As I said... I am Lennox V-"


    "I could never get used to calling you that. Besides, it''s easier to call you father."


    "Fine. The soldiers I''ve set will now deploy the bombs, and many of the rioters will start running and throwing rocks. Time your teleportation properly."


    "Alean... It''s up to you." Arthur turned towards Alean.


    "Get ready, guys. On my mark..." Alean smiled.


    Suddenly, several small explosions using homemade materials happened around the border. The explosions were startling, and it opened a small path that caused a stampede of rioters running angrily towards the border wall that separated Chad and Niger.


    The soldiers of Chad and Niger actually shot non-lethal rounds and tried to stop the angry horde from reaching the border of Egypt.


    Tear Gases and various crowd-controlling weapons were used, and the rioting men were stopped.


    No one noticed that one of the Unlocked soldiers dropped something. He was among the first set of Unlocked that the Tyrant Empress and Lennox created. And with the new and improved Timer Cube, the Unbing could now set when the cube would explode.


    The crowds retreated, and the Desert Empire Soldiers were very angry. The protesters nearly reached the invisible border of Egypt. To the crowd''s eyes, the border was just a small fence with no one behind it.


    The soldiers shot those who managed to breach their perimeter, and all that ran towards Egypt''s borders were shot down. Soon, the soldiers slowly dragged the protestors, who whimpered in pain.


    As the same time, and the soldiers also attacked various reporters who were there. The soldiers shot the cameras of the reporters and began to harass any reporters that tried to record the entiremotion.


    As the crowds were being pulled back by the Desert Empire soldiers, Arthur finally activated the teleportation tech at Alean''s orders. Arthur stabbed a small triangle that was as big as the metal cubes.


    A distortion urred right in the deep underground, and the portal was opened.


    Almost simultaneously, the metal cube nted by the Unlocked Soldier erupted and created arge dome of electricity.


    The Egyptian soldiers were also stunned. The lightning energy was so strong that it attacked parts of the invisible border and undid some parts of the mirage that revealed many Exoskeletons standing on top of a four-meter wall.


    "What''s that?!" An Egyptian soldier panicked.


    "Sarge!" Another soldier called.


    As the power of Lennox created arge ball of lightning, the group stepped inside the portal. Unlike the previous teleportation that went for hundreds of kilometers and needed specially marked realm techs designed by the Realm King, this portal was much weaker as they needed only to travel for a few kilometers.


    Alean and Arthur led the group. As with before, Alean and Arthur made sure that the group could safely travel. But Alean was having a hard time controlling everyone''s movements.


    As they traversed most of the terrain, Alean felt that she needed to stop. And so Alean began to retreat, careful to follow every step that she made when she went in the portal to retreat to the ce they were before.


    As Alean came out of the portal, her face was scarlet red.


    "I''m NEVER doing that again!" She cursed.


    "To think I had to push dad''s hairy behind to save him! Did it even work?! Those perverts can die for all I care!" Alean asked.


    "See for yourself," Lennox revealed the video.


    The Lightning explosion of that specific cube created arge gap in the middle. Even the Void Assassin would have a hard time teleporting to that area because the timing of when the explosion urs and the exact location of the destination had to be so precise that doing the jump half a second earlier would have fried everyone.


    But with Alean''s Path, the timing of the jump was perfect. And as they entered, Arthur''s calctions of when and where to end the teleportation allowed them to dive in the eye of the explosion.


    As the groupnded, they all knelt down.


    The Egyptian soldiers and Exoskeletons all searched where the attack happened.


    "Where is it? Who attacked us?" The Sargent demanded.


    "We don''t know! It just exploded out! Our sensors did not detect anything until a few seconds right before the explosion happened.


    The lightning ball began to shrink and disperse. As it disappeared, five naked men were kneeling on the sand.


    "And... stand," Harker whispered at a frequency and volume that only those nearby could hear.


    With perfect robotic, synchronized movements, all five slowly stood up.


    The Egyptian soldiers standing on top of the wall nced down in amazement at the entrance.


    The sheer coolness made them stop. The other soldiers also lost their breath at the shocking yet breathtaking entrance.


    Suddenly one of the shorter naked men raised his arm and pointed at a soldier.


    "Your clothes... give them to me."


    "Take it from them." The man at the center of the five ordered.


    "Yes, Pharaoh." The four others answered together.


    "Shall we engage?" One of the men asked.


    The Egyptians nearby could hear the conversation of the five. And they could not help but look at the man in the middle who the others called Pharaoh.


    "Terminate them..."

 Chapter 368 - Infiltrating Egypt (2)

    The scene had startled the soldiers. The entire explosion of the lightning ball caused the ball to stay visiblepact for a few seconds.


    The appearance of the five men drew the shocked stare of many. Almost every nearby soldier reported to their toon and sent the videos back to their home.


    But all of them gawked when the five men stood up.


    Their movements, appearance, and the very words they said made the soldiers recall a certain science fiction story that managed to survive the cultural shift to the Supra-Modern era.


    When the one in the center ordered to terminate all enemies, one of the naked men slowly walked forward, and suddenly, the heat signature of this person rose to great heights.


    "Gear second..." Gardo couldn''t help but whisper. Arthur frowned as he gave strict orders that Gardo wouldn''t even whisper this. But Gardo''s passion was just so hard to contain.


    All of a sudden, the man disappeared.


    One of the Exoskeletons could barely catch the fast speed of the man who had now jumped with incredible strength. He was already at the same height as the Exoskeleton.


    The figure was in mid-air and was over seven meters away from the pilot. But this figure had his arms ready to punch.


    The Dalisay family had constantly improved and strengthened their tech. Since their tech dealt with thepression of energy, they recklessly experimented and applied a strange means topress the energy andposition of Gardo. Gardo''s body had the strength of nearly three people. His muscles, the density of his bones, and even his cellrposition was apressed mass of cells.


    The process to convert and improve Gardo''s body was deemed impossible at first. But then, Lynd returned. The multiple paths that allowed them to observe and examine how the cells change allowed many scientists to create a theoretical path of applying these changes. The passion and dream that Gardo had were now possible as the Way opened it for him.


    He was the first to enhance his Path through his Faith and the application of science that altered it. The operation was so risky that many among the top brass was worried and prepared for the possible death of Gardo.


    But through his dreams, hopes, and the picture Gardo had for himself. It was made possible.


    With the applied scientific alteration that pioneered the exploration and enhancement of the very DNA of an Unlocked, Gardo had control over every muscle and cell in their body and yet retain the power, fierce heat, and even improved the durability of Gardo''s body.


    Despite nearly losing his life, Gardo finally achieved his dreams. He was so happy that he could die.


    The heat and energy of his body allowed him to perform small explosive bursts that could cause him to fly and elerate at immense speed. Thepression of his body would expand, and it gave him a human body that could expand several times.


    Gardo resisted the great urge to say Gomu Gomu and immediately punched out.


    His fist extended and stretched the seven-meter gap between him and the Exoskeleton. His bones also expanded. Because Gardo''s family science was thepression of energy, he was the one in the Unlocked that could lengthen and shorten his bones and stretch his muscles at will.


    BOOM!


    The fist punched out and struck the Exoskeleton. The punch was faster than a speeding bullet.


    Gardo''s fist pierced through the Exoskeleton and immediately killed the pilot.


    The sudden attack startled the soldiers, and they began to shoot at Gardo.


    But at that moment, the rest of the team had also jumped. Gardo was the opening act to distract them further. The split-second surprise caused them not to see the fast movements of the five who were now attacking various soldiers nearby.


    Many who approached began to control the aim of the gun or the Exoskeleton arm so that when they began to fire, it struck their nearby allies.


    The gun shots were heard, and many soldiers were killed. Almost instantly, eight soldiers who were assigned to guard that area were killed.


    The information that Lennox had over the techs of Egypt proved useful. The team knew that they could not use the soldiers'' guns unless they had the fingerprints and the retinal scans of the soldier. The technology was also a bit moreplicated as the two scans could detect if the person was still alive. This was how it was not effective to gouge out the eye or cut off a finger to use it to have ess to the suit.


    Four of the five continued to fight by running on the other parts of the border. Harker''s big frame allowed him to carry a soldier easily. So he kept choking a soldier and carried him around to use him in order to shoot the nearby soldiers. Gardo kept rushing and even unconsciously muttered the name of his attack. But as he was in character, he still used a thick Austrian ent when whispering the name of his attack.


    As everyone continued to gather the attention of the nearby squads, Arthur performed a strange operation that was only trained for spies.


    Theoretically, the Unlocked could reshape their entire body to have a different face and appearance. But this required extreme focus. Humans could control the movement of their arms and legs through their muscles, but trying to reshape one''s face required tremendous concentration that it was as if they were trying to move thousands and thousands of hands. And not only would they move it, but they also have to add tension to the muscles to keep the muscles and the reshaped face from returning to their original position.


    The amount of energy alone necessary to hold these theoretical changes would rapidly drain and burn the calories of an Unlocked.


    Only Lennox had the means to change his appearance through his power easily. The amount of attention that the brain needs to exert was so significant that only someone with many thought processes could do this. And even if someone had that ability, unless they could reform their feature like Lennox, the amount of energy that an Unlocked could maintain a new face was so small.


    So the rest of the Oveers could not constantly maintain andmand every cell of their body to hold it. And so, as it was impossibly hard at the current level for the Unlocks to change their faces and features, the Unlocked focused on simpler things such as the copying of eyes and fingerprints.


    After killing a soldier, he ced his thumb over the dead soldiers. The Unlocked had a superb sense of touch. A trained Unbing can sense the smallest sensation. The curves and lines of a fingerprint were among it. His enhanced senses allowed Arthur to easily copy every detail of the fingerprint and force his skin to follow it.


    The same principle was applied to the eyes. Arthur took a look at the eyes and memorized every detail. Arthur closed his eyes and focused on changing it.


    The soldiers around him were busy from the attacks of the group. The soldiers could not lock on to the fast attacks of the nude soldiers.


    A toon of Jet-propelled Exoskeletons was preparing to fire their barrage of bullets as it saw the naked men.


    But suddenly, gunshots resounded at the moment these Exoskeletons started firing. The bullets struck their arm and caused the group to lose bnce, and as they fired their weapons, they struck each other.


    The whirling, spinning, and out-of-control descent of these Exoskeletons was a horrifying sight that the base officers couldn''t understand how or what caused them to all fall.


    The border patrols began to rush at the location as the signals of their allies were quickly dwindling.


    More Exoskeleton toons that were sent mysteriously died out almost immediately once they reached a certain distance. What was even bizarre was that the experts concluded the cause of death was friendly fire.


    The base immediately activated its version of the technology that imitated Dune. A sandstorm appeared in the desert and bombarded the ce. But unlike Dune, Egypt relied on Locust Technology which flew within the sandstorms and would send the data back. With these insect size drones flying within the sandstorm, detecting and destroying them was hard.


    "Set the Locust to scan and detect foreign metals!" The Commander of the Base ordered.


    "Sir! There are none!"


    "Set it to locate heat signatures of humans!"


    "Nothing''s on our scanners, sir!" The soldier reported.


    "Locate the region for any possible energy fluctuations like the one we detected earlier!"


    "We can''t find any, sir!"


    "Sir! The soldiers inside our bunkers are dead!" One of the soldiers reported.


    "What? How?!"


    "We are still sending our forces to check!"


    "Sir, other bunkers are not responding! We have yet to confirm if the soldiers manning them are alive!" Another soldier reported.


    BOOM!


    An explosion was heard, and everyone in the room froze.


    "How?! How are they so fast?! And why can''t we detect them?!"


    "Set our scanners to detect all metals, including our allies!"


    The soldiers followed the orders, and now, they were able to detect four allied soldiers moving along the sand.


    "We found them!"


    "No! One is missing!"


    "Is everyone an Aragarian here?" An unfamiliar voice called out.


    Everyone in the Command center felt their heart stop.


    A few were startled and turned around to see an unfamiliar, small figure.


    The figure looked like he was a teenager. He wore an Egyptian soldier''s gear and even carried their weapons.


    "What year is it?" The young voice asked.


    There was silence.


    BANG!


    One of the soldiers died.


    "What year is it?"


    "2112..." The soldiers who were the next target called out fearfully.


    "Principal. It is the Year 2112. Prime Jerious''s machine has sessfully brought us to that man''s nted days." The young man suddenly spoke.


    The sentence that this man gave further shocked everyone.


    Secretly, the base''s Commander had pressed a certain switch that linked him to the base deep in the heart of Egypt.


    Of course, the very small movement was noticed by the young man.


    "Who sent out a signal?" The young man frowned.


    The Commander''s eyes grew grim as he heard this.


    "Have you contacted your Principal?" The man asked.


    "Principal? We... we serve Presiders."


    "Presiders? Has Earth not yet hosted a Principal? Principal, it seems our records are wed. There are no Principals on Earth yet." The young man paused. His expression changed, and he turned towards the Commander.


    "Is your leader, Principal Lanterk?"


    "May... I know how to address you?"


    "I am Presider Darwin. Follower of Principal Ptolemy. Is Principal Lanterk in charge of Egypt?"


    "N-no! We only know of Presider Lanterk! The current leader of Egypt is Presider Andronze!" The Commander answered. Before a Presider who followed a Principal, who was he to withhold such information?


    "Principal. The Commander of this base ims that Lanterk is a Presider. Presider Andronze is still alive in this timeline." The young man called out again.


    After a few seconds, the young man sneered and looked at the Pioneer.


    "Ah. So that''s it. You are a traitor, aren''t you? Are you a spy of Principal Lanterk? He hid himself quite well. Since you sent a link, then can Presider Andronze hear me?"


    "Wha-what?" The Commander was confused.


    "Presider Andronze. Stay away from our business. We seek a nted. A powerful nted that will rise and be a threat to our entire world. We have no care of what experiments you do down there. To show our sincerity, we will tell you this... Beware of the Principal Lanterk! Do not be deceived by the Goat with Four Horns! Otherwise, you would never know how you die!"


    The young man turned back to the rest.


    "Onest question... Do you know a nted who calls himself Rumpelstiltskin?"


    "Rumpelstiltskin?" The soldiers had confused looks.


    "Oh? He must be going by a different moniker. He could be called the Devourer?" The young man asked again.


    The soldiers slowly shook their heads.


    "The Usurper?"


    The soldiers continued having confused looks.


    The young man frowned.


    "Patricia?" The young man asked again.


    The soldiers were even more confused. They thought this man was looking for a male nted.


    Some shook their heads once more.


    "There are too many Patricia''s within the nted and Pioneer circle. But I don''t know of any within Egypt with those other titles." The Commander answered.


    "Could Presider be more specific?"


    "He is also called Cracky Battcheeks." The young man added.


    "Cracky Battcheeks?" The soldiers chorused together.


    "No? Never mind then. Die."


    And Lowengren massacred everyone.

 Chapter 369 - Lies That Easily Become Truth

    It wasn''t long before the Egyptian base lost contact with headquarters.


    While the soldiers and armies remained, the mysterious group that attacked the border and went to the base went for the key structures that disabled it.


    The Commander and all officials were killed. The various devices that were used to receive the signal of Locust techs were destroyed. And the manym channels that were used to ensure uninterrupted uplink and connection to various locations in Egypt had been attacked.


    But one of the reasons why the base fell was because of theck of response.


    Deep underground Egypt... was a massive base that could move. Yet while this base moved, the techs it applied didn''t cause it to leave holes. It was as if thisrge fortress could swim underground and somehow would not leave tunnels in it''s path but allow the earth to reform back.


    Commanding it was one of the most reclusive Presiders of all. Andronze had long dered her intention to carry out her experiments and warned everyone that she didn''t want to be interrupted.


    Yet today, the reports she received startled her so much.


    There were just so many strange things. The sudden appearance of the five men clearly used unfamiliar techs that manipted the dimensions beyond the normal.


    The main problem was that the electric ball had so much energy that it was hard to see how the dimensions opened.


    And then the details of the battle were just as confusing. The five men had no technology on their own. No metals were detected from them through the techs she showered on Egypt. It was simple technology, but it was hard to bypass.


    And yet, these men did impossible things without any traceable metal and their biology as humans.


    The only possible way such a thing would happen was the Nefilius suit that Presiders had. It was the physical shell that held all their techs. And while the lower leveled Presiders had to ''wear'' the suit, those at the higher levels have learned to put them on.


    Top-Tiered Presiders like Crostfree even superimposed the suit on his physical body and the other dimensions to make it harder to damage and is conveniently worn all the time.


    Now five men who had the technology to infiltrate and massacre a team had attacked his base and killed the Commanders. The evidence was pointing towards that direction!


    Then the words that she heard were startling. Primes were involved!


    And while he could not identify the Principals and Primes mentioned, it was implied that time travel was somehow involved!


    She listened carefully to the words of that man who went inside and reyed it several times. Her obsession with this allowed the five men to dismantle the many things in the base secretly. Andronze could have made orders to stop it, but the information she just heard was so critical.


    And then there was Lanterk. The Presider called Lanterk a Principal. And not just any Principal, but the mysterious Principal that has disappeared and became inactive. All that the others knew was that he was not a Principal to be challenged. Even Straviaa''s father feared this Principal!


    "Lanterk is a Principal?! It makes so much sense!" Andronze cursed. She had several dealings with Lanterk and had even traded with him. Those small encounters used to be nothing to her. But now, with the revtion, it somehow all added up. The details that used to mean nothing suddenly became essential events.


    "That brat! He was a Principal all along! Those deals, those times he interacted with me! He tricked me! Has he been stealing from me?!" Andronze raged. If Lanterk was a Principal, then all the previous interactions meant that Lanterk had the means to see through Andronze techs. As a Principal, he should have better ways to infiltrate another Presider''s Nefilius suit without them realizing it!


    Several times, Lanterk would create Soul deals offering up a variety of his techs. Most of the Presiders even knew the techs he had! Next to Pridgeon, everyone looked down on the innocent Lanterk.


    But he was a Presider! That made all the sense in the world! Now that Andronze began to think critically, how could such a naive Presider survive? Especially since Lanterk was a disciple of another Principal! It just didn''t make any sense!


    The words of that man also implied that there were a lot of spies among her forces! This caused Andronze to even warier at Lanterk.


    "And there is that nted that became a Primordial..." Andronze was checking all the details of nteds and their earth-born offspring.


    Any other Presider would haveughed at that im. But Andronze didn''t. This was because deep under the great pyramids of Egypt, Andronze discovered a legacy belonging to the Lost Primordial! She found it by chance and has been studying it for years but could not crack through the means to see and understand the object. And so, Andronze was very suspicious and xenophobic to other Presiders ever since. But since she always had been a reclusive person, so it worked for her.


    "A nted bing a Prime? That sounds impossible! But if it''s that object... then it is possible! Could it be? A nted managed to uncover the secrets and thus, began his ascent?" This thought captivated Andronze as she fell into a trance that made her not care about the battle in Egypt''s base. After all, her real base was not on Egypt but under it! It wasn''t easy to locate her exact location.


    While Andronze was obsessed with it, Arthur and his groupmunicated with Lennox in Africa one more time before officially going radio silent.


    Arthur and the group were now fully clothed and began to walk in the harsh desert. Their attire followed standard Egyptian Camouge. And while this was generally ineffective, the group could change their body temperature. And since they carried no foreign metal, they were undetected by most of Egypt''s scanning technology.


    As they moved, they deployed another one of Egypt''s amazing creations that could cover up the footprints they made in the wide dunes of sand.


    "I can''t believe that we pulled that off very easily!" Vender was amazed.


    "The fact that we managed to do it proves that the Presider believed our lie. If we met more resistance in that base, then it proved that the Presider Andronze didn''t believe our lie and had the rational mind to stop us."


    "Right. I was curious why our n went so easily. Even if we got the Commander, that Presider could have done something and order her soldier directly. Was she so shocked at what she heard?" Gardoughed.


    "Alean''s Path told us that Lowengren''s lies would be effective. And she was right. The Presider Andronze''sck of reaction proves that he believed Lowengren''s lies." Arthur added.


    "But how exactly? I mean... Time-traveling cyborgs from the future? That''s not exactly a believable lie." Vender asked again.


    "I am curious too. I don''t underestimate Lowengren''s lies because I know how far I can go. But how did you make her believe that? I believe that this lie was something beyond the tolerance of what she would believe or not believe." Harker asked.


    "There is a reason to that." Lowengren smiled.


    "Oh? Do tell! I''m curious!" Gardo insisted.


    "Well, Arthur deduced that the reclusive action of this Presider might have something to do with the Lost Primordial, right? The reason why it worked is very simple. The lie I gave could be outrageous, wild, and crazy... But hasn''t history taught us that people would believe just about everything if it can somehow support their crazy, biased, and outrageous opinion?"


    "I see... So it''s that!" Harker realized what Lowengren was aiming for.


    "What''s it?"


    "Simply put, this Presider believed our lie because she wanted our lie to be true," Lowengren answered.


    "She wants... five naked men?" Vender joked.


    The rest looked at Vender with a strange look. Gardo had an annoyed look. He wanted to say this joke. Everyone would haveughed if he did it, but because it came from Vender, the joke didn''t be funny, but it became annoying.


    "She wants to believe that whatever it is that she found down thisnd is something so powerful that she can soon rise above everyone else," Arthur exined.


    "Right. And we just hinted that to her. A nted bing a Prime. It''s something so inconceivable that her head would be spinning with every possibility."


    "Oh. So basically, we created Fake News that she wouldn''t bother to check if it''s real." Gardo asked.


    "That''s a very poor... yet urate analogy..." Harker wanted to argue, but Gardo was right.


    "That''s actually the gist of it, Gardo." Lowengren smiled.


    "That''s why Fake News existed. That''s why people believed conspiracy theories, and their numbers increased that even the most stupid conspiracy theories have millions of adherents. And that is the beauty of lies. A lie can be truth to people who wants to believe it! To these people, these lies can easily be truth! The lies that feed the egos, confirm morality, or encourage a person''s narcissistic view can easily be the truth! You don''t have to go so far as to look at people believing conspiracy theories."


    "Like people wanting to believe that the prequel series is better than the original trilogy?" Vender asked.


    Everyone ignored him but began to grit their teeth.


    "Anyway... Just look at single, desperate people yearning to be love. Some fall into a delusion that the person they want is destined to be theirs! Though they themselves don''t do anything to woo or get the other person, their insane hope brought out by their ego, and delusional narcissism ends up making them assume that they deserve the other person." Lowengren exined.


    Arthur couldn''t help but smirk. He knew that Lowengren was referring to himself.


    "Then that means our future lies will be to assume that this nted is something of a genius, right? We will pretend to be ignorant of the legacy buried down this ce and focus on an individual just like the concept in the science fiction show we are basing this lie on?" Harker asked.


    "That''s right! We will be focused on an individual. Andronze will either help us by contacting us to look for this nted or look for that person as fast as she could."


    "She''ll try to have that person ess the legacy of the Primordial. Regardless, while our lie seeds, we have to follow up on our outrageous ims. That report that Seeker managed to deliver is quite helpful. Nefilius Suit and Lanterk being an actual Principal should help us in this mission." Arthur exined.


    Theirst-minutemunication to inform Lennox of their sess in the mission allowed them to learn of the most recent things discovered in the World Governing Trading Hub. Because of the variousplicated protocols that the Unlock now had to follow since two Presiders were in the World Governing Trading hub, the flow of information now had dys. And Lennox was only able to inform the group about Lanterk''s possible Principal identity.


    "So¡­ was this still rted to Alean''s Path? I mean, how was it that we randomly tried to make a lie of being rted to Principal''s and spouting those lies to associate one of the few Presiders we do know to be a Principal?"


    "I''ve seen stranger things when I was with Alean. Too bad she''s not here¡­" Lowengren sighed.


    "I''m here. Treat it as almost the same thing. With what we did and the actions Seeker did to deceive Zeraphine and Lanterk. I can already see the future. The Paths that the Presiders will soon take will be to group together by pairs and trios. And then they will establish a city of their own! And if that happens, we now know the specific targets that we have to attack!"


    "And so begins the Tale of Two Cities¡­" Harker smiled.

 Chapter 370 - News Report From Egypt’s Borders

    Back in the World Governing Trading Hub...


    Seeker and Lynd wanted to watch the report, but Charles insisted on waiting for him and the popcorns. And so, even though Lennox has already sent a summarized report of what happened, Charles demanded Seeker and Lynd to wait and y the news report only when he got back.


    "Can we y it now?" Seeker was impatient. He wanted to watch the news and see what plot or means Arthur and Lowengren would use to infiltrate Egypt and fulfill the multiple requirements their infiltration has to fulfill. Since the event became broadcasted around the world, Seeker was afraid that other Presider''s might notice the event.


    "Just wait! The popcorn''s just done! Where''s Meryl? Has she got the drinks?" Charles answered back.


    "I''m going to y it." Lynd finally decided.


    "I''m here!" Meryl suddenly barged in.


    "Have you yed it yet?"


    "I''m about to."


    "Wait. Where''s the popcorn?"


    "Here!"


    Cliff was relieved. The audio was not yed, and the popcorn and drinks were finally reported.


    Seeker and Lynd had exasperated expressions.


    "Can we get to watching the program now?!" Seeker demanded.


    "Yes." Cliff, Charles, and Meryl answered.


    And so, Seeker began to y the video of the news report from the beginning.


    "Wee back to War Watch for another segment of explosive details across the globe! The situation over at Africa continued to escte. The news that our first correspondents had sent had finally proven to be true. The newly established nation that has just formalized its independence from Africa is now known as the Desert Empire. It consists of the nations Chad and Niger. Live in Africa is our correspondent Joyce Fisher."


    "Thank you, Tom. I am Joyce Fisher live on the borders of the Desert Empire and Egypt. We are approximately two kilometers from the Chad border fortress of CS-14. While the reports sent a few hours ago were shocking, we chose this location for yet another esction of the trouble here in the newly formed Desert Empire. Tensions continue to rise after the deration of independence by the new state, Desert Empire, led by the mysterious Desert Queen, who won through by unanimous vote. While Africa has threatened war to the Desert Empire, the borders between the region of Chad and Egypt have grown chaotic that Egypt has already sent its military forces to this region."


    "Egypt? Well, that''s something that exceeded my expectations. Why has Egypt suddenly gotten into the mix?"


    "Right now, as you can see, there is arge crowd of protesters demanding justice and for Egypt to pay."


    "Justice? I thought Egypt pretty much didn''t associate with other nations and avoided any conflict with them."


    "That is also one of the things that beguiled us. We have been spending thest few hours interviewing the many residents of the city closest to the A lot of civilians gathered to protest at the many atrocities that Egypt has allegedlymitted. We''ve done several interviews, and apparently, the situation here in Chad and Niger is that it has always been a poor country."


    "A poor country? They have... three techs that are exclusive to them. Most African countries only have two tech possibilities!" Tom, the reporter, found it amusing.


    "That was what we thought as well! But it seems that Egypt has allegedly been exploiting the region of Chad and Niger. Particrly the border areas. These were supposedly ''open secrets,'' and the African Nations have ignored it, fearing the repercussions of challenging Egypt. This is said to be one of the major reasons why the Desert Queen won the favor of everyone as she vowed to make amendments to the atrocities of Egypt."


    "Atrocities? Open secret? Joyce... you''ve been in Africa for three years. And you''ve done a lot of groundwork in Niger and Chad. Have you noticed these things?"


    "Not at all. Although I have been away from this ce for the past month, my reports followed the mysterious dildo hunt that happened weeks ago. But in my stay here, I can''t point out how Egypt has been doing that. Some of the protesters drive luxury cars! The nearby parking lot will show you that those who came here are rather rich!"


    A video clip of the parked cars near the area was disyed. As Niger and Chad were partner countries in developing premium vehicle technology, it became a rich state with the most advanced car techs around the world. Some of the luxury cars of these two states surpassed the vehicles that the Americas could produce.


    "We believe that whatever happened here in the past hour before any international news correspondents were allowed inside must have convinced these people to go here! Like some massive propaganda must have been spread and created such discord!"


    "A massive propaganda? But how?"


    "We don''t know. But what we-"


    BOOM!


    An explosion erupted nearby, and some of the rocks and sand were falling over the correspondents who suddenly went for the cover.


    The reporters were all startled and began to move back.


    "Joyce?! Joyce?! Are you alright?"


    The cameras caught the rowdy citizens of Chad rushing angrily towards the border.


    "A terrorist attack has urred! It looked like a bomb was thrown!" Joyce couldn''t hear Tom but continued to report the ounts.


    The audio feed was then damaged, and while the video could be yed, the audio wasn''t being transmitted.


    Joyce could be seen rushing and trying to secure a spot for her to report the events that just transpired properly.


    "Joyce! Head back! Get out of there!" Tom urged, fearing for the life of Joyce.


    "Joyce! Can you hear me?! Answer me!" Tom continued to shout.


    Joyce continued to give her detailed report, although the audio was cut.


    Tom could see it and could not help be amazed by Joyce''s passion and dedication as she stood up on one of the cars nearby to give her report.


    Tom watched her and couldn''t help but remember his passion.


    "This was why I joined the news..." Tom muttered.


    "Ladies and gentleman, you could see here the passion, dedication, and desire for Joyce to deliver the truth. This isn''t about ratings. It''s not about fame. It''s about the news. We are in the process of connecting our audio link. Until then, please continue to watch our brave reporters do their work!" Tom dered. It was off script and was a personal assessment of the events that transpired, but in all the years of Tom''s life as a reporter, he felt great pride in what he just said.


    "This is news!" Tom thought as he watched the horrifying scene of the Chad soldiers shooting at the civilians who broke through.


    "Joyce, can you hear me? Are those live rounds? Are those live rounds?" Tom kept repeating.


    Joyce kept on talking as she kept pointing in many directions of the border and then suddenly stopped as she could hear Tom''s words. Then she realized something was wrong with the audio and motioned to her cameraman to fix it.


    The audio suddenly returned, and gunshots could be heard.


    "Hello Tom, can you hear me?!" Joyce asked.


    "Yes! Yes! Joyce? What happened?"


    "Tom, the citizens of Chad had broken through and are now raging over to Egypt to attack. Chad is forced to shoot the civilians with non-lethal rounds as any attacks that these civilians could make, including detonating homemade bombs like the one earlier, could spark war! As you can see, tear gases and- hey, what are doing?!"


    Suddenly the camera began to spin, and the boots and pants of Chad soldiers could be seen as the camera fell to the ground. A muzzle from a standard military-issued firearm could be seen, and the feed was cut.


    Tom watched in terror. The fear and shock in his face didn''t disappear as he looked at the ck screen for seconds.


    "Ladies and gentlemen... I fear for the life of our correspondent." Tom looked to the camera and showed a candid expression.


    "We... we are... we are perhaps a very unappreciated job in this world. Delivering the news is hard work. And for Joyce, who takes her passion not just for mary gain, poprity, or even views for thework... It''s heartbreaking to hear people say we do this for the money." The surreal experience caused Tom to reflect on-air.


    "We don''t know what Joyce is going through. Were they killed? We hope not. Was she, or is she happy? I doubt it!" Tom paused and took a deep breath.


    "Was she responsible? Was she dedicated? Was she heroic? Was she amazing? She was. She really was." Tom teared up.


    It was then, Tom''s expression changed as he received an update from Joyce.


    "Ladies and Gentlemen, we''ve just received word that although the cameras were damaged, Joyce and her partner are alive!" Tom perked up.


    "Joyce and Lerik will now be connecting the call with us through an audio feed. They will be giving a detailed report as to what happened!" Tom''s expression changed. Taking inspiration from Joyce''s passion, he took his job very seriously. He was so serious and dedicated that he has never been this energized to do his job since he started working for thework.


    "Tom, can you hear me?" Joyce''s voice could be heard.


    "Joyce! Loud and clear! What''s the news?"


    "The military has shot all our cameras to stop us from sending video feeds to the group. But since they can''t destroy ourm devices because of the Media-Correspondent Protection Act of Africa that protects us from having any personalm devices damaged, we are able to make a call as long as no videos are offered."


    "Brilliant! That''s just amazing, Joyce! What''s happening there?" Tom wanted to take more time to praise Joyce for inspiring him and reviving the dead passion for news that was long gone through the passing of time and the cycle of routines.


    "Chad has managed to stop all citizens from reaching the Egyptian border. It seems that for now, the war between the two has been stopped. The soldiers used non-lethal rounds, but whether or not anyone was killed from the wild assault, we cannot confirm yet. But from what we can see, those being escorted back are alive and only suffered minor injuries. We don''t- oh my god! What''s that?!"


    A strange distorted sound of an electrical current could be heard.


    "A lightning at the shape of a ball! There''s a strange ball creating lighting exploding out near the border! Lerik! Give me the binocrs! Quick!" Joyce reported in shock.


    "The border? Which border?!"


    "Egypt! A lightning attack struck the mirage wall! It''s forming thisrge ball that is sending out lightning!"


    "A Sphere of lightning? Do we have any reports as to its origin? Is it New Great Britain? Australia? The Lost Primordials? Have our military experts analyze this, quick!" Tom began to order the nearby reporters to analyze what was happening.


    "I''ve just heard the nearby soldiers whisper about the time-space continuum being affected!"


    "Time-space continuum?" Tom wore a strange expression on his face.


    "That''s impossible. It sounds like these soldiers are mistaking this for some sci-fi-"


    "The ball of lightning is now shrinking! I am looking through the binocrs, and the Egyptian border is now clearly seen! It hasn''t been seen from this part of the world for three decades! There is a tall wall expanding- oh my god! There''s someone there! Someones in the ce where the ball of lightning exploded!" Joyce shouted.


    "A person?! Is it an Exoskeleton?" Tom asked.


    "Five naked men!"


    "Five what?!" Tom asked again.


    "They''re definitely naked! One of them even has a rather hairy- their standing!"


    "Hairy-Standing what?!" Tom asked again.


    "The five naked men are fighting! They are attacking the borders! They are moving like robots! Oh my god! An Egyptian Exoskeleton just got killed by one of the naked men! They''re fighting! They''re like robots! The soldiers here are shouting that these are robots sent from the future!"


    Tom''s expression was now growing darker and darker as the exaggerated ims of Joyce continued.


    "African-audio catching tech confirmed that they are here to ''terminate everyone in Egypt! This is crazy! Tom! Time-traveling robots are sent to destroy Egypt." Joyce reported once more as she managed to eavesdrop at what the soldiers were saying.


    Tom couldn''t take it anymore and began to curse at Joyce and attack her integrity as a news reporter.


    Meryl, Cliff, and Charles were looking at Seeker and Lynd for exnations at the odd events that just took ce.


    "That was..." Lynd began.


    "Ingenius."Seeker continued


    "Right. Ingenius. And it was also..."


    "Insane."


    "Definitely insane."


    "Is this... alright?" Charles finally asked.


    "We can try ying this in front of Lanterk and Zeraphine to see what they think. But I''m confident that this insane ploy will work. Egypt''s Presider will move. The other Presiders will ignore it." Seeker affirmed.

 Chapter 371 - I Have To Fall In Love

    The interviews that followed the fall of Firth Fortress were particrly fun to watch. Cliff has been treating it as a form of entertainment. Cliff didn''t even use his own memory to rey the scene in his head but would actually rewatch the news report on a TV to enjoy it all the more. The other Unlocked also used Lowengren''s news program as a form of entertainment. While women tend to read the hot, passionate romance stories that were the reports to update the team of Kristine and Jake, who was Arthur''s Oveer experiment, the men treated Lowengren''s escapade as some form of a sports show.


    And as Lowengren and Alean led the team of Magantae into the Caliphate, some fringe conspiracy media groups in the Caliphates follow and update the Unlocked for this news. The troubles and confusion that Magantae experienced at Lowengren and Alean were so confusing that only the Unlocked new reports were all connected because they knew Lowengren.


    The wild reports ranged from two Caliphate states going on a skirmish over an alleged sandwich to a sexy, lingerie-clothed woman wrestling with an Arabian leopard to save a dying man from unexpectedly drowning in milk.


    Charles loved that series and was excited that another ''Lowengren show'' was airing. And so, Charles didn''t want any spoilers and stopped the group from listening to Lennox''s report and didn''t even want to see the title of the news report as it gave away the ''plot.''


    And it was only after listening to the news report that they listened to Lennox''s report.


    "They would really believe that lie? I mean... robots from the future seemed very suspicious. If it were me, I''d check it!" Cliff asked.


    "Cliff, you also need to consider politics when thinking about this stuff. In today''s time, countries and states are dering their independence one after the other. Politicians are filling the gap that the WGP left when they abandoned most parts of the world to fend for themselves. And that is why that crazy lie will work."


    Cliff began to think for a bit. He considered several perspectives and finally made his conclusion.


    "That lie just sort of ced arge banner on top of Egypt! The Presiders will definitely act! What if Time Travel tech is real! I mean, you sort of time travelled!"


    "If that tech does exist, it''s something that Primordials have. And even then, it''s quite difficult to do. With the appearance of odd paths like Lowengren''s and Alean''s, we can be more and more certain that my rebirth was part of a strong Zone and was prepared in a way that we cannot fathom. So I think Time traveling will be an absurd thing among Presiders." Seeker exined.


    "But even if that''s true, it''s too suspicious! If Andronze informs other Presiders..."


    "He won''t." Lynd interrupted.


    "He won''t?" Cliff and Meryl asked together.


    "He won''t. That''s what Lennox meant in his report that Alean thinks this is the best Path. I think that Arthur believes whatever is down in Egypt might be rted to the Lost Primordial. The real one." Lynd added as he used his thinking to simte what Arthur was thinking.


    "But... Lennox said that they said Primes! Aren''t they people that are beyond Principals? All those Pioneers we managed to capture and interrogate spouted these things. How can this Andronze not take action and inform the rest if Primes or at least a Principal is involved?"


    "Because Andronze won''t tell them." Seeker smiled as he could tell Lowengren''s perspective and exined the same perspective of Lowengren.


    "My Path of Truth allows me to have a vague idea of how people perceive and interpret truth. That Andronze will be driven mad with desire. You have to understand that Lowengren lies aren''t just things that will trick you. It''s a force that can bend you to believe what he wants you to believe. Those lies aren''t lies that end in themselves. It all adds up and makes a person choose to believe a specific thing."


    "So his deception somehow produces inception?"


    "Yes. Deception is when Lowengren deceives you and nts a fake idea in yourself. But now, his power is much more than that. Lowengren doesn''t nt an idea in your head. He nts his lies in a way that the person will create the thought in himself and create inception."


    "Wow. Just like that movie, my head is spinning now from listening to your talks."


    "Let''s put it this way. Based on the reports, Lowengren pretended to be a Presider serving a Principal sent by a Prime. He leaves a lie that a nted will be a Prime and that they are here to kill that person. They even made strange and very broad details about this person that makes even his gender inconclusive. That''s his lie. Although Arthur is guessing that a legacy of the Lost Primordial is down there, it could be anything! What will happen is that the Presider will conceive ideas based on those lies and act to our advantage." Lynd exined.


    "Let''s not forget that Alean also said her Path is prodding her to make those crazy guys go through with the n. So, we could have more assurance that this Andronze won''t say anything, or that if she does, the Presider she contacts won''t help her."


    "Well, that part I get..." Cliff nodded.


    Meryl rolled her eyes. She couldn''t believe that Cliff was now smarter than her.


    "Hello? Pretty girl, who''s slow with these things here!" Meryl reminded everyone.


    "Imagine... Being a Presider, Meryl." Charles chuckled.


    "You go ask another that a time-traveling Presider with a Principal sent by a Prime is now in Egypt. You show them that news report."


    "Alright. I get it." Meryl understood.


    "That''s the genius of the news report. Lennox ordered the soldiers to shoot down the video at a critical moment. To those Presiders, they''d just think that this new country is trying to take advantage and is making up strange excuses to attack Egypt."


    "Amazing. So this was Arthur''s, Lowengren, and Alean''s Path working together." Meryl praised.


    "If the three of them work together, we would be unbeatable. We might not even need you, Zeek!" Meryl chuckled.


    "If only that were the case. Principals breach dimensions. It has powers that are simr to Nogard''s techs. In short, they have Zone as well. And that alone can throw a cog in our ns. Remember that with so many Presiders on Earth, Arthur''s chance of prediction has lowered. That''s why we arranged this format. This way, each of us will train to grow on these Paths."


    "So that, by the time Principals arrive, our armies all have Zone." Lynd understood the intention. As someone who had a form of Zone, he knew how important it was in the battle. His fight against the Unlocked armies revealed the need for it.


    "Exactly. This is why we are all together again. We need Alean. I need to tread on her Path. If I can harness it all the more and manage to pass it on to you, we''d have more Zone fighters. I don''t know what the limits of Zone are, but this is what we are preparing for. Nogard''s soul abilities may help us. For now, you know your arrangements." Seeker turned to the rest.


    "I''ll be working with Precil and Nogard along with the Emperors who specialize in medicine. We will be trying to understand gue technology and will attempt tobine Origin into an Unlocks body. Our goal is to create a copy or imitation of the Chinese Dantian or what those Pioneers refer to as the Force Foundation." Charles ryed his intentions.


    "I''ll be with Charm and to spy on Lanterk and Zeraphine. I''ll also be directing Prince, Jane, and Eva for the next few days." Cliff sighed. He saw how Charm looked at him and wasining at the peculiar events he found himself in.


    "Tech copy of Emperors and also help the Emperors with their research to improve our tech." Lynd exined.


    "I''ll be toying with a boy''s heart and make my boyfriend jealous." Merylughed.


    "Good."


    "What about you, Zeek? You n to spy on Zeraphine. But what does that mean, exactly?" Lynd immediately asked.


    "Yeah, Zeek. You gotta level with us now. Do you really like her? And if yes, are you an idiot?"


    "Since we''re all here... I''ll tell everyone what you intend to do, Zeek. Guys, he ns to make himself fall in love with Zeraphine." Lynd dered.


    "What?!" The group chorused.


    Seeker sighed, not denying Lynd''s usation.


    "But why?" Meryl asked?"


    "What exactly do you mean by this, Lynd? Allow himself to fall in love with Zeraphine?"


    "Well, because of his past life, he already is. But he ns to use whatever power he managed to acquire by treading on Lowengren''s Path and lying to himself. I''m sure it will work. He has the memories and could relive the emotions. With it, he''ll definitely fall in love."


    "Why?!" Meryl demanded.


    "He... doesn''t have a choice." Cliff managed to guess it as he was looking at his memories.


    "Zeraphine was reported to have mind-controlling powers. That''s what Harker said. But obviously, it isn''t really minded control. Seeker''s past. The stories he told us about Zeraphine! Why hadn''t he seen it? Even to the time that Zeraphine betrayed them and when he saw Alphie. What kind of delusion did he have? He is Seeker Carlean! How can something beguile him!"


    "You mean... Zeraphine has the power to control emotions?" Charles guessed.


    "It should be something rted to that." It was Seeker who finally answered.


    "As Cliff said... there was something strange about how I saw her. Nogard also stated that the fluctuations of her soul were strange. The way she probably does it is probably because she has a power that is rted to the soul. And since Lanterk assumed Nogard is a Principal, then we can guess that Zeraphine could be rted who is at least at Principal." Seeker exined.


    "This tech could be very basic. But it is a Principal''s tech. And the only way for me to spy on her and manipte her is to really fall in love with her."


    "Why not make your adult self take your ce."


    Seeker shook his head.


    "The adult me would be in a more dangerous position. He''s the real person that fell in love with Zeraphine. I''m just someone affected by his memories. Zera''s death really affected him. When she died after that battle, the Realm King sensed him spiraling into darkness. He took Zera''s body and found a way to give false life to her. I don''t know if it was rted to Zeraphine''s soul ability or Lennox''s means to replicate the electric signals in her brain... But they made Zeraphine into some form of Android after to save the adult Seeker. It kept him from falling into such depression."


    "Scary. If Adult Seeker, an Unlocked human that could easily dictate the thoughts and emotions of his brain, fell into depression, then just how strong was Zeraphine''s power on him?"


    The group then fell into silence.


    "I have to do this, guys. And since it''s that scary... I need your help." Seeker exined.

 Chapter 372 - Seeker’s Request

    Seeker''s sudden request stunned the group.


    "You want us to help you fall in love?" Lynd asked with his tone rising.


    "Are you even listening to yourself? There''s a limit to how you''ve been doing things around to get what you want, Zeek. You changed Kristine''s future and decided to make her yours when the future, you know, she was supposed to be with me!"


    Meryl and Charles were stunned at Lynd''s deration.


    "And then, you sent us and forced Arthur to carry out a massacre in Australia because you knew that their future is wicked. But these people who don''t have any faults yet and you could have stopped them from bing evil! Look at Africa! Look at Russia! Those world powers in your future now have uncertain futures! You could have taken the gracious end and prohibit Australia''s backsliding, but you chose to kill a lot!"


    "He''s right!" Meryl realized another important factor.


    "Arthur could have even made a better n for this world, but they decided to follow you in your selfishness. And now, you want to go through another selfish path? What''s you''re doing is reckless. There are better ways to get the information we need! I think we don''t even need her! Look around you! The advantages we have! Lanterk thinks that we have a Principal on our side! Our spies can gain more information! Or is it that you don''t underestimate them?!" Lynd bombarded.


    Charles and Cliff also nodded.


    "He''s sort of right, Zeek," Charles admitted.


    Seeker shook his head.


    "I don''t underestimate our spies. I admit. I have been making pretty selfish calls. But that''s not it. Australia had to go through that event because it was the best way for us to get the drug that healed us. Git Godlike and many others were pulled out of that ce and managed to fight harder and better. It also cleansed our Australian chapter for any possible future traitors. I don''t want to go to the specifics, but you''re cherry-picking your facts, Lynd!" Seeker argued.


    "Even if I am, you''re also focusing and highlighting certain truths without revealing the cons of your choice! We can sit here all day and refute each other''s work! It''s very easy to do so! You can take one aspect of my argument and rip it apart, and I can do the same with yours! But regardless of which action does indeed bring the most benefits... I''m warning you, Zeek! Things can never go your way all the time!" Lynd warned.


    "Zeek. Lynd never argued against you since your battle. Because he submitted into the truth of agreeing with whatever you knew to be right. But he is now. And he''s doing that for the reason that you already know. Zeraphine''s not the only Presider in this world. I believe Meryl''s rtionship with Lanterk will bear more fruit than you. There is no need to allow yourself to fall into her charms." Cliff suddenly spoke up.


    He used his memory to point out what the angry Lynd was unable to say.


    "Lynd is doing this because he cares," Cliff added.


    Seeker and Lynd grew quiet.


    "What if this decision of yours is something that your Adult self is saying because he''s still madly in love with her? You think I didn''t notice how you cried after seeing the picture of Zeraphine from Mng''s painting?" Lynd finally asked.


    Seeker sighed.


    "I have to! This is one of the ways that we can get information about Principals! Maybe even Primes! The spies are good and all, but there is a limit to what they can uncover! And I am telling you this because I need your help! I always would walk my Path and make everybody follow it. But it''s not that anymore. I want you guys to help me walk in it. Not just follow me. That''s why I gathered everyone for this mission." Seeker revealed.


    "I can''t do this on my own. My adult self was insane and deeply affected by her powers. He warned me as well because he knew how inescapable it is. But unlike his timeline, I still have you. And you guys are stronger in this timeline. I am not being selfish here. She thinks I am the Progenitor''s son. And if Lanterk assumed the Progenitor to be a Principal, so will Zeraphine. This means she can marry me. She won''t have to kill herself as she did in my Adult self''s timeline. She has that shot. And I could be the best spy the Unlock can ever have!"


    "What about me?" Meryl challenged.


    "Don''t I have that shot?"


    "If he was a normal Presider, yes. But if Lanterk is a Principal, he might only see you as a concubine or even a toy, Meryl!" Seeker argued.


    The group became silent once more. Everyone was thinking of a way to refute Seeker''s words.


    "Listen. I know you against it because you valued my safety. But Charles, you were the first to die. Well, probably Cliff. I never really knew much about you."


    Cliff sighed.


    "Then Lynd and then Meryl. If someone were to die in this timeline among all of us, I want it to be me." Seeker answered.


    "My multiple personalities will help. And if Mng''s painting is correct and that my idiot adult version made a woman personality, then they can help me keep my sanity if ever Zeraphine''s power sinks too deep."


    The group was contemting once more.


    "Also... I have begun treading Alean''s Path. I don''t know. But somehow... things are falling to ce. I don''t think that me and Zeraphine''s past life was a coincidence. The more you understand Zone, the more you realize that there are more mysteries in this world. But there are no coincidences. My future self lived a life being told that all the miracles he made were all coincidences. I could not have told you this and went along with my n. But I have a feeling that I should do this. I should tell you about my ns. This is a leap of faith. Logically, I believe you will all disagree. But I''m telling you because I took the leap of faith. So help me." Seeker pleaded onest time.


    Lynd was in deep thought and finally looked at the rest.


    "What do you guys think? Are we going to let this idiot have his way again?"


    Meryl was grumbling and was the first to speak.


    "Fine. We''ll help you. Kristine ising to South America, right? Hopefully, Alphie will make the right choice and pick you." Meryl smiled.


    "Lynd, you don''t want Kristine in this life, do you?"


    "I''m already set for Alean. So I''ll pass. But Seeker owes me big time."


    "Good! Then I''ll help Zeek by helping these two fall in love with you. This will also be interesting if that Jake fellow that can pass through walls gets to South America." Meryl chuckled.


    Seeker shook his head andughed.


    "I''ll try to develop anti-depression drugs or powerful emotion controlling drugs as well. One that can affect an Unlocked." Charles added.


    "It might sound impossible to treat an Unlocked medically. But where''s the challenge? I already did the impossible with a drug that can get Unlocked to Surmounting. Too bad it''s so expensive." Charles sighed.


    "I''ll watch over you, Zeek. I''ll get stronger too. Strong enough to fight and defeat you and all your personalities. I promise I''ll be that strong so that I can pull you out of the darkness that you pulled me out of." Lynd also added.


    Seeker smiled. He felt great relief at Lynd''s words.


    "I''ll also be your bottom just to irritate Zeraphine."


    Seeker''s expression grew dark.


    "I don''t want rumors to spread, guys!" Seeker warned.


    The groupughed.


    Finally, everyone turned to Cliff.


    "What?" Cliff was confused.


    "Everyone just gave great suggestions in helping Seeker that it didn''t feel right not to listen to how you n to help him." Lynd frowned.


    "I don''t know how to help Zeek!" Cliffined.


    But everyone maintained their questioning and expecting looks at Cliff.


    "Come on, Cliff. You have awesome powers. Use it to help Zeek!"


    "Why should I? That guy made my life a living hell."


    "Ah. But I also gave you your first girlfriend." Seeker reminded.


    "I don''t know how to help you!" Cliff emphasized.


    "You have to, Cliff. It''s the rules. Besides, I helped you reach Inhuman. And I am the reason for when you get your first kiss. I mean... not that one. But a future one with Charm. Or Eva. Whoever, really." Seekerughed.


    Lynd, Charles, and Merylughed at Seeker''s answer. They still recalled how Cliff was forced to kiss the weapons dealer of Pangea.


    Cliff was about toin again, but then a strange thought surfaced on his head.


    "Alright. Fine. Tread on my Path." Cliff requested.


    Seeker was surprised at Cliff''s actions.


    "Interesting... Did little Cliff really grow stronger?" Seeker smiled.


    "Just do it. You can do a bit of Nogard''s soul thing, right? Try it on me." Cliff sighed as he used his daydreaming powers.


    Seeker harnessed the energy and threaded on Cliff''s Path of daydreaming. Seeker''s eyes broke through the normal dimensions and managed to reach Cliff''s dreamworld somehow. Although Seeker didn''t see it, he felt it.


    Seeker froze. He was horrified as he sensed the peculiar sensation. But it was toote. It was as if the sensation was imnted on himself. He nced at Cliff in shock. And then a great hatred emerged.


    The power of Seeker''s reaper''s breath that was now breaching the dimensions urred, and it crashed down on everyone.


    Cliff was crushed, but his expression still maintained augh.


    Seeker stepped forward, and while being in an Inhuman body, Seeker used Surmounting Strength.


    BANG!


    Lynd blocked the attack in time.


    "Are you insane, Zeek? You''ll kill him!" Lynd shouted.


    "Then let him die!" Seeker suddenly teleported and appeared near Cliff. Due to the great turbulent powers that he used after teleporting, the wounded Seeker emerged and punched what he can to Cliff.


    "What happened?!" Lynd asked, and then he used his Path of Observation and Empathy of Seeker.


    And then... he felt it too. The rage of Seeker was caused by that memory that Cliff recalled. His recollection was so powerful that when Seeker began to tread on Cliff''s Path and even used the soul ability of Nogard, Seeker felt the wet lips of Primer Elionios.


    And now, Lynd felt a strange feeling on his lips. His observation was so profound that he felt it too.


    Lynd erupted in anger and charged Cliff and delivered a kick.


    BANG!


    The kick sank, and a depression appeared on Cliff''s shoulder.


    Horrified at the sight of Cliff''s body, Meryl stood in front of the two men and used her Path.


    "Stop!"


    The magnificent light stopped both from continuing the attack.


    "Totally worth it!" Cliff''s broken bodyid on the floor, but hisugh was extremely joyful.


    In the Throne of Emperors, Nogard continued to discuss more of the actions that the WGP would be taking, and Charm and Lara continued to listen.


    Nogard suddenly frowned and looked elsewhere.


    Zeraphine managed to hide her surprise but could sense powerful fluctuations somewhere in the room.


    "What happened?" She wondered.


    Nogard sighed.


    "Looks like the Progenitor is up to more experiments. I wonder why they continued despite all the guests in this ce." Nogard asked himself. He was truly puzzled why that happened.


    On another room, Lanterk fell on his knees.


    He coughed up a lot of blood. He was secretly trying to create a link to send an important message to the rest of the Four Pirs, but suddenly, he felt a fluctuation in the dimensions. It was of fire, power, and great hate.


    Thinking that it was the Progenitor taking notice of his secret attempts, he immediately canceled the link and caused him to weaken greatly. The energy he wasted there was immense. But fearing the sh of another Principal, Lanterk canceled it when he felt the fluctations.


    The timing was just too weird! Lanterk purposely chose to dy his secret link, but that fluctuation came when he made his link.


    "Damn it! He''s this powerful?! Am I just going to be amb led to be ughtered here?!" Lanterk cursed.

 Chapter 373 - The Two Teams To Clash

    Several days passed since the presentation of Seeker in the World Governing Trading Hub. Wars, terrorist attacks, revolutions, and divisions of many nations continued in the short days that passed due to the faltering attempts to revive trade.


    The European Nation fell into such conflict as some favored to ally with New Great Britain creating more conflicts than ever.


    Canada also became an important trade ally as it froze arge area on the sea and created an ice ind. Since there have been nows to define what the limitations of an Ice Ind are on International Waters, Canada''s enemy nations filled aint to the WGP.


    The WGP ignored theints of these nations and allowed various countries to grow powerful in the few weeks that passed.


    Any nation that found a means to trade was naturally superior to most nations.


    Because of this, the surrounding nations in Europe, Caliphate, and Africa petitioned Egypt to open once again the Suez Canal, which had been closed since Egypt''s rise to power and at the orders of the WGP.


    Egypt turned deaf ears to the requests being made. It was then that one of the Desert Empire''s Army Generalunched a coup d''etat as he was angry at the decision of the Desert Empress not to attack Egypt. With a small band of forces, itunched an attack on the borders of Egypt.


    Most countries knew that this was just a ploy and a way for the Desert Empire to attack Egypt without leading to an all-out war. The General that rebelled was a fall person to test the strength of Egypt.


    The result was a massacre. The forces of the Desert Empire used various African techs, but they were no match for Egypt''s locust techs.


    One locust swarm that followed a sandstorm and an entire city in Chad was destroyed. If it weren''t for the fact that Egypt graciously gave a one-day warning to Egypt, the civilian deaths would have been at the millions, for the army could not resist the strange techs of Egypt.


    With such a show of power, the many nations that kept pressuring Egypt relented to wage war in fear or to raise up the many dreaded monsters that hid in that desert. The Suez Canal was allowed to open, but the price was high.


    Some nations were so desperate that they offered their tech possibility to Egypt to allow their ships to free pass.


    Various nations also pressured Africa and the Caliphates to stop their war over the Red Sea.


    Soon, the nations came to apromise and measured a long border, spanning ten kilometers wide. It stretched from the area where the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea meet, all the way to the Gulf of Suez and would be a region where all foreign ships may pass through. No African or Caliphate force would engage or fight there. The region was known as the Route of Suez, and it became an important trade route.


    The agreement swiftly came to an ord, and various ships began to pass through the Suez Canal after nearly a century of no ships passing through it due to Egypt''s stubborn and apathetic responses.


    Apart from trade, various War Cruise from many nations was made wherein a Cruise Ship would pass through the Route of Suez and get a ''front-row seat to the wars between Africa and the Caliphates.


    And among these insane cruises was one which the Underworld used. All the guests were members of the Underworld. The Cruise was just an excuse for them to have a way to meet together and perform more trades.


    All who boarded that ship did so with fake identities.


    With three thousand people boarding the ship and used questionable means to get there, it was the perfect ce to initiate that n.


    The cruise ship looked very busy. People still went out and had fun.


    "I can''t believe that I''ll ever experience this." One man sat down next to a woman who was pretending to be his wife.


    "Me too. But with what we are to face in Egypt... I guess this is a good way to go."


    "You want to go over and gamble with the money that isn''t ours?" The manughed.


    "Is the Madame done?"


    "Don''t underestimate her. She''s gotten stronger. So much stronger that''s shocking."


    "I heard she''s in love."


    "You haven''t seen him?"


    "You have?"


    "I was lucky too."


    Faint screams could be heard nearby. The pair took a quick look towards part of the ship where the screams were heard.


    "That should be thest batch. After that, we should have enough blood to help us reach Unbing Proficient." the man smiled.


    Inside the ship, a tall, beautiful woman with red lips stood. A bloody red train of her robe was growing longer and longer. She was like a queen standing among a pile of withered-up men and women who were the ship''s original passengers.


    She stood and licked her lips. Not a single drop of blood had fallen on the floor despite the horrifying massacre that she made.


    "Oh? You''re already here?" She asked.


    She felt a draft of wind, and since that couldn''t happen in the room she was in, she knew it was them.


    Four figures were floating down. They had entered through the various windows opened and managed to fly their way inside. Above them stood a tall, bearded man.


    "Madame Akasha. I can see that you''re well. And quite healthy, I must say. You look ravishingly dangerous. I counted three thousand people... That should turn the several hundred Familiars outside enough blood to make them reach a mid-level Unbing." Grant Hermes praised.


    "Yes. Have you found Chester Gallium?"


    "Yes. He really is undying in a way. He tasted Omricon''s de and survived. He will aid us in the battle against the Tyrant Empress."


    "Is he here?"


    "Gambling. He''s kicking back and rxing after surviving our little fight. He thought that I was set to kill him. Such an adorable hero." Hermes chuckled.


    "I heard that Eden is with the Empress."


    "Yes. It seems she was drawn to the beauty of the Tyrant Empress. I''m happy you didn''t sumb."


    "I''ll be the woman who will stand next to Richie. No matter how beautiful that subus is, I won''t fall for her."


    "For our sake, I hope your right. I just confirmed that aside from Eden, Caesar has shown his- no wait... their support? I don''t know what term is more urate. Regardless, Caesar is with the Tyrant Empress. And to think me and Lioncourt was exerting such effort to find him after his little scuffle with Lynd in Pangea."


    "So three of those who attacked Lynd are with the Empress, and we only found Gallium. You even had a head start."


    "Tracking Ranked Heroes and Oveers isn''t exactly an easy task. And we were busy with our research."


    "It sounds to me you were intentionally dying your search so that they can meet with the Empress?"


    "Well... I can''t say that the thought didn''t cross my mind. I know that it required a group effort to defeat the Tyrant Empress. But my pride didn''t want to give her that advantage. For now, the two teams to sh are more or less finalized. You, me, Gallium, Richie''s team and Lioncourt versus the Tyrant Empress, Lennox version whatever, the Eden Family, the Zulu family, and the Caesar family. Are you excited?"


    "I don''t enjoy fighting, Hermes. Anyway, since you here with your Winds, you might as well sit back and rx."


    "We will! But with all these vampires around, it may be a bit ufortable. Just don''t go around biting these four. Especially Austin. He''s a bit of a scardey cat." Grant chuckled.


    "Boss, she''s literally a vampire," Austinined.


    "I must say, your alphas and omegas look tasty." Akasha smiled.


    "Fancy a bite, Covid?" Omricon sneered.


    Akashaughed.


    "So young and so rude. Are there anyst-minute arrangements?" Akasha turned to Grant.


    "Well, I figured that since Lowengren''s going that route... I might as well hand them a bit of Gallium''s liquid metal tech. I''m sure those boys can handle the pain of merging with metal to create that lie."


    "Are they serious with that direction?" Akasha frowned.


    "I met Lowengren when he was still in the Caliphates. You know those military officials of that Caliphate state thatmitted mass suicide?"


    "You mean those seven officials who jumped out of the skyscraper to their deaths for their cultic worship of the god, Dagon?"


    "Yeah. And no, they weren''t cult worshipers. Through Lowengren''s lies and a little bit of my help, they jumped off to their deaths thinking they could fly." Grantughed.


    Alvin shivered.


    Austin was in a daze.


    Omricon and Omega were silent, but they closed their eyes and turned around.


    "As you can, even my boys are a bit... ufortable when talking with that man. So I''m not really worried about their lies. I am surprised that he has the balls to do that."


    Alvin and Austin shivered at the mention of the word balls.


    Omricon and Omega flew out of the room.


    Akasha raised her eyebrow at the peculiar reactions of the four.


    "Don''t mind them. They lost a bet and had to follow Lowengren''s orders. They pretended to be members of the Lost Primordial hunting Lowengren, attempting to retrieve his Lightning Rod. Basically, they were forced to grab the balls of the Commanders of Fleet Admiral Magantae. Thank God I didn''t join in on that bet. It was a very hair-raising, disturbing, and rather amusing scene. One of the Commanders even reached the next level of the Unlocking thanks to Omricon''s sword, which he-"


    "I believe I don''t want to hear the details of Lowengren''s insanity." Akasha narrowed her eyes.


    "Bummer. I was just getting to the best part. In any case, don''t mess around with that madd." Grantughed.


    "Where is the Thief in the Night?"


    "Ah, she ran away after the Caliphates. She had already grown as strong as she can be under me. And with how the world is ending, I can''t keep being the strict father, can I? So she can go chase her dreams and get the boy who has stolen her heart."


    "You''re worried that she will lose her mind fighting the Empress..." Akasha answered without any emotions and kept on concentrating on containing the blood she just drank. The long, winding blood robe slowly shrank.


    "Now you ruined the very good mood!" Grantughed. Akasha ignored Grant and kept concentrating.


    "I hear that our sh should involve killing at least one Presider." Akasha asked.


    "Whoever may be drawn... Still, this is our tribtion. We can only Ovee or be conquered. We either defeat her or be her ve." Grant gave a long sigh.


    "Things would have been easier if we had their mission." Akasha chuckled.


    "I''m not too sure about that. At least we know the Empress won''t abuse us if we lose. If Seeker and the group are discovered and are trapped in that Underwater City, it could spell doom for the Unlocked."


    "We have been covering all evidence of the existence of the Unlocked and have made it look like that a Presider is here. We made identities like the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor to throw them off track and hesitant. And reading the recent reports, I''d say we''re seeding."


    "That''s wishful thinking. Here''s a thought for you, Akasha. If we have Arthur and Alean... What''s the assurance that these Aragarians who are more advanced than us don''t have such means to achieve that? Don''t you get it? Seeker is pitting Alean''s Zone against as many Presiders as possible to know if there is still hope for us. If someone within the Presider has a simr power stronger to Alean, then we are more or less without hopes of winning unless we Ovee. That''s what Lioncourt said."


    Meanwhile, up in space...


    Orbiting the Earth was an invisible city. No techs on Earth or even among the Aragarians could detect it. This was because, like Crostfree''s tech, this city was manipting thews of space, time, and dimensions. It was there in that particr space, but it also wasn''t. It didn''t apply thew that matter took up space for what it was, wasn''t technically matter. It was as if a person was floating in space and dreaming, and this city was hidden inside that person''s dream.


    Garenjazz looked down on Earth.


    "Hmmm... My fortunes are fading. Is this a Presider? But who? Or could it be that Lost Primordial that Pridgeon said is down there?"

 Chapter 374 - Dates With Aragarians

    In the short days that passed, various battles had happened all over the world.


    The fight to establish trade and hinder others from trading was so rampant that more than ten battles between nations urred in one day.


    While many parts of the world had seeded through the agreement between Egypt and various nations to open the Suez Canal, the ships that set sail only belonged to certain nations.


    The Gulf of Aden became wroth with many battles as various nations became involved to hinder their enemy that participated in this trade.


    Everyone was racing to establish a trade route to connect to points of the Earth. While the WGP had no longer prohibited or stopped nations from studying and applying the tech possibilities of other nations, it was too costly, and there was no time to do that.


    And so, nations would race to create necessary trades of technology and provide each other with weapons that could be used to incorporate with their techs.


    Meryl watched with great amazement at the news.


    In front of her was a young boy who happily exined everything.


    "So that''s why Africa needs to have some of One China''s Tech. But as you can see, the geography and the conflicts that they have in between the two regions will naturally get in the way of any trade. So they will try to look for other means to trade. Their best bet is to make Turkey a middleman trading option. But there is a danger in this. Because both countries will then give Turkey an opportunity to grow. And while Turkey is generally in a neutral stance between the two, it could easily turn its back against the two and start attacking them with a new technology they may develop in the future."


    "So, in other words... It''s like choosing to go for a deal that gives them short-term solutions but will create long-term problems? They give products now to trade, but may soon cause Turkey to grow so strong in the future. But I don''t get it, Alexander. Why won''t One China and Africa go through some form of deal that also forces Turkey to give techs?"


    "Because Turkey holds the better end of this bargain. One China has its hands full with India and Russia. It won''t make an enemy out of another country. Turkey is close to the borders between the Caliphates and Russia. Now that Caliphates are in a state of reforming into several divided nations, Turkey can be a temporary trade route to initiate several trades, which could be vital for China to conquer India or Africa to conquer Egypt or defend against the Caliphates."


    "You mean Turkey can use the newly established Mesopotamia to reach China?" Meryl asked.


    "That''s just one possibility. And this is just with One China and Africa. Turkey will have its own deals with other nations."


    "So it''s a war on trade routes?"


    "Yes! That''s exactly what it is! With the example shown in our journey here, several nations practically killed each other along the way. And even now, the esction of that battle increased."


    "Right! I heard the news. Many of these so-called Pioneers held a war on the pacific! I still don''t get what they''re after." Meryl mused.


    Lanterk shrugged.


    "I even don''t know. Maybe they''re a group being led by the Progenitor or the Lost Primordial."


    "Ohhhhh... The Lost Primordial. I know those Pioneers aren''t under the Progenitor. At least that''s what Seeker told me. So what''s with all the P''s anyway? And what goes beyond Pioneers?"


    "Who knows?" Lanterk shrugged. But in that conversation, he learned important detail. His casual conversations with Meryl these past days had given him an understanding of what the Progenitor''s forces are and which forces allied themselves with the Lost Primordial.


    "This world is bing quite chaotic. I can''t believe that a few months ago, I was a student carrying that fake identity. It was peaceful. Now the world has fallen into a strange trade war. I wonder what will happen next."


    "The important thing is to create a trading hub, much like this one. Every nation is racing off to create a powerful city that can be used for trades. Especially since the age of Space Transports are happening."


    "Oh... So that''s why Progenitor wants to make a City of Refuge!" Meryl pped.


    "A City of Refuge?"


    "That''s what he called it. He borrowed the term from that trending sermon that went on weeks back."


    "That''s the Progenitor''s n? Interesting. But that makes sense." Lanterk nodded.


    "The question is where. I wonder where he will." Meryl frowned.


    "Why is that important?"


    "I want to settle down somewhere." Merylughed.


    "The Progenitor has no more use for me and gave me the freedom to do stuff. But I don''t know where to go."


    "Give me a few weeks. I''ll figure it out for you?"


    "Oh really? Like you can?"


    "How about a bet. If I can figure out what cities in the world will be these new trading hubs, you will go out on a date with me! And Danny can''t stop you. Of course, you can say it''s his punishment for cheating on you!" Lanterk smiled.


    "What? But-"


    "All I''m asking is one date. I will use whatever resource and seriously figure this out. Then, we can choose what city to stay in. And besides, you said that your insecurities make you a girl that often runs away. I want to be there so that if ever something doesn''t end right, you can always run away to me."


    Meryl was stunned.


    "It''s just a date. That''s all I''m asking. And I''m not afraid of Danny." Lanterk smiled.


    "Um... I guess I can agree to that. But... no kissing on that date." Meryl blushed.


    "It''s fine." Lanterk smiled. But his Aragarian heart was beating so loudly even an Un-Unlocked person can tell that his heart was on the other side.


    "Then I agree to the bet. Thanks for the short talks, Lanterk. I got to go to that cheater." Meryl sighed as her smile faded.


    "Meryl..." Lanterk called out.


    "That guy is an idiot. Why not... be mine?" Lanterk asked again. He had already confessed to liking Meryl but had always been rejected.


    "Nice try, Alexander. But he already has my heart." Meryl sighed.


    "That cheater just doesn''t deserve you."


    "And I don''t deserve you, Lanterk. I''ve already said it. The reason why he cheated is rted to that secret."


    "Are you really willing to have me, knowing my past? Knowing how I was used and abused?" Meryl smiled.


    "Yes!" Lanterk answered without hesitation.


    "That''s what Danny said. And in the end, he cheated on me... I''m afraid of losing you too, Lanterk. Please understand." Meryl turned around and applied perfume on herself to prepare to meet


    "But I guess when it became official between Danny and me, and he learned of other secrets of what that person did in Egypt... She saw me as less than a human..." Meryl gave off a small smile.


    That smile was beautiful, but a terrifying pain was behind it.


    Lanterk felt a great rage in his heart. He was even trembling as he clenched his fist.


    "That Andronze! I''ll kill her!" Lanterk vowed in his heart.


    Meryl walked out.


    "I''m sorry that I can''t ever be yours, Alexander. But please... be my friend."


    "Always. You''ll always have me."


    "I feel... guilty. I know you like me, but I''m scared of telling you everything because you could probably end up like Danny. So I hope... that you''ll always be there as my friend. I don''t have anyone else that I can rely on. You''re the only one that I can talk to. I know it''s selfish. Seeker and Lynd both have their missions. And very soon I''ll be alone. I''m sorry... for being selfish."


    "Meryl. It''s ok. I''ll always be a friend- No, in fact, I''ll always be something more. I love you and will always do. And even if I can''t be with you, that love will always be there. So you can live your life always remembering that I am there and that you can always run to me." Lanterk dered as he locked his eyes on Meryl.


    Meryl smiled a huge smile and nodded.


    "I''m sorry that I have to go." Meryl left.


    Lanterk stood watching at the door and how Meryl departed.


    "That damned Andronze! That damned Danny! I''ll kill them!" Lanterk vowed.


    Meryl finally reached the areas where Lanterk and Zeraphine dared not to explore. It was the room where the Progenitor was said to have stayed.


    Meryl entered the room and found Lynd. Charles and Precil were doing their routine inspection.


    The room was now full of Emperors and Empresses, all trying to cote and use their data. The scientific research involving several new technologies and how tobine them was being performed here.


    It was like ab full of a mad scientist.


    "What the progress?" Meryl asked Lynd.


    "Not so good, I''m afraid. The techs that are being developed here aren''t that strong. If I try to copy it, it won''t do any good." Lynd sighed.


    "You? How''s the NTR tale of Lanterk?"


    "Progressing. He''s bing bolder in his attempts to get me to like him. Also, that concentrated air was effective. Even I had a hard time containing the emotions I felt when I used that perfume. So this is the next weapon of Unlocked Spying? Emotion scents? Grab your emotions! Now in Strawberry Anger, Mint Sadness and Lemon Joy." Merylughed.


    "So is he going to attack Egypt? The sh in the Mediterranean sea ought to happen tomorrow."


    "I don''t think he''ll move. He''s maximizing his time with me. But I did manage to get some information about the Babel Towers that will be created in opposition to the Cities of Refuge. He kept talking about trade."


    "That''s great news! The location of these Babylon Cities ought to be in the Presiders'' positions here on Earth. So it makes sense for these Presiders to create a trade route that epasses the entire world."


    "Babylon? What are they to Babel?"


    "You didn''t notice? Babylon is the spiritual sessor of Babel. At least that''s the imagery in Biblical Literature. Babel was the first city that was created to oppose God. Babylon is the city that challenges God, as seen in Revtion. Since we''re following this format, it''s better that you learn it."


    "Meh. Boring stuff. You guys figure it out. Hm? Where''s Seeker?"


    "On a date."


    "WHAT?!" Meryl exploded.


    "He offered a trade. I wouldn''t stop him when he sets that date with Zeraphine."


    "The n was to dy the group! The spies have been working, and Cliff is always around her with Charm anyway!"


    "Well, he couldn''t wait anymore. So he timed the moment when you would be busy with Lanterk to move."


    "What did he trade that made you betray me, Lynd? What price did he pay?"


    Lynd was silent. He avoided Meryl''s eyes.


    "Hm? Those lights! Elder Scrolls! You''re ying Oblivion in your head! You!"


    "I regret nothing." Lynd opened his eyes and red at Meryl.


    "Where are they?! I''m going to get Alphie!"


    "Toote. They left on a trip. They are out raiding an Underwater City."


    Meryl was shocked.


    "That''s... Honestly, quite romantic. I mean for people like us. But why are we raiding them?"


    "The Realm King''s reports arrived. He found them. The surviving Pioneers from World War Three fled underwater when the WGP rose to power. I agreed because bringing Zeraphine along for that trip would be helpful. After all, Seeker has to make himself look like this Progenitor''s son."


    Meryl frowned and cursed. Seeker plotted his data well. In their agreement to help Seeker, Meryl became more aggressive to limit Seeker''s time with Zeraphine.


    Meryl wanted to say something and noticed Lynd was closing his eyes as tears fell on his face.


    "Stop ying those nostalgic games in your head! You have ungodly powers, and you use it forputer games?!"


    Meanwhile, somewhere in the Southern Ocean...


    A toon of Exoskeletons kept moving.


    Zeraphine was amazed as she read the reports. She only found out about the mission when the message was sent to her. And she couldn''t believe it.


    "Surviving Pioneers? Lourca Oviili?!" Zeraphine was trembling.


    "Is something wrong?" Seeker asked.


    "No-nothing. I just... Can''t believe our first date would be this..."


    "I''m sorry. I really don''t have the luxury to be free." Seeker sighed.


    "It''s ok." Lara answered softly.


    "We''re getting close. I''m sure you can fight."


    "Yeah." Lara answered again.


    Seeker looked on ahead.


    "Making the city look like the ocean floor. Primitive, but very effective." Seeker smiled as he charged into the city to begin the war.

 Chapter 375 - A Pioneer Of World War Three

    The Exoskeletons that apanied Seeker numbered less than a dozen. It was a shocking squad that confused Zeraphine. They were supposed to take over an Underwater City. And raiding such arge vessel should have required an army. But instead of that, a small team was sent as if the Progenitor wanted to flex the technology they have.


    The Exoskeleton suit that they wore barely had any technology or tools to shoot. Apart from a sword based on Pangean Eradication technology and the basic ranged guns, the group had no discernible tech.


    "Stay here. I''ll go ahead. Join the battleter."


    "Where''s the city? My scans don''t sense anything." Lara asked.


    "The Phallic is trembling. Oh, sorry. That sounded creepy and wrong. As Phnx, we are in sync with a certain element that is used in this suit. And that''s how we just know..."


    "I see. Go ahead. I''ll be watching."


    "I need to impress you more." Seeker smiled as he charged forward.


    Suddenly, explosions rang out without warning. Yet despite the invisible attacks, the Exoskeletons of Seeker''s team easily evaded it.


    Zeraphine watched from afar and continued to check through the techs in her Nefilius Body.


    "Impossible. This is the very foundation of Universe Energy. How can a Pioneer have this?!" She was amazed.


    Seeing how Seeker''s team could easily evade it was no longer a surprise to her. She believed that Seeker is a son of a Principal.


    Seeker and the team moved faster.


    The team that apanied Seeker wasn''t just any ordinary people. They were direct descendants of the Emperors that couldn''t im a Throne in the Everhiss n. But as the new age had dawned upon them, the first thing they did was purchased the highest and most potent Unlocked medicine that Charles had in hisboratory.


    These were the first few Unlocked that had been trained. It was necessary that they would be sent with Seeker so that the fundamental capabilities of the Unlocked would be kept away from Zeraphine and her potential mind-controlling drugs.


    Even the information that these people knew about the Unlocked was wrong to hide many facts about the Unlocked. If Zeraphine were to mind-control them, they would only reveal that a Progenitor had experimented on their bodies.


    Without any Skill or Path, Seeker had a simple solution on how these people were to survive this battle. Failing to follow this simple instruction would kill them. They were to follow the movements of Seeker Carlean.


    Only Seeker could see the changes in the water and evaded them all ordingly. The rest of the Exoskeletons were only moving ording to Seeker''s movements. Seeker''s lead was also very small. No one could tell that Seeker was ahead of the rest only by a meter in the chaos of the flight.


    The Unlocked only had the enhanced perception of time. And this was enough.


    Zeraphine watched in amazement as Seeker dodged all attacks.


    "What technology did this Lourca Oviili acquire?" She wondered. She had read the reports sent to her, which discussed the theories surrounding the Pioneer who became the Arbiter over Earth way back during World War Three.


    The water that exploded by some bizarre science proved no hindrance. Smaller eruptions exploded out around Seeker and his team.


    The number of explosions was growing in number, and soon, it was as if countless small bubbles were engulfing them.


    "This is the equal of their machine guns and other infantry weapons. Follow me tight. Assume a tighter formation. If you want to survive, you have to follow what I have to say with dying by a quarter of a second!" Seeker spoke through realm and sound.


    "Yes, sir!" The group answered.


    The barrage of explosions could not hit Seeker, who dove closer and closer.


    Deep inside the Underwater City, an old woman watched in horror.


    This was the best of her technology. When she noticed that a squad of Exoskeleton was moving towards her without moving to the right or left, she knew that ''they had finally arrived.


    "The Presiders found us... A pity. Our mission to eliminate those space cities has failed..." The old woman sighed.


    "We have failed the Progenitor." One of the younger soldiers sighed next to her.


    "Mother. I just... cannot ept it. We are doomed, just like that?" A young woman cursed.


    "My child... We were destined to die. Get ready to destroy all our techs." The Old woman watched as Seeker''s toon approached closer and closer.


    Seeker, on the other hand, revealed a small ball and crushed it.


    A powerful shock wave erupted out of Seeker as a loud shout was heard.


    "Pioneers! The Seeds of the Progenitor are here to kill you! Give up or die!" Seeker chuckled.


    The simple sentence that Seeker made froze almost all the top officials inside the vessel.


    "Mo-Mother! The Progenitor''s Seed?!"


    "What does this mean?!" A soldier asked.


    "Why is that Exoskeleton staying at a distance?" The old woman tossed aside most unusual statements and focused on why an Exoskeleton remained afar.


    "Mother! That''s the-"


    "I know! But take a hint! He ims he wants to kill us! But then offers us the option to give up? Why is that one over there? This could be a usual case! It used a term that the Progenitor said only we, his children, would know! So why? Remember what the Progenitor told us! We have to be triply cautious in our dealings with the world to be discovered. That man iming to be a seed might be doing the same!"


    "What do we do?"


    "Minimize the attack by fifty percent. Look at their route. It seems that they already knew where the entrance to this city is but is circling to give us time to prepare. Alright. Daughter, you will hold all our findings and research in another room. I will personally meet this man. Also, if that Exoskeleton waiting in the distance moves closer, shoot it but don''t kill it." The old woman ordered and began to walk out of the room.


    Seeker continued to evade and finally and circled. When he exploded the sound of Richie, he was already able to scan the entire city and see the group''s movements. Through thebination of Realm, Seeker was even able to hear some of the conversations inside the city.


    And while the many voices would have confused a normal human, Unlocked being easily filtered out the many conversations and finally found the voice of a particr person.


    "Good! They understood my intentions! This should be interesting!" Seeker smiled.


    He led the group to encircle and attack some areas of the city. The attacks that Seeker made were on ces that had no weapons.


    Zeraphine frowned.


    "What is Seeker doing? Why is he attacking there?"


    But then, the attacks that Seeker and his group were receiving immediately decreased by fifty percent.


    "What the...?!" Zeraphine was stunned. How could those attacks dwindle the source of the explosions?


    Seeker, who was listening to the conversation made by the top officials, acted immediately to fool Zeraphine.


    When Seeker could sense that the Old woman who was in charge was now in position, Seeker led the group to charge towards the city''s main entrance.


    Using a Horn that had the power of Destion, Seeker tore through the entrance and dashed towards the city proper.


    The holes that Seeker created were suddenly closed as anotheryer of steel covered it.


    Zeraphine observed from a distance and couldn''t believe how easy it was for Seeker to move inside.


    Inside the underwater city, Seeker executed the next part of his n.


    "Alright, guys. I''ll shoot you in the shoulder to make it look like we were caught in some battle." Seeker smiled.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The soldiers that apanied Seeker were shot. One of them had wounds that would have been critical if he was a normal human.


    "Alright. Now someone shoots me."


    The scene of Seeker shooting and asking to be shot made the soldiers of the city confused.


    "As I thought, you are indeed our allies." The Old woman stood at the front.


    "Right. You guys have to make amotion to make it look like there''s a terrifying battle happening inside here. I am Seeker Carlean, Seed of the Lost Primordial, who we call the Progenitor." Seeker introduced.


    "Alright. Men. Do as he says. He is our ally." The old woman ordered.


    The soldiers nodded, and soon, small explosions and the sound of constant gunfire were made. The city even underwent an rm that caused several parts of the Underwater city to surface.


    "Send some of your important men and technology to escape. I heard you guys talking earlier. You are right. That woman piloting an Exoskeleton should be a Presider." Seeker exined.


    "A Presider?!"


    "We managed to trick her. It''s a long story. But send some desperate evacuation protocols that contain important techs. The techs that you asked your daughter to keep would do."


    "You-You really heard it?"


    "Yeah. It''s all part of the n. One of my allies theorized that one way the Aragarians who were here on Earth could have been massacred if there was a traitor. So... was he right?" Seeker asked.


    The old woman was amazed at Seeker''s statement.


    "Amazing... That is urate! That is very urate. I was a Pioneer serving under a Presider who was sent here to Earth. The Lost Primordial, who called himself the Progenitor, found me. He gave me the techs to help me prolong my life. With his help, he allowed me to gather a few exceptional earthlings, and I amassed many contributions to the Presiders that allowed me to be an Arbiter. Together with those humans, we slew the Pioneers of Earth and in five Arbiters who were just like me."


    "Oh? So you were a Pioneer? Arthur was right, huh? Man, he really can see the future."


    "It seems the many powers of the Lost Primordial is not lost. If you have an ally that can see the future, then it means his Seeds has truly sprouted."


    "I was right then. The Lost Primordial can see the future. He must have been responsible for mying here." Seeker smiled. He thought about the time travel and how his new life has allowed him to amass further and find the lost things in that past life.


    "I see. The Paths of Amir Mann that is foundational to body cultivation, the Zone of Alean, the Path of Arthur, Nogard, and many others... These lost things were terrifying powers that the Aragairans shouldn''t acquire. The Lost Primordial used his ability to see the future and caused two timelines to arrange everything for this to happen." Seeker was amazed. He realized that even his attack on this base would have been riddled with various requirements.


    "No wonder Arthur didn''t argue about using the words Lost Primordial and Progenitor. He wanted our efforts to resound across the world and make it known to you. You were ready to destroy every evidence and information that you have about the Lost Primordial. But because I said those words, you believed me."


    "Indeed. We have heard the news of the wars up there. We''ve heard about how a mysterious organization led by Progenitor was fighting against the so-called enigmatic Lost Primordial. When we heard it, we rejoiced. This means that the Lost Primordial was alive."


    "And those terms stopped you from destroying this city." Seeker smiled. H


    "Correct. The Progenitor instructed us to destroy this entire city and even kill ourselves if Presiders attacked us. We were rmed that you knew where this hidden city was. We even avoidedmunicating with other Underwater Cities. If you have arrived here and used the name Lost Primordial, we would have still burned all those techs we have. But since you made it look like that the Progenitor and the Lost Primordial are two separate entities, it convinced us that you were the real Progenitor."


    "But that wasn''t enough, was it?" Seeker finally confirmed his theory. This city would have burned if a single element was missing.


    "Of course. You know how pessimistic and cautious the Progenitor is. I made that arrangement with my daughter so that she would destroy it if I determined you to be fake. But your actions proved it. And not only did you mention being a Seed of the Progenitor, you even stated that you have someone who has a simr power to the Progenitor!"


    "Hmm... So the Progenitor not only has the final form of Arthur''s Path, but he also has Alean''s Path? Are all Primes like this? We''re a long way from victory, then. So tell me, who are you?"


    "I am Lourca Oviili. A Pioneer of World War Three"

 Chapter 376 - Lourca Oviili

    The name Lourca Oviili did not register in Seeker''s memories.


    "I do not know of that name. I am the Leader of the Progenitor''s Seeds. I''m not sure if you know of me, as I am somewhat of a celebrity up there,"


    "We know much about you, Seeker. Even though we are down here, we''re pretty much connected with the world through various means given by the Progenitor."


    "Hmmm... You''re a Pioneer, right? Arthur theorized that one high-ranking officer within the Aragarian should have been taken, imprisoned, or forced by the Progenitor to work for him. Which one are you?''


    "None of them." Lourca smiled.


    "None? Then what are you?"


    "The best way to put it is to call us sleeper agents. Seeds of the Progenitor within Aragar itself."


    "Seeds in Aragar, your home? Are there more of you?"


    "We don''t know. If there are, they don''t know it yet."


    "It looks like we have a lot to talk about, but as you can see, a Presider lies outside your doorsteps. Have your men use the escape pods. We have to sink this ce. I am fooling the Presider outside to make it look like I am a human experiment of the Progenitor. And we sessfully made it look like that the Progenitor is at least on the Principal level. The best way to lie to her and make them believe that you have died is to bring a Presider here as a witness."


    "I see. For a young boy, you sure are smart. We willplete the preparations. Men, ready the self-destruct protocol. Also, we need each family to contribute nearly half of their members to die and be buried underwater. Diversify the age of the people."


    Seeker was startled at her orders.


    "That wouldn''t be-"


    "Oh, but it is, young Seeker. We have to create a path of deaths that exins how you destroyed this ce."


    Seeker looked at the other soldier and saw their resolution.


    "We havepleted the list, Matriarch." A soldier reported.


    "So fast?!" Seeker was astounded. Were some people immediately willing to die just like that?


    "We are Seeds. We are destined to die. You are the fruits that will cover this Earth after we die. This is our resolve." Lourca smiled.


    "Make preparations. The destruction and deaths must be believable."


    "This is insane! I dide here under the guise of destroying this ce! The Presiders won''t waste time searching for dead bodies here. It''s too much for you to sacrifice!"


    "Why sopassionate? We''ve read the reports of what is going on up there. Your team has created havoc and thrown the world into chaos. Death, hunger, pestilence, conflicts, and rebellions ur now. What''s half of my teampared to that? You yourself managed to enter this building with ease. We were already prepared to kill ourselves to hide the secret of the Lost Primordial."


    "The Lost Primordial has arranged my life to have two forms. I have a past that urred in the future. The Lost Primordial sent me back here by his multiple preparations. So those that are suffering on top are our enemies. They will side with the Lost Primordial. Those sufferings, pain, and the destruction of their societies can be their salvation. It was their yearning for power and the lust for a good life that made them betray humanity. We have preparations for the future that will use all the pain and suffering to produce hope. And that hope that will be our weapon to fight the Aragarians. But down here, surrounded by allies, I have a distaste of deaths."


    "That''s exactly why we have to do this. Seeker, you said that you are from the future? We are not surprised."


    "Oh? So you knew that the Progenitor had time-traveling powers?"


    "They can''t time travel. Or rather, they wouldn''t if they could. We are being cautious and will even allow half of our men to die here because we fear the powers of the Principals. We have a few seeds back home, sending a certain signal to indicate if a Principal is headed here. As of now, we''ve had two pings. One sent a few months ago, and another, just a few days ago."


    "A few days ago? Lanterk, huh?" Seeker guessed.


    "How long will it take for them to be here?"


    "Progenitor gave us the estimates. Depending on the urgency and speed, they could travel here in three short months but can go as long as a year. Normally, principals don''t use techs that hasten their journey to go here since it consumes energy. We also have a tech that allows us to detect if a Principal or someone higher is near Earth. Thankfully, we don''t have that yet. But since a Principales, we have to be thorough. Killing half of our group should do."


    "No! That''s too much. I have a weapon that can destroy and create great destion here. If I use that, it will make these Aragarians forget about checking on the deaths."


    Lourca shook her head.


    "I''ve already told you. It''s not that easy to hide from Principals. If theye here, they have a way to see it. Now that you''re standing here before me, it reminds me of the Progenitor. Do you have abilities that alter the soul?"


    "Yes."


    "Then that''s why I have to kill a lot of my men. Souls must be found here. I don''t know what their powers are, but Principals can figure out what''s happening here."


    "Fine. But change it to less than a fifth of deaths. Can you send a broadcast signal to the World Governing Trading Hub from here?"


    "Yes."


    Seeker took out a smallm device.


    "Link it with this. I''ll give the instructions. I''ll blow up this ce and tell my allies to ''arrest'' your team that escaped. The Presiders may figure out that this is your base. So I''ll make it look like this ce is under the Lost Primordial, and by some preparations made by the Progenitor, we managed to sneak up here and destroy your base as your main army is elsewhere. The deaths that you need to leave are the deaths that would happen from my attack." Seeker ordered.


    Lourca was silent and continued to ponder on what to tell Seeker.


    "I need your men alive than dead. They can still be trusted soldiers. Since we are making it look like the Progenitor is fighting the Lost Primordialm, then the evidence of your people appearing in our bases as prisoners will make it all the more believable. They will know that we are sessful in hunting down the Lost Primordial''s bases."


    Lourca thought for a bit, and then she turned to her men.


    "Do as he says. Make the necessary preparations. Minimize the sacrifices to that amount and execute the people on different ces within this base."


    The soldiers nodded and moved out.


    Seeker couldn''t help but give a reluctant sigh to what he heard.


    The soldierter asked those men around the area who would want the honor to die. When he did, all the soldiers raised their hands almost immediately.


    Seeker watched the brave men and could not help but reflect.


    "I guess I stillck in the area of dedication and sacrifice." Seeker thought to himself.


    As all soldiers raised their hands, it was that very soldier who decided who to die. His expressions remained calm, and the soldiers he picked had an almost serene and relieved expression.


    "We will need several minutes toplete what you said." Lourca spoke.


    "It''s fine. Send some ranged attacks to that Exoskeleton at a distance. But don''t use those water attacks, but something easier to evade."


    "Done."


    Gunshots echoed around the hall as the soldier shot some of his men.


    "You have... very brave men. Even unto death, they seem calm."


    "You could say that they await death. We have seen the techs of the Progenitor. Though he bestowed a very small amount of it, the powers he revealed gave us a greater understanding of this world. The implications of the existence of our soul prove that there is a life after death. So why worry?" Lourcaughed.


    The gunshots echoed out, and Seeker had an ufortable expression. Those that were shot didn''t utter cries of pain. And this scene somehow reminded him of the scene from long ago.


    "Since we have time, give me a brief summary of what the history of the Lost Primordial is. With that Presider around, I won''t have the luxury to talk to you anytime soon. My allies may hear of it even before I can. I''ll send some of my men to retreat ahead and stall Zeraphine in case she tries to chase after some of the escape pods."


    Seeker turned towards the Unlocked soldiers.


    "Go outside and pretend to be sending a message and receiving confirmation that the Emperors will be moving to retrieve them and that they have found their location. This should stop Zeraphine from acting on her own. Inform Zeraphine that I will also be deploying a powerful phallic attack that will blow up this base." Seeker ordered.


    "Yes, General. Erm... Should we shoot you now? Or will you allow yourself to get shot by the nearby soldiers?"


    "Hrm... Go ahead and shoot me. Use the prototype thatunches Typical''s bullets. That way, Zeraphine won''t be able to trace what shot me."


    "Yes, General!" The soldier nodded and raised his Exoskeleton arm that revealed small holes at the forearm.


    "Lourca, go ahead and tell me the details of the Lost Primordial. We don''t have much time." Seeker turned his attention towards Lourca and ignored the guns pointed at his direction.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The soldier shot one round, but suddenly, the attack that should have imitated Typical''s power had strange sts simr to Meryl''s power.


    Seeker was knocked back. He was able to harden his body through various Path''s but his right shoulder was practically destroyed.


    "What the hell?"


    "I''m sorry, General. That was General Lynd''s orders. He told me to tell you that one date is enough."


    Seeker cursed. The attack contained destion and was gnawing its way in Seeker''s shoulder. It was impossible to recover his arm, and he would have to leave showing that wound to Zeraphine.


    "Well yed, Lynd. Well yed." Seeker knew Lynd secretly made this arrangement to make sure that he won''t be able to go on another date with Zeraphine.


    "Are you... alright?" Lourca asked. The injury that Seeker received was horrifying.


    "I have a cultivator''s body. This won''t kill me. Go ahead and tell me the tale of the Lost Primordial."


    "I see. The legend of the Lost Primordial and the wars that urred in our world is one that happened thousands of years ago. Very few know of the true history of what happened then we estimate that the events that have happened here. But the Lost Progenitor told us. Let me start at the beginning. The origin of the Aragarians. It starts back in the days of Nimrod."

 Chapter 377 - The Tale Of Nimrod

    The entire Underwater facility began to explode, with great tremors urring all around. The depth of the whole city was now being shown as the explosions destroyed the camouge.


    "It''s this big?!" Zeraphine was surprised. The length of the city couldn''t be seen. Explosions continued to ring out around the area. Suddenly, various torpedoes and rockets began to shoot at her.??


    Several turrets appeared and bombarded Zeraphine with bullets, underwaterser attacks, and various other underwater warfare weapons.


    Zeraphine gritted her teeth and retreated. She was worried about Seeker. But more importantly, she was nning on entering the city to see more about the mysterious Pioneers that escaped their clutches.


    Seeker was now in a strange room back inside the city and continued to inquire about the history.


    "Are you sure you don''t want to treat that? I can see your bones." One of the doctors couldn''t help but ask again.


    "Rx, doc. I need to show that Presider outside my wounds. It''s better if this wound is left alone for now. Lourca. Please continue."


    Lourca chuckled at Seeker''s insistence.


    "Are you familiar with Nimrod?"


    "I know that there''s a Bible character named Nimrod." Seeker joked.


    "Yes. That person. The very same person that appears not only in Biblical records but has also had another persona as someone who has survived an ancient flood." Lourca smiled.


    "Wait. What? Seriously? It''s that Nimrod?"


    "Yes. Nimrod the Mighty Hunter. He was also the king of a great city. One that challenged God Himself."


    "Babylon."


    "Right. He is known in secr history as Gilgamesh. The hero who defeated the beast that caused the great flood that wiped out the Earth sparing only the family of Noah."


    "What do these ancient records have to do with the Aragarians?"


    "Everything. The Aragarians is the name that refers to the victors of the great war in our hometown. The Aragarians are rebels who broke the chains of the former ruling ss in our world. The Babelians."


    "Babelians? You can''t mean...?!"


    "That''s right. What do you think happened when the Lord came down and confused the tongues of men? What happened to the tower of Babel?"


    "Then... the Aragarians or the Babelians are from Earth?"


    "If we are to follow Aragarian narrative, then yes. Actually, there are two factions. The Babelians and the Barbablon. But we usually refer to both as Babelians. Those that erected themselves as the gods in this world, who the Christians worship as God, are beings who have supreme wisdom, knowledge, and technology. If we see it in this perspective, then most of what I''ll tell you will make sense. The Biblical ounts tell of how the angels, the fallen angels to be precise, mingled with the women of Earth and gave birth to aboriginal beings that were half-man and half-human."


    "You mean the Nephilim?"


    "Yes. Tranted as Gigantes in Greek, but the meaning of Nephilimes from the Hebrew root word, Nephal, which means to fall. These fallen and corrupted humans received the power to do amazing things and received tremendous power. Now that''s the Biblical ount. Our literature talks of our hero and leader, Gilgamesh, who challenged beings that thrive and move freely beyond the three dimensions that we live in. Gilgamesh was so strong that he managed to defeat such beings by receiving an inheritance from another being of simr power. This being was an outcast among these godlike beings. As for Nimrod, he called that being a Nefilus."


    "Nefilus? I heard the Presiders talk about a Nefilus body but don''t have any idea what that meant. So it''s referring to this being that Gilgamesh met?"


    "There are two narratives that talk about this, the history that Christianity taught us, or the ones that the Aragarians believe in. In the Aragarian''s narrative, a powerful and intelligent being that not only lives but also moves and functions in dimensions that we cannot see approached early humanity."


    "Then in the belief in gods or a God may have sprung from this view. Did the Progenitor manifest any strange powers that you witnessed? Since you''re an Aragarian, he should have shown you morepared to what he did to Nogard and the other seeds."


    "He did. The Progenitor had a strange power that allowed him to be everywhere at the same time. It''s a limited form of omnipresence that enveloped the entire world. In that power, the concept of prayers being answered by a god seemed possible. Progenitor was everywhere on Earth, and that was how he was able to arrange the cements and aplish the ns he set out to do. And whatever that being Gilgamesh met, it had certain powers simr to that."


    "Omnipresence... What an amazing power. I have been able to peer through the fourth dimension, but omnipresence seems impossible to even in our current perspective."


    "The Progenitor exined it in this manner.. Imagine the dimensions that we exist in, length, width, depth, and time as a book. He is a being who can read that book. While our being is localized in one page of that book, a reader can easily move backward and forwards to see not only our localization, but he can see the localization of various characters that exist within that book at the same time." Lourca exined.


    "Then that means, to have such power, I''d need more than seeing in four dimensions. I probably need to have the powers to see on up to seven for that kind of power." Seeker estimated.


    "I''m sorry. We''re getting off track. I needed to know my current standingpared to the final power that the Progenitor had. So Gilgamesh and the magical beast."


    "Gilgamesh built Babel with the help of that mystical beasts. Just imagine what civilization would be like if it had a higher standing point. We cannot imagine what it would be like for the ancient people to meet beings that surpass the three dimensions. Imagine being together with one! Together, the two managed to build an entire scientific field using the energy the supra-dimensional state had avable and practically became a god. That is Nimrod in the Bible or Gilgamesh in secr sources."


    "What happened? If this is about Nimrod, and Nimrod built the tower of Babel, some battle must have happened."


    "There was. The Babelians history book records that when the Tower of Babel led by Nimrod reached great heights and attained such power, the beings that exiled the beast went down to attack Babel. A terrifying battle of proportions that we could never imagine urred at that time. In the records of the Babelians, these beings that were the enemy of the beast fought in a hard battle. The beast had nned to defeat these gods and allied with humans to find a way to defeat them. Instead, they gave these humans a different body. A flesh that is not flesh and even created a human form that mocked the original designs of these beings."


    "So that''s why Aragarians have inverse organs..." Seeker realized the cause of the strange physiology of the Aragarians.


    "That''s at least how the Babelians wrote it. In any case, you probably could guess when and where this battle took ce."


    "Shinar... The Tower of Babel."


    "Exactly. Genesis 11 records the event of when God stepped down and destroyed this great tower that was made to challenge God himself."


    "So God fought against Nimrod and the Beast?"


    "We may never know. The Bible doesn''t state it outright, and the records of the Babelians are too obscure to detail the events, and most of the technology was lost. Remember what the events on the Bible tell us what happened there."


    "God dispersed the nations and confused the tongues of men."


    "But there is one thing that the ount on Genesis doesn''t exin in clear detail. What happened to the tower of Babel?"


    "It left... It escaped to space!" Seeker realized what happened.


    "Exactly. At its defeat, Nimrod and the surviving Babelians fled to a new ce as they had been massacred here on Earth. They flew to the stars and sought for great distances. The people that they enved were free. But the beings knew that if the people stayed on the same ce, they could rebuild the entire city!"


    "But to do that, the humans have to work together. They have to do each of their assigned tasks as ves to create the tower of Babel with all of its powers!"


    "Right. And so, those beings, or the God of the Bible, dispersed them and used a power that changed the very nature of how humans spoke. This was all to ensure that that same tower will not be created and that the knowledge of that technology would be lost forever."


    "But what about the Babelians or the Aragarians? What happened to their power?"


    "Nimrod survived and fled. He was the strongest enemy that the Aragarians faced before they seeded in defeating the main force of the Babelians. At this point, even the Progenitor could only specte. The assumption is that the beast that aided Nimrod died. All that Nimrod probably had was the body of that beast as source material to study it. That is what the Aragarians at the level of the Presiders and upwards have. They have a flesh body but not flesh and could contain this Spirit that the Nefilus beast had. You met Nogard, so you must have seen it. The power that the Spirit of the Nefilus could do!"


    "Soul Cultivation! So that''s it! Then is it possible for there to be a Nephilim or a Nefilus body on this?"


    "No. The Progenitor tried to look for them. But you can imagine that the ount in Genesis is full of these divine battles. The flood may have been an attempt by these gods or the God of the Bible to wipe out a wicked race known as the Nephilim. This beast which Nimrod met might have either been a Nephilim or a fallen angel! But the flood wiped them all out, and the surviving Nephilims that survived the flood and who might have survived Babel''s fall have lost much of their powers or that they don''t know how to awaken it."


    "Now that you mention it. Genesis 6 records the appearance of the Nephilim and is shortly followed by God''s n to flood the Earth. Why hasn''t the Aragarians noticed this? Why haven''t they tried to go back here on Earth? With such rich history, why now?"


    "First, the records of how the Babelians flew to Aragar are lost. We could assume that the Nefilus beast was the one that brought the Babelians to my. And due to the uprising of the Aragarians, none of those who survived the escape of Babel Tower are alive now to confirm it. The Babelians and the Aragarians practically rebuilt and have been trying to recover the lost technology that they once had."


    "Then why now? Is there a hidden mystery as to why the Aragarians areing back here?"


    "I don''t know. The Progenitor only told me that they would surelye. But since I stand to be the person who could spill and alert the Aragarians of the Progenitor''s n, I was hidden. Only when the Seeds find each other will I reveal myself to all of you. The odds of the many requirements that the Progenitor set made it that we''ve always assumed that we would die. He truly is amazing."


    "I guess, if you do have the ability to move across all dimensions, things such as fulfilling prophecies are possible." Seeker smiled.


    "Speaking of prophecies, there is one seed that the Progenitor created. He told me that if this power appeared, we would be victorious. The Progenitor called this person the Prophet."

 Chapter 378 - To Sell A Lie

    The underwater city began to abandon ship and was relentless in aplishing a full escape.


    As the city was falling, it drew the attention of many underwater cities and nations who approached to observe or scavenge the objects they found. But the World Governing Trading Hub was the fastest to send forces to the base.??


    The Emperors brought an entire army. Severalrge aircraft zoomed at great speed towards the underwater city.


    And the team consisted of Emperors and had over a thousand Exoskeletons and transports. The movement drew international panic as everyone thought that the Emperors had moved out for war.


    Without even hiding their signal, a full eight Emperors of the Everhiss n emerged and even announced not to touch that city. Since the city had no sovereignty and did not belong to the area of responsibilities of many nations, they could not contest any im.


    A Floating Frost city of Canada was closer, but the WGP moved faster and even ordered Canada not to make any unnecessary actions.


    "I can''t sense Seeker." The Emperor called out. A tall, golden Exoskeleton appeared near Zeraphine. Although Zeraphine had sensed the approach of this cloaking Emperor, she pretended not to have noticed.


    "You are Lara Diamon, correct? You''re the one that brought Small Willy."


    "Emperor! Yes! Seeker told me to stay here. I..."


    "We suddenly lost his signal. We thought this was going to be easy, but a strange signature was detected inside."


    "A strange signature?" Lara asked. She was there, and she didn''t detect any strange signal even with her technology. Of course, she concluded that the Progenitor must have sensed something.


    BOOM!


    A huge explosion urred right in the middle of the underwater city as hundreds of small evacuation ships emerged. The st was so strong that the shock wave reached Lara.


    "Seeker!" Lara shouted and moved.


    "Rx. The Progenitor made his move. Seeker and the team should be alive. Those damned Primordials! It was a trap! If Progenitor did not realize it too soon, Seeker would have died!"


    "A trap?! What happened?!"


    "That''s none of your concern. Follow me. We will pick you all up as we eliminate some of those who escaped. We will be headed to South America after this." The Emperor waved his hand, and a Rule appeared near him.


    This time, Zeraphine was surprised. Not even she could detect the Rule.


    The Rule opened up and became a small transport that could carry the Emperor and Zeraphine.


    Zeraphine marveled at the technology. It created a strange hard metal that was based on barrier technology. Only this time, it was morepact and stable. What''s more, a strange color appeared and made the supposedly invisible barrier coated in a pitch-ck tint.


    "Amazing... Just how many techs does this Principal have?!" Zeraphine wondered.


    The Rule carried the two and assumed the form of a needle-shaped rocket. It sted off towards the surface and attacked some of the escape pods. It locked into one, and the Rule rammed one aircraft and prated through the ship. The ship tried to activate its breach protocol, but the Rule broke through the many walls of the vessel and damaged it. Water was flooding in on the various chambers. Eventually, the Rule reached and found the passengers of the ship.


    "Presider! Save us!"


    Without hesitation, the Emperor shot several bullets that were as thin as needles that aimed for the left side of the chest. A single bullet shot these humans and killed them.


    Zeraphine pretended not to have seen anything as the dark tint should have prevented her from seeing it. But with her technology, Zeraphine saw all of it and knew that this Emperor shot at the left side to hit the heart of these Aragarians.


    "So they are Aragarian defectors!" Zeraphine concluded. But what was rming was the words that the Aragarian screamed before he died. He was calling out to a ''Presider.''


    "Is it a Presider that hid on Earth, or is it one of us?" Zeraphine wondered.


    "It''s not here." The Emperor cursed and abandoned the ship, which was now drowning and began to be crushed from the deep pressure of the sea.


    "We found and rescued Seeker. He''s wounded, but he should live. We''re heading to South America now." A voice called to the Emperor.


    "Good. I got his fiance with me. I''ll go ahead. You guys finish up." The Emperor sted off and rushed for the surface. Various escape pods were being intercepted by Exoskeletons, underwater vessels, and Rules.


    "What''s going on down there?" Zeraphine couldn''t help but wonder. Just what did the Progenitor find in that fort?


    "Emperors. Make haste and move. Those that are to deliver Seeker and his team on to the city move fast. We will immediately regroup andunch an attack. The Progenitor found the real base. Act fast. The Progenitor" A voice gave the order to the Emperor. The Emperor was unbothered and looked towards the horizon as he delivered Lara.


    Zeraphine was silent and dared not make any attempts tomunicate.


    Meanwhile, on another ship, Seeker was with another Emperor.


    "Lynd''s orders?"


    "Yes. Lynd''s orders. In case you developed a way to dissolve the radiation and heal your wounds. Meryl also made the arrangements for Alphie and Kristine to go with us. We will be traveling in the Many Mansions that is headed here."


    "They really know how to stop me from dating Zeraphine." Seeker chuckled.


    "You have brave soldiers." The Emperor praised the old woman standing next to Seeker.


    "Those volunteers ought to make it believable." She smiled.


    Seeker kept silent. He could only remember the many names of those who died and gave their lives just to sell a lie.


    "So... where are we going?" Lourca asked.


    "South America. The Everhiss, along with your team, will create a City of Refuge there using thepany we''ve built, Unlocked Industries, as the cover. We''ve managed to lure several Presiders to take part in a certain gathering. An Underwater City will surface, and that gathering will be made there. With you and the Everhiss secretly creating bases, it will provide a good ce to retreat in case things go problematic."


    "Oh? What could intrigue several Presiders?"


    "Their favorite game."


    "Ah. Of course. Even at my age, I still y that. Interesting. To think that a simple game can help us save the world!" Lourcaughed.


    "We still have to keep the other Presiders busy. We can''t have too many of them. I wonder... What will Lowengren''s team do?" Seeker wondered.


    Deep in thend of Egypt...


    A military base in Gaze emerged from the sand and continued to move from one of the nearby cities to the next. With many wars approaching, these military bases that were always buried and tunneled around the maze within the entirend of Egypt began to make rounds to gather more people.


    The reports of the robots from the future continued to appear once in a while on different ces in Egypt.


    A bloodshot, tired, and very depressed General of the military fortress emerged from his office.


    "This damned war! And now the WGP had moved up north! Just was is going on in this world?!" The General cursed.


    "Pioneer! Greetings!" A burly janitor greeted.


    "Ah. Finally, somepetence! Did youplete the task?"


    "Yes. With my suggestion in ce, we''ve seen a thirty percent increase on recruits."


    "You''re apetent man, mister Lester. As promised, you will be granted the rank of Major since you''ve fulfilled your task." The General smiled.


    "I am very grateful, General."


    "No need to be grateful. You are very trustworthy, Lester."


    "You seemed rather tired, General. Is there anything I can help you with?" Lester asked.


    The General smiled politely and was about to shake his head, but then, a strange thought urred.


    "Lester, are you knowledgeable in logistics and transports for war?"


    "I do have experience with it. Why?"


    "What do you make of... this?" The General shuffled on his papers and gave one to Lester.


    Lester began to go over the ssified document.


    "Half of these people could double their work and be more efficient if these two people are promoted to be officers. I''ve seen their work. They are quite good. Also, the arrangement of deployment is very inefficient. I''d do away with the chain ofmands that require approval. War ising. Why are we applying military protocol that was meant for security when we need to arm our forces quickly?" Lester frowned.


    "... That''s... actually brilliant. Those two people you mentioned... can you vouch for them?"


    "With my life."


    "Then they should be good people. Here... I am formally giving you the rank of Major now and will process the formalityter. But you could take over thismand."


    "I will need to hire more men."


    "Done. I am giving you full authority. Just make sure to increase our speed by two times at a cost-efficient way."


    "You have my word, General."


    "Good. Since you''re in charge of this, take over my office."


    "You could go on a nap, General. Since a bulk of your workload isplete, I believe I can finish this task in an hour."


    "Oh? Then I''ll nap for an hour. I''m expecting good news." The General smiled as he opened his door.


    "Use my office. I am also giving you my code to prove to the rest that I trust you."


    "Alright, General." Lester nodded.


    The General left and went on his way, and Lester entered the room.


    Lester''s first order of business was to call a specific number.


    "Infantry Resource department. What are your orders, General?"


    "This is newly promoted, Major Lester. Due to the rising conflicts, General promoted me to cover and help him execute new policies."


    "Oh! Lester! I''m sorry, I mean Major. It''s about time you got your promotion."


    "What do you need?"


    "I request that you send two certain newly recruited infantry to my office."


    "Oh. Do you mean those two walkingputers? Sure. I knew you''d promote them. They told me they were acquainted with you. When I told them that a janitor is doing the job of various officers, they wouldn''t believe it at first." The man on the other lineughed.


    "That is all."


    "Congrattions once more, Major." The man politely answered before hanging up.


    Major Lester continued to work and make ns that would reshape the policies and protocols their division implemented.


    The door opened, and four people entered.


    "Two days... Not bad, Harker." Lowengrenughed.


    "You weren''t lying when you said you could do that!" Vender was amazed.


    "Lying is Lowengren''s division. I tell the truth and gain the trust of men. I''d have to say Egypt is quite a masterpiece. Although it could do a bit more tweaking, their military protocols really support thend and technology they have here. Alright, down to business. As far as I can tell, the real base of the Presider has one entry point. The underground base moves just like this base does but does so in a random pattern. It''s not even written on paper as to when the next delivery of resources happens, but I live it up to you, Arthur. I''m assigning you to head the entire logistics department."


    "That position is taken. Won''t you be overstepping your boundaries?" Gardo asked.


    "No. He won''t. Because I''ll be lying to convince everyone the current head is secretly selling illegal drugs in this ce." Lowengren smiled.


    "We have seventeen hours. We will be moving towards the Suez Canal, and the battle will begin then. You have your orders."

 Chapter 379 - Taking Over Egypt’s Base (1)

    The movement of the WGP to attack an Underwater City caused several huge cities to surface, and some even merged, fearing the threat of the WGP. These actions were so decisive that they happened not more than three hours since the attack urred.


    One city rose after the other, and more were being reported to surface.??


    The surfacing of this city opened an incredible opportunity for most nations. It meant they would have independent cities to trade with, and the routes of trading that were once deemed impossible were opened up.


    But very few realized what this meant.


    In the region near the Mediterranean sea, an underground base was on the route towards a specified location. Two men were being called into a direct line and spoke with the very leaders of Egypt itself. The two were talking to all of the members of the people known as the Pirs of Egypt.


    A series of faces were disyed on the screen, and General Aurom was being questioned for his decision.


    "The attacks of the WGP that has happened a few hours ago have made various Underwater cities rise. We have detected one in the Mediterranean and even another hiding in the Dead Sea itself! These secret societies have appeared, and look at the map! All countries will create additional trade routes! This was something that the world never expected!" General Aurom exined.


    "And you believe that the trade route in Suez Canal will no longer be used?" A woman questioned.


    "Yes! These cities will strive to make alliances with nations! The WGP scared them! A single attack of a single army wiped out a city that our satellites estimate to be one of therge cities based on the estimates of the tremors that the ripples of an explosion created on top of the sea! If such a city falls, it ces every other city in danger of being attacked!"


    "That does make sense... These cities may have hidden, but unlike us here in Egypt, who has proven that our xenophobic nature does not equate to weakness, they will look for allies or at least try to be a society making them indispensable to the WGP." Another person concluded.


    "We can even say this was the intent of the WGP. With the threat of the Lost Primordial. The WGP can''t afford to allow secret societies to exists. So it''s forcing everyone out in the open. The conclusion General Aurom came to is correct. The Suez Canal won''t be the only trading route, and betrayal is bound to happen." Another spoke and supported General Aurom''s decision.


    "And that is why I trusted Major Lester and followed with his suggestion. I beg for you to approve of his promotion. I can tell for certain that the reports and usations that you have received from members of my base are from jealous people who are likely to be fired as Major Lester reces their work. Seven people earning sries that are only a ss lower than mine can be fired." General Aurom exined.


    "The reports say he is not a native of Egypt."


    "He ims that it was necessary. His return to Egypt was by force. His identity has beenpromised and can only disclose that he is a Pioneer serving Joab Barak." Aurom exined.


    "Oh? A Pioneer? Prove it!"


    "Pirs. If I may... the attack in the WGP involved Lanterk. That is all I know. The information which resulted in the Pioneer massacre in the Caliphate region has something to do with the Progenitor and the Desert Empress." Harker exined. In all of this, Harker told the truth. And this truth resonated and made the people listening believe.


    Some Pirs were confused at the statement that this man-made. But some were secretly trembling and has sent some messages to the real leader of thend, the Sun God.


    The information was sent to Andronze.


    Andronze took one look at the report and frowned. The truth was, there have been several strange events that have urred on the borders of Egypt that resulted in an influx of Pioneers and nteds who survived the Caliphate massacre.


    Many in Africa also retreated to Egypt because of the sudden political shift and rise to power by the Desert Empress. Because of this, many have spoken with the soldiers for such requests, but all of them were denied.


    "So someone was smart enough to use tricks to get into an underground base? Impressive. This is definitely someone backed by another Presider. Oh well, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. If they are here to investigate the future robots, they can try. If I can''t find them, then they probably can''t, and if they can, it will be helpful." Andronze thought to herself.


    "Make him a Pir," Andronze ordered.


    Back at the meeting, the Pirs were discussing the strange titles. This wasn''t the first time they have heard this request.


    "So you belong to that group of people that were given a special mission. Wee,rade. I vote to legalize his identity as an Egyptian."


    "What?!"


    "Just like that?!"


    "What''s going on?"


    One-third of the Pirs in that conference callined.


    The remaining groups immediately agreed and voted. With a majority vote received, those who wereining couldn''t do anything about it.


    "This pertains to another secret that only the original members of the Pirs are allowed to know. You must have heard of this. Many ran to the border and made such requests. We generally ignored them. But Lester has proven his heritage. He is one of us. He even went so far as to wisely chose a path that would assure a meeting with us, unlike those others who just made noise." A Pir exined.


    The other Pirs were silent. They knew that the first set of Pirs had a certain power and connection. Although they never have used this to an advantage and have often fought with one another, there were scarce and generally unimportant moments when these selfish and divided groups would all act in one ord.


    "I shall speak to Major Lester directly. What do you know?"


    "A city is to be built. There have been rumors and evidence that some groups of people are building cities that will be important trading spots to cater in this new era. This is why the WGP attacked the Underwater cities. The opening of the Suez Canal would create an imbnce in the world. Only a few nations can trade with others, and a shifting of power will happen. The rise of the Underwater cities will ruin many deals." Major Lester answered.


    "Of course! It waited for the world to


    "And this means war?"


    "Yes. A conflict will arise in the Mediterranean Sea. It will definitely happen. With newer routers avable that might even allow the Americas to trade with India through a route, who needs the Suez Canal? If I were an enemy general, I''d attack and ransack the items being traded there. That route won''t be used a second time by these nations who risked it. Those who risked participating on this trade have ced too much on the table. But now that other trade routes are avable, the nations who were intentionally adamant in protecting this trade route won''t be so serious because trade routes are open." Major Lester exined.


    "So you want three underground bases to move there to protect Egypt?"


    "No. But to ransack the other nations. The battle will be huge and will naturally spill over Egypt''s borders. We use the conflict as an excuse and raid the enemy ships and attack them. Of course, if no battle urs, then we can just ignore everything. This base won''t be detected anyway." Lester exined.


    "Having that base there is more beneficial than it''s not. And we have had several attacks, including the attack that urred regarding those alleged time-traveling robots. This is no longer the time for being passive. They have already forced us to make a trade route. We give an inch, they take a mile!"


    "I agree!"


    "Since Major Lester has shown some impressive wisdom and since he has THAT background, I nominate to vote him to be a Pir of Egypt." A woman voiced out.


    "What? You can''t be serious?"


    "Why? Is there a problem? All of you who weren''t pirs before were never meant to be Pirs in the first ce. We, the First Pirs have always made you the minority so that the will of the Sun God will be fulfilled. Adding another member is our choice." Another of the Pirs sneered.


    "All in favor?" One of the Pirs initiated the voting.


    "Is there anything we can do regarding this?" Another pir frowned, and everyone raised their hands.


    "Pirs. I would like to decline. Please give the position to General Aurom instead. I wish to serve as Major under hismand. The battle that ising... is personal. I want to fight and defeat those arrogant men and women who have long exalted themselves." Harker told the truth.


    His gaze pierced through every one of them. They could not help but sense the dedication.


    The Pirs were surprised.


    "Alright. Then I suppose since we will be putting a Pioneer in ce as a Pir, it''s only normal to have someone who isn''t one to be promoted. All in favor of promoting General Aurom to Pir and Major Lester to Pir once hepletes his mission in defending the base?" A-Pir asked.


    Various Pirs who weren''t Aragarians and did not know about the great secret all found the arrangement pleasing. Many already had dealings with General Aurom, and while the mysterious Lester was uncontroble, Aurom was. Many of the Pirs might even have the chance of establishing a rtionship with Lester through Aurom.


    Everyone voted and confirmed it without question.


    "That''s that. Each Pirs, prep your regions in case support to the Eastern region is required. General Aurom, the Sun God, will send that package with all your necessary tools as a Pir. Congrattions. That is all."


    The Pirs of Egypt began to disconnect, and soon, no one was on the line.


    Aurom was frozen stiff. He had never imagined a simple call to report what Major Lester said would catapult him into the highest position within Egypt.


    "General, I''m sorry for keeping that a secret to you?"


    Aurom nced at Harker, who was bowing.


    "Why are you bowing?! You! You! You are my boss from now on!" The General exploded. He had been following the suggestions of this man for less than three days, and he was now a new man! Will he be a WGP Emperor within the next week?


    "I am happy that General is pleased with my results. Please allow me to prepare for battle."


    "Right! What must I do?"


    "General, everything I have now is because of your willingness to help me. I could not have risen to this post if not for you believing in me. So let me handle this. This battle is personal, and I am confident I will win. Let me deal with this. As for you, I have requested for a stop to the surface, and a team wille in here and interview you for your rise to Pir. You are the first in a decade after all."


    "What? That''s amazing! Alright! I trust you to lead us to victory!"


    "You can count on me, General!"


    And so, General Aurom moved, and Harker finally had free reign and control over the base. The announcement was made, and it was made known that not only will General Aurom be the first person promoted to Pir in ten years, but Major Lester was someone who traces his bloodline to the first few Pirs.


    "Arthur... you''re up!"

 Chapter 380 - Taking Over Egypt’s Base (2)

    No one believed Major Lester''s ims of progress. Ever since he was hired, the janitor Lester made a few appearances on the ces where general Aurom worked. Slowly but sure, Aurom believed that there was Only General Aurom at first and was met with opposition. Various groups were vying for the Major position, and they were so angry that a mere janitor who was only hired a few days ago would have such power and wisdom.


    Then, his identity was revealed. He was a survivor from the battle in the Caliphates and was a Pioneer who fled from the war in the Caliphates. Although most of the officials didn''t understand what that meant, several still agreed and approved of Lester''s legitimate status as a citizen of Egypt.??


    But it all ended when several Pirs gave the orders to finalize Major Lester''s position and allow him to do whatever he wanted to do practically.


    The first order was to approve a certain Lieutenant Eyne to be the overall head of human resources within the base. The move drew in tons and tons ofints as a stranger with no credentials would be approved to be the head of the army''s human resource, which was perhaps the most powerful officer in the base next only to the General.


    But as the human resource didn''t answer to the military but is a separate branch with their sovereign powers, the approval for recing the human resource head would be signed by the current human resource head, and this man, Colonel Sanderx, would not approve of the move.


    The meeting was in ce, and Sanderx was to meet with Lieutenant Eyne.


    Sanderx burst through the temporary office of this newly instated Lieutenant and was about to give him a piece of his mind.


    "Colonel Andrew Sanderx. You are currently being ckmailed, and a gun is figuratively pointed towards the head of your wife, Shakiss Sanderx. Those who are ckmailing you are from a secret syndicate present on nearly all military bases. I deduce that the head of this syndicate belongs to one of the Pirs who, unlike Lester, is not a Pioneer. But you were wrong. Your wife is not being held, hostage. She is being manipted as well. And it''s not a gun being pointed at her head... Well, metaphorically, it is a gun, but it''s not pointed to her head but her private parts. She''s having an affair with you." The calm figure of Arthur started a series of deductions.


    "And what''s more is that this affair is happening right on this very base. The hours of your day have been adjusted to the point that she and her paramour can meet together. The paramour that she is seeing is also one of this syndicate ckmailing you. If you want proof of her actions, then look at the hallway CCTV''s that the General requested. The syndicate was very careful to hide their trails, but if you y the series of videos prepared on thatputer, you will see your wife leave your room, clock in her work. Her boss, who also most likely belongs to this syndicate or is also being ckmailed, has assigned her out of the station duty. But watch where she goes. She even takes the time to wear a different uniform. Since Major Lester believed that asking for the CCTV in that area would alert the syndicate, I took matters into my own hands and ced my cameras in that area." Arthur continued without stopping.


    Colonel Sanderx was startled at what he heard. He felt his mind go nk at Arthur''s statements. He turned to the side, and there was the series of video files prepared for ying.


    He yed the ylist and saw the video starting from the office of her wife. She was working as an assistant to the ARMS division of the base. Her boss was also a woman, and Andrew had a rather pleasant friendship with this woman. And so, there was not even a sliver of doubt in his mind that her wife had time to go on an affair.


    He yed the video, and his wife was seen leaving the office, bidding her goodbye. She didn''t clock out or do anything as it confirmed that she was indeed out of the office to go to another site where she would continue her task.


    But her path went towards one of the rather unused areas of the base. The next video was not a CCTV but another mounted camera. Andrew saw his wife walk into the bathroom. After a few minutes, she emerged wearing a different type of uniform and even had a mask as if she was a worker on the biob.


    Thest video revealed her wife walking and headed straight to the office of...


    "Donald Macronaldo!" Andrew gritted his teeth and spoke in a furious voice. He was trying his best to stop himself from shouting.


    "We believe that this has been going on for at least a few months. But who knows? This could have been going on for years. That woman must have been cheating on you with this lover. Does she even love you? She clearly helped the syndicate arrange all this so that even you, the head of human resources, were left unaware that she was assigned to another task. So they have the perfect cover too." Lowengren appeared to the side and narrated facts about this event.


    "No... No!" The man stumbled down and began to weep.


    "You know, what does this Donald guy look like? I''m looking at your family pictures online, and I have to say... your eldest doesn''t seem to take after you?" Lowengren''s voice was like an insidious evil spirit haunting and possessing an unguarded man.


    "I''ll kill them! I''ll kill them!"


    "Just that? Don''t you want to destroy this syndicate? Don''t you want to take revenge on them?"


    "YES! But how!? If this is true, then I am going to challenge a Pir! I''ll be killed."


    "Do not worry. The Light is here."


    Just in time from his busy meetings, Harker, or Major Lester as he was known, appeared. For some reason, the hallways of the door were shining so bright that it looked like he stepped out of heaven.


    "Le-Lester?!"


    "My son... Do not burden yourself with this Pir. I am Reginald Lester. A Pioneer of Egypt and Pir to the Sun God. Believe in me, and I will grant you sess to execute your vengeance!"


    "My vengeance? I don''t know what to do...! My wife... she... she has been cheating on me! If they have her, then they have almost all of my money! We both share the same ount! If I try to attack the syndicate or reveal her adultery, I would be ruined! She is also aware of all the illegal trades that I have been doing! She will spill them all!"


    "We can say that you have been working for Pioneer Lester all the time. You made those deals to lure out and prove that the syndicate exists. As for your wife, I''m sure you don''t want her dead. But let us make the best punishment for her and Macronaldo. I can see that your wife has feelings for you. She knows that this Macronaldo is only using her to satisfy his debase needs. So we hit Macronaldo where it hurts. For an old man, he is quite active. But what if we can set you up to make his daughters, the twenty-two year old, and the twenty-year-old, fall in love with you?" Lowengren smiled.


    "What?!" It wasn''t just Sanderx who eximed. But Harker, Arthur, Vender, and Gardo also eximed.


    "Oh, it''s quite simple. I have been going over their files, and they have some issues with their dads and have been in some illicit rtionship. Too bad their dad killed off their boyfriends, striking fear into their hearts. But with power, why not right? And also... that head of the ARMS department where your wife worked. Why not have a rtionship with her? She is still single. It''s may even be possible that she is waiting for your wife to divorce you. She knew the affair and hoped that she would choose that old man over you."


    "What?"


    "She''s your friend. But she must either be ckmailed by the syndicate to keep quiet and allow this immoral rtionship to continue. You and your wife are a fairly young and beautiful couple. Imagine one of your best friends knowing that your wife is in an illicit rtionship with an old man. Won''t that burden her? It''s very easy to demandpensation for her lying to you. But I''m betting that she has been in love with you. I believe that no two people of the opposite sex are best friends without one party bing attracted to the other. You''ve liked her for the longest time, haven''t you?" Lowengren smiled.


    Sanderx pained expression disappeared, and as he continued to listen to the malevolence of Lowengren, he started smiling.


    "As for Macronaldo, let''s keep him alive. Let''s make him see you have rtionships with your daughters. Since we have General Aurom as a Pir, and since Major Lester will soon be one, you have two pirs to vouch for you and grant you that special status. The Polygamy Status can be yours. It hasn''t been approved for the past seven years because no two Pirs would ever desire to approve of such a thing. But with this, you can. How many women do you want in your harem, Sanderx? I can offer you all the finger-lickin'' good women that you desire even beyond this base!" Lowengrenughed.


    "Is it true? You are going to be...?" Sanderx turned to the Light.


    "Yes. I only declined from that position temporarily. But once I render good merit in theing war, I''ll be a Pir. You will have that status. You can legally marry Macronaldo''s two daughters, your best friend, and since we will be massacring the syndicates, that leaves their organization with many windows. And since most of the syndicate members have beautiful wives, you can marry them to spare them from being executed by militarymand." Lowengren offered as he opened a certain file that disyed all of the wives of the members of the syndicate they confirmed.


    The moment Sanderx saw it, he saw heaven.


    "All of this... Can be mine?"


    "Um... You should stick to just one or two women." Vender couldn''t help but interject.


    Arthur, Lowengren, and Harker frowned at Vender''s statement.


    "Alright! I want this one! And this one! Wait! Can I have this one instead? Can I have three women?"


    "Um... It''s not about morality... see.. I checked the files. And all of these soon-to-be widows have been confirmed to be guilty of murder, poisoning, arson, ckmail, and stuff... Almost all of them have affairs with other members of the syndicate. You sure you want such toxic people in your life? Isn''t this what brought you to this pitiful situation you are in? You kept making friends and chasing the approval of toxic people!"


    "That''s right..." Sanderx became sad again.


    Arthur red at Vender. This n aimed to tempt Andrew Sanderx into falling into a great temptation, yet this man was talking some sense into Andrew. The momentum of the great temptation was practically destroyed with that eye-opening statement.


    "Shut up!" Arthur said in a different frequency that only the Unlocked could hear.


    "What''s wrong with you?!" Harker chastized in the same frequency.


    "What''s wrong with me? Are you guys listening to yourself? The amount of immorality in this n is enough to make God judge Egypt with the Ten gues all over again!" Vender argued.


    "Rx, Vender! Besides, we''re just helping a poor guy who has been abused all of his life to have some fun! And I''ve seen McGonagall''s daughters. They are a rather sad pair. So giving them to Andrew would be a great thing for them!" Gardo exined.


    "McGonagall? You''re a Potterhead?"


    "Is that a better type of pothead?"


    "Ne-Never mind."


    "Can we please, go back to finalizing our ns?!" Harker grunted.


    "So-Sorry." Gardo apologized.


    "Vender... Fix this mess. You made him rethink his entire life!" Arthur ordered as the silent Andrew began to look at the pictures and kept on pondering if he wanted toxic, crazy, but hot women in his life.


    "Are you... rethinking your life?" Vender asked.


    "Yes. I want to go home and rethink my life." Andrew sighed.


    "Erm... Andrews... What are your thoughts regarding selling death sticks?" Vender couldn''t help but ask.


    "What the fragment?!" Lowengren cursed.


    "Stop quoting Star Wars!" Harker exploded.


    "I should have gone with another n than to gather these idiots!" Arthur regretted.

 Chapter 381 - Taking Over Egypt’s Base (3)

    Andrew Sanderx was offered several amazing promises. But even then, he had his doubts about the truth. There were just too many things that were revealed to him that he didn''t know which one of them was true! Moreover, Lieutenant Eyne, who revealed these things, was also a newly hired soldier that only got his promotion at Major Lester''s request. So he could not help but harbor doubts about this.


    As a test, Arthur told him to go on specific locations of the bases. Arthur informed him that certain people would meet even though they had no purpose in the meeting. Arthur even gave him some ideas as to how to investigate this truth. Since Arthur would soon be hired, Andrew was asked to go and run around the base to check with certain people and ess certain file names.


    Arthur already prepared a handy excuse for him that would allow him to go and ess specificworks. And each time he essed theworks, Arthur gave him the passwords which would allow him to ess the files he needed.


    The files he saw on thoseworks shocked him.


    When it was proven that the syndicate did exist, Andrew immediately investigated the actions of his wife. Sure enough, his wife emerged out of the room of Macronaldo. She was on her way back to the office to punch out of her clock.


    He pretended to be rushing off to another part and would identally bump with his wife in surprise.


    Her wife was startled at his sudden haggard appearance. He greeted her and casually asked why she was there. Her wife apologized and immediately said that she had to race back to the office to time out.


    As his wife walked, so did Andrew''s morality. The pain he felt was immense, but his dark desires slowly awakened. And so, with that in mind, he didn''t rush towards Arthur''s office but went to another part of the base, which was conveniently undergoing particr renovations at the orders of Major Lester.


    A young, beautiful woman with wless skin sat at her desk and kept on typing. She was pulling overtime at the orders of Harker as she was the only person skilled for a specific job.


    Andrew entered and saw the young woman.


    "Oh! Colonel Sanderx! I''m sorry. Everyone was sent home early for reassignment. I''m the only one here. Were you looking for someone?"


    "Tell me the truth... you''re father is having an affair with my wife, isn''t he?" Andrew approached and asked seriously.


    This was not a spur-of-the-moment question. Instead, it was a well-plotted and prepared set of questions and statements that was easy enough for Andrew to remember.


    "What?!" The young woman reacted in surprise.


    "I''ve seen my wife left your father''s office not a few moments ago. I came here because I wanted to kill you in revenge. But seeing you up close, your beauty and innocence are far purer than that of my wife. She can''t evenpare to you. I''m such an idiot." Sanderxughed as he fell on the floor and dropped the gun.


    "Perhaps tainting your innocence counts as revenge. Hey miss... Could you please take that gun and shoot me? Your father has robbed many things in my life. At least if it''s from someone as pretty as you, I could ept it." Sanderx smiled as tears began to fall. These were real tears that he kept back after confirming his wife was cheating on him.


    The young woman trembled. She knew the horrors her father brought but never expected it could make the respected Colonel of the base fall into simr circumstances.


    The woman rushed towards Andrew and gave him a tight hug, and began to apologize in tears.


    The pair continued to talk for the next twenty or so minutes as they immersed themselves in depression and pain. Not thirty minutester, the two began to...


    Chill.


    Andrew left the room a new man. He had a new religion, and his life was restored.


    It was all true. The analysis of the syndicate, the truth of his wife''s affair, and the promised future of a harem, he was certain it could happen.


    Andrew Sanderx rushed like mad towards Arthur''s office.


    The moment he arrived, he burst in and knelt down.


    "Lieutenant Eyne! What must I do to be saved?" He asked seriously.


    "Do you believe?"


    "I believe! You are the Messiah! Forgive my dog eyes for not seeing the truth! Please save me! Deliver me from my chains!"


    "You must follow mymands. First, allow me to be the head of human resources. Since it takes a few hours for that order to be finalized, you must do hire and fire certain groups of people. The most important one is that you must assign this soldier to be head of security. Is that possible?" Arthur asked as he pointed to Vender.


    "The security detail cannot be easily reced. I cannot fire everyone but only hire him since firing someone has to go over loads of paperwork and signatures not possible tonight!"


    "You can hire him? That''s fine. As long as this man gets in the room, it should be good."


    "How else can I serve you?"


    "Kneel down and say you love me." Gardo ordered.


    THUMP!


    "I LOVE YOU!"


    Everyone had odd expressions as they nced at Gardo.


    "What? It''s from a ssic Christmas movie! I thought it would be funny!" Gardo defended his orders.


    "Vender, you have your mission. In thirty minutes, they will arrive. To distract them and your ultimate goal is to get everyone out of that room! Each member of the security team will have a heart tracker connecting to certain unknown individuals. As long as they are on duty, you can''t kill them. So either keep them looking elsewhere or get them out of the office. Once they are out, give the signal so that Gardo can start killing those syndicates."


    "Yes, sir!" Vender did a rather awkward salute and went his merry way.


    "I can''t believe that that man used to be a General..." Harker shook his head.


    Vender arrived at his post.


    The security detail of the Pirs of Egypt was unique. Egypt was a chaotd. When it conquered many nations, the hatred between the nations and Egypt was immense from the horrifying crimes among the people. And so, when Egypt won the war, it enved and imposed heavy restrictions on these people. Although the enver was rather ''humane'' as these ves were generally allowed certain benefits, they still had to work almost every day to perform various manualbor in exchange for food. If they contributed enough, they could exchange it for certain recreational activities, trips, and other entertainment materials.


    The lifestyle was favorable to many. The ves always had food and fun if they worked hard. But while many epted this lifestyle, plenty rebelled and hid in the underground tunnels that connected all of Egypt. As locust technology and sandstorm technology engulfed the surface, the rebels had their warfare underground and would raid bases, pilfer food, and attack military bases as part of their rebellion.


    Because of this, most of those who could be hired into the military may be secretly spies from these bases. And so, the operations of the most important position within the military were strictly guarded. The security team was among them, and it was necessary that different people from different groups would always have an active duty to ensure that there were no traitors among them.


    And yet now, a move of such insanity was approved.


    Colonel Sanderx approved the promotion of an unknown man, and the others are scheduled to be reassigned to another branch of the military. The outrage erupted, and many were waiting outside the office of Major Lester, Lieutenant Eyne, and even around Colonel Sanderx''s office.


    But as that happened, Vender was standing in front of the security team, who were all looking at him with judging eyes.


    "What makes you think you are better than us?" One of the security detail asked immediately.


    "I don''t secretly work for a syndicate, I haven''t slept with my sister, I don''t do drugs or have purchased various ves for my sexualfort, I don''tmit adultery with the wives of other officials living in this base, and I think the original trilogy is better than the sequels, the prequel sequels and all the other sequel forms canon or non-canon." Vender answered easily.


    The statement made everyone freeze.


    Each member had been secretly involved in one or two of the things Vender mentioned except thest part.


    "What are you talking about?" One of the men feigned ignorance.


    "I''m just here to do my job. I was hired because I have this sort of photographic memory thing. I can look at all these screens and remember every detail at once. We can test it if you like. But man, sleeping with your sister... That''s very tough and weird. I mean, how does that wall fall down? Is it from watching too much material that led you actually to do that? I can''t understand that mindset, even if the sister is insanely hot! But sleeping with a sister that''s just ''meh''? That''s a new low. Well, on the other hand, you are a meh too." Vender sat down, ignoring everyone''s gazes.


    "Could it be the drugs? I mean, it''s a given. Whoever that is, you should really stop taking them. And that''s just a nket description to exin all of you. I mean, what if the rebels use drugs as a means to intoxicate or poison you? You''d all die and get this base into trouble. Hey, I heard that recreational drugs or when used for medicine, are effective for some people, but I mean, there''s got to be a limit, right? But I guess it''s expected if there''s like a secret syndicate in this base. I heard that several Pirs are nning to wipe them all out, so whoever is better gets out while he still can; otherwise, oh look! The sister appears in one of the cameras. Man, she needs to get better clothes. Can''t you buy one for her? I mean, you are already erm... whatever. But you should buy her some clothes. Oh! Is that syndicate activity I see on one of the videos on the left side? Bet you were waiting for that moment to do something. How do you hide your activities here anyway? I mean, there are several of you watching, and only a third of you belong to the syndicate. Wow. Another event on the right camera, it must be tiring hiding criminal activities like that." Vender kept ranting and ranting as he watched.


    The more he talked, the more nervous people got. How was it that this man knew all their secrets and used the cameras to prove his ims? They couldn''t argue as they fear this man would challenge them with the truth.


    They all watched nervously, and even though they nned to insult and stop this man from taking their post, all they could do was nervously looking at him.


    "Vender. You have ten minutes. They are arriving faster than expected." Harkermunicated secretly to Vender.


    "Alright. I think I can just make it in time." Vender replied and began his insidious mission.


    Harker, Arthur, and Lowengren were waiting at the rooftop of the underground base that continued to move.


    "How do you think Vender will take care of this? Does he n to annoy them too much that they would leave?"


    "No. He doesn''t n that stuff. His Path of Vexation is something he does unconsciously." Lowengren rejected Harker''s guess.


    "I know what he will do."


    "What?"


    "Just keep listening. It''s more interesting than me telling you. What I can tell you is that it will definitely involve Star Wars.

 Chapter 382 - Taking Over Egypt’s Base (4)

    On the distant area of Egypt, several figures were flying and avoided the locust technology of Egypt. The team had no weapons or any techs that they could use.


    A sandstorm raged, but it was this very sandstorm that would help these groups enter the underground region of Egypt.


    The wind created a sharp drill that dug its way into the deep underground region.


    As the group entered the underground area, they flew towards the location where the base was.


    As they continued to move, the security detail of the underground base was also busy. Vender began to move around the screens after zooming them in and would point at certain key points. He pointed out how a certain person shouldn''t be there and would even point to crates and boxes that shouldn''t even be moved from one part of the base to another.


    Those who weren''t part of the syndicate were shocked that these things were happening right before their eyes. But there were a lot of tricks that made them unaware of that. And so, these groups began to suspect the loyalty of theirpanions.


    "But let''s not just stick with these things. I mean, we have a lot of fairly nice things going on in this base aside from syndicate thingies. I''m talking about secret sex ves! We also have that disgusting incest thing, the sneaking around and sleeping with other people''s wives. I''m sure some of you have suspected that. But did you know that some of you are doing it with the wives of those in here? Except my own, of course."


    One of the soldiers couldn''t take it anymore. Many videos were pointed out that would make it easy for the rest to deduce that he was doing something illegal.


    "Who are you? You march in here to point out weird stuff on the screen as if your arrival isn''t illegal! Overnight, an unknown person is elected to be part of this circle. And that was only after the head of human resources has been seen running around the entire ce! What exactly happened?"


    "Well... To put it simply, oh curious inquirer..." Vender began to talk in a rather irritating ent that was known as the British ent during the Post-Modern age.


    "There was a, certain informal and formal discussions took ce in certain areas with certain people, and these discussions involved a full and candid exchange of opinions, out of which there arose a series of proposals which when examined by the other party, proved to signal certain promising benefits which if pursued would lead to the realization that the alternative courses of action might for certain, given the right execution, and is allowed to be modified by it discreetly or indiscreetly, would lead to a reappraisal to the function and maximization of this base, leading the way to encourage possibilities of rejuvenation and cooperation which once unterally enforced with the appropriate give and take on both parties might, if the seasons were right, have a reasonable possibility at the end of the day of leading, rightly or wrongly, to a mutually satisfactory resolution."


    The string of words was spoken so fast, and given that many of these words weren''t simple, it made everyone''s head turn. Most of those listening felt an ufortable sensation as if they heard something that was wretchedly painful to their ears.


    "A... a what?"


    "There was a deal made." Vender spoke normally.


    "You didn''t catch that? Alright. Let me start again from the top."


    "NO!" Many cursed at Vender.


    "Wow. You guys actually chorused in saying no. Hmm... Is the syndicate trying to silence me?"


    "What syndicate?! We are trying to get a crazy man to shut up!"


    "Oh? So I''m crazy? And not the certain someone who has been doing a lot of prison cell activities? I mean, wow! How was it that you got prisoners to be part of your nighttime fun time? I mean, I don''t walk around prison cells and think, you know what? I gotta get me some of that! I guess. It must be the drugs. Well, I''m not sure if you''re better than Mister Incest. I can''t even call it wincest because that is NOT winning. Ew. And mister prison lover even managed to do it in one of the cells? I''m not even mad. That''s amazing!" Vender took the reigns in controlling theputer and the camera.


    "What insanity are you babbling about?" The man who told Vender to shut up argued. But everyone could hear his voice tremble, and it shocked the men in the room. Even some of the men who belonged in the syndicate were astounded.


    "Insanity? Your statements are rather unclear." Vender then began to speak with the old British ent.


    "Yes! Could you stop these insane things? No one in this room can understand what the hell you are talking about! Is that clear enough for you?"


    "Regrettably, although your statement was indeed as clear as the sky or, as clear gleaming crystals could be, there is evidence and conflicts in trying to justifiably assign to your statements the adjective known as truthful. For inasmuch as the precise corrtion between the information you just dered, with raging dedication, insofar as they can be determined and demonstrated with the plethora of evidence seen, not only all over this screens but even heard through rumors and gathered intel from various espionage groups, would indefinitely cause epistemological problems of such grand magnitude as toy upon the logical statement you made, a heavier burden than they can reasonably be expected to bear."


    "Wha-what?"


    "Stop! Stop saying crazy things!" Another wept. The words and the way he said those words were just too irritating. The man was pretending to be extremely smart, but because either his acting skills were dismal or that his being was just annoying, the sounds that they heard were like the screeching of two objects grinding each other.


    "Didn''t you understand what I said? I am trying to point out that you, sir, are lying. Do you want me to prove that?"


    The man backed off and shook his head. It wasn''t just the fear of being revealed to be the offender, but he was afraid that he would kill himself if this man began a lengthy exnation.


    "I''m gonna... clock out early." One of the men listening to Vender started to walk out.


    "Me too."


    "I think... I feel sick."


    "Oh, and anyone who leaves will indict themselves of their guilt, and Major Lester will immediately hold and detain your family members." Vender smiled.


    The people who were just about to leave froze.


    Harker and the rest were painfully listening to the conversation.


    "What''s going on? Why did he say that? If he kept at it, the soldiers would have left!" Harker didn''t get it.


    "You didn''t notice? That old man''s got some strange sense of justice. He wants wrongs to be right. That''s another reason why he''s annoying; it''s because he has his own sense of justice." Gardo exined.


    "Arthur. Do something." Harker frowned. The group was already on their way.


    "No. You all have your entricities. And that''s what makes you stronger. Vender can already do it from here on. Anything he does moving forward is him either having fun or doing what he thinks is right."


    "You can try to stop him, and he''ll probably exin to you why he''s right. You want to do that?" Gardo asked.


    Harker kept quiet. In no way was he going to open a dialogue that gives this madman time to talk.


    The security group grew extremely nervous at Vender''s actions. In many of the screens that he opened were evidence of what he was iming. But Vender didn''t outright reveal it but would often go on strange rants about random things and then suddenly began to talk about justice, truth and righteousness.


    His rants would stop midway as an interesting phrase in therge knowledge base full of clickable links would send him from one part to the other. The pages he opened began from basic morality. He started from pages about how incest and abusive sexual very was wrong. Then it went to the philosophies of Buddha, then the monkey king Sun Wu Kong, the theories and principles about Taoist, the Yin and Yang, light and dark opposites, the Jedi and Sith, and finally a whole list of Star Wars tabs.


    "So yeah, that''s Kyle Katarn. But that''s a different story altogether. Oh right. Your evil deeds... Anyway..." Vender went back to his usual tone and opened the prison cells once more and closed all the other windows he opened to exin what he means in his rants.


    "To whoever I referred to do in the prison cell, it''s just so impressive. You could even do a movie based on this! Miracle in cell number semen. Get it? Get it? Oh, you probably don''t get it. It''s an ancient movie that went popr within post-modern Asia." Venderughed as he zoomed in several rooms, one of which made the person guilty tremble that everyone could notice it.


    "So this room. As you can see... It''s a room full of wickedness. The prisoner here is a rather good-looking man who is also part of the rebellion. And yet, someone, I''m not saying who, decided that this would be the perfect ce to get it on. And it''s not only immoral to abuse this person, but I mean, it''s not safe! What if the prisoner takes advantage of your erm... passion and manages to get out! Although... the prison doors aren''t really easy. Did you know that the doors didn''t use passwords or other authenticators to open in times long ago? Get this. We used to use keys to lock doors. But now that I think about it, the reason why it''s easy is that all cells use passwords instead of the ancient ''key'' to open doors."


    Everyone wanted to scream. They knew that this man would then talk about strange things.


    Vender saw this as another time to show off his wordy and bookish side and reverted to his British ent.


    "I actually have a profound hatred in an ancient practice that has been instituted and practiced over the century in which it imposes strict and very constrained restrictions which limits the ingress and egress ess of the members of society wherein the probability of losing the device that dismantles the locks and would in effect, lead to a limited form of lifestyle paralysis which renders it effectively impossible for one to work, rx or go about one''s business."


    "..."


    The painful tone and ent surfaced once more, and the group felt as if they were being tortured.


    And then Vender began a long and educational spiel about doorknobs and how society has evolved since its invention. The security team felt as if they were in a dark, infinite cave spiraling downwards towards the depths of hell with nothing but the evil howls of the devil to apany them.


    "Oh! To the side is yet another syndicate, and look! Can you see that? It''s your mother! She needed twelve CCTV''s to fit her in!" Vender suddenly pointed to the side screens. Everyone looked, and there was nothing there.


    "Hahahaha! I got you to fall for both a made-you-look and a yo-mama joke!" Vender took pride in his actions.


    "I did it! I am the one involved with my sister!" A member confessed.


    "Just get me out of here!" He wept.


    "I am part of the syndicate! I work for Macronaldo! Please get me out of here!"


    "Rodulfo, I''m gay, and I love you!" Another confessed.


    "Me too!" Another person shouted. He was supposed to admit that he was working for Macronaldo, but then someone interjected and confessed to loving Rodulfo, who was now confessing to being the prisoner-lover.


    "What? You''re in love with Rodulfo too?! No way! I''ll kill you!"


    The group began to confess their sins except for two men who went on a fistfight. The other hadn''t heard the first person''s love confession and ended up getting beat up. A fistfight ensued, and as everyone pleaded to leave and asked Vender to be gracious and tell Major Lester to spare their family, Vender was busy plugging in a certain device.


    "Vender... They are arriving. You better make sure that none of the security team is watching." Harker spoke in a frequency only Vender could hear.


    "Nearly done." Vender answered back.


    "Alright. I can ask Major Lester to spare everyone with one condition!"


    "What condition?"


    "You will? Thank you! Thank you! I''ll never sleep with my sister ever again!"


    "Atta boy, good sirs!" Vender smiled and mmed a certain key on the keyboard to y it.


    "Tuuh Tuuh ta ta ta tuuh tuuh ta ta ta tuuh tuuh tun-tun-tun-tuuuuh!" Vender hummed along as the Star Wars intro yed.


    "Let''s start this marathon! Those who aren''t watching won''t have their families spared. Don''t think I can''t see you." Vender moved to the back and watched.


    As the text crawl appeared, Vender began to narrate the amazing awesomeness of this post-modern sci-fi space battle.


    Everyone was distracted by therge movie that covered all their screens. But even without it, as long as Vender kept talking, no one would have noticed anything, even if the person next to them would burst into fire. They had unknowingly signed on to a torturous experience of getting to listen to this man for an entire trilogy.


    "After this, let''s watch the prequels and then the sequels. I''ll have the good General bring us food." Vender added.


    Listening on the rooftop of the base, Arthur and the rest were horrified at Vender''s ns.


    "Is this... alright? I feel sorry for them." Gardo spoke.


    "Such torture... could they be Unlocked?" Lowengren asked.


    "That was my n from the start. We need Unlocked to fight off them." Arthur pointed to the distance.


    Several mennded in front of them.


    Harker, Arthur, and Lownengren waved to greet the arriving people..


    "Hermes and his Four Winds, the Vampiress Akasha and Chester Gallium. Wee!" Harker greeted.

 Chapter 383 - A Little War Between Us

    The appearance of the seven individuals in the underground region of Egypt was an impossible sight. Yet to Arthur and the group, this was expected.


    "You guys really know how to make it inconvenient for your allies." Hermesughed.


    "It''s good that you got our message." Harker smiled.


    "How did you bypass Egypt''s locust technology and move so fast?" Gardo wondered. He stood at the back and didn''t join Harker, Arthur, and Lowengren''s weing positions.


    "It''s easy to mask out appearance. My wind, plus hermanding all those blood to fly around, made us look like a swarm of locusts. And with my wind, I made sure no locust got near us."


    "Gardo Dalisay. I can''t believe that we''re allies now." Galliumughed.


    "Chester Gallium. It''s a good thing we didn''t meet in the Provinces. Otherwise..."


    "Like your little bullets can prate through me." Galliumughed.


    "y nice for now, Gardo. Still, we really appreciate that you could meet with us. Especially since that little event in the Pacific Ocean happened."


    "Little event? The world moved because of that. If they say you guys are smarter than me, you should know what it means."


    "We are well aware of what it means. But the chaos is not enough. To guarantee the n in South America, here in Egypt, and even your sess in the battle down south of this ce, we need to aplish something first."


    "Oh? Omricon. It seems your de will be quite busy." Hermesughed.


    Omricon gave a stoic nod at his right.


    "Still... It was shocking that a military base of Egypt would contact the cruise hotline. We''ve made it a protocol to make Austin answer the phone. Sorry, you had to phone three times for us to get the message."


    "Seriously though, if Madam Akasha didn''t hear the third call, then we would have never known it was you." Gallium frowned.


    "Yeah. Alvin. That was really embarrassing. You really didn''t think why someone calling from Egypt would just be ordering pizza?" Austin frowned.


    "I said I was sorry.! Besides, the man calling was also really irritating, so I hung up!"


    "Yeah. It had to be Vender. And he can really be like that." Harker sighed.


    "You are sure no Presider suspects that? He called several times using a powerful,work breachingm device." Hermes confirmed.


    "This base detected his outgoing call. Vender''s idiotic portrayal and his constant attempts to do the call make it very genuine that an idiot was using thatm device. Also, the message for you to deliver pizza and secret message using our unique frequency in which Vender said that you should just deliver the pizza wouldn''t draw attention. If they do hear the unique frequency, they wouldn''t understand what Vender meant by delivering the extra hot sauce by hand. This was all that we can use to alert you without using our special line ofmunication." Arthur exined.


    "I can''t believe that you''ve pulled this off in a matter of few days. Or is it just mere hours?" Hermes smiled as he looked around to observe how there were functioning cameras, yet it did not draw out any reaction from the base.


    "Getting inside this base was the hardest. The protocols of Egypt are rather harsh. Most of the civilization here in Egypt is being developed underground. Just like in Russia. So our hardest challenge was to gain legitimate status to enter the cities underground to get epted in this military base. And the truth is we are still on the process of taking over this base." Harker exined.


    "I wonder what is impossible for you guys. So what reason do you have to summon us to make physical visits? We have to hightail back and return to the Suez Canal to prepare for war." Hermes answered.


    "Um... Boss. This base... It''s headed for the Suez Canal." Austin noticed.


    "Hrm? You''re right. Interesting. Do you guys want us to attack Egypt as well?" Hermes asked.


    "We can''t handle that!" Akasha frowned.


    "The battle in the Mediterranean will already be chaotic. With what Seeker did, we already know that that route will be a war zone!"


    "Indeed. I even stopped ying around when I learned of the WGP''s attack on that underwater city." Gallium added as he reached his hand out. A strange liquid emerged and became a small metal ball that remained in the palm of his hand.


    "Thank you, mister Gallium, for this assistance. We know that this cost you a lot." Lowengren reached out to take the small metal ball.


    "I am indeed that man. Although,pared to you terminators, I''m not that impressive." Gallium chuckled.


    "Your techs will prove useful for our lie. But for now, we y our part. The reason we called you is because of the recent events that have transpired. Arthur had seen the future of what the future of the world will be, and the battle in the Mediterranean to block the Suez Canal will be rather critical. We are expecting several Presiders to join. And it''s possible that Pridgeon''s team will surface once more. That Presider will send his army to take as much as he can from this battle to bolster his research material."


    "I see. He is a weak Presider in the eyes of many. He has to make it look like he has some techs to back it up." Hermes noted.


    "Boss, he could even im to find some techs from the Lost Primordial or the Progenitor in this attack," Austin exined.


    "Then you want us to stop him?" Akasha frowned.


    "No... I don''t think that''s what they want. There''s another one, right? Another Presider is expected to make a move?" Gallium asked.


    "Yes. The movements of Pridgeon were very subtle at first. But all of a sudden, he began to move. His movements were rather turbulent that the Realm King was able to find that base with the help of Rai. This action should have alerted all Top Tier Presiders. So why did he move? As I predicted, he was indeed found out by another Presider. Since he already got caught, he decided to make big moves without caring. Since the Top Tier already knows he killed Crostfree, he might have decided to show it. This action also proves that there is a significant gap between Mid Tier Presiders and the stronger ones. "


    "So is this mission going to be us attack two groups of Presiders? Or are we focusing on one?"


    "No. They both have to lose, and Egypt must win. Our purpose is to create more suspicion of whoever resides in Egypt. So the biggest winner must be Egypt. And the second and unseen victor must be Pridgeon''s team. He needs to create a City of Refuge in Israel."


    "That... is a ratherplicated request." Hermes frowned.


    "And it''s a necessary one. We have to establish this as early as we can. With the reports of Lanterk being a Principal, I am certain that whoever or whatever his real form is, he or they is headed towards Earth. The moment he did, I could no longer see the future beyond the next two months."


    "Beyond the next two months? Isn''t your Path that of calction? You mean you can''t calcte things?"


    "My calction isn''t just based on facts and statistics or pure calction. It uses a small bit of Zone. I have to know which of my scientific and statistical conjectures wille true. And that is only discerned through Zone. I don''t gamble but actively use my Path to determine which future happens. My limit was discerning Pridgeon''s sess in assassinating Crostfree. And from our interactions with Lanterk and Zeraphine, we''ve confirmed this to be true. But with this Principal, I can''t make any predictions at all. The math is present, but I can''t make a choice." Arthur exined.


    "How do you know that it''s rted to a Principal. You''ve had this feeling a while back now. Didn''t you say after the death of Crostfree that you feel that you couldn''t urately predict the future?"


    "I couldn''t urately, but I still could. But when I found out that Lanterk realized there was a Principal here, the feeling changed. Alean must have felt something simr. And so, I need to push my limits to another level. I need a war with so much chaos that my only choice would be to ovee."


    "So, what do you have in mind? We attack the forces of the Top Tier Presiders?" Hermes frowned. He knew this n would be wrong.


    "That is too reckless. If we begin to attack them at the start, the Top Tier Presider might be forced to show more dangerous hands."


    "That''s why I suggested showing a magic trick. Make everyone see a great battle between Egypt and your forces, but the ones who are defeated will be the Top Tier Presider."


    "Wait. We will fight each other, and then the Top Tier Presider will lose?" Austin was confused.


    "How is that possible?" Akasha asked.


    "An ambush?" Gallium asked.


    "Like the one in the Kraken?" Alvin also asked.


    "No. The trick we showed when trying to attack Pridgeon won''t work. They will be guarded once we appear and start fighting. So the battle will be much moreplicated than that. In truth, I still don''t know how to aplish that. I have to find the right way as we fight."


    "But I don''t understand. You want to fight us and let Egypt win." Akasha asked again.


    "Yes. We have to have a little war between us to aplish that." Arthur nodded.


    "So in this war, our team has to feign defeat fighting Egypt?" Akasha confirmed.


    Arthur, Harker, and Lowengren smirked and began tough.


    "Did I say something funny?" Akasha frowned.


    "What makes you think you will win?" Lowengrenughed.


    "Are you that strong? Are you Seeker Carlean? What can a bat do against us?" Harker added.


    "You lot seems to be so full of yourself." Akasha chuckled. But a rising anger could be heard in her tone.


    "How can you even fight? You have a pitiful army, no strong Paths that can challenge us, and no techs to use. How can you go against us? You might have a shot at Gallium, but you really think you can defeat Hermes or me? You are dreaming."


    "It was with my help and my sword that Seeker won against Richie. It was with my ns and Lowengren''s lies that we defeated the Tyrant Empress. So I''ve defeated someone who defeated you, and we''ve already proven our might in defeating the most feared and powerful Oveer." Arthur sneered.


    "True. What''s a ceiling fan and some bat girlpared to them?" Lowengren added.


    "How cute. You kids are calling me Batgirl?"


    "We''re not being cute. I mean, we really believe that we can wipe the floor with you guys. And by the way, it is a known lore within thatic universe that the Joker made Batgirl a paraplegic. I fancy myself a Joker. If you can''t move your legs, I suggest moving to the Phil-Pangea. You could live your life flying your upper body as our very own mythical creature, the Manananggal." Gardoughed.


    Hermes alsoughed at the joke.


    Akasha turned to Hermes in anger.


    "Unlike my otherpanions, I don''t underestimate my enemies. Arthur is the one directing our ns and was even honored to deliver the finishing blow to stop the Empress. I heard, Lowengren here has been trolling Meng and even Lennox. And then we have Harker. How you managed to convince Meng to join you in a photo op, I will never know. But don''t worry. Me and my Winds won''t underestimate you. Akasha, Gallium. Don''t underestimate them. Collectively, that is their Path. They are strong because we will underestimate them."


    "Hermes? You can''t really be serious? They may have a few tricks in their hands, but against powers as devastating as our own, how can they win?"


    "I don''t know. I''m curious, though. But these guys won''t survive in the future if they are not this brave, daring, and confident. If they want to be Oveers, they have to have this much guts. I guess that''s that. We''ll meet on the battlefield."


    "See you. And remember, we will seriously be trying to kill you. If you die, then it means you would just lose against the Empress." Lowengren lied. But this lie made the departing team think hard for theing trial.


    The group left with incredible speed as they flew with a speed that surpassed most jets.


    "This will be interesting." Gardo smiled.


    "So, what''s the n?" Vender radioed over. Everyone ordered him to shut up during the meeting. If he weren''t watching Star Wars he would have joined in the talk.


    "I don''t think Arthur made any ns for this..." Lowengren chuckled.


    "What? There is no n?" Harker was amazed.


    "He''s right. There isn''t one yet. We''ll be ying things by ear." Arthur smiled.

 Chapter 384 - To Be A Pillar

    It began with one Underwater City.


    The announcement was simple.


    "We can help you trade. Make us be part of your country."


    To protect themselves from any possible attack of the WGP, these Underwater Cities made alliances with each other and created a route that can allow many countries to trade with them.


    Some even created an easy route headed to the Worlds Helm and the World Governing Trading Hub.


    Various undercurrents were happening, and even the route in the Suez Canal was dyed as arge war urred in the Red Sea. Several battles urred in the Mediterranean, which dyed the ships moving in and out of it.


    Many nations were moving.


    In the dimensions beyond the three, a strange fortress remained floating in between several dimensions. This was the fortress of the former Presider Crostfree.


    Another set of Pioneers arrived from the three-dimensional ne. And each gave their reports.


    Pridgeon nced at the reports and began to curse. Things were not going ording to n.


    There were some of his Pioneers who disappeared and were not able to return. Despite the many preparations he made, he was still caught.


    "Which is it? There''s definitely someone in Mesopotamia! Is it Garenjazz? Is he setting a base there to watch me? Or is it someone else who just made a base there out of whim?" Pridgeon constantly pondered on the issue.


    His attempts were now getting barred from left to right. Every movement he made would somehow be met with opposition. The alliance he was thinking of offering to Presider Andronze of Egypt fell apart when Andronze suddenly stoppedmunicating with him in favor of a new guest.


    "Just who allied with Andronze?" Pridgeon pondered.


    "Sir! We''ve uncovered that the nation of Greece will be sending in a team of unmarked Exoskeletons with only basic techs applied to attack a certain ship that will be exiting the Suez Canal."


    "This makes the fifth nation. So many nations n on attacking but have only the most basic techs. We could use this to our advantage. I need more resources anyway. The problem will be that Presider in Egypt and in Mesopotamia! And other mid-tier Presiders may have secretly made their foundations in Greece or Rome!"


    "Sir!" Another figure appeared. He was one of Crostfree''s former Pioneers. His appearance was bloody and wounded.


    "Oh? You survived, huh? I guess that means you can live. But hide any more of Crostfree''s techs in this ce, and I''ll kill you. So count yourself lucky you survived that battle. And it''s good I got to see the few techs Crostfree has around this ship." Pridgeonughed.


    The Pioneer knelt down.


    "Please... let me live."


    "Depends. What information have you gathered in Mesopotamia?"


    "Project Babel One. A massive mega-fortress is being made underground and will burst into the sky. It will be an extremely massive structure that will reach space!"


    "Oh? So it is a Top Tier Presider. It won''t reach space. It will alter gravity and create a mass railway that connects it to arge orbiting satellite. Instead of creating a trade route by sea, they will make one through space. Quite ingenious." Pridgeon praised.


    "There is also an elite team of one-hundred-fifty men being sent to attack the Mediterranean sea."


    "What? Why would he do that?"


    "A rumor. It''s connected to the few WGP Commanders that we''ve confirmed to be Former Fleet Admiral Magantae. It seems she was actually an Everhiss. This was part of the investigation that I found. Admiral Magantae was on the chase for Lowengren. A traitor Commander who served Magantae, Sthiel Helmsly. He was spotted in Mesopotamia searching for Lowengren." The Pioneer reported.


    "It seems that this Presider knows that Lowengren is alive! Where is this Sthiel?"


    "I tried to look for it, but this Commander seemed to have died from severe dehydration brought about by a strange extremectose intolerance."


    "You can''t be serious?"


    "The enemy Presider has stopped searching for it."


    "Alright. I guess that would do. Go and serve under Arbiter Madelyn, who is on her way to South America. I guess we could use your experience as the former right-hand man of Crostfree to do more. You are most experienced with dealing with Top Tier."


    "You''ll let... me live?"


    "Someone like you bear a lot of resemnce to my younger years. So who knows? Maybe through your groveling, you can be a Presider?" Pridgeonughed.


    "Prep, the Assault team of Crostfree. We are to ambush them. I''ll dy my trip to South America for this. The attack of this Presider ought to be rted to Lowengren."


    The Pioneers nodded and followed by preparing the team and the portal that would lead to the heart of the mountain fortress, Zion.


    Back in Egypt, the entire underground fortress had just had a massacre.


    General Aurom was sprinting towards the location where Major Lester was staying to demand and shout why this was so. Many of those who were killed had good working rtionships with General Aurom.


    "Lester!" General Aurom burst on the room.


    "Do we kill the weapons research scientist?" Major Lester ignored Aurom but kept talking to the new head of human resources. Lieutenant Eyne.


    "We can kill her subordinate, which is also her concubine."


    "Is that the right term? Concubine?"


    "Irrelevant. Although he does embezzle and use the money and resources for whatever corrupt purposes, his effectiveness in that position makes up for itpared to the other candidates to be hired. We can have someone shadow him and learn his tasks before killing him."


    "Then I guess he can live for now. General! I am pleased to report that our base is now earning more than our expenses. The estimate is at three hundred and fifty percent! We''ve killed all those who have been secretly connected to some shady organizations and have been selling out the money and resource of this base to some Pirs. But since we are to be Pirs of our own, the most important is to have an operating base to handle." Harker exined as he showed him several files.


    "Three hundred and fifty percent?!" The General was amazed.


    "How is it possible to earn that much?!"


    "We''ve always been earning that much. But it''s just that the illegal and secret activities have been halting our performance. Now, with fear in ce and how we killed many of those leaking our resources elsewhere, we could bring this base to new heights! You are a future Pir! You need a ce to be your base of operations! But now, they promoted you to have this! We can create both military andmercial products and sell them off to the cities underground and above ground. By the end of this year, I should have enough funds to start a new base under yourmand. You will then be Pir Aurom, the first Commodore of the Underground!" Harker exined.


    "Co-Commodore! But that''s-! No General evermands two bases! And we still report to Pir Norweskov!"


    "But why? You are already a Pir. Why not just be one! im this base as your own. Besides, in terms of importance, Major Lester is far more important than Norweskov." Lowengren, who had been listening to the side, spoke.


    "This is the fruit of ourbor," Lowengren revealed a small sk.


    "Inside this is a new liquid metal developed by a certain organization. Our mission was to retrieve this and introduce this tech to Egypt. We have it and have already sent samples to the Sun God." Lowengren then poured the metal on his hands.


    The water began to cover Lowengren''s arm as if it became a glove.


    Lowengren moved his arm, and the liquid metal followed as if it was cloth.


    All of a sudden, Lowengren punched the nearby steel wall.


    PENG!


    A dent was left.


    "As flexible as cloth, but harder than most alloys. Perfect for war. We''ve already given this to the research team to create a few samples for Exoskeletons." Lowengren smiled.


    "We can gain and earn much with this."


    "Earn? Why are we so focused on earning?"


    "Because we are Pirs." Harker exined.


    "General, you have to think like a Pir now. This is why I urged you to go and amass war contributions. There is a reason why the Sun God created this setup. Mobile bases are set to patrol the entire region of Egypt. Each mobile base acts as a beacon for education, arts, sciences, and whatever. It is the instrument used to support and protect the people. But each base was allowed to grow for the earnings of each Pir. Have you gone through the details of what a Pir is?"


    "N-No. I haven''t finished it. It talked about so many details and protocols."


    "Understandable. It''s been hours since you received it. To put it simply, the Sun God wants Egypt to grow by being various nations in its own right. Each Pir is a nation with its own resources, science, and while we use the same money, it is unequally distributed among Pirs. The Sun God doesn''t just want us to be protectors, but he wants us to be pioneers and leaders in pushing Egypt to a higher ce. That is why being a Pir is practically impossible."


    "Then the Pir Games..."


    "Right. It''s time to prove which of the Pirs are better and more well-equipped. It is also a ce where we showcase our research and development to impress the Sun God. The Sun God created an environment of constantpetition for glory, service, and development. As the newest Pir, we are the weakest. We are tasked to make our own country. And it was improper to use this base as our own since it belongs to Pir Norweskov. That''s why the attack in the Mediterranean is important. We ransack the supplies there and trade them to him. We buy out this base from him." Arthur exined.


    General Aurom was amazed.


    "Attack and ransack the trade ships?! That will put Egypt in a very critical position! War will break out!"


    "It will work even without us. We have spied on the ship. They will start an attack from that ship to Egypt, giving us the perfect excuse to attack and defend ourselves. And our information indicates that an Anonymous War will happen." Arthur answered.


    "An Anonymous War? What''s that?"


    "A war with nk soldiers. They won''t show their countries but will try to attack and steal the items inside those ships." Arthur exined.


    Harker finally stood up.


    "General. Forgive me for all the cloak and dagger. I not only hid my real identity, but I also hid my n. The reason is that this base is still under the control of Pir Norweskov and others who are called Pioneers. You will understand if you go through the materials that exin what Pirs are. I can go with you to exin things stated and recorded in those materials they sent." Harker offered.


    "I guess. So, in short... you guys have everything under control?"


    "Yes. These two people..." Harker began.


    "We are Major Lester''s subordinates." Lowengren continued.


    "We have been since we were on the Caliphate region. You can count on us, General!" Lowengren then promised.


    "Al-alright. I guess it makes sense. Lester, exin to me how those massacres have helped us. And if you have any allegations, you better have exnations and evidence for them."


    "We have... over three thousand five hundred proofs for all involved personnel. No worries! I can exin all to you, General."


    "That''s good. Just give me the major proofs..." General Aurom sighed as he left.


    Only Lowengren and Arthur remained.


    "I have to admit, this nation that the Presider made... it really is a training ground to create a weaker Presider. No wonder he sealed the entire country."


    "Right. He even gave opportunities to humans and not just Aragarians. Regardless, this environment is suited for us."


    "Tell me of the wildcard you were waiting for." Lowengren then asked.


    "They would be my former butler, Admiral Auvendise. If he can break through the Spanish Galleons, he can help us against the Hermes and Akasha. There is also the wandering Unlocked that is serving Seeker. Oark, Madison, and Cheryl. They''ve gone dark for nearly a month now. We have evidence to suggest that they are alive. Perhaps they were given a secret mission for Seeker to try and alter things in the future that will be everyone''s losses and only benefit him."


    "Oh? Kristine was not enough, and Seeker wanted to make or break things that will be inconvenient in the future? What a hassle!"


    "I wouldin. But I am bending the direction of our future just to save my sister..." Arthur shrugged.


    So you predict that they could appear there?"


    "I just have a feeling. Logically, they shouldn''t. But I''m sure Seeker did something to help those three mercenary-turned Unlocked to hide them from my predictions."


    "They were dropped in China, and they''ll appear here? In any case, if they appear, we should use them to fight those Oveers."


    "That is my intention." Arthur smiled.

 Chapter 385 - A Single Lie

    Most of the world leaders had eventually caught on with the changing world. With the many offers and counteroffers by other underwater cities, nations began to vie for ess, demanding that it embargo another nation.


    And while talks and bids were being made in an invitation-only conference call by these underwater cities, another malevolent plot was being made.


    The Suez Canal trade route has lost its importance once more.


    And because no nation would be willing to exhaust or protect this route, attacks and raids were now expected to happen.


    The nations that invested so much more and sent a significant amount of resources into that route and expected great losses were now also struggling and forcing a means to send an armada. But the surrounding nations in the Suez Canal all rejected their pleas.


    Alliances were made among nations, but there was no way to formalize everything in a short time.


    Worst of all, Egypt suddenly opened the gates that allowed the boats in the Suez Canal to reach the Mediterranean seas.


    As the gates opened, the captains of each ship that were lining all could not help but suck in a cold breathe of air for theing terrors that would happen.


    And it immediately started without warning.


    One of the Chinese vessels in the Suez Canalunched a volley of mortar attacks on Egypt.


    Another African vessel shot at the Caliphate region.


    And several more of the vessels suddenly opened fire.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    As the barrages happened almost in perfect synch, a group of people watched the attacks within a secret room from one of the ships in the middle. The ship was owned by Turkey and contained a lot of techs and raw products.


    "Well, that was easy." Herme smiled as he watched the explosions. They were on the deck of a ship from Turkey and observed the mortars andunches of rockets.


    "I had enough blood to take control of the captains and top officials of those ships." Akasha smiled.


    "This is perfect. Since we are fighting those three plotters, it''s better to start with chaos. We attack everyone and create a war. If things get out of hand and a Continental War happens, it''s even better!" Galliumughed.


    "Even the members of those Presiders would be bewildered at the attacks," Omricon added.


    "In any case, we''ve already prepared our traps. We''ll see if Arthur can predict our ns and plots." Alvin watched the battle progressed.


    "We are fighting someone who can see the future. So the best thing we can do is make this ce even more chaotic. But I honestly think that Arthur expects this."


    Austin could only sigh. He wanted to argue, but everyone agreed to pursue this route.


    "That boy will see through this? Impossible. The skills that I developed to manipte and control people through thebination of a recently developed ability where my blood maniptes and controls the brains of others who inhale it as it is thrown in the wind through your master''s wind ability! How can they possibly predict something like that? This brat has only met me once, and I never showed him my true powers!"


    "I don''t know about that. You guys plotted to add chaos into the mix and make it very unpredictable. But honestly, our n is rather predictable." Alvin sighed.


    "This is predictable?" Gallium was confused.


    "Well... yeah. We have power, but frankly, I''ve read their battle reports and their deeds. I''m not as good as Lowengren and Arthur. I''m at least as smart as Harker. But when the two of them work together, who knows what they could achieve? We think we are one step ahead, but it''s more likely that they have already plotted our actions. We have the might, but they head the wisdom and intelligence to attack us."


    "This isn''t something that you can prepare for. We''ve been watching and monitoring the nearby ships. It''s almost impossible for any of them to sneak in. We even found the powerful Exoskeletons that are preparing to attack! Only Pridgeon''s team is hidden!" Gallium frowned.


    "And I can sense if an Unlocked is nearby through the scent of his blood. We''ve also managed tomandeer this ship secretly and limited the number of people who know of our presence here!" Akasha added.


    "I don''t know... I only met Cliff. And that guy managed to do some crazy stuff because he was imitating Lowengren''s lies. And he already did crazy, great things." Austin sighed again.


    "Rx, Austin!" Alvinughed.


    "No. Austin''s right." Grant Hermes interjected.


    "We are in the palm of Arthur and Lowengren''s hand. This battle is practically the ultimate showdown between brains and brawns. It won''t take much for them to make us reveal ourselves. We opted to create chaos and make those nations make a sudden barrage on thend of Egypt with earth-digging missiles to create a hole and use my wind to find it, right? It''s a good n, but I never expected to pull this off because they would stop us! I humored you guys just to see what the best ns we cane up with and how they counter it."


    "Just why do you respect a bunch of Heroes?" Akasha asked.


    "Hey!" Gallium frowned.


    "The are Heroes, but the threat-level they give is at an Oveers level. They told us remember? Arthur has defeated Richie, and their group was able to defeat the Tyrant Empress. Who knows what will happen the next-"


    "Ship integrity has beenpromised. Weapons of Mass Destruction, SIFAS self-destruct sequence activated. Please abandon shi- Override epted. Five. Four. Three..."


    CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!


    The entire team of Hermes, Akasha, and Gallium sped to the skies and flew with great speed.


    The moment they flew, all the ships saw how a strange set of foreign beings began to fly up in the heavens with great speed.


    Suddenly, a loud broadcast erupted. All cities of Egypt began to give alerts to all ships.


    "The Lost Primordial is here! He has manipted your captains to fight and attack nearby nations! Please unite and stop firing! You were not supposed to attack! Egypt will forgive your attacks but an attack that Lost Primordial or we will all die! Contain your captain and leaders as they are mind-controlled!" Lowengren''s voice erupted.


    The soldiers heard it and began to search.


    "There! An unidentified group of flying men!"


    "Quick halt the attack! Protect the cargo and focus on attacking the Lost Primordial!"


    Even though these were trade ships, if they did not equip them with any weapons of warfare to pass through enemy territory, then the nations that sent them would be stupid. Each ship had arge escort that would apany and protect each ship.


    But now, all of their attention was fixated on the sudden appearance of unidentified individuals who zoomed right for the sky.


    The anti-air guns of all nearby ships began to shoot.


    Some of the further ships began to deploy their long-ranged weapons.


    Almost instantly, the chaos that Hermes''s team tried to create was focused on them.


    "Drats." Omega gave a rarely frustrated sigh.


    "Drats indeed. Those brats! That warning was so sudden that it caused all of us to fly like out so fast!" Hermesughed.


    "Ugh. Damn! So this is lying? I bolted like crazy, thinking my life would be over! Well, not as fast as Austin." Alvin alsoughed.


    The group then felt a terrifying terror.


    Akasha was raging mad.


    "THAT BRAT!"


    "Rx, Akasha. Remember our purpose. We are to fight each other, but at the right moment, we throw all that rage and anger to the secret elites that we saw."


    Austin was horrified at what he saw. An entire volley of rockets and weapons were headed their way.


    "I was afraid of their schemes, but this is crazy! With just one lie and all our ns came tumbling down! So now, instead of chaos, we have an entire army after us!" Austin was cursing.


    Everyone felt a mix of emotions. The announcement was so sudden that they believed it and immediately reacted. There was no time to sit down and process the information.


    "Take lessons from that lie. A lie given at a very limited time frame is scary. And what is even scarier is that he could have been telling the truth! Lowengren masked his voice to make it sound robotic and somehow managed to broadcast it on the ship. So his lies made us believe it. But he could have easily have made the real thing. If we refuse to believe his lies, we might have found ourselves not believing the boy who cried wolf and would end up getting blown up for real. We believed his lie because of Lowengren''s Maneuver too! Ugh. This is suddenly annoying."


    "Boss, let''s not forget that Harker is here! If he tells the truth and masks it, it will also have some terrifying effects! Just as how Lowengren''s lie got us out here, Harker''s truth can also trap us!"


    Gallium and Akasha had angry expressions. They finally took the enemy with great caution and even a little bit of fear with what had just happened.


    "What do we do now?" Akasha asked.


    The bombardment began, and the group began to fly at high speeds and even split up.


    Wind currents allowed the group to move except for Gallium, who free fell towards one of the ships.


    Wind Whisperer connected them all, allowing them to maintain a channel ofmunication.


    "What''s the n? How do we stop this attack?" Akasha asked.


    "I don''t think it will help if we make any. Any n we create would be easily countered." Hermes chuckled.


    "The boss is right. At this rate, it''s better just to charge there and attack Egypt." Austin sighed.


    "Then let''s kill them now and race down to Egypt and torture that kid!" Akasha flew down as strange wings appeared around her.


    "Wait for a bit, will you? Even though I said that any ns to counter this are useless, we need to have a general n to help us move. Otherwise, they will use your anger to lead them. Austin?"


    "We can''t charge to Egypt with an enemy shooting us from behind. We weaken the forces then begin an attack against Egypt. Those other guys watching will soon join this war and try to steal as many resources as they can. If we open a path in Egypt, some of those nations might get greedy and attack by following our lead. Just as how Egypt has an excuse to attack, their counter-attack could also be grounds for the other nations to attack."


    "That makes sense. Alright, you guys know what to do?"


    "Fight and get to Egypt and torture that kid!"


    "Close enough."


    "Familiars! Move!" Akasha roared.


    On various ships, several figures suddenly emerged. Each ship had about a dozen or so people emerging out of its rooms and began to attack the people on board. Some ran out and jumped out of the ship. Then, a swarm of red bats began to emerge out of nowhere, and it flew in the direction of where these men were jumping.


    The men began to walk on the swarm of red bats as they used it as a foothold and started to shoot with the weapons they found on each ship.


    The movements were so fast as well and could even match the movements that Jet-Capable Exoskeletons had.


    The Unlocked vampires raced through the sky with their dexterity, strength, and aim and began a massacre.


    Back in Egypt, Harker and the rest looked at the ongoing battle. Arthur was now starting to mumble but would suddenly stop and mumble again as if he couldn''t help it.


    "Wow. One phone call and one broadcast did all that?!" Gardo was amazed.


    Lowengren and Harker had called one of the people in the ship where Hermes''s team stayed. Harker convinced the man and proved that there were invaders within their vessel. Following their instructions, the man who answered the phone secretly took control of thems and made the announcement which Lowengren delivered through them device.


    "Now it''s time to deploy Egypt''s arsenal. This is going to be fun!" Lowengrenughed.

 Chapter 386 - A Chaotic Start

    Various world leaders have been monitoring the situation at the Suez Canal that led towards the Mediterranean sea.


    Everyone watched with grave expressions and prepared to takemand of their teams from afar. Some even made alliances with other nations as the stocks and shipments were mixed. Various other preparations, even going as far as to read and sink their cargo and taken by another country, were set.


    Many predicted Egypt to attack. Others expected a battle in the Mediterranean.


    And then several ships suddenly positioned their mortars and began to bombard and fired mortars.


    The world leaders watched in a daze. Those who owned the boats that shot lost five years of their lifespans from the shock they saw.


    One of the older leaders died of shock as well.


    Among those that surpassed the being of humanity, watched in horror.


    Pridgeon was shocked. This went against everything he thought and believed.


    He had been observing the progress of the ships and was ready to battle. He knew that many ships waiting at the entrance to the Mediterranean sea had various soldiers ready for war. They would attack once those ships would leave the territory of Egypt and the Caliphates.


    But then, the ships started shooting.


    Some shot to the Caliphate region, while some of the ships shot at Egypt. Some even began to bombard the Mediterranean sea without warning. However, since most of the squads that were secretly waiting only had basic tech and did not have any specific technology that could be associated with the technological possibilities of other nations, the bombardment had killed several squads immediately.


    And if that wasn''t shocking enough, the emergence of the men who could somehow fly for some unknown reason.


    "It''s them! Those who attacked the Kraken!" Pridgeon had seen the reports and saw through the records of Crostfree''s ship some of the videos of the battle in the Kraken. But these people left right before the showdown between the WGP and the two strange people went in and ambushed Crostfree.


    Pridgeon believed that these groups could be allies but had no solid evidence to support this im as the group was trying hard to destroy the Kraken.


    He had searched for these groups for so long but was angered that they appeared.


    "You have these people in the database, right? They appeared before."


    "Only Presider Corstfree appeared on the three-dimensional ne at that time. So we cannot properly gauge and test it from where we were. So the data we have for these people are too little."


    "Hmp. And Crostfree didn''t record the sight. He thought it was beneath him... Damn it? Who sent these people? And those bats! They appeared during the battle in the Kraken. What technologies can you detect?"


    "Sir, we can''t detect any techs from either group." The Pioneer reported.


    "Is it Myrth? If my info is right, then it''s possible that her shrink and expanding techs could be hiding an entire fortress that is too small to see. Are these people part of her team?" Pridgeon pondered.


    "Analyze the source of the wind and tell me where it came from."


    "We can''t. It''s too chaotic. The wind there has some air channels that we noticed. But there is also arge gale hovering nearby that''s making it distorted for us to figure out the path."


    "How can wind do that? What an interesting tech. But it seems Egypt was prepared to fight them." Pridgeon''s expression grew grimmer.


    "What do Presider''s actions imply?" Pridgeon asked the Pioneers around him.


    "It''s possible that they expected the attack and are using the infamous name of the Lost Primordial to get the other nations to attack them." A Pioneer guessed.


    "Right. But why did this team suddenly make an appearance? They just jumped out of that boat and revealed themselves for no apparent reason."


    "A diversion!" The Pioneer realized what Pridgeon was implying.


    "Exactly. There has to be something else going on. Where is the location of the one hundred and fifty elites that came from Mesopotamia?"


    At that point, a swarm of small, red balls that looked like bats flew across the area, and riding the swarm were humans who were shooting and attacking the ship''s soldiers.


    Pridgeon recalled that this was also present in the battle at the Kraken.


    "Sir! Those riding the red bats are attacking the one hundred fifty elites from Mesopotamia!"


    "What?!" Pridgeon was shocked once more.


    "They are not allies? How is the conflict?"


    "The one hundred fifty soldiers had a few losses from the attack, and the two groups are killing each other!"


    "Is there another Presider joining this sh?" Pridgeon cursed. He thought that the flying people and the bat people belonged to the same group that led the one hundred and fifty men.


    "Sir! We detected a Golem! It''s simr to the ones that appeared in the Kraken! The ones from the Call of Automaton!"


    "A Golem?! What''s going on?!" Pridgeon shouted.


    When Chester Gallium fell, his entire body began to morph and gather the many metals nearby. The Unlocking did so many things to Chester, and one of them was the ability to control his liquid metal, which made up more than fifty percent of his body, to gather more metals from the part of the ship. He began to merge and even use maism to control it.


    Hermes had also asked the WGP Emperor to give him the data that detailed the Call of Automaton and how golems could be created. And this data, along with several tools, was given to Chester Gallium.


    The Realm of Gallium had grown considerably with the technology of the Call of Automaton. The metal liquid was part of his body and could move atmand. And with his ability to ''digest'' other metals, Gallium dove down to the stocks of special metals and electrical charges, and soon a tall metal humanoid that looked like an Armor stood up.


    The soldiers began to shoot the strange figure that emerged from their boat. Gallium ignored all as the strange liquid substance had formed a form of shock and prating absorbing form. The bullets themselves began to sink in, and when a maic charge was full, it caused all the bullets to shoot out.


    Even some of the rockets and mortarsunched were thrown back out and exploded around the ship.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacks blew up around the ship.


    Chester stood at the very core of thisrge Armor.


    "Time to apply what I learned." Chesterughed.


    His liquid metal technology followed the core principles of creating the Automaton. But instead of draining the Origin Energy to control it, Chester used his Realm to do something that no other Unlocked can do. He created receivers on various parts of his liquid metal which could receive themands he sent via his Realm. And just like that, smaller robots were created.


    Several small robots rushed out of the ce where he stood and began to attack.


    "What? The WGP is here?! Did they ally with the Lost Primordial? Or did the Lost Primordial already have this tech?!" Pridgeonined as he watched from afar.


    Back in Egypt, Arthur and his team continued to make counter-ns on how to defeat that.


    "There should be a limit of how many small robots that Chester could create, right?" Gardo asked.


    "Depends. If he''s smart enough to create a reactor inside his suit to keep him fueled, he could create an army. If he had my father''s lightning tech, this would be possible. Of course, he could generate electricity via turbines and use Herme''s winds to power it..." Arthur guessed.


    "Should we deploy him now?" Harker asked Lowengren.


    "Not yet. Some of Akasha''s familiars are fighting with a powerful team of elites. This should be another Presider''s force. It shouldn''t be Pridgeon''s team, right Arthur?"


    "It''s not. Pridgeon''s team will position near the edge of the battle. They will only sweep in after. Considering Pridgeon''s behavior, he is quite wary of the other Presider and since he thinks Andronze is right here." Arthur exined.


    "Good. The cowardly but smart wind of Hermes ought to have guessed our intentions. He should be giving the instructions to send the wind whispering that sound." Loewngren smiled.


    As Lowengren guessed, the wind whisperer blew near one of the small toons belonging to the elite team of ''that'' Presider.


    Several soldiers jumped from one bat to the other and kept shooting.


    The elites felt great resistance from the wind and hindered them from reacting quickly. Even those wearing Exoskeletons couldn''t move.


    "What is this wind!" Then soldiers cursed.


    ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!


    The group of bats and the soldiers jumping over them shot a barrage of strange bullets that created a powerful electric shock.


    As the group passed, the whisper of the wind followed closely behind.


    "Presider Pridgeon needs us to destroy all ships so we can fight Andronze... Eliminate all enemy Pioneer forces!" The whispers were heard as they echoed out.


    As the bat swarm passed, the elites began to move out again.


    "They thought we were dead?" One of the soldiers couldn''t believe it.


    "This Presider underestimates our techs. He thinks those lightning bolts could kill us!"


    "If we received a few more, we could have died, though." Another soldier added.


    "Did you all hear that sound as they passed?"


    "Right. Presider Pridgeon wants to attack Egypt. I''ll report it to Presider."


    Up in the sky, a small pebble was floating directly above the battle. The pebble was floating by some strange means. This small pebble was also arge fortress.


    Inside the fortress is one of the Top-Tier Presiders that journeyed to Earth.


    A tall woman, nearly twice the height of an average man, watched and grew curious. Her figure was breathtaking, and a strange rainbow halo shone around her.


    "Interesting... Pridgeon wants to y? He just got some toys from Crostfree and thought he could challenge a Mid-Tier along with me? Quite foolish. Who would have thought that these folks that fought in the Kraken were his all along? I guess fighting him will be fun." The womanughed.


    "Descend."


    At hermand, the small pebble began to free fall.


    Back in Egypt, Arthur observed the battle.


    "Alright. I''m sure Hermes already initiated the n. We''re off to a good chaotic start. The Presider''s should be confused now. Let''s see what will happen from here on out. Once the Presiders move, we can''t tell what''s going to happen. But as for us, we should bring out our first chess piece. Deploy him."


    "Hey! You''re up. Dy the Oveers for our units to get in position." Harker ordered.


    A lone Armor emerged from the base and flew towards the underground tunnel.


    "Is he enough? Although that Armor we sent has the arsenals and weapons of Egypt, why give it to him? He''s not even a skilled pilot!" Harker asked.


    "Trust me. Fighting him is not about skill! Especially now. Me and Arthur taught that guy psychology. I''ve been telling him about this, and Arthur also offered more hints in our short stay here."


    "Psychology?" Harker was stunned. Lowengren was one of the people he feared. And this Lowengren, the paramount of liars and maniptors, taught another his skill? And then, there was Arthur! Two of them shared their wisdom and intelligence with another!


    "I never believed you two would be the type to pass on your skills to another. How skilled is he?" Harker asked.


    "He''s extremely terrible at it."


    "The worst."


    "I am never teaching him again."


    "Me too. I''m sorry for dragging you into that, Arthur."


    "I cannot ept your apology. Only a few things can mentally break me despite my Unlocking. The horror I faced was so much it increased my Unlocking by one percent. And looking at your reaction, I now know you''ve been lying. You didn''t really teach him, did you? He imed you taught him and you said that yourself, but you never really had any session with him!"


    "Of course I lied to you! I would never teach that guy directly! Instead, I gave him a book to read and convinced him he''s an expert! I just needed him to have another perspective in what he thinks of whatever his crazy head has."


    "I don''t understand. He''s... bad at it?" Harker asked again.


    "Bad is a severe understatement." Arthur shook his head.


    "But I made him think he''s very good at it that he surpasses even me and Arthur."


    "Why?"


    "Observe. You have not witnessed his power firsthand. Even I got caught up in his Zone breaking ability. But now, armed with more power, he can take whatever he thinks he knows and use it break the hearts of people."


    Headed towards the center of the battle was an Armor being piloted by the first powerful weapon within the arsenal of the Council of the Wicked.


    "I''m Backman. That''s the line, I''ll say. And I''ll say bit with the distorted voice of Batman with a thick Austrian ent. It''ll be so awesome." The man piloting the Armor muttered excitedly.


    In the battle of the Mediterranean Sea, Vender Hirock joins the fray.

 Chapter 387 - Vender’s Path

    The small pebble that descended from space was generally unnoticed by everyone.


    Only Garenjazz made an interesting nce as he waited in his secret fortress above Earth. But as he was traveling towards South America, he could only sigh.


    "Hrm? My luck will increase if I help Pridgeon?" Garenjazz realized it.


    "But I don''t want to fight Shakstres..." Garenjazz sighed.


    His invisible and intangible ship continued to move downwards towards South America. But his attention was focusing on the Mediterranean.


    "Ah! If I do it that way, it should help! It looks like other Presider''s are moving to it. I really should keep an eye on those Mid-Tiers..." Garenjazz sighed and brought up his controls and began to fiddle with it.


    "Hmm... No form of basicmunication works? Did Shakstres create a huge jamming field? What impressive techs. She must have devices as huge as hills to make that work... Thankfully, Pridgeon has Crostfree''s techs so that I can send signals in that dimension." Garenjazz smiled.


    And so, Garenjazz stood up. He was rather slow in his movements, but there was no need to hurry. He was in his dream world, where time passed differently.


    The Fortress of Imagination connected with reality, and it began to send out a secret signal.


    But then...


    "GARENJAZZ!" A giant woman erupted out of nowhere, and her figure appeared several meters from where Garenjazz was sitting. A powerful explosion urred in the dream world. But Garenjazz was casually looking, without any worries despite the fires of the attack was about to reach him.


    "Shakstress. Nice of you to join. I am just warning Pridgeon where you are. We already lost a Top-Tier Presider. I don''t want you to kill him in this battle." Garenjazz chuckled.


    "What message did you send to Pridgeon? And how is it that you allowed him to kill Crostfree?!"


    "I just told him where your forces are. As for Crostfree, I didn''t expect him to seed. That man fooled us all and took advantage of whoever these Mid-Tiers are masquerading as the Lost Primordial. Is it Myrth? Or Lanterk? His Principal incarnations have been peeking this direction every now and then." Garenjazz asked.


    "I have no concern over them. Those Principals won''t break the rules! But you! What are you up to? You were supposed to oversee this region, but now there is chaos! And now you interfere with my fight?!"


    "I''m overseeing this fight and giving the weaker Presider a chance to back away from his foolishness." Garenjazz chuckled.


    "He has Crostfree''s techs, and he must have a Suit Devourer! He''s Top Tier, and you know it!"


    "I do. But without any evidence, how many Low to Mid Presiders will make a petition to punish you for breaking thew? You should be confident of your techs, right? If the Principal whoes here bes curious of your techs, they may end up stripping you of your techs and hand down some of them to others!" Garenjazzughed.


    The tall woman frowned.


    "Fine. I''ll let this slide. But who are those freaks? Those are foundational Presider techs!"


    "Pridgeon said that there were some hidden people who may have found the legacy of the Lost Primordial as they always have imed. Or it could be Pioneers who managed to take advantage of everything on the former group. Perhaps a Presider found a way to leave some spies or an incarnation here? Who knows?"


    "Incarnation? Presiders leave their own?"


    "Oh,e on! After the war back home, who knows what inheritance the Presiders found once that rock was scrapped. How many Primes and Principals and their Presiders was in? Everyone was desperately looking for new techs and even betrayed their masters even when the Babelian was so close to killing them! Some even betrayed even if they knew their chance of surviving was less than zero. How many, I wonder, died at the hands of the Babelians after they killed their assigned masters?"


    "What are you implying?" Shakstress answered quietly. But it was clear on her appearance that she was even angrier.


    "Nothing. I''m not talking about you!" Garenjazzughed.


    "All I''m saying... that we have freaks like Pridgeon and Enderks already. I''m sure you know! So why not, right? What else can be the exnation for this? You don''t seriously believe that these earthlings have found a way to develop those technologies, the wind tech, the crazy vampire techs simr to Principal Blood Road, or even that technology that the WGP uses? They have a weak version of Universe energy which they call Origin. But that is possible. But hiding all those techs into a being that has no technology? That''s impossible!"


    "What if it''s that cyborg? I''m sure with your eyes, some of your Pioneers have already reported the data."


    "Yes. I saw it hours ago when Pioneer gave me the data about thirty minutes ago in the real world. Then how can liquid metal contain all those techs? That''s no different than a Nefilius suit! But look, they can, and our techs can''t even detect the source of it! All of that capability in a being that has no Nefilius suit? Now that''s impossible! Someone back home has sent those suits here."


    "Then you believe it''s really the Lost Primordial?"


    "Impossible. Where would the Lost Primordial gather the materials to build a Nefilius Suit? We know that reaching those dimensions anding to this one is impossible. And if there were a being that would have moved here, it would have prompted Primes to move. Are not all fragments of the Nefilius all ounted for? Isn''t that the reason why we are using the Prime Wars as a means to determine who will receive a huge portion of that body? Only Primes could create something that could hide a powerful Nefilius suit. I believe I was tasked to protect one!"


    "Hmp. So just like Pridgeon, many Presiders are showing a weak facade?"


    "Haven''t you been? How close to ascending are you?" Garenjazzughed.


    "Who is the woman?" Shakstress changed the discussion.


    "The one who has been calling out in the dream world? Who knows. It could be Mirth. It could be Zeraphine. Regardless, luck is on my side. So I don''t need to worry."


    "Luck? Wait! The time?!" Shakstress immediately realized what was going on and leaped out of the dream world.


    "Thirty minutes, eh? I was able to hide her for thirty minutes. That should suffice, Pridgeon." Garenjazzughed.


    Thirty minutes before the events in that dream world happened, an important battle began.


    The battle had begun with several forces shooting at each other. Many in the Mediterranean seas were forced to rush their way in, and another battle urred over the Mediterranean.


    A swarm of red bats had conquered one ship after the other, and while the amounts of these red bats were being killed, they seemed endless as more of the red bats would appear over the ships that were attacked.


    There were also strange robots that had humanoid forms and were made of liquid metal that also fought.


    But the most terrifying of all were three hurricane-like figures that kept shooting out from one ce to another. The tornados had powerful and destructive abilities that would shoot out and destroy even metal. It was like a huge drill that was made of wind that could easily destroy metal.


    Gardo watched in shock.


    "They weren''t that strong in the Kraken." Gardo whistled.


    "That''s a unique form of Realm. They must have studied Typical''s Realm. Considering how Typical fought Hermes, that experience might have piqued Hermes''s interest. All five of them are now masters of this Realm. You''d have to go down to a molecr level to see just what kind of wind they carry." Arthur exined.


    "And Vender''s going to fight that?" Gardo asked again.


    At that moment, a desert camouge-colored Armor zoomed out of one of the secret desert tunnels and emerged, firing a volley of rockets.


    "...What is he doing?" Harker was stunned. Vender just shot all of his powerful rockets.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacks exploded randomly. These attacks were all a step lower to weapons of mass destruction and the highest tier of weapons that the countries unanimously agreed to make as the limit so that the tragedy of World War Three won''t happen again.


    The attacks arced everywhere.


    Some attacks urred in ces where there were no ships. Some urred on the skies above. A few raced towards the middle and exploded. But due to the distance, everyone that became a target of these rockets managed to shoot down and detonate the rocket even before it reached.


    The explosions shocked everyone. Egypt hadunched various rockets as if they were not expensive.


    "That was reckless! That was stupid!" Harker cursed.


    Lowengren also facepalmed at the idiot move of Vender.


    "How the hell did this man be a General!"


    "I agree that his actions were reckless and stupid. But look carefully. The battle stopped. The more I got to know him, the more I understood his Path."


    "Even you think it''s a Path? Man... And my Gomu Gomu ability is just considered a skill." Gardo sighed.


    "It''s very strong. I don''t know how, but Vender''s Path has the potential to be more useful than most of the Ranked Heroes we have. That includes Meryl and Typical."


    "What is it?" Harker was amazed.


    "It''s the opposite of Alean''s Path. If Alean has Zone, he has the power to disrupt it. This was why I was confident in fighting these Oveers. But I still underestimated Vender. I thought his Path would be more dangerous when he''s fighting stronger enemies with Zone. But now, look around you. The battle stopped!" Arthur exined.


    It was then that the rest realized what happened.


    The entire battlefield got quiet.


    For most on the sea, they stopped raging as the attacks scared most of them. But as for the attacks on random parts of the sky and sea, it did so much more. Various stealth weapons, drones, and even secret squads were there.


    The other nations also stopped in their attacks in fear of Egypt''s mad attacks. The Xenophobic nation that hid from the world suddenly unleashed a reign of attacks. Who knows what Egypt would do or not do?


    Aside from that, the secret forces of Shakstress were decimated as well. They had been hiding in a small pocket dimension and were waiting for the right time to move into Egypt. But they were all killed by the random attack of Vender.


    The attacks also disrupted the wind channel that Hermes created. It struct on the most important ces that allowed him to cause his armies to fly.


    Austin even screamed as he fell. The blood bats had a hard time traveling, and many of the Familiars began tond on the ships or fall into the sea.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Another wave of rockets was shot as Vender sent out some of the weaker rockets in his gear and even used guns andsers.


    essing the broadcast controls, Vender made a proud deration after getting everyone''s attention.


    "I''m Backman." Venderughed with a strange distorted but clearly was an Austrian ent.


    Everyone was stunned.


    "Akasha. I don''t know-how. But that man found my core wind channel! He''s that good! We attack together!" Hermes suddenly appeared.


    The pair flew to the sky and charged at Vender.


    Vender gave a confident smirk as he watched the two.


    "Fools. I''m a master of Psychology! I can predict your every moment! I will just-"


    Suddenly, Vender sent a distress call to Arthur.


    "Arthur! Help! This Armor only has few rockets! I think I identally shot them all out earlier!"


    "..."

 Chapter 388 - Vender’s Mistake

    Vender began to retreat and hid back the hole he came out of in a panic.


    He didn''t expect the two to charge directly towards him immediately. Instead, he nned to use his excellent and impressive deduction skills to leave psychological attacks on the enemy and attack them with bombastic precision. But when he came out, he got all disoriented as he saw the actual battlefield.


    There were bats, strange winds, and arge golem.


    He began to shoot everyone and clumsily sent out all of his weapons.


    Some ces were bombarded twice by his powerful rockets.


    And now, with two of them racing towards him with great speed, Vender panicked and retreated inside the hole which he came out of.


    "Close the gates!" Vender shouted as he raced back inside.


    Harker and Gardo had their mouths wide open at the scene.


    Vender disappeared in the hole, and two figures suddenly appeared right above the crater. But for some strange reason, they did not enter it. Instead, Hermes and Akasha seemed to be talking to each other.


    "What happened?" Harker couldn''t understand.


    "I don''t... get it. Why did they stop the chase?"


    "Hermes and Akasha think it''s a trap."


    "Right. They are afraid of us. They would assume that the tunnel underground is full of traps." Lowengren confirmed.


    Just as Arthur predicted, Hermes and Akasha stood there, unsure of what to do.


    "This should be a trap... Right, Austin?" Hermes asked.


    "Definitely, boss! His attacks were precise! It hit our core wind tunnels in one blow! His voice sounded like that Vender, but it could be Arthur! He saw through our wind channels!"


    "See, Akasha? I hope you won''t underestimate our enemy. With one trick, they brought us out of our hiding spots and flipped it. We tried to recover and create a chaotic environment, but with another 4D-Chess move, once more, we are back to where we started. The nations have stopped raging, and all attention is on us."


    "He''s making us a target to all nations!" Akasha realized it. It was here that she was starting to fear the power of her enemies.


    "What''s the next n? Don''t tell me that he ns to wait for us here?" Austin asked.


    "Why not? Look at us! The entire world is looking at us and is prepared to attack. They are waiting for us to fight Egypt!" Gallium exined.


    The vampire Familiars went on a full retreat and didn''t attack anymore. But, with the chaos in the Mediterranean gone, they would be the target of everyone.


    The nations were all suddenly aiming their cannons at them.


    "Ugh. This is dangerous. Winds, on me." Hermes sighed.


    Gallium also gathered several of his golems and somehow flew towards the top of Egypt.


    The most confused team of all was Harker.


    "What''s going on? How did that happen?"


    "Their Zone ended," Lowengren exined.


    "Their Zone ended? How?" Harker was surprised.


    "In the attack on the Caliphates, I continued to ponder what exactly happened and why we were winning. As you know, I took that Commander in the Caliphate and made him an Unlocked. He is with Charles now. That man was quite talented. Yet his strategies and ns were ineffective. All because that man stole his thunder. His Path allows Vender to follow his rhythm and ruins those who get entangled to his rhythm."


    "Commander Owens Shedd is no Hermes or Akasha! So how did this man stop the Zone of Oveers?!"


    "I don''t know. If I knew, I''d be more daring. But as you can see, his ability is like a double-edged sword. Unlike Alean, who can control it, I don''t think his Path is something that can be controlled."


    "And that''s why I sent him to fight alone. If we were there with him, we''d be caught up in his stupidity." Arthur exined.


    "Where is he now?"


    "He''s rushing back to get himself reloaded." Arthur sighed.


    "I already sent an Armor that has a few weapons for him. But, since his first salvo seemed to have helped us more than those rockets costs, I''ll allow him another set."


    "Hermes is gathering his team!" Gardo noticed as the four winds gathered.


    The Four Winds brought their winds once more, and the team began to harness a mighty tornado over the region of Egypt. The powerful hurricane was caught on all the nation''s cameras as they watched in shock at the power of this Lost Primordial.


    "It''s the same rumors that we heard urred on the Kraken! What power!" One of the Generals of Greece was amazed at what he saw.


    "Prepare to help Egypt. But, if the battle turns to Egypt''s advantage, we have to attack those dangerous enemies!"


    The other Commanders and Generals of the nearby groups also came to the same conclusion. These Lost Primordials were in the ship and even were responsible for leading and causing the ships to begin to attack various nations. So it was clear that the Lost Primordial was only fixated on creating chaos.


    Egypt, which the nations were worried about, had be their greatest hope in the war in the Mediterranean.


    Pridgeon watched in amazement. One of the attacks of Egypt attacked the location where the elites of that Presider!


    "Sir, although the elites are alive, they have used various techs to protect themselves! Therefore, this is the perfect time to attack!" A Pioneer reported.


    "What''s going on? Did Andronze know about the other Presider?" The confusion forced Pridgeon to slow down and see where the battle would go.


    "Presider... We have confirmed that there were a few deaths among the elites that were sent from Mesopotamia." A Pioneer reported.


    "Alright. Prep one of our rockets. Weunch it and make it pass through to the three dimensions. The first one must be sent to those controlling the hurricane. Send another to the elites."


    The Presiders were stunned. That was a very dangerous gamble!


    "Andronze will think that another Top Tier Presider is helping her. So she would naturally think of Garenjazz, Myrth, or Shakstress, depending on who she is fighting. As for the Top Tier Presiders, I''m sure they know about us already. Crostfree clearly isn''t the strongest Top Tier here..." Pridgeon had aplicated expression. His best plots were butughable attempts in the eyes of Garenjazz. He kept moving with the assumption that all Top Tier Presiders and even some Mid-Tier knows about how he had acquired Crostfree''s kingdom.


    "Presider. We will be using a lot of Universe Energy in this attack! Two rockets?"


    "It''s necessary that Andronze win here. That''s why we use something that the other Top Tiers would not expect. Prepare the weapon and be ready to attack those men. I don''t expect to kill them with our attack. I''m sure whoever the Top Presider here will act to protect those Elites. But our purpose is to make sure that Andronze wins! And since Andronze already attacked the location of the Elites, it means she knows where her enemies are. So this attack of ours will definitely weaken them!"


    "Understood, Presider!" Then, the Pioneer began to make preparations.


    As each group was preparing, Andronze was sting through the underground tunnel and was headed for the Mediterranean region where the battle was happening.


    Her expression was that of shock and anger. She had heard of the ns and thought no one would dare attack Egypt as it would be no benefit to the nations. But when the reports of the broadcast and the sightings of the people who attacked the Kraken appeared, she had no choice but to move.


    "Damn those guys! It should be them! Who could they be? To think I got deceived by stupid Presiders iming to be from the future!" She cursed. She had been following a trail and thought that the group had disappeared down to Africa.


    The trials were bizarre, and the people that testified what they saw talked about absurd things. From a nude man running with such coolness to a talking hamster that killed a group of elite Egyptian soldiers, the reports that she read only left her bbergasted. But the people she tortured were convinced that this was the truth!


    She couldn''t make heads or tails of the reports until the reports from the Mediterranean were sent to her. She understood now. Everything must have been a n to lead her away from that region!


    "I''ll kill whoever did this! Even if he is Garenjazz!" Andronze cursed.


    She zoomed so fast and couldn''t help but look warily at the map. Several minutes back, a strange fluctuation urred over the atmosphere. No Mid-Tier Presider should have the ability to sense it. But thanks to the secret legacy of the real Lost Primordial and the acquisition of that girl who had the ability to link properly with that system, she could detect movements beyond the three dimensions as long as it was within the area of Egypt.


    "Presider... The reports that General Aurom sent indicate arge tornado forming over the region! It''s so big..." The Pioneer, who was one of the Pir reported.


    As was reported, the Four Winds had gathered. The full might of Hermes was disyed. The tornado that covered the clouds spanned for many kilometers. The funnel it was creating was thergest tornado in the history of the world.


    "What a monster..." Lowengrenughed as he watched the power of Hermes.


    "That guy could easily decimate an army! If that guy Omricon wields this as a sword, he could cut a continent!" Gardo eximed.


    It was then that the tornado was now creating a huge drill.


    "Since he thinks there are traps down there, he will send in a storm to destroy whatever traps we ced there."


    "Rx. Let''s see what Vender can do."


    "Vender... It''s time. Use your psychoanalysis powers and expose their weakness! This is a perfect time!" Lowengren lied.


    "It''s time, huh?" Vender answered in a cool fashion as if it was time to bring out a secret weapon.


    "Do it. Link me back to the broadcast!" Vender urged.


    Most parts of the surface of Egypt were just empty plots of desertnd. The few major cities were based strategically near the various secret tunnel. But these sounds had various uses. The sound exploded so mightily that even the fleets that were watching could pick up the sounds.


    "Pitiful Lost Primordial using a hurricane to blow Egypt? Don''t you know that sand can''t be blown away? What itcks in strength is made up in numbers! With trillions of dust in ournd, your pitiful sand can''t blow a single speck of ournd!" Vender initiated his n. His first attack was to use the power of lie, which Lowengren said was instilled in him. His lies were now believable!


    And so, Vender crafted a lie that would shake the confidence of Hermes.


    "There is power in numbers! You''ll see the power of sand!" Vender dered.


    "What is he talking about?!" Austin was so annoyed. There was a literal sandstorm blowing down thend of Egypt, and the sand was being thrown off.


    "Are you ready? My attack begins now!" Vender shouted.


    At that moment, the various Generals and Commander all took queue.


    "Let''s attack together with the attack of Egypt! Ready the mortars and rockets! Detonate on mymand! Let''s wreck that hurricane!" A general ordered.


    "Switch to long-range attacks and fire at will when Egypt begins their attack!" Another general of another country decided.


    As many nations got ready, Pridgeon heard the deration and smirked.


    "Andronze is smart. He''s making every nation follow the queue. She knows that her attacks won''t harm those men. Let''s shoot our rocket on queue. Wait. No. Let''s fire it now! This unexpected attack could help us win!" Pridgeon ordered.


    "Winds, Gallium, Akasha. To me. This could get messy." Hermes ordered as the group gathered together.


    "Come... Arthur!" Akasha said as she gathered the blood on her wings that it started to glow.


    "face my wrath! You will die in this attack, Grant Herme-"


    At that moment, the two teams were so frightened that they felt like having a heart attack. Their perception of time was different. Vender was speaking slower, and so, when Vender was about to say, Grant Hermes, they felt so much stress that their heart skipped a beat. Literally.


    One of the things that the Unlocked kept hidden was the identities of everyone. They did everything to make their names be forgettable mentions in the reports that all Presiders and other Aragarians would have. They hid behind the Emperors and Empresses, the Lost Primordial, and the Progenitor to do this. And yet, Vender was about to give away one name!


    "Whatareyoudoingyouidiot!" Lowengren, who had been supportive of Vender''s Vexation, found himself speaking faster than what was possible for the Unlocked.


    "-istress her wish! Grant her mistress her wish! Initiate Grant her mistress her wish protocol! Now!" Vender realized his mistake and immediately made up a nonsensicalmand.


    At that exact moment, hidden behind the whirling vortex of wind that kicked off thergest sandstorm in Egypt, a ripple urred, and a small rocket passed through the winds.


    "Boss!" Austin cried.


    "Ambush!" Alvin warned.


    BOOM!


    Because they were so shocked at Vender''s words, their actions were dyed.


    And this dyed allowed them to create a weaker shield. They were prepared to defend everywhere, but this rocket appeared overhead!


    Windshield, Blood shield, and liquid metal all created their respective shields.


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred in one of the nearby ships.


    Arthur, Harker, Gardo, and Lowengren watched with their mouths wide open.


    "Arthur...? Can you exin...?" Lowengren asked.

 Chapter 389 - Vender’s Victory

    The confusing scene startled Arthur and his team.


    While most of the world couldn''t see what was happening inside the massive hurricane, Arthur employed locust technology that allowed them to glimpse what was happening. Locust technology couldn''t just see videos, but it could link with each other and create spatial imagery that depicted everything in view.


    This technology allowed Egypt to scan and see everything in an area perfectly. The locust have biotechs enhancement that links their vision to various receivers all over Egypt.


    So even though a powerful hurricane ragged and would have stopped most countries from seeing what was happening inside, Egpyt could.


    A rocket had appeared out of nowhere and created a powerful st. The force and chemicals used created a strange purple explosion.


    "Are they¡­ dead?" Harker didn''t see what had happened.


    "No. They are alive. They resisted the explosion and rode a wind channel to go east." Arthur answered.


    "You saw it?"


    "No. I calcted. That explosion looked powerful, but Hermes and Akasha have their owns means of resisting it. We spent the past months improving our techs and Paths. They ought to have ways to resist nuke attacks now." Arthur answered.


    "Resist nuke attacks? Man, I''m so far from reaching that¡­" Gardo sighed.


    "You''ve seen Seeker and Lynd''s battle. That was the purpose why Seeker fought. That fight was done to show everyone the power that their bodies possessed and the extent of what the Unlocking can do. All Oveers have been racing and solidifying their Paths to create a cultivator''s body. So such an attack should not kill them."


    "I''m worried about Gallium, though." Lowengren sighed.


    "Hermes said that Gallium survived their attacks. He should be more durable than we think. They made it look like they got wiped out from that attack. But they buried themselves in the sand below to hide. A good choice." Arthur added.


    "Erm¡­ Did I win?" Vender finally asked.


    "No. Of course not!" Harker shouted.


    "Actually, he did. The reason why the Presider used such an attack on Hermes is attributed to Vender." Arthur exined.


    "What? That¡­ That was because of him?" Harker was stunned.


    "It''s definitely because of him. That''s why I never underestimated his Path. But how did he win that battle?" Lowengren asked.


    In a deep hole in the middle of the desert¡­


    Hermes, his four winds, Akasha and Gallium, was busy drinking blood.


    "Thank goodness this stuff energizes me! I''d be back to full power after this!" Alvinughed as he continued to allow more and more blood to enter his system.


    "We can finally make our own winds, but it looks like it only amounts to this. How weak¡­" Omricon cursed.


    The winds were drinking and allowing a lot of the blood to enter their bodies. When the explosion urred, the Four Winds harnessed and used their specific means to defend themselves from the fire. Not even Omega''s ability to snuff out the winds and destroy the fire worked at the strange power that fueled the explosion.


    Akasha used her bloody wings to shield against the attack, and Gallium did the same with the excess metals he brought nearby.


    Yet the surprise they received from Vender nearly calling out Hermes caused them to stop in fright. That small moment of weakness made them react sooner when the rocket passed through.


    When the explosion urred, Hermes immediately acted and sent them to the ground. A small wind became a drill that dug and ced them all in that area. After this, a strong wind current was secretly bringing the dispersed ball of blood into the ground. No one noticed the faint red mist move towards a certain point of the beach. A small hole, as wide as a snake, tunneled from the beach all the way to where the winds were.


    The wind was bringing the blood path, and the living blood of Akasha flowed as if it had a mind of its own. The blood and wind dug through the sand and made a secret tunneling from the sea.


    "It consumes a lot of my vitality. To heal you, it takes about fifteen men each." Akasha gritted her teeth.


    "The wind got eaten up by that st¡­ Omega, how long do you need to create more winds from your Void?" Grant asked.


    "About five minutes," Omega answered.


    "Those stupid Presiders! They interfered with our fight!" Gallium cursed. His entire body was full of wounds. Some parts of liquid metal began to merge with him and reformed his body. The explosion destroyed many parts of his body. Yet now, most parts were gathering together as small liquid metal squirmed nearby and gathered at him. Akasha and Herme didn''t have time to protect him, so Gallium was in poor states.


    "I need more metal to absorb because of their interruption!" Gallium cursed.


    "Was that really the case? Did we got hit because of the Presider''s interruption?" Austin asked.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Don''t you feel that the interruption of this Presider is too timely?"


    "Are you suggesting that Arthur and his team have already perfected teleportation? That''s not even something Lennox is close to achieving despite all our advantage!" Akasha challenged.


    "No! Not that. I mean... What if the attack of the Presider was within their ns?" Austin asked.


    "That''s crazy." Alvin frowned.


    "No. Austin is right. We lost."


    "We lost?" Alvin and Gallium chorused.


    "That attack was part of their power. This is how strong they are. That was why that Armor shot all those powerful weapons. It did more than destroy my wind channel, which we foolishly made an important piece of our n. That attack forced us to move, and it made us the center of attention. Those apparently random rockets stopped the war and broke the lines ofmunication and paths of many. All that was left was to look at Egypt and us. Think about it."


    "I was wondering why that happened! Even though it was Egypt that attacked, every nation had their guns aimed at us..." Akasha cursed.


    "Because of my power. I acted too reckless. I shouldn''t have created that tornado. Even though Egyptunched all those rockets, the world made me the number one enemy. And I don''t know how... but the Presiders also thought the same thing."


    "But why? They saw us in the fight against the Kraken!" Alvin asked again.


    "We were the most obvious target. The Presider probably assumed that we are more trouble than the Presider called Andronze that Seeker''s team informed us of." Austin answered.


    "I suggest we surrender..." Hermes suddenly stated.


    "What?!" Akasha raged.


    "Do you want to keep fighting? We would be fighting Arthur''s team and the Presiders at once! Learn from this and get stronger! That attack nearly did us! That''s was also the other part that was so strange! That man ridding the Armor is Vender Hirock! I thought he was Arthur, but it seems that he''s a terrifying monster of his own right! His attacks, his strange quirks, and his clumsiness... they all led to our defeat. He was seriously going to say my name, and that shocked us so much. We were unprepared and didn''t expect such a move! I think even Arthur and his team had a minor heart attack from Vender''s actions! But that led to our current state!" Grant Hermes exined.


    Akasha and Gallium were silent at Grant Hermes''s exnation.


    "The boss is right. Besides, the purpose of our little fight was to convince the Presiders that we are the Lost Primordial. And we seeded! We even identified the teams. That guy who attacked us... also attacked that ship carrying those powerful exoskeletons! And he seeded in killing them all. There''s some infighting among the Presiders. We haven''t seen this, but it seems that now, they are more territorial and defensive!" Austin exined.


    "...I guess you''re right. How do we inform Arthur? Or did he already predicted this?"


    "He must have predicted it now. But I have a feeling that he couldn''t have predicted the result of the insane Vender. Hrm? Oh my! The winds have changed."


    "Boss, what''s going on?" Austin


    I don''t know what that Vender did or if it''s rted to him. But a terrifying enemy ising." Hermesughed.


    Akasha sensed it then.


    "A thousand... No! Tens of thousands! There are tens of thousands of men nearby!" Akasha realized it.


    "The only exnation is that our enemy has what they call a dimensional storage space. Interesting." Hermesughed.


    "I should link up with that Armor quickly. I wonder if they could sense it too..." Hermes then continued to send his winds outside to head towards a certain area.


    As the wind of Hermes moved, Vender also moved.


    "So... meaning... I won?" Vender asked.


    "...I guess so..." Harker had no choice but to admit it.


    "Hmm. Oveer''s don''t seem so tough." Venderughed.


    Vender''s expression suddenly changed.


    "Hm? That''s odd. I feel weird." Vender frowned.


    "Weirder than usual?" Gardo asked.


    "Is it Hermes? He should be sending his wind current to link you with Wind Whisperer."


    "No... It''s not that. It''s like... I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or like it''s not my lucky day." Vender frowned.


    Lowengren''s face changed.


    "A Top Tier Presider is here! I feel it too."


    "Indeed." Arthur frowned.


    Soon, Harker and Gardo also sensed it.


    "This feeling? It''s like when I stood before Lynd. I can''t be funny anymore... My Zone is being overpowered!" Gardo sighed.


    "This is a Top Tier Presider. Much worse than Crostfree and much more prepared. We have to be careful. Vender, hurry up and move to this location. The wind channel should be there." Arthur ordered.


    "We have to gear up too. That Andronze should be on her way here. Well, Arthur... Where do we take things from here?" Lowengren asked.


    "Just be ready for anything. I might need you to lie to Andronze. The best course is to make the two parties to the death." Arthur answered.


    "Winging it, I see."


    "I don''t have a choice. My Zone has also disappeared. I can''t predict the future from here on out."


    "Great. Without our Zone, what exactly can we do?" Lowengren sighed.


    "Ovee." Harker stood up.


    "If Lowengren''s not avable, you can send me up." Harker offered.


    "With two or possibly more Presider parties, one has to meet with Andronze and the other with whoever ising here."


    "I know." Arthur nodded.


    "What about me?" Gardo asked.


    "You will be my Commander, and you might need to move to the front line to fight. You could die, though."


    "Eh? You''re worried about that? If we fail, the world''s doomed. And if the world''s doomed to be ves to these aliens, I can''t be Pirate King. I''d rather die than give up my dreams." Gardo chuckled.


    "I''m here. Hellllooooooo!" Vender called out as he arrived at the designated spot.


    Meanwhile... Beyond the three dimensions...


    "Presider... All the elites are dead. Arge amount of Universe energy is leaking out. Do we absorb it?" The Pioneer asked.


    "What?! Why did they die?!" Pridgeon shouted.


    "...We-We shot a rocket at them?" The confused Pioneer answered.

 Chapter 390 - Confusing Andronze

    The lone Armor of Vender moved in the desert and finally stopped at a certain location.


    "That was... impressive. We surrender." Grant Hermes''s voice could be heard as Vender opened various ports to allow the wind toe in.


    "Woah! This is cool!" Vender was amazed.


    "General Vender. You''ll pay for what you didter. I wish tomunicate with Arthur. I''m sure all you Zone users must have felt it."


    "Hermes. Listen up. I''ll list down the possibilities of where this war will take us. But simply put, we are to let the Aragarians fight and kill each other. Vender made it possible. Now it''s up to our lies, truths, calction, and the sheer power of your team to turn this petty misunderstanding between Presiders into an all-out war." Arthur suddenly spoke.


    "I''m listening."


    And so, Arthur told of the n.


    In the dimensions beyond the third...


    Pridgeon never believed that his attacks worked.


    He knew what he was up against was a Top-Tier Presider. A mere rocket that can pass through the three dimensions may kill the forces of Low Tier and even Mid-Tier Presiders, but seeing the techs that Crostfree had and witnessing the power of Garenjazz made Pridgeon rethink everything he knew about the tier system of Presiders.


    With Garenjazz making a fool of his ns, Pridgeon assumed that he was still the worse of all Presiders and that he just managed to find some good toys to y with.


    As such, he nned to pit whichever Top-Tier Presider controlled the elite men with the Mid-Tier Presider Andronze. His attacks were supposed to be an opening attack or an attack that would deceive.


    By shooting those attacks the moment the odd man imed to activate the Grant her mistress her wish protocol, the Top-Tier ought to think that this was an attack that Pridgeon had in coboration with Andronze. There was also a possibility that this attack would act as an opening to allow Andronze from doing some damage.


    But the elites all died. The Universe energy was dispersing, proving that there was a powerful weapon or tool among the elites. But now he destroyed it. The Top-Tier didn''t take any action to defend or interfere with his science.


    Pridgeon couldn''t imagine what the Top Tier had lost in that attack.


    "What''s going on? I am sure that whichever Top-Tier is here, stopping that attack should be possible and easy! So why did the attack seed? Is the Top-Tier Presider using that to identify my location?" Pridgeon asked.


    "Presider. There is an anomaly within our space. Something... huge is falling to Egypt!" One of the Pioneers reported.


    "It''s the Presider! Try to scan any changes in our Dimension Scanners!"


    "It''s distorting, Presider! We can''t get a clear scan from that area!"


    "Look for any approaching signals that may breach all the recorded human techs or if it causes fluctuations beyond the three dimensions! If you detect any, send a message to that person using a Presider Link."


    "Yes, Presider." The Pioneer agreed.


    As the attacks urred and created destruction, Andronze, who was flying at top speed, saw the reports and sensed the Universe Energy leaking.


    "Who could it be? Why is it fighting those Presiders iming to be from the future?" Andronze couldn''t understand.


    Andronze continued to send pings at the team of Pioneers at his area.


    "Why aren''t you all answering me?" Andronze shouted in anger as he sent a direct link to one of the General-Pioneer in that region.


    "Greetings, Presider!" The Pioneer greeted.


    "What is happening there?! If you don''t answer, I''ll blow your head off!"


    "We are unable to detail the exact nature of what''s happening here. We don''t have a choice."


    "You don''t have a choice?" Andronze frowned and realized something.


    "Can you tell me if another Presider met you?"


    "I do not know the answer to that question." The Pioneer answered. There was great fear and hesitancy in his response.


    "I see. What can you tell me?"


    "There is a great battle with various fluctuations that exceeded the expected limits that earthlings can create. Arge tornado has formed above the region, and the war-"


    "I get it. You can only tell me things that are obvious. Where was thest area where you could fully report in detail to me?"


    "In the fortress..." The Pioneer answered.


    "I see."


    Andornze immediately used her techs to hack the base and see the video files of the CCTV. As expected, all recordings, audio, or video were nk.


    "They were aiming for that... But why?" Andornze had deduced that the Pioneers in the region must have been confronted or captured by the Presiders that she was secretly following.


    "These Presiders are careful and strong. They fooled me to think that they were moving to the west side of Egypt, but they were aiming to go to the east. But why? Are they fighting with a Top-Presider? Is that man that they are looking for with them?" She cursed. At first, Andronze didn''t rush out to look for them. But when more and more of the strange reports reached her, she decided to go and search for the group and utilized Locust techs to search for them. The trails she found led her west.


    But little did she know, these were all ording to the ns of Lowengren. He reached out and paid random folks a huge amount of money to do the strangest things through various online transactions. With Arthur guiding him, these little nted pranks were enough to lead Andronze to the eastern regions until she concluded that the group had left Egypt.


    "Those bastards!" She cursed.


    Immediately, she contacted the person that she knows could report to her.


    "General Aurom. Get me that soldier you found. Major Lester!"


    "Yes, Sun God!" Aurom saluted. The call he received made him tremble in shock. This was the Sun God! He immediately rushed towards the Command center.


    "Major Lester!" Aurom called out and gave the specialm device to Major Lester.


    The room had no other Commander and only had Harker and his team.


    "General. This call is very ssified. Please allow us to talk to the Sun God alone as it involves several secrets regarding my original mission." Lowengren spoke.


    "Of course." Immediately General Aurom left the room.


    "Which Presider do you serve, and have you been captured or controlled by another?"


    "Presider! We were in the service of Pioneer ntter, who is also known as Joab Barak. We were part of an elite team that Presider Pridgeon prepared after killing Crostfree." Lowengren spoke and immediately dropped the bomb.


    Andronze was so shocked that she paused.


    "Cro-Crostfree was murdered?"


    "Yo-you didn''t know?" Lowengren was stunned.


    "I told you we should have ckmailed Presider Andronze! She doesn''t know of this!" Another voice spoke.


    "Are you an idiot? Why would I ckmail a Presider?!"


    "With everything that has happened in the Caliphate region, it''s clear that all Presider''s don''t know of each other''s techs and secrets! They are all starting to kill each other! Look what they did to us?! We were all massacred if we don''t have an ace at our hands! Don''t tell him about the you-know-what!"


    "She''s listening, you idiot!" Another angry voice erupted.


    "Then let her listen! Presider Andronze! I''ve had it with you, Presiders making a mockery of our life! If you don''t assure our safety, we won''t help you win this war! We received techs from those naked boys, and we are not afraid to use it!"


    "Naked boys?" Andronze was confused.


    "Damn it! If we''ve gone this far, we might as well go all the way! We also know where Patricia is! The one that Presider Yennek and that other Presider is looking for."


    "What?" Andornze was stunned. That name was among the names that the former Presiders imed to have found. The Presider that talked about being from the future sought a person called Patricia.


    "That''s right. We know where they- errmm... Sh-she is! We know where she is!"


    "They?"


    "Ye-yes! I said they because... you know... Pa-Patricia isfortable with that gender pronoun."


    "If you tell me everything... I will assure your lives and-"


    "Ah, shut up! Give me a break! Pridgeon said the same thing before he sent my brother and father on a one-way trip to the Kraken where they all died! No! If you want our information, we demand something else!"


    "What do you need?"


    "Ye-yeah, what do we need?" Another voice asked.


    "We could ask for that one?"


    "That one? Orange soda?"


    "Does she have orange soda?"


    "I have orange soda." Andronze confirmed, although she was very, very confused.


    "Really? You have the Nefilus lifeblood?" One of the Pioneers challenged.


    "..." Andronze didn''t answer. But what she heard spurred her heart.


    "Ask for something else then. I never expected you to know those words." Andronze ced a strong front.


    If these Pioneers knew of something called the Nefilus lifeblood, then it means that Pridgeon is far, far stronger now. And since he managed to kill Crostfree, this made Andronze fear Pridgeon all the more. As such, she could only pretend to know of that unknown object which she knew would be rted to the Nefilus body and act as if she is of simr power to draw in these men.


    "Ha! As expected! She doesn''t have Orange soda!"


    "What a weakling. She doesn''t know who Patricia is, and she doesn''t even know Orange Soda! That other naked Presider was right."


    "Yeah. But wait! What if... that one? Isn''t Presider Lanterk after that person? After her?"


    "Right! Her!"


    "Alright, Presider. We can help you and provide information for this war, but you have to give us her! We don''t know who she is, but Presider Lanterk was looking for her! Even Presider Zeraphine was helping out to look for her! The daughter of that man, Lennus something."


    "It''s Lennox. Lennox Humpty."


    "Right! Presider Andronze, if you give us that person, the daughter of Lennox Humpty, then we will give you information."


    "You mean the daughter of Lennox Humphrey?"


    "Whatever his name is, yes. We won''t be at ease if you could kill us anytime. But since three or four Presiders are looking for her, we will always have an ace at hand! We''re tired of being your ves! We''re breaking out to join the Lost Primordial''s faction!"


    "I told you, the Progenitor! We''ll be killed if we join the Lost Primordial!"


    "The Lost Primordial has Burgers, but the Progenitor has Orange Soda! So we''re going with the Progenitor!"


    "I don''t have time to hear you bicker. I''ll give Guinevere Humphrey after you help me fend off these invaders."


    "What? Are you going to fend them off? Are you insane? Is she insane, or is she just so lost."


    "Well, she has been hiding here for some time. She might not know the movement of the other Presiders."


    "Then why don''t we split the information up. Offer only what she needs to know so that she will keep being reliant on us?"


    "This does sound so cool. We''re actually ordering Presiders out!"


    "Don''t test my patience!" Andronze shouted.


    "Idiot! Don''t anger her! She''s still a Presider!"


    "So-sorry! Presider. We can give you more information, but whatever you do, don''t tell Presider Pridgeon about us!"


    "Right! He might call you soon because she would me you for those naked Presiders! But listen... Another Presider ising here! One that is so strong that Pridgeon is afraid of!"


    "We''ll talkter." Andronze ended the call. Her hands were trembling as she saw the report. Preisder Corstfree''s signal was reacher her and attempting to call her.


    Was these crazy bunch of Pioneers telling the truth?


    She took a deep breath to calm herself.


    "Presider Pridgeon. To what do I owe this pleasure? Is fighting the Top-Tier so scary?" Andronzeughed.


    "Hmp. So you knew after all." Pridgeon answered.

 Chapter 391 - Let Them Fight

    Andronze pretended to be calm, but Pridgeon''s answer still shocked him. All the more, she began to believe the words of the group that spoke. Finally, Andronze decided that he would hide the identities of those men.


    "It seems that you''re in a bit of a bind. As you can see, I helped you in thatst attack."


    "My thanks. You can have the Universe energy if you want. I''m toozy to get it. I was quite busy with my experiments, minding my own business, and then that happened. Tell me, who ising here? Is it Lanterk?"


    "Lanterk?" Pridgeon frowned.


    "...? You didn''t know? Interesting." Andronzeughed.


    "Hmp! Laugh while you can. I admit. I must have been quite stupid for underestimating everyone. I won''t deny that me fighting whoever it is that''s attacking you will end in my loss. So why not join forces and fight?"


    "What can I gain from this?"


    "The favor of the real Lost Primordial. How do you think I managed to kill Crostfree?" Pridgeonughed.


    "The real Lost Primordial? These people are fake?"


    "If I am to tell you this, I need the information of great value. The one about Lanterk interest me."


    "Fine. It''s not critical information anyway." Andronze lied.


    "I met two of the real Lost Primordials. I don''t know how, but some humans must have found a way to harness some of our powers. They didn''t even have a Nefilus suit! They somehow managed to apply the tech on their body, but I saw their lifespan shortening through my tech. They are rather fragile for someone wielding Presider techs. But they are also arrogant. They believe the techs they''ve acquired from the Lost Primordial is strong to contend against us."


    "So those on the Kraken and the one controlling the Tornado?"


    "I don''t know. Some of the Top-Tiers must have known all along that the humans are here."


    "How would they know?"


    "The first set of presiders that went here were all Mid-Tiers. But they all retreated when the WGP rose. And now, powerful Top-Tier Presiders are here. Garenjazz, the rest, and even some hidden Mid-Tiers with great power."


    Andronze was silent. But with the information from that other Presider who imed to be from the future, it seemed all the more true. Although the title that Presider used was slightly strange, the Four Horned Goat was a powerful Principal who became four different Principals. Through certain techs, schemes, and preparation, the Principal managed to split his power into four different groups that somehow won the approval of the Primordial. If that person is here, then Earth must be hiding a strange secret.


    "The techs they showed could only be made with a Nefilus Suit. And yet you say they don''t have one. How? Putting science into a body that cannot breach the dimensions can do much more than decrease their lifespan." Andronze gazed at the previous videos of the tornado forming and the bats.


    "You''ve seen the WGP''s techs. The Origin energy that the WGP used must have shocked you! We all believed they were just pumping a source of energy that could be harnessed easily by their weapons, but we found out in the Kraken that it''s alive! It''s powerful that Crostfree acted recklessly to acquire it, and that led to his death! It is a very weak version of Universe Energy but doesn''t underestimate it! What itcks in power, preciseness, and control it makes out in amount. Only exceptional Top-Tier Presiders or those who are Principals should be capable of controlling and harnessing this. Anyone else needs to find the specific means of harnessing it! And if Crostfree can''t use it, then most of the Top-Tier probably can''t! This proves that this tech is linked to the Lost Primordial! What if they are using the Origin Energy instead of using the energy in their body?"


    "Revtion can indeed change perspective. Because you met the existence of those Lost Primordials, you''ve been looking at things and interpreting the recent events with a different lens. And this gives you an idea of how to understand the schemes happening."


    "Of course! But'' you know me. I''m cautious. I''ve been looking at things with great cynicism. These people could be the team of Top-Tier Presiders. All the Top Tiers are all here now, after all. They left thoses and came here to search for the Lost Primordial. I wonder... What exactly you''ve been hiding down there? Why did the Top-Tier Presider who took control of Mesopotamia set eyes on Egypt?" Pridgeonughed.


    Andronze was starting to grow terrified. She has one of the legacies of the Lost Primordial!


    "In any case, I want to know what you know about Lanterk."


    "I will tell you. But since you are asking me to help you fight these Top Tier and support the Lost Primordial that you met, then I will need your help me protect Egypt."


    "Fine."


    "Oh, if only you saying fine will assure me. But I don''t care. You will help me anyway. My enemy is Lanterk. He should be nning to attack Egypt. And Lanterk''s identity is quite troublesome. He is an aspect of the Four Horned Goat."


    "WHAT?!" Pridgeon shouted.


    "You really didn''t know? For someone who found the Lost Primordial and killed Crostfree, you sure are too ill-informed."


    "You want me to defend against those crazy folks?"


    "It''s just their little horn! They are not here!"


    "Damn it! This is getting tooplicated!" Pridgeon muted as he cursed. He already had to deal with the approaching Principal Marrho because he killed Crostfree, and now, he had to get entangled with another Principal-level entity?


    "Besides. I will offer to share some techs with you. I can''t study it alone. So I will need your help. With the Techs of Crostfree, it should be possible."


    "Oh? What tech?"


    "A legacy of the Lost Primordial. I found one in Egypt."


    Pridgeon was amazed.


    "The problem is that we may need to invade New Great Britain. Another piece to be there."


    "Another piece?"


    "Stonehenge ought to have it. I went there once. I can confirm it''s down there. But since that ce is under the jurisdiction of Feyor..."


    Pridgeon thought for a bit.


    "We''ll deal with thatter. The Top-Tier ising here. I don''t know why it ignored the leaking Universe Energy. But we might end up fighting it. You have to make the first move. This Top Tier will be guarded against me."


    "Is this Top-Tier Garenjazz?"


    "No. I''m sure it''s not. I wished it was him. Then we won''t be so hard-pressed! I''ll draw her attention, but you better attack it with whatever you got."


    "I''m still a Mid-Tier. What can I do?" Andronze cursed out.


    "That''s your problem." Pridgeon gritted his teeth. He had seen how Egypt was able to easily draw out and ambush those who wielded the wind and blood. Since Pridgeon believed Andronze knew all along that he sessfully killed Crostfree, Pridgeon estimated that Andronze was at least at the peak of Mid-Tier. But after bragging about being an expert, Andronze was now pretending to be weak.


    "I will distract him. If you fail to hurt him, I''ll leave. Regardless, the Top Tier is aiming for you anyway. I can tell whoever that is that I had a deal with you." Pridgeonughed.


    Andronze thought for a bit and recalled the team of Pioneers who those strange ones gave techs. Andronze also realized that since those Presiders were there, she could make the Top Tier attack them!


    "Alright. I''ll do it. I have no choice but to reveal my power. This deal better is beneficial, Pridgeon!" Andronze immediately ended the call.


    She then called the Pioneers once more.


    "Hello?"


    "What techs do you have from those Presiders? Are they still here?"


    "Those naked Presiders? We have a means ofmunicating with them. Why?"


    "Good. Tell them that a Top Tier is looking for Patricia. A powerful force will arrive soon and search for her. One of Lanterk''s spies has told them, and Lanterk is using another de to attack them."


    "A Top-Tier?!"


    "We need to contact that Top-Tier. She''s better to ckmail anyway." A voice whispered. It was soft, but Andronze could hear them perfectly. She clenched her fist in anger and wanted to kill these Pioneers.


    "But what about that girl? We should get her first."


    "I can hear you, you idiots!"


    "..."


    "..."


    "Can she hear me if I speak this low?" A faint whisper was heard.


    "YES!" Andronze shouted.


    "..."


    "I don''t understand signnguage." One of the voices answered.


    "If you think of betraying me, I''ll tell them what you know! But if you help me with those techs, and if you can ask that group of Presiders help us fight, then I''ll give you Guinevere!"


    Arthur was trying his best to stay calm. This was the moment he was waiting for.


    Lowengren patted Arthur as he heard this.


    "Hmm... We need assurance. Send her here then. If you are not sure, you can send another Pioneer along with them. If you do, we''ll give you another information about the location of Lourca Oviili."


    "Lourca Oviili?" Andronze was shocked.


    "No. Lourca Luigi. Yes! Lourca Oviili! You know! Those Pioneers who came here before us?"


    "She''s alive?"


    "If you call that living, yeah."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Why should we tell you? We learned a lot from Presider Pridgeon right before he destined us to death. We just want out. You can all fight for all we care about. We just want to disappear and get away from all you guys killing each other."


    "That''s right! We want out!"


    "Out? How? Where can you go?"


    "Space, of course!"


    "Shut up, you idiot!"


    "Rx. It''s not important if she knows. We''ll be protected anyway."


    "How do you know all these things?"


    "Why should we tell you? There''s a lot that you don''t know! You Mid-Tiers are all idiots! Earth is far more important than you think! Why do you think a lot of freaks are here?! In any case, we''ll tell those guys and even help you! We know who it is that''sing here. We can guess too, you know! That''s why Pridgeon''s probably nervous! You better not have told him about us, or he''ll just kill you anyway!"


    "I didn''t. So you''ll help me?"


    "We don''t know about those other Presiders. But we are confident that we can escape if we need to. But we need techs! A lot of techs!"


    "Yeah. Anything that packs a punch! Our attacks will shock that Presider!"


    "Alright. You have someing your way. And to show my sincerity in helping you, I''ll attack first. But you don''t live up to your bargain, I''ll gift you guys to them, along with those Presiders!"


    Andronze disconnected the call and made preparations.


    Arthur and the group sighed in great relief. Although they seemed to rx, the truth was, they were extremely nervous.


    "We did it!" Lowengren cheered.


    "Using Presiders to fight other Presiders. Man, I can''t believe what we just pulled off!" Gardoughed.


    "Almost there, sis." Arthur sighed.


    "Where do we go from here?" Lowengren asked.


    "It depends on what techs she brings us. What we need to do, is work hand-in-hand with them and Hermes. But the powers that this Top Tier is too strong. We need to stop it."


    "Stop it?"


    "We need to kill this Top-Tier Presider. Here and now!"

 Chapter 392 - Women Of Beauty

    The space around the Earth trembled that day. A powerful force broke through space and left many nations specting what it waster on.


    It urred directly above the airspace of the South American region. A sh of bright white flickered and left a strange trail like that of a meteor.


    Scientists across the globe worried about what it was. Many believed it was the Lost Primordial or the WGP that caused the extraterrestrial anomaly.


    But in truth, it was a Presider.


    It was simr to astral projection. The real body of the Presider was in one ce. But another form that contained the consciousness and thought of the same Presider was breaching through space itself to invade a fortress hidden in another dimension.


    Even Presider Crostfree''s techs could not locate this dimension, for it wasn''t like Crostfree''s fourth dimension fortress. This fortress was simr to the dream world of Cliff. Entering the fortress was rtively easy for the Presider. But a strange change urred that she could not sense.


    Time moved so slow inside that fortress that the moment she realized it, thirty minutes have passed in the real world. The fortress was also closed up, and she had to exert a lot of effort to breach it, and it took another ten or so minutes for her to go back to her real body.


    The real body was also enraged at what was happening. It was so angry that it began to exude an energy that most of the Oveers around the world felt.


    Shakstress was enraged at what had happened. Garenjazz trapped her in that fortress and made it more difficult for her to return. She could already sense the Universe Energy that she was cultivating, leaking out to the world, and knew that her absence caused the deaths of her elites.


    "That Garenjazz! I''ll personally kill him when the timees!" She raged as her astral form moved towards space.


    But as she zoomed towards thend of Egypt with such great haste...


    "Who is this?" A seductive voice was heard.


    Shakstress was stunned. She turned and could see an ethereal form of what appeared to be a woman. Although her face was strange and unclear, as if it was covered in fog, Shakstress could not help but be amazed at the beauty.


    "A beauty that challenges mine? Oh my. A Top-Tier Presider? It''s been quite a while. Thest time I saw one was before World War. I''ve sensed you for quite a time. But now it seems that you all Top-Tiers have finally taken an interest in Earth. Let me tell you this. I am the queen of this world. I, the Lost Primordial!" The womanughed.


    Shakstress watched in shock. There was various spection as to who the Lost Primordial was. When Shakstress arrived on Earth, she immediately set out to uncover their identity. But all evidence that she found led to dead ends except for the confessions of some Pioneers that indicated it was the work of some Mid-Tier Presider trying to create chaos for the Top-Presiders to fight each other.


    But now, these spections were proven false. There were other Presiders on Earth.


    "Tell me your name, a woman of beauty. And here I thought no other Presider could match my beauty." Shakstress spoke


    "You can''t see through my identity? The quality of Top-Tier Presiders seems to be dropping." The womanughed.


    "You must be an Earthling who found the toys of the Lost Primordial."


    "Really? Then how could I have a Nefilus Suit, I wonder?" The figureughed as her eyes grew clearer.


    At that moment, Shakstress felt a strange sensation as if she was being drawn into the eyes of the woman.


    "Hmp!" Shakstress cursed and waved her hands.


    BOOM!


    A small shockwave erupted on the area where the woman stood, and her figure began to distort.


    "Let''s see if my forces in Egypt can kill you... On your way, fair beauty. I shall rip it off your face soon." The womanughed as her appearance began to vanish.


    "W-Who was that?!" Shakstress was startled as the woman vanished.


    She believed that she knew all of the Presider''s many secrets and believed to have seen through their many masks. Her trip here was well-prepared and made the necessary precaution in case an all-out war would erupt. But now, a new yer had joined the game. And she hated uncertainty.


    Then she started to realize that the reason Garenjazz called her might not have been a simple trick to give Pridgeon an advantage.


    "Garenjazz and Pridgeon must be hiding something more interesting. So the Lost Primordial was here? Could that be what made Andronze shut the borders of Egypt?"


    The strange figure that appeared before her didn''t have the same soul-like power that was simr to her astral projection form.


    "Are there more Top-Tier level Presiders on Earth? Her power to project is strange. And that beauty! It didn''t make sense! No human can have such beauty! Just like Principal Saradite, her beauty managed to pierce the dimensions!" But as the initial worry faded, she realized something else.


    "I can finally have it! True beauty! It''s possible to achieve it here!" She suddenly smiled. Her ethereal form gazed towards the direction of Egypt. Her fortress was already falling to the earth.


    "Pridgeon and Andronze. I guess I''ll have to kill you both now!" She smiled, and her body flew towards that location.


    In the capital of the newly founded Desert Capital...


    A woman opened her eyes as she left a strange device.


    "How was it, Empress?" The body of Pioneer ntter asked.


    "It was rather exciting, Lennox. This device really suits me. To think that this Realm King managed to escape my senses all this time. That woman was quite powerful. Also, her beauty is unnatural. It seems that there is a science or a Path of Beauty. I have only something lesser than that."


    "How is yours lesser? Every being on earth are susceptible to your beauty. You were even able to appear as an illusion and a whispering dream to all beings on this and appeared in front of that woman who was in a dream form."


    "It''s not MY power, Lennox. You know my desire. If it''s not my power, it''s nothing to be proud of. Still, this device helps me in strengthening myself." The Tyrant Empressughed.


    "But I''m curious. Isn''t your son there? Why did you make me appear in front of her if you knew it would lead to her nning to kill those Presiders in Egypt? Wouldn''t it go against whatever their ns are?"


    "My son''s purpose is for him and those group of entric Paths to grow. Sending that Presider to make her kill the others will only be beneficial for them. My son has to grow stronger and see the future despite the convergence of many Zone-destroying abilities like that woman. I am sure that his current n is to use that Pridgeon and Andronze to fight her."


    "It''ll be interesting. Whoever wins will be our prey!" The Tyrant Empress licked her lips.


    "Octarion!"


    "My queen!"


    "Prove your might as an Oveer! Every eye should be in the Mediterranean now, so moving in towards that area should be possible. Lennox gives him the techs that can hide him from getting detected by Egypt''s locust''s tech."


    "I have the right technology. To avoid locust, he can be one. Eden. Create a distraction at the borders to allow Octarion to charge in. This would also be the perfect time to spread your seeds, Eden." Lennox gave his orders.


    "As the Queen''s Hand orders." A tree with the figure of a beautiful woman stood nearby.


    "My Queen! My spear can be of more service than this brute!" A tall man called out.


    "No. Your curse technology is quitepatible with my powers. We still need to experiment with it, Akash." The Empress smiled.


    "You hear that, you big oaf?" The manughed at Octarion.


    "You are desired for your techs. But me, for my body." Octarionughed as he walked out.


    "Do I massacre the border?" Eden asked.


    "No. I already contacted the Kahn family. They are to lead the attack. Support them and make sure that no one dies. It''s quite problematic if we lose some Unlocked. Egypt is in full alert, so all their techs will be at disposal."


    "Understood." Eden nodded, and suddenly she began to merge to the tree, and the tree became normal once more.


    Immediately, the same woman emerged out of a tree that was rooted in the borders between the Desert Empire and Egypt.


    "Our Queen has ordered." The woman was the very same pilot who fought with Lynd in Pangea. The heir and sole inheritor of Eden''s Garden technology.


    "What are her orders?" A man that had arge robotic arm asked.


    "We are to go to battle. Our mission is to send Octarion in their region without being detected. It seems the time to reveal your Dinosaur Armors is now Kahn." The woman smiled.


    "For the victory of the Tyrant Empress!"


    Back in the capital of the Desert Empire...


    Octarion was outside of the wilderness. He was now outfitted with special armor that made him look like a Dawn Soldier.


    Arge tform was opening up on the ground beneath him as intense maic energy began to appear.


    With thebination of the Realm Kings telekic powers and maism, aunchpad was created.


    "Send me." Octarion stated.


    A strange whirring sound rang and Octarion was sent flying to the sky.


    As the Tyrant Empress prepared her attacks, the war in the Mediterranean had grown rather quiet.


    The ships in the Suez Canal did not make any movements while the fleets outside began to organize themself. The sudden explosion that destroyed the hurricane made all forces wary.


    The nned Anonymous War, where most countries sent nk Exoskeleton with no technological possibilities, was aborted. In order to fight and survive this battle with such tremendous technologies, all who were in the Mediterranean requested support.


    Most nations were waiting for the special packages that will equip them with the weapons to fight.


    There was also a strange white light emerging in one of the ships. The fluctuation of energy was simr to that of the Kraken when it assumed the strongest Invoking that made it arge sea monster. Which caused various nations to send their spies to observe what that energy was.


    "Alright! Since you guys aren''t fighting... Allow me to entertain you!" A strange voice was heard.


    "Stugs! Stupacks! Stugustupack!" Vender began to beat box.


    "What''s he doing?" Harker was surprised.


    "Oh no. Not that! Anything but that!" Lowengren cursed as he covered his ears.


    "Is he... rapping?" Gardo asked as he heard the words that Vender started to speak.


    "Arthur. I received a message from the Realm King. He used a bit of energy to warn us. Something huge is right on top of us. He sent me coordinates all of a sudden. But that location is empty! I even used my winds to sense it. But the feeling of danger is alsoing from that area." Hermes reported.


    "And tell that crazy general of yours to stop rapping!" Hermesined.


    "Perfect. It must be the Presider. Amazing!" Arthur ignored Hermes.


    "Vender''s raps confused that Presider. Launch weapons of mass destruction to the sky. Since we are not attacking any other nation, no one shouldin, right?" Arthur sneered.


    As Arthur predicted, the soul of Shakstress had just returned to her body. The small speck of dust was now hovering within Egypt''s borders, and Shakstress was about to reveal her entire fort to decimate the entire fleets from all nations. But just as she was about to give the orders...


    "Throughout the seas and over thends, no General can survive my hands!"


    "In every battle, the soldiers flee, for there is no one who is like me!"


    "So all you soldiers, you better prepare! Cuz I''ll cook you up like medium rare!"


    "I''ve got Egyptian blood! I''m your Pharaoh! I''m a Pirate Dune raider, called Jack Sparrow!"


    "Yes, I lift, I do forty bench-press! I build my body with painful shock n'' stress!"


    The strange, painfully torturous raps of a man began, which made Shakstress befuddled. Why was someone rapping in the speakers? Who would allow that? Wasn''t there a huge battle going on here?


    Shakstress was a person of strict ideals and beliefs. And so, such oddity confused her.


    Unknowingly, Vender''s stupid rhymes also mentioned something that Shakstress thought to be her name.


    At that moment, several rockets began to travel in the subterranean paths of Egypt.. And it was headed for the location of where that speck of dust that contained Shakstress''s base.

 Chapter 393 - Strong Because We’re Weak

    The strange rap continued to bewilder Shakstress that she didn''t give the orders to begin her bombardment. When her astral projection reached her body, the first thing Shakstress released was an Anti-Nefilus field around her area.


    She had seen Pridgeon and Andronze''s possible location and sent her fortress to stand in between both. But the Anti-Nefilus field could cut themunication between two parties.


    But then the mention of the words ''shock and stress'' made Shakstress wary. Why was her name there?


    Little did she know that a strange force was happening on that area. As she began to show her power, the power of Vender also began to work.


    The power of the Prophet had already appeared. But now, the power of the False Prophet also emerged.


    Vender never knew what he had done in saying those words. But as Arthur and Lowengren believed, Vender broke Shakstress''s Zone. To a being who had attained power that breached the known dimensions, Zone was something that she had lived in for a very long time. She did not notice that at that moment, she was out of her Zone.


    "Is this a trap?" Shakstress pondered. She became more and more flustered as the strange raps continued.


    "Presider... Should weunch the attack now?"


    Shackstress began to think. She had just met a powerful Presider. She knew that Pridgeon, Andronze, and Garenjazz were all allied together.


    "That woman was confident that Andronza could kill me... Can they detect my location? Impossible. Unless someone is able to sense every grain of sand, no one under the Principal level should be able to detect me..." Shakstress frowned.


    BOOM!


    An explosion urred in the sea as two groups from different nations began to fight. They fought because Vender revealed the locations of those two groups the nations began to fight.


    "Why is she doing these things?" Shakstress frowned.


    "My ethereal form must have been detected because of Garenjazz. But can they find the specific location of my base? No!" Shakstress then nced at the map to understand the locations of each country.


    Every soldier had their finger on the trigger as they watched nervously. Anytime, the ship and weapons could suddenly shoot each other. If it weren''t for the strange rap, everyone would have been killing each other.


    But the rap contained various shocking information. Vender began to rap the locations of certain special forces moving.


    Lowengren also made Vender say some lies that made everyone wary.


    The nations were all getting angrier and angrier at Egypt and were nning tounch at attack after pulling back all their secret forces and the missions they were supposed to do.


    "I gotta say... Vender''s rap game has improved." Lowengren sighed.


    "You mean... he was worse?"


    "Way worse. I got distracted in the middle of my mission. His Path was still forming, and the effects were spread out and affected both friend and foe."


    "Scary." Harker shook his head.


    Vender kept rapping. He had a few of Egypt''s most advanced technology. He had the Pharaoh''s eye, which was a powerful device that could perform various tasks such as calction, identification, and detection. But Vender was using it to search for words that rhyme with one word he inputted.


    "I see you, seven soldiers! Diving down by the murky waters!"


    "On the sixth ship from the end of the Canal. There are spies starting a cabal!"


    Vender then went on to detail more of their enemies ording to Arthur''s calctions of where each country would be and their corresponding missions.


    "That''s it! There''s too little fighting!" Shakstress realized it.


    "They n to pit the world against me and alert the WGP. Is that it? No wonder they made so much effort to stop these nations from killing each other! They n to make me the target! How stupid!" Shakstressughed.


    "Arm the weapons and set the Erging Zone!"


    The weapons in Shakstress''s ship were shrunk by manipting several dimensions, but if these weapons were to be shot out and pass through the Erging Zone, they would revert to their original size.


    The Erging Zone of the Fortress was several hundreds of meters away from the speck of dust so that all their attacks won''t hit each other.


    The giant fortress of Shakstress was asrge as the ship of Crostfree, and all of it was shrunk. Unlike Crostfree''s techs, this technology didn''t hide in another dimension but was shrunk due to the spatial maniption of the three dimensions.


    Deep inside, the Presider and her Pioneers were listening to the painful rap of Vender.


    "Presider... how much more time do we need? At a push of a button, I can..." A Pioneer gritted his teeth. His most hated part had arrived.


    "Rugustsugus Spax! Rugustsugus Spax! Witiwiti waw waw! Uh!" Vender became to beatbox.


    "There it is again..." Shakstress frowned. This was another oddity in the rap. Why would a Mid-Tier or a Top-Tier Presider make nonsensical beatboxing that made screeching metal sound pleasant? But since she just unleashed her power and caused links between Nefilus Suits to go haywire, she believed that this was part of theirmunication process.


    "Decrypt those things that madman is spouting!" Shakstress roared.


    "Presider, we cannot detect any identifiable pattern in his beatboxing! No morse code, no intelligible pattern, or even any sense of art in this torturous experience!" The Pioneer reported.


    Shakstress was also irritated to the extreme.


    "Where are the Presiders?" Shakstress asked.


    "We''ve detected two powerful signatures! One of them is within the fourth dimension. It''s a huge ship roughly asrge as this base. And there is another shuttle moving under Egypt. So some of the smaller forces have been moving, but they aren''t releasing any unique energy signatures."


    "Keep your eyes out on those two ships. The broadcast should be a means to pass information between them without using Universe Energy!"


    "Do we disrupt the broadcast?" Another Pioneer pleaded.


    "No. We need to hack it at the needed time. They n to use these nations as cannon fodder that will attack us. I bet they want to make us waste even just one percent of our power. Let''s not blow up these nations! If we use that broadcast to threaten the nations while pretending to be Egypt, the nations mightunch an attack towards Egypt, and Andronze''s n would be thrown back at her! That will be the perfect revenge for daring to use stupid earthlings to attack me!"


    "I understand, Presider." The Pioneer bowed.


    "Prepare my Throne. If it''s a fight these fools want, then I''ll give them more than they can handle!" Shakstress sneered as she channeled an even powerful version of the Anti-Nefilus zone with the addition of her techs.


    The space began to tremble. Everyone within twenty kilometers of the area above Egypt could feel the strange sensation. Space was starting to bend and turn.


    Around the world and even those in space could feel the changes, and their sensors picked it up.


    Zeraphine and Lanterk also sensed it. The many Presiders on Earth could not help but look over at Egypt.


    "That is...!" Straviaa was amazed.


    "It seems that it has begun. Some Presiders are now fighting." Enderks gazed at the distance.


    "What powerful tech. Anyone who is below Top-Tier can''t right now. That space distorts Nefilus Suits!"


    "Then Andronze is dead..."


    "That''s themon way of thinking. But don''t assume that we are the only conquerors here if you have some aces at hand. Assume the worse. We don''t know what Andronze has. Perhaps it''s here where we can see just how strong Presiders are and what our limits will be." Enderks smiled.


    The two Presiders in Egypt were panicking. The power was so strong that their Nefilus Suit was being affected.


    The process of devouring Crostfree techs needed time to assimte the techs on his Suit. So Pridgeon could not ess everything yet.


    "She''s here..." Pridgeon noticed the changes in the space and tried to fight it.


    "Too wasteful! I''ll need to use Universe Energy to fight this one off!" Pridgeon could only rely on a primitive method. But this would exhaust the Universe Energy, which was something he was not willing to pay.


    "Damn it! I can''t wait for Andronze!" Pridgeon was about to attack, but suddenly, it was as if there were cages that appeared in the fourth dimension, which encased the entire ship of Crostfree.


    The strange space was warping around, and it became difficult for the two Presiders to find her.


    "This Top-Tier is too strong?! Who is this?! Is this Lanterk? Or is it one of those crazy women?!" Pridgeon cursed.


    Sensing the changes, Andronze felt great fear. She asked if this was Garenjazz, for she feared only him as she had personally seen Garenjazz''s exploits. She knew that she could not contend with this.


    "Too strong!" Andronze cursed. She didn''t want to attack anymore.


    Communicating with Pridgeon was also dangerous now since their line could be interrupted with someone in a Nefilus suit. And since this Top-Tier surpassed their expectations, the two could not contact them.


    The sensors that Andronze had in her suit were being distorted. At first, she could see the changes in the dimensions beyond and could gauge where thisrge fortress was. But now, she can''t.


    Andronze looked in horror.


    "If those who im to be from the future are telling the truth, they should know how to fight her!" Andronze suddenly made that call.


    "Pioneers! Can that Presider find them?"


    "You don''t know where the enemy is?" A confused voice replied.


    "It''s right there! It''s quite big too!"


    "...Where is it?" Andronze had to humble herself.


    "So those naked dudes are stronger than you? Huh... What a world we live in. We''ll send you the coordinates."


    "I can''t use it. The Top Tier is using something that can distort Nefilus Suits."


    "Oh... Well, those nude guys sent us coordinates. So you can''t make the first move and want us to do it?"


    "...Yes."


    "What do we get in exchange? We want techs. And I''m talking about Presider techs."


    "...Fine. I''ll give you the first Judges Call I took."


    "Alright. But if it''s not as impressive as the ones those naked guys gave..."


    "It will be... It''s what made Egypt strong."


    "Alright. We already have prepared for the attack. Don''t worry. Our strength is that we are weak." Lowengrenughed as he disconnected the call.


    "Are you sure about this, Arthur? We''re leaving a lot of things to luck here!" Lowengrenughed.


    "I don''t know why, but I''m feeling lucky today.


    "Of course not. In any case, after that bomb explodes, we all go out to fight. This will be our first trial.


    Unlike the Presiders, the Unlocked received the location of the speck through the Realm King. However, Shackstress was too strong that her entry was something that sparked and triggered the senses of the Oveer.


    The Realm King found it and saw a strange space and found its epicenter. While he could only sense Pridgeon''s moving and supra-dimensional fortress, the nature of how space was changing allowed Lioncourt to see the exact location of Shakstress''s fortress.


    The rockets that Lowengren and Arthur sent were now reaching the region. The speed of their rockets was slow as the rockets were disguised as Armors.


    As the Armors neared, Hermes was then informed of the updates of the n.


    "Andronze can''t attack the Presider because of a tech that that one above us is using. So to make them think that another Presider is here, Arthur will use those weapons of mass destruction to attack it. We''ll have to create a distraction to make their rockets reach it. If we are sessful, it ought to damage that fortress enough to show it. Vender can also trick or annoy the other nations that they would attack the ce where the bomb explodes."


    "The fluctuations alone of those weapons ought to draw attention!"


    "That''s why we need to create something that will distort it..." Hermes smiled.


    "Blood Storm? You want to use it?"


    "It''ll hide the nuke. We won''t make any huge moves with it, though. Just enough to hide it."


    "Alright. Gallium. You know how to join this storm?"


    "I''ve seen that attack. I think I can manage. But what will make the nations attack the location of the Presider''s base? Is Lowengren preparing a new lie?" Gallium asked.


    "Not exactly." Hermes shook his head.


    And then, Gallium found the answer.


    "I eat my veggies. I eat my peas. Attention! Attention, Attention, please!" Vender continued his rap game.


    "Take this! A weapon of mass destruction! So beware! Be scared and take caution!"

 Chapter 394 - Revelation

    With the raps suddenly referring to weapons of mass destruction, the entire nations nearby became restless and issued various orders to scan for any detected fluctuations of nuclear, titan-type tech applications and other techs that would bring the same type of destruction.


    "What do we know about Egypt?" One of themanders asked.


    "Very little! We have seen their tech possibilities in controlling locusts and subterranean techs. The weapon of mass destruction may appear deep underwater instead!" One of the soldiers reported.


    "Scan for everything! We need to know where the attack wille from and what the target is!"


    "And if your wondering, from whence will ite? I won''t tell you I''m not dumb!"


    "It''ll be on the sky for all to see because this weapon has indestructibility!"


    "Of course, I''m lying! It will be underwater! Hey! Wait! Why are you making a storm there! That''s not where the rocket will pass! Honest!" Vender shouted as he saw a strange tornado forming.


    Arge tornado, asrge as the first, appeared once more.


    "They''re alive! The Lost Primordial is alive!" The group eximed..


    Shakstress saw the tornado forming around her fortress.


    "Presider. Should we...?"


    "We wait. This is strange. It looks like I''m not the only person here. What happened earlier?"


    "We believe that Presider Pridgeon shot and attempted to kill the one causing this Tornado." The Pioneer answered as he showed the video footage they acquired earlier.


    "Then let''s wait and see. These two are trying to kill each other. Let''s attack whoever survives." Shakstress watched as the rapping person was in a panic and kept urging the rest of the nations to attack the Lost Primordial.


    Themanders and generals prepared their weapons, but no one was willing to shoot in such a troublesome and unpredictable manner.


    A gust of wind suddenly blew around the ship, and a weak and faint wind carried the words of Hermes into themand centers of most ships.


    The strange predicament surprised all the Commanders and General.


    "Shoot me. I am the Lost Primordial. I am in a tornado. Egypt is now nning to shoot the Anubis Nile Serpent. It''s a weapon that uses Dug Down Technology, Egyptian Nile, and their version of the Caliphate Sandstorm. It''s a sentient, remote-controlled cmity simr to the WGP''s power that they revealed in the Kraken. Shoot your weapons in the storm, and I will navigate your bombs. If you don''t, then you will all die anyway. So prepare to fire if you wish to live. I will tell you when." A voice spoke to them through the wind.


    The Generals and Commanders were stunned at those words.


    "How?!" The General shouted.


    "What was that? Telepathy?" A soldier eximed.


    "It felt as if a voice spoke inside this room!"


    "We don''t have time to ponder that. Those techs surpass the GPS! What can you make out of his deration?" The General asked the important question.


    "Anubis Nile Serpent?" The General asked.


    "I haven''t heard of such a thing. General... What do we do?"


    "...We shoot. That stupid rapper did condemn us all and threatened to attack us with a weapon. Those controlling the tornado just got blown away from thatst attack. Between those two, we can''t have any one of them again too much of an advantage."


    "But attacking Egypt will make us targets of Egypt! I thought our goal was not to spark war against Egypt! Especially since Egypt is much stronger than all of us anticipated!" Anothermander interjected.


    "He''s right. We can''t carelessly attack Egypt, General."


    "You forget. We''re not attacking Egypt!" The General smiled.


    "That''s why the Lost Primordial told us to attack the tornado! We aim to destroy the tornado in the sky. We can even broadcast our target so that Egypt will have no one to me."


    The Commanders lit up as they realized this option.


    "Understood! Prepare the cannons! We''re shooting a volley of everything to Egypt!"


    The n was ced in action. Very few nations ignored the call of the Lost Primordial.


    All over the sea, the same conclusions were reached. Various ships above began tomunicate with their submarines to prepare a volley of attacks. Various weapons that were just a level lower than Weapons of Mass Destructions were prepared.


    The locust surrounded Vender and began to move towards the tornado. The sky was darkened from the tornado and the endless locusts that appeared from the deep sand.


    "There it is. Egypt''s true locust techs!" A General was amazed at what he saw.


    Small explosions began to ur as the Locust was mixed in the tornado. Each explosion was asrge as a grenade. More and more locusts suddenly exploded, and the sky was lit with fire.


    "Egypt is trying to break the tornado!" A General eximed.


    "This must have been what blew up and stopped the tornado earlier! A Locust must have entered! Amazing! I can''t detect any mechanical objects within the swarm! Each locust is biologically enhanced and has nano-technology that allows it to get visuals!"


    "What if we blow them up?"


    "Too wasteful! The locust is following a strange formation. It is making it look like they are swarming, but our rockets would only kill a few thousand or even hundreds. We would run out of weapons and not kill even a fourth of them! The distance, the movements, everything is designed to make it look like there is more of a certain area! Egypt has taken their Swarm Technology to a dangerous level!"


    They watched as the tornado was bombarded with small explosions.


    But suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew and threw the approaching locust back.


    Vender''s voice was heard once more as he began cursing and calling names on the tornado.


    "You stinkin'' Lost Primordial! You think you are so tough making tornados? Die!" Vender appeared and began to shoot with arge gun that his Armor was holding.


    But another gust of wind threw all the locusts back that they were off formation.


    Suddenly, a smaller and concentrated gust of wind struck Vender and threw him back. The locust struck by these attacks began to explode. It was as if there was a gigantic invisible fly swatter striking the air.


    "Damn you! You think you can blow me just like that!? I can blow you better! Do you think you can defeat me with those quick one-two wind punches? Well, my punches pack more than your pitiful blow jabs!"


    "What in the damned nutterballs is he saying?!" Alvin cursed.


    "Concentrate! It''s his path!" Hermes warned.


    "Evade! Evade! Whops! Miss me there! Ha! Your blow jabs aren''t that good!"


    The entire world watched in amazement at the constant talks of Vender.


    The frustrated Akasha couldn''t take the insults. Every word Vender said was causing her entire being to tremble in irritation.


    With a flick of her finger, several red spears began to appear and were being blown by the wind.


    But this only made things worse.


    "So she wants to give me a blow jab too, huh? Thene at me! Give me your best bite! Let''s see if you can suck me dry!" Vender began to hurl insults at the vampire.


    Harker and Arthur listened in horror.


    Gardo wasughing, and Lowengren was giving Vender a thumbs up.


    As the horrifying broadcast shocked the world, Andronze had finally reached her position.


    She contacted Arthur''s team once more.


    "I''m in position. I will draw her attention and shoot that tornado that she made. But I''m sure she''ll reveal her true power once I shoot."


    "Alright. That''ll be great. We''ll be preparing our attack. Aim for the tornado, but be ready to change it. The tornado is a distraction that this Presider is using. The real base is close. The real location of this base should reveal itself when we make our attack. Make sure that whatever your doing is seen and understood by Presider Pridgeon." Lowengren disconnected the call.


    Andronze flinched. She had wanted the line to remain open, but the Pioneer kept ending the call.


    "Pridgeon. You better keep your promise!" She cursed and activated the power.


    The universe energy gathered on the top of the pyramid ship she was staying in. The underground region of Egypt grew bright as a strange power erupted underneath.


    Shackstress noticed it and could sense that the target is the tornado.


    "Presider. What do we do?"


    "Nothing. We wait here. Pridgeon and Shakstress are aiming for the tornado. We just so happen to be close by. Once the tornado is destroyed, we reveal ourselves and begin our attack. Ready our shields and set it to maximum power."


    "Yes, Presider."


    Pridgeon saw the fluctuations and was amazed that Andronze still kept her promise.


    "She really intends to fight her?" Pridgeon was amazed.


    "Do we prepare our weapons and fire?"


    "Only on mymand. Suppose her attack doesn''t do anything to this Presider''s power. It''s best that we don''t do anything. Leave this insane Andronze to her own recklessness! I am not willing to fight if there is nothing to be gained here."


    At that moment, a small Armor broke out of the underground regions of Egypt.


    The tornado grew stronger as the Locust charged forward.


    A strong gust sent all the Locust flying back, scattering to the sides.


    Vender''s Armor began to use powerful boosters to avoid being thrown away.


    "Now." A single word traveled in the channel of the Wind Whisperer and reached the ears of all Commanders and Generals.


    More than eighty percent of the surrounding forcesunched an attack.


    Various rockets flew at the exact time, and all raced towards therge tornado.


    Alvin and Austin used their power and kept blowing a strong squall to keep throwing all rockets off.


    The three Presiders watched in anticipation as the rockets filled the sky aiming for the tornado.


    "Omega." Grant Hermes called out.


    Omega took control of the wind. The blowing wind stop immediately and a powerful suction appeared, creating a vortex that consumed all rockets.


    The targeting system of the rockets was also disengaged.


    All Generals and Commanders had already prepared their men to disengage the warheads if this Lost Primordial betrayed them.


    But the wind blew and immediately drew all rockets to that location.


    Among the group of rockets was Egypt''s weapon of mass destruction.


    Might of Ra was a massive sr bomb that had all the capabilities of a nuclear bomb except its release radiation.


    "Detonate!" Another word was passed on, and the Generals all ordered the detonation.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several powerful explosions rocked the sky but then, a bluish light that looked like something attacking a force field reflected on the skies above.


    At that moment, Pridgeon and Andronze saw the fortress as the defensive mechanisms were activated.


    The Pyramid that Andronze was piloting harnessed the energy.


    "I''ll show you why I am the Sun God of Egypt!" Andronze dered as the beam sted from the tip of the Pyramid.


    The yellow beam sted from the great distance and crossed the hundreds of kilometers in an instant.


    The st urred from deep underground and prated through the soil, and struck the source of the distortions in space.


    BOOM!


    A powerful shockwave ripped through the sky, and all the clouds vanished in an instant.


    A huge ship shaped like a saucer appeared on the horizon. It spanned over ten kilometers and was made with what looked like gleaming metal. The force field around it could be seen, but arge hole in the force field appeared on the center. The center itself was badly damaged and began to produce faint blue electricity as it began to fix itself.


    There was silence. Not just in Egypt but around the world, to everyone watching.


    Seeker watched in his room.


    "Do you know that ship, Zeek?" Lynd asked.


    "No. That''s a new one. I''m guessing whoever that Presider is, he or she didn''t join the war."


    Back in Egypt, Andronze was stunned. Her attack didn''t destroy the ship!


    "What power!" She eximed.


    Pridgeon, however, took advantage of this moment. It was do or die. And Pridgeon knew he had to act now.


    A moon appeared. Arge moon hovered above where therge saucer-shaped ship stood. It was the same moon that appeared during the battle of the Kraken.


    "Beginary bombardment!" Pridgeon ordered.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Massive explosions that would have been considered as weapons of mass destruction attacked the ship from above.


    "Commence attack!" Harker ordered, and the underground mobile fortress surfaced from therge dunes of sand and deployed all the weaponry towards the saucer.


    "You choose who you want to attack. Would it be us, the Lost Primordial? That Moon, who is the Progenitor? Egypt? Or that saucer that all three of us are attacking? Make your choice. Your survival depends on it." Theughing voice of Hermes called out to everyone in the ships below. All themanders and generals that gathered in the Mediterranean heard this order.


    "... General?" A Commander asked. They belonged to one of the forces that did not follow Hermes''s orders and didn''t attack the tornado. But now, the revtion of the forces lurking around Egypt made everyone nervous.


    "Do I need to say it? We''re taking part in this war. Whatever that saucer is, destroy it!" The General ordered.

 Chapter 395 - Battle Of Gods

    The visuals that were shown could no longer be hidden. Many war enthusiasts had taken their positions on the distant ces of the maps and used advanced telescopes to watch the war from a great distance.


    And when therge saucer appeared, the recordings of it were sent all over the world. Even nearby news outlets scuffled to report the sightings.


    And then the moon appeared. The Moon sighting was one of the most reyed and studied video footage that surfaced. Many imed it was a conspiracy theory and argued that the government revealed to get more power and control over the respective nations.


    But now, the moon bombarding arge unidentified flying object was broadcasted around the world.


    The nations nearby the Mediterranean issued statements of open-border agreement to send forces inside to attack these strange colossal ships.


    The WGP also spurred to action and sent an army led by Emperors and Empresses..


    Shakstress was fuming mad. The attack brought great damage to her vessel. The cheap attacks and tricks that the supposedly fighting two teams became her demise.


    She cursed at how the drama of Pirdgeon shooting the man controlling the tornado was all but a trick. She cursed at how the ambush hid weapons of mass destruction among it. She could not sense the fluctuation as it timed perfectly with a strange power source within the tornado.


    And all of that led to her receiving severe bombardment that revealed her ship.


    Two Presiders and several nations were shooting at her. Even the attacks of the surrounding ships couldn''t be ignored.


    "Eliminate the flies and that pyramid! I''ll deal with Pridgeon!" Shakstress ordered as a strange light covered her, and her seat moved towards a different tform in her room. Her Throne was there.


    The was a seat situated in the middle of the rising tform. It was like approaching a throne on the top of a staircase. There were strange pirs at the side of the thrones, and a strange rainbow of various red colors were reflected on the sky above.


    The throne looked like gleaming hot metal being burned, but Shasktress approached it without hesitation. Her humanly figure transformed as the Throne connected itself to the Nefilus Suit.


    A Queen was on her throne. And that had never happened before on Earth.


    The shockwaves of the simple connection created a strange glow up in the sky. The sky turned red as if the sun was setting. The horizon changed as the Throne emerged out of the flying saucer and charged at the moon.


    "Shoot her!" Pridgeon shouted as he saw the dreadfulbination and prepared to ascend his Throne.


    Powerful beams of blue light began to shoot down at the Throne that was ascending, but a powerful force field resisted it as it continued to rise.


    The pyramid shot out of the underground and moved forward with great speed. It continued to fire a strange light that traveled with great speed.


    Several Generals saw it, and the three powers came to focus.


    "The Sun God of Egypt! He has surfaced!" A General saw the emergence and marveled at the fluctuations that surpassed even weapons of mass destruction.


    "Sir... We have images of the object that left the pod. A woman seems to be seated on the seat at the middle of that tform!"


    "Sir! We have movement on the moon! Something is stepping out of the moon!"


    It was as if the moon was made of water, and a figure emerged in a strange tform simr to the one the woman rode.


    It was a blue throne and had several gate frames that were opened. Inside the gate was a strange portal.


    It was as if there was another world beyond the portal.


    Seated on the blue throne was a tall man with arge scepter.


    "Shakstress! So It''s you!" Pridgeon roared as he raised his hands and extended his scepter to point to Shakstress.


    It was then that strange energy began to appear around them.


    Blue and red energy shed. One ising from the pir, and the other from the gate.


    The two thrones stood quite a distance from each other, creating a change in the sky.


    The entire moon aided Pridgeon as strange energy of all sorts began to appear.


    The nearby crafts and nes began to retreat as the battle created strange effects.


    The sky became distorted. At one part, it looked like the sky was smaller, and at the other, it was as if it became a two-dimensional painting.


    All who watched was amazed.


    A news reporter continued to ry what they could find through their telescopes.


    "What your seeing here is a change in the entire sky itself! This is no longer a war between two nations or forces that hold shocking techs. This is a fight between two gods! The heavens are changing. Based on what we see, it''s clear that whoever these two are is more powerful than the WGP! The Rule is they ride far stronger! It''s no longer just a Rule. It''s a Throne! These gods sit on their thrones and fight! And Egypt seems to have another god hidden within! Ladies and gentlemen, this could be the start of the end! What we all feared were nations, but what we should have feared are these beings!"


    In a nearby New Great Britain fleet, Admiral Ramsden Audenvise was amazed at what he saw. But he shook his head and spoke to a man nearby.


    "I told you, Prime Minister." Ramsdenughed.


    "I can''t believe your right."


    "I guess with this. I don''t need to nt a chip in your head and make you a mindless ve."


    "And you''re saying that you have military power that can fight this?"


    "No. We don''t have the military power as of this time. But, dear Prime Minister, we caused this war. My superiors are not only powerful, but they are also quite cunning. Without us showing a tenth of our power, we can already cause one of these so-called gods to die. Depending on your interpretation of what we achieved, you can say we do have the power to fight them, though." Ramsdenughed.


    The Prime Minister frowned. This was not the answer he wanted.


    "I can only agree if you show us that you have power. Tricks and lies don''t win a war, Admiral."


    "But it does."


    As he heard the voice, the Prime Minister shivered.


    His eyes could not see it, but he found himself standing in the sky. It wasn''t a vision. It was sensation. It was as if he knew his body was in the sky.


    Twelve men stood in the great heights of the sky and had SPU level cloaking.


    Richie stood at the front of the team. Next to him was Sammy Theoden and the former Commander of the Kraken, Chase Brander.


    Seeker''s parents were also present.


    The three mercenaries that Seeker captured and sent to China had finallypleted their series of many missions and were with the team. Oark, Madison, and Cheryl floated as well as they watched the scenes transpire.


    There were also other soldiers who belonged to the team thatmandeered the Void Traveler. Commander Mikhael and his team watched on.


    The Prime Minister could not understand why he could somehow feel them and even know that his sensation had reached the high heavens.


    "We don''t have power, but we''re getting there, Prime Minister." Richieughed.


    "Who-?"


    "Ramsden, thank you for the help. Do you have the packages ready?"


    "It''s been floating around the ocean of the Mediterranean. Those Exoskeletons need Unlocked power to move it just like the ones in the Kraken were. One particr Exoskeleton is designed ording to your request."


    "Good. Make sure you record everything. I need to impress that little prick Seeker. He thinks he''s so great in that fight with Lynd. I can go nuclear to if I wanted."


    "Liar. You''d die." Sammy shook his head.


    "As you wish. Give my regards to Master Arthur if you see him."


    "Will do." Richieughed as the team of twelve flew with great speed.


    The Prime Minister lost the connection and fell.


    "It''s called Remote Sensation. Using his powers, he is making you feel and even see what he goes through. Of course, it''s much more detailed if the Unlocked is better in his Realm Somatotopy." Ramsden chuckled.


    "Who is that Seeker?"


    "Our boss."


    Somewhere in arge vessel provided by the WGP, Seeker and his team continued to watch the video feed being sent by Ramsden.


    "You like what you''re seeing?" Lynd asked.


    "Yes, of course. We seeded. The one thing that I wanted to do, which I thought was impossible to do, had happened. Satan has divided himself. This is like a doorway to newer things. Now that two Presiders have fought, we can be sure that the alliance of these Aragarians has been broken. They don''t trust each other anymore. And this implies that everything I know about in my timeline could no longer happen. The world would not follow these Aragarians."


    "What do you mean, Zeek?" Meryl asked.


    "In Zeek''s future, the world only knew of the Aragarians. But now, the world has seen two Aragarians fighting each other. The distinction is now no longer white or ck. It''s now a spectrum of colors. Each nation now has a choice as to which Aragarian they can join with. And of course, since we have been pretending to be an Aragarian, be it as the Lost Primordial or the Progenitor." Lynd exined.


    "Oh! So this was your n all along." Meryl confirmed.


    "It''s ingenious." An old man spoke nearby.


    Nogard Meng watched the battle with fascination.


    "It''s no longer Earth vs. Aragarians, but now it''s a war among Presiders. We''ve officially simply be one of the many factions that will start to kill each other. You must be very happy with yourself, Seeker."


    "Of course! At least for these enemies, we now have a real shot at winning! But we all have to thank the Council of the Wicked for that. How they managed to trick three Presiders into going on an all-out battle is quite a mystery."

 Chapter 396 - Stopping A Top-Tier

    With the sh between the two Presiders uring on the heavens, the many Presiders all over the world was shocked at the development.


    Zeraphine watched in horror at the sight of a Top-Tier Presider battling another. Everything that she heard was true. Crostfree was alive! The full technological powers of a Nefilus Suit and a Throne was there.


    After the battle in the Underwater City, Zeraphine had been separated from Lanterk and was on her way to South America via a different route.


    She watched the horrifying events that made her fear for her future.


    "Presiders are killing each other! Even back at home, very few Presiders would openly attack each other! Why is Shackstress out to kill Crostfree? And why is Andronze aiding Crostfree?" Zeraphine was trembling.


    In the same room she was in, was an Emperors along with Commanders.


    "Looks like the Lost Primordial is finally moving.. But who is he fighting? That technology... It''s... too strange." One of the Commanders asked.


    "That which our Progenitor knows, we do not question. Remember, our enemies can easily infiltrate our minds." The Emperor warned.


    Zeraphine watched in horror. She didn''t have the same fortresses that these two had. She came to a realization.


    "I''ll need something like the WGP to even stand a chance against them! That''s why the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor are so mysterious! Even these Emperors don''t even know the truth and are left with vague guesses!" Zeraphine thought quietly. She hesitated inmunicating with Straviaa. If she made that attempt, then many more Presiders may be alerted. There was also the issue that Zeraphine and Straviaa were enemies prior to arriving here. Betrayal was very possible.


    Then there was the fact that Lantek was actually someone who was a Principal. This increased Zeraphine''s anxiety as to how she believed that she was being targeted for her weakness.


    "The Presiders are going to war against each other. I have no one to turn to... Even Straviaa must have had other alliances. I am left with no choice... I must ally with the Progenitor!" Zeraphine finally decided.


    A Top Tier Presider was watching the battle from the depths of the sea.


    A petite young girl with a dangerously beautiful appearance was watching with a serious re on her face.


    She had hijacked various news channel to see it made her frown.


    "Why did Shakstress do this? Why attack Pridgeon and Andronze and fight to the death?"


    She watched at the damaged ship of Shakstress that was now being bombarded by all nations.


    "Shakstress and I are about equally strong. Our techs even ovep! But how did that stupid Pridgeon and Andronze lead to this all out battle?" She watched.


    BOOM!


    Another powerful explosion urred and damaged the force field. There were no previous indications of an iing weapons of mass destruction and yet, another struck the force field.


    "What was that?!" Myrth stood up in shock.


    She then waved her hands and the entire room changed and she was in the middle of hermand center with Pioneers on the side.


    "Activate the spacepressor! There is now over a forty percent chance that Shakstress could lose! I want her techs!" Myrth ordered.


    The Pioneers nodded and made preparation.


    The space between the two locations was separated by nearly four thousand kilometers. But haste was necessary.


    The maniption of energy that Shakstress had allowed her topress and shrink space. This was how her entire fortress was shrunk.


    As for Myrth, her entry towards Earth was undetected as she was able to perform a form of teleportation by shrinking the distance and move through this distance in the forth dimension.


    "Presider. Who do we attack when we get there?" A Pioneer asked.


    "All of them! Launch all our strongest attacks and hit all three simultaneously." Myrth ordered.


    The bending of space became sessful and the Underwater City began to prepare for it''s jump.


    Somewhere within the European nations...


    Lioncourt jolted up as he felt it.


    "Somethings passing by! Another Presider seems to be aiming on interfering. And boy, is this a tough one!"


    The Void Assassin and Git Godlike were with him.


    "Any orders, Realm King?"


    "We have to stop that Presider. We can only rely on trickery to fool them. Whatever Arthur is nning, we can''t get them to interfere in that battle!"


    "What do you n to do?"


    "Ourbined attack, what else?"


    "That power. The crossing and teleportation is wide! It''s like an entire Kraken is being teleported! You would need a mountain to fight that!"


    "Contact Lennox. I need a storm here and his lightning bolts should fuel me. With everything going on around the world, a little storm is the least of everyones problem."


    The message was sent and a secret facility within New Great Britain sent a strange bolt that moved within the clouds.


    Ever since the emergence of the WGP to attack that Underwater City, New Great Britain has prepared its Storm Front Protocol creating thick cumulonimbus clouds had covered the entire sky and even created a chain of clouds reaching over the European nations.


    A lightning bolt struck a certain facility within a mountain range and it fueled intense energy.


    "There goes our funding..." One of the soldiers sighed as he watched the lightning bolt fuel the device which the Realm King and Rai sat on. They knew Lennox would send them a massive bill for using that energy.


    The two powersbined and the Realm King created a strange mountain made of his realm power.


    The Realm King consumed two radiation pills to prepare for the attack.


    "Rai. Have you found it?" The Realm King asked.


    Rai was seated on a strange device and began to explore the forth dimensions.


    The Realm King and the Void Assassin became the perfect pair to explore the powers and pathways breaching the three dimensions.


    Rai had the means to enter in, and the Realm King had the way to manipte it.


    With the two of them working hand in hand, they were able to sense the strange changes and the Realm King prepared to shoot his two radiation pills and the strange lightning that Lennox prepared.


    All that was left was the impossible point of finding where the exact location of therge ship would be.


    "Are we really going to do this? Arge fortress appearing in the middle of Europe isn''t exactly subtle!" Rai answered.


    "A Moon and arge saucer is fighting in Egypt. Who cares? I can already understand the intent of Arthur and his team. We''re doing this."


    "There! I found it!"


    "Here is to hoping for the best. Open the portal!"


    Rai followed and a strange portal was opened.


    The Realm King threw the two radiation pills and the harnessed lightning and shot it towards the portal.


    The process was so fast, Rai immediately closed the portal the moment it moved.


    Rai and the Realm King were heaving.


    Rai was not even able to move.


    "Check the news. See if there is anything happening in Europe." The Real King ordered.


    As the massive underwater city traversed the strange route where distance waspressed, a sudden fluctuation urred.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Two massive explosions rocked attack the massive ship.


    "Enemy attack! We''re moving out of control!" The Pioneer reported.


    The sudden attack created a strange impact. Explosions rang out in three different locations in the sky of Europe as arge rectangr ship appeared and began to fall down with great speed.


    "Retreat!" Myrth calmly ordered.


    "It seems that it''s not only Shakstress that is targeted. Interesting. Which Mid-Tier dares to bare fangs? I''m sure that Garenjazz is involved in all of this." She harnessed the energy of her Throne and the massive vessel that was falling found stability.


    Almost instantly it vanished again.


    The Realm King watched the news and found that there were already news reports of arge crash urring on several ces.


    There were also reports of a massive UFO that appeared out of thin air in the sky.


    Thousands of witnesses managed to record the falling ship which had several damaged parts. There was also a deep hole in the middle of the ship.


    But suddenly, thisrge spaceship vanished as the sky distorted.


    "Good... Its escaping. Our bluff worked." The Realm King smiled before fainting.


    The appearance brought moremotion among the Presiders.


    That ship was clearly a Top-Tier Presider level and it''s battered appearance was shocking. Who attacked that ship and how did a Top-Tier Presider got damaged?


    The battle in Egypt was also turning chaotic.


    The flying saucer began to attack the many ships down below but the tornado''s wind was causing the many attacks to divert its direction but, it also allowed the many cannons and rockets from the ships below to reach it. The ships were small and so the direction of the beamsing from the saucer would be a little off course and miss.


    But since the saucer was sorge, the tornados misdirection would still result on an attack on the force field.


    Arthur and his team had met with Gallium and Akasha in the deep underground.


    "Let''s move. Hermes can''t hold on his form for very long." Arthur called out.


    "Yo, Arthie! Need a hand?" A familiarughed echoed out around them.


    Akasha trembled as she recognized the voice.


    "Right on time, Richie. Here''s the n."


    "So you still expected me to appear, eh? And Sammy thought we could surprise you." Richie chuckled.


    "It''s was one of my predictions. Here is the n. Our goal is to infiltrate thatrge ship. Oveers, if you want to survive the battle against the Tyrant Empress, then you should survive this. Up above is a distracted, and busy Top-Tier Presider. This is our chance to kill her!"

 Chapter 397 - The Power Of Water

    Garenjazz watched as the chaos was getting worse and worse. His face was turning more and more conflicted.


    "Too much! What''s going on? This chaos is supposed to help me?" Garenjazz frowned. He had seen how Myrth''s ship was suddenly hurling over the European nations and disappeared without a trace. Earth was bing more and more guarded. And the Principal was scheduled to arrive within two months!


    Earth has taken a turn for the worse. The sudden appearance of theserge ships will draw even more panic.


    "Looks like it''s every Presider for themselves. Earth will be afraid, and Presiders will probably create alliances with each nation now. The Prime Orbital will probably be used as a sanctuary for the fights against each Presider. Whichever Presider will step outside of that Orbital has the intentions of waging war with the rest...."


    He then noticed the many movements with the WGP.


    The World''s Helm was assuming its war form.


    The massive floating city slowly began to rise. The underwater parts were now revealed.


    "Oh... How formidable. That is the World''s Helm true form, eh? Only Top-Tiers would be confident in challenging that. It looks like my n in wiping out and stealing the techs of the WGP won''t be possible anymore. But how is this to my advantage?" Garenjazz closed his eyes and journeyed into the dream world.


    Back in thend of Egypt, the desert storm of locusts and wind continued to harass therge ship. Most of the defenses and efforts of thisrge saucer were focused on defending the attacks of the Moon and therge Pyramid that was approaching.


    Therge saucer began to release an electromaic pulse, but the Pyramid was also releasing something to counter the pulse. As a result, the swarm of locusts also began to retreat as those that were exposed to the electrical pulse would suddenly die.


    There were other attempts that the flying saucer was using to weaken and destroy the rockets and other weapons being used against it, but the Moon and the Pyramid had used their techs to stop these attempts from pushing through.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several massive explosions covered the sky under the saucer in an attempt to destroy the tornado that was kicking up a dust storm and aiding the sandstorm technology. The sandstorm also protected the locust is it stopped the reach of the explosion.


    Thebined might of Sandstorm and Locust techs were finally showing itself to the world.


    The tornado disappeared as another massive bomb exploded, and the sandstorm also died. But by then, Andronze had already positioned Egypt''s armies.


    Aside from the armies that Arthur and Harker broke, several mobile bases in the underground region had deployed their forces and have already appeared on several locations underneath therge saucer.


    The Caliphates forces have also arrived and began to attack at the request of Egypt. Most nearby countries were contacted, and granter air and sea clearance sent their forces to join the skirmish. And many forces obliged. The threat was just too much for them to ignore, and if the saucer falls, they might acquire many weapons and techs from the fall of these massive structures.


    As the tornado disappeared, Hermes and his winds were racing towards a certain location to meet them.


    The team of Unlocked had already positioned themselves right under the battlefield of the moon and the saucer by using the underground tunnels of Egypt.


    "We are seriously going to attempt to kill a Top-Tier Presider?" Seeker''s father, Chris Carlean, eximed at the suggestion.


    "Didn''t we already kill another Top-Tier Presider?" His wife, Grace, chuckled.


    "Well, that was different. We used another Presider to perform the assassination as Arthur predicted. This time we are going to war against one!"


    "Well... The n does make sense. We are in a situation where two forces stronger than us in terms of military power are fighting the Top-Tier. We can use the nearby fleets as a distraction. This is the best time." Sammy assessed.


    "But I don''t think we''ve seen the best of what these Presiders have. May I suggest we fight them so that they reveal more of their arsenals? It''s hard to press the Presiders to be in such a situation." Austin made his suggestion as the Wind Whisperer linked them.


    "Hey, Austin! You are representing the boss! Be more confident!" Alvinined.


    "Sammy. What did he mean by them revealing more of their arsenal?" Richie asked.


    "Despite what we see on how many techs they have been using in the battles above, all Presiders have not yet revealed any more of their respective technologies. Alvin is suggesting that we force the battle in a situation where they will reveal the techs we saw in Seeker''s schematics. The Gargantuants, the Titans, the Destroyer Suits, and all those other things."


    "Why haven''t they brought it out anyway?" Richie asked as he observed the battle through his sounds.


    "It''s rather chaotic out there. Shouldn''t this be the time to release those forces?"


    "One reason is that they probably don''t have those specific suits. We''ve noticed that the Aragarians aren''t as unified as we thought them to be. It means that the ship they used for interster travel might be something outside of their current capabilities."


    "That Orbital in Seeker''s drafts belong to a Principal level tech!" Madison, one of the mercenaries that Seeker forcibly recruited, realized what the group was saying.


    "Yes. Based on Seeker''s memories, they have been studying the schematics of the Orbital and gave their theoretical sciences for the Earth to imitate. That''s why several Orbitals were being created on Earth in Seeker''s past. The goal wasn''t to get some of their Earth allies off the, but to force those nations to build one for their own research."


    "So even then, we were still just mere experiments." Chris frowned.


    "General Arthur. What is the n? The Everhiss family is standing nearby with half of their Many Mansions." Chase Brander, the former WGP Commander who has just been married to Empress Everhiss, asked.


    "A Many Mansion is here? Interesting. Could they do an Invoking? It will greatly help us with our ns. Killing a Presider isn''t something easy after all. Even Omricon won''t break through the armors of their Thrones." Hermes added.


    "Right. We will need all the help we can get. Since I''ve confirmed our forces, I estimate that we will fail. If we stay the way, we are. Our n isn''t a simple assassination attack to strike that Top-Tier. Let''s not underestimate her. Unlike Crostfree, this one came here for war. Our route will be to infiltrate that flying saucer and hijack their weapons and techs. We have to steal as much as we can and sabotage the ship or use it against her. Where is Empress Everhiss and the other Emperors?"


    "Standing by. They arrived in the Mediterranean the day Seeker raided that base of Lourca Ovilli. They are waiting for your ns."


    "Have her family do an Invoking now. That should provide enough distraction. Egypt is kicking up a storm. We attack the moment Andronze reveals her Nile Technology that she''s been researching for a long time."


    Observing the war from afar was a strange round ship unseen by the many ships from different nations nearby.


    Empress Miranne Everhiss watched as the wars raged on the sky.


    "Are you... not shocked?" An Emperor asked Miranne.


    "I would be, but I got punched in the face and tossed around like a ball by a young video game streamer with a team of random kids and drug dealers. I had so many techspared to him, and yet, I have been toyed with as if he wielded my very fate." Miranneughed.


    "My husband is over there fighting. He wishes to gain that same power as that kid, Seeker Carlean. And now, what we should fear is not that huge flying saucer my husband is trying to destroy. But those people on those Thrones. They are the real emperors and empresses of this world, for they invoke fear to those who are as strong as the kid who tossed me like a ball."


    "Emperor, Empress. Chase Brander-"


    "Emperor Chase Brander." Miranne corrected.


    "I-I am sorry. Emperor Chase Brander has sent the details of the n."


    "We do an Invoking. That''s their request, correct?" Miranne answered.


    "Yes, Empress." The soldier answered.


    "You heard them. It would be foolish not to take part in this war. Let us begin. We don''t need their approval now. Let''s shock those other Emperors and reveal our Invoking." Miranne smiled.


    Therge spherical ship emerged out of the waters. It rmed those nearby until the cloak disappeared, and they realized that it was the WGP.


    "A Many Mansion! The Emperors are here!" One General identified the group.


    The waters began to gather, and the ships nearby navigated their ships to avoid getting swept off course from the power of the water.


    Arge giant creature with an octopus-like head emerged. It slowly rose to great heights and was as tall as skyscrapers. The Manny Mansion was positioned right in the center of the rising column of water.


    "Nations of the World, the WGP will help you in this battle. Do not be afraid and attack that saucer! This trap to eliminate one of the dark rulers of this world has begun! You''ve seen the terrors that have urred these past months. More wille if you don''t do anything! World leaders, politicians, and those that control the world''s economy. Do not think that you won''t get swept out and survive this war. Your money will all be pointless as new resources will emerge because of these enemies! They have hidden well on this Earth. And now, they are nning to overthrow the WGP. Choose for yourself who to ally. But the Moon and Egypt will be on our side." A voice echoed throughout the area.


    There was no specific location from where this voice could be heard. It was as if the sea below was talking to everyone.


    Everhiss watched and ended her deration as she prepared to fight. Ten Rules with Emperors and Empresses riding them set off for battle.


    Over the skies of Egypt, Andronze noticed the form of the Invoking.


    "Impossible! How can they do that?! Their Invoking is bing simr to my Water Wielding! A Presider is definitely studying the techs of the WGP! How else will the WGP reach that far!" Andronzeined as the towering monstrous beast began to shoot strange blue-green-like energy to the saucer.


    "Damn it! Now the rest of the Presiders will think that I have been leaking techs to the WGP!" She cursed.


    She then thought for a bit...


    "Argh! I have to use Nile technology to stand a chance fighting Shakstress! Damn it!" Andronze cursed as she couldn''t find a way of how to challenge Shakstress and activated the Nile Technology.


    The waters all over the Nile River suddenly began to quiver.


    The Oveers Richie and Hermes were the first to sense it.


    "Arthur. It''s starting. Amazing. It''s all over Egypt! We can finally see what this Nile technology is all about!" Richie watched in excitement.

 Chapter 398 - The Ocean And The Sun

    Among Mid-Tier Presiders, Andronze was reputed for taking a more entric path in the technologies she researched, and the Judges im that she made.


    While most Presiders would save up their ims to acquire the higher techs of a specific Technological path, Andronze took several mid-level ims and had the most numerous mid-tier techs even when considering the Presiders back in their.


    Dug Down Deep was the term that the people of Earth used in referring to Egypt''s impressive underground moving technology. Not only did Egypt have a massive underground world, but it was also well maintained and protected that even earthquakes could no destroy or create a copse in this underground world.


    Aside from that, Egypt had techs where their devices could ''swim'' through the dirt and rocks without leaving a tunneling path in its wake. This technology was so mysterious that even Lennox, who had been suspecting Egypt''s involvement, could not replicate Dug Down Deep.


    Egypt also had several techs that were hidden. Their Sandstorm technology was superiorpared to Caliphates Dune Technology.


    The bio-enhancement programs that allowed Egypt to breed the billions of locusts were scattered all over thend. It was used to scan, scout, detect, and even be used offensively as this locust could explode, and their blood even had a powerful acidic property that could melt certain objects..


    The Locust was even had several species, which creates a different kind of explosion when triggered or could leave different kinds of corrosive properties that could attack different kinds of metal.


    Kingless Control Science easily controlled the billions of locusts and gave the locust the means to apply strategies and tactics.


    And finally, there was Nile Technology.


    All of Egypt trembled as the many secret waterways and springs gushed out with water. The Nile river rose and began to move.


    "There it is. Oh, man. This entire ce has a riverway! Egypt is quite powerful!" Richieughed.


    Water columns erupted and sprouted from the ground, and the waters took the form of Flood Dragons.


    The Flood Dragons didn''t immediately rush towards the flying saucer but rushed at the sky.


    Various locations below them opened up and began to attack rockets towards the massive sea serpents.


    After amassing the rockets inside their body, the Flood Dragons rushed to the sky.


    The Pioneers in Shakstress''s ships noticed a strange anomaly.


    "Detecting a powerful and threatening signature from those dragons!"


    "Quick! Shoot it down! It''s bing a Hydrogen bomb!"


    Shakstress''s flying saucer began tounch a barrage to destroy the iing rockets, but the Flood Dragons kept on moving the rockets. They would even spit out beams of water that mysteriously exploded.


    The nations watched as the strange water attacks managed to create explosions around the force field.


    "How can water explode?!" A Commander marveled.


    "Hydrogen. Those Water Dragons are just like the WGP''s water titan! It can manipte and perform various sciences that imitate a hydrogen bomb! The key is those rockets! They are fueling the harnessing the fission and fusion process!"


    The water dragons rushed upwards and continued to shoot out water bullets that created a terrifying explosion.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The eruption that urred was powerful. It was as if several Hydrogen bombs exploded. But the size and range of each explosion were controlled and contained. There was no immense radiation that filled the skies.


    Richie watched in amazement.


    "Wow. It''s like Lynd and Seeker''s battle. This isn''t just ordinary nuclear science or hydrogen science. Can you feel it, Hermes?"


    "The Wind has changed. Of course, I do. This Mid Tier Andronze is already using the fourth dimension as an energy source. She can''t tamper with it like that other woman Pridgeon is fighting, but she can draw from it. Omricon, this could be the secret to a sharper sword. A Wind that travels or harnesses energy beyond the three."


    "I will not disappoint you, boss."


    "Do we rush in now?" Alvin asked.


    "Not yet. It''s time for Shakstress to reveal her tech." Lowengren watched in anticipation.


    "Deploy the Destroyer Suits! Now!" Themander of Shakstress ship ordered.


    It was as if the entire skies grew dark.


    Three dark armored suits emerged out of the flying saucer, and free fell towards the water dragons. It passed through the force field and began to devour the light around the area. The region around the flying saucer was noticeably darker, as if it waste in the afternoon. Any explosions that urred inside the sphere looked like it was in a monochrome color.


    The strange armored suits raised their arms, and almost instantly, a bright sh of light urred and blinded all looking at it.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Three massive suns appeared on the sky.


    It was a few kilometers wide and blocked the way to the Flood Dragons.


    Arthur watched the scenes above and could resist the blinding light thanks to his unlocking. But as he saw the scene, he had one desire.


    "We need one of those suits! It will put Meryl''s power to World Champion level!" Arthur dered.


    "Yeah. That suit will help turn Meryl into a cultivator! That suit could help her harness her energy! We need those suits!" Harker eximed.


    "Those things weren''t in my son''s reports. He never said about suits that are capable of creating suns."


    "That''s because this Presider probably didn''t participate in the war, dear."


    "Richie. You will be in charge of getting us in. Create sound explosions on different areas to redirect attention. We also need to be moving faster than the speed of sound. I''ll direct the route that we can take to avoid all of those."


    "Avoid all those massive explosions?" Oark nced up and had a frightened expression. Despite his mercenary training, diving into the sky full of suns and hydrogen bombs was a little above his pay grade.


    "Rx. He who treads in the Lion''s Den can lead us in." Richie chuckled.


    "Hermes, I leave you in charge of procuring one of those Dark armors. It will be a tough battle, but can I count on you and your winds?"


    "Leave it to us. Omega and Omricon are thirsting for battle anyway."


    "Akasha, Gallium. The chaos of this war can make a good cover. There are several submarines waiting for deep underwater. This is your chance of creating more familiars or whatever liquid metal you may need to recover your lost blood. You can even raid some cities in the Caliphate region."


    "There are tens of thousands there." Akasha frowned.


    "Is that a problem?"


    "I''m just asking if it''s alright if I kill all of them. The innocent will be implicated."


    "Innocent? You''re a vampire, and you are worried about that? This is a battle for our survival. Putting aside the future fate of the Caliphates, which raged war against our team, it''s better if those people be energy that you can use to fight."


    "How heartless. But I can tell a lie when I see it. I know there is more to your ns than just refueling Gallium and me. You are after Gallium''s liquid metal, right? All of this for your sister, eh? I wish I had a brother like you." Akasha chuckled.


    "Lowengren and Harker. Contact all the other Egyptian bases and lead them ordingly for this battle. Use whatever authority you have as a new Pir." Arthur ignored Akasha''s challenge.


    "Andronze will be too busy. Use this chance to expand our connections and control. You have thirty minutes to aplish this. Then you two have to join us in battle..." Arthur then turned to Vender with a conflicted expression.


    "..."


    "Yes?" Vender asked.


    "I can''t believe I''m doing this. Vender, you will takemand of our base. Contact General Aurom and work with him... I... I will leave..." Arthur was hesitating.


    "I will leave them devices to you to broadcast your words all over Egypt."


    "NO!" Alvin, Omricon, Omega, Austin, and Gallium shouted.


    Even Hermes and Akasha frowned at Arthurs words.


    "You''re insane! Get that man off the mic!"


    "Haven''t you heard enough?!"


    "Send him up to fight! I won''t be able to concentrate if he''s talking!"


    An eruption of angryints was heard. Even the more silent members of the Winds of Hermes were shouting in frustration.


    "You sure about this, Arthur?" Lowengren asked.


    "He''s very annoying. But this applies both ways. We must minimize the concentration of our enemies. We are all vying to be oveers. You all have to ovee."


    "That man infuriates Oveers! I am against him holding am device!" Alvin pleaded.


    "Hey, windy, don''t argue with Arthur. He''s the brains around here. As for you, your job is to blow. So get up there and blow all our enemies. If you do a good job in blowing those enemies, I can even write a rap song about you!"


    "Hrm? Richie. Stop blocking the sound." Hermes frowned as he noticed how unaffected Richie''s team was.


    "Why was there no sound anyway?" Chris asked.


    "CHEATER!" Alvin shouted in anger. No wonder those with Richie were unaffected.


    "Fine... Ugh." Richie sighed and undid his power.


    "Stugs! Stupax! Stupax" Vender felt the rap game coursing through his veins and began to rap.


    "Here''s to Windy, of the winds of Hermes! He''ll blow you good! He''ll blow your pe- pe... pelvis. Sorry. I couldn''t think of any other words that rhyme with Hermes. My rap games off thanks to that ufortable zone-interfering power of those Presiders." Vender sighed.


    "DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN?!" Alvin cried.


    Arthur was sweating from what he heard. If anything, Vender''s Path seemed stronger.


    Austin wasn''t a Christian. But he thanked God that Vender went with the word pelvis instead of another body part that rhymed with Hermes.


    "We move now. A window will open for us. Hermes, I''ll throw you right in the middle of the battle. Gallium, Akasha, rush back in to aid Hermes. You have ten minutes. Richie. Send us up."


    The group immediately acted.


    Hermes and Richie''s team began to fly. A dust bowl kicked up and followed the flying teams as they raced towards the war between the Ocean and the Sun.

 Chapter 399 - Sailing Through The Sea Of Explosions

    Some of those who were sent up were not prepared to fly towards a battle of hydrogen bombs and nuclear explosions.


    Chris and Grace were shaking.


    Oark, Madison, and Cheryl remained quiet and held theirints back as their figures flew to the sky.


    The only ones who were calm were Arthur, Richie, and his team.


    But no one couldin or voice out their hesitation..


    Richie had already thrown them up with his powers.


    The wind also blew, and a wind channel was formed. The wind blew ording to which was ording to the specifications that Arthur instructed, and Hermes was ready to adjust.


    The instructions themselves were veryplicated that no even someone in the Surmounting Unbing stage could keep up.


    Hermes and his four winds had to work together to keep up with theplicated orders.


    The orders of the wind channel that they should form epassed from their flight to how they would navigate through the sea of explosions rocking the heavens.


    On the other hand, Richie''s instructions were far simpler as Arthur only told Richie what he needed to do and didn''t emphasize the distance, direction, and the timing of when he would use his powers.


    Arthur began to speak with great speed. He also had two voices talking which wasmanding Richie and Hermes at the same time.


    "Austin! Do not hesitate! Follow whatever Arthur says! If you don''t, you will die! So even if you think he is making you rush towards an exploding sun, do it!" Grant Hermes gave his rare warning to Austin.


    "Ye-Yes Boss! I will!" Austin answered back as he gazed at the sky.


    Richie followed the directions that Arthur said, and they were positioned right underneath a rising sandstorm.


    Hermes and his group were on another location waiting for Arthur''s signal.


    "Omricon, you will be the first to attack. Our enemies are hiding behind the force field. You have to cut it."


    "As for the attack on the force field, I leave it up to you." Arthur finally ended his instructions towards Hermes.


    "My sword will not fail, Boss."


    "Omega, You will act next. Regardless of what their techs are, a sudden change of vacuum will definitely affect them. Austin, Alvin, you follow next. And will chase after one of those suits and battle with it. After that, we will assume the form of the Wind God."


    "Yes, boss!" All the Winds chorused.


    Richie waited with his team as Arthur watched with intense focus at the battle. Although the sandstorm stood above them, it was as if Arthur could see what was happening beyond it.


    His constant calctions continued throughout the process of the battle.


    Richie stood at the side and watched Arthur.


    "Can you do it? Zone''s out..." Richie sent asked a question that only Arthur could hear.


    "If you fail, most of these guys here will die."


    Zone was one of the most important aspects of Arthur''s calction. The math and his gambles that yed along the line of statistics and probabilities were what made his predictions perfect. When he fought the Tyrant Empress and walked in between the shing forces of the Oveers, his Zone remained stable. But now, the enemies he faced were disrupting his ability, that he was not confident that his predictions were correct.


    "I won''t. Why do you think I worked amidst those idiots? Vender and Lowengren''s unpredictable actions are paired with Harker and Gardo''s entric wishes. They were mypanions, and we worked together to aplish various plots, from our meeting in the Mediterranean sea to our infiltration in Egypt. And our coborative plots and misdirections that we did in Egypt were all to help me strengthen my Path. This battle is simply the application of all I''ve learned. I know that if I lose my Zone, I will die. That''s why I died on Seeker''s past life. And I have made my preparation." Arthur didn''t even bother to hide his answer from the rest.


    "Richie... Hermes... Prepare your corresponding attack. The window will open soon."


    The battle between the Flood Dragons and the Suns made massive eruptions in the sky that ate up all the rockets and attacks that the other nations were shooting.


    Several explosions happened immediately.


    "Now!" Arthur gave his orders.


    Hermes and Richie were the first to zoom in with their respectivepanions following.


    Then a calm urred. For nearly three seconds, there were no massive explosions.


    "N-now?" Austin asked. It was too tempting, and Austin felt that they wasted the chance.


    "No. Wait for Arthur''s orders!" Hermes chastized. It was rare for him to be so hard on Austin.


    All of a sudden, massive eruptions shook the sky.


    "Now!" Arthur ordered.


    Without hesitation, Hermes and Richie charged forward.


    As the massive explosions continued to ur, Arthur continued to remind the group and issue corrections whenever one of them was flying too fast or slow or off course.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The groups were moving in small narrow channels in between the explosions. In some cases, the group was barely attacked by the explosions as the fire reached several meters from where each of them was.


    Hermes and Richie covered both teams with wind and with sound to resist the fire, force, and radiation as they zoomed in the small gaps between the explosions.


    They traveled faster than most jet-propelled Exoskeletons as the wind became an air channel, and the sounds added the propelling force of their flight.


    The Unlocked didn''t even have any Exoskeletons but only brought their pocket technologies to trigger certain Paths. Theck of metal and techs allowed them to maximize their stealth, and since only sound and wind allowed them to fly, the series of explosions masked their approach perfectly.


    Madison could not help but use his Skill and allowed time to stop in his perception.


    He watched the timing of Arthur''s movements intently. But, even though time has stopped, he himself could not see any hopes of sailing through this ocean of explosion.


    "How does he see it?" Madison pondered as time resumed, and he maximized his concentration.


    Their flight was full of arcs and turns. They always would move at the edge of the explosion radius and, at times, stood between two.


    "Amazing. He even calcted the maximum tolerance of my sound armor. He''s stronger than ever... That Arthur!" Richie praised as he turned from being serious to having fun. It wasn''t every day that he could sail through these seas.


    "Richie, we rush straight no matter what. Harden the sound armor by another fold and prepare a concentrated attack at the most fragile part of the force field. We''re breaking through that part. Make sure that the sound armor can withstand Omega''s pressure since he will be creating a vacuum. Slip into the hole that Andronze''s attack caused!"


    "Hermes, the moment you move past the third explosion, you will be in a clearing. Make your move and attack the forcefield to breach in. You will have a five-second window until the next explosions ur. After that, you are on your own."


    Two separate orders were sent out, and Richie and Hermes made their move.


    Hermes was the first to reach the clearing.


    "The Sky is my weapon!" Omricon shouted as he held his two hands up high as if holding a sword.


    Omega''s power continued to gather a massive amount of wind that even though they had passed through a storm of explosions, he still carried a sky''s worth of wind with him. And Omricon wielded that sky.


    Hermes concentrated as he aided Omricon. He hadn''t been careless during the break but continued to research how to strengthen the quality of his wind. He had learned how topress it, freeze it, gather it, and even wield it. Each of those abilities was bestowed and used by one of his four winds. But now, Omricon''s research with the Realm King was finally taking effect.


    No longer will the Wind of Hermes fail to travel in the middle of a great vacuum. His winds now head a Realm of its own, and it was as if Hermes was learning to control the very molecules of the air he wielded.


    The air molecules began to shake as Hermes held on a peculiar device containing one of the Void Assassin''s applied science. Teleporting and moving through the void was still impossible for humans as the strange space could slice, cut, pulverize and destroy. But sending air in that dimension was easier.


    The space the air traveled became warp. And because of the previous alterations of Shakstress''spression of space and how Pridgeon used Crostfree''s technology to break through the fourth dimension and appeared on the third, the space in the entire area was very fragile. And all of these factors made the traveling wind retain much of its speed, power, and intensity.


    The sky was visibly seen being cut.


    Arge cut that had true nothingness inside appeared on the vast sky. It was as if the space where the cut was made simply ceased to exist.


    On that day, the infinite space of the entire universe shrank as it lost the space where Hermes''s attack struck.


    The sh altered reality itself. The forcefield that protected the entire flying saucer grew unstable.


    At that moment, Richie rushed forward and brought all his team with him.


    An explosion urred on the location he was headed to as one of the Flood Dragons managed tond an attack on the force field that covered the massive hole in the flying saucer.


    BOOM!


    The mes and shockwave of the massive attack expanded out but Richie dove in. By some amazing miracle, Richie''s forward rush in the center of the mes urred just when the explosion reached its peak and was diminishing in strength.


    Richie concentrated and maximized his Realm Somatotopoy to control the radius of the explosion.


    Richie''s Realm had grown. He now had the ability to harness the kic energy that was around him. Should he survive an attack, he could gather the force and power that was dissipating and vibrating through the air and control it.


    "Spear of Transgression!" Richie shouted as the explosive force moved and became a spear that shot towards the unstable force field.


    BOOM!


    The spear pierced through the entire area and pierced inside the hole of the saucer.


    The force field shattered, and Richie used the remaining force of the explosion to catapult them all inside the hole.


    Yet these things were unnoticed, for a peculiar event urred as the burning mes from the miniature suns and the explosions in the sky suddenly distorted as all oxygen was snuffed up.


    Omega was turning so red, and blood was leaking off his nose. He did his best to absorb the for nearly a kilometer wide.


    "Bear it, Omega. Omricon, Austin, Alvin! Get ready! We''ll be rushing at that Dark Armor! Defend against the sun!" Hermes warned.


    Richie''s rush was hidden inside the explosion, and his spear attack was invisible.


    The moment the spear pierced inside, they were immediately ''injected'' inside using the spear as the needle that stealthily brought them inside.


    But Hermes''s attacks took the attention of the Pioneers as they saw the appearance of five men in the sky and the strange distortion that they caused on space.


    "Attack them! It''s another Presider!" The Commanding Pioneer eximed as he ordered to bombard Hermes.

 Chapter 400 - Richie’s Trick

    The massive cut wasrgely unappreciated by the nations. But the moment Hermes did that, Pridgeon, Andronze, and Shakstress were horrified.


    "Another Top Tier is here?!" Shakstress frowned.


    But she could not pay any attention to the battle below her. Instead, she was focused on Pridgeon and defending the bombardment of the Moon above. It took her entire focus to fight Pridgeon and the moon.


    She believed that Andronze would soon be defeated due to the difference of power between them.


    Although Andronze''s powerful attack tore a hole in her ship, it only seeded because of thebined ambushes and surprise attacks. But even now, Andronze didn''t use that same attack as she knew it would be easily blocked.


    "You''re quite a talented man. To think you would even recruit another Presider to expend such an attack! I wonder how much Universe energy from Crostfree are you giving that attacker of yours? It seems I have to get serious!" Shakstressughed.


    The sky suddenly warped at her deration.


    Parts of the sky werepressed, the other parts were being erged. And these locations expanded and contracted randomly as the Shakstress charged and shot at Pridgeon.


    The distortion in the sky caused the attacks of therge moon to miss as the space itself was changing.


    Some of theser beams would erupt as they entered the contraction and expansion of space.


    Pridgeon cursed as he saw it. Shakstress was forced to bring out her powerful attacks. Pridgeon''s heart was bleeding. This battle was no longer something Mid-Tiers could interfere with as Universe Energy would be required.


    Pridgeon acted swiftly andmanded his Pioneers to activate that protocol.


    "If I can''t hit you in this dimension, I''ll send attacks in another! Die for me, Shakstress!" Pridgeon cursed as he began his attacks.


    The massive bombardment of powerful rays of light suddenly stopped.


    But around the moon, strange flickers of dark red light could be seen where most of theser attacks came from.


    Suddenly...


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Explosions urred in the airspace near Shakstress.


    Pridgeon cursed as he saw it. His attacks tore through the three dimensions, yet it still exploded as it met the distorting space.


    "Ha Ha Ha!" What a nitwit you are! Do you think I''m scared of you, Pridgeon? So what if you have a Devourer''s Suit? Your poor attacks reveal yourck of understanding regarding the multiple dimensions! Do you think I am justpressing and expanding space? How futile."


    Pridgeon cursed. He used a lot of Universe Energy, but those attacks proved to be futile.


    "Let me tell you something that Top Tiers know. The dividing line between a Top-Tier and a Mid-Tier is a small line separating those who can scale the heavens and conquer it and those who will always remain being subordinates. You might have a Top Tier Tech, but you are no Conqueror!"


    Suddenly, thepressing and expanding space trembled. Shakstress reached out, and it was as if she was scooping sky itself.


    A dark void remained from where Shakstress waved her hand, but the darkness mysteriously vanished as if the sky filled the void like water filling an empty lot in the sea.


    A dark, purple light remained on Shakstress''s hands.


    The moment Pridgeon saw it, he fled back to his ship and ordered toy heavy fire on Shakstress.


    While the battle was going on, Andronze immediately called Lowengren when he saw the sky being sliced.


    "Who was that?!" She demanded.


    "Who was who?" Lowengren asked.


    "The one who sliced the sky?"


    "Sliced the sky? Lady... There''s a sandstorm above us, and all I can see up in the air are Water Dragons and Suns. And what do you mean slice the sky? Like a loaf of bread?"


    "Are those Presiders fighting?! The ones that met you?!" Andronze shouted again as she had no time to exin what was happening.


    "Those streaking perverts? I don''t know. They don''t tell us anything, just like you don''t tell us anything. And we''re busy escaping! My other friends are already leaving. Those perverts gave us a ship out of here, and we can finally hide in space!"


    "They gave you a ship?!"


    "No. They gave us herpes. Of course, a ship! What did I just say? Rx,dy! Sheesh! For a Presider, you are really easily agitated. Those other Presiders had no problems, and they didn''t have any clothes!"


    Andronze was cursing. This Pioneer looked down on her so much that she was being addressed as ''Lady.''


    Despite the degrading title, Andronze couldn''t do anything but grit her teeth since she was desperate for information. Those five men sliced the sky and created a void in the skies above! What if they attacked her all of a sudden? She kept quiet and patiently and politely asked Lowengren.


    "Do you think they will make a move?" Andronze took several deep breathes to deliver that calm question.


    "Hrmm... I don''t know. I mean, do you mean they will make a move to attack and kill all Presiders here? They did say that they would attack. At least they implied it. I mean, they helped usnd the attack earlier. So whatever you see up there that isn''t linked to your enemy and Presider Pridgeon, it must be them. But is it that other Presider that they''re after? I don''t know. I''m hanging up now. That crazy dude is starting to rap again. Oh. And if you call us again and ask more questions, I''ll be charging you to pay for our services. I mean, I gotta make a living, right? Anyway, goodbye."


    "WAIT! How can Imunicate with them?"


    "Oh? A request already? As I said, you gotta pay me something nice. How about technologies? Any will do. I''m not picky. Although, I mean, give me something I can at least use."


    "I have the schematics of several weapons of mass destruction from other countries. These are experimental weapons that they are developing based on the experiments that the Pioneers made."


    Lowengren smirked. He recalled the science of the strange gue that the Pioneer was experimenting on in My-Pangea. The Pioneer Feltrick Ung-ive was using his wealth in trying to research technologies that Presiders had.


    "Alright. But you gotta pay up first. Send it to thism device."


    "Tell me the-"


    "No. I won''t. You pay me up first, and I''ll tell you." Lowengren adamantly insisted.


    Andronze cursed and began to gather the data and immediately sent it to Lowengren.


    As she gathered the information, the battle between the five flying men and the Flying Saucer started.


    Hermes and his winds were actually free-falling. After presenting themselves for the enemy to see, they began to focus the wind in the area around them to make them immune from the vacuum. But in their current state, they could not maintain a wind channel that kept blowing them up high and was falling. Omricon had already started to feed on specialized pills that they had that could refuel his energy.


    Hermes watched with caution and observed the movements of the flying saucer.


    The water dragons were suddenly having problems flying due to the sudden vacuum, and many of the water dragons started to boil due to theck of wind and the scorching suns summoned by the dark armored suits. While the Flood Dragons could still attack and move, it became slightly weaker and slower, and so they began to retreat as Andronze issued themand.


    With the Water Dragons keeping their distance and not wasting any attacks, the flying saucer began to aim their weapons at Hermes. It was still recalibrating its weapons due to the mysterious change as a vacuum appeared. The damage on the forcefield also made it unstable for the ships to keep using up their energy to attack. The ship was also starting to analyze the attack of Hermes and was employing the necessary countermeasures to fight Hermes''s attack.


    The Dark Armors was repositioning itself and was readying an attack on Hermes and his winds.


    "Omega. Get ready to release the wind. Alvin, Austin. I''m counting on you."


    "Yes, Boss!" The two answered.


    "Don''t be too serious now, Hermes." Augh was heard.


    "Riche? You can still do your link?"


    "The spatial distortions and your attack is making it easier for my voice to cross the dimensions. Rx. Don''t bother defending. I''ll deal with the attack."


    "Deal with it?"


    "Hey, I picked up a few useful tricks when I was training with Lowengren, you know? I also heard some important things. The owner of this ship is called Shakstress. Arthur said that Andronze would try tomunicate with you soon. You''re good at ying with things by ear. Improvise. Try to get as much as you can from this alliance. Think like Lowengren and imagine what lies he will do and work alongside with it."


    "Think like Lowengren? You might as well ask me to sleep with the Tyrant Empress."


    "Just do it. And don''t fret. Arthur already calcted the exact time when I should act to make them all miss. You can resume your flight and act as if you''re responsible for the strange things that will happen." Richieughed.


    "Strange things?" Hermes wondered.


    "You''ll see. Just try to make some weird movements like you have psychic abilities." Richieughed.


    "You heard him. Omega, give us a bit of wind to fly."


    The winds returned, and they began to fly.


    "Boss, about the weird movement thing... What exactly do I do?"


    "I don''t know. Pretend like you are a karate expert doing those Kata stances." Hermes shrugged.


    And so the five men began to do odd movements.


    "Austin, I said Kata! Not Yoga!" Hermes frowned.


    "I-I''m sorry. I don''t do karate. I''ll just stick to yoga."


    "You''re making us all look stupid." Omricon frowned.


    "Yoga fire!" Alvin was having the time of his life.


    Meanwhile... Andronze was just about to finishpiling the techs when she noticed the peculiar movements of the five men.


    "What are they doing?" She wondered.


    Suddenly, therge saucer began to glow with a bright green light as it was about tounch a heavy barrage towards the five flying men.


    "Can you defend against this?" Andronze watched with anticipation. Even her pyramid wouldn''t survive a full barrage like this.


    BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!


    Shakstress''s ship unloaded an uncountable amount of green light. But suddenly, the light all curved and attacked the beams was headed towards Pridgeon!


    And as these beams were being fired, all the Dark Armors began to move with fast speed towards each other.


    BOOM!


    Without any apparent reason, the dark-armored robots crashed onto each other.


    "WHAT!?" Andronze was amazed at what she saw. She turned to the five men who were continuously making odd movements.


    "It''s.... Them?! But how?!" Andronze was so confused. The five men released not even a hint of energy or fluctuation, yet they managed to attack the Dark Armors!


    "I mustmunicate with them!" Andronze decided and began to send the files to Lowengren.

 Chapter 401 - Bring It Around Town

    Going back a few minutes when Arthur and Richie''s team had entered Shakstress''s ship...


    Nearly thirty nteds were working and doing their best to utilize various technologies that the Presider approved to fix therge hole in the ship.


    But at that moment...


    "RIIIIIINNNNNNGGGG!" A powerful frequency was heard.


    The sound had a strange power as it only affected these people. All of these nteds were clutching their ears as a severe headache attacked them.


    Explosions urred almost instantly, and most of it created a thick smoke that covered the area.


    The orders rang out.


    "nteds! Focus repairs on the Delta sector of the ship! Close the breach that was made and apply any level 3 techs. Follow your corresponding Pioneer for the use of techs!"


    But now, one around the area heard it.


    As the smoke rose and the screaming nteds continued to grimace in pain, Richie reached out on one of the nted.


    The power of his sound caused a tremendous vibration on the person, and the person''s body began to break out, and his blood was gushing everywhere. It was as if the person''s body was made of ss, and he was being exposed to a dangerously high frequency that could shake him.


    The sound did so much more than just create a tuning sensation. It was malevolent. It was crushing him and grinding him.


    Soon, his entire body waspressed into a ball of meaty flesh.


    Richie tossed the ball towards the hole as he picked up the clothes of the man. Not a single drop of blood was on it.


    "Hmm? I hear the voice of the Presiders. Pridgeon just mouthed off the name of his enemy. The enemy is a Presider called Shakstress. They talked about something called a Conqueror. Going by the context. It sounds like the way we address and categorize Oveers." Richie said as he made the same attack on another man.


    "Richie, since you''ve heard the voice of Shakstress, send an order around the entire flying saucer to direct all firepower to Pridgeon. You also can give an order to make those Dark Armors do something to buy Hermes more time. Have you heard what''s these Presiders call those Dark Armors?"


    "Yep. They call that suit the Sun Devourer suit. And they are preparing a huge attack at Hermes."


    "Can you contact Hermes?"


    "Yep. I just tried. It seems that the weakened forcefield and those spatial distortions are making my sound expand further."


    "Alright. Give instructions to Hermes. Tell them of your n. I believe that Andronze will contact Lowengren soon to ask how tomunicate with Hermes. Tell Hermes about Shakstress and your n. The goal is to make Andronze believe that Hermes is a Presider."


    "Alright. Got it! Leave it to me!" Richie gave an evil grin. He had been so impressed with Lowengren''s lies that he wanted to copy it. With his powerful sound, he began to send two specific sounds.


    One sound urred all over the ship. The other was sent to Hermes.


    As Richie was sending the message, the rest had captured more men and were using their respective means to kill the nteds and disintegrate the bodies of the nted they caught under the shroud of smoke.


    Gardo had burned up another man while Chris and Grace were using nano-tech to eat up the body of another nt. Oark, Madison, and Cheryl had injected the nted they killed with a special virus that began to eat the man''s body from the inside out.


    The message that Richie sent echoed all over the ship.


    "Pioneers! Send an all-out attack to Pridgeon! I''ll deal with those flying five! And I''ll enable a secret protocol. Fuse all of the Sun Devourer into one! Order all pilots to rush at each other at maximum speed! Do it now!"


    Richie''s shout imitated the Presider''s voice, and tone and her expression were extremely angry and immediate.


    All the Pioneers were jolted at the angry cries and began to follow the orders with great haste.


    "Sun Devourers! Move to maximum speed and fuse! Presider will be activating a new protocol to merge all your suits and create something far more powerful! Do it now! We will be focusing all our firepower on attacking Presider Pridgeon!" Themanding Pioneer ordered.


    Without hesitation, the Sun Devourer suits moved with great speed towards each other as Shakstress''s ship began to shootser attacks that could move on its own.


    "Hm?! Pioneers! A spy has entered the ship and is imitating me to broadcast fakemands! Check all our systems and see if our devices have been hacked!" Richie''s broadcast continued.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The Sun Devourers crashed at each other and created strong explosions. The suits were hurling uncontrobly after the impact.


    Inside the ship, the Pioneers were shocked at the development.


    "What?!"


    "That hacker!"


    "What are you doing?! Why did they all move too fast?! I''m fighting a freaking Presider here! I wasn''t able to time the merging correctly! So have them do it again! But don''t make them move too fast!"


    "Why did you order all Sun Devourers to ram each other?! Listen, someone is hacking the ship and giving off orders! So do not obey any strange orders!"


    "Pioneers! Why did you attack Pridgeon?! Focus on defending the ship and kill those five men! I will grant up to level five tech ess to everyone."


    "I will grant up to level five tech ess to everyone."


    "I will grant up to level five tech ess to everyone."


    "Eagle man!"


    The top Pioneers heard three different Shakstress in the ship.


    What was even more strange all three said the same sentence of granting level five tech ess.


    Richie''s unlocking and perception were high that when the real Shakstress gave ess to level five techs, he immediately copied her words and spoke the same phrase but with different tones. With Richie''s fast perception, it sounded like all tree Shakstress spoke themand altogether. It wasn''t easy for the Pioneers to identify which one was the real Presider!


    For good measure, Richie also threw in the name of the superhero name he assumed during his battles with Akasha when they raided the Kraken.


    The chaos in the ship sparked amotion as the Pioneers were panicking. At that time, the group finally moved out of the smoke-filled rooms wearing masks and moved as if dangerous chemicals attacked them.


    "Help me!"


    "Save me!" The team began to plead at the nearby nteds and Pioneers who were working to seal the area.


    "Take them to the medical bay!" A Pioneer ordered.


    Since the real bodies of the nteds who wore the suit they stole were all disinterested in unique ways, no one suspected Richie''s team of being spies.


    As the group was being escorted, Richie was bragging about his aplishments to Arthur.


    "See? Not bad, right? I''m like a Lowengren junior! I made a fool of this ce?"


    "Eh? Honestly, I''m not impressed." Gardo frowned.


    "Really?" Richieined.


    "I made those so-called Sun Armors crash into each other! I even created confusion on this ship!"


    "And that''s very impressive. But you justpared yourself to Lowengren!" Gardo answered.


    "Yeah! Because like him, I made the enemy make a fool of themselves!"


    "Lowengren once made a Commander of an Egyptian base to run out of his own base and attempt to murder the general via suicide bombing while screaming ''for my uncle''s ex-girlfriend''. You deceived them into believing that there was a powerful fusing power which, in all likelihood, is very usible. Lowengren''s lies break away from the usible. Need I remind you, he has sessfully convinced Presiders to study dildos for the so-called Phallic techs." Arthur answered irritably.


    "..." Richie''s mouth was wide open.


    "How the fragment did Lowengren convince an Egyptian Commander to die for his uncle''s ex-girlfriend?!" Chris was amazed.


    "Just don''tpare yourself to Lowengren in terms of deception. If Lowengren had your power, this war would be our victory!" Arthur added.


    "Ri-Right. I''m sorry." Richie apologized.


    "But of course, Imend you for your amazing lies," Arthur added.


    "How does Lowengren do it?"


    "He told me that he starts with the end in mind. He has a picture of whatedic or absurd scene he wants and then lies his way to achieving that. Your lies are grounded within the truths. You bend the results ording to what lies you think you can make and adjust the ending to it. Lowengren was once at that stage. But now, Lowengren has perfected the ways of lying that are akin to gambling. He throws out a lot of bluffs and risks being found out by using things that sound unbelievable. But with his Zone, he manages to win at every gamble he makes. That''s why I partnered with him to learn that skill since I need it when fighting Presiders."


    "Amazing. So that''s how you managed to lead us out of the ocean of fire!"


    "Yes. Anyway, we need to acquire Pioneer-level identities. It''s only a matter of time when your lies will be uncovered and when Shakstress gains control of her ship once more. You''ve already missed your window in those lies. Lowengren could have easily taken control of this ship if he had your power."


    "I guess Lowengren''s Oveer level now with such abilities. I guess I''ll have to be content with what I have." Richie chuckled.


    As the group moved deeper inside and secretly began their sabotage and pilfering of techs, Andronze watched in awestruck expression.


    She saw it clearly. The odd movements that the five men made caused all Sun Devourers to rush and crash into each other.


    The attacks also changed target.


    "What an amazing tech!" Andronze quickly sent the information towards Lowengren."


    "I''ve sent the tech details! Tell me how tomunicate with these Presiders!" Andronze hastily demanded.


    "Nice! These are great techs! Alright... Tomunicate with them, You need to have a cup of tea, two biscuits, and a cactus. Next, open the windows of your ship to create an opening as his ability could be hindered by physically blocking the line of telepathicmunication. Once done, you have to do the following actions! Spin around, stop, double-take three times and say the number of your double-take as you double-take. And then, jump forward while saying, ''Pelvic thrust!'' Stop on your right foot, don''t forget it! And then, you say, ''It''s time for tea! The cactus is rubbing me strangely.'' After that, you will immediately be connected to one of those Presiders through some strange technology. It will be as if his voice is right behind you."


    "Wha-what?" Andronze has never been so confused in her entire life.

 Chapter 402 - A Great Cry In Egypt

    Shakstress immediately noticed the oddity of her ship''s reactions and began to move back to the ship. Her ship was now attacking Pridgeon with its full force forcing Pridgeon to be on the defensive.


    Various inconsistent orders being broadcasted out of the flying saucer along with the repetitive cheer of ''Eagle Man!'' caused the ship to fall into a state of panic.


    "Shakstress!" A cry resounded out. It pierced through space and was heard by every living being within a five-kilometer radius from Shakstress''s ship.


    Pridgeon and Andronze were startled from the sudden voice that resounded angrily.


    Shakstress frowned as she returned back to her ship and initiated various powerful technological defense measures.


    Hermes smirked as he heard Richie''s technique.


    "So this is Answered Prayer. He''s improved a lot." Hermes praised. He then turned his attention to the retreating Sun Devourers.


    The nearby Flood Dragons also stopped attacking, and theck of chaos allowed the wind channels to reform, linking Hermes to Lowengren.


    "Each Presider are making their preparations for big moves and attack. Let''s retreat for now. We''ll try to steal a Sun Devourerter." Hermes issued his orders.


    "You''ll have a lot of changester, Hermes. If my ns work, then the Presider Andronze will be your aide in getting that."


    "Good." Hermesughed as he ordered his winds to keep on performing odd motions making Adronze even more nervous as Alvin was doing strange movements from his favorite video games and animated shows at the Flood Dragons.


    Among all Presiders present, none was more busy, frantic, and confused than Andronze.


    There was a long list of techs that allowed Presiders tomunicate. In the culture of their world, being hacked, interrupted, and found out by their peers and enemy was somon that all at the level of Presiders and onwards would invest in creating unique means ofmunication that is limited to a specific signal, style, or would use specific receivers.


    But in all of Andronze''s life with all her dealings with various Presiders, has she heard of a method ofmunication that required such bizarre requirements tomunicate. Also, how can such movements even connect her to the Presider?!


    Lowengren was secretlymunicating with Hermes. The strange orders were ryed upon. And Hermes had an even more bizarre expression.


    "And here I thought Richie was starting to be like Lowengren. What a foolish thought." Hermes shook his head and led his team to a temporary retreat. With Andronze''s potential alliance, stealing the Dark Armors had just be easy.


    Andronze has asked Lowengren to exin it once more.


    "Step on my right foot, don''t forget it?" She mimicked with confusion. She was still connected to Lowengren when Hermes''s wind channel arrived. And since Hermes had the ability to use the wind to block and seal the traveling sound, Lowengren was able to talk to Hermes while talking with Andronze.


    "Yup. That''s what we do to contact them. I need to emphasize, stop on your right foot, don''t forget it!"


    "How? That''s stupid! Are you taking me for a fool, Pioneer?!"


    "Listen, little girl. I don''t know what those Presiders can do. Their power is far beyond what we can think or imagine."


    Andronze felt great heat in her ears as she heard this. At first, she was being referred to as ''Lady,'' and now it''s ''little girl.''


    "This Presider said that by doing this, you create a certain frequency that is so unique that it makes it easy for him to find in the dimensions beyond. With those actions, he can establish contact. Of course, you need to do the ritual. He said something about how praying on phallic symbols and altars did the same thing and how they used the practices of most religions in prayer and so forth to create the link." It was as if the mysteries that had clouded Andronze revealed themselves. Although Arthur had long determined that something was being kept in Egypt, Lowengren didn''t know that there was something peculiar with the legacy object of the Lost Primordial that was connected to his ims.


    But as the clouds parted in Andronze''s mind, the realization and implication horrified her.


    "Those Presiders are strong! Top-Tier!" Andronze realized that if the Presider could activatemunication link, in the same way, a prayer, it would mean that their usage of dimensional science was so farpared to hers.


    "Alright. So I''ll open up the doors and windows?"


    "Right. Basically, the point is that it''s possible for him to move towards you physically."


    "Got it. The tell General Aurom to send me tea, the two biscuits, and the cactus."


    "You don''t have any?" Lowengren asked with a confused expression.


    "Of course, I don''t have any. Why would I have all three of those items?"


    "Well... I know Presider Pridgeon has some. And among us Pioneers, it''s verymon knowledge. All Presiders have them. Presider Zeraphine, Presider Lanterk, even thete Presider Crostfree. We always wondered what mystery that is, and it''smonly talked about among Presiders. But I guess it''s only for the stronger ones." Lowengren sighed and began to mutter very soft words that even Andronze couldn''t hear.


    But amidst those mumblings were clear words such as ''weak,'''' ipetent,'' and ''fragmenting idiot.''


    Andronze was at the tip of her patience.


    "Call General Aurom and tell him to prepare those things," Andronze demanded.


    "You''re not the boss of me. Frankly, I think you should stop ying Presider, little girl. Just because you have some big weapons and found something under Egypt doesn''t mean you''re a big shot. It''s not like what you have under there is a secret anyway. Besides, I asked those naked guys. They said that whatever it is you found is not worth fighting for." Lowengren berated back.


    Andronze wanted to shout, but Lowengren''s words were making her feel fear.


    "Besides, think about it! I call General Aurom and tell him that the Sun God of Egypt wants him to prepare tea, two biscuits, and a cactus right in the middle of a war between gods? You call him! He won''t believe me and may even treat me as a spy!" Lowengren shouted back.


    Andronze cursed and immediately dialed General Aurom.


    "He-Hello?"


    "General Aurom. This is the Sun God. Prepare some tea, some biscuits, two of them to be exact, and a cactus! My Pioneers will retrieve them from you. Hurry!"


    "Ah what- you want what? Who is this? Su-Sun God?" General Aurom received the call from the specializedmunication line, but the request was just too odd that he couldn''t believe it."


    "This is the Sun God! I have my reasons! Do it!"


    "Wh-what brand of biscuits? And the vor of tea? And how big is-is this cactus?" General Aurom panicked.


    Andronze was about to scream her top off but realized that she could not give specific answers.


    "DAMN IT!" Andronze shouted as she hung up the phone and called Lowengren back.


    "What brand of Biscuits? What vor of tea? And the cactus? Give me the details!" Andronze urged.


    "What? You don''t know? Doesn''t your Pioneers know?"


    "I don''t have time to ask them!"


    "Pay up. Give me another set of techs." Lowengren demanded.


    "DAMN YOU!" Andronze hung up and called all the Pioneers under her service.


    "Presider." All the Pioneers of Egypt answered and gave the glorious bow.


    But Andronze didn''t have time for courtesy.


    "What biscuits, teas, and cactuses do other Presiders use? Give me every information as to what brands, vor, the sizes, amount! Give me all the details! Anything that you''ve heard through gossips or whatever theories you Pioneers spout out! I want information now!" She demanded with great urgency.


    Never has there ever been a more confusing moment in Egypt than this. Not since the dawn of Egypt''s ancient rise up to the present age of the Sun God Presider Andronze.


    "Pre-Presider... What do you mean? We-we!"


    "The biscuits! The Tea! The cactus! Aren''t these thingsmon knowledge to Pioneers?"


    "Presider, we don''t know what other Presiders prefer during tea time."


    "You don''t know!? Why don''t you know?!" Andornze erupted in anger and activated a device that brought severe pain to all Pioneers.


    "AHHH!"


    "Mercy!"


    "No more!"


    There was a great cry throughout thend of Egypt, such as there has never been or ever will be again.


    All the Pioneers were down on their knees, feeling a pain far worse than death. This protocol was an instrument of great pain and torture and was only reserved for the cruelest crimes against the Sun God.


    And the reason why all Pioneers felt this was because no Pioneer in Egypt knew the tea time preferences of Presiders as well as what biscuits they like to snack on, or what cactus ornament they like sitting in their table while they have their tea.


    Andronze didn''t waste time and contacted Lowengren.


    "My Pioneers don''t know you have been lying-"


    "Oh right! I forgot that you guys are xenophobic Egypt. They don''t have much contact with other Pioneers, right? No wonder. Well, I''m sorry to say this. But you have to pay up. This time, give me some Presider techs. You know... anything." Lowengrenughed.


    "FRAGMENT! YOU MOTHER FRAGMENTING PIONEER!" Andronze howled.


    "Whatever. Enjoy dying by that Presider''s hand. That one on the flying saucer is Presider Shakstress, right? I just called them, and they told me. I don''t know who she is, though. They even told me a piece of juicy information which I''ll give you for free. Shakstress is at the level where she has raisin cakes." Lowengren revealed.


    "Raisin cakes?!"


    "You''re not even at the level of biscuits and tea. And you''re asking about raisin cakes? Little girl, I''m more knowledgeablepared to you. I''m convinced that between the two of us, I deserve to be the Presider. So now that I know my price and worth, I''m upping the price tag. I demand Presider techs!"


    Andronze was gritting her teeth so hard that even Hermes could hear it. Because Shakstress has already opened up the windows to her Pyramid, Hermes''s wind channel was already there, and he and Lowengren heard all her previous discussions with the Pioneers.


    "Raisin Cakes? Why raisin cakes?" Hermes asked as he listened up in the sky while retreating from the distorting and shrinking space above.


    "Honestly, I''m just having fun. This is so fun.." Lowengren chuckled in response to Hermes''s bewilderment.

 Chapter 403 - Shakstresss Counterattack

    Shakstress appeared in the mainmand center of her ship and took one look at the reports.


    "A Presider has infiltrated this ship. Or at least, a team of trained and prepared Pioneers which has several Presider level techs. Sound technology? At an interesting tech..."


    Despite the chaos, she was finally excited.


    "It''s been a while since I had such problems. Finally, a trial that could help me improve my Conqueror Potential." She smiled as she began to search the ship as her Throne synced with it.


    "Continue bombarding Pridgeon with constant attack. He won''t make any big moves for now. He will wait for the right time. Right now, the battle is between me, those who created the Dimension-Cleaving attack, and whoever is that infiltrated my ship."


    "Presider. What are your orders?"


    "Takemand and release orders that everyone is to ignore and direct orders that are allegedly by me. Show a video with me so it will be authentic."


    "Yes, Presider!" The Pioneer did as ordered.


    A broadcast urred all over the ship and revealed the video footage of Shakstress standing behind the Pioneer Commander, who gave out several orders.


    Outside, the entire ship was turning strange as the ship kept erging and shrinking on certain parts.


    The sandstorm and locust technology of Egypt continued to increase as the entirend of Egypt kicked up a sandstorm.


    Therge water creature that the Emperors created gave out orders to all the ships and asked them to reorganize and regroup. Treaties and ceasefires were forced on all nations as they were all given direct orders to prepare their weapons to attack therge saucer.


    Most human technologies failed as the people of Earth tried to make sense of what they saw and soon followed the directives of the Emperors.


    In the constant exchange between the Moon and the saucer, it was clear that the moon was on the losing end.


    Shakstress was immediately able to resolve the many conflicts and confusion within the ship.


    "What a very impressive intruder. All the lies and attempts have deeper purposes. It seems that I have to make some effort to search for these rats!" Shakstress sneered as the windows and screens that all themanders were looking at all changed into what Shakstress want.


    "Where are those who had attacked us earlier? I saw that there were five of them who had some Wind Technology?"


    "They have retreated towards the sandstorm and is near the Flood Dragons. But with the sandstrom covering them, it''s difficult for us to detect them."


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Intense vibrations could be felt all over the ship as the Flood Dragons attack began to reach. The momentary focus of attacks towards Pridgeon''s ship allowed some of the Flood Dragon''s attacks to reach the force fields of the ship.


    Shakstress took one look at it and frowned as she continued to watch the movements of the Flood Dragon.


    "Hmp. Save our more powerful attacks forter. Focus on defending. Those movements... Andronze is buying time. I bet everyone is preparing to pounce and attack me."


    "It seems that Presider Andronze and Presider Pridgeon have invested so much in trapping you, Presider."


    "Hmp. Whoever that woman was, she sure has made her preparations. But I doubt that that powerful attack was from either of the two. It seems another hidden Presider is here. They could Top-Tier for all we know." Shakstress then turned to the screen to see what the five men who made the Dimension-Cleaving attack were doing.


    Her face then turned to confusion.


    "They have been doing those odd movements for a time now."


    "I see. So even those Emperors have stopped attacking. They are all waiting for those who infiltrated this ship to do something. Even the WGP is waiting. Like I''ll let you wait.! Activate Shrink Distortion and keep attacking Pridgeon. Commander, I leave defending the ship to you. You are granted control of up to level seven techs."


    "Yes, Presider!"


    "ss Two Commanders, follow mymands. We will be capturing the rats that entered my ship!"


    The orders were made, and a strange change began to fill the air.


    Hermes and the Four Winds felt it.


    "Rx. That can''t kill us. Space is shrinking and expanding back to normal. We just have to be careful of the shrinking attacks. Here ites. Prepare to evade." Hermes ordered.


    The Winds began to move as nearly invisible attacks began to rain down from the Flying Saucer.


    The WGP immediately acted andunched various attacks on the sky. Explosions suddenly urred without any reason.


    The ships below detected several rockets andser attacks aimed at them despite having no visuals.


    The ships, submarines, and all military unit that were on flight shot out their anti-air weapons, and explosions rang the sky. But others were toote, and the attacks reached them.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacksnded, and it caused confusion and despair to many ships that had no means to defend against it.


    All of a sudden, the sea''s water rose and became a shield to protect many ships.


    The Pioneer watched it and cursed as the WGP was able to use its tech to counter it.


    "Damn those WGP!"


    "Did a Presider sell out to the WGP?" One of the Pioneers mumbled to his peer.


    "No. Not sell out. It''s probably a trade." It was Shakstress who answered as she kept on configuring with severalputers at once through her rule.


    "Whoever figured out how the WGP had an impressive tech hidden somewhere is smart. Of the WGP had another tech equal to Throne technology, I would participate in a trade." Shakstress chuckled.


    "Presider, our attacks are bing ineffective."


    "It was never meant to seed. They are all waiting for the right time to fight me. The most pressing matter is the infiltration in our ship. I believe that''s what all our enemies are waiting for." Shakstress began her search.


    As Shakstress started her search, Andronze was coughing up blood from the trades she made.


    Yet, she finally had what she wanted. She acted with great haste as the attacks of Shakstress that shrank and expanded even reached the Pyramid ship she rode.


    The requested items were procured, and Andronze began the strange ritual.


    She spun around and stopped. She turned around three times.


    "One... Two... three... Pelvic Thrust!" She shouted as she jumped forward andnded on her right foot.


    "It''s time for tea! The cactus is rubbing me strangely." She dered.


    As she did all those, she waited. But no response came.


    She was growing impatient and finally moved to grab herm device to yell at Lowengren. But then...


    "Took you long enough. I''m already busy with this Top-Tier Shakstress. What do you want, Andronze?"


    A voice was heard, and just as Lowengren described, it was as if the voice spoke next to her.


    "Presider! I want an alliance against Shakstress."


    "If you weren''t on our side in the future, I would have killed you. But I guess you are neutral. Mysterious things will be soon revealed, and Presiders will have to choose who to ally. Have you made yours?"


    "What''s going to happen in the future?" Andronze asked. For the first time, she was finally starting to believe that these formerly nude men that infiltrated Egypt were, in fact, from the future!


    "I can''t tell you because it will affect the future! We are fighting forces beyond the Principal, and they can twist and tweak time. If you know even a bit of what will happen, it will only lead to more disaster. Especially you, who doesn''t even have a raisin cake! Oh. Right! That Pioneer said you aren''t even at the cactus level. Why did you allow yourself to be fooled by Pridgeon?" Hermesughed.


    Andornze was amazed at what she heard.


    "I want to help. What can I do?"


    "We time traveled, and I used whatever techs I found all over Egypt to rebuild this technology. Help me acquire one of those Sun Devourer armors."


    "You are referring to those Dark armors that you smashed on each other through a powerful tech?"


    "Powerful? It''s not that powerful, to be honest. It''s just how you use your technology."


    "What can I get in return for this?"


    "Whatever I can scavenge from Shakstress." Hermesughed.


    "Deal. Help me. I willmand my Flood Dragons to aid you!"


    "Good! Let''s go!" Hermesughed as he flew closer to the sky, and the Flood Dragons also rose from the sandstorm and began their attacks.


    Within the flying saucer, the divided team of Arthur all began to work.


    Madison, Oark, and Cheryl moved to the eastern side of the ship. While they didn''t have a map of the ship, the sonar scans of Richie allowed them to have a mental map of the area. As such, the group knew where they had to go.


    "Turn left and wait. Chris and Grace... Wait for a few seconds, and then kill those two. You don''t have to destroy their bodies." Arthur continued to give orders from a certain enclosed room.


    Arthur continued toy out all the pieces in preparation for the trap. But with every move he made, Shakstress was already making a counterattack. So even though Shakstress didn''t know what the plot was, she was still able to corner Arthur.


    "This Shakstress is strong!" Arthur concluded as he kept seeing failure at the end of his plots.

 Chapter 404 - Richie’s Worry

    Arthur kept issuingmands to Chase Brender, who, like Sammy, had a portion of Richie''s sound.


    The group created several points of transmission that helped them mask the origin of the sound.


    Yet even this n was about to be countered.


    Arthur was trying to keep up at the speed and pace of orders that Shakstress was making.


    "Her pace in fixing the issues we made is being resolved. Although there are no signs that she managed to figure out that we are disguising ourselves as nted, we have to assume that it''s within this possibility. Richie, the moment we lose contact with each other, you are to reveal yourself and start fighting. Create amotion, but do not go all out. She has to believe that we are a suicide squad sent to die! Everyone, you must remember that every action you take is to add confusion to this ship and-"


    "I lost contact!" Chase Brender suddenly reported.


    Even with the careful plot of Arthur, Shakstress was easily able to ovee it through the application of her technology.


    As expected, Shakstress did something that quickly ended the ingenious method ofmunication that could not be countered if used against any other nation on Earth. Thepression, shrinking, and expansion of space created a distortion of the dimensions in their ship that changed the rules of how sound traveled.


    The group was now in the dark.


    "Oh? It already happened? It''s far earlier than I expected. I guess we can only hope that everyone here can ovee and that no one dies."


    "That sounds very unlike you. From what I heard, you are a master tactician. Sammy even wanted to be paired with you in this mission."


    "Seeker told me that my mistake in the future was always trying to fix things personally. I didn''t trust others as much as I should. In this life, I n to do what I can do to the best, but at the same time, give opportunities for all of the Unlocked to grow. It''s a risky way of thinking. But I can''t afford to do that in the future. It has to be now, in this battle where the stakes aren''t high. Let''s go!"


    Chris and Grace finally reached the medical facility by being dragged in by the nteds ordered to deliver the wounded.


    The pair had visible metal pierced through them, and they were groaning in pain.


    Their masks were also burnt, and their faces had terrifying burns.


    Their critical condition forced the on-board doctors to immediately sent them inside the ward.


    The pair were carried over into the central ward. Inside the ward, huge capsules and beds with different devices on the top were being used. Several patients were waiting in line as the more severe cases were brought in first.


    "Nothing we can do with this one. She''s burned. That energy attack from the Presider can''t be cured. Toss her to the side. Send in the next nted."


    "No! Please no! I can still live!"


    Despite the desperate pleading of the woman, she was ignored, and the nurses pressed a switch that threw the dying woman off the bed and brought in another wounded patient.


    Many wounded were brought in because of Andronze''s attack, which tore a hole in the ship. The assistants and nurses didn''t even bother to ask who they were.


    "Have you found a doctor?" Grace asked with a worried tone.


    "No. No one can save us!" Chris answered. The pair spoke in codes even while talking in another frequency that the nurses who were bringing them couldn''t hear as they feared that the power of the Presider could still hear them. With Arthur''s warnings, everyone inside always assumed that the techs of the Presiders could even grant them a form of omnipresence that could filter out their words.


    They had a mission. And that mission was to secure the medical chamber so that if any of the others were wounded, they could be healed.


    To do that, they needed to find the highest-ranking doctor.


    As the pair were being brought deeper inside the ward, Chris and Grace finally heard someone who fitted their category.


    "I have orders to prioritize those that are soldiers. It seems that the intruder has snuck in." The voice was not loud. It spoke to the top doctors on duty and told them what their priority was. They have positioned an earshot away from the main ward, but Chris and Grace had the ears to hear it.


    Both began to groan as they turned in pain, trying to see who the doctor was.


    After seeing who it was, the group was finally brought in a capsule, and the healing process was about to start.


    "What''s their number?" The doctor in charge frowned.


    "Their uniforms were burned up! And they couldn''t talk. So we don''t know."


    "Fingerprints?"


    "Burned. Their hands have suffered burns that prevent us from getting a clear search."


    "And their faces are also burned... We can''t determine if their soldiers. Toss them to the side for now. We''ll heal them after we clear three soldiers." The doctor ordered.


    "Five... Eight... Three... Alpha," Chris voiced out weakly.


    "And... she''s Nine Seven Oh Tango." Chris continued.


    The doctor heard the pair and typed in the details, and received the alerts.


    "Hmp. It''s good you managed to talk. So you two are soldiers, after all. Alright. Begin treatment." The doctor ordered.


    The group had taken notes of the various soldiers that they met. Every time they saw someone with a different uniform, they killed them and would steal whatever identities they had. All of them had small, handy techs that could be triggered and activated with the Unlocked cells. Weaponized form of Meng''s Destion, Richies''s sound, Lennox''s thunder, Typical''s Needle, the wolf serum of Amir Mann, the sh grenade of Meryl, Rosa''s ice st, and their most recent addition, a blood pill made from the science of Akasha.


    Through the individual andbination of these small, undetectable devices, they managed to infiltrate and kill more.


    "More of those strange wolf-like creatures appeared nearby! All avable or healed soldiers, pleaseply!" An announcement rang out.


    Chris and Grace had injected the wolf serum to create these and made them move freely within the base. Various techs were used to kill them, but the panic and the number of these rapid and madmen created a situation simr to a zombie apocalypse.


    The doctor began to hurry with his treatments.


    Chris and Grace were concentrating on how to operate the device. It wasn''t just the doctor treating them, but they kept looking around to see what the other doctors were doing.


    On the other side of the ship, Richie and Sammy looked around.


    "Alright. Lead the way, boss!" Sammy immediately moved to the back as theirmunication with Arthur disappeared.


    "You''re not sticking around?"


    "I will die if I meet that Presider. Looking at these metals used to create the insides of this ship, I am convinced of how hard it is. Some parts of this ship use a metal only a level weaker than the metals used for the Rules of Emperors. If you are going to start amotion, you''d need to make quite a bang. So I have to retreat. That Shakstress might appear." Sammy sighed.


    "I guess you''re right. What do you n on doing?"


    "I figured I could try my luck in being a spy. While everyone is focused on looking for any techs they can steal from here, I''ll see if I can find something useful for our team. And the best way is to follow where you are wreaking havoc. You go on your rampage and try to stead any techs forcibly. I''ll follow along behind pretending to help around while gathering techs."


    "Smart. Be careful then. The sound armor can protect you from a powerful attack once. But in a ce like this, you would have a high chance of dying if you need to use that sound anyway."


    "I more worried about you, Boss. You divided your powers four times. You are not exactly like Hermes. Your sound is way weaker than it was when we caused trouble in the Americas."


    "Whether I carry a knife or a gun, I''m still an Oveer. Besides, this is my way of forcing myself to increase my power."


    "Just be the careful boss." Sammy sighed as he retreated. He was very worried about what Richie will do. He had heard Arthur say that Richie shouldn''t show too much power. But Sammy had already improved in his ability to sense sound and vibration. But beyond that, he also began to develop the intuitive capabilities of Richie in being able to sense, foresee, and anticipate danger.


    He moved back because the sensations that he had felt the moment Arthur disconnected were ufortable and terrifying. Sammy had never had this emotion before, even when he apanied Richie in the raid in the Kraken.


    This sensation could only be exined by certain groups of people who will die. And because of that, he knew his boss would do something to change that sensation. He knew that his boss was extremely worried and would do something drastic.


    Richie took in a deep breath.


    The shout began inside of him, and this sound gave birth to more sounds. The source of the disconnect was made since vacuums began to appear on certain parts of the ship to stop the flow of sounds.


    Inspired by the theology of how God ''spoke'' the universe into being, Richie was able to find a solution to create it. Seeker had shown a weak version of this power in the Kraken. But Richie, who tread on this Path, knew and could harness a power several times greater than Seeker''s attack. He created the sound in him without using any existing matter or molecule.


    The birth of these molecules sparked various detectors to react.


    Shakstress was busy with her many counter ns, but then she paused when she sensed this.


    "Creation? Impossible!" She cursed as she searched for the source."


    Richie''s goal was to create a sound force that would echo out and produce a strange reaction in the dimension forcing the other dimensions to provide and give birth to new molecules to exist, which would allow vibration to be possible.


    This ability touched on a critical science that all Presider''s sought after. This was the foundation for them actually to create their source of energy.


    "Who is it? Someone has already weaponized True Creation?" Shakstress cursed.


    Richie finally released his mighty roar.


    The power of the Roar of Judah erupted from his mouth.


    "EAGLE MAN!" Richie shouted.


    The walls of metal in front of him were crushed as the powerful sound erupted and began to move and break through the walls of metal.


    Immediately after the power moved, an Exoskeleton appeared and raised its hands to block the attack.


    BOOM!


    The powerful attack of Richie ended with a simple wave of the enemy''s hand.


    "A Supreme Exoskeleton, huh? And this one is from a Top-Tier Presider!" Richieughed.


    Three more appeared on different locations as they blocked the exploding sound attack of Richie that tore through the walls and walls of the ship.


    "Let''s take this somewhere else." The man piloting the Exoskeleton waved his hand, and the space around them began to shrink.. Almost instantly, Richie disappeared along with the four Supreme Exoskeleton.

 Chapter 405 - Miniscule World

    Richie and the four exoskeletons didn''t just disappear like the conventional method. But rather, the space around them was shrunk.


    Unlike the many superhero characters that could minimize and erge themselves through quantum technology, the four supreme Exoskeletons didn''t just shrink orpress themselves, but it was the entire area around them that shrank.


    It was a strange scene because the shrinking of that area forced all the other objects and space nearby to fill in the missing void. Because of the shrinking, the ce that remained unshrunk looked like it was a badly edited photo where thendscape and nearby objects were stretched in an attempt to connect arge missing gap.


    The startling scene stunned Sammy for several seconds.


    But he then shook his head.


    The walls had breached a massive part of the inside of the ship. Some parts on the lower and upper levels were also damaged, and it was even possible to scale two levels up or down because of the damage.


    But even with such significant damage, Sammy grew worried.


    "The boss is this weak now?" He had seen the powerful attacks of Richie before and could tell how weak it had be.


    "They are Oveers." Sammy consoled himself as he went on to perform the mission he was in. He had also given himself some light wounds but began to help those trapped or hurt from the destruction.


    He began to use his ability to listen in an attempt to locate the nearest ce where he could ess aputer terminal. At the same time, he was listening to the reports to look for anyone with clearance to essputers.


    Richie was amazed at the scene where he was. It didn''t make sense. While the space shrunk, his body and the bodies of the Supreme Exoskeletons were far smaller than the actual space around them.


    The area where he was standing disappeared, and he began to float around as if he was in space.


    The entire assault created tremendous pressure on his body, but he managed to withstand it with a little help from his sound.


    It was not possible for Richie to breathe in his current state. But being unable to breathe and having an ample supply of oxygen was one of the most essential things that the Unlocked had to unlock.


    Richie observed the four figures who were watching curiously at him. Even though Richie wasn''t wearing any advanced suit but only had casual clothes and aical eagle mask on his face, Richie was not bothered by the new environment.


    "You survived..." One of the pilotsmended.


    "As expected of a Presider. Or are you just like us, an Elite Pioneer?"


    "I am the great Eagle Man." Richie chuckled.


    "How did you survive thepression of space without wearing an Exoskeleton armor? And how are you still breathing?"


    "But I have an armor. I''m wearing a Phallic Suit."


    "... A Phallic suit?"


    The others also looked at each other.


    "Is he making a vulgar joke?" One asked.


    "Oh. It''s a Phalium suit. Sorry. I always get all mixed up with my memories in this ce." Richie chuckled.


    "What''s a Phalium suit?"


    "You don''t have one...? No wonder you guys stuck with Supreme Exoskeleton armors. This body you see before you is a Phalium suit. An inferior but affordable armor based on the Nefilus suit that Presiders wear. I''m pretty sure Presider Shakstress has some. You guys are just not worthy for it." Richie chuckled.


    "What?!" The four eximed. It was the first time they''ve heard of such armor. The group didn''t dare ask or talk to each other. Even if such a suit existed, they had no right to question Presider Shakstress.


    "In any case. You guys will make a great warm-up before the Phallic bearers of Shakstress arrive. I''m surprised she sent you Supreme Exoskeletons instead of them." Richieughed.


    "Phallic bearers?"


    "I meant Phalium. I said Phalium."


    "No, you clearly said Phallic."


    "No, I didn''t! You guys are disgusting. Let''s start the warm-up, shall we?"


    "Warm-up? Can you even move in this Miniscule World?"


    "Oh? So it IS a small world after all?"


    "Let''s see if you can still make these smart quips soon."


    The four began to st forward towards Richie and began to shoot various beams and sts.


    Richie smiled. One of the major priorities everyone was pursuing since the battle in the Kraken was to mold their bodies into a state that they could fight on all possible forms of dimensional alterations.


    When each Oveer went through the teleportation test, Richie was wounded so much that he nearly died. Rai had to pick up all his severed limbs. Even his instincts couldn''t protect him because he could not sense or feel the dangers in a realm where his instincts and vibrations were not functioning normally.


    But because of that, Richie was very serious in training.


    Compared to his training on moving and trying to sustain the Dimensional Distortion world that the Realm King and the Void Assassin made, this world was easy. He even trained like mad in one of the Gravity rooms that they created through Pastor Eagle''s path harnessing.


    "If only they managed to miniaturize and weaponize Pastor''s techs. This battle would have been so easy." Richie sighed.


    The attacks arrived, and Richie made simple swaying motions to evade the attack.


    This small action stunned them. They believed that whatever the Phallium suit was, it would be able to help himmunicate with them through basic transmitters. But moving just as Richie did was far more difficult. In this minuscule world, moving required advanced sciences. Space was corrupted in thepression.


    But Richie had been using various dimensional techs given to the Unlock to train in various environments since they would soon fight Presiders.


    "You know, teleportation involves a bit of shrinking andpressing space. At least, the one that I experienced." Richieughed but watched and began to harness the energy as the Supreme Exoskeletons began to fire a volley.


    The first few shots were to test Richie''s movements. But now, the exoskeletons were going for the kill.


    Richie smiled.


    The iingsers suddenly stopped as a strange force repelled it. It was as if a force field was formed from the vibrations of space. Richie, having shrunk to such a point, shouldn''t have the ability to produce it. But Richie managed.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The sts urred nearby, but the attacks couldn''t break through the invisible force fields that were happening.


    "Force fields? How?" One of the pilots eximed.


    "Impossible! He shouldn''t be able to do that here!" Another began to shoot out an even more powerful sts of attacks.


    "He must also know Miniscule science!"


    "No! We would have sensed it! Are you telling me that Presider Shakstress is only second to someone in this science?!"


    "I could hear you, you now." Richeughed.


    The pilots were stunned.


    "I don''t know the science, but it''s your fault! In this ce where size is warped, it''s very easy for me to harness sound!" Richie chuckled.


    Outside of this world, Shakstress observed the battle.


    "So it is sound technology. Even though space was shrunk, he could create his own sound or wieldpressed molecules. But how is he able to create sound directly proportionate to his size?" Shakstress observed.


    Richie kept the shield up and quickly reinforced it as the matter that made up this force field was ding out. Richie gave a low hum, and the force field was starting to grow bigger and bigger.


    "I wonder why the sound I make is still directly proportional to my size here... Hrm... if I ask Lennox or the Realm King about this, I''d probably fall asleep from the exnation. Oh well. If it works, it works. I guess I can normally fight here." Richie chuckled.


    The Exoskeletons began to switch their attacks. Instead of a continuous barrage of small beams, the four began to use severalrge ones.


    Richie saw the change of attack.


    "So the Presider is watching, huh. And just when Arthur told me to keep it low profile. Sorry, Arthy. I might have to go a little all out.


    Richie discerned that they were following orders as all suddenly switched their means of attack withoutmunicating with each other.


    "Walls of Jericho!" Richie roared.


    Arge wall appeared, but space began to tremble as some parts expanded and others were shrinking.


    Therge beams suddenly erupted as it struck the walls of Jericho, but as it exploded, smaller beams appeared and shot through the expanding and shrinking location and somehow bypassed Richie''s Wall of Jericho.


    Richie rushed forward to meet the rain ofsers and began to evade the high-speed sts.


    "Nice. I''m faster here! I can finally move ording to the speed of my perception!"


    The multiple beams were easily dodged, and Richie even began to enjoy himself as he experimented on his movements.


    The speed of each of his movements kept on increasing as Richie started to understand the limitations of the new physical capacities of his body in the strange new realm.


    "His moving even faster! How is this possible?!"


    "I don''t feel any fluctuations from him! How is he even able to move in this world?"


    Richie began to take a few steps forward.


    As Richie took a step, it was as if something appeared on his feet, and he sted forward. The shield appeared in front of him, and he kept dodging around the ce as more parts of the space became distorted.


    "This ce is amazing! If I get those suits, maybe I can find science that will help me move faster!" Richieughed as he charged forward.


    Each of his steps allowed him to move more than a kilometer in a fraction of a second, and he kept evading the attacks.


    The supreme Exoskeletons started to retreat.


    "Too bad you boys have all your techs focused on being able to function here. You can''t do anything else other than fly, shoot and aim, right?" Richieughed.


    "How are you doing this?!" One of the pilots shouted back.


    "Let me ask you something in return... Can you poop in this realm? I mean, our bodies have shrunk. What happens when we poop?"


    "What?" The fleeing exoskeleton asked back.


    "Right. Sorry. That was a strange thing to ask. I was just curious." Richieughed.


    He took a step forward, and Richie suddenly increased his speed, and a powerful vibration met the fleeing exoskeleton causing great friction and traction that was slowing the exoskeleton''s speed.


    "One down!" Richieughed.


    But just as Richie was about to punch out, the exoskeleton disappeared.


    "Oh?"


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Several attacksnded on the shields that Richie quickly created. Therge beams still broke down into smaller ones, and Richie evaded them again.


    "How did he detect that attack?!" the exoskeleton pilot cursed as he appeared a kilometer away. The attack was invisible. When Richie chased the first one, the others used a certain technology to conceal them in this space. They followed Richie and waited for him to make a big attack.


    Richie was frowning


    "Oh. So you guys can do more than just move around. That was like teleportation and cloak!" Richie turned towards the empty space where the Supreme Exoskeleton he was chasing appeared.


    "We''ll kill you with the next attack!'' The exoskeleton cursed.


    The four exoskeletons suddenly disappeared as the space around them became unstable.


    Richie was unable to spot the locations of each four as they somehow made the space around them fluctuating. In the radius of Richie''s standing, severalyers of space were expanding, while anotheryer wasn''t.


    "Hrm... This is difficult." Richie frowned.


    "It''s like I''m in some abstract painting." Richie closed his eyes. He could no longer trust his eyesight. One inch from Richie''s skin was expanding. The next inch remained the same. The next was shrinking.


    The distortion made it hard for him to sense sound.


    "That Presider... she''ll definitely pay for this..." Richie gritted his teeth as a hole in his shoulder appeared.


    BANG!


    A sound echoed out. But because of the space around them, the vibrations of sounds didn''t work as they did.


    Richie tried to dodge it, but the attack had still struck his shoulder.


    "We hit him! Keep at it!" Another voice echoed out as one of the pilots cheered.


    Meanwhile, watching from the unshrunk world, Shakstress continued to ry various instructions.


    "I thought so. He''s finished. Kill him." Shasktress ryed thest instruction before turning her attention to the screen.


    "Now for those spies... Let''s find them.." She smiled as she excitedly began to scour through all the data being presented to her.

 Chapter 406 - Arthur Gives Up

    The Supreme Exoskeletons changed the method of their attack based on the directions of Shakstress.


    Shakstress was a Top-Tier. Their techs and how their mind have been altered allowed her to make urate decisions that couldbat the constant ns of Arthur. Her mind was closer to aputer that could calcte and predict things.


    Her experience in the wars of the Aragarians allowed her to fight back and outsmart her enemies constantly. Whatever techs that were presented to her, she could quickly figure out the weakness.


    "Hmp. It''sughable that after all those battles, I would fall here on Earth. I am a Conqueror!" She sneered as she began to search for the rats in her ship.


    A quick review allowed her to immediately find where the enemy could enter and at what moment. Next, she began to look at the video feeds and quickly identified the possible people engulfed in the smoke, and all walked out.


    "So that enemy was really one of them." It didn''t take long for her to figure out that one of the nteds survived and escaped from the explosions when Hermes attacked to resurface as Richie eventually.


    "So all of these people are potential enemies." Shakstress easily identified all the first people that Arthur and his team reced.


    "But that Eagle Man was a diversion, so these people will be harder to locate." She smiled.


    "I guess it''ll take me three whole minutes, so find them. Oh well." Shakstress sighed. It was too long, but she had no choice.


    Meanwhile, back in the Minuscule realm...


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Several sound shields were being made, but strangely enough, just like the first attack, the shield didn''t appear on the locations where Richie deployed them.


    Richie tried to cover his entire body with this armor, but it didn''t create sound armor on those locations. As such, he got wounded from the attacks.


    Richie tried to evade more and more of the attacks, but he still would get grazed and wounded.


    The attacks no longer usedser energy but bullets.


    Shakstress had discovered that the way Richie was moving was based on sound tech. A strange sonar power made Richie capable of sensing and moving in this realm where sight was distorted.


    Tobat that, Shakstress altered the dimensions as she curled up the space and changed the expansion andpression of everyyer.


    And so, Richie''s ability to sense and see in the dimension changed.


    The means of attacking also changed. As the entire Minuscule World now had the presence of sound through Richie, the bullets that created immense vibration became the downfall of Richie.


    The drastic change of environment was so vast that even a genius like Richie could not keep up and figure out the world he was in.


    Richie kept moving and tried to evade, but even the sound of the gunshots was distorted. Some sound urred several seconds before the bullet passed by. Some of the gunshots urred after. And there were even cases where the same gunshot was heard twice.


    As space was curled up, the sound and vibration were circling him.


    "Tsk. I can''t evade, and when I try to create a shield, it won''t even appear where I want it to!" Richie began to move with great speed, but he couldn''t move from his location for some reason.


    "Oh my. The Presider is moving this Miniscule World. My what a pickle." Richie shook his head.


    The entire Minuscule World was spinning and shifting itself by a few centimeters from its position in the real world. This small shift created a bizarre alteration in the physical dimensions in which the abstract-like appearance began to change.


    Sammy saw it from afar and couldn''t help but worry. He had expected the enemies to have abilities that could only be considered gods'' but didn''t expect it to be like this.


    "This is too much! This goes beyond whatever presumptions we have of their application! Or is it that this Presider is just too strong!" Sammy cursed.


    He pretended to act like one of the confused and fear-stricken nted but noticed that the people around him were already doing specific tasks.


    Sammy frowned. His hearing had dropped drastically. He could not hear anything beyond a certain point. He knew that this would drastically change the nted and Pioneer in the ship. The science that the Presider applied somehow distorts how sound traveled was something that Sammy believed was applied to the entire ship.


    But the issue was that the nteds were as organized as ever. He hadn''t heard any form of broadcast as to what orders were announced. But even then, the nteds were so organized in their movements.


    "These nteds are something else. And I''ve already injected the wolf serum to four people..., And even though wolves are attacking, these guys still move to perform their specific missions. So the Presider is drawing out those who are acting suspiciously." Sammy was shadowing the movements of several nted.


    With such organized movements, it was easy to draw out the traitors and spies on the ship.


    "So our n to hide in the chaos is bound to fail, huh? I wonder what I should do?"


    Sammy thought for a while and finally decided.


    One of the nteds he just turned into werewolves began to attack him.


    He allowed the werewolf to attack him just in time for other nteds to approach nearby.


    The group sted the werewolf with aser rifle shooter, which burned the werewolf.


    "No! Don''t shoot! Don''t kill me!" Sammy shouted.


    The nted looked at Sammy and aimed.


    "...At least with a gun. I don''t want to get burned..." Sammy sighed.


    The nted with the gun nodded and brought out a small handgun, and shot Sammy.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Sammy''s body fell on the floor as the nteds moved on.


    But suddenly...


    BOOM!


    A strange green explosion urred and destroyed everything nearby, including the scanners and video feeds.


    Sammy stood up and was unaffected as he was now holding on to the nted that shot him. Unlike the rest, which was devoured by the destion, this soldier was protected as the sound armor protected him.


    Sammy had sent a sound shockwave and killed the nted without damaging the suit.


    The suit suddenly unrobed by itself, and Sammy wore it with the help of his sound.


    Suddenly, he could hear again. The power of destion somehow distorted the ce and allowed him to hear.


    But what he heard frightened him.


    "I''ve found all traitors. Search for those with the heat signatures disyed on your screen. It could drop or increase, and they could be among you. I will be disying the data and the possible numbers of all spies with the following number. Beginning in Compartment V-28, look for the numbers..."


    Sammy turned and found Compartment V-28. His uniform number was also called out.


    "Damn it. I feel for the trap. Because I used Meng''s Destion, this Presider still had the tech to find the energy fluctuation of the Dragon''s Horn..." Sammy deduced. The moment he was forced to use the weaponized Path of Meng to hide his existence by blowing up the entire area, it allowed the Presider to record the energy and find it.


    "Her ability to shrink and expand space ought to have something to do with this... Now what?" Sammy sighed.


    Sammy didn''t know that within that short time frame, the organized movements of all nteds forced the rest to use one of the Dragon''s Horn, a bomb containing Meng''s destion. The only ones that didn''t use these techs were Chris and Grace Carlean.


    In another part of the ship, Chase Brender turned to Arthur.


    "Damn it! With all of our ns... We were still found out!"


    "Yes. I gave up." Arthur answered.


    "What do you mean, you give up?"


    "I wanted to see how far I could go. But it seems that her techs are just too strong for my calctions to work. Even while I am smarter and can somewhat predict the future, her techs and power can render any and all of my ns to dust. So I gave up and made you use the Dragon''s Horn. The rest should have also used their Horns to throw away attention."


    "What?! You are giving up?! What are you thinking?!"


    "Rx. I didn''t mean to give up to die. The Destion that exploded out would stabilize sound once more. Whatever Shakstress is doing to sop the sound should be costly. She stopped using it. That''s why we heard those broadcasts that are calling attention to us."


    The ID numbers of the uniforms all the Unlock assumed were being broadcasted.


    Arthur''s number, Sammy''s, and Chase were already mentioned. But suddenly, the broadcast stopped midway.


    "As expected. She went with our numbers because she was certain we were spies. But for Chris, Grace, and Madison''s team, she was nning to announce itter. But too bad. By the looks of it, she shouldn''t be able to broadcast anymore."


    "Why?" Chase was confused.


    "When I said, I give up. I meant that I stopped trying to contest this Presider in a battle of wits. So since I gave up, I asked for help." Arthur raised his right arm, which had a small transmitter. Red lights were flickering to it.


    "That''s them device that Boss Richie has!" Chase identified the tech.


    "Yes. I was able tost and protect our team with my many ns for the minimum amount of time I had set. I challenged Shakstress in this. If we couldst ten minutes in outmaneuvering or evade her until we were found out, we have a huge chance of living. But as you can see, it was very difficult that I barely seeded in reaching the time trial."


    "Whose helping us?" Chase asked. The broadcast of Shakstress never continued.


    Meanwhile... In the Command center, the Pioneers were shouting at their Presider, but Shakstress wasn''t responding. It was as if she was in a trance.


    "Presider Shakstress! A weapon of mass destruction is approaching! Should we attack it!" The Pioneers asked once more.


    Shakstress was stunned at what she saw. A figure of what looked like an old man had appeared in front of her.


    They were in a strange ce. It was outside of the three dimensions, but this was a ce that her body couldn''t move to. Her apparations allowed her to travel into dreams. And it was through that that she met the mysterious woman. But this time, it was as if her soul was plucked out of her body and dragged to the great heavens so far away. She couldn''t understand why the Pioneers were unable to see him.


    Next to the old man were three distorted figures. Their forms were even more strange as she could only barely make out the outlines of the three. While Shakstress couldn''t see the faces, she could make out that one was a woman and two were men. One stood only slightly taller than the woman, and the other man was so tall that he was a head taller than the old man and the other man.


    "Presider Shakstress. Hello. Sorry for ganging up on you. But there are just too many Top-Tier on Earth. It''ll be difficult for the four of us to aplish our ns." The old manughed.


    "Who are you?"


    One of the three distorted figures stepped forward.


    "We are Principal Yuri."


    "Yuri? Who is Yuri?!" Shakstress frowned. She didn''t know of any Principal Yuri.


    "Yuri Tarded." Seekerughed.


    "Very mature." Meryl shook her head.


    "No school like old school. Haven''t heard of that joke in a long time since we came here to Earth." Lyndughed at the side.


    "Presider! A WGP weapon of mass destruction is approaching! And another unidentified object is approaching our ship with great speed!" The Pioneer reported, which jolted Shasktress awake.


    The four figures vanished, and Shakstress immediately watched the scans to see the two objects. Then, she turned her attention to the weapons of mass destruction that were approaching from the sky.


    "Where was this rocketunched?" Shakstress asked.


    "From the World Governing Trading Hub!"

 Chapter 407 - One Might

    Moments right after Arthur and his team managed to force Shakstress, Pridgeon, and Andronze''s ship into making an appearance...


    "We will attack that! My sons and daughters are there!" The angry Emperor wasn''t asking for a request but forcing the WGP to approve his movements.


    "Emperor Phoenix, defending the World Governing Trading Hub takes precedence! I will remind you that you have already broken several protocols and are being questioned by several Emperors about your previous actions! You have several pending Audiences that you have yet to fulfill! You must have seen the footage of therge ship that appeared in the European Nations. A battle is happening, and we can''t even see it!"


    "And that is why I was right not to go back home! If I did, I wouldn''t have discovered an underwater fortress of such advanced techs that if it weren''t for my spies and the quick movements of several Emperors, we wouldn''t have found them! I have revealed many hidden secrets in this world involving the mystery of Pioneers, nteds, and these so-called Presiders! And now, the moon has returned, and arge flying saucer has appeared! If we keep acting on the defensive, then we would lose in this war that hasn''t even truly begun! I don''t care what you think! I am approving the Invoking of the Emperors there and will beunching weapons of mass destruction!" Phoenix shouted and abruptly ended the call.


    "That should do it." Phoenix then turned to Seeker, Lynd, and Meryl. Nogard was also standing at the back. His figure had changed. He was not as old as he appeared, but the white hair of his head and a majestic beard that had grown in the few short weeks he was staying appeared.


    "Still, the WGP has turned to cowards. They are afraid of offending these unknown enemies. It seems that in the passing of time, we became weak."


    "That''s the problem with sess. It will either be your descent to madness due to pride or boredom if not constantly met with challenges. In the primitive days, people were too focused on surviving and had no time to be depressed. But in an era where everything is provided, we have more issues with depression. How much more for those in power. The result is to abuse it or to becent in wielding it. At least, now you know why you guys have to ally with us." Seekerughed.


    "That''s an interesting food for thought, Seeker."


    "Not my words. It''s something that the Carlean family reminded each other. See you around, Phoenix. Let''s go, gang! Cliff. You prepare our arrival in the South Americas. With that Presider revealing her ship, I would be an idiot to pass up this opportunity!"


    "I wonder if I can copy Presider level technology? This is Top-Tier for sure."


    "Well. We better hurry. If that ship appears, the Tyrant Empress will sure take action." Seekerughed.


    And so, the World Governing Trading Hubunched a weapon of mass destruction.


    The WGP had notunched a weapon that they categorically defined as a weapon of mass destruction based on their level of power. Most of their weapons would already be considered as weapons of mass destruction by various nations.


    But now, the WGP hadunched this weapon. There were very, very few reasons in which they couldunch it. The appearance of a strange ship was the first. The WGP argued with Phoenix but ultimately approved since the Everhiss n acted independently and could be used as a scapegoat if needed.


    Arge rocket wasunched from the World Governing Trading Hub. And while it was a weapon of mass destruction, the chambers of therge rocket carried four people.


    With the advanced rocket system and no countries daring to stop the rocket, the weapons of mass destruction were quickly approaching Egypt. And as they neared, Seeker soon saw the ping that Arthur sent.


    "We''re still too far. This is a Top-Tier Presider, so I''m sure that this Shakstress that Arthur mentioned would have the ability to see through the dimensions where your soul lingers, Nogard. Can you make a projection?"


    "Of course. Realm, Void Traveling, and my Path can easily do that. I can even project an area around me provided that those nearby have the basic skills for soul cultivation."


    "That''s even better! We can pretend to be Lanterk then."


    "This is like... getting too old." Meryl frowned.


    "Every time we face a Presider, we throw Lanterk under the bus and make him the enemy. Zeraphine, Pridgeon, I''m sure that Lowengren would make Andronze also thinks this. And now, this Shakstres."


    "Yeah. I''m going to start making memes about this for our Unlocked socialwork." Lyndughed.


    "The Unlock has a Social Network?"


    "Yes. It''s running in Lennox''s mind. Part of his training."


    "That''s even weirder." Nogard was amazed.


    "Ugh. I logged off from that. Too many admirers! We''re already trying to save the world, and I still get girls and guys simping over me. And thanks to your little gay-y in front of Zeraphine, I got a lot of DM''s from guys!"


    "Ah yes. The Lynd-Arthur-Seeker Yaoi novel. I love it."


    "There''s such a novel?" Nogard was disgusted.


    "Nogard. Focus." Seeker turned red in embarrassment."


    "Right. Let me see if I can find her soul... Oh! It''s a strong one. So easy to find. I think I can begin transmission now."


    And at that time, the soul transmission happened.


    Shasktress was so startled that she stopped moving and fell into a deep trance.


    The experience made her consider the possibility that a Principal was after her!


    "Destroy that weapon of mass destruction!" Shakstress ordered. She dared not underestimate a weapon of mass destruction that wasing from the WGP.


    "Continue the broadcast and search the intruders. Send Supreme Exoskeletons to hunt for them."


    Shakstress then frowned and began to give several orders on how to resolve the multiple problems guing her.


    As that happened, Arthur finally heard the orders to search for his uniform and the specific area.


    "Yes. Hey. Seeker. How far are you? Can you help us?" Arthur spoke on them device.


    "Hey, Arthy! Sadly no. We aren''t near yet. We did manage to distract Shakstress for a bit."


    "Oh? And here I calcted that you would be in time."


    "Actually, something came up. Another Presider wanted to join the battle there, but luckily Master stopped that Presider. Because of that, the Everhiss family had some trouble gaining approval from the WGP tounch this rocket. So even with all the shocking battle you orchestrated, because another Presider moved, the WGP became all paranoid and wanted to focus on defending. I did ask Nogard to confuse her, though. Hopefully, it''ll buy you enough time."


    "She is practically better than me. We would die in the next minute."


    "Great! Then you''ll live!" Seekerughed.


    As Shakstress continued to ry information, she felt it.


    "What is that?!" She quickly activated her monitors to scan the entire ship.


    The Pioneers were confused. Nothing in their techs detected any fluctuations, but Shakstress kept changing one screen to another.


    "Toote! It''s already here!"


    The Pioneers didn''t see the chaos of the battle, and the threat of the iing weapons of mass destruction was arge piece of metal driven solely by maic technology.


    Andronze detected it as it flew through and zoomed past Egypt''s cities. But upon checking, she ignored it. For what could a simple Dawn Soldier do in this battle? Australia''s interference could not change the tide of the battle. What could Dawn Soldiers do in this type of battle?


    But what was approaching wasn''t a Dawn Soldier. Instead, it was outfitted with the hardest metal that the Unlocked created. Meng''s metal research in creating a powerful metal that could withstand the highest form of heat, radiation, and destion became the foundation for this. The ess to the supreme metal grades that the WGP used to create Rules was also added to create metal of great power and weight.


    Octarion Ceasar shot through the sky and was quickly approaching the ship of Shakstress.


    Hermes saw it and frowned.


    "Is that you, Octarion Ceasar?"


    "Aid me. Destroying this ship will help both our sides enjoy ouring war."


    "Alright."


    Up in the rocket, Seeker and Lynd sat down on the device the Nogard was seated on.


    "Let''s give him a little pull on the time of his attack. Are you ready, Lynd?"


    "I still don''t understand how your Master does it. It takes two of us to do the strength of his pull."


    "His pull and pushes don''t need to elerate for everything within that path that may cause friction is gone. Don''t limit his powers to physics." Seekerughed as the pair sat on the Realm Enhancer.


    The reach of their realm increased.


    Octarion was rushing up with great speed, and suddenly, the wind cleared on his path, and a hurricane appeared on his back that began to propel his movements. Hermes navigated the flight of Octarion so that he would reach the ship without going through the spatial distortions that were shrunk or expanded.


    As he drew closer, the telekic pull of Lynd and Seeker began as they pulled Octarion''s body.


    The speed of Octarion sped up to two times the speed of sound.


    "Hm? It must be those two..." Octarion smiled as he was propelled faster towards the ship.


    Shakstress had redirected all energy to the ship. But she couldn''t sense from what direction the attack would take ce.


    Octarion punched out, and his fist met the barrier that protected the entire ship.


    BOOM!


    The punch did not contain any other techs. No lightning, destion, teleportation, or other Paths in that punch. It did not have Typical''s needle-like force, Richie''s vibration and was not coated to create a wind shield-like what Hermes would do.


    All it had was a simple punch.


    But this punch contained the power of ten individuals. The power of Ceasar was a Path of Devouring. Each member of the Ceasar would fight and train, and through a secret science that the Lost Primordial left, the twelve individuals would fight, kill, and devour each other''s strength. Their acquired strength was not simple addition. There was apounding force that kept increasing the power when they devoured another.


    When thest two Ceasar''s remained, it was considered an impossible battle. Octarion and Decadon could not gain any advantage against each other.


    Those in the Underworld that knew of the secrets of the Caesars were relieved. For they knew that if one Might would surface, then the Underworld would have a new ruler.


    And when the world began to change due to Seeker''s interference, the fear, the rumors added terror and caution until finally, the unchanging bnce between the two Might came to a deadly crash. And Octarion won. Unlike in the previous timeline, this Earth had the only one Might remaining.


    Theunch of his fist, its eleration, and the weight of the punch had enough force that could equal arge meteor falling on it.


    The most potent Compounding Force science finally made its public debut to the world.


    BOOM!


    Octarion''s fist tore through the shield and made a hole in the creating a powerful vacuum because of the sudden change in pressure.


    Octarion continued and smashed through the wall of Shakstress''s ship. He didn''t even aim for therge hole but desire to tear a new one in the ship.


    SMASH!


    Shakstress felt the change and cursed.


    BOOM!


    But right before she could react, a small sun erupted on the other side.


    The attacks that were supposed to destroy the iing weapon of mass destruction was blocked by a powerful sun. It had so much light that the nearby countries saw a change in the sky. Thete afternoon brightened by a bit as a small bright sun emerged.


    "Argh! This battle is bing more costly b the minute!" Shakstress cursed.


    "Activate True Shrink Defensive Protocol! Shrink all iing attacks and destroy all flying enemies! I want these skies clear in the next minute!" Shakstress shouted.

 Chapter 408 - True Shrink

    Compounding Force Science was one of the most torturous and hical sciences that the Lost Primordial made. It was a science that relied on absorbing another object''s energies andpressing the two existing forces into one.


    Through the years, the Caesar family had lived in a secret world where death wasmon existence. All of its family members were ordered to live to and enjoy life up to their thirtieth birthday. They were given the freedom to debauch themselves if they wanted to. But of course, none of those born of this ursed bloodline wasted their life to do whatever they wanted to do. They were all living at the edge every day. They trained and fought hard as they knew they would soon fight, kill, and devour each other.


    Every time one of the families sessfully ate each other, the Ceasar''s organization would change. Those who were not from the pure line of Ceasars supported those who were. And they would either be killed by the opposing force that won or seek refuge towards the rest.


    Each line of the Ceasar had its own sets of technology, and it never merged as the Ceasar''s have always been divided into two parts over the past decade. But now, Octarion Ceasar controlled the family, and all the techs were his.


    The Compounding Science allowed him to release an amplified amount of force. His strength wasn''t simple addition. The strength and power that he could release were multiplied.


    The punch that had the power of a mighty bomb damaged the ship of Shakstress once more.


    Seeker watched at the strength that was released.


    "Wow. That guy has a body simr to ours, Lynd. I would even say his brute strength is even stronger than my Surmounting Strength." Seeker smiled.


    "I can''t imitate that. It feels like he''s... too huge for my Path to tread on."


    "He has over two hundred souls in him. That''s the secret. His power stores energy in another dimension."


    "I see. So the Tyrant Empress sent him not only to help but to pass along this science to us. How thoughtful of her."


    "Hrm? Tell Meryl to move back. Somethings happening. The dimensions are quivering! This is amazing!" Seeker eximed.


    "What''s happening?" Lynd asked.


    It was then that the entire ship of Shakstress vanished.


    Seeker and Lynd immediately moved out. The two of them immediately sensed the changes in their Realm.


    Seeker activated several Balls of Thunder and Lynd harnessed the sound.


    Two sound forces suddenly blocked the area where Meryl was.


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    The two sound shields quivered at it was bombarded with attacks.


    "It''s passing through the molecules of Sound! Quick! Switch to Destion! Meryl, keep shooting out your power on the direction I tell you to! And keep retreating!" Seeker ordered.


    Meryl immediatelyplied and kept attacking.


    More explosions were urring at the sky.


    "Nogard! Find that ship!"


    "On it."


    Nogard had immediately abandoned the rocket, and a small pod that could fit a single human fell out of the sky. Nogard continued to control the weapons of Mass destruction.


    The rocket flew aimlessly into the sky, but Nogard was still navigating it. A powerful force field appeared as it used various techs of the WGP.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    More and more attacks struck the force field.


    "I can still sense you. You might have shrunk that ship, but your soul is quite easy to find!"Nogardughed.


    BOOM!


    Arge explosion that was perfectly round appeared in the sky.


    The power of Origin energy that the WPG createdpressed the force of the massive explosion into a certain spot.


    Seeker and the team knew this wasn''t enough and used this time to flee.


    "What happened? A few seconds sooner, and I would have died!" Hermes called out to Seeker as the wind managed to connect them.


    Several explosions had been erupting near Hermes, but the explosion gave Hermes some breathing room.


    The Water Dragons and even the Moon were all being bombarded by attacks that they couldn''t see.


    "She shrunk her entire ship! That''s what happened! Even her bullets and attacks have shrunk to the point that we can''t see it! You better get out of there, Hermes! One Oveer is not enough to block those attacks!"


    "What do you think I''m doing? I n to hide in that Pyramid! My Winds are constantly attacking! And that stupid Lowengren made a crazy lie which I can''t contact Andronze immediately!"


    And then Hermes heard it once more.


    "Pelvic Thrust! It''s time for tea! The cactus is rubbing me strangely." Andornze dered again.


    "It looks like Shakstress got serious. My allies have arrived, and she finally released her ace techs. Look at that." Hermes did his best to sound very calm, but in truth, he was close to death as he retreated.


    "What happened? Where did she go?" Andronze asked again.


    Hermes was also asking the same thing to Seeker.


    "She shrunk her ship. Earlier, she was shrinking the space of where her ship was. That''s why her attacks suddenly erge when it reaches a certain point past the space that was shrunk, and her weapons would suddenly erge. That was also probably how she shrunk it at first. That was also how it was easy for all of you to sense her location. While the ship was very small, But now, she didn''t shrink the space where she was but the ship itself. And it looks like while her ship has shrunk, the power, mass, force, and everything else remained the same!"


    "So that''s how her attacks are chasing and hitting my wind armor. Some of her attacks are smaller than the wind molecules!" Hermes realized it.


    "Boss! What do we do?" Austin asked. He and Alvin had been working together to blow and freeze the iing attacks.


    "The weight of her attacks remains the same. My Blowing Wind can''t blow them back!" Alvinined.


    "Same goes for my Chilling Wind. Even though I can sense very small objects slipping through, they aren''t getting frozen. It''s like the temperature, and freezing points of these objects haven''t changed at all!"


    "Don''t think ording to whatever science you know. This is a battle going beyond the dimensions we know. Hermes, have those Presider cover for us! We need to wait for Arthur, Richie, and even Octarion to sabotage the ship from the inside! But with this, we might die and run out of energy with all this stuff! We can''t reveal our powers just yet!"


    Even before Seeker gave themands, Hermes has been doing just that.


    "You want me to charge in?!" Andronze eximed.


    "Of course not! Like you could kill her. I want you to shield me. She''s stronger than I thought. I need time to perform another ritual. Take us in your ship for extra defense. The attacks of this Shakstress are already getting smaller and smaller. It''s too annoying as I would need to use more of my power to block them. And get that Pridgeon to help. Tell him that that other guy who punched out was sent by ''her''." Hermes instructed as he heard Seeker suggested leaking that information.


    "I''ll try...."


    "Good. I''ll disconnect now. She could be listening for all we know."


    As Hermes''s voice disappeared, Andronze sped forward to meet the fleeing figures of Hermes.


    The Flood Dragons raced forward to position itself in front of Hermes.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The Flood Dragons began to explode one by one as it constantly made wide attacks.


    Soon, the power of the Sun Devourers appeared once more as explosions began to ur.


    Hermes and Andronze could not fly towards each other, and Andronzemunicated with Pridgeon.


    "Pridgeon! Thatrge Dawn Soldier that punched Shakstress''s ship is from her! The man who had the power of the windmunicated with me! He is allied to the WGP that arrived! The one with the strange power simr to the Sun Devourer! You must help them! Shield them from the attack! They are nning something to destroy Shakstress!" Andronze sent the message.


    Pridgeon cursed as he heard this. When Shakstress shrunk the ship, Pridgeon believed that while he could not kill Shakstress, she wouldn''t be able to kill him as well. The ability that shrunk her entire ship used a lot of Universe Energy, and Pridgeon would have to use up the ones that Crostfree hoarded. But seeing that this route wasn''t an option, Pridgeon was about to flee and abandon the battlefield. But then, Andronze told him that the soldier that had armor simr to Dawn Soldiers came from ''her.''


    At those words, memories of the wretched perfection and beauty of that woman surfaced.


    Pridgeon hesitated and nced at the three Supreme Exoskeletons that emerged out of the WGP''s weapon of mass destruction.


    "She fooled me! She must have known who or what I was when I met her months ago!" Pridgeon concluded.


    "She must be Presider level..." The punch of that soldier that created so much force that it tore right through the force field and even damaged the ship meant that the woman who pretended to be demons and wanted him to eliminate the Jews was just some Earthling who stumbled on the legacy of the Lost Primordial. But now, Pridgeon realized there was so much mystery behind it.


    "Move forward! Meet the attacks and focus on defense! Try to find that shrunken ship!" Pridgeon ordered.


    He sat on his throne and harnessed the energy of it.


    "Time to reflect the dimensions! If you want to fight, Shakstress, I''ll give you one!" Pridgeon cursed.


    The moon began to tremble, and it slowly lost its color. Inside the moon, space began to copse in itself as if a ck hole appeared. Inside the ck hole was a slightly smaller moon that looked exactly the same. It had a ck hole in its center, and yet another moon was in the ck hole..


    This appearance that looked like staring into the reflections of two mirrors facing each other appeared.


    Seeker saw it, and his mind quivered. The sight he saw when the three dimensions copsed and led to the fourth was very familiar. He had forgotten it even though he was Unlocked. This was because his limited three-dimensional form had no way to recall the sight. But now he did.


    "Lynd! Get me out of here!" Seeker clutched his head as the memories of what he saw during his rebirth appeared.

 Chapter 409 - Destiny

    The Unlocked of this timeline had trailed off so different from its original events. The techs, the personnel, and the resources that they now have allowed them to have the ability to challenge Presiders finally. They had to rely on various means to fight and kill a Mid-Tier Presider in the previous timeline.


    But now, the science of altering the dimensions was the keyponent that the Unlocked had to study.


    In the center of this study were the Void Assassin, the Realm King, and Seeker Carlean.


    Seeker had grown in so many ways that he was beginning to touch upon the truths of the dimension. However, the most important aspect that allowed him to travel in the Void Passages in his risky teleportation training was the cumtive experiences of seeing the dimensions beyond.


    Pridgeon was altering the dimensions and was merging them. This scene allowed Seeker to see that ce for the third time.


    The first time Seeker saw that ce was when he reincarnated and traveled back in time, and the second was during the battle of the Kraken.


    When Seeker fought against Crostfree, a portal was opened that allowed Crostfree to send a powerful lightning attack. That portal revealed the inside of that the fullness of the Fourth Dimension.


    That vision alone allowed the team to research and try to find a way to breach it. The dreamworlds and the vision of the soul belonged to another dimension. This wasn''t a physical dimension, and they gave up on trying to study as more understanding of Soul Cultivation would be acquired.


    But the dimension that was shown here is the physical dimension.


    "What''s going on?!" Meryl asked as she retreated.


    "That damned ce is hurting my head!"


    Lynd rushed in with his Exoskeleton and saved the out-of-control spin of Seeker.


    He caught Seeker, and the trio retreated.


    The dimensions warped as the two battled.


    Ovepping Dimensions versus the Minuscule Dimensions.


    There were no eruptions or signs that there was a battle urring. But Pridgeon and Shasktress were unloading a ton of weaponry.


    Seeker felt nauseated from the sight of it all.


    "Get me out of here! I''d lose my mind if I stayed here!" Seeker urged.


    A gust of wind blew as Herme heard them and the strong wind aided the trio in moving faster.


    As the three retreated, Hermes had finally met Andronze.


    "Hmm. Not even a raisin cake insight. Weak." Hermes gave his brutal assessment.


    Andronze felt helpless, but she remained silent.


    "What''s going on?"


    "This is a battle between Top-Tiers. One shrinks the world around them, and the other reflects the fourth dimension. You can''t see it, can you?" Hermesughed.


    "It''s quite nauseating." Hermes added as he heard what Seeker said.


    Andronze was silent. But those words made her tremble.


    She once served a Top-Tier Presider who fought another, and that Presider used the exact phrase! She couldn''t understand how that space battle that looked like they were just floating in the air, in reality, was a fight that could have changed thendscape if it happened onnd as it altered the dimensions.


    Andronze was more convinced of Hermes'' identity.


    "This is clearly a Top-Tier Presider! To thin his abilities allow him to see through dimensions! Are these five his incarnations?" Andronze began to make guesses. It wasn''t rare for Presiders and even Principals to follow the format of dividing the body.


    "Who was that person earlier? The one who released such a powerful punch?" Andronze asked.


    "Must be the Tyrant Empress. She''s been here on Earth and was a rival of Lourca Ovilli. They are like you¡ªsomeone studying the heritage of the Lost Primordial. There are various groups of Pioneers who survived and had been building up their power. They nned to challenge you guys when you get back. In my future, most of them died, but it gave rise to that man."


    "That man?"


    "He goes by many feared names. The one I fear the most... is Patricia."


    "Patricia?"


    "Focus on your current battle! I just got here and haven''t started my research! That''s why we nned to kill this Top-Tier to have the basic materials to start our many research. What techs do you have to fight against that?" Hermes asked.


    Andronze''s expression turned sour. He gazed at the current battle and couldn''t even understand it!


    "Pridgeon''s powers were the superimposing of the two different dimensions. He can hide the entire fortress inside the fourth dimension. He is using that to hinder and draw attention from the Shrinking technology of Shasktress. What can you do to help Pridgeon find Shakstress?" Hermes asked.


    "I-I know that. Will my attacks work?"


    "What techs do you have?"


    "I can offer my soul." The Presider reached out, and a strange light appeared.


    Hermes had a stoic expression, but he was about to ask Seeker questions.


    "You misunderstand. We don''t have a Nefilus Suit. This is a Phalium Suit. Time travel has a lot of limitations. Show us the techs one by one. We can''t see your soul!" Austin spoke up.


    "Indeed. Such primitive times this is. To think that these Nefilus suits would surpass us." Omricon sighed.


    "That suit is our foundation. So show some respect! Once we acquire that, our techs will naturally eclipse these old suits." Alvin made a gutsyeback.


    Andronze was shocked.


    "Hurry up," Omega ordered.


    "Ye-yes, Presiders!" Andronze then began to show them the techs.


    Hermes was silent but was secretly relieved at the quick thinking of Austin and how the others yed along.


    "Can you hear us, Lowengren? I will need you to think of a way to use that."


    "I hear you. And it''s time to initiate Arthur''s n. With your direct ess to Andronze, have her provide a powerful broadcasting system. Vender is already excited to act."


    "I... feel like I shouldn''t ask for that."


    "Trust me. The way things are going, we''re still on the losing end. Pridgeon won''t hold. And something''s up with Seeker. We haven''t heard from Richie and Arthur''s team. Whatever it is, we need Vender to get back on the mic. Arthur will expect Vender, but those Presider''s won''t."


    "I''ll see what I can do," Hermes answered.


    Seeker and the other two stood at a distance from where the battle was happening.


    The resulting vision was soplex that it made no sense at all. It was like looking into abstract art with the strange Penrose staircase that seemed to be moving upwards and downwards but would meet at the center. But there were more than just the physical dimensions. Seeker saw concepts such as time being altered. There was also a unique power that felt a lot like gravity.


    "What''s going on, Zeek? I tried imitating you but can''t."


    "You don''t have my eyes and my experience. That sight only affects those that can see it. It''s like how bright light can hurt those who can''t see but won''t do anything to those who can''t! You don''t understand or canprehend what I''m seeing."


    "Is this in any way beneficial for us? Because we still have a battle to fight, Zeek. Richie and Arthur are still inside that ship! So while we are wasting time out here, they could be dead now!"


    "Don''t worry. I saw something when Pridgeon forcibly yanked out the fourth dimension. It''s rted to Zone. But whatever that was... it''s something that has somehow bounded us to certain limitations. Call it destiny or whatever... But something is controlling our future! And I could tell... It''s working to protect Richie and Arthur!"


    "What?"


    "Our battles have been won through many things. But all of it is because the ns we have set worked! But something felt wrong when these stronger Presiders began to arrive. Arthur said he couldn''t see the future anymore. And yet, he still managed to pull off this trick. Something is helping us beyond the dimensions. That''s why the Lost Primordial was so confident! I get it now! Even my death and my time traveling was something he prepared! I was destined to go through that ck hole and go here! I can''t exin it, but Richie and Arthur will survive this battle!" Seeker exined.


    "What can we do?"


    "We have to be patient. We wait."


    "Wait? Are you sure? Your mom and dad are in there too!"


    "I''m sure. Alean has Zone because she can feel it. Arthur can tell the future because he can predict it. But that little jolt allowed me to peer into that Dimension. I can''t exin it properly. But I can see Zone now. And that Zone fuels my power. I am a Prophet just like Arthur is. Trust me. The others can go about their respective ns. But for the three of us, we have to wait and actter."


    BOOM!


    An explosion finally urred over the skies. This was strange, for the battle didn''t create explosions.


    "Look''s like it''s starting..." Seeker smiled.


    The space around the area was slowly reverting as arge transparent form of Shakstress''s ship began to appear.


    Inside the ship...


    Shakstress was enraged at the strange power that the enemy had before him.


    "How?! How are you able to withstand my attacks?!" Shasktress raged.


    The insides of the ship had severalpartments that were damaged. Shakstress had moved immediately to kill therge man who wore a thick set of armor.


    Then the first attacknded not a second since True Shrink was activated.


    Shakstress had managed to appear directly in front of him and shot out a powerful beam through her Throne.


    But what she thought was supposed to be an easy kill became difficult and even mysterious.


    The attack she sent out was one of the powerful attacks she sent. It shot out and dispersed right after it struck him so that no further harm befell the ship.


    But as the st approached, Ocatrion managed to change his form, revealing a thick shield, and Octarion blocked the beam and retreated at the same time to keep himself from being enveloped with the st.


    The man stood up, and even though the bombardments of attacks would have melted the metal he was wearing, not a single dent or burnt part could be seen on the shield which ate the beam.


    "You are much more durable than you appear... But why retreat? It seems there is a strange technology in that shield alone." Shasktress assessed.


    She then prepared another volley of attacks.


    Octarion stood firmly. But he knew that he wouldn''t be able to survive the next attack.


    "Hmm. To think I would be this useless..." Octarion shook his head.


    "Hey, Ceasar.. Need a hand?" A familiar voice asked.

 Chapter 410 - Yet Once More

    A few moments before Shakstress appeared and was about to kill Octarion...


    Richie had a body full of holes now. Richie could do very little to defend himself.


    It was like he was being ced in a body that he didn''t own. His movements were strange, space itself was acting and moving towards and away from him, causing him to slip up, and his powers and abilities were also expanding out wildly.


    Sound and motion were changing in the warped minuscule world that he was in.


    "Keep at it! He''s dying!"


    The Supreme Exoskeletons continued its barrage of bullets. Richie improved his defenses and blocked the attacks for a time, but then the strange world began to alter itsws once more.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Richie was now focusing all of his energy on protecting his head and heart. The scope of the area that he could use his power to protect himself only epassed the size of his head. Richie was focusing all energy on those locations to prevent death.


    Even his ability to control the flow and movement of blood was not possible in this realm.


    The Exoskeletons were moving closer and closer and were drawing closer to the point of Shakstress''s detailed n where they could switch into the more potent weapons in their arsenal.


    By weakening Richie and moving closer, they could finally shoot Richie at closer range. By dragging out the battle, Richie would be too weak to go on the offensive, and they could move closer for the kill.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The group reached closer, switching from normal bullets to the much slower but dreadful explosive rounds.


    Richie curled himself up to a ball but even then had a hard time doing so. Luckily, he managed right before the explosive rounds reached him, and he enveloped himself with sound armor.


    "What an amazing enemy I have. I guess surviving a fight against Presiders isn''t so easy for people like us..." Richieughed. He managed to defend himself, but he could sense that the sound he was emitting was constantly being siphoned away by a strangew in this world.


    But Richie remained calm. He had already thought of a way to destroy everything.


    "They said that the dimensional techs that are needed to master the Void Assassin''s ability of teleportation fully requires us to have the techs or the Paths that can keep that realm stable, consistent, and immutable. But this Presider is intentionally altering thews and form of this Minuscule world. Which means... this ce is fragile." Richie thought to himself.


    "Then I shall shake this world." Richie smiled.


    Of all the Oveers, Richie was the first to be a Believer.


    In the new world of Seeker, the ssification of the group of people called ''Believers'' became an outdated ss. Seeker had realized that the Believer groups of Meryl and Lynd only became so because of his Path as the one who treaded on the Ancient''s Path.


    But Richie decided that it wasn''t a wasted cause.


    His Path was guided into believing from his talks with Pastor Eagle, and even the suggestion Arthur gave about how God created the world with the Spoken Word.


    And this became Richie''s Faith.


    In that strange space, with three supreme exoskeletons shooting at him, and as each bullet fired brought Richie closer to death, Richie recited a verse.


    "Hebrews 12:26-29...." Richie began.


    "At that time, his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ''Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.'' This phrase, ''Yet once more,'' indicates the removal of things that are shaken¡ªthat is, things that have been made¡ªin order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God eptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."


    Richie recited it and became all the more convinced of his faith. Then, as he witnessed the Minuscule World and saw the many facets of the dimensions, he came to a newfangled conclusion.


    "Eternity is possible..." Richie whispered.


    He had seen a whole new concept of reality where physics was so outdated it could not even exin even half of the rules in this world. And the rules kept changing.


    "Gravity, Movement, Inertia, Mass, Velocity, Force.... All of those rules of physics. It doesn''t work here. Entropy, Heat, Time, Distance... What else is different here? Does it mean that the rules I grew up to believe were constant, are very easily changed?" Richieughed.


    And the verse he recited strengthen his faith all the more.


    "For God will not just shake the earth... But the heavens? So all of this? Even this strange realm is but temporal things? But a new dimension, an immutable, unshakable dimension, will soon arrive? Is that the new heaven? Is that the new earth? Is it something so mind-boggling that with the new rules created in that dimension, it can achieve eternity?" Richie guessed.


    "Oh well... That''s too far off when the Good Lordes. For now... I shall be a voice that shall cry out. I shall be that voice that will alert those who call themselves gods and make worlds such as these. These shakable worlds will be brought down, and all that will remain are those that can stand for eternity!"


    Tremendous energy began to build up. A shaking urred as Richie''s sound vibrated out. It started with the area directly in front of him, but the vibration continued to expand more and more.


    The vibration intensified, and it spread out all over the ce. The intense vibration began to alter the Minuscule world. Shakstress was too preupied with the many troubles that were happening that she had no time or energy to spare in checking on this world. She also believed that Richie was good as dead in this world as she estimated that only those with a Nefilus Suit could survive.


    The sound began to spread out and create powerful vibrations. This space was not stable as even Shakstress could not perfect stabilizing this world.


    "What''s happening?!" So the Supreme Exoskeletons were close to Richie, that they immediately felt the strange fluctuation. Their suit was always a step ahead of the changingws of this realm. Shakstress has already fixed how the domain would change and programmed how these suits could still be controlled as if the pilots were just in the real world.


    But now, the changing and copsingws caused them to fly and move erratically.


    The three were in a state of panic. They tried contacting Presider Shakstress, but their attempts were futile. The newws in this world had changed that their suits cannotmunicate with Shakstress.


    "Help! Presider! Save us!"


    "Oh? Is that fear I hear? Too bad. You thought yourselves to be like gods, but like men, you shall fall." Richie taunted as his powers erupted out.


    The entire minuscule world began to shake.


    "Too bad I''m not strong enough to shake the real world. But this tribtion that nearly killed me became a good way to train me. I can now slowly train to improve my powers to the point that it could shake the real dimensions." Richieughed.


    "They set a for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves. Arise, O Lord! Shake the heavens! Yet Once More!" Richie roared, and the entire Minuscule World trembled and copsed in itself.


    "AHHHH!" The three Exoskeleton pilots cried out as a strange vibration prated through their armor.


    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!


    Cracks began to appear everywhere, and wherever the cracks appeared, the space began to expand and erge.


    The entire world was slowly reverting to its original size, and Richie soon found himself standing up in the same area where he originally stood up.


    A strange shockwave threw all of the soldiers in the area as the space suddenly returned to its normal form.


    Three Exoskeletons crashed down on the floor as they reverted to their normal size. The destruction of that realm meant the destruction of their suits, which was the source of that realm.


    Cracks and holes appeared, and blood was seeping out.


    Richie nced and saw many enemies standing up and showed their intent to kill Richie.


    "Sammy."


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Several powerful sound explosions urred and blew the enemies from their ce.


    "You''re too tired to fight?" Sammy asked as he appeared on the side. He had used various weapons and his sound to disarm and kill the enemy.


    "No. It''s just that the moment I got here, I could sense that Presider was moving. So I need all the stamina I have."


    "Richie." Arthur''s voice suddenly echoed out.


    Two Exoskeletons arrived. One of the pilots ejected out of his suit.


    It was Chase Brender.


    "Wear the Exoskeleton of Chase and go and help Octarion. The Carleans were able to steal one of the healing drugs in here. It''s not enough, but it should stabilize your condition for the next fight."


    Chase handed over a vial of red liquid, which Richie immediately drank.


    Richie then moved and piloted the exoskeleton.


    The exoskeleton had gaps and holes near the mouth that allowed Richie''s voice to move unhindered.


    Richie immediately flew and sensed the tremors of Shasktress''s attacks on Octarion.


    "Hey, Ceasar. Need a hand?" Richie asked.


    Octarion was standing in front of Shakstress, and his expression did not change as he heard Richie.


    "Are you going to tell me?" Shakstress asked Octarion again. His shield intrigued her.


    "I will graciously answer your question, madam. This shield can resist another blow." Octarion answered without fear.


    "This shield? That doesn''t look like the same one. Oh, I see... Transference Technology. I recall that the Zulu family has reached greater progress in Transference technology that these Earthlings call Voodoo. Is it something rted to you, Lost Primordial? You must have three shields prepared for that. I attack that shield, but whatever damage is happening there is being transferred to that other shield. Oh well... I guess I just need... What?!"


    A strange tremor urred out all over the ship.


    Richie had confirmed that there was something strange in this real world. He had felt that there was something off. Arthur told Richie of his calction as to the events and what was happening outside of the ship.


    "Octarion. Get ready to run. I''ll be shaking this world once more!" Richie had a very delightful sneer.


    "So you shrunk this entire ship and not the space around it?" Richie shouted, and Shakstress heard him.


    "Although I can''t bring down your ship with the shakable form of this shrunk ship, it should allow those other Presiders to attack you, right?" Richieughed as a powerful vibration began to ur all over the ship.


    "That Sound user is alive?!" Shasktress eximed, and she quickly used essed the many techs in her suit to stabilize the ship. But it was toote.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Various attacks began to ur as the attacks of Pridgeon, Andronze, and the WGP''s water monster began to hit Shasktress''s ship.

 Chapter 411 - Power Of Words

    Presider techs were designed to be capable of shooting a speck of dust a mile away, yet all of their attacks missed.


    It wasn''t just the size that was the problem. It was that their attacks or the space near the ship were being shrunk or expanded, causing the attacks to veer off.


    The two Presiders began to shoot more and more attacks and even used strange attacks that had never before been seen.


    Link Attacks were shot by Pridgeon wherein aser-like attack would be ''created'' in the space of where the targeted area was. However, instead of being shot, the attack is created almost instantaneously and is linked to the source of the attack.


    These attacks didn''t ''travel'' from one ce to the other but were created in the attack line.


    But even as the sky suddenly created a pinkish ray of light and vanished at the next second, not a single one of those attacks struck.


    Lowengren watched from the bottom and was amazed.


    "That''s new. That''s not even present in Seeker''s memories. It seems this strategy to make them fight is really advantageous!"


    The minuscule ship of Shakstress had stabilized the density, mass, and power of her ship, and it retained all of its properties despite being so small. Its actual speed remained, which allowed it to maneuver through the many attacks. It also used the shrinking power to shrink parts of the iing attacks.


    Even the Link Attacks could not hit as the distortion of space made the created ray of light appear elsewhere.


    Andronze was attacking from the other area and used massive wideser attacks that beamed out.


    But even these thickser beams that would have struck the small speck of a ship of Shakstress would miss with the maniption of the shrinking technology.


    Shaklstress''s ship manipted a part of thergeser, made a small shrinking power in the center, and created a hole. With that gap, the spacecraft would move and evade with ease.


    But suddenly...


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    A strange ripple exploded out, and the bombardment of Pridgeon and Andronze was finally hitting. The two Presiders have always been able to detect the possible location where Shakstress''s minuscule ship was.


    A powerful shockwave was created as a shield made of Universe Energy exploded and was followed by attacks of bluish energy balls that seemed to be sucking the space around it.


    Pridgeon''s ship began to counter it to block the attack while Andronze''s ship sted out and retreated with great haste.


    Two massive shields were appearing in the sky. One was facing Andronze''s ship, and the other was facing Pridgeon''s spaceship.


    The battle remained in Shakstress''s favor even though the ship received several bombardments from the two sides in that split second.


    Andornze was confused as to how it happened. But her suspicions made her turn to the Four Winds, who were once more dancing in a strange ritual dance.


    "Heeee... Macarena." Alvin shouted again. But this time, the miracle of Andornze''s attack hitting Shakstress''s ship didn''t happen as it did earlier.


    "Oh? She''s employing another tech?" Hermes had an intrigued expression.


    Andornze was amazed. How were these strange dances the cause of her sessful attack? She saw a strange trembling in space for a split second, which allowed her and Pridgeon''s attack to strike.


    "The power of prayer and rituals. So no wonder this practice has existed from time immemorial to our present world. Both the Aragarians and Humans do this. Could it be...? Because of this power?" Andronze began to wonder.


    Suddenly, Herme''s expression changed.


    "Hmp. Finally. It took you long enough." Hermesughed.


    Andornze knew that Hermes wasn''t talking to her. But she realized someone must havepleted that strange ritual andmunicated with Hermes.


    "Andronze. A specialm line will be created linking us directly to the insides of Shakstress''s ship."


    "A link? But how?"


    "What do you mean, but how? Didn''t you see my friend punch his way inside? It''s being taken care of. I want you to link that broadcast with one of the Pioneers I met. That annoying man will be talking." Hermes smiled.


    "Annoying man?"


    "You''ve heard him. It''s a little trick we did. The problem with this little suit of ours is that it''s effortless to detect once we fight against Top-Tiers. That''s why we had to make you guys start the fight. As for this man, he has been given a tech by a Principal! We need to look for a man who rambles meaningless stuff. Thankfully, that Pioneer is perfect! With his words, and the technology is given, you will once more see the power of words."


    "What tech is the power of words?"


    "Don''t you know? The power of words crosses the dimensions! That''s the secret to cursing. Didn''t that Lost Primordial teach the Zulu''s in this ce? One of the Zulu Aragarian spies of Pridgeon has allied with us. You probably talked to him back then. He is using a strange curse, and we will be deploying that curse directly inside Shakstress''s ship." Hermes smiled.


    "It seems those powerful ones within the WGP are moving as well." Hermes smiled.


    Andronze was startled and began to look through her screen to see what was going on.


    As the battle happened, Nogard was quietly retrieved by the WGP.


    He sat down at the center of therge water monster and had a Rule of his own.


    Arge pir of water was beingunched from the ground. Inside the water was several rockets that followed the rising water.


    Arge pir of water was moving like a rocket beingunched. The pir of water moved slenderly and began to swerve like a snake as it reached the chaotic skies.


    The spatial distortions that Shakstress was releasing continued to pulse out throughout the area. The simple sky had turned into an borate maze that could dispel and destroy any form of earth-made technology.


    But for some odd reason, the attacks were able to evade all spatial distortion that through and evaded the expansion andpression of the space.


    Yet, it was able to do so without any problems.


    The ship was too busy to take notice of it, and even Shakstress was not paying attention. The defense protocol of the vessel was activated almost immediately and was used to protect the ship.


    The shields that were erected were activated several hundreds of meters from where the speck of dust that was the ship''s body was. These shields moved and would guard the direction of where the ship was.


    And so, the snake-swerving water was undetected.


    Miranne Everhiss navigated the snake with expert power.


    "Hold on to your aces until you think it''s time to drop them all," Miranne recalled the only order that Arthur told him.


    The week that had passed wasn''t wasted. The WGP''s tech is easily able to incorporate and apply many of the Unlocked techs.


    The water was the navigating power that rode the Origin energy that the WGP had released. Richie''s sound and Lioncourt''s Realm were used to map the skies. The WGP''s techs handled the rest in estimating, calcting, and setting the direction of the water-snakes movements.


    "You sure you know where it is, old man?" Miranne asked.


    "Of course." Nogard smiled.


    "Her soul is just... too big." Nogardughed as he marked the specific location where the speck of dust was.


    The water snake raced faster and faster and collided with the near-invisible speck of dust.


    As the water was enveloping this small dust, the rockets inside the water began to activate that protocol.


    "It''s a little crude... But it''s still Hydrogen Bomb." Miranne smiled.


    BOOM!


    The thunderous explosion rocked out, and the ship was damaged once more as it had little shields that defended it.


    Shakstress was enraged at the consecutive bombardments that were happening. Her control and power over the ship were being hindered, and those few seconds where she had to focus on defending allowed Octarion to rush out.


    BOOM!


    Octarion''s suit boomed as he charged forward.


    "Water World!" Richie shouted at a distance and activated the skill turned the vibrations and movements of molecules to have strange resistance as if they were underwater.


    Shakstress was distracted and was a split second too slow to defend against the booming charge of Octarion.


    BOOM!


    The punch created a powerful shockwave that tore the insides of the ship. It was as if a Pangrean Whish bomb was detonated inside the ship.


    The Throne of Shakstress was knocked back, and it broke through two walls before being pinned on the third one.


    Octarion was about to rush again, but he heard Richie order him to retreat.


    "Wait for everyone! That''s not something you can fight alone!" Richie warned.


    "I''ll kill you!" Shakstress raged, and her Throne opened up to reveal herself and to aim.


    And then... it happened.


    Madison, Oark, and Cheryl had sessfully infiltrated a certain broadcast room and linked it to Andronze''s Pyramid, which allowed Hermes to connect the link to Lowengren, who gave the mic over to ''that'' man.


    "I''m Backman." The domineering, confident, and annoying voice of Vender was broadcasted all over the ship.


    BANG!


    Shakstress shot a simple bullet. But this bullet grew so small that it disappeared.


    BOOM!


    A sound explosion knocked Octarion to the side, and the sudden broadcast of Vender stunned Shakstress that in that critical moment, she lost her focus and didn''t navigate the bullet to curve but managed to detonate it.


    The bullet was so small that it managed to pass through the thick defenses of metal armor Octarion wore. But it suddenly grew and exploded, wounding the left shoulder of Octarion.


    Octarion continued to retreat, and Shakstress was about to shoot more.


    But Shakstress heard it again. There was something about that voice that ruined her concentration.


    "Testing. Is this thing on? Hello? Is this thing on? Erm... Lowen- Er... I mean... Low and Green. Initiate Protocol, Low and Green. Jeez. Rx! I''m not even connected yet!" Vender grumbled in annoyance.


    "What do you mean, I''m connected? Do you think I won''t know if I''m connected? Rx, will you! No one''s going to find out that you''re- Oh! Alright! Sheesh! I won''t say your name. For someone who has the potential to be an Oveer, you sure are scared. Of course, she can''t hear me! What was her name again, Shakstress, right? Or was it Androgyn? Why do these- What? I AM connected?"


    And then there was silence.


    "..."


    "..."


    "What? Are you sure? They can hear me?"


    Lowengren, Hermes, and his Four Winds, who talked to Vender on their side, were so close from suffering a heart attack.

 Chapter 412 - Attacking Shackstress

    The moment Vender took the mic and made his talk, Hermes and Lowengren had to use their Unlocking to stop themselves from injuring their internal organs.


    Even Arthur, who was inside the ship, froze up from Vender''s words.


    "That idiot!!!" The three of them shouted the same thing at the same time.


    Andornze was startled at Hermes''s sudden scream.


    "What? What happened?" Andronze immediately asked. The power of Vender''s Vexation did not affect her as a third party who only listened to the broadcast.


    On her end, she only thought there was a connection issue, and that Vender thought he was not yet connected.


    The Four Winds continued to make strange dance, but they all held in their desire to curse at Vender.


    The identity of Lowengren was one of the important secrets that they had to guard. If Lowengren is alive, then it means that those who instigated the attack during the Australian Avarice would be linked to Lowengren. The Unlocked had been doing their best to paint a totally different viin behind their actions to confuse the Presiders. And if Lowengren''s identity was revealed, it could uncover the plot, and a massive war will happen in Pangea! Lowengren''s identity was even more critical than Hermes''s identity!


    Seeker, who was listening, coughed up blood. He was already in great pain from what he saw, and the added stress caused him to actually wound himself.


    "That-...! That...!" Seeker cursed


    Lynd and Meryl also had shocked expressions.


    "Who is that guy?!" Meryl eximed.


    "I''ll break that guy''s mouth for talking!" Seeker swore.


    "Zeek! You''re alright?"


    Seeker realized that the strange nauseated, and confusing sensation disappeared.


    "You''re right...! I must tread on his Path!" Seeker vowed again.


    "Are we going in?" Meryl asked.


    "Not yet. It''s too dangerous now. It''s just amazing! That Vender''s path! Look! The ship!" Lynd pointed at the ship


    In that few seconds when Vender''s broadcast started, the shields, the distorting space, all paused. Those piloting andmandeering Shakstress''s ship were startled at the sudden broadcast. And this surprise caused them to pay attention. And so, Vender''s path worked on all of them.


    The distraction was enough for Andronze, Pridgeon, and Miranne to send another volley of attacks, and it all sessfully bypassed the multiple defenses of Shackstress''s spacecraft.


    It wasn''t just Presider Shakstress, but most of the Presiders who were ordered to control the many defensive measures that she allowed were also confused at the broadcast.


    And those critical seconds allowed the enemy to send their attacks that bypassed therge rotating force fields.


    "Presider!" The calls of the Pioneers awakened Shakstress from her shock.


    And she took aim and made a grasping notion towards Octarion, who was retreating.


    But as the space around Octarion began to change, a powerful vibration arrived first and began to quake the dimensions.


    Arge translucent white palm appeared out of the space around them as the strange vibration forced it out.


    Octarion saw it and began to evade it as necessary.


    Shakstress frowned and kept her hand but then...


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The next volley of attacks from Pridgeon and Andronze finally hit the ship.


    Immense vibrations from the attacks caused the minuscule ship to move from the impact.


    "Presider! Our shields have been breached!"


    But even before the Pioneer gave his report, Shasktress had already begun to initiate the powerful power that harnessed the Universe energy to bring out her strongest arsenal.


    "God Hand!"


    A massive arm appeared in the sky above. It wasrger than the Moon ship of Pridgeon, and it moved down.


    The two Presiders began to panic and released all their attacks towards the mighty arm that was crushing down on them.


    The trembling vanished, and while Shakstress was able to do it in less than a second, Octarion was already quite a distance from her.


    "Die!" She raised her hand and used God Hand on the fleeing Octarion.


    "Repent!" A loud shout echoed all over the ship. It was as if the source of this shout was right next to them.


    The shout created another immense vibration. As the vibrations intensified, a white, translucent hand that could cover up Octarion appeared in the space before them.


    "WHAT?!" Shakstress was shocked. The Hand she used outside was the wide-scale version, and the one that she used to attack Octarion was a smaller and more refined power. It should have killed Octarion immediately, but something in the three dimensions was causing the other dimensions to shake and revealed the form of the hand.


    Richie finally came to view as Octarion retreated. He charged forward and made his attack.


    "Roar of Judah!" Richie shouted as he reached the wrecked zone of the battle.


    BOOM!


    A spear of sound shot towards Shakstress and intercepted the strange hand.


    The spear made of sound was caught by the hand, and the two began to battle it out. But the constant sound was being dispersed.


    Shakstress cursed and raised her other hand to make another attack.


    "You''re pitiful sound is nothing to me!" Shackstress shouted.


    "Now!" Arthur ordered.


    Among all of them, Gardo was the only one who had great resistance to Vender''s powers and was able to keep up a high level of concentration. So Arthur ordered Gardo to wait and hide among the Pioneers until a critical moment appeared.


    His training during their time in Egypt was showing as Vender''s nonsensical rants distracted Shakstress but allowed him to position himself on that key location and even save Richie and Octarion.


    Gardo was cursing at Vender''s broadcast, but he still managed to move near Shakstress to perform his attack and redirect the direction of her attack.


    Gardo''s figure appeared right above Shakstress. He had long been in the area and was waiting for Arthur to give themand.


    Gardo''s body was steaming hot as he continued to increase the heat and loosen thepression of his body.


    "Jet Kick!" Gardo shouted as his reddened leg stretched out kicked right at the arm of Shasktress.


    BOOM!


    The powerful kick redirected the aim of Shakstress''s arm.


    The arm was thrown downwards, and the attack shot out and struck the floor.


    BOOM!


    A massive arm appeared and struck the ground, causing the entire floor under Shasktress to cave in. The Pioneers and nted were escaping.


    The Throne of Shakstress floated above as the floor copsed. The previous attacks of Octarion had already damaged the zone they were in, and the attack of Shakstress was the massive p that broke the camel''s back.


    Shakstress cursed angrily and used God Hand to chase after Gardo, who was closest to her.


    The hand that fought against the spear won and chased after Richie and Octarion. Another arm appeared and moved towards Gardo.


    Gardo could sense it and created explosions on his legs to keep throwing him out, but the arm was faster.


    The massive hand covered around Gardo and palm clutched on Gardo.


    Suddenly, a strange pull appeared and pulled Gardo out as the fingers of the hand barely missed Gardo.


    BOOM!


    An explosion urred as the translucent arm clutched on empty air, and Gardo was safely pulled out.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several shockwaves exploded around and struck Shakstress that pushed her Throne back.


    "Another sound user!" Shakstress cursed as she turned over to the direction of where Chase Brender was seen.


    Chase Brender shot several Sound bombs that had more strength than a Pangean Whish bomb.


    "Hey! You''re wide open!" Richie zoomed closer since the Hand that hindered his previous attack disappeared after Gardo''s kick.


    Another Spear of Sound rushed towards Shakstress.


    BOOM!


    But a huge shield covered Shakstress and managed to block the Roar of Judah!


    Richie cursed.


    "We''ll need to have my spear and your fist to break through that." Richie sighed.


    "I''ll kill you all!" Shakstress vowed. For the first time in a long time, she lost herposure and was enraged in the middle of a battle.


    The shield around her grew bright.


    Massive energy began to gather around Shakstress as she prepared a wide-scale attack that crossed the dimensions.


    But Arthur was waiting for this moment. When the attacks of Chase Brender attacked her, another small wave of sound was sent that carried several bombs that were the pride of the Unlocked Armies.


    A Horn that contained the destion of Meng and a metal cube that contained an explosive lightning attack of Lennox hovered inconspicuously behind Shackstress.


    Shakstress would have noticed this small detail, but the many distractions and attacks happening to her and to her ship made her fail to notice it! But the most frustrating element that caused her to fall in such poor circumstances despite her innate ability that surpassed Arthur''s calction was a voice.


    "Hello, Shakstress! So I''m a cyborg from the future. I serve Principal... Erm... What''s his name again? Right! Gary! Anyway! I''m here to tell you about the future. Surrender now or else! We will kill Pridgeon! In the future, you two get together. You might not know it now, but he''s the one you''ve been looking for all your life!" Vender dered.


    There was something about Vender''s words that made Shakstress lose her focus. As the fights continued, Vender had constantly talked to Shakstress, costing Shasktress a huge percentage of her focus.


    "I knew it! If that Presider is being distracted with Vender, I can outwit and out-y her!" Arthur smiled. The Horn and the Cube were set not to explode immediately but after a certain time. And Arthur had timed it all to happen on this precise second.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Two explosions urred.


    A green bomb and a lightning bomb that contained massive energy, heat, and destion attacked Shakstress.


    "AHHH!" The Throne was thrown back. The energy she charged inside the shield was in disarray and even copsed on itself.


    The great being that surpassed humans'' limits and was considered an ethereal transcended being was finally harmed.


    "Attack now!" Arthur ordered.

 Chapter 413 - Home Run

    Supreme Exoskeletons had been rushing towards the location where Shakstress was. They were using powerful shrinking and expanding techs to help them travel seamlessly from one ce to the other.


    The entire ship had several small paths that were so small you''d have to be the size of an ant to travel.


    But right when Richie caused a trembling in the space of Shakstress, many of those Supreme Exoskeletons suddenly began to face a distortion that was forcing them to revert to their original size.


    And right when they thought they could move...


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several explosions that had great destion erupted. It was followed by a jolting explosion that sent several thunders to their suits.


    "Ahhhh!" One of the pilots reverted to his original size and suffered from the destion, and lighting fell to the main hall as the path they were traveling on was wrecked.


    STAB!


    A powerful stabbing attack struck the pilot, and it pierced through. The previous attack had weakened the armor''s integrity and allowed the concentrated power of Typical''s harnessed skill to stab right in.


    The armor could repair itself, but the pilot could not.


    Madison immediately began to shoot the two other surviving Exoskeleton with a strange gun that he had acquired within the ship.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The two pilots were still being assailed as the lightning bolt of Lennox would bounce from one of the pilots to the other.


    The two surviving pilots were unable to resist as they would get bombarded, and Madison kept using his Skill to stop time in his perception and shoot the pilots at a location that prevented them from counter-attacking.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    On another area, Cheryl and Oark were rushing with great haste. What was amazing was the fact that they were equipped with the Sun Devourer suit.


    "Of all the things we had to take, it''s this. I mean, those Supreme Exoskeletons were better!" Cherylined.


    "A Supreme Exoskeleton has many restrictive levels. And we don''t know what techs they can employ, and it will take a while for us to figure it out. But these Sun Devourers have one tech that is applied instantly. So we don''t have to activate it." Oark exined as they kept moving and killing the werewolves that were rampaging on the location they were in.


    Chris and Grace had switched some of the medicines into the serum that transforms the humans into wolves. What was even scarier was that these serums had a dy in their activation.


    Many Aragarians who were wounded and who had a higher level of ess in the ship were infected and brought in the werewolf apocalypse inside the previously enclosed areas of the ship.


    Soon, Oark and Cheryl managed to enter the rooms and would kill these wolves. Those guards inside would even open the door for Cheryl and Oark to kill the werewolves.


    Through that, the two mercenaries were able to infiltrate the more secure areas of the ship and even witnessed several cameras used in the Command Centers in various parts of the ship.


    The secret of Madison''s timely attack in hindering several Supreme Exoskeletons was a secret ability that the trio chose to have. They all had their assignments, and these three who had worked together in their many missions from China, to Russia, and towards the European nations gave them the experience and teamwork that allowed them to be among the spies despite not having any formal spy training.


    They wereter given experiments ording to their potential and had a unique Realm that allowed them to link with each other.


    This skill was the ability to share their vision within a certain distance. Within roughly three kilometers, the three could activate a powerful link based on a certain Path that Richie discovered in the Americas. When they activate this Skill, it allows everyone to share their vision for a few seconds. This was their personal choice to be a specialized type of spy and assassin that could move, infiltrate and perform covert operations.


    The risky experiments of the Thought Transmitter had to start. And in this timeline, improvements were being made. Using Realm as the foundation and the acquisition of one of the most important Unlocked abilities. And when given to the trio, it was further capitalized by Madison''s ability. He had the ability to stop time in his perception.


    When Cheryl and Oark were still without a Sun Devourer Suit, they had managed to enter a room in dire need of help as more than five of the people within the Command Center became werewolves. With them nearby, holding guns, the people quickly opened the door, allowing them to move inside and made quick work of the werewolves. And as the pair fought, they activated their links allowing Madison to see their vision.


    From the perspective of the Aragarians, they saw the sun Devourers swiftly entering and killing all the werewolves and swiftly left as they had no jurisdiction or clearance to enter those rooms.


    But those swift moments gave Madison so much information. He saw the map of the particr area. He even could deduce various information and details about the ship through the objects disyed in the Command Centers'' monitors.


    Through that, he found the orders to send out another set of Exoskeletons which he quickly killed, and when Richie''s sound returned, they managed tomunicate with each other and gave Cheryl and Oark ess to wear a Sun Devourer Suit.


    With that suit, the pair constantly moved from one ce to the other and began to follow the very precise and detailed ns that Madison developed.


    His perception in that Realm where time didn''t move allowed him to develop borate ns that set the team-up. He was even able to pass on important information that the pair used to talk their way into restricted areas.


    Finally, Madison had given the orders to deploy the weapon that Arthur gave to them.


    "This would have been easier if he carried that item in the first ce!" Cherylined.


    "Haven''t you heard of the saying, don''t put all your eggs in the same basket? We came in not knowing what was going to happen. So he had to divide the weapons among us. But now that a n is forming, we can finally use it. If he had used it earlier, it would rm the Presider. But now, she doesn''t have time to notice how her ship is losing arge amount of air." Oarkughed as he held on to a ball. The ball was originally asrge as the Balls of Thunder. But now, it was almost the size of a basketball.


    Click!


    A sound was heard that showed that therge ball had taken enough air.


    "We have to hurry. It''s starting topress it now. We have to get there before this thing blows."


    Around the area, Agrarians were dying from the sudden loss of air.


    "There''s the rocket!" Cheryl pointed as they entered another one of the missile storerooms.


    All missiles were not armed but what they were looking for was arge rocket.


    The pair began to disassemble the rocket and ced the metal ball inside.


    "Wow. This rocket''s hard." Oark was amazed.


    "Do you know what this could be for? Isn''t rocket science your department?" Oark asked.


    "By the looks of it, this rocket is designed to withstand blows and contain any possible fluctuations inside."


    "But this is too big and heavy to be used as a rocket."


    "I''m guessing that the application of this is for bombardment. This rocket is designed to withstand anti-air attacks. Many rockets couldn''t destroy this rocket. If dropped from the sky, unless the anti-air weapons are strong enough the destroy the metal casing, this thing will create a massive hole first, and then the bomb inside will explode. It''s designed to get the bomb to the target area safely. I guess that''s why Arthur wanted us to take a piece of this rocket." Cheryl exined as she yanked off the innerpartments of the rocket and hurried toplete their mission.


    The chaos in the ship continued to increase, and Presider Shakstress was so busy facing the team of Arthur that she had no time to give orders.


    "Octarion, focus on destroying the walls and try to break your way into the Commander centers. Richie, send him a map. We have to keep the focus of Shasktress divided."


    Octarion began to create powerful punches that had nuclear power.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Various Exoskeletons began to attack Octarion, but they were easily killed and crushed from the wild might.


    Arthur was holding two long-ranged weapons and was shooting at the enemies that were appearing from a distance.


    The destruction that they had made created a huge gap inside the ship, and Octarion''s attacks continued to blow away walls and floors.


    Shakstress was forced to activate a powerful shield as she gave more orders of the next step. But with the intense fluctuations that made the area around her unstable, she was unable to activate her shrinking techs.


    Richie was the only one who kept attacking, but now, his allies were in position.


    "Let''s do this! Three-Part Harmony battle formation!" Richie ordered.


    Richie, Chase, and Sammy released a powerful shout that resonated mightily.


    The melodious vibrations added on to each other and created a powerful vibrating power, and three spears shot towards Shakstress.


    Shasktress enclosed herself as the Throne was covered by arge dome, and the force field guarding her also increased in size.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The three sound spears struck the forcefield and destroyed it, and pushed on to attack the dome that covered the Throne.


    But as the spears struck, the three discreetly threw in a horn and a cube as the sound erupted from their mouths. The weapons rushed in and created another explosion.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The Throne was already used to fighting against Pridgeon earlier, and Shakstress already had some damages from his battle. Now, the powerful destion of Meng, the mighty impacts of Richie''s shout, Octarion''s punch, and Lennox''s Lightning began to erupt and attack the Throne.


    "The package is near!" Madison informed Arthur, and he moved to kill the next squad of Exoskeletons that were ordered to kill the intruders attacking Shakstress.


    Oark and Cheryl had arrived after outfitting the round weapon they had absorbed the air in the ship.


    "Shoot it towards my location. Gardo! Attack now!" Arthur ordered.


    Cheryl and Oark arrived just on time andunched the massive container.


    Gardo was already on the copsed floor below and was positioned right in time. His right arm was coiled around to an extreme degree that his arm looked like a spring.


    The explosion of destion and lighting had not yet ended when Gardo had already jumped towards Shakstress.


    The chaotic explosions and attacks were all ording to Arthur''s prediction. Gardo safely arrived before the Throne and aimed his attack at the center where the three Sound Spears struck the Throne.


    "Gomu Gomu no.... Piercing Rifle!" The fanatic cry of Gardo echoed out, and his hand punched out and crossed the distance.


    BANG!


    As Gardo''s stretching arm connected created an explosion. But his arm kept on spinning like a drill that somehow managed to prate deeper.


    The forceful drilling shattered the bones of Gardo, but as his fist disconnected from the Throne, he raised his other arm and held out a cylinder.


    "Hope I damaged it enough!" Gardo clicked on the cylinder that contained Typical''s power.


    STAB!


    The invisible needle pierced through the Throne and struck Shakstress.


    "Argh!" She was knocked back and was thrown off her seat.


    Therge container that Oark and Cherylunched zoomed through the destion and got struck by lightning. It shattered just in time to send the ball, which had shrunk down as itpleted itspression protocol.


    Arthur ran and, using one of the guns he had, struck it like a baseball bat.


    SMASH!


    "Home run." Arthur smiled.


    The small ball zoomed towards the Throne, and the bat swing created a crack on this ball, and the contained wind was trying to break out. The destion and lightning were just dying out just as Arthur calcted, but it was enough to further damage the ball that waspressing so much wind. It flew with great uracy and zoomed right inside the small hole made by Gardo.


    Shakstress was too shaken from Typical''s needle that by the time she noticed the ball that had entered her throne, it was toote.


    A powerful wind force exploded out as the ball containing it finally gave in to the force.


    The weapon was a weaponized application of Hermes''s Path. Through thepression of the Blowing Wind of Hermes, they created a powerful wind bomb.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 414 - Shakstress’s Special Skill

    The power of Herme''s wind bomb has never been tested. The Unlocked just didn''t have the luxury ofunching and deploying their weapons to test how huge the explosions would be.


    But Hermes was confident that that weapon would be close to what the weapons of Mass destruction could offer. In terms of pure power, this weapon surpassed the weaponized tools that have been acquired from all the Unlocked.


    Arthur and his team were also thrown back as a hurricane suddenly erupted out. But thankfully, the sound armor they wore began to pull them back just right after Arthur hit the home run.


    After thest attack, Richie, Sammy, and Chase had already started their pull.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The dome broke open, and the small hole that was made became the source of the ripping metal that revealed the Throne. The fierce wind began to charge out and wreaked havoc on the area, and arge, massive hole was right in the middle of the ship.


    The explosion damaged so manypartments that it was unstable for therge ship to maintain the shrinking fields and reappeared in the skies once more.


    Alvin and the other Winds had just finished the Macarena when the entire defensive protocol disappeared.


    Andronze was amazed at the power.


    "I can''t believe that worked. Although Presider Fist Force must have done something, he is no match for that Presider. But thankfully, the Ritual Power that Principal gave us has been established in this world."


    "Ritual Power?"


    "As long as we do that dance, the dimensions tremble," Hermes said as Lowengren urged him to say.


    Andronze''s expression lit up. She was secretly smiling. She had recorded the entire dance routine.


    "If I do that... then I have a chance in attacking Top Tier Presiders!" Andronze clenched her fist in excitement.


    Pridgeon and Andronze didn''t waste time and sent another barrage of attacks towards the ship.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The ship was now being attacked, and with no clear defenses, the attacks from the Presiders revealed its weakened state.


    The nearby nations began to attack the ship as was ordered by the WGP, who began to send their attacks.


    Back inside the ship...


    Arthur and Gardo were together with Sammy.


    "Did we get her?" Gardo asked.


    "No. We will see her final from now." Arthur instructed.


    "I can''t use my arm anymore. That attack took all that I have." Gardo began to eat a healing pill.


    "Go and look for Chris and Grace. The healing ward is on the other side of this sector. Pick a dead nted and wear his coat and go."


    "Alright..." Gardo acted immediately.


    "What''s her final form?" Sammy asked.


    "I don''t know. Her techs go beyond what I can think or imagine. This battle is to train me to always calcte against incalcble." Arthur sighed.


    "... How did you know that boss would survive that battle with those Supreme Exoskeletons?"


    "I didn''t. I just hoped he''d Ovee." Arthur nced at the wreckage in the ship.


    The entire area was wrecked and smashed into each other. Even the Throne could not be seen in the chaos of the copsed floors and pressed metal.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacks of Octarion could be heard in the distance as he kept on punching through walls of the ship and kept attacking Exoskeletons.


    Oark and Cheryl moved into their next task. They rushed towards the Command Center and demanded to take control. They shot the current Commander of the Commander center, iming that it was Shakstress''s orders.


    Those present were shivering in fear as they thought they would all be massacred. Those alive long enough to remember a previous war a century ago knew that this battle was different. Never before was Shakstress ced in such a situation in all the battles that she had.


    Madison had finally reached the location that Arthur told him about. It was located deep within the most secure facilities of the ship. It was the Exoskeleton maker.


    He revealed them device that all Oveers have.


    "I''m here. But what am I supposed to do? Does Arthur want me to wear a Supreme Exoskeleton? Or do I prepare one for Richie?" Madison guessed. Then a figure appeared before him.


    "You...!" Madison eximed.


    Richie and Chase Brender were retreating on the other side.


    Chase carried an unconscious Richie as they moved.


    "The boss is out. Punch man is also losing the power that he showed earlier. Is the enemy dead?"


    A powerful energy source erupted at the center of the wreckage. Everyone felt a strange distortion as if they were being pulled towards the center.


    "Oh. It looks like we''re screwed." Chase sighed as he ran faster. His sounds were diminishing as he was drained of it. His attacks had reached the limit, and he had to employ a powerful sound armor to protect the both of them from the wind bomb. The steel beams and the wrecked pieces of metal suddenly flew up, and Chase had to evade it and resist the strange pull.


    All the wreckage in the area began to move towards a certain point. As the metal and even the men approached, they shrunk and disappeared.


    At the heart of this was Shakstress. She was still seated on her Throne. Her Exoskeleton and the Throne were damaged, but it was slowly being restored. Bit by bit, the damaged parts and were being restored molecule by molecule.


    "Arthur... Should we attack?" Sammy asked as they fled.


    "No. It''s too dangerous. We can''t see it, but the dimensions in that area are changing. The movements and how those objects shrink does not follow physics."


    "It doesn''t?"


    "It''s not obvious to you. But my Instant calction can tell that even if a powerful gravitational force is pulling everything towards that Presider, the way the objects move beyond a certain area is strange. She''s shrinking the dimensions. Even time itself is being shrunk. Only someone who can perceive time not slower but in a different and distorted direction can exist in that zone. So we are fighting something close to bing a god." Arthur frowned.


    "What if we attack?"


    "See how everything is being used to restore it? That ability of hers is something that cannot be calcted. She shouldn''t have the means to do that. So I''m guessing that what she is using is a Special Skill."


    "What do you mean Special Skill? Like in games?"


    "Yes. Exactly. Like the ones in games. The Nefilus Suit gives their physical body a way to contain and wield techs. What we are seeing is another aspect of what the Aragarians have through this Nefilus Suit apart from the information and tech knowledge. And that is to activate a specific protocol using certain techs. To make it easier for us, we''re calling it a Special Skill. Shakstress may not know the science behind this or may have picked this Special Skill to learn about the science of shrinking... But right now, she is using a far stronger science that shrinks and absorbs all forms of matter. If we attack, we may end up helping her as the shrunk particles of our attacks will be used as a power source to refuel and strengthen her. Only the likes of Seeker, Lynd, Lioncourt, or Rai can move in that space. Of if we are equipped with a Supreme Exoskeleton made by Shakstress which can resist the shrinking of space."


    "Then what do we do? Should we rush to that ce where you sent Madison?"


    "No. We do nothing."


    "Nothing?! Shouldn''t we at least be going over to that ce where Madison was?"


    "Sammy. Calm down. You''re not thinking straight. I have already told you the answer. I said only Seeker and Lynd could move in. And they are here."


    Shakstress watched and marked the enemies that attacked her. Her weapons were already aimed to attack and kill them.


    "How annoying. To think I would fall into such a poor state because of a coboration of Mid-Tiers. Once I''m done, I''ll find out which Presiders are you, and I''ll kill you!" Shakstress vowed.


    "That''s the thing. We''re not Presiders." Someone mocked.


    Shakstress was startled, and she turned around to find a Supreme Exoskeleton of her design standing nearby.


    "I''m much more than a Presider. I''m a... Prehistoric." Seeker smiled.


    "I''m also not a Presider. Right, Prehistoric?" Another voice was heard from afar.


    Another man wearing Exoskeleton armor was moving right inside the strange zone but resisted the shrinking and absorbing of matter.


    "Yes. That''s right. I''m Prehistoric. And he''s a... Prima Donna." Seeker chuckled.


    Lynd was irritated at thatment.


    "And we love men," Lynd added.


    "Tell all the Top-Tiers. We love men." Lynd dered with conviction.


    "If you''re bringing me down, I''m taking you with me, Zeek!" Lyndughed.


    Shakstress remained calm. But intense anger was building up. She didn''t act recklessly. The fact that one of the two managed to approach her. in a way that she failed to detect made her cautious. She checked thest detected energy around the area to see any specific changes in the environment near her. And there she saw it.


    "Teleportation?" Shakstress didn''t understand the way of using teleportation. It was unlike all forms of teleportation she had seen.


    "What a novel way to teleport. Which Top Tier Presider is this?" Shakstress frowned and used her technology to identify the form of Seeker.


    "It''s wearing my Supreme Exoskeleton?" Shakstress frowned.


    "So you guys are the mastermind in all of this. And it seems that my ship ispromised. You two are wearing my Supreme Exoskeletons, after all."


    "That''s right, Shakstress. The previous fights were all to soften you up for our arrival. And the third one isn''t wearing a Supreme Exoskeleton." Lynd pointed.


    At the direction of where he pointed, Meryl was about toplete her charging.


    She wore a Sun Devourer suit. To deceive Shakstress, Lynd used his powers to create a light source while Seeker wielded an Everbright Bomb''s light based on Meryl''s power. That made it look like the area had light and distracted her by talking.


    But in the perception of Arthur, everywhere but the center was sumbing to strange darkness.


    "This is so cool. I''m like a Super Saiyan now!" She chuckled.


    "HA!" Meryl shouted as she released the beam of light.

 Chapter 415 - Prima Donna And Prehistoric

    Meryl unleashed all the energy that she managed to gather with the Sun Devourer suit. She even created her own, and the suit managed to channel the light source and create a concentrated beam of immense heat.


    The beam shot out and entered the field that Shakstress created. But the power of Meryl''s attack wasn''t devoured.


    The power of the light was reinforced by a strange Realm that fortified it and made it resistant to the shifting dimensions.


    Seeker and Lynd were secretly releasing their Realm and used destion to disrupt the field. The key was Shakstress. If they could create a powerful counterforce near Shakstress, the zone would be unstable.


    With the weakened field, the power of the bright light pierced through the dimensions.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attack created several explosions as it moved the strange field.


    Shakstress raised her hand to stabilize the shrinking fields but then noticed the anomaly.


    She cursed and brought out a powerful shield to block the attack.


    BOOM!


    "Amazing. A shield that exists in several dimensions." Seeker observed.


    "A metal that is resistant to dimensional changes. So that''s the secret. We need to get a sample." Lynd also made his analysis.


    Shakstress could tell that she was unable to forge the dimensions to block the attack because of the two standing nearby.


    Shakstress red at the two men, who were slowly increasing their energy. She had released a powerful power that should have made it impossible for humans to live. But the two stood up as if it were nothing.


    "Fine then. Minuscule World!" She clenched her fist as a bright bluish pulsed erupted. As the pulsing power spread out, the space around the three grew strange. She forcibly brought everyone into that realm of the quantum world.


    But unlike the attack that the three Supreme Exoskeletons made, this was true quantum. All three of them vanished at the sight as they grew so small that even the naked eye of the Unlock could not see it.


    Shakstress revealed her final ace, which was used as an offensive measure, and a defensive measure. Just as Arthur predicted, Shakstress purchased several Special Skills that Presiders could acquire. And with the foundation she had, she began to reverse-engineer these skills and managed to harness the micro techs as a way to breach the dimensions.


    Everything was shrinking around them. Even time itself began to shrink. All of reality was changing.


    And the expectation was that Seeker and Lynd would somehow be lost in the new world just as Richie struggled. But even in Richie''s world, time continued. Now time itself has lost its original trajectory and moved much, much slower.


    "I can''t believe I would be forced to use this against some Mid-Tier..." Shakstress frowned.


    But then, she noticed one of them was moving.


    "You up for it, old man. Lynd needs help." Seeker smiled.


    It was then that a strange power appeared within Seeker. His Realm grewrge and covered Lynd. And as the Realm grew, the Adult called out to Lynd, who was lost in time.


    "Seeker?!" Lynd was awakened as he saw a strange figure.


    "The original one. You better wake up. We fight to finish." The Adult exined.


    The power of Seeker''s split personality began to show its uses. One kept Lynd awake, and the other controlled Seeker''s body.


    "Let''s do just as we practiced."


    Shakstress acted swiftly and charged towards them. Since they had shrunk, the three were nearly a kilometer away from each other.


    Shasktress erupted with such great speed, but Seeker moved first. A tremendous power emerged out of him. Using one lightning cube, Seekerunched an attack and created a powerful sword.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Seeker began tounch various attacks, and Shakstress used her shield to defend against it.


    Each attack created a massive eruption. But the eruption and shockwave didn''t affect Seeker, who kept hammering down his sword.


    Shakstress''s entire body began to glow, and powerful energy began to rush at Seeker, taking the form of a hand.


    Seeker immediately retreated. The purpose of his attack had already seeded.


    As therge hand raced after Seeker, Lynd hadpleted the increase of his power andunched a powerful needle attack coated in destion.


    SMASH!


    The shield appeared once more, and Shakstress turned to the location of Lynd.


    Suddenly, Seeker took another step forward and disappeared and avoided exploding next to Lynd, and Seeker appeared.


    "How? It should be impossible for you to move or even create energy in this world! And the powers you present aren''t Universe Energy." Shakstress asked.


    Seeker was standing next to Lynd, and the two kept releasing their energy.


    "We told you. We aren''t Presiders. We took a different way to achieve this power."


    "A different way? Impossible. There is no other way to acquire such power!"


    "Oh? Are you a Christian? So you believe that Jesus is the only way." Seeker chuckled.


    "There is another Way if you know the Truth." Lyndughed as well.


    At that moment, Shasktress could sense the rising energy between Seeker and Lynd.


    What was even shocking was that Shakstress could sense a rising power inside the Supreme Exoskeletons they were wearing.


    The radiation in their body exploded out as their bodies became power nts of extreme energy.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The space around them began to explode, and it was as if the entire Minuscule world was being affected.


    "World Order!" Shasktress released Universe Energy that fixed the unstable world.


    Two explosions enveloped Seeker and Lynd. One had incredible energy being born in his body while the other was generating energy deeply.


    Seeker and Lynd had fought once deep underwater and revealed the true power and energy that they had. The pursuit of power allowed them to create an Immortals body famous in the many Chinese novels that talked about cultivation.


    Seeker had the Dantian, and Lynd had the mortal body that was the two aspects of cultivation. But after the fight, Seeker and Lynd focused on another exercise that would allow them to fight and face Presiders. Since the two were two different sides of the coins, the pair practiced merging their power.


    Thepatibility between the Path of the Way and the Truth was soon established. The two could share the energy that they were creating.


    Lynd was able to copy and create the path of the others. Seeker could not create it but could wield power to the point that it was even stronger than Lynd''s control of it.


    But now, the two were acting and moving in synch, which allows them to replicate all the Paths of all Oveers perfectly.


    "Impossible!" Shakstress realized what the two were doing. The two represented the two sources of powers that the Nefilus Suit of Top-Tier Presiders had.


    "What an impossible scene. And here I thought I saw everything that Mid-Tiers have to offer. But you two have suits that can fuse and create one energy!"


    "We told you, we know the way." Seekerughed.


    Lynd began to imitate two Paths thanks to the assistance of Seeker. Lynd was now able to tap into more than sixty percent of his imitation of Arthur and could also achieve forty percent of Lowengren''s power. With these two Paths working, Lynd began to build on what Shakstress stated.


    "We don''t know in this timeline, but in the future, when Nefilus suits have run out, the Mid-Tier Presiders of that new era would begin to create power sources for their body that will constantly refuel the energy of the suit. Your future is grim, Presider. The independence that you all pride yourself in will be your downfall. And so the techs that will appear from the ruins of your future will be a future borne of dependence. It is a society that requires each and every one of us to rely on another. Even in rising in the ranks of the Aragarian tiers! Presider. Join us and abandon your foolish ideology of wanting to be a conqueror. Together, we can conquer!"


    "New era? So you really are from the future. The odd lines I heard from the news that circted in Egypt were true. You serve a Principal that managed to time travel!"


    "Yes. And we are telling you that your future is grim. So make an alliance with us!" Lynd asked once more.


    Seeker felt a massive amount of energy being drained from him. He knew Lynd was lying and doing his best to make Shakstress an ally.


    "So this is why you made the n to attack me. You wanted to talk to me and offer me this alliance? Aside from this newfound way of cultivation, it seems that the future ideology has changed to the point that I cannot recognize it. Save your stories, Prima Donna! I can tell you a man!" Shakstressughed.


    Seeker did his best to stopughing at the way Shakstress called Lynd.


    Lynd frowned.


    "We have lived all our lives dreaming of being Conquerors. And you are telling us that I have to share a seat at the Throne? Foolishness! I don''t know what will happen in the future, but your arrival can help me be the Queen of Heaven! Come, Prima Donna! Prehistoric! Let us fight!"


    "Foolish. You want to be alone on that lonely throne. The Christians of this world had it right. They envisioned a multitude of Thrones in heaven. And that''s our future, Presider!" Seekerughed.


    "Let''s go, Prima Donna! Let''s show her our power!"


    "That''s right! Rainbow power! For all the burly men that Prehistoric loves!" Lynd also dered.

 Chapter 416 - Saints Versus Gods

    The shrunk and distorted world that was starting to merge with the other dimensions was quickly changing and had already defied all forms of known science.


    It wasn''t just time that shrunk and was altered, all forms of knownws began to change. The mysterious power of Universe Energy controlled the changes in that area. Even the simplestws of thermodynamics, motion, gravity had changed. In this dimension, unless those fighting can alter thews itself or wieldws on their own, they would die.


    And around Seeker and Lynd, the changes that was breaking through all known scientific theory were not propagated.


    The Realm of the two was acting like an inferior version of the Universe energy. The energy that Seeker was making inside his body, and Lynd''s power outside, continued to work naturally as if they were standing in normal space. Their power allowed them to maintain thews that they were used to. But all of this was happening within the range of their Realm Somatotopy.


    Seeker attempted to send an energy outside his realm and it became nothingness.


    "This sucks. In this scenario, all those attacks we could do before are now limited to simple punches and kicks." Seekerined.


    "Science isn''t working normally in this world after all. We have to keep out attacks within our Realm Somatotopy, or it would disperse to nothingness. What can we do? Do you have any ns?"


    "We have to test what she''s capable of. Who knows what she can do in this ce? It''s like we''re fighting a literal god." Lynd frowned.


    "Two Saint-level cultivators against an immortal god. Not a bad way to die." Seekerughed.


    "Interesting power. Let''s see if it holds!" Shakstress harnessed the Universe energy around her body.


    "That weak copy can''t stand against the real thing! You two false Presiders can''t even gather Universe Energy, can you?"


    "I wonder if I can touch that..." Seekerughed and crushed a metallic cube. The lightning energy erupted and covered Seeker.


    It was as if arge Seeker made of lighting was formed.


    "Behold! My constant training in Pokemon has allowed me to do this!" Seeker revealed.


    Seeker had trained to split the thought process that he finally managed to rey the game even without the help of Lennox''s program. Through the help of Seeker''s other personalities that trained to replicate the unexinable process to replicate a game in his head, he achieved multiple thought processes by focusing his other personalities on making up for what hecked in numbers quality.


    The power of Arthur''s foundation finally surfaced. Speedy yet urate estimations were applied, so Seeker''s control over the lightning energy was bing more and more precise.


    At the center, the lightning energy orbited around him and created a denser, physical form.


    Seeker filled his Realm Somatotopy with this living lightning and charged forward.


    Shakstress watched and was secretly amazed. She retreated and suddenly shot out several beams through her arms.


    Seeker rushed in without hesitating and shot out his lightning as he drew closer.


    BOOM!


    "What an idiot! Quantum Shrink!" Shakstressughed, and the entire area in front of Seeker began to distort. Several small ck holes appeared in the space in front of them, shrinking all forms of matter that passed there.


    A powerful suction force was drawing Seeker, and the space around Seeker was copsing because of the small ck hole that was a creature.


    All matter that entered that region would be shrunk, and it would have killed Seeker. It appeared in front and even behind Seeker.


    "You''re up, old man." Seeker chuckled.


    The Path of the Passover appeared once more, and even in the minuscule space where even Shakstress could not teleport, Seeker managed to do it.


    Seeker''s figure disappeared from the space.


    "What?!" Shakstress was shocked.


    "How could he teleport?!"


    "I honestly don''t know." The Adult Seeker appeared behind Shakstress and delivered a Lightning field punch.


    Shakstress tried to block with her shield but only managed to evade and raise her elbow to block the attack that was aimed at her head.


    BOOM!


    The force of the punch was so strong that the fist of the Supreme Exoskeleton began to crack and shatter.


    Shakstress was knocked back and undid her own power as she was being thrown into the space where the ck hole she created was. The ck hole vanished on time, but Lynd was already there.


    "Maw of the Dragon!" Lynd roared as he harnessed a massive amount of Destion. Shakstress was thrown so far that he had entered Lynd''s Realm and the power of Destion bit down as it took the form of a Dragon.


    "Hmph!" Shakstress activated her powers and grewrger, and quickly used her shield to block.


    BANG!


    The Maw of the dragon could no longer envelop all of Shakstress and bit on the shield.


    With one hand, the giant Shakstress did a backhand p at Seeker and used his shield to smash on Lynd.


    The hand suddenly gathered Universe Energy, as did the shield.


    The power of Destion met the Universe shield and exploded.


    Lynd was sent flying back.


    The p that was about to strike Seeker missed as Seeker teleported once more, but as he appeared, Shakstress had suddenly shrunk down several times.


    Seeker was too far for his fist to connect and immediately teleported once more and appeared right next to Lynd.


    Shakstress began to growrger andrger andunched a powerful attack using Universe Energy.


    A hand-formed from the great space above them and began to rush down,


    Lynd saw it and frowned.


    "She''s increasing her size so that she can make attacks that require less energy."


    "I get it. Since she changed her size, she''s only wasting a small amount of Universe Energy. The ck hole will be much bigger now. But doing so will have its consequences. This strange dimension is too small for her to retain that size."


    "We need to stabilize the space around us if we are to stop that attack from bing a quantum shrinking ck hole."


    "Or, we could use that instability and destroy this ce. I''m willing to bet that Shakstress that is an anomaly in this minuscule world will suffer."


    "So that''s the difference between you and Arthur. In these moments, Arthur thinks on the defensive."


    "That''s the Arthur you met. I''m sure he''s changed now. The fact that he risked diving in this ce proves it. Anyway, just like we practiced then. Realm Synch!" Seeker smiled as the Kid seeker took over.


    Harnessing the power derived from the Paths of Harker''s trio and the Small Time Drug Dealers, Seeker, and Lynd began tobine their Realm and created the miracle of Realm Synch.


    While the former teams used Realm Synch to sense, see, and somehow improve their Realm Somatotopy by fighting together, Seeker and Lynd tried something different.


    No Path can ever be copied. This was the theory and belief that was held in the timeline of Adult Seeker. The miracle of the Way itself was outstanding. But now, Seeker was here. And the two close friends who had the power to learn and harness the Paths of others made an experimental attack.


    If they could link their Realms and control the Paths that each other possesses, their power would grow exponentially.


    Immense radiation appeared as the two synched their powers.


    The energy source of Seeker''s Dantian and of Lynd''s Cultivators body worked together.


    "Realm!" Seeker and Lynd shouted together as they harnessed the power of the Realm King.


    The power of Realm erupted out and began, and a telekic force suddenly held every particle in that strange world.


    "WHAT?!" Shakstress was amazed.


    "World Seizer!" Lynd and Seeker shouted together.


    The massive hands that were moving towards Seeker and Lynd suddenly stopped. And in that world where even time shrunk, time suddenly stopped.


    Seeker and Lynd channeled massive energy and began to charge their power to fuel their attack.


    Together, the two could mold time and space.


    The energy of Seeker and Lynd continued to work together as they tried their best to maintain the form.


    The attack was slowly creating a crushing attack, and Shakstress felt herrge form being drawn into the attack she sent out.


    The space around Shakstress was copsing, and it was as if a strange ck hole was being created.


    Shakstress was still able to think and move despite how time had stopped. However, she dispersed the energy and shrunk herself as herrger size was creating instability in the world.


    The moment she shrunk, the copsing of the dimensional space they were in stopped.


    Seeker and Lynd maintained their link and used theirbined efforts to regenerate the massive energy they consumed.


    The same thing happened to Shakstress. While her suit can create energy, her suit can only contain s much energy. And generating Universe Energy was a long and time-consuming process.


    She had wasted a lot and had no choice but to use conventional energy and save the Universe energy for attacks that would kill them.


    The two sides began to charge and gather energy.


    "So this is the new era of Presiders? In this timeline, it is still possible for that two energy formations to be in one body. Mid-Tiers of my era either create a different device that will constantly refuel the suit of energy or create an internal power nt that empowers the body and generates the energy. Us Top-Tiers would have the ability to add another power source. Depending on what the Presider selected on their Mid-Tier rank, the other option is selected upon reaching Top-Tier. But I guess in your time and in the ideology of your era, you have to split the energy. How pathetic." Shakstress ranted.


    Seeker and Lynd were silent.


    "Wow. That monologue of hers just gave us a lot of info." Seeker sent telepathically.


    "I know, right? So it seems we know the gap between Mid-Tiers and Top Tiers."


    "This is an alternative since Nefilus suits are not possible. But this timeline is already changed. The secret of Phallium suits and Phallic techs are already here." Seekerughed.


    Shakstress was silent and began to contemte. She had heard rumors of this and recalled the strange events in the Caliphates.


    "Some of your peers may be attempting to find a way tobine both. We know that that Kid with four horns has. It was him who gave us information about you. That snake will betray us soon. You could still join us, you know? We will share our secrets. We will tell you everything about the Phallic tech and all those things that we shared to Principal Lanterk."


    Shakstress was so frustrated. She set a certain protocol in her suit. It had been so long that a linger of fear was in her heart and so she prepared to get back at Lanterk in case this battle will cost her too much than she can afford.


    "Lanterk will have his day.... For now, I will Conquer. I''ll fix this timeline by killing you!"

 Chapter 417 - When Brothers Dwell In Unity

    Lanterk was watching the news of the battle from somewhere in the South Americas.


    He saw the emergence of several Supreme Exoskeletons, and Shasktress''s ship was revealing all of her techs without any constraints.


    The scenes of miracles shocked the world and added anger to Lanterk.


    "What an idiot! Why is she doing this?! And how dare those stupid Mid-Tiers do this! With them fighting like that, our n to control and enve this world won''t work! The humans will be on guard of us and will fear and point their weapons to us! Why reveal the full extent of their military might?! And with those Mid-Tiers and Top-Tiers here, they will probably make alliances to the nations! Do they really want this world to be their battleground?!" Lanter was incensed.


    Several Supreme Exoskeletons have been fighting, and dozens of Sun Devourers appeared, turning the bright sky into one that appeared to be evening.


    Due to the battle, the Everhiss family had requested all guests to take their leave from their respective ships.


    Only Zeraphine, who was taken earlier, was allowed to stay because of her rtionship with Seeker.


    When Lanterk finally got on a ship that was his own and was prepared by some Pioneers serving him, he continued to watch the battle on the news.


    "Shasktress is not leading this battle. Her Pioneers took full control... That means that Shakstress is in the middle of a battle! Who can challenge her?!" He wondered.


    Suddenly, Lanterk couldn''t help but feel a strange ripple around the world.


    "What''s going on?" A strange voice spoke directly inside Lanterk''s head.


    "Main body?"


    "You have received so much hate. Our Karmic Rewards is sensing a massive increase in anger. At least two Top Tier wants you dead there. And it seems that the effects are growing by the second. By the looks of it, almost all Mid-Tiers on Earth want you dead aside from two Top-Tiers. So what exactly are you doing?"


    "What? How could that be? I haven''t done anything to anger anyone! I did everything to maintain a low profile." Lanterk was shocked.


    "If you didn''t do anything, then you are either being framed, or our secret is out. We have no choice. We are going there. The Principal headed there is already a month away. I''m contacting Principal Dormin and will be paying to teleport to his ship." The voice of the person spoke irritably.


    And then the voice vanished.


    Lanterk was stunned at the words of his main body.


    "What?! Is my secret out? But how?!"


    Around Earth, every Presider, be it Mid-Tier or Top-Tier, received a priority message from Shakstress.


    "In case I die here, Lanterk has betrayed us. He is the Goat with Four Horns, Principal Alexandrus, and along with Presiders from the future, he might be nning to devour us all."


    The simple message shocked everyone who heard it.


    Even Garenjazz awoke from his dreams and hovered over the Earth.


    "Time travel? But Prime Zephirus said that it''s impossible. Not even the Primordial can do so! Unless we have gained ess to the True Heavens in the future..." Garenjazz marveled.


    Tiana had only recently ascended to Top Tier right before she went to Earth. But she knew that she was not someone who could challenge Shakstress inbat. The Shrink powers of Shakstress that she saw scared her. And yet, this Shakstress was about to die.


    Straviaa rushed to meet Enderks after that message.


    "Enderks! What is going on?


    Enderks, however, had a bright smile on her face.


    "Perfect. A Top-Tier has fallen, and Presiders from the future? Those things in Egypt were true! It seems that Andronze has allied with these Presiders!" Enderksughed.


    "Why are you so happy?! A Top-Tier has imed that she might die!"


    "Yes. But why did they go after her and not a Mid-Tier? I believe that this is an alliance among Mid-Tiers. We ally with them, and we can kill and conquer Top-Tiers!" Enderksughed.


    "Kill a Top-Tier?! Are you mad?"


    "You think I''ll stop? Straviaa, I am aiming to kill a Principal! That''s what it means to Conquer! The road to bing conquerors is opened, Straviaa! Let''s tread on that road!"


    The Presiders of the world began to initiate their ns and took advantage of the world-shaking battle to initiate their ns.


    As that happened, in the strange world where Shakstress was...


    Shakstress began to continue charging the energy she needed for this battle.


    Most Mid-Tiers think that Top-Tier Presiders only had a second energy source that made them powerful. But the truth was that a second energy source was necessary.


    Top-Tiers is generally the bare minimum to begin experiments that breach the dimension. This was because their own body had enough energy to run and power themselves constantly. Top-Tiers had an unlimited


    To make a body that fully crosses the dimensions and has the capacity to move and interact in another dimension. And when Presiders need to move within these dimensions, they lose the ability to move or have the energy to move in and out of this dimension was dangerous. And so, it requires the ability to generate energy within themselves.


    When the two powers interact in another dimension, they can slowly harness another energy which was the main currency that Presiders had. And that was the mysterious energy that was kept hidden in those dimensions and is the source of the energy of the entire universe itself.


    Universe Energy is avable at the very peak of the Presider stage. Therefore, low and Mid-Tier Presiders would have to trade for it or use their technology to generate it, although it is vastly inferior to those in Top-Tier.


    And as that happened, Seeker and Lynd were also shocked to feel another form of energy being generated when the two of them worked together tobine their Realm.


    "This power...!" Lynd was shocked. It was a form of energy that surpassed anything he ever felt.


    The shield of Shakstress was undoubtedly made of this material. Shakstress was able to harness it and create it making an invulnerable shield as it breached the dimensions.


    "I see... This is the goal of the Lost Primordial. He not only divided the sciences to hide our power from the enemy, he knew this was the way to cultivate this!" Seeker began to realize the intentions of the Lost Primordial.


    Themunion of their power created a strange ripple that drew out the power.


    At that moment, a strange vision appeared before Seeker and Lynd.


    They found themselves before a grand throne...


    A tall, old, and wounded man, as if he had been stabbed and killed, sat down on this throne. The man stood up and, with great joy, began to dere...


    "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the cor of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord hasmanded the blessing, life forevermore!"


    The old man eximed in delight.


    "I am the Lost Primordial! And I have been chosen by the Most High to lead captives on the train of my robe and take plunder and give gifts to all, even the rebellious! Receive the inheritance and Ovee!"


    A massive power broke through across the hidden dimensions, and for a split second, the entire universe shook.


    Several uncanny beings hidden far across the edges of the universe were startled.


    In Aragar, the Primes grew restless.


    In Babylos, thest of the Babelian Primes also sensed it.


    "Did the Primordial find it?" He wondered.


    Somewhere within a copsing star, the Primordial woke up.


    "Lost Primordial... Have you returned?" He wondered.


    The space in which Shasktress was started to tremble as the union of Seeker and Lynd''s powers suddenly grew stronger.


    The many paths of Lynd and Seeker had already created massive foundations that the two of them already had.


    The paths of Amir''s bodily cultivation allowed them to have a powerful body with immense vitality. The cells of Meryl and Typical allowed them to harness great energy in each cell. The mind of Lennox and Arthur, the power of Realm from Lioncourt, and many more.


    The power of all that they have gathered, even from the recent additions in their team, was already in the body and mind of Seeker and Lynd. Of course, the pair only envisionedbining their efforts to imitate the Ranked Heroes body, but the Lost Primordial had prepared from this moment.


    It broke through all dimensions and began to gift Seeker and Lynd the power of eternity.


    "Ascension!?" Shakstress saw it and was horrified. The process before her was a power that Top-Tiers go through to be Principals!


    She made preparations to retreat, but then the power disappeared.


    Seeker and Lynd were hovering in the shrunk space, but even they had shocked expressions. Their entire bodies changed, and they could feel that the power had somehow sunk in them.


    "What happened?" Lynd was shocked.


    "Did you see that vision?"


    "A throne in heaven. I did. The Lost Primordial appeared. What is this? Glorification?"


    "Whatever that was... he gave us a great gift. We now have a Ranked Heroes body!" Seeker exined.


    Within their body, they could feel a strange power linking to their soul. A massive amount of energy was there.


    Shakstress was about to flee when she saw the transformation stopped.


    "What the? What form is that? It''s not yet a Principal and is even weaker than my current form... But their bodies are clearly made of that energy that Principals have!" Shasktress stopped. Greed had surfaced in her heart as she saw the form. She had already wasted and lost so much in this battle. But when she saw then two beings before her...


    "I could find a way to force a transformation without relying on another Principal! This could be it! I could transform on my own!" So Shakstress prepared her power and began to move.


    The Universe Energy exploded out.


    "Give me your body!" Shasktress screamed in great madness. The Universe Energy, which was her lifeline, was now being used without reservation.


    Outside the shrunken world, the entire space of the ship began to tremble.


    Ever since Shakstrtess''s disappeared along with Seeker and Lynd, the remainingmanders have taken control and full ess to all technologies. Several Supreme Exoskeletons and dozens of Sun Devourers took to the sky and massacred the forces of Pridgeon and Andronze.


    But at that moment, the energy source that fueled all of Shakstress''s forces vanished for an instant.


    Hermes stood up and stopped the strange dance he was doing as the Supreme Exoskeletons and Sun Devourers lost power.


    "Go!" He shouted, and the Four Winds flew out of the Pyramid to attack and capture the many suits around them.

 Chapter 418 - Tricking Shakstress

    The moment Seeker and Lynd saw the energy, Lynd began to harness great energy that used powerful Destion from Meng, the bright sun of Meryl, and the heat from Gardo''s power.


    But before he could attack...


    "Lynd. Let''s retreat!" Seeker gave a strange order.


    "What?!" Lynd was shocked.


    "Follow me!" Without any exnation, Seeker tore open a portal.


    The moment Lynd saw it, he understood what Seeker nned. Why waste an attack when you can anger the enemy and evade it?


    As Seeker and Lynd vanished, a certain Presider received that message.


    Pridgeon saw the message and was startled. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. Then, Shakstress sent him a message and confirmed who Lanterk was.


    "This means... Those guys who attacked her... They were allied to Lanterk?" Pridgeon realized what was happening. He was used as a borrowed knife to get Shakstress to a fight. The fight made Shakstress so desperate that she even gave the broadcast to reveal to everyone who Lanterk was!


    "That Kid with Four Horns will be targeted after this." Pridgeon gritted his teeth. He saw the battle below and how Andronze, who was now allied with mysterious men who had the power of wind and who earlier sliced a powerful attack that made the entire universe smaller.


    "Are they... Lanterk''s allies? Is Andronze part of that alliance?" Pridgeon was so confused.


    He could see Hermes and the Four Winds move in and manage to defeat a Supreme Exoskeletons and several Sun Devourers in a momentary gap.


    "Andronze!" Pridgeon shouted.


    "Pridgeon?"


    "Are you allied to Lanterk?"


    "No! I didn''t know about Lanterk, and these people are Presiders from the Future."


    "Prove it."


    "I know about cactuses, teas, biscuits... and that Shakstress is at Raisin cake level."


    "... What?"


    BOOM!


    An explosion urred, and Pridgeon felt a great trembling on the ship.


    "Presider! Something attacked us! But we detect where it came from!"


    "It''s inside the ship. The explosion was so huge that it took out a hugepartment of this ship. Universe Energy. That attack was Universe Energy!" Pridgeon could sense it. He disconnected the call from Andronze immediately.


    "How did that attack reach inside the ship? Is it outside of the dimensions? Impossible. My ship has enough space-altering science that not even Principals would not be capable of teleporting directly inside this ce unless they are weed in! What happened?!" Pridgeon had no choice and rushed towards the source of the battle in his Throne.


    The entire Moon disappeared as it moved into the fourth dimension.


    Seeker and Lynd stood together as a massive hole was there beneath them.


    "How cruel of you. After your speech which made her give that attack, you escape. Where did you teleport us, anyway?"


    "Inside Pridgeon''s ship. And it''s not just the Universe Energy that I sent here and us." Seekerughed.


    The Throne of Shakstress suddenly appeared. It moved inside the portal and arrived right after Seeker and Lynd arrived.


    But what was strange was that she appeared in her regr form.


    Lynd then realized they were no longer in the Minuscule World but had reverted to their original size.


    "You...! Where did you take me!?" Shakstress shouted.


    "Should have escaped when you have the time, Shakstress. This is our ship! Fighting you in your ship is too dangerous as you can harness the full ability of your shrinking technology. But now, let''s see you do it here!" Seekerughed.


    Shakstress saw the two disappear in a strange portal, and she harnessed the Universe energy and chased after them.


    The portal made her see a strange dimension which even she couldn''t understand. The concepts of Teleportation were so different that apart from the bending and molding of space, she could see several dimensions mixing with that passage. Because of that, she missed the attack, and the attacknded on the ship of Pridgeon, creating massive damage.


    "Prima Donna! Get ready! We''re teleporting for a sneak attack! Pri! Hurry up! Act now and give us a clear shot! We''ll be waiting!" Seeker shouted as if talking to another person and a portal appeared in front of them, and they disappeared.


    Shakstress gathered the Universe energy around her and prepared for a full-scale explosion.


    "SHASKTRESS!" Pridgeon roared as he used the techs of his ship to warp reality once more.


    "Pridgeon?! You?!" Shakstress then realized who Pri was. It made sense. Prima Donna. PreHistoric. And, of course, Pridgeon!


    "DIE!" Shakstress roared. She began to release more of her technology. She believed that she fell for a grand trip led by the two who were used to lure her into a disadvantage merely. Most of her Universe Energy was with the ship. She was now in a desperate situation.


    Pridgeon and Shakstress fought once more as two Thrones shed.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The massive battle urred, and the ship of Pridgeon was sealing off the entirepartment and hastily sending all their forces nearby.


    A powerful shield enveloped the region, altering the entire ce as it was thrown closer and closer into the fourth dimension.


    "This stupid and reckless science! Crostfree was an idiot! An ant among Top-Tiers!" Shakstress cursed as the world turned strange and dangerous. There was no stability in it, and it was random.


    "Not an idiot! A genius! You can''t use your shrink, right? This is why Crostfree only took the basic sciences. He just needs enough to distort this world and prohibit everyone else from using their Top-Tier powers! In this realm where your dimension science of shrinking can''t work, you have to rely on your basic attacks or your Universe Energy! And Crostfree amplified the simple techs of battle! An ant? Well, so what if it''s an ant when you have been brought inside this anthill?!"


    Pridgeon then revealedsers, rockets, and even shot bullets at Shakstress.


    The whirling world, which was trying to merge two dimensions, held no stability that even shrinking the ce went out of control.


    While the battle continued...


    Seeker and Lynd appeared in a certain room and immediately froze everyone with Realm.


    "Quick... contain the Ranked Heroes body!" Seeker ordered.


    The two quickly did as the radiation of their body was damaging everything and hurting the Pioneers nearby.


    Lynd slowly contained the newly acquired power.


    "Such a mystery this is..." Lynd marveled as the power disappeared.


    "I am eternal but mortal at the same time. It''s like those saints or immortals in Chinese cultivation that take the forms of mortal men. Right now, this current form is mortal and can die, but the form earlier was ageless!"


    "More like a glorified body in mortal flesh. The hypostatic union of divine and mortal." Seeker finally contained the energy.


    "Let''s move." Seeker then ordered.


    Lynd observed the room where Seeker teleported out of. It was one of the Compartment Command Center on the ship.


    "Thankfully, that explosion that destroyed a lot of this ship has weakened the soundproof capability. We can easily detect sounds here."


    "I think it''s not the ship. We''ve also grown stronger." Lynd closed his eyes.


    "The walls prevent sound and vibration from traveling. What a curious metal. And yet we are able to hear it through our Realm Somatotopy."


    "We''ll talk about itter. We have the opportunity of a lifetime! Not only is Arthur in Shakstress''s ship gathering information, but we also managed to sneak into Pridgeon''s ship."


    "Ugh. How did we teleport here anyway?"


    "Can''t you guess?"


    "I can''t keep relying on Arthur''s imitation. Besides, imitating a lot of people at the same time is very nauseating. Unless I awaken that Berserkers rage that helps me focus, I will have these very world-turning moments when I copy three or more people immediately."


    "You have a Ranked Heroes Body now."


    "Still the same. I have the body but not the head. Just tell me!"


    "Alright. It was two things. One, because Shakstress shrunk us. And two, my Path of Passing Over. That moment made it possible to teleport anywhere. But did you see the strength of the Teleportation?"


    "Of course, I did! You actually created a path towards that location! That''s how the Universe Energy chased us all the way here!"


    "So our theories weren''t wrong. We justcked energy. But we have to be careful. There''s something quite unstable with this Ranked Heroes body... In any case, let''s hurry. We have to take advantage of this time."


    "You''re calling her, aren''t you?" Lynd asked.


    "Naturally. How else are we going to turn this ce upside down?" Seekerughed and began to fiddle with theputers. With the information they had gathered from various nteds and the captured Pioneers, the group had an idea of how to ess theputers of the Aragarian and how to navigate through them.


    "These Pioneers must have something simr to Harker''s tools. Either that or Pridgeon was able to bribe them with future offers."


    "Must be thetter. But even if they have a Programmed ve device that makes them happy in serving Pridgeon, no desire can beat the allure and call of her." Seekerughed.


    "You try to send whatever information you can to Lowengren. Since he wasn''t with Arthur in the ship, he ought to be with Vender making that annoying broadcast. You have one of Lennox''s thought processes, right?"


    "It''s a half process. But I think it''ll work." Lynd touched theputer, and an electrical current entered the database.


    Lynd began to fiddle with theputers looking at cameras and other possible locations where they could go next.


    "So the inventor of Linux is an Aragarian? But that makes the Aragarian already here on Earth before World War Three!" Lynd realized.


    "I''m pretty sure it might just be some coincidence." Seeker frowned.


    Seeker and Lynd started to work on several things. Lynd began to broadcast the information to a certain base.


    Lowengren was receiving tons of information.


    "Oh? This is Pridgeon''s ship! How did they get there?" Lowengren wondered but happily began to download the information.


    The data that was sent was already organized by the A.I That Lennox made. Although it wasn''t sentient and could not bemunicated with, it could follow certainmands.


    Lowengren saw all the information and smiled.


    "Interesting. The names of Mid-Tiers are here."


    As the information was being sent, Seeker finally managed to create a long-distance link to a certain ship.


    Seeker and Lynd didn''t dare stay but simply sent a quick message and teleported away. None of the Aragarians were killed but were frozen through a strong telekic attack.


    The moment Seeker and Lynd vanished, the Aragarians were able to move. Great fear had covered them, and some were even burning in pain from the severe radiation level that Seeker and Lynd brought into the room for several seconds.


    But before the Aragarians could make any alert, the image of a beautiful woman appeared on the screen.


    "What lovely gifts that Seeker sent me." The Tyrant Empressughed as he watched the many Pioneers stunned at her beauty.


    "Disobeying Presider Pridgeon is disobeying me. Therefore, serve him with all your might, but serve me and follow my will, should Imand you. And I will visit you in your dreams.." The Tyrant Empress gave a seductive smile.

 Chapter 419 - When The Cat Is Away

    Seeker and Lynd raced through the entire ship and began to convert more and more. Lynd would quickly gather the data as fast as they could and send it. The pair worked within a specific time frame. They did not waste a single second.


    Even if Lynd managed to gather the information that was vastly iplete, they would immediately leave whenever the link to call the Tyrant Empress urred.


    The Tyrant Empress would instruct the group to continue sending more details as fast as they could. And all the Commanders followed.


    Back in the ship of Shakstress, the team of Unlocks was maximizing the time they had to gather more and more information.


    The key was Madison and his team. With their ability to nce and gather massive amounts of information, the groups were able to find the workarounds and hindrances in moving around and manipting data to change the status and ess of the rest.


    The three had managed miracles in the trial of fire that they encountered when they were sent to China. After that, they learned how to act as spies and pass along information in critical moments or be killed. It was through this that a weak version of their Path''s awakened.


    With the three of them moving around the ship, they were able to share the sights of each other and infiltrate the higher-ups. So there, the data that was being moved around the ship were changed as they acquired overrides.


    The first was changing Chris and Grace''s ess.


    The pair was able to kill certain doctors on the ship and assume their identity.


    Madison''s team provided them ess and knowledge, and since Chris and Grace are trained spies, their ability to merge and adapt within the group wasplete.


    With them there, they could confirm the ess levels of people they healed and could confirm the deaths of certain individuals.


    With the chaos happening inside the ship and the threat of the werewolves, it was easy for the two to hide the deaths of the people they treated.


    And so, a list of new individuals that the Unlocked could assume with higher ess was already formed.


    The information was passed on to Arthur, and Arthur gave out themand.


    Without Shakstress fighting and making calctions at every step of the way, Arthur could create miraculous calctions that were without hindrances.


    Gardo was finally brought to the hospital wing. He had an identity of a high-ranking Supreme Exoskeleton pilot who was allegedly attacked but killed the enemy at the direction of Shakstress.


    "Sir! We''re here! Your saved!" The ''saviors'' of Gardo informed him.


    "Thank... you..." Gardo answered weakly.


    "Doctor! Are there any doctors avable?" One of the nteds called out.


    "Shut up! Everyone is dying here! Of course, there are no doctors avable!" Another doctor roared back.


    "You idiot, that is Commander Krissk. Presider informed me that he will being!" A doctor appeared and chastised the low-ranking doctor.


    "Do-Doctor Grezzim!"


    "Commander Krissk! I will do everything to save you! Go! The Prime Healing Pod is prepared. Shakstress has already ordered its reservation!" The doctor ordered.


    And true enough, one of the most advanced and expensive Healing Pods that can do miraculous healing was already reserved. Even in the chaos, these Healing Pods were not used and could only be activated at the approval of a Pioneer Commander. And one was already approved!


    Gardo was quickly ced inside, and two doctors moved inside.


    "Priority healing. Anyone with a Medical ess to Techs less than Prime, do not enter!" The first doctor who chastised the low-ranking doctor shouted.


    Soon, the two began to work inside. The healing pod had a thick transparent ss, and everyone could see what they were doing, and the talks were being broadcast outside.


    But with such loud chaos and screams around, it was difficult to keep track of what they were saying.


    The two doctors began to discuss how to heal him. Even without any indication from the tech, the pair expertly identified what was wrong with the Commander.


    As the diagnosis and proper treatments were being ordered, the trio was also talking at a different frequency.


    Through Madison, Oark, and Cheryl''s espionage, they managed to promote several people by manipting the data through the growing knowledge they had. As a result, Chris and Grace now had a very high position within the Hospital wing of the ship after they killed and assumed the identities of these two doctors.


    Chris and Grace Carlean tended to the wounded Gardo, who made reckless attacks that shattered many parts of his bones. They could tell through their unlocking even the heartbeat of Gardo and be even ahead in identifying the vital stats of Gardo from heartbeat, the number of bones that were breaking, and even the amount of blood Gardo lost.


    The doctors outside marveled at the pair working.


    "Have they... always been this good?" One of the nurses asked them to watch the pair of doctors work.


    "No. It must be that Healing Pod. The data are probably being sent to their brain." The low-ranked doctor watched in envy. He shook his head and returned to his duties.


    Inside the Healing pod, the trio was already talking in another frequency that no one else could hear despite the broadcast.


    "And my son just vanished after the attack?" Chris Carlean asked a wounded Gardo, who was now pretending to be one of the Pioneers wounded.


    "I haven''t seen him. I wished he told us he woulde here!" Chris grumbled.


    "He couldn''t have. It was still our actions that made it possible for him to be here. If the two other Presiders didn''t attack, he wouldn''t have the opportunity. From what I understand, Seeker and the group took advantage and rode WGP weapons of mass destruction to get here."


    "Oh! So that''s what happened! What a nice ride. I want to ride a nuclear bomb."


    "Dear... Please focus! We are doing a critical mission here!"


    "S-Sorry, honey. You''re right."


    "Still... That kid should have called us. He hasn''t even received his license to drive yet, and now he''s piloting Weapons of Mass destruction across the world?" Grace frowned.


    "He... is a Weapon of Mass Destruction all by himself. I''m sure he can handle that." Gardo tried to pacify Grace.


    "So, where did he vanish off to?"


    "The Presider can shrink everything, right? I''m sure you noticed. They are probably fighting in a realm that is so small. Richie should being here and needing help recovering, but apparently, he had something important to do first. He could exin what that battle is. What I know is that Seeker and Lynd began to fight with that Presider. They disappeared when the lights went out."


    "I hope he can fight. That sounds... too otherworldy!"


    "It is. You should have seen that Presider. She was a monster! She could think as fast as Arhuhr!"


    Grace and Chirs were starting to wear worried expressions.


    "But don''t worry. Her suit was damaged when we were finished, and she was forced to make big moves. I''m sure Seeker and Lynd, who will be fighting together, can handle her. Those two are also quite otherworldly." Gardoughed as he recalled the battle underwater.


    "We saw that strange event. Even the lights from this room disappeared. It was like something was stopping the energy of the ship. But now, the energy is back."


    "Meryl caused that event. No wonder Arthur wanted that suit for his girlfriend! You should have seen how this ship maintains energy. A single ce within the ship isn''t creating it, but the entire spaceship itself, down to the smallest metal, can create energy. Meryl used her powers and somehow drew out that massive amount of energy and created the ckouts."


    "That was Meryl? And we seeded in giving her a Sun Devourer suit? Amazing! Where is Meryl now?" Grace asked.


    "We don''t know. Arthur might know, but he sent me here and didn''t have time to ask. So we used that ckout quickly to make our immediate escape and hid among the group. But ever since then, our sound links have stopped. Arthur said Sammy and Chase would be focusing on gathering more information. And Arthur told Richie to rest and use his powers for a mission rted to Octarion. Madison should be resolving that. What about you guys?"


    "As you can see, we have already understood how these devices work. They run from that Universe Energy thing. It is a source that is born, not from this one. But from what we can understand, this energy is the source of creation itself. It''s the energy that birthed the Universe."


    As the three talked, a certain pair was being outfitted in an armory section.


    The soldiers and engineers were moving with great haste to create a weapon. From the designs that were provided, the engineers were creating a Supreme Exoskeleton with the armor that the Dawn Suit of Australia inspired.


    The voice of Shakstress shouting and giving constant orders echoed throughout the chamber. In addition, many other voices could be heard talking to Shakstress.


    Richie was seated in a broken Exoskeleton. It wasn''t even a Supreme, but a regr. But as he was being restored, he was watching Octarion being outfitted by the hulking, thick Supreme Exoskeleton.


    He was imitating Shakstress, and with the data Madison provided, he was also able to copy the voice of Commanders who had jurisdiction andmand over the engineers in this wing.


    "I can''t believe I''m doing this. Is Arthur really going to make this? That armor will make Octarion so much stronger." Richie wondered. Despite hisints, he wasn''t worried but was secretly excited.


    He watched the armor that Octarion was wearing and couldn''t help but anticipate the future battle between them and the Tyrant Empress.


    Richie suddenly felt a light passing breeze.


    "Took you long enough." Richieughed.


    "The battle outside is quite annoying. The Presider that is helping us isn''t willing to shell out any of her big guns. Any luck with new techs?"


    "Yes. With Seeker keeping that Presider busy, we''re gaining a lot of things from technology and information about the Aragarians. It''s quite different to see things from a Prisder''s perspective. But we do have a lot of time in our hands. As they say, when the cat is away, the mouse can y." Richie chuckled.


    "What''s the next n?"


    "Well... Try to survive. Arthur will be doing a lot of ying now that the cat is gone. He will be takingmand of this ship and seriously trying to kill that Presider you are with. And you have to fight alongside her to gain her trust."


    "Oh? Are you going to fight?"


    "Me? Nah. Octarion will fight you, though. You should see him now. He''s a monster! Best of luck." Richieughed.


    "I''m... quite excited.. It''s quite boring here."

 Chapter 420 - Reavers And Raiders

    Arthur was among the top brass of the Pioneers in Shakstress''s ship. The resulting chaos due to the devastating attacks and the sudden loss of lights and energy allowed Arthur to appear in a certain ship miraculously. Madison had already prepared a path, and even though he had no means ofmunicating to Arthur, Arthur instinctively knew how to get there.


    Arthur had reced one of the Pioneers at the table and Chase Brender at another.


    Madison was also in the room and was amazed at how Arthur got there.


    "This man is really a genius. Did he predict everything that I did?" Madison continued to work.


    With Arthur by his side, the three began to talk in a secret frequency.


    "Good job, Madison. Right now, we will be pretending to have a secret assignment and mission from Shakstress. With three of us acting together, and how Chase can block the sounds here and recreate the sounds they hear in this chamber." Arthur instructed.


    "We have to showpetence in our orders, and I will lead the group to fight both Pridgeon and the ship of Andronze." Arthur began.


    "Understood!"


    Suddenly, an angry and distorted voice was heard in the room.


    "Protocol Reavers." Shakstress''s voice was heard.


    "Protocol Reaver confirmed!" Arthur, Madison, and Chase spoke together.


    The Pioneers were startled at the announcement.


    "Awaken!" Shakstress''s voice was heard once more.


    The three suddenly stood up, and a strange heat wasing out of them.


    "Kill the fleet of Pridgeon and Andronze!"


    "As you order!" The three chorused once more.


    "I am Reaver Pioneer Port." Chase spoke first.


    "I am Reaver Pioneer Arbaton." Arthur followed.


    "I am Reaver Pioneer Kreel." Madison spokest.


    The three announced, and a powerful visible shield suddenly appeared around them.


    "Pioneer Commander. This is the protocol that Presider Shakstress set in case of high infiltration. At this point, all of you are suspected traitors, and we will be taking control. Failure toply will mean your death. So give us the controls to the main battle system." Chase demanded.


    Arthur began to direct certain orders at the Sun Devourers and the Supreme Exoskeletons.


    With great speed, Arthur began tomand the suit one after the other.


    And while doing that, Arthur was essing the cannons that he had been able to control. But his attacks were now hitting!


    Chase and Madison also disyed quick reflexes and were shooting outside of the estimates and auto-fires of the ship.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Pridgeon''s ship and the fleet were starting to take a hit, and the Supreme Exoskeletons were now able to push forward with great speed and break away from the strange alterations in the dimensions.


    Arthur was able to predict where the next attacks were and began to lead the forces.


    It was very clear that the sudden change of the tide in the battleground meant that these three werepetent.


    The nearby Pioneer''s marveled at themands, and the Commander had no other choice but to allow the three more control.


    With Pridgeon battling Shakstress and how the appearance of the Tyrant Empress created a temporary stoppage of operation within the Command centers, the forces of Shakstress tore through the front lines and were now attacking the main ship of Shakstress within three minutes since the battle.


    "Keep on pressing the attack. Port. Kreel. Let''s focus on that stupid Pyramid. Presider says that the enemy who controlled the wind is hiding in there. Engineering room. What is the status? Is the Apollyon suit ready?" Arthur asked.


    The Pioneers and nteds in the room heard the announcement.


    "Reaver Pioneer! We are eighty percentplete! We are prepared to deploy the Apollyon suit in five minutes!" The Engineering Commander confirmed.


    "Good. All deployed soldiers with even numbers prepare to attack the forces of Presider Andronze. All odds, focus on Presider Pridgeon. Presider Shakstress has absorbed and drawn all our enemies through that ck hole that urred. But she did so and quickly absorbed and killed people that she suspected to be traitors. I want all nteds inside the ship ending in 03 to quickly make a tally of people that are missing as well as any nteds that we cannot identify." Arthur began to give a series of orders.


    "Comm room! Cut that stupid audio feed the techs that Presider provided to us may have stopped making that voice annoying, but we don''t know what other techs are being used to make us lose focus!" Arthur dered.


    "It''s done!" Another broadcast urred as Richie answered, and the broadcast of Vender stopped.


    "Good! That audio feed has some strange techs of hypnosis and has very deep levels of psychological warfare. Everyone, I want your best in the next tasks that we have! Presider took what she could, but we still have to clear all the surviving enemies that have boarded our ships! They have stolen the identity of our allies! And so, we need to clear it all out! Presider has already informed all Reavers. We will be leading the weeding out of these enemies!"


    When Arthur announced this, many of the Pioneers and nteds began to cheer. There were just too many strange things going on on the ship.


    The otherpartments which heldmanders had heard and seen the newmand under the Reaver. Many were on the brink of being killed and attacked by wolves and contacted Arthur.


    "Calling all Raiders! You have permission! Eliminate anyone deemed as an enemy!"


    "Confirmed!" Suddenly, the voices of a multitude of people could be heard all over the ce.


    Riche and Sammy used their powers to create a massive echo all over the ship.


    Suddenly, a list of people that were enemies was disyed. The list was a set of people that Madison had determined. The key was to put the me on the right people. When he, Oark, or Cheryl infiltrated the rooms and saw these things, the three were constantly setting traps to prove the betrayal of certain people by either leaving a secretm device, a weapon or by doing something in theputer.


    Each time they did, they would share their vision with another.


    The list of people appeared. Madison wrote it and sent it outside.


    The people whose names were listed in the broadcast all shouted and screamed as their allies pointed the guns and weapons at them. Many were pleading that they were innocent.


    As the broadcast happened, Madison had been secretly sending out the sounds in a different frequency to inform Richie and the rest of what to do.


    Soon, the self-proimed raiders breached the areas where ess was forbidden and quickly killed the people listed. Evidence of their betrayal was then revealed.


    And each time the team would show the proof, those nearby were amazed.


    "Spies and traitors who have infiltrated this ship! Do not underestimate Presider Shakstress! We will wipe you out! Your techs of recing our soldiers are easily revealed!" Arthur gave a passionate call to everyone.


    The battle was turning to their advantage, and the threats inside of the ship were decreasing. Arthur even gave very specific orders on how to repair the ships and the holes.


    "Reavers! An enemy! It''s those five again!" One of the Commanders alerted.


    Five figures were seen standing in front of the Pyramid.


    "Oh? So Shakstress still has decent men. To think that most of the spies we sent in are killed." Hermesughed and shouted. The wind carried the voice, and it echoed all over the ship as the strong wind blew.


    "Close all openings! The enemy controls the winds!" Chase shouted.


    "Raiders! Buyt us time!" Madison shouted.


    The appearance of the mighty wind terrified the people. They could feel how the wind was blowing and trying to create a storm inside the ship. But after a few seconds, the many opened chambers where the wind had found its way in were being closed.


    Those who were trying to repair therge holes where the enemies had entered originally were being closed. But a sudden force field appeared and allowed them to close the gaps quickly.


    The techs that were used were so ingenious and advanced that Arthur was doing his best to stop himself from trying to understand how the techs worked.


    "These Techs make the WGP look primitive." Chase sighed in amazement.


    "Madison, how much information about those techs have you acquired?"


    "All of them!" Madison smiled.


    "Good!"


    As the final holes were patched up and the metals of the ship and the broken areas were repaired, the wind stopped.


    "I do not know who you are, but you are too green to challenge Presider Shakstress! I''ll fight on her behalf!" Arthur answered as he broadcasted all over the heavens. The two weremunicating directly to each other through a Comm device that Hermes held.


    "I never knew that Shakstress have already created Reavers. You pseudo-Presider level must have missed the memo. You are just pseudo-Presiders. You''re not the real thing!" Hermesughed.


    The talk between the two was startling.


    Andronze was linked to Hermes and heard the deration of Hermes. However, he never knew of the existence of Pseudo-Presiders!


    Inside the ship of Shakstress, the Aragarians had hope. Finally, the many mysterious traits of the Reavers and the Raiders were finally revealed. They still had the power to challenge Presiders! Morale grew. The people had seen how Arthur and the rest of the Reavers quickly removed the cancerous gue of infiltrators. And not only that, theirmanding ability managed to turn the tide! Even the losing battle against Pridgeon had quickly changed, and now, they were the ones bombarding the Pioneers of Pridgeon into retreating.


    "Then let''s fight!" Hermesughed as he and the Four Winds began to gather the wind and created a huge Tornado.


    "Andronze. Assist me. With several Psuedo-Presiders, things are likely to get messy!" Hermes spoke.


    Andronze agreed and began to prepare the Pyramid to attack alongside Hermes.


    Inside Shakstress ship, the Engineers began their announcement.


    "The Apollyon is ready!"


    "Deploy it!" Arthur ordered.


    "Wind Presider! You sent a Brute in this ship!n Now, we''ll send you one back!" Arthur shouted as the suit that carried Octarion was released in the skies.

 Chapter 421 - Amen

    The appearance of arge Exoskeleton drew everyone''s attention.


    The moment it appeared out of the ship, it was as if a weapon of mass destruction could be detected. The defenses of the Exoskeleton were roughly three times harder than the Supreme Exoskeletons. In addition, it had the ability to create a massive amount of energy which produced high fluctuations.


    "Andronze. Test its might. I just need to see what that thing is capable of." Hermes ordered.


    Even without Hermes''s order, Andronze would have given out the order. But, when Andronze saw it, she could tell that Exoskeleton''s power was something that could challenge her in her Throne!


    All the Flood Dragons that remained began to attack. Andronze''s forces have been so diminished that she even called upon Egypt''s various secret weapons that were flying up the sky.


    Huge sand creatures were also flying, and even the Locust Swarm flew through the high skies.


    All of her techs were on disy.


    But therge Exoskeleton did not move. Instead, a fleet appeared outside of the ship.


    "As I thought, although she won, she lost a lot. She can only rely on these weapons of war now." Hermes heard Lowengren''s instructions and ryed them to Andronze.


    "She''s on herst leg?"


    "Yes. Don''t underestimate the attacks we made. She can''t do those previous shrinking techs anymore. That beast she deployed is one of herst weapons."


    "If it''s this kind of war, then leave it to me. I willmand Egypt''s armies!"


    And so, the battle in the sky began.


    "Your friend, Arthur, is asking if Lowengren has left," Octarion spoke, and as Hermes had already made the link with him, he naturally heard him talk.


    "We''re still finalizing a few things." Hermes answered.


    "Hurry. I am dying to try out this suit." Octarionughed and waited.


    As Octarion stood, Hermes and his winds continued to talk. The moment Hermes and his four winds saw it, they saw a familiar scene the moment they saw it.


    "Boss! Isn''t that like Lynd''s...?" Austin stuttered as he saw it.


    "It is. Using the Exoskeleton as the reactorplements Octarion''s body and creates one-half of the Cultivator''s body. We''re fighting a real body cultivator here." Hermes smiled.


    "My de''s screaming to sh with that man." Omricon smiled.


    "Looks like we''re into for some fun!" Alvinughed.


    "An Oveer. Finally..." Omega gave a small sneer as the wind around them gathered.


    "Don''t get careless, boys. One punch from that, and you might just die that Arthur knows how to put on a fight, and look! The army is organized again."


    "How are we going to fight against that and the army? Even with Andronze, their techs are still too strong! We are clearly at a disadvantage! There are Supremes and Sun Devourers there!"


    "Rx! It''s all part of Arthur''s ns. He knew that Seeker, Lynd, and Meryl would be here. This was arranged to help us all grow in this battle. The previous battle would be too much for us. But now, we have the opportunity to test our might against their techs clearly. And look! They are already here. The WGP''s forces will join us."


    Several Rules suddenly appeared nearby. Behind the Rules were the Many Mansions.


    "There hasn''t been a war that has made Emperors nervous. This is a good chance to test our techs." Miranne appeared in the sky. The Many Mansion had flown and was now wrapped around strange energy that was simr to her Nile technology.


    At the side, Andronze saw the arrival of the many mansion, and she was secretly relieved. All the Flood Dragons that she summoned from the Nile were about to be depleted of all energy. Even with Egypt there, she would be forced to fight with her Pyramid.


    "Lowengren. Arthur is asking if you left. What did he mean by that?"


    "I just figured out what his ns are. Just have Andronze give her 100% here."


    "What''s going on?" Hermes asked.


    "Simply put, the preparations have been made. I think Arthur has perfectly predicted this battle, which is near-impossible to do so since our enemy was also able to do something simr to what Arthur can do with her wisdom and the array of techs she has. But the pieces are all in ce for us to make the right moves." Lowengren called out. He finally understood the fullness of Arthur''s n.


    "That sounds worrisome since I am about to sh with him." Hermesughed.


    "Don''t worry. He is actually at his weakest now. Don''t assume that predicting the future is something easy to do. He''s at thest of his wits. He intentionally fought and made ample preparations to pierce through the fog of uncertain future to weary himself. And when he is at his weakest, he aims to use his current state to fight against you."


    "Oh? He can run out of gas?" Hermesughed.


    "He wants to fight in a desperate scenario where his mind has been pushed past its limits. And he is now fighting us so that even if he loses, he won''t die." Austin understood.


    "What a genius. He nned all this so that we could have a nice training experience. Hey, isn''t this a good training for your wisdom, Austin?" Alvinughed.


    "Yeah..."


    "Well, you guys have fun. While you are at it, Akasha and Gallium will meet up with Vender and me. My real battle starts from here."


    "You will be infiltrating Andonze''s base?''


    "Yeah. Arthur''s grown quite a bit. He''s trusting me to save his sister. You won''t be able tomunicate with Vender or me after this."


    "Alright. I think I understand what I must do. Anyst advice as to what lies I will tell Andronze to keep her distracted?" Hermes asked.


    But the answer of Lowengren made Hermes use his unlocking to contain hisughter at the absurd instructions given.


    "Andronze. Use whatever techs you have to help the WGP. I''m going to go all out. All of our men that went inside that ship are already dead. And I may die as well. But the glory of my lord shall not be wasted. We have acquired what we came here for. All that is left is to fight this Presider to the death." Hermesughed.


    "What?"


    "Presider Shakstress is stronger than I thought she would be. She countered the Macarena. She has a base inside where pioneers are praying non-stop. Those who pray without ceasing are in there." Hermesmented.


    "Pray without ceasing?" Andronze was amazed.


    "Yes. It''s a tech higher than our own. She has Prayer Warriors."


    "Prayer warriors?!" Andronze was frightened at the term. To think that all allies, including that man who literally punched a hole inside the ship, were easily killed!


    "Have all of Egypt perform the counter for Prayer Warriors."


    "What''s the counter?" Andronze was frantic.


    "We have to beat them at their game. We need more people praying. Before dying, my ally used his life to create a digital totem of worship. He has already posted it online, and you must share that picture and have everyone like and share it too! Have your nation alsoment ''Amen'' to that post and make them sincerely believe that post. Even if the power of their prayer will be weak, we can use the numbers to counter the might of the prayers of those Prayer Warriors! So we need the might... of Keyboard Warriors!"


    "What...?!" Andronze couldn''t believe her ears. This was just too weird!


    "Search the social media for Prayers for Egypt. You should find a certain post that shared a link to the sermon of Pastor Eagle. But this post talks about prayers for this battle. It has been shared on social sites, and now have everyone shared it. Type amen and pray! Do it now! That big Exoskeleton is about to move!" Hermes warned and slowly began to move.


    "Everyone, until the power of prayer returns to us, we might have to fight in this severely weakened state," Hermes warned the Four Winds.


    "For the glory of Bob!" Alvin shouted.


    "For the glory of Bob!" The rest echoed, and they charged.


    "Who is Bob?" Andronze was so confused. But she had no choice. The actions and powers of Hermes were proven to be true even though it was so weird. From the start of how she had to do that weird dance to initiate prayer, to how the dances were able to stop the shrinking techs, and now Shakstress and Pridgeon somehow disappeared. She felt like a pawn being manipted and had no choice but to aid Hermes to survive.


    She tried reaching out to the Pioneer, but there was no answer.


    She sighed and found the link that was shared in the Americas. She copied the link and gave the directive.


    "All Pirs of Egypt! Here me! Share this on your social media page and make everyone type amen! I want all who are citizens and do not have any tasks in the current war to keep sharing this! Share it internationally! Everyone should share it and have at least three amens! Force everyone to do that prayer! If there are any citizens you who do not do this, I will kill their closest kin!" Andronze announced.


    The confused Pioneers quickly did that. They had just experienced the wild, angry rage of Andronze in demanding biscuits and strange information. They dared notugh at the oddity of their Presider''s orders.


    "So... if I don''t share this, my mother will die?" A certain Pioneer asked another.


    "Yes! Hurry!" The other answered and was busy sharing the story.


    In the Americas...


    The youth volunteer who had posted the sermon along with the prayers of Eagle was shocked as his post was being shared several million and millions of times. The amount of ''amen''ments also shocked him.


    "What... the? I''m trending?" The youth was amazed. It didn''t matter that the world was ending.. His post was trending and was receiving the likes that many can only dream of in a lifetime.

 Chapter 422 - Giants And Tornadoes

    The Four Winds of Hermes took action and made massive attacks.


    The Blowing Wind, the Cutting Wind, the Chilling Wind, and the Void Wind took action and assumed their position.


    Hermes stood in between them and was harnessing the power of a massive hurricane.


    The power of the wind was so strong. The group was not just making strange dances in Andronze''s ship but was recuperating and harnessing the wind.


    Ever since the start of the conflict, Hermes and his team could not disy their powers as they were ambushed and wounded even before they could reveal more of it, and had to hide their presence and was unable to make ample preparations.


    But now, the massive wind had been created. Omega had gathered and created a massive amount of air and was ready to deploy it. And with an enemy that they knew would not kill them, the team decided to initiate the more reckless attacks that they would have saved for a critical moment. In their minds, this was no longer war but a little contest of strength against Octarion and Arthur.


    The hurricane began to blow towards the army that Arthur deployed.


    "Octarion. Move now." Arthur ordered.


    Octarion observed the armor he had. With the technology avable, Arthur had immediately crafted a working model for the suit with the help of one of his father''s AI thought processes. Of course, it wasn''t sentient, but with the basic orders, it managed to arrange the techs avable and provided a framework that the engineers would create.


    The tech that Octarion has had surpassed any creation made on Earth. It was a suit that merged perfectly with his own body.


    The power in his body was harnessed. Just as Hermes and his team had guessed, Octarion now had a form simr to the form the Lynd revealed. Octarion''s body became rich in radioactive levels as he could freely release the energy without the worry of burning himself up. The suit became a powernt that moderated the energy his body was releasing and even channeled it.


    Octarion excitedly moved to attack. The limits that restrained him from revealing the true powers of his body were mostly resolved.


    A single punch was thrown towards the hurricane that blew away most of Shakstress''s fortress.


    The power of that punch was harnessed by the suit and created an erupting force that sted out. A transparent force erupted out and was even improved by Octarion''s body.


    A wave of transparent energy shot out.


    BOOM!


    The wind and the force collided in mid-air and created a massive shockwave akin to weapons of mass destruction deployed on the sky.


    The two shing armies of Egypt and Shakstress''s ship were blown away from the attack.


    "What the!" Alvin frowned. There was something strange with the power that they encountered.


    "What a genius. He stabilized his Realm with his new little toy." Hermesughed as he observed.


    Austin could sense it. It was as if a fifty-foot giant of a man stood before them. The Realm of Octarion broke out of the suit and created energy that was alive.


    Andornze saw it and was stunned.


    "What is that...? It''s better than the WGP''s Origin, but it''s not quite Universe Energy!"


    "Boss... Should we do that? If Arthur allowed him to use that..." Alvin asked.


    "Of course, we can. That''s the whole point of us staying with Andronze and ying around with her!" Austin answered.


    "So we can reveal our Realm as well?" Omricon asked.


    "Of course. We hid it not to draw any suspicions. But now, we do have a lot of scapegoats to me. Boss?"


    "Good! This is very good! Let''s go crazy! Let''s show them why we are called Hermes!"


    The remaining hurricane suddenly changed. It took form and stood like a massive creature made of winds. But now, the winds raged faster and shaped itself to the form of a human.


    The wind creature had ahead, and Hermes stood on it.


    The winds creature''s arms formed as Alvin and Austin took their respective positions on the left and the right.


    Omega was positioned on the bottom center, and the man looked like a genie with gassy mist that made up its leg.


    Finally, a wind sword was formed as Omricon transformed himself into it.


    "What... is that...?" Madison was shocked at what he saw.


    "It''s expected. Richie can do something like that if his team could master it. Ever since the battle in the Kraken, the usage of Origin, which created the Titan, and that water below became an obsession for them. Realm is stronger than Origin, after all. And that is what most Oveers have tried to create." Arthur exined as he watched it.


    Andronze was shocked at the power that Hermes revealed but recalled that Hermes stated theck of prayers allowed them to fight in a ''severely weakened state.


    "What exactly is the true form of their power?" Andronze was amazed.


    The two beings shed.


    The transparent form of a giant punched, and Hermes grabbed his sword and shed back.


    BOOM!


    The shing realm created yet another explosion in the sky.


    As that happened, all Presiders were watching in amazement at the battle. Many crafts and Exoskeletons from Egypt were blown away, but somehow, not one of Shakstress''s forces was damaged. They went on and began to attack the Egyptian fleet.


    The sword and the fist remained in contact as a powerful force continued to erupt.


    "How is that guy blocking Omircon?!" Alvin cursed as she kept channeling more wind to create a repelling force through the Blowing Wind.


    "This is his Path! It''s not just that he has physical strength. He is the very essence of force itself!"


    "Force in motion to be precise." Hermes gave a dangerous smile.


    "Let his fist through. We are the wind! Let''s fight as such!" Hermes moved forward, and everyone followed.


    Octarion''s fist moved forward as the sudden loss of resistance as the form of the sword changed.


    Suddenly, all five of Hermes appeared before therge armor in the center.


    A slicing sword shed through the thickyer of Realm. Omricon was at the back, and his appearance was covered with gusts of winds that grew dark in color.


    The sh was made, and Hermes dove inside with Alvin, Omega, and Austin following closely behind.


    Their winds were being pulled out, and it gathered on a small back of wind in the hands of Hermes.


    "Breath of God!" Hermes roared as he threw the ball of wind towards Octarion.


    Octarion raised his arm, which became arge shield that covered all of his body. The massive Realm that he was projecting vanished.


    BOOM!


    Another explosion that erupted a dark wind that had the form of a tornado spread out.


    Even Andronze had to retreat so as not to be caught up in the explosion.


    At the scattering of the wind, all that remained at the core of the explosion was the hovering and undamaged Exoskeleton of Octarion.


    Andronze was horrified at what he saw.


    "Hey, Andronze. Fight now. We''ll keep this big guy busy." Hermes''s voice could be heard.


    "Where are you?"


    "We are the wind. Where else would we be?" Hermesughed.


    "Go!" Hermes then spoke as Octarion suddenly began to raise his shields to block unseen attacks.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Andronze was shocked, but Hermes''s voice called out to her again.


    "Hurry!"


    Andronze began to pilot her Pyramid and moved forward.


    "Presider! We are here for battle!" A transmission reached her, and Andronze saw all of Egypt''s best ships and an army of Exoskeleton positioned behind her. It was the elite of Egypt. The very group Andronze built and nurtured.


    "Why are you here? I told you to defend the base!"


    "Presider, if the sun will not shine over Egypt, then we are all lost! It took a while, but we managed t quell the dangers on the borders of Egypt. Now we are here!"


    Andronze was silent. She could not help but have an uncertain feeling. Since when were her Pioneers this loyal?


    "I was nning to create a civil war in Egypt to test you. But it seems our trial for your graduation begins now!" Andronze turned to the battle ahead. Regardless of why her Pioneers now stood next to her, the prize in front of her was ripe for the taking.


    "Attack!"


    The Egyptians cheered as the elite of Egypt charged forward to join the battle.


    Meanwhile... In the underground region...


    A strange ship flew through the tunnels of Egypt...


    Inside the strange ship were several men watching the broadcast of the battle.


    "To think I was so arrogant enough to fight Hermes." Gallium shook his head.


    "Where are they? Hermes and his group?" Vender asked.


    "They became the wind." Harker concluded.


    "They became the wind? Like Lennox?"


    "Something like that. But they used a different path to be the wind, though. Lennox calctes his way to make the transformation into lightning. But those five have grown to be believers. The foundation they might have acquired through Seeker''s power, the science of Realm, and even the changing nature of Meryl''s power aplished the impossible." Lowengren exined.


    "Hermes. God of the Air." Harker answered.


    "By the way, how did you convince the Pioneers to fly up there?" Vender asked.


    "Thanks to Lowengren''s lies, Gallium''s tech, which made me look like I had special techs from Andronze, and of course Ashaka faking as enemies, it was easy to convince the army that I was capable of matching the thoughts of a Presider. I did pray in front of them to convince them that Prayers did work in my efforts to convince them to march with everyone towards the sky."


    "Pray? Is that what happened? I was busy absorbing more metal from their supply that I didn''t see what you did." Gallium was curious and turned to Lowengren.


    "When Akasha surfaced from the sub, I already noticed the weapons of mass destruction beingunched from the World Governing Trading Hub and knew Seeker would be with them. So I decided to ask Akasha to attack Egypt and pretend to be some form of a pseudo-Presider. So Akasha attacked a base, and I made Harker pray, and Akasha retreated. So they believed the power of prayer." Lowengren answered as he was analyzing the map of the underground world.


    "Wow." Gallium was amazed.


    "Anyway, we rendezvous with Akasha and head to the heart of Egypt and explore the underground base. Our mission is to find Arthur''s sister!" Lowengren exined.


    "He''s grown. That Arthur. To think he would trust us for a mission like this." Harker smiled.


    "We are the perfect group to do so. My lies, Vender''s annoying rants that can kill guards who listen, you power to make people trust you. Gallium''s metal bending ability, and a horror creature who will y the role of an awakened demon deep inside the earth, Akasha." Lowengrenughed.


    "I wonder what Akasha found." Gallium wondered.


    "I found amazing storage of this liquid metal. It was as if Arthur sent me to the ce which would be most helpful to me. But Akasha... She looked very strange. But her power... it felt like it doubled."


    "I know. I doubt that Arthur knew what it was that she sent Akasha to. He must have calcted that it was some form of modified creature or something. I was shocked when Askasha told me what she found and exined her current state. I didn''t just send her off to the cities above to distract the Pioneers. The truth is she freaked me out. And if she stayed with us, we''d be dead." Lowengren recalled the strange look Akasha had when she appeared before him.


    "What did she find?"


    "The blood of the Lost Primordial."

 Chapter 423 - Seeker Carlean And The Philosopher’s Stone

    In an eastern garrison nearly a hundred kilometers from the battlefield...


    The bodies of the dead soldiers were there. Feasting on them were hundreds of vampires that continued to drink the blood of all dead or dying soldiers.


    At the center of it was Akasha. Her figure had changed. Her skin had revealed a delicate pink tone, and she was even taller than how she originally stood.


    She had eyes closed as she continued to meditate and contain the massive and hungry desire for her to grow. Whether Arthur intended it or not, she did not know.


    She dove down and attacked the submarines as was originally ordered to recover her losses. Some of the unlocked vampires had died as they retreated and hid by diving in the ocean or going tond.


    Akasha raced and attacked the submarine, but a certain submarine contained a tech long hidden by Egypt under the Nile.


    It carried a unique mineral that became the power source that constantly created the energy that was an advanced version of the WGP''s Origin technology. Akasha learned that the mineral was known as the legendary Philosopher''s Stone that was sought for in the history of Earth.


    Akasha desired to steal it, but it caused her blood to react and tremble as if it was resonating with her upon touching the mineral. So, sensing the great call and as if she was being possessed, Akasha devoured the mineral.


    As the rock entered her body, it began to change. It was then that Akasha realized that this stone wasn''t just a stone but a single drop of blood that was reformed into a stone. However, the stony and hard surface soon deteriorated as the entire mineral shrank and became a single drop of blood.


    The power of the blood she found had caused her to fall into a trance, and she was taken to a strange ce where she saw a person who introduced himself as the Lost Primordial. She was bestowed with many great things beyond knowledge.


    The Philosopher''s stone that she ate was different from the ones that were lost on Earth. The Aragarians called the mineral an Ankh Core. It was a rare element that only Principals could create with the right objects. While it was prettymon among the Top-Tier Presiders, Mid-Tiers could acquire and use it at a price.


    The Ankh Core was different from the ones that the Argarians created. This was formed from the blood drop of the Lost Primordial was intentionally created to have inferior energy that made it subpar.


    "Andronze must have found it and thought that Earth had somehow naturally created this minerally. But she must have found this to be subpar." Akasha guessed that Andronze didn''t think much of this Ankh stone and used it as a power source to constantly create more of the Flood Dragons that she saw the rise and fight in the sky.


    "Arthur led me here probably guessing that this submarine had some weapons of some sort rted to the Nile''s power," Akasha recalled one of Lennox''s allies. The woman who had the power to control water released energy simr to what the submarine was creating.


    Akasha set those thoughts aside and focused on what the Lost Primordial told her.


    The Lost Primordial revealed her purpose and why her legacy was rted to the blood. A bigger purpose was in store. She and several others have Paths that wereponents to make one of the strongest and most advanced sciences that he had created and left on Earth.


    "One of the culmination of all our Paths is one-third of mine. Just what is the Life?" She asked herself and delved deeper into the things that were revealed to her.


    And then, she felt it¡ªanother hunger pang had erupted. The pain rippled out and made the vampires cry out. Akasha did her best to control the wild reactions of all her familiars. They were all screaming and looking for more to devour.


    More than the knowledge that the Lost Primordial revealed to her, the Lost Primordial activated the power of the blood, and it began to change her blood.


    The Lost Primordial did something to stimte the power of her blood.


    "I need more! Much more!" Akasha cursed and looked at the sky. It was not just the moon, therge saucer, or the Pyramid that she could see. She observed the battle from afar, and her eyesight could somehow see the battle and even perceive what was going on.


    "The battle is drawing to a dangerous stage a city I can attack a city... But... these familiars will kill everyone." She turned over to her men and saw that they were unable to control their hunger. She couldn''t help but fear the sight of his vampires devouring children. Even when she attacked the cruise ships,


    Then Akasha noticed that there were two that stood to the side and were not eating.


    "You two..." Akasha called out.


    "Madam." The two bowed.


    "You are Abigail and Seth, correct?


    "We are pleased that Madam remembers us."


    "You can resist the hunger?"


    The two nodded.


    "Good. You look like a cut above the rest. You two shall be my dhampirs. We don''t have time, and my mission must begin soon. I want you to lead the vampires and attack the nearby base. I want you two to attack and destroy the defenses to minimize the losses of your attacks."


    "But madam, many among your vampires will die."


    "Bit them after the battle. They will turn into blood. You are all part of my blood now. While it will decrease my blood, it''s not as it was when someone dies. Now you can restore up to half of the power I lost when one of them dies. But, of course, you must minimize our losses. Only you two can maintain thought after all. The rest will simply follow your orders. I will bestow to you two the ability to do so."


    "Where are you going, madam?"


    "I still have a mission toplete. You will know what to do when I order you. I can sense you all as part of my Realm."


    "We understand, Madam."


    "Go." Shemanded as small bats suddenly swarmed around her. It looked like a locust swarm from afar and allowed the group of vampires to rush in.


    "My blood is iplete..." Akasha realized as she sent the group.


    "If Seeker is there, they need to know. The secret of the Life lies within me, Amir, and Meng! Only then can the body of a World Champion be made perfect!" Akasha channeled her blood to produce a small red bat. She allowed it to fly, and it flew with an amazing speed.


    "Go seek out Arthur or any of his team. The message must be passed." Akasha suddenly turned to mist and turned into a hundred bats and flew towards the city.


    "Forgive me. There might be innocent among you, but you are still supporters of an Aragarian. Therefore, I shall spare the young and only kill the mature and the aged." Akasha decided as she rushed towards the city.


    Back in the ship of Pridgeon...


    The Moon had begun to retreat. It was moving further and further away from Shakstress as the battle was reaching its climax. The absence of Pridgeon made the Pioneers unable to use more of their technology, and most of the defensive protocols were with him. The Pioneers tried tomandeer the ship but had failed. So even though they served the Tyrant Empress now, they still fought to drive back the enemy with all their capacity.


    After having appeared on several Command centers, the othermand centers linked the Tyrant Empress to be shown and allowed Seeker and Lynd to acquire full ess to some of the more powerful weaponry in the ship.


    Seeker and Lynd hadpleted their mission. Apart from teleporting from one area to the next, they sought out more of the avable technologies in terms of guns, suits, and even energy sources.


    After following the instructions of the Pioneers that the Tyrant Empress controlled, Seeker and Lynd found one of the greatest power sources in the ship.


    By some odd coincidence, Seeker and Lynd found a simr red ore that was releasing amazing energy.


    "This is interesting." Seeker watched the device called the Ankh Core.


    "By its fluctuations, this rock is capable of manipting chemical change. Even metals! Sound familiar, right?" Lynd observed.


    "This might be the fabled Philosopher Stone. Perhaps many of the legends we have heard on earth involve these rare and unique devices..." Seeker guessed.


    "This one can probably change things to gold, like King Midas?"


    "Well, we know of the fascination of alchemy on Earth. Maybe this fascination came from legends and tales from the few ores and devices that were found on Earth. Perhaps these things of legends like the Arc of the Covenant, the Bermuda Triangle, the Hope Diamond, and all of those mysterious devices might be something that can aid us." Seeker approached, and the Pioneers deactivated the defenses.


    "That is the only one we can give since any more, and it will affect our battle. The Pioneer reported.


    "Alright." Seeker smiled.


    "I can''t believe that they''re this friendly. Look at all that we got." Lyndughed.


    The two were equipped with the strongest Supreme Exoskeleton on the ship and even deployed a few more down to Earth at a certain location. Nogard waited and was slowly collecting it as nned. A portion of the Many mansions was taken, and after acquiring the suits, Nogard immediately left and headed towards the Americas.


    "The Tyrant Empress sure is generous. Not one of these suits goes to her."


    "She doesn''t need to. She has Lennox by his side. They can soon create it."


    "Our armies'' power will surely double or triple after this." Lynd smiled.


    "We will need the materials, though. Not to mention the power source. Take this, for example." Seeker reached out and took the strange red ore. He then held it up and was about to put it in his mouth.


    "You can eat that?" Lynd was amazed.


    "I was the Realm King''s Disciple. He thought the theory back then. You were able to copy it. You haven''t tried?"


    "I just don''t feelfortable devouring something that can explode like a nuclear bomb."


    "Get used to it. With the power that those two are using, fighting a desperate and cornered Shakstress will make her create massive attacks that we won''t be able to evade. Ourbined power will still run out of energy if we face her as we would probably be going on the defensive."


    "Shall we go back? The battle should be reaching a critical juncture."


    "Let''s.." Seeker opened a portal, and the two stepped in.

 Chapter 424 - Seeker’s Offer

    The battle outside had turned strange as fires and explosions appeared in the sky with no apparent exnation.


    The space kept trembling as the attacks exploded in the fourth, creating strange reactions around.


    Some of the explosions would suddenly appear up high near space, and some were even unseen by Presiders and the world as they exploded down the deep sea.


    Most of the Presiders watching were amazed at the sudden reports.


    Even Garenjazz, who was in space, could not understand the battle.


    "Why does it look like that Pridgeon won the space war? It''s as if Shakstress was fully consumed in the Territorial Space Battle. Is Shakstress within the In-Between world of Pridgeon?" As Garenjazz had fought with Crostfree, he was aware of the possible techs that Pridgeon had.


    "Hmm... Should I go? But I''m sure everyone''s watching me. There''s also that girl that appears in my dreams. And who exactly are those allies of Pridgeon? I guess it''s time to look for Princess Zeraphine..." Garenjazz ignored the strange explosions urring in various locations.


    The massive attacks ripped through the three dimensions, and bits of the explosions would surface on random locations within a radius of thirty kilometers.


    Even Andronze had to defend against it as she could sense iing attacks and navigated the Pyramid to evade the burst of fires.


    After taking a few attacks, Arthur was able to navigate Shakstress''s ship to avoid the explosions as they began to ripple out. He was also able to lead the armies to evade the iing attacks.


    The chaos in the ship made Arthur give a huge amount of orders that caused the variousmunication officers to be over flooded with messages. Some Presiders have already contacted Shakstress since the start, but Shakstress had denied them all. But in the outgoing and iing messages, Arthur was able to slip in a secret message to reach a certain ce on Earth.


    Buried under the rocks deep under the ocean floor was a massive fortress that had disappeared. This was thebination of the Kraken and the Antis, the mega fortress built by the WGP, the Poseidon.


    The Commanders of the Poseidon saw the message.


    "Oh? Interesting..." The father of Lowengren, Albert Hoross, was the man in charge of the newly reformed ship.


    "Call Colestar. Let''s initiate this n."


    "Yes, sir!"


    On another ship was a Lingkaran of Pangea. But in the very center of it was the missing half of the massive SPU ship, the King Naga. The King Naga had half of its partpleted, and the two ships were now one. The newly formed ship was called the Abyss Dragon.


    The President of Pangea saw the message that Albert sent.


    "This looks fun. Fine. Men, let''s attack the Poseidon!" Colestar ordered as he received the message from the My-Pangean president.


    The Poseidon and the Abyss Dragon rose to earth from their hidden location and began the great battle.


    Arthur sighed as he was able to send the message and clear the logs before anyone could notice.


    "Seeker... It''s all you now. Bring her back here." Arthur finally lost consciousness.


    Madison and Chase immediately ordered to send Arthur into the hospital. Madison carried on the task that Arthur told them to do while Chase took Arthur and went outside.


    Inside Pridgeon''s ship, the climactic battle between Shakstress and Pridgeon ravaged on.


    A battle between Top-Tier Presiders was primarily a territorial battle. Since two Top-Tiers will have their means of bending the flow of matter and the dimensions to their will, the two sides are in a constant struggle to gain grounds to employ the sciences they have.


    Shakstress''s techs cannot form in an area where Pridgeon''s techs were already established. As the state of the dimensions was strange with the three dimensions being forcibly ced over another dimension, shrinking it was impossible. And Pridgeon''s techs cannot activate in a shrunken and distorted space.


    The science and calctions to bend and transform the three dimensions were already too difficult for the most advancedputers of Earth to perform, and trying to alter an already altered dimension is much more difficult.


    Shakstress was in a desperate state. She was outside of the range of her ships and could do little to ess her shrinking techs. And the main problem was that Pirdgeon had already activated his protocols inside the ship.


    And since the space around the ship was already something that ovepped to the fourth dimension, shrinking it was more difficult and profound. Throughout the battle, Shakstress even used her Soul to go into the dream realm where she could calcte it. But the problem was that her control was not as great as Garenjazz and the time spent inside the dream world was only slower than what it was outside. She had spent many days constantly solving and doing the math to get out.


    As the Primary Thought of Shakstress tried toplete the calctions which would enable shrinking in this dimension, her Secondary Thought fought Pridgeon.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Explosions that exceeded the limits of Weapons of Mass Destruction were used.


    "Ha Ha Ha! This is my domain, Shakstress! I control the space around you!" Pridgeonughed.


    The ovepping of the dimensions caused some of Shakstress''s attacks to be sent into the fourth dimension and explode there, dealing no damage to the three dimensions.


    Shakstress was pushed to the very limit. She had faced a scenario where she was doing her best to stay alive. This was the closest point to death than she''s ever been.


    But she took things one step at a time. Her ammunitions were low. As using her Universe Energy in a field that Pridgeon fully controlled was pointless, her battle against Pridgeon only used various Low to Mid-level tier techs.


    Her Throne was broken, and blood was all over her body. Yet, she kept evading and evading with the best of her capabilities.


    And finally, the great willpower and wisdom that Shakstress had finally bore fruit. She figured it out. In the heat of the battle, she solved the immense calctions as she spent nearly fifteen days in her dream world.


    With the remaining Universe Energy she had, she activated the shrinking protocol, took advantage of the strange ovepping of the three dimensions and the fourth, and created a teleportation channel.


    The warp pad opened, and sheunched massive attacks and retreated into the portal.


    The key of this warp pad was the previous teleportation that Seeker and Lynd used. Shakstress had recorded every millisecond of her travel when she gave chase. This allowed her to analyze the energy and fluctuations to recreate the same event. She revered the point of origin and the destination, and as there was no time to test it, she just initiated it anyway.


    Pridgeon saw the erupting Universe Energy and blocked it with his own.


    BOOM!


    As the explosions urred, Shakstress retreated.


    KZZZZT!


    A portal opened, and it shocked Pridgeon.


    "What?! How?" Pridgeon gave chase, but it was toote. The attack of Shakstress continued to push his Throne back.


    The portal closed, and Shakstress was traveling through the void.


    She gave a heavy sigh and knew that her ship would probably be useless. She synched with it to create the warp to make her entire ship teleport and shrink.


    As she appeared in that ce, she immediately activated the many protocols that consumed nearly eighty percent of all her Universe Energy. She had roughly the same Universe Energy left of what exceptional Low Tiers would have!


    The battle changed as the entirerge ship forcibly shrunk. Some portions of the ship failed to shrink and were severed from the main body.


    As the ship shrank, it immediately flew with incredible speed.


    Shakstress looked around him and found Meryl fully charged to st another great beam.


    Richie, Chase, and Sammy were there, all wearing powerful Supreme Exoskeleton armor.


    Gardo was also there wearing a different Exoskeleton that was simr to what Octarion wore.


    Shakstress knew that this would happen. But as she saw the state and arrangement of enemies before her, that the enemy must have already taken control of themand centers.


    She sighed as her death was now even more certain.


    "Hmph! Using my own techs against me. Shall we end this?" Shakstress frowned.


    The entire area she teleported to was the same ce in the ship with a massive gap in the middle.


    "But all your metals are mine! And this is my space!" Shakstress shouted angrily and activated the repairing protocol that she had used before.


    But as she did... nothing happened.


    "Wha-What?!" She froze. The order didn''t work.


    Suddenly, Two powerful beings clothed in white appeared.


    Seeker and Lynd emerged.


    "You?! I thought I left you in Pridgeon''s ship?!"


    "We lied to you. We were never his allies. We did some things to gather more techs from his ship but came back just in time for you to teleport."


    "Impossible! I would have detected you!"


    "The Thief in the Night." Lynd exined.


    "Her Path is a level cloak that could be considered Top-Tier. In your current state, and since you were very preupied, you never noticed our presence. How do you think your teleportation stabilized?" Seeker smiled.


    "So it was you..." Shakstress smiled, but her heart weighed heavily. But suddenly, a great sense of relief was felt. As if her struggle finally ended.


    "How did you... change the protocols of this ship?"


    "We have an ally that can transform himself into electricity and manipte the data. We also have someone who manages to take control of this ship. His calction skills should be known to you. You fought with him in the nning of this ship."


    "Ah... My regards to that man. He did well..." Shakstress smiled as she prepared herst weapons.


    "You could still join us. We are not Presiders. We lied. We are earthlings. The Lost Primordial came here and prepared us to fight you. And now that we know more about you, we realize that the Lost Primordial did everything not just for Earth''s survival but so that someone among us will rise and fight. In that regard, we can be the perfect allies that won''t betray you.. Why fight and die when you can ally with us and join in the battle of the Prime Wars?" Seeker suddenly offered.

 Chapter 425 - Conqueror And Overcomers

    Among the many things that Seeker found in Pridgeon''s ship were records alluding to a grand war that is about to ur. The dystopian world of the Aragarians was a ce where those who were strong only got stronger. And Seeker was able to theorize more about the Aragarians and what they did from Lourca Oviili.


    But Lourca exined that she was just a Pioneer. She does not know or canprehend how Presiders and those beyond that level think. She was too low on the level, and even her encounter with the Lost Primordial was full of many strange things.


    With all those information, Seeker was able to deduce what the Prime Wars was easy.


    Shakstress turned to Seeker at the sudden offer.


    "If you take a step back and forget our... territorial divide, we are but the same. The Lost Primordial''s records indicate that you were all from Earth. When the Almighty Being who we call God showed up and attacked Babel, your people fled and created the society that you now know."


    Shakstress''s expression revealed a realization.


    "So there was a connection. Babel and Babylos. What a revtion. To think it was staring me right in the face." Shakstressughed.


    "Think of us as another group of Presiders vying to be Principals and Primes. Join us, and you will grow stronger. Our techs will be of use to you, and the legacy of the Lost Primordial will be yours."


    "That does sound intriguing." Shakstress smiled.


    "My death does seem certain now. Where are you taking this ship?"


    "To hide in Pangea, of course. This ship will be a perfect basis and improvement from the things we made. The lost Kraken and Antis is also there."


    "Oh. There was that. Your lucky most Presiders were not interested then. We could not scan what was happening here on Earth. I take it that you had something to do with Crostfree''s death? It was perhaps the schemes of that calcting man who managed to take full control of my ship in the short time I was away?"


    "Yes. We fought and captured Pridgeon back then. We have an ally who is practically a subus."


    "Ah. That woman. I met her on the way here."


    "That''s right. She calls herself the Tyrant Empress and appears to Pridgeon. He doesn''t know it yet. But he has long been our pawn. Once the Tyrant Empress gets stronger, her powers will corrupt Pridgeon, who has seen her. And your actions ced me against that Kid with Four Horns. Now he will be pressured. And of course, Zeraphine will be mine soon." Seeker smiled.


    Lynd and the few nearby gave Seeker a quick nce.


    "Join us. I have great respect for you. The truth is, you are stronger than us. It took several powerful Paths to defeat you. Lowengrens lies, Vender''s Vexation, Arthur''s Acts..."


    "Vexation? Was it that annoying, man? Now that I think about it, I couldn''t concentrate with him on the mic." Shakstressughed.


    "Seeker. Are you sure about doing this? You''re telling her so much." Meryl asked. If this Shakstress were to send a message to all Presiders, they wouldn''t be able to stop her.


    "It''s alright, Meryl. Lynd was able to use his Path on her. I know right now that she won''t rat us out. But... I can tell... She has no desire to join us as well. She just wants to know who defeated her and how." Seeker smiled.


    "What?" Meryl was shocked.


    "She won''t join us? But she won''t rat us out? I don''t get it!"


    "Impressive. You really can sense my emotions. I thought that it was just a coincidence!" Shakstressughed.


    "Not me. Him." Seeker pointed to Lynd.


    "We know that telling you and making this offer is pointless. You will struggle to die. I can see that. But I want to know why, as well. We are sincere in our offer. We are, but Earthlings caught up in this battle between gods and devils. We just want to have enough strength so that we won''t get attacked." Lynd exined.


    "Ha Ha Ha. You already defeated a Top-Tier. You guys have no choice. Principals are alreadying here! And since my death is very certain... it will draw their attention. This is because I am a Future Conqueror."


    "A Future Conqueror?" Seeker asked.


    "The reason why I will reject your offer is because of the Prime Wars. If I am defeated here, at the hands of people that aren''t even Presiders but Earthlings who clearly have an iplete legacy from the Lost Primordial, then I have no chance in the Prime Wars. I am Presider, and I do hope that my powers have astounded you. But beyond me is a Principal. It will take around four or five of me to kill an average Principal. You''re lucky that the Principaling here, Prince Dormin, is weak. But even that one can kill me. Now imagine how strong Primes are."


    "We can''t. Hence our desperate pleas to ask for your alliance." Seeker added.


    "At least you guys haven''t be arrogant. You see, in our world, the only way to have a hope of joining and surviving a Prime War is to be a Conqueror. And I have been ssified as someone with that potential. This means I have hope of bing a Principal. But that''s just the minimum. I wouldn''t join you because I would be untrue to myself if I did. I have already lost. I am not a conqueror. I can only fight and die. And I know that you know, that my death is certain here. But, the release from the burdens is so... exhrating."


    "You''re excited to die?" Meryl asked.


    "Someone like you won''t survive the Prime Wars. The fact that you are asking for an alliance is proof of this. I rose the ranks on my own. I fought and conquered killing Presiders when I was but a Pioneer. Because a Conqueror isn''t determined by the techs they have, it has something to do with their will and fortitude." Shakstress dered.


    "So you call it Conquerors, we call it Oveers. Several months ago, I was like a Pioneer, and look at me now. I have an army and powerful allies, all borne from my powers. Even this guy right here is bronze from my powers."


    "I will not deny my interest in the powers that you and your lover showed."


    "PFFT!" Richie and Merylughed. Lynd was alsoughing and didn''t even bother to hold back.


    The rest had to summon the peak of their Inhuman cultivation to force themselves not tough at Seeker Carlean.


    "My point is!" Seeker added.


    "The Lost Primordial appeared when Lynd and I harnessed our powers together. He was quoting from the Bible. Specifically, Psalms 133. He talked about unity, and I am assuming that whatever world and ideology you lived in is wed. Someone like the Lost Primordial who relied on others became strong. He became Primordial through unity. The Path of the Conqueror that you walk on is a lonely path. But Oveers ovee by themselves and are stronger together. So be an Oveer and join us."


    "No. The Lost Primordial isn''t a Primordial who got ''lost'' but someone who lost the battle against THE Primordial. Ultimately, the Path of Conquerors and the ideology that we cling to is correct based on that alone. If I give in to you, I will never be strong enough. I may reach Principal or even a Prime. But I will die. In our world, you only fight to be Primordials. This is what the Prime Wars is, after all."


    Seeker and the rest were silent. However, they could tell from the look of her face that she was determined and even excited to die.


    "Alright. I guess there is no convincing you. Even Harker and Lowengren won''t be able to do anything with your Zone. And if Vender is here, you''d just get irritated and fight ahead. I guess there is no way for you to join. Shall we fight and take away all your burden and give rest to your wearied soul?"


    "I am curious. About you and Lynd. Why lie about that? That had no benefit in battle. I feel that there is more to that than a simple joke." Shakstress asked.


    "It''s...plicated."


    "I want to know. Tell me, and I''ll do you a favor."


    Seeker frowned and turned to Lynd.


    "Lynd?"


    "As far as I can tell, she has epted her death. She just wants to know. I''m guessing her Zone is telling her there is something more behind our secret lovemaking sessions."


    "PFFT!" Several chuckles could be heard.


    "It''s Zeraphine." Seeker answered impatiently.


    "It''s an ongoing joke this idiot made to stop me from developing a deeper rtionship with Zeraphine."


    "That Princess? Why are you so attracted to a Presider who hasn''t spent more than two months on Earth? Did she take away our virgin heart?" Shakstress smiled.


    "Since we''re talking about this, I will ask ahead. Can Primes alter time? The truth is, I''m from the future where Earth was attacked. In that timeline, Zeraphine and I were dating. But she soon revealed her true colors, and I ended up killing her. She was quite strong, but I was something of a Conqueror back then."


    "Oh? From the future? That makes sense. No wonder I can sense two of you in your body and that the other is older. So that''s the story. In that timeline, you and her. But in this, your gay."


    "I''m sure someone as smart as you can figure it out!" Seeker cursed.


    "Ha Ha Ha. This is fun. The first friend I make, and it''s someone who will kill me. I know. I''m just teasing. I can guess what friendly pranks you made." Shakstressughed.


    She then pondered for a bit and gave her answer.


    "To answer your question, Time Travel is indeed possible, but no one can do it. The Primordial locked time. Not even the Lost Primordial could. Otherwise, he could have fled to a different timeline. I''m guessing that your resurrection is something that the Lost Primordial arranged through a veryplex and unimaginable means. Principals can already sense Fate, and Primes can alter the future. The way I see it, the Lost Primordial prepared the earth for those who will inherit his legacy and challenge the Primordial again and altered Fate and somehow found a way to create a weakened version of Time travel and apply it to you. Why you? And why that scenario? I don''t know. I can''t fathom Primes much more someone who could challenge the Primordial." Shakstress exined.


    "Why are you helping us? Why won''t you rat us out?" Meryl asked.


    "Why should I help them? Ou defeated me, and it would be unfair to leave you without gifts. This is the best way for me to die. Those other Presiders hate me to the bone. Why give them the pleasure of knowing the secret threat on earth. I''ll be rooting for you. If you do get stronger, find me in the dimensions of the afterlife and save me." Shakstress smiled.


    "And what help will we receive, I wonder? After all, we already have your ship."


    "This massive ship? The Mother Orbital hiding behind Mars is much much bigger than this. And it is a Principal''s ship. One st from that ship, and this ship will sink. My suit will have several techs enabled that you can study. And since I''m sure that sound-man can imitate my voice, I''ll give you this." Shakstress then raised her hand, and the metal began to form and became a smallm device.


    "When I''m dead, call out to this to threaten everyone. It will link to all Presiders. But this will only be used once. That way, it will buy you some time. No one will investigate this ship if you do that, and when the Shrink tech disappears and the ship reverts to its size when I die, they won''t attack you for a time. You can throw in Lanterk''s name for good measure. I already sent a ping telling everyone of his identity as that Principal."


    Seeker was amazed.


    "Thank you! That''s very generous of you."


    "Let''s have a good battle. I want to see our true powers." Shakstress smiled.


    "Let''s...." Seeker smiled as he and Lynd activated their powers.

 Chapter 426 - End Of The Battle

    The battle began.


    Unknown to the loyal Pioneers, they didn''t know their Presider was sent away and had returned. The entire region where the fight was happening was not visible due to the destruction on that site and how Arthur assigned the positions of the army. Under the guise that the fight was still ongoing, no one set foot at that location.


    The military might of the Unlock outssed Shakstress. Half of her Throne wasn''t functioning. Her control over the Universe Energy wasn''t strong.


    Meryl, Richie, Chase, Sammy, and Gardo fought her for a bit and hindered her from attacking Seeker and Lynd, who followed the same thing they did earlier.


    The attacks of Meryl were lethal to Shakstress, and space and sound shrunk, but Richie was able to disrupt the shrinking tech with a loud shout that the three of them did.


    They filled the room with thick sound and created a powerful water world.


    The weight of the room became heavy, and Shakstress sensed that it was as if she was shrinking a massive space instead of the small one. And so, she changed her tactics and minimized certain parts to block it.


    But even with her best efforts, the Unlocked had already experienced a battle against her and were now even more equipped with the suits they found inside the ship. Gardo was easily able to close the ranks andnd another attack on her. Meryl also used her powers to create a ming body whose attacks were even more powerful than Gardo.


    The Unlock who fought her couldn''t help but feel a sense of pity on her as even they could feel that their victory was certain.


    In the midst of such a hopeless scenario, Shakstress, however, had never felt such happiness. She wasn''t fighting an enemy who disdained her, but someone who respected her. She fought as was her choice, and this choice was freedom.


    Seeker and Lyndpleted their power and took a step forward.


    Both were now radiating with great light. The power they had surpassed their forms when they battled deep in the ocean. But unlike then, no radiation leaked out of them.


    "Enough." Seeker called out to his allies as they stepped forward.


    "You did it. You two are showing a science that only the peak of the Top Tier can do. What an amazing sight. You may not realize what you did, but that form is one of the few requirements to be a Principal!"


    "A body that can freely wield the dimensions..." Seeker could feel the power and knew that he could easily teleport now without hindrances.


    "Yes. That''s what we Top-Tiers are capable of. We can assume a form that can freely move and interact in dimensions beyond. That is the bare minimum. If we can perfect that, we be Principals. And that process is called Dimensional Upholding. Because in your current form, you can uphold a form that is stable and can pass to these dimensions. The form you have is also very unique since it requires the two of you."


    "Thank you for telling us. What''s the next stage?" Seeker asked curiously.


    The next step is the Dimensional Purging stage. That is when a Principal bes a Prime. And finally, Dimensional Transcendence. From Prime to Primordial."


    "Thank you." Seeker and Lynd took a step forward and rushed at Shakstress.


    Massive white energy covered Lynd and Seeker, and the three fought.


    By the time the white energy disappeared, the battle was already over.


    Outside, Octarion and Hermes continued to battle even when the massive ship of Shakstress disappeared. The army still had orders to secure their retreat.


    Octarion and Hermes continued to battle in the sky, but then they heard a voice call out.


    "Hey."


    Richie had used his powers to send the message directly.


    "We won. We will be retreating with the ship. End it, your little fight. Hermes, you deal with Andronze. You may need to stick around for a bit and scare her so that she won''t chase after Shakstress''s ship. Seeker already took care of Pridgeon. Octarion, you retreat too. Lead the surviving forces of Shakstress to be part of the Tyrant Empress''s army. Ask the Tyrant Empress for help as all eyes are on you." Richie exined.


    "How generous. Are you sure? It''ll be this suit that will defeat you. I have yet to offer all Oveers to my queen." Octarionughed.


    "Dream on, golem. You got a lot of gifts, but the truth is, we gained more than you have." Richie chuckled.


    "Wash your next and get ready. I''m going to offer you, queen, to my men when I''m done." Richieughed.


    Octarion turned angry.


    "Retreat now. We will rejoin you shortly. We are still in the vicinity but have shrunk the ship. We are just finishing up here. We''ll be making a massive attack to break you two up. Prepare yourself." Richie ordered. He was seated within them channel of Shakstress.


    The fight against Hermes and Octarion continued, but both teams were careful and were preparing for an attack.


    Then a powerful boom echoed from the sides, and it was as if a massive object was closing in on them with the goal of crushing the two. The form of arge Lion could be discerned.


    BOOM!


    Another massive explosion urred, and the two giants vanished.


    Octarion''s form appeared, and it retreated. It gave orders


    Hermes also made his way towards Andronze''s Pyramid.


    The Four winds followed closely behind.


    The battle that they had was short but very terrifying.


    "We can''t beat him like that..." Austin sighed.


    "Yeah..." Omricon agreed. He had fought with the massive giant and couldn''t find a way to break the massive defenses.


    "We don''t have powerful offensive attacks, and we were running out of wind." Omega added.


    "It''s that stupid suit of his!" Alvin med.


    "No. We are Oveers. We cannot me it on those things. We were unable to win because we could not Ovee." Hermes smiled as he gazed at the retreating armies that trailed around Octarion.


    "But it''s not exactly that we lost either. But let''s not take confidence in that. Octarion, after all, is the most recent Oveers who joined our ranks. Let''s go. I feel the wind blowing ominously. Welp... let''s do as ordered and distract Andronze for as long as we can. Then we flee. I have to find Lowengren to ask for help on our lies. The spies of the other Presiders will soon inspect the battle. We have to disappear and meet up just as nned."


    "But I thought Arthur vanished along with that ship."


    "They shrunk and escaped. It''ll be hard to chase. And it seems something also happened at that Moon-ship. Look at it. That Pridgeon is also retreating," Hermes pointed.


    Inside the moon...


    Pridgeon was doing his best to stabilize the dimensions when Shakstress left. The space began to tremble, and an intense shaking happened as if the entire ce was about to copse.


    The teleportation that Shakstress did was a forceful means that made her teleport and breached the area. But what Shakstress didn''t know was the specific energy that Seeker and Lynd used when they teleported. She used Universe to create the breach, and it caused an unstable reaction. This caused Pridgeon to worry as his ship began to tremble.


    He didn''t know that the copse was only temporary, and it soon returned to normal. The trembling of his ship had a different cause. Lynd and Seeker were cloaked and close to Shakstress. They released a powerful Realm that forcibly created immense vibrations to scare Pridgeon.


    Pridgeon panicked and used his Universe Energy to stabilize themotion.


    After ''stabilizing'' the area, he immediately rushed out and gave the orders to chase Shakstress.


    "Presider! We can''t! The scanners aren''t showing her ship! And we have a lot of problems!" The Pioneer Commander reported.


    Pridgeon then noticed the missing power sources in his ship.


    "That Shakstress!" Pridgeon cursed as he rushed towards several parts of the ship to check on the damage.


    He noticed several anomalies on his return and immediately issued a full retreat.


    Andronze saw the forces retreat. Pridgeon didn''t even attempt to battle the remaining suit that was retreating.


    "What?! He''s retreating?!" Andronze was confused.


    "But why?!" She wondered.


    "What are you doing? You''re not going to retreat?" Hermes asked as he retreated.


    "What happened?" Andronze asked.


    "Our prayers won. Good job on spreading that post. In the end, we failed to kill Shakstress. But our team got what we needed. Still, it brought out more enemies. Have you sensed them? Other time-travelers?" Herms asked."


    Andronze froze as she heard this.


    "Let''s retreat. You better get back to Egypt and withdraw your army."


    "Yes!" Andronze acted and issued themands.


    As Andronze quickly gave orders and issued Egypt to be on full alert, Pridgeon was running back and forth around his ship, checking every inch of it.


    The first concern was the power chambers of the ship. He had to rece the missing Ankh Core. Then he took an ounting of the things that were taken or stolen.


    "Was Shakstress trying to confirm or search for clues about my devourer suit?" Pridgeon wondered.


    Because of the missing power sources, the scanners of his ship had failed. And he could not trace the location of Shakstress anymore as the ship vanished.


    "Damn it! Damn it all! I was so close to killing her!" Pridgeon cursed.


    But the many problems in the ship indicated another possibility.


    There were spies inside his ship.


    "Move! Return to that dimension! And make a full alert! Spies have entered the ship!" Pridgeon cursed.


    "Shakstress must have done this!" He cursed and kept on ordering his Pioneers and scanning them for any changes. The camera feeds that he gathered on the locations attacked would reveal a bright light that none of his techs could pierce through. There was only a powerful fluctuation that made him think of Principals.


    "What was that...?" He frowned.


    As the moon arrived on the other dimension, it began to move towards its original course. But along the way, Pridgeon performed various tests to confirm that no spies were in his ship and tried to find anything wrong in that gap when he fought Shakstress.


    "Garenjazz!" He finally decided to ask for help.


    "Had fun?" Garenjazzughed as he answered the call.


    "I need your help!"


    "I''m sure you do. Shakstress just sent out a ping to warn everyone not to attack her. She also revealed a lot of techs that you have." Garenjazz chuckled.


    "What?!"


    "Oh, don''t worry. If anyone should worry, it should be Lanterk. That kid is in trouble." Garenjazz sighed.


    "Oh. Right. We can also interpret that revtion that we, Presiders, are all in trouble.." Garenjazzughed again.

 Chapter 427 - All Things Work Together For Good

    The battle was over.


    Egypt had retreated, and the strange ship had also vanished. Some parts, which roughly had a span of nearly forty square meters and several stories worth, fell down like a meteor to the sea below.


    The WGP announced that they were victorious with the help of a mysterious alliance.


    "We of the Everhiss n have made the tough decision of allying ourselves with a certain power. However, it is clear that this ally of ours had their own secret alliance that consisted of Egypt and that Moon that we previously thought was destroyed at the Pangean region. We do not know whether or not that was the same ship or if it was another. But the world now knows that the WGP isn''t an organization that can protect you. Had those two ships attacked the World Helm itself, even I cannot im true victory for our own. Therefore, I am requesting all Emperors to meet and for us to discuss how to face this new world." Phoenix Everhiss made his public appearance, going so far as to show his face in the announcement.


    The Everhiss won the support of those who took part in the battle as the salvaged parts were distributed. Equally. A segment of the ships was being shown, and bidding took ce.


    Experts of all sorts were hired b the government of the nearby nations and made their bid as to which part they would take. Naturally, the WGP was the first to take their piece. But the part they took was one on the outer edge of the ship of the saucer.


    Most of the engineers stated that the deeper the parts are into therge saucer, the more valuable. But the WGP took a fringe part and added suspicions to the previous conclusions.


    The Many Mansions of the WGP carried arge piece of Shakstress''s ship and began to deliver it to the World''s Helm.


    Phoenix retreated to the Many Mansions as some of their trusted officials initiated the bidding.


    As he entered the room, several Emperors awaited him, each with their own reports to make.


    "Any word from Seeker?" Phoenix ignored everyone and turned to Nogard.


    "That damned brat sure has a lot of orders to make an old man like me. So what''s the situation in the WGP?" Nogardughed.


    "The world is in an upheaval. That battle is forcing the WGP to take actions beyond what we ever have done. Still, this has already pushed thee WGP to the point that a Throne War can happen. The WGP has never been this unified. The sight of that Throne gave us a lot of grounds to study it. The energy that they call the Universe Energy is vastly different from the ones that we create. Because of that, the ones who want to fight back are growing in number. It almost got approved thest time I suggestedbining all of those WGP megastructures and Many Mansions. I just need to justify why it has to be in Jerusalem, and operation Tale of Two Cities can finally start!" Phoenixughed.


    "Pridgeon will undoubtedly position his moon in Mesopotamia. Have you found anything to support the possibility of building it?"


    "We have checked with the reports in Mesopotamia. As you said, a lot of resources are being sent in. A city is being built there. It''s capitalizing with the movement of regathering the Jews. Now, in these uncertain times, more and more people are joining in the cause to regather the Jews thanks to Eagle''s sermons. And if Babylon is built, we will have reason to ce the entire fortresses of the WGP and build the city of Jerusalem." Pheonix assessed.


    "The Presiders will also start building their cities. And it''s our job to make sure that only two cities remain. As it stands, Andronze might join and help Pridgeon. But Seeker''s n has gone mad. He wants me to develop my powers to affect others who are not supporting our cause. That vision of the Lost Primordial drove him insane."


    "How so?"


    "Just as the Tyrant Empress has her power to influence everyone through dreams and vision and influence the world, Seeker is convinced that it''s possible to train to a level where my soul will linger and be some spirit that can haunt people! He said that since cures and life-prolonging sciences are not yetplete, the best thing I can do is cultivate that my soul will continue to live on even when I''m dead!" Nogard chuckled.


    "Is it possible? There have been some among the Everhiss family who saw dreams of that subus. Is it possible for your soul to really move out of the body?"


    "I don''t know." Nogard shrugged his shoulders.


    "My ability to use my powers is limited within a certain range. In that soul world, I don''t even know how to move. I can attack and even kill someone within roughly ten meters from where I am, but that''s that. I still have a locality and a position in this dimension. This is why the Realm King and the Void Assassins techs are among the things I have been studying. I''ll probably have a lot from Seeker''s recent power-up, but right now, I don''t know how to move and attack and have no locality in my body."


    "But what about the Tyrant Empress? Can''t she move around with her power?"


    "It''s not really her soul, but it''s the manifestation of her desires. But it''s not really ''life''. Seeker wants me to ''live'' outside of my body. So it''s a bit different from what the Tyrant Empress can do. My power is Soul. Do you know why she is called the Rider of the Red Horse? It''s because her powers are more or less a nightmare. And not many people realize that the word nightmarees from ''night'' and ''mare''. A mare is the Old English term referring to a demonic creature. One demonic creature is responsible for giving bad dreams. But I guess that in the future, the Tyrant Empress''s powers of desires that reach the subconscious and the dream worlds will cause nightmares and such. Of course, today, a mare is usually what we call a female horse. So it''s really a y on words."


    "I see. So a Nightmare!"


    "Yes. She actually tried to appear before me, but I easily repelled it. She is on the path to Soul Cultivation. But you can say that my powers are more advanced to a certain degree. But ultimately, the two of us are simply treading on different routes as the Lost Primordial intended. Who knows? Maybe everything that we have been through was nned by that Lost Primordial."


    "Everything we''ve been through? You mean the plot of the Lost Primordial doesn''t focus alone on Seeker?"


    "The more we know about Primes and Principals, the more we get the sense of what they can do. If I can alter beyond the three dimensions, I can dictate your fate. The Tyrant Empress lived a very dangerous and scary life, as did all of the Oveers. What if the Lost Primordial arranged every situation? He is more of a god, after all. Isn''t it even mentioned in the bible?" Nogard asked.


    Phoenix recalled the verse that Eagle taught them.


    "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called ording to His purpose." Pheonix quoted.


    "Won''t it be a simple thing? When time and reality are all but one, dictating the future and molding us into who we are, are but easy tasks for those who are gods. Perhaps that is what Primes and Primordials can do. We are in between the fight between two gods. Luckily, the Lost Primordial seem to worship our God." Nogard smiled.


    "Then all the more reason to follow his ns!" Pheonix dered with passion.


    Nogard smiled but vowed in his heart never to meet with Eagle. He subtly implied the existence of other gods, yet the fanatic of Christ took everything as something that supports his new theology.


    "In any case, Seeker is telling me to cultivate and literally be a ghost. Unlike the Tyrant Empress, I can be a free spirit that can move back and forth around the area. What insanity. He wants me to pass on this technique to that Pangea artist he found. If both of us are able to work together, we can have the ultimate spy."


    "I''ve heard of that artist... To think Granite Mng was able to see the real form of Presider Lanterk!"


    "With Principals reaching Earth, people with special abilities like this painter bes extremely useful. Too bad we haven''t made much progress in this. Granite Mng was a miracle on his own. He could even be a seed of the Lost Primordial if I''m not mistaken"


    "It''s good to have God in our side! We will win this war!" Pheonixughed.


    Nogard smiled but began to consider avoiding Eagel''s sermons.


    "What about you? What shall be your direction, and why did you stay here?"


    "That vision that Seeker saw and the many spoils we acquired in the battle has changed the direction and path of every Oveer. Anyone who wants to be an Oveer is now revamping their Paths and trying to develop what Seeker has discovered." Nogard stood up. He was wearing a Supreme Exoskeleton that they had acquired from Shakstress.


    "I believe that the key to aplishing what Seeker wants me to do, is to extend the range of the power of my soul. Continue with your report. But after this, I wish to fight with all the Emperors here. They can bring their Thrones. But I wish to fight everyone here.. The only way for my Path to be stronger is throughbat."

 Chapter 428 - Mystery Of Egypt

    Not a day has passed since the war in Egypt, and the newly established Desert Empire waged war and attacked several nearby towns of Egypt. With the bulk of Egypt''s forces focused on the northern region, the southern outposts were easily destroyed. The Locust Swarm Tech was still moving down, but the Desert Empire was already prepared andunched strange nts that had the ability to distort the senses of these locusts. In addition, towering nts that stood over thirty meters had appeared all over the captured Egyptian outpost making reconquering them difficult.


    Worst still was that a powerful group of soldiers attacked some towns and cities. Video evidence suggested that it was a zombie apocalypse. But upon closer inspection, they found that the creatures that attacked and killed an entire town were vampires.


    But this news was buried among so many strange news. Vampire and Werewolves sightings were the least important news in a world where a Titan and a Wind God had just fought. Terrorist attacks and how countries shifted leadership was only mentioned as footnotes when a massive alien craft fought against a moon and a Pyramid of Egypt.


    Egypt faced so many problems on every side. Even the Caliphates were found to be preparing an attack to im the fallen pieces of Shakstress''s ship.


    Because of the swift movement, the Pioneers were all asking for support and permission to go to war. But Andronze was busy with other important issues.


    Deep in the buriednds of Egypt...


    Andronze was horrified at the conclusion that Hermes gave.


    "You were betrayed?!"


    "Yes. That woman who had the power to draw out her blood was my ally. But by the looks of it, she betrayed me. I don''t know why she would attack those bases of yours. But it seems that she is looking for something. Or someone. You sure you don''t know anyone who goes by those titles?" Hermes frowned.


    "Yes! No Rumpelstiltskin, Cracky Batcheeks, Patricia, or whoever. None of those are among the names of all nteds in all of Egypt! And I have issued decrees to search for them!" Andronze was now angry and shouted.


    Several bases of hers were attacked. Video footage of some strange vampire horde could be seen. Some of the fringe cities of Egypts were also attacked, and a great massacre urred.


    "I have lost so much! And all you can do, is send the dead Pioneers that I have thoughts and prayers?" She demanded.


    "Oh, calm down. You''ve seen the powers of my prayers, but it seems. My life is sure to die at her betrayal. The Principal I serve has practically lost because of her betrayal. The question is, which Principal does she serve? Or perhaps it''s a Prime. Now Shakstress''s legacy is lost and is given to the enemy."


    "Shackstress? She fled from the battle through a desperate method! You gained something, but I gained nothing."


    "My gains are now losses because of my ally''s betrayal. And do you really think that Shakstress is alive? I have a feeling that she''s dead! If my ally betrayed me, then it means that my lord''s enemies have also reached this timeline. Thatst message you heard must be my former colleagues attacking her and using her voice to send that link." Hermes guessed.


    "I have lost so much of my Universe Energy!"


    "Oh, please. I know the true size of your fortress is bigger than Shakstress''s ship. If your techs weren''t in opposition to my Principals, I would have targeted you instead. I may not be capable of killing you, but I assure you, fighting me will force you to surface that ship of yours!" Hermes red.


    Andronze was stunned.


    "In any case, I can tell that you don''t trust me anymore. But I don''t really hold it against you. It does seem very questionable why those who were associated with me have attacked your base. I''ll tell you why. It''s all aboutpatibility. Shrunken techs work well with the power of my Principal. Dug Down Deep don''t. So I''m guessing that those who came with me have double agents. And your tech is more attractive."


    "What did you say?! Then I will have to fight your allies?! Who are they?!"


    "I don''t know. I thought I knew them. They were like me, half-Presiders with Principal techs and powers. You''ll have to deal with them yourselves. As for what they are after, I don''t know. What are you hiding underneath that massive fortress you have? What are you hiding from the rest?" Hermes asked again.


    Andronze didn''t say anything. But she kept ring at Hermes.


    "If what you are saying is true... then I don''t have any time for you." Andronze turned around.


    "Feel free to move around in this base. But I have duties to attend to."


    "Go ahead. I just hope that you won''t meet the same, forgettable, unimportant future. The battle here on Earth is full of schemes. And it even got moreplicated with us distorting the timeline. I''m sure that a Prime will soon send those Time Restorers to fix this timeline. And here I thought I''d be able to fight them..." Hermesughed. His four winds began to move, and the five of them flew ording to the wind.


    Andronze watched as they left. Great fear covered her heart. She fell to the floor as all her strength left her. The fears and worry that a being like Hermes was after she made her feel such great fear.


    As Hermes was flying, he caught wind of a certain voice.


    "How was it?"


    "She''s nervous. She''s clearly not a Conqueror. that Shakstress had great bravery. This one folds easily. I was slowly decreasing the amount of air she could take in to make her believe that she had some panic attack. But you''ll do as promised?"


    "Rx. It''s all part of the n. This will be our cover on how we will wage war in the future. We make at least one Presider take part in this battle. Andronze will be your ally by the time you attack and challenge the Tyrant Empress."


    "Where is Akasha?"


    "In a city up north of here. She''s taken control of one city. At least now, she can control her urges."


    "The Progenitor left her some great legacy. I wonder if there are some things left for me?" Hermes wondered.


    "If there are, then we should look for things simr to that Philosopher Stone. Any object of myth or mystery could be real. Seeker confirmed that he saw something simr in Pridgeon''s ship. However, Shakstress didn''t have any. Or maybe, she didn''t need to as a Top-Tier. All the Unlocked have already been informed and are searching for these things. The Hope Diamond is being searched for. Now that we havepleted another batch of Unlocked Spies, we may just be able to deploy these thieves to steal. The Thief in the Night has already acquired several rare resources and metals. I''ll keep you posted if we find anything."


    "I can only hope that she is strong enough for theing fight."


    "I don''t think you''ll be able to kill her current form. But don''t underestimate the Tyrant Empress. You''ll need to be at least this much to fight her. Have you seen those nts that Eden made? And with the Zulus aiding her, you guys are facing some major disadvantages as Zone will be against you. Expect that you will be fighting against a Top Tier."


    "She''s that strong? I''ve seen the matter-bending powers of a Top Tier. The Tyrant Empress is not at that level."


    "Of course not. But she can use her powers to beguile one. That''s why I''m moving as fast as I can. The more time we dy, the more possible that scenario happens."


    "What''s the progress in your ce? Are you any close to finding it?"


    "No. The underground fortress of Andronze is even bigger than we thought. I was right in making you exaggerate the size of Andronze underground fortress. What we explored was just one of many. We found threerge fortresses. And going by its form, they should be capable of merging into one massive base. With Dug Down tech, she is able to acquire minerals deep down, reaching the very core of the Earth. This was why she sealed the nation and created an underground society. The underground tunnels and fortress acted as a means for her to hide her true ns by creating a facade on the outside."


    "In short, you haven''t found her yet? Arthur''s sister?"


    "No. That''s why I need you to help us. You''ve already distracted her long enough. Now it''s time to explore and search for other bases. I''ve sent enough information for Lennox to have the ability to recreate Dug Down tech. But he said that your power can act as a recement to the needed devices to do it."


    "Are we going to discover if the Hollow Earth Theory is true?" Hermesughed.


    "Who knows? Andronze was very smart in choosing Egypt. We have a lot to confirm. From the records, there appears to be a well-preserved body that Andronze was studying. I''m not sure if our Progenitor, the Lost Primordial, found this body or if it was Andronze. But this could be a major clue as to how to create an Oveers body! Seeker and Lynd have already found the path to Dimensional Upholding. But the two imed that it was missing.. And here it is! We have the Way, the Truth. What we need is the Life!"

 Chapter 429 - Presider Wars

    A week has passed since the battle between Shakstress in thends of Egypt.


    And just as with the previous horrifying events, the world was bing more and more chaotic. The region of the Rotting Lands suddenly began to attack America and South America, and a military force that could challenge America''s forces began.


    The attacks caused the Americas to act swiftly and marshal an army to attack Central America, and a war began.


    The ''Rotting Lands'' revealed that their metal and weapons hadn''t fallen into a rotten state but revealed massive Armors with incredible boosters and speed.


    Taking inspiration from the Titan of the Piercing Series, therge robots were able to repel the attack of the Americas, and even when Misceneous techs revealed their diversity and ample ways to attack, destroy, bypass, and build, the Americas lost the first exchange.


    Several Underwater Cities rose up and ''walked'' into the Rotting Lands and dered their autonomy against the Americas, and Central Americas was reborn and had its ce on the map after over a century of being taken away.


    Nations rose and fell in that short seven days. Military detractors, rebellions, and the startling appearance of various Underworld Organizations that took over towns, cities, and even nations.


    Some takeovers pushed a nation to might, while some countries experienced the shifting of various organizations as many of those who tried to rise were quickly reced. Some became the leaders of these nations for an hour, while some for days.


    The Underwater Trade routes were suddenly changed as the massive secret cities had to relocate and even ally with others. Some even submitted to the Worlds Helm, and a few gave themselves to the Emperor that was gaining fame worldwide.


    Phoenix Everhiss soonmanded three Underwater Cities and had enough military might that could equal a nation.


    The WGP began to mor with the many changes as it renewed alliances with other nations. The priority had changed and was focused on creating strong countries that would aid them.


    All over the world, war was happening, a copse in the market was urring, and food became an issue. With the desperate need for weaponry and powerful weapons, Unlocked Industries garnered attention and received bulk orders worldwide.


    In the midst of this chaos, an old man was riding a powerful aircraft that had flown to outer space and was docking in South America.


    The old man emerged and was greeted by a score of uniformed soldiers and sexy women.


    "The world is falling into the end times, and here I am receiving a wee of kings just because my grandparents gave me digital copies of the original codes of the original games and know of all the characters they made, even those that were band and removed during the Void Century.." The old man smiled.


    "Vincent Arbrion. The living legend. Thest descendant of the genius maker of the Pokemon franchise. It''s a pity that you don''t go by the post-modern name that your family had in the EAA." A man wearing an odd set of clothes approached.


    "You must be my secret sponsor. It''s quite funny how you still pushed through with the ns, considering how the world has fallen apart. I may have Japanese blood, but after the Void Century, I really don''t consider myself one because of all those relocations. I''ve lived all of my life years the European Nations. All I have is a relic of the past."


    "Ah! But it''s precise because the world is falling apart that we had to do this. You, after all, your knowledge is be the weing gift of a man whose shoes I am unworthy to wear." The strange manughed.


    "And how shall I address you, young sir?"


    "Call me Garenjazz." The man smiled.


    "A lot of our guests areing here. It''s quite a gathering."


    As Garenjazz continued to greet and converse with the man, several figures were watching from afar.


    "I can''t believe that I have to sit here amongst possible traitors. I wonder which one of you teamed up with Pridgeon and Andronze." A handsome young man sat down and watched the events outside.


    "Oh? Says the Presider who used his ability to take control of another body and send it here. It''s very suspicious that you didn''t even send your real body here. Are you busy analyzing the techs you got from Shakstress?" A woman smiled.


    "Is that so, Tiana? Who knows if this is your real body. I wouldn''t be surprised if you were a man. After all, you Top-Tiers are the most probable allies of Andronze and Pridgeon. It takes a Top-Tier to fight another." Gordon countered.


    "Shakstress wasn''t the only person who was attacked. Myrth''s ship was also attacked, you know. And the technology to hinder warp technology... Isn''t that your specialty, Gordon?" Tiana nced at the man.


    "Straviaa and Enderks ising here. Zeraphine is already here and suspiciously journeying with the WGP. So was Lanterk. But as expected, that child won'' be joining us. Otherwise, he would be killed. I still can''t believe that we''ve had a Principal among us!" Another manughed. The other man''s appearance was so effeminate that it was difficult to tell whether the person was a man or a woman in terms of physical appearance.


    "Feyor. You also brought an avatar here. Is this a sign of nervousness?" Tiana asked.


    "Your logic is wed, Tiana. Gordon and I are less suspicious of bringing avatars here because we are afraid of the devourer. We are but Mid-Tiers. So it''s obvious that we wouldn''t being in person. Enderks and Straviaa have clearly formed an alliance, so I doubt they will send an avatar. Garenjazz is the strongest among us here, so he wouldn''t mind having a dagger behind his back. But you... aren''t you at odds against the Goat with the Four Horns?"


    "And what of it? My backing isn''t ordinary. Should the Four Horns want to wage war against my family, he can try to kill me. Besides, do you think the revtion of the four horns hiding the fifth one will be treated lightly? Primes may even start hindering him and demanding to justify this secret." Tiana replied.


    "Greetings, traitors of our race." Straviaa greeted as she appeared mysteriously in the room.


    Next to her was Enderks.


    "Ah. Enderks and Straviaa. The two Mid-Tier alliance that threatens the circle. I wonder which Top-Tier you''ll ally with. Are you going to go after Myrth or me?" Tianaughed.


    "You''ve hidden well, Enderks. To think you''d have military forces that equal a Top-Tier. So tell me, how is Uranus? I trust you enjoyed the frost there." Gordon asked. He had a threatening re at Enderks and quickly revealed a secret he found out about Enderks.


    "Lanterk is a Principal, and Crostfree is a clone of Presider Marrho, who I hear is on his way here with Principal Dormin. And yet your concern is with my anus? Why not kiss it if you are so concerned about its well-fare. I can keep it warm for you if you hate the cold." Enderksughed.


    A charmingugh was heard, surprising everyone but Tiana.


    "That was a good joke, Enderks. However, your conspiracy theory about " A beautiful woman appeared. She had a long, long hair that trailed down the steps of the throne upon which she appeared upon.


    "Myrth. And here I thought you wouldn''t be able to join this gathering."


    "I wanted to see who it was that managed to hinder my attempt of joining that battle. While I didn''t have any intention to kill Shakstress, the battle was too tempting not to join. I wanted to kill her and settle the score. But s, someone hindered it. And now Shakstress is all holed up and have vanished who knows where?"


    "If there is anyone who could tell us the reallocation of Shakstress, it would be you." Garenjazz suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, but his figure was transparent.


    "Garenjazz." Everyone''s expression turned serious as he appeared.


    "Oh, rx, this is just a dream avatar. I''m just dropping by to check if more of us appeared. If any of you are allied to those unknown Presiders, its easier for me to ry the orders of Prince Dormin."


    "More of us?"


    "It''s clear that there are more Presiders here on Earth. That Presider with technologies simr to the fallen Presider Madeen. That Babylos beast that blew a hole on Presider Shakstress''s ship. That woman that has been appearing in my dreams."


    "What?" Gordon was confused.


    "You guys are too weak to notice, I guess." Garenjazz ignored Gordon.


    "Anyway, I''m here to inform you that Zeraphine has withdrawn her im to be Zeraphine of the Presiders. Anyone wants to im that?"


    "She withdrew her im fearing she would be targeted as the devourer? She''s still suspicious as you are her ward. Did you suggest it, Garenjazz?"


    "Why bother? We are all suspicious of each other. What uses of this title when no one ns to follow each other''s orders. For all we know, Shakstress could already be dead." Garenjazzughed.


    "Ah, trust the murderer to tell of such theories." Enderksughed.


    "Whatever. I couldn''t be bothered by yourints. Besides, things are about to change."


    "What do you mean by that, Garenjazz? What does Prince Dormin instruct?" Tiana asked.


    "The problem is that Earth has be too chaotic. He has heard all themotion going on here and has seen all the reports and the battles we have recorded and sent to him. And since there have been Presider deaths and rumors of time travel, he has been ordered to investigate and fix themotion. And as you know, prince Dormin hates doing stuff and only wants to enjoy life." Garenjazz sighed.


    "So he decided to make things easier for him, and well... difficult for us. Reports of time travel have been reported, and apparently, it''s a real thing among Principals and Primes. It''s not exactly time travel as we would imagine it, or how as is depicted on Earth''s sci-fi tales, but it''s still possible to a certain degree. Hence my question about the unknown Presiders here. Anyway, since it''s clear that various Principals and even Primes have been ying around on Earth, he decided to make it even more chaotic to escape his responsibility. Henceforth, Prince Dormin wants to see and recruit if there will be Presiders that will rise up and be Principals here." Garenjazz reported.


    Everyone felt a strange fear grip them. They could guess what this meant.


    "So Prince Dormin will decree a Presider War."


    Straviaa felt her spine tremble in fear.


    "And yes, that which we call the Pig Five Presiders serving Principal Dormin will be joining this battle. Presiding over this battle will be another Presider. This is also the primary reason why Zeraphine recanted her title. Presider Marrho of the Presiders will be the referee of this battle."


    The announcement made everyone freeze in fear. They had left Earth to avoid such battles. And while things were uncertain here, it wasn''t a full-out war. But now, a Presider War has been issued, and everyone will be forced to fight and kill each other.


    Enderks couldn''t help but smile, and Straviaa noticed it.


    "So enjoy thesest moments of camaraderie because once Prince Dromin arrives, war will begin."

 Chapter 430 - The Tale Of Two Cities

    "In other news, another prominent leader in Russia has been killed, sparking a revolution that is now expected to create a war between Russia and One China. Such change will create tension in China as the Myth Wars between these Chinese Cultivators and India''s Brahmans have already spilled over their promised borders that the EAA has gotten involved in this war." The reporter gave an update on the international news.


    "Just another day in paradise." Her co-host reported.


    "With the worlding to an end with all of these wars, what have you been up to, Jess?" The reporter asked sarcastically.


    "Ian, frankly, I already stopped sending my kids to school. Everything that they know or are studying might be outdated in the months toe. The world has changed, and a new world order is arising."


    "I miss those days when the actions of the WGP were the things that we criticized. Now, looking back, I wish the WGP will return to be the only power that watches over the Earth."


    "Yeah. We had it all. And we took it for granted. I guess prosperity and peace made us more selfish and demanded more that we took things for granted. Now the world is unrecognizable, and who knows when a bomb will explode in our neighborhood?" The reporter sighed.


    "In any case, new regimes are being born every day. New mega structures are appearing left and right. Now more and more unknown groups are appearing and are making our currency obsolete. We are falling into an age where money is no longer of value in the international market, and that metal and resources be trade sources. And so our experts are ready to tell you what we should be prepared to do." The reporter continued to deliver the news.


    A group of people watched the news as they remained seated at arge table that seated eight of them. They were in a hotel hall, and food was being served.


    The hotel was already under the ownership of Unlocked Industries. All personnel who were not part of the army were sent home, and various preparations were made to ensure no spies would be present. The event was held together with the meeting of Presiders to ensure that the meeting would have no spies or any other hindrances.


    And apart from that, several Underwater Cities that had risen were attacked with nteds that further added chaos to the region.


    But this meeting continued on. It didn''t have any advanced techs but was a normal hotel with a high star rating.


    "Look at them. To think we lost from these stupid uncivilized group." The Pioneer watched the news and scoffed at how the world was changing.


    "Even now, money is the issue."


    "The group we lost to isn''t part of this society. Those Unlocked are people that are even more evolved than us. At least, up to Presider level." Another man sighed.


    "There''s one of them right now..." The Pioneer had an angry re in his eyes as he watched the doors of the grand hall open up to a young man.


    Suarez arrived at the grand hall. He was now dressed like a proper gentleman. Those who saw him greeted him and treated him like a VIP. Many took care of his belongings and brought them inside.


    Suarez walked into a grand ball full of high-profile people and looked around. He recognized the people on the far edge of the room. The people seated here were ignored by everyone else in the room.


    Suarez smiled and waved at the man who almost killed him.


    The man was doing his best to maintain his calm. This little boy was the reason why almost all of his peers were killed. And he knew that this boy had the ability to read minds.


    As Suarez waved, a young tall, approached him.


    "You are Suarez, right?"


    "Yes. I know you! You''re with Git Godlike! Twister Hover!" Suarez answered.


    "It''s a pleasure to meet you. It seems that Git Godlike and your Gryphon Squadron will be fighting together in this mission."


    "I heard as well. I hope we can survive whatever that''sing."


    "Frankly, I wished we would have been assigned to Egypt. That mission there seemed safer than whatever is going to happen here."


    "The Tyrant Empress..." Suarez nodded as he recalled the reports that he read.


    "Still, it''s weird that those guys who became the various squadrons'' training grounds are actually joining our team." Twister Hover observed.


    "I heard we had a one-hundred percent passing rate? All of the experiments made everyone Unlocked?"


    "Of course. My team was some of the groups which ensured the survival of those candidates. But we didn''t even have to interfere with the battles as the Unlocked all won. Of course, your team was the one that everyone talked about as Seeker ordered that those overseers would only move if a team wipe-out was expected. We thought some you would even die!"


    "I can''t believe what we did too. Thatst battle was practically hopeless."


    "We were about to interfere. But then Ivan turned Inhuman, and the rest of you followed. It was a sight to behold."


    "But even know, aren''t we just mere foot soldiers? The battles that our bosses had to go through were crazy." Suarezughed.


    "I heard there is an important development that happened. In any case, whatever battles lie ahead of us, let''s work together! It seems that the show is about to start. Let''s head over to our seats." Twister smiled and made his pleasantries before returning to his seat.


    "Sure!" Suarez smiled as Halley Vagrant suddenly walked to the stage in the middle of the grand hall.


    Suarez arrived at his seat, and the rest of his team was already there.


    "Who is that?" Will asked.


    "Seriously, Will? You haven''t read the report?" Epic frowned.


    "What report?"


    "Didn''t you listen to our briefing?"


    "I erm... fell asleep."


    "What? I was watching you! You were awake the entire time!"


    "Well... I managed to push my Unlocking to a point where I am able to control sight and sound. I couldn''t see or hear anything at that point and was asleep."


    "...I''m not sure whether to be impressed or annoyed," Ivan said.


    "That''s Halley Vagrant. Manager of the Covenant of the Strongest. You know, Arthur''s team?"


    "That''s also my ermm... my Aunt." A voice was heard at the side.


    It was one of Lowengren''s team. Stanley Vagrant. Next to him were Lucy and Czerus, two other captains of Warfreakz.


    "And you guys are...?" Will asked.


    Fish, who was seated next to Will, facepalmed.


    "Will. Don''t embarrass our Gryphon Squadron." Fish sighed.


    "That''s Stanley Vagrant of Warfreakz. They are going to be ourpanions and teammates in the next joint mission."


    "Oh. Nice to meet you!" Will smiled.


    At that moment, the talk began.


    "Good evening! Everyone of Unlocked Industries! Or shall say, the Unlocked Armies." Halley smiled.


    "Wees to this grand ball. Who knows if this will be thest event that you could attend. The world has fallen into utter chaos. War is bound to happen. And yet here we are, making the most of our time right before the war will happen. We''ve selected you all because of your skills and because of what we believe you can do. And so, this borate and inconspicuous is held also to wee the official graduates of our exams and the Pioneer allies that we now have."


    The room was silent, and everyone listened. Then, as usual, Halley spoke at a speed and frequency that no normal human being could hear.


    "Where are the surviving nteds?" One of the Pioneers asked as he noticed that none of the surviving nteds that these Pioneers recruited were present.


    "We made them attack the Underwater Cities and act as a terrorist. As a result, they will be hunted and killed." Halley answered without care.


    "Huh... So harsh. But I guess it''s fitting considering what we have been doing." The Pioneerughed.


    Those nearby all gave the group an angry re.


    "Please do not provoke your colleagues," Halley answered.


    "Colleagues? You mean we''re not going to be suicide bombers and forced spies?" One of the Pioneers sneered.


    "No. We''ve found out more about your race. Two important news must be pointed out. The first is that Presider Shakstress is dead. General Seeker and Lynd and a few others have killed her."


    The Pioneers were shocked at the news.


    "We also found out certain things because of how Presider Shakstress gave us ess to her tools. We know that something called a Presider War will be happening here."


    "What?!" The Pioneers all shouted.


    "Please use your Unlocking and limit your voices." Halley frowned for the first time.


    The Pioneers felt pain as if their skin was being peeled off.


    "Ow!" Will shouted.


    Ivan facepalmed in embarrassment.


    "Lieutenant Will... Haven''t you passed Pain Control training?" Halley frowned.


    "He... he did. He''s just like this. Please continue." Ivan answered.


    The Pioneers controlled their shouts and gritted their teeth, and finally, Halley stopped using her powers.


    "Now that we''re all settled down... These announcements are rather major. But basically, it''s like this. We are joining the Presider Wars. And the Presider will begin to create bases here on Earth. Our new mission is to take advantage of the infighting of these Presiders and ensure that all the prophecies of the Bible will reur. So brush up on your Old Testament studies. Every kingdom prophesied to rise and fall in the Book of Daniel must be carefully studied. And our goal is to force the wars in a direction that ultimately ends with two cities. The City of God, Jerusalem, and the City of Man, Babylon.. The Tale of Two Cities begins now."

 Chapter 431 - Prophecies Of Daniel

    "I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, ''O my lord, what shall be the oue of these things?'' He said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand." Meryl continued to read as she reached the end of the passage in Daniel.


    Seeker and Lynd were nearby. The pair were exhausted as they had to cross half of the world using their powers and were teleporting from one allied Underwater City to another.


    They were resting in the very Underwater City where Lourca Ovilli hid with the surviving members of all that resided in her original base.


    "I have no idea what this was all about. And the whole premise of the Prime Wars confuses me. Why now? What happened? I mean, I heard them talk about it all the time but never really listened. It''s my mistake, but I never thought it would end up like this. Here I was, concerned with my next date with Danny and how to lure that little prick Presider or Principal or whatever he is into my trap." Meryl sighed.


    Seeker and Lynd were asleep. The sight was somewhat shocking as those who have Unlocked barely needed to sleep. Some didn''t even sleep at all.


    "It''s the result of all your hard work founded on the brilliant n hat Seeker and rest created. The Presider Wars is the best thing that can happen. Here the seeds of the Lost Primordial, our Progenitor is starting to bear fruits." Lourca Ovilli apanied Meryl as she read through the book of Daniel.


    "Can you exin what happened? I''m not as smart as these two."


    "Of course, my dear. The first thing that I willmend is the plot of Seeker. The n to divide the Presiders is the one thing that made this war possible. The truth is, fighting all Presider will result in our certain death. The more Seeker saw the powers of Presiders and interacted with them, the more he became sure that the Earth of his past life, and even this one, cannot win against the military might of all Presiders. So he decided to divide them. Make them suspicious of each other. We Aragarians live in a much crueler world than you. Everything we do is aimed to be stronger."


    "I got that much. With Shakstress''s words, she chose death over life because of her ideology. That battle made her believe that she was not a Conqueror and she decided to fight and die."


    "It''s a cruel world. I never understood that until Shakstress''s defeat. I use to think that most Presiders only wanted more power. But now it seems that there is more to it than that. If they don''t get stronger, they die. I''m sure there are some who don''t have Shakstress''s mindset. After all, not everyone is like them who rose in power slowly. Those born of Principals and Primes, for example, might livefortably under the protection of their parents and not taste the difficulty of these things."


    "If that''s the case, why was it a big deal for a Presider War to happen here? I mean, if you want to be stronger, it would mean that they would eventually have to kill everyone here, right?"


    "Not really. You see, I joined the first wave of Presiders that went here before the Third World War. And that batch was full of cowards. They had Low-Tier Presiders. But the time they had here allowed them to amass resources that helped them grow stronger. Some of the Low-Tiers became Mid-Tiers when they returned to Aragar. This ce was like a sanctuary. It offered them protection from the battles toe. In truth, none of them wanted to return because they wanted to escape the Prime Wars."


    "Oh. So they failed to conquer Earth and were sent back as punishment?"


    "Yes. At least, I''m guessing that was just the pretense. They could have won if they exerted a bit of effort, but it would cost them. The gap between Low-Tier Presiders and Mid-Tiers is quite huge. Although, the Mid-Tiers that was sent here are quite strong and have a high chance of bing Top-Tiers. But I''m guessing that they were sent home so that a new batch could be sent. You see, when the Low-Tier Presiders arrived here at Earth, they reported that Earth was nothing special. To them, it was just arge plot ofnd that was habitable. And while it sounds nice to those who are Low-Tier and below, Mid-Tiers and above really don''t care about that."


    "So that''s why those that took part of the war in Seeker''s previous timelines had no Top-Tier Presiders!" Meryl understood.


    "Exactly. Top-Tiers found no value in this. In any case, once it was reported that Earth wasn''t anything special but a good plot ofnd, I guess the Primes and Principals lost interest. But it made this ce a promisednd to those who had no hopes of surviving the Prime Wars."


    "Then the real reason why the Low-Tiers were recalled was that some people wanted to change who got sent here?"


    "Exactly. But it seems that instead of some people pulling strings to send some of their sons or daughters, this ce has be something else! The people who came here are shocking! A Low-Tier with this so-called devourer suit? Did you know that the Lost Primordial had one? And then there are people who are secretly Principals and those Top-Tier that fought... They were close to being Principals! If Shakstress fought in a Presider War, she''d be one of the top contenders to win! And if anything, that Garenjazz and Lanterk are probably stronger! But whatever the case, killing each other was the least of the Presiders n! And now, you guys made them do it. So it''s like, now we are just one of the Presiders fighting here and trying to uncover the mystery and importance of Earth!"


    "I''ll leave the thinking to these folks. But why study the book of Daniel?"


    "For some strange reason, the Lost Primordial was also interested in it. But I have a guess as to why they want that. They want to unify the Earth. If they follow the events in the Bible and make history follow the very events, it will make the world want to believe in them. It was said in this world that religion is the opium of the people. The drug gave the people some form of importance and desire to live beyond the pointless, mortal, and meaningless life. If they are sessful, and the battles that follow end up bing like what it is in Daniel 7 up to chapter 12, then many nations and a majority of Earth will be your ally."


    "But that''s why I''m confused? Why? I''m sure they can help to some degree. But we''ve seen the battle in Egypt. It''s not like Earth can help. Unless we turn them into... oh... I get it! Believers! The n is to make an Unlocked army of believers!"


    "It''s a scary thing to imagine for all Presiders. But, with the Presider War, Earth will definitely be the battleground. The Presiders will set up fortresses here on Earth. And your team will carry out subterfuge missions to aid or attack Presiders so that the nations that will rise on Earth will follow the Bible. Hence, that grand event is necessary so that everyone will be on the same page."


    "The Bible Study." Meryl recalled.


    "Yes. That event is needed so that everyone will follow the n and know what to do. Your teams will probably be fighting against each other in the future."


    "I think I understand now. But I don''t get it. Why did everyone listen to Arthur? He insisted that they will put on hold the nned Bible Study until his sister is rescued."


    "Well, that''s because it aids with the story of the Bible. Think. We are going to follow the nations that rose in Daniel. The first to rise was Babylon. Then the Medo-Persians, and then Greece, and finally Rome. The Bible predicted this, but when it did, it wasrgely ignored or was criticized to either be fake,te-dated, or inurate. So, your team ns to resolve all of that. You will orchestrate the events in which people can''t ignore them. It''ll be clear and seen, and undeniable. But before these Empires rose, Israel and Jerusalem had many problems with the nearby nations. And Egypt is one of them. So think of it this way... Arthur rescuing his sister will be like the book of Exodus where Israel will break free from the bonds of Egypt. Jerusalem will be built just as what had happened in the Bible."


    "But won''t we be skipping a lot of books of the Bible? Exodus and then a lot of books, and then do Daniel?"


    "Not really. After the Exodus, the Bible will talk about Jerusalem and Israel. And those books will cover from the time of 1 Samuel all the way to Chronicles until Israel was conquered and went into exile. After that, the exile period starts off the Babylon reign. In any case, I guess we have to wait for the Bible Study. Eagle will exin all these when the timees."


    "I see. At least I understand now. These things, and with Harker, Lowengren, and Eagle, we could create an army of Unlocked instantly!"


    "Imagine the possibilities. The Presiders will undoubtedly use humans in their war.. But suddenly, arge portion of these humans will betray them. And all of them will be Unlocked! They would already be busy fighting each other, and then we enter the stage with an army who believe in the Bible and have been converted with the Miracle of the Unlocking!"

 Chapter 432 - Epilogue Of Volume 5

    It was a massive ship. More massive than the hidden Orbital behind Mars.


    The ship''s technology and how it traveled were unique as it utilized dimensional movement that allowed it to move through great distances in a short time.


    While Earth was millions of lightyears away, the journey would soon be over in two months.


    "Finally, we are traveling." A Presider seated on his throne appeared and took its ce in a massive hall with many locations that perfectly fit a Presider''s Throne.


    "After all those dys! And what''s with the trip''s schedule?! Three Presiders missed the flight because of the announcement!"


    "I barely made it on time as well." Another Presider warped in ce.


    The doors opened at the deep bottom of the halls, and several Presiders also began to join the group.


    "This trip is not only kept secret to most Presiders. Even Primes were kept off the loop." One of the arriving Presider exined.


    "The theory that a Prime is assisting Babylos is stupid. Why would our race ever aid those?" Another beautiful Presider emerged and smiled.


    "Out of the thousands of Presiders, you guys were picked?" A sad question was posed. But despite the arrogant question, everyone no one answered back because they knew whose voice the question belonged to.


    A bolt of lightning appeared as it passed through the dimensions and appeared manifesting into metal and bing alive. Then, every piece of that metal was alive, and soon, the figure of a person seated on the radiant, blue, electrifying throne appeared.


    Everyone was shocked as he appeared. Although he was a Presider, he had yet to lose against another and was one of the most feared names within the Presiders. It was rumored that even Principals respect him.


    Some of the women in the group smiled and cheered at the sight of the man.


    "Presider Marrho..." The first Presider to arrive and speak was shocked.


    "Presider Marrho. I''m quite surprised that you will be joining this trip." One of the Presiders frowned.


    "Ah, the Presiders of that idiot..." Marrhoughed.


    Despite the arrogant and direct insult, the Presider could only grit his teeth and ignore his remarks.


    "If you must know, I am here to investigate the rumors of a Devourer appearing on Earth."


    "A Devourer?!" Another shouted as she arrived.


    "Now, now... Presider Marrho, please keep silent as to your respective missions and don''t pass out those rumors as if they were true." Augh appeared.


    Five massive Thrones that had a mixture of several metals appeared.


    "The Pig Five. Or should I say, the Devourer Five?" Marrho smiled.


    There were whispers in the hall as they heard the word Devourer. Many were horrified at the title. Marrho had openly called them Devourer, and the members of the Pig Five did not even deny it.


    "I wonder when the five of you will agree to my challenge?" Marrho sneered.


    "Please. Don''t think we don''t know about you, Marrho. Why should we fight you?" One of the Five was a slim man with a strange face covered in liquid metal. There were no holes in his face but only a smooth covering that made it look like he was wearing a thickyer of ss on his face.


    "Because you guys are cheats? Why did the Primes allow you to seed in these cheats?"


    "What else? Why were you allowed to be a Presider? It''s already an open secret among those higher echelons about who you are? It is, of course, to spur growth among Presiders. There will be no growth without motivation, envy, and greed. So us Devourer Five, as you put it, have been granted Devourer Suits because of that." A fat man at the side added.


    "All for the glory of growth!" The only woman among the fiveughed. She had a voluptuous figure and a dangerous beauty that was very different from the moniker of the group she belonged to.


    "I never expected you five to openly admit it. Hmm... Will there be a Presider War on Earth?" Marrho asked.


    "Ah, as expected of you! Yes! There will be!" The thin man of the Fiveughed.


    Suddenly, the Presiders nearby were all horrified.


    "What?!"


    "Presider war?!"


    The cries andints echoed out as they heard the five admit it.


    "What?! Why?! Our Principal was not informed of this!"


    "Oh? They weren''t or, they refused to tell you? The Prime Wars draw near. So unless you, too, can Conquer, you are not worth being spent on. Either your Principal wants you to grow or is abandoning you." The woman of the Fiveughed.


    "So if that''s the case, you just got marked by us five! Be careful! Oh. And if anyone helps us, we can give you some of the techs that man has." The fat man added.


    "I need his body. He seems good enough for me to have fun for a while. And I need more pilots for my supremes." The woman reminded her four allies.


    "Why?" A cold voice echoed out throughout the hall.


    Everyone was silent, and even the five had to contain their arrogant faces.


    Marrho turned and saw one of the most mysterious Presiders.


    "Ah... Finally! Some challenge!" Marrho smiled as he saw the speaker.


    "Presider Render... You are... surprisingly not on the list of Presiders that were supposed toe here." The thin man of the five had a wary expression.


    "Why a Presider War? What''s in Earth that is forcing everyone to invest more resources and men there?" Presider Render ignored the thin man and asked once more.


    "Since the Presider War in this ship will almost immediately start anyway... might as well say it." Marrhoughed.


    "Immediately start?! What do you mean?" A Presiderined.


    Some of the Presiders shook their heads and looked with cold eyes to the Presider thatined as if they were looking at the dead man.


    "Another food for us devourers." The fat man licked his lips.


    "Even now, the ones that are weak are showing themselves. Careless statements. Those who had shared the same sentiments of that Presider who imed that their Principal did not know will be the first one to die. And those that can''t read the flow of the battle are clearly the weakest Presiders who only attained power through purchases and not by cunning and killing." The thin manughed.


    "Then fine. Since Marrho had revealed more food for us devourers, then we shall say why a Presider War. It''s because the legacy of the Lost Primordial could be on Earth."


    Only Marrho and Render''s expressions changed. The rest were careful not to reveal curiosity, shock, or fear in case they would utter something stupid that would reveal their weakness and possible helplessness.


    "The Lost Primordial''s legacy? Then why are not Principals or Primes involved?" Render asked.


    "It''s been a thousand years since that battle, and no Primes have risen to the asion, and our progress towards reaching the Final Heaven has not increased. Since the Lost Primordial is clearly dead, the Primordial decided that instead of seizing whatever techs that the Lost Primordial has, why not let it be and give others the chance to rise up? Who knows? We might gain progress and give rise to an exceptional Prime that can help us on our mission!"


    "How certain are you that the Lost Primordial''s Legacy is down there?"


    "We don''t know. What we do know is that a Prophet was born. It would most likely be linked to the Lost Primordial if one were born. We don''t know why that is the assumption when the entire universe could hide the Lost Primordial..." The man with the metal face answered.


    "It''s simple. While there have been Principals and Presiders who have fled from the wars that we Aragarians will soon fight, they can''t be Prophets. Those who flee can never be Conquerors. The Primes allowed them to exist and killed those who broke thews to help us in gathering Universe Energy. But these cowards can never give birth to Prophets. But the Lost Primordial can. So when the Primes sensed the birth of the Prophet, Earth became one of the suspected locations." Marrho exined.


    "Ah... Thank you, Presider Marrho, for answering those mysteries. As you can see, our goal remains the same. It is only bad luck for those Presiders who were sent here to die and abandoned by their Principals. The rest of you understand it, right? To us, the Presider War starts now. Those that are strong will arrive on earth and continue the game. Who knows how many Presiders we will have to face on Earth? Will they be devoured, or will we be? From here on out, anyone that isn''t Conquerors will only die!" The man with the metallic faceughed.


    "All for the glory of growth." The womanughed once more.


    Back on Earth...


    Alean opened her eyes and nced upwards to the sky.


    She had a sad expression as she felt the horrifying powers approaching.


    "So...even with my Zone... I can only see that far, huh? And my, my... what deaths. It looks like I have to do my best to save as many as I can."


    Next to her were several Unlocked, all of which were trained to be spies.


    "General?" Jane asked.


    Alean smiled and turned back to the team of spies, who were all seated down and were meditating.


    "Let''s continue. The fact that you didn''t sense what I sensed proves you still need more training. Unless you guys can awaken Zone all the time, you won''t stand a chance in the chaotic wars that demand your skills.." Alean exined.

 Chapter 433 - Student Developmental Program

    A full month had passed since the great battle in Egypt. Since then, many wars and skirmishes that aimed to dominate the sea routes have urred. Many nations secured key trading routes and won the alliance among the Underwater cities and the surfaced megastructures that emerged.


    There were underwater, underground, and space citiesunched, creating a sudden emergence of people.


    The sudden appearances of many people hidden deep underwater and up in space created the Era of Nomadic Cities.


    Cities boasting massive power had established themselves, and many could contend against the known nations of the Earth.


    And while the world was in turmoil, a massive proposal led by the WGP caused many nations to sigh in relief.


    The enactment of the Civilian War Safety Code was followed strictly, and no nation, be it among the original list or the new Nomadic cities, would attack directly and harm civilian cities until the nearest front lines would be destroyed. But even if a fortress were destroyed, the WGP would strictly enforce that no forces would invade the next city for twenty-four hours to allow civilians to either retreat or submit to be captured by the invading forces.


    And since no nations would heavily invest in invading or attacking another nation, no front-line fortress has yet to fall from the major nations that managed to stabilize their footing.


    The nations like New Great Britain, the Americas, One China, all maintained their super-power status.


    But among the nations that suddenly grew powerful was the new nation consisting of previous enemies. Australia, South Pacific United, and Pangea agreed to enter into an alliance. They were known as the South Pacific Confederate.


    The Confederate became a promising ally with a Many Mansions ced among them. Their military might was also something that drew the attention of the world.


    The nominal leader of this new alliance was surprisingly the most feared enemy of the SPU and Australia.


    He is the majestic, glorious, unparalleled, undisputed, illustrious, eye-popping, eyebrow-raising, breath-taking, heart-stopping, spine-chilling, a most amazing leader and founder of the South Pacific Confederate, Harker Cipril, the Light of the New World.


    Although his location was kept hidden, his orders and actions had always led in bing the right actions. And under hismand, One China, New Great Britain, the EAA were in good trading rtions with this country.


    Thend of the South Pacific Confederate, or the SPC, was called another term as it managed to secure peace in itsnds and no country dared challenge it.


    It was called a City of Refuge.


    A meeting of scientists and the brightest minds of the South Pacific Confederate was secretly held under the guise of attending a certain wedding in Central Phil-Pangea.


    The wedding continued on and was already having the traditional Phil-Pangean wedding rituals. But this group sat at the side and discussed the ns for the three nations of the South Pacific Confederate.


    "I''m not reallyfortable in talking about these ns here in a public ce." One of the scientists sighed. The actual words that he spoke were a very ancientnguage. It was anguage that was created and based on Tamil, one of the oldestnguages in the world.


    "Rx. We are speaking in infrasonic sound that only Inhumans can hear. We are also talking at speed, using anguage that cannot be understood. Not to mention, the host we selected for this has a Skill that can somehow gain attention. It''s very difficult for the untrained ears to listen to our words." One of the women answered. She was one of the three top scientists that served directly under Charles.


    "Doctor Sonia is right." A man smiled. He was the strongest Unlocked sitting among them and had so much strength that he could punch an Armor and toss it back. But his frame was rather thin. Nevertheless, he was the doctor that discovered how to incorporate the science of Dawn soldiers, Ceasar''s Might Science, and the werewolf drug that gave heightened strength.


    "Doctor Eric. I must congratte you on your progress in that Drug. Australia is great pleased as their Dawn soldiers are now several times stronger than before." One of Australia''s top scientists praised.


    "It''s nothing much. I was an Australian scientist working for Harker and was among Seeker''s early allies. Me, Sonia, and Saunia have to make amazing contributions to this war." Eric Dousughed.


    "Oh, and you are praising me, but your eyes are all over Doctor Saunia. I heard she is dating none other than Cronus of Git Godlike. Careful where your eyes point, doctor." Ericughed.


    Most of the scientists suddenly averted their eyes from Saunia in fear.


    "Ah... How lucky of Saunia. Hmph! If my Path wasn''t in conflict with how you copied Meryl''s light, I would date someone among them. It''s amazing how fast Cronus gained fame among the Unlocked and officially made it to the ''Ranked'' Heroes list. Although I think that Cronus is a minor." Sonia sighed.


    "Oh, please, sister. General Alean is dating Lynd. Mostdies who have been Unlocked would willingly fight a Presider to be Lynd''s lover. Is age still relevant to the Unlocked? To Cultivators and Immortals like Lynd and his team, what is age but a vague concept? Power. Now that''s important." Sauniaughed.


    "Can we move on to our discussion? I still have much to do. There has been progress in maintaining Ricardo''s health, and I need to create several cures for thirty more sicknesses that Doctor Charles released in various parts of the globe." Eric sighed.


    "Alright. And here I thought my beauty and imitation of Meryl''s path would affect you, Eric."


    "It won''t. Don''t you know? I serve the Tyrant Empress. No other beauty seems topare to hers. So it''s not that I am not interested in you. It''s more precise that I can''t take an interest in you. Still, I need to increase my Unlocking. Staying sane is a full-time job for us, after all. If we don''t grow or if the Tyrant Empress''s powers surpass a certain threshold, we will all be debase humans, and I would fly to the Desert Empires to stare at the Tyrant Empress and die."


    "That sounds horrifying." One of the Scientists was shocked.


    "It is. But our lust gives us purpose and courage. And happiness. Anyways, I want a full report on Path and Skill development progress through the Student Development Programs that your respective schools and countries do. How are our students doing? Let''s start with Seeker''s Alma Matter."


    "The pool of the most talented people that have been brought into the Inhuman programs grow steady. As a result, the death rates of our drugs have decreased, and more minds are able to endure and survive the Inhuman drugs without growing insane. But the safest way to be an Inhuman is still through the Battle Arena. Since its conception, we''ve had thirty-four student deaths in the Arena, and neen have shown potential to be an Inhuman."


    "How did you cover up the student deaths?" Eric frowned.


    "Terrorist attacks. People profiled to be haters of Harker would be kidnapped and would be framed for bombing the school killing these students."


    "..."


    Mouths were wide open at the casual mention of these reports. Each nation and secret Unlocked Training grounds were going through their own programs, but the school of Seeker employed a brutal and inhumane method.


    "Neen Inhumans? That''s good progresspared to the two Inhumansst month. Continue with that n. I''ll increase the funding to your school and allow you ess and free use to Exoskeletons for battle."


    "Continue?! Doctor Eric! Did you not hear what they are doing?"


    "I did. I suggested some parts of it myself.. This was the best Student Developmental Program to make Unlocked."

 Chapter 434 - Laid At The Root Of The Trees

    The horrifying and inhumane words of Eric Dous did not surprise Sonia and Saunia. The three of them were among the premier scientists within the Unlocked armies. Their value surpasses even that of some of the lower-leveled Ranked Heroes. But instead of a respectful and moral code, Eric revealed a heartless one.


    "WHAT?! That''s outrageous!" One of the doctors shouted angrily and stood up. He didn''t even speak in the agreed method of using infrasonic, speedy, and quiet words. Had it not been for the loud background as the couple made their first dance, everyone would have noticed his shout.


    "Doctor Steveson." Eric raised his eyebrow in disgust.


    "Please follow protocols."


    "How can I after what I-"


    Almost immediately, the doctor stumbled back to his feet. He was unlocked, but the power and concentrated attack of three Reapers Breath made him shiver in fear.


    "Ugh. This is the expected problem of making allies and giving them Unbing drugs. See how weak-willed they are." Sonia sighed.


    "To be fair, Sister. If we weren''t Programmed ves back then, I doubt we would have gone along the crazy experiments that Charles had. Looking back, those secret covert missions in the European Nations weren''t pleasing memories. Back then, we were happy... and then, with a flip of a switch, they turned off our happiness right in the middle of that shootout. It makes me shiver what we had to do. How many people did we kill?" Saunia shook her head.


    Eric shivered.


    "Good times..." Sonia smiled as if recalling an amazing experience.


    "Good for you since the chip in your head got damaged when you were shot in the head..." Sauniained.


    "What my dear associates are trying to say..." Eric continued.


    "We are dealing with a fight that would bring literal gods to our very space. Inhumans do not even make the minimum cut to fight them. Do you think I will survive this war with my strength to punch down an Armor? Because right now, I''m ny percent certain that I will die." Eric questioned harshly.


    The doctor that was seated finally got the courage to speak.


    "Why these... children?!" He forced out a shout.


    "Students, prisoners, and all those other mass-hiring professions are the ripe ces for us to conduct this program. They all have venues that gather a lot of people without drawing suspicion. And so, they be the easiest ces to host our little programs. In that school, General Harker has alreadyid the foundations. We''re just taking advantage of it. We''re not discriminating. But these kids need to be Unlocked if they want to help in the war. Besides, we''re doing them a favor. Better the weak die now, rather during the cruelty of war. Now, they can go back to their rooms, enjoy whatever forms of delight they can experience, and return. They can eat whatever food they want because, in the near future, we''re going to copse the market of the world, making food scarce."


    "What?! No one told us about that!" An SPU doctor who was also one of the key people in their army was stunned.


    "That''s because we didn''t tell everyone. Do you think Pangea is preparing for it? Of course not. Whatever food we have stocked up goes to the Unlocked Armies."


    "May I ask why?" Another doctor asked.


    "Shouldn''t we stock up for food for the world to gain allies?"


    "From what Charles deduced, he said that it is still keeping with the prophecies of the Bible. With many Presiders who will reveal powers that of gods flying in the heavens, the people will pray to many of them. They will offer their lives to whichever Presider that presents himself publicly. And do you know why? So that the words of Jesus might be true."


    "Many wille in my name iming I am he." Sonia quoted scripture.


    "Ingenious, isn''t it? We make the world religion one. We make events that present this religion as truth. And when that happens, these Presiders will take advantage of it and will im to be the Messiah. Many will believe them and join these Presiders. But more will join us because it still follows prophecy. It''s something along that line. Now, can we continue?"


    "I am honestly notfortable with your arrangements regardless of its results. It''s just hical, even if the world is at stake. Making a survival room for schools? What is this, some sort of Post-Modern Japanese High-School anime?"


    "Actually, that''s being used in another Pangean school. Very ineffective. We lost many students and gained few Inhumans. We were hoping that some would have a Ranked Hero potential, but none had it. So we decided to stick with the current Battle Arena. They don''t kill each other there, you know. Killing the opponent is optional. In fact, they are encouraged not to kill." The doctor rified.


    "...I have no words." The doctor sighed and gave up arguing.


    "In short, battle andbat is the best way to force a person. We make these kids fight so that they will grow stronger. It''s that simple. What about the other ns?" Eric asked the doctor.


    "We decided to forgo the altar of worship depicting Seeker''s face. We decided since we are going to present a Christian worldview, we need to be consistent. So although Seeker''s Path allows believers to have a higher probability of growing, we decided that it would be best if people naturally believe in him. And so we nned that all students that show potential would have to serve under Seeker in a dangerous mission. Hopefully, something within the next month."


    "I see. Putting them right into the fire, huh? They will be forced to fight with Presiders all around them and will be forced to put Faith in Seeker."


    "Exactly."


    "What about the former ssmates of Seeker, Lynd, and Meryl? Any Believers among them?"


    "Very few. Just two girls. But these two seem to have a crush on Seeker all along."


    "Ah. And the rest?"


    "A prophet is without honor in his own hometown. Just as how the people in Jesus''s hometown refused to believe that he was the Messiah even though He showed them miracles, so are Seeker''s ssmates. They just can''t put their faith in him." The doctor replied.


    "Ah. As expected. It''s strange how that applies so much in real life. For those aspiring actors, writers, or even every other person who dreams for the stars and is regarded as delusional or useless by his or her immediate peers. Who in Seeker''s ss would expect that he would be the world''s Messiah? Even when the truth isid down on them, their familiarity with Seeker bes their downfall. Of course, Lynd and Meryl always knew that Seeker was something else. But how sad. Because they forever think of Seeker as an equal, as someone in his own hometown, that they cannot believe this to be true."


    "Very rarely will you find a family member or an acquaintance who will be your true supporters? But as it will always be, the general rule is to always seek an audience of strangers, instead of an audience of friends." Sauniaughed.


    "Welp. It''s about time for us to abandon infertile grounds. Throw them in the usual soldier training. It''s their loss. They will die in the battles toe since they are weak. Focus attention on others who show potential." Eric added.


    The rest of the doctors, excluding a few Pangean-based doctors, hadplicated expressions.


    "Doctors, I know it sounds harsh and inhumane. But can you afford to show mercy when the wars are at our doorsteps? Can your soldiers who you showpassion and carefulness, fight against the miracles of these Presiders? What if they shrink matter? What if they shoot light-speed bullets? What if these Presider drop a bomb as powerful as a nuclear bomb? Will your students survive it? The ax is alreadyid at the root of the trees. And every tree that does not produce good fruit is only good to be burned in the fire. I want soldiers of war, doctors. Don''t give me cannon fodders.." Eric warned.

 Chapter 435 - The Naked Assassin

    A young man emerged from the waters. He was on a public beach. But due to the war, no one would dare stay at the edges fearing possible attacks. Who knows if the Americas would attack again? Massive bombs had justnded, and the sounds of distant gunfire could be heard.


    "Where is this? Damn. To think Central America would attack!" The youth cursed.


    In a surprising twist, a civil war had begun in the Americas. South America had dered its autonomy from the Americas and supported Central America in their attacks. But suddenly, Central America attacked South American fleets.


    The fleet where this youth had snuck into was attacked. Nevertheless, he managed to survive the attack easily and swam all the way into this region. And while it was humanly impossible for teens to swim across such distant seas, it was no problem to him.


    The hot, scorching winds met him as he surfaced from the waters and sat on the rocks and cliffs nearby. The ce he arrived had no civilians nearby and even soldiers. A battle had just taken ce, and the forces guarding it just retreated to the city several kilometers away from this very beach.


    The young man hid and observed as he could see Exoskeletons flying in retreat. The attack was a failure, and the region was not captured.


    But even amidst that war, this young teen had other enemies.


    "Those guys... are very, very persistent... Even in that war, they were still out to get me. And why do they think I am a pseudo Presider?! Who the hell has been spreading those lies?!" The young man cursed and punched the rock nearby, breaking it to pieces.


    Over the past month, he has been moving through the world, infiltrating ships after ships and fighting in many battles. The number of people who died in his hands amounted to the hundreds. He started his journey from New Great Britain and moved from ind to ind, and began to cross Underwater cities!


    The battle he fought pushed him into a level of power he couldn''t understand. And when that happened, enemies appeared around him. He couldn''t understand their usations. He found out that they thought he was one of a time-traveling group and was being chased by various parties. He was captured twice and was stripped and tortured, and was asked questions about Presider Shakstress, Presider Andronze, and for some bizarre reason, he was asked about dildos and other phallic-rted objects.


    The poor kid was so confused after being detained and questioned with strange things. He fought and killed those who did and revealed a strength that could pound an Exoskeleton to the point that the pilot inside would die.


    But the enemy was relentless and sent in people with powerful techs. He even fought against a powerful person that was called Pioneers. They had Exoskeletons that were close to Supremes and techs that he couldn''t even understand. Yet in the moments where he would almost die, some inner conflict or another Pioneer would intervene.


    There was even a time when a more powerful person called Presider was headed to where he was!


    He fled with all his might and only revealed his super strength, but in reality, he had another powerful ability.


    The youth looked around and decided to look for an underground area.


    "This ce is said to have an underground river. I''ll hide there." He decided to run towards the shore but didn''t move towards the roads, but he ran right into the stony cliffs nearby. He ran and jumped towards it and disappeared.


    He moved faster and faster, passing through rocks, sand, and water. He ran and ran and found the underground river. He followed the flow of water and finally found a small chamber deep inside this cave.


    "Lucky!" He thought to himself. It didn''t take him long to find it, and it was very easy to find with his ability to pass through walls.


    He looked around and found that the ce had clean water and was naturally cool and sheltered, making it an ideal hiding spot.


    "Not even those techs should find me. I should rest here! Who knows when I''ll be able to next. With those persistent guys, I may end up running for my life for days and days. I need rest!" He decided.


    With his ability to pass through objects, he survived and fled from the enemies. He was very careful not to show this ability when he faced those people called Pioneers and did his best to avoid Presiders.


    "It''s a good thing that fighting and escaping from that damned Admiral Ramsden taught me how to fight and avoid being detected!" The youth cursed. He recalled the time he was in New Great Britain and how his random whim of saving a celebrity to whom he was deeply attracted led to a series of painful and horrifying events. It was also this encounter that brought him to his current state,


    He was captured, betrayed, nearly killed, and was shot many times, and those experiences finally taught him what he did wrong. He was now even more paranoid than he originally was. He used to be paranoid as he was an escaped experiment. But now, it was thrown to a whole new level.


    He rested his head, but no sleep befell him. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see Kristine Sythia in the arms of several men. He crossed continents chasing after this woman.


    His intel-gathering abilities made him uncover various shocking secrets that the world was not ready for. He found weaponry beyond imagination and even exoskeletons that could cover two world wars!


    But all of this was nothingpared to the information about Kristine Sythia. But as he would asionally do, every time he found something that a particr country was preparing to do, he would release the files online under the pseudonym that he was known for a way back in New Great Britain.


    The Naked Assassin revealed the atrocities or nned atrocities in several kingdoms. Somehow Pioneers and nteds would always be involved in this. In fact, he just did so in the submarine below before it exploded.


    "The Naked Assassin strikes again. To think Central America has those secrets. The Force of America? Ha! What lunacy!" He cursed and retrieved a Comm device. He wouldpile news reports on his Comm device and would watch some news hoping to find out where General Ramsden was. He also searched for the Covenant of the Strongest, who also disappeared.


    As he began to watch the news, reports of his own work appeared in the news reports he managed to save in hism device. The report about him was originally aired a week ago.


    "The renowned hacker, the Naked Assassin, has released another series of reports. And this time, it involves Rome! ns to rebuild the ancient city of Rome and turn the city into a massive structure simr to the other ns that the Naked Assassin revealed to make this Babel Three. As you know, the Naked Assassin revealed that New Great Britain is nning to create a massive tower that reaches space and will be kept standing with various technologies that allow this structure not to stand up but to somehow ''float''. The first was Babel One, andter, Babel Two was also uncovered. And now Rome." The reporter exined.


    "I wonder if my other leaked files have surfaced?" The youth wondered.


    "I hope that those files were sent before the sub sank. Will Central America''s Babel Five be discovered?" He wondered.


    "In any case, the findings of this Naked Assassin are also changing the world. Reports of his appearances have been spotted all over the ce. Most governments are now arresting streakers or anyone who have a history of being an exhibitionist."


    "I''m not a freakin'' exhibitionist!" The youth shouted angrily. Because his powers were slipping through walls, the clothes he wore couldn''t pass through. Only a few days ago, he managed to develop his mysterious power so that he could pass on his ability to other objects that he was holding. And so, the bag and clothes he wore would also pass through objects as well.


    "Kristine... I can save you now!" The youth called Jake sighed as he took his bag and opened it. It had a lot of food, and Jake began to have his meal. Who knows when he would have the free time to eat like this?


    But as he did that, he didn''t know that some of the rocks below him were actually a spying device.


    Some twenty kilometers away from where Jake was hiding, several soldiers reported the findings.


    A small team of operatives was hiding on the top floor of the building.


    They had been keeping track of the movements of Jake. In fact, they had even assisted Jake and saved his life when things got too dicey for Jake. They were the Unlocked team and were the second generation of spies the Unlocked army created.


    "General. Just as you calcted, the experiment Jake is nowhere! Very impressive! You really figured it all out! And as for his current unlocking, it is exactly a general Arthur predicted. You two are really starting to be simr!" The soldierughed.


    "Whatever." The young General that the soldier spoke to was not interested.


    "I''ll deal with himter. Have you found them?"


    "Yes, General. All three Rules have been detected. Three Emperors are inside that building." The soldier confirmed.


    "I guess I gotta go."


    "General? You n to meet them?"


    "I was ordered to kill them."


    "Alone? They have Rules!"


    "And I have a date that I can''t miss." The young man sighed.


    "General Cliff! Let us assist you!"


    "No need. I can take them.." Cliff assured them as he opened the windows and jumped out of the tall skyscraper.

 Chapter 436 - Anti-Presiders

    A wide hall inside the building was prepared. A meeting of great secrecy was happening in the lowest levels of this building and was guarded with toons of soldiers and Exosleketons.


    The building was the headquarters of a major corporate enterprise that had recently switched in making military weapons. With Unlocked Industries'' appearance, the technology they created now had various versions. This corporation created a weaker version of Unlocked Industries'' ''Living Metal'' technology. And so, many nations sought this corporation. But as it grew, many powers were fighting for ownership of this corporation.


    And then, Emperors got involved.


    Threerge thrones sat on the hall with three disgruntled people of power.


    Two women and a met were angrily demanding that the mysterious seller appear.


    "Where is he?!" The woman shouted and threatened.


    Around them were four armed Exoskeletons that served as their bodyguard. One of the Emperors even had a Supreme Exoskeleton.


    "Presider is not yet avable. A man of his business doesn''t have time to deal with you." A beautiful woman stood and announced.


    "I don''t care! Call him! The more time we waste here, the faster the value of this metal decreases! Unlocked Industries have created a new metal that is not only alive, but it has a uniquepression technology that allows it to stretch! Are you waiting for them to produce another miraculous item before we get this meeting started?"


    "Call your Presider now. As the Empress has stated, we Emperors are in a difficult position now. This meeting is a secret even to other Emperors! That new metal will make the WGP contact us and force us to move! Call your boss!"


    "Your name... Pioneer Madelyne. To think that someone like you would simply be a Pioneer." The other woman spoke.


    "One China was never your home, was it? In any case, Pioneer Madelyne. You need to get this meeting started. Otherwise, we will leave."


    "Oh? You remember my former identity. Of course not. I am not born and raised in One China. You could say that I''m from the Underwater Cities. And you misunderstand. I can''t call Presider Gordon." Madelyne smiled.


    "Presider Pridgeon is not my boss. I work for a different Presider. Presider Gordon is the one who met and called you, but my boss is... negotiating with him." The woman smiled again.


    At those words, the three were horrified, and their hearts raced.


    "What?!" The woman was shocked.


    Suddenly all her Exoskeletons raised their arms and prepared to attack Madelyne.


    "Please. My forces outmatch your current military might." Madelyneughed.


    A powerful force field appeared before her, and a strange rip in the space appeared overhead, and several arms of Exoskeletons appeared from these rips in space. It broke out of the void and aimed at everyone.


    "This technology!" One of the Emperors identified it.


    "It''s the same technology that the Moon had! The one that appeared in Egypt! It''s this technology!" One of the Emperors panicked and forced her Rule to cover itself with the metal shield to prepare forbat.


    "Presider Pridgeon sends his greetings. Please wait while Presider Pridgeon and Presider Gordon finish their negotiation. We are not here to fight you or kill you. Were here to strike a deal." Madelyne smiled.


    "Strike a deal?"


    "Well, we have been revealed. And war ising. So we really don''t have much choice. The problem isnd, resources, and manpower. If we were to create a headquarters and bases for this war, we would need people. And so, we decided to use people like you. The WGP." Madelyne exined.


    "What war?" The Emperor asked.


    "I can''t say." Madelyneughed.


    "Why now? And why are you Presiders fighting? What exactly is your goal?" One of the Empress asked.


    "You wouldn''t understand if I told you."


    "What is the goal? We can help you! Do not underestimate us Emperors! The techs that we found from that battle have already brought a specific direction to the technologies this past month! We are always breaking through new sciences! If you give us your techs..." The impatient and demanding Empress shouted and threatened.


    "How many of us do you think there are? Indeed, you guys would have been useful if it was a few months ago. But of course, back then, none of you Emperors had any intention to ally with others because you overestimated yourself. So why else would you three betray the WGP if not because of fear?"


    The three emperors could say nothing. It was indeed, as she stated.


    "And just when you guys would be ideal people to carry out our ns, a Presider War has been issued! So you guys now have a lot of options open to you. We are just the first." Madelyneughed.


    "More of you? Presider Wars?! What are you talking about?"


    "You''ll have to wait for Presider Pridgeon and Presider Gordon to finish their meeting." Madelyneughed.


    The Emperors were trying their best to send the recorded messages to their family. The current scenario didn''t y well for them. With the technologies avable, they knew that one way or the other, they wouldn''t leave this ce as alive as they were. They would either be mind-controlled, or killed.


    "Don''t bother sending. Of course, you can''t see it, but you all are in another dimension." Madelyneughed.


    The maps and scanners of the three were no longer working. The Emperors initiated the protocols to equip their Rules in preparation to fight. Origin Energy began to leak out of their Rules.


    "Ah, yes! Origin. Even us Pioneers loved to have that tech of yours! It''s so mysterious! Which Presiders gave you the drafts for Throne tech? We all believed it to be a coincidence, but you are using an inferior Throne Technology." Madelyneughed.


    "Laugh while you can! Don''t be so arrogant that you think your moon can stop us! We''ve studied that battle, and even now, we three can do our own Invoking right here!" The male Emperor shouted.


    "I''m trembling in fear." Madelyn mocked as a strange figure emerged around her. It came from the fourth dimension, and it began to form around her.


    "Presider Pridgeon has perfected Emerging Technology, and now, his control and how he sends these techs are perfected! The data from Shakstress, who attempted to forcibly teleport, was what he needed! So try and fight me!"


    A Throne appeared around her, and she sat downfortably over it.


    The three Emperors were shocked at what they saw. It didn''t even use nanotechnology, but it clearly ''formed'' out of thin air.


    "Sit down and be quiet!" Madelyn ordered.


    "Quite a disy you did here." A casual voice was heard.


    "Who?!" Madelyn turned as she sensed the fourth dimension bending.


    "What?! That altered more than just the fourth dimension!" She realized the technology present.


    Fog appeared out of nowhere, and a man''s figure could be seen behind that.


    He was vaping to create the fog. Yet despite the odd method, he still looked so cool.


    Cliff Fangwood, General of the Basilisk Squadron of the Unlocked, had teleported into this meeting ground. He was using his memory of Harker''s entrances and used the same smoky entrance to project coolness. And while Harker pursued vanity, he did this for something else.


    "A Presider?!" Madelyn was shocked.


    "A Pseudo. But we decided to go with the word Anti. Did you know that it means ''in ce of'' in greek? Pseudo has a negative connotation. So call us Anti-Presiders." Cliff added as he emerged out of the mist of his own making. He wore a nk ck mask.


    "Now, let''s get this little meeting in motion. I don''t want to stick around for two Presiders to arrive.. Besides, I still have a date to catch."

 Chapter 437 - Cliff’s Agony

    The confident Madelyn had been living her dreams in the past months.


    She had been one of Pridgeon''s most trusted soldiers in this war. Her rescue of Pridgeon in the battle between Richie and the ck Dragon of China months ago allowed her to be an Arbiter. And while this position was short-lived, Pridgeon had managed to do the unthinkable and killed one of the most powerful Presiders on Earth.


    As such, Pridgeon''s power rose to great heights. She also received many techs that would secure her rise to Presider in the following months. And so, her service to Pridgeon had grown better and better. Even when Pridgeon would call for her at night, she didn''t disdain it but thoroughly serviced Pridgeon to the point of even kidnapping several artists in the chaos that ensued in the following months.


    And when the battle between Shakstress and Pridgeon urred in Egypt, she engraved the fight between Pridgeon and Shakstress to her heart. She reyed the fight over and over again. Finally, the battle that took ce within Pridgeon''s ship was revealed to the Pioneers serving Pridgeon.


    She couldn''t'' understand the battle, but what was clear was that Pridgeon dominated and would have killed Shakstress, forcing Shakstress to make a desperate retreat. And it was this retreat that allowed Pridgeon to get data for improving his technology.


    To her, the meteoric rise of Pridgeon proved that Pridgeon would soon dominate Earth.


    She fulfilled the ns of Pridgeon, and even though the new era and chaotic state of the Earth made it difficult to unite and transfer all Jews, she followed and believed that Pridgeon''s obsession would bear fruit. And with Pridgeon being satisfied, she was gifted an imitation of the Throne. With that, only a Low to Mid-Tier Presider can kill her now.


    But now, a man had appeared. He didn''t even need a Throne. He even brought his vape.


    The nonchnt attitude of Cliff created fear in her heart.


    She raced to contact Pridgeon.


    "You must be Madelyn. Richie sends his regards." Cliff spoke.


    At that moment, Madelyn felt pangs of satisfaction, and great lust burst out of her loins.


    "Ri-Richie...?!"


    No matter how she viewed, worshiped, and wholeheartedly served Pridgeon, the memories of that man and that kiss remained.


    "She missed you, Madelyn. He''s gotten stronger. He is now an Anti-Presider. But somehow, that kiss he gave you out of spite seemed to have really made an impact on him." Cliff lied.


    "Ri-Richie... misses me?!" Madelyn was trembling from the delight that she suddenly closed the line ofmunication to hide her erotic moans.


    If not for the nk mask that Ciff wore, everyone would have noticed the blushing expression of Cliff.


    "What a freak! I can hear you, you know?!" Cliff secretlyined even though Madelyn had perfectly soundproofed herself, the fact that the Fourth Dimension wasrgely altered allowed Cliff to use his realm to bypass it easily. And the sounds of Madelyne''s pleasure, was Cliff''s agony.


    "I should have taken Richie''s Dimensional sound lessonsst! That crazydy! Stop thinking about it, Cliff! Get it out of your memories! Get it out of your memories!" Cliff cursed his weakness. Ever since he mastered his memories, he was very careful not to find any lustful encounters as the memory and feeling would be engraved forever. Instead, he vowed to put the sound of Charm''s voice to his heart when ''that'' would finally happen.


    "Begone memories! Damn it! Damn it all! This will stay with me forever! Forgive me, Charm!" Cliff cursed.


    His first kiss had already been stolen with a man that he wished to forget. But the name of Primer Elionios, his height, weight, blood type, and even how the man''s heart was pounding when they kissed still registered in his brain like an agonizing curse.


    The agony of that kiss remained, and while it was disgusting to Cliff, he could still block it out when he finally makes his move with Charm. But Madelyne was a beautiful woman. And the sounds will forever be in Cliff''s memories. It was as if a porno was stuck in Cliff''s head. Forever.


    And now, the very seductive moans of the woman echoed out.


    "I... am a loyal man! I cannot cheat on Charm!" Cliff cursed and decided to move. With his ability to Daydream, and his constant training, he could now easily create ns and adjust them. The memories of how he would fight in an ever-changing scenario and even when he led Seeker, Lynd, and Meryl inbat had made him a man that was now regarded as one of the best strategists among the Unlocked.


    BOOM!


    A massive dent that almost became a hole was made on the Throne of Madelyne with a single fist.


    "Tsk... Stillcking." Cliff cursed.


    The punch jolted Madelyne and threw the Throne back.


    "I have to attack you to make it look like I wanted to kill you. But Richie is still looking for you. Wait for him, and I hope you will be our ally. Now retreat! Dy your rm at Pridgeon and pretend to be unconscious from my attack. Call all your men back as well. Do you understand?"


    Cliff''s words added great hope to Madelyne''s heart, and she agreed.


    "Yes."


    "Good. Now attack me as you retreat. Only you heard my words." Cliff added.


    Immediately, Madelyne''s Throne began to glow as she retreated and disappeared.


    "Attack!" She called out, and the portals to the fourth dimension opened and shot at Cliff.


    Cliff jumped back and evaded the barrage while using his arms to swat some of the exploding canisters shot at him.


    His strength and speed were easily able to match the speed of these bullets.


    "I knew they''d use bullets... Laser attacks don''t do well in the fourth dimension." Cliffughed.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The numerous attacks could not all be blocked and evaded.


    Cliff took out a small round ball with a shield emblem on it.


    "Let''s try this new baby out." He harnessed his Unlocking to activate the bomb.


    Ayer of sound appeared around Cliff, and he charged forward, evading and blocking when necessary.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacks that did reach Cliff couldn''t prate the sound armor.


    STAB! STAB! STAB!


    Cliff used his sword to kill several of the Exoskeletons standing beyond the dimensional tear.


    "AHH!"


    "Retreat! We can''t handle him!" Madelyne shouted as she found the right timing to order the retreat.


    The Emperors also began to fight and attack Cliff, but his speed was just too fast. And the sound armor that was around him allowed him to manipte it in a way that many others of his level couldn''t do. Only Seeker could do what Cliff just did.


    Cliff used the sound of the shield to make himself fly.


    BOOM!


    With Madelyne''s Throne disappearing, Cliff turned his aggression on the Rules and brutally attacked it with his bare fist.


    "Impossible?! What Techs is he using?!" The Empress shouted and began to use Origin to protect herself.


    The weapon that Cliff wielded was a new weapon developed and sent all over the world. Only the Tyrant Empress did not get ess to this. Unlike the Balls of Thunder, the Shield of Thunder did not wield the sound like a bomb but harnessed it. Seeker''s use and how he could manipte Richie''s sound became the basis of the study and was finally approved forbat use as it can perfectly shield an Unlocked.


    But this weapon was very expensive to create that only those who had reached a certain category could use it. And Cliff was one of them. In fact, he was among the people who could maximize the Shield of Thunder.


    "Who are you?! We surrender!"


    Sensing the disappearance of Madelyne and the restoration of the dimensions around him, Cliff smiled as he could finally talk and negotiate with these Emperors without any Aragarian ears listening to them.


    "You surrender? Good! Listen up! I won''t say it twice as you have to make your retreat after. If you make a mistake, I will kill you.. I am Ranked Hero, General Cliff Fangwood of the Basilisk Squadron. I am He Who Treads on the Trodden Road!"

 Chapter 438 - Cliff’s Power

    The Emperor that surrendered immediately was secretly trying various techs to escape. The man that stood before him had such potent radiation that it was as if the Emperor detected a powerful missile aimed at him.


    The other two Emperors began to prepare to fight and revealed a powerful Origin force gathering around their Rule.


    "So you two will fight, huh? I remember when I fought Everhiss the first time. Boy, was I scared. But now, that Rule of yours looks very cute." Cliffughed as he vanished and appeared right in front of the Empress on the right of the Emperor that surrendered.


    "What?!"


    "Sonic Punch!" Cliff shouted as the soundpressed into his arm.


    BOOM!


    The punch was like a meteor strike on the Rule. The power of Origin was defended against the punch. But the impact caused the Empress on the right was thrown back, and her entire Rule was sent flying back. Origin Energy became a shield that blocked the attack.


    The powerful Sound Shield that covered Cliff became like a punch. His power of memory had changed to the next level. The sciences that they had acquired, added with the WGP and Shakstress''s ship''s technology, had allowed the Unlocked armies to reach a terrifying level of power.


    Seeker and Lynd had already been at the Ranked Hero stage. But now, it was passed on. The sown seeds of the Lost Primordial were now bearing fruit one after the other. For Cliff, his memory could now merge with Realm, and this allowed him to force the harnessed power of the sound and made the molecules follow a certain memory. And thus, Richie''s Sonic Punch was recreated through Cliff''s memory.


    The other Empress began to shoot at Cliff with powerful Origin beams with homing powers.


    The beams moved out with great speed, but the attacks were slow with Cliff''s level on the Unlocking. His perception could slow downtime as low as 1/20th of the original speed. With that basic perception, he only needed to activate his Daydream by a split second, and he was already able to evade the fast beams.


    Cliff flew towards the enemy and activated another weaponry granted ess to him. It contained the rechargeable lightning energy of Lennox. But with Cliff''s powers, and created a lightning sword.


    KZZZZTT! KZZZZT!


    The de made of lightning formed, and Cliff charged towards the other Empress shooting at him and shing down.


    SLASH!


    The Origin force field protecting the Throne was breached, and the lightning sword struck ad damaged the outer metal of the Throne.


    The damaged Throne began to alert and the Empress from the damages and was urging the Empress to activate more defensive protocols. Unfortunately, the integrity of her Throne had nearly been breached, and Cliff was already preparing for another attack.


    The thinyer of Origin Energy was not enough for the Emperors to make a massive attack.


    "Stop! Or we will use our Invoking!" The other Empress shouted.


    SLASH!


    Cliff paid no heed and shed down once more.


    The damage breached through the Throne, and it barely struck the Empress inside.


    The Empress retreated, but a small hole could be seen in the Throne.


    "Quite bluffing. You came here secretly to strike a deal behind the WGP. You found a Presider and nned to do secret trade deals with them. This is traitorous for you, Emperors. Your family will cut ties of any knowledge of your presence here least a Throne War would happen." Cliff shook his head.


    The three Emperors couldn''t say anything from Cliff''s statements.


    "Surrender." Cliff called to the two.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The ce began to shake.


    "What was that?" The Emperors felt the tremors outside.


    "We have spies inside the Presider Pridgeon. During the battle in Egypt, our forces controlled the group whomanded the wind." Cliff then held out a strange item. It looked like a small pouch made of cloth.


    "This is Fujins Bag. As you can see, it has the same power that those five men revealed." Cliff exined as he opened it. A strong gust of wind appeared and circled around Cliff. It was so strong that it was as if there was a twister covering Cliff. And the strange thing was, the Emperors could detect that this wind could cut.


    Suddenly, Cliff willed it, and the wind flew back inside the bag. Just with the other items, only Cliff among the Ranked Heroes could do this as he could tread on a trodden Path.


    "The wind...!" The Emperor, who was the first to surrender, saw the wind and knew that Cliff didn''t lie. This had the same form as the video footage that was taken in the battle above Egypt.


    "The Presiders are warring among themselves. Ally with us. Tell your families to contact the Everhiss n. If you want to know the mystery of Presiders, then we are your hope. Don''t be idiots. The Presiders here know you can''t do an Invoking and would have made you Programmed ves. Join us. Go. This ce is about to turn chaotic. The two Presiders will be fighting soon." Cliff turned around and a portal opened in front of him.


    "Go. I showed my power to prove a point. When you retreat, make it look like you managed to drive me away with your powers. That will make it look like the WGP has the ability to fight Anti-Presiders."


    "Anti-Presiders?" An Empress repeated the term that Cliff said.


    "Why do you want the WGP to look strong. What''s your aim?" The Empress with the damaged Rule asked.


    "My air right now? It''s to stop you and your idiot family from betraying the good guys. I am retreating so that the Presiders nning to attack the WGP will hesitate, and the fall of the WGP will be dyed."


    "The fall? What do you mean?"


    "You''ll see. But know that we will be the best allies you can get. We are one of the yers you can bet on in this game. So be sure to bet wisely."


    "Game? This is a game to you?! The world is in chaos!"


    "Well, technically, it''s a New Game+." Cliff smiled, and he disappeared into the portal.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The tremors exploded, and the ceiling and the walls began to crack. The WGP Emperors had no choice but to retreat.


    Outside, several Exoskeletons were attacking the building wielding strange techs.


    Gusts of wind, sound explosions, and massive Exoskeletons that were simr to Australia''s Dawn armor began to attack the building.


    Two groups of powerful Exoskeletons fought against the unknown army that attacked, and war urred right in the middle of the city.


    Cliff appeared on the sewers below the city. The immense energy he revealed had vanished. Nearby were three soldiers who stood to greet Cliff. All three were members of the group formerly known as the Small Drug Dealers. They were now the Commanders of the Basilisk Squadron.


    "General. How was it?" Zidane asked.


    "Mission aplished. Order the retreat of the Exoskeletons. The army will being here soon. Hank, your team is up. Aim for a zero death rate. It''s gonna be hard for me to talk to Charm if any one of her family members dies.." Cliff passed by.

 Chapter 439 - Presiders Or Anti-Presiders

    Madelyn had escaped and appeared right inside the moon hidden in the fourth dimension.


    Her body was still trembling from the memories of what had happened.


    "Richie... is alive?!" she still couldn''t believe it. Ever since the event in One China, she had sought rumors and all possible sightings of Richie. But the more she dug into the rumors, the more it proved that Richie was dead. The experiments of Australia and their sound soldiers were all over the world. There was leaked news of how the scientist who was in charge of Richie had leaked the technology around the world, and the WGP made confirmation of Richie''s death.


    Little did she know that the WGP who made the news was the very one of whom the Tyrant Empress got the old Rule. And Seeker, along with Lennox, had intentionally leaked the news to hide the real location of Richie.


    But now, it was revealed that not only was Richie alive. He was actually an Aragarian! Thest hindrances that Madelyn had were gone. Not only was Richie an Aragarian, but someone who could sh with Top-Tier Presiders!


    She then considered the words that Cliff told her. It seemed too good to be true! Was Richie really longing for her? Despite the irresistible temptation to believe those sweet words, she rejected it. Madelyn had been corrupted by Richie during the incident in China. But as time continued out and weeks became months, this desire was reced with other priorities, especially when she was obsessed with the desire to be a Presider!


    But now, the long trap that was ced was about to be sprung.


    Richie was meditating deep in the western seas of Africa.


    He meditated in the ocean and tried to use his powers to ''hear all'' all sounds. His gains in the battle on Egypt and the experience of being in the minuscule world gave him an idea of how to further evolve his powers. He was also using his positions to attack and hinder the growing kingdom of the Desert Empire conquering Africa.


    The ocean was the best ce he could be as it connected the entire world, and Richie used his sounds to move through the oceans. Hism device lit up.


    "So it''s time..." Richie saw Cliff''s ping and knew that it was time to trigger it.


    Richie gave a soft whisper.


    "Madelyn. Where are you? I want to see you." Richie spoke as it began to cross through the oceans and rippled out. The power of Richie''s voice was no longer sound but something far beyond it.


    The miracles in the bible had shown how God had spoken to men. Richie could not help but wonder what it was that the Lord used? In some cases, everyone could hear it. In other cases, only the intended person could hear the words of God and see the vision. And how was it that a being that existed outside of the dimensions could easily speak and deliver a message to another?


    The distance was not an issue to God. If this was true, was it possible for him to send his voice to cross through the dimensions? Was it possible for the Nefilus beast to do this? Was that how the Lost Primordial left a message that Seeker and Lynd saw and heard when theybined their powers?


    This line of thought became Richie''s obsession.


    The voice of Richie traveled out on Earth but sought the frequency of a certain woman.


    Madelyn hesitated and finally decided to inform Pridgeon immediately. After all, It was foolish to trust in the words of that enemy!


    "They are using me! This is a trap! Richie doesn''t want me!" So she told herself, but then the voice spoke.


    "Madelyn. Where are you? I want to see you."


    The voice caused Madelyn to tremble. All cells of her body were trembling. And because of it, she fell into a state of ecstasy.


    Outside her Throne, the soldiers and nteds rushed to open the Throne and contact Madelyn. She was the one who had ess to the Presider. But she followed the instructions of Cliff and dyedmunicating to Pridgeon and feigning being in pain.


    As she waited, her lust could no longer contain the desires, and she sought fulfillment as the throbbing power was moving on her. It felt as if a man, a figure, was on top of her, and this man''s love was being poured out.


    Five minutes passed, and the memories of Richie and the awakened desires exploded, and finally, Madelyn pretended to be awakened from the pain.


    She was lying in delight and could not move.


    "Richie..." She smiled a most beautiful smile.


    The voices outside were already panicking as they could hear the muffled scream of Madelyn, not realizing what kind of scream it was.


    "Pioneer Madelyn! You have to inform the Presider! The armies of South America are here! Our forces are on full retreat! It''s a trap! Those Anti-Presiders had sprung a trap!" A nted informed her.


    All the other Pioneers inside Pridgeon''s ship tried tomunicate but secretly avoided opening the Throne. Some even stated that ess to Madelyn''s Throne was prohibited. These were the same Pioneers who saw and are secretly serving the Tyrant Empress. They knew that whoever attacked Madelyn was an ally of the Tyrant Empress. And so they waited.


    "I''m... alright. That attack was halted thanks to the suit Presider gave me. I''ll contact Presider." She finally spoke.


    The nteds were relieved when they heard her confirm her status, while the Pioneers were suspicious of whether she had be their ally or not.


    "Presider! A trap! Those who attacked in Egypt are here!" She warned and sent a signal that moved out of the four dimensions and directly into the Nefilus Suit of Pridgeon.


    Hidden in a secret room located nearly a kilometer underground from where Cliff fought the Emperors and Madelyn were two thrones.


    The first one had little to no damages. The other one was already broken on several sides.


    Gordon could be seen and had used the Universe Energy to power his Nefilus Suit.


    "Hmm. Did you ally with them? Those Presiders from the future?" Pridgeon asked.


    "Of course not! I thought you were their ally! Or did they betray you? Ha! Good! I hope you die, you stealing braggart!" Gordon cursed.


    "Now, Gordon. I asked nicely, and youughed at my face. But now that I show you how powerful I really am, you resort to hurling insults. I still can''t believe that you didn''t know I killed Crostfree! Everyone suspected that I devoured him. Did you really underestimate me? Well, I guess it''s expected from someone who only became a Presider because his family was Presiders. This is why the Primordial enacted thosews to stop parents from spoiling their kids too much. They end up bing weak and stupid." Pridgeonughed.


    "You are a weak person who only has your current strength from devouring Crostfree!"


    "Oh, you fool? Don''t you get it? That''s what Conquerors do! I was powerless! The weakest of Presiders here on Earth! You insulted me whenever you got the chance! But even though I was weak, I was still able to kill Crostfree! Can you do the same?" Pridgeonughed.


    "Trust me, Gordon.. You should be thankful that it was me that attacked you. Don''t you see what was happening up above? The Anit-Presiders are here! Would you rather be my ally? Or their food? Choose who to serve! A Presider or Anti-Presiders?"

 Chapter 440 - Alliance Of Presiders

    Gordon was scared. He could see how his base was being attacked. Even the South American soldiers were aiding the Anti-Presiders. It had been weeks ago when Presider Tiana reported to all that a group known as Anti-Presiders began to hinder their operations. Soon more and more of the Presiders were being attacked.


    Despite how the Presider War has started, most of the Presiders were still in the process of negotiating their alliances. But this mysterious group was randomly attacking everyone and disyed techs simr to Top-Tiers.


    "Maybe I''ll choose them over you... At least, I won''t be devoured by them." Gordonughed.


    "You seem to have the wrong idea, Gordon. What do you have that I don''t already have? Andronze is allied to me. You saw our fight with Shakstress! I have the techs of Shakstress, Crostfree, and trade deals with Andronze. What can you possibly offer? I just need another Throne to fight if ever another battle happens. But these guys went so far to even kill Shakstress!"


    "Your lying! Shakstress is alive! You keep on lying and lying! A disgrace to Presiders! You have no real power but only acquired those from the ones you killed?"


    "Can you have had the courage to hold your de and kill Crostfree? I doubt it. You are wrong, Gordon. I am strong. You are weak!"


    "Presider! We are being routed! The Anti-Presiders are too strong!" A Pioneer reported to Gordon.


    Almost immediately, the signal was lost. This Pioneer was one of the few Pioneers that had a direct line to Gordon and was one of his most trusted men.


    "Oh? They areing here, I see. You lost your best man. You are all alone, Gordon. No Presider offered to forge an alliance and even made alliances with those brats! Sure, they have parents who are strong, but still... it''s a bit embarrassing. But,e! Let us reason together! I won''t make things difficult for you! Serve me, and I''ll give you the scraps from the Presiders that we will kill!" Pridgeonughed.


    "Why me?! You hate me, and you know I despised you!" Gordon cursed.


    "You don''t have what it takes to be a Conqueror. Out of all the Mid-Tiers, you are the weakest! So even if it''s me, the man you despise, you will cowardly serve me!" Pridgeonughed as his Throne began to glow.


    "That''s how I found out about your little n to try and take the WGP''s techs and resources. You see, I know no one would ally with you, and you would be forced to do that. So my well-ced spies informed me when you made a move and even when you made an effort to create this room that can hide your secret talks. Of course, most Top-Tiers can easily find you. But I know no one would make an effort. That is how weak you are! Do you know that there are now four alliances in this battle? And yet, you are alone. Be thankful that I am willing to pick up the scraps."


    Gordon was trembling with great rage. But everything that Pridgeon said was true.


    "Answer quickly. Submit, or be food that I devour!" Pridgeon threatened.


    Gordon had created this secret room to hide from the world and the other Presiders. He used the best of his science and was very cautious in his movements as he sought to slowly increase his resources. He was rather sessful and was the first Presider that managed to schedule a deal with the WGP. Yet Pridgeon miraculously found him. And just when he was about to make deals with the WGP, Pridgeon appeared and attacked him. The hidden room he created that separated him from the rest of the world became his own trap.


    "I... submit..." He finally gave in.


    "Do not resist. We''re going to my world now." Pridgeon smiled as the two were teleporting into the Moon.


    The battle outside of the building had turned into a full war.


    Pridgeon''s Throne and the damaged Throne of Gordon appeared inside a massive chamber within the Moon.


    "What''s the status?" Pridgeon asked


    "Presider. Take a look! We suspect that those who call themselves Anti-Presiders have leaked their techs to the South American Army. Their soldiers are easily killing all of Gordon''s men!" Madelyn reported.


    Pridgeon took one look at Madelyn and turned to the screen, and noticed that the battle was now solely between Gordon''s soldiers and the South American army.


    "What happened to the man that attacked us? Weren''t there some exoskeletons attacking? What about the one that attacked your Throne?" Pridgeon asked.


    "They all retreated. I''ll show you the video of my fight. He used a strange power that knocked me unconscious inside the Throne.


    Gordon watched in horror. It was already shocking that Madelyn had a Throne of her own. It was even more powerful than the Rules of the WGP. It was close to his own Throne!


    "You gave... a Pioneer a Throne?!"


    "Madelyn is stronger than you. Those who show strength and wisdom and have the spark of a Conqueror will have their shot to grow. That''s how Crostfree''s Pioneers are so obedient." Pridgeon chuckled.


    "What damaged your Throne? Was it a supreme Exoskeleton?" Gordon asked.


    "No. Have a look at the group you almost allied with..." Pridgeon revealed the video.


    Cliff''s figure appeared.


    "I will kill you all!" Cliff''s words echoed out.


    Madelyn quietly listened. She was nning to alter the video before presenting it or corrupt it but was surprised that the recorded words were different from the one that actually happened. But as she realized that his enemy was an ally of Richie and had the way to change and alter sounds, this was possible.


    The video switched to Cliff punching on the Throne.


    "Feel my power!" Cliff''s voice echoed out.


    "At that point, I fainted." Madelyn exined.


    "Interesting. Let''s depart now." Pridgeon ordered, and the ship began to move.


    Back in the three-dimensional ne, the war continued with the forces of Gordon being massacred. All of Pridgeon''s forces had retreated. Gordon''s entire building was surrounded, and the South American army continued to fight.


    In truth, all of the South American forces were actually of the Unlocked.


    The Unlocked had known of this trade. They had numerous spies inside the ship of Pridgeon. Pridgeon was able to find out Gordon''s n, and this information was leaked to the Tyrant Empress, who gave it over to Seeker. And now, Cliff had just sessfully turned one of Pridgeon''s most trusted Pioneer into their ally.


    Deep in the sewers, Cliff gave a few more orders to his Commanders andter walked away.


    "Let''s move Novelty-stoise! You will be facing the Pioneers. Show us your growth and potential! Those who kill the most will be given the next level drugs to get you to Inhuman!" Hank ordered, and the soldiers all moved to their respective position.


    The soldiers began to move into their respective position and waited for the signal.


    Several squadrons had fought before them, and this squadron was the recent graduates that would have their firstbat against Aragarian forces and do not have a ''controlled environment.''


    These soldiers did not have a Commander level Unlocked who would aid them in the fight. They were only soldiers who wore South American army outfits and had guns with Armor-piercing capabilities.


    The group huddled on their respective position and prepared for the first real war.


    "That was him, right? General Cliff. The boyfriend of Charm?" One of the younger teens asked.


    "Yeah. That guy is a monster! We fought him during our graduation ceremony. Most of us were curious as we found out that he was Charm''s boyfriend. And we thought he would hold back. We were wrong!" One of the older soldiers answered.


    "Oh man, just thinking about it brings chills down my spine. No doubt Charm told him who bullied her." Another soldier sighed.


    "What''s his Path?" A young soldier asked.


    "People are calling him a Seeker Clone. While he cannot harness all paths, any paths that we have already weaponized except for Meng''s destion can be controlled by him!"


    Suddenly, a device they wore on their wrist turned red. It was the signal.


    "Go!" The older soldier leading the squad ordered, and they immediately shot the top and used a powerful Booster on their legs to fly upwards.


    As the battle continued outside, Cliff casually walked in the sewers and suddenly froze.


    "Oh, crap! Is this another one of Seeker''s secret training sessions?" Cliff frowned.


    "Boss? What''s up?" Counter asked Cliff.


    "Counter. Can''t you sense that? There''s even two of them!" Hank shook his head.


    "Stop embarrassing us, Conter. Boss, are we going to fight?" Zidane asked.


    "Why don''t we ask him?" Cliff sighed.


    "Why didn''t you teleport away? I was worried you would, actually." A man appeared in the darkness.


    "It eats up a lot of my energy. So I only use it when necessary.. What are you doing here, Amir Mann?" Cliff asked as he readied his weapons.

 Chapter 441 - The Wolf And The Serpent

    Cliff and his team prepared their weapons. While Amir Mann was an ally, they knew meeting him wouldn''t be an everyday experience, especially since Amir and Cliff had fought. Amir had lost because Cliff reached another level in his powers and won with the assistance of everyone else in the battle on the Kraken.


    Cliff could sense the deep anger of Amir. But he also sensed something from the young man that apanied Amir. The young man looked very much like Amir. But instead of a muscr body, the boy had a fragile frame.


    Cliff felt a headacheing along as he saw Amir and could guess what had happened.


    "Seeker..." Cliff shook his head and turned to Amir.


    "You crazy Oveers really need to chill! This really isn''t the time, Amir. I respect you as an Oveer, but..." Cliff frowned.


    "But...?"


    "I have a date! Can''t you settle your grudge another time? Look, I''ll be happy to face off with you, or whatnot, but can''t we have it after my date?"


    Amir Mannughed and shook his head.


    "You misunderstand, Cliffy. I''m not here to settle a grudge. I''m here because of my son. And I''m afraid to say that this can''t wait." Amir pointed at the young man in front of him.


    "So he is your son! A Ranked Hero, huh? Where is his mom? And what have you been feeding him! I mean, this kid looks like he needs to eat more!" Cliffined.


    Zidane, Hank, and Counter were all more guarded when Cliff confirmed it. They could feel a terrifying power within the body of the boy.


    "So he really is a Ranked Hero! So young!" Zidane was amazed. The young boy was barely in his teens.


    "Not yet a Ranked Hero. That''s why we''re here."


    "You want me... to fight the boy?" Cliff frowned.


    "I''m afraid that my worth and use have surpassed these menial chores."


    "Wow! The boss used menial!" Hank praised.


    "Amazing. He really has grown." Counter approved.


    Cliff sighed. His memories allow him to capture and select things that have drastically changed how he speaks. Seeker and Charles also told him to do that to appear more professional.


    "Yes. But don''t underestimate him, General." Amirughed.


    "I did what I did and why I chased after you back then because of him. You should be able to see it, right? How his cells are changing?"


    "Yes. I''ve been using my Path. His cells are changing every second. My memory of how strong each of his cells grows at the passing of each second."


    "He just ate. We thought we''d do you guys a favor for the trouble that we will cause. More of Pridgeon''s men were found on the east side. We paid them a little visit to have some fun."


    "Have some fun? Attacking a Presider without prior approval is- Wait a minute! That boy next to you- He''s hungry. Not just hungry! He''s already starving! Didn''t you say you he ate?" Cliff frowned.


    "Yes. He is the reason why I have been looking into the WGP and even chased after you and Lowengren. It''s the scent that you two gave off. Of course, that bastard brat yed me like a cat! So it became personal as the chase continued. Of course, when I saw Typical, I wanted to get him and have my son feed on him. My goal has always been trying to find a way to cure my son. As you can see, he isn''t normal. Rather, he can''t live a normal life because of his hunger. He needs to feed almost all the time. I keep him in cryostasis using various techs to keep him alive."


    "Feed? Oh. I get it. That exins it. His cells are dying of hunger. No wonder it''s changing so fast. That''s why you had to kill. It''s to feed him!"


    "Luckily, there are newer food supplies that help him control his diet. His cells are now dying at a slower rate. Can you feel it? The familiar cells of those people?"


    "Those people?" Zidane asked.


    "I see..." Cliff made a very deep sigh.


    "That kid of yours. Why does he have the cells of several members of the Dragon''s Fang?"


    At that moment, the triomanders were horrified.


    "Boss! You can''t mean!"


    "No. I doubt that Meng will let that slide. I''m guessing this kid managed to bite off their arms and legs or something."


    "He did. I had to stop him from killing Specter. One and Force were so angry that they went on to fight me. That Suit really has improved. Sting is now a Ranked Hero. And I was surprised! Typical is now a Near-Oveer." Amirughed.


    "One, Force, Blur, Clutch, and even Twister. To think your little boy managed to nab a bite from these guys. One and Force are among the next Unlocked that is expected to be a Ranked Hero within a month. I get it. He needs to eat people with high cells to survive. You can''t go after Meng directly. That will kill your boy. So you are going after everyone else so that your boy is strong enough to attack that person?"


    "He wants to bite Meng?!" Counter was shocked.


    "No. That would be suicide. He wants to bite Rosa."


    "Oh, Nutterballs. That''s even worse than bitting Meng!"


    "Rosa has the Path that preserved her beauty. She is the key to healing this boy." Cliff exined.


    "Anyway, I still have a date. So can I just offer my hands to him and be done with this?"


    "Of course not. This boy of mine needs to bite an Unlocked utilizing his powers. He isn''t like Seeker, who can copy the potential whether the cell is dormant or active. Unless the limb that he is eating is using Skills or Path, he won''t gain it. So he has to force you. Oh, and of course... there is my grudge." Amir Mann gave a dangerous re at Cliff.


    "Oh, what fun! Did Seeker put you up to this?"


    "Yes. He told me where you were. He said you aren''t getting hard missions anymore."


    "Did he suggest that you would take part? If we fight, the Presiders will notice!"


    "Of course. He said that if we fight and I try to kill you, it will make the Presiders think that we Anti-Presiders aren''t so united. That will make them not focus all of their attention on us. Right now, you attacked Pridgeon and Gordon. Suddenly, I crash the party and attempt to assassinate you. It''s perfect."


    "As expected of that guy. Seeker still bears a grudge ever since I made him kiss that man."


    "What?"


    "None of your business."


    "...It isn''t my business indeed... But I want to know."


    "I won''t tell you. Besides, this is too much trouble. I''ll just teleport my way out of here and bring these three. If you kill the soldiers up there in anger, I honestly don''t care. Most of them are from the Novelty-stoise who mistreated Charm anyway. See you."


    "She smelled nice." Amir smiled as he took out a single strand of hair.


    Cliff froze.


    Amir moved closer to the young man next to him and made the young man smell it.


    The young man grunted as he sniffed the strand of hair and was slowly transforming into a werewolf.


    "AHHHH!"


    "No wonder you like her. She''s sweet and kind. I have already asked for her permission if I could have a talk with you. I had to keep my son away from her, you know? She smells so refreshing and calming that I almost thought it was a Skill. In fact, now that she is Unlocked, it is probably a Skill. She''s quite a catch. I wonder what she tastes like? Her scent is so overpowering that it drives werewolves mad. There is something in her that drives us all insane. Thankfully, I can control the urges. But my son... a pity. He stillcks training."


    "ROAR!" The werewolfpleted his transformation.


    "Oh, Nutterballs... Fighting an Oveer?" Hank sighed.


    Zidane and Counter, however, had an excited expression, and the trio moved to their position.


    BOOM!


    Surrounding Cliff was a sound armor that transformed into a massive long serpent that was all coiled up. The sound was the barrier that helped Cliff contain the strength and free movement of the wind.


    The coiling serpent was made of wind and sound. But bolts of lightning could be seen dancing around the entire body.


    "See, son? I told you this one is more exciting to fight! He has a diverse set of skills! That snake is using Richie''s Spear of Transgression. But the hollow inside is made of Herme''s winds. And let''s not forget the wild lightning of Lennox inside. So this is it! Now I know why he became the General of the Basilisk Squadron!" Amir Mannughed as his body slowly began to transform into a werewolf.


    "Let''s see who will eat who?!" Cliff roared as the coiling serpent sprang forward towards the two werewolves.

 Chapter 442 - Painting Garenjazz

    Garenjazz remained in his pose for a long time. Yet he was very, very excited.


    Before him, was a famed Pangean Painter who had relocated to South America after a conflict and political upheaval in Pangea. He was branded a traitor and a supporter of the former administrations of Pangea. This painter painted several controversial paintings that painted the South Pacific Confederate badly.


    The mustached gentleman had a dignified pose and continued to paint the portrait of this man.


    "I feel... that I should paint an aura of a red shade for you. Is this to your liking?" The man asked.


    "Red, huh? I feel that a dark shade of violet is more suited." Garenjazz answered.


    "But if that hider your creative genius, then please use red! Who am I to argue with the great Granite Mng?" Garenjazz asked.


    "A praise can''t get you anywhere, youngster." Granite chuckled.


    "I''m quite curious. How do you paint? I have seen some of your other works. And as I am acquainted with some of the people you did a portrait on, I''m just amazed at how urate these were!" Garenjazz praised.


    "Oh? Which painting do you mean? I am happy that my analysis of these persons is urate. I do have the knack for knowing people." Granite chuckled.


    "Well, there are some huge differences in how I see them as to how they are portrayed in your painting. Of course, it may just be me, in my perspective. But what I am amazed at is how someone like you, who has only nced at this person the first time, can draw out certain details perfectly. How do you do it?"


    "Believe it or not, my parents told me that I was born in a very delicate situation. I was exposed to a strange radioactive element that the government could not even identify. But from the recent events that had happened, it sort of solidified the theories that my family had about me for so long!" Granite chuckled.


    "What theory?"


    "It''s like those stories of old of how people be superheroes. I did not suffer any longsting from my radiation apart from the burns I felt at first. My mom also survived. But she did not develop any strange superpower. The government forced us to keep the element a secret. Who knows? It could be the one that those people who fought in Egypt made."


    "Oh? What an interesting theory." Garenjazzughed.


    "If I may... I''m not stupid. Why did you call me? You and your friends... I can roughly guess who. I had the pleasure of meeting someone in Pangea when we were fleeing and being transferred in a secret transport. A young boy, barely older than my son. If I were to paint him, I would make him look like a goat." Granite''s paintbrush tapped stronger in the canvas.


    "You are just like him. That other woman too. I have never! Ever! Seen! Humans! Like! You!" He tapped harder on the canvas with great anger.


    "Why am I here?!" Granite finally shouted.


    "You are clearly among those people riding in thrones! Are you the WGP?! Are you the Lost Primordial?! Are you the Progenitor?! Who are you?!" Granite demanded angrily.


    Garenjazz was caught off guard.


    "I apologize. But you misunderstand. I will tell you that I am among those you listed. But my intention is but pure vanity. I just want my painting done. I do not want to kill you." Garenjazz answered calmly.


    Granite was trembling as he held on to the brush.


    "Each time I paint people like you... I move closer to death. I won''t ept any payment. The canvas is halfplete. I want to know what affected me. What element was it that I was exposed to at birth that made me like this? I am thankful for it. Now, when you... beasts are fighting over the world. I just want peace and answers."


    "Honestly, I didn''t believe you when you gave your tale. But now, that it''s a demand, and the fact that I''m using my own secret powers to figure it out, I believe that you ARE telling the truth." Garenjazz smiled.


    "I think I get it. Ambrosia. The Tree of Life. The Fountain of Youth. In your stories, these legends and religious times may have a basis from the truth. These things could exist. And I''m guessing that element you found is the Fountain of youth. How old are you, really?" Garenjazz asked.


    "So you do know it! You found out my real age!" Granite eximed. There was deep joy in his voice.


    "Ah. I was right."


    "You guessed it! The group that met me was from the WGP. I am actually three decades older than I am!"


    "So that''s it. Then it must be that element. We call it the Olomide rock. It has the properties that heal and could hold out aging. I get it now. The WGP must have found it, and that became the basis for the many life-prolonging medical breakthroughs here... How clever."


    "Clever?"


    "Ahh, ignore it. It''s just that the WGP went to such great extents to hide its name... that it seems like the Lost Primordial has its connection with the WGP earlier than me, my peers know. In any case, it exins why your cells are acting very weird and how it helped you see it."


    "Are you... going to experiment on me?"


    "Nah. I already have a way to see what you see. But I''m no painter and have no artistic means of reflecting it." Garenjazz chuckled.


    "Are you going to kill me? You... talked more than I wanted to hear. The secrets you just said..."


    "Will soon be pointless as it will be revealed. Was this girl exposed to the same element?" Garenjazz asked as he turned to one of the girls that apanied the old man.


    "This... is my daughter. She is born deaf, as you can see, and scarred for life. I believe that her defect is because of that element in me. Am I correct in assuming this?"


    "Yeah. It''s definitely because of that!" Garenjazzughed.


    "But it''s interesting. Such an element is theoretically impossible to have formed in Earth''s current structure. It must be that. Those Presiders that were here must have done something..." Garenjazz smiled and spoke no more.


    "Thank you for rifying this. I can die in peace now." Granite bowed and continued to paint


    "Whatever. Now that your done acting, just hurry up with the painting. I know you n to tell the WGP Emperors you serve about this. I won''t kill you for spying on me. Still, good acting! If it was a Mid-Tier, you would have fooled them. Oh right! Tell the WGP there are ranks among us. I am what you call a Top-Tier." Garenjazzughed.


    Granite froze as he was about to continue painting.


    Garenjazzughed and sat down and motioned for Granite to continue.


    Granite continued to paint. But each stroke was no longer as Granite was trembling.


    "Eh? I should have said that after you painted. Calm down. I won''t kill you. But please hurry up! I still have a lot to do. Oh... And if your interested as to what it is, its rted to this game. Oh... I can''t believe that we can finally y the original third generation! To think that that mathematician, Lennox of the Underworld has it!" Garenjazzughed.


    Granite did his best to paint but the fear was just to great that he even dropped the paint brush.


    "Hurry up." Garenjazz sighed as he saw the paint brush fall.


    Unknown to Garenjazz, thedy at the side could already hear. She used her Unlocking to repair the damage done to her ear.


    Alean had learned and heard what she needed, and everything was going ording to her ns.


    "I won. My Path can finally outsmart and deceive a Top-Tier.." Alean thought to herself.

 Chapter 443 - A Lion With Wings

    The mission was a high-risk, high reward type of mission. One of the most important findings that the Unlocked have was the mystery of certain elements, such as the Ankh Core found in Egypt.


    With the possibilities for massive energy sources that even Mid-Tiers and Top-Tiers value, the team of Unlocked had hurried to find it. And so, the desperate mission to spy on various Presiders through the power of Granite Mng was further modified to search for these legendary artifacts.


    Alean led the team of spies and spent thest months trying to figure out a way to nt the right spy in the right ce.


    The events that followed soon turned to the advantage of the Unlocked. Tiana, a Top-Tier Presider ording to Shakstress''s records, was interested in Granite Mng.


    Seeker and Lynd were directly involved with the ns and the Everhiss n.


    And a joint and scary operation that brought extreme tension and stress to the top members of the Unlocked urred.


    The many Paths that Seeker harnessed and acquired were put to the tests. The spies began to show their worth and abilities, and after a month of hard work, the meeting finally urred.


    Alean''s decisions led to the current scenario before them.


    Granite Mng finished the painting with great fear and finally stumbled down on the ground. Alean rushed to catch Granite and help him back up.


    "The painting... is remarkable!" Garenjazz praised.


    The painting did not depict a person at all. But the painting employed various styles. The only clearly portrayed element was a strange bird with a lion''s body at the center. The winged creature looked haughty and proud and had a thickyer of colors at the back. Some parts had a thickyer of paint with various dark colors that nearly turned dark.


    "Amazing! This is really a masterpiece! I shall thank you for your service. And the promise remains. Go back to the WGP. I don''t know where this element is. Nor do I have the slightest guess whether or not this element that created legends such as the Fountain of Youth has an owner or not. If it is is is not, in the hands of someone, I don''t know." Garenjazz continued to admire the painting.


    Granite was trying to leave, but the fear in his legs caused him to lose strength.


    "Now that I think about it... Theing horrors will be tooplicated even for me... I wonder if that Marrho ising? I guess I should have other ns. Hey, Granite. Send your report. I''ll pay you a hefty sum to make your life rather peaceful as long as you stay in an area that I provide. You can pay for whatever operations to fix the face of your daughter. Even her ears with that strange sickness will be healed. You can choose to live inside any building or structure that I own. It''s no guarantee that you''d be alive, but you should be able to live your days with your deaf daughter. The WGP cannot offer you protection. I may require you to paint a few of my friends secretly."


    "... This power... I can''t paint if I haven''t seen them... personally."


    "Of course. Your eyes do not see just the physical but the soul. It''s just that you have a natural talent to paint it. Anyway, go ahead. I will contact you when needed. Do your report and inform the Everhiss family. But tell them that you will be allying with me. If you refuse, I''ll kill you and this daughter of yours. I''ll be right here." Garenjazz no longer paid any attention to the pair but kept looking at his painting.


    "Oh? This is interesting! Are those guys iming to be Anti-Presiders fighting?" Garenjazz smiled.


    "Anyway, gotta go." Garenjazz closed his eyes and began to sleep.


    Granite and Alean left the room.


    Granite''s shaky form continued as they moved out of the room. The pair wobbled their way through the city and went into a small inconspicuous hotel which was actually a Mansion belonging to a WGP Emperor.


    When they entered, Granite sat down and rxed.


    "You yed a cruel trick on me, Commander." He gave a deep sigh.


    "I had to to make it look real. But be d! We seed in our mission. That was the most dangerous Top-Tier on this! And we managed to see what he really is. Not to mention, we will soon have ess to more. Emperor Pheonix." Alean called out.


    An old man appeared wearing casual attire. But this man was the leader of the Everhiss family of the WGP.


    "The Fountain of Youth is what we are after. Either New Great Britain or the European Nations has it."


    "I must congratte you, Commander. Will you be a General soon?"


    "No. My Path can be used inbat, but it''s not that effective. It''s more powerful to be used this way. I still have a long way to go through. I am only using it to figure out very trivial details. But now, there is a shot."


    "Using the Unlock to make Granite''s cell older than it looks and using a deadly virus that doctor Charles created to destroy your own ear. Then you countered it with Amir''s improved drug. It was risky, and even Seeker was worried that you''d get caught by Garenjazz."


    "I was very nervous. But it all worked out perfectly. I knew his path was something simr to mine. When Arthur talked about how Shakstress could keep up with his prediction, I prepared to fight someone better than me."


    "How sure are you that you won? What if he knows and is just pretending to be dumb?"


    "Even if that''s true, I still have a feeling that the momentum is ours." Alean smiled.


    "That''s just being hopeful."


    "Alright. If the real painting that Granite ns to paint isn''t a lion with eagles wings, then I messed up."


    "How-how did you know? That is the vision I actually saw!" Granite was stunned.


    "You guessed what Granite saw? How?" Phoenix was amazed.


    "Perfect! Just as I thought! I told you, my Path. It''s now not just being able to see momentum; it''s as if I can alter the future to the way I want it to. The reason why I said it is a lion with wings is that it had to be!"


    "It had to be?"


    "Yes! I was reading the prophecies of Daniel and was studying many things. Since Eagle will not agree to preach this unless we are all physically present so that his Path will affect us, I know that we need to follow the bible''s stories. And so I was searching for the one, the lion with the eagle''s wings! This beast is the first mentioned in Daniel!"


    "Amazing! If you''re right, this actually creates great hope for the Unlocked! We can set the future! I hope your Path has won over his."


    "That''s not all... I feel that this Presider will help us carry out and aplish many things in the near future. The Presider Wars now give us a good reason to ask for alliances with some Presiders. Shackstress refused because she was defeated. Now, we have a chance of asking for allies without defeating them and making them realize that they are not Conquerors!" Alean smiled.


    "I guess you have a lot to report. We still don''t know if Seeker is alive. Let''s hope your right, and this Garenjazz won''t act against Seeker."


    "Don''t worry. He has trodden on my Path. He will at least be able to keep himself alive." Alean affirmed.


    Somewhere deep underground in South America, a massive military base was there.


    This base was just recently created. But the speed of its creation was so fast that not even the WGP and all the techs of the human nations could copy this.


    Seeker watched as various individuals were guiding him. All of these people were Aragarians.


    Seeker was visibly nervous and held a tight grip of Zeraphine. Zeraphine also looked nervous.


    "This is... my boyfriend and fiance. Seeker Carlean." Zeraphine introduced.


    "Ah, so the Diamons have another rebel among them. Funny, Lara! You didn''t seem the type to mingle with those that have lesser ss." A mocking tone came out of the lips of another beautiful teenager.


    "Seeker. This is Straviia. One of my family''s greatest rivals." Zeraphine introduced.


    "So the ''Diamons'' are interested in this as well?" A curious voice hovered, and an old man with a strange mask appeared. His figure and the many devices surrounding him made him look like a mad scientist. The way he said Diamon''s had a rather mocking tone.


    Zeraphine frowned for a second and returned to having a nk expression.


    But as she nced at Seeker, she could see that he was too scared to take notice of anything.


    "I... do not know you, kind sir." Zeraphine pretended not to know the man.


    "Just call me Enderks. You are that game streamer, correct? I have long heard of Lara''s fondness for you. I even nned to use it to lure Lara. But s, the situation dictates doing so would only make my life harder." The old manughed.


    Zeraphine showed anger but maintained her silence.


    "But really... It''s quite bold of you two to join this meeting. You barely have any qualifications to stand before us. But I am curious, so I decided to agree and meet with you. Lara hid it well, but I have information iming that you are the descendant of this so-called, Progenitor!" Enderks smiled.


    Zeraphine froze at Enderk''s deration.

 Chapter 444 - Seeker Before Presiders

    Ever since the World Governing Trading Hub gathering, Zeraphine had already learned of Seeker''splicated bloodline. He was the son of the mysterious Progenitor who could have a strength and power simr to Principals. But this was kept a secret. And yet, here was Enderks throwing the usation before several other Presiders.


    Zeraphine visibly trembled in fear. She could not protect Seeker from them.


    "Oh? Is he rted to that Progenitor? So I am to assume that he is one of those ''Anti-Presiders''?" Another Presider appeared out of nowhere. The cloaking technology that he revealed exceeded that of the SPU.


    His form was transparent, but color and form were slowly bing more and more visible. Unlike the basic cloaking techs of earth that would hide, disguise, or use other means to cloak an object, this one was more detailed as it was focused on concealing every bit of it that it was as if empty air was in front of him.


    He stood wearing a purple robe that made him look like a medieval king. The Presider was a good-looking young man with a lean and fit figure. Around him were glowing lights that traced out a throne. The Throne slowly formed and took on a physical form.


    "Feyor! We said no Thrones!"


    "We did? Oh! Forgive me for not trusting everyone while we are in the middle of a Presider War." Feyorughed.


    "I just received intel that the Anti Presiders attacked Presider Gordon. He is either dead or now serves those Anti groups. Truth be told, I desired not to risk my life here, but the intel that those Anti-Presiders leaked that the son of this Progenitor ising."


    Zeraphine had a frightened expression.


    "Tell me, young Progenitor. Did you know that this Lara is a Presider as well?" Feyor gave a deadly smile.


    Zeraphine felt her heart tremble. This was the most profound secret she kept from Seeker. She was so frightened that she dared not move to the right. She agreed to meet with Enderks and Straviaa to solidify their alliance but begged that they would not reveal the truth about her being a Presider but to merely pretend that they were a trading partner. And yet, another Presider appeared without warning.


    "Come. Let me see what this Progenitor has." Feyor rushed forward, but suddenly, Zeraphine moved ahead, and a bright light shed around her. She emerged out of the light donning a red Exoskeleton.


    A massive surge of Universe Energy appeared around her, and it shot out towards Feyor.


    BOOM!


    A powerful boom exploded out, and all the Presiders nearby retreated.


    The Throne appeared below Zeraphine. It was dull-white, but majestic stones were decorated on each side of the Throne. A rainbow light was glowing around her Throne.


    "Soul Throne! How extravagant for a Principal''s daughter!" Straviaa frowned.


    "This is not what I agreed to! Keep your hands off my Seeker!" She dered angrily as the Universe energy around her pulsed out.


    Feyorughed as his Throne resisted and pushed back with a strange Universe energy.


    "My Seeker?" Feyorughed.


    "Princess... Such crazy desires you have! Do you want this monkey to be your partner? How stupid! If he is among those who have secretly studied our techs, then he will die!" Feyorughed.


    "Can I just kill him instead? I doubt he has anything worthwhile to say. Let''s end this so I canplete the deal we were supposed toplete a month ago." Another voice was heard.


    Zeraphine trembled as she heard this voice.


    The Presider that appeared had a massive Throne before her. It was a Throne two timesrger than Shackstress. In fact, it was even bigger. The Throne was ovepping through the wide and massive underground facility as she moved forward. The Throne passed physical matter, and the one seated on the Throne reached out and grabbed Seeker by the neck.


    "Seeker!" Zeraphine shouted desperately.


    Everyone suddenly grew silent, and Enderks and Straviia had dazed expressions.


    "Tiana... You''re here." Enderks frowned.


    "I am allied with Feyor." She smiled.


    The expressions of Enderks and Straviia grew sour.


    "I take it that you''re here refuse our offer of alliance, Feyor." Enderks turned towards Feyor.


    "Obviously." Feyor chuckled.


    "Lara Diamon, right? What a useless ploy. Boy, you need to see what we are in reality. We are aliens called Aragarians. I might consider sparing your life if you tell me about the Progenitor or the Lost Primordial. No more games. I want to know everything. Crostfree is dead. Shackstress is missing. And what happened here on Earth? How did you monkeys acquire such techs?" She questioned Seeker and held her up.


    Zeraphine was trembling. Presider Tiana was a reserved and quiet Presider who rarely talked. But Zeraphine could see that the attack on Shackstress, who she considered a great rival, shook her.


    "An alien...?" Seeker had a dumbfounded expression.


    "Seeker! I''m sorry! I..."


    "I knew... I knew that you were a Presider. My father told me." Seeker voiced out.


    Zeraphine froze as she heard this.


    "I just... didn''t know that we are aliens." Seeker shook his head.


    "...We?" Feyor frowned.


    "I understand why my father sent me. He kept it from me, but this is my true legacy. Fine then." Seeker opened his mouth.


    Suddenly, a massive energy spike was detected. It was as if the object that emerged from Seeker''s mouth had the power of weapons of Mass Destruction.


    Even Tiana tossed Seeker away as her receiving the full st at such range would cause her to expend more energy.


    Seeker somehownded on his feet with the strange object still emerging out of Seeker.


    "What...?!" No one was more startled than Zeraphine.


    The strange object had the shape of a small triangle. But what was amazing was that it was floating.


    "Telekinesis? He pushed the object out of his stomach!" Straviaa was stunned. How could a mere earthling do this?


    "My father... told me to go here so that I can find out the truth. He wanted me to see with my eyes what the truth was. He also asked me to deliver this message." Seeker reached out and crushed the small triangr object.


    KZZT! KZZT! KZZT!


    A massive current of lightning emerged out of the triangle, and it gathered, forming a giant head of a bald man.


    "Hello, fellow Presiders." A strange crackle was heard.


    "Fellow Presider? Who are you?" Tiana frowned.


    "The Progenitor, of course. Charmed to meet you." He smiled.


    "What? The Progenitor?"


    "Well, not in the flesh. I trust you didn''t harm my son. That brat only knows to fight and y games. Of course, those that mocked him will pay. Enderks and Feyor, right?" The bald manughed once more.


    Zeraphine was stunned. Enderks looked serious, and Feyor looked as if he was punched in the stomach.


    This lightning that had no form was something that no Mid-Tier could understand. It was remarkably simr to the Presider that was heralded as the strongest among all Presiders.


    "How do you have a version of Presider Marrho''s Living Lightning?" Tiana frowned.


    "It''s simple, really. Like Crostfree, I was a clone of Marrho. Or rather, a Clone of the Prime that created Marrho. Prime Defiant" The bald man smirked.


    Everyone was dismayed at this bombshell revtion¡ªall except Tiana.


    "I see. So it is true then. But I am taken aback that Crostfree is one of Prime Defiant''s minor incarnations. But then, who are you?"


    "Why should I tell you? Didn''t you justhreatened to kill my son! Trade me for something of value, and I may desire to give you something.!" The bald manughed.


    "What is it that you want then? Techs? Information about your enemy, the Lost Primordial?"


    "Information about the Lost Primordial? I have more knowledge about her than all of youbined." The bald manughed.


    "Her?"


    "You don''t even know about her, do you? As expected." The bald man chuckled.


    "Then am I to offer you foundational Presider techs?"


    "What? No! Haven''t you guys noticed? The Lost Primordial and I don''t have Nefilus suits like you. We made a makeshift one. We can''t go through that soul method, nor are we familiar with it."


    "So it''s true..." Enderks frowned.


    "The rumors of the Phnx armor that is appearing all over the world. It''s rted to these suits?" Enderks frowned.


    "You guys are very slow. Yes and no. Trade me for it, and I''ll tell you all about it. Only Lanterk knows about these things among you. But of course, it''s expected for that little goat to know."


    "Fine. What shall we trade for this information?


    Seeker was at the side and had a bewildered expression. But instead of putting on an act, Seeker was genuinely confused.


    "Is Lennox doing what I think he''s doing?" Seeker scowled. The form of Lennox that followed a bizarre shape spoke off-script than the one Seeker agreed on.


    "It must be him and Lowengren. Are they insane? They want to use this meeting to get that?!" Seeker was doing his best to hide his anger.


    "For this basic information, trade me the full program of the original Pokemon game that you have managed to create!" The Bald man demanded.


    Everyone was shocked at the demand. Seeker stopped himself from doing a facepalm. But Tiana smiled.


    "Spoken like a true Top-Tier Presider.." Sheughed.

 Chapter 445 - Trading With Presiders

    The legacy of various famous games was lost after the Void Century. The wars that urred pushed the world to the brink of extinction, and that most of the former technologies and records were lost.


    Most of the records for all games were stored inputers and on cloud servers right before the war. And as the war wrecked and destroyed all the headquarters of many games, it wiped out most of the older games.


    Cartridges, CDs, and other devices used to store the data of these games had been destroyed due to the war, and whatever survived would face the test of time.


    The Void Century was a depressing and challenging time. The WGP had to find ways to keep the morale of the world but had to ensure that the entertainment of everyone would not be time-consuming or addictive as everyone needed to put in one-hundred percent of their effort.


    As the world was in desperate need of productivity, even a single hour of unproductive work from every human would increase the threat of extinction. And so, WGP regted entertainment, and a move to ban all addictive things led to arrests and house searches that forced the WGP to enter the homes of people and remove any items deemed addictive and would burn them on sight.


    And so, the legacies of the glory days of gaming were lost and only revived when the Void Century was officially dered to be over.


    Because of these past events, the Presiders interested in reviving the ancient original version before the WGP had included various ''propaganda'' monsters and removed certain ''controversial'' monsters was notpleted even after a full month had passed.


    The first dy urred right after Presider Garenjazz announced the uing presider war. After the announcement, only the Top-Tiers dared to make personal visits and stay in South America to continue aiding and funding the reconstruction of Vincent Arbrion.


    The project was a global endeavor as Vincent Arbrion only had notes, pictures, and word-of-mouth knowledge about the original set. To create the missing pieces, the Presider had to do a level of research simr to what archeologists do on ancient sites.


    The only source that could possibly im it was the WGP. But for some odd reason, the WGP refused toply with the requests made by the corporations that the Presiders controlled.


    And so, the meeting of Presiders held a month ago was expected to be finished within days. But these many problems hindered them frompleting it, and the process was dyed. Moreover, the deration of a Presider War also changed the continuity of this project. It was only after the alliances were solidified that they met together.


    Seeker and his team plotted to use this gathering to spy on the many Presiders and gather more information. Their victory over Shakstress had changed the ns and allowed the Unlocked armies to easily pretend to be Presiders making it possible for them to create trades. And yet, in this ripe, perfect, and opportune moment, Lennox did the unthinkable. If this was Lowengren or Vender, then this was expected. But it came from the cold, calcting mind of Lennox.


    They were before several Presiders and managed to do as they had nned. And yet the insane man insisted on getting a share in restoring the ssic game over all other trades.


    Seeker was not bothering to hide his shock and anger and allowed it to explode.


    "Le-Father! What are you saying?!" Seeker shouted. Yet in his strange head, the other Seeker''s wereughing and praising Lennox.


    "This is good! Did you hear what that Top-Tier said? She really thinks we are a Top-Tier!" Greg answered.


    "Seeker, this is perfect!" A woman spoke. As the month passed, a new identity had emerged in Seeker''s head, and this woman was more chatty than ever. Worse still was the fact that she named herself Zera. Both the Adult and the Kid could do nothing as the girl insisted on it.


    "Now we are being treated as a Top-Tier. While it may be dangerous, we now have the standing that will make the other Mid-Tiers hesitate! I mean, look at them!" Zera pointed out.


    True to her observation, Straviaa and Feyor were giving the bald-headed lightning avatar a wary look.


    "I can tell you more about the Lost Primordial for that. But if you want information about the Phalium Suit, then you better offer whatever you can. Of course, do consider that I don''t have a Nefilus suit. But honestly, me or that slut won''t ept any Nefilus suits anyway. We have found our path to Conquerors, and to go back and take Nefilus suit would be against our pride. We will Conquer with this!" Lennoxughed.


    The words of Lennox drove fear into the hearts of Straviaa and Feyor. Even Zeraphine was horrified at the words of this person. She knew that they had a new suit, but this Progenitor''s confidence made her recall the many Conquerors she met.


    "A formidable Conqueror! It seems this Presider Wars will not go ording to our estimates. Fine then. I shall grant you weaponized techs of my sciences. These are the same things that I equip on my Supreme Exoskeletons. But of course, I will only give to you ording to the importance of the information you give."


    The other Presiders frowned.


    "Wait! I will- no! We will give! We will give you other weapons as long as you give us the information!" Straviaa added.


    "Yes. I will give you some information about teleportation if you give all of us the techs here!" Enderks added.


    "As will I." Feyor added. He had no choice. While he was allied with Tiana, the Presider Wars will end up with everyone eventually killing each other. And so, he needed the information as badly as everyone did.


    The bald man smiled as the lighting around him started to flicker. All of a sudden, his lightning moved towards Seeker and disappeared.


    Seeker''s eyes were glowing blue.


    "Fine then. Rather than tell you, I have to show you. This is a Phallium Suit." Seeker extended his arms grandly and disyed his body.


    "What do you mean, that is a Phallium suit?


    BOOM!


    All of sudden, the radiation level increased in the room as if a nuclear powernt meltdown was happening. A strange fiery light appeared all over Seeker. His outer clothing was burned, and only a suit inside him remained.


    Seeker''s form grew strange, and lightning around his body danced around him. Seeker had no techs, but the lightning did not harm his body.


    "Impossible!"


    "His body...!"


    "This is a Phallium Suit. You Presiders keep your techs in your Nefilus Suit, and your Thrones channel the powers. But we don''t need Suits, Thrones, or any of that nonsense. How else did the Lost Primordial and his team manage to fight and push Shaktress to a retreat? Who knows? They might have even killed her!" Seekerughed.


    The words that Seeker spoke made the Mid-Tiers shiver. Even Enderks, who was the mostposed, could feel his heart beat loudly.


    They all believed that Shakstress was dead.


    Seeker pushed his power and harnessed the Path of Lowengren and Harker. Truth and Lies were sent out, and the Presiders could not tell what it meant."


    "Lost Primordial? I was in the impression... that you killed Shakstress." Tiana frowned.


    Seekerughed.


    "Who knows? If you want an honest answer, trade for it!" Seekerughed.

 Chapter 446 - Lies For All Presiders

    Zeraphine felt her world shake. Seeing the real form of Seeker shocked her. She knew that Seeker had been subjected to various experiments but never knew the extent. The power that he revealed wasparable to the strange enemies seen in Egypt.


    Seeker had a physical powerparable to the Anti-Presider that punched and destroyed the force field of Shakstress. The way Seeker wielded the lightning energy was like how the man controlling the winds shed out and produced a powerful cut that not even Top-Tiers could do.


    She silently watched as the Presiders began to consider.


    She could tell that her close rtionship with Seeker was known by this bald man and even encouraged it.


    "This man must know that I am a daughter of a Principal. He must have intentionally allowed me and Seeker to grow in our rtionship. If this is the case, I can force more information about what is happening here on Earth. My connection with Seeker is the key!" Zeraphine began to calcte her advantages.


    The lightning energy surrounding Seeker slowly assumed the form of a human being. With the sciences from Shakstress and the WGP''s sciences, the leap in power and utilization of Paths had grown better. The lightning energy that was being used was rtively minimal as Lennox was using the energy of Seeker to keep it up.


    But unknown to the Presiders was that Lennox was actually linked with Seeker and all his other personas.


    "You''re insane." Seeker cursed at Lennox.


    "It worked. You should be praising me. And besides, it fits the picture of what a Top-Tier will be like."


    "It worked, it''s great, it''s to our advantage, but you are still insane for even gambling the chance to trade techs with them for Pokemon!"


    "I have you around. You can use Lowengren and Harker''s Path to turn it around."


    "Not with Mid-Tiers and Top-Tiers. I can already feel their Zones shing with mine!"


    "And that''s why we need to work together. Our two Zones will confuse them." Lennoxughed.


    Seeker stood in front of the Presiders, continuously harnessing the power. The longer he did, the more shocked the Presiders were and the greater the allure of learning about the Progenitor''s knowledge.


    "Presider Progenitor. What exactly is the Phallium suit?" Feyor finally asked. He changed the title and addressed Seeker as Presider Progenitor epting his rank.


    "You already see it before you. The very act of me showing this should help you understand how poor Presiders like us found a way to create a Throneless way to be Conquerors."


    "This doesn''t tell us anything." Straviaa frowned.


    "I refuse to believe that the value of what I showed you isn''t important. You contrast this, cross reference it to whatever data you have about the Lost Primordial and her team. You should figure something out." Seeker undid the power, and his body returned to normal.


    Seeker''s eyes remained shining with blue light that his iris could not be seen.


    "You could be confusing us. None of them revealed such high-level of radiation." Tiana smirked.


    "Yes. And you could be even lying to us about everything. What if you are not Presiders or Aragarians? Why is Seeker''s heart on the left side?" Enderks asked.


    The Presiders all reacted to Enderk''s question.


    "It has to do with the Lost Primordial. I can tell you about her, but as I said, trade. You deny value to my Throneless form and even question the integrity of this power as Presiders. It''s not shocking when one does not stand true to his word. But as a Conqueror, I stand true to my power. A Throneless path of a Conqueror is what I and that Lost Primordial take pride on!" Seekerughed.


    The Presiders nced at each other.


    "What do you want for trade? Energy?"


    "I don''t have a Nefilus Suit, but you saw how we reconciled the need for energy. There are two different ways. I mastered one. The Lost Primordial mastered another. I won''t say anything more, for I will demand high trade if you want me to borate how. After all, who knows? Maybe among you, one can link the two technologies and do both! So forms of energy are not good offers. I am something more than a Mid-Tier after all..." Seeker smiled.


    "However, those rare elements that are not on Earth seem attractive options. The Ankh Core is only the element that can be found here. At least, it''s the element that I know. It''s possible that the Lost Primordial found others."


    "...Fine. But I don''t want an open-table trade. Find a way for us tomunicate secretly to you." Enderks was the first to agree.


    "Alright. I''llmunicate directly with your Nefilus Suit. Open a current of electricity to yourmunication, and we''ll talk there." Seeker raised a finger, and bolts of lightning were appearing.


    The Presiders all looked cautious but followed Seeker''s proposal.


    "Raise your arm or an antenna where you will allow me to shoot my lightning."


    The Presider''s raised their hands.


    "Zeraphine? Put your hand down. Seeker will tell you all about this anyway." Seeker shook his head.


    Zeraphine was stunned and slowly lowered his head.


    "I''ll say this only once. I will only speak and reveal the information to everyone once I receive an offer I like from all of you. We can negotiate but don''t test Patience. If one of you keeps offering things that I don''t like, I''ll ask the rest to kick him or her out. Is that clear?"


    "What if... I don''t offer something you like?" Tiana smirked.


    "I''ll kick you out." Seeker smiled, and a strange form appeared right behind Seeker.


    Tiana could see several souls standing behind Seeker, and she frowned.


    Zeraphine trembled at the sensation that Seeker released.


    "Don''t take offense at my words. I was merely flirting..." Tiana shook her head.


    The rest weren''t able to sense what was happening but was stunned at Tiana''s retreat.


    "Do you all understand how this trade works?" Seeker asked.


    "Yes." The Presiders answered in unison.


    "Good." Seeker raised his hand. Several bolts of lightning shot out and struck the parts which the Presiders presented. All of them raised and revealed the palm of their hand.


    As the lightning connected, all of them could hear the voice of the bald man that had appeared before.


    "What do you offer?" Lennox asked.


    And so the trades began.


    Seeker''s method forced everyone to bring out good trades, and while Lennox rejected almost everyone except Tiana''s first offer, the seeding offers were epted.


    It only took a full minute, and Seeker spoke.


    "I am the Progenitor, a Presider who rose and reached this power after the Third World War. Among the first batch of Presiders that were sent, there were various hidden characters much like this batch. After all, we have a Principal and a Primes daughter, a minor incarnation of a Prime, and those that invested in a devouring suit, and many others. Among that batch, a secret war urred. The Presiders fought it, but the real ones who were truly doing the actual battles were the Pioneers. I don''t know what Principals or Primes really call it. But the Lost Primordial called it Zone. An ability that sees luck, fate, and so on."


    "Like Garenjazz!" Straviaa unconsciously muttered.


    The other Presiders nced at Straviaa. Zeraphine was actually frowning.


    "Rx. I already know about that winged lion." Seeker smiled.


    Tiana nearly stood up from her Throne at Seeker''s words.


    "Let me continue. Anyway, a battle of Zone and this power happened, leaving me victorious. Lourca Oviili is my ally. I trust that you have heard that she is alive? If not, consider it a gift to all of you. But what I and the others didn''t anticipate was that damned Lost Primordial. After the battle of the Primordials, the Primordial who lost fled and found refuge here on Earth. But he was dying. And so, he shaped this entire to epass and prepare for the day that we would set foot here. He must have known through his powers that Aragarian''s would eventually return home here."


    "Return home?" Straviaa asked.


    "Another trade is necessary for that information. Or you can ask Pridgeon once you capture him and wring it out of him." Seeker brushed it off.


    "In any case, this Lost Primordial is weak. And he has practically lost his power and gave it to his descendants. And so, he allowed Earth history to unfold, hoping that Conquerors would arise. Of course, it didn''t work as effectively as he hoped. The real Lost Primordial died, and now her great, great, great, and you can imagine how many great is needed to detail it urately, but this great-granddaughter of hers now holds the seat. She took advantage of the wars between Presiders, which happened on Earth through Pioneers. By the time I won, she was already in such power, and she defeated me."


    "She defeated you?!" Tiana was shocked. The moment Seeker spoke of Garenjazz''s true form. It already caused her to put this man at the same level. And yet, this man lost!


    "Yes. The rise of the WGP was her leading. I hid and founded various underwater and underground technology. Of course, the Lost Primordial knew that I was alive even though she won. But she needed me."


    "She needed a foe to push her to be a Conqueror!" Enderks realized it.


    "Exactly."


    "What about the rumors of those Time Traveling Presiders?" Straviia asked.


    "How are they connected to the Lost Primordial?"


    Seeker sighed.


    "How should I know? Unlike before, I knew I only had one enemy. Now there are several of you. Shakstress is a proper conqueror. What if it was her? What if it was that devourer, Pridgeon masquerading? What if it was my men? Why should I answer that?" Seekerughed.


    The room fell silent once more.

 Chapter 447 - Truths For All Presiders

    Feyor was cautiously assessing Seeker.


    "There is something strange with how you speak. We asked for information about the Lost Primordial. And yet, your deflection to Straviaa''s question draws in a lot of other questions. Presiders! Be careful! He has a power that is simr to mind control!"


    Everyone but Tiana was startled.


    "Now, why would you say that, Feyor? If you kept your mouth shut, we would have gained an advantage. Are you secretly allied to Straviaa and Enderks?" Tiana frowned.


    Feyor was stunned. He pped his hand on his forehead as he realized what he had done.


    "Oh... Now I see. You intended to make him say that, didn''t you, Progenitor?" Tiana gave a curious look at Seeker.


    "Hehe." Seeker didn''t answer but simplyughed.


    Straviaa was giving Seeker an enraged look. She had believed Seeker''s words, and suddenly, she realized something was wrong. Obviously, this Progenitor wouldn''t tell them the truth! Yet, she was somehow drawn into the rhythm of Seeker.


    "You! How dare you! I demandpensation! You have been lying to us!" Straviaa shouted.


    "I was telling a lie. But those lies are intended to show the truth. You now know of the mystery here on Earth. I might have switched or altered a few. I could be the Lost Primordial, and my enemy is the Progenitor. I am also doing you a favor. Among the powers that were acquired, it is the power to speak the truth and use it to make us trustworthy!" Seeker exined.


    "You Mid-Tiers would never understand it. I am assuming only Top-Tiers like Tiana can."


    Tiana maintained her silence and only chuckled.


    "The truth is, you all had some shes with the Lost Primordial already. I am showing you what the Lost Primordial is capable of! His powers in telling the truth will confuse you. Who knows? You might be allied with them. Why do you think Andronze and Pridgeon helped them attack a power Top-Tier like Shakstress? And even now, as I revealed that I lied, you still can''t help but trust me." Seekerughed.


    "He''s... right..." Straviaa answered unconsciously.


    "What strange power is this? Presider Tiana?" Feyor asked Tiana.


    Tiana smiled.


    "Shakstress has this. Her defeat in Egypt has long proven that they have this power. But it''s interesting. We are all using anti mind control techs. And yet, you have this power?"


    "I''ll give you a hint. It isn''t mind control!" Seeker revealed.


    "As I said. I was just telling the truth. That power is one of the things that our body has. This is why we are different and, in some ways, superior to you who have Thrones. And that brings us to the next trade¡ªinformation regarding the Phallium suits that I am using to gain your trust. Unlike the former trade, this one will be given off individually. I can show you data on how we slowly transform humans into superhuman beings that can harness the power you Nefilus users have. Of course, I leave it to you to discuss whether you will trust me. I did just lie to you." Seeker chuckled.


    "Lennox. You''re up. Take over and speak before thatdy can understand my Zone."


    The lightning emerged and connected with the Presiders once more.


    Lennox began to talk directly to them once more, and Seeker allowed Greg to take over his body.


    Greg made an expression that looked like he was lost in the forest.


    Tiana saw it and frowned, but she began to talk to Lennox for the next techs to offer.


    The Presiders began to discuss with Lennox. And as before, only Zeraphine didn''t join in.


    Feyor began vocally arguing with the other Presiders and voiced his suspicion. But even then, the rest began trading deals.


    As the trades continued, the main thought process of Lennox was watching inside Seeker.


    "That''s a bold gamble. You are revealing one of our strongest aces in this battle."


    "I''m sure you understand why."


    "I do. But the risk is too high. You tell them this power, but this truth is also a lie. It''s a lie because we also have the power to tell lies."


    "Trust me. This is the best course of action."


    "What a very Seeker Carlean response. ''Source: Dude, Trust me.''" Lennox sighed.


    "Mid-Tier Presiders are people of techs and many powers. Unlike Top-Tiers who have made a focus on one, notice how Andronze, Gordon, and Pridgeon like to keep an ounting of everything they know. Them knowKnowinghave this mysterious power will make them even more cautious towards each other. We have to keep that wedge of trust between Presiders apart. Don''t you see, Lennox? I am following the real power of the Lost Primordial. The power of Unity. Our lies can make them trust us, and we might soon have real Presider allies."


    "Anyints about the information? So we can move on to the next trade." Seeker waited.


    He was watching, and Lennox was also observing their actions.


    "Your ability to follow Lowengren''s Path is astonishing. It''s working. I can feel the math that dictates they believe."


    "Let''s hope so." Seeker kept his front.


    "How many Presiders does the Lost Primordial have?" Feyor asked.


    "I don''t know. I wish I knew. But it''s probably as many as mine." Seeker shrugged.


    The group was twitching from Lennox''s answers.


    "What technology do you know that he has and uses?" Straviaa asked.


    "You guys probably know more about this than me. Haven''t there been many shes between you and the Lost Primordial around the world? I will admit that Feyor''s group shed with mine in Pangea, and that''s when that goat appeared and yed the docilemb. But as for those in One China, Russia, Europe, and elsewhere, I have no knowledge of those."


    "... You didn''t say Egypt." Tiana raised her eyebrows.


    "Of course, I didn''t. I was involved in that battle. Various battles were happening, and a city in Egypt was wiped out. Who do you think was responsible for that if the Lost Primordial allied with Andronze?"


    "I have a feeling that you are switching identities. You im one thing, but I believe it''s the opposite." Tiana answered.


    "As expected of someone with Zone. Well, I can''t clearly say which one is my man and which isn''t. But why should I tell you?" Seekerughed.


    The eyes of Tiana turned amused.


    "Why indeed? You really are a person who can see the Workings of the Universe. It''s strange. I thought I could see through you earlier, but now I can''t." Tiana smiled.


    The nearby Presiders reacted. They have always heard of it. Tiana''s confirmation solidified the Progenitor''s ce as a Top-Tier.


    "How generous. Saying those words to make the ones nearby respect me. Or are you doing it to make them fear me and see me as a threat?" Seekerughed..


    "Shall we continue?" Seeker asked.


    "Let''s just move on to another issue." Tiana insisted.


    "Wait! I still have more to ask!" Straviaa frowned.


    "Me too..." Feyor frowned.


    "Hurry." Tiana smiled and turned on a particr video of a battle urring just above thend and had an astonished expression.


    "Oh? Are they fighting now? Interesting. Hope our side wins." Seeker made a passingment, but Tiana ignored him and watched as a werewolf and a serpent fought in the city above.


    The group paused as each Presider was thinking of more questions that they hoped Seeker would answer.


    Some began to initiate trade requests and asked some specific questions.


    "I have a trade request." Feyor requested.


    "Technology for technology. What techs do you have? Maybe there are techs that arepatible with mine."


    "Cold Fusion." Lennox took over and gave the answers as Seeker listened.


    "It worked. That Tiana couldn''t understand our Zone." The Adult Seeker called to the rest of the consciousness in Seeker.


    "Your emotions are affecting mine. Stop it." The Child Seeker frowned.


    "Sorry. I''m just rather excited. Our ns worked. I lived and died being in the hands of these Presiders. But now, we are actually leaving them with truths and lies that assure us being hidden from their view." The adultughed.


    "You painted a picture of a totally different enemy. And we are sessful at it. This picture of the enemy makes us look like allies. Very impressive, Seekers." The woman inside Seeker''s head talked.


    "Yeah." Greg approved.


    The other Presiders began imitating the trade, and even Seeker could feel the delight of Lennox.


    "As they say, keep your friends close, your enemies closer. Now we have a very clear picture of that expression." Lennox''s haughty voice was heard. Among the souls and manifestations of Seeker, Lennox''s soul also appeared. Yet even though this manifestation appeared, several voices constantly conducted trades and made counteroffers to the various things that the Presiders were giving.


    "You like their offers that much??"


    "I love it. It will greatly help us, and soon, the Presider War will be the cover for our uing Oveers War in Egypt. Are you sure you won''t join us?" Lennox asked.


    "No. It''s better for me to keep my nose out of that battle. My Master, the Realm King, feared the Tyrant Empress for a reason. And here you are, subtly prodding me to join even though logically, the answer would always be no. See how affected you are, Lennox?"


    "So that''s what I''m doing? Interesting. And here I thought all my lust was in Egypt with her. I guess I have to get stronger."


    "You have to. And me not joining that Oveers War is because of another reason. It''s about time for each of us to go back and prepare our own households for war. You all can''t rely on me and have to be stronger on your own. I''ve already made the Unlocked Army reliant on me that we might be forgetting that we are Oveers. Yes, we will follow the Path of the Lost Primordial and be Brothers that Dwell in Unity, but you all have to grow; otherwise, I can''t grow. These Presiders see the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor as enemies and is divided. But if we want to win this war on Earth, we have to be as numerous as they are." Seeker answered firmly.


    "Hmm? Finally." Lennox smiled.


    "What? What did they offer?"


    "We now have a name for that material. It''s called a Nefilus Chrysalis. Basically, it''s a hardened form of Universe Energy. Feyor is offering us a few."


    "That Crystal? We can finally make those! How nostalgic.. We now have the very material that helped me reincarnate. Finally, the Thought Transmitter can be created!"

 Chapter 448 - Myrths Plan

    Deep underwater in the oceans north of Russia, a massive ship with a powerful cloaking technology that made it look like parts of the water continued to move down the sea. It had destroyed yet another Underwater city and captured its upants.


    The debris and parts of this Underwater city had been captured.


    "How is it that there are just so many of them?" One of the Pioneers sighed. He watched the monitors as the nteds continued to scavenge the area. Behind him, a group of chained people was being brought in.


    "This is the second Underwater City, and their poption should be over a thousand!"


    "To think that they hid well..."


    "Some hide under the earth, some under the sea. The WGP should have long had the technology to reach this ce but intentionally didn''t. I am told that a select few members of Earth''s Underworld know about this ce. The illusive Lennox is said to know of more than three-fourths of all these secret cities. But the general poption has no idea. Or rather, they were too busy with all the things going up there on Earth."


    "I heard that around three Underwater cities have submitted to Presider Lanterk''s team. Aren''t we doing something less efficient? Why not ally with these Underwater Cities and destroy them?" One of his fellowmanding Pioneers asked.


    "We are not supposed to question the wisdom of Presider Myrth." A bored Pioneer answered as he watched the numerous humans.


    "Our primary concern is to detect those that are simr to the Anti-Pesiders. We''ve captured a few samples from some of the ''abandoned'' experiments. To think that they would be Pioneers and nted taking part."


    "It is indeed shocking. Just how many Pioneers hid on Earth after the previous Presiders came here? With all these people, we would have to go through a huge process to filter out if there are spies."


    "You really believe that there could be a spy among them? We''ve taken them and scanned them with our techs. There are no spies among them. It''s impossible to have spies among them!"


    "Presider Myrth is assuming that our enemies have techs equal or greater than hers. Or is it ''his'' right now?"


    "Last time I saw Presider Myrth, she assumed a form of a woman."


    "Oh, good. Anyway, think about it. She has the power to change her face."


    "But Presider Myrth has her techs with her! These people have nothing!"


    "Who knows? There could be a way for them to spy on us."


    "I still think we are wasting a huge amount of resources for them! It''s easier to offer an alliance and make them fight at the front line while treating them as potential traitors! Just like the conquered cities that Presdier Lanterk is doing just east of this ce!"


    "Presider Lanterk needs every resource he can grab hold off. Every Presider will soon be fighting each other, but Lanterk will be their first target. Presider Tiana''s alliance, Presider Enderk''s alliance, and the other Top Tiers will tackle the strongest one first. With a Presider War dered, it forebodes the interference of Principals. So Presider Lanterk will not have any assistance. If it is proven that Lanterk is beyond Presider level, the Primes back home will kill the horns of the goat. So if Presider Lanterk is beyond Presider, he has no choice but to allow himself to die. It''s that simple."


    A nted approach the two who were discussing.


    "Commander! We have a prisoner that refuses to take off her mask. She ims to have valuable information about the Anti-Presider and is hailed as the leader of the Underwater city."


    "Where is she?"


    "She is held in the interrogation chamber."


    "Alright. Let''s go." The Pioneer Commander turned to his fellow Commander and motioned to follow.


    The two moved towards the chamber and entered the room.


    "You are the leader of this group?" The Pioneer asked.


    Without answering the Pioneer''s question, the woman removed the masked and revealed a beauty that could not be contained.


    Ice suddenly appeared, and everyone was frozen. But as that happened, the cameras that watched continued to y out a scene of people talking.


    Rosa removed her mask and observed the Commander.


    "Twister. Strike. Go." She spoke.


    "Yes, Madam." The nearby prisoner was not wearing ragged clothes but a strange suit, and he reached out his hand, and a swarm of ck dust appeared and reformed into a giant windmill-shaped shuriken.


    The other man next to the first also moved, and ck dust also appeared, forming into a shield and sword. He moved out of the room.


    The door remained open, and the nteds that were not caught from the ice simply stood by and ignored and allowed the two to move ahead.


    "Is it ready?" Rosa asked the nted guarding the door. This was the same nted who called out to the two Commanders.


    "We''re deactivating their shackles now. One of them has already been instructed as to where the guns are. It''s all going ording to your orders."


    "Good. You will be rewarded." She smiled.


    The nted bowed and began to weep as he saw something so angelic.


    The ice slowly vanished, and the two Pioneer Commanders were freed.


    But the two did not fight or show any hostility as they looked into the beauty before them.


    "Hmm. I''m stillckingpared to the Tyrant Empress... She could kill people like this just with her beauty. You two, what is your name?"


    "I am Oswall."


    "Merch."


    The two Pioneers quickly reported.


    "What is going on here? Why is your Presider attacking Underwater Cities?" Rosa asked.


    "Presider Myrth wants to shape this world into a suitable battlefield for the uing Presider Wars."


    "How so?"


    "The Underwater Cities provide various trade routes for resources that make it easier for Presiders to trade the resources of this world. They want to limit it, and so, she is hunting as many Underwater Cities as possible."


    "That exins the unrest in the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean... Specter, what do you make of this?" Rosa spoke to Specter in a different frequency with great speed.


    "This is the opposite of the ns that the Void Assassins reported. Lanterk wants to create and secure trade routes for the Babel city he intends to build. In contrast, this Presider wants to destroy it all and avoid making trade routes. This means that all Presiders are indeed preparing their footing. However, they still need resources and materials for the war. I''m guessing that this Presider has other ways or has already taken hold of key locations that he or she is forcing the world to go back into the previous trade routes before the rise of Underwater cities."


    "Hmm... So this is scenario four of Arthur''s prediction."


    "Indeed. It''s better for trade routes to ur above ground where this Presider can easily see it. The ocean will be Presider''s enemy. And if she needs to keep track of all alliances, it will require massive resources to guard it and keep track of all trades. So this Myrth could be ensuring that there are no trade routes if by destroying all these cities instead of allying with them or making them subordinates! So instead of exerting effort to keep these dogs on a leash, the n is to kill them. This is the cruel logic of the Presider. Some Presiders need these routes, but this one doesn''t Hence the purge. This Presider War will be a battle of territory here on earth."


    "They won''t opt for ster warfare?"


    "It''s too risky. With their tech, everyone can see anyone up there. But down here, they can hide underwater and underground."


    "So the Presiders are all set to build Babels."


    "Just as predicted. But I wonder. We thought that the trade route of the Suez Canal would be old news. And yet now, things are going back to that. Could it be? The Tyrant Empress knew this and intended to take Egypt?" Specter frowned.


    "She is a genius, after all. It''s possible. We''ll take this one step at a time. You two... Who do you want to serve? Me or that Presider? I have frozen the device nted in you. It won''t activate, for now, so feel free to speak anything." Rosa instructed.


    "I will serve you!"


    "Yes! I choose to serve you too!"


    The two bowed without hesitation.


    "I need information. Stay here and serve the Myrth alongside you fellow Pioneers. You must make sure that this ce is without any spies from other Presider. The longer you can provide me information about your movements and other ns, the better."


    "We will obey! Rest assured that we will be the perfect and most unsuspecting spies."


    "This also means that you need tomit some minor crimes. It can be things for gain, drugs, sex, anything. I will contact you whenever we can. We will make our retreat. But the next time you invade an Underwater city, we will prepare a means ofmunication."


    "Yes!" The two Commander Pioneers bowed as the group moved. Outside, a battle had urred as the captured prisoners managed to get a hold of weapons.


    As Rosa concluded her meeting, the power of Specter, which created a strange illusion through Soul Cultivation and Meng''s techs, also disappeared. The illusion followed everything that Specter imagined. And so, no one could see what was going on. The other Commander Pioneers only saw the two talk with Rosa, and then the rms rang out and made the Commanders panic and move out.


    But investigating the quick talk between Rosa and those Commanders was lost in the rising list of priorities as Strike and Twister attacked therge ship and nearly reached the hiddenmand center of the General Pioneer.


    As the chaos rose, Rosa and the three Fangs had already secretly escaped into the ocean and swam outside.


    Rosa used her powers to encase them in ice, and they floated to the surface.. No one noticed their retreat.

 Chapter 449 - The Sun And The Thief

    The police of the city had created a perimeter outside of the battle. The officials told them that whenever any of those organizations that controlled the moon or the giant saucer were to fight, they would not shoot but only evacuate and save the civilians.


    But this order proved to be vague for the cops.


    The building that was attacked belonged to one of the most prestigious and influential conglomerates in South America. This belonged to one of the few corporations that managed to survive the world''s changing economics and even issue a very lucrative deal with Unlocked Industries.


    Unlocked Industries had sent a private army to save this organization but fearing the possibility of this group being tied to any power, the city''s mayor refused any aid.


    The police watched outside as soldiers bearing strange techs and showing what could be seen as superpowers appeared. Some could leap up over ten meters. Some could lift a car.


    Yet these supermen didn''t bother with the police but focused on attacking the inside of the building.


    "Are we not going to save those people? I know some of them inside..." One of the police sighed.


    "We have confirmation that those inside are linked to a Presider. Many of those people in there are Pioneers and nteds. That''s the word from the Governor."


    "Those guys are definitely aliens! Look! That guy just got several bullets to the heart, and it pierced through! But now that guy is fighting again after taking a strange pill! We don''t have those techs! So naturally, aliens!" One of the cops observed.


    "Will you stop it with all those alien theories?! We''ve already had the WGP''s confirmation that whoever those guys are, they are human!"


    "And you believe the lies of the WGP who are also aliens? Haven''t you read the impossible growth of techs this world has since World War III? Technologies of all sorts that never existed just exploded out of nowhere?"


    "It happened in World War I and II! Tanks were invented during those wars, and we have all those stories of how the Nazis have powerful techs that surpass the WGP! It''s because when pressed for survival, we grow!"


    "I know, but if you listen to what this podcast has to say-"


    "Oh, shut up. It''s not aliens! It''s underground mole people!"


    "Some say it''s mutants. Like these people are evolved form of ours."


    "Wrong. They are us from the future time traveling to fight now before the war happens! Haven''t you seen the news on that border in Egypt a few months ago? Several naked humans who possessed superpowers greater than what we see now appeared!"


    "No! Stop watching science fiction! This is a fight between vampires and werewolves! How many sightings do we have already? Vampires in Egypt and werewolves in India! They were real! Some say they were even the ones who created vampire and werewolves movies as a marketing strategy to gather more people!"


    The policemissioner listened and sighed at the arguments that his men had. But he could not find the will to correct them and discipline them to be on guard. He felt like he was just a decoration in the area. He had no power to do anything.


    "Where will I be in this new world? What can I do?" He sighed.


    "Don''t move. And be quiet. If you move and panic, they will think you are insane. Only you can hear my voice. Look around. I''ll allow you to move your head. But if you choose to scream, no one will believe you." A voice suddenly called out.


    The Policemissioner froze, and as the voice said, he could only move his head. The other soldiers were not even a meter away from him. Yet they did not move or react.


    "Make a feint whisper to talk to me. Speak."


    "Who...?" The Commissioner whispered.


    "It''s still a little loud. Soften it up a bit more so that your men won''t notice you."


    "Is this...?"


    "That''s good. Do you want to know what''s happening? Do you want to find a ce in this world and have the strength to fight this chaos?"


    "... Yes." The Police Commissioner whispered.


    "I can help you. In a few moments, two werewolves will appear nearby. Panic will ensue, and you will head to the cafe nearby and hide inside. You''ll find am device under the table with a yellow flower. That will contain all the answers you are looking for. I have the power to look into a person''s heart, and so I can tell who can be of use for the battles toe. Do you understand?"


    "...Yes." The Commissioner answered.


    "Good. Don''t look for me or ask for me. Otherwise, people will think you''ve gone mad or worse. The enemy might be suspicious of you." The voice disappeared, and the Commissioner could move.


    He looked around to see if there was anything around him. He found the cafe that the man talked about and could see a yellow flower on one of the tables through the windows.


    "Commissioner? Your orders?"


    "No-nothing. I just felt like there are-"


    BOOM!


    Suddenly, the earth erupted a block behind them. Two werewolves leaped out of the sky and had blood.


    A strange snake made of lightning and wind emerged.


    "Kill the boy!" the serpent shouted.


    Three men emerged wearing an Exoskeleton that had a dark tint. They wielded a spear and a shield and flew to meet one of the Werewolves.


    The police were startled, and the Commissioner remembered the mysterious man''s words and ran towards the cafe. The nearby police scattered. Many was a stepte and had followed their Commissioner.


    But the Commissioner already saw the Comm device and kept it as the explosions began.


    Therge snake moved with great speed and chased after therger werewolf.


    Suddenly, the werewolf charged back and used its paw to catch the moving serpent.


    BOOM!


    The paw met the serpent, and the werewolf withstood the raging lightning, but his arms continued to push hard against the sound.


    "Very strong! Just like the real Walls of Jericho. But kid, remember the rules..." Amir whispered.


    The serpent pushed stronger, and the mouth opened.


    "Die! Anti-Presider!"


    BOOM!


    A strong wind exploded out of the mouth, creating a powerful shockwave. Thepressed Wind had been released, and the sudden pressure was like a huge bomb exploding.


    The explosion caused the cry of Cliff to echo out throughout the city.


    "Hahaha! Very good! Show me what you got, Progenitor Clone!" Amirughed as his figure remained strong and withstood the massive bomb. His body wasn''t even damaged from the attack.


    Inside one of the nearby buildings, a beautiful girl watched as the serpent fought against the wolf.


    Suddenly, a figure emerged behind him.


    "Done with your errand, Lynd?"


    "Yep. I found a guy whose emotions were in the right ce. So I decided to recruit him. He is also a Police Commissioner. This will allow us to have better control of the cops in this city." Lynd answered.


    "Man, Cliff has it rough. Look at that fight!"


    "I was worried that Cliff would forget thews set for every sh between our forces. But it''s good that he remembered. Now we wait..."


    "And here I thought you are confident that no Presider will interfere this fight."


    "I trust Alean when she said that no other Presiders won''t. But It''s better to be safe."


    "Well, at least I don''t need to fight."


    "Actually, you do. You still have to be tested after all."


    "Me? But I thought I am already on the Ranked Heroes list. Besides, the three of us had been fighting! So what more tests do I need?" Meryl frowned.


    "That doesn''t count. We always hold back against you. We''re friends, after all. And since your Path to shine is rted to beauty, we can''t really bring out the best of our abilities as we are close friends. So naturally, the other Unlocked isining. Those higher in the Ranked Heroes list are granted stronger techs. I think Amir''s presence here is also because he wants to prove that Cliff doesn''t deserve the ranking he has as he is untested. So Seeker decided to have him face an Oveer to silence his critics. But there''s you."


    "Eh? Who will fight me?"


    "I''m d you asked that." A sinister voice was heard.


    SLASH!


    A mighty sword shed and appeared as a figure wearing an Exoskeleton appeared.


    Meryl was knocked back and sent flying to the side.


    "Tsk. That was too weak, huh?" The Exoskeleton sighed as her visor opened up and revealed another pretty white face.


    "Hello, Lynd." Irvana greeted.


    "I guess I should be taking Meryl''s Ranked Heroes ce. I could have easily assassinated her if I didn''t hold back! Maybe I should rece her as the spot among your little team so that I can be with my Seeker." Irvanaughed.


    "Little girl... Know your ce." Meryl walked closer. Before the sh arrived, Meryl blocked the de with her arm.


    Despite blocking the attack barehanded, Meryl had no wounds.


    "What...? No wounds?"


    "Meryl took one of those specialized soldier training programs so she could fight better. As long as she fights anything below Oveers, she can withstand attack. Unless you can reach the level of Typical''s needles, you won''t be able to wound her." Lynd smiled as he moved back.


    The arm that blocked the sh was growing red with great energy.


    Irvana frowned as she watched the arm and her helmet sealed up once more.


    "A cultivator''s body... You guys have been keeping this a secret! I guess I have to be a little more serious." Irvana powered up her suit, and the power of Wind surrounded her.


    "Careful, Meryl. It looks like Irvana has mastered Hermes''s Realm in a way that it''sbat effectiveness. She seems to know all four forms of the Wind of Hermes."


    "Oh? It looks like Hermes has been holding out on the techs he has been reporting to us."


    "Scared that I might steal the limelight from you?" Irvanaughed.


    "What''s a little thief like you gonna do? Break Wind?" Meryl sneered.


    "If I beat her, do I have the qualifications to rece her in the cement of war?" Irvana asked Lynd.


    "Sure. You know how our armies work. Only the strong are followed. Even if they make crazy ns that destroy half of the world, we will follow the strong." Lynd shrugged.


    "Good! Let''s fight, Empress of the Sun!" Suddenly, Irvana disappeared without a trace.


    Meryl looked around, and even with his eyes that can see through all forms of light and find those that use cloaking technology, she could not sense Irvana.


    "Fine! Let''s y a little Cops and Robbers, Thief in the Night!"

 Chapter 450 - The Aim Of Ranked Heroes

    The fight in the central city involved a werewolf and a snake. On the other side, a burning figure of a masked woman and an Exoskeleton that had the powers to vanish and reappear urred.


    The appearance of these two fights created more chaos, and the army was deployed.


    But Meryl and Irvana also acted ording to the Unlocked guidelines when fighting in public.


    Both were having a heated discussion and were spouting nonsense about the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor.


    "I''ll pay you back for what you did in Egypt!" Meryl shouted as she flew.


    "This world belongs to the Lost Primordial! Get out of here!" Irvana answered as her winds exploded out.


    On the other side, the fight didn''t have any more derations. Cliff only shouted once and focused on trying to kill Amir.


    The massive serpent was somehow blown off from the wed shes being made.


    Every swipe of the werewolf caused damage, and a wound of some sort would appear.


    But in every sh, Cliff would appear and emerge out of the serpent as the wind blew him.


    At each exit, Cliff would attack with his sword.


    Despite his rage, Cliff had still attacked at once at the right moment. Sometimes Cliff''s sword would hit, but Amir managed to evade most of the attacks.


    The speed of Amir was just too fast that even though Cliff could predict and tell with his memory where Amir would move or evade, the slightest touch of his sword from the fur of the wolf resulted in a sure counter or evaded.


    BANG!


    The speed of Amir drastically increased, and he managed to deliver a backhand strike after doing a wide upward sh with his fangs.


    "Impossible!" Cliff cursed as he barely blocked the attack and was sent flying down. The serpent


    Lynd was watching from the sides and had moved to another building.


    "Lynd! What''s going on?! Why aren''t you helping Cliff fight?!" A woman rushed to meet Lynd.


    "Charm. I see that you are still here. I thought you were scheduled to leave ahead of Cliff."


    "I thought something was fishy! Who is that? Why aren''t you helping him fight?!" Charm demanded.


    "That''s an ally. An Oveer."


    "What? Then why is he fighting Cliff?!"


    "Settling a score, training, making the enemies think that there really are two factions fighting here on Earth... There are several other reasons."


    "He told me about this... how you guys have ced him in horrifying circumstances and made him struggle for it!"


    "And look where he is now. He is among the Ranked Heroes. Frankly, his reaction is a lot better now. He did not cower and hesitate and fought Amir head-on. Well, considering that Cliff already fought Amir twice before."


    BOOM!


    Another explosion urred. Near Cliff and Amir was another battle of great importance.


    Thebined power that the captains of the Basilisk Squadron used was employing wind and sound to create a triangr shield. Zidane, Counter, and Hankbined their mysterious Realm Somatotopy and used it tobine their expertise in Realm. As such, the three of them could wield the sound just like Cliff.


    The son of Amir fought against the spear of sound and was even starting to leave terrifying holes that forced the three soldiers into a desperate situation.


    "That boy of Amir... He''s quite strong! A chip off the old block." Lynd watched as the battles grew chaotic.


    Charm didn''t know what to say as she turned to the screen. Civilian casualties from the fight would reach hundreds! It was only two weeks ago that she was slowly brought into the world of the Unlocked. The revtions shocked her. Her friend, Lara, was an alien? And now she found out that her boyfriend has been one of the most toyed and tortured.


    BANG!


    Cliff was blown back, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.


    "Oof. Wrong move, Cliff." Lynd sighed.


    "This...! You...!"


    "Rx, Charm. This isn''t going to kill him. Amir knows Cliff''s worth. This is one of the few opportunities to train and fight like this. Theputer games we invented and the ones you are training on have proven effective in raising the agility and perception of the Unlocked. You can evade a bullet now, can you? I saw your videos. You even managed to best one of Git Godlike! But of course, despite how close it is to real-world physics, that video game is still far from the actual battle, especially for those as strong as Cliff. Protocols are in ce for them to be saved. And I''m here to stop any other Presiders from interfering. And if you are still worried, Meryl is fighting. Me and Zeek nned to have her fight without an Exoskeleton. And look, she didn''t even cower but fight. Do you know why?"


    "...No."


    "Because Ranked Heroes aim to be Oveers. Unknown to Cliff, he is slowly developing that temperament. It may seem harsh and brutal, but this is our training. We all have to keep risking our lives to grow. You will have to do it soon. Cliff wants to make things easy for you, but once we improve the chances for the Inhuman drug, you will be taking it."


    Charm trembled.


    "That drug... Isn''t it estimated to have a mortality rate of..."


    "Charles is confident that he can bring it down to a medical mortality rate of forty percent. And so, it should allow more of our soldiers to take it."


    "But... The death rate...! You have invested so much in your soldiers... Your willing to let them die?"


    "That''s why I said medical mortality rate. If we look at science and biology, many people should die. But even when we had a higher death rate, we were able to produce so many. Not one of Warfreakz and of the Covenant died from that. This is part of the way we build Oveers. Every step has to be a step towards Oveing terrors. The drug path is already is an easy path. And this is why we opt to do this. We have not yet been ced in a point where we will just give that drug to anyone to make them one of us."


    "I..." Charm had suddenly forgotten about the battle outside and felt great fear.


    "Cliff''s insistence of having you and your family prematurely enter our rankses with great disadvantages. No doubt, in the sh outside, some of your rtives will die outside. Pioneers are now equipped with stronger techs, after all. Feel free to tell this to Lara, by the way. Tell her that the Progenitor will begin the process of building a Phallium Suit on you."


    "I still... have a lot of questions about Lara. I... I don''t know what to believe anymore."


    "I''m sure you''ve been reviewing the files we sent you. But don''t worry. Lara or Zeraphine genuinely treated you as a friend. You could say that she sees you like a pet dog or something. She loves you but won''t trade her race for you."


    "It''s not just her! Cliff is outside fighting an Oveer? The world is going to end? Beings far more powerful than those that appeared in Egypt areing here? I can''t believe all of those things!"


    "You have to hurry up and believe. I mean, you saw it, the war in Egypt. The ship of a Presider that appeared the European Nations. But I don''t me you. I get it. I was once like that. Innocent and kind and somehow unable to move on to reality. To think that in less than a year, I would end up killing this many people that I have..." Lynd sighed.


    "That''s another issue! Beyond my doubts is my frustration! You guys have been doing all of this! You are the cause of why there is so much terror in this world! I heard what you hated and even fought Seeker. But now... this is so normal to you! What happened? I can''t understand many things, but the one that bothers me the most is how unkind you and the Unlocked armies are to the world! What happened to the Lynd who tried to kill Seeker because he was so dissatisfied with how Seeker toyed with your life. How have you resolved all yourints to be able to disregard the lives of others with such cold hearts? I have a lot ofints about all your actions! The world is in great chaos. People are dying every day. I see people around the world suffer. You have the power, and yet you are not doing anything. And I understand it. I know that you have priorities. But... almost all aspect of life is changing, and I just wonder how you can ignore all of it! You fought Seeker and was so angry of all that, and now you act like this is so normal!"


    "It is normal. At least, this is normal." Lynd smiled and moved to theputer.


    "Let me try to exin how I resolved this moral dilemma."

 Chapter 451 - Politics And Government

    Lynd used hisputer and projected various news clips of a particr event in Pangea.


    The absence of Harker soon led to various problems, and various fights were happening.


    "You see, if Pangea were able to perfectly deflect all spies from the Aragarians, it would be suspicious. So sending Harker to Egypt was part of the n to create an opening that the Aragarians could exploit. Why bother looking for Aragarians when we can lure them, right?" Lynd clips as he revealed the clips.


    "That''s...! the news about the push of the Supreme Court of the triune nations of Pangea. I heard of this. They are impeaching Colestar, Hydron, and Horros for allying with Harker and has been iming that this isn''t what the nation wants as a Republic."


    "Yup. I''ll be using this turmoil to answer your question about why I''m so cruel. The truth is, I still don''t agree with Seeker''s ways. In that area, I still struggle. We have power and position now, and I hate how we use it. Do you know that I had to fix this political crisis in Pangea? There have been many rebellions, and regardless of how we control the presidents, the other branches of the three governments arergely against us. Seeker has a lot on his te, so he asked me to deal with this. No doubt, the Aragarians have sent many teams to initiate propaganda and change the hearts of the masses. And they have been very effective. It''s like watching the political battle in the post-modern era. Anyway, our intentional negligence of the politics in Pangea and Harker''s absence was the perfect time for the Aragarians to move. Their sessful propaganda has pushed Pangea into a state of conflict. And as you said, the Supreme Courts of all three countries of Pangea have made a unified call to impeach all presidents. Do you recall what the Presidents did to avoid impeachment? I was the author of that n."


    "What? Did you n that? All President''s imed they had a vehicr ident and couldn''t make it to the hearing! That conference was a joke! That was your n!? That was stupid!" Charm cursed.


    "Yes. Do you know why we did that?"


    Charm was stunned, and she thought for a bit,


    "To buy time to make the members of the Supreme Court into Programmed ves?" Charm guessed.


    "No. We have already stopped making Programmed ves in Pangea since the resources to make it is running low. Those Presidents made those outrageous, lying statements to make it obvious that they were lying and enraging the public. It wasedy gold for me. I recorded the time they had a Press Conference, and Meryl was actually telling them what to say. It was stupid because Meryl wanted to have fun and do this impractical joker type of prank. Anyway, regardless of the means, the goal was to buy time, so I could use my powers of observation and imitation to learn everything about some of the members of the Supreme Courts of each country. I was very busy. I was moving from My-Pangea to Phil-Pangea and Indo-Pangea. It took me three days, but I taught some members of the Unlocked all of their mannerisms, behaviors, and even preferences in food, morality, and what have you. When they graduated, they reced some of the members of the Supreme Court."


    "Wait! So that''s why half of each nation voted against the impeachment!"


    "Yes. It''s no longer them. They were reced. But, here''s the thing. I had to kill the original."


    Charm was shocked at Lynd''s answer.


    "What? Why?!"


    "I''ll tell youter. For now, let me exin why we chose the body-double thing. It''s easy for our Unlock members to be body doubles. I got the Unlocked who could contort their muscles at will, and we just had minimal surgeries. Fingerprints, blood tests, and even dental records of those Supreme Court members would match perfectly if you tried to do such tests on the body-doubles I deployed. Only DNA tests will prove false, but of course, the chances of the Aragarians going that far won''t happen. You see, bribing them is pointless since the Aragarians are also doing the same thing. So the best way is to rece them and use our techs and the Unlocked to be them. I thought the Unlocked how they would act to the point that I was satisfied. Even if the three presidents'' stupid, obvious, and scandalous responses to dy the hearing with whatever nonsensical excuses drove the masses mad, it didn''t matter. We won nheless. You saw how the news yed out."


    "All of those reced... imed that they were being bribed and forced to agree..."


    "Yeah. It was a big shock, and I''m sure whichever Presider sent their Pioneers to sabotage ns must have also been surprised. The people that they bought or threatened suddenly betrayed them. And full disclosure, seven members of the ones we reced lost their families. But I didn''t save the families of these supreme court members even though I know where they are."


    "What?! You...! Monster! Couldn''t you have at least saved them? And why did you even have to kill the original members of the supreme court?! If you just nned to put a body-double, why kill?"


    "I''ll answer why we had to kill the original memberster. But as for why I didn''t save the families... I wanted to. But that would reveal us. The Aragarians will know that someone is trying to fight them. So, I reced the original and made them act like they couldn''t remain silent as their guilt ate them up, and they made that confession you saw on TVst week. The Aragarians killed their family in anger at their betrayal. But, it''s still part of our n. The deaths of those families will spark outrage among the masses. All members of the Supreme Court have a certain release date of when they will reveal the deaths of their families. All are nned out in a timeline that maximizes the effect. This will force the Aragarians to kidnap these members again and torture them. When they do kidnap these Surmounting Unbing spies, we can wipe out the Aragarian operation guing Pangea." Lynd exined.


    "That''s it?! That''s your reasoning?! That''s why you didn''t save them? To spur the masses? Couldn''t you have faked their deaths?!"


    "No. Of course not. The Aragarians can easily disprove that what was killed wasn''t real. We had to let the Aragarians kidnap the family, and I can''t attack and save them because it would reveal who us." Lynd answered.


    Charm trembled in rage.


    "What happened to you?!" She shouted.


    "Now to that question. My morals fought against this whole issue of killing or allowing innocents to die for a long time. But I trusted Seeker. I said to myself, Seeker must have a way to reverse all of this. And then Seeker did something cruel. His maniptions, his cruelty, his inhumane ns, he applied on me. That was thest straw, and I fought him and lost. He knew I had this strange bloodlust in me that drives me wild, and he was using all those minor events, those morally questionable things he did, to stack up against my anger towards him. The things that I once ignored became a big deal, and it made me explode and fight him. I lost, and that anger dissipated. But the power I got was immense. I have surpassed who I was in his timeline. You could say my mindset changed when I found myself growing stronger. You see, with the power I know have, I know that I am still nothingpared to a Principal."


    Lynd revealed his newly formed body.


    A faint light of gold appeared.


    "This body of mine... I wonder how many seconds can it face a Principal? I am telling you this because we have to be this cruel if we want to win. Imagine a Principal or a Prime appearing here on Earth. Will they have the power to destroy the? In front of such a threat, what can we do? All ns that you could think of would fail. We need results, and we need them fast. So I kill because I want to save this world."


    "I get it! I get that stupid reasoning! My family was dealing with the same thing! I struggled with that reality in a weaker form all my life and ran away from it! Because I can''t morally ept that! I refused to im my position in the Novelty-stoise n because of that! But you act like it''s normal and even correct!"


    "Fight the next battles with the soldiers. You''ll have to see it for yourself to see things from my perspective." Lynd sighed.


    "So you''re going to send my family and me off to fight dangerous battles? You want me to experience losing people I care about to be conformed to your twisted mentality?!"


    "Actually, I don''t need to. We are ramping up on this, and the Presider War has already begun. You will be forced to face that. This time will be a war that will kill a lot of innocent. And we won''t save them because the Tale of Two Cities, the City of Jerusalem, and Babel has to begin. The Presider Wars will be the time for them to surface. But while many nations will grow in power, others will suffer. You have to get used to this gruesome, morally painful truth, Charm. It''s here." Lynd changed the view on theputer.


    A strange scene was ying out. It was Seeker standing before Presiders.


    "Lennox has developed a way to send video recordings. Seeker''s radiation is masking themunication lines. But there you have it¡ªthe Presiders." Lynd slowly panned the view of the video to show the other Presiders.


    The Presiders and Seeker continued to initiate the deals, but they were clearly shown. Zeraphine was there, wearing a powerful suit.


    "Zeraphine''s suit is strong. Probably as strong as Cliff in terms of power. I wonder what her Rule would be?" Lynd sighed.


    Charm was shocked and nced at the screen. But then she turned away from it.


    "Hmm... Still unwilling to believe, huh? Just like me back then. Don''t worry. You''ll see it the way we see it soon."


    "You still haven''t told me... Why did you need to kill the original supreme court members instead of just kidnapping them?" Charm changed the subject.


    "Proof of death, proof of the time of death. We are fighting against calcting, cautious and powerful entities who could do what we do. The enemy will think that we are trying to win or secure our footing in Pangea and form the South Pacific Confederate. But the whole South Pacific Confederate is a cover. The n we have is to follow that of Eagle. Every kingdom on this Earth has to end up looking bad so that only one kingdom will be the answer. We release the information that those acting as the Supreme Court members are body-doubles by releasing the real body. The time of death is important too. And I will initiate a circumstance where all of my Unlocked spies will reveal super-human powers proving that they are not the original Supreme Court members. Now, the fact that the time of death is well preserved will be very suspicious. It''s as if we want them to know when the real bodies were killed. But even then, this will enrage the masses and confuse them."


    "Why do you want that to happen?" Charm had a stumped expression.


    "It won''t be just in Pangea. The ces that we have managed to control will also follow the same thing. They will create bem in their government, making the whole thing look absurd. Our goal is to show that no form of government works. Democracy, Communist, Republic, whatever. The Unlocked ns to make all of those look bad. And finally, Jerusalem will rise, and it will follow an ideology that has long been abandoned. We will shape the world so that one form of government will look perfect and wless.. And that form of Government is Theocracy."

 Chapter 452 - The Impossible Loop

    A second sun had shone over the city, and a massive serpent had risen to the sky as it chased after a werewolf who was able to fight back against the aerial assault of the snake.


    Another werewolf wreaked havoc at the city grounds. It was being forced back by three exoskeletons that had the power to create a powerful attack that would pierce through the buildings and send the werewolf flying.


    In the middle of all this chaos, very few paid attention to the massacre of all the forces that remained under Gordon. There were over a thousand Aragarians ranging from nted to Pioneers in that building. The technology they used was either high-tech weapons from other countries or new but strange technology.


    The soldiers of the Unlocked dove through the variety of techs and used certain techs to counter the diverse technology that was being used.


    The Pioneers'' defenses had quickly fallen, and a chaotic shoot-out urred deep inside the building and the underground floors.


    Lynd continued to observe the whole battle from one of the buildings nearby. The key battles between Amir and Cliff and Meryl and Irvana were chaotic, but they were secretly avoiding Lynd''s location. They still had to follow the guidelines despite going all out and trying to kill the other party.


    "This is very satisfactory. Theputer game we developed and improved through theputer systems we reverse-engineered in Shakstress''s ships is doing great! No casualty against Pioneers!" Lynd smiled as he continued to give the report ignoring Charm, who was shouting in fear each time Cliff would nearly die.


    Charles was checking the data that Lynd was sending through theputers and wasparing the brainwaves of all Unlocked, checking for any other possible candidates for the Unlocking.


    "The disadvantage for this is that it greatly diminishes the chances of seeing if there are Inhuman potentials among them." Charles frowned. He was busy performing various experiments at the same time. There were several people behind him, working on various experiments.


    In severalrge tubes was Aragarians who were being experimented on.


    "Theputer games that we developed had managed to create a safe training ground with great uracy. But since our men are already trained to that level, deploying them to fight this battle has drastically decreased the crisis level that they are facing." Charles shook his head.


    "Oh,e on, Charles! Even though the data suggest that the average Unbing we have now are more equipped to fight. Now, five Unbings have a shot at defeating Inhumans, especially those that don''t have Ranked Hero potential. All you care about is receiving the right data to push Inhumans to the next stage. And why are you experimenting on Aragarians? I thought the Aragarians do not have the ''seed'' of the Progenitor and have a body that can only reach as high as Surmounting Unbing!"


    "It''s rted to Ricardo." Charles answered.


    "What? He''s not an Aragarian, right? Oh. I get it. He''s not a seed."


    "Yes. From my data, his father must havee from a line that hasn''t intermarried with the Progenitors seeds. I have developed a way to determine those descended or intermarried with the Seeds of the Progenitor. You, Seeker, and Meryl have a much purer lineage branching from one of the direct seeds that the Progenitor must have nted."


    "I guessed that part. Seeker''s Path of believing cannot work on those who are not seeds. In Seeker''s alternate timeline, he was able to turn Unbing into Inhumans, like his Gryphon squadron, because the crisis level that the Earth faced was far terrifying than our current timeline. So those that had bloodlines from the seeds of the Progenitor naturally grew strong. But the alternate us had very little tech, so all we could do was use desperate and primitive solutions. But with our current knowledge and your advancement, even without Seeker, I probably would have awakened my Path." Lynd replied.


    "Actually, I have a theory that the two of you needed each other and that the two of you needed two different timelines to perfect your Path."


    "Exin." Lynd frowned.


    "It''s not just you, but all Oveers. Your Path is much harder to grow than others. But I believe that Seeker also needed your Path to grow strong first before Seeker could grow strong himself. It''s like this, for Seeker''s Path to reach perfection, he needed a powerful you to be his guide. But that wasn''t possible on the previous timeline. Seeker already reached Ranked Hero without havingpletely awakened his Path. Even when you grew, Seeker just didn''t have the foundation to be the Truth."


    "So he needed to awaken me Path first. He saw the guide, and he time-traveled to a time where he has not yet stepped into the path of cultivation..."


    "Correct. I believe this is also part of the Progenitor''s n. He needed time travel had to happen to help Seeker reach this strength. The Progenitor foresaw that you''d be together, and he arranged for Seeker to live two lifetimes so to resolve an impossible loop. Seeker now had a guide to follow in his memories. And he met the other Oveers earlier and managed to thread on their Path. This is why I''m confident that the Life, thest of the titles of the Messiah, will soon appear. Seeker''s Path has grown and has been foundational to all Oveers."


    "That''s quite a theory... But that vision we saw when we fought Shakstress proves that the Progenitor has a way of not just seeing the future. He can define it. How else did he know that Seeker and I would be able to use that power ofbining two iplete powers? But if the Progenitor had such power, then the real battle starts now, doesn''t it?" Lynd sighed.


    "Yes. Our previous battles didn''t involve any Principals and Primes. Butareow we could face beings with powers that can determine and change the future. Who knows? Maybe our lives and the future battles are all part of the continuing battle between our Progenitor, the Lost Primordial, and the Primordial of the Aragarians."


    "Well, that''splicating and very nauseating. Just when I could finally imitate Arthur''s prediction powers to a certain degree, we now have fate-altering, time-traveling, seed-nting enemies."


    "Sounds fun, though. Since we have a clearer picture of the capabilities of Principles and Primes, you could even say that this Lost Progenitor also predetermined Harker and Alean''s allegiance to us. But little Ricardo isn''t. He isn''t someone with born as a seed. So do you understand my research? I am trying to do the impossible. I am trying to turn Ricardo into a seed."


    "How sure are you that he isn''t a seed?"


    "The Progenitor followed the Bible when he crafted this n of his. So tell me, did the gue of the Firstborn kill any from the Hebrews in Egypt?"


    "No. Is that''s your basis? Exodus?"


    "That''s it. But I''m confident in this. But now, with such poor results in the current reports you are sending for the debut battles of those newbies, it''s hard for me to gather data as fewer Unbings will be Inhumans! I need more data on the reactions that push an Unbing into the Inhuman level. And those damnedputer games are hindering the process! My mom was right! Computer games are bad for the brain!" Charles cursed.


    Lynd rolled his eyes as he watched the satisfactory result that theputer games gave them. Victory was assured, and no soldier died. None were even critically injured.


    "I''m sure you''d figure something out. You''ve already proven to walk in the Path of Eagle and Lennox, who has achieved power through the brain. So when are you going to take the test?"


    "I don''t want to take that damned Ranked Hero test! I''m so busy!"


    "You''d be granted ess to higher-tier techs!"


    "Military techs, yes. But I don''t need military techs. I just need to resolve this! Lynd, Ricardo isn''t just her child anymore. He''s also mine." Charles nced at Lynd.


    "I see... We''ll you don''t have to worry though. The Presider War has already started, and I''m sure you''ll get a huge data with terrifying crisis levels that would shake even Oveers." Lynd nced back outside.


    Cliff was falling as the Serpent had vanished. Amir had only his upper torso remaining, but it was quickly regenerating.


    The trio members of Cliff''s group rushed to save their Commander. Each had a limb missing and several chunks of their bodies bitten off.


    "So, Cliff''s team lost..." Lynd sighed.


    "And here I thought Cliff would start showing power like ours." Lynd sighed as he gave the orders.


    "Mom, Dad. Move out. Clean up the area. Uncle Chirs, Uncle Steveson, start the fight. Aunt Grace and Aunt Jade, please standby in case some Presiders show up." Lynd gave the orders.


    "Alright. You heard my son! Let''s go!"


    "Tsk. Just when I was about to beat this punk in chess." Steveson sighed.


    "Well, this punk will beat you for real! Come here, Mikado! We haven''t had a good fight for a while!" Chris roared.


    Lynd sighed as he shook his head.


    Charles chuckled as he saw it.


    "Is it hard being the Commander of your parents and everyone else?"


    "Hell would freeze over before I would be their Commander! It''s very awkward for me to give orders. They''ll be with the Realm King."


    "Oh? But what about you? Meryl will be meeting with her Twelve Disciple squadron. What squadron will youmand?"


    "It''s part of my test. I n to raid the base of Rai and beat him and the Void Assassin. This will make me theirmander, and the proof of me being an Oveer will be set."


    "Oh. Well, good luck with that, I guess..." Charles shrugged.


    "Hm? Seeker is done with the deals. Great news! We now have the chance to build the Thought Transmitter. And it seems we can finally build one of those!"


    "Those? You can''t mean... a Throne? A Throne for Oveers?"


    "Yes. But we might have to focus on Meng first. And since it''s him, it won''t be a Throne.. The Rider needs a Horse, right?" Lynd chuckled.

 Chapter 453 - Zethayne Light

    Charm was rushing down the stairs. Unfortunately, the climax had the battle happen too quickly that she reacted toote. She nned to move out if Cliff would be caught in a bind. At first, both Cliff and Amir were fighting in the sky, and despite the chaos, Charm believed that Cliff had the advantage.


    A sh urred, and Amir was clearly wounded.


    But then, as Lynd was talking to Charles, he mentioned that Cliff was defeated.


    Soon, the sight of the serpent disappearing was revealed, and Cliff was falling down.


    Charm rushed to wear her suit in the building and sted off outside.


    The young werewolf was blown away by a massive sound attack that Counter, Zidane, and Hank sent out. It threw the werewolf up high and made it fly off by several miles.


    The three then rushed towards Cliff.


    Amirnded on the roof with great wounds. But he revealed on his hand a huge chunk of flesh.


    "Now to feed my son. It''s been a pleasure, Cliff. But you''re not an Oveer yet." Amir quickly recovered his wounds and fled as two groups of Exoskeletons appeared and began to shoot at each other, and an all-out war erupted above the sky in the city.


    Charm rushed out and was shot by the soldiers from the side where Amir was positioned in.


    He had caught his son and has tamed the rage by feeding it food.


    "Well fought! You managed to survive us! The rumors are true! But tell your boss to contain his anger next time. I got what I needed, but the next time won''t be so nice. See you in Egypt!" Amirughed as they began to move with incredible speed.


    The wolf that moved with speeds that surpassed the fastest exoskeleton drew the attention of many Presiders. Many spies were sent to follow, but the signal was lost as the wolf managed to move with great speed.


    The war on top of the sky and the retrieval of the fallen serpent were also important to the prying eyes of Presiders.


    The fight revealed that war had forever changed. Each soldier was capable of incredible and precise evasion that many could even shoot despite the attempts of their enemies to shoot at point-nk.


    Several Exoskeletons with uniquely designed even used their guns to shoot in close range but would still be evaded.


    Techs of many sorts were deployed. EMP technology erupted but brought no suit down, although the weapons were affected.


    At the explosion of a massive EMP bomb, the battle above the city''s sky turned into an aerial sword fight.


    Two particr Exoskeletons shed at the center, and their strikes created shockwaves.


    "We are witnessing a battle that no other nations canpete too! See the Exoskeletons fight! Their battle has redefined the battle, and it even seems that Exoskeletons with closed rangedbat are even preferred!" A reported had a good shot by dangerously positioning himself right above the skyscrapers, which gave a front-row view to the battle.


    BOOM!


    Another shock wave was created as two massive exoskeletons simr to Australian Dawn soldiers began to punch out.


    Charm managed to evade the iing barrage with ease. But the truth was, the shots fired at her were never meant to shoot her.


    The four carrying a barely conscious Cliff retreated out towards the building where Lynd stayed on.


    Meanwhile, moving through the dimensions, Pridgeon was with Gordon.


    "Look at that. The battle has changed. Our Pioneer technology is outdated. We have to arm our Orbitals with stronger techs if we want them to be used in this war. This Presider War won''t have a slow start where various weaker techs are deployed. Our Exoskeletons, our Titans, our Gargantuas... They all need to be re-outfitted. Don''t you agree, Gordon?" Pridgeon asked. Gordon was right next to him.


    "...Yes. These people don''t know how to restrain themselves. They are fighting and revealing techs for us to study! What kind Presider''s are they?"


    "They are confident that we won''t figure out anything anyway. I''m sure you''ve heard of their techs/ The Phallic wars have begun. And if you look closely, you will detect a phallic-shaped object that they carry and another hidden in their suit." Pridgeon revealed the analysis.


    "But we don''t know what the source of power is. Although this phallic device has energy, it shouldn''t be enough to sustain the flight of these suits. I theorized that it could be the Phallium suit. Their bodies are energy sources. But I can''t figure it out unless we capture one and interrogate them."


    "Well, they are in an all-out war. Why not get one?"


    "And fight that Presider? Haven''t you sensed the high radiation on that building? It''s clear that someone at least as strong as the werewolf is waiting to fight anyone who tries to get them. And this one is not hiding his power. I''m sure the other side has his secret weapon deployed."


    "Then what''s the n?" Gordon asked.


    "We attack a Presider. And we won''t y around. I''m thinking of attacking Feyor."


    "Feyor? That''s the strongest Mid-Tier Presider! Why not go after Andronze? That werewolf shouted something about Egypt. With many yers-"


    "With many yers, we are at apetition. I lost thest time I fought in Egypt and got nothing out of that entire sh! We attack Feyor. Let others suffer facing them." Pridgeon shook his head, and anger emerged.


    "Let''s begin outfitting your surviving forces. Where are the rest of your forces? We will be picking them all up."


    "Underwater. Two of my secret forces have been wiped out by Myrth."


    "Ah... I can tell what her n is. It''s quite good. But useless since I have Crostfree''s techs. I''m sure she won''t daree out to attack me. Whoever attacked her in her attempt to join in the fun in Egypt may be watching her. She probably suspects me since I have the power to move like her. So our only problem is Tiana, who is allied with Feyor."


    "What if we hit Straviaa and Enderks?"


    "Enderks has always given me this impression that he is hiding his real strength. When the Presiders were secretly sending their forces here on Earth, there was a massive heat signal seen in Uranus. The means to teleport was very differentpared to the other Top Tiers. So I''m betting it Enderks. He probably has thergest army."


    "Then what are you nning to do with Tiana?"


    "I have information that someone will attack her..." Pridgeon smiled.


    "What?! Who?"


    "I''ve managed to do what you failed to do. I have an insider in the WGP. And they have one of the legacies of the Lost Progenitor, which exins their advanced control in Universe energy. In the World''s Helm is an ancient relic! A Throne!"


    "An ancient Throne?"


    "It''s possible that this Throne is the Throne of the Lost Primordial!"


    "The Lost Primordial?! Impossible!"


    "The WGP managed to create those Rules and the Invoking. These bunch of monkeys found it and managed to draw out such tech. This information has been leaked. Some traitors of the WGP have been secretly contacting Presiders and luring everyone for a battle. Tiana will most likely attack the Worlds Helm. And Feyor will be there as well. When the battle starts, we aim for Feyor!"


    Suddenly, the screens observing the battle above the city shed with a massive bright light.


    Even those within the ship of Pridgeon were blinded.


    "What the?!" Pridgeon shouted as a blinding light caught him off guard.


    It was as if a mighty sun ruse from the sky back in the city.


    Meryl had used her powers and released tremendous heat that covered her. Her entire appearance had changed, and she had long, bright yellow hair that fluttered down to the heels of Meryl. Her mask continued to cover her face, and the damaged suit had a bright, radiant yellow light.


    "What a nerd. Super Saiyan Three?" Irvana was moving with an incredible speed nearby, and the two were talking in a voice that only the two of them could hear.


    "Yes." Merylughed and caused the massive sun to explode out. But instead of fire, it was as if the energy that Meryl released was as hard as metal.


    Irvana was blown back, and the sound of a loud crash of metal was heard.


    Irvana cursed as she saw Meryl perfectly control the light she created and had given it physical form!


    "Your light...! It''s a light that moves in all dimensions!"


    "Of course! Let there be light. God said that. The first element in Creation. You really need to read the Bible!'' Meryl chuckled.


    "Anyway, let''s finish this! I''ve finished charging, and my power level now is over nine thousand!" And then Meryl vanished.


    The moment she vanished, Irvana felt that her Zone was telling her she would die.


    Irvana sted backward and retreated using various powerful winds to create a powerful punch. The winds she controlledpressed themselves and suddenly blew out to the direction of where Meryl was.


    BOOM!


    The wind somehow had physical form and was severed by a red hot de pushing towards Irvana.


    "I win, Irvana. I hope this proves my power over you. Now blow me back to make it look like I nearly won." Meryl chuckled as she reached close. Her words were but a whisper.


    Irvana knew she had lost and could onlyply in silence.


    A wind de shot at Meryl and blew her back.


    "Damn you!" Meryl shouted with a voice of great anger.


    "Enough. Retreat." Another cold voice was heard. The voice wasn''t loud, but somehow his voice echoed all over the city as if he was just speaking right next to the listener.


    Lynd had appeared and was wearing a Supreme Exoskeleton.


    "We''vepleted our mission. We retreat now. Cover our retreat and blind everyone. Until next time." Lynd nced at Irvana and suddenly vanished.


    Irvana saw Lynd''s cloak and could not help butin. The level of Lynd''s invisibility was the same as hers!


    She also vanished.


    Meryl raised her hand, and a massive ball began to form. A blinding light exploded out and blinded everyone.


    The sun remained up for several seconds, making it impossible for all who were watching to see through the light. It was impossible to use various visual enhancing techs to see through the emerging pure light.


    "That''s...!"


    "Zethayne Light. Just what techs do these Anti-Presiders have?" Pridgeon had a serious look.


    The light remained for several minutes and soon vanished. But when it did, no trace of the fighters remained on top of the city.


    "Zethayne Light! That''s at least... a Principal tech! A light that exists in all dimensions!" Gordon was trembling.


    "I guess I have to be more serious in finishing the mission that that devil woman gave me. Time to finish my mission to gather the Jews. I just hope she is the one whomands the wielder of Zethayne Light.." Pridgeon sighed.

 Chapter 454 - Spaceships For Sex Toys

    The deals between the Presiders and Seeker had finallye to an end. The appearance of Zethyne Light had caused everyone to be warier and rushed toplete the deals with Seeker.


    The videos of the fights above had caused everyone to prepare for battle. First, some soldiers attacked the entrance to the underground facility.


    "Gentlemen, and esteemed Top Tier, Tiana, I believe our deals havee to an end."


    "I will take my leave!" Enderks moved.


    "Rx! Those attacking the entrance to this facility won''t go very far. They still have my men to deal with. I would also like to propose something else since we are all gathered here. It hase to our attention that Gordon has been attempting to strike certain deals with the WGP. I''m sure you have all heard of the possible legacy that is in there."


    "Legacy?" Straviaa asked.


    "The Throne. It''s possible that they have a Throne. Think about it. How else have they created technologies simr to our Universe Energy? Weren''t you all surprised as to the full power of the Invoking? Particrly the Invoking of the High Thrones like that of the Everhiss."


    "...Indeed. That was a mystery. Even Garenjazz found it intriguing..."


    "Anyway, I''m not sure if the WPG owns that technology or if the Lost Primordial is protecting it, but I n to raid it. I''m sure it will be to everyone''s benefit if the WGP is finally destroyed."


    "You wish to destroy the WGP?" Enderks had an intrigued look.


    "Yes. Now that a Presider War has been announced, I''m sure that either you or theing Presiders will try to attack them anyway. Of course, everyone''s concern is the costly expenses in trying to attack the Wolrd Helm. But from what I gather, several people will be moving. That Gordon and that Pridgeon has just entered an alliance. We n to join in the fun. Of course, the Lost Primordial will also be there. My team is already itching to fight them. I already told them to keep their fights out of the public eye, and yet there they go fighting each other and showing off their techs." Seeekr sighed.


    "About the battle above... You are very suspicious." Tiana smiled.


    "Of course I am. I am in front of several Presiders."


    "Not that. I still have a thought that you are lying and that you are not a Presider."


    "Not a Preisder? Have I not shown enough knowledge?" Seeker frowned.


    "It feels like an borate n. You see, if you are human and not Aragarian, you will be our first target. We will not give you the honor of the disgusting lineage of humankind. And it would even be more embarrassing that one such as you calls yourself a Presider." Tianaughed.


    "Then what can I do to prove it?"


    "That light that appeared. The one that one of the fighters released. It''s clearly a technology that only Principals have. Since it is assumed that those who call themselves the Lost Primordial here are earthlings with acquired legacies, they are human. But what about you? What if you are lying, and the two of you are Earthlings?"


    "The battle... between the Lost Primordial and me was very frustrating. I will not hide the fact that I have intermarried with humans to experiment on them. This body is one of the experiments. Hence I chose the Phallium path and not the Nefilius Suit. But I assure, I myself, am a Presider."


    "Then prove it. It''s possible that you have your spies listening to every conversation the Presiders had. That cloaking technology up there is... very interesting. Unfortunately, most Mid-Tiers won''t be able to sense it."


    "That is the Lost Primordial. Imand the sun."


    "If you domand it, then you should know it''s a real name. That is true if you are a Presider. That technology has appeared here for the first time. The odds of the Mid-Tiers mentioning that would be very low. Tell me the name, and that will prove your identity as a true Presider."


    "You''re assuming that I have not heard of Zethayne Light? Please... Although, the Lost Primordial called it shiny, bright, boom boom. So I guess he really is human!" Seeker chuckled.


    "...So, you really are a Presider. Fine. I shall join you in this battle. I hope to make a good trade and alliance with you. Those Phallium suit will prove helpful in the next month when the Presiders arrive here." Tiana smiled.


    "Oh? Then let me gift you something to show you the possibilities of our alliance." Seeker smiled and revealed a strange, long object.


    "Is... that a..."


    "It''s a penis!"


    "The Lost Primordial is one sick Aragarian. To think he would imbue his knowledge in this. It took us a while. We couldn''t understand the powers hidden behind this. But now we do." Seeker held it and closed his eyes.


    The dildo had was actually a modified Horn that could produce Meng''s destion. But this one was special. Only Seeker, Meng, or Lynd could use this. Not even Cliff could activate the power of the Destion, for it would burn Cliff.


    "Stand firm!" Seeker gave the chant to activate it.


    A thick green aura appeared. The moment it did, the Presiders felt pain, and the mid-tiers felt like small wounds were appearing all over their body.


    Everyone took a step back.


    The Horn was made using Meng''s very own cells. It was dormant and would not reveal this power unless the wielder activates it using the interlinking of cells and the neuro-transcellr phenomenon that only urs among the Unlocked, which prevented their powers from harming themselves.


    "What is that?!" Tiana showed shock for the first time.


    "Amazing, right? I will give this to you. This is the secret of Phallic Techs!"


    "Wait! I will offer anything to purchase that!" Enderks suddenly spoke.


    "As will I!" Feyor spoke up.


    "Alright. However, I will tell you upfront. This cannot be activated without a Phallium suit. You could try to scour the battlefields and draw out the blood that stters from the intense fights between my men and the Lost Primordial, but you won''t'' go far in this. So, I won''t ask for things beyond the ordinary with such confidence. I need materials to create a Gargantua and an Orbital." Seeker smiled.


    "A Gargantua and an Orbital?"


    "Yes. The best metals to create them would be the Almetals of the WGP. But they have monopolized it, and attacking the Arctic nations would really be costly for me."


    "I agree. Give me that dildo!"


    "Yes! I agree as well! The dildo!"


    "Rx. I have more where thesee from!" Seeker brought out two more.


    Feyor and Enderks quickly grabbed it.


    Seeing the scene, Lennox could not help but praise Seeker.


    "Your Path in lying is bing more and more formidable. We traded spaceships for sex toys!"


    Unknown to the two Presiders, the one that Seeker gave them was not made of Horn. Meng was already incensed that Seeker did something nefarious with his cells and only approved for one. The other two were just in old dildos.


    Enderks and Feyor were quickly observing it, as did Tiana.


    "Alright. I will be taking my leave, then!" Seeker smiled and walked away.


    "Zeraphine. Escort my son." Seeker ordered. A sh of light appeared and the lightning energy around Seeker vanished.


    Seeker had a confused and amazed look on his face.

 Chapter 455 - Seeker Talks To Zeraphine

    Chapter 455 ¨C Seeker Talks To Zeraphine


    The meeting had ended, and Seeker was the first to leave the room as the remaining Presiders watched him leave.


    "There is¡­ something off with that Presider¡­" Tiana''s expression changed immediately.


    The remaining Presiders turned to Tiana.


    "Our little talk reveals he knows much. He knows of great secrets, and he even knows about Prime Defiant and the secret of Presider Marrho that none of you knew. He also has the same power that Top-Tiers like Shakstress has. But I feel that''s it''s all a trick. He must have earned that power by other means, and it''s possible to find out about those secrets either through Pridgeon or Crostfree before him." Tiana assessed.


    "And so, I asked him about that light. Normally, only true Presiders know of that name as that name is not mentioned here on Earth. And I was gambling that that technology would not even escape the mouths of Presiders until they see it here. After all, who has the tech to study it? None of us would dare."


    "And yet he knew of that name. Do you have a hypothesis?"


    "Only the impossible. The only way for him to know the exact name of that technology is if a shocked Presider will mutter its name. None of you, even Zeraphine, did that when each of us saw the reports from our men. I was hoping to reveal his earthy origins since the naming schemes that these Earthlings have made from the techs they have imitated from the alleged Lost Primordial is different from ours."


    "You mean how they call Universe Energy, Origin Energy, and how the WGP call their Thrones Rules?"


    "Yes. So the impossibilities are that he heard it from another Presider. Like Gordon or Pridgeon. But I''m sure you''ve all attempted to infiltrate Pridgeon''s ranks and how fruitless thatbor is. Unless Pirdgeon is allied to them to a greater degree, or the Progenitor has spies within Pridgeon''s ship."


    "You are assuming that Presider Progenitor''s spies heard the term Zethayne Light from Pridgeon, and those spies immediately contacted him? That is preposterous! This Progenitor would need to turn all the Pioneers in Pridgeon''s ship to be his spies to do that with all the security measures and the monitoring in ce!" Enderksughed.


    "Which is why I said that it is impossible. The other options are what we have thought of. Another Presider secretly traveled here, or he is one of the Presiders who came here during the Third World War. But no¡­ I feel that he isn''t an Aragarian at all! Be warned, fellow Presiders. We are at war and will most likely kill each other if not establish an alliance or enve one another. But you all better use him for his uses to help you. But never let an Earthling arise from this war. He should be our first target to wipe out. But I''ll leave that up to you." Tiana spoke and suddenly began to open a strange portal and moved her Throne in it and vanished.


    Feyor, Enderks, and Straviaa remained.


    "It seems that this Zeraphine is more involved with him than we thought. We should warn Garenjazz. Tiana is right." Feyor frowned.


    "Ha! The strong deserve to be strong. If this Progenitor is an Earthling, if he rises because of his strength, let him! It''s stupid for Presiders to even think about the race or origin of Presiders. If that man is Conqueror, he will Conquer regardless of what he is! Straviaa and I will have no intention to focus our cross-hairs on him. It took them, a Mid-Tier and a Presider that has devoured Top-Tier tech, to secure victory from Shakstress. Even now, our problem will be the Top-Tiers. Feyor. I thought you to be a Conqueror. But forming an alliance with a Top-Tier? Cowardly!" Enderks mocked as a strange light suddenly shot up from the ground where he and Straviaa stood.


    Straviaa was startled and was about to say something, but she could only give Feyor a meaningful nce and allowed the teleportation to take her.


    "Hmm¡­ That old Enderks has gotten senile and arrogant. To dare fancy himself a Conqueror!" Feyor left and moved to the deeper parts of the fortress.


    As they all left, Zerpahine and Seeker were quietly riding the long elevator taking them up.


    Zeraphine was quiet.


    "I''m sorry I didn''t tell you that I knew. About you being a Presider¡­" Seeker finally broke the silence.


    "Since when did you know?"


    "The World Governing Trading Hub. I met him for the first time, and he told me the truth. When I attacked that underwater city, I also met Lourca Oviili. And she also confirmed what my father said in that you are¡­ a Presider." Seeker sighed.


    "I¡­ I''m sorry." Lara sighed.


    The pair remained silent as they rose up.


    "Are¡­ you even Lara? The Diamons have been on this for a long time. If you are aliens, then when did you¡­?" Seeker slowly asked.


    "I''m sorry."


    "Lara. I deserve to know." Seeker looked at Lara straight in the eye.


    "¡­No. I am not Lara Diamaon. I am Zeraphine, as you may have heard. This body is not my real body."


    "¡­Is the real Lara dead?"


    "No¡­ She''s alive. This body is hers. It is just her consciousness is sort of sealed away. It''splicated." Zeraphine answered.


    "Then who have I been talking to? These past months, we had little time together. But I didn''t have anyone to talk and chat and text to. You were among the people that I would talk to escape! And frankly, Zeraphine, you were special. Evenpared to Lynd and Meryl! Was it you?"


    "I hope you believe me, Zeek. I was not using Lara''s memories or anything. It was really me. All those talks, all thosete-night calls¡­ It was you talking to me."


    "I guess that exins why you tried and save me earlier when that Presider caught me. You revealed your real power. Or was it my Presider dad? Did he put you up to this?" Seeker questioned.


    "No! Of course not! I''m sure he wants us to get together. But it''s for anotherplicated reason. It has to do with my family."


    "Right. Where is your family? Are the Diamons?"


    "No. They are all under my control."


    "Under your control? Like Mind Control?"


    "Yes¡­ But don''t worry. I never had the chance to use it on you. Not with your father around."


    "Well, that''s a relief! I''m so d that you have not mind-controlled me yet!" Seeker expressed sarcastically.


    Zeraphine could not help butugh at Seeker''s exaggerated answer.


    "¡­ Or am I mind controlled now?"


    "N-no! You''re not! I wouldn''t dare! Besides, I sense that there are several souls in you, honestly. I think your father did that to protect you." Zeraphine answered.


    "Wait. I have several souls? What does that even mean?"


    "It''s a very difficult thing to exin."


    "Ugh¡­ I guess there''s time for that. Then show me your real body."


    "It''s not here yet."


    "Not here yet?"


    "Your father is arranging the shipping of my real body. He''s having the Dalisay n bring it here."


    "Oh¡­ That''s¡­ weird."


    "¡­Yeah."


    There was silence as they reached the surface.


    Many soldiers and armed men, Exoskeletons, and other strange mechs were there.


    "Is that a Titan from the Piercing game?!" Seeker was shocked.


    "It is¡­ It''s actually technologies that Pioneers have. It looks like the Pioneers are now investing in building this on earth openly¡­" Zeraphine sighed.


    "Wait. So Pioneers have techs? I''m confused. My father never talked about Pioneers?"


    "Um¡­ Seeker, Why? Why are you so unaffected in learning about my real identity? You were able to ept it easily." Zeraphine asked but avoided Seeker''s eyes.


    Seeker turned to her, and Zeraphine could see Seeker''s gaze from her peripheral vision. But at that moment, Zeraphine used her soul to gaze at Seeker''s expression.


    "You forgot."


    "Forgot?"


    "I made a covenant with you, remember? It''s not a contract that can easily be broken when one party fails its part. In a covenant, I can choose to follow the promises that I made. It honestly doesn''t matter if it''s Lara or Zeraphine. As long as it''s you."


    "What do you mean by that? It doesn''t matter if I''m Lara or Zeraphine as long as it''s me?"


    "As long as it''s with the girl that I fell in love with." Seeker smiled and rested his gaze on her. He waited for Zeraphine to look at him.


    Zeraphine froze for a bit. Then, she blushed and ignored Seeker as she walked ahead.


    Seeker saw it and smiled.


    Seeing the opportunity, the Adult Seeker finally asked.


    "Hey. What did she mean by several souls? I doubt that Greg and the rest count as soul." The Adult secretly asked.


    "She probably was referring to Lennox, who was with us earlier. His powers count as dividing the soul, after all. So maybe she counted three back then." Seeker then began to chase after Zeraphine.


    Secretly, the Adult had only one thought which he hid from the other consciousness inside of him.


    "But that was back then¡­." The Adult frowned.

 Chapter 456 - Thought Transmitter

    Chapter 456 ¨C Thought Transmitter


    Days have passed after the battle between the Serpent and the werewolf and the eruption of bright light over the city in South America.


    Several skirmishes around the world were also reported that day, along with the discovery of a massive underwater ship that was eliminating various Underwater cities. The size of the ship was simr to the size of the massive saucer that attacked Egypt and fought against the Pyramid and the Moon.


    In short, it was just another normal day in the world. News reporters around the globe have already adjusted to a new format of news delivery. It was now likened to an army officialying down tactical ns for the attacks. And somehow, people were able to return to a normal life.


    The entertainment industries were somehow able to continue. The privileged continued with their lifestyle, and while they were trying to find ways to sympathize with the world, the result of their attempts was seen as distasteful and insensitive.


    Some of the more powerful and more influential elites even flew on several airspace''s of enemy nations and was not barred as they crossed the borders but were allowed to pass.


    Seeker continued to watch the news together with Zeraphine. They were in a veryrge hotel room sponsored by Unlocked Industries. The building was magnificent, and the room itself could fit an entire house. The two were cuddling close together and was rxing as they watched the television.


    "I can''t believe that I am right here, enjoying myst date with Lara¡­" Seekerughed.


    "¡­Yeah." Zeraphine nodded.


    "Will this girl remember everything? I mean, will she still be in love with me?"


    "She will remember everything. She sees things as if she was watching television. But her emotions are detached from the entire experience. It is possible. Why? Are you thinking of taking her instead?"


    "Of course not. I''m in love with a Piercing fanatic, Veil Cruz-adoring,plicated Presider you." Seeker chuckled.


    "But it''s such a mysterious power! Your soul! It''s unlike anything I''ve ever seen!"


    "You already have seen it. There was an old man in the World Governing Trading Hub who Emperors surrounded. He had that same strange power."


    "An old man?"


    "Yes. I''ve done a bit of a background check on him, and I''m sure he''s Nogard Meng."


    "Nogard Meng? Isn''t he like that old Chinese hero? He''s alive?!"


    "Yes. I guess that''s how he managed to live long. And you''re father also ced several souls in you to defend against such power. It''s probably why he was confident that I couldn''t manipte you or use my power against you."


    "Scary. So which one of your Presider friends is attacking the Underwater cities in the pacific region? Is your main body safe?"


    "It''s Myrth. And yes, don''t worry. She won''t dare attack my body even if she knows the main carrier that carries it."


    "Why?"


    "Myrth won''t sh with Garenjazz."


    "That pokemon nerd?"


    "Yeah. He''s probably the strongest Presider on Earth. The Top Tiers won''t sh right now, especially since more Presiders areing here. We don''t know what we''re facing. But the Pig Five has already brought everyone to a state of fear. They are one of the Presider levels that everyone knows has Devourer tech. So naturally, most don''t want to sh with them."


    "Like Pridgeon, huh? So we have Pig Five, and that Lanterk is actually a goat? So what''s this Myrth''s erm¡­ Spirit animal?"


    "She''s a fat Yoma."


    "What''s a Yoma?"


    "Yo mama."


    "¡­ Very funny."


    "I''m sorry! I couldn''t resist!" Zeraphine chuckled.


    "Actually, I don''t know. And the right term we use to describe them is the Nefilus Creature. This only appears when an Aragarian is strong enough. So theoretically, only those who are Principals should have it. But of course, the exceptional Top-Tiers have it as well¡­"


    "What about my dad? Have you seen his Nefilus Creature? Oh! Right. You can''t! We have a Phallium body."


    "Exactly. I can''t see it. But¡­ I see lightning."


    "¡­Of course you did." Seeker gave her a strange stare.


    "No! That''s not what I mean! I meant that beyond his physical lighting transformation, I felt that I saw a sh of lightning as his Nefilus Creature or Phallium creature, or whatever that was."


    "Wow. That''s so mysterious! What about me?"


    "You''re not that strong enough yet! So I can''t see anything, of course."


    Several floors above Seeker''s room, Lynd frowned.


    "Either she''s lying¡­ Or she''s too weak." Lynd thought to himself. Yet as he thought of this, Cliff, and Alean, who was nearby, heard it in their thoughts. All three of them had a strange ne on.


    The trade for the Thought Transmitters base materials was given and


    "I''m guessing too weak. That Zeraphine doesn''t even feel like a Ranked Hero." The newly recovered Cliff answered. Next to him was Charm. Charm was the only one who didn''t have a ne on.


    "That''s quite an ability, Lynd." An old woman smiled as she served them cookies. She didn''t speak or wear a Thought Transmitter, but her thoughts were still transmitted to Lynd and the rest. In fact, even Charm could hear the old woman.


    "To think that you and my grandson could somehow just connect and talk without those Thought thingamajigs. What a joyful thing it is when brothers dwell in unity! Your little report about how you two were able to unify and invoke that vision from the Progenitor even inspired Eagle to preach that amazing sermon series. It''s one of my favorite sermon series now." The old womanughed.


    "Not as impressive as yours, grandma! You don''t even need a Thought Transmitter and can send your thoughts to several people at once!" Lynd chuckled.


    "It''s not that impressive. I can''t connect with someone that great of a distance. And it''s been a long time since I awakened my Path. And I thought I was the only one since that son of mine, Chris, didn''t show any signs of superpowers other than his amazing work as a spy. Oh, Lynd, Seeker''s not hearing what I''m saying, is he?"


    "No. I''m not using my powers to send it to him. We can turn this link off and on at will. Otherwise, it would be weird since he''s with Zeraphine now."


    "That''s good. Hope you like my cookies!"


    "I''m sorry¡­ Who are you again?" Charm finally asked. The old woman just marched in and started baking cookies. Charm was shocked, but Cliff, Lynd, and Alean weed her warmly, but it was as if there was an already discussed topic about this.


    "Oh, right! I''m sorry. I forgot that I only appeared to the dreams of the three of you. I didn''t introduce myself to this youngdy." The old womanughed.


    "Oh! Sorry, Charm! I thought she appeared in your dreamsst night!"


    "What? No!"


    "Cliff. Don''t talk like that." Lynd reminded as Cliff spoke out as normal humans would.


    "My mistake, sorry!"


    "Charm, this is Seeker''s grandmother. She has been under the protection of Eagle after the battle in China against Meng. She is only known to four people in the world. Nogard, Lennox, Charles, and Eagle. As you can see, her powers are strong. Her Path is actually the one we use to weaponize the Thought Transmitter." Alean introduced.


    "The Thought Transmitter? It''s her power?"


    "Yes. But please keep this a secret, dear. If my grandson knew of my power, then my sponsors won''t be able to see it."


    "To see what?"


    "Seeker''s nightmares. Lennox employed me to use my Path to spy on Seeker. Well, to be urate, I was to spy on what Seeker''s nightmares are. My grandson is a veryplicated person, and I''m sure you guys know that there is a lot he isn''t telling us about the future."


    "You guys are ok with this?" Charm turned to Lynd and the group with a shocked expression.


    "There are things that we also want to know that Seeker doesn''t say. That''s why we''re helping her." Lynd answered without hesitation.


    Suddenly, Alean, Lynd, Cliff, and the old woman had an rmed expressions.


    "What''s that?!" Cliff eximed.


    Back in the room where Seeker and Zeraphine were, Zeraphine had already assumed her fully armored form. Her Throne had appeared.


    "Garenjazz?! What''s the meaning of this?!"

 Chapter 457 - Dreams

    Chapter 457 ¨C Dreams


    The appearance of Garenjazz was a shock to everyone.


    But as Seeker saw Garenjazz manifesting before him, he immediately sent a quick message to Lynd informing him to do nothing.


    "I really can''t wait anymore, kid. You guys have been up for three days! Don''t you guys even sleep?" Garenjazz sighed and immediately disappeared and appeared behind Zeraphine, and he reached out towards Seeker.


    He wasn''t even wearing an Exoskeleton armor or his throne, yet he revealed a strange power.


    "No!" Zeraphine shouted, but as she rushed towards Seeker, she then saw that the room was over fifty kilometers wide, and she was at the edge of the room.


    "Dreamscape!" Zeraphine was horrified at what she saw as she understood that they were already affected by the power of Garenjazz.


    "Greg! You take over!" Seeker cursed and gave orders to have one of his minor personalities take over.


    "No! Me!" A woman''s voice called out. As Seeker grew stronger, several other personalities were being introduced. And at the Adult Seeker''s request, Lennox had given them an A.I that he created with the personality of a woman, which he tried to create for those who preferred a female A.I system in their ships. Seeker also needed one to counter the sausage fest inside his mad mind.


    And so, the woman Zoe took was born and had been helping the team of personalities inside Seeker.


    "You?" The Adult asked.


    "Yes. It''s much more confusing if a girl appears."


    "¡­She''s right." The other Seeker agreed.


    "Alright. Everyone! Go to sleep!" The Adult ordered.


    "Can I stay?" Greg asked.


    "NO!" Everyone else chorused.


    "¡­Fine."


    At that moment, Garenjazz was able to touch Seeker and Seeker fell into a deep sleep.


    "GARENJAZZ!" Zeraphine roared.


    "Rx. I''m just here to get information about the Progenitor. There are a lot of things that are bothering me in this ce. My luck is turning bad, and I''m sure this kid is at the center of everything!"


    "You are making an enemy out of the Progenitor!" Zeraphine roared.


    "If he is real. Sure. But things have been turning stranger and stranger. Why did that painter know I am the Lion with Wings? Or was it that woman who faked bing blind? I won''t kill this boy as I can see you are really in love with him least you give a bad report to your father when the timees." Garenjazz chuckled.


    "Let go of him!" Zeraphine shouted, but no matter how fast she was moving, she wasn''t reaching the pair.


    "I''ll just check his dreams. That''s it." Garenjazz ignored Zeraphine and dove into the dreams of Seeker.


    Garenjazz saw himself in a city that had been ruined by war.


    People were shouting and screaming as a one-sided massacre urred.


    The moment Garenjazz saw the scene, he frowned.


    "What is this? Why is the battle against the Babylos showing here? I was sure that this kid or that Progenitor is an Earthling!"


    "Fancy seeing you here, Garenjazz." A calm voice spoke.


    The moment Garenjazz heard it, his heart froze, and he turned over to see a beautiful young girl standing.


    "You! What are you doing here?"


    "What do you think?" The youngdy chuckled.


    "¡­ You lost? You were devoured?!"


    "Not exactly. I lost, but I wasn''t devoured. This isn''t a Nefilus suit, after all! It''s a Phallium. Didn''t you know?"


    "I never believed that crap! But it''s actually true?"


    "Of course it is. But I don''t me you. Your powers are simr and more advanced than mine. I can predict and calcte the future, but you could easily sense it. Be warned, though! One among the Progenitor''s team has that ability. Since you are here to gather more information about the Progenitor, take what I have just said and leave.


    I am here to guard you his soul in case someone like you would try to peer through the memories of this kid."


    Without warning, Garenjazz raised his hand a powerful beam shot out.


    The young girl frowned and raised his hand.


    "Minuscule World!"


    The space in which the beam traveled fell into the shrinking world, and the attack missed the young girl.


    "Is that proof enough for you?"


    "No. You might have her powers and her soul, but something about you is not right!"


    "Of course, my soul would be different! Do you think that the Progenitor would just inject my soul into his son''s soul without any constraints and seals? He reshaped my soul to be of service to this boy!"


    "The Progenitor''s a Principal?"


    "Yes and no. Why haven''t any of you thought of this?! If Earth has the legacy of the Lost Primordial and the surviving Pioneers found it, would it not be possible that some of the more powerful magic of the Lost Primordial would work? So while these people can''t be ssified as a Principal, they would have ess to certain powers that they don''t understand, which simply surpasses the level of Principals!"


    Garenjazz had a hateful expression. Something about the ce and the woman before her made it difficult for him to understand the environment.


    "If you really are Shakstress, then who is the one man that-"


    "Do not bring him up, Garenjazz. While you are his brother, do not think that I would forever spare you from the killing blow! You deliberately walked into my dream, and I am in control of this ce! It won''t be likest time where you dyed my soul in your dream!"


    "¡­!" Garenjazz was stunned. The details that this soul spoke of were only something that he and Shakstress knew.


    "I can''t believe it! You really lost!"


    "I am actually dead, thanks to you. Your little dy in my arrival made the Progenitor position his team into a more favorable setup." Shakstress red.


    "I am partially dead because of you!"


    "¡­If you hate me so much, why not just kill me here?"


    "Why do you think?"


    "¡­ The Presider Wars. Better a person who hates you but won''t kill you than the Presider that ising."


    "Yes. You won''t kill Seeker or the Progenitor due to Zeraphine. You are a half ally. In theing wars, it''s much more convenient to know that at least if youe out of this the winner, the Progenitor won''t fear annihtion."


    "Then is there anything you can tell me, half ally?"


    "Just side with the Progenitor. The Lost Primordials are being led by humans now. A disgraceful race dares to dream of joining the Prime Wars. And what''s worse is now¡­ because of the stupidity of the Presiders here, they might have their shot!"


    "I never thought of you to adore our kind so much! And here I thought that you would be more flexible in dealing with non-Aragarian races."


    "I am a half Aragarian, half Babelian. Not a half-earthling."


    "¡­A half Babelian?!" Garenjazz had a shocked expression.


    "¡­ You didn''t know?! Why did I tell you?!"


    "Rx. You''re already dead. And I won''t talk about it, anyway."


    "Get out of here!"


    "Fine! I guess the information that proves the Progenitor to be real is enough information for my trip."


    "Wait!"


    "What now?"


    "No. It''s¡­ another Phallium suit user is trying to gain ess to the dream. I was tasked by the Progenitor to secretly protect Seeker. Otherwise, he might rely on my power all the time."


    "Wait. You still have some power?! So you are alive!"


    "As I said, I am sealed! But of course, I have the power to help Seeker if needed. You''re awfully slow for a Top-Tier!"


    "¡­ You''re more arrogant."


    "I''m a sealed soul. I''m immensely frustrated with my life. What do you expect?"


    "Then what exactly am I waiting for?"


    "I will open the passage to allow you to see Seeker. But another with the powers to move between dreams will appear there. You can choose to spy and listen to their conversation. But once your are done, leave. Do not harm the boy, or I''ll go in there and pull you out!"


    "Fine! Fine! I hope they talk about something interesting¡­" Garenjazz shook his head as a path towards another dreamworld opened in another portal.


    Garenjazz moved inside, and the portal closed.


    Seeing Garenjazz leave, the young woman sighed.


    "I did as you asked, Princess."


    "Thank you, Shakstress." Behind Shakstress was the consciousness that Seeker thought they created as an addition to their thoughts.. It was Zoe.

 Chapter 458 - Shakstress’s Death

    Chapter 458 ¨C Shakstress¡¯s Death


    A month ago, going back in time, during the climax of the battle in Egypt¡­


    The purging white energy Lynd and Seeker used to attack Shakstress was generosity. At the destruction of her Throne and Exoskeleton, Seeker and Lynd did her a favor and purged every cell in her body.


    As the zing heat destroyed her body, she smiled and watched the expressions of the two.


    Despite the wasteful elimination of her body. Instead of performing experiments on her Nefilus suit, Seeker and Lynd opted to show her that her body would be incinerated thanks to the many information and advantages she provided.


    "Thank you." Shakstress muttered. Whether or not Seeker and Lynd actually heard or saw her mutter, those words were trivial to Shakstress, who wanted to express her thanks.


    Her body was destroyed, and all that remained was her soul that was bound to be extinguished and vanish into the higher heavens as there was no longer anything in the three-dimensional ne to which her soul could anchor on.


    But as she was doing that, a mysterious power appeared and began to draw her back.


    "Soul Cage? This is a Principal''s power! No! Somethings different! Who''s there?!"


    "Hello, Shakstress." A woman appeared before her.


    "You! Zeraphine?!" Shakstress was stunned to find an older Zeraphine standing before her.


    "Yes. But not the one you know. As you can see, I''m older." Zeraphine smiled.


    "What do you want? Let me go, and let me leave! I am done fighting and only want to rest!"


    "No. Why should I? I found a great defender for my husband''s future." Zeraphine sneered.


    Suddenly, a powerful shield appeared and surrounded Shakstress. The power was Universe Energy!


    Shakstress couldn''t move as she saw a great power.


    "Let''s go." Zeraphine quickly drew Shakstress back into Seeker''s soul.


    "Quietly now. You don''t want the other soul to notice you." Zeraphine chuckled.


    It happened too fast, and Shakstress''s soul was drawn back into Seeker''s soul.


    The two Seekers were actively fighting and didn''t notice the strange events that had happened.


    Shakstress found herself in a strange world. She could be a strange Earth. One driven to the point of breaking from the many wars that raged on it.


    "This is my home."


    "A memory? Seeker said he was from the future¡­ it couldn''t be!"


    "Yes. Both Seekers didn''t notice. But since I died, I''ve been living within Seeker."


    "What did you do?! How is this possible? You were inside Seeker all along?!" The situation was so bizarre. There was no way that the soul of Zeraphine could have stayed inside the soul of another when her body died. Unless someone bes a Principal, the locality of a soul is fixed to the main body.


    "Love made me do this. Are you interested in learning this? I can seal you in this ce. You could live on and have a chance to be reborn into something stronger." Zeraphine smiled.


    "No! I don''t have any interest in fighting anymore!"


    "Then why not be an observer? We don''t know if you can observe the battle of the Prime Wars in the afterlife. Aren''t you curious who will win?"


    "You''re insane! How are you able to breach the rules and allow me to stay here?!"


    Zeraphine smiled.


    "Seeker''s Path. This body''s power has been blessed and crafted by the Lost Primordial. Seeker doesn''t know that because he and Lynd were synced like this, he was able to do the impossible when they fought you. Lynd can observe and copy, but Seeker could discern the foundation. Of course, I had to help a little. I used his body to recreate a cell that is yours." Zeraphine exined.


    "You recreated my cell? I see. So that''s why my soul can''t leave just yet¡­"


    "Yes. What helped was your state as well. When you were talking with Seeker and Lynd, both were actively using their Paths to understand you. And you were at your purest form. Any other influences did not gue you."


    "Influences?"


    "Why do you want to join the Prime Wars? I bet you can''t answer that question now." Zeraphine chuckled.


    "What kind of a question is that? Of course, I want to¡­" It was then the Shakstress became silent.


    "What happened?"


    "Your death and your eptance of it has caused the curse of the Primordial to end. It''s a very interesting feeling, isn''t it?"


    "What has the Primordial done?" Shakstress was horrified. The relief that she felt was more than just her being free from the pressure of the Prime Wars. It was something else!


    "To ensure the Prime Wars, he needed to reshape the hearts of all Aragarians. That''s why people like you can''t help but fight the Primes Wars. And you might say, what about the rest who ignore or flee from the Prime Wars? For Conquerors to be born, a society with people that have no intention of fighting has to exist. The Primordial had to ensure that our world would have greatpetition and the existence of ipetent ones who weugh at. But notice how none of us ever dared to go against the Prime Wars. It''s like we just epted it and wanted it even though we knew it was just the attempt of the Primordial to find a way into the high heavens. Well, actually, there was one who didn''t ept it."


    "The Lost Primordial!"


    "Exactly. He was the only one who wanted to stop the Prime Wars. I mean, think about it. How many of us will remain after the Prime Wars? Imagine the death toll. And all this so that we can create new Primes and push ourselves to create technologies beyond what we have. That''s what the Lost Primordial wanted to stop. And not just this one, but he wanted to stop the senseless repetition of wars our world is engulfed in."


    "Repetition of wars? What repetition? The Prime Wars has not yet happened!"


    "Oh, but it did. Why did we wage war against the Babelians?"


    "You can''t mean¡­!"


    "Yes. Besides, it''s hard to create theing war. Not everyone desires power. But the Primordial used his power to control everyone, even Primes! The very nature of our being has been shifted so that we can only follow it. Some are destined to ignore it, others are destined to flee, while the few were given the desire to Conqueror. Your pride as a Conqueror is nothing but an instilled nature. And now you are free from it, Shakstress."


    Shakstress was shocked at Zeraphine''s revtion.


    "How did you know of this?"


    "I killed myself in front of Seeker. The scandal that would erupt had I allied myself with Seeker would have been used against my father back home. It''s funny, isn''t it? I spent my life running away from my overprotective father. In the end, I realized he was right and that I actually loved him. But that was a problem because I couldn''t bring myself to kill Seeker. In the end, I killed myself, seeing no escape in the dangerous dilemma of choosing him or my father. In the end, I decided to kill myself and give Earth a tremendous and crucial victory. But when I killed myself, Seeker had so much of me in his heart that he created a strange power. We loved each other so much that our souls became one."


    "Seeker said he time traveled. He brought you with him!"


    "Actually, he couldn''t have done that without me. Seeker didn''t just transmit his memories which created his other soul in this timeline. He sent his soul to the past with the help of my power."


    "Impossible!"


    "Indeed. The more I see things from Seeker''s point of view, the more amazed I am with the power of the Lost Primordial. Shakstress. The Lost Primordial has allies among the Aragarians. We are told that he stole power from Principals and Primes and became stronger. That was wrong. He broke the chains that bound him to the Prime Wars and did something no one else could. He formed a team that helped him fight the battles. I believe that my father is an ally of the Lost Primordial!"


    "The path of Unity! That''s what Seeker said!"


    "Yes. Shakstress, I don''t believe in coincidence. The battle of the Primordial and the Lost Primordial is not yet over. Your presence here and the events that allow you to be free from the chains of the Primordial is part of the will of the Lost Primordial. Join us!"


    "Then I will ask you this, Zeraphine. What is an Oveer?"


    "Conquerors wish to Conquer. But when they do, they remain alone. That is the ideology and path that the Primordial took. The Oveer wishes to Ovee. And that means to ovee with allies by his side. Every Oveer on this earth wishes not to be alone. Even the more wicked ones like that Tyrant Empress. You''ve met her, right? After all, who would praise her beauty if there is none around this world? So¡­ will you join us?"


    "You''ve convinced me that the Lost Primordial''s path is the right one after all. Fine. If that Primordial cursed me to be his pawn, my soul wouldn''t rest until I pay him back!"


    Back at present, Zoe smiled as she reappeared, and her appearance slowly reverted back to Zeraphine.


    When Lennox introduced the A.I system, unknown to Seeker, Zeraphine had taken that form and merged both her and Shakstress to create the new being. It was, in fact, a being of two souls.


    "Looks like we''ve saved your boyfriend. I''m curious. Is this the first time you did?" Shakstress asked.


    "No. Seeker made a huge mistake back then when he faced Greydon Meng. He nearly lost two Oveers due to his oversight. So I had to prod him to continue. I whispered a simple sentence, and that sentence shockingly made him an Oveer." Zeraphine chuckled.


    "Who is that other person? Her powers are interesting."


    "We''ll find out, won''t we?" Zeraphine tore another portal and the twobined back into Zoe.


    On the other side of the strange dreamworld, Seeker was shocked as he saw his grandmother.


    "Granny?!"


    "Hey, Zeek! Just checking up on you to see if you are alright. The Progenitor got worried and sent me as he sensed something infiltrating your soul." The old woman chuckled.


    Hearing those words, Seeker knew that someone was spying on them.


    "Father sent you? Who is trying to infiltrate my soul?"


    Garenjazz watched in the background, and he sighed.


    "So I can''t get anything out of this¡­ To think I wasted so much Universe energy." Garenjazz felt pain.


    "Granny?" Zoe''s voice was heard as she stepped into the dream.


    "Hrm? Who is this youngdy? Seeker! Were you dreaming of something¡­ perverted? I can''t believe the son of the Progenitor is having a wet dream!"


    "Granny! Stop!" Seeker facepalmed.

 Chapter 459 - Garenjazz’s Conflict

    Chapter 459 ¨C Garenjazz¡¯s Conflict


    The appearance of his grandmother and Zoe in this strange space made Seeker cautious.


    "Do you sense him?" Seeker asked the Adult. But surprisingly, the Adult didn''t reply!


    Seeker took hints from the silence of the Adult and believed that the enemy could be in this very space, and there was a possibility that even his thoughts were being read. All he could do was keep lying.


    "Grandma. What are you doing here? And how?"


    "Well, you know how some of the Progenitor''s allies are worried of you. Well, worry is not the right term, to be exact. They are concerned about your ns. So they sent me in here to spy on you. But I had to blow my cover when I sensed a strange power reaching out for you."


    "Yes. This Zoe is one of my souls sent in by the Progenitor. What happened?"


    "I¡­ I don''t know. I saw a man and the next thing I know, I''m here with you. And¡­ Grandma? Is this part of the attack? Anyway, Seeker! Be careful!" Zoe warned.


    Garenjazz watched from the background and sighed. He could sense a strange power locking into him and knew that this ''Zoe'' was Shakstress.


    "Damn it. Just when I was enjoying the scene¡­" Garenjazz sighed and stepped forward.


    His appearance caused the rest to react.


    "Hello." Garenjazz greeted.


    "Now, who is this young fellow? Is this still part of your wet dream?" Granny frowned and turned to Seeker.


    This time both Seeker and Garenjazz gave an exasperated sigh.


    "Granny¡­" Both of them expressed.


    "I''m the person who was trying to spy in the dreams of little Seeker. But¡­ as it turns out, this Progenitor of yours seemed to have made protocols to prevent me from spying on him. Not to mention, it seems there are other spies around. This gives me the impression that the team of the Progenitor isn''t as united as it seems¡­" Garenjazz observed the olddy with a curious look.


    "That''s some strange power. That''s not your soul. It''s like you managed to create a link directly into the mind of someone else¡­"


    "Whoever you are, get out! My father will-"


    "Spare me the threats, kid. This is just payback for those two who your father probably sent. Still, by the looks of it, your dad just wanted to see my form. So I guess it''s not really threatening. But anyway, while I can''t force out any more details from you, this little mission of mine has proven its worth. I''m here to inform you that I''m the ward of Zeraphine."


    "Ward?"


    "As in guardian. Well, you might have noticed, or father might have noticed that little Princess Zeraphine is¡­ a bit special among Presiders."


    "Is her father a Principal?" Seeker asked randomly.


    "A Prime."


    Seeker was stunned as he heard those words.


    "A Prime?"


    "Yes. So, please forgive me when I came snooping around to check out what kind of rtionship she and you have. I still have my duties, after all. I don''t want Prime Zephirus to punish me. Although there were no clear instructions on how I am to act if Zeraphine falls in love¡­ Frankly, I never expected this to happen. I was prepared to see a harem of famous young celebrity around her, and here she is, sticking her heart out to one person."


    "Who is this Prime Zephirus?"


    "What''s there to say? He''s a Prime! Ask your father."


    "¡­She never told me."


    "She hates her father. It''splicated. Look, I know that a Presider War is happening, but frankly, I don''t want to get entangled in anys of war. At least not yet. So, please tell your father to leave me be. At least for now. You could say that I''m scared of him considering the rather unique means tomunicate with granny over there."


    "Oh, please stop. You''re making an old woman like me blush." Granny chuckled.


    "In any case, Seeker. It seems my mission here is a failure, and I have to apologize to those sponsors who asked me to spy on you, but your life is more important. I''m sure even they agree. You haven''t had dreams about the Lost Primordial, have you?"


    "Do you see that subusing in my dreams? I haven''t. I''vepleted the training, Grandma. I wasn''t just guarded against this guy." Seeker frowned.


    "I''m just asking. You haven''t been visiting me ever since this whole thing started."


    "Grandma, you know I''m busy."


    "Yeah¡­ I''mma take my leave now. I don''t think I should stay and listen to this conversation. We''ll talk outside in our real bodies." Garenjazz sighed and moved away.


    Seeker then turned towards Zoe and gave a meaningful nce.


    Zoe nodded.


    "I''ll walk you out, kind sir." Zoe chased after Garenjazz.


    "So cautious¡­" Garenjazz sighed and opened a strange portal towards another realm.


    As the two walked out, they were once more in the memories of Shakstress, and the Aragar was once more shown.


    "How have you hidden this from the boy?"


    "Well, the Progenitor made it look like he''s just instilling another soul inside of him, and I simply demanded privacy as a woman. The others agreed. Especially Greg. He''s an idiot."


    "How strong is this woman iming to be the Lost Primordial? I believe I met her in my dreams."


    "Ah¡­ That bitch. I hate her. She''s strong. So strong that the Progenitor is actually afraid of her. They have some sort of a peace treaty now between them. Both sides know each other and would consider each other the lesser threat. Compared to theing Presiders. So they decided to go on a little agreement. So it may even seem that both of them are helping each other in the fights ahead. I think the Progenitor would rank you only second in might for Presiders here on Earth. Funny, isn''t it? A human Presider is actually the most dangerous one in the Progenitor''s eyes." Shakstressughed.


    "You really epted your fate here¡­ How sad."


    "I have already lost, Garenjazz. What is a Conqueror if she has lost?"


    "¡­ Fair enough. Then I bid you goodbye, Shakstress."


    "Garenjazz. Did you know about the curse of the Primordial?"


    Garenjazz paused and turned towards Shakstress.


    "What curse?"


    "Figures that you wouldn''t know. When I lost my body and was considered by all ounts as dead, I felt the great release. The bindings and curses that urge all Aragarians to climb thedder as a Conqueror or flee from the wrath as a coward was released."


    "What do you mean, curse? Theres no curse."


    "The longer I spent my time here, the more I believed it. The Progenitor and the one masquerading as the Lost Primordial was able to secure various legacies from the real Lost Primordial. But there is a difference between the two. That woman iming to be the Lost Primordial is an Earthling, while the Progenitor is an Aragarian. So he is bound by this curse. But in their battles, both sides realized something. The Progenitor is driven by something. There was a conflict within him which he resolved right before you guys arrived. You see, the Progenitor is a Conqueror. I''m sure you figured that out. But now, he conquers not out of the desire to win the Prime Wars or out of cowardice to flee from it. He wants to stop it." Shakstress smiled.


    "Stop the Prime Wars?"


    "That''s probably what the original Lost Primordial wanted. He doesn''t want to ascend to the highest heavens and explore all dimensions. He is rather content with what he has. And frankly, even we Presiders who have a very minuscule chance of even winning the Prime Wars should statistically not bother or desire to fight in the Prime Wars. Why are we driven with the same desire to ascend and see something we have no hopes of seeing? Have you ever thought of that? You guys are still under a curse. Well, I''m sorry for telling you this. But I liked you as a Presider. entric, brash, and cool. If we weren''t under the curse of being Conquerors, I would have settled and pursued you to be my husband." Shakstressughed.


    Garenjazz smiled.


    "Why, thank you! Honestly, you do look amazing and rank number fourth among the Presiders I lust after!" Garenjazz approved.


    "Anyway, nice discussion, Shakstress. Fascinating theory, though. See you around."


    "Well, you''ve killed your share of Aragarians. How many of them had the same reactions as I did? Did they share of how sweet a release from their burdens their death was?"


    Garenjazz suddenly froze at Shakstress''s statements. It was the first time he felt it. A conflict within himself. Something wasn''t right, and his zone could feel it.


    "Oh? Struck a nerve, did I? I wonder. Which one of us truly is free. Me? I''m employed and honestly thankful I can still draw breath if whatever this is called breathing. But you¡­ you are still a ve to your nature. Pitiful. I am freer than you, Garenjazz."


    "Goodbye, Shakstress. May we never see each other again.." Garenjazz departed moved his soul out of the area.

 Chapter 460 - The Assassination Attempt On Seeker

    Chapter 460 ¨C The Assassination Attempt On Seeker


    Zeraphine was still rushing towards the expanding space of the Dreamscape. She knew that releasing her soul was dangerous as Garenjazz was one of the stronger Soul Wielding Aragarians among Presiders.


    "Move! Damn it!" Zeraphine roared. She had never felt so helpless even as she poured out all the techs and abilities she had in her Throne and body. Her Soul Wielding was different from Presiders that even Principals were curious about. But because of her uniqueness, she had no path or model to follow. And this ability was even sealed by the Principals.


    And now, her desperation went past its limits. She was crying as she tried to move closer. Several seconds had passed, but she knew that time in the dreamworld passed differently.


    Suddenly, the entire Dreamscape copsed, and Zeraphine mmed hard onto the throne of Garenjazz.


    BANG!


    Suddenly, Garenjazz grabbed her by the nape.


    Great fear emerged out of Zeraphine. Suddenly, Garenjazz was donning her Exoskeleton famous among Presiders as the Bloodsoaked Survivor for how he emerged out of the Presider Wars. It had been a long time since Garenjazz had been angry.


    "Calm down, you little brat! You made a scratch on my Throne!" Garenjazzined.


    It was bizarre how Garenjazz could touch Zeraphine directly on her neck. His hands bypassed the unassable materials of the Throne and her suit. And yet, when Garenjazz reached out, his hands directly chocked Zeraphine.


    It was the first time that Zeraphine thought she would die.


    "Tsk. You need to strengthen up your mental fortitude, Princess." Garenjazz threw Zeraphine back.


    "Zeraphine. As you can see, your little boyfriend is alright." Garenjazz also dropped Seeker on the ground.


    The moment he fell, Seeker woke up.


    He immediately sprang up and began to awaken his Unlocking and wield power in his body.


    "That was an impressive trick, kid. How many souls are there in you? You seemed highly favored by your father."


    Seeker didn''t say anything but re at Garenjazz, and his entire clothes were slowly burning as his body was releasing immense heat.


    "Hmm? Dalisay tech? But it''s burning you for real. Rx, kid. I''m not here to fight. I already said what I needed to say inside that dream world. My regards to your grandmother if you see her. Pay her a visit, will you?"


    "Maybe I really should. It feels degradinging from an alien-like you." Seeker gazed cautiously at Garenjazz.


    "Alien? You''re like me, kid. Anyway, just remember what I said about this girl''s dad. If you think I''m strong, his dad only needs to lift a finger to kill me. I''m off." Garenjazz suddenly disappeared without warning.


    Seeker was shocked at what had happened.


    Zeraphine rushed towards Seeker.


    "Are you alright?"


    "Yeah¡­ He appeared in my dream, but my dad sent my grandmother."


    "Your¡­ Grandmother?"


    "I was surprised too. Erm¡­ Zeraphine¡­ I need to go."


    "I understand. Your dad must be calling you. I have to go anyway. I need to talk to the other Presiders."


    "Will you be alright going alone?"


    "I don''t think they would attack me right now. Besides, Garenjazz is here. He''s my-"


    "Your ward. He told me. I guess I won''t have to be afraid of you being ambushed with that guy around. You''re a Prime''s daughter?"


    "Yes. It''splicated."


    "I''m sure it is¡­" Seeker sighed.


    The pair became silent. Seeker didn''t ask any questions, and Zeraphine couldn''t say anything more.


    "I have to go, Zeek. I''ll try to hurry up and get my main body quickly. What about you?"


    "I''m not sure if we can see each other again tomorrow. My father should be called an important meeting because of what happened. There were supposed to be people guarding me around here."


    "Garenjazz is probably the strongest Presider on Earth. Your dad¡­ must have underestimated him."


    "I hope that''s not the case¡­ That Garenjazz fellow sounded like he lost. But now, I don''t know." Seeker couldn''t help but sense that something had happened as Garenjazz was not as forceful as expected.


    "I''ll go ahead, Zeek. Please be careful." Zeraphine wiped Seeker''s face and couldn''t help but move down.


    "Woah! Zeraphine! I told you! If we were to kiss, I want it to be with your real body. Since you''ll be freeing this girl, it feels wrong to abuse her body like this."


    "Fine. You''re no fun." Zeraphine frowned.


    "No fun? If I let you kiss me, I''d probably be gued with you getting jealous over this Lara for the remainder of my life! You''d be asking me useless questions like, ''do you still think of me in her body?'' Like hell, I''m allowing that!"


    Zeraphine chuckled.


    "Oh! You caught me! I was nning to use that as an excuse to win arguments and throw out random tantrums as normal couples do." Zeraphine smiled and began to walk out of the room.


    "Hey, Zeraphine."


    "Hm?"


    "We may not be a normal couple¡­ But my heart will always be in the right ce for you." Seeker smiled.


    Zeraphine smiled back and nodded. As she moved out, her eyes began to tear up as she was secretly crying in joy from Seeker''s words.


    The moment she left the room, Zeraphine noticed that her body was still trembling from fear. It was this fear that prodded her to kiss Seeker.


    "I have to get stronger. The Presider Wars could easily be the end of me and Zeek! I must get stronger to protect us!"


    Back inside the room¡­


    "Lynd." Seeker immediately called out.


    "I know. That was scary. That Presider could kill any of us!"


    "We underestimated Garenjazz. Is Alean there?"


    "Yes. She says that we are still holding the momentum of the battle and that Zone is still on our side. She doesn''t understand why that is, though."


    "Alright. Let''s- oh, for crying out loud! I forgot about this brat!" Seeker cursed as a figure appeared before him.


    A person moved through the walls and was wielding arge sword.


    "Seeker Carlean! I am here to assassinate you!"


    "Yeah¡­ I don''t think you understand the concept of assassination."


    "What have you done to Kristine?" Jake shouted in anger.


    This was the chance of a lifetime. He had been secretly spying on Seeker and knew that a woman known as Zeraphine was with him. What shocked him was that the womanmanded a strange tech simr to the Rules of the WGP. As the days passed, he kept spying on this woman called Zeraphine, who used her Throne on a few asions and even shot several attacks at him at one point.


    Jake had no choice but to keep his distance from this woman and believed that this woman was Seeker''s bodyguard.


    So Jake waited for the right moment. Then, finally, he saw Kristine leave.


    "Jake. I don''t have time for this!" Seeker cursed.


    Jake was stunned that Seeker knew his name.


    "You¡­! You know about me? Then you know about Kristine! Where is she?!"


    "Lynd. I thought Cliff was keeping an eye on this kid."


    "Cliff says the following¡­ Oh right. I forgot to report this. But when you made me fight the werewolf, I might have lost track of Jake." Lynd chuckled.


    "That petty little fool!" Seeker growled back at Lynd.


    "Whatever, Zeek. You''ve been making Cliff''s life a living hell since you took him in. I''d say it''s time for a littleeback. Remember, you can''t show powers beyond Inhuman Proficient. Otherwise, those other Presiders wille looking!" Lynd reminded.


    "I freakin'' know. You guys don''t have any ns to help me?!"


    "Help you? The great Seeker Carlean? Besides, your grandma baked cookies. It would be rude of us to leave now."


    "So you guys are with my grandma¡­ You knew the whole spying thing?"


    "Sort of. There''s still a lot your not telling us, after all. Oh. And I''m sure you know this, but this guy is so mad that he''s the closest thing we have right now to witnessing how Ranked Heroes are born. Arthur''s been experimenting on him after all. So don''t forget to push his rage as high as you can. Remember, the stronger he bes, the better we can tread or Paths on him!" Lynd answered.


    "Seeker! You made Kristine''s life a living hell!" Jake roared again as Seeker ignored him.


    "Kristine Cythia? You mean LordChokeMeSenpai? I''m done with her. But I won''t give her to you for free. You have to pay the top price if you want to buy her body. Let''s see. Thest buyer was the president of South America. I''ll give you the same price as I did with him. Contact my agent, though. I don''t know the exact rate." Seeker turned around and walked away.


    "WHAT DID YOU SAY?! Where is she?!"


    "You have to wait. She still has a few clients lined up." Seeker shrugged.


    "DIE!" In his rage, Jake charged at Seeker with a sword.


    Seeker suddenly evaded the attack, and with a swift speed, he countered and kicked Jake.


    But his legs passed through Jake.


    Jake stabbed the sword down on Seeker.


    "Realm." Seeker harnessed the energy of his Realm.


    BANG!


    It was as if a shotgun was shot on Jake''s abdomen.


    Jake was thrown back and crashed on the wall. He spat out a mouthful of blood and was horrified how Seeker managed to hurt or touch him in his ghost-like form.


    "Oh? That''s a highly ssified weapon in Britain!" Seeker noticed the sword that Jake was using. The metal was so strange. It looked normal, but it gave off strange energy.


    "Is that the lost Project Excalibur of New Great Britain? We''ve been looking for that tech for a while! You''re an amazing thief! You must have stolen it from a secret Pioneer facility. So it seems you have your use after all." Seeker smiled.


    Jake stood up and held the de and strange orange lightning began to course around the sword. The energy was so unique that it was simr to Origin energy. It was clearly an attempt to imitate Universe Energy.


    "Die!" Jake charged towards Seeker, who had a look of anticipation.

 Chapter 461 - Scouts, Sniper, And Tanks

    Chapter 461 ¨C Scouts, Sniper, And Tanks


    Meanwhile, on a military base at the coast of South America¡­


    "Abandon the base! Those werewolves have breached the main gates! We''re all going to die!" The Commander of the base shouted as the werewolves tore into the facility.


    At first, only a single werewolf was rushing out and eating men and machines with their terrifying jaws. But soon, the men that were killed began to rise and turned into werewolves themselves.


    The Exoskeletons could not kill the werewolves, who were now so strong that most of their bullets couldn''t prate the hide of these beasts.


    Outside the base, a group of Exoskeletons had surfaced through a hidden submarine.


    The submarine was equal to the Pegasus ships that the WGP rode. Its cloaking techs were top-notched, and the journey it took to cross the continent involved a lot of help from Underwater cities and some Emperors of the WGP.


    "That''s¡­ Amir!" A young man cried out in shock.


    "Actually, it''s Amir''s son." Another corrected.


    "That''s right. That''s the same werewolf who fought against Cliff. I''m guessing that now, it''s feeding time. Amir should be nearby. But if you were to engage his son, I''m sure Amir wouldn''t join."


    "Are you sure, Halley?"


    "Yes. Remember that Oveers cannot interfere with the fights of their subordinates. So, are you going to challenge him?"


    "Let''s go. It''ll be fun." A woman burst out of the sea and charged towards the base.


    The Golden Exoskeleton had tremendous speed and immediately reached the base. She carried a sword and a shield and began to slice the head of the werewolves.


    "¡­ I guess we''re going." Another youth chuckled as he charged towards the base.


    The rest followed.


    "Covenant! Move out! We''re going to find and subdue the werewolf causing this. Titan moves ahead and starts saving people. We could use these survivors as allies who will help us in the future." The pilot of the gold Exoskeleton ordered.


    Titan charged out and used his Scout Exoskeleton to move towards the inside of the base immediately.


    The power of his Unlocking and the link between him and his suit began to increase.


    In the months that have passed, Scouts have taken a new form. They had the highest perception of time, and their bodies had grown to the point that they could move at incredible speed. Their Exoskeleton armor was the weakest of them all, but they were trained to evade all attacks and not block at all. Titan was the first of the scouts and was trained by Richie himself. Speed and instincts took over, and Titan zoomed past the many werewolves.


    The speed of the werewolves could catch up to a jet-propelled Exoskeleton, and their diverse swipes, bites, and w attacks were close to the speed of sound.


    But this was basic for a scout.


    Titan charged through the many werewolves and was focused on moving the deeper parts of the facilities.


    Titan had a dagger in one hand, and a small bracelet that released Typical''s needles was on another. He stabbed and shot on those approaching while evading the rest.


    As the werewolves felt the threat, it began to crowd at Titan, blocking the path.


    Titan kept moving without hesitation. He knew that he would help him.


    BANG!


    The bullet shot through the jaws and ws of werewolves. Even though the speed of Titan and the werewolves would put most Unlocked to have problems keeping up, the sniper who went by the game-handle Asterisxx, was a different breed.


    Through the power harnessed in Cliff''s memories and Madison''s time-stopping perception, Snipers could focus their perception and make time move so slow in a short time.


    This would give him time to take aim and shoot.


    BANG!


    Another round shot out and cleared the way for Titan to move.


    "John, I''m syncing Titan''s video feed to you. Help him move deeper inside. Everyone else, don''t rely on John''s support for now." Halley ordered.


    "Like we need it¡­" Dara scoffed as she charged ahead with Danny.


    Her entire Exoskeleton began to glow with a strange light, and her suit exploded into several pieces that began to smash on the head of the werewolves.


    The pieces all flew, leaving Dara wearing her masked synthetic attire remained.


    The wolves pounced at her at the opening.


    Dara raised her right fist, and a form of power that fused Realm and Origin power appeared. She punched down, and the entire ground underneath her exploded, causing the metal tes and rocks of the ground below to explode towards the leaping wolves.


    BOOM!


    The punch also created an explosive reaction that knocked all wolves back. Those at the very front were smashed into bloody pulps.


    "So gory as ever." Danny chuckled as he moved forward with the burned bodies of the werewolves next to him. His two swords were on fire, but the mes died out suddenly.


    The mes were born from one fire technology that the WGP once banned. Hellfire Technology was now harnessed andbined with the Dalisay tech. As the path to creating Ranked Heroes was opened, Danny became the first to desire the experiment and couldmand Hellfire technology and actively create it using Realm and Origin.


    The fires caused immense pain that the werewolves could not ignore, and it made the wolves scream and w their own bodies in an attempt to be free from the pain.


    "Whatever, fire demon." Dara ignored him and charged ahead.


    As the cleanup of werewolves was happening outside, Titan was moving deeper and deeper inside, and the horrifying scenes of humans transforming into werewolves despite missing limbs were urring.


    Titan began to fight his way inside and would asionally receive assistance from John, who would use curving and remote-controlled bullets.


    Soon, Titan was able to reach the deeper parts of the facilities and saw a pack of werewolves facing off with thest Exoskeletons of the base.


    Arge werewolf among the pack could be seen.


    "I have eyes on Amir''s son. He''s gotten bigger from when we saw him outside." Titan reported.


    "Do not engage. Wait for us. We''re just cleaning up the pesky dogs here! Danny. Get to the Comm Tower and knock that down!" The Gold Exoskeleton ordered.


    "Roger!" Danny replied.


    Titan heeded the gold exoskeleton''s orders and sought survivors. He closed his eyes and used his ears to search for the sounds of a human cry.


    "There!" Titan finally found the sound of gunfire, and many shouted.


    Titan followed the sound and killed his way on the underground chambers of the base. Soon, Titan finally reached the areas of the base that activated a lockdown protocol. But while the gates were closed, a lot of gunfire could be heard.


    The werewolves had somehow gained the intelligence to prevent the gates from closing. So it threw several Exoskeletons and sent their team to block thest closing gates and jammed the gears of the door.


    "Hm? The werewolf virus is evolving. Scary." Titan shivered and didn''t want to be a werewolf.


    "You won''t be a werewolf, Titan. We have Charles antidote, remember?"


    "Oh right! So any luck with Charles, Miss Halley?"


    "Shut up, Titan. And hurry up! We need as many survivors as we can save."


    "Alright. But I''m rooting for you. His current wife isn''t strong¡­ so you know. She might die soon."


    "Get moving, Titan!" Halley roared.


    Thest of the gates could not be closed as werewolves had charged in and were stopping the gates from closing in. So soldiers and Exoskeletons made theirst stand as they kept on shooting at the iing wolves. If this line fell, then they would all die.


    Titan kept the dagger and brought out two swords.


    "Ninja Mode. Activate." Titanmanded, and his suit began to change form. The suit began to allow Realm and Origin to gather around his hands and legs.


    Finally, Titan charged forward, and with swift shes, his swords shed through the bodies of the werewolves that could survive a grenadeuncher.

 Chapter 462 - Evolution Of The Virus

    Chapter 462 ¨C Evolution Of The Virus


    Titan moved with unbelievable speed and was using his instincts to attack the wolves and evade the bullets that the soldiers at the other end would shoot at him.


    Titan was not relying on sight or sound anymore but had increased the range of his Realm to sense the slightest changes in the vibration of the air. It was such a rare state that only a few Ranked Heroes possessed in the previous timeline of Seeker.


    But now, this ability has been harnessed to the point that it has be a requirement for all Commander-level soldiers.


    With his fast perception of time and the improved methods of harnessing Realm and Origin, he was able to move in and kill the wolves and remain untouched from the constant attacks of the soldiers.


    The werewolves couldn''t handle the onught of Titan with the staggering bullets that were being sent at them from the front.


    With each slice, he decapitated the heads of the wolves that he ambushed. Soon, he became the focus of the charging wolves.


    "Who is that?!" One of the soldiers was amazed.


    "Who cares? He''s our savior! Just keep shooting and help him kill the wolves!" The General shouted.


    The soldiers and the Exoskeletons


    With the soldiers'' aid, Titan was able to eliminate the wolves.


    "Everyone, you can''t stay here! You have to evacuate! Leave the battle to us! And inform your headquarters that the Lost Primordial has sent these werewolves! The battle in here is just getting started!" Titan began to inform the team as he moved in and avoided the werewolves.


    "He''s right. The whole base has fallen. There is no point in staying here." A General stepped forward.


    "You''re the General of this base? Hurry and round up the survivors. All the aggression of the wolves is focused on us. If you want to help get your men out of this ce so no new werewolves would awaken." Titan ordered.


    "General! Look!" A soldier suddenly cried out.


    At the far end of the hall, a strange creature appeared.


    It was clearly an Exoskeleton. But the Exoskeleton was also a werewolf. It had thick fur growing all over its body.


    "What the fragment is that?!" Titan was shocked.


    The werewolf Exoskeleton was growing fur at a rapid rate. It didn''t have fangs or ws, but its murderous and wild nature remained, and it began to run towards Titan and the soldiers.


    "What do we do?!" The General asked Titan.


    "Try shooting it, I guess."


    "Right! Shooting it! Men! Fire!"


    BANG! BANG! BOOM! BOOM! BLAST!


    Nothing remained from the Exoskeleton.


    "¡­ That was overkill. Anyway, follow the path. My allies should be right behind me, and the werewolves should be busy." Titan then left the group and dashed out of the hall with amazing speed.


    As Titan moved up, he killed the wandering werewolves in the area.


    "It seems that the werewolf is leading the pack somewhere. What could it be?" Titan frowned.


    As Titan moved up and reached the main hall of the base, he finally caught sight of another werewolf Exoskeleton.


    "Hi. I''m looking for the bathroom." Titan asked.


    The werewolf Exoskeleton turned towards Titan and charged wildly.


    BANG!


    The head of the Exoskeleton was blown off.


    John Octavion III appeared at the back wielding his sniper. He used a more powerful round to blow the head of the Exoskeleton. But seeing as the strange werewolf could still move, John shot again.


    BANG!


    "Asterisxx! What the hell?! That was my enemy!" Titan cursed.


    "Sorry. I couldn''t help but shoot it. It''s too weird not to shoot." Johnughed.


    "But what is this?" John asked as he observed the Exoskeleton. The pilot inside was also a werewolf, but the strange change in the metal confused John.


    "It looks like South America has been experimenting with our technology tobine our cells with metals. They have produced this living metal that heals and grows just like the human body. But, the virus of the werewolves is more potent. I''m guessing that it''s following the orders of Amir''s son. Although it doesn''t have a brain, the virus and the cells are reacting to themands of the Alpha wolf. That''s one impressive Realm that wolf has." Halley exined.


    "That''s crazy."


    "Yes. Something strange has happened. Not even Amir himself has this power. I need more data."


    "I guess you should send that info to Charles. He''ll probably like it." John teased.


    "Focus on your mission, John. You''ve gotten all gossipy and annoying since youpleted that mission." Halley was annoyed at the mention of that name.


    "It''s called an appreciation for life, Miss Halley. You should try fighting for it, too."


    "Whatever. Amir''s son seems to be headed for the power core of this base. I guess it''s trying to feed on energy directly."


    "Well, that exins everything. What else will a rampaging werewolf want than radioactive energy that is used to power up a military base." Titan sighed.


    "I don''t think there are any more wondering werewolves. Head to this location. And get ready to fight that Alpha."


    "Lead the way, miss Halley." Dannyughed.


    And so, Halley began to lead the team down. Finally, they found the werewolves all gathered up near the power nt deep inside the base.


    The rest of the werewolves were standing to the side, waiting for any orders of the Alpha.


    The alpha wolf was inside, biting on metals and devouring elements to grow.


    "I know who the father is, but who was the mother that gave birth to that!" Danny was amazed.


    "I don''t know. But can you feel it? The Realm of that beast is huge! How did Amir achieve that?" Titan asked.


    "It''s driven by instincts. We''re in for a fight." The Golden Exoskeleton answered.


    Suddenly, the werewolf stood up and turned towards the Covenant of the Strongest.


    "ROAR!" It howled, and the nearby werewolves all turned around and howled at them. There were several exoskeleton werewolves in the mix.


    The radiation level of the wolf suddenly grew several times stronger.


    "This is horrifying. It has the cells of Cliff, and it''s activated. I get it now. It''s the ability to even turn bio-robots into werewolves. It''s the ability to feed on energy! It''s taken the powers of several Unlocked! Can you feel it? Its roars are based on the thunder of Richie." Halley reported.


    "It gains the power of whatever it eats, huh? So I guess the defeat of the triomanders of the Basilisk Squadron isn''t as embarrassing as we thought it would be." Dannyughed.


    "Reminds me of the zombie robots in the Kraken. Now we have werewolf robots." John sighed.


    Suddenly, the Alpha began to bite the nearby wolves. Each tremendous bite tore through the parts of the werewolf down to its bones. The werewolf greedily took several bites until it quickly devoured five werewolves.


    Its frame turnedrger at each bite, and the radiation it was released was also increasing.


    "That''s new¡­" Halley was amazed. This didn''t even happen during the battle against Cliff''s team a few days ago.


    "That werewolf''s power is off the charts!" Dara frowned as she could see the radiation increase.


    "The cells of the werewolf are going berserk. It''s eating up its lifespan to produce power. It should have enough might to damage Almetals. Be careful. Even Rules would be damaged at that beast''s w attacks." Halley warned.


    "The cells are going berserked. It would be a shame¡­ if someone calms it down." Dannyughed as he turned towards the Golden Exoskeleton.


    "Let''s have fun, shall we? Let''s show that Ranked Hero wannabe the power of the Covenant!" The Golden Exoskeletonughed and charged forward.


    The tank and two fighters led the way. The sniper positioned itself at the back, and the scout vanished.


    "Time to go to work¡­" John sighed. To him, it was business as usual.. It was just another day as a member of the Covenant of the Strongest.

 Chapter 463 - The Victor Of The Fight

    Chapter 463 ¨C The Victor Of The Fight


    The entire team charged towards the werewolves that pounced with great hunger.


    John positioned himself at the back and used his machine gun mounted on his shoulder to shoot at the iing enemies. His two hands held on a rifle and began to charge up the Realm of the explosion.


    He took aim and shot.


    BANG!


    A massive burning explosion happened in the room and burned five werewolves at the forefront. The others were blown away. But despite this terrifying explosion, the shock waves that the explosion created and the fire had limited force in the Covenant''s direction.


    The attack he just used was a harnessing of Meryl''s light. The WGP''s Origins tech allowed it so that simple paths like this would trigger orbine with other techs. The Realm that John indicated on the bullet directed where the bomb would explode out, and the Origin energy was used to modify another technology to follow the Realm. Hellfire and Meryl''s Path were born.


    Through the maniption of Realm and the enhancement of the weaponized Path, the team was slowly materializing a technology where their attacks would not hit or affect their allies.


    This was one of Unlocked to Ovee''srgest hurdles to make it perfect for gamers like the Covenant to fight. It was the elimination of Friendly Fire.


    The explosions threw the werewolves back. But those on the back showed resilience as they were able to withstand it.


    "Tough bastards!" John cursed and switched ammo.


    Danny activated his full berserker mode and charged like a madman.


    He attacked the werewolves closest to death or incapacitation due to the attack.


    Dara and the Golden Exoskeleton charged at the center of the pack and were determined to meet the Alpha werewolf inbat. So they punched and shed their way through the pack, and Dara released all her armor pieces which exploded out towards the wolves.


    Each metal piece created a small explosion that knocked down a wolf, and it opened the path towards Amir''s son.


    Dara had no suit, but her fist was glowing bright red.


    The werewolf shed out, but a gold shield met the w.


    BANG!


    The Golden Exoskeleton was knocked back, but the werewolf was still fast enough to w another attack.


    SLASH!


    Titan elerated and moved as fast as he could to sh the arm of the werewolf.


    Dara took the opportunity, and a piece of her arm had returned, and Dara punched out.


    BOOM!


    Another massive explosion urred with a specified Realm directed at the wolf. It was as if Dara''s punch produced a powerful beam of fire.


    But even with suchbined effort, the wolf remained strong and bit down.


    Danny arrived at the side pped Dara back to keep her from getting bitten.


    BANG!


    Another bullet exploded, and an ice explosion urred. The Coven was pushed back at the force but gave the group enough time to evade the attack.


    Danny was the first to keep moving and rampaged to stop the iing wolves.


    "That punch didn''t even phase him!" Dara cursed.


    "It''s like he''s Meng!" Titan cursed as he continued to evade the iing wolves.


    But suddenly, the Alpha began to eat more of the nearby wolves.


    "It''s working! The fact that he needs to eat means he is trying to regenerate more energy!"


    "I''ll be out of ammo if we have to focus on killing the rest! We need to end this quickly!"


    "Then let''s go with that gamble. It''s time to see if my Skill works on him!" The Golden Exoskeleton ordered. The group reformed, making another daring charge at the pack of wolves.


    Explosions continued to ring out as a battle progressed.


    Halley continued to watch the fight from the submarine and wasn''t even worried. She then sensed it and frowned.


    "Now, why would you pay me a visit, Amir? I''m sure that this isn''t allowed. Oveers shouldn''t meddle in fights like these."


    "And yet, they had me fight that kid." Amir walked into the room and observed the fight.


    "Well, you know his boss. Seeker has high expectations and is pushing his luck to be an Oveer."


    "He has the mindset and confidence but not the skill. So I''m here to tell you to pull your team back. They are too green for my son."


    "Hmm¡­ I wonder about that. Arthur estimated that this team has a seventy-three percent chance of defeating your little boy."


    "That arrogant little mathematician is-" Amir couldn''t continue. He saw something strange. His son was being overpowered.


    The Gold Exoskeleton led the Covenant, who kept fighting and shing with the dangerous attacks of Amir''s sons. The rest were focused on blocking and taking blows in the ce of the Golden Exoskeleton. and the longer she was around Amir''s son, the weaker the strikes and slow his speed became.


    The rest of the werewolves became even weaker than their ws, and bites could not break the metal Exoskeletons of the team.


    The Unlocked team quickly took advantage of the weakening and began to


    Without saying a word, Amir left.


    "Don''t insult the man called Precision. He is the leader of the Covenant and knows them best. If he says this team will win, they will win. He''s not just a mathematician. He''s a prophet!" Halley chuckled as Amir left.


    The battle in the base was turning to the advantage of the Covenant. Danny was whirling and turning, responding to the calls of his allies which happened at thest second. Dara''s multi-tasking ensured that her attacks always kept the wolves at bay. Titan would aid in stopping Amir''s son from making an attack and would bounce to the other side and incapacitate another wolf.


    John was running out of ammo. But after his fourth shot using one of the expensive bullets with Realms, he found no need to shoot another and focused on killing the werewolves.


    But the most important role fell on the Golden Skeleton, who kept shing with Amir''s son. The longer she stayed close to this alpha wolf, the weaker he got. And even the wolves around them were turning sluggish.


    The fight continued on and on, and a few minutester, the victor was decided.


    "That was¡­ intense!" Danny gave an excitedugh. His suit was damaged, and several w marks could be seen on the arms. The Exoskeleton''s weapons were barely holding on. Amir''s son made ast-second rampage but ultimately lost as the other members of the Covenant ensured that the Gold Exoskeleton would not get harmed.


    Next to him, a massive exoskeleton with thick armors stood up. The Exoskeleton was barely functioning, but the parts were slowly recovering.


    "This one defeated Basilisk''s Squadron''s Commanders, right? We should be as strong as a Ranked Hero now." A young woman who was piloting the hulking Exoskeletonughed.


    "Um¡­ Guys¡­ The dad''s here." Another Exoskeleton appeared next to them and pointed in the direction.


    Amir Mann slowly approached and apuded the team.


    "Brilliant battle! The Covenant of the Strongest is now as strong as ever."


    "Oveer, I hope you don''t bear any grudges for our little interruption of your son''s meal. We are still acting within protocols."


    "Grudge? Of course not. The limbs of your allies are enough. His cells actually calmed down in this fight. So you actually did me a favor." Amir chuckled as he approached.


    The strongest Covenant was trembling as Amir approached, and everyone had their guard up. All but one who was focused on pinning down Amir''s son.


    "I must praise her. You wouldn''t have won without her. She''s almost a Ranked Hero. To fight my son ande out unscathed. This is the first time this has happened." Amir smiled as he observed the Golden Exoskeleton that was pinning Amir''s son on the ground with a massive shield.


    "It''s her Skill." Dara frowned.


    "Rx, Dara. Amir''s right. Just ept it. I mean, Kristine''s been with the boss while we were training. Obviously, she would be stronger than us." Dannyughed.


    "Skill? What''s her skill?" Amir was curious.


    "I can calm people down." Kristine smiled as she approached Amir. A young man was on the floor where the werewolf once was.


    "Oh? What a Skill."


    "Yeah. I don''t want to brag, but even before I became an Unlocked, I managed to calm a berserked Lynd Indigo!" Kristine smiled as she recalled the first instance of her adventuring with Seeker and being tossed for calming a mad Lynd who identally became Inhuman.


    "Oh? That''s interesting." Amir gave Kristine a strange stare.. His eyes turned dangerous, and the Covenant immediately stood before Kristine without hesitation.

 Chapter 464 - Before A Mere Man

    Chapter 464 ¨C Before A Mere Man


    The Covenant felt the pressure of Amir for the first time. They had already trained under several other Oveers, but there was something more sinister with the wolf.


    A terrifying cannibalistic fear suddenly filled everyone''s minds and hearts. It was as if they felt that they were just food in front of Amir.


    The sensation became more and more terrifying as Amir was clearly drooling as he looked on Kristine.


    "How delicious! You mean to say, that in you is the cure that can help my sons hyperactive cell? I can smell now that I''m here. Your scent! It''s even better than the scent of Cliff''s little girlfriend!" Amir grinned.


    The Covenant were able to point their weapons at Amir. But this was more of an instinctive movements that they trained themselves to do in the face of certain death. But a strange conflict urred. Their own instincts warned them not to pull the trigger and fight him.


    Dara was extremely angry. She had faced that experience of nearly dying when the berserked Lynd rampaged underwater. Dara med her hesitation in taking the steps forward and even counted that if she was more brave, she would have reached Lynd on time. And now, her weakness and fear still got the better of her.


    "Hmph! Too green! Too green, all of you! You just won because this little girl''s Skill is the weakness of my son! Those three serving Cliff were braver. This is only as far as you can go, gamers. You can''t even move in my human form. How can you tremble in fear before a mere man?" Amirughed and added emphasis on the words ''Skill'' to point out how weak she is.


    "Don''t test me, wolf!" Kristine grunted as she forced her shield and sword down.


    SMASH!


    Amir''s son was mmed down on the ground and Kristine''s sword was stabbed on the floor. She was nning on stabbing it, but the fear made her miss.


    "Useless." Amir taunted and didn''t even more.


    Kristine was trying to push her sword so that it would slice of the head.


    Suddenly, at that moment of terror, she managed to finally scale her limits and her unlocking soared.


    The immense pain of transcending the stage began to take it''s toll but suddenly, Kristine''s Skill worked.


    The pain and trembling stopped as she forcibly surpress the changes in her body.


    But her Skill was stronger.


    The sword suddenly moved dangerously close to the neck of the werewolf. Amir''s son suddenly lost his werewolf form and reverted back to being a human.


    "Ugh¡­" The young man groaned.


    Amir looked in amazement.


    "So you have some potential. But it''s not impressive enough. You think you can kill him before I move?"


    "Yes." Suddenly, Kristine released her Realm. A strange, soothing and calming aura enveloped the rest of the Covenant.


    The entire Covenant suddenly trembled and regained their courage and returned to pointing their weapons at Amir as their Unlocking soared.


    "We can buy her a second." Titan vowed.


    "Enough to get your little boy''s head off. I wonder. Can her regenerate from that?" Dara sneered.


    Amir was stunned.


    "Ha Ha Ha! I guess I have to praise Arthur. He really can challenge Oveers."


    "Arthur predicted this." Kristine answered.


    "I only call it Skill because it''s not verified. But Arthur has always said, this is a Path. I can raise the morale of those around me. If I grow strong enough, I can do that to an army!" Kristine gave a brave re at Amir.


    "Well, he should really predict things more. I need your blood."


    "He predicted that to. He said we might fight you anytime. The moment we saw this base being attacked, we knew it would draw you out. And while our desire to beat your son was to prove ourselves, you appearing before us is in his prediction. Unless I show you and convince you the full strength of my Path, you might still hurt me. But now, I just showed you that not even your Realm can terrify us. I am best left under Arthur''s and Lennox''s care if you want to save your son! That''s his prediction!"


    Amir raised an eyebrow and slowly nodded.


    "I have to agree with him." Amirughed.


    "Andstly, if you still want to take a bite at me, he said that if you touch me, he and his father will hunt you, skin you, and wear you like a coat."


    "I''m sure they have more than threats to stop me from cutting off your limbs and draining you half of your blood."


    "Two things. The first, is that I would give you this. It''s my Skill extracted and converted into this liquid form." Kristine revealed a vial and threw it Amir.


    Amir caught the vial.


    "Impressive.


    "¡­This will do. Consider yourself lucky, kids." Amir smiled.


    BOOM!


    The Covenant was blown back and even Kristine was pushed back.


    Amir had his son in his hands.


    "Don''t be too arrogant. You can''t stop me for half a second." Amirughed and began to walk out.


    The Covenant was struggling to stand up.


    Suddenly, Amir stopped.


    "What''s the second one? What would have stopped me from hurting you?"


    "Because¡­" Kristine struggled to stand up.


    "I''m still Seeker''s woman!" Kristine dered.


    Amirughed.


    "Keep that up, and you''ll defintiely be a Ranked Hero!" Amir disappeared.


    As Amir left, everyone felt a huge sigh of relief.


    "Woah¡­ That was¡­ scary." Dannyughed again.


    "I think I peed¡­" John Octavion III sighed.


    "Ew." Kristineughed.


    "Anyway, we''re here now. South America. We''ll be working directly under Seeker for a while. This is good. I bet Danny''s excited to go on his date with Meryl! I still can''t believe that you''re actuallypeting against a Principal¡­ And who would have thought that Meryl would be so sadistic!" Titan eximed.


    "Well, I guess I should have expected this when I dated someone whose best friends with Crazy Carlean. Anyway, Meryl definitely doesn''t have a thing for that Small Willy fellow! Besides, that whole thing helped me reach Inhuman!"


    "How stupid." Dara frowned.


    "Oh? That''s stupid? Better than bing Inhuman out of pure jealousy to Charm. I can''t believe that you''ve fallen for Cliff like that."


    "Whatever. I''ll win Cliff''s heart this time. Even if it''s by force! Kristine! You better win Seeker''s heart too!"


    Kristine was silent and began to walk the other way.


    "Congrattions in your victory. Covenant. And also for surviving Amir. That was amazing."


    "Amazing? Didn''t you see what he did?"


    "I saw him exert a hundred percent of his power for a split second. That''s something, Dara." Halley encouraged.


    "¡­Fine. I''ll take that."


    "Alright. Time to cut off these loose ends. Titan, search for the survivors and do as nned." Halley transmitted.


    The group began to move as they moved out.


    "Oh?" Halley suddenly called out.


    "Our next mission is set."


    "What''s the next mission?" Kristine asked.


    "Everyone get ready. I just received an emergency ping. It seems we will be working directly with Seeker and the Gryphon Squadron. Kristine¡­ Zerahpine is out of the picture. This is your chance."


    Kristine''s heart froze for a bit.. But she then let out a sigh.

 Chapter 465 - The Mystery Of Granny

    Chapter 465 ¨C The Mystery Of Granny


    Seeker took a sip of the drinks his granny had prepared and began to eat the cookies.


    Lynd and Alean were cuddling close together, making Seeker shake his head as the two have made their rtionships well-known.


    "Get a room, you two." Seeker shook his head.


    "We did. This was ours. And you went up here since your room was destroyed."


    "Congrattions, by the way." Meryl congratted Alean.


    "For what?" Lynd asked.


    "You don''t know? You and Alean were voted as the number two love team. You only got defeated by the GreyRose tandem. But Rosa''s been very daring with his posts with Meng. So it''s a given they would win."


    "What?" Seeker and Lynd asked in confusion.


    "It''s a poll among the Unlocked girls. It started with those romantic novels, and eventually, most girls in the Unlocked army are part of this little socialwork. It''s being managed by Lennox."


    "Lennox manages it? He managed a socialwork for women?"


    "Well, to be more precise, Lennox IS the server." Meryl exined.


    Seeker sighed and decided not to listen anymore.


    Nearby was the beaten, bloodied, severely wounded, and unconscious Jake. Several of the Unlocked doctors were healing him.


    "So, in short, you always had this power?" Seeker asked his grandma as she brought out another batch of cookies and gave some to the doctors treating Jake.


    "That''s how I met your grandfather, Zeek. At first, it was a mere ability to step out and move among people''s dreams. Then, I saw strange things and used that power to be someone back in the day." Granny chuckled.


    "But how? This power of yours surpasses Unbing! Lynd nearly died when he did that!" Seeker wondered.


    "Well, it''s a long story. You see, I stopped actively using my powers a long time ago when I met your grandfather. One of the reasons was that I got strange visions and dreams even though I wasn''t using them. I actually tried to seal it and asked Pastor Eagle for help. So that he could pray over me, it was then that he revealed he had something simr. He had also been keeping track of individuals who have been showing powers like mine. I was something of a secret weapon and was used by Eagle to help him convert various gangs in the Americas."


    "¡­So that''s why he refused to make the team when I asked him to! He already has one!"


    "Right. With my powers to move in between dreams, I would trick politicians, people of power, even gangs to spill in their secrets. No matter how loyal or secretive they are, they always talk about it in their dreams. That''s how Eagle built his empire in the Americas." Granny exined.


    "Then the reason you wanted to seal this power¡­ is because of the Presiders?"


    "Yes. It must have been at that time that they arrived or moved on Earth. That was a little way before your father and mother fled to Pangea to live a new life there. I still owe my service to the Lord and Eagle. But when Richie approached Eagle for the first time, Eagle sent me to look for Lennox, who was there at the same time."


    "Ah. I figured he would be rted in this. Eagle won''t bother with my memory, but Lennox will."


    "Yeah. He and Meng, actually. Nogard Meng. That old man seems to like me too."


    "What?!" Seeker, Lynd, Meryl, and the doctors all eximed.


    "I may be old, but I know when someone''s hitting on me." Granny chuckled.


    The trio looked at each other in shock.


    "You knew?" Lynd asked Alean who wasn''t shocked.


    "Well, my Zone told me. Besides, I''m not surprised. Granny is a very beautiful old woman! I think guys who are 40 would hit that fine ass. Maybe even younger!"


    Granny blushed andughed at Alean''s praise.


    "Hey! That''s my granny you''re talking about! And besides, Granny, it doesn''t exin how you can use your powers without overheating your brain!" Seeker eximed.


    "I was just getting to it, dear. Lennox and Nogard both sent their scientist to help study me. Their conclusion is that I could be someone who the Progenitor directly created. I was like, a first generation of Unlocked. But when I gave birth to my sons, they didn''t receive it."


    "What?! Then you are like Nogard?!"


    "That''s what Nogard believes and is using that as a im that we are ''fated'' together."


    "That damned grandpa!" Seeker cursed.


    "That''s an interesting theory. That exins how some of the Progenitor''s seed like Nogard is able to reach an Unlocking higher. They were already born to naturally be able to bear the power of Inhumans." Lynd analyzed.


    "I wonder what my grandpa or grandma''s powers were?" Meryl wondered.


    "It isn''t applicable to everyone. I guess Nogard and I are special experiments. Lennox theorized that the Progenitor did that so that by the time the Presider''s arrive, they wouldn''t see us and that we would develop our skill when the wars and tribtionse."


    "Makes sense. It''s another of the Progenitor''splex ns to hide this from the eyes of the Primordial." Seeker thought for a bit.


    Suddenly, a rattling could be heard, and the doctors nearby began to immediately move to restrain Jake.


    "Where¡­ am I?" Jake woke up. He tried to use his powers, but then he felt a strange force stopping him from doing it. Severe pain was also erupting around his body.


    "AHHH!" Jake shouted and struggled, but he couldn''t use his Path.


    "Finally, he''s awake." Seeker smiled as he began to use the power of the Realm King.


    It was a strange power that held Jake in ce.


    "Quickly. Inject those things in him."


    "Y-You!" Jake roared as he saw Seeker.


    As he was injected, strange darkness grew and covered his entire body.


    "AHHH!" He felt great pain and felt that there was something foreign in him."


    "Let''s see if Charles''s medicine work. In theory, Charles''s path of creating sicknesses by invading the cells of another should stop him. It''s like his entire body is full of Charles''s cancerous cells."


    "I get it. With a foreign cell living and clinging to his own cells, he can''t use his powers to pass through objects!" Meryl was shocked.


    "I think it''s time to clear things up. You put up quite a fight back there. You bravery of not choosing to retreat and die in battle is admirable."


    "Is he any good in a fight?" Lynd asked.


    "Yes. His Path is annoying! At first, my dimensional attacks could reach him. But this guy also adapts really well in a fight! I was able to wound him a few times, but suddenly, his physical forms in the dimensions beyond the third also became spectral that I kept missing. Arthur really molded him the right way. Even without the battle experience and training, he is a Ranked Hero!"


    "AHH!" Jake shouted and squirmed.


    "Are you alright with this, Granny?" Meryl asked worriedly.


    "It''s alright, Sweety. I''ve been working with all manner of bad people since Eagle called me. Who do you think taught Chris his interrogation techniques?


    "Amazing. We all had to go through insane fights against the WGP, fellow Oveers, and face Presiders!"


    "Actually, I think this guy fought against Presiders and just didn''t know it yet. You can imagine how Arthur plotted and timed his arrival and escape to be directly in line with fleeing Presiders and so forth. We know Straviaa and Feyor were in New Great Britain from Pridgeon''s info. This guy might have fought them, and those two might have thought that he was either one of the Progenitors or the Lost Primordial."


    Jake froze as he heard that.


    "Arthur? As in that Precision guy?! He sent all of those guys that nearly killed me?!" Jake shouted, and his anger grew to the extremes. He had known that those enemies were due to a misunderstanding. But now, he found out it was a nned misunderstanding.


    "Amazing! His unlocking is soaring towards Inhuman Proficient! We need to get this data to doctor Charles!" The doctors were amazed.


    "Poor guy." Cliff sighed as he stepped in the door. He nced at Jake and realized that he had it lucky with Seeker.


    "That''s him?" Charm was with him.


    "That''s him. If I''m Seeker''s experiment, this guy''s Arthur''s experiment." Cliff introduced.


    "Ah, if you are here, that means they''re here too, right?"


    "Yes. The Covenant of the Strongest is just docking, going through the procedures to ensure they weren''t being followed, and the scans for any bugs of some sort. And of course, to check if they are not in the influence of the Tyrant Empress." Cliff answered.


    "She''s here?!" Jake eximed as he heard that the Covenant of the Strongest was here.


    "Where is she? Where-MMMMFFF!" The doctors bound Jake''s mouth.


    "Great! What better person to clear out this entire mess than Kristine herself. Still, Arthur''s experiment seems to havee up short. But I''m not surprised. You can''t make an Oveer out of them through that. Even I only hoped for Heroes with the Gryphon Squadron."


    BEEP!


    The Comm device lit up.


    "Seeker, they are ready. All Oveers are in attendance. And the Tyrant Empress will be joining." Alean answered.


    "Welp¡­ This is it, guys.. If I be her ve, remember me well."

 Chapter 466 - Web Of Love

    Chapter 466 ¨C Web Of Love


    Everyone seemed alert at Seeker''s statement.


    "You are really pushing through with this meeting and is allowing her to join you¡­?"


    "Yeah. We sort of having to. We can''t run away from her forever. The war in Egypt and the Desert Empire will begin soon. Richie''s already there and haspleted their preparations. So even they want to see the Empress now. This will determine whether or not the war will happen."


    "This is insane. I''m stepping out. Granny, you better go with me instead." Lynd shook his head.


    "Lynd! Are you really going? How can you be an Oveer if you are not willing to face the Empress? You need to. This is simr to what Meng faced. We have to fight our heart demon as what the Chinese say."


    "I don''t have a heart demon like you, Zeek. You and you''re¡­ extremely annoying andplicated dilemmas."


    Cliff and Meryl raised their eyebrows as they heard Lynd''s mysterious words.


    "Anyway, Granny. This call is very dangerous."


    "I know. Eagle told me of thisdy. He calls her Mystery Babylon. I always thought that she would be an enemy. Who would expect that the fulfillment of Revtion would be through an ally?" Granny chuckled as she walked out.


    "Goodbye, Zeek! Be careful! Give my regards to Eagle! And since you won''t visit me, I''ll go popping up in your dreams now and then. But please, keep your fantasies in control. That was very awkward."


    Seeker facepalmed as the rest chuckled.


    "Bye, Granny." Seeker bid farewell.


    "I''ll go ahead and check with the Covenant. Everyone got to stretch their legs except me. I want to see how they improved." Lynd went ahead, leaving everyone and Alean in the room.


    "Coward. Face the Empress like a man!" Seeker ridiculed Lynd.


    "I''m not doing this out of cowardice, Zeek. I am doing this because I don''t want Alean ever to be jealous." Lynd exined as he left.


    There was a hint of anger as he said this.


    "I''m not doing this out of cowardice. I am doing this because I don''t want Alean to be jealous." Lynd exined as he left. Alean blushed and nced at the back of Lynd as the doors closed.


    Cliff frowned as he heard Lynd and couldn''t help but nce around the people in the room as if he realized something.


    "Since when did Lynd be so macho¡­?" Meryl wondered.


    "Hands off, Meryl." Aleanughed.


    "I''m leaving, too. I know my power. I already lost against an Oveer. I won''t challenge the strongest one in another fight." Cliff spoke.


    "Whose the Empress, and what''s her power?" Charm asked.


    "Beauty. I''ll exin as we go out."


    "Beauty?! Then you better not look at her!" Charm red.


    "I''m not! Don''t worry! I haven''t even seen her. We followed strict protocols, but now the Oveers are finally willing to see her in a call. I guess this is one of the hurdles they have to face. Alright, Doctors! Let''s wheel out Jake."


    "Actually, Cliff. Leave him here." Seeker suddenly ordered.


    Cliff gave Seeker a strange look.


    "I hope you''re not nning what I think you''re nning?"


    "Come on, Cliff. Zeraphine''s a Presider. I won''t deny my feelings towards her, but do you really think things will end up well between her and me?"


    "You''ve treated Kristine poorly! You can''t just reserve her like that while you try to see if it will work out with you and that Presider!" Cliff shouted.


    "Cliff! Calm down! What do you mean?" Charm asked.


    "Wait¡­ Cliff, is Zeek really reserving Kristine by showing Jake the Tyrant Empress?! He''s cutting off a rival?!" Meryl eximed.


    "Yes! This Jake is crazy about her! And Seeker hasn''t been paying attention to Kristine! I can tell! Kristine may fall for this guy. Look at him!" Cliff affirmed.


    "My, my. How selfish of you, Zeek." Alean sighed.


    "You guys don''t understand. The stronger I get, the more me and the Adult me merge. And¡­ It''s not just me seeing the memories. Since he and I are just one soul, I have already felt this conflicting desire. Zeraphine was the one I really love. But Kristine got me out of that darkness on her death. Right now, I have to chase Zeraphine. Especially now that it is greatly beneficial to us."


    "Excuses, excuses. At least now I know how you resist the Tyrant Empress. Maybe somewhere in that arrogant head of yours, you think the Tyrant Empress will be yours!" Cliff shouted and began to walk away.


    "I was the bad guy, Zeek. I was the bad egg that was bribing and killing people. But I matured because of the faith that the world lies in our hands. Why don''t you try that too? You forced others to grow up, but you can''t even do it on yourself. I don''t care what dilemma you have and whether you believe that this is the way to make you stronger. If you''re an Oveer, ovee and get stronger without toying with the hearts of people!" Cliff mmed the door as he and Charm walked out.


    The two doctors were in an awkward position.


    "Just go." Seeker ordered.


    The two silently left.


    "Wow. That Cliff sure has matured. But honestly, I''m not surprised you did this, Zeek. That''s a tough call. If I had to choose between the one I loved and the one who made me love again, I wouldn''t know who to choose or give up. But then again, I''m pretty enough to keep both, I guess." Meryl chuckled.


    "But Zeek, why haven''t you been giving Kristine attention? Not a year ago, you were simping over her. Can''t you even keep chatting with her or something?"


    "Honestly, I¡­ really don''t know. Even with my Unlocking my emotions are a mess. Something is stopping me from reaching out to Kristine. I tried several times but after our fight with Meng¡­ It''s as if Zeraphine herself appeared and stopped me."


    Deep within Seeker''s subconscious, Shakstress nced at Zeraphine as both heard Seeker''s words.


    "What? Like hell, I giving him to that bitch!" Zeraphine frowned.


    Seeker didn''t add any more exnations, and the two became silent as Meryl could see Seeker''s struggle.


    "Well, I don''t really care. You manipted me to get into pedophilia, and I agreed to it. So, who am I to judge?" Aleanughed.


    "Anyway, Zeek. You better be careful." Alean gave a concerned look at Seeker.


    "You''re already insane as it is. I don''t want you to be even more insane with the Tyrant Empress''s power." Alean patted Seeker on the head and slowly walked out.


    "Thanks, Sis. Tell mom I''ll be alright." Seeker joked as Alean walked out.


    "You still have something to say, Meryl?" Seeker turned to Meryl, who showed no intention of leaving.


    "No. Zeek. I want to stay." Meryl said as she gave Seeker a serious stare.


    "You don''t want to be outshined by the Empress, huh?"


    "If I want to grow stronger, I have to see her again. If I fall for her powers, then my own Path and my own conviction are only so-so. At least in this way, you can help if I start to get affected, or I can help you!"


    "I guess this is safe. You already did see her and hold her back in China. But of course, back then, your desire to shine was greater than the lust she instilled. Her powers have evolved, Meryl. Are you sure about this?"


    "Yes. I''m sure Rosa will be there too. The three of us will soon walk on the crossroads to each other. It''s not only me growing, but I think they can also benefit to my power."


    "Alright. I can see you''re confident about this. Frankly, I''m amazed that you didn''t be a lesbian after holding the Empress in your arms."


    "Actually¡­" Meryl gave Seeker a quiet whisper that even the Unlock wouldn''t be able to hear.


    "ALEAN?!" Seeker freaked out.


    "JEEZ! ZEEK! BE QUIET!"


    "So! So that''s why you''ve been avoiding her! I thought you had a thing for Lynd!"


    "You weren''t able to notice? If you can''t detect it, Lynd can''t, right?" Meryl asked hopefully.


    "He probably didn''t notice since he isn''t actively using his observation on you, but Alean probably knows. Her Zone will tell her."


    "Ugh. I thought about that. This is so embarrassing!" Meryl cursed as she pressed her hands to her face.


    As she turned back to Seeker, she noticed a very perverted look.


    "Woah! Zeek! We are both your friends! What are you thinking?!" Meryl shouted.


    "I''m sure Lynd will enjoy whatever it is, I''m thinking. I''m actually jealous. You two have be so much hotter after all." Seekerughed.


    "Ugh! Whatever! You boys! And who are you to talk about my little crush on Alean!? Did you intend to do that?"


    "Do what?"


    "Don''t y dumb with me!"


    "Fine! I know what you asked. And no! I didn''t."


    "Do you think Lynd knows?"


    "Of course, Lynd knows! Why do you think he was mad when he left? It''s annoying."


    "Com-pli-cated¡­ This is like¡­ one confusing web of love." Meryl shook her head.;


    "Eh, I''m used to it. It was even moreplicated in myst life. What do you expect? All of us are fighting with our lives on the line, and as Unlocked, we are naturally more attractive. But those who are strong have the luxury of going after others who are strong. People on our level will only be attracted to each other. Oh! Except Cliff. He really likes Charm. It''s true love right there."


    "I guess that makes sense. Even I had a thing for you a while back." Merylughed.


    "Mark my words, Meryl. You will run back to Arthur. I warned you not to get involved with Danny. But you choose the hard path."


    "Whatever. That Arthur hasn''t been paying attention to me. It''s true. That between the two of them, it''s still Arthur I''m more attracted to. But for some guy who likes to be one step ahead, he''s fifty paces behind me."


    BEEP!


    Them device rang.


    "The call will start now. Are you sure you want to be here? Even I''m not a hundred percent sure I''m going to get out of this call the same."


    "Yeah. But what''s the agenda? Why call all the Oveers?"


    "Garenjazz. What else? But more than that is that this kid that Arthur trained¡­ His powers are enough for us to infiltrate the bases of Presiders easier.. So I want everyone to start their Oveer Wars and start attacking Presiders."

 Chapter 467 That Which Lies Under Egypt

    The video call that happened used no lines, satellites, or any other conventional method. The ocean itself was the line that connected it. With the alliance between the Emperors of the Everhiss n, Origin technology had be readily avable.


    The shocking thing was how fast it was for the teams tobine their technology and use Realm and Origin together.


    Some devices were ced on the ocean that interacted with the water that was part of the Invoking of the Everhiss n. The Call of the Dead that Waits Dreaming created a massive creature thatmanded the waters simr to Egypt''s Nile Technology. And this same water was stretched out in a very thin line that moved across the continents.


    This made the line secure as the Presiders would have to find the right point of the water physically.


    Managing these lines was the Realm King, whopleted their connections.


    Richie''s sound and Lennox''s lightning were also added to create a connection that was even more powerful than the fiber cables used by some countries.


    The Comm device itself had hologram technology derived from Shakstress''s technology.


    Seeker, Meryl, and the bound Jake joined in the call.


    Richie, Calvin Luther Eagle, Greydon Meng, Rosa, Grant Hermes, Amir Mann, Lennox Humphrey, Lioncourt Diviner with Rai, Typical, Octarion Ceasar, Akasha, and Arthur Arthinar Humphrey were in the call.


    "Hello." Richie gave a cheerful greeting.


    p "It looks like the Tyrant Empress has to make a dramatic entrance." Hermes sneered.</anda>


    "The strongest has to join inst." Caesar smiled.


    "Are you sure you can resist this, Arthur?" Lioncourt asked Arthur.


    "Yes. I am so close to finding my sister. I can''t get distracted even for a second." Arthur answered firmly.


    "My, my... Two Humphreys. What a bloodline. And my congrattions to Typical. I heard you managed to end it with a draw against Rai." Grant Hermes smiled.


    "Yes. I''m ready for another round with Amir. Do you miss your daddy, my little bitch? I heard you went after Master Cliff again And threatened him with his girlfriend." Typical leered.


    "Learn your ce, little one. I''ll feast on you when this is all over."


    "Master Cliff?" Seeker was amazed.


    "Of course. I always refer to the strong as such. But, of course, someone who had been ganged-raped by my needles doesn''t deserve such titles."


    "Control yourself, Typical." Meng chastised.


    "Forgive me, Master."


    "I see that Lady Meryl has gotten much more beautiful. I want to sink my teeth in that." Akasha smiled.


    Meryl smiled and looked dangerously at Akasha.


    "Oh? Do try. You''ll be in for a world of pleasure and pain." Merylughed.


    "Greydon, tell your dad to stay away from my Granny." Seeker finally couldn''t control himself.


    Everyone was startled at the usation.


    "Rx, son. They are both consenting adults." Meng chuckled.


    "Is Lynd not joining?" Ceasar asked.


    "No. He doesn''t want to make Alean jealous." Seeker answered.


    "They''re ready for you, my Queen." Ceasar suddenly called out.


    Another joined in the call. It was a woman of terrifying beauty.


    The moment she appeared, everyone began to utilize their power.


    The Tyrant Empress gave a beautiful and enchanting smile.


    "Quera Sapphire." Richie called out the real name of the Tyrant Empress and deep anger.


    "Oh, Lioncourt. How I wish to devour you. And Richie! Your sound even managed to find its way here." She smiled.<sub> </sub>


    Lioncourt had turned his hand into a fist. And somehow, halfway across the world, the power of his Realm grabbed on and sealed the Quera''spower.


    "What an amazing Realm! My praises to you, Realm King. Your power cable holds me in ce and keeps my powers from spreading. The two of you seemed to have taken this opportunity to trap and observe my progress. Right now, I''m just a beautiful woman to you now, right?" Queraughed.


    "I''m not that stupid to dare and resist your beauty without any preparations. I have to do this so that we are slowly introduced to your power."


    Everybody except Ceasar and Meng had a guarded expression.


    "Hmm. It''s quite annoying to be sealed like this. I didn''t even affect Meng!"


    "Of course, you can''t. I''m with him." Rosa red.


    "Ah, Rosa. My sweet child. Try as you may, but I''ll always be the face the mirror shows if asked to reveal the fairest of thend." She smiled.


    "I don''t have to be the most beautiful for everyone. I just need to be the most beautiful in his eyes. Your realpetition would be her, the Empress of the Sun."


    Quera smiled and gave a delicious looked at Meryl.


    "You''ve grown beautiful." She praised.


    "Not beautiful enough to outshine you." Meryl frowned and had a disappointed look.


    "Jealousy that trumps vanity! Your desire to outshine me is so strong that it''s not affecting you right now. You''re getting closer to bing an Oveer."


    "Well, this is good." Seeker sighed in relief.


    "And here I thought I would be fighting a strange battle." Seeker smiled.


    Jake was amazed as he saw the woman. His heart was beating faster as he continued to gaze longingly towards her.


    "And who is that little boy? It seems that you and Meryl are actually aplices in strange activities. So the rumors about you and Lynd are true." Quera nodded.


    Seeker sighed and rolled his eyes but did not bother to defend himself.


    "Anyways, I''m here to show you this little experiment that Arthur has."


    "That is Jake. He is human experiment that was apprehended by the New Great Britain government. His real identity should be linked as a seed of Lost Primordial. The government experimented on him, and soon he managed to escape. I''ve been training him since then. He should be a Ranked Hero by now, right Zeek?"


    "Yes. I approve of him being in the Ranking. He is stronger than the three Commanders of Cliff''s team but should fail to the current power of the Covenant of the Strongest with Kristine. And his powers are passing through objects. His powers allow him to pass through all of the three dimensions, and even some in the dimensions beyond."


    "Oh? What an interesting science. You have to let me meet with him." Lioncourt added.


    "That''s what I''m here to propose. I want everyone to start attacking the Presiders. We are to start the prequel of the Apocalypse now. Oveers, you have to start the war in Egypt. Arthur, you have to save your sister now. I am requesting Rai and his assassins to perform a joint operation with my squadrons. We''re going after Lanterk."


    "Why all of a sudden? Did my little battles here in South America cause any problems?" Amir asked.


    "No. Not that. A certain event has happened, and resolving it now takes precedence. Garenjazz paid a visit to me and used a strange power that walked in my dreams. This forced my grandma to blow her cover and had to appear in front of me and that Presider. And by the way, Lennox. Screw you."


    "Is your grandmother alright?" Eagle asked worriedly.


    "Yes. Garenjazz retreated. But with his power, it''s possible now for him to get more information from the Unlocked. We have to tighten our security and make it appear that we are indeed part of the Lost Primordial or the Progenitor faction. Who knows what will happen if he appears to someone else? My Grandmother''s appearance made him believe the lie of me being a Presider or a Principal''s son. But we can''t keep this facade any longer."


    "So we start now instead of waiting for the other Presiders who is yet to arrive?" Lennox asked.


    "Yes. Originally, we nned to wait and see all Presiders to analyze the strengths of all Presiders, the ones here and those that are yet to arrive. But now, we have to strengthen our foundations as we risk being exposed. Arthur. Will there be problems? And why are you guys taking too long in Egypt?"


    "There are no problems with war. And as for our lengthy stay here, Egypt is far stronger than we gave it credit for. Even when we fought against Shakstress, Andronze never revealed the truth. Hers is a secret that may have started even before World War III. In any case, I have already set ns in case someone like Garenjazz can threaten our secret, and we have already prepared Egypt for this to distract everyone. We will start the war and aid the rise of Egypt. Andronze should be a Top-Tier level now. We helped her unlock the power of the Lost Primordial. And she will challenge Garenjazz."


    "Top-Tier? How?" Hermes was amazed.


    "She''s been hiding her aces. There are several reasons why she is strong now. The first is that she already had the Lost Primordial''s legacy hidden deep inside Egypt. She had been studying it for a long, long time. In fact, even before she arrived on Earth, she had already been studying it but kept it a secret. The second is the number of people serving her. She has the most number of people serving under hermand among all Presiders. In fact, even if webine all the Pioneers and nteds serving all the other Presiders, the number of people that shemands is still greater. I estimate somewhere more than a million Pioneers."


    "So that''s why Lennox killed millions in Egypt. They were all Pioneers!" Seeker recalled a detail on his previous life of how Lennox attacked and massacred Egypt.


    "Yes. And I was only counting the Pioneers. Adding the poption of those humans serving in this mysterious underground kingdom, she roughly has eight million. All geared up and ready for a Presider-level war."

 Chapter 468 Seth And The Serpent

    The Oveers were surprised at the report of Arthur. This would create a huge change to the ns and the war they nned to liberate Lennox''s daughter.


    "Eight million? That''s quite a number. It seems that whoever stayed in Egypt was preparing for war."


    "It''s understandable. I am guessing that Andronzees from a line of weak Presiders who don''t even have an Emperor. They must have been preparing to stay and research the Lost Primordial''s legacy until they be at least a Principal."


    "So they created an underground nation below Egypt. What an interesting n! How deep is Egypt''s underworld?"


    "Very deep. It''s probably nearly ten kilometers deep. The more we reached the depths of Egypt''s undergroundbyrinth, the more we were certain. One among the previous set of Presiders who came to Earth before World War III should be rted to Andronze. Back then, they must have discovered this legacy of the Lost Primordial and started building in Egypt. All of this was hidden and kept a secret even among Aragarians. When this previous Presider left, the secret remained, and the legacy was left behind because it could not be brought out. And then Andronze was sent to continue the research here. This makes Andronze a threat greater than Myrth or thete Shakstress. As now she has techs of a Top-Tier and millions serving her."


    "That size... How many Orbitals is in Egypt?" Seeker asked.


    "Three." Arthur answered.


    "Three orbitals? That''s dangerous. I wonder why it didn''t surface in my previous timeline. Lennox wasn''t that strong to fight all of Egypt''s underworld. In my previous timeline, there was only one."


    "That''s because there was no n to build it. But now, all hands are working tirelessly to create more Orbitals. In the next week, there would be four."


    "That speed and the amount of resource implies that Androze must have struck a deal with another Presider. But who?" Greydon pondered.


    "Lanterk." Lennox, Lioncourt, and Seeker answered together.


    "He should have enough resources and the tech that can secretly trade with Andronze." Seeker exined first.


    "And Lanterk controls most of the seas. Those Underwater cities that he allegedly sunk must have been scrapped to create these Orbitals."


    "That''s exactly it. I''ve been using my Realm and could sense great trades urring under the bed of the seas. This hidden trade route passes through the Suez Canal. It''s quite smart. Lanterk is making the Presiders and the world use that trade route once more. Many will think it is to limit trade, but Lanterk already has created a tunnel. Egypt''s Dug Down Deep has already created a path from Egypt to Lanterk''s secret base in Rome. Ceasar. You know of this."


    "Of course, I do. This was part of the Tyrant Empress''s n. She appeared to all of my men." Octarion exined.


    "That''s right. Lanterk arrived and took over Ceasar''s organization as the rumors of his death were leaked. Regardless, Lanterk thought that he had control of all of Ceasar''s empire and turned them into his ves. But they were mine, to begin with. So they will betray him even if it kills them." Queraughed.


    "That sounds reasonable."


    "So that''s why it''s taking you too long toplete the mission. And here I thought your brian ran out of gas. It seems your little war in Egypt won''t be as easy as expected." Greydonmented.


    "Yes. We had to go to great lengths to get her trust since Andronze was so skeptical. We even used Akasha."


    "Akasha? Where is she?" Seeker asked as he nced at Akasha.


    "I am currently in a research facility owned by Andronze. Arthur helped Andronze catch me."


    "Of course, Harker and I are the ones Andronze who is assigned to watch over her. So she''s not technically hidden. All her men are also alive, and we used Andronze to catch, hide and find a cure for their current state in the guise of studying this to replicate the virus. Andronze now has a virus based on Akasha, but since it has Akasha''s blood..."


    "All of Andronze men would be under Akasha''s control." Lennox smiled.


    "Yes. Right now, over eight thousand have enlisted to take on this drug. We n to make more."<sub> </sub>


    "You really made use of this Andronze..." Seeker was amazed by Arthur''s progress and utilization of Andronze.


    "Now we have two Presiders working for us. First, Pridgeon is unaware his team is under the control of Quera. And now, Andronze. But you guys had to show her more of the Lost Primordial''s legacy to aplish this, correct?" Seeker asked.


    "Yes. We have made progress in our research which should help Nogard attain a longer lifespan. We believe we have found something of interest here. A body of something that we believe to be a Nefilus suit and another, which we believe unlocks the power of the Lost Primordial."


    "What?!" Several Oveers eximed and weren''t able to contain their shock.


    "Yes. The first we believe to be a well-preserved body of a Nephilim. The second should be Seth. The same Seth who is the son of Adam. We were waiting for the war to send you all the data so we can be sure that no one else gets it."


    "Seth? I''m not too clear with my biblical theology. Why is his body in Egypt?"


    "With Dug Down Tech, Andronze was able to uncover many of Egypt''s lost history. It seems Seth came to thends in thetter days of his life and settled there to hide from the Nephilims. There was a war, and God used the Flood to wipe out the Nephilims. Of course, the Nefilus beast survived and met Gilgamesh, who we know is Nimrod. But right before that flood, Seth sojourned to Egypt to hide his body. Apparently, Seth influenced Egypt to build a special chamber deep underground. Later, the top portion was covered up, and the Pyramids of Giza were built as the Egyptians began to imitate the work of Seth. Seth was trying to hide his body, so no archaeological remains were left behind to prove it. Andronze believed that Seth inspired the Egyptians to build tombs and set traps on them. Seth made his tomb to hide from the Nefilus beast, but the Egyptians built and made a culture over it to worship the dead."


    "The Nefilus Beast? Is this the same creature that Gilgamesh met and to whom the Aragarians attained their Nefilus suits?"


    "Yes. That one. The Nefilus Beast was searching for Seth, for he was the purest bloodline of Adam. The one who has the purest body that can interact between the dimensions. Abel had died, and Cain was cursed. So it was Seth that he went after. At least, that''s what Andronze believes."


    "No wonder you didn''t dare tell us this information before. It''s too important! This implies that the two paths of the Primordial and the Lost Primordial aren''t just about ideology. It''s also about the origin. One from the beast, and the other from God!"


    "If this is what Andronze believes, is it possible to recruit her?" Eagle asked.


    "What if I met with her and used my powers to convince her to turn to God? What if I prove to her that the real path is not the Nefilus suit, but our path of Unity?"


    "No. It won''t work. She now has a Zone of her own. And aside from you two shing and risking being revealed, Andronze also believes the opposite. She thinks that God prevented man from growing stronger. Her ount regarding the Garden of Eden and Adam''s exmunication from the Garden was the result of him trying to eat the fruit that would have made him like a god. The Nefilus, or the Serpent, was someone who helped man try to be god and be free from the oppression of the god."


    "What an interesting twist. She sees the Serpent or Satan as the good guy in this version. Well, as expected of the twisted mind of the depraved." Eagle chuckled.


    "Imagine what would happen if someone were to leak that information... Egypt would be the target of many Presiders!" Richieughed.


    "Yes. That''s the n. We now have an umbre to hide behind, even if Garenjazz has ways to spy on everyone. We redirect his attention. Leak the information of her having a stronger power and tell all Presiders that she is Top-Tier Ranked. This will get everyone, including Garenjazz, busy. Eagle, the ns I made will follow the same future you envisioned. The prophecies of the Old Testament will be fulfilled in the order of Empires that will rise and take control of Jerusalem. Egypt will rise to power, then Babylon, then Medo-Persia, and finally Rome." Arthur exined.


    "Thank you, Arthur." Eagle smiled.


    "Now, if you will excuse me, I will disconnect now." Arthur smiled.


    "Woah! Why all of a sudden?" Seeker frowned.


    "The Empress is about to break the seal of Richie and Lioncourt. She''s after you, Seeker. Get ready."


    BEEP!


    Arthur disconnected.

 Chapter 469 Fighting The Tyrant Empress

    The warning of Arthur made Seeker serious. Meryl also became guarded.


    As Arthur said, Lioncourt and Richie''s power suddenly disappeared.


    The two seemed to have been brought into a strange trance and their Paths began to appear on screen.


    There was a strange shaking urring around Quera, but then it vanished. The Realm of Lioncourt had fallen.


    "Hello." The alluring voice of Quera appeared.


    Seeker couldn''t understand what had happened, and the Quera Sapphire managed to ovee the seals of the two Oveers.


    It was perfect! Lioncourt kept the Tyrant Empress in her ce and locked out her locality to move and affect others through the dimensions, and Richie used his sounds to lock the Empress and create an ''echo'' that would allow her voice to be mimicked and sent back.


    But now, the Realm and the Sound blocking the power and reach of the Empress had fallen.


    The other Oveers were affe also resisting the voice of the Empress. Lennox, Ceasar, Eagle, and Meng were unaffected by the Tyrant Empress but Eagle and Meng had worried looks as they looked at the others. Everyone else was resisting the attacks of the Empress as the soundproofing of Richie had failed.


    "Ovee, my brethren! FIght sin. It desires to devour you, but you must ovee it!" Eagle encouraged.


    "Impressive, Pastor. You''re doing well."


    "The burnt hand is the best lesson. I''ve cheated on my wife in my time as a Pastor. And I received the Lord''s discipline as I saw what it did to my wife and kids. Never again." Eagle gave a calm smile.


    "No matter. I''ll have you soon and all of you once I have Seeker."


    Quera nced at Seeker and licked her lips. Her power was starting to affect Seeker.


    Deep inside Seeker''s thoughts, a nefarious being was born. It was born from the lust and imaginations of Seeker that were sealed to stop the spread of lust.


    This was embedded in Seeker and the rest who had personally scene Quera. Her cells and pheromones continued to exist with the rest and were lying dormant. But now, these cells have begun to affect the brain.


    The cell entered the brain and somehow created a thought of her own. A subus was born within Seeker''s thoughts.


    Quera smiled as her awakening urred and found herself inside the conflicted mind of Seeker.


    "Now, time to go look for that adult!" The subus smiled.


    "Or not. I''ve been watching you." Zeraphine appeared.


    The subus was stunned at the appearance of the woman.


    "Nice to see you again. It''s time to pay you back for what you did to me." Shakstressughed.


    Almost immediately, the strange thought was eliminated as Shakstress attacked her.


    "You''ve been saving your little husband more times than I ounted it for." Shakstressughed.


    "That''s what wives do." Zeraphine smiled.


    "All that''s left is for Seeker to resist it."


    "Resist what? I thought we''d gotten rid of the little parasite."


    "Yes. But unlike the other Oveers like Richie and Meng, they only had the cells of the Empress being injected into them through her pheromones. It didn''t die, but it continued to live in its vanity. Those pheromones were affecting their brain, giving birth to that subus spirit. The thoughts are gone, but Seeker had trodden on the Tyrant Empresses cells."


    "Ah... Now I understand. I''m so slow without my Nefilus Suit and Throne. I get it. Right now, the cells of Seeker, which had trodden and tried to find the foundation of the Empress''s powers, are being activated by the Empress. They have be like sleeper agents."


    "Exactly. The cells within Seeker will obey the vanity of the Empress. And so, Seeker and the Empress will fight over this physical body. If Seeker loses, he will be a ve to the Empress as his mind will be incapable of controlling the body. "


    "But If Seeker wins, then his ability to use the powers of the other Oveers will double." Shakstress smiled.


    "Yes. Seeker''s Realm will be beautiful. The Realm and powers of the other Oveers will be attracted to it and will obey it. I knew it would be a dangerous gamble. But if my husband is to fight the Primes, he will need this power."


    "Ah. Bing Conquerors through unity! Seeker has been trodding on this Path for longer than he thinks. Maybe it is the Right Path? It looks fun and exciting." Shakstress thought.


    "I''ve begun to think about that too. I don''t want to sit alone on a throne. I want someone there to be with me. Maybe this is why the Lost Primordial is so attracted to this earthly religion as it talks about being a co-heir to a kingdom."


    "I could imagine that. Instead of the Throne of the Primordial, there would be many thrones of those who conquered in unity." Shakstress chuckled.


    "Well, no time to fantasize about it. It''s starting." Zeraphine had a fearful expression.


    The cells of Seeker began to suddenly change. More and more cells were bing that of the Tyrant Empress.


    Seeker felt it and saw his arm transforming. It was bing refined. While it wasn''t feminine, it had a strange form of perfection.


    Seeker didn''t hesitate. His hand used telekinesis to call his sword, and he immediately cut off his other arm.


    Eagle smiled as he saw this.


    "That''s right. If your hand causes you to sin, pluck it off."


    "A futile attempt." Queraughed.<sub> </sub>


    Seeker was sensing that more parts of his body were bing like the Tyrant Empress.


    "Tread on me!" Meryl shouted as she pped her arm into Seeker''s body.


    Seeker acted immediately, and the bright light began to appear. It was fighting off the changing cells.


    "Ah, yes. Meryl. It''s amazing that even with my cells there, you can still hold off from my allure with your desire to outshine everyone. In that area of outshining, you really are an Oveer!" The Tyrant Empressughed.


    "But it''s too bad! Seeker doesn''t have that attitude. He''s not like Lynd, who can copy your mindset!"


    Seeker felt more of his cells changing and began to cut off the lower part of his leg.


    "You can''t cut me out of this, Seeker. You''ve trodden on me, after all!" Queraughed.


    Seeker was desperately thinking of purging the raging powers at that moment, and Time stopped in his perceptive.


    It was the power of Madison as Seeker began to think.


    "We''re screwed." The Adult sighed.


    "Yeah. It seems like it. I can''t think of another way. I knew she was strong, but to think our own body would betray us."


    "It''s because of our Path! That fight against her gave her the chance to nt the most nefarious of time bombs!"


    Zeraphine appeared before the other thoughts of Seeker and was in her usual disguise as Zoe. She knew Seeker would lose and had to join. She already made the resolve to reveal herself, hoping it could save Seeker finally.


    "Wait! What''s that?!" The child called out and pointed to a certain direction in his vision.


    It was Jake. He was seated and had an angry expression on his face. But no look of lust.


    "Is he... immune?" The Child asked.


    "Could it be, Kristine?" Zeraphine was stunned.


    "No! Look! His cells are active! He''s using his Path!" The Adult pointed out.


    "Oh, I get it! His power to be intangible also works in the dimensions beyond. So the Tyrant Empress''s attacks of affecting the emotions aren''t working. Maybe you can try that." Greg suggested.


    Everyone looked at Greg.


    "Did... he just give a good suggestion?" Zeraphine marveled.


    "I think so..." The Adult nodded.


    "Better than nothing! It''s good that I already got a few of his cells! If my emotions in seeing the Empress is stopped, then this trigger that is creating more of her cells should stop too!"


    "Then go!" Zeraphine called out.


    "Hey, old man! You have the Passover! We''ll need to work together. Your power to Passover this attack is necessary!"


    "I know, Kid! We have to Oveer together!"


    Time resumed, and Seeker closed his eyes and sought for the cells that still heeded hismands.


    The power began to condense, and Seeker forced his cells to perform it and try to keep himself from bing a tool of the Tyrant Empress.


    The body of Seeker was growing more and more restless as lust began to spread out.


    "I can''t... concentrate!" The Child cursed.


    "It''s too strong!" The Adult eximed.


    Zeraphine''s soul was sighing as she decided to take action.


    But suddenly, the door to the room opened.


    "Erm... Seeker? Meryl? Oh! Sorry. You guys seem to be in the middle of something. We''re you training?" Kristine saw Seeker''s limbs on the floor. She had seen Arthur in stranger scenarios and wasn''t bothered by what she saw.


    "Anyways, Arthur sent me. He said you would need my help?" Kristine politely asked.


    Meryl and Seeker froze as they saw Kristine. Even with their Unlocking, they still couldn''t believe that she was there.


    ...


    Seeker and Meryl looked at each other in disbelief.


    "I... coulde back here if it''s too inconvenient." Kristine offered.


    "KRISTINE! USE YOUR PATH!" Meryl and Seeker shouted.


    Kristine was shocked at the sudden yelling but immediately followed as she ran closer and used her Path.

 Chapter 470 Hunting Of Presiders

    With Kristine, the parasite of the Tyrant Empress was calmed, and it no longer rampaged as it did. Seeker then managed to call on the power of Jake and then resisted the emotions that every cell in his body was experiencing. His cells'' attraction over the increasing number of the Tyrant Empress''s cells had vanished, and it began to counter and fight back.


    Seeker was closing his eyes and forcing the thought process to iste and tame these wild cells.


    Seeker used Meng''s Cancerous cells, Akasha''s cancerous blood, to keep on fighting and attacking these cells.


    The wild hunger of Amir had also surfaced, and soon, the small cells that were now following the orders of the Tyrant Empress were defeated.


    Seeker suddenly opened his eyes, and a seal simr to the power of the Realm King and that of Richie appeared once more.


    The Realm and Sound Seal surprised the Tyrant Empress.


    In this short period where Quera was unable to use her Realm and her voice to control him, Richie regained control of his senses and helped Seeker.


    Lioncourt also awakened from his trance.


    A seal twice more powerful than what it was had formed, and Quera couldn''t beak free.


    "As long as this line is up, your powers won''t reach us anymore, Quera." Richie vowed.


    "How cunning! Since when have we met, Empress? Or did you secretly send someone to get that cell in me? I get it now. Each cell of yours has a Realm of its own. And even though it''s distant from you, you''ve managed a way to activate it if it sees your beauty." The Realm King frowned as he was able to deduce the strange power working within him.


    The powers began to hinder her Realm. The other Oveers were able to awaken from their trance from the Tyrant Empress.


    Typical stumbled down and was struggling to get up. Blood began to drip from his head as his body was full of needles.


    Akasha shouted in rage as she knew that the beauty of the Empress nearly devoured her, and her vampiric form appeared.


    Hermes had a weird expression.


    "Akasha... Did you... sleep with Austin?" Hermes asked in confusion.


    "What usation are you bringing to me, Hermes?!" Akasha was already angry at the Empress, and Hermes''sments made her even angrier.


    "We shared the load. That''s how I resisted the Empress. They are my Winds. They breathe the same air I breathe. Our minds are more linked now. I kept seeing your face as we fought the Empress."


    "BOSS! PLEASE DON''T SAY ANYTHING!" Austin''s shout could be heard off-screen.


    "Oh. So was that just some crush? Well, that saved us. Good job, Austin!" Hermes approved.


    "But you''re toote. I already told everyone. Get out of here. The Empress is still in this call. I can''t take any chances." Hermes ordered, and Austin''s howl could be heard as he left.


    "Typical stabbed himself in pain to forget my beauty. Rai''s ability to move and teleport allowed him to barely dodge my attacks, Hermes did something simr to Richie and shared the fight with others, but I don''t understand how you resisted it, Akasha. are you dead in emotions?"


    "This body is undead, Quera. Only my blood lives. But you startled me. My blood somehow retained emotions and reactions. I will purge you out of this body. Only I will remain beautiful!'' Aksha vowed.


    "Such a strange power. I would have had all of them if not for you. And Seeker, to think that I invested so much just to get you. And yet, you reject me." She pouted.


    "Oveers. Congrattions. You have faced sin and conquered." Eagle praised.


    "Her beauty and the lust she instilled in you will haunt you forever. But Oveers endure. So endure and master sin, least she will master you." Eagle reminded.


    "Looks like your out of cards for this battle, Empress. It''s my win!" Seeker dered. The power of Amir allowed him to recreate his body.


    "Seeker. Your mastery in my Path was as good as mine. You used the established sound of Richie and wielded my Realm and Richie''s. It was as if we used it. How?"


    "The Empress. Her cells and power seduced your Realm to follow mymand." Seeker exined.


    "And now, I have full control of the Realm''s you create." Seeker smiled.


    "That''s quite a power-up. In any case, you saved us all."


    "Why hasn''t my subus taken root? It attacked Richie and Lioncourt. But not you. How did you do it?" Quera frowned.


    "Subus?" Seeker had a confused expression.


    "...You weren''t attacked by the subus? Her pheromones affected my brain and imnted a thought process! I had to seal my thoughts with Realm!" Lioncourt exined.


    "There was a subus?" Seeker was still confused.


    "Hmm. I don''t know what you did or what power you used, but it killed my subus. I nearly got Richie too!"


    Richie was gasping for breath. He was able to resist the power of the Subus. It was a terrifying mental battle as Richie found himself being raped by the seductive demon.<sub> </sub>


    "And Richie. I never thought that the lone wolf would have allies."


    "I took inspiration... from Hermes." Richie panted.


    "Their voices are always with me. Even in my dreams, I have them to pull me out..." Richie sighed.


    "Boss! What happened! I had a strange dream where you were being raped!" Sammy Theoden appeared. Several others also arrived.


    "Boss!"


    "Get out, guys. It''s too dangerous here right now." Richie ordered.


    Everyone left, and Richie could not help but make a smile as they left.


    "How beautiful it is when brothers dwell in unity." Seeker smiled. Unlike the others who were affected, Seeker stood without any reaction.


    "Such a cheat. You just so happen to find the right Paths to resist mine." Quera red.


    "Actually, Arthur arranged this. Thankfully, he knew how to help me."


    Kristine was watching to the side. She was amazed at the beauty of the Empress.


    "And who is this girl? Why can she resist me?"


    "Her Path is to make people rx."


    "Rx? So that''s it. She''s so calm that lust can''t drive her desires."


    "It''s also because Arthur allowed things. He knew that I wouldn''t pay attention to Kristine and kept her busy and confused for a time."


    Kristine was startled. Rage and great anger would have built up, but her Path only caused her to give a sigh from being used and trained like the rest.


    "And that little boy has an interesting power. He always manages to slip through my grasps."


    "His Path is to be intangible. But I never thought that it affected emotions. Your attacks to change his emotions are not just reaching him. To him, you''re just a beautiful woman." Seekerughed.


    Jake was as confused as ever. He could not understand what they were talking about, but he kept a strange power up as he could feel great danger simply by looking at the majestically beautiful woman.


    Quera nced at Jake once more and finally turned away in anger.


    "Everyone, you''ve seen for yourself how even the Empress is unaffected by Jake. This little experiment of Arthur will help us steal more techs from Presiders. With the basics we''ve acquired from Shakstress, we should be able to reverse engineer any of their techs. This should spare us from any spies of Garenjazz. Ultimately, we need to hurry up and get more techs so that we can prepare for the worse. If Garenjazz reveals who we truly are, we will get targeted by all Aragarians."


    "So basically, we all have to fight and create wars so that you can go on a stealing rampage."


    "Yes. And to culminate it, we need to start the Throne Wars and end the WGP."


    "It will require all of us to be there to create a sessful Throne Wars. Some Presiders will definitely be in attendance."


    "Then I believe that will be the perfect time for us to gather andmence the Bible Study. And it''s quite timely to the prophecies that we will fulfill. Once we destroy that nation, we can initiate our ns." Eagle added.


    "Then that''s it. You all know your ns. Those near Egypt create a war and involve Egypt to force Egypt to reveal more of its powers. I''m sure several Presiders will be involved in that war."


    "Seeker, Egypt has to win this. If there are any Presiders going against Egypt, then the one that survives this should be Egypt." Eagle spoke again.


    "Alright. Egypt will be a Babel tower. I''m sure Arthur already knows. So, Oveers, take note of what Eagle said. Everyone else who is not involved in any of the aforementioned missions pick and attack a Presider. My team will probably go and aid your teams one by one since Rai will be with us."


    "I''ll go after Myrth. Meng, Amir. Would you join me?" Lioncourt asked.


    "A Top Tier? That sounds fun." Meng smiled.


    "Then I guess the Fang Wars between us is over, Meng." Amir smiled.


    "Let''s settle that some other time."


    "My son and I will go after this Straviaa. We already know her base." Lennox also spoke.


    "Good. Just be careful of the iing group of Presiders. Andstly, assume that we won''t win this. Because as of now, we still can''t. So Ovee, dear Oveers! Ovee either by your might or through unity."


    "Don''t think that you''ve bested me, Seeker Carlean. I have already called several people to my fold. My beauty is nothing without others to praise it. I will unite us all. And the next time we meet, no matter how many allies will help you, you will be mine. All this time, I have been focused on extending my powers and have not focused on the beauty of my eyes. But the next time you will see me, you will be mine."


    "I''ll be ready, Quera. Try to win your fight against Richie first. Anyway, our next meeting will probably be during the bible study. And let''s go and kill, and steal as much as we can from these Presiders! Let the hunting of Presiders begin!" Seekerughed as he disconnected the call.

 Chapter 471 The Other Armies Of The Unlocked

    Inside a secret military facility in the European Nations...


    Five teenagers had finally infiltrated and killed thest of the soldiers. All that was left was to kill the Pioneer Commander, who watched the base.


    The Pioneer was trembling in fear as he saw the five approaches. His Exoskeleton had been damaged. What was frustrating was that these five didn''t have any suits at all! They attacked the base and decimated the defenses without any suits.


    "Who are you? And what do you want with me?"


    "Is that important? You can''t contact your beloved Presider anyway. The Realm we deployed locks in all signals. Even if you had a direct line that connected to a Presider, you wouldn''t be able to respond." A chubby manughed.


    "How can someone so fat move like that?" The Pioneer asked.


    "Really? Fat-shaming me?"


    "What? That was out of genuine curiosity! If anything, I was very impressed." The Pioneer answered.


    "It''s still fat-shaming since you assume I can''t move like that because I''m fat."


    "You couldn''t. You are just able to do that because of the Progenitor." A woman cursed on the side.


    "And besides, I can tell! This Pioneer isn''t on some sort of n to alert his Presider. He just wants to know since he''s about to die. So he wasn''t fat-shaming you but was just curious how you really did it."


    "I have some thoughts about how we are to kill him..." Another woman spoke.


    "Now that''s just sick, RaVeil." The fat kid turned.


    "I meant, I have some thoughts about it. What if we don''t kill him?"


    "Why?"


    "We can make in him into a spy."


    "What? Why are you-"


    "The Comm Device. This Pioneer is reading A Game of Attraction. Look at the animated mug coasters. He''s a Radia-Veil fan just like her." A young man appeared, and he wasn''t wearing a mask.


    "Yo-You?! You''re Git Godlike?! Cronus!"


    "Boss? Why did you remove your mask?" The fat kid removed him as well.


    "Dantes! You''re Kid_Caramel! Then that means... Cerulean_Stars, Jumpstrart_Engine, Alexa_Squared, and you''re RaVeil_Fantasy!" The Pioneer pointed and was able to co-rte the fighting style he had seen on each of these fighters.


    "Wow. He''s a fan. Now I really don''t want to kill him." Alexa smiled as she removed her mask.


    "What''s up, boss?" Twister removed his mask.


    "I spoke with the Lost Primordial. We''ll be wagging war against Presiders. Pioneer. This ce is done and will burn. Do you want to serve us? Switch to a Presider that is winning."


    The Pioneer was stunned.


    "So it''s going to start?"


    "The Presider wars will start early. There is movement, and the Progenitor will begin a campaign in Egypt. As for us, we will be allying ourselves with the Fangs and the Wolves of India."


    The Presider was startled. The strange war between One China and the newly reformed India had a battle that involved monsters and superhumans.


    "Who are we after?"


    "The Top Tier Presider this Pioneer serve. Myrth."


    "Presider Myrth?! You actually n to attack her?" The Pioneer was shocked.


    "Attack her? We n to kill her. We''ve killed Presider Shakstress. Well, we had to create a truce with the Progenitor, but we seeded. Now we think we have enough to fight Myrth. Care to join us? Of course, we''ll kill you if you refuse. If you agree, tell us everything you know about the remaining forces and secret bases here in Europe."


    "Myrth''s real base is not here. But in-"


    "We know. Russia. We''re just cleaning out the possible escape routes. As for that bomb in your body, it''s already destroyed. Our Master already crushed it."


    "Who is your master?"


    "Remember when Presider Myrth''s ship was suddenly attacked as it was trying to teleport to Egypt, causing it to appear in the skies about Europe? Who do you think attacked her?"


    "Amazing... But my loyalty lies with Myrth. Just go ahead and kill me. I''m content knowing who killed me."


    "We''ve captured the author of A Game of Attraction, and he is releasing a story that focuses on Radia and Veil.."


    "I''m in. Screw that Presider!"


    "Ra-Veil fanatics are weird." Kid_Caramel shook his head.


    In thends of China, another great wall made of metal stood high over thend.


    Below were the corpses of thousands and thousands of men. Some were still alive even though they had no limbs. Some still had the wolf form in their body.


    Sting had just managed to eliminate the remaining threats when he moved down.<sub> </sub>


    "st. Any more enemies on the skies?"


    "None. Those flying wolves are done. What next? Are we going to have teleporting wolves? They''re getting more and more difficult to deal with by the second. Just what did Amir do in that country? Even when he left for South America, we can''t push our forces in India!"


    "Be happy. We have strong allies. Master Typical has given us new orders. Follow me."


    st followed Sting and soon met with One.


    "One? Off to visit that prisoner again? Did that wolf bit and eat your heart?" Sting frowned.


    "Young Master, Sting... I..."


    "Rx. I''m not mad. It''s just it''s interesting that both of you managed to find love in this world. I pray that I, too, will. Too bad Lady Alean is taken by someone I have no hopes of defeating." Stingughed.


    The trio reached the underground areas where the strongest variants of the wolves were kept hidden.


    There were six men and three women chained up in the rooms below. Each chamber had several high-tech gears that were creating a powerful frost that cooled them down and prevented them from changing.


    "Oh? If it isn''t the Young Master, Judge, and Executor of the Fangs. Sting! To what do I owe this visit? I thought One would be here to talk have his disgusting little talk with Needa."


    "Shut up, Rexs. You''re just jealous of him. I know you like me too. But that One has got my eyes." Needaughed.


    "Hey, One. Let''s fight one more time. I''m burning with lust here." The beautiful woman smiled. Her face hair was so long that it reached the floors.


    "I''m jealous, One." st sighed.


    "I''m here to set you all free. The Fang Wars is over."


    "Set us free?"


    "We never told you before, and your master didn''t say, but this whole war was to create more soldiers useful for the battle. We are actually allies. And our real enemy is those that you have seen in the news¡ªthe moon and therge UFO that flew over Egypt. We had to fake a war so those enemies won''t meddle with us while we were preparing. And, of course, to make it look real, the losses from both sides had to be real. We are the other branch of the army called the Unlocked Armies. And it''s finally time for us to put off this facade and hunt for our real enemies."


    "Hunt? So assassins and hunters will now be one? Interesting. I''ve always felt that our leader was hiding something. This war felt too forced.


    "Is our enemies aliens?" Another man asked.


    "Yes."


    "Ha! I win! Told you they were aliens!" The man called out to another.


    ? "So that''s why you only caught us and didn''t even experiment on us." A young man called out. He was the only man who didn''t have the strange cold-creating equipment in his cell.


    "In any case, you nine have shown amazing powers. A werebear. A weretiger. A werebat. And a very impressive werewolf that used hair to fight. You are actually the strongest, youngdy. However, I''m not sure if One pulled his punches and shes when you fought. Still, you did manage to wound Force even though your strange attraction towards One led to your easy defeat."


    "It was love at first sight." The womanughed and continued to gaze at One.


    "And you... The only werewolf that didn''t transform but had twice its power. What is your wereform anyway?"


    "You want to see mine wereform, huh? Then let me show you." The young man stood up.


    "O Romeo, Romeo, wereform art thou Romeo?" He recited. All of a sudden, it was like he was a beautiful woman that even Sting was amazed.


    "That was... amazing!"


    "That is my wereform. I am an Actor!"


    "Can we please focus? And should I get them out of their chains?" One frowned.


    "Oh,e on, One! That was amazing acting! You just want Sting to free these guys so you can have your time with thedy!" st was angry.


    "Um... That love at first sight thing... I think I had it with you." A shy girl suddenly voiced out and called to st.


    st turned to the woman who spoke. It was the were bat that he fought in the sky.


    "You- you did?"


    "What is this Twilight crap?" Sting frowned.


    "Young Master. How did you know about that? Have you watched-"


    "Enough!"


    "Actually... Young Master Sting... When I saw you..." The young man called out.


    Sting froze as his heart sensed grave danger.


    "Ha! You believed! That was acting! I even managed to fool you, young master!" The actorughed.


    Sting sighed in great relief.


    "Are you done here, Sting? I wish to talk to you." A young woman''s voice was heard, and the entire room began to emanate a great coldness. A woman of great beauty and dark skin entered the room. She was an enigma even among her family. While most had a skin of blueish white, her darker skin color made her appear to be an adopted child. But now, the shivering coldness that was defeated only by Rosa herself proved her identity.


    "Madam Roselia..." Sting greeted. The one that arrived was the younger sister of Rosa and the very sister that would soon marry Lowengren after Rosa lost to a bet against Lowengren and Alean months ago.

 Chapter 472 Heat And Cold

    The entire room shivered, and even the Unlocked were-users were affected by the cold. Some of them couldn''t even move.


    "Madame. The Fang Wars is over. I was just about to free these men." Sting bowed.


    "That''s why I am here. My final test is about to start. If I seed, I''d be counted as one of the Ranked Heroes. I am tasked with a difficult mission. I am to eliminate the forces of Ceasar who refused to join the Tyrant Empress. And I need a team to help me. Rome has quite an army. So if I were to go in and kill the Prodigal Might that stole Octarion Caesar''s data, I need arge army to create the distraction."


    "These are the strongest Alphas that we have. There was another particrly strong Alpha that managed to force Specter to retreat."


    "I just need one. My family has perfected the gue that General Seeker and Doctor Charles sent over. I n to mix it with Amir''s Virus."


    "The gue?" st asked.


    "Oh? Did you forget, st? This was the first time General Seeker did something crazy. He attacked the forces of the first Pioneer ever to die by Unlocked hands. Feltrick Ung-ive was performing malicious research in My-Pangea. Seeker''s ounts reveal that this bioweapon wouldter be used on the Earth and helped identify those who have the natural potential to be Unlocked. Feltrick was killed by Seeker, and they took over hisbs in My-Pangea. That was also the first time General Harker rose to prominence."


    "Forgive my ignorance. I was not paying attention to the news back then."


    "Back then, we were just a group of Assassins. In any case, we learned recently that this gue being researched was under the orders of a Pioneer called Feyor. Seeker took control of the data, and Doctor Charles improved it as it was the foundations for his Path."


    "But Madame... Mixing the two should be impossible!"


    "No. Doctor Charles has already developed it. Mixing the rotting technology of this gue and Amir''s hyperactive and hungry cells, we have a virus that has both. In short, we have the virus to start a zombie apocalypse."


    "I''m not sure if I should be praising Charles or condemning him for his mad science." Stingughed.


    "I was tasked to find a way to kill the enemy Caesars. The Prodigal Might is an Emperor who chose the WGP over his family. But when Octarion served the Tyrant Empress, this group called this Emperor and allied with them. So I may be fighting several Emperors as my final test. I just need one werewolf. How many Alphas are there?"


    "This should be all of them. So when Amir left, we concentrated our efforts in capturing them, sensing that the Fang Wars would be over soon."


    "I think there should be sub-alphas in India. It''s a very chaotic system in the army. We became alphas after a grueling process. But we all were caught when Master Amir left. We thought we were doomed to. But since we''re allies, this should be fun." The actor was the first to resist the cold.


    "And you are?"


    "Andreas Erruduas, at your service, Madame." The actor bowed.


    "You''ll do. Since you have resisted the wolf and maintained humans, you would be the perfect experiment to create zombies."


    "It is an honor serving one so beautiful."


    "Alright, Sting. Free them all." The cold began to disappear, and all the equipment that was freezing the wolves all stopped functioning.


    "Now, dear boys. You are all free. We will be holding a meeting once Masters Greydon and Typical arrive. Amir should also join us. As for you, just keep your desires to yourself."


    "We won''t be able to help it. We seek the strong. It''s part of the whole wolf thing. It will be a blessing if we find someone who likes them back like Needa and Esmeralda there." One of the wolves chuckled.


    "Likes them back? st?!" Sting turned around, and st was shaken off his strange gaze.


    "You-Young Master."


    Sting facepalmed.


    But as the frost wavered, the heat of the werewolves began to rise. And four particr wolves couldn''t control their emotions.


    Roselia had both power and beauty, and the wolves were restless.


    "Fools!" Sting and Andreas shouted together.


    <o>,m The emotions of these wolves caused the angelic Roselia to burn with anger.</o>


    Terrifying ice entered the room.


    All of the wolves, save for the actor was, frozen.


    st and One were barely able to resist it but were trembling in the cold.


    "Ma-Madame... They are our... allies." Sting endured the frost. But he was looking at the surrounding wolves. Such power was too much for Inhumans!


    The actor was so scared. He had managed to escape the coldness by using his Unlocking to create a Realm that blocked the attack. But never before was he so afraid of death.


    "Only my husband, Lowengren, can look at me like that. So let this be their warning."


    "Warning?" Sting was confused. He thought the wolves were all dead.


    "The frost will wear out, and they are not dead. My sisters interfered, and their wolf bodies will save them from this level of frost. In any case, I''ll take Andreas and head east. First, I will create a zombie army enough to attack Rome. Once I''m done with this test, I will head to Egypt to meet my future husband."


    "Madam, you are seriously considering epting the wager that your older sister had with Lowengren and Alean? Those two are the devil incarnate! We can talk to Seeker to cancel the price for that wager that Madam Rosa wagged against the two of them! I also know that this Lowengren is-"


    "At first, I hated it. But the remarkable deeds of Lowengren amaze me. The number of men worthy of me draws smaller by the second. I shall snatch this Lowengren for myself. If there is a way for me to defeat ''queen'' Alean, it would be to make this Lowengren my ve." Roselia walked out.


    Andreas quietly followed and left, ncing at his wolf allies.


    "You guys need more training." He shook his head as he left.


    Sting sighed as he could not go against Roselia''s wishes. She was stubborn and even colder than her older sister, Rosa.


    Two younger girls entered the room as Roselia left.


    "Sister... you almost killed our precious allies!" Oneined.


    "Yeah! You almost hurt Sting, too! Sorry, Sting." The other apologized.


    "Madame Rosemary. Madame Roselyn." Sting greeted the twins.


    "Sorry about my sister. The truth is, she has a crush on Lowengren!" Rosemary chuckled.<sub> </sub>


    "ROSEMARY!"


    Rosemaryughed and took one step forward when the entire space she was standing on turned into a huge block of ice.


    "Too slow, sister!" Rosemary chuckled.


    "Anyway, Sting. Please prepare a ship. While my sister will be headed for Egypt, we will be going with Lioncourt to attack." Roselyn exined.


    "Lioncourt? Will you finally take part in the war?"


    "Yes. My family has already epted the leadership of the Unlocked industries. But they demand favorable marriage arrangements for the future."


    "Oh? Are you thinking about going after General Seeker?" Sting was worried.


    "Rx, we''re not that crazy! I want Cliff."


    "I want Cliff too. But if Rosemary gets him, I can settle with Jake. I''ve been reading those romantic novels about him and Kristine... ugh. I want to sink my lips and freeze that Jake so that he can''t escape my embrace. If Kristine doesn''t take him, I will!"


    "I see that... romantic passions run deep in your family." Sting was amazed.


    "Oh, you should see our sister''s altar of Lowengren. She crafted it with her powers and even hugs in her sleep. She would shout strange things like, ''Lie to me! Tell me I''m ugly!'' Yeah, sis is a sicko."


    FLASH!


    The entire space around Roselyn froze as the scream of an angry Roselia could be heard from afar.


    But yet again, Roselia missed.


    "Too slow, sis!" Roselynughed as she stood on top of the block of ice.


    "Anyway, we have no ns of taking the Ranked Hero tests. I think we won''t pass it anyway. So instead of fighting our way, we want you to help us travel with Lioncourt''s team. Serge Embers is also a dreamy guy. Wait! Maybe I should just build a harem of strong men!"


    "What?"


    "Great idea, Sis! Me too!"


    "Let''s see who makes a better harem, then?"


    "Oh yeah? I call dibs on Amir''s son!"


    "Ew... You can have that mangy, wild, uncontroble, unpredictable... muscr... magnificent specimen of a man..."


    "...We should leave. One, st. Let''s go. Erm... Madams, the best way is to head to the EAA and teleport with the Void Assassins. Since they will be performing a joint operation, you should go there. I''ll inform them of youring. Also, if I may be bold to request, could you unfreeze these wolves?"


    "Alright. That sounds like a n!" The twins began to defrost the wolves as they listed out their dream harem. Not even Meryl was spared in the list.


    Back in South America....


    Unlocked Industries began to issue more orders and were shipping out more resources all over the world. Their ''living metal'' became very popr, and many countries, including the WGP were buying them.


    But this was just cover for the Unlocked was preparing to seek and destroy the Underwater fortress of Lanterk.


    Seeker watched as the group began to make preparations in their building.


    Alean challenged the Covenant to a fight and all dly epted.


    But as Seeker watched, he could not help but feel a bubbling desire which had never appeared for a long, long time.


    "What''s wrong with me?" Seeker frowned. Finally, he could not contain it.


    "Kristine. Don''t join them. Come with me." Seeker ordered.


    Everyone froze at those words.


    Meryl''s jaw dropped.


    "Nutterballs!" Lynd eximed.


    Jake was still bounded in various bindings and began to rage as he heard those words.


    "M-me?" Kristine was so unsure that she asked again.


    "Yes. I have to apologize to you. And clear things out." Seeker reasoned.


    "Al-alright. Danny. Dara. Sorry guys." Kristine gave an apologetic bow and began to run towards Seeker.


    Deep in the subconscious of Seeker, a horrified Zeraphine was trembling.


    "Oh boy... Here''s trouble. Since Seeker met the Tyrant Empress, he had been actively using Jake''s power so that no other outside force could affect his emotions. Little did he know that your power to manipte Seeker''s emotions so that he would avoid Kristine is now not affecting him." Shakstressughed.


    "No... Seeker will choose me! He will!" Zeraphine dered.


    "Your still a child, Zeraphine. It''s your fault for doing this. You purged all emotions that Seeker had towards Kristine and kept bombarding him with thoughts of you together. But now, he is so confused because of the explosion of emotions he is dealing with right now."


    Zeraphine did her best and began to use her soul. But to no avail. The attacks that used to influence Seeker were no longer working.


    "Stop it. You''re just wasting precious energy. Zeraphine. Let love choose. If you believe you are the girl in his heart, then let him go. He needs this if he has to Ovee. You have been causing an imbnce in his heart. Choosing between you and her is necessary for his growth." Shakstress advised.


    Zeraphine helplessly watched as Kristine moved towards Seeker. Her eyes could not hide the joy exploding in her heart.

 Chapter 473 Hope That Is Seen Is Not Hope

    Kristine walked towards Seeker in amazement.


    The rest were whispering and began to talk at what they saw.


    Jake was trying to get out of his binds, but the technology that held him used Realm, making his escape impossible.


    Alean turned to Lynd.


    "What''s going on?"


    "Strange... Seeker''s emotions are more clear. This is the real Seeker! That kid who loved Piercing and who simped over Kristine!" Lynd could sense the emotions.


    "Why?! What happened?!" Meryl rushed towards Lynd and cursed.


    "What about Alphie?! Now Kristine is a problem to my dream love team?!" Meryl cursed.


    Even though the others were very loud, Kristine couldn''t hear them all. Instead, all she heard was heart beating which confirmed her emotions for Seeker.


    She was very nervous as to what this meeting meant.


    Seeker was standing and was lost in his thoughts. The Adult appeared nearby.


    "You''re finally doing this, huh? What happened? Was it the Tyrant Empress? You have always managed to control your emotions against her, and maybe because of my influence, you focused on Zeraphine." The Adult asked.


    "That''s the only exnation. It''s definitely because of the Tyrant Empress. Her appearance awakened my desires that somehow, it managed to match your obsession with Zeraphine. I think your obsession with Zeraphine was stronger. But now, the two became equal, and I''m more confused than ever." The Child sighed.


    "It''s your life, your body. I''ll be here to help whichever Path you choose."


    Unknown to them, Zeraphine and Shakstress were listening.


    Zeraphine was angry. She was thinking of revealing herself, but then she hesitated.


    "I... can''t reveal myself!" Zeraphine cursed.


    "Why won''t you do that? Why not just reveal yourself?" Shakstress asked.


    "When I died and transferred myself to Seeker, it wasn''t until he became an Oveer that I was able to reform this soul. His Path allowed me to slowly and subtly gain sentience. The Adult Seeker is the one that I love. The younger one isn''t the real one that I love. But it''s the Child who is the real boss of this body. After all, it''s that Seeker who is the Oveer. I only nned to reveal my identity if it saved the Adult. But revealing it now will only make the Child pursue Kristine more. Then, he would realize that I have been manipting his emotions!"


    "Ah... You''re afraid that the Child would conclude that he doesn''t like Zeraphine but was under a spell."


    "You''ve seen how arrogant this Child is. His pride won''t allow it. And the Adult won''t ever go against the Child. He knows his ce in this body and respects it. I know him. He''s too kind for that!"


    "Then reveal yourself only to the Adult then."


    "No. I don''t want to remain this way, Shakstress. The technology of the Lost Primordial and the mysteries of the Unlocking is something that can resurrect the two of us! I don''t want to be a spirit."


    "I see. You''ve long plotted to take control of that Zeraphine."


    "That''s thest resort. That Zeraphine is still me, and I want her to live her life. So either I reform another body, or if I really don''t have a choice, I enter Kristine''s body."


    "Kristine? Why her?"


    "She treated my Seeker well. If I''m strong enough, I could give Kristine a lesser body of any random person, maybe even put her in the Tyrant Empress''s body. But my goal is to grow stronger. And the Adult Seeker also has to grow strong. When I saw the Paths of the other Oveers and Nogard, I nned and prepared to create a body as the first choice. This is because I don''t want the Child Seeker. I just want MY Seeker. And in order to do that..."<sub> </sub>


    "You need the Adult to be an Oveer. Only by bing one does he have the chance of leaving this Seeker''s body and move into a new one."


    "Yes! He needs to be an Oveer if he wants to cultivate somehow to create a body, or if it is impossible, then at least transfer his soul as I did. That Cliff is the perfect person who can host the Adult! I don''t really care who''s the body is. As long as it''s my Seeker, I''m ok with it. I''ve plotted many scenarios but bing an Oveer is necessary for the Adult."


    "Poor Cliff. Being toyed and experimented around by everyone. So you don''t wish to reveal yourself unless the Adult''s life is on the line because if you revealed yourself, his chances of bing an Oveer will decrease."


    "Yes. You''ve heard what the Pastor Eagle said in the sermons Seeker now listens to."


    "Ugh. We are already forced to hear it through Seeker''s body. Must we discuss it?" Shakstress scowled.


    "Do you even know what verse I''m talking about?"


    "Of course! Romans 8:24-25.Hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. You see? I even know and memorize Scripture now! That strange Path is even affecting me! Eagle said that God has intentionally made His promises, and its fulfillment always bes something they cannot see, so that they wait for it with endurance. Endurance to bear the weight of the great trials of this world and attain the promises in Revtion. And those are the promises given to the Conquerors, or as the other versions of the Bible trantes it, Oveers."


    "You''d make a great preacher Shakstress. Many Aragarians will be blessed and turn to Jesus as you preach." Zeraphine chuckled.


    "But you are right. That''s what I mean. Should the Adult know that I''m here, it weakens his resolve. His hope will be lost as I will be ''seen''. But if he sees the Child going for Kristine..."


    "He will continue to hope for his resurrection and go after Zerahpine."


    "Exactly. That''s why I can''t do it now!"


    "Alright. But the two Seeker''s shares a certain degree of their emotions. Aren''t you afraid that your Seeker will fall in love with Kristine? He already has in his previous life when you were kicked out of the picture."


    "That is a possibility, But the Adult Seeker sees hope through this timeline''s Zeraphine. He would want to redo the mistakes in his life. He would want to save me again. I''m not worried. His love for me was never that fragile."


    "Oh my, how confident!" Shakstress chuckled.


    "I must thank you, Zeraphine. Joining you in this body is the best fun I''ve had in all my life. I am free from the curse of the Primordial, I have you, which I can honestly call a friend, I have hopes of being reborn, and I get front row seats to a fun love story!" Shakstress chuckled as she gazed to watch the eyes through Seeker''s perspective.


    Kristine had finally reached the room and was standing before Seeker.


    "Um... Hi."


    "First of all, I''m sorry." Seeker immediately apologized.


    "... You do know, you''re still my General, right?"


    Seeker chuckled.


    "I do. But in my other life, you were my General."


    "I was?!" Kristine was amazed.


    "The truth is, I honestly am confused right now with my emotions. Kristine, my past self really loves you. The Adult Seeker that time traveled in me really loved you. When Zeraphine died, his heart- well... I guess my heart also died. You were the light that made it live again."


    "So... it''s basically a dilemma. The girl you loved, or me. The one that got you to love again?"


    "Yeah. It''s exactly that. But I don''t know what came over me. It feels like when I met Zeraphine, that unresolved love story, that happy ending that he never got, was finally there. His emotions got the better of me."


    "Is that why you sent me away?" Kristine finally asked the question she was dying to find out.

 Chapter 474 Seeker And Kristine

    Seeker took a deep breath. Even with his power and Unlocking, the guilt and the pain of making the girl he really liked and eventually love fall into a series of painful circumstances made his heartache.


    "Your cells are... acting up. Did I hurt you?" Kristine was amazed.


    "Yeah. I felt hurt. The truth is, even I''m confused as to why I sent you away. When we first met, I told you that you would be mine. I''m sorry I said that and sent you away."


    "Was it the other Seeker?"


    "I don''t think the Adult intentionally did it. He told me he never tried to make an ending for this body forcibly. But maybe his obsession got the better of me. But I''m sure now. The current me, the kid me, has always been attracted to you. You are LordChokeMeSenpai, after all. You were like my dream girl. So I don''t know. I''m telling you right here and right now that my emotions are a mess. And I want to apologize for that. "


    "The great Seeker who spun the world into his making is apologizing?"


    "The world can burn. I''ve seen what wickedness it has. But you can''t. Not with the light I''ve seen you show." Seeker smiled.


    Kristine couldn''t help but blush at those words.


    "General... You''re making me blush!" Kristineughed and performed the trademarked embarrassed voice that made millions simp after her.


    Seeker couldn''t help butugh.


    "I forgot how much I liked that voice. Anyways, that''s all that I wanted to rify. Again. I''m sorry I made you go through that. Although, Arthur''s pretty amazing in using it to improve your Path."


    p "I don''t know how Arthur thinks anymore. It''s like he''s a different person. Anyway, I guess I have no choice but to keep following orders. And right now, that means obeying whatever you want me to do." Kristine smiled. Her persona that she hid for months, the temptress and teaser of men, LordChokeMeSenpai, was finally back.</anda>


    "I''m d to see you all happy. But you do realize that I still need to meet with Zeraphine and y my part as his boyfriend."


    "I thought I was fighting an impossible battle. But now, I''m just happy I have a shot. Besides, you and Zeraphine have that fake rtionship. But now, I guess we''d be spending more time together, right?"


    "Yeah. Definitely. But I''ll be honest. I''m not sure if it''ll make things between Lynd and me easier or difficult." Seeker smiled.


    "Oh. So you already know about Alean''s feelings towards you?" Kristine eximed.


    "You know?" Seeker was surprised.


    "Call it intuition. I guess it''s easy for girls like me who have this crush on you to sense others. Or it could be rted to my Path. I can tell when the cells and emotions of others are getting riled up. And what was annoying was that after China, I felt that your emotions that I spurred vanished!"


    "I don''t understand it either. But I''m curious, though. You didn''t think of considering Jake? I mean, he clearly likes you."


    "It''s difficult for me to like you. People with your level of power and Unlocking are more attractive than the rest. Besides, Arthur believes that your exposure to the Tyrant Empress back in China made you unconsciously create pheromones to chain me. It made sense since I was and still am, obsessed with you."


    "Alright. So I won''t have to worry about Jake. But what about Lynd?" Seeker asked.


    "Honestly? If not for Alean, I was hoping he''d chase me."


    "I thought so. Lynd has gotten so much stronger in this timeline. I was right. Did you know I gave him Alean because of you? I didn''t want him to pursue you in this life."


    "Really? That was the intention?"


    "Yes. This happened back before the Adult me got stronger and started to influence me. I''m sorry for sending mixed signals."


    "You don''t need to apologize, General. But I''m d you did. At least, you can openly talk to me now, and I can be more at ease knowing I really have a shot at you."


    "You''re as honest and open as you were in your other life. I both liked and hated that about you."


    "You hated this?"<sub> </sub>


    "In that other timeline, you told me that if not for Lynd, you would have chosen me. The problem was that it gave me hope. And that became an unhealthy obsession."


    "Wow. I sound like a girl who would lure guys into my trap."


    "You were, but it was probably due to the influence of the Tyrant Empress. Every woman wanted to be like her. They wanted to be the queen of every man''s heart. So I can''t really me you. Besides, you probably were channeling LordChokeMeSenpai. That was your thing, right? I think that the adult me is somewhat happy that you experienced a little suffering in this life. I guess it''s payback for ying him like a flute on that other life."


    Kristineughed.


    "Well, that does sound like me. LordChokeMeSenpai really did those things. I made a career of being a tease to all guys. But things are different now, though. What you did to me was pretty traumatic... And I guess I don''t want to be that girl who yearns for attention and to keep guys always chasing me. I only did that because the first man I fell in love with only saw me as a sister. And then you did this whole casting me away thing that hurt more than Arthur''s feelings towards me."


    "Yeah. Arthur and I are parallels in many ways. We both loved you by necessity. He needed it to help him remind himself of his sister. So he truly loved you like a family. The adult me needed to love you to save myself from falling into the dark abyss after Zeraphine''s betrayal and death. Arthur could never love you any more than that, and I couldn''t love you because Lynd was there. Somehow, I think Lioncourt of that timeline nned it to keep me going after a hope that wasn''t there. He was pushing me to be an Oveer and to be more than Lynd, who was a World Champion."


    "You Oveers really need to get a new hobby and not toy around with the fates of others." Kristine chuckled.


    "In any case, you deserve to know all this. That way, you can decide for your own self how to respond to this. Of course, I could always send you back to Arthur and make the Covenant his team."


    "No. I think I understand why Arthur sent me away. His real sister is alive. So... sadly, he probably doesn''t need me as much as he did before. And he needed to push me away to be an Oveer."


    "Hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already has? Eagle''s exnation is so on point as usual. So you''ll stay here with me? Keep in mind that my emotions are very wild because I met the Empress."


    "I can calm it down. But I won''t. After all, everything I''ve been through has only made me want to have you more." Kristine smiled.


    Seekerughed as he heard that and nodded.


    "Too bad we can''t afford to spend time with each other like this now."


    "I don''t mind. Attacking and raiding an incarnation of a Principal sound like a dreamy date for us Unlocked. I''m sure I''ll have the edge over that Zeraphine after this."


    Seeker chuckled and motioned for them to move.


    "Then let''s go."


    "Yes, General!" The pair moved out, and Seeker felt a strange relief in finally being honest with his emotions.


    What he or the Adult didn''t know was that the mysterious and undetectable secret space inside Seeker''s soul was trembling as Zeraphine raged.


    "Too bad I don''t have popcorn for this great show. It must be painful to watch them flirt."


    Zeraphine had an ugly expression on her face, and a strange power was even leaking out. But no matter how much energy she tried to use, Seeker''s emotions didn''t change a bit.


    "Even after all those talks, you really can''t hold back and want to rip that Kristine apart, don''t you? It seems that a part of you also like the Child Seeker. Were you dreaming of a harem?" Shakstressughed.


    "That... bitch!" Zeraphine raged.


    "You''re screwed, Zeraphine. No matter how much energy you release, it won''t hit Seeker, who is in a constant state of making his emotions intangible in the dimensions beyond. Oh, wait! You''re not screwed! Seeker and Kristine are about to have a battle where their hearts and lives are on the line. With the way things are going, it''s Kristine who''s going to get screwed! You ain''t getting any, soul parasite!" Shakstressughed.


    "Screw you, Shakstress!"


    "Nope. It''s screw Kristine. Go get em, Seeker! I''m team Kristine now!"


    BOOM!


    The two began to fight in the soul realm.

 Chapter 475 The Rise Of Egypt

    All of a sudden, wars began to happen all over the world. Battles of great magnitude urred, and more super-human beings were revealed in the numerous fights that transpired in every continent of the world.


    But of all the shocking battles that made the world look closer to annihtion was the battle and wars that urred in Egypt.


    Suddenly, several attacks with super-human beings urred on the different fronts of Egypt. To call it a coincidence would be idiotic.


    "Presider! We are under attack!"


    "Presider! Requesting backup! We are being assaulted by those Presiders who used wind!"


    "Presider! The Desert Empire has broke internationalws and hasunched an assault on us!"


    "Presider! The vampire broke free! They are turning and devouring our armies here!"


    A series of reports began to ring out one after the other.


    "Presider! The Pharaohs are dead! We saw their severed body among the vampires! The woman known as Akasha broke free and began to attack us!"


    A series of alerts began to ring out to the high-priority line of Andronze.


    Andronze woke up. Her entire figure had changed. She no longer had an Exoskeleton or a Throne. Instead, she had be one with all these technologies as all began to gather around her.


    "So this is what it''s like to be a god...?" She smiled as she moved out of a strange pool of bright green water.


    The water began to one with her. Her powers rapidly increased as her senses pushed forth towards the edge of the Nile.


    Her eyes and senses were no longer as they once were, but she could see the entire Nile region and even found out the many armies that the other Presiders had secretly hidden and sent to the waters.


    Sheughed at the futility of her former thinking. The research that she had attained from Akasha, the data she had harnessed secretly from those that wielded the wind, and other benefits and discoveries, including a piece of Shakstress ships which contained detailed reports about the movements of the other Presiders.


    She then frowned as she realized the contents of thest report involved them!


    "The Pharaohs are dead?!" She cursed. This group of people was very, very powerful. They had risen from the depths of the underworld of Egypt. They grew up as abandoned orphans in the underworld and nomadic people who moved in the underground passages hiding from the massive mobile bases that patrolled the area.


    They had special powers, and Shakstress realized that they had been unknowingly exposed to the secret corpse hidden in the underground world of Egypt.


    "How could they have died?!" Andronze activated the technology in her newly formed suit and began to look at the many video files that the base where the Pharaohs were.


    As she listened to the full details of the report, it turned out that the Pharaohs may have died several days back!


    Andronze began to use her technology and thinking process that allowed her to link with theputer and search for specific videos. Finally, she had reached a level simr to the techs that Shakstress had.


    And with this amazing technology, she found out that several days ago, a strange urrence began to happen from the military bases above ground. Incidents were shown of doors opening, and closing was caught on video. Stranger still was that these incidents created a trail from the above grounds and slowly moved its way into the underworld of Egypt, then to the mobile fortress, and finally, into the underground cities located even deeper than that. It all led to the base where the Pharaohs stayed.


    The videos revealed strange urrences of doors and vents mysteriously opening up as if something invisible was there.


    "It''s the Progenitor!" Andronze recalled. Since the battle with Shakstress, the Pharaohs began to spy on numerous teams and found very important secrets. Videos of the technology and battle simtions were acquired. She had seen strange techs that made her feel threatened. And one of them was the tech that she saw in the videos.


    "This is the Progenitors, the Thief in the Night project! They must have perfected the technology and sent it here to Egypt!" Andronze raged.


    And then, she began to understand what had happened.


    "The Lost Primordial, the Progenitor, and some Presiders dare to attack me?! That Thief in the Night must have found my techs and sold it out to everyone! That''s it! Fine! If they wish to see how deep Egypt is, I''ll show them!" Andronze didn''t even hesitate. She had perfected her power and was itching for battle.


    "All Presiders! Initiate Rise Protocol! If these Presiders want to fight us, then let''s not disappoint them! Arise! All the fortresses! Arise! All the cities! Arise!"


    The entirend of Egypt began to tremble. Several mega structures suddenly began to break through the ground.


    The areas where the fighting was intense suddenly changed as a massive earthquake struck the ground.


    Explosions began to ur from the ground below, and canons, rockets, andsers began to shoot out.


    The borders between Egypt and the Desert Empire had massive nts that crept in and moved as the vines began to infiltrate and attack and damage the base. And right before it could seed, the entire fortress began to rise up!


    Simr scenes yed out on the western bases of Egypt where a massive wind creature with the shape of the man attacked.


    A fortress with massive firepower began to shoot the wind and forced it to retreat.


    In thend of Giza, the Pyramids of Egypt began to tremble. Suddenly, the entire structure rose to the heavens revealing an evenrger pir that used the pyramids as its roof.


    The structure was more than a kilometer long, and it caused the Great Pyramids to shoot up as if it was a massive altar. A powerful bright sun shone on top of the Great Pyramids.


    Andronze was this Sun, and she cried out with a loud voice that shook the very skies.<sub> </sub>


    "Let it be known that the Tower of Babel! The symbol of unity, the symbol of strength, and the symbol to ascend and be a god has risen over Egypt! I don''t care if you are Presiders, Progenitors of the Lost Primordial! Egypt will not give up! If it''s a war you want, it''s a war you''ll get! The Nile shall devour you all!" Andronze roared, and her power thatbined Realm and Universe Energy burst forth across thend.


    A massive serpent rose from the waters and broke out of thend. The numerous underground river that Andronze had created could transform into the same flood dragons that waged war with Shakstress.


    It was as if all of Egypt became a massive military base.


    The Presiders all over the world, and even on the massive ship that was hiding behind Mars, were shocked at the revtion of the power that Andronze had.


    Gordon and Pridgeon were stunned at what they found in the secret realm where the moon hid.


    "That damned Andronze! She was holding back on me! She''s no longer a Mid-Tier! She''s at Top-Tier with an entire nation serving her!" Pridgeon cursed.


    "Presider! Babylon is being attacked! Several cities have suddenly rebelled against us!"


    "What?! Why?!"


    "We don''t know!"


    The team had no choice but to focus on a sudden uprising in their country.


    In South America, Garenjazz watched in astonishment.


    "No wonder my luck never made me go and abuse Andronze. So this is her secret. Hmm... She''s going to be a tough one..." Garenjazz sighed.


    "Garenjazz. Fulfill your vow as my ward!" Zeraphine appeared behind her.


    "You''ve been awfully busy these past few days, princess." Garenjazzughed.


    "I want answers! Why did my father send me here?" Zeraphine shouted.


    As all the Presiders began to react to Andronze''s show of power, a secret submarine was moving down the deep ocean and had entered into the territory of Lanterk.


    Lynd continued to watch the reports and shook his head.


    "That Arthur! He really gave Andronze a lot of techs!" Lynd was amazed.


    "I expected that. My dad would need to give Andronze a reason to trust him. Techs and discoveries of how to create super-humans or how to use Realm would be an ideal way for him to get associated with the top brass." Aleanughed.


    "Knowing Arthur, he must have used Andronze as an easy way to experiment on this tech. It''s very easy for us to acquire more techs if someone much more advanced than us experiments and improves on it." Cliff exined.


    "It''s the perfect distraction... Everyone''s eyes will be on that. That will buy us more time from Garenjazz as he would be distracted with Egypt and won''t notice our sudden absence. By the time he does, he''d assume it''s normal since there are great wars happening all over this ce..." A tall, handsome Asian appeared out of nowhere.


    "Hello, Lilybeth." Alean teased.


    But instead of getting angry, Rai only smiled.


    "Ah, what a nostalgic thing to hear. It was there that my life changed." Raiughed.


    "It''s interesting that we are doing a joint operation with no other armies. We''re just sending the best of the best, and even Seeker is here!" Rai smiled as he nced at the upper room.


    "We''re you here to report something? As you can see, our General is busy talking to a girl. Those two are suddenly bing best of friends. And here I thought those two would give in to their lust." Cliffughed.


    "I doubt that. Seeker is clearly still divided between her and Zeraphine." Meryl appeared with Danny next to her.


    "Hey, newbie! It''s all on you!" Danny called to a member that was silently standing by. His gaze was on Seeker and Kristine, who were talking above.


    "Hey, Jake!" Meryl shouted as she felt irritated at how she was outshined. Jake had been ignoring her and kept his eyes fixed on Kristine.


    "Will this guy really work for us?"


    "Rx. Although it''s masked, I can roughly sympathize with his emotions. He really wants to get Kristine. And he knows that helping us is the only way." Lynd answered.


    "Anyway, time for all of us to suit up. We will be detected by Lanterk''s underwater fortress soon." Lynd spoke, and everyone began to make preparations.


    Lanterk was hidden deep underwater. The shocking power of Andronze had surprised him. And now, a strange submarine with barely any technology to protect itself was in its territory.


    "Prepare for war. The Progenitor is on his move!" Lanterk ordered, and his army began to prepare.


    Unknown to the world and even to most of the Presiders, a battle more shocking and more crucial than the one in Egypt was about to begin.

 Chapter 476 The Battle Deep Underwater (1)

    In the deep sea southeast of the South American continent...


    The small submarine continued to move deeply and finally entered Lanterk''s territory.


    Seeker, Lynd, Meryl, and Cliff would serve as the vanguard of the attack.


    Cliff would be the front line Commander and wore the powerful Exoskeleton armor called the Funneling General''s Exoskeleton. It was an Exoskeleton armor given to the strongest members of the front line. Cliff had proven his worth when he fought Lynd, and now this armor would finally make its debut against Aragarian foes.


    Seeker had a strange car next to him, the same car he used in his fight against Lennox. And Lynd had two strange round orbs and another Funneling General''s Exoskeleton.


    Meryl had an Exoskeleton skinsuit of bright white and some strange devices on her hand that allowed her to harness her power.


    "Is it alright that we are moving with these gears and weapons? I thought we were to limit the techs and weaponry we have and only show the bare minimum at all costs. And now, we''re here with our most powerful gear."


    "Don''t you ever want to use this? We''ve been experimenting on them, and I never even got to wear the Funneling General''s Exoskeleton." Cliffughed.


    "I do. But we hid this for so long, and right now, we are just going to show it all?" Meryl asked. The suit she wore was alreadypleted a while back. But she was never allowed to use it in all the shes and fights she had to perform in secret or in broad daylight.


    "The ocean is the perfect ce to fight. We''ve confirmed that with the Presider''s techs, Pridgeon and even Shakstress don''t have the techs to see the events and battles at the very bottom of it. So only Lanterk will see these techs. And our previous traps in allying and meeting with these Underwater Cities have worked. Most of them already have fake reports and videos that Lourca Oviili managed to spread in those bases secretly will make Lanterk think that Earth has always had secret battles between the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor at sea." Lynd exined.


    "That old Pioneer is very impressive and brave. To think she actually passed the spy training program." Meryl admired.


    "Are you sure you want to be in the vanguard, Meryl? Then, we could use you as a secret weapon and send you out at thest minute." Seeker asked.


    "I''ve grown to love the battlefield, Zeek. I''d be bored if you kept me for the best part. Besides, our n is to let Jake enter as soon as the battle starts. So it''s better that you bring me out. Danny and I can even do a little dance for him. He should be pissed." Merylughed.


    "General Seeker." Kristine reported as she wore her golden armor.


    "We are ready to fight," Kristine reported.


    "You look beautiful in that, Kristine. My fanboy heart is now affected seeing you like this." Seeker praised.


    "Remember this the next time you''re with Zeraphine then..."


    "Ugh. Get a room, you two."


    "Kristine. I still can''t root for you. I''m still team Alphie. She loved Seeker more than you in the past." Meryl defiantly dered.


    "I would want Alphie to have her beautiful happily ever after. But I also want mine. Especially since Seeker''s been cruel to me in this life." Kristine chuckled.


    "Can we stop with the love talks? The fight is about to start. Zeek. The other ships are about to be in position. My drug dealers, Meryl''s Twelve Disciples, and the Commanders of your Gyrphon Squadron are about to reach their respective positions. The Void Assassin has also arrived, and Rosa''s sisters are here."


    "Those Peak Inhumans? I doubt Roselia would join, though. That girl is head over heels for Lowengren.


    "Where is Lowengren? Aren''t they headed for Straviaa?"


    "Yes. They have to leave Egypt and allow the war between the Tyrant Empress and Richie, Hermes, and Akasha''s team to escte into full war. And then, after Arthur and Lowengren deal with Straviaa, Lennox will join and return with Arthur to Egypt. It''s all within Arthur''s estimation. I guess Arthur is making the most of the time and knows when it''s best for him to return. I''m sure Roselia wanting to meet his fiance, Lowengren, is within his calction." Seeker shrugged.


    BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!


    "We are all awaiting you, Progenitor." Lynd smiled as he called Seeker''s temporary code name.


    "Let''s go. Time to trim down this Kid''s horns!" Seekerughed, and theyunched themselves out of the ship.


    Down the depths of the ocean, Lanterk had justpleted another conquest, and thest of the Underwater cities in the region had been devoured. His originally small, portable ship had turned into arge fortress evenrger than Shakstress''s ship.


    The ship had numerous levels, and each underwater city that it managed to take over was randomly connected and assimted, forming a peculiar ship that had a unique shape. The cities that it fell in the ''sea of cities'' that even had WGP secret facilities were all captured and uprooted. Lanterk used his technology and employed Perfect Maism to shape his base into his own.


    At the very core of this strangely shaped ship was arge throne room, and seated on this throne was Lanterk.


    He remained to be in a foul mood, and the slightest recollection of what he went through in the past months enraged him all the more. By the time he realized that the girl he was chasing after already knew who and what he was, he had already gone through great moments of embarrassment and was out of focus.<sub> </sub>


    Meryl was actually one of the greatest experiments of the Progenitor! The deception that he and Zeraphine encountered in the World Governing Trading Hub was well hidden. He yed his part in trying to win Meryl''s heart and struggled with the painful and heart-wrenching sensation of the many incidents, which made him believe that Meryl and Danny had very intimate sessions. But soon, he realized that it was all a plot.


    Danny had suddenly attacked him, and the skills that Danny revealed were very simr to the powers that the Piercing character of Danny had! He fled from their grasp when the situation seemed suspicious and decided to make his base when the presider Wars were officially announced.


    It was only then the information he got from the numerous underwater cities, and the records of the battles they had with the Progenitor was revealed.


    The Covenant were all experiments of the Progenitor, and Danny was one of the next generations as the Lost Primordial killed the former ''berserker''. There were many inconsistencies in the reports as to the timeline and what he had seen and confirmed in the World Governing Trading Hub. But the fact that he focused on was that he, a secret Principal, was deceived!


    The memories came flooding back as Lanterk detected Meryl. There was also a strange Exoskeleton that had the form of what looked like a car.


    "That Progenitor wants war? I''ll show them why my other incarnations are Principals!" Lanterk became angry, and his perception became that of the entire ship.


    The power of Universe Energy and his Soul Bestowing Tech allowed him to turn the entire ship to be part of his body.


    He could see all directions and angles of his ship and even see what was happening inside. Because of this technology, he didn''t feel threatened in taking over vast cities. Most believed that he killed or controlled the inhabitants forcibly. But the truth was, he was the ship, and no one could escape his eyes.


    The massive form of Lanterk gazed on the small submarine that was reaching his range.


    Seeker zoomed to the front andughed. Even though they were underwater, the sound of Seeker''sugh echoed around Lanterk.


    "Principal Alexander Lanterk." Seekerughed. But this time, the Adult Seeker took control. And unlike the previous times this Adult controlled Seeker''s body, the Adult was now leaking out the full force of his soul, which had improved thanks to the training the Adult had with Nogard. As a result, Seeker''s Adult soul now manifested a strange Realm that was different from Seeker''s original soul.


    "Progenitor, I assume."


    "Charmed to meet you. I don''t think I''ve met your other incarnations at home."


    "Who are you?" Lanterk asked.


    "The Progenitor. It''s sort of difficult to exin with all the Principals, Primes, and possibly the Primordial altering the timelines. I think I died in three timelines fighting you, though."


    Lanterk was rmed at Seeker''s words and frowned.


    "What are you talking about?"


    "You''ll find out soon enough. Anyway, I''m here to pay my dues to Shakstress. I promised to hurt you for betraying her."


    "Betraying her?"


    "We''re rted. Wasn''t it you who sold her out to the Lost Primordial?"


    "I did no such thing! I was busy being led by that bitch next to you! And where is your son?! Send him here! I don''t sense his soul around!"


    "If I die here, someone has to carry on my seed. Why did you think I made Zeraphine marry my son?" Seeker sneered.


    "But enough talk. Now is the time to die. Meryl. Would you be so kind as to attack this simp? Let''s see if he will allow himself to be killed by you as the inner simp in him will take over." Seekerughed.


    "Yes, Progenitor!" Meryl took to the front.


    "Hey, Small Willy!'' Merylughed.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The entire fortress began to reform as weapons and cannons began to reorganize themselves and move as if the entire ship had massive conveyor belts around.


    "His Universe Energy and his technology is maism. You feel it, Lynd?"


    "Yeah. It''s like every metal has eyes. How can Jake steal techs like this?" Lyndughed.


    "That''s why he has to Ovee! Besides, it isn''t like his omnipresent. Let''s do an Aragon and keep the Great Eye''s attention busy while Rai delivers the package! Let''s go!" Seeker charged forward as the massive ship that held numerous underwater cities began to open fire on Seeker and his small team.

 Chapter 477 The Battle Deep Underwater (2)

    It was a crazy and reckless n. Should Jake be discovered, he would definitely be killed.


    But the Oveers knew that every battle they had to face would be risky gambles at every step.


    Seeker brought an impressive amount of Path users to achieve the attack.


    Alean became the Commanding General, stood at the submarine, and maintained a certain distance.


    She watched the feeds of all fighters and began to deliver orders.


    "Twelve Disciples, Basilisk and Gryphon Squadrons, Void Assassins. All hold. Wait for the sh and move out when I tell you. Covenant, maintain distance from the back of Seeker. Charge out when I tell you!" Alean ordered.


    Seeker, Cliff, and Lynd were at the front lines.


    The multitudes of attacks in the form ofsers, torpedoes, and other underwater weapons such as mortars and bullets wereunched. The attacks all urred together began to cover the entire view of Seeker''s team. The ship of Lanterk had extended out so that all that Seeker and his team could see was a massive wall extending horizontally and vertically. But now, it was as if a swarm of attacks was headed for them with dull grey objects of different sizes and some beams moving together.


    "Block or evade?" Lynd asked as he saw the sight.


    "Evade. Covenant, retreat a kilometer back and block, deflect and destroy any bullets that reach you!" Alean ordered.


    "Block that?!" Dara was horrified. She could see the thickyer of attacks being made and knew that even with her abilities, she wouldn''t be able to block it.


    "Calm down!" Kristine ordered.


    "Trust Alean! If she says block, then she knows that the attack is going to be something that we can block!"


    Dara felt the calming power and was no longer intimidated by what she saw. Even when they were E-Sport yers, Kristine has always managed to calm everyone down, and it was only then that Dara knew how important she was in these critical moments.


    Danny and the rest made their retreat and wondered how Seeker and the group would evade such an attack.


    "On me, Cliff! Lynd!" Seeker immediately extended his realm out to envelop his nearby allies.


    The power of the Passover began to form around him, and it merged with the realms of everyone. The Path of Cliff and the Path of Lynd synched perfectly, and the waters themselves began to glow.


    Slowly, the three began to achieve Unity, and the power of their Realm erupted outwards.


    With Seeker at the core and helming the unification, Seeker activated Madison''s Skill. And while it hadn''t stopped in their perception, it became another fold slower than the peak slowness of how they perceived.


    The group moved, and with the added slowness of time, they managed to evade and dodge every single one of the attacks.


    The torpedoes began to explode out, but the group kept moving further and further inside the rain of attacks.


    Five seconds have passed since they dove into the attack, but it had already been over a minute to these four.


    Lanterk wasn''t surprised or worried. He had already decided that the Progenitor was, at the very least, a Top Tier, and something so trivial as this was easy for them. But Lanterk was confused.


    "Why are they evading it? Could it be that the Progenitor is a ss cannon?" Lanterk wondered and began to activate his maic powers.


    The Universe Energy around the entire ship began to glow, and Seeker and his allies could sense something simr to Realm in it.


    "He can control all this?!" Meryl was amazed.


    And it happened.


    The bullets and torpedoes began to move off course, and some would even make a sudden stop and move in the opposite direction it was traveling.


    As Seeker and his team were right inside the swarm of attacks, evasion was no longer possible.


    Even with their perception, it was just too many.


    But suddenly, the four disappeared right as the swarm of bullets and torpedoes crushed them.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The explosions rocked out, but Lanterk was frowning. He could see them even though Seeker was surrounded by all those steel as Lanterk''s eyes were in every bullet! The four disappeared instantly right as all those metals were about to touch them.


    Seeker and the others just appeared a few meters from where all the steelpressed itself. There were no portals, no energy fluctuations, or any other peculiarities. They were just suddenly there.


    <o>,m "Immediate discement that broke through the three dimensions. Very fast and Throneless.. What an interesting technology... Is that why they are confident? But why reveal this now? That could have saved them from sure deathter on?" Lanterk frowned and began to control all the metals, including the shattered metals that urred from the explosions and crashed.</o>


    The metals constantly chased them, and the group was teleporting at the most crucial part at each step.


    The Covenant was busy defending the remnants of the attack. However, Alean was right in her orders as the focus of the bombardment was on Seeker.


    "Keep at it!" Alean ordered.


    Seeker and the group began to move and even shoot forward with their beams to stop and destroy the approaching attacks.


    They began to teleport faster and faster as the bullets and attacks were careful not to create a crunch but would stop hitting each other at thest moment and would chase Seeker and his team wherever they would appear. The bullets and detonations of the torpedoes were happening faster and faster as Lanterk was quickly able to catch up with them even with their greatly enhanced perception of time.<sub> </sub>


    "Looks like I will draw first blood." Lanterk sneered as it was no longer possible for them to evade.


    "Block now!" Alean suddenly changed orders at the fourth teleportation that allowed them to escape.


    Meryl took over the formation of Unified Path and erupted her bright light. Seeker, Lynd, and Cliff became conduits and assisted the channeling of bright light.


    A bright ball of white me exploded right in the ocean and either destroyed or eliminated the nearby metals.


    "Useless effort! This game of cat and mouse ends now!" Lanterk began to use his Universe Energy, and it flickered out on even metal that Lanterk controlled.


    The approaching pieces of metal and steel that were ammunition and torpedoes began tobine. It was as if Lanterk could control the very form of the metal and shape them at will.


    The sudden change of matter amazed Seeker.


    "This is Dimensional Upholding! He managed to uphold form in the dimensions beyond! This is a power even above Top-Tier Presiders!" Seeker was amazed.


    "It''s very limited, though. Lanterk can only do a very small percentage of this power. It''s not Principal level!" Lynd added.


    "Yeah. Amazing. but can we focus on not getting killed here?" Meryl frowned.


    The power that surpassed a Top-Tier could easily alter the form of an object on the three dimensions and on several dimensions beyond.


    The metals changed and became a strong spear that could resist the hottest heat and could stand firm from the strongest pressure and impact. Its every element had changed, and its power could pierce through the dimensions beyond the third.


    STAB!


    The spear stabbed through and Lanterk was shocked.


    "What?! That spear should have hit them even if they teleport! What dimensions were they moving on to?!" Lanterk eximed. He felt that his spear touched nothing. Right before the spear touched them, the same discement and quick teleportation urred at thest moment. But even though this spear existed in multiple dimensions and would have damaged objects or beings passing through these dimensions, he still missed it.


    "Where are they?!" Lanterk cursed and began to search for the entire battlefield and found that the four of them had split up!


    Four powerful shockwaves pped out as the four teleported to different locations. The power of Richie''s thunder attacked the bullets, and the four charged even further.


    "Everyone! Move out! Void Assassins teleport into the deepest part as you can and bring the Ice twins!" Alean ordered, and everyone followed.


    Lanterk didn''t have time to dwell on the impossible evasion. Instead, he could see the far ships deploy their forces, and Seeker and his team were getting closer and closer to his ship! And so, Lanterk harnessed an even greater power, and the Universe energy began to give off a red glow that shined out of all the metals that Lanterk owned.


    "If a single spear will miss, then what about a rain of bullets!" So the mad Lanterk harnessed great energy and went for the kill.


    But as he carefully navigated the bullets...


    "Now!" Alean ordered.


    FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!


    Four extremely bright lights erupted on the four different locations of the battlefield.


    "Trying to blind me? Please. Those lights are annoying, but I don''t really see as traditional people see!" Lanterkughed and kept navigating his bullets and made his attack.


    "Don''t make me use my powers! Lanterk!" Seeker roared, and the waters around him began to spin like a shield and were enhanced by Richie''s thunders.


    TING! TING! TING! TING!


    The sound and water shield that Seeker created had two Paths. It had Richie''s Path and a miniaturized Walls of Jericho that blocked the raining bullets. But along with it was the Path of the woman who survived the secret project in Egypt. She was experimented with being a controller of the Nile waters that Andronze developed. But the scientist in charge of this had a change of heart and escaped and faked their death, and was recruited by Lennox.


    "That''s Andronze''s Water Universe Energy! So you made a trade with her? I should have known!" Lanterkughed.


    It wasn''t just Seeker who used the same power. Meryl also had the shield.


    But Lynd and Cliff didn''t create a shield but created a Flood Dragon.


    "Why did you even bother to evade my attacks? What was the point of all that?"


    "It would have been embarrassing on your part if we seeded." Seekerughed as he charged forward and used powerful and explosive attacks to blow away the metal that Lanterk controlled.


    But little did Lanterk know that inside his ship was a man who had sessfully infiltrated the ship and was now moving like a Pioneer.


    "I''m in." Jake reported to Alean.


    Next to Alean, Rai had appeared.


    "It worked. No one noticed." Rai confirmed.


    "The missions a go! Jake''s in! Keep distracting Lanterk!"

 Chapter 478 The Battle Deep Underwater (3)

    Jake was inside the massive ship of Lanterk. The many distractions and consecutive attacks were just enough to distract Lanterk and fight. Since he did not sense Jake enter, he didn''t bother to ''see'' the other parts of the ship and focused on the battle in front.


    Seeker and his teams were moving at full speed towards his multitudes of bullets and ammunition.


    The water of the Ocean became part of Lynd and Seeker''s Realm. Cliff was in charge of echoing a sound attack that moved through the waters and attacked the uncountable metal that surged and charged towards them like rain with massive boulders.


    Meryl kept releasing a powerful light that began to steal away the kic energy that propelled the torpedoes and bullets.


    It was a powerful Realm that even began to affect the ship''s energy.


    "Is that Adnronze''s secret Sun Tech? How many allies does this Progenitor have? It seems that they have been quite busy trading materials with each other..." Lanterk observed as he could see the power of the sun that devoured all light for her own.


    The effects that caused all bullets to slow down were of great use to everyone else below Ranked Hero.


    It was now possible for mere men to join in the battle of these gods.


    The Inhumans who were sent here didn''t know what to expect. And what they saw exceeded their expectations.


    But yet, as they faced the darkened sea that was full of bullets andunched metals, they kept pressing on.


    On the side of the Twelve Disciples, the oldest of them rushed forward.


    "This is it, Disciples! Our training in Australia, our missions with Git Godlike, our battles and skirmishes that even made us fight werewolves, vampires, and the Fangs of the Dragon were all for this! The Lion of Judah will roar once more and shake the nations! We have seen the fulfillment of His Word! The Day of the Lord draws near! The feeblest among Israel shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them! That was His promise in Zechariah! And though our enemies are multitudes upon multitudes, the promise of Israel''s rise is near the horizon! Fight on! For God! For our country!" The eldest of the Disciples called out, and all Twelve of them charged forward.


    Each one had a specific build and role to y. They were equipped with weaponized versions of the Path.


    The Covenant of the Strongest also charged forward fearlessly.


    Danny was like a whirling de that tore to the front, shielding and cutting through the rain.


    Dara was out of her Armor as she hopped from one piece of her armor to another. She recalled the daring charge that she made against Lynd where she thought she almost died.


    "What''s a little rainpared to that Giant?!" Dara shouted as she forced herself to cast out any fears.


    Kristine charged to the front and used her shield and her swords to attack through the rain.


    Titan and John followed behind and began to use their attacks to protect the three defenders at the front.


    The Gryphon Squadron and the Basilisks Squadron moved in together.


    Lim tookmand and made the group move as close as they could.


    "Basilisk! Use your Realm to create the power! Gryphon Squadron, assist them! Block every inch that prates through!" Lim ordered, and the two groups followed.


    On the other side, the Void Assassins were slowly moving cautiously as the attacks were about to reach them.


    "Too fast. Let''s slow this down." A chuckled was heard, and an Exoskeleton with a beautiful bluish glow moved forward. Another one with the darker glow of blue moved together with her.


    Suddenly, the water in front of them began to turn cold, and the approaching bullets and icebergs began to appear that blocked the iing attacks.


    The Void Assassins charged forward and used the forming ice as shields.


    Alean watched the group and didn''t even givemands.


    "Beautiful. Inhumans that can challenge the gods! Our goal is slowly being achieved!" Alean smiled as she watched the miracle they had long tried to create.


    Each party began to push through their respective fronts and used their abilities.


    "Everyone. Limit the use of any weapons and harnessed Path. We really are running low on them from the constant wars, and it will be a while until we gather all Oveers together." Alean reminded.


    With Seeker and his team moving closer and closer despite the extreme barrage surrounding them and the teams at the back making progress, Lanterk was now getting less and less amused.


    "These brats! To think a few of them would even make it this far against my attacks. Fine. I guess I can waste a bit more Universe Energy..." Lanter closed his eyes, and his Throne began to glow.


    A spark of electricity suddenly pulsed around the entire area. It was bizarre that the electric energy did not move out randomly but continued to affect the bullets, mortars, and rockets that had just left the barrel of the guns and turrets.


    Seeker, Cliff, and Lynd felt it and had a dark expression when they saw it.


    "Everything''s going to be a Rail Gun!" Seeker called out to Alean.


    "Rx. My Zone is still not disrupted." Alean answered, but her face was still frowning. Why was her Zone telling her to keep ordering everyone to keep pushing through at such dangerous moments?


    "Tell everyone to prepare for a ride." Rai suddenly called out.<sub> </sub>


    Alean heard it and began to inform everyone.


    "Realm Link!"


    Inside the submarine of Alean, Rai was harnessing his powers through a strange device that he brought along. It was a technology that the Realm King had perfected with him. And Rai found all the unique Realms that every Inhuman in this party had.


    A strange Realm shot out in the dimensions beyond the third and was like ropes that attached themselves towards all the Inhumans. The rope had no form in the three dimensions and was made purely out of Realm. It was the manifestation of Lioncourt''s telekic powers and grabbed a hold on all the Inhumans.


    "Everyone! Get ready to get pulled!" Rai warned and immediately


    Rai rushed forward and stepped into the dimensions beyond. As he moved, he rushed towards the strange lines connected towards the strange machine of Lioncourt.


    As Rai moved forward, he began to entangle himself into the strange ropes.


    "Rapture!" Rai shouted, and his powers exploded out and surged with these ropes.


    At that moment, all the Inhumans felt as if an invisible rope yanked them. What was more was that they were forcibly pulled into the strange middle realm where Rai was moving in his teleportation.


    Everyone was being pulled into the dark world.


    Kristine saw the strange dimensions, as some did.


    Dara began to scream as she saw the sight that made her petrified. She knew that she would die in that world full of obstructions and strange lines if she hit one of those.


    But suddenly, Rai acted as the puppet master and navigated all the Unlocked as he pulled them towards him.


    "Rx, Kid. Maybe it''s because we never fought. But I''m still an Oveer!" Raiughed.


    One of the ropes continued to rush out to the distance to where Seeker was.


    "Lillybeth, you''ve gotten stronger!" Seekerughed as he grabbed hold of the strange rope which he could see rushing towards him. As Seeker traveled in this realm with his Teleportation, he could see this power and yanked it.


    Rai traveled faster towards Seeker and continued to y the puppet master as he kept navigating everyone.


    Back in the three dimensions, the unlocked teams all vanished from their location.


    Seeker and his team focused on defending and tried to limit the amounts of attack that was reaching towards them with their respective powers.


    Pale green wings erupted around Lynd, and the destion that devoured even the waters around him appeared. The wings shielded Lynd from the iing attacks.


    Cliff used his powers and made the Basilisk he created coil up, increasing his defenses.


    Seeker kept moving forward as his Passover allowed him to slip through the rain of attacks, and Meryl fortified her sun.


    Rai appeared right behind Seeker and brought all the Unlocked around him. The moment they returned to the three dimensions, they quickly organized themselves and their bnce.


    "Good. You brought everyone to one ce. Easier for me to kill." Lanterkughed, and the Universe energy erupted out.


    The rail attacks suddenly halted, and it shot back towards the Unlocked squads that were now close to Seeker.


    Cliff, Lynd, and Meryl shot out towards Seeker.


    "We can''t block all of this." Seeker concluded.


    "Rx. Aunt Lillybeth is here. Give me your Realms!"


    Seeker and the three began to harness the power of Unity and linked it to Rai.


    "Amazing! This power...!" Rai smiled even though the many bullets around them had formed intorge spears that shot towards them.


    "Space Rend!" Rai shouted, and his power appeared. The world around them changed and distorted as if their space had turned into a spiral.


    The weapons that shot out with unbelievable speed suddenly began to spin uncontrobly, and some even vanished.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The spears missed the Unlocked army and spun uncontrobly. Lanterk couldn''t control the weapons even with his maic powers as thews of space and direction changed.


    The weapons struck his own ship and created multiple openings.


    "Void Assassins! Take one of the Unlocked with you! We''re teleporting inside those openings!" Rai ordered.

 Chapter 479 Splitting Up (1)

    Lanterk saw that his attacks were all evaded, and somehow, the attacks were sent back to him.


    He had a serious expression on his face. His attacks had failed, and they even damaged his magnificent ship.


    He had wasted a huge amount of his Universe energy tomand all bullets and weapons being shot at them.


    "I''m not even fighting the Progenitor''s ship, and I am already at a disadvantage?!" Lanterk cursed. He was hesitating in using more of his powers.


    "No... If I use that, I may win, but it would reveal my weapon and eat up more Universe Energy! If other Presiders attack me... I''d have a greater chance of losing! I have to preserve my Universe Energy and only fight using minimal attacks! This Progenitor is tricking me! With teleportation tech like that, he will only make me waste my energy and flee!"


    Lanterk began to activate his powers.


    "The WGP must have used the techs from the Lost Primordial to create that Invoking. But I have the tech to call and control metal. If this Progenitor thinks that my powers will only be slightly stronger than the Call of Titans that the WGP Emperor made, then I''ll show him the true power of Metal Wielding!"


    The entire ship began to glow, and it began suddenly splitting apart. The massive wall remained, but through their Unlocking, Seeker, Cliff, Lynd, and Rai could sense that this was only a wall, but behind the massive wall of turrets and mortars, the second half had already detached itself.


    "Their dividing!" Cliff was surprised.


    "This is one of the most basic things that those Orbitals have. So I''m not surprised that he can do this. But look at how he is splitting it up. The weapons are being abandoned. Lanterk is shifting the battle to another kind of fight. Even with his ability, he cannot reform and quickly pull all the guns away and distribute it all over the ship. So he''s doing this to slow us down as he prepares. But my Zone is telling me that his ns will be quite different." Seeker answered.


    Seeker sensed the familiar scene and could not help but recall his death.


    The Orbital had a trace of such techs, which allowed it to assume numerous shapes and formations easily, but he knew Lanterk''s tech was the foundation that allowed those techs to do that.


    "Alean. What do we do?"


    "Stick to the same n. Divide the team and teleport them beyond the wall. The path beyond you will be treacherous. My Zone can no longer see clearly what lies ahead, and I can only arrange you to teleport to the ce with the highest survival rate."


    "Understood. We are all trained to Ovee."


    The power of Space Rend remained up, and all the attacks that were attacking them began to cease.


    "Why are you hesitating, Progenitor? Go ahead! Use your teleportation!" Lanterk taunted.


    "Everyone! Divide into equal teams!" Seeker ordered.


    "Void Ninjas, divide yourself and carry the number of people you can carry when you make that jump." Rai retreated and took three members of the Twelve Disciples.


    The rest of the ninja began to prepare.


    "So I was right... You can''t teleport and do what you just did to pull everyone back! There must have been something in that submarine of yours that helped you do that. Then let''s y a game! Beyond the other side are several entrances to my ship. I know you n to drain me by making me make such strong attacks so that I will fall when I fight the Presiders who know I am a Principal! Then I shall decrease the techs I am using and focus on creating powerful enemies for each of you! Enemies that will be simr to a Presider in strength! Since I understand your n, I will just use this to see what techs you have and see if there are Conquerors among you! Come! Make your jump!"


    "What is he saying?" Meryl asked.


    "Basically, he created a maze beyond us, and we will be forced to split up and fight bosses and enemies when we enter his fort," Lynd answered.


    "So... basically, like an anime arc. This...is... awesome!" Meryl cheered.


    Seeker stood and channeled the power of Richie''s sound to send it to Lanterk.


    "Small Willy! You seem to have grasped my n. Obviously, as a Principal, you be the greatest threat in this battle! This entire battle is recorded-"


    "For quality assurance purposes," Lynd whispered.


    "For quality- shut up! I''m doing my thing here! Come on, man!" Seeker cursed and turned back to Lanterk''s massive ship.


    "This entire battle is recorded for all the Presiders to see! So they will see not just how much Universe Energy you waste, but will also reveal your tech!" Seekerughed.


    "No one among the Presiders has the guts to do this. But with the alliance between one of the Lost Primordial''s generals and me, then we shall pry open your mysteries! Void Assassin! Teleport us as deep as you can into the ship!" Seeker shouted.


    "This is ourst teleport! After that, my remaining energy will only be enough for an escape! May all of you Conquer!" Rai shouted and allowed his voice to be heard, and his power began to activate.


    His team of Void Assassins began to grab on a member nearest to them and was preparing to teleport as the entire space around them began to brighten.<sub> </sub>


    Kristine was about to move towards a Void Assassin when the power of telekinesis pulled her back and made some rearrangements.


    "Can I be selfish?" Seeker smirked as hemunicated with her through the Thought Transmitter.


    Kristine was stunned.


    "Ge-General..."


    Meryl saw it and her unlocking surged as she began to release a bright light and shot towards a certain Exoskeleton.


    "What the?!" The Pilot of the Exoskeleton was confused as she saw Meryl approach.


    Meryl pushed the Exoskeleton aside and grabbed hold of the Void Assassin that was about to portal out.


    "Switch! You go with them!" Meryl threw Alphie towards Seeker and Kristine.


    Alphie mmed on Seeker''s strange car-like Exoskeleton.


    "General! I''m sorry! General Meryl-! She!


    "Seriously, Meryl?!" Seeker called out angrily to Meryl.


    Cliff was sure to use his powers to contain all the shouts happening so that Lanterk couldn''t hear.


    "Alphie! I''m rooting for you! You can do it!" Meryl called out.


    Alphie was confused and didn''t understand what Meryl meant.


    Meryl was supposed to join Seeker for the teleportation jump as nned, but Meryl saw how Seeker suddenly brought Kristine along, and in her rage, she madest-minute changes.


    "Quitining! If you can be selfish, then I can ship you two! Like in those anime arcs, it''s moments like this that develop love interest!" Meryl shouted.


    Seeker had no choice. He could not leave Alphie. They were about to teleport as Rai''s powers would no longer protect them, and staying a second sooner would be death.


    Suddenly, the entire space around them distorted, and all of them vanished.


    Cliff didn''t need the assistance of a Void assassin and saw himself standing in a room with a single man with shades.


    "Um... Hi?" Cliff asked.


    "I am Pioneer Adrian. It''s my honor to fight one with such a powerful phallic tech." The Pioneer bowed.


    "That''s a nice way of saying I have a huge D."


    "Comedy? I never expected that from those with Phallium Suits. In any case, you will die. Sorry, Presider."


    He raised his arm, and a hundred guns of all sorts gathered at his arm.


    "Wasn''t there a Bollywood movie like this?" Cliff frowned as his memories allowed him to recall a vague scene from the archives of post-modern earth.


    All the guns began to harness a strange power.


    "Ah, there it is¡ªrail power with a touch of Universe Energy. I won''t be able to block those bullets. Very scary. Strange that things like this no longer scare me." Cliff chuckled and brought out three small objects.


    In Cliff''s palm were a small round ball, a cube, and a small sharp horn.


    He crushed all of it.


    "Basilisk, form of the Dragon!" Cliff shouted as the three Paths of three Oveers appeared.

 Chapter 480 Splitting Up (2)

    Lanterk had divided thepartments into several parts, and miraculously, everyone managed to teleport directly inside thepartment.


    "So that''s the distance of their teleportation. They managed to teleport directly into the differentpartments. Too bad. My guns were ready to shoot them from behind." Lanterk brooded.


    When he separated the ship, he prepared several weapons to shoot the moment Seeker would teleport.


    The moment they did, he had already pulled the trigger. Had anyone from Seeker''s team teleported between the gap of thepartments, they would have had to block the firing squad. And in that scenario, those that appeared would in the ocean receive the attack and have little to no time to block it.


    "In any case... They should be facing my Pioneers..." Lanterk watched and used his powers to detect where all of the teleport.


    But unknown to him, the lie had worked. At the start, Rai had already traveled a great distance from the submarine and appeared right in the middle of the ship and did another jump to return back to the submarine. This was a subtle deception that Seeker and his team nned. By creating a false perception of how far Rai can teleport, Lanterk had not bothered to check or scan what was going on deep inside his ship.


    His entire suit was full of devices and electronic gadgets made from his own cultivated cells. And all of these could hack into Aragarian''sputer. Shakstress''s ship had allowed the team to reverse-engineer many techs and was able to understand the programming of these aliens even better. They didn''t even need an A.I Lennox to make the hacks.


    Jake was in a room and was disguised as one of the Pioneers in the ship. Through this disguise and his ability to move through walls, he kept killing and stealing identities through the techs that he had with him. Since the battle started, he had already acquired a lot of data from theputers he found. He saw the shocking scenes of their fights, and his anger rose once more as he saw Kristine being taken away by Seeker.


    "And why did he take that other Exoskeleton! If I remember correctly, that was Alphie! What a selfish man, Seeker Carlean!" Jake cursed.


    But as his heart raged, three strands of hair began to surge in power, and it calmed him down.


    "Kristine... Just be safe..." Jake sighed as he saw the area where Seeker, Kristine, and Alphie appeared in. There were no enemies, and the trio kept moving.


    He looked at the monitors and saw the other teams and could see that all the Void ninjas had teleported the teams to the same area.


    The Basilisk Squadron appeared together with the Twelve Disciples. They were the team with the most members. Rosemary was also with them, and they were facing a team of Supreme Exoskeletons.


    The Gryphon Squadron arrived with Meryl. They faced an army of Exoskeletons, Armors and the entire room had cannons and guns shooting at them.


    The Coven, together with Roselyn, fought a massive Armor that was simr to the Call of the Titan. It stood over thirty meters tall and moved at an incredible speed despite its size.


    Dara was shockingly able to stop its blow with her right arm as the two punched out!


    Lynd was fighting three Pioneers, all of who had strange technology. They looked like cyborgs made of liquid metal, and no matter what form of attacks Lynd shot or punched at these beings, they would quickly reform.


    But the more Jake saw, the more he was amazed at Seeker and his team''s real power and was getting more and more horrified at the aliens that nned to take over the earth.


    Slowly, Jake was beginning to understand the hardship he was led to experience.


    "I must continue this mission. If I seed, then I have a shot at getting more experiments done on me, and I will be able to defeat Seeker!" Jake began to move and went through rooms.


    "Move east." Alean suddenly called out to him through the Thought Transmitter."


    "Alright." Jake nodded as he heard Alean''smand.


    "Your mission has changed. Apart from stealing techs, you will need to help each and every one of our allies in whatever way you can on the ship. The Twelve Disciples and his team face annihtion if this keeps up."


    "What? But won''t that detect me?"


    "Rx. Reinforcement will soone. And that will give you your chance to help your allies. Remember, Kristine doesn''t want anyone to die here." Alean chuckled.


    Seeker and the two girls continued to walk down the metal corridors.


    "The metal here is quite strong. He really rearranged the hardest parts of the metal and ced it in here. It would take a lot of energy to destroy this. So unless necessary, I don''t n to do that." Seeker exined.


    "Understood, General," Alphie responded formally.


    "Meryl sure knows how to ruin a date." Kristine chuckled.


    "Yeah. It''s annoying."


    "I''m sorry for being here, General." Alphie apologized.


    "Don''t apologize. I''m just worried how the rest of the Squadron acts now that Meryl is with them."


    "Their Zone will easily adapt to General Meryl''s fighting style. Lim had trained us always to adapt to new allies or even if our enemies turned into an ally. We all trained, expecting each other to die so that we know how to keep fighting in those moments." Alphie replied.


    "None of you will die. I promise you that. I lost you all once. That ain''t happening again." Seeker said firmly.<sub> </sub>


    Both Kristine and Alphie smiled as they heard this.


    "This battle had a lot of powerful Ranked Heroes and Oveers for this reason. I did my best so that Lanterk would divide his forces. He probably sees everyone else as small fries and will bring a bulk of his powers to fight me, Lynd, and Cliff. That was arranged so that he could only spare weaker ones meant to draw out your full potential and show him what techs you hold. I don''t think he ns to win those fights. Meryl''s stupid move is annoying because it ces you in harm''s way. I had her apany me so that I could protect Kristine easily with another powerful ally around."


    "Then why did Meryl do this? Isn''t she sabotaging the mission? This ces you in a dangerous position." Alphie asked.


    "She did make it dangerous for us three..." Kristine began.


    "But... I feel that she wanted Seeker to put more effort in this... so that you''d fall for Seeker." Kristine guessed.


    "M-me and the General?" Alphie was stunned.


    "Oh, don''t y dumb with me, Alphie. I''m sure she already told you about how you chased after me and how I rejected you in that past life. Meryl is betting. Since I am younger, and I met you earlier, I still have that chance of falling for your efforts."


    "I... I won''t-"


    "Alphie. It''s ok. Honestly, although I like General, he still has his heart set on that Zeraphine. If you pursue General, go ahead. It''s better for Zeek to end up with an earthling than her. We could even make an alliance of Earth women to try to move Seeker''s heart away from Zeraphine." Kristine chuckled.


    Seeker rolled his eyes. He was keeping these two apart for this very reason. Kristine''s calmness would often be mistaken for apathy and tactlessness as she wasn''t bothered by love rivalries, whether between those who liked her or those that she liked.


    Alphie was stunned. She took a deep breath and made her confession.


    "General! The truth is that I do like you. The first time I saw you were both a nightmare and a dream. I hope you won''t find it awkward that I''ll be honest and aggressive in pursuing you."


    "Honestly, It''s more awkward for me if you weren''t. The Adult me is used to this." Seeker chuckled.


    Finally, the three reached arge hall at the end of the corridor.


    "As expected. Meryl is not here." Lanterk frowned as he saw the three.


    "Small Willy! Nice to see you. Or... an aspect of you."


    "So thatmotion and switch you made was to move Meryl away? Did you know that I would look for her?" Lanterk asked.


    "Nope. It''s just you falling for Alean''s Zone." Seeker chuckled as the powers began to surge within him.


    "Very good! Even without a throne, you already have a way to keep building up energy from a power source inside your body! A Mid-Tier level ability! And your other ally is now showing his ability to create energy from the outside. Interesting. You both are like moving factories. But it''ll be dangerous if the two of youbine like how you did it outside." Lanterk smiled, and a Throne appeared.


    But even as it was slowly covering Lanter, two more began to form with a Pioneer piloting it.


    "Well, isn''t this cheating? You can create multiple Thrones!" Seekerughed.


    "Come, Progenitor! Let''s have a good fight!"


    Three powerful Thrones were gathering tremendous energy.


    "What are we going to do, General?" Alphie was doing her best to remain calm. They were in no power to fight them.


    "Ovee. That''s what we do." Seeker answered and closed his eyes.


    The Power of Hermes was an interesting ability that Seeker took an interest in. Seeker knew that he had to master this so that Lynd could do it as well. The mystery of the Four Winds was that they were Realms of Grant Hermes. And with that, Grant divided his power and bestowed it on another.


    With the power of Unity, Seeker finally learned how tobine powers with those of simr Paths like he had, such as Cliff and Lynd. But he also could do something else. As long as he was around someone whose very cells he was familiar with, Seeker could now do the same thing Hermes did.


    Seeker brought out four objects. Two round balls and two cubes and crushed it.


    Alphie received the shes of Lightning from Lennox.


    Kristine received the Peals of Thunder from Richie.


    "Kristine, you''re the Tank. Alphie, you''ll support me from the back and keep on delivering powerful attacks."


    "What will you do, General?"


    "I''ll carry you." Seeker willed it, and the two were floating through Telekinesis. Follow my guidance. And let''s get it on!" Seeker charged forward, and the six began the epic battle.

 Chapter 481 The Covenant’s Battle

    Five members of the Void Assassins, the Covenant, and Roselyn appeared in arge cube-shaped room.


    The group was on full alert and immediately moved away from their position, anticipating an attack.


    "Where are we?" Dara frowned.


    "I don''t know. But that General took away our leader!" John frowned.


    "Titan. Take over. You are trained by the boss and Kristine to take over." Danny ordered.


    "Oh? The Covenant of the Strongest!" Roselyn smiled.


    "Who are you?" Titan frowned.


    "Oh, my little bucktooth friend. I''m Roselyn."


    "This is Roselyn, younger sister of Madam Rosa." A Void Assassin greeted.


    "Oh! So that''s why you have Chinese armor!" Titan nodded.


    "You''re one-off those ''stronger than all Inhumans, but weaker than a Ranked Hero!''"


    "An Unranked Hero?" Dara frowned.


    "Sort of. I don''t want to take the test. I know the risk of bing one is." Roselyn chuckled.


    "Focus everyone! Why did we not meet any attack? I was prepared to defend against it." Dara frowned.


    "If we are going with what General Seeker said, we should be facing a boss. Unlike before, where Small Willy was using his Presider powers to affect arge area, he is now concentrating it on certain areas. Each of us will be facing a Pioneer or some of his strongest techs." Titan recalled.


    "So, where is the big boss?" John wondered.


    "Void Assassin. I haven''t seen you fight. How do you guys fight? What are your techs?" Dara asked.


    "I''ve you''ve seen us fight before this mission, then we have failed the name of Void Assassin. Each of us has our own Skills. But in general, all of us can move in and out of ce we call the Void. It was through that space we could move and attack. Master harnesses this full power, and we are only trained in entering the void and passing through it at a limited distance unless prompted by Master Rai. Our techs are not as explosive as the rest, but as per Seeker and Arthur''s orders, our techs allow us to attack within the Void. In short, our attacks could ignore defenses." One of the Void Assassins answered.


    "Sounds awesome!" Dannyughed.


    "Eh? If it sounds so strong, why haven''t your attacks hit me?"


    "Your ice forms even in the Void, madam. Such tricks won''t work against a Ranked Hero or someone like you. Of course, if it was master attacking you, it''ll be a different story."


    It was then that everyone could feel the entire space they were moving.


    "Sirs, and mams. Our enemy is moving." One of the Void Assassin reported.


    "You don''t say?" Dara rolled her eyes in agitation.


    "Don''t worry about her. She''s always like this. Titan. What do you see?" Danny asked.


    "Pretty much the same thing I saw outside. Electric currents and maic currents guide every metal in this cube. Right now, it''s doing something annoying that might stop even the Void Assassins from teleporting through.


    KZZZT!


    A Void Assassin was suddenly thrown in the air, and hended on his feet.


    "Correct. There is a strange electrical field that blocks the Void. We could break through it, but it will cost a lot."


    Suddenly, several small metals found from the cubes'' walls gathered and formed a metallic figure of a familiar young teen.


    "Danny. So you''re here. You like this ce?''


    "Hello, Small Willy!" Danny chuckled.


    "Laugh while you can. I''ll punish you for everything you and that bitch did to me! But I still want to see your techs. And the energy that I have isn''t enough to kill all of you if you tried to escape since I sent a bulk of my power to handle the Progenitor and those strong allies of his with his same Phallium suit. So I guess this massive robot will do for now to help me see what techs you have."


    "What massive robot? If it''s cloaked, I should see or sense it." Titan frowned.


    "Show me your skill, Covenant of the Strongest! I want to see what experiments that Progenitor applied on you!" Lanterkughed, and suddenly, the Universe Energy erupted out of him. The metallic pieces that created the young teen suddenly flew away from each other, and at the same time, the metal walls of the cube flew as out and began to gather to the center.


    The metal itself began to generate electrical currents powered by Universe Energy gave life to it.


    "I guess that''s the robot. Dimensional Upholding, huh? I signed up for this mission to fight a Presider. But now, the real body of that being is in a dimension beyond this. We''re practically fighting a Principal. I should have known what I would expect when signing up for a mission led by Crazy Carlean..." Titan sighed.


    "So basically, we are programs fighting against a programmer." Roselyn chuckled.


    "Let''s attack! The enemy has graciously given us an opportunity to attack it while it''s still forming!" Dara ran and began to shoot several beams.


    The rest followed and began to shoot ranged attacks.


    The beams struck the approaching metals, but they kept on forming.


    Soon, more metals began to appear and fly out towards them, but everyone managed to easily evade the metals that flew out from their back or even from the very floor they stood on.


    KT! KT!


    Electrical attacks began to form and attack them, and each member used their own special ability to evade.


    Most of the Void Assassin created strange ck energy on their palm that blocked the electrical attack.<sub> </sub>


    "Focus on the robot and not the floors and wall! I could see that the core of this strange magic was right at the center.


    Roselyn nodded and raised her two hands. Her entire body began to create frost, and a powerful surge of cold fusion urred, and blue energy gathered between the palms of her two hands.


    BLAST!


    An ice beam shot towards the center of the robot, and the electrical current itself began to freeze!


    "Are you sure you''re not a Ranked Hero?" Johnughed as he went on position to shoot.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Explosions continued to erupt as John sent out several attacks. But even as the body of the massive iron titan was freezing and blowing apart, its body continued to form.


    The metal body was not only forming, but it was moving. The hand of the robot formed, and it began to shoot powerfulser attacks.


    "Where did thatsere from?!" Dara was frightened.


    BOOM!


    The Ice beam met theser, and an explosion urred.


    "Um... I can''t keep shooting those beams, you know." Roselyn chuckled.


    More beams were shot, and Dara stepped forward and controlled her armor to create two massive shields with the technology thatbined the strongest metal and Richie''s sound Path.


    BOOM!


    The beam created a vibration that released the power of sound, creating a pseudo sound wall that threw back the attack,


    The attack caused Dara to use up her cells which was the power source of the generated sounds.


    BOOM!


    John quicklyunched a counter-attack which damaged the arm, and stopped the beam.


    Danny suddenly appeared with a Void Assassin, and the two teleported directly inside the center of the hole in the arm caused by John''s attack.


    Danny sliced and attacked the arm with a whirling speed that harnessed lightning and kept it from forming.


    The Void Assassins also appeared and began to attack.


    They used a booster tech based on the Four-Force elerator and shot with incredible speed towards the forming metals that began to gather.


    Suddenly, the Void Assassins disappeared, and several strange explosions appeared. One half of the explosion urred at one part in space while the other half explored several meters away from it.


    The explosions caused instability in the formation of the robot, and several parts of the robot fell.


    "This battle is not just here! It''s in the dimensions beyond! If we want to fight this thing, we need to attack the form of this robot in the dimension beyond!" Titan deduced as seeing that the bombs and weapons that the Void Assassins used affected various pieces.


    "I see it!" John finally saw it as the explosions urred.


    "Void Assassins! Send us to the Void!" Titan suddenly called out.


    "What? You won''t survive there!"


    "Our eyes and senses can see through it! This is the only way!" John shouted.


    "The rest of you, keep attacking and destroying that robot here! Will be fighting it in the Void!"


    "Roger!" Danny and Dara answered.


    "Gather in one ce! Roselyn, protect us!"


    Roselyn created another massive force of ice.


    "This is like fighting against Brother-in-Law!" Roselyn cursed and sped her arms, creating a gigantic iceburg that covered everyone.


    Roselyn began to create a massive ice block that surrounded John and Titan as they met with the Void Assassins, who teleported into the void.


    "As if I''ll let you!"nterk shouted.


    The entire room began to attack and harass them continually while more and more of the robot form.


    But all of a sudden, the pieces that fell began to fly and quickly gathered toplete the form of the giant robot''s fist. No arm held this fist, and the fist flew out to attack the team.


    "I won''t be able to stop that!" Roselyn shouted.


    "I can!" Dara emerged out of her suit. Roselyn created the opening, and Dara stepped out of the iceberg, and her Exoskeleton added ayer of steel on her fist as she punched out.


    In that fist was the power of Meng''s cancerbined with mutation brought about by Amir''s werewolf cells. Thebination caused Dara''s fist to have such massive strength that it could blow away buildings.


    BOOM!


    The two fists collided and created a powerful shock wave, but Dara''s fist did not lose to the fist of the giant.

 Chapter 482 The Gryphon Squadron’s Battle

    Merylnded on her feet and was ready to attack a massive st, but as she saw that there was no attack, she stopped herself from charging up her body.


    She and the Void Assassin that brought her were the first to arrive.


    "It''s safe, I guess," Meryl observed.


    The portals opened, and the Void Assassins and the Gryphon Squadron exited the Void andnded on the ground before them.


    It was a massive empty space with the shape of a cube.


    "What''s up with this ce."


    "It''s the stage of our fight. That Lanterk is rearranging the ship inside to prepare us from fighting him!" Lim watched the entire room as it shifted and transformed.


    "This is bad. It would have been easier for us to fight inside Shakstress''s ship than this one!" Ivan cursed.


    "Exactly. But we aren''t here on vacation after all. This is a fight to Ovee. We need to be the Inhumans that can fight the forces of a Presider. This is the goal of every Inhuman! Everyone. Prepare yourself. The wall of thisrge room is still closed to prepare the enemy froming in. As this room is still forming, this means that this was the least prioritized room. We did teleport to the far east part beyond that wall." Lim deduced.


    Ivan nodded and took a certain drug that reformed his arms and legs. Thick fur began to gather up, and his werewolf form was retained. Of all the Unlock, only Ivan seeded in a controlled werewolf form.


    His Exoskeleton came to life and suddenly grew thicker. Just like most of their equipment, the metals made had their cells mixed in them. And just like the strange evolution of the virus when the Covenant fought Amir, the armor had life.


    He was the only one who could contain the rampant wildness, and he took a new moniker because of this.


    Ivan the Werebear.


    Fish immediately released strange dust from her backpack. This was Meng''s technology which all of the Dragon''s Fang used. It used nanotechnology. But like the studies of the Unlocked improved, the nanomites techs was altered, and it basically used Fish''s own blood as a source!


    Thebination of various Paths, including Akasha''s vampiric powers, allowed a few individuals to control the nanomites to free from, and wings appeared on Fish''s back.


    Even in her previous life, she was hailed as one of the best pilots in the United Nations Army. And Seeker capitalized her training to let her take flight no matter the circumstances.


    Fish looked like an angel as the wings she had given a strange yellowish glow.


    Two crystal swords that contained a familiar metal cube at the core appeared in her hands.


    "Sword like lightning! That''s Lennox''s techs!" Meryl was amazed.


    "Yeah. I got clearance to carry his techs!" Fish smiled.


    Epic brought out a massive gun. Meryl could sense her own power in that gun.


    "Is that a Srium Gun?"


    "Yes. It is. But it''s far stronger. Can you sense what''s powering it?"


    "This destion...! Meng!"


    "Yeah! This baby is called the Srium Eradicator. It can destroy the armor that those Dawn Soldiers of Australia wore!"


    "Wouldn''t that burn you? I can feel the radiation that it''s emitting!" Meryl asked.


    "Not if you are as cold as me. I''m the closest thing we have to the Frost Sisters. Cold fusion in the application." Epic chuckled.


    "I see. So Fish is a Fighter, Ivan is a Tank, and you''re the sharpshooter. Will should be... Are you a Tank? That shield is made of Prime Almetal. And you''re carrying one of the generators from Shakstress''s ships! The one that can create force fields!"


    "Yeah. My job is to get people in and out of position. It''s a new role. I''m a Support."


    It was then that Meryl realized something.


    "You can teleport?!" Meryl was amazed. She just realized the number of Void Assassinscked one for them to teleport. Will''s words that his job was to get people in and out of position was unique.


    "Yeah. I trained with the Void Assassins after we killed those Pioneers in our Survival Room training." Will answered.


    "What an amazing thing! Lim is a scout. I can see that your eyes have been altered, and you''re wearing some sort of lens. And Suarez is a standard soldier like what the three Drug Dealers used to be."


    "Not exactly. In any case, Meryl, what is your role? Alphie was a fighter. Can you adjust to that?" Lim asked.


    "Yeah. I may look like a ranged user, but my punch should be stronger than the current Dara."


    "Wow!" Suarez was amazed.


    "Young Masters... Please focus. The gates are opening." A Void Assassin pointed to the walls as it kept rotating and finally opened up a room with several squads of Exoskeletons and Armors emerging. Turrets, missileunchers, and machine guns also began to appear.


    "Wow. It looks like we will be busy." Meryl whistled.


    "Hm... No. This is easier. Lanterk either underestimated us or couldn''t afford to send us any stronger foes since he focused it all on facing Seeker and the rest.


    "Nefilus Pilots! Surrender or die!" One of the Pioneers moved forward and wore a strange exoskeleton with bright electric energy coursing all over it.


    Lim watched in interest and nced all over the room.


    "Interesting. It''s using Rail and Magentic technology to a level that will make One China''s tech look primitive. We are about to face our first-ever enemy with light-speed and pinpoint uracy." Lim answered.<sub> </sub>


    "Can it be resolved, Lim?" Ivan asked.


    "Of course, it can. As I said, this is going to be easy." She smiled.


    "Arrogant Nefilus users! Die!" The enemy roared, and a sh of light appeared.


    Lim took a step back and revealed a crystal sword he stabbed upwards.


    "AHHHHH!" A cry was heard as the Exoskeleton that was once there had appeared right in front of Lim.


    It was about to shoot, but Lim''s sword had stabbed right through the armor and severed all muscles in the arm, preventing the pilot from pulling the trigger.


    "Instant Calction?! Impossible! How can you have it?"


    "It''s not done on my own. I have created several thought processes and made it an AI, just like Lennox did. With it, it helps me make instant calctions. Of course, it''s still weaker than Arthur''s real thing." Lim answered after he made a quick swipe with another sword that appeared on his other hand.


    The Exoskeleton was cut in two.


    The army of Pioneers and nteds stood very still. It felt like a dream to some of them, and they couldn''t believe that one of their Commander, who was practically a god in this room, had easily died.


    "Anyway, as I said, they have rail technology, and with the maic powers in this room, some of their soldiers could zip and make stops just like this guy. He elerated with such a fast speed, and the maic powers of the Presider allowed it to make an instant stop. It was so fast that it appeared he teleported. There are seven more of them. I''m sure they''ll be more careful. And to some extent, it works on their weapons too!"


    "Attack!" One of the Pioneer Commanders finally epted what had happened and issued his order.


    All the Pioneers and nteds began to move and attack.


    Meryl stepped forward as the amounts of bullets that would fall on them would be simr to their battle outside.


    "Meryl. Wait! Don''t bother attacking or shielding us! Just focus on the evading! Those Exoskeleton and Armor pilots will miss. Just don''t listen to Suarez." Ivan called out.


    "What? Don''t listen to Suarez?"


    "Suarez powers are considered a Path not because of its battle capabilities but how useful it is for us tomunicate. But now, I believe that on certain asions, it could be as strong as a Path!" Lim smiled.


    At that moment, the majority of the Exoskeletons began to aim as the Unlocked rushed out.


    The Exoskeletons took aim and shot.


    "Now!" Lim ordered.


    A strange ring suddenly glowed on top of Suarez''s head, and a jewel at the center of his helmet glowed.


    "Up!" Suarez only spoke one word, and this word somehow resounded in everyone''s mind.


    Meryl heard it but ignored it.


    But all the Exoskeleton and Armor pilots jolted as if they felt that the enemy would suddenly move up.


    The sudden jolt hindered the targeting systems of their weapons and even dyed the attacks of some by a split second.


    WARP!


    A portal opened right in the front lines.


    Will brought Ivan and teleported to the front.


    SMASH! SMASH!


    The werebear immediately began its assault. Despite itsrge size, it moved incredibly fast.


    BANG!


    Epic fired the shot, and a massive explosion urred, eradicating Exoskeletons and Armor.


    Fish flew with incredible speed, and a Void Assassin appeared, and the two teleported to another side of the battlefield.


    SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!


    Blood fell as she flew towards the army and attacked them.


    The battle erupted, but the enemies were acting out of sync.


    Suarez and Lim were with two Void Assassins as they rushed towards a specified location.


    Meryl was the only one who didn''t need to teleport as she made a frontal assault.


    Suddenly, she could hear Lim''s voice in her head.


    "Alright, guys. Listen up. Let''s finish this in eight minutes and thirty seven-seconds!"

 Chapter 483 Disciples Of Core

    The Basilisk Squadron appeared together with the Twelve Disciples.


    Everyone saw themselves in arge that continued to extend endlessly into the base. The tunnel was growing wider in length and height, and at the very end of the path, the group could see an ever-increasing.


    "Ugh. Cliff''s not here?" Rosemary sighed. She had followed the n and decided to follow where the Basilisk Squadron would be, but sadly, General Cliff didn''t apany his squadron.


    "Another fan of General, huh? To think the General would attract Unranked individuals." Zidaneughed.


    "It''s expected. General''s very strong now." Hank smiled.


    "I wonder when we will get our set of fans? Fighting off Amir''s son should have made us more popr." Counter wondered.


    "Basilisk Squadron." A young man approached.


    "You are..?"


    "Thomas. Due to Matthew and Jamie alwayspeting, I was assigned by General Meryl to be the leader. Me... the dumbest of the group."


    "Cheer up, kid. Our General was rather stupid too. Now he''s practically one of the main strategists of the army."


    "Twelve disciples, huh? So who here is the lost tribe of Manasseh?"


    "...That''s the twelve tribes of Israel... We''re the Twelve Disciples." One of the twelve sighed.


    "So, which one of you is Judas?" Hank moved to the next joke.


    "..." Matthew looked as if he wanted to punch Hank.


    "Young Masters. Our enemies approach." One of the Void Assassins sighed.


    The tunnel was growingrger andrger, and bright lights were appearing at the end of the tunnel.


    "Supreme Exoskeletons..." A woman noted.


    "Andrea?"


    "Supreme Exoskeletons moving through the metal. It seems that their power is to be one with the metal itself.


    Suddenly, everyone felt it. Their Exoskeletons began to move, but suddenly, they all used their Realm Somatotopy to control the metal.


    "Please. Maic technology is the mostmon way to fight against metal. Obviously, we would be guard against it!" Zidane mocked.


    The powers of maism suddenly began to increase.


    Zidane could then feel that his suit was reacting and moving.


    It was then that Zidane could feel his control of the metal was being taken away from him. The cells in those metals were crying out, and Zidane felt that he would soon lose it.


    CRACKLE!


    The entire space around them began to freeze as Rosemary released her power.


    "Damn it! I''m forced to use this as early as this?!" Rosemaryined.


    The Supreme Exoskeleton was amazed.


    "A power to freeze the Universe Energy? What an interesting science! Presider Lanterk will be most pleased." The Supreme Exoskeletonughed.


    "But it''s not enough." Another Supreme Exoskeletonughed as it surfaced.


    "It''s a concentrated Realm attack! We have to use a group Realm to counter!" Matthew shouted.


    The group began to draw closer, and their Realms were trying to counter the attack.


    Laughs were heard in the distance.


    "Foolish Phallium suit users! The Nefilus Suits is still the way!" Augh echoed out as various metals formed a Supreme Exoskeleton.


    Several more began to appear outside the side as if they were a ghost. As they emerged, the power of maism began to cause great pain among the Unlocked as if their skins were being peeled off as they resisted the attack.


    But Matthew could tell that the metal suit was forming from the metal around them. The pilots were swimming in the metal, and would the armor would shift and form as they emerged out.


    "You think your little control over those metals would resist our maism? Don''t make meugh!"


    The power of maism began to surge stronger and stronger.


    "Nathan! We have no choice! We have to reveal our powers!" Matthew shouted.


    "I know!" The man called Nathan suddenly took out a small glowing stone. It was glowing so bright that it looked like a small sun.


    "Miniaturized sun core? It''s like he''s holding a tech that harnessed the entire power of nuclear fusion shrunk to that small gem!" One of the Supreme Exoskeleton could feel the radiation and power of the small sun.<sub> </sub>


    And Nathan ced it inside his mouth.


    "What?"


    BOOM!


    A powerful shock wave shook the entire room. The maism had greatly weakened, and it no longer affected the Unlocked.


    "What the?! This is General Realm Kings...!" Zidane was amazed. The power and radiation were exactly as Lioncourt used to have. The sensation was very distinct as they had trained under Lioncourt for a time and knew the horror of the Realm King''s power.


    Nathan raised his hands forward, and it was as if there was ayer of energy that was peeled of the room.


    "Their movements inside the metal... It''s a power that uses Realm. Or, to be precise, Universe Energy. This fight is going to be a Realm battle." Matthew exined.


    "Alright. I''ll try to keep this up. But we need to hurry and destroy everything. I can''t keep this up forever." Nathan answered.


    "Void assassins! Take Maddie and follow her instructions. I need one to keep Jamie and me constantly teleporting. Basilisk Squadron. Fight with Jude, Mark, and Jane and be the vanguard! Leader, you lead them to fight! The rest divide yourselves and follow Jamie and me!" Matthew gave all the orders.


    "Understood!" Thomas nodded and went to his position.


    The Basilisk Squadron began tobine their realm.


    But then, the power of Sound, Destion, and Lighting suddenly appeared. The Basilisk Squadron had only mastered the basic, so they could not even form half the power that Cliff''s serpent could create.


    But now, with the assistance of three of the Twelve Disciples, their power surged.


    Two women and a man were releasing the powers that they needed.


    "What the? It''s like... the Inhuman forms of the Oveers!"


    "We are called... the Twelve Disciples not just because of the biblical names that we have based on the twelve disciples of Jesus. We are the Twelve Disciples because we survived horrifying experiments, and our fate was to bear another experiment. I am Jude. A pleasure to be of service." The man answered as Meng''s Destion erupted out.


    "Vanguard. Teleport out now and attack!" The girl called Maddie ordered, and the Void Assassins followed.


    The Void looked extremely strange as the metals on the Three Dimensions were actually branching out to the Void as they teleported out.


    But the power of Destion from Jude began to battle against it as it shot out like a dragon.


    The Maw of the Dragon moved within the void, and the Supreme Exoskeletons felt a strange power.


    "This power!" One of the Supreme reacted and was about to use an attack that would ripple out to the dimensions beyond, but then on their ne, a woman charged out, and her body began to glow.


    "Behold! The WGP''s livingsers! It will chase you no matter what dimension you can go!" Another womanughed as she charged forward.


    The Supreme Exoskeletons were rmed and nced at the woman that was glowing.


    FLASH!


    An intense light blinded and hurt their eyes as the woman used a power simr to Andrea.


    The Basilisk Squadronpleted their teleportation and immediately used the paths they drew from the three Disciples behind them and mmed the snake to the Supreme.


    BOOM!


    But the entire room changed and attacked the snake as the walls and floors charged out to block the attack.


    The Supreme Exoskeletons were roaring in anger as they were tricked and began to harness the power of metal.


    The entire room began to spin around, and their main body disappeared as it fell down the ground. More attacks were sent out, but they all missed.


    "Amazing. Even Typical''s power! They all wield bits and pieces of their Paths! It''s like fighting a weaker version of them!" Zidane was amazed.


    "Petra! You have to go wild! Sniff them out!"


    "Got it!"


    The one called Petra transformed into a werewolf and charged in. But, as his enemies could move in the metal, he could still use his Skill of being able to smell and heighten it with the power of his werewolf form.


    "Follow Petra!" Maddie spoke, and she rushed and joined the Void Assassin in teleporting.


    The Void Assassin began to attack as they could see the forms of the Supreme Exoskeleton within these worlds.


    "That Matthew is like Arthur!"


    "Look at the Zone! Maddie is definitely Alean!"


    "What an interesting power. This group has potential! They are like what they im to be! They are like disciples of the Core members of the Unlocked army!"


    "Well, let''s not fall far behind!" Counter rushed in, and together with the three Disciples behind them, they brought out a power that equaled Cliff''s form.

 Chapter 484 Shekinah

    The entire massive fort was Rai''s battlefield.


    As the Oveer who has the power to teleport, he was the one who had the fastest skill of moving in around the ship.


    The attack and entry of delivering Jake were covered up by faking the power and capability of Rai. And Ria had to constantly teleport to limit the lie that he had made.


    But Lanterk was also wary of him, and the entire ship was immediately shifting and changing with his metal technology.


    Rai continued to jump in and out of the Void passing through the harshest of obstructions in this odd realm.


    Lanterk was also using various techs that somehow superimposed the metal of the three dimensions to breach out in the dimensions causing great instability in the Void.


    Had it not been for Seeker''s Path of the Passover and how Rai had experimented on it, he would not have been able toplete his first circuit around the entire ship.


    He was teleporting from one part of the ship to the other. And Lanterk kept on chasing him and kept him away from the rest of the Unlocked battlefields.


    Of everyone fighting, Rai had seen most of what Lanterk could do.


    It was an act of constant recreation and modification as the ship would always change as if it was alive.


    But this made Lanterk''s real body so focused on chasing and stopping Rai from reaching the deepest parts of the ship.


    "This damned teleporter is quite annoying! What dimension is he moving into?!" Lanterk cursed.


    Lanterk was also busy dealing with Seeker, who was fighting his metal clone.


    The battle was brutal as Seeker and his two allies were revealing powers and attacks that were nuclear in power.


    He also had to constantly check on the other battles and issue instructions and allow his servants to gather more techs.


    But this was all calcted. When the Unlocked fought against Shakstress and saw a mind that surpassed Arthur, they knew that they would have to create a battle of such scale so that Jake would be hidden.


    The battles were allplicated, and each was trying to defeat Lanterk. Lanterk was also careful not to use Universe Energy which would cause him great loss.


    Lynd was traveling through the Void and could see the Realm Links that Rai left behind. Rai was arguably the second most important Path user in this mission next to Jake. His skills and the power that the Realm King created with him were necessary toplete the mission.


    Because of Lynd''s copy, Lynd managed to hop and cross several massive chambers as he was trying to push ahead. Lanterk saw it and quickly made the changes, and Lynd had no choice but to stop his teleportation and fight in the chamber he reached. But before he did, he saw one strange power that Rai had left in the Void.


    Lynd grabbed on this strange power, and it sunk in him as he finally stepped out of the Void.


    The moment he arrived, he immediately saw his enemies. Not a quarter of a second passed, and Lynd had already sent out an attack.


    The three people standing at the other end of a wide dome-shaped room made of t metal all had a strange Skin Suit. There were no doors or exits and no light in this room. But as Lynd shot his attack, the darkroom brightened as if a son was born in thisrge chamber.


    The brightser sted out, and the three began to move.


    A strange red glow formed a strange outline around the three men as they repelled the attack as a strange shield was formed as the metals around the room gathered as it flew from the sides of the room in the form of what appeared to be mercury.


    The liquid metal formed into a small shield that blocked the attacks.


    There were no explosions on impact, but the shield began to change in color and form.


    Lynd immediately stopped shooting as he saw that the metal was absorbing his attacks.


    "How disrespectful. You just went ahead and attacked us without even saying a word!" One of the threeined.


    "I was jumping from one room to the other. When I saw that I couldn''t move ahead, I just thought of killing all of you. I don''t care who you are, and since you will die, I didn''t bother for an introduction and just wanted to get the job done and kill." Lynd shrugged.


    "I guess you are right. With the three of us here, you won''t live anyway. So there is no need to hear the introduction of some pathetic Phallium user." Another one of the threeughed.


    "But that is quite an interesting element. This is like the heat of the sun itself! This can be a great research material!" One of the three watched in amazement.


    "He is a Presider, after all."<sub> </sub>


    "Hmm. So? Aren''t we considered one now? What is a Presider''s techpared to Principal''s Lanterk? This is even better than the techs I got from that Gordon!"


    "Indeed. Crostfree''s techs were useless. Of course, I never saw the full potential as I was assigned on Earth, butpared to our current gear, I can easily have defended and killed the Progenitor and the Lost Primordial when they assassinated Corstfree."


    "I even ask myself if Myrth really was a Top-Tier? They aren''t even capable of using these techs!" The third oneughed.


    "So you all are traitors that Lanterk gathered. I understand now. Lanterk never had a team. How weak. You are just scraps of the rest given great toys. You don''t even understand the dignity of a Presider. Do you dare brag about defeating Crostfree, Gordon, and Myrth? Dream on. You aren''t even in the discussion!" Lyndughed.


    "We''ll see about your arrogance, Progenitor." One of the threeughed back.


    The power that Lynd sent out began to rotate around the three, and their suits were releasing the same heat of Lynd''s attack.


    "Your little fire attack won''t damage this metal. What are you going to do now?"


    "This is a strange tech of metal. So Lanterk''s tech really does focus on metal. And here I thought he was just ying around with his tech." Lynd observed.


    He could tell that the metal was not cooling down but somehow absorbed and contained the heat.


    "Metal is but an element. But Principal Lanterk has changed metal itself. This isn''t just normal metal. It is malleable to the extent of perfect creation. It is strong, resistant to high heat, and can make the sharpest of des."


    "Whatever. Just don''t leave your toys around for Caesar. If he gets a hold of this tech, I don''t think I can beat him." Lynd chuckled.


    "In any case, this tech is really interesting. It seems my wife''s Path was proven to be correct. Joining this mission will allow me to perfect and strengthen the power that the Progenitor saw in the future." Lynd smiled and took out a small round ball.


    It was one of the strongest weapons to be produced by the Unlocked Army. The cost of creating was so high. It had sessfully harnessed the cells of various Unlocks and was now capable of being activated by Lynd. Lynd''s copy was so precise that with just a few alterations, these cells of other Unlocked were ''fooled'' into thinking that the onemanding them was the actual Path user.


    Lightning and fire began to burst forth from the small round ball.


    The small round ball exploded, and various pieces began to gather, forming wheels that were rotating within each other.


    "As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels." Lynd began to read out a verse in the Bible.


    "It''s not quite there yet as I only managed to create the wheel within a wheel and its appearance of gleaming beryl." Lynd chuckled.


    The elements were bursting out and what was shocking was that the three Pioneers could see the creation of elements from nothing!


    "Dimensional Upholding... Dimensional Purging... Dimensional Transcendence... The three steps that we need to climb to be a Prime. You fancy yourself a Principal, for you have managed to imitate the power of a Principal in a Presider? Well, how''s, is this? This is pure creation!" Lyndughed as he lied and nted the seed to deceive Lanterk.


    "Let''s get this on! Let''s see if your powers to mold and shape the universe can match my ability to create it?! Can your metal really resist my heat?!"


    BOOM!


    The power of the elements grew strong as Lightning, Destion, Heat and Light allbined into the small core.


    A heat that surpassed the limits of the metal''s resistance appeared. A small sun was formed.


    Bybining the Path of Lennox, Meng, Meryl, and that of the Dalisay family, Lynd was able to create a powerful Light.


    It was a light that purged, a fire that consumed and refined. Even the elements before it began to melt.


    "Shekinah!" Lynd shouted as the bright light erupted out.


    The metal around the space itself began to melt as its liquid form was being consumed.


    "Gather the metal!" One of the Pioneers ordered as the liquid metal morphed around them.


    "Let''s see you fight! Do you think you''re a star? Do you think you are the sun? You''ll burn out, and our metal will endure!" The otherughed as the entire room began to pour out metal around them and created a thick armor.


    The two charged towards each other, and the cataclysmic battle began.

 Chapter 485 Champions By His Side

    Rai teleported from one ce to the other, and each jump he made would have led to his death had he stayed a secondter. His jumps were bing moreplicated, and even in the Void, it was like the entire Void Realm was trying to kill him.


    The rooms and the ship would even detach and reform, yet Rai was still able to appear in the hallways that housed the Pioneers and nteds.


    All nteds and Pioneers were instructed to wear their Exoskeletons and prepare for sudden changes in their rooms and quarters. But some were too slow and even died when the entire chamber would alter and cause waters to flood in.


    Rai was also fighting his way as he teleported. He had the Four Force elerator and used it to navigate and evade the attacks quickly.


    His training as a ninja was not to be underestimated, and he had several techs that aided in deception or even at the loss of attention. Every now and then, he would even escape the eyes of Lanterk, and it would take several seconds before Lanterk would find him.


    But Rai pressed on and dove to an even more treacherous scene so that the attention would be taken away from Jake.


    He teleported and avoided the attacks and held on to a strange small string in his hand.


    "Come on, Jake! Find it! And that Seeker and his friends better give this Presider something to focus on." Rai frowned. His battle would end if he ran out of energy, so Rai had begun to shift his teleportation ns.


    Somewhere within the ever-changing ship, Lanterk sat on his real throne.


    He watched the several battles together and controlled all of them and would even give orders to his men who were fighting some of the enemies.


    "That Danny sure is interesting. That power he has ought to ce him at the level of Low-Tier Presiders with tech focuses on war. But that girl... is that Malicious Unicron, Dara? How much strength does she possess? But that strange man who managed to destroy Shakstress''s force field had a power surpassing this..." Lanterk continued to make an estimate.


    "Their technology is mixed. This battle proves an alliance between the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor. Those battles they made outside may have been real, but it was a trick to make Presiders expect the unexpected. Very wise." Lanterk continued to analyze and draw his conclusions.


    "Hm? The teleporter? Where is he going?"


    The direction of Rai''s random teleportation suddenly had direction.


    "How many more?" Rai asked Alean.


    "Two more, and you should reach it. Do it... Now!"


    Upon Alean''s orders, Rai suddenly took several teleportation jumps and escaped through the copsing space and even the copsing Void realm.


    Lanterk saw the sessive two jumps and began to scan the area where Rai could be.


    "Not here... not here either..." Lanterk frowned. The movement of Rai had changed, and the power of his teleportation increased.


    "He must have increased his teleportation... Where is he...?" Lanterk frowned.


    At that moment, Rai was actually relieved as he had the chance to move. With Alean''s help, it managed to buy him time. He finally reached it! It was his salvation in this ever-changing hellish space. Rai finally arrived at the kitchen.


    A massive amount of food was in that as it was being processed to feed an entire army.


    "Oh, yeah..." Rai was ecstatic, and he immediately used the Four Force elerator to st towards it and began to grab and eat the food with great haste.


    "What the...?" Lanterk was confused. He had seen how Seeker and Lynd harnessed the energy that copied parts of a Mid-Tier, and yet this man was actually gorging on food?"


    Rai was fighting and eating, and Lanterk finally acted and began to change the room. But even then, Rai didn''t teleport out but continued to eat.


    "He isn''t escaping? At least he''ll die full." Lanterk decided to act. But as he was about to do it, his attention moved over to Cliff.


    A man with shades was facing Cliff''s Green Serpent.


    The Serpent had immense destion, but the Pioneer that fought Cliff was very smart and could estimate how long the metals around him would work. The Pioneer created massive attacks thatbined theunched turrets and cannons.


    Cliff had been on the defensive for most of the time and only asionally used sound attacks. But now, the massive sound and wind snake were creating a massive ball of destion. And Cliff was aiming where the real Lanterk was.


    "How did he know where I am? That teleporter doesn''t even have the slightest idea where I am..." Lanterk then began to give a series ofmands to the Pioneer and had to alter the walls quickly and even added moreyers of steel to block the path headed towards him.


    The path of attack passed over to where Rai was. Rai kept eating and made his escape causing Lanterk to get irritated. But creating the wall to protect more parts of the ship was more important. By the time he was finished, his attention had turned to another battlefield.


    Seeker''s battle was also increasing.


    Lanterk''s clone was facing the strongest of all the enemies he had faced.


    With Seeker''s ability to bestow Paths to others, Alphie and Kristine reached World Champion level.


    This was the intention that Seeker had since long ago.<sub> </sub>


    "I can''t create Oveers easily. I had to live two lifetimes to be one! So with myck, I will create Champions instead! Now I finally can!" Seeker smiled as he finally confirmed in this battle that he had reached the goal he had set since the battle in China.


    Kristine fought at the front lines. Her Golden Valkyrie form could create shields that harnessed the full power of Richie''s Walls of Jericho. These nearly invulnerable barriers could block the attacks of the Thrones that shot attacks witch forces that eclipsed the nuclear bomb in impact.


    Alphie was at the back and was harnessing the power of lightning. The st was so strong that even the Throne armors that could block even the strongest weapons on Earth were being burned through.


    Kristine was at the front, Alphie was at the back, and Seeker stood in the center, harnessing and building more and more energy.


    "This should be enough..." Seeker smiled as he moved out of the strange energy field he created.


    "Lanterk! Let me show you how powerful our path is! Compared to your ideology of scaling the cliffs alone, I''ll show you how it''s actually better together!" Seekerughed, and the energy he created began to ripple out as it was bestowed on Kristine and Alphie.


    Lanterk''s real body was startled as he saw it.


    "Impossible! How can his spirit rest on two others and carry its power along?! Is he... a Prime?"


    At that moment, the power tomand the sound and the power to wield the lightning was fully bestowed on Kristine and Alphie.


    With the science that Seeker studied from Hermes, the soul powers of Nogard Meng, and the inspiration was taken from the Bible that the Spirit of the Lord cannot rest on men, Seeker revealed one of his aces.


    Originally, he had only been using it with Lynd. But now, the concept of unity emerged, and Seeker desired to see it.


    "Can you see this, Lennox? Arthur? You once called me the worst of all Reincarnators with my severely limited powers that aren''t OP as those novels you read had. But now, through my reincarnation, I gave birth to a greater power! My allies, friends, and family will have enough power to go stronger!" Seeker thought to himself as he then unleashed another Path on his own body.


    It was a hybrid of Gardo, Amir, and had the cancerous properties of Meng. His own blood began to change as it became simr to Akashas.


    The transformation took time, and so Seeker had to rely on Kristine and Alphie to help him channel this energy.


    "A Nefilus Combat Body!" Lanterk was amazed.


    "A Phallus Combat Body. This is our path, Lanterk! My throne won''t be a lone throne. But many will stand by me as Co-Heirs to my power!" Seekerughed as he felt the tremendous power in him.


    His hair grew wild and longer thanks to the werewolf''s blood. His skin grew dark green, and his eyes and lips had a bright red glow.


    The real Lanterk watched and smiled.


    "So this is his power! What great amazing power!"


    But as Lanterk was admiring it, Jake had finally entered and reached the deepest region of Lanterk. The distractions caused the strange mechanism near where the real Lanterk was to pause in movements.


    Jake had been moving inside the body, and it was like he was a parasite that had infiltrated the body of a massive body. He moved through the walls, evading being noticed. At one point, Jake even moved to where Rai was to redirect the attention.


    "It''s here... Let me out here." A voice called out to Jake.


    "I know! I can feel it. Noputers because these metal walls themselves are supeputers!"


    "Its precaution to avoid getting hacked. But this will be perfect for me." The voiceughed, and the metal cube that contained it began to tremble.


    "I hope I can survive this." Jake sighed.


    "That power in that chamber surpassed the energy Seeker revealed when I fought him... That enclosed chamber should be where the real Lanterk is!" Jake gazed at it.


    "I''ll buy you a second to protect yourself. Just do it! Besides, this is still part of the n!" The voice chided.


    Jake moved and suddenly revealed several metallic cubes.


    He threw it out and allowed it to erupt out and assault the walls themselves.


    But one of the cubes didn''t blow up, but the figure of a man appeared.


    "Time to steal some techs!" An AI of Lennox appeared as he merged into the metal walls.


    The real Lanterk was startled as he sensed the attack.


    "That... brat! He tricked me!" Lanterk realized the trap that he had fallen into and charged out.

 Chapter 486 Adding Knowledge To Faith

    Lanterk could sense that hisputers were being hacked. He could tell that the power simr to the strongest Presider had attacked the core facility that orchestrated the shifting changes in the ship.


    "Presider Marrho''s lightning? It''s this advanced?!" Lanterk cursed. He had seen the brief appearances of these attacks. But never did he think that Living Lightning would be this advance that it could actually begin to affect the entire ship as it invaded the Universe Energy that controlled the ship.


    Lanterk instantly lost effective control over his clones, and hismunication with his people became distorted.


    Lanterk had no choice but to assume his battle form.


    "Do it now!" Jake shouted at Alean. He had done his mission and sent Lennox into the machine.


    "Not yet. You have to fight it. Don''t let Lanterk boot out Lennox just yet. Distract it!"


    "What?! Distract it?! I''ll die!" Jake shouted. Seeker didn''t even take him seriously in the fight. Although his Path was strong, it was not enough to defeat an Oveer like Seeker, whomanded numerous powers.


    "Exactly. If you want to have a chance to defeat Seeker and im Kristine, then fight him!" Alean ordered.


    Lanterk''s Skinsuit emerged as therge pod opened up.


    "How did you get on my Throne?" Lanterk saw Jake hovering and immediately went on the attack.


    The Universe Energy in the room began to gather and rush towards him.


    Jake saw the attack, quickly twisted the top portion of the small cylindrical metal, and moved to the right.


    A portal to the Void opened.


    Unlike the techs that the rest of the Void Assassins used, this one was intentionally made to be more dangerous. The opening towards the Void realm wasn''t stable, and it was even superimposed on the three dimensions making it impossible to cross.


    But such a path was possible for Jake as he dove into it and crossed twenty meters in an instant.


    Jake didn''t stop after his first teleportation. He kept flipping the switch and tried to teleport around the area.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    During the attacks, Lanterknded and pped not a split second after each jump, and Lanterk observed how Jake managed to avoid the pressure and that the space around them was forcing Lanterk to stand still.


    Humans have around 2.5% of their bodiesposed of metals. The human body contains metals like iron, cobalt copper, magnesium, calcium, and other metals. And for Unlocked and modified humans, this actually increases up to 3 to 5%.


    The power of Lanterk couldmand all metals. And in this strange world, he was using a powerful maism that would have affected Jake. Lanterk could even tell that Jake''s body has an even higher amount, reaching 8%, many of which were very damaging to the human body!


    But even with such highposition, Jake was moving without any problems!


    "It''s as if these metals in his body are not affected by my power. What an interesting science! I can''t assess the rest of those freaks... But will my power fail to work on them as well?" Lanterk wondered. He could not try to attack Seeker and the rest with this same attack.


    His powers could notmand the metal in the body of another.


    "So the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor attacked me because they are confident that my Presider-Killing techs won''t work on them..." Lanterk was growing more and more irritated.


    When Jake faced Lanterk, Alean gave the signal to Lynd at that short moment.


    Lynd had been fighting against the three enemies that opposed him.


    "Hahaha! How long will this sun burn?! You''re running out of fuel, Progenitor!" A massive Armor now stood before him with a huge shield. His two partners were wearing small exoskeletons withrge cannons. One took in the damage of Lynd''s attack, and the rest focused on attacking Lynd with diverse forms of weapons.


    Lynd had managed to use his Shekinah to destroy and melt the massive armor, but it kept reforming. The resistance of the metal was also gradually increasing as the metals around them were gradually absorbing the energy from Lynd''s attack.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Two attacksnded and struck Lynd, sending him towards the walls of the strange realm.


    The liquid metal quickly began to pull Lynd and bind him and the small floating wheels that were rotating within a wheel that kept moving around him.


    "Kill him!" The man piloting therge Armor ordered, and the two pilots of the exoskeleton with huge guns gathered a massive amount of liquid metal, making an even bigger gun.


    At that moment, Lynd smiled.


    "The Universe Energy... The Realm has weakened in here. Lennox seeded. Good." Lyndughed.


    "Fire!" One of the pilots shouted at his partner, and the two shot a massiveser beam.<sub> </sub>


    "Have a taste of your own medicine!" The pilotughed as intense heat shot out of their guns.


    But suddenly, the liquid metal around Lynd shot forward and created a massive shield and Armor!


    BOOM!


    The armor looked exactly like the one that the enemy piloted.


    "A good thing about metal is that it conducts electricity." Lyndughed as he began to gather more liquid metal around him.


    The entire n to attack Lanterk was based on Lynd''s ability to develop rapidly. And that ability was Tech Copy. His observations had transcended thanks to inputs of Lennox''s sciences and the many studies they did. Lynd was trained to have an incredible amount of head knowledge which he was using to replicate techs. His observation that he could perform Copy through his faith as a believer improved with knowledge.


    "Add to your faith virtue. I needed the right mindset. What I believed to be the moral good had to change least I could not be an Oveer. And add to virtue, knowledge." Lynd smiled as the liquid metal followed his orders.


    Lynd could imitate technology already. But when he saw Shakstress, he knew that he couldn''t. His body was incapable of imitating the miracles that Shakstress could do because there was no way for Lynd to create the energy or the means to harness the same energy.


    Universe Energy was also simr to the powers of Realm. It gave a personplete control of their powers and the full maniption of them. Even Seeker, who couldmand it, cannot use the wielded Path against the Path user. He can only wield it as if the Path user gave Seeker permission.


    And so, the n to steal technology from Lanterk began. Lanterk had stayed among the Unlocks, and many spies had already figured out more of his techs as his patience was pushed numerous times between Meryl and Danny.


    It was impossible for Lynd to ''copy'' Lanterk''s tech just as it was with Shakstress. Lynd and Seeker could ''understand'' a technology if they were directly exposed to it.


    The fight that Seeker and Lynd did against Shakstress allowed them to make progress to the Minuscule world of Shakstress. While they could not replicate it forck of certain mysterious powers that made up the Universe Energy of Shakstress, they now had a direction.


    But Lanterk''s tech was that of metal. Lanterk was clearly stronger as his maniption of Metal was terrifying in application. Even the Miniscule World of Shacktress would fall prey to the maic powers of Lanterk.


    But Seeker and his team knew that such tech would be difficult to copy. And so, they made preparations. Lennox''s AI was meant to disrupt the Universe Energy that made it impossible for Lynd to understand the technology.


    Lennox also used his powers to invade the metal, and it was as if the techs that Lennox managed to acquire were immediately uploaded on Lynd.


    With that, Lynd finally managed to copy the basics of the technology. The data was in the metal itself. The forms that the enemy showed him, the massive armor, and the gun were copied.


    Lynd began to absorb the energy that he sent out and was absorbed by the enemy.


    "Thanks for teaching me how to make a gun. Too bad I won''t be able to create this sea of liquid metal." Lyndughed as a massive gun simr to the one the enemy created was forming. At the very center of this gun were the floating wheels that had many other wheels rotating inside.


    The three were shocked at the sight of Lynd''s power.


    "What''s going on?!"


    "Somethings wrong! Our metal is not responding!"


    The pair kept shooting at Lynd, but the metal that Lynd gathered was already too strong, and the energy it was absorbing was feeding his gun.


    "Presider!" The Pioneers called out, but the line was not working.


    Lynd took out the strange power that he acquired when he was traveling within the Void. Rai had left him for it, and Lynd was waiting for Alean''s prompting.


    At that time, Jake had already lost his right arm, and he could feel organs rupturing from the intense reactions as Lanterk continued to experiment with just how much he could control the metal in Jake''s body.


    "Interesting. Perhaps your power isn''t teleporting. You''re deceiving me! Your real power is being able to slip through matter! What a curious tech! This is believed to be a dead-end! To think that it would still have applications! To slip through the dimensions beyond?! What great power!" Lanterk was amazed at what he saw and took his precious time to find out more about Jake''s power.


    At that moment of the euphoria of discovery, it happened.


    Alean gave themand.


    "Now!"


    Jake and Lynd revealed the object that they had acquired from Rai. It was a small floating light. It was like a firefly floating in their palm, and the two crushed it.


    A massive explosion of Realm urred as their powers of Rai surged and created his strongest attack.


    Jake was standing before the three Pioneers who were panicking. And Jake ran towards them, slipped through the metal walls, dove inside the Armor, and instantly killed the pilot.


    Lynd stood before Lanterk with a massive gun.


    "Small Willy, Meet Bigus Dickus!" Lyndughed as he shot a massive beam towards Lanterk.

 Chapter 487 Successive Victories

    Lanterk was caught off guard.


    When Jake crushed the small light, it created a ripple within the space around Lanterk, and it even tore a hole in the Universe Energy. Lanterk began to use his Universe Energy to stabilize the dimensions. It was too fast, and arge hole was created between Lynd and Lanterk''s space. It wasn''t just teleportation anymore, both were forcibly disced, and a strange destion tore and ate away the obstruction.


    This was the peak power that Void Assassin could perform. Most Paths could not be used or brought into the Void Realm. But the one thing that could be used was the deste power of Meng.


    The power that the Void Assassin created with the Realm King was an instantaneous swapping of two people. But the specifics of it were that both persons were destinations or targets of the other. The Destion of Meng would purge everything along the way to hasten the teleportation as both would be traveling through the Void Realm at such extreme speeds.


    There were several weaknesses of this technology as Lioncourt knew that if the enemy knew of this, they could easily stop it by using a technology that prevents Destion. If Rai were to perform this once again against Lanterk. In that case, Lanterk could easily fortify the area with Universe energy, and the instant swap would lead to certain death for those who teleported as the resistance that the jump will meet could crush them and mince them.


    Even Seeker had to train in how to move in it, as passing through the obstruction would make him lose his organs at each jump and learn how to see and evade everything.


    While Destion could clear these obstructions, any alteration in the three-dimensional world or by using Universe Energy would make the travel even more chaotic.


    But this attack was perfectly timed, and Alean''s power was used. For good measure, Seeker had to use his ability to create a scenario where Lanterk''s Zone would be spread out. The battle against Shakstress has taught the team a lot in fighting against Presiders with powers simr to Zone. Seeker overloaded the power of Zone. He spread out his team to force Lanterk''s attention into a divided group. And in this nned chaos, the perfect timing was created.


    Alean achieved Chaos Order through her Path of Zone.


    Alean spotted the exact moment when Lanterk would respond this way as he was in the height of euphoria and didn''t want to make any deadly attacks that would outright kill Jake.


    Lanterk went on the defense and was stunned to see Lynd in front of him, who immediately shot a powerful st.


    BOOM!


    The power of the attack equaled weapons of mass destruction erupted.


    Jake''s appearance on the other side also surprised the enemy.


    Aside from the sudden Destion that tore a hole and caused the ocean of water to breach the room, the three enemies just didn''t expect to fight an enemy that could pass through all matter.


    With Jake''s speed, he quickly moved and assassinated the enemy as quickly as he could. The distortion of the Universe Energy and the enemy''s preparation to defend against what they thought would be Lynd''s attack allowed Jake to aplish his task easily.


    In the room where Seeker fought, the battle continued to rage as Seeker and his team fought several Thrones.


    Almost all the techs appearing in the other rooms were appearing in Seekers. The entire room was attacking and shooting them as guns would form from every corner of the room, even while the Thrones would attack with incredible speed.


    The maic powers and rail made the battle something that not even an Inhuman could keep up with.


    But thanks to the Paths of Seeker that could stop time in his perception, Seeker was able always to send Kristine or Alphie to the right ces.


    Suddenly, the main clone stopped moving, and the Pioneers that were on their Thrones had topensate.


    "Presider!" The Pioneer piloting the Throne cried out.


    "It''s happening. Lynd must have made his move!" Seekerughed.


    The clone of Lanterk had actually paused when the main body received the attack. This is because Lanterk was controlling his clone directly, but now, the disruption caused the clone to stop moving at all.


    Seeker instantly took the opportunity tounch the strongest attack he could perform.


    Kristine harnessed the power of the sound into her sword as she stabbed out and sent an attack that was equal to the Roar of Judah.


    Seeker, who was at the center, sent out several of the radiation pills of Lennox, which he caused to be dispersed around the expanding spear that created vibration upon vibration.


    And Alphie harnessed all the lightning energy that she could muster and used the form of the spear to transport electricity.


    Three Pathsbined, and it stabbed out.<sub> </sub>


    The attack contained three elements that could be seen before the Throne of God.


    Rumblings, shes of Lightning, and Peals of Thunder.


    The massive attack erupted, creating a powerful attack that contained the explosions that equaled weapons of mass destruction.


    The attack tore through the metal room and eradicated out, sting through metal after metal and creating tremendous damage to the ship.


    In Cliff''s room, the sudden distortion caused the enemies of many weapons of the Pioneer he fought to fail.


    "Let''s finish this!" Cliff charged forward. His body had many wounds, and holes as the numerous bullets of the enemy had pierced him. Cliff had to use some miraculous healing pills that helped him recover and would have died twice if not for these things.


    "You! How dare you hack Presider Lanterk!" The man with the shades shouted as he panicked in controlling the metals around him.


    Cliff was also close to dying, and he used thest of his energy to make a simple charge. The Serpent he created was coated with Destion, and it did a simple charge.


    "You''re already out of gas! Your attack won''t reach me!" The man shouted as hemanded the bullets and various metal pieces to form a thick metal wall in front of him.


    The Serpent charged towards the walls, which were now weaker as the Universe energy that controlled it had dimmed.


    The serpent charged through and instantly pierced through theyers andyers of metal as if it was paper.


    "H...How?!" The Pioneer asked. His lower half had already been mawed by the serpent.


    The enemy did his best to block the attack and summoned all the metal that he could, but for some reason, the entire metal wall that blocked Cliff was very fragile.


    "No... The Universe Energy... Why...? Why was it weak...? Or was it because of you... That''s it! You fooled me! Your real strength is this!" The Pioneer cried as death approached him.


    "You''re wrong. This attack was weak. The real reason is that the metals you used were so weak. I''ve been weakening certain pieces of the metals you use throughout the battle. I wielded my attacks and Destion not to destroy the metal. I was weakening it. You don''t have a Presider''s mind. That is your weakness. Throughout the battle, I''ve been making you arrange your metals for this moment. Each time you blocked me, I memorized those metals. While you have the power to repair damaged metals, all I was doing was using my Destion to weaken it just a bit. And in the end, when you blocked the attacks thinking that I wasn''t doing anything special, my attack easily broke all those metals you used." Cliff exined.


    "You... memorized?" The Pioneer asked once more and finally died.


    Cliff could feel the trembling attacks and sensed that many parts of the ship had suddenly lost power, and the waters began to flood in as the shifting and creating metal had stopped.


    "Everyone should be now making their counterattacks and should be winning. Time to prepare for our escape!" Cliff moved out and struck the wall, and it easily broke, and the waters rushed in as the entire room copsed and was crushed by the pressure.


    Cliff moved towards the ocean and raced for the other rooms where the battles continued.


    "That must be the Trumpet st..." Cliff observed massive wreckage that createdrge holes at the center. He knew that this was because of Seeker''sbined attacks.


    Cliff identified a room and used his attacks to infiltrate another room.


    As all of this was happening, Rai had reached the room where Lynd was. With a flip of a metal cube, lightning charged out and returned.


    "I got Lennox''s AI. Are you done?" Rai asked.


    "Let''s go. We''ll die if we stay here any longer!" Lynd called out, and the two quickly opened the Void Realm to escape.


    Lanterk''s body was floating in the area. His Thrones were damaged from the attack. What he felt was a shock. He was in a state of shock. He could not catch up with the enemy that was retreating, and if he chased after them, he would be using a huge chunk of his Universe Energy.


    And so, all he could do was float in that ocean in disbelief and was still unable to ept the results.


    "I... Lost?"

 Chapter 488 Failing To Overcome

    On the battlefield of the Covenant, Dara kept on fighting the enemy together with Roselyn.


    ? Dara kept attacking whenever Roselyn''s ice defense fell short.


    The massive fist of therge robot was repelled by Dara''s fist. The attack surprised Lanterk that such bodily transformation was possible on someone who didn''t disy high radiation levels.


    Two battles urred there¡ªone in the three dimensions and another in the Void Realm.


    The battle started with the team fighting against a massive robot in both dimensions. Titan and John could see the form, but then the robot merged and became the room itself! Its form became harder to search in the Void. The Universe''s energy also began to gather and was increasing in power.


    The two groups were shocked to see how Lanterk was investing more in this battle.


    "He''s pumping more energy! It''s because of me!" Danny cursed.


    "No! It''s not you! If he wanted to kill you, he would have pumped it all at once! But look!" Dara pointed out how the battle didn''t reach the same massive intensity of controlling a horizon of metals to transform and move. It was still limited to a robot and was only growing slowly.


    Even Dara could tell what the enemy was doing. It was constantly increasing the amount of Universe energy to push the team to the very limits. But when that limit was reached, the energy that covered that room rose again by a bit. Instead of creating massive robots, the room was now moving and creating metal arms and legs that attacked them from all directions. The entire room was trying to crush them.


    "He''s experimenting on us!" Dara cursed and fought back.


    The group continued to be defensive, hoping that Titan and John would deliver. If not for the team''s actions moving into Void Realm, Dara, Roselyn, and Danny would have long died.


    But such hopes of deliverance and salvation were misced.


    Titan, John, and the Void Assassins were facing a terrifying warping in that zone in the Void Realm. The Void Realm was no longer as it used to be as more energies and strange powers were moving and attacking the team.


    Some form of being that had the shape of a human was also moving within the realm and was attacking the group.


    Titan and John saw the strange form of the Universe Energy thatmanded the metals to move. But as theplexity of themands and power were far weaker than the thick energy that Seeker, Lynd, and the rest faced, the pair decided that this would be the weakness that they would exploit.


    The pair led the Void Assassins to attack what they believed were foundational elements that kept the power of Lanterk from freelymanding the movement of the metals.


    It was as if they were able to attack the very ''codes'' that dictated the movements.


    At first, Titan and John were able to seed. But the pumping of Universe energy startled them as well.


    Their enemy was still a weakened incarnate of a Principal. Unlike the other rooms where Lanterk assigned a pilot, he was directly controlling this room itself. Each battlefield was intended to draw out the science of the foes and dissect the technology. In the case of the Covenant, they fell right into the nned experiments that Lanterk designed for them. Lanterk was experimenting on how the Void Realm works and was using the battle to understand the dimension that was being used to perform these space jumps.


    The zone called the Void Realms was now being revealed, and Lanterk was finally able to aplish what his Principal Incarnations had failed for a century. He had found a new dimension. To be more precise, he found that it could exist between two dimensions.


    Dara saw how Lanterk was experimenting on them, and naturally, Titan deduced it. However, now Titan could tell, the pumping of energy was being sent in to kill them!


    "Damn it! He''s using us as a reference! He is finding the baseline of how much Universe Energy he needs to kill us and use that as data for future battles!" Titan raged.


    John was helpless and only fought and shot to keep himself and his allies alive.


    Lanterk''s progress was frightening as the team was so close to dying and had no chance of ever inflicting permanent damage to defeat the evolving room and the massive robot inside it.


    "So this is how I die? I haven''t didn''t get a chance to y around..." Roselyn sighed. She was utterly drained from her ice.


    Dara was overpowered and wounded. Her suit was damaged, and the maic powers were getting affected.


    "That damned Universe Energy is hacking my real..." Dara uttered in defeat.


    "Don''t give up! Keep pushing and keep fighting! That''s the first step to oveing!" Danny shouted as he took the ce of Dara and took the role of the Tank.


    The fist of the enemy shot down, and Danny faced it head-on.


    While his courageous words sparked hope, he himself felt hopeless and believed that he would die at the punch. He shed out his weapons with all his might forcing the cells to transform and be much more than what it was.


    The werewolf cells of Amir, which Danny injected, had finally been merged perfectly, and Danny managed tomand it at thatst moment. As a result, Danny''s physical strength grew two folds. But the increase paled inparison to the power behind the giant robots punch.


    But at that moment, a strange fluctuation erupted.


    The Universe Energy was distorted, and the control of Lanterk was cut for a brief moment.


    Many things urred in that split moment.


    Titan and John managed tond powerful blows that altered the flow of the Void Realm, and it rippled out, creating maic inconsistencies in the direction and power of all attacks.


    BOOM!


    Danny was shocked. He was thrown back, but he did not die just as he thought. Instead, the moving fist was repelled back. But then, he noticed that the entire room was distorting.<sub> </sub>


    A Void Assassin emerged and fell to the ground.


    Dara rushed to pick him up as the entire room had halted in attacking them.


    "Our Generals... They seeded. The Universe Energy is weakening! We just have to hold on!" The Void assassin reported what Titan deduced.


    The room began to move again, but the movements were slower and weaker. Yet, the Covenant and the rest were already way past their limits that they began to drag their body and used whatever strength they had to keep evading.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The warping room had no order in its attacks as Lanterk made the room crush itself and implode as he lost precise control of it.


    "We failed. We didn''t ovee." Dara uttered in defeat as the rooms fell on them.


    Titan and those in the Void Realm were thrown out as they saw the copsing rooms.


    All had lost hope and waited for their deaths toe.


    BOOM!


    But death did not arrive.


    As Roselyn opened her eyes, her heart leaped in joy. A figure was in front of them.


    "Basilisk, Form of the Coiling Snake!" Cliff ordered the sounds to create severalyers of Walls of Jericho as the serpent coiled up.


    "Don''t be so down that you failed," Cliff spoke.


    "Never forget, our leader, Seeker Carlean, had to live a lifetime of defeat and ultimately met his death and never saw the fruits in Oveing. Each battle where you fail to ovee, yet when you managed to survive, draws you closer to how Seeker overcame. Rejoice! All of you! You fought and survived, and while you were supposed to die, you held out as long as you could until help arrived. Ovee in the next battle and learn from this! You should first ovee the inevitable defeat of fighting those stronger than you! You will keep failing. But until then, keep surviving as you lose!" Cliff dered.


    Dara saw it, and her heart spurred.


    "I... I love you..." She uttered.


    "Hand''s off, freak! Cliff''s mine!" Roselyn shouted.


    "General Cliff...! Thank you..." Dannyughed and immediately fainted.


    Cliff kept the sound wall up but noticed that the Universe energy in the entire room vanished, and the metals that were crushing down on them lost their power, and it began to break as the sea tore through it.


    "So, the loss of power causes all stability to weaken just like it did in the room I fought. Everyone! The mission is a sess. We''ve inflicted such damage on Lanterk and his throne that he lost control of the ship. Thankfully, our intel from our fight with Shakstress helped us out. Now we know the weakness of this ship."


    "It has a weakness?"


    "It wasn''t a weakness. The weakness of any Presider-level ship is that it is connected to the main Throne where the Presider lies. But of course, the Presider will hide his ship deep inside the core of this ship. In fact, Lanterk was doing his best to keep us from getting to him. The battle in Egypt revealed how Shakstress moved out of the ship. But Lanterk was more cautious. So we never dared to attack him."


    "Until Jake!" Titan understood.


    "Exactly. With Jake, we finally have a way of exploiting this weakness."


    BOOM!


    A powerful golden beam shot out of the distance in the other room.


    Cliff saw it and frowned.


    "It looks like Meryl had it easy. I just hope she allowed the Gryphon Squadron to fight before going all out." Cliff could not help but feel envious of Meryl for having the easiest fight. But at that moment, he felt a strange frost, and he could not move.


    "What''s next, my love? What is our next mission?" Roselyn appeared and hugged Cliff.


    Dara was convulsing. She had no strength even to move, and her anger for Roselyn erupted, forcing her cells to mutate.


    "Roselyn, I presume! Let go! I already have a girlfriend!"


    "It''s alright. I''m not the jealous type." Roselyn winked.


    BANG!


    Cliff broke out of Roselyn''s arm and hurled her towards the metal.


    "Get ready to teleport! Void Assassins! Your master should bepleting the gathering of equipment that is powering this ship. Prepare to send us out!" Cliff ordered as she threw out several pills to the Void Assassins to heal them.

 Chapter 489 How Are We Going To Win?

    The Gryphon Squadron had the easiest battle, hands down.


    Lanterk decided to experiment on the Covenant out of his hatred for Danny. Unfortunately, his direct maniption and direction of the entire room made that battle a very difficult battle to ovee.


    But of course, Lanterk was busy and only spared the least of his attention to that room. To bear the great burden of fighting and gather data for everyone''s fight, he left his strongest Pioneers with a specialized Throne to fight against Lynd. Against Cliff, Lanterk sent another with a specialized Skinsuit which contained his attempt to recreate a Nefilus Suit. The appearance of the rumored Phallium suits inspired Lanterk to force something, but while the study drew no clear sess as it simply acted simr to the throne, the skinsuit was still considered among the strongest weapon he had.


    The weakest forces that Lanterk sent out were the ones who fought the remaining teams. But the weakest team, who barely had any Universe Energy coursing through the room was the one at the room where the Twelve Disciples and the three Captains of the Basilisk Squadron were.


    The Supreme Exoskeletons had specialized suits to swim through metal and perform certain maicmands. But the Supreme could not use this maic power to control the Unlocked, who resisted the technology with their Realm.


    Hank, Zidane, and Counter worked with the Twelve Disciples and managed to create a weaker version of Cliff''s Basilisk form. With the assistance of Mark, who harnessed lightning, Jane, who created sound, and Judith, who released destion, the Basilisk became a powerful vanguard that even managed to wound the pilots of the Exoskeletons.


    The enraged Supreme Exoskeletons began to use the entire room, which was shifting and was like ghosts who slipped into the pirs of metal that were rising and dove down on the floor. And as the battle continued, the Supreme Exoskeletons were so annoyed at the serpent of the Unlocked that they created their own serpent to fight. Arge metal dragon was created. It epassed a huge space of the entire room, and it had many fans of the dragons and could shoot various guns and attack from numerous sides.


    And while that was happening, the Supreme Exoskeletons would swim through the metal of this massive dragon and attack the team when it got the chance.


    But even them, the Unlocked, were on the winning side.


    The more the battle progressed, the more the Basilisk Squadron learned. Aside from the trio who wielded the imitations of Oveers was Nathan, who had some of Lioncourt''s realm powers but was required to be empowered by the infamous radiation pills. Petra also had another Oveer''s path, which was a controlled werewolf. It was weaker and slower, but it had the ability of extreme scent, and Petra could retain his sanity and not give in to the berserked desires of the wolf.


    Other than these four, there was Andrea, who had the power of Meryl''s brightness but not the heat, and Simeon had Typical''s ability which he could create thorns and inflict sharp attacks.


    But of all of them, the most important members were actually the four strategists of the team.


    Matthew was the main strategist who followed in the footsteps of Arthur. He didn''t have Instant Calction like Lim of the Gryphon Squadron, but he could create an impressive n.


    Aiding him was another instinctive strategist who would makest-second corrections to Matthew''s n. Maddie rarely gave orders, but it would save a life or inflict damage to the massive dragons when she did. She often disappeared as she managed to stay within the Void Real longer ande out unscathed.


    Jamie''s role was confusing at first. She often shed with Matthew''s orders and had entric solutions for the fight. Whenever the Supreme Exoskeletons went for the kill, their attacks would be foiled by Jamie, who always appeared at the right time. Jamie didn''t have a path-specific weapon but only had a strange gun that shot different kinds of attacks at a given time. But her power was finally made clear when one Supreme Exoskeleton charged for killing her.


    "Progenitor! Thank goodness you''re here! Save me!" Jamie cried, causing the supreme Exoskeleton to bolt to the sides in cowardice.


    But when it was revealed that it was a lie, she became the team''s primary target, and everyone had to focus on defending her.


    Zidane figured it out and told his friends that Jamie followed Lowengren''s path.


    As the fight continued, only two more people seemed to have not shown their paths.


    Thomas was the leader who decided whose n to follow if the previous three shed. It was as if he could bnce between the three and see the greater picture.


    "He reminds me of General Seeker." Zidane spoke through the unusual Realm link the three had. It had reached a point where they could somehowmunicate and send their thoughts to each other.


    "Maybe that''s it. All that''s left is James. What is his Path?" Counter wondered as they fought.


    "When, James?!" Thomas suddenly shouted.


    The Basilisk Squadron and the Void assassins were confused at Thomas''s sudden question.


    "In three seconds!" James answered.


    "Maddie!" Thomas asked.


    "We will also win once James'' powers affect them!" Maddie confirmed.


    "Finally!" Matthew sighed.


    "Any more, and my Realm would be gone, and we would have died."


    "I''m stopping now." Jamie suddenly released her entire Exoskeleton, and her body fell t on the floor.


    The strange scene confused the Supreme Exoskeletons.


    "Maddie? Are you sure?" Thomas asked again.


    "Yes. It''s not a vague feeling. I feel that we won..." Maddie answered.


    Seeing that the Supreme Exoskeletons paused at Jamie''s actions, Nathan followed and released all the energy of his Realm that was protecting everyone.


    Instantly, Nathan fell to the ground too.


    "I''m out. Just save me if anything happens."


    "What''s going on?" Hank turned to Counter.<sub> </sub>


    Counter shrugged.


    Mark, Juda, and Jane also stopped releasing their paths which fed the Basilisk Squadrons.


    "You fools! I will- What...? My body...!" One of the Pilots of the Exoskeletons suddenly screamed as he noticed a horrifying decay and puss leaking out of his right arm.


    "I bet you thought my powers were useless, right? This was Matthew''s n all along." Simeonughed as the visible thorns around him began to disappear.


    "Even you guys thought my needles were useless, right?" Simeon turned to Hank and the other two.


    "...Yes. I thought it was too weak and fragile. It barely made a difference."


    " With a little help from Jamie, I managed to trick you and these enemy pilots into not noticing that I could create a needle of great sharpness. It''s small, but it could sting and even leave a small hole. It wouldn''t kill the enemy even if I aimed for the head. And I''m sure those Supreme Exoskeletons have techs even to heal their bodies if I like, pierce the eye. So this very small needle was used to introduce something else into the bodies of our enemy pilots."


    "It was my blood." James smiled.


    "Blood? You have the power of Akasha?" Hank was amazed.


    "No. Charles. I have a very sickly body." Jamesughed.


    "Charles? You have the disease-creating powers of Charles?!" Counter was stunned. He knew that Cliff was scared of the current Charles and didn''t even want to go near him because Cliff could remember everything he saw and could see every cell of Charles.


    It was then that Hank, Zidane, and Counter realized what the Twelve Disciples plotted. The fight was to deal some damage against the Exoskeletons, and when they had weakened the armor enough, they attacked using Simeon''s needles which had James''s blood.


    "We poisoned them?" Hank asked.


    "Yup. But I don''t get it, Maddie. How have we won?" Matthew asked as he looked up to the sky.


    They were on the ground, and the three Supreme Exoskeletons were crying in pain and moving erratically in the air, hiding in the unmoving metal dragon.


    "What do you mean, Matthew?" Thomas asked.


    "That poison isn''t enough to kill them. And with us too drained to attack, we can''t deal any more damage than what we''ve already done. We''re all out of gas." Matthew exined.


    "What if Lanterk''s zone messed up your Zone, Maddie?" Jamie asked.


    "I... I don''t think so. General Alean sent us here for a reason. She knew that we would fight zoneless enemies here."


    "Then how are we going to win?" Thomas asked again.


    BOOM!


    A massive beam of golden light broke through the room and struck the metal dragons burning everything on its path, and the screams of the pilot of the Supreme Exoskeletons could be heard.


    The entire room began to copse. Unlike the other rooms, this room did not have Universe Energy empowering it, and therge hole caused the waters to rush inside.


    The Unlock began to retreat and prepare for the sudden waters.


    "That''s it...? We won because of General Meryl''s power?" Thomas was confused.


    "Not really. We won because we managed to poison them, and in our exhaustion, we fell. None of us was moving around, clearing us away from General Meryl''s destructive st. If we didn''t fight or poison them, none of this would happen. This still means we are strong enough to fight Presiders, and Maddie''s Zone is indeed the real deal." Matthew exined.


    "But we relied on Meryl''s powers to win..." Thomas argued.


    "Well, she IS our general. Who else would save us but her?"


    "I... guess so."


    The three members of the Basilisk Squadron were silent.


    "That was... anti-climactic," Hank muttered.


    "Yeah." Zidane agreed.


    "Woah. Look at that radiation and energy! Meryl really went all out! Those Gryphon squadrons were lucky to have her in their team. They must have had it easy." Counter sighed in envy.


    The Griffin squadron was huddled up together in one corner in the other room where the massive beam shouted out from. They were using all their techs to defend themselves.


    "You''re crazy!" Lim cried in anger and trauma. Fish was already unconscious from shock.


    "What? I wanted to finish the fight in eight minutes and thirty-seven seconds, just as you said." Meryl chuckled as the power she released vanished, and she returned to her normal form.

 Chapter 490 Attention

    Going back several minutes before the consecutive victories of the Unlocked...


    Suarez was no longer afraid of charging through the numerous enemies.


    With hismand, the enemies aimed toward the location where they felt Suarez would move. However, in the most critical moments, the enemy''s aim was so far off that the maic powers of the room could not cause these attacks tond.


    All forms of attacks were now being altered to chase after the unique metallic signatures that the Unlocked had. Every enemy of the Unlocked had a gun and weapon that could curve and chase after the targets. Yet even with this cheat aiming technology, these bullets would still miss.


    Suarez could infiltrate the ranks and make the attacks that were chasing him hit the enemy.


    No matter how chaotic things were for Suarez and how the bullets flew closer, he did not retreat.


    At thest moment, a portal would open, and Will would harness his shield to block the attacks.


    The Void Assassins would appear and eliminate whoever they could before teleporting out.


    Will could travel the Void Realm carrying the shields, which allowed them to teleport without fear and move straight towards the area where they were teleporting.


    This made them able to teleport faster as long as Will prepared the way for them in the Void Realm.


    Ivan''s Werebear form was growingrger andrger. Each time he devoured the flesh of humans, it would make his figure bigger.


    The bullets and attacks that could reach him were easily repelled, and Ivan''s recovery was quickly able to keep up with the damage.


    Fish worked together with him as Fish would move through the room. Whenever the enemies would use a maic jump that harnessed Rail Technology to shoot them somewhere, Fish''s sword of lightning could kill them.


    The armies that fought them had grown three times as more soldiers were deployed in the room.


    But even with the number, the battle constantly shifted to the side of the Unlocked.


    Lim watched the progress of the battle and was able to estimate who to protect and who to prioritize. She and Epic stayed along with Will and the other Void assassin, made jumps to escape and make attacks on key locations, and kept the battle manageable.


    "I can''t believe it''s this easy!" Will chuckled as he shot out another st.


    "Easy? No. There were many times when I would almost fail. My calctions are a mess now. It''s hard to keep up. I''m still quite a distance from achieving what Arthur can. We have held out and have been without issues because of General Meryl!"


    "General Meryl? She''s just punching out people, throwing them, and turning them into bombs!" Epic was confused. Meryl seemed to be fighting and having fun. She was the least destructive and had the least enemies that she was fighting.


    "No. She''s fighting in the ces where weck. I didn''t ount for our enemies increasing to such a number. My limit has long been passed. General Meryl is fighting to help us all keep pushing ourselves way beyond our limits."


    "What? Then she has Zone like General Alean?!"


    "I don''t think that''s it..." Lim shook her head.


    Suddenly, Lim saw Meryl.


    "What the?!" Lim eximed.


    "Rx, Lim. You''re good. You almost understood the power that I have."


    "You have invisibility?"


    "No. I can remain perfectly visible. But in such a chaotic ce, I can easily change the attention people have been giving me." Meryl chuckled.


    "Attention?!"


    "Yes. I want to shine. But I realized that real shining has to do with being hidden. The sun is bright, but you can''t look at it. No one will look at me and see me if I shine so brightly. For me to shine, I have to learn how to grow dim. And with my constant fights with Seeker, it somehow affected my Zone."


    "Then I was right! You have Zone, just like Alean!"


    "No. Alean adapts her actions to the circumstance. That''s how she sees the future. Because of my Path and how I control the attention given to me, I can disrupt the Zone of another or make them follow mine. Since the start, everyone here has been following my rhythm." Meryl chuckled.


    Attacks were shot, and Lim''s attention shifted as she made orders to evade. And then, she realized Meryl was missing and nowhere to be found.


    "There!" Epic shouted as she pointed to a location where Meryl was.


    Meryl then fought and killed the enemies who were targeting someone else.


    Lim watched, and for some strange reason, although Meryl was sting through the many enemies and was using a powerful attack, it was as if it wasn''t eye-catching, and Lim would have ignored that fight.


    "Impossible! It''s hard for me to keep up!" Epic cursed. Despite his alteration and how his eyes were made different that he could have a sight like Titan and John of the Covenant, he was still on the verge of losing Meryl.


    "Hey, focus!" Merylughed as he saw Epic and Lim stand like stupid idiots in the middle of a chaotic battle.


    Suddenly, her light shone, and everyone couldn''t help but turn to see the light.


    The split-second warning and light awakened Lim and Epic, and the two were cursing as they realized they were dancing in the palm of Meryl''s Zone.


    "Just keep fighting and push yourself to the limits. I''ll be watching you guys..." Meryl smiled.


    The battle continued, and suddenly, a surge of power erupted around the ce.<sub> </sub>


    "Meryl! It should happen now!" Alean uttered amand.


    "Wow. You don''t know what those words mean, right Alean? You just somehow know what to say. It''s like you could read minds." Meryl chuckled.


    "Everyone! Start defending! I''ll be going wild!" Merylughed as she flew towards the massive entrance where all Lanterk''s forces wereing from.


    "What?" Lim was confused.


    "Lim, you better get your defenses up. Even you will be attacked!"


    Her body started to change. Every cell in her body was erupting with energy and letting out a light.


    Meryl''s entire body was generating energy.


    "So this is a cultivator''s body? Lynd, I finally did it!" Meryl chuckled as her body reached a state in which she would be considered a Mid-Tier Presider in the world of the Aragarians.


    In her palms was the simr energy that Lynd harnessed on the orb. The radiation levels she released were so intense that the room''s metal began to melt. Even the very molecules began to melt at the strange light of Meryl.


    Meryl suddenlyunched several attacks on friend and foe alike.


    All eyes were on her.


    Ivan was burned and screamed in pain.


    Fish''s wings were burned off, and she fell like Icarus but managed to hide behind Will''s shield.


    The rest were able to gather together as Fish ordered them. If not for Meryl''s warnings, they would have been caught up in the attack.


    "What are you doing?!" Lim cursed out as the light around Meryl grew brighter and brighter.


    At that moment, Lynd and Jake had just made their attacks, and Lanterk was losing control over his ship.


    But the light and power of Meryl caused Lanterk to use thest bits of his attention to attacking Meryl.


    It was love. It was hate. It was vengeance.


    Instinctively, Lanterk followed the light and sent a charge of his precious Universe Energy to create an attack on Meryl.


    Meryl was not in the room Lanterk thought she would be. And so, the surge of energy was not prepared to make an immediate attack.


    The energy coursed through the entire ship passing through the other rooms but moving with haste to attack Meryl.


    Meryl had already be the sun. She was shining, but her light was no longer blind. A gold aura appeared around her.


    "Cultivators Body Variant! Form of Z!" Meryl dered as her hair grew longer due to the growing cells, and it was now colored gold due to the light.


    She concentrated the light that was bursting out of each of her cells andpressed it into a small ball.


    "You''re still falling for my Zone, Lanterk. Even at this moment, I still got your attention. We win." Merylughed as she knew that Lanterk could see her.


    The surging power appeared, and Universe Energy shot towards her. Finally, the form of the Universe Energy was shown. It had a ck color with many small lights appearing on it. Just as it was named, the raw form of this energy looked exactly like the universe when men would see through a telescope to observe the skies.


    "Too weak! Haven''t you read the bible? When God sets fire to the heavens, it will dissolve, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!" Meryl shot the bright beam of energy that erupted and became a massive beam of light.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The massive attack shot through the room and devoured the creeping dark energy, and the massive st broke through the rooms and destroyed a huge part of Lanterk''s ship.


    The sun was lost, and the sea became dark once more. The lights in Lanterk''s ship were all gone as the damage severed the ship''s connection to the main body where Lanterk was.


    "You''re crazy!" Lim shouted.


    "What? I wanted to finish the fight in eight minutes and thirty-seven seconds, just as you said." Merylughed.


    Rai suddenly appeared next to her. He was carrying Jake, who was wounded and exhausted.


    "He nearly died fighting Lynd''s enemies. He killed two, but thest one managed to hurt him." Rai exined.


    With the ship damaged, Alean could now move deep into the ship without being attacked.


    "Shall we retreat?" Meryl asked.


    "Take him with you. I''ll pick up the rest." Rai left Jake and vanished.


    "Alright, Void Assassins. Alean ising to pick us up! Teleport us there!" Meryl ordered.


    Lanterk was furious. In the current state of his ship, choosing to chase after Seeker and his fleeing team would make him lose more than half of the resources and power he had. So with no choice before him, Lanterk focused on repairing the ship as Seeker, and the rest focused on retreating.

 Chapter 491 Combat Body

    Everyone was focused on escaping.


    The destruction and the disconnection that stopped the Universe Energy from moving and altering the giant space was the perfect escape route for the Unlocked army.


    Everyone was moving as fast as they could.


    In the first jump, Lynd was pulled back by Rai when Rai appeared in the very room. But the two separated and went their own way to pick up the rest of the team.


    Cliff was able to find his team and fought with them with the remaining forces scattered in the ship''s wreckage.


    Alean was, however, not stopping.


    The Unlocked saw it and frowned. The ship was too far, and teleporting right inside this ship which was moving at such a speed, would be dangerous.


    The submarine kept rushing deeper and ignored all of the teams.


    The teams had no choice but to follow.


    The parts of the ship that managed to retain functionality were attacking Alean. But without the maic power of Lanterk to manipte the attacks, Alean was easily able to fight back.


    Many other Unlocked soldiers emerged, and even Armors began to shoot. Their mission was to move towards the location where Seeker was.


    When Lynd made the quick shift with Jake andunched an attack on the main body, it gave Seeker, Kristine, and Alphie the time they needed to defeat the enemy.


    Seeker charged in.


    "That clone and those Thrones are mines!" Seeker shouted as he made a kick.


    Seeker moved with such vast strength and power that all he did was a punch and a sweeping kick.


    The punch instantly destroyed the clone of Lanterk. The force that Seeker released in that punch was already at the strength of nuclear bombs. His kicks were just as powerful. When he created the body that Lanterk identified as the Nefilus Combat Body, he felt the surge of power that allowed him to have the physical power to ovee the defensive technologies andplex sciences that Lanterk was releasing time.


    The main body saw the attack but cursed.


    "Toote... I can''t control my clone. Damn them! I will lose them too?!" Lanterk''s rage was building.


    Lanterk could have made counter-attacks to defend or stop Seeker, his main body got attacked, and the AI of Lennox, which distorted his Throne, created conflicts in releasing the Universe energy.


    Seeker punched out and aimed for the face of Lanterk''s clone. Kristine wielded the sound and empowered Seeker''s fist. Alphie used her lightning to wrap around it to create a sword.


    As for Seeker, his focus was maintaining the great power that harnessed numerous paths in his fist.


    Seeker had taken the data from the experiments made on Dara and used it as a basis to focus the paths on one point.


    The Paths that Seeker used were the Destion of Meng, the cells of Meryl, the blood of Akasha, the virus of Amir, thepression science of the Dalisay, the firmness of Octarion, and the realm of Lioncourt to contain it all.


    In that punch was a power that had the most potent physical force ever created among the Unlocked armies.


    BANG!


    The punch contained a quaking force that all the ocean trembled at this punch. Moreover, space itself was shaking at the tremendous power that threatened to destroy numerous dimensions.


    But the punch only destroyed the head of Lanterk and no more. It didn''t create massive explosions and ripples but only appeared as a simple punch.


    The two pilots of the Thrones saw Lanterk''s clone decimated in a simple punch. And before they could move, Seeker was already next to one of the pilots.


    Seeker moved with a strange speed that disrupted science itself. He was no longer moving in the three dimensions. From Seeker''s perspective, he didn''t even move at all. He just shifted and aligned his legs to make a kick, and he was already there.


    The kick was released, and it contained the same power.


    BANG! BANG!


    The single kick broke through the domes of the two Thrones and killed the pilots instantly as their entire upper body was smashed.


    The punch and kicks appeared to have happened within the same second. Kristine and Alphie were even shocked at it. And right after the three attacks happened, it was only then that the physics of the universe acted and created massive shock waves and explosions.


    A force from the punch continued out and broke through the walls. The kick also created a cut. And the force was so strong, even when the room had holes that led to the ocean, the waters didn''t rush in was it was also being punched and kicked back.


    A secondter, the waters were crushed.


    "Seeker!" Kristine and Alphie shouted as they saw that Seeker instantly lost power, and his body began to decay.


    Kristine and Alphie had to quickly inject healing elixirs that the Unlocked made, which would have allowed Seeker to regrow an arm instantly. Yet even two vials could not heal Seeker as his body began to eat up a massive amount of energy.


    "It''s not enough!" Alphie was shocked. Seeker''s condition was dropping so rapidly that he would die within seconds.


    Kristine pressed her lips against Seeker and used bliss to calm Seeker''s body.


    Seeker was awakened at the kiss, and his body''s disintegration halted as his metabolism calmed down.


    Seeing his state stabilize, the two injected yet another vial.


    "What were you thinking?!" Kristine shouted.


    "... I thought that I could handle it! That was dangerous!"


    Suddenly, an explosion urred behind them as a ship shot through the metal. Alean had led the ship directly to this location.


    Lynd appeared inside the ship as hepleted hisst teleportation. Alean''s ship had finally stopped, and he could make the jump. He watched as Alean frantically sent out medicines through the medics that immediately treated Lynd.


    "That idiot! My zone told me he would have died!" Alean cursed.


    Lynd sighed but kept his emotions locked in his heart.


    "He''s always an idiot."<sub> </sub>


    Cliff and the rest appeared, as did Meryl''s group.


    "Retreat!" Alean ordered.


    "Buy me several seconds. I need to recover and charge for teleporting this entire ship out of here." Rai moved towards therge pod which could amplify his powers.


    "Buy you time? Against that?" Cliff sighed as he watched outside.


    The broken parts of the ship were gathering, and they were quickly bing a massive form of a man.


    "You will all die here!" Lanterk shouted as his gigantic fist punched down on them.


    But at that moment, Lynd appeared and harnessed many Paths.


    "You! I''ll kill you first!" Lanterk screamed as the massive fist contained powerful Universe energy making it look like the arm was the infinite universe itself.


    Lynd frowned. And knew that this was the perfect time to let out his jealous rage.


    "Time for you to take over..." Lynd spoke to himself as the enraged alter ego took over.


    "What an idiot! You still didn''t understand the point of this mission!" Lyndughed. His realm began to spread out. And it called the broken metals that were scattered nearby.


    The numerous broken and abandoned parts of the ship began to tremble, and they violently moved closer and crashed on each other.


    But the power of Lynd''s Realm gathered around them. At that moment, it was the other Lynd controlling the body. The angry Lynd wanted to destroy everything as he saw how Alean was rushing to save Seeker immediately.


    The rage brought focus, and Zone allowed Lynd to miraculously wield the metals.


    Lanterk was horrified at what he saw. He saw Lynd use his powers!


    The destroyed metals formed into a palm that blocked the fist.


    BOOM!


    The palm easily lost, but it slowed the fist just enough for Alean to escape the arm falling on them and when the palm.


    The rage of Lynd was spent as he blocked the fist with his power.


    "I''m... losing control!" Lynd shouted.


    The entire ship of Alean was shooting all that it could as the palm that blocked the attack scattered and became wreckage once more.


    Everyone that could shoot attacks at the approaching fist shot out, and numerous bombs of destion, sound, and lightning were released.


    But the massive fist continued on, and just as it was about tond a hit, the ship vanished.


    Lanterk saw the ship make a teleportation jump, and he undid the power of his punch.


    The ship was slowly gathering back and was altering itself as it lost arge piece. The wrecked metals were also gathering.


    "How...? How could it copy my tech? Was this the answer? There was no Devourer in this ce? But the Lost Primordial or the Progenitor could copy? How did he copy it?!" Lanterk couldn''t understand and was lost in thoughts.


    BEEP!


    Suddenly, numerous notifications caught his attention.


    "Myrth. Pridgeon. Andronze. Enderks. Even that Garenjazz? You all want to attack me now?!"


    As the seas grew restless from the tantrum that Lanterk made, a certain ship hadpleted its teleportation jump.


    The teleportation allowed Alean''s ship to teleport from the deep sea into a Many Mansion nearly a hundred kilometers from where the battle took ce.


    Everyone in the submarine that Alean piloted was not moving. Those who were standing were now lying down.


    "We''re alive?" Meryl asked.


    "... I think I reached Surmounting Inhuman..." Zidane realized as his life review ended. He could still feel the force of the massive fist moving closer and reflected in his life. He even saw the life reviews of Hank and Counter.


    He turned to the side and saw Hank and Counter had the same expression he had.


    "Did... I just see your life sh before my eyes?" Hank asked.


    "I... think so... Has this ever happened before?"


    "Report it to Charles after this..." Cliff sighed as he opened the door.


    As he opened the main door, a men walked in.


    "Did you...?" Pheonix Everhiss entered the submarine and immediately asked. But as he saw the fainted and dazed expression of everyone, he stopped.


    "We seed," Lynd answered.


    "You did?! Thank goodness! I thought you failed. You lot don''t seem happy."


    "Happy?! We thought we were going to die back there! But anyway, we seeded. The AI Lennox managed to download a blueprint and see the numerous techs that made up the ship. I managed to copy the base form of mental control, andter on, copied the powers that I couldprehend from Lanterk''s true body, and Seeker managed to get a Throne and the bodies clone..." Lynd reported.


    "Great! That means we can build it?" Pheonix asked excitedly.


    "Yes. We can start making preparations. All the massive structures that all the Unlocked are making can be pieced together with this tech to create an Orbital." Seeker finally found the strength to stand up.


    "Good! I just received word that the Presiders are moving."


    "So the Continental Wars are starting, huh?" Cliff sighed as he heard it. He knew the chaos of tomorrow would be ten times worse than what it was today.

 Chapter 492 The Life

    The battle under the sea caused a greatmotion. The technologies of the Earth detected mass-energy surges that rippled throughout the world.


    And while no physical manifestations were seen, all the nations were on high alert, fearing the appearance of the superpowers that had appeared several times around the world.


    The familiar energy fluctuations were linked to the appearance of the Moon ship and the massive saucer that waged war against Egypt.


    Military forces were all deployed, and all massive fortress was on the move, ready to attack.


    But then, a day passed, and nothing happened.


    Many connected the surge of power and believed that it was caused by the sudden surface of the Underground world of Egypt.


    On the second day, the usations fell on Egypt, and all the world watched that nation.


    It was as if Egypt hid an entire nation deep underground. Walls, fortresses, military bases, and cities emerged, and any existing city at the top somehow incorporated itself into the underground world.


    In Giza, the Pyramids of Egypt rose to the high heavens. A massive tower over three kilometers tall appeared and stood proudly in Egypt.


    Wars also urred as Egypt rained terror on the newly formed Desert Kingdom.


    The news of Egypt''s revealed power became the talk of the world. Moreover, Egypt had dered the name of their leader, Sun God Andronze.


    The Caliphates tightened their forces and sent numerous powerful groups to guard the borders. All the numerous nations of the Caliphates sent massive armies to guard the south. One China was in a state of war, and the European Nations were in conflict as various nations were vying to be the ruler of the region.


    Russia was attacking everyone next to them. These became reasonable reasons for the Caliphates to focus their defenses on Egypt.


    But as the armies of the Caliphates headed south, where all forces were ced in the south, Israel suddenly dered its independence, and the City of Jerusalem waged war on all the Caliphate nations.


    Using their ancient religious im to thend which they said their God had promised them, Israel caused a civil war, and in the moment of weakness, it attacked its neighboring countries, which had few defenses.


    Numerous leaders of the Caliphates were captured, and some regions immediately surrendered to Israel.


    The technology of Israel was shocking as it deployed weapons that were stronger than the recorded Thrones of the WGP. The nations that Israel attacked had no chance to defend themselves.


    The sudden war caused great outrage in the Caliphate region, and its imminent copse was expected.


    But as all of this happened, Seeker remained unconscious.


    Days passed, and still, Seeker could not be revived.


    On the third day, Seeker finally woke up.


    He was in a room with technology that was far more advanced than any of the other rooms or fortresses that Seeker visited. The room was so advanced that Seeker couldn''t even recognize where he was.


    "Where am I...?"


    "Back in South America. You''re awake. What you did was stupid." A familiar doctor was there as he approached Seeker.


    "Charles! You''re here?!"


    "Of course. You have new toys and techs that I want to y with. But those reports can wait. What did you do? What happened?"


    "I was being a little too reckless. I tried to create a body that could contain the Paths of many. Lanterk said about having a Nefilus Combat Body. I think this is something that only Principals can create." Seeker sighed.


    "Of course. Lynd would imitate the Paths but has to switch from one to another. You, however, took the foundations of every Path and tried tobine them permanently. Remember, Lynd copies the Path, which is why he is the Way, but you know the Truth to each Path. But you tried to create a new body that harnessed all Truth. It was too much. Not even the power source you created to feed you with energy constantly would be insufficient!"


    "I thought I could handle it! I managed to tame the cells of the Tyrant Empress in me and used her Path to seduce andmand all the rest. I thought that with her power to get everyone to cooperate, I could sustain that power since I have Amir''s regeneration!"<sub> </sub>


    "Idiot! Think about what we know! Top-Tier Presiders need a massive power source to create Universe Energy! But if what you were trying to create was a Principals body, your current body can only create powers that would be Top-Tier at most!"


    "Yeah, I get it. I bit on something I couldn''t chew..." Seeker sighed.


    "But it wasn''t all that useless. The decay and destruction your body had were simr to the gue of the Firstborn that Ricardo has. Vender''s daughter recovered quite a bit because of my findings. I expect her to be an Inhuman when she takes thest doses of the drugs I managed to create from your body."


    "Well, good for you."


    "Seeker. There''s more to it than just a cure. I think I found it. The answer that can help us create this so-called Nefilus Combat Body."


    "You... do?!" Seeker was shocked.


    "Yes. Me, of course."


    "You?"


    "It''s quite poetic. In your past life, the ones who saved the Earth, or dyed doomsday, were you, me, and Lynd. And right now, Lynd is the Way. You are the Truth. And with this, I found my calling. The Life."


    "You intend to be the Life?"


    "I need to. Only Amir and I have hopes of bing it. But that werewolf would cause a werewolf apocalypse if we were not careful. So it has to be me if I want to save Ricardo."


    "Looks like you really have no choice but to be an Oveer."


    "Yes. And here is another reason that it has to be me. I need to conquer the gue of the First Born. If I acquire that, then I believe I could be of great use to the Unlocked Army. And I''m not talking just about bing immune to this sickness. You see, the Unlocked has had a problem with lifespan. I''ve already calcted that for you, considering the massive upscale of the power you are releasing, none of the Oveers will live after ten years. Even if they all start studying Nogard''s soul, it won''t be enough. There lies a need for us to change our body just as the Presiders did."


    "You''re talking about the Nefilus body..."


    "Exactly. The Lost Primordial has somehow found a way of achieving this power apart from the Nefilus body. But then I realized, why did the Lost Primordial die in the end?"


    "You''re saying that even after his intense battle with the Primordial, he should still have the power to live?"


    "Yes. Was he poisoned? Were his organs hurt? Would that even matter? What did he have after the battle that limited his lifespan? Here''s my theory, the Lost Primordial opted for a different body. The Nefilus body was from the beast that Gilgamesh saw. The Aragarians built and used this power of the beast to create their current technology. Perhaps, they took a single cell from the body of this beast? But I believe that the Lost Primordial opted for another power. A weaker power that can''t grant eternity."


    "A Nephilim''s body?" Seeker guessed.


    "It''s possible! If we go with the biblical ounts, Genesis six records how God cursed these Nephilims and deemed their bodies to only bear the power of these spiritual beings we call angels for a hundred and twenty years. Perhaps when Gilgamesh fled to the stars, they had Nephilims with them."


    "So the Lost Primordial died as was the curse of the Nephilim. But you are not after the Nephilim''s body. Our current form is the full science of the Lost Primordial. Do you want Seth? The body that Arthur confirmed to exist under Egypt, right?"


    "Yes. Why settle for 120 when the Bible clearly tells us that Seth lived for 912 years?" Charles smiled.


    "In short, you want to put priority on the raid in Egypt?"


    "Yes."


    "I don''t want to join that war." Seeker answered immediately.


    "Thatnd is where the battleground of the Tyrant Empress and Richie''s team will be. They will fight each other and will face the wrath of Andronze. More Presiders will be joining in that fight too. Andronze has no longer any choice. I''m sure Lanterk will retreat, and Andronze, who has been secretly trading with Lanterk, will lose her source. If she wants to sustain her fortresses, she has to wage war. Egypt has already risen now, right? This means it can now fall to follow the records of the Bible!"


    "What if you bring Zeraphine? We showed her your state and told her that you fought against Lanterk at the Progenitor''s orders. She was very pissed at the Progenitor, but she couldn''t do anything since she really thinks the Progenitor is your dad."


    "Zeraphine?" Seeker red at Charles.


    "Yes. Her. The one who betrayed you and yed you like a flute. It''s your chance to use her and y her like a flute in this life!"

 Chapter 493 War Of Presiders

    Deep underwater, Lanterk continued to cause his giant ship to remain floating.


    He knew what wasing. The entire space around him was so distorted, with numerous powers interfering with the three dimensions. His technology to teleport out of the space of that region was locked.


    Seeing the surging powers, Lanterk quickly continued his experiments over the data he managed to acquire from the enemy.


    His battles against the Unlocked armies have given him enough data to find a new dimension.


    Lanterk''s massive metal giant body watched as numerous powers gathered around the sea. His enemies were fast approaching.


    BOOM!


    The three dimensions folded, and a massive moon appeared and moved out of space around them.


    Lanterk recalled the reports of how Crostfree died. The entire moon that was discing itself on the three dimensions was struck with weapons of mass destruction at the very heart of it and forced Crostfree to retreat with Pridgeon. Lanterk now believed Pridgeon used that to kill Crostfree.


    An army of ships began to move out of this moon.


    "So that''s how the attacknded. It seems that Crostfree or Pridgeon''s tech is notpatible in detecting the strange realm where those teleporting allies of the Progenitors moved through..." Lanterk noted this weakness.


    Space began topress in the region on the other side. The power to bend space was happening, and a form began to leap out of the empty sea.


    All of a sudden, a massive city emerged. Arge tform held the city, and the entire ship was as big as Lanterk''s giant body.


    And just like with Pridgeon''s arrival, an army of Aragarian ships and suits appeared out of the city. It formed ranks and was ready tounch an all-out assault.


    "Myrth tried to bend space and interfere with the fight against Shakstress. But her ship was struck by something. It seems she is also unable to sense teleportation within that strange realm." So Lanterk secretly thought to himself.


    A strange heat erupted nearby, and an army of underwater ships that had forms of ster-capable jets warped on the other side.


    "Tsk... This weak and useless man dares to join a fight of Top-Tiers?!" Lanterk cursed.


    But Lanterk turned his attention to the strange energy erupting on the other side of the sea.


    A massive ship that looked tobine the appearance of two ships was slowly turning solid from its ghastly form. The first part of the ship was a disk-shaped structure, and this part looked like a certain spaceship that could travel a 20-parsec distance by traveling only 12 parsecs. The rest of the body was massive boosters and another partition at the bottom. Looking at the overallyout, the ship looked like a ship that would travel the final frontier, which is space.


    It was transparent and was slowly taking up form.


    "Breaching dreams to reality. But still, he too has no idea of the portal abilities that the Progenitor used against me... I have to y this cautiously..." Lanterk decided in his heart.


    "Pridgeon. Myrth. Enderks. And Garenjazz. Nice ship, Garenjazz." Lanterk called out.


    "Thanks. I call it the Millennium Enterprise." Garenjazz''s avatar appeared over the ship. He was wearing entric attire that mixed two sci-fi outfits into one.


    "You aren''t bringing out your Pioneers for this battle?"


    "The Millenium Enterprise fights as one. Just as it does in the movies and TV shows."


    "... entric as always, I see."


    "Lanterk. You seem well. But what happened here? Why the waste of Universe Energy?" Pridgeon smiled.


    "I''m not in the mood to talk. Since I''ve already lost, I don''t want to lose again. It''s time for me to get serious." Lanterk dered as the entire giant suit was wrapped in Universe Energy.


    "That damned Lost Primordial and Progenitor took a lot from me. And I shall take a lot from all of you!" Lanterk vowed.


    "Lost Primordial and the Progenitor?"


    "Since I am at a loss, I might give out this information. I fought against those two teams. They were in some form of an alliance. They sent several powerful men, just as what happened to Shakstress. Each of these men was like Presiders on their likes. This only means that we have been fooled. The Progenitor and the Lost Primordial are not singr Presiders! They are a group of Presiders! We assumed that all those techs we saw attack Shakstress were being used by one. But the truth was, all of them were half a step into bing Presiders. Without Thrones and only with their Phallium suits, they could reach powers that equal a Presiders."


    "Oh... So it''s an ingenious trick to deceive us? That means that those strange battles even way back, in Australia, One China, and even the battle thatter imed Crostfree''s life... They were fighting people who we would not consider to be Presiders but had the strength to kill one?"


    "Yes. ss cannons all aimed to bring down Presiders. And they are going stronger. So if you wish to fight, so be it. But we will die if this keeps up. We have to deal with them first!"<sub> </sub>


    "If you are saying that, you are no Conqueror. How could a Principal like you assume that strength is found in unity? We form alliances to break them. That is how Primes are!" Pridgeonughed.


    "And yet you brought Gordon with you?" One of the ships spoke. The voice was that of Enderks.


    "Why is a Mid-Tier here? Enderks, you and Straviaa are too green to participate in this battle. Even now, you even send a Pioneer to be your megaphone. So tell your men to retreat. Go back and y with the toys that you must have gotten with those trades you had with the Progenitor." Pridgeonughed.


    "Conquerors don''t have allies but tools. Everything is a tool, Pridgeon. You just got lucky and got Crostfree''s ship. In the race to be Conquerors, luck is a great factor. But you''ll run out of luck. That''s why Garenjazz never sees you as a rival despite your quick ascension from Low-Tier to Top-Tier!" Enderks mocked.


    "You!" Pridgeon roared.


    "Cut it out, the both of you. This is a feast to devour the wounded form of Lanterk. The more time we waste, the more he can recover. Let''s just attack him and get this over with." Myrth began to move. This time, Myrth had the appearance of a little girl. She moved out of the sea and was wearing a beautiful, snow-white dress.


    "Like my new Nefilus Suit?" Myrth asked.


    "Hmm... I decided to retreat." Garenjazz chuckled. And the power that he used to bring the ghostly form of his ship began to activate, and the ship was starting to disappear.


    "What?!" Pridgeon shouted.


    "What is the meaning of this, Garenjazz?" Myrth also demanded.


    Garenjazz''s avatar continued to float at sea in carefree form.


    "You guys are too greedy that you forget more Presiders areing here. They will have their alliances. And right now, fighting and wounding a Top-Tier with the powers spilling over to the Principal is very reckless. So I decided to help Lanterk. I feel that he needed time. And I gave it to him. Oh, and I think he needed me to weaken this space this much. Bye guys! Scottie, beam me up!" Garenjazz floated off and disappeared into the sea.


    The Presiders watched with a shocked expression. But suddenly, a strange power forcibly opened through the space. It was the power that utilized the space-bending power of Myrth and the power to move outside of the three dimensions like Pridgeon. But this power was very unrefined and even dangerous.


    Arge Pyramid emerged out of the sea and the bright golden sun shone out of the dark ocean.


    An army of strange robots with the form of Egyptian gods appeared.


    "Andronze?!" Pridgeon had a horrified expression. ording to his spies, Andronze and Lanterk had a secret alliance.


    Andronze was sitting on the Throne deep inside the Pyramid. Her expression was furious. She needed Lanterk and came here to help him. But she hated that she was acting ording to the ns of Garenjazz.


    "Just how strong is that man?! How did he know I needed just that amount of energy that distorted andpromised the space here to join in this battle?!" Andronze cursed.


    "Andornze? Are you here to fight me?"


    "No, you idiot. Our deal still stands. I walked ording to the ns of Garenjazz. You better have something to help me fend off these enemies of yours!"


    "Oh, I will have a lot. Just by teleporting here, you already helped me." Lanterkughed.


    "What do you mean?"


    "The Progenitors teleporting science is different than anything I''ve ever seen. I can''t replicate it. Although the space around this space has beenpromised because of that battle, I still needed a massive amount of space-altering energy to replicate a small part of it. But you guys just weakened the space of this area with your Universe Energy that breached through the third dimensions. So I can do it now." Lanterkughed.


    Powerful maic energy gathered and created a strange pull that worked in the Void Realm.


    The pull sucked in numerous ships from Pridgeon, Myrth, and Enderk''s forces.


    BOOM!


    All of a sudden, arge explosion urred in front of the giant form of Lanterk. Numerous ships crashed into each other, and the metal pieces were suddenly being sucked in.


    "What do you know? It''s working!" Lanterkughed.


    "Kill him!" Myrth roared as her Throne emerged out of the city and charged toward Lanterk.


    The other Presiders also moved, and the underwater battle between Presiders began.

 Chapter 494 Pridgeon’s Retreat

    WARP!


    A portal opened deep underground in a particrnd in the newly reformed Mesopotamia within the Caliphates.


    The waters rushed out of it, but various ports were opened so that the entire underground wouldn''t be flooded.


    This was the secret force that helped Israel rise and had armed the numerous Jews that had returned to theirnd and massacred the nearby countries.


    The n of Pridgeon had finally taken shape. Jerusalem had grown stronger, and that country was also made into the front of what many Presiders believed to be the base of Pridgeon. But in reality, a massive fortress was being made underground. It was even taller than the Babel Tower that Egypt caused to rise.


    The massive moon was now hidden underground and was folded within a strange power that made part of it remain in the realm beyond the third dimension. The forceful discement was now more refined.


    Numerous metallic parts began to crash down as an object had finally appeared in the third dimension.


    Various techs that altered the dimensions and itsws were forcibly keeping the moon in one piece. But the damages, cuts, and missing pieces of this ship had made it unstable. It looked as if the moon would break apart at any time!


    Gordon''s battered and beaten Throne also slipped out as he escaped several explosions behind him.


    "GYAH! PLEASE MAKE IT!" Gordon screamed as various rockets and missiles fired back in the dimensional opening that appeared.


    Several ships and exoskeletons rushed in, but many of these ships already had dead pilots, and they all came crashing into their area.


    Finally, Pirdgeon''s Throne appeared.


    It was damaged, and the dome that covered the Throne had been destroyed. His own Skinsuit was also damaged, and blood flowed down his body.


    Gordon''s Throne barely remained flying as it began to fall and crashed into the metal floor.


    "Close it!" Pridgeon shouted as the moon''s power began to harness its energy to close the opening into the fourth dimension.


    The massive energy of the moon forced the closing of the portal.


    The gateway that led to another dimension began to copse as several rockets and missiles were being thrown into the area through some maism.


    The underground base where the massive moon appeared began to shoot at the iing objects that zoomed out and chased the Thrones and the ships that flew in as the gateway was closing up.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The moment the gateway closed, it created a rippling shock wave that caused even the air to be crunched.


    And then there was silence.


    "DAMN IT!" Pridgeon roared angrily. The battle caused him so much more than he bargained for.


    That a massive Universe Energy surged underwater, Pridgeon knew that an intense battle had urred and sensed the movements of several Presiders.


    He brought Gordon, and the two quickly altered the dimensions to travel and appear deep underwater.


    But the appearance of Andronze and the appearance of a strange power that allowed Lanterk to disce and forcibly teleport their own forces and ships turned the three-on-two into a disastrous battle, and all three fought a devastating battle.


    Andronze provided an army that now harnessed a unique power that was able to keep Myrth busy!


    Four-Point Technology debuted in that battle. Andronze''s creation of a pyramid somehow allowed her to create miniature pyramids using the water. This gave her forces an extrayer of defensive and offensive abilities.


    The deployment of this tech was shocking as it also allowed Andronze to create teleportation that allowed the pyramids to make warp jumps and could evenbine attacks creating a devastatingser beam that reminded Lanterk of Meryl''s strongest attack.


    Pridgeon and Enderks were caught off-guard from the telekic pull that could also forcibly teleport their ships, and this led to a chaotic battle where ships would suddenly be sent to a strange realm.


    The death toll for both Presiders was terrifying.


    Soon, all of Enderks armies died in battle.


    When Pridgeon decided to flee as he received the focused attacks between the two groups.


    The act of retreating itself was difficult for Lanterk kept interfering by using a metallic resonance that could alter the ship of Pridgeon and used the Void Realm to invade the attempts of stepping into the fourth dimension.


    The battle carried over to the fourth dimension as Lanterk managed to send suicide squads inside to wreak havoc constantly.


    And so, Pridgeon kept fighting as it fled, but the unstable world of that dimension had caused the moon to crack as arge cut somehow struck it wide open without any exnation.


    And finally, the group was able to return back to the Caliphates.


    He returned empty-handed and had to use Universe Energy for his escape.<sub> </sub>


    Gordon was next to him and also had a pained expression. He had already started his transformation to bing a proper Mid-Tier thanks to all of Pridgeon''s help, but in the underwater battle against Lanterk, he only had all his tools taken away.


    "That damned Lanterk!" Pridgeon cursed.


    "His powers were clearly something beyond a Top-Tier. He had kept his incarnation at the very brink of turning into a Principal, but he had the numerous techs that could wield matter so freely!"


    "That was... Dimensional Upholding! And that Andronze! She-! She could also do it?! What alliance did those two have?!"


    "No. The power of Andronze wasn''t based on Lanterk''s tech. Lanterk had used his powers of maism to create a Universe Energy that linked metals to his Nefilus suit. It was half a step to Dimensional Upholding. But taking that science and applying it to the water is not possible! That was Andronze''s own techs."


    "What?! Then that means...! Andornze is a Principal?!" Gordon screamed in shock.


    "This is why you are weak, Gordon. You still don''t understand! Andronze was a Mid-Tier! But being here on earth and facing the many horrors forced her to grow. She must have had techs to study it, but the fight of life forced her to grow! And that Enderks! From what I can tell, he is on his way to bing a Top-Tier! That battle was a way for him to challenge his heights! The age of Conquerors ising! That is why people in our home say that the Prime Wars ising. People have been ascending and getting stronger. The battle shall soone!"


    Gordon was in a daze. Only now did he realize that his mindset was never enough to be a Conqueror.


    "And what was that power that sliced through the Fourth Dimension? That wrecked my ship! Well, at least I wasn''t the only one who lost a lot. Enderks and even that Garenjazz lost a ship!"


    "What? But Garenjazz fled!"


    "His main force did! But it was a trick. Many of his ships remained, but Lanterk''s techs managed to pull it out of whatever dream world it hid in!"


    "What about Myrth?"


    Pridgeon turned silent.


    "That... she''s shockingly strong..."


    "PRESIDER!" A cry was heard as a Pioneer riding a strange massive pod with numerous monitors rushed in.


    "Something happened in that battleground?" Pridgeon asked without showing any hints of surprise.


    "Ye-yes! A massive explosion that led to the ocean erupting upwards was caught by many satellites!"


    "Our battle would have already done that. Nukes were blown up in that sea!"


    "No! It wasn''t like a nuke! That sea had long been in chaos, and many nations were already looking over that ocean! But a sudden towering eruption appeared! The seas rose nearly a kilometer high in that area! Tsunami warnings were made across South America and Africa!" The Pioneer showed the videos.


    The massive eruption and how the water rose could be seen.


    Gordon was shocked.


    "Just on cue. Gordon, I was retreating because I could sense that Myrth was angry. Good thing I trusted my instincts. So she''s that strong, huh? While Shakstress and Gordon have unique techs, Myrth desired to blow things up and sought a primitive yet effective path for her science. But it''s scary. That shows she''s close to building a Combat Suit. If she does, then she could be a Principal that could immediately match Mid-Tiers." Pridgeon exined.


    "What? Then... How are we going to kill her?!" Gordon asked.


    "See how weak you are? If you don''t grow, you will die too! I''m not bothered. I already found my way to Conquer." Pridgeonughed as he turned around.


    "Initiate the ns! Call Shark Umberton! Tell him that the day for Joshua to reim thends is now!"


    "Yes, Presider!" The Pioneer agreed.


    "Israel shall rise. And many will think that it will be my base. You Presiders are all fools! The Progenitor and the Lost Primordial remain to be the biggest threat! If you set aside the people of the Earth and focus on killing each other, you will all perish! So now, Israel shall rise! It shall rise to power! It shall rise to corruption and arrogance. And let those Presiders strike it down! Jerusalem will be the battleground!" Pridgeonughed.


    As all the Presiders began to flee to their respective homes, the Unlocked armies were all waiting and were ready to pounce on the weakened groups.


    Somewhere in the outskirts of the Caliphate region, a young man had sat back down.


    He carried arge crystal sword and began to sheathe it back in.


    "Tsk... Too weak!" The manined.


    "That was fairly good, Omricon." Hermes chuckled.


    "In any case... We should be sensing Andronze returning now. That underwater explosion was something, wasn''t it? I hope it wasn''t Andronze who did that..." Austin sighed.


    "Yeah. Even I don''t want that. I''d have a hard time blowing the bomb of that back. But I''m more worried about the Tyrant Empress. It''ll be the first time she will actually fight!"


    "Egypt will be the battleground. We won''t stop until Egypt is destroyed! Alright, four winds! Time to get busy!" Hermes smiled as he sensed the power arriving.

 Chapter 495 Mission: Exodus

    The battle at the bottom of the sea had ended.


    The massive fortress of Lanterk was thoroughly destroyed.


    The entire vessel that Lanterk carried and used to create a massive giant was shattered into pieces.


    But even then, Myrth knew she couldn''t kill him.


    "Tsk... Your metals broke into a million pieces and are moving in retreat. And you even used that strange teleporting tech. Well yed."


    "Fighting several of you after dealing with the Progenitor and Lost Primordial would lead to my utter defeat." A metallic clone remained andughed.


    "You made me use a lot. Well, the two of you did. Still, I am sad that I have nothing to gain here." Myrth appeared.


    "Just wait until my incarnationes here." Lanterk remained to have an indifferent look at Myrth.


    "Your incarnation will have a hard time. I''m still aware of what goes on in Aragar. Even Prince Dormin''s flight was met with many dys, and even the war in that massiveary ship caused the flight to dy. Knowing that a few problematic Presiders are on that ship, it''s going to be an interesting flight. Who knows who wille out as Conquerors?"


    "So this is the Prime Wars? This is the chaos it brings?" Lanterk smiled.


    "Oh, it''s much worse. Even Pioneers can end up as Principals after this!" Myrthughed.


    "Hmp. It pays to be a Prime''s daughter, doesn''t it?"


    "Oh? You know my real identity?"


    "Of course. The son and the daughter of that Prime. There are two of you, aren''t there? A very unorthodox and unnatural path. He fused you two to be one. Even now, you two siblings have been fighting, devouring each other to be one, correct? A forceful method to bring out one strong Presider out of two. But that is not the Path of a Conqueror. Those who share Thrones won''t win." Lanterk recalled the fight he had just had with Seeker and his team, who walked this simr Path.


    "Ha! Fuse? That''s where you are wrong! We were born as two spirits in one body!" Myrthughed.


    "Two spirits in one? Stupidity! Such a path will never be a conqueror!"


    "You might be right. But it will still get us to the rank of Prime, though. Didn''t you see that monster that tore a hole in Shakstress''s ship? That Lost Primordial had a tech simr to mine. It still surpasses you, Lanterk. Your other horns can''t surpass me! I have forcibly ced myself at odds against you to push me to Conquer! If my power can birth a false Primordial, it should still be at least a Prime!"


    "Your mindset has gued you. I pity you for being a tool of your father''s insanity!"


    "Oh? Is it? My father is a Prime. And he knew that he could not ascend. Don''t you know? The will of the Primordial can never be escaped! Even now, you cling to that delusion that your path is right. Who is to say that? Who is to say that the lone journey is the only journey?!" Myrthughed.


    "You are delusional if you think that way. I suggest you surrender now. And here I thought you would be a threat!"


    "The Lost Primordial and the Progenitor should have proved it to you. You should have seen them fight! They fight not as lone kings but as people with thrones! Why are you obsessed with something that doesn''t make sense? What does it matter if we search for power alone or together? What does it matter if we breach and find the final dimension alone or together? You have been deceived! My father wanted to experiment on this strange thought. He could never escape the desire to be alone. So he created us, one that is two, hoping that it would help him understand. We rose swiftly to power, bing Presiders with shocking potential. He knew he was wrong, but even after confirming it, my father could never bring himself to ally or forge a truly united alliance with another! He concluded this, he, a Prime, was cursed! Can you see through fate and destiny as Primes can?!" Myrth challenged.


    Lanterk was silent. He could not help but feel a quiver of doubt.


    Back in the distant world, the Four Horns of the Goat quivered as they felt an intense pain in their souls. It was so painful that it was even more damaging than when he divided his soul!


    "Go, Lanterk. I know I can''t catch up with you. That Andronze has really ced herself in quite a predicament. Should any other Presider attack her, or should Garenjazz act, she is sure to be finished. But I believe that she was the target all along. You were used as a tool to weaken her. The Lost Primordial and the Progenitor must be nning to have her. I shall make preparations and attack her. But you can''t afford that, can you?" Myrthughed as her colossal city-ship began to gather a strange power and instantly disappeared.


    The metal clone of Lanterk also began to disassemble and move through the dark sea. The metals began to move through the Void Realm.


    Deep underground the Macedonian Fortress, the portals were opened, and numerous portals as small andrge rooms were being brought in.


    The Pioneers that survived the ordeal were horrified.


    Lanterk''s main body and even his throne were slowly assembling together.


    "Such arrogance, Myrth. But I''ll be the one to conquer here." Lanterk frowned.<sub> </sub>


    "Lord Alexander..." Several people began to gather around them. They were the numerous key leaders of the European Nations and of the northern Caliphate region.


    "Our King, Israel, is on the move. They have waged wars on numerous fronts and are conquering several Caliphate countries."


    "My Lord, Rome, is also preparing for war. The gods who have dwelt there are preparing to fight as well."


    "So they are all moving. The real battle will happen. Everyone will be moving with all of their forces. Who shall win in this? Nobody knows. But let''s add to the chaos. Your people worshiped a tale of a robot uprising. You called it Judgment Day. Then let it be now. Activate that protocol." Lanterk ordered.


    "Yes, my Lord!"


    All the leaders suddenly reached out and pressed a certain device.


    For the past months, several nations have begun to sell ore and metallic materials all over the world. They were trying to beat the risen Unlocked Industries and offered memory metals with unique malleable properties that allowed them to move and change at a simplemand.


    The metal had different uses, and most countries still invested in the metal that Unlocked Industries made. But this new metal was rather popr. The good thing about it was that it was very cheap and numerous people were buying it from the European nations.


    But what was secretly happening in the underground regions of the European Nation was the creation of many power nts that had techs that could provide a massive amount of energy.


    Numerous nations in Europe were part of this. This was a secret that Lanterk had created since his arrival. This was the protocol he prepared to harness that energy.


    Lanterk''s Nefilus Body stood at the center of this energy that flowed on numerous nations. The links were happening.


    "My Lord. The protocol should be ready for activation within five hours."


    "Five hours, huh? Let''s see what the Progenitor has nned for Egypt. Andronze should have returned there. But as nned, Andronze, I shall help you once." Lanterk closed his eyes and was releasing the energy of his Nefilus Suit. The very power that allowed him to perform Dimensional Upholding had begun.


    A strange maic pulse erupted from the European nations. And the radius of where this pulse reached was gradually increasing.


    Back in the borders of Egypt, the awaiting armies of the Unlocked felt it.


    With the powers of the Realm King and the Void assassin, the group could detect the distorted, desperate teleportation that happened in Egypt.


    Andronze had returned.


    The Desert Empires began to march out its numerous armies.


    Without any warning, a full-scale attack happened.


    On the different northern and eastern borders of Egypt, the Oveers who had been waiting began to make their move.


    Richie stood under the sea as he and his team were slowly moving.


    "Quera... I brought my full band to fight you. It''s time to face the music!" Richie''s voice echoed out of the sea and moved through thends. It was a sound that no one could hear, for only one person was intended to hear it.


    The voice crossed thend of Egypt and moved into the Desert Empires.


    Quera Sapphire, the Tyrant Empress, heard Richie''s bold statement and smiled.


    "I''ll deal with youter. First, I''ll kill this Presider that fancies herself to be Cleopatra. There is only queen of the desert, and it''s me!" The Tyrant Empressughed as she rode on WGP Rule.


    Next to her were her Oveers and Heroes that gathered to fight.


    "Let''s begin! Mission: Exodus, the first major mission of the Unlocked, has begun!"

 Chapter 496 Numbered. Weighed. Divided.

    Andornze arrived at the very core of the massive fortress that she had built.


    The entire pyramid had tremendous damage, and she herself had a throne that was broken in half.


    She stumbled down as even her skin suit was tattered, and it all fell.


    "That... Myrth!" She shouted angrily.


    The horrifying yet simple attack had stunned her. The power of that explosion was so strong it nearly destroyed her Throne.


    The damage was so massive that even her suit was nearly destroyed.


    She had to teleport abruptly to escape.


    "That hurt...! If those Progenitors attack now, I could be killed! That Lanterk better follow up on our deal!" She cursed.


    Deep within her heart, she was frustrated. She thought she had surpassed them! She thought she had everything she needed. But a haunting thought could not help but constantly attack her mind as she saw her defeat.


    "What is the mystery of that cactus, biscuits, and tea?!" She cursed out. The lie of Lowengren had be an obsession. Even the Wind Progenitorughed when she pressured more on this information, whichter led to their split. Hermes vowed to return here when she would be weak and swore that Egypt would fall.


    She was confident that her power would overpower even Myrth. But Myrth had a rather basic technology.


    Explosion.


    But that technology was so refined that at the veryst second, a massive explosion that she couldn''t understand urred and struck her. She didn''t even know where the attack wasunched from.


    "What the hell is cactus, biscuits, and tea!? Is Myrth really at the level of Raisin cakes?! What does that even mean?!" She howled.


    She then recalled what had happened. Garenjazz used her for an unknown purpose. Garenjazz appeared and gave her the way to move inside. But there, she met utter defeat.


    "Luck... Garenjazz''s power is luck..." Andronze recalled the strange information she received from her spies all over the world and all over theworks that the Pioneers of different Presiders had on Earth.


    "Could that be it? Was that simr to the power of Prayer? And those keyboard warriors? And was that why the Wind Presider made everyone share a strange post to make people pray?" Andronze recalled the bizarre details of her fight with Shakstress.


    "Sun God Presider!" A young man ran through the door and immediately called out to her.


    "Enemy attack! The Desert Empire hasunched a full-scale invasion! The battle down south has begun! Various techs that exceed even the WGP have been detected!" The young man alerted.


    "The Desert Empire? So a Presider is behind that! Or is it the Lost Primordial? What protocol''s have been deployed?" She began to think.


    "Sun God! That''s the thing! We''ve lost control of the entire swarm of locusts!" The Pioneer dered.


    "Lost control?! What do you mean?!"


    "We don''t know! All the soldiers and pioneers fighting could no longer bemunicated! And one of the major bases is now waging war with our men!"


    "What?!"


    "The swarm of locusts is attacking and eating our bases! The techs that we used that allow them to eat metal is working against us!"


    "You mean to tell me that our southern bases are being defeated because of our Locust gue?!" Andronze howled.


    "We- We!"


    "I just fought a battle! You pioneers ought to know what to do! Deploy our soldiers! Awaken them from their sleep and have them fight!"


    "Sun God Presider!" Another man came in through another room.


    "A massive tornado has blown at the east side of Egypt! It''s the same wind that was with us on the battle against Shakstress! He is back! And this time, he is attacking us!" Another alerted.


    "A joint attack?! So this is it...! The timing! Is this what Garenjazz nned? He made me move to fight Myrth to weaken me so that they would attack? But all these Presiders have underestimated me! Awaken all soldiers and-"


    "Sun God Presider! Thekes near the Nile River! The massiveke is turning red! The entire base was destroyed! We cannot contact the Pioneers guarding the vampire we captured!"


    "What?!"


    "We just have confirmation! The vampires have attacked the city nearest to it! There are no survivors!"


    "No survivors?! How?! Why was the battle not reported!"


    "There was no battle, Presider! We all saw everyone running into theke in panic! The blood continued to grow, and a strange creature that looked like a giant fly was found at the center!"


    "A fly? What happened to the Pioneers in charge of that base?!" Andronze recalled a group of very skilled and reliable Pioneers that she trusted. Her concern beyond the freedom of this strange creature was the life of these Pioneers.


    "We don''t know! Those Pharaohs have all lost their signals!"


    "Sun God Presider!" Yet another one rushed inside.


    "The fragment?! What now?!" Andronze roared.


    "Sun God! A WGP Many Mansions! It''s using British technology and has created massive thunderclouds covering the entire skies! As a result, arge portion of thend is now in darkness!"<sub> </sub>


    "The WGP?! It''s definitely connected to a Presider! These consecutive attacks are nned! I was tricked! I shouldn''t have fought and aided Lanterk!"


    BEEP!


    "Presider! We have reports from the survivors in Giza! Our weapons nt has malfunctioned! All the metals and resources that we have transformed into a massive frog creature! It looks like a frog, and smaller metal frogs have also appeared and been attacking people! They were strong that even our Exoskeletons couldn''t destroy it!" One of the Pioneers quickly reported.


    The numerous Pioneers began to report numerous more incidents that sprang out from the many battles. Each took turns to report the deteriorating states of the areas attacked.


    But Andronze saw a strange pattern.


    "What? Giant frog metallic creature... Blood on the waters near the Nile and a massive fly... The clouds of the WGP that is creating darkness? The loss of my Locust swarm... Could it be? The Ten gues?" Andronze had no choice but to study the literature of Abrahamic religion to understand the mystery of the body she found deep under Egypt.


    "What is going on?!" Andronze nced at the monitors of the numerous reports.


    "Sun God Presider!" A masked Pioneer appeared in the room. He was weakly making his way as he began to cough out. The more he walked, the more the others could tell that his skin was pale white. It was as if he had no blood in his body.


    "Pharaoh Nergen!" Andronze quickly moved towards him. She recognized the strange helmet the Nergen wore and never took off after a battle against the Desert Empire spies that infiltrated thend. His face was burned, but he refused surgery and wore a strange ck mask.


    But now,


    "Move back! I''m being controlled...! No! Don''t kill me!" The Pioneer howled as a strange red fly emerged from its back.


    The fly was massive. It was at least half the size of Nergen and had a strange form.


    Suddenly, the fly began to expand out like a balloon. And suddenly, it popped.


    POP!


    Blood sshed out of the entire room.


    But suddenly, Andronze saw it.


    A red hand was hovering in the air. It was covered with the very blood that came from the fly, and it wrote on the wall.


    It wrote in strange and ancient writing. The writing was so eerie that everyone in that massive hall was silent and watched the bloody hand continue to write.


    As it finished writing, the bloodied hand disappeared, and the blood around the hand fell to the floor.


    SPLASH!


    BOOM!


    The moment the blood sshed, an explosion urred and incinerated the ce where the masked Norgen was.


    The explosion itself wasn''t strong and didn''t haveplicated technology.


    "Sun God Presider...? What is..." One of the Pioneers turned to ask, but suddenly, she felt a strange sensation.


    SPLURT! SPLURT!


    Various wounds erupted on her skin as the Pioneer shrieked in pain.


    Many others suddenly felt the pain, and all were dying one at a time.


    The deaths were so strange. It erupted from all over the room. In some ces, two people next to each other would die, but in the others, only one of five would.


    Everyone began to panic.


    "Everyone! Calm down! All who are firstborn, get out of here and escape! Seal the entire room! The bomb blew away the blood droplets, and it has begun to spread!" Andornze frowned.


    She gazed near her, and only four remained of the numerous Pioneers that attended to her.


    "You are not firstborn, correct?"


    "Ye-Yes, Sun God."


    "Good. Then you''ll live. Follow me to the Ra''s Throne. We have a war to fight," Andronze turned around to move.


    "Su-Sun God... Shall I analyze the strange message-"


    "No need. I know what it read. Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin. It''s Aramaic for Numbered. Numbered. Weighed. Divided."


    "What? What does it mean?"


    Andronze was silent. She had heard of this phrase from the very Pioneer that just died.


    "I can''t believe I lost Norgen and his allies... Damn it!" Andronze marched angrily.


    "Alert everyone! All of Egypt will go to war!" Andronze announced.

 Chapter 497 Plagues Of Egypt

    In the sermons that Calvin Luther Eagle continued to broadcast to the world was a certain story on the exodus.


    This sermon became quite popr as many nations were flocking to ask for support from Egypt.


    Egypt had revealed technology that could match the powers of the Moon and the massive ship that attacked it.


    But the Americas did not.


    Eagle''s sermon became a propaganda tool that became a warning to all nations desiring an alliance.


    ''Never return to Egypt'' became the trending title wherein Eagle pleaded with the world not to develop an alliance with Egypt. Israel, who Pridgeon was manipting, led the Jews also to use this tool and even sought this as grounds to make sudden attacks on the nearby Caliphate nations.


    In that sermon, Eagle reminded the world of how Egypt, which was at the height of its power, was struck down by gues of all sorts.


    Ten gues of Egypt humbled the mighty nation and, like Egypt, who controlled the Suez Canal, grew increasingly strong, and many had to make deals with it to gather materials from all over the world.


    Egypt then revealed its real power, and the underground kingdoms had surfaced, and a massive tower that challenged the heavens rose up.


    But this was all ording to the ns of the Unlocked.


    They needed to convince the world to follow religion in order to bind them to an alliance with them.


    And so, the best way that Eagle suggested was to follow Biblical ounts.


    Egypt was now considered to be the strongest nation. But as it rose, the Ten gues began.


    These were the Ten gues that the Unlocked prepared to attack Egypt and to show the world how the Bible''s prophecies woulde true.


    Seeker and his team knew that Andronze needed Lanterk, and so, Seeker had always been aiming to attack Lanterk and steal his techs. However, it was only when Jake''s power revealed its full might that he decided it was possible and made the attack which created a domino of attacks leading to Andronze being weakened.


    In the past months since the battle against Shakstress, Lowengren and his team had been positioning the key characters in numerous locations to make the attack.


    Ranked Hero Chester Gallium was brought into one of the main weapon-manufacturing power nts of Egypt. It was responsible for creating liquid metal that was used to arm and equip all of Egypt. But Chester began his experiments. He was tasked to be the gue of the frogs, so he devised a way to alter the liquid metals to take the form of frogs for an entire month he stayed there.


    The small frogs were made of liquid metal and were very difficult to attack or destroy.


    The frogs could leap over thirty meters in an instant and could transform into their liquid form and seep into the metals.


    The exoskeletons and armors in the base sumbed to it.


    They rose through the base and killed the forces from the inside.


    Chester Gallium himself controlled the massive frog and was charging towards another military base.


    "I still need more metal. Good thing the hard ones are over there. Lowengren really knows how to make a n. I should be able to have armor that could resist a punch from that man..." Gallium moved.


    This was the gue of the Frogs.


    Akasha, who Andronze taught was captured, was actually under the care of Gardo. They had allowed Akasha to secretly grow her power and even train the many vampires that had turned wild. In addition, they would often go out and attack ships passing through the Suez Canal to kill all passengers and drink their blood.


    Lowengren would falsify the reports and im that they had attacked these ships to acquire more techs from these nations and would pin the me on other countries.


    Egypt retained its integrity, the conflicts among nations passing through the canal increased, and Akasha slowly grew in power.


    Akasha had used the blood drop of the Lost Primordial that was secretly kept in Egypt to improve her own, and with her powers, she was able to turn theke near the Nile to be red.


    This was the gue of the Water Turning to Blood.


    Akasha''s power had grown so much with the acquisition of the Lost Primordial blood. Her Realm now controlled these red waters.


    Her power was changing theke, and the Unlocked secret cultivated gnat and flies over the months on the gathered waters of thiske and had prepared to release them at the opportune time.


    The mutations of these two insect groups allowed them to grow at an incredible rate, and the millions and millions of their number were released.


    The flies and gnats had a strange hunger for blood, and it flew out all over the ce.


    "This war will take several days with the number of enemies we have to kill. Vampires..." Akasha called out as hundreds and hundreds of figures emerged from the red sea.


    "The flies and gnats shall go before you. They will inflict poison and will kill many. Follow after them and kill! Hunt for more blood for your queen!"


    "Yes! My queen!"


    "Tyrant Empress. You fancy yourself a queen. Then I''ll be the wife of Beelzebub! I''ll be the Queen of the Damned!" Akashaughed as the red sea gathered towards her.


    A massive fly was forming.<sub> </sub>


    This was the gue of the Flies and the gue of the Gnats.


    The Tyrant Empress, the Desert Empire, to attack.


    Vender, based on south borders, annoyed everyone to obedience and the Pioneers quickly used the Locust Swarm.


    But as the locust swarm that had various Mid-Tier sciences applied to them raced forth and covered the clouds.


    But as the Tyrant Empress saw the insect swarm, sheughed.


    "The locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank. Proverbs 30:27. This verse is true. They have no king. But a queen? That they now have!" Quera Sapphire revealed her beauty, and her very pheromones spread through thend as the Ranked Hero Eden sent forth her nts that released the strange scent at the borders between the two nations.


    The Locust became theirs to control, and the Tyrant Empress sent it back to attack Egypt.


    This was the gue of the Locust.


    On the west side of Egypt, the Many Mansions of the Phoenix n appeared. Lennox and Arthur predicted that Straviaa or Enderks would also take advantage of the attack of Egypt, and so, both had positioned themselves here to draw the Presiders away.


    But the full power of Lightning Rod Technology and whether controlling ability of New Great Britain was enhanced by Lennox. Arge thunderstorm darkened the skies, and it moved over thend and was slowly putting Egypt into a darkened state.


    "You are willing to trust him to save your sister?" Lennox stood and observed the cities that were now marshaling their armies to attack the Many Manion.


    "It''s simple logic. My abilities are better here to distract Andronze. She has kept the secret hidden and won''t even bring that chamber with her, or else the Presiders discover it. I don''t know what protocols are in ce to guard the body of Seth and my sister. But lies can break through it." Arthur answered.


    p "I see. Then let''s wait here. That Presider ought to be moving soon." Lennox increased the power, and the clouds began to grow. It was as if the night had fallen.</anda>


    This was the gue of Darkness.


    With all the chaos that was happening, Lowengren needed to deliver the message. Unfortunately, he had already assumed the identity of being one of Andronze''s most trusted Pioneer. And to hide his identity, he always wore a strange mask.


    He used the identity of Pharaoh Nergen and infiltrated the heart of Egypt''s Babel.


    He brought in the coordinates for the Realm King to make his move.


    He brought with him the blood of Akasha that could now take form and move in simplemands. It drained the blood of a random Pioneer that Lowengren hypnotized and ordered to move.


    But this mad of whom the fly creature of Akasha drained all of its blood contained a potent disease that Charles managed to weaponize. It was the same disease afflicting Ricardo and the very same he was trying to find a cure for.


    When the man died, and his blood sttered, the strange disease that Charles had been researching was unleashed.


    This was the gue of the Firstborn.


    When the blood exploded out, the Realm King used his powers to create the hand and draw the strange writings on the wall.


    Lowengren recorded all of it and uploaded the entire scene for the world to see.


    "All the gues are in ce. We now have to fight." Lowengren sent his message to a secret line he had created while in Egypt.


    "Council of the Wicked, you know your missions. Kill the livestock and gather at once. Eight million Pioneers will now arise in the world. This is our opening! We can finally go into the deep rooms which Andronze had sealed and hid!" Lowengren sent the message and immediately escaped.


    All over Egypt, more cities suddenly began to rise, and soldiers and Exoskeletons of the shocking number rose out and were deployed.


    Hermes and his Four Winds flew over and hid in a tornado as they watched the enemy forces appear.


    A massive ship was being deployed from the depths of Egypt. It was smaller than the massive moon of Pridgeon. But Hermes knew that this was among the peak-grade military weapons that Presiders could have.


    "So that''s an Orbital..." Hermes smiled.


    "I can''t cut it unless I use that technique." Omricon sighed.


    "You know, it would be a waste to cut it. We need strong ships like that if we are to fight the Tyrant Empress."


    "You want to steal it, boss? That''s a great idea!" Alvin cheered.


    "Then I guess we''ll have to make an opening. And then it''ll be Irvana''s turn." Austin deduced.


    "I''m ready." Suddenly, a sixth person emerged around the five of them. It was the very woman who fought against Meryl and lost.


    "Ranked Hero Irvana. The Thief in the Night. Reporting to serve General Hermes."


    "Eh? Don''t be so formal when you are around family. Anyway, my dear daughter... Give me that ship!" Hermes chuckled.

 Chapter 498 Orbital Vs. Hermes

    The massive ship that appeared was a ship of such a size that it could carry nearly thirty thousand residents. But it could easily carry more, and the size of the ship made it known as an Orbital.


    It was a ship of such size that when fullyunched, it wasn''t just a mere small satellite like the space stations, but would be so big that it would be visible from the ground.


    The nations all detected the rise of the massive ship. It wasrger than the moving fortresses, and only the WGP could create such a massive ship.


    But as thisrge ship rose from the depths, the men that challenged it had no fear. Each of the Winds of Hermes, including Irvana, did not cower at the size and the guns of this ship. Except for Austin.


    "B-Boss... I have a strategy to-"


    "We face it, head-on, Austin. Haven''t you seen the videos? Seeker and his team managed to attack Lanterk. That was quite a battle." Hermesughed.


    "My blood is boiling." Alvin gave an excited cry.


    "My sword hungers." Omricon smiled.


    Omega was silent, but even he couldn''t hide the smile of excitement.


    Above them, the skies began to change. The concentration of the Wind was gathering at such a rapid pace that even the clouds in the sky began to change.


    "Remember. We don''t know what Presiders will appear or if more wille. Our mission is just to make arge gap. And something tells me that the seeds we''ve nted have started to sprout." Hermes spoke.


    "What do you mean, boss?" Alvin asked.


    "The powers of Eagle are finally working. The lies that Lowengren had ced in and his stupid ways of using prayer in thatst battle had already opened the people of Egypt to it. I can feel the wind blow in our favor. The book of Exodus was about a story of liberation."


    "But who will we liberate here?"


    "Eight Million nteds. Some of them are born with elerated growth. They were born into this world and know nothing but to serve their goddess, Andronze. But now, wee in, introduce prayer, and share those amen quotes, and then Lowengren has secretly allowed people to ess these sermons. Harker used his Path to convince many to listen to its truth. And even that annoying guy could pester a man into receiving Jesus. Irvana. Be sensitive to the Wind."


    "I understand, father," Irvana answered.


    The cannons aimed and began tounch.


    Attacks that had the speed of light shot out instantly.


    But all the aimed attacks missed as Hermes and his four winds stood without flinching. Except for Austin. He was visibly trembling, and many of those who were controlling the guns were aiming at him.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacks curved and bent as if a strange repelling power forced the directions of theseser attacks to suddenly turn!


    The Pioneers inside were stunned as they saw it.


    "Do not be surprised! We are fighting those with the Phallium Suit! Find out their Phallic techs and the source of their power! And is our prayer team ready?"


    "Ye-Yes, Commander!" One of the Pioneers answered.


    Andronze had prepared to battle Hermes. And since she had known what their powers were, she had made various counter-strategies. The mysterious power of prayer and sharing amen posts online had be a source of investigation. Little did she know that Lowengren hadughingly joked about this, but Arthur made the rest of the Unlocked team follow this weird strategy.


    In every battle and sh since the time of Shackstress''s defeat, any shes of the Unlocked would have two ''prayer teams'' fighting against each other in a poprity contest to gain more likes and people typing ''amen.''


    Andronze made a careful study and found the shocking data and the corrtion between who won in each of these battles and how the winning side had more shares and amen.


    And so, she set up a prayer team and a social media manager who would initiate this defensive protocol for the wars toe.


    The posts began, and people were frantically sharing them.


    Most of Egypt started to do this as well.


    Hermes watched on the outside andughed.


    "Fools. They think theirsers can breeze through and attack us. Our winds are the very breath of life! The Wind and our realms can redirect anything! Matter and Non-Matter!" Hermesughed.


    BEEP!


    "Hey, Hermes! It looks like Egypt has begun its posting and sharing. Could you, like, get hit for once?" Lowengren asked.


    "... You can''t be serious?"


    "Dead serious. Arthur told me to contact you. He estimates that the resources that Andronze is using for this could easily cost an army of other nations."


    "You''re lying!" Hermes denied it.


    "Whatever. Don''t believe a liar like me. But if we can seed in this deception, imagine how all our enemies will actually fund this part of their defenses? They''ll be wasting time, resources, and personnel! But go ahead. Don''t believe me." Lowengren ended the call.


    "..."


    "..."


    "..."


    "..."


    The Four Winds were silent.


    "Austin?" Hermes asked.


    "I... don''t know. Y-you take the gamble, boss. My Zone''s not good enough to tell if he''s lying."<sub> </sub>


    "Damn it! Everyone, allow a few attacks to hit. Guess we''re revealing another of our powers..." Hermes cursed.


    Several canons began to charge out a st. Earlier it immediately shot an attack, but this time, each turret was charging for the next attack.


    BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!


    "Defend!" Hermes shouted and reluctantly used his powers to defend.


    Austin raised his hands and used the power of the Blowing Wind. But his mastery has improved. He took in the power of Omega and could also gather.


    Variouspression of Wind appeared and became shields that blocked the iing attack creating huge explosions in the sky. Several massive round balls of pure Wind managed to resist the attacks!


    Alvin gathered the Wind andbined the power of his and Omricons.


    A massive bird made of wind des was formed, and it began to freeze. The bird looked like it was made of vibrating ice swords, and it then flew right to the front and blocked more of the iing attacks.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacks were blocked as each lightspeed attack was redirected towards the position where Alvin and Austin created their shields.


    Omricon raised his hand as the main cannon''sser beam moved close to him.


    He gathered the power of the freezing Wind and the power of Omega and contained the powerfulser right inside the Wind.


    A red sword with the Wind on the outside and theser attack on the inside was formed.


    As for the rest of the attacks, they were all redirected towards Omega.


    A massive head made of Wind covered Hermes and everyone else. It had the same face as Omega, and it opened its mouth to absorb all the rest of theser attacks.


    The Pioneers watched in disappointment as their attacks missed.


    But suddenly...


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Several explosions urred inside the strange head, and it looked like the face was in pain.


    "Did we... hit them?" One of the Pioneers asked.


    The face that formed had an angered expression and began to charge forward.


    The Pioneers inside were rejoicing! Their attacks that once all curved out were now closer, and many had to be blocked, and some even hit!


    "It''s working! Have everyone post, share, and type amen!" The Commander shouted.


    "Commander! A massive tornado is forming right under the head of that man! Ourser attacks are spinning in it! He''s sending it back to us!" A Pioneer reported.


    The massive head had be a tornado, and the appearance of the five could be seen at the back.


    Hermes was holding his hand that was now bleeding!


    "There... I did as you asked, Lowengren!" Hermes cursed just as Lowengren picked up the phone.


    "Thank you! Lots of love to you!" Lowengren chuckled and ended the call.


    Omega controlled therge tornado to charge towards the Orbital. It contained numerousser beams and began to throw the beams back.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Lightspeed attacks struck the Orbital.


    "Activate our defensive protocols! Unless that swordsman uses his sword to cut, we are still safe! Focus on defense and send out our army! Have the nearby fortress aid us! We have to bring Sun God the heads of these people!" The Commander ordered.


    The Commander quickly sent in his reports to Andronze.


    Andronze was reading the numerous reports from all sides of Egypt, who were now fighting.


    "...So it works? We don''t understand how, but countering their acts with these posts and prayers will weaken them! If Lanterk doesn''t tell me how it works, I''ll have to figure it out myself! This war should help me gather enough data! Now that I can see Zone, I should be able to figure this out!" Andronze vowed as she gave orders to increase the postings and prayers in Egypt.


    "Presider! Our posts have taken traction internationally! People are now sharing it! And some are typing Tier Two Prayer replies!" A Pioneer reported.


    "Good! Are people saying ''our thoughts and prayers go to the Egyptians? Then going by the statistics, we should be able to win the war on half of these battlefields!" Andronze sneered.


    "Progenitor! Lost Primordial! See how my wisdom has conquered you two!" Andronzeughed.


    Lowengren had managed to slip in a bug in the room and heard Andronze''s words.


    "I almost feel sorry for her." Lowengren sighed and finally arrived at the main entrance to the underground region.


    Harker, Gardo, and Vender had just arrived.


    "Alright, guys. Let''s do this!"


    The mission to save Arthur''s sister had begun.

 Chapter 499 The Secret Ship Of Andronze

    The simple mission of saving Arthur''s sister, Guinevere, was not so simple.


    Even in the initial missions of how the Council of the Wicked infiltrated the fortresses and mingled with Pioneers and nteds, the information of Guinevere was not revealed!


    Traces of her being brought to Egypt was nowhere to be found. If not for the fact that Lennox and Arthur had already deduced that this was where Guinevere was hidden, the team would have believed her to be elsewhere.


    But Lennox and Arthur were firm. Seeker''s memories also proved this fact to be true.


    For some reason, Guinevere was so important that Andronze valued her very existence to be equal with the body of Seth!


    It was as if her presence was kept a secret from everyone.


    At that point, the Council of the Wicked changed its ns. They knew that they would get nothing if they kept poking around. And so, they began to gain the trust of Andronze herself.


    The threats of Hermes and the potential attacks of the Progenitor were the biggest issues at hand.


    But under the subtle takeover of the Council of the Wicked, many attacks from the Desert Empires were halted.


    Lowengren tookmand of the entire army in the battle, and strange tactics were used and forced the armies to retreat.


    Many armies issued a surrender and waited for the Desert Army forces to capture them. But then, the Egyptians would attack and kill many of these Desert Army forces.


    This happened three times. Lowengren used deception after deception by faking sudden attacks from the Progenitor, sudden infighting between two Pirs of Egypt, and what the Desert Army thought to be a Locust Swarm malfunction.


    The entric ways of Lowengren resolved most of these issues.


    Next was the vampire gue in the lower regions of Egypt.


    Harker, Vender, and Gardo were in charge and managed to lead the vampires and defeat them in what most Egyptians now call the Battle of the Coolest.


    Two individuals fought and led a regiment of soldiers to fight with jaw-dropping coolness and somehow captured the vampires and even the main source of the vampire, which was identified as a ''failed prototype of the Progenitor."


    Of course, the reality was that Akasha had allowed the two to defeat them and sent most of the uncontroble excess of newly turned vampires to their deaths and pretended to be captured.


    When those three were in ce, Arthur finally unveiled the many nted evidence they made when they started the invasion.


    Suddenly, all the appearances and the disappearances of the Presiders that pretended to be from the future came to light, and it was proven that it was Presider Shakstress''s men.


    Many Pioneers were found to have sessfully infiltrated Egypt, and soon, Arthur presented the one truth, along with Lowengren, Harker, Gardo, and Vender.


    Shackstress was believed to have pursued a power she detected deep inside Egypt.


    The news caused Andronze to be even more cautious and created numerous protocols.


    Arthur and Lowengren hoped that such a n would cause Andronze to panic and reveal the secret fortresses in Egypt. And while Andronze trusted these men enough to show them the numerous hidden forces that even most Pioneers and nteds didn''t know, it wasn''t enough for them to gain ess to a secret ship.


    But Andronze revealed a secret ship deep inside Egypt. She made secrets to cover up secrets so that the Presiders that dared try to sneak in would be unable to find them.


    It took more time for the team to find its location.


    But now, there was a problem. The people guarding the ship were believed to have been cultivated, born, and bred solely to upy and protect the ship.


    Even Arthur and his team could not predict just what type of people would be tasked to guard it. But from their findings, they could tell that it was definitely humans and not some AI as the need to create and leave food in certain ces underground Egypt was done.


    Soon, more details emerged about this secret ship.


    The ship would be able tomunicate with Andronze directly, and Andronze could do the same. And this meant that any attempts or even lies and truths that Lownengren or Harker could use would still alert Andronze.


    And so, the plot of the gues was met. The n was to somehow threaten and scare Andronze into thinking that various teams were trying to find her secret ship.


    Arthur followed the role he predicted even when he had infiltrated Egypt for the first time. And that was that he would remain to use his power to predict the future and make estimates that would force Andronze to cut ties and all forms ofmunication with this secret ship.


    Lowengren charged forward and arrived at a strange massive altar in the deepest parts of a certain fortress.


    "Open up! We have an emergency!" Lowengren shouted.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Using his Exoskeleton, Lowengren made powerful knocks on the strange altar.


    "Presider Andronze told me this is the ce! I have to deliver hermands!" Lowengren shouted.


    There was silence.


    "Open up! I am one of Presider Andronze''s preserved team! The Presider ordered you to cut off allmunications with her! You cant send or receive! We were the contingency if ever she would face the battles outside!" Lowengren shouted.


    After making a tantrum, Lowengren waited.


    After a few seconds, he would knock again and repeat what he had just said.<sub> </sub>


    The strange altar was actually the top portion and the entrance into a long winding elevator that moved to the main portion of the ship.


    Those at the ship had seen Lowengren''s actions and were startled.


    Everything he had just imed was true.


    Andronze just gave them the orders when the gue began to ur. The attacks happened on all fronts and even within Egypt. This proved that there may have been more spies than she had initially thought. And so, she gave orders to hide any signal at all and invoked a total silence protocol so that no Presider can ever trace it back to them.


    Suddenly, another Exoskeleton arrived.


    "What?! You still haven''t gotten in?!" Gardo arrived.


    "I can''t! They won''t let me! I tried telling them everything, but these idiots won''t believe me!"


    "WHAT?!" Gardo cursed and rushed towards the altar and punched it.


    "Are! You! Idiots!" Gardo began.


    "People are dying left and right! The Presiders are clearly leading this, and it''s clear they are headed for this ce! This ce has beenpromised! Let me in! Let me in!" Gardo demanded.


    Deep underground was a massive monster. It looked like a huge snake on the outside and didn''t look robotic. But the inside of this creature was a ship. And it had docked itself on this particr elevator and waited.


    "Idiots?! How did we know of this ce? How do we know of Presider''s protocols?!" Gardo shouted.


    "Exactly! These are our orders! She never thought you''d be too dumb to realize this!" Lowengren shouted again.


    "What?! You guys are still not inside?!" Harker arrived as fireworks and bombs exploded behind him.


    "Damn you two! I wanted to make a cool entrance! But you haven''t gotten in yet!" Harker cursed.


    "It isn''t our fault! These idiots won''t let us get in!"


    "Open up! Open up!" Gardo began, and Harker followed.


    "Nice! You guys waited for me!" Vender cheered as he arrived.


    "I forgot the password! So now we can all go together!"


    "Idiot, there was no password! The idiots under the ship won''t let us in!"


    "What? Why not?! Hey! You idiots inside! Listen up, you idiots! This is n B! Presider had long prepared for this, but you idiots aren''t following with the n!"


    "ALRIGHT!" Suddenly, an enraged voice called to them.


    "Alright! We believe you! What do you have to report?"


    "Report?! Are you idiots?! Get us inside now!" Vender shouted angrily, and the doors finally opened.


    The outeryer of the strange massive altar opened up, and it revealed an elevator.


    The group moved in, and the doors began to close.


    Back underground, the various people piloting the massive snake were all having pained expressions at what they did. All of them looked like Andronze. They were born and raised inside the ship and never even left it. They all called Andronze mother as they were made from her cells.


    "Are you sure of this?" One of the younger members asked.


    "I don''t know! But they do have a point! Who else knows of this ce? And the battles outside are bing more intense! This ship has to dive deeper!"


    "Whatever the case, it''s done. They are headed here. We just need to secure Seth and the Mana, and we should be safe. Let''s prepare to meet them. They don''t have any technologies that can kill us anyway." One of the Commanders ordered.


    Everyone nodded in agreement and moved to meet them.


    Lowengren and the team waited in the elevator.


    "Truth and Lies, Foolishness and Vexation. I wonder if this will be enough?" Lowengren sighed.


    "Indeed. We can''t do anything yet until we secure them." Harker chuckled.


    "So how are you guys going to lie and tell truths out of this? And how can our paths help? We don''t know what lies behind these doors." Gardo pondered.


    "We just wing it!" Vender gave a thumbs up.


    "That''s right. We wing it. That''s what we were formed to do and who we should be. This makes us the most unlikely of spies and the deadliest enemies."


    The door began to open, and Lowengren saw all waiting and noticed that they all looked like Andronze.


    "Everyone! I, your father, am here!" Loewngren dered.

 Chapter 500 Papa?

    Everyone was startled at the insane man who dered that he was the father of everyone.


    "What?! Who are you, and how is it that we have not known of your existence?" A middle-aged man that looked like Andronze challenged.


    "Who are we? Andronze used her cells to create you! I''m sure you have noticed this! Look around you! All of you look the same! Can''t you tell that you are brothers and sisters?"


    ? "Of course, we know that!"


    "Really? Then who do you think your father is?" Lowengren smiled.


    "My... father? It can''t be you! Presider Andronze would never have sex with a mere Pioneer!"


    "Pioneer? Of course, she wouldn''t! But her cells were extracted, and it was our sperm that was used to give birth to all of you! And to prove it, our very faces will even spur you to have emotions over us!" Lowengren dered as he slowly opened and quickly shut a small vial that contained one of the most terrifying powers that the Unlocked had.


    It was the Tyrant Empress''s pheromones. The pheromones of the Tyrant Empress were studied, and after many trials to iste the terror of her lust, the Unlocked was able to create a strange love empowering bio-weapon. Realm could only trigger it, and only very few could use the Pheromones to follow a certain Realm.


    Only Lowengren had seeded in controlling it and managed to alter the flow of the cells. Lowengren''s power constantly improved the borders, and the facts he needed to fool another was slowly decreasing. Lies that required numerous proofs to be believable would suddenly be easily believed as his power in lying increased. And is power in deception has also created a Realm of its own.


    The pheromones and Lowengren''s control were timed perfectly when all four of them removed their Exoskeleton helmets and revealed their faces.


    The moment Lowengren and the rest saw the faces of the four, they felt a strange form of care, and some couldn''t even help but tear up.


    "We, your fathers, would use our faces to prove that we are who we say you are. Do you feel the familial love?" Lowengren challenged.


    Harker''s exoskeleton released thick fog as usual as his burly, hairy, and half-naked self emerged.


    "We have a lot to do! The battles that you see now should be quickly taken into ount. I want everyone ready to analyze the entire battle quickly." Harker ordered. What he said was a clever trick that was true and necessary even for Lowengren''s team.


    "Fa-father?" One of the youngest members asked.


    "Hmm... You resemble me. I see. You are my daughter." Vender smiled.


    The rest of the Council were frightened at his sudden deration.


    "I''m sorry. I''ve lived so busy with things that I couldn''t always be by your side. But I... I just did what I did to make sure that you were safe. I had to go out and be gone forever so that you could have more minutes in your life. It''s not an excuse, and I''m not defending myself. I just did what I thought I could do because I love you." Vender smiled.


    His words somehow created a strange effect, and even Lowengren felt it.


    "His hijacking my control?!" Lowengren was amazed.


    Harker and Gardo also felt a strange power.


    Harker smiled as he realized what Vender did. Vender''s daughter had suffered from the gue that Charles was researching. And while his daughter''s treatments were now improving, Vender could still not spend time with her.


    It was a moment of honesty. Vender''s power of Vexation had finally shown its true powers.


    "He''s so annoying that I forget that his Path isn''t just being annoying. It''s so much more. He''s Off Rhythm. He''s the Anti-Zone. I''ve seen it before, but I keep forgetting it as he would even infuriate me to the limits!" Lowengren cursed. He had recalled the heart-wrenching, time-freezing moments that Vender caused.


    He caused trouble upon trouble to Harker and Gardo. But what was strange was that all of those moments somehow worked to their benefit!


    "He was always out of his own zone because he was numbing the pain of everything that he had to do to save her daughter, who he could not spend time with. Was he lost in his world, or did he fall into a state where being his off-rhythm self would be his emotional escape to keep up his sanity?" Lowengren finally understood Vender.


    The power was so strong that it caused numerous folks to weep as they heard this. Vender didn''t need the power of Lowengren to lie or the power of Harker to gain the trust in telling truths. He didn''t need to.


    Gardo was also tearing up.


    "Damn it! That ''which One Piece character test are you'' was right. I AM Franky!" Gardo wept. His actions were outside of the ns that they had set. He was moving outside of the ''Zone,'' yet his actions only helped them.


    As Gardo did, the hearts of many were swayed. They saw a father, sympathizing with another and crying out his heart. They felt thepassion, and many more believed him to be his father.


    "Is... that my father?" One secretly thought and trembled. Gardo had the same way he would cry.


    Lowengren could feel his Zone stopping. He could no longer control and sense what next right step he should take.<sub> </sub>


    "Welp... We''ve outsmarted Andronze because of this crazy man''s many zone-stopping powers. Maybe Alean and Arthur know that this ce where Andronze left her greatest treasures will need this power." Lowengren decided to follow Vender.


    "When you all were born, we watched you grow! We watched each stage of your life. You could call it selfishness, but you are still our sons and daughters through a Presider. While she doesn''t value us, we have learned to value you, our children. This selfish and almost prideful desire led us to constantly check you all. I even know your story, Phil."


    "M-me?" A man called Phil was amazed.


    "Presider has monitors for your hearts and your feelings. I watched you when you fell into that long depression."


    "You-... You saw it all?"


    "Yes. And no matter what, I''m still proud of you. You remain here, in the home and prison built to guard her secrets. But no matter what, you never chose to betray."


    "Dad... it was... It was so difficult! She was... She was..." Phil cried and began to tell the tale of the death of an ally. A death that could have been resolved if they had gone outside. Andronze didn''t care much for the people inside here. She had a way of even forcibly controlling them. But they were all so loyal that she never needed to.


    And these ''children'' of hers weren''t perfect. elerated growth caused numerous health issues and would cause many to die.


    Lowengren began to use the cheap tactics of con artists in using cold and warm reading. He gave broad statements and listed the names of the people he could see and sense written somewhere in the room or when those nearby would make whispers. Lowengren''s vision and hearing were so refined as an Unlocked that this was easy for him.


    Many began to weep and believe as Lowengren spoke as if he knew all of them. But Lowengren never tried to recreate a solid Zone. He could feel that Vender might destroy it and decided to save himself any heartache for what Vender would do.


    Harker also felt it. The mood in the room had shifted to the point that they never thought it would. They were prepared to use lies and truths to make everyone trust them, and while Lowengren made the first lie, the way things were changing meant that the future steps they had to take would be different.


    "I... also feel bad." Harker began.


    "You... my daughter... Leyan..." Harker turned to a woman named Leyan. He had heard her name being whispered by a man next to her. This was one of the endearments that Harker once called Alean a long time ago.


    "I... had to also do what I had to do. I wanted to keep you safe. In this world where I saw many scary and dangerous things, I just didn''t want you to suffer. I would have... even killed you to spare you of the horrors I''ve seen. But now we have hope. This war, this entire battle, between Presiders and the Lost Primordial... It''s hope! It''s hope for a future together! I''ve never seen you so... full of purpose now." Harker smiled as he told the truth.


    "...Papa?!" The woman cried and rushed to Harker.


    Many others could no longer contain it. The one who Vender addressed as his daughter rushed and hugged Vender.


    "Do not be afraid! Follow your heart! It will lead you to your father!" Lowengren dered.


    Others soon followed, and many hugged those who they believed were their father.


    "Are you... my father?" A woman asked Gardo.


    "Yes!" Gardo hugged the beautiful girl.


    "Papa?" A tall, muscr man approached and called out to Gardo.


    "No. Not really. I''m not sure who''s kid you are. Try that guy." Gardo pointed to Lowengren as he kept crying and allowed other beautiful women to hug him.


    The man approached Lowengren and was about to hug him.


    "You are clearly that guy''s kid." Lowengren pointed to Harker.


    "You are not my kid," Harker spoke truthfully before the big man could hug him.


    "Are you...?" The man moved to Vender.


    "No. I think you''re adopted. You just look like Presider Andronze but are not part of this family." Vender gave a disgusted expression as the huge man was about to hug him.


    "Alright! Enough! Everyone! We love you! But we still have a war to fight!" Lowengren dered before the huge man could react.


    "Send me to Seth!" Lowengren shouted.


    "Yes, Papa!" Many cried out together.

 Chapter 501 Depths Of The Serpent Ship

    Lowengren and the rest of the fathers were being sent down deeper into the different floors of therge serpent.


    All fathers used their respective Paths to understand the massive beast.


    "It was painful for us. We didn''t know where you were as Presider only gave us ways to see you and learn your current emotional state. It was even more painful to watch some of you grow. Some even became older than us. We didn''t know how you were and if you were in pain..." Lowengren cried.


    "Father! Our lives here are quite good! As you can see, the techs that Presider left to us, her sons and daughters, are the very best!" One of the sons dered.


    "It would really make us happy to know more about the techs. This entire fortress is the pinnacle of what Presider Andronze has! We''ve always wanted to know the real power of Egypt!" Harker spoke the truth.


    "Then allow us to give you a quick tour as we head over the heart of the Serpent. Seth lies in there along with other techs of the mysterious entity. It will still take a while, so allow us to reveal many things!" One of the daughters smiled and began to exin every scientific protocol the ship had.


    And so, the full techs of Andronze that were applied in the massive serpent were revealed.


    Gardo began to throw in numerous jokes making the entire trip great fun, bonding time between the fathers and the children that weren''t really theirs.


    The design of the serpent was farrger than the King Naga of the SPU. Its architecture was very detailed and had numerous shocking techs. The full power of Dug Down Deep Technology was on full disy.


    "Earth Hardening... So this is the one thing Lennox never had. Even with the techs we managed to steal, Dug Down Deep was still an impossible power to replicate!" Harker observed. He had been studying Dug Down Deep techs even in Egypt and couldn''t understand how despite the massive underground caverns, Egypt''snd never copsed. Even with all the massive caverns and tunnels underground,unching weapons of mass destruction won''t even cause a copse.


    "So Dug Down Deep Technology is not just moving the earth, but it''s a science ofpressing it or fusing it. It remains strong and stable even though the caverns and massive tunnels were made." The Commander proudly exined to his father the sciences that were there.


    "The application is unique. Unlike the restructuring tech of Pridgeon, which allows him to alter static objects and even pass through them, Dug Down Deep actually moved and altered the matters in a way that it can forciblybine the matter into one."


    "But what is the Power Source? This technology requires a lot of power. And from the looks of it, it needs to alter the dimensions." Lowengren asked.


    "It''s drawing its power from Seth. This ship can wield and use Universe Energy through Seth even if Presider Andronze is far away."


    Gardo and Vender began to ask questions, and Vender began to speak in concern and fear for the diets while Lowengren continued to analyze what these Andronze clones said.


    The group moved in deeper, and the more they moved inside the ship, the more they realized a horrifying truth.


    The ship was alive.


    And not only that, the presence and power that it had felt like they were in a foreign Realm. It was as if the ship itself was an Unlocked or a Presider, and it had Zone that was slowly fighting off everyone.


    "So that''s why I feel ufortable." Vender muttered suddenly in a different frequency.


    "I felt that the Zone that I have be weird. Sorry for acting on my own again." Vender apologized.


    "If you didn''t, we would have been caught. Your stopping the Zone of everyone was just timely enough. This Serpent would have felt something strange going on and alerted Andronze!" Lowengren answered.


    "We have to work outside of Zone to get out of here alive..." Harker frowned.


    "That''s difficult..." Gardo also had aplicated expression.


    "No, it''s not. Everyone, this will be our test! The weakness of our powers is Realm and Zone! Arthur nearly got owned in the battle against Shakstress. And if we used our powers on Shakstress, she would have figured us out easily! We have to learn the power of Vender!"


    "My sweet rap skills?"


    "Just shut up!" Lowengren cursed.


    "Everyone, as Harker said, we have to work outside of Zone. Zone is a power that is close to prophesy. Even Andronze managed to develop it in a short time. And I''m sure most Presiders will also have this. It''s a power that breaches through the known dimensions. It ces the person into a spot in the universe where they can feel every string, ripple, and flow of things that we would call destiny or fate! We need toe to the point that all our Pathsbine!"


    "Is that even possible? We aren''t Seeker or Lynd!" Gardo frowned.


    "I think we can. The Nefilus Body is a physical body that allows the person to connect with the dimensions beyond easily. While there is a way to create tools and weapons to alter the dimensions beyond, it will have its limits. The version of Universe Energy that the WGP has, Origin energy, is probably at the peak of what it can do. They can''t improve because they need a physical body that can make alterations."<sub> </sub>


    "Where are you going with this?" Harker asked.


    "The Lost Primordial must have found a power that surpasses the Nefilus Body. He might have even found an even superior power! But the Lost Primordial''s purpose was not simr to the Nefilus Body to create one strong being! Our Progenitor ns to create various Paths and merge them in Unity! So all our powers were all intentionally made to be iplete." Lowengren exined.


    "And Seeker was the key!" Harker finally understood.


    "Right. The discoveries of Seeker in Unity are the key. We''ve already been exposed to the recent cells of Seeker. The Lost Primordial intended us to unite our power. Seeker himself is the very messiah he prepared, which will create a timeline where Unity would be possible! The scattered seeds were supposed to unite developed powers individually. That is why even without the Nefilus body, we developed Realm! It''s more advanced that Origin, but it''s not as powerful as Universe Energy. And we already have seen how Seeker hijacks or uses the Realm of others. Even these weaponized Paths of the Oveers and how Seeker, Cliff, and the rest could harness it!" Lowengren began to exin. But what he said used his power of deception.


    "I can tell that you are lying. You don''t really know if that''s true. But you have enough facts to make me want to believe you." Harker smiled.


    "In short, we should all unite right here and right now. We have to be one." Vender nodded.


    "... Why is it when you say it, it''s always strange and... creepy?" Gardo frowned.


    BOOM!


    Suddenly, a trembling urred. The power of Zone began to create massive pressure on them, and they felt a great threat.


    A trembling was happening, and even the Andornze Clones were wondering what was happening.


    "Welp... This is it. Do or die." Lowengren chuckled as he felt the power of Zone conflicting.


    Vender somehow couldn''t speak anymore. It was as if the words he wanted to say couldn''te out. The will of the Serpent and the Zone it demanded overpowered him.


    Everyone felt it and began to close their eyes and concentrate. Finally, they all released their Realm. In that moment of crisis, they could somehow feel each other''s Realm.


    But as they started to sense each other, they could feel a sinister weight press over them. It was as if their insignificant and tiny forms stood before the massive Serpent.


    Lowengren and the rest suddenly changed their expressions as they felt the strange presence of the serpent. From fear and intimidation to shock.


    "That Realm... It''s..."


    "Arthur?" Vender finally managed to speak. He spoke and somehow broke out of the trance he was in and found himself in the room once more.


    The Andornze Clone was confused as Vender suddenly muttered something.


    "Fathers! Please do not worry! This Serpent may be moving! It has a form of sentience, and even we are unable to control it. Only Presider Andronze can." One of the Andronze clones spoke.


    "It''s alright..." Lowengrenughed.


    "We weren''t afraid. We were just... so amazed. We were trying to feel the power of this ship." Lowengren made his lies.


    "That was... Arthur!" Harker spoke to the rest in a different frequency.


    "Arthur? I thought it was Lennox!" Gardo was stunned.


    "No. It was neither. I think I understand now. Andronze can''t create that massive Zone if she used Seth''s dead body alone! Someone has tomand it! The body is the physical object that allows the alteration of the dimensions beyond! But that Zone was alive! Can science bestow a true mind that can use Zone to a ship? No! In this ship is someone who can harness the power beyond the dimensions beyond is working together with Seth''s body! That was the person we felt!"


    "Then who is it?" Vender asked.


    "Isn''t it obvious? You broke the power of that Serpent at one word! That proves it! The power of the Zone! The power of that Realm that sought for us! It can onlye from the other secret experiment of Andronze! Arthur''s sister!"


    "Guinevere!" Vender was so shocked he spoke out loud once more.


    But before the Andronze Clone could react, the entire ship went into a massive trembling.

 Chapter 502 Mind Of The Serpent

    The entire serpent began to tremble, and many of the clones inside began to panic as the serpent they used was panicking.


    "What''s going on?!" A clone shouted.


    "That''s why we are here! Presider Andronze knew that an attack like this would ur based on the sciences of the enemy! Send us in quickly!" Lowengren ordered, and the clones began to activate numerous protocols that overrode the controls of the Serpent.


    "You can do that?" Harker was stunned. He had thought that the entire Serpent was controlled by a strange AI using Seth and Guinevere to recreate a Presider-level Zone.


    The ship seemed to have been controlled by the will of the Serpent, but then, the clones managed to take control and ignore the threat of the Serpent, and the pods that were transporting them moved even faster and were using a maic technology simr to that of Lanterk.


    "How can you control the ship? I felt the presence of the Serpent itself." Gardo asked.


    "We can. The Serpent is not yetplete. Presider Andronze has not yet seeded in supnting her thoughts into the mind of the serpent''s brain! But our control is weak! The Serpent can easily override our control! Something is wrong with it right now! We truthfully don''t understand it."


    "That part, we understand. It seems Presider Andronze left each of us out of fully understanding the real sciences in this ship. This is an attack made by our enemies. The real identity of the Desert Empress is someone who could challenge Andronze and has powers such as this. She is trying to find the real location of Andronze''s main ship, which is this serpent! And she has already found it and is attacking its brain! If she seeds, then this entire ship will be under her control, and all the hard work of Presider will be used against her!"


    "What do we do?!" The clone asked.


    "The situation seems more threatening than we thought. Transfer all controls to us and allow us to have the power to override parts of the ship. We have to escape and move deeper for now!" Lowengren ordered.


    The clones quickly acted and handed over the controls and ess. A round, metal helmet was ced over Lowengren''s head as full ess was granted. Simr controls were given to the rest.


    The moment the group essed it, they felt a powerful link towards the ship. It was a strong link that none of the clones ever experienced. But to the Unlocked, who had even begun their training in using the Thought Transmitter, they felt a more natural link and could do things that none of the rest could.


    They also had been exposed to Lennox''s training. Their thoughts could somehow perceive data in a different form and could somehow feel and understand the data through Zone.


    Everyone except Vender began to make another attempt tobine the Realms. They had failed on the previous attempt and were only spared as Vender''s words somehow reached Guinevere and jolted her mind to regain control for a bit. But if the Serpent manages to regain control, they would die.


    So the team concentrated hard. Failure was no longer an option.


    But now, the power to unite was made easy. The entire Serpent was made as another entity. And this made it easier for Lowengren and the team to unite their Realm as they now had something to pour out their Realms on.


    It was as if they were granted a massive bowl where they could pour out all their powers. And as opposed to having no containers, where their Realms will expand out wildly, the Serpent became a chamber that allowed everyone to do what was impossible.


    As their Realms attempted itsbination, they could feel a powerful resistance as the thoughts that Andronze ced in were fighting.


    "Hurry! This Serpent might regain control and warn Andronze!" Harkermunicated in this strange union.


    At that moment, Vender was out of sync with everyone. He did something incredibly stupid and off tempo and didn''t join everyone in their focused attempt. This was because the moment he felt Guinevere, he recalled the same pain that her daughter faced. Vender was always off rhythm due to many of his quirks. But now, a huge factor in his off-rhythm self was a difference in priority. Everyone else prioritized staying alive, but he wanted to save the poor girl trapped in this wide world.


    "Guinevere. Can you hear me?" Vender called out.


    Harker and the rest felt it, but they had no time tosh out. Lowengren didn''t get angry. He knew that this power of Vender was not something he should fear. For a while, it seemed that way, the numerous small miracles that Vender made all created a grand picture and evidence of his power.


    His Path was simr. He believed his Path to be lying because of these small incidents, which weren''t even considered a miracle. His lies during his gamer days proved it. And then, there was Seeker. He was also someone treated to have shown small miracles that never seemed true.


    "Vender! Concentrate harder! This is a girl who suffered more than your daughter has!" Lowengren called out. And his words were not even a lie! Lowengren acted outside of his Path and his Zone, but it triggered a powerful reaction to Vender.


    At that moment, Lowengren and Harker''s Path became united.


    Lowengren spoke the truth, and that power erupted.


    "Guinevere! Listen to me! We know your brother and your father! They sent us here to save you! Help us fight! Regain control of your mind! Regain control!" Vender pleaded.


    "I... Can''t...!" A voice answered back in the far distance.


    "She... ced... her thoughts in me...!"


    "You have to fight! If you want to see Lennox and Arthur! Fight!" Vender pleaded again as he recalled the numerous times he urged his daughter to fight the deadly disease.


    The trembling began to increase as the Clones all began to do what they could in trying to retain the ship''s stability. They held on to their fathers and secured them on their seats, and ced their seat belts to keep them safe. But the trembling inside the ship was getting worse.


    "Fathers! Save us!" A clone cried out.


    But as the massive serpent began to thrash about wildly, Lowengren and the rest were actually happy as they could feel the pressure of the enemy''s Zone weaken.<sub> </sub>


    "Guinevere is helping us!" Harker dered through their link.


    Vender continued pleading, calling out to Guinevere to hold on as the rest continued tobine their Realm to form a unity.


    "Vender! Now! Combine with us!" Lowengren called out, and Vender followed.


    Truth, Lies, and Humor merged with the Anti-Zone.


    A new Realm was born. It infiltrated the power that Andronze was trying to create and the life that Andronze was trying to build in the serpent.


    It engulfed the control over the Serpent and told it a lie.


    "We are not your enemies."


    Lowengren''s power was concentrated on this.


    "We are not here to hurt you."


    This was the truth that Harker spoke out.


    Between these two powers was theforting power of Gardo, who would joke and mess around and could turn any serious moment into aughable moment. This would not have worked to a being of a different form, but the power of the Anti-Zone allowed it to work.


    Suddenly, the chaos and movement of the Serpent stopped.


    The clones were stunned as they saw the Serpent stop. Everyone was silent and observed, and a full minute passed with no outbreaks.


    "Did father...?"


    "Quiet! Look! Our fathers are still concentrating! Do not disturb them!" Another clone warned.


    Minutes passed in silence, with the group constantly concentrating. Finally, they arrived at the heart of the Serpent.


    Lowengren was the first to open his eyes.


    "It''s safe now. The attacks of the Tyrant Empress that Presider has stopped." Lowengren removed his helmet.


    The rest also followed.


    "Fathers! You did it!"


    "We''re not in the clear yet. Things are more... dangerous than we thought. Everyone, we will ess the heart of this beast. Have everyone be in full readiness. I saw that there are other nted here that are not your clones?"


    "Yes. This massive ship carries over a hundred thousand men and women. They aren''t biologically created or enhanced but have lived inside this ship."


    "Have them prepare for war. We will be sending them out to fight various battles. Numerous Presiders are on their way here to wage war on Egypt. And our goal is to keep ourselves hidden, but we are also to fight!" Lowengren ordered.


    "Understood, father. We will go now."


    "We will stay here in the heart. No one is to enter this chamber! No one! If anyone does, we will kill them!" Harker called out.


    "If the Tyrant Empress can attack this serpent, she can enter your minds! We will be giving you all the information that Presider Andronze has regarding this enemy and how we can defend against her!" Lowengren warned as well.


    The clones were all scared.


    "Group hug!" Gardo suddenly dered as he rushed in and hugged several beautiful clones.


    "We''re alive! Be thankful for that!"


    "Ye-Yes, father!" One of the clones wept as she felt her father''s hug.


    "And I want all of you to watch this and try to decrypt it. It is said that a Presider hid their secrets in this strange movie." Vender handed out am device, and Lowengren and the rest rolled their eyes, knowing that Vender was using this opportunity to make these people watch Star Wars.


    "Dismissed." Lowengren couldn''t help but send everyone away in case Vender would make them watch other old series.

 Chapter 503 Entering The Heart

    The Serpent was now safe. It was dormant and was no longer in any form of danger, and the clones happily left the room and were excited to tell their other clones about the arrival of the fathers.


    As everyone left, the group suddenly slumped down as they were exhausted from their powers inbining the Realm.


    "We... did it!" Gardo was amazed.


    "You guys are the MVP!" Gardoughed as he turned towards Harker and Lowengren.


    "No. It took all of us. Our words wouldn''t have made the enemy calm down if your Realm wasn''t involved. Instead, your Path into sparkughter had made the Serpent rx and feel like he was among friends. Perhaps, this is the real power of your Path..." Harker turned at Gardo and gave him a meaningful nce.


    "What is this beast?" Vender wondered as he nced around.


    "A being of metal that can spark life. This is way different than the ship that Lanterk had from the initial reports we saw. But it seems Guinevere is the key! Her power was so strange and strong that it could actually bestow not just the thought process that Lennox had. It could create Realm! No wonder Lennox and Arthur lost all traces! The power of Guinevere is too strong that Andronze couldn''t afford to reveal this not just to us, but even to her Presider peers!" Harker frowned.


    "Correct. A living beast like this can allow us to create monsters that can think and even assist us. I think that''s how Shakstress and Lanterk managed to stay strong. The reports on the battle against Lanterk spoke of clones. How could he have divided it all? We also have the ways in how Principals like Lanterk create other incarnations of themselves. And who knows if the rest has it? It seems that this is a necessary element to be Principals." Lowengren guessed.


    "Does this mean we can create literal horses? We already have Oveers who represent the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. So it''d be cool if we gave them literal horses."


    "That''ll work! The Aragarians fancied Thrones. We can go against them and create anything else but Thrones. I think the power of Unity surpasses Throne technology. " Lowengren chuckled as he forced himself up.


    "Shall we? Guinevere awaits!" Lowengren pointed at another door. All clones went through the east door, but there was another on the west side.


    The Council of the Wicked stood up, and everyone moved towards another entrance that would bring them to the inner chambers of the Heart of the Serpent.


    The main room that they were in was a massive pod that could move everyone around the massive ship. This was located at the very center of the massive serpent. The others made another exit to the hallways of the ship, but the Council of the Wicked used another door, one that Andronze herself only gave ess to.


    They entered the tunnel that led into the very heart. A massive gate stood before them.


    "So, how are we going to trick the Serpent into opening the door for us?" Gardo asked.


    The door suddenly opened automatically after Gardo said this.


    Severalyers of doors also opened.


    A trembling was heard all over the ship. It wasn''t an rm, but since the chamber was the most sensitive part of the ship, essing it would trigger a series of vibrations alerting everyone that it was essed.


    The clones heard it and announced all over the Serpent that these people were their fathers and were a special team given the mission to protect the Serpent itself. The clones even ryed how they managed to tame the Serpent from the attack that another Presiderunched on them.


    "Guinevere is weing us. Let''s hurry." Lowengren urged, and everyone sped up.


    As the group moved inside, the numerous opened doors started to close one by one. The inner chambers of the Serpent were like a different space. The entire chamber looked small from the outside, but it grew bigger and bigger inside.


    "What the? Did you feel it? We are not in the three dimensions!" Vender felt a strange sensation that made his entire senses feel strange. It was as if gravity was moving all around. Everyone was moving around and adjusting to the spiraling gravity.


    As everyone took a step forward, it was as if the vision and perception in the ce around them began to turn. Everyone was startled and tried to keep their footing, making one step forward. But with each step, the entire ce was changing, and soon, they found themselves in a dark and wide space. When they turned around, it looked like the entrance was miles away! The outer doors began to close, and they were in a world of darkness.


    "We are in a space where the dimensions are all swirling around!" Harker analyzed the ce.


    "This is weird. Not even the Void Realm of those Assassins can make this. What''s going on? What am I feeling?" Gardo was rmed.


    " It''s like the''s core! Think about it! If you could go down the Earth and appear on the other side, what would it be like to reach the exact center where gravity reverses? Whatever this room is, it''s like that!" Lowengren looked around and could sense it as he tried to find things out by extending his Realm.


    "This should be Principal level!" Vender was amazed.


    "If it is, then this is not a tech that Andronze has. It''s probably Seth." Harker concluded.


    "Where is Seth?" Vender nced around and tried to find anything. But as they kept moving, their sight was now reced with infinite darkness.


    "This is..." Gardo recalled something.


    "One of my team became a sniper and trained with the Void Assasins! He was introduced to this. We can''t rely on eyesight anymore! This is the Fourth Dimension!"<sub> </sub>


    "Everyone! Use your soul!" Lowengren ordered as he tried to bring out the soul. Every one of the primary team had to undergo some level of Soul Cultivation and trained ording to the method taught by Nogard.


    "Come out, Stevie Wonder!" Vender summoned his soul.


    "Really? Stevie Wonder? I figured you''d be a Luther Vandross type with the whole, Dance with my Father'' thing." Gardo could help but speak.


    "Focus, you idiots!" Harker cursed.


    The group focused, and through the eyes of their soul, they managed to see it.


    "So this is the Fourth Dimension." Lowengren was amazed. They saw themselves in a spiraling and nauseating scene in all their previous attempts. But in this world where things were spiraling, they saw stability. And what was strange, they could move in a way that transcended the directions that height, width, and length could form.


    "This is like the Tesseract thing! I get it now!" Vender cried out.


    "Me too. Look! Over there! There it is! A small room!" Gardo saw something that he couldn''t before.


    The group moved towards the location and found a door that was open. The team moved into the room, and as they took the first step into the door, the bizarre sensation disappeared. They were back in the three dimensions.


    Everyone stumbled down as they walked on the floor.


    "This is a ce that no normal human could move into!" Harker was panting.


    But Lowengren had already stood up. They had finally reached it. They were at the very heart that controlled the beast, and in it were the most secret sciences of Andronze.


    There was arge ss chamber at the very bottom. In it was a tall man whose height reached over seven feet. The man released a strange aura, and the group realized it was high radiation.


    But above him was arge metal ball and a small window revealed that a person was floating inside it.


    "Seth." Gardo was amazed.


    Lowengren moved to the nearbyputers and began to ess them and searched for a way to open therge metal ball.


    "Then this must be..."


    "Guinevere..." Vender approached.


    "Everyone. Be careful! Guinevere is the very medium that somehow controls this serpent. She must be still using her link to keep the mind that Andronze left here dormant. Any damage to Guinevere''s emotions could spell catastrophe!" Harker warned.


    "Found it!" Lowengren keyed in themand, and the massive metal ball that locked Guinevere was now being opened.


    The metal orb was transferred to the floor, and it split in two, and the two halves of the orb opened up, revealing a beautiful young woman with numerous devices attached to her head. A thick, red liquid spilled out.


    Vender took off his coat and quickly ced his coat over the naked woman, but as he approached the hand of Guinevere suddenly reached out and grabbed Vender.


    "You... know my father?!" The girl spoke as she opened her eyes to see Vender.


    Lowengren smiled as he could see the resemnce between Arthur and this girl.


    "Guinevere." Harker still could not help but marvel at the being who could control the megastructure of Andronze.


    The girl locked eyes with Vender waiting for his answer. She was exhausted beyond measure as she fought off the mind of Andronze within the Serpent. And her only hope was the words that this man said.


    This man knew Lennox Humphrey! This man knew her father.


    Vender thought for a bit.


    "No, not really. I haven''t met him, actually." Vender answered and nearly made the rest of the Council of the Wicked suffer a heart attack.

 Chapter 504 Guinevere

    "You idiot!" Harker, Lowengren, and Gardo shouted as they smacked the devil out of Vender, sending him flying to the side.


    Guinevere was confused and stood up as the group suddenly pounded Vender away.


    "Guinevere Humphrey! I am Harker. We are here on a mission to save you on behalf of your brother and your father. Due to the veryplicated nature of this war, we can''t act freely." Harker quickly told the truth before Guinevere could react.


    "Yes! That idiot is a teammate of Arthur. But he just hasn''t met your father yet personally and only met various imitations. It''s very difficult to exin." Lowengren added.


    "That idiot is just weird and doesn''t know how to read the damned room! But we are here because of your father and your brother. Right now, they are fighting outside to save you! If only someone can exin that without endangering our lives!" Gardo directed hisst statements to Vender, who is recovering from the sudden beatings.


    Guinevere chuckled as Gardo spoke.


    "My dad... My brother... They saved me!" Guinevere began to weep as she felt a great relief.


    "This is... real, right? I''m not... dead?" She asked between sobs.


    "Of course not. Do you feel pain?" Harker approached.


    "...All over my body..."


    "That''s proof your alive." Harker smiled.


    Guinevere suddenly wept harder as memories of the constant pain she felt flooded her. It felt like she had been dreaming for years and years, and now, all the pain and the memories of things that she knew through the link with Andronze came crashing in.


    "AHHH!" She began to shout.


    Harker quickly approached and tried to calm her down.


    Meanwhile, Lowengren began to ess the controls and found the main controls of the serpent. There was arge seat with manyputers.


    "Let''s move this thing down first. We can''t stay here. The reaction of the Serpent may have drawn the attention of Andronze." Lowengren began to pilot the device while everyone else tried to calm Guinevere down.


    Although they wanted to know if Andronze had learned of what had happened, they had no choice but to flee.


    "We might end up fighting Andronze..." Gardo observed.


    "Let''s just hope the Dug Down Deep on her Throne is weaker than this ship!" Lowengren couldn''t help but curse as hemanded the ship down. Then, he began to think of ways to counter a possible attack from Andronze.


    Meanwhile... Above thend of Egypt, a terrifying storm had erupted on the east side of Egypt. It created massive thunderbolts that dug through the earth, and the Many Mansions flew over the clouds and continued to rain terror on the mobile and underground bases of Egypt. One base had already fallen.


    Arthur watched from the window and couldn''t help but sigh.


    "This is the best we can do." Lennox appeared as lightning gathered and formed into a human.


    "If we are nning to fight a Presider, then I have to save my energy."


    "I know, father... I trust them. Even that Vender. I know that they can save Guinevere."


    Lennox sat down and began to charge himself in a strange seat sparking a lot of electricity.


    On the other side of Egypt, a massive round ship was now attacking the very base that deployed it.


    Hermes sat on the seat where the Commander was. Numerous people around the area were gasping for breath. But the air had been taken from them.


    "That was boring..." Alvin sighed.


    "This is just the beginning. Remember our strategy. This battle is going to be a very chaotic one. We fight not only Aragarians but fellow Oveers." Omricon answered.


    "Remote linkplete!" Austin reported.


    "Our families back at our base are now controlling this ship. We can fight without worry." Austin essed several parts of the armory, and several Exoskeletons began to move out.


    "Oh? That pilot is quite skilled. Which one is piloting it?" Hermes asked as he noticed one Exoskeleton that managed to attack and kill several enemies with great ease.


    "That''s my younger brother. He''s a gamer. To think that a twelve-year-old would have to dirty his hands like that. He''s too good as a pilot to be ignored, though..." Austin sighed.


    The other fronts of Egypt were also copsing, and Andronze was so busy and was using the maximum capacity of her thinking process to deal with all these troubles that she didn''t notice the weak link she had with her ship was unnoticed.


    Back in the Serpent...


    Harker, Vender, and Gardo continued to appease the trembling and weeping girl.


    Her eyes were now opened as she looked around but continued to panic as her vision ovepped with numerous strange scenes from her memories.


    Harker took his time and didn''t rush the girl who started to see strange visions.


    Vender suddenly rushed back and began to look around.


    Finally, Vender couldn''t take it. He had scanned the area and concluded there was none.


    She approached the girl and gave her a light tap on the face.


    "Erm... Sorry, kid. But where is the bathroom?" Vender asked.


    Harker, who was doing his best to be patient with Guinevere''s shocked state, finally exploded.<sub> </sub>


    POW!


    A powerful right hook was sent out, but this time Vender blocked it.


    "Hey! What gives?! I was just asking for the bathroom!"


    The scene was so stunning that even Guinevere had stopped from her weeping as she was surprised at their question and the reaction of Harker.


    The visions suddenly began to align as a strange power stopped the momentum of these visions.


    She calmed down and stopped shouting, and her thoughts and memories began to realign themselves in a more orderly manner. She felt a tremendous headache but could think and now knew many things.


    "There... is no bathroom in this room. I''m sorry." She spoke softly.


    "What?! That''s terrible!"


    "Vender!" Harker cursed but then realized that the girl was now calm.


    "Are you alright now?" Harker immediately turned to ask Guinevere.


    "Wow. Saved by off-rhythm again..." Gardo was amazed.


    "...Yeah. I''m sorry. Something just felt so off."


    "I guess I have to thank this idiot. Guinevere... Please listen to us. I know you are in shock, but we-"


    ? "I think I have an idea of who you are. You were those guys who took part in the battle against... Presider Shakstree, right?"


    At those words, Lowengren and Gardo rushed near her.


    "Yes. Your connection to the Serpent should have given you the ability to be connected and informed of the news all around the world as well as the details of the battles. I am Lowengren. An ally of your father and brother." Lowengren introduced.


    "Yes. I always hoped and believed that my brother and dad were among those battles. I''m d I was right..." Guinevere finally smiled.


    "Guinevere, we are in the middle of a war after all. But saving you is our top mission. But right now, I want to know if you can tell if our actions would cause Andronze to rush here."


    Guinevere was silent and began to think.


    "I... I think it should... That''s weird." She then frowned.


    "Her mind was... connected to mine in some way. The moment you disconnected it, it should have alerted her. But... if she was alerted, she should be here by now. The disconnection would have caused some form of psyching ping. We would have heard from her the moment you took it."


    "The only exnation is that Arthur and the guys seeded. They created so much chaos that Andronze is either busy fighting or is exerting her brain so much that this psychic ping was lost."


    "I think that''s it. Besides, when you connected with me and used your powers, I felt calm. So I think that also helped in minimizing the effect of this disconnection."


    "Then that means we are safe for now." Lowengren was relieved, and he fell on his knees andy on the floor."


    The rest also heaved a relieved sigh.


    "...Thank you." Guinevere smiled.


    "We still have a lot to talk about." Harker smiled.


    "Can you sit up?" Harker asked.


    Guinevere nodded, and she slowly stood up.


    "Can you tell me what this ship is? If you were linked to Andronze, it means you have an idea of what this ship is?"


    Guinevere nodded.


    "Andornze called this ship the Nile Serpent. And this entire ship is Andornze''s attempt of creating the science of the legacy from the Lost Primordial."


    "So this ship is the full legacy of the Lost Primordial?"


    "No. This ship has its own secret. But the secret it has isn''t that important. This ship is only something to hide the terrifying powers of this ce called the heart. That ce that you passed through just outside of this chamber is also part of the heart. Because of the strange power that caused this ce to breach the dimension, Andronze hid it because she knew that all the other Presiders would try to chase after her. Andornze believed that this was something that could make her into something stronger."


    "A Principal."


    "That''s right! That''s the term! A Principal!"


    "Then this exins this room. But there are a few more mysteries." Gardo pointed at the body.


    "I want to know about this thing first. What or who is Seth?"


    "The truth is, that''s not Seth."


    "What?"


    "It''s not. The real identity of that corpse is someone known as the Lost Primordial."

 Chapter 505 Uprising Of Metals

    The group was amazed to know that the body was that of the Lost Primordial.


    "Woah.... Plot twist!" Vender was amazed.


    "That''s the actual Lost Primordial? Then that means...?!"


    "It''s all a lie." Lowengren analyzed.


    "No! I swear! I''m telling the truth!" Guinevere answered.


    "That''s not what I mean. I''m saying that the Lost Primordial made a powerful lie. A lie like mine, or even stronger than it! It''s a lie so powerful that it managed to deceive even Andronze!"


    "What do you mean?"


    "Imagine thousands of years from now. Someone discovers a screwdriver. They will treat it as a relic, an ancient tool to a world long forgotten. And in this screwdriver is a note that exins that this is used for cooking. Future schrs will study the screwdriver believing that it is used for cooking. This is what the Lost Primordial did. He left his body here and made a lie. A powerful lie that breaches the dimensions! All to hide the secret of his body!" Lowengren exined.


    "As expected of the Progenitor." Harkerughed.


    "Yeah. Andronze has been studying this the wrong way from the start. And we would have to. But the Lost Primordial willed for Guinevere to be captured! Can''t you see it, guys? This Progenitor knows the future! He ced his seeds! It''s just like Seeker! He was an ident allowed for a purpose."


    Vender began to y a song on hism device entitled ''God''s n.''


    Everyone looked at him.


    "The inscriptions written on the body''s very body spoke of the actions to preserve this body and the name of the body." Lowengren continued and pointed at the body to which strange words were written on his right hand.


    "So it was a lie to deceive any Aragarians!"


    "Um... Since we are safe and have time, can anyone tell me what is going on? I remembered Earth to be so different. And for many years, I only knew of Egypt. It''s only now that Andronze busied herself with the outside world." Guinevere asked.


    "Well, since you''ve picked up news all over the world these past months, this should be easier to exin. Your brother and father have been actively fighting, using their powerful abilities when needed. We are the Council of the Wicked. Your brother belongs to our ragtag team of crazy people." Lowengren exined.


    "You got the crazy part right. You managed to weaken the guard of Andronze''s mind somehow. I never thought it was possible. Her mind felt very confused. The mind that she ced over me is party real and partly robotic. It''s like a programmed code of her thoughts."


    "We''re familiar with that. However, your father could do something even more amazing than that! Andronze''s powers are rather vague and hard to understand. We can''t even talk to it! Your father could create A.I''s that imitate his mind and thoughts almost perfectly!"


    "Really? But I thought dad''s power is lightning!" Guinevere was amazed.


    "It is lightning. And he''s using that to create all sorts of amazing things. He is so amazing! He can use his powers to give us Pokemon games in our head!" Gardo exined.


    "He can give you games?!" Guinevere rose as she heard it.


    "I introduced him to that! But he can put it in my head? Where is father?! I must see her now!" Guinevere demanded.


    "..." Harker and Lowengren were amazed at Guinevere''s dedication to a game.


    "I take it. It was you who introduced that game to your father?" Gardo asked.


    "Yes! I did!" Guinevere chuckled.


    "You guys have such amazing brains. Lennox can use his mind to carefully force each cell in his body to undergo various chemical changes and be lighting. His math is so perfect. And Arthur has a brain that can practically see the future. But, before we continue with the story, I have to know... what''s your brain like?" Lowengren asked.


    Guinevere smiled as she heard all the amazing things her father and brother could do.


    "It''s difficult to exin. Her exnation is even weird! After the fight against that massive flying saucer controlled by the Presider called Shasktress, Andronze became obsessed with prayers, religious posts on social media, teas, cactus, biscuits, and the bible. I don''t understand why!"


    "Ah. That would be because of us. I''ll exinter. Do carry on." Lowengren brushed off the mystery.


    "Well, she began to use Biblical terms to exin my power. She often equated it with the Holy Spirit. My power is the ability to bestow my spirit to others empowering them to be influenced by me. It''s a power that never manifested in my life. But there was a time when my dad had to fend off several Underworld members who were nning to kidnap me to be used against my dad. We were in Egypt at that time as my father was researching something. I was so scared that I felt a strange connection. Little did I know that my fears on that day were actually real. I connected with the Lost Primordial''s corpse. His body reacted to mine. That is why Andronze sought for me."


    "This was programmed. The Lost Primordial must have set his body to react once, and only once with your mind. I take it that after that, the body of the Progenitor never moved again. And when Andronze forced you to meet him, you only saw each other, but it didn''t reveal anything more."


    "Yes... Who exactly is he?"


    "To answer that... I''ll have to tell you about what we know from the very start. It all starts with a guy who lived and died. He yed this treacherous game and reached his game over. Only to find out that he had to restart it with greater advantages."


    "A new game+?" Guinevere asked.


    "Exactly. He-"


    BEEP! BEEP!


    Suddenly, notifications and alerts were made.


    "What''s that?" Vender pointed at the screen that showed a strange ripple of powering from the nation of Greece.<sub> </sub>


    "I know what that is!" Guinevere eximed.


    Back outside, the battle in Egypt continued to escte, with all teams rushing on each side.


    The Presiders had also positioned themselves nearby, waiting for Egypt to falter. Instead, the advance of the Desert Empire had moved in so deep that five hours since the battle started, the team managed to conquer numerous cities.


    At the forefront of the battle were the fighters of the Tyrant Empress.


    Octarion Ceasar, Eve Eden, and Akahs Zulu waged war, easily bringing down the armies like they were flies.


    Massive nts erupted from the ground and opened up a massive petal that shot out spores.


    Eve Eden finally revealed her power to create gigantic nts growing at an incredible rate. Even Jet-Propelled Exoskeletons were caught by the vines of these gigantic, towering creatures.


    "Without the Locusts, my nts will conquer!" Edenughed as she stood over a massive nt monster moving through dunes and sand and fought against a massive sand golem that Egypt created as part of its defensive protocol.


    On another side of the battlefield, all Exoskeletons, Armors, and even the enemy''s guns simply stopped having the ability to shoot as strange darkness covered them.


    The soldiers themselves felt weak, distracted, and even depressed.


    Akahs Zulu walked casually with his numerous exoskeletons that wielded spears and shields and were stabbing and killing everything as they strolled through the defenses. The power of curses had grown powerfully, and he could create a massive curse that could affect an entire square kilometer with his power!


    At the forefront of this battle was Octarion Ceasar, who had destroyed a fleeing Mobile Base.


    "Our advance continues, my queen. Soon, we shall reach the area where Hermes has battled the massive Orbital." Ceasar reported.


    "A pity that no Orbital appeared here. It would do well to be my dwelling." The Tyrant Empressughed.


    "The general warning of Arthur stated that within five hours since our attack, a Presider is bound to take action." Eve Eden reported.


    "That man is never perfect. He is no prophet of the future." Akahsughed.


    "I don''t agree, my dear Akahs. That man was the reason I lost against them. If he predicted it, it wille true. Be prepared. Who knows if a Presider will appear over us. We dide out of the open to lure one here..." The Tyrant Empressughed.


    At that moment, a strange pulse of energy passed through them.


    "What was that?" Eden asked.


    "It felt... metallic." Octarion nced around them.


    Suddenly all the metals that were destroyed began toe to life.


    The guns of many of their allies began to shoot out, and Exoskeletons began to move without beingmanded.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Chaos ensued as the army of the Tyrant Empress began to fight with each other.


    Caesar felt his own armor rebel.


    "You dare?" He roared as his Realm erupted.


    The rebellion stopped.


    "Lanterk." Tyrant Empress had an enraged look on her face.


    Her precious army that marched in ranks and beautifully won the battle began to fight each other.


    The ambushes from the shattered metals that came to life and reformed just as they did during the Call of Automatons by the WGP Emperor led to the deaths of the previously perfect record of the Empress.


    Her rage grew, and finally, the Tyrant Empress removed her helmet.


    "Enough!" She roared as her power erupted.


    The rebellious robots and all the metals stopped as they were drawn to the beauty of a woman.


    All objects, living or dead, were suddenly trembling at the beauty of Quera.


    "My Queen... Shall we proceed with the attack?"


    "No. It''s too dangerous. I am still using my powers to stop them. We were foolish to use the metals of this Earth. We should have used our own metals! My haste to build this army is my downfall. Let us not underestimate Andronze. And remember that there are still Oveers that we have to face. This is Lanterk''s assistance to Andronze. We retreat for now and resolve this issue. Otherwise my victory won''t look beautiful."

 Chapter 506 Delays And Deceptions

    The sudden uprising of metals created chaos all over the world. Even with the WGP fortresses, there were some instances of the metals suits and some of the bombs suddenly going off without warning.


    Even with the Call of Automaton, these metals were not contained.


    Nations fell into turmoil as the sudden army that they were training suddenly began to be their enemies.


    Some were very unlucky in that most of their forces were their enemies!


    Other nations were luckier as the sudden uprising didn''t affect many of their forces.


    The sudden uprising remained a mystery until the sudden uprising ended in numerous nations.


    A broadcast from the leaders of Greece demanded these nations surrender or that the metals would rise again.


    It was then revealed that a special metal of their making was causing the metals to move at theirmand and their programming. And Greece, which was a major supplier of these metals, had altered theirs and created a unique technology that could move it.


    An hour since the metals began to move and attack, millions of lives had already been lost all over Europe, Russia, and the Middle East.


    However, the nations in Asia and South-East Asia had very few instances of the uprising of metals. Some guns would shoot randomly and cause deaths, and some microwaves and cooking devices went on a rampage, but no weapons or devices officially made and used by the military had these issues.


    The chaos in the Caliphates was tremendous. Israel suffered a huge blow. They had forces invading other neighboring cities, but then, these same weapons began to attack indiscriminately.


    Inside the Many Mansions, the entire ship was covered with lightning.


    Arthur had told his father what wasing based on the reports, and they had to create a surge of energy to purge the strange EMP that caused metals to act wildly. But a special round was being channeled and set all over Egypt.


    The ones sent to Egypt wouldmand non-Egyptian metals and force them to fight. They weren''t even made from the metals of Greece but still moved out of control.


    The pulse continued for an hour, and the Many Mansions resisted control from the malevolent beam for that long hour.


    "What power..." Lennox reformed into a human and fell to his knees. Arthur was already ready to catch him.


    Lennox had an exhausted expression on his face as he used a lot of energy to stop the uprising of the metals.


    "It seems we cannot attack for this hour..." Lennox shook his head as he watched his energy level. He had to exhaust a massive amount to stop the metals from moving.


    "Thankfully, all Unlocked began to use metals with our cells in it. So those above Unbing Proficient should be able to stop their metals for a time. And those skilled in Realm would be able to stop it." Arthur observed the news and saw that the chaos was happening worldwide.


    "Pangea wouldn''t suffer from this. I can see that Lanterk has managed to infiltrate most metal crafting organizations secretly. This little trick of Lanterk is forcing many nations to ally with them." Arthur nodded.


    "This was outside of your prediction, Arthur."


    "He is a Principal, Father." Arthur respectfully answered.


    "It seems we both have a lot of things that we should improve on. This will make Unlocked Industries even more popr in other nations. And I believe Greece will target the Unlocked industries. We''ve got some problems on our hands... This trick will dy our attacks. But how long?"


    "The main purpose of this uprising of metals is for Lanterk to buy Andronze several days or weeks by halting all Presiders of their attacks. I believe while most of the Earth felt a weakened version, all Presiders would have suffered from this attack. Since most in Egypt and Africa relied on the metal from Greece, or other metals produced by industries with the spies or men following Lanterk, it will take the Tyrant Empress a full week to attack again."


    "Let''s just hope that the Council of the Wicked finds her by then." Lennox sighed.


    "You underestimate them. They may have found her already."


    BEEP!


    "Testing! Attention, please! This is your MC for today! Vender the Rapper! Uh!" The annoying voice suddenly echoed out.


    "Why did you have to answer it?" Arthur shook his head as he gave his father an annoyed look.


    "This Vender has gotten stronger. I didn''t answer the phone. His powers somehow allowed it to automatically answered." Lennox was amazed.


    "Vender. Based on your happy tone, I presume that you found my sister?"


    "Yes!"


    "Is she with you?"


    "No."


    "..."


    "Give me that!" Gardo cursed.


    "Arthur. We found your sister. But she can''t leave. I''m sure you already know. Her Path is very powerful that taking her now will make Andronze sense it. They are in a massive ship that''s probably three times or four times bigger than the King Naga. It is also, Andronze''s secret gship. She calls it the Nile Serpent. It''s strong, and it''s alive. Your sister has the power to pour out her spirit into something to make it alive. Andronze uses her as a medium to allow her to control it."<sub> </sub>


    "She nned to make that massive ship another incarnation of her."


    "Right. Anyway, all of Egypt is not affected by the power of Lanterk. Your sister knows because of her link to the mind of Andronze left in the Serpent. This is Lanterk''s way of saying thanks for helping him in the battle."


    "I guessed as much. What is your current status?"


    "Right now, we managed to tame the Serpent and have already deceived the Serpent. And we n to use it to our advantage. Harker and Lowengren are now initiating a n to deceive and manipte everyone in the ship to fight for our side. And it seems that Andronze is afraid of linking with this secret ship."


    "She''s afraid that other Presiders will notice."


    "You got it. Anyway... Woah! What are you doing?! Can''t you just hold it in!?" Gardo cursed.


    "What''s going on?" Lennox was confused.


    "I believe Vender is urinating somewhere near Gardo," Arthur predicted what happened.


    Lennox facepalmed.


    "Erm... Anyway... Through the Serpent, we found the bases of the Presiders to be in chaos. So, I''m guessing that many Presiders will decide against attacking Andronze now. But we have a file that we can use to draw out the Presiders anyway. Lanterk and Andronze will think this will dy and cause most Presiders to attack Egypt. But if we release this file, it will force nearly all Presiders to fight Andronze! It has to do with Seth."


    "...He''s the Lost Primordial."


    "You figured it out already, huh? That''s right. It wasn''t Seth. It was a lie by the Lost Primordial. The Seth we thought we found was actually the body of the Lost Primordial! We can reveal the recording of Seth and make it look like it''s within the base of Andronze. That way-"


    "It will force all Presiders to attack Egypt and move outside of the expectations of Lanterk and Andronze. Lanterk aimed to dy, but our deception will force many Presiders to join in this war. I already know what to do. We have a full week to prepare. It seems that Seeker and the rest can join this wild party. Let''s end this call. I have to inform Seeker and immediately leak the report to all Presiders. Send me the video of the Lost Primordial."


    "Already sent!"


    "Good. Prepare for a massive war. Expect all Presiders to be there." Arthur disconnected.


    On the other side of the world, Seeker and the group had just resolved the issue with the wild metals in South America.


    They were in a secret facility, and all the ships suddenly went wild. Seeker had to fight it, and with him was a Throne that fought to protect it.


    Zeraphine had cleared out the waves of robots as if they were nothing. Her full power was being shown.


    "Thanks for saving me..." Seeker smiled as he revealed a weak expression.


    Zeraphine rushed back and held on to Seeker, whose countenance suddenly turned pale.


    ? She was horrified to find out that he was sent as the avatar of the Progenitor and faced Lanterk directly! Seeker almost died from the bacsh and was unconscious for a full day!


    "What happened?" Seeker frowned.


    "It''s Lanterk! That brat...! And I can''t believe that Garenjazz helped him!" Zeraphine raged.


    Suddenly, Seeker''s expression changed. He was receiving a thought transmission.


    "It''s my father...!" Seeker began.


    "We must... fight Egypt?" He was confused.


    "Of course! Lanterk is allied with Andronze! This is a n to stop all those attacks in Egypt! Lanterk values his alliance with Andronze! I''ll join you! I have an army of my own, and I''ll convince Garenjazz to help us!" Zeraphine dered.


    "So we''re fighting together, huh?"


    "Stick by my side. If your father wants to control you, I have to be near to save you! Promise me that!"


    "... I promise." Seeker smiled.


    Deep inside Seeker''s mind, Shackstress and the other Zeraphine watched it y out.


    "The Lost Primordial''s body is here?" Shackstress was amazed. She heard the message that Arthur sent that exined everything.


    Zeraphine was also stunned.


    "And it looks like this Seeker will be abusing you of this timeline. How does it feel to be used?"


    "...If anything, I deserve this. But what I''m amazed about is the power of Guinevere. Shackstress, if Seeker finds a way to find the truth of this..."


    "I know. Then we have a shot at returning to the realm of the living."

 Chapter 507 All Eyes On Egypt

    A full week has passed since the war began in Egypt and the sudden mental uprisings that changed the allegiances of the nations almost instantaneously.


    The WGP were the first to quell and conquer the technology. Most of their metals were made from the Prime Almetal, which was harvested over in the Arctic nations, and the reported people who died at the suddening to life of the metals were only seventeen.


    The nations that refused the offer of Greece were aided by the WGP as the massive ice inds in the Arctic nations began to move.


    The underground mine where the Prime Almetals were taken from was also lost as if the Arctic nations took the entire underwater mining ground.


    The Worlds Helm also made its move and made a shocking alliance that caused a great divide among all the world''s strongest nations.


    A massive chunk of the floating cities that rose near Irnd, Portugal, d, and Greend suddenly moved and dered their alliance with the WGP.


    These gigantic cities were then revealed to have been part of the WGP.


    Many other floating cities in Asian regions did the same. Korea, Phil-Pangea, New Zend, and Japan began to move toward the World Governing Trading Hub in the region formerly known as Hawaii.


    Antarctica also had numerous actions as heat signatures were detected there. Bases started to rise, all of which belonged to the WGP. A massive fleet began to move out and assist numerous nations that requested aid and helped them at the cost of bing their men.


    The nations that suffered greatly from the Uprising of Metal faced more cruelty as the WGP offered to save them or kill them. Their only choice was to be saved and carry cors that might kill them at any time.


    In that week, the WGP showed its power by saving many nations and enving them to be their chess piece.


    But some nations easily resisted the mental uprising as secret forces and underwaters cities rose to be their savior. They were more benevolent than the WGP.


    The Unlocked Army knew who these people were. They were the Presiders who had no choice but to surface and imnd and territory. Some even fought and drove back the WGP. Numerous Emperors and Empresses were killed in the sh as strange technology could easily kill them.


    The WGP fleets that either seeded in enving a nation or were defeated by the Presiders that moved from all over the world gathered together at the World''s Helm and the World Governing Trading Hub. The Many Mansions of all Emperors and Empresses of the WGP appeared and dered that they would soon gather to activate a powerful science that they had hidden since World War 3.


    Egypt faced its tribtions as the world fell into a piece by either allying with Greece, the WGP, or the Presiders.


    Most Egyptian mobile fortresses had to issue a full retreat at the copse of cities from numerous fronts.


    The threat of the gue of the metal frogs and the bloody vampire flies led to a copse of the logistics. An army of vampires had vanished, and numerous mobile bases had gone dark as they would be attacked. Some vanished out of existence, and no one could be reached to report their whereabouts.


    The entirend of Egypt was covered in darkness as the dark clouds sent by the WGP''s Many Mansions had covered all of thends and kept the sun from reaching them. The eternal night added horrors as the creeping undead ravaged thend. Vampires and zombies began to move along the night to attack the many towns.


    Town after town, city after city, began to evacuate and rush towards the massive fortress of Egypt.


    The world followed the events of Egypt, and many wars soon stopped. However, the rise of Egypt and the ravaging attacks caused everyone to be alert and watch the events that could possibly be their future.


    "Any satellite scans yet?" One of the troubled leaders of Africa asked. They had already untied and gathered in one room to deal with any possible overflow from the war.


    "No such luck. We cannot confirm if the Desert Empires remain in Egypt. Our forces and scouts have been sent and retrieved numerous weapons that we are now reverse engineering. The base that controls the locust has also been ransacked. Our scientists are doing all they can to create a workable way to counter it or weaponize it without tech possibilities." A General answered.


    "Any movements from other nations?"


    "Several fleets are watching by the ocean, prepared to make an attack. Everyone is anticipating a great war against Egypt. One of those gigantic ships ought to appear with the mysterious retreat on all sides. Everyone uses whatever sciences they have to identify the hidden locations on earth as to where a fluctuation of energy will be detected..."


    "To think that warp technology would be possible. And here we thought that we are a hundred years too soon to explore that..." Finally, the president of one of the nations in the collective alliance of Africa sat down and observed the screens.


    "Wait for them." A cold voice echoed around. The leaders of Africa turned and bowed to their supreme leader. This was the person who stopped the WGP''s invasion of central Africa. Most southern regions submitted to the WGP, but those at the center found a new servant.


    Presider Feyor watched the screens with a serious expression.


    "Have our armies be prepared to move out. I will have to meet with these secret leaders... The invasion of Egypt may happen soon." Feyor gave hisst instructions, and warp technology caused the seat he was seated on to disappear along with her.<sub> </sub>


    "I can''t believe it. All the hell we''ve been through these past days was because a powerful superpower gave its support to Egypt!" One of the leaders eximed.


    "You don''t have to believe it. Between the WGP, the Desert Empress that managed to push back the WGP, or whoever it is hiding in Egypt, Our God-King Feyor is better! Just follow his instructions, and we will be safe!" Another answered.


    Indeed, because of the appearance of the Presiders, those nations that they took control of had their eyes set on Egypt.


    What was surprising was that even with the uprising of metals, those that attacked Egypt did not make a full retreat but held their ground in Egypt.


    "So that Many Mansion is not a WGP Emperor! To think it would be the secret gods of this world!" One of the African leaders continued to observe the events in the east of Egypt.


    The Many Mansion that caused a change in the weather remained there. It was creating dark and thick nimbus clouds that turned day into night over Egypt. Another part of Egypt had also transformed into a terrifying terrain.


    "That Many Mansion is definitely in leagues with this other group!" Another asserted.


    "No! We''ve been through this many times! Whoever managed to steal that massive round ship is only using the wind!" A scientist reminded.


    "A pir of light is shooting out of the skies! Looks like Egypt is finally doing something about clouds!" One of the men reported.


    At the heart of Egypt was a massive fortress that rose from the underground world, and a massive and tall structure towered over it. It was taller than mountains and even broke through the dark clouds.


    It was now known to the world as Babel from the ancient story in the Bible.


    At the great heights of it was Andronze, who activated another tech that managed to cause the clouds to disappear over the massive fortress.


    Seeing the sess of how the clouds were being pushed back, Andronze quickly traveled down as she began to pass through the metals and flew directly to the base and center of this massive fortress.


    Her Throne was there, and she took a seat.


    Suddenly, numerous metals that were scattered around began to reform themselves, and they had the shape of Lanterk.


    "Finally. It took you a while to clear the clouds."


    "I had more issues to deal with." Her expression remained unhappy.


    One of the greatest losses that Andronze had to suffer was the potential betrayal ormandeering of one Orbital! The Orbital was much more expensive and powerful than four mobile basesbined! Attempts to retake the Orbital had all failed, and the scouts that were watching from a distance were all massacred.


    The Orbital itself had used the power of the wind to wrap itself around the thick dark clouds.


    ? A storm was brewing and was growing more and more stronger. Because of this, it was difficult even to see what was going on inside the thick clouds.


    "I''ve noticed. Resolve them all. All eyes are now on Egypt because of the effort I made to save you. The chaos and threats that the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor will definitely make all of them hesitate to attack you. You should be safe for a week or so. They won''t attack you in fear of my power activating. They ought to be discussing ns to stop my power from affecting all metals."


    "Thank you."


    "Now tell me. You said you have a secret legacy at hand. What is it?"


    "The power that I have found should work with your metal powers well. It''s a power that can impart your very mind to objects. And this can be done without wasting Universe Energy!" Andronze revealed.


    Lanterk drew a small smile.


    "Interesting. Tell me more..."

 Chapter 508 Alliances And Truces

    The power of Lanterk required Universe Energy to allow the metals to move and even take form. However, while his power could control and wield the metals, it was different if he could impart his very thoughts to the metals. Lanterk, who had numerous incarnations, had a special heritage that allowed him to create clones and use this power greatly!


    Right after the revtion of Lanterk''s secret identity as the Goat with Four Horns and the death of Shakstress, Andronze immediately contacted Lanterk and showed him parts of the science that allowed her to create an even more advanced form of Locust Technology. It was a power that allowed her thoughts to control and provide sentience to these insects. This made Lanterk interested. She had already shown him several peculiar technologies. Now, she was prepared to reveal one of the biggest secrets she hid on Earth to assure Lanterk''s assistance in theing battle.


    "Her name is Guinevere Humphrey. She is the daughter of a very prominent figure in the Underworld. Do you know her or her father, Lennox?"


    "I have no interest or concerns about whatever happens in the Underworld. So no, I don''t."


    "I also couldn''t care about the Underworld. But I had to infiltrate the underbellies of Earth''s illegal criminal world because of her. As you know, there were certain strange energy sources in Egypt. For example, I found a natural Ankh Core forming here. But while it was initially regarded as natural, I realized that Egypt held more than just that. I believe that the many mysterious things I found here are part of something that the Progenitor and those masquerading to be the Lost Primordial have been searching for since the end of World War Three."


    "You found a legacy of the Lost Primordial?"


    "Yes! And that legacy is a simple skeletal suit. And this Guinevere created a unique reaction to the metal I was experimenting on. I may have found something close to a Phallic suit. But I don''t have the foundation. So the Progenitor and those fake Lost Primordial must have found the basic, and I found an advanced form! Remember that all those Phallic forms use the body? But our Nefilus Suit and even the Combat body requires an Exoskeleton!"


    "So you found the skeleton, huh?"


    "Either that or I found a wed experiment of the Lost Primordial. I don''t honestly understand it. I will not give you the details of this Pseudo-Nefilus suit as it is my heritage. But the girl, I will give it to you if you agree to share information about your studies with her."


    "How did she control this pseudo suit you were making?"


    "Her life was threatened in Egypt, and her fears caused a fluctuation simr to your power."


    "She managed to move metals of this suit?"


    "Not just that. She managed to give it a form of thought. For a split second, the skin suit that I was trying to turn into a pseudo-Nefilus suit moved on its own. Not through random maic pull or anything of that matter. It moved as if it had life."


    "No fluctuations to the metal after that? You couldn''t detect Universe Energy?"


    "Nothing that I could detect. It moved because of that girl, and that no Universe Energy was wasted!"


    "Now that is interesting. If I get that, I can create several weaker clones! And even in my current power, I should be able to kill those Top-Tiers."


    "That, I don''t doubt. What I''m about to show you is the result of my analysis. But I need assurance that this information that I will show you will not be leaked. I don''t know what power or form of transmission you are using. But I fear that if the rest of the Top Tiers can somehow infiltrate or hijack your line, then they will surely attack me even if it means that they would face the Progenitor or the Lost Primordial''s ambush."


    "You are too paranoid. Maybe it''s a good thing, but the form that you see before you is a result of me expending Universe Energy. They cannot hack this line. Worry about your base. What if they can listen?"


    "No. I''m made my preparations. In any case, watch this." Andornze showed an experiment of how Guinevere was used to adding thoughts to several Supreme Exoskeletons.


    The scene amazed Lanterk.


    Andronze watched silently. She did her best to hide the truth of the Lost Primordial''s body but revealed Guinevere to Lanterk and downyed the power that Guinevere showed. But in this lies was a clever trick. Andronze had already worked out how her powers could grant life to something that could have the capability to think. An exoskeleton with an impressive A.I would somehow have a limited thinking process to her thoughts. This was how the Nile Serpent had a portion of her mind. But in reality, Guinevere could hijack even a corpse as long as its brain was preserved! If Lanterk had found out about the Lost Primordial''s body and how Guinevere managed to control the body of the Lost Primordial itself, then Lanterk would have moved heaven or hell to acquire Guinevere and the Lost Primordial now.


    "Thoughts? You''re the expert in this. How is this possible?" Andronze finally asked.


    "The fluctuations and powere from a different form of energy. It wasn''t Universe Energy. That girl must somehow be rted to the real Lost Primordial. It''s as if her body is simr to the ones that the Progenitor and the fake Lost Primordials used."


    "You mean the Phallium body? You believe that?" Andronze asked.


    "Yes. Even when they fought me and outsmarted me under the sea, I noticed all of them holding dildos."


    "Dildos?"


    "Yes. The Phallic objects. Which makes this little girl''s case curious. How can she hold such phallic power without one?" Lanterk was lost in thoughts.<sub> </sub>


    "Aid me, and this is yours. The location of where this woman is being held is out of reach, even with mymunication. So I have to use Universe Energy to link with it! This way, even if the battle turns to my disadvantage, they can never find or have that tech."


    "You''re quite paranoid. But I guess this is necessary. Rx. Even if all the Top Tiers ganged up, they won''t defeat me if I would use up my Universe Energy. My true forms areing here already. They won''t attack you yet. But good news, Andronze, this solidified our alliance! I cannot afford to lose you now and can dere a permanent alliance between the two of us!" Lanterkughed, and the two continued to discuss the powerful science of Guinevere.


    But at that moment, on a Sky Satellite near the regions of Egypt, a certain meeting was about to start.


    Just outside Egypt''s borders, numerous ships, aircraft, and evenunched Sky Satellites from different countries were waiting for any esctingmotion in Egypt.


    The meeting took ce in a massive aircraft that flew around the perimeter of Egypt. Many were conducting trades and negotiations and conclusions on dealing with what was now known as ''Judgment Day'' where the machines rose and killed their makers.


    Hidden in thismotion was the meeting of Presiders.


    Straviaa and Enderks hosted the meeting and waited in their craft for the other Presiders to appear.


    The designated time was approaching, and the two were getting nervous.


    "Who do you think will show up?" Straviaa asked.


    "I don''t know. But you know how much I lost in the battle below that ocean. So if a fight breaks up, I''d have to rely on you."


    "For the millionth time, don''t worry! Let''s just see what truce or ceasefires we can set to get that body hidden under Egypt!" Straviaa frowned.


    Suddenly, a powerful light shed, and a Throne appeared.


    "Zeraphine. You''re quite early."


    "Let''s get this on. I want to destroy Egypt!"


    "So keen to fight. But are you sure? We''re not sure which Presider will attack, and we don''t know if the Progenitor and the Lost Primordial will be here.


    "I represent the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor." A voice spoke, and Seeker suddenly appeared.


    "Let''s get this party started. My father said that Egypt and Greece are not ready for a battle now. So should meunch a surprise attack at Egypt, she will be at a loss." Seeker exined.


    "Just you? Your father won''t be in attendance?"


    "If my dad did, you''d have more research material, won''t you? He knew you would all try to study his appearance, so he won''t do that again. I will be left to act freely and represent him."


    "Represent? You?" Straviaa mocked.


    "Your only qualifications for even being able to stand before us is because you are the toy of this little Princess. But, I do want to ask, Zeraphine. How is he in bed? How do humans do it? Or have you lowered yourself to mate like animals?"


    WARP!


    Seeker''s figure disappeared and appeared right above Straviaa.


    "What?!" Straviaa couldn''t keep up, nor did she anticipate the movement.


    "How about I put a dent on your throne?!" Seeker roared as he punched out.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 509 The Revelation Of The Lost Primordial

    The powerful punch created explosive heat.


    If not for the numerous techs thatpressed energy and sealed the power inside the room, the punch would have caused the entire Sky Satellite to blow up from the pressure and explosion.


    The punch met a powerful shield of energy that resisted the explosion of power that Seeker sent out.


    Nevertheless, the Throne of Straviaa was pushed back and mmed to the walls of the room.


    "You!" She shouted and used massive light energy condensed around her.


    Her form changed, and it was as if she was an angel. The light gathered around her and formed an extraordinary form. The light energy rippled out of the third dimension creating a strange mirror of what Straviaa''s real form in the fourth dimension was.


    The light had physical form and had a nature that was even harder than the hardest metals on earth.


    But such power used Universe Energy! So the moment Straviaa detected the force and power of Seeker''s punch, she knew that hermon technologies wouldn''t be able to resist it.


    The power of light that began to alter the three dimensions appeared.


    Seeker saw an amazing thing and recalled the vision of Ezekiel.


    Several eyes and wings formed around her as the light energy acting as a force field suddenly became a massive jaw that moved to bite Seeker.


    But as the mouth closed, Seeker had vanished and returned to Zeraphine''s side. Zeraphine had also activated her power to save Seeker.


    "Oh? To think that Princess Zeraphine would be this strong..." Enderks smiled as he felt as if a gigantic Zeraphine stood in front of them.


    Seeker was amazed. He had never seen Zeraphine''s power like this.


    "Is it... Garenjazz?" Seeker was sure he had seen the best of Zeraphine''s capability. But now, it was a power that manifested the soul.


    "You brat! How dare you attack me!" Straviaa shouted.


    "Hey, brat... Just because my father is not controlling my body doesn''t mean I''m weak." Seeker red as lightning energy gathered around him.


    "You managed to make light a physical element. Want to see whose light energy is stronger?" Seeker asked as lightning enveloped his form.


    Straviaa was enraged, but Enderks'' form hovered in front of her.


    "Enough! You just had to insult him, didn''t you? So you were the one who fought Lanterk. Did your father use you as an avatar?" Enderks asked.


    "What my father does to my body is not your business." Seeker answered as he dispelled his form.


    "You should have learned from what happened thest time I took hold of him, Straviaa." A voice hovered over, and the form suddenly emerged.


    Zeraphine felt the soul projection she created falter as a strange fiery portal emerged. In it was a Throne, and a beautiful woman was seated on it.


    "It''s quite exciting that our little meetings would be like this? Remember the boring days when we would meet with our bodies and not have to bring our Skin Suits or our Thrones? Now, every meeting could end up in a sh." Tianaughed.


    "Tiana. I knew you''de." Enderks nodded.


    A bright light shed, and Feyor appeared next to Tiana.


    "Oh? Progenitor! I didn''t expect you to be here."


    "Not the Progenitor. Seeker will represent his father."


    Feyor could see the fluctuation of energy and could roughly guess what had happened.


    "I see. Will the Lost Primordial be in attendance?"


    "The Lost Primordial, as in, their leader? No. But you should be worried if she''s here." Seeker answered.


    "From what I understand, even Seeker''s father, the Progenitor, is afraid of the leader of the Lost Primordial," Zeraphine exined.


    "Oh? Are they rted to the Desert Empire''s Empress?" A voice asked, and everyone turned to see Myrth suddenly there.


    This time, Myrth took the form of a man. A handsome young man is seated on a gold throne.


    Everyone was shocked at how Myrth managed to appear all of a sudden. Unlike Tiana, who had to use a strange portal technology, Myrth was suddenly just over there and managed to override the technology of Straviaa.


    "Myrth!"<sub> </sub>


    Seeker frowned for a bit. He could understand the power that was made. Myrth had used the Void Realm!


    "It can''t be...!" Seeker hid his expression.


    "How did you appear there?!" Straviaa eximed as she felt a great threat.


    "Don''t worry, Straviaa. I am only tailgating the portals that the previous ones made. In any case, let''s not be bothered by such trivial questions. So, I doubt Pridgeon would join this battle. Too risky since we might all just go on and kill him. And Garenjazz is nowhere to be seen." Myrth chuckled.


    "Oh, I don''t know about that. I might not fight, but I have to make sure Zeraphine is safe."


    Myrth froze as he heard that voice.


    Just over his head was Garenjazz sitting right on top of him in Lotus position.


    Everyone was now shocked. Even Seeker couldn''t see what had happened. In Myrth''s case, no one was paying attention to him when he suddenly appeared. But for Garenjazz, everyone was looking at Myrth, and it was as if Garenjazz appeared out of thin air.


    Garenjazz was wearing an all-white shirt and carried a staff.


    "Greetings, everyone! I am Garenjazz the White!"


    "The Lord of the Rings?" Seeker asked curiously.


    "Nice to personally see you, Seeker Carlean." Garenjazz hopped off Myrth andnded on the ground.


    The moment he moved, it was proven that he now had a physical body. He was the only one with no Throne, aside from Seeker.


    "Now... What does your father n to show all of us?" Garenjazz asked. He then turned and noticed Myrth''s rage was apparent on his facial expression, and Garenjazz made awkward steps to widen his distance.


    "My father decided to reveal this despite the numerous disadvantages that will arise from this." Seeker threw out am device to the center.


    But right before itnded, it began to float as Straviaa used her powers to ess the files.


    A video of a man in a strange room was found. If any normal human beings looked at it, they wouldn''t have cared. But the moment the video was shown, the expressions of all Top Tiers changed.


    "What?!"


    "Impossible!"


    "So I was right... The Bible does record the history of the Aragarians." Garenjazz''s expression changed.


    The rest picked up from this. However, what they only saw was a man emitting high-powered radiation and the release of energy that had simr power to the Universe Energy.


    "For the sake of the Mid-Tiers, this is the Lost Primordial. The real body. Not the one that ims that title in Egypt." Seeker began.


    "What is the meaning of this?" Tiana frowned.


    "Allow me to exin the past right before you guys arrived here. Before even the first groups of Presiders arrived on Earth, the Lost Primordial was already here after he lost to the one you called the Primordial. The battle had wounded him, and he was going to die. I don''t know what that means, or if that''s possible, considering that the levels of Primordial''s would be utterly different than those of us. Even we cannot imagine what Principals have. But this is him. He arrived on Earth and tried to find a way to survive."


    "So I''m guessing he failed."


    "Yes. But not because of his intention. I don''t know what kind of battle he faced with the Primordial, but he didn''t die because of natural causes. He was killed."


    "So the one masquerading to be the Lost Primordial is the one who killed him?"


    "We don''t know. My father took up the moniker of the Progenitor because he ims that he is one of the earliest experiments that the Lost Primordial made. There are many others. Those battles that we had were not just an alliance of two parties. It was many."


    "Those with the Wind, that Dragon in China, the werewolves, the vampires? All of them are different experiments of the Lost Primordial?"


    "There are more of you?" Enderks asked.


    "My father was the only one bold enough to fight. And we were tricked. That Tyrant Empress made it look like she allied with one of you. So when Crostfree was on earth, I and a few others decided to attack him, thinking that she was there. But it turns out we were tricked, and my father''s other batch mates lost quite a number in that battle. The Lost Primordial intended to make me, the Progenitor, and the rest to be the targets. I heard she is allied with Pridgeon somehow."


    "That exins the events months back. That exins how the fight against Crostfree led to that situation and even led to Crostfree''s deaths." Garenjazz frowned.


    At that moment, Seeker maintained his cool expression. But he knew that Garenjazz was doing this to help him. Garenjazz''s words caused an eerie sensation that made Seeker feel cautious. He had trained to listen to audiotapes of Lowengren lying and giving out strange and random information, and Seeker''s training was to figure out if it was true or not. He had grown sensitive to this and could somehow understand why Lowengren''s lies were so believable. It shifted him into a strange type of Zone created through the dimensions beyond the fourth. Garenjazz was doing this to everyone by making that conclusion.


    Seeker was sure everyone in the room thought Crostfree''s death was like this, and they wouldn''t even question it!


    "What a dangerous man. He might now know the real truth behind this... But his Zone can pick it up!" Seeker concluded and took a mental note of how Garenjazz should be the next target.

 Chapter 510 Do We Really Have A Choice?

    Seeker had intended to alter the story of the Lost Primordial and paint the fact that all his allies were long-time enemies and were all plotting against each other.


    The greatest advantage that Seeker and the Unlocked army had was that they improved their technology at such an insane amount of speed.


    Seeker only had the technology of the Pangean Government at the start. But they quickly grew in power and tech in several months. This made it difficult for the Presiders to trace the very source of the Unlocked armies. They cannot believe that in a span of a few months, Earth would develop a means to gain the same power that can challenge these Presiders.


    Seeker himself, who had just revealed a portion of his power, appeared to have technology that needed to be cultivated since World War 3. Not one of them, even the Top Tiers, assumed that the Progenitor and the ones masquerading as the Lost Primordial only grew to the level of Presiders in a few months.


    With this advantage, Seeker harnessed the power of lying to deceive everyone. But he knew, in this ce where the Zone would sh, the chances that his lies would be believed was small. Nevertheless, many would harbor doubts and will surely investigate it.


    But then Garenjazz spoke. Garenjazz''s words didn''t just make everyone conclude regarding the death of Crostfree. Instead, it led everyone to believe that everything that Seeker had said was true!


    The Presiders all began to speak up and talk about the unusual events and how Seeker''s words made sense.


    "Was that Zone? No... if it were, the Anti-Zone that I have been trying to release through Vender''s Paths would cause a hup! But how did his words move smoothly? What is his power?" Seeker pondered.


    He then used his memory to rey every detail of how Garenjazz appeared.


    "No matter how I think about it, he just used basic teleportation! But his timing was perfect..." The kid thought.


    "Does he have a power like mine?" The Adult wondered.


    "Maybe he''s just lucky and tried to show off. He looks like a weird guy." Zeraphine offered her suggestions as she pretended to be one of the personalities in Seeker''s head.


    The Adult and the Child suddenly turned to ''Zoe.''


    "...Luck? Could it be?" The Adult wondered.


    "It is possible. Luck could be Zone. His movements are uninformed. Alean''s Zone sometimes gives her this gut feeling, and at times it lets her know why she needs to do what her Zone tells her to do! But for him, it''s as if he''s blindly moving and leaping into things!"


    The Presiders all offered their ounts, each making sense of everything.


    All the while, Seeker would steal a nce at Garenjazz, and all those times, he was smiling.


    "This is dangerous..." The Adult thought in his head.


    "Yes. Should we choose to fight him, it would be like fighting someone who knows all of our ns."


    "Our choice is either to befriend or use Zeraphine..." Zeraphine spoke as Zoe.


    "So the Lost Primordial''s body is here, and you have been fighting everybody to hide the information of his body and are racing against the other experiments like you to get him, correct?"


    "Yes."


    "Then what was the n of the Lost Primordial? Why did the Lost Primordial create all of you?" Myrth suddenly asked Seeker.


    "He was nning to make Earth just like Aragar. Perhaps he hoped someone among us could conquer and help him lengthen his life. But as he aged, he kept losing more and more of his power, and soon, he even had to let several groups, my father included, protect him. Then came the first batch of Pioneers, which eventually led to World War 3."


    "Then World War 3 had more secrets that even we didn''t know..." Myrth frowned.


    "Exactly. World War 3 was a chaotic time, and maybe the Presiders who were here knew the real underlying events and the battles that my father had during the chaos of the World War. We thought we won, but the Lost Primordial died at the end of the battle. And his body just vanished. Since then, all the seeds of the real Lost Primordial began to build up forces. The WGP is led by one of the experiments. Hence, I''m sure you know of the Throne Technology hidden in the World''s Helm? That is where the one most loyal to the real Lost Primordial sat."


    "So that''s why the Rule, an imitation of Throne, is here on Earth..." Feyor was amazed.


    "Since then, each of us was preparing and building forces and improving our techs knowing that you guys would arrive. And when your batch finally did, Andronze immediately chose Egypt, didn''t she?"<sub> </sub>


    "Now I remember. So that was her n all along! So she knew something was under Egypt! Or rather, she was told by someone from the previous batch!"


    "That''s our conjecture as well. She knew the lost body of the Lost Primordial was under there all along. My father and the rest of his friends and enemies were getting restless. They knew time was running out. And so together, we worked together and even dragged Pridgeon and Shakstress into the chaos to steal the body back. We knew that a Principal wasing, which would lead to our certain defeat. So we ced everything on that and acted so united that the Lost Primordial would have been proud. But the Mid Tier Andronze won. Isn''t that interesting?"


    "Wait! Did she win? Was it not you or that Lost Primordial who defeated her?"


    "Well, if you guys believe that, what can we do? My father said that there is no point in convincing you otherwise. But this is the truth. Andronze won. One of our allies was taken. She is probably also the reason why Lanterk willingly allied with her. One of the Lost Primordial''s experiments is Thought Bestowal. It isn''t creating an AI intelligence. Instead, it bestows one''s thoughts on an object. And most importantly, it wouldn''t cost Universe Energy!"


    "Impossible!" Tiana frowned.


    Suddenly, Seeker threw anotherm device at the center, and it was instantly captured by the ship, and all details were projected on the room.


    Videos of Guinevere were revealed and the Top Tiers, including Garenjazz, were amazed.


    "Imagine if Shakstress had it! Imagine if Lanterk has it! In any case, the two Top Tiers are in alliance. So, I have no choice but to reveal this information to you. We need more people to attack. Because we know, like all of you, you would want these technologies for yourself! Because if not, you will all be devoured by theing Principal!"


    Zeraphine was silent the entire time. She kept ncing at Garenjazz and was waiting for him to speak.


    Garenjazz saw and nodded.


    "Then I am assuming the best time to attack Andronze is now. She and Lanterk went into an alliance, and with the power of Judgment Day, the two managed to dy all attacks. The Progenitor and the other experiments, including thatdy known as the Tyrant Empress, are all poising for an attack. Then with a united front, Andronze and Lanterk will surely be stunned and would be unable to fend off all of us fighting at once." Garenjazz added.


    "Agreed. We should all fight together." Feyor was the first to agree.


    "I agree as well," Straviaa added.


    Enderks nodded his head.


    Zeraphine saw everyone''s reaction and smiled.


    "Unless..." Garenjazz then smiled again.


    Zeraphine was confused and frowned at Garenjazz.


    "Unless this is an enticing plot for the Progenitor and his friends to betray us all. Lead us to a battle and fight Andronze and Lanterk, and suddenly, you and your friends will swoop in from the back to kill us and rob us." Garenjazz added.


    At that moment, the Presider all began to frown and nced at Seeker.


    Zeraphine was looking at Garenjazz, and she was extremely displeased.


    "...My father has no intentions. This is because we are most likely to be attacked due to my father''s powerful legacy in Phallic techs. But do we really have a choice now?" Seeker turned the question back. For some odd reason, even Seeker''s Zone told him to go with Garenjazz''s flow.


    "...Well, that''s a good point. If the Principal arrives here, and the very body of the Lost Primordial who even managed to challenge THE Primordial would mean a possible massacre of all Presiders here." Garenjazz chuckled.


    Everyone''s expression changed at those words.


    "I can tell you that my father''s forces cannot fight. We used too much in the fight against Lanterk. We are not as rich in resources as you."


    "Then tell us, who would be their next target? Lanterk has shown Top-Tier capabilities. Who would be attacked by your peers?"


    "Among all of you, they won''t attack Garenjazz, not since he can resist the Tyrant Empress. Nor will they chase after Tiana for her unknown powers. Instead, the targets will most likely be the Mid-Tiers and Myrth. And, of course, the person who stands to be at the cross-hairs of the Tyrant Empress would be... Zeraphine." Seeker answered honestly.

 Chapter 511 Medes And Persians

    The talk between Andronze and Lanterk had just ended. The alliance was set, and the countermeasures were made in case of an attack.


    The power of Lanterk began to affect the countries surrounding Egypt.


    In thend of the Desert Empire, constant fighting could be seen as more and more of the robots were turning against their creators.


    The South Western Caliphate region was also going through an upheaval, and the ships that were crossing the Suez Canal had all sunk as the Exoskeletons and Armors in the ship began to shoot and rampage.


    It was clear, especially to the Presiders, that Lanterk protected Egypt.


    Greece dered an alliance with Egypt, and several massive floating fortresses were deployed and began to move toward Egypt.


    Demands for the Desert Empire to retreat were made. The WGP was also called, and Greece urged it to withdraw unless the god of Greece would enact terrors to its numerous bases. And finally, the people responsible formandeering the stolen Orbital were called to abandon the ship and retreat.


    But despite all of these threats, the numerous groups guing Egypt didn''t stop but even began to act wildly, and numerous skirmishes erupted in the area.


    The numerous threats had forced Andronze to gather all of its forces and amass the millions of soldiers in one ce. But as that happened, the Orbital, the Desert Empire, and the Many Mansions of the WGP had stopped.


    Andronze was immensely angry. Despite her efforts to block the attack, she quickly lost more and more grounds and finally decided to have her entire army gather in their massive, sky-piercing fortress.


    Millions of soldiers emerged, and the world was shocked at what possibly was thergest army the Presiders on Earth had ever formed rose.


    Andronze brought out everything and prepared for battle.


    She sat on her throne at the great heights of her Babel Tower and looked down on the world.


    "How treacherous of the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor. After taking muchnd, they issue a full retreat. They want me to fight the Presiders... But with Lanterk, that battle should begin in a few weeks!" Andronzeughed as she observed the thick sea of clouds. Her tower rose above the clouds themselves, and numerous massive weapons were ready to make short and range attacks at an instance.


    Thoughts of contacting the Nile Serpent had crossed her mind, but she was afraid to reveal its existence. Not with so many potential Top-Tiers scanning her every move.


    "Garenjazz, Myrth, Tiana, and other secret Top-Tiers ought to be watching my every move! Our only advantage is their disunity. If those Top-Tiers and Mid-Tiers attack me, they risk being attacked by the Progenitor and the Lost Primordial. Is it possible that they will form a secret alliance and agree to make a united front against me?" Andronze asked.


    A small boy that was made of metal was standing next to her. But unlike before, this metal golem was not controlled by Universe Technology but by a satellite link that connected Egypt and Greece.


    "Not a chance. You''ve seen what happened to our battle underwater. The moment after we fought, they appeared to attack Each Presiders will be attacking each other if one surfaced. So everyone is ying the waiting game. No one would dare to attack because they will be attacked themselves." Lanterk answered.


    "So the question they have to ask is if they will be willing to risk it?" Andronze asked.


    "The answer is yes." A voice suddenly thundered from the skies above.


    The dark clouds suddenly began to boom with lightning as a lightning storm began.


    Andornze and Lanterk were stunned as they heard the voice.


    Andronze quickly activated numerous protocols that called on their base''s force fields and shields.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    A massive river suddenly burst out of the ground of the desert. All of the Nile began to move like a massive serpent and gathered around the fortress. It became a living moat that protected the entire area, and water serpents of all forms began to appear.


    A mighty force field covered the entire Babel fortress.


    Sun began to form at the very top of the tower of Babel as intense energy continued to gather.


    "Resist as you might. But the words of the prophecy will be fulfilled. Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin. Your days are numbered. You have been weighed in the bnce and have been to be guilty. And your kingdom will be divided to the Medes and the Persians." The voice continued to speak.


    "Where is the source of the voice?!" Andronze shouted andmanded his team.


    "It seems to being from... everywhere. All of the matter is vibrating to create this sound. It must be that man who was believed to have attacked and trapped Pridgeon. Richie!" Lanterk frowned.


    "Presider Andronze... Your number is up!" 1


    The entirend began to vibrate as the voice spoke.


    "They dare attack me?!" Andronze roared.<sub> </sub>


    Suddenly, the entire skies began to brighten as lightning and thunder began to course throughout the darknd.


    All the lightning suddenly condensed together, and the figure of a masked man stood over the heavens with lightning charges booming and attacking the force field.


    The man stood and held lightning which took the form of a sword.


    "The first of the Medes has arrived!" Richie''s voice crackled as Lennox took form.


    "I am the Progenitor!" Lennox dered.


    A whirling tornado began to form as the storm clouds became even more chaotic.


    The Orbital suddenly appeared out of the clouds.


    "What?! That''s the Orbital! How did it move here in an instant!" Andronze was stunned.


    Reports suddenly arrived indicating that the Orbital that was stolen had suddenly disappeared!


    "It teleported. Obviously." Lanterk frowned.


    "That''s impossible! That ship doesn''t have the technology to teleport!"


    "It must be them, then. The same foes that fought me with the strange teleportation of passing through a strange realm." Lanterk answered.


    Inside it was Hermes, the Void Assassin, and the Realm King.


    "This is a good ship..." The Realm Kingughed as he continued to read the ship''s schematics.


    "Why are you so obsessed with the blueprint of the ship?" Hermes asked.


    "All in good time, mate. All in good time!" Lioncourt answered.


    "The Medes have arrived. Now it''s time for the Persians to show themselves!" Richie''s voice echoed out once more.


    Three lights shed up the sky, and three connected pirs that carried a tform with an entire city above it shed out and appeared.


    "Myrth!" Andronze cursed as she saw the Presider that managed to st away and damage her Pyramid.


    The massive pirs touched the ground, and its towering city overlooked the Nile river gathered around the Babel.


    But even before Myrth could speak, several lights shed over the sky like an aurora. The lights condensed and gathered together, and a strange explosion of cosmic dust appeared. A strange orb that somehowpressed an entire massive point of space had appeared.


    Andronze recognized the ship that appeared. This was the Presider who had what many would consider the opposite of Shakstress.


    It was as if an entire world was inside this strange orb with space that looked like gxies.


    "Even Tiana!" Andronze cursed.


    "This is impossible! Why are all of them here!"


    Several more massive ships appeared as they breached through thend traveling in Hyperspace.


    Straviaa. Enderks. Feyor. The ships began to emerge one by one.


    Andronze couldn''t help but tremble at the sight. It didn''t make sense for all of them to march at once in war. They could never unite for a singr cause as all would suspect each other.


    The space above the battlefield began to change. A strange red cloud was gathering, and it was clear that the dimensions were being breached.


    Another ship appeared outside of the red mist.


    "Garenjazz! And that ship that moved out of it... It should be Zeraphine! Why are they all here?!" Andronze cursed.


    "Medes and Persians. Mankind and Presiders. Let the division begin!"

 Chapter 512 The WGP’s Plan

    The world would always remember that day as ''The Day That All Gods Appeared.''


    The gathering of gods in their own ships and realms of choosing had appeared over the hands.


    The world never expected that there would be several powerful groups that could create gigantic ships that would make the world''srgest creation look like an infant.


    Perhaps only the World''s Helm couldpete with the size and number of everything that appeared in the sky.


    Objects that did make sense and powers that appeared vastly superior to all the sciences of Earthbined.


    The Emperors and Empress of the WGP watched in shock at the emerging powers.


    "What is that thing?! It looks like it''s an entire universe!" An Emperor eximed.


    "Another is forming above the clouds. A ship has surfaced inside what seems to be an electrical field."


    "That''s not electrical! It''s the same thing with that strange orb! There''s a world inside of it!"


    "So there are more of them..."


    "We have to gather all Emperors and Empresses! We have to talk about how to fight them."


    "Fight them? Have you seen their power? These aren''t humans! Such sizes of their structure could only mean that these ships are from outside our! This isn''t a war! This is an alien invasion!" An Emperor argued.


    "Yes! But look! They are fighting against each other!"


    "We can win if we fight. If we all unite." An Emperor appeared.


    "Phoenix! You knew about this, didn''t you? You knew these aliens were here after the Kraken and after Miranne disappeared! Yet, you allied with them!" An Empress used.


    "True. I don''t know who I allied with among those up there in Egypt. It is one of them. He used me to make these aliens fight against each other. And now we see it! We see them fighting! If we join together and activate the true power of the Rule in the World Helm, we could even defeat them!" Phoenix pressed.


    "That is suicide!"


    "Then what do you suggest? What ns does the Rednal family have to fight them?"


    "We will die if we do your n!! The WGP will lose power if we fight an all-out war! We wait! We wait for them to kill each other! And whoever is the victor, we ally with them then!"


    "That will leave the earth in taters by then! Look! Don''t you see what will happen after a battle like that? All Egypt will probably be devastated!"


    "That''s my point! Those ships could easily destroy even the strongest countries in this world! The WGP cannot fight all of those things! Let them kill each other! We join and submit to the strongest one! The world could burn! Most of these nations are allied with this alien group in the first ce! Haven''t you been paying attention?!"


    Phoenix frowned. This was the reaction that Seeker warned him about. The WGP would remain neutral until, eventually, they either killed each other in the Throne War or were secretly killed by one of the Presiders. The changes that Seeker had caused gave hope to the Everhiss family. However, if the Aragarians were portrayed as divided and would kill each other, the WGP may decide to fight alongside Seeker!


    But it seemed that those hopes could note true. Phoenix now understood the secretive nature of the Lost Primordial and how he knew that earth would chose to serve their own self rather than fight for what is noble and good.


    "We are the WGP! The world''s rules and its protector! If we die, it''s because we did our duty!" Pheonix answered.


    "I agree with Phoenix in this! We can win! We just need to know who among them are our allies, and this fight will be something that we can win! If we use the perfect form of Origin Energy, we could blow up a! Even those strange powers will be destroyed if we use that!"


    "We would lose it forever! And if that alien race sent more of its forces, we would die! Same scenario! We need time and resources! So we wait for the strongest and ally with them. If those other aliens are from a fight faction or are from a different, then we would have the resources to fight back!" The Emperor urged.


    Phoenix was incensed as he heard this. He now understood why Seeker wanted to fight the WGP.


    While they spoke, Arthur was secretly listening through Phoenix.


    "Let them have their ns. I hope this settles it for you. Seeker knew that most of the WGP would follow this n no matter what happened. Do not argue. Go on with it. If you resist, the more it will cause a Throne War that will kill you all without even giving you the chance to fight the enemy. The Throne War that mysteriously caused the annihtion of the WGP may have been something that the Lost Primordial prepared. The power of Unity is forming and has been the intention of the Lost Primordial. The ns will proceed. After this battle, if our forces survive, then the next thing we will leak is the Throne Technology which will force a battle over the World''s Helm."


    Phoenix gave a long sigh as he realized that Arthur was right.<sub> </sub>


    "Do you have anything more to say, Phoenix? You who was the first to betray and ally with these aliens?" The Rednal Emperor asked once more.


    "We will concur to whatever you decide. I took the initiative and epted everything that was offered to me to find my daughter. But now, with all of this, I don''t really know what to do. Of course, I would rmend fighting, but what the WGP needs right now is unity." Phoenix sighed.


    The Emperor was surprised at Phoenix''s words.


    Phoenix continued to stare at the window.


    "I am just sad. I thought we were... truly emperors of this world. I guess the age of emperors to be enved is upon us."


    The Rednal Emperor kept silent, but his gaze locked on to Phoenix and didn''t even hide his animosity.


    Back in Egypt, Andronze quicklyunched all of his techs and brought out a massive armada of forces.


    "Presider Andronze. We know what you have under Egypt! Give us the Lost Primordial! And this battle will not be against you!" Richie''s voice echoed across the skies.


    Andronze shivered the moment she heard it.


    "Lanterk has leaked very interesting information to us. What a sneaky n..." Richieughed.


    Lanterk and Andronze nced at each other, and Andronze was about to attack.


    "Don''t! It''s their trap! Think! What do I gain by leaking that girl?! This man is trying to divide us!" Lanterk shouted.


    Andronze had her arm aiming for Lanterk, but she began to hesitate.


    "His words are a trick! He even demanded the Lost Primordial. Is this girl the very Lost Primordial?"


    "Perhaps YOU told them that! You insisted that they won''t be able to attack! Yet here they are!" Andronze demanded.


    "I have nothing to gain in doing that! I have no allies here and face death! Why would I do that?!"


    "A deal! You offered your soul to someone!" Andronze shouted.


    "Do you want me to fire a powerful beam here? I will expend a huge amount of the Universe Energy and activate a stronger version of my power! I will alter the maic properties of everything there! As long as the deal stands!"


    "If you want to gain my trust, appear here personally!"


    "What?!"


    "You heard me!" Andronze shouted.


    "...Fine. But if I am there, I can improve the power of my maism if you give me the girl."


    "No!" Andronze quickly rejected. She was still suspicious of her ns for Lanterk. If Lanterk knew the location of Guinevere, he would know where the body of the Lost Primordial is. Andronze quickly rejected the offer.


    "Ensure my survival in this battle. Then I will give her to you."


    "Done!" Lanterk quickly answered.


    "Get here now! I won''t survive this!"


    "Rx. They are not allies! I know the Progenitor and those who im to be the Lost Primordial! They managed to outsmart me! Those Top Tiers are all being scammed! No matter what chaos happens, you dying instantly will be their disadvantage!"


    Andronze trembled in rage. She decided to finally risk it all.


    "Let''s hope that''s the case! Because if not, you won''t ever have Guinevere or the Lost Primordial''s body!" Andronze dered and revealed her biggest secret!

 Chapter 513 The Hunt Begins

    The revtion stunned even Lanterk.


    "The Lost Primordial''s body? Impossible!"


    "I''ve made numerous preparations and hid it with extreme preparations! No techs can find it! The proof of it is that it hasn''t been attacked even now! So pick a side! Both Guinevere and the Lost Primordial will be shared with you!" Andronze demanded.


    "I am not betraying you! This was their n to scare us into infighting! I have already sent my men here and will appear just as you requested. Open a portal here!"


    "And let you in my defenses! No way! Get here yourself and fight your way through!" Andronze demanded.


    "Fine! I''ll be on my way. You can check Greece if you don''t believe me!"


    At that moment, many Presiders also detected the fluctuations in Greece as a towering metal giant had emerged from the city and brought numerous buildings with it.


    "Shall we begin? Lanterk is on his way here." Feyor asked as he broadcast it in a public frequency that all Preisders had ess to.


    "Feyor! We''ll see who''ll be on the losing end here! Attack!" Andronzemanded, and the millions of forces of Egypt began to move.


    The rivers came to life as a massive serpent rose over thend. But strange energy gave life to it, and the waters released terrifying radiation.


    As the rivers moved, several massive round ships erupted from the ground, and four Orbitals rose from the ground as they used Dug Down Deep to move through the grounds.


    "What military might!" Straviaa watched as all the powers began to appear.


    The millions of men suddenly rose to the skies and made their attacks just as all of the Presiders made their attacks.


    An all-out war with millions of fighters fought over the skies. However, thebined forces of all the other Presiders were far less than the one in Egypt. And so, despite the numerous techs that the rest of the Presiders sent out, they were either blocked or destroyed by the sheer power of the groups.


    Massive explosions urred all over the skies, and mushroom clouds rose in different ces.


    Every Presiderunched their attacks, and all were aiming for Egypt.


    But then a strange pulse rippled out, and all the metals began to tremble.


    "It''s Lanterk." Enderks watched in annoyance.


    "Will he appear and use that strange teleportation he used against you?"


    "No. Everyone''s entry here didn''t cross great distances, and the fluctuations were minimized, as Myrth told us earlier. The fluctuations won''t be as dangerous. I only worry if those fake Lost Primordial will appear. For now, focus on calming down our metal. And be ready in case those other guys will attack us." Enderks instructed.


    The power of controlling metal began to cause immense trembling on the ships. Each Presider brought out their specific solution to stop the power through various strange and world-altering powers.


    The stop was sessful, but the cost was that they could not freely use their powers to block or make massive attacks against Egypt. With the threat of Lanterk present, their ships could suddenly fall into the trap and be controlled by Lanterk.


    All that was left was for their soldiers and weapons of war to attack with whatever techs they had.


    But their numbers were no match for Egypt.


    The all-out attack on Egypt looked like a massive sun was being born with all thesers, sts, and energy attacks being sent out.


    The Presiders were all on the defensive at the attack.


    As the war began, Lennox harnessed numerous lightning bolts that gathered in his hand. The clouds aided him as they shot numerous bolts, and Lennox prepared a spear.


    "Progenitor! Your time is up!" A loud cry could be heard, and numerous Presiders were startled.


    A Sky Satellite had moved off course and hovered over Egypt above the earth.


    Because of the shout, everyone finally noticed several figures falling.


    Within the clouds, the dust of metal began to gather together. Because of its form and the subsequent appearance of numerous Presiders, no one could detect that there was a mass amount of maic dust that was now gathering. The dark clouds hid it, but now it was clear.


    A massive Armor appeared through the clouds as the dust gathered.


    All over the Armor were several men wearing skin suits, and some were Exoskeleton.


    At the forefront was a man who wore no armor at all. Instead, he simply wore a typical Ninja garb.


    Typical harnessed his power, and everyone could feel numerous needles that harnessed lightning.<sub> </sub>


    "Have a taste of your electricity, Progenitor!"


    "Fangs! I knew you''d try to fight me! Where is your master?!" Lennox demanded.


    "Taking care of other flies!" Typicalughed as Suit activated his Armor and flew faster towards Lennox. The Dragon''s Fang was all with him.


    "Progenitor! You will pay for killing my father!" Typical shouted as all the needles began to shoot with fast speed.


    "Die!" Lennox harnessed his lightning and was about to shoot his attack.


    "Kaleidoscope World!" A voice called out, and a strange change in the three-dimension urred around them.


    The three dimensions began to change their nature, and a strange scene could be seen inside as if the entire space had been sliced up and ced back in the wrong position.


    It only happened for a brief second, but the location where Typical and his team were charging towards was Myrth''s massive fortress.


    "My body! Realm King! How dare you interfere!" Typical cursed as the ce around Typical and his team were still enveloped in a strange lopped in a strange discement of the three dimensions.


    Myrth was enraged. But not because of Typical and his Armor heading towards her ship. She could easily block them, and numerous countermeasures would kill Typical. But he was angry because the person who used the strange power was seated right on top of his ship!


    Lioncourt Diviner wasughing with the soldiers, and Exoskeleton closest to him was all freezing.


    "He evaded my sight and even used teleportation that I can''t detect! Who is that man?" Myrth frowned.


    Meanwhile, Lennox''s lightning was also affected by the discement and charged by the discement and charged toward Straviaa''s ship!


    "Presider! Evade! I cannot control my attack!" Lennox shouted.


    "Damn it!" Straviaa caused as she tried to move the ship. But in the current situation of the battle, Straviaa could not afford any quick evasion, and the attack was destined tond.


    "That Progenitor! He betrayed us!"


    "Not so fast, Straviaa. I can sense the Progenitor trying to redirect the power of the lightning bolt he sent out, but that man who is warping the three dimensions is adapting and changing the reality around that bolt! Just evade for now! I''ll help you!" Enderks exined.


    "Realm King. Let''s pick up where we left off." A cold voice was heard and right above Myrth''s huge fortress was a massive green dragon! It had great power of heat, but at the same time, parts of the dragon were made of ice!


    The strange power of the dragon merged andbined two conflicting energies. The massive destion could not melt the ice, and the cold, freezing powers of the ice didn''t hinder the devouring and destroying of the power of destion.


    It was as if both elements were made by the same Path. The two powers were not in conflict and were working together to have a stronger property than before.


    Realm King watched from below and marveled at the heights the two had reached.


    "Now... THAT is cheating. If they can masterbining two Paths, Meng and Rosa are the strongest Oveers in terms of power. Even Seeker would find it hard to break through that ice." Lioncourt observed as the majestic maw was fast approaching.


    The two forces approaching Myrth''s ship were from angles that were not directly facing the full wrath of Egypt. Nevertheless, the defenses that Myrth had to use were reaching the maximum levels that the ship could use.


    "I guess I have to go..." Myrth frowned as he was about to move to block the iing attacks.


    But Lioncourt suddenly held a majestic telekic force on his hand, and the space between his palm began to alter. It was as if a ck hole was forming at the strange harnessing of everything.


    Suddenly, the power of Time surfaced.


    "Divine Stop!" Lioncourt pped his hand and dispersed the strange ck hole in his hand.


    A strange power rippled out, and Time suddenly passed slowly for all Presiders.


    Myrth was stunned and began to move faster, but he was already toote as Myrth waited too long to move. The two powers crashed into the floating fortress of Myrth.


    A needle had prated the south side of the ship, and the green ice dragon made its maw at the top of the ship.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacks of Meng and Typical struck the ship, and with all the many hindrances that affected Myrth, these two attacksnded, and the ship trembled.


    "The Hunt of Presiders begins..." Lioncourt smiled as the massive maw falling on him created a gap with him standing safely inside.

 Chapter 514 Return Of The Plagues

    The assault of the Oveers came at the most advantageous moment.


    Numerous threats have befallen them due to the threat of Lanterk''s power. All Presiders were affected. But none among the Unlocked armies were.


    The sacking of Lanterk''s ship allowed the Unlocked to create metals that would not follow the tremendous pull and control of Lanterk. So unless Lanterk unleashes his Universe Energy, the Unlocked armies won''t suffer remote control of Lanterk. But the maic pulses that breach and travel through the dimensions affect numerous techs of the other Presiders.


    And then, there were the millions of Andronze''s armies. The fight was so catastrophic that all Presiders were implementing countermeasures upon countermeasures to limit the attacks and damages to the millions of Andronze.


    The sudden attack on Myrth''s ship and the lightning bolt mistakenly sent to Straviaa caused joy to Andronze.


    "As I thought. That Lost Primordial couldn''t help themselves, and they will begin to fight each other!" Lanterk sneered as he saw the progressing battle.


    "Just make sure that your fortress is fortified and is guarded to alert of any sudden infiltration. As I told you before, these people have superior teleportation, and some can even pass through walls. That''s how they managed to attack me. They kept me busy and secretly sent an assassin to try to kill my main body."


    "I have made preparations. Every room in this ce is set to detect the appearance of any metal and any signatures that are different to all my men and weapons." Andronze answered.


    "Let''s hope that''s enough. But if you are their target, I would bet that they could even reach your room!" Lanterk exined.


    Andronze raised her brow but didn''t answer.


    "It''s time for me to move to the offensive! This battle is tilting to my advantage, and I have to eliminate as many forces as possible! Command the Nile to attack!" Andronze ordered.


    "Pre-Presider! Look!" A Pioneer eximed as he saw the changes to the Nile.


    The massive flood dragon made of the Nile began to shout in pain. Then, at its tail, red water began to appear.


    A strange parasite was attacking the Nile.


    "It''s that damned bat! How did she enter this perimeter?!" Andronze cursed as she saw a huge part of the Nile bing a separate entity.


    "It can actually override the power that your Nile technology can do!" Lanterk was amazed. It was strange that another technology could actually override the tech of a Presider. Because of the diverse branches in the paths to being a Principal, it was very rare that two Presiders who fought would be able to take control of the science of another!


    Andronze cursed and began to use the water technology to wield the power of the Nile, but a portion of the Nile rejected it and tore itself out of Andornze''s control!


    At the center of the Nile were Akasha and two others.


    These two were former allies of Egypt that ran away. Damien was the scientist in charge of improving Nile Research technology. And the greatest fruit was the personification of the Nile itself. She was referred to as Experiment 01A3 and given the codename, the Woman of the Nile. She was also the woman who Damien eventually fell in love with and fled together, faking deaths and even sessfully eluded the Pioneers and the Presider of Egypt.


    Her power controlled the massive river and was using her realm to be merged with that of Akasha. The pair had secretly trained for this while faking captivity with Andronze. And now, the two were ready to fight together.


    She was also an Unranked. But in terms of Path, she would be considered a Ranked Hero.


    Steffany stood next to Akasha and wasbining their powers to wrestle control from Andronze.


    "Is this your limit?" Akasha asked.


    "Hardly. But the teachings of Lowengren state that I should not reveal all my power at once." Steffanyughed.


    "Get ready to fight. The gues of Egypt will strike the heart when we begin our attack.


    "I wonder if the Pioneer who assumed the identity of Marion Raison is there..."


    "Who is he?" Akasha asked.


    "The man who was in charge of improving Nile Research under Andronze. He is also the cause of my wife''s suffering and power." Damien answered as he wore a special underwater Exoskeleton suit.


    "Who knows? But Lennox ns to kill every single one of Egypt. So I''m sure you''ll find that Pioneer soon."


    "I want to thank him before I kill him. If not for him, I won''t be able to best the science of a Presider." Steffanyughed as the pair began to initiate an attack.


    BOOM!


    A massive explosion urred as the red Nileunched a massive st that created a Hydrogen Bomb inside the force field!


    The attack forced Andronze to gear her Throne and was about to move out.


    "Frogs in the main armory!" A Presider suddenly reported as the weapons deposit began to explode.


    Numerous frogs were forming from the liquid metal being harnessed.


    The cameras caught sight of a man that appeared out of the metal and wasughing.


    "That frog?! How did he get in there?!"


    "Presider! Help! Something is eating me!" One of those inside the Command Center shouted as she began to scratch and pounded on her skin.


    "Ahhhh!" The shout echoed out, and Andornze did a quick scan and found the cause.


    "Lice?!" Andronze was stunned.<sub> </sub>


    "Presider! A swarm of flies ising out of the vents within the base!" Another Presider reported.


    "Presider! The Flies have high radiation! It''s causing damage to all the exoskeletons and armors on our stock!"


    "Kill it! Release a base-wide electric shock to counter all lice and flies!" Anrdronze quickly ordered.


    "Ahhh!" Another Pioneer suddenly shouted as massive boils began to erupt on their skin.


    Andronze couldn''t understand where the location was.


    "How did they teleport those things inside?" Lanterk was confused. He had seen the techs of teleportation and even shared his confidence that Andronze''s preparations won''t be able to stop it. But the strange things that teleported inside did not make any sense.


    "There are no fluctuations in this base! Presider! We can''t pinpoint the source of all this!"


    "Did these things pass through?" Lanterk frowned. He had seen how Jake had managed to appear right before him!


    Andronze began to create orders to eliminate all the infiltrating forces. But the amount of damage was urring everywhere within the ship!


    But unknown to them, the source of all these gues came under Egypt!


    Throughout the weeks, the Nile Serpent that Lowengren controlled secretly picked up Gallium, Akasha, Damien and Steffany, and several Unlocked teams. The entrance to the Nile Serpent was a secret to all, and no means ofmunication and links connected it to Andronze. When the Unlocked reached that area, they simply used Dug Down Deep to move into Egypt. The team had no metal on. Gallium dug straight to the metal source and used the week to assimte his power on the liquid metals that were prepared to create armies if needed quickly.


    As for the flies and lice, they were already inside the base. Again, no metal was detected, and even the power of radiation had moved all over the ce.


    Many of the flies were born with deste power and had activated themselves as Meng arrived and triggered the destion power with the help of Lioncourt, who expanded his realm.


    The consecutive gues inside Egypt caused the fighting capabilities of Egypt to go down by several levels!


    Andronze was shouting numerous orders to stop everything.


    "Andronze!" Lanterk shouted.


    "What?! Can''t you see I''m busy!"


    "The Nile into blood! Frogs! Lice! Flies! The damage to your stocked resources because of the flies! And now, boils from numerous people probably because of the lice! Don''t you see what this is?!"


    "Obviously, I know! The gues of Egypt!"


    "Exactly! Then prepare for the next gue!" Lanterk ordered.


    "Next gue? Hail?"


    "Fiery hail!"


    "Presider... We don''t detect anything in the immediate skies!" A Pioneer reported.


    "Check higher! I can detect it! It''s still in space!" Lanterk frowned as he nced up to the skies above.


    In the week that had passed, The Void Assassin was given a very difficult mission. He had to journey to the far outdistance of time and space and used the most powerful techs that they had avable to fling him towards the great distance.


    Lanterk''s attack drew the attention of everyone, and no one cared about the distortions that urred outside of Earth. The secret base of the Presiders, which was behind Mars, was too far to detect these fluctuations.


    The Void Assassin found a wandering asteroid and used his powers to teleport them back to earth by making a series of jumps with the asteroid.


    And just as Arthur estimated, the Void Assassin managed to return exactly at the right moment.


    Rai found the powerful radiation devicesunched on a nearby satellite that the meteor struck just as Arthur predicted and detonated it at the front of the asteroid and jumped out.


    BOOM!


    The power of Ice and Destion spread out.


    It was then that all Presiders detected the sudden appearance of a massive asteroid!


    It had powerful ice had covered it and in it was destion. This was the very samebination that Meng and Rosa used to coat and create their dragon was applied over the asteroid.


    Rai jumped off the asteroid as it was entering the atmosphere and was saved by a flying ne owned and piloted by the Unlocked armies.


    Rai was exhausted as he arrived in the safety of the ne.


    "My liege!" The Void Assassins greeted.


    "Let me sleep. That mission was crazy! I nearly died!" Raiughed as he fell to sleep and the numerous doctors began to work on Rai to save him.


    The ninjas respected their master''s decision but could not help but worry about the massive asteroid falling, potentially annihting half of the Earth.


    "I hope the Presiders can deal with... THAT!" A ninja hoped.

 Chapter 515 The Plague Of Hail And Fire

    Space travel was surprisingly easy for those who have reached Inhuman.


    Rai was also an Oveer and could easily survive the pressure and powers of space. The Void Realm was a world that constantly brought pressure, and those who trained in it could travel in space with little assistance from technology.


    But Rai''s mission was to bring a massive asteroid and hurl it towards Earth.


    Every teleport he made was a fight for his life as he would navigate the asteroid in the realm to ensure it was on course. But he still made the asteroid follow a course that wouldn''t bring it in direct coalition to earth on the previous jumps.


    And so, not even the Presiders noticed it.


    But all of a sudden, the asteroid appeared. It was nearly a kilometer wide and would be on a collision course with the many ships below.


    Andronze cursed and made ready to attack the asteroid.


    "Wait! Not yet! It''s headed for a few Presiders! Prepare your strongest attack, and get ready to shoot! I will use my powers to hold everyone in position! Keep attacking them! Ensure that they won''t be able to destroy that asteroid until it hits their ship!"


    "I understand!" Andronze realized that this was indeed the perfect time to attack.


    Tiana, Feyor, Straviaa, and Myrth''s ships would be attacked with these massive attacks! And worse was that it had a strange technology of destion and ice, making it even bigger and harder!


    All the Presiders determined that such a massive object would do terrifying damage to everyone!


    Lanterk quickly used his powers and created a tremendous maic lock that stopped all ships of Presiders from escaping!


    "Damn him! He wants to use us to protect Andronze!" Feyor cursed.


    "Where is Shakstress when you need her?!" Straviaa cursed and began tounch her attacks at the iing asteroid.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    "That Andornze!" Even the Top-Tier Tiana began to curse out as the numerous attacks affected the massive space around her fortress and ced even her in a precarious situation.


    Inside the Many Mansions, an apparition of Lennox stood next to Arthur.


    "I hope your calctions are urate. If that thingnds, it will do great damage to the Earth. And everyone there could even die."


    "I didn''t make any urate estimates. Around so many Presiders, it''s useless."


    "This distraction should be enough for all teams to move to their position. I''ll be leading the Covenant. I hear that old Cronus is here as well. It''ll be nice to see how he improved."


    "Shall we then? We haven''t bonded as father and son." Lennoxughed.


    Arthur began to suit up as an Exoskeleton armor covered him.


    The Many Mansions began to shoot numerous attacks at the iing meteor, but hidden within the barrage were the several pods shot out to send several Exoskeletons towards the group.


    "Time to thread the Threshing Floor." Arthur then allowed himself to be deployed out of the chamber he was in and into the battlefield.


    Back outside, everyone began to shoot numerous attacks to destroy the falling asteroid, and right in the middle of Andronze''s attack, the numerous teams of the Unlocked Armies had appeared.


    The Covenant of the Strongest appeared and moved in position. All members, including Kristine and Arthur.


    Lennox''s main body flung a massive lightning bolt towards the meteor at that moment.


    The attack created a tremendous explosion, and sparks appeared as Lennox shot it out, and his body dispersed in the lightning to escape.


    But unknown to them, the lightning reformed around the team of Arthur as they headed towards Straviaa''s ship. The previous area where the lightning struck was their entry point.


    The meteor faced numerous attacks from all the Presiders.


    Beams, sts, bombs, and even the alteration of all space itself.


    But a mysterious power was causing the entire space to freeze in ce. And with the threat of Lanterk present, all Presiders were very careful not to bring out their strongest attacks. Still, the meteor was being chipped away piece by piece.


    Several massive energy fluctuations from different ships were prepared to shoot at it.


    But right before they could attack, a lone figure flew towards it.


    Omricon wielded a massive wind de and prepared to make the strongest cut that could even erase space itself.


    SLASH!<sub> </sub>


    The sword shed out as Omricon''s de harnessed the Cutting Wind that quickly halved the entire asteroid in half.


    The destion and ice were shed through and began to copse.


    Omricon''s body pushed towards the other side and shed through the entire asteroid.


    "I wonder if my sword could now match the legendary three-sword wielding master that Gardo spoke of..." Omricon could not help but wonder as he shed through the asteroid.


    All the Presiders were relieved at the sight and prepared to shoot the two remaining halves that were no longer protected by the strong ice and the destion that devoured their attacks.


    "Shoot it to pieces!" Tiana ordered as half of the meteor fell towards the orb which contained her realm.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Numerous beams began to attack, and the asteroid began to crack and was about to break into pieces.


    But all of a sudden, two members of the Four Winds had actually tailed Omricon and prepared an attack.


    Omega had harnessed the wind in the sky andpressed it into a small ball.


    Together with Austin, the pair intended to detonate the massive wind between the two.


    "No! Shoot them down!" Tiana realized the enemy''s n and ordered them to use their strongest beams.


    The other Presiders also realized it and shot out the attacks they had prepared.


    But it was toote.


    BOOM!


    The wind contained traces of the Cutting Wind, and the tworge pieces that were already reaching the point of being broken sted out and divided the two pieces into pieces.


    BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!


    The numerous beams that the Presiders prepared to destroy the massive asteroid barely did any damage as the asteroid exploded out and began to follow the wind currents that Hermes prepared.


    Lioncourt was using his Telekic powers to direct the movement of the meteor. As his understanding of his power grew, Lioncourt realized that his power could manipte the physics of things.


    When Hermes blew the asteroid into several pieces, Lionourt used his power to transfer the fall''s momentum and make it ride the wind currents that formed. As a result, the asteroids began to move with great speed and were even increasing. And it was hurling itself towards the many ships of the Presiders.


    "Maximum Defense on our shields!" Straviaa shouted.


    "Curse you, Lanterk!" Feyor roared as his capabilities to block the iing meteor storm had drastically decreased.


    "Andronze!" Tiana pinned the me for her vulnerability on the immense attacks of Andronze that caused her ship to divide the attention of their defenses.


    Myrth didn''t say anything but a wave of immense, deep anger could be seen in his eyes.


    "I''ll kill... ALL OF YOU!" Myrth vowed as he ordered to send out the attacks at the iing barrage.


    But the cannons that were directly in front of the iing meteors as it all exploded from a variety of Paths that attacked it.


    Andronze was the most surprised one. This was because the hail of asteroids was supposed to move towards the other Presiders. But most of them had veered away from the ships and mysteriously moved towards them.


    "Who is controlling those stones?!" She cursed.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The gue of Hail and fire had fallen over all of them.


    Garenjazz watched the show from his ship that was way above the area.


    "Well, what do you know? I positioned my ship in a very lucky position!" Garenjazzughed as he appeared next to Zeraphine and Seeker.


    His appearance caused Seeker to worry. His power was now more and more certain.


    "You are quite lucky. Is that your power?" Seeker decided to ask.

 Chapter 516 Infiltration

    The hail of stones and fire continued to crash on numerous ships and exoskeletons out on the battlefield. Attempts to destroy it were futile.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The shields of Egypt could not contend with the attacks as the annoyed Presiders took the time to send counterattacks to the force fields.


    The meteors that were hurling with unbelievable force and speed crashed on the numerous ships of the Presiders. These massive chunks'' power and brute size created great damage as they broke through the defenses of many Presiders, leaving huge holes in the ships.


    The timing was just precise. The attempts of each Presider to destroy the meteor was wasted as its attack only destroyed smaller pieces of the meteor when it broke and fled to smaller pieces. Everyone initially dyed any action to destroy the meteor hoping for it to do damage to other Presiders. And so the sudden dismemberment led to their own downfall as the meteors struck it.


    The whole operation was one of Arthur''s most challenging equations. But he seeded in the plot as he watched as the meteor dealt damage to all Presiders.


    And so, the teams that were assigned to infiltrate the Presider ships were all sessful.


    Amir Mann and his son had arrived as they rode one piece of the meteor that charged towards Myrth''s fortress.


    "It''s time to eat!" Amir Mannughed.


    Several meteors arrived, and with them were the Alphas formed during the Fang Wars.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The meteorsnded, and the team jumped off.


    They had different wereforms each. One had the form of a bear, the other a tiger. One had wings and took shape simr to that of Akasha. Another was a werewolf with very long hair, and thest one had no form but remained human.


    Our first fight. Now, remember, everyone! Try to control your turned wolves to avoid the Dragon''s Fangs!" The bearmanded.


    "I wonder where st is..." The winged bat blushed.


    "Where is my husband, One?" The beautiful werewolf with long hair sought her mate.


    "Lights. Camera. Action!" The human with no wereform dered.


    The Git Godlike had also boarded the ship of Straviaa.


    "Alright, everyone! This is a joint operation with the Covenant! Let''s not lose to them in kill count!"


    Deep inside the base of Andronze, numerous soldiers were leaving the Nile Serpent.


    These were the forces that Lowengren gathered one by one.


    The entire Warfreakz stood at the ready with numerous weapons that were never seen in the Unlocked armies.


    The entire Dalisay family also had their gears.


    Harker''s best soldiers in the Pagnean army with his trio team were also there.


    Alean also made her appearance, followed by the Twelve Disciples and the Gryphon Squadron.


    "Hurry up, everyone!" Alean called out, and several toons of the Unlocked left the Nile Serpent''s doors.


    During the week, Guinevere led the Serpent to pick up all of the Unlocked armies assigned to attack Egypt from within. But the way the Council of the Wicked arranged the events made it look like Andronze was controlling the entire ship. But in truth, the thoughts of Andronze that controlled the Nile Serpent have been sealed by Lennox.


    "We have to hurry! The n of the Presider will start soon! Then, with her defenses down, the enemy will raid the base, and we will ambush them! For the glory of Presider!" Alean shouted.


    As they began to leave, the numerous Andronze clone finally found their chance. During the stay of the numerous forces, they heard horrifying secrets and rushed toward the remaining father.


    "Father... We have questions... It''s about..." One of the clones asked.


    "About your designed Fate?" Lowengren sighed.


    "Father... You have been hinting about it... What exactly is our purpose?" The clones asked.<sub> </sub>


    "My sons and daughters... If I tell you this... then you will have a choice. We allowed them to talk about these mysterious things to convince you."


    "Convince us of what?"


    "Are you all willing... to betray Andronze and be gods yourselves?" Lowengren asked.


    Of the many powers that Seeker feared, the terrifying ones weren''t techs that could shrink, could wield metal, teleport, or make strong attacks. Instead, he feared the powers that were so strong that the Presider wouldn''t need to shoot even a single bullet or use Universe Energy to attack.


    And throughout the many shes and conflicts between Presiders and the Unlocked, Garenjazz had not yet fought the entire time. So even in the many conflicts on earth and how the many spies of the Unlocked tried to infiltrate the ranks and forces of different Presiders and secretly fought the people serving them yet, Garenjazz was someone who no one managed to infiltrate!


    Even the recent events that led them to discover many things about Garenjazz may have been his luck.


    "When he appeared in my dream, it demanded urgency that forced me to attack the Presiders and avoid being detected. That event led me to fight Lanterk. And he took advantage of that and made Andronze lose a lot which allowed us to finally infiltrate and find the Lost Primordial''s body and Guinevere! Was it all his luck? Is this battle tilting to his side?" Seeker could not help but wonder. And so, Seeker decided to act outside of Zone and was hoping to copse the luck of Lanterk.


    He stated something that poked at Garenjazz''s true power. Unfortunately, no other Presider seemed to have been aware of this type of power.


    Garenjazz smiled at the words of Seeker.


    "Oh? You actually think that luck is a power?"


    "Yes. My father, the lost Progenitor, and the Lost Primordial have always tried to win the favor of one specific experiment. Someone who has the power that she calls Zone. As half Presiders, we don''t know what you call it. In the battles against Lanterk and when they raided Shackstress''s fortress, this power called Zone was necessary. It''s simr to yours. She knows what to do at the right time. But, while most Presiders naturally have this, she takes it to a whole new different level. Yours seem to be simr but extremely different. It''s as if you don''t know about your actions while hers has some direction."


    "Oh... What an interesting power! That is the power of Fate''s Favor. The works of the Universe allow it to follow the direction of things. It is the very power that most Principals seek to understand. It is the power that the Primes try to master. And it is-"


    "The one thing that the Primordial tries to conquer." Seekerpleted the sentence.


    "Ah! Now you try to understand it! Congrats on knowing it! Most Presiders don''t even know that. They understand and know of Favor but don''t know what to do with it."


    "The Lost Primordial knows of it?" Zeraphine was amazed.


    "We don''t understand it as much as we want to. She was the only experiment with that power, and she herself didn''t know what to do. But what we do know is this... The Lost Primordial doesn''t seem to have any desire to conquer and surpass Fate''s power. He wants to submit to it."


    "Submit to it?" Garenjazz frowned.


    "Presider! A small meteor is headed hear! The many attacks below had caused it to change course, and now it''s headed at this ce with full speed! And an Exoskeleton seems to be riding it!" A Pioneer serving Zeraphine reported.


    "Show me."


    The cameras zoomed, and the hurling meteor that flew above the clouds and went off course, not hitting any of the ships, could be seen.


    An Exoskeleton was clutching for dear life in the rock and was shouting and squealing.


    The moment they heard the cries, Garenjazz frowned and felt an extreme form of annoyance.


    "Wa-Wait! That man! I can''t really say he''s our ally, but he''s-! Zeraphine! Could you try to save the man?" Seeker asked.


    "Save him?"


    "Yeah. He''s not dangerous. He''s very awkward, but he''s not an enemy to all. It''s veryplicated to exin." Seeker sighed.


    Zeraphine agreed, and as the meteor was flying, several ships were deployed and used their various techs to slow the meteor and save him.


    But as the group tried to save him, another alert appeared.


    "Presider! A Locust swarm is headed to the battlefield!"


    "A locust swarm?"


    "It''s her. The one is iming to be the Lost Primordial. The strongest experiment approaches!" Seeker eximed.

 Chapter 517 The Plague Of Locust

    The meteor shower had brought a sudden calm to the skies above as the Presiders began to regroup.


    Myrth, Straviaa, Enderks, and the Babel tower of Andronze detected numerous enemies breaching in and causing havoc from within their ships.


    The Many Mansions was now under the control of Miranne Everhiss with her husband, Chase Brander, and their daughter Magantae.


    "This looks like the perfect moment! Deploy them all and have them assume their formation! She''sing! All sensors shift to minimal visual feeds and prohibit sound from being transmitted." Miranne ordered.


    The Many Mansions incorporated many techs, including Lennox''s technology for the Kyogre, which Charles piloted.


    Throughout the battle, the schematics of each exoskeleton were quickly identified, and the group began to make weak, cheap, piloted dolls of these Exoskeletons. They appeared to be simr to the Exoskeletons of the numerous Presiders. As the effects of the meteor shower had confused each team, Miranne found the perfect opportunity to deploy these.


    Piloting them were numerously Unlocked had the highest scores and performed the most inputer games designed to train the Unlock.


    The exoskeletons were weak in armor and had decent firepower. But their purpose was to create chaos after ''she'' used her powers.


    The skies darkened as the locust approached.


    Andronze saw it and frowned. She had discarded the use of Locust tech in this battle due to their ineffectiveness. After all, this person forcibly took control of the locust that she had created.


    Andronze activated a protocol that would otherwise shut down any form of control over the locusts, and the Babel Tower released this strange signal.


    Yet the locust was not affected.


    "The gue of locust!" Lanterk saw the approaching enemies.


    "But how are they controlling it?!" Andronze could not understand. Even if the enemies found a way to control all locusts, it would have been disrupted by the technology she used.


    And yet the locust moved freely and formed ranks.


    An Exoskeleton belonging to that of Straviaa was caught against the swarms of the locust. And the strange creatures began to do the impossible. It ate the exoskeleton.


    The pilot who thought he could navigate through the insects found his entire body being devoured!


    It was then that Andronze realized that there was a strange power at work that improved the capabilities of the locust.


    The metal was eaten and devoured, and even the pilot was consumed.


    The scream of the pilot could not be heard amid the buzzing swarm.


    Numerous people were shocked at the capabilities of the swarm of locusts. It had a strange power that allowed it to have the strength to devour metal!


    Amir Mann frowned, and his anger raged.


    "That Tyrant Empress! She controlled the rampage of my power!"


    The locust''s lifespan was greatly hastened as it transformed into werelocusts that had the strength to chip the smallest piece of metal. But like a swarm, its capabilities to devour the metal was shown as these small bites happened almost instantly.


    Small bits of metal fell on the side, and many ships were threatened by the power.


    The swarm opened up, and it revealed several people standing around a massive blooming flower with a Rule at its very core.


    Numerous Rules also appeared at the side. And these Rules were from various Emperors and Empress that had mysteriously vanished over the months.


    The Emperors that once apanied Miranne Everhiss in their love also stood among the forces.


    A massive Exoskeleton simr to the Dawn Soldiers of Australia was standing on the petal. His entire suit was brimming with energy, and the radiation level that he released was powerful. But for some reason, the radiation was only around his armor and did not spread out.


    Near the center of the blooming flower was a beautiful woman sitting on the vine. She had a strange Exoskeleton that looked like nts, and at her appearance, the parchnds of Egypt suddenly began to produce sprouts!


    To the side was a man who was wearing a strange Exoskeleton. It took the shape of bones and skulls. But as he appeared, it caused great havoc among the Presiders.


    "What is that? A Principal?!" Andronze frowned.


    "No. He simply has an aspect of power that makes a Principal. He isn''t even Top-Tier! What a strange power the Lost Primordial has! It''s like a Presider finding a dead Principal and experimenting on its soul!"


    "It has soul tech?!"


    "Itmands the soul of the dead!" Lanterk exined.


    "What?! How is that possible?!" Andronze cursed.


    Suddenly, the Rule at the very center of the petal began to open up.


    The moment she appeared, a powerful force swept the entire battlefield.


    Even Garenjazz was affected.


    "What?! Fate''s Favor is moving towards her?!" Garenjazz eximed.<sub> </sub>


    The powers of numerous Paths were suddenly trembling.


    Lioncourt, Hermes, Lennox, and Meng, who were actively activating their respective Paths to create an effect, the space around began to be affected. It was as if their Paths and powers were being stolen from them.


    The energy flowed out, and these Oveers grimaced in pain.


    Lennox began to struggle, and Arthur took him up.


    "She''s giving a portion of my power to that thought process I created! It''s impossible! She''s giving it life!" Lennox cursed.


    The Wind, the Realm, the Lightning, and the Destion obeyed her will as she stepped forward.


    "The Bible was right in saying that the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank. Because the locust serves no king but serves a Queen!" The Tyrant Empress dered as the various Paths manifested and were absorbed by her!


    "Path Stealing! She took the active powers of telekinesis!" Lioncourt cursed.


    Up in the great fortress of Zeraphine, Seeker didn''t know whether he would be happy or worried.


    The power of the Tyrant Empress had surpassed his imagination. She had be like him! But, while he could use the power of others and wield it, the Tyrant Empress used her powers to attract and make the Paths hers!


    "Good luck, Richie..." Seeker wished for Richie''s sess in this mission. If the Tyrant Empress wins, she might gain the confidence to conquer. And the rest of the Oveers will have fear knowing that she can consume them!


    The Tyrant Empress removed her mask. This was the most necessary part of this mission.


    But even as she did this, Myrth, Garenjazz, Lanterk, Andronze, and Tiana did not hesitate and activated their powers thatmanded the Universe Energy of the world and created a ripple that affected the entire world around them.


    "That girl is quite dangerous, Seeker. No wonder your father is scared of her!" Garenjazz no longer ha a calm expression. But he was actually worried.


    "What was that?" Zeraphine asked.


    "All of us used a powerful shield that the Universe Energy can use. We don''t know what kind of power she has, so we erected a powerful shield that can even reflect Fate''s Favor itself!" Garenjazz exined.


    "In short, a shield that moves through numerous dimensions. She must have felt it. That''s why she didn''t remove her mask." Seeker answered.


    And true enough, the Tyrant Empress, who was about to remove her mask, grew extremely angry.


    At that moment, she felt that she was not beautiful enough.


    "So Universe Energy can be used like this, eh? One day, I''llmand the Universe! I just have a new goal to reach!" The Tyrant Empress then chuckled. It was unbing for someone as beautiful as her to show anger. So she removed her mask to reveal her beauty.


    Every Presider felt an extreme sense of danger as they could feel the potential of her power.


    "She must die!" Everyone decided.


    "Kill her!" The Presiders shouted, and all the stunned soldiers were awakened from their trance.


    "Please, be my knight. Protect me!" She pleaded.


    And all of a sudden, numerous men instantly acted and killed those near them.


    A small portion of each army began to attack each other and began to make a formation to protect the Tyrant Empress.


    At that moment, the exoskeletons that Miranne deployed began to attack. They had adapted a strange form of sight that showed no visuals at all but only disyed target size estimates in bright circles and walls. There was also no sound, so this remote exoskeleton was unaffected by the Tyrant Empress.


    The battle started, and it looked as if all the Presiders were warring against each other!


    An all-out war broke out, and the Oveers and the teams that infiltrated the ships also picked up their fighting.


    "That girl is dangerous," Garenjazz spoke again.


    "Zeraphine, let''s target her." Garenjazz urged.


    "Wait." Seeker suddenly called out.


    "My father said that her greatest rival will definitely act in this situation that she appears. So you said that you guys created some shield?"


    "Yes. We don''t know what her power is, but it''s weakened!"


    "Then they will act."


    "EAAAAAGGGLLLLLEEEEE MAAAAANNNNN!" A loud cry echoed out of the heavens, and suddenly several flying figures, each wearing capes and costumes like superheroes, appeared.


    Richie appeared, donning an upgraded form of his Eagle Man costume.


    The entire realm around them began to quiver. Every cell, every molecule trembled as it heard this sound.

 Chapter 518 Long-Awaited Battle

    Riche''s voice called out to everyone.


    It was the first time that his team had also revealed themselves. All of them were wearing strange superhero attires based on various animals. All of them had a cape and assumed a formidable pose.


    "Do you really have to go with that shout, boss?" A man appeared behind him and frowned.


    Leading the group behind him was Sammy Theoden, the first person Richie recruited to his team.


    Next to him was the former Admiral, who was in charge of the Kraken. He waster taken by Richie after seeing his potential in sound.


    Pizar As spent months learning as Sammy Theoden trained and soon won the favor of Richie.


    "Even when I was Admiral of the Kraken, I never thought I''d witness and participate in battles like this."


    Pizar''s potential and how he won Richie''s favor surprised another member of Richie''s team.


    Chase Brander was also among the ranks of Richie''s team. He was a regr Commander who served Pizar As until the battle of the Kraken. And now, he fought alongside his former Admiral.


    "This will be the first time we fight in such a grand battle where we have the chance of dying. And unlike our former wars, we don''t have a Kraken to back us up." Chaseughed.


    "This will be our first battle together, father." A beautiful woman spoke. This woman used to outrank her father but now, she fought with him as an equal team member.


    Former Admiral Magantae of the Antis, Chase, and Miranne''s biological daughter also stood among the ranks.


    "I''d hear the stories of the might of Presiders since I was young. But now, I can''t believe that I have the power to challenge one!" Another beautiful young girl stood at the side. She was the only one who had a heart for another ce. Because of her physiology, she was also the spy that Richie sent to infiltrate numerous Presider bases. Despite being an Aragarian, she was also an experiment of the real Lost Primordial and had the power of the Unlocking.


    The very daughter of Lourca Oviili, the famed traitor of the Pioneers, stood among their team. Levvy Ovilli could not help but smile as they stood over the heavens and watched the battle of the Presiders, who she had feared throughout her life.


    "The Void Traveler is ready to assist us, General Richie."


    Next to her was Commander Mikhael. The Commander of a secret infiltration and espionage team of the Americas. He was themander in charge of the Void Traveler ship and was boarded by Richie. The entire secret team was part of Richie''s growing army. But Commander Mikhael revealed amazing resonance to the power of sound that he was taken in.


    "Anyone affected by the Tyrant Empress''s beauty has to retreat now."


    Thest member was another strategist that Richie took in. He was themander of the Caliphate base that Lowengren and Lennox attacked and the very samemander that was hailed as the Hero of the Red Skirmish. Commander Owens Shedd watched the Tyrant Empress, smirking at them provocatively.


    "Not me," Sammy answered.


    "As if." Magantaeughed.


    "I''d rather be with that Edendy." Pizar chuckled.


    "Now, now, kids. It''s our first debut, and we will be fighting alongside the Winds of Hermies. But the Seven Notes of Richie must be careful against them. All of you are close to being Ranked Heroes in might. Together, we form two Oveers. But that Empress would be worth more than one!" Richie chuckled.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Suddenly, numerous attacks struck them as many of the nearby shipsunched attacks at them at the order of their Presiders. The sound barrier that they erected blocked the attacks.


    "How annoying." Magantae frowned.


    "Let''s whistle," Sammy suggested.


    Everyone began to smile.


    "Great idea! We haven''t tried it on such a massive scale. Hey, Hermes! Could you help us out by causing the winds to blow all over the ce!"


    The winds suddenly blew as the blowing wind spread all over the ce.


    And after that, the team of Richie made a simple whistle.


    A melodious tone rippled all over the battlefield. The wind made the sound travel faster and affected everyone who was not Unlocked.


    Right on that battlefield, many soldiers defecated themselves at once, creating confusion and even death as the sound triggered their stomachs and intestines to echo out.


    The legend and myth of the theorized "Brown Note," which could make people who hear it to drop the bomb, hade true.


    "Disgusting!" The werebear cursed as he was shing and killing enemy nteds, who were now spreading their brown melodies all over the ce.


    "Move it!" Richie roared, and a powerful sound wall appeared between where Richie''s team was and where the Tyrant Empress stood.


    There were also several sound tunnels that appeared, and several figures flew from different parts of the battlefield and reached the sky.


    The Four Winds of Hermes flew along with Hermes himself, and they stood before the team.<sub> </sub>


    "It''s time to finish where we left off thest time!" Hermesughed as a massive wind creature formed right behind the team.


    The ground near the Babel tower began to break out, and a massive drill broke through the ground. As it broke through the ground, a swarm of bats began to fly up the ground.


    "Tyrant Empress! We are here to kill you!" A loud cry was heard.


    The swarm of bats could fly with great speed towards the location where Richie and Hermes stood.


    The wind blew in its favor, and they flew fast. Many ships and Exosksletons crossed the paths of these bats, and the bats would suddenly transform into human beings. They wore dark synthetic clothing and even had a weapon!


    SLASH!


    An Exoskeleton was cut off as some bats transformed and made a powerful attack.


    Other bats simply rammed into the Exoskeletons and would stter into pieces and be blood.


    The blood could move and be infiltrating the suit or the ships it struck into.


    Finally, a woman could be seen flying with massive wings.


    She had amazing beauty, but her form and appearance were that of a subus.


    The ground she stood on erupted as the figure of a giant made of liquid metal appeared. The giant flew and even had a sword and moved with incredible speed, splitting the enemies as it flew towards the sky.


    "Everyone, clear the way! Let them fight and kill each other! We focus on Andronze! That strange man seems to have created a path from inside the Babel! Send our forces in it!" Feyor shouted and called out to the other Presiders.


    This same man was the frog gue inside of Egypt! It had drilled its way out and used an inferior version of Dug Down Deep which left a massive hole that the Exoskeletons could move into! So there was now an opened path to Egypt.


    Richie, Hermes, Akasha, and Gallium gathered, and before them was the Tyrant Empress and her allies.


    Locusts and Bats gathered against each other.


    "Let''s not keep thedy waiting! Our long-awaited battle begins now, Lost Primordial!" Richieughed.


    The Seven Notes charged down, and each wielded the power of sound.


    The Locust gue all moved all over them and began to rush towards the seven notes. The locust began to heat up as if they were about to explode.


    "Water World!" Richie shouted. The power of sound coursed through the Seven Notes and exploded out, enveloping the entire battlefield.


    It was like a sea around them, and all the battling ships and Exoskeletons were having a hard time moving and flying around because of the sudden resistance.


    The locusts couldn''t keep up, and the team managed to move fast and pass through, and then a powerful wind blew them. With Water World limiting their movements as the vibrations acted differently, the gust of wind that wasn''t affected by Richie''s power blew the locust, and the path was made clear.


    But the Tyrant Empressughed and made a pping motion as the deste power she borrowed removed the power of Water World around her and her team.


    "Show him your might!" The Tyrant Empressughed, and Ceasar leaped towards the sky and flew as he revealed the strength to charge toward Richie''s team.


    Massive vines suddenly appeared within the millions of locusts, and it was now noticed that there was a strange ship cloaked inside the swarm.


    The vines whipped out with great speed, and the gigantic form of Gallium charged in and swung his de.


    A terrifying battle broke out in the middle of the area.


    Garenjazz watched with amazement at the battle.


    "A fight to the death, huh? I don''t know who I should bet on in this battle. It''s as if my luck is telling me that it can''t tell who will win!"


    Zeraphine observed the hole.


    "These men are after that Lost Primordial but still gave the other Presiders a way into the fortress of Andronze!"


    Seeker was quiet as he gazed at the man that Zeraphine rescued. The person saved from one of the meteors was the most important man that Seeker needed to kill Garenjazz.


    However, as expected of the man, Vender was unconscious, and this affected Seeker''s n because her signal was to make her attack once the Tyrant Empress and Richie''s team began fighting.


    "Damn it, Vender! Why are you unconscious?!" Seeker secretly cursed.


    Above the sky, another person was falling from the sky. And she was preparing to make her attack.


    "The gue of real darkness will start now..." Meryl chuckled.

 Chapter 519 The Plague Of Darkness

    Meryl hovered over the sky and began to harness her true power.


    She was wearing a dark exoskeleton suit based on the Sun Devourer tech of Shackstress. The suit was made from her cultivated cells and interlinked with her power.


    And so, the levels of heat that her armor could withstand, which is caused by Meryl''s path, were unknown. It was believed that if Meryl reached the scorching heat of the sun itself, as long as her Path caused that heat, this dark armor would function without any problems!


    Her Path to shine had already crossed the levels and would ssify her as a World Champion by the former standards. However, her powers had grown that all she needed was the Oveer''s Will. If she had that, she would instantly be ssified as an Oveer and even surpass the Near-Oveers states that many previously held on to.


    She began to shine. And everything else in the world began to grow dim.


    The darkness of the clouds had made it look like there was night. But as many of the Presiders were right above the clouds or used certain techs to clear them, they were stunned the darkness was forming.


    The sun looked like a moon that had no light but only reflected it.


    All the light was gathering around Meryl.


    They could look straight at it and see it as a golden ball. But the bright light that it gave was nowhere to be seen.


    But even with such a strange phenomenon, Richie and the Tyrant Empress had begun their war at the center of the battlefield.


    Even when the power and energy that Meryl was wielding had reached a shocking level, the two continued to fight it out.


    "What now?!" Straviaa cursed as she nced at the screens that revealed Meryl.


    "Who is she aiming at?" Andornze watched as well.


    Everyone was in a very dangerous position with all the battles they were fighting.


    "Send a toon of Supreme Exoskeletons and Serpent Warriors up there!" Andronze ordered.


    The other Presiders sent their forms of powerful exoskeletons. These specific exoskeletons could harness tremendous energy and be on par with the Sun Devourer suits that Shacktress had.


    But as these Exoskeletons raced to the top, a strange portal opened right behind Meryl, and several spaceships appeared out of the Void.


    The ship was simr to the designs of the Pegasus that the WGP had, which was said to be the Command Center of the Antis.


    And several figures appeared out of the ship and charged toward the approaching enemies.


    The Gryphon Squadron appeared and began to attack the numerous exoskeletons and used several teams. Meryl''s Twelve Disciples were at the ready. The simr paths that the Oveers had exploded over the heavens.


    Seeker, Lynd, and Meryl''s parents were also donning their own special Supreme Exoskeletons and made their battles.


    Leading andmanding their battles was Alean.


    Another portion of the Nile that wasn''t tainted with the red waters flew out towards Meryl''s position. But then a massive serpent appeared in the sky.


    Cliff and his team were at the center, and the massive creature bit down and destroyed the water serpent''s head, causing the water serpent to retreat.


    The formation of the team and even the direction in which Meryl prepared her attack gave no clue as to who she would attack. Many believed it to be Andronze as she was directly above the tall Babel tower.


    But no one could be certain, and everyone was prepared to harness their defenses when the attack urred. But everyone was already dealing with various groups that infiltrated their ships. At that point, everyone was not confident of being able to block such an attack. This was the golden opportunity where Meryl could inflict terrifying damage to any Presiders!


    Danny watched as the power of Meryl robbed the Earth and gave her a golden glow.


    He couldn''t help but smile.


    "I''m dating a Saiyan!" He chuckled as he went on to fight.


    Darkness covered thends, and the light that the fires or explosions made turned dim.


    The world itself seemed to have been robbed of color as it appeared monochrome in everyone''s eyes. Meryl''s power to rob the light had even changed the color so that people could see things.


    The gue of Darkness had befallen thend of Egypt.


    The nearby nations could even see the light fade, and many marveled at the miraculous power of this person who robbed the sun of the light.


    Social media all focused on this miracle. And those who were part of the Unlocked Armies branded her and posted images of the darkening world and imed that the Empress of the Sun was among them.


    The brilliant sun was ready to explode out.


    "Seeker?" Meryl risked and asked through the Thought Transmitter.


    "Not yet! This damned idiot isn''t awake!" Seeker cursed back as he was trying to find a way to awaken Vender.


    "How is he even asleep?" Cliff frowned.


    "Ugh. Don''t ask. I''ve been with that man. He''s very... annoying. I nearly lost numerous experiments because of him." Charles recalled the dark days when Vender was there.


    "But... for some strange reason, all his actions helped me in my studies. He destroys Zone. But he leads you to the right path." Charles exined.


    Seeker wasining but decided that this was probably for the best.


    "Wait. Meryl. I''ll give you the signal when to attack. Lynd. We have to start it. Alean. I trust you know when to send Lynd in." Seeker sighed and stood up.


    Meryl''s real target wasn''t Egypt.<sub> </sub>


    The Hunt of the Presiders was something that Seeker had no intention of joining. Especially since he was still having a hard time controlling his powers, his recent fight with Lanterk, where he forced the use of numerous Paths to create stability, had made him unable to control his attacks perfectly.


    But the more he saw the threat of Garenjazz, the more he found it necessary to kill him.


    He plotted to use Zeraphine, who had some mysterious rtionship with Garenjazz, as a means to get to him. Seeker revealed that the Lost Primordial and the other experiments aimed to take down Zeraphine because of his close ties to the Progenitor. And this forced Zeraphine to appear above the battlegrounds and had Garenjazz next to him to protect her.


    But this lie was used to iste Garenjazz from the circle of the gathering Presiders.


    The war with Andornze was something that all Presiders would get distracted with. They were facing millions! The Unlocked armies sent their teams to attack certain Presiders in the chaos.


    The peace that Garenjazz and Zeraphine had would be their weakness. But in this n to ambush Garenjazz''s ship, a criticalponent was needed! Vender! The only person who had the Path that could severely weaken Garenjazz!


    Seeker approached Garenjazz and Zeraphine.


    "Who is she?" Garenjazz asked.


    "Don''t you already know?"


    "I know that she''s your ally. I believe she was there when you attacked Lanterk."


    "I don''t recall. That was my dad using me as an avatar. The bacsh... was scary." Seeker trembled.


    Zeraphine approached and held Seeker''s hand.


    "So you don''t know her?"


    "I do know her. She calls herself the Empress of the Sun. She took Shacktress Sun Devouring technology. But it looks like she has improved it."


    CRACK!


    Suddenly, the space in front of Zeraphine began to crack.


    "A breach in my dimensional shield?! Someone is trying to teleport their way in here!" Zeraphine eximed.


    CRACK!


    The space suddenly began to burn with yellow and green fire as if it was trying to break through space itself.


    "It''s him! Why is heing here?!" Seeker frowned.


    "Who?"


    "The rival of my father! He''s the closest thing I have to an uncle. Together, my father and this man fought and killed Shackstress!" Seeker exined.


    CRACK! BOOM!


    Space copsed, and a strange doorway to the void realm was opened.


    Lynd stepped off. He wore an Exoskeleton suit that had so much energy the Pioneers on the ship had to flee from the tremendous energy it had.


    The floors of Zeraphine''s ship began to show signs of melting from the tremendous heat.


    "That''s a powerful suit. It''s almost a Combat Body of a Principal!" Garenjazz chuckled.


    "If the Progenitor won''t act. I will. Garenjazz! Let''s fight!" Lynd ordered as a berserked power began to rush out.


    Lynd had used his rage and appeared, and it wielded as many powers as he could.


    Garenjazzughed at Lynd''s appearance.


    "A suicide attempt? Luck is not on your side, dude. And even if Progenitor here betrays me and fights, you two won''t still be a match for me." Garenjazzughed.


    "HWAAAAA! That was a nice nap!" Vender stretched his hands as he woke up.


    It was as if the entire space around Garenjazz began to shatter. A strange force had suddenly appeared, and he felt his luck running out.


    "What the?! Who?!" Garenjazz shouted and raised his hands to attack Vender.


    "Garenjazz! What are you doing?!" Seeker rushed back and harnessed energy in his body and ced it on his sword.


    Dreams became a reality as powerful, sharp swords that could cut through the strongest of Presider metals appeared and shed at Vender.


    Seeker activated several Paths and used them to defend against the iing swords.


    Vender was screaming like a scared piglet and running at the back as he was horrified to see swordse at him just seconds when he woke up.


    Lynd charged in and attacked Garenjazz from behind, but a powerful realm opened up, and dreams became a reality for Garenjazz.


    "Dimensional Upholding?!" Lynd was horrified! Garenjazz was at least as strong as Lanterk!


    But at that moment of the broken luck, Meryl shot her beam towards the ship of Garenjazz.

 Chapter 520 4th Dimension Forms

    The powerful beam that contained incredible energy shot towards Zeraphine''s ship. The attack surprised Zeraphine and Garenjazz as they saw the powers emerge.


    "Die with me!" Lynd gave a crazedugh as he charged toward Garenjazz.


    The power of the beam was so potent, and Zeraphine sensed all of her techs were able to move. As she tried to resist it, she could feel a terrifying soul watching over them.


    Nogard had appeared in the soul realm andunched an attack at her!


    "Now that my little lifespan issue has been resolved, it''s finally time for me to fight." Nogardughed.


    Zeraphine recognized the soul of the man as she had briefly met this old man!


    Garenjazz roared in anger as he ordered his massive dream ship to move and intercept the attack.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attack struck through the entire spaceship, and Meryl kept letting all the energy she had out, and the strange realm began to explode and grow unstable. The strange ship of Garenjazz was finally revealed as the mist vanished.


    Suddenly, the space around it began to erge, and the ship of Zeraphine was knocked back as a massive ship erupted out of the dream space.


    The ship that was capable of moving to another dimension appeared. It was far stronger than Pridgeon''s ship, which could retain its three-dimensional properties in the fourth dimension.


    But Garenjazz''s ship was a four-dimensional ship. The attack of Meryl that contained the purging fire that breached all dimensions had knocked the ship back and damaged it to the point that it moved out of the realm.


    The fourth dimension element was forced into the three dimensions.


    A ship with structures that were constantly rotating and devouring itself. All aspects of the three dimensions could be seen swirling in a vortex of a strange oddity.


    "A Hypershpere..." Cliff identified the form of the ship from his many lessons in the dimensions beyond.


    The Presiders at the bottom all began to worry. The battle they fought was progressively escting to the point that everyone was forced into an all-out war as they watched the one they believed to be the strongest Presider be knocked off its high horse.


    Every Presider was stunned that the attack wasn''t meant for them! And everyone marveled at the courage and willingness to ambush Garenjazz in this chaotic battle.


    At the attack of Garenjazz, all the forces of the Presiders that were attacking Meryl and her team began to make a hasty retreat. The target had been marked, and if the enemies wanted to face off with Garenjazz, they wouldn''t dare interfere and would even hope that the two sides would fight and cause each other to waste their resources and power and reveal their techs.


    "Let''s go!" Alean ordered as the teams she brought in moved towards the massive Hypersphere and began tounch attacks.


    As the armies approached, the strange mist gathered once more, and it devoured Zeraphine''s ship and even swallowed the entire forces of Alean.


    "Are you sure?" Cliff asked as he saw the reddish mist cover them up.


    "Scared?" Alean chuckled.


    "I have a date tomorrow. Get me out of here alive!" Cliff frowned and charged ahead.


    Alean chuckled and gave the orders for everyone to charge in.


    Explosions and strange sounds could be heard as Cliff''s team vanished into the mist that had returned and covered all of Zeraphine and Garenjazz''s ship. All of them were now back in the dream world.


    As the threat vanished, the Presiders all had a sigh of relief as they saw the battle above them turn towards each other.


    "We can''t be too careful! Enderks! We have to purge those rats!" Straviaa ordered.


    "Of course!" Enderks agreed.


    "So even Garenjazz, huh? Good luck trying to win over that monster! I always thought that luck is overrated. We make our fortunes." Myrth chuckled as he watched the attack made towards the ship of Zeraphine.


    "Isn''t that right, you guys?" Myrth smiled as he stood before three powerful beings that had made their way into his base.


    "Care to tell me your names?" Myrth asked.


    "Lioncourt Diviner. Call me the Realm King." Lioncourt smiled as he clutched his hands, causing metals of destroyed forms to move towards him and begin to form into a massive metal orb with him at its core.


    Lioncourt released a sk of liquid metal which he purchased from Gallium, and the metal spread out and became circuits and lines all over the clump of metal.


    "Impressive. You are recreating a powerful Orbital. That seems to be Andronze and Lanterk''s design. Myrth smiled.


    "I am Greydon Meng."


    "Rosa Meng."


    The couple answered as they held each other''s hand and created a tremendous ice-green dragon.


    The green dragon had massive jaws, wings, and tails. Its steps produced destion and freezing at the same time.


    "Don''t mind my name. I am but a mere man..." Amirughed as he moved closer.<sub> </sub>


    Behind him were dozens of werewolves who were all burning with fire.


    "Quite an assortment of techs we have here. But I''m confused with you two, Meng. That''s a weird tech. But it''s amazing. I''ve never seen two people be stronger. Presiders walk the road to be Conquerors, and it is a lonely path."


    "Our Throne won''t be a single seat in the ends of Eternity. It will be a kingdom of thrones. We walk the path of Oveers. Our powers were meant to unite." Meng answered.


    "Ha! If that path was true, then the Lost Primordial would have won! But I guess you do follow his legacy. So? Shall we fight? The three-on-one seems rather unfair. But a Conqueror fights alone." Myrthughed.


    "I am Presider Myrth." Myrth stood up, and a throne with several blue pirs formed at the side. The mes were roaring with a strange heat, and it was as if a rift in the space appeared as the fires burned matter itself.


    "Oh? It''s a fire even stronger than the ones that attacked Zeraphine. Her power can alter the dimension. Your fire can cross it! And that fire is inside your body. Or, to be precise, it''s inside your two bodies." Lioncourt sneered.


    "...Oh?" Myrth smiled.


    "I can feel it. There are two of you. Two in one. This entire realm is very strange. It''s like it''s being forcibly pushed together." Lioncourt exined.


    "So that''s why you call yourself the Realm King. I''m impressed."


    "Would you mind if I yanked the other one out?" Lioncourt smiled.


    "Be my guess. It''s the first time someone could see through this form." Myrth chuckled.


    The Realm King crossed his arms and then began to uncross them. As he did, the space trembled, and it was as if each hand was pulling something hard.


    The realm and space around Myrth began to warp in distortion, and finally, the space around Myrth changed, and his figure began to distort. Then, much like the tesseract or the Hypersphere that was revealed, Myrth''s true form could be seen.


    Two bodies were swirling in a strange manner. There was a strange fire that radiated around their bodies that moved in an uncanny form and would draw inward and have various after-images around.


    "Two bodies as one made possible through the four dimensions. You''re like Lanterk and Garenjazz. Dimensional Upholding. But you focused on your body. Is that what they call a Combat Body?" Lioncourt guessed.


    "Are you afraid?"


    "No. Because technically, you are not a Conqueror by your definition. I don''t want to go on a semantic argument with you, but there are two of you no matter how you twist your terms." Lioncourtughed.


    Suddenly, hellfire burst around the body of the two Myrths.


    "What do earthlings like you who im to be Presiders know?" Their voices spoke together and echoed as one.


    "Twins..." Amir Mann could finally smell them.


    "They are twins..."


    "I see. In a world of Presiders who long to be conquerors, twins are an abomination." Meng deduced.


    "We are one!" Myrth roared.


    "So are we. But there''s still two of us." Rosa chuckled.


    Myrth raged, and the entire realm where everyone was had suddenly changed.


    A vast world of fire appeared.


    "I''ve been through hell all my life, and I''ve learned to master it! You three! Come at me! I will show you a world of hell! Even with your unity, you will all die! Do you think you are powerful? In my realm of fire, can you even move? You are but rocks before me!" Myrth roared as the fires began to roar. Several strange wings and eyes appeared behind Myrth, and the fires were birthed from him.


    Lioncourt released a massive amount of energy, and he managed to raise his arms in the strange dimension of the fire. All the mes stopped moving.


    "What?!" Myrth was stunned.


    CRACKLE!


    The stopping of the mes allowed Rosa to release her ice and froze the mes around them.


    "We fought you together because we know we can''t fight you alone." Amir chuckled as he managed to move. He nced at his arms and legs and wiggled them to test his movements.


    "How can you move?!" Myrth roared angrily. Even Lanterk and Andronze could not move when she brought the power of hell into that ocean.


    "I am the Alpha wolf, but I can''t be an alpha without a pack. Lioncourt''s power stabilizes the realm. Rosa froze the mes. Meng has the power to desecrate and devour the realm itself. And my cells are in them. It acts as a massive reserve of power. As long as I''m here, my undying cells will act as batteries for them! Particrly Greydon, who eats a lot. With all this, we can fight you. But if you still think we''re rocks, isn''t it insulting? You rejected the Lost Primordial, and now you would die against the Lost Primordial''s rocks."


    "The stone that the builders rejected has be the cornerstone. Our unity which you despise, will be your end." Lioncourt sneered.


    "We are like living rocks being built up as a spiritual house..." Rosa chuckled.


    "Ah! A fitting bible verse! Let''s begin, Myrth. You who wield the power of hell. But against this Rock, the Church of the Messiah will be built. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!"


    Myrth roared in anger as the realm of fire where all of them stood began to burst with powerful explosive energy.

 Chapter 521 To Change The Flow

    The power of the mes that could attack the dimensions beyond was the answer to Myrth''s powerful explosive energy.


    Through the Combat Body of the two fused Myrth, they had enough Universe Energy that could cultivate a special dimension within them.


    And that fire was now breaking out. Myrth didn''t have the luxury of having the power that could change the terrain and cause the dimensions beyond to be upheld within the three dimensions. Instead, Myrth created a chamber where they could summon the fire energy and cause it to explode at a very limited rate to hide her true powers.


    The fire had another interesting power that could easily create a pathway to teleport from one ce to another without any ripple of energy that would be detectable in the three dimensions.


    And so, as soon as Myrth revealed their true form, they immediately used the teleporting power to transport everyone into her hellish dimension, where the power simr to making a sun was formed.


    But the three Oveers and the Ranked Hero Rosa hade prepared. The n to Hunt the Presiders was now only possible as each oveer had managed to create a means to either form the Cultivators Body or the Dantian.


    They all had a vast amount of energy that could easily power up an entire city.


    Rosa used her powers to cause ice to counter the fire.


    Lioncourt was forcing all the mes around him back or not to move. And without movement, there was no heat.


    Meng was using destion to simply devour the molecules around them.


    And Amir''s body was able to resist the mes. While it was damaged, the abnormal cells Amir gathered the kic force to build more energy. The mes were burning him, but they were also fueling its regeneration!


    "Maw of the Ice Dragon!" Meng and Rosa sent their massive Ice dragon to charge forward and bite at Myrth.


    "Nuclear des!" Out of the mouth of the Realm King appeared numerouspressed forms of energy. The Realm King shot a spiraling and exploding nuclear bomb but had the entire realm contain the energy and turned the explosions into massive thin des.


    "Eh? You guys name your attacks?! Argh! Then take this! Alpha Feral Hellfire sh!" Amir made a strong shing attack that harnessed powerful kic energy that shed out of his fangs. The energy was contained in Amir''s realm, which created a cutting force.


    The hellfire around Amir was cut into pieces as Amir''s strike was only weaker than Omricon''s de!


    "You dare raise your hand at the Emperor of Hell?!" Myrth harnessed the power and a ck me. But the me was copsing on each other and became a strange dark fire that broke into three forms and shot out to the Oveers.


    The explosions reverberated, and a strange fire began to break out in the dimensions outside of Myrth''s ship!


    The sudden outbreak added to more confusion as they couldn''t understand where the explosions wereing from.


    Andornze recognized it and cheered. The two had already seen the power and understood what was happening.


    "Someone is fighting Myrth in that strange realm she used back then!" Lanterk was stunned.


    "Amazing. These earthling Presiders got a lot of guts to do that and dare attack her like that! This means she can''t peer out the sun outside here! We have to take advantage of this and make our attack!"


    "No. Be cautious. Something is wrong with this battle! There is force hidden behind the arranged attacks that have been happening! Garenjazz and Myrth are not weak! Yet both of them are now facing a battle that has wounded them! This isn''t right! The Favors of Fate are not that easy to break! Someone is manipting this battle to their favor! We cannot let it go on like this!" Lanterk frowned.


    Andronze was surprised at Lanterk''s analysis.


    "Then move here as fast as you can!"


    "I can''t. The WGP is watching my steps. And the missing Antis and the Kraken that were lost right before Crostfree died are close! So if I teleport, they might disrupt it, and I will end up using Universe Energy!"


    "What do we do?" Andronze asked.


    "Something unexpected. I saw a team attacking Stravia''s group and more fighting Myrth. Disrupting the battle between that Tyrant Empress will also do well. Work at it! I''ll do something of my own as well." Lanterk answered.


    Instantly, the main body of Lanterk did the outrageous and harnessed Universe Energy around his Throne. He had already used up a lot to the point that his travel towards Egypt could not be done swiftly or use teleportation or warping. But instead, he warped his Throne.


    He made a teleportation leap and appeared over thend of the Caliphates. Lanterk used basic cloaking technology so the people couldn''t see it. But Pridgeon had easily detected it, and Lanterk was right above the fortress of Pridgeon! Pridgeon was preparing tounch his own Babel. But Lanterk had easily found the location of his base!


    "Pridgeon!" Lanterk called out.


    Pridgeon was startled and saw Lanterk''s main body appear!


    "You?! You n to take advantage of-"


    Suddenly, Lanterk threw down a strange object that looked like a coffin.<sub> </sub>


    The coffin fell and crashed to the ground below and surprised Pridgeon.


    "Take it and open it. I am not here to fight. I need your help. That is what I''m offering!" Lanterk exined.


    Pridgeon was stunned at Lanterk''s deration.


    "Gordon. Open it." Pridgeon ordered.


    Gordon was cursing and was very reluctant but followed the orders.


    "What...?!" Gordon was stunned.


    Inside the object was a corpse! It was a real coffin.


    "This is a corpse...?" Gordon frowned.


    "Impossible! This...! This is how you create your incarnations!" Pridgeon, however, could tell what it was.


    "Yes. I am offering you this."


    "What do you want?"


    "I want you to help Myrth or Straviaa."


    "Why do you want me to help?"


    "Something is very peculiar of this battle. First Shackstress, and then me, then Garenjazz, and now Myrth. Someone on earth is strong enough to threaten and kill us. Four Top-Tiers have suffered. And none of us are ordinary Top-Tiers. Me and Garenjazz, and even that Myrth are half a step toward bing Principals. Yet, we are being attacked like this. My other incarnations are true Principals, and while I cannot wield their same power, I know that something is altering the will and flow around this. And that makes sense if it is indeed the Lost Primordial that left its legacy here."


    "How do I know this isn''t a trap?"


    "I can''t say. But if you want, I shall vow with my soul that we won''t attack you in any way now, during, and five days after this battle." Pridgeon was amazed.


    "...Then go in my chambers. I''ll allow you to teleport inside."


    "Fine."


    Instantly, Lanterk was in the very room of Pridgeon where his throne stood.


    Lanterk had the coffin that appeared next to him. Various powerful weapons were aimed at Lanterk.


    "You are serious about this matter. It seems like you are afraid." Pridgeon had a severe expression.


    "Yes. I am. Something that challenges my path as a Conqueror is here." Lanterk said as strange bright energy appeared. Just as Stravia and Enderks made a deal to share information and vowed with their soul, Lanterk was doing the same.


    "...Then I ept." Pridgeon agreed and did the same as they finalized the deal.


    "Good. I''ll go now. See you on the battlefield. I know you''ve met the Tyrant Empress. Be careful. If you think you are outside her influence, you are wrong."


    "I''ve made preparations to disrupt the... emotions I feel for her."


    "I hope that''s the case. If you betray Andronze and me and fight us, your soul will get affected. So don''t you dare think of helping her. Attack her if you want." Lanterk''s form disappeared and arrived at his main fortress, which was making a slow journey towards the area. All that was left was the coffin that Lanterk carried.


    "We are going to fight now? Why did you agree so hastily?"


    "Because he''s right. And because this means all Top-Tiers are uneasy, we could snatch up, and maybe I could devour more suits! Lanterk knew this, but he opted that I would win rather than the mysterious force that has led to the defeat of Shacktress and the threat to all Top-Tiers!" Pridgeon answered.


    "Why Straviaa?"


    "Do you want to fight the enemy that can threaten Myrth?" Pridgeon frowned.


    "Erm... no."


    "Everyone! Prepare to warp my ship out! We''re going to help Straviaa!" Pridgeonmanded.

 Chapter 522 Straviaa Retreats

    The skies of Egypt were constantly ringing with explosions as the battle continued to shift to the advantage of each Presider constantly.


    In the middle of it were the shocking battles between the Tyrant Empress and Richie''s team.


    Several powerful attacks and explosions were urring, and the fight was spreading.


    The wind had brought Caesar and Hermes towards the ship of Feyor, who was not struggling with the battle. A wind Titan and Ceasar''s bulky Exoskeleton were punching and knocking each other off. The shes of Omrcion were evaded as Ceasar revealed impressive technology that allowed him to fly and evade.


    Akasha fought against Akahs Zulu, who used ultist magic derived from a form of Soul cultivation. Akasha had her vampires, and Zulu had her team of spear-wielding winged soldiers. The soldiers were hidden in the locust swarm and were now emerging to fend off the vampire bats.


    Gallium and Eden were also fighting each other. A massive nt creature with wings emerged. Ships had appeared, and all of them had nts growing over them.


    As the battle progressed, numerous nts began to sprout everywhere. Ships and Exoskeletons that survived the waves of locust and retreated had unknowingly sent nts inside that managed to grow on steel.


    The power of Eden''s Overgrowth was spreading pollen everywhere on the battlefield through the locust swarm. But beyond that was another tech that the locust gue brought.


    A pilot of the exoskeleton finally gave in to a sickness that he had and rushed back towards Tiana''s ship.


    The moment he entered the strange realm, his allies detected his fever.


    "It''s the fifth one! He has also contracted a gue! It''s the same form of sickness!"


    Tiana silently observed and could not help but be impressed at the cruelty of the Tyrant Empress.


    "She leaked a gue right on the locust. This should be an enhanced form of the gue that Pridgeon was experimenting on the Pangean nations. Unless all of us scramble to make a cure, we will face a massive death toll on our forces. Even in this, they try to minimize our efficiency in the battlefield by making us use up our resources elsewhere."


    "Presider, should we attack the Locust Queen?"


    "That''s even more problematic. Look at her! She managed to rob the powers of several enemies! Do you want to join in that? Pridgeon''s Devourer suit may have evene from her!"


    "Presider! We are detecting mass teleportation appearing right next to Straviaa''s ship!"


    "Oh? Pridgeon has finally moved in... Well, it''s not surprising... Now, what to do...? If I move, I''d probably end up like Garenjazz and Myrth and get attacked myself... But this is an important time..." Tiana began to give a pondering look as she looked at the situation on the battlefield around her.


    Inside Straviaa''s ship, the situation was turning worse.


    The infiltration had progressed, and nearly ten percent of her men had already been killed in the battle. The massive holes from her ship had weakened its integrity, and numerous techs were unusable.


    "Where are your armies?!" Straviaa demanded.


    "Teleporting here is impossible! In case you haven''t noticed, numerous powers are already jamming the uracy of teleportation! This was a huge trap by those Lost Primordials! They are here to kill the Progenitor and us! They must have given some techs to the WGP! The Many Manion, therge fortress that is gathering and forming together, all have a strange field that distorts the uracy to teleport! If I teleport my army, they could appear inside that locust swarm! And all ourunched weapons of mass destruction are easily being shot down! There are snipers around this area that are using techs to attack those! Even before we can fire them, it''s already attacked!" Enderks cursed.


    Hidden within the battlefield were trained snipers with alterations to their sights. They were all Inhumans and were the best in their fields.


    Some were trained in China, some in Pangea, and others were trained inside the World Governing Trading Hub.


    They were all trained with that purpose and had weapons with massive energy harnessed from the unlocked Paths.


    Some hid inside the locust swarm as they were given over to the Tyrant Empress.


    Some had infiltrated and taken a position in Egypt below.


    Others still used the chaos to hide with the damaged ships of the Presiders.


    Whether they were controlled by the Tyrant Empress or not, their mission remained the same. It ensured that no weapon of mass destruction could be used on the battlefield.


    "How long till your forces arrive!? I''m losing more and more men!"


    "My armies have to usemon traveling methods, and they are flying at the fastest speed! But I have to make them take longer routes to avoid the WGP who threatened to attack if I go over a certain radius of their ships!"


    "Presider! Iing transmission from Andronze!" A Pioneer reported.


    "What does she want! Allow it to connect!"


    The feed revealed Andronze and a being that was simr to Lanterk.


    "Straviaa, Enderks. We''ve all been tricked here. You probably know that even my fortress is under attack." Andronze began.


    "Garenjazz and Myrth are now fighting as well. Someone has arranged this battle for their favor. We will offer a ceasefire. Move out of this ce and deal with the pests in your ship, and we will not attack you." Lanterk offered.


    "If we continue to fight and if you follow the lies of whatever those Lost Primordial or the Progenitor gave out, we will all lose," Andronze spoke again.


    "You! How can I know that-"<sub> </sub>


    "We ept." Enderks answered.


    "What?!" Straviaa was stunned.


    "A team has managed to attack Garenjazz and Myrth. Can we really afford distractions? They are already on our ship! Call for a retreat! But Andronze, send your forces to attack Tiana and Feyor. Distract them to allow our retreat. They will most likely attack us."


    "No! Haven''t you seen the state of my base? You fend for yourselves! I don''t think they will attack you anyway!" Andronze frowned.


    "My forces will arrive shortly. They will distract them soon. They won''t attack you and call you a traitor if you pull out now. They will be afraid that they will be the next targets. Especially Tiana." Lanterk exined.


    "Fine! We''ll pull out now! Send your men back. We will be moving in the direction of your army, Lanterk! That way, they will think we are moving to deal with it first."


    "Good idea. Also... I''ve asked Pridgeon to help you. We made a soul deal that they will help you. They should be arriving soon as they are close by and could teleport without receiving a bacsh from the techs that are disrupting the uracy of our warp and teleporting techs."


    "Pridgeon?" Straviaa frowned.


    "It''s definitely a trap!"


    BOOM!


    Suddenly, their ship began to tremble as numerous explosions could be heard in the background.


    "Presider! Anotherpartment has been breached! It''s a massacre! We are being invaded from all sides!"


    "Do it. Straviaa, if things get out of hand, we can still teleport it out!"


    "But...!"


    "We have no choice. If you dy, we might lose more than we''ve bargained for! Make your retreat!" Enderks ordered.


    Straviaa had no choice but to issue her retreat.


    Feyor was the first to notice the sudden retreat of Straviaa''s ship. He cursed out but couldn''t leave his ce.


    "Tiana!" Hemunicated to Tiana.


    "Leave them be. It seems that Straviaa has epted a ceasefire from Andronze. Let''s just focus on them first. We cannot see it yet, but those who infiltrated Egypt are doing more damage. The core of Egypt is rotting. And soon, only its shell remains. We wait for the right time to move." Tiana answered.


    Feyor was silenced at Tiana''s answer. He had called to remind Tiana of their mission and would have threatened to make Tiana fight; otherwise, he would attack her ship. But Tiana didn''t have any intentions of leaving and even gave Feyor some advice.


    Because of this, Straviaa''s retreat became easier as no one was there to attack her ship.


    She quickly issued a full-st retreat.


    As she retreated, the space in front of her ship began to distort as a massive moon appeared. It had numerous damaged parts and pieces that were missing.


    "Pridgeon!"


    "Rx, Straviaa. I''m here to get my mission done. Someone is sent to assassinate you. I''m here to help!" Pridgeon emerged from the ship as his very Throne appeared. This was his n to gain the trust of the two instantly.


    "Then you must enter thepartments where the traitors are!" Straviaa answered.


    "My pleasure!"


    ALERT!


    "Weapons of mass destruction detected!" A Pioneer eximed.


    The detected energy source wasing from thend below. There were no detectable silos orunching pads, but a massive missile appeared and was headed towards Pirdgeon''s ship!


    "Shoot it down!" Straviaa answered.


    Pridgeon also began to fire numerous beams toward the approaching missile.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    As beams and bombs blew up the area, numerous explosions urred to destroy the missile.


    But after the barrage of attacks, the missile pushed through unharmed.


    "What?!" Straviaa and Pridgeon were shocked and sent even more and more attacks.

 Chapter 523 Ambushing Pridgeon And Straviaa

    The weapons of Mass Destruction that were detected posed a threat considering Straviaa''s ship was damaged. The ships of the Presiders would be damaged by such a massive attack and would even require them to use their precious Universe Energy to block the attack.


    And so, both teams sent out their attacks in an attempt to destroy the rockets.


    But the rockets pressed on. Finally, it began to turn and move sideways to avoid some of the attacks, but it was still moving closer and closer to them!


    Even Andronze was confused as she saw the attack and couldn''t tell where it was.


    "Andronze!" Straviaa med her.


    The rocket was used as a weapon of mass destruction created by Egypt. Amun-Ra was a massive sr explosion that used the rays and heat that had fallen on the desert throughout the years. Because it was a desert, Egypt could easily harness this energy and made it to power their cities. Egypt''s technology in harnessing and using sr energy was vastly superior that it could create countless weapons, beam energies, and weapons that used this energy.


    The Amun-Ra was a weapon that got stronger as the years passed. This energy was gathered and contained through mysterious techs and was released through activation.


    "That''s your damned bomb!" Pridgeon cursed. He realized that while Lanterk couldn''t attack him, Andronze could!


    "Lanterk! You betrayed me!"


    "No! I did not! You know the full details of my promises. The wording I chose meant that if I knew Andronze would attack you or had any knowledge of this, my soul would be severed! Yet here I am!"


    "It must have been stolen! I have no reason to attack you two! And I don''t have the tech that allows that rocket to pass through your attacks!"


    The beams could not hit the rocket no matter what attacks they sent.


    "It''s them! That''s the power that managed to attack me!" Lanterk recognized the technology.


    "Look closer! There should be a person harnessing some power that makes that rocket intangible and unaffected by your attacks! It can even pass through me!" Lanterk shouted.


    Enderks and Straviaa quickly began zooming in and could see two people!"


    "Engulf it in beams and attacks!" Straviaa ordered, and the ship began tounch numerous attacks on it. But at that moment, a vibration urred as the numerous parts of the ship were damaged, causing feedback of energy that rippled throughout the ship.


    The lights flickered, the weapons and cannons ceased, and some of theputers and electrical devices burst out.


    The attacks greatly weakened, and the rocket managed to move straight.


    On the rocket''s sides was Jake, who was already bleeding all over as blood would rupture out of his skin. He was barely holding on as he tried to use his powers to turn the entire ship and hispanion with the power he had.


    The massive beams and attacks were causing pressure and harming him. However, the rocket and hispanion were not damaged, as Jake was the primary power source and was facing instability in the energy attacks sent to him.


    Nevertheless, he was using his path and transforming the rocket so it could pass through all matter!


    Next to him was a Void Assassin affected by his path.


    "We''re closing in, master Jake!" The Void assassin praised.


    Jake undid his powers, and the rocket had physical form once more. The rocket continued to cross the distance and was being maneuvered by a certain someone.


    Stanley watched the rocket and controlled it from within Andronze''s fortress.


    "Man... I really want to pee right now..." Stanley sighed as he quickly navigated the gigantic rocket to evade the smallest attacks he could catch.


    The pinging of the signal was made clear, and the two Presiders saw through it.


    "Andronze! The controls of that rocket is from your base!" Straviaa shouted.


    "It''sing from the regions that these men have already taken over!"


    Jake was exhausted and sighed when he saw the loss of power and the lessening of attacks from Straviaa''s ship. He knew that Arthur and the team had managed to add more damage to Straviaa''s ship and weaken its firepower allowing the rocket to push further.


    At the clearing of the attacks, Stanley activated the protocol and activated the secondary boosters of the rocket.


    BOOM!


    The rocket''s boosters released a massive st as it shot twice faster than before.


    "It''s getting faster! Attack!" Straviaa shouted.


    Pridgeon began to send out many attacks from afar, and Jake held on to the rocket and began to warp the rocket and turn it intangible for attacks that Stanley couldn''t evade.


    "Damn it!" Straviaa cursed, and she began to use Universe Energy to attack the iing rocket.


    BOOM!<sub> </sub>


    A red aurora appeared and shot towards the rocket.


    Jake instantly knew he couldn''t evade that attack.


    "I can''t...!" Jake shouted.


    "Let''s retreat! You have done well, master Jake!" The Void Assassin answered, pulled Jake off the ship, and free-fell to the bottom. As the two left, the Void assassin used his powers, and they traveled into the Void realm.


    The rocket continued to push forward, and it exploded right before it was about to make contact with the Universe Energy that was sent to attack it.


    BOOM!


    A massive explosion that contained the power of the Weapons of Mass destruction exploded out, and the bright sh affected everyone as the sun was born next to the battlefield.


    Feyor and Tiana saw it and were amazed.


    "Was Straviaa betrayed?" Feyor wondered and decided to keep pressing her forces to attack.


    As the sun exploded, Straviaa and Enderks used Universe energy to cover their ship.


    Pridgeon did the same to block the boom of the attack. Yet the shield faltered, and their ship still took damage from the attack.


    Straviaa''s ship lost its shield battery, and numerous sectors lost powers.


    Arthur and his team used the advantage and dove into morepartments of the gigantic ship.


    Pridgeon wanted to retreat but realized he was trapped and had no choice! The promise he made with Lanterk was to assist these two. He could not retreat!


    "Did Andornze act on her own?! How did Lanterk find a w in the vow?!" Pridgeon was convinced that this was all a n.


    Latnerk''s expression was ugly. The attack and the situation we''re still tilting to the advantage of the grand schemers who did this!


    "Damn it! Who is behind this?!" Andronze cursed as the massive fire began to fall. The fire was not just light and energy. The technology was infused with inferno tech, and a massive rain of liquid fire was befalling the ground and even affecting the nearby battles.


    But suddenly, out of the falling fires, a massive Serpent emerged out of the fire!


    Guinevere was busy piloting the Nile Serpent and could somehow since her father and brother.


    She had already met one of Lennox''s forms during the week and was overjoyed. And after this, she will be reunited with her brother.


    "Brother! Father! I''ll fight alongside you! Our family will rage and fight our enemies to the very end!" She vowed.


    Lowengren smiled as he led the Nile Serpent up. He was seated in the mainmand center.


    "Launch those attacks at the ship now!" Lowengren ordered.


    "Yes, father!" The Andronze clones all answered and sent the full force of their bombardment on the two.


    Miniature forms of the Amun-Ra were sent out towards the damaged ship.


    "What?! The Nile Serpent?! Why is it there?!" Andronze was shocked and eximed. Her greatest secrets were there, and now it was here attacking the base of two Presiders!


    She instantly moved out and summoned her Throne to go to it.


    "Stop! Andronze!"


    "Get away from me! You are a part of this! Aren''t you?! Men! Kill him!" Andronze ordered, and her team of Supreme Exoksletons attacked Lanterk''s clone.


    The visuals of Lanterk turned static, and his main body was in the army that was still nearly ten minutes from reaching Egypt.


    He was enraged as he realized he was used topleting the ambush.


    "Who is manipting these things?!"


    Meanwhile, inside the ship of Straviaa, Arthur read the ship''s status and how weakened it was from the bombardment of the Serpent.


    "Impressive. All just like you nned." Lennox smiled.


    "Let''s see if I will be right in thest part. If this works, then I would officially be considered an Oveer!" Arthur answered as he wielded a massive mace, gathering tremendous lighting and deste energy.


    "Time to Tread on the Threshing Floor!"

 Chapter 524 The New Threshing Floor

    The ambush was timed perfectly. The attack of the Amun-Ra had covered the Nile Serpent, which rose from thends using Dug-Down Technology. It was as if this Serpent had always tailed after Straviaa. It attacked right at the peak of the battles when all energy fluctuation around thend of Egypt was hard to analyze.


    The first wave of attacks amplified the damage of the Amun-Ra as it sent out devastating fire damage that caused the entire ship to heat up.


    The bombardment of the Nile Serpent utilized the strongest weapons that Egypt had and, along with it, were numerous specified techs of the Unlock.


    There were several techs that were used, and with the WGP''s means of harnessing molecr bullets, the team added more techs and added them to have the capacity to expand the bullets and increase their density.


    Gardo''s expanding heat technology allowed the Nile to shoot out thousands of bullets at once that expanded into the size of a baseball. The powerful bullets pierced through the gaps on the shield caused by the Amun-Ra and caused severe damage to the parts of the ship.


    The entire ship of Straviaa and Pridgeon was moving back from the punishment of these thousands and thousands that shot at it.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    With the ship being bombarded, Arthur finally managed to send his team inside to damage several parts of the ship. The team used the spreading heat caused by the many watery mes to breach further into morepartments.


    But the n was not to breach the mainmand center. Instead, the team just needed to get as doors open so that Arthur could tread the Threshing Floor.


    "Arthur. I believe it''s the first time we see each other again." A young man arrived.


    "Cronus. I''ve hated you as an enemy, but I''m d to have you as an ally."


    "Our tech reveal is in ce. Once you thread on that path, the doors will all be open." Cronusughed.


    "Arthur." Kristine appeared, and the Covenant was behind her.


    "Good job, Covenant."


    "We won!" Alexa Alexaughed.


    "We had to deal with more doors. So naturally, you guys would get here first. Besides, Arthur was here even before us. And he''s part of our team." Dara sneered.


    BOOM!


    An explosion resounded again, and the ship trembled.


    "That should do it. Argueter. Father."


    "Are you sure of this? The math shows that you would fail."


    "Because of our Paths, mere calctions are never perfect. Nevertheless, the Path of Lowengren that relies its power on gambling and taking risks can be perfected. I have arranged this battle in a way that it is based on numerous gambles. And some of those gambles are even unreasonable. Zone helps me decide. Besides, I, too, have to Ovee."


    "Then show me how wrong my math is." Lennox smiled.


    "If we do this, it will create a chain reaction of events, and that would make your lustful clone decide to kill itself."


    "You''re a horrible son for plotting to kill me." Lennoxughed as he turned into a surge of lightning.


    Arthur drew out two massive maces that began to emit various techs and gathered the lightning form of Lennox.


    "But I''m a damn good brother." Arthur smiled as his entire body prepared for the charge.


    The Four Force elerator was not just perfectly recreated. It had evolved. The foundations of the device now followed numerous improvements taken from Shackstress''s technology and improved by harnessed Path.


    The Path of the Pass Over, the Path of the Void Assassin, and the Path of Zone were the paths that Arthur focused on studying, and at this moment, Arthur immersed himself in tread the Lion''s Den.


    The Threshing Floor allowed him to make a straight attack. But with several Paths, Arthur could now perform turns and twists. In Arthur''s mind, he had already mapped the entire structure of Straviaa''s ship based on the severalpartments they had found and the overall size of the ship.


    Arthur already knew the way towards the very room where Enderks and Straviaa would be.


    KZZT! KZZZT!


    The power of lighting gathered, and his Four Force elerator was emitting a bright light, and it was as if there were weapons of mass destruction inside the ship of Straviaa.


    Arthur opened his eyes, and his vision changed. His control over his brain was precise that it was as if Arthur had installed aputer program that allowed him to see everything with all the data, statistics, and possibilities. His brain had reached a level like his father''s.


    Pathways and ces where he should make a teleportation jump and ces appeared.


    Arthur jumped, and the boosters shot him forward.


    Arthur concentrated as he harnessed his perception to the point that he could see things very slowly. This was an imitation of the Skill that Madison had to stop time.


    His maces began to strike the strong metal. These were not just ordinary metals but used Presider Grade metals that were as strong as Earth''s Almetal.


    The Throne of the Tyrant Empress was as strong as this.<sub> </sub>


    And yet, the metal Arthur could not break was easily torn to pieces.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The entire space in front of them suddenly broke apart, and it was as if a huge drill was moving its way into the very room of the Presiders.


    But unlike the Threshing Floor in Arthur''s alternate life, this version was not meant to simply ''break through.'' It was now more suited to create a path. Arthur was no longer a lone Ranked Hero among Inhumans like he was in his alternate life.


    He was among a team that could defeat Rank Heroes! In fact, he was sure that, given time, many among his team would be Heroes of their own!


    The rest followed as fast as they could and moved along the cleared path.


    Arthur was moving so fast, yet his perception allowed him to make quick movements to avoid and turn on certain ces. This was because his goal was to have enough power to breach the final gates.


    Straviaa and Enderks detected it and quickly shot their attacks in the direction Arthur wasing.


    BOOM!


    Arthur arrived, and he used his maces to block the attacks of the Presiders.


    But not a secondter, another set of attacksnded on Straviaa and Enderks.


    BOOM!


    "Argh!" Straviaa was caught off guard, and the snipers of the Covenant and Git Godlike sent another round of attacks.


    "You fell for our trap. But don''t be sad. If you manage to defeat us and capture the Nile Serpent, you will truly have the Lost Primordial!" Arthur sneered.


    The moment she heard it, Straviaa roared in anger.


    "The Lost Primordial is in the Nile Serpent! Andronze, I will still win!" Straviaa vowed.


    The broadcast was sent to all Presiders.


    "Andornze!" Pridgeon roared angrily as his ship took a beating from the Serpent thatunched numerous weapons of Mass Destruction.


    Straviaa and Pridgeon had no choice but to use up their Universe Energy that became a shield.


    Using the Universe Energy as a Shield was one of the most basic uses that Presiders of all tiers had. But it was an extremely wasteful use of this weapon.


    Yet just like Straviaa, Pridgeon had no choice. But this was even more costly for Pridgeon as he had not fully repaired his ship from his fight against Myrth, and Straviaa''s ship was being destroyed from the inside.


    "Andronze?! What are you doing?!" Lanterk cursed as he contacted Andronze once more through am channel.


    "You traitor! You took control of my ship!" Andronze didn''t listen and raged as she began to use numerous techs at her disposal. But then, she heard Straviaa''s broadcast and her thinking became even more clouded as fury, and great anger took over.


    "Clear the skies! Activate Ster Eye Destroyer!" Andronze ordered.


    The many Pioneers quickly used activated numerous protocols as the Babel of Andronze began to gather massive amounts of Universe Energy.


    The surging power shocked all the Presiders as they saw Andronze fight as if her life was now on the line. All forms of caution were thrown away, and Andronze released the full force of what she could manage.


    "Presider! The leader of the one controlling the Nile Serpent is in Garenjazz''s ship!"


    In the moment of great panic, Harker had appeared. He had used the chaos and battles to infiltrate the greatest levels of security. Numerous spies, the Warfreakz and Gardo, all aided in getting Harker inside.


    Harker was the very one who destroyed Lanterk without hesitation. Andros was cautious of Lanterk''s form and believed several techs were in that clone.


    But Harker attacked without care for his life and destroyed Lanterk. Arthur''s prediction is that in that moment of the battle, Lanterk''s clone would be weak, and Harker had to make the attack to gain Andronze''s trust.


    And now, Harker reported and used truth to direct everyone''s attention to that ship.


    "The leader?!" A Pioneer was confused.


    "Yes! The leader!"


    "You detected a signal?" One of the Pioneermanders asked.


    "I... I can''t find it!" Harker answered truthfully.


    "It''s him! Garenjazz! It''s always him! He must be working for Lanterk! He appeared in that sea and prepared my way to get me to appear there and lose my forces! Lanterk must have moved and gained my trust to infiltrate my team! Implode the energy to make it attack everyone in the area! But prepare a beam and aim at Garenjazz''s ship and the approaching armies of Lanterk!"

 Chapter 525 Throwing The Presiders Off Their Zone

    Andronze was gazing at Garenjazz''s ship, and her hatred grew.


    It made sense! When everyone began to attack her, he would take control of the Nile Serpent! His power of dreams was something that could theoretically call out the Nile!


    "That Garenjazz!" Andronze cursed and cursed. She held on to the belief that Garenjazz and Lanterk worked together.


    As she raged and raged, Harker sent a ping that indicated his mission had seeded.


    Harker chuckled as he recalled that Seeker promised that the power of truth path would be so strong and important! And now, he could see it reach that level! His truths were turning Presiders into his weapons!


    Harker''s actions were sessful. But the simple truth that forced Andronze to believe was the result of their preparation during the past months after Shackstress fell.


    The Zone of the Presider was too strong and too difficult to track! So Lowengren and his allies were constantly battling to regain trust and test the limits of their powers.


    Truth, lies, humor, and even the zone-breaking powers of Vender were used.


    Lowengren had constantly tested the limitations of his lies during his period as an ally with Andronze.


    Any time he breaches the limits of these lies and Andronze would be on to them, Harker''s powers would be tested, and he would offer truth to regain Andronze''s trust. Humor was used along the way to dissolve any anger that Andronze had; if that even failed, Vender''s powers would appear.


    It was a battle of oveing. But now, the team knew the full limits of their potential and how to attack and distort the Zone of a Presider without having Vender around.


    They tested and found out only what many people who participate inpetitive sports or games already knew.


    Zone was affected by a person''s mood. Impatience was the best way to lose Zone. On the other hand, anger and taunts would force someone to act outside his Zone and lose momentum allowing the other side to take advantage of it.


    Lowengren''s appearance was that precise moment. The Nile Serpent was the only thing that could really push Andronze off her Zone and make her panic.


    And they used it beautifully. Lowengren ced the Nile Serpent in between two Presiders! Lanterk was also closing in! And finally, they directed the attention towards Garenjazz!


    The massive energy at the top of Egypt''s Babel began to release tremendous energy.


    As Straviaa began to fight Arthur, she saw the alert on Egypt. She couldn''t understand what was forming and could not concentrate as the battle before her was very difficult and life-threatening. She made randommands, and her ship began to shoot out massive beams of Universe Energy towards Andronze''s Babel!


    BOOM! BOOM!


    "Presider! We won''tst long like this!" A pioneer reported.


    "Push it to the limits! Form the ster core faster!"


    "It will be unstable!"


    "Do it!" Andronze screamed. If she could not have the Lost Primordial corpse and the mysterious Guinevere, then no one can have them!


    In the hellfire realm where Myrth battled the Oveers, Myrth''s Zone and momentum were now changing.


    "Andronze?! What are you doing?!" Myrth cursed.


    The power of Andronze was suicidal. It was like she was willing to drain every bit of her Universe Energy, which threatened Myrth!


    "You fools! You still wish to fight me here?! Even if you win, you will all die!" Myrth cursed.


    Meng, Rosa, Amir, and Lioncourt banded together and used their paths to work with each other.


    The Realm King reformed the destion and ice as if it became a real dragon! Amir''s cells were sacrificed to strengthen the pale blue dragon, and with it, they resisted the hellfire onught of Myrth.


    "Even if we win, we will die? Sounds like the story of our life!" Lioncourt chuckled.


    "That is where you Conquerors differ. You just want to conquer and be king! We Oveer! Death isn''t the end of our path! It''s just another challenge that we should ovee!" Amirughed.


    "Where is your sting, o death? Come on, Top-Tier! Show some backbone and fight us!" Rosa taunted.


    "He is scared because he is not a real Conqueror. Never forget, he ascends the lone road together with his twin." Meng shook his head in disdain.


    "You! I''ll kill you all, and I will conquer!" Myrth bellowed and harnessed his hellfire.


    The female Myrth also appeared as the two forms were now emerging out more distinctly than it was before.


    The fires became harsher and more powerful.


    "Your ally could do Zethayne Light! Wasn''t that the one used to attack Garenjazz''s ships?" The two Myrths began tough.


    "It was a cunning n. Garenjazz''s dream powers can be shaken and ''awakened'' by the light! So naturally, such an attack disrupted the dream world! But if you have Zethayne Light, I have Thion Fire! The mes that exist in all dimensions! You shall face my wrath and burn!" the Myrthsughed.<sub> </sub>


    "See what I mean? He''s cheating! There are two of them, and they are fighting like one." Meng frowned.


    "Husband, we''re fighting four as one."


    "Yes. But that''s our Path. That''s what we learned from the Lost Primordial. They walk the path of the Primordial. He and she are no Conquerors."


    Despite the horrifying power that Myrth revealed, the four continued to attack Myrth psychologically as they knew they had to break his Zone.


    "...How does he procreate?" Amir suddenly asked.


    "What?" Lioncourt frowned.


    "I mean... what happens when he or she does it? Does the other know? Does the other feel? Do they feel it together at that instant?"


    "..."


    "..."


    "..."


    "Ugh... Now that thought is stuck in my head. My team, Git Godlike, talked about something called hentai. With how depraved those things are, maybe someone explored this?" Lioncourt sighed.


    "Me too... But now I''m surprised to know that you are learned of doujinshi." Meng frowned.


    "What is hentai, and what is a doujinshi, and how do YOU know those terms, Meng?" Amir asked.


    "We are about to die, and that''s what you guys are thinking about?!" Rosa cursed.


    Myrth grew enraged all the more with the casual and unbothered reaction of the group.


    But she didn''t know that they were intentionally doing this.


    Lowengren had taught them that they shouldn''t react to the expectation of their enemy! And so, despite being in awe of the power, they put up a front of not caring.


    But despite their rage, they couldn''t make any big actions. This was because every Presider was now guarded on Andronze''s charging attack.


    Feyor and Tiana were attacking Egypt with more attacks than ever. But the lingering fear of being ambushed prevented them. Straviaa and Pridgeon were other victims, and they believed they would be next!


    The two evenbined their forces and organized them to resist the iing attacks!


    Feyor''s ship was enveloped inside Tiana''s strange world as the battle raged outside. Both were ready to shell out an equal amount of Universe Energy.


    "She''s insane!" Feyor cursed.


    "She''s preparing a beam attack... Two of them!" Tiana frowned.


    "So she''s aiming for you and me?"


    "I don''t know. Fate''s Favor is getting so messed up that I don''t understand it anymore! There are too many factors in this battle! But we are the top candidates! She won''t go for Garenjazz and Myrth, who are already fighting their battles! So prepare to defend against the attacks! And keep an eye out in case those damned Lost Primordial or that Progenitor acts!" Tiana revealed her annoying side.


    The battle between Richie''s team and the Tyrant Empress''s team was raging in the midst of Egypt.


    The massive energy above the Babel began to turn unstable.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The instant change in the sky caused everyone to retreat as the massive bolts tore through everything. The Universe Energy was devouring even the space itself!


    But a certain member of the team sighed and looked at the massive energy that was forming at the very peak of Egypt''s Babel.


    "My son got me good." Lennoxughed as he saw it.


    It was the lightning clone of Lennox, which contained all his lusts, desires, and passion. It was this clone that willingly served the Tyrant Empress. But now, in the battle, he could only see the danger. The gathering power was a danger to all. But it used a power that Seeker had long revealed.


    Thest mission of the Adult Seeker, when he made that leap into the Orbitals core, was the culmination of Lennox''s work to create instability in the Ster core that the Presiders used. The Ster Core was more than just a star. It had massive amounts of Universe energy. The energy that preceded the universe prior to its creation was in this, and it was through this that all cosmic bodies and everything in the universe were formed.


    And yet, the Lennox of that timeline managed to find a way to destabilize it!


    Naturally, this was Lennox''s important task in this timeline.


    "Ceasar! Hermes! I need your help!" The Lennox clone called out to his friends.

 Chapter 526 Losing Confidence

    Richie and the Tyrant Empress were fighting a brutal match at the sh''s epicenter.


    The locust wasmanded to move away, and the rest of the forces dared not approach the center since they would be caught up in the collision of powers.


    At the core of the battle exploded with massive spears that shot out. Three of Seven Notes fought together with Richie and acted as defensive shields that protected Richie from the attacks of the Empress.


    Chase, Levvy, and Magantae aided Richie but took the bulk of the attacks and were the only ones among the Seven Notes that stood as those who had the highest chance of resisting the Empress.


    The Empress wielded several Paths at once and could even create Green Dragons that bit down on the walls and harnessed their melodies as they made a harmonic tune and crafted a massive pyramid that formed with them as the three points and Richie as the tip.


    BANG!


    The dragon''s massive jaw could not dig through the sound shield.


    "Too weak! The real dragon would be able to bite through it! It looks like you''re not beautiful enough tomand their powers and break through my walls!" Richieughed as his three allies defended the crunch of a dragon.


    The Empress was enraged as she heard it. The powers that were locking her beauty were causing her to feel ugly, and her confidence was affected.


    BOOM!


    The green dragon continued to gnaw, but Richie charged towards the mouth of the dragon as a powerful spear shot through the mouth and charged towards the Empress.


    BANG!


    The Rule where the Tyrant Empress closed up, and she was knocked back.


    She was attacked! Richie had the will to attack her.


    "Your little attempt to get me failed, Empress!" Richieughed. After meeting her on that call, he never knew if he could ever find the will to attack the Tyrant Empress. But at the right moment, the desires of his allies to win added to his will.


    They became one in their will through the powers of the harmony they created. It was even evolving to the point that they could understand each other''s thoughts.


    Richie charged through the spear he created and entered the dragon''s body, rushing towards the Empress.


    The Empress raised her arm, and the Throne formed and closed up as lightning, wind, and destion attacked Richie in a pincer attack!


    Richie charged faster.


    "Walls of Jericho!" Richie shouted, and a powerful wall of sound traversed the dimensions urred. It was as if itsmand of Richie was the voice of creation itself! The trembling Universe Energy, being dispersed and used up in the battle around them, heeded the voice, and a wall appeared around Richie.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The attacks of the Tyrant Empress were blocked as the Universe Energy appeared around Richie, and Richie harnessed the power of his sound.


    "Falcon Punch!" The power of repeating vibrations appeared on Richie''s fist as he brought it down.


    BOOM!


    The punchnded and threw the Rule of the Empress flying downwards.


    Several more booms urred as if the attack kept repeating and repeating at the ce of impact.


    The Almetal steel was being deformed at each attack.


    "My vibrations are no longer locked in this dimension, Empress! My attacks can even create impacts atmand. Even in a space without any molecules, my power will ripple through the dimensions and attack you!" Richie as he zoomed to the other side and left another attack.


    BOOM!


    The Rule was flying to the side, and another constant and repeating impact with the same power urred to the side.


    BOOM!


    Richie attacked, and the Empress was being crushed on all sides.


    Inside the Rule, the Empress tried to call out her power and harnessed the sound.


    "Stop!"


    As another blow was about to explode, the sound suddenly moved and rushed towards Richie.


    The space itself kept exploding with the same impact


    "Oh? You can still seduce my sounds?" Richie chuckled as he rushed out to meet the repeating sound of bangs and reached his hand out.


    The sound disappeared, and the booms vanished as Richie could easily tame it.


    "You can''t make it attack its master, Empress." Richieughed.


    The Tyrant Empress was enraged. She never had ever been this weak.


    "You know what else? Arthur and Lowengren plotted against you! They favored me in this battle and arranged everything to favor me! Look at yourself now! You are not as pretty as you thought you were!" Richieughed.


    "Hmph!" She raised her hand, and many locusts that didn''t take part suddenly came charging as a massive nt broke out of it and attacked the three sounds.


    Each of the locusts suddenly grewrger andrger as it became covered in a strange darkness.


    It flew towards the three sounds aiding Richie.


    As they charged towards the sound wall and were sttered, a strange discord within the vibrations was felt.<sub> </sub>


    Richie rushed back towards the three and gathered sound power to reinforce the shield.


    "Zulu! It''s Zulu''s powers!" Richie cursed as his sound began to block the attacks. He could sense a dark force that somehow was moving beyond the dimensions.


    "Boss! These locusts are breaching the dimensions!"


    "Zulu''s shaman magic! It''s his path! He is using himself as a medium to speak to the souls and spirits that linger and bring them here! His undead, ck magic of cursing is weakening our sounds!"Richie deduced.


    "But Zulu is fighting Gallium and Akasha right now!" Chase frowned.


    "It''s the Tyrant Empress! She is nowmanding the paths of her allies!" Sammy exined.


    Several massive Exoskeletons appeared from within the Locust swarm. Its form was simr to Ceasar''s massive Exoskeleton suit, harnessing tremendous power as it punched out.


    "There''s more of them!"


    "They made several mini Ceasars... It looks like they are the ones who can really bring out the legacy of Australia''s Dawn soldiers..." Richieughed.


    With the three surrounded, the rest of the Seven Notes were forced to abandon their current position in aiding the rest and gather together.


    "Boss! This is trouble! She''s not fighting us directly anymore!" Levvy cursed.


    "Actually... I think this means we are winning." Sammy answered.


    "Yes! That''s right, Sammy! This is good!" Richieughed.


    "I am now confident that we can all attack her. If she''s sending others to fight us, then it means she''s not as confident as before! Her arrogance and desire to conquer allowed her to fight on the front lines... But now, she''s hiding! Everyone! Hold on and keep fighting! We''re winning this!" Richieughed as they all charged at the numerous powers that battled everywhere.


    The Tyrant Empress was retreating to the bottom, and she felt her heart tremble.


    "My Empress. It seems I may need to die to save us all." The voice of Lennox spoke.


    "Another set of bad news, huh? I lose my strategist in the heat of this battle."


    "I''m afraid so. But against Oveers, we could only expect such things."


    "So your son and that Lowengren, despite having seen me, have managed to repress their will."


    "Oh? I never thought about that. But it does make sense. Your defeat will greatly benefit them."


    "Yes. And that Eagle is around. I can feel a portion of this space that would not pay attention to me as it is attracted to something else..." The Empress sighed.


    "Ah... So that''s what those fluctuations were."


    "I must move now. I will be asking for help from Hermes and Ceasar to do this. I''m sure they noticed."


    "So this is it? Are your calctions telling you that we are defeated?"


    "... No. Empress, my son and Lowengren, and even that Seeker arranged this battle because you have never ever fought in a situation where Zone was against you. This is the tribtion that you have to ovee. If your powers have really disappeared, why has not one of those who serve you betrayed you? Ceasar is an Oveer. That Zulu is also a Near Oveer. And yet, we still fight."


    "...hmmm... You''re right!" The Empress smiled.


    "In any case, I must go! It was a pleasure serving you, my Queen! But I must now end this forced existence of mine." Lennox moved up and called on Ceasar and Hermes.


    The two beings slugging it in the sky, causing attacks that equaled weapons of mass destruction, suddenly shifted their attention and attacked the shield around the tallest point of Egypt.


    The massive wind created raised and shed its massive sword on the shield.


    Omricon was the very sword itself and shed down his de that could cut through all matter.


    SLASH!


    But the universe''s energy appeared and prevented the cut from moving inside.


    "My turn!" Ceasar rushed in and harnessed his full power.


    The very space around Ceasar distorted as he wielded such power and force in one body that it was as if a small ck hole was forming. It was like Ceasar was bing a star.


    "Combat Body?!" Andronze sensed the fluctuation as Ceasar punched out.


    The arm that was now getting crushed by the very power it created smashed on the Universe Energy shield.


    BOOM!


    A small hole was created.


    "Presider!"


    "Rx! That energy has reached a level that it doesn''t need a shield! Go ahead, you golem! Let''s see if your attack could breach my Ster Core!" Andronze challenged.


    But Ceasar didn''t move, and a figure rushed towards the ster core.


    "Living Lighting?!"


    It was a simple exoskeleton that contained massive electrical energy. It dove towards the core, and its lightning began to spread out.

 Chapter 527 Awakening Of The Red Rider

    <o>,m Thebined attack of Hermes and Ceasar was never meant to attack or damage the ster energy. It was all to make Lennox have the chance to move in it.</o>


    The massive orb was using the Universe energy to harness massive amounts of energy and to cause this energy to breach the dimensions beyond.


    The harnessed ster energy used science that obeyed the physicalws but also a far more advanced science that looked like magic. Harnessing this power was impossible on earthling science alone. But now, Earth happened to gain impossible things to make this study possible.


    And that was Seeker Carlean.


    One of the studies that Lennox had to make was how to observe and analyze the scenario of Seeker''s death. The first thing Lennox prioritized was digitizing Seeker''s memory into a real 4-dimensional experience. Creating a downloadable program that Seeker could interact with was the first step. As Seeker''s brain got used to it, Lennox could soon feel Seeker''s pain when he dove in, as shown in his memory.


    Seeker''s untapped potential as the Truth allowed Seeker to change the flow of the ster energy and used the miniature ster science in his Four Force elerator and increase the speed of the core going supernova.


    Through that, several theories were made on what energy it was.


    When the team acquired the Leviathan and the alliance with the Everhiss family, the known science in studying Throne Technology and creating the WGP''s Origin energy helped Lennox greatly.


    With Lioncourt, the group even got closer to having a theorized method of creating the star. When Seeker and Lynd first fought and revealed the two opposite ways to gather energy, this study advanced by leaps and bounds. Attempts to create and finalize a cultivator''s body and use this science as its core to recreate the energy was an advanced science even by Presider standards.


    This was the very dilemma that Mid Tiers had to figure out to step into Top Tier.


    Finally, the capture of Shackstress''s base opened a new field of study. Lennox had already perfected a science that would allow him to manipte the same ster energy that Seeker dove into whenmitting suicide.


    The application allowed Lennox to use his powers to hijack the star and alter its attacks.


    It didn''t take long before the ster energy suddenly released its attack.


    Andronze couldn''t even give orders for his team to alter and change the surging power as it shot out even before it managed to gather all of the energy.


    Andronze had prepared a few main targets to be attacked with this energy, but Lennox manipted it and made the energy split up and attack numerous Presiders.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    A beam of harnessed ster energy shot towards two locations.


    The first was one of the intended targets.


    The strange dreamworld of Garenjazz was the target.


    A massive bolt of red lightning shot towards it, causing massive explosions, and the strange mist and smoke that hovered over the sky were blown away. Then, the Hypersphere ship of Garenjazz was revealed again; now, it had huge damage on its outer rims.


    Zeraphine''s ship was also seen at the side, and both had colossal damage.


    Another attack rocked thebined defenses of Tiana and Feyor. The two-faced arger beam than the rest.


    "Block it!" Tiana cursed, and the two Presiders worked together to defend against the attack.


    Another attack was aimed at Pridgeon and Straviaa''s ship. A portion of Straviaa''s ship was incinerated, and the beam bombed the ship of Pridgeon. But at thest second, Gordon''s ship appeared and took the full brunt of the attack, and Gordon used up a lot of his Universe Energy to teleport and block the attack.


    Thest attack was Andronze''s base!


    The energy shot down and destroyed the massive tower over the heavens.


    Andronze had to use massive energy to block and move out of the way. But themand center of her fortress was damaged by her weapon!


    BOOM!


    The attacks rippled out, and chaos followed.


    Zulu had used his powers to resurrect the dead soldiers to begin attacking others, and now, he awakened more people who died by being exposed to the ster beam that Andronze sent out.


    And with all groups suddenly attacking everyone in a melee, the ambush against Andronze had now turned into a free-for-all.


    The Tyrant Empress watched as Lennox sent out the beam and confirmed that he had vanished. She felt anger rising up but with it was a realization.


    "Lennox used two contradicting emotions to divide his thoughts forcibly. His attraction to me was more than just a parasite in his mind. It lingered in his heart. His other soul wanted to save her daughter so much. Unlike the rest of Lennox''s AI, the one that severed me was a real person born from the attraction and captivation of his soul. Never again can this happen, and never again will I acquire another Lennox. I have failed to keep that soul with me because of the plots of Arthur and Lowengren, who arranged all this to kill that soul. But this also means that my power is not just mere lust. It calls and affects the soul." The Tyrant Empress closed her eyes and wanted to affirm her realization.


    Her power was not just beauty. Her power had already transformed and taken shape into something much more powerful.<sub> </sub>


    Millions of soldiers taking part in the war as members of different Presider groups suddenly saw a strange vision.


    They could see the shocking face of the Tyrant Empress.


    "Fight for me." The whisper of the Empress spoke.


    "Kill all who do not wish to serve me." The Empressmanded.


    Immediately, these affected men began to wage war on those around them.


    The Empress gazed upwards to the battles of the Oveers above.


    "Follow me!" She dered that it was as if the powers of all the Oveers who opposed her were being siphoned out.


    Richie, Hermes, Akasha, and Gallium went to a full retreat as they felt their powers being robbed.


    A quarter of the bats and vampires that served Akasha turned away.


    A quarter of the liquid metal creatures that Gallium created also moved out.


    And their Paths and Zone were being stolen from them.


    "She''s too strong!" Hermes cursed and ordered his team to retreat.


    Richie also did the same.


    "We''ve lost..." Gallium sighed.


    "Such power! My coven doesn''t heed me! They are willing to serve her even if they die!" Akasha shouted.


    The Tyrant Empress sensed the powers beyond the dimensions that were hampering her beauty and power.


    Her power no longer drew away from the desires and emotions within a person''s brain. She was not drawing her power from the lust and desires of another. But her power was now reaching for the souls of people! Those who had weak souls were instantly conquered.


    The power of the Tyrant Empress grew stronger as she began to drain the power of all the Oveers.


    Ceasar, Zulu, and Eden didn''t even bother to fight as theyughed and cheered as they saw their queen conquer.


    Lowengren saw the changes on the other battlefield and cursed. However, he quickly observed all the people within the Nile Serpent and confirmed none were affected.


    "Soul! Her powers are affecting the soul now! Thankfully, none of them has seen her! But, Guinevere, if you had seen her, you could have betrayed your father and brother as well! That''s why I told you not to scan that area!"


    "The current number of people showing to be serving her is quite high! I can''t get the actual count... but from the ones I can, I already see over 30,000 soldiers betraying allegiances and fighting the enemies of the Tyrant Empress!"


    "That Tyrant Empress! She''s too dangerous now! The Rider of the Red Horse has awakened!"


    "Hmm? Lowengren! I detected another presence approach! It''sing from space! And the power and fluctuations and how it bends the three dimensions are as strong as the one caused by that Tyrant Empress!" Guinevere reported to Lowengren.


    "What? Someone just like her?! Of course! Only he can stop her now!"


    "Who is it? I can sense another meteor approaching too! It''s following this person!"


    "I was shocked when Seeker told me this person''s identity. He''s probably the only one strong enough to resist the soul attack of the Empress!"


    "Who is he? Why do you think he''s the only one who can fight her? What about Seeker? Can''t that time traveling reincarnator right her?"


    Lowengren shook his head.


    "Seeker doesn''t have that will to resist it alone. But this man can. Of the many things that Seeker spoke of about his alternate future, he reserved some of the secrets that only me and Arthur knew. And right now, you''re about to witness one of his secrets!"


    "What secret is this?"


    "I lied about the Rider of the ck Horse. Eagle is the White Horse, Meng rides the green and dappled horse, and the Tyrant Empress rides the ck horse. We all implied that someone else would soon rise as an Oveer and be the Rider of the ck horse. But this was a lie! The truth is, Rider of the White Horse is also the Rider of the ck Horse. The man who united the world and formed the United Earth Armies without fighting and killing a single person in a future war would also be the same person who wouldter kill the most. In Seeker''s original timeline, this man killed more people than all the other Oveersbined! The Rider of the ck Horse who is death incarnate! He Who Treads the Wine Press of Wrath! Eagle!"

 Chapter 528 Rider Of The Black Horse

    The powers of the Tyrant Empress were affecting the souls of the Oveers. And just as it was with Lennox, the Tyrant Empress was causing everyone''s soul to be drained and taken away.


    The Tyrant Empress felt her power grow stronger as her beauty and power returned in all their glory.


    Deep inside the moon ship, Pridgeon was horrified as he found a familiar power that the Tyrant Empress wielded.


    "Impossible! That is the power of the Suit Devourer! How?!" Pridgeon was shocked as he nced at the area where the Tyrant Empress was.


    The visions he could see in the fourth dimension were as if there was a ck hole that was devouring and taking in everything. But in the realities present, the Tyrant Empress was harnessing the different paths of all the Oveers.


    The souls of the oveers were being eaten, and as more of their souls were drawn in, more of their powers became the Tyrant Empress''s powers.


    She flew out with her Rule, and the different powers and paths began to gather around her. It was like a beautiful flower blooming with her beautiful form at the center.


    Richie and the rest were in full retreat as they felt thest of their powers being drained.


    Richie gave onest shout as the space in front of him began to tremble and created sonic booms that birthed more sonic booms.


    This was the strongest attack she could use, the Roar of Judah.


    The sound waves shot towards the Tyrant Empress, whoughed andmanded her vibrations to shoot back.


    BOOM!


    The two powers met, and the two attacks canceled each other as they had equal power!


    "She already has half of our powers?!" Hermes cursed.


    Hermes gave hisst attacks as the four winds shot their attacks.


    Eden watched in amazement at the power of their queen.


    "She has bloomed!"


    "Such is the power of our queen! As long as there is power present in the air, she can steal it! So, Lynd imitates, Seeker studies the foundation of each Path and can wield the untamed Realms. But our queen abducts it! She is worthy! She steals all, including life! She will be the Life!" Ceasarughed.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The powers that all the Oveers threw at the Tyrant Empress were defeated as the different paths that the Tyrant Empress had countered all attacks.


    The Blowing Wind met another gust that ceased it. The Freezing Wind also met its match.


    Omricon''s sword shed with another, and Omega''s abilities to gather the wind met an equalpetition, and he could not gather and contain the winds.


    "You will all be mine!" The Tyrant Empressughed.


    But suddenly, a red rock had fallen from the great heights and tore through the shing paths.


    BOOM!


    The wind and the sound vanished as the rock tore through it.


    "What?!" The Tyrant Empress was stunned at the sight of the falling stone.


    Ceasar saw the terrifying force of the strange rock and moved ahead to face it.


    It wasn''t just a normal rock. It was a rock made of the hardest known material on earth and had terrifying weight!


    Ceasar punched out with all his might.


    BOOM!<sub> </sub>


    A massive explosion of the two forces meeting created a strong shock wave that caused flying Armors to be blown back!


    Suddenly, Richie and the rest of their team felt that they now had their Paths back, as if a strange force was pulling their Paths back.


    "And to the church''s angel in Thyatira write: ''The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a me of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze." A familiar voice was heard. His voice wasn''t loud or amplified, nor was it using Richie''s sound powers. It was as if only the Oveers and Unlocked Armies could hear his voice.


    Through the power of attraction, everyone''s attention was captured, and they somehow could hear the voice that crossed dimensions. It was as if he spoke directly to their souls.


    An exoskeleton floated in the skies. It had strange wings that were made of living lightning. The legs harnessed incredible heat thatbined Meryl''s and Gardo''s powers.


    The visor of his exoskeleton was releasing a dark red light that looked like fire.


    "Eagle...!" The Tyrant Empress recognized the voice.


    "I know your works, your love and faith and service, and patient endurance, and that yourtter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those whomit adultery with her I will throw into great tribtion, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you ording to your works!" Eagle dered as he raised his arms.


    Behind him was a massive boulder that was fifteen meters in diameter. And it began to plummet down the heavens with great speed. It was a meteor that was somehow drawn from its distant ce and had found its way towards earth. The meteor was significantly smaller than the previous meteor that the Void Assassin brought to Earth. But this stone was more significant than the metal rock he had thrown in the meteor had its target.


    "My queen! Far above those meteors, we''ve detected several floating pieces of almetals, same as the one that Ceasar attacked!" Zulu reported.


    "What a convenient power! He''s using gravity to create mini meteors that could crush and destroy us!" The Tyrant Empressughed, but she did not cower.


    "My Kingdom! Defend me!" The Tyrant Empress cried out, and suddenly, all the Presider ships suddenly had several of their strongest guns and weapons shooting at the meteors above.


    Tiana and Feyor cursed as they suddenly sensed numerous people being under her control!


    "Kill the-"


    "No! Don''t!"


    Feyor was about to give the orders, but Tiana stopped him.


    "That power...! It will summon other men! We''ll end up killing all our Pioneers if that happens! Detain the men and stop them! But they must not be killed! This power of brainwashing is a tech that Dimensional Upholding! It''s at the level of Principals!" Tiana warned.


    "Then that woman is a Top Tier with the potential to be a Principal!"


    "She has that power, but she does not have the Combat Body yet! The Lost Primordial lives up to her name. But who is her enemy? That power that he has to freely alter gravity as he wishes it''s also Dimensional Upholding! This battle is because of these two! We''ve been used since the start! The Progenitor as well! We were all pawns for them to have this battle! Look at them! They have equal might! But in this chaos, they could win against each other!" Tiana shouted.


    Richie and the team moved towards Eagle, where the soul-devouring power of the Tyrant Empress was not reaching them.


    "Oveers, weak as you may be because of her power to devour, you still have to fight. This is but another level that you all must Ovee. A time ising that all the Aragarians we will face will power to attack the soul." Eagle exined.


    "You sure saved us, Pastor." Richie chuckled.


    "Richie... You wield the power of God''s voice. You bear the image and typology of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Logos, the word of God itself! You have a weapon that is sharper than a double-edged sword. Use it! " Eagle called out.


    Richie was startled, and then he smiled and nodded.


    "Hermes, the wind, and the Holy Spirit are often connected. John 3 tells us that the wind blows wherever it wishes. Be this truth! Be the wind! You are more than just air! Satan''s rule is referred to as the power of the air, and he is the god of the air! But you are not some false god, for you follow the Living God! You are the whirlwind that rebukes Job! Be the covering, the tempest, and whirlwind, and let Christ dwell in your midst! Show this Jezebel your power!" Eagle turned to Hermes.


    Hermes and his winds all gave a smile as their confidence returned.


    "Akasha! Blood represents something that transcends the very dimensions itself! How can the Almighty Being, God himself, be appeased at the shedding of blood! Find that power in your blood! Find out how it can appease the wrath of God! Gallium! Do not think that you are the weakest here. For in the punishment of Jezebel in Revtions 2, the verse goes on to speak about the symbol of authority given to the conqueror. For it is written! The one who conquers and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. Be that rod of iron and conquer!" Eagle then moved closer towards the Tyrant Empress.


    "Come, oh Jezebel!" Eagle called out as his Exoskeleton began to float closer.


    "See if you can make me, Eagle. But I think you''ll go first!" The Tyrant Empress gave a seductive and teasing reply as she ordered her Rule to charge up ahead, and her team followed.


    A battle that equaled Top Tiers fighting erupted above the ruins of the fallen Babel of Egypt.

 Chapter 529 Attacking Andronze

    Right at the moment when each Presider defended against the Ster energy attack, Andronze performed numerous maneuvers to weaken the damage.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    "Activate Command Room Shields! Activate Dug Down Deep!" Andronze shouted in panic, and her throne and suit were the energy sources that created a shield.


    The top of the Babel erupted into smithereens. However, the ster core remained in ce and did not move an inch as the tform that held it copsed. Instead, it sent the attacks in a different direction and was slowly drained out before vanishing.


    All the other Presiders had their defenses up, but Andronze took the st with little defense. The only defenses that appeared were the verymand center itself, and it used Universe Energy to resist.


    Universe Energy shield and ster energy that had traces of Universe energy met.


    <o>,m BANG!</o>


    The Command Center was a separatepartment and had its energy sources. And so, when Andronze activated the Universe Energy, the entiremand center was protected by it as it was designed to withstand attacks that exceeded weapons of mass destruction.


    Powerful water surged upwards, and the entire Babel began to sink as it used Dug Down Deep to make the entire base move down to weaken the punch.


    "Now!" Gardo ordered.


    BOOM!


    Several powerful bombs were detonated, stopping the entire base from moving downwards. The techs had thepressing power of Gardo, and it shrunk several Big Bang Booms.


    Using Dug Down Deep technology, the Nile Serpent, under the control of Lowengren, ced several of these altered Big Bang Booms in the middle of the soil. The Nile Serpent then used another important part of the Dug Down Deep techs and made the soil under the Big Bang Booms denser and stronger.


    The goal of these bombs was not to create a bomb that could blow through the base but something that could keep the entire fortress from escaping or moving down.


    The explosions pushed up, and the attack of the Ster energy pushed down.


    As Seeker had already revealed the form of the lighting they created in his past life, they knew that the eruption would create energy that had a dense, physical form.


    The energy won''t take the form of a lightning bolt or a beam, but it would be s hard, dense energy that assumed solid form due to its mixture with Universe Energy.


    "The attack pushes down like a sword, and this entire base sinks. If that was true, the entire Babel won''t get damaged but would be pushed down." Gardo watched as he stood right on top of the base structure of the Babel.


    An intense vibration shook the entire fortress. Andronze saw that the Babel could not use Dug Down Deep.


    The attack tearing through the floors finally made contact with the Command Room where Andronze was. It was like a massive nail-pierced down and struck the Command Center, which also used a shield that used Universe Energy.


    The ster energy struck, and the entiremand center copsed and was pushed down numerousyers.


    Harker had left the Command Room and was jumping down the copsing rubble. The attack of the Ster energy came as a surprise except to him, who managed to leave the room right before the attacks came down.


    It was so chaotic that he could slip out of themand room and leaped off the window just when the attack from the ster energy was released.


    Yet even then, he was moving as fast as he could as the radiation and energy from the attack were so strong that they would have been able to kill him.


    Along the way, an empty Supreme Exoskeleton flew towards his location and quickly wore itself on him, and he retreated to avoid the heat and radiation of the attack.


    Dug Down Deep finally worked as it could now dig through the sand. Still, the attack had alreadypromised the integrity of the fortress that even with the help of the entire fortress moving down, the ster energy was still demolishing floor after floor and sent the entire base down.


    Finally, the ster energy dispersed.


    Among all that was struck by the ster energy attack, none was more badly damaged than Andronze''s fortress.


    The defensive matrix that created a massive shield of numerousyers had vanished.


    "AHHHHH!" Andronze roared as she painfully poured in more Universe Energy to connect the broken channels all over her fortress and restore the energy.


    Even as the building bent side-wards, these important energy channels continued to function andpensated for returning the shield.


    Presider tech was far superior to earth''s tech in that such damage would only weaken or destabilize the defenses for a second and return once more. This was even more so since Andronze used her Universe Energy to restore the structure''s ''form,'' reconnecting all energy channels and creating an insanely quick self-repair.


    The entire fortress glowed as even the Nile Waters began to dive towards the tower and be the recement and channels for any parts missing!


    Harker quickly saw the Nile Waters and the Universe Energy at work to repair it.<sub> </sub>


    "Hmph! Toote! Arthur already predicted this!" Harkerughed as he released a srium st that contained Meng''s destion.


    And it wasn''t only Harker who was waiting. Several others were ready and had already sent numerous attacks towards the fortress. Many Unlocked, including Gardo, followed Harker''s lead, flew from all directions, and attacked the Babel tower that had now been deformed.


    With Arthur''s prediction, the Unlocked timed the moment when the self-inflicted attack would damage the structure of the entire base. And with the capture of the Nile Serpent, they had already known the very structure and form of the tower.


    And the attack met the quick restore.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The defense systems of the tower didn''t have time to activate, and the dy allowed yet another barrage to reach the Babel.


    The ongoing bombardments of the different Presider groups had not ceased.


    Tiana, Feyor, and Myrth still had numerous powerful guns aimed at this fortress. However, their attacks never reached the numerous shields that blocked them.


    But now the Command Center was damaged, the Babel was broken and had not yet been amended, and the Unlocked made their barrage.


    All the attacks reached.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The Unlocked army quickly retreated after making the attacks, and the army of Andronze was exposed to all forms of attack.


    Dozens of the Unlocked armies were reported dead as they could not survive the sts. While these attacks would damage the base of Andronze, they were still fighting behind the shields, and the chaos of these attacks imed many. The teams were not just fast enough to make their retreat and received the bombardment that was falling all over the ce. And even with their unlocking, the torrents of episodes were still too much for some of them.


    Harker and Gardo made their retreats and tookfort because none of their strongest fighters had died.


    Many members of the Pangean Army died. In addition, acquaintances of both Harker and Gardo were killed.


    "Damn it..." Gardo and the rest knew this would happen. But he was still not ready to face the deaths.


    "I guess my Zone isn''t enough yet. When Alean used that ship to move from the base of this fortress and up to where Seeker and the rest were, she faced an entire bombardment and didn''t get hit!"


    "We don''t have Meryl''s bright light now, Gardo. Alean timed hers when Meryl attacked!"


    "No. It was Zone. She knew when to move in. But for me, when I lead my team, and I get several dozens killed!" Gardo was in noughing mood.


    "You should be used to losing men by now. Protector of the Provinces." Harker answered.


    "I wouldn''t have cared before... but I know all of them... I remember them." Gardo gritted his teeth.


    "Such is the curse of the Unlock... Every death we count is more personal. But you have to get used to it. After all, we are all to be generals!" Harker was moreposed as he was already used to having losses among his soldiers.


    "Boss. Don''t worry. We will oveer." Jane Moore, Gardo''s assistant, spoke out.


    "Yeah. Don''t worry about us!" Brent Stinser of Gardo''s core team answered.


    "Everyone! You must ovee!" Harker still used his powers and pleaded to all the Unlocked.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The ongoing barrage continued to reach the surface of the Babel. While others could safely hide back into the fortress through the doors, many were still toote.


    "Who''s the skies?" Roselyn asked the sniper of the Warfreakz.


    "The armies of Andronze are fighting back now!" Lucy Leon answered.


    "Then it''s time to move! Team! Let''s kill Andronze!" Harker dered as he flew towards the base of the structure and continued to evade the bombardments.


    "Move through! I don''t want anyone dead, you hear me?!" Roselyn of the Warfreakz ordered.


    Harker''s trio and their special forces also charged forward.


    Warfreakz, the top members of the Dalisay family, Harker''s Trio, and his team all rushed towards the center of the wreckage of Babel and began to shoot at themand center that was still in one piece.

 Chapter 530 The Power Of Dreams

    Going back several minutes in time...


    When Meryl hadunched a powerful beam that could equal the strongest attacks of Mid-Tiers, the ship of Garenjazz was greatly damaged. And the momentary attack revealed the real form of the ship, and everyone was able to enter the dream world.


    From the outside, everyone saw a vast mist. But as Alean and the rest moved into the mist, the entirendscape changed, and even the gigantic Hypersphere was no more. It was as if they had stepped into a different, and a world of strange possibilities stood before them.


    Cliff and the Basilisk Squadron, the Gryphon Squadron, Meryl and the Twelve Disciples, Lynd, Seeker, Meryl''s parents, and several other soldiers who were trained bravely charged into the mist and entered a world beyond the three dimensions.


    The force that Alean brought in had numerous soldiers from all over the world. Recruited by Chris and Grace were former members of the Force of Americas. These were the elites of the Americas'' most secret organization and were soldiers at the Inhuman stages. Among these soldiers were the allies of Chris, Jonathan, and another who had for the longest time been in love with Grace Carlean.


    Jake of the Force of Americas saw the massive armies of the Presiders.


    "So each of these Presider has an army like this, huh?" Jake frowned.


    "Oh? I thought you, of all people, wouldn''t be scared, Jake!" Grace chuckled.


    Jake smiled as he turned toward Grace.


    "Nothing like that, Grace. It''s just that with this, I would be able to finally push the Americas to join the cause and ally with Seeker''s army!" Jake cheered.


    Chris didn''t know whether to be angry or sad at Jake, who was making a goofy face at his wife. Even with all the truths about the Unlocking revealed, Jake did not notice that he was under the spell of Grace.


    "Jake and that other Jake who can pass through walls are both being led and manipted by a girl who would never reciprocate their feelings. I better tell Seeker never to name his kids Jake." Chris thought to himself.


    Members from the East Asian Alliance were also among them. Jade and Stevenson Mikado recruited them. At the departure of Lara Diamon and the Diamon group, numerous spies were sent with them, all of who were captured and forcibly converted,


    The missions of Lynda and Peters Indigo were also sessful as they toured many parts of Asia and drew numerous soldiers to their cause with their Path of making people bitter and angry. When the Presiders began to show up all over the world, they had gathered people and made these bitter men point their guns at these Presiders. They were all easily assimted into the Unlocked armies.


    The best of who they gathered to join in the mission.


    As the mist was about to cover the entire area, Alean finally activated a massive teleportation device that opened the Void.


    WARP! WARP! WARP!


    The void was opened, and numerous members of the Void assassins took Pegasus and other WGP-Level ships. Several spacecraft appeared at the side as it broke through the Void.


    The Unlocked showed a greater portion of their capabilities as a small army began to form.


    And none of the Presiders noticed it with all the chaos outside.


    The massive Hypershpere was there, and soon, an army of exoskeletons and armors began to move out of the ship.


    Zeraphine''s ship was also there, and they began to release an army of their own.


    The army covered the horizon of the strange world, and even with thevish deployment of the Unlocked forces, they were still vastly outnumbered. Yet the Unlocked armies did not cower.


    "Push forward! Garenjazz and Zeraphine are busy fighting Seeker and Lynd! A Presider won''t control those armies!" Alean urged.


    Suddenly, the entire horizon began to change as the mist had covered their retreat and engulfed the entire space in it. The dimensions began to change and were distorted.


    At the closing of the red mist, the entire area began to change. As they did, they could see a world inside that once revealed the Hypersphere, but then, the ce began to change as the power of the Dreams returned.


    "The world is changing! We will be within the dimension that Garenjazzmands! Everyone! Be careful!"


    The world turned strange, and it was as if all the Unlocked felt their sense of direction whirling.


    The world was spinning as if they were inside a massive kaleidoscope.


    But even with the distorting and changing environment, none of the Unlocked were affected by the slightest. They were all trained to withstand all forms of distortions, and their sense of bnce was not dependent on their physiology but had Realm,


    The armies in front of them began to distort, and the power of dreams began to change.<sub> </sub>


    But as that happened, Cliff had used his powers to daydream and paid attention to the expressions of everyone that was projected inside his suit.


    The expressions of every one were different. Some were scared, others were amazed, and others were confused.


    With Seeker''s close rtionship with Zeraphine, he had been asking what the powers of Garenjazz were. Seeker had made it clear earlier that he would be with Garenjazz and that there was a possibility that Garenjazz would attack him. However, his identity and the forces that his ''father''manded were not enough to withstand a Top-Tier.


    But Zeraphine could only answer in vague terms, for she didn''t understand the powers of Garenjazz herself. There was never a time in her life when Garenjazz fought seriously. Even in Aragar, no Presiders dared to mess with him casually, and he was highly favored even among Principals.


    The only idea that the Unlocked army had was that Garenjazz had a power that was connected to dreams. From this vague understanding of his power, Arthur, Seeker, and Lowengren began to theorize what that meant.


    Dreams resided in the dimensions where the soul was. It was the same dimension that Seeker trained in when he had met Nogard. They all created their preparations tobat how that power would form, and with Nogard around, those who would join Seeker in attacking were once more given training by Nogard.


    Yet the biggest problem was how dreams would manifest themselves in the world. Who is the dreamer? Will they see Garenjazz''s dream, or will it be a world where those who moved inside the world would see their dreams being reflected?


    Cliff watched the micro-expressions of everyone. He could feel that his power of Day Dreaming could even be projected into this world!


    Time had slowed in his perspective, but unlike the usual scenarios, Cliff couldn''t permanently stop the flow of time.


    "Each has different reactions..." Cliff noted.


    From Cliff''s perspective, he could see a red world as if they were on Mars, and a thousand flying saucers and demon-like beasts flew over the air. But because of Cliff''s attention and power in daydreaming, he could see that the enemies were subtly shifting from one form to the other.


    Some became dragons and dinosaurs as his gaze turned away from them.


    "This proves it. The subtle changes in the world that even our snipers won''t notice how the beast is changing. Everyone''s thoughts and subconscious create images of the creatures before them."


    "Basilisk Squadron! Move out!" Cliff gave orders, and the massive serpent, along with other Unlocked, charged forward to battle the iing oddities of the dreams.


    "Everyone! You are all seeing a different dream! The things you see before you are not the real thing! The powers of the dream are forcing you to ept it! Just as how odd things be eptable while you dream, the realities before you will trick you and affect you! We are fighting in a dream and all the side-effects our brain encounters in the dream be here! Find resolve to remember!" Cliff shouted. He was the one who had a perfect memory, so he could feel his thoughts shifting into a dangerous form of mindset.


    Matthew of the Twelve disciples was rmed.


    "Everyone! Keep remembering each other! Don''t stop talking! The dreams are affecting our memories! So keep talking to remember!" Matthew dered.


    Everyone in the Unlocked army began to talk to each other.


    "This is scary! We would have died if we did not know all of this!" Ivan of the Gryphon Squadron was stunned as his memories were affected.


    "I''m not affected by this." Alphie chuckled.


    "You''re not?" Lim was amazed.


    "I''m clear-headed. Seeker''s in there. And I have to save him!" Alphieughed.


    Suddenly, the entire skies turned dark, and everyone saw their visions change. It was as if they were in a dream. They found themselves in a dark, monochrome world, and their memories were affected.


    "...Where am I?" Alphie suddenly asked as she looked around.


    Almost everybody began to lose sight of their purpose, and some were even confused about where they were.


    "A nightmare, huh? Everyone but me is affected." Cliff frowned as he could see everyone''s expression change into a trance, confusion, fear, anger, and all sorts of emotions.


    "Arthur told me about this... I guess I''ll find out if this will work..." Cliff closed his eyes and expanded his realm. With the Thought Transmitter, it was now possible to transmit more than just words. Especially the distorted ce where dreams and reality ovepped.


    "Garenjazz, this nightmare won''t defeat our armies! Not as long as I''m here! I don''t dream randomly. I define my dreams! I am the Day Dreamer!" Cliff embraced the mocking title that many would taunt him with, and his memories exploded out.


    "Memory Realm!" Cliff activated a power that he had been training for, for a long time.

 Chapter 531 The Power Of The Day Dreamer

    The most dangerous powers of a weaponized dream were that those inside it wouldn''t even remember what they were doing but be ced in a certain scenario, and they would simply ept it and carry on as their minds are weakened.


    And that power affected everyone. Their memories and thoughts became discord as their subconscious took over and was on an endless cycle of feeding them scenarios after scenarios that they would ept.


    The confusion didn''tst long as everyone saw their dreams as eptable.


    "Hey, look! Is that the World''s Helm? We''re near!" Chris suddenly called out to those nearby.


    Those who heard him saw the scene change as they began to ept his words of Chris and see it like that.


    "It seems that they are here to pick us up. Finally, the alliance begins! We can finally fight those Presiders." Stevensonughed.


    Cliff harnessed his Memory Realm and quickly caused it to surge out.


    His thoughts remained on what Arthur had exined to him.


    "So this means that the world or realm you could find yourself in is not a dream world that Garenjazz designed. Dreams are a world where no coherent thought process exists. The dreamer sees things without thinking, and yet it is a world that constantly creates and adapts its scenarios to the actions of the dreamer. It uses the subconscious, the memories, and even the beliefs of the dream to create the odd world. So now, the question is, what is a reality in this world? Is everything that you see in this world real? Or are these illusions? If this world is Garenjazz''s powers, it won''t be a simple illusion. Assuming that Garenjazz has Dimensional Upholding, he could bring all of your forces into a dream world and force everyone to dream."


    "So everyone will be asleep?"


    "It''s more like sleepwalking. And that is the danger. The Unlocked army is not trained enough to fight in the dreams. So they will suddenly be in a state of dreams where the subconscious leads their control over their body. Imagine fighting next to someone who is dreaming."


    "So they''ll act weird or even attack me..."


    "Exactly. Without shooting a single gun, it''s even possible to conquer an army. But you have the chance to counter it and save everyone."


    "How?"


    "You daydream," Arthur answered.


    Following Arthur''smand, Cliff began to daydream. The power began to erupt, and everyone suddenly saw the scenes drastically changing from one form to the other.


    The forms and persons began to change, and everyone became confused.


    The strategy that Cliff made was to pour out hisyers of imagination to drastically cause everyone to see strange things and question the world''s reality.


    Cliff began to speak.


    "Arthur told me this. Your subconscious might not ept my statements even if I said something. You all are sleepwalking, after all... But with my powers as the Day Dreamer, I am forcing you all to see the truth, and hopefully... You''lle up with the same conclusion." Cliff called out to everyone as he transmitted his thoughts and imaginations to everyone who was being affected by the suggestive properties.


    Everyone saw the strange vision before them, and with all the oddities presented that didn''t make sense as to the time and ce of where they were, they began to think and wonder where they were.


    Their visions kept changing so fast. The scenes were too weird even for the dreamer to subconsciously ept them.


    Alphie realized it first. She remembered who was on the ship so far away.


    "Seeker!" She shouted.


    A few people were suddenly starting to recover from their dreams.


    Cliff didn''t say anything but only created a suggestion that would lead to the safest way to awaken everyone. He saw the enemy send a barrage of attacks toward him, but he didn''t move or fight back but allowed the attacks to strike the serpent.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    But then the attack ended. The enemies sent a barrage to see the reaction of Cliff''s Basilisk. Cliff epted the attack to see his army''s reaction.


    "Cliff!" Meryl eximed.


    "Good. Is everyone daydreaming now?" Cliff asked.


    "Dreaming?" Meryl asked.


    "...Yes. Thank goodness you''re here, Cliff." Alean sighed as she felt great fear in their hearts.


    "This is a dream... General Cliff! Was that... inception?" Stevenson asked.


    "Yes. You guys haven''t woken up from the dream yet. Through inception, I made you realize you were dreaming so that the enemy would not notice the changes. They must have a way of analyzing if you are dreaming or not. Right now, you know you are dreaming and have more control of what you can see. But the enemy thinks you still are dreaming."


    "I''m still dreaming? Weird... Oh hey! You''re right! No wonder they suddenly became all the guys I''ve had a crush on but now look down since I''m more beautiful, and they are not in my league anymore." Meryl eximed.


    "... Yeah." Cliff didn''t know how to respond and kept the Basilisk moving straight as if he was in a trance.


    "Stop shooting the serpent! He isn''t attacking because the person wielding that power is not affected. Move closer, and prepare stronger weapons! They are all dreaming! So let''s kill them quickly! Send the forces closer and kill them in one shot. If you shoot now, the explosions may awaken many and fight back in their dreams. We have to get back and help Presider." The Pioneer Commander ordered.


    The forces stopped shooting at Cliff and began to assume formations.


    "Hmmm? General!" Matthew noticed it.


    "I know. They think we are dreaming and n to kill us at close range. I will undo my Memory Realm now. Since I''m forcing all of you to see my memories, it eats up quite a bit. Keep remembering where you are. Dreams tend to give you all short-term memory. If I see any oddities, I''ll activate this realm once more. But let''s get this battle over with!"


    "Roger, General!" Everyone responded.<sub> </sub>


    "Well, I kind of guessed that... Why would all the superheroes of theics I read be here to kill me..." Chris Carlean chuckled as he began to quietly arm his Supreme Exoskeleton.


    "Honey, be sure to get me in that ship with your suit. I''ll be off to work."


    "Just don''t shoot me like thest time. I know you were acting like a spy, but that still hurts..."


    "Oh,e on. A bullet to the heart isn''t critical for someone like you." Grace chuckled.


    "I''ll get you in that Hypersphere, Grace!" Jake vowed.


    "Thank you." Grace chuckled.


    Stevenson''s supreme exoskeleton began to quiver.


    ? "Husband? Why are you worried?" Jade Mikado asked his husband.


    "I see... my grandparents and parents charging towards me... It''s going to be rather difficult for me to shoot them now." Stevenson sighed as he saw what every Asian dreaded.


    "Dude..." Lynda Indigo muttered.


    "I see your family, Lynda." Peters Indigo admitted to his wife.


    "You do? Can you fight with that as your dream?"


    "I''ll probably enjoy this more than I should." Peters chuckled.


    "Everyone! Get ready! We will be initiating our counterattack soon! Cliff! Prepare an attack!" Alean ordered.


    "Jane! Mark! Let''s surprise them. Allow the power to surge! They want to kill me with a sudden strong attack. I''ll give them just that! But first, a deception..." Cliff began to recall one of the lies, Lowengren.


    "No! Don''t kiss her!" Cliff roared as he pointed in a certain direction.


    His voice shot echoed out as the power of Richie''s sound reverberated.


    "...What an idiot. He''s lost himself in that dream. Such is the power of our Presider!" The Pioneer Commander smirked, and all the Pioneers and nteds that were approaching the army began to chuckle, and everyone wasughing at the person''s stupidity.


    "I''ll kill you for that!" Cliff shouted again.


    As Cliff said, Jane and Mark of the Twelve Disciples used the power of Richie and Lennox, respectively, followed the Basilisk forward and enhanced their powers.


    Sound and lightning took form. The power of the two paths achieved unity and became one attack.


    With Jane and Mark''s aid, Cliff and his team were finally able to reach this level through their training, and the two powers had merged as one.


    On the outside, nothing was happening. But those with realm could feel the terrifying change within the serpent.


    "Woah... Cliff sure is strong..." Chris Carlean watched in shock.


    "Is he going to be the Life?" Jade wondered.


    Alean was closing her eyes and concentrating. But, in truth, despite this advantage, she could feel that the battle was still not theirs. The powers of the dreams had only begun to appear. And Alean was constantly looking for that precise moment to keep making the right moves to turn the tides of victory.


    "Shoot it... Now!" Alean ordered.


    "shes of Lightning! Peals of Thunder!" Cliff roared as he gathered the energy in the palms of his hand. His Funneling General Exoskeleton armor was the peak of their sciences, and it began to control the powers of the two Paths. Cliff''s realm erupted, and his memory of an attack that the two showed him came to being.


    Instantly, Cliff, his trio of drug dealers, Jane, and Mark released thebined energy. The massive Basilisk quickly spat out the ball, and it shot towards the approaching army.


    "Commander!"


    "Defensive Shields!"


    "Toote!"


    Thebined force of the two created a power that would equal weapons of mass destruction.


    But unlike those rockets that could be deactivated, destroyed, or only had explosions and fire that damage the three dimensions, thebined power of sound and lightning would create a ripple that would tear apart and attack those on the fourth.


    The path of the attack tore through the dream world and the area where the ball of lighting and thunder tore through the dimensions and purged it revealing the real skies that had the three dimensions.


    BOOM!


    A massive shockwave and a st of lightning surged out and exploded out, instantly killing thousands of the enemy.


    The Unlocked armies charged ahead and began to make their attacks.


    "Kill everyone! Twelve Disciples! Charge up the center and attack the ships! Void assassins! Get ready! All spies prepare to board the ship! We only have one chance in this battle! Let''s do this!" Alean ordered.

 Chapter 532 Inside The Dream Of Garenjazz

    The sudden counterattack of the Unlocked came at a precise moment in time that instantly killed off several of the key attackers that were about tounch devastating attacks.


    Cliff''s attack created a powerful explosion that caused those whounched their attacks to spin out and even send the attacks back to the Hypersphere.


    Many of therger ships that were blown sideways spun even more as the snipers of the Unlocked armies shot attacks that did not have piercing qualities but created a strong impact that spun the ship even more.


    The math had be simple to them as the Unlocked memory, and their problem-solving skills allowed them to easily utilize math that equaled Arthur''s Instant Calction skill as part of the Covenant.


    Suarez used the power of his Thought Transmitter and applied path to it, and quicklymanded a few of therger ships that could not make a full 180-degree spin to turn and attack the Hypersphere by puttingmands in the heads of the main pilots and gunners to do so.


    And so, the Hypersphere met numerous attacks from the strongest weaponry and didn''t have time to block the light-speed attacks.


    The Unlocked army quickly increased the speed of their movements and charged deep inside the wide space where the attack of Cliff exploded.


    However, Meryl flew to the eastern side, began to release her bright light, and continued to attack.


    The bright light drew the enemy''s attention, and Meryl released numerous beams of light all over the ce.


    The powers of Unity had improved the sciences of the Unlocked. The Unlocked army was now wearing a contact lens based on Meryl''s eyes, allowing them to resist the brightness. The contact lenses itself was based on Meryl''s cells and could be activated by Realm. So with the bright light that Meryl was creating, the Unlock didn''t even lose a bit of their fighting capabilities.


    Every strategicmander followed the orders of Alean and applied their tactics to the corresponding area where they attacked.


    ? Matthew and Jamie began to issue orders for the Twelve Disciples to follow, and they tore through the ranks.


    "Everyone! Remember your training and experience!" Matthew shouted.


    "Don''t forget to have fun!" Jamie chuckled.


    "Let''s mosey, everyone! On me!" Ivan ordered as he broke out of the ranks and charged to the western side.


    "Let''s mosey? Whatever you say, SOLDIER..." Epic shook his head.


    "Everyone is still affected by Meryl''s light. So, everyone, move as fast as you can and kill as much as possible! Kill at least five exoskeletons and destroy one of their jet-sized ships every second!" Lim ordered.


    "Parent Ensemble! Charge faster! Continue attacking the Hypersphere! We have to get our spies inside!" Alean ordered.


    "Parent Ensemble?" Stevenson frowned.


    "I feel you, Stevie... I used to be the best agent in the Force of America. Now, I''m just Seeker''s Dad..." Chris sighed.


    "Why are you guysining? The young must surpass the hold! Let''s do our mission! For the next generation!" Petersughed as they charged forward.


    As the battle against the Hypersphere continued, the ship of Zeraphine did not release a lot of forces but mainly kept on the defensive.


    When the Hypersphere appeared, it broke through the dimensions and pushed the ship of Zeraphine right behind it. And so, the Unlocked army only faced the Hypersphere as the space around them became a dream world.


    But even though Zeraphine''s ship was brought into the dreamworld, they were naturally not the targets of the dream power and remained able to think.


    And yet, the ship did not send its forces because Zeraphine did not order the attack to help Garenjazz.


    Right in the center of the Command Center was a strange dimensional door where Garenjazz moved into as he escaped into it and used his powers to bring in Vender.


    Lynd dove in, and Seeker chased after Vender. And finally, Zeraphine moved in with her Throne.<sub> </sub>


    Herst instructions to the Pioneers serving her were to remain vignt and prepare for war and defend themselves from any attacks and fight back if they were attacked.


    But as the army didn''t spare a single soldier for them, the group didn''t act.


    Strange whispers and sounds could be heard within the dimensional door, and the Pioneers finally decided tomand the ship outside of the Command Center because the madness they felt affected them.


    The portal led to a strange world which was Garenjazz''s very dream.


    It was a world that Garenjazz himself was designing.


    Seeker and Lynd found themselves in a spiraling world of monochrome color. It spiraled endlessly towards the top. From the top, monsters, angels, robots, and all sorts of famous characters, either real, fictional or animated, were charging toward the two chasing after Vender.


    Vender was helplessly being pulled into the void and was so frightened by the dream that he lost the ability to fight back.


    Seeker and Lynd were secretly cursing as they saw the idiocy of Vender that allowed him to be caught!


    "Why did that idiot get caught in that simple attack?!" Seeker cursed as he shot out several of the powerful attacks toward the approaching beasts and characters.


    Lynd was harnessing the full strength of his abilities but could not help but tear up as he saw the enemies he had. Video game characters, animated characters, movie characters, and all forms of video entertainment were there before him.


    "Fall into my dreams!" The voice of Garenjazz was heard, and a power that was several times stronger than the ones that attacked Cliff and the armies outside urred.


    A powerful soul attack sought to attack them. Vender was instantly knocked out and was in a perpetual nightmare.


    Zeraphine was at the very bottom of the spiraling Realm as she was confused and saw the nightmare around her. But this was not a sign of her weakness. On the contrary, the power of Garenjazz was so strong that even Myrth of Tiana would have a hard time recovering in this strange Realm.


    The soul of Zeraphine was slowly resisting the world around her, but the other two who entered this Realm easily resisted it.


    Seeker had grown much more than his Rank Hero form in this past life.


    Before Seeker jumped into the ster energy to create the supernova attack, he capped at seventy-four percent. And as per Charles''s data, Seeker could achieve nearly ny-one percent of the Unlocking if they were to follow the same standards set in his alternate timeline.


    He even would easily surpass the peak of World Champions or the Ovees, which had a record reach of eighty-three percent achieved by the Tyrant Empress and Eagle in that timeline.


    But in this current world, the definitions or rankings have changed. Because of Seeker''s experience in surpassing the 100% when he died and experienced a Life Review, Charles had a whole new level of study to start with. And the advances they made of how to reach the higher levels had constantly changed when Seeker met more and more of the Oveers and was able to acquire their foundations.


    At the defeat of Shackstress, the changes and estimates were moved once more. The more the Unlocking understood the dimension beyond and how altering it can alter matter itself, they realized that Dimension Upholding was a power that allowed specific control of certain matters.


    Just as it was in the cultivation stories of the east, the goal of bing a Primordial was to be a god.


    Seeker and Lynd felt their perspectives and their subconscious distort but the current level of their Unlocking was just too strong to be affected.


    "Will he kill Vender?"


    "No. That man''s safe. What an odd way of being kept safe. Because there was no way for him to survive this, he had that ident and fell unconscious again!"


    "Then let''s go!" Seeker ordered.


    As Seeker was about to charge forward, his soul began to tremble as it sensed the power of the realm they were in.


    A being manifested next to Seeker. It was the Adult Seeker!

 Chapter 533 Souls Of Seeker

    Garenjazz managed to attack Vender at thest second. With Vender knocked out, Garenjazz managed to pull him into his dream realm and retreated. He needed to study the mysterious entity that managed to distort his luck.


    The power was terrifying to him, especially with the seeding attack. There was nothing even among the Principals that could alter the luck and fate that he had. And yet, this strange being that had a bizarre and disgraceful appearance caused him to lose his powers.


    Vender''s body flew to him without resistance and passed through the many imaginary beings that Universe Energy was forming.


    "What kind of power is this? His very being breaks apart from the dimensions! So what exactly did you experiment on, Lost Primordial? If not the Nefilus Beast, what did you use?" Garenjazz frowned but was greatly relieved, with Vender now back to his side. The unconscious Vender had lost the strange threat that Garenjazz felt. But at the same time, he didn''t feel lucky.


    "Neutral...? Good enough for me. You yed me quite well, Lost Primordial. Progenitor. But I am a Conqueror!" Garenjazz felt something that he hadn''t in all the enemies he had fought. He was angry.


    But at that moment, Garenjazz saw yet another miracle. Another Soul moved out of Seeker and took form just like how he could form beings in his world!


    The dream realm was a ce where the three-dimensional rules weren''t followed. The world of imagination and the physical realm was weak, and through that, the Adult Seeker felt that his soul could ''travel'' outside of Seeker''s body.


    And through the power of being another soul with Seeker''s body, the Adult used various paths to solidify and recreate his body in this strange realm.


    His body wasn''t physical but was made of energy itself.


    Garenjazz was surprised when he saw that he actually paused the attacking army and observed. The body of Vender had reached by his side as he observed the strange powers of Seeker.


    "Universe Energy? No... It''s not it yet! So what kind of energy is that? What exactly did the Lost Primordial discover that he created pseudo forms of the real things!" Garenjazz was amazed.


    Moving out of Seeker''s body utilized a great amount of energy. But then, the Adult Seeker recreated the same form and power of the Child and created a dantian to keep creating energy. The soul became a stable form simr to the beings that Garenjazz created.


    "Hmmm? I can thread on Garenjazz''s powers?" Seeker was confused. He could not think of any other reason why he could do this.


    "You''re not a dream, right?" Even Lynd was confused.


    "I''m real. You know Seeker has two souls in him. This is also why we could train and create another thought process that is sentient and different. For some reason, I can appear here." The Adult smiled.


    "We''ve fought together once. But it''s good to finally meet you, Old Man Zeek."


    Seeker felt the energy drain out of him and ate one of the expensive energy pills to recover the lost energy.


    "In any case, this is great! The Truth and the Passover are here!"


    "This will be very helpful. You pretend to be the Progenitor, Old Man, Zeek. I''ll pretend to be me, going after to save Vender." Seeker exined.


    "Was this why Vender fainted? I discarded those ims that asserted Vender''s identals always lead to good things... But now..." Lynd was amazed.


    "This is incredible!" Then, another figure appeared next to Seeker.


    But this form was a girl!


    "Zoe?!" The two Seekers were stunned.


    "Who?" Lynd was confused at the sudden manifestations.


    The manifestation of Zoe appeared, and she was looking at her own body.


    "Not bad!" Zoe praised.


    "Who is Zoe?"


    "One of my thought processes!"


    "I never knew you had a girl. A beautiful one at that... Are you...?" Lynd had a strange look on his face.


    "No. Zoe was formed to counter the Tyrant Empress. She did help us on our meetings with her."


    "Hmm... But this one looks smart. When I imitate or observe you, there is this one thought process that is very... dull. It''s like he just dozes off or something."


    "That''s Greg. He''s an idiot." Zoe answered.


    Garenjazz watched at the edge of the dream world and wasn''t surprised at the appearance of yet another.


    "Three souls... Hmp! So the Progenitor has indeed ced his soul in Seeker. And that other one should be Shackstress. This will be troublesome. I guess I have to use more Universe Energy." Garenjazz harnessed his power, and the Universe Energy began to empower the created dream beings to attain their powers.<sub> </sub>


    Garenjazz upheld the dimensions and create stability, and formed his dreams. He had already made several, but now, Seeker and the rest saw the process.


    Three-dimensional beings manifested within the fourth dimension, and with the Universe Energy, they began to take form and hold power.


    The beings that appeared were all controlled by Garenjazz. And all of them had the powers and forms of his most adored characters.


    All of it charged towards Seeker and Lynd.


    "Ugh. There are more of them. Each of them should be like a Low-Tier or a Mid-Tier! Fighting this guy in his home field is too hard! I still can''t see a way we win... Especially with that one in the center." Seeker sighed.


    "That one in the center... He must be creating a dream being that would be like Superman. He can create Top Tiers in this world. Amazing. We have to stop him. That''s why the Universe Energy hasn''t stopped forming it yet. That thing will be quite strong." Lynd pointed.


    "Incredible speed, strength like Ceasar, and a practically invulnerable form? Sounds fun..." The Adult chuckled as his de formed.


    "Old man, Zeek! I take it. We should be the ones using the power of Unity!" Lynd called out.


    "Of course. Let''s do this!"


    "I''ll chase after Vender. I have to make it look like he is my target while helping you. I guess this is why Vender got caught. His unZone is helping is achieve the best scenario to fight."


    "Zoe... I''m still confused about how you managed toe out." The Adult asked.


    "The Tyrant Empress''s cells. Her subus. Remember what she said? I think I''m made of it. But it''s purged, so you don''t have to worry." Zoeughed as she zoomed down.


    "I''ll get ourst helper!" Zoeughed.


    The trio who remained nced up, and their powers began to appear.


    "Wasn''t that... Shackstress?" Lynd asked.


    "So you had that guess too, huh? Leave her. If it''s her, I''m sure she won''t harm us. Better her than being made up of the Tyrant Empress." Seeker sighed as he harnessed several powers.


    Lynd and the Adult Seekerbined their powers.


    "Thanks to Jake, we can survive this battle!" Lynd smiled.


    "Lynd. Follow my lead." The Adult ordered and moved ahead.


    "Fine... But you better aim for that, Garenjazz. We won''t end this dream unless we kill the dreamer!" Lynd followed, and Seeker was thest to move.


    As the trio flew upwards, the entire realm began to stretch out. The spiraling pathway with very little space began to expand, and finally, a massive, endless space appeared like the dream beings charged at them.


    Adult Seeker and Lynd led the way, and their power of Unity formed and allowed the two to wield the power of great energy.


    The Adult Seeker held out his sword and began to harness numerous Path energy as lightning, wind, sound, fire, and destion appeared around him.


    "I''ve been saving this technique..." The Adult began to spin around like a top with the sword turning into whirling des.


    "Following Arthur''s Threshing Floor, Old Man?" Lynd chuckled.


    "Yes. Back in my life, I''ve always wanted to make his attack. But I never managed to create my version. So even at the end of my life, this skill was tossed back to the cutting room floor... But now..."


    Lynd sensed the power of Unity and began to help Seeker control the power of the Path.


    The lightning energy was charging all around Seeker, and the wind and sound began to create the path that Seeker would travel.


    The Adult aimed for his target and began to move.


    "Cutting Room Floor!" The Adult roared as he charged with the speed of light.


    The attack had begun, but as Seeker traveled, he realized that the space between him and the enemies had widened!


    Garenjazz chuckled.


    "Starting off with a strong attack, huh? Too bad. You''re in my world, Progenitor!"

 Chapter 534 Dream Weaver

    As the Adult Seeker harnessed lightning energy to the fullest, it allowed Seeker to be sent forward with an incredible speed! The speed had already reached the speed of light.


    The entire body of Seeker was made of pure energy, and with it, he could easily resist light-speed traveling.


    Seeker''s perception also changed because he could perceive things up to nanoseconds, thanks to the power he received from Madison and Cliff. The Realm King''s power of altering time allowed the Adult still to navigate his movements easily and charge forward.


    Yet with such speed, he could still see the enemies far off.


    "His changing thendscape of the dream...!" Seeker frowned, sted off faster, and began to move to the sides as he tried to escape the stretching space in front of him.


    What seemed to be just a distance of nearly a hundred meters expanded endlessly and didn''t allow Seeker to move any closer towards them.


    Seeker cursed and used the powers of lightning to send him moving to the sides.


    As he turned and changed the direction, the space began to distort.


    But even with his random and erratic movements that changed the direction, he still could not move any closer.


    Seeker and Lynd saw the strange predicament and quickly moved.


    "Let''s go!" Lynd shouted and sted off at the side.


    Seeker also followed as the pair flew towards the side.


    Garenjazz chuckled as he harnessed his powers to transform the space around his dream.


    "Your ability toe out as a Soul is indeed interesting. But you have not perfected Dimensional Upholding! Your all idiots! This realm is a power that only Principals can create! This is the secret of my survival against all those wars! This realm is not something a Presider can create! Only those on the Dimensional Purging Stage can create this dream! I have been trying to bring this technology to the real world. And while I have seeded on some parts, my current power can only match Top-Tiers! Even Shackstress could have fought it! But you just had to dive into my dreams willingly!" Garenjazz raised his hands, and the entire dream world began to warp.


    "Dream Weaver!" Garenjazzughed, and the entire world began to spin around and move.


    All of the space moved, rotated, and brought along Seeker and Lynd in its chaotic spin.


    In this ever-rotating world, only Garenjazz and his Imagination Warriors were affixed and remained static in their respective positions.


    "Kill them!" Garenjazz ordered.


    All the Imagination Warriors that were standing and preparing their respective attacks began to throw out their attacks.


    Attacks that these Energy waves. Concentrated beams. Magic of different forms began to shoot out.


    In the spinning world, their attacks would suddenly spin or disappear as they would get caught in the shaking world.


    The attacks traveled only a short distance that even though Seeker and the rest would have traveled a wrapped and distorted distance that would have taken several minutes for the speed of light to travel, it instantly struck them.


    Lynd and the Child moved closer, grabbed each other, and used the power of Unity.


    A bright light erupted out and even drew Garenjazz''s attention.


    "So that''s the power of the Lost Primordial... A power that links...!" Garenjazz was amazed.


    They harnessed several Paths to defend themselves from the attack.


    Seeker quickly harnessed his cells and began to replicate the Paths of three Oveers perfectly. But instead of bearing the weight alone, Lynd used his Realms and harnessed the same power.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    A massive hole erupted out in front of them and devoured the approaching energy.


    The power of the Realm King, Eagle, and Meng appeared.


    A powerful devouring force that ate away all the energy that fell inside it appeared. The devouring energy of Meng was at its core and constantly ate up all forms of energy inside it.


    "A ck hole? How impressive! So you can create powers that break the dimensions.


    Garenjazz was amazed.


    The Adult began to make evasive maneuvers and used his light-speed movements to dodge the rain of attacks. But as Seeker turned left, he was flung even further to the right and vanished from the sight of Lynd and the Child.<sub> </sub>


    "Seeker! You can''t move even the shortest distance away from me! This entire world can expand endlessly and separate us both!" Lynd warned.


    Garenjazz watched the struggle of the two Seeker and Lynd.


    "Luck was back on my side when you stepped into this world! Even if Zone has disappeared, you can''t kill a god in his realm! You will all die! In this world, you will only be drained of energy and won''t even reach the Zone of my Imagination warriors!" Garenjazz revealed as he created a massive building from his dreams and began to move inside it.


    "Now... to study the powers locked inside this mysterious being..." Garenjazz turned his attention to Vender and grabbed him.


    The moment he did, the two Seekers smiled.


    Oveers dared not to touch Vender. His powers of distorting and destroying Zone even affect Alean! Arthur used Vender as a grinding stone to train him to see the future even with his presence which constantly distorted Zone. And his training with Vender allowed him to prepare a grand fight that could weaken all Presiders and send teams to fight numerous ones at once.


    And yet, Garenjazz did the unthinkable and physically touched Vender. At that moment, the Adult acted.


    The power of Passover erupted. But this time, it had two Paths ingrained in it. The first was the power of the Void Assassin, who could teleport and warp through two locations through mysterious dimensions that were ''in between'' numerous ones.


    The second was Jake''s power of passing through.


    Arthur had theorized that the dream world would be so strange that the concept of movement would even be changed. The directions of up and down would turn strange as Garenjazz would even be able to twist it.


    And as predicted by Arthur, Seeker was moving in a spiraling world. When he moved straight, he was actually spiraling in a direction and was moving forward and backward. The spiral direction would spin back and then spin forward. Even with his speed, Seeker was just actually moving another circuit that drew him closer and then farther to the Imagination Beings.


    With this possible


    And so, Seeker had to train and perfect the Path of Jake as it was one of the few things that could cause them to return movement.


    The Path of the Passover amplified these two paths. The Path of Jake that should have only worked in the three dimensions now worked in this dream world.


    It happened the very second Garenjazz touched Vender and felt a Zone-Destroying energy rush in him as he felt pain!


    Garenjazz''s real body was always within this dream world. And because of that, Garenjazz had already abandoned a physical body and had a spiritual one that could walk and traverse the real world. This was why his powers and movements were so strange that he could even appear around Presiders without alerting them. He was an embodiment of Realm, Zone, and numerous forms of energy.


    And all of that was affected by Vender''s power.


    Garenjazz felt his entire body tremble as he could feel his luck disappearing.


    He threw Vender back in horror and instantly felt his world copse.


    Seeker sped faster, and through the three powers, he moved out, escaped the spiraling world, and instantly traveled the distance.


    SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!


    Seeker began to cut through the Imagination warriors with a sword full of lightning and destion.


    The imagination beings of various heroes and fictional main characters were chopped into pieces as the lightning de sliced through them. But Seeker didn''t just end there. With him able to move through the warping space, reaching Garenjazz was easy.


    "Dream of this!" Seeker shouted as he shed out.


    "Incubus!" Garenjazz shouted and harnessed the power of his dream to surge.


    The entire dream world suddenly trembled, and it was as if it was shrinking! Garenjazz''s form changed.


    The harnessed dreams transformed Garenjazz into a being of endless energy.


    SLASH!


    The shing attack of Seeker that harnessed lightning energy equal to the Sword Like Lightning of Lennox couldn''t even create a cut!


    A being of darkness that contained the cosmos appeared.


    Seeker quickly retreated and grabbed Vender''s body.


    He then used the remaining energy he had to open a portal.


    A Combat Body was formed.

 Chapter 535 Dreams Of Zeraphine

    Zeraphine was lost in a strange dream. She saw various figures that appeared around her.


    There, she saw her father, who transcended Principal into bing Primes.


    This was a video that she watched again and again in her youth. When She was born, her father was already a Prime, and in her early years, her mother would constantly speak fondly of Zephirus.


    Zeraphine was a Presider. But she was a rather strange one. Yet, Zeraphine had only several moments of being in front of her father.


    Primes were not beings that existed solely in the three dimensions. When a Principal takes that step into the higher stages, thews of the dimension have changed. They achieve a state higher than Dimensional Purging. They had transformed from Primes into the High Primes that held strange powers and were no longer beings solely of the Three Dimensions.


    But thankfully, Zeraphine always had her mother.


    But her birth and her growth were always an issue among all the Primes and Principals as it was believed that Zephirus had breached the rules set and had bestowed numerous techs to Zeraphine at her birth.


    And because of all the chaos, Zeraphine and her mother became the target of various secret attacks.


    And yet, despite all the hardships they faced for a few years, Zephirus never acted but would always charge the two to keep fighting and generally kept himself distant from Zeraphine.


    Zeraphine saw these visions.


    Finally, she saw the scene that she had tried to forget.


    She saw her mother, whoter died mysteriously.


    Zeraphine saw her mother on her death bed.


    "Where is he?! Where is he in all this?! This kind of illness! He can cure it!" Zeraphine wept.


    "Zera. Don''t me your father. You will understand soon. But now, live your life and try to rise the ranks!" Her mother urged her to her death bed.


    The vision appeared, and Zeraphine couldn''t understand why her mother kept believing that Prime Zephirus loved her even when he never appeared to help or save her.


    "Mother..."


    Zeraphine saw the scenes that were locked up in her heart. But all of a sudden, the entire vision changed!


    She saw the dreams morph as if it was forcibly bing something else.


    She saw a strange scene that she had never seen in her memories.


    It was her! She was with Seeker.


    They had a date in a fancy restaurant. But instead of using the body of Lara, she was using her real body.


    "Hey, Zeek!" Zeraphine smiled as he found Seeker waiting at a certain shop. Seeker was older and had corporate attire.


    "Zera! You''re early!" Seeker was surprised and stood up.


    "I was suddenly free. So you''re still staying here? You know, you''re too smart and better for them. Have you tried applying at thatpany I told you about?" Zeraphine asked.


    "Nah. I like it here. The people are great, and the pay''s alright."


    "You could be someone better, you know? There are better ces for you to have an opportunity to reach for the stars." Zeraphine urged.


    "Why?"


    "Why do you mean why?" Zeraphine frowned.


    "Why do I have to reach for the stars? Can''t I just be here on earth?" Seeker chuckled.


    Zeraphine was confused as she saw that scene.


    "This was the first time we hung out. It wasn''t a date. It was just two friends hanging out. Back then, I still gave myself to the pleasures of the earth as I tried to be a Principal. I''ve had my fill of all the artists and hot ones the world had to offer. But... I was really enjoying hispany. He was the first real earthling that I befriended." A voice spoke.


    Zeraphine couldn''t understand as she searched everywhere for the voice''s source.


    "It was there that I realized something was wrong with me. I saw Seeker and envied his life of being ratherx. He knew when to stop. He knew when to enjoy life. As opposed to me, who sought to be a Conqueror. In that life, he was my miracle. He showed me a life that I longed for. I wanted to be free but couldn''t free myself from the curse. In the end, I couldn''t kill him. I thought I didn''t be his ally for my love for my family and race. But I realize... it was something else. My nature was simply designed to be against him. I couldn''t kill him, nor could I ally with him."


    The scenes began to change.


    Zeraphine saw herself plot against Seeker, leading to the death of numerous allies.


    Even then, Zeraphine pretended to be Seeker''s ally and wept with him when he wept. And rejoiced when they won.


    Even Lennox and Arthur did not suspect Zeraphine, nor did the rest of the Oveers.


    Zeraphine was bing more and more confused as she saw everything.


    But the more she saw, the more pain she felt. It was as if she was regretting everything that she did.


    "Seeker now may be gone forever. Do something." Thest message was sent, and Zeraphine was finally awakened.


    "Where...?" She was confused.


    "You really took your time, Princess. The battle has started." A woman stood in front of her. But this time, Zoe didn''t have her usual form.


    "Shackstress?!" Zeraphine was stunned.<sub> </sub>


    "Yes. I''m dead. The Progenitor won, and now, I''m like this soul guarding his kid." Shackstressughed.


    "That dream...! What was it?"


    "Dream? Princess, I don''t specialize in this tech. Garenjazz does. And he''s about to kill your boyfriend. Can you help him?" Shackstress asked.


    Zeraphine nced to the heavens. She somehow couldn''t understand her emotions. She knew it was a dream but so painful and real.


    "Seeker!" Zeraphine shouted and powerful energy formed around her. Her power in the soul was revealed. Her entire Nefilus Suit and Throne became her soul as she flew towards where the battle was about to start.


    ''Zoe'' chuckled as she saw that.


    "Quite an interesting way to awaken her from that dream..." Shackstressughed.


    "How did it work? This dreamworld was showing Zeraphine the deepest fears and most painful memories of her mind. But you managed to change it easily!"


    "Haven''t you been listening to any of Eagle''s sermons? Who knows a person''s thoughts except for the spirit of that person, which is in him? 1 Corinthians 2. My soul is the only thing that can affect her like that. For a split second, she felt what I felt. And I simply allowed myself to be affected by this dream world. And she saw my dream."


    "Those words you told her. You''re attempting to free her from the Primordial''s curse, aren''t you?"


    "If I want to be reborn and merge with her soul, it has to be free from the same limitations! I have to purge the influence of the Primordial, or at least weaken it!" Zeraphine exined.


    "Let''s go. It''s time for us to use this power..." Zeraphine chuckled as she was excited to use it.


    ''Zoe'' flew up high once more and headed towards the battle zone.


    Unlike before, the entire dream world had shrunk. Most of the entire world waspressed and took its form in Garenjazz''s body.


    Garenjazz was indignant at the progression of events.


    He had felt his luck run extremely low when he touched Vender.


    In fact, the contact he made with Vender hurt him, and he felt a strange distortion that could not be fixed.


    "The Lost Primordial! What exactly did he experiment on?! How can something like that exist?!" Garenjazz cursed.


    He had no choice but to block and use his powers to form the Combat Body and block the attack!


    The two Seekers and Lynd stood. Vender was next to them and was still unconscious.


    "Incredible. If Vender weren''t caught, it wouldn''t have gone this way..." Lynd was amazed.


    "Seeker!" Zeraphine arrived. Her form was her own body, but she had bright white energy moving out of her.


    "That form! That''s Zethayne Light!" The Adult Seeker was amazed.


    "So you''re the Progenitor... You look very... much like Seeker!"


    "Obviously, he''s sort of like my clone. What power is that?"


    "Progenitor. This is the soul''s form. This is the body that I was blessed with. Soul. Among Presiders, it''s useless, since this power can only be used when Principals who can fight in multiple dimensions do." Zeraphine answered.


    "Zeraphine! Get back! It''s too dangerous!" Seeker pleaded.


    "Are you here to fight with us?" The Adult asked.


    "Your ward doesn''t seem to have any intention of letting go of Vender. So I have Prima Donna here in some cease-fire."


    "Prima Donna?"


    Lynd flinched as he heard that title.


    "Zeraphine! Tell Garenjazz to stop!" Seeker urged.


    "Garenjazz!" Zeraphine shouted.


    The Combat Body of Garenjazz wasplete, and the form that seemed to contain a universe inside of him stood.


    "Zeraphine... I guess my duties as a ward is over."


    "Let this man go! Seeker and the Progenitor won''t fight you! Neither will I! You can fight the Prima Donna for all we care?"


    "It''s not going to work." The Adult sighed.


    "What?"


    "Seeker. Zeraphine. He has discovered the ace that was meant to be used against him soon." The Adult pointed at Vender.


    "What?!" Seeker and Zeraphine were stunned.


    "I don''t know what happened. But luck was on Garenjazz''s side. It unveiled the power that could defeat him!" The Adult answered.


    "Indeed it has. That man must die. I cannot be a Conqueror if he draws breath! Zeraphine! My luck''s being tested! I will try to spare you! But I hope luck is on your side after this!"

 Chapter 536 Prophecy Once More

    While the fight within the dreamworld urred, time flowed differently outside.


    The battle of the Unlocked army against the Hypersphere continued to rage on.


    With the ambush attack of the Unlocked Army, the front lines were breached, which allowed the team to move right inside.


    Every squadron fought to the best of their abilities, and the Void Assassins were warping from one shop to the other. Fighting enemies from the inside out.


    Seeker''s memories of the future had already been drawn out, and various battles that recreated the memories of Seeker were used as stages for the Unlock toplete and pass.


    Those who fought in this battle could clear those missions without dying.


    And yet, with all those advantages, the number of soldiers that the Unlocked had lost over the past minutes had already reached dozens!


    Cliff''s rage continued to build as he sensed several among his numbers lost.


    Alean had also taken the ship shemandeered, moved inside the ship, and began using her powers to create Zone.


    The ship amplified her Realm, and many among the Unlocked, specifically Cliff and Meryl, benefited from it.


    Meryl charged and used her powers to ram through numerous ships. Then, she began to use her powers to pierce through therger ships allowing the other members of the Unlocked to board them and hide within these ships and even take control of it.


    Often, the massive Hypersphere would be forced to shoot down its ships.


    "Sir! Light speed attacks at the ready! Preparing to fire!" A Pioneer reported.


    "Kill them all! This uses us a bit of Presider''s Universe Energy, but we don''t have a choice!"


    The massive Hypersphere began to emit strange energy, and Meryl was rmed. As the being harnessed light across several dimensions, she could instantly sense the powers of the Hypersphere.


    "This ship exceeds Shackstress''s ship! How can it harness the power of Universe Energy when Garenjazz is fighting against Seeker?!" Meryl shouted, harnessed all the light to stop her shining, and charged forward to prepare a massive attack.


    "Arthur''s theory is right! The Throne of Garenjazz is still on that ship! We need to get in there somehow!" Cliff shouted.


    "What do we do?! Those attacks can kill us! Its energy is too eerie!" Meryl charged onwards and evaded numerous attacks.


    Ten of the Twelve Disciples appeared and blocked the attacks of the nearby spaceships to grant Meryl her approach.


    But the ship was quickly gathering up energy.


    "Alean! Do you need time?! Are you going to use it now?!" Cliff asked.


    "Yes! Do it!" Alean shouted as he bit on a certain pill that contained the powers of Seeker and Lynd''s Unity.


    "Memory Realm!" Cliff shouted as his daydreaming power focused on a single person.


    At that moment, the skies stopped in Alean''s vision.


    The entire sky looked so chaotic, and people on their teams were being killed despite the skills and techs. Others had fallen into the dream and died.


    Alean saw it all and closed her eyes.


    "This... This is the deciding moment! I make one false move, and this army will all die no matter what happens in the future!" Alean felt the threat and sought that way out as time became slow.


    She needed to harness that same power she once tapped on before that allowed her not just to feel the sess of their mission but to see the path of her sess. It had happened once before. When Lowengren was trying to infiltrate the Caliphates, she managed to awaken the true potential of her Zone finally and led Lowengren in the right direction to secure victory.


    But then, she also felt that she feared it while it was possible to train and perform that ripple of power that allowed her to know with all certainty what to do. Because the power that allowed her to know what exactly to do caused a ripple out in the universe. She told Seeker, Lowengren, and Arthur, and they all agreed that this power had to be sealed and not used.


    The team tried to find a way to make that power possible to open and made preparations that continued to increase.


    When the power of Unity was discovered, Seeker and Lynd thought of a way to cause Alean to improve by using three-folds of her power.


    Her training took on many forms that she fought against Presiders and even worked with Vender to push the power of Zone higher. And as her Zone led her to a point where failure was imminent, she knew it was telling her to use her full power.


    "I must ovee! I need to lead this team to victory! I know that this is where I should be in all ces of time and space! Yet why do I feel that my end ising and that there is no way for this army to survive?! Come on, Alean! Everyone''s counting on you!" Alean urged herself. She could sense that great danger was approaching.


    The strange energy within that pill contained the power of Unity. As a result, the Oveers were able to replicate a small portion of Unity and couldbine their Paths through the Realms.<sub> </sub>


    Alean took in Seeker and Lynd''s power that triggered Unity.


    All of a sudden, the world changed. Her power melded with the dream world, and she saw a strange vision. The vision revealed something that could not make sense.


    She saw the Hypersphere being bombarded. She saw a Principal, and then her vision sped out as she saw events moving through time.


    The power rippled out silently.


    Far out in the great universe, a being once more opened his eyes.


    "So it really is Earth?" The being had stayed in the three-dimensional nes and did not continue to seek the final dimensions since he first felt the same power that he sensed back then. But he was unsure where it came from. So he waited in the three-dimensions. He felt this power and realized that the only power he could fear now, the power of Prophecy, had awakened once more.


    "A prophet exists... Lost Primordial... You went back home? Then I guess I have to bring the Prime Wars there. Or will you go here to join it?" The Primordial wondered.


    Back in the skies of Earth, Alean''s vision ended. But she got what she needed to know!


    "Meryl! Cliff! Attack with everything you got on a single point! My Zone is telling me that something will happen! Everyone else! Charge towards the ship! Get every spy ready to dive and infiltrate the ship!" Alean ordered.


    Cliff and the othermanders didn''t even hesitate but charged closer towards the Hypersphere.


    Meryl harnessed all the light that the dream world became dark, and only Meryl''s light could be seen. She took one radiation pill of Lioncourt and bit it.


    Her power surged, and she harnessed the wild energy and shot it out.


    Cliff detonated several round balls and metal pyramids to activate more of Richie and Lennox''s power. Zidane, Hank, and Counter did the same.


    Mark and Jane of the Twelve Disciples harnessed their copy of shes of Lightning and Peals of Thunder and aided Cliff.


    Once more, the Basilisk Squadron charged out and made a powerful attack, and the entire Serpent shot ahead of Cliff and roared.


    "Commander!" The Pioneers saw the two iing attacks.


    "Focus shied energy at the point of impact! On my mark!" The Commander Pioneer ordered.


    As the attack was about to reach, a massive force field appeared at the sides and blocked the center where the Basilisk and the powerful beam shot itself.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The two attacks exploded out as a massive force field began to gather around the area.


    "Use all our shields! And fire when we have locked on!" The Commander ordered.


    The shields resisted the powerful attacks of the two, and various turrets harnessed the Universe energy to make light-speed attacks.


    At that moment, Zeraphine''s orders from the dream realm of Garenjazz reached her ship.


    When Zeraphine''s past soul manipted the current timeline''s Zeraphine''s dreams, she used the short moment she bonded with Zeraphine to give out this order!


    "Attack Garenjazz! He has betrayed me! Break the ship! His Throne is in there!" Zeraphine ordered.


    Instantly, the Pioneers loyal to Zeraphine acted.


    "You heard her! Protect the Princess!" The Pioneers shouted.


    Unlike most Presiders, the Pioneers of Zeraphine had no spies. This was because she never recruited any nteds or Pioneers who were on Earth to pilot her ship. The ship of Zeraphine remained isted among all the other Presiders. The ''Progenitor'' also used his influence to help Zeraphine determine any traitors in her ship.


    With no one within her ship to stop such an order, the full force of Zeraphine''s ship suddenly attacked the Hypersphere at the most crucial moment of the battle.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The power of the energy beams of Zeraphyne was an energy that was a weaponized form of Zethayne Light. It was one of the rare weapons that allowed it to damage things beyond the three dimensions.


    The beams shot and struck the unguarded side of the Hypersphere, causing an imbnce in its fourth-dimensional form.


    The Light speed attacks shot its beams, and most of the beams that were as thin as a thread missed their targets!

 Chapter 537 Revealing The Combat Body

    The attacks the ship of Garenjazz harnessed were the power of the dream world itself and could attack the very soul of the beings it touched.


    The slightest touch from this terrifying beam would have killed any members of the Unlocked. And so, its threadlike size was actually lethal as it would be very difficult to evade!


    But the power of Prophecy made it possible for the Unlocked army to survive this shot since the full bombardment of Zeraphine''s ship was so strong that the ship moved right at the exact moment it shot.


    The timing for this to happen was veryplicated and more difficult than it would have been one in ten-thousand tries!


    But Alean did it.


    The majestic attack was so strong that the Hypersphere was now partially assuming a three-dimensional form.


    Alean sensed great fear that peered from the great distance, but Alean continued.


    "Keep attacking! Everyone shoot at the edges of that force field!" She ordered, and all the armies released their attacks as well.


    The basilisk and the beam continued to push through the shields, which were now losing power.


    And with the attacks of the Unlocked armies damaging the force field, the focused power was lost, and the attacks of Meryl and Cliff struck the Hypersphere.


    BOOM!


    Then, the entire ship shed, and its real form appeared.


    It wasn''t a massive sphere, but Garenjazz''s ship looked like several massive semi-circles grouped and connected, forming a rather odd-shaped ship.


    The attacks of Meryl and Cliff left arge hole, and all the Unlocked entered it.


    "Void Assassins! Make that jump! Everyone! Find that Throne! My Zone is done! Fight and oveer!" Alean ordered as she felt the power of her Zone fading that she could not tell them what to do anymore.


    "Zone exhaustion? That''s possible?!" Cliff was amazed but charged forward nheless.


    The Void Assassins found resistance in their former attempts, but with the breach, they finally found an easy way in.


    Numerous forces made the warp jump towards the ship''s insides and began to quickly kill those in the quarters and rooms they appeared in.


    Some had no choice but to fight, and it was quickly discovered.


    The spies that apanied the Void assassins and found an empty room with a dead nted or Pioneer began their mission to infiltrate and gather data. Using Lanterk and Shackstress''s ship data, Lennox could create a powerful device that could quickly copy and acquire the data in theputers inside the ship.


    The spies went to work and began to assimte with the crowd pretending to be those who were dead. As no Presider was there to oversee them, they all managed to move and used their specific skills to blend in with the Pioneers and nted.


    In the area where the breach urred, Cliff and Meryl, with their respective squadrons and teams, began to fight it all out.


    "Gryphon Squadron defend! Make sure none of those Supremes and other ships enter this area! Guard the breach!" Cliff ordered, and the Gryphon Squadron charged back and began to defend against the iing teams. The biggest issue was the attacksing from the ship itself. But without that threat, the team could now fight back against the forces of Garenjazz.


    Some suits used the power of dreams and began to change form.


    Some followed famous video game characters. Others were from animes.


    "No main characters?" Lim noticed.


    "The President is probably using the dream to create them. The main characters should be fighting Seeker and Lynd! I''m both saddened and relieved by this. It''ll be cool to fight the MCs. But it''ll also be scary!" Epic spoke.


    "What a nerd..." Fish shook her head.


    "This Presider is a piece of work! If he wasn''t an Aragarian, we could totally be friends!" Epicughed as he began to shoot the characters that he loved. The characters fought back, and Epic enjoyed the fight all the more.


    Meryl and Cliff tore their way in and kept on destroying one thing after another.


    Beams shot out and tore through the walls, and the basilisk raged inside.


    Because of the damage made over to the ship of Garenjazz, the red mist disappeared, and the power of dreams was weakened. However, the mist did not only hide or conceal the ship. And it was a dimensional force meant to hide all energy fluctuations inside!


    "Commander! We''re losing power! The Dream Guard is failing! Zeraphine''s forces are moving out! They are nning to make another breach!"


    "That brat!" The Commander cursed and gave a series of orders.


    Chris quickly found his way inside and walked inside the ship of the Commander. His experience in attacking Shackstress ship allowed him to understand the basicyouts of the ships. While the design should be different, the stations, the arrangements, and theyouts must have some simrities. But against a Pioneer, it was just too easy.<sub> </sub>


    It hadn''t been several minutes since the breach, and this was the perfect time to send people inside. The Pioneers were still adapting and would call in more people. This meant that movement and changing of positions and ranks would happen. And since the breach had just happened, no one would expect that a spy was already inside! Teleportation and infiltration urred, and the team managed to nt one inside!


    Chris wanted to wipe everyone out, but they were all wearing Supreme Exosksletons, and the Commander even had a pseudo throne!


    "Hehe... I''m the first here. Now to find that Throne..."


    As Chris took control, he manipted and leaked the information, and more of the energy sources of the entire ship was revealed and destroyed. In addition, more and more spies were given their way inside the ships as the information was dumped inside.


    Alean fought the hardest. It was strange for her to fight without Zone. But she took this as part of the training.


    "Alean. Calm down." Matthew of the Twelve Disciples appeared inside her ship.


    Alean was surprised that she nearly stood up and shot Matthew.


    "Matthew?!"


    ''Alean. Rx. You did it. You sent us here. The best thing you should do is try to get your zone back. We''ll help you head to the medic bay." Matthew was wearing a doctor''s outfit on the ship!


    "You guys trained as spies?"


    "It''s necessary. Let''s find a way to refuel you."


    "I don''t need energy. Zone doesn''t cost me anything, to begin with!


    "That''s why we need to check on you. A body drained of Zone is important data. We don''t have any medical facilities, so let''s use this ship. Stop fighting. You already made a miracle..."


    Alean was silent and agreed with Matthew.


    "Follow our lead. We''ll get you assimted in."


    "I''ll help you." Chris''s voice was heard through the speakers, and Chris spoke at a higher frequency.


    Alean finally allowed herself to stop.


    Jean took over the ship of Alean to fight as the group made their way to the hospital. With Chris in position, it was easy for them to enter the hospital within the ship.


    Meryl and Cliff destroyed another powernt, and it finally affected the ship.


    Above Egypt, Garenjazz''s ship appeared and drew the notice of Feyor and Tiana.


    "It can''t be! Even Garenjazz!" Feyor shouted as he saw the ship that once had a four-dimensional form.


    It now had the basic three dimensions, and the red mist vanished.


    But Tiana was even more frightened. She could feel the energy now.


    "Combat Body! It''s a Combat Body! Garenjazz is... a Principal?!"


    It wasn''t only her who noticed it...


    As the mist dispersed from the attack,


    In the realm where Myrth fought the three Oveers, the entire space began to change as they could see glimpses of several dimensions in their world.


    A massive weight could be felt above them.


    Myrth paused as the Oveers also made their retreat.


    The Two Myrths had now appeared as the battle against the Oveers forced her to reveal more of her power.


    Amir only had one arm left, but he kept a brave front as he howled.


    "A Combat Body? Do you want to keep this up? A Combat Body is something that can end all of us!" The male Myrth spoke to the Oveers.


    "Someone is fighting him and has threatened Garenjazz so much that he needs to use his Combat Body. We have our own battles, Myrth." The Realm King chuckled.


    "Then I must not waste Universe Energy and prepare myself. The revealed Combat body can only fight or face thebined weight of all Presiders! Let''s finish this! So I can go fight Garenjazz!"

 Chapter 538 Myrths And Overcomers

    Myrth was enraged as she could no longer afford to keep fighting the Oveers. Their sessful infiltration and assault worked. But more than that, Myrth had to face the three, and the battle continued for a long time!


    This meant that many parts of the ship werepromised. The battles outside continued, and Myrth couldn''t imagine the true state of the ship.


    But now, they sensed the power of Garenjazz and the formation of the Combat Body. They could not properly observe the dimension where Garenjazz was and only felt the energy fluctuations. And if Garenjazz had revealed all the cards up his hand, they would be Garenjazz''s next target!


    Garenjazz could not afford to leave the Presiders alive, especially since he might be everyone''s target next!


    The two Myrths began forming their own bodies of dimensional energy.


    When their bodies split apart, the two Myrths clearly had wounds on their body.


    "So our attacks have beennding... Good to know..." Typical chuckled. He was way at the back of the Oveers. He was drained of energy and could no longer move.


    "We''ve fought and expended enough energy that could nuke half of Egypt and now have to fight two Presiders..." The Realm King sighed. His face was showing signs of burns. He did not receive any attacks from the Realm King, but through constant use of his radiation pills, he was already close to dying.


    Amir''s arm began to regrow, but the appearance and stand of Amir were so pitifulpared to his first form.


    Some of the wounds that he received could no longer heal. His cells were exhausted. Unless he ate, he could not create more of his cells.


    Meng had many wounds on his body. Even with his destion and the assistance of Rosa, his body still suffered severe burns, and just like Amir, his regeneration was depleting.


    Rosa remained untouched thanks to the protection of Meng, but her frost no longer remained the same.


    "You all will die now. You''re at the very end of your might! Even your little tricks to seal this realm will fade! I can sense the cracks, and my fire has been slipping through. You did well to lock the realm so the explosions won''t appear outside and kill your allies. But my fire will surge out once more!" The two Myrths raised their hands and ced them together, and the power of the fire began to surge.


    The element looked likeva, and the heat it created was stinging even the skins of everyone.


    The creation of the energy caused the Realm King to copse as the protective realm that attempted to seal the entire ce and keep it from moving was destroyed. The entire dimension began to warp and distort.


    "So... This is it...?" Typical smiled.


    "Yes, you fools! This is it! Thion Fire will explode and kill all of you! Feel my wrath!" Myrth began to move out as if to throw the entire attack towards the Oveers.


    But suddenly, a strange cracking noise was heard right above Myrth.


    A figure of a woman had appeared. She had been in this room, fighting Myrth all the while. And the powers of the Oveers masked her.


    She was their ace. Their final weapon to use against Myrth. The entire battle for the Oveers was to understand Myrth''s powers and to find a way to conquer it.


    As the battles continued to escte, this woman nearly died several times. Yet no matter what, she kept the power of her Path active. Her defeat against Meryl did not diminish her pride. But she realized what she needed to do. She understood the name, the ''Thief in the Night.'' Jake''s adventure and how they managed to attack and steal techs from Lanterk inspired her to do the same.


    And so, the entire time, she waited like a thief. She waited when the owner of the house did not expect anything.


    The Oveers also employed a certain trick they''ve learned.


    Deception.


    They lied and deceived Myrth and ced defeated in front. While they genuinely fought to their best and would have lost, they nned for this moment from the start.


    The attack urred when Myrth was about to ignite the energy within the fire.


    Irvana appeared and detonated several special weapons that the Realm King, Meng, Rosa, and Typical made.


    Irvana had a figure of the wolf as she activated the energy in her backpack that had not received a single attack thanks to the protection of the Oveer.


    "y with fire, and you will get burned." Irvanaughed as she vanished into the void Realm.


    The special weapons had already begun to detonate as the attacks were sent towards the massive fire energy.


    "No!" The two Myrths shouted, but it was toote.


    BOOOOOOOOOMMMM!


    The world trembled as a strange explosion that surged in numerous battlefield ces urred.


    The fire had a bright orange color and appeared to copse endlessly around itself.


    The parts and sections of the explosion could be seen urring all around the ship of Myrth.


    The entire ship of Myrth was heavily damaged, and numerous parts of the ship began to fall off.


    The entire ship was slowly sinking as it didn''t even have the power to keep itself floating.


    The world watched as this ship began to fall, and many cheered as they saw that even the gods could fall!<sub> </sub>


    Irvana had appeared in a barren desert several kilometers from the battle and fell. Her body had severe burns all around her, and she had lost her leg. Her synthetic clothing was burned up, and blood was gushing out.


    But almost immediately, a Rule appeared.


    "We found her." A WGP Emperor reported.


    "They did it! Amazing. These people are really amazing! That was a technology that could toy with our Rules! I don''t think I can ever call myself an Emperor again." The other Emperor sighed.


    "I''ve decided. I will take part in the next battles. I have to..." The Emperor saw the poor body of Irvana and how her burnt face still left a satisfied smile.


    Right inside Egypt, the only ones who could afford to pay attention were Tiana and Feyor.


    "Two Myrths?! There are two of them?!" Feyor saw the readings.


    "I was expecting something like this. Myrth, I''m disappointed." Tiana sneered.


    Feyor trembled. Another Top Tier was forced to such a state.


    "I don''t know about you, but this war is no longer something that I will fight for. I couldn''t care about the Lost Primordial anymore. It''s clear that we, the Presiders, have been fooled. It''s about time for me to act. The only way to gain something from this battle is to act differently. Feyor. I will attack Enderks and Straviaa. What about you?"


    "Andronze is being attacked. I''ll take her on!" Feyor answered immediately as he sensed the battle urring at the ruins of the Babel of Egypt.


    Deep inside the copsing chamber at the heart of Myrth''s ship...


    The entire core had been blown up. A massive hole now extended nearly a kilometer wide inside the ship.


    At the very heart of it were the two Myrths.


    Bleeding and burned. But their skin was still recovering. They now were standing over their Thrones which were damaged and could not harness and ce them to be controllers over the Dimensions.


    "I see now... The Thrones... Throne technology is what harnesses the dimensions... It''s not from the Presider. Presiders have to put in Thrones for some reason." Lioncourt smiled as he stumbled down and ate yet another pill.


    Everyone used their powers to protect them from the explosion. The attack of Myrth copsed, and the true power did notnd on them.


    Rosa had copsed from using her powers. She poured every drop of her energy into it and was starting to freeze.


    "Crostfree''s or Pridgeon dimensional techs differed as he would forcibly bring the three-dimension into the fourth. But Garenjazz and Myrth''s techs are the opposite. They could forcibly bring a ship in the fourth dimension to appear within the three. That leaves Shackstress, the odd one out. Of course, she did fight Pridgeon..." Lioncourt continued to speak as the radiation pill began to leak out more and caused more burns on his body.


    "You...!" The female Myrth shouted angrily as she harnessed the energy of her body.


    The male vomited blood as he felt the severe bacsh.


    BOOM!


    The female Myrth charged towards Lioncourt but suddenly, Amir''s frail body moved in the way with his back facing Myrth.


    "You want to die first?! Then die!"


    BOOM!


    All of a sudden, the frail wolf gave a powerful punch that matched the strength of Myrth.


    Amir had managed to show his shocking strength once more.


    Myrth stumbled back and was horrified.


    "How?!"


    "It''s called acting." A mocking tone was heard, and a man was seen, and around him were several werewolves of unique form.


    "We gave the boss some food to eat. You see, a turned werewolf causes the cells of the victim to go into overdrive. But because of that, they be great sources of energy! Which means it''s the perfect snack for our boss." The actorughed.


    Amir turned and revealed that he was eating the flesh of what appeared to be another wolf.


    "ROAR!" Amir howled, and his energy rose to the limits.


    "We''ve brought you out in the open. So the wolves and the Dragon''s Fangs are excited to sink their teeth into you. Pun intended." Lioncourtughed.


    It was only then that the two Myrths realized they were surrounded.


    Werewolves and a few Supreme Exoskeletons with a much more potent energy fluctuation were around her.

 Chapter 539 Giant Fist

    Amir was the fastest to recover among the team. He had quickly devoured several of the wolves that the alphas ordered to go to him. But with his rate of energy, he needed more.


    But there were hundreds of werewolves around them.


    "Our ship..." The female Myrth could see the great devastation from the explosion of her attack. And apart from that were the damages that the massive structure faced.


    "We lost our ship..." The male Myrth had now recovered as he took most of the damage from the eruption of their attack. And then he saw the destruction of his ship.


    At that point, the Dragons Fangs and the werewolves began to rush for the Oveers and gave them their supply to regenerate their bodies.


    "Sister. Are you alright?" One of them asked.


    "Rosemary, Roselyn. Focus on healing the radiation of the Realm King. He''s going to die if you don''t do your part. I''m alright. I''ve already recovered thanks to the ice pills you gave." Rosa smiled.


    "You...! Your bodies are recovering! Without any techs!"


    "This is the advantage of our body, unlike your Nefilus form. You use Throne and the Nefilus toplete a cultivator''s body. But we all have been building it from the start. We are the technology." Mengughed as he moved forward.


    The two Myrths looked around them.


    "You forced us out of this world. So now everyone knows our secret. And with the threat of Garenjazz, you crazy lot, and Lanter, our deaths is sure. We lost our base. Our army has been wiped out by the chaos that you prepared. But now... I feel! I feel!" The female Myrth began tough.


    "I feel free! Such a satisfying feeling, isn''t this sister? The burdens that bound us are gone!" The maleughed as well.


    "It''s funny. Right now, we don''t have to worry about the future. We are going to die here! Right, sister?"


    "Did you know that when our allies attacked Shacktress, she was also very happy to die?" The Realm King suddenly asked.


    "It was as if she was freed from the chains that bound her. We asked her to be our ally, but she refused. Is there something about you that the Primordial defined your wills to only seek that?" The Realm King Asked. He was now healing. Around him was a thickyer of ice that Rosa''s sisters made.


    "Yes. What mystery lies among your souls?" A voice was heard.


    Nogard appeared donning a Supreme Exoskeleton.


    "You...! The Inverse Dragon!" The Female Myrth recognized the famous man who appeared in all history books and had statues and movies made for his deeds.


    "Yes. It seems my fighting days are not yet over. I have finally found a way to restore my youth. But enough about me! Your two souls have been brought as nned. Your duality has been separated and reflected in a three-dimensional form. So tell me, why are their chains that direct you to do this? What exactly is a Conqueror?" Nogard asked.


    "You''re about to kill us. So why should we tell you?" The femaleughed.


    "Because it''s possible that we might not need to kill you. You and we are different in terms of our free will. You have sought to be Conquerors. But even your way was wed and corrupted. You two are much like us Oveers who pursue Unity. Even now, your certain defeat is because of the Unity of our team. My son and his peers would certainly have died fighting you. But now, they are saved and are healed as their allies stand by them. But I''m sure that you will follow the path of Shackstress." Nogard smiled.


    "Yes. I can feel it in their Realms. They would rather die. To them, losing and being spared forfeit them of bing Conquerors. What has the Primordial done to your souls and your realm?"


    The two Myrths began to tremble as if there was a strange resistance that refused.


    "Sister..."


    "I know... It''s weak. But we can feel it. Yet even now, we will still fight to our death. They are right. Something chains us. It''s weaker because the two of us carry only half of it right now. But we can''t escape it..." The female Myrth sighed as she nced at her two hands, and they trembled.


    "The mere thought of surrendering is wrecking my soul..."


    "So this means we can''t get anything out of them..." Meng impatiently spoke.


    "Then our option is to fight. Rather, they will choose to fight us. I pity you. You''re not as strong as you think you are. You both have the power to rule Earth. Yet, you can never really be rulers, can you? For your souls will only desire to conquer." Amir''s hoarse voice was heard as his wolf form spoke.


    "Let''s just fight. We both don''t know what to make of this. But I''ll kill as much as I can before I die!" The male Myrth dered as he harnessed a huge fire by his hand. Fire exploded out of a vortex that appeared. It was as if the fore tore a path purging several dimensions to reach the three dimensions.


    The female Myrth also did the same, but her entire body began to burn with fire.


    The Dragons Fangs were all present.


    All prepared their weapons.


    "Fangs... Wait for mymand!" The new leader of the Dragon Fangs, Sting, gave his orders.


    Amir howled, and all the wolves howled with him as their entire bodies began to release high radiation as they all pushed their bodies to make their cells evolve.<sub> </sub>


    "Done! Thanks for buying me time, Nogard." The Realm Kingughed as hepleted his creation.


    BOOM!


    The entire ship trembled as a powerful force began to crash at the top.


    Because of the explosion of Myrth''s power, the ship was weakened to the point that the shields could not keep the entire structure intact. A strong force struck the very top of the ship and was destroying floor after floor until finally, it reached therge hall where Myrth and the Oveers were.


    The culprit that made a crashing entrance was a massive fist that was made of metal.


    "The Orbital?!" Myrth was stunned as she could identify that the massive fist was actually an Orbital that had been rearranged!


    "Like it? My little masterpiece!" the Realm Kingughed as the fist stopped pushing down.


    "Now that Suit is here. We can finally attack." Sting smiled as he nced up. Piloting the giant fist that was once an Orbital was Suit.


    "Let''s end this! I want to see how many of you fools I can take down with me!" The two Myrths echoed together as they harnessed the Thion Fire and made their attacks.


    The Fangsunched their attacks, and the Oveers and other allies followed.


    Nogard shouted, and an ethereal form of his self formed right in the three dimensions. The ghostly form had a massive spear and stabbed out.


    Meng sent an ice-coated dragon which was formed with Rosa.


    Typical harnessed a powerful needle that shot around them.


    The attacks surrounded the two Myrths.


    Above them was the massive fist that was formed from the parts of the Orbital, and around them were attacks of all forms.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Two massive explosions urred, and the ship of Myrth began to fall apart from the top.


    At the base of Egypt, another battle had begun as the unified team of Harker''s army, the core team of the Dalisay Family, Warfreakz, and several toons of warriors from all their families recruited and had shown exceptional potential.


    But more than half of this army had already died from the attacks of the mad Andronze.


    Despite being severely damaged and having lost most of her aces, the power of the Presider continued to show itself.


    "Fight on, men! This is a fight for time! Don''t give her a chance to recover!" Harker shouted as he charged his Armor forwards and deployed a powerful sound cannon.


    BOOM!


    The attack was blocked, but the force field was weakened, and Andronze was knocked back.


    "Men! Where are you!?" Andronze shouted in anger. But none of her prepared elite could answer.


    She nced up and saw Feyor''s ship moving closer and closer.


    But the battle between the Tyrant Empress and Eagle was now just above them and prevented Feyor fromunching a direct attack.


    But even with this minor blessing, none of her men answered her calls and orders.


    Andronze herself felt something amiss within her. She was feeling weak, and blood began to leak out. It was as if her own body didn''t want to live.


    "No! It can''t be! I''m a Presider! Why would I sumb to some random fever!" She cursed and cursed as she fought.


    "No! What is happening?!" Andronze shouted louder and louder as she could feel her body begin to die. Her organs were slowly losing life, and if not for her Mid-Tier Nefilus body, she wouldn''t have been able to move!


    "That''s because you weren''t wearing a face mask!" Gardo''s voice was heard.


    Andronze turned and saw arge hand, as big as a tank, form a fist and make a mighty punch.

 540 Chapter 540

    Gardo charged with great speed and swiftly created a giant arm.


    He had taken the pill that would allow him to turn into a werewolf, but he pushed all the rallying cells towards his arm. The energy in his arm was so great that even withpression, it would still require Gardo to create this giant arm.


    The arm was huge, burning with mes and lightning as Gardo used two weaponized bombs.


    "Red Pheonix!" Gardo roared as he punched out.


    BANG!


    The Throne was smashed down and began to dig through the hard pavement of Egypt''s base as it began to fall several levels from the constant pressure of Gardo''s fist.


    The massive fist struck with great speed, and the shock wave of the impact boomed so powerfully that some of the Unlocked was even knocked back!


    Jane was holding on to one of Gardo''s allies and was a member of the team that Gardo had led since his youth.


    Jane held on to Brent as she wept.


    "See that, Brent! The boss is paying her back for what she did!" Jane kept crying.


    The punch pushed onwards as Gardo continued to roar. No longer did the ss clownugh or make jokes.


    CRACK! CRACK!


    The Throne of Andronze finally gave way as it faced the full power of Gardo''s punch.


    Fire and lighting constantly attacked the Throne as Gardo pressed downwards, and all the energy began to gather for one final boom.


    "That is for Brent Stinser!" Gardo roared.


    BOOM!


    Gardo was thrown backward as arge explosion sted from his arm.


    Efren caught Gardo, who was now missing an arm, and quickly made his retreat.


    "Boss..."


    "Did... Brent... see that?" Gardo asked. He couldn''t even see after making such an attack as he used other paths to make the explosion. Unlike Seeker, Lynd, or Cliff, Gardo forcibly wielded other Paths, and those Paths affected him.


    "He did, boss. Don''t worry. We''ll take it from here." Efren took Gardo and escaped. He needed medical attention as Efren could sense the heat and radiation in Gardo spreading.


    Jane kept crying as Brent used thest seconds of his life to watch the attack from afar.


    "I knew... the boss... was an Oveer..." Brent smiled, and his face stopped moving.


    Several exoskeletons charged in as the massive explosion blew out of the hole where Andronze was sent buried. They didn''t care if the explosion of Gardo''s attack was erupting like a volcano.


    The core leaders of Warfreakz stood over the hole. Even Stanley was enraged and bravely charged as more than half of their team was killed. Many were long-standing members of Warfreakz and were even among the first trained by Arthur when Warfreakz was first recruited.


    Stanley, Roselyn, Arclight, Czerus, and Lucy charged ahead.


    Each had specialized weapons taken from Shackstress''s ship.


    A Sun Devourer, a Nuke Emitter, Lennox''s Bolt of Zeus invention, and a Hydro Pump gun were taken from Andronze''s ship.


    Roselyn revealed her weapon of choice, a small round chunk, which they called the Norris. It was a weapon that could not be detected but had the potent explosive power to rival a Nuke Emitter''s attack.


    Several chunks of Norris were thrown down as the rest sent out their attacks. The attacks were sent in together, and the explosions urred at the same time.


    BOOOOOOOMMMMM!


    A thundering st shot out of the ground, and the entire team was thrown back.


    Many of their allies began to charge out to catch them.


    Thebined explosions urred with the overloading energies, and a mushroom cloud rose to the sky.


    "For the dead..." Roselyn smiled.


    "For the dead!" Czerus cheered.


    Stanley was still crying. His girlfriend died in the battle and was clutching her heart.


    "Guard your emotions, Stanley. We''ve got a mission to finish." Arclight ordered.


    "I know... I can block my emotions... But..." Stanley kept weeping. The rest of the Covenant watched and waited as the mushroom cloud continued to tower up.


    "Our n worked?" Lucy asked.


    "That explosion triggered a chain reaction just as we nned. It looks as if a nuclear bomb wasunched." Roselyn gazed at the cloud.


    "Eh? Isn''t your Nuke Emitter a nuclear bomb?"


    "Huh? All bombs that create intense radiation have been banned since World War 3. Nuke Emitter means Non-Uranium Kic Energy Emitter. It''s a different type of bomb."


    "Oh..."


    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!


    "She''s still alive?"


    "That Throne should be damaged!'' Roselyn watched.


    BANG!


    The Throne rose out, and there were cracks and holes around it.


    Universe Energy was forming around her, but it was fluctuating!<sub> </sub>


    "Who poisoned me?!" She roared angrily. Even after all those attacks, her concern was the affliction that was killing her.


    "You stupid Presider! We just had to keep you busy! Don''t you know Egypt''s history? Whates after the gue of Darkness? The gue of the Firstborn! That''s why yourmanders are dead! They were all firstborn! You think your some god, die like a mortal and be dust!" Roselyn of Warfreakz shouted as she charged forward and the rest of the team moved ahead.


    With Andornze in constant pain, her battle potential dropped, and the army of the Unlocked kept up their barrage as they knew they just had to keep her busy and drain the energy so she couldn''t focus on healing herself.


    The truth was, even before the battle, the disease that was killing her and everyone else had long been exposed to them.


    When Lowengren wrote Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin and sent in a bloody hand, the hand itself was controlled by Akasha. But the blood itself was from Charles.


    Up in the Many Mansions, Charles kept his line open for Alean and the rest to contact him if they needed rescue. But, at the same time, his purpose was to activate the dormant blood that had spread all over Egypt and try to kill Andronze!


    Charles''s body of death contained all forms of diseases and poisons. And it held the power of the gue that had afflicted Ricardo since birth. The experiments of the Pioneers way back in My-Pangea, which Seeker and his team attacked, had fallen into Charles''s hands. And with the data, he perfected the gue of the First Born.


    Warfreakz fought hard. But then, Roselyn, who appeared to be the calmest among them, suddenly made an attack that harnessed her Unlocking to the fullest.


    "Die! The bomb is already inside you! Happy exploding!" Roselyn lied.


    But that simple lie exhausted cells of Roselyn. They were trained to lie, but the greater the lie, or the stronger the enemy, the more powerful it would eat them.


    Their lies were not like Lowengren''s, which lured the enemies Zone into a trap. Their lie was like a force that would fight the dimensions beyond.


    Harker quickly pulled Roselyn back, whose body was now cracking like fragile marble as she had pushed her cells to the extreme.


    "No! It''s all your fault! I have the Lost Primordial''s body! You took it away!" Andronze roared and somehow believed the lie. She used the Universe Energy around her to create a strong attack to blow everything nearby and deflect whatever bomb was inside her Throne!


    "We have the Lost Primordial''s body and Guinevere!" Harker shouted and spoke the truth. The Unlocked army did have both. But then... Truth was presented in a way that believing it would make it a lie.


    A strange coffin suddenlynded nearby.


    "No!" Andronze panicked as she thought that the body was inside the coffin, and she halted the discharge of the Universe energy by creating a shield of Universe Energy to block the exploding energy to contain it!


    BOOM!


    The explosion still urred, but another force contained it. Nevertheless, the rest of Warfreakz''s team was caught in the initial st of the attack and thrown back with numerous critical injuries.


    The two conflictingmands of the Universe Energy created chaos, and the force of the attack was diverted back to her.


    "Arrrrgggh!" Andronze faced the st, and her Throne began to break.


    The Universe Energy that protected her Throne was alsopromised, and at that moment, Lander Stalion, the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy, charged forward and used his trademarked spinning attack.


    But this one was vastly improved. The data of Arthur''s Threshing Floor and the power of the wind that Hermes had were both studied to create an attack that Lander could use.


    Lander carried a long, and thicknce. By using his spinning movements, thence became like a massive drill.


    Typical, Meng, Hermes, and Lennox''s Paths were used to improve the speed and power of Lander''s attack.


    BANG!


    The Throne was struck, and the drilling quickly urred.


    A loud screeching sound was heard as the drill quickly dug through the Throne.


    Lander kept spinning and kept the drill attacking and digging through the Throne.


    "You false Presiders will never kill me!" Andronze roared as she caught the drill that pierced through thest defenses of her Thron.


    The drill stopped, and Lander kept pushing with all his might.


    The Dalisays appeared with their supreme Exoskeletons.


    Jane was the first. She charged in and kicked the other end of thence.


    BANG!


    Thence stabbed forward, and it struck the exoskeleton of Andornze!


    "Not enough! Stronger! Use your cells!" Jane ordered.


    Efren and Archie rushed in and followed Jane''smands.


    They flew so fast and didn''t care if they lost their limbs as they punched out.


    BANG!


    Thence of Lander was made of the hardest materials they had found from Shackstress''s ship, and the arm of Efren was shattered, and blood sprayed everywhere.


    Then Archie followed up.


    BANG!


    Thence dug deeper and deeper, and with no Universe Energy to shield her, she was finally stabbed as the de damaged her exoskeleton. Thence had already given her a light wound on her chest.


    "No...!"


    Lander suddenly set hism device to speaker mode at the orders of the General.


    "We aren''t Presiders. Seeker Carlean is a man who fought you in the future. You seeded and probably won that battle. But in this New Game+, it''s our victory!" Harker''s Armor was flying from the sky and charged toward Andronze.


    Andronze trembled as she heard those words.


    "Die by the hands of humans, Presider!" Harker punched out with his Armor.


    BANG!


    Therge drill of thence stabbed further inside and pierced through the chest of Andronze.

 Chapter 541 Andronze’s Last Act

    Harker''s powerful punch on Lander''snce was the final hammer that dug the nail.


    And with it, Harker sealed Andronze''s coffin.


    The arm of Harker''s armor was severely damaged as the fist and arm were crushed.


    Andronze held thence with all her might and even used several techs to empower herself. But the series of attacks had greatly weakened her.


    Her body was already too weak from the gue of the First Born afflicting her.


    Andronze didn''t move after she realized the stab had made its final push.


    She was in so much pain that she lost her senses. She looked at the torso and saw the damage inflicted on her chest. A tremendous amount of blood spilled out.


    Yet even in this gruesome scenario, Andronze did not scream or curse or rage as her life faded. She smiled.


    "Well... yed." She spoke to Harker and Lanterk.


    "That battle... was well nned... Was it your spies that infiltrated my base..."


    "Yes. Norgen and the rest of us were thepetent Pioneers you hired."


    "I thought... as much. You sound... like Rekrah. I should have known."


    "I never said my name to you because I can''t. During all those times, Lowengren and the rest introduced me. My power is truth. That''s why you believed when I said we have the Lost Primordial and Guinevere. But it wasn''t in that coffin."


    "Incredible... You know... It feels... amazing. Dying..."


    "...Are you free from your burdens? This confirms it. Lynd said that when they killed Shackstress, he couldn''t understand her emotion as well. It was as if she was free. Are you?" Harker asked again.


    "I... Think so... Theories? Do you...?"


    Harker slowly moved and injected her with a healing device.


    "So that we can talk more." Harker smiled.


    "An energy that keeps the brain functioning... What an interesting technology. This must be the one simr to Presider Marrho''s lightning." Andronze smiled as she felt electric energy being fed in and became an energy source within her brain.


    "Our theory is that this is a curse by the Primordial. The more we understood your world, the more we found interesting hints. Pioneers like Lourca Ovilli didn''t have such desire but spoke of how this was the normal way of thinking. And that made us wonder. Was it possible that the Primordial did this to ensure the Prime Wars? Through the Prime Wars, you were its pawns, whatever his goal. Conquerors like you will fight. And even if some won''t wish to partake in it, you all know that an apocalypse ising where Primes will fight to be another Primordial. Some were destined to be weak like that Gordon... Or other Presiders. But those like you who have the will and desire to Conquer are called to excel and be strong. The Lost Primordial tried to break this curse."


    "That makes sense. It exins a lot in our culture. So Shackstress felt this as well? What a malevolent person. But it does sound possible. Principals and Primes can y around with fate. So our entire race was led by this. And the Babelian war... Was it because of that?" Andronze pondered.


    "We don''t know. But it''s why you guys can''t ever fully ally with another. We, Oveers, are dependent on each other. Something about our fate is only made perfect in weakness and is only fulfilled when we are with each other." Harker smiled.


    "That sounds amazing. In any case, thank you for freeing me... But I''m sure you are giving me these prolonged moments for a purpose?"


    "Yes. Will you help us? Your tech will give us a great chance. I know your curse as a conqueror was not your own. But you surely have your own pride, right? So help us thwart the Primordial''s n." Harker offered a storage device to Andronze.


    Andronzeughed as she heard it.


    "I am a very petty person! Sure. Why not?" Andronze chuckled and took it and channeled the energy in it.


    "Energy as data. Only Lennox, who follows the path of the one you call Presider Marrho, has. But the rest of us don''t have that..."


    "Oh? I have a weaker version. It''s inside. With this, you can ess all my secrets hidden in the Nile Serpent."


    Harker couldn''t help but tremble when he heard it.


    The data and information of various sciences that Andronze had known was inside that device! Stealing and hijacking was one thing, but this was a full bestowal of knowledge!<sub> </sub>


    "Oh? It seems it''s draining the energy in my braid. But this should be enough. You already have the foundation. Goodbye."


    And just like that, Andronze was no more. Harker was not even able to answer Andronze.


    "What power. This Presider is this strong. Yet they are pawns to the Primordial. Lost Primordial... Are we really able to fight him?" Harker nced up and observed the ongoing battles above.


    Seeing that she had died, the survivors sighed.


    "Tend to the wounded! Prioritize the members of Warfreakz! Nobody rest! Our fight isn''t over!" Jane Moore, Gardo''s second inmand, gave orders to those around.


    "And clear out all Pioneers! We still have the battle to fight! This is our task! No matter who dies around us, we pick up our weapons and fight! We mournter!" Jane shouted.


    "Everyone. We cannot rest. We find where we are useful and be there!" Harker tookmand.


    Lander stood up and couldn''t move his body. He was dying, and his intense hold on thence triggered a stiffening of muscles that even he, in his Unlocking, couldn''t stop.


    "Your dying, Lander. It''s a good thing we have the tech to heal such wounds. You should even be considered medically dead. That stiffening is possibly rigor mortis!" Harker chuckled as he injected another on Lander, who fainted.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Distant explosions equal to weapons of mass destruction exploded in the distance. It surpassed the explosions going in above between the Tyrant Empress and Eagle, as well the explosive attacks ringing over at Myrth''s copsing spaceship.


    "Now, to move to the next battle." Harker turned towards the direction of the battle between Arthur''s team and Straviaa.


    Far out of thends of Egypt, over the seas near the African continent, the forces of Lanterk were about to make their entry.


    But then, Lanterk saw the battle''s climax and confirmed that Andronze''s signature had vanished.


    "...Dead. Andronze is dead! And Garenjazz is pushed to the point that he has no choice but to reveal a Combat Body! And Zeraphine betrayed Garenjaz?! Even if Garenjazz is clearly at the level of a Principal." Lanterk was shocked.


    BOOM!


    "Myrth... You''re dying too, huh?" Lanterk hesitated. He tried to disrupt the flow but failed.


    "And even my attempts to foil the ns of the Progenitor and everyone, it seems that my actions were still part of the calction of this battle! I pushed Pridgeon to a trap!" Lanterk observed the poor state of Pridgeon''s ship.


    The armies of the WGP could be seen from afar. And numerous Rules were present and were ready to battle.


    Lanterk''s own base was badly damaged if he charged in and waged war with the WGP. Who knows what would be of him if forces were waiting to ambush him.


    "...But I must save Pridgeon." So Lanterk decided and gathered the power of his to control metal.


    His power spread all over Egypt, and many of the surviving Egyptian army d in metal suddenly moved on their own and rushed towards the area where Pridgeon fought.


    "Pridgeon! Get out of there!"


    "I know!" Pridgeon roared.


    Inside the ship of Straviaa, the battle against two Mid Tiers ended to the Unlocked army''s advantage!


    Lennox and Git Godlike were able to put Enderks in his ce.


    The Covenant of the Strongest shed against Straviaa, whose throne now had numerous damages, cracks, and bent parts from the impacts.


    "Andronze...!" Straviaa was horrified as she saw the report.


    "You''re next. The math is clear and calcted." Arthur answered as he began to harness more energy in his gear.

 Chapter 542 All According To Calculations

    The battle against the two Presiders continued to escte to the favor of Arthur and the two teams that fought with them.


    The Covenant of the Strongest had grown greatly since their respective battles against numerous enemies and even against Lanterk.


    They were trained and experimented on not only to be the very characters they yed but to surpass them. Their powers had risen tremendously that they were theorized to be as strong as Oveers if led andmanded by Arthur!


    And this battle was a testament to this im.


    Arthur''s orders were swiftly followed, and most of the time, the group even knew what to do or where to go before Arthurmanded.


    The team had been fighting together to perfect their Realm and their Zone. They aimed to develop the Zone that both the Basilisk Squadrons team and Harker''s trio had and perfected it.


    The group had one Realm and one Zone already. But a mystery urred when they finally fought with Arthur. The Realm they had grown!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Danny made another wild charge and shed his sword shed and exploded as it struck the Throne of Straviaa.


    But Straviaa could only concentrate on defense.


    The arrangement of the battle gave her no chance to move and counter!


    Her Throne was made with a powerful metal crafted by her father. It surpassed the strength that the Top Tiers had! But the constant barrage of attacks was creating great stress and adding unbearable pressure that her Throne was starting to show signs of damage!


    Yet no matter what she did, she would only be swallowed in the whirlpool of calction that Arthur had.


    Titan, Dara, and John would all shoot and make their attacks to disrupt Straviaa.


    Her beams of weaponized Star Fire and her techs in twirling the dimensions and making the three-dimensions spin in a warped perspective were useless against the Covenant of the Strongest.


    Arthur had fought his own secret battles. Apart from the battles with Shackstress, his infiltration in Egypt, and how he challenged Richie and the other Oveers when they infiltrated Egypt, Arthur was always by the side of Vender, who was so clumsy and often down-right stupid that he couldn''t even make a proper n.


    But because he fought and nned under such problematic circumstances, the loss of Vender allowed his Realm and Zone to take form.


    "Dara then Titan. Kristine, help Git Godlike for three seconds and return." Arthur didn''t even give long orders. His unchained powers in calction created a powerful Realm that allowed those in it to experience a form of Instant Calction!


    The team followed as instructed and sent their barrage.


    Dara charged in and revealed her arm, which was bright red as she punched out.


    BOOM!


    The shockwaves of the impact spread, and Titan followed as he shed out using a lightning sword.


    SLASH!


    The Throne of Straviaa was thrown back.


    "How are you... doing this?!" She raged and shot more attacks, but at the moment, Kristine had finished helping the other team, and the golden valkyrie held out her shield to block the attack.


    Every more and every attack that Straviaa shot out had its corresponding defenses. And the sciences that the team carried were exact counters that nullified her attacks!


    But even when she would distort and warp reality to twirl, everyone could still navigate and move without any problems.


    "Stupid kid! We''ve fought worse! Lanterk was far stronger!" Danny chuckled as he returned and made another series of attacks.


    "Lanterk was far stronger, and Top Tier Shackstress was far smarter. We''ve fought against both. What is your little sciencepared to it? Do you think your powers distort our perception? I work with a guy whose very presence is nauseating!" Arthur cursed.


    The power of the shrinking dimension added with Shacktress''s genius mind was a terrifying battle. But the videos of that battle had been shared with everyone. And that was a battle that Arthur watched numerous times despite his unlocking as he would recreate the battle and perform mental rehearsal to see the battle as led by him. With Lennox''s powers, Arthur was able even to create a video rendition of his imaginations of the battle and considered the abilities of Shackstress.


    The training proved effective as Arthur didn''t even see Straviaa as a threat!


    Straviaa gathered universe energy, but powerful lighting shed out, and it was several folds more powerful than the imitation that the scout, Titan, had!


    BOOM!


    Lennox sent out another attack and dispelled her attack, and Lennox moved and began to gather more electricity from the ship itself.


    The group was practically toying with Straviaa, and everyone was improving. Arthur''s strongest power was his Realm, which affected every Unlocked in that room. He created a powerful Realm that caused everyone to have a mind like his! As a result, everyone was able to replicate a portion of Instant Calction and could easily make estimates that increased the uracy and timing of their attacks!


    Arthur used the Thought Transmitter to transfer Zone and his power in the calction, which he could now turn into a form of Realm!


    This power even caused Lennox to make strange lighting attacks and warped out from one side and even create two clones as the power of the improved calction allowed him to create another lightning incarnation!


    And the other incarnation was busy aiding the other group.<sub> </sub>


    Git Godlike continued to follow their Path that founded the theory that created their Impact team.


    Even as gamers, they often believed that the peak of power was not limited to the most powerful abilities, and they even scored the term that gamers used to divide characters. They hated how the Piercing series set all Piercing characters to be ''meta'' and ced all Impact characters as weak and unsuitable forpetitive gamey.


    They believed that in the evolvingndscape of gaming, in terms of the in-game physics, the limitations of character movement, evasion, and theplexity of the Piercing series were already enough to make anyone champion regardless of the selected character. And with that, they proved it to be true.


    As part of the Unlocked army, they sought to use weapons that, while created through the mixing and foundational elements of the Paths of the Oveers, they never followed it through to replicate the powers just like the Twelve Disciples or even how Arthur crafted the Covenant to be.


    They used weapons and techs that had been deemed weakpared to the power of the Oveers.


    But despite that, Enderks fought a hard battle as if he was facing an entire army with every tech in the world.


    The armaments of the team varied at every shot!


    Cronus and the tank, Alexa Alexa, fought in close range but used too many techs from the Call of Automaton from the WGP to the Qilin''s Horn that was rumored to have been used in One China!


    They have trained fighting Emperors and Empresses of the WGP who used their Invoking. They had fought against the Twelve Disciples, the Dragon''s Fangs! They fought during the Fang Wars and challenged the Alpha werewolves of Amir. Git Godlike also led the many skirmishes against the Pioneers and nteds, And they were the team that had the highest body count of Pioneers and nteds that took refuge in the underground city in Russia.


    With Arthur''s Realm, Git Godlike managed to perform equally.


    Enderks fought much better than Strviaa, but the unpredictable techs thrown at him made it difficult for Enderks to find an escape.


    "You brats!" Enderks cursed. He was tempted to use his Universe Energy finally.


    "No! It''s too dangerous!" Enderks cursed out loud.


    "Use it! You won''t win against us!" Chronus shouted.


    BOOM!


    Straviaa''s Throne was knocked backed and aligned to where Enderks was.


    "Now!" Arthur finally smiled as a massive fluctuation appeared over his entire suit that had recovered. He was to Tread on the Threshing Floor once more!


    "No!" Straviaa cursed and used her Universe Energy to block the attack.


    Enderk''s also did the same.


    "Die!" Arthur shouted and beamed forward as he once again made the same attack.


    Arthur traveled at incredible speed but right before he reached Straviaa, he activated a reserved weapon that sent him to the Void Realm.


    Arthur finally vanished.


    A powerful rift was opened not a secondter, and a strange light shot and pulled back the Thrones of Enderks and Straviaa and sent them to another dimension!


    Tiana''s Throne appeared as she smiled.


    But then the smile turned to horror.


    She had timed the attack and the jump to quickly capture the two Thrones at their weakest state and battle it in her dimension! But the two Thrones were not damaged at all!


    "They weren''t damaged?! But how?! Enderks! You tricked me!" Tiana shouted and trembled as the two captured Thrones began to fight.


    "Get her!" Dara shouted, and the group prepared to attack.


    Tiana could not fight two battles and decided to escape.


    The space began to distort as Tiana was preparing to teleport back when the portal she opened sent out Arthur!


    The Threshing Floor was about tond its attacks at Tiana''s Throne directly!


    But at that exact moment, the two Thrones she sent into another dimension with her incarnation began fighting and unleashed Universe Energy attacks!


    BOOM!


    Arthur''s broken and beaten body from making the attack fell to the side.


    "All ording to my calctions..." Arthur smiled as he watched Tiana, who was unable to escape andnded right in the middle of the two teams.


    "Attack!" Lennox shouted as they charged at their real target, thest of the Top Tiers!

 Chapter 543 Trap For Tiana

    A few minutes before the sudden attack, Tiana continued to watch the progress of all battles.


    Myrth was being forced back into a corner, and it was clear that they were wounded. What was shocking was that there were actually two of them.


    But Tiana quickly adapted to the strange things.


    Feyor was worried that the consecutive attempts on the Presiders'' life meant that something was prepared for him! But Tiana mocked Feyor''s hesitation.


    "That''s why you won''t Conquer! Feyor! The chances of you bing a Conqueror grows smaller by the second. Even now, you choose to hide under my wing! I am confident that there won''t be an attempt in our life. If there were, we would have fought them now! You decide what you do. But I will act against Straviaa and Enderks now!" Tianaughed as she prepared to make the attack.


    She could sense the battle was pushing closer to the climax.


    The fluctuations and energy being sent there were growing greater and greater.


    Finally, the same attack that tore a huge hole in Straviaa''s ship was being readied again. And that was the cue for Tiana to jump right in.


    She tore open a portal, and because the ship''s defenses had been breached, creating a warp entry point was easy for the Top Tier Tiana.


    As Arthur sent out his attack, Tiana charged inside, opened the portal, and instantly shot her power.


    An arm made of what many would consider ghosts or spirits reached out and grabbed the two Thrones and dragged them down towards her world.


    But she realized then that the Thrones she pulled was barely damaged! Straviaa and Enderks didn''t even resist when they were pulled into the realm that Tiana controlled! But when they were quickly drawn in, they exploded with energy!


    Enderk''s sent out powerful chilling energy and created a huge army of Exoskeletons with ice!


    Straviaa shot out her Universe Energy. The power that could distort realms became strong, and the space itself became the weapon.


    "Realm Driller!" Straviaa sent out a powerful attack that devoured the space and used it as a drilling machine. The space gathered Dark Matter, and it shot towards Tiana''s Throne!


    A massive soul being appeared that took the form of Tiana herself. It pped the drill away and shot pale-blue energy towards the created ice around them.


    The two Thrones began to fight and shoot out techs that they had never released before.


    "I''ve been tricked! You were in league with them!" Tiana realized what had happened.


    "No! We fought them, and they are our enemies. The damage they did to Straviaa''s ship was real. But they began tomunicate with us through the battle when they arrived. They wrote your name on the metals around the room. They were cautious. They believed you might have the means to see and be alerted to our ns. But of course, it was very unlikely that you could see the scratches around the ship! So they wrote your name, and we instantly understood!" Enderksughed.


    "After all, it''s befitting for Conquerors like you! You won''t dare to interfere in the battle between Garenjazz and his enemy. Nor will you attack someone who managed to reveal Myrth''s real form! Also, reaching Andronze, who just died, is impossible given the battle between that woman and that gravity controller. So we were the targets!"


    "It was a gamble. If they were tricking us, we practically fought them with our hands tied behind our backs! But if they were right, your appearance would spell our doom for certain. We trusted in the greed of a Top Tier!" Straviaaughed.


    "You... brats!"


    "We are brats? Was it our fault that you decided to make a sneaky kill steal?" Straviaa countered.


    "Now, face us! I know your tech! Just like Garenjazz and half of Myrth, you pursue the World Within! So this is your power! Spirit Tech! But can you manage, Tiana? Fighting us in your World Within and fighting them outside?!" Enderksughed.


    Back in the real world, the three-dimensional form of Tiana was battling the Unlocked team.


    Arthur''s Threshing Floor made direct hits at the Throne, which was now bombarded by all the unlocked.


    The fighters and Tanks of Git Godlike and the Covenant charged out and fought in closebat.


    Tiana began to fight back, using Throne and her Skin-Suit to repel and attack everyone actively.<sub> </sub>


    But some of the shes and shots still reached the Throne as Tiana began to fight in two different sets of Dimensions!


    And worse, receiving an attack on one dimension meant receiving an attack on the other dimensions.


    Tiana was soon receiving more and more attacks in both ces.


    Arthur''s estimates proved to be true. Finally, everyone was ready for Tiana''s appearance, and everyone fought in the realm of Arthur, which helped them perform Instant Calction and allowed them to adapt and ovee Tiana quickly.


    Tiana saw no chance of winning and began to summon her ship to create another portal that would open.


    "...What?!" She shouted in shock.


    She made several attempts, but her ship was no longer responding!


    "No...! Feyor!" Tiana realized it.


    "Ingenious, isn''t it? It''s not us, though. My ship has already been hacked! That being with the power of Presider Marrho has been attempting to send a message to your ship. The message said, ''we have captured Presider Tiana and are fighting her in her realm. If you can stop her ship from going here, then the ship is yours.''" Straviaaughed.


    "No! FEYOR!" Tiana roared.


    But it was no use.


    As they said, Straviaa quickly allowed the message to be sent right before she was pulled into that realm.


    She had seen the message in her system and kept rejecting it. It was also one of the reasons that she was hesitating in rejecting the plot. A part of her truly hoped for this. In the battle that has transpired and how everyone lost a massive amount of their forces. But to Straviaa, who was allied to Enderks, they still had an army! A quarter of Straviaa''s forces and half of Enderks were still up in Uranus.


    Losing the ship was painful, but if they could acquire Tiana''s Throne, they still won a great victory in this war!


    The moment Feyor saw the message from Straviaa, he quickly waged war against the ship of Tiana and even used the weapons that he was preparing to use against Andronze!


    "Sorry, Tiana." Feyorughed as his Throne was invading the main ship!


    "I guess I am more of a Conqueror than you thought!" Feyor shot several attacks.


    The entire realm of Tiana was already damaged from the meteor and the war against Andronze''s millions.


    And now, a quick counter-attack urred. Feyor had many weapons that were armed and ready to fire. Tiana had allowed it and ordered her men not to shoot at Feyor. But thismand became her demise as the ship was not ready to resist Feyor''s attack.


    "Just like Garenjazz! The damage on his ship was clearly from Zeraphine''s ship! So this was the n! They nned to topple the hierarchy of who is strongest on Earth! I dly ept, Lost Primordial!" Feyor''s Throne breached the hole in Tiana''s ship and began to attack!


    Tiana received notification of the attacks and knew that she could not retreat!


    "You brats! I''m still a Top Tier!" Tiana roared, and an army of souls appeared around her.


    This happened in the realm where she fought the two Presiders and even in the three dimensions where she fought the Unlocked.


    "A Necromancer!" Straviaa was shocked to see the power of the souls surge out.


    Metal began to appear as creation was formed in the Universe Energy.


    Several Supreme Exoskeletons took form in both dimensions, and each had powerful techs.


    "All of you! You will rece my armies! You will be my servants!" So Tiana vowed as her army took shape andunched an attack on the two realms.

 Chapter 544 The Two Battles Of Tiana

    Tiana harnessed the power around her throne and called out the souls of a thousand.


    The souls suddenly took physical form and became beings created by Universe Energy and somehow took form. Their souls and minds were all linked to Tiana, who controlled them, and she sent out these souls to attack the armies surrounding her.


    The souls within the other dimension that fought against Enderks and Straviaa were much, much more as their soul bodies could already attack them and these souls only received an increase of the energy that made them up.


    But within the soul Realm, Enderks had his army, and Straviaa''s control over Dark Matter was amplified in the realm.


    "You deflected my attack! Are you so scared of it?!" Straviaaughed as she channeled more of the energy.


    The beings of ice that took form began to harden as the Universe energy empowered them.


    "So it is you! The resurrection of that Principal!" Tianaughed.


    Enderks expression changed.


    "You know?"


    Even Straviaa was surprised. She and Enderks had made a deal and even connected their souls to reveal each other''s ns, and she had not seen any hints that would make her assume that Enderks was a Principal.


    "But... how? I saw your soul!" Straviaa reacted.


    "So you must be a descendant of an incarnation of a former foe, Tiana. How else would you know my secret?"


    "A former foe? Wrong! I am the descendant of a former vanquisher of yours! My grandfather fought and killed you, Principal Renkerdis! He survived the Copse of Erregnos and bested you in that battle! You are one of the reasons why I came here in the first ce! You''re the soul that escaped my grandfather! And with your soul mine, ascending to Principal will only take time! It doesn''t matter if my ship is gone! If you arise, I will acquire all your techs since you have studied the souls! The same goes for you, little girl!" Tiana raged as more of the souls appeared.


    "What?!"


    "Don''t fool me! I can sense three more souls in you!"


    "No use hiding it anymore, Straviaa. I know the soul you offered when we made an alliance wasn''t yours. But that''s not an issue now. While I used to be a Principal, I am no longer one. I am as strong as you have seen in my current form. So you better fight with everything now, Straviaa."


    Straviaa gritted her teeth but agreed.


    The dark matter began to tremble as the space around created three humans that appeared. All were as young as Straviaa, and all had the power and defenses that could match a Presider on a Throne!


    "So that''s what happened to your siblings. Principal Strato had four kids with that Presider. And yet, only one became Presider. So you are also a result of Soul Tech! That''s how you and Enderks know so much about it!"


    "My family will fight against you, Tiana!"


    "Then you are a fool! No Conquerors would fight together! We all fight alone! Your path was a mistake from the start!"


    "My father knows that! I was never a Conqueror anyway! I only wanted to survive!" Straviaa answered as her emotions got the better of her.


    "You Conquerors! I curse you all! All you think about is battle, and you never be contented!" Straviaa red at Tiana.


    "Hmp! You are walking! I knew it the moment I saw your father! He was not worthy of bing a Principal!"


    "And yet he is far better than you Conquerors! He saw and knew that the battle could not be stopped for your greed! That''s why he made my siblings like this and me! I lost my siblings because you all won''t stop chasing your empty dreams!"


    "Interesting... So you know that Enderks isn''t a Conqueror now. At least he isn''t in this incarnation. Interesting. As expected of a Principal''s daughter." Tianaughed as she nced at Enderks.


    "Of course, she knows my current form, and that''s why she allied with me. But you won''t understand even if I exined it to you, Tiana! I assure you, I''m stronger than I was before! Soe and try to get my soul, necromancer! Luck is still on my side!" Enderksughed, and hemanded his army to fight.


    A war urred as the spirits and the ice fought each other, and Enderks charged forward, and his entire form grewrger as an ice-covered form.


    Enderks became a gigantic humanoids with cannons and sters and started to shoot out sts of ice as they kept moving onwards.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    A few souls charged in and sacrificed themselves, and created a st. Their souls turned into a powerful Universe Energy that shielded him from the attacks.


    "The souls are sources of Universe energy?!" Straviaa was stunned.


    "I''ll distract her! Do not be deceived! She''s fighting two battles at the same time! Didn''t you sense the energy! She''s creating an army in the three dimensions! Send your strongest attacks!


    Enderks charged toward Tiana, and his army of ice began to attack the army of ghosts.


    "Come, Tiana! I refuse to believe you can afford to use huge amounts of Universe Energy now!" Enderksughed.


    "You fool! You are no longer a Principal! Get back!" Taina waved her massive arm to strike the ice.


    The speed of the attack was so fast that Enderks could not evade or block the attack.


    BOOM!


    The p crashed and broke the ice causing the gigantic form of Enderks to be easily destroyed.


    "What?! You still have this much energy?!" Enderks cursed as he tried to harness the energy to survive another attack and quickly retreated.


    Tiana''s arm chased after, but then, Straviaa made her move.<sub> </sub>


    Straviaa sent out the three souls and began to bombard her with powerful attacks that harnessed Dark Matter. Each st had energy powers and explosions equal to a weapon of mass destruction.


    The dark beams blew, and the entire space trembled and threatened to copse, but Tiana kept the energy contained.


    "How is she doing this?! What''s going on outside?! Have they already been defeated?!" Straviaa cursed as she sent out.


    "No... Even worse..." Enderks realized what had happened.


    "Curious? Well, I''ll show you what''s happening outside!" Tiana didn''tugh but still had a very angry expression, as if what was happening outside was far worse than what was happening in the dimensions they were fighting in.


    Outside in the three dimensions, the thousand souls gathered together, and before them, a powerful forcefield that harnessed the power of Richie''s Sound. The Unlocks tech had improved that mixed a bit of Seeker''s, Lynd''s, and Cliff''s Paths. Through those three, more and more, we''re able to aplish certain moves that the original treader of the Path could do.


    Git Godlike performed their tech reveal and created the Walls of Jerico.


    A thousand ghosts did not attack as the Unlocked army was...


    Cracking open a cold one.


    Seats and tables wereid out as the Unlocked revealed their techs and brought out these portable objects. Everyone was drinking their favorite alcoholic beverage. On the ship Straviaa, numerous brands from around the world were there.


    Git Godlike, the Covenant of the Strongest, Lennox and some of his trusted soldiers collected these fine drinks, sat down, and enjoyed their beer.


    "We''ll fight Tiana when they are done. So why should we fight them together? Let Tiana win, and she would be weak, then we fight her!" Cronusughed as he lifted his ss.


    "Kampai!"


    "Kampai!" Everyone else joined in the cheers as their sses clinked.


    But even with such a bizarre scene before her, Tiana did not release the power of the ghosts.


    "Psyche! Or are we going to rx? But what if we are going tounch a surprise attack now!" Danny jumped off his seat and brandished his de, which made Tiana flinch and nearly sent her army forward.


    "Attack!" Arthur ordered.


    Tiana moved, but suddenly, Arthur sat down.


    "Hmp! See that! I can trick the enemy! And everyone said that I cannot lie!" Arthur frowned.


    "Boss, how long do you think until the two die?" Titan asked Arthur.


    "Wait! Boss! Don''t answer that! Are you an idiot? If the boss gave his estimates, then Tiana will know we know when those three will die!"


    "That''s right. I won''t say that in several minutes, that Straviaa girl will die." Arthur answered.


    "Woah! She''ll die?"


    "I was serious with my ims. She will be the next Presider to die."


    "...She was kind of cute..." Twister of Git Godlike sighed.


    "Yeah..." Titan admitted.


    "A little t chested, though. I mean... for a Presider, that''s just... anticlimactic." Cronus gave his two cents.


    "Right..." John Octavion agreed.


    "I''d still tap that! You guys won''t''?" Paul Anthony Dantes of Git Godlike asked.


    "Oh, don''t get me wrong. I would. Frankly, I''m game with all those female Presiders." Twister rified.


    "Ugh... Will you stop it with this obnoxious, toxic, perverted, male-dominant, sexually harassing discussion?!" Dara cursed.


    "I''d tap them too, honestly." Alexa Alexa of Git Godlike chuckled.


    Dara was silenced at Alexa''s involvement as she couldn''t call out the males with Alexa nodding. She was even surprised that Misty Wedgers also agreed and silently nodded to Alexa''s answer.


    "No wonder you never had a boyfriend...!" Dara realized the secret of Misty Wedger''s reactions to many celebrity male suitors!


    "Attack!" Alexa suddenly cried and charged forward."


    But the rest remained seated.


    "Ha! She flinched!" Alexaughed as Tiana nearly raised her hand to shoot attacks.


    Tiana was trembling in anger as she was being toyed with.


    But even angrier than her was the t chested, Straviaa, who lost herself to anger.

 Chapter 545 Living Lighting

    The heart-raging, high-blood-inducing, and teeth-grinding scene was just too much for Tiana. So she decided to reveal it to Enderks and Straviaa. The scene would exin how she harnessed great Universe Energy to fight and defeat the powerful Universe Attacks of the Mid Tiers.


    Tiana kept her forces on the ready but was fighting a psyche battle against the Unlocked forces. She knew that they would attack anytime. But fighting Arthur and the rest brought her greater disadvantage. After all, she could focus more on her Universe to battle the two Presiders.


    But knowing that these enemies could attack her at any given time brought great stress to Tiana, who had be the pawns of this battle! She fell into a trap! Enderks and Straviaa also fell into a trap!


    Straviaa coughed up blood at what she had seen. She realized that the enemy had tricked them! It wasn''t a n tounch a coordinated attack. Instead, they were simply used to weaken Tiana like cannon fodder!


    To make matters worse, these idiots were discussing things about her body!


    "I''ll kill them!" Enraged, Straviaa finally released her full power, and her Throne and body radiated the same energy.


    "Straviaa! Calm down! We have to get through this alive! Besides, it''s not that Tiana can fight us in her strongest form! You can see those men taunt Tiana! This means that Tiana will keep reserving energy to block those attacks! Concentrate on your next attack! We attack together!" Enderks shouted.


    "Fine! I''ll kill her and then those idiots! Brothers! Sister! On me!" Straviaa ordered, and the three souls drew closer and closer.


    The three souls harnessed Dark Matter began to merge with Straviaa''s body. And with it, the souls and the power all merged and became one!


    The power appeared, and Tiana could tell that thebined energy that harnessed Dark Matter and the souls of the siblings was destined to help Straviaa have the power to fight and survive against Principals.


    "A Pseudo Combat Body!? Your father is really a coward! That''s just basic addition! Presiders will never be a one plus one! Their power will always be one! That is why I am a Conqueror!" Tianaughed.


    "You call it weakness! But don''t you dare insult my father! For all his annoying paranoia, he loved us! I understand that now! And that love was enough! Even like this, my siblings will live better lives than most Presiders! We were forced to take it, but now, seeing the true crisis we face, we willingly follow the path our father has set!" Straviaa shouted as her form began to solidify.


    Straviaa''s entire body was made of total darkness, creating a radioactive reaction.


    Sheunched herself towards Tiana and disappeared as she took the first step.


    Tiana was stunned as Stravia released her capability of teleporting even inside a dimension outside the three!


    The souls around Tiana began to spin and scream as they made a huge shield around her.


    Enderks saw the attack and shot a huge ball of ice toward Tiana.


    Back in the outside world, Arthur continued to drink his refreshment while mumbling several numbers.


    At that moment, the numbers he was saying began to increase, and Arthur''s speed also increased.


    This was the signal as Arthur calcted the amount of Universe energy based on the fluctuations that the Throne and physical body of Tiana would release.


    As there was a battle in another dimension, the physical form of Tiana was also leaking potent energy in the three dimensions, especially since she had brought out the souls and readied them to attack at hermand.


    But the powers of Arthur and the presence of Lennox allowed the group to see the very minute changes in the surrounding.


    The Unlocked has been exposed to Universe Energy several times in the past. However, with the foundation of the WGP''s Origin tech, they could find ways to detect this power for defense and offense.


    Arthur saw the increases and knew that the battle within the dimensions was reaching a powerful extent.


    His powers of calction had already predicted that Tiana would inform Enderks and Straviaa of what they were doing. This would enrage them and make themunch their strongest attack on Tiana.


    But Tiana never expected that Arthur could somehow see through the battle in that other dimension and never expected that they would time an attack.


    The Nile Serpent kept fighting Pridgeon and Straviaa''s ship. But no one noticed that the Many Mansions was preparing a powerful attack. None of the Presiders paid attention to this ship.


    Origin Energy and Lennox''s lighting werebining themselves. It was merging the two into a new form of energy. Unknowingly, Unlocked had managed to create lighting that matched the attacks a Presider Universe Energy could create. The tech of Presider Marrho was finally recreated.<sub> </sub>


    Throughout the battle and raid of Arthur, the teams had left markers that became a path for lighting to follow.


    The moment Arthur began to mumble high numbers, Lennox sent the transmission.


    The Everhiss family saw the orders and used a power simr to their Invoking to awaken the lightning.


    And the lightning energy awakened and shot out.


    A light-speed attack shot from the Many Mansions depths opened only when the attack was sent out. It traveled urately, invaded the gaps of the ship of Straviaa, and pierced right into the room where the Unlocked continued to crack cold ones and drank casually.


    ZAP!


    The sudden attack caught the Presider of the guard!


    BOOM!


    "Infidels!" Tiana shouted in her rage.


    The battle in the soul dimensions had also tilted into a dangerous and critical state as Tiana faced the full wrath of two desperate Presiders who went all in.


    The souls surged forward and could only sacrifice themselves in defense as the massive beam of lightning shot out as Lennox channeled the power and harnessed the energy.


    At that moment, the Covenant of the Strongest and Git Godlike moved at once.


    They moved into formation.


    "Tech Reveal!" Cronus shouted as their exoskeletons began to glow and course with the power simr to performing the Threshing Floor.


    "Alright, everyone! Just as practiced! Pierce and Impact move as one!" Arthur ordered.


    As the two groups grew within the ranks of the Unlocking, they were all following the ideologies that separated Pierce and Impact. It was theorized that since the video game Pierce and Impact was created by Aragarian Pioneers, it is theorized that the game holds the different ideologies that challenged the world of the Aragarians.


    One focused on power and perfect control of their skills. And the other focused on diversity and endless forms of techs to close the gaps.


    The Covenant as Piercing yers followed the former, while Git Godlike followed thetter.


    Through skill and practice, members of the Covenant could now perform the Threshing Floor. And Git Godlike couldpensate for theirck of skill and power through weaker but more diverse techs.


    The two teams gathered, and Arthur was at the center, and they moved as the beam of Lennox ended.


    Fear gripped Tiana as she felt the building energy. She had taken the attack of Arthur and knew that the formation of this team could kill her if this new Threshing Floornded on her.


    "I will conquer!" Tiana vowed as she resisted the beams of Lennox. On the other dimension, her soul''s arm grabbed Straviaa, who was shooting out a beam of darkness to her.


    "Too weak!" Straviaaughed as she was able to resist her arm of Tiana.


    The other arm of Tiana kept repelling and sending the souls to attack Enderks, who kept shooting beams of ice at her.


    Tiana cursed as the attacks in both dimensions brought her closer to death.


    "I must time it perfectly! If I miss even a millisecond, I''m dead!" So Tiana thought and prepared herst ace.

 Chapter 546 Souls Of Presiders

    Two battles with two separate forms of power were about to crash into Tiana.


    Straviaa kept shooting despite being held by the massive soul of Tiana,


    And as these two powers were about to hit him, Tiana had the perfect tactic to avoid it.


    She was nning on copsing the dimensional realm they were in so that the two battles would fall into one battle. The position was set that the Presiders and the attack of Unlocked armies would be within the same path.


    Tiana calcted the mind-boggling math that would seem impossible and positioned herself for the two groups to meet from the start.


    But then, her fear increased as Arthur''s team began to rx and not attack and use powerful attacks! Tiana was so caught off guard that she barely blocked the sudden lightning attack.


    She was lucky that Arthur and the rest did not jump in almost instantly but had to arrange themselves in a specific formation.


    This gave Tiana the timing she needed to attack as she aligned the dimension where she fought Straviaa and Enderks with the one where Arthur would send the attack.


    "Everyone! Activate your techs!" Arthur ordered.


    "Yes!" The group shouted as everyone began to fly in formation. Half of them began to fly and revolve around Arthur in a clockwise motion. The others moved in a counter-clockwise motion.


    Lightning, Destion, Sound, Wind, Light, Heat, and even the power of the Void Realm emerged among the team. The energy merged into a drill, and the group created a power that could attack numerous dimensions simultaneously.


    Compared to the Oveers, each individual was far weaker. But together, through the power of Unity, Arthur was able to craft an attack that could match and even break the powers of Oveers.


    This was the ultimate test. Can the power of Unity among exceptional Inhumans surpass the power of a Presider?


    Tiana saw the birthing power and noticed that even her realm was threatened!


    Clearly, Arthur and his team were also putting everything into this attack.


    Tiana even stopped sending more souls out. Right after the attack of Lennox, Tiana had few souls left to defend her. The beam of Lennox took out nearly three-fourths of the souls! And so, the iing attack of Arthur was sure to cause critical damage to Tiana!


    It was a big risk for Tiana. But her courage as a Conqueror allowed her to arrange the battlefield to turn in her favor.


    "I will win this!" Tiana shouted at Arthur''s team and Straviaa and Enderks to taunt them.


    "Hey, Presider! You top-tiers think your like gods, right? But you are just like us!" Dannyughed.


    "For dust thou art..." Arthur began.


    "To Dust Retuh!" The Covenant and Git Godlike shouted as the massive drill shot forward with incredible power and speed.


    The drill took form and had such power that even the realm of Tiana turned unstable.


    WARP! WARP! WARP!


    The essence and energy are responsible for causing all things to appear. The power of Primordial Creation was harnessed, and the team had turned their attack into Universe Energy!


    But before such an attack, Tiana did not worry or curse. She rejoiced!


    "Perfect! I can align it easier!"


    The drill''s path copsed the realm and would easily put Straviaa at the forefront!


    Using the power that pierced and turned the other dimension unstable, Tiana allowed the entire realm to weaken.


    The realms swiftly change, and Stravia and Enderks saw the entire expanse of the space that they could see change.


    Straviaa was still being held by Tiana''s arm and could not retreat.


    She was so focused on attacking Tiana that she could not detect the massive power behind her.


    But at the changing scene, the Unlocked was not worried. Instead, they saw Straviaa''s form right as the attack was about to collide.


    BANG!


    The drill struck Straviaa, and she was finally jolted in surprise.


    Even if it was painful, Tiana kept holding on to Straviaa to keep her from moving.


    To Dust Retuh drilled and consumed the Combat Body, and as the attack came at a surprise, the unguarded back was easily breached, and the souls of Straviaa''s siblings screeched in pain.


    "NO! STOP!" Straviaa shouted.


    "Why? I predicted that you would die next. I didn''t lie." Arthur answered as the drilling power of his team pressed on.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The drill was causing massive explosions as dark matter and the drill-shaped universe energy collided.


    Straviaa saw her death approach and caused all powers to surge out in her desperation.<sub> </sub>


    But as the dark matter took form, several souls that Tianamanded made a sneak attack and collided at her back.


    BOOM!


    Tiana wasn''t finished, and she shot a powerful attack as her massive soul shot pale-green energy that attacked the other side of Straviaa.


    BOOM!


    Several cries shouted together, and Straviaa saw it all.


    "No! You all... can''t die!" Straviaa used her soul and allowed it to copse. The souls of her surviving siblings began to move out. But two remained by her side as they were already too damaged to survive even in their forms. Together, the souls remained and aided Straviaa andbined with the Nefilus Suit that was now copsing.


    Enderks saw what Straviaa nned to do and instantly focused all of his ice armies to gather back to him, and he used Universe Energy to defend!


    "Now!" Arthur ordered, and the power of the Void Realm surged.


    The path of the lighting strike began to glow as the path had somehow opened a backdoor of the Void Realm. Lennox used his powers andmanded the lighting surrounding the two Unlocked teams to be pulled back, and the team quickly teleported away.


    The power of the attack had also charted a course for the Many Mansions to create a powerful Void railway that could be used to escape.


    "What?!" Tiana was horrified as the Unlock retreated. The two forces would have contained the sacrifice of Straviaa. In this scenario, both Arthur''s team, Enderks, and she would suffer the blow of the attack and resist it all equally.


    "They escaped?!" Straviaa was shocked as Arthur''s entire team vanished while performing a veryplicated attack!


    But Straviaa has already caused her soul to be used as a weapon. And she could only aim her attack to focus on Tiana.


    "Enderks! Use this energy to retreat!" Straviaa shouted. One of the dying souls of Straviaa''s raced towards Enderks.


    The power of dark matter appeared, and Enderks realized that the soul Straviaa gave her could help him teleport out!


    "Thanks..." Straviaa smiled at Enderks and then detonated the energy in her soul.


    It was simr to the kill code that Zeraphine did when she killed herself in Seeker''s past life. But Straviaa''s methods invoked a reaction.


    She caused all dark matter energy to implode and sent the energy that formed a ck hole to attack Tiana.


    BOOM!


    A massive explosionparable to five weapons of mass destruction exploded at first. Still, the ship of Straviaa began to be sucked back in as a powerful devouring force appeared right in the middle.


    The ck hole that appeared began to eat away everything as it contained Universe Energy.


    Pridgeon and the Nile Serpent''s battle was paused as both quickly began to escape from the ck hole that suddenly appeared nearby.


    "Straviaa..." Pridgeon knew what had happened, and fear gripped his heart as another Presider died.


    The ck hole was devouring Tiana''s soul, and all her souls began to scatter.


    The massive soul began to be drawn into the ck hole, and even the Throne of Tiana was quickly approaching the center of the ck hole.


    Enderks Throne was also quickly racing away and didn''t dare use the soul that Straviaa gave him yet!


    Tiana saw the soul, and she reached out and grabbed Enderks Throne using all her power.


    The massive arm of the soul grabbed onto the fleeing Throne.


    "If I die, then you areing with me!" Tiana roared.


    "No, Tiana! Luck was on my side! You areing with me!" Enderksughed and allowed the dying soul to create a path of Dark Matter, and Enderks activated the teleportation tech that allowed him to travel from Uranus to Earth. But this time, he was pulling Tiana from Earth and bringing her to Uranus.


    The soul of Straviaa''s sibling erupted out and created a pathway that broke all hindrances that the WGP and the other Presiders set to limit teleportation and warp technology.


    The path was opened, and the two Presiders disappeared as the ck hole devoured the ship of Straviaa.


    Far out in the distant of Uranus....


    WARP!


    A powerful heat surged out as Enderks Throne appeared with the dissipating soul of Tiana clutching at the Throne.


    An army of ships and even an Orbital and several Gargantuan ships prepared to shoot at Tiana.


    "No..." Tiana saw the army and muttered weakly.


    "Pridgeon has the devouring suit. I''m sure you know what my Suit is..." Enderksughed as his true soul began to appear out of his Throne.


    "... I''m free..." Tianaughed and felt the joyous sense of being unburdened as she saw the soul of Enderks ready to take possession of her body.

 Chapter 547 Renkerdis

    Tiana was in Uranus, and Enderks no longer had any loose ends with Straviaa''s main soul destroyed. Although there were the other souls of Straviaa, these would eventually die out in a few days as they had no physical body in the three dimensions.


    The power that he acquired from another Presider gave him luck.


    And this luck had given him the best oue.


    The battle had ended beautifully for Enderks!


    He had captured and brought Tiana to his home base. Thest gift that Straviaa gave Enderks in their alliance was brilliant. It allowed Enderks to purge a path and gave him enough energy to connect the two points in space to create the warp.


    Enderks was able to travel a great distance with little cost. Escaping to Uranus was the best thing, considering how chaotic it was on Earth.


    Enderks luck became his winning factor, and even though Tiana was a Top-Tier and was the one who intended to ambush the two Presiders, she ended up being the one who would die.


    She lost all hope and gave up as her current state was too damaged. Her soul was forcibly teleported, and the dark matter that paved the way damaged her soul all the more.


    Her Nefilus suit had revealed itself and at the center of her chest was a scale of the Great Serpent.


    Enderksughed as he saw the Nefilus suit of Tiana.


    "Finally! A soul that''s worthy of my power! Do you understand my power, Tiana? Your ancestor left out the part that our battle ended in a pyrrhic victory. But I survived, and he is dead, isn''t he? Did he amaze you with all the tales of his victory and seek someone to kill me? My soul possessed this man. A useless Pioneer and I rose the ranks to Presider. But your family was always there, so I had no choice but to hide! But now... Aragar will only see Tiana win in his fight against Enderks. But it will be my soul that will live on!" Enderksughed.


    "I... honestly don''t care. What is this feeling? Enderks, why am I so happy? Hahaha!" Tianaughed.


    "Ah... yes. I had that emotion, too, when one of my first souls transferred. Congrattions. Something about your soul and current dying form has allowed you to feel this way even before dying. Normally, only those who are actually dying to face this. This is why I opted to take souls that are not Conquerors. There is wisdom in having no desire to conquer, just like Straviaa had. That is the curse of the Primordial. Congrattions on your freedom. But now, your body will be mine!" Enderksughed as the power of the soul raged and took possession of Tiana''s soul.


    Enderks had the power of Spirit Possessing Being. He was like a ghost, and his soul was vastly unique. His real Nefilus Suit was no longer physical but was this very soul.


    Now, he has taken control of one of the best kinds of soul. His former body tried to challenge Tiana''s descendant but failed. But this was all part of Enderks'' borate and patient n.


    "Finally... the soul of a Necromancer is mine!" Enderks'' soul dove in.


    Instantly,


    The signals of two more Presiders vanished.


    The soul of Straviaa, who sacrificed herself in a ck hole attack, urred first.


    But shortly after, Enderks'' signal disappeared.


    Feyor watched and frowned.


    "What? Enderks still died? Tiana won? But how?!" Feyor was confused.


    Tiana was forced to travel to the main base of Enderks. At Tiana''s status, the exhaustion of Universe Energy and the damages she had taken fighting the two Presiders and facing the attacks would have been enough for Enderks to win.


    Suddenly, the entire realm where Tiana''s ship was began to flicker.


    A dark portal began to emerge. The path towards Uranus had been opened, and now, Enderks was forcibly pulling up the energy.


    "What?! Enderks?!" Feyor was now even more confused.


    The entire ship began to tremble, and the strange realm began to have souls that awakened.


    A form of Tiana appeared over Feyor.


    "You! You''re not Tiana!"


    "And this is not your ship!" Enderksughed.


    "How is this possible?! You! You Enderks!"<sub> </sub>


    "Tiana is a necromancer. But her soul was too weak. Because she was so far away from this ship, she couldn''t awaken it as the soul was with her! But now... with my soul harnessing the power of necromancy, it will be easy! She had set several powerful beings here which she never managed to awaken. So now feel the full wrath of Tiana! Awaken! Mid Presiders!"


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Several dimensions opened up within the realm, and threerge coffins appeared. Then, the coffins began to break.


    "All Pioneers! Your soul belongs to me! Eliminate this threat!" Enderks used his powers to their fullest extreme.


    Everyone could feel it.


    "That... Soul Body!? How!?"


    Pridgeon no longer hesitated but was on full retreat!


    The entire ship began to move back. It was nning on acquiring the massive waste of material that remained from Straviaa''s battle. Then, of course, there also were the souls of the other siblings of Straviaa. But the moment he sensed it within Tiana''s ship, he knew that if he hesitated, he might get caught.


    Lanterk began to travel fast quickly, released his massive Pseudo Combat body, and channeled the energy to cause havoc within the bases of the WGP guarding the ce. He revealed so much power and used great amounts of Universe Energy that the WGP went on full retreat when they sensed the massive amount of energy that surpassed their Origin energy.


    With the escape path set, Pridgeon retreated out.


    Lowengren turned around and could feel the energy surging out.


    "So that is what it''s like to be a god... I hope Arthur''s calctions of this battle are true and that god won''t attack us." Lowengren quicklymanded the Nile Serpent to acquire the remaining pieces of the ship of Straviaa.


    "Everyone! Three Presiders have been defeated! Follow us, my children, and you will be like gods!" Lowengren dered.


    "Yes!" The entire ship trembled with excitement. They had seen it firsthand. Then, Andronze, who actually had horrifying secrets, died. And now, two more Presiders were noted to be defeated.


    Pridgeon and Lanterk''s forces met. A few more minutes passed, and the group began to move and teleport. Then, with the WGP''s formation, which was affecting teleportation, gone, and all the other Presiders were engaged in battles and could not alter the sciences of teleportation, Lanterk and Pridgeon''s forces made their warp jump out.


    Inside the realm, the Soul Body of Enderks revealed horrifying powers that caused many of the Pioneers and nteds inside of Feyor''s ship instantly die with the sweep of Enderks'' hands.


    The dead also rose and obeyed the orders as Feyor''s ship quickly began to attack each other.


    Suddenly, powerful energy was released as both Tiana''s ship, and Feyor''s ship contributed their share of Universe Energy, and they teleported out of Earth.


    "No!" Feyor tried to flee, knowing that death would await him if he stayed.


    But with three Mid-Tiers attacking him, he found no chance.


    The entire realm moved through a ck hole that peered into their world.


    FLASH!


    The massive realm of Tiana, which had Feyor''s ship, vanished from the horizon.


    Pridgeon and Lanterk had appeared under their fortress in Greece.


    Pridgeon emerged out of his Throne and stood before Lanterk. They had vowed that neither would attack each other for a few days. And so, Pridgeon knew that Lanterk would honor the vow, considering he just used up a lot of Universe Energy to save him.


    "What was that?!" Pridgeon asked.


    "Renkerdis... So he is alive."


    "Principal Renkerdis? He is one of the servants of Prime Erregnos!"


    "Yes. It seems he survived the Copse of Erregnos. He''s back! Enderks is Renkerdis! But now, he or rather she has Tiana''s soul and ship, and even Feyor''s ship and army!"

 Chapter 548 Hellforge Combat Body

    The two Myrths fought with all their might.


    But with their true body being reflected in the dimension and how they have broken out of the hellish dimension where fire dwells and fought teams with weapons and armaments that could kill them, the two Myrths kept using more and more of their attacks.


    The werewolves, led by Amir, all charged forward and made reckless attacks.


    Only the Alpha''s and Amir himself remained as the rest was burnt into nothingness as they could not resist the heat.


    "This battle was over since the Thief in the Night attacked you! Why resist?" Nogardughed as he joined in to fight the Myrths with his attacks.


    Myrth could no longer use explosive attacks. The two bodies were separated, and doing so would harm each other. And so the two relished in the joyous battle right before the fires of their souls would be put out.


    A simple wave of their hands produced great heat waves and power that it was as if an entire skyscraper had copsed where they waved their hands.


    Yet the Unlocked armies fought. They evaded and attacked, for this was the best test for them to push themselves and ovee!


    Amir charged ahead and shed with him, but Myrth''s fiery punch would create shock waves and release terrifying heat in the direction of its punch.


    BOOM!


    The first of Amir and the male Myrth met, and Amir was sent flying back. But the power that Amir disyed was so strong that even the male Myrth was amazed.


    "His cells and power are increasing!" Myrth was amazed. But then the other attacksnded on him.


    The Dragon''s Fang and the Alpha werewolves all charged and attacked different areas.


    The werewolves used the raw power of their mutation to deal damage, while the Dragon''s Fang used the power of their Unlocking to coat their weapons with Realm and their soul!


    Meng had recovered and donned an ice armor crafted by Rosa. He kept on moving right inside to resist the mes. Meng battled the female Myrth in close range. He would evade the savage attacks of the female Myrth that created powerful rumbles at each wild swing and punches even if it met air.


    The fires of the female Myrth was slowly weakening as their body showed clear signs of decay. Meng was able to release his destion to the highest level. But with, the Ice armor he wore was not affected. The two had revealed their strongest ace. Their cells and Paths had merged into one. Despite being ipatible elements, they managed to fuse it and allow the two powers to act as one as long as their energies could allow.


    This battle raged on for several minutes.


    Each attack would eat up a huge amount of Universe Energy. But more than this, each of Myrth''s attacks consumed more and more of its soul.


    Myrth suddenly felt it.


    She sensed a powerful energy source suddenly disappeared.


    BOOM!


    Suddenly, the two Myrths acted together, creating a half-circle fire explosion and causing everyone to retreat.


    The Unlocked all retreated, and the wild battle paused.


    The two Myrths nced at the heavens as if looking at the far distance.


    Another Presider had died, and the two could not help but reflect on it.


    "Feyor is dead, huh...? Andronze, Straviaa... and I think it was Tiana who died." The female Myrth was amazed.


    "To think... Enderks would win. Is Enderks your ally?" The male turned and asked Nogard.


    "You outlived them all! Congrattions! You are the stronger Top Tier!" Nogardughed.


    "And to answer your question... No. From the start, we nned to hunt down and kill as many Presiders as possible. More areing, after all. Shackstress told us, Earthlings, what would happen. But this battle ended as expected. I can tell that Enderks has formed a power which is the missing piece of what Garenjazz created. The so-called Combat Body needs a Soul to contain it, right? We noticed that Presiders need to develop a source of energy that can form outside their body. This should be the Combat Body. But the upgrade of the Dantian... that''s what this Enderks achieved, correct?"


    Myrth did not answer but kept ncing up.


    "You are confident that Garenjazz and Zeraphine will lose, then?" The male asked.


    "Those who fight him are the leader of our army, after all. Perhaps, he is the greatest weapon the Lost Primordial prepared.<sub> </sub>


    "Sister..." The male Myrth turned to his sister.


    "I know. Let''s finish this." The female Myrth answered.


    Fire began to gather and form right in them. The dimensions distorted and changed.


    The endless waves of fire that copsed within itself appeared, and the body of the Myrths changed.


    "Behold! With the concentration of all our fires, we create a body with pure power! Even the dimensions will break, for our fire will pierce the world! Hellforge Combat Body!" The two Myrths revealed their body''s peak as they created a body of fire.


    This was theirst stand. They were doomed to die at that form.


    The form didn''t have massive size, nor did it cause the fire dimension they controlled to peer out. Their bodies were the dimensional worlds. It was as if they embodied the sun.


    Heat, energy, and power are gathered around them.


    "This is it! Ourst form! We will die within minutes! What will you do?" The two Myrths dered together.


    And while the Unlocked team and the Oveers could have made a simple retreat, they stood their ground.


    "Thest sh. If we survive this... we ovee!" One, a member of the Dragon''s Fang, dered.


    "Faith is not blind after all. How can I believe I am an Oveer if I see no evidence of my victories? If I win this, I will be closer to bing a real Oveer!" Force dered.


    None of the Dragon''s Fang or the Alpha werewolves retreated.


    "Good! Spoken like a true Conqueror!" The Male Myrthughed.


    The female nced above and observed the final attack that a few of her enemies had prepared. Typical, the two ice sisters and several other members of the Dragon''s Fangs were up there. They had moved up and were preparing for a powerful attack.


    "Let''s make our attack, and I''ll deal with that. Kill anyone who attacks me. If that falls on us, we will lose." The female spoke.


    "Well met, Presiders! Let''s have a jolly fight!" Nogardughed and charged forward.


    With the body of Amir, the union of Seeker, and many advances in the biological sciences, the power of Nogard''s soul was now able to perform exactly what Myrth was doing. His soul was weaponized, and it managed to recreate a small portion of the Universe Energy.


    The two Myrths saw Nogard''s approach. And they sent out a simple punch.


    This punch used the greatest force that they were capable of. The power of the Combat body was shown. The punch erupted out and crossed all dimensions, and purged it all.


    It was a body of fire so potent that the simplest of actions could copse the strangest of dimensions.


    Tiana''s soul realm, Shackstress''s Minuscule World, and even the Dreamscape realm of Garenjazz would have copsed at the power of this simple punch.


    Nogard caused his soul to expand and formed Universe Energy coated every inch of his armor, and charged onwards.


    "Realm Guard!" Lioncourt threw out another radiation pill that flew beyond Nogard and created a massive shield that met the exploding power of the two punches.


    "Destion Dragon Frost Scale!" Meng and Rosa harnessed the power and caused massive green energy that took the shape of the dragon and was coated with ice. Nogard was hidden within the Realm Guard, and this dragon''s massive head-shaped energy.


    BOOM!


    A bright light shed. Everything in front of where the pair made their punch began to disintegrate into nothingness. The mes ate space itself. All of the universes had once more gotten smaller from the tremendous fire sent out.


    Omricon had once done this with his cut. But the punch of these two had purged and caused the space and the universe to shrink at arger rate.


    To those in the three dimensions, they could only see space copsing inwards to the punch of the two Myrths. But the reality was, a terrifying fire was purging everything!


    "We will Ovee!" The Oveers shouted as the four made an all-out attack.

 Chapter 549 Three-Pronged Attack

    The power of the Hellforge Combat Body was a constant devouring me that existed in an almost eternal state. The doctrine of hell was proven true, for there was such thing as an eternal me.


    The constant mes were first revealed when the Primordial used his powers against the Babelian Prime, that was said to have been the closest being to bing a Primordial. A war raged thousands of years ago, and it ended up in fire.


    Ever since then, fire has be one of the mostmon sciences that everyone sought to use as the foundation of their powers. But when the New Age dawned, and many Primes rose with different powers, this fascination on fire and the pursuit of many Presiders to be Elemental Supremes had dwindled as more powerful forms of powers appeared.


    Myrth, an Elemental Supreme who pursued this same path of fire, was one of the rare breeds of Presiders who managed to reach the level of Top-Tier despite having such backgrounds.


    The massive punch of the Combat Body proved to be the strongest and most powerful physical form.


    The three Oveers, along with Rosa, threw everything they had to defy the ming fist.


    It was as if they were looking at hell itself.


    Ice, Destion, Realm, and Soul fought the mes copsing and destroying space.


    The Oveers harnessed the power, and with soul right at the center, the different powers managed to reach Unity and collided with the fires.


    Myrth saw that their attacks had been blocked for a split second of their attacks.


    The two Myrths kept pressing the arm forward to continue pushing out at the attacks of the Oveer.


    Nogard''s soul had a power simr to a soul body, and the energy could harm them!


    "Keep pushing! These two people are not two people! Their souls have been distorted and have been released! My power will distort their connection and kill them!" Nogard ordered as the Universe Energy that formed from his massive soul pushed forward.


    As Myrth and the Oveers shed, the werewolves, the Dragon''s Fangs, and the other Unlocked soldiers nearby quickly took advantage and dove further.


    "Attack!" Force, a member of the Dragon''s Fangs, charged forward. Each had forms of Tanks, Fighters, and Ranged specialties among the Unlocked armies and brought out their full skill.


    Weaponized paths of all forms were released.


    The power of the werewolves to create shes and attacks that contained so much kic force that it could have sliced through a skyscraper urred.


    Attacks of the Dragon''s Fangs used various techs to make their attacks erupt.


    Force, One, Twister, and Strike all unveiled the true potential of their weapons.


    Their weapons had traces of Destion, which all shot out their realm and caused their melee attacks to cross great distance and contain a power that could have damaged the WGP Rules!


    Trigger and st, the Fang''s gun specialists, also released the most prating or corroding attacks they had and kept shooting everything at the enemy.


    At that moment, Shock, the cybeically enhanced lightning use of the Dragon''s Fang, released the full potential of his arm and shot out a powerful st out a beam of lighting! He refused to follow his path of Lennox and tried to create his version of a lightning beam! Much like the special Sun Devourer suits, he had be a Lightning devourer that can shoot tremendous lightning energy!


    With all the attacks falling over them, the two bodies of Myrth began to move.


    While one arm pressed against the Oveers, their other arm began to il wildly.


    BANG! BANG!


    Powerful heat and pressure would copse in a wide space at a hand wave.


    The Unlocked army began to evade the path where the arms of the two Myrths would wave as destruction and heat would fall.


    Blur, Specter, and Clutch appeared and began to use their abilities and techs to protect and pull away their ally. Their mission was to keep their allies alive for as long as possible.


    Wolves and other weaker soldiers were too slow and were crushed and burned from the hell that whipped out like asso.


    Everywhere the iling arm of Myrth swung created mes that burst out of nowhere.


    It was as if hell was trying to break out of the space around them!


    The waves of each hand would crush and destroy more of the structures around them, and the massive floating fortress of Myrth began to crumble at the power of these attacks.<sub> </sub>


    But the entire army kept their attacks within a certain range and tried their best.


    The Oveers kept pressuring and sending their attack, forcing Myrth to have one hand pushing back, limiting their movements.


    The two Myrth could tell that everyone in the army and the Oveers was doing everything to keep their hands down. But, Myrth couldn''t afford to ignore the Oveer or the barrage of attacks that would have harmed their Combat Body! They were far from their peak condition, and their defenses were on the brink of copsing! But, these weak attacks from the werewolves and the Dragon''s Fang could kill them!


    The Myrths were forced to defend themselves. Yet, simultaneously, the attacks around them were all clearly made to stop Myrth from disrupting yet another attack prepared by the Unlocked above the skies.


    Typical was up above the heavens. The massive Orbital that Suit piloted had shrunk to less than half its original size. But the Realm King was able to quickly merge and rearrange the massive Orbital to form different shapes which Suit could pilot through realm.


    Suit now controlled a massive robot with arge joust formed from the needles of Typical.


    Rosemary and Roselyn poured out thest bits of their energy to coat their allies with powerful ice and made it look like that Suit carried a massive iceberg.


    Sting was also there. He had developed a path simr to Typical, and the two were acting together to prepare for the attack.


    Unity appeared among them. They were not all separate entities. They were not separate elements and separate paths that were applied to a giant robot. Instead, it was as if a new being with great power was born through all thebined Paths.


    Numerous weaponized Paths of Destion, Realm, Sound, and Lighting appeared around the robot and the cial spear.


    ? And finally, this attack wasunched down!


    Myrth knew that this was the moment.


    The Unlocked had made three attacks that forced Myrth to guess where the true attack was! Was the final ace the attack of Typical? Was it in Nogard''s charge? Or was a weapon of mass destruction hidden among the weaker Unlocked harassing them?


    Myrth knew they would die. But they wanted to be right onest time and challenge the strongest attack designed to kill them.


    "I will Conquer!" The two Myrths decided.


    They did not pick one but deduced that the real attack that was designed to kill them would be from the Oveers and Typicals attack.


    The male Myrth abandoned defense and focused on guarding Nogard''s charge.


    The female Myrth shot a beam of fire towards the iceberg, and the two began to ignore the attacks from the weaker ones. They, the Conquerors, challenged the Oveers.


    A powerful fire formed around the two Myrths that devoured and destroyed all forms of attacks from the rest right before it could reach them. The weaponized paths and even the best of Earth''s sciences would disintegrate in kic energy or lose all forms of attacks before they hit the main bodies of Myrth.


    The Realm Kingughed as he saw the decision of the two. They chose Nogard''s charge and Typical''s giant iceberg stab.


    "You chose incorrectly! The real answer in this deceiving three-pronged attack was that this was one attack, to begin with! We will ovee through Unity!" Lioncourt revealed a small cross.


    This was one of the secret weapons of the Unlocked. It harnessed the power of Eagle''s Gravity, the Realm Kings realm control, the Void Assassin''s teleportation, and the science they found through Shackstress. It was aplex science that only the Realm King could use. Even Seeker could not use this as it was a power that could bend the three dimensions just like Tiana, Garenjazz, or Shackstress!


    "Space Bend!" The Realm King crushed the cross, and the powers harnessed within erupted.


    The three dimensions were forcibly bent. All the Unlocked positioned in different ces were suddenly pulled and arranged in an orderly formation.


    And all the attacks shot together in one direction.


    One Myrth was shooting at the skies, and only another was defending.


    BOOM!


    The male defended against the charge of Nogard, who now had a massive iceberg stabbing forward with the rest shooting attacks at the side. His defense will surely copse. And the other Myrth who had concentrated an attack to the skies would be toote to redirect it.


    "We lost..." The two smiled as the attacks finally broke through the male Myrth''s defenses.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 550 A Sermon In The Battlefield

    The attacks had be one!


    A concept that Presiders had a hard time epting. They were Conquerors, and they fought like one. They never expected that the Unlocked''s power would manifest inbination!


    They thought that individual attacks would be the attacks they faced, but the Unlocked''s ace was rather simple. It was the power to arrange them to make a formation attack.


    One Myrth could not defend the attack. So thebat body they formed was divided into two. And this was its disadvantage.


    Nogard''s soul power connected everyone for a split second, and all paths were united as it had one soul now.


    From the Oveer''s attacks to the gunshots and feral shes of those around them, these all contributed and became one in the power of Unity.


    The crushing attack with all the paths destroyed the hellfire defenses of the male Myrth. By the time the female managed to redirect her beam, it was already toote.


    BOOM!


    The copsing fire imploded out one final time, and the Combat Body of Myrth was broken.


    Two bodies were thrown back.


    ? Right after the attack reached, thebined power of the unlock disappeared.


    Everyone fell down and was greatly exhausted.


    Several ships from the WGP had arrived, and it was time to retrieve everyone.


    The two Myrths were lying, ncing at the skies. They saw that the battle between Eagle and the Tyrant Empress reached the sky.


    "You know, it would have been vastly easier if Eagle were here." The Realm King chuckled as he walked by.


    His entire appearance had many wounds all over.


    Nogard approached with his Supreme Exoskeleton that had many damages.


    "He would use his power and say, ''and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.''" Nogard repeated the verse.


    And together, as living stones crafted for the church, we, small pebbles, stones, and boulders, resisted the attack and overcame. This proves it. We can wage war and defeat Presiders and even Principals with this." The Realm King puffed his chest and rejoiced.


    "Proof of our oveing... Even David wouldn''t have the guts to fight Goliath. He only fought him because God gave him previous battles. He fought the lion and killed the bear."


    "Oh? I haven''t read that part. So he already killed bears and lions with his slingshot?" Amir arrived. He was the first one to recover.


    "No. David killed the bear and lion up close. Grabbing their beards, he imed." Nogard chuckled.


    "Then I guess you could say that we''ve grabbed the beard of these lions. And now, the giant ones are next." Greydon approached.


    "You guys... win. Was this... the path all along?" The female Myrth asked.


    "Oh? Even in death, you still desire that which Conquerors desire." The Realm King was curious.


    "Well... We knew there was a curse... but... we somehow wanted to be conquerors of our own will... We wanted to be... great..." The male smiled.


    "It was a fun match. But... you were not real Conquerors." The Realm King sighed.


    The two Myrths trembled when they heard this.


    "You guys... are jerks... you know that...?" The male cursed.


    "I''m sorry. But your choice of fusing two as one isn''t the path. It would have worked if you walked our path. But you sought sce and unity together. It''s strong, but it''s not that strong. Had you picked to either be a Conqueror or an Oveer, you would have won. But I guess your siblings loved each other so much that you couldn''t conquer your emotions. This is how you lost."<sub> </sub>


    "You...! You don''t know our world, earthling. We had no choice! My brother and I... We...!"


    "He''s dead." The Realm King turned and saw the Male Myrth no longer moving.


    "..." The female turned to the side and saw her dead brother, and tears fell down.


    "Damn you... You said... we would die... together! How dare you... go..." Myrth wept.


    "Thank you for the wonderful fight. We cannot say we''ve ovee a conqueror yet. But you were an important enemy. Because of you, our confidence and resolve have increased. We Oveers were confident to face anything man could create. But you and the rest of the presiders are not men but beings like gods. Now, we are confident in facing the gods. Rest now. Your brother must be pissed that he messed up. Go to him, and p him." The Realm King chuckled as he turned around.


    "...Yeah..." The female Myrth smiled as herst tear fell.


    The WGP Emperors began to scramble at the copsing remains of Myrth''s fortress. It was no longer flying but had crashed on the ground as it lost all capabilities of flight. The towering megalith stood and watched over thends of Egypt. The Babel fortress of Andronze had copsed. And while the fortress of Myrth stood firmly within the ground, it was already incapable ofunching attacks as the wolf gue had obliterated and killed all inside.


    "Two battles remain." Nogard walked towards the edge of the Myrth''s ruined fortress to view the battle.


    The main battle urred at the bottom as the swarms of locusts, soldiers, and many of the remaining soldiers of Andornze continued to fight. Many were drawn into the powers of the Tyrant Empress.


    The lust of many caused them to serve.


    The Nile Serpent has called those lucky enough not to see the Empress.


    With Andronze dead, the Nile Serpent was calling the survivors to flee and stop entering the fight. However, because of the battles between numerous Presiders, only a small number of the forces of Andronze remained.


    Some became part of the Tyrant Empress''s army, others fled, and others joined the Nile Serpent.


    But a surprising number of pioneers served Eagle!


    The terrifying power of trust was surfacing.


    Throughout the battle, a strange sound was affecting everyone. It was a sermon! A sermon that Eagle continued to perform as he battled!


    The words of Eagle were making sense. His exnations, his means of pointing out the truth of their shallow servitude to a false queen, were slowly affecting them! And with it, many hesitated and began to flee!


    The rage of the Tyrant Empress exploded as her beauty was being defeated. The power of several Paths continued to sh with the Paths of the rest. But meteors, chunks of massive metal hurling down at unstoppable speed, continued to fall from the heavens and shed with the many powers.


    BOOM!


    A massive explosion struck, and the pressure was too much for Akahs Zulu. With the impact and force, he had to defend against, his power that controlled the dead bodies and lingering souls of the dead had vanished, and many exoskeletons had fallen as they had no control.


    "My queen... His power... is too strong for my curses!" Akahs eximed.


    The strange power of Eagle''s sermon continued.


    "The power of God will resolve even the hand of Legion! A thousand demons cannot stop us! Oveers fight on! See how the word of God is fulfilled today! For it is written in Isiah 19! In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them. Is this not what the people of thesends perceived? And see how the altar they called the Babel was established, only to be quickly destroyed? Who would believe such ims? And now, another altar is ced. An altar that was purged by the very fires of God! This fulfills another verse!" Eagle''s voice continued to be broadcasted.


    "For it is written in Isaiah 19:19! In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of thend of Egypt, and a pir to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in thend of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them! This is yet another fulfillment! The grammar of that verse was not an ident! Who can an alter be in the ''midst of thend of Egypt,'' while be a pir to the Lord at its border''? And yet, Giza, when tranted to its origin, the irregr Arameo-Arabic root, means edge! And here this megalith stand!" Eagle''s words erupted.


    At that point, the convincing prophecy added to the many odd and questionable truths that Eagle spoke. But his voice was granting rity to many!


    "Be free from Egypt! Take off your chains! That woman does not love you or care for you! A thousand have died for her cause, and these thousand are forgotten! You are of no value to her!" Eagle charged.


    BOOM!


    The Tyrant Empress once more set another powerful attack at Eagle.


    But then, she felt an unprecedented crisis befell her. As she turned back, Octarion Ceasar, who had long served her, made a powerful punch towards her!

 Chapter 551 The Tyrant Empress’s Weakness

    Ceasar''s fist was the strongest force they had since in terms of pure, raw power.


    His punches could st through the strongest metals, and his current armor, built from the ship of Shackstress and improved through the union of power, allowed Ceasar to have the power of more than ten Unlocked.


    His defenses were equally shocking as it was theorized that he could survive the Sword Like Lightning attack that the main body of Lennox could create!


    The sudden betrayal came at the most inconvenient time for the Tyrant Empress. But she did not retreat.


    Harnessing the power of her beauty, he bent the entire space around her to serve her.


    Her realm that her Path had reachedmanded the energies, and she gathered all the power towards herself. Time drastically slowed down as time was altered in obedience to her beauty.


    She constantly attempted to fuse the power but felt a strange rejection and could not contain the power.


    She abandoned her attempt as time was quickly rushing forward. Unfortunately, even her beauty could not produce the power of Unity.


    She threw all the energy of the numerous powers towards Ceasar.


    "Ceasar! I am your queen!" She shouted to remind Ceasar of his allegiance.


    At thest second, the strength of Ceasar weakened, and the punch struck the iplete power of the Tyrant Empress.


    BOOM!


    The two Oveers were thrown back at the attack.


    The Tyrant Empress managed to fly, but Ceasar received sound and wind repelling power, and he fell to the ground.


    Richie and Hermes began to charge down.


    "Attack now!" Richiemanded, and his Notes also moved and created massive sound attacks that rippled out and attacked the army.


    "Kill them! The Tyrant Empressmanded and harnessed her Path.


    Eden and Zulu rose back up andmanded their numerous forces to attack.


    The army of Andronze that numbered thousands upon thousands all shot out and didn''t care for a position or if they would hit allies. They were simply shooting in the direction where Richie and Hermes moved.


    Zulu harnessed the power of the souls that the Tyrant Empress controlled. He let out the hundreds of souls he could contain, and they all gathered around the Empress.


    "To those souls! Some dark magic does not bound you! That is the only science that breaks the dimensionalws! But He who the Son sets free is free indeed! Believe in the power of the truths you''ve witnessed! Souls! Get out of them!" Eagle rebuked and cast out the spirits that had taken over the undead.


    The power tore a crack in the dimensions, and Zulu''s soul magic, simr to Tiana''s power, finally faltered.


    The defensive lines fell as the souls retreated, and Zulu suffered a powerful bacsh as the souls escaped his grasp.


    "How... can they hear...?!" Zulu did not understand. These souls were contained through the special power that the Progenitor left them. And yet, they heeded the voice of Eagle!


    "Akasha! Show them! Show them the power of shedding blood!" Eaglemanded.


    The vampires of Akasha had all but been eliminated save for the core vampire team that she personally trained. These were not mere vampire thralls but powerful Unlocked that have survived numerous battles and could even fight against the Alpha Wolfs of Amir!


    "Coven! Help me bear the power of blood!"<sub> </sub>


    The group of vampires that remained harnessed the power, and through their servitude and blood bond, the power of Unity was once more activated.


    It rippled out energy that surpassed the WGP''s Origin power.


    "All those marked with my blood! Die!" Akasha roared.


    Throughout the battle, her vampires were using blood that took the form of weapons. But the blood was strong and hard that some powerful vampires could cleave an Exoskeleton clean.


    But as they died, the blood in them would escape and explode. And this mist had surrounded the battlefield and affected many soldiers.


    Suddenly, all who were covered with the blood of the fallen vampires began to suffer strange needle attacks as the blood had somehow seeped in through the cracks and killed the pilot.


    "Gallium! Punish the Empress! That one called Jezebel and show her the reward to the oveer!" Eagle ordered.


    Gallium raced throughout the sky, with a jet-like mercury ship that formed around him. Hemanded the liquid metal he had sent out as he followed the n that Akashaid out.


    "My metal is weak! But now it will prove to be strong!" Galliummanded as arge number of exoskeletons that were now under the control of the Empress changed direction and began to attack the allies of the Tyrant Empress.


    The Tyrant Empress, who was always on the offensive and had to only deflect the attacks of Eagle, had suddenly shifted to defense.


    Far away, in the Many Mansions, Arthur and his team watched the battle.


    "This is it. The defeat of the Tyrant Empress. The n that I and Seeker made has finally been aplished." Arthur dered with certainty.


    "So the Tyrant Empress cannot entice the world. But her power to attract others has its maximum limits." Lennox assessed.


    "Yes. That was the secret that Seeker told me, Lowengren, Lioncourt, and Eagle when she was sealed. It''s something that she doesn''t even seem to realize. Her weakness is her vanity. She did not know that realm, soul cultivation, and the constant exposure to Eagle''s truth had solidified a power to resist her attraction."


    "And so, you plotted to have her fight in an environment where she would use her power to attract thousands and thousands, not realizing that the more she controlled others, the stability, and power that had chained those under her spell had weakened. But will this permanently resolve the issue of her being this manipting, selfish creature?"


    "That is yet to be determined. She is the only Oveer that hadn''t learned her lesson after being defeated. When Seeker fought against Richie, Meng, Lioncourt, and sent others to sh with Amir and the other Near-Oveers, they instantly folded and wanted to follow Seeker. You knew that saving Guinevere would be through Seeker, so you instantly followed. But the Tyrant Empress was locked in her own pride. And now is her punishment." Arthur exined.


    The voice of Eagle erupted to everyone in the battle as Richie allowed his voice to be transmitted.


    "And so is fulfilled the word of God in the book of Revtion. And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ''The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a me of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.


    ''I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that yourtter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those whomit adultery with her I will throw into great tribtion, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you ording to your works." Eagle dered.


    "You, oh members of the Unlocked, have done great things! But yet your heart is swayed by Jezebel. See now the judgment of the Lord as she will face the tribtion of her deeds! Tyrant Empress! Quera Sapphire! Repent!" Eagle charged her.


    "Submit to the authority of the sent messiah who will foreshadow the true Messiah!"


    The Tyrant Empress felt her heart tremble as the words poked yet another hole in her pride and built confidence. She had just found a way to ovee, yet now, she was being pushed into a far more terrifying state as she felt her power leaving her.


    "Beauty is fleeting! Your attraction has its limits! But had you built more on your foundation, you would have had more faithful allies! If you truly want to be an empress, then you should learn how to serve! Watch as my power, the seeds nted in your team''s hearts, bear its fruit! You snatched their wills with your beauty, but see how through the building Word that they have heard, again and again, they are slowly gaining the powers to resist you! Your shallow foundations have proven to be weaker than the trust and built unity of what true love is! And now, your followers abandon you! ept your defeat, temptress!"


    Ceasar stood up once more at the crater where he fell.


    But as he stood up, he was extremely disappointed in himself.


    "Tyrant Empress! Your reign ends now!" Caesar roared as he summoned the strength to jump the great distance to attack the Tyrant Empress from below.

 Chapter 552 Preacher And The Prostitute

    Octarion Ceasar jumped towards the heavens with great rage in his heart. He was Octarion! He devoured and defeated his nine brothers and became a powerful man, born to conquer the world! He fought against Lynd and soon learned about the Aragarians and found a new challenge to face.


    But then, he was taken in by the Empress. He became her ve and followed every word, every work, down to the pettiest tasks. The words of Eagle somehow became words that pierced his heart. He felt anger at first, then sadness as he knew he couldn''t be free from the chains of the Empress.


    But when the Empress started to call out and use her power to affect other people, Ceasar finally felt an unburdening of the crushing control of the Empress. And finally, at the right moment, he made an attack against the Empress!


    With the Tyrant Empress being pushed far beyond what her current strength can summon, and as more and more were breaking free from her control, she was also losing grasp of everything else.


    It began with Octarion Ceasar.


    The powerful link that allowed the Tyrant Empress to control Octarion with this lust was cut off. And like a small hole that caused water to spill out of a dam, so was the loss of power that the Empress felt.


    Octarion''s departure caused a chain reaction of many people suddenly realizing the crazy decision they had made in risking their lives for a woman they never met!


    Eagle could see many start to waver and some began to flee.


    "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain! Why risk your life for a woman who will not even remember your name? You are but a passing tool for her!" Eagle used his powers once more and everyone was drawn by the words of Eagle.


    Just as the Tyrant Empress''s beauty ced everyone in a trance, Eagle''s words had awakened them back to reality. Objective truth revealed the emptiness of the desired fantasy of these soldiers.


    The dreams of many who believed that they could touch the soft red lips of the Tyrant Empress realized that they would die if they could.


    The desire to see the raw, unclothed beauty suddenly lost its value. These were the things that these men realized that wasn''t worth fighting for!


    As the Tyrant Empress lost her grasp, she then started to see the source of her power.


    "Their lust... I can see it...! And all of them... They are disappearing?!"


    WARP!


    Eagle suddenly appeared directly above the Tyrant Empress.


    The rest of Eagle''s allies quickly attacked and sent their forces to protect Eagle who began to preach before the Tyrant Empress.


    The power of attraction allowed Eagle to harness gravity with the help of the sciences from the Void Assassin, he was able to teleport closer.


    There was a certain hint of arrogance in the eyes of Eagle.


    "You! You''re not affected?!"


    "Surprised? Of course, I know my limits. I waited for you to reach this point. If I had done it earlier, then I wouldn''t have the strength to stand in front of you and not be affected. But now... You should be in immense pain, correct? Your vanity is your weakness! It must hurt you whenever someone looks at you in disdain and is not captivated! How much more when those who followed you turn away from you? Your heart must be in taters!" Eagleughed.


    And as Eagle just said, the lust and charm that Quera Sapphire released had bound her soul to many. And now, the many whom she bound were severing ties with her causing unimaginable pain to her heart.


    "No! My beauty surpasses truth!"


    "Lust is a fleeting thing! How many times have men and women felt disgusted after they gave in to lust? Be it in pornography, or even when they allow themselves to have these fleshly desires, do they not feel tired or wearied? I too, am tempted and have given in to lust! Lust blinds you of reality. This desire takes over your reasoning. Have not men and women given in to these lust and realized that their escapades were not as glorious as they imagined it to be? Don''t they turn away in disgust and walk the walk of shame?"


    "How can your words do that?!"


    "Because I used something that can renew the wicked fleshly desires of people! In your weakened state, your beauty is nothingpared to the empowerment of the Holy Spirit!" Eagleughed as he took a few steps forward and brought him closer to the Tyrant Empress.


    "See the souls and the dimensions of emotions! Looking at you causes a ripple in these dimensions as those that see you are taken captive. But now, no more, Quera! You are no longer a tyrant or an empress to the hearts of everyone!"


    At those words, a severe shaking in Quera''s soul began.


    "You... You lie! I will not believe you! I am beautiful! The universe will bow to me!"


    "Lying? Me? I only speak the truth. Lying is Lowengren''s power." Eagleughed.


    While the two were just hovering next to each other, and Quera wasn''t even using the powers of Sound, Wind, and the rest, the battle that had done was immense.


    Along with Nogard, they had both abilities that were closest to the Soul Body that Enderks had created.


    Their souls were shing and creation itself was being altered at their meeting.


    Quera''s power in taking over the Paths of the Oveers was getting weaker and weaker.


    "Kill... him!" Queramanded and Eden and Zulu sent their teams to engage.


    "Are you sure? What''s a preacherpared to a warrior?" Eagle smiled.


    "Die! Behold the strength of ten men!" Ceasar rose to the highest points of the battle with a single leap. And he punched out towards Quera.<sub> </sub>


    The army that the Queramanded felt powerful kic energy.


    It was as if the power of ten Oveers were fused into one. The mega might of Ceasar exploded out and a force pushed out of his arms.


    At the punch of Ceasar, they might be so strong that it fractured the dimensions and caused them to bend.


    Everyone felt an intense shock ur as the space itself moved at Ceasar''s most powerful punch.


    With his focus and anger returning, Ceasar managed something that he couldn''t under the grasp of Quera.


    He Overcame.


    "Souls of the dead on me!" Zulu shouted and called forth all the souls of those who he had captured. This was his ace. His version of using the soul as a technology and a Path.


    Nogard had one powerful soul that surpassed all the Oveers. Tiana was a Necromancer who could control souls and summon them back to existence. But Akahs Zulu was a seed of the Progenitor with the powers of Shaman Magic. He could call on the souls of others to curse, attack, and do his bidding.


    But now, he channeled several souls he had bound to himself and turned them into energy.


    A massive skull formed around him as he dove down to meet Ceasar.


    Eden also used her power as she could feel the strength and sheer power of Ceasar.


    With her as the source of power, the nts and vines connected to her began to grow and she became arge tree.


    The two fought and released their strongest attack to match the attack of Ceasar.


    Quera continued her battle with Eagle.


    It was then that Quera realized that her Path was very close and simr to Eagle! Both drew others to themselves.


    The battle had been for Quera to pull Eagle onto her control. But Eagle was attracting Quera to Eagle''s ideology!


    "You wish... to convert me?!"


    "Here I stand. I can do no other! So help me God! Amen!" Eagle answered.


    "Your words mean nothing!"


    "You don''t believe that! My words have caused your army to crumble!"


    "No... How can your words cause them to all... cut ties with me?!" Even with all the evidenceid out to her, Quera still refused to believe that the departure of those who served her was because of Eagle''s words.


    "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart! Did you really think that your beauty can fight Scripture? I was just the mouthpiece! For God has promised, that when Scripture is preached, ''so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall aplish that which I purpose, and shall seed in the thing for which I sent it.'' This is the Word!" Eagle boasted.


    Quera shouted and shouted as shemanded every cell in her body to reveal the peak of her beauty.


    "I will not cave to your power! If you want to fight, then let''s fight! I, the Tyrant Empress will defeat you, preacher!" Quera shouted.


    "Tyrant Empress? No. You''re more like a prostitute, Quera." Another voice was heard and Quera turned to see Richie standing next to her.


    The power of sound trembled.


    "Repent!" Richie shouted and the power of vibration attacked Quera.


    BOOM!


    A spear of vibrations shot and threw Quera off. At that moment, the colors and light around the world noticeably changed. What many didn''t notice was that the space around them was bowing to Quera and making her the center of attention.


    But at that moment, this strange warping of the environment had ceased.


    Quera fell from the great heights and none of her powers remained.


    Eagle reached out and the speed of Quera''s fall began to decrease and soon she was like a feather flowing through the wind as she safelynded on the ground.


    Zulu and Eden suddenly lost the power that had taken them captive and they could think clearly.


    The surviving armies of the Presiders all stopped and the ongoing war was slowly stopping as more and more people came to their senses.


    Arthur watched from the Many Mansions they had retreated to and he could not help but sigh in relief.


    "We won. After a long time, we finally bested Quera Sapphire."

 Chapter 553 Burial Of The Pioneers And Planteds

    The defeat of the Tyrant Empress was being monitored by all the Unlock in the world.


    The battle between the two groups had arge implication to the future of the Unlocked. The armies of Earth would all be caught in the hurricane of whoever would win.


    But most were amazed at the power of Eagle. Through his words, the lust of the flesh was defeated and many had found freedom from the chains that had bound them.


    On the battlefield, the defeat of the Tyrant Empress was quickly followed by a calm in the skies.


    Eden and Akahs also awakened from the control of Quera.


    "She is defeated. The fight is over." Richie''s words echoed out the heavens.


    A powerful sound shield secretly surrounded Quera so that her voice would not reach.


    Quera nced up and saw the armies around her and how they had lost their desires.


    "So this is defeat..."


    She gazed at Eagle who seemed to be glowing a strange light.


    Everyone was looking at Eagle curiously.


    "This?" Eagle was amazed at his power.


    "Am I... slowly acquiring the imperishable body that the Bible spoke of? Is this... Transfiguration?" Eagle was amazed.


    Quera watched the golden light and desired it. For now, she was no longer the center of attention. Someone else was. And this person wasn''t even beautiful.


    "I was... too selfish, huh?" She reflected.


    The unlocked armies stopped fighting.


    "Now to make it look like we have to kill her. Void Assassins. You''re up." Arthur ordered and the operation to fake the death of the Tyrant Empress was initiated.


    Several Rules appeared and appeared above the Empress.


    A massive beam of fire shot down towards the Empress.


    Many who were still groggy and confused from losing the Empress''s perspective saw the fire shoot down.


    BOOM!


    A massive fire exploded. But all the Unlocked knew that the Void Assassins had appeared and taken Quera out at thest second.


    With her defeat made evident, many who were still somehow wavering in their actions were released from the spell.


    But as they were released, none of them escaped.


    There was no longer any fighters present who served any Presiders who were alive. And so, these Pioneers and nteds were all without their leaders.


    The Nile Serpent rose to the great heavens and Lowengren began to speak.


    "Pioneers! Join us! You can be like Presiders! You can be like gods!" Lowengren dered.


    "The Nefilus suit cannot be granted to you, but the Phallium suit, the same suit that has defeated these Presiders, maybe yours!" Lowengren dered.


    "We call for a ceasefire! Stop the fight! Listen to the words of the prophet!" Lowengren began to introduce Eagle.


    Eagle flew up the sky and his great gold light shed out brightly.


    "And so is fulfilled in the book of Revtion! As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ''I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.'' For this reason, her gues wille in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her." Eagle dered.


    "See today, two Queens that fit this description have fallen! Andronze, who has taken her seat in the great Babel of Egypt! She has died and her kingdom is broken! gues have fallen one after the other! And of course, the queen, who is not a widow, who boasted to never mourning, the Tyrant Empress who has controlled your souls have been defeated!"


    The power of truth surged out and many of the fleeing Pioneers from the fallen empires that they served all paused and stopped.


    Many who had be controlled by the Empress were all moving out of the sky but kept listening.


    "Another prophecy that speaks of the defeat of the Tyrant Empress, the Mother of Prostitutes! Pioneers! You have witnessed before you the defeat of the Presiders! You, who are Babelians were once part of Earth! You lived in ancient Earth and allied with Nimrod, the first Aragarian who may very well be, your Primordial!" Eagle dered.<sub> </sub>


    Suddenly, a strange broadcast was being made.


    Lourca Oviili appeared on all nearbym devices.


    The reach of the broadcast was very specific as Lennox ensured that only those within the battles could ess the video.


    "Pioneers! nteds! I am Lourca Oviili! One of the first Pioneers that was deployed here on Earth prior to World War 3! I Am here to testify to the truth and heritage that we have! The Primordial and the Lost Primordial are two people fighting for different ends! But see you here today! Presiders have fallen one after the other!" Lourca dered.


    Those who saw the broadcast were shocked. Everyone among the Pioneers and nteds knew of the story of Lourca as she was at the center of many conspiracy theories among the Aragarians. Seeing her face caused many to be startled. But many others felt that it was fitting.


    "You must have felt it! Andronze! Feyor! Straviaa! These have also fallen! Mid Tiers have died! Egypt has fallen! And not just them! The Top-Tier who are closest to bing Principals has either retreated or has died! Myrth! Tianna! Shackstress! These Top Tiers, are dead!"


    The announcement caused many of the Pioneers who still refused the truth to fall into dread or daze.


    "Follow me! To the depths of Egypt, we shall descend! This will be the symbol of your burial as weak pioneers and nteds! But you will soon arise and be like gods!" Lowengren''s voice echoed as the Nile Serpent dove to the plot ofnd near the ravaged city and used Dug Down Technology to bury itself.


    A path of retreat was made open and slowly, and many Pioneers quickly followed.


    Lourca''s broadcast continued and Eagle constantly urged everyone to follow.


    Lowengren''s lies led them as the temptation to ovee was too hard to resist. The proof was all around them. Only two Presiders remained on the battlefield, fighting in the strange realm that Garenjazz created.


    At that moment, many people across the world many people have felt a weakening of their desires of lust at the loss of the Quera Sapphire. But there were many who still struggled with the sensation and call of the temptress.


    Deep inside the ship of Pridgeon, many felt the conflicting desires as the powers that Quera Sapphire had over them weakened.


    "Presider! We have all been affected by the powers of that woman!" One who was closest to the Presider quickly called out.


    The ship of Pridgeon was in taters and their team was quickly working on restoring the damages.


    Pridgeon frowned.


    "Tell me what happened."


    "I''ll start from the beginning. That woman... That strange powerful, woman, appeared to us when you were busy fighting Shackstress." The Pioneer gave his report.


    "All of us were quickly... brainwashed and pulled by her power."


    "All of you?!" Pridgeon was shocked.


    "Yes. Everyone was in contact with a picture of her. It didn''t matter if it was a man or a woman, we were all affected by it! It''s only now that..."


    "It seems that the woman is dead... Good. I was afraid of her power and was thinking of massacring our men for any spies of her." Lanterk spoke.


    "But we cannot be too careful! Truthfully, I have seen that woman. She had an ally and the two of them tricked me! They pretended to not know of the Aragarians and treated me like an earthling! They used religion and superstition. They pretended to be gods andmissioned me for their work." Pridgeon exined.


    "But now, it was clear, it was all part of their n to contact me and not make me think that they know about Aragar. But that woman was terrifying! I kept having dreams about her! The power that has controlled them can return at any time. That woman was strong and clearly invokes the soul. How many of those earth Presiders fought her and that man who managed to harness gravity fought against her to defeat her!"


    "I don''t understand how that battle went. How did she lose?"


    "I''m building a Combat Body, not a Soul Body. So how can I tell? I did sense a strange fluctuation vibrating around the area. But with all the chaos there, we''d have to really be in the battle to understand what power it was that loosened the grip of that woman. Her strongest ally, the one that had the strength close to a Combat Body even betrayed her!" Lanterk exined.


    "Well, although she has been defeated, we have to be careful with our men. Only one battle remains..."


    "I have to say, whoever decided to attack Garenjazz... must be very brave. I know more than anyone what he''s capable of. His power in luck is legendary among Principals."


    "So it is luck!" Pridgeon was amazed.


    "Favored of the Universe. That''s the name of his ability. He must have acquired it or he is an incarnation of Prime Favored."


    "Will he lose?"


    "No. It''s impressive that the enemy managed to force him to that state, but he will definitely win! Garenjazz has a Combat Body inside a soul realm. Do you understand?"


    "Yes. His powers in the soul allowed him to create an environment where he crafted a Combat Body. In short, Garenjazz is close to being a Principal, and if he does be one, he will surely be a Mid-Tier! The two bodies are formed!"


    "Exactly. They are fighting Garenjazz''s Combat Body in his Dream world, which is the power of his soul. They don''t stand a chance." Lanterk assured.

 Chapter 554 A Battle Against Imagination

    Garenjazz had dreamed a dream.


    This was a dream he had created for a long time. He started off with very few things. He had to develop the science to bring actual physical items into his dream world.


    Years and decades passed and his Throne was slowly assimted inside. This was why he didn''t appear to have a Throne on his apeparances outside as he had always had his throne ''in his dreams.'' Soon his entire ship assimted into the dream.


    In time, the dream world grew and had numerous items inside. He had a spatial realm, he had beings that were a product of his imagination within that world of his own. He had weapons and ships, and other things.


    Soon, his items, his servants, and the technology within the dream world had already surpassed the physical as his imagination could create these very items and objects.


    The Dream World of Garenjazz had its limits. He could create and reflect a portion of that power he imagined or crafted in his dream world. The dream world had a way to sustain itself. Constant creation of items and energy was possible inside the dream and the dream world grew and grew.


    Garenjazz was building a massive universe where all rich materials would be in that dream world.


    And soon, the path to reaching a Principal was possible for Garenjazz could dream of the foundation of creating a Combat Body.


    However, there were limitations to this power.


    As hard as it is to send things inside his dream, it was doubly, and even triply more difficult to bring out these things in the three-dimensions. His Hypersphere had already be an object that was in between the two and could harness much more of his power.


    And that was what his men used to attack the raid led by Alean.


    But his main enemies had moved into his world, into his dream, and into the world where he had created and hidden this power.


    Against strong enemies, he needed much energy to use his superior tech and how to make these dreams a reality. But now, this was not a problem!


    Garenjazz''s Combat Body was so strong that it could be sensed in the real world.


    The bending of dimensions was causing this Combat Body to leak out.


    Throughout the many battles between the Oveers and the Presiders, the immense battle in the dream world continued.


    The form of Garenjazz had speed, power, and durability. He had reshaped his form and had suddenly grown to a size of over thirty meters. He used this size to counter the shrinking powers of Seeker. But he could not infinitely increase his size to be sorge as it would cost more energy. In his power of luck, he knew that this was his ''lucky size''.


    Each punch created a powerful explosion and a single strike would have surely killed the two Seekers, Lynd, and ''Zoe''. Only Zeraphine would have the ability to resist a punch thanks to her Throne. But she would quickly lose many fighting capabilities at one punch taken from Garenjazz.


    But even after a long while, the battle was at a stalemate! His lucky forms gave him the offensive advantage, but he never found the right luck to ever make a critical attack!


    His former arrogance and warning in killing everyone and even Zeraphine had long been forgotten as the team managed to evade and survive!


    Garenjazz was so frustrated that an army of his dream creations was chasing after Seeker and everyone else.


    The very beings from books, anime, and other sorts of stories were making their powerful attacks that could harness something close to their actual power.


    Yet in all of this, these people could not make an attack!


    Shackstress''s powers to shrink were used. And amazingly, the two Seekers and Lynd were able to pick up on her power through Realm.


    It wasn''t perfect, but the pair could cause the area around them to shrink.


    Their power and control in shrinking things were slowly getting better and better!


    Zeraphine was actively using Zethayne Light and shot it out. She was the one who was constantly attacking as the others focused on evading and deflecting attacks.


    But even with an army attacking and limiting their movements, and even though Garenjazz had the speed and the power to do so, he could notnd a hit on the group!


    The dream realm was distorting as the HyperSphere was being attacked and many parts of the dream realm were suffering due to the sudden loss of power.


    The dream realm was fueling the ship with energy through the sciences that breached the three dimensions, but the ship also sustained the dream realm.


    And so, while Garenjazz could contain the damage and maintain the realm, the numerous distortions that were happening and the loss of power were causing the dream realm to be always changing.


    "Progenitor! Charge ahead!" Seeker called out and the Adult led the way. But the words of Seeker had no sense. Right in front of them, was an army!


    Yet everyone didn''t hesitate. They''ve already had this several times.


    There were times that the team would rush in a specific direction ande charging straight for an army of imaginary fighters. But at a very precise time, the distortion and damages in the Hypersphere caused these dreams to weaken or even disappear giving the group a chance to push forward.


    Garenjazz saw it and quickly focused his power to sustain the army that was blocking them. He suspected that just like the previous two asions.


    Universe Energy erupted out and fortified the people while Garenjazz chased from behind and made another swing.


    "Now!" Lynd shouted and he harnessed the power of the Void Assassin and teleport them to the right side.


    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!


    The dream world trembled once more and many soldiers on the right that would haveunched powerful attacks on the group disappeared.<sub> </sub>


    The team had sessfully made another evade!


    Garenjazz was fuming. He could tell that his ability was being used against him.


    The group had tremendous luck! Incorporated in this luck, was another power.


    "How is it that they have Prophecy?!" Garenjazz raged as he saw the team outsmart him once more.


    In all of Garenjazz''s battles, he had always been the one with the right moves. But now, he was tailing behind!


    The Adultughed.


    "Luck isn''t everything in battle, Garenjazz! You''ve been lucky for so long, that you don''t know what it is to fight such battles! You''ve been addicted to luck that your former countenance has changed into this spoiled angry child! Git good, noob!" Seekerughed as he led the group to circle back.


    "Maintain close distance!" The Adult shouted as he pushed around Garenjazz. With the dream world distorting, they dared not gamble if the distortion of the dream world could somehow harm them.


    "Hold on, Progenitor!" Lynd flew towards the Adult who kept rushing in.


    Zoe activated the power to shrink and was not even secretive about it.


    The power that she showed made everyone think she was Shackstress.


    The Adult Seeker released Realm around everyone. Seeker had to hold on to Vender and Zeraphine so that the Realm of Seeker''s Passover would work.


    "Not this time!" But Garenjazz continued to send out the p as Universe Energy fueled his swinging arm that was headed straight for the group.


    The speed of the swing was near the speed of light.


    But at the right moment, Lynd activated his Path. The power of Jake to pass through merged with Passover and allowed the entire team to move in as they shrunk.


    Garenjazz cursed as the group miraculously managed to evade the iing attack.


    "You...!"


    KZZZT! KZZZT!


    Suddenly, the dream world quivered and began to distort. It began to get smaller and weaker!


    Garenjazz''s body remained the same size, but it was as if a very small percentage of his form had weakened!


    The Adult Seeker smiled as the group charged ahead.


    Zeraphine was shocked.


    "Just hold on a bit more! Our goal is to keep ourselves alive just enough for us to challenge his Combat Body!" The Adult ordered.


    "You...! This was your n?!" Garenjazz roared angrily.


    "That''s your weakness, Conqueror! You assume that I am one too! We are Oveers. It doesn''t matter if its by our strength or thebined powers of all, we will Ovee! We never attacked you thinking we were strong enough! Even meeting with you had numerousyers of ns! And that''s why my son won''t let you have Vender! We need him if we want to Ovee!" The Adultughed as they continued to rush around Garenjazz.


    The entire ce was constantly distorting and Garenjazz''s connection to his men was quickly disappearing.


    "All Top Tiers are dead. You''re the only one left." A cold message was sent straight to Garenjazz. He actually froze!


    That message meant that the enemy was already within the top circles of those controlling his ship!


    Garenjazz stood still. His dream beings stopped fighting and were slowly disipating.


    "Retreat!" Lynd shouted as a terrifying fear fell on him. But it wasn''t only him. Everyone felt it too.


    The group retreated as a massive explosion erupted.


    A smaller Garenjazz appeared. His body shone with great light and his face had turned into a best. It looked like a lion. But he wore arge wing that was simr to an Eagle.


    "What''s going on...? His body turned weaker!" Zeraphine was stunned.


    "It is weaker. But he stabilized this world. He''s not using the Hypersphere to control the dream realm. It''s all him now."


    "But in doing so, he has reduced the defenses of his formerly invulnerable body! Why?" Zeraphine asked again.


    "Defenses are wearker. But his attack and power have increased." The Adult exined.


    "In short... He''s fighting us with everything he''s got." Lynd answered as he could feel his emotions of Garenjazz. Lynd began to tremble.


    "So this is it... A Conqueror!"

 Chapter 555 Feeling Lucky?

    Garenjazz assumed the form thatbined who he was in all dimensions.


    He was no longer human as he harnessed everything to create it. Even if he were to appear in the three-dimensional world, his form would just be as urate.


    It wasn''t strictly considered a Combat Body, but in this form, Garenjazz could deal enough damage that a Combat Body could make. It was his most stable form.


    "Now it makes sense! Behold, the beast in Daniel! This is what Daniel saw!" Lynd couldn''t help but say what Eagle would say as they gazed into the creature.


    "Impossible... Now that you mention it...!" Zoe was stunned.


    In her inner thoughts, Zeraphine was amazed at how it connected.


    "Zera... It''s as if the words in that book predicted him." Shackstress was the one who was now mainly in control of this power to hide Zeraphine from being recognized by Seeker. But as she saw the form of Garenjazz, she could not help but reflect on the bible verse that Seeker had studied to a point that she also memorized it.


    "Yes. I''ve noticed it for a time. I suspected something like this. Why was it that the Bible coincided with our history? We''ve seen what Principals can do and it astounds us. How much more are the Primes and the Primordial? It''s easy to imagine it now. All of what we experience might have been something already defined. We know the story of the Nimrod and how he acquired power from the Nefilus beast. If we think about it, wouldn''t it be possible to define every secrets of the world and coat it in something simple? When the Bible told of the four beasts of Daniel, did it predicted Garenjazz, or is Garenjazz existing because it was written in the Bible? That''s sounds like something a being stronger than a Primordial could do! This could be what the Primordial raged against. He sought to find a way to reach it and alter it!"


    "So basically, he was trying to alter the source code."


    "Exactly. The Primordial wishes to challenge whoever made that source code and finish the tasks that the Nefilus Beast tried. At least, that''s the implication if we are to believe the words of Lourca Oviili. We stick around, and who knows? We might meet this being!"


    "If we survive long enough. Garenjazz... What a demon. I wouldn''t been able to fight him and hurt him if he assumed this form." Shasckstress watched.


    Seeker and the rest continued to marvel at the form of Garenjazz.


    Finally, a dark red color surged around Garenjazz and took form.


    "You guys... have really done well! I''m forced to assume this form! I harness luck to a point that my luck decreases! With this energy, I''d be without any luck for the next two years!" Garenjazz smiled.


    "But... if I could defeat you all, it''ll all be good. I can feel it. You are the leaders of everything and everyone who won those battles outside, right?" Garenjazz asked.


    "Yes... I can feel it now. It was all a beautiful n. You must have fought each other as a brutal way to train yourself. But the primary reason was to make yourself look divided. That was why all Presiders were afraid of acting. It started with Crostfree. He moved, and many appeared. You all made it look like the rest were trying to take advantage of things. You made everyone believe this lie... A lie! I get it! You have someone with the power to tell lies!" Garenjazzughed as his form reachedpletion.


    The wings and the lion-head were endlessly copsing and expanding but somehow maintained their shape.


    "Amazing. He is within several dimensions at the same time... He ising or going to it! He defines those spaces!" Seeker was amazed.


    Garenjazz began to stretch his arms and his wingspan widened.


    "It''s been a while that I had to assume this. You know, in all my previous battles, I would assume this form inside here to attack outside. But now, you went in my dream. I can show you my real power. My luck is telling me that I am where I am supposed to be to fight you! It seems my luck won! It led me to y along with everything and soon find our situation in this battle." Garenjazzughed.


    The sound of his voice moved around and everyone felt it.


    It was as if luck itself took form along with numerous other powers.


    "He can literally alter luck at his movements! This is going to be troublesome..." Seeker telepathically sent to his adult form and Lynd.


    But naturally, ''Zoe'' was able to hear it as well.


    "Right. It''s already a problem if we were unlucky. But if he can make us switch from one to the other, we won''t know how to fight! Will our attacksnd? Will it hit? Will we intentionally attack as if we were unlucky?" Lynd thought of the possibilities and even as he tried to imitate Arthur''s thought process, her realized that it was impossible!"


    "Don''t bother doing that. He can change our luck at every second that trying to calcte your way is basically pointless! He also has that luck to know when to change our luck!" The Adult shook his head.


    "But it''s just luck, isn''t it? He has luck and a powerful body with great speed. Wouldn''t our Path work? There''s nothing that couldpare to in old punch and kill!" Zoe entered the chat.


    Seeker and the others were not at all surprised.


    "We could start with that. Just make sure you don''t get killed in a single blow!" The Adult answered.


    The team began to hover closer to Garenjazz. But everyone was ready to deploy various abilities and defend against any sudden attacks.


    As he did, a powerful ripple erupted.


    "Use your realm to counter!" The Adult cried.


    Everyone used their powers to resist it.<sub> </sub>


    Zeraphine harnessed her own soul to create a unique method of repelling the force.


    But everyone sensed it. There was no pain or any form of sensation when the power of Garenjazz spread out.


    But everyone felt really unlucky. Their confidence dropped.


    "My Zone...!" Seeker frowned.


    "Feeling lucky, guys?" Garenjazz smiled as he prepared to perform a simple punch.


    "Move back!" The Adult quicklymanded and they retreated.


    "Are you sure?" Garenjazz chuckled.


    Garenjazz had transformed into something that existed in all dimensions. His body was rippling out and had even appeared in the real world.


    In the very center of the ship, Garenjazz appeared in the very same form. Behind him, was a transparent throne that had appeared.


    All the Unlocked felt the power of Garenjazz.


    And just as it was in the dream world, the materialized form of Garenjazz was also preparing to make a punch.


    Seeker and the rest had already moved to the side but it was then that Seeker felt Vender move.


    "Don''t go, Qui-gon! I still have much to learn!" Vender muttered in his sleep.


    But in Vender''s annoying sleeptalk, Seeker realized his mistake.


    "No! Don''t do it!" Seeker suddenly charged forward and rmed the rest.


    When Seeker dove back, the Adult, Zoe, and Lynd also realized it and moved back.


    But they were toote.


    "Let''s see my luck..." Garenjazz sent out a single punch.


    The superimposition of the two Garenjazz on two dimensions punched out.


    "Retreat!" Cliff shouted and made the quick order to pull back as he felt a terrifying fear fill him.


    The force of his punch created a powerful shockwave that exploded forward like a canon.


    His attack caused all the strong metal walls to break down. A punch that contained the raw kic powers that would have easily overpowered a weapon of mass destruction was made.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The power of the punch surpassed the attack of Octarion and tore through the walls.


    "Get Alean!" Matthew ordered as the walls began to crash and copse.


    The members of the Twelve Disciples began to quickly use their powers to retreat while some even deployed the weaponized powers Oveers.


    BOOM!


    The force passed through the team and continued on striking the ces where members of the Unlocked Army stood.


    "Grace!" Chris saw the destruction that boomed out and ran towards his wife to save her.


    Grace turned and saw the power approach her.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 556 Good Advice

    The Mikados saw the shocking attack and barely managed to evade it.


    Jade coughed as she looked around. Half of the team she brought in from the EAA were dead from the sudden attacks that urred inside. The speed itself was too fast! Her team could evade an explosion and retreat as it did! But that attack was at another level.


    "Stevenson!" Jade shouted in fear.


    "I''m... alright..." Stevenson pushed out and nced around.


    "But... how? How are we alive? That attack should have gotten us!"


    "STEVENSON!" Jade shouted in panic and it was only then that Stevenson noticed.


    At the far end of the ship, Jade saw Meryl standing up. Her two arms were burnt. She then began to fall.


    "Meryl!" Jade Mikado shouted and rushed towards Meryl and caught her before she fell.


    She had used a great amount of energy to counter the power of Garenjazz''s punch and was in a state where she would die if left untreated! It had been a long time since Meryl had fallen into such a state.


    Stevenson quickly took out the injection and stabbed it into Meryl.


    The energy contained in that small injection was immense and could have caused a huge explosion. But all that energy was used to refill the bodies of the Unlocked.


    "Let''s get out of here!" Stevenson shouted.


    "Mikados!" Another cry was heard on the other end. It was the Indigos!


    "You were here too?!" Lynda shouted in shock.


    "What do you mean... ''too''?" Stevenson frowned.


    "We were all in this direction! Each of our teams was here! We survived because Cliff was close to us!"


    "It''s luck! The enemy is lucky! Retreat! More than half of all our soldiers are dead!" Cliff gave his grave report.


    The Twelve Disciples were seen at the distance rushing out.


    Half of them carried the other half and Alean was sprinting to the front.


    "Go!" Cliff ordered.


    "I can''t believe I might die in this ce! Get Alean out! I need a few to follow me! We have to check with the Carleans!" Cliff rushed out towards the back but was careful and fearful of what would happen to the parents of Seeker.


    After performing the punch, the body of Garenjazz in the three dimensions paused and froze. This was because Seeker and the rest had begun to attack Garenjazz!


    The first punch had been thrown but they quickly overwhelmed Garenjazz with many attacks to stop his connection and iteration that appeared in the three dimensions.


    "Stop him!" Seeker ordered as he harnessed powerful sound energy that crashed on Garenjazz.


    BANG!


    The powerful force of the crushing sound wrapped around Garenjazz. But Garenjazz did not move and allowed the energy to crash on him.


    "What?!"


    "You were too impatient. It happens. You threw an attack in haste and didn''t control it correctly! They struck each other! Don''t worry... It happens." Garenjazzughed as the attack was too weak to harm him!


    The Adult used his strongest sh using the Cutting Room Floor attack that traveled at the speed of light! Garenjazz didn''t even move and allowed the de to make its sh on his neck.


    SLASH!


    But a strange mystery urred as the Adult missed his attack! The sword swung out too early!


    "Focus guys." Garenjazzughed.


    Lyndbined numerous Paths and created a powerful punch that could imitate the power of Octarion and punched out. He created an imitation of Seeker''s Cutting Room Floor to create a lightspeed movement as he maximized endurance and defense.


    "Oh?" Garenjazz reached out with his other hand to block the powerful punch.


    Garenjazz quickly reached out on the approaching fist and lightly pulled it to the side. There was no expert or precise control. Garenjazz focused so much on his body that his other senses were practically at the same level as Seeker!


    But the odds of him reaching out and closing his arm were very urate!


    The Combat Body''s frame caught and crushed Lynd''s arm!


    BOOM!


    The power of Lynd erupted out of control and his forearm was broken to pieces!


    Garenjazz began to randomly il his arms without thinking and the force of his Combat Body began to erupt.<sub> </sub>


    But in his luck, the rest were worried that those attacks would breach the three dimensions and all began to fight and sacrifice tremendous energy to keep Garenjazz from iling!


    Back in the three dimensions, Grace opened her eyes.


    "...I''m alive?" Grace was stunned. She had just seen the powerful attack charge at her. In thosest moments, she underwent a powerful life review. She managed to see things and recall many things of her life and epted her death.


    "...Of course..." A weak and hoarse voice was heard.


    Grace turned down and saw the upper body remains of the long-time admirer and rival of Chris. It was one of the Inhumans with the highest potential in the team that she and Chris led. It was Jake.


    "Grace!" Chris arrived and stumbled down. He nearly lost his strength as he thought Grace would die. But at thest second, Jake used numerous tech weapons and sacrificed many parts of his body to push Grace away from the direction of the blow. His unlocking allowed him to react and in those final moments where even Chris couldn''t move, time slowed down for Jake. It was not a life review. But rather, a state where his thoughts acted and pushed him to do onest thing.


    "...See that... Chris...? That''s how you save... the girl... you love." Jakeughed.


    "Don''t move and don''t speak! Concentrate on-"


    "Don''t bother..."


    Chris was about to get the injections that could help them recover and provide energy to allow the rapid healing ability of the Unlocked to save the body. But then he heard another familiar voice and turned to the side.


    It was his long-time friend, Jonathan. Only the left side of the head, down to his left chest remained. The blood fell and Chris was horrified.


    "It''s toote... for us. That attack... has something... that ends the life... in us. We can''t heal..." Jonathan did his best to speak. His voice was garbled and low.


    "Old friend... I think... I found my Skill... I give... good advice, don''t I? I advise you... to listen to me... And give Jake his time... to say goodbye to Grace..." Jonathan chuckled.


    Chris moved to Jonathan without hesitation.


    Grace kneel on the floor and pulled Jake''s body close.


    "I''m sorry... I''m sorry I kept using you..." Grace wept.


    "No matter what it seemed... you were always... my friend!" Grace''s tears began to fall on Jake.


    "...It''s Ok... You''re not like that Tyrant Empress. You...were selfish... but I know that you saw me as a dear friend..."


    "I''m sorry... that you could never be more... than a dear friend! I''m so sorry Jake!"


    "It''s Ok. Don''t think that I was unhappy... I was annoyed. But everything I did... and even what I had done, I did willingly. You are always... the beautiful charming Grace that I always loved." Jake smiled.


    "You were... pitiful! You always admired me... no matter what!"


    "Can''t I? I knew... since you married Chris... That you loved him... I knew... that those times we spent together and all... those talks... were just talks between two dear friends... who had... so many things to share. But even if... you used our friendship to get... what you wanted... I did it... because I know at least... the friendship was real. I was alright... in being that guy that would... forever love you. I was alright... even if it was one-sided. I was alright... that I will share this attraction... forever. I was happy for you... Because no matter what... you would always have a friend who loves you. Even if... the world turns its back on you... I was happy... that more than Chris... you would have... me even if I wouldn''t... have you. And for me... that made me... happy." Jake turned and made hisst gaze to Grace as his vision disappeared.


    "Hey, Grace... You were a pastor''s kid... right? Can you help me out... with myst prayer?"


    "Sure...!"


    "Thanks... I already... did this... but I''ve only started listening to Pastor Eagle... sincest week. So this is just... insurance." Jake chuckled.


    Grace began to cry her heart out and embraced Jake and began to lead him into a prayer that he often heard her father say.


    Halfway through, Grace realized that Jake had already died and she began to apologize for how she treated him. But her many apologies contrasted with the very pure smile that Jake had on even as he died.


    On the other side, Chris held on to his best friend. His friend willingly followed him and abandoned the Force of America!


    Chris felt his entire body be stiff.


    "Jonathan... I..."


    "Oh... please... save thest words... A bromance like ours? It... can end without having to say goodbye... I know... I know, Chris. Whatever you have to say... I know... Would a dear friend listen to what I have to say? I''ll be dead... in a minute or two..."


    "...I am not naming my next kid after you..." Chris chuckled as tears began to fall down his face.


    "...Force Seeker... to name his after me." Jakeughed.


    "Listen... I think... I know my Skill. I could feel it... There was... something in that attack... that thought me about... zone... I think it''s that luck that this Presider has... I can give... good advice... Didn''t I give you a few?"


    "Yeah... Best advice. You always helped me out..." Chris nodded and smiled. All throughout his career, Jonathan was always there to give him the best advice. Sometimes, the advice would not be logical. One even convinced Chris to pursue Grace at the cost of his career as a secret agent in the Americas.


    "Yeah... Strange... right? It was not something... that I had to train in myself... it was a power that only appears... if I gave and helped... others... Listen... Save your kid. Whoever arrives here... go and save your kid..." Jonathan exined.


    "Carleans!" Cliff''s voice was heard.


    "...Poor Cliff..." Chris couldn''t help butugh. They often talked about how his son was grooming Cliff and how he had to live a harsh life. But this inside joke received no response from Jonathan.


    "...No goodbyes? But Jonathan... I never even got to say thanks..."

 Chapter 557 Suicidal Charge

    Chris held on to Jonathan onest time and stood up.


    Grace did the same as Cliff arrived.


    Cliff saw the deaths but was relieved to see Chris and Grace alive. He had feared that they were instantly killed and did not respond to his Thought Transmitter calls.


    "We have to move," Cliff ordered.


    The Indigos arrived and quickly helped some of the wounded members of the Force of America that joined Chris.


    "Only six survivors from your team?" Peters asked.


    "Yes. And Grace would have died if not for Jake." Chris answered.


    "Can you read me?" A voice suddenly spoke and those with Thought Transmitters quickly heard it.


    "Gryphon Squadron! Is that you?! Report!" Cliff shouted again as he has been constantly calling out to this team and used the power of the Thought Transmitter.


    "General! We''re alright. We blew up one of themand centers on the east wing. We were inside a ce where not even the Thought Transmitter worked. But luckily, we were not in that path of attack." Suarez finally reported.


    Cliff sighed in relief. He was worried that they had died.


    "Alright. Let''s go! We have to leave now!"


    "General. Before Jonathan died, he awakened his Skill. He always gave me good advice. If I didn''t follow his advice, Seeker would not have been born. He crossed the threshold as he was exposed to the power of the Presider''s luck. And with that, he gave me onest advice."


    "What was it?" Cliff pondered.


    "That the parents should save their kids!" Chris answered.


    Cliff froze for a second.


    With one attack, Garenjazz managed to kill so many Unlocked that no other Presider had done before. Cliff knew that they were vastly outmatched and knew that pressing forward was certain death.


    "Are you sure that that was a skill?"


    "Yes. I''m positive." Chris answered immediately.


    "You guys... have to save... Seeker and Lynd? This advice... it''s illogical. You saw that power! You know it could do! Meryl almost died! You almost died! More than half of our teams are dead because of a random attack!" Chris argued.


    "And yet, Jonathan gave me advice with such certainty." Chris stood his ground.


    "You guys better decide, quick!" Lynda spoke.


    Cliff hesitated and nced around him.


    Grace also recalled another memory about Jonathan.


    "He also told me to keep my connection with Jake open. I thought he was joking... but..." Grace couldn''t help but nce at Jake one more time.


    "It seems that it''s a Skill, General. It has to be." Grace insisted.


    "General. It''s like what my son always would tell us. We should not let coincidences be brushed off! His advice is what led us here! Think of the grand scheme of things! I followed his illogical advice, but it led us here! It could be a skill simr to Alean! Or he could have been set by the Progenitor to give that advice! I believe he was right. I know what I''m asking and I know it seems useless. But we have to follow Jonathan''s advice!" Chris eximed.


    "I am worried about my kid too, General. Something tells me that this battle won''t end well unless we interfere. Call it a parents intuition." Peter Indigo approached.


    Cliff grabbed his hair and was pulling it in frustration.


    "Damn it! Fine! Let''s all die together! Never mind the fact that my love life is going well! I''ll just die a hero and a virgin!" Cliff wept.


    "What? You''re still a virgin? Dude. The world''s ending! Getid!" Lynda Indigo shook her head.


    "Not now, hon." Peters spoke.


    "Argh! You Carleans will really be the death of me!" Cliff cursed.


    "Mikados! Go and save Meryl! But if she awakens and if she wants to fight and die, then she''s wee to join this insane party! Everyone else, follow Alean''s Command and make our retreat! The ship is focused on defending and attacking Zeraphine''s ship! Twelve Disciples! Basilisk Squadron! Get everyone out here safely! That''s your mission!" Cliff gave his official orders andmunicated to a few officers of each team through the Thought Transmitter.


    "General! What about us?" Suarez asked.


    Gryphon Squadron? Your call! You can stay and die, or escape and live! I won''t hold you ountable for your choices."


    "It''s a unanimous decision. We will stay and die." Suarez answered without hesitation.


    "You''re all insane! Fine! We rendezvous at the center of this ship where that Presider''s Throne lies! Let''s move! Don''t dy! And make a loud noise as we move!" Cliff ordered.


    "Cliff. I''ming." Alean suddenly appeared and began to run ahead of Cliff!


    "What?! You don''t have Zone! Alean! Get back!" Cliff called out.


    "This is exactly why I need to fight! I''ve rested enough thanks to the Twelve Disciples treatments and analysis! I need to Ovee! We are fighting an enemy that could cause Seeker and the group to die! I have to fight and try to ovee this limit if we are to fight a Principal next!"


    "Then at least, stay behind me!"


    "Cliff, you are still my student. You need to learn when a General should decide to charge in. This hasn''t anything to do with Zone. It''s more of... your dignity and expertise as a general!" Aleanughed as she charged ahead.


    The rest began to follow and run forward.


    Alean brought out her weapons and began to read her attacks.


    "Damn! Fine! Let''s go! How I long for the days when the Principal I had to worry about was involved in your business, Miss Alean!" Cliff chased after her and the rest followed.


    "I miss being that corrupt teacher who made my students drug couriers. Now, I''m rushing to my death to the very student who exposed our secrets!" Aleanughed.


    The group made their suicidal march to face the strong Presider and began to attack those nearby and cause more damage to the ship.


    The small time which caused all operations of the Unlock to cease had given the entire ship a means of seizing back control!


    "Over here!" An enemy Pioneer shouted as numerous Exoskeletons came flooding in through the gap.


    "How lucky... They found us so fast!" Peters sighed and began to charge forward and attack.


    The team brought out their gear and went on an assault against the people on the ship.


    More and more energy began to appear as the entire ship began to stabilize and even the walls that were broken were closing!


    "Garenjazz is dreaming his ship! His imagination is making reality appear!" Alean cursed as she saw the forming walls.


    "Then let''s move faster!" Cliff ordered as he charged straight ahead. But then, an anomaly of energy appeared.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Parts of the ship suddenly exploded and as Cliff took another step forward, the fires appeared around him without any warning!


    Cliff quickly released his strongest attack as the explosion engulfed him.


    "Argh!" Cliff was burned from the attack and suffered as his defenses were deployed toote!


    The form of the Basilisk appeared and it met several attacks and explosions.


    "Get behind me!" Cliff cursed.


    The Carleans and the Indigos dove in and passed the small gap behind them and finally reached the head of the Basilisk where the wounded Cliff stood.


    He had no legs as the explosions took them.


    Chris quickly grabbed Cliff and brought out his powerful jet-powered skateboard that instantly formed. As he carried Cliff, the Basilisk also moved.


    Chris and Grace used their injections to heal Cliff and cause his arms and legs to heal and even the bones were growing back.


    "Where did thate from?!" Cliff cursed as he moved.


    "It''s Garenjazz!" Suarez exined.


    "Limbelieves that the fight Garenjazz is having with Seeker is causing explosions! Their battles are appearing in this realm!"


    "That was a direct hit!" Grace argued.


    "Garenjazz was just lucky! Everyone! We are fighting a zone of pure luck. The enemy will always get lucky!" Suarez ryed Lim''s words.


    Suddenly, more explosions began to appear out of the blue.


    And by some strange luck, the explosions urred right where Cliff was!


    Cliff roared and began to move out randomly. He used his memory of Arthur and followed a path of true random. He used the math which would help him do movements that would have the least statistical probability and move in a pattern that even Arthur ims he couldn''t predict!


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    But even then, some explosions would appear by luck and strike Cliff and the team.


    Another explosion urred near the team of the Gryphon Squadron and a powerful force field technology was used up.


    "Damn. We''ll be forced to keep using energy if we want to survive to get close to him!" Lim cursed as the team resisted the attack.


    "Cliff! Stop moving and move forward after two seconds with that exact speed! Suarez, don''t move along that path! Turn around!" Alean ordered.


    It was only then that Clif realized Alean was yet to be hit!


    Cliff and Suarez followed immediately and saw numerous explosions urring in front of them!


    The two groups charged forward once more.


    Alean began to spit out blood but she gritted her teeth.


    "So... I can use up my life to force myself to see the future...?" She thought to herself.


    "Cliff! Suarez! Follow my orders exactly! Garenjazz''s luck will catch up with us soon! And I can only do that a few more times!"


    Cliff could see the life force of Alean weaken but he kept quiet. He knew that their charge could be theirst. It was only a matter of who would be willing to throw their life away.

 Chapter 558 Garenjazz’s Gamble

    With the charge of the team starting, everyone was clear that every step they took would be a fight for their life and death and that they had to put their lives on the line for this.


    But all charged bravely and were deploying the fullest extent of their powers and abilities. They were using up a great amount of energy as they went and knew that they would probably be like a candle that could die in the wind by the time they reach Garenjazz.


    The Gryphon Squadron was in better shape than the rest.


    Lim''s instant calction, Will''s teleportation, and Fish''s fast and skillful navigation allowed the team to progress faster. They had little need to use their defensive techs to resist the random explosions uring around them.


    Lim''s eyes remained open as she refused to make a quick blinks. The luck of the attacks exploding around them would happen at any time. The group progressed smoothly, but Lim was carefully guarding the area.


    "This is only a weak form of Garenjazz''s power. The level of luck that we are experiencing could be countered by skill and ability. But this trickster is wearing me down!" Lim cursed.


    Lim had sought to be like Arthur since she read his bio and tried to copy the power of instant calction.


    She had ordered Will to keep creating an opening to the void realm. It was only a small opening, like a peaking hole that Lim kept gazing into.


    Cliff used his memory to keep the forms and math active, but in the battle which moved beyond the natural three dimensions, he could not use most of his memory as he failed to understand the mathematics of it all. But then, the attacks stopped and Lim felt that her rhythm was being hindered.


    "I will not be defeated! You think I can''t see that?!" Lim shouted angrily.


    "Will! Teleport with Ivan beyond the right wall and you should reach inside the room. Fight your way through and open the door to let us in! You have four seconds." Lim ordered and Will and Ivan disappeared.


    They moved and found themselves in the middle of several armed men.


    But Ivan and Will spared no wasted moments and moved like a blur, and killed the men around.


    Will jumped and jumped to find the controls of the door and opened it allowing the rest of the Gryphon Squadron to enter.


    BOOM!


    A massive explosive swiped urred that tore the entire area at the side.


    "How... did you do that?!" Suarez asked as he saw the path behind him copse and be crushed. They would have all died in that attack.


    "I saw the rendition of the dreamworld in themand center. It was fast and I only caught a glimpse of it. And with our hack of the map of this ce, I''ve been contemting how the battle spills out. It isn''t asplicated as you think it is. The dream world and this ce are connected and ovep each other. But it seems that the world has been intentionally made unstable that the attacks and explosions in that ce are erupting into this ce."


    "But that doesn''t exin how you saw it! I can''t see anything in the Void Realm!"


    "You were trained to travel in it. But I was studying the math of it. You won''t see them, but the math is there!" Lim answered as her eyes suddenly caught sight of the changes.


    "It looks like Garenjazz sensed us. The battle is turning towards this direction!"


    "Then this is bad...!" Epic cursed.


    "It''s good. It means Cliff and the gang can push faster. We pressure that man to turn his luck against us! Lim! You have to ovee!"


    "Aye aye, Commander," Lim answered and the group left.


    In the dream world, the battle continued with the group exhausting themselves of their energy to fight and limit Garenjazz''s yful actions.


    He didn''t move so much but kept making feints and taunts that forced everyone to unleash their attacks.


    "I must hand it to you, earthlings. Your friends are quite interesting. One uses the power of skill to see through the sprinkles of luck that I have out there... But this other one... it''s the power of Prophecy! Do you know that that power has long been lost? So the Lost Primordial was here. You may have changed things a bit and used the situation to fool us, but the general truth about the Lost Primordial being on earth is real... I guess, my luck is changing!" Garenjazzughed as he made a sweeping kick which the Adult and Lynd had to meet and stop.


    BOOM!


    The entire realm cracked as Lynd harnessed a powerful form and used the power of Unity with the Adult!


    "Die!" Seeker rushed in, still carrying Vender with him. Seeker used the power of ice to freeze Vender on his back and wore him like a backpack that allowed him to move. Seeker deployed two of Lennox''s stronger lightning weapons and created a doubly powered Sword like Lighting.


    SLASH!


    But the entire sh missed as Garenjazz simply moved back and made a backhand at Seeker.


    "Seeker!" Zeraphine charged in with her Throne and released Zetayne Light to block the p.


    BANG!


    Zeraphine was knocked back and Seeker shed out his sword as Zeraphine managed to hold the arm of Garenjazz.


    SLASH!


    The arm of Garenjazz was shed through! But then his body began to dissipate.


    "What?! It was a dream?!" Lynd was shocked.


    "The realm is changing! The outside is being repaired!" Zoe exined.


    "What?! But how?! How can this ship regain form and stability when our teams had already infiltrated and made such attacks?!"


    Garenjazz suddenly appeared in arger form.


    "It''s my luck, really. All the things that your allies destroyed, were things that I always had a backup for. The entire ship of mine was designed to be lucky. Shackstress knows how annoying it is to have arge ship. I reckon that''s how you got done in by these brats. Your power senses the most minuscule of changes would have allowed you to see all the spies inside... But somehow they beat you. That''s your mistake. You never had a way to easily rebuild what was lost. That''s what makes a Principal differ from a mere Top-Tier Presider!" Garenjazz ranted.


    KZZZT!


    It was only then that Seeker realized the rant took long that his Sword like Lightning ran out of energy and died out!


    "Time has changed! The speed of Time is slower!" The Adult noticed and cursed. Garenjazz was ranting to make them waste energy!


    But none of them undid their forms but kept their power at the ready.


    "He wants to beat us by attrition! He''s not fighting to kill us! He''s so confident that he thinks he can capture all of us!" Lynd gritted his teeth in anger as he looked at theughing face of Garenjazz.


    "I told you, my luck is changing. My future might be unlucky, so despite it pushing my current luck to its limits, I have to capture you all if I want to survive what''sing. This is my gamble! I''m even being more lenient in the group of people that survived my first punch. They are quite skilled! I want all of them. I''ll devour them into this dream world, and you will all be part of my dreams! Well, except maybe you, Shackstress." Garenjazzughed.


    "Creating a Presider is costly because you need to recreate the Nefilus suit. But you think that if you have us... you can recreate copies of us?"


    "Exactly! You would take half the price to make, but you can already kill Presiders!"


    "Interesting... It seems that your power is something that we desperately need! Lynd... We have no choice." Seeker spoke.


    "Right. We best show what we are capable of..." Lynd sighed.


    "Zeraphine. Stay back and help us from afar. Shackstress... Since you are in me, you should know what we are nning."


    "Unity. Of course, I know. I guess, I also have to toss away all pretenses and reveal that I used myst soul powers to hide in you to escape the curse of the Primordial. I can help. And I haven''t been idle when I was staying inside of you. Let Zeraphine join in. I''ll use my powers to link her." Zoe answered.


    The two Seekers and Lynd were surprised at her words.


    "Trust me. Zeraphine, do not resist!" Zoe moved towards Zeraphine and held on to her head.


    The soul of the future Zeraphine began to move and create a link.


    Seeker turned to Garenjazz.


    "How patient of you to wait."


    "Well, I have to see what you''re capable of. After I deal with you, I''ll have the strongest Presiders on our to fight with. And since the battle in that ship led by Principal Dormin ought to be a chaotic one, I''ll fight against the strongest Presiders in all history! Go on, show me your final forms!"


    "Your too arrogant, Garenjazz. You think you can conquer us?"


    "Yes. Luck is on my side."


    "Luck is something that we will just ovee!" Lynd shouted and the power of Unity appeared.

 Chapter 559 Unity

    Unity was a mystery.


    The power that Seeker and Lynd acquired when they saw that vision allowed them to harness the full power of each other''s path.


    A strange realm connected the two and allowed their respective paths to be passed on to each other.


    Lynd was developing the body where he had the foundations of the many Paths and Seeker was able to perfectly copy and replicate the power of each Path.


    The pair trained to improve andplete the power and learned how to use each other. But even with numerous attempts to train and develop that power alone, Lynd and Seeker could never perfect orplete the powers on their own.


    It was as if they needed each other to summon this power even when the sciences and improvements of their paths already gave them means to use each.


    Lynd could never develop a permanent foundation of some Path, and Seeker could only copy other Path if they used Unity.


    Soon, they decided that this was a mysterious power that could only work and appear if the both of them would use it.


    The two Seekers and Lynd reached a form that equaled a Top Tier Presider.


    The Adult regained his body as his copy and observation of the dream world allowed him to recreate his body.


    The Death Tide was reborn in full flesh. But now, he was not just the Ranked Hero he used to be but had scaled the heights and became an Oveer.


    "This is what my peak should have be in that other timeline." The Adult thought to himself.


    Without a Throne to contain and create energy, they still reached Top Tier level. They were their own power source. The body of a cultivator and the dantian formed.


    But the mystery of Unity did not end there.


    Behind the facade of Zoe, was Zeraphine. But in this dream world, Zeraphine allowed Shackstress to take control of this manifested body.


    The real form of Shackstress appeared once more.


    She was without a Throne or a Nefilus suit. But she was born from Seeker''s cells and was able to tap on the power of Unity.


    Shackstress was reborn once more.


    "It''s good to be back! But this form... this freedom from the powers of the Primordial is so refreshing!" Her eyes locked on the Presider.


    "This is exhrating! A battle to not conquer! A battle with no desire to reach the highest of heavens! A battle where I just want to ovee the current trial ahead! Oh, I''ve missed this feeling! I never realized I loved the battlefield!" Shackstressughed as her soul form began to increase!


    As Shackstress formed her body, the soul of Zeraphine had already entered the young Zeraphine.


    Zeraphine was in a daze and in the realm where her soul presided, another being manifested and appeared.


    "I''ve forgotten what this ce looked like. The interior realm that we created. Soul Sealing Chamber. Through this power, you locked your soul inside this realm and with it, you invaded your mind of Lara. But sadly, youck many foundations, young me. You have much to learn. This Soul Sealing Chamber. is far more powerful than you give it credit for." Zeraphineughed. It was through this very same power that Zeraphine managed to hide inside the mind of the Adult Seeker. And it was this same power that protected Zeraphine and allowed her to time travel.


    "Who...? Who are you?" The Young Zeraphine asked.


    "Who cares who I am? If you want to fight and live through this Conqueror, you will listen to my voice. We have simr powers, but mine is more advanced thanks to the Lost Primordial. Why do you think he spared you and made Seeker pursue you?" Zeraphineughed as she released a powerful light and her soul beganmuning with the Soul Sealing Chamber of the Young Zeraphine.


    "Ahhh!" The young Zeraphine was no match for the trained soul of the Adult who knew how to use her soul to fight.


    In dimensions far beyond what eyes can see, a being opened his eyes.


    He could feel it. The power that made the impossible is now possible. Many Presiders and Principals sought to perfect this so that they would be able to be Primes. But those who were Primes knew that the foundation that Presiders would build would be crucial if they want to reach the next stage.


    But now, the perfect soul appeared. A soul empowered that it did not make sense for it to exist. It was the perfect soul body that surpassed all who came before it. Only the Primordial would have a soul greater than this as it received its power from the Nefilus beast itself!


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The Aragar was exploding in numerous ces as vast amounts of energies of the Primes and Top-Tier Principals all raged together.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Zephirus!" The cries of several men and women exploded around the area.


    But Prime Zephirus did nothing butugh andugh at the many people who raged against him.


    When Zeraphine once revealed her soul body, the Primes had already called a meeting to discuss her fate. But now, the power that Zeraphine achieved was reported and everyone rallied toin about the breach of Zephirus''s crimes.


    "Jealous creatures. The many sensors that detect my daughter''s soul have warned them. They are not here for justice. They want to know how I did it! Hahaha!" Zephirusughed once more as his gaze pierced through time and space.


    "My daughter! You are finally here! Duality has been born! Two Souls in one! Two Zeraphine souls perfecting the imperfect soul! All match perfectly with each other! This means that your ns have seeded, Lost Primordial!" Zephirusughed as he harnessed his power to create a majestic seal over Aragar and the nearbys.


    The Primes and Principals saw the seal and all knew that Zephirus was preventing everyone from leaving the and journeying to earth.


    "I will do my mission perfectly! The Seeds of Lost Primordial shall blossom and there shall be a Prime Wars unlike any other! The time of Jacob''s trouble ising! Lost Primordial! My dear brother! You have long passed, but the victory you sought to achieve would never be fulfilled and all who allied with you, all who weremended for their faith did not receive what was promised! For the Great One has nned something greater for us! That those who remain and those who departed would be imperfect and shall only be perfect when the future seeds will blossom! We shall perfect them! And they shall Perfect us! This is Unity! And together... we shall... Ovee!" Zephirusughed.


    The power of the Prime rippled out of the Universe and at that moment, Zeraphine who sought to take control of her younger one''s self, was immersed in the power of Unity. She felt the seals break and realized what was happening.


    "Dad... You knew this would happen?!" Zeraphine was amazed as she felt the power urring.


    Suddenly, she knew. She felt that she could merge with the soul of Zeraphine. But then, she saw the curse.


    "I guess... I''ll go with the bible''s term. Sin. The power that dictates this Zeraphine''s sinful nature to pursue power and serve the Primordial..." Zeraphine saw the power inside and knew that she could not merge with it and be tainted.


    "Damn... if I could merge with her perfectly, then this Garenjazz would be easy squishing..." Zeraphinemented and began to surge her power out.


    "Hey, kid! Wake up and fight!" The Adult Zeraphine shouted.


    The young one woke up and saw the power of the Soul Sealing Chamber.


    "This...!"


    "Congrats, you''re a Top-Tier now! Now fight!"


    The light began to glow and Zeraphine''s body began to release a powerful Zethayne light and the darkness of the dreams began to scream and retreat.


    The forms of the Seekers, Lynd, and Shackstress did not threaten Garenjazz. But the power that Zeraphine released surprised Garenjazz and he began to harness the power of his dreams to fortify it.


    The light was so strong that the darkness around Zeraphine was distorting and she was starting to reflect her form into the three dimensions.


    "...Shackstress... What did you do?" Lynd asked.


    "I..." Shackstress had no answer.


    "I see... The power of Prime Zephirus is quite amazing! He has perfected Soul Cultivation. You were born with an infantiile soul body... But now... it''s perfect! So that''s his n." Garenjazzughed andughed.


    "I''m so lucky! Did you know, before deciding to move to earth, I used great power to divine if I should stay or go? Now before me lies amazing heritages and a perfect soul body!" Garenjazz raised his hand.


    "Still so arrogant? Our attacks will now do damage, Garenjazz!"


    "Not in my dream world. I can create things in this world and imagine them! So I created a reality that works to my advantage!


    "Let''s fight! Oveers and Top Tiers! Wee to my Lucky Realm!"


    The entire reality around them changed.


    Three cards appeared behind Garenjazz.


    "Let''s y Poker!"

 Chapter 560 Lucky Realm

    The power of Garenjazz''s imagination altered the rules of reality. It cost tremendous energy to alter the reality of things, but this was Garenjazz''s strongest power. Only Principals could alter the physical rules that defined existence across all dimensions.


    Seeker and the rest felt a strange seal that urred over their powers.


    Three cards appeared above Garenjazz and there was something mystical about the cards.


    The three cards were flipped opened and revealed their forms.


    A Three of Hearts. A Jack of Clubs. And a Nine of Hearts.


    "Ready to y?" Garenjazzughed as he charged forward to the team.


    "I''ll test the rules of this ce. If I die, make my death count." The Adult spoke and charged forward.


    The power of Death Tide appeared and two swords materialized on his hands as he used his soul to create these swords in the dream world.


    Several Paths pushed Seeker''s speed but suddenly, two cards appeared before him.


    A King of Diamonds and a Five of Hearts.


    Seeker was confused but he felt that his power and Path had weakened.


    "You should fold. My hand is stronger even now." Garenjazzughed as he revealed one card in his hand.


    It was the Three of Clubs.


    The power of Garenjazz began to surge out with the revtion of his card and thews of the world allowed him to use his power.


    "A pair!" The Adult saw the card and knew that Garenjazz had formed a Pair with two 3 cards.


    He began to retreat to escape the attack but the speed of Garenjazz was faster.


    "Shouldn''t have gone all in, Progenitor!" Garenjazz made a light poke and the power rippled out as the dreamworld began to bend and created an energy anomaly that


    The speed of the atta Adult finally decided but Garenjazz made his attack.


    WARP!


    Seeker and Lynd appeared right in front of the Adult.


    Seeker held powerful lightning energy and Lynd had a body of immense destion and a wolf-like form.


    "Dragon and Wolf Punch!" Lynd shouted and harnessed thebined power of Amir''s destion with the powerful strength and speed of Amir. His punch flew with incredible speed that the realm itself vibrated.


    "Double Edged Lightning Sword!" Seeker shouted.


    Arge sword took form from the sound Seeker created and the sword was fueled with the Lightning that matched Lennox''s Sword like Lightning.


    A Jack of Diamonds and a King of Spades appeared in front of Lynd. Seeker also revealed his hand and a Seven of Hearts and a King of Clubs were revealed.


    Thews of the world adjusted and the powers they revealed increased as the two formed pairs stronger than the three pairs that Garenjazz had.


    "Fight!" Shackstress shouted. She was holding on to the body of Vender which had shrunk to a point that he couldn''t be seen anymore. But she then raised her hand and the power of Unity allowed her to condense many paths and recreate an attack of her own. The power of Universe Energy appeared and shot towards Garenjazz. A small ball of condensed Universe Energy shot towards Garenjazz and began to grow and expand wither her power.


    "Fight!" Zeraphine gave her answer as well as she raised her hand and her Throne began to gather the energy and shoot out a powerful beam of bright light.


    The two did not form any pairs or sets as their cards were revealed but they attacked anyway to pressure the defenses of Garenjazz.


    "Oh how foolish! This world is a poker game!" Garenjazzughed and revealed thest card in his hand. It was the Three of Diamonds!


    "A Trio!" Seeker cursed.


    The cards vanished


    The power of Fend was revealed as the energy that Garenjazz released became a wall that blocked all the attacks.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Aas the energies burst, the power shot out towards Seeker surpassing the speed of light.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Minuscule World!" Seeker shouted and his form shrunk at thest moment as he perfectly copied and performed the power of Shackstress while performing explosive teleportation as the


    The attack missed and the three grouped together and teleported back near Shackstress and Zeraphine.


    Their attacks did not even damage the wall as they endured.


    "His dreams are altering reality. He created the perfect world that highlights his power. In this world which hasws written he could fight several Presiders and still win if he has a good hand!" Shackstress frowned.


    "My hand had nothing and I felt like I could only bring out half of my attacks." The Adult frowned.


    "I had to use a great number of my powers to create that attack. This world is forcing us to waste more energy to create even basic attacks!" Lynd continued to harness his energy but he noticed that there was a strange mystery that would limit him from giving more energy at the cost of sacrificing his own body.


    "I can''t break through limits here!"


    "You''ll need at least Trio to do that.


    "We managed to bring out the full power. But that attack of Garenjazz was effortless!" Zeraphine added.


    "Yes. It seems that if you have a good hand, every move and attack you can make shoots out the same tremendous energy!"


    "Turn!" Garenjazz ordered and another Card was revealed that stood next to the four.


    A Nine of Clubs was revealed.


    "He has a full house now!" Seeker cursed.


    "I don''t understand! He has so much power! He can limit our powers to this extent!"


    "He''s not limiting it. This dream creates a world where thews of physics are changing. Dimensional Purging purges the known dimensions leaving it possible to create a world of its own where rules andws diverge from the normal ones. Garenjazz has yet to find a way to reflect it into the real world. But this world affects him as well."


    "He''s clearly cheating! The five cards hadn''t even been revealed and he already has a pair!" Zeraphineined.


    "No. His powers of luck won''t work if he''s cheating. It has to be random. So he''s not cheating except maybe on the fact that he is a dealer than can reveal the Turn and the River."


    "Turn and River?" Shackstress was confused by the term.


    "My dear Shackstress, you never bothered to learn Earth culture. Turn refers to the fourth card that I revealed. Thest is the River. And Yes. Your guesses are correct. Wee to my world, Oveers, and Presiders! You''ve had a taste of the battle. But now, it''s time to deal!"


    Garenjazz waved his hand a powerful st shot towards the entire team.


    The attack epassed the entire space around them.


    The power of the Full house shot towards everyone and the world itself trembled as they felt a tremendous Universe Energy shooting towards them.


    Shackstress nced at her cards. An eight of Clubs and a Six of Spades. Her card couldn''t form anything!


    Zeraphine also checked her cards. A Ten of Spades and a Seven of Clubs. Like Shackstress, she couldn''t even form anything with her two cards.


    She nced to the side in worry but saw that the two Seekers and Lynd did not hesitate but readied another round of attack.


    Seeing this, she decided to follow and Shakcstress did the same as the attack that could end their existence approached.


    "What God has put together, let no man put asunder. You made a mistake, Garenjazz! Our individual luck will lose against yours! But your power has never considered what it is when lucksbine! That is Unity!" The Adult took lead to give off the impression of leadership.


    As he moved, a mystery urred within the world of Garenjazz. Unity allowed the individual hands to be read as one!


    The King of Diamonds that the Adult Seeker had radiated with the King of Clubs of Seeker and the King of Spades held by Lynd. The Jack of Diamonds of Lynd also glowed and together, the cards formed a Full House of three Kings and two Jacks!


    Three attacks with the power of a superior Full House shot against Garenjazz''s powers.


    Garenjazz did not panic at the power that exploded out.


    "I guessed as much. But I believe, that my luck is still better than yours! River!" Garenjazz ordered and thest card was revealed.


    A Three of Spades.


    The power of the Full House morphed and became a Four of a Kind.

 Chapter 561 Poker Face

    Garenjazz had two Threes and with the Three of Hearts as part of the faced-up cards. With this, Garenjazz formed a Full-House with a high card of three Threes and the two-faced up Nines as his kicker.


    Seeker managed to form a Full-house as the two Seekers and Lynd, had a King each. The face-up Jack of Clubs and Lynd''s Jack of Diamond created their Full-house.


    But thest card was a weak, Three of Spades. But this weak card allowed Garenjazz to form a Four of a Kind.


    The attacks of the Seeker''s and Lynd had a Full House allowing them to release an attack that surpassed their limits. But with the River revealed, Garenjazz now had a four of a kind making his hand far more powerful than that of a Full House.


    The attack that epassed all of the Dream World had be more terrifying as the energy increased.


    The dwarf counter of Seeker''s team seemed useless.


    "Shackstress! Zeraphine! You still have another hand!" The Adult shouted and the two Presidersunched an attack.


    The cards of Shackstress and Zeraphine glowed.


    Six of Clubs from Shackstress''s hands, Seven of Clubs from Zeraphine, Eight of Spades from Shackstress, the Nine card from the face-up cards Garenjazz revealed, and the Ten of Spades from Zeraphine''s hand. This formed a Straight.


    A mystery that even Garenjazz thought was not possible urred. The Full-House and a Straight appeared and the two powers merged.


    When Zeraphine gathered her Zetayne light, she was amazed that it gathered quickly and the world aided them.


    A bright beam erupted and merged with the attacks of the two Seekers and Lynd.


    Unity allowed the power of the group to merge as the other Zeraphine added her own soul which was familiar with Seeker''s.


    The four realmsbined and created a counter force that challenged the attack of Garenjazz. But the energy they created was still a few times weaker!


    Shackstress felt it and used her powers to expand the attacks of Seeker and the rest.


    "Megalith World!" She used her powers to expand and with the aid of the Lucky Realm, she was able to boost the attacks of Seeker.


    The attacks erged and the strength of the attack with it.


    The two hands, the Full house and the Straight allowed the group to shoot out an attack with almost equal energy. But Seeker''s team had a slight advantage.


    BOOM!


    The two powers shed and the attack of Seeker''s team pushed back the attack and struck Garenjazz.


    The dream world was distorting and was slowly reforming and the team could see Garenjazzughing in the distance.


    "Beautiful! Perfect! Even with my strongest form, you still managed to wound me!" Garenjazzughed.


    "Unity, the power to make you be treated as one... But in that, you have Diversity. Five different beings acting as one. All are one, but all are different. Somehow, you reflect the Triune God. But I guess, you have the power of Quinternity." Garenjazzughed as a deck of cards began to shuffle.


    Seeing the cards in front of her disappear, Shackstress prepared to attack.


    "Shall we attack?" Shackstress asked.


    "Don''t. We don''t know our cards yet. This battle IS Poker. We cannot win this with might alone. We have to y the game. We need to know when to fight and when to fold. If we receive the two cards and don''t know what the Flop is, the moment he reveals it, it could spell our doom if we are hasty." The Adult answered.


    Seeker sighed and wished Lowengren was in this battle.


    "We can try bluffing." Seeker suggested.


    "Sounds very risky, Zeek. Garenjazz is so lucky that it''s like we should know his counting cards or something!"


    "It could work though. The concept of luck is that it has to be a chance. It cannot happen consistently. Luck is luck because it''s a rare urrence. This means, that even with Garenjazz''s luck, he is bound to lose some rounds in this!" Lynd shouted hisst words.


    "Exactly!" Garenjazzughed.


    "I am lucky because I get lucky at the most critical of moments! It never assures me of victory! That isn''t luck! No power can grant me that destiny! And even this world is designed to be like that! It does not favor me! This world offers a pure random chance. But my power works because I am just lucky!" Garenjazzughed as he raised his hands.


    "Now you guys know the rules. But let''s put our lives on the line! Roulette of Death Let''s have another round! Deal!"


    The card deck vanished and everyone saw two cards appear before him.


    Lynd and Seeker quickly teleported and appeared in two opposite directions from where Garenjazz stood.


    The power of Unity disappeared between the two and the two used their individual powers that were less!


    But facing the two who dropped their strongest form, Garenjazz retreated. The dreamworld pulled him back creating a vast gap between the two. Seeker and Lynd chased without hesitation.


    The Adult remained and waited for Shackstress and Zeraphine to create abination attack that used his Cutting Room Floor as the de.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Don''t show any expressions! Keep your poker face up. If Garenjazz sees you worry or get excited, he''ll know our hand! y the game and fight!" The Adult reminded.


    Zeraphine masked all emotions. She was worried. She had known the hand of everyone and as it stood, they had no good hands apart from the two Pairs that Seeker and Lynd were currently wielding.


    Garenjazz''s retreat was growing faster and faster.


    "Now! Reveal it!" Seeker shouted and Lynd followed.


    The two revealed their hands.


    "Oh? Not bad! And you''re not even using Unity tobine your powers. But if you do, you would have two Pairs!" Garenjazz looked at the hand of both.


    Seeker held a Nine of Spade and a Nine of Clubs while Lynd had two Kings of Spade and Heart!


    Both had a good hand and were using the power of the Pair to push themselves faster with various Paths!


    "With six more cards in your hand, the odds are against me! Are you bluffing so that I will be forced to waste a hundred percent of my energy to block your fifty percent of yours? Or is yourbined hands something that can critically wound me? Are you so eager to attack me with it, or are you forcing me to make a wasteful bluff? What an exciting fight!" Garenjazzughed as he gathered more energy and was preparing to fight back.


    "Whatever the case, you still revealed your hand too soon!" Garenjazzughed and continued his retreat! With his superior Combat Body and the dreamworld altering its space, he was able to make a retreat and forced the two to chase after.


    "Flop!"


    Three cards were revealed.


    A Jack of Hearts. A Two of Diamonds. And a Five of Diamonds.


    Seeker and Lynd saw the cards and sted out without fear.


    "How confident! You guys won''t Fold? Fine, I''ll Call your attack!" Garenjazz charged forward.


    "Attack and remain separated!" Seeker ordered and Lynd followed.


    The two had to make a gamble not knowing what Garenjazz''s hand was. But this was a gamble to force Garenjazz to show it.


    Seeker held two swords. One made of lightning, the other made of sound. Ice was over him as he harnessed the foundation of Rosa to create powerful frost armor hardened by the Realm King''s realm defenses.


    Lynd had also assumed his strongest individual form. A golden sun floated over him andbined numerous paths to creating devastating attacks as his physical form assumed the powers of Meng and Amir.


    BOOM!


    Seeker and Lynd made their attacks and two separate Pairs met and matched the fist of Garenjazz.


    The three began to fight out with punches and expanding realms urring. But Garenjazz never revealed his hand or used it.


    The adult frowned as he watched the fight. Seeker and Lynd was able to constantly release more energy than Garenjazz. But Garenjazz still had a Combat Body!


    "Is he confident with his hand? Or is he bluffing?" Shackstress wondered.


    The Adult waited. He knew that his timing and attack were necessary to kill Garenjazz or to save Seeker and Lynd.


    "Ready the attack. I''ll be charging in." The Adultmanded.


    Back in the three dimensions, Alean quickly stabbed herself with another injection. But this was herst. Her life was quickly draining.


    "Even if I die... I''ll be sure to save you, Zeek." Alean vowed as she stood up to face the Presider.


    With theirbined efforts, the reflections of the battle that Garenjazz did not critically harm anyone else on her team.


    BOOM!


    Ont he another side, the Gryphons Squadron arrived.


    And almost at the same time, Cliff, with the parents of Seeker and Lynd also arrived.


    Together they all reached the center of Garenjazz''s ship and could see his body seated on the Throne.


    But pulses of energy would surge out as the battle in his dreams would spill out to reality.


    Garenjazz opened one eye and smiled as he nced at his visitors.


    "I''m a bit busy now. I''m ying poker with your leaders. Mind if you leave me alone?"

 Chapter 562 Hope Diamond

    The presence of Garenjazz was frightening.


    The moment he spoke to them the power of his form appeared.


    Everyone could see the eagle''s wings and the beast-like face that appeared over him.


    While his physical form was weaker than the one in his dream world, he was still a Top Tier Presider.


    His supra-dimensional form was being reflected in the three dimensions.


    The Universe Energy seemed alive and the dreams were merging and being upheld.


    The ragtag team that Cliff and Alean brought would be no match for him. They were also not prepared to fight him or had nned tobat him.


    The Unlock always nned for various scenarios and who would be fighting against who. But Cliff had no choice but to fight.


    Yet despite this disadvantage, none of the Unlocked cowered.


    "Poker? My boy''s in there. I don''t you should y with him. He''s not yet even eighteen. In a few weeks, he will be. But you shouldy off him for now." Chris answered as he took out a gun and began to load it with various weapons.


    "Oh? You are so eager to die, huh? Hey, you two. You look like the parents of the Progenitor''s son. Are you the biological parents that the Progenitor used? How generous of him to help you gain strength to reach where you are..." Garenjazz smiled.


    "Whatever the case, we''re here to stop you from teaching our little boy how to gamble!"


    "And yet you allowed Crazy Carlean to make all those gambles back then. In hindsight, it seems you guys have been nning this for some time now. The world grew chaotic, but you strengthened the nations that will provide resources to build..." Garenjazz smiled.


    "It wasn''t a gamble because we knew he would win. You, on the other hand..."


    "Hmm.... I wonder... Was I lucky enough to kill someone? You seem rather angry!" Garenjazz chuckled.


    "I don''t think... killing him was luck for you." Chris''s eyes turned red as his modified eyes were slowing down time and his gun began to tremble with the surging power.


    Grace was also ring at him.


    "You killed a man with that lucky punch of yours," Grace recalled fond memories of her dear friend. This included all the times she rejected his offers.


    "He was the friend who I treated the worse but stuck with me to the end. I''d like to pay him back by shoving a bullet of these down his murderer even if it kills me."


    "Oh my... How scary." Garenjazzughed.


    The Indigos were now donning a special Exoskeleton skin suit that granted them energy to release Realm Bullets. They began to equip more weapons and charged them.


    "Will these bullets even do anything?" Lyndaughed.


    "This is insane! But I guess if we die, it''s fitting to die against such a person, right?" Petersughed.


    Lim nced at Garenjazz and had a troubled look at the power leaking out of Garenjazz. She and the rest of the Gryphon Squadron had also arrived and saw the form of the eagle.


    "Just looking at him is making me queasy..." Epic sighed.


    "Focus, Epic. Our mission is to get our leader out. If we die in the process, it''s only part of the mission. Besides, our enemy is a Lion with wings of the eagle which is stated in Daniel 7. But we are the Gryphon Squadron! He''s not the only half-lion, half-eagle around here. Team! Prepare forbat!" Ivan shouted.


    Everyone roared and prepared their weapons.


    Meanwhile, Cliff had finished his charging.


    BOOM!


    A surge of thick energy covered Cliff as he injected thest source of energy into himself.


    The form of the Basilisk appeared once more.


    "I guess I have to hurry up with my game. Fighting two battles in different dimensions are very annoying... Maybe I can steal some of your luck? Especially you! The power of the Prophet will be mine!"


    Alean triggered the power that was being developed in her. Her Path was strong but it gave her no powerful defensive or offensive capabilities. But with the many technologies of the Supreme Exoskeleton and nanotech technology, she was the first to be injected with blood that had nanotechnology. This was one of the rare weapons of the Unlocked as only Alean has it and was given to her for her preservation.


    The nano techs began to appear and create a Skin-Suit Exoskeleton around her.


    "Let''s see if you have the mouth for it! I''ve seen it... You can''t attack us, can''t you?! Progenitor''s fight has weakened you!"


    "As expected of a Prophet! You got that right. But I can dream of something to kill you. So you guys better hurry." Garenjazzughed.


    Cliff was the first to charge forward and used his massive Basilisk form to make a suicidal charge onto Garenjazz.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "So eager to die?" Garenjazzughed.


    "I''m the General! Everyone dies after I die!" Cliff shouted.


    BOOM!


    But the entire Basilisk stopped as the Universe Energy created a shield around Garenjazz.


    Cliff was thrown back as the impact produced a powerful shockwave.


    Resisting the explosion, everyoneunched their attacks and the shield was starting to crack.


    The rest began tounch their attacks and the shield that contained Universe Energy was weakening.


    "Such admirable General! And, amazingly, yourbined efforts can do this! This power that is a divergent form of the Universe Energy is interesting. I see that the Origin Energy used by the WGP is not just an inferior version. It''s a different path to achieve the same thing! But I don''t need to fight you guys. I''ll bet on my luck.


    The entire shield began to shrink and what was left were three small, thin lines that formed a circle around Garenjazz. The circle began to spin and it was as if there were three round metal hoops moving spinning so fast that it looked like a ball had covered Garenjazz.


    "If you guys are lucky, even your bullets can pass through and hit me." Garenjazz chuckled.


    Everyone began to shoot out powerful attacks and was using bullets that were a weaponized version of a Path.


    But Garenjazz hadpressed the power of the universe shield into three small hoops of different sizes and made it spin around him.


    BANG! BOOM!


    The explosions and attacks could not hit as they wasted their bullets.


    "Stop attacking! We''re falling into a trap! Don''t let his risky form fool you into thinking you can attack!" Lim warned.


    "Oh, don''t be such a killjoy. Gamble with me!" Garenjazzughed.


    Cliff rushed in again and used his Basilisk to bite down one of the spinning rings!


    One of the rings was stopped from moving but Cliff''s appearance was turning pale as he was consuming a vast amount of energy just to keep one of the wheels from spinning.


    "You think that''s enough? You underestimate my luck." Garnejazz yawned at Cliff.


    But the attack did not make any attacks on the shield.


    "You guys are boring. My dream is taking shape. He never got the chance to fight. If you don''t hurry up, you guys will lose." Garenjazz chuckled as a dark portal opened from above them.


    Lim saw it and cursed.


    "We have to hurry! I can see it! Another Presider! Crostfree! He''s envisioning Crostfree! His dream is making a Presider!" Lim warned.


    Everyone began tounch their attacks but even with only two hoops, their attacks could notnd. The pure chance gave Garenjazz astonishing luck.


    "My luck is too strong for all of you. And I guess it''s time for me to finish this poker game, too. Say, kid... Got any Five of Diamonds?" Garenjazz asked Cliff.


    "ARTHUR! NOW!" Alean shouted and broadcasted a signal that was not masked but was able to be sent into the ce outside.


    Arthur heard it and gavemands.


    WARP! WARP! WARP!


    Several small objects suddenly teleported in front of Alean.


    It looked like a small chunks of dimaonds. Alean caught one and loaded it as a bullet and took aim.


    Garenjazz raised his eyebrows. There was nothing dangerous about the magazine. It looked like an ordinary bullet and it did not have any of the other identified weaponized Path.


    Cliff smiled as he realized what it was.


    "I don''t have a Five of Diamond! But I have the Hope Diamond! A weapon made from Vender''s cells! Go Fish!" Cliffughed as he quickly connected the dots of Arthur''s n.


    BANG!


    Alean shot a bullet and the bullet struck the second hoop that was spinning.


    And for a brief moment, all of its luck was lost!

 Chapter 563 Forced To Go All In

    Going back several minutes, right after the defeat of the other Presiders...


    Outside of the dream world, everyone who was fighting in Egypt had made their way out.


    All that remained was the Moving Mansion of the Everhiss n. But even they had to leave as the calls and summons of the WGP were being initiated. The defeat of the Presiders freed many who were under bondage and had secret bombs nted on them.


    Earth was regaining much of the power that they didn''t know was not in their hands.


    Information about the Presiders, the Aragarians, and an alien race was being leaked, and how the human survivor who was chosen by the ''Progenitor'' who also went by the alias ''Lost Primoridal'' was revealed. He created many groups who would try to wrestle against each other and gain control of the world so that at the arrival of these alien Aragarians, Earth will seem not united and trick all the aliens to fight against each other.


    It was finally time to reveal the truth. Now that many Presiders had died and surviving Pioneers were willing to testify the truth of their life.


    But while this was happening, Arthur had met with the leaders of his team.


    Rai of the Void Assassins had recovered from his initial mission of teleporting a massive asteroid into Earth and used it to inflict heavy damage on all the Presiders.


    "I cannot join in the fight. If I do, I will surely die." Rai answered as he saw Arthur.


    Nogard was also there. His face had aged again.


    "Me too. Any more and I''ll die. But if it is your request..." Nogard smiled.


    "Why did you gather us here, Arthur?" Lioncourt asked.


    "I need whatever weaponized items you have. We must send it into that ship."


    "Why didn''t ask for it in the first ce?" Meng asked.


    "The more armed they are, the more lucky Garenjazz is. I''ve theorized what exactly ounts to have the ability tobat Luck."


    "Didn''t you just throw Vender there? He''s like a Luck Nullifier! What else can we do?"


    "I''ve studied his Path and have noted many interactions that he can do even when he is with several of the strongest Realm users such as Lowengren and Harker. Other zone realm users like the ss clone, Gardo, Seeker, and even Eagle cause a distortion of their Realms in the many dimensions. The mostmon application of this phenomenon is when you cannot be who you are around this person, or if your personality changes. Viewing this in Biblical Context, this is why we are told not to associate with bad men. It seems that in the dimensions beyond, it taints us."


    "So it''s regarding thews in the Old Testament? You mean that those restrictions, rules for washing, distancing, and being ''unclean'' has something to do with all this?"


    "Yes. To some extent. At our level and power, meeting beings like Garenjazz will create physical effects. In Vender''s case, I believe that his own body will cause him to be unconscious. It''s like putting fire and ice together."


    "You mean to say, you nned to have Vender shipped off to fight Garenjazz even if he bes unconscious?"


    "He has to. If not, we lose. Vender''s power works like a mystery. It distorts all other Realms but achieves and aids us in reaching our goal. To put it bluntly, his power is to trigger coincidences for our benefit. But such realm cannot work perfectly and we get all the kinks and annoying moments with him."


    "And how sure are you that that happened?" Lioncourt asked.


    "Because Seeker is not yet defeated and the battle progressed. Garenjazz would have sensed Vender the moment we sent him in. But when he did, the battle only urred a short time after. This meant that Garenjazz didn''t sense it first."


    "Which leads us to this mission. Rai, and everyone... No one is going in to fight. We just need to send these items for the team to use. I have here a weaponized power of Vender''s cells. Touch it and you''ll realize it." Arthur brought out a simple silver bullet.


    Lioncourt touched it and instantly felt it.


    "Intriguing science..."


    "Trust me. You won''t make anything out of this." Lennox spoke.


    "That science will only show you its power when it wants to. Just like Vender''s power."


    "Alright. This is a great weapon. I understand why you need to send it now. But how do you know where and when to send it?"


    "We wait for a signal. Rai. Prep it." Arthur ordered and Rai immediately followed.


    "What signal are we looking for? You never told Alean of this." Harker asked as he arrived.


    "She can''t know. Luck would have been against us. When Alean and Seeker face the team, they will use their luck to go against everything that they have. You bring a powerful gun, bad luck! It stops working. But if we introduce something that hasn''t been exposed to the luck of Garenjazz, then it works. That''s why Alean should not have known this."


    "You were counting on her to ovee. Somehow you believed that she would request these weapons, right?" Harker asked.


    "Yes. Alean''s power has already once reached a point where she can see the future. In that ce, where the ones most important to her face possible death, she will push through. But Rai and the rest cannot move with your injuries and time is needed to get you back to your peak. That''s why I gathered you all here so we can deliver it. Rai opens the portal, the Realm King navigates it, father''s living lightning directs it, and Meng and Rosa''s powers protect it as it crosses the Void Realm.." Arthur exined.


    Meng was about to say something when a broadcast was detected from the ship.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Arthur! Now!" Alean''s voice was heard.


    Not even a second had passed when everyone worked.


    Rai opened the portal. Meng and Rosa quickly used their power to create a protective shell over the bullets and the Realm King used his powers.


    "It''s too chaotic there! I can''t send all items at once!"


    "Then let''s divide it into two trips!"


    "Start with Vender''s weapons and then send the rest!" Arthur ordered.


    The first set of bullets was sent over the Void Realm.


    The first shot that used this bullet caused the luck of the first hoop to be lost. And with that, the attacks began to reach!


    Garenjazz''s main body received the iing attacks and was startled.


    DING!


    His second hoop was also attacked and the luck he imbued in it was lost!


    Alean instantly copsed as she sent herst bullet and Suarez moved in to save her.


    "Get her out of here!" Cliff quickly ordered.


    Ivan and Will appeared right behind Garenjazz and Ivan sacrificed his entire arm and swiped his bear w to the back of Garenjazz.


    BANG!


    His arm gushed out like blood as he ignored all limits and punched out to the point that his arm broke.


    The power of that punch could have torn down an entire building and caused Garenjazz to actually feel pain!


    "Load ''em up!" Lyndaughed and she and her husband sent out a wild barrage that would drain their weapon.


    Thousands of bullets were being sent out per second as the molecule bullets fluttered like rain.


    The torrent of bullets that couldn''t hit was also starting to hit Garenjazz.


    The bullets did not just have prating power brought by the advanced guns, they were several times stronger.


    The stinging sensations urred all over and Garenjazz could see that the rest were prepared to make powerful attacks.


    Cliff retreated as the rest finally loaded the weapons that were sent to them.


    The Carleans loaded a weapon and shot two powerful weapons that contained the energy of the Oveers.


    One was sent into the dark portal above that was birthing Crostfree.


    A massive realm bomb was sent into the portal.


    "Let''s see the power of the Realm Destroyer!" Chrisughed.


    Grace had dove closer as Cliff retreated and hurled a strange spear at Garenjazz. The moment it left her arms, it turned into lightning.


    "Bolt of Zeus!"


    In the Dreamworld, things had shifted in a matter of a few seconds.


    Garenjazz''s reactions and power had weakened and he couldn''t even flee from the assaults of Seeker and Lynd.


    "I''ll kill you all with this!" Garenjazz was enraged. He was forced to go all in for his next attack.


    "River!" Garenjazz called out as he prepared to make his attack.

 Chapter 564 Two Battles Collide

    Above their world were the three cards in the flop. A Jack of Hearts, a Two of Diamonds, and a Six of Diamonds. Garenjazz had then summoned the power of River.


    "HWAAAAAH! Huh? Where am I?" Vender awoke.


    Shackstress felt great danger and threw Vender to the side and caused him to return to his normal form.


    "Zeraphine! Shield him!" Shackstress shouted and Zeraphine realized what was happening. The power she was preparing to fire she turned into a shield to protect Vender.


    The being that altered luck had awakened in the dream world where every form was rooted in luck and chance. As such, the world began to reject Vender.


    CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!


    "AHHHHH!" Vender shouted as his awakening created a strange surge of power that began to attack him. Despite the shield that was made of Universe Energy, Vender could still feel the attack urring.


    But at that moment, Seeker and Lynd saw that the timely flip of the River was dyed.


    The folding card of the River began to slow down and Garenjazz cursed as he sensed the power that Vender had.


    "Lynd!"


    "Chance!"


    The two shouted and made numerous attacks as Garenjazz was no longer lucky.


    shes and punches that had the power of a pair appeared.


    The two made clean hits that disoriented Garenjazz and even revealed his hand!


    The Four of Diamonds and the Three of Diamonds were revealed.


    "Hurry! He''s aiming for a Straight Flush! It should be the River thatpletes his hand!" Seeker shouted.


    BOOM!


    Raw universe energy shot out and Seeker and Lynd had to defend.


    "You dare... assail me?!" In his anger, Garenjazz harnessed his luck to attack.


    The luck radiated out of the world and it was as if Vender felt an even more terrifying power attack him.


    "Attack in Unity!" Seeker dove forward but did not use his powers to unite with Lynd. He charged forward to make his attack as Lynd retreated.


    The Adult Seeker charged forward as well. For some strange reason, he, who had found a way to exist by fighting in the dreamworld managed to attain the pulsing power of luck coursing out through the dream world. The power was meant to attack Garenjazz affected the Adult who wasunching his sudden attack.


    Shackstress, another dreamworld creation also felt the energy coursing through her, and smiled.


    "I''m feeling... lucky!" Shackstress harnessed her power and shortened the distance where the Adult flew.


    "Go! Don''t worry about using Zeraphine''s attack as a catapulting force! Something lucky is about to happen!" Zeraphine smiled.


    "I know!" The Adult used his powers and activated the Cutting Room Floor to push forward.


    All their cards were revealed.


    Shackstress had the Queen of Hearts and the Four of Spades.


    Zeraphine had the Ten of Hearts and the Five of Clubs.


    And the Adult held the Ace of Spade and the Three of Clubs.


    The three United their power with Lynd who held two Kings.


    With thest Jack in the Flop, the group managed to make a Straight.


    Zeraphine''s defensive powers were now starting to protect Vender who was on the verge of dying.


    Garenjazz was receiving numerous attacks and could see the danger of the attacks approaching him. To make matters worse, the constant attacks his real body was receiving and the awakening of Vender had made the Dreamworld fragile and the two were superimposing with each other.


    The time in the dream world began to decrease as Garenjazz peered into the real world.


    In the real world, Grace has shot out a powerful weapon that was only slightly weaker than Lennox''s Sword of Lighting.


    The dream space above him which was supposed to create Crostfree had been blown out and with his weakening concentration, the dream ended. And now, another attack was approaching.


    But Cliff was charging back towards Garenjazz and aimed to unite himself in a risky gamble to merge the power of the Sword of Lightning and create a lightning form of the Basilisk.


    Cliff flew and he activated several weaponized paths and used the new injections he received to restore his energy. And with that, the Basilisk was reborn and shot forward.


    Garenjazz then saw that Cliff was moving in the very same direction where the Adult Seeker was!<novelnext></novelnext>


    The space was shrinking and the two wouldnd their attacks at the same time!


    "Two battles is too much! Merge the world! It''s time to bring everyone into one ce! Dream Copse!"


    He knew what would happen if he did it. His enemies were lucky, and he would surely receive an attack that could kill him! But he took the gamble and decided that it was luckier to meet two attacks in his dream world, which could kill him than face one attack in both the dream world and the real world which could also kill him.


    Garenjazz took the gamble and the Dreamworld began to quickly superimpose with the real one.


    The main body of Garenjazz in the real world began to copse inwardly like a ck hole. Everything nearby was bing devoured into the dream.


    "Everyone, retreat! I''ll fight him!" Cliff shouted to everyone as he bravely charged into the ck hole.


    Cliff began merging with the Bolt of Zeus. In reality, he was not able to create one. He always absorbed and used these forms out of his memory. But now, Cliff activated his power to build something new. He was a Day Dreamer. He dreamed of many things and how he could use the powers of others and daydreamed the form.


    But his dream and attempt were futile. It was certain to fail. But at that very moment, strange luck fell on him. The world of the dream and the real world merged.


    Cliff was shocked. He saw his daydream take form!


    The Bolt of Zeus merged with his Basilisk.


    "Form of the Haietlik!" Cliff shouted as he charged forward.


    A strange orb was growing out of Garenjazz''s main body. The Dream World began to devour the entire space around them.


    The iing barrage of bullets and attacks from the rest that was supposed the hit the main body failed as it went into the dream world.


    Cliff saw the strange glowing orb and quickly dove forward to enter it.


    The two dreams began to merge and the entire lightning serpent suddenly had a person at the very tip riding the beast!


    "Seeker?!"


    "Great timing, Cliff!" The Adultughed.


    Garenjazz now had one form that stood at the center of this world and with no attacks reaching him, the River could now be revealed.


    Garenjazz then revealed his hand.


    He had Four Diamonds and Three Diamonds.


    His hand could form nothing with the Flop and thus, he was dominated by the pairs of Seeker and Lynd.


    But now, it was clear what he was trying to create.


    Thest card was revealed.


    A Five of Diamonds!


    "This is it! Roulette Power! Universe Crush!" Garenjazz activated a power and two massive Roulette appeared above the dream world. With the hand he made, he could make two. And he needed to make a random power that will be dictated by luck.


    The two roulettes began to spin. The pockets of the Roulette had several names written instead of numbers. The names referred to certain people within the group, as Garenjazz knew them. Seeker Carlean. Progenitor. Seeker''s Uncle? Shackstress. Zeraphine. Vender.


    But Garenjazz had several names written on several pockets! It was a game of terrifying luck as even he would receive damage from it!


    "This is myst Gamble! Straight Flush!" Garenjazz charged toward the Adult and Cliff as his powers rippled out.


    The force that rippled out blew everyone back and Garenjazz smiled as he saw the Adult and Cliff approach.


    "Die!"


    Cliff was confused as he looked up.


    "What''s this?"


    The Adult nced at it and his eyes lit up.


    "All-out attack! And use unity to be my sword!" The Adult roared as the two somehow united their powers just as they practiced so many times.


    All of a sudden, the power of the Adult which harnessed Straight changed.


    The power multiplied and became several times more powerful.


    The luck Cliff made it just in time. He drew a Seven of Clubs and an Ace of Hearts.


    Lynd had the King of Hearts. Shackstress held the Queen of Hearts, Zeraphine held the Ten of Hearts. And with the Flop''s Jack of Hearts they formed...


    "Royal Flush!" Seeker shouted his hand as his de contained the lightning serpent that Cliff created into one massive sh!

 Chapter 565 All-In

    The Adult Seeker and Cliff were able to achieve Unity far stronger than the Kid or Lynd could. Cliff''s own power was derived from the will and wishes of the Adult in his past life. In the three dimensions, Seeker and Cliff could not have achieved this level of Unity. But with the Adult materializing through dream creation, it was possible for the Adult to act as the link.


    The power of Unity allowed the Adult Seeker to wield the connection of Cliff which gave him the Royal Flush.


    Cliff''s serpent took the lead and became the sword that shed down.


    SLASH!


    "Dream Breaker!" Garenjazz sent out his strongest attack as well.


    Straight Flush appeared and caused his punch to instantly summon such raw power that it would have demolished an entire mountain appeared.


    While Seeker had the stronger Royal Flush, Garenjazz was still a near Principal with a Combat Body. His innate defense and power were already more powerful than the strongest state of Seeker and the rest. The power that separated the Straight Flush and the Royal Flush was not too great and the two shed equally.


    BANG!


    "Not enough!" Garenjazzughed as he began to push back the Adult and Cliff''s attack.


    Garenjazzughed as his gamble paid off. He knew Cliff would be lucky to draw a powerful hand and yet he still allowed Cliff to enter this region. He had confidence in his own strength more than he had confidence in his luck.


    "It''s not the dice! It''s the man throwing it!" Garenjazzughed as he pushed out.


    "I win!" Garenjazzughed as he began tounch yet another attack that would automatically harness a Straight Flush''s power. If Seeker and Cliff died, thebination of their hands would leave them with nothing.


    "Not yet!" Lynd charged with full speed and held the same power as the Royal Flush!


    But then, he saw Lynd flying towards him.


    A massive dragon manifested around him and its mighty Jaw was going for the bite.


    "Maw of the Dragon!" Lynd copied only one path and concentrated his power on it. His copy and the power of the Royal Flush made the massive bite.


    Garenjazz turned and saw the attack.


    "Idiot. I''m already all in... Let''s see if I''m lucky!" Garenjazz smiled as his power rippled out.


    The power of his Roulette would select any person and apply the power bestowed to it on that person. The only problem was that he needed a hand as high as a Four of a Kind and beyond to activate it. He gambled hisst attack which was about to be released in one hand.


    The Roulette of death would attack the one who was selected. And the two balls that spun around it were about tond.


    One ball was about tond on the name, ''Shackstress''. And on the other, was the name, ''Seeker''s Uncle?''


    Seeker saw the names and his heart froze.


    "No! Lynd!" Seeker shouted as he charged forward.


    Lynd did not prepare to make any defenses but pushed forward as he nced upwards.


    At the veryst second, the name ''Seeker''s Uncle'' was changed. Seeker had shouted Lynd''s real name, and in thatst second, Garenjazz realized that this person was none other than Lynd Indigo.


    The name changed to that name and the ball was falling into the pocket.


    "Sorry, Zeek." Lynd sighed as he tried to deliver the punch.


    But suddenly, the world trembled as the roulette''s pocket changed.


    The two ballsnded in the pocket.


    Shackstress saw it and was amazed. Her life was spared.


    Lynd turned to the side at thatst second, right before his fist collided with Garenjazz.


    There, two people stood floating in the dream world.


    They had been ordered to retreat, but they ignored the orders. They decided to move in and fight. Jake''s advice was that the parents should save the kids.


    At that moment, the addition of four people was added to the roulette. Had it been any lesser, one among the team would die and the Royal Flush would copse.


    But four entered and shifted the two roulette''s names sparing any of the group that dove in.


    Shackstress was spared as well as she nced at the two names to where the ball fell.


    Since Seeker called out Lynd''s real name, Garenjazz was able to make the rtion.


    The balls had fallen on two pockets. Lynd''s Mother and Lynd''s Father.


    The two were suddenly surrounded by a massive amount of energy that was copsing on them.


    Time stopped as the power of the Day dreamer rippled out and caused time to stop.


    Lynd couldn''t move but his thoughts continued. He was trying hard to save them. He saw the faces of his parents.


    The two saw their deaths and a life review happened.


    Lynda saw everything and was thankful that herst action before moving into this world was to hold on to the hands of Peters.


    She was happy. She would die in the way she had dreamed she would.<novelnext></novelnext>


    She then could feel Lynd''s gaze in the distance.


    Peters saw the roulette and could somehow grasp what had happened.


    "Did we save our kid?" Peters couldn''t help but wonder. He could see Lynd diving in for a punch.


    "Give him hell, son." Peters thought and wished that Lynd could hear their voice.


    Lynd trembled as he had unconsciously tapped on the Day Dreaming ability of Cliff. He was thinking of what he could do. Was there a way to teleport out and save his parents? But in this very crucial time, doing so would give Garenjazz another chance and the Adult and Cliff would die.


    He knew that there was no other way but to keep on punching.


    "No... No..." Lynd''s heart grew heavy as he didn''t let go of his Day Dreamer state as he could not ept it.


    He nced at the eyes of his two parents who were so far away. It was only through his Unlocked perception that he could clearly see them. They couldn''t move, but somehow, Lynd was able to read their expressions and thoughts through observation. The mystery of his power now was revealed. He saw through the souls of his parents.


    "It''s ok, Lynd..." Lynd could somehow discern what her mother was trying to say.


    "No! No! There has to be a way!" Lynd ragged.


    "Give him hell, son." Peters''s thoughts echoed out.


    Lynd was losing control of his powers. His turbulent emotions began to rage as the berserked beasts that were hidden within his soul began to rage.


    As Lynd lost control, time continued.


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    Two loud explosions rang out.


    On one side, powerful energy surrounded Lynda and Peters and copsed creating a powerful st that had the power equal to Garenjazz''s punch.


    The explosion rocked the area and nothing could have survived that.


    On the other side, the green maw of the dragon bit down as Lynd''s fist connected with Garenjazz.


    Garenjazz saw it and could only sigh.


    "I lose, huh?"


    CRUNCH!


    A huge portion of Garenjazz''s body was destroyed as Lynd''s fist continued to push through.


    "AHHH!" Garenjazz shouted as his body met the terrifying maw that harnessed the power of a Royal Flush.


    At that moment, Seeker and Cliff''s swords gained momentum and their sh continued and shed out of Garenjazz''s body.


    Two powers at the level that exceeded Top Tiers struck Garenjazz''s body.


    At that moment of collision, Garenjazz suddenly sensed that there was hope for survival. He gritted his teeth as he gathered his energy to create a soul.


    He created a powerful dream in thosest seconds and it became a pearl. His entire dream body copsed and most of his soul was with him. Garenjazz had died, but he found a way to escape death.


    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!


    Shackstress and the Adult''s souls began to distort as they were no longer able to exist and flew back towards Seeker''s main body.


    With Garenjazz''s main body destroyed, the dream world could not sustain existence anymore.


    Back in the three dimensions, the destruction of the dream world also led to massive explosions all over the ship of Garenjazz.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Everyone outside saw the destruction and sensed the disappearance of the threat.


    Lanterk and Pridgeon sensed it.


    "He... he lost! Garenjazz lost!" Lanterk was shocked.


    "The Lost Primordial... He won the first battle on earth!" Pridgeon was shocked.


    "...Somethings wrong. Pridgeon! This doesn''t make sense! How can the Primordial who lost, win against us?"


    Pridgeon was silent. The question sank deep into their hearts and Pridgeon could sense a desire to reject the such notion. And yet, here they were. They were utterly defeated.


    The explosions around the massive ship of Garenjazz continued.


    Once more the group found themselves within the center of Garenjazz''s ship.


    The throne of Garenjazz broke down, as Garenjazz''s main body was seated on it but he had terrifying wounds. But for some reason, he was alive.


    "...I lost all luck... I wonder... Will I still live within the next ten seconds?" Garenjazz pondered.

 Chapter 566 The Silence After

    There was a strange serene sky over thends of Egypt.


    No one ship, exoskeleton, jet, or even a buzz from the locust gue that once appeared and covered the sky for battle existed.


    The chaos and war that urred not thirty minutes ago had suddenly ended.


    The only thing floating high was the two massive ships of Zeraphine and Garenjazz. But now, the ship of Garenjazz had lost its power and its spherical form was revealed it did not endlessly copse in itself but remained static.


    Under the two, was the Many Mansions of the Everhiss n of the WGP.


    The world watched in silence as the few correspondents who were taping the entire incident.


    Lanterk and Pridgeon were shocked.


    "Garenjazz lost!?" Pridgeon eximed.


    "Somethings wrong! There is something very wrong with this! How can the Lost Primordial, the one who lost, win against someone who has managed to thread on the path of the Primordial?!" Lanterk couldn''t understand it.


    The defeat and destruction of the dream world created a massive leak of Universe Energy that was leaking out of Garenjazz''s ship.


    Garenjazz''s dream world was creating its universe energy through the many devices he ced there. But now, they all surged out.


    And the Many Mansions was equipped to gather such energy.


    "Amazing. With all the resources we spent in this battle, we regained, probably double or triple the amount." Lennox was beside himself with joy.


    "And not to mention, we can finally study it! The raw and uncontrolled energy is ours!" Lennox''s eyes were full of greed.


    But Pheonix Everhiss and his other Emperor allies hadplex expressions. They were receiving demands and orders from the World''s Helm to hand over all the energy that they could see the Many Mansion take in.


    "I guess, it''s time to start it finally. The Throne Wars will surely happen..." Phoenix sighed.


    "This means... more thrones for my friends." Arthur smiled.


    "Rai. Get ready! We''ll be teleported inside the ship."


    "Alright." Rai nodded.


    Garenjazz could still see Lynd standing closest to him.


    Seeker was a few meters behind but could not move as the souls that emerged and rushed back into him drained a huge amount of his life force.


    "Lynd..." He spoke only one word as he pleaded with Lynd.


    Cliff was also too weak to move and he could only crawl closer in his attempt to stand in between Lynd and Garenjazz.


    Garenjazz had lost all his power and was on the verge of death. The destruction of his body in that dream world somehow destroyed and took away any forms of power of Garenjazz. The Nefilus suit that powered him lost all of its life and was deteriorating. Garenjazz was just a regr human now, far weakerpared to the nted who had their enhancements.


    Garenjazz was, even so, close to dying.


    Lynd''s rage remained as his powers could be seen. His transfigured body remained visible. His paths had managed tobine numerous Paths and his body was deteriorating rapidly. But Lynd maintained that power to prepare for another attack.


    "I''m sorry for your parents," Garenjazz spoke.


    The energy around Lynd grew even more unstable as his rage increased.


    Garenjazz sighed.


    "Even my words aren''t lucky now..." Garenjazz sighed.


    Seeker tried to speak but his entire body still suffered from the bacsh and couldn''t move or speak.


    "Don''t go to the dark side, Obi-Wan!" Vender''s voice was suddenly heard.


    He was close to Zeraphine, and his entire body was burnt. Normally, people in his condition with extreme cases of burn wounds would have died. But such injuries were still light to the Unlocked. Vender had already injected himself and was quickly recovering.


    The suddenment was not even funny. It was so out of sync with the scenario that Lynd frowned. Besides, Obi-Wan wasn''t the one tempted to move to the Dark Side.


    Lynd''s anger raged against Vender as he turned to him as he was slowly losing into the berserker''s rage.


    "Lynd... I''m a father with a daughter with who I want to live. You saw her, right? I would dly die for her to live. Your father and mother''s sacrifice were not just to kill Garenjazz. It was for you and this world. Are you seriously going to throw it all away? Garenjazz in his current form makes him a perfect prisoner and informant. He just wants to live." Vender suddenly spoke with such precise wisdom.


    "Killing him now means you will help kill my daughter! I would never forgive you if you killed him and we lose someone who knows about Principals!" Vender exined.


    Lynd froze and nced at Garenjazz.


    "Lynd!" Seeker finally managed to speak.


    He could only afford one word and spoke with a pleading tone.


    Lynd could not withold the emotions as the temptation and desire to give in to his sadness won. Lynd began to weep.


    "...I know, Zeek. I know..." Lynd sighed and obeyed.


    BOOM!


    The Throne of Zeraphine was dented and destroyed as the energy pushed in and attacked the unguarded Presider.


    Lynd threw in all his rage and hatred but punched out Zeraphine.


    "AHHH!" Zeraphine panicked and her Nefilus suit was damaged.


    Lynd yanked Zeraphine off the throne and smashed her to the ground.


    BANG!


    With that, the energy that Lynd gathered for Garenjazz wasunched at Zeraphine.


    "Why...?" Zeraphine asked. But she was already starting to understand what had transpired. The moment Lynd''s name was mentioned, she was starting to realize just how deceived she had been.


    Seeker sighed in relief. Zeraphine had learned of the truth and was already suspecting and asking to what extent she was being deceived. Because of this, she had to be detained.


    The attack broke her and halted her powers. While it was still possible to repair the damage, she had been drastically weakened.


    Lynd turned around to walk away without answering Zeraphine. And then saw Seeker.


    "Seeker. Don''t give me that expression." Lynd spoke with a low voice. He could sense the emotions of Seeker and felt insulted.


    "Sorry... You know what I''ve been through. If you... I..."


    "I understand." Lynd sighed as he reached down.


    Lynd fell quiet and reached out towards Seeker and bestowed on him a great amount of life.


    A power to heal had finally appeared among the Unlocked. Seeker was startled and couldn''t understand what was happening.


    It wasn''t simr to the expensive medicines that they had created. This one gave Seeker cells that reced the ones he lost. Most of their medicines were used to give the body enough energy to recover and heal. But this was like magic!


    Seeker''s state stabilized.


    "So... This means I''ll be alive? If this is what it means to be living. Bravo. My winning streak has finally ended." Garenjazz smiled.


    "So this is freedom? Free from the curse of the Primordial. I thought I managed to resist it... But it seems I was too full of myself." Garenjazzughed.


    WARP!


    Rai suddenly appeared with Arthur and Richie.


    Arthur nced for a quick second.


    "Garenjazz. Order your men to stand down and have them sink into the ocean. Your voice will be broadcast around the ship." Arthur ordered.


    "...Alright." Garenjazz nodded.


    "Everyone. I, Garenjazz, have lost. Do not resist. I ammanding the ship to move through the ocean. Deploy whatever safety measures remain." Garenjazz''s voice was heard all over the ship.


    "You too, Zeraphine." Arthur turned towards Zeraphine.


    "...Everyone, we won. Garenjazz has lost. Follow the ship. We did it! We defeated a Principal!" Zeraphine gave her report, but there was no joy in her heart and she turned to Seeker. Her expression was one of great sadness.


    But as she nced at him, she could not shake off the feeling that Seeker once gave her this look.


    The two ships moved down towards the sea and the Many Mansion did nothing to fight it.


    As the two sank, powerful energy was detected and the two ships disappeared underwater.


    Then, there was silence once more.

 Chapter 567 Patient Zero

    It had been a day since the great battle over Egypt and the news continued to show details of the battle. The news that revealed interviews for many Pioneers and nteds that wanted to surrender and avoid death was also shown. There were only a few Presiders remaining as the great wars and battles led by another alien who arrived earlier on earth.


    The news itself finally shed light on all the chaos that was happening. The alien race was trying to take over and control the world. They had already infiltrated Earth''s ranks, and the mysterious Progenitor, who the aliens called the Lost Primordial was secretly aiding Earth to defend itself.


    Many soon followed and all over the world, people were appearing and would have proof of their connection.


    The ims were all proven true. A massive ship had been detected behind Mars and was fleeing further out in the distance.


    "So... that was... your mothership?" The reporter asked a prominent person who had created arge empire. It turned out, he was a Pioneer!


    "We can''t really call it our mothership. That massive ship that''s nearly as big as the moon is only a ship that carried us here. But using it for war... is impossible. Even for my former leaders, the Presiders. It''s a ship that belongs to a ss of aliens that are five to ten times stronger than everything you''ve seen here." The Pioneer exined.


    "Five... to ten times stronger? Stronger than this?!" The reporter asked and revealed many scenes of the battle in Egypt.


    "...Yes. And that isn''t the end. Above the Principals, are the Primes which are once again, five to ten times stronger than the Principals. And then, beyond them... the Primordial." The Pioneer exined.


    "...What do you want?! What are you guys doing here on Earth?!"


    "There were many reasons. My master, Presider Tiana imed that they needed newnd for those who are below Principal levels. To beings beyond them, they could easily create worlds and dimensions of their own just like what you''ve seen in the battle. The Hypersphere created a dream world. The other Presider who fought at Egyptmanded thatrge ship could shrink their ships at will... But usmon men, are too weak for that." The Pioneer exined.


    "So... it''s mainly for you footmen?! Your is overpopted?! Why can''t you just settle on some, why Earth?"


    WARP!


    Suddenly, a figure appeared before them.


    STAB!


    The Pioneer was shocked and couldn''t even react quick enough as he had already been stabbed by a man wearing a strange ck skin-suit exoskeleton.


    "Fake news. The reason why they are taking over Earth is to prepare a ce for the survivors. The Aragarians are a race of warmongers and killers. The Lost Primordial hated it and tried to change the system. He fought against the Primordial and nearly won, had it not been for the cowardice cheats. He left and settled on Earth, which is the ancestral home of the Aragarians from long ago. War ising into their world. The Prime Wars will happen and will deplete more than ny percent of their poption. Earth was a backup that the survivors could settle in. This war will be so great, so strong, that even the stronger ones who could create dimensions fear their future. As you have seen, the Presiders war even among themselves. There are those who call themselves ''Conquerors'' for that is what their culture is. If Earth is to ally with them in cowardice, then Earth will also be a battleground."


    WARP!


    The person vanished once more as he teleported out.


    The studio was in a panic at what they had witnessed.


    All over the world, simr scenes appeared and all interviews with Pioneers and nteds stopped. The governments of each country tried to capture them, but many of those they caught were killed.


    But the news of aliens living among the earthlings brought fright. As the news rolled out, it was proven that there was life beyond earth.


    An alien society with creatures that had almost the same biological framework, and a much-advanced society was present.


    There was a strange silence on earth.


    Almost all businesses closed and everyone was locked at home reading or watching the news about the Aragarians.


    No matter where, no matter what region, or continent no crimes of any sort were beingmitted.


    Almost all of the Earth was in shock.


    Eagles Wings Ministry, headed by Calvin Luther Eagle broadcasted family secrets as they released what they imed to be irrefutable proof of why this mysterious alien aided us.


    Interviewing Lourca Oviili, the oldest Pioneer who was already on Earth since World War III told of the mysterious origins of the Aragarians.


    The tale of Gilgamesh and the existence of God!


    There was news springing out left and right. Nearly all countries quickly issued martialw but on that day, no crimes were ever reported as everyone took a day to watch the news and videos of the grand battle over the skies of Egypt.


    "So being part of the Lost Primordial''s army allows you to see ess to things that not even Primes in your know?" Eagle asked.


    "Yes. The Lost Primordial knew of their origin. We are the rebels who wanted to challenge God. Our techs are from Nimrod, the hero who built the Tower of Babel. Ask any of the Pioneers and nteds on Earth. They will tell you, that the Aragarians are but the winners of another war. Before Aragarians, we were all called... Babelians! People of Babel! Right now, there are a few surviving Babelians hiding and biding their time. They too, will take part in the Prime Wars and try to reim their lost heritage."


    "So the Bible is true?"


    "The Lost Primordial think so. He was a very religious man and loved reading the Bible."


    "Well, there you have it, folks!" Eagleughed and then began a sermon.


    As the world continued to process the shocking revtion, the many ships, and fortresses that were being built underground and underwater continued.


    At longst, all the Underwater Cities have pledged allegiance to Seeker and the Unlocked army.


    The ships of Zeraphine and Garenjazz used Dug Down Deep to bury themselves down the deepest level of the ocean floor. A massive fortress that was constantly growing had been established.


    Deep inside the massive mothership that the Unlocked armies continued to create, Lynd sat down and watched the many repairs being made as he had a magnificent view of the massive structures that were being made.<novelnext></novelnext>


    He sat there in silence and an array of dishes of all sorts was at his side.


    The doors opened and Seeker stepped inside.


    "Lynd." Seeker greeted.


    "The tests are a sess. With the metal technology of Garenjazz and how Pheonix Everhiss was able to provide those Almetal, the power of my peak form, without Unity has beenpleted. It will follow the same description in the book of Ezekiel. I shall be like the four beasts. With wheels spinning within each other and can harness enough energy that could rival the sun. We just need to perfect the science, but Lennox says it should be done in two days." Lynd spoke quickly.


    "You know I''m not here for that." Seeker answered.


    "What are you here then? To cry with me? I already have a girlfriend, Zeek."


    "First, I will apologize. You must have felt it. When I found out you were alive and your parents died, I was relieved. I''m sorry I felt that way."


    "I took it out on Zeraphine. I nearly killed her. Let''s call it even." Lynd answered.


    "I wanted to talk about... how your parents died on that timeline."


    Lynd froze as he heard those words.


    "Why?"


    "You know why. I''m the only one strong enough and brave enough to do this. But it has to happen, Lynd. We can''t always hide behind the powers of concealing our emotions. We aren''t machines. We ovee because we know what loss and pain are. You have to do that as well."


    "...Somehow, I just think that you just want people to go through what you did."


    "Eagle told me that I should do this. Jeremiah 6:14 speaks of superficial healing. Dressing a wound up, and saying peace, peace, when there is no peace. Lynd. This isn''t natural. Not facing the emotions of this hinders you. We don''t have time for you to lock your emotions and hinder your Path. We can''t even practice Unity with you like this! Every second counts, Lynd! Presiders and a Principal areing! Mourn now! For our future!"


    "..." Lynd did not answer.


    "Anyway, Old Man. Take over."


    "...Coward. Throwing me to you like that..." The Adult sighed.


    Lynd remained quiet.


    "...You can send Greg if you want."


    "Greg''s an even bigger coward..." The Adult chuckled.


    "...So... how did they fare in that life and this?"


    "They defended thest Pangean city. And boy, did they do a surprisingly good job at it. It was one of those skirmishes that you''d think we''d finally have a chance at winning against the enemy. In that world, Harker won the bet and controlled many of Pangean forces. But he sided with the Aragarians. I figured him for a traitor, but now, I know he did it just to protect Alean."


    "I won''t kill Harker, Zeek. I understand Harker now and I already could calcte his fate. He must have died when the Unlocked drug was perfected."


    "...He tortured your dad."


    "Tortured?"


    "One of the most gruesome forms of torture. A will-breaking experiment that would have driven a man insane."


    "What do you mean?"


    "The Dalisay fought against Harker''s army and your parents were both amazing soldiers. Well, all our parents were. But your father was captured. And they tortured him. He wouldn''t let up. He wouldn''t reveal anything. Not even truth serum worked on your father. And so they did something to him. They transformed him into bing something like a Programmed ve."


    "You mean, they altered his emotion, and what brought him joy and sadness?" Lynd''s eyes darkened.


    "Yes. He was full of depression and sadness as he lived for every second. An agonizing attack on his will as his very being was sad, angry, nauseated with hated the fact that he wouldn''t give information about him. We can''t imagine that. We''re already at a point where we can freely control all our emotions. We won''t ever know the utter pain that your father felt in that timeline."


    "Are you trying to make me kill Harker?"


    "I''m trying to make you drop this stupid emotional guard. As I said we don''t have time. But the anger didn''t work. So let me try gratitude. The Mikados and my parents helped each other to rescue him. Your mom led the team. When they saw him, his emotions... was calm. He had somehow ovee the emotions that he now had. His will overcame his being. He mastered it. It''s like he mastered his sinful nature. It was amazing."


    "Then I''m d my dad didn''t suffer much."


    "He probably did. But the data that his brain scans showed were vital for Charles to perfect the drug. Do you know what Charlesbeled him?"


    "What do you mean? Label for what?" Lynd was confused.


    "Labels referring to the Unlocking, of course! Hebeled your dad as Patient Zero. The first person to ever show the signs of the Unlocking as recorded and medically studied."


    Lynd trembled.


    "Be it this timeline or thest. Your parents continue to save humanity."

 Chapter 568 Epilogue Of Volume 6

    Lynd felt his body tremble. Seeker''s words had struck Lynd and his mental defenses that were preventing his emotions from affecting him began to falter.


    A sense of pride surfaced. His parents were the key to their victory even in the past.


    "Drop your guard, Lynd. It''s ok." Seeker urged.


    "And my mom?" Lynd asked ignoring Seeker.


    "She was equally important. Your dad showed you the science. But your mom brought the data of Uncle Peters to our side with her life. At that time, everyone was pissed. They thought that your mother''s sacrifice was useless and sentimental. What about that data was useful? No one knew the impact then. But Patient Zero and the messenger''s sacrifice impact us even today. Sadly, in that timeline, no one remembered your parents or treated them as heroes."


    "Knowing them... they wouldn''t care..."


    "The problem was that they were branded as... reckless idiots."


    "What?!" Lynd finally showed emotions as his rage leaked out.


    Seeker used his Realm to stop the surging energy that would have broken the room.


    "Your dad was already dying by the time they reached him. It was toote to save him. Harker realized he couldn''t get any information out of Uncle Peters. So he leaked his location and waited to know that many of the generals that apanied the Dalisay would step in."


    "It was a trap?"


    "Yeah. Still, they would have made it out and retrieved your dad''s body after it. But your mom saw the research on your dad''s brain and thought it would have been a good idea to send it to the Pangean government. She thought it would be a good weapon to stop Programmed ves and other spies from entering our ranks. She didn''t know just how important that information was. Everyone was against that n. The Mikados and I helped Lynda as they agreed with it. But eventually, they needed to go. Lynda stayed behind and my parents and the Mikados escaped. That stunt brought a huge blow to the Pangean armies which became the first domino to fall and copse everything. Your mom died delivering the information. She was caught in a trap and had to stay behind to ensure that the message was sent without interruption."


    "So they died as unsung heroes... So notorious that they were med for Pangean''s fall?" Lynd''s anger was growing so much that Seeker had to use a weaponized bomb of the Realm King to harden the Realm. But Seeker needed to let Lynd release the pent-up anger. After the battle, he locked himself inside the room and was distant. Not even Alean could calm him down and Kristine, who had the skill of calming others was not around as she was with Arthur in the Many Mansions.


    "You were angry at them, as well. No one bothered to know about how the drug of the Unlocked was developed. I only remembered all this, when I moved to this timeline. I saw every minute memory when I surpassed the former limit of what we believed our brains can do. The details told me what they were. Charles died right before he can even tell everyone who the heroes of these drugs were. I remembered that it was then when my memories gave me full ess to the room where I was being experimented on and became the first Unlocked. So in that life, even when I died, your parents were not heroes. They were so notorious that they were considered traitors."


    Lynd''s anger began an opening that caused the influx of emotions to finally affect him. Tears began to fall and the power that surged around disappeared.


    "Arthur has started recording the logs and official war announcement. Have you read it?"


    "No."


    "Mission Hunt of the Presiders, Codename gues of Egypt, Sess. Victory against Top-Tier Garenjazz, who revealed Principal-level might, is attributed to the brave sacrifices of Lynda and Peters Indigo. First ss Heroes, who saved the Way and the Truth. The Unlocked Armies now have Principal-level techs thanks to the subjugation of two Presiders."


    Lynd was quiet.


    "Lynd. Do you realize, just how amazing that sacrifice was? We were supposed to lose you. We were once more, suppose to lose the Way. But we didn''t. That sacrifice allowed you to make the winning attack. And now, we have... techs... weapons... and two Presiders who can tell us... everything." Even Seeker''s voice was trembling in gratitude as he was starting to tear up and cry.


    "You can observe my expressions and see my emotions when I say this... Lynd. Your parents gave us a winning shot, unlike anything we have had so far! I and the kid are relieved that you are alive. That was our initial emotions. But now that the dust has settled and we are counting our cards, we''re happy. We''re extremely grateful for the bravery that your parents disyed. And Arthur bestowed to them the title of First ss Heroes. They will be remembered as equals to Oveers! So cry, damn it! Don''t let them be forgotten again! Don''t let their memory be tainted! You owe it to them to cry out." Seeker urged.


    With the rush, Lynd finally allowed his emotions to impact him. He allowed his mind to fall into the abyss of sadness. He resisted it for so long, but he knew Seeker was right. It was an insult to their memory if he held it off now.


    Seeker then ced am device at the table near Lynd.


    "My dad gave this to me. He said that... all of them had already prepared a message to say goodbye to us." Seeker left it on the table and began to walk out.


    "...Lynd. I never told you this... But in my timeline, we both grew up in a strange world. Politics, morality, and logic were being twisted left and right. But our three families always met and sat at one table. We never found out about their past. But in that time, our three families became friends. Aunt Lynda and Uncle Peters... were... very important to me too..." Seeker also allowed his tears to fall.


    "And I''m happy that you''re alive. But... It hurts. I had to see them die... twice." Seeker left the room.


    Lynd didn''t move from his seat, but them device hovered and Lynd yed the saved video.


    Lynda was seated on a couch and Peters sat. He was the one who started the recording and say down on the couch.


    The two looked awkwardly at the camera of them device.


    "...Why does it look like we are shooting a porn flick?" Lynda frowned.


    Lynd chucked as he heard his mom''s usual snide remarks.


    "Come on! Be serious! This is ourst goodbye to our son!" Peters rebuked Lynda but was clearlyughing at Lynda''s remarks.


    "Anyway... Lynd. When you see this, it means, we are dead. And yes. I meant that. When you see this. Honestly, we, the Mikados, and even the Carleans really believe we won''t make it." Lynda began.


    "Yeah. We''re not oveers after all. But at the same time, we''re not those weaklings who will be spending the entire war hiding in some underwater base. And you know we''d love to be in the frontline."


    "Yeah. We took this video right after we beat you to a near-death state for running away and going all emo. Please don''t do that again. It''s embarrassing. The Carleans and the Mikado always joke about us running away."


    "Right. That was not cool. It was very embarrassing for our family. Don''t do it again." Peters frowned.


    Lynd sighed and recalled how his parents charged in and attacked him with Exoskeletons to give him a beating. This happened even when he was at the hospital wing of the underwater fortresses recovering from his fight against Seeker.


    "Anyway... Lynd. We''re very proud of you." Lynda smiled.


    "Yeah. Very, very proud. Our little boy is not just some famous e-sport gamer with a teacherplex. But now, he is a famous e-sport gamer with a teacherplex, and a bi-pr personality, and has numerous yaoi stories about him. And to top all that, you are someone who can save the world." Peters was proud.


    "Wait. Yaoi stories?"


    "...You don''t know?"


    "I don''t. And I''m worried that you know."


    "Harker sent me those! He sent me Chris the ones with Zeek and Arthur and there both of us discovered that there was a lot!"


    "Why were you reading those?!"


    "Well, Chris made a bet that there would be more yaoi stories about Seeker than Lynd. He lost that bet. Lynd has like, twice more stories.


    Lynda was appalled but was clearly interested.


    "Are they... any good?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "...You want to read them?"


    "Are they good?" Lynda repeated.


    "Of course they''re good! The one writing it is an Unlocked and has a skill in writing!"


    "So you... read it?!"


    "I was... I was curious! There was one with Greydon Meng, for crying out loud! Wait! Why are we talking about this!?"


    "Ri-Right. Erm... Let''s just have Gardo edit this video so he can cut off these useless parts. He does have those video editing thingy."


    "Gardo? He''s a bit of a joker."


    "You really think that Gardo would do that thest message to our son?"


    "...You''re right."


    As the video yed, a subtitle caption appeared at the bottom.


    "They were SO wrong. I told them I will edit it but I left it here. This is revenge for nearly killing me in your emo period, Lynd! P.S. My condolences and cheer up, kid!" A message appeared and Lynd began tough as he read it.


    "Anyway... Lynd. You are one of the heroes of this Earth. You''ve grown so strong and we''re so proud as parents." Lynda began.


    "Yeah. We''re actually worried. You''ve be so strong, that we can''t save you from your battles. And that scares us." Peters sighed.


    "We don''t know how we will die, we can only hope that it would be so epic. But, honestly, against Presiders, who knows if we will just get killed in some random explosion or attack." Lynda added.


    "Yeah... If we fight those Principals, we won''t even know what hit us. How do you want to die, Hon?" Peters asked.


    "Hm... If it was me... I guess I want to see Lynd onest time. He must be so pissed and will be getting so much stronger like in those anime stories. I want to see my boy be that bad-ass hero!" Lynda chuckled.


    "What about you, hon?"


    "Me? Honestly? I don''t care, but I hope I''ll be holding your hands." Peters smiled.


    "A... Honey! This is for Lynd!"


    "I know! But he can tell if I''m lying, right?" Petersughed.


    "Anyway, Lynd. We suck at parenting. And we''re sorry for it. You were too young then, but I''m sure you can imagine what we had to run away from and how we were always covering our tracks so that our past won''t catch up with us. We wanted to give you so much more. But we had to be careful even how we spent our money. We were rash, and stupid, and had to cover up our mistakes. I would look at Chris, Grace, Jade, and even that boring, strict prick, Stevenson, and I''d say... wow! They are... great parents! I mean... they were smart! They provided... They got their kid''s stuff... You... you had to stay and y with Seeker all the time but never had things of your own. I... hated that. I''m happy you had Seeker and Meryl. But I was sad because I... I couldn''t be enough." Lynda gave a bitter smile.


    Peters watched silently and held her arm.


    "We only did what we could, Lynd. I hope... for you... at least it would be enough." Peters smiled.


    Lynd''s heart hurt. They were wrong. They were the best parents as far as he was concerned. He realized that thest emotions that Lynda had were this regret.


    "Mom... You did well... It was more than enough..." Lynd wept.


    "Lynd. I really wish that I could give you more. I really wish I could have worked harder to give you a better childhood since now, your youth is being taken away from you. I know that it would be selfish to despise your burdens... But I... I just wished we could have done more. Somehow, I wish I''d be like Zeek. I want to go back in time and use what I know now, not to do any world-changing or future-altering thing... You and Seeker can handle that. I would have just been... a better dad." Peters sighed.


    "Sorry for being sucky parents. If we knew the burden you carried now. We would have done crazier things to make you much happier." Lynda began to cry.


    "Welp... This is our regret. We just want to apologize. We don''t think you me us for our failures. We just know that we could have given so much more. Lynd. Live on. I hope that at the end of this, you''ll be able to settle down and be your own parent. And you will be a very great and awesome parent. I mean... The Way as a dad? That is sick, dude!" Peters tried to force augh as he held on to his tears.


    As Lynd continued to listen to the call, Seekermunicated with Arthur.


    "My calctions indicate that Lynd ought to be fine three minutes ago. Was I right?" Arthur asked.


    "Yeah... Three minutes ought to be that time..." Seeker answered.


    "Good. At least the time wasted for this emotional processing was within my calctions. What about you? Are you ok? My calctions indicate your not."


    "...No. I''m not ok, Arthur. It wasn''t enough. I was aiming for a perfect game in this New Game+. But a lot of deaths have happened. And... Lynd''s parents are gone. It could have been anyone. But as you said... there is no time to waste processing this emotion."


    "But you better get used to this, Zeek. My calctions are quite grim. Even with Alean''s power, we had quite a few deaths from higher-ranking people. And my worry is with you."


    "Me?"


    "I calcte that it would take Eagle to help you get over whatever emotional processing you need if Lynd dies. We can''t afford that. Have a mindset that everything you built and gathered so far, will start dying out from now on."


    "... How much time did you calcte I would waste in this emo phase if you die?"


    "I''m rather touched, Zeek. I estimate an entire day. Not bad. Our yaoi shippers will be happy."


    "...Yay Arthur-Zeek."


    "We''re actually called Arthur-Hump-Zeek. Way to murder my family name though. Dad is not happy."


    "Calling him dad now?"


    "We''ve mended the bridge with my sister now saved."


    "Well good for you."


    "But Zeek. I was being serious. If you don''t prepare yourself and you lose many of the important people that your Adult self vowed to not lose, you may decline in power. You won''t get weaker. But you also won''t get stronger. And Eagle may not be easily essible by then." Arthur warned.


    "I know... I''ll set my heart right in this."


    "You better. The Age of the Beasts ising. One beast has passed. Three more awaits."

 Chapter 569 The Bear

    The massive orbital that was headed toward Earth was now approaching the Sol Sr System.


    The dwarf, which had been reinstated as part of the officials of the Sol system, Pluto was in view.


    The massive Orbital was losing power fast due to the great battles that urred within.


    But as it approached, another Orbital that came from Mars approached.


    Inside the Orbital, was Enderks who watched the state of the ship.


    "So... That''s the Orbital. It looks like the battle it faced inside is even worse than the battles on Earth... No wonder they got dyed. They were supposed to be here three weeks ago... But it got dyed. And now, it would even take them close to a month if they assimte with my ship." Enderks smiled as he urged the Orbital to move ahead.


    "I wonder... who lived and who died? Is Presider Marrho even among them?" Enderks wondered.


    "Oh. You underestimate me, Enderks." Augh was heard.


    But Enderks was not worried.


    "Lightning Projection. I would have panicked if I was myself before..." Enderks smiled as he turned around.


    "I see that you... devoured one of the Devourer Five."


    "Devourer Five? Only one of them remains now. He even devoured one of them. Honestly, I never knew he had it in him to even eat the person who was practically his wife." Marrho chuckled.


    "In any case, who was your Presider War?"


    Enderks''s expression changed.


    "I''ll save it for my report to Principal Dormin."


    "Oh? It couldn''t possibly have been as bad as the ones we had. We nearly destroyed the ship. Some of us were even leading the rest to enter Principal Dormin''s quarters and they were instantly killed."


    "Then you must have seen Principal Dormin''s strength. Are you close to it?"


    "My real strength? I''ve long surpassed that. My current... no."


    "Tell me. Why is Prime Defiant acting like a ve here in this world? You''re not the big stack bully in that Orbital, are you?"


    "Big Stack Bully?"


    "Oh. Sorry. I thought since you were once Crostfree, you''d have his memories. It''s earthnguage. You''re not the Top Tower Presider inside the Orbital, right?"


    "If you had Crostfree''s body, then I would have killed you. But you''re right. I''m not the strong one. We were all shocked. We thought it would be me, Presider Render, or even, one of the five. But the one that rose is a Conqueror. Even I envy him."


    "Was it a Presider, or someone below it?"


    "A Presider, of course. Although, several Pioneers have risen and be Presiders now and taken over their master''s army. Anyway, Principal Dormin is here."


    "I just hope that Principal Dormin would not take offense."


    "He''s not interested, Enderks. Or should I say, Renkerdis? Besides... To him, we''re all food once we start ascending. A Presider is not any good meet. But a Principal, now that''s a different story for a devouring Principal like Dormin."


    "Tell me, why is he allowed to do this? Me and you are potential snacks that he will have if we do ascend. And he is among the low tiers of Principals. So why him?"


    "Low tiers? There is not much of a difference between the Low Tiers and the Mid Tiers. But obviously, the point of this was to turn things from a Presider War to a sh of Principals. Who will Conquer this battle? Will it be us, the new Principals that would rise, or will it be him? The hungry predator? You know the many battles we all faced in history. The Bebalians charted a map of victory but were defeated at thest moments. All these wars have the same purpose. To create someone more powerful. Come. Principal Dormin awaits."


    The two massive Orbitals began to meet. But as the two approached, they both merged and the two were being reconstructed.


    It wasn''t just that the two orbitals physically reformed themselves, it was altered into a whole new different thing even in the dimensions beyond.


    No longer was it an Orbital and close to bing a!


    The telescopes back at the moon''s earth caught sight of this and new reports were being scattered around the globe.


    Panic and chaos ensued and many civil wars emerged as many didn''t know what to do with them.


    Chaos rose and the only ces that had peace were countries where a City of Refuge was built, or in countries that created a Babel Tower.


    As the earth panicked, Enderks moved to meet the Principal.


    He had seen the inside and saw the surviving Presiders that had been changed by war and was impressed. Aside from two Mid-Tiers, and five Low-Tiers that were former Pioneers, the surviving Presiders were all Top Tiers.


    "Renkerdis? Servant of Erregnos!" A Top-Tier frowned.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Oh? Someone who has stolen some things from my master? Why don''t you be a good dog and give it back to me!" Enderksughed.


    "You!"


    "Enough." A voice boomed as the entire began to change.


    The Orbital was instantly reshaped into a whole new world and Dormin was seen seated on top of a high mountain that formed.


    "Renkerdis, huh? Your seniors gave me a lot of hardships. I could even attribute my defeat to them." Principal Dormin appeared. His appearance in the fourth dimension was spilling fort. He was like a huge bear with arge monstrous mouth that seemed to be devouring light itself!


    "Principal... I thank you for not ending my life."


    "Hmph. No point doing it now. If you survive the second phase of the Presider War, then I shall eat you." Dormin chuckled.


    "Tell me... How were your battles? How long did your little Presider war take? I sense a few left out of more than a dozen of you."


    "...That is why I agreed to meet with you, Principal. Earth has many mysteries. The actual war that took ce and the death of many Presiders only urred within a day!" Renkerdis''s expression changed.


    "A day?!" Many Presiders reacted.


    Even Marrho was stunned.


    "Yes. Crostfree was the first to die. After that, each Presider had their own skirmishes. I could see the plot everyone had. Alliances were made among the weak. And I had no choice but to do the same."


    "Hmph. Alliances. How is it that you have survived if you were so weak to do those things? Are you even a Conqueror?" Dormin sneered.


    "That''s the thing... There is another power rising. The Earthlings have won. Now as a. They have birthed groups, organizations, and armies, that are led by an individual simr to how Presiders lead an army. They don''t call themselves Conquerors but desire to create a shared throne. The Oveers."


    Dormin was startled as he heard those words.


    "Oveers? Are you certain?"


    "Yes."


    "Interesting. Did you know, that was what the Lost Primordial called himself back then? Someone who would not rise alone. So they really areing back. And they won the first half!"


    "They are changing thendscape of the battle. Principal, the whole Earth may be our enemy unless we kill them."


    "We? Why should I kill them?" Dorminughed.


    "But...! Their very presence created a strange... change in the flow of the battle! I didn''t understand it at first. But something strange is happening on earth. The power of Fate, or something stronger is at work! It''s helping the people of Earth win! Garenjazz was defeated! His luck ran out!" Renkerdis eximed.


    "What?!"


    "That Garenjazz lost?"


    "Impossible!"


    Many began to react to those words.


    Marrho was startled.


    "That Presider lost?" Marrho frowned.


    "How did he lose?" Dormin asked.


    "I was not around when he lost. All Presiders were tricked and fought at once. We were forced to fight an end-game battle and were all unprepared. But Garenjazz was always ready. Yet he lost! We have to destroy these Earthlings!"


    "...No. They will join the second half of this Presider War." Dormin smiled.


    "What?! But... They are earthlings!"


    "So? We were once Earthlings in the ages long ago."


    "But they should not be part of this Presider Wars!"


    "Really? Why? From your words, I am even more certain that they are Presiders. They might not be Presiders by how we define it just as how the Lost Primordial was not a Primordial by strict definition. You could call these Earthlings Lost Presiders. But they are still Presiders. And thews set to me apply. A Principal cannot directly attack a Presider unless they attack first." Dormin sneered.


    "Lord Principal... Then they are actual candidates?" Marrho asked.


    "Yes. If they fight and defeat me and be a Principal, then they can join the Principal war. And as thews state, if they win, they will be the only Principal around this area and will have full control of this ship. I can tell you with all confidence, that they will be the owners if they defeat me. I will only fight them if they seed and kill you all and ascend to be a Principal. Be it by form, or by deeds." Dormin smiled.

 Chapter 570 Back To School

    The ssrooms were empty. There were no teachers teaching, and no student''s listening.


    But outside the unused rooms, was a vast military drill and all students were there to fight.


    Loud shouts, screams of terror, painful weeping, and horrifying pleas to be saved could be heard.


    A young student stood and nced around the numerous bodies on the ground. Many of his schoolmates had fainted. Others were vomiting. Many more were trembling in fear. Those under him were not just students. Many were adults and were the parents of the students.


    "Let''s take a break. None of you guys seem to have any potential for unlocking. I don''t think I can recruit any of you for the vanguard. Lucky you, I guess. But man. I''m so unlucky. I''ll probably die within two months and I can''t even have a team with me..." The youth sighed.


    BOOM!


    "Oh. I guess I''m not so unlucky as I thought I would be." He chuckled. He nced over another area. It was then that he noticed that the ''instructor'' in the other area had been defeated!


    The entire ground had caved in and a young girl, around ten years old stood up.


    "...A Ranked Hero, huh. That should be the daughter of the Ranked Hero, Vender. As expected... A freak." The youth sighed.


    "Um... Hi." A young boy approached. He was even younger than the girl.


    The youth swallowed a mouthful as he saw the young boy. The young boy seemed innocent but the Unlocked student knew better.


    "You... You are?" The youth asked.


    "I''m Ricardo." The youth smiled.


    "Ah... Aren''t you that kid that... Commander Charles was...?"


    "Yes. Doctor Charles saved me and healed me. But he told me he had no choice but to increase my age. I''ll be twelve by the end of this month!" The boy was introduced.


    The student had a headache.


    "I suppose... to train you? Why don''t go over that man over there." The youth pointed towards a floating tform where many youths and adults would fight and be thrown down.


    "Erm... I''m scared of heights." The boy looked down afraid to nce at the tform.


    The youth''s mouth was open in shock.


    "Right... Because you are still a kid. But with your strength you should be able to jump up all the way to the top, right?" The youth asked.


    "Private... Train the kid." A voice was heard as Charles appeared.


    "Commander Charles!"


    "Ricardo, despite having an even more cancerous body than Meng or Seeker, is still a kid. We are not training them to fight. We are training them to be strong for our research. Just get along and fight him. Oh, and try to survive. If he hits you, you''ll probably die." Charles answered as he walked towards the main building.


    The young youth could only swallow another mouthful of saliva before turning to the kid and pleaded not to kill him.


    Charles could hear the conversation between the two.


    "Ricardo."


    "Yes, papa?" The young boy asked.


    Charles chuckled as he heard it.


    "Don''t listen to him. Try to hurt him."


    "Ok, Papa. You guys can start fighting."


    "WAIT!"


    BOOM!


    The sounds of explosions could be heard as the first of the young boy pounded on them.


    A woman watched from the windows of the building and kept her eyes on the blurring form of the child who was leaping from side to side as he tried to pound the fleeing youth.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    "Charles...! You''re here!" The woman turned to Charles and rushed to greet him. It was the love of Charles''s life. The woman that got away, who was now married to Charles.


    "Erm... Ferna, don''t hold on to me yet. I''m testing a new virus in my body. It''s quite dangerous." Charles stopped Ferna before she could hug him.


    "Another virus?" Ferna sighed.


    "It''s not an STD!" Charlesughed.


    "I''m sorry. I know we haven''t been together for nearly four days. I thought I could resolve it ever since my mission in space. I should have it under controlter tonight. We can have dinner then. Ricardo looks good. Was there any rpse while I was gone?" Charles asked.


    "No. He''s good. I''m just a little... bothered with his fast aging."


    "I understand. But I had no choice. Even with the data from Garenjazz, the easiest way tobat the firstborn gue was to quicken his growth. With Nogard''s Ageless techs perfected, you don''t have to worry about him growing up too fast. The adult''s body is stronger."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "But is it necessary to have him fight like this?"


    "For now, it''s training. But... Ferna. He will be forced to fight one way or the other. We all will be. Look around you! Pangea is now a country that trains students. We have to teach them our doctrine so they won''t betray us. But even then, we are expecting half to betray. Those who are half-hearted will only be used in the first wars so they could die. But with a Principaling, who is to say that our nation will endure?"


    "I understand. I know that it is necessary. But... Ricardo is just a boy. And boys his age should be..."


    "Boys his age shouldn''t be in the middle of a great war that could exterminate our race. Ferna. I''m sorry. I already did my best. That''s why everyone agreed to make him the experiment so that he won''t fight in the front lines. But do you understand what we''re sacrificing? How many lives he can save?"


    "I know. His power as a Rank Hero can use an army. I too will fight. I... just..."


    "Ferna. I love you. I really do. And I love Ricardo. That''s why I fought so hard so that he won''t ever be deployed unless necessary. But honestly... that''s bound to happen. The Presiders we are fighting are stronger. And we will face Principals. We have long passed the limit of Seeker''s memory. Our advantage is gone. All it is left is to fight."


    Ferna took a deep breath and nodded.


    "As long as it''s needed. I want my boy to also have fun as a kid."


    "That we will give. He will be trained to fight and will be the baseline for many of our experiments since he has the potential of a Ranked Hero. So unless the other Heroes die, he won''t stay on the sidelines. The same goes for Vender''s daughter."


    "He isn''t that old and his responsibilities are even more than what adults can bare."


    "I know... It hurts me too. I had a hard time arguing with Seeker and Arthur. I lost. Right now, the goal is to get him to master the Unlocking and reach the level of Inhuman at the very least. That way he can control the speed of his growth with his Unlocking. Although, you know how kids are. Always hoping to age fast. So you''ll have to convince him to stay ."


    "...I know."


    "So how''s your training? Is Alean treating you, right?" Charles changed the subject.


    "I thought I would not have to experience life reviews after reaching Unbing. I was wrong. I''m not alright, but there is progress..."


    "Honestly, I hoped you won''t show potential to be Inhuman. That way I could have convinced everyone to be on the sidelines. But I know you want to be strong to at least live up to the legacy of Lynda and Peters."


    "I just want to protect my kid and you, So I take it that Seeker''s back?" Ferna asked.


    "Yes."


    "What was the mission, anyway?"


    "Taking control of the moon from the Pioneers and creating a lunar wolf virus."


    "A lunar wolf and bat virus?" Charles smirked.


    "One of Arthur''s ns. When that Orbitales, it doesn''t matter who is in control of the moon. They will give way to new management. If those Presiders will create bases on the moon when they return, a werewolf and vampire gue will attack them given the right time. This will help our forces secure victory in a crucial time."


    "Sounds terrifying."


    "It is. There are also several deadly diseases there. The Locust gue poison that the Aragarians developed way back with Feltrick Ung-ive in My-Pangea has been perfected and will kill a lot of them up there. Air-borne cancer, the First Born... All of it. And we have carefully ced them so that they would start killing only when the Presiders will be there." Charles had an evil smile.


    "Commander!" A soldier arrived.


    "Yes?"


    "General Seeker is looking for you."


    "Ah. Duty calls. See you." Charles nodded and moved deeper within the building.


    Charles moved into the depths of the school and finally arrived at the elevator that brought them several kilometers deep underground.


    At the depths of the earth, was a prison.


    A man was seated with chains bound all over him and he could not move. He was just a human and had no form of power, but the Unlocked dared not underestimate him.


    "Garenjazz. How goes the day?" Charles smiled as he saw him.


    Garenjazz did not answer as he was unconscious.


    "Hm? Seeker? Lynd? Where are you?''


    WARP!


    Suddenly, a gigantic gori appeared out of nowhere.


    The entire room changed and Charles saw himself in the middle of arge forest. The giant gori roared and ran towards Charles, with each step causing a thunderous thump.


    It lifted its paw and mmed it down toward Charles.


    Charles frowned and harnessed his cells to instantly develop cancer.


    "Surmounting Might!" Charles shouted as he punched at the iing fist.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 571 Mind Of A Human

    Charlesunched a powerful attack at the approaching gori.


    His fist shot out and contained powerful cancerous cells that made his attack stronger than most Ranked Heroes.


    But suddenly, the fist struck nothing and the gori passed through him.


    "An illusion?!" Charles was stunned. He was an Unlocked that had reached the levels of Ranked Hero. His perception was far greater than the most advanced sensory techs the WGP had. His eyes could see in numerous wavelengths. His ears were attuned to all frequencies. He could feel minute vibrations and his mind was trained to react to the smallest of things.


    And yet, his advantages failed him. He believed the creature before him.


    The entire room warped and they were once more brought into the same room where Garenjazz was.


    "What?!" Charles was surprised.


    "You weren''t brought into a dream world if that''s what you''re thinking." A voice was heard.


    Charles turned to see an exhausted young man approach.


    "Lowengren! That was you?!"


    "Yes. It worked. My lies fooled you there."


    "But... how?! I felt it all! I thought it was all real!"


    "I was finally able to harness my Path and spread it out in the form of a realm. Garenjazz created a world of luck. And with his help, I managed to create a world of lies." Lowengrenughed.


    Charles was shocked.


    "You... now have the power to create lies!"


    "I did use a bit of Garenjazz''s dream technology. But unlike Garenjazz which can create things, mine is just illusions and bending of light."


    "It felt so real! I even smelled the scent of that ape!"


    "Yes. That part is my lies taking form. Hopefully, we can reach a point where the powers of Garenjazz would be true. Truth and Lies in one mix. That would pack quite a punch."


    "We''ll need that when they doe."


    "How formidable. I thought it wouldn''t work. But if this Ranked Hero was easily fooled, then it could fool Presiders." Garenjazz chuckled.


    "Garenjazz? He''s awake?"


    "He''s very, very cooperative. You could even call him an ally."


    "I just want to stay alive, that''s all. Besides, this whole bible thing really is surprising. To think that it even predicted me! Although, in my case, Nebuchadnezzar served as a typology and a forerunner to me."


    "Ah, the lion with the eagle''s wings who had his wings plucked and now stood on his two feet and was given by the Lord the mind of a human. You truly are Nebuchadnezzar! Now you have the mind of a man just as is stated in Daniel 7. Here to aid humankind in their battles against the beast. Eagle''s sermons continue to prove themselves to be true." Charles smiled as he observed Garenjazz.


    "I guess I should have started reading the bible when I got here..." Garenjazz sighed.


    "Where is Seeker, anyway?"


    "Talking to Zeraphine, of course. And since my powers have worked on you, I have to go down there and lie to that girl and create visions that will push her away from the truth."


    "I have to admit... of all the things that made me lose, I never expected Seeker''s New Game+ to be the solution. I do know that Primes and even Principals have ways to alter time. But I always thought it would all be voided as everyone will time travel. But it seems that the Lost Primordial made a lot of preparation and used powers that could only be called predestination." Garenjazz nced above.


    "If you guys survive the Principal, then it may be, that this Prime Wars is just another n for the Primordial to give rise to a powerful Prime for his own purposes. The Lost Primordial predestined you all to be this Prime that will fight, but the Primordial is hoping that you would be strong enough and unlock more secrets for him to get to those dimensions." Garenjazz chuckled.


    "Whatever the case, I''m out of luck. I wonder what my future holds. The Bear is said to be the weakest of all Principals. But while there is truth in that, I feel that his being in the bible as the next beast toe would indicate an arrangement by the that is a lie to get him to be here. Will you conquer the bear? Or will it devour you and turn this whole Unlocking thing to be mere tributes to be offered to the Primordial?"


    "That''s why we are going to have the Bible study." Seeker''s voice echoed as he rose from a tform.


    "So? Do I need to go down there?" Lowengren asked as Seeker rose.


    "Eat up so you can go down there and present yourself as that Presider Enderks."


    "Renkerdis." Garenjazz corrected.


    "So that''s the guy you wanted toe out as the victor, huh? If you want to convince Zeraphine that this guy won and was the real plotter of everything and had allied with the Lost Primordial, you''ll want to make a proper show. Enderks is actually Renkerdis."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "...Oh. Does he look the same as he did when he fought?"


    "Wear Tiana''s body instead. With her defeat, Renkerdis must have worn her body and taken over her Nefilus suit. But may I ask why you are doing this? Why continue to lie to her? Why continue to keep her in chains? The techs you got from me are more useful. And I''ve already told you, her power is that of the soul! If she found out about Seeker being from the future, what harm will it make?" Garenjazz then stopped as a strange thought entered his mind.


    "Shackstress has seen her soul," Lowengren exined.


    "And boy... it was weird. You already know that her power is from that of a Prime and that there were many secrets about her soul body, right?"


    "What did Shackstress say?" Garenjazz frowned.


    WARP!


    "Why not just ask, little ol'' me, Garenjazz?" Shackstress appeared. But her appearance was that of Zoe.


    "Shackstress? You''re finally alive..."


    "It took a week, but yes. Lennox had to pull me ought with the help of the Tyrant Empress. Nogard''s soul technology allowed me to have this fake life. As long as Seeker lives, I will also live. In some way, I''m just like you, Garenjazz. Someone who has... the mind of a man!" Shackstress chuckled.


    "I sure miss having you around my head, Zoe." Seeker sarcastically remarked.


    "Your life is very unstable."


    "Yes. And you have to feed a lot since you''re living off Amir''s wolfish cells, and the lifeblood of Akasha." Charles noticed the strange elements within her.


    "Basically, I am alive thanks to the Truth. The Way prepares it, the Truth sets the foundation for Life to appear. But I wonder who among the present Oveers will get that title?" Shackstressughed.


    "Oh? So it''s possible for me to live a life beyond human."


    "Like we will release you. The reason why we haven''t released Zeraphine is also the same as why we haven''t released you."


    "The curse of the Primordial. I''m aware of that. But so what of it? Me, I understand. I am more of a Conqueror than her. But she took allies. The curse is weak on her."


    "I thought the same thing. But her soul has something much more than that. I don''t know what Prime Zephirus did. But the curse will threaten us because it''s rted to the Lost Primordial. Seeker and the rest are the sprouted seeds that will bear fruit. But she is the bird that will pluck the seed."


    "Howplicated."


    "It''s much more than that. You see, this curse is quite powerful. Right, Seeker?" Shackstress smiled.


    Seeker was silent and turned around.


    "Wait... You can''t mean... You and her?!" Garenjazzughed.


    "I saw it when I hid my soul inside Seeker. The memories of these two and the betrayal that followed. Zeraphine is a mystery. She doesn''t appear to have the Conqueror''s will. But she has a certain drive that even you don''t have Garenjazz. She will not allow earthlings to win."


    "Is that so? Odd."


    "It''s very odd. I became free of the curse when I died and a wisp of my soul found life within Seeker. But during that battle against you, when I poured my soul into her, I felt that. Whatever it is, it''s dangerous. Zeraphine is no conqueror. She should not have betrayed Seeker in that past life. So why did she?"


    "Charles." Seeker spoke as he ignored the two Presiders'' talk.


    "It''s high time that I learn the foundation of THAT sickness."


    "Are you sure? Lynd nearly died trying. Just like him, you are a firstborn after all. If you get its foundation, you might die as it would lead you to a worse state than Lynd. This disease is deadly, Zeek. And I have made it a disease that can kill even those who are Unlocked."


    "I''m not sure of this. But we need to start now. If this disease is weaponized by the enemy, we need a cure. This one isn''t an average disease. It''s like an angel of death is out to strike and kill. A power that moves beyond the three dimensions that we cannot see even with everything we''ve achieved."


    "...Fine. I guess if you put it that way, we have to risk it. I''ll give you one cell. One cell and pray to the Lord Almighty that it won''t smite you as it did to those in Egypt. I don''t even carry that cell around and isted it from my body. It''s hidden in my ship." Charles sighed.


    "Thanks. Get it ready. And... it seems that we have to go. Tell everyone who is anyone to pack up."


    "So... it''s starting, huh? All Emperors and Empresses are gathering?"


    "Yes. I''ll start studying that dangerous gue of yours after the Bible Study. Let''s go guys. Time to destroy the World''s Helm." Seeker began to move.


    Far out in the ocean, a gathering of Emperors and Empresses of the world was about to start. All Emperors and Empresses were called and all that had a Rule to sit on moved to discuss the next point of action on what to do with the approaching alien mothership that had entered the Sol System.

 Chapter 572 Gathering Of Emperors

    The video of the massive Orbital that merged at the edge of the sr system brought great alert to the world.


    Many nations were debating whether they should pledge their alliance to the aliens that will appear. With the information being ryed from the Pioneers, it brought more fear across the world.


    The Underworld''s activities had surfaced and many things that it once did in secret came to light.


    The need for human trafficking increased as many nations sought to buy Pioneers and nteds that were captured after the revtion of their existence.


    People were also gathering people across the world to serve as soldiers.


    Assassinations, politically motivated attacks, rape, and murder became so rampant that almost everyone in the world would know of such crimes beingmitted by people they personally knew.


    Eagle''s ministries became targeted for spreading indoctrinating teaching that made the Lost Primordial depicted as an ally. Many supported the ministry of Calvin Luther Eagle and defended these leading to attacks from both sides.


    Many nations began to copse into anarchy and only a few nations remained stable.


    The Americas and Canada remained as stable as before. And talks of unifying the two great nations were in ce. The Rotting Lands had all of its regtions and rules lifted and all men were wee to be recruited into a militarized superpower.


    Other nations remained stable. The South Pacific Confederate, whichpromised Pangea, SPU, and Australia, skyrocketed with the wealth they were already amassing. Massive mobile fortresses appeared and an army equipped with powerful Exoskeletons and several supremes appeared.


    The powers that brought down Egypt and the many Presiders who fought there were equipped in the army and disyed powerful forms.


    The Basilisk Squadron led by the chosen champion of the Lost Primordial, a simple drug dealer who now was one of the earth''s mightiest defenders was promoted as its proud general and exploited his battles and how he used his power to break through an army of men through his immeasurable calction skills.


    The Confederates boasted how their men surpassed even the aliens in calctions and with that surpassed all.


    Rumors of Lowengren being alive were also made known and that the battle in Australia was not against humans but the secret organizations of the Presiders.


    It was also revealed that Israel had be the center of a surviving Presider. Massive infrastructures appeared in Israel and the ancient city of Babylon appeared.


    A massive Babel stood at what everyone believed to be the Tower of Babel.


    Greece was also rising to prominence and an alliance between the two Presiders was evident.


    It was also presenting mega structures as gigantic floating fortresses that towered above the skies and made themselves part of the city.


    Lanterk revealed himself to be a clone of a powerful Principal and threatened annihtion if Earth were to attack him or his ally.


    Pridgeon also appeared and revealed himself to be among the Presiders who held control on Earth. At the flip of a switch, thousands of Pioneers and nteds died on that day as Pridgeon utilized his connections and privileges to the Orbital back then.


    With these powerful forces on the rise, the WGP was no longer feared and while it tried to reveal a show of force to scare the world, many nations even began to broadcast to space their desire to ally with the alien forces.


    Recordings of the battle in Egypt that each nation had which provided details about the battle not released were also leaked and these were all broadcast to theing Presiders as information.


    This created a civil war as many nations still feared the forces on Earth and those who fought in Egypt that managed to defeat these Presiders.


    The WGP convened to talk about this very same thing.


    The Phoenix n was proven to be allies of the Lost Primordial and were representatives that urged the WGP to fight against theing threat.


    A massive stadium where numerous Rules were seated was prepared. All Emperors and Empresses were present and every family was preparing for a Throne War to emerge in case the negotiations would lead to war.


    The Many Mansions of the Phoenix n had just docked and all of its members left.


    "Traitor! You traitors!" Another Emperor shouted at the sight of them.


    "You are allied to those murders! How many emperors have fallen to them!? Traitors of mankind?"


    "Really? I am the traitor? We have information that you have been secretly making deals with a team of Pioneers that served a defeated Presider. We both are traitors in that definition. The difference is... The ones I sided with won!" Phoenixughed and suddenly, everyone was starting to receive messages about all the deals and trades and how the Emperor who used him made deals with groups that benefited various Presiders.


    Everyone was alerted and saw the files and many Emperors were struck with fear by how detailed the report was! It even went back so many years ago!


    "And you call us traitors, but when my daughter, Everhiss was lost in one of their shes, you did nothing! You are the traitors! You cared not for your fellow Emperor because you were too scared! So tell me, who is the traitor?! Anyone else has usations of how my family was traitors?" Phoenixughed.


    "Most of us didn''t know about these aliens and you were the first to find out! And you-"


    "And we took action. If we didn''t these aliens would have taken control so long ago! But we''ll present everything in the Seats of the World. Every secret will be presented and all of you who held on to certain beneficial deals to enrich yourself will be revealed. We also understand more about what these aliens want than all of youbined. You spoke to the lowest ranks. nteds and Pioneers but we have captured Presiders. Do you know who approaches that Orbital? Do you know the basic techs they all have? Do you understand the great victory we''ve achieved by defeating Top-Tier Presiders? Do you even know what a Top Tier is?" Phoenix boasted.


    "Sounds to me that you are a Presider and not a human!" Another Emperor used.


    Phoenixughed and he tinkered with his device and everyone suddenly received files in their Comm Device.<novelnext></novelnext>


    It was a recording of the Emperor talking with his family members.


    "We have no choice! Side with those Orbitals! Our entire family''s wealth and fortune cannot fight against these aliens! Those on Earth may be siding with humanity, but what of it? We will lose against it! That ship is as huge as the moon! I say we side with the aliens!"


    The recording shocked everyone.


    The recording was from the perspective of one of the families of the Emperor. They could see the recording as if someone on their Rule was recording the entire conversation.


    KZZT! KZZT!


    Lightning energy appeared in one of the Rules and moved towards Phoenix.


    "Presider techs are useful, aren''t they? Be careful where you charge your Rule for its energy. Not every Origin energy that was being released at the destruction of those ships was useful. Some of them were energies released by the Lost Primordial. I have recordings from all of you! It''s about time for us to destroy the smug confidence of Emperors and show the world how wicked, corrupt, and selfish we really are!" Phoenixughed as he moved forward and no other Emperor stopped them in fear of what could happen to them.


    Many panicked and rushed to make preparations fearing that their secrets would be made known to the world!


    The Phoenix n entered their chambers and within the room, thest of the delegates to begin another meeting several times more important than the meeting of the WGP was also starting.


    All the top Ranked Heroes and exceptional Inhumans had gathered. There were many whose names were not known as they were forced to fight in the Underworld and had to put a stop to many other armies all over the world.


    The Unlocked had many battles apart from the main fight. Each Oveer had been funding their armies to fight in numerous battles across the world. Battles with underwater cities, shes against the WGP and their Invoking, fights against Pioneers who had been vying for power in the chaos of the Shackstress''s death and from other stolen Presider techs, and many more.


    Apart from those who had been acquainted with Seeker, nine more Unranked individuals who had powerful Paths rose in these dangerous battles.


    Two trained assassins reach a level of strength that allowed them to even beat some members of the Fang. These two were soldiers from the Meng family army. One among the vampires of Akasha became strong enough to create his skill and was epted to have Ranked Hero strength. The number of Amir''s Alpha werewolves also increased. There were two secret experiments of Lennox who was now among the group. The Realm King also found a man with powerful telepathic abilities and became his official disciple.


    Lastly, the two kids sat among these heroes. They were the kids that should have died from the gue of the First Born, and the very ones that Charles did his best to keep alive.


    Meryl arrived and many heads turned toward her.


    "So that''s Meryl. One of the top ten of the so-called First Generation." A young man with a strange glove worn smiled.


    "Kid. You have a long way to go if you want topare yourself with Meryl." Force of the Fangsughed as he heard this.


    "Force, you''re the one to talk." The manughed. He had proven himself and won a match against two of the Fangs.


    "Kid, you may be stronger than me, but don''t think that any of Seeker''s original team are anyone that you could easily mess with. You sprouts who suddenly rose up after the series of wars are too green topare yourself to them." Forceughed.


    WARP!


    Seeker appeared out of thin air and his teleportation abilities surprised even the Void Assassin.


    "Interesting."


    "I was passing a different realm." Seeker smiled.


    "The dream realm. I''ll try to get there on my own." Rai vowed.


    "If anyone can do it, it''s you, Lillybeth." Lowengrenughed.


    The doors opened and a beautiful woman walked inside.


    The entire room was silent and was shocked at her beauty.


    "I thought... we were assured that she won''t use her powers, master..." The Realm King''s disciple was a woman in herte twenties. She was deaf but now, her hearing was so great she could hear anything within one kilometer.


    "She isn''t using her powers, Brey." The Realm King smiled.


    "You''re mistaking her natural, raw, and beautiful form with her powers."


    Brey was amazed at the beauty of the Tyrant Empress. Her eyes nced across the room and smiled.


    "Alright. Let''s start this."


    Finally, the awaited keynote speaker for this ''conference'' had arrived.


    The man hovered towards the stage and nced across the room full of Oveers and Heroes.


    "Let''s begin this Bible study, with a word of prayer." Eagle smiled and bowed his head.

 Chapter 573 The Arrogant Everhiss

    The entire assembly was silent as Eagle began his sermon. And as that happened, the grand stage above was already in chaos.


    The Everhiss n, led by Phoenix entered the main arena.


    "Everhiss n! You traitors!" A shout was heard and there, the Rednal family leader appeared and shouted at them in anger.


    But Phoenix only sneered at the man.


    During the battle in Egypt, there were a few WGP Emperors inside the Many Mansions of the Everhiss n. But as the battle in Egypt escted and the Everhiss family knew that the best oue followed the defeat of several Presiders.


    The worst-case scenario was that the Unlocked would lose more than half of all heroes and Oveers fighting in that battle. Arthur nned their future with that in mind. In that scenario, Phoenix would have yed like an old fool that followed the whims of the WGP.


    But the ending of the battle was a great sess. The Unlocked army lost great and noble men who sacrificed their lives to preserve those stronger than them. And at the end, the Unlocked gained the ships of Garenjazz and Zeraphine. They had Garenjazz and Shackstress''s knowledge guiding them and this gave Phoenix the option to initiate their other prepared protocol. In the very unlikely event that the Unlocked doesn''t lose an Oveer and gain so much more, they would initiate a certain protocol.


    They suddenly activated Rai''s Void Realm powers that forcibly flung the Rednal family out of their ship and into a farawaynd. But the way that Phoenix arranged the portal, it was as if the ship of Phoenix was suddenly attacked and the Rednal family and the other Emperors inside the ship were thrown out.


    Phoenix gave the WGP onest chance to see sense in fighting alongside Seeker. But his attempts were futile. And so, they opted to perform the Lazarus mission.


    The protocol made it look like there was a sudden takeover of the Many Mansions of the Everhiss family. Forces of unknown origin had entered it and the Everhiss n sent out critical distress signals as if they were facing a grave battle. But the WGP did not aid them.


    Phoenix felt sad because their family abandoned them. But this gave all of the Everhiss family the resolve to sever all ties and prepared to challenge all of the WGP who had chosen to abandon them.


    In the short time that passed since the victory of the Unlocked Army, the Many Mansions was thought to be under the ownership of one of the Lost Primordials suddenly revealed itself to be the Everhiss n all along!


    And that ship was now docking in the World''s Helm with all of the Everhiss marching into the grand arena where all emperors and empresses would meet.


    The Rednal family head was enraged as he saw Phoenix walking. Many warned him that this Phoenix may be a clone or some controlled puppet of the Lost primordial.


    Miranne Everhiss, his husband, and their daughter were in attendance and surprisingly had Rules of their own! They marched into the grand arena and all the WGP saw them and frowned. But everyone was silent because they had seen the tricks of Phoenix who could reveal their many secrets.


    And while the meeting of all WGP Emperors had not yet begun, Phoenix went ahead and addressed everyone.


    "Seventh Rednal and Mender Mvas were there. They watched with us, and my family as Egypt had its battles. The Presiders revealed themselves. But this was all part of the Lost Primordial''s n. Since I''ve known of their existence, I have begged and pleaded with many of you to fight these alien threats. The Lost Primordial is, after all, the closest to an ally that Earth can have. And do you know how it yed out?" Phoenix smiled.


    And Phoenix let out a recording of his discussion with Rednal.


    "If we join together and activate the true power of the Rule in the World Helm, we could even defeat them!"


    "That is suicide!"


    "Then what do you suggest? What ns does the Rednal family have to fight them?"


    "We will die if we do your n! The WGP will lose power if we fight an all-out war! We wait! We wait for them to kill each other! And whoever is the victor, we ally with them then!"


    "That will leave the earth in taters by then! Look! Don''t you see what will happen after a battle like that? All of Egypt will probably be devastated!"


    "That''s my point! Those ships could easily destroy even the strongest countries in this world! The WGP cannot fight all of those things! Let them kill each other! We join and submit to the strongest one! The world could burn! Most of these nations are allied with this alien group in the first ce! Haven''t you been paying attention?!" Seventh Rednal shouted as the frame froze on his angry expression.


    "Truthfully, the Lost Primordial assumed that they would have great losses in that battle. But as it turns out, they had so much gained. They lost none of their Presiders as they fought Top Tiers! The spoils of the battle were so much that they don''t care what happens with the WGP! So, I wonder, do all of you share Seventh Rednal''s take? Will all of you desire to ally with the winner, the Lost Primordial? Of course not." Phoenixughed.


    "You are scared because you see the two orbitals merging at the edge of our Sr system. You are scared because you heard of Principals. This assures your defeat. You don''t understand as much as we do. You speak to Pioneers and nteds but they don''t know the way Presiders and those beyond it think! The Presiders did not juste here to im Earth. They are here to fight in a Presider War. To give rise to a new power. Everything that the world of Aragarians does is geared to a single purpose. To get stronger and breach thest dimensions. I will bring you to the works of Pastor Eagle who spoke of this in his sermons. They seek heaven. It''s real. It absolutely is. You''ve seen how they bend space and time and create new dimensions¡­ It''s all real."


    But as Phoenix spoke, most Emperors rejected the message.


    "Shut up!"<novelnext></novelnext>


    They hated Phoenix because he told them the truth.


    Many Emperors couldn''t take it much longer and theyunched massive attacks.


    "Magantae. Chase." Phoenix smiled.


    The two members of the family were not officially recognized as part of the Emperors of the Phoenix n. Chase was a former Commander serving in the Kraken based in Pangea, while Magantae was the Admiral in the Kraken.


    A shocking scene appeared. Both of them left their Rules and moved to the front to block the attack.


    The two were members of the Seven Notes. They had received a portion of Richie''s powers.


    "Walls of Jericho!" The father and daughter team only spoke of the words and a powerful vibration energy formed.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The many attacks of various Emperors could not breach the sound wall.


    All members of the Everhiss n sat down and made taunting gestures.


    One of the older Empresses even yed a match-three game projected above her and some of the other older Empresses were impressed at how high she was at the level.


    "Use the bomb!"


    "Not yet. Make a five to get that rainbow color!"


    The scene added more rage to the many Emperors who saw the Everhiss n as people showing off their power.


    Two of the Emperors who were seated at the front had a casual look but their devices were on full alert monitoring any changes in the third dimension.


    "These guys are crazy. They expect either Pridgeon or Lanterk to move in and attack the World''s Helm. And what do they do? Host a bible study." The Emperor spoke to hispanion. They used no techs but spoke at a faster, and higher frequency.


    "It''s insane, but a reasonable type of insane. This is the best time to have a secret meeting. This meeting will determine the future ns of all our forces. Since the Presiders know about our existence, we are now susceptible to spying and all that. And this bible study is very important. After this meeting, each army will be radio silent towards each other and everyone will fight their own battles until the time they muste together again at the opportune time."


    "And we don''t get to listen to this?"


    "We are just emperors. What are we against gods?"


    As the Emperors of the world began their discussion, Eagle began his sermon.


    But as he began, Seeker could not help but feel a strange aura around Eagle.


    Eagle noticed the many troubled eyes.


    "As you may have noticed, my power has diminished for the time being. That battle against Quera really did a number on me. I believe my power to speak the truth has been hindered just as the Good Lord nned." Eagle smiled.


    Many were stunned at Eagle''s revtion.


    Nogard frowned. This meeting was necessary so that everyone would be forcibly united under one banner. He didn''t care if Christianity was real or fake. But if Eagle had the power to convince them all, everyone needed to believe this to unite them.


    "But do not fear. For in my weakness, is the perfection of God''s power. I cannot ess my path, so I may not take glory in my flesh, that if you all choose to believe, it will be because of God. And so, we begin this bible study, to discuss the end so that we know where to begin. Let''s discuss the different views in eschatology."

 Chapter 574 Eschatology (1)

    "Eschatology." Eagle began.


    "It is a branch of theology that mainly deals with the End Times. Taken from the greek word eschatos, we take a look at the end. And this Bible study is for us to discuss which eschatology we will use to shape the world. But of course, one must ask, why?"


    Eagle hovered over to the middle of the room where various projections began and created a 3D hologram at the center.


    At that moment, everyone was drawn and attracted to the power of Eagle.


    Origin energy leaked out and the entire area was filled with Realm.


    Everyone could feel it and everyone allowed the Realm to affect them.


    There were a few who was hesitant, but because Eagle was weakened, their pride in refusing to be the inferior one surfaced.


    All the Oveers allowed the Realm to reach them in order to test and prove their will as Oveers.


    All but Richie, who was listening intently and excitedly at the sermon of Eagle.


    "So why are we even doing this? Why are we hosting this study? Because it''s necessary. Seeker has actually told me many things about the future. And while he managed to change the present, the battles we are yet to face will be far worse than the very worst case in his memories. For example, to the most pressing question, why do we need more people?" Eagle smiled and the data of the number of soldiers that each Presider had was being disyed.


    "These are the numbers that we faced. Egypt had her millions. If not for a n to force all Presiders to fight thisrge nation, we would never have won. The reality is this, we need millions more. And so, we are crafting a world with events, with situations, and with a guiding light to force people to achieve the Unlocking."


    "And we are going to use¡­ religion?" Nogard asked.


    "Yes. Even in Seeker''s alternate timeline, it was what we used. You see, the Lost Primordial prepared the seeds and nted them. Somewhere in our history, the peak of his experiments allows us to harness powers without needing the Nefilus Beasts or the Suits. But the Unlocking is very difficult to achieve even with our current resources."


    The next screen was disyed and it gave the general statistics on how many resources are needed to create an army.


    "This is the cost that all you spent to make some. And even with all this, our forces barely reach ten thousand if webine all and exclude the vampires, werewolves, and other uncontroble forces. And facing our future enemies, we do not have the option of dividing the kingdom of Satan. We won the first round because they fought each other. But imagine, if two Presidersunch their full army against us. They will have numbers four to five times that of our own. And we cannot afford to deploy useless people. Everyone has to be at the Proficient stage of Unbing to even be of use in this battle. And in a Top-Tier battle, we''ll need Inhumans at the least. And how can we manage that? So we try to shape the world into what we want it to be."


    "And that is¡­ war and chaos?" The Realm King guessed.


    "Not just war and chaos. Many of you may not know this, but Seeker has ns to poison the sea. To alter nature and deste the world with great famines. We need utter desperation in this world. Each nation will rise up against the nation. Many will sell themselves to the Aragarians and create their own massive kingdoms which will show itself as a temptation for many. And as for us, we be the light of the world." Eagle exined as he used his powers to bring out the bibles.


    "And this will be our tool. In order to change the world to cause many to be Unlocked, we have to tell those that are seeds that it is possible for them to gain this power if they have faith. My ministries have started sowing and reaping. Many people around the world believe in Jesus because of how we are able to recreate the events in the Bible. The once-distant miracles that we read about the gues of Egypt have now returned. People are turning to it and finding how the things that were to be treated as fairytales are to be the truth. And if we can harness that, and allow the world to fall into desperation, it will surely give rise to Unlocked." Eagle exined.


    "And that would create a chain reaction." Nogard nodded.


    "The statistics and science is set on many of our experiments. In a group where we tried to force the Unlocking into them without using any of the drugs, if one among the group achieves the Unlocking, the chances of everyone achieving Unbing rises up to three hundred percent. If we can manage that on a global scale, then we would be able to win and surprise the enemy."


    The world map was disyed and it revealed all the rising countries that had gained stability next to the Babels and the Cities of Refuge.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "The Presiders that wille here will undoubtedly use the nations they settle in to make them their soldiers and equip them with their own weapons and techs. Trust in the selfishness of man. Trust that they will side with the strong. The loyalties of nationalism and morality will be thrown away. Are we not here in the WGP, the strongest force on Earth, and they are discussing whether to fight against the Aragarians or submit? And we all know that the WGP will still have groups that will choose to submit. And I don''t me them. Honestly, if we disregard everything else, what use is nationalism against an alien threat that can wipe out humanity? Survival. Isn''t this what nature is? Even their prophets say that and describe evolution as such. It is the preservation of the favored races. Those that can adapt and evolve in a changing world will survive." Eagle exined.


    Suddenly, the map began to change in color as Arthur''s predicted countries of where the Presiders will settle will arrive. With Zeraphine, Garenjazz, and Shackstress''s information, Arthur listed down all Presiders who are believed to have journeyed to Earth on the Orbital.


    Each country had a Presider''s name and a percentage of the likelihood for it to ur.


    "We have to thank our very own Arthur, the reincarnation of the Prophet Daniel for giving us this information. These are also the countries in which I now have established a powerful hold on the underground churches that continue to evangelize and teach. Imagine that by the time the Aragarians arrive and take over these nations, they will wage war against us. And from within their ranks, many will be converted to Christianity. And when people start achieving the Unlocking, they will treat it as a miracle and the chain reaction will be so glorious that this entire nation will birth spies and soldiers that will fight for a cause! In a scenario where this n is executed perfectly, imagine charging into an army of earthlings who have sided with the Presider. And then, I use my power and these people will suddenly fight the Presider and use what the Presider gave to them against him."


    Everyone began to nod. It was indeed a very impressive n.


    "Using Eagle''s powers to convert them¡­ It''s quite formidable." Amir smiled.


    "Yes. Have we not seen the power of religion all over the world? Be it Christianity, Muslim, Buddhism, or even cultic and crazy religions, the power to change a man through faith is not to be underestimated. But s, we fight Presiders. We have seen their power. Garenjazz holds luck! If another Presider arises with this, then my power of converting people will be weakened. If there are those who have powers like mine or Lowengren''s, then our chances drop all the more."


    Lowengren nodded.


    "And so, we need to add more truth to this. We have to set the foundations to make Christianity more believable. And so, eschatologyes to y. If we are able to show the world that the Bible is true, it will increase our chances of converting people. But since the Bible is a mystery, schrs have debated as to how the End Times will happen. And while there are good and powerful points in some of these views, we are going to pick which suits our cause. In short, we will decide which of theologies are true."


    "I never thought a pastor like you would be so¡­ arrogant. Aren''t you presuming to decide what God means about the End times?"


    "Not really. I have faith. I believe that I am merely an instrument to do what God has destined long ago." Eagle chuckled.


    "Anyway, the End Times is generally divided on how literal you interpret the Bible. Now, first of all, the Bible uses literature, poetry, expressions, exaggerations, and all other forms that we use in our day-to-daynguage. When I say to interpret it literally, I do not mean that we take it word for word, but understand the general concept."


    "So like¡­ if I''m reading the Bible and I want to know what God is saying to me, and I open it and randomly read a verse, and I find Judas hanged himself, and then flip to another page and read ''go and do likewise'' I should hang myself?" Gardo chuckled.


    Some began to chuckle at the side as they were affected by Gardo''s power.


    "Ah, that old example is fitting. That''s actually a good example, Gardo! Thanks! Just like that expression, when I saw ''take the Bible literally'' it means to understand its context. Do we hang ourselves like how Gardo exined? Or do we read the context of the Bible first? When the Bible coined the expression ''apple of my eye,'' and yes, the Bible is the source of that expression for those who did not know, we know it''s a metaphor. We do not denynguage. Another example of literal contexts would be to take the word ''Israel'' in the Bible and interpret it as the nation of Israel. But the Bible uses ''Jacob'' or ''Ephraim'' allegorically to mean Israel as well."


    "Pastor Eagle. I''ve done my reading and I eventually arrive at a state of confusion. Some theologians refer to Israel as the Church. Some talk about the Old and the New Covenants and therefore even if we follow what you said and interpret it ording to its literal context, depending on the perspective, interpretation, or on which covenant, promise, or verse we add heavier weight to, we will end up with different conclusions!" Lioncourt asked.


    "Indeed. There are many interpretations. My son and I have different leanings on this."


    "I believe this is why you''ve set this time, correct? Lennox, Arthur, Nogard, and a few others have read through numerous theological views and we each have our leaning. What is yours exactly? Which one do you think is right and what do we follow? Eschatology diverges based on these factors. Amillenial, Post Millenial, Pre Millenial. And within the Pre Millenial circle, we have pre, mid, and post. What is the correct one?"


    Eagle smiled.


    "Who cares what the correct one is? We will decide which one will be correct and fight to fulfill these prophecies!"

 Chapter 575 Eschatology (2)

    Seeker was startled at Eagle''s words and Eagle was the first one to have noticed that.


    "As expected, our resident time traveler is the first one that is surprised." Eagle smiled and everyone turned to him.


    Seeker nodded.


    "This isn''t the same path we took. You were dead set on something. So I''m curious why the current you would say something like ''we will which one will be correct." Seeker answered.


    "I believe I knew the prophetic path I picked was without any other options. We had no choice but to choose that. And while we could follow that same path we did there, there is another option! Your timeline had a lot of issues. But in this one, things that would not have been possible can be selected."


    "But that path worked. We had an army. This change where we get to do what we want doesn''t seem like the best n. Why not improve on what we built up and stick with that n?" Seeker asked.


    "That''s exactly why I called this meeting. I need to convince you, first and foremost, to agree with this. After all, your Adult self would probably follow that Path and force a narrative just to add a bit more believably, am I right?" Eagle asked.


    "Oh boy... And here I thought this will be a discussion on what our ns will be. I have told you things that only know, after all. But it seems you have your own agenda." Seeker gave Eagle a strange look.


    "I have. I''ll be honest, Zeek. Before our mission, the Gospel to me is more important. You prefer that I picked the same route I did and use the fact that the Jews exist as a way to add more people to our cause. But that is a half-step. Why not go all the way?"


    "Well... you''re the pastor. So enlighten me. What is the full and proper step that is avable?"


    "All in good time, Seeker. You already have an idea regarding eschatology as you have lived through one timeline. But the rest aren''t so blessed. The seeds have already been nted in this timeline and we can choose the best path. It is a path that will be more deadly and will involve more risk, but if it works, we will have more people converted."


    "What risks are involved?"


    Eagle nced at everyone and didn''t answer.


    "Let me exin the theological options we have first! Lioncourt has already listed the numerous theological views on how the End of Timeses. All of it have different takes on the era that is called the Kingdom Era. This is the era that the bible talks about from the old to the new. We see its promises mentioned again and again all over the Bible. But if you know your Bible, you will know that all of these promises, even the ones that God promised the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have never really reached fruition. Basically, our end goal will have to assume which of these three is really our preferred option."


    "We''re definitely going for an Amillenial view." Seeker answered.


    "Amillennial? Shouldn''t we be aiming for a Premillennial direction?" Lioncourt chided in.


    "Post Millenial is the obvious answer. Look at our history! We have already had the Millenium era." Lennox argued.


    "Amillennial." Seeker answered again.


    "Just like in your past, right? It was either Amillennial or Post Millennial."


    "Can someone exin what these terms even mean?" Meryl finally asked.


    "Indeed. I didn''t have time to read books and had ess to everything, you know?" Quera asked.


    "Premillienial assumes that the reign of the Messiah, the Christ in creating a mighty kingdom that will never fall has not yet happened. You see, the Bible talks about many promises of a mighty kingdom and this view believes that it has not yet happened."


    "Sounds logical. Jesus has not yet returned." Gardo nodded.


    "This view does hold that Christ will be the leader. And it so happens, that we do have two people iming to be a type, a foreshadow, or even a sign of Jesus. The Way, the Truth, and if we''re lucky, we''ll find the Life."


    "And yet, Lennox and Seeker do not abide in this view. Why?" Meng asked.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Then let''s discuss, Seeker''s proposed path. The Amillennial view. The Amillennial view assumes that the era known as the Kingdom era where God arrives and establishes His kingdom is not to be taken literally. And most who hold this view assume that the favor of God has switched from favoring the Jews to favoring the Gentiles and that the Jews failed. With good arguments because even the Old Testament or the Bible of the Jews do have verses that indicate a New Covenant that reces the Old. And many verses about God rejecting the Jews also surfaces. The book of Hoseaes to mind."


    "Ah yes... That''s what I used to get our little Jewish spy to serve us unknowingly. Even now, he is the person at the helm of regathering all the Jews back in Israel. Pridgeon still doesn''t suspect a thing." Lowengren chuckled.


    Alean shook her head as she recalled how Lowengren pretended to be an angel and used abination of verses from 1 Samuel, Hosea, and Esther to transform Shark Umberton into a secret agent of the Unlocked Army.


    "I''ve been in contact with him and the Jews are being gathered. Now I understand Seeker''s actions and what you mean by half steps." Arthur nodded.


    "Right... In Seeker''s future, there were no Jews. So this was the only option to choose. The Eagle at that time would prove that Amillenial theology is the right one. It wasn''t that it was the right one, it was the only right one to choose!" Cliff realized it.


    Many turned to Cliff and had strange expressions.


    "What?"


    "...I''m just not used to seeing you so perspective." Arthur shrugged.


    "Cliff is right. We chose Amillennial because we were without a choice. The Post Millennial assumes that the kingdom era has already passed and that the kingdom of God is here in spirit. And historically, we can even say that the rise of WGP could be that kingdom. It rose to power and controlled the world."


    "Exactly. That''s why it''s the logical choice. We point out to people that events have happened and that a Kingdom did reign! There are always Jews in key positions of power. And wasn''t WGP the same? It''s very hard to verify, but we do have liars here who can spout believable conspiracy theories to make the world see the Bible as true." Lennox exined.


    Many began to nod and agree.


    "That is another option. One, which I prefer. And this is why I needed to talk to everyone about this before we go radio silent. We use a rather... extreme form of Pre Millennial teaching. It''s going to be very risky. Because this n requires us to let the Presiders build their bases here on Earth. Our battles and attacks are only meant to push theing Presiders to make their base on certain locations on Earth. If this seeds, we could convert a lot more people than ever before."


    "About how much more? The risk you speak of getting Presiders to build bases and possibly create their Babels is not worth it even if it can get us two or three times more people than Seeker''s timeline did."


    "If it works, my conservative estimate is that the frontlines armies that we can send to fight would be ten times more!" Eagle smiled.


    Everyone was startled.


    In Seeker''s timeline, the armies that they formed didn''t even number three million soldiers! Those who were not unlocked were still forced to fight and would be in positions such as logistics, strategies, research, and so on... But if an army of thirty million unlocked were to rise, they could easily kill Top Tiers!


    "Ten times?!" Seeker was amazed.


    "My power depends on facts. And because the Jews exist, and the fact that you all followed my advice to add biblical terms, elements, or allusions to our military weapons, strategies, and the fights we''ve picked all could be used to make us prepare for a grand foreshadowing. The more things we foreshadow, the more powerful my words will be. Is that not why Quera Sapphire is here before us? Is it not why my ministry is booming?"


    "You want to redo history. To be specific, you want to redo Biblical History." Arthur understood Eagle''s intentions.


    "Yes. The gues of Egypt have done. He has fallen. What if we were to let the Aragarians choose the kingdoms that we see attack the Jews throughout history? What if we make these ancient kingdoms rise up, allow them to have dominance over the regions, and defeat them as we see it happen in the Bible?"


    "So in the end, you want Babylon to win?"


    "Yes. Pridgeon and Lanterk are allies. One holds Rome, and the other has Babylon. Oh? Speaking of the devil. They are here now. It seems that Arthur''s prediction was right. They can''t afford toy idle and will attack the WGP." Eagle chuckled.


    Everyone could sense it. An energy fluctuation was appearing above the World''s Helm.

 Chapter 576 Army Against Army

    As the meeting with the Emperors and the Empresses continued, many among the WGP were being persuaded by the Everhiss n.


    They revealed techs and presented arguments that were very hard to refute.


    "The first uncovered was the Pangean experiments which focused on capturing Jewish people who were spread across the world. We now have enough evidence to say with certainty that My-Pangea was just the tip of the iceberg! We know many of you have allied yourselves with them! You can''t act all righteous to us! The difference is, we allied with those who nned to protect the earth! Those who wanted to give Earth its freedom and not enve it! They have been here and may have been the secret power that helped established the WGP! Why do you still waver? Honor your family!" Phoenix shouted.


    "How long will you continue to waver!? The Lost Primordial is our hope, then we align with him and use our powers with him! We hand over to him the Throne Technology and all of its benefits!" Phoenix urged.


    "...I agree." One Emperor who originally disagreed finally spoke. He was the second eldest of a WGP family.


    "Brother...!" The Empress who led that family was surprised.


    "They have a point! Besides, that Enderks is nowhere near Earth! He was defeated and fled! Why hold on to that? We sided with him because of his promised fleet in Uranus! But now, where is he?! The Lost Primordial and his forces are able to protect the earth! We should side with Earth!" The Emperor spoke out.


    Phoenix took note of the Emperor that spoke and was stunned.


    "Father..." Miranne spoke softly next to him.


    "Yes. I remember. That person is one of the confirmed traitors. It seems it''s possible to make him an ally more!" Phoenix clenched his fist as hope was stirred!


    Suddenly, many of those who were silent were convinced.


    "Everyone! I feel that this is also the way to go. You''ve seen the experiments of the Aragarians. And I''m sure you''ve also seen the videos that the Lost Primordial made... Isn''t it obvious which one treated their experiments better?


    The Unlock armies secretly leaked some of their videos to show what experiments they were performing but it was less inhumane. It was brutal and deaths were even shown, but it was revealed that those who took it did so willingly.


    "Those are fake videos! Those were altered or staged!" Another Emperor argued.


    "You could say... that the WGP is one of their experiments!"


    "The Lost Primordial did not find the WGP!"


    "And yet, some families in the WGP im to have secret knowledge about them for so long!" An Everhiss Emperor argued.


    "Only one family ims that! You could be making that up for all we know?!"


    "And the evidence we presented? The time stamps? The proof?!"


    "All fake!"


    Many began to shout and voice their opinions. But as the group spoke, it was clear that a majority of the Emperors wanted to side with the Lost Primordial.


    "The beauty of victory! We won with the such advantage that we now hold the stage on Earth. It seems we are the majority now." Phoenix smiled as he observed.


    "Hmm?" Chase sensed it. There was a strange vibration in the air.


    "It seems our guests are arriving..." He spoke.


    The Emperors and Empresses of the Everhiss family quietly prepared their weapons and attacks.


    Deep inside the Worlds Helm, several spies had already made way and activated the Origin energy protocol. But a subtle wind channel was guiding the Origin energy and was feeding it directly to the Many Mansions of the Everhiss family!


    "Just in time. But this is it, guys. We have to show them that we are not that weak. Seeker has already prepared our forces. This is why the previous fights never revealed a portion of all our armies. But now, thebined Floating Fortresses of the Three Shapes... The ships of Shackstress, Antis, and the other Krakens that we have secretly taken over will reveal themselves!" Phoenix gazed upwards.


    The space above the Worlds Helm began to fluctuate.


    The rowdy arena was silenced as they sensed the energy from above.


    Prior to their direct involvement in the battles on earth, the Presiders had little to no people within the WGP. It was very hard to infiltrate their ranks as the WGP valued their bloodline above all.


    There were very few who were as rebellious as Miranne Everhiss and married outside of the WGP families. But as the chaos of the world raged and the Presiders began to dwell on the earth, some of the Emperors and Empresses began to make deals with these Presiders.


    Many were drawn in by Pridgeon and Lanterk.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Despite the clear bells of victory, there were many negative effects that followed rippled out. The WGP had information that persuaded them to ally with the aliens. Not only the WGP, but nations have ascertained that those who won that battle were from Earth. And Aragar has not even shown half of their true power!


    This also means that unlike the wary situations between Presiders, those from Earth remain to be the bigger target that all the Aragarians will fight against.


    The truth about the battle was revealed to many members of the WGP. The victory of the Lost primordial was achieved through tricks, lies, and deception. Without these tactics, they would never have won!


    But if the battle would be fought on equal terms, and armies would be sent against armies, the Lost Primordial do not have the army to fight and would surely lose.


    Because of this, many Emperors have be spies for Pridgeon.


    The scene had turned into the worst-case scenario. Lanterk and Pridgeon knew that the WGP would have the possibility of bing a force that could threaten them if given the right ammunition, science, and power. And with the majority leaning to the side of the Lost Primordial, they had no choice but to make an appearance.


    The skies began to crackle with lightning and dark energy began to erupt. It was like a portal was being opened and many massive spaceships were appearing above.


    "WGP... This is your first and only warning. You either side with us or remain neutral. If you don''t you will be killed along with the Everhiss family. But the fact that you dared to even talk about this is your undoing." A cold voice echoed around the sky.


    Almost instantly, a powerful beam shot out of the massive portal and shot right into the World''s Helm where all the Emperors gathered.


    The majestic power shout out and brightened the skies.


    "Now! Use your Invokings!" Everhiss shouted.


    At the bottom of the ocean, Damien essed the ship.


    "With the power of Egypt stolen and granted, the full potential of the Woman of the Nile has increased. Now, I can fight with you, Steffany..." Damien smiled as he controlled the ship and numerous Flood Dragons burst out of the sea to meet the iing beam.


    Steffany was a Ranked Hero who served under Lennox''s team. But now, Damien was able to reach a Realm that allowed him to control the power of Steffany. The oceans surged and rose to the heavens along with the Call of Cthulhu.


    It was as if a dome of water rose to cover the World''s Helm.


    Located on numerous sides of the Worlds Helm, where the family members of Rosa.


    The triplets guarded the tree''s key areas like a triangle and released their power. But the secret family that never revealed themselves fully, finally came out of hiding. It was an ancient family that secretly guarded the secret of the seeds of Progenitor in Canada and was acquaintances with Hermes.


    Rosa was one who ran away when she met Greydon Meng. And soon, the triplets followed. But now, the family had decided to give its full support to Seeker.


    The power of frost technology emerged.


    The water and the frost didn''t justbine in form, but the Origin energy itself had evolved. It became a power close to Realm.


    Deep inside the Worlds Helm, in the conference room where Eagle spoke, Lioncourt called for a pause as he began to harness his power.


    BOOM!


    An explosion urred and the immense vibration could be felt hundreds of kilometers away from the meeting of two powers.


    The Ice Dome endured a terrifying st that would have surpassed the strength of numerous weapons of mass destruction.


    Pridgeon and Lanterk were surprised at the seen. They never expected that the Lost Primordial would have a defense that was so quickly set up!


    "So... they are down there, huh? Send out the army. If myser can''t convince the WGP, then let our legion convert them!" Lanterk ordered and an army of exoskeletons and giant robots began to pour out of the portal.


    Some of the robots were as huge as a hundred meters tall!


    But at that moment, numerous massive floating fortresses emerged from the side.


    A King Naga that was twicerger, the Nile Serpent, several floating fortresses suddenly emerged and sent out an army of fighters to meet the iing robotic horde.


    "Presiders! Don''t underestimate earth!" Phoenix led the attack.

 Chapter 577 Rise Of The Gamers

    The skies of the World''s Helm had never seen such chaos. Had this been a year back, no country would have dared to send its forces over the skies. But now, two armies of great number began to fight.


    The portal that opened threw in countless exoskeletons and bullets and rockets that blot out the sky. It was a swarm of ships, exoskeletons, and explosives headed toward the World''s Helm.


    But the powers of the WGP that rose to challenge it were also shocking. As the oceans rose to fight the enemies, it was as if Earth itself was resisting the iing aliens that arrived.


    It seemed foolish to challenge the vast sky that tore open a dimension to hell. But Earth had shown capabilities enough to challenge it.


    Numerous ships and Exoskeletons began to rise from the waters.


    A battle raged and the very elements of the world resisted the aliens.


    "You foolish ones! You think you little seeds can challenge a real Presider?!" Lanterk''s voice was heard rippling through the sky.


    "We''ve killed many of you! And it''s time to introduce our finest members!" Phoenixughed.


    A strange ship burst out of the sea.


    A pir of water rose to reveal its grand entry.


    The waters gave a strange blue hue and the features of the ship were revealed.


    A few of the ships were prepared to capture everything on camera and broadcast it to the world.


    The Unlocked had prepared this stage to showcase their might and power and convince the world to fight.


    But the manner of their revtion was well nned. It was designed to have elements of great showmanship.


    The blue ship had familiar features and many parts of the world that were receiving this broadcast began to notice its identifiable traits.


    "Isn''t that... a Pokemon?" A reporter halfway across the world wondered.


    Inside the bluerge ship, an Exoskeleton stood up. It had no pilot but was powered by lightning.


    "The March of the Saints. I can''t believe that we have to do this." Lennox''s AI sighed.


    "Oh, why the sad face, Lenny?" Chris Carlean chuckled.


    "This is a brilliant n." Grace appeared.


    "Lowengren is right. The world is unfair. They favor the popr. People are more likely to support and fight for someone charismatic than those who are correct. We''ve seen that in history. Sometimes people elect charismatic leaders. It didn''t matter if he was the most arrogant, insane, or brutal person in the world. If we do this show and draw in the fans, we could even increase our army. People are idiots. They''ll follow whatever celebrities do. And if our celebrities put on this good show, we could have potential followers, spies, and soldiers all over the world. Those guys down there are talking about the bible and how to use religion. But up here, it''s fame, glory, poprity that we are trying to secure." Grace answered.


    "Welp... I better pull off this little pretending to be Lowengren thing..." Chrisughed.


    "And I''ll be my son. Let''s go. Start the show."


    With Lennox''smand, the light of the ship became brighter and brighter and the cameras were focused on it.


    As the broadcast was made, many recognized the team that came to focus on the cameras.


    "Those are Piercing characters! Piercing de, Piercing Shield. Piercing Dagger. And the Impact characters The Distant Destroyer, The Covered Cross, and The Faye Fighter! That''s Git Godlike''s lineup!" A learned reporter eximed as he saw the familiar team that moved out.


    The light above the ship changed and a hologram appeared.


    It was a logo. It had two letters ''G'' of gold color and the two letters spun.


    It was the logo of Git Godlike.


    Many viewers were stunned at first when the figures that rose into the sky began to rush toward the army.


    It fought the army of metal and could even dive into the swarm of bullets and rockets.


    ''"Git Godlike! Tech reveal!" The trademark words of Cronus were heard and the Impact characters revealed the unique technology that their Impact characters had the freedom to create.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Ice, Fire, and Lightning erupted and disrupted the formation of the enemies.


    The team pushed in and led the way.


    "Earth! This is Cronus, Git Godlike''smander! We are sorry, that our grand battle against The Covenant of the Strongest didn''t happen. But for our fans, we will show you, a fight where we work together!"


    The team flew and many people around the world stopped breathing as they saw the group charge into the army.


    But as they saw these heroes who they idolized fight with such strength many began to shout in tion and cheered with all their might from their homes, or from the lonely, dark rooms that they hid out of fear.


    "Get them! Kill them! Show them Cronus!" The reporter shouted as he was affected by how his favorite e-sport yer had turned into a hero!


    Suddenly, another set of Piercing characters flew.


    The logos that were being projected over the skies suddenly changed.


    Four letters were disyed.


    CotS appeared and many around the world erupted in mad fanatic cheer.


    "Danny Haze here. Sorry, we went MIA. Dating the most beautiful girl in the world needs me to invest time in pampering her more." Danny was the first to introduce himself as he charged up the sky.


    Piercing Hollow appeared with tworge scythes in hand flew and his cuts had the power that it could cut metal that was ten meters away from where he was.


    The cameras focused on the berserker mode Danny was shown.


    All around the world numerous fan girls screamed as they heard the voice of someone they thought to be dead.


    "Malicious Unicorn here. And I''ll be showing these alien scum why they need to invest in the Tanks of their team!" Daraughed as she piloted therge Piercing Armor to flight and flew onwards to be the vanguard of the assault. She even moved beyond the team of Git Godlike.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Her suit disappeared and her petite form was jumping from one metal to another.


    Her fist was glowing red as she punched a gigantic Armor.


    BANG!


    The gigantic robot was not only blown away, its head was smashed to smithereens.


    Many began to dive and attack the unguarded woman.


    "Boys, you got me covered right?" Dara didn''t fear and stood as she regathered her gear. This was part of the presentation that they should make.


    The Tank has to show immense confidence and arrogance against the aliens. But she would also show trust.


    "Asterisxxx locked and loaded." John Octavion introduced.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The nearby enemies were blown off as an Exoskeleton with arge rifle waited from afar.


    "Strawberry Situps got you covered, sis!" Titan chuckled as his form began to appear and make teleportation jumps from one area to another.


    A gigantic Armor appeared and released tremendous energy that was like Realm.


    It was drawing all the broken and destroyed parts and was taking it and getting bigger and bigger.


    It readied its massive arms and suddenly disappeared!


    It appeared right above Dara and swung its massive fist.


    BANG!


    But at that moment, a golden light stood above Dara.


    It was said that at least a hundred men nearly died when they saw the golden valkyrie which was piloted by arguably the most beautiful e-sport yer.


    "Lord Choke Me Senpai is alive! Somebody choke me! I can''t believe it! Choke me! I want to feel it!" A viewer somewhere in the Americas pleaded to his parents.


    "Sorry I was out, boys. My boyfriend, Crazy Carlean is quite a handful." She chuckled.


    Many people around the world froze when they heard that. To many of the fans, it sounded sacrileges for her to even have one!


    But before they could process it...


    SLASH!


    The massive Armor was severed in half.


    Kristine felt her energy drain from the sh. The power to cut therge robot was a harnessed form of Omricon''s de.


    Many marveled at the scene of the cut.


    And suddenly, an Exoskeleton appeared right in between the severed parts of the robots and aimed.


    "Is that...?" Many fans recognized him. He was thest character that made up the Covenant of the Strongest.


    The AI of Lennox began to use math to calcte.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    The guns didn''t have piercing power but used pure raw force to knock back and push those who were shot.


    The attack released a strange electrical charge that would force the movements of thergest of ships and even the rockets and bullets would alter their trajectory.


    Lanterk frowned as he saw the endless waves of attacks that he had to shift from one point to the other.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    There was chaos as the formation of his army was being thrown destroyed.


    "It''s Precision! That''s Precision!" The reporter cheered.


    At once, the symbols being projected changed, and many logos from all over the world were disyed.


    "Warfreakz, leading the way! Gamers of the world! Watch how we will save you!" Roselyn of Warfreakzughed.


    "Damn... I need to pee." Stanley sighed.


    "You should have that checked, Stanley." Arclight sighed.


    Lucy and Czerus,manders of Warfreakz also followed the group and both were preparing their weapons.


    Behind them were teams of other e-sport yers that were brought into the army and recruited and kidnapped.


    The gamers of the world cheered as they saw their idols fighting for them.


    "Its the rise of the gamers! Everyone! World! Are you watching this?! The gamers have risen to fight for us! Look at them! The power of earth and the power of our limitless imagination hase to life! This is our edge over those Presiders and those aliens! Humans of the world! Unite!" The impassioned reporter shouted his heart out as the battles escted above.


    Scribs, Tyler, and Earl watched as the gamers fought.


    "Now that we have Earth''s attention thanks to these celebrities, it''s time to bring out the army." Tylerughed.


    "Time for all countries toe out."

 Chapter 578 Pridgeon Acts

    Many cheered and cheered. For the first time, many of Earth were united as they wholeheartedly want their team to win.


    The grand stage and the very dynamic entrances of the gamers somehow made many who watched the battle feel like they were watching another match yed by their favorite gamers.


    In an era of confusion, fear, and uncertainty, these gamers rose to fight the enemy and even managed to push them back.


    It was stunning as the fans of the named groups all shouted in great surprise. Some had vanished, and many assumed that their disappearance was all due to the many chaotic events that had urred.


    But in truth, the strongest teams were already being captured and were secretly trained. More than half had reached the Inhuman level while the rest peaked at the Surmounting stage of the Unbing.


    Somehow, the people who saw the chaotic battle understood it.


    It was like they were watching the games of their favorite stars. In the Supra-Modern world, the necessary skills to be an e-sport gamer had transcended many levels. The freedom of movement that their characters had, thews of physics these games contained, and the strategies necessary evolved and became moreplex.


    While simple games of leisure remained, the arena for e-games was different. Skill was everything.


    The eyes of the audience that were so used to seeing chaotic, fast-paced, and dynamically changing battles in these games somehow merged with the psychological effect of their entrance.


    Many couldn''t understand the war at first, but now that everyone''s attention zeroed in on certain individuals, they could then clearly see the battle.


    The humans of earth were winning!


    The famed Piercing and Impact skills were brought to life by Git Godlike and the Covenant of the Strongest.


    Warfreakz brought out war skills and strategy that brought in nostalgia,edy, and plenty of badass moments that made the viewers jump as they cheer.


    The world watched as the broadcast of the battle continued and in their cheers, was a budding hope.


    Earth had an army! Earth had the forces to face the alien threat!


    Suddenly, the logos of the gamers disappeared and the WGP''s logo, with the Everhiss family crest disyed, was the item being projected.


    More Emperors and Empresses rose with floating cities emerging and hovering over the wide sea.


    It was as if there were many floating inds rising up to face the alien horde.


    Invoking the Everhiss family and their allies appeared.


    The Call of the Titan. The Call of Dead Dreaming.


    Other Invoking that the other WGP family had no idea about emerged.


    These were the Invoking that utilized the Paths of other Oveers.


    The Call of Zeus. The Call of Poseidon. The Call of Hades.


    A massive Titan of lighting, a Titan of Water, and a Titan of fire all stood and rose to the sky.


    The world cheered as they saw the impressive powers of the WGP.


    And then the projected images changed as the WGP fought.


    gs were now projected.


    "gs? Those are gs! The g of Pangea, the g of SPU, and the g of Australia! Oh, wait...! It''s allbined! There it is! The g of the South Pacific Confederate! They are here?! It makes sense! They have been constantlying out on top of the world economy! Crazy Carlean, he must have been the first of the gamers!" The reporter shouted.


    An army of Exoskeletons, skin suits, Armor, and jets flew up to fight.


    The g changed once more and brought out the army of every nation.


    Canada, One China, New Great Britain, the Americas, and many more were present.


    "Nogard, the Golden Dragon, and Greydon, the ck Dragon, are here to fight! We are the Dragons Fang! And we will fight for Earth! Fellow Earthlings! Let not geography and the banner of nations divide us! Let us rise united! Do not be afraid! The Dragon Knight army will fight for you!" Arge Armor shouted.


    "Nogard Meng! The legendary hero of One China!? Is he alive?!"


    One after the other, numerous derations and introductions were made.


    Ancient families that held great power on earth appeared and rose up dering their desire to protect the earth.


    Every nation saw the unique design of their war machines rise up to fight. And many who saw it could not help but shout in joy as they saw their country fight the alien threat.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "It''s working!" Roselyn of Warfreakz smiled as she could not help but feel the uniting power.


    At that moment, everyone was somehow falling into a mysterious form of Realm and they could even sense each other. Rhythm, timing, and momentum were building up.


    "Everyone! All of Earth is here! All of Earth has people fighting these alien freaks! We should all stand up!" The reporter could not help but exim and then, the channel was cut off.


    Many stations and inte sites were slowly being cut off and their own government was quickly denouncing the lies that the revolutionist and the brash actions of the people involved in this battle.


    To many governments, it was still foolish to fight the iing ship that was asrge as the moon!


    The Unlock had already seeded even as the world was shutting their broadcast down.


    It was an exaggeration of their amount. The Unlocked made it look like every country on earth had its representative in the battle when in fact, not even half of all the countries in the world were there to fight!


    Regardless, the effect was made.


    It was a very patriotic moment many who watched were in tears. Some of those fighting and charging up the heavens also felt the same way.


    With the broadcast being shut, the Unlocked began to send out the vampires and werewolves to fight.


    Several strange fluctuations emerged as water, ice, fire, lightning, blood, sr beams, ripples of sound, telekic shock-wave st, water, locusts, and nts rose out of the many of the massive fortresses that emerged and hovered over the sky.


    Lanterk and Pridgeon all saw the rising army and were enraged.


    "Damn... They were very, very ready." Pridgeon saw the forces that rushed out.


    "This was a trap. Even with all those leaks and ns, we had for our invasion, they somehow guessed that we are here and prepared to use this battle as a grand recruitment drive."


    "Garenjazz. It''s definitely him! Look at the metal used! It''s made with Presider techs. What do we do? If we fight, this will be a costly battle!"


    "We keep fighting. The World''s Helm isn''t that guarded. We can destroy that base. If the Lost Primordial gains the World''s Helm as the base, then they can turn to create Origin Energy that will engulf the world! With the Lost Primordial, this much Origin can be Universe Energy!"


    "Then it seems, we have to participate in this war!"


    "Yes. We have no choice. We will enter into an agreement so that we can have Omni-Hearing. Our two techs should bepatible. I can use my metal and maic powers to imitate the frequency and you can use Crostfree''s superimposition tech. Remember what our spies found out. That they are speaking at a higher or lower frequency and they have a vastly improved sense of perception that allows them to speak at a speed that is five times faster than the fastest speed a human can speak and still be understandable." Lanterk ordered.


    "I know." Pridgeon nodded.


    But began to use Universe Energy and they activated Omni-Hearing.


    Pridgeon''s Throne vanished from the depths of Greece.


    At once, Pridgeon''s Throne appeared at the portal over the World''s Helm.


    "You are all... going to die!" Pridgeon shouted as his Throne called out the power to superimpose the dimensions.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    Many of the forces of the earth suddenly crashed and exploded as if they struck something.


    A transparent ship that was simr to the hyper-sphere of Garenjazz''s ship began to take form.


    The many forces were unable to see the ship and crashed into it.


    But even in that situation, the soldiers of the Unlocked charged forward.


    "Everyone! Thanks for supporting me to the end! This might be my final stream!" An E-sport gamer dered. He had reactivated his stream and many people were tuning into the battle from his perspective.


    "Team! Are you with me?!"


    "Of course, Captain!" Hispanions shouted and they all rushed to face the Presider.


    Pridgeon was tapping in on the Universe Energy of Lanterk. He even used his power to superimpose the three dimensions on the fourth.


    With that, he could hear everything on the battlefield.


    "We should have used this long ago! We were too arrogant and divided! The Lost Primordial divided us because he knew sound breaching technology can only ur if several Top Tier Presider techs would agree to work together. " Pridgeon sighed as he started to hear the hundreds ofmunication lines.


    But in that battle, the most important thing was not the war above, but it was the meeting to set the direction of the future in a small conference room, in an inconspicuous building on the World''s Helm.

 Chapter 579 The Conspiracy Theory (1)

    Everyone could sense the terror of the battle above.


    But in this room sound and vibration acted differently. The room itself was warped with a power that it was peering into the void realm. The highest level of caution was applied. The topic was but a simple exegesis on the Word of God, but this would be the defining path that would set the future of the Unlocked.


    Only the people in this room would know of the secrets for they were deemed worthy enough and strong enough, to act on the future.


    "I trust, that all of you can still concentrate on my words?" Eagle asked.


    Everyone was quiet but many had conflicted expressions.


    Cliff kept ncing at the space above. He was worried for his team. He was worried about Charm who was fighting alongside her family.


    "This will be their test. We have made all preparations and more than half of those rising to battle are nteds who we have bound and forced to fight. And my A. I am fighting with them. At the very least, it won''t be a massacre." Lennox added.


    "Good. Now... Back to our discussion... The n that I propose is simple. We redo the events in the Bible in chronological order. I will reiterate, our goal is to pick the path that will draw the most followers. Right now, we used celebrity idtry and patriotism as tools to call out many who want to join us. And as for this, we will use another important tool that can aid in creating fanatics."


    "Creating fanatics?"


    "Yes. If we have a fanatic, we won''t need to do all the evangelism and recruitment ourselves. If each nation will have one or two fanatics, it will multiply. We need fanatics. They will be the unpaid defenders, the undaunted shield and apologist who will preach this message even if they will be persecuted unto death."


    "I''m confused... I thought you wanted true believers of your religion." Greydon finally spoke.


    "Yes. But if we are to try to go for true believers, then the numbers will be pitifully low. I need people who will follow us out of their pride. Pride is the best tool to create fanatics. And all of you here should know about this. Because you guys will be the ones who will exin it to your respective nations. My ministry will surely be targeted soon. So it''s up to you guys to spread the word. As the Apostle Paul said, only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proimed, and in that I rejoice." Eagle smiled.


    "Fanatics? Pride? Your speaking in parables again, Preacher."


    "Throughout history, haven''t we seen these people who follow and pursue weird beliefs? It could be a pseudo-science, religion, or anything else. I''m talking about t Earthers, Scientologist, and those who believe in other pseudo-sciences that make a lot of money. Like essential oils. We also have extreme off-shoot views among any religion. Christianity has seen them in the form of Gnosticism which waster adapted into the New Age beliefs. We have a lot of these things now, don''t we?"


    "I guess. If we can create fanatics like those Climate Change activists who are after all surviving Post-Modern or Pre-modern works I guess that will draw more people... I recall seeing people gluing themselves to paintings during the Post-Modern era."


    "So... those weird conspiracy theorist guys? Although those who were advocating alien conspiracy theories must be feeling really special now." Richie chuckled.


    "Yes. Those guys. We need to create followers like them! It provides us with a stable group of contacts in the future when we might not be able to freely preach or broadcast our sermons. These people will be our smugglers and informants!"


    "I see. These people are not scared. They are willing to do crazy things. They would make good sleeper agents."


    "Then there is great value in creating them. But how do we create them?" Lioncourt asked.


    "Pride. We use Pride." Lowengren sneered.


    Several turned towards Lowengren.


    "We use... the LGBTQ+ groups? That sounds a bit bigoted." Vender was confused.


    Many facepalmed.


    "No. Of course not, you idiot! Pride as in the greatest of the seven deadly sins! Everyone wants to change the world. And all of these aforementioned movements gave the people following it, a sense of belongingness, a sense of being special, and a sense of purpose. But, all of these things required a certain thing... the willingness of the person to make an effort to find it for themselves."


    "I get the whole finding its thing. I''d be a fan of a TV series I discovered by myself without anyone telling me to go watch it. But if there are other people urging me, I''d be less likely to watch this or dive into this thing." Vender nodded.


    "Right. I can rte! That''s why I''ve never gotten into Starwars." Meryl chuckled.


    "Yeah? Well, go to hell!" Vender raged.


    "Stop... Vender, calm down." Seeker facepalmed.


    "Moving on, what Lowengren said is true. There is no better converting factor than the joy of discovering something yourself. I should know, I am what I am now because of everything I''ve discovered." Eagle smiled.


    "You want people to discover our n? You want people to notice how we are able to follow the events of the Bible on their own?"


    "Yes. And not just that, but it has to be theologically backed. Like those many views, it was knowledge and learning something that made these fanatics. They discovered this knowledge and feel that they are a cut above everyone else in this world. To do this, we need bnce. We need a bnce of making our little n,plex, but at the same time, it''s easy enough to make others understand. And once we hook them in, that''s when all these amazing conspiracies and connect-the-dots theoriese into y. If we present our ns of following the Bible with a truckload of theology, they will be turned off. But if we lure them in and make them yearn for it, it''ll create fanatics. See? That''s why it''s not useful to make Christians like this. The Bible scorns pride and hates it.:


    "I think that''s possible. If we are able to create the phenomenon that these movements had, it would be very easy for us to gather more who will align with our side. And these people will recruit more on their end."


    "Yes. That''s why we redo the history of the Bible. If we make people see how things are following the bible''s history and leak these things as conspiracy theories, it will gather a following. It doesn''t have to be my ministry. My ministry will deal with the mainstream issue, but these groups will be our hidden dagger. We could start with the events starting from the Exodus. You could say, that the events of Genesis, have passed. A flood devastated the world. In our time, World War 3 urred and devastated the world. After the flood, and after World War 3, we see a simr power rising. The people create the tower of Babel, and as for our time, the WGP rose to power! It created a government who had authority over all nations and whose powers reached the heights of heaven."


    "You''re saying that the WGP is a foreshadowing or a typology of Babel."


    "Yes. The WGP could be presented as the reverse Babel. They dispersed the nations and confused the set tongues. Instilling onenguage to unite the world. It sought to unify the world and while they failed, as the culture of each nation developed anyway, the attempts are there. Typologies do not necessarily have to be one-time examples. Babel, Egypt, Babylon, Rome, America in the Post-Modern Era, the WGP, and now, circling back to actual Babel towers. We present these things as history repeating itself as Babel!"


    "Then who''s Abraham? I get that we''ll be doing things with a whimsical mix of allegory but won''t we need to like, create a typology for Abraham?"


    "Abraham, as the father of nations, has passed through the form of the Lost Primordial. He nted the seeds and never saw the fruition of his seeds just as Abraham did. Abraham only saw Isaac. But by faith, he believed that he would be the father of many nations and that his descendants would be as numerous as the sands of the seashore. And now, here we are! The blooming seeds sprouted perhaps centuries after he has passed. So the days of the Patriarchs are over. For a dreamer appeared."


    "Joseph the dreamer..." Arthur turned towards Seeker.


    "Yes. He dreamed a dream! A dream of the future! Seeker, Joseph of the Bible, Constantine, the founder of Roman Catholicism, dreams that led to scientific discoveries and many more could be these people who dreamed of things and changed history!"


    "Sounds wild." Cliff scratched his head.


    "Well, conspiracy theories have to have this twinge of crazy."


    "This dreamer set into motion the series of events that would give the people of God the chance to rise up and cast off the chains of our captors! And if I recall, this Joseph wasn''t the one to lead the exodus. He had to wait for another prophet, one who would lead the Exodus in the first major conflict in Australia." Eagle smiled.


    "Me..." Arthur nodded.


    "We did use Exodus terminology in that mission," Meryl recalled.


    "Sounds a bit forced if you ask me." Nogard frowned.


    "Yes. That part is a bit of a stretch. But what if it continues to be like this? You see, the Bible itself presents a history where the events in the Old Testament appear as a typology or a foreshadowing of the things toe."


    "So we are foreshadowing things like in One Piece?" Gardo asked.


    Vender rolled his eyes when he heard the weeb speak.


    "Ah yes... That anime has quite a fanbase that continues to express how the story is being foreshadowed as the author gives subtle hints in the past... I am familiar with that. Yes. It''s simr to that. The Bible always leaves little hints and even goes as far as to exin or confirm a foreshadowing to bing canon."


    "That does sound interesting. If we can prove that history''s past is a foreshadowing, it''ll be undisputed proof that the Bible is true. People will actually see with their eyes things unfolding and it''s going to be very hard to refute the more things y out. And that will create a following. People will be keeping their eyes open while we focus on fulfilling biblical events and repeating biblical history." Lennox agreed.


    "We will still need much more than this. Conspiracy theories must have depth like an iceberg. People can know the basics and be drawn in, but it has to have a mountain of information underneath it." Arthur spoke.


    Eagle smiled.


    "I just so happen to have the perfect one!" Eagle smiled.

 Chapter 580 The Conspiracy Theory (2)

    "The perfect conspiracy theory?" Seeker asked.


    "Yes. We introduce the concept of typology to everyone. This has always been a fascinating field, but people were not interested mainly because no one believed it. But The literal fulfillment of the Bible will entice many to study its secrets. It will have an iceberg''s depth of theological connections. This will make it a great material for conspiracy theorists topose their content to share with the world. They will be the watchmen of towers that will see the fulfillment of the Word."


    "Typology... Well... A lot have done that in the past. How many Christians were scammed by groups iming they knew the end of the world because of bizarre and crazy interpretations of signs and symbols? It has proven to be effective! But now, we can shape things and have the power to fulfill them! We shoot arrows first and paint targets to make our actions match biblical symbology and typology."


    "Isn''t there a danger in doing this? Interpreting and recreating these events can be chaotic. It may even be used against us."


    "Eagle, my son has a point. Just like a person''s position in Eschatology, the interpretation of the Bible can have different conclusions depending on the theological views. Covenant, new covenant, biblical theology, historical, systematic, practical, and even the more minor branches of theology will change the way things may be interpreted. Some will interpret things more metaphorically. If we pursue a literal interpretation of the Bible, our enemies can twist it and make allegories. We might be the enemies if they y their cards right and do stuff that''s in the Bible." Lennox answered.


    "That has happened..." Seeker agreed.


    "They tried to twist things even in my time. And they were surprisingly good at it."


    "I know. That''s why most of the world fought against us. It''s alright. Our numbers will still increase. Because versus the allegorical, the literal is easier to understand. Conspiracy theories must have some form of the reasoning behind them. If we do things literally, it''ll be easy to follow and anticipate. Your fear that the Aragarians will use this against us and even paint us as the Anti Christ happen. But most of the world will follow us because we will follow the canon."


    "Canon? Like in... anime?" Gardo asked.


    "Did you know that the poprization of the term ''canon,'' which is now used to refer to the official continuity of a work of literature like Star Wars, animated series, and the like, was originally used more often for the Bible? Canon is from the Hebrew-Greek work that means ''cane'' or ''measuring rod''. In its original usage, the canon of the Bible is the test to determine which book included is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Which book to include in the Bible for the Torah, andter, the New Testament canon, which made the books that were being passed on during the first Century church the official book we now call the Bible. So we go by a canon. A literal interpretation of things. We have to manipte everything so that many markers of biblical history will be remade. We will not publicize or highlight it but only leak a few obscure blogs on the web and let the inte do its job."


    "If we do as you said, will it not make Judaism the go-to religion?" Seeker asked.


    "People see Christianity as this ''New Testament'' religion and make a distinction between that and Judaism. So why not go for Judaism if we are to fulfill Old Testament stuff since everything we do will strictly cater to Jewish history?" Seeker argued.


    "Matthew 2:15. Out of Egypt, I called my Son. The New Testament quotes and butchers an Old Testament verse. This is originally in Hosea 11:1. The full verse is this... When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt, I called my son." Eagle answered.


    "Matthew made an allegorical exposition of Hosea 11?"


    "Yes and no. Actually, it''s a hint. Proverbs 25:2. It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. This verse is a joyfully concealed one. You read Hosea 11 is clearly talking about Israel. Why did the New Testament writer, Matthew, say such a crazy phrase if he is, as Christians im to be, ''inspired by the Holy Spirit? The answer is rather simple. Israel is a foreshadowing of what Christ will do."


    "Israel hints what Christ will do?"


    "What did Christ do when he left Egypt? Let''s skip the child days and go directly to when he begins his ministry. Remember, Israel had to stay in Egypt to multiply and mature as a nation, and Christ had to stay in Egypt for a few years."


    "After leaving Egypt and growing up... there was the temptation in the wilderness. Christ spent 40 days in the desert and was tempted by the devil." Lioncourt answered.


    "No. Not yet. He didn''t begin his ministry until a certain event." Arthur corrected.


    "The answer is baptism. He was baptized by John the Baptist." Arthur turned to Eagle.


    "Yes. The baptism of water. Do you know that the priests of Israel must be baptized or washed in water? In Exodus 29, right before Aaron begins his service as a priest, he ismanded to bathe. The same thing happened to Christ. Jesus said he did note to destroy the Prophet''sws but fulfill them. His baptism was the way to fulfill Scripture. And since Israel is a foreshadowing of the Christ, Israel must also be baptized."


    "Israel wasn''t baptized," Lynd said.


    "Actually, they were.." Lioncourt smiled.


    "Right. They crossed the sea. The miracle of the parting seas and Israel crossing the sea is what Eagle believes in representing Christ''s baptism!" Seeker added.


    "Exactly. Out of Egypt, I call my son. The typology, the foreshadowing, Israel, who is by implication the son of God in this verse, walks out. Get baptized, and Christ was tempted in the desert for 40 days. Just as Israel wandered in the desert for forty years and was tested by God, if you carefully read the ount of the devil tempting Jesus, you will see that all of Jesus''s answer was taken from Deuteronomy. The book where Israel was wandering in the desert. The temptations and answers are all connected or simr to Israel''s temptations in the desert. I won''t bore you with the details, but you can check it out afterward. But you see, it''s easy to tie everything to Christianity. And while we could still go the Jewish route, we have a problem. The Way and the Truth."


    "Oh..." Lynd and Seeker answered together.


    "You have already assumed these titles. And we''ve already started digging this... some, of course, because of my prodding, to keep things New Testamenty." Eagle smiled.


    Many began to sigh and shake their heads as they could tell Eagle was clearly biased in his worldview.


    "And then next... is the book of Joshua, right? So if we are to follow this, Jesus would have to fulfill the book of Joshua."


    "Jesus is the English transliteration of a Greek rendition of the Hebrew name. And that Hebrew name is Yeshua. A variation of Joshua. The Book of Joshua is crucial if we adopt this perspective of how we fulfill prophecies of the Bible. It talks about how Israel conquered most of the promisednd. We can do this. We conquer most of Earth."


    "We conquer most of the Earth? Wow. That sounds very... easy." Hermes chuckled.


    "We just need to conquer enough to make it look like the book of Joshua is happening. Then, we don''t even need to wage war! A little threat and I''m sure many of these nations will change their gs."


    "What if we lose these countries when the Aragarians arrive?" Lynd asked.


    "Yes. We cannot hold on to all those nations. And what if they change sides and side with the Presiders all of a sudden?"


    p¦Á§ád¦Á §«?¦Í¨º|,§ã¨°§® "It''s alright. Suppose we manage to hold on to these countries even when all those Presiders arrive, good. If we lose these countries, it will still go hand to hand with biblical history. When Jesus was incarnated right as the years of the AD began, it was to fulfill the books of the Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers. When he died and rose again, Christianity was followed only by a hundred, maybe less than a thousand, faithful men and women. They were small seed that was nothingpared to the heathens of the Roman God worship. Then what happened?"


    "Kratos killed the Roman pantheon?" Vender joked.


    No oneughed.


    "Christianity exploded out in the form of Roman Catholicism through Constantine, andter, they conquered many nations," Lioncourt answered.


    "Yes! This religion spread through natural conversion or Holy Wars. The Phil-Pangean natives are a testament to this. Since Spain conquered them and forced Catholicism down their throats, the Philippines and even Phil-Pangea continue to hold on to this as the dominant religion. From a handful of followers, Christianity became the dominant religion. The spiritual fulfillment of Joshua has happened. Christ has conquered nations, and the Word was preached. Joshua is fulfilled. What''s the next book?"


    "Samson and Goliath," Amir answered.


    "Bruh... You need to brush up on your Bible reading. It''s Samsung and Bathsheba." Vender corrected.


    Eagle sighed.


    "Samson and Delh. And it''s sort of correct... I guess? The tale of Samson is found in the Book of Judges. And we are in the era of the Judges. Christ, who is Joshua, caused the world to tremble at this once insignificant religion. But since Christ ascended and Joshua in the book of Joshua died, Israel remained leaderless and was without kings. The book of Judges record how Israel would fall into the hands of oppressors. But no matter what, Israel survived and endured even when they lost their country to invaders numerous times. If our enemies can conquer andpel nations that once allied with us to switch sides, it''s still part of our canon."


    "Then the conquest of Joshua will be our next mission. While we can make the rest of the nations be some symbolical fulfillment, we still need to conquer the Promised Land literally."


    "Yes. We are to follow Biblical history. We will massacre our way into the Caliphates and push back the hold of Pridgeon. We have a short time since we have to fulfill them right before those other Presiders arrive. If we lose the Caliphates after... we don''t need to worry. But... It''s best if we part the Red Sea first. Do you all understand the mission?"


    Everyone nodded except for a few.


    "I guess so. Following and fulfilling the Bible literally should be easy enough for us." Meryl shrugged.


    "Stick to the Bible''s timeline, and ask your strategist what to do next. Everyone... Until we meet again. Now it''s time for us to leave. Remember. The Presiders should have figured out our methods ofmunication and will have infiltrated our ranks. Instead, we allowed them to so that they would think they knew our ns. Now go out there and fulfill the Word!"

 Chapter 581 The Progenitor’s Throne

    Pridgeon''s appearance caused the great war''s tide to turn.


    With his arrival, the several attempts to push deeper into the ranks had stopped, and the army was focused on defense, with only a few teams trying to push forward.


    Git Godlike, Everhiss, the Covenant, and a few others were the only ones capable of pushing forward, attacking the massive metals, and navigating through the merging and protruding objects in the fourth dimension.


    The AI of Lennox took over and began tomand the army and rearrange them.


    Though many among Unlocked armies were dying by the second, Pridgeon, who could see the battle, knowing that it was the canon fodders that were the easy targets.


    Pridgeon noticed that many were positioned in a way that appeared to be at the back of the formation but was the easier targets.


    "A formation that used the back lines as the front lines. Their formation and attack pattern works well with the few trying to break through. And I can sense it... These are Zeraphine''s and Garenjazz''s nteds and Pioneers! Those fools don''t know they are being used as cannon fodder despite being arranged at the back. They must have been lied to. Not knowing theplexity of this battle made them easy targets."


    Pridgeon''s power caused his ships to superimpose on the fourth and third dimensions. But in this scenario, it was safer to charge and go through the invisible maze than stay down and be targets of the bombardment.


    "Time to sink this little fort and whatever secrets it hides." Pridgeon decided as he began to activate his cannons.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    But even before he could pull the trigger, explosions emerged one after the other.


    Rules of numerous Emperors began to rise as they were all ambushed.


    Pridgeon didn''t understand it. He had hijacked all systems, and in the following months, he was sure he and Lanterk had figured out the manymunication systems. And all except the Thought Transmitter were something that they had already hijacked. The Thought Transmitter was more problematic as it required more Universe Energy to determine.


    "No wind currents... no noticeable vibrations... Why was there a sudden attack? Lanterk. I didn''t sense anything or hear anything. Did you detect any forms ofmunication?" Pridgeon frowned.


    "No. This means that they knew... What an interesting bunch."


    "They knew? They knew we would uncover everything?"


    "Yes. They aren''t underestimating us. Even in this war, the littlemunication they have been sending out originates from those who are nteds, Pioneers, or the weakest of their soldiers. Those who haven''t beenmunicating are those fighting in the front lines. These are the very same ones capable of evading your dimensional powers are the stronger ones. And they don''tmunicate."


    "Then how are theymunicating? We''ve covered possible ways that even Presiders of Top Tiers would be detected."


    "I did sense a strange nk realm at the center of the Worlds Helm. Even with a Principal''s power, reaching out to the inside of that realm would be impossible. I thought that that was themand center, but now that I think about it, that level of power to sealmunication meant no one couldmunicate outside of it. But it makes sense. The Principal should already be in range. Omnipresence is possible. So these people are holding one final meeting toy everything out. They covered everything to hide. Unless a Top Tier Principal arrives, there is no way for us to know what is going on in there."


    "...Then they nned to have nomunication at all. Whatever that meeting was, was theirst meeting-"


    "Before they go radio silent. A n without a n. Just a direction to follow."


    "That''s stupid. They won thest war through deception and lies. We were unaware that their means ofmunication had transcended to a level only Top Tiers could perform. Certainly, we didn''t think outside the box of our expectations on Earth. They knew we could hear them, and that''s the best they can do?"


    "And are we not confused? Why attack the WGP? We are here on top of them. The traitors they have in their midst won''t fight and will be likely to ally with them. So why kill them? They know something we don''t."


    "So why not just pluck the entire World''s Helm from here and be done with it?"


    "And waste all the energy? The Presiders that areing here will only root their ce on Earth. And then, we begin the Presider''s war. Why waste energy? Or... are you trying to make me use energy thanks to our little non-aggression pact?"


    "Oh, you know me... If we truly allied, are we even Conquerors? Are we even Conquerors now?"


    "Hm... I don''t care about you. I''m still a Principal." Lanterkughed.


    RUMBLE... RUMBLE...


    A powerful sound wave began to form and create a dome over the area.


    "...My sensors have been stopped?"


    "How primitive. This was also one of theyers they used to hide their littlemand center. A room is full of loud noises that make it hard to hear on the inside. It seems that these people aren''t fully without any means tomunicate. They are forcing one of us to move in there."


    "...What do you think is happening?"


    "I don''t know. Find out what is going down there."


    "And you won''t even help?"


    "I''m sending you my army, aren''t I?"<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>


    "...Fine," Pridgeon answered, and he began to march forward.


    The massive ship he had that was superimposed on the three dimensions was moving.


    The distorted sounds were finally heard.


    "The world demands that you stand up and rise, WGP!" Instead, members of Gardo''s family began tounch attacks.


    Several other Unlocks in training for their specific roles as Tank, Fighter, Sniper and Scout were suddenly moving towards identified WGP members who weremunicating with Pridgeon.


    "We know you''ve beenmunicating with Pridgeon! Unfortunately, the sky is falling upon us, and you still chose your greed!"


    The sudden attacks caught the Emperors off guard.


    Weaponized powers of many unlocked wereunched an Emperor who was not prepared was incinerated from an explosion of destion.


    "We know the Presiders have leaked information to you, and everyone has been trying to figure this out! So many even banned us from the Everhiss n! So pick a side, or die!"


    The cries and usations were heard, but all attacking were out to kill the Emperors.


    "WGP! Pridgeon is here to kill you! Open the ess to the depths of the World''s Helm and grant us ess to the core of this ce! Grant it to us, or die!" Everhiss shouted as he sent out more attacks.


    But at the escting and critical state of the battle, the group of Oveers had finally appeared.


    Numerous powerful energies were moving out. But none were after Pridgeon.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    "Are they destroying the World''s Helm?" Pridgeon was confused.


    Several powerful energies were approaching. A massive ball of wind, and a gigantic nt erupted out of nowhere, and arge Exoskeleton was flying.


    "Hmm. So they are stopping me from destroying the World''s Helm as they destroy it. The Throne. They know where the Throne is!"


    Pridgeon began to harness more of his energy as he fought the three.


    Deep inside the World''s Helm...


    Seeker walked with Lynd, Meryl, Charles, and Cliff.


    The Void Assassin, Arthur, Lioncourt, and Richie followed behind.


    Locks and various barriers were slowly deactivating. However, others were destroyed by the attacks of the Oveers, and at times, Rai would use his powers to teleport everyone.


    "They divided the ess to this ce among all families and used the strongest of earth''s material to hide it from us. Pridgeon and Lanterk must have done it to prevent us from gaining ess to it." Lynd observed the doors that were opening as many of the families were pressured to deactivate them.


    "So that''s why our first order of business here was the Bible Study and not to get the Throne."


    "This is only one-half of the real Throne that the Progenitor left behind. Thest one is in Antarctica." Arthur answered.


    As the group walked, a strange moving field surrounded them. It had the very powers they used to warp and distort all sounds and prevent anyone from hearing anything inside as they did with the Bible study.


    They were headed to arge facility that was the source of creating Origin energy.


    The entire room radiated with powerful energying from a massive device in the middle.


    "All this battle to destroy this one. But where is the real Rule? The real Throne?" Meryl asked as she stepped inside the room.


    Seeker nced around and couldn''t see it.


    "It''s that one." Arthur suddenly pointed to a seat with numerousputers ced at the side.


    The seat was imnted on the floor and acted as the seat of someone who would be a Commander or a General of the ship.


    "Yes. This ce must have been where the Progenitor once stayed to perform many of his experiments. This machine is harnessing the power to create Origin. But what makes it Origin is that little seat over there. An inconspicuous seat. This should be the Progenitor''s Throne!"

 Chapter 582 The One Seated On The Throne

    Ever since Seeker and his friends met with the Emperors and Empresses of the Everhiss family, the n to acquire the Throne had been the primary concern of the Everhiss n.


    Two Thrones were secretly ced on two specific locations where the Origin energy was being made to fill the Earth.


    The first Throne was in the Antarctic Region. But now, the entire Antarctic Region has been a moving continent as it was revealed that the whole Ice continent was now a fortress and that the ice was made of harnessed Origin energy.


    The Worlds Helm and the Arctic regions were the strongest fortresses of the WGP. But the summit of all Emperors was decidedly held on the Worlds Helm due to the ns to disconnect the many structures that made up this building and where allnd would go to the respective families that made the portion of the Worlds Helm.


    But deep inside, it was the secret of the Everhiss n.


    The seat and Throne of the Progenitor was a secret that only three people within the Everhiss family knew and guarded this secret. It could only be passed on to the main members of the n in another member of the n died. It was kept this way until the battle in the Kraken when one member who knew this truth, Miranne, was kidnapped. Since the terms ''Lost Primordial'' and ''Seeds'' made rounds worldwide, the remaining two members decided to inform the n. When Seeker met with the Everhiss n for the first time, this secret was revealed to all family members.


    The powers of the Throne that the Everhiss family had been only a very small portion. The history of the science behind Origin energy came to be had been altered and dispersed. Files and history were rewritten, with only some oral traditions being passed down within the Everhiss family.


    The rest of the WGP believed they created a massive machine churning Origin energy because of a spatial anomaly within a strange meteorite that fell. The two stones were housed in the center where the massive power nts and reactors were made. They didn''t know that the spatial anomaly was caused by another device ced within.


    Still, the entire room where the Origin energy was made was heavily guarded, and breaking through the many gates and walls was too taxing and costly even for the Oveers.


    And so, everyone else fought, and Lennox was hijacking damaged Rules and forcing the Emperors and Empresses to unlock the gates.


    Others were enticed and forced by the fighters to open the gates or face death.


    Numerous gates were opened, and those not opened would be bypassed through the Paths until they finally reached the Throne.


    As the group observed the inconspicuous chair, they used their Realm to sense the peculiarities.


    "Are you sure this is it?" Seeker asked.


    "Yes. I asked Phoenix, and he told me the Throne would look like an ordinary seat. That is how it was hidden from everyone. I''ve been calcting the flow of the Origin Energy and used my Realm to sense it." Arthur approached.


    "Sense what? I can''t sense anything!" Lynd frowned.


    "Exactly. This ce has no realm altogether." Lioncourt smiled.


    "I nearly failed to notice it. As expected of the Prophet Daniel!"


    "What is he talking about?" Meryl turned to Seeker.


    "The energy that this seat release surpasses Universe, Origin, or Realm. In this room, you would feel Origin Energy like the wind. But that ce has nothing."


    "Yeah... I still don''t get it."


    "Imagine putting your hand deep in water. You could feel the water. But the energy that this seat is leaking, while simr to Origin, is different. If you put your hand in this pond, you would feel like there is no water there." Arthur exined.


    "It''s a sneaky way to hide it. No wonder even the Presiders couldn''t sense it! It''s a Realm or energy that cannot be detected. So even if we harness all the realms we are harnessing, we won''t be able to sense anything from it."


    "Then how do we activate it or awaken it? If all our guesses our right, this is the final seed that the Progenitor ced. So what will draw out the Progenitor?" Rai asked.


    "Unity." Seeker and Lynd answered together.


    "We saw the vision when we achieved Unity," Lynd added.


    "Yes. But Unity between two can be deceptive. I don''t think your Unity alone would be enough. We have seen Presiders that have used fraudulent means to be Conquerors. Myrth was one of them. So it has to be several."


    "Then let''s try it. Seeker and Lynd will be at the center. And we try to create Unity by merging our Paths."


    "We haven''t done this with more than three individuals," Meryl spoke.


    "Yes. Are we all supposed to join in? The energy of thisbination will be immense. We will waste a lot of energy doing that! And it will startle those Presiders above!"


    "Yes. They would be forced to use much of their power if they sense it."


    "That''s one scenario. But if we do this, and if my guess is right, the power surge out of this Throne will also be immense. It will be so immense and mysterious that, at minimum, it would seem like a Principal hase!" Arthur exined.


    "If you''re wrong... we get bombarded by attacks, and it will drain our energies a lot! We cannot make attacks that will reach or hit Pridgeon." Seeker asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Are you... saying that I''m wrong?"


    "...No." Seeker retreated from his line of questioning.


    "Let''s do it," Arthur ordered.


    "Alright." Seeker closed his eyes. The power of Unity emerged. The battle against Garenjazz, where they fought within the Realm of the dreamworld, had improved the team''s ability to be linked with others. Their training moving ahead of those had made them improve their strength, and finally, the end goal of the Way in creating people who can wield different paths was possible.


    Those within the circle of Unity would share their realms and merge them with everyone within the circle. Each Unlocked would still be the source of their paths, but the rest could wield it as they pleased.


    The power of Unity was the peak of their battle techniques. The energy that rose surpassed the sensors of numerous weapons of mass destruction.


    A strange power began to ripple out.


    Pridgeon and Lanterk sensed the changes and could tell it was within the center of the WGP.


    "They masked the sound for that! They were preparing something!" Pridgeon cursed.


    "Lanterk!"


    Lanterk followed as was their agreement.


    He moved and pushed his hands forward. From his side of the portal, his palm pushed out of the portal.


    The power of Lanterk''s control over metal was surging out, and the world''sws were bowing to him.


    But he froze as Lanterk gathered the power to change thews and make all metal bend to his will.


    No one could see it, but everyone felt a strange sensation worldwide. Lanterk stopped as the strange presence began to affect the world around him.


    All of the matter within the region stopped as if all the world''sws were being destroyed and rewritten. A new world with new rules was appearing.


    "What... is this?!" Pridgeon retreated.


    "Get back! That power! Dimensional Purging! It''s a Principal''s power! That could be the Lost Primordial! Retreat!" Lanterk shouted as the energy rippled out.


    A small push made a very small opening in a door. But all Principals and Primes, or even the Babelians who had reached this level, could feel it.


    Somewhere... in the endless stars, a being opened his eyes and was shocked.


    "Heaven...?! Heaven has opened?!"


    The cracking of the door was swift. But the Primordial was furious.


    "You...! You have just crossed there because you are dead! I will cross over there because I am God!" The Primordial vowed.


    Back on Earth...


    Seeker and the rest were all glowing with a bright light. They were standing before the Throne. But now, a person was seated on the Throne.


    "Oh? So many of you. Hmm... Did you think drawing me out needed Unity? Well... sort of. But the trigger was the Transfigured form. The form of a New Creation." The old man smiled.


    "You...!" Seeker was amazed.


    The man had the face of a man and the form of a man. But his features were that of light.


    "Lost Primordial?" Lynd guessed. This was the same person that they saw in the vision when they first managed to use Unity.


    "Yes. I am the Seed that had to die. If I didn''t die, I would never have seen the sun and sprouted." The old man smiled.


    "Good job, my dear children! You have sprouted well and have turned the legacy of a New Creation! Our enemies take blood and flesh from the Nefilus, but we are new creations! The old has passed! The new hase!"

 Chapter 583 The Demon Sealed On Earth

    The old man had exceedingly great joy and began tough andugh for no apparent reason.


    Seeker and the rest were confused as they stood before the Old Man.


    "Lost Primordial? Progenitor?" Seeker dared to ask.


    The old manughed andughed and turned back to Seeker.


    "Pardon me forughing. But I''m just so happy! The seeds I ced so long ago have finally sprouted and bore their fruits! I didn''t believe it at first... You see, my Lord promised that my seeds won''t ever be small. When I ascended to glory in my passing, I never saw the results of my fruits. I had lost most of my powers and had power that could equal Principals apart from my clear sight and vision as a prophet of the Lord."


    "Prophet... of the Lord? You''re a space Christian Missionary?"


    "You could say that." The Lost Primordial chortled.


    "But sadly, I cannot bring you any more gifts other than this throne and my presence. This throne will be yours to study. But, of course, there are... certain limitations that must be adhered to. You have grown strong. But I''m not just about to give you the technology that can help you ascend to be Principals. You will have to figure it out."


    "It is... within our expectations. We cannot ovee this if things are handed to us on a silver te. But we have to ask Progenitor. Who or what exactly are you?" Seeker asked.


    "To answer that, I''ll first tell you the real history of the world. Things implied in the Bible, but never revealed."


    "We''re sort of in the middle of a war here. And we just listened to a lengthy sermon from an insane pastor." Meryl added.


    "Don''t worry, Meryl. Time has stopped." Lioncourt answered and gazed in deep respect at the Progenitor.


    "To stop time... And... the ripple of it... It feels... endless!"


    "Of course. I stopped all of the time."


    "What?! What do you mean time has stopped? I can still move!" Meryl answered as she began to p her arms around.


    "So the Seed that controls realm and time can pause time and leave his perception to continue?" The Lost Primordial smiled as he nced at Lioncourt.


    "I can stop time within a certain area now, Progenitor. Butpared to you who stopped time for all the universe..." Lioncour answered and bowed.


    "Amazing! I''m surprised by how powerful my seeds are. And don''t bow. I''m not a king. At least not yet. But it seems my hopeless n worked. I can tell not one of my nted seeds was lost! You guys have far exceeded my expectations. Just as I hoped you would! But you all can only contend against Principals. The weary road lies for you to walk." The old manughed.


    "But anyways, my time is still limited. So I will tell you the basics so you can know what you are facing. I guess this information won''t help you be Principal. However, this is vital information as you will know what even Principals don''t. For example, my little trick here has alerted the Primordial. He must be panicking and searching for it."


    "Searching for what?"


    "How did you think I appeared before you? This isn''t some remnant soul that you see before you. I am alive. More alive than I once was. To get here, I had to open the door."


    "Door?" Seeker asked.


    "Ah... Still a little behind with our Bible, eh?" The Lost Primordial chuckled.


    The group was even more confused as they spoke to the Lost Primordial. It was as if they were talking to an even more entric Eagle!


    "What is he...?" Cliff asked.


    "The door to heaven. That''s what this is all about. The Primordial wants to reach heaven." Arthur answered.


    "Exactly. This is what all wars are ultimately about. This is what drives the Primordial and doomed everyone to a destiny of the war."


    "Heaven?"


    "It''s the ultimate conquest." Arthur shrugged.


    "So heaven is actually real? I mean... Does it actually exist? Eagle speaks of it... but..." Meryl was in disbelief.


    "Well, it''s not how you think or imagine it. I''m sure Eagle knows more details about it. But the verse is true. No eye has seen, or ear has heard, or the penultimate imaginations and desires of man''s heart can even capture the ce where I am. But heaven is not a grand endless paradise. It has its limitations, just like the Universe. I opened the door, the one leading to the Temple in Ezekiel. This is the heaven that the Primordial seeks."


    Seeker was confused. The temple in the book of Ezekiel was the Temple of God that was shown to Ezekiel in a vision. It was revealed to show Israel what the perfect standards of this Temple werepared to the temple that Israel built.


    "So Ezekiel got brought up to THAT heaven?"


    "For now... This is heaven. But ultimately, heaven and earth will all be remade, and only one house shall appear. The house of God. To understand the Primordial is to understand the one who set him on this path."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Let me guess... Satan." Arthur spoke.


    "Satan?!" Cliff and Meryl eximed.


    "Well, it does make sense. I knew it would all go to that eventually." Lynd shrugged.


    "It makes perfect sense. Who else would have given the power of the Nefilus beast."


    "No. It''s not Satan." The Lost Primordial smiled.


    "It''s not him?"


    "Had Satan given the powers of the Nefilus beast, he would be chained up. But right now, Satan is up here in heaven."


    "Say what now?" Meryl was confused.


    The rest who read their Bible began to nod their heads.


    "The user. He stands at the very throne of God to constantly use the saints." Seeker answered.


    "Exactly. That''s where Satan is. Revtion 12:10 tells us that Satan stands on the throne and uses the saints day and night. That''s his job right now. Satan didn''t do that. Someone else did. A demon who has been brought down to earth and has been sealed for a long time."


    "I''m sorry... I just can''t wrap my head around all this. So a demon gave the Nefilus Body to humans and got punished? I read the Bible a few times. And my Unlocking has enough memory to recall all verses. I haven''t read about that."


    "It is in the Bible. The Earth has been so sinful that as early as Isaiah 6, God curses them. And what once was in and simple became precept upon precept, line upon line. Here a little, there a little. This is also why Jesus spoke in parables. But I''m talking about Apollyon."


    "Apollyon... Abbadon! I see. Apollyon is a demon that was released into the world in Revtion 9. Right when they started blowing the Trumpets that broke these seals!" Lynd recalled.


    "Yes. Apollyon is sealed on Earth. Not in the material ne, but on a spiritual one."


    "A dimension like heaven?"


    "No. It''s easier to get there. Should the Primordial seek Apollyon''s hiding ce, he will find it here. But you can''t imagine what he must endure getting here. And he fears the Cherubim that guards the ce."


    "Cherubim? The one that guards Eden? Then that means... Apollyon is sealed in the Garden of Eden!"


    "Yes. But don''t get too excited. Even Primes can''t find that ce here."


    "But is this it? The entire reason why the Primordial built his empire and even allowed wars to happen is so that people will arise and develop techs to help him get to heaven?"


    "Yes. That was also the intention of the Nefilus Beast Apollyon. That was what prompted him to teach his first disciple what to do. And together, they built the Tower of Babel!"


    "Nimrod..."


    "Yes. Nimrod. The Primordial. My greatest enemy." The old man smiled and nced up to the skies.


    "Good luck trying to find me, you old coot. You won''t ever find it in that dimension!" The Progenitor taunted.


    At the taunt, everyone felt a strange sensation. It was as if things went wrong, and they felt afraid and confused.


    "What is happening?!" Seeker asked.


    "Don''t worry. Little ol'' Nimrod is throwing a tantrum. He knows the door to heaven has opened and can''t find it."


    "So he''s moving?! But I thought the time had stopped?!" Meryl asked.


    "How can this Primordial move if time stopped?" Meryl asked again.


    "Time may have stopped, but time isn''t constant. It''s a malleable element that can be bent and altered, just like metal. You know gravity affects the flow of time. And so, stopping time isn''t going to stop the Primordial. Top Tier Principals could even alter the flow of time and reverse it. That''s what Dimensional Purging is."


    Meryl''s expression continued to wear a confused face.


    "Anyway, Nimrod and Apollyon. These two are quite a team. Before I go, I''ll tell you the real tale of their meeting. To do that... We''d have to go a few hundred years back and talk about Creation, the Fall, and finally, the flood!"

 Chapter 584 The Truth Of The Nephilims

    The Lost Primordial began his tale of what transpired several thousands of years back to the days of Noah.


    "When God created the heavens and the Earth, as written in Genesis 1, this world was the intended home or ce where God would dwell. He wanted to have fellowship and enjoy eternity with those who love Him. He wanted to create a perfect world. But then there was Satan. The first one to rebel. He was a genius."


    "A genius?"


    "Yes. When God created everything, there was a powerfulw in ce. Everything was created, and everything was ''good''. But Satan found iniquity in himself. It was something that was so vastly iprehensible. It was also proof of Satan''s power. He desired something but didn''t know what it was at first. So he sought it and found a way to surpass all creatures'' dimensional limitations. And then it urred. He had pride and went his own way."


    "So he... rebelled? Or, to put God in a bad picture, Satan had free will?"


    "Free will is a veryplex term for dimensional beings. Your free will is nothingpared to the free will of angels. Or me, for that matter. I can see time in a spiral, and everything I have done and how you are standing here was because of my actions which I did. But all of this is because of a superiorw that binds me to do good. It is my nature to desire this and fight against the Primordial. If I were truly free, I would not have fought the Primordial. The same goes for the Presiders."


    "They have this desire to participate in a war..."


    "Yes. For Satan, it was even moreplicated. The thought of rebelling was not even possible. It did not exist in any dimensional ne. But he did it. Theologians and good people on earth try to rationalize multi-dimensional beings and bind them in limited terms such as free will, destiny, and fate... But the truth is, you can never reallyprehend it. It''s like God was painting a masterpiece, and suddenly, a certain droplet in the canvas became a different color. How is it possible? How did ite to be? That remains unknown even for someone as powerful as me. But Satan managed to rebel and open a whole new dimensional possibility creating conflict in all creation. He rebelled. Many of the stars, a third, to be precise, were cast down to Earth."


    "Then his rebellion was something of great power that even the Primordial or you cannot do."


    "Yes. If there is an apt exnation for free will, it would be that. Aputer code goes beyond its programming. In the eyes of the Creator, it was chaos. Our inheritance is quite outstanding. But even now, we in heaven only see a fraction of it. A real heaven ising. God intends to rece the old and create a new one. Satan wants to stop this because it would mean his eternal demise."


    "Then why isn''t he fighting?" Meryl asked.


    "If he is in this, why can''t he like... wage war?"


    "That''s still limited thinking. When Satan rebelled, he and his fellow demons were cast down from heaven to live in this three-dimensional realm. It was embarrassing, painful, and pitiful. Imagine being an eternal being that transcended dimensions and was then cast out to live as a pitiful being limited in height, weight, depth, and afflicted by time! He is bound to new and strangews that he couldn''t fathom! Even for a genius like him, it took a lot for Satan to find a way back to ascend and fly to the heavens. They had great restrictions on them. They could not rebel or act out because of this bondage. Think of Earth as a prison; they were shackled to it, unable to defile it. And so Satan had to find a way to corrupt this three-dimensional realm. He needed to change the dimensions of this world just as he defiled heaven!"


    "And so, he tempted Eve." Seeker guessed.


    "That was his solution? Sin?" Lynd was confused.


    "Yes. You don''t understand the effects of sin in the grand scheme. There is a reason why the Bible despises it in all of its forms. It''s a corrupting power that distorts the way of things in this world. It''s simr to the painting illustration I gave earlier. It corrupts the grand picture and pushes it away from its designed masterpiece. And the brilliance of sin is that it thinks it''s better! I have seen Earth for a long time since my defeat. I have watched how they made literature, valued free will, and rebelled against the heavens. They put pride on a pedestal and say that it is something good. But the Bible despises pride. Ultimately, we have created beings. We are better off being what we are made to be and not seeking our glory for pride and vanity! And that was the entrance that Satan needed! When sin entered, Satan managed to ascend once more, and now he constantly uses the saints in heaven. It''s very important that he does this. He needs to bring down as much as he can and destroy the forming painting that God is making because if it''splete, Satan is also finished!"


    "And now he is using the Primordial to carry on this distortion?"


    "Yes. The ascension of a Conqueror is rooted in pride. It desires to conquer the heavens and even God! After Satan''s attempted coup, he was defeated, so he now spends his life corrupting the world so that the n of God would note to pass or dy it! And there, he sent his top agent, Apollyon, to earth. And then Apollyon did something interesting. He had sex."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Nice." Lynd approved.


    Everyone turned to Lynd and frowned at him.


    "S-Sorry. I got nervous standing before the Lost Primordial that I copied Gardo to calm myself down." Lynd blushed in embarrassment.


    "Stop imitating Gardo. Anyway, please continue, Progenitor." Seeker sighed.


    "It wasn''t just Apollyon who had fun. Apollyon ordered his demons to mate with women. I''m sure you know of this tale.."


    "The Nephilim! Genesis 6!"


    "That''s right. The Nephilims. They were Satan''s weapons. God created Adam and Eve to fill the Earth with His image. But Satan corrupted it. His demons gave birth to the Nephilims. And these handsome, strong, and powerful humans had an easy way with the most beautiful women of their time! They would further corrupt the earth with this bloodline. And since they had long lifespans, a single Nephilim could easily have over a hundred children. The demons protected them so that even the high mortality rate didn''t seem to apply."


    "You mean the demons made sure that the curse of the woman in having great pains in childbirth was stopped?"


    "Yes. It was a profound act that the demons that did that were punished. Jude talks about this."


    "And the angels who did not stay within their position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day..." Lioncourt is quoted from the book of Jude.


    "So that''s what it means. I didn''t understand who these angels were when I read the entire chapter. It was them! Those who mated with others! They forsook their dimensional positions and were punished for it!"


    "Yes. This was a great scandal. Earth was Satan''s punishment. He knew that God''s n to redeem earth was ultimately through Jesus. The book of Romans talks about this in detail. Jesus is the dimensional entity that is part of the Godhood that would resolve all this by imputing holiness and righteousness into the world once more. Satan acted fast and ordered Apollyon to inject their corrupt spirit to dwell within man. God had to step in. He spoke aw to ensure that the spirit of these angels would not remain in the souls of man for one hundred and twenty years. But this was also a warning for those angels who left their proper dwelling. They had only a hundred and twenty years left on earth before they would be chained in the eternal chains mentioned in the book of Jude. So they spread their seeds."


    "That means most of the original world became popted with Nephilims!" Lioncourt eximed.


    "Yes. This story of the Nephilim is found in Genesis chapter 6. If you go on a few versester, we see the Bible dere that the world was full of sin! And there, the story of Noah begins!"


    "So the flood was God''s way of ridding the world of the Nephilims?"


    "Yes. Nephilims and the human forms of the fallen angels. But God had mercy on the earth afterwards. He vowed never to rid the world it this way again. The flood slew all the Nephilims but in the dimensional realms, it was also a war to seal all the fallen angels and Apollyon. And somehow, Apollyon was able to return to earth and sought refuge from one of Noah''s descendant. The son of Ham, Cush, he had fathered your ultimate enemy, Nimrod!"

 Chapter 585 Returning To Heaven

    Noah had three sons. One of them was Ham. He was the father of Cush, the father of what became the most powerful kingdom in the Ancient World. In thend of Shinar, that is, Babylon stood the tower that Nimrod built.


    Babel.


    The revtion of how the Primordial was someone who dated back to the ancient world shocked everyone. If the history of the Bible''s timeline was to be believed, then Nimrod was over around 4600 years old!


    The group listened in shock.


    "I can''t help but recall Lowengren''s insane lie of the demon being sealed on Earth to defeat the Tyrant Empress. To think angels and demons exist."


    "It''s expected. The more we saw the powers that transcended dimensions and how we could alter them, the more possible they lived. We have long asked the question if life outside of earth exists. And it turns out it was true. But Earth was their homnd. And yet, if we explore the multiple dimensions, then it''s possible to see beings that exist in them." Arthur answered.


    "Yes. We''ve asked a poor question. We sought extraterrestrial. But never considered ultra-terrestrial. Who knows? Maybe those UFO sightings we''ve seen long ago are not necessarily Aragarians but are beings that peak into our dimensions. These are the theories that the interdimensional hypothesis proposes." Lioncourt answered.


    "It''s interesting, isn''t it?" The Lost Primordial asked.


    "Our primitive ancestors believed in their existence and saw it. But after the Nephilim scandal, the decree of God, which limits the number of years that allows all in the likeness of His spirit to dwell in the three dimensions, forced all angels and other ultraterrestrial to stop being here. And so, apart from the few instances that both angels or demons would step into the world, such as before and during the arrival of Christ, when demonic possession was rampant in Israel, the angels and devils hid back to the other dimensions. The one known as Seventh Heaven is that realm."


    "So when Apollyon met Nimrod, they couldn''t do anything about that? If Apollyon had been on earth earlier, the angels chasing him should have had more time than Apollyon. So what happened?"


    " Most angels wouldn''t dare move against Appolyon unlessmanded by God. You see, after the flood, God made another edict. Genesis 9 records that ''Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his image.''"


    "So if an angel kills a man, he would be subject to being in by human hands?" Cliff frowned.


    "Yes."


    "But... the angels have been smoting people left and right in the bible!"


    "The Angel of the Lord has. Passover, he smote the firstborn. But that angel has already died by human hands." The Lost Primordial smiled.


    "What?! When?" Lynd frowned.


    "Oh? You don''t know?" Richie chuckled.


    Everyone turned to him.


    "Some schrs believed that the title of the Angel of the Lord is a specific angel. It''s not just any angel. After all, ''angel'' simply means messenger. The messenger of the Lord, who appears several times in the Old Testament, more prominently as the Angel of the Lord that appeared in Judges chapter 2, is Jesus. There are many angels, but only one Angel of the Lord. So I''m guessing the other Old Testament events where Angels were ying people was, in fact, the Angel of the Lord, who is Jesus." Richie guessed.


    "So... him dying on the cross was...?" Meryl began.


    "Yes. Actually, that makes perfect sense. Jesus said I came to fulfill the Law. So even thews set for man, including the payment of the shedding of men''s blood, would be paid by the Christ on the cross." Richie exined.


    "Wow... You really have been listening to Eagle a lot." Seeker shook his head.


    "His sermons keep resounding in my head. I do have a lot of preachers I listen to, though."


    "Progenitor. That use has interesting implications. Are they... nning to kill God?" Arthur asked.


    Everyone was confused at Arthur''s deduction. But the Progenitor only smiled.


    "You exin things since you have figured it out, Daniel. As for me, my time is up. Any more multi-dimensional seconds spent here will be trouble for you. Take the knowledge that you know and use it against your enemies. I took advantage of the Word and pinned your fates to be a foreshadowing of Christ. That was the only way I hoped you could win. He is the truth. But more than that, he is reality itself. You guys are just too weak to see the dimensional implications."


    "Wait! Progenitor!" Seeker shouted.


    "I cannot stay, nor can I tell you anything more than what I have said. I am ying with Fate and Destiny in doing this. You can''t imagine the bacsh of what I''m doing. If I say anything more rted to that, even my own name, it will tilt the tides of the space and time continuum to the favor of the Primordial."


    "It''s not that... it''s just... Thank you." Seeker saluted.


    Seeing this, the rest followed.


    The Progenitor smiled as he saw it.


    "You did well to be cautious. A Principal has been listening to you as of the moment. I guess I could give him a little scare as I leave. Remember my words, all of you, my seeds. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The second death will not hurt the one who ovees."


    At once, a blinding light shed out, and time resumed once more.


    The Progenitor was gone, and only the seat remained.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Time continued, and everyone could feel the movements of the world.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Explosions were heard from afar as time continued.


    Pridgeon was charging toward the World''s Helm, and he suddenly sensed a strange sensation that caused him to retreat.


    But this was the sensation when heaven opened to allow the Progenitor to descend to earth. Not a second passed outside, and the Progenitor was ascending again. And as he did, the Progenitor made a ripple of his presence known.


    Lanterk and Pridgeon felt the Universe''s Energy locking down on them.


    The two hastily retreated and began to deploy attacks that had the power of weapons of mass destruction.


    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!


    The explosions urred behind them as if Pridgeon were deploying weapons to keep something chasing him back.


    The power of the Progenitor began to attack the invisible energies spying down on Earth.


    Strange cracks began to appear in space.


    Suddenly, the cracks grew longer and longer, and it was as if argely invisible ss needle that could stab through the moon was there.


    But the cracks continued onwards to endless space!


    The ripple in the skies above revealed a long line of light that appeared. It was extending up towards space, into thes far away. The light fluctuated, and it revealed its real form.


    A tunneling line of Universe Energy appeared.


    But suddenly, it began to copse.


    "Even if I''m dead, you guys better wash your necks! My seeds will kill you all! And tell that nimrod that he won''t ever find that ce! I won! I found it!" Progenitorughed as he departed and transcended the dimensions.


    Pridgeon and Lanterk were on full retreat as the powerful voice echoed out.


    Near Jupiter...


    A massive ship that floated in space, making it look like one of Jupiter''s moons, continued to fly onwards toward Earth.


    But all of a sudden, a light shed, and a long beam of light appeared that was connected to therge spaceship.


    The lights shed and cracked and broke like ss. Afterward, no light was found.


    Inside the ship, several Thrones had gathered on the massive main bridge of the ship and saw through therge window the destruction of the great link that was created.


    All of Earth was within their hearing thanks to the power of the Principal.


    Marrho stood with a shocked expression. He saw what to him was impossible! The power of a Mid-Tier Principal was broken!


    "How?!" The confused Marrho stood in shock.


    "I told Earth has surprises. Sure, your little Presider Wars that allowed several Presiders to be Conquerors were terrifying... But don''t underestimate Earth!" Beside him was Renkerdis, who was once called Enderks.


    "That power was simr to a Mid-Tier''s power! So how did they detect it?!" Marrho asked again.


    "It wasn''t a they. It was a he. And that he is the Lost Primordial. But... he truly is dead. I''m guessing that was thest protocol he had in ce to help his little... seeds, he called them." Principal Dormin appeared.


    "Principal... Your power..."


    "Eh... I''m not bothered. It used the Universe Energy of those dead Presiders anyway. Whatever''s down on Earth is your problem. I can''t sense any alterations of energy that would be at a Principal level. Good luck in your fights." Prince Dormin smiled and returned to his room.


    As he moved back, arge smile was stered on his face.


    "I was right...! If I devour the winner of this match, I can finally be a Prime!"

 Chapter 586 The Fall Of World’s Helm

    The retreat of Pridgeon and Lanterk was quick.


    Pridgeon rushed back into the portal with all his might and techs revealed.


    He released numerous explosions that contained Universe Energy.


    It was as if Myrth''s sts were being released behind him.


    The dimensions shook, and the superimposing explosions created intense energy that brought out a spatial copse.


    The Unlocked Army was in retreat as they were somehow pushed back by an unknown force that allowed them to be spared from the mad retreat of the Presiders.


    Eagle watched as he could see a being taken out of the sky and disappeared in the twinkling of an eye.


    Above the sky, they could see a tunneling light extending out as the Universe Energy began to copse.


    Seeker and the rest had already charged up, but even though they were once deep inside the World''s Helm, they could still see therge tunnel of light up in the sky.


    "Is this the one with the real Throne Tech?" Alean asked as the Void Assassin appeared bearing arge seat.


    "Yes. This is the Progenitor''s Throne. Let''s get out of here." Rai answered.


    Alean nodded and piloted a small ship inside the World''s Helm. This was the ship that they would use to transport the Throne.


    Back outside, many continued to marvel at the destroyed tunnel of light.


    "What was that?" Rosa asked Meng.


    "Everyone. Can you hear me? You probably saw a powerful link that the Aragarians made to spy on us. That was something they made to hear everything in the world. At least that''s what Arthur believes." Richie''s voice echoed out. A sound link appeared all over them.


    "They were listening to the entire world?!" Gardo was amazed.


    "We thought that those Presiders here would be doing that. But it seems those who are yet to arrive did even something greater. So we are up for some terrifying battles. So our paranoia in setting up that meeting was justified. I guess Alean''s zone has recovered now after thatst fight." Typical chuckled.


    "It''s simr to my Wind Whisperer. It seals, gathers, and preserves sound. But to think you can make something so big! I can''t imagine what technology they have to hear it! That Aragarian mothership could practically hear anything we say if it''s here!" Hermes frowned.


    "But how was that tunnel of power destroyed? Who attacked it?" Amir asked.


    "Isn''t it obvious? I felt a power rise. That was the Progenitor, wasn''t it?" Quera chuckled.


    "He''s alive?"


    "Everyone. This allows us to discuss what the Progenitor told us. But this also means we cannot keep ourmunication lines active unless we use the Thought Transmitter. This had proven to be difficult to hack in Seeker''s previous timeline. But with a Principaling, we can''t be too sure. Anyway, let''s listen up to Arthur''s words." Richie spoke.


    "Team. Continue to destroy the World''s Helm. Don''t kill every Emperor or Empress except the following who I have marked. You will receive a prompt as my father will send out your targets. Be sure to seed. And now... listen to what we learned..."


    Arthur began to discuss what the Progenitor told them. First, he said of the truth of the Aragarians. The legacy was left thousands of years ago. He told them of Nimrod, Apollyon, of heaven, of the Nephilims, and then he told them the enemy''s goal.


    "The enemy is most likely using the use that God has set in Genesis after the flood in that those who y man shall be in by a man. They are using the Aragarians, or the Primordial, who is a man, to be the one that will kill ''those who shed man''s blood''. This means that Apollyon is setting up a human to kill the Almighty God."


    Eagle was stunned as he heard this. Then, an indescribable rage began to build up.


    "Those arrogant... fools!" Eagle raged as he raised his hands.


    The power of his rage caught several defunct satellites floating in orbit and began to pull them all down to Earth.


    The power of gravity was so strong that it began to pull back the ozoneyer and all elements causing the falling satellites to face no resistance as they plummeted to Earth.


    The satellites he summoned targeted Rome, where Lanterk''s base is believed to be.


    "...Is Eagle pulling the former international space station?" Lioncourt sensed the massive object falling.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Easy there, Pastor. Blessed are the peacemakers, remember?" Lynd sighed.


    "He''s pulling several satellites and is adding gravity between them. So their became onerge meteorite! And his using gravity to pull down any resistance, including the ozoneyer." Lioncourt sensed.


    The many satellites were being forced into a ball. Explosions were happening, but even fire couldn''t escape the power of gravity. So the satellites began to increase one after the other, and with the firey explosions being contained, it looked like it was a meteorite!


    "Stop that meteor, Lioncourt!" Charles called out. The meteor could kill thousands and thousands of civilians in Rome!


    "I can''t! First, my realm is being pulled down! And a sound barrier deflects my telekic force from reaching that metal meteor! Second, I''d have to waste a lot of energy to stop that!" Lioncourt frowned and turned to the direction where Richie was.


    "Come on, aren''t you guys a little pissed? Besides, what will a little meteor do to those Aragarians?"


    "Vengence is mine, says the Lord." Seeker reminded.


    The pair became silent.


    "...But this is war!" Richie finally spoke.


    Seeker sighed and shook his head.


    "Let Eagle make his attack. But Eagle, stop increasing the power of gravity. We can use that meteor as some sign to show that they are wicked and will be punished." Arthur finally interjected.


    "Those who dare think they can kill God are all wretched! Not even Satan would dare think of this!"


    "Whether or not that is Satan''s n, we don''t know. But what we know is that the events of our lives will be dictated toe when Apollyon is released. It was written back then, and it will surely take ce. And what we do know is that Apollyon enacted this crazy n."


    "True. His word wille true. Then I should save my attacks for Apollyon!" Eagle decided as he stopped increasing the power of the metal meteor falling.


    The Lost Primordial, our Progenitor, tied events and persons that we all have to be rted to signs, persons, and individuals in the Bible. Seeker and Lynd are typologies of Jesus as the Way and the Truth. We can assume that the Bible, the Word of God and not your tranted versions, somehow dictates all of the time, history, and events. Everything written here wille true, and as we have seen, it has alreadye to pass. And somehow, the great mystery is that every part of the Bible is partly prophecy or a foreshadowing of future things. It''s just as Eagle had thought us."


    "So are we going to make ns now? Are we going to try and fulfill more of these verses? We seem to be already going the right road, after all. Maybe this is how we can win!" Charles urged.


    "No. Let''s not waste time understanding and forcing the mysteries. We do what we can do. We don''t have to fulfill every detail of the Bible. What we have done and can do in the future is already enough. Besides, we don''t have that luxury."


    "So just follow Eagle''s ns, right?" Quera asked.


    "Yes. I think it should be safe for us tomunicate within a day or two. But after that, we cutmunications again and limited it. Those two Aragarians are still here. Unless you can be sure that your words can move out of the three dimensions or not touch any metal that Lanterk can use to listen to you, limit yourmunications!"


    The group affirmed the orders as they continued to fight.


    The list of Emperors and Empresses to kill was revealed, and the Oveers were starting to move.


    Vampires, werewolves, needles, ice, fire, gigantic serpents, and all forms of power began to attack and kill the Emperors.


    Because of the Progenitor''sst gift to scare the Presiders, many saw how Earth''s forces could drive away the Presiders, and in that, the WGP began to surrender.


    "We surrender!"


    "We have a list. And we intend to kill all those in it! Those who have records of siding with the Presiders to greater extents will not be forgiven! Stand down and let us kill those we have to kill!" Meng''s voice boomed as a Green Dragon of Destion formed.


    To the south side, all the forces were no longer following the orders of the Emperors and Empresses but had a new Empress to serve.


    The Tyrant Empress''s voice drove many mad, and they began to attack their foes.


    Seen all over the world was the downfall of the World''s Helm and the attack that pushed back the Aragarians.


    The gamers and streamers in the war began to stream their victory and called the world to join.


    Meanwhile, a meteor fell towards Rome!

 Chapter 587 New World Order

    A New World Order had risen on the earth.


    A new supreme power became the dictator of the world.


    The battle in the World''s Helm caused many of the nations to quiver in fear.


    Rome and the Caliphates were the only countries that refused to bow down to them.


    But arge meteor had fallen, and while attempts were made to destroy it, it still crashed into the military base, and it was said to have slew thousands of soldiers, and the earthquake and disasters that the fell caused slew thousands more.


    Many of the surviving Emperors and Empresses had all surrendered after the destruction of the WGP''s World''s Helm.


    Some of the Emperors'' families even offered the heads of those who connived with these Presiders on a silver tter.


    Five days have passed since the surrender of the WGP. With the Progenitor and those who call themselves the Lost Primordial standing at the stage of the world, no longer hiding their identities, the world''s power bent.


    The Underworld surrendered as several prominent and notorious members were revealed to be part of the Progenitor''s team.


    The greatly feared mathematician Lennox Humphrey gave his threat.


    Arthur Arthinar Humphrey and the Covenant of the Strongest, along with Git Godlike and many other gamer groups, became what seemed to be the founders of a new religion. They streamed and spoke of the secrets that took ce and the battles that were led.


    The broadcast showed how the Presider armies retreated in fear and how the skies itself has broken apart. Yet, the fading and wrecked tunnel of Universe Energy was still seen in the sky. And it was as if like it was a rainbow stretching out to the far space.


    The Ministry of Eagle capitalized on this.


    The rainbow in the sky was a reminder of the promise of God that He would not wreck the world.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    On a grand floating stage that was flying all over Asia, was Eagle who was creating a broadcast that would be heard all over the world. The signals used for it were powerful that it would take Universe Energy to block it.


    "Verse one says, God has taken his ce in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment. And so we have seen these aliens, these Presiders who we call as ''gods.'' We all marveled when they revealed their castles and fortresses of grand size. But where are they now? I ask you, where is your god? Our God has promised that He will bring these arrogant kings who consider themselves gods. I said, ''You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince!'' That is the words of the psalmist in Psalms 82!" Eagle''s sermon was shown all over the world.


    His ministry was tantly chosen to spearhead what was considered anti-Aragarian propaganda. Eagle himself revealed he was chosen to preach this to the world. To warn the world for them to resist the Aragarians!


    "Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard the testimony of these aliens themselves! They were once from Earth! They themselves affirm that they were from the time of Babel! They call their enemy aliens Babelians! Your government will have records of those from the Pioneers who have been captured. And yet, these people who fought the aliens and followed the Seed of the Progenitor believe in the Gospel! They believe in the One True God! People call me a Propaganda Preacher, and I am no longer the Paragon of Preacher I once was. But these very people were those who are now affected by the cowardly escape or the sudden deaths of the Presiders caused by these... Gentiles! They are the Hunters I preached about before! The age of the Fishers is over!" Eagle cried out.


    The sermon was shown all over the world, and even Pridgeon and Lanterk were watching from the wrecked base of Rome.


    The metal fortress of Lanterk and the Moon of Pridgeon was peeking out of the ground, and the people of Rome saw it.


    The two Presiders had ugly expressions as they listened.


    "That man... Isn''t he...?" Pridgeon asked.


    "Yes. He was the one who fought that woman known as the Tyrant Empress." Lanterk confirmed.


    Eagle continued to speak.


    "And I will quote from everybody''s beloved KJV version, which people use me of not using, which results in me being a propaganda piece. From Jeremiah 16, ''Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them!'' The first part of this verse has been fulfilled! Christ called the Apostles Fishers of Men! They fished and called to many using the Gospel''s attractiveness and the free gift of Christ. But that era has passed! The world ignored the Gospel and scorned it! They hid it from schools, they hid it from libraries, they called it delusion, and now that the terrors have arrived, they me God for not doing anything! Howughable! We are now on the second part of that verse! ''And after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.'' See now where the Presiders hide! They hide inside their mountains of fortresses! But the hunters chased after them! The Hunters slew them! These gods revealed ships of strange power! Ships that transcend the dimensions! Ships that appear as angels in the bible would! For angels are not of the three dimensions! So when they appear, they are horrifying to our eyes because we cannot see them in the eyes of one with more than three dimensions!" Eagle dered.


    "A new world order is forming! Theocracy has returned! I call on every government not to give up everything. Rule your kingdoms! Rule it with justice and mercy! And rule it in fear of God! A time ising when another star will fall! Just as Satan and his demons on earth, another massive ship full of another batch of aliens will arrive! So I call on the world to live in righteousness and pray! I bring you the source and prophets that have been sent to us to be the typologies of the world! The son of the Lost Primordial, who is known as the Progenitor, is here! Seeker Carlean. Along with Lynd Indigo, whose parent bravely gave their lives to fight the gods in those stars! And Cliff Fangwood! The first conversion of our time is here! Listen to their words. The Way, the Truth, and the Bass!"

 Chapter 588 Alean’s Gamble

    ?


    The dark room was sealed with many techs. In the very depths of this room was a woman.


    Zeraphine of the Presiders was locked in arge room, and her Throne had been dismantled.


    She remained in shock after everything was revealed.


    The truth was brought to her and shocked her.


    She was deceived about the Lost Primordial and the Progenitor. Her only visitor was her friend, Charm, who she also loathed.


    Charm had visited her numerous times when she was free and would even use warping technology to cross the distance despite her missions as a Novelty-stoise leader. She had been a constant visitor and was approved by the many leaders of the Unlocking toe and go as needed.


    But this time, her visit was full of frustration. She barged in and no longer acted like one of the persons who hurt Zeraphine.


    SLAP!


    In her rage, she rushed up and delivered a p.


    Zeraphine spat out a lot of blood from the sudden p and threw her to the ground.


    She was wearing her Nefilus suit and had some energy left, giving her a durable body.


    But Charm''s p was a p that would have killed a normal person.


    "What are you-!"


    "I''m not going to talk to you and make some pity party to feel sorry for your betrayal! Do you know what I was ordered to do?! Do you know what I found out?! I was tasked to eliminate the underground forces of Pioneers and nteds in the chaos that urred! You know what I found? Humans... being experimented on! I found the database of what they have been doing on Earth! And some of them were approved by you!" Charm raged.


    "Here I was, talking to poor old Zeraphine or Lara, or whatever your name is...! Did you know that the real Lara nearly died when they extracted your mind or soul and put you back in this body? Thank God she''s Unlocked now! I was so stupid! I saw you and didn''t see your actions! You''ve been killing, experimenting, and toying with lives! And here I was, feeling sorry for you! Sorry, Zeraphine! Sorry that you are from an alien race who treats us, humans, like pigs!"


    SLAP!


    Zeraphine couldn''t fight back.


    Charm had already reached the Inhuman stage and was too fast for Zeraphine to defend.


    STOMP!


    Zeraphine''s head was being pressed down as Charm forced her foot on her head.


    "I ought to crush your stupid head! Those lives! Those people! They were nothing to you! And I felt sorry that Seeker lied to you! I''m not sorry anymore! I wish he manipted you! I wish he toyed with you all the more! I wish that I never loved you as a friend!" Charm roared.


    "Love covers a multitude of sins. So I''m guessing you weren''t at that level of love." Alean and Kristine appeared at the back.


    "...General Alean!" Charm was shocked.


    "Drop the formalities. I don''t want to hear it. Everywhere it''s like that... From now on, if you''re with Kristine and me, can we just act like normal girls?"


    "Normal girls don''t fight in wars, general."


    "They will. That time ising. Just drop the title and call me Alean when we are alone. That''s an order. Now... Please remove your feet from Zeraphine." Alean smiled.


    Charm followed and moved back.


    Zeraphine began to stand up.


    ¦Ñ¦Á§ád¦Á---n?¦Ía| §ãom "Zeraphine. It''s finally good to see you. Here, I brought someone you might recall."


    Lara walked into the room. It was the former host of Zeraphine.


    "Hello, Zeraphine." The girl spoke.


    "You... survived." Zeraphine saw the girl.


    "No thanks to you. But... I am ttered that you liked how I looked. I''m here because I understand you more than these people. Your soul was in me and controlling me for quite a long time."


    "If you wanted to find out more about my Soul powers, then that Lynd shouldn''t have destroyed my Throne!" Zeraphine shouted.


    "I know your lying." Alean shook her head.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It''s pointless to lie to me. We have an idea of what your power is. But I''m here to confirm some things."


    "I will not speak. Ask Garenjazz. Isn''t he your bitch now?"


    "He''s an informant. You''re the bitch." Alean smiled.


    Zeraphine red.


    "I''m here... to break the flow. You probably don''t know what my powers are because you would try to understand them from the perspective of a Presider. But the Lost Primordial did something interesting. Your leader, the Primordial, used the Nefilus Beast to make the Throne''s power resonate with it. The Lost Primordial... er... found Jesus? I don''t know. But he is using a different way to harness the Throne''s power and wield the dimensions. And that is that he transformed us to be people worthy of sitting on those Thrones. So while our powers appear weaker to you, it has greater reach and growth. You need the Nefilus Suit to ''have ess'' to higher levels and purchase your armor with whatever socialist points you have in your world. We generally don''t. The Throne only bes a proper tool to harness it. But the power is with us. Unlike you, who need the Throne and the Suit." Alean smiled.


    Zeraphine was stunned. That was very important information and exined numerous things that Zeraphine didn''t understand.


    Kristine and Charm frowned as they heard Alean say this. Why was she saying these things to Zeraphine?


    "Why are you telling me this?"


    "Because I am here to free you. And this is against any orders of any of my superiors, Arthur and Zeek included."


    "What?"


    "General!" Charm eximed.


    Kristine and Lara were also surprised.


    "Miss Alean! You''re freeing this monster?!" Lara eximed.


    "You know... When the Lost Primordial appeared and caused those Presiders to retreat, Arthur saw a great power that harnessed Universe Energy. Arthur''s power is a great calction that often is frighteningly urate. But he needs data. He needs to see more of the powers of the Principal to make a reasonably good calction. So right after the acquisition of the Throne, Arthur called me. And you know what he said?"


    The group waited for Alean to answer.


    "That we have no chance of winning. The Throne was not enough. We will have power, and right now, there is a ten percent chance that we could win against those Presiders. But ultimately, we won''t survive the Principal. That''s his calction." Alean exined.


    "Arthur hasn''t told me that, Miss Alean." Kristine frowned.


    "You think he will tell anyone? He hasn''t even told Seeker or anyone else. He told me that I was one of the people who could change it because of my power. Do you know what I replied to him?"


    "That you know a way? Is this why we are here? Zeraphine is the key?"


    "No" Alean shrugged.


    "Truth is, when Arthur called me, I already felt that a few weeks ago. My powers in Zone have gotten stronger, and I am sure we don''t stand a chance of winning this battle. We can fight and defeat the Presiders, but I knew we wouldn''t stand a chance against the Principal, just like Arthur. So I told Arthur, I don''t know how to fix this."


    Charm, Kristine, and Lara felt their stomachs turn and their world spin.


    Alean was serious. They can''t survive.


    "But that''s why we are here. When we fought Garenjazz, I drained all my energy in Zone. I couldn''t see anymore. My vision ended there. Yet here we are. Alive. Because of things that Arthur could not predict and things that I could not feel. So I''m here to make a reckless gamble. The second Beast of Daniel is on its way here. No matter what path of right nning and suggestions I make, it will lead to defeat. So I''m here to throw the gaming board out. I need an unexpected element that will add more randomness and changes on the battlefield. And that is you, Zeraphine. You''re going to be free."


    "Miss Alean! She''s a Presider! And she is under that curse of the Primordial! It''s not something we can talk her into! She will betray us!"


    "That''s why I brought you here, Kristine! Touch her. Use your path to settle her emotions down. Keep her calm." Alean ordered.


    Kristine was surprised and moved closer and touched Zeraphine.


    "Zeraphine. Seeker truly loves you. He does. Garenjazz tells us that you are the daughter of a Prime. Then you probably have seen more than what Principals see. Seeker is a tool of the Lost Primordial. He is from the future. And in that future, he loved you, and you betrayed him. You killed his friends and nearly caused the defeat of the Unlocked armies."


    Kristine and Charm were shocked that Alean chose to reveal this truth!


    "Miss Alean!" Kristine eximed as she moved and lost contact with Zeraphine.


    "General!"


    Lara did not know this and was also startled.


    Seeing the reactions of the two, Zeraphine realized that Alean had just revealed the greatest secret of their army!

 Chapter 589 Soul Imputation

    ?


    The time travel of Seeker Carlean was the greatest secret of the Unlocked Armies. Seeker had chosen to reveal himself to a chosen group.


    And while some of them were made out of his childish tendencies, the secret waster guarded when Arthur and Lennox became involved.


    Seeker was banned from pping his ppy mouth to tell anyone about this secret.


    Many theories and leaks were made within the army to stop others from figuring this secret out.


    But what everyone feared was that if an Aragarian found out. The rippling effect of this knowledge being handed over to the aliens would invite disasters.


    Even now that the Presiders were gone, this information could draw attention and even call out the powerful members of the alien race.


    Time travel altered the dimensions in ways that the Unlocked could not imagine.


    Dimensional Upholding was the power to wield the dimensions. Dimensional Purging was recreating it. But to time travel and reverse time would be Dimensional Transcendence.


    The very person of Seeker was the single missing piece that would alter the past and fulfill many gaps.


    Seeker''s return in knowledge would only have given the group a way to reach Presider level at most.


    But many other World Champions had appeared because of the Way and the Truth working together! Oveers were expected to rise from the Ranked Heroes who had fought!


    And yet, Alean spoke of it.


    Because of being disconnected from Kristine, Zeraphine''s quick eyes could see everyone''s reaction and was stunned.


    "Future? Seeker is... from the future? Impossible..."


    "Yes. An alternate future. And what''s impossible for people like Primes and Principals? Don''t Principals have the power to alter time?"


    "Not in this way. Their powers can alter and change minor things and force the flow of things to follow a certain future. Primes control numerous timelines, and they are all battling a strange and unimaginable battle in their bid to be the next Primordials! But sending someone to the past and creating such drastic change?! Impossible! The Primes would have felt it!"


    "Well, we don''t know how the Lost Primordial did it, but his defeat was necessary. So you call him the Lost Primordial, but because he fled in defeat to Earth. And everyone lowered their guard, did they?"


    Zeraphine frowned.


    "His defeat was intentional?"


    "I feel that way. But, of course, he couldn''t have won if he had fought on. So he might have sought another way and tweaked his fate or whatnot. But in any case, whatever he did allow Seeker to be transported back in time, altering the future. Yet, it''s not enough at this stage to ensure our victory. So I will set you the truth of your alternate lives and set you free."


    "I''m really not so sure about your n, Miss Alean." Kristine sighed.


    "The truth, I am not sure as well. But we need something to alter the course of the battle. And we don''t have anything."


    "How is she the answer? She betrayed us in thest timeline. And that betrayal costs us a lot! Seeker nearly lost his squadron, and her betrayal came at a very critical moment!"


    "Now imagine that happening to the Aragarians." Alean countered.


    "...But can she do that? Besides, will she even be weed? So she was captured and found a way to be free even when Garenjazz can''t?"


    "Based on what Garenjazz told us, Zeraphine''s the daughter of a Prime. She is someone that the Principal won''t dare kill. She will be among them. Garenjazz told us that there is something peculiar about Zeraphine. As the daughter of a Prime when it had already transcended dimensions, it was impossible. It''s like the Holy Spirit causing Mary to bear Jesus. Two beings of different dimensions have merged. And this Zeraphine is the offspring of such an event. She revealed some of her powers in that battle. She''s skilled with her soul energy that surpasses even Nogard''s path. We could make up something about her soul. If we act out part right, the Principal might even value Zeraphine more."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "And what makes you so sure that I won''t betray you? You said I betrayed Seeker and did great harm to your army." Zeraphineughed.


    "I don''t. That''s the crazy gamble. But here''s the thing... In that alternate future, you met Zeekter in the timeline and fell in love with him. But he was human, so naturally, you held back your heart. But did you do this time? Aside from that, I was being honest. Seeker loves you."


    "Right. I can really feel his love."


    "If he didn''t love you, he''d be with Kristine now. Kristine, use your powers on her now. I need her to hear my words at her most calm point. Right now she''s angry." Alean ordered.


    Kristine obliged and approached Zeraphine and touched her again.


    "Kristine here is an interesting character. In that past life, Seeker admired this girl and probably even worshiped her. She was the girl of his dreams. When you killed yourself to save him, Seeker could only move on by trying to rece you. He said that there was an android version of you as Lennox found a way to use the Nefilus Suit and reanimate it. It became some form offorting mechanism for Seeker to cope. But in reality, he never did, and he never could move on from you. Even in this lifetime, he yed with fire. He was unsure whether to abandon you and chase after Kristine or to choose you still. Yet he couldn''t really resist you. So he approached you and presented the one thing that would make you wholly open your heart to him."


    "He imed to be an Aragarian''s son," Zeraphine answered. With the power of Kristine working on her, she was not angry at Seeker as she could see it objectively.


    She noticed the peculiarities and nced at Kristine.


    "It''s my path. I can calm emotions down."


    "In any case, Seeker got you in the palms of his hand, and your heart has probably opened up even more than it did in that alternate life. In the alternate life, you didn''t fully betray Seeker. Instead, you chose to die and kill yourself. I guess you couldn''t betray your race, but you also couldn''t kill him. Now for what it''s worth, that''s something worth relying on. What can trump the curse of a Primordial? The Bible says that of Faith, Hope, and Love, only Love will remain and is, therefore, the greatest. I don''t know how it ys out in our lives or how these three work against the forces of a transdimensional war.... But it is one of the better options I can ce my bets on."


    "Ugh... You''re betting on the love of my rival..." Kristine sighed.


    "Sorry, Kristine! I know you are starting to like him right now. But that''s why I brought you here. Not just to calm Zeraphine''s emotions, but to show her she''s not the only one who loves Zeek."


    "Who was that woman, though? The one that invaded my dreams. I know it wasn''t Shackstress." Zeraphine asked.


    Alean frowned.


    "What woman?"


    "When Seeker and the rest raided Garenjazz and fought against him... There was another woman." Zeraphine added.


    "A woman? Well, I know that Seeker''s special case gives him two lives or half-souls in him. One is his current kid self, and the other is the older, alternate world, Seeker. But because of that, Seeker has been creating multiple personalities to cultivate his soul. I think he created a woman''s thought process. In that dream world, I know he could materialize it. It must have been a thought transference. He did have a thought transmitter with him. Anyway, it''s not the issue at stake here."


    "No. It is important. Because that woman showed me memories."


    "...Memories?!" Alean was stunned.


    "I''m calm now. But let me offer you a counter-deal. In this scenario, I will get stronger. And since you''re already betting that my love for Zeek will win, then let me have that woman! You see, if that woman is what I think it is, then I might have a way to escape the Progenitor''s curse. Garenjazz and Shackstress escaped it. Garenjazz through luck, and Shackstress through death. It doesn''t make sense that she is alive and somehow was in Zeek. I know the soul. Her soul shouldn''t exist like that. Something was keeping Shackstress alive. And I think... it was me!"


    "You? But how?!"


    "It''s possible. I saw the other Seeker, who I thought was the Lost Primordial or the Lost Progenitor. But now I know it was the older Seeker you told me about. If he was that old, I could guess how long it was in the future. And I might have perfected that power."


    "What power?"


    "It''s a power that has never appeared in the Aragarians. I believe it''s the only power I can have with how I was born. The power of Soul Imputation."

 Chapter 590 Betrayal

    ?


    Alean''s expression had greatly changed as she heard Zeraphine''s ims.


    Since the destruction of the World''s Helm, she had been trying to find a way to break out of the set events that would ultimately end in their defeat. Then, she was called the Prophet along with Arthur. But now, they were doomsday prophets that couldn''t see hope in the future.


    She met with Zeraphine and had a strange premonition that she needed to talk to her. But the sensation was distorted. Alean thought that her talking to Zeraphine was something she made alone. But Zeraphine''s words proved that there was more to this.


    "Soul Imputation? Are you suggesting... that the future you..."


    "Sealed herself inside Zeek. That''s what I am led to believe. I couldn''t figure it out until you told me that Seeker is from the future. The lie of him being the Progenitor''s son covered up most of your secrets. And it was a good lie. If Seeker''s real identity as the product of time travel is revealed, then Primes will go here! But now... I need to meet Zeek again!"


    "Exin to me why you think that. Why would a weak Presider like you have the ability that Top-Tiers can do?" Alean questioned.


    "Because I''m not just any Presider! I am the daughter of Prime Zephirus! He is a powerful Prime who has done the impossible. You don''t know what Primes are like. They don''t have physical forms! To be urate, they can''t have one! Something strange urs when they transcend the dimension and be something like a spirit!"


    "Spirit? Wait..." Kristine was stunned.


    "Just as we were told... The curse of Genesis 6. Spirits can''t stay mortal but have a limited number of years."


    Zeraphine was stunned.


    "One hundred and twenty years, to be exact..." Alean noticed Zeraphine''s expression.


    "How... did you?"


    "We met the real Progenitor."


    "Alean! This is too dangerous!" Kristine eximed.


    "You can''t tell her that! The information about him-"


    "I know, Kristine. But I feel that she has to know. My zone... finally found it." Alean smirked.


    "No! This is too crazy! This is too risky!"


    "The Progenitor knew about the souls?"


    "He is the Lost Primordial. Of course, he does. Everything about us is a legacy of the Lost Primordial that he prepared. He wants to end the match between him and the Primordial. You could even say the match is not yet over. Now tell me about your father."


    "...My father is a Prime. He ascended even before I was born. But since Primes have so much power that they cannot stay in the three dimensions, it''s like I never had a father. But my birth caused a stir in Aragar. I was born with the power of the soul. Something that shouldn''t be possible. Many considered my existence an illegal attempt of a Prime to pass on his powers. The Prime Wars are intended to push our society to the next level. I''m sure you know this."


    "Yes. We have a rough understanding of your society now."


    "Because of that purpose, there are rules by which all should abide. Conquerors can are not born through luxury. Principals with sons or daughters cannot just pass on their power to them or anyone else. It has to be a level lower. But no Primes have ever given birth. So there never had been a scenario where a Prime would pass on a Principal level power to their offspring. Until me."


    Kristine was startled.


    "General. I highly rmend we stop this. We cannot let her know any more! Or free her!"


    "I don''t really care if you free me or don''t. You are as good as dead. The woman you killed, Straviaa... She was a daughter of a Principal. That family should be on their way here, so good luck with that. The one approaching could kill you. But even if you survive that batch of Presiders and the Principal after, you will still face more Principals."


    "We will deal with it when the timees. And that''s why I am here to resolve. Earth''s survival is at stake. And you seem to have a backstory that fits our cause. The woman killed herself because she couldn''t kill her lover. Do you know how you died? You told Seeker I love you." Alean revealed.


    Zeraphine was quiet. But Alean''s im fits the vision that she saw when she fought Garenazz.


    "Of course... Freeing you could be pointless. Lynd destroyed your Nefilus suit.


    "The Nefilus Suit that you saw is not a real Nefilus Suit. It''s just something I made so that I can harness other Presider powers. But for my soul, I can use my powers even without them. I could hop back to Lara, but she would fight me. But as for my other Presider techs... it needs me in that so that I can wield Universe Energy. I was born from a spirit. The best way to exin it is-"


    "A virgin birth. Interesting. You''re a Nephilim!"


    "Nephilim? The one in the Bible?"


    "The very same one... I wonder... What if... we try to force you to be an Unlocked."


    "Unlocked? You mean to be like you?"


    "The Throne is rejecting your body, right? That''s why you need to create that suit! But it''s also possible that you are not like the other Aragarians. They need the Throne. But if you don''t, then that means you are like us. You have the chance to Ovee!" Alean smiled.


    Zeraphine had a strange expression.


    "You actually believe in the existence of the Nephilim?"


    "It''s part of what the Lost Primordial told us. You see-"


    "General Alean! Stop!" Kristine couldn''t stand by anymore and let Alean tell Zeraphine the most crucial and critical information they had now.


    "Kristine! Be quiet."


    "It''s too dangerous! Information of what the Lost Primordial told us cannot be leaked to her! Her nature will make her betray us! She doesn''t need a Throne or her suit to use her soul! She could be telling them now!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I know the risk, Kristine. But I guess it''s time..." Alean gave Kristine a meaningful look.


    "...You know that this would happen?" Kristine asked.


    "No. When she told me about her soul, it was only then I knew about it." Alean answered.


    "Then I won''t hold back!" Kristine shouted.


    The science of Unlocking has improved by many folds.


    The dangers of the suit and armor that they wore being destroyed in theing wars meant that losing their armor and gear meant death.


    And so, Lennox proposed a method of creating the armor. It used the cells of Amir and the science of creating weapons based on the cells. But since Amir''s mutation had already begun to infect metals, the team already had a proposed way to create an injectible armor.


    Her cells began to spur and mutate like that of a wolf. The injected cells that would cultivate, grow, and heal themselves inside Kristine''s body exploded out, and her Valkyrie form instantly appeared.


    The technology of the many Emperors was used with the peak perfection of nanotechnology, allowing Kristine to recreate Piercing Valkyries'' armor instantly, and she charged toward Alean.


    She stabbed a longnce toward Alean, but Alean simply pped it.


    SLAP!


    Thence missed, and Kristine raised her shield that formed and tackled Alean.


    WARP!


    Alean disappeared at the front as she disappeared into the Void Realm.


    Kristine released her Realm to sense everything around her but then...


    BANG!


    Kristine felt a powerful punch ur inside of her, knocking her back.


    As Kristine was flying back from the punch, she saw Alean appear above, and her fist was glowing red like Dara''s.


    BOOM!


    Kristine sank down to the floor as her body was embedded in the ground.


    "Anti Zone!" Alean shouted, and a powerful realm erupted out of Kristine, and a dissonating power affected her cells.


    "Ahhh!"


    The metal armor that Kristine summoned began to lose power and connection with Kristine.


    STAB! STAB! STAB!


    The armor began to disappear but stabbed out of Kristine''s skin as it formed under her body.


    The bloody form of Kristine shocked Lara and Zeraphine.


    "Im...possible! You... are... a World Champion?!" Kristine eximed. Her defeat was quick. She didn''t even stand a chance. She had only suffered such a terrifying defeat against Arthur and Cliff.


    "A Near Oveer." Alean corrected.


    BEEP! BEEP!


    The entire ship resounded with rms.


    "You... teleported your fist... to punch me from the inside?!"


    "Yes. The Void Assassins who trained under Rai can see inside the Void Realm. But they can''t do what I did because they would see your projected form in the Void Realm and would have no means to attack you from the inside. My Zone can. I actually taught Rai how to do this." Alean exined as she moved towards Zeraphine.


    "We don''t have time. Kristine alerted everyone, and the guards wereing here. Looks like I''m on the run for now."


    "You''re betraying us...?"


    "I go where my Path takes me." Alean took out a strange energy-emitting device and harnessed her Unlocking.


    A portal opened.


    "You... really are making a stupid risk, Miss Alean. Are you sure about what you are doing?" Zeraphine had a strange look at Alean.


    "I''ll find out, won''t I?" Alean pulled Zeraphine, and the two jumped into the portal.

 Chapter 591 The Search For Zeraphine

    ?


    The disappearance of Alean sparked outrage, and reports were being made about it. No one knew where they went and where they vanished too.


    Yet, the Oveers could do little. The threat of the Presiders was still there, and the rest of the Oveers continued to surround the region of Rome and the Caliphates, which had massive movements and preparations for war.


    Seeker and his teams were all doing their respective missions alongside the border of this mission.


    Only Arthur and Lennox were tasked to move, but only after a nation was incited to war and sent a small army to attack the regions of Rome.


    Werewolves and vampires were also sent to fight, but the appearance of powerful android robots with speed and power countered the army that attacked.


    The battle brought in numerous nations as part of the Unlocked army''s way of drawing out who would be willing to join them in the conquest and who would side with them.


    Many nations had allied with the Unlocked army, and numerous massive fortresses were present.


    Rising from the ocean was the most massive infrastructure created outside the WGP.


    Itbined parts of the sunken Kraken and Antis with the Three Shapes of Pangea. It took parts of the King Naga and used the massive saucer of Shackstress''s fallen ship restructured in severalyers.


    The resulting ship was a massive cube that peered out of thend.


    But the armies of earth were easily defeated by Rome and the Caliphate cities, which now had incredible technology.


    The Moon of Pridgeon hovered over the Caliphate, and the gigantic ship of Lanterk floated over Rome.


    Underneath them was arge structure that reached towards the great heights of where it floated.


    It was only now that the Unlocked understood why such massive Babel structures were being made. The structures acted as Thrones and allowed the power of Universe Energy to be concentrated.


    But even as the wars continued, none of the Unlocked army''s real teams were ever sent out.


    Arthur arrived in the Underwater City where the Alean had fled from in a giant jet.


    It was among the first ster-capable jets deployed as the Unlocked techs began to surface to showcase their might.


    As such, Arthur and Lennox arrived fast as they dove into the ocean waters and used numerous techs of the WGP.


    "Still weakerpared to the weaponized Paths... But we can''t really make them any faster than we can..." Lennoxined as he moved out of the ship that had docked in the gigantic ship.


    "I''ll go scan and scout the area."


    "Why bother? Father, if Alean wants to escape from us, her path can almost ensure it. Even I can''t calcte where she is."


    "Seeing the future is pointless if she doesn''t have the means to move. She can''t use Rai''s power and will need to open the dimensions to the Void Realm. She can only move so much in this ce. That''s why I brought Guinevere. With the Nile Serpent, she can move around the depths of the sea and even under the sea to search for where she is hiding."


    "I doubt that. But I guess there''s no stopping you. In any case, I''ll go talk to Kristine." Arthur answered as he walked out.


    With a sh of lightning, Lennox disappeared and entered the electronic device, and took over the ship at once.


    The natives of the Underwater City greeted the arrival of Arthur and Lennox and treated them far more than they did with their leaders!


    The power that the Unlocked armies disyed had urged all the Underwater Cities to side with them.


    Lennox took control of the ship and began to analyze the paths and directions in that Alean took ce.


    The entire ship began to move, and the armories began to work.


    Elements and materials that the ship did not have ess to were quickly being made and invented.


    The armory techs of the Underwater cities had been changed and upgraded so that it could easily create techs of the WGP and even pseudo-Presider techs with ease.


    "Now, where would that girl have fled..." Lennox began to think.


    Nearly fifty nautical miles from where the underwater cityy, energy began to fluctuate as the dimensions morphed.


    The Presider-level techs of Teleportation forced the Nile Serpent to appear.


    The gic sons and daughters of Andronze were manning the entire Serpent. Despite being Aragarians, they had no ties that bound them to Aragar as they were raised to be Andronze''s very own force. The strange creation of these sons and daughters used earthlings to create them. So they were only half Aragarian. They appeared like normal humans and did not have the inverse cement of the organs that the Aragarians would have.


    Nogard had checked them and found no link between them and the curse of the Primordial. Because of that, these people continued to be the ones assisting Guinevere in piloting the Nile Serpent.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "That cost us Universe Energy..." Guinevere sighed.


    "Rx. We''re almost able to recreate it. All you would need to do is to eat a lot of food."


    Next to Guinevere was an Exoskeleton. But this Exoskeleton spoke like Lennox. It wasn''t an AI system that Lennox made. It was a clone. Lennox has sessfully created a lightning Clone of himself from the massive energy he stole from the WGP and the other Presider fortresses.


    But unlike his real body that could create lightning energy from within,


    "Amazing... Who would have thought that our bodies were naturally creating Universe Energy? To think our Paths are all isted and harnessed forms."


    "The Universe Energy is not just simple forms of harnessed energy. I believe that it is thews of this Universe. That''s why I think the Aragarians called it that."


    "Laws? As in... like math... and physics?"


    "Yes. Our Paths are, therefore, thews that govern this universe. We have the power to manipte things in the dimensions beyond. We are more than just modified humans. It''s like like we became thews themselves. I guess that''s part of Dimensional Transcendence." Lennox exined.


    "So what exactly am I looking for here, father? Alean''s powers andws would easily help her flee."


    "We search for any fluctuations or energy anomalies. We have to look for those two. I''ll use the Underwater City to scan this side. You take the other."


    "Alright... But the sea is toorge! They could have teleported through ces where the anomalies won''t be registered."


    "I''ve already calcted the geography of this ce and have simted what teleportation paths. We check on those. Zone is strong. But she has limited resources."


    "...I wonder why Alean did this in the first ce? And if she is, I''m sure she''s doing it for a good reason."


    "Depends on what you mean as good. A Principal is near. Who knows if that Zone that Alean is following is her own or if the Principal is altering the dimensions? Regardless of the reason, we cannot risk losing Zeraphine."


    As the two began their search, Arthur reached the clinic where Kristine was still recovering.


    The dissonance of Kristine''s realm caused the very armor that she wore to harm her. And even now, the metal pieces protruding out could not be called back, and the operation was veryplex since the flow of Kristine''s body had changed.


    "Interesting. You look like you received a curse from the Zulus." Arthur observed.


    Kristine couldn''t face Arthur.


    Lara was seated to the side.


    "...I''m sorry." Kristine sighed.


    "Don''t be. Alean was bound to be so strong. If she''s a Near-Oveer, then you never stood a chance.


    "What is she thinking?"


    "Our good."


    "Good?! If what she ims is true, if she meets and conquers that soul inside Seeker, she could be so strong and betray us!" Kristine warned.


    "...You''re right. That''s why I didn''t tell Seeker anything yet. Seeker sent me here to investigate. But if what you said is true, then the Zeraphine inside Seeker might have noticed this and would be acting. And that''s why I''m here."


    "You''re here for the Zerahpine inside Seeker?" Kristine was confused.


    "Yes. That Zerahphine would be more powerful to the soul. But I have not beenx. I''ve been making progress with Nogard''s tech. I have a theory. If it works, then we might have arger advantage." Arthur smiled.


    "If your theory works?"


    "Yes. If my theory works, then the tech of the soul that Nogard has and the peculiar case of Zeraphine ought to be linked. But right now, it''s too early. And that''s why we need you, Lara."


    "...Me?"


    "Yes. Why did it have to be you? Why did Zeraphine choose you? And why did she never use this power to transfer to someone else? We have been threatening Zeraphine for some time now. When she believed the Progenitor was watching her, the most logical thing was to ditch Lara''s body. But she didn''t. This meant that finding a body like Lara''s would be difficult and rare. There could only be hundreds of people like Lara on Earth. And Zeraphine didn''t have easy ess to them."


    "What do you mean?"


    "You could be what the ancient and superstitious people of earth would call... a medium."

 Chapter 592 A Future For One

    ?


    Lara was stunned at Arthur''s words.


    "A medium?" Lara repeated.


    "As in... those that be possessed by gods or spirits?" Kristine rified.


    "Yes. That one. While Seeker confirmed that Lara was not the body she chose in the future since she probably had other factors to consider, you still are one of the few beings that could bear her soul. We thought that Zeraphine used some method to hide her true form inside a different body, but as it turns out, the answer was the soul. But if it was the soul, then Zeraphine used it in a very inefficient method. So I concluded that there were special bodies that could bear souls. And my theory proved right when you told me about Zeraphine."


    "What? How did future Zeraphine living inside Seeker prove your theories about mediums? How exactly?"


    "Don''t you see? Seeker is a Medium too!"


    "He''s a medium?!"


    "It makes sense. Don''t we already know that what he has is more than just memories? Don''t we know that what he has is the very soul of another Seeker? The Progenitor did something different. He chose a human that was a medium and who could somehow connect itself to the different nes. We see people being born with disabilities and abilities. Why can''t a person be born with the innate ability to be connected to the dimensions beyond?"


    "...I guess. People with the so-called third eye exist and im to see things others don''t..."


    "Wait! So ghosts are real?!" Lara asked.


    "If we are to believe the Bible and the supernatural entities it speaks, then yes. Besides, you saw numerous forms of them when Zulu summoned the spirits back in the war. Right now, Nogard has a way of moving out his spirit and can create ghost-like entities. There have been other ways. Shackstress was able to use shrinking and expanding to move her spirit around."


    "I didn''t see the war! I just woke up and was being experimented to bing an Unlocked! I didn''t have time to process anything else!" Lara shouted back.


    Arthur gave her a suspicious look.


    "...But you should still watch those war videos. Those are crucial information if you want to save the earth. My calctions assume that everyone will be serious about their tasks. And watching videos is the least you can do."


    "Arthur. Give her a break!" Kristine reached out to Arthur and held on to him with his Path activating. She knew that Arthur was annoyed.


    "In any case... Seeker bears many souls in him. The Progenitor must have used this innate ability of Seeker to send his future soul back from the future back to the present. I asked him what the earth looked like as he died and calcted the position of the earth when he died. While the two piles of earth were near each other in terms of location, the distance that the soul of Seeker would have traveled would have been a thousand kilometers or more. Yet Seeker somehow found his host. This means souls are drawn to mediums. In Zeek''s case, he was the perfect medium. And while mediums would not have any normal reaction, you bore the soul of Zeraphine!"


    "So your nning to use Lara to find Zeraphine and Alean?"


    "No. I''m going to use Lara to call future Zeraphine."


    "Future Zeraphine?!" Kristine was even more confused.


    "Why go after future Zeraphine? That one is the good one, right? So this Zeraphine that is with Miss Alean is the bad guy!"


    "We won''t have any chance of finding Alean. So the strategy is to make Alean and Zeraphine go to us. I n to use Lara and seal future Zeraphine in her. Alean fled because she wanted the two Zeraphine''s to meet. So her zone is leading her to assist the present Zeraphine.


    "Present Zeraphine would be too weak to travel here. But the future one has enough powers to Shackstress alive. If this works, Lara could hold Shackstress or Future Zeraphine''s soul. Shackstress could use her powers to travel with her tech, and both could appear here. Either way, we get a Presider as an ally. It will also allow us to enhance our powers. Nogard could transfer his entire soul to another medium if faced with a terrifying battle..." Arthur began to list the possibilities.


    "What exactly are you nning, Arthur? Why didn''t you just tell Seeker? This sounds like you want to keep another secret from Zeek!"


    "I am. Do you know how dangerous it would be if Zeek discovered the truth about Zeraphine? Zeek is confused about who to choose. No matter what, Zeraphine is Seeker''s weakness. If Seeker finds out that Zeraphine is alive within him, he may do things that are not for the whole world''s good. He didn''t tell us, but I''m sure Seeker used his power and sess to get Zeraphine into positions of power in his previous timeline. And even his adult soul is biased to side with this Zeraphine. So I don''t trust her. And the problem is that she might have ways to control Seeker!"


    "Control?"


    "Her powers of the Soul are strong. Even if she does not have the power now, she could have it soon. Seeker''s growing strength is her strength! Imagine a Presider having full ess to the powers of the Unlocked, especially that of Seeker!" Arthur revealed.


    Kristine was shocked.


    "This is why we must do our best and go against Alean. You were right to argue with Alean and stop her recklessness. She didn''t tell me this for a reason. And I believe she is using a reckless path to save her skin."


    "Save her skin? What do you mean? That doesn''t-"


    "I''ve already calcted my death. She must have felt hers. She''s taking this risk to save herself. That''s a possible reason why she''s disobeying orders. Unless you could fill in anything about anything she said before she escaped?" Arthur revealed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Kristine became quiet and shook her head.


    "Lara. I am annoyed that you have not seen any videos of what the world is right now because you don''t know how valuable you are! As the Medium, it will be like you will sacrifice yourself to have two hosts. Zeraphine and Shackstress. Two Presiders in the body of an Unlocked. Throne and Transfiguration. Nefilus and New Creation. Primordial and Progenitor. That is our key. Alean''s following her zone but doesn''t know the reason for her action. I know her eventual goal, and I''m taking a step forward. Are you willing?" Arthur asked Lara.


    Lara was stunned and silent. Her lips trembled.


    "I won''t ask for your answer now. You have a day to think it over. Kristine. Use your Path to calm her down." Arthur then turned and left.


    The room was silent. Kristine did not move from her ce but nced at Lara and waited.


    "I''m here if you need me to calm your emotions," Kristine spoke softly and waited.


    Outside, Arthur walked and soon reached themand center of the entire underwater city.


    The moment he stepped into the room, shes of lightning gathered and took form.


    "Give us privacy," Lennoxmanded, and all the people in the room left.


    As the doors were closed, Lennox turned to Arthur.


    "What''s this really about, son? You and I both know that Alean won''t ever be so selfish. She''s not doing this to save her skin."


    "Of course not. I only said that because if Kristine knew the truth, she would probably help Alean."


    Lennox was surprised.


    "The truth? What''s the truth?"


    "Alean''s fighting to save us from doom. But... she has chosen a particrly selfish route. Her Zone is led by her own desires. She cannot manifest and chart a path to a specific future if she has no desire to do it. But in this scenario, the enemy is so strong that she can''t chart a path to secure a broad ending."


    "Like... a future where no one dies. That is impossible."


    "Yes. But it''s more than that. She can''t chart a future where ''all Oveers and Ranked Heroes survive.'' The enemy is much too strong for that. So she is using her Path selfishly. I didn''t lie about that. She wants to save someone."


    "...I see. Her heart can''t hide it. The future she is seeking would secure the survival of a certain individual. The one that she loves the most. Lynd."


    "Lynd? No. It''s Seeker. It has always been Seeker. She wants a future where Seeker survives. History might repeat itself. Zeraphine might give her life again to save Seeker. That is the future that Alean is searching for."


    "I don''t see what''s wrong with that. Why are you stopping Alean''s n? Is your sister set to die? I hate to sound rather cold since we just saved her... But death is still something we all should ept. If there is anyone who should survive this tribtion, it would either be Seeker or Lynd so that we could win this war up to the Prime Wars."


    "...It''s not Guinevere."


    "Then who? Who are you trying to save? That''s what this is about, right? You''re calling Alean selfish for securing a future where Seeker lives, but aren''t you bing a bit selfish?"


    Arthur was quiet.


    "Son. Tell me." Lennox spoke again.


    Arthur didn''t look at his father. But he knew Lennox would do everything to get that answer out of him.


    "Son. Who are you trying to save?" Lennox asked again.


    Arthur sighed and spoke the name of the person he was desperately trying to save.


    "...Meryl."

 Chapter 593 Arthur’s Love

    ?


    Lennox was surprised and never expected that Arthur would desire to save Meryl and even fight against Alean!


    "Meryl?! But why?" Lennox frowned.


    "Because of my path."


    "Because of your Path? Do you see Meryl being of greater importance in thising war? Will she be of greater importance to the Unlocked armies?"


    "Not to the Unlocked armies. To me."


    "To you?! What nonsense are you talking about? You''re not even dating that girl or seeing her! So why have you suddenly decided to make her important?!" Lennox''s voice boomed against Arthur, and even the electrical energy around him grew unstable.


    "Father. Didn''t you once tell me that the moment you met mom, you already knew she was the one? You said you already saw your future together and knew that happiness you never thought possible would be there?" Arthur calmly asked.


    At that moment, the lighting ceased.


    Lennox''s expression changed.


    He was a man of numbers. But, like Arthur, Lennox was a very prudent and insightful man who used to have wild desires. He wanted to rule the world and, thus, made his name in the Underworld. He controlled politicians and affected the history of the world without the world knowing about it.


    But a simple, elegant, and shy girl suddenly halted the numbers and calctions he chased to be a king.


    For the first time, Lennox couldn''t see the numbers. He despised seeing a future dictated by the cold cruelty of math and probability. Instead, he had hope and saw a future full of unlimited possibilities.


    It was then that the man who could have conquered a country stopped his ns and sought a life to cherish the love that he had. But, unknown to him, it was at that point that the Near-Oveer had crossed the threshold and became an Oveer.


    Even up to the untimely death of his wife, Lennox could not find himself regretting his choice. Because when he saw numbers, this woman made it to life.


    Lennox understood what Arthur meant.


    "...You saw your future with her! You calcted it!" Lennox eximed.


    "I did. Ever since I have trodden on the Path in the Lion''s Den, I saw that future. And at my level, you can''t imagine what I saw. The future that I see pertaining to her is so real. I would dream of it. It was breathtakingly captivating. It was perfect."


    "It gave you something to hope for and something to live for."


    "That''s right. All the power in my hand, all the power of my Path... They never gave me this. They never gave me a desire for uncertainty. But she always did. Every time I fall into the daydreams of what our future together could be, it always branches out in numerous ways. Father, I saw lifetimes with her. Lifetimes with different possibilities. And in all of them, I was happy." Arthur smiled as tears filled his eyes.


    Lennox saw the expression of Lennox and realized that a long time ago, this was perhaps the same face he had made.


    "You''re in love with her."


    "It''s more like I was made for her. And she for me. I tried to block these visions. I tried to escape it. I tried to keep myself frommunicating with her and even allowed Danny to have time with Meryl and make them fall in love. Because I know this could be a weakness when I pit her life over everyone else. I could have lived with not being with her with all that I have seen what we could be. But..."


    "You can''t live without her."


    "Yes."


    "...I understand." Lennox sighed.


    "In the end, it seems we''re all a little selfish. Alean is pursuing to save the man she truly loves despite the arrangements of the present, which ces her with Lynd. And you are fighting to save a woman you never had and gave away in some sense. How ironic."


    "It is, especially with Zeraphine in the mix. Alean''s actions are triggering my reactions. Perhaps this is one of the answers to our survival. With me fighting Alean and harnessing our paths, perhaps a way to a safer future will open. That''s why I need to summon the future Zeraphine here. I need to know why she has chosen not to reveal herself yet. She is unwilling to do so and even ns to take over the present Zeraphine and live her life. What does that tell you?"


    "It tells me that she is afraid. She fears the reaction of the two Seekers. Perhaps because she is inside the soul of Seeker that she really knows the conflicting desire of Seeker. There is still arge chance that Seeker won''t be gracious and forgive her. And so, unless it will cost the life of Seeker, she won''t reveal herself. Even when I warned Seeker that I saw no future where we would survive, she hasn''t made any appearance."


    "What a scared little brat. She fights, but a part of her is willing to ept death. Perhaps learning about heaven and hell has made her desire a life with Seeker in the afterlife."


    "Nevertheless, if she refuses to appear to help us, I will force her. The medium Lara will draw the soul of that Zeraphine, and we can have our little talk."


    Meanwhile...<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Down the depths of the ocean, below the rocks and stones of the earth''s crust, and into the lithosphere... was an ancient city.


    There were no humans in the ce as the former survivors all died out, leaving only the bones and the rich culture engraved in the rock.


    Alean and Zeraphine sat down in confusion. Zeraphine watched the amazing view of the dome above them. Somehow the heart of the city was preserved when it fell to the earth by mysterious means. The city did not just sink; it was as if this entire city was brought down and buried far beneath the earth''s crust that even the oceans could not fathom.


    Zeraphine was amazed at what she saw. She then turned to Alean.


    Alean was amazed at first, but soon, her thoughts appeared to have gotten the better of her, and her expressions kept shifting to fear and horror.


    "I have to say Zerahpine... at first, I could somehow guess where we were going on those first jumps. But I didn''t know the Void Realm had such... strange creatures."


    "That... wasn''t normal. We have never seen those things before." Alean spoke with a low voice, still horrified at where they were.


    When they fled, Alean only had a few charges to open a portal and travel through the Void Realm. But on theirst and desperate jump, the Void Realm changed. They saw massive swords of fire moving back and forth within the Void Realm. And a strange power was drawing them into the ming swords. The swords gave way, and the pair was able to travel on the guarded Path.


    As lights shed out, they found themselves in the mysterious ancient city.


    "...Alean? Where exactly are we?" Zeraphine finally asked.


    "I''m not sure... I''m trying to piece out everything that the Progenitor said..."


    "He said something about this?"


    "He basically proved everything in the book of Revtion and the prophecies of the Bible to be true. You see... we are definitely somewhere under the sea."


    "Could this be that ce?" Zeraphine asked.


    "I have to hand it to you... This power you call your Path is amazing! I mean, you had little techs avable, and we were moving so fast that I thought you were just making random turns. But you found Antis buried beneath the thick crust of the earth!" Zeraphine added.


    "It''s obviously Antis! But that''s not my concern!"


    "Discovering an ancient city is not your concern? Well, I guess that''s true. Not when a Principal is headed here." Zeraphine chuckled.


    "That Principal is the least of my problems! Look at the buildings around! Kings lived here! And not just one! But many! But here''s the horrifying part. Those bones are fromrge humans. Giants!"


    "Giants? Meaning...?"


    "The Greek for Giants is Gigantes. And that is the term used to trante a certain Hebrew word you should be familiar with. The Nephilim! This ce was a city of Nephilims. Half-breeds! Half-human and half Nefilus!"


    "Nefilus?! You mean the creature that Nimrod met!?"


    "Yes! Apployon seemed not the only one who had the idea of intermarrying with humans. The ancient philosopher to spoke of this ce! He did so with allegories, and it was unclear whether this city was real or just a personification of his beliefs and ideals. He wrote of Antis and included myths about why this city sank! But now we have an actual answer!"


    "What are you talking about? We have an answer for why Antis sank?" Zeraphine asked.


    "Yes! This city that we believed to be a myth until now! But the bones of this ce indicate that the Nephilims ruled this ce! The Bible tells us that the earth could ''swallow'' something. It happened in the Old Testament when Moses got angry at the Israelites after the Golden Calf thing... The second was when the Ancient Dragon chased after the woman in Revtion 12 until the earth swallowed it! Antis did not sink! The Earth swallowed it! But unlike the Greek myths where the gods got angry, the real reason was this! This ce, like Babel! It was an upfront offense against God, just like Babel was! And it forced the hand of God to move! The heavens attacked this city! While Babel managed to flee, this ce was defeated, and it sank!"


    "What are you talking about?!" Zeraphine was confused. She was still unaware of what the Progenitor told them and was doing her best to keep up!


    "There!" Alean suddenly pointed to the city''s very heart, where a massive emerald monolith stood.


    "That is a seal!"


    "A seal? What''s it sealing?"


    "! I sense great terror from that thing! So I know that under it is something so scary! The First Beast. The First Beast of Revtion This is the only exnation!" Alean spoke with fear in her eyes.

 Chapter 594 The First Beast Of Revelation

    ?


    The entire ce was strange. It was as if the city''s center was perfectly preserved as it fell into the water. Yet, while all the residents had died, for there was no way to move out of the cave physically, and attempts to tunnel out of ce were made in futility, there was something mysterious about the entire ce.


    Zeraphine turned to where Alean imed the First Beast was sealed and could see the perfectly cut monolith that stood. But there was something precise and perfect about the monolith that Zeraphine couldn''t understand.


    Alean, however, could see a strange power that the stone had. It was a stone that existed within all dimensions.


    "It''s far more perfect than a tesseract! No! It''s not just four dimensions! It''s a Hexeract of some sort! Whatever it is... it''s a stone not cut by human hands!"


    "Exin what you mean. You fled and took me away. What did the Progenitor tell you?" Zeraphine asked again.


    Alean turned to Zeraphine.


    "The origins of the Aragarians are from Earth. The one you call Primordial is the person called Nimrod in the Bible. The king of Babel and the leader of the kingdom rebelled against God. When God came to divide the tongues, he broke down the tower, but Nimrod used the powers of the Nefilus Beast to flee and move far away from this gxy." Alean began.


    "The Bible spoke of the origins of our two races. You are a Presider and a daughter of a Prime. With the powers you''ve seen, would it not be possible for beings like angels and devils to exist?" Alean asked.


    Zeraphine nodded.


    "I know that part. The Aragarian worshiped the Nefilus Beast as the source of all powers. So you''re telling me that our god is Satan?"


    "Well, no. Don''t think too highly of yourself. Your god is Appolyon. Satan''s busy using the saints, apparently. That''s his Greek name. Abaddon is what he''s called in Hebrew. A high-ranking demon who is sealed on Earth."


    "Who''s Abaddon?"


    "..." Alean sighed.


    "That''s why Seeker broke up with you. You aren''t reading the Bible." Alean shook her head.


    Alean then began to exin the history of Apollyon.


    Zeraphine listened to the tale of Alean. Yet no matter how strange and absurd the tale was, Zeraphine listened and did not argue.


    "And that over there... is Appolyon?" Zeraphine asked.


    "No. Something far worse than him. It seems that the sins of this demon are even greater than that of Apollyon."


    "How sure are you that this one isn''t Apollyon?"


    "Appolyon appears during the Fifth Trumpet st in Revtion. Specifically Revtion 9. But look. The markings on the stone."


    Zeraphine turned her attention to the stone and found that there was a strange symbol on the stone.


    The symbol at the monolith was feint and barely recognizable.


    "What is that?"


    "Your eyes can''t see it because it''s hidden beyond the three dimensions. The real marking includes a strange seven-headed serpent. It has numerous horns, but its features are very distinct. The face of a leopard, the mouth of a lion, and the feet of a bear. All ording to Revtion 12!"


    "You really believe this? The Bible says it, and it''s true."


    "Lion with eagle wings. Who describes that?"


    "...Garenjazz."


    "And who ising here? He has a form that would be likened to a bear, correct? A gruesome creature with a strange jaw."


    "...Yes. Principal Dormin is a creature if he assumes full power in the realms beyond."


    "Those two are four beasts in the Book of Daniel."


    "...Daniel chapter 8. I remember that chapter." Zeraphine recalled her time with Seeker discussing this.


    "You read it with Seeker, didn''t you? You didn''t notice, but Seeker has been giving you hints all along. Those things you were reading were his subtle ways of giving you an idea. We have connected it to this verse since we saw the true form of Garenjazz as the lion with an eagle''s wings. At that time, we were following Pastor Eagle''s sermons with little faith. But see how true his prophecies are!"


    "Garenjazz the Eagle, and Principal Dromin, the bear... Whates next?"


    "This means that after the bear is another Principal... A leopard with four wings and four heads. It has ten horns and the eyes of a man."


    "Wait! Those descriptions! Two leopards are known in Aragar! Principal Grecia and Prime Defiant!" Zeraphine was amazed.


    "Who is that?"


    "The four-headed Leopard, Principal Grecia. From what I can tell is one of Lanterk''s four incarnations! As for Prime Defiant, he is the Prime that is said to be stronger than my father! The four-wing leopard with many horns! The Prime closest to bing the Primordial! From what I heard, he is also the main body of the Presider Pridgeon killed!"


    "Presider Crostfree. To think that Presider would be so strong..." Alean was amazed.


    "The bible... knew?!" Zeraphine couldn''t believe it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "There you have it. That is the order of enemies we are to face! And Zeraphine, I believe that those two... is either one being all together, or will be one! I don''t doubt that the Book of Daniel will be incorrect."


    Zeraphine was shocked. She never entertained the possibility.


    "Is it possible? Prime Defiant had found a way to make a Principal level incarnation?!" Zeraphine muttered, and then she realized something.


    "Wait! Wasn''t there something about a goat and a ram in Daniel?"


    "Yes. We figured that out. A Ram with two giant horns and one greater than the other. This is Lanterk and Pridgeon''s alliance. And then a goat will arise and challenge this ram and win over it."


    "So, from being two allies, they will betray each other? If it''s a goat, then it''s definitely Lanterk! So Lanterk will win!" With the identification of Principal Grecia, Zeraphine became a believer in this prophecy.


    "We''re not sure yet. There are four possible contenders for this position. The first is, naturally, Lanterk. The second is Pridgeon. With his powers to devour Nefilus suits he could be that goat in Daniel 8. Then, there is the Bear."


    "The bear can also be the goat?"


    "If he chooses to. We don''t exactly know what means of interpretation we would follow when ites to the Bible. Right now, we are only going with what makes sense."


    "This all doesn''t make sense!"


    "That is the problem..." Alean sighed.


    "Who is thest one?"


    "You don''t get why people tried to stop me when I fled with you? Obviously, it''s you!"


    "Me?!" Zeraphine was startled.


    "Your soul power! It can take over a human! If you have enough techs, and training and can develop that as a Path, you could practically possess people! Possessions have been confirmed to be true in the Bible. That is the greatest possibility of your power!"


    Zeraphine frowned.


    "I know the limitations of my powers. I don''t think my soul can wrestle with another like that."


    "Oh. You can. You even have a teacher. That one right there." Alean pointed to the monolith again.


    "Tell me more about this First Beast."


    "The Bible''s mystery is that uneducated people wrote it. John the Beloved was a mere fisherman. And at the end of his life, he wrote revtion. I wonder if this fisherman of the 1st century knew that he was writing something of great foreshadowing. Did he know that the First Beast of Revtion epasses all of the elements in Daniel? We don''t know. But the first beast that rises after the trumpet st has the elements of the lion from Garenjazz, the bear of Principal Dormin, and the leopard of this Principal Grecia. It''s far more terrifying.


    "Yes! And this ce is actually a training ground for you!"


    "How is this ce a training ground?"


    "They can''t find us here. And you have a subject that you can train to possess. Me."


    "You want me to practice possessing you?"


    "Yes."


    "...You''re really putting your life on the line for this! Why are you doing this?"


    "I don''t know. That''s the thing of my Path. Zone isn''t a thing I can control. But this ce provides us with enough ideas. You can further train in the soul, and with this monolith sealing the First Beast of Revtion, it is easier for you to see what the souls see!"


    "This will take weeks or even months! How are we supposed to survive here?"


    Alean smiled.


    "I have several weaponized Paths of the Unlocked. This one is Eden''s power. I can create a forest of vines here, which we could use as forage. I have another weapon. This is Meryl''s weapon. We can use it to create sunlight to sustain and grow nts. Meryl''s light is quite pure. And as for water, not only is the soil here extremely moist, but I also have a weaponized water bomb from the Lady of the Nile." Alean showed the items.


    "I picked these weapons at random. Now I understand what they were for." Alean nced at the weapons, still amazed at where her Path led her.


    "But how can I be an Unlocked?"


    "I believe your unique state has already given you the foundation that opens you to this possibility. As for the ''how,'' I guess we have to do it the old fashion way." Alean smiled as her body was suddenly shing. An Exoskeleton suit suddenly appeared and covered Alean.


    "What are you... doing?" Zeraphine can''t help but sense danger.


    "Now that I think about it... We were lucky. Seeker wasn''t even a Near-Oveer when he did this to us back then..." Alean couldn''t help but think back as her figure blurred.


    POW!


    A gruesome punch struck Zeraphine right in the stomach.

 Chapter 595 An Army Of Guinea Pigs

    ?


    The wars around Greece and the Caliphates were escting.


    With the world against them, Greece and the Caliphates were constantly bombarded and attacked. Yet in the weeks that passed, the armies relentlessly sending squads and battalions inside were fighting a losing battle.


    Fleets of Exoskeletons were being sent in and out of thends to battle the armies and giants that Lanterk and Pridgeon set out.


    Massive metal monsters with incredible speed towered over the buildings and fought with great speed, mobility, and even flight, to bring down the forces that advanced toward the cities of Lanterk.


    Gigantic sand golems were standing over the Caliphates doing the same thing.


    The war kept moving and moving.


    Stranger still was an affliction affecting all the soldiers of the world that went inside. It was a gue that brought out great weakness and kept many sick.


    The doctors of the nations were confused and could not find out the mysterious causes of the disease and assumed that it was Presider weaponry.


    Far above the skies over the Mediterranean Sea were several massive ships that were Many Mansions of the WGP.


    Charles watched the ship that was at the peak of Earth''s atmosphere. It watched over the wars urring in Greece and Rome to the east and the Caliphates to the west.


    Behind him were several pods that were being used.


    Lioncourt was in a massive device of Lennox''s making. It amplified the Realm of Lioncourt that he could extend it to cover approximately four hundred kilometers from his location.


    Another device was near them. It was arge Pod, and Norgard''s body was inside.


    Nogard''s body was in a strange state. His soul was moving along the realm of Lioncourt, who was bringing him around the battlefield.


    WARP!


    Rai and several assassins warped out.


    Among them were Richie and the Seven Notes.


    "I can''t believe we can''t find a way inside..." Richie sighed.


    "Boss. In thest battle, we had a lot of help that weakened the Presider. They were fighting and killing each other. But now, Lanterk and Pridgeon''s forces are against no one but us. Earth doesn''t have the manpower to fight him back." Samuel answered.


    "Well? How was it?" Charles asked.


    "The experiments are working. He rescued several soldiers who disyed signs of the Unlocking. With an army of guinea pigs, we really have a lot of high-potential unlocked found!" Richie answered.


    "It was easy to find them. Any soldier who could fight and perform even when the diseases of the gue were affecting them made them great candidates for the Unlocking." Rai answered.


    "But it''s very cruel of you to do this." Magantae walked towards the window to see thend of the Caliphates from where she fought until their retreat.


    "We were of the WGP, but we weren''t as cruel as this."


    "You guys definitely take the cruel to another level. The Caliphates had very barbaric means that soldiers adhered to. The Russians are even better at this. But you... you are making the battlefield and the lives of those soldiers a ce to experiment the unlocking!" Owens Shedd spoke. He was the general of the Caliphate base and former enemy of Lowengren and Vender during the infiltration mission to the Caliphates months ago.


    "The Africans and many parts of Europe were our enemies in the future. I have a feeling that when those Presiders arrive here and start their war, these nations will betray Earth and cut off ties to serve a greater power."


    "How sure are you that this timeline will have that same result?" Pizar As of the Seven Notes asked.


    "I joined this group because you im to do a better job than what the WGP would do. But from what I''m seeing, I can see nothing but cruelty. I gave you the Kraken, which I was its admiral, to save the world!"


    "They will ally with the Presider because it''s part of the n." Lioncourt opened his eyes.


    "Is Nogard alive?" Charles asked as he looked at the body, which didn''t awaken.


    "His soul is nearby. He asked that I drop him off near the body so he can try to move back."


    "Soul baby steps, huh?" Charles nodded.


    "What do you mean it''s part of the n?" Owens asked.


    "This war is a way to move the forces of the world in a certain arrangement. Seeker has nned to make the nations that betray us in his timeline be traitors again now. The Aragarians that areing here will create bases around the earth. And so, these nations that we are using as cannon fodder and to unlock more of our forces through the life-threatening events on the battlefield will be recruited into our armies. Those who do not have the potential, who isn''t one of the Progenitor''s seed, could remain and fight and die."


    "But this isn''t what I signed up for! I fought to save the world!" Owens eximed.


    "Oh great... It''s one of those guys." Sammy sighed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "This is cruelty and madness! You are not giving everyone a chance!" Owens shouted with an angrier tone. He had fought with his allies down the battlefield but was surprised at Richie''s indifference.


    In the previous missions, he took part in, he kept saving the Unlocked allies, and the rest would do the same. But now, they saw the earthly soldiers sent to their deaths as unimportant, and Richie would only lift a hum to save a life because of Owens.


    "He''s still a little shocked at how we didn''t save the dying soldiers." Levvy Ovilli chuckled.


    "And that''s funny to you?! Lives are dying!"


    "Lives that killed the lives of others in another timeline. These are people that chose their selves over this. It''s not cruelty to use people who will be our enemies."


    "You don''t know that!"


    "We do. That''s why the Progenitor called us Seeds. Now, remember that the Progenitor had tied the existence of Seeker to the Word of God? Did he attach the fate or destiny of Seeker to the titles of Jesus? Eagle said that Seeker would be a rough foreshadowing or typology of Christ in which he will show a poor man''s version of what the Conquering Christ will be. But that wasn''t the only thing that was set to happen. He named our seeds. And that bears to mind many prophecies and symbolism used all throughout the bible. The wheat and the weeds are now being harvested. We are now separating the wheat and the chaff." Lioncourt exined as he floated up.


    "This is a far better position than what Seeker had. Imagine having numerous soldiers taken from the enemy. Well, considering what we are up against, we need as many Unlocked as we can."


    Owens was still angry and turned to his allies.


    "These things are alright to you?!" He asked.


    "I''m an Aragarian who became a seed. I don''t care what happens as long as we win." Levvy chuckled.


    "The WGP has done far worse than this. We toyed with nations and caused intrigue and divisions to keep ourselves in power. Pizar. Didn''t you carry out many things? I am a bit sad that this is my role in future wars. But in the end, this is the better option. Of course, we still have to keep sending our forces to make the Presiders exhaust their resources. And that will naturally bring death. But losing a hundred to gain one Unlocked is already more than worth it." Magantae answered.


    Pizar was silenced. He couldn''t argue with Magantae''s frugal analysis.


    "Besides... Shed, they still have one more shot to prove they are good. If the Presidersnd on their nations, they will still have the choice to remain loyal to us or serve the Aragarians. We have already made it clear that we are of Earth, and our enemies are aliens. And with all the sermons going around and how the Bible is bing more and more relevant to our circumstance, if they betray us, it''s really on them." Magantae added.


    Shedd Owens was silenced.


    "You aren''t the first, nor will you be thest to question our methods." Nogard awakened.


    "Oh? You found your body?" Lioncourtughed.


    "I don''t think I can master moving my soul in this lifetime. I have to figure out how to move in the multi-dimensions. But I could see the fluctuation of the souls here and hear you guys talk. So that''s an achievement. Even without being rooted in my body, I could now sense things in the three dimensions. Man... no wonder ghosts and spirits are clumsy. They can''t see anything in that dimension." Nogardughed.


    "Now to you, youngsters. But let''s be real. We can''t save everyone. We are fighting to win this. And those soldiers who even Arthur predicts to betray us are perfect as cannon fodder and guinea pigs."


    "But they haven''t betrayed us yet! We are forcing them to betray us!"


    "You youngsters don''t still see it." Nogardughed.


    "We did do our part. Pizar. We are doing a better job than the WGP. Didn''t we just destroy their bases and gain their allegiance to us? They would have sold us out or killed each other with a Throne Wars that ughtered them without even allowing them to fight the Aragarians. Right now, this war is the perfect time to create Unlocked. We are using the soldiers of our future enemies and using the gue to reveal the Unlocked. Now, we already have close to a hundred more! As for you, Owens... I''ve used my realm with Richie''s power to listen to the discussions of the many admirals and generals nearby. All of them are talking about how to betray us."


    Lioncourt waved his hands, and the recordings that Lioncourt gathered around were being yed.


    Owens was shocked to hear the generals and admirals talk.


    "This army that was gathered here was a way to ascertain their allegiance. That''s why we didn''t reveal any techs that we can hear their conversations even inside those safe rooms they made to protect themselves against Australian hearing techs." Lioncourt chuckled.


    The more Owens heard, the uglier his expression was.


    "You should also hear the soldiers. Many of them died cursing us and wished they had joined the Presiders. Only those that showed potential for the Unlocking were fighting without doubts and hesitation."


    "I mixed a little something in the poison that we have been spreading on the battlefield. The poison has a tendency to make people honest."


    "Yes. I''ll y the recording, and I hope you will believe the simple truth, the selfish, cowardly, and self-preserving nature of man is far worse than your lowest expectation of it. Unless... they ovee." Lioncourt smiled.


    "But why did you make us retreat, Lioncourt?" Richie finally asked. He had been using his sounds to monitor the situation.


    "What did you feel?" Richie asked again.


    "That Lanterk is getting ready to move. I''ve already alerted the Unlock''s ground forces to retreat. So I''m guessing most of the people below will now die. But thankfully, we''ve already taken those Unlocked from those nations'' armies." Lioncourt answered.


    "Lanterk''s moving? Are we going to fight?" Richie asked.


    "No. Don''t be silly. We need Lanterk and Pridgeon alive anyway. So let''s retreat our ships further back. I think we are about to see something amazing." Lioncourt smiled.

 Chapter 596 Alexander

    ?


    Lanterk watched the many forces raiding the cities that he had imed his own.


    But now, it was his time to move.


    The Unlocked had difficulty determining the precise location of Lanterk''s true base. With his power to move metal, they expected he could create a massive fortress that could appear out of nowhere.


    The underwater battle that Seeker had against him already revealed a ship more than eight kilometers long!


    Deep underneath the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea was a Throne.


    The Throne was embezzled in gold and silver color, and on the tform where the lone Throne sat a man.


    Lanterk sat on his throne at the very depths of the water.


    His powers were constantly moving. The dark depths of the sea were glowing with a rainbow light like the aurora. This was the Universe Energy that he was wielding.


    Underneath the very depths of this Throne was his base. It had been ''moving'' from one ce to another through his tech. But now, the foundations have beenid as energy and power have spread. It took a while for him to use his Universe Energy to spread out, and now, he could finally perform it.


    Lanterk moved out, and his Nefilus suit began to empower his right arm. Thews of dimensions were being held in his hand, and through it, he revealed a mysterious power that Earth once had and lost.


    The truth was mixed and blurred over time. But during the early 13th century on Earth, it clearly existed. The powerful tool and weapon that only Principals could create was on earth but disappeared. Through it, the process of changing and transmuting things appeared. The peak form of the Ankh Core, which Earth called the Philosophers stone, had a specific power.


    Akasha took a form of this which was called the Elixir of Life on Earth. But another Ankh Core was made possible, the one that Lanterk has mastered and achieved without it.


    It was said that the Ankh Core was the Blood of the Nefilus beasts, and taking it in would allow them to wield portions of the Nefilus beast''s body. But s, no blood remained.


    But Lanterk''s real form, his main body, had long perfected this.


    Despite being a Presider, Lanterk already knew how to use this power. He never revealed it since his main body had cheated and disobeyed thews of Aragar and bestowed such tech to this incarnation.


    Lanterk''s arm began to change, and from the energy of his Universe Energy altering the dimensions, his arm became yet another object of legend.


    Earth called it ''Midas touch,'' but among Aragarian''s, it was the Hand of the Metal Shifter.


    Lanterk pressed his arm to the ground, and the entire rocky bed transformed into metal.


    Even the seas around him began to shift and turn to metal.


    The lost art of alchemy appeared once more on earth.


    "The Progenitor must have found an Ankh Core here. And he used it to create those experiments." Lanterk recalled the strange metal user like him who created living liquid metal.


    "I''ll catch that and study the Progenitor''s science! But for now... it''s time to build my Babel!"


    The Presider techs of Lanterk were revealed in their entirety.


    The area began to tremble, and every Unlocked watched in amazement.


    "Should we stop him?" Lynd asked. He was with Seeker in another Sky Satellite, watching over the ck Sea.


    Next to him was Seeker and yet another person of great importance. He was stripped of power and couldn''t even wield the slightest of his powers. His Nefilus Suit had also been destroyed in the battle.


    "He has to do this. As I said, the arrival of the other Presiders will continue a Presider War. But this battle seeks to have only one victor. The goal is to create a Principal. And Principal Dormin is watching. Many Principals, including the main body of Lanterk, headed here. They will wait and see who wins. And Dormin will eat the winner of this war. Yet, if we want a chance to survive, Pridgeon and Lanterk need to be alive." Garenjazz answered.


    "What if they will all aim their attacks at us?" Seeker asked.


    "I''m sure some of the weaker ones will do that. But you''re mistaken. In that ship, all that remains are people with the highest potential as Conquerors. They won''t ally since it goes against their nature. Instead, they would attack and kill each other, for at this stage, the easiest thing to do is wipe out another Presider. And since Earth has numerous pseudo-Presiders, it makes them a difficult target." Garenjazz exined.


    "I guess Arthur''s arrangements remain the best solution. We use this time to create more Unlocked at the expense of these nations."


    "The Tyrant Empress is retreating." Cliff reported.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes. I''m sure she has her team of Unlocked now. I''m guessing she''s feeling it." Seeker nced towards the direction of where Lanterk''s power was surging out.


    A powerful maic power began to appear, covering the area with a radius of over two-hundred kilometers.


    The many armies attacking the nations were starting to be affected by maism.


    Their massive ships, the nes that flew above, the exoskeletons, and all other foreign presences made of metal were being drawn in.


    Lanterk stood as the forming metals appeared, making it a powerful ma that targeted the metal of his foes.


    "Citizens of Greece. Citizens of Italy... The Progenitor is lying to you. He is not your savior. He is one of us. He enved the world, but I will free this city! He makes himself one of God, but he is a false prophet! Hemands vampires and werewolves! Hemands gues and demons! But what does the Word of God say? ''As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.'' And again, the Bible speaks of silver and gold and how it is purified. This world is being purified, and my power will make it right! Behold, I rise now... I rise and will conquer. In an age long ago, this region ruled the world! Let''s rebuild it! I will show you... my power!" Lanterk''s voice echoed throughout the entire region and spread out as many metals suddenly appeared out of the ground within Italy and Greece.


    That day, half of the world heard the words of Lanterk as his sound created a vibration that caused all metals to produce the same sounds.


    At that moment, the skies over Greece and Italy could see ships, tanks, nes, and swarms of other metal being drawn up.


    Even the massive mobile fortresses stationed at sea nearby were being drawn.


    The people in these ships and tanks were all shouting, and many even jumped off or ejected themselves. Panic ensued on therger ships, but everything made of metal was being called regardless of itsposition or reaction to maism.


    Even the people who were equipped with metal would fly out.


    Many took off the metal pieces and fell to the sea. But those farther away and being drawn flying through the skies were unlucky.


    The shocked people of thend saw the skies and were amazed.


    Many began to rejoice. In the past weeks, Greece has been under constant attacks, and when the information that Lanterk was now controlling Italy, the nations began to attack Italy as well.


    Many had already made their decision to serve Lanterk, and now, with the sight of armies being drawn into the sky, many were joyfully celebrating.


    Lanterk channeled the power as massive amounts of metal were falling into the ocean.


    Slowly, arge bridge began to form and rise from thend. Finally, the divide between the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea was made clear as a massive wall soared up, reaching the height of buildings.


    Lioncourt watched in amazement.


    "Aren''t we going to do anything?!" Owens Shedd shouted.


    "One China and Australia are on their way to deploy their weapons. Let''s hope it counters and stops Lanterk."


    "Is that a... military base?!" Magantae cried.


    "All of this will be part of Lanterk''s army now. How annoying. And he will surely establish himself in this region..." Charles watched.


    "That''s it?! You guys are relying on One China and Australia! We should stop it!"


    "No. Lanterk and Pridgeon have to gain dominance. If we take them out now, we be targets to theing Presider. Those who are arriving will now see Lanterk and Pridgeon asrger threats. So stand down, Owens." Sammy ordered.


    "Do as he says. This is the best way we can save the world." Richie answered.


    Owens was silenced, but his expression remained angry at what he saw.


    "Is this how... we exterminate the alien threat?"


    "Got any better idea? We have Principalsing. Rx, Owens. You''ll see that this was the only way." Sammy added.


    On that day, the world witnessed the rise of a massive wall that connected two countries. And Lanterk, who took on the name of Alexander, dered the revival of the ancient kingdoms.


    The Greco-Roman Kingdom was formed.

 Chapter 597 Return Of The Ancient Kingdom

    ?


    The rise of the Greco-Roman Kingdom sparked an all-out retreat among another kingdom''s ground and air forces.


    One China and Australia tried to intervene and were rtively sessful on the fringe regions where the powerful maic call urred.


    One China''s maic technology managed to resist and pull back many of the ships that they owned near the Mediterranean sea.


    The electromaic powers that One China had increased through the many sciences that they had.


    Nogard had been receiving many of the techs they were umting, including the powers of the Unlocked and from the knowledge of the Presider ships they acquired in the previous battle.


    And with this, their maic technology had improved and created a counter technology of deflecting the maic call.


    Australia also used Enigmatic Maic Pulse and created a massive barrier around the armies, which also spared several other countries from being pulled in.


    These two nations tried their best to save the nearby allies and as many as possible before the rest moved out of the area.


    Soon, the broadcast Alexander appeared.


    He was seated on a throne at the height of the massive wall that rose and divided the seas.


    Lanterk''s appearance was revealed as the broadcast revealed the glory of his risen empire.


    "Progenitor. You have lied and taken advantage of our silence. We, the Aragarians, approached Earth in caution. We did not want to wage war, enve you, or rule this world. But your wary nature had forced us to observe and watch your. Yet the Progenitor spurred wars and pitted us against each other, mixing truths with lies in their actions. When your experiments in My-Pangea came to light, you made us the scapegoats for your experiments!"


    "Oh...? Not bad, Lanterk! I may have taken your cunning too lightly!" Lowengren praised Lanterk''s tactic. Next to him was his team, Warfreakz. They stood in another sky satellite that guarded the south Asian nations.


    "How is that good, boss? Those are lies that are easy to deny. It''s not like he has your lying powers. Or mine, for that matter." Roselyn of Warfreakz asked.


    "At this stage, Roselyn, you''d be surprised how gullible people will be. You''d think facing a great crisis, people will think critically. But, no. People will pursue what they want all the more. Eagle used religion, a despised and neglected tool, to convince the world and use it to gain allies. But we all knew this would fail. Watch how the world will run to Lanterk''s lie. Watch how they grasp thest straws to believe what they want." Lowengren chuckled.


    Lanterk''s broadcast continued with him offering numerous ''proofs'' of the My-Pangean massacre where Feltrick Ung-ive''s experiments were revealed. It was this event that the experts believed to be the first act of the Progenitor.


    "You did the same to Australia when Pridgeon first visited the earth with reports of illegal Aragarian human experimentation. You who took the Jews scattered all over the world and housed them in your disgusting chambers to create more and more of your so-called ''unlock'' humans are made known to me." Lanterk spoke, and many more videos and obscure facts were disyed.


    "Today. I call on Earth and pose this question. How different are we? When we were your rulers, nations like Egypt rose and had power. That was the gift we intended to give. Yes, we would be your leaders, but it''s only because we wanted to use your workforce and resources so that we can develop greater science. But the Progenitor wanted all of Earth for himself. And he has it now. Soon, more Presiders will arrive. An angry, vicious bunch who has heard that we were disced from Earth. And only the Progenitor, who is a fake Presider, has taken control. War ising. Greece and Rome. Follow me. I will be your protector. Alexander the Great once conquered the known world. And I will be this. See now how my powers transcend the nations. What can One China and Australia do? And soon, the Caliphates shall rise. Choose your master''s. Your life depends on this."


    The broadcast ended.


    A strange resonance from all maic objects suddenly urred as the satellites, and all forms of media were suddenly distorted. The world was cut off from each other as even the Inte was brought down.


    Lowengren saw all the reports and couldn''t help but smile.


    "Wow. Who would have thought that Small Willy would have such an ingenious plot like that? First, manipte, iste, and intimidate. I''m sure what will follow next are direct attacks on certain nations..."


    "What should we do, boss?" Roselyn asked.


    "We wait and train. The next skirmish is settled. We will be going against the Twelve Disciples. Let''s continue our ster training. Master the Four Force Ster elerator and ensure you can fight effectively at Mach 2. We are all Inhumans right now, and while the drug to take us higher is possible, it could hinder your progress. I want all of you to reach the realms of what Heroes should be."


    "I''m aiming for Ranked Heroes, boss!" Roselyn cheered.


    "Me too!" Stanley added.


    "Atta boy, Stanley! But these Twelves Disciples are aiming for World Champions. So we need to keep our dreams up high! We can''t Ovee if we think we have limits!" Lowengren ordered as the team prepared for yet another training in the high space.


    On other Sky Satellites, the Unlocked knew this was the time to initiate the training.


    "Amir, Akasha... I''ll leave things to you." Seeker bade goodbye.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Don''t worry. You guys hurry on with your training. To keep them distracted, my packs and her coven will attack Lanterk and Pridgeon."


    "Good. You guys, have a good training fight." Seeker also spoke to the Gryphon Squadron.


    "Wait! You''re not going with us?" Alphie asked.


    "Us Oveers will have our training fight on the moon. It serves two purposes. We take out the remaining Aragarian bases there and test our ster war capabilities."


    "You''re leaving Earth?"


    "Arthur predicts that these two won''t do much. But, just like we need them, they also need us. Part two of a Presider Wars is about to happen on earth. I''m guessing those two want us to be in our strongest form. We''ll be back... Unless some of us die up there. It''s going to be insane."


    "Why am I going...? Lowengren isn''t going, but why me?" Cliff wept.


    "You''re crying? I''m just a Ranked Hero, and I''ll go with you!" Meryl cursed as she moved out of the ejector and flew toward the great space.


    Down the ground,munication interference forced everyone to see the videos taken around Greece and Rome.


    The powers of Lanterk''s maism were on full disy. Its fortress, its army, and its capabilities.


    For days, people saw this news as the Greco-Roman Kingdom conquered many parts of Europe.


    The fall of the countries was too fast, and the armies that stood against it couldn''t even put up a fight.


    Many nearby nations surrendered instantly, but Lanterk made an example of one of the nations.


    Bosnia, which had the most advanced drone technology, stood little chance as their metals were all drawn out. These metals could resist One China''s Maism, and countermeasures were in ce against Australia''s tech, but they were vastly overpowered by the strange means of Alexander.


    Being close to the fortress of Alexander, their nation received concentrated attacks of maism.


    He called metals around the world and drew many ships, weapons, robots, and even the raw materials of nearby nations lifted and drawn to the region. The armies and ships that were position from afar were suddenly pulled with great force.


    The shocking scene of exoskeleton suits, ships, jets, and entire fortresses uprooted from the ground was reported by many, and the many armies who were extremely confident in their alliance trembled as they witnessed the true power of the Presider.


    Some military bases were dug from the ground as Lanterk dug his power down the earth to uproot many of the metals that allowed entire fortresses to be pulled out.


    The armies of the nearby nations were practically stolen as their weapons were all affected by the powerful call of metals.


    Further out, many of the metals started toe alive as the power of Alexander''s tech drove many robots to arise once more. Though the world was more prepared as thest incident when the machines rose against their makers created great losses and destruction, the preparations that the world had could not stop the machines to rise out once more.


    In the days that passed, even the Unlocked armies had to deal with this battle as the bases it had plunged into battles.


    Lioncourt and Amir had to act quickly to save some of the forces of the nations that would have been taken away by Lanterk''s powers, and werewolves began to crawl outside the cities of Italy, and vampires harassed thend of Greece.


    This led to a constant battle within the region as the wolves and the vampires kept pouring in and were unaffected by the metals and had the bare strength to break the metal soldiers of the region.


    This distraction was enough to allow Seeker''s team to fight and perform skirmishes in space and test their technology.


    But this stopped when a strange power appeared over the Caliphates.


    A gigantic copsing cube called the tesseract, in geometric terms, had suddenly manifested, covering cities and regions. It was as tall as a mountain and was wide enough to cover many cities.


    And soon, Pridgeon announced that he created ''New Jerusalem''.

 Chapter 598 Space Battles

    ?


    The Caliphates had begun their military crusade and began to wage war with the nearby countries.


    It began to gainnd, and the three-dimensional powers were causing the nearby regions to turn into deserts. It was as if the sun''s strength had magnified and the moisture within thends had changed.


    Dudden droughts emerged, and rivers suddenly dried up overnight! Even the night was hot as the midday sun because the heat emanating from unknown sources kept spreading out.


    The alteration of the three dimensions was causing great changes. New Great Britain had to alter the weather to help the nearby regions, but it was useless. The clouds could not move towards the region and would curve to the side. It was as if an unknown barrier was forcing things to the side.


    At that point, a family that imed to be one of the Progenitor''s forces announced that they would deal with the issue.


    The family renewed its name and chose the ancient name they were known before the World Governing Powers'' call to change all names decades ago. During World War III, their family was one of the forces that the WGP had to fight. And the family was thought to have all died out in the skirmish of many Emperors in the past.


    But now, they revealed that they were just in hiding.


    They sent a fleet of ships and were escorted by several former World Governing powers'' emperors.


    Together, the forces flew over the Arabian Sea in preparation for an invasion.


    Several Many Mansions were present, and arge tform was present where the family''s core members stood among Emperors.


    The Einfrieren family watched over the region. The Einfrieren family used their techs and powers to blow blizzards around thend. But the ice would not enter the region just as the weather would.


    The rain and snow were merging as the techs of New Great Britain, and the blizzard was hitting the area. The storm would have doomed numerous cities in the age before World War 3.


    Yet this storm was not even hitting the regions the Caliphates were attacking.


    Rosa stood at the helm of the tform. Having merged with the power of Ice that the family studied, she was now the head and leader of their family.


    The family elders were all standing up, and numerous devices were attached to their bodies. Though they were failures in the experiment, they managed to gain stability through techs. All of them had android bodies, and if ranked against others in the Unlocked, they were equal to Inhumans at the Proficient level.


    Yet these elders were nothingpared even to the triplets.


    Roselia, Roselyn, and Rosemary also stood by their sister''s side.


    "Sister... What do you think is happening?" Rosemary asked.


    "It''s a simple thing. Pridgeon had shortened and altered the three dimensions that heat is traveling everywhere. He must constantly be releasing great heat somewhere and is superimposing the heat in the three dimensions. So imagine being in front of his energy reactor where all the heat is. That heat is just spreading all over the region." Rosa exined.


    "Amazing. How did you know?"


    "My husband''s destion is simr in application. That''s why you get wounded just by being near him. Now his destion is much stronger than this. But this is the perfect time to test our Frost Giants... We must perfect this science for theing battle."


    Suddenly, a bright light was shing up in the dark skies.


    There was a bright yellow sh, a massive green explosion, and it looked like shooting stars were shing up in the heavens.


    "...So much for keeping their little mock battles a secret." Roselia shook her head.


    "You really think that they would keep it a secret? It''s a fight against Oveers! At least the other groups of Inhumans fighting up there won''t be as wild as the..."


    Several bright shes could be seen on the other side of the sky.


    "...Are those?" Roselyn asked.


    "Big Bang Booms. Yes." Rosa answered.


    "Why are they using weapons of mass destruction for a mock battle?" Roselyn asked again.


    "At the levels of peak Inhumans, they really should. We are expecting them to charge through and survive such things. Remember, the Presidersing here are the cream of the crop. Not to mention there is a Principal."


    "That doesn''t excuse them from using weapons of mass destruction," Roselyn answered.


    "Is Lowengren up there?" Rosemary asked.


    "I guess. I don''t know why they would use those weapons, to be honest. And I don''t know the teams." Rosa answered.


    "...Sister. Can I go up there and y?" Rosemary asked.


    "No."


    "Aw..."


    "We have work to do. Our goal is to ensure that these Presiders down here won''t interfere with the wars happening up in the skies.


    "Fine... Let''s go then!"


    "Everyone! Follow me! Father, Mother! You two-"


    "Rosa, for thest time. We are joining this battle."


    "...I know. What I was going to say is that you two should follow mymands. With this attack, I n to draw out Pridgeon and make the most of it. This means I will be using the risky maneuvers my husband would do. So if I tell you two to retreat, you retreat. I cannon be an Oveer if I don''t put myself in dangerous situations."


    "...We let you marry a dragon. That''s the most reckless thing any parent can do! But if you want to push yourself to death, then fine!" Rosa''s mother got mad.


    "Mother! You promised not to reprimand me in front of the army, and you are supposed to call me General!" Rosa roared.


    "Now, you may be a General, but don''t talk back to your mother like that!" Rosa''s father got mad.


    "...This may take a while, fes. Uncle... Grandpa, follow me instead!" Rosemary got bored and jumped off the tform, and the rest followed.


    "Rosemary! You promised to stop doing that!" Rosa''s voice was heard as the teams began to jump down the tform.


    The Emperors watched the group fall.


    "We lost to these guys?" One Emperor sighed as they followed.


    Numerous Rules followed as the falling ice warriors started creating exoskeletons made of ice.


    Up in space...


    The chaotic battle of numerous Paths was exploding left and right.


    Amidst the chaos, Ivan found the right path and dove into the most problematic fighter among all the Inhumans.


    Ivan''s bear-like exoskeleton ignored the barrage of bullets that fell on him. He was one of the few Inhumans that could easily resist the advanced rifles of the Unlocked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Bullets of lightning, sound, and destion were striking Ivan, but the regeneration of his exoskeleton was faster.


    "Found you!" Ivan roared.


    "Behind you!" Lowengren pointed.


    "Like that will work against me!"


    BANG!


    Dara delivered a powerful punch that sent Ivan hurling toward the distance.


    "Idiot! There really was someone behind you!" Lowengren taunted. For a long time, gaming mode of Lowengren was now free to emerge as he no longer needed to hide his identity.


    "What kind of an idiot are you? I just told you someone was there, and you ignored me!"


    Will appeared out of the Void.


    "Gotcha!"


    But Lowengren did not move and sneered.


    "Ha! Behind you!"


    Will quickly turned around and shed out.


    No one was there.


    BANG!


    Lowengren then revealed his weapon of choice, a hammer called Bonk.


    BONK!


    The strange sound was heard, but the impact was enough to shatter the Exoskeleton armor of Will.


    Will coughed up a lot of blood and was sent flying back.


    "Don''t teleport back here, you hear!"


    But Will kept fighting despite the damage and opened the Void Realm.


    He was flying back, but with his precise powers and knowledge of the Void Realms that now made him equal to other Void Assassins, he could travel toward Lowengren.


    "Will! Retreat!"


    Will heard the voice of Lim and quickly pulled back and left the Void Realm.


    "Will! That wasn''t me! It was Lowengren!" Lim''s real voice was heard again, and Lim made alterations to her n.


    "Alphie! Get in there!" Lim ordered.


    "DAMN IT!!!!" Will coughed out blood in his frustration as he charged back toward Lowengren.


    "You''re an idiot! You''re an idiot! Your whole damned army is an idiot!" Lowengren mocked the opposing army driving many insane, and several weapons of mass destruction wereunched again.


    On the other side of the sky, closer to where the Moon was...


    Seeker flew with great speed as he sted away from the many sound barriers that Richie had created.


    But suddenly, the power of the Passover appeared as the Adult took control and allowed Seeker to pass through numerousyers of the Walls of Jericho.


    Seeker charged toward the most problematic person on the battlefield with his sword harnessing the power of dreams.


    Two arms manifested, and another head appeared at the side of Seeker.


    This was Seeker''s ace that allowed his two souls to fight simultaneously.


    The nning was perfect. Seeker could lead Richie, Meng, and Typical out and had a clear shot. The rest were too busy and too far away.


    Eagle did not fear as Seeker approached.


    "You darey your hand on the Lord''s anointed? Disregarding David''s actions in the Old Testament, have you not read that even Paul apologized in the Book of Acts after cursing at the High Priest of their time? Are you now so bold to use that power against me?" Eagle asked.


    "..." Seeker''s four arms trembled as he heard Eagle''s question.


    He tried to fight back, but no arguments could be found. No matter the intentions, he was set on harming and attacking Eagle.


    "DAMN IT!"


    WARP!


    Seeker retreated back.


    "WHAT THE FRAGMENT, SEEKER!? I TOOK A DRAGON FOR YOU TO GET IN THERE!" Cliff shouted in great rage.


    A pale green energy that formed a massive Dragon dove down to bit Cliff, but then an orb that contained Lynd''s cells moved forward and created a powerful counter-destion.


    BOOM!


    Lynd flew in to help Cliff.


    "Seeker! You should make that attack! The gravity is extremely annoying! URK!" Lynd was suddenly plummeting down for an unknown reason.


    "I tried to! But he''s right! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! The truth is as annoying as lies! Get Meryl back here! All of you won''t be able to hit Eagle like this! We focus on dealing with the rest first!" Seeker cursed out.


    At the far north, Meryl had flown a great distance to see the sun. The battle took ce on the dark side of Earth where the sun had not shown, and she had to use her powers to create a bright sun. Meryl retreated to absorb more sunlight and bask in the sunlight.


    Suddenly, she opened her eyes as she heard the call from Lynd.


    "Those boys can''t do anything without me..." Sheined as she flew with great speed.


    No one knew why, but in space, Meryl had such great powers that she was practically an Oveer.

 Chapter 599 The Souls Of Zeraphine

    ?


    Many people could see the shing lights and explosions in the sky above.


    Hermes sighed as he watched.


    Lioncourt, Lennox, Akasha, Hermes, and Amir could not join the battle due to their tasks in ensuring that the nations of New Jerusalem and the Greco-Roman Kingdom would not move out.


    "They seem to be having fun..." Hermes smiled.


    "Boss! Concentrate! These giant metal golems are moving out!" Austin cried out.


    Hermes then turned his attention to the rising metal giants moving out of the Greco-Roman kingdom.


    "Fine..." Hermes dove down with his team.


    The battle between the Oveers in space raged outside Earth''s atmosphere and reached the moonprised three teams.


    Eagle''s team had Richie, Meng, Typical, and Rai.


    The Tyrant Empress had her original team. Octarion Ceasar, Eden, and Akahs fought with her.


    Seeker had his group, and they were all fighting right in the middle of them. At first, the Seeker and the Tyrant Empress fought to bring down Eagle with the strongest form, but they quickly lost ground.


    The space battle was a test battle utilizing many of the developed science.


    The Unlocked army had already acquired spaceships from the other Presiders when Seeker offered them the ''phallic techs'' in exchange for materials to make Gargantua and Orbitals.


    Through the acquired schematics, the science of ster travel among the Unlocked had already equaled Presiders to a certain degree. Yet even then, they realized that they were not yet capable of interster travel and only Principals could do that.


    While the Inhumans would use cellr recreation aided by nanotech technology to create Exoskeletons, the Oveers used their power to create their version of an Exoskeleton.


    The techs they received from Presiders Garenjazz and Zeraphine allowed them to transform their Realm and create a weaker version of Universe Energy.


    Unlike the rest, who would use nanotechnology to create metal and ''build'' an exoskeleton from their blood, the Oveers would create an Exoskeleton made from their Path. While some, like Cliff and Lynd, followed this, others didn''t.


    Greydon Meng''s ''exoskeleton'' form was the appearance of a dragonic armor. He had numerousyers of scales, which gave him unprecedented might. He had such strong might that he could sh directly with Octarion Ceasar''s improved Exoskeleton.


    The two punches would create shock waves equal to devastating bombs, and everyone around them, whether part of their team or not, would have to use numerous means to block it.


    Meng had utilized his Path to create a destion armor that fitted him like armor. But more than that, he could create the half-body of arge dragon with gigantic ws.


    But even with the raw destion, the supreme defenses of Octarion Ceasar resisted it.


    Eden revealed might and strength that was now equal to a Near-Oveer.


    She recreated a massive nt monster with her at the center. The strange nt monster with arge moving vine whose whip managed to send Meng back.


    The nt had tremendous vitality, and even attacks at the level of weapons of mass destruction could not demolish it.


    Her control over the seeds allowed the nts to exist over space easily. It was as if Eden had an army of a giant nts with long antennas and tendrils.


    Akahs was also equally powerful.


    He could perform curses to weaken a person, distort senses, and inflict nightmares.


    Eagle was using his powerful attacks that could create miniature ck holes in an area and copse the space around it.


    With Richie defending him, Meng fighting at the front, and Rai supporting each group, they became the most dangerousbination in the group.


    Quera also proved to be very problematic as she could, once more, steal the path of others and use it against them. Despite having the weakest team, Quera maintained her dominance throughout the fight.


    Ultimately, Eagle''s team won as Seeker and Quera exhausted themselves in the battle.


    Seeker even lost consciousness due to his wounds.


    The fight took over the moon, and the Presiders all pleaded to surrender as they expected them to arrive. But the group kept fighting on the moon, leaving numerousrge holes and incinerating many bases.


    Only a third of the military forces and bases remained by the time they stopped fighting.


    And all weed the Oveers and his group as if they were weing dear old friends.


    Never mind the fact that their forces had faced great massacres. Instead, they treated each like Presiders.


    They had seen the great tunneling power break, and many believed that they had powers equal to Principals. They had no Thrones and wore no suits, yet their power challenged and defeated Garenjazz.


    But as Seeker slept on, the divine calction of Arthur was starting to move.


    "...Seeker must be unconscious now. He used the foundation of Garenjazz to bring out his two souls and fell to sleep. Let''s start this." Arthur then nced at Lara.


    Lara was nervous as shey upon many devices.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Lennox was also close by with a powerful device that Nogard used to harness the energy of his soul.


    "Let''s begin," Arthur ordered as the device was being powered up.


    Far away, in the dimensions of Seeker''s mind, Zeraphine felt a sharp stinging sensation.


    "Who?!" Zeraphine cursed. But before she and Shacktress''s soul could act, they were suddenly drawn out of the soul.


    A medium''s power could call another''s soul from dimensions beyond. And so, Zeraphine''s soul was so close to the medium that her soul was quickly pulled out of Seeker, and the next thing Zeraphine saw, was that she was in ab.


    "...Lara?!" She eximed.


    "...You! You''re here... but not her!" Lara cried.


    Arthur observed and smiled.


    "Sess. Lara. Calm down. Let Zeraphine take over your body."


    "...Arthinar. It seems you have plotted behind my back. And you''ve kept it a secret from Seeker!"


    "You sound surprised. You should have expected this."


    "I unconsciously underestimate you because of your past life. What is this? You''ve kept this a secret from Seeker and pulled me out of my soul using a Medium. I can''t believe you figured it out. Wait! Is my other soul responsible for this?!"


    "Your other soul is with Alean. Who knows where she is? We tried our best to find her and even tested Lara''s connection with that Zeraphine, but no luck. It''s as if they''ve hidden in a ce that even Principals couldn''t find. That''s how lucky Alean path is after all..."


    "What is all this, Arthinar?" Zeraphine asked. The entire ce began to tremble as a strange power caused all matter around them to quiver.


    "Lioncourt''s power. I guess being in Zeek''s power is quite beneficial for you. He is your throne, huh? Too bad my calctions still see no survival for Seeker''s future." Arthur smiled.


    The trembling stopped.


    "You lie."


    "No. That''s why I summoned you. I need to know something... Why haven''t you told Seeker that you''re alive."


    "This is living?"


    "Seeker said that he had an Android created by Lennox to mimic you. It helped him find strength in the fight. But it was you, wasn''t it? At times you would use this android to speak to him. You hid your soul in his body. What''s all this about? A daughter of a Prime... Did you know what would happen? Did you know that Seeker would time-travel? If you don''t answer me, I''ll seal you here in Lara and punish you. I can kill your soul here, Zeraphine." Arthur threatened.


    "No. That is not true. And frankly, I''m disappointed in you, Arthinar. You already interrogated the other me. You know my past and my rtionship with my father."


    "Who knows what happened to you? You lived a decade older than the other Zeraphine. What if your father contacted you?"


    "He didn''t. But... my father is a weird one among Primes. I have a feeling that he is a seed of the Progenitor. One nted in Aragarian soul."


    "Lies."


    "I''m just guessing. But here''s the truth, I never found a way to do my soul jumps like that. Not without my Throne, harnessing universe energy, and all my weapons. When I died, I was surprised to see myself within Seeker. A wisp of a soul that somehow transferred. I recovered the stronger Seeker got. My soul would grow with his. My purpose here is not betrayal. I would have acted earlier if I wanted Seeker or any of you dead. Don''t you know I''ve saved Seeker''s life many times?"


    "That I believe. You even brought Shackstress along for the ride."


    "It''s because I love him. That''s all this was. When I dered my love for him and killed myself, my soul made its jump. How? I don''t know! But now, I''m just protecting him! I don''t care about any of you, but I will dly die again for Seeker!"


    "I believe you. But why haven''t you told him about yourself? Why not tell him that you''re there?"


    "The Seeker that I love is obviously the Adult. But now that he is infused with the child, I can tell. He hates me more than he loves me. The two share emotions. I know that the older one is even enjoying Seeker''s time here with all the girls that love him. Alphie... Kristine... and let''s not forget Alean. If I tell him I''m alive, I''m afraid that the anger of the Adult will drive the child to the arms of another woman."


    "Why not jump back to the other Zeraphine?"


    "Matthew 12:29."


    "...How can someone enter a strong man''s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? So you can''t take down the soul of the other you?"


    "No. It''s her soul in her body. In theory, the contact of our two souls will devour each other. If she wins, she gains all my memories, and she has the curse of the Primordial. She will betray you just as I did. No amount of reasoning and emotions could change that. I chose to kill myself and found a way to leap to Seeker."


    At that moment, Arthur''s expression changed.


    "That''s Alean''s n! I understand now! When you killed yourself, you became an Unlocked! Kristine told me that Alean was nning to force the Unlocking into Zeraphine! I see! I now know what future Alean seeks! But that future..." Arthur''s powers began to surge.


    And in this vision, he saw the Adult Seeker moving in. His eyes were strange. The Child was no more. Meryl was saved. On the other, the Child rose to the heavens to fight an unknown and unseen foe. The Adult was long gone. And Meryl had also died.


    Arthur trembled.


    "Two Zeraphines... One loves the Adult who will do anything to save his friends. The other loves the Child who has not known the loss of friends... will fight to save as many of his new friends as possible! This is it! This is the conflict! One of Seeker''s soul will die!"

 Chapter 600 The Two Futures

    ?


    Visions of the possible futures was shown to Arthur.


    It was as if Arthur had lived through these events. There were gaps and points of uncertainties, but Arthur had perfectly predicted and calcted the highest point of all the Oveers. The information of Garenjazz on the possible Presiders that could be arriving was also given.


    Arthur could see it all as the threader of the Lion''s Den, which allowed him to make immense calctions into the future. In this vision, he had arrange battle strategies and crafted great ns that brought them to the point of victory amidst the many Presiders.


    There were many uncertainties, and Arthur was intentionally feeding data that forced their victory within the marginal expectation of the Oveer''s growth in the midst of battle


    And finally, he saw it.


    A future where Future Zeraphine would once more give her life to save the Adult Seeker. The Child Seeker would pass away, and only the Adult remained. Under the leadership of the Adult, the battle progresses with great losses, but among all the Oveers, the Adult fights to save Lynd and Meryl.


    The other future was a divergence where the Present Zeraphine won the battle between the two Zeraphines. But in the future, the ending was still simr to the first Zeraphine. Zeraphine would be faced with a choice that would ultimately direct her true allegiance to her. But her soul would ovee, and the soul of Zeraphine broke free from the chains of the Primordial and gained freedom. In her freedom, she would make the same sacrifice her alternate self made and die. But this time, for the child Seeker.


    The Adult Seeker died, and the Child retained the leadership mantle.


    He would rage against the Principals and lead the oveers.


    In this future, the battle grows intense as many Oveers die one after the other.


    Meryl uses her power to fight and fend off as many enemies as possible and dies to be the most crucial war hero.


    Arthur saw it and realized the battle that Alean did not know but sought to attain.


    Zeraphine saw Arthur in a trance and heard him mutter a horrifying phrase.


    Lennox was also shocked.


    "One Seeker will die? I see now..." Lennox understood at once. He could guess what dilemmas and issues the future would have and understand the heart of Alean and why her Path drove her to flee.


    "What do you mean?!" Zeraphine asked.


    "I have seen the future. I now understood why Alean kidnapped your present self and trained her. A future draws near in theing battle. And the two of us are on opposite sides!"


    "What? How can you both be on opposite sides?!"


    "You love the Adult. Alean loves the Child. In the future toe, one of the two will die. Zeraphine, are you ready to die for Seeker? And what I mean is, a true and final death for you?"


    "In a heartbeat! I love Seeker! You shouldn''t even question it, Arthur. You could already see it. So what lies in the future?"


    "A future ising when one of the two Seekers will die. The Zeraphine who wins and takes control of the body and soul will dictate this future."


    Zeraphine was shocked at Arthur''s words.


    "...How certain is this?"


    "This is the least of the problems. I have calcted and sought the best path where we survive and face the Principal. But even before the strongest of our armies face the Principal, one Seeker dies. So we are presented with a choice of who to save. Is it your Seeker or the Child?"


    Zeraphine was silent. She began to hesitate.


    "...Will you still win this even if one Seeker dies?"


    "It doesn''t matter which. Both Seekers are Oveers now. Not just the Child. Both can now take on each other''s mantle."


    "...Why do you want the Child Seeker to die? Is this a trick?"


    "Of course not. Don''t you understand, Zeraphine? Alean wants to save the Child! You probably saw it all. You know that Alean is in love with the child! She wants a future that this child lives! And in doing so, the future that she seeks will pit Seeker to an important decision! Will he lose his friends again, or will he try to save as many of the Oveers?"


    "And what does that imply? What is that to you? Are you saying that the Child won''t save you?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Do I really look like the type to think of my life? Didn''t you see how I died in that timeline? My concern is not this. But it''s because he won''t protect Meryl when the timees."


    "Meryl?"


    "Just as you are willing to do anything for the survival of Seeker, I''ve loved Meryl. I''ve lived a thousand possibilities where I am hers, and she is mine. Even if it''s not yet there, the hope of this drives me to fight for it!"


    Zeraphine was amazed at Arthur''s deration.


    "Zeraphine. Alean''s power is not as wide as it seems. She is looking for a beneficial ending. And the most that she wants is a future with Seeker alive. I don''t think she knows it yet." Lennox exined.


    "And herein lies the problem. My Path and her path are going to sh. We want different things. And now, I''mying this truth to you. Because right now, this future is set. And not just set. It''s tied and destined. So I can sense that the death of one Seeker must happen."


    "What do you mean?"


    "The Lost Primordial nned to bring two Seekers together and allow both to grow. Unfortunately, one Seeker was not enough in the future he could set. And to hide his n from the Primordial, he had to make various levels of deception. The Way, the Truth, and the Life. The future battle against the Primordial is focused on these identities. Seeker, Lynd, and someone else are set to be one of these three. They are a typology of the Christ and the Trinity."


    "Then why can''t two Seekers be it? The Truth and the Life? The Messiah and the Spirit?"


    "Not possible. The three have to have different roles. Different powers and different souls. The Mantle of Life is the body that a Primordial should have. One who is the foundation, one who has the power of all Paths, and one who will be the body that can bear the supreme power of the two. A Glorified Body that has yet to appear. But this is why it can''t be two Seekers. Who will be the host of Seeker''s other soul? And even if it''s possible to find a medium, you tell me whether the medium can bring out the same power of the original?"


    "...No. Reaching full power in a medium''s body is impossible."


    "Then there you have it. One Seeker must die. It fits the current n of the Progenitor and how he managed to hide this n from the Primordial and Primes. You''re choice, Zeraphine." Arthur stated.


    "The future where one Seeker dies must happen. The Progenitor called many of those he nted seeds... And unless a seed dies, it won''t bear fruit. Right now, the inheritance of this power is not yet decided. And so, there is another battle at work. A battle set in the dimensions beyond to thwart and alter the fate and future of the Champion so that the Primordial would not sense the arrival of the person who the Progenitor prepared to challenge him!"


    The Future Zeraphine was silent. It was a difficult decision. Now that the two had been divided, she hesitated. She had also grown to love the Child, for she viewed him as Seeker! But now that one must go, Zeraphine couldn''t easily say yes.


    Meanwhile...


    Alean and Present Zeraphine continued their training.


    The progress of Unlocking was very slow. Alean had to use his powers to force Zeraphine into many very near-death experiences but found that the shell of the Conqueror and the curse were yet another hindrances that prohibited them from bing Unlocked.


    Zeraphine had already taken the drugs, and with Alean''s guidance, she even managed to set the foundations. Yet the mental barriers could not be brought down easily.


    Zeraphine was lying on the floor with many wounds.


    "Have you rested? You should try to take possession of me."


    "...I don''t think that I became an Unlocked! This n... is insane!"


    "My Path brought us here. We will continue to train here until we find out how to control your powers. My path is not without its hardships. You cannot enter the zone if you are not skilled." Aleanughed.


    Zeraphine sighed as she sat up. Alean sat in front of her, and together both closed their eyes.


    As Zeraphine closed her eyes and tried tomand her soul to move without her Throne, she somehow felt a strange sensation.


    At once, she opened her eyes and turned to the altar. There was clearly a powerful presence there that she could feel!


    "What was that...? Was that... my soul sensing?!"


    Alean also opened her eyes and saw the state of Zeraphine.


    "Good! It looks like our ns are progressing! You are starting to develop your Path!" Alean rejoiced.

 Chapter 601 A Team To Infiltrate

    ?


    A massive blue ship was in the ruins of the fortresses on the moon. It had a very impressive design and moved like a living being.


    Therge blue ship was salvaging and using the destroyed bases and fortresses to make it a part of its own.


    Inside, the Oveers rested.


    Seeker finally woke up from his near-death status and groggily left the pod.


    "Ugh..."


    "And so he lives..." A voice was heard, and a man stood observing him.


    "What version are you?" Seeker asked.


    "I''m the real deal, Seeker. You lost consciousness three days ago."


    "Why are you up here? Shouldn''t you be down...?"


    "Taking care of Earth, we resolved it. The calctions of Arthur allowed most Oveers toe up here. In any case, you woke up just on schedule. Did you enjoy your talk with your grandma?" Lennox asked.


    Seeker scratched his head. He was lost for a bit but realized that those visions were real! It was all flooding back to him. Had not Lennox spoken of it, Seeker would have brushed all those dreams as untrue.


    Memories of his talks with his grandma. Sometimes, his grandma would be at the back. Several times did, Seeker realize that he was with his grandma and that the scene would reset.


    "Woah... Grandma''s getting stronger!" Seeker''s expression turned to amazement. Such an act would have great implications for their future warfare!


    But before Seeker could say anything, Lennox continued.


    "We have been doing what you are thinking. Your grandmother''s powers have now improved by leaps and bounds. Using Lioncourt''s technology, she was able to infiltrate the dreams of the Pioneers in the approaching Orbital."


    "What?! She can reach that distance?!"


    "Yes. She dared not to try going in the dreams of the powerful Presiders and Principals. Using Lioncourt to aid her as she dreams walks, she is able to sense the power of the Presiders and even finds the Principal. In truth, her first attempt indicated that she should have died."


    "But the Principal ignored her. It even spoke to her at one time."


    Seeker''s expression soured.


    "It taunted her. The Principal, Dormin, told your grandma, it''s boring. Get someone up here and let them y."


    "...As expected of a Principal." Seeker sighed.


    "Yes. My son believes that he meant it. He really wanted someone to get there. And that he would leave the door open."


    "...So that''s why you''re here."


    "Yes. Arthur says that we are doomed to lose if the Orbital arrives in time. We need time. Let''s go. The guys that matter are waiting."


    Seeker nodded.


    He moved out of the infirmary and could see the other Oveers who were in their respective pods.


    "...Really? Who managed to get Eagle?" Seeker was amazed.


    "Quera. She won that round. But she also fainted. She''s hidden in another pod. Her power of beauty goes all wild, and we would be unconsciously drawn to her, so we had to seal her up."


    "Huh... Can''t believe that my team is the biggest loser." Seeker sighed.


    Inside the bridge of therge ship were several people.


    Lynd, Meryl, Lowengren, Cliff, Rai, Jake, Harker, Vender, and Gardo were seated.


    "Hi." Vender smiled.


    "...You''ve got to be kidding me! So this is the team?!" Seeker cursed at Lennox.


    But then Seeker suddenly retreated and used his Realm to stop something from approaching her.


    Seeker frowned, and suddenly he stepped forward.


    It was as if he teleported on his step, but even Rai couldn''t sense Seeker disappear.


    "Impressive. So that''s the passover!" Rai praised.


    The power was even better than Jake''s. The force that tried to meet Seeker had used a power that prevented things from passing through her. Her molecr form had changed at that moment as the Wind within her grew dense.


    It was the fifth member of the Winds of Hermes. The Invisible Wind was known as the Thief in the Night.


    "Hmp! So feisty. Can''t a girl get a kiss? I heard Kristine''s had her share."


    "This lip touches whoever it likes, Irvana."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "...? Was that the older one?"


    "...Yes. I honestly don''t have a problem with it, but you must have given my future self quite a time that he would reject it in such a way." Seeker chuckled.


    "Hmp. Well, those lips will be mine someday." Irvanaughed.


    "Geez. Can you guys stop doing this?" Meryl sighed.


    "We have a mission toplete.


    "So... Arthur ns to send a team to infiltrate the Orbital. This sounds dangerous."


    "And yet, it''s needed. The predictions of Arthur are very grim." Harker exined.


    "Oh? Harker! You''ve reached Ranked Hero!" Seeker smiled.


    "...Yes. That little space battle really pushed me."


    "I actually lost." Lowengrenughed.


    "Every time I lied, he would tell his allies to trust him. So, in the end, my gamble failed. I broke even and lost."


    "Impressive, Harker. Is that why you''re here?"


    "Yes. We need a team that can move into the Orbital to spy and to destroy."


    "Is that even possible?"


    "Yes. The dreams of your grandmother showed us quite an interesting scene. Based on the dreams of many, the current state of the orbital is a wreck. Thebined size of bothbined forms makes this massive structure to be over a thousand kilometers in diameter. The entire Orbital has many rooms, or more appropriately, cities and districts."


    "So it''s literally like the verse says. In my Father''s house are many mansions... Basically, the orbital is evenrger than Phil-Pangea. But can we infiltrate it?"


    "Yes. All the dreams that your grandmother saw revealed great wreckage. You could imagine it slightly worse than the Death Star in Return of the Jedi. The war of the Presiders has wrecked most of its parts. The size and the wreckage make it ideal for sneaking into that ce as long as we don''t go to a region that is under the control of a Top Tier Presider. And, of course, our advantage is that the Principal urged us to go there. He allowed your grandmother to visit the dreams of many and didn''t bother her."


    "I guess it fits a Principal''s behavior. He wants the Presiders to break away from their limits and be Principal to be devoured. He doesn''t care who wins. So the boredom of a Principal is our hope to survive... How pathetic of us." Seekerughed.


    "Yes. There will be many unguarded areas that we can move into."


    "We just need a good ship. I''m guessing this is why the Kyogre is here."


    "It''s Primal Kyogre now. My daughter has managed to learn a bit of Suit''s Skill." Lennox corrected.


    "Your daughter is here?"


    "She needs to be. She is the most important ingredient that would dy the movement of the Orbital. We know in your future that massive ships and those Orbitals that the traitors of Earth built bepartmentalized. And since this Orbital and the one that Garenjazz went in with couldbine, we need to gain ess from a sector."


    "A sector? Wait... this implies... recruitment?!"


    "Yes. We will be a mini-faction in there and recruit whatever Pioneers we can. The dreams of your grandmother reveal that many Pioneers are helpless and are expecting to die. We give them the promise of survival. Then we might be able to do it. As such, several Pioneers are called to go with us."


    "That includes me." The door opened, and a woman walked in.


    Lourca Ovilli walked in, and several Pioneers were next to her.


    But a certain woman stood out among the Pioneers.


    "Oh? You''re here too?" Seeker smiled.


    The woman was the highest-ranking Pioneer who held power for a time until the rising chaos changed the scene.


    "Pioneer Madelyne. It seems Richie''s voice kept pestering you."


    "...One night. He promised one night with him if I did this. That is if I survive." Madelyne answered coldly.


    "Can we trust her? Cliff, isn''t this girl like one of Pridgeon''s most powerful Pioneer?"


    "Yes. But she''s a freak among Pioneers. When I met her a while back, she was all over Richie." Cliff recalled Madelyne''s moans when he fought her with her Throne.


    "But can we trust her? Her only motivation is some booty call." Meryl eximed.


    "Well, we can''t. But right now, we can. You see, it was Pridgeon who lent her to us." Lowengren chuckled.


    "What?!" Meryl was shocked.


    "Hm... Makes sense. I''m guessing Pridgeon needs the dy too." Seeker nodded.


    "Yeah. I contacted him and told him of our plight. As it stands, Pridgeon is also doomed to die. It''s only a matter of time before his little alliance with Lanterk ends. So he needs the dy just as we do. Pridgeon has already known of Madelyn''s lust. After all, Pridgeon is also being drawn by the Tyrant Empress. So he is giving her to us as an ally to dy the arrival of the ship." Lowengren exined.


    "So let''s all get along. Honestly, I''m impressed that the world is under the control of such young freaks." Madelynughed.

 Chapter 602 Help From The Other Side

    ?


    Years. In the age that followed, the Aragarians orchestrated many events that made the WGP ban space travel altogether.


    A team of Pioneersunched a satellite to make it look like it was traveling in space, only to create pods in space that was actually one part of a base! It was nning to create a base and make it look like an orbiting asteroid space.


    And so, the WGP banned space travel and only allowed the moon to be popted. But ultimately, the moon had bases built by governments and opposing corporations to ensure that no one was taking advantage of the moon. But unknown to them, the antagonistic and blood-fueled battles between governments andpanies on Earth were only a cover. Since most of those on the moon were Aragarians, they always leaked false information about possibleunches and space operations that made the WGP angry.


    And so, for decades, space travel was not allowed.


    Yet now, Earth was quickly perfecting the science of space travel.


    The knowledge of Presider-grade techs about the theories of space travel was leaked all over the world under the name of the Progenitor. They were giving the nations a chance to fight back or escape. Dug Down Deep techs that allowed cities to be buried were also being revealed. Underwater life techs were also initiated, which made many nations create an escape city for theing wars.


    Mines were being depleted, and the search for new materials continued worldwide.


    Surprisingly, Russia opened its greatnd to allow the exports of metals. Many of their underground cities had surfaced, and a massive mountain known as the Great Kremlin emerged. The leaders of Russia had finally called out to the Progenitor to ask for more technologies, including space travel. They promised to remain neutral in theing wars as they have generally taken on in the past.


    They were given technologies to create an Orbital!


    Apart from that, New Great Britain had perfected their weather technology and altered the weather of the entire earth. This change gave many nations ample environment to prepare for the war that was toe.


    The Greco-Roman empire and the Caliphates were the only ces that experienced war. As a result, many of the Unlocked armies were using thesends as a testing ground to develop their strength.


    All of Earth hoped that the strange peace they now experiencedpared to thest months of fear and war would remain as long as possible.


    But up in space, a small ster capable ship was made and traveling through deep space. It had been the fourth day since their maiden voyage.


    "Space.... The final frontier. These are the voyage of the starship Latias. Its continuing mission is to infiltrate the Presider''s Mothership. To dy the arrival of the Presiders and Principals. To boldly go where no man has gone before! Right up, Uranus." Gardo narrated.


    The Path of Gardo caused many tough within the ship.


    Even Jake couldn''t believe that he once hated nearly everyone on this ship and was pping hisp so hard from Gardo''s joke.


    The team rode a powerful ship that had several Paths infused in it.


    It could vanish in sight, it could pass through metals, it could enter the Void Realm, and it was capable of wielding several Thrones.


    The ship was piloted by Guinevere. Her Path waspatible with this ship as it was created simrly to the Nile Serpent. It was alive and could recover and grow.


    Powering it was also easy. Meryl, who could gain energy from the sun, would use her heat to power it. Lynd could also do the same. But most of all, because everyone gathered inside, a miracle urred. The Paths of each other would work together, and the mystery of their numerous Thrones gave birth to a new power.


    Seeker saw it as he sat down on his Throne.


    Lynd was also seated on another Throne. As they sat down, a powerful force would cover the ship and create Universe Energy!


    It had to be Seeker and Lynd who could now harness the power of Unity. Not even Cliff could help them.


    Lennox V 3.3.0''s consciousness was uploaded inside the ship and helped Guinevere pilot the ship.


    And with the slow creation of Universe Energy, the group could perform numerous alterations to the power.


    "Guin. Has the ship fully recovered?" Lennox V 3.3.0 asked.


    "Yes, father. It has. Shall we begin energy variation test number seven?" Guin asked.


    "Yes. Everyone, to your positions."


    Rai, Jake, and Irvana sat on their Thrones.


    Presider Madelyne watched once more as the mystery of their power worked again.


    "I can''t believe they didn''t have raw Universe Energy! They defeated Presiders with these techs!" Madelyne couldn''t believe what they saw.


    With the three seated on their Thrones, Lennox V 3.3.0 began to give off specificmands.


    "Meryl. Limit your me output by two percentpared to the next. Seeker and Lynd, we need a constant flow of Universe Energy. And Cliff. Do it."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    SMACK!


    Cliff punched Vender with such great force that he was knocked out.


    "Seal up Vender."


    Cliff held on to Vender''s head and used his powers to create a dream for him to keep Vender in a loop of dreams. Harker tied him up as Lowengren began to whisper lies to him.


    "Sealingplete," Gardo reported. His joke was necessary to throw Vender off guard, and the team was able to knock him out.


    "And let''s go!" Seeker ordered.


    The ship began to tremble as Guinevere began to use her powers to wield all the sources of Paths to charge up the ship. Finally, the ship tore through reality and forcibly entered the Void Realm. Jake and Irvana''s power were merging and caused the ship''s structure to transform.


    Guinevere held all the different Realms and used Seeker and Lynd''s power to maintain stability. Then, finally, Universe Energy appeared and powered the ship.


    The speed of the ship moved into the Void Realm, and it kept up its speed.


    They acquired the theoretical powers that the Presiders couldn''t achieve at that moment. They were moving outside of the Three-Dimensions and found safe passage within the Void Realm. Their speed surpassed Light and reached hyperspace travel!


    "...We did it!" Lennox''s voice echoed out of the console.


    Lynd, Seeker, Cliff, Jake, Gardo, Lowengren, and Harker had tears appearing on their eyes. The lifelong romance of men who desired sci-fi stories was finally before them. They were moving in hyperspace.


    "I.. feel kind of sorry for knocking out Vender. He''s such a Star wars fan, after all!" Gardo cried tears.


    "... I can''t believe the Top Tiers lost to you..." Madelyn shook her head.


    Meryl chucked as she watched on while theirbined powers caused the Latias to move with great speed.


    "When will we arrive on that ship?" Seeker asked.


    "Fifteen minutes at this speed. And this why we need to stop at the thirteenth minute so that we won''t appear right over them. We need to recover our energy so we can infiltrate that ce. We must also stop to prepare to escape if this is a trap. But it''s highly unlikely." Lennox exined.


    "Me? Trap you? Why would I? It would be like squishing a bug!" Then, a voice was heard, and everyone was rmed.


    The voice that they heard was not of sound. It was like telepathy.


    "...Principal Dormin." Seeker frowned.


    "Seeker Carlean. By the looks of it, I think you are the most likely candidate for this... Progenitor! The Lost Primordial is dead that I am certain. But it''s nice that he still hasn''t backed out from the Prime Wars!" Principal Dorminughed.


    "...I wonder what Principal Dormin has to say to us, bugs?"


    "Well... only you guys have to be careful. You will soon reach their range, and they can sense you. You have not soundproofed your ship, and while your current form is impressive, it might draw the attention of everyone here. They are using a Principal-level ship."


    "... The light! The energy was releasing! Guinevere! Activate the Sun Devourer protocol!"


    "Smart! Nice!" Dorminughed as Guinevere began to use her powers that caused the light created by theirbined attack to vanish.


    "...That''s better! Now those Presiders won''t know what ising!" Principal Dorminughed.


    "Why are you helping us?" Harker asked.


    "Boredom, of course. The current state of this ship is that no one is fighting! Even my Presiders are too drained to fight. The ship itself can''t move fast. So if you hurried here, it would be awesome."


    "You could have used your power to move the ship and end us."


    "...But how would I conquer? I came here to Conquer. I need a foe worthy of being devoured to help me ascend to Prime. So give me a show. A part of me is rooting for you. The Lost Primordial fought equally against the Primordial. Isn''t it obvious that I would yearn for this power? Have a safe trip!"


    At once, the strange connection that Principal Dormin had over them vanished.

 Chapter 603 Infiltrating The Duo-Core Orbital

    ?


    The group was quiet and afraid of what they had just experienced.


    They thought that they had the power and technology to slip into the ship of the Principal easily and even found a way for hyperspace travel that moved at the speed of light. But now, they realized that their lofty fantasies were meaningless. They had seen just how weak and incapable they were before a Principal.


    "...That was... too scary!" Meryl sighed.


    "Too scary is an understatement..." Irvana spoke.


    "So this is the gap between Presiders and Principals..." Madelyne trembled. She had served Pridgeon and had seen the peak power of the Top Tiers. But now, she realized she was practically a fool for thinking that the power they could have with the alliance of the Progenitor would cross the distance.


    "At least our way is still set. We can infiltrate therge ship." Lowengren sighed.


    "What if it''s a trap?" Gardo asked.


    "He wasn''t lying. At least from what I can tell."


    "...This is all a game to him. Then let''s y it. Until we be strong enough, we take advantage of his boredom." Seeker answered.


    The team made their preparations and discussions, and soon the time to end the warp jump had arrived.


    "Ending warp jump. Everyone, keep up that signal and prepare for our retreat if we get discovered." Lennox V 3.3.0 was ordered.


    The Void Realm was opening up as the Paths and powers were rescinding, and they finally appeared.


    The ship was cloaked, and the massive, Saturn, could be seen from afar, and another massive structure was moving next to it. It wasrger than the moon of Earth and could easily berger than some of the countries of Earth!


    "There it is. I can''t believe it would be so big." Seeker saw it as they finally returned to the three dimensions.


    At that moment, the massive Orbital began to sh a strange green light that covered it up.


    "What''s that? Did they find us?!" Madelyne cursed.


    "No... That looks like... a power opposite to Destion." Lynd frowned.


    "It is. It is like it''s repairing the ship." Seeker could also see the metalsing back and reforming.


    "He''s creating metals to cover the ship! Is that... Principal Dormin?"


    "...It could be his strategy to make the Presiders incapable of detecting our ship. We better move closer. But be ready to leap back to the Void Realm."


    The ship carefully approached. It had no light and sound, and the energy was contained from within. The Sun Devourer Suit that Shackstress had proved useful, and with Meryl''s help, it created a mini ck hole that could devour light and other intangible elements.


    The ship moved slowly toward the Orbital, and they could see the metals reforming. Apart from this, it was obvious that a terrifying battle urred that tore the massive ship apart from the inside out.


    "Look at that ce... It''s like it has thend area of half of the United States of America. But even then, it looks like the war nearly destroyed it. Only the fixed part of the Orbital keeps it stable. I can see numerous efforts to fix the ship, but now..." Lennox observed.


    "Principal Dormin is acting. Is this a trap? Or is he covering for us and using this to improve our chances of sneaking in?"


    "Let''s go. Just be ready for anything."


    With Seeker''smand, the team moved closer.


    Many paths were used to prevent them from being seen. But as they moved closer to the ship, there was no action or retribution.


    "It looks like the Death Star in Return of the Jedi." Vender spoke.


    "When did you wake up?!" Seeker cursed.


    But Vender watched in amazement and ignored Seeker.


    Everyone was nervous since Vender was awake. But they knew that Vender''s power was very entric but reliable.


    The group continued to move at the back of therge Orbital.


    They moved through the outeryers of the ship and had officially ''entered'' the ship.


    What they saw was outside of their expectations. They expected a massive structure of the metal. But it was here they realized that what was inside the shell was a miniature!


    The outer shell acted as the atmosphere, and there was life inside. The light of the sun was being redirected into the inside. Some areas were still damaged and had grown dark because of theck of a ''roof'' over the skies.


    "Our initial scans show that this is a. Right now, there seems to be a lot of wilderness and nk spaces. It''s probably because of the battles that this ce faced and that this has merged with the previous Orbital that the Presiders used." Lennox spoke.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "This is... vastly different from the Orbital that Garenjazz spoke to us. Madelyne?" Lowengren asked.


    "...I would have no idea either. I only rode one Orbital, and it was to use Vender''s phrase, simr to the Death Star. This is... new to me too!" Madelyne was amazed.


    "Well, that ship was probably made by Principals for Presiders to use. This is a Principal''s ship. You might even say that this ce is the Principal''s!"


    "So that''s what Garenjazz meant by ''gatherings''." Seeker recalled one of the many talks he had with Garenjazz at his defeat.


    "Principals and Primes would capture powerfuls and make a bid of who owns it. I''m guessing Earth is one of the good ones..."


    "Right. I''m detecting metal types of unique constitutions. Some, even equal to Almetal!" Lennox reported.


    "Guinevere. Land on the ground. Let''s try using Realm. Lynd! Cliff! Help me out to make a sonar scan."


    "Won''t that alert many others?" Harker asked.


    "No. I''ve been sensing numerous sonar pings happening. I''m guessing the Presiders are using that to watch each other. So a new one won''t seem suspicious, right?" Seeker asked.


    "It won''t. Besides, if people scout us, we can disappear." Lennox answered.


    Guinevere followed andnded the ship on the ground.


    Seeker, Lynd, and Cliff harnessed their paths and made a powerful sonar pulse that radiated downwards.


    "Hm? There are cities below us!"


    "Right. Another ''level'' lies beneath this. And I''m guessing, based on the orbital size, there should be another level further." Lynd added.


    "Man... This ce is huge! It''s like a matryoshka doll!" Cliff was amazed.


    "What do we do now? Is it safe to assume that the Principal meant us to sneak in here?" Lowengren asked.


    "Let''s scout around first. From the looks of this ce, there should be millions and millions of people living here."


    "If this ce is like this, it should have at least five million people on this ship. There were roughly three million on thest orbital. About half of us served another Presider. The remainder were free Pioneers. But each Pioneer family could easily have hundreds of nteds serving us." Madelyn exined.


    "Let''s go. If the battle between Presiders were intense, many Presiders who died would losemand over thousands and thousands. Let''s use this to our advantage. I sensed a city to the west. Let''s go there and see the state of things. We need to gather more information about what we found. From here on end, let''s pretend to be a fleeing Pioneer group that is being chased by another. Our Presider died, and we are just looking for somece to hide. This ship is one of our Presider''s greatest inventions. We could say that we are direct descendants of a Presider but will keep our identities a secret in case we would attract enemies. Lynd. Cliff. Let''s try to use Alean''s Path. We need to go somewhere that can help us. Let''s use Zone." Seeker gave his orders.


    "And my name is Ben Kenobi," Vender added.


    No one cared, and the ship flew.


    The group flew over the inneryer of the Orbital.


    They saw cities, gardens, and massive plots ofnd with dirt. Some areas were filled with rocks and metals. There were mountains inside, other ces that showed signs of immense battles, and numerous metals lying around. They would also find several massive holes on the grounds, and the underground region couldn''t be seen.


    "Amazing. It''s really like a! There are mountains in here!" Meryl was amazed.


    The group was amazed as they saw the sights inside. And what was amazing was how unaware everyone was of them.


    "Be on your guard. We could still be in a trap." Lynd reminded.


    "... I can sense several anomalies. Numerous ces where the three dimensions are changed are located on several spots of this ce. I''m guessing that''s where the Presiders lie. One of which is to the north of this ce. We''re probably some fifty kilometers from it." Rai reported.


    "Let''s get out of here." Seeker decided, and the group flew until they reached a ce where no anomalies were nearby.


    As they flew, the group came across a battle.


    Several vehicles were plowing through the vast wilderness and were shooting at another vehicle.


    The team saw it and knew that this was the opportunity they needed.


    "Is everyone in ord that our Zone is telling us to save the other vehicle?" Seeker asked.


    "I''ll go." Gardo volunteered.


    "Me too!" Vender added. Nobody knew how he had it, but Vender was wearing the attire of Obi-wan Kenobi.


    "Gardo. Go. Vender, could you just... go to sleep or something?!" Seeker cursed.

 Chapter 604 Ninalet

    ?


    The vehicle was a hovercraft that was the size of a bus. It could not fly, but it floated over thends and escaped with speeds simr to the car.


    Chasing it wasrger hovercrafts that were even shootingser sts at the escaping car. Theserge hovercrafts were rough twice the size of the first ship.


    "Get it! The more weapons we find, the better chances of surviving Earth!" The manmanding the tworge hovercrafts ordered.


    Numerous beams of light shot for the small hovercraft until one of its rocket engines was damaged. With the destruction done on the side of the hovercraft, the speed decreased tremendously.


    "Capture it! We finally have ice techs!" The Commander roared excitedly.


    Numerous hooks wereunched toward the ship, but as it approached.


    BOOM!


    A fiery explosion urred at the center and destroyed the hooks.


    Amidst the burning crater where the hooks passed, a hovering man stood with mes covering him. The fire covered him but did not burn his clothes. And he wore a strange


    "I am the Sun Devourer Experiment of Presider Whitebeard. And I will carry on his legacy and make him... King of Primes! I, mefist Gardo, dere it to you!"


    Many inside the invisible Latias hovering above the battle facepalmed at Gardo''s deration.


    The energy and heat that Gardo released were so intense. After the battle and the numerous techs and addons to him, Gardo''s realm was rapidly changing. He took inspiration from the same character as he introduced himself and could now contain the energy of fire.


    "Monster!" The Commander was scared as they saw the unbelievable energy and radiation appearing out of the man.


    "Commander?! What do we do?!"


    "Retreat!" The Commander ordered.


    As the two hovercrafts began to retreat, a strange, robed mannded on the path of their retreat and stood on top of arge rock.


    "Hello there! It looks like I have the high ground. I am General Vend Kenobi." Vender dered.


    Seeker was stunned. They had ced Vender in a stasis cell to keep him from doing just that.


    "What happened?! Jake?! Did you free him?!" Seeker shouted.


    "N-no!"


    "It was me..." Guinevere sighed.


    "He used a realm that made me feel very ufortable. With my current Realm power that adds life to this ship, I can feel every one of you inside this ship. I don''t mind at all. But whatever he did made it feel like he was... touching me."


    "Oh, he did, did he?" Lennox V 3.3.0 eyes shed with lightning.


    The retreating hovercraft could detect a powerful anomaly in Vender. There was a strange power that was distorting the Universe''s Energy that they had.


    The tworge hovercrafts stopped as they saw it.


    "It seems that there is prey and predator. I am no saint. I will spare the one that can benefit me the most." Gardo dered.


    "What... do you want, esteemed mefist? And General Vend?" Therge hovercraft asked.


    "I need information. My friends and I were sealed secret weapons who had never seen the three dimensions before. But the death of our master has freed us, and we do not know the current state of this Orbital. I need information about this ce, the locations of all Presiders, cities, weapons, and technology. The more that you can provide, the better." Gardo spoke coldly.


    The two groups were startled by what they heard.


    "I am Commander Targent Flick. A Pioneer Commander of the fallen Presider Unx. Imand seventeen hovercraft such as this, and we have a small colony nearby." The Commander spoke.


    "And you?" Gardo asked the small hovercraft.


    "We...e from the first core of the Orbital. We are deserters of the Conqueror that rose and defeated many in the Presider War! The woman in the Basket! Presider Haresha! We fled the core when she dered war on Pioneers to select those fit for service! We have information and technology schematics! But we won''t tell you any of this! Destroy us if you wish! If you want this, then save our friends and family!" A young woman cried out.


    Commander Targent Flick was startled at what he heard. He just saw this lone craft and chased after it seeing the techs. But never would he dream that this was a ship found in the core.


    "We spare the smaller hovercraft." Seeker spoke as he nced around him and everyone was nodding their heads.


    "Fire Fist!" Gardo shouted as his figure disappeared and appeared over one of therger hovercraft.


    His hands burned with fire as they struck down and destroyed the hovercraft.


    Vender also jumped towards the other, and he revealed condensed lightning energy from Lennox. It took the shape of a sword and appeared like a lightsaber.


    ¡¤?¦Èm "My apologies. You are not the droids we are looking for."


    At his sh, the lightning extended, and the entire ship was halved. The electric energy sted out and electrocuted everything inside.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    BOOM! BOOM!


    The two hovercrafts exploded.


    The young woman piloting the small hovercraft and herpanions were shocked at what they saw. The attacks surpassed the technology of most Presiders they have seen.


    "Are these... servants of a Top Tier Presider?" A middle-aged man saw the destruction and could not help but speak out.


    "But I''ve heard of any Presider Whitebeard... Who is he?"


    "He''s probably hiding the identity of the Presider. But if it''s these people, we could save our families on the second level!" The young woman smiled.


    "I believe you misunderstood us." Then, a voice was heard and startled everyone.


    Seeker stood among them as he had teleported around them.


    "We will help you. But it will be on our terms. Lennox. Take control of this hovercraft and disable everything. See if you can get any information from them. If we get it, we can just toss them out here." Seeker spoke.


    Suddenly, the young woman saw all theputers and visuals of the hovercraft distort.


    "I have essed their video feeds. But there are many parts that I can''t make out." The speaker of the hovercraft suddenly spoke with Lennox''s voice.


    The young woman was shocked at what he heard.


    "Wait! We will tell you things that this ship does not know!" The woman cried.


    "Lennox?"


    Suddenly, Lennox V 3.3.0 manifested around the group as lightning gathered and took form.


    "Their right. There''s a lot that this ship doesn''t know." Lennox answered.


    Everyone trembled. This was not a level that mere Pioneers could do.


    "Presider...!"


    "Not exactly. We''re the winners of the Presider war on Earth. If you can tell us good things, we can save you and your friends and promise safe arrival on Earth. You could hide under the sea or the earth for all we care. Do you ept?" Seeker asked.


    When Lennox manifested into his human form, he had already provided Seeker with the data he needed as several electric currents transferred the data to Seeker. He had seen the battles that this small hovercraft faced and the truth of their statements. He knew that all they wanted was to survive and even hide.


    "Presiders of Earth?!" The young woman was shocked.


    "You must have heard of the information. Presider Enderks arrived here andbined his Orbital with yours. Information about us, Lost Presiders, should be familiar to you?" Seeker smiled.


    The young woman saw Seeker and Lennox and could feel a terrifying fear from them. They felt like mere bugs before beings of great might. Yet she remembered the face of her child and how she gave birth to him during the very trying tribtion of the Presider Wars.


    "You should do well to trust us. Pioneer." Lourca spoke and made her apperance.


    Madelyne also appeared and nced at the girl.


    "You two... are Pioneers?"


    "Yes. We know that they''re from Earth and we chose to serve them or assist them." Madelyne smiled.


    "Then If you can save my family and promise to grant us what you promised, then I will tell you everything about this ship!" The young woman answered.


    "...Then we agree. I''m counting on it. Guinevere, absorb this ship." Seeker ordered.


    The Latias appeared before them as Realm energy was opened that sucked the small hovercraft inside it.


    The small hovercraft has seven passengers, and all suddenly appeared on the bridge of the Latias.


    The seven were startled to see so many young and beautiful people.


    "My name is Seeker Carlean. General of the Earth''s Armies. Tell us what you know?" Seeker asked as he sat down on his throne.


    "Thrones...?! You''re all Presiders?!" A young boy asked in shock.


    "Lost Presiders. Generally, we''re weaker than a Presider. But except for two, we killed or defeated all Presiders that invaded Earth. You decided how powerful we are." Lynd answered.


    "...Then I hope you will keep your bargain. My name is Pioneer Commander Ninalet. As I said, we were deserters when Presider Haresha wanted to recruit powerful Pioneers that could be Presider levels. So we fled from the inner core where most of the strongest Presiders resided and ran up here. But ourpanions were captured, and we could only flee with this ship."


    "Who is Presider Haresha? Is she a Top Tier Presider?"


    "She was a low-tier Presider. But... during the war, she became what Presiders would call a Conqueror!"

 Chapter 605 A Presider Of Equal

    ?


    The small hovercraft was being dismantled and reverse-engineered right inside the belly of Latias.


    Up in the head, where the Bridge of the ship was hidden in a dimensional pocket that existed within the head of the Latias.


    The team sought a ce to hide and dug itself down on the ground and used Dug Down Deep to hide within the thick crust.


    Before them were several Pioneers who began to exin what they had seen and experienced during the Presider Wars. The Conqueror that rose to power was an unexpected Low-Tier.


    They saw the videos and watched the desperate escape of the Pioneers to the surface.


    The problem was that many knew of Commander Ninalet, who served at the side of Presider Haresha and began to chase after her.


    The tale of Commander Ninalet gave the team a perspective of how it is to live in a society of Presiders. Ninalet was one of the seven most trusted Pioneer that served Presider Haresha. Haresha was forcibly tossed into the crucible of the trip, hoping that she would die. However, the family that Haresha served did not want her to be the person who would inherit the best techs of their family and nned to focus everything on one Presider.


    But thews were set, and she was entitled to one, and their family could not kill their own. And so, the n to send her on to the ship destined to go through a Presider War was set.


    "When the revtion was revealed that a Presider War was set, no one was there to make an alliance with Presider Haresha. She had a simple tech of Low Tier value. Her eyes could peer through the dimensions."


    "Basic Presider''s Sight? That tech?!" Madelyn was surprised at the chosen tech.


    "That sounds powerful. Why is it weak?" Lennox V 3.3.0 asked.


    "Not everyone is as smart as your folks. That tech is practically useless. Many sought that tech ages long ago. But out of all of them, none ever rose to prominence. A Presider''s choice is theirs to make. And I could imagine her Presider family''s reaction when she picked that tech. Everyone hoped to create and use this tech to develop something and create powerful weapons. But it''s not. No one can make devices or techs simply by seeing them. The eyes are yours, and no machine can interpret or see what you are seeing. In the end, Presiders and those like me who are close to bing one consider that useless." Madelyne exined.


    "Useless?" Rai chuckled.


    "Ah... So being a Conqueror is simr to being an Oveer." Seeker nodded.


    "Exactly. The perspective of those who can''t conquer or ovee is quite shallow." Lennox V 3.3.0 added.


    "That eye would be a cool thing. If I had it, I wouldn''t be so afraid fighting Presiders." Cliff thought.


    "With that power... I could trick people into marching into their deaths!" Lowengrenughed.


    "...?" The Pioneers were all confused as the group discussed.


    "Why?" Ninalet finally asked.


    "You guys think of using that to create techs, right? But... if she''s anything like me..." Meryl chuckled.


    "She took that weapon and realized she could use her sight to survive Mid to Top Tiers attacks. They all employ techs that diverge and alter the three dimensions."


    "But that''s useless! How could you survive even fighting a fellow Low Tier?" Madeylne asked.


    "And that''s where you differ from Conquerors. You see, a Conqueror won''t aim for a Low Tier. That''s pathetic. I''d go for a Top Tier." Seeker boasted.


    "I''d probably do a Mid Tier." Cliff sighed.


    "You''d die!"


    "No. We won''t. Ninalet, did your master ever shy away from a battle between Mid-Tiers and Top-Tiers?"


    "...No. It is as you said. She avoided Low Tiers but would dive into the shocking battles that tore the directions between Mid Tiers and Top Tiers!" Ninalet exined.


    "Most who took this tech failed to see the use of this tech. It isn''t tech. It''s a skill. A battle skill." Seeker exined.


    "...And that''s what she did. Wow. You guys really are conquerors!"


    "Oveers. We share Thrones." Seeker chuckled as he pointed at each other.


    Madelyne was amazed. She could not help but think back to Pridgeon. He took the Devourer Suit because he wanted to take the opportunity and managed to acquire the powers of a Top Tier!


    Lourca observed Madelyne from the back in secret and could not help but recall the days when the Lost Primordial was still alive.


    "Will you remained allied to Pridgeon after this? Or will the hope of sharing thrones draw you to this side?" Lourca wondered.


    "But you Pioneers shouldn''t get all excited. Ninalet. Had it been you, would you have survived the path your former Presider took?


    "No. I would have died long ago."


    "Right. People like us who Ovee have the skill, the will, and the ability to aplish these miracles. If I were a Presider, I wouldn''t develop a tech. Instead, I''d perfect a weapon or skill to fight. I just need to master it. And if that has happened, then I would go into the heat of the battle and find a way to steal from everyone else. Which is stronger, a gun or a sword? The answer is the stronger wielder. It doesn''t matter if it''s a gun or a sword. It can kill."


    "But to reach Top Tier means she also has the same power as Pridgeon." Lennox V 3.3.0 guessed.


    "Yes. A devourer suit. Did she acquire techs at the defeat of a Mid Tier?" Seeker asked.


    "No. She''s still weaker. She will y it lowkey. It isn''t that she''s a coward or weak. She''s just cautious. She would use her eyes to steal or take whatever she can and run away." Harker guessed.


    "That''s exactly what she did. She was known as the vulture for a time."


    "And then, she challenged a Top Tier. Could it be a member of the Pig Five?" Lynd guessed.


    Ninalet was quiet.


    "Were you guys here? How do you know? You can tell the rest of the story from here!" Ninaletined.


    "Well, this is bad..." Cliff frowned.


    "Why?" Vender asked Cliff.


    "Idiot. The reason why Seeker and the rest could guess her actions is because that''s what they would do! Don''t you see? Right now, we are fighting against a Presider who is basically an Oveer!" Gardo exined.


    "Right. We are facing a Presider of equal to us Oveers. That will, confidence, and the skill to back it up. This is probably why she didn''t reveal us to the rest of the Presiders yet."


    "She knows we''re here?!" Meryl was startled.


    "Meryl, think about it. Her basic tech is to see the dimensions! She probably knew when we arrived here. But she didn''t do anything. If she alerted everyone, we would flee. But now, she''s hunting us like prey." Lowengren exined.


    "Oh, that makes sense. This means she saw us enter the ship... What a confident woman."


    Ninalet''s expression changed.


    "Then... this means she''s going to attack you?!"


    "Definitely. But she can''t be too eye-catching. If she''s like us, she won''t use her status as the strongest Presider to make huge and obvious moves. It could be done discreetly. I''m guessing many of her Pioneers, the ones that reced you, Ninalet, would attack us.


    "Well, she can try." Gardo chuckled.


    "You don''t understand! She now has thergest army of millions of Pioneers!"


    "...Yeah. But we have Lowengren." Harker shrugged.


    "Oh, thanks, Harker?"


    "Seriously? I''m here, or Lennox or Rai, and you go for Lowengren?" Seeker frowned.


    "He''s already mastered using his lies in a battle between armies. Your squadron did its best to infiltrate and enter the circle of defenses of Lowengren. So many others aimed to bring down Lowengren, but with some shy lights, the battle halted."


    "Why?"


    "...We all thought that Jesus had arrived," Harker admitted.


    Everyone familiar with Lowengren had their mouth wide open.


    Seeker recalled how he could not attack Eagle through the truth. To think that Lowengren would literally present himself as a false Christ to deceive many.


    "Well, anyways... What''s the y here?" Cliff asked.


    "Well, we pretend to be unaware for now. Despite her ability to see through dimensions, it''s not an omnisight that allows her to see everything. Lowengren. Let''s see your power. We have to make thisnd more chaotic. You conquer a few Pioneer bases and try to gather information about the other Presiders. Me, Jake, Rai, and Irvana will head over to that base and rescue Ninalet''s allies. And maybe after that, we could try fighting a Presider."


    "Which one? We haven''t even learned about the other Presiders?"


    "Any will do. Harker, Lowengren... How long would it take for you to recruit an army to fight for us?"


    "Hmm... Two days? Oh right... we''re in space... I guess two 24-hour cycles."


    "Two days?!" Madelyne and Ninalet couldn''t believe what they were hearing.


    "Two days? But it has to be an army capable of buying time for us to fight a Presider."


    "Then probably five 24-hour cycles." Lowengren estimated.


    "I''d need Gardo and Vender for that."


    "Please take him." Guinevere''s pleading voice was heard echoing throughout the ship.


    "Then it''s settled. Let''s go. Ninalet, your hovercraft should now be finished with repairs, and a few of our techs are in it. Let''s go get your family!"

 Chapter 606 The Struggles Of Pioneers

    ?


    The hovercraft moved with great speed as it moved across thend. On the outeryers, Seeker better understood the power struggles between Presiders and the effect on Pioneers and nteds.


    In the ship was a team that could infiltrate a fortress.


    Seeker had the Passover. Jake was the one who could move through objects. Rai, the one who could travel in and out of the Void Realm and had the powers that could now alter the Void Realm, and Irvana, the Thief in the Night.


    They apanied Ninalet on their rescue mission.


    There was much more to learn about the world of the Pioneers. Seeker had now seen the raw situation beyond the paradise of Pioneers on Earth.


    Seeker could now imagine what Pioneers and nteds would live through in ces like Aragar, where they would be like bugs and rats that would scour from one source of food to another.


    "In the upper levels, some groups had Pioneers and nteds see each other as equals due to theck of society. So we went up here hoping to find Pioneers who had lost everything on the lower levels and fled here just like us." Ninalet exined.


    "So this is the ce to be if you''re on the run from Presiders? I guess living the ol'' Mad Max life and catching runaway cars is a cool way to live out a post-apocalyptic war." Seeker chuckled.


    The rest was giving Seeker a strange look.


    "...Was that... Vender?" Rai asked.


    "...A-anyway! Ninalet! Why up here?"


    "The upper level is the ce where the weakest of Presiders stay."


    "Weakest in terms of what? Technology? Or military power?"


    "Military power and resources. These are the ones who lost so much that they only have their Throne and a few ships to spare."


    "So they are out here recruiting?"


    "Yes. That''s what we think they are doing... But... It''s weird. They could have conquered cities and still won''t do it." Ninalet wondered.


    "It''s simple. If they try to take or attack a city, they would need to expend Universe Energy." Rai answered.


    "There''s also the problem of having another Presider waiting," Irvana added.


    "Yes. That''s probably it. They are in a state where they have to be careful with what they spend. They are building up gears using the resources that are being created in thisnd. But at this stage, everyone is waiting for the rest to move. Your Presider, the Conqueror, has trouble having everyone else target her. Marrho, Renkerdis, who was Enderks, the surviving members of the Devourer Five... These people are watching your Presider like a hungry hawk. Those weaker than this group are building up all the resources and watching the weaker groups. No wonder Principal Dormin got bored of this ce. And this should be why Haresha allowed us to move in here without sounding the rms. She knew we would disrupt this bnce and force more to fight and kill. This would make the hunt happen once more."


    "So you mean to say that even the stronger Presiders can''t attack the weaker ones, even those here, because they would then be attacked? If Presider Haresha moves out here to im cities, she will face them all?" One of the Pioneers serving Ninalet asked.


    "Yes. That''s exactly it. If what you say is true and Pioneers are also improving and growing, then the Presiders are waiting for these Pioneers to grow. They left this ce in a state of chaos and death to make powerful members or groups surface. But it does beg the question of why you Pioneers won''t just offer yourselves to a Presider."


    "The battle among Presiders and the deaths of numerous Presiders left a huge problem in bncing what they gained and the upkeep of epting new Pioneers. As a result, many Presiders refused to ept any more Pioneers." Ninalet exined.


    "Ah, of course. So just like you, most Presiders want the best. It seems that a real Presider War is not just a chance for Presiders to grow, it forces the Pioneers and nteds to fight for their lives and be a conqueror..." Seeker thought.


    "Yes. I saw Pioneers develop amazing techs. Killing, stealing, and gaining inspiration over these past months. It made room for many new technologies to rise as the mystery that we Aragarians call the ''Fight of Life''." Ninalet recalled.


    "We had a few innovations. We took one technological principle and found a way to make Cold Fusion run this ship. Tech innovations urred as the desperate Presiders were forced to alter and push even the Pioneers serving under them to extremes." The assistant Pioneer of Ninalet exined.


    "So some Pioneers grew to a point where they could even challenge Presiders and wound them, huh?" Irvana chuckled.


    "War sure brings out the best of everyone..."


    "But it was a terrifying battle where everyone was forced to survive. We had to... make hical choices. I guess... this is why we fled. We... could not be Conquerors who would toss away friends... I never expected Presider Haresha to just... throw me away like that..."


    "Then work for us. If you can''t be a Conqueror, be an oveer. Who knows? You might just get a throne of your own!"


    "That''s... possible?!" Ninalet was surprised.


    "Yes. But, right now, we would need to kill a Presider. So the Nefilus suit bes a vital necessity to build this." Seeker exined.


    "...Save our family first. Your group seems to be more sensible. I don''t understand why most of us disagree with this. Despite this very brutal world, the Pioneers won''t unite and gather. They would rather fight and kill another Pioneer rather than team up."


    "It''s not their fault. That is the power of the Primordial."


    "What?"


    "We''ve learned of it on Earth as we defeated those Presiders. A strange power forces some of you to be like this. The Primordial''s goal is to make everyone fight and war against each other. To do that, he destined many to be Conquerors and many to be conquered. You belong to the conquered group. But let''s change that fate." Seeker smiled as he saw therge hole in the ground, and it was as if there was arge tunnel headed down.


    The hovercraft flew down and used its maic capabilities to keep itself ''floating'' over the metals that made the walls of this tunnel.


    "I''m detecting several ships outside. It might be the scouts of the nearby fortress which has my family."


    "Engage in battle. Slip away from the chaos while I distract them."


    "You''re fighting?" Irvana asked.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll be ying around instead of actually fighting. Since the tech Ninalet has is Cold Fusion, then I guess I have to use a little bit of this coldness. I''m moving ahead." Seeker smiled as he moved forward and somehow slipped through the ship.


    As he appeared out of the ship, a Four Force elerator formed from his blood, and he burst forward, harnessing a great frost that turned into a sword.


    A nearby hovercraft saw Seeker approach.


    SLASH!


    The sword did not cut but caused the hovercraft to be sent flying backward as the ice began to spread inside the ship.


    "It''s Ninalet! She has a new tech! Headquarters! Ninalet is attacking as expected!" The Pioneer piloting another ship quickly retreated as he saw the ship lose the capability to cling to the walls and plummet down.


    Many ships retreating downwards entered the many tunnels that spread around numerous stories.


    "So this tunnel down is connected to several stories... Looks like the underground world is quite huge. Just how many people are on this ship?" Seeker wondered.


    Ninalet and her ship kept moving while many ships emerged from many tunnels.


    "It''s such a chore pretending to be weak..." Seeker sighed as he flew forward to fight the many enemies.


    The reports and news of the battle began to spread.


    Within the nearby underground city, hidden deep within the many massive spaces and gaps inside the deep hole, were three damaged thrones on the verge of being repaired.


    And beyond them was a Throne, and one seated on it, was an anomaly even among Presiders.


    "That power...! That''s not something Pioneers could do!" The woman cried.


    "Prepare for war! Something unusual approaches! It could be something like me! I want them in the Dome of Secrets! Lead them here as we practiced! That thing is definitely a Presider!" The woman roared.


    Though her main body had died, she had a technology that allowed her to create another being born of her flesh and had a Nefilus Suit of a Presider. She was an exact clone of Presider Cecilia of the Devourer Five!

 Chapter 607 Too Smooth

    Chapter 607 Too Smooth


    The small hovercraft moved out with great speed as Seeker became the distraction that drew many of the forces toward them.


    Seeker fought at the center and used his powers of flight and the ice sword to demolish the enemies'' attacks.


    Gunfire andsers were rained down on Seeker from all directions, but Seeker could simply pass through the nket of attacks and slip into close range and destroy the approaching hovercrafts.


    Numerousrge Exoskeletons appeared, and Seeker immediately identified them as an improved version of the Dawn soldiers of Australia. But some of these exoskeletons revealed powerful heat and lightning energy and began to shoot down on Seeker.


    Seeker began to evade the attack and watched in curiosity at the weaponry of the Pioneers.


    "Either this is one outstanding Pioneer, or a Presider is hiding among these people... It looks like this rescue mission is not as simple as it seems..." Seeker observed. His Zone told him that he should make it that he was losing.


    Seeker dove in and shed at the bulky ming Exoskeleton.


    SLASH!


    But Seeker released the power of the ice sword, and it broke. Instantly, he retreated and created ice shields that blocked the iing attack.


    "Whichever Presider hides here! Let go of my allies! Or else!" Seeker shouted as he retreated back.


    Cecilia was startled at Seeker''s words.


    "So they are Pioneers of Presider Haresha... But do they have any secrets regarding that technology?" Cecilia couldn''t help but wonder as Seeker sped off with a great speed that the rest couldn''t keep up.


    "Send out the Scavengers! Find that man!" Cecilia demanded.


    From the base deep inside the tunnels, numerous jets that could carry only a single person sped out and moved.


    It was so fast that it instantly reached mach one and flew into the tunnel where Seeker retreated.


    But as they flew towards the tunnel, numerous ships suddenly skidded off and crashed on the tunnel''s walls, exploding into the walls.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Cecilia cursed as she saw the sudden explosions. There were no fluctuations or any discernable causes for the sudden change in the ship''s directions.


    The other ships began to panic as they flew and tried to regain the chaos of their formation. But many more began to crash and slide toward the other ships.


    "Stop! Retreat! There is an invisible obstacle appearing!" Cecilia cursed.


    "Report. Whose techs are simr to that?!"


    "...Searching for telekic sources. We can link this two to the fallen Presider Terxar... But he was devoured by..."


    "...My ex-husband." Cecilia''s expression darkened.


    "I want all our forces out to guard the entrance. Set detectors to scan for cold fusion technology. And I want all the Gigas and Gargantuants guarding our walls! Bring out all our forces!" Cecilia ordered.


    The forces began to retreat. The Scavengers dove and searched the wreckage of the crashed ships and searched for survivors.


    Arge wing was removed, and under it, a wounded and bloodied man wearing a shattered mask with a grotesque face was seen.


    "He''s still alive! Get him back to the hospital wing!" Themander of the Scavenger Squadron ordered, and arge ship appeared using teleportation and began to take the fallen pilot while the rest stood guard.


    Soon, the ships retreated.


    Seeker sighed at how easy it was to infiltrate the enemy. Finally, his zone had led him to the right ce. He was the wounded pilot who took advantage of the chaos and allowed the ship to crash on his body. He burned the pilot''s body and used the cells in his body to replicate the suit. With his knowledge, and his foundational ability to use Lynd''s powers that can copy tech and the nanotech blood cells that could transform into his weapons onmand, he could easily copy the suit to thest detail.


    As he was being brought inside, the hovercraft of the group had already infiltrated the fortress thanks to Irvana, Jake, and Rai''s powers.


    It used stealth, slipping through walls, and warp leaps that allowed the group to hide deep inside an empty garage.


    "Did you see it? On thatst jump through the Void Realm." Rai asked as they shut down the ship they drove.


    "Yes. Universe Energy is being gathered here. A Presider is here!" Irvana frowned.


    "A Presider?!" Ninalet was shocked.


    "It looked like...a Top Tier. I remember Lanterk''s ship to have that when I dove down into his core on ourst battle." Jake spoke.


    "Then it must be that. A Top Tier that was defeated and hid here..."


    "Then we have to get my friends and get out of here!" Ninalet eximed.


    "Ha! Right! Seeker Carlean will flee when there is a foe to devour. And I''m sure Rai here wants to have fun. You''re with two Oveers here. There can only be war." Jake shook his head.


    "With thoughts like that, you can never be an Oveer, Jake. You should wee adversities like this."


    "Arthur has led me around into believing that Kristine likes me but is being cuckolded by eight men! Lowengren even toyed around at one point and made me think Kristine slept with over thirty men in one night! And all of that was a lie! If I don''t be an Oveer on sheer hatred to murder Lowengren and Arthur, then nothing will!" Jake exploded in anger and surprised the two.


    "Calm down. You should be happy that all of them were not true." Seeker suddenly appeared and stood before them.


    "You''re here already? That was fast, even for you." Raiughed.


    "This Presider lost their Zone. It''s as if our enemy cannot make any right decisions. Either that or my Zone grew stronger. I''m sure you noticed it. Universe Energy is in here. This is a rare chance to fight and im the Presider''s powers here. It could even be one of the Pig Five! My Zone is even telling me that it''s one of them!" Seeker smiled.


    "How are we going to fight them? Isn''t it dangerous to fight them head-on? Won''t the other Presiders attack?"


    "It is dangerous. But it''s a good thing we have a team of assassins. We can kill the Presider without alerting the rest. If this enemy can''t even counter Zone... then we are already victorious." Irvana answered.


    Rai also nodded.


    "That''s true."


    But Jake had a strange expression.


    "...I don''t know. It feels... too smooth. Whenever this happens, I feel like something will happen." Jake frowned.


    "You mean like Kristine will get rapped again? You''ve be too suspicious, Jake!" Irvanaughed.


    "Actually..." Seeker, however, had a bizarre look.


    "He''s right!"


    "What?"


    "Our arrival and how we have been seeding. It''s too smooth! It''s supposed to be dangerous! Our enemy knows we are here! Yet my Zone is telling me that we can easily win this! Something is wrong!"


    At that moment, Rai also had a strange expression.


    "He''s right! Why haven''t we noticed it? We have to assume that Presider Haresha is observing us! And even Principal Dormin is here. Yet our zones... It''s leading us to the right ces. It''s like a series of coincidences!" Rai eximed.


    "What are you guys talking about?" Irvana asked.


    "Who is our real enemy here? Is it Haresha?"


    "...No. It''s Principal Dormin."


    something crazy and idiotic. If he doesn''t, then we have no hope of surviving this ce." Seeker frowned.


    "Right. Imagine his zone. Imagine his power that could easily be two times stronger than Garenjazz''s! He could easily orchestrate all the battles happening here! Everything happening could be acting out what he has nned or already knows!"


    "Even our attempts to assassinate the enemy?"


    "Right. Do we follow this n or not?"


    "...I knew it felt weird. Ever since we arrived, I felt like I was walking into another trap of Arthur."


    "Arthur said he wanted to create a World Champion. He could have been preparing you for something like this. Who knows? Maybe your path is slowly moving in the direction of a Zone! Trust these strange, fearful feelings, Jake. This could be our rm that we are headed to a trap." Seeker added.


    "...Well, I''m d my pain can save the world. But what do we do now? Right now, I have a feeling that I am going into a trap and that Kristine will be toyed around by random men." Jake answered.


    "...You may think about changing your analogies. But since we are assuming that our enemy here is more powerful and more knowledgeable than Garenjazz... Then we have to wait. That''s why we brought Vender here. Only he could change the flow of things here."


    "Then we have to tell Lowengren! I''m sure Vender doesn''t know about this!"


    "Don''t worry. Vender doesn''t need to know. If we are all moving ording to the n of Principal Dormin... then it''s only a matter of time before that Vender will do something crazy and idiotic. If he doesn''t, then we have no hope of surviving this ce." Seeker frowned.


    "So we can''t do the assassination just yet. Then should we rescue Ninalet''s allies?"


    "... I guess we should try. Jake. Trust your paranoia. If it''s telling you things could get bad, believe it. Rai. Irvana. We can''t trust our zone. Find a way to hack into the systems of this ship. We need information on Lowengren''s team. If they did something crazy, then maybe only then can we act!" Seeker ordered.

 Chapter 608 Waltzing in an Enemy Fortress

    Chapter 608 Waltzing in an Enemy Fortress


    In the massive barren wastnds of the topyer of the massive Orbital were several low-tech cars moving through the ground and kicking dust up the air.


    A strange, beat-up car drove madly and, moving with great haste and approached a city that had built its massive fortress on the mountain range. It was arge settlement that had built itself on the highest peak and attempted to use its height to observe the nearby regions.


    The Pioneers had established this city as part of the orders of another Presider.


    Some of the cities that remained had support from Presiders and created fortresses to mine and gather materials from the mountains that were naturally creating metals and other important resources.


    The Pioneer watching the scanners had already alerted his supervisors of theing vehicles that were outdated and old.


    "From what old garage did these guys find their vehicle? Those things areughably weak!" The Pioneerughed.


    "We''ve scanned the vehicle. It barely has any function to fight back. What do we do, Commander?"


    "They are moving here out of desperation. It''s amazing how they managed to reach here without being attacked. But this also means... that they are being chased. Don''t shoot and allow them to reach our gates. Capture them and detain them." The Pioneer Commander answered.


    Inside the car, Harker, Vender, and Gardo were amazed that the ship didn''t shoot at them.


    "You''re right! I thought you were lying! You really could do that!" Harker was amazed.


    "Ranged, unspoken deception! Your thoughts affect reality, and without saying anything, you can already lie?!" Gardo was very impressed.


    "How does this work? Try to make me think you''re a chicken." Vender frowned.


    "It doesn''t work that way. The powers of lies have to have their foundations. In this example, I chose a vehicle with wheels and some Mad Max-inspired design. This was the lie. Of course, like any lie I make, it''s a gamble. There risk a chance of being found out."


    "And you were confident you''re bet would win?"


    "Yes. I could tell that there was an incredibly high chance that they would believe my lie!" Lowengren chuckled.


    "Since when did you have this? You didn''t use it in our mock battle!"


    "Actually, I did. I awakened it in our interster battles. You guys didn''t notice because it cannot affect you. But those weaker soldiers were manipted. You are too strong with your zone so that this lie won''t affect you. But the rest believed that my movements would be different."


    "So that''s why they fell out of the ranks!" Gardo realized it.


    "So what''s the lie that you made them believe?" Vender asked.


    "That we are fleeing from an enemy and are desperately looking for a ce to hide. They will capture us because they think that we would bring unnecessary trouble to our fort."


    "So we let them capture us?"


    "Of course not! Don''t you see the power of unspoken lies? It was their fault to have assumed this. And because of that, we can make another lie." Lowengren chuckled.


    The car approached the massive gates that were the main entrance into the mountains. The gates were over a hundred meters tall and spanned a long way over the mountain. This thick gate had many weapons ready to shoot and kill.


    Although everyone inside the car was confident that they could somehow escape the rain of attacks this wall could make, it would take significant effort and a battle to get themselves inside.


    But now, this gate slowly opened.


    Several armed exoskeletons and numerous massive towering robots appeared.


    And a gigantic orb appeared floating over them.


    "A Compact ss Gargantuant..." Gardo frowned.


    "Prepare to make an entry. We won''t be presenting ourselves as weak but as someone very strong!"


    The car slowly drove in as the armies continued to take aim at the ship.


    But suddenly, numerous parts of the car were damaged and suddenly began to explode.


    The car tried to move forward, but for every meter, it advanced, more parts would be destroyed, and a strange thick mist filled the nearby area.


    "Whoever is inside that car, get out!" The soldier spoke.


    "Get... out? You treat a Presider''s ambassador like that?" Lowengren''s voice echoed out of the speakers.


    "What?!" The soldiers nearby were surprised.


    "A Presiders Ambassador?! Identify yourself!" An Exoskeleton demanded.


    "Are you... all idiots? Aren''t you the members of Presider Stevos?! Were you not informed of our arrival?!"


    At that moment, many Exoskeletons nearby began to tremble and fall down.


    The pilots of the nearby tanks and ships were also affected.


    "Ahhh!"


    "Noo!"


    Screams were heard around them, and everyone was confused.


    With the developments in Realm and the power tobine Paths, the Unlocked army had developed a mist that would allow the Reaper''s Breath to seep into the gears and ships.


    The Reaper''s Breath was a powerful tool that could cause soldiers to fall into fear as they would feel the killing intent. The Mist was a creation that allowed this power to finally be useful as most Pioneers would never face it in the face of battle due to their protective suits that prevented the pheromones of fear from invading their suits.


    Lowengren deployed the mist, and no one was rmed at the bangs and the mist that appeared as they all thought it was simply the destruction of the worn-out war rig.


    The Pioneer Commander, who was the leader of the mountain, saw the screens and was shocked.


    "If you shoot us, you wage war with Presider Renkerdis!" Lowengren''s voice was heard.


    Suddenly, the roof of the war rig blew off.


    Freakin'' fog surged out as a domineering figure appeared out of the thick smoke.


    He had arge cigar in his mouth. Though the Pioneers didn''t know what it was, it added to his cool appearance.


    His beard was perfect. His eyes were sharp. His body had numerous cuts and wounds.


    "Who... is he?" The pioneermander asked.


    A woman nearby trembled as she saw his form.


    "I don''t know... But I feel that that is the most eye-popping eyebrow-raising, breath-taking, heart-stopping, spine-chilling, most amazing figure I''ve ever seen in my life.


    Harker took a deep breath as the cigar was quickly being burnt up.


    He blew a thick mist of smoke that took the form of a dragon.


    "My name is Harker Cipril, the General of the Heroes Army." Harker introduced.


    The grand, cool appearance of Harker caused everyone to pause, and no one could shoot. Harker was just too cool to shoot down, and the fear that they were who they imed they were struck everyone''s heart.


    BANG!


    A loud bang was heard, and the door was blown away.


    A man with burning arms of fire walked out. Unlike Harker, he had clothes. And while his body was burning up, the rest of his clothes remained unburnt.


    "The name''s Fire Fist Gardo! And I will make Presider Renkerdis, the Presider King!" Gardo dered loudly as he gave a challenging look at every one.


    "Lower your weapons. You will lose this battle if you want to fight." Harker red.


    "He''s right. If you want to fight, you will all lose." Lowengren finally emerged from the thick smoke and moved out of the door that Gardo punched.


    He had a dark uniform at first, but with a sh of his Realm, the Exoskeleton armor formed out of nothing and covered him.


    Lightning energy, ice, destion, and the winds churned around him.


    Harker and Gardo kept their expressions but were inwardly surprised. They could feel it through Realm.


    Lowengren used some of the harnessed weapons of the Oveer''s path, but these powers were deceived into thinking that the ones wielding them were the original owners of these powers!


    "With his powers to lie... this makes Lowengren..." Harker was shocked.


    "...A World Champion!" Gardo was also thinking the same thing that Harker thought.


    "...Who are you, honored visitors?" The Pioneer Commander could not risk offending the men that revealed such shocking powers.


    Lowengren nced at everyone around and gave the introduction that he had wanted to give for the longest time but couldn''t since he couldn''t risk the Pioneers and nted of the earth to know the reference.


    "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Heroes Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Presider Renkerdis! Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next!"


    "Ca-Calm down, honored General! We have not in your family! We are not members of any Presiders but are a neutral group! We have dealings with both Presider Stevos and Unverrook, but we remain neutral to the war!"


    Lowengren''s visor opened and revealed his frowning face.


    "Neutral? Supreme General! What do we do?" Lowengren asked. He knew that Vender would make an entric and strange entrance that would ruin the momentum of what he, Harker, and Gardo built. But, if he announced that Vender was their leader, it would make everyone respect Vender, regardless of what entric and strange things he said!


    Harker and Gardo realized it and were greatly relieved.


    "That fixes things..." Harker thought.


    "Vender can''t ruin that, can he?" Gardo thought.


    To Lowengren, this was a battle as he wanted to overpower Vender''s power and use him as a training ground.


    "Beat that, Vender." Lowengren thought.


    A figure could be seen moving out of the thick mist.


    And finally, Vender''s figure appeared.


    "Rrrruuuuurrrr!"


    Vender appeared wearing what apparently was a Chewba costume.

 Chapter 609 The Broadcast

    Chapter 609 The Broadcast


    Lowengren froze when he saw the Chewba attire of Vender.


    It took precise skill for one Unlocked to use the nanometers in their body to create an Exoskeleton armor, and it was even more difficult to create things outside the ''saved'' codes that each would have.


    And yet, somehow, Vender revealed an amazing genius that utilized face-changing capabilities to force his hair to grow and be a beast.


    "Rrrruuuuurrrr!" Vender spoke again as if he was gargling and confused the rest of the rest.


    Harker and Gardo were also so bewildered and amazed at how Vender would still be able to ruin Lowengren''s ns.


    "Who is that?" One of the Pioneers close by couldn''t help but ask.


    "What creature is that? Is that human?" Another spoke.


    "Is that... the Supreme General?" Another cautiously asks.


    Lowengren felt his stomach churn as he had no choice but to continue his lie.


    "...That is the name of our pet." Lowengren gritted his teeth as he spoke.


    "Yeah. It''s sort of an inside joke. We use it to break the ice. We show our powers and bring out good ol'' Supreme General forughs. You thought he was the Supreme General, right?" Gardo chuckled.


    "Ri-right. Why would anyone name a Pioneer a Supreme General rank when this rank is worthy for Presiders?" Harker truthfully asks.


    "Going back to our... original discussion. We just wanted to cut the tension with a joke." Lowengren spoke as the Paths began to explode and surge once more.


    Gardo released powerful fire energy, and Harker suddenly wore his attire.


    The three werepensating for Vender''s strange appearance that somehow destroyed their momentum. They had to make an appearance that was cool to ensure that the pioneers were listening.


    But Vender was immersed in his own world and couldn''t hear. The hair had grown all over his body and even covered his ears. So he didn''t hear what the team said and thought their intimidation was an attack.


    "...? Why are we attacking? Oh well." Vender sighed.


    He took his weapon, the Bowcaster, and shot at the biggest ship present. He shot at the Compact ss Gargantuant with precise aim.


    The single shot took aim at one of the many cannons that were ready to fire.


    The missile silo had been opened, and when Vender shot, the system automatically caused the Gargantuant to shoot out its rockets. The rocket door opened as Vender''s weapon struck the rocket.


    BOOM!


    A chain reaction of destruction followed as system malfunctions urred, leading to a massive hole from the Gargantuant.


    Lowengren, Harker, and Gardo all had ugly, horrified, and extremely enraged expressions as they turned to Vender.


    "Hey! Did you see that?! Whew! Critical hit! That was like Luke shooting the-"


    POW!


    Harker flew with great speed andnded an axe kick on Vender''s face sending him flying back into the car he came out of.


    "You idiot!"


    Seeing as the Gargantuant was attacked, the rest began to fight back.


    Gardo used his extreme speed and began to punch at the robots. His hand began to extend, and he made wild attacks that always created explosions.


    Harker had used his massive Srium Cannon and began to shoot beams as he flew up.


    He used the same attack that Lander would often use.


    In the space skirmish, Lander, the Hero of Helion''s Tragedy, could perform a spinning dive that allowed him to evade bullets head-on.


    But Harker and the group were able to perfect it, incorporating Lennox''s lightning and Arthur''s prediction, which allowed Harker to dive into the heat of the attacks.


    The attacks of the Pioneers were like the rain, but Harker managed to dive through it and even used his beams to clear paths.


    Lowengren''s Exoskeleton form appeared, and lightning bolts began to shoot out at the Exoskeletons and began to be hacked and started shooting at their allies.


    Lowengren switched hism to broadcast and began to give orders to everyone.


    "Harker, clear the path and raid the city! Gardo! Take care of that Gargantuant! All pioneers! Hear me! Surrender now, and we will spare you!"


    "You can go to hell! You tricked us and attacked us!" The enraged Pioneer Commander roared back.


    Lowengren wanted to strangle Vender as he knew his lies couldn''t make them return to a peaceful state.


    "Then face our wrath! Presider! We are inside and will destroy the shields! Prepare to activate the Mountain Eradicator Beam!" Lowengren shouted.


    "What?!" The Pioneer Commander panicked as he heard it.


    "Deploy all shields! Protect all powernts! And I want you to broadcast a signal to everyone! Pioneer Renkerdis is attacking us!"


    Vender got up as the surprise kick sent him flying into the ship, bleeding out of his mouth.


    As he stood up, he saw an Exoskeleton charge inside and shot him.


    Vender raised his arm, and a sound shield that based its technology on Richie''s voice was created. It wasn''t as strong, but against weak attacks from a Pioneer Exoskeleton; it could easily block it.


    "Commander! I''m going in! We could gather important data in that car!" The Pioneer dered and bravely charged at Vender.


    The Pioneer shouted and kept shooting as he readied a powerfulser sword.


    But Vender was too fast. Vender was already a Surmounting Inhuman despite his entricity and quickly ran forward and used the Pioneers sword against itself.


    STAB!


    The Pioneer died and copsed inside the car.


    Vender cursed and ran back to the pilot seat as the attacks reached him. His first attack and the movements of Harker, Gardo, and Lowengren preserved the ship for a time.


    Vender piloted the car, and it began to transform and fly away.


    BEEP! BEEP!


    Vender saw the iing message.


    "LENNOX! I''M A BIT BUSY HERE!" The irritated Vender shouted.


    "What the fragment did you do?! You were supposed to go there and convince them to join you! So why are you all fighting?!" Lennox asked.


    Vender couldn''t hear what Lennox was saying because of his hairy ears and cranked up the volume to max.


    Unknown to him, the Pioneer that died still had hism functioning and was rying the conversation to the Pioneermander.


    "What did you say?!"


    "Why are you deaf?!" Lennox shouted back.


    "I can''t hear well because of my hairy ears!"


    Lennox V 3.3.0 was practically human now. It surpassed mere coding or AI form and was like a mini clone of Lennox. Yet even with all the worlds wisdom essible by this being that was AI and man, he could notprehend what Vender was trying to say.


    "What the fragment is even that?! How am I supposed to respond to that?! I am not equipped to deal with your entricity Vender!"


    "I''m Chewba now."


    "What?"


    "Chewba! Are you deaf? You know, from Star Wars! Geez, you have lived all your life on Earth, and you can''t even watch science fiction! You best be watching science fiction shows, Lennox! You''re in one!"


    "What is going on there?! Why are you fighting?" Lennox asked again.


    "I don''t know! Lowengren and the rest just started attacking without reason. I couldn''t hear them because I have hairs in my ear, and Harker kicked me in the face!"


    "Whatever this is, this is your fault, Vender!"


    "Like hell it is! I didn''t do anything but attack! Who knows?! It might be Principal Dormin or Presider Haresha who knew about using and allowed us to get on thisrge ship! Maybe they nned to trap us all along!" Vender shouted.


    At that moment, the Pioneers listening to this conversation had shocked expressions.


    "Commander... What do we do?!" A Pioneer asked.


    "Create an open broadcast! This is amazing news! Send out a recording of to all Presiders in this forsaken Orbital! Include the information about them being on Earth and how Principal Dormin and Presider Haresha allowed them into this ship! They''re still talking, so record the rest. Tell the Presiders that we are selling this information and videos of our fight to the highest bidder! And initiate a retreat! Have the soldiers on that section stay and fight! But sound the retreat to other sectors!" The Pioneer came to his swift decision.


    Vender and Lennox continued their shouting match.


    "Get me, Lowengren!" Lennox shouted again.


    "Fine! I''m going to be busy fighting anyway!" Vender shouted back and opened a line with Lowengren.


    "Loewngren!"


    "Lennox! Big trouble! That idiot Vender just randomly attacked! And to make matters worse, his attacknded a critical hit, greatly damaging the Gargantuant! We are now fighting the army inside the fortress!" Lowngren shouted.


    "I knew it was you, Vender!" Lennox shouted back.


    "Me?! Lowengren activated his powers, and so did Gardo and Harker! They were about to fight! Why are you lying, Lowengren?!"


    "What?! Didn''t you hear us talk? We were intimidating them! We made domineering entrances to scare the group to let us in until you came out with your Chewba attire!"


    As the three bickered, the broadcast had been sent to all Presiders.


    On another fortress, Seeker''s mouth was wide open as he heard the broadcast.


    "Pay us, and we will show you Earth''s powers and the rest of this conversation!" The broadcast ended with the Pioneer''s demand.


    Rai, Jake, and Irvana all turned to Seeker.


    "...I guess we can rescue Ninalet''s family now?" Seeker shrugged.

 Chapter 610 Twilight of the Stars

    Chapter 610 Twilight of the Stars


    The horrifying news that rippled throughout the Orbital caused great quakings and literal explosions as many began to move out of their thrones in speed. The most shocked from the broadcast was not Renkerdis, who had information about Earth''s fighters. It wasn''t Marrho or even Presider Haresha who was used of having allowed these Earthlings to arrive.


    The one who would react the most was the strongest and thest to hear the message.


    In the core depths of the Orbital, Principal Dormin sat down on his Throne with a mountain of food next to him.


    Women surrounded him and would take turns to satisfy him, who had somehow allowed himself to constantly enjoy the pleasure of all the delights of food and flesh without losing energy or boredom from his activities.


    He was a hedonist with the power to bend reality as he pleased.


    But even as he indulged in the flesh, his eyes were ever watchful at the events of the world.


    He was a Principal, and he could see numerous possibilities for the future. It was a power that allowed him to connect to the dimensions beyond and sense ''the natural flow'' of the world.


    It was a power that was simr to Arthur''s power, but their abilityes from a different context. Some Principals could even see how they would and when and have been working to stop their doomsday from appearing.


    Principal Dormin could see the future and how he would defeat the Unlocked armies. He didn''t know how or could notprehend the powers of the unlock, nor did he care for them. But the ripples of the universe that he felt on Earth assured him of this victory.


    But then, the visions he saw began to change drastically.


    It wasmon for visions to change when other Principals, Primes, would move. But when Dormin decided to go to Earth, the vision was fixed and barely changed.


    But now, everything changed.


    The Presiders that would survive changed. The battle on Earth changed. The prodding and tempting openings and closings he used to spur growth to Presiders and how he brought others to disgrace created unknown futures.


    "What is going on?!" Dormin stood up and cursed.


    He harnessed the Universe''s energy, and his soul was transported into the seventh dimension.


    Their time, cause, effect, luck, bad luck, and fixed events which included the great war that would quake all of the universes, could be seen.


    There he saw thews of Fate and Destiny at work that guided the lives of many.


    Dormin dared not to understand the grand events but focused the events on his life.


    At once, he saw his numerous futures. There were billions and billions of possibilities that branched out.


    "Impossible! How can such possibilities appear?!"


    While a Principal, he was not omniscient or even close to a level that couldprehend and see such vast possibilities. He would not have time to analyze all.


    "Something''s wrong! Could it be? Someone managed to defeat Garenjazz, who was believed to reach the Principal level surely. Is there someone among the Lost Presiders who has gained power from the Lost Primordial to manipte the workings of Fate and Destiny?" Dormin wondered.


    The shattering was too strange, as if another entity was ultimately causing the flow of things to turn into random probabilities.


    Dormin returned back to his state and began to check on the three-dimensional impact of the visions he saw.


    And there he saw Presiders raging, and many were ming Presider Haresha.


    Broadcasts and usations were thrown left and right, and battles began urring almost immediately.


    While Dormin desired chaos, it was designed for his purpose. It was a future where the Presiders grew stronger and reached the Principal, which would allow him to receive the maximum benefits.


    But theing future, because of the discovery of the Unlocked, created an uncontrolled, unguided, and unpredictable future. Although this was far from threatening to Dormin, it meant that he would lose the precious food that would have empowered him.


    Dormin made haste to find the source event of the chaos.


    "What power worked against me? How did I make all the events I prepared for copse?" Dormin pondered.


    No signs and powers could be seen in the sixth dimension. So he had no choice but to find what power caused a disruption. Something so cataclysmic that would totally destroy all his set possibilities was unheard of! Nevertheless, no action of man could thwart Fate and Destiny!


    But nothing grand happened within the Orbital before the chaos.


    The only events that happened were certain battles involving Pioneers across the Orbitals. But this wasmon. Pioneers have now been fighting, and it wouldn''t be surprising for one entire team to be annihted.


    "What happened?" Dormin scratched his head and observed the broadcasts listening to the most recent broadcasts.


    He jumped from one broadcast to another secretm line and found the first broadcast that caused themotion.


    He listened to Lennox and Vender talk and was confused.


    "...He can''t be serious? Was this nned? Or an ident?" Dormin didn''t know what to say.


    "...But this can''t be true! Even if his idiocy led to the discovery of these Lost Presiders, it could not block my future! I envisioned a possibility where they were discovered almost instantly. No! This is a deception! Something else has happened!" Dormin cursed.


    A certain Presider suddenly appeared in Dormin''s thoughts.


    "Renkerdis. Could this be it? He is a necromancer now... Is it possible that the soul of the Lost Primordial has arrived here through him, and he only deployed it by trapping the people of Earth?" Dormin pondered.


    "A bit far-fetched. That Renkerdis didn''t threaten me... It shouldn''t be him!" Dormin rejected it.


    Dormin sought the broadcast and found another broadcast that was constantly being released.


    Dormin listened to the broadcast.


    "And Vender stood up, finally having the courage that he had revealed his true form to the one woman that he loved..."


    "Vender''s face was sparkling as he stood on the one spot in the horizon where the clouds of Bespin couldn''t cover and allowed the sun to shine on him," Vender spoke softly as he was trying to build up momentum to the most important scene in his story. Because the original Pioneers had retreated, Lowengren and his team easily acquired and used them devices of the fortress.


    "'' You''re impossibly fast and strong. You use the Force. You carry a kyber crystal... And sometimes you speak like you''re from a different time! You don''t need to eat or drink anything, and you don''t go out in the sunlight...'' Be spoke with her voice trembling. She had already fallen for him, but this dark discovery made her afraid." Vender spoke using a girl''s voice that imitated his own wife.


    "...Did Vender just make a Twilight meets Star Wars fanfic of himself and his wife?" Harker''s horrified voice could be heard at the back.


    "Sshhh! It''s getting good!" Gardo silenced Harker.


    "''Do you have friends?'' Be asked Vender. But Vender stood at the side and quietly shook his head. ''I have not known friendship for a long time, for they did not stand by me in my choices. If they are not with me, they are not my friends!'' Vender made his unwavering answer. Be was even more terrified. Vender was dealing in absolutes!"


    "Oh snap! He really is a Sith!" Gardo eximed in the background.


    "''I know what you are! Be cried. Vender stood behind him and whispered the chilling words. ''Say it. Out loud. Say it, young Jedi.'' Be took a deep breath. ''Sith. You are a Sith Lord!''"


    CLICK!


    Dormin changed the broadcast of Vender as it was too weird. He had acquired many of Earth''s resources through his power that linked the Orbital to Earth to hijack allmunication. He knew of the references that were being made by Vender, and he found it not to his liking.


    He frowned as his ''eyes'' watched the entire Orbital.


    "...Thews prohibit me from attacking another Presider until they be nascent Principals. Nor am I allowed to aid another Presider beyond a certain limit... If this be the case, I will throw more conflict and chaos to this rippling pond!" Dormin opened am channel to contact a certain Presider.


    In the depths of a certain fortress, a woman sat on a damaged Throne, and she nced calmly at the appearance of several men who appeared. She was Presider Cecilia. All the Pioneers had left the room by hermand when she sensed that Seeker and the rest were in her room. The two parties had been talking for a time.


    "...So you want nothing to do with this war? Then you believe our words." Seeker spoke.


    "Yes. I nearly died, and I am supposed to be dead. If not for my Presider tech, which kept my heart from moving, I would have died long ago. And in that battle, I felt it. The freedom from the terrifying curse that forces me... to Conquer." She answered.


    the ns of the Principal. That broadcast created chaos and shattered the flow of the Principal''s n. And even now, that "Then... side with us! If you stay here, you are destined to die."


    "You would trust me just like that?" She frowned.


    "The moment we entered this ce, we were moving ording to the ns of the Principal. That broadcast created chaos and shattered the flow of the Principal''s n. And even now, that strange but surprisingly interesting fanfic that Vender is speaking is a way to ensure that his power, the disruptive power that can even destroy Garenjazz''s luck, continues to emanate in this ship. Originally, we were just here to rescue Ninalet''s family. But my ally sensed that he was still walking in a trap. So we took a risk and moved here to meet you."


    "...You im that this broadcast has the power to disrupt the flow of the Principal. What proof do you have?" Cecilia challenged.


    BEEP!


    A beep was heard.


    "Cecilia. How are you? This is Principal Dormin." Dormin spoke.


    Cecilia trembled as she heard her former master''s voice.

 Chapter 611 Dormin’s Offer

    ?


    Cecilia was once part of the Presider Team that served under Principal Dormin. She belonged to the Pig Five. They were a group of powerful Presiders that had the Devourer Suit. But unlike Presiders that served a Principal, the Pig Five were noted to be one that had ''very special treatment.''


    While Principals could not attack Presiders and wage war against them, there were other means that they could interfere using the power to see the dimensions and even the future.


    Presiders would even see themselves dying in death due to how Principals could simply nt seeds that would have dangerous manifestations in the future. In her life, Cecilia defeated two Mid-Tiers and devoured them thanks to the preparations that her former master had said.


    But during the war, she realized they were bred for specific purposes. She, herself, was not among the ones that her master knew would arise and be strong. They were simply those who would go against someone who would soon be a Principal.


    When Seeker told her that they were ''trying to get out of the Principal''s control,'' she scoffed at the thought. Even those who had reached the peak of the Top Tier could not easily free themselves from it. She had tried that all her life. She nned to ride the wave of the Principal and soon break free to be her own. But such simple ns were impossible to attain.


    During the war, she saw the seeds of the Principal turn against her, and she nearly died. In fact, her state was supposed to be dead. But for some reason, she remained alive.


    But now the Principal contacted her!


    "Principal Dormin!"


    "Are you even surprised that I know you still live?"


    "...I am surprised you would contact me, my Prince!" She nced at Seeker, who could hear themunication.


    "I believe that you have some guest there who should have... retreated and taken away a Pioneer''s family." Cecilia turned to Seeker and the rest who stood by.


    Seeker smiled. If the Principal knew that they were there, he would tell him. But they remained.


    Cecilia felt her heart stop. Before she was a living entity that managed to escape the grasp of a Principal!


    "I... did have some guests. I''m still shocked at the broadcast. Why did you allow this?" Cecilia asked.


    "Where are the ones that came here from Earth? Why did you allow them toe here? I am but a Pioneer at this stage. I am given over to death with no hope of a future! I try to live, I try to survive, but even now, you feed me to other wolves!" Cecilia spoke out her true frustrations. When she heard the broadcast and saw themotion in her base, she knew those attacking her were Earthlings. Her voice and cry now were her frustration towards the Principal.


    "You can only learn to rise if you have fallen. And look how low you have! But now, a choice is to be given to you. A chance to survive and rise even stronger!"


    "What chance is this?" Cecilia asked.


    "A Babelian legacy. A lineage that I procured, which I believe, is the very power that was the foundation for the Lost Primordial."


    Cecilia was stunned. He turned to Seeker and the rest.


    "And why would you give me such power?''


    "Because I know that it is almost impossible to awaken this power. The chance is so minuscule that even I cannot use this power. And besides, it''s toote for me. I can tell that the power to be a Lost Primordial is founded before one steps into the stages of a Principal. But you will not only receive the Lost Primordial''s legacy, but you have here the opportunity to devour them!"


    "But my Prince, while my Devouring power remains, all my former powers are lost. I only am alive by life-saving techs. I do not have the means to challenge them!"


    "You will not challenge them. You will aid them."


    "Aid them?" Cecilia was confused.


    "I have foreseen a future from here to Earth. In this future, the deaths of these Earthlings are sure. If you are able to keep them as close as possible to this future, you may live and will find the chance to kill them."


    "You want me to be their ally?"


    "Yes. Right now, you have the heart for it, don''t you? The curse of the Primordial is gone."


    Cecilia was shocked. This was the same thing that Seeker just mentioned!


    "Curse?"


    "A curse to Conquer. We Principals have long noticed this trend among those that die. What I''m offering to you is not a chance to conquer but to survive. Stay under the radar. Hide behind the earthlings. Lead them to the path that will pave, and when all is said and done, a new Principal will arise. Either from them or elsewhere. And I will devour them. Remain a Presider, and I won''t have to kill you."


    "How will I be their ally?''


    "The target of these Earthlings is to entice chaos and deal with the Presiders. But the one that they will go after is Presider Marrho."


    "Marrho?!"


    Seeker nodded in agreement. His team had many potential Presider to fight. But Marrho, who was a living clone of Crostfree and someone who was an incarnation of another Prime, was the perfect target.


    "They will head towards the inner level of the Orbital. Seek for them there. As of now, I will show you the future and what paths they will take. Your goal is to keep them following that future! Do you agree?"


    Cecilia turned to Seeker and gave him a meaningful look.


    She wanted to survive and didn''t want to be caught in the battle between Presiders and Principals. And Principal Dormin''s offer would give her that protection. But, Seeker had surpassed Principal Dormin''s power. Cecilia knew that she could ultimately y both sides. Seeker was already there and knew of the n. If Seeker fails to defeat the Principal, then she will be spared.


    "What happens if... they win?" Cecilia asked.


    Principal Dorminughed.


    "Ah... So daring of you to be disrespectful. But considering what I have done to you, I guess you''d want revenge! If they win, then you will still live! Be an Earthling! That''s not an issue for someone who is outside of the curse!"


    "...I don''t want to be a Conqueror." Cecilia answered.


    When Seeker arrived, he told her of the Primordial''s curse and who they were as descendants of the Lsot Primordial. They were not Conquerors but Oveers.


    "And you won''t be. You will survive."


    "...I ept."


    "Good. I will show you the future."


    At once, Cecilia''s head was filled with thoughts and visions.


    "Ahhh!" She shouted as her head was being forced with many memories of hundreds of years!


    "These are some of the possible futures. I have given you many paths. Manipte them and encourage them to follow this future. I will be watching. I won''t me you if you fail in many instances. But you have to keep them following the main path. If you do not, I will treat this as an act of betrayal, and by thews set, I can kill you!"


    "Ahhhhh!" Cecilia kept shouting as she felt pain, as if her head was splitting into two.


    "And now... for my other promise. I will send you a finger. A relic of the past in the days of the Primordial. This is the Finger of Arpachshad. Do what you will to it. It is useless to me. Maybe, if you can study the bodies of these Earthlings in secret, you could find a way to harness that power you could grow stronger. I don''t care since you have no desire to Conquer anyway."


    A strange power began to resonate on her throne as a floating finger appeared.


    The finger was perfectly preserved as if it was still living.


    "Good luck. And try to survive." The voice disappeared.


    Cecilia was still in pain for a while, but she quickly removed herself from the Throne.


    As she left, her body began to quickly decay in weakness.


    Seeker reached out to her and harnessed the power of Cold Fusion that, which stopped her decaying state, and held his hand out to send his cells into the body to heal him.


    "A little something that I learned from Charles." Seeker chuckled as the area became warped with Realm and Sound.


    Cecilia was panting.


    "I may have no desire to Conquer, Principal Dormin said. But there is still rage in my heart. If I cannot Conquer, then I will Ovee!" She smiled.


    Rai took the floating finger and handed it over to Seeker.


    "...A finger? So this is where the Lost Primordial got his power..." Irvana nced at the finger.


    "If even a Principal can''t, what hopes do we have?" Jake sighed.


    "...I wouldn''t be too sure. I''ve heard that name before." Seeker closed his eyes and began to scour through his memory. His control was great, but he could not imitate Cliff''s ability of constantly being able to recall all memories at once.


    And then, he found it.


    In the deepest parts of his memories, Seeker saw the name that he read past by when he read the bible.


    "Genesis 11 verse 10. These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood."

 Chapter 612 Alliance with Cecilia

    612 Alliance with Cecilia


    The memories of Seeker had nearly forgotten such an unimportant name within biblical history. Who was Arpachshad but only a lineage that will soon bring out the bigger characters of the Bible. It was through Arpachshad that the Patriarch, Abraham, wouldter be born.


    "Arpachshad traces his lineage to Shem. The eldest son of Noah. Nimrod is from another son of Nimrod. Ham gave birth to Cush, Mizraim, which the Bible trantes as Egypt in most trantions, Put, and Canaan." Seeker told hispanions.


    Cecilia was confused at the sudden discussion.


    "What are you guys talking about?" She asked as she slowly stood up.


    Her Throne was providing her with life-support but now, the cold energy that Seeker sent was allowing her to stand.


    "Cecilia. I am to assume that your actions of disconnecting yourself from the Throne are because you want to ally with us."


    "Yes. I''ve served Principal Dormin all my life. I know when he''s flustered. That desperation. That generosity. It''s all unnatural. You have shaken a Principal and if anyone can help me live through this, it would be you."


    "Good. Then we are allies. For now, I''ll give you just enough so you can keep up with this discussion."


    Electricity gathered in Seeker''s hand, and he reached out his hand to Cecilia.


    Cecilia was surprised but did not move. She felt no enmity in Seeker''s reach.


    "Egypt and Canaan? As in the nations? So Nimrod''s other brothers wereter the father of their nations, just as Nimrod was. What a formidable family..." Rai praised.


    "But how is this important?" Jake asked.


    Seeker continued to dump the electric energy to install the memory into Cecilia''s brain.


    "Pokemon... Emerald?"


    "Err. Yes. I meant to give you that as some peace offering, but ignore that for now. How is your biblical knowledge? We''re talking about Genesis 10. Can you catch up?"


    Cecilia was amazed as her memories started to increase.


    "This is like Marrho''s Living Lightning!"


    "Focus."


    Cecilia closed her eyes and began to understand.


    "Amazing. Your stories match many of our lives. Is it really possible? We are from Earth?"


    "Pridgeon and Garenjazz think so. Those who invested in the past history of your society would easily see this. Those two had taken Presider ims to get the history of your world and took advantage of it in the battles of Earth. In the end, we won, but as you can see, such knowledge is very important. We can''t tell you everything now because we do not trust you. But we will say this... This finger holds great power, and through us, it may be possible to awaken it." Seeker exined.


    "How?" Irvana asked.


    "Genesis chapter nine. Ham sees Noah naked while the two brothers cover their father''s nakedness. It seems rather immature, but Noah curses Hem. Specifically, he cursed Canaan and said that this would be the servants of Shem and Japheth''s descendants."


    "In other words, you believe that Arpachshad, the firstborn of Shem, will have a physical body that has mysterious blessings?" Rai asked.


    "Yes. We''ve seen the powers that alter the dimensions beyond. Primes and the Primordial could do these things and say a word and cause the entire universe to bend to the will of the one speaking. In the Post Modern era, there were several movements that believed this thing and would tell you to speak things and the Universe will follow."


    "And you believe that to be true?"


    "I don''t believe that mere humans could alter the dimensions by speaking things. It might be Eagle''s influence, but I''m inclined to believe that prayers work to some degree. Wemunicate with the being that easily defeated Nimrod, the Primordial, and sent him packing to another gxy. But what we have here are instances that the Bible records. Remember what he told us! There should be value in the blessings and curses! This is a lineage that was the first being born on Earth after the Flood and had the same power of physique that Nimrod has if we are to believe that pre-flood humans were more powerful and had greater vitality!"


    "But... Prince Dormin said he couldn''t find anything." Cecilia interjected.


    "You''re confident that you can?"


    "Yes. A body that''s not cursed. If we can harness this finger''s power, then it proves that this could have been the foundation of the Lost Primordial''s rise to power! We have to convene with the rest. Everywhere will be chaos. With Vender''s actions, the battle will spill out into this world. And there is the issue of what Prince Dormin showed you!"


    "Yes. What did you see?"


    "I saw... numerous possibilities. Years of memories all jammed into my head. It''s vague... But I can tell the flow of events. I never believed that such powers would be capable!"


    "Being a Principal is someone fighting against the future. Time travel is possible. It''s a long story, but even if possible, it''s easy to defeat. It could have already happened numerous times, but the fire was just extinguished before it began. So what did he see?"


    "There are... numerous things that you could have been doing. He showed me a very wide scope of possibilities. But none of them seem to have taken into ount Vender''s actions..."


    "Alright. For now, I''ll head over to Vender and get them. Obviously, we have to y by the visions of the Principal. If we leave his radar, he might try to do something that will greatly change the future."


    "I have a feeling that he already is. Cecilia may not be the only surviving Presider. I sense it. Following Cecilia feels... dangerous." Jake added.


    Cecilia gave Jake a surprised look while the rest turned to Seeker.


    "Does this mean that we shouldn''t follow Cecilia?" Jake asked.


    "No. Out of the question. We have to follow her visions." Seeker decided.


    "But what if... this is the Principal''s n? What if he knew that we would be here and yed dumb?" Irvana asked.


    "Yeah! What if this is part of his n to keep us following the vision?"


    "I''m confident he doesn''t know. Because the key to this entire matter isn''t within this team. It''s with Vender. He would immediately make a different offer if he knew he was here. He lived knowing the future for a long time. We broke this vision of his. He would have demanded to find the cause of this trouble. But he didn''t." Seeker exined.


    "We''ll need to ask Lowengren and the rest. We still can''t rule out the fact that the Principal could be lying. Still, I''m inclined to follow your n. We are going to follow the vision and let Cecilia ''trick us'' into following certain routes."


    "Exactly. Now, let''s go get Vender, and on our way out. I''m thinking, injuring a Presider. If possible, we''ll kill one!"


    "What?! That''s not within the future that the Principal showed me!" Cecilia cursed.


    "You just literally said we should follow the visions of Cecilia, and the first thing you want to do is kill a Presider! No wonder people call you Crazy Carlean!" Jake cursed.


    "He doesn''t expect Cecilia to immediately aplish the task just yet." Rai corrected.


    "The Principal probably expects Cecilia to fail the first few events. Think! Would it be shocking if Cecilia fails to meet us the first time she reaches out and offer an alliance with us?" Rai challenged.


    "I see. So this small gap is the perfect time for us to go crazy. We change the future as much as possible here before we start following his vision!" Irvana nodded.


    "I guess it''s a good n. As expected of the ones that defeated Garenjazz..." Cecilia muttered.


    "Who will you target? There are two Presiders within the outer crust."


    "Are there any other possible surviving Presiders just like you?" Seeker asked.


    "...There should be. Many powerful ones had legacies that would have surely allowed them to survive. I won''t be surprised that even the ones I saw die would appear." Cecilia answered.


    Seeker and Rai gave Cecilia an annoyed look.


    "You''re not very smart without your throne, are you?" Seeker frowned.


    "What?"


    "Your newly acquired memories of the future. Use it."


    "Ri-right!" Cecilia closed her eyes and began to recall.


    "...Five! Five Presiders survived? That''s amazing!" Cecilia exined.


    "Anyone close by?"


    "One is masquerading as a Pioneer. He holds a city."


    "Which one?"


    "The very one your friends attacked!"


    "...Huh. Damn. Vender''s power is scary." Seeker attributed the luck to Vender''s ability.


    "Then it''s settled. Let''s go after that one!" Rai nodded.

 Chapter 613 Chaos in the Orbital

    613 Chaos in the Orbital


    Chaos had urred as many Presiders demanded answers from Herasha.


    The traces of the Earthlings were nowhere to be found as the broadcast on the ship was revealed to


    Various battles erupted above the Outer Crust of the Orbital while the armies of various Presiders were all being organized to attack.


    The first to act among the Presiders was Renkerdis.


    A dark, chilling power appeared as Renkerdis summoned his power.


    A former Principal that had died and weakened, losing many of his body, had caused him to fall to the level of a Presider. But killing Tiana allowed him to regain a portion of his power. So the Necromancer''s power in a wraith was not onlypatible, but it also gave him a huge boost!


    In the deep chamber where Renkerdis made his home in the secondyer of the core, he was terrified at the prospect that the Earthlings had arrived.


    "Those fools! I had seen the power of these humans from the fallen souls of many when I left Earth! They cannot underestimate them!" Renkerdis cursed as his power was made ready to attack.


    Renkerdis''s actions were the tipping point that would alter the future that Dormin saw. But he could do nothing as thews forbid him from attacking Renkerdis.


    Dormin watched from his chamber as the spell of Renkerdis wasplete.


    Numerous malevolent spirits of his creations, wild and impure, manifestations of ill will, grudges, and anger, were harnessed and sent all over the Orbital.


    "...That brat!" Dormin cursed as he saw the spell spread all over the Orbital. He did not understand what had happened and why he couldn''t see the future. But he had guessed that this event would change the future.


    Renkerdis''s soul appeared on many parts of the Orbital. His soul took over the souls of many through forced possession. But this spell was costly, and so, Renkerdis possessed the weaker souls.


    A Pioneer sat and watched the feeds of the security camera. But all of a sudden, his soul was captured by Renkerdis.


    Hispanion watched with him, and suddenly, the Pioneer stood up and retrieved a weapon.


    BANG! BANG!


    Two shots to the head.


    The Pioneer shot hispanion and shot himself as well.


    As they died, their dead bodies were easier to possess.


    In areas where Pioneers practiced memorializing the dead, the corpses rose and began to attack.


    "Arise! Arise and find them!" Renkerdismanded.


    Renkerdis''s actions were seen by numerous Presiders and prepared to repel it.


    But many Presiders were suddenly experiencing an attack as Renkerdis did his best to find the Earthlings.


    "Renkerdis!" A voice cried out as human-shaped lighting bolted out and hovered over Renkerdis''s ce.


    "What is the meaning of this?!" Marrho demanded.


    "You idiots! You who think Earth is weak! The Earthlings are here! How do you think they killed everyone?! They were spies and could infiltrate all forces! I am doing you all a favor to find them!" Renkerdis shouted back.


    "We''ll find them ourselves! So pull back your attack!"


    "Stop your foolishness in my region as well." Another voice was heard as a man with three heads and seven wings appeared. His form was peering from the dimensions he was hiding and revealing his true form.


    "Render! You don''t have a base in the three dimensions!"


    "The cities on Sector six of the inneryers are mine. Remove your power from it."


    Renkerdis closed his eyes.


    His attacks stop from those two. But the truth was, he had already confirmed what he needed to. Seeker and his team were not in these two ces. But as Renkerdis connected with his soul, he realized in the few seconds he talked to the two Harsha and another Presider had already cleared and destroyed the wandering wraiths he sent.


    "Haresha is expected. But to think Porrelom would be this strong..." Renkerdis nced at the two.


    "It is done. Go out and find him."


    "They will not assassinate me." Render frowned.


    "Oh? Like they did to Crostfree, isn''t that right, Marrho? Wasn''t that Presider one of the best souls that your true form crafted? And he died by Pridgeon''s hand! They won''t have to assassinate you! They trick others into doing it for them. That''s how we lost on Earth. Do not be so arrogant to think that they cannot do it here!" Renkerdis shouted back, and his soul began to gather and enclose the region around them with a thick mist.


    The two left, but Render had a surprised expression. He did not know about Crostfree. But if a Presider incarnation of that Prime Defiant was killed, then it would be a different thing.


    With their retreat, the group also made their scans to search for Seeker''s team.


    The next day, the chaos of Renkerdis''s curse affected all Presiders.


    Many of the Presiders took the actions of Renkerdis as an act of war and began to marshal a force to fight Renkerdis. Several Presiders agreed to attack together and not fight it all out. Soul bonds were made. Many even imed that Renkerdis was working with the Earthlings!


    He was considered a weak Presider as many had not seen him fight during the Presider War.


    Three Presider teams gathered before the misty fortress.


    The battlested half a day, and those who attacked them were forced to retreat in a great battle in the secondyer of the Orbital''s core.


    A grand battley waste to many Pioneers as the power of Renkerdis to create wraiths andmand those that die confused the army. Renkerdis didn''t even seem to have taken significant losses!


    Pioneers were killed in an unknown manner, and those that died inside ships, Exoskeletons, and Gargantuants started to kill their own!


    The battle terrified many, and Renkerdis was considered the fifth among the ''Presider Kings.''


    Haresha, the strongest of the five, was silent and showed no movements after the revtion.


    Marrho and Render actively searched for the Earthlings. The two were considered to be of equal power, but Marrho was believed to be the stronger one.


    Massive sweeping scans made by the strongest Presiders, including Marrho and Render, rippled out from the inner ce of the ship.


    As these two Presiders used Universe Energy that altered the fabric of reality within the Orbital, and manyunched ranged attacks from them.


    Among the most entric reactions was that of who was considered the fourth strongest among the Presider Kings. This was the same man that surprised Renkerdis. Porrelom the Clown Presider released another broadcast all over the Orbital demanding Vender to continue with the story, which was cut short when many Presiders attacked the abandoned fortress.


    He even threatened that those who would attack or destroy a broadcasting station would receive his retaliation and wasn''t afraid if it was even Marrho or Render.


    On the fourth day since Vender''s broadcast, another broadcast was issued.


    "The continuation to the anticipated tale... of Twilight of the Stars! When west, saw Be and Vender, Be discovered Vender''s secret past. But even then, she could not bring herself to tell the order. Vender had saved her life, but with it, Vender unknowingly imed Be''s heart..." Vender''s voice began.


    In the secret fortress of Presider Inbal, the tortured body of Inbal remained as Lennox continued to electrocute him. When Harker, Lowengren, and Vender attacked his fortress, he made orders to retreat. But strangely, a series of bad luck urred, and with Harker and Lowengren easily infiltrating the ce, he was captured.


    Surrounding him was Seeker and all those from Earth, along with Cecilia.


    They had just tortured him, and he revealed everything he knew.


    "...Let''s test it out. If Inbal''s story is true, then Vender''s power has evolved and could now bestow bad luck. With our new arrangements, the broadcasting device would be very difficult to track, and only the Top-Tiers among Presiders could find it hidden in the Void Realm. But if it''s true, keeping this broadcast is vital to limit Prince Dormin''s ability to see the future!" Seeker exined.


    "But what now? What''s our next target?" Guinevere asked.


    "We have to slow down this Orbital. The longer they stay in space, the bigger battles we can cause."


    "That is... among the future that Dormin saw. And I have one where you do seed." Cecilia answered.


    "Then let''s do that. We follow the n but, at the same time, find an equal opposing act that could derail whatever advantage Dormin will have over us... Cecilia, in this future, other than Haresha, who is set to grow stronger and will survive and be on Earth." Lowngren turned and asked.


    "This future n involves facing Render. I can''t get a clear picture. Principal Dormin blocked many parts of this vision but only allowed me to see the end. But in this future on Earth, I see Presider Stevos fighting against Lennox."


    "Then he''ll be our target. I''ll infiltrate Stevos and try to rise in the ranks among his men. And just when Dormin''s vision wille true, I''ll kill him and take over his army!" Lowengren vowed.

 Chapter 614 Blind Presiders

    ?


    The battles in the Orbital had grown quiet after the initial chaos, but the entire Orbital was gearing up for war. The warnings of Renkerdis had caused Render and Marrho to be very guarded.


    In the city at the very depths of the orbital, where lightning and energy were most present, Marrho sat down and was annoyed, for he could no longer see the destiny that directed his path.


    Marrho had seen that his future would be destined to rise to Principal. Yet, from that point, he couldn''t see anything. He once thought this was because the Principal, Dormin, would be his doom.


    But now, the future that he once foresaw was no longer present!


    The power of Marrho was the power to see vague points of his life and know what events he was destined to achieve.


    The entire area was harnessing such great energy that it was draining power from the Orbital and had decreased the ship''s traveling speed by 1 percent.


    But even as he amassed energy to increase the amount of his power that broke through the dimensions, he could not see any points in the future. It was all nk!


    It was this that made him much stronger than other Presiders. He had foreseen the fixed point of his death numerous times and managed to ovee them. But now, these points were distorted and almost gone.


    Render had the power that would force the Universe Energy to side with him and alter the dimensions in numerous points. Unlike Garenjazz''s power that forced all luck on himself, Render had a weaker version but had numerous things.


    The Chinese called it Feng Shui. It was meant to increase one''s luck.


    During the Presider War, Render''s power to increase this had nearly doubled!


    From wealth to coincidences, to lucky shots and to lucky opportunities, Render has amassed such power that he could have defeated Marrho in a one-on-one battle.


    Yet even then, all of this power brought him no luck.


    Render could not understand and sought to find the power that was draining it.


    His anger caused him to prepare to head towards the Outer Layers and personally search for the source of his draining power.


    BOOM!


    A small group of Pioneers were blown to bits.


    Render didn''t listen and simply shot an attack at them without care, killing them all at once.


    "Die! Die! Die!" He roared angrily.


    "That''s not going to help." A voice spoke to him.


    The Throne of Render quickly harnessed a tremendous amount of energy as he prepared to fight, and the dimensions quivered.


    A young girl with bright pink hair and beautiful and youthful features stood without fear and watched as the powers that surged blew against her clothes. But her clothes remained as if it was not hit.


    "Dimensional Peering. To think you could do this so easily, Haresha." Render frowned.


    The girl was a reflection of the strongest Presider in the Orbital, Haresha.


    "What are you doing here?" Render cursed.


    "I''m just following the divinity that led me here." She smiled.


    "...So this strange blindness doesn''t affect you? Hmp. I guess if you are not panicking or worried, you surely are not affected." Render clenched his fist angrily. A part of him could still not ept that this young woman would surpass the heritage that he had.


    "...Oh, I am affected. I''m just not blind."


    "...Then what are you here for?"


    "I don''t know. I have vague feelings and directions, but nothing clear. But what you''re doing is wrong. Do you think that the Earthlings really did this?"


    "...Renkerdis warned us."


    "And you believed his lies?" Haresha chuckled.


    "Then who is doing this?"


    "...Perhaps, the Principal." She smiled.


    "What?! Principal Dormin cannot attack us!"


    "He doesn''t have to. Among all of us, he is definitely the one that has the strongest control over wielding the powers of the dimensions beyond. It''s like, we are his neighbors, and he set his house on fire. Our house might not get burned, but we will suffer from the heat." Haresha shrugged and walked away.


    "...Why would he do that?"


    "You, me, and Marrho had powers that could now rival the famous Garenjazz. What if we are starting to see and manipte a future that affects him."


    "Well, isn''t that a hopeful wish? But I don''t think Principal Dormin would be so obvious. The Earthling defeated Garenjazz!"


    "Funny term. Defeated. Why not killed?" Haresha asked.


    Render was startled. He recalled that Renkerdis said defeated. Before the Principal, lying was futile. But to Presiders, defeat often meant death. Very rarely would a Presider defeat another and not kill them. Garenjazz was also known to have done that.


    Render couldn''t speak but could only wonder. Was it true? Was this a work of a Principal?


    "Whatever this thing is, killing small groups of Pioneers is not the answer. As if these Earthlings would dare split up now that we know they are here. Those stupid, clumsy fools will not live long. I knew they came, but I never expected them to fail so much. Do you know that I refused to believe my own divination? I couldn''t believe that they would be so stupid to reveal themselves here!" Haresha''s expression turned sour as she walked away and slowly disappeared.


    Seeing Haresha disappear, Render had no choice but to leave. But his thoughts began to wander, and he was bing more and more frustrated.


    Haresha kept her expression straight, but her heart finally gave a sigh of relief. This was her true body. And she had left her throne.


    "Now that I stopped Render from recklessly killing, I should finally have the chance to meet that man! But how? Damn this power! Damn those earthlings!" Haresha began to shout within her thoughts.


    The mystery of Haresha''s power surprised Marrho and Render. Both could not understand it.


    Marrho could see points of Destiny, and Render could Harness Luck. But Haresha''s power transcended the dimension-altering forces of Destiny and Harnessed Luck.


    It was a power that harnessed both! She knew the points in time of the day that dictated certain events, and she knew what things reflected in the dimensions beyond that would grant her bad luck or give her good luck.


    It was a power that was scoffed andughed at on Earth. People who believed this were mocked andughed. Those who imed to be a scientist but could not see the multi-dimensional implications of such a thing but carried on to process what they believed to be objective science would see this person as aughing stock. And they were. But this was because humans cannot alter the dimensions.


    But to beings like the Top Tier, who are already involved in these supernatural forces that dictate the greater powers than simply throwing fireballs and energy beams at each other, it was a powerful weapon.


    This power tomand such tremendous force was known on Earth as Astrology.


    Each day would bring new events of fixed destiny and would also offer luck and bad luck.


    But using a forced form of Harnessed Luck and channeling the Universe Energy in the Fourth dimension through certain means, Haresa senses the workings of Fate and Destiny and when to attack or retreat based on these events, and wearing certain colors for her dress and favoring certain numbers within that day allowed her to know what to do and what not to do.


    By bing a priestess to this power, she was able to divine her daily horoscope and won against the top contenders among Presiders.


    Through this, she learned of the arrival of Seeker though she had not seen it.


    Through this, she knew where they were and could divine the chaos they made.


    But her silence over the past few days was not because she had divined to remain silent in the chaos, but it was because her horoscope vanished!


    She was blind as well! She could not tell the state of the day and times and had no choice but to be quiet and observe.


    Finally, the power that Marrho harnessed to pierce and force himself to see a point of Destiny and the Feng Shui that Render made to harness luck was used by her.


    It opened a time, a brief moment for her to see what she needed to do. And the answer was vague.


    "Virgo. Career Horoscope. New assignments wait for you on barrennds. Do not hesitate to present your ideas when with someone else, as they will be epted as truth. Handle crises with confidence, and things will work out. Your rivals may expand their business to new territories today, and they will hinder you from meeting your special opportunity." Haresha repeated the horoscope that she divined.


    "Love Horoscope. As per the love horoscope, today is an auspicious time to make bonds that could help you live a healthy and true future. Be careful of Gemini but stand your ground, and your future with Pisces will be set. Those who are single may fall in love today but wait for a day or two to propose." Haresha then turned to an even more curious ss of horoscopes she had never encountered before. The Love Horoscope never appeared. But now it did!

 Chapter 615 The Guesser

    615 The Guesser


    The power of the Horoscope was nothing but mysterious.


    In its mystery, Haresha found a means to actually interpret the positions of the stars and sensed a resonation from them to the world around them. But she needed to tap on a certain frequency from the fifth dimension. She had managed to figure out how to analyze these vague findings and use them in a way that pits him above many other powers.


    While she couldn''t see Destiny''s points of the event, she could have a vague direction of what to do that points her above the other Destiny. So it didn''t matter if Marrho attained the vision that he saw; Haresha would be in her point of Destiny.


    Marrho would see points of his death through his power and would simply avoid or evade it. But Haresha always saw what was most beneficial for her.


    And not only could she harness her power to find the most beneficial route, but her luck was also immense due to the reflections of Numerology and Shades of Aura through the color she wore.


    She panicked when the entire power disappeared and had to be very cautious. Next to Dormin, she was the one who panicked the most, as most of her power was reliant on this.


    But now, a mysterious Horoscope appeared as she saw two of them! She had never seen two before but only found one.


    And more than that, the name itself was bizarre!


    "Love Horoscope? Why would it be this? Love is for the weak. Those who gave in love have never had the power to rise! A Presider that loves will never see the Principal realm. A Principal who loves can never ovee thest barriers and be a Prime!" She told herself.


    "But yet this power calls out to me! Could it be? This was how Prime Zephirus managed to marry and rear a child! I guess I have to find Zeraphine, whom the Earthlings have captured." Haresha pondered as she kept moving.


    Her steps were bizarre and allowed her to move in a blur.


    She nced behind her and could tell that Render also sensed it, and she quietly followed behind Render. Then she heard a strange sound of someone shouting in great rage.


    "No! You idiot! You stupid idiot!"


    BOOOM!


    The earth boomed, and Haresha realized that it was caused by the only Presider on the ship who secretly terrified her.


    He was very weak whenever he fought against Presiders with powerful techs and how they altered the four dimensions through the Universe''s Energy. But Haresha knew that this Presider was like a weakness to her. Marrho and Render had their own dimensional powers, but Haresha was more invested in her own power that could not be categorized as energy or physical. irvoyants like her were weak against him!


    And what was frustrating was that this Presider didn''t know he was strong. His power was to simply make guesses.


    Although this Presider would definitely lose against Marrho or Render, he could win against Haresha! Haresha was only better than the two as she had found a superior version of each other''s powers. But Porrelom was just too bizarre!


    Haresha followed the enraged cry that traveled hundreds of kilometers.


    Soon, she stood in the distance over a strange, abandoned, small mobile house. It had a small antenna set up on its head, and other than Porrelom, no one else from his team was there.


    Render and Marrho had arrived, and a wraith from that Renkerdis sent.


    Haresha observed from afar and could see that something was above them.


    The eye in the sky was invisible to Render, Marrho, Renkerdis, and Porrelom. It nced at them, and Haresha could only tremble and hope that her power was enough.


    The eye moved and focused on each Presider, but it did not nce in Haresha''s direction!


    "...Did Principal Dormin not notice me in my form? Or is he intentionally tricking, doing it to trick me?" Haresha pondered.


    At that moment, she sensed a strange power that had urred!


    For a brief moment, Haresha could hear the divine words of her Horoscope, but they quickly vanished!


    She turned over to Porrelom to see what was the source of his anger. The attack he created left a mountain-sized crater that even caused the entire ship to tremble.


    "You stupid Vender! Don''t leave like that and tell Be that you don''t love her! Like hell you don''t! And Be! He''s obviously lying!" Porrelom shouted.


    "Is this about the Light and Dark side of the Force? Jedi Master Seeker already told me about that! I don''t care, Vender! Who cares whether your soul is Dark or mine is Light? You can have my soul. I don''t want it without you! Vender! It''s yours already!" Be pleaded.


    Haresha nearly lost her invisible state as she cringed.


    "Why do those Pioneers love this story?!" She nearly cursed out loud as she heard the cringe lines.


    "''You''re not good for me, Be.'' This was Vender''s reply and showed a dark resolve. And then...he leaned closer, and Be thought it would end in a kiss. But as she closed her eyes, she felt a powerful breeze, and when she opened it, he was gone. So tune in tomorrow for the next episode of..."


    "NNNOOOOOOOOO!" Porrelom shouted so angrily and so loud that the metal objects and rocks began to be crushed by the Universe Energy that he created.


    The nearby Presiders had to withdraw as they sensed the pressurepressed onto them.


    "Those two idiots!" Porrelom shouted.


    "What are you doing?" Marrho finally asked.


    Porrelom was surprised that everyone was there.


    "Hm? Even Principal Dormin is here!" Porrelom eximed.


    "What? What nonsense are you talking about?" Render cursed.


    The massive eye above blinked.


    "Oh. Was I wrong? Well... what about Haresha. You''re over there, aren''t you?" Porrelom pointed randomly to the side.


    Haresha froze as Porrelom was pointing directly at her!


    But Haresha remained silent and did not move. This was part of Porrelom''s strange power.


    "Why are you here?" Render asked again.


    "Well, I was trying to figure out the source of the power that''s making me feel... uneasy. Well, making us all uneasy. And not just uneasy. I bet everyone''s got nothing!"


    "Nothing? What do you mean?"


    "I guess your powers are all simr to that of Garenjazz, right? Are you all Fourth Dimensional irvoyants? Although I''ve been guessing your powers, I think you are all at this level, unlike average Preisders who alter the dimensions; you guys can see and hear things from beyond, right?"


    Nobody answered.


    "Whatever. It looks like my guess is wrong. This isn''t the ce where the source of the anomaly is... In any case, I guess till then, we all won''t be able to do much with this happening."


    "You seem awfully calm. We know what the ending will be if we should arise. The Principal will soon devour us."


    "Honestly, I feel like he isn''t as in control as he used to be. I guess that whatever attacked us is hurting him way, way more!" Porrelomughed.


    The eyes above them blinked again.


    Haresha saw it and could not help but gawk in surprise.


    The eyes quickly turned and nced at Haresha!


    Haresha stood perfectly still. The eye in the sky turned to her and focused its gaze for a time but then slowly began to trail off.


    "He didn''t see me!" Haresha sighed but kept herself as stiff as a rock. Nothing on any dimensions was moving. She even stopped her blood from flowing, and even in her current form, she was dying as everything stopped.


    Slowly, the eye began to fade away, and Haresha was quickly moving back as the Presiders continued to discuss.


    But Porrelom frowned and raised his hand to attack a certain direction.


    BOOM!


    The sudden explosion rippled out and was as strong as Earth''s tactical nuclear weapons that were close to beingbeled as Weapons of Mass Destruction.


    Porrelom saw the crater and found nothing.


    "What are you doing?!" Renkerdis shouted. He was not used to Porrelom''s entric behaviors.


    "Ugh. This strange power is really doing a number on me! Consecutive wrong guesses!" Porrelom thought to himself and did not answer the rest and left by activating a teleportation tech.


    No one bothered to stop him as they all went their own way.


    At that moment, the team of Seeker was racing with great speed.


    This was their chance. Render was no longer moving and had been distracted, allowing them to make their way into another Presider in the second level, which was thought dead.


    Lennox and Rai were not present inside the ship as they were moving in their own direction, ording to predictions of Cecilia.


    Seeker nced at Vender.


    "Are you alright now?"


    "...Yeah. Thanks. I don''t understand what happened." Vender answered.


    "Are you sure you are alright?" Lowengren asked again.


    "I''m positive," Vender answered.


    "...He''s not alright," Guinevere spoke as she continued to pilot the ship. She could feel it. Everyone else also could.


    Vender was acting normal!


    And that meant that his power that was causing a distortion had vanished!

 Chapter 616 Fulfillment of the Horoscope

    616 Fulfillment of the Horoscope


    It was rming.


    Vender was not doing any of his entric things. He was not saying anything out of the ordinary. He was not talking about his favorite shows. He was just sitting there and struggling in pain.


    "We''ll have to see. I''ll try to move my realm within Vender. Lynd and I were able to copy him for a second." Seeker spoke.


    Lynd was lying down close by.


    Lynd had his missions while Seeker was trying to infiltrate Cecilia, and they had sessfully led the Presiders away after saving Ninalet''s rtives.


    He had just fought a great battle against a Presider and managed to escape and meet up with Seeker''s team in their retreat.


    But at the copse of Vender, Lynd had to quickly end the story and imitate the power of Vender.


    Seeker also helped, but the two of them received a tremendous bacsh. It was as if their body was not cooperating with them, and every cell wanted to ''go on its own'' to do ''whatever it pleased.'' They held on and continued the broadcast and managed to imitate Vender''s power for a few seconds before Lynd copsed to near exhaustion.


    Seeker spread out his realm, and Lowengren and Harker tried to use the spreading Realm to sense Vender.


    Vender quietly sat down, notining.


    Lowengren and Harker could even feel the ''emptiness'' of Vender. Not a trace of his power remained.


    "This...!" Harker panicked.


    "He''s all out. I can sense it. It''s a strange feeling." Lowengren exined.


    "How can our Path be all out? Is that even possible?" Seeker frowned.


    "In any case, that Presider is strong! And I thought Render would be a challenge." Lowengren was amazed.


    Harker and Gardo were also confused about why Vender''s power was defeated.


    "Who has that power?" Seeker asked Cecilia.


    Cecilia looked confused.


    "What kind of power are we talking about? I don''t exactly understand what''s going on."


    WARP!


    A strange light appeared beyond the ship, and a figure fell down and crashed on the ground.


    "What''s that?" Gardo peeked out.


    "It looks like a girl," Guinevere spoke.


    "Scan her, Guin." Seeker ordered.


    The ship drew closer and used its powers to detect the form of the woman.


    "No Thrones. Is this a Pioneer or a Presider?" Gardo wondered.


    "I can''t detect any power from her simr to the Nefilus suit," Guinevere answered.


    "It could be one that is like Cecilia."


    "I don''t remember anyone like her. And I know all the female Presiders except Haresha."


    "Let''s just take her in. Any information works from now on." Seeker decided.


    Guinevere approached the wounded woman and drew her into the room.


    Haresha could hear faint voices as her body began to recover.


    "Are you alright?" The voice spoke again.


    Haresha couldn''t move as her body was in critical condition. Though her physical body was healed and well to the point that Seeker and the rest were confused why she was still unable to move, the reason was that her real body hadn''t healed yet.


    All traces of her defenses and the form of her Nefilus body used up its energy to heal the core body. But yet, her true form, which included the Nefilus Suit, was very damaged. So it was a miracle and such timing of great luck that she healed exactly all of her Nefilus Suit and deceived the team of Seeker.


    Haresha was confused but recalled what had happened.


    "...Ex...plosion...?" Haresha mumbled


    "She''s alive. I don''t understand why she''s like this. Is she in shock?" Guinevere pondered.


    Through their memories, everyone present could easily act as a licensed doctor with advanced specialization. They were also taught and trained to perform procedures to master this craft.


    "No. It''s the soul. Her soul is incredibly weak."


    "...Then it could have been that a Presider attacked her. Many Presiders here can easily attack the soul. I hear Presider Renkerdis, who was called Enderks on Earth, could do that."


    "Then let me try..." Seeker reached out and held his hand onto Haresha.


    The souls of Seeker acted out and began to add ayer of Soul to Haresha.


    Haresha sensed the two souls.


    "...Gemini!" Haresha mumbled again. But then she realized she was talking out loud and pretended to mumble strange things.


    But she was starting to feel afraid. Two twin souls had her life up close. She then recalled her Horoscope. This was the twin that she had to be afraid of!


    She was panicking, but her body was too weak.


    "Seeker! I am sensing a Presider moving here!"


    "It''s got to be that Render! He''s not done searching for us yet! Jake! We''ll use your power. Swim down the ground and find us a hiding spot within the mountains! Guinevere, shrink the ship as much as possible!" Seeker ordered.


    As the Unlocked team moved asmanded, Haresha was stunned. She tried to open her eyes and could finally see the room where she was.


    She saw the strange ship dive down and a Throne glowing as many others were passing on their power to him.


    Jake led the ship to dive down into the ground, and they began to swim through the soil.


    "...Pisces. My future..." Haresha mumbled again, but no one cared anymore.


    The massive ship entered the mountains and found a cave within. As the world within the Orbital was naturally forming, even the mountains had caves where everyone could mine. The ship stopped, and Lowengren was using his power.


    "I am a rock. I am a rock!" Lowengren began to chant as Guinevere began to change the formation of the ship.


    Render was moving close by and continued to seek anything that he could attack.


    "First Haresha and then that Porrelom... And here I thought I was getting close to finding the trail!" Render was moving in haste and scanned the location.


    "Somerge Pioneer groups are hidden close to the mountain... And a rock." Render noticed. Render was too blind to notice the peculiarities of his words that he would take notice of a rock.


    But he made the quick decision and attacked the fortress of the Pioneers to find the earthling.


    Haresha was recovering, and she quickly stopped her Nefilus suit from recovering itself.


    She realized that, just like before, her Horoscope had led her to a ce where she really needed to be!


    She went out to stop Render from attacking and moving, which would have kept Seeker''s team in one ce. And when she went out, she found a gathering of the strongest which even included Principal Dormin. But her confidence to stay and listen allowed her to understand the truth that even Principal Dormin was affected by the strange power!


    Though in the end, Perrolom made a guess andnded a powerful at her, she managed to escape.


    Because she was using a powerful invisibility that cleared her of any presence, which included the fourth dimension and the fifth dimension, her Nefilus body was without any defenses. The attack destroyed it and forced the suit to give up its form and hide within the stars of Astrology to slowly grow once the stars are properly aligned.


    "Render has left. It seems he finally... gave up. What happened?"


    "We don''t know. But our issue is fixing Vender. We need his power! It''s possible that Principal Dormin will regain his power and see the future once more!"


    Haresha was amazed. Her eyes were barely open, but she could see the person of concern.


    "That man... is the source that caused everyone''s power to disappear? Vender? Isn''t that the name of the main character in that cheesy love story?!" Haresha was quietly pondering.


    "I... don''t think we have to worry for now," Lynd answered as he weakly sat on his throne.


    "Why?" Seeker asked.


    "I can feel it. Vender''s power is out there. And I can feel that strange power faintly returning. Right now, someone is using Vender''s power. Perhaps it was... the Presider that made that strange dimensional attack."


    Haresha recalled Porrelom''s words. He thought he had found the source of the strange anomaly! Many would have disregarded this, but Haresha knew that Porrelom''s power was dangerous. His guesses were more often right than wrong. It was possible that he somehow found and took in Vender''s power!


    "The Pioneer seems conscious," Guinevere informed.


    Haresha tried to calm down. She recalled the Horoscope. She needed just to stand her ground. Haresha decided. Her efforts these past months after the Presider War was focused on how to survive the Principal''s n to devour them. And now, she had found her ride!

 Chapter 617 Talking with Haresha

    617 Talking with Haresha


    Lennox, Meryl, Lourca, and Madelyne were sent out to infiltrate numerous groups.


    The chaos and wars were the perfect time for them to recruit.


    They went to smaller Pioneer groups and urged them to join them as the chaos on the upper levels of the Orbital had grown worse, and reports that Render was actively eliminating Pioneer groups that were not affiliated to any.


    Lourca and Madelyne used their status as Pioneers to report that they could serve Presider Cecilia.


    Irvana was watching above as she stood on the open ground using her Path.


    She had seen the passage of Render and dared to stand her ground to test the limits of her power.


    Render didn''t notice and continued and vanished on the horizon as he returned to the deeper levels of the Orbital.


    Irvana could only sigh in relief and began to use her version of the Four Forces elerator. Because of the warnings that Dormin gave them, Irvana knew that she could use the normal Four Force elerator, and so Lennox crafted one using Hermes''s powers.


    The wind blew, and Irvana began to fly out. It wasn''t as fast as the Four Force elerator, but it allowed Irvana to travel in the open with minimal chance of getting detected.


    She flew towards the secret ce where Rai and Lennox were, and soon, she undid her invisibility.


    Suddenly, she felt a strange presence and turned around.


    "Rx. It''s just me." Meryl chuckled as she emerged from the light.


    "You... became light?"


    "I''ve been working on it and just perfected it. But if you could see through it, I have more work to do." Meryl chuckled, and the two went down the cave.


    Because of Render''s rampage, Rai had to go out and find Lennox to help them escape through teleportation.


    The team brought Lourca and Madelyne, who were spreading the gospel and recruiting Pioneers to serve Cecilia.


    Many followed as they were terrified of annihtion.


    The group managed to find scattered groups, and twenty-two Pioneers and fifty-six nteds decided to follow.


    There would have been more, but Render killed many groups.


    Irvana arrived and entered through the hole in the mountain where the Pioneers hid. Rai and Lennox used abination of opening the path to the Void Realm and Lennox electrocuting many to pull them inside the mountain where they hid.


    Needless to say, many of the Pioneers and nteds nearly died but were resuscitated inside the cave.


    Irvana and Meryl appeared before Lennox and the group.


    "He''s gone. He retreated for some reason. We can leave now." Irvana reported.


    Lennox nodded and closed his eyes, and began to establish a link with Seeker.


    "Seeker." Lennox only spoke one word fearing that despite his current power to link with Guinevere, his message might be intercepted.


    "Still alive, Lennox?" Seeker chuckled.


    "I take it it''s safe. Yes. We''re alive. We escaped by the skin of our teeth. But instead of an army, we only have seventy-nine volunteers. Of course, Cecilia will appear to be our leader. We told them that it was secretly Cecilia who brought the humans in here through some secret alliance with Haresha. They believe Principal Dormin wants Presiders to rise among Pioneers as his new servants. It''s a simple lie, but it worked." Lennox exined.


    "Alright. We''ll send you the coordinates. Have Rai make a jump here so we can bring the entire ship and jump toward your location."


    "It''s that safe now? Wouldn''t it be better to meet at Cecilia''s fortress?"


    "No. Cecilia already gave the order for the exodus. We have to act fast. Vender''s Path was stolen. Although it seems that it isn''t permanent, we''re all freaking out here. We need to gather. Just tell Rai to make the jump at this location..."


    "Vender''s power was stolen?" Lennox was surprised, but Seeker didn''t answer, and Lennox spoke to Rai.


    Rai made a jump and found the shortcut created as Seeker, and the rest opened another door on their end.


    Lennox ordered the Pioneers to make room, and several secondster, a massive ship appeared out of the cave.


    Therge ship couldn''t actually fit inside the cave, and many parts were superimposed on the ground as Jake''s power allowed it to pass through.


    Cecilia emerged with a makeshift Throne and greeted everyone.


    The Pioneers and nted rejoiced as they saw her.


    Lowengren stood next to her and was speaking on her behalf.


    Everyone else had gathered inside the body of the girl.


    Taking care of the body was Ninalet.


    Haresha appeared to be in pain and was twitching now and then.


    Lennox saw Vender, and he was unusually quiet.


    "We better make haste. And our ns have to change now with this vital information. Can paths be stolen? That''s something we all need to prepare for. We might need to find a way tomunicate back to Earth and warn everyone." Seeker spoke.


    "How will we warn them?"


    "We''ve recorded Vender talking."


    "...? And?" Lennox was confused.


    "We''ll you should hear it." Seeker yed the tape.


    "You want me to send a message to Earth? Alright. Um... Honey. I hope you guys are ok. I don''t think I can say anything more but to assure you that I''m fine. Please keep safe. You and our daughter. I love you both. See you soon."


    Lennox trembled as he heard this.


    "He''s talking... normally!" Lennox was shocked.


    "Yes. This is the perfect message. No one will understand it and will think that there is encryption. The full clip features Harker and Lowengren also talking and prompting him. This will assure us that everyone here would waste efforts to decipher it. We''ve already made ns with Cecilia to use her broadcasting stations to send the ping. We just send it to the moon. Also, there''s something you need to look at." Seeker led Lennox over to the girl.


    "She''s fully healed but not critically injured," Lennox exined.


    "Yes. My soul has healed her by a bit. But it would take a lot to heal her."


    "How is her soul?"


    "It seems alright. But whatever she got, it''s real. She can''t really speak. She can only open her eyes and mumble a few words every now and then. We tried electrocuting her and burning her to see if she would scream. Either she has an impossibly high pain tolerance that would make put Meng or Ceasar to shame, or she really is incapable of screaming."


    "Burning and electrocuting?" Lennox turned to the rest.


    "...I protested. Don''t look at me." Cliff shrugged.


    "Why are you so close to her?" Lennox asked Ninalet.


    "I..." Ninalet was caught off guard.


    "Same eye color." Seeker answered.


    "What?" Ninalet was surprised.


    "You two have the same eye color, right? I''m guessing it means something?" Seeker asked.


    "Oh? You hid it well." Lourca arrived. She moved closer to observe Ninalet.


    Haresha''s eyes had no contacts to hide her eyes. It had a faint pink color around the iris.


    "A Babelian Descendant." Madelyne added.


    "...Yes," Ninalet confessed.


    "Is that a bad thing?" Seeker asked.


    "More or less. Babelians have fled Aragar and hidden among the stars and. We tend to treat them badly because of their heritage. Though some Babelians have vowed to be Presiders, the many wars that led to betrayals made most Pioneers and nteds view them with great contempt."


    "Rx, Ninalet. We may call ourselves Presiders, but we''re from Earth. We don''t care. Also, you don''t have to hide it."


    "That sounded very mature, Seeker." Meryl smiled.


    "...Yes. Mature. If only you weren''t burning and electrocuting this Pioneer. Ah, Seeker. Ever the gentleman when dealing with women." Lennox made a sarcastic remark.


    "I had to test it. In any case, we believe that whatever she''s struggling with, it''s something that goes beyond the three dimensions. So I need you to help her talk."


    "...I will send my lightning energy and convert her thoughts into audible data? Is that what you want me to do?" Lennox asked.


    "Yup."


    "So basically electrocution. I guess we have no choice."


    Haresha could hear the discussion and began to weep as her body brought out tears.


    "She''s crying." Jake pointed out.


    "Oh boo hoo. Lennox. Fry her." Seeker ordered.


    ZAP!


    "YOU MONSTER! MOTHER FRAGMENT! STOP!" The voice of Haresha was heard through the speakers as Haresha began to scream.


    "Oh, great! You can talk! Alright, Lennox. You can stop hurting her."


    Suddenly, the electric attack vanished, and Haresha''s body was no longer in pain, even as Lennox had his hand over her.


    "I... can talk?"


    "Yes. It''s Lennox powers. Neat, huh?"


    "You monster! You could have done this without hurting me!"


    "Well, I wanted to know whether you were trying your best to talk to us. Now we have proven that you''ve been trying to but can''t." Seeker answered tly.


    "In any case... Yourck of confusion proves that you have been listening to our discussion for a while and know we are Earthlings. So tell me one good reason why we shouldn''t kill you?" Seeker asked.


    "I''m a Pioneer, and I saw the attack that made that Vender guy like that!" Haresha quickly spoke.


    "Just the information we need!" Seeker smiled.


    "Cecilia. Get back here." Seeker ordered.


    Cecilia moved back while Lowengren brought all the Pioneers and nteds inside the ship.


    "Continue." Seeker ordered Haresha.


    "...It''s Presider Porrelom. A Presider that I used to serve. He''s... very powerful." Haresha began.


    "He is?" Cecilia sneered and thenughed.


    "She''s lying." Cecilia argued.


    "Um... If I may..." Ninalet began.


    Haresha tried to keep her thoughts in check. She had recognized her when she arrived on the ship. And she plotted to use Ninalet!


    "She is probably right. From my experience, Presider Porrelom is very strong."

 Chapter 618 Porrelom’s Strength

    618 Porrelom¡¯s Strength


    Haresha''s original power of Horoscope allowed her to see beyond the three dimensions. But soon, she noticed one thing many couldn''t understand or divine among Presiders. Principals would never be so open, and no one within Aragar had developed the power of Horoscope. She would be the first.


    The power was very random, but it always gave Haresha an edge over many. With this, she led her army to fight against Mid-Tiers and Top-Tiers and gained great benefits. Two Presiders had fallen, and their thrones and Nefilus Suits were captured by her and were being studied. While it would have been impossible for most, she could, through Horoscope and acquire several of the most useful techs and powers these Presiders have.


    It was rumored that she was a Devourer like the Pig Five, but in reality, she could draw out the power depending on the formation of the stars. She named her power the Zodiac Wielder; with it, she would wield the power of the Presiders she slew who matched the Zodiac signs.


    Ninalet had served Presider Haresha and had witnessed her ascension. Haresha knew this, but once saw in her Horoscope how she needed to let go of Ninalet. In truth, she didn''t want to. But the path was clear, and Haresha pretended to be harsh.


    Here, she found the reason. For her to stand her ground, convince Gemini, and have her time with Pisces, she needed to let Ninalet go. Now Ninalet would be the most vital piece to help her keep her ce among the Earthlings!


    "So what is it, exactly? Is Porrelom strong, or is he weak?" Seeker asked.


    Ninalet had a scared expression as Cec was ring at her.


    "She''s lying. Either that or she is uninformed. Porrelom is not strong! How dare you argue with me, Pioneer! And you! What lies do you spout that it was Porrelom who attacked Vender? I was here, and I didn''t see anything!"


    "Cecilia, calm your Throne. Whatever rankings or Caste system you had here is not of my concern. I would value both your inputs." Seeker frowned.


    "God bless democracy." Lourcaughed.


    "Let''s analyze this one at a time. First, tell us what you know and what you mean by Porrelom being strong." Seeker spoke to Ninalet.


    "Presider Haresha. She always avoided Porrelom." Ninalet revealed.


    "How would you know?" Cecilia immediately asks.


    "I served Presider Haresha. I was one of her top Pioneers."


    "...She''s hiding something. Something against Cecilia." Lowengren arrived and made ament.


    "Right." Lynd nodded.


    Ninalet turned red.


    "...It was you! Were you the ones who destroyed my B-Ver?!"


    "...I''m hoping I didn''t hear beaver, the earthly animal often used as a sexual innuendo of women''s private parts." Seeker frowned.


    "My Bio-Virtual Energy Resonator! It was a powerful Throne! I had devoured one other who used this and gained his full power! With it, I could create beings of energy and power ording to my dreams! If my techs allowed it, I could grant these beings special powers!"


    "Ah... B-Ver. Now I understand." Seeker was relieved that Ninalet didn''t destroy Cecilia''s beaver but only destroyed some technology. It would have been awkward for Ninalet and Cecilia to work together if it was the former.


    "That power sounds like the same one that Garenjazz had in that dream world when he dreamt about the strange beings we fought. It was sort of cool." Lynd recalled.


    "Yeah. I bet Garenjazz was working towards gaining this power. That otaku really had some strange imaginations." Seeker agreed.


    "Focus. Ninalet, are you responsible for wrecking Cecilia''s B-Ver?" Lennox directed the conversation.


    "...Yes."


    "...Still sounds wrong." Meryl sighed.


    "Prove it." Cecilia charged.


    "You were fighting Presider ke, who suddenly betrayed you and wanted to eat you. You had faced Marrho''s fight and rushed to help him. You were betrayed, and you fought. Amid the battle, Presider Haresha told us to grab our weapons quickly. We managed to redirect another Presider''s attack, and it destroyed the secondary Throne that followed you." Ninalet recounted.


    "...So it was you. Fine. If you were that Presider, then I shall lend an ear to what you have to say. However, before that, let me voice my reasoning. Presider Porrelom is not found among the future Presiders I see in Dormin''s future. He dies in a very uninteresting manner. From my perspective, he was a Presider that simply survived because no one cared to attack him. He is entric, bizarre, and frankly a waste of resources to attack."


    Seeker turned to the rest.


    "Does that sound familiar?"


    "Vender all the way," Cliff answered.


    "Then he''s strong." Lowengren had a serious expression.


    "Can someone exin to me why that is considered strong?" Cecilia asked.


    "Vender''s power, and perhaps the reason why Haresha is afraid of Porrelom is that she can''t see or perceive what Porrelom is. We''ve already told you that Haresha''s power is an ability to peer out of the three dimensions and see something we can''t. We don''t know what or how... But that''s her power. Porrelom survives a Presider war because he''s entric? Come on. That''s a lousy excuse. It''s his power. He survives because whatever reason made you not interested in him or underestimated him is the very power that he holds. Think logically. Would you attack and kill a Presider no matter how weak he is?"


    "...I would. Cecilia answered.


    "So why didn''t you?" Seeker challenged.


    Cecilia had no answer.


    "From how it sounds, Porrelom has a power simr to Vender. He can disrupt the flow. We have seen the full potential of Vender''s power, and it is this very power that caused Principal Dormin to lose sight of the future. They are beings that can stop the flow of the future. Think chaos made human. Think of them as beings that randomize the dimensions."


    "An entity of Murphy''s Law." Gardo shivered as he recalled his adventures with Vender and how it always turned terrible.


    "Yes. I have a feeling that Dormin saw things differently. Porrelom has such a power that makes him appear so unremarkable yet at the same time very threatening to someone like Haresha who has the ability to peer out of the dimensions and possibly see the future like Principal Dormin." Lennox exined.


    "Random power? That''s very hard to imagine." Cecilia asked.


    "All we can do is make guesses." Seeker sighed.


    Haresha was quiet, but her thoughts were racing. She couldn''t understand Porrelom''s power, but with the hints being spoken out, she had realized something.


    "Guess." The voice of Haresha spoke out once more.


    "Is it possible that those were his powers?" Haresha began to think out loud.


    "Guess?"


    Haresha had to be careful. She had seen Lowengren''s ability to discern lies and believed it could have been some simr power. She had to speak the truth.


    "I heard him... say it always. Presider Porrelom was very open and weird. And every time he would fight, he would make... guesses. Before I was blown away and met you, I saw them all. Presider Renkerdis. Presider Marrho. Even Presider Haresha was there! They were all talking about what Presider Porrelom was doing. He guessed he had found the ce where the power affecting them was. Something about everyone having nothing and how they were all... Fourth Dimension irvoyants."


    "That term! Garenjazz told me about that. So this was what he was ssified to be!" Seeker recalled his private talks with Garenjazz when they had him imprisoned.


    "I get it. All those Presiders went to that ce because the broadcast of Vender affected them all!" Lowengren eximed.


    "I take it she''s telling the truth?" Rai asked suspiciously and asked Lowengren.


    "Yeah. This Pioneer is telling the truth. What''s your name?" Lowengren asked.


    Haresha then spoke truthfully and used her real name. The Babelian name she had.


    "Iezebel."


    At that moment, Seeker gave Haresha a strange look. But Seeker did not say anything.


    Lennox and Rai also had strange shes in their eyes, but Lowengren lied and kept talking, appearing to be not suspicious. Haresha was weak and only had her focus on Lowengren and did not notice the expressions of the rest.


    "Alright, Iezebel. Where were you with Porrelom?" Lowengren asked.


    "We were at a small shack in the middle of nowhere," Haresha answered truthfully.


    "That ce! That''s where we left Vender''s broadcast!" Seeker realized it.


    "What happened?" Lowengren asked.


    "Presider Porrelom was listening to that cheesy broadcast. I felt very irritated."


    "We know. But carry on with your tale."


    "Presider Render arrived. They were talking about it. While they were talking, I was... I was dying. Then I was also blown into a weird world and ended up on the ground until you found me. I thought I was dead." Haresha exined. She spoke truthfully as she had teleported into a strange realm where the stars would guide her.


    "Alright. We have enough evidence. We have to act swiftly. We broadcast with Cecilia''s tools and send a message to Earth. We divide our teams into two. One will move to Render and the other to Porrelom!" Seeker decided.

 Chapter 619 The Prophet of God

    619 The Prophet of God


    Back on Earth, the war between the rising kingdoms went into pause.


    The gigantic Tesseract of a world that breached the three dimensions of the New Jerusalem continued to stand over the region.


    To the West was the mighty Gro-Roman Empire, which was now a world of forming metals. Even the seas changed into metal as the strange living being continued to grow out.


    Often, the nations wouldunch attacks on the growing metal weeds to stop them from spreading.


    But these two superpowers had been constantly bombarded by battles and attacks from the Unlocked army.


    The battles caused growth between both sides. Powerful and intelligent Pioneers had appeared from the constant wars and battles, and some were even gifted by Alexander and Pridgeon with pseudo-thrones and fought against the generals of the Unlocked armies.


    From werewolves to zombies to vampires and even the undead, the two kingdoms managed to resist everything.


    But the most deadly was a recent expedition that forced the Oveers to move as a trap was made by the two kingdoms in their attempts to kill the Unlocked armies harassing.


    The result of the battle was a stalemate. The two Presiders had very little to gain after the battle, but it forced the retreat of the Unlocked.


    Pridgeon and Alexander saw each other after nearly a week of lengthy battles. Finally, in a strange world outside of the three dimensions, both met. Pridgeon hosted the location, and a feast was prepared before them.


    "Our n failed..." Alexander sighed. His appearance was vastly different now as he was surrounded by many metals that were hyper-spheres, tesseracts, and other multi-dimensional shapes that were being reflected on the third dimension.


    "Nice weaponry. I see that you''ve been going all out with your techs. With the cat out of the bag and no Presider in sight, you''re finally letting loose on your developments." Pridgeon smiled.


    "And I see you''ve risen to a shocking extent. I thought you''d remain a weakling since you relied on devouring Crostfree''s technology. But here you are, and you''ve even created a massive structure. It''s like there is a world inside of it."


    "Crostfree already had some wonderful ideas. But he was uninspired. You see, the information about the history of this world is very vital to understanding growth. Crostfree, and perhaps, you, yourself, are simply looking in the wrong direction." Pridgeon smiled.


    "Hmp. So that little Presider''s im was actually that important? I see now. The Primordial left perhaps one of the most important pieces of information. Presiders who chose that im to learn of the history also find very important hints and clues to growing truly powerful. But such a im would be very risky. You be a Low-tier, not even lower. Except for the technology of a Throne, you are simply a Pioneer!"


    "Right. Perhaps the Primordial thought of using that to test many. Who will dare jump to get this info and risk being killed or tortured by Presiders? Even our society teaches that this history is unimportant. But now, even Principals cannot im it as that option is only avable during the first im!"


    "I apud you for such courage. Your survival now truly isn''t luck. You simply surpassed others as a Conqueror. In any case, why have you called me? I thought that our little alliance was over?"


    "It seems that the army of the Lost Primordial has infiltrated our ship. I created a ry of ships by causing the three dimensions to copse, and I received a broadcast from theing Orbital. Surprisingly, the infiltration worked. This means that Principal Dormin allowed them on the ship. But... there is a recording that I want you to hear..." Pridgeon snapped his finger, and the world began to y out the recording.


    "You want me to send a message to Earth? Alright. Um... Honey. I hope you guys are ok. I don''t think I can say anything more but assure you I''m fine. Please keep safe. You and our daughter. I love you both. See you soon. What? Add more? Who will I talk to? And won''t I be giving information if I''m not careful? A yo mama joke? Now not the time for that!"


    Alexander listened to the strange recording, and somewhere halfway, he motioned to stop the audio.


    "That was the message? It didn''t mean anything. I tried to decrypt it using whatever means I had, but none showed anything other than what that call meant. This means the call itself was either a sign or a message that only leaders of the Lost Primordial''s army knew. It could be a simple message that means ''we''re alright'' or ''we''re dead.''"


    "But the fact that they were able to send this message, and from what I can decipher, the sender, whoever he is, is very calm. He isn''t worried at all. I would consider that he was drugged, but this shows that they are in a good position to make a broadcast and are not hindered by the other Presiders."


    "I already know of this. What is it that you want to say?" Alexander asked impatiently.


    "Like you, Crostfree was not a regr Presider. He was, as Garenjazz puts it, the Presider that Prime Defiant wanted to invest in.


    Alexander nearly stood up in the news. He knew that Prime Defiant''s incarnation of Marrho was currently one of the best of Presiders. But he didn''t know that there was another!


    "Marrhomunicated to this ship. He knew that Crostfree was dead and I killed him, but he used his link to update me and ask me things about the Earth Presiders."


    Alexander''s expression turned serious.


    "I see this information has piqued your interest." Pridgeon chuckled.


    "What do you want?"


    "Information. Information about Principals and what power they hold differently to us Presiders. You may not have it, but you know of it. If you give me this information, I''d be d to share what Marrho told me."


    "Principals are born when we achieve Dimensional Upholding. You know that this means the ability to wield the dimensions as you, please. Top Tier Presiders are naturally able to do this, but Top Tiers like Garenjazz have something else that made them Presiders that could surpass many Principals. They could already touch on something that only Principals can see. A fifth dimension. When you master and can wield the three dimensions, it means you are already a fourth-dimensional being. As a Fourth Dimensional being, the challenge is to interact with the higher dimension. But the fifth dimension is a veryplicated dimension. There is a universal dimension that is essible to all. Two forces exist in this dimension that dictates the life of a person. Fate pushes a person to be headed in a certain direction, as a writer of a story would direct situations and scenarios that propel the main character in this direction. The other is Destiny. It is a fixed point that works either with or against Fate. It''s like an author who has already set that a character would die at a certain point in that story. Unlike Fate, the forces that affect this character''s life draw only when he is close to his destination. In short, Fate is pointing to a direction, while Destiny is a fixed destination."


    "Wow. That was surprisingly helpful!" Pridgeonughed in glee.


    "But there are other factors, other lenses if you will, on how you can see through Fate and Destiny. But generally speaking, even the weakest of Principals would have the ability to see the future far better than we can. Principals battle against the future and toy with these two power."


    "...Ah. So that''s what Marrho meant."


    "Of course, to achieve that, we have to change our being. We are only three-dimensional beings, and even if I am an incarnation of a Principal, my current body cannot ess that. Now tell me what Marrho said."


    "Well, that whole thing that you just exined, the power of a Principal, it seems that the people of Earth have found a way to break that power and stop it. All the Top Tiers are affected. Whatever power they had, simr to Garenjazz''s luck, is affected." Pridgeon revealed his end of the bargain.


    But surprisingly, Alexander was not all that shocked.


    He had a serious expression but did not voice out or ask any questions.


    "You''re not that surprised? I thought you''d be shocked that something can actually stop a Principal''s power!"


    "What Fate and Destiny have nned, a word of a prophet is all it takes to foil it. It means Earth has Prophets."


    "...I told you enough information. You''d do well to share, Alexander."


    "A prophet has not existed for a long, long time. It was what caused the long wars that spanned several thousands of years. A history hidden in secret and even kept from the knowledge of those born after them. I know since my true body was there when he arrived."


    "Who arrived?"


    "One of the beings that appeared from the highest dimension of them all. The dimension where the Primordial wants to enter. He appeared and spoke but a mere word. Fight. And all of them, the Babelians and those that would make up Aragar, fought a long war until it was finally united back by the Primordial. The man who told us all to fight left a warning. Prophets like him would be born soon. And they will challenge everything. Pridgeon. The battle on Earth will be a very deadly one. But it also allows us to take advantage of the situation and be Principals. For the Principal will be weak!"


    "Can you at least tell me who was that being that appeared?"


    "He served the one that defeated the Nefilus Beast. Khanok was his name!"

 Chapter 620 The Blinded Principal

    620 The Blinded Principal


    The revtion of Khanok astounded Pridgeon. But he kept quiet. He had learned of the history before the wars that urred in Aragar. He knew what had urred even when the was still called New Babel.


    By this, Pridgeon could already name the Earthling that appeared.


    Alexander was excited. His incarnation, known as "Lanterk," now had hoped to surpass the rest.


    "I''ll tell you the truth, Pridgeon; my other incarnations had already told me my future. Well, our future. The truth is, we are fated to die." Alexander revealed.


    "Die?"


    "Yes. As it stands, Principal Dormin would be the ultimate winner. All Presiders who fight here, including the Earthlings, are doomed to die. My other incarnations have lost a battle against Dormin for all his advantages. We cannot arrive until he devours all who remain here."


    Pridgeon''s expression turned serious.


    "I see... So that''s how it is... I''m still not strong enough. But I guess this was expected if I fight against someone who sees the future."


    "And now that future is shaken. Pridgeon. We have a shot at changing the future that the Principal saw! From here out, we will Conquer on our own. But, so that I will Conquer, I will tell you one piece of advice that you could heed to break free from the chain of events that Principal Dormin saw."


    "And what''s that?"


    "With his vision of the future blocked, it means anything we do base on this knowledge can greatly affect our future. The Principal is strong and should have seen numerous futures and possibilities. The Fifth dimension does not offer one future, but the possibilities of futures guided by another power known as Destiny with its fixed point. But now that it''s gone, we can change this future and cancel out everything he saw. And to do that, break free from all that is expected that you should do."


    "Break free? How?"


    "Do something you would never do. As for me, I will offer an olive branch and make trade deals with the Earthlings! Think big, think small. Make whatever actions you think won''t ever happen. When the Principal arrives with his Orbital and sees Earth vastly different than he envisioned, he will grow cautious and tense. This may reveal his weakness! I leave that wisdom to you, Pridgeon. Do what you think is best to escape it. Know that more than a hundred, maybe even a thousand, the possibility of your future has been seen!"


    Alexander spoke, and he was no more as his figure began to warp out. All that remained was a metal statue of himself.


    Pridgeon was startled and began to think.


    He needed to do something very different, and whatever he should do must create a rippling effect to his benefit!


    "The best thing I can do is do something that will shock the Principal even more. If he sees me act outside his vision, things will change. The Presiders of Earth must have sent this message from the Orbital, and for some reason, it was not blocked or hindered. This means they have some protection or have snuck in from the orbital and are difficult to find. If this is the case, I could use Earth''s devices to send a signal which the Orbital would receive, and everyone would see it..." Pridgeon calcted.


    "Lanterk would risk trusting these Earthlings even after such great losses we faced. But I would not dare to do it! And there is... that man! That man who I have found to be the source of my many problems! The one that led me by my nose! I know he is there in the Orbital! His skills of trickery, deceit, and lies will surely cause chaos there! Then I will tell them all of his presence! Lowengren! I''ll pay you back for sending me on that wild goose chase and pretending to be that demon!" Pridgeon raged. He had already gathered plenty of information as the revtion of Seeker and the rest of the Lost Primordial''s army urred.


    "Then it''s time to pay back! But... I must make Principal Dormin even more worried! If he sees me, who is from Earth, do something far beyond his expectations, then he might grow restless! Lowengren! This is my time to give you my revenge!" Pridgeon vowed.


    Meanwhile, on the moon, the gathering of the Unlocked army''s strongest teams was once more in ce. The summit was to decide and add new rankings to the Oveers, World Champions, and Ranked Heroes, as well as for each army to ask for Charles to grant certain members drugs that could further increase the stage or level of the Unlocked.


    The only ones who were not in attendance were Alean and Zeraphine.


    Techs were also being discussed as to what weapon would be needed to be crafted for the building of equipment that would be granted to members who were worthy.


    Vender''s daughter became the youngest person to reveal a Ranked Hero''s capability. Though she was at the lowest level and was not officially recorded to the Ranked Heroes, she was already being trained by Ranked Heroes and even Oveers.


    But this meeting was paused as Arthur met with the leaders and listened to the broadcast sent by Vender.


    "So... yeah. I guess that''s it. I really don''t know what else to say. To Arthur? Um... I don''t know what to say to him. Can we just... cut this off?" The transmission ended.


    "What happened to Vender?!" Richie shouted in surprise.


    "His Path... it was gone!"


    "That''s possible?! Our Paths can be removed?" Rosa frowned.


    Lioncourt was also amazed.


    "This is bizarre! But based on this transmission, only Vender was affected. Otherwise, they would have made Vender say there are ''two more'' or something..." Nogard added.


    "It means that Vender must have been caught in some attack... This is dangerous. But I''m sure the Principal is in charge."


    Arthur suddenly nced at the space above.


    "Strange. The math is changing. Something''sing." Arthur stood up, and so did the rest.


    A strange portal opened over the moon, and Lanterk appeared carrying a white g. He didn''t have his throne.


    "Hey! That''s Lanterk!" Danny identified the man.


    "Let''s go see what he wants then." Richie quickly moved.


    The strongest of the Unlocked army paraded itself against the lone Alexander.


    "What brings you here to our little gathering? I hope you''re not too dumb to think that you can attack us and win so easily?" Richie''s voice boomed out and reached Alexander.


    "No. I am here to ask to trade with you and offer congrattions." Alexander smiled.


    Everyone was quiet.


    "What do you want to trade?" Arthur asked.


    "Oh? It seems you have very little idea as to what is truly going on up there. Trade with me, and I''ll tell you more!" Alexander smiled.


    "What do you want to trade?"


    "Technology, of course. I won''t even ask for what is your own. The techs and information of you acquired from other Presiders will do."


    "...Fine. We ept. But you have to be the first to give-"


    "Your allies have finally managed to blind the Principals. Principals can see the future and a wide range of possibilities, and your friend blinded him. I''m very happy about this. Hence, I came here to celebrate and tell you." Before Lioncourt could negotiate, Alexander already spoke.


    Arthur was quiet and did not reveal his face. Yet this information surprised Arthur. He had easily predicted that his enemies could see the future. But blinding them would greatly increase their chances of winning!


    "Because of your allies there, the Principal is blind! And so, here I am doing what I would not have done in whatever future Principal Dormin did. And maybe, if in his blindness, our trade works out great; I could survive him. Surely, someone among you would have the ability to see the future somewhat? You have bested even Garenjazz and me. I''m sure one or a few among you can see the future."


    Everyone was quiet. They had Arthur and Alean with them, who did what Alexander used them of!


    "Of course, if you refuse the trade, you endanger yourself. For whatever you have now and whatever you may be, the Principal has seen through it all and would surely have measures against it. My information has already changed you, but will that be enough? Trade with me and give me something equal to what I revealed, and our two teams will surpass the vision of Principal Dormin."


    "We ept the trade. We will offer some of the findings we acquired in our infiltration and what we stole from them. And we will also offer a few pieces of information given to us by the Lost Primordial. But I have to ask what you want."


    "A sample of a werewolf''s blood. And I mean that man who is the alpha and father of all."


    "No. Metal werewolves are things that I don''t want to fight up against." Arthur rejected it.


    "Don''t lie to me. I know that these wolves are controlled by the wolf. If I were to create metal werewolves with this, won''t they be under his control? I n to use it against other Presiders."


    "..." Arthur nced at Amir.


    "Do it. I have control over them, as he said."


    Arthur agreed.


    "What else do you want to trade with me?


    But at that moment, a strange broadcast was detected, and everyone could see it.


    "Ah... Is that the n you have set, Pridgeon? I guess that''s a good n." Alexander smiled. But then his smile froze as he saw the broadcast.


    "WHAT THE FRAGMENT?!"


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!