Defiance of the Fall

They might be able to take him down in the end with concentrated focus-fire , but not before he’d killed all of them .

He could become a great asset . He has already shown goodwill with the information crystal , - Asano Kobo said hesitantly .

It’s too dangerous . We can’t have such a person running lose , - the French representative said with a frown .

How would we stop him? He would simply kill us if we tried to interfere , - Johana retorted .

He wouldn’t be an asset if we can’t control him . We would be running the risk of setting up a global network , only for him to swoop in and crown himself king , - the french delegate added .

Is there anything we know about him? You have met him before Thomas . What have you found out? -

We have strong reason to believe he is American , and has some connection to the town Greenworth . It was one of the towns he asked about when he arrived at New Washington the first time , and he immediately rushed there after visiting an information broker , - Thomas began narrating .

Not long after he arrived at Greenworth he massacred the whole leadership of the town and erected a large monolith in a graveyard . Our hypothesis is that the cultivators who took control of Greenworth killed someone close to him , and he killed them all in revenge . Unfortunately , we have no way to find out exactly who were killed by the cultivators .

We have been asking around as much as possible , but information is sparse , and our government workers have some trouble with cooperation as our last representative ruined our reputation a bit . We have also been showing a picture of Monk to citizens of Greenworth in hopes that he would be recognized by someone . Still , we haven’t had any luck .

There is one more morsel of information . I just received a report that Mr . Monk went around asking parties where their cities were located . When he found out that Mr . Bernard’s town was close to the Undead Incursion he tried to broker a deal to use their teleporter . -

How is this important information? - Johana asked .

One of Greenworth’s cultivator groups were dropped off close-by to that location . Mr . Monk might be trying to locate someone important to him that might be in that group , - Thomas said .

You’re saying we should capture his friends or family? - the Japanese delegate asked with a frown . - That seems to be playing with fire . -

For now we should focus on locating them , and from there try to extrapolate Mr . Monk’s identity . We already believe that his town’s name should be named after himself , and that him saying the town is run by a council largely a lie in order to keep his persona hidden . So if we find an Atwood in the cultivator group we can almost identify him for sure , - Thomas said .

And then what? - a delegate asked .

See if we can place or make use of someone close to his inner circle . We would then gain a great asset , both for intelligence , and if needed , covert action . -

I believe he will be instrumental in fighting off the incursions . You all know how bad it looks . If we can push him to the frontlines we would have a far better chance of succeeding , - he added .

And after that? - a delegate asked worriedly .

After that we don’t need that kind of trouble in our backyard , - Johanna said with a steely expression , and Thomas made no efforts to refute her .

I am not sure about this . I want wealth as much as the next guy , but you need to be alive to enjoy it , - Davon said with hesitation .

It will be fine as long as we are careful and plan everything out , - Red retorted with a sneer . - Remember , it wouldn’t be the first ranker we killed . -

Still , that guy looks seems pretty strong . I get the goosebumps just thinking about him . He clobbered those poor bastards like they were just some target practice . Didn’t even break a sweat , -

He isn’t an immortal or god just because he can clobber some people . His head will still explode from a high caliber sniper round . No one is powerful enough to survive the strongest old-world weapons yet , so this is a small window of opportunity before they get too strong . If we shoot a few rounds in a staggered manner no treasure or skill will be able to protect him , -

His companions will be scrambling for safety , giving Ricky the opportunity to snatch the body and disappear , - Dany added .

He easily dropped 6 million on a stupid rock , who knows how much stuff he has in is Cosmos Sack , - Red sed enticingly , and even those hesitating couldn’t help nodding .

We’ll skip the last part of the government stuff , and set up our trap instead . We’ll go with the same setup as the last time , you all know what to do? -

The small group of eight somberly nodded .

Good . In a few hours we’ll be filthy rich . -

Good job standing guard over the boss for so long , - Alea said with a smile as she handed Namys a cup of tea .

It is my duty . Our duty , you would do well to remember . I have seen you cavort with the human . Never forget it was Lord Ogras who brought us out of misery and provided us a place in the multiverse , - Namys tersely responded , but still accepted the cup .

Alea slightly smiled as she sat down next to the scarred demoness in the small gazebo at the outskirts of the town .

I truly miss the crimson skies . Looking up at this endless blue makes me feel that I’m continuously walking through a dream , or that I am stuck in one of Janos’ illusions , - Alea said with a sigh as she took a sip of her own cup .

Lord Ogras will bring us home in glory someday after he’s taken control of this planet . We’ll show Clan Azh’Rezak who their true leader is . Either they will bend the knee or they will perish , - Namys answered , a fanatic sheen glimmering in eyes .

Alea glanced over with some sadness in her eyes and sighed again .

I remember when I was a child in the slums of Ter’Ferizan . My mother was a prostitute , and who knows who my dad is . Mom always resented me since I came in the way of her business as she saw it . - Stole her youth’ she called it . She beat me , abused me , and forced me to beg for food just to survive .

Still I adored her , and I always felt she was the most beautiful person in the world as she donned her beautiful dresses and make-up for work . She was perfect in my eyes , and I was the one in the wrong , - Alea said , her eyes moistening as she looked at her sister of over twenty years .

What are you talking about? Wh . . - Namys asked , her words slurring a bit at the end .

I am talking about the fact that strong emotions such as love or devotion can create an image of reality , even though reality might be different . You see Ogras as the dashing scion of clan Azh’Rezak who once saved you , and will once again reclaim his place as the leader of us demonkind . From there he will walk the time tested path to become a true Arch Demon . -

But haven’t you seen? He’s changed . He’s found solace and happiness as he cut his ties to Clan Azh’Rezak . Returning back home is the last thing on his mind , as this is truly his home now . But you have been walking around trying to get Ilvere and Janos to help you assassinating Lord Zac , unheeding of the fact that you are actually trying to destroy Ogras’ sanctuary . We tried talking you out of it but you were too adamant , - Alea said as she looked sadly on Namys who was slumping down in her chair . - Something needed to be done . -

Wh . . how . . ? Lord Ogras . . avenge… - was the last words that escaped Namys’ mouth as her eyes glazed over and she exhaled her last breath .

The carriage will not move forward if one of the wheels is aligned in the wrong direction , - Alea said , her eyes reddening . - Silly girl , do you think I would kill you unless I was ordered to? -

Chapter 139 - Heaviness

Feels good , doesn’t it? -

Zac was interrupted from his brooding and looked over at the grinning demon . The two were currently sitting in a secluded group of sofas , and the heavy atmosphere kept any curious onlooker far away .

I think I might have shown too much of myself , - Zac said with a sigh .

Zac looked at Ogras for a second and shook his head ruefully .

I have a little sister . I believe I have found her whereabouts , but I am afraid that my identity is exposed , and they will use her to get to me . -

Since the beginning he hadn’t really told the demons anything about himself , and he hadn’t even explained why he wanted to keep going on excursions through the teleporter . He was afraid of the same thing he was now , that someone would use his family to get to him . But he was running out of ideas , and Ogras usually had some methods up his sleeves .

To Zac’s surprise , he saw that the demon had turned uncharacteristically serious as he looked at him .

The Undead Incursion? - Ogras asked with a somber face .

In a town close by , - Zac nodded .

You need to find someone who has a teleporter in the area , - Ogras mused

I did , but there seems to be some problem , - Zac said and retold the conversation with the stocky man .

I think I know what’s going on , but we’ll find out for sure in a bit , - Ogras said . - However , I have an idea that will ensure it doesn’t matter what little schemes those politicians have . -

Oh? - Zac said with some hope .

Ogras took out two glass vials from his pouch and threw them over to Zac .

The black vial contains a poison pill called Ten Steps to Hell] . If ingested the victim will wake up every night with searing pain in his chest , as though as his lungs are on fire . Every night for ten nights the pain will keep getting worse . On the tenth night you will die . It is extremely painful , and only the most skilled E-Ranked healers would be able to treat it . It should be incurable on this baby planet , - Ogras said with a sinister grin .

How does this help me? - Zac frowned .

The other vial contains the antidote , - Ogras explained . - Feed the poison to the man with the portal . Tell him to open the portal in 9 nights . You promise you will give him the antidote when you arrive in his town . If you do or not is up to you . He might try to heal himself , but it will fail . The inevitable pain every night will be a painful reminder to comply unless he wants to die . -

Zac blankly stared down at the two small bottles in his hands , hesitant at what to do . He felt that if he actually went through with this he would be stepping over some sort of threshold , arriving at a place where anything goes . The owner of the town by the undead incursion hadn’t done anything wrong , and this poison sounded like something horrifying to be subjected to .

Then again , it might be his only means to reach his sister . The more he thought about it the more he felt that he had left a trail of breadcrumbs that lead right to his identity . He remembered the feeling of walking through the park filled with unmarked graves , his father’s one of them .

Zac's eyes hardened and he put the two bottles into his pouch , which made a small smile emerge on Ogras’ face . If he had to become a villain to make sure his sister was alright , then so be it .

Thank you . I will use these if I see no other option . What do you want in return? - Zac asked .

He was quite clear about the demon’s personality , where everything was weighted in benefits .

Let’s just say you owe me one , - the demon said with a small smile .

Sigh , fine . Now can you tell me what your actions were about in there? And don’t tell me it was pre-auction joking around again . -

Aren’t you getting more astute? From what I’ve gathered she is an elite from a well-established clan on this world . This Marshall Clan will be one of our biggest competitors for the dominion of Earth , provided we don’t get slaughtered by the invaders or these so-called Dominators , - Ogras said , his face turning serious .

You were busy shrinking away from her glares , so I had to do something . We needed information about her powers and temperament . The returns were above expectations , - he continued .

How was you getting your throat slit and us ruining our relation count as good returns? And I have no interest in world dominion - Zac frowned .

You need to think deeper , because other people are . Even if you say you don’t care , who would believe you? Your very existence is a threat to anyone trying to unify this planet . Unless you stop progressing and become mediocre you will be forced into conflict , no matter what you want , - the demon snorted .

And we gained a lot of information about Thea Marshal . For one , we know she has a bit of a short fuse . She could have just ignored me , but she didn’t . Such a thing can always be exploited in the future . We also know that her family is a liability for her . When I attacked that man she clearly got frantic but tried to hide it under a guise of disdain , - Ogras said .

Zac was surprised , as he’d only seen the exchange as an embarrassing diversion from the auction .

It seems the Marshall clan is quite large , which is a huge liability for a caring powerhouse . Having a large group of weak people to protect acts like an anchor , tying you down . Finally , we learned a bit about her method of attacks , - he concluded .

Oh , you figured out her trick? I couldn’t see what she did at all . - Zac asked .

I’m not completely sure , but I know for certain that it was a bladed attack . I’ve been cut enough times by various things to know the difference between a Dao , skill , and blade-cut . My belief is that she has one or multiple hovering bladed weapons out around her at all times , - he concluded .

You remember Rydel , that asshole? I think she’s doing the same thing with a sword or a few daggers , but through either the properties of the weapons themselves or through a skill they become invisible . She’s essentially creating a field of death around her , where a strike can come at any time . Quite a good method . A shame I wasn’t able to gauge her range , - Ogras concluded with a sigh .

Zac was stunned . Earlier he really regretted bringing the demon along , but by now he felt quite thankful that he actually did . He did not only provide a last-resort solution to get to Kenzie , he even helped him realize his mistakes as he scouted out his enemies .

What about almost kidnapping the movie star? Was that you wanting to gauge someone else’s reactions? - Zac changed the subject .

No that was just for me , - the demon said with a grin . - I haven’t given up yet , you should know . We should go rampage a bit , kill a few people . When she sees our powers she’ll be much more willing to come back with us . -

Zac snorted but didn’t say anything . He didn’t know why , but like the demon was a bit on edge about something since he left his seclusion . Perhaps his gains weren’t as good as he’d hoped , and he was a bit antsy . He’d explained his reasoning for accosting Thea , but at the same time it felt like the demon was simply trying to create trouble to take his mind off of other things .

It wasn’t the time to start digging into those murky waters . If it was related to the demon’s cultivation he would never be truthful , and they were neither close enough or drunk enough to have any sort of heart-to-heart about anything troubling . Besides , the demon wasn’t the only one with problems .

Various troubles and issues were whirling through Zac’s head as he closed his eyes for a bit as he lay back in the sofa . There was the issue of Port Atwood , how to ensure the safety and progress of his emerging island kingdom . The third wave was coming as well , and he still had no idea what he could expect .

There was the issue of New Washington and their shrewd politicians . It felt as though the situation was getting out of hand , and a schism was forming between himself and his fellow humans . He even felt more comfortable around demons and the Zhix ambassador than his own old countrymen by this point .

There was also the heaviest responsibility of finding Kenzie . The feeling as he stood in front of the newly erected gravestone was etched into his memory , and he would rather die than not live up to the promise .

The issues of the Incursions and Dominators were also a constant buzzing in the back of his head . Any other issues like those of Port Atwood , or even finding Kenzie , was all for naught unless something was done about these enemies . Time was running out and unless something changed the invaders would soon be too powerful to handle .

Felt he was weighted down by a mountain of responsibilities , and heaviness shrouded his mind . However , suddenly it was as though various scattered thoughts and impressions crystallized , and ordered themselves up into something structured .

Zac fell into a trance as he somehow felt connected to the universe . He’d pondered daily on the various facets of heaviness lately , and now it was as though the universe suddenly was showing him the answer sheet . His current emotions were actually represented in a small section of something far greater , and in another corner he sensed his original insights .

The Dao of Heaviness was a low tiered Dao , or a foundational Dao as Alyn called it , but the vastness of that he sensed was extraordinary . He desperately tried to imprint the impression of it , but it was as though almost all of it slipped through his fingers . He managed to absorb some small snippets that were related to the emotional heaviness that he’d felt lately at least , and it seamlessly integrated into the fractal axe in his mind .

The dark color of the Heaviness-imbued half of the axe got deeper , and it radiated a stronger aura than before . Still , it was nowhere near the vastness he just felt .

He opened his eyes , only to see Ogras’ face plastered just centimeters from him .

What the hell are you doing? - Zac asked with some trepidation .

God damn it , did you just have an epiphany? Just disgusting , - Ogras said with a frown as he moved back , and even the little merchant who had appeared from nowere sitting closeby threw an envious glance at him .

Why were you so close that you almost straddled me though? - Zac asked with a weird look .

Don’t flatter yourself . I was trying to sense anything to get some hints of how to get an epiphany of my own . Since your Dao Seeds are low leveled I needed to get closer to sense the fluctuations , - the demon spat .

Did you find out anything? - Zac asked curiously .

No , it was just a chaotic jumble . No idea how to get anything useful from that , - the demon answered with a grimace .

So , what did you upgrade? -

Zac didn’t answer , instead opening his menu with a smile .

Chapter 140 - Dao Seeds

He let the demon stay curious as he looked at his current status .

Name

Zachary Atwood

Level

54

Class

Hatchetman (F)

Race

Human (E)

Alignment

Human (Earth)

Titles

Born for Carnage , Ultimate Reaper , Luck of the Draw , Giantsbane , Disciple of David , Overpowered , Slayer of Leviathans , Adventurer , Demon Slayer I , Full of Class , Rarified Being , Trailblazer , Child of Dao , The Big 500 , Planetary Aegis , One Against Many , Butcher

Dao

Seed of Heaviness - Middle , Seed of Trees - Early , Seed of Sharpness - Early

Strength

287

Dexterity

144

Endurance

187

Vitality

109

Intelligence

69

Wisdom

64

Luck

77

Free Points

0

Nexus Coins

308 353

Zac could only grimace as he saw his Nexus Coins . He had felt extremely wealthy when he possessed over twenty million coins and went to buy the four Creator vessels , but in just a few hours he’d spent around 17 million with the help of the insatiable little merchant . He couldn’t help but glare at the Sky Gnome , who studiously examined the roof after seeing Zac’s face .

Zac knew that he would benefit from it in the end unless the gnome messed up badly , but it still left a bad taste in his mouth . Together with the expenditure of the boats he was almost completely tapped out . Of course , he could convert some of his Nexus Crystals to quickly gain back what he spent and more , so he wasn’t too worried .

Next , he opened up his Dao window to see how it looked .

Heaviness Middle Strength +15 , Endurance +10 , Wisdom +5

Sharpness Early Dexterity +10 , Intelligence +5

Trees Early Endurance +5 , Vitality +10

The total attribute reward from the Dao Seed had only doubled but he knew that would be the case , so he wasn’t disappointed . The reward would keep doubling at Late , then Peak Mastery . Finally it would get a large boost if it was evolved or fused . This time he was given +5 Strength , +5 Endurance and +5 Wisdom , likely due to the psychological aspect of the heaviness he gained insight into .

Then again , the extra attributes were only a small bonus from the system . The main boosts came from the usage in battle . Adding the force of a middle-ranked Dao Seed compared to an early would be quite a boost .

And that wasn’t even all . Zac looked over at the demon and with a small smile unleashed his Dao .

Urh… What the hell? - Ogras said , with a face looking like he’d just bitten into a lemon . - What’s up with your Dao of Heaviness? -

It was the Dao Field he finally was able to emit . It looked like he could only extend it a bit over two meters , but that would improve with time . At the same time , two meters was all that was needed in a melee confrontation .

I just added the aspect of Heaviness I gained from my insights , - Zac said .

So weird . You chose emotional heaviness? Don’t get too maudlin and go killing yourself , ok? But I have to admit it is a pretty interesting addition to your Dao Seed . It will even serve as a mental attack apart from a normal restriction if you hit someone with your Dao Field in the middle of battle , - Ogras mused .

Everyone’s Dao Seeds weren’t the same . Even if Heaviness was a low tiered Seed it was a vast concept . Zac had clearly felt it during his epiphany , and his current seed only consisted of two small snippets of a larger whole . The two parts he had gained insights into created his unique Dao Seed . A peak Seed was only a couple of more parts added to his current insight .

If he wanted to delve further into that Dao he would have to upgrade it from a seed to a real Dao Path . He wasn’t sure whether he would do that though , or try to fuse it with sharpness at an earlier point . All in all , there was no right or wrong path when it came to Dao , only suitable and unsuitable .

Of course , if you were following a heritage guide there would be a wrong and right choice . Sometimes one or two parts of the Dao Seed usually needed to correspond to the requirement for the Class upgrade , with the remaining ones enabling some customization to personal preference .

Apparently , there were even more stringent classes though , where all parts needed to match . Generally , the more specific classes and the higher rarity ones had more stringent requirements , whereas the common classes were more forgiving .

In Zac’s case there was no roadmap , and he could only hope that there was some Class waiting for him at the end of the tunnel . If not he would have to take some risks to rack up achievements or meditate in order to gain more insight into his Daos or gain new ones .

Zac simply followed his heart , as he had no real way to gauge what any potential Class upgrade would require . He gained insight into a mental component of heaviness through his harsh experiences , and that was what was added . If he kept going down that path he might turn into a spectral axeman instead , whose strikes cleaved souls rather than the physical bodies .

Suddenly he noticed something was off . Only their small group was sitting in the sofas , as the rest of the venue was empty .

What’s going on? How long was I out? -

I don’t know? An hour? - Ogras shrugged . - They started their information meeting not long after you Zoned out . Since you were out of it the insect and the old man went inside . We figured they’d be safe after your little outburst earlier , so we stayed behind here . Not like those guys will tell us anything we didn’t already know . -

Calrin nodded , looking a bit bored .

So how did it go , did you finish your quest? - Zac asked , a flash of irritation once again rushing through his mind as he was reminded of his almost completely emptied bank account .

I need to resell the items first , but I believe I will make it . The quest was for me to triple my… ehm , your… money , and I believe that will be possible . Depending on the skills of your demon craftsmen it might get even higher , but they don’t seem very skilled , - Calrin said looking a bit proud .

What are you smiling for? Rob me like that again and you better never leave your ratty compound again or I’ll find you and show you the Thousand Tortures , - Ogras snarled .

Brutes , - Calrin only muttered , but he still shrunk down a bit .

I will need my Nexus Coins back before the wave starts . You have three days , - Zac only said .

30% . I can return 30% before the wave , any more than that and I’ll be forced to sell at a discount , which will hurt both you and me . -

Zac only stared at him for a while before sighing .

50% . Not a penny less . -

The Sky Gnome hemmed and hawed , but Zac was adamant about that level , and finally the little merchant could only acquiesce .

Zac once again closed his eyes after some more small talk , wanting to acquaint himself better with his new and improved Seed . He was eager to find out whether his guidance system from Axe Mastery] would be able to adapt to the new aspect of his insights , but now was not the time to start swinging his axe around . He could see the pathways , but others could not , so it would look like he had gone insane and started to attack everything around him .

The sound door of the doors opening to the venue woke Zac up from his meditation , and after a bit he saw Sap Trang and Ibtep hurry back toward them .

Ah it’s good you feel better , - Mr . Trang said as he looked relieved .

Better? - Zac said with some confusion .

Ah yes , I told you not to drink that much . Passing out with your attributes , embarrassing , - Ogras said with a shake of his head .

It seemed the two were putting up a play , but for who Zac had no idea , still he could only play along and hesitantly nod .

Was there any useful information? - Zac asked Mr . Trang .

Not much , most of it came from us , to be honest . They have released an updated version of the computer program you showed me the other day . It more clearly shows the Incursion zones . They also provided a decent amount of detail about each and every Incursion , and even provided dockets , - the fisherman answered , showing a pretty thick stack of papers .

They also brought up new information from Ibtep . However , though they didn’t mention you at all . They only said that an ally of the government had provided the info . They never gave Port Atwood any credit , - he said with a frown .

That’s okay , i didn’t share it to gain anything from it . I simply wanted people to be aware of the situation , so they could start preparing themselves , - Zac said with a wave of his hand .

You should be a bit more caring in the future . That information was valuable , and it would have helped boost our reputation . While it might not seem important , but the image the commoners hold of us might become essential in the future . If we come to conflict with the World Government , what then? Whose side would the people take? The government who , at least from the looks of it , tirelessly is fighting against the invaders? Or us , the unknown force? - Ogras said .

Ok , ok . I’ll be more selfish the next time . Was there anything else? Did they talk about the teleporters or anything like that? - Zac asked .

No , but it seems they have some big plan , they alluded to it multiple times during the presentation . I think they’ll tell us more in the last part . -

Zac nodded as he looked at the three aliens in the party .

I’ll go to the last meeting , you stay with these three , Mr . Trang . There are a few Ishiate who will come with us back , please arrange things with them . They are actually cultivators originally from one of the two towns we found and might be a great help in bringing them into our fold . -

Soon the break was over , and people once again streamed into the venue . This time it was only the humans , and Zac saw the Ishiate being shown to a side-area by some attendants .

He went to his original position and nodded to Nigel who sat beside a snoring Billy . He looked over at the Marshals , but the trio was pointedly ignoring him this time . He wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or peeved but simply shrugged it off . Ogras’ lesson was still fresh in his mind , but he knew he still didn’t possess the means to act and talk in a manner that gave away no information . So he was happy being left alone .

Thomas Fisher walked up to the stage with his group , and the murmurs in the venue died down .

Welcome back to the last segment of today’s activities , and perhaps the most important one . Those here today are a significant portion of the world’s elite , with over twenty of the rankers present in this room , - Thomas said , creating some surprised murmurs .

Humans are beset on all fronts by enemies . And let me be honest . They are stronger than us , they are more used to Cosmic Energy , and they are more brutal . In less than half a year only twenty percent of humanity is still alive , and it honestly looks bleak . But we are not without hope .

A large reason why the invaders can run rampant is that there haven’t been concentrated and organized efforts in rebuffing them . The local forces have fought valiantly , but they have stood alone against a vastly superior force . Too many brave men and women have already died in this ignoble way .

The solution is simple . We need to unite and fight as one entity . Alone we might be weak , but together we will stand strong . And we have found a way to make this happen . -

Chapter 141 - Forming Factions

Zac frowned as he listened to Thomas’ speech . While the words sounded good it felt to him that it wasn’t that simple .

Why don’t you just drop a few nukes on the Incursions? It’s better we get some radiation than having to risk our lives , - a man in the back row shouted , and many seemed to agree by the nods .

Honestly that was our first thought , - Thomas said with a sigh . - Better we create no-go blast zones than having people get slaughtered or turned into Zombies . But soon after the integration happened we made a troubling discovery . All our weapons of mass destruction , and most of our high capacity arsenals are simply… Gone . -

WHAT? - multiple shouts erupted in the hall , many looked fearfully at each other .

Zac was surprised at the news , but not overly so . He had the same idea as the man who shouted earlier , but if they hadn’t dropped the nukes even after billions of people died , they simply weren’t able to . Seeing as the system wanted a struggle to create powerhouses it didn’t make sense for it to leave behind technological weapons that simply erased all struggle . A nuke at every incursion in the beginning would swiftly have ended the invasions after all .

He also noticed that while some seemed shocked , many took the news with stride . It obviously wasn’t a too tightly guarded secret .

All nukes , chemical warfare and high capacity bombs are gone . Most of our airplanes , carriers , and battleships are gone as well . They weren’t stolen or destroyed , but simply removed . We are quite sure it is the doing of the System itself , as even any reference to an atom bomb is removed from all computers and even books . If you find an encyclopedia you’ll notice that there is just a blank space in the pages where the restricted information once was . -

Even Zac was shocked this time , once again reminded just how powerful the system was . To remove even any mention of the things it didn’t like was a horrifying capacity . However , they were still all talking about it , so hopefully it meant that the System at least couldn’t alter memories .

To make matters worse , we can’t build them . We are not allowed . An atomic bomb is not an extremely complicated thing , and many of our scientists are able to construct them . But as soon as we make some headway the prototypes vanish out of thin air , - Thomas added . - In essence , the System wants us to fight with our own hands . -

Many in the room looked despondent . Clearly they had hoped the government would solve the problems for them , and perhaps that something was just holding them up . But Thomas Fischer’s declaration dashed any such hope . Obviously rifles and hand-guns were still around , but their efficacy was limited .

But do not worry , we have a plan . - Thomas said , brining back the attention to him .

We have representatives present from all corners of the world , meaning we have the means to quickly travel and assist everyone , no matter where they are . However , this doesn’t happen in practice . Why? - Thomas asked as he looked over the audience .

It’s simple . There are only two public teleporters at the moment . Ours and the Cradle of God . And you should all know by now that whoever enters the Cradle never comes back . We do not know if it’s controlled by a traitor , a powerful Dominator , or even a foreign force that somehow has circumvented the rules . So in essence , only New Washington is accessible to the forces of the world .

All other teleporters are closed , and I do not blame you . Leaving the teleporters open would subject your towns and citizens to danger at any time . But there is a solution . The New World Government is happy to announce that we are on course to have the first System-approved Lord within the month . -

Murmurs started through the area , many looking surprised at each other .

For those of you who do not know , it means that new forms of settings of the teleporters can be enabled . It is possible to create a closed system where all the portals of allied towns are public to each other , whereas everyone outside the network can’t access us . That would give us an immense edge in the fight against the invaders . -

Many nodded , but there were a few people who looked like Zac felt , troubled . There was no such thing as a free lunch after all .

We would be able to coordinate both defense and assault . Our warriors would be able to go from hotspot to hotspot and keep reaping the rewards . Because remember , while incursions are dangerous , they are also a huge opportunity to gain power . It is not without reason that many of the high rankers have their base of operations close to incursions , - Thomas added .

This network would not only help with battle , but with all manner of society . It would help with trade , information and even relocation efforts for those who try to reach their loved ones . And every time a new town join the collective , we all grow a little bit stronger .

Throughout history mankind has bleen splintered and our own worst enemies . But if there is one thing that has always marked our species ; our adaptability and ingenuity . We haven’t really come together as one race before , but we haven’t been tested like this before either . The New World Government is a living testament to the possibility of this .

Thirty-eight government towns are already slated to join the network as soon as we can create it . It would allow us to travel through large parts of our new world , - Thomas said , letting the audience sit in the silence and ponder the implications .

Can anyone join? - a voice shouted from the back .

For now , yes , - another man said as he stepped forward next to Thomas Fischer , and Zac recognized him as one of the delegates of another government town .

However , we need to make sure the safety of the network . We will do a site visit to your town to ensure no atrocities are going on , or that letting you join the network would impact the other negatively in some other way . We would also place a permanent government liaison at your town to keep an open channel of communications , - he continued .

But do not worry . The control of the town and its development is not something the New World Government will interfere in . There are only two requirements . The first is that the town accept the newly drafted Rule of Law that is there to ensure the human rights of all citizens . The second is contribution to the war efforts , - Thomas added .

Let no one forget . The largest reason that we need to combine our forces is to fight back against the invaders . Someone who is not interested in contributing to humanity has no place in our network , - he said as he slowly looked over the population with a steely gaze .

Edmonton is ready to fight for humanity , - a large man suddenly said with a booming voice as he stood up .

Little Creek is ready to fight for humanity , - another woman with a huge scar across her face soon added not long after .

One by one a lot of people stood up and professed their readiness to fight for humanity . Zac silently looked on the spectacle with a small frown . His time with Ogras had made him a bit more cynic , and he instinctively felt that the audience participation in this last meeting were plants by the governments .

The forces might be real and their town were ready to join , but their participation was likely already negotiated and done before this meeting started . This was only reinforced as he saw the stocky man who ruled the town close to the Undead Incursion stand up and profess his allegiance .

Zac knew then and there that any hope of him using the teleporter through normal means wouldn’t be possible . It was clear that the government was setting up a sphere of influence . There was no way that Zac would join them at this point in time , so he would be cut off from the teleportation network .

They would use the safety in numbers and promise of becoming stronger to rope more and more forces into joining . It was true what Thomas said , each time someone joined their alliance it would get stronger , and the outsiders would get more and more ostracized .

He threw a glance at the Marshals , and was somewhat relieved to see that the three seemed to be completely unaffected by the commotion in the room . A quick look over at Billy showed that the giant was still snoring away , obviously uncaring about what was going on , but the slight frown on Nigel’s face showed that they weren’t one of the forces that had made a deal with the government .

What if we don’t join? - a loud voice suddenly asked after the hubbub had died down a bit .

We hope that as many as possible will join us in our fight , but we understand that some have their own aspirations . We will not force anyone to join unless they feel comfortable with it . However , please beware that New Washington’s teleporter will become private again a month after the network is set up , - Thomas answered .

Having an open node in the network will risk the whole alliance , and we can’t allow that . The month is so that all forces of the world will be given ample time to consider our offer . It will also hopefully allow a few more forces to gain a teleporter and join us . But after that we need to think about the safety of our citizens , and from there on there will be no more admission , - the politician continued .

At certain intervals the teleporter will open though , to allow teleportation to New Washington only . That would be an opportunity to join us at a later date , - another delegate added .

As soon as the members have been finalized and the network secured we will begin our campaign to retake our land from the foreign invaders . I will not go into specifics at this time due to security concerns , but our goal is to completely close all the incursions plaguing New Earth before the anniversary of the integration , - Thomas said .

A stunned silence spread through the hall from the strong declaration . Clearly the New World Government wasn’t messing around . Zac personally was skeptic . They talked big for a group of people who still hadn’t closed a single Incursion . At the same time he didn’t want to create a scene since he couldn’t do the job alone , and if humans could organize and pick up the slack it would be for the best .

The meeting kept going , and the government officials spoke a bit more about the specifics of the future alliance and fielded many questions . It became increasingly clear that the New World Government had adopted a polite - you’re either with us or against us - -approach . On the surface it was completely up to anyone whether to join or not .

But in practice they meant that unless you joined the fold you would be alienated from the rest of humanity . You wouldn’t get access to the teleporters , and it even became apparent that trade and information sharing would only happen within the alliance as well .

Zac was sure there were some additional caveats that were not disclosed at this time . He was pretty sure that the government wouldn’t try to freeze out the Marshall Clan , since a retaliation from them with Thea as a poster child might splinter the alliance . He could only hope that type of courtesy would extend to himself as well . His problem was that while his pseudonym was well known , he was not .

Personally , he was unsure what to do . He should be happy that the government was trying to organize people to fight against the incursions . But more than that there was a deeply rooted unwillingness to hand over the reins of Port Atwood . They said they would let everyone have autonomy , but the stronger the alliance got , the more power would become centralized .

He sighed as he kept trying to think of solutions of what to do , as his eyes every now and then darted to the leader of the town close to the Undead Incursion .

Chapter 142 - Heading out

Zac walked out of the concert hall with a frown on his face from the information . He still hadn’t found any answers what to do in his situation , and could only turn to his teammates for answers . After a quick glance around he found them sitting at another group of sofas the whole table in front of them filled with various foods and drink .

Zac had thought the demon was once again the culprit , but seeing the little Gnome lying prone with his belly protruding like a little ball , while the Zhix was constantly burping he wasn’t so sure anymore . He also saw the two Ishiate he was talking to earlier sit next to the group . As soon as they saw Zac arrive they quickly stood up and slightly bowed .

Zac was a bit confused , but thought perhaps his group’s wanton spending during the auction was taken as a sign of great power . Ogras looked over with a glass of whiskey in his hand .

So , they are trying to create a force with access to their teleporters? -

You knew? - Zac asked a bit surprised .

Well , they didn’t have a lot of other options if they wanted to remain in charge . Of course , they will sooner or later realize that the distance of a continent is just a small inconvenience , and controlling the arrays aren’t enough to seize control . -

It seems they already have quite a few members already though , - Zac retorted with a sigh as he sat down .

From there he detailed the general outline of the New World Government’s plan .

Just weaklings banding together to feel strong . It’s not too bad . There are various ways to circumvent that . You can just take control of a town close to a Government member . If you need to use their network just teleport to your own town , and run over to theirs , - Ogras said with a shrug , clearly not being worried about the situation .

Besides , the multi-verse is a place where power holds sway . Power-structures like theirs never work out in the end , with just a few notable exceptions , - Ogras said , and even the Gnome who was fond of bureaucracy seemed inclined to agree , as he gave an unwilling nod .

Your world is still in its infancy , and you still hold notions of equality . But you will soon see the reality when people will start to evolve . A D-Grade Powerhouse could destroy half of New Washington with a flick of his hand , what would he care about their little schemes? He’d just seize the whole network if he wanted it . A dragon doesn’t negotiate with ants , - Ogras said .

You might be right , but that is still far off . In the immediate future they will have a commanding advantage , - Zac retorted with a frown .

There was not much left to do in the venue , apart from one thing . It had become increasingly clear during the meeting that using the teleporter to get to the undead incursion would be hopeless , no matter what he said . It was time to go with Ogras’s plan .

I have no choice , I will need to use your method for access to the teleporter , - Zac said with a grimace .

The demon only nodded , whereas the others looked at them a bit curious . Zac wouldn’t explain what he was about to do , as he felt pretty sick about it already , and instead looked out over the floor . It appeared luck was on his side , as he saw the robust man head toward the area of the toilets . They were around a corner some distance away from the general area and was quite secluded .

I will be right back , - Zac said with a somber expression , and while using Loamwalker] he disappeared .

Between his attributes and the skill it essentially looked like he teleported , as he was one second sitting , and the next second gone , only a flash of his afterimage leaving a trace . In no time he was by the toilet and was relieved to see that there was no one there at the moment .

Zac grabbed the neck of the robust man from behind without a word , and before the poor man had time to react he was dragged into the handicap bathroom with his throat gripped in an iron vise .

Zac was now holding him up in the air with one arm , having taken out his axe with the other . The large man was held a decimeter above ground , his legs swinging widely and his face quickly turning red .

Scream and I will start cutting off body parts , - Zac said with a deathly stare .

He had already decided to go through with this despicable act , so he would go all the way with it . He’d play the villain if it meant getting access to the teleporter .

To help you understand your situation I’ll show you something , - Zac continued , as he displayed the part of his status screen that showed him being level 54 .

Of course , he didn’t display any of his stats or his name , as the level was enough to convey his message . The man was still unable to breathe , but after having seen the prompt his eyes widened in terror and he stopped trying to get himself free .

You should understand who I am by now . You can try screaming for help , but the government do not dare make an enemy of me , and would probably sacrifice you rather than getting themselves into trouble , - Zac continued as he placed the man down on the ground .

He didn’t actually know if it was true , but it did have a note of truth in it . The man took a few deep steadying breaths , but he did comply , as he warily stared at Zac .

What do you want? You were at the meeting , they have set up all kinds of rules that I can’t just break as I wish . Don’t you think I’d have taken the money if I could? -

What’s your name? - Zac simply asked .

I am John Bernard , - the large man hesitantly answered .

Are you under a contract of servitude? - Zac continued .

No , why? - the man answered with a confused stare .

Good , - Zac said as a small glass bottle appeared in his hand .

Zac opened the stopper and took out the pill which emanated a pungent odor .

Wh- - the other man said , but didn’t get further before Zac slammed the pill down into his throat with lightning-quick speed .

John was so surprised that he instinctively swallowed the pill , and Zac nodded satisfied .

The pill I just had you eat is a unique poison called Ten Steps to Hell] , - Zac said , hiding nothing . - Every night you will experience a tremendous pain that will be so bad that you will think you have gone to hell . Every night the pain will get worse , and on the tenth day the pain will be so bad that you will die . -

WHAT? Why are you doing this? - the man said , looking positively horrified .

Because I have the antidote , - Zac answered as he took out the other bottle . - One week from now , open your teleporter for five minutes at 3 am New Washington time . If I do not pass through the teleporter , do so again the next night at the same time . When I come through I will hand you the antidote . And a handsome reward , - Zac explained , adding the sentence about a reward after a brief hesitation .

The man looked at the glass bottle in Zac’s hand like a drowning man looks at a liferaft .

Why not just give me the bottle , and I promise I will open the portal . There’s no need for all this , - the man entreated .

I prefer to do things my way . And you might be scheming all kinds of things right now , but the following days will show you the reality . Feel free to visit as many healers and you wish . I didn’t get to the top of the ladder without having my own means . Noone on earth will be able to save you except for me . -

Zac felt a sour taste in his mouth as he played the villain . He simply channeled his inner Ogras , thinking of what he would say to get what he wanted in this situation .

Remember . One week from now , 3 am sharp , - he finished and disappeared before the man had time to say anything else .

Soon he was back at the table and saw Ogras grinning at him .

The things we do for love , huh? - he said .

Zac recognized the quote and only rolled his eyes in response .

We are done here . We should have them take us to a hotel . I want to stock up on various things for port Atwood , and hopefully we will find some experts in various fields that will accompany us back , - Zac said . - That is provided they will let us stay though . -

There was no point in pretending that he wasn’t in charge anymore . No one would believe Sap Trang was the leader instead of Zac after his display of power earlier .

He was unsure what the government had decided regarding his party . They were ushered straight to the venue after arriving , and it seemed they were considered somewhat a risk . But at the same time they had clarified their position here at the auction , and hopefully the government wouldn’t bar them from exploring the town a bit .

Last time he was here he hadn’t really explored New Washington , as he was eager to get to Greenworth . But this time there were various things he wanted to get for his city . There were all kinds of things the town was in need of , from seeds to materials , and even technology . Most of it could be bought through Calrin , but Zac suspected such things would hold almost no value to the current settlements , which meant they could make huge savings .

He was also hoping he could snag a couple of solar panels for himself , but he wasn’t too hopeful . The government was clearly searching for them as well in order to power their town , and now they had around fifty towns to power .

If the things in the auction were the best of the best , then there might not be much of value in the town , - the Gnome said hesitantly .

There is a bazaar where independent cultivators and hunters can sell their things . Who knows what they’ve found while out farming kills in the forests . I am sure that many of those here are hoping to sell their own things as well , - Zac said , causing the little merchant to perk up .

Can we even go? That little lass didn’t seem willing to let us into the city , - Ogras interjected .

As if summoned Julia actually emerged from a door not much later and started walk toward them .

I hope today has been satisfactory to you all , - she said with a smile as she arrived at Zac’s table . - I understand you have spoken with the leaders of the New World Government , who have given your party access to the town . Will you be staying here for a bit , or are you heading back to Port Atwood immediately? -

Zac’s brows rose , as he didn’t expect the government to be so amenable after their little altercation . Especially not considering their stance with their plans for a closed network .

We’re planning on visiting the bazaar and leave tomorrow , - Zac simply answered .

Excellent . In fact , there will be an informal gathering at the bazaar in roughly two hours , where many of the guests here will sell some of the things they’ve found , or trade them for other treasures more suited to them , - Julia answered with a nod .

Zac wasn’t surprised , as the government didn’t sell commissioned items , but only their own . Many should have found things that they had no use for , and desired to trade them for something that could give immediate benefits .

The car is waiting , I will take you to one of the still-operating hotels who is located close to the bazaar , - Julia said and the group started to walk out .

It was an impressive spending spree you had , Mr . Monk , even outbidding Ms . Marshal , - Julia said with a smile as she shot a glance at him as they walked toward the exit . - You and two high rankers fought tooth and nail over that stone . It must have been something quite impressive . A few of our scientists are a bit unsure whether they made a good deal or a horrible one after seeing your bidding war . -

Well , it was an interesting stone . Who knows if it will be worth the sky-high price though? - Zac answered with a shrug of his shoulders . He wasn’t about to disclose the fact that the stone seemed to be something that all Spiritual Tools wanted .

Zac went over to the Ishiate before they left to exchange some pleasantries . Unfortunately there was no way for them to create an alliance or create their own network at the moment as none of them were lords , so they could only make some loose promises of future cooperation .

The plan of the government was to create a network by piggy-backing their Lord’s access to the improved teleporters . Every non-lord who wished to join would become a vassal . In practice , they wouldn’t go by feudal rules where the lord actually commanded the vassals , but that was just what the government said . Who knew if this lord would get a taste for power and want more . Then again , Zac suspected the government had some sort of failsafe for that situation .

The group finally exited the opera house accompanied by the two steampunk Ishiate , and went down toward the stairs toward the waiting limousine . Julia had been a bit curious about the two new companions , but it was easily explained . Zac could only hope there wouldn’t be any further complications if they managed to recruit some people back to the town .

Suddenly Zac froze after having walked down the small set of stairs , as an intense hair-raising sense of danger exploded in his mind .

Chapter 143 - Assault

A lot of Zac’s actions were born from instinct since he’d been in constant battle for months . Without hesitation a green shield encapsulated him , and the Dao of Trees spread through his body as he brought out his axe .

However , he didn’t even have time to look around before an extremely strong impact slammed into his shield , soon after accompanied by an enormous gunshot . Luckily the shield held true , as a large caliber bullet turned into hot molten metal that fell harmlessly on the ground in front of him . However , the danger sense only increased and he once again summoned the second charge of his gear , this time gearing to move away from the group with his movement skill .

The others in the group looked on gapingly , with only Ogras quickly reacting . Shadows gathered around him and he safely disappeared from the line of fire .

Zac was just about to step forward to disappear with Loamwalker] when a second impact slammed into his new shield , leaving him defenseless . He barely had time to inch his head away when a third bullet grazed the side of his forehead . Everything turned white for a second before he found his bearing , only to find himself on his back on the ground .

He felt a scorching pain on his head , but a quick mental check showed he was largely fine . Since he upgraded to E-Grade Race he held a greater command of his body , and could generally tell the state of all his bodyparts . He was extremely relieved he’d focused almost all of his stat points in Dexterity lately in order to match his other monstrous stats .

He wouldn’t have been able to avoid that last round without the quick movement Dexterity allowed , and after feeling the power of those bullets he held no delusions he would be able to tank them like normal rifle rounds . Just as he was planning on getting up he saw an unfamiliar man almost teleport to his side , and immediately touched his chest .

Zac frowned as he stared at the man , who looked back at him with a horrified face . He immediately moved to flee , but an iron grip held him in place . Zac didn’t know what kind of skill the man used to approach him , but he used the same method as he utilized against Ogras to keep him in place , infusing his hand with cosmic energy .

The man struggled to get free , but a punch with the force of a truck in his gut made him curl up like a shrimp in the air . Zac looked around like an enraged beast as he got up , looking for any co-conspirators to this man while holding his captive like a shield . This clearly was some sort of assassination attempt , and this man was only responsible for taking his corpse .

Are you ok? - a frazzled Julia asked from the distance as she waved soldiers to search for the culprits .

Just this much won't kill me , - Zac succinctly said as he turned his eyes to the man he caught .

Who ordered you to attack me? -

Please , mercy , - the man croaked , still shaking after the punch to his stomach .

Mercy? We don’t do that , - Ogras with a sneer said as he materialized back by the group .

In his hand he held a sack which he summarily threw to the ground , causing six decapitated heads to roll out , each one with a horrified look on its face . On his back the demon had two huge sniper rifles that looked strong enough to blow holes in tanks , and he was completely covered in blood .

What the f- - Julia screeched and backed away as she saw the grisly scene .

Answer him or you will join my collection , - Ogras said with a demonic grin at the captured man , who looked horrified at the heads .

Please , we weren’t ordered . We only wanted your Cosmos Sack , - the man cried .

That’s why you tried to shoot me in the head with those rifles? - Zac retorted with a glare as he touched his forehead with his free hand .

It came back bloody , and Zac was enraged even further . It didn’t matter whether they were ordered or simple bandits , they had almost killed him even though he had no connection to them . If it wasn’t for his large amount of Dexterity and his defensive Dao his head would have exploded like a watermelon .

Zac slapped the man hard enough to knock him out , and threw him over like a sack to Ogras .

Can you properly question him later? - Zac said .

I guess . They did give me these new toys after all , so I should give something back , - he said as he looked at his two rifles .

I am sorry about this incident , this is partly due to our oversight . I actually recognize this man , his name is Ricky . He’s part of a small elite group called the Red Mercenaries . Your friend is… holding… most of the other members in his sack . Including Red himself , - Julia said apologetically to Zac .

Where are they from? - Zac tersely asked .

They came through a private teleporter , we do not actually know which town they are from . More importantly , please let the government take over from here . A crime has been committed , and these men attacked you in the middle of New Washington . Please hand over the criminal , and their restricted equipment , - Julia said , shooting a glance at the two rifles on the demon’s back .

What equipment? - Ogras said with a blank face as he slowly put the rifles in a Cosmos Sack one by one , drawing a glare from Julia .

This one is coming with us . If you have any complaints you will have to take it up with Thomas Fisher . There has been no discussion of the details of our future cooperation . For now , we will maintain the status of diplomatic immunity , and we will deal with our issues by ourselves , - Zac said with a glance .

In a sense it was a declaration of independence . He was essentially saying that he and his group would do whatever they wanted and that they did not agree to follow any regulations from the New World Government . It was both a show of strength and a way for Zac to test the government's patience . But more importantly he was pissed off and was in no mood to accommodate the government , who might even be responsible for the attack for all he knew .

Julia frowned as she looked down on the unconscious captive , but after some hesitation she didn’t bring up her demands again . She simply walked over to a soldier and whispered some things before she led Zac’s group back to the limousine .

The atmosphere in the car was quite oppressive after the events , and any discussions quickly died out . Soon they arrived at their destination , a large luxurious highrise hotel . Ogras caused quite a scene as he walked in like a bloody devil , but Julia quickly smoothed things over . Zac had already eaten a healing pill in the car and wiped off the blood on his head , so he was essentially looking normal again , apart from his frown .

It seemed like the hotel was managed by the government at the moment , which made sense as there shouldn’t be too many travelers needing temporary places to rest at the moment . That might change though when New Washington becomes a hub in their network in the future , and Zac couldn’t help but be a bit jealous .

He was fighting tooth and nail to simply avoid his emerging town becoming overrun by beasts , but these people had quite a laid back life . It seemed that this town hadn’t really been tested at all since the start , and Zac wondered exactly how this kind of environment could create a system-approved Lord .

They were given their own wing on a floor , but only a few actually went up to check the rooms out . Zac sat down in the bar and ordered a bottled beer . It cost 1000 Nexus Coins , which was far and above what food usually cost , but to Zac it didn’t really matter .

Everyone came streaming down one by one , and soon only the demon was missing . It only took 20 minutes for Ogras to come back looking freshened up , any sign of blood scrubbed away and donned in new robes . When he came back he didn’t carry the man they captured either , giving Zac a clear indication of Ricky’s fate .

So , what’s the plan? - Ogras said as he looked a bit excited , with a mischievous glint in his eyes .

We have two things to do . Buy materials and find people . I think we can split up , - Zac said , still feeling angry over the attack earlier . - I’ll accompany Sap Trang who will focus on acquiring talent , acting the part of the bodyguard . Calrin I assume will go to the Bazaar to make some deals . -

The gnome nodded , looking a bit excited .

If you can try to get talks going for a few branches . I don’t care if they’re a part of the new government network or independent forces . It’s all money into our pockets , - Zac said .

I agree . We have a great opportunity here , it will take some time before competing consortiums deign to come to this planet , giving us a good head start to seize control of the market . If they arrive at a later point we can just squeeze them out . Even a dragon can’t fight the local snake , - the gnome said with a grin .

I’ll go with the little blue bastard , seems more fun , - Ogras said .

Good . What about the prisoner? - Zac asked .

He’s in my pouch , - the demon answered with a grin , confirming he was dead .

Ibtep , who do you wish to go with? -

I will join you . I am curious to see what professions you humans have . I feel your societies are more diverse than that of the Zhix , and learning more might strengthen our hives , - the Zhix answered .

Good . As for you two , - Zac said as he turned to the two Ishiate who had joined their party . - You’re free to do whatever . -

We will go to the bazaar to look for things that could help Cogstown , - Shea , the female Ishiate , said .

Very well , we will leave early tomorrow , at 7 am New Washington time . -

With that they were done and started heading out of the hotel . Their odd party kept getting glances from all directions , but they were used to it by now . However , four men walked up to them just as they were about to exit .

Mr . Monk and company . We’re from the New World Government , and we have been tasked with accompanying you during your excursion . Please do not take it the wrong way , it is simply to allay any troubles that your… unique party composition might bring , - a man politely said .

Fine , - Zac lightly said after some consideration .

He didn’t really care if the government employees saw their activities . It was not like they could hide it if they brought new people with them through their teleporter tomorrow .

Soon they were walking through the bazaar , which was a huge square and the neighboring streets . There was a surprising amount of hawkers , selling everything from hides of mutated beasts to Old World luxury objects such as Perfume and jewelry . There were also quite a stalls with street food . All in all it created a bustling atmosphere that made a jarring contrast to the fact that 80% of the world’s population had perished the last months .

As soon as they entered the commerce area Calrin and Ogras veered off , with two of the government employees following in tow . As for Zac’s group they looked around for a bit before they stopped .

Just how are we going to recruit people? - Zac asked with some hesitation as he looked around .

I have an idea , but it would require us to expose a bit about Port Atwood , - the old fisherman said .

Oh? -

Well , it’s already well past lunch as the auction took up much of the day . We only have a short time to convince people to actually join us and move to an unknown area . They would be taking a huge risk compared to the relative safety of this town . We need to give them a good enough reason , - Sap Trang said .

Money? - Zac asked hesitantly , but the fisherman shook his head .

You . -

Me? What do you mean? - Zac asked confusedly .

You’re so strong so you might not realize the reality of most people walking these streets . They might look happy , but they are scared . Terrified . There are real-life monsters just outside the gates , and any day those monsters might break through those walls and kill them , - Mr . Trang explained .

But if they know Port Atwood is protected by the strongest man alive , and that it is safe enough that we only need to recruit non-combat classes , a few might risk it . -

Zac mulled it over for a few seconds , but then finally nodded . The government leaders would have to be mentally challenged if they still didn’t know he was either The Super Brother-Man or Salvation by now . Since the milk was already spilled they might as well use his identity to their advantage .

So what do you propose? - Zac asked , and the fisherman only answered with a big toothless grin .

Chapter 144 - Gaining Reputation

Come join the town of the strongest man alive . We need all sorts of non-combat classes . Doctors , scientists , blacksmiths , and farmers . Come one , come all! Carpenters , janitors , brewers , and craftsmen! All are welcome to sign up! Join Port Atwood , home of the Super Brother-Man , the safest place on Earth! -

Zac could barely stop himself from blanching as Sap Trang walked back and forth in front of their gaudy stall , tirelessly shouting out superlative statements about the Super Brother-Man and their town .

He understood the reasoning . They needed to create a buzz that propagated like wildfire since they only had the afternoon for recruitment . The third wave started in three days , and they needed to go back tomorrow to finalize preparations .

Mr . Trang’s plan for this was to create a recruitment stall . They had simply bought out a large stall on prime location of the square , and changed the sign . It now said - THE SUPER BROTHER-MAN IS RECRUITING! BECOME THE ELITE OF THE WORLD! - in huge lettering , and nothing else . Meanwhile the old fisherman was sounding like a street hawker as he kept throwing out one bombastic proclamation after another .

Normally their proclamations might have been met with scorn and maybe even ignored . But the fact that there was a living , breathing Zhix sitting in the stall reading a book seemed to somehow increase the legitimacy of the stall . Who but the Super Brother-Man would keep a pet Zhix? The two government officials looking on the proceedings with troubled faces only furthered the impression .

Still , it had been thirty minutes without anyone coming up to the stall . But clearly a buzz was being created , as a small crowd of onlookers had gathered , and some people seemed to arrive just to look on at the excitement . But finally there was some result from Mr . Trang’s tireless efforts .

You talk a lot old man , but do you have any proof? - a man shouted from the group of onlookers .

I understand it is hard to imagine such a great opportunity has presented itself to you . But it is one hundred percent real . If you have friends who attended the auction you should know of Port Atwood already . We spent over twenty million Nexus Coins during the Auction , defeating even the Marshall Clan for the battle of precious relics , - Sap Trang shouted back .

Don’t forget , Super Brother-Man is not only the strongest man in the world , he is also the wealthiest . And he is ready to spend some of that immense fortune on you , in order to help you advance your non-combat classes . -

Some subdued murmur spread through the crowd . Twenty million Nexus Coins was a crazy amount of money , and most counted their wealth in the hundreds , or perhaps thousands . The low tiered monsters only gave a handful of nexus coins after all , far less than the more profitable barghest .

Actually , Mr . Trang had initially wanted Zac to stand and swing around his axe and show off his might , but that had summarily been rejected by Zac .

We stand at the forefront of the world , and we’re the only town in the world to hold all four of our new world’s species , creating a true metropolis of our new planet , - the fisherman continued , seeming to gain vigor the more he boasted .

Zac started to worry about the people’s reactions after they arrived at his temporary town filled with demons . From Sap Trang’s description it was as though he offered them a spot in paradise , and not dubious employment on a desolate island . Still , the effect was limited until suddenly another shout gathered the crowd’s attention .

It’s the Marshall Clan! - a man shouted and pointed to a group walking toward the stall .

Hehe , I guess their boasting reached the Marshall Clan’s ears . I think we’re in for a good show , - another person muttered , eliciting some chuckles .

Zac looked over and the shouting man was correct . It was the old man , Henry Marshal , who walked in the front , with the bodyguard from before accompanying him . It looked like Thea wasn’t lying before . They truly didn’t need Zac’s pill as the bodyguard was walking with no problem , looking as fit as a fiddle . There were also a few more people accompanying the duo , but Zac noted that Thea Marshall herself was not part of the group .

Mr . Monk , we meet again . Do you mind if we chat a bit? - Henry Marshall said as after he reached Zac’s stall .

Zac wished that Ogras was here to do the talking , but could only nod and take out another chair from his pouch for the old man .

Is this about Mr . Trang’s claims just now? - Zac asked .

No , that doesn’t matter . Port Atwood is currently lacking renown , and the Marshall Clan isn’t so frail that we can’t provide some assistance on that front , - the old man said and gave a nod to one of the men in the group who quickly left the stall and blended into the group that looked on .

I am more interested in your plans for the future , and wish to offer an alternative to what you heard today , - the old man said .

Oh? - Zac said with piqued interest .

Truthfully we had some plans for a network as well , though the government beat us to it . So we have had to find an alternative solution . We have no intentions in joining the frail government alliance , and I have the feeling that neither do you , - Henry continued .

Zac only nodded in response .

We aim to create a network as well , but it will not be as formalized as the government’s . However , only lords will be able to join , and the extent will only go as far as providing means of movement and trade . There will be no centralized organizing body and no vassal-superior relationships . How the lords manage their domains is up to them , - he said .

What about defense and concentrated war efforts? - Zac asked .

That would be up to the individual members to organize . The network should only be seen as a means to facilitate various private alliances , - the man answered .

What’s in it for you to do this? - Zac asked skeptically .

The government still lives as though we are in the old world , playing bureaucracy . They gather the mediocre , but to what avail? We worry that their narrow-mindedness will steer humanity into a path of no return . We need to provide an alternative , one that’s made for the elite , the powerhouses of the world . We believe that is more in line with how our new reality functions .

Perhaps the alliance will crumble in the future , with all of us vying for supremacy of our planet . But we need to kick out all foreign scum before we can get to that point , - Henry finished .

When we first met this morning you seemed less than pleased by my party’s composition . But now you are inviting us? - Zac asked skeptically .

My views are that it is only a matter of time before humanity will be pitted against the ilk of your… friend… over there , and the information you provided only proves it . - Henry said as he waved at the Zhix . - We humans haven’t even been able to coexist with ourselves , but suddenly we are supposed to coexist with two other sentient species? -

The clan leader only shook his head , clearly showing his position . Zac didn’t really agree , but he felt no point in arguing .

Either of us will be proven right in the future , but for now that’s not important for this potential cooperation . Destroying the incursions comes first , - Henry finally added .

The two talked for a few more minutes , with Zac mainly asking for some clarifications about the planned alliance , while the old man mainly asked about the information on incursions and the Dominators that Zac provided the government .

Zac learned there were some planned requirements for the alliance after all . One such requirement was that they would have to keep their teleporters public for a week every now and then , and that they would take turn in doing so . The reason was to attract new blood to the alliance . Zac felt that was reasonable enough , as he was even thinking of making his teleporter permanently public as soon as he had stabilized his position as a Lord .

At the same time they would be allowed to turn their teleporters private for even the alliance members , but only for a limited time . This was in case there was some internal upheaval or an important mission they didn’t want to be interrupted .

Zac gave no definite answer , but he said he would discuss it with the others . Henry Marshall took the tepid answer with stride and nodded as he left the stall .

Excuse me , Lord Marshal . Is it true? - a voice from the back of the group shouted as the old man planned to leave .

Is what true? - Henry retorted with a strong voice as he looked over at the crowd , who seemed subdued from the power of his stare .

Is it really the Super Brother-Man’s force? - the same voice asked .

At this point Zac noticed that the one shouting was actually the man who diverted from the Marshal’s group earlier , albeit covered a bit in a hood .

… Yes , - was all Henry Marshall said as he left , but that was all that was needed as the group exploded into commotion .

The looks at the gaudy stall changed from skeptical and derisive to interested and contemplative .

Why are you recruiting so many people? - someone suddenly shouted from the group , this time not a planted person .

Port Atwood did not exist prior to the integration , we are building the town completely from scratch . Currently we have the strongest fighting force of humanity , but we’re lacking in many other compartments . We have money but nowhere to spend it . We need driven craftsmen and other non-combat classes to make the town to a truly thriving metropolis , - Mr . Trang answered without missing a beat .

The declaration of having the strongest force also made some waves in the crowd .

Are you also recruiting warriors? - another man asked .

Security is currently not a concern for our town , and we are mainly looking for non-combat professions at this point , - Sap answered . - But if you are a stand-out talent or have some unique skills that an army can benefit from , then you’re welcome to apply . But be advised that fighters will not enjoy the same type of freedom as the non-combat classes , as we expect warriors to be in the thick of it fighting . Of course , the benefits we offer our soldiers are also unmatched on planet Earth . -

Sap’s answer made a few people frown , even though he promised high rewards . Zac felt that it was natural . They were in the middle of the New World Government . If any strong warriors around still were unaffiliated they did not want to be tied down . He wondered a bit what would happen with independent warriors like these people after the government enacted their plan . Would they be booted from the safety of the city?

Suddenly a woman in her forties walked over to the stall where Zac and Ibtep sat . Since Mr . Trang was busy fielding various questions to the crowd Zac had to take care of this .

Can I help you? - Zac asked .

Is it really true that you welcome all sorts of non-combat classes? - the woman asked hesitantly .

Yes . What is your profession? - Zac answered .

I am an anthropologist , - she answered with hesitation . - I wish to join you and study your society . Are there really four species living together in Port Atwood? -

Well , the Zhix and Ishiate have their own towns , though that might change in the future for security reasons , - Zac offhandedly answered .

And there is a fourth species? - she pressed on , seeing that Zac was amenable to answer questions .

Yes , there’s one of them here in the bazaar somewhere , accompanying our Sky Gnome , who I guess is a fifth species , - Zac answered .

What are the rules to join? Do I need to sign a System-enforced Contract? - She asked .

No . Your benefits are tied to your contributions to the town . If you contribute nothing , you get nothing , - Zac answered , getting down to brass tacks .

These rules were set with the help of Ogras and Calrin , who explained how heterogeneous forces worked in the multi-verse . Very few actually used contracts , as that was usually seen in bad light . Skilled people in high demand would seldom sign them , apart from for very limited times , such as for the duration of entering a mystic realm .

Forces who consisted of all sorts of people , like academies and Sects usually only had contracts for the very top of the organization , those who also had the largest amount of benefits . The body of the force generally was kept somewhat honest with the help of contribution systems . Homogenous forces used contracts mainly for external elders who wanted to become a permanent part of the clan .

Zac had been surprised that contracts were such a small thing until he understood that the number of contracts one could have active was limited . He was already reaching his limit by using it on the whole squad of girls he brought back from Greenworth , and there simply was no way for him to have contracts for a whole force .

The Apostate of Order created the contracts as a way for two people to work together without fearing betrayal , not for lords to enslave their whole population . Therefore there were also limits on using a branching tree , such as having contracts on 100 captains who each had contracts on 100 soldiers . Every contract within the network would be considered directly subservient to Zac , which would count toward his limit .

But how would you compare my work in anthropology to a blacksmith , for example? - the woman asked skeptically .

We use multi-verse standard , with an automatic contribution allocator , - Zac answered , drawing interested eyes from both the Zhix and the scientist .

Chapter 145 - Craftsmen

What do you mean? - the anthropologist asked confused .

Port Atwood is the only force on Earth who has access to a real multi-verse shop . That has allowed us to gain knowledge of the larger world that is still not publically available on earth . For example , most of the New World Government’s intelligence about the incursions is coming from us , - Zac explained . - It also has allowed us to create a structure that is more in line with our new reality . -

Port Atwood will use a standardized contribution system . You can see it as a supercomputer who judges your performance . Your actions will generate contribution points . Working at a pet project of yourself with no application will probably not generate many points , but teaching at our academy will , - he continued .

This was the goal of Zac , though it wasn’t done yet . There were various ways to do this . You could set it up yourself with the help of a few administrator classes and a few specialized arrays , or just buy a contribution management store in the town shop . A few Golemoid forces similar to the creators had made a big business of providing various administrative systems and had perfected their algorithms over millions of years .

Contribution management was a very common concept in the multi-verse as forces were huge , often having millions , even billions in their fold . Making the administration of salaries and benefits automated saved a huge amount of work . It also saved lords a lot of money , as people were only paid for contribution , rather than time .

There were many more functions to an established contribution system , such as levels . If someone made large contributions over a long time they would get upgraded to the next tier in the system , giving them better exchange rates and more precious things to trade for .

What does contribution points do? - the woman asked .

You trade them for whatever you want , like an internal currency . There is access to cultivation manuals and skills . Gear and weaponry , healing pills , materials for race evolution are also included . We are stocked with all kinds of things , - Zac answered .

Zac had wondered a bit why not just give Nexus Coins or Crystals , but Ogras explained it in a very simple manner ; the lock-in effect . If they got Nexus Coins they could just leave whenever they wanted . But if they held a lot of their internal currency people were more likely to stay on .

For the same reason the rates for expensive things such as manuals or skills were pretty decent . There were permanent Skill and cultivation crystals in the multiverse where anyone could learn the skill imprinted . The lesser versions only worked once , such as the ones containing Book of Babel] .

That meant that Zac could keep stocking up on various skills and cultivation methods as he gained wealth from taxes and other sources . Each new addition would bring a steady stream of revenue to his force , as any time a subject used their points to learn a skill instead of cash out materials or Nexus Crystals he would gain pure profit in a sense .

However , for new people we will provide a base salary in the form of crystals to help everyone reach level 25 and get their classes . From there they will have to rely on their own efforts , - he added .

Making his people stronger was part of the reason , the other part being the simple fact that the contribution system wasn’t set up yet . They had the things to offer , but not the framework in place .

How interesting , your way of management would make for a good dissertation , - the woman muttered . - What about our freedom? Can we leave whenever we want? -

The teleporter is currently closed , and if you come with us you will not be able to leave for at least a month . You should also know that Port Atwood will not be joining the World Government at this point in time , but stay an independent force , - Zac said , hiding nothing .

The two government officials were listening intently to the whole conversation , but Zac didn’t care . In fact , he wanted the information to spread . Who knew , their way of doing things might actually snag some experts from the government to their side . Besides , Sap Trang was shouting out the same information , though while using a bit more bombastic wording .

In no time the whole bazaar and surrounding neighborhoods knew about Port Atwood’s recruitment , and that the Super Brother-Man was looking for non-combat experts . Still , many were hesitant , even with the Marshall clan’s assurance . Perhaps not about the legitimacy of the force , but whether it would be a good idea to join .

Zac wasn’t too surprised about people’s reluctance , as New Washington was one of the most thriving cities in the world right now . While the people might not have all the tools to progress in their crafts in the current city , they were at least safe . They didn’t know what would await them if they stepped through the teleporter .

Still , one after another surreptitiously stepped forward and asked a few clarifying questions to Zac , who patiently answered them all . There also were a few troublemakers that tried to cause a scene . However , they were quickly and ruthlessly dealt with by Mr . Trang .

Finally the fisherman met with trouble he was unsure he could actually handle . With a sigh Zac stood up and walked forward to the group or instigators . He released his aura causing widespread panic , and with a Heaviness-induced stomp created a small crater with his foot , throwing the troublemakers off-balance .

After that there was no more trouble , but at the same time the onlookers asked their questions to the old fisherman instead , afraid to bother the monster sitting in the stall with closed eyes . Still , Zac was listening intently to the conversation between Mr . Trang and the various people and wordlessly communicated with the old fisherman .

Anyone who Zac felt could be a good asset was asked to gather their belongings and come back as soon as possible . He didn’t want to risk the government trying to intercept his talents , so he would have them stay with them at the hotel . For those he could do with or without he simply said to come to the teleporter at 7 am tomorrow . These were mainly unskilled workers who he essentially could gather from the neighboring islands as well .

After a few hours there were actually over thirty people from various fields who were gathered close to the stand , some who even brought their families . Judging by their appearance some were doing it as a last resort of sorts , as they looked a bit emancipated and haggard . Others were doing it in order to take a chance and improve .

The group consisted of a wide array of people . Apart from the anthropologist there were all kinds of experts , such as a few engineers , two doctors , a botanist , and even a brewer . Zac almost felt a bit bad for the corpulent man with the handlebar mustache , knowing that he would be hounded by a few hundred thirsty demons as soon as he arrived on the island . Complaints about lack of liquor were one of the most common grievances among the demonkin over the past month , as their own stores had largely run out .

He also managed to snag a few artists and a watchmaker , who were quite surprised their talents were wanted . He didn’t actually need painters or a watchmaker , but Zac had a feeling that someone who was adept at working with a craft that demanded steady hands and precision would make a great future inscriber . In fact , anyone he felt might turn into good , or at least passable , inscribers were quickly recruited .

Zac’s goal was simple . He wanted to unleash a mountain of inscribed armors created from the wolf pelts and ant carapaces on the surviving humans . His materials were enough to create thousands and thousands of pieces of gear , and with his current demon inscribers , it would over a decade to complete all the equipment . His desire to get more inscribers only increased after he saw how sought after even mediocre gear was at the auction .

If Calrin also managed to open up a few branches , all the better .

As it was getting late Sap Trang simply shouted out the meeting spot and rules for any interested parties before they led the group of non-combat classes back to the hotel . By now the group had grown to over fifty experts plus their families , and the group who had been told to go to the teleporter was five times that number . If all of them actually showed up it would be quite an improvement for Port Atwood , though Zac expected a decent amount of them to get cold feet .

The group took over a few floors of the hotel , racking up a bill that would be insurmountable for most people . Later that night Calrin and Ogras returned , the gnome having almost a rosy glow . Zac noticed that the gnome had spent a bit more of his money earlier while he was recruiting , but he stopped not long after .

We made a haul this time . It actually seems that the System created a patch of Aetherbloom close to this town , as quite a few sold it . No one has figured out its use yet , so we bought out most of the city’s supply . The city’s leadership will puke blood when they realize what they’ve missed out on , - the gnome said with glee .

Aetherbloom? What’s that used for? - Zac asked curiously , as he’d never heard of it .

It’s one of the main components for a popular medicinal paste that’s used for race improvement . It’s more effective than the standard baths , and it even has some effect when trying to improve to D-Grade race . A single stalk cost over ten thousand nexus coins normally , we paid less than a hundred coins per stalk , - Calrin explained , almost looking aroused when explaining the gains

More importantly , it is quite rare and takes decades for it to regrow , and it probably only existed here due to the System creating some opportunities on this baby planet , - Ogras added with some schadenfreude .

These bureaucrats lost out on enough materials to bring almost 300 warriors to E-Grade Race . For Port Atwood that could be huge . You saw that many soldiers among the demons still haven’t upgraded their race . These stalks can help us create an elite squad that will shake fear in the world for hundreds of years , - the demon said with a gleam in his eyes .

The government caught on to our actions after a while though , and hurried to buy stalks as well , but not before we snatched a good 80% of what was on the market . -

Zac was quite impressed with their haul , as that sort of paste would be a great thing to add to the future contribution system . It would make the warriors work far harder if they could get that sort of panacea to help them with their evolution .

We also got quite a few promising people to sign up to join Port Atwood , - Zac said , not wanting to be outdone as he listed the various occupations of their new hires .

As Zac expected Ogras eyes lit up when he heard that there was a brewer on the list , but his next question confused him a bit .

Are there any filmmakers like Directors and editors in the group? - the demon asked .

No , why? - Zac asked confused .

It would be fun to try to making my own movie , - he said with a wide smile .

Eh… I think those kinds of people should be in Hollywood , and I don’t know where that town’s located anymore , - Zac answered hesitantly .

Since there was not much left to do everyone returned to their quarters , where Zac spent most of the night better acquainting himself with his improved Dao of Heaviness . He also tried to use the experience of improving his first Dao seed to also make some inroads on his other seeds , though progress was slow there .

After sleeping for two hours he sat down in the lobby to wait for everyone to gather up . Soon most had gathered up , though it appeared that a few of the experts had left during the night . Two also backed out before they set out , looking quite embarrassed . Zac assured them it was no trouble , and they quickly left as well , leaving only 38 experts . All in all , it was still a good number who stayed on in Zac’s opinion .

More troubling was the fact that Ogras was not around , and that he’d only left a note at the reception that he’d meet up with the rest at the teleporter . Zac got a headache thinking about what the demon was up to , and could only gather the rest of the people .

The teleporter was decently close to the commercial district and they opted to walk the twenty-minute promenade rather than trying to get hold of enough cars for the whole party . A few of the more cerebral of the experts were panting when they arrived , and Zac could only shake his head . The general level of some of the more niche experts was quite low , some even still below level five .

As they arrived Zac immediately tried to find the demon who had promised to be here , but Ogras was nowhere in sight . Zac was starting to get worried that he had gotten into some real trouble , but a voice from the shadows allayed that worry , though a new worry soon replaced it .

I can’t show myself at the moment . Hurry and start the teleporter , we need to leave . -

Chapter 146 - Home Sweet Home

What have you done? - Zac asked with a sinking feeling while looking at the shadows , drawing confused or concerned glances from the others .

Aren’t you the curious one? I just solved a few future issues for us , but the government might take some issue with my methods , - the voice responded .

Zac could only close his eyes in despair as he’d seen Ogras’ methods in action before . Something crazy had happened during the night . But he would rather sort it out at his own island than here , so he chose to drop the subject for now .

Not a large distance away many of the recruits from yesterday stood waiting with large backpacks and trunks of their things in tow . Zac noted with some disappointment that less than half of those who promised to be here actually showed up .

However , he was overall quite content with their haul . Over 150 people had decided to drop their lives here in New Washington to come with him into the unknown , based only on the pull of his own , or the Super Brother-Mans’s , reputation .

Zac walked up to the waiting group , and with a swipe of his hand put all the luggage into a Cosmos Sack . Next , he walked to the teleporter with everyone in tow , passing right through the security check . It seemed the guards of the teleporter was already informed that his group would be significantly larger when leaving , and simply waved everyone forward .

Zac threw out a small mountain of crystals , enough to let everyone pass through , and opened the channel to Port Atwood .

I better go first , make sure there’s no confusion with the guards , - Ogras’ voice once again sounded , and he appeared encumbered by a huge box .

Zac’s eyes widened when he realized that said box was not some crate , but rather an elaborate coffin . He planned to close the array , but the demon jumped through without waiting for an answer .

Zac’s bad premonition only got worse , but he could only swallow his unease and wave people through one by one . People walked through , some with fear and others with anticipation plastered on their faces . Zac wondered what their faces would be like when they saw that the town was not even built yet .

He did feel a bit bad about the whole situation , but the town would start getting built within the week , so he wouldn’t lose sleep over it . Especially considering how safe his island was compared to the rest of the world . He knew people in New Washington might feel safe , but Zac truly doubted that the System would allow them to create a Lord without a proper challenge . Perhaps a true calamity was waiting New Washington . Besides , he would keep the town protective array ready to protect the inner Zone from the third monster horde so that no civilians got hurt .

The transfer kept going smoothly until suddenly Julia and multiple guards came rushing toward the teleporter . Roughly two-thirds of the recruits had passed through by this time , including the Ishiate and the other original members of the group apart from Zac . He’d expecting trouble , so he chose to send the most important people through first .

Stop! - Julia shouted , causing Zac to frown and look over .

Ignore her , keep going through , - Zac said as he walked over to intercept the people .

What’s going on? - Zac asked with a sigh .

You tell me , Mr . Monk , - one of the guards said angrily . - Witnesses report a shadowy figure abduct Emma MacHale from her highrise apartment a few hours ago , and your companion , the demon , was spotted carrying a suspicious coffin outside this building earlier . -

Zac already had some suspicions before , but still groaned when he heard the man .

That’s an odd coincidence . Ogras bought that coffin for a friend who died in the fight against the invaders , - Zac said with a blank face , though he felt his earlobes redden a bit from his shamelessness .

Why don’t you call him back to New Washington and let us question him? - Julia said with a baleful glare .

Zac was surprised by the reaction , as the government worker was looked far angrier this time compared to when he wreaked havoc inside their buildings or when he killed the leaders of Greenworth .

I’m afraid that won’t be possible , - Zac refused without hesitation .

He knew Ogras quite well by now . If he had actually put the starlet inside that coffin , then he was long gone from the teleporter by now , and not even Zac would be able to find him unless he wanted to be found .

You understand your wanton actions are testing your cooperation with the New World Governement? - Julia spat out through grit teeth .

The new citizens of Port Atwood hesitantly looked on , no one currently passing through the portal .

Wanton actions? You’re throwing baseless accusations against my companion . From what I understand I just hear some circumstantial evidence , no real proof , - Zac said , not backing down as he turned to the last people waiting to go through . - Keep going , this is just a small matter that I’ll handle . -

The people looked at each other , with two of them shrugging and stepping through . For a few it actually seemed the fact that Zac didn’t much care about the government was a testament to their strength , and they quickly followed behind into the array . Soon only ten people were left , who hesitantly looked at the teleportation platform .

This is your last chance to back out , - Zac said as he slowly walked toward the array . - I am stepping through in 10 seconds , anyone who hasn’t gone through by then will have to stay behind . -

Our talk isn’t done yet , - Julia shouted from behind .

Take it up with the chief of police , - Zac tersely retorted , not in the mood to keep up the charades any longer .

A few people grit their teeth and jumped through the array , dissaperaring into motes of light , while the last 6 people shook their heads and backed away . Zac only nodded and made to step through the portal .

However , before he could walk into the shimmering light he saw a form flash by with a mighty leap . It was Julia who jumped with surprising speed into the teleporter . Since she wasn’t planning on attacking Zac his danger sense didn’t activate , and he only blankly stared at her form disappearing .

You should know this already , but Port Atwood is going into seclusion for a month following this . Your colleague’s actions will not change this . Ms . Lombard will be returned after that point unless she’s committed crimes while in our domain , - Zac said to the guards who looked equally surprised , and stepped through the teleporter .

After the travel time he once again arrived at the teleportation area , and immediately heard a shout .

Emma! Can you hear me? - Julia’s voice carried from outside .

Zac sighed and stepped out to the chaotic scene .

All the new citizens hesitantly looked around , some clearly a bit dismayed at the utter lack of civilization . The array was placed some distance away from the temporary town , and they were surrounded by primordial forests .

We’ll head to town in just a bit , - Zac said with a loud voice , drawing everyone’s attention .

You just entered without any invitation , - Zac said as he turned to a dodgy Julia . - You should know you are stuck here now . I can’t let you return to the government at this point . -

Are you truly trying to fight the world government? - Julia spat back , clearly still irate .

Do you speak for the government now? I already told your colleagues that you will have to stay here for now , and only be returned if you break no rules . -

Everyone , I’ll lead you to Port Atwood . Please do not stray away in the woods , as all monsters in this area are around level 40 , - Zac said .

You said this area was safe! - a woman shrilly said .

Clearly some had painted quite a different picture of Port Atwood in their mind compared to the wilderness they found themselves in .

The beasts are left for our trainees to gain experience . We have already killed everything stronger on the island , - Zac answered .

Island? - a few asked simultaneously , and even Julia refocused on Zac .

Port Atwood is an Island kingdom . Honestly we still haven’t found the mainland , so we are not exactly sure where we are in relation to places like New Washington . This is the main island , while we control a few more . We are constantly traveling through our archipelago to save any stranded citizens and claim more land , - Zac explained .

The Cosmic Energy! It’s so dense! - a man suddenly exclaimed .

It was one of the experts who actually had a passable level . He was a doctor who was also a cultivator and was already at level 19 , which was respectable for someone who hadn’t really fought any monsters since returning from the tutorial .

This whole island has far higher amounts of energy compared to the mainland . Those who contribute to Port Atwood will be given access to areas that have up to a few times higher density than even this . It is no luck that we became the strongest force on the planet . Anything that is done here , from cultivation to farming , has twice the effect from half the effort , - Zac said , which improved the somewhat despondent faces of some of the people .

He wasn’t planning on talking this much , but the faces of the new citizens clearly showed that some were on the verge of a breakdown , clearly regretting their choice . He needed to throw out some good news or they would never get back to town . Julia looked down on the ground with a thoughtful face , which gave Zac some pause . He still hadn’t figured out what to do with her , as she was a high ranking official .

He already knew that there likely was one or a few spies in the group , but he knew there was not much he could do about it apart from isolating the town until his position was unshakeable . He guessed he would just let Julia wander around for now , unless she actively tried to look into the restricted areas . Perhaps he’d add a guard or two to her .

His musings were interrupted as there suddenly were twenty people who approached . Zac saw it was a few of the people from his female squad , who after just a few days of training looked quite a bit more professional and powerful .

Welcome back , - Joanna , who lead the squad , said .

Zac only nodded and then pointed at Julia after throwing Joanna the Cosmos Sack containing the bags of the new citizens .

This one isn’t really a part of the group . You should remember her , she’s a high position official of the New World Government who suddenly jumped through the teleporter . Just let her go with the others , but keep an eye on her . She’s level 29 , can you handle it? - Zac asked Joanna .

The recruits balefully glared at Julia when they heard she was a government employee . Their experiences in Greenworth were clearly still fresh in their minds , and they held a deeply rooted hatred for the government due to the mayor .

Not a problem , - Joanna said , looking like she wanted to eat the government employee whole .

Don’t kill or torture her , - Zac only said with a sigh . - As for the others , give them the same type of introduction as all the other new townspeople . -

As he gave over the responsibility of the new citizens to Joanna he felt like a large burden was lifted from his shoulders as he started to walk away with his

Why is he leaving? - a voice was heard from the group .

Do you think the strongest man in the world has time to babysit you? - one of the Valkyries shot back , causing some murmurs among the group .

Zac shot a glance back toward the group , only to see Julia intently staring at him .

If Ogras truly did kidnap the movie-star , you don’t need to worry . He is simply a movie fanatic , and don’t have any nefarious purposes . But I will look for him now and investigate , - he said before he disappeared into the woods .

It didn’t take long for him to walk back to his mansion , and felt the tranquility sooth his soul . However , that tranquility didn’t last long , as a shrill voice interrupted it .

Are you crazy? A coffin? How can you do this to me? -

Zac recognized the voice , and with a sigh he walked over to the garden he heard the sound come from . As he approached he saw Emily stare with large star-struck eyes at the scene in the garden .

Wow , it’s really her! - Emily whispered with an excitable voice as she saw Zac approach .

Zac could only nod and turn to the couple in the distance .

When he saw the scene he could only wryly smile .

Chapter 147 - Roads to Lordship

In the middle of the secluded garden Ogras was grinning as he deftly dodged an enraged Emma MacHale , who was currently trying to clobber him with a champagne bottle .

A coffin? A COFFIN? What kind of asshole moves someone in something so ominous as a coffin? That wasn’t what we agreed upon! I’ll shove this bottle up your ass , - she screamed as she threw the bottle with full force at a laughing Ogras .

I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable , and the casket was nicely padded inside . I am a gentleman , after all , - Ogras said with a smile as he snatched the bottle out of the air , careful to not let it break .

Zac was quite surprised at Emma’s personality . It seemed the person he’d seen in interviews and on the stage of the auction was another role she played , just like in the movies . Her real personality was far more coarse .

He was also quite relieved that it seemed that what Ogras did was not an abduction , though the exact details hadn’t been quite agreed upon . Zac didn’t want to have a falling out with the demon , but if Ogras truly had started kidnapping women he would have no choice but to do something drastic , as he couldn’t accept such behavior . It would be on a completely different scale compared to just messing around at the auction .

Emily giggled as she heard the exchange , which made the movie star look their way , immediately focusing on Zac .

You! You let this horned mongrel just knock me out and carry me around in that god damn casket? What? Why are you just standing there gaping , you pervert? Are you the kind of guy who just finishes by himself in the corner? -

Urh , - Zac only managed to get out , not ready to become the target of Emma’s vitriol . - I only found out Ogras had , uh , brought you here , after Julia Lombard told me . -

Jules told you? Where is she? - the starlet said , quickly calming down .

Do you two know each other? She was quite angry . Angry enough to jump through the teleporter to come here , - Zac couldn’t help asking .

She did? - she asked , her mouth slightly curving upward before refocusing at the demon . - You can’t hurt her , or I won’t cooperate anymore . And you never told me you lived in the god damn jungle . -

Hi! I’m Emily , I’m a huuge fan! You’re in Port Atwood . It’s an island in the middle of nowhere! - Emily chimed in , clearly excited to meet a movie star .

Hi pretty , - Emma said , clearly more amenable to the excited teenager . - You should stay away from those two , something is wrong with their heads . -

Emily only giggled in response .

Emily , tell Emma a bit about Port Atwood . Ogras , come with me , - Zac said with a sigh .

He needed to understand what the hell was going on . Soon the two stood some distance away while Emily peppered the movie star about questions about her old life , and Emma had turned back into the gentle personality you saw on TV back in the day .

So you created a huge mess . You were seen with that casket before you came back here . And now we got a government official on the island , - Zac said with an angry glare . - I don’t even want to imagine the kind of riot you’ve caused in New Washington . You better have a god damn good reason for all this . -

Well , the casket was sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing , - Ogras shrugged drawing another baleful glare from Zac .

I was only planning on visiting Ms . MacHale for the dinner I promised , but things turned out this way . -

She’s not a prisoner . And no forcing her to do anything , - Zac said with an even stare .

Bah , why would I do something like that? The chase is half the fun , - Ogras spat back . - Besides , that’s not why I brought her here . -

Explain , - Zac said , still annoyed .

Didn’t you say you couldn’t understand how those useless bureaucrats are creating a Lord while you , the top spot on your Ladder , is fighting tooth and nail for the same privilege? Well , Emma MacHale solved that puzzle for me yesterday , - Ogras began .

The first clue came from Ricky , the poor sap you left with me . I asked him about the government’s plans after he spilled everything about their group . We missed one of them by the way , so watch your back . The Red Mercenaries had done some nasty work for the government before it seemed , even killed a Ranker who actively spoke against The New World Government . -

Zac didn’t much care about the last man who was still alive , but he was more concerned about the fact the Red Mercenaries did Government wetwork .

So the government was behind the attack? - Zac asked with a frown .

No , it seems they truly only did it to stuff their pockets a bit . Birds die for food , men die for money , - the demon answered with a shrug .

I was more interested about what he told me about the government’s quests . He swore that there were no quests like defending New Washington from beasts to become a Lord . He did , however , mention that he had heard about a contribution Crystal , and that Emma MacHale was quite high on it . -

Zac was quite intrigued by now , completely having forgotten about the fact that a storm might be brewing in New Washington by now . He only nodded for the demon to continue the narration .

While I was walking through the Bazaar I was listening for any gossip , and it turned out that MacHale wasn’t the only star the Government employed . There were actually many of them visiting various towns , shaking hands and kissing babies so to speak . All while promoting the Government .

At first I thought it was just promotion to gain legitimacy before the Auction and get more to sign up for their little alliance . But I was proven wrong . I found out where MacHale was staying later on and went to visit her . Partly to find out more and partly , uh , for personal interests , - Ogras said , drawing an eye-roll from Zac .

I invited myself into her domicile , and after she had calmed down a bit we had a nice talk . I found out a lot of interesting things . Such as why they held their Auction , and why there were stars travelling town to town with government escorts . The Government needs the fame , - Ogras said with a grin .

What? - Zac couldn’t help but blurt out .

It’s their Lord quest . They need to generate enough renown , and someone among them will be promoted to a Lord . They are using the stars as mouthpieces to spread the plans of the Government and improve their renown . The Auction was partly held to gather a lot of forces , and gain a lot of renown in one fell swoop . Those who improve the fame of the Government would get contribution points , and Emma was one of those , - Ogras said .

That still doesn’t explain why you kidnapped her , - Zac said .

She asked me to , - Ogras said with a shrug . - When I told her who you were she immediately requested sanctuary . In the beginning , she was doing the work willingly , but after she learned some things she wanted out . However , they didn’t allow her to leave . The government was essentially keeping her a captive to generate fame since she was one of their top earners . -

Does it even matter if you snatched her? They still have the same amount of fame as before , even though she isn’t there anymore? -

Well , according to Emma the fame was attached to those who contributed somehow . I don’t truly understand it since I’ve never heard of a quest like this before , - Ogras said with some hesitation . - But if those people defected or died , then the Government would lose progress on their quest . -

Zac suddenly remembered the demon's words outside the teleportation building in New Washington and got a bad feeling .

You didn’t…? - Zac said with a sinking feeling .

Well , a few people in New Washington had untimely deaths during the night . But that was also a request from Ms . MacHale . She is quite ruthless . Though we only killed a few degenerates who used their status for disgusting things , - Ogras said with a sinister glint in his eyes .

You know this might set me at a straight collision course with the government? - Zac said angrily .

Zac wondered if he would ever be able to return to New Washington or their alliance towns without a cover . If the government made Zac an accomplice for what seemed to be a murder-spree and a kidnapping there was no knowing what they might do . Perhaps his good name was being dragged through the mud as they spoke .

You already were . Someone like you can’t coexist with a group like that . Better prepare yourself mentally and clear this wave quickly . They might be gunning for your sister as we speak , - Ogras retorted .

Zac could only frown in response , knowing that the demon might be right on the nose with that remark . The government wanted to create a unified power , and people like himself might be considered a thorn in their side , even though Zac had no designs on their alliance . Perhaps they would have found some other excuse to create trouble for him even if Ogras didn’t go berserk in the town .

You still haven’t properly explained why you went through all this trouble? -

For my , uh our , interests of course , - Ogras said . - The Auction brought far more fame than the government expected , and they were extremely close to finishing their quest . It was to the point that they would probably achieve it before you . We couldn’t allow that to happen . Becoming the first Lord of a world should bring great benefits to that Lord’s town and the Lord himself . -

So you did that all for me , you say? - Zac asked skeptically .

Remember , our fates are tied together on this little island , - Ogras said . - Your prosperity is my prosperity . -

Zac went over the information over for some time . He wasn’t really comfortable with the fact that the demon had gone off on a murder-spree in a human town without saying anything . What he said was true ; their fates were tied together , and Ogras’ actions would impact Zac .

At the same time he had to admit he felt it was for the best . The government’s actions sounded quite shady , and more importantly he didn’t want to cede the advantage of being the first Lord . He got the Creator’s shipyard from being the first to close an Incursion , so he felt that becoming the first Lord might give a huge advantage as well .

In the future , consult me first about stuff like this . If we’re going to have a working cooperation you can’t go rogue at every turn . That doesn’t only go for your nightly activities , but also your actions in the Auction , - Zac said with an even stare .

Yes , mother , - Ogras said while rolling his eyes . - Well , you did show passable ruthlessness with the poison , so I guess I won’t need to take all matters into my own hands in the future . But don’t go squeamish on me . Remember , your actions doesn’t only impact yourself , but all your subjects and your family . A moment of softness can lead to a lifetime of suffering . -

Ok ok . Also , the government official is your responsibility . She came here because of your actions , so you solve the aftermath . Find out if she is part of this all , but don’t kill her , - Zac said .

Overall he had a pretty decent impression of Julia , but if she jumped through the portal to control the Government’s asset then she would likely become a problem .

All these rules , - Ogras said with a roll of his eyes , though Zac knew he acknowledged the request .

I told you , you can’t hurt Jules , - Emma suddenly said , having snuck up on them . - If you do I’ll start preaching again here , giving the government a large boost in reputation . -

I told you , as long as she doesn’t start breaking the rules she’ll be fine , - Zac said .

Good . Now tell me , where will I stay? The demon promised me a Mansion . -

Chapter 148 - Cogstown

Zac’s headache was only growing as he walked the movie star to one of the empty courtyards on his compound . He had been forced to let Emma stay here until the promised mansion was built , and he had decided that the construction would be fast-tracked .

Ogras had wanted to accompany them , but Alea arrived which seemed to make him change his mind . The poison mistress didn’t have her usual playfulness , and she simply left after she had thrown a glare at the movie star , which was returned in kind . For now only Emily was accompanying them .

So you really are the Super Brother-Man? Jules told me she suspected that you were him , and the demon confirmed it . Why do you have that stupid nick-name? Sounds like the alias of someone trying to lure kids into their van , - Emma said , obviously not caring to choose her words more carefully after learning who Zac was .

Zac only sighed and shook his head . It seemed that him being the top ranker couldn’t subdue the mouth of the renowned movie star completely . Still , it was thanks to her that he still could attain the first Lord-title and benefits , so he chose to simply endure it for now .

At least she would be someone else’s problem soon enough , as she’d be barred from his compound the moment she got her mansion built . And if she kept making a racket or cause problems in Port Atwood he wasn’t above throwing her in jail , even if he had to build one just for her . There were limits to his patience .

You can stay here for now , - Zac said after they arrived at a small but exquisite courtyard that just so happened to be on the opposite side of the compound from where Zac usually meditated . - It might be a week or two before we can construct your permanent home , as our force is a bit occupied with a few things right now . -

Well , it’s passable I suppose , - Emma said as she walked around .

Zac nodded and turned to leave , but a shout stopped him .

Wait . What about me? - Emma said with a glare .

What about you? - Zac asked .

Will you just leave me here? What am I supposed to do? You’re the worst host ever , - Emma said with a huff .

Emily can take you to Port Atwood . Julia should be there somewhere also . You’re also free to stay with Ogras in his palace , - Zac said , hoping she would take him up on his offer .

Why in god’s name would I live with that bastard? Cutie , take me to Julia please , - she said and hooked her arm in Emily’s to her visible excitement .

Finally the two left together , leaving Zac alone with his thoughts . He opened his quest screen and took a look at his quest .

Incursion Master (Unique) : Close or conquer incursion and protect town from denizens of other alignments for 3 months . Reward : 5 E-Grade Nexus Crystals , town upgraded to City , status upgraded to Lord . (2/3) 02 : 15 : 23 : 14]

Less than three days remained until the third and final wave . He went over his things and felt as prepared as he could be . He already had two of the Lightning Punishment arrays that he bought for the ant waves , and an ample amount of crystals he got from Rydel’s Cosmos Sack and the mining operations .

He also had the high-quality siege machines from the sack , which even low leveled people could utilize . They might not gain energy from the kills , but at least they would contribute to the war efforts . Depending on the nature of the waves he would either have the Valkyries use the siege engines or gain experience from fighting by hand . He honestly did not know what else there was to do before the wave hit , apart from preparing the general population .

After resting a bit he went to the town to meet up with Adran , who usually was up to date with everything happening .

Greetings , Lord Zac , - the demon said as Zac entered his office , which was still the large tent . He still hadn’t bothered with having a proper structure built , as it would be moved shortly in any case .

How did it go with the new town-people? - Zac asked after greeting the administrator .

Hehe , I do not know what you told them to get them to come here , but some were… Less than pleased with the current state of Port Atwood . Though it got better when we demonstrated building a house in an hour , and explained we would begin construction of the town proper within two weeks , - the demon said .

Zac only grimaced while nodding . He wasn’t too surprised by their reactions after Mr . Trang’s shameless recruitment tactics .

There are also the two beastkin who have kept pestering us to take them to the island with the town of their kind , - he added .

Where are they now? - Zac asked .

The incident with Ogras had made him completely forget about the two .

They are waiting in the tavern , - the demon answered .

We have a tavern? - Zac asked surprised .

Yes , one of the more enterprising humans opened one up while you were gone . Another human also informed us of his island having a pretty huge cache of liquor . We made an extra excursion there to procure it , I hope you don’t mind , - the demon grinned .

That’s fine , it’s good that some civilian businesses are cropping up , please help out cases like that in the future as well , - Zac said with a nod . - How are the war preparations? -

Everything we can think of has been done . We have massively improved on the traps and pitfalls outside the walls , reinforced the walls themselves , and added the siege machines , - the administrator said .

We have also trained some of the more competent civilians to help out with logistical efforts and basic triage . The only thing remaining is whether you wish to buy any more arrays or tools to prepare . -

Zac mulled it over . Between his combination Town Protection array and his lightning punishments , he felt secure enough to tackle the third wave . He was sure it would be a nasty one , but still there were limits to how far the system could crank up the difficulty . With his own and the demon’s power , and the various advantages he had accumulated he felt confident in taking on almost anything the System could throw at him .

We have everything we need saved from the Ant Horde , - Zac said and the demon nodded in agreement .

Oh , we have also started making some inroads in making the carriages you brought back some time ago run on Nexus Crystals . For now , we can simply create fire from the energy in the combustion chambers of the contraption , but in the future we might be able to even make it run on pure energy instead of wasting so much of it through converting it to heat , - the demon added .

Zac was delighted at the news . That kind of refitting would be quite profitable he believed , but also it would help with mobility for a lot of people . Not every town could own an expensive Teleportation array and would have to actually travel between towns by foot . Being able to drive would massively increase their chance of survival .

Great , keep me posted . I am planning on visiting the Beastman village before the wave hits . Perhaps we can get some more warriors . From my impression of these Ishiate they might also be skilled craftsmen , which would help in refining all our materials into sellable equipment . -

With that he left the command tent to head over to the tavern . He saw the two Ishiate sitting in a corner looking somewhat troubled , but when Zac told them he was taking them to their hometown they were visibly excited .

But before they could leave he started as he saw who stood behind the counter .

It’s you? - Zac asked with some surprise .

Well , a man’s got to do something , - Ryan answered with a grin . - When I said I wanted to open a saloon the demons were more than willing to help with the construction . I’ve never seen a house get erected that fast . Unfortunately , I can’t really charge the demons for liquor since they brought it , but at least I can charge the others . -

I’m glad you found your calling , - Zac answered with a small smile .

Yeah , you know I sometimes dreamed of moving to some tropical country and opening a beach bar back when I worked a dead-end job . Who knew that the apocalypse would turn it into reality? - Ryan answered with a widening smile .

Zac wouldn’t have minded staying a bit , but the anxious Ishiate made him remember his tasks .

I will talk to you later , - Zac said as he left with the two beastmen in tow .

Zac also brought the fisherman and one of the demons who participated in the original scouting mission and immediately set sail . The island was over six hours away , and he didn’t want to waste any time . Soon they were cutting through the waves in breakneck speed as Zac once again sat in the fore contemplating the Dao .

The two Ishiate were extremely intrigued about the vessel they used . They likely had studied human technology quite a bit since the integration , but this vessel was something else entirely . They kept excitedly talking about the construction and tried to hypothesize how it worked as they furiously scribbled notes in notepads . It was as though the vessel had opened up a new world to them .

Zac was happy to see their excitement as he had hopes that he would be able to relocate at least part of the Ishiate back to his town in order to gain some craftsmen . The humans he brought from New Washington was a good start , but Earth had very few proper craftsmen before the fall . Zac suspected that things like blacksmiths , tinkerers and even alchemists where more common concepts among the Ishiate who was essentially a medieval society hungering for technological advancements .

Finally as the suns started to set they arrived at their destination , a decently sized island that was slightly larger than the ones he’d visited so far . The climate was the same as on his island , but the forests looked quite different . They were far more colorful , with many trees having red leaves instead of green , and many trunks were blue-ish .

The town they were visiting wasn’t originally a seaside town , so it was some ways inland , and they started traveling through the beautiful forests . A weird small critter with three eyes and six legs suddenly skittled in front of them , startling Zac .

It’s a Prikka , - one of the Ishiate explained , - I haven’t seen one since the fall . This whole forest feels like home , though it has grown quite a bit from what’s normal . -

After an uneventful trek of five minutes they arrived at the walled city , and Zac looked at it with some interest . It’s architecture looked quite different from anything he’d seen so far .

The wall was made of some metal , and on top of it there were huge brass cannons mounted . Both the cannons and the walls looked somewhat new , even though they weren’t in great shape . Zac assumed they had been erected or improved in order to combat the monsters of the island . That would also explain the craters on the ground around the wall , and the fire-licked trees at the edge of the forest .

We’re home , - the female Ishiate said with ripe emotion in her voice .

As they approached the town Zac kept looking over the area . It was clear that the town hadn’t been unscathed over the past months . There were clear signs of battle all around the town , and the metal plating was dented or even missing in various spots . It gave a battle-torn image , though Zac noted that the town still stood , as no parts of the wall were completely ruined , and there were figures patrolling its wall walk .

The group made no effort to hide and openly walked toward the main gate . Their approach was quickly noted , and the guards shouted down at someone below . Soon they arrived at the gate which still was closed .

Hello? I’m Shea Moon of Cogstown , daughter of Basso Moon . With me are my husband Porro Moon and some human friends who helped us return home , - she shouted up at the wall .

There was no response for a minute , and Zac started to frown .

What now? - Zac asked at the Ishiate , who also looked a bit confused .

Wait a bit longer . The guards might be getting reporting to those in charge , - Shea answered hesitantly .

She was quickly proven right as after another minute a roar could be heard over the wall .

Open the god damn gate , you idiots! - a deep voice resonated , almost immediately followed by the gates slowly opening with a creak .

Zac and the others didn’t have time to enter before a giant Ishiate rushed at them .

Chapter 149 - Reinforcements

Little Shea! - the man shouted , tears pouring from his eyes as he scooped up the female Ishiate in a bear hug . - We were so worried when you and the others disappeared . The world turned crazy and we found our town moved to this island . We feared the worst . -

I missed you father! - Shea answered with a sob .

What’s going on? What happened? - the huge man asked with concern . - And just what are those hairless ones? The old one looks a bit similar to the ones we have here . -

You have humans in Cogstown? - Zac couldn’t help asking , which gave the huge man a start .

You speak our language? -

He has a skill for that , - Shea explained . - This is Zac Atwood , he is the leader of a town called Port Atwood at a neighboring island . Mr . Atwood , this is Basso Moon . He is the leader of Cogstown and its chief engineer . -

How did you two end up at a neighboring island? Are the others still there? - Basso asked after nodding at Zac .

It’s a long story , I’ll explain as we go . -

Basso nodded and led them inside the town . Zac curiously looked around as they walked , content in letting Shea give her father the standard run-down of the System and the Tutorial . It quickly became apparent that Cogstown wasn’t a spot where cultivators were dropped off after the month was over .

When the beastman mentioned humans Zac’s heartbeat had sped up for a moment , hoping that Hannah and the others were dropped off here . But the Ishiate were clueless about most things regarding the System , completely dashing that hope .

The town looked well fortified from the outside , but it was clear that they had met some trouble . A lot of houses were crumbled , and there were gashes and splotches of blood at many places . Even Shea couldn’t help herself from asking what was going on , eliciting a sigh from Basso .

It’s the god damn birds . There’s a flock of large white birds who turned crazy a month ago . Before that they mainly stayed close to the sea and fed on fish or small critters . But as they grew larger , so did their appetites . They started attacking our town , actually snatching people up in the air , - he said with a tired voice .

We kept shooting them , both with skills and our weaponry . But they are so large by now that if we kill it in the air their corpses become dangerous projectiles that might kill people when they smash into the ground . And no matter how many we kill it seems they are endless , -

Can you buy a defensive array? - Zac asked , drawing a pained glance from the town leader .

That’s the problem . We do have the Crystal Shea mentioned , but we can’t buy much more than a shop and a few basic structures , such as a smithy manned by those weird automatons . We got those options after defending the town from a series of monster attacks .

I see that the fortifications you mentioned exist , but we can’t purchase them . It seems we need to unlock them with another quest , but we haven’t even received a quest yet . -

Zac nodded , not feeling too surprised . There were very few who actually had the option to buy the arrays at the moment it seemed . Otherwise quite a few more would have been able to get teleporters , far more than the 50 or so towns in the whole world who appeared to possess them at the moment .

Zac was about to ask a follow-up question but was interrupted by some commotion .

Grandpa! - an Asian man in his early twenties shouted as he rushed toward their group .

Little Tuan? Is that you? - the old fisherman shouted back with a shaky voice , his eyes immediately reddening .

Mr . Trang already mentioned earlier that the younger generation had already left on a boat to find help for their grandparents . Unfortunately , they hadn’t heard from them since . It looked like at least one of them somehow had ended up on this island , and was one of the - hairless ones - that Basso mentioned .

The man rushed up to the old fisherman , followed by a few more Vietnamese youths who looked to be between 20 and 35 . Zac was relieved to see that the seemed fed and unharmed , meaning they probably weren’t prisoners . He really wanted to recruit some Ishiate for his town , but if they had mistreated Sap and the other’s grandchildren it would have become a thorny situation .

Why are you kids here? - Mr . Nguyen asked as he looked over his villagers .

Our ship was attacked by some monstrous fish while we looked for the mainland , and we steered toward this island before the ship sunk… Giang and Phuc didn’t make it , - Tuan answered with a shame-filled face . - We were worried sick , but these aliens wouldn’t help build a ship since it was too dangerous . -

It’s good that you stayed here rather than going back for us old folks . We left ourselves by ship and now live in Lord Zac’s town . We’re doing quite well , and old man Trang is already level 28 . And this old man is almost ready to get a Class as well , - he said with a wide smile .

I’m glad you’re all okay . Why don’t you stay here? I’m sure these aliens won’t mind , they are pretty nice , though it’s a bit hard to make yourself understood , - one of the other youngsters said .

No , it’s better you kids come back with me and Lord Zac after we’re done here , - Mr . Nguyen answered with a shake of his head . - It seems a bit dangerous here while Port Atwood is completely safe . -

Since Mr . Nguyen was one of the main naval scouts he’d been given a skill crystal for the Book of Babel] , so Basso and the other Ishiate could understand his words as well .

It’s pretty big words to claim complete safety in this new world of ours , - an Ishiate with a large blunderbuss on his back responded skeptically .

I think Mr . Nguyen is simply is referring to the fact that we have eradicated any threatening beasts on our island , so we do not have to worry about such things anymore . However , with the incursions and other threats humans and Ishiate are facing it can’t be called completely safe , - Zac answered .

The Vietnamese people looked on with surprised expressions , seeing how the Ishiate seemed to understand their words and respond . Clearly , they still didn’t know about the language skill .

Other threats? - Basso said with a frown .

Do you have somewhere we can talk in private? - Zac asked .

Soon they found themselves in a large meeting room in what seemed part castle part hangar . From the looks of it they were either trying to build or actually had built a Zeppelin , though he couldn’t see one of them floating around .

A few other leaders of Cogstown had joined basso and his guards , and they listened on as Shea explained her experiences and findings in the tutorial and from there . The Vietnamese people were also in the room , and the old fisherman was quietly translating for them in a corner .

When some clarification was needed by Zac he provided it , but otherwise he was content in letting the Ishiate talk .

I heard Mr . Zac mention our flag at the meeting , and we immediately chose to follow him . That’s how we got home , - Shea finished recounting her and the other cultivator’s experiences . It appeared she and the other cultivators of Cogstown were dropped off at the other side of the planet , and Shea was at the Auction since she had acquired the language skill during the tutorial .

It is a relief to hear that so many of our people are still alive and amongst kin . It is a shame we can’t connect with them though , - Basso said with a sigh as he looked at Zac . - And I am thankful to you , Mr . Zac , for bringing my daughter home . -

It was no problem . I was planning on visiting here sooner or later in any case , - Zac said .

Oh? - Basso said , and the other Ishiate looked curiously or warily at Zac .

In a sense we’re neighbors here on our islands , and I believe it’s important to know each other , - Zac said . - I’d also like to extend an invitation to the citizens of Cogstown . During the past months we have traveled across the archipelago to rescue any people stranded and beset by monsters . -

Finally Zac found an opportunity for recruitment and wouldn’t miss it .

Port Atwood is in need of skilled craftsmen . After talking with Shea I’ve come to the understanding that your kind are both creative and skilled workers . Many of your group have switched from trying to improve your technology to becoming craftsmen classes to great success . If you’re willing to relocate to my Island you would be most welcome , - he continued .

Why would we want to move and become a human’s subordinates? - an Ishiate asked , drawing a nervous glance from Shea .

Security and improvement . Suffice to say , Port Atwood is somewhat unique on the whole planet . We have access to knowledge that you can’t find anywhere else . Much of the information about the incursions and Dominators Shea mentioned earlier comes from us . We also possess abundant resources to improve your crafting , and the Cosmic Energy density on our island is unparalleled , - Zac answered without missing a beat .

Most importantly , our citizens are safe , and therefore able to focus on their personal improvement . -

Our people have lived here for generations , and what you propose is a huge change . If you please would excuse us for a bit while we discuss things , - Basso said politely .

Zac understood that there likely were things they wanted to ask Shea and her husband without the prying ears of himself and his team , so he nodded at the old fisherman and the demon guards and left with them .

Mr . Nguyen’s grandson and the others followed as well , and soon they found themselves in a group of sofas in another room .

Hey , how did you get the skill to be able to talk in all languages , - Tuan asked Zac . - It seems really convenient . -

Brat , be polite to Lord Zac , - the old fisherman said with a glare as he smacked his grandson in the back of his head .

Ow! Grandpa , why do you keep calling him a lord? Is he a European nobility? That shouldn’t matter anymore , - Tuan said looking a bit indignant .

What European? He’s a ranker on the Ladder , - the old man explained . - Act properly , it’s thanks to Lord Zac we old folk can survive . Work hard and you can gain opportunities that the rest of the world could only dream of . We might not have come from great origins before the world changed , but that doesn’t matter anymore . -

What? What’s going on? - Tuan asked , while the others looked visibly confused .

Zac could only shake his head . He understood the old man was still following the rules that he put in place earlier , stopping him from saying anything about Port Atwood . Still the old man wanted to convey the importance of having a good rapport with Zac .

But things had changed since he gave that order , and hiding nothing he simply stated the truth .

I’m the Super Brother-Man . -

It took some convincing , but soon the Vietnamese youth no longer thought it odd that their elder looked up to some foreigner who was so much younger than him , and they no longer spoke about living in the Ishiate town . Clearly staying with the force of the top ranker seemed a far more reasonable idea , especially since the other elders still stayed in Port Atwood .

It took almost an hour before Shea and Basso joined Zac , though the Ishiate were good hosts and brought some food and drink while they waited . Something about his demeanor had clearly changed , as he warily looked at Zac who was calmly sitting in his seat . The large Ishiate looked troubled as he sat down on one of the free sofas on the opposite side of Zac .

I am sorry about the wait , Lord Zac . There has been much to go over . The news my daughter has brought regarding the change in the world is troubling , to say the least . We knew something extraordinary was happening , but the reality has far exceeded our expectations , - Basso said , looking quite worn out .

We understand where you’re coming from , and perhaps moving Cogstown to your future residential and commercial districts is the best for our futures . However , I cannot make such a decision on the spot . We have lived our whole lives in this town , and we cannot leave it just like that .

Our wilder brethren think us uncaring about the past , but that is wrong . We constantly build on our ancestor’s efforts to improve life for future generations . Cogstown is the result of four generations of Ishiate who have pushed themselves to unravel the universe . -

While Zac didn’t share the same types of feeling about his own hometown Greenworth he could understand where he was coming from .

I will not force anyone to do something they are not willing to do . But you should make a decision sooner rather than later , as your problems with the birds might only get worse . Normally we would help but we will have our hands full ourselves the coming days , - Zac answered .

We will leave soon , and it will be roughly ten days to two weeks before we can visit again , and that’s the soonest I can imagine , - Zac continued .

We understand your force will face some sort of trial soon , though Shea didn’t learn the details . If you’re amenable I would like to send a few of our tinkerers with you back . They are the ones who built the cannons on our walls , and perhaps might prove useful in your war efforts . Truthfully they will also scout your force and island to see whether it would be a good idea for us to move or not , - Basso answered .

That’s fine , - Zac said , not feeling surprised .

He didn’t expect the isolated Ishiate to uproot themselves on his or Shea’s word , and that he got this much response from Cogstown was better than expected . The tinkerers might even be useful in the coming wave .

Basso and Zac kept talking for a while , and Zac even promised to sell an exploratory vessel like the one he used for a whopping 5 million Nexus coins . The money-printing machine that was the Creator Shipyard was finally starting to give returns .

He’d long ago explained the situation to the Creators , so the ships themselves apparently were modeled after vessels form a huge human force called the Allbright Empire that spanned multiple galaxies . Any foreigner seeing the ships would think they were made by some grandmaster engineer from that empire .

Only an hour later Zac sat down again on the fore of the ship , and with closed eyes ignored the hubbub on the crammed vessel behind him .

Chapter 150 - The Third Wave

Zac had a sense of Deja Vú as he stood waiting on the wall , somberly looking toward the inner regions of the island . Next to him stood Ogras and his three generals . Zac had been extremely surprised to hear that Namys was dead , worried that some monster or powerhouse had arrived at the island .

He was even more shocked to learn that she was killed by Alea on Ogras’ orders . Zac immediately called an emergency meeting between the three of them , and it took an hour to finally get to the bottom of things . Ogras was almost biologically incapable of delivering clear answers , whereas Alea refused to divulge anything Ogras hadn’t .

To hear that the sour-looking demoness had far gone plans to kill him in his sleep without him even having an inkling of it caused Zac a fretful sleepless night . He knew Namys wasn’t one of his biggest fans but had no idea that it went to the level of wanting to eradicate him . Zac understood Ogras’ actions , and Zac also felt it showed that Ogras was in it for the long haul , but it also meant that they had lost one of the best fighters and leaders for the third wave .

Ogras looked unusually pissed off as he was chewing on a piece of dried meat next to him , which was out of character for him . The demon usually adorned that annoying grin no matter the situation , so seeing him trying to take out his anger on a piece of dried boar was a bit funny .

What’s with you? Your courtship not going according to plans? - Zac asked as he glanced over .

The demon snarled and threw the piece of food down the wall , telling Zac he hit bull’s eye .

Did you know? - Ogras asked as he angrily looked at Zac . - The brat did at least . -

Know what? - Zac asked , genuinely confused .

Emma MacHale is a god damn lesbian . She’s dating that plain looking bore from the government . All that effort wasted , - the demon growled .

Really? - Zac asked , having some difficulty restraining a smile . - I had no idea . How did Emily know? Emma told her? -

Apparently there were all kinds of rumors before your world got integrated , - the demon said , his frown deepening as he took out another piece of meat .

Zac thought it all pretty funny , but he was also a bit confused . Emma moved here to get away from the government , but at the same time dated one of their top officials . Was Julia not aware of the disgusting things Ogras mentioned earlier?

It appeared that the slavery in Greenworth wasn’t an isolated incident , rather a well-kept secret , where only a few like the Mayor were out in the open . Important personnel could ignore rules , or even basic human decency , as long as they provided the government with enough benefits . The reason Emma wanted to leave the government was that some of the stars got provided personal slaves , in some cases even children .

Those people were the ones that Ogras went around killing during the night , and after Zac learned of it he felt it was for the best . He wanted nothing to do with a bunch of degenerates like that . The important part was whether those actions were supported by the Government at large , or whether it was a small faction within the splintered organization that acted in such a way .

He was planning on getting to the bottom of things by interrogating Julia , though he didn’t want to waste time and effort on that with the wave incoming . It might also prompt Emma to cause trouble , and he would rather wait until he had the Lord-title in his hand .

I think it’s great . At least I won’t have to keep poisoning her while she lives in your compound , - Alea suddenly interjected , dragging Zac out of his thoughts .

What? - Zac asked , turning around with wide eyes . - What did you do? -

What’s with that look? I just sprinkled a little something that would give her the runs and feel bloated and a bit feverish . Not in the mood for a roll in the sack , - the poison mistress said with a small smile . - She thought she had some had come down with some tropical fever . -

Zac couldn’t help snorting when he heard Alea’s confession . He had avoided the movie star the last two days while mentally preparing for the third wave , hoping to improve as much as he could . He had mainly focused on incorporating his evolved Dao into his fighting style , and trying to gain a second Seed upgrade .

The first part went great , and he felt he possessed a far better command of the Middle Seed of Heaviness by now . The area he could expand his Dao field with the mental attach had also almost doubled after having consolidated his insights . Unfortunately , things hadn’t proceeded as smoothly in regards to his meditation , and his other seeds were still at an early stage .

Don’t go poisoning any more of our people , - Zac only said before turning back to look out over the wall .

Yes , dear , - Alea answered with a wink .

Incursion Master (Unique) : Close or conquer incursion and protect town from denizens of other alignments for 3 months . Reward : 5 E-Grade Nexus Crystals , town upgraded to City , status upgraded to Lord . (2/3) 00 : 00 : 08 : 44]

Zac closed his menu after taking a quick glance at it , taking one last look over his forces . This time it wasn’t just him and the demons up on the wall waiting for the wave to arrive .

The Valkyries stood at the ready , having swapped out their spears for bows . Few of them were excellent marksmen , though the improved attributes made most people decent shots by now . Of course one might not need pinpoint accuracy if there was a sea of monsters beneath the wall .

There were also the group of tinkerers from Cogstown , who looked the most excited of the bunch . They stood next to two newly mounted cannons making final adjustments . Zac could only shake his head when he saw that a few of them actually talked with the cannons , drawing weird glances from the demons closeby .

The first time he saw the craftsmen Zac had thought Basso was dumping his town lunatics on Port Atwood in a bid to get rid of them . Most of them had large patches of fur singed off and missing extremities , or even limbs . More than anything they held a burning madness in their eyes , giving off a very unsettling feeling .

But Zac soon realized he was wrong when he watched them mount one of their cannons on his wall . They were extremely skilled at what they did .

The tinkerers hadn’t cared the least about the various species walking the island but instead focused on the various technologies available . They had been astounded by human contraptions such as computers and cars , but they clearly focused more on things connected to the system , which Zac felt was for the best . This group , in particular , was mainly concerned about weaponizing Nexus Crystals and turning them into bombs , and it was their experiments that had caused them to look like they did .

Zac felt it was a bit of a shame that he couldn’t introduce them to Karunthel , the Creator foreman , as he thought they would hit it off quite well . Zac understood why the beastmen were so excited . They saw the third beast wave as an opportunity to field-test various inventions .

Finally , a contingent of roughly a hundred Zhix warriors orderly stood at the wall as well , ignoring anything around them . With them stood Ibtep , who had changed its large backpack with an equally large bundle of wooden javelins with steel tips . The Zhix had been fetched from the island after Ibtep made the offer , and the Holiness had agreed , though the supersized Zhix itself stayed in the hive .

The civilians stayed in the temporary town within the walls , with some having volunteered for various tasks to help out . Those who volunteered were mainly those from the surrounding islands , who already were used by being constantly accosted by beasts . The experts from New Washington had been shocked to hear the town was about to be attacked , with some even demanding to get sent back .

Zac ignored those voices though , telling them that getting attacked was the norm in the multi-verse and nothing to get worked up over . Julia had wanted to participate in the fight , but on Ogras’ advice she was placed under house arrest during the wave . There was no need to give the government official a panoramic view of the powers of Port Atwood .

This was the last wave , and the last opportunity to gain contribution points . Many of the demons had held on to most of their points until now , hoping to gain enough for some more valuable treasures . People would hold nothing back this wave , perhaps even displaying hidden cards just to push themselves further on the contribution ladder .

There was also the competition between Zac and Ogras . Zac had amassed a bit over 80 million contribution points during the waves , whereas Ogras was at a 59 . The general consensus was that Zac would keep his lead during the final wave , while a few staunch supporters of the demon lord insisted that Ogras had held back until now , and was ready to explode into action .

Zac personally didn’t care about all that . He only hoped that he would be able to finish the wave quickly , so his plans with the teleporter wouldn’t get ruined . Of course , he had a backup plan by now .

If the wave wasn’t finished and the deadline was nearing , he’d simply step through the teleporter and snatch up John Bernard , and go back . He had wanted to avoid that , as it might result in some retaliation from the government , but as things had progressed up until now Zac felt it didn’t really matter . It was just one more act of aggression to add to the tally .

The minutes slowly passed as everyone was waiting for what would come out through the portals this time . When there were less than a minute left Zac suddenly heard a familiar voice in his mind .

Special Challenge activated . To become a leader of a world you need to possess the strength to defeat any invaders . Rewards adjusted

Zac groaned as he looked around , and it seemed only he heard the voice . Ogras saw the odd reaction from Zac and raised a brow .

What’s going on? - the demon asked , but Zac had no time to explain when three huge pillars flashed into existence .

Each pillar was far larger compared to the earlier ones , and reminded Zac the incursion pillars . However , the pillars differed from both the sinister red one he’d been living with for a month , and also each other .

One of the pillars was a sickly turquoise color , and it almost looked like ghosts or specters were rotating around it . Zac was immediately reminded of the intelligence report he got from Ogras . The part about the various forces also mentioned the incursions .

The incursions themselves differed in appearance depending on who controlled it , and the turquoise one clearly matched the description of the incursions belonging to the Undead Empire . The second one was pitch black , and it felt like Zac was looking into a black hole as he stared at it .

Zac tried to figure it out , but couldn’t remember any force having such an incursion in the information missive . It likely meant that it didn’t belong to one of the large forces . That didn’t mean it belonged to a weak force , but rather a smaller one that the missive didn’t include due to the low likelihood of encountering them . There was no telling from just the light , and it could be either weaklings or a small elite force full of powerhouses .

The final incursion was multicolored in gold and red . Had it only been the lustrous golden color Zac would have thought it belonged to a church , as it radiated holiness . However , the blood-red intermixed gave a more sinister feeling , and it infected any purity of the gold luster .

What the hell? Incursions? - Ogras muttered , and many of the demons looked confused as well .

I got a quest update from the System , - Zac admitted with a sour face . - It said something about me needing the power to defeat invaders to become a leader . Perhaps it felt the normal challenge wasn’t annoying enough? -

As if on cue Zac suddenly heard a shout from behind . It was Janos , who once again stood at the ready at the control crystal for the Array . A large fractal had appeared above it , and any light from the crystal was gone . Zac quickly opened up the town management menu , and as he saw the message inside his sour face turned to a full-blown grimace .

Shit . -

Chapter 151 - The Three Forces

The Town Protection Array was actually blocked by the system . Zac quickly brought out one of his Thunder Punishment Arrays , and to his dismay found them looking like lifeless marbles no matter what he tried .

The Ruthless Heavens indeed , - Ogras muttered with a sardonic grin . - I guess we’ll have to do this one by hand . -

Zac started to wonder whether the System could actually hold grudges . He had cursed at it quite a bit in the beginning when he was stuck alone on the island . Was it retaliating now by increasing the difficulty to unreasonable levels? Or did it try to suppress him since he wasn’t a cultivator?

In any case , the sight in front of him spelled trouble . He wasn’t contending with one force now , but three . More importantly , he was placed against intelligent forces this time . The wolf horde had been somewhat easy to handle since they were dumb beasts , but the same couldn’t be said about actual invading forces .

They would have organized armies and employ strategy in trying to defeat him . He was sure that the system had provided some pretty good incentives to them so that no diplomatic solution was possible . Not that he thought it was possible in any case .

I think we should charge in , catch them unaware , - Zac said with some hesitation .

He didn’t want them attacking the wall since it would offer scant protection now that there was no Array to secure it . It might work against dumb beasts , but against an army of high leveled warriors it was only a small diversion .

There’s no way they would be unaware , rather the opposite . They should have been given plenty of forewarning , perhaps even having the opportunity to accept or decline the quest , - Ogras disagreed .

We should scout them out and gauge their strength . There are some differences between the pillars and normal Incursions . They are smaller . I think their forces should be limited , - the demon added . - If they were completely confident in defeating us they would already have rushed in . The fact that they are playing it safe is telling us something .

Zac gave a start and once again looked at the three pillars . They felt huge where they shone in the distance . However , Zac had to agree that they were quite a bit smaller compared to the one with the demons . That red pillar had stretched endlessly into the sky , clearly visible even from the other side of the island . It had felt like it reached the heavens , and apparently , even the closest islands had seen the red light when the demon Incursion was active .

These pillars were large , but not to that point . They were many times higher than the Ayr Hive , but that’s was about it . Zac wasn’t sure what it meant , but the size of the pillars had indicated the difficulty of the wolf waves . The pillar that sent through the Fiend Wolf was quite a bit larger compared to the ones before it .

So we just stand here and wait? It’s too passive , - Zac frowned with impatience . He was in no mood to let the invaders run rampant on his island . Who knew what kind of mess they would create while they stayed on the wall like some turtles .

It is , but sometimes we need to waste time to save time . We can send out a few scouts to check things out . I’ll even go myself . But we shouldn’t antagonize them until we know their relationship . Who knows , they might even fight each other . The undead forces are notoriously unwilling to work with almost any other force , and they might just attack the others before turning their attention to us . -

Zac nodded after some thought . Though it sounded implausible it might be correct . The goal of those forces should be to kill him and he could only die one time , meaning that only one force would get the reward . Perhaps they would even succumb to infighting for the honor to kill him , provided that hey felt he would be easy to handle .

Besides , charging in like a barghest wasn’t the best idea . Who knew what cards these people had up their sleeves . He didn’t even know what forces two of the incursions belonged to . Gathering intelligence first might be the smartest play .

They had stood at the walls for a few minutes by now , and there still wasn’t any activity . Unfortunately the incursions were far enough that they couldn’t see their forces due to foliage blocking the view .

Very well , let’s gather some intelligence , - Zac said , feeling unsettled by the inaction .

He almost hoped that a wave of invaders would come running through the forest at them , screaming and waving their weapons . A full-frontal assault would be perilous , but it would also be easy to handle . He just needed to take out his axe and go crazy . Now he was unsure what to do or expect .

Ogras nodded and disappeared into the shadows . Not long after Zac saw a few figures blend into the forest as they moved toward the pillars of light . Most of the demons sat down by now with closed eyes , patiently waiting to explode into action . Zac had to stop himself from pacing back and force like a wreck since he didn’t want to show how unsettled he felt by the situation .

He had already defeated one incursion , but that was different . For one he had learned that Clan Azh’Rezak was far weaker than the average when it came to the power of the invading groups . Usually the opportunity would have been snatched away by a more powerful force , but Azh’Rezak managed to hold on to it due to some turbulence in their area .

Secondly , he had deployed guerrilla tactics against the demons , and they didn’t even know about his identity until the very end . And finally the war with the monkeys provided a stage where he somehow luckily came out victorious .

It was different now , with him being a defender in the open , and at least the undead were a formidable force .

To take his mind off the situation he opened his quest screen . It was mentioned earlier that his quest and rewards were updated , and he wanted to see what he would get .

Incursion Master (Unique) : Close or conquer incursion and protect Town from denizens or forces of other alignments for 3 months . Reward : Limited Structure depending on Grade , Town upgraded to Global City , status upgraded to Lord . Road to Hegemony opened . (2/3)

There were some differences from earlier , with some more apparent than others . The description had gone from saying only denizens to - denizens or forces - , which made sense as Ogras had told him already that denizens were referring to beasts .

The rewards had also changed . The paltry 5 crystals had been swapped to a Limited Structure , and Zac guessed it was something similar to when he got the Creator Shipyard , though the wording was a bit different .

His town would also be upgraded to Global City instead of City . Since the prompt earlier had mentioned world leader he’d almost thought for a second Port Atwood would become a capital . However , it seems that wasn’t the case . He wasn’t clear about the difference between a City and a Global City , apart from guessing the latter was better .

Finally there was the Road to Hegemony . He had no idea what that meant , but he sensed that this addition might be the most important one . He wasn’t sure whether to ask Ogras about it or keep it a secret , so for now he tabled the matter . He needed to actually destroy the three incursions for any of this to matter .

It took almost twenty minutes until Ogras was back , during which time Zac only got more and more impatient .

There are a lot of enemies , - Ogras said with a frown . - There’s a veritable sea of Zombies , tens of thousands . There’s also Aberrations and three to four-meter corpse golems . Unfortunately , it seems the horde has a Lich or Corpse Lord . Otherwise they’d have mindlessly charged at us by now , sensing our life force . -

Aberrations were dead beings that were naturally formed in ominous grounds , often being a mix of various species and bodies . Not two of them looked the same , as they were essentially randomized mistakes of the universe . Their distinguishing feature was extreme endurance , even for the undead beings .

The corpse golems were somewhat similar , though they were constructed rather than formed . Necromancers or liches created them from a bunch of cultivators to suit their purposes . Usually they were quite large , and a fusion of a group of people .

The more skilled the creator , the more beings he or she could add to the monstrosity , making it stronger . Its height was generally the measure of how powerful it was , where golems above five meters were usually E grade or above .

The other forces aren’t as numerous , though their warriors are generally far stronger compared to the Zombies . The black portal is owned by a force I don’t recognize . They are either a golem species or something rock-related . It was hard to tell . They’re completely pitch black and gave off cold auras . They seemed to have exceptional perception , as they killed the scout we sent before he even came close , - the demon continued .

The last force is only around a thousand strong , and they might actually be more annoying than the undead . They’re the fools of the Church of Everlasting Dao . I would wager they are on average stronger compared to our own forces , - Ogras concluded with a sigh .

Zac groaned when he learned who the final incursion belonged to . The Church of Everlasting Dao were the lunatics who went to newly integrated planets simply to eradicate all life . They were of the belief that while the System was compelled to keep integrating new worlds , each time it did so it expended important energy and hurt itself . That , in turn , prevented the System from evolving itself and the multi-verse .

In order to reach nirvana or whatever they tried to kill as many people as they could so that more energy would be freed up for the system . The general consensus about this belief was that it either was complete idiocy , or that it was a front for the church elite to stuff their pockets with their victim’s wealth .

No matter which case was the truth it didn’t help Zac , as he was suddenly stuck on the island with a bunch of Zealots . Furthermore , if another one of the incursions were the famously annoying Undead Empire and another was run by insane inquisitors , the third mysterious Incursion likely wasn’t any good news either .

So what do we do? - Zac asked .

They are holding some meeting at the rock people’s place . For now we hope they have a falling out and do our job for us . -

Zac nodded but didn’t feel too hopeful . He could only spread the available intelligence amongst the ranks , and keep everyone on alert . Soon the last hope of an internal fight breaking out was dashed , as an army approached the wall .

Zac understood what Ogras meant when he said rock-people , as he couldn’t really tell their appearance either . They were around two meters tall , and Zac couldn’t make out any features as they were unnaturally black . Zac wondered for a second if they all possessed some racial skill that obscured them , but threw the question to the back of his head as he brought out his axe .

The ground shook as the army approached , and huge boulders were magically ripped out of the ground by the rock-people and started hovering above their army , creating quite the image . The rudimentary traps across the battlefield were all but useless against the sentient species as they approached .

The very air thrummed with power around the incoming group , and even Ogras’ ever-present grin was long gone as he looked out over their enemies .

Bishop Orsiccas leisurely walked back toward his camp , glancing at the army of Yrd Stonemen leaving for battle .

It had been an annoying discovery to find that they weren’t the only ones to get the blessing of The Boundless Heavens , but that they instead shared it with two other groups . That kind of situation clearly muddied what should have been a great opportunity to make some money .

It was quite convenient that at least one of them belonged to some weak backwater group . They would make great sacrifices for the Grand Plan , keeping the Zealots happy , and in the process scout out the powers of this Monarch-candidate .

This was the third world Orsiccas got tasked with purifying and processing with his fellow bishops , which is why he was chosen to head this special assignment while his brothers kept the activities going in their main base . But this was the first time that he’d heard of a Sacrifice to gain such a blessing this early . Monarch-selects usually only emerged after over a year had passed .

It was also quite the headache to find that the undead scum were here . Whenever the Church met those bastards there was always a bloody battle for the high potential corpses . Losses went up and profits went down .

At least he wasn’t up against a proper Lich , but instead a Corpse Lord . While neither were easy to deal with , Liches were nigh immortal save from certain types of attacks . They had proper purifier-forces who trained especially to combat the undead on the various fronts , but Orsiccas hadn’t brought any here as he expected to be up against the humans or one of the other three species of this new planet .

Worse yet , the Corpse Lord seemed to be a noble . He even doubted whether he himself was its match . Still , he had a full battle-monk contingent with him , which was enough to decimate the undead forces if it came to that .

Orsiccas caressed his mace with a resolute expression . He wouldn’t let this one go even if he had to go up against an undead noble , as the bonus he would receive was substantial . Not only the reward from The Boundless Heavens , but also the one he would receive from the church for procuring such high-grade materials .

Someone who was already a monarch-candidate would have to be a prime specimen in creating a premium vessel . Human bodies were always in high demand as well , as many powerhouses chose vessels of the same species as their original bodies .

Orsiccas never understood that kind of mentality . Those old goats had lived for tens of thousands of years , yet they hadn’t had enough . Instead , they chose to scrap their mortal coil for one of the Church’s vessels , even if it meant retraining their bodies from the ground up .

Not that Orsiccas complained , as that very business had enabled him to reach heights he could only have dreamed of , with a clear path all the way to becoming a C-Ranked Cardinal . And in the meantime , he would make a pretty penny in the body retrieval business .

Because to live was to fight , so business was always booming .

Chapter 152 - Wallbreakers

Fire at will , - Zac said with a steady voice and nodded to the grinning beastmen .

The tense situation hadn’t affected them , and they gleefully made some last adjustments to their three cannons before they fired them . An insanely loud explosion was heard from each of them , and a shockwave even threw away the people closest to the cannons .

Zac knew those cannons would pack quite a punch , but he was shocked at the scene in front of him . He had barely time to register that the projectiles weren’t pellets or cannonballs before the three shots landed . One unfortunately veered completely off-course , but the others headed for the incoming army in the distance who quickly erected a group shield .

A blinding light flashed and a terrifying explosion rattled Zac’s eardrums a second later . When he looked out at the battlefield again two huge craters of over 50 meters diameter could be seen , with dead or wounded rockmen all over . Their shields clearly were of little to no use against those horrifying bombs the crazy tinkerers had created with Nexus Crystals .

Unfortunately one of the projectiles hadn’t gone off , but the power of those who did was amazing .

Zac hoped they could fire off a few more salvos , but a look over at the Ishiate engineers dashed any hope of them being able to shoot the Nexus Crystal infused bombs again . The three cannons were destroyed beyond recognition , with their barrels completely twisted and deformed . Two of the tinkerers were also down on the ground bleeding from cannon shrapnel , though it looked like they would be fine .

Send scout parties to the sides of the wall in case the other forces tries to flank us , - Zac said to Ilvere , who nodded and sent a few parties away .

Ibtep , Joanna , - Zac continued . - Your forces will stay on the wall for this one . Be ready to flee if needed . These rockmen are too high-leveled . Save your strength for the undead . -

Both nodded in confirmation .

Zac was about to continue , but the huge boulders that were floating above the Rockmen suddenly shot out like bullets , soaring toward the wall .

Shit! - Zac screamed seeing the gigantic incoming projectiles .

Take the middle ones , I’ll destroy as many as I can to the right , and Ilvere the ones to the left . The others will have to dodge , - Ogras said .

Start shooting , - Zac shouted at the Valkyries who stood ready at the siege machines , as he got ready with his axe .

The siege machines taken from Rydel were mainly in the type of ballistae , each made with high-grade materials and having inscribed projectiles . None of the shots were close in power to the monstrous cannons of the Ishiate , but they were easily reloaded and one shot after another flew at the enemies .

Another huge shield was erected at the attackers after the initial blast from the cannons , and most of the large bolts were stopped in their tracks from the screen . However , Zac knew that every time one of the inscribed bolts slammed into the magic wall the attackers lost some of their cosmic energy , just like it cost Crystals maintaining his array when it was attacked .

The huge rocks finally arrived close to the wall , and Zac charged up as many blades of Chop] as he could , ready on wall walk to intercept them . After some hesitation , he infused his blades with the Dao of Heaviness and launched his blades in quick order . The blades slammed into a huge boulder one by one , not one missing its target .

As his attacks cut into the stones Zac frowned when he realized that they were imbued with some power as well . The fractal blades managed to destroy the boulders , though barely . The stone fractured into smaller pieces , each around half a meter in diameter . Zac immediately threw a worried glance over at Illvere , who launched his huge ball on its chain toward his boulder .

Unfortunately the demon general only managed to create some cracks in the stone and had to scamper out of harm’s way when the projectile slammed into the wall , completely destroying a section of it . Similar scenes could be seen on various spots of the wall , where large cracks or tears were created .

A few of the ballistae were destroyed as well , though most were left unscathed . The loss of life was manageable as most of the armies were gathered at the length that Zac and Ogras protected . Still , a few casualties could be spotted , mainly amongst those on the edges of the army .

The army of stonemen seemed content to stay at the distance , even though their shield no longer could protect them properly from the ballista projectiles . Some ripped through the magic membrane and killed anything within an area of a few meters .

Normally the bolts should have created more mayhem , but the bolts were inscribed with a lightning attack , and the golems seemed quite resistant . Bursts of lightning bolts flashed amongst the golem-people , but the effect was clearly limited , as only those right next to the bolt were noticeably affected .

We can’t let this go on , - Zac said with a frown as he saw new boulders rise from the earth .

Ogras who usually preferred the safe option actually nodded , and without another word the two jumped down from the wall and rushed toward the attackers . They wordlessly came to the same conclusion . They would have to attack the army the same way they did with the psychic wolves .

If the enemies didn’t want to come to them , then they would rush at the enemies .

Zac once again charged five huge blades with Chop] as they ran , and unhesitantly shot them at the same part of the shield in front of them . They slammed into the shield one after another , and finally at the fourth blade it broke through , hitting the defenders behind it .

The black golemoids erected personal shields to intercept the two remaining fractal edges , and with concerted effort managed to stop the first one . But the last one created some carnage as Zac had actually imbued it with the Dao of Sharpness .

Zac took advantage of the opening and with Loamwalker] stepped into the breach , and without pause started swinging Verun’s Bite] . Having once poisoned himself with Cosmos Water had one positive side effect . He had become extremely adept at energy control since he fought the whole first wave without being able to properly restore his energy with crystals or gathering arrays .

Zac’s attacks generally consumed almost no energy , and he only activated his skills for the shortest possible duration . Everything was in order to last as long as possible , allowing him to keep fighting for hours .

Ogras wasn't as careful with his energy , and the familiar pond of shadows spread out amongst the enemies , reaping one life after another .

However , the rockmen were no weaklings and they mounted a furious resistance to himself and Ogras . It quickly became clear that these things mainly followed two types of heritage . Rocks and ice .

The mages manipulated earth , or to a certain extent their own bodies , in order to launch all sorts of attacks at Zac . It even felt like their skill in stone manipulation was a notch above that of the earth mage demons .

Zac also saw that they weren’t some type of stone golems like he and Ogras suspected since they bled when they were cut down . The blood was blue and the splotches that his Zacs face told him it was cold , but it was blood nonetheless .

The other type of attackers mainly manipulated ice . They either used the element to create surprisingly sturdy weapons or shoot small icicles out as hard-to-notice projectiles .

All in all Zac felt that the fighters were quite strong , but not to the point that it would become a problem for him . He surmised their average power was somewhere around level 50 to 60 , if they were average warriors without any special advantages such as unique titles .

Compared with himself with his enormous amount of attributes the assailers could only delay Zac , but not stop his onslaught . They would be free Contribution Points unless they threw out some of their elites soon .

Still , he wasn’t able to quickly dispatch them as he’d hoped . Their rocky exterior made them quite resilient , and they had dedicated defenders to keep the others safe . One wall after another , either wrought from earth or ice , stopped his advance , forcing him to redirect his swings .

It also meant that he couldn’t send down the average demon soldiers to help out , as they were about as strong on average compared to these assailers . There were only roughly 150 demon warriors , while there were quite a few more rockmen .

Only the true elites dared to venture out every now and then for a blitz attack , before rushing back to safety . But even though they were careful they sustained some wounds as they were pelted by a throng of ice projectiles . Zac's only other backup was the siege machines who focused fire on the areas of the army far from Zac and Ogras .

Even if Zac was far stronger compared to the golemoids it was a chore to fight with only two hands against a sea of fighters . It reminded him of his desperate escape from the monkey horde once upon a time .

A few of them did everything they could to intercept his attacks , while the others pelted him from a range . Even though he was strong he wasn’t invulnerable , so most of his time was spent dodging or circumventing the endless walls in the end .

The attacks were quite strong after all , and Zac couldn’t just shrug them off like he usually did with the wolves . He was already starting to accumulate some wounds , though between his gear and Endurance they were only superficial .

Worse yet , the weird attackers had no problem in launching more projectiles while Zac and Ogras killed their way around their ranks . The demon warriors could block a few of the boulders using the same sort of group shield they used during the monkey war , but many still slammed into the wall , and gradually destroyed the fortifications .

Suddenly the rockmen started to retreat , actually sacrificing some of their warriors to keep the duo occupied . Soon Zac and Ogras stood panting next to each other , both covered in blue blood and overlooking a battlefield with hundreds of dead aliens .

Zac sighed as he walked through the battlefield to put the ballista bolts into a cosmos sack . It would be easier to repair them than create new ones from scratch , and he knew he would need to use the ballista again soon .

As he traversed the battlefield he grimaced as he surveyed the damages on the wall . Huge cracks and missing sections all along a section of hundreds of meters made the fortification look like part of some ruins rather than a habituated town . There was no way that the demons would be able to fix it in short order .

Zac didn’t understand what was going on . It almost felt like the rockmen had a vendetta with the wall , rather than trying to fight Port Atwood’s forces . They sacrificed a significant number of their warriors just to make some cracks in it .

It made no sense after having fought them for over an hour . The stonemen were strong enough that a normal wall without the boost of an array would offer little to no hindrance if they wanted to attack head-on .

They could simply have climbed it in seconds and brought the fight to a melee with the demon army , instead of getting bogged down with himself and Ogras . That would have caused significant casualties to his forces , rather than the small losses from errant boulders .

Ogras seemed to be of the same mind as he surveyed the corpses in the area with a frown .

I think they are sacrifices , - Ogras hesitantly said . - There is only one force that would be impacted by the wall . The undead . The Zealots and the rockmen could simply ignore it . But the stupid Zombies would act like the wolves , even when commanded by a leader . They might try to climb the wall , but they would likely fail , becoming prime targets for our warriors to farm some Nexus Coins .

So these things are working with the Undead? - Zac asked skeptically .

They’re probably coerced . No one wants to be fodder . It would be the same with Clan Azh’Rezak if we were in their situation . The Undead Empire and the Church of Everlasting Dao are both huge entities in the multi-verse . They could just order around minor forces to do their bidding , and the forces would have to comply due to fear of impacting their home planet otherwise , - Ogras answered with a shake of his head .

They are being used as a wall breaker while simultaneously testing the waters , - Zac realized with a sigh .

Yeah . Our only hope now is that they still don’t realize that we don’t possess arrays , and that we simply don’t care about the walls . But those assholes in the undead army are probably laughing it up right now . -

Suddenly Zac felt a slight tingling of danger , and quickly turned toward the forest . As if summoned by Ogras’ words a dour man stood at the crest of the woods , emitting a dense and powerful aura .

It was a humanoid being standing over two meters tall . On his back was a sinister weapon that looked like a hook that was almost as long as the man himself , completely wrought out of bone . It only took one glance to tell what force this thing came from . The man was deathly pale , while his eyes shone a sinister red .

However , the man wasn’t some handsome vampire , rather a walking corpse . There was no rotting flesh , but there was a strong sense of undeath , and the man could by no metrics be called handsome .

Shit , it’s the big boss himself , - Ogras muttered and readied his spear .

Chapter 153 - Gambit

Zac silently stared at the undead entity and was mentally getting himself ready for a desperate fight . However , the corpse lord suddenly blazed into action , and suddenly his bone weapon was in front of him . Almost at the same moment , Zac heard a loud bang from the wall . It was a sound Zac vividly remembered , as he almost died the last time he heard it .

The Corpse Lord wasn’t as frantic as Zac was back at the auction house , and didn’t even break a sweat as he blocked the bullet with his weapon , giving Zac a clear indication of his power . Zac even had thoughts of fleeing , as he wasn’t sure he’d be able to kill this entity .

The Corpse Lord made the choice for Zac as plans and stratagems were flashing through his head . The undead sneered and receded back into the woods , followed by a few hulking corpse golems who stood behind their lord like bodyguards . It appeared the Undead leader was biding his time , or perhaps the sniper scared him off .

Shit , it’s a noble I think , - Ogras muttered with a frown as he watched the undead disappear amongst the foliage . - Those things are extremely hard to deal with . -

Zac could only nod in acknowledgment . The man , if they could be called that , only silently stood in the distance , yet Zac’s senses detected danger . The two quickly finished gathering anything of value before they rushed back to the wall to rest .

Who has your gun? - Zac suddenly asked , looking over at Ogras who grinned a bit .

The old bastard . It appears he was in a human army long ago and has some knowledge of guns , - the demon responded .

Zac knew the demon was talking about Sap Trang , and was quite impressed with both the timing and aim of the old fisherman . It was a shame that the attack wasn’t successful , but it was worth a try .

The fight had taken quite a large portion of Zac’s energy , but it was likely the same for the rockmen . They had blocked most of the bolts , and the Valkyries and the demons had kept shooting for the better part of the hour until they finally ran out of ammunition .

Good job , - Zac to his squadron as he returned to the wall with Ogras in tow .

This time they simply left the corpses on the battlefield , as it felt too dangerous to venture out and collect them at the moment .

I’m sorry we couldn’t be of more help , - Joanna only answered with a somber expression .

You did plenty , - Zac said , seeing the Zhix leader walk up to him .

The Zhix are willing to join you in the next wave , - Ibtep said as he approached .

Thank you . However , it is better you conserve your strength until the undead arrive . They have an almost endless number of warriors , and at that moment it will be all hands on deck , - Zac answered .

Zac gave a few more order before he sat down and closed his eyes , each hand of his holding a Nexus Crystal . Only an hour elapsed before they once again were accosted by the rock-men . There was still no sign of the other two forces , and it felt more and more true that they were actually using these rockmen as pawns .

Even though he wasn’t completely restored Zac got up on his feet with a groan and got ready to intercept as many of the boulders as possible . This time a few more of the elite demons with ranged capability also descended the wall in order to get close enough to attack as well .

However , even with increased numbers , their efficiency was quite limited . Individual warriors or mages didn’t have the capability to breach the strong barriers the rockmen erected , so they were forced to use the breaches created by the ballista bolts .

Zac knew that it would be mainly up to him and Ogras to fight these things . There also was Alea and Janos , but both Ogras and Zac felt it better if those two stayed hidden for now .

The two generals had the type of skills that could turn a battle around , and they weren’t pushed to the point they needed to use them yet . Both Zac and Ogras could slowly kill their way through the rockman army without exposing their hidden aces , though it was quite tiring .

The only upside was that he was getting huge benefits from the fighting . The reward for each kill was substantial , with every rockman giving thousands of nexus coins . Even though it took some time to kill each of them the speed with which he gathered Cosmos Energy was unparalleled . If this continued he’d likely gain a level within the day .

At the same time Zac knew this couldn’t go on . There were only two of them , and they were starting to tire after only two waves . If they allowed the rock men to keep harassing their front lines like this he and Ogras would wear themselves out in no time . And these golem-like beings were the weakest of the bunch . Some drastic measures needed to be taken .

If that Corpse Lord dies , what will the other undead do? - Zac suddenly asked the demon who was meditating next to him .

The demon opened his eyes and shot a suspicious glance at Zac .

They would be like rabid dogs who got out of their leash , - Ogras said . - Why? What are you planning? -

We can’t let this go on . There’s no way the two of us can fight off the whole rockman incursion , and after that face the two elite forces , - Zac sighed .

You’re just going to jump into the thick of it? Are you insane? You will be in a sea of undead . Even if you find him it’s not for certain he will even fight you , - Ogras said .

I have to believe they are after my head for their quests . I think he will fight me , rather than risking some subordinate getting the kill credit ; - Zac retorted with a shrug as he took out his one and only remaining E-Grade Crystal .

You know , risking your life like that isn’t the only option , - Ogras said and threw a pointed glance at the distance , toward the teleportation array . - If you’re dead you can’t save your sister . -